into meer Brutes have this mental and intellectual love to goodness That is they approve and like it in their minds and would practise it also were it not for the prevalent biass of flesh and sense And hence it will follow likewise That the same may approve and respect good men They may reverence and love them for their Charity Humility Justice and Temperance though themselves are persons of the contrary Character yea they may have a great and ardent affection for those that are eminently pious and devout though they are very irreligious themselves The conscience of vertue and of the excellency of Religion may produce this in the meer natural man who is under the dominion of vile inclinations and affections and therefore neither is this a good mark of godliness Our love to God goodness will not stead us except it be prevalent And as the love described may be natural and a meer animal man may arrive unto it So 2. He may to an extraordinary zeal for the same things that are the objects of his love Hot tempers are eager where they take either kindness or displeasure The natural man that hath an animal love to Religion may be violent in speaking and acting for things appertaining to it If his temper be devotional and passionate he becomes a mighty zealot and fills all places with the fame of his godliness His natural fire moves this way aud makes a mighty blaze Ahab was very zealous 't is like 't was not only his own interest that made him so 2 Kings 10. 16. The Pharirisees were zealous people and certainly their zeal was not always personated and put on but real though they were Hypocrites yet they were such as in many things deceived themselves as well as others They were zealous for their Traditions and they believ'd 't was their duty to be so St. Paul while a persecutor was zealous against the Disciples and he thought he ought to do many things against that name And our Saviour foretells that those zealous murderers that should kill his Saints should think They did God good service in it John 16. 2. So that all the zeal of the natural man is not feigning and acting of a part nor hath it always evil objects The Pharisees were zealous against the wickedness of the Publicans and Sinners Zeal and that in earnest and for Religion may be in 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 gleriously and seems to speak mighty things As 3. 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 enabled 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 varius in their tempers fometimes merry and pleasant to excess and then plung'd as deep into the other extream 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 themselves Now while the sweet Blood and Humours 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 satisfactionâ— 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 But 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 naturalpassions and imaginations produce when they are tinctured and heightned by religious melancholly To deny ones self and to overcome ones passions and to live in a course of a sober Vertue is much more Divine than 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 Psal. 119. 165. and joy in believing Rom. 15. 13. and the peace of God that passeth all understanding Phil. 4. 7. But then these Divine Vouchsafements are not rapturous or ecstatical 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 reward 's and results of vertue the rejoycings of a good conscience 2 Cor. 1. 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 the mark Phil. 3. 14. But for such as have only the forms of godliness I have mentioned while the evil inclinations and habits are indulged whatever they may pretend all the sweets they talk of are but the imagery of dreams and the pleasant delusions of their fancies 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
Nobleness of a wise and Vertuous Spirit commands inward Venerations and hath a large Empire over the Souls of Men. Knowledge is a Beam of the Coelestial Light and Vertue a Branch of the Divine Image Great Excellencies in themselves and true Accomplishments of humane Na ure In both your Lordship hath out-done your few years and given a Pattern to young Noblemen how to imploy their Youth Honourably and Becommingly to the Reputation of their Quality and Families and their own Happiness and Glory But my Lord there is a Perfection beyond these or more properly 't is the height and perfection of them and that is Religion this makes Honourable in both Worlds and enters those that are truly possest of it among the Nobility of God I doubt not but your Lordship hath taken care to season your Active and Considerate Youth with the Study and Practice of this best Accomplishment such a Dedication of the first Fruits to our Maker is most just in it self most acceptable to Him and will be most comfortable to the Person that makes the Offering Your Lordship is by the Bounty of Providence incircled with all Circumstances of Earthly Felicity Piety and a Religious Life will procure the Divine favour bless all your Injoyments in this World and assure infinitely better in another There dwells our Happiness and Religion is the way to it This is the Subject of the little Book with which I here humbly present your Lordship If it may contribute any thing to your Service in these highest Concerns it will be a mighty Pleasure and Satisfaction to My Lord Your Lordships Most humble and most obedient Servant Jos. Glanvil The Preface THis Discourse was first printed about six years ago since which time it had the fortune of a stoln Edition in Scotland The ocasion of its Publication was this I being desired to preach at a neighbour-City recollected the last Sermon I had delivered to mine own people and made use of that some of the Hearers that thought themselves fit Judges misapprehended my meaning in divers things and past Sentence upon their own mistakes as mine this induced me to transcribe it out of my memory which I did while it was yet fresh in my mind exactly as to the matter though possibly with some small difference as to the frame of words and with some additions at the end The Copy was accidentally seen by a near Relation who desired it should be publish'd which I permitted and do it now again at my Bookseller's Instance Luke 12. 