the Truth and in the Cause of God Answer 1. It concerns you to be well assured that it is God's Truth you are Zealous for How many that take their own private conceits for Divine Truths 2. All Truths are not of equal importance And though the least Truth may not be denied or opposed yet lesser Truths may be silenced and concealed when a Zealous contending for them would be to the wrong and prejudice of far greater and more necessary Matters That is not to defend but to betray the Interest of God and his Truth when Men care not perdere substantiam propter accidentia to lose the substance of Religion for Accidents and Circumstances And that is Erratick Zeal and Mischievous like Fire out of its place when Men are so hot and earnest in contending about lesser Points that they themselves neglect and do what in them lieth to hinder others minding the main of Religion Zeal like Fire in its proper place is of great use and benefit But out of its place very dangerous and destructive And remember Sirs that true Zeal for God is most for those Truths and Duties wherein the great interest of Religion lieth And is most against such things whereby God is most dishonoured the Gospel obstructed Religion most wronged discredited c. 8. Right Zeal is joyned with Christian Moderation is for Christian Concord One of a truly zealous Spirit is also of an healing closing Spirit is of a publick Spirit Right Zeal is more for the common interest of Religion than for private Opinions It is no Firebrand no Incendiary in the Church It is moved at what it sees amiss it is for Reformation but will not hurry Men upon disorderly actings in their passionate sense of Disorders It is against extreams on both Hands Passionate Transports and rash heady Courses are not the effects of an holy but of a bitter Zeal Right Zeal keepeth within due compass It is for Edification not for Destruction It is for Peace and Unity It is for Sodering and Cementing not for Separating such as should Joyn. As Fire though it separate Heterogenials congregates Homogenials Yea it will melt divers Metals into one Lump True Zeal is not for perverse Disputings tending to Strife but for godly Edifying in Faith It is not for kindling Dissentions or causing Offences and Divisions amongst Christians but is moved with great Grief at the sight of such things As the Apostle Who is offended and I burn not It is for maintaining the unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace And they that are more zealous to maintain some By-opinions than to maintain Union and Communion with their Fellow-Christians are quite besides the Mark. The Churches Peace and Edifying one another in Love are far greater Matters than any unnecessary Opinions which too many too zealously contend for Yea Vnnecessary is too good a word for some of them I should have said unsound Opinions O that the Guilty here would seriously consider whether it would not be more for the Honour of God the Credit and Interest of the Gospel and the securing of true Religion amongst us to joyn with their Fellow-Christians so far as they can to hold together to their mutual help strengthening and encouragement than to be so hot for their Opinions which if they were true yet are far remote from the Foundation and so far from being necessary to Salvation that not one of hundreds that are saved and now in Heaven was ever of their Way and Opinion here To be so rigid in their Way to carry as if all were unfit and unworthy for them to hold Christian Communion with that come not over to such Opinions of theirs alas this is Wild-fire not true Spiritual Zeal And verily I cannot think of any thing that will probably more harden and encourage Papists at this Day than the sad Rents and Dissentions amongst Protestants As he said Is not the hand of Joab in all this So it is probable enough the Heads of Jesuites have been in this Divide impera They know a Kingdom divided against it self is not likely to stand long and hope to raise themselves on our Ruines 9. That is right Zeal when we are more moved with Indignities offered unto God than with any Injuries done to our selves When we are more zealous in God's Cause than in our own We find Numb 12.1 2. Miriam and Aaron speak against Moses yet he seemed not at all concerned for himself We find not any reply that he made He was meek in his own cause Whereas upon sight of the Peoples Impiety their Idolatry in the Cause of God he was presently all on a flame His anger waxed hot Exod. 32.19 To be mild in our own cause but zealous in God's is a sign that we are indeed zealous for God As it is a sign of the contrary when we are remiss as can be unmoved unless when our own Interest is wrapt together with God's Interest As most Parents and Masters can bear it well enough though Children fail never so grosly in respect of the Duty that they owe to God though Servants plainly neglect and contemn God's Service They can bear with their Impiety with their taking God's Name in vain with the prophaning of his Day c. And yet many times they are all Fire and Tow if such do but fail in point of good Manners to them if they be not very observant of them and their commands Now it is true the least Irreverence towards Parents and so negligence in Servants are Sins against God But if upon that account you are most moved and displeased then you will be displeased at other Sins as well and more displeased at greater Sins than you are at these You will be zealous for God when Self is not so much concerned 10. Right Zeal for God is joyned with real Love and true compassion towards Men towards Sinners Thus while we hate their Sins we should yet love and heartily wish well to their Persons While we cannot bear with them that are evil in that which is evil yet we should be glad to do them good and glad indeed if by any means we might be helping to make them better As great Enemies as the Jews were to the Gospel and to the Apostle Paul yet he could not but pity them and his hearts desire and prayer to God was for them that they might be saved Rom. 10.1 Zeal against Sinners hath anger and grief in it not hatred As in the Apostle 2 Cor. 12.21 True Zeal desires their Conversion rather than Confusion And would rejoyce more in their Reformation than in their Ruine Our Saviour checked the furious Zeal of the Disciples when they would fain have been calling down Fire from Heaven to consume those poor Creatures that would not receive him Ye know not what manner of Spirit ye are of Luke 9.54 55. They were too hasty at that time a spirit of Revenge was stirring in them which was not Elias's spirit
