and instruction 3. If they may do so in the Psalms in Metre there can no reason be given but they may lawfully do so in the Psalms in prose For saying them and singing them are but modes of utterance both are the speaking of Prayer and praise to God And the ancient singing was liker our saying than to our tunes as most judge 4. The primitive Christians were so full of the zeal and Love of Christ that they would have taken it for an injury and a quenching of the spirit to have been wholly restrained from bearing their part in the praises of the Church 5. The use of the tongue keepeth awake the mind and stirreth up Gods graces in his servants 6. It was the decay of zeal in the people that first shut out Responses while they kept up the ancient zeal they were inclined to take their part vocally in the Worship And this was seconded by the pride and usurpation of some Priests thereupon who thought the people of God too prophane to speak in the assemblies and meddle so much with holy things Yet the very remembrance of former zeal caused most Churches to retain many of the words of their predecessours even when they lost the Life and spirit which should animate them And so the same words came into the Liturgies and were used by too many customarily and in formality which their ancestors had used in the fervour of their souls 6. And if it were not that a dead hearted formal people by speaking the Responses carelesly and hypocritically do bring them into disgrace with many that see the necessity of seriousness I think few good people would be against them now If all the serious zealous Christians in the assembly speak the same words in a serious manner there will appear nothing in them that should give offence If in the fulness of their hearts the people should breakout into such words of prayer or confession or praise it would be taken for an extraordinary pang of zeal and were it unusual it would take exceedingly But the better any thing is the more loathsome it appeareth when it is mortified by hypocrisie and dead formality and turned into a mockery or an affected scenical act But it is here the duty of every Christian to labour to restore the Life and spirit to the words that they may again be used in a serious and holy manner as heretofore 7. Those that would have private men pray and prophesie in publick as warranted by 1 Cor. 14. Ye may all speak c. do much contradict themselves if they say also that Lay man may say nothing but Amen 8. The people were all to say Amen in Deut. 27. 15 16 18 19 20 c. And yet they oftentimes said more As Exod. 19. 8. in as solemn an Assembly as any of ours when God himself gave Moses a Sermon in a form of words to Preach to the people and Moses had repeated it as from the Lord it being the Narrative of his mercies the command of obedience and the promises of his great blessings upon that condition all the people answered together and said All that the Lord hath spoken we will do The like was done again Exod. 24. 3. And Deut. 5. 27. And lest you should think either that the Assembly was not as solemn as ours or that it was not well done of the people to say more than Amen God himself who was present declared his approbation even of the words when the speakers hearts were not so sincere in speaking them as they ought vers 28 29. And the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spake unto me and the Lord said unto me I have heard the voice of the words of this people They have well said all that they have spoken O that there were such a heart in them Obj. But this is but a speech to Moses and not to God Answ. I will reciâ—e to you a form of prayer which the people themselves were to make publickly to God Deut. 26 13 14 15. Then shalt thou say before the Lord thy God I have brought away the ☞ hallowed things out of my house and also have given them to the Levite and to the stranger to the fatherless and the Widow according to all thy Commandments which thou hast commanded me I have not transgressed thy Commandments neither have I forgotten them I have not eaten thereof in my mourning neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use nor given ought thereof for the dead but I have â—earkened to the voice of the Lord my God and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me Look down from thy holy habitation from Heaven and bless thy people Israel and the Land which thou hast given us as thou swarest unto our Fathers a Land that floweth with milk and honey Is not here a full form of Prayer to be used by all the people And remember that Ioseph and Mary and Christ himself were under this Law and that you never read that Christ found fault with the peoples speech nor spake a word to restrain it in his Churches In Lev. 9. 24. When all the people saw the Glory of the Lord and the fire that came out from it and consumed the burnt Offering they shouted and fell on their faces which was an acclamation more than bare Amen 2 King 23. 2 3. King Iosiah went up into the house of the Lord and all the men of Judah c. And the Priests and the Prophets and all the people both small and great and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the Covenant And the King stood by a pillar and made a Covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord and to keep his Commandments c with all their heart and all their soul c. and all the people stood to the Covenant Where as a King is the speaker it 's like that the people used some words to express their consent 1 Chron. 16. 35 36. When David delivered a Psalm for a form of praise in which it is said to the people v. 35. And say ye save us O God of our salvation and gather us together and deliver us from the Heathen that we may give thanks to thy holy name and glory in thy praise blessed be the Lord God of Israel for ever and ever All the people said Amen and praised the Lord. Where it is like that their praising the Lord was more than their Amen And it is a command Psal. 67. 3 5. Let all the people praise thee O God let all the people praise thee And he that will limit this to single persons or say that it must not be Vocally in the Church or it must be only in metre and never in prose or only in tunes and not without must prove it lest he be proved an adder to Gods word But it would be tedious to recite all the repeated sentences in the Psalms
Body of Christ not of the body of the Pope Let Christian and Catholick be all your titles as to your Religion Mark those that cause divisions and offences and avoid them Rom. 16. 17. § 31. Direct 11. To this end Overvalue not any private or singular opinions of your own or Direct 11. others For if once spiritual pride and ignorance of your own weakness hath made you espouse some particular opinion as peculiarly your own you will dote on the brats of your own brains and will think your conceits to be far more illuminating and necessary than indeed they are as if mens sincerity lay in the embracing of them and their salvation on the receiving of them And then you will make a party for your opinion and will think all that are against it deserve to be cast out as enemies to reformation or to the truth of God or to the Church And perhaps twenty years after experience may bring you to your wits and make you see either the falshood or the smalness of all those points which you made so great a matter of and then what comfort will you have in your persecutions § 32. Direct 12. Obey not the solicitations of selfish passionate disputers Bishops and Divines falling Direct 12. out among themselves and then drawing Princes to own their quarrels when they find their arguments will not serve hath been the distraction division and ruine of the Christian world And he that falleth in with one of the parties to bear out that by the ruines of the other is lost himself in their contentions Would Rulers let wrangling Bishops and Disputers alone and never lend them their Swords to end their differences unless the substance of Religion be endangered they would be weary of quarrelling and would chide themselves friends and no such tragical consequents would follow as do when the Sword interposeth to suppress the discountenanced party and to end their Syllogisms and wranglings in blood § 33. Direct 13. Take heed lest an uncharitable hurting spirit do prevail under the name of holy Direct 13. Zeal As it did with Iames and Iohn when they would have fire from Heaven to have revenged the contempt of their Ministry To whom Christ saith Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of Luke 9. 55. The difference between a Christian zeal and an envious contentious censorious hurtful zeal is excellently described by the Apostle Iames Chap. 3. throughout Where envying and strife is there is confusion and every evil work The wisdom from above is first pure then peaceable gentle easie to be intreated full of mercy and good works without partiality and hypocrisie § 34. Direct 14. The Catholick Church and Particular Churches and our Communion with each Direct 14. must be distinguished and a man must not be cast out of our Catholick Communion because by some tolerable difference he is uncapabable of Communion with some particular Church If a man be impenitent in any Heresie or sin which is contrary to the common nature of Christianity or Godliness and so unfit for Catholick Communion he is to be cast out of Christian Communion But if some particular Church do impose any unnecessary doctrine or practice and he dare not approve it or joyn in it be it right or wrong yea or if he withdraw himself from one Church through the badness of the Minister or through any falling out between them and joyn to another that hath a Minister more suitable to his case these are not crimes to be punished with ejection from Catholick Communion He that is not fit for Communion with some one particular Church may be fit for Communion with many others that give him no such occasion of difference or distaste Without Catholick principles persecution will not be avoided § 35. Direct 15. Let Church Union and Communion be laid upon none but Catholick terms which Direct 15. are possible and fit for all to be agreed in Common Reason will tell any impartial man that there See my Treatise of A True Catholick and Cath. Church can be no more effectual engine to divide the Churches and raise contentions and persecutions than to make Laws for Church-communion requiring such conditions as it is certain the members cannot consent to If any man knew that my opinion is against the doctrine of Transubstantiation or of the Dominicans Predetermination and he would make a Law that no man shall have Communion with that Church who subscribeth not to these he unavoidably excludeth me Unless I be such a Beast as to Believe nothing soundly and therefore to say any thing If ever the Churches agree and Christians be reconciled it must be by leaving out all dividing impositions and requiring nothing as necessary to Communion which all may not rationally be expected to consent in Now these Catholick principles of Communion must be such as these 1. Such points of faith only as constitute Christianity and which every upright Christian holdeth and therefore only such as are contained in our Baptismal Covenant or Profession which maketh us Christians And not those other which only some stronger Christians believe or understand Because the weak are not to be cast out of the family of Christ. 2. Such points as the Primitive Churches did agree in and not innovations which they never Sâ—e Viâ—cent Lâ—â—iaens practised or agreed in For they are our pattern and were better than we and no more can be necessary to our Concord and Communion than was to theirs 3. Such points as all the Church hath sometime or other at least agreed in For what reason can we have to think that the Churches should now agree in that which they never hitherto agreed in 4. Such points as all the true Christians in the world are now agreed in For otherwise we shall exclude some true Christians from our Christian Communion 5. No points of Worship much less of Modes and Circumstances which are not necessary and more necessary to the Churches good than is the Communion of all those persons who by dissenting are like to be separated or cast out and whose omission would not do more hurt than this separation and division is like to do 6. Especially no such things must be made necessary to communion as the most conscientious are ordinarily fearful of and averse to and may be forborn without any great detriment to godliness § 36. Object But it will be said that Catholick Communion indeed requireth no more than you say Object But particular Churches may require more of their members For that may be necessary or fit for a member of this particular Church which is not to at all Answ. Catholick Communion is that which all Christians and Churches have with one another and the terms of it are such as all Christians may agree in Catholick Communion is principally existent and exercised in particular Churches as there is no existent Christianity or faith which existeth not in
heed of running from one extream into another p. 50 Direct 11. Be not too confident in your first apprehensions or opinions but modestly suspicious of them p. 51 Direct 12. What to do when Controversies divide the Church Of silencing truth p. 52 Direct 13. What Godliness is The best life on earth How Satan would make it seem troublesome and ungrateful 1. By difficulties 2. By various Sects 3. By scrupulosity 4. By your over-doing in your own inventions 5. By perplexing fears and sorrows 6. By unmortified lusts 7. By actual siâ—s 8. By ignorance of the Covenant of grace p. 54 Direct 14. Mortifie the flesh and rule the senses and the appetite p. 57 Direct 15. Be wary in choosing not only your Teachers but your Company also Their Characters p. 58 Direct 16. What Books to prefer and read and what to reject P. 60 Direct 17. Take not a Doctrine of Libertinism for Free Grace p. 61 Direct 18. Take heed lâ—st Grace degenerate into Counterfeits formality c. p. 63 Direct 19. Reckon not on prosperity or long life but live as dying p. 65 Direct 20. See that your Religion be purely Divine That God be your First and Last and All Man nothing p. 66 CHAP. III. The General Grand Directions for walking with God in a life of faith and Holiness Containing the Essentials of Godliness and Christianity p. 69 Gr. Dir. 1. Understand well the Nature Grounds Reason and Order of Faith and Godliness Propositions opening somewhat of them The Reader must note that here I blotted out the Method and Helps of Faith having fullier opened them in a Treatise called The Reasons of the Christian Religion and another of the Unreasonableness of Infidelity Gr. Dir. 2. How to live by Faith on Christ. How to make Use of Christ in twenty necessities p. 72 Gr. Dir. 3. How to Believe in the Holy Ghost and live by his Grace His Witness Seal Earnest c. Q. When good effects are from Means from our Endeavour and when from the Spirit p. 77 78 Gr. Dir. 4. For a True Orderly and Practical Knowledge of God A Scheme of his Attributes p. 81 82 Gr. Dir. 5. Of self resignation to God as our Owner Motives Marks Means p. 83 Gr. Dir. 6. Of subjection to God as our Soveraign King What it is How to bring the soul into subjection to God How to keep up a Ready and Constant Obedience to him p. 85 Gr. Dir. 7. To Learn of Christ as our Teacher How The Imitation of Christ. p. 90 Gr. Dr. 8. To obey Christ our Physicion or Saviour in his Repairing healing work p. 95 How each faculty is diseased or depraved The Intellect its acts and maladies The Wiâ—â— Q. Whether the Locomotive and sense can move us to sin without the Consent of the Will â—r Reason upon its bare Omission The sin of the Memory Imagination affections sensitive appetite exterior parts which need a Cure Forty intrinsecal evils in sin which make up its Malignity The common Aggravations of sin Special aggravations of the sins of the Regenerate Directions to get a hatred of sin How to cure it p. 95 Gr. Dir. 9. Of the Christian Warfare under Christ Who are our Enemies Of the Devil The state of the Armies and of the War between Christ and Satan The ends grounds advantages auxiliaries instruments and methods of the Tempter p. 104 How Satan keepeth off the forces of Christ and frustrateth all means Christs contrary Methods p. 109 Tit. 2. Temptations to particular sins with Directions for preservation and Remedy 1. How Satan prepareth his baits of Temptation p. 111 2. How he applyeth them p. 114 Tit. 3. Temptations to draw us off from duty p. 124 Tit. 4. Temptations to frustrate holy duties p. 126 Gr. Dir. 10. How to work as servants to Christ our Lord. The true doctrine of Good Works p. 128 Directions for our serving Christ in well doing p. 130. Where are many Rules to know what are good works and how to do them acceptably and successfully Q. Is doing good or avoiding sin to be most looked at in the choice of a Calling or Employment of life p. 133 Q. May one change his Calling for advantages to do good Q. Who are excused from living in a Calling or from Work p. 124 Q. Must I do a thing as a Good work while I doubt whether it be good indifferent or sin p. 134 Q. Is it not every mans duty to obey his Conscience p. 135 Q. Is it not a sin to go against Conscience Q. Whether the formal cause alone do constitute obedience Q. How sin must be avoided by one that hath an erroneus conscience Q. How can a man lawfully resist or strive against an erring conscience when he striveth against a supposed truth Q Is not going against conscience sinning against Knowledge p. 136 Q. When the information of conscience requireth a long time is it not a duty to obey it at the present Q. May one do a Great Good when it cannot be done but by a Little sin as a Lye Q Must I not forbear all Good Works which I cannot do without sin Q Must I forbear a certain great duty as preaching the Gospel for fear of a small uncertain sin Q. What shall a man do that is in doubt after all the means that he can use p. 137 Sixteen Rules to guide a doubting conscience and to know among many seeming duties which is the greatest and to be preferred p. 137 Gr. Dir. 11. To LOVE GOD as our Father and Felicity and End The Nature of holy Love God must be Loved as the Universal Infinite Good Whether Passionately What of God must be loved p. 141 What must be the Motive of our first Love Whether Gods special Love to us The sorts of holy Love Why Love is the highest Grace p. 143 The Contraries of holy Love How God is Hated The Counterfeits of Love p. 144 Directions how to excite and exercise Divine Love ibid. How to see God Signs of true Love p 154 Gr. Dir. 12. Absolutely to Trust God with Soul Body and all with full acquiâ—scence The Nature of Trust of which see more in my Life of Faith and Disp. of Saving Faith p. 157. The Contraries The Counterfeits Q. Of a particular faith The Uses of Trust. p. 158. Fifteen Directions for a quieting and comforting Trust in God p. 158 Gr. Dir. 13. That the temperament of our Religion may be a DELIGHT in God and Holiness Twenty Directions to procure it with the Reasons of it 162 Gr. Dir. 14. Of THANKFULNESS to God our grand Benefactor The signs of it Eighteen Directions how to obtain and exercise it 167 c. Gr. Dir. 15. For GLORIFYING God Ten Directions how the Mind must Glorifie God Ten Directions for Praising God or Glorifying him with our Tongues Where are the Reasons for Praising God Twelve Directions for Glorifying God by our Lives p. 172 Gr. Dir. 16. For Heavenly mindedness and Gr. Dir. 17. For Self-denyal
Servants 2. Masters p. 490 CHAP. III. Disput. Whether the solemn Worship of God in and by families as such be of Divine appointment Aff. proved against the Cavils of the prophane and some Sectaries p. 493. What solemn Worship is What a family Proof as to Worship in general Family-advantages for Worship The Natural obligation on families to worship God Families must be sanctified societies Instructing families is a duty Family discipline is a duty Solemn prayer and prâ—ise is a family duty Objections answered Of the frequency and seasons of family worship 1. Whether it should be every day 2. Whether twice a day 3. Whether Morning and evening CHAP. IV. General Directions for the holy Government of famili 〈…〉 How to keep up Authority Of skill in Governing Of holy Willingness p. 509 CHAP. V. Special Motives to perswade men to the holy Government of their families p. 512 CHAP. VI. Motives for a holy and careful Education of Children p. 515 CHAP. VII The Mutual Duties of Husbands and Wives towards each other p. 520. How to maintain due Conjugal Love Of Adultery Motives and Means against dissention Motives and means to further each others salvation Further duties CHAP. VIII The special duties of Husbands to their Wives p. 529 CHAP. IX The special duty of Wives to their Husbands p. 531 Q. How far may a Wife give without her Husbands Consent Q. Of Wives propriety Q Is a Wife guilty of her Husbands unlawful getting if she keep it And is she bound to reveal it as in robbing Q. May a Wife go hear Sermons when her Husband forbiddeth her Q. Must a woman proceed to admonish a wicked Husband when it maketh him worse Q. What she must do in Controverted Cases of Religion when her judgement and her Husbands differ p. 534. Q. How long or in what Cases may Husbands and Wives be distant p. 535. Q. May the bare Commands of Princes separate Husbands and Wives as Ministers Iudges Souldiers Q. May Ministers leave their Wives to go abroad to preach the Gospel Q. May one leave a Wife to save his life in case of personal persecution or danger Q. May Husband and Wife part by consent if they find it to be for the good of both Q. May they consent to be divorced and to marry others Q. Doth Adultery dissolve marriage Q. Is the injured person bound to divorce the other or left free Q. Is it the proper priviledge of the man to put away an adulterous Wife or is it also in the womans power to depart from an adulterous Husband Q. May there be putting away or departing without the Magistrates divorce or license Q. Is not Sodomy and Buggery as lawful a reason of divorce as Adultery Q. What if both parties be adulterous Q. What if one purposely commit adultery to be separated from the other Q. Doth Infidelity dissolve the relation Q. Doth the desertion of one party disoblige the other Q. Must a woman follow a malignant Husband that goeth from the Means of Grace Q. Must she follow him if it be but to poverty or beggary Q. What to do in case of known intention of one to murder the other Q. Or if there be a fixed hatred of each other Q What if a man will not suffer his Wife to hear read or pray or do beat her so as to unfit her for duty or a woman will rail at the Husband in prayer time c. Q. What to do in danger of life by the Pox or Leprosie c. Q Who may marry after parting or divorce p. 539. Q Is it lawful to suffer yea or contribute to the known sin materially of Wife Child Servant or other relations Where is opened what is in our Power to do against sin and what not p. 539. Q. If a Gentleman have a great Estate by which he may do much good and his Wife be so Proud Prodigal and pievish that if she may not waste it all in house keeping and pride she will dye or grow mad or give him no quietness What is his duty in so sad a case p. 542 CHAP. X. The Duties of Parents for their Children Where are twenty special Directions for their Education p. 543 CHAP. XI The Duties of Children towards their Parents p. 547 CHAP. XII The special Duties of Children and Youth towards God p. 552 CHAP. XIII The Duties of Servants to their Masters p. 554 CHAP. XIV Tit. 1. The Duty of Masters towards their Servants p. 556 Tit. 2. The Duty of Masters to Slaves in the Plantations p. 557 Q. 1. Is it lawful for a Christian to buy and use a man as a Slave Q. 2. Is it lawful to use a Christian as a Slave p. 558 Q. 3. What difference must we make between a Servant and a Slave Q. 4. What if men buy Negro's or other Slaves of such as we may think did steal them or buy them of Robbers and Tyrants and not by Consent p. 559 Q. 5. May I not sell such again and make my mony of them Q. 6. May I not return them to him that I bought them of CHAP. XV. The Duties of Children and fellow servants to one another p. 561 CHAP. XVI Directions for holy Conference of fellow servants and others p. 562 Q. May we speak good when the Heart is not affected with it Q. Is that the fruit of the Spirit which we force our tongues to CHAP. XVII Directions for every member of the family how to spend every ordinary day of the Week p. 565 CHAP. XVIII Directions for the holy spending of the Lords Day in families Whether the whole day should be kept holy p. 569 Tit. 2. More particular Directions for the Order of holy duties on that day p. 572 CHAP. XIX Directions for profitable Hearing Gods Word preached p. 573 Tit. 2. Directions for Remembring what you Hear p. 575 Tit. 3. Directions for Holy Resolutions and Affections in hearing p. 576 Tit. 4. Directions to bring what we hear into practice p. 577 CHAP. XX. Directions for profitable Reading the holy Scriptures p. 579 CHAP. XXI Directions for Reading other Books p. 580 CHAP. XXII Directions for right Teaching Children and Servants so as is most likely to have success The summ of Christian Religion p. 582 CHAP. XXIII Directions for Prayer in general p 587 A Scheme or brief Explication of the Exact Method of the Lords Prayer p. 590 Tit. 2. Cases about Prayer p. 591. Q. 1. Is the Lords Prayer to be used as a form of words or only as a Directory for Matter and Method Q. 2. What need is there of any other prayer if this he perfect Q. 3. Is it lawful to pray in a set form of words Q. 4. Are those forms lawful which are prescribed by man and not by God Q 5 Is free praying called extemporate lawful Q. 6. Which is the better Q. 7. Must we ever follow the Method of the Lords Prayer Q. 8. Must we pray only when the Spirit moveth us or as Reason guideth