24. Strive to enter in at the strait Gate For many I say unto you shall seek to enter in and shall not be able The Way OF HAPPINESS AND SALVATION WHEN I consider the goodness of God and the merits of his Son our Saviour and the Influences of the Holy Spirt and all the advantages of the Gospel The certainty of its Principles the reasonableness of its duties the greatness of its ends the suitableness of its means the glory of its Rewards and the Terrour of its punishments I say when I consider these and then look upon Man as a reasonable Creature apprehensive of Duty and interest and apt to be moved by hopes and fears I cannot but wonder and be astonisht to think that notwithstanding all this the far greater part of men should finally miscarry and be undone 'T is possible some such Considerations might be the occasion of the Question propounded to our Saviour in the verse immediately foregoing the Text. Lord are there Few that be saved God is Love and all the Creatures are His and man a noble sort He is the Lover of Men and Thou art Redeemer of Men and though Man hath offended yet God is propense to pardon and in Thee he is reconciled He is desirous of our happiness and Thou art come into the world to offer and promote it and the Holy Ghost is powerful and ready to assist our endeavours We were made for happiness and we seek it And Lord are there Few that be saved The Text is Christ's return to the Question Strive to enter in at the straight Gate for many I say unto you will seek to enter and shall not be able In which words we have three things I An Answer imply'd straight is the Gate II A duty exprest strive to enter III A Consideration to engage our greater care and deligence in the Duty For many will seek to enter and shall not be able By the Gate we may understand the entrance and all the way of Happiness and that is Religion By the straightness of it the Difficulties we are to encounter By striving earnest and sincere endeavour By seeking an imperfect striving And from the words thus briefly explain'd These Propositions offer themselves to onr Consideration I. There are many and great difficulties in Religion The Gate is straight II. The difficulties may be overcome by striving Strive to enter III. There is a sort of striving that will not procure an entrance For many will seek to enter in and shall not be able I begin with the First in order viz. That there are many and great difficulties in Religion And to what I have to say about it I premise this negative Consideration That The Difficulties of Religion do not lye in the Vnderstanding Religion is a plain thing and easie to be understood 'T is no deep subtilty or high-strain'd notion 't is no gilded phancy or elaborate exercise of the brain 'T is not plac'd in the clouds of Imagination nor wrapt up in mystical cloathing But 't is obvious and familiar easie and intelligible First preach't by Fishermen and Mechanicks without pomp of speech or height of speculation addreft to Babes and Plebeian heads and intended to govern the wills of the honest and sincere and not to exercise the wits of the notional and curious So that we need not mount the wings of the wind to fetch Religion from the stars nor go down to the deep to fetch it up from thence For 't is with us and before us as open as the day and as familiar as the light The great Praecepts of the Gospel are cloathed in Sun-beams and are as visible to the common eye as to the Eagle upon the highest perch 'T is no piece of wit or subtilty to be a Christian nor will it require much study or learned retirement to understand the Religion we must practise That which was to be known of God was manifest to the very Heathen Rom. 1. 19. The Law is light saith Solomon Prov. 6. 13. And 't is not only a single passing glance on the eye but 't is put into the heart and the promise is that we shall all know him from the greatest to the least Our duty is set up in open places and shone upon by a clear Beam 'T was written of old upon the plain Tables of Habakkuk Hab. 2. 2. So that the running Eye might see and read And the Religion of the H. Jesus like himself
Creatures that God gives us and love them in their degree For the animal Life may have its moderate Gratifications God made all things that they might enjoy their Being And now notwithstanding all this Religion commands us to set our Affections upon things above Col. 3. 2. not to love the World 1 Joh. 2. 15. to be careful for nothing Phil. 4. 6. to take no thought for to morrow Mat. 6. 34. The meaning of which Expressions is That we should love God and Heavenly things in the chief and first place and avoid the immoderate Desires of Worldly Love and Cares This is our Duty and 't is very difficult For by reason of the burry of Business and those Passions that Earthly Engagements excite we consider not things as we should and so many times perceive not the Bounds of our Permissions and the Beginnings of our Restraints where the allowed Measure ends and the forbidden Degree commenceth what is the difference between that Care that is a Duty and that which is a Sin Providence and Carking and between that Love of the World which is Necessary and Lawful and that which is Extravagant and Inordinate I say by reason of the hurry we are in amidst Business and worldly Delights we many times perceive not our Bounds and so slide easily into Earthly-mindedness and anxiety And it is hard for us who are engaged so much in the World and who need it so much who converse so much with it and about it and whose time and endeavours are so unavoidably taken up by it I say 't is hard for us in such Circumstances to be crucified to the World Gal. 6. 14. and to all inordinate Affections to it to live above it and to settle our chief Delights and Cares on things at great distance from us which are unsutable to our corrupt Appetites and contrary to the most relishing Injoyments of Flesh which Sense never saw nor felt and which the Imagination it self could never grasp This no doubt is hard Exercise and this must be done in the way of Religion and on this Account also it is very difficult Thus of the First Proposition That there are great Difficulties in Religion I come now to the Second II. THat those Difficulties may be overcome by striving which imports both the Encouragement and the Means That they may be vanquisht and how I. That the Difficulties may be subdued is clearly enough implyed in the Precept we should not have been commanded to strive if it had been impossible to overcome God doth not put his Creatures upon fruitless Undertakings He never requires us to do any thing in order to that which is not to be attained Therefore when he was resolved not to be intreated for that stubborn and rebellious Nation He would not have the Prophet pray for them Jer. 7. 