Treachery The settled bent of their Hearts and so the general course of their Lives is right 16. The upright Man is striving after and growing up towards full Perfection The Righteous shall hold on his way And he that hath clean Hands wax stronger and stronger Thus the Way of the Lord is strength to the Upright And his Word does good to the Upright Mic. 2.7 It is an ill sign when one is at a constant stay in Religion When one holds on in a round of Duties without going forward And commonly Hypocrites go out at last in a stinking snuff But the Path of the Just is as the shining Light which shineth more and more unto the Perfect Day Prov. 4.18 Such are pressing towards the Mark Phil. 3.14 15. Of Zeal TIT. 2.14 A peculiar People zealous of good Works 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 accensum studio bonorum operum as Beza fervently given unto good Works as in our old English translation Zeal is a word of various acceptation In general it signifies heat and fervour From 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ferveo In Heb. 10.27 there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we read fiery indignation in our old Translation violent Fire This Word is transferred to the heat and fervour of the Spirit and Affections which is of diverse kinds As 1. There is a natural Zeal As some naturally are of lively active spirits full of mettle as we use to say Luther seemeth to have been naturally of such a temper As Bucer said of him Nihil in eo non vehemens What an happy thing it is when such a temper is guided and acted by Grace Ordinarily such will do more for God 2. There is a carnal Zeal We find emulations among the works of the Flesh reckoned up Gal. 5.19 20 21. In the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Apostle James condemns 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a bitter Zeal Jam. 3.14 Envy is a kind of Zeal but not of the right kind It is bitter Zeal It is a sort of wild Grapes There is a Blind Zeal Such as Idolaters Papists Persecuters may be acted by A blind zeal when Men are Zealous in a false way and Zealous against the Truth Taking light for darkness and darkness for light Calling good evil and evil good There is a superstitious extravagant and erratick zeal when Men are Zealous about such things where it would be a vertue to be cool and moderate And there is an Hypocritical Zeal when Men have or seem to have great Zeal for the Truth and against Errour and falshood but it is only for self-respects and carnal ends Thus carnal Zeal moves in a large Sphere takes a great compass 3. There is a Spiritual Zeal A being zealous of good Works indeed and zealous for God even for his sake An holy Zeal This is both commanded Rev. 3.19 Be zealous And commended Num. 25.11 Phinehas the Son of Eleazer hath turned my wrath away while he was zealous for my sake So this Zeal should not go unrewarded Many commend lukewarmness and indifferency in Religion under the terms of Moderation Prudence and Discretion But Christ and the World are not of a mind A lukewarm temper the Lord cannot endure Rev. 3.15 16. Because thou art luke-warm and neither cold nor hot I will spue thee out of my mouth But as Bishop Hall observes Vol. 1. p. 903. The goodness of God winks at the Errors of honest Zeal and so loveth the strength of good Affections that it passeth over their Infirmities Again ib. p. 938. He Pardoneth the Errours of our fervency rather than the indifferencies of lukewarmness Indeed where there is no Zeal for God there is no Love to God Qui non Zelat non amat Where there is Life there will be some heat Here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be spiritually alive and to be lively are not more alike in sound than really akin Zeal in one degree or other is as inseparable from spiritual Life as heat is from fire It 's true as every sincere Christian is not a Nathaniel for degree and measure of Sincerity and plain-heartedness So neither is every such Soul a Moses a Phinehas an Elias for Zeal Yet the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force Mat 11.12 And it is one property of Christ's redeemed ones his peculiar People to be zealous of good Works This holy Zeal of which I am to speak as was said of Vprightness and Sincerity is not any distinct particular Grace but a modus or respect of other Graces Though some define it as a compound of Love and Anger Zelus est affectus ex amore irâ mixtus cum scil irascimur ei à quo laeditur id quod amamus Yet I cannot so confine it There must be Zeal accompanying our Repentance 2 Cor. 7.11 And Zeal in our Love We must love fervently 1 Pet. 1.22 and 4.8 And it is the symtom of corrupt times when love waxeth cold Mat. 24.12 Zeal is the spritely vigour and activity of all Grace the ardor of all the Affections with the earnestness and intention that is in all spiritual actings Indeed the chief heat of it is in the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 12.11 This Fire is burning in the gracious Heart in the sanctified Will and Affections yet its heat is further diffused into the Conversation All our Spiritual Sacrifices must be offered up with this Fire Fervent in Spirit serving the Lord. Prayer must be Zealous fervent Prayer Jam. 5.16 Col. 4.12 13. Ministers must Preach zealously as Apollos Act. 18.25 None are allowed to do the work of the Lord negligently remisly There must be Zeal in hearing the Word Here our hearts should burn within us as Luk. 24.32 we should be zealous in reproving as Gal. 2.11 Yea no good work is well done without Zeal We must be zealous of and zealous in good Works It s not enough barely to do good Works but we must be earnest upon it and vigorous in the Work Quest But how shall we know whether our Zeal be right Answ 1. True Zeal is guided by a right Judgment a judgment regulated by the Word To allude to that Isa 4.4 The spirit of judgment must go along with the spirit of burning A blind ignorant rash Zeal is not good nor will it prove ones estate good Such a Zeal Paul had while a desperate Persecuter Act. 26.9 which afterwards he saw to be fury and madness rather than Zeal v. 11. This made him Mad once not his learning as Festus would have had it v. 24. such a Zeal the carnal unbelieving Jews had Rom. 10.2 Let Men be never so zealous in their way if it be not God's way their Zeal runs waste God is not honoured but dishonoured not well pleased but displeased with that Zeal which is not according to his Word To be zealous for what he hath not commanded and much more to be zealous for what he hath forbidden to be zealous against
