Libertinism as you may see more at large in that Chapter 5. Wherefore it appears out of what already has been said That there are Terms to be performed on out part in this New Covenant as well as there are Promises on God's part and that Christianity is no such loose remiss and inert Religion as some Deceivers would make it which we shall make still more plain from several other testimonies of Scripture Matth. 11. The Kingdome of Heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force Whence is plainly intimated that no lazy or careless endeavours will carry us on to the enjoiment of the Promises of the Covenant As elsewhere He that laies his hand to the plough and looks back is not fit for the Kingdome of God And Luke 13.24 Strive to enter in at the streight gate For I say unto you many shall seek to enter in and shall not be able Because streight is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life but wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there be that goe in thereat As it is in the parallel place of S. Matthew Which plain places of Scripture one would think should awake those filthy dreamers out of their mischievous conceits opinions whereby they would make us believe the Evangelical dispensation is so soft and delicate a thing that there is no laying of the hand to the plough no crouding or striving but that we shall be carried to heaven on that easie featherbed of unactive Faith or fanatick Libertinism Whenas the Evangelical Oracles tell us that we are to work out our Salvation with fear and trembling that we are to run and to wrastle to fight and to resist even unto bloud 1 Cor. 9.24 Know ye not that they that run in a race run all but one receiveth the prize So run that ye may obtain And every one that strives for the victory is temperate in all things Now they doe it to obtain a corruptible crown but we an incorruptible I therefore so run not as uncertainly so fight I not as one that beateth the air But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection lest by any means when I have preached to others I my self should become a cast-away And yet S. Paul was as chosen a vessel as the choicest of these pieces that befool themselves so with self-flattery that they think they have found an easier way to Salvation then Paul himself knew that think they shall get the victory and the crown by not fighting against their own corruptions but by beating the Air with knackish forms of gracious speeches and vain grandiloquence that tends to nothing but the masking of their own Hypocrisie and unfaithfulness in the Covenant and to the seduction and ruine of others 6. But S. Paul however they would abuse some passages in him to the favouring of their ill cause is an utter disclaimer of such false doctrine and does yet more expresly tell us That the promises of the Gospel are conditional This is a faithfull saying saith he to Timothy 2 Epist. chap. 2. If we be dead with him we shall also live with him if we suffer we shall also reign with him if we deny him he will also deny us If we deal unfaithfully in the Covenant yet he is faithful and cannot deny himself He will stand to his Covenant in all the intents and purposes thereof whether to punishment or reward And Rom. 8. There is therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Iesus but their qualification presently follows that walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit and ver 8. They that are in the flesh cannot please God But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if so be the Spirit of God dwell in you and if this Spirit be in you the body is dead unto sin And again If ye live after the flesh ye shall die but if through the Spirit ye mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live And ver 16. The Spirit it self bears witness with our spirits that we are the Children of God And if Children then Heirs heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ if so be we suffer with him that we may also glorified with him Which plainly implies that the Inheritance of Heaven or Kingdome of glory is a conditional Kingdome or Inheritance And not to speak of Kingdoms we shall not so much as have remission of sins but upon condition Matth. 6.14 15. For if ye forgive men their trespasses your Heavenly Father will also forgive you But if you forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses What can be more evident then this CHAP. IX 1. What it is really to enter into this New Covenant 2. That the entring into this Covenant supposes actual Repentance 3. That this New Covenanter is born of water and the Spirit 4. The necessity of the skilfull usage of these new-born Babes in Christ. 5. That some Teachers are mere Witches and Childe-Suckers 1. WE have therefore undeniably demonstrated That this New Gospel-Covenant is a conditional Covenant and but that Hypocrisie and Impietie has made mens souls so degenerate that Sense and Non-sense is alike to them they would from the very sound and signification of the word perceive that there are mutual Terms and Conditions implied or else it could be no Covenant This therefore being premised we shall the better understand what is that due affection and qualification of mind that is required of him that would enter into this Covenant or what it is whereby he has really entred into it For it is not a mere Historical Faith or Belief of those things that are in the New Testament and an acknowledgment that they all tend to the peace and salvation of man and that he is obliged to live up to the utmost of his power to those holy Precepts that are there conteined but further there is a love and liking of the said Precepts as well as a desire of the enjoiment of the promise of Eternal life and a sincere resolution of endeavoring to live as near as he can according to those Evangelical Rules and a chearfull expectation of Divine assistance that God will enable him by the cooperation of his Holy Spirit to make such due progresses in life and Godliness as shall become an unfeigned professour of Faith in Christ Jesus 2. He that upon the perusal of the Records of the Gospel as they are found in the New Testament or by what other way soever the substance thereof is communicated to him and so upon information of his errours and mistakes whether in opinion or practice is thus affected as we have declared it is manifest that he has already repented him of his sins and errours and is in a real mislike of his former Conversation so far forth as it was unconformable to the mind of Christ. So that the state