16. Pray not for this People for I will not hear thee He would not be petitioned for that which he was determined not to grant He puts not his Creatures upon any vain Expectations and Endeavours nor would he have them deceive themselves by fond Dependences When one made this Profession to our Saviour Lord I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest Christ tells him that he must expect from him no worldly Honours or Preferments no Power or sensual Pleasure no not so much as the ordinary Accommodations of Life The Foxes have Holes and the Birds of the Ayre have Nests but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his Head Luk. 9. 5 8. He would not have the man that likely might look for these upon the opinion of his being the Messias in the Jewish sense one that should at last whatever the meanness of his Condition was at present appear as a Mighty and Triumphant temporal Monarch I say our Saviour would not have the Man follow him for that which he had not to bestow upon him Since then that he who would not put us upon fruitless labours hath commanded us to strive to enter 't is evident that an entrance may be procured into the Gate by striving and that the Difficulties may be overcome The next thing in my Method is to shew How the manner is implyed in the Text and exprest in the Proposition viz. By striving and by this is meant a resolute use of those means that are the Instruments of Happiness They are three Faith Prayer and active Endeavour 1. Faith is a chief Instrument for the overcoming the Difficulties of our way And Faith in the general is the belief of a Testimony Divine Faith the belief of a Divine Testimony and the chief things to be believed as encouragements and means for a Victory over the Difficulties in Religion are these That God is reconciled to us by his Son That he will assist our weak endeavous by the Aids of his Spirit That he will reward us if we strive as we ought with immortal Happiness in a World of endless Glory By our belief of God's being reconciled we are secured from those fears that might discourage our approaches and endeavours upon the account of his Purity and Justice By the Faith of his Assistance all the objections against our striving that arise from the greatness of the Difficulties and the disproportionate smalness of our Strength are answered And from our believing eternal rewards in another World we have a mighty motive to engage our utmost diligence to contest with all difficulties that would keep us from it What satisfaction is there saith the believer in the gratification of my corrupt Inclinations and Senses in comparison with that which ariseth from the favour of God and an Interest in his Son What difficulties in my Duty too great for Divine Aids What pains are we to undergo in the narrow and difficult way that the Glory which is at the end of it will not compensate What is it to deny a base Inclination that will undo me in obedience to him that made and redeemed me and to despise the little things of present sense for the hope of everlasting enjoyments Trifting pleasure for Hallelujabs What were it for me to set vigorously upon those Passions that degrade my noble Nature and make me a slave and a beast and will make me more vile and more miserable when the Spirit of the most High is at my right hand to assist me Why should my noble Faculties that were designed for glorious ends be led into infamous practices by base Vsages and dishonourable Customs What is the example of a wicked sensual wretched World to that of the Holy Jesus and all the Army of Prophets Apostles and Martyrs What is there in the World that it should be loved more than God and what is the Flesh that it should have more of our time and care than the great interests of our Souls Such are the Considerations of a mind that Faith hath awakened and by them it is prepared for vigorous striving So that Faith is the Spring of all and necessary to the other
is far more acceptable to God who delights not in the exercises of meer Nature Psal. 147. 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 defires 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 things 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 shall not enter I add III. A man may endeavour somewhat and strive in some degree and yet his work may miscarry and himself with it 1. There is no doubt but that an evil man may be convinced of his sin and vileness and that even to anguish and torment The Gentiles saith the Apostle Rom. 2. 14. which have not the Law shew the works of the Law written in their Hearts their thoughts in the mean time accusing or excusing one another Conscience often stings and disquiets the vilest sinners and sometimes extorts from them lamentable confessions of their sins and earnest declamations against them They may weep bitterly at their remembrance and be under great heaviness and dejection upon their occasion They may speak vehemently against sin themselves and love to have others to handle it severely All this bad men may do upon the score of natural fear and self love and the apprehension of a fature judgment And now such convictions will naturally beget some endeavours A convinced understanding will have some influence upon the will and affections The mind in the unregenerate may lust against the Flesh as that doth against it So that 2. such a meer animal man may promise and purpose and endeavour in some pretty considerable measure but then he goes not on with full Resolution but wavers and stops and turns about again and lets the law of the members that of death and sin to prevail over him His endeavour is remiss and consequently ineffectual it makes no conquests and will not signifie He sins on though with some regret and his very unwillingness to sin while he commits it is so far from lessening that it aggravates his fault It argues that he sins against conscience and conviction and that sin is strong and reigns 'T is true indeed St. Paul Rom. 7. makes such a description seemingly of himself as one might think concluded him under this state he saith vers 8. That sin wrought in him all manner of concupiscence vers 9. That sin revived and he died vers 14. That he was carnal and again sold under sin vers 20. That sin dwelt in him and wrought that which he would not vers 23. That the Law of his Members led him into captivity to the law of Sin and vers 25. That he obeyed the law of sin If this be so and St. Paul a regenerate man was in this state it will follow that seeking and feeble endeavour that overcometh no difficulty may yet procure an entrance and he that is come hitherto viz. to endeavour is safe enough though he do not conquer This objection presseth not only against this head but against my whole Discourse and the Text it self Therefore to answer it I say That the St. Paul here is not to be understood of himself He describes the state of a convinced but unregenerate man though he speaks in the first person a Figure that was ordinary with this Apostle and frequent enough in common speech Thus we say I am thus and thus and did so and so when we are describing a state or actions in which perhaps we in person are not concerned In this sense the best Expositors understand these expressions and those excellent Divines of our own Bishop Taylor and Dr. Hammond and others have noted to us That this description is directly contrary to all the Characters of a regenerate man given elsewhere by this and the other Apostles As he is said to be dead to sin Rom. 6. 