no remedy We can never have a firm Foundation for a Full and Comfortable persuasion that God will indeed forgive Sins unless some Act of Grace and Indemnity be publish'd from Heaven to that end and purpose Such a one we read of in the Holy Scriptures in which we have the highest Assurance that can be either given or desired We have a firm word of Promise frequently repeated to build upon The Son of God came down from Heaven on purpose to preach this Doctrine in his own Person He hath purchased this Blessing for us by the sharpest Sufferings When he returned to Heaven Luk. 24.47 he commanded that Remission of Sins should be preached in his Name and hath settled an Order of Men who are appointed by this Argument to beseech Sinners to be reconciled to God This is one express Article of the New Covenant which he hath sealed with his own Blood that God will be merciful to our Iniquities and our Sins he will remember no more He bequeathed this as his dying Legacy among all his sincere Followers in his Last Will and Testament A Remembrance whereof he would have continually kept up among them and in order thereunto he instituted the Ordinance of the Supper for the Cup which we there drink of is the New Testament in his Blood which was shed for the Remission of our Sins And as a Priest he intercedes for this great Blessing and as a King bestows it on his People II. § II Suppose that Natural Light and Reason could assure us that God would forgive yet it cannot certainly inform us how far this Pardon shall reach either as to Persons or Offences If we had been left barely to our own Thoughts and Conjectures in this matter very few if any could have had a well-grounded comfortable Assurance that they in particular should find Mercy at the hands of God We could not reasonably presume it should be an Universal and Unlimited Pardon Surely God will make Examples of some and for any thing I know might every one say he may make one of Me among the rest If any be excepted why not I If I am a mean and inconsiderable Man 't is no great matter no great loss if such an one should perish And I am the rather induced to fear that I shall because of the Inequality of the Divine Favour in distributing temporal Mercies with so Sparing a hand to me the bestowing of which is the chief Ground I have to hope for his Pardon And therefore those who are very low and poor and under such miserable circumstances that they rather indure life than injoy it have Reason to suspect the good will of God towards them to whom he has given such weak and feeble Motives to Repentance and such slight Grounds to hope for a Pardon thereupon If I am a Man of Figure for that very reason God may single me out to make his Power his Justice and his Wrath so much the more Glorious And generally wise Governors are wont to make some such as these Publick Examples of their just Displeasure But be a man what he will as to his Circumstances in this World there is none but has committed a great many Sins and some of them are of a Crimson Dye For where is the Person to be found who has not often offended against shining Light and indearing Love against alluring Mercies and bitter Afflictions against repeated Promises and solemn Vows Now 't is true indeed that any single Sin tho' of the smallest Size will make sad Work in the Conscience if it be set home with Power on the Heart As the disorder of any minute single part of our Bodies an inconsiderable Stone or a small quantity of Gravel in our Reins will fill us with most exquisite Pain Yet generally it is the Multitude and Greatness of mens Sins and the heinous Aggravations of them that make the deepest wound in their Spirits Hence God has given us so many repeated Declarations in his Holy Word of the Fulness the Plenty the Riches of his pardoning Grace and Mercy That he will forgive iniquity transgression and sin That the Blood of his Son cleanseth from all Unrighteousness c. These Scriptures are like those Herbs which some curious Men tell us of that have the Signature of those parts of the Body whose Griefs they are designed to asswage Or the Figure and Colour of those Diseases for the Cure whereof the kind Hand of Nature has provided them They clearly shew our Disease as well as are intended to heal it and plainly signify how hard a matter it is to settle the peace of a troubled Soul Nay the Better and more Serious any man is so much the Greater would have been his Uncertainty and Perplexity in this matter For the Better any man is the more does he observe the inward Corruption of his own Heart which others take no Notice and make no Account of And the deeper Sense has he of the Holiness and Justice of God of the Vileness of his own Sins of his Desert of Wrath and Vengeance and his Unworthiness of Divine Favour And every man but especially such a one knows so much More against himself than he does against the Generality of Others that it is reasonable for him to conclude that all things considered he is one of the Chiefest of Sinners How natural is it therefore for all and especially for such to cry out Tho' peradventure there may be Mercy for Others yet sure there is none for Me I am afraid that I and My Crimes may be excepted and that pardoning Grace shall not extend so very far as to take Me and my Sins within its Reach and Compass that the Wing of Mercy will not be spread so wide as to cover Me and all my numerous and mighty Offences But now from this miserable Distress Revelation doth thoroughly deliver us by certifying us that as far as the Heavens are above the Earth Isa 53.7 8 9. so far are God's Ways and Thoughts above ours And therefore he is ready Abundantly