of their Sect may be overcome with Wine but can never be drunk though to be overcome with Wine be downright drunkenness in a carnal Epicurean yet it was something else in a great Stoick How Immorality becomes uncurable NOW Immorality under the disguise of piety becomes uncurable Passion and Self-will is made more implacable by pretences to Sanctity and Godliness without Virtue serves only to furnish the Conscience with excuses against Conviction for it is easie to convince a debauched Person of his Distemper from the blemishes that are in all his Actions But Hypocrisie by lodging it self in the Heart and so by being undiscernible becomes fatal and the Man is past Recovery before he feels his Malady THEREFORE of all men He who hath the Form of Godliness only is conceited with it is the most desperate and incorrigible Sinner For he thinks the performance of the outward acts of Devotion will fix him so in a State of Grace that he needs not any Virtue Thus the Supercilious and self-confident Pharisees were at a greater distance from Heaven than Publicans and Harlots For these our Saviour could by his gentle Reproofs soften into a relenting and pliable Temper But as for the Pharisees their mistaken Piety only made 'em more obdurate and obstinate in sin searing their Consciences against the Force of his sharpest Convictions so that He very justly consigned them up to an unrelenting and inflexible stubbornness Secondly MEN deceive their own Souls How Men deceive their own Souls when they think themselves exempt from the Rule and Judgment of natural Conscience which they fansie exercises its binding Power only over those that are in a state of Nature and Unregeneracy but as for them that are enlightened by the Spirit of God they are directed by the Motions thereof not by the Laws and Dictates of Nature Hence the plain and practical Principles of Reason and Honesty come to be neglected and ever after men are led by giddy Enthusiasms and are befooled by the temper of their Complexions they derive all their religious Motions from the present state and constitution of their Humours and according as Sanguine or Melancholy are predominant so the Scene alters BUT the Spirit of true Religion is of a sedate Temper and dwells in the Intellectual part of a Man In what manner the Spirit of Religion works and doth not work out or vent it self in flatulent Passions but all its Motions are gentle composed and grounded upon the Laws of Reason and Sobriety The Impressions of the Divine Spirit are steddy uniform and breath not upon the Passions but the Reasons of mankind all its Assistances work in a calm and rational way they are not such unsetled and unaccountable motions as discompose but enlighten our understandings the Spirit of God only discovers the Excellency and enforces the Obligation of the Laws of God to the Consciences of Men and works in us a reasonable love of our Duty and serious resolutions to discharge it Therefore the Spirit of every good Man is sober discreet and composed such as becomes the gravity and seriousness of Religion which floats not in his blood nor rises and falls with the Ebbs and Tides of his Humours but he maintains a calmness and evenness of Mind in all the various Constitutions of his Body he confines his Piety entirely within his Soul and chearfully keeps it from all mixtures of Imagination as knowing a Religious Fancy to be the greatest Impostor in the World And there is nothing that spoils the Nature of the best Religion more than outragious Zeal which instead of sweetning embitters the minds of Men so that those Vices which Moral Philosophy would banish are often kindled at the Altar of Religion For it abuses the prudence and discretion of good Men abhors a Christ-like meekness and sobriety and fills their Religion with ill Nature and discontent Hence it is that no Quarrels are so implacable as Religious ones Men with great eagerness damn one another for Opinions and Speculative Controversies IF this be Religion farewel all the Principles of Humanity and good Nature farewel that Glory of the Christian Faith an universal Love and kindness for all Men let us bid adieu to all the Practices of Charity and to the Innocence of a Christian Spirit Let the Laws of our Saviour be cancel'd as Precepts of Sedition Let us banish Religion out of Human Converse as the Mother of Rudeness and incivility Let us go to the School of Atheism and Impiety to learn good Manners BUT if nothing bids greater defiance to the true Spirit and Genius of Religion than a Form of Godliness denying the Power thereof then let not the Wisdom of God be charged with the Folly of Men Let then the furious Sons of Zeal without the Power of Godliness tell me the meaning of such Texts as these Learn of me for I am meek and humble I beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called with all lowliness long-suffering forbearing one another in Love put on therefore as the elect of God holy and beloved bowels of mercy kindness humbleness of mind meekness forgiving one another if any man have a complaint against any even as Christ forgave you so also do ye So saith James 3. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledg amongst you let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness and wisdom He that can reconcile these holy Precepts with a peevish or Cynical disposition may as well unite Christ and Belial make a Christian and a Pharisee the same WHAT remains then but that we set our selves to a serious minding of true and real Goodness An exhortation to mind true and real Goodness that we trifle not away our Time in pursuing the Shadows of it nor waste our Zeal upon its Forms and Instruments that we cheat not our Souls with a partial Godliness nor damn them with an half-Religion For we must measure our profitableness under the means of Grace by the influences of it upon the obedience of our Lives we must pursue Christianity in its true and proper usefulness give a sincere Obedience to every Law of Righteousness we must not divorce Piety from Justice and Charity but join the love of God with the love of our Brother be impatient against our own Sins and other mens Opinions spend our Zeal in our own and not other men's Business be ever zealous for the prime and most substantial Principles of Religion not for uncertain and unexamined Speculations we must set our selves with all our might against our Lusts and our Passions for all our Devotions without it will never expiate one habitual Sin neither will a maimed or halting Religion ever arrive at Heaven nothing but an entire Obedience to the Laws of Christ will gain admittance there Let us therefore inform our Minds with the Excellency of true Religion and Goodness Let us adorn them with an inward Purity
being so much in our own power WHEREFORE let not Men think they can be Holy without Moral Vertue which they will be apt to do whenever Grace is set in Opposition to Virtue they may as well think they may be godly without Religion Devout and Pious without all sober and sincere use of their Understandings in spiritual matters for this mischief will certainly ensue upon it that Men will embrace Metaphors and Allegories fancies and forms of Speech instead of the Substance of true and real Righteousness 'T IS certain then The Duties of Morality are the most weighty concerns of Religion that the Duties of Morality are the most weighty and material Concerns of Religion and as in the Ordinary Generation of Mankind that vital principle the Soul forms and moulds the foetus according to the specifical Nature of Man and never gives over till it has worked the whole bodily Mass into a full Complement of parts so by a new Principle of Life called Grace and derived from God through Christ into the mind true Wisdom Righteousness Justice Holiness Integrity and all the instances of Moral Vertue are fashioned by this quickning spirit in the thoughts and actions of good and pious Men This makes the whole mystery of Regeneration intelligible so that any Nicodemus may discern the manner and reason of it for to be born again signifies in its utmost meaning to become a sincere Disciple of our Lord Jesus and to be his Disciple is to believe and obey as we are ingaged by Baptism this being the clearest proof we can give to our selves or others that we own him in good earnest to be our Lord and Master if for his sake we love Truth and Goodness above all worldly interests What is meant by the New Creature NOW to be Regenerate is to be the sincere Disciples of Christ which will qualifie a Man for the Kingdom of Heaven and if that be true it follows that Regeneration and all those other Metaphors which express the state of a Man fitted for eternal Happiness do mean nothing else but his being such a Disciple of Christ as to believe in him to love and obey him when the word of God that Divine Seed hath wrought its due and proper effects upon his Soul by its Precepts the temper of his Mind and the disposition of his Will are agreeable to the Laws of God therefore we use to say of a meek spirited Man that he cannot be furious and of an honest Man that he cannot deceive and of a generous Man that he cannot do a base or unworthy Action that is it is Morally impossible that he should it being directly contrary to the Genius and Sense of his Soul so to do just so it is with him who is born of God he cannot sin because it is repugnant to the inclination and bent of his Nature which being Holy will produce a godly and vertuous Life THIS Notion of the new Creature will not suffer a Man to reckon himself Regenerate who doth not amend his Life according to God's Holy Word this will keep Hypocrites from pretending to be so who are apt to think their hearts are good when their manners are naught But the state of a Regenerate person is called Spiritual as being caused by the Grace of God's Spirit so it may be called Moral as consisting in the