11. Free from sin and the servant of Righteousness Rom. 6. 18. That he walks not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Rom. 8. 1. That the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made him free from the Law of sin and death Rom. 8. 2. That he overcometh the world Joh. 5. 4. He sinneth not 1 Joh. 3. 6. He hath crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts Gal. 5. 24. Which Characters of a truly regenerate person if they be compared with those above-cited out of Rom. 7. it will appear that they are as contrary as 't is possible to speak and by this 't is evident that they describe the two contrary states For can the regenerate be full of all manner of concupiscence and at the same time be crucified to the Flesh and its affections and lusts one in whom sin revives while he dies and yet one that is dead to sin carnal and yet not walking after the flesh but after the Spirit sold under sin and yet free from sin Having sin dwelling in him and a captive to sin and obeying the Law of sin and yet free from the law of sin and death how can these things consist To tell us 'T is so and
't is not so and to twist such contradictions into Orthodox Paradoxes are pretty things to please Fools and Children but wise men care not for riddles that are not sense For my part I think it clear that the Apostle in that mistaken Chapter relates the feeble impotent condition of one that was convinced and strove a little but not to purpose And if we find our selves comprised under that description though we may be never so sensible of the evil and danger of a sinful course and may endeavour some small matter but without success we are yet under that evil and obnoxious to that danger For he that strives in earnest conquers at last and advanceth still though all the work be not done at once So that if we endeavour and gain nothing our endeavour is peccant and wants Faith or Prayer for Divine aids or constancy or vigour and so Though we may seek we shall not be able to enter But 3 an imperfect Striver may overcome sin in some Instances and yet in that do no great matter neither if he lies down and goes no further There are some sins we outgrow by age or are indisposed to them by bodily infirmity or diverted by occasions and it may be by other sins and some are contrary to worldly Interests to our credit or health or profit and when we have in any great degree been hurt by them in these we fall out with those sins and cease from them and so by resolution and disuse we master them at last fully which if we went on and attempted upon all the rest were something But when we stop short in these petty victories our general state is not altered He that conquers some evil appetites is yet a slave to others and though he hath prevailed over some difficulties yet the main ones are yet behind Thus the imperfect Striver masters it may be his beastly appetite to intemperate drinking but is yet under the power of Love and Riches and vain Pleasure He ceaseth from open debauchery but entertains spiritual wickedness in his heart He will not Swear but will backbite and rail He will not be Drunk but will damn a man for not being of his opinion He will not prophane the Sabbath but will defraud his Neighbour Now these half conquests when we rest in them are as good as none at all Then shall I not be ashamed when I have regard to all thy Commandments saith the Kingly Prophet Psal. 119. 6. 'T is shameful to give off when our work is but half done what we do casts the greater reproach upon us for what we omit To cease to be prophane is something as a passage but nothing for an end We are not Saints as soon as we are civil 'T is not only gross sins that are to be overcome The wages of sin is death not only of the great and capital but of the smallest if they are indulged The Pharisee applauded himself that he was not like the Extortioners Adulterers and Vnjust nor like the Publican that came to pray with him Luk. 18. 11. and yet he went away never the more justified The unwise Virgins were no profligate Livers and yet they were shut out He that will enter must strive against every corrupt appetite and inclination A less leak will sink a Ship as well as a greater if no care be taken of it A Consumption will kill as well as the Plague yea sometimes the less Disease may in the event prove more deadly than the greater for small distempers may be neglected till they become incurable when as the great ones awaken us to speedy care for a remedy A small hurt in the finger slighted may prove a Gangreen when a great wound in the Head by seasonable applications is cured 'T is unsafe then to content our selves with this that our sins are not foul and great those we account little ones may prove as fatal yea they are sometimes more dangerous For we are apt to think them none at all or Venial infirmities that may consist with a state of Grace and Divine favour we excuse and make Apologies for them and fancy that Hearing and Prayer and Confession are atonements enough for these Upon which accounts I am apt to believe that the less notorious Vices have ruined as many as the greatest Abominations Hell doth not consist only of Drunkards and Swearers and Sabbath-breakers No the demure Pharisee the plausible Hypocrite and formal Professor have their place also in that lake of fire The great impieties do often startle and awaken conscience and beget strong convictions and so sometimes excite resolution and vigorous striving while men hug themselves in their lesser sins and carry them unrepented of to their Graves The sum is we may overcome some sins and turn from the grosser sorts of wickedness and yet if we endeavour not to subdue the rest we are still in the condition of unregeneracy and death and though we thus seek we shall not enter 4. A man may perform many duties of Religion and that with relish and delight and yet miscarry As 1. He may be earnest and swift to hear and follow Sermons constantly from one place to another and be exceedingly pleased and affected with the Word and yet be an evil Man and in a bad state Herod heard John Baptist gladly Mark 6. 20. and he that received the seed into stony places received it joyfully Mat. 13. 