could not but express his Zeal for God at Athens when he had none to back him Acts 17. Come see my Zeal for the Lord says Jehu a Kings 10.16 An Hypocrite is not well pleased if he have not some to take notice of his Zeal some that will applaud him for it His Zeal in a good cause is soon cooled if he have not some about him such as would encourage and help to blow it up Whereas true Zeal will burn still when there are none about it but such as endeavour to blow it out As Lot's Soul was vexed from day to day in Sodom with their unlawful deeds 2 Pet. 2.8 If a Zealous Christian hath his lot cast in a wicked prophane Place or Family even there will his Zeal be breaking forth True Zeal will not be smothered or put out with the coldness and deadness of others about it but rather useth to be more excited and intended As Fire burns hottest in cold frosty Weather 5. True Zeal is not Partial but would appear for all that wherein God's Honour and Interest lieth It is as Extensive as sincere and sound Obedience It is Quantitas intensiva obedientiae according to Dr. Ames Thus to be Zealous of good works in the whole kind of them ready to promote any good Work earnestly desirous to abound in every good Work would shew our Zeal to be right But a partial Zeal as a partial Obedience is not right As partial heats in the Body are no signs of good Health To be Zealous for works of Charity but no friends of Holiness and true Piety Or to seem forward for pious Exercises but to be careless of other Moral Duties To be negligent in the duties of our particular Callings and Relations cannot be right True Zeal in a Magistrate will make him active for God as a Magistrate as Nehemiah was True Zeal in a Minister will make him diligent in the work of his Ministry Like Apollos who being fervent in Spirit spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord Acts 18.25 True Zeal in the Master of a Family will make him Industrious in his Place To instruct his Houshold in the Way of the Lord and to engage them in God's Service after Abraham's example Yea one that is truly Zealous of good Works will act uniformly Not be hot in Prayer Hearing Conference and Cold and Heartless as to other Duties 6. True Zeal sets against all Sin as it is discovered This will cause ones Blood to rise against Sin So a Man will be ready to reprove and shew his dislike of Sin as he has opportunity So he will endeavour in his Place according to his Power to oppose Sin to prevent suppress it True Zeal will make a Man an enemy to Sin wheresoever he sees it wheresoever he meets with it To appear very forward to condemn the faults of an Enemy of such as bear no good will to us and to bear with Sin in our Friends in such as are nearly related to us this is not right True Zeal would make one like Levi in God's Cause Who said unto his Father and to his Mother I have not seen him neither did he acknowledg his Brethren nor knew his own Children Deut. 33.9 As Asa would not bear with Idolatry in his own Mother 2 Chron. 15.16 In the trial of your Love observe its working at a distance as this will better appear in its workings towards those that are farthest off in its being extended to Strangers Enemies than in its workings towards Friends and Relations that are near you But in the trial of your Zeal on the contrary especially observe how it worketh near hand To condemn Sin in others but to indulge and spare our own Sins is not right Some are so Zealous against others Offences De Adventu Dom. Ser. 4. as Bernard says that they might seem to hunger and thirst after Righteousness if they had the same judgment also of their own Sins But now a weight and a weight as he alludes is an abomination to the Lord. True Zeal would least endure Sin in its own Territories As Fire has most power on what is next it Zeal where it is in truth will be firing out ones own Corruptions Like an Hearth of fire among Wood and like a Torch of fire in a Sheaf As the Psalmist says My Zeal hath consumed me Psal 119.139 So Zeal will be consuming ones Lusts Are we salted with this Fire according to the expression Mark 9.49 A truly Zealous Christian has the greatest indignation against his own Sins and is most forward to take revenge on himself and them 2 Cor. 7.11 And he would not spare one of his Sins Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel yet this shewed his Zeal was not right that he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam he was still for the Golden Calves 2 Kings 10.28 29. A resolved indulgence and allowance of any known Sin and true Zeal are inconsistent 7. A right and regular Zeal is most vehement in the greatest Matters As Fire the grosser the substance that it takes hold Ignis in materia densiori acriùs urit and feeds upon the hotter it burns True Zeal is more for plain and necessary Duties than for any disputable point or matter of Controversie So likewise it riseth against Sin according to the quality and aggravations thereof What one noteth to have always been the Hypocrites guise Dr. Downam on Psal 15. p. 33. is the genius of false Zeal scil To neglect the greater Duties and to affect the observation of the less to prefer Circumstances before the Substance and Ceremonies before the works either of Piety or Charity to place the height of their Religion either in observing or urging Ceremonies or contrariwise in inveighing against them Observe it to be more Zealous for or against a Ceremony than for the weightiest and most substantial Duties or than against great and foul Enormities to be more Zealous about some disputable Point and Opinion wherein sound Christians may have different apprehensions than for main matters of Faith and Godliness matters essential to true Christianity wherein all that are Christians indeed must agree both as to Belief and Practice is no good sign You would not take him for a wise and careful Builder that laid the greatest weight on the weakest part of the Wall So it must be indiscreet Zeal or worse than indiscreet which is more for unnecessary Opinions than for the most substantial Duties and fundamental Truths Is that true Zeal for God Or rather is it not a selfish Zeal which is for ones own Opinions neglecting those things which make most for the Honour of God and wherein the main interest of Religion lieth Though many warm themselves at these Sparks many comfort themselves that they are Zealous in their way for their own Parties and Opinions yet in the end they may lie down in sorrow for it But some will say Would you not have us Zealous for