conformity of our Minds and Actions to the Divine Laws NOW he who makes a distinction between Grace and Vertue a Spiritual and Moral state must think that to disbelieve any of the Revelations and to disobey any of the Commands of God are not immoralities or that a Regenerate state doth not consist in Faith and Obedience WHICH state is called Regeneration a Metaphor taken from a Natural Generation because there is so great a change that a Man is as it were another Creature For first the understanding must be informed with the knowledge of truth concerning God themselves and a life to come then this belief of the Gospel will so work upon their Wills that they shall be turned from Sensuallity to the love of Goodness and this will produce a suitable change in their lives which are not now led according to the Lusts of the Flesh and the examples of ill Men but the Laws of God and the Example of Christ And thus we come to the true use of all our Faculties as an Infant after it is born falls into those Natural Motions which are hindred by its imprisonment in the Womb Nay by reason of that Divine temper which is wrought in good Men by the Holy Spirit they have such a sense of Good and Evil with regard to their Minds and Consciences as all living Creatures have with respect to their Natures For as in the Natural Life we apprehend what is contrary to it so that we will not run into the Fire nor down Precepices so in the Regenerate state we shall look upon all kinds of wickedness to be what they are detestable and pernicious to our Souls but the Doctrine and Example of Christ do communicate to us a new sense of things whereby we are so much altered for the better as if we had never lived till then and we have infinitely more reason to think of this alteration in our state than to remember the day of our birth with joy and gladness FOR now God worketh in us both to will and to do wherefore the fear and love of God and godly Sorrow and true Repentance and the hope of Eternal Life together with all Christian Vertues such as Righteousness Mercy Patience Love Joy Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith All Moral Vertues are produced by the Grace of God Meekness and Temperance are the Graces of the Spirit From hence it follows that God hath not left the success of the Gospel to depend upon that force only which the bare Revelation of the motives to Obedience hath to persuade us if it should be so it would be now lost labour to call upon God to help us by his Grace but seeing all Vertues and qualifications necessary to Salvation are produced by the Grace of God it follows that all Christian Vertues are the Graces of the Holy Spirit For saith S. James every good and perfect gift is from above and cometh from the Father of Lights with whom is no variableness nor shadow of Turning AND S. Paul saith that Grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world this one Scripture comprehends all that Men ought to account Religion that they live godlily which is the Vertue of humble gratitude towards God Soberly which contains the Vertues of Temperance Chastity Modesty and all others that consist in the dominion of Reason over our Sensual Appetites Righteously which implies all the Vertues of Justice and Charity as Affability Courtesie Meekness Candour and Ingenuity Let Men
concurrence of supernatural strength For notwithstanding our many weaknesses through Christ we may do all things He alone gives us a will to use his Grace and knowledge to discern the want of more THE proper Inference therefore from the whole is that we resolve to go on in a good Course of Life because by this means our Work will be easier to us if we be diligent in governing our Conversation by the Rules of Vertue the difficulty of Religion will still grow less because our strength will increase and God hath promised to give greater degrees of assistance to them that use what he hath already bestowed then our endeavours must concur with this assistance which God gives for the Spirit doth usually work insensibly upon the minds of Men and therefore it is compared to the Wind which no Man sees whence it cometh nor whether it goeth even so is the Spirit of God Men feel motions upon their Hearts but how these are produced is altogether together invisible to them when the Doctrine of the Gospel is propounded and the Word is Preached they find themselves convinced of the truth of it and as their Minds are enlightned so their Wills and Affections are warned to a complyance therewith NOW when the Spirit of God hath begun this Work upon our Hearts our business is to cherish those Motions and to act accordingly which if we do and pray to God for his aid we shall find supplies coming in from him that will increase our strength unto that which is good and vertuous for we must know that the greatest difficulties in Religion are met withal at first because at first God doth not usually bestow a great measure of his Grace but