their power of the Rod or supposing that they had none such p. 802 Q. 27. What are Christs appointed means of the Unity and Concord of the Universal Church and consequently of its preservation if there be no humane Universal Head and Governour of it upon Earth And if Christ hath instituted none such whether prudence and the Law of Nature oblige not the Church to set up and maintain an universal Ecclesiastical Monarchy or Aristocracy seeing that which is every mans work is no mans and omitted by all p. 802 Q. 28. Who is the Iudge of controversies in the Church 1. About the Exposition of the Scriptures and Doctrinal points in themselves 2. About either Heresies or wicked practices as they are charged on the persons who are accused of them That is 1. Antecedently to our practice by way of regulation 2. Or consequently by judicial sentence and execution on â—ffenders p. 803 Q. 29. Whether a Parents power over his Children or a Pastors or many Pastors or Bishops over the same Children as parts of their stocks be greater or more obliging in matters of Religion and publick Worship p. 804 Q. 30. May an office Teacher or Pastor be at once in the stated relation of a Pastor and a Disciple to some other Pastor ibid. Q. 31. Who hath the power of making Church-Canons p. 805 Q. 32. Doth Baptism as such enter the Baptized into the Universal Church or into a particular Church or both and is Baptism the particular-Church-Covenant as such ibid. Q. 33. Whether Infants should be Baptized I have answered long ago in a Treatise on that Subject Q. What Infants should be Baptized And who have right to Sacraments And whether Hypocrites are univocally or equivâ—cally Christians and Church-members I have resolved in my disput of Right to Sacraments p. 806 Q. 34. Whether an unbaptized person who yet maketh a publick profession of Christianity be a member of the visible Church And so of the Infants of believers unbaptized ibid. Q. 35. Is it cértain by the word of God that all Infants baptized and dying before actual sin are undoubtedly saved or what Infants may we say so of p. 807 Q. 36. What is meant by this speech that Believers and their seed are in the Covenant of God which giveth them right to Baptism p. 812 Q. 37. Are believers Children certainly in Covenant before their Baptism and thereby in a state of salvation or not till they are baptized p. 813 Q. 38. Is Infants title to Baptism and the Covenant benefits given them by God in his Promises upon any proper moral condition or only upon the condition of their natural relation that they be the seed of the faithful ibid. Q. 39. What is the true meaning of Sponsors Patrimi or God Fathers as we call them and Is it lawful to make use of them p. 814 Q. 40. On whose account or right is it that the Infant hath title to Baptism and its benefits Is it on the Parents Ancestors Sponsors the Churches the Ministers the Magistrates or his own p. 815 Q. 41. Are they really baptized who are Baptized according to the English Liturgie and Canons where the Parent seemeth excluded and those to consent for the Infant who have no power to do it p. 817 Q. 42. But the great question is How the Holy Ghost is given to Infants in Baptism and whether all the Children of true Christians have inward sanctifying grace Or whether they can be said to be justified and to be in a state of salvation that are not inherently sanctified and whether any fall from this Infant state of salvation p. 817 Q. 43. Is the right of the Baptized Infants or adult to the sanctifying operations of the Holy Ghost now Absolute or suspended on further conditions And are the Parents further duty for their Children such conditions of their Childrens reception of the actual assistances of the spirit or Are Childrens own actions such conditions and May Apostate Parents forfeit the Câ—venant benefits to their baptized Infants or not p. 821 Q. 44. Doth Baptism always oblige us at the present and give grace at the present and is the grace which is not given till long after given by baptism or an effect of baptism p. 823 Q. 45. What is a proper violation of our Baptismal Covenant p. 824 Q 46. May not baptism in some cases be repeated And when ibid. Quest. 47. Is baptism by Lay men or women lawful in cases of necessity or are they nullities and the person to be rebaptized p. 825 Q. 48. May Anabaptists that have no other errour be permitted in Church Communion p. 826 Q. 49. May one offer his Child to be baptized with the sign of the Cross or the use of Chrisms the white garment milk and honey or Exâ—rcisms as among the Lutherans who taketh these to be unlawful things ibid. Q. 50. Whence came the antient universal Custome of Anointing at baptism and putting on a white garment and tasting milk and honey and Whether they are lawful to us p. 827 Q 51. Whether it be necessary that they that are baptized in infancy do solemnly at age review and own their baptismal Covenant before they have right to the state and priviledges of Adult members and if they do not Whether they are to be numbred with Christians or Apostates p. 827 Q. 52. Whether the Universal Church consist only of particular Churches and their members p. 828 Q. 53. Must the Pastor first call the Church and aggregate them to himself or the Church first Congregate themselves and then choose the Pastor p. 829 Q. 54. Wherein doth a particular Church of Christ differ from a consociation of many Churches ibid. Q. 55. Whether a particular Church may consist of more Assemblies than one or must needs meet all in one place ibid. Q. 56. Is any form of Church-Government of Divine Institution p. 830 Q. 57. Whether any formes of Churches and Church-Government or any new Church-officers may lawfully be invented and made by maâ— p. 832 Q 58. Whether any part of the proper Pastoral or Episcopal power may be given or deputed to a Lay man or to one of any other office or their proper work may be performed by such p. 839 Q. 59. May a Lay man Preach or expound the Scriptures or what of this is proper to the Pastors office p. 840 Q 60. What is the true sense of the distinction of Pastoral power in foro interiore exteriore rightly used ibid. Q. 61. In what sense is it true that some say that the Magistrate only hath the external Government of the Church and the Pastor the Internal p 841 Q. 62. Is the tryal judgement or consent of the Laity necessary to the admittance of a member into the universal or particular Church ibid. Q. 63. What power have the people in Church Censures and Excommunication p. 842 Q. 64 What is the peoples remedy in case of the Pastors male-administration ibid. Q. 65. May one be a Pastor
Q. 121. May a Minister pray publickly in his own name singly for himself or others or only in the Churches name as their mouth to God ibid. Q. 122. May the name Priests Sacrifice and Altar be lawfully now used instead of Christs Ministers Worship and the Holy Table p. 882 Q. 123. May the Communion Table be turned Altar-wise and Railed in And is it lawful to come up to the Rails to communicate p. 882 Q. 124. Is it lawful to use David's Psalms in our Assemblies p. 883 Q. 125. May Psalms be used as prayers and praises and Thanksgivings or only as Instructive Even the Reading as well as the singing of them ibid. Q. 126. Are our Church-Tunes Lawful being of mans invention p. 884 Q. 127. Is Church Musick by Organs or such Instruments Lawful ibid. Q. 128. Is the Lords day a Sabbath and so to be called and kept and that of Divine institution And is the seventh day Sabbath abrogated c p. 885 Q. 129. Is it Lawful to appoint humane Holy dayes and observe them ibid. Q. 130. How far is the holy Scriptures a Law and perfect Rule to us p. 886 Q. 131. What Additions or humane Inventions in or about Religion not commanded in Scripture are Lawful or Unlawful p. 887 Q. 132. Iâ— it unlawful to obey in all thâ—se cases where it is unlawful to impose and command or in what cases And how far Pastors must be believed and obeyed p. 888 Q. 133. What are the additions or inventions of mâ—n which are not fâ—rbidden by the Word of God whether by Rulers or by private men invented p. 889 Q 134. What are the mischiefs of unlawful Additions in Religion p. 891 Q. 135. What are the mischiefs of mens errour on the other extream who pretend that Scripture is a Rule where it is not and deny the aforesaid lawful things on pretence that Scripture is a perfect Rule say some for all things p. 892 Q. 136. How shall we know what parts of Scripture precept or example were intended for universal constant obligation and what were but for the time and persons that they were then directed to p. 893 Q. 137. How much of the Scripture is necessary to salvation to be believed and understood p. 894 Q. 138. How may we know the Fundamentals Essentials or what parts are necessary to salvation And is the Papists way allowable that some of them deny that distinction and make the difference to be only in the degrees of mans opportunities of knowledge p 895 Q 139. What is the use and Authority of the Creed And is it of the Apostles framing or not And is it the Word of God or not p 896 Q 140. What is the use of Catechisms p. 897 Q. 141. Could any of us have known by the Scriptures alone the Essentials of Religion from the rest if tradition had not given them to us in the Creed as from Apostolical Collection ibid. Q. 142. What is the best method of a true Catechism or sum of Theologie p. 898 Q. 143. What is the use of various Church-Confessions or Articles of faith ibid. Q. 144. May not the subscribing of the whole Scriptures serve turn for all the foresaid ends without Creeds Catechisms or Confessions ibid. Q. 145. May a man be saved that believeth all the Essentials of Religion as coming to him by verbal Tradition and not as câ—ntained in the Holy Scriptures which perhaps he never knew p. 899 Q 146. Is the Scripture fit for all Christians to read being so obscure ibid. Q. 147. How far is Tradition and mens words and Ministry to be used or truâ—â—ed in in the exercise of faith p. 900 Q 148. How knâ—w we the true Canon of Scripture from Apocrypha ibid. Q. 149. Is the publick Reading of the Scripture the proper wâ—rk of the Minister or may a Lay man ordinarily do it or another officer p. 901 Q 150. Is it Lawful to Read the Apocrypha or any good Books besides the Scriptures to the Church as â—omiliâ—s c ibid. Q 151. May Church Assemblies be held where there is no Minister or what publick Worship may be so performed by Lâ—y men As among Inâ—idels or Papists where persecutiâ—n haâ—h killed imprisoned or expelled the Ministry p. 902 Q. 152. Is it Lawful to subscribe or profess full assent and consent to any religious Books besides the Scriptures seeing all men are fallible ibid. Q. 153. May we lawfully Swear obedience in all things lawful and honest either to Usurpers or to our Lawful Pastors ibid. Q. 154. Must all our Preaching be upon some Text of Scripture p. 904 Q. 155. Is not the Law of Moses abrogated and the whâ—le Old Testament out of date and therefore not to be Read publickly and Preached ibid. Q. 156. Must we believe that Moses Law did ever bind other Nations or that any other parts of the Scripture bound them or belonged to them or that the Iews were all Gods visible Church on earth p. 905 Q. 157. Must we think accordingly of the Christian Churches nâ—w that they are only advanced above the rest of the World as the Iews were but not the only people that are saved p. 906 Q. 158. Should not Christians take up with Scripture wisdom only without studying Philosophy or other Heathens humane Learning p. 907 Q. 159. If we think that Scripture and the Law of Nature are in any point contradictory to each other Which must be the standard by which the other must be tryed p. 908 Q. 160. May we not look that God should yet give us more Revelations of his will than there are already made in Scripture ibid. Q. 161. Iâ— not a third Rule of the Holy Ghost or perfecter Kingdom of Love to be expected as different from the Reign of the Creator and Redeemer p. 909 Q. 162. May we not look for Miracles hereafter p. 910 Q. 163. Is the Scripture to be tryed by the spirit or the Spirit by the Scripture and which of them is to be preferred ibid. Q. 164. How is a pretended Prophet or Revelation to be tryed p. 911 Q. 165 May one be saved who believeth that the Scripture hath any mistake or errours and believeth it not all ibid. Q. 166. Who be they that give too little to the Scriptures and who too much and what is the danger of each extream p. 912 Q. 167. How far do good men now Preach and pray by the spirit p. 913 Q. 168. Are not our own Reasons studies memory strivings Books Forms Methods and Ministry needless yea a hurtful quenching or preventing of the Spirit and setting up our own instead of the spirits operations p. 914 Q. 169. How doth the Holy Ghost set Bishops over the Churches p. 914 Q. 170. Are Temples Fonts Utensils Church-Lands much more the Ministry holy and What reverence is due to them as holy p. 915 Q. 171. What is Sacriledge and what not p. 916 Q. 172. Are all Religious private-meetings forbidden by Rulers unlawful Conventicles or are
hope And is this a case then for a wise man to continue in a day that can do any thing towards his own recovery Should you delay another day or hour before you fall down at the feet of Christ and cry for mercy and return to God and resolve upon a better course May I not well say to thee as the Angels unto Lot Gen. 19. 15 17 22. Arise lest thou be consumed Escape for thy life look not behind thee Direction 13. WHen thou art Resolved past thy waverings and delayes give up thy self entirely and Direct 13. unreservedly to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost as thy Happiness thy Saviour and thy Sanctifier in an hearty Consent to the Covenant of Grace § 1. This is thy Christianity thy espousals with Christ It is Sacramentally done in Baptism But till it be personally owned and heartily renewed by men at age they have no reason to be numbered with adult believers nor to dream of a part in the blessings of the Covenant It 's pity it is not made a more serious solemn work for men thus to renew their Covenant with God For which I have written in a Treatise of Confirmation but hitherto in vain However do it seriously thy self It is the greatest and weightiest action of thy life § 2. To this end peruse well the Covenant of Grace which is offered thee in the Gospel Understand it well In it God offereth notwithstanding thy sins to be thy Reconciled God and Father in Christ and to accept thee as a Son and an heir of Heaven The Son offereth to be thy Saviour to justifie thee by his blood and grace and teach thee and govern thee as thy Head in order to thy everlasting happiness The Holy Spirit offereth to be thy Sanctifier Comforter and Guide to overcome all the enmity of the Devil the World and the Flesh in order to the full accomplishment of thy salvation Nothing is expected of thee in order to thy Title to the benefits of this Covenant but deliberately unfeignedly entirely to Consent to it and to continue that consent and perform what thou consentest to perform and that by the help of the grace which will be given thee See therefore that thou well deliberate of the matter but without delayes And count what thou shalt gain or lose by it And if thou find that thou art like to be a loser in the end and knowest of any better way even take it and boast of it when thou hast tryed the end But if thou art past doubt that there is no way but this despatch it resolutely and seriously § 3. And take heed of one thing lest thou say Why this is no more than every body knoweth and then I have done a hundred times to give up my self in Covenant to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost Dost thou know it and yet hast thou not done it Or hast thou done it with thy lips and not unfeignedly with thy heart Lament it as one of thy greatest sins that thou hast thus provokingly dallied with God and admire his mercy that he will yet vouchsafe to enter into Covenant with one that hath hypocritically prophaned his Covenant If thou hadst ever seriously thus Covenanted and given up thy self to God thou wouldst not have neglected him by an ungodly life nor lived after to the Devil the world and the flesh which were renounced I tell you the making of this Christian Vow and Covenant with God in Christ is the act of greatest consequence of any in all thy life and to be done with the greatest judgement and reverence and sincerity and foresight and firm resolution of any thing that ever thou dost And if it were done sincerely by all that do it ignorantly for fashion only with the lips then all professed Christians would be saved whereas now the abusers of that holy Name and Covenant will have the deepest place in Hell Write it out on thy heart and put thy heart and hand to it resolvedly and stand to thy Consent and all is thine own Conversion is wrought when this is done Direction 14. IN present performance of thy Covenant with God away with thy former sinful life and Direct 14. see that thou sin wilfully no more but as far as thou art able avoid the temptations which have deceived thee § 1. God will never be reconciled to thy sins If he be reconciled to thy person it is as thou art justified by Christ and sanctified by the Spirit He entertaineth thee as one that turneth with repentance from sin to him If thou wilfully or negligently go on in thy former course of sin thou shewest that thou wast not sincerely resolved in thy Covenant with God § 2. I know infirmities and imperfections will not be so easily cast off but will cleave to thee in Nae illi falsi sunt qui diversissimas res pariter expectant voluptatem praemia virtutis Salust Tenebit te Diabolus sub specie libertatis addictum ut sit tibi liberum peccare non vivere Captivum te tenet author scelerum compedes tibi libidmis impoâ—uit undique te sepsit armata custodiâ Legem tibi dedit ut licitum putes omne quod non licet vivum te in aeternae mortis fovâ—am demersit Hâ—go Etherâ—anus de Aâ—imar regressa cap. 9. thy best obedience till the day of thy perfection come But I speak of gross and wilful sin such as thou canst forbear if thou be but sincerely though imperfectly willing Hast thou been a prophane Swearer or Curser or used to take Gods name in vain or used to backbiting slandering lying or to ribald filthy talk It is in thy power to forbear these sins if thou be but willing Say not I fall into them through custome before I am aware For that is a sign that thou art not sincerely willing to forsake them If thou were truly penitent and thy will sincerely opposite to these sins thou wouldst be more tender and fearful to offend and resolved against them and make a greater matter of them and abhor them and not commit them and say I did it before I was aware No more than thou wouldâ—t spit in the face of thy Father or curse thy Mother or slander thy dearest friend or speak Treason against the King and say I did it through custome before I was aware Sin will not be so played with by those that have been soundly humbled for it and resolved against it § 3. Hast thou been a Drunkard or Tipler spending thy precious hours in an Alehouse prating over a Pot in the company of foolish tempting sinners It is in thy power if thou be truly willing to do so no more If thou love and choose such company and places and actions and discourse how canst thou say thou art willing to forsake them or that thy heart is changed If thou do not love and choose them how canst thou commit them when none compells thee No one
clean and delectable and paved with mercies and fortified and secured by Divine protection and where Christ is your Conductor and so many have sped so well before you and the wisest and best in the world are your companions Live then as men that have changed their Master their end their hopes their way and work Religion layeth not men to sleep though it be the only way to Rest. It awakeneth the sleepy soul to higher thoughts and hopes and labours than ever it was well acquainted with before He that is in Christ is a new creature old things are past away behold all things are become new 2 Cor. 5. 17. You never sought that which would pay for all your cost and diligence till now You never were in a way that you might make haste in without repenting of your haste till now How glad should you be that Mercy hath brought you into the right way after the wanderings of such a sinful life And your gladness and thankfulness should now be shewed by your cheerful diligence and zeal As Christ did not raise up Lazarus from the dead to do nothing or live to little purpose though the Scripture giveth us not the history of his life So did he not raise you from the death of sin to live idely or to be unprofitable in the world He that giveth you his Spirit to be a principle of heavenly life within you expecteth that you stir up the gift that he hath given you and live according to that heavenly principle Direction 16. ENgage thy self in the chearful constant use of the means and helps appointed by God Direct 16. for thy confirmation and salvation § 1. He can never expect to attain the end that will not be perswaded to use the means Of your selves you can do nothing God giveth his help by the means which he hath appointed and fitted to your help Of the use of these I shall treat more fully afterwards I am now only to name them to thee that thou maist know what it is that thou hast to do 1. That you must hear or read the Word of God and other good Books which expound it and How Paenitents of old did rise even from a particular sin judge by these words of Pacianus Paâ—â—â—â—â—â— ad Poeâ—â—t Bibl. Pat. To. 3. p. 74. You must not only do that which may be seen of the Priest and praised by the Bishop to weep before the Church to lament a lost or sinful life in a â—ordid garment to fast pray to role on the earth if any invite you to the Bath or such pleasures to refuse to go If any bid you to a Feast to say These things are for the happy I have sinned against God and am in danger to perish for ever What should I do at Banquets who have wronged the Lord Besides these you must take the poor by the hand you must beseech the Widdow lye at the feet of the Presbyters beg of the Church to forgive you and pray for you you must try all means rather than perish apply it I shewed you before The new born Christian doth encline to this as the new born child doth to the breast 1 Pet. 2. 1 2. Laying aside all malice and guile and hypocrisies and envies and all evil speakings as new born babes that desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby Psal. 1. 2 3. The blessed mans delight is in the Law of the Lord and therein doth he meditate day and night § 2. 2. Another means is the publick worshipping of God in communion with his Church and people Besides the benefit of the word there preached the prayers of the Church are effectual for the members and it raiseth the soul to holy joyes to joyn with well ordered Assemblies of the Saints in the Praises of the Almighty The Assemblies of holy worshippers of God are the places of his delight and must be the places of our delight They are most like to the Celestial Society that sound forth the praises of the glorious Iebovah with purest minds and cheerful voice In his Temple doth every one speak of his glory Psal. 29. 9. In such a Chore what soul will not be rapt up with delight and desire to joyn in the consort and harmony In such a flame of united desires and praises what soul so cold and dull that will not be enflamed and with more than ordinary facility and alacrity fly up to God § 3. 3. Another means is private prayer unto God When God would tell Ananias that Paul was converted he saith of him Behold he prayeth Acts 9. 11. Prayer is the breath of the new creature The Spirit of Adoption given to every child of God is a Spirit of prayer and teacheth them to cry Abba Father and helpeth their infirmities when they know not what to pray as they ought and when words are wanting it as it were intercedeth for them with groans which they cannot express in words Gal. 4. 6. Rom. 8. 15 26 27. And God knoweth the meaning of the Spirit in those groans The first workings of grace are in Desires after grace provoking the soul to servent prayer by which more grace is speedily obtained Ask then and ye shall have seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened to you Luke 11. 9. § 4. 4. Another means to be used is Confession of sin not only to God for so every wicked man may do because he knoweth that God is already acquainted with it all and this is no addition to his shame He so little regardeth the eye of God that he is more ashamed when it is known to men But in three Cases Confession must be made also to Man 1. In case you have wronged man and are thus bound to make him satisfaction As if you have robbed him defrauded him slandered him or born false witness against him 2. In case you are Children or Servants that are under the government of Parents or Masters and are called by them to give an acount of your actions You are bound then to give a true account 3. In case you have need of the Counsel or Prayers of others for the setling of your consciences in peace In this case you must so far open your case to them as is necessary to their effectual help for your recovery For if they know not the disease they will be unfit to apply the remedy In these cases it is true that He that covereth his sins shall not prosper but he that confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy Prov. 28. 13. § 5. 5. Another Means to be used is the familiar company and holy converse with humble sincere experienced Christians The Spirit that is in them and breatheth and acteth by them will kindle the like holy flames in you Away with the company of idle prating sensual men that can talk of nothing but their worldly wealth or business or their reputations or their appetites and lusts