11. True Zeal is for expedition in God's Service As Phinehas Ignis est maxime actuosus maximè mobilis who was zealous for God could not sit still when he saw God so greatly Dishonoured Psal 106. Then stood up Phinehas and executed Judgment Then stood up Phinehas The word may import his readiness and forwardness to appear for God against Sin as occasion was then offered So Nehemiah testified against the Merchants that had lodged but once or twice without Jerusalem under the Wall on the Sabbath threatning to clap them up If they did so again he would lay hands on them Neh. 13.20 21. So David Psal 101.8 I will early destroy all the wicked Though it may point at the usual time of sitting in Judgment in the morning yet withal it may import that he would not be delatory in the work Thus Zeal will set Men early on work for God will make Men quick and speedy in giving check to Sin as they have power and opportunity to put a stop to it as soon as they can Sinful sluggish demurs delays put-offs are contrary to the nature of true Zeal So a listlesness to Duty is no sign of Zeal It is cold that benummeth So it is a sign of the want of Zeal a sign of extream coldness when we cannot find our hands to turn them to any good work when we are like the slothful Prov. 19.24 that hides his hand in his bosom 12. True Zeal makes souls as forward unto so free and lively in God's service What a Man does zealously he does very heartily To be zealous of good Works is not barely to do some good Works but it further implieth earnestness alacrity and fervency of spirit in the doing of Good Works To pray with Zeal is more than saying a Prayer it is no less than to be fervent in Prayer to pray earnestly To be zealous in works of Charity is not meerly to give to such that stand in need but to give willingly and freely Like those of Macedonia 2 Cor. 8.3 that were willing of themselves That needed no spurring on What the Apostle sayes of Love 1 Cor. 13.4 It is kind bountiful this may well be said of Zeal which is the fervour of Love Zeal is bountiful at least in will and desire Cold has a condensing and contracting quality but heat rarifies and extends So Zeal in the Heart enlarges it A zealous Christian would not serve God at an ordinary rate he desires to abound in the work of the Lord. The flame will be mounting upwards A zealous spirit is a raised spirit raised in God's Service But a cold dead heart is still bearing downward We read of Jehoshaphat that his heart was lifted up in the wayes of the Lord 2 Chron. 17.6 So one of a zealous spirit never thinks he does enough for God He will desire still to serve him more and to serve him better 13. True Zeal gives courage in the Cause of God filleth the Soul full of resolution for God And indeed that may be the meaning of Jehoshaphat's heart being lifted up in the wayes of the Lord. A zealous Spirit is a magnanimous Spirit An holy Zeal is indeed Cos fortitudinis the Whetstone of Valour As Esther's Zeal for God and his People put courage into her though she might naturally be timorous as is common to her Sex What an heroick resolution was there Esth 4.16 I will go in unto the King and if I perish I perish If we have no Spirit no Courage to appear for God his Truth and Wayes sure we have no Zeal forthem Indeed of all things Sinners are most offended at holy Zeal They that have nothing to say against Christian Meekness or Charitableness and some other Graces yet can ill endure the heat of Godly Zeal O it is scorching and tormenting to them Here they are ready to cry out Fire fire as one says This oft puts them into a great combustion Yet true Zeal will break thorow opposition Many Waters cannot quench Love neither can the Floods drown it The like may be said of Zeal It is not quenched or cooled but oft more intended and increased when others would discourage it 14. True Zeal that is a cause of such courage and resolution for God that giveth confidence and boldness before Men yet is joyned with Humility and Holy Fear and Trembling before God One gracious disposition is not contrary to another And true Zeal is not blown up with high thoughts of ones self but with high thoughts of God The Dread and Reverence of the most High of an infinitely Glorious and Holy Majesty promotes true Zeal for God helpeth to set an edge upon it and steeleth the Soul with an holy boldness hardeneth it against a base carnal fear of Man Mr. Vines But it is not right when as one says Zeal that should eat us up is eaten up of Pride 15. Right regular Zeal will more dispose and fit us for our Work and Duty not take off from Duty or transport into Sin That is not Zeal but distempered Passion it is not from Grace but from the workings of Corruption when we are discomposed and unhinged 16. If we have true Zeal for God it will be a joy to us to see any zealous and active for God As on the other hand it will be our great grief to see Men generally cold indifferent lukewarm in Religion To see others regardless of God and of the interest of true Religion will move our displeasure and indignation But it will not offend us to see any acted with regular Zeal for God Indeed the Apostle did and would rejoyce that Christ was Preached though some preached Christ out of envy Phil. 1.15 18. How much more would he have rejoyced to have seen as good proof and evidence of their pure Love and Zeal as he saw of their Envy carrying them out in the work If we are truly zealous for God we shall be taken with those whom we see or hear to be zealous for him our hearts will be towards such yea knit to them as Jonathans was to David And we shall bless God for such As Deborah Judg. 5.9 My heart is towards the Governours of Israel that offered themselves willingly among the People Bless the Lord. She desired that the Lord might be praised that put such a spirit into them If others out-shine us here yet if we have true Zeal for God we shall be so far from envying them that the more zealous any are the more we shall honour and be taken with them 17. If we are truly zealous we have an holy emulation a desire to follow yea if it might be to outstrip those that excel in vertue As the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 14.12 Forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts seek that ye may excel As the Corinthians Zeal and forwardness provoked very many 2 Cor 9.2 We should not envy such as have got the start of us and yet should in a good