20. Zeal for hearing doth not always arise from a consciencious desire to learn in order to practise but sometimes it proceeds from an itch after novelty and notions or an ambition to be famed for Godliness or the importunity of natural conscience that will not be satisfied except we do something or a desire to get matter to feed our opinions or to furnish us with pious discourse I say earnestness to hear ariseth very often from some of these and when it doth so we gain but little by it yea we are dangerously tempted to take this for an infallible token of our Saintship and so to content our selves with this Religion of the Ear and to disturb every body with the abundance of our disputes and talk while we neglect our own Spirits and let our unmortified affections and inclinations rest in quiet under the shadow of these specious services So that when a great affection to hearing seizeth upon an evil man 't is odds but it doth him hurt it puffs him up in the conceit of his Godliness and makes him pragmatical troublesome and censorious He turns his food into poyson Among bad men those are certainly the worst that have an opinion of their being godly and such are those that have itching ears under the power of vitious habits and inclinations Thus an earnest diligent hearer may be one of those who seeks and is shut out And so may 2. He that Fasts much and severely The Jews were exceedingly given to fasting and they were very severe in it They abstained from all
of the generality of Religious men that never do so mtch 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. 5. 20. Now the Scribes and Pharisees did things in the way of Religion that that were equal to all the particulars I have mentioned yea they went beyond many 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 exact and exceeding strict in the observation 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 other Jews 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 Superiours 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 which in the nature and kind of it is better and more acceptable to God viz. That whereas they placed their Religion in strict Fastings an nice observations of Festivals in lowd and earnest Prayers and zeal to get Proselytes 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 Pharisee not in shew and pomp but in real worth and divine esteem So that upon the whole we have no reason to be discouraged because They that do so much are cast out since though we find not those heats and specious things in our selves which we observe in them yet if we are more meek and modest and patient and charitable and humble and just our case is better and we have the Power of Godliness when theirs is but the Form And we whom They accounted Aliens and Enemies shall enter while they the presumed friends and domesticks shall be shut out But 2. I expect it should be again objected against this severity of Discourse That our Saviour saith Mat. 11. 20. That his yoke is easie and his burden is light which place seems to cross all that hath been said about the Difficulties of Religion And 't is true it hath such an appearance but 't is no more For the words look as cross to the expressions of the same Divine Author concerning the straightness of the Gate and narrowness of the Way as to any thing I have delivered from those infallible sayings Therefore to remove the semblance of contrariety which the objected Text seems to have to those others and to my Discourse we may observe That when our Saviour saith that his yoke is easie the word we read is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth very good excellent gracious and the meaning I suppose is That his Precepts had a native beauty and goodness in them That they are congruous and sutable to our reasonable Natures and apt instruments to make us happy In which sense this expression hath no antipathy to the Text or to any thing I have said And whereas 't is added My Burden is light I think by this we are to understand That his Commands are not of that burdensome nature that the Ceremonies of the Jewish Laws were Those were very cumbersome and had nothing in their nature to make them pleasant and agreeable whereas his Religion had no expensive troublesome Rites appendant to it nor did it require any thing but our observation of those Laws which eternal Reason obligeth us to and which of our selves we should choose to live under were we freed from the intanglements of the World and interests of Flesh. So that neither doth this Objection signifie any thing against the scope of my Discourse AND now I descend to the Improvement of what I have said and the things I have to add will be comprehended under these two Generals 1. Inferences and 2. plain Advice in order to practise I begin with the Inferences and Corollaries that arise from the whole Discourse And 1. We may collect What is the state of Nature and What the state of Grace We have seen that 't is the great business of Religion to overcome evil Inclinations and the prevailing influence of sense and passion and evil customs and example and worldly affections And therefore the state of Nature consists in the power and prevalency of These This is that the Scripture calls the Old man Eph. 4.22 The Image of the earthy 1 Cor. 15. Flesh Gal. 5. 17. Death Rom. 7.24 Darkness Joh. 3. 19. and old leven 1 Cor 5. 7. On the contrary The state of Grace is a state of sincere striving against them which if it keeps on ends in Victory And this is call'd Conversion Acts 3. 19. and Renovation while 't is in its first motions And the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1. 4. the Image of the Heavenly 1 Cor. 15. 20. The Spirit Gal. 5. 16. Light Ephes. 5. 8. and Life 1 Joh. 3. 14. when 't is arriv'd to more compleatness and perfection For our fuller understanding this we may consider That Grace is taken 1. for Divine favour 2. for Christian Vertue As it signifies Divine favour so it is used 1. For those helps and aids God affords us viz. the Gospel Joh. 1. 17. and the influences of his Spirit 1 Cor. 12. 9. In this sense we are deliver'd from the state of Nature by Baptism viz. We are intituled to divine helps which is a kind of regeneration for we are born in a condition of importence and weakness and destitution of spiritual assistances This is the world of meer nature But then in Baptism we are brought into the world of the Spirit that is are put under its influences and are assured of its aids and so are morally born again Not that this Regeneration alone will save us without our endeavours it imports only an external relation and right to priviledges and by these we may be powerfully assisted in our striving if we use them But then 2. Grace as it signifies divine favour