to pardon Our Blessed Lord hath told us Mat. 12.31 All manner of Sin and Blasphemy shall be forgiven Blasphemy is a wounding the Name of God Now every Man is tender of his Reputation as of the Apple of his Eye and God is jealous of his own Honour Yet not only all other Offences but even this too of what sort and kind soever tho' attended with very aggravating Circumstances shall be forgiven unto Men 't is spoken indefinitely to Any Man always provided he comply with the Conditions of the Gospel the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost only excepted And 't is very observable how these words are brought in Our Saviour was now most highly provok'd by the malicious Pharisees whose malignant Souls were possest by a worse Devil than any of the Bodies of those who were healed by him and therefore wickedly imputed his Miracles to the Power of Satan Our Lord
worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God c. 'T is further evident from the Nature of the Sin here mentioned that the Apostle is speaking of the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost The formal nature of that dreadful Sin I take to be this A malicious reproaching our Blessed Saviour as an Impostor and Deceiver imputing the Miracles which he wrought by the Spirit of God for the Confirmation of his Holy Doctrine and Mission to the Power of the Devil A man would wonder if there were not a thousand Instances of the like kind how so many Learned Men could make a shift so much to mistake this clear and plain notion of this Sin and give us so many Extravagant Opinions concerning it as widely distant from each other as all of them are from the Truth who doth but consider how St. Mark closes the Speech of our Saviour concerning it For he winds up all with these remarkable words Mark 3.30 Because they said he hath an Unclean Spirit which give us a clear Light whereby to discern the nature of this Sin But some rather chuse as an Evidence of their great Strength to endeavour to break through the Walls than turn the Key that is very plainly in the Door and would easily open it and let them into the House Now that 't is this Sin viz. the Reproaching Christ as a Deceiver the Apostle is here speaking of will appear from the Expressions which he useth concerning it He calls it a Crucifying the Son of God afresh Ch. 6.6 Ch. 10.29 and putting him to an open Shame A treading him under foot and counting his Blood an unholy thing and doing Despite to the Spirit of Grace All which do amount to this That they esteemed Christ to be a Vile Malefactor a wretched Impostor that his Miracles which for the Matter of Fact they could not deny were wrought by the help of the Infernal Powers and therefore he was deservedly put to death and had it been to do again they would as readily have done it as ever the Malicious Jews did Moreover the Sin here spoken of in one of the Places Ch. 6.6 is called a falling away and that from the Principles of the Doctrine of Christ which in the Verses immediately foregoing he had newly mentioned Ver. 1 2. i. e. a total Renouncing of the Christian Faith and Returning either to Judaism or Paganism which these Hebrews were in great danger of and which 't is the apparent Design of this Epistle to fortify them against And tho' in the other place it be called only in the General a Sinning Wilfully or Willingly Ch. 10.26 yet thereby the same thing is meant For just before the Apostle had been exhorting them to hold fast the Profession of their Faith without wavering Ver. 23 and cautioning them against forsaking the Assembling of themselves together as the manner of some was Ver. 25 which was the natural Means and the Ouvert-Act and Sign of their Apostacy And then these Words are brought in For if we sin wilfully c. i. e. If we cast away the Profession of our Faith forsake the Christian Assemblies and renounce the Doctrine of Christ Now it is worthy of our careful Observation that the Heathens but especially the Jews were so implacably bent against our Blessed Lord that tho' a Christian did desert the Assemblies of the Faithful and offer to join with them in their Judaical or Pagan Religion and Worship yet this alone would not suffice But besides this they required an express Abjuring and Reviling and Blaspheming Christ as an Impostor And without this their Rage was never satisfied and to speak in the modern Language they never thought they had fully performed all the necessary Duties of New Converts Acts 26.11 St. Paul tells us that when he persecuted the Christians 1 Tim. 1.13 being exceeding mad with Rage he compelled them to Blaspheme as he Himself also did And giving the Corinthians a Character whereby to distinguish between Divine and Diabolical Spirits 1 Cor. 13.3 I give you to understand Saith he that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus Accursed which doth plainly imply that it was very usual for men to do so in that Age for otherwise this Note of his would have been of no manner of Service to them Pliny in his Epistle to Trajan informs him what was the Ordeal Fire by which he tried those who were suspected and accused whether they would disown Christianity not only by proposing to them to worship the Heathen Gods and the Image of the Emperor but also by demanding of them whether praeterea Christo maledicerent they would also revile Christ And he further adds concerning those that fell in that hour of Temptation that they not only worshipp'd the Pagan Idols and Trajan's Image but also that Ii Christo maledixerunt they reviled Christ And Justin Martyr * Apol. 2d p. 72. Edit Paris tells us That Barchochebas the Ringleader of the Jewish Rebellion