that man is made for another life and for such works which he is utterly unfit for till Grace have changed and renewed him as it doth by many before your eyes § 6. Tempt 3. But saith the Tempter if supernatural grace be necessary yet it may be born in you Tempt 3. Infants have no sin Christ saith Of such is the Kingdom of God Abraham is your Father yea God John 8. 39. 41. You are born of Christian Parents § 7. Direct 3. See the full proof of Original Sin in all Infants in my Treatise of the Divine Life Direct 3. Part. 1. Chap. 11. 12. Grace may indeed be put betimes into Nature but comes not by nature Except you be born again you cannot enter into the Kingdom of God John 3. 3. 5. If any man be in Christ Rom. 8. 9. 16. Rom. 9. 8. Eph. 2. 3. he is a new creature old things are past away behold all things are become new 2 Cor. 5. 17. But how vain is it for him to boast that he was born holy who finds himself at the present unholy Shew that you have a holy heavenly heart and life and then you are happy when ever it was wrought § 8. Tempt 4. But saith the Tempter Baptism is the laver of Regeneration You are Baptized and Tempt 4. therefore you are Regenerated The Ancients taught that all sins were washt away in Baptism and Grace conferred § 9. Direct 4. Answ. The Ancients by Baptism meant the Internal and External acts conjunct the Direct 4. souls delivering up it self to God in the Covenant and sealing it by Baptism And so it includeth Conversion and true Repentance and faith And all that are thus baptized are pardoned justified and holy But they that have only Sacramental Regeneration or the external Ordinance are not for Mat. 28. 19 20. that in a state of life For Christ expresly saith that except you are born of the Spirit as well as Water you cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven John 3. 5 6. And Peter told Simon Magus after he was baptized that he was yet in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity Acts 8. 13. It is not the putting away the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience 1 Pet. 3. 21. Christ cleanseth his Church by the washing of water by the word Eph. 5. 26. But if you had been cleansed in Baptism if at present you are unclean and unholy can you be saved so § 10. Temp. 5. When this faileth the Tempter would perswade them that Godliness is nothing but Tempt 5. a matter of meer Opinion or belief to believe all the Articles of the faith and to be no Papist nor Heretick but of the true Religion and to be confident of Gods mercy through Christ For he that believeth shall be saved Mar. 16. 16. § 11. Direct 5. To this you must answer that it will not save a man that his Religion is true Direct 5. unless â—â— be true to it Read Iames 2. against such a dead faith Saving faith is the hearty entertainment of Christ as our Lord and Saviour and the delivering up the soul to him to be sanctified and ruled as well as pardoned Knowledge puffeth up but charity edifieth He that knoweth his Masters will and dâ—th it not shall be beaten with many stripes Luke 12. 47. It 's sad that men should think to be saved â—y that which will condemn them by being of a right opinion and a wrong conversation by believing their duty instead of dâ—ing it and then presuming that Christ forgiveth them and that their state iâ— good Opinion and presumption are not faith § 12. Tempt 6. But saith the Tempter Holiness is the excellency of holy persons but vulgar unlearned Tempt 6. people may be saved without such high matters which are above them § 13. Direct 6. But God telleth you that without Holiness none shall see him Heb. 12. 14. The unlearned 〈◊〉 6. may be saved but the ungodly cannot Psal. 1. 6. Holiness is to the soul as life to the body He that hath it not is dead though all have not the same degree of health Sin is sin and hated of God in learned and unlearned All men have souls that need regenerating at first And as all bodies that live must live on the earth by the Air and Food c. â—o all souls that live do live upon the s 〈…〉 God and Christ and Heaven by the same Word and Spirit and all this may be had by the unlearned § 14. Tempt 7. But saith the Tempter God is not so unmerciful as to damn all that are not holy Tempt 7. This is but talk to keep men in aw and not to be believed § 15. Direct 7. But if Gods threatnings be necessary to keep men in awe then are they necessary Direct 7. to be executed For God needs not awe men by a lye He best knows to whom he will be merciful and how far Did you never read Isa. 27. 11. It is a people of no understanding therefore he that was made them will not have mercy on them and he that formed them will shew them no favour And Psal. 59. 5. Be not merciful to any wicked transgressor Is he not just as well as merciful Exod. 34. 6 7. Do you not see that men are sick and pained and dye for all that God is merciful And do not Merciful Iudges condemn Malefactors Are not Angels made Devils by sin for all that God is merciful The Devil knoweth this to his sorrow And if God spared not the Angels that sinned but cast them down to Hell 2 Pet. 2. 4. will he be unjust for you § 16. Tempt 8. But Christ dyed for all and God will not punish him and you both for the same Tempt 8. fault § 17. Direct 8. Christ dyed so far for all that have the Gospel as to procure and seal them a free Direct 8. and general pardon of all their sins if they will repent and take him for their Saviour and so to bring salvation to their choice But will this save the ungodly obstinate refusers Christ dyed to sanctifie as well as to forgive Eph. 5. 27. and to purifie to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Tit. 2. 14. and to destroy the works of the Devil 1 John 3. 8. and to bring all men under his Dominion and Government Rom. 14. 9. Luke 19. 27. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ the same is none of his Rom. 8 9. § 18. Tempt 9. No man can be certain of his salvation but all must hope well and to raise Tempt 9. dâ—ubts in mens hearts whether they shall be saved or no will not help them but puzzle them and cast them into despair § 19. Direct 9. But is there so little difference between a child of God and of the Devil and between Direct 9. the way to Heaven and the way
that greater measure is but his smallest measure and he himself is capable of increase to the last And so great a measure at first is as rare as his greater measure at last in his full growth is rare and scarce to be expected now § 4. And if God should give a great measure of Holiness at first to any now as possibly he may yet their measure of gifts is never great at first unless they had acquired or received them before conversion If Grace find a man of great parts and understanding which by study and other helps he had attained before no wonder if that man when his parts are sanctified be able in knowledge the first day For he had it before though he had not a heart to use it But if Grace find a man ignorant unlearned and of mean abilities he must not expect to be suddenly lifted up to great understanding and high degrees of knowledge by Grace For this knowledge is not given now by sudden infusion as Gifts were extraordinarily in the Primitive Church You need no other proof of this but experience to stop the mouth of any gain-sayer Look about you and observe whether those that are men of knowledge did obtain it by infusion in a moment Or whether they did not obtain it by diligent study by slow degrees Though I know God blesseth some mens studies more than others Name one man that ever was brought to great understanding but by Means and Labour and slow dâ—grees Or that knoweth any Truth in Nature or Divinity but what he read or heard or studied for 〈…〉 e result of what he read or heard The person that is proudest of his knowledge must confess that 〈…〉 me to it in this way himself § 5. But you 'l ask What then is the Illumination of the Spirit and enlightening the mind which the Scripture ascribeth to the Hâ—ly Ghost Hath not our understanding need of the Spirit for light as well as the Heart â—r Will fâ—r Liâ—e Answ. Yes no doubt and it is a great and wonderful mercy and I 'l tell you what it is 1. The Holy Spirit by immediate inspiration revealed to the Apostles the doctrine of Christ and caused them iâ—â—allibly to indite the Scriptures But this is not that way of ordinary illumination now 2. The Holy Spirit assisteth us in our hearing reading and studying the Scriptures that we may come by diligence to the true understanding of it but doth not give us that understanding without hearing reading or study Faith cometh by hearing Rom. 10. It blesseth the use of means to us but blesseth us not in the neglect of means 3. The Holy Spirit doth open the eyes and heart of a sinner who hath heard and notionally understood the substance of the Gospel that he may know that piercingly and effectually and practically which before he knew but notionally and uneffectually so that the knowledge of the same truth is now become powerfull and as it were of another kind And this is the Spirits sanctifying of the mind and principal work of saving illumination Not by causing us to know any thing of God or Christ or Heaven without means But by opening the heart that through the means it may take in that knowledge deeply which others have but notionally and in a dead opinion and by making our knowledge clear and quick and powerful to affect the heart and rule the life 4. The Holy Spirit sanctifieth all that notional knowledge which men had before their renovation All their learning and parts are now made subservient to Christ and to the right End and turned into their proper channell 5. And the Holy Ghost doth by sanctifying the heart possess it with such a Love to God and Heaven and Holiness and Truth as is a wonderful advantage to us in our studies for the attaining of further knowledge Experience telleth us how great a help it is to knowledge to have a constant love delight and desire to the thing which we would know All these wayes the Spirit is the â—nlightner of believers The not observing this Direction will have direful effects which I will name that you may see the necessity of avoiding them § 6. 1. If you imagine that you are presently men of great understanding and abilities and holiness T 〈…〉 r of 〈◊〉 â—â— â—â—ur young 〈◊〉 o◠〈◊〉 while you are young beginners and but new born babes you are entring into the sâ—are and condemnation of the Devil even into the odious sin of Pride yea a Pride of those spiritual gifts which are most câ—ntrâ—ry to Pride yea and a Pride of that which you have not which is most foolish Pride Mark the words of Paul when he forbids to choose a young beginner in Religion to the Ministry 1 Tim. 3. 6. Not a Nâ—vice that is a young raw Christian lest being lifted up or besotted with pride he fall into the condemnation of the Devil Why are young beginners more in danger of this than Qui dâ—sâ—ipulum â—udem clatum habet 〈◊〉 ventum adverâ—â—â—â—â—mine navigat Seâ—pentem nutrit acoâ—itum â—â—colit hostem doâ—â— Pâ—â— arch Dial. 41. li. 2. other Christians One would think their Infancy should be conscious of its own infirmity But Paul knew what he said It is 1. Partly because the suddenness of their change coming out of darkness into a light which they never saw before doth amaze them and transport them and make them think they are almost in Heaven and that there is not much more to be attained Like the Beggar that had an hundred pound given him having never seen the hundredth part before imagined that he had as much money as the King 2. And it is partly because they have not knowledge enough to know how many things there are that yet they are ignorant of They never heard of the Scripture-difficulties and the knots in School-divinity nor the hard cases of Conscience Whereas one seven years painful studies will tell them of many hundred difficulties which they never saw and forty or fifty years study more will clothe them with shame and humility in the sense of their lamentable darkness 3. And it is also because the Devil doth with greatest industry lay this Net to entrap young Converts it being the way in which he hath the greatest hope 2. Your hasty conceits of your own goodness or ability will make you presumptuous of your own strength and so to venture upon dangerous temptations which is the way to ruine You will think you are not so ignorant but you may venture into the company of Papists or any Hereticks or deceivers or read their Books or be present at their Worship And I confess you may scape but it may be otherwise and God may leave you to shew you all that was in your hearts as it is said of Hezekiah 2 Chron. 32. 31 25 26. 3. And your overvaluing your first grace will make you too secure when your souls have need of holy
opportunity But let him that can be free and possess so great a mercy accept it thankfully though to his cost As Christ said in another case Every man cannot receive the saying but he that can receive it let him § 2. There is abundance of difference between a weak unskilful unexperienced dead-hearted formal Teacher and such a one as is described in the Direction Some that are sensless or indifferent in such matters as these themselves would perswade you to be so too and look first in your settlement to your bodily conveniencies and be content with such a Teacher as accidentally you are cast upon And they 'l tell you that the work of grace dependeth not on the Preachers gifts but on the gift and blessing of the Spirit of God The Formalists and the Enthusiasts concurr in this though from different principles But though God can frustrate the fittest means and can work without means or by that which is least fitted to the end yet it is his ordinary way to work by means and that for the soul as well as for the body and to work most by the aptest means And I am sure it is the duty of every Teacher to preach in the fittest manner that he can for the peoples edification and not to do Gods work deceitfully and ineptly because God can bless the unfittest means And it is the peoples duty to attend upon the best they can enjoy though God can equally work by the weakest or by none As that pretence will not excuse the contemners of Gods Ordinances that upon every little business stay at home and attend upon no Ministry at all no more will it excuse them that refuse that help that is most suited to their edification and take up with a worse when they might have better We are not to neglect duty upon a presumptuous expectation of miraculous or extraordinary works When we can have no better we may hope for the greater benefit from the weakest but not when it is the choice of our own presumptuous irreligious hearts God can make Daniel and his companions to thrive better by eating Pulse than others that fed at the Table of the King And rather than sin against God we must cast our selves on him for unusual supplyes or leave all to his will But few would therefore be perswaded causlesly to live on Pulse when they may have better And one would think this Truth should have no contradiction especially from those men that are apt to obscure and extenuate the Spirits operations on the soul and to confess no Grace but what consisteth in a congruous ordination of Means and Circumstances When their doctrine layeth all a mans hopes of salvation upon this Congruity of Means and Circumstances should they afterwards teach men to undervalue or neglect the fittest and wilfully cast their souls upon the most unfit and unlikely means But Ungodliness first resolveth what to speak against before it resolveth what to say and will contradict Gods Word though it contradict its own and will oppose holiness though by a self-opposing § 3. But the spiritual rellish and experience of the Godly is a very great preservative to them against such deluding reasonings as these It 's harder for a Sophister of greatest subtilty or authority to perswade him that hath tasted them that Sugar is bitter or Wormwood sweet than to perswade him to believe it that never tasted them And it 's hard to make a healthful man believe that it is best for him to eat but once a Week or best to live on Grass or Straw I doubt not but those that now I speak to have such experience and perception of the benefit of a judicious and lively Ministry in comparison of the ignorant cold and lifeless that no words will make them indifferent herein Have you not found the Ministry of one sort enlighten and warm and quicken and comfort and strengthen you much more than of the other I am sure I have the common sense and experience of the faithful on my side in this which were enough of it self against more than can be said against it Even new-born babes in Christ have in their new natures a desire not to sensless or malicious pratings but to the Rational sincere milk 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they may grow by it and to perform to God a Rational service Rom. 12. 1. § 4. And it must needs be a very proud or stupid heart that can be so insensible of its own infirmity sinfulness and necessity as to think the weakest dullest Minister may serve their turns and that they are able to keep up their life and vigour and watchfuless and fruitfulness with any little ordinary help I cannot but fear such men know not what the power and efficacy of the Word upon the heart and conscience meaneth nor what it is to live a life of faith and holiness and to watch the heart and walk with God If they did they could not but find so much difficulty herein and so much backwardness and unskilfulness in themselves hereto as would make them feel the necessity of the greatest helps And it could not be but they must feel the difference between a clear and quickning Sermon and an ignorant heartless dead discourse that is spoken as iâ— a man were talking in his sleep or of a matter that he never understood nor had experience of § 5. Alas how apt are the best to cool if they be not kept warm by a powerful Ministry How apt to lose the hatred of sin the tenderness of conscience the fervency in prayer the zeal and fulness in edifying discourse and the delights and power of heavenly Meditations which before we had How apt is faith to stagger if it be not powerfully underpropt by the helpers of our faith How hardly do we keep up the heat of Love the confidence of Hope the resolution and fulness of obedience without the help of a powerful Ministry Nay how hardly do we do our part in these in any tolerable sort even while we have the clearest liveliest helps that are ordinarily to be had And can any that are not blind and proud imagine that they are so holy and good that they are above the necessity of such assistance and that the weakest breath is enough to kindle the fire of holy Love and â—eal and keep them in the fear and obedience of God Alas we are under languishing weakness and must be dyeâ—â—ed with the best or we shall soon decay we are Cripples and cannot go or stand without our Crutches And there must be some savour of the Spirit in him that will be fit to make us spiritual and some savour of faith and love in him that would kindle faith and love in us and he must speak clearly and convincingly that will be understood and will prevail with such as we And he must speak feelingly that would make us feel and speak seriously that would be much regarded by us and
sinned not You have got the victory and are more than Conquâ—r 〈…〉 Rom. 8. 37 38 39. Doth it sâ—â—m strange to you that few rich men are saved when Christ telleth you it is so hard as to be impossible with men Luke 18. 27. Mar. 10. 27. Or is it strange that Rich men should be the ordinary Rulers of the Earth Or is it strange that the wicked should hate the godly and the world hate them that 〈◊〉 châ—sen out of the world What of all this should seem strange Expect it as the common lot oâ— the fâ—â—thful and you will be better prepared for it § 2. Sâ—e therefore that you resist not evil by any Revengeful irregular violence Mat. 5. 39. Let every soul be subject to the higher powers and not resist leâ—t they receive damnation Rom. 13. 1 2 3. Imitate your Lord that When he was reviled reviled not again when he suffered he threatned not but committed all to him that judgeth righteously leaving us an ensample that ye should follow his steps 1 Pet. 2. 21 23. An angry zeal against those that cross and hurt us is so â—asily kindled and hardly suppâ—essâ—â— that it appâ—areth there is more in it of corrupted nature than of God We are very râ—â—dy to think that we may call for fire from heaven upon the enemies of the Gospel But you know not what manner of Spirit ye are then of Luke 9. 55. But Christ â—aith unto you Love your enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them that despi 〈…〉 htfully use you and persecute you that ye may be the children of your Father which is in Heaven Matth. 5. 44 45. You find no such prohibition against patient suffering wrong from any Take heed of giving way to secret wishes of hurt to your adversaries or to reproachful words against them Take heed of hurting your self by pâ—ssion or sin because others hurt you by slanders or persecutions Keep you in the way of your duty and leave your names and lives to God Be careful that you keep your innocency and in your patience possess your souls and God will keep you from any hurt from enemies but what he will cause to work for your good Read Psal. 37. Commit thy way unto the Lord trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light and thy judgement as the noon-day Rest in the Lord and wait patienly for him fret not thy self because of him that prâ—spereth in his way because of the man that bringeth wicked devices to pass Cease from anger and forsake wrath fâ—et not thy self in any wise to do evil Vers. 5. 6 7 8. Direct 10. WHen you are repenting of or avoiding any extream do it not without sufficient Direct 10. fear and caution of the contrary extream § 1. In the esteem and Love of God your Ultimate End you need not fear over-doing Nor any Extreams in Religion where when impediments and backwardness or impotency do tell you that you can never do too much But sin lyeth on both sides the Rule and Way And nothing is more common than to turn from one sin to another under the name of duty or amendment Especially this is common in matter of opinion Some will first believe that God is nothing else but Mercy and after take notice of nothing but his Justice First They believe that almost all are saved and afterwards that almost none First That every Profession is credible and next that none is credible without some greater testimony First that Christ satisfied for none at all that will not be saved and next that he dyed for all alike First that none are now partakers of the Holy Spirit and next that all Saints have the Spirit not only to illuminate and sanctifie them by transcribing the written Word upon their hearts but also to inspire them with new Revelations instead of Scripture First they think that all that Papists hold and do must be avoided and after that there needed no reformation at all Now they are for Legal bondage and anon for Libertinism To day for a liberty in Religion to none that agree not with them in every circumstance and to morrow for a liberty for all This year all things are lawful to them and the next year nothing is lawful but they scruple all that they say or do One while they are all for a Worship of meer shew and Ceremony and another while against the determination of meer circumstances of order and decency by man One while they cry up nothing but Free-grace and another while nothing but Free-will One while they are for a Discipline stricter than the Rule and another while for no Discipline at all First for timerous complyance with evil and afterwards for boysterous contempt of Government Abundance such instances we might give you § 2. The remedy against this disease is to proceed deliberately and receive nothing and do nothing rashly and unadvisedly in Religion For when you have found out your first error you will be affrighted from that into the contrary error See that you look round about you as well to the error that you may run into on the other side as into that which you have run into already Consult also with wise experienced men And mark their unhappiness that have fallen on both sides and stay not to know evil by sad experience True mediocrity is the only way that 's safe Though negligence and lukewarmness be odious even when cloked with that name Direct 11. I Et not your first Opinions about the controverted difficulties in Religion where Scripture Direct 11. For Modesty in your first Opinions is not very plain be too peremptory confident or fixed But hold them modestly with 〈…〉 your unâ—ipe understandings and with room for further information supposing it possible 〈…〉 that upon better instruction evidence and maturity you may in such things change yâ—ur minds § 1. I know the factions that take up their Religion on the credit of their party are against this Direction thinking that you must first hit on the right Church and then hold all that the Church doth hold and therefore change your mind in nothing which you this way receive I know also that some Libertines and half-believers would corrupt this Direction by extending it to the most plain and necessary truths perswading you to hold Christianity it self but as an uncertain probable Opinion But as Gods foundation standeth sure so we must be surely built on his foundation He that believeth not the Essentials of Christianity as a certain necessary revelation of God is not a Christian but an Infidel And he that believeth not all that which he understandeth in the Word of God believeth nothing on the credit of that Word Indeed faith hath its weakness in those that are sincere and they are fain to lament the râ—mnants of unbelief and cry Lord increase