sense emulate them We should strive at least to overtake those that are foremost Yea true Zeal for God and Godliness will not set it self any bounds or limits You cannot call them zealous that stint themselves and count it an high point of prudence and discretion not to be too forward in Religion But as Love so Zeal is like Fire that cannot be hid it will break forth Quis enim celaverit ignem Lumine qui semper proditur ipse suo Such as are afraid of being counted zealous as if it was a matter of disgrace are far from such a spirit as David had who when he was mocked and despised of Michal spake resolvedly I will yet be more vile than thus if this be to be vile Fire is one of those things which say not It is enough Prov. 30.16 So true Zeal never says It is enough A zealous Christian would have more Grace more Zeal for God They that are zealous of good works desire to abound more and more in good works 18. True Zeal is not for a spurt for a flash it is constant a Fire that never goes out Like that Fire upon the Altar Lev. 6.13 Though I must grant the Zeal of a true Christian doth not flame up at all times alike yet it is never totally extinguished It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing Gal. 4.18 And this is a good sign thy Zeal is right if it be constant There are some whose Zeal is but a flash scarce any sooner in than out again Some have a burning fit of Zeal for a while that is quickly over Their praeter-natural heat stays not But true Zeal is like the natural heat of the Body that continues as long as one lives Yea though it is like Fire in green wood subject to go out if it be not blown up yet that Spirit which first kindled this spark in Believers is given to dwell in them and to abide with them for ever And therefore though there may be some decays of Holy Zeal for a time yet it is stirred up again in the Faithful and usually burneth clearer after it is recovered As we sometimes see Fire blaze up more after a dash of water cast on it Yea ordinarily as we may observe a flame mount highest before it goes out ordinarily I say a Christians Zeal is most raised the nearer he is to his end But such as once seemed very forward for that which is good but are quite fallen off again have quite out-lived their Zeal they even give others cause enough to suspect that they were never sound OF A Lively Hope ROM 12.12 Rejoycing in Hope TO go on to the Trial of all other Christian Vertues might upon some accounts cross my design in what is Written which is to help and direct ordinary Christians in the Trial and exercise of Grace even such as cannot purchase or have not time to peruse large Volums I have spoken of the chief Cardinal Graces and shewed how they work how they may be known Prove these in your selves and there is no question but you have the whole Train of those better things that necessarily accompany Salvation As without these any other Vertues you may seem to have as Temperance Patience Meekness c. are but Shadows and Counterfeits So that I might make a Full-stop at what is Written Yet because many are kept off from any serious examination of their Estates satisfying themselves with this That they have Hopes and some That they have Joys too never enquiring How they came by them or of what kind they are Therefore before I conclude this Treatise I shall shew you how you may know whether your Hope and Joy be sound or no. And first of Hope But let me premise these Three Things 1. It is unquestionable that there is a false a deceiving Hope as well as a true and certain Hope There is a dead Hope as well as a lively Hope There is a confounding Hope as well as an Hope that maketh not ashamed There is the Hope of the Hypocrite Job 8.13 as well as the Hope of the Righteous Prov. 10.28 2. Better no Hopes than false Hopes As we may allude to that Prov. 26.12 Seest thou a Man wise in his own conceit There is more hope of a Fool than of him So there is more Hope of Sinners that are most despondent in one sense without Hope than of such as are very confident high in their Hopes but without any ground And how sad is it as I remember one says to sail on smoothly to Hell having Heaven all the while in view Hope that is like to end in horrour and utter desperation is not worth having 3. It is justly to be suspected that their Hopes are groundless and false who are unwilling to bring them to the Test and Trial. That part of a Man's Body which he could not endure to have touched we would conclude not right or sound But if your Hope be right it would not suffer any injury or damage by a fair impartial Trial but be more confirmed Now if you ask What is Christian Hope I answer It is a longing and fiducial expectation of Good promised to come in God's Time and Way Faith and Hope are very near akin Yet thus they differ 1. In Order Faith in order of nature is before Hope Hope is the Daughter at least the youngest Sister of Faith 2. In the Object Faith has respect to the whole Word of God Hope to the Word of Promise Good only is the object of Hope And Future Good Quod speratur non possidetur good to be received and enjoyed Rom. 8.24 Or if I may be said to hope that I am in a state of Grace that my Sins are pardoned which is hope of a present Good if my Hope be sound or if I say I hope God heard my prayer at such a time and gave in such a Mercy in answer to it here seems to be Hope of a thing past Here the word Hope seems to be used more improperly or taken more largely It is more properly a Perswasion though short of full Perswasion or Assurance But properly Hope looks at Good to come Whereas what is past may be the object of Faith as well as what is to come As we believe the Creation of the World a thing past as well as the Resurrection of the Body which is future 3. In their proper formal Acts. Faith apprehends and assents to the truth of the Promises Hope expects and looks for the Good promised An expectation of Good is the formal Act of Hope And herein also it is differenced from or contrary to Fear which is an expectation of Evil not of Good But that which I mainly intend is to shew wherein sound Hope differs from Presumption or from a false Hope Or how we may know whether our Hope be sound 1. True hope is not ordinarily obtained but after sad doubts and fears As it is Hos