Slave under the First that acts not out of a principle of Love and inward Life and liking but out of some external respect and cares not how little he does or what is the frame of his mind so he may but scape being well cudgelled for the present and receive at last the promised wages of his Master But under the Second Covenant the case is quite otherwise For the true Christian there is impatient of Sin merely because it is Sin and bears the same analogie to the sense of his Soul that a wearisome or torturous disease does to the sense of his Body and therefore it is intolerable till he be freed from it and that the more by how much the more assured he is that it is contrary to the will and minde of Christ who came into the world to heal us of our iniquities and to free us from all sin 5. And therefore lastly we are never to rest contended till we find our selves through the power of God arrived to this state and frame of spirit and that in such an height as is competible to humane nature that there may be nothing undestroied that is contrary and opposite to the Life of God in us That that may be fulfilled which is prophesied in Isaiah That they that fight against Israel shall be as nothing and they that strive with him shall perish Thou shalt seek them and shalt not finde them even them that contended with thee they that war against thee shall be as nothing and as a thing of nought CHAP. XII 1. That the destroying of Sin is not without some time of conflict The most infallible method for that dispatch 2. The constant ordering of our external actions 3. The Hypocritical complaint of those for want of power that will not doe those good things that are already in their power 4. The danger of making this new Covenant a Covenant of Works and our Love to Christ a mercenarie friendship 5. Earnest praiers to God for the perfecting of the Image of Christ in us 6. Continual circumspection and watchfulness 7. That the vilifying of outward Ordinances is no sign of a new-Covenanter but of a proud and carnal mind 8. Caution to the new-Covenanter concerning his converse with men 9. That the branches of the Divine life without Faith in God and Christ degenerate into mere Morality The examining all the motions and excursions of our Spirit how agreeable they are with Humility Charity and Purity 10. Cautions concerning the exercise of our Humility 11. As also of our Purity 12. And of our Love or Charity The safe conduct of the faithfull by their inward Guide 1. AND this may serve for a more general direction and encouragement but we shall annex also what is of more particular consideration For we have express'd our selves hitherto as if so soon as a man were under the Second Covenant there needed nothing but the finding out of his Sins for then armed with Faith and Love he could suddenly destroy them But that I may be rightly understood it cannot be without some time of conflict But the stronger he is in these Divine Vertues the Victory will be the easier and the speedier But in the mean time the Flesh will be working against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh and Patience and Faithfulness is required on our side that we doe what God already has put into our power And assuredly it is in the power of the new-Covenanter to mortifie all manner of corruptions and immoderate desires in due time by this short and infallible method viz. By a constant denial of their cravings Give a Begger nothing at thy door and he will never visit thee Desire is starved by being unfulfilled A man you know often loses his appetite by staying over-long for his dinner 2. Inordinate Desire will haunt a man like an Ague if we pamper and satisfie it The Devil and the Sop will both down into our bellies at once But thou maiest pine out both Desire and the Devil that lurks in it by a pertinacious Temperance or stopping thy self in thy outward Actions Affect not Vain-glory and applause in thy outward actions or speeches but modestly decline it and Pride will fall in thy Soul In good time thou shall finde Humility rise in thy heart and sweetly shine in thee with her milde light Give not thine Anger vent and it will be extinct like smothered fire Answer not thy Lust or Lasciviousness and it will cease to call unto thee but die as a weed trod down into the ground Dare to doe good though thy base heart gainsay it and pleasure thy very enemies those that hate thee or envy thee For Covetousness and Hatred being thus oft crossed will out of discontent at last quite leave thee 3. But if thou be false to God and thine own Soul in those things which he hath put in thy power and he hath put the outward man plainly in thy power and neglectest the performance of them and yet dost complain of want of strength thou art in plain English an Hypocrite and dealest treacherously with Christ in the Covenant and the Devil and thine own false heart have deceived thee Thou colloguest and flatterest with thy lips and tellest fair stories of the Loving-kindness and free Grace of God in Christ but thy