did order the Christians to be severely punisht unless they would not only deny Christ but blaspheme him too And Polycarp being required in order to save his Life to reproach †Euseb Hist l. 4. c. 15. Christ replied How can I Blaspheme my King and Saviour And our Learned †Harm of N. Test p. 289 290. Vol. 1. Lightfoot saith That as early as about the 10th or 11th Year after our Saviour's Ascension Rabban Gamaliel and the Sanhedrin appointed a new Prayer in which was a Petition to God to destroy the Hereticks i. e. the Christians and this he set among the Common Prayers and appointed it to be in every man's Mouth And that the Jews had their Emissaries every where abroad that to their utmost cried down the Gospel and blasphemed it and Christ that gave it Of this saith he there is Testimony abundant in the New Testament and in their own Writings So much shall suffice to prove that 't is the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost but a more Aggravated one than that of the Pharisees that is meant in both these Places And if any of our Modern Deists have been maliciously guilty of this Sin unto death I leave them to God But provided a man hath not gone so great a Length as this is how many soever his Sins and Back-slidings from God have been yet on a renewed deep and Sincere Repentance and a lively Faith in the Blood of Christ they shall be remitted Tho' I must add in the words of Moses Exod. 8.29 Let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully with God any more For if this Grace be turned into Wantonness tho' God forgive Men Ps 99.8 yet he may and will take vengeance upon their Inventions And this naturally leads me to the Last thing which remains to be spoken unto VI. § VI Mere Natural Light and Reason cannot assure us to what Degree God will pardon those whom he does forgive It
the necessary Foundations of Practical Holiness and We are poor short-sighted Creatures as soon may a Man contain the whole Ocean in the Hollow of his Hand as We comprehend an Infinite Being and his Wise Counsels and Decrees That there are Mysteries in Christianity instead of being a Stone of Stumbling and a Prejudice against our Faith should rather be a Confirmation of it to us and an Argument for it it looks more like a Divine Revelation when some Parts of it are very Profound and Abstruse Revealed Religion like a Picture must have its dark Shades as well as its brighter Colours As to its Practical Part it is and ought to be clear But the Articles that are to be believed must of necessity be Obscure I should expect that the Foundation of so great a Building should be laid under Ground and out of Sight And a humble Person will quickly be convinced that it is his Duty to bow down his Head before Divine Revelation as well as submit his Will to the Divine Command and that a Creature must yield Subjection to his Maker with his whole Man and every Part thereof But yet It is a good thing § IV that the Head be filled with Knowledge that we may be able to give a Reasonable Answer to them who do ask an Account of our Faith and Hope And in a time when the Road is full of Thieves whose Design it is to Rob and Murder us no Man should Travel without a Sword by his Side and every Man should get some skill to manage his Weapon that he may at least defend himself and that Sacred Treasure which is or ought to be dearer to him than his Life I will therefore briefly mention some of those Rational Grounds upon which our Assent to the Christian Doctrine ought to be built and then it will remain firm and unshaken They may be reduced to these two Heads The Nature of Christianity And the Divine Proof of it I. For the Nature of Christianity 't is a Religion every way Worthy of God For it gives us such an Account of the Nature and Will of God as our Reason with great Toil possibly might have found out and cannot but approve and close withal as soon as ever it is proposed to us 'T is a great Advantage to have this Food brought to our Hands and not to be obliged to hunt after it for that at the best would have cost us great Labour and we might have missed of it And these it acquaints us with not to amuse and entertain us with subtile and useless Speculations but as a necessary Foundation for the promoting and encouraging our living Righteously Soberly and Godly in this present Evil World which is the Apparent Design of the Gospel And in requiring Godliness as well as Righteousness and Sobriety it does vastly exceed all the Instructions that we can learn from any of the Heathen Philosophers They have indeed the Second Table written in their Books pretty fairly tho' not without some Blots and Errata's But as for the First Table they have but a few broken Letters of the Duties of it and these too in a very small Character The Gospel mightily insists upon and presses the necessity of Loving God with our whole Hearts and Souls of making his Glory our Chief End in all that we do Doctrines that lie at the Foundation of Practical Holiness which yet the Heathen Philosophers never mentioned nor dream'd of And one may as soon expect to find a Jewel by raking in a Dunghil as to meet with any Passages of this Nature in any of their Writings Again 't is a Religion every way suited to the State of Fallen Man For it plainly acquaints us That we are in a State of Apostacy and how this came about And it would greatly endear the Holy Scriptures to Men if they did but Distinctly know what a perplexing Inquiry this has been among the greatest Wits and the most learned Scholars who have not had the Word of God for their Guide * Stillingfleet's Orig. Sacrae p. 491. how Sin and Misery came to break into this