more of my observation of which these times have given us too much proof Profane and formal Enemies on the one hand and ignorant self-conceited wranglers on the other hand who think they are champions for the truth when they are venting their passions and fond opinions are the two Thieves between whom the Church hath suffered from the beginning to this day The first are the Persecutors and the other the Dividers and disturbers of the Church Mark what the Holy Ghost saith in this case 2 Tim. 2. 23 24. But foolish and unlearned questions avoid knowing that they do gender strife and the servant of the Lord must not strive but be gentle unto all men Phil. 2. 14 15. Do all things without murmurings and disputings that ye may be blameless and harmless the Sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world 1 Tim. 6. 3 4 5 6. If any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words even the words of our Lord Iesus Christ and the doctrine which is according to godliliness he is proud knowing nothing but doting about questions and strifes of words whereof cometh envy strife raylings evil surmisings perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds c. So 1 Tim. 1. 4 5. Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies which Minister Questions rather than godly edifying which is in faith Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned § 6. Yet I must here profess that if any falsehearted worldly hypocrite that resolveth to be on the saving side and to hold all to be lawful that seemeth necessary to his safety or preferments shall take any encouragement from what I have here said to debauch his conscience and sell his soul and then call all those furious zealots that will not be as false to God as he let that man know that I have given him no cloak for so odious a sin nor will he find a cover for it at the barr of God though he may delude his conscience and bear it out by his carnal advantages before the world Direct 13. KNow that true Godliness is the Best Life upon Earth and the only may to perfect Direct 13. Happiness Still apprehend it therefore and Use it as the best and with great diligence â—â—sist those Temptations which would make it seem to you a confounding grievous or unpleasant thing § 1. There are all things concurrent in a Holy life to make it the most delectable life on earth to a rational purified mind that is not captivated to the flesh and liveth not on Air or Dung The Object of it is the Eternal God himself the Infallible Truth the only satisfactory Good and all these condescending and appearing to us in the mysterious but suitable glass of a Mediator Redeeming Reconciling teaching governing sanctifying justifying and glorifying all that are his own The End of it is the pleasing and glorifying of our Maker Redeemer and Sanctifier and the everlasting happiness of our selves and others The Rule of it is the infallible Revelation of God delivered to the Church by his Prophets and his Son and his Apostles and comprized in the Holy Scriptures and sealed by the Miracles and operations of the Holy Ghost that did indite them The work of Godliness is a living unto God and preparing for everlasting life by foreseeing foretasting seeking and rejoycing in that endless Happiness which we shall have with God and by walking after the Spirit and avoiding the filthiness delusions and vexations of the world and the flesh The nature of man is not capable of a more noble profitable and delectable life than this which God hath called us to by his Son And if we did but rightly know it we should follow it with continual alacrity and delight Be sure therefore to conceive of Godliness as it is and not as it is mis-represented by the Devil and the ungodly Read what I have written of this in my A Saint or a Brute § 2. As long as a man conceiveth of Religion as it is even the most sweet and delectable life so long he will follow it willingly and with his heart and despise the temptations and avocations of flâ—shly gain and pleasure He will be sincere as not being only drawn by other men or outward advantages nor frightned into it by a passion of fearfulness but loving Religion for it self and for its excellent ends And then he will be chearful in all the duties and under all the sufferings and difficulties of it And he will be most likely to persevere unto the end We cannot expect that the Heart or Will should be any more for God and Godliness than the Understanding practically apprehendeth them as Good Nay we must alwayes perceive in them a transcendent Goodness above all that is to be found in a worldly life Or else the appearing Goodness of the Creature will divert us and carry away our minds We may see in the very Brutes what a power apprehension hath upon their actions If your Horse be but going to his home or pasture how freely will he go through thick and thin but if he go unwillingly his travell is troublesome and slow and you have much ado to get him on It will be so with you in your way to Heaven § 2. It is therefore the principal design of the Devil to hide the Goodness and Pleasantness of Religion from you and to make it appear to you as a terrible or tedious life By this means it is that he keeps men from it and by this means he is still endeavouring to draw you back again and frustrate your good beginnings and your hopes If he can thus mis-represent Religion to your understandings he will suddenly alienate your wills and corrupt your lives and make you turn to the world again and seek for pleasure somewhere else and only take up with some heartless lip-service to keep up some deceitful hope of being saved And the means which Satan useth to these ends are such as these § 3. 1. He will do his worst to overwhelm you with appearing doubts and difficulties and bring How Satan would make Religion seem to be a câ—nfounding unpâ—â—aâ—an thing â— By difficulties you to a loss and to make Religion seem to you a confounding and not a satisfying thing This is one of his most dangerous assaults upon the weak and young beginners Difficulties and Passions are the things which he makes use of to confound you and put you out of a regular cheerful seeking of salvation When you read the Scriptures he will mind you of abundance of difficulties in all you read or hear He will shew you seeming contradictions and tell you that you will never be able to understand these things He will cast in thoughts of Unbelief and Blasphemy and cause you if he can to â—owl them in your
snares are grievous to you blame not God but your selves that made them § 11. 5. Another of Satans wayes to make Religion burdensome and grievous to you is by overwhelming â— By overwhelming fears and sorrows you with fear and sorrow Partly by perswading you that Religion consisteth in excess of sorrow and so causing you to spend your time in striving to trouble and grieve your selves unprofitably as if it were the course most acceptable to God And partly by taking the advantage of a â—imorous passionate nature and so making every thought of God or serious exercise of Religion to be a torment to you by raising some overwhelming fears For fear hath torment 1 John 4. 18. In some faeminine weak and melancholy persons this Temptation hath so much advantage in the body that the holiest soul can do but little in resisting it so that though there be in such a sincere Love to God his wayes and servants yet fear so playeth the Tyrant in them that they perceive almost nothing else And it is no wonder if Religion be grievous and unpleasant to such as thâ—se § 12. But alas it is you your selves that are the causes of this and bring the matter of your grievance with you God hath commanded you a sweeter work It is a life of Love and joy and cheerful progress to eternal joy that he requireth of you and no more fear or grief than is necessary to separate you from sin and teach you to value and use the remedy The Gospel presenteth to you such abundant matter of joy and peace as would make these the very complexion and temperature of your souls if you received them as they are propounded Religious fears when they are inordinate and hurtful are sinful and indeed against Religion and must be resisted as other hurtful passions Be better acquainted with Christ and his promises and you will find enough in him to pacifiâ— the soul and give you confidence and holy boldness in your access to God Heb. 4. 16. Ephes. 3. 12. Heb. 10. 19. The Spirit which he giveth is not the Spirit of bondage but the Spirit of Adoption of Love and Confidence Rom. 8. 15. Heb. 2. 15. § 13. 6. Another thing that maketh Religion seem grievous is retaining unmortified sensual desires 6. By unmâ—â—tified lusts If you keep up your lusts they will strive against the Gospel and all the works of the Spirit which strive against them Gal. 5. 17. And every duty will be so far unpleasant to you as you are carnal because it is against your carnal inclination and desire Away therefore with your beloved sickness and then both your food and your Physician will be less grievous to you Mortifie the flesh and Rom. 8 7 8. you will less disrelish the things of the Spirit For the carnal mind is enmity against God For it is not subject to his Law nor can be § 14. 7. Another cause of confounding and wearying you is the mixture of your actual sins 7. By actus sin dealing unfaithfully with God and wounding your Consciences by renewed guilt especially of sins against knowledge and consideration If you thus keep the bone out of joint and the wound unhealed no marvel if you are loth to work or travail But it is your sin and folly that should be grievous to you and not that which is contrary to it and would remove the cause of all your troubles Resolvedly forsake your wilful sinning and come home by Repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Iesus Christ Acts 20. 21. and then you will find that when the thorn is out your pain will cease and that the cause of your trouble was not in God or Religion but in your sin § 15. 8. Lastly To make Religion unpleasant to you the Tempter would keep the substance of 8 By ignorance of the renor of the Gospel the Gospel unknown or unobserved to you He would hide the wonderful Love of God revealed in our Redeemer and all the riches of saving grace and the great deliverance and priviledges of believers and the certain hopes of life eternal And the Kingdom of God which consisteth in righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost shall be represented to you as consisting in errors only or in triâ—â—es in shadows and shews and bodily exercise which profitteth little 1 Tim. 4. 8. If ever you would know the pleasures of faith and holiness you must labour above all to know God as revealed in his infinite Love in the Mediator and read the Gospel as Gods Act of Oblivion and the Testament and Covenant of Christ in which he giveth you life eternal and in every duty draw near to God as a reconciled Father the object of your everlasting Love and Joy Know and use Religion as it is without mistaking or corrupting it and it will not appear to you as a grievous tedious or confounding thing Direct 14. BE very diligent in mortifying the desires and pleasures of the flesh and keep a continual Direct 14. watch upon your senses appetite and lusts and cast not your selves upon temptations occasions or opportunities of sinning remembring that your salvation lyeth on your success § 1. The lusts of the flâ—sh and the pleasures of the world are the common enemy of God and souls and the damnation of those souls that perish And there is no sort more lyable to temptations of this kind than those that are in the flower of their youth and strength When all the senses are in their vigour and lust and appetite are in their strength and fury how great is the danger and how great must your diligence be if you will escape The appetite and lust of the weak and sick are weak and sick as well as they and therefore they are no great temptation or danger to them The desire and pleasure of the senses do abate as natural strength and vigour doth abate To such there is much less need of watchfulness and where nature hath mortified the flesh there is somewhat the less for grace to do There needs not much grace to keep the aged and weak from fornication uncleanness excessive sports and carnal mirth and gluttony and drunkenness also are sins which youth is much more lyable to Especially some bodies that are not only young and strong but have in their temperature and complexion a special inclination to some of these as lust or sport or foolish mirth there needeth a great deal of diligence resolution and watchfulness for their preservation Lust is not like a corrupt opinion that surprizeth us through a defect of Reason and vanisheth as soon as truth appeareth But it is a brutish inclination which though Reason must subdue and govern yet the perfectest Reason will not extirpate but there it will still dwell And as it is constantly with you it will be stirring when objects are presented by the sense or fantasie to allure And it is like a torrent or a
Essential Truths by errors of their own nor the doctrine of Godliness by wicked malicious applications 4. Such as drive not on any ambitious tyrannical designs of their own but deny themselves and aim at your salvation 5. Such as are not too hot in proselyting you to any singular opinion of their own it being the prediction of Paul to the Ephesians Acts 20. 30. Of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them 6. Such as are judicious with holy zeal and zealous with judgement 7. Such as are of experience in the things of God and not young beginners or Novices in Religion 8. Such as bear reverence to the judgements of the generality of wise and godly men and are tender of the Unity of the Church and not such as would draw you into a Sect or party to the contempt of other Christians no not to a party that hath the favour of Rulers and the people to promote them 9. Such as are gentle peaceable and charitable and not such as burn with hellish malice against their Brethren nor with an ungodly or cruel consuming zeal 10. Such as not live not sensually and wickedly contrary to the doctrine which they preach but shew by their lives that they believe what they say and feel the power of the truths which they preach § 4. And your familiar companions have great advantage to help or hinder your salvation as well Imperat Reâ— ut nostrae religionis illorum mensa nullum communem haberent neque cum Catholicis omino vescerentur Quae res non ipâ—â—s aliquod praestitit beneficium sed nobis maximum conâ—ulit lucrum Nam si sermo â—oâ—â—m sicut cancer consuevit serpere quanto magis communis mensa ciborum potuit inquinare cum dicat Apostolus cum nefariis nec cibum habere communem Victor Utic p. 418. Magnum virtutis praesidium societas bonoâ—um socius exemplo excitat sermone recreat consilio instâ—uiâ— orationibus adjuvat autoritate continet quae omnia so itudini desunt Ios. Acosta l. 4. c. 13. Dicunt Stoici Amicitiam solos inter bonâ—s quos sibi invicem studiorum similitudo conciliet posse consistere Porro amicitiam ipsam societatem quandam esse dicunt omnium quae sunt ad vitam necessaria cum amicis ut nobismet ipsis utamur atque ob id amicum eligendum amicorumque multitudinem â—â—â—â—er expetenda ponunt inter malos non posse constare amicitiam Laert. in Zenone as your Teachers The matter is not so great whom you meet by the way or travell with or trade and buy and sell with as whom you make your intimate or familiar friends For such have both the advantage of their interest in your affections and also the advantage of their nearness and familiarity and if they have but also the advantage of higher abilities than you they may be powerful instruments of your good or hurt If you have a familiar friend that will defend you from error and help you against temptations and lovingly reprove your sin and feelingly speak of God and the life to come inditing his discourse from the inward power of faith and love and holy experience the benefit of such a friend may be more to you than of the learnedst or greatest in the world How sweetly will their speeches relish of the Spirit from which they come How deeply may they pierce a careless heart How powerfully may they kindle in you a love and zeal to God and his Commandments How seasonably may they discover a temptation prevent your fall reprove an error and recover your souls How faithfully will they watch over you How profitably will they provoke and put you on and pray with you fervently when you are cold and mind you of the Truth and duty and mercy which you forget It is a very great mercy to have a judicious solid faithful companion in the way to Heaven § 5. But if your ears are daily filled with froth and folly with ribaldry or idle stories with Oaths and Curses with furious words or scorns and jears against the godly or with the Sophistry of deceivers is it likely this should leave a pleasant or wholsome relish on your minds Is it likely that the effect should not be seen in your lean or leprous hearts and lives as well as the effects of an infected or unwholsome air or diet will be seen upon your diseased bodies He is ungodly that liketh such company best And he is proud and presumptuous that will unnecessarily cast himself upon it in confidence that he shall receive no hurt And he is careless of himself that will not cautelously avoid it And few that long converse with such come off without some notable loss except when we live with such as Lot did in Sodom grieving for their sin and misery or as Christ conversed with publicans and sinners with a holy zeal and diligence to convert and save them or as those that have not liberty who bear that which they have not power to avoid § 6. Among the rest your danger is not least from that are eager to proselite you to some party or unsound opinion that they think they are in the right and that they do it in love and that they think it necessary to your salvation and that Truth or Godliness are the things which they profess all this makes the danger much the greater to you if it be not Truth and Godliness indeed which they propose and plead for And none are in more danger than the ungrounded and unexperienced that yet are so wise in their own esteem as to be confident that they know Truth from Error when they hear it and are not afraid of any deceit nor much suspicious of their own understandings But of this before § 7. The like danger there is of the familiar company of lukewarm ones or the prophane At Non tamen at corporum sic animorum moâ—bi transseunt ad nolentes Imo vero nobilis animus viâ—iorum odro ad amorem vâ—rtutis accâ—nditur Petraâ—â—h Dialog de aâ—iâ— moriâ— first you may be troubled at their sinful or unsavoury discourse and make some resistance against the infection But before you are aware it may so cool and damp your graces as will make your decay discernable to others First You will hear them with less offence and then you will grow indifferent what company you are in and then you will laugh at their sin and folly and then you will begin to speak as they and then you will grow cold and seldomer in prayer and other holy duties and if God prevent it not at last your judgements will grow blind and you will think all this allowable § 8. But of all bad company the nearest is the worst If you choose such into your families or into your nearest conjugal relations you cast water upon the fire you imprison your selves in such â—etters as will gall and grieve
you if they do not stop you you choose a life of constant close and great temptations Whereas your grace and comfort and salvation might be much promoted by the society of such as are wise and gracious and suitable to your state To have a constant companion to open your heart to and joyn with in prayer and edifying conference and faithfully help you against your sins and yet to be patient with you in your frailties is a mercy which worldlings neither deserve nor value Direct 16. MAke careful choice of the Books which you read Let the Holy Scriptures ever have Direct 10. the preheminence and next them the solid lively heavenly Treatises which best expound and apply the Scriptures and next those the credible Histories especially of the Church and Tractates upon inferiour Sciences and Arts But take heed of the poyson of the Writings of false Teachers which would corrupt your understandings and of vain Romances Play-books and false Stories which may bewitch your fantasies and corrupt your hearts § 1. As there is a more excellent appearance of the Spirit of God in the Holy Scriptures than in any other Book whatever so it hath more power and fitness to convey the Spirit and make us spiritual by imprinting it self upon our hearts As there is more of God in it so it will acquaint us more with God and bring us nearer him and make the Reader more reverent serious and Divine Let Scripture be first and most in your hearts and hands and other Books be used as subservient to it The endeavours of the Devil and Papists to keep it from you doth shew that it is most necessary and desirable to you And when they tell you that all Hereticks plead the Scriptures they do but tell you that it is the common Rule or Law of Christians which therefore all are fain to pretend As all Lawyers and wranglers plead the Laws of the Land be their cause never so bad and yet the Laws must not be therefore concealed or cast aside And they do but tell you that in their concealment or dishonouring the Scriptures they are worse than any of those Hereticks When they tell you that the Scriptures are misunderstood and abused and perverted to maintain mens errors they might also desire that the Sun might be obscured because the purblind do mistake and Murderers and Robbers do wickedly by its light And that the earth might be subverted because it bears all evil doers and High-wayes stopt up because men travell in them to do evil And food prohibited because it nourisheth mens diseases And when they have told you truly of a Law or Rule whether made by Pope or Council which bad men cannot misunderstand or break or abuse and misapply than hearken to them and prefer that Law as that which preventeth the need of any judgement § 2. The Writings of Divines are nothing else but a preaching the Gospel to the eye as the voice preacheth it to the ear Vocal preaching hath the preheminence in moving the affections and being diversified according to the state of the Congregations which attend it This way the Milk cometh warmest from the breast But Books have the advantage in many other respects you may read an able Preacher when you have but a mean one to hear Every Congregation cannot hear the most judicious or powerful Preachers but every single person may read the Books of the most powerful and judicious Preachers may be silenced or banished when Books may be at hand Books may be kept at a smaller charge than Preachers We may choose Books which treat of that very subject which we desire to hear of but we cannot choose what subject the Preacher shall treat of Books we may have at hand every day and hour when we can have Sermons but seldom and at set times If Sermons be forgotten they are gone But a Book we may read over and over till we remember it and if we forget it may again peruse it at our pleasure or at our leisure So that good Books are a very great mercy to the world The Holy Ghost chose the way of writing to preserve his Doctrine and Laws to the Church as knowing how easie and sure a way it is of keeping it safe to all generations in comparison of meer Verbal Tradition which might have made as many Controversies about the very terms as there be memories or persons to be the preservers and reporters Books are if well chosen domestick present constant judicious pertinent yea and powerful Sermons and alwayes of very great use to your salvation but especially when Vocal preaching faileth and Preachers are ignorant ungodly or dull or when then they are persecuted and forbid to preach § 3. You have need of a judicious Teacher at hand to direct you what Books to use or to refuse For among Good Books there are some very good that are sound and lively and some are good but mean and weak and somewhat dull and some are very good in part but have mixtures of error or else of incautelous injudicious expressions fitter to puzzle than edifie the weak I am loth to name any of these later sorts of which abundance have come forth of late But to the young beginner in Religion I may be bold to recommend next to a sound Catechism Mr. Rutherfords Letters Mr. Robert Boltons Works Mr. Perkins Mr. Whateleyes Mr. Ball of Faith Dr. Prestons Dr. Sibbes Mr. Hildershams Mr. Pinkes Sermons Mr. Io. Rogers Mr. Rich. Rogers Mr. Ri. Allen's Mr. Gurnall Mr. Swinnocke Mr. Ios. Simonds And to stablish you against Popery Dr. Challoners Credo Eccles. Cathol Dr. Field of the Church Dr. Whites Way to the Church with the Defence Bishop Ushers Answer to the Jesuite and Chillingworth with Drelincourts Summary And for right Principles about Redemption c. Mr. Trumans Great Propitiation and of Natural and Moral Impotency and Mr. William Fenner of Wilful Impenitency Mr. Hotchkis of Forgiveness of Sin To pass by many other excellent ones that I may not name too many § 4. To a very judicious able Reader who is fit to censure all he reads there is no great danger in the reading the Books of any Seducers It doth but shew him how little and thin a cloak is used to cover a bad causâ— But alas young Souldiers not used to such Wars are startled at a very Sophism or at a terrible threatning of damnation to diffenters which every censorious Sect can use or at every confident triumphant boast or at every thing that hath a fair pretence of truth or godliness Injudicious persons can answer almost no deceiver which they hear and when they cannot answer them they think they must yield as if the fault were not in them but in the cause and as if Christ had no wiser followers or better defenders of his truth than they Mâ—ddle not therefore with poyson till you better know how to use it and may do it with less danger as long