heart is far from him For whosoever names the name of Christ is to depart from iniquity as has been already noted out of the Apostle 4. But now in the second place as we are faithfully to persist in a constant abstinence from outward evil actions and in a perpetual exercise of such as are good so we must by all means have a special care that we take not up our rest in these and so make this new Covenant a mere Covenant of works as if by these external performances we did so oblige Christ as that he were bound to give us Heaven by way of gratitude or of bargain and purchase we dealing craftily herein as poor men doe sometimes with great Persons presenting them with something of small value to get from them a reward of far greater worth they having in the mean time no cordial affection to those they present with their gifts but only baiting the hook to catch a fish Nay I adde further That personal Love and Affection merely upon this account of being externally beneficial to us in dying for us and delivering us from eternal destruction even this does not fill up the End and purpose of the Second Covenant For this were little better then a kind of mercenary Friendship and such as is competible to the mere Natural man for he can love him that does him such a good as his very Animal frame or temper is sensible of But our Love and Friendship with Christ must be still more inward and more intimate we being tied to him not only by the sense of external Benefits but by Unity of Spirit there being the same Life and
The three Branches from this Root Humility Charity and Purity and why they are called Divine 3. A Description of Humility 4. A Description of Charity and how Civil Justice or Moral Honesty is eminently contained therein 5. A Description of Purity and how it eminently contains in it what ever Moral Temperance or Fortitude pretend to 6. A Description of the truest Fortitude 7. And how transcendent an Example thereof our Saviour was 8. A further representation of the stupendious Fortitude of our Saviour 9. That Moral Prudence also is necessarily comprized in the Divine life 10. That the Divine life is the truest Key to the Mystery of Christianity but the excellency thereof unconceivable to those that do not partake of it 1. AND now I have advanced the Animal life so high by adding this Middle Nature to it that you may perhaps marvail upon what I shall pitch that may seem more precious and desirable unless it be some wonder-working Faith whereby a man might cast out Devils and command mountains to remove and be carried into the midst of the Sea But it is so far from proving any such like priviledge that the Tumour of the natural Spirit of man would please it self in that I am afraid when I shall describe it he will have no relish at all of it scarce understand what I mean and if he do yet he will look upon it as a dry insipid Notion without any fruit or pleasure therein But however I will declare it to him as well as I can and that nothing may be wanting I shall First give a short glance at the Root of this Divine life also which is an Obediential Faith and Affiance in the true God the Maker and Original of all things From this Faith Apostate Angels and lapsed Mankind are fallen but the Soul of the Messias ever stood upright wading through the deepest Temptations that humane Nature could be encumbred with 2. But this Holy and Divine life to such as have an eye to see will be most perceptible in the Branches thereof though to the Natural man they will look very witheredly and contemptibly These Branches are Three whose names though trivial and vulgar yet if rightly understood they bear such a sense with them that nothing more weighty can be pronounced by the tongue of men or Seraphims and in brief they are these Charity Humility and Purity which where-ever they are found are the sure and infallible marks or signes of either an unfallen Angel or a Regenerate Soul These we call Divine Vertues not so much because they imitate in some things the Holy Attributes of the Eternal Deity but because they are such as are proper to a Creature to whom God communicates his own nature so far forth as it is capable of receiving it whether that Creature be Man or Angel and so becomes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For such a Creature as this and Christ was such a Creature in the highest manner conceivable has conspicuously in it these three Divine Vertues namely Humility Charity and Purity 3. By Humility I understand such a Spirit or gracious property in the Soul of man or any Intellectual Creature as that hereby he does sensibly and affectionately attribute all that he has or is or can do to God the Author and Giver of every good and perfect gift This is the highest piece of Holiness and the truest and most acceptable sacrifice we can offer to God thus lively and freely to acknowledge that all we have is from him From whence we do not arrogate any thing to our selves nor contemptuously lord it over others In this Grace is comprehended an ingenuous Gratitude which is the freest and most Noble kind of Iustice that is A full renouncing of all Self-dependency a firm and profound Submission to the Will of God in all things and a Disgust or at least a Deadness to the glory of the World and the applause of men 4. By Charity I understand an Intellectual Love by which we are enamoured of the Divine Perfections such as his Goodness Equity Benignity his Wisdome also his Iustice and his Power as they are graciously actuated and modified by the forenamed Attributes And I say that to be truly transformed into these Divine Perfections so far forth as they are communicable to Humane nature and out of the real sense of them in our selves to love and admire God in whom they infinitely and unmeasurably reside is the