World Some attributed it to Discord and Antipathy a certain quarrelsome pernicious bloody Principle which they knew not what to make of but this is to put us off with mere Words and Sounds Others to the necessary Perversity of Matter Others to some very malignant Spirit that had slily wound it self into it Others to two Gods a Good and a Bad one And tho' it is impossible that more Nonsence and Contradiction should be crowded together in the narrow Compass of so few Words Two Gods whereof one a wicked spiteful and malicious One Yet Plutarch tells us This was the most Ancient Opinion and most Universally received among the Wisest of the Heathen And †Oracles of Reason p. 194. one of these Heads of Brass that pretends to utter Oracles of Reason is of the same Mind For says he as to the Origine of Good and Evil methinks it is less Contradictory and Unreasonable to believe as the Ancient Persians did That there were TWO Beginnings of things the one Good the other Evil For how can Evil proceed from a Being infinitely good and without whom nothing is if Evil be not And if Dr. Burnet * Page 207. have proved Genesis but a Parable why may not the Persians be as much in the right as the Jews And yet another of his Brethren tells us †Page 197. That this is the first Head of the Deists Natural Religion That there is ONE Infinite Eternal God Creator of all things And in another place That the generally acknowledged Lapse of Nature and how it came may be discovered by Natural Reason and it is reasonable to conclude without Revelation that it came not from a wicked God but by a Deviation from the right Rule of Reason implanted in us c. When two Deities butt and knock against each other 't is no wonder that these two Authors do the same Only there is this unhappy Difference that of the Two Gods one is a very Good one which makes some Amends for the other who is so very Bad. But both these Epistlers are of the same vile Stamp and Strain Further the Scripture gives us a distinct Account of the State of the Quarrel between God and us what the Issue of it will be if the Controversy be not taken up and how we may be reconciled to him whom we can never successfully oppose tells us of a Mediator altogether such a one as Fallen Man stands in Need of what God requires of us that through him we may escape that Wrath and Vengeance that is due to us for Sin and what we shall receive from him in a way of Reward and Punishment according as we comply with his Terms or refuse so to do And it very much presses the great Doctrine of Regeneration a most God-like Doctrine every way worthy of God and necessary for us
Jocular and Pleasant or Savage and Cruel Plutarch not having Cordials of his own strong enough to support the Spirits of Apollonius for the Loss of his Vertuous Son borrows one from Pindar whom he quotes describing the State of the Pious after Death to whom he would have him believe the Departed Youth was gone whose Happiness he describes in Words to this effect They do continually †Plutarchi Consolat ad Apollon p. 120. enjoy a clear Sun-shine when this Earth of ours is wrapt up in Darkness The Fields round about them are adorned with beautiful Roses and shaded with Trees that yield Frankincense and bear Golden Fruit. Some sport themselves on Horse-back others divert themselves with Musick The Country is always pleasant and so are they who dwell in it And there are no other Clouds but what arise from the Smoak of Incense which they plentifully burn on their Altars whose sweet Odours at once refresh their Gods and themselves too But it may be some will say these were Poets yet Poets were their great Divines * Stillingfleet's Orig. Sacr. p. 57 58. of Old Let us therefore hear some of their grave Moral Philosophical Writers Plato brings in Socrates †In Axiocho Tom. 3. p. 371. giving a Description of the future Happy State which he learnt from Gobryas who had it from I know not what Brazen Tables exactly resembling that of Pindar for which reason I shall not translate it Tho' in the Close Socrates confesses he is not sure that these Particulars are so but only in the * P. 372. General that the Soul when it leaves the Body goes to a place where it lives free from Grief but whether it be above or below he knoweth not Seneca tells us that there the †Ep. 102. Aliquando Naturae tibi Arcana retegentur c. Secrets of Nature shall be open'd there shall be neither Night nor Shade all the Stars mingling their Lights together and joining them as in one Common Stock And if this be so the latter part of the Opinion of the Magi which ‖ De Iside p. 370. Plutarch from Theopompus informs us of may be true that after a bloody Scuffle among the Gods for six thousand Years at last Mankind shall be happy and neither need Food nor cast a Shadow But as for the Former part of it viz. their not wanting of Food Tully is of another mind And in truth no Man talks so pleasantly on this Argument as he doth For he fancies that Separated Souls will get a little above the Clouds and thick Exhalations of the Middle * Necesse est ita feratur ut penetret dividat omne Coelum hoc in quo nubes imbres ventique coguntur c. Tusc Qu. l. 1. p. 1056. Region of the Air into a clear and warm place which will be so agreeable that they will not attempt to climb higher and there they shall be nourish'd with the same Food with which the †Eaque ei demum naturalis est Sedes eùm ad sui similem penetravit in quâ nullâ re egens aletur sustentabitur iisdem rebus quibus Astra sustentantur aluntur Id. Ib. Stars are fed Now it may be the Reader may long to know but he will not long to take his Commons with them when I have told him what Sort of