Consent And this As Dr. Of Faith p. 102 103. Preston says Is the least degree of Faith when there is so much weight as will cast the Ballance the right way though there be something left in the other end of the Ballance that is some doubting some fear yet if I so far believe the Promises and the Word of God that I am willing to take Christ for my Husband and to bestow my self on him this is Faith If there be so much Assent so much firmness of perswasion as to bring us to take Christ for our Lord and Saviour this is the least degree of Faith And though doubtings even of the Truth of the Word and Gospel may sometimes arise yet the Souls Assent to the Truth is certainly predominant when thus it casts the Seale Such doubtings are not predominant and therefore not inconsistent with Faith Thus I am led to the second Act of Faith II. Faith doth not barely Assent but Consent Thus with the Heart Man believeth Rom. 10.10 And they that suppose Faith to be seated both in the Vnderstanding and Will cannot make it one single Act. So it is not a bare assent to the Truth of the Promise but an hearty consent to God's terms a willing acceptance of what God offers upon his terms And to believe in Christ and to receive him are made one and the same Joh. 1.12 If I truly believe the Promise then I no otherwise expect or hope that it should be made good and performed to me then upon my consenting to and performing the condition And the soundness and firmness of ones Assent may well be questioned here when this consent does not follow Baxter Direct to sound Conversion edit 2. p. 271. As all Men would take another course says an excellent Writer if they did but see Heaven and Hell with their Eyes so all Men would presently throw away their worldly fleshly pleasures and turn to God and an holy Life if they did but as throughly believe the Joys and Torments to come as if they saw them And that Saving-Faith does always include in it a consent to the condition on which Salvation is promised is plain and evident because no other Faith is Saving but that which does thus consent The strongest assent to the Truth without this is but the Faith of Devils so likewise the most confident reliance on God and Christ and the Promise without this is meer and gross Presumption But after what manner does a true Believer consent and accept of Gods terms 1. He consents fully not partially He consents to the whole New-Covenant not to a part only That cannot be Saving-Faith which consents not to all that God hath made of indispensible necessity to Salvation without which God hath declared that we cannot be saved Therefore the fore-cited Author as I remember somewhere calleth Faith The great summary Duty of the Gospel and the summary Condition of the Covenant implying including or inferring all the rest and to which they are reducible Thus If the Gospel require as necessary to Salvation that we take God for our chief ultimate End and Happiness and take Christ for our only Redeemer as Prophet Priest and King and take the Holy Spirit for our Sanctifier as certainly it doth and our Covenant with God in Baptism obligeth to all this to all this Faith consents If we take that description of Faith in the shorter Catechism scil That it is A receiving Jesus Christ as he is offered to us in the Gospel it implieth as much He is offered not only as a Priest but as a Prophet to teach us the Will of God and as a King to rule us by his Laws and by his Grace and Spirit This is certain there can be no receiving of Christ but as he is offered No thinking to have Christ whether he will or no whether God will or no. He that is called the Gift of God must be received as God offers him or we have nothing to do with him we have no Title to him And Christ was never offered to any as a Saviour only Indeed he is held forth in the Word as the only Saviour there is Salvation in no other but not as a Saviour only Him hath God exalted to be a Prince as well as a Saviour Act. 5.31 and Chap. 2.36 And to this end Christ both died and rose and revived that he might be Lord Rom. 14.9 And he is the Author of Salvation only to them that obey him Heb. 5.9 So we read of Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ Act. 16.31 and 20.21 So true Faith does not only eye his Cross but also boweth to his Scepter acknowledgeth his Sovereignty as well as his Satisfaction As Dr. Preston well We must take heed of disjoyning those things Of Faith p. 42. that God hath joyned together We must take Christ as well for a Lord as a Saviour Mark it diligently If thou wilt take Christ as a Saviour only that will not serve the turn Christ giveth not himself to any upon that condition only to save him but we must take him as a Lord too to be subject to him to obey him And as another that I have somewhere met with To receive Christ only as a Prophet is but a speculative Faith to receive him only as a King is but a legal kind of Faith to receive him only as a Priest is but a carnal Faith but to receive him in all his Offices together this is a true Evangelical and Saving-Faith Here I am upon a point of grand concern indeed not to be hastily passed over As a partial Assent so a partial Consent will prove ones Faith not to be sound Saving-Faith willingly accepts of whole Christ accepts of Christ in all his Offices and not only of some particular benefit by him Christ will not be divided We must have all or none Who would not but be pardoned and saved But we cannot have Remission and Salvation alone Christ will not be their Priest and Saviour who will not accept of him for their Prophet and King their Teacher and Ruler Indeed we cannot receive Christ as a perfect Saviour if we receive him not in all his Offices He is Prophet Priest and King that so he may be a compleat Redeemer that he may save his People 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the uttermost Heb. 7.25 So he hath his name Jesus because he saves his People from their Sins Mar. 1.21 and not only from misery and Wrath to come 1 Thes 1.10 Therefore if you are not for Christ himself but only for some of his Benefits if you are for some of his benefits but not for others for Remission Justification but not for Sanctification for Salvation in the end but not for the way leading to it if you would be saved in your Sins not from your Sins if you are willing to hear of a Christians Priviledges by Christ but have no such mind to hear of Christian Duties if you