he gives us a taste of his goodness and if we relish it he sends forth continually larger measures of his Grace and Favour The Conclusion drawn from all the Premisses SEEING then all the Precepts of Christianity agree to teach and command us to moderate our Passions in the just regulation whereof we have placed the very Essence of Vertue seeing this was the end which all Philosophy aimed at as the utmost felicity that was attainable in this World Let us make it our business to work out our Salvation by living according to these Rules which we have here set down for as they are not hard to be understood so the performance of them is easie and pleasant THEY Are not hard to be understood because God hath shewed us the difference between Good and Evil Vertue and Vice First BY Natural Instinct Secondly BY Natural Reason Thirdly BY the common consent of Mankind Fourthly BY External Revelation FIRST there is a secret impression upon the Minds of Men whereby they are naturally directed to approve some things as good and avoid other things as evil Natural Instinct teaches us what is Good and what is Evil. just as the Creatures below Men are by a natural Instinct led to their own preservation and to take care of their young ones In like manner we find in human Nature a propensity to some things that are beneficial and a loathing of other things that are hurtful to them the former appear beautiful and lovely the latter ugly and deformed NOW these inclinations do not proceed from Reason but from Nature and are antecedent to all Discourse as it is manifest from hence that they are as strong and do put forth themselves as vigorously in young persons as in those that are older they do shew themselves as much in the rude and ignorant sort of People as in those who are more refined and better instructed which is a plain Argument that they come from Nature and not from Reason for if they proceeded from Reason they would appear most eminently in those persons who are of the best and most improved Understandings and would be very obscure in such as exercise their Reason but a little whereas experience shews us that the most ignorant sort of Mankind have as lively a sense of Piety and Devotion as great a regard to all kinds of Sobriety as tender Affections to their Children as much honor for their Parents as true a sense of Gratitude and Justice as the wisest and most knowing part of Mankind AND these are the Duties that are of greatest importance to us so that the Providence of God appears herein to be wonderfully careful of the happiness and welfare of Mankind in that he hath wrought such inclinations into our Natures as to secure the most material parts of our Duty in planting in us a natural sense of good and evil so that in many cases if we do but consult our own Natures we need no other Oracle to tell us what we ought to do and what to avoid how we ought to reverence the Divine Nature honor our Parents love our Children be grateful to our Benefactours and those that have obliged us to speak the Truth to be faithful to our Promises to restore the thing that was intrusted with us to pity those that are in Misery and to deal equally with other Men as we would that they should deal with us There is no need of any subtle reasoning to prove the fitness or unfitness of these things because it is prevented by the very Instinct of Nature which teaches us what we ought to do in these cases FOR Men are naturally innocent or guilty in themselves according as they do or omit these things so the Apostle tells us in Rom. ii 14 15. When the Gentiles who have not the Law do by Nature the things contained in the Law they are a law unto themselves their own Consciences in the mean time or by turns either accusing or excusing them according as they do or omit the doing of these things If Men obey the natural Dictates of their Minds their Consciences give them a comfortable testimony as having done what became them to do on the contrary when we affront Nature by acting against its suggestions what trouble and uneasiness do we find in our own Breasts nay when a Man hath but a design to commit an evil deed his Conscience is disquieted and perplexed at the thoughts of it and he is as guilty as if he had really acted it So Cain when he contrived the murder of his Brother the very imagination of the wickedness changed his Countenance and filled him with Wrath and Discontent for as soon as we have consented to any iniquity our Spirits receive a secret wound and will make us restless because guilt doth not only fill the Mind with vexations but puts it into an unnatural Fermentation as the Prophet Isaiah describes the wicked person he is like the troubled Sea that cannot rest and I appeal to that which every Man finds in his own Breast if he doth not feel a trouble within him upon his acting contrary to any Principle of Nature or any Notion of good and evil The Virtuous Man is the most bold and undaunted BESIDES Men