Diet it is those Heavenly Bodies are nourish'd by 'T is very Coarse if * De Nat. Deorum l. 2. p. 1134. Tully himself or †Totum hoc Coelum quod igneus aether mundi summa pars claudit omnes hae Stellae quarum iniri non potest numerus omnis hic coelestium coetus ut alia praeteream hic tam prope à nobis agens cursum Sol omni terrarum ambitu non semel major alimentum ex terreno trahunt inter se partiuntur nec ullo alio scilicet quà m halitu terrarum sustinentur Hoc illis alimentum hic pastus est c. Senec. Quaest Nat. lib. 6. c. 16. Seneca may be believed For 't is no other than the thick and greasy Vapors which Steam up from the Waters or the Dunghil of this Earth on which we tread and a Man Man might justly fear the being starved among them For as the Stars are many and very great so they are hard Labourers and therefore as we might reasonably suppose if he had not told us * Tot Sydera tam exercitata tam avida per diem noctemque ut in Opere ita in Pastu Quaest Nat. l. 2. cap. 5. greedy Eaters too and besides them the Sun who is much nearer especially according to his Opinion and a very great Devourer hath nothing else to nourish him but what he can plunder from this little Globe of ours And that the Musick may be suitable to the Feast the Separated Souls are entertained there with the imaginary †Quid hic inquam quis est qui complet aures meas tantus tam dulcis Sonus Hic est inquit ille qui intervallis conjunctus imparibus sed tamen pro ratâ portione distinctis impulsu motu ipsorum orbium conficitur c. Tully in Somn. Scip. p. 1318. col 2. Harmony of the Spheres But the Orator goes on ‖ Profecto beati erimus cum corporibus relictis cupiditatum aemulationum erimus expertes c. Tusc Qu. ubi supra There they shall be freed from Aemulation and Covetousness tho' in so great a Scarcity of Provisions as must needs be among them there 's Temptation enough to that Vice and from the great Height of the Place have a notable Advantage of better understanding the Heavenly Bodies who so unconscionably rob 'em and the whole Structure of this Earth which is so kind as to nourish them tho' so wretched a Place one would think should be no very pleasant Sight Especially considering what he pleaseth himself withal at another Time that when he dies he shall * O praeclarum diem cùm ad illud divinum animorum Concilium coetumque proficiscar cumque ex hâc turbâ colluvione discedam De Senectute p. 1264. depart from this rude and disorderly Rout and Crew here below And I confess 't is a desirable thing to get out of such a mad Croud but then it can't be very agreeable to a Wise and Serious Spirit to behold them at a Distance no more than to be among them But then he shall be joined to * Ib. that Assembly and Council of Souls and converse with those Famous Men whom he had known and heard and written of This indeed is a noble Strain one of the best that I have observed among all the ancient Philosophers But Socrates said it before him and from him he borrowed it For Plato brings him in comforting himself with the Thoughts that on his Removal hence he should be with Orpheus and Musaeus with Hesiod â€
generous Coriolanus hath these Words If when * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dionys Antiq. Rom. p. 529 530. the frame of the Body whatever that be is destroyed that of the Soul perisheth also and is annihilated I don't see how those can be accounted Happy who having received no Advantage from their Vertue yet perish for it But then as appears from the following Words he did not carry this so far that those great Souls should remain for ever or be Eternally rewarded tho' he saith that some do so think because he thought agreeably to the Sentiments of the Stoicks they would be sufficiently recompenc'd for all their Vertues and Sufferings if they continued only for a Considerable Time in a State of Happiness above and were highly commended here below as it happen'd saith he to that Man Besides these as St. Austin * De Civitate Dei l. 22. c. 28. informs us out of Varro there were a Sort of Men who held that there was a certain great Year when all the same Stars and Planets shall return to the same Configuration and then there shall be a new Production of all Men and all other things again which shall rise up successively in the same manner and all the fame Circumstances wherein they have already appeared So that I shall again begin just as I have lately done to write the very self-same Book on the very same individual Paper with the very self-same Pen and Ink and my Reader be got just to the very self-same place in it where he now is And tho' by the Title which St. Austin from Varro gives them viz. that of Genethliaci one would take 'em to be a despicable sort of Figure-flingers and Conjurers yet they were no less Men than * See for this Dr. Jackson Vol. 3. p. 425. and Hody of the Resurrection à p. 16. ad 23. Plato and Pythagoras and their Followers and the Egyptians and many of the Indian Philosophers and some of the very Stoicks too tho' they derided St. Paul as a Babbler for Preaching the Resurrection in the Christian Sense These Men are far from being agreed about the exact Number of Years when the Stars and Planets shall return exactly to the same Configuration And therefore I can't tell the Reader how often Souls as well as other Beings shall run this Round and like Fairies dance in this imaginary Ring Only for our Comfort we must know that this will be an * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Numenius in Euseb Demonstr l. 15. c. 19. p. 821. Edit Paris It. Origen c. Celsum l. 4. p. 208. Everlasting Tautology Besides all this there are some Philosophers and