had rather be from under Christs Yoak set free from his Laws might it be at your choice and after your minds than live in Obedience and Subjection to him if it be thus it is a clear case your Faith is unsound you do not yet consent to the terms of the Gospel or consent but partially You have often heard what a rich and great Match Christ is and how willing he is to bestow Himself with all his Riches unsearchable Riches upon the Children of Men and hereupon 't is likely you wish to have the Estate An Estate of Happiness to be freed from all Misery and a Kingdom of Glory to have and to hold for ever who would not but be glad of such an Estate There is so much Self-Love in the most wicked Man on Earth no doubt that he would be happy when he dies he would not be damned but would chuse Heaven before Hell if he might have Heaven in his own way and time But hold you cannot have the Estate without marrying the Person If you like well of Christ to take him for your Head and Husband and are willing to give up your selves to him to be guided and governed by him then you shall be for ever enriched by him and glorified together with him otherwise not If you say We would have Christ we are willing to take him for our Saviour if that be all you cannot have him on any such terms Here is an Errour of the Person And though it be disputable in other Marriages what Errour of the Person is nulling yet there is no question in the case before us but this Errour of the Person will make it no Marriage It is another kind of Person who is offered to you in the Gospel The Gospel knoweth no such Christ as is a Saviour only and not a Lord as well What! would you have Christ to Crucify him would you have him to dethrone him So you do what in you lyeth if you are not willing to receive him as Lord as well as Saviour Now how can you think that Christ should consent to be yours on such terms But on the other hand if thou canst say Lord I assent to the Promises of the Gospel as true and embrace them as good indeed and worthy of all acceptation Lord I accept of thy terms I consent to take thee for my God to be ruled by thy Laws and led by thy Spirit and to take up with Thee for my Portion I consent that Christ be my Lord as well as Saviour I am willing to come under his Yoak yea to take up his Cross too when called to it I am satisfied that I cannot have him on too hard terms nor be a loser by him I am willing to be saved by him in his own way willing to be at his Command and at his dispose surely this is a Practical Faith a sound and Saving-Faith Wouldst thou know whether thou hast true Faith such as uniteth to Christ and may prove ones Interest in him Then ask thy Soul this Question Am I willing to have whole Christ willing to receive him as he is offered Do I accept of him on his own terms If so then know thy Faith is Sound and Christ is thine Then indeed the Match betwixt Christ and thy Soul that happy Match is made up Christ says his part in the Gospel wherein he freely offereth himself to Sinners and when we come to consent and take Christ as he is there offered then we say our part and thus the Match is made up If the Match break as one says it must be either because Christ is unwilling Vid. Method for Peace of Conscience pag. 58. Aphor. pag. 278. or because thou art unwilling not because Christ is unwilling for he makes suit to Sinners He freely offers himself and whosoever will may have him on his terms So that if thou art willing to accept of Christ on his terms it is done Christ and thy Soul are agreed This is the receiving of him which the Scripture maketh equivolent to believing on his Name In all that I have here said I do not deny but we are allowed to look at our own benefit and Salvation in coming to Christ and receiving him by Faith As one describes it to be perfugium peccatoris poenitentis ad Dei in Christo misericordiam Jo. Mestrezar cit prim Le Blanc p. 193. A penitent Sinners fleeing for safety and succour to the mercy of God in Christ According to the common experience of Christians the obtaining of Pardon and Salvation is the ratio motiva the first inducement drawing them to Christ yet this is not the ratio terminativa it is not all that Believers look at in closing with him Though that which first moves a poor Sinner to accept of Christ for his Lord and to forsake his old Masters Sin and the World be this that Christ is a Saviour to those who take him for their Lord too yet not till the Soul is made willing thus to receive him that it can be said to have a Gospel-Faith Saving Faith A partial consent in a Moral and Law-sense is no consent And God and Souls are not agreed while they only consent to one part of the Covenant refusing other terms he hath made necessary to the Agreement Such a lame consent will never bring a Soul to Christ or Heaven 2. A true Believer consents deliberately He can give a good account why he thus closeth with Christ He sees himself lost perishing undone for ever without Christ but that he is made for ever and hath all he can desire in the Promise and therefore shall have it in possession too having Christ He comes not to Christ upon slighty reasons but being fully convinced and assured that this is the best the only course he hath to take Here we may take notice that as the Law of works given to Man at first was very suitable to Man's innocent estate So is the Law of Grace the remedying Law suited to Man's lapsed nature And God in bringing Men to Grace to Faith in Jesus Christ worketh upon Men as Men as reasonable Creatures who have Vnderstanding and Will and have a natural principle of Self-Love and desire of Happiness and a natural principle of self-preservation dreading the thoughts of Destruction and everlasting Misery And God hath so framed his Law suitable to Man's nature that what he promiseth hath the force of an Argument Ball of the Covenant p. 225. Armin Disp priv Thes 43 §. 1. or strong motive to draw Men to what he requires As Mr. Baxter speaks fully There are some of Christs benefits that the very natural Man desires and some that corrupted nature is against Now it is therefore the established way of Christ to promise us those which we can desire on condition that we will also accept of and submit to those that we are against Not but that his Grace doth dispose Men to the performance of