implies his special love and kindness such as he vouchsases to holy and vertuous men so that we may observe that there may be a distinction between a state of Grace and a state of salvation A state of Grace in the former sense is a condition assisted by the influences of Gods Spirit and all baptized persons are in that But if they use not those helps they are not in Gods special favour and so not in a state of Salvation But when those assistances are duly imployed and join'd with our sincere endeavour then the person so using them is in a state of Salvation also and in God's special love and favour Thus of the state of Grace in the first sense as taken for divine favour 2. The word is also used for Christian Vertue 2 Pet. 3. 18. and Vertue is call'd Grace because 't is wrought in us by the assistance of Gods Spirit and the light of the Gospel which are divine favours and to be in a state of grace in this sense is to be a virtuous man which supposeth divine aids and intitles to divine love These things I have taken an occasion thus briefly to state because there is oft-times much confusion in mens discourses about Grace and Nature from which much trouble and many controversies have arisen And by what I have said also in these brief hints the doctrine of our Church in the office of Baptism may be understood clearly and will appear to be very sound and true notwithstanding the petty exceptions of confident Dissenters II. I may infer That the great Design of Religion and the Gospel is to perfect humane nature The perfection of our natures consists in the subjection and subordination of the affections and passions to the Mind as it is enlightned and directed by the divine Laws and those of Reason This is the state of integrity in which we were first made and we lost it by the rebellion of our senses and inferiour powers which have usurpt the government of us ever since Here is the imperfection and corruption of our natures Now Religion designs to remove and cure these and to restore us to our first and happy state It s business is not to reform our looks and our language or to model our actions and gestures into a devout appearance not only to restrain the practice of open prophaness and villany nor to comfort us with the assurance of Gods loving us we know not why But to cure our ill natures to govern our passsions to moderate our desires to throw out pride and envy and all uncharitable surmisals with the other spiritual sorts of wickedness and thereby to make us like unto God in whom there is no shadow of sin or imperfection and so to render us fit objects of his delight and love So that whatever doth not tend to the making us some way or other really better better in our selves and better in all Relations as fathers and children and husbands and wives and subjects and governours and neighbours and friends is not Religion It may be a form of Godliness but 't is nothing to the life and power And where we see not this effect of Religion let the professor of it be never so high and glorious in his profession we may yet conclude that either his Religion is not good or that he only pretends and really hath it not This I take to be a consideration of great moment and great certainty viz. That Christian Religion aims at the bettering and perfecting of our natures For the things it commands relate either to worship or virtue The instances of external worship are prayer and praise both which are high acts of gratitude and justice and they fit us for divine blessings and keep us under a sense of God and prepare us for union with him which is the highest perfection of which the creature is capable Thus the outward acts of worship tend to our happiness and the inward do infinitely the same These are Faith and Love and Fear Faith in God supports and relieves us in all afflictions and distresses The love of him is a pleasure and solace to us in all losses and disappointments since he is an object most filling and satisfying and one that cannot be lost except we wilfully thrust him from us Fear of God hath no torment 'T is no slavish dread of his greatness and Power but a reverence of his perfections and a lothness to offend him and this disposeth us also for the communications of his grace and love Ps. 85.9 And this it doth by congruity and its own nature which is to be said likewise of the others So that they would make those happy that practise them whether they had been positively enjoyn'd or not And though no express rewards had been annext unto them There are other two acts of worship which Christianity requires which are instituted and positive respect Christ our Lord They are the Sacraments Baptism and the Lords Supper both which are holy Rites of high signification and seals of an excellent Covenant between God and us assuring us of pardon of sins and all divine favours upon the conditions of our Faith and repentance and more firmly obliging us to holy obedience and dependence The only way in which we can be happy Whence we see briefly that all the parts of worship which Christianity binds upon us tend to our perfection and Felicity And all the vertues that it commands do the same both those that respect us in a personal capacity and those others that relate to us as members of Societies Thus humility recommended Mat. 5. 3. Meekness blest ver 5. purity ver 8. are vertues that accomplish our particular persons and make us happy in our selves For of Pride cometh Conteution Prov. 13. 10. And a great part of our troubles arise from stomach and self-will which humility cures Meekness also takes away the occasion of the numerous mischiefs we run into through the rage and disorder of our passions and 't is in it selfe a great beauty and ornament since it ariseth from the due order and goverment of our faculties Purity which comprehends temperance of all sorts frees us from the tormenting importunity of those desires that drag us out of our selves and expose us to sin and folly and temptation and make us exceeding miserable besides which it is a perfection that renders us like unto God and the blest Spirits of the highest rank And Christian vertues do not only accomplish and make us happy in our particular persons but they do the same in our publique capacities the more publick capacity also They dispose us to a quiet obedience to our governours without murmuring and complaining and thereby the publique peace is secured and all good things else in that But there are other vertues that Christianity enjoyns which have a more direct tendency to the happiness of others as Justice Mat 7. 12. Charity 1 Cor. 13. Loyalty Rom. 13. and all