St. Austin †Hoc dixerunt valde magni Philosophi St. Aug. de Tempore Serm. 139. It. 142. tells us they are of the highest Form who thought that the Souls of Good Men are a long time at Rest but after a very considerable Time they come down from Heaven and appear in Bodies again And there was yet another Hypothesis which was no Fiction of Virgil's but what he brings in as a known ‖ Dii quibus imperium est animarum umbraeque silentes Et Chaos Phlegethon loca nocte tacentia late Sit mihi fas audita loqui sit numine vestro Pandere res altâ terrâ caligine mersas Virgil Aeneid 6. v. 264. Tradition That the wicked but curable Spirits after they had smarted for their Folly in the infernal Gulf for a thousand Years were like so many Head of Cattle driven to the Waters of * Animae quibus altera Fato Corpora debentur Lethaei ad fluminis undam Securos latices longa oblivia potant Virgil. Aeneid l. 6. v. 713. O Pater anne aliquas ad caelum hinc ire putandum est Sublimes animas iterumque ad tarda reverti Corpora quae lucis miseris tam dira cupido Id. v. 719. Has omnes ubi mille rotam volvêre per annos Lethaeum ad fluvium Deus evocat agmine magno Scilicet immemores supera ut convexa revisant Rursus incipiant in corpora velle reverti Id. v. 748. Lethe where they drank so long till they were perfectly besotted to that degree that they did irrecoverably forget every thing which they had ever done or suffered But as Lucian †De Luctu Tom. 2. p. 428 429. Edit Benedicti wittily observes it fell out very happily for the World that Alcestis and Protesilaus and Theseus and Ulysses slipt by without taking a Cup there or else it had been impossible they should ever have remembred any thing and given us such a particular Account of it as they have done when they return'd to this Earth of ours After this Draught they are received up into Heaven where they enjoy all manner of Happiness till being weary of it the freak takes them to make another Trial of their Fortune here below and so they return to this World again whereupon unless it be a very sorry Heaven indeed they pay very dear for their Folly Thus have the Heathens for want of a Guide from Heaven entertained these so very different and extravagant Notions about it And for any thing that meer Reason can say to the contrary it may be but a short Term of Happiness which we shall enjoy in the other State and that would be a more abundant Recompence than we could pretend to deserve And tho' the Soul being Immaterial is naturally Immortal and hath no contrary Principles of Corruption within yet who can assure us but God may withdraw his Preserving Influence and then our Spirits must fall back again into that primitive Nothing whence they sprung up into Being by his powerful Word of Command Or for any thing we know by Natural Light the other Life as well as this may be a continued State of Trial tho' in better Circumstances and from which we may fall It may often happen among departed Souls what Modern Philosophers have dreamt doth frequently come to pass among the Heavenly Bodies where a Star is many times covered with a rising Scum and over-run with so thick a Scurf as to be degraded into a wandring Planet or a Pilgrim Comet perpetually frisking and bounding from one Vortex to another a long time before its surrounding Crust being broken it recovers its ancient Eminency again But Revelation acquaints us that the time of our Probation ends with this Life The dying Groans of a Saint are the last that ever he shall fetch He shall Sin no more Sorrow no more be Tempted and Afflicted no more His Bliss shall continue without any Interruption and without any End And this tho' but a Circumstance yet is of that Weight that it may justly be esteem'd a considerable Part of the Happiness of Heaven to be secured in the Enjoyment of it without any Fear or Possibility of a Change for ever IV. § IV Natural Light and Reason can't assure us That we shall enjoy this Happiness
he hath not only the Kindness of an Ordinary Man but his Humane Nature was filled with a Spirit of Love and Compassion and therefore he who hath so strictly commanded us to deal forth our Bread Isa 58.10 and draw out our Souls to the hungry will be much more ready to do it himself The Woman of Samaria tho' none of the best Temper or Character who denied him a Draught of Common Water might have had the Water of Life from him if she had but seriously asked it of him Joh. 4.10 And tho' the Hearts of his Country-men the Jews were full of Malice against him yet from a Custom that had obtained among them of bringing Water from Siloam to the Temple and pouring it out there he takes Occasion to intimate to them that He was the Fountain of Saving-Grace and gives them an Universal Invitation saying If any man tho' he be never so poor Joh. 7.37 or hath been never so wicked yet if he thirst let him come to me and drink And assures them that they should not repair to him in vain For he adds He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath said out of his Belly shall flow Rivers of living Water This spake he of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive as St. John the infallible Commentator adds And there are several Circumstances of this Speech of his which the Evangelist mentions and are worthy of our Observation In the last Day that great Day of the Feast Jesus stood and cried saying If any man thirst c. 