at others comforts and enlargements Psal 34.2 My soul shall make her boast in the Lord the humble shall hear thereof and be glad Psal 69.30 32. I will praise the name of God with a Song and will magnifie him with thanksgiving The humble shall see this and be glad 20. Humility causeth tractableness makes one of a yielding temper The humble spirit is an obedient spirit Such a one trembles at the Word as before is awed with the authority of God's Commands The humble is not for disputing but obeying But a proud spirit is a froward stubborn spirit The proud are set upon their own wills how cross soever to the will of God Neh. 9.16 But they and our Fathers dealt proudly and hardened their necks and hearkened not to thy Commandments And again v. 29. Yet they dealt proudly and hearkened not to thy Commandments Jer. 13.15 Hear ye and give ear be not proud Intimating that while Men are proud they will not regard God speaking to them will not heed God commanding So v. 17. If ye will not hear my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride It is from pride of spirit that Men will not hear will not obey The proud Men did not stick to give the Prophet the lie they told him to his face Thou speakest falsly when he came with God's Message Jer. 43.1 2. 21. Humility will prepare and make one very willing to bear reproach and contempt for Christ It is a light thing to an humble spirit to be vilified for Christ They that are vile in their own eyes will not think much to be vile in Mens eyes especially when it is for the Lord and their tender respect to his Will and Honour If for their high esteem of him and his Service they be counted as the filth of the World and off-scouring of all things they can be very well content Spernere mundum spernere nullum spernere sese Spernere se sperni Those four things that make an happy Man agree to and meet in the Humble He contemns the World he contemns none he contemns himself he contemns being contemned especially when he is contemned of others for his honouring the Lord. The Humble is little concerned about vindicating his own name while he is much concerned for the Honour of God When he seeks to wipe off any foul and false charge laid on himself to clear his own innocency yet it is not so much with respect to himself and his own credit as with respect to the reputation of Religion with respect to the Honour of God and Jesus Christ and to the interest of the Gospel that these may not suffer in and with him To be laid under slanders such as tend to the discredit of Religion and of his holy Profession this he could not but account an heavy Cross and Affliction but otherwise to be reproached for Christ's sake and the Gospel he would account an honour to him As they rejoyced Act. 5.41 that they were so far honoured as to suffer shame for his Name But proud spirits are for setting off themselves and making a shew in the World And no longer for Religion or for no more of it than may commend them to Men than will stand with their height repute and esteem in the World They that seek honour from Men will hardly be brought to own disgraced Truths and reproached Duties 22. Humility will cause an abhorrence of Pride especially in our selves The truly humble cannot like Pride in any but detest it most in themselves I do not say that the humble are free from all risings of Pride but such do more easily and clearly discover them and so make any risings of Pride occasions of their further humbling As we read of Hezekiah 2 Chron. 32.26 He humbled himself for the pride the lifting up of his heart When his heart was mounting up in Pride he soon observed the motion of it and quickly pluckt it down again Indeed there is no Grace so perfect in the Saints here but some remainders of the contrary corruption may be still found in them The most humble are not free from all stirrings of pride As one has the comparison Pride is like Misletoe that will grow on any Tree But as I may say Humility is so far even with it that as Pride will take occanon from a Christians Graces and Services to lift up and shew it self so Humility comes on it with a back-blow and takes occasion to exercise it self upon the very motions of Pride As Pride oft-times buddeth upon the flourishing acts and exercise of Grace so Humility is oft springing when in other respects it is Winter with the Soul As in Winter Trees grow at the root And as by the help of Grace we come to a plainer discovery of and greater displisance against Corruption so in this particular by Humility we are made more aware of Pride and heartliy engaged against it You may take this for a Rule where Pride is least felt where it is not discerned there it most prevails Sicut macula quanto magis crescit in Oculo tanto minus videt Homo sic superbia quanto major fuerit tanto minus percipitur As a Pearl in the Eye the more it spreads the less a Man sees so the more Pride prevails the less it is seen But true Humility will help one ordinarily to take notice of proud Thoughts as they arise and cause him thereupon to lie lower in Self-abasement Of Self-denial MARK 8.34 And when he had called the People unto him with his Disciples also he said unto them Whosoever will come after me let him deny himself HEre Christ the most perfect Pattern of Self-denial preacheth Self-denial And he doth not only commend it to all his Followers but urgeth it as of indispensible necessity of such necessity that none can be a Disciple of Christ upon other terms Here he calls the People with the Disciples to attend to this As if he had said These things I must needs tell you Whosoever will come after me let him deny himself He was full of this Matter and his Spirit within him constrained him He was pressed in Spirit till he had delivered his Mind here the Matter was of such weight and moment As it was with the Prophet Jeremiah Chap. 20.9 The Word in his heart was as a burning fire in his bones He could not keep it in He called the People unto him with his Disciples also Here was a Lesson for all sorts to learn and practise A Lesson for Ministers and People both for all ranks and conditions of Men. Whosoever would be a Christian indeed must deny himself Here none are exempted And this is one of the first Lessons a Christian must learn With the Old Philosophers that follow Aristotle Privation is one principle of Generation Self-abnegation is undoubtedly a necessary Principle of Christianity yea Self-denial is a main constitutive part of it This is one of the special Rules and Orders of