Should we not think that God had utterly forsaken us He suffered himself to be tempted also by men by the abuses and reproaches of his enemies by the desertion of his followers by the carnal counsel of Peter perswading him to put by the death which he was to undergo And he that made all Temptations serve to the triumph of his patience and conquering power will give the victory also to his Grace in the weakest soul. § 12. 9. It would be the greatest attractive to us to draw near to God and make the thoughts of him pleasant to us if we could but believe that he dearly loveth us that he is reconciled to us and taketh us for his children and that he taketh pleasure in us and that he resolveth for ever to glorifie us with his Son and that the dearest friend that we have in the world doth not Love us the thousandth part so much as he And all this in Christ is clearly represented to the eye of faith All this is procured for believers by him And all this is given to believers in him In him God is reconciled to us He is our Father and dwelleth among us and in us and walketh in us and is our God 2 Cor. 6. 16 17 18. Light and Heat are not more abundant in the Sun than Love is in Iesus Christ. To look on Christ and not perceive the Love of God is as to look on the Sun and not to see and acknowledge its light Therefore when ever you find your hearts averse to God and to have no pleasure in him look then to Iesus and observe in him the unmeasurable love of God that you may be able to comprehend with all the Saints what is the bredth and length and depth and height and to know the Love of Christ which passeth knowledge that you may be filled with all the fulness of God Eph. 3. 18 19. Love and Goodness are that to the will which delicious sweetness is to the sensitive appetite Draw near then and taste the Feast of Love which God hath prepared and proposed by his Son Dost thou not see or feel the Love of God Come near and look upon God incarnate upon a crucified Christ upon the Covenant sealed in his blood upon all the benefits of his Redemption upon all the priviledges of the Saints and upon the glory purchased possessed and promised by him Put thy hand into his wounded side and be not faithless but believing and then thou wilt cry out My Lord and my God § 13. 10. So also when the soul would fain perceive in it self the flames of Love to God it is the beholding of Christ by faith which is the striking of fire and the effectual means of kindling love And this is the true approach to God and the true Communion and converse with him so far as we Love him so far do we draw near him and so far have we true communion with him O what would the soul of a Believer give that it could but burn in Love to God as oft as in prayer or meditation or conference his Name and Attributes are mentioned or remembred For this there is no such powerful means as believingly to look on Christ in whom such glorious Love appeareth as will draw forth the Love of all that by a lively faith discern it Behold the Love that God hath manifested by his Son and thou canst not but Love him who is the spring of this transcendent Love In the Law God sheweth his frowning wrath and therefore it breedeth the Spirit of bondage unto fear But in Christ God appeareth to us not only as Loving us but as Love it self and therefore as most lovely to us giving us the Spirit of Adoption or of filial Love by which we fly and cry to him as our Father § 14. 11. The actual undisposedness and disability of the soul to prayer meditation and all holy converse with the blessed God is the great impediment of our walking with him And against this our relief is all in Christ He is filled with the Spirit to communicate to his members He can quicken us when we are dull He can give us faith when we are unbelieving he can give us boldness when we are discouraged he can pour out upon us the Spirit of supplication which shall help our infirmities when we know not what to pray for as we ought Beg of him then the Spirit of prayer And look to his example who prayed with strong cryes and tears and continued all the night in prayer and spake a Parable to this end that we should alwayes pray and not wax faint Luke 18. 1. Call to him and he that is with the Father will reach the hand of his Spirit to you and will quicken your desires and lift you up § 15. 12. Sometime the soul is hearkning to temptations of unbelief and doubting whether God observe our prayers or whether there is so much to be got by prayers as we are told In such a case faith must look to Christ who hath not only commanded it and encouraged us by his example but also made us such plentiful promises of acceptance with God and the grant of our desires Recourse to these promises will animate us to draw nigh to God § 16. 13. Sometime the present sense of our vileness who are but dust and despicable worms doth discourage us and weaken our expectations from God Against this what a wonderful relief is it to the soul to think of our union with Christ and of the dignity and glory of our Head Can God despise the members of his Son Can he trample upon them that are as his flesh and bone Will he cut off or forsake or cast away the weakest parts of his body § 17. 14. Sometime the guilt of renewed infirmities or decayes doth renew distrust and make us shrink and we are like the Child in the Mothers arms that feareth when he loseth his holt as if his safety were more in his holt of her than in her holt of him Weak duties have weak expectations of success In this case what an excellent remedy hath faith in looking to the perpetual intercession of Christ Is he praying for us in the Heavens and shall we not be bold to pray and expect an answer â—â— remember that he is not weak when we are weak and that it concerneth us that he prayeth for us and that we have now an unchangeable Priest who is able to save them to the uttermost or to perpetuity that come sincerely to God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them Heb 7. â—4 25 If you heard Christ pray for you would it not encourage you to pray and perswade you that God will not reject you Undoubtedly it would § 18. 15. Sometimes weak Christians that have not gifts of memory or utterance are apt to think that Ministers indeed and able men are accepted of God but that he little valueth such as them It
is here a great encouragement to the soul to think that Jesus our great High Priest doth make all his Children Priests to God They are a chosen generation a royal Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar people that they should shew forth the prayses of him that hath called them out of darkness into his marvellâ—us light An holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Iesus Christ 1 Pet. 2. 5 â— Even their broken hearts and contrite Spirits are a sacrifice which God will not despâ—se Psal. 51. 17. He knoweth the meaning of the Spirits groans Rom. 8. 26 27. § 19. 16. The strength of corruptions which molest the soul and are too often strugling with it and too much prevail doth greatly discourage us in our approach to that God that hateth all the workers of iniquity And here faith may find relief in Christ not only as he pardoneth us but as he hath conquered the Devil and the world himself and bid us be of good cheer because he hath conquered and hath all power given him in Heaven and Earth and can give us victorious grace in the season and measure which he seeth meetest for us We can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth us Go to him then by faith and prayer and you shall find that his grace is sufficient for you § 20. 17. The thoughts of God are the less delightful to the soul because that Death and the Grave do interpose and we must pass through them before we can enjoy him And it is unpleasing to nature to think of a separation of soul and body and to think that our flesh must rot in darkness But against this faith hath wonderful relieâ— in Iesus Christ. For asmuch as we were partakers of flesh and blood he also himself likewise took part with us that he might destroy through death him that had the power of death even the Devil and deliver them who through fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage Hâ—b 2. 14 15. O what an encouragement it is to faith to observe that Christ once dyed himself and that he rose from the dead and reigneth with the Father it being impossible that death should hâ—ld him And having conquered that which seemed to conquer him it no more hath dominion over him but he hath the Keyes of Death and Hell we may now entertain death as a disarmed enemy and say O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory Yea it is sanctified by him to be our friend even an entrance into our Masters joy it being best for us to depart and be with Christ Phil. 1. 23. and therefore death is become our gain v. 21. O what abundance of strength and sweetness may faith perceive from that promise of Christ John 12. 26. If any man serve me let him follow me and where I am there shall also my servant be As he was dead but now liveth for evermore so hath he promised that because he liveth therefore shall we live also John 14. 19. But of this I have written two Treatises of Death already § 21. 18. The terror of the day of Iudgement and of our particular doom at death doth make the thoughts of God less pleasing and delectable to us And here what a relief is it for faith to apprehend that Iesus Christ must be our Judge And will he condemn the members of his body Shall we be afraid to be judged by our dearest friend by him that hath justified us himself already even at the price of his own blood § 22. 19. The very strangeness of the soul to the world unseen and to the inhabitants and employments there doth greatly stop the soul in its desires and in its delightful approaches unto God Had we seen the world where God must be enjoyed the thoughts of it would be more familiar and sweet But faith can look to Christ and say My head is there he seeth it for me he knoweth what he possesseth prepareth and promiseth to me and I will quietly rest in his acquaintance with it § 23. 20. Nay the Godhead it self is so infinitely above us that in it self it is inaccessible and it is ready to amaze and overwhelm us to think of coming to the incomprehensible Majesty But it emboldneth the soul to think of our Glorified Nature in Christ and that even in Heaven God will everlastingly condescend to us in the Mediator For the Mediation of Redemption and acquisition shall be ended and thus he shall deliver up the Kingdom to the Father yet it seems that a Mediation of fruition shall continue For Christ said to his Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory John 17. 24. We shall rejoyce when the marriage of the Lamb is come Rev. 19. 7. They are blessed that are called to his Marriage Supper v. 9. The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple and the Light of the New Ierusalem Rev. 21. 22 23. Heaven would not be so familiar or so sweet to my thoughts if it were not that our glorified Lord is there in whose Love and Glory we must live for ever O Christian as ever thou wouldst walk with God in comfortable communion with him study and exercise this Life of faith in the daily use and improvement of Christ who is our Life and Hope and All. DIRECT III. Gr. Dir. 3. Understand well what it is to believe in the Holy Ghost and see that he dwell To believe in the Holy Ghost and live upon his Grace and operate in thee as the Life of thy soul and that thou do not resist or quench the Spirit but thankfully obey him § 1. EAch person in the Trinity is so believed in by Christians as that in Baptism they enter Scrutari temeritas est credere pietas nesse vita Bernard de consid ad Eâ—geâ— l. 5. distinctly into Covenant with them which is to Accept the Mercies of and perform the 〈…〉 each person distinctly As to take God for Our God is more than to believe that there is a God â—nd to take Christ for Our Saviour is more than barely to believe that he is the Messiah so to Believe in the Holy Ghost is to take him for Christs Agent or Advocate with our souls and for our Guide and Sanctifier and Comforter and not only to believe that he is the third person in the Trinity This therefore is a most practical Article of our Belief § 2. If the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost be the unpardonable sin then all sin against the Holy Ghost must needs have a special aggravation by being such And if the sin against the Holy Ghost be the greatest sin then our duty towards the Holy Ghost is certainly none of our smallest duties Therefore the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit and our duty towards him and sin against him deserve not the least or
last place in teaching learning and most serious consideration § 3. Two sorts do most dangerously sin against or abuse the Holy Ghost The first is the Prophane who through custom and education can say I believe in the Holy Ghost and say that He sanctifieth them and all the Elect people of God but hate or resist all sanctifying works and motions Deus est principium eâ—â—ectivum in Creatione refectivum in redemptione perfectivum in sanctificatione Ioh. Con. bis comp Theol. l. 4. c. 1. of the Holy Ghost and hate all those that are sanctified by him and make them the objects of their scorn and deride the very name of sanctification or at least the thing The second sort is the Enthusiasts or true Fanaticks who advance extoll and plead for the Spirit Rejectis propheticis Apostolicis scriptis Manichaei novum Evangelium scripserunt ut antecellere communi hominum multitudini semi-d 〈…〉 rentur simularunt Enthusiaâ—mos seu afflatus subâ—â—o in â—urâ—a se in terram objâ—â—â—â—entes c vâ—lut 〈◊〉 dâ—â— tacentes deinde tanquam redeuntes ex specu Trophonio plorantes multa vaticinati sunt Prorsus ut Anabaptistae recens fâ—ceruâ— in seditione Monasteriensi Etsi autem in quibusdam manifesta simulatio fuit tamen aliquibus reipsa à Diabolis surâ—tes immisses esse certum est Carioâ— Chron. l. 3. p. 54. against the Spirit covering their greatest sins against the Holy Ghost by crying up and pretending to the Holy Ghost They plead the Spirit in themselves against the Spirit in their Brethren yea and in almost all the Church They plead the authority of the Spirit in them against the authority of the Spirit in the holy Scriptures and against particular truths of Scripture and against several great and needful Duties which the Spirit hath required in the Word and against the Spirit in their most judicious godly faithful Teachers But can it be the Spirit that speaks against the Spirit Is the Spirit of God against it self Are we not all baptized by One Spirit and not divers or contrary into one body 1 Cor. 12. 12 13. But it is no marvel for Satan to be transformed into an Angel of light or his Ministers into the Ministers of Christ and of Righteousness whose end shall be according to their works 2 Cor. 11. 13 14 15. The Spirit himself therefore hath commanded us that we believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they be of God because many false Prophets are gone out into the world 1 John 4. 1. Yea the Spirit speaketh expresly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing Spirits and doctrines of Devils 1 Tim. 4. 1. Therefore take heed that you neither Mistake nor abuse the Holy Spirit § 4. 1. The Doctrine concerning the Holy Ghost to be believed is briefly this 1. That the Holy Ghost as given since the Ascension of Christ is his Agent on earth or his Advocate with men called by him the Paraclete Instead of his bodily presence which for a little space he vouchsafed to a few being John 16. 7. â— ascended he sendeth the Holy Spirit as better for them to be his Agent continually to the end and John 15 2â— John 16. 13. Gal. 3. 1 2 3 4 Heb. 2. 3 4. unto all and in all that do believe 2. This Holy Spirit so sent infallibly inspired the holy Apostles and Evangelists first to preach and then to write the Doctrine of Christ contained as indited by him in the Holy Scriptures perfectly imprinting therein the Holy Image of God 3. The same Spirit in them sealed this holy Doctrine and the Testimony of these holy men by many Miracles and wonderful Gifts by which they did actually convince the unbelieving world and plant the Churches 4. The same Spirit having first by the Apostles given a Law or Canon to the Universal Church constituting its Offices and the duty of the Officers and the manner of their entrance Eph. 3 2 3 4 8 13. dâ—tâ— Qualifie and â—ispose men for the stated ordinary Ministerial work which is to Explain and Apâ—â—â—â— â—he â—oresaid Scriptures and directeth those that are to Ordain and Choose them they being not wanting on their part and so he appointeth Pastors to the Church 5. The same Spirit assisteth the Ministers thus sent in their faithful use of the means to Teach and Apply the holy Scriptures according to the necessities of the peoplâ— the weight of the matter and the Majesty of the Word of God 6. The same Spirit doth by this Word heard or read renew and sanctifie the souls of the Elect illuminating their minds opening and quickning their hearts prevailing with changing and Actâ— 26. 18. resolving their wills thus writing Gods Word and imprinting his Image by his Word upon their hearts making it powerful to conquer and cast out their strongest sweetest dearest sins and bringing John 14 16 26 them to the saving knowledge love and obedience of God in Jesus Christ. 7. The same holy Spirit assisteth the sanctified in the exercise of this grace to the increase of it by blessing and concurring with the means appointed by him to that end And helpeth them to use those means perform their duties conquer temptations oppositions and difficulties and so confirmeth and preserveth them to the end 8. The same Spirit helpeth believers in the exercise of grace to feel it and discern the sincerity of it in themselves in that measure as they are meet for and in these seasons when it is fittest for them 9. The same Spirit helpeth them hereupon to conclude that they are justified and reconciled to God and have right to all the benefits of his Covenant 10. Also he assisteth them actually to rejoyce in the discerning of this Conclusion For though Reason of it self may do something in these acts yet so averse is man to all that is holy and so many are the difficulties and hinderances in the way that to the effectual performance the help of the Spirit of God is necessary § 5. By this enumeration of the Spirits operations you may see the errors of many detected and many common Questions answered 1. You may see their blindness that pretend the Spirit within them against Scripture Ministry or the use of Gods appointed means when the same Spirit first indited the Scripture and maketh it the Instrument to illuminate and sanctifie our souls Gods Image is 1. Primarily in Jesus Christ his Son 2. Derivatively by his Spirit imprinted perfectly in the holy Scriptures 3. And by the Scripture or the holy Doctrine of it instrumentally impressed on the soul. So that the Image of God in Christ is the Cause of his Image in his holy Word or Doctrine and his Image in his Word is the Cause of his Image on the heart So a King may have his Image 1. Naturally on his Son who is like his Father 2. Expressively in his Laws which express
his Wisdom Clemency and Justice 3. And effectively on his Subjects and Servants who are by his Laws reduced to a Conformity to his mind As a man may first cut his Arms or Image on his seal and then by that seal imprint it on the wax and though it be perfectly cut on the seal it may be imperfectly printed on the wax so Gods Image is naturally perfect in his Son and Regularly or expressively perfect on the seal of his holy Doctrine and Laws but imperfectly on his subjects according to their reception of it in their several degrees § 6. Therefore it is easie to discern their error that tell men the Light or Spirit within them is their Rule and a perfect Rule yea and that it is thus in all men in the world when Gods Word and experience flatly contradict it telling us that Infidels and enemies of God and all the ungodly are in Darkness and not in the Light and that all that speak not according to this Word the Law and Testimony have No Light in them and therefore no perfect Light to be their Rule Isa. 8. 20. The Ministry is sent to bring them from darkness to Light Therefore they had not a sufficient Light in them before Acts 26. 17 18. Wo to them that put darkness for light and light for darkness Isa. 5. 20. telling the children of darkness and the haters of the Light that they have a perfect Light and Rule within them when God saith They have no Light in them See 1 John 1. 5. 4 6 7 8. He that saith he is in the Light and hateth his brother is in darkness even till now 1 John 2. 9 10 11. The Light within a wicked man is darkness and blindness and therefore not his Rule Matth. 6. 23. Ephes. 5. 8. Even the Light that is in godly men is the knowledge of the Rule and not the Rule it self at all nor ever called so by God Our Rule is perfect our knowledge is imperfect for Paul himself saith We know in part But when that which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away Now we see through a glass darkly 1 Cor. 13. 9 10 12. The Gospel is bid to them that are lost being blinded by Satan 2 Cor. 4. 3 4. § 7. There is an admirable unsearchable concurrence of the Spirit and his appointed means and the will of man in the procreation of the new creature and in all the exercises of grace as there is of Male and Female in natural generation and of the Earth the Sun the Rain the industry of the Gardiner and the seminal vertue of Life and specification in the production of Plants with their flowers and fruits And as wise as it would be to say It is not the Male but the Female or the Female but the Male that generateth or to say It is not the Earth but the Sun or not the Sun but the Rain or not the Rain but the seminal Vertue that causeth Plants with Flowers and Fruits So wise is it to say It is not the Spirit but the Word and Means or it is not the Word and Means but the Spirit or it is not the Reason and Will and industry of man but the Spirit Or if we have not wisdom enough to assign to each cause its proper interest in the effect that therefore we should separate what God hath conjoyned or deny the truth of the causation because we comprehend not the manner and influence this is but to choose to be befooled by Pride rather than confess that God is wiser than we § 8. 2. You may here discern also how the Spirit assureth and comforteth believers and how palpably they err that think the Spirit comforteth or assureth us of our salvation without the use of its Evidencing grace The ten things mentioned § 4. is all that the Spirit doth herein But to expect his Comforts without any measure of discerning his graces which can only rationally prove our right to the blessings of the Promise this is to expect that he should comfort a Rational Creature not as Rational but darkly cause him to rejoyce he knoweth not why and that he should make no use of faith to our comfort For faith resteth understandingly upon the Promise and expecteth the performance of it to those that it is made to and not to others Indeed there is a common encouragement and comfort which all men even the worst may take from the universal conditional Promise and there is much abatement of our fears and troubles that may be fetcht from probabilties and uncertain hopes of our own sincerity and interest in the Promise But to expect any other assurance or comfort from the Spirit without Evidence is but to expect immediate revelations or inspirations to do the work which the Word of promise and faith should do The souls Consent to the Covenant of ☜ Grace and fiducial Acceptance of an offered Christ is justifying saâ—ing faith Every man hath an object in the Promise and offer of the Gospel for this act and therefore may rationally perform it Though all have not hearts to do it This may well be called Faith of adherence and is it self our evidence from which we must conclude that we are true Believers The discerning of this Evidence called by some the Reflex act of faith is no act of faith at all it being no believing of another but the act of Conscience knowing what is in our selves The discerning and concluding that we are the children of God participateth of faith and conscientious knowledge which gave us the premises of such a conclusion § 9. 3. You may hence perceive also how we are said to be sealed by the Spirit Even as a mans Eph. 1. 13. Rom. 8. 9. Ephes. 4 30. seal doth signifie the thing sealed to be his own So the Spirit of holiness in us is Gods seal upon us signifying that we are his 2 Tim. 2. 19. Every one that hath the Spirit is sealed by having it and that is his Evidence which if he discern he may know that he is thus sealed § 10. 4. Hereby also you may see what the earnest and first fruits of the Spirit is The Spirit is 2 Coâ— 1. 22. given to us by God as the earnest of the Glory which he will give us To whomsoever he giveth the Spirit of Faith and Love and Holiness he giveth the seed of life eternal and an inclination thereto which is his earnest of it § 11. 5. Hereby also you may see how the Spirit witnesseth that we are the children of God The word Witness is put here principally for Evidence If any one question our adoption the Witness or Evidence which we must produce to prove it is the Spirit of Iesus sanctifying us and dwelling in us This is the chief part at least of the sense of the Text Rom. 8. 16. Though it is true that the same Spirit witnesseth by 1. Shewing us the