'T is the Feast of Tabernacles that is here meant one of the three on which all the Males in Israel were to appear at Jerusalem the First and the Last Days whereof were Great Days and in a Special manner to be observed as a holy Convocation wherein it was not Lawful for them to follow their Worldly Employments And consequently this being a Day of Leisure there was the greater Confluence of the People And it being the Last Day and they on the Point of departing to their several Homes just as they were going he utters these Words that so they might stick and abide by them as mens last Speeches are wont to do And then 't is added that Jesus stood up The usual way among the Jews was for those who taught the People to do it Sitting but here we find our Saviour chose the other Posture that his Voice might reach the further And he did not faintly Whisper but he Cried that every one there might be sure to hear him and that by the Loudness and Fervency of his Delivery he might make the greater Impression upon their Souls So earnestly did he desire to draw Men to him for their Spiritual Advantage And as a Sanative Vertue was sent forth from the Body of Christ here on Earth for the Curing the Natural Distempers of all those who resorted to him and believed on him so shall Influences of Grace flow forth from him in Heaven for the healing the Spiritual Diseases of those who seek to him and depend upon him He will do as great Miracles and Cures on Mens Souls as ever he did on their Bodies Open the Eyes of them who were Born blind quicken them who are dead in Trespasses and Sins restore their Feet to them that are Lame cleanse them that are Lepers and cast out the unclean Spirits from those who have been possessed by them And to remove all Jealousies and Obstructions he hath given us such a Description of the Gracious Nature and Will of God as is most worthy of him and most proper to incline us to return to him to awaken the Negligent and encourage the Doubting He hath clearly inform'd us of his Holiness Justice and Omniscience as a Remedy against the vain and fatal Imaginations of those who are secure in Sin and are apt to fancy him like a drowzy Judge on the Bench who neither hears nor regards how Causes go He hath as fully display'd before us the Riches of his Grace that awaken'd Sinners might not despair and so prove obstinate and irreclaimable It was the Reproach of the Israelites Ps 106.20 that they changed the Glory of God into the Similitude of an Ox that eateth Grass 'T is of a more pernicious Consequence to transform him into the Likeness of a roaring Lion thirsting after Mens Blood and greedy to devour their Souls Our Blessed Saviour in pursuance of his great Design which is to recover Men from Sin hath given us quite other Representations of him That he is desirous to be at Peace and ready to give forth of his Grace Luk. 11.11 12 13. That the most tender-hearted Father can't be half so ready to give Bread to his Starving Child as God is to give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him And to cut off all Objections to this purpose viz. how can God consistently with his Holiness Justice and the Honour of his Government bestow so rich a Blessing on us the Scriptures further tell us it was one End of his Death to purchase Saving-Grace for us It was part of the Prize for which he ran a Branch of that Joy that was set before him Heb. 12.2 as an Encouragement to him to endure the Cross and despise the Shame and Pain of it He knew he should have a Seed and see the Travel of his Soul Isa 53.10 11. and be satisfied with the blessed Fruit thereof And when he ascended up on High Ps 68.8 he received Gifts for Men indefinitely of all Sorts and Ranks yea even for the Rebellious also Acts 5.31 and was exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour to give Repentance to Israel and Forgiveness of Sins Yea saith the Apostle to those Men whose Hands were yet reaking in the Blood of Christ and who therefore one would think should never have been applied unto or if they had of all Men living they should have been the Last that ever should have heard such glad Tidings yet on the contrary Unto you First saith he Acts 3.26 God having raised up his Son Jesus hath sent him to bless you in turning not a few only but every one of you from his Iniquities Considering the Nature of the Gospel the Representation therein given of God the Temper of Christ his tender Love to the Souls of Men which drew him down from Heaven his Carriage on Earth his Death Ascension Exaltation and the Ends of them which he who did not stick at the hardest Command of his Father that of laying down his Life will be sure punctually to answer and his own Honour which is so deeply engaged the Glory of a King consisting so much in the Multitude of his Subjects Prov. 14.28 we have the highest Reason to believe that nothing is more Grateful to him than the lifting up a perishing Sinner out of the Pit and the helping a strayed Soul in its Return to God The CLOSE I
must be made use of to subdue and keep under this evil Humour which is so great an Enemy to a Life both of Grace and Peace 3. Be skilful diligent and serious in Examining and Observing your selves We must distinctly know the Marks and Characters of those that shall be pardoned and saved according to the Scriptures We must understand how methodically to go to Work to find whether they are in us or no. We must narrowly observe the main drift of our Actions and the secret Springs Ends and Principles of all that we do and deal by our own Hearts as Learned Men by an Obscure and Profound Author or an ill-written and blotted Manuscript which they carefully read over again and again with a very curious and critical Eye that they may rightly and thoroughly understand them And unless we do this we shall never be able to attain to any solid and stable Comfort 4. Be much in the Exercise of Grace and endeavour daily to