truest and highest kind of Adoration and the most grateful Praising and Glorifying God that the Soul of man can exhibit to her Maker But in being thus transformed into this Divine image of Intellectual Love our Mindes are not onely raised in holy Devotions towards God but descend also in very full and free streams of dearest Affection to our fellow-Creatures rejoycing in their good as if it were our own and compassionating their misery as if it were our selves did suffer and according to our best judgement and power ever endeavoring to promote the one and to remove the other And this most eminently conteins in it whatever good is driven at by Civil Iustice or Moral Honesty For how should we injure those for whose real welfare we could be content to die 5. By Purity I understand a due moderation and rule over all the Joyes and Pleasures of the Flesh bearing so strict an hand and having so watchful an eye over their subtil enticements allurements and so firme and loyal affection to that Idea of Celestial Beauty set up in our Mindes that neither the Pains of the Body nor the Pleasures of the Animal life shall ever work us below our Spiritual Happiness and all the competible enjoyments of that life that is truly Divine And in this conspicuously is contain'd whatever either Moral Temperance or Fortitude can pretend to For ordinarily he is held Temperate enough that can but save his brains from gross sottishness and his Body from diseases but this Purity respects the Divine life it self and requires such a Moderation in all the affairs of the Flesh that our Bodies may still remain unpolluted Temples and meet Habitations for the Spirit of God to dwell in and act in whether by way of Illumination or Sanctification and Animation to interiour duties of Holiness And as for Fortitude it is plain that this Purity of the Soul having mortified and tamed the exorbitant lusts and pleasures of the Body Death will seem less formidable by far and this mortal Life of lesser value 6. But the greatest Fortitude of all is when Love proves stronger then Death it self even in the deepest and most bitter sense of it and not so much the weakness and insensibleness of the Body nor yet the full carreer or furious heat and hurry of the naturall Spirits makes Pain and Death more tolerable but the pure courage of the Soul her self animated onely by an unrelinquishable
his Church cannot cease himself not ceasing to be but he is a Priest and King for ever according to the Prophecies CHAP. IV. 1. Our Saviour's strict injunction of Purity from whence it is also plain that the Love he commends is not in any sort fleshly but Divine 2. Several places out of the Apostles urging the same duty 3. Two more places to the same purpose 4. The groundless presumption of those that abuse Christianity to a liberty of sinning 5. That this Errour attempted the Church betimes and is too taking at this very day 6. Whence appears the necessity of opposing it which he promises to doe taking the rise of his Discourse from 1 Iohn 3.7 1. THE third Branch of the Divine Life is Purity In the urging whereof both Christ and his Apostles being so earnest it is plain that that Love which they recommend to the World can be no suspected affection like that which the canting language of the Enthusiasts may justly be thought to favour but that it is that pure and holy Love indeed which deservedly we have styled Divine And how severely this Purity we speak of is required I shall give you some few but very sufficient instances Matth. 5.27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time Thou shalt not commit adultery But I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery already with her in his heart And if thy right eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee for it is better for thee that one of thy members should perish then that thy whole body should be cast into Hell And if thy right hand offend thee cut it off and cast it from thee c. What more serious and earnest monition can there be made to Continence and Abstinence from sensual pleasures then this of our Saviour who upon no less penaltie then the torments of Hell interdicts us all looseness and uncleanness forbidding us all preludious preparations to the foul acts of Lust and not permitting so much as an imaginary scene of illicit transactions to which our will could really assent if opportunity were offered 2. And we shall find the Apostles insisting in the footsteps of their Master in this matter 2. Corinth 6. Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separated saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you And I will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my sons and daughters saith the Lord Almighty Having therefore these promises dearly beloved let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God And 1 Thessalon 5. The God of peace sanctifie you wholy and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Iesus Christ. And in the former chapter ver 3. For this is the will of God even your sanctification that ye should abstain from fornication That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour not in the lust of concupiscence as the Gentiles that know not God And 1 Corinth 6. ver 13. Now the bodie is not for fornication but the Lord and the Lord for the bodie And God hath both raised up the Lord and will also quicken us by his own power Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot God forbid And a little after Flee fornication Every sin that a man doth is without the body but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body What know ye not that your Body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost in you which ye have of God and ye are not your own For ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your bodie and in your Spirit which are God's Also Coloss. 