grace which he hath given us 2. And by shewing us the truth of the Promise made to all believers 3. And by helping us from those Promises to conclude with boldness that we are the children of God 4. And by helping us to rejoyce therein § 12. II. I have been the longer though too short in acquainting you with the Office of the Holy Ghost supposing your Belief that he is the third person in the Trinity because it is an Article of grand importance neglected by many that profess it and because there are so many and dangerous errors in the world about it Your great care now must be 1. To find this Spirit in you as the Principle of your operations and 2. To obey it and follow its motions as it leadeth you up to communion with God Of the first I have spoken in the first Chapter For the second observe these few Directions § 13. Direct 1. Be sure you mistake not the Spirit of God and its motions nor receive instead of Direct 1. them the motions of Satan or of your passions pride or fleshly wisdom It is easie to think you are obeying the Spirit when you are obeying Satan and your own corruptions against the Spirit By these fruits the Spirit of God is known 1. The Spirit of God is for Heavenly Wisdom and neither for Foolishness or treacherous craftiness Psal. 19. 7. 94. 8. Jer. 4. 22. 1 Cor. 2. 4 5 6 7. 2. The Spirit of God is a Spirit of Love delighting to do good its doctrine and motions are for Love and tend to Good abhorring both selfishness and hurtfulness to others Gal. 5. 21 22. 3. He is a Spirit of Concord and is ever for the Unity of all believers abhorring both Divisions among the Saints and carnal complyances and â—onfederacies with the wicked 1 Cor. 12. Ephes. 4. 3 4 5 6 13. 1 Cor. 1. 10. Nâ—mo magnus sine aâ—iquo afflaâ—â— Dâ—vâ—â—o â—nquam suit â—â—â—â— 2. â—â— Nâ—â— Dâ—o 3. 3. Rom. 16 17 18. 4. He is a Spirit of humility and self-denyal making us and our knowledge and gifts and worth to be very little in our own eyes Abhorring pride ambition self-exalting boasting as also the actual debasing of our selves by earthliness or other sin Matth. 18. 3. Eph. 4. 2. 5. He is a Spirit of meekness and patience and â—orbearance Abhorring stupidity and inordinate passion boisterousness tumult envy contention reviling and revenge Math. 11. 28 29. Ephes. 4. 2. Iames 3. 1 Pet. 2. 20 21 23. Gal. 5. 20. Rom. 12. 18 19 20. Eph. 4. 31. Col. 3. 8. 6. He is a Spirit of zeal for God resolving men against known sin and for known truth and duty Abhorring a furious destroying zeal and also an indifferency in the cause of God and a yielding complyance with that which is against it Gal. 4. 18. Numb 25. 11 13. Titus 2. 14. Iames 3. 15. 17. Luke 9. 55. Rev. 3. 16. 7. He is a Spirit of Mortification crucifying the flesh and still conâ—ending against it and causeing men to live above all the Glory and Riches and Pleasures of the world Abhorring both carnal licentiousness and sensuality and also the destroying and disabling of the Body under preâ—ence of true mortification Rom. 8. 1. 13. Gal. 5. 17. Rom. 13. 13 14. 1 Cor. 9. 27. 2 Pâ—t 2. 19. Col. 2. 18 21 23. 8. The Spirit of Christ contradicteth not the doctrine of Christ in the holy Scripture but moveth us to an exact conformity thereto Isa. 8. 20. This is the sure Rule to try pretences and motions of every Spirit by For we are sure that the Spirit of Christ is the Author of that word and we are sure he is not contrary to himself 9. The motions of the Spirit do all tend to our Good and are neither Ludicrous impertinent or hurtful finally They are all for the perfecting of sanctification obedience and for our salvation Therefore unprofitable trifles or despair and hurtful distractions and disturbances of mind which drive from God unfit for duty and hinder salvation are not the motions of the Spirit of God 2 Tim. 1. 7. Rom. 8. 15. Isa. 11. 2. Gal. 5. 22. Zech. 12. 10. 1 Pet. 4. 14. 2 Cor. 3. 6. 10. Lastly The Spirit of God subjecteth all to God and raiseth the heart to him and maketh us spiritual and divine and is ever for Gods glory 1 Iohn 4 5 6. 1 Cor. 6. 11. 17 20. Ephes. 2. 18 22. Phil. 3. 3 19 20. 1 Pet. 1. 2. 4 6. Examine the Texts here cited and you will find that by all these fruits the Spirit of God is known from all seducing Spirits and from the fancies or passions of self-conceited men § 14. Direct 2. Quench not the Spirit either by wilful sin or by your neglecting of its offered help Direct â— It is as the spring to all your spiritual motions as the Wind to your Sails You can do nothing without it Therefore reverence and regard its help and pray for it and obey it and neglect it not When you are sure it is the Spirit of God indeed that is knocking at the door behave not your selves as if you heard not 1. Obey him speedily Delay is a present unthankful refusal and a kind of a denyal 2. Obey him throughly A half obedience is disobedience Put him not off with Ananias and Saphira's gift the half of that which he requireth of you 3. Obey him constantly not sometime hearkning to him and more frequently neglecting him but attending him in a learning obediential course of life § 15. Direct 3. Neglect not those means which the Spirit hath appointed you to use for the receiving Direct 3. of us help and which be useth in his holy operations If you will meet with him attend him in his own way and expect him not in by-wayes where he useth not to go Pray and meâ—itaâ—e and hear and read and do your best and expect his blessing Though your plowing and sâ—winâ— will not give you a plentiful harvest without the Sun and Rain and the blessing of God yet these will not do â—t neither unless you plow and sow God hath not appointed a course of means in Nature or Morality in vain nor will he use to meet you in any other way § 16. Direct 4. Do most when the Spirit helpeth you most Neglect not the extraordinary measures Direct 4. of his assistance If he extraordinarily help you in prayer or meditation improve that help and break not â—st so soon as at other times without necessity Not that you should omit duty till you seel his help For he useth to come in with help in the performance and not in the neglect of duty But tire not out your self with affected length when you want the life § 17. Direct 5. Be not unthankful for the assistance he hath given you Deny not his grace Direct 5. Ascribe it not to nature Remember it to encourage your future expectations
To be as like God in all his communicable excellencies as is agreeable to our created state and capacity 2. And to have as near and full communion with him as we can attain to and enjoy § 7. 7. The Will of God and his Goodness and Holiness is more nearly propounded to us to be the Rule of our Conformity than his Power and his Knowledge Therefore his Law is most immediately the expression of his Will and our Duty and Goodness lyeth in our Conformity to his Law being Holy as he is Holy Because I may not stand on the particulars I shall give you a brief imperfect Scheme of that of God which you must thus know GOD is to be known by us I. As â—â—â—â—â—â—â—â— I. In his BEING Qâ—od â—â—â—â— 1. One and indivisible In Three Persons 2. Immense and incomprehensible 3. Eternal 1. The FATHER 2. The SON 3. The HOLY GHOST 1. Necessary 2. Independent 3. Immutable II. In his NATURE Quod â—â—t A SPIRIT 1. Simple uncompounded 2. Impassionate incoruptible immortal 3. Invisible intactible c. and LIFE it self 1. POWER 2. UNDERSTANDING 3. WILL. III. In his PERFECTIONS Qâ—aliâ—â—â—â—â— 1. OMNIPOTENT 2. OMNISCIENT 3. MOST GOOD 1. MOST GREAT 2. MOST WISE 3. MOST HOLY and HAPPY 1. BEING HIMSELF 2. KNOWING HIMSELF 3. LOVING ENJOYING HIMSELF II. As Râ—laâ—â—d to his Creatures I. The EFFICIENT Cause of all things Rom. 9. 36. OF HIM 1. CREATOR Conserver 1. Our OWNER or LORD most Absolute Free and Irresistible d 1. Our Life and Strength and Safety e 1. Perfecting our Natures in Heavenly Life II. The DIRIGENT Cause THROUGH HIM 2. REDEEMER Saviour 2. Our RULER or KING 1. By Legislation 2. Judgement 3. Execution Absolute Perfect True Holy Just Merciful Patient Terrible 2. Our Light and Wisdom 2. Whom we shall behold in Glorious Light III. The FINAL Cause TO HIM are all things To him be Glory for ever Amen 3. REGENERATOR Sanctifier 3. Our BENEFACTOR or FATHER 1. Most Loving 2. Most Bountiful 3. Most Amiable Patient Merciful Constant. Causally and Objectively d 3. Our Love and Ioy And so our End and Rest and Happiness hereafter e 3. Whom we shall Please and Love and be Pleased in him and Loved by him Rejoyce in him Praise him and so Enjoy him Perfectly and Perpetually See these Practically opened and improved in the First Part of my Divine Life The more full Explication of the Attributes fit for the more capacious is reserved for another Tractate § 8. For the right improvement of the Knowledge of all these Attributes of God I must refer you Do Dâ—s ita uâ— sunt loquere Bias iâ—l â—â—â—â— â—â—g Paâ—â—i Sâ—alâ—gâ—i â—â—â—â—â— sâ—s de 〈◊〉 Mâ—â—do Ep. Cath. l 14. God never wrought Miracâ—e to convince Atheism because his ordinary works convince it â— Baâ—oâ— Essay 16. p. 87. Deus est mens soluta libera legâ—egata ab omni concretione mortall omnia seâ—â—â—â—enâ— movens c. Cicero 1. Tâ—â—cul to the fore-mentioned Treatise The acts which you are to exercise upon God are these 1. The clearest Knowledge you can attain to 2. The firmest Belief 3. The highest Estimation 4. The greatest Admiration 5. The â—eartiest and sweetest Complacency or Love 6. The strongest Desire 7. A filial Awfulness Reverence and Fear 8. The boldest quietting Trust and confidence in him 9. The most fixed Waiting Dependance Hope and Expectation 10. The most absolute self-resignation to him 11. The fullest and quiettest submission to his disposals 12. The humblest and most absolute subjection to his Governing Authority and Will and the exactest obedience to his Laws 13. The boldest courage and fortitude in his cause and owning him before the world in the greatest sufferings 14. The greatest Thank fulness for his Mercies 15. The most faithful improvement of his Talents and use of his Means and performance of our trust 16. A reverent and holy use of his Name and Word with a Reverence of his Secrets forbearing to intrude or meddle with them 17. A wise and cautelous observance of his Providences publick and private neither neglecting them nor mis-interpreting them neither running before them nor striving discontentedly against them 18. A disâ—â—rning loving and honouring his Image in his children notwithstanding their infirmities and faults without any friendship to their faults or over magnifying or imitating them in any evil 19. A reverent serious spiritual adoration and worshipping him in publick and private with soul and body in the use of all his holy Ordinances but especially in the joyful celebration of his Praise for all his Perfections and his Mercies 20. The highest Delight and fullest Content and Comfort in God that we can attain Especially a Delight in Knowing him and Obeying and Pleasing him Worshipping and Praising him Loving him and being beloved of him through Jesus Christ and in the hopes of the Perfecting of all these in our Everlasting fruition of him in Heavenly Glory All these are the Acts of Piety towards God which I lay together for your easier observation and memory But some of them must be more fully opened and insisted on DIRECT V. Remember that God is your Lord or Owner and see that you make an absolute Gr. Dir. 5. Of Self-resignation to God as our Owner Resignation of your selves and all that you have to him as his Own and Use your selves and all accordingly Trust him with his Own and rest in his disposals § 1. OF this I have already spoken in my Sermon of Christs Dominion and in my Directions for a sound Conversion and therefore must but touch it here It is easie notionally to know and say that God is our Owner and we are not our Own But if the Habitual Practical knowledge of it were as easie or as common the happy effects of it would be the sanctification and reformation of the world I shall first tell you what this Duty is and how it is to be performed and then what fruits and benefits it will produce and what should move us to it § 2. I. The duty lyeth in these acts 1. That you consider the Ground of Gods Propriety in you Persuasum hoc sit à principiâ— hominibus dominos esse omnium rerum ac moderatores Deos eaque quae gâ—raâ—â—ur coâ—um geâ—i dâ—â—â—â—one aâ—que numâ—nâ— Et qâ—â—â—â—â— quisque â—â—â—â— quâ—â— agat quâ—d in se admiâ—â—aâ— qua mâ—nte qua pâ—etaâ—e â—olat râ—ligiâ—nem intue â— pâ—orumque impâ—orum habere ratâ—onem 〈◊〉 â— dâ—â—â—â—â— 1. In making you of Nothing and preserving you 2. In Redeeming you by purchase 3. In Regenerating you and renewing you for himself The first is the Ground of his Common Natural Propriety in you and all things The second is the Ground of his Common Gracious Propriety in you and all men as Purchased by Christ Rom. 14. 9 Iohn 13. 3. The third is the Ground of his special Gracious Propriety in you and all his sanctified peculiar people Understand and acknowledge what a Plenary
thus you must do The eye maketh an easier and deeper impression on the imagination and mind than the ear doth Therefore Christs example should be much preached and studied It will be a very great help to us to have still upon our minds the Image of the Holy Life of Christ that we be affected as if we always saw him doing the holy actions which once he did Paul calls the Galathians foolish and bewitched that obeyed not the truth when Christ had been set forth as crucified among them evidently before their eyes Gal. 3. 1. Papists think that Images serve well for this turn But the Records of Scripture and the living Images of Christ whom they persecute and kill are farr more useful How much example is more operative than doctrine alone you may perceive by the enemies of Christ who can bear his holy doctrine when they cannot bear his holy Servants that practise that doctrine before their eyes And that which most stirs up their enmity hath the advantage for exciting the believers piety Let the Image of Christ in all his holy examples be allways lively written upon your minds 1. Let the great ones of the world remember that their Lord was not born of such as bore rule or were in worldly pomp and dignity but of persons that lived but meanly in the world however they were of the royal line How he was not born in a pallace but a stable and laid in a manger without the attendance or accommodations of the rich 2. Remember how he subjected himself unto his reputed Father and his Mother to teach all Children Luke â— 51. subjection and obedience 3. And how he condescended to labour at a Trade and mean imployment in the world to teach us that our Bodies as well as our Minds must express their obedience and have their ordinary imployment and to teach men to labour and live in a calling and to comfort poor labourers with assurance that God accepteth them in the meanest work and that Christ himself lived so before them and chose their kind of life and not the life of Princes and Nobles that live in Pomp and Ease and Pleasure 4. Remember how he refused not to submit to all the ordinances of God and to fullfil all righteousness and to be initiated into the solemn administration of his office by the Baptism of Iohn Mat. 3. 15 1â— 17. which God appoved by sending down upon him the Holy Ghost To teach us all to expect his Spirit in the use of his ordinances 5. Remember how he voluntarily begun his work with an encounter with the Tempter in the Wilderness upon his fasting and suffered the Tempter to proceed till he moved him to the most odious sin even to worship the Devil himself To teach us that God loveth tryed Servants and expecteth that we be not turned from him by temptations especially those that enter upon a publick ministry must be tryed men that have overcome the Tempter and to comfort tempted Christians who may remember that their Saviour himself was most blasphemously tempted to as odious sins as ever they were and that to be greatly tempted without consenting or yielding to the sin is so farr from being a sin in it self that it is the greatest honour of our obedience and that the Devil who molesteth and haunteth us with his temptations is a conquered enemy whom our Lord in person hath overcome 6. Remember how earnestly and constantly he preached not stories or jingles or subtile controversies but Repentance and faith and self-denial and obedience So great was his Love to souls that when he had auditors he preached not only in the Temple and Synagogues but in mountains and in a ship and any other convenient place and no fury of the Rulers or Pharises could silence him till his hour was come having his Fathers Commission And even to particular persons he vouchsafed by conference to open the Mysteries of Salvation To teach us to love and attend to John 3. 4. the plain and powerful preaching of the Gospel and not to forbear any necessary means for the honour of God and the saving of souls because of the enmity or opposition of malitious men but to work while it is day seeing the night is coming when none can work John 9. 4. 7. Remember how compassionate he was to mens bodys as well as to their souls going up and down with unwearied diligence doing good healing the blind and lame and deaf and sick and possessed and how all his miracles were done in charity to do good and none of them to do hurt So that he was but living walking LOVE and MERCY To teach us to know God in his Love and Mercy and to abound in Love and Mercy to our brethren and to hate the spirit of hurtfulness persecution and uncharitableness and to lay out our selves in doing good and to exercise our compassion to the bodys of men as well as to their souls according to our power 8. Remember how his Zeal and Love endured the reproach and resisted the opposition of his friends who went to lay hold on him as if he had been besides himself And â—ow he bid Peter Get Mat 3. 20 21 Mat. 16. 22 23. behind me Satan thou art an offence unto me for thou savourest not the things of God but those of men when in caâ—nal Love and wisdom he rebuked him for resolving to lay down his life saying Be it farr from thee this shall not be unto thee To teach us to expect that carnal Love and Wisdom in our nearest friends will rise up against us in the work of God to discourage us both from duty and from sufferings and that all are to be shaken off and counted as the instruments of Satan that would tempt us to be unfaithful to our trust and duty and to savour our selves by a sinâ—ul avoiding of the sufferings which God doth call us to undergo 9. Remember how through all his life he despised the Riches of the world and chose a life of poverty and was a companion of the meanest neither possessing nor seeking sumptuous houses or great attendance or spacious lands or a large estate He lived in a visible contempt of all the wealth and splendor and greatness of the world To teach us how little these little things are to be esteemed â—nd that they are none of the treasure and portion of a Saint and what a folly it is to be fond of â—â—â—â—h snares and diversions and temptations which make the way to Heaven to be to us as a needlâ—â—s â—yâ— 10. Observe how little he regarded the honour and applause of men how he made himself of no 〈…〉 6. 15 refutation 〈◊〉 took upon him the form of a Servant refusing to be made a King or to have a Kingdom of this â—â—â—â—ld Though he told malignant Blasphemers how greatly they sinned in dishonouring him yet did he not seek the honour of the world To teach
Father of lyes and error than for the School of Christ. Except Conversion make men as little children that come not to caâ—p and cavil but to learn they are not meet for the Kingdom of Christ. Matth. 18. 3. John 3. 3 5. Know how blind and ignorant you are and how dull of learning and humbly beg of the Heavenly Teacher that he will accept you and illuminate you and give up your understandings absolutely to be informed by him and your Hearts to be the Tables in which his Spirit shall write his Law Believing his doctrine upon the bare account of his infallible Veracity and resolving to obey it and this is to be the Disciples of Christ indeed and such as shall be taught of God § 11. Direct 10. Come to the School of Christ with honest willing hearts that Love the truth and Direct 10. â—ain would know it that they may obey it and not with false and byassed hearts which secretly hinder the understanding from entertaining the truth because they love it not as being contrary to their carnal inclinations and interest The word that was received into Honest hearts was it that was as the seed that brought forth plentifully Matth. 13. 23. When the Heart saith unfeignedly Speak Lord for thy servant heareth Teach me to know and do thy will God will not leave such a Learner in the dark Most of the damnable ignorance and error of the world is from a wicked heart that perceiveth that the Truth of God is against their fleshly interest and lusts and therefore is unwilling to obey it and unwilling to believe it lest it torment them because they disobey it A will that 's secretly poysoned with the Love of the world or of any sinful lusts and pleasures is the most potent impediment to the believing of the truth § 12. Direct 11. Learn with quietness and peace in the School of Christ and make not divisions and Direct 11. meddle not with others lessons and matters but with your own Silence and quietness and minding your own business is the way to profit The turbulent wranglers that are quarrelling with others and are religions contentiously in envy and strife are liker to be corrected or ejected than to be edified Read Iames 3. § 13. Direct 12. Remember that the School of Christ hath a Rod and therefore learn with fear and Direct 12. reverence Heb. 12. 28 29. Phil. 2. 12. Christ will sharply rebuke his own if they grow negligent and oftend And if he should cast thee out and forsake thee thou art undone for ever See therefore that ye refuse not him that speaketh for if they sâ—aped not that refused him that spake on earth much more shall not we if we refuse him that is from Heaven Heb. 12. 25. For how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation which at first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by them that â—eard him God also bearing them witness both with signs and wonders and divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own will Heb. 2. 3 4. Serve the Lord therefore with fear and rejoyce with trembling Kiss the Son left he be angry and you perish in the kindling of his wrath Psal. 2. 11 12. DIRECT VIII Gr. Dir. 6. To obev Christ as our Physicion in his healing work and his Spirit in its cleansing mortifying work Remember that you are Related to Christ as the Physicion of your souls and to the Holy Ghost as your Sanctifier Make it therefore your serious study to be cured by Christ and cleansed by his Spirit of all the sinful diseases and defilements of your hearts and lives § 1. THough I did before speak of our Believing in the Holy Ghost and using his help for our access to God and converse with him yet I deferred to speak fully of the Cleansing and Mortifying part of his work of Sanctification till now and shall treat of it here as it is the same with the Curing work of Christ related to us as the Physicion of our souls it being part of our Subjection and Obedience to him to be Ruled by him in order to our cure And what I shall here write against sin in general will be of a twofold use The one is to help us against the inward corruptions of our hearts and for the outward obedience of our lives and so to further the work of Sanctification and prevent our sinning The other is to help us to Repentance and Humiliation habitual and actual for the sins which are in us and which we have already at any time committed § 2. The General Directions for this curing and cleansing of the soul from sin are contained for the most part in what is said already and many of the particular Directions also may be fetcht from the sixth Direction before going I shall now add but two General Directions and many more Particular ones Direct 1. I. The two General Directions are these 1. Know what corruptions the soul of man is naturally Direct 1. defiled with And this containeth the knowledge of those faculties that are the seat of thâ—se corruptions and the knowledge of the corruptions that have tainted and perverted the several faculties Direct 2. 2. Know what sin is in its nature or intrinsick evil as well as in the effects Direct 2. How the several faculties of the soul are corrupted and diseased § 3. 1. The Parts or faculties to be cleansed and cured are both the Superiour and Inferiour 1. The Understanding though not the first in the sin must be first in the cure For all that is done upon the Lower faculties must be by the Governing power of the will And all that is done upon the will ac cording to the order of humane nature must be done by the Understanding But the Understanding hath its own diseases which must be known and cured It s malady in general is Ignorance which is not only a privation of actual knowledge but an undisposedness also of the understanding to know the truth A man may be deprived of some actual knowledge that hath no disease in his mind that causeeth In what cases a sound understanding may be ignorant it as in case that either the object be absent and out of reach or that there be no sufficient Revelation of it or that the mind be taken up wholly upon some other thing or in case a man shut out the thoughts of such an object or refuse the evidence which is the act of the will even as a man that is not blind may yet not see a particular object 1. In case it be out of his natural reach 2. Or if it be night and he want extrinsick light 3. Or in case he be wholly taken up with the observation of other things 4. Or in case he wilfully either shut or turn away his eyes It is a very hard question to resolve how far and wherein the