other publique vertues may I think be comprehended under these Where there is no Justice every man preys upon another and no mans property is safe Where Charity is wanting Jealousies hatreds envying back-bitings and cruelties abound which render the world deplorably unhappy Where there is not Loyalty and conscionable submission to Governours the publick is upon every occasion of commotion involv'd in infinite miseries and disasters So that all the precepts of our Religion are in their own nature proper instruments to make us happy and they had been methods of Felicity to be chosen by all reasonable creatures though they had never been required by so great and so sacred an Authority These things I have said because I could not choose but take this occasion to recommend the excellency and reasonableness of our Religion And I have done it but only in brief hints because it ariseth but upon a Corollary from my main subject and from this I infer further III. That Christanity is the height and perfection of morality They both tend to the real bettering and accomplishment of humane nature But the rules and measures of moral Philosophy were weak and imperfect till Christ Jesus came He confirmed and enforced all those precepts of vertue that were written upon our hearts and cleared them from many corruptions that were grown upon them through ignorance and vice the glosses of the Jews and false conceits of the Gentiles and he inforced them anew by his Authority and the knowledge he gave of divine aids and greater rewards and punishments than were understood before yea he enlarged them in some instances such as loving enemies and forgiving injuries Thus Christ Jesus taught morality viz. the way of living like men And the 5. Chapture of Mathew is an excellent Lecture of this kind So that to disparage morality is to disgrace Christianity it self and to vilifie one of the ends of Christs coming into the world For all Religion and all duties respect either God our neighbour or our selves the duties that relate to these two last are acknowledg'd moral vertues The Apostle St. James counted these Moralities of visiting the Widow and Fatherless to be the pure Religion and undefiled Jam. 1. 17. And the prophet Micah intimates that those moral vertues of Justice and mercy were some of the main things that God required of us Micah 6. 8. Our Saviour saith that the whole Law is summ'd up in these two to love God with all our souls and our neighbour as our selves Math. 22. 13 which latter contains the duties of morality And that which the grace of God in the Gospel teacheth according to St. Paul is to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world Tit. 2. 11 There is no godliness without morality All the fruits of the Spirit reckon'd up Gal. 5. 22. are moral vertues And when we are commanded to grow in grace 2 Pet 3. 18. vertue is partly understood For one branch of what is call'd Grace in us is moral vertue produced by divine aids Christian principles and incouragements though 't is true the word is extended to those duties that relate immediately to God also By which we see how ignorantly and dangerously those people talk that disparage morality as a dull lame thing of no account or reckoning Upon this the Religion of the second Table is by too many neglected and the whole mystery of the new Godliness is lay'd in frequent hearing and devout seraphick talk luscious phancies new lights incomes manifestations sealings in-dwellings and such like Thus Antinomianism and all kinds of Phanaticism have made their way by the disparagement of morality and men have learnt to believe themselves the chosen pretious people while their hearts have been full of malice and bitterness and their hands of violence while they despised dominions and spake evil of dignities rebel'd against the Government destroyed publique peace and endeavoured to bring all into misery and confusions 'T is this diabolical project of dividing morality from Religion that hath given rise and occasion to all these villanies And while the Practisers of such things have assumed the name of the only Godly Godlyness it self hath been brought into disgrace by them and Atheism incouraged to shew it self in open defiance to Religion Yea through the indiscretions and inconsiderateness of some preachers the phantastry and vain babble of others and the general disposition of the people to admire what makes a great shew and pretends to more than ordinary spirituality things are in many places come to that pass that those who teach Christian vertue Religion in plainness and simplicity without sensless phrases and fanyastick affectations shall be reckon'd for dry moralists and such as understand nothing of the life and power of Godliness Yea those people have been so long used to gibberish and canting that they cannot understand plain sense and vertue is become such a stranger to their ears that when they hear it spoken of in a pulpit they count the preacher a broacher of new divinity and one that would teach the way to heaven by Philosophy And he escapes well if they do not say That he is an Atheist or that he would reconcile us to Gentilism and Heathen Worship The danger and vanity of which ignorant humour the contempt of morality is apparent in the whole scope of my Discourse and therefore I add no more concerning it here but proceed to another Inference which is IV. That Grace and the new nature make their way by degrees on the Soul for the difficulties will not be removed nor the corrupt nature fubdued all at once Habits that grow by repeated acts time and continuance will not be expelled in a moment No man can become greatly evil or good on a sudden The Path of the just shines more and more to to a perfect day Prov. 4. 18 We do not jump from darkness into full light We are not fully sanctified and converted in an instant The day begins in an insensible dawn and the Kingdom of heaven is like a grain of Mustard seed Mat. 13. 31. It doth not start up presently to the stature of a tree The Divine birth begins like the Natural in an imperfect embryo There are some seeds of Knowledge and Goodness that God hath sown in our natures these are excited by the Divine Grace and Spirit to convictions which proceed to purposes these to resolutions and thence we pass to abstinence from all gross sins and the performance of outward Duties and so at last by degrces to vigorous attempts for the destruction of evil habits and inclinations When Grace is arrived to this eminent growth 't is very visible as the Plant is when 't is above the ground But the beginnings of Conversion are not ordinarily perceived So that to catechize men about the punctual time and circumstances of their Conversion is an idle device and a great temptation to vanity and lying Who can tell the exact moment when the