3.5 Mortifie therefore your members which are upon the earth Fornication Uncleanness immoderate affection evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry For which things sake the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience Parallel to which is that Ephes. 5.3 Walk in love as Christ also hath loved us but fornication and all uncleanness and covetousness let it not be so much as once named amongst you as becomes saints Neither filthiness nor foolish talking which are not convenient but rather giving of thanks For this ye know that no whoremonger nor unclean person nor covetous man who is an Idolater hath any inheritance in the kingdome of Christ and of God Let no man deceive you with vain words for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience Be not you therefore partakers with them And 1 Corinth 6.9 Know ye not the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdome of God Be not deceived neither fornicatours nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor abusers of themselves with mankind nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdome of God 3. I have made a more ample collection of the enforcements of this duty of Purity and Sanctity then I intended and yet I cannot abstain from adding of two more the one out of S. Peter 1 Epist. ch 2. Dearly beloved I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. The other out of him which I have already so often cited Rom. 13.12 The night is far spent and the day is at hand let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light Let us walk honestly as in the day not in rioting and drunkenness not in chambring and wantonness not in strife and envying But put ye on the Lord Iesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof 4. I have now abundantly shewn how plainly and explicitly Christ and his Apostles urge all men that are hearers of the Gospel to be carefull and conscionable doers of the same that they should be holy even as Christ was holy in all manner of conversation that they are bound to endeavour and aspire after the participation of the Divine life and all the Branches thereof Humility Love and Purity hating even the garment spotted by the flesh as the Apostle Iude speaks And how this Holiness and Righteousness is required of them with no less seriousness and earnestness then upon the forfeiture of their eternal Salvation if they do not act according to those Precepts Insomuch that I stand amazed while I consider with my self that hellish and abominable gloss that some have put upon the Gospel as if it were a mere school of loosness and that the end of Christs coming into the world was but to bring down a commission to the sons of men whereby they might be enabled to sin with authority I am sure with all desirable security and impunity nothing
they being given up into the power of those deformed Fiends of Hell the very thoughts of whose sight and company might be enough to affright any man that is not Atheistically sortish from assimilating himself to those nasty Gaol-birds by repeated acts of Vice and Wickedness Besides what smart of punishment shall reach both their outward Senses and guilty Consciences by the inevitable rod of God's Justice upon them 3. VVherefore it is most indispensably rational to use this VVorld as if we used it not and to addict our selves to such Pleasures as are most proper to the other State such as are those most delicious touches senses of the Divine Love or that pure and intellectual Affection which S. Paul calls Charity VVhereby we delight in the good of another as if it were our own whereby we rejoice in the wisdome goodness of God displaied his Creatures whereby we ardently desire the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ infinitely before any private advantage whatsoever and do faithfully assist and earnestly expect the joyful accomplishment and finishing of the great Mystery of Godliness in the fullest period thereof to a final Triumph over Sin and Satan and a perfect Redemption of the Church of Christ into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God 4. These are the warrantable Pleasures of the Soul that has a designe upon the Life to come of a Soul that is risen with Christ and therefore seeks those things that are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God And upon this very consideration the Apostle enforceth his Exhortation Colos. 3. Mortifie therefore your members which are upon earth Fornication Uncleannesse inordinate Affection evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry And our Saviour in his Sermon on the Mount Lay not up for your selves treasures upon Earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal But lay up for your selves treasures in Heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt nor thieves break through and steal For where your treasure is there will your heart be also And therefore Saint Paul professes of himself and exhorts others to imitate him that his minde is wholly taken up with those things which are above Philip. 