grow in it Grace in the Habit is like Fire in the Flint or Steel which is not discern'd but by the Collision of one against the other with some Force and Strength nor the good Principle in the Heart but as it sallies forth into vigorous and lively Exercise in the Life Stir up the sleepy Habit blow up the Heavenly Spark into a bright Flame and thine own Eyes shall see it and thy own Soul shall feel the warmth of it and thou wilt be no longer in perplexing Doubts concerning it 5. Lastly Be more exact and circumspect in your Walk Bring Matters to an Head see what it is that is the Cause of your Jealousies and Fears some Sin of Omission or Commission and destroy the Root as ever you would have no more of this bitter Fruit. If you do these things you shall no longer suffer any dark Eclipses or if you should they will be but short ones and you will presently emerge out of them you will live in Comfort and die in Peace You will have no Temptation to cleave to this World when God calls you away like green Fruit that sticks to that Tree whereon it grows and must be violently plucked and torn thence But you will depart with great Freedom and Willingness be like Ripe Fruit that presently and easily Drops from the Tree whereon it does but loosely hang And an entrance will be administred to you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour AN APPENDIX TO THE Foregoing Discourse AMONG other Letters in Mr. § I Blount's Collection I find one written by A. W. who threatens Revealed Religion with a Regular Attack in a Syllogistical Way which he is not over-skilful in For when he comes to prove the Major Proposition of his first Syllogism which is an Affirmative and which according to the Rules of Art should be the Conclusion of the second instead of that he substitutes a Negative and besides he shuffles that which was the Subject in the Former into the room of the Predicate in the Latter For this is the Major of the first Syllogism Oracles of Reason p. 198. That Rule which is necessary for our Future Happiness ought to be generally made known to all And this is the Conclusion of the second Syllogism whereby he proves it viz. Therefore that Rule which is not generally known cannot be the Rule of our Happiness So that I suppose his Religion and his Logick are of apiece both meerly Natural But that which he would be at is this That no Revealed Religion has been any he is so very bold as to say it never could be made known to all Men as it certainly would have been if it were necessary to Future Happiness else there is no visible means for the greater part of Mankind to be happy which is inconsistent with God's Infinite Goodness who provides for all his Creatures the means of attaining that Happiness wherof their Natures are capable I shall speak more largely to this Point than is necessary for a sufficient Answer to the Objection Partly because I will endeavour to reconcile the Minds of Men in some measure to this hard Problem of not granting the Gospel to so great a Part of Mankind Partly because I am not altogether without Hopes that it will fare with A. W. as with that Man in the Gospel who was once Mad and Possessed with an Evil Spirit but quickly after being in his right Mind Luke 8.35 sate at the Feet of Jesus as an humble Disciple of his It will be so if he will stand to his Word for he says It has been demanded of me Page 210. whether I should be convinc'd of my Opinion and admit of Supernatural Religion in case the Gospel i. e. a Supernatural Religion had been promulgated to all the World I answer'd I should and was contented the whole Stress of the Dispute should be terminated in that One Point I therefore offer the following Considerations 1. § II The Case of Man is very different from that of all other Creatures because he is manifestly in a State of Apostacy which this Author himself confesses to be Page 207. generally acknowledged Now the Divine Goodness was abundantly manifested in the Original framing of Man in a Capacity for Happiness and abundantly providing him with Furniture for the attaining of it But he voluntarily fell from that good Estate by his own Default God therefore is not justly chargeable if he should leave all Mankind in their Deserved and Self-procured Misery and never have set on foot in any Place of the World a Design of saving any Man This is not a Matter of Right which fallen Man can challenge as due to him it may be with-held without any Wrong or Cruelty because 't is a Matter of pure Arbitrary undeserved Favour 2. This Revealed Religion which is generally necessary to the attaining everlasting Happiness and which he says NEVER COULD I say both could and would have been universally known had it not been for the gross Negligence Wickedness and Malice of Men themselves For God preached it to Adam immediately after the Fall as also to Noah the two Common Parents of all Mankind Adam had the Gospel in Miniature in these Words The Seed of the Woman shall break the Serpent's Head And we have great Reason to believe that what was wrapt up in these very General Terms was more particularly unfolded to him than it is here recorded For it is evident That Moses studies Brevity and gives an Historical Account of a great many Ages and Events within the narrow Compass of a few Pages And there was the less need that he should in this place further Dilate upon the Messiab a short Hint was enough because that was the Subject which he was more fully to open in his following Writings And it is highly probable That our first Parents did understand somewhat of the Death of Christ as a Sacrifice which is the Marrow and Substance the Sum and Center of the