the other hand we think our selves well and do not always attempt forwards our state is bad and our sins will be imputed Be our pretences what they will our Faith is not sincere and will not stead us When we get to a certain pitch in Religion and make that our state 't is an argument that our Religion was meerly Animal and but a mode of complexion self-love and natural fear When we overcome some sins and are willing to spare and cherish others 't is a sign that we are not sincere in our attempts upon any and that what we have done was not performed upon good and divine motives Sincerty is discovered by growth and this is the surest mark that I know of Tryal So that we have no reason to presume though as we think we have gone a great way if we go not on Nor on the other side have we any to dispair though our present attainments are but small if we are proceeding The buds and tenderest blossoms of Divine Grace are acceptable to God when the fairest leaves of the meer Animal Religion are nothing in his esteem This is a great advantage we have from the Gospel that imperfection will be accepted where there is sincerity whereas according to the measures of exact and rigorous Justice no man could be made happy in the high degree of glory but he that was perfect and whose victories were absolute VII It may be collected from our Discourse Wherein the Power of Godliness consists viz. In a progress towards perfection and an intire victory over all the evils of our Natures The Forms of Godliness are not only in the ceremonies of Worship and external actions of feigned Piety But all the fine things of the Animal Religion are of this kind and they are the worst sort By the grosser Forms men hardly deceive others by these they effectually gull themselves So that many that vehemently oppose Forms are the greatest Formalists Forms of Worship may well agree with the Power of Godliness whenas zeal against Forms may be a Form it self whatever makes shew of Religion and doth not make us better that 's a Form at least to us There are Spiritual Forms as well as those of the other sort and these are most deadly Poyson is worst in Aqua Vitae He that speaks his Prayers ex tempore with vehemence and lowdness if he strive not against his ill nature and self-will is as much a Formalist as he that tells his Prayers by his Beads and understands not one word he saith And those that run away from Forms in Churches meet more dangerous ones in Barns and private corners Orthodox Opinions devout Phrases set Looks melting Tones affected Sighs and vehement Raptures are often meer Forms of Godliness that proceed from the Animal Religion which it self is a Form likewise O that the observers of so many motes in their Brethrens eyes would learn to throw out the Beames of their own The Form of Godliness that pretends it self to be no more is not so hurtful But the Formes that call themselves the Power are deadly 'T is the Formality and Superstition of Separatists that keeps on the Separation They contend for phancies and arbitrary trifles We for order and obedience The people are abused by names and being frighted by the shadows of Superstition and Formality they run into the worst Formality and silliest Superstition in the World The Kingdom of Heaven consists not in meats and drinks Rom. 14. 17. neither in Circumcision nor Vncircumcision 1 Cor. 7. 19. not in zeal for little things nor in zeal against them both the one and the other are equally formal The power of Religion lies in using Divine aids heartily and constantly in order to the overcoming the Difficulties of our way This Godliness is not exercised so much in reforming others as our selves The chief design is to govern within and not to make Laws for the World without us This is that Wisdom that is from above which is pure and peaceable Jam. 3. 17. It makes no noise and bluster abroad but quietly minds its own business at home So that certainly the best men have not always had the greatest fame for Godliness as the wisest have very seldom been the most popular They are the effects of the Animal Religion that make the biggest fhew The voice of true Religion is heard in quiet it sounds not in the corners of the street The power of Godliness is seen in Justice Meekness Humility and Charity things that look not so splendidly as the Spiritual Forms And thus of the Inferences and Corollaries that may be drawn from my Discourse which though they cannot all be inferred from any of its minute and seperated parts yet they lie in the design and contexture of the whole I Come now to the Advice for Practice The way of Happiness is difficult but the difficulties may be overcome by striving A little will not do many seekers are shut out what remains then but that we perswade our selves to strive and that diligently with constant resolution and endeavour We were made for Happiness and Happiness all the World seeks Who will shew us any good Psal. 4. 6. is the voice of all the Creatures We have sought it long in emptiness and shadows and that search hath still ended in shame and disappointment Where true substantial Felicity is we know and the Way we know Joh. 14. 4. It is not hid from us in Clouds and thick Darkness or if it were 't were worth our pains to search after it It is not at so great a distance but it may be seen yea it may be brought so neer as to be felt Though the way is streight yet 't is certain or if it were otherwise who would not venture his pains upon the possibility of such an issue Many Difficulties are in it but our Encouragements and Assistances are infinite The love of God and the gift of his son the blood of Christ and his intercession the aids of the Spirit and the directions of the Gospel the Invitations and Promises the rare Precepts and incomparable Examples of those holy men that have gone before us These are mighty helpes and great motives to assist us in striving and to quicken us to it Let us then arise in the strength of Faith and in the encouragement of those aids and attempt with courage upon the Difficulties of our way Let us ingage our deepest Resolutions and most diligent endeavours Here is no need to deliberate the things are necessary the benefits unspeakable and the event will be glorious It is no Question I hope whether God or the Creature is to be first chosen whether Heaven or Hell be better and therefore there is no cause that we should stay and consider we cannot be rash here we cannot hurt our selves by a too sudden ingagement we have delayed too long already and every moment we sit still is one lost to our Duty and our Happiness Let us resolve