3.17 Brethren be followers of me and mark them that walk so as ye have us for an example For our conversation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our municipal affairs our negotiations of greatest concernment are in Heaven of which City we are and from whence we look for our Saviour the Lord Iesus Christ who shall change our vile bodies that they may be fashioned like to his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself 5. And verily he that through Faith is once possest of these things it is a wonder to me how he can think of any thing else As the Prisoner could not abstain from the pleasure of thinking of the known day of his Liberty or a poor man of an Inheritance that would certainly fall to him within the term of few years And if it were Conditional as this of the Kingdome of Heaven is we may easily conceive how much he were concerned to have a care punctually to observe the Conditions propounded or earnestly to endeavour to get such Qualifications as that he may not forfeit the enjoiment of that Fortune which otherwise would naturally fall to his share And how they are to be qualified that are to be Heires of that everlasting Inheritance the Scripture doth plainly set out there must no unclean thing enter into the Holy City None can be Heirs of this Kingdome but the sons of God nor any be the sons of God but those that are led by the Spirit of God Rom. 8. And what are the Fruits and Effects of that domestick Guide the Apostle has plainly told us already Galat. 5. That the fruits of the Spirit are Love Ioy Peace Long-suffering Gentlenesse Goodnesse Faith Meekness Temperance And they that are Christs in whose Title alone it is that we can lay claim to Heaven have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts And again Rom. 8. If ye live after the flesh ye shall die but if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live that is to say ye shall live the life of Peace and Joy and Righteousness here and of Eternal Glory hereafter 6. Wherefore we see what an urgent Power the Meditation of future Happiness is to the Believer to make him endeavour to the utmost to be Partaker of the Divine Nature and to aspire to a due measure of Holiness without which we shall necessarily be frustrate of our expected Happiness The consideration whereof cannot but wean him from all the exorbitant desires of the Pleasures Profits or Honours of this World Which though they had not intermingled with them many vexations and distasts much care and solicitude but were certain for this life and entire yet Life being uncertain and the longest terme thereof but like a Dream or a Post that goes by in comparison of our future abode elsewhere I dare leave it to the worldly mans own computation what a pittiful bargain he has made in forgoing what is to come for these temporary Enjoyments worse far then he that sold his Birth-right for a mess of Pottage But I shall not dilate any further on so plain a matter All the Wit and Rhetorick of Man cannot move him whom those known but weighty Words of our Saviour will not VVhat will it profit a man to gain the whole VVorld and to lose his own Soul CHAP. XVIII 1. The Day of Judgement the seventh and last Gospel-power fit as well for the regenerate as the unregenerate to think upon 2. The Uncertainty of that Day and that it will surprize the wicked unawares 3. That those that wilfully reject the offers of Grace hâ—re shall be in better condition after Death then the Devils themselves are 4. A Description of the sad Evening-close of that terrible Day of the Lord. 5. The Affrightment of the Morning-appearance thereof to the wicked 6. A further Description thereof 7. The Translation of the Church of Christ to their Aethereal Mansions with a brief Description of their Heavenly Happinesse 1. WE come now to the Seventh and last Power of the Gospel which is The consideration of the dreadful Solemnity of the Day of Iudgement the very mention whereof from the mouth of Paul made Felix the Governour to tremble And I must confess it is so hard an Engine that it is more fit to beat upon the obdurate hearts of the Unbeliever and Unregenerate that are crusted over with Iron and Flint then for battery against the truly Regenerate and sincere Believers for those other Powers of the Gospel are more proper and abundantly sufficient for carrying them on with courage and constancy in the waies of God But there is in the Day of Iudgement an Object not
Faith and Devotion and invigorated Meditations of the other State will so fortifie his spirits and strengthen his minde that in all this affliction he will become more then Conquerour through the power of Christ that enables him to all things And by how much the enjoyments of this present life are diminished the more his thoughts are cast upon those that are to come 3. This brief Intimation shall suffice to shew how serviceable Christianity is for comfort and solace in this present life to every true Christian in his private Capacities But I must not omit to discover also that advantage which a Communialty has by becoming truly Christian. Which I am forced to the rather because some have not stuck to pronounce of Christianity as of a Religion never intended for bodies Politick and very disadvantageous for publick Concerns As if Christian Humility Mortification of the Flesh and Patience of Injuries would so cow and soften a Nation that it would make them as helplesse as innocent and thus betray them to the victorious Fierceness of their invading Neighbours and the Precepts of Charity so indispensably urged but slacken the hands of those that are able to work and fill the whole Land with lazy beggars Such like Cavils as these have some ill-willers not only to Christian Religion but as I suspect to any Religion that would curb their inordinate affections invented and cast abroad but more to the detection of their own ignorance and shame then of any Imperfection or Unfitness in Christianity whereby it may not be the Religion of the most flourishing States and Kingdoms that can be constituted 4. In answer therefore to the proposed Objections I will in the first place acknowledge with them That the Gospel was not intended primarily for the advantages of this Life nor bore in it any Politick design for the administration of Publick affairs of State but for making men in their private capacities good and happy and for working their spirits into such a frame of Life and Holiness as