do They cause them to Blaspheme and reproach the godly for their sakes and say These are your Religious men You see now what their strictness is And they hinder the conversion and salvation of others They grieve the godly and wrong the Church and Cause of God much more than the sins of others do 20. Lastly They please the Devil more than the sins of other men How busie is he to have drawn a Iob to sin and how would he have boasted against God and his grace and his servants if he had prevailed when he boasted so much before in the false presumption of his success As if he could make the godly forsake God and be as bad as others if he have leave to tempt them § 19. II. I shall next give you some particular Directions besides those fore-going to help you to think of sin as it is that you may hate it For your cleansing and cure consisteth in this so far as you hate sin it is mortified and you are cured of it And therefore as I have anatomized it that you may see the hatefulness of it I shall direct you to improve this for your cure § 20. Direct 1. Labour to know God and to be affected with his Attributes and alwayes to live as Direct 1. How to hate sin in his sight No man can know sin perfectly because no man can know God perfectly You can no further know what sin is than you know what God is whom you sin against For the formal malignity of sin is Relative as it is against the Will and Attributes of God The godly have some knowledge of the malignity of sin because they have some knowledge of God that is wronged by it The wicked have no practical prevalent knowledge of the malignity of sin because they have no such knowledge of God They that fear God will fear sinning They that in their hearts are bold unreverently with God will in heart and life be bold with sin The Atheist that thinketh there is no God thinks there is no sin against him Nothing in the world will tell us so plainly and powerfully of the evil of sin as the knowledge of the Greatness Wisdom Goodness Holiness Authority Justice Truth c. of God The sense of his presence therefore will revive our sense of sins malignity § 21. Direct 2. Consider well of the office the bloodshed and the holy life of Christ His office is Direct 2. to expiate sin and to destroy it His blood was shed for it His Life condemned it Love Christ and thou wilt hate that which caused his death Love him and thou wilt love to be made like him and hate that which is so contrary to Christ. These two great Lights will shew the odiousness of darkness § 22. Direct 3. Think well both how Holy the office and work of the Holy Ghost is and how great Direct 3. a mercy it is to us Shall God himself the Heavenly light come down into a sinful heart to illuminate and 〈◊〉 it and yet shall I keep my darkness and defilement in opposition to such wonderful mercy Though all sin against the Holy Ghost be not the unpardonable blasphemy yet all is aggravated hereby § 23. Direct 4. Know and consider the wonderful Love and Mercy of God and think what he hath Direct 4. dâ—ne for you and you will hate sin and be ashamed of it It is an aggravation which makes sin odious even to common reason and ingenuity that we should offend a God of infinite Goodness who hath filled up our lives with Mercy It will grieve you if you have wronged an extraordinary friend His Love and kindness will come into your thoughts and make you angry with your own unkindness Here look over the Catalogue of Gods mercies to you for soul and body And here observe that Satan in hiding the Love of God from you and tempting you under pretence of humility to deny his greatest special mercy doth seek to destroy your repentance and humiliation also by hiding the greatest aggravation of your sin § 24. Direct 5. Think what the soul of man is made for and should be used to even to Love obey Direct 5. and glorifie our Maker and then you will see what sin is which disableth and perverteth it How excellent and high and holy a work are we created for and called to and should we defile the Temple â—â— God and serve the Devil in filthiness and folly where we should entertain and serve and magnifie our Creator § 25. Direct 6. Think well what pure and sweet delights a holy soul may enjoy from God in his Direct 6. holy service and then you will see what sin is which robbeth him of these delights and preferreth fleshly lusts before them O how happily might we perform every duty and how fruitfully might we serve our Lord and what delights should we find in his Love and acceptation and the foresight of everlasting blessedness if it were not for sin which bringeth down the soul from the doors of Heaven to wallow with Swine in a beloved Dunghill § 26. Direct 7. Bethink you what a life it is which you must live for ever if you live in Heaven Direct 7. and what a life the Holy ones there now live and then think whether sin which is so contrary to it be not a vile and hateful thing Either you would live in Heaven or not If not you are not those I speak to If you would you know that there 's no sinning No worldly mind no pride no passion no fleshly lust or pleasures there O did you but see and hear one hour how those blessed Spirits are taken up in loving and magnifying the glorious God in purity and holiness and how far they are from sin it would make you lothe sin ever after and look on sinners as on men in Bedlam wallowing naked in their dung Especially to think that you hope your selves to live for ever like those holy Spirits and therefore sin doth ill beseem you § 27. Direct 8. Look but to the state and torment of the damned and think well of the difference Direct 8. betwixt Angels and Devils and you may know what sin is Angels are pure Devils are polluted Holiness and sin do make the difference Sin dwells in Hell and holiness in Heaven Remember that every temptation is from the Devil to make you like himself as every holy motion is from Christ to make you like himself Remember when you sin that you are learning and imitating of the Devil and are so far like him John 8. 44. And the end of all is that you may feel his pains If Hell fire be not good then sin is not good § 28. Direct 9. Look alwayes on sin as one that is ready to dye and consider how all men judge of Direct 9. it at the last What do men in Heaven say of it And what do men in Hell say of
Idolatry 8. A perverse Spirit causing staggering and giddiness as a drunken man Isa. 19. 14. § 5. In the New Testament 1. He is sometimes called simply a Spirit Mar. 9. 20 26. Luke 9. 39. 10. 20. 2. Sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unclean Spirits Luke 6. 18. as contrary to the Holy Spirit and that from their Nature and effects 3. And after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Doemons a word taken in a good sense in Heathen Writers but not in Scripture because they worshipped Devils under that name unless perhaps Acts 17. 18. 1 Tim. 4. 1. And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with respect to their knowledge and as some think to the knowledge promised to Adam in the temptation 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Tempter Mat. 4. 5. Satan Mat. 4. 1 Pet. 5. 8. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an enemy Mat. 13. 28 39. 7. The strong man armed Mat. 12. 8. Angels 1 Cor. 6. 3. 2 Pet. 2. 4. Angels which kept not their first state Jude 6. 9. A Spirit of divination Acts 16. 16. 10. A roaring Lyon 1 Pet. 5. 8. 11. A Murderer John 8. 44. 12. Belial 2 Cor. 6. 15. 13. Beelzebub Mat. 12. the God of flies 14. The Prince of this world John 12. 21. from his power over wicked men 15. The God of this world 2 Cor. 4. 5. because the world obey him 16. The Prince of the power of the air Eph. 2. 2. 17. The Ruler of the darkness of this world Eph. 6. 12. Principalities and powers 18. The Father of the wicked John 8. 44. 19. The Dragon and the old Serpent Rev. 12. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the calumniatâ—r or false accuser often 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the evil one Mat. 23. 19. 22. An evil Spirit Acts 19. 15. 23. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the destroyer and Abaddon the King of the Locusts and Angel of the bottomless pit Rev. 9. 11. unless that speak of Antichrist § 6. 3. He is too strong an enemy for lapsed sinful man to deal with of himself If he conquered us in innocency what may he do now He is dangerous 1. By the greatness of his subtilty 2. By the greatness of his Power 3. By the greatness of his Malice And hence 4. By his constant diligence watching when we sleep Mat. 13. 25. and seeking night and day to devour 1 Pet. 5. 8. Rev. 12. 4 § 7. 4. Therefore Christ hath engaged himself in our Cause and is become the Captain of our See my Treatise against Infidelity as before cited salvation Heb. 2. 10. And the world is formed into two Armies that live in continual War The Devil is the Prince and General of one and his Angels and wicked men are his Armies Christ is the King and General of the other and his Angels Heb. 2. 14. and Saints are his Army Between these two Armies are the greatest conflict in the world § 7. 5. It is supposed also that this War is carried on on both sides within us and without us by inward solicitations and outward means which are fitted thereunto § 8. 6. Both Christ and Satan work by Officers instruments and means Christ hath his Ministers 1 Cor. 3. 5. 4 1. 2 Cor. 11. 15. Acts 13. 8 9 10. to preach his Gospel and pull down the Kingdom of Satan And Satan hath his Ministers to preach licentiousness and lies and to resist the Gospel and Kingdom of Christ. Christ hath his Church and the Devil hath his Synagogue Christs Souldiers do every one in their places fight for him against the Devil And the Devils Souldiers do every one in their places fight against Christ. The Generals are both unseen to mortals and the unseen Power is theirs but their Agents are visible The Souldiers fight not only against the Generals but against one another but it is all or chiefly for the Generals sakes It is Christ that the wicked persecute in his Servants Acts 9. 4. And it is the Devil whom the godly hate and resist in the wicked But yet here are divers notable differences 1. The Devils Servants do not what they do in love to him but to their own flesh but Christs Servants do what they do in Love to him as well as to themselves 2. The Devils Army are cheated into Arms and War not knowing what they do But Christ doth all in the open light and will have no servants but those that deliberately adhere to him when they know the worst 3. The Devils servants do not know that he is their General but Christs followers do all know their Lord. 4. The Devils followers disown their Master and their work they will not own that they fight against Christ and his Kingdom while they do it But Christs followers own their Captain and his cause and work for he is not a master to be ashamed of § 9. 7. Both Christ and Satan work perswasively by moral means and neither of them by constraint and force Christ forceth not men against their wills to good and Satan cannot force them to be bad but all the endeavour is to make men willing and he is the Conquerour that getteth and keepeth our own consent § 10. 8. Their Ends are contrary and therefore their wayes are also contrary The Devils end is to draw man to sin and to damnation and to dishonour God And Christs end is to draw men from sin to Holiness and salvation and to honour God But Christ maketh known his end and Satan concealeth his End from his followers § 11. 9. There is somewhat within the good and bad for the contrary part to work upon and we are as it were divided in your selves and have somewhat in us that is on both sides The wicked have an honourable acknowledgement of God and of their greatest obligation to him a hatred to the Devil a love of themselves a willingness to be happy and an unwillingness to be miserable and a conscience which approveth of more good than they do and condemneth much of their transgression This is some advantage to the perswasions of the Ministers of Christ to work upon And they have Reason capable of knowing more The Souldiers of Christ have a fleshly appetite and the remnants of ignorance and error in their minds and of earthliness and carnality and averseness to God in their wills with a nearness to this world and much strangeness to the world to come And here is too much advantage for Satan to work on by his temptations § 12. 10. But it is the predominant part within us and the scope of our lives which sheweth which of the Armies we belong to And thus we must give up our names and hearts to Christ and engage under his Conduct against the Devil and conquer to the death if we will be saved Not to fight against the bare Name of the Devil for so will his own Souldiers and spit at his name and hang a Witch that makes a contract with him But it is
and Pardon Holiness and Heaven are in the other Which now wilt thou prefer If the Devil have more to give thee and bid â—â—r thee than Christ let him take thee § 27. Tempt 2 The Tempter laboureth to keep God and Christ and Heaven out of sight that they Tempt 2. 〈…〉 t the splendor of his bait and to hide those potent reasons from them by which they might eaâ—â—ly râ—pâ—l the temptation so that though they are well known and sure and Scripture be full of them they shall nâ—ne of them be ready at hand to use when the temptation cometh so that to them they shall be all as nothing and this he doth by unbelief and inconsiderateness § 28. Direct 2. Live by faith see that God the Father the Redeemer and the Holy Spirit Direct 2. dwell within you and take up your hearts and your hopes be placed all on Heaven and that these be â—our very Life and business and then you will allways have that at hand which may refâ—l the Tempter A heart taken up with God and Christ conversing in Heaven is allwaies fortified and prepared to meet every Temptation with abhorrence Let your souls be still possessed with as constant apprehensions of the evil of sin the danger of sinning the presence authority and holiness of God the wrong that sin doth him the hurt it doth our selves and others and what it did to Jesus Christ as you have of the danger of fire and water and poyson and then the Tempter will not speed § 29. Tempt 3. It is the great care of the Devil to keep out of sight that he be not seen himself Tempt 3. in the Temptation As the Angler keepeth himself behind the bush and the Fowler hideth himself from the birds or else they would fear and fly and escape so doth the Devil use all his art to hide himself from the sinners observation that the deluded soul shall little think that the Devil is so near him and hath so great a hand in the business If the ambitious or Covetous worlding saw the Devil offer him the bait and heard him say All this will I give thee he would have the smaller list to take the bait If the Devil appeared to the Whoremonger and brought him his Whore and encouraged him to his filthiness it would cool his lust Or if he appeared to the drunkard and presented him the cup he would have but little list to drink If the proud and the malicious saw the Devil at their backs rejoycing in their sin and putting them on it might affright them half into their wits Therefore the great endeavour of the Devil is to perswade men that it is not he that makes the motion to them It is such a friend or such a neighbour or gentleman or minister or wise man it is not the Devil Till the Fish is catcht and the bird is in the net and then the author of all appeareth to kill them and carry them away without any concealment § 30. Direct 3. Mark but the tendency and the manner of the Temptations and you may perceive Direct 3. the Author Who else is it that is so much against God and against your everlasting happiness Who else is it that would so abuse your Reason to preferr things temporal before things eternal and the bruitish pleasures of a corruptible flesh before the interest of immortal souls Who else so contradicteth all the word of God Read Gods warnings and he will tell you who it is Take every Temptation then whoever be the messenger as if thou sawest the Devil standing by and making the motion to thee and heardest himself exhort thee to the sin suppose you saw him conducting you to the Whore-house the Play-house the ALE-house and making you entertainment as the Master of the game How then would you take it And what would you do Would you go and be angry at the precise Preacher that would hinder you And would you take the Devils part No nature hath possessed you with a fear of him and an enmity to him use it for your safety It cannot be good for you that comes from him He hath a fouler face to appear to you in than ever yet you saw when you have done his work and are where he would have you O know with whom you have to do § 31. Tempt 4. The Tempter is most careful also to hide from men the nature and tendency of the Tempt 4. Temptation it self that they shall not know that it is a Temptation when they are tempted but shall have nothing in sight but the bait which they desire The Angler doth not only hide himself from the fish but also his rod and line and hook as much as he can The Fowler covereth his nets so that either the fish and bird shall not see the snare or shall not know what it is and what it is there laid for so when the bait of pleasure and honour and wealth is presented by the Devil to the fornicator gamester proud or covetous they shall not see what the Devil is doing now and what a game he is playing for their souls They shall not perceive the connexion that there is between the pleasure and the sin and the sin and the threatning and the threatning and the judgement and the judgement and the everlasting punishment when Judas was bargaining with the Pharisees he knew not that the Devil was in him driving on the match § 32. Direct 4. Be wise and suspicious Blindness or fool-hardiness will lead you into the snare Direct 4. Be wise that you may know the tendency of every thing that is presented to your thoughts and may be able to perceive a danger Be suspicious and cautelous that you may make a sufficient trial and go upon sure grounds and avoid the very appearance of evil when it is Hell that you fear come not too near Play not as the fly about the Candle salvation is necessary but preferment or wealth or liberty or credit or life it self are not necessary to you Prove all things Flatter not your selves into the snares by foolish hopes and judging of things as the flesh would have them to be rather than as they are It no danger appear turn up all coverings and search and see that none be hidden The Devil hath his gun-powder-plots and mines which may blow you up before you are aware Not only Lawfullness and Indifferency but great Good is the pretence for greatest evil § 33. Tempt 5. It is the Tempters care to bring the tempting object near enough or draw the â—â—nner Tempt 5. near enough to it The net must come to the fish or the fish to the net The distant fire will not burn the wâ—â—d The Devils chief confidence is in the sensitive appetite which worketh strongliest at hand If he get the drunkard into the ALE-house and shew him the cup he hath half conquered him allready But if he â—e scrupulous and
but Christ that profits you § 2â— Direct 14. This is distracted contradiction To set Christ against Christ and the Spirit Direct 14. against the Ordinances of the Spirit Is it not Christ and the Spirit that appointed them Doth he not best knâ—w in what way he will give his grace Can you not preserve the soul and life without killing the body Cannot you have the Water and value the Cistern or Spring without cutting off the â—â—â—â—s that must convey it O wonderful that Satan could make men so mad as this reasoning hâ—th shewed us that many are in our dayes And to set up superstition or pretend a good heart against Gods worship is to accuse him that appointed it of doing he knew not what and to think that we are wiser than he and to shew a good heart by disobedience pride contempt of God and of his mercies Tit. 4. Temptations to frustrate holy duties and make them uneffectual § 1. THe Devil is exceeding diligent in this 1. That he may make the soul despair and say Now I have used all means in vain there is no hope 2. To double the sinners misery by turning the very remedy into a disease 3. To shew his malice against Christ and say I have turned thy own means to thy dishonour § 2. Consider therefore how greatly we are concerned to do the work of God effectually Means well used are the way to more grace to communion with God and to salvation But ill used they dishonour and provoke him and destroy our selves like children that cut their fingers with the knife when they should cut their meat with it § 3. Tempt 1. Duty is frustrated by false ends As 1. To procure God to bear with them in their Tempt 1. sin when as it is the use of duty to destroy sin 2. To make God satisfaction for sin which is the work of Christ 3. To merit grace when the imperfection merits wrath 4. To prosper in the world and escape affliction Jam. 4. 3. and so they are but serving their flesh and desiring God to serve it 5. 〈…〉 uiet conscience in a course of sin by sinning more in offering the sacrifice of fools Eccles. 5. 1 2. 6. To be approved of men and verily they have their reward Matth. 6. 5. 7. To be saved when they can keep the world and sin no longer that is to obtain that the Gospel may all be false and God unjust § 4. Direct 1. First see that the Heart be honest and God and Heaven and Holiness most desired else all Direct 1. that you do will want right ends § 5. Tempt 2. When ignorance or error make men take God for what he is not thinking blasphemously Tempt 2. of him as if he were like them and liked their sins or were no lover of Holiness they frustrate all their worship of him § 6. Direct 2. Study God in his Son in his Word in his Saints in his Works Know him as described Direct 2. before Chap. 3. Direct 4. And see that your wicked corrupted hearts or wilful forgetting him blind not your understandings § 7. Tempt 3. To come to God in our selves and out of Christ and use his name but customarily and Tempt 3. not in faith and confidence § 8. Direct 3. Know well your sin and vileness and desert and the Justice and Holiness of God Direct 3. and then you will see that if Christ reconcile you not and Justifie you not by his blood and do not sanctifie and help you by his Spirit and make you sons of God and intercede not for you there is no access to God nor standing in his sight § 9. Tempt 4. The Tempter would have you pray hypocritically with the tongue only without the Tempt 4. heart To put off God in a few customary words with seeming to pray as they do the poor Jam. 2. with a few empty words either in a form of words not understood or not considered or not felâ— and much regarded or in more gross hypocrisie praying for the Holiness which they will not have and against the sin which they will not part with § 10. Direct 4. O fear the holy jealous heart-searching God that hateth hypocrisie and will be Direct 4. worshipped seriously in Spirit and Truth and will be sanctified of all that draw near him Lev. 10. 3. and saith they worship him in vain that draw nigh him with the lips when the heart is far from him Matth. 15. 8 9. See God by faith as present with thee and know thy self and it will waken thee to seriousness See Heb. 4. 13. Hos. 8. 12 13. § 11. Tempt 5. He would destroy Faith and Hope and make you doubt whether you shall get any Tempt 5. thing by duty § 12. Direct 5. But 1. Why should God command it and promise us his blessing if he meant not Direct 5. to perform it 2. Remember Gods Infiniteness and Omni-presence and All-sufficiency He is as verily with thee as thou art there he upholdeth thee he sheweth by his mercies that he regardeth thee and by his regarding lower things And if he regard thee he doth regard thy duties It is all one with him to hear thy prayers as if he had never another creature to regard and hear Believe then and hope and wait upon him § 13. Tempt 6. Sometime the Tempter will promise you more by holy duty than God doth and make Tempt 6. you expect deliverance from every enemy want and sickness and speedier deliverance of soul than ever God promised and all this is to make you cast away all as vain and think God faileth you when you miss your expectations § 14. Direct 6. But God will do all that He promiseth but not all that the Devil or your selves Direct 6. promise See what God promiseth in his Word That 's enough for you Make that and no more the end of duties § 15. Tempt 7. The Tempter usually would draw you from the heart and life of duty by too much Tempt 7. ascribing to the outside Laying too much on the bare doing of the work the giving of the alms the hearing the Sermons the saying the words the hansome expression order manner which in their places are all good if animated with Spirit life and seriousness § 16. Direct 7. Look most and first to the soul in duty and the soul of duty The picture of meat Direct 7. feedeth not the picture of fire warmeth not Fire and shadows will not nourish us God loveth not dead carcasses instead of spiritual worship we regard not words our selves further than they express the Heart Let the outer part have but its due § 17. Tempt 8. He tempteth you to rest in a forced affected counterseit servency stirred up by a desire Tempt 8. to take with others § 18. Direct 8. Look principally at God and holy motives and less at men that all your fire be Direct 8.
that giveth me all Life is not for meat or drink or play but these are for Life and Life for the higher Ends of Life § 16. 2. Look unto thy Redeemer drowsie soul and consider for what end he did Redeem thee Was it to wander a few years about the earth and to sleep and sport a while in flesh Or was it to crucifie thee to the world and raise thee up to the Love of God He came down to Earth from Love it self being full of Love to shew the Loveliness of God and reconcile thee to him and take away the enmity and by Love to teach thee the art of Love His Love constrained him to offer himself a Sacrifice for sin to make thee a Priest thy self to God to offer up the Sacrifice of an enflamed heart in love and praise And wilt thou disappoint thy Redeemer and disappoint thy self of the benefits of his Love The Means is for the End Thou maist as well say I would not be Redeemed as to say I would not Love the Lord. § 17. 3. And bethink thy self O drowsie soul for what thou wast Regenerated and sanctified by the Spirit Was it not that thou mightst KNOW and LOVE the Lord What is the Spirit of Adoption that is given to Believers but a Spirit of predominant Love to God Gal. 4. 6. Thou couldst have loved Vanity and doted on thy fleshly friends and pleasures without the Spirit of God It was not for these but to destroy these and kindle a more noble heavenly fire in thy breast that the Spirit did renew thee Examine search and try thy self whether the Spirit hath sanctified thee or not Knowest thou not that if any man have not the Spirit of Christ the same is none of his 2 Cor. 13. 5. Rom. 8. 9. And if Christ and his Spirit be in thee thy Love is dead to earthly vanity and quickned and raised to the most Holy God Live then in the Spirit if thou have the Spirit To walk in the Spirit is to walk in Love Hath the Regenerating Spirit given thee on purpose a new principle of Love and done so much to excite it and been blowing at the Coals so oâ—t and shall thy carnality or sluggishness yet extinguish it As thou wouldst not renounce or contemn thy Creation thy Redemption and Regeneration contemn not and neglect not the Love of thy Creator Redeemer and Regenerater which is the End of all § 18. Direct 2. Think of the perfect fitness of God to be the only Object of thy superlative Love Direct 2. and how easie and necessary it should seem to us to do a work so agreeable to right Reason and uncorrupted Nature and abhorr all temptations which would make God seem unsuitable to thee O sluggish and unnatural soul Should not an object so admirably â—it allure thee Should not such attractive Goodness draw thee Should not perfect amiableness win thee wholly to it self Do but know thy self and God and then forbear to love him if thou canst Where should the fish live but in the Water And where should Birds flye but in the Air God is thy very Element Thou dyest and sinkest down to brutishness if thou forsake him or be taken from him What should delight the smell but odours or the appetite but its delicious food or the eye but Light and what it sheweth and the ear but harmony And what should delight the soul but God If thou know thy self thou knowest that the Nature of thy Mind inclineth to knowledge and by the knowledge of effects to rise up to the cause and by the knowledge of lower and lesser matters to ascend to the highest and greatest And if thou know God thou knowest that he is the cause of all things the Maker Preserver and Orderer of all the Being of Beings the most Great and Wise and Good and Happy so that to know him is to know all to know the most excellent independent glorious being that will leave no darkness nor unsatisfied desire in thy soul. And is he not then most suitable to thy mind If thou know thy self then thou knowest that thy will as free as it is hath a natural necessary inclination to goodness Thou canst not Love evil as evil nor canst thou choose but Love apprehended goodness especially the chiefest good if rightly apprehended And if thou know God thou knowest that he is Infinitely good in himself and the Cause of all the good that is in the world and the giver of all the good thou hast received and the only fit and suitable good to satisfie thy desires for the time to come And yet shall it be so hard to thee to Love so agreeably to perfect Nature so Perfect and full and suitable a good even goodness and Love it self which hath begun to Love thee Is any of the Creatures which thou Lovest so suitable to thee Are they good and only Good and Perfectly Good and unchangeably and eternally Good Are they the spring of comfort and the satisfying happiness of thy soul Hast thou found them so Or dost thou look to find them best at last Foolish soul Canst thou love the uneven defective troublesome creature if to some one small inferiour use it seemeth suitable to thee and canst thou not Love him that is all that rational Love can possibly desire to enjoy What though the creature be near thee and God be infinitely above thee He is nearer to thee than they And though in glory he be distant thou art passing to him in his glory and wilt presently be there Though the Sun be distant from thee it communicateth to thee its Light and Heat and is more suitable to thee than the Candle that is nearer thee What though God be most Holy and thou too earthly and unclean Is he not the fitter to purifie thee and make thee Holy Thou hadst rather if thou be poor have the company and favour of the Rich that can relieve thee than of beggars that will but complain with thee And if thou be unlearned or ignorant thou wouldst have the company of the wise and learned that can teach thee and not of those that are as ignorant as thy self Who is so suitable to thy Desires as he that hath all that thou canst wisely desire and is willing and ready to satisfie thee to the full Who is more suitable to thy Love than he that Loveth thee most and hath done most for thee and must do all that ever will be done for thee and is himself most lovely in his infinite perfections O poor diseased lapsed soul if sin had not corrupted and distempered and perverted thee thou wouldst have thought God as suitable to thy Love as meat to thy hunger and drink to thy thirst and rest to thy weariness and as the earth and water the Air and Sun are to the inhabitants of the world O whither art thou fallen and how far how long hast thou wandered from thy God that thou now drawest
basest of the people whose poverty might tempt them to discontent nor set thee upon the pinnacle of worldly honour where giddiness might have been thy ruine and where temptations to pride and lust and luxury and enmity to a holy life are so violent that few escape them He hath not set thee out upon a Sea of cares and vexations worldly businesses and encumberances but fed thee with food convenient for thee and given thee leisure to walk with God He hath not chained thee to an unprofitable profession nor used thee as those that live like their beasts to eat and drink and sleep and play or live to live But he hath called thee to the noblest and sweetest work when that hath been thy business which others were glad to taste of as a recreation and repast He hath allowed thee to converse with Books and with the best and wisest men and to spend thy dayes in sucking in delightful knowledge And this not only for thy pleasure but thy use and not only for thy self but many others O how many sweet and precious truths hath he allowed thee to feed on all the day when others are diverted and commonly look at them sometimes a far off O how many precious hours hath he granted me in his holy Assemblies and in his honourable and most pleasant work How oft hath his Day and his holy uncorrupted Ordinances and the communion of his Saints and the mentioning of his Name and Kingdom and the pleading of his cause with sinners and the celebrating of his praise been my delight O how many hundreds that he hath sent have wanted the abundant encouragement which I have had When he hath seen the disease of my despondent mind he hath not tryed me by denying me success nor suffered me with Ionas according to my inclination to overrun his work but hath ticed me on by continued encouragements and strowed all the way with mercies But his mercies to me in the souls of others have been so great that I shall secretly acknowledge them rather than here record them where I must have respect to those usual mercies of believers which lye in the common road to Heaven And how endless would it be to mention all All the good that friends and enemies have done me All the wise and gracious disposals of his providence in every condition and change of life and change of times and in every place whereever he brought me His every dayes renewed merciâ—s His support under all my languishings and weakness his plentiful supplies his gracious helps his daily pardons and the Glorious Hopes of a blessed Immortality which his Son hath purchased and his Covenant and Spirit sealed to me O the mercies that are in One Christ one Holy Spirit one Holy Scripture and in the Blessed God himself These I have mentioned unthankful heart to shame thee for thy want of Love to God And these I will leave upon record to be a witness for God against thy ingratitude and to confound thee with shame if thou deny thy Love to such a God Every one of all these mercies and multitudes more will rise up against thee and shame thee before God and all the world as a monster of unkindness if thou Love not him that hath used thee thus Here also consider what God is for your future good as well as what he hath been hitherto How all sufficient how powerful merciful and good But of this more anon § 24. Direct 7. Improve the vanity and vexation of the Creature and all thy disappointments and Direct 7. injuries and afflictions to the promoting of thy Love to God And this by a double advantage First By observing that there is nothing meet to divert thy Love or rob God of it unless thou wilt Love thy trouble and distress Secondly That thy Love to God is the comfort by which thou must be supported under the injuries and troubles which thou meetest with in the world And therefore to neglect it is but to give up thy self to misery Is it for nothing O my soul that God hath turned loose the world against thee That Devils rage against thee and wicked men do reproach and slander thee and seek thy ruine and friends prove insufficient and as broken Reeds It had been as easie to God to have prospered thee in the world and suited all things to thy own desires and have strawed thy way with the flowers of worldly comforts and delights But he knew thy proneness to undo thy self by carnal loves and how easily thy heart is enticed from thy God And therefore he hath wisely and mercifully ordered it that thy temptations shall not be too strong and no creature shall appear to thee in an over-amiable tempting dress Therefore he hath suffered them to become thy enemies And wilt thou love an enemy better than thy God What! an envious and malicious world A world of cares and grief and pains a weary restless empty world How deep and piercing are its injuries How superficial and deceitful is its friendship How serious are its sorrows What toyish shews and dreams are its delights How constant are its cares and labours How seldome and short are its flattering smiles Its comforts are disgraced by the certain expectation of succeeding sorrows Its sorrows are heightned by the expectations of more In the midst of its flatteries I hear something within me saying Thou must dye This is but the way to rottenness and dust I see a Winding-sheet and a Grave still before me I foresee how I must lye in pains and groans and then become a lothesome corpse And is this a world to be more delighted in than God What have I left me for my support and solace in the midst of all this Vanity and Vexation but to look to him that is the All-sufficient sure never failing good I must love him or I have nothing to love but enmity or deceit And is this the worst of Gods design in permitting and causing my pains and disappointments here Is it but to drive my foolish heart unto himself that I may have the solid delights and happiness of his Love O then let his blessed will be done Come home my soul my wandering tired grieved soul Love where thy love shall not be lost Love him that will not reject thee nor deceive thee nor requite thee as the world doth with injuries and abuse Despair not of entertainment though the world deny it thee The peaceable region is above In the world thou must have trouble that in Christ thou maist have peace Retire to the harbour if thou wouldst be free from storms God will receive thee when the world doth cast thee off if thou heartily cast off the world for him O what a solace is it to the soul to be driven clearly from the world to God and there to be exercised in that sacred Love which will accompany us to the world of Love § 25. Direct 8. Labour for the truest
took thee into his favour and adopted thee for his son and an heir of Heaven He will glorifie thee with Angels in the presence of his Glory How should such a friend as this be loved How far above all mortal friends Their love and friendship is but a token and message of his Love Because he Loveth thee he sendeth thee kindness and mercy by thy friend and when their kindness ceaseth or can do thee no good his kindness will continue and comfort thee for ever Love them therefore as the messengers of his Love but Love him in them and love them for him and love him much more § 40. Direct 17. Think oft how delightful a life it would be to thee if thou couldst but live in the Direct 17. Love of God And then the complacencie will provoke desire and desire will turn thy face towards God till thou feel that thou lovest him The Love of a friend hath its sweetness and delight and when we Love them we feel such pleasure in our Love that we Love to Love them How pleasant then would it be to Love thy God O blessed joyful life if I could but love him as much as I desire to love him How freely could I leave the ambitious and the covetous and the sensual and voluptuous to their doting delusory swinish love How easily could I spare all earthly pleasures How near should I come to the Angelical life Could I love God as I would love him it would fill me with continual pleasure and be the sweetest feast that a soul can have How easily would it quench all carnal love How far would it raise me above these transitory things How much should I contemn them and pitty the wretches that know no better and have their portion in this life How readily should I obey And how pleasant would obedience be How sweet would all my Meditations be when every thought is full of Love How sweet would all my prayers be when constraining Love did bring me unto God and indite and animate every word How sweet would Sacraments be when my ascending flaming love should meet that wonderful descending love which cometh from Heaven to call me thither and in living bread and spiritful wine is the nourishment and cordial of my soul How sweet would all my speeches be when Love commanded them and every word were full of Love How quiet would my Conscience be if it had never any of this accusation against me to cast in my face to my shame and confusion that I am wanting in Love to the blessed God O could I but Love God with such a powerful Love as his Love and Goodness should command I should no more question my sincerity nor doubt any more of his Love to me How freely then should I acknowledge his grace and how heartily should I give him thanks for my justification sanctification and adoption which now I mention with doubt and fear O how it would lift up my soul unto his praise and make it my delight to speak good of his name What a purifying fire would Love be in my breast to burn up my corruptions It will endure nothing to enter or abide within me that is contrary to the will and interest of my Lord but hate every motion that tendeth to dishonour and displease him It would fill my soul with so much of Heaven as would make me long to be in Heaven and make death welcome which is now so terrible Instead of these withdrawing shrinking fears I should desire to depart and to be with Christ as being best of all O how easily should I bear any burthen of reproach or loss or want when I thus Loved God and were assured of his Love How light would the Cross be And how honourable and joyful would it seem to be imprisoned reviled spit upon and buffeted for the sake of Christ How desirable would the flames of Martyrdom seem for the testifying of my love to him that loved me at dearer rates than I can love him Lord is there no more of this blessed life of Love to be attained here on earth When all the world reveals thy Goodness when thy Son hath come down to declare thy love in so full and wonderful a manner When thy word hath opened us a window into Heaven where afar off we may discern thy Glory yet shall our hearts be clods and ice O pitty this unkind unnatural soul This dead insensible disaffected soul Teach me by thy spirit the art of Love Love me not only so as to convince me that I have abundant cause to Love thee above all but Love me so as to constrain me to it by the magnetical attractive power of thy Goodness and the insuperable operations of thy omnipotent Love § 41. Direct 18. In thy Meditations upon all these incentives of Love preach them over earnestly to Direct 18. thy Heart and expostulate and plead with it by way of soliloquy till thou feel the fire begin to burn Do not only Think on the Arguments of Love but dispute it out with thy Conscience and by expostulating earnest reasonings with thy heart endeavour to affect it There is much more moving force in this earnest talking to our selves than in bare cogitation that breaks not out into mental words Imitate the most powerful Preacher that ever thou wast acquainted with And just as he pleadeth the case with his hearers and urgeth the truth and duty on them by reason and importunity so do thou in secret with thy self There is more in this than most Christians are aware of or use to practise It is a great part of a Christians skill and duty to be a good preacher to himself This is a lawful and a gainful way of preaching No body here can make question of thy call nor deny thee a License nor silence thee if thou silence not thy self Two or three sermons a week from others is a fair proportion but two or three sermons a day from thy self is ordinarily too little Therefore I have added soliloquies to many of these Directions for Love to shew you how by such pleadings with your selves to affect your hearts and kindle Love § 42. And O that this might be the happy fruit of these Directions with thee that art now reading or hearing them That thou wouldst but offer up thy flaming Heart to Jesus Christ our Great High-Priest to be presented an acceptable sacrifice to God! Or if it flame not in Love as thou desirest yet give it up to the Holy Spirit to increase the flames Thou little knowest how much God setteth by a Heart He calleth to thee himself My son give me thy heart Prov. 23. 26. Without it he cares not for any thing that thou canst give him He cares not for thy fairest words without it He cares not for thy lowdest prayers without it He cares not for thy costliest alms or sacrifices if he have not thy heart If thou give all thy goods to
119. 162. Ier. 15. 16. 7. Delight thy self in his Image though but imperfectly printed on thy soul and also on his holy servants Gal. 2. 20. 1 Cor. 15. 10. 2 Cor. 7 18. 8. Delight your selves in the consideration of the Glory which he hath from all his creatures and the universal fullfiling of his will As the prosperity and happiness of your friend delighteth you and the success of any excellent enterprises and the praise of excellent things and persons and as you have a special delight in the success of truth and the flourishing order and unity and peace and prosperity of Kingdoms especially of the Church much more than in your personal prosperity unless you have selfish private base unmanly dispositions so much more should you delight in the Glory and Happiness of God 9. Delight your selves in the safety which you have in his favour and defence and the treasury which you have in his All sufficiency and Love for your continual supplies in every want and deliverance in every danger and the ground of quiet contentedness and confidence which is offered to fearful souls in him 10. Delight yourselves in the particular discoveries of his common mercies to the world and his special mercies to his saints and his personal mercies to your selves from your birth to this moment both upon your souls and bodies and friends and names and estates and affairs in all relations 11. Delight your selves in the Priviledge you enjoy of speaking to him and of him and hearing from him and adoring and worshipping him and singing and publishing his Praise and in the communion which your souls may have with him through Christ on his Days and at all times in his sacraments and in all your lives And say as Solomon 1 King 8. 27. And will God indeed dwell on earth will he dwell and walk with sinful men When the Psal 68 3 4 5. 69 30 31 32. Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him Psalm 40. 16. Let those that seek him Rejoyce and be glad in him and 122. 1. Let us be glad to go up to the house of the Lord and joyn with his holy Assemblies in his worship Psalm 46. 4. The streams of his Grace make glad the City of God the holy Tabernacles of the most high God is in the midst of her she shall not be moved 12. Delight your selves above all in the forethoughts and hope of the Glory which you shall see and enjoy for ever I do but name all these for your memory because they are before spoken of in the Directions for Love § 4. Direct 4. Understand how much these holy Delights are pleasing unto God and how much he Direct 4. is for his peoples pleasure For it much hindereth the Joy of many Christians that they think it is How much God is for his servants Deligâ—ts against the will of God that such as they should so much Rejoyce Or at least that they apprehend not how much he hath commanded it and how great a duty it is and how much pleasing to their God Consider 1. It is not for nothing that the nature of man is made capable of higher and larger delights than the bruitish sensual nature is And that in this we are made little lower than Angels Phil. 3. 1. Isa. 58. 19. Job 22. 26. Isa. 55. 2 3. Psal. 4. 7. Acts 14. 15. Deut 27. 7. 1â— 12 18. â— Pet. 1 â— 4 6. Joh. 14. 16 26. 15. 2â— Isa. 53. 3. 4. 1 Pet. 1. 8 9. Mat. 11. 28. Isa. 55. 1. Rev. 22. 17. 1 Thes. 5. 11 14 16. Phil. 4. 4. Psal. 33 1. 1 Pet. 5. 7. Joh. 5. 40. 2. Nor is it for nothing that God hath made Delight and Complacency the