would most certainly assure them of that Joy and Glory that is laid up for Believers in the other World But withall I cannot but take notice By how much it is plain that there is no Political or Worldly Design in the Gospel by so much the more evident it is that there is no deceit nor falshood therein and that it is not the cunning contrivance of some crafty Law-giver but an holy sincere and infallible Testimony of the Will of God concerning the True way of Salvation and of the everlasting Happiness of the Souls of men 5. But though I have been so liberal as to allow them thus much yet I deny That there is any thing in Christian Religion but what is not onely not inconsistent with but highly advantageous to a State or Kingdome that becomes truly Christian. For empty noises and names of things do nothing Wherefore I shall affirme That whatever advantages other Religions may be thought to have for conscientious obedience to the supreme Powers and faithfull dealing betwixt man and man which is the universal scope of all Religions as they are made serviceable to bodies Politick Christianity has these and upon more evident and unquestionable grounds then any Religion else whatsoever For what Religion is there in the World that can give that demonstration of a Life to come that Christianity doth in the Resurrection of our blessed Saviour that infallible pledge of immortal Happiness to all his followers The truth therefore of Christian Religion rightly represented being so irrefutably convincing to both the learned the unlearned the Heart and Conscience not onely of the People but also of the Magistrate will be the more irresistably bound to the performance of their mutual duties one to another The Result whereof is an unviolable Peace and with that all such comforts of Life as the best Laws and Governments pretend to aime at for making a Nation happy 6. Nay I adde further that those things that they object against Christianity are such as if a Nation become truly Christian do most effectually reach the chiefest Ends of Political Government Of which one main one is mutual succour in time of need And what is more proper for this then Charity Nor is there any fear that this proneness to help one another shall relaxate the endeavours of the generality of the body Politick but it only sweetens their care and industry and takes off that torturous solicitude that must naturally attend those that know too well that if they cannot hold up themselves they must certainly perish Which desperate consideration forces them to all possible tricks frauds for Self-Preservation Which uncomfortableness of life and the evil temptations thereof are prevented in a Common-wealth that is truly Christian and consequently sincerely Charitable Neither will Laziness thereby be nourished this same Christian frame of Spirit making them all more ambitious of doing then receiving good according to that noble saying of our Saviour It is a more blessed thing to give then to receive 7. And as it is without controversie that Humility the patient Suffering of injuries and the Mortifying the exorbitant desires of the flesh do tend most certainly in a Polity that is become thus Christian to a constant Peaceableness and a faithful and impartial Administration of Iustice in all things For from whence is Warre and Dissension Violence and Injustice but from the inordinate lusts of the Flesh from Pride and Desire of disproportionable Revenge so is it as true also that they make us not a whit more liable to the invasion of our Enemies as becoming thereby more cow'd or soft in Spirit For a due castigation of the lusts of the Flesh rendreth the Body more healthful and hardy whenas Luxury will certainly make it rotten and effeminate and expose it to all manner of diseases And it is a very unskilful conceit to think that Humility will make them such tame things that the enemy may take them up and carry them away at his pleasure For Christian Humility does not consist in being content to be brought under bondage by men but in not despising others and not arrogating any thing to our selves nor seeking unjust dominion over others for our own pleasure and satisfaction 8. Nor does Patience toward particular injuries inure the Christian at all to be remiss in making resistance against an unjust Invader of his Country and Liberties For the very same Principle namely the Divine Love that prompted him to bear private wrong the damages whereof he could better reckon up will as forcibly urge him to resist such publick Violence done against the body of Christ who are more dear unto him then the apple of his eye and their Concerns as much beyond his private Interest as their Number exceeds his single Person His Love therefore to Christ who died for him and whose Cause then shall really lie at the stake His sincere affection to his fellow-members to
the sound and comely frame of a Christian spirit is this Unfeignedly to endeavour the perfecting of all Holiness both in Heart and Actions and not to allow a mans self in any thing that he thinks is a sin and when he is arriv'd at that height of Sanctity that he is not conscious to himself that he does any thing that is unlawful to give the whole praise to God and to His Merits and Intercession that has procured him the assistance of his holy Spirit and by virtue of his Death has so powerfully engaged him to warre against his lusts and to mortifie all his immoderate Passions and withall to remember that though he know nothing by himself yet he is not thereby justified and that a man cannot be sure but that he may mistake himself in some thing or other though he never sin against his own light and to impute it rather to the mercy of God that he has not led him into such violent Temptations as some have been that he finds himself not to have submitted to evil motions then to ostentate his own strength and contemn the Protection of so kind a Saviour who being acquainted with humane infirmity may justly be thought to have kept off those tempestuous Assaults that otherwise might have invaded us Besides that let us be never so perfect now yet it cannot pay the old score because we ought to have been alwaies without sin and therefore our recourse to so compassionate a Saviour is never out of date Which is a Truth indispensable both for the maintaining of the honour of Christ and keeping our selves in a submiss and humble frame of Spirit towards God and towards men So that the Opinion of these Enthusiastick Perfectionists does plainly transgress against both the second and third Rule we have set down CHAP. IX 1 Sincerity the middle way betwixt pretended Infirmity and the boast of Perfection with the description thereof 2. A more full character of the Sincere Christian. 3. That they that endeavour not after that state are Hypocrites and they that pretend to be above it Conspiratours against the everlasting Priesthood of Christ. 4. The Personal Reign of Christ upon Earth and the Millenium in the more sober meaning thereof applied to the above-nam'd Rules 1. TO stear our course right therefore betwixt those Hypocritical Pretenders of Invincible Infirmity and these High-flown Boasters of absolute Perfection we must keep in that safe middle path of Unfeigned Sincerity Which therefore wil neither charge the condition of Nature as being utterly uncorrigible that cannot be reduc'd to Obedience no not by the power of the Spirit of God nor cast it upon God himself as being unwilling or not caring that Nature should be thus reduc'd and brought under to the obedience of Christ But a man will charge himself in all his miscarriages and hold it his duty and such as by Gods assistance he may perform if he be not wanting on his part to yield his Members as Instruments of Righteousness to God as well as he did before yield them as Instruments of Unrighteousness to Sin For Sincerity implying a faithful purpose and will of doing what is right Christ has hereby wone the Castle or Fort of his enemy and all the Ammunition and Engines therein will certainly then be used for right designes The Eyes that before suck'd in rotten corruptive thoughts from false alluring Objects and so set the Heart on fire with filthy lusts are now made Inlets of the light and brightness of the unspotted Wisdome of God fairly pourtraied out in the visible Creature Those Ears that could before drink in with delight the smooth tales of Detraction and Calumny stand now open onely to the sighs of the poor or honest reports of our Neighbour Those Feet that before were swift to shed bloud are now much more ready to rescue the innocent Those Hands that before were onely exercised in griping and pulling from others are now ever open for Alms-deeds and bountiful distribution to the needy That Tongue that in secret would not spare to strike his Friend will now in a just cause defend his Enemy In brief there is no external Action of true Sanctity and Righteousness but the sincere Christian both believes and findes he has a power to perform it and therefore does constantly the good and refuses the evil that his conscience tells him is so indeed and is in his power to do and refrain that is to say He will be sure to refrain from whatsoever is unjust he will never deal with another otherwise then himself would be dealt with he will most certainly abstein from Extortion Adultery Fornication he will never doe any envious or revengeful Actions And not onely so but he does believe that through the grace of God he may be quite devoid of all Envy and Malice and not so much as bear any ill will against any man no not against his Enemies and the same of all other inordinate affections which though they move strongly and rebelliously yet he never assents so far to them as to be willing to doe them though he had a secure opportunity thereof 2. And yet he does not think himself perfect though he thus assents to no Sin while he thinks it so nor at all doubts of his Salvation though he be imperfect And if by the boisterousness and importunity of a Temptation or some unavoidable Inadvertency he falls into any evil action the pleasure he finds from it will be like that which a child gets by falling with his forehead against sharp stones or with his hands into the fire Wherefore his sincere Love to Righteousness and hearty abhorrence from Sin will make him alwaies circumspect For he holds himself bound not onely not to commit sin when it appears to be so which he thinks then impossible for him to do but charges himself with a perpetual watchfulness that he may not commit it when it would insinuate it self under some more specious shape And though by Divine Assistance and faithful Adhesion thereto he finde himself arriv'd to that pitch that he has conquered all corruptions so that he cannot charge himself with either Pride or Lust or Envy or Covetousness or any such like Vice or that he does misbelieve the Promises of God or does not depend upon his Providence or is not willing to submit to his will in all things to whatever condition he shall call him yet he knowing himself withall not infallible nor unconquerable especially without the assistance of Christ as also actually beset with many inconveniences of humane Nature such as are Straying of thoughts Unevenness in Devotion Indisposedness of minde by reason of this Tabernacle of Earth we live in and reflecting on the old reckoning of the Follies of our Life past which nothing but ignorance can conceit to have been without Sin and how all these things though ordinary Philosophy pronounces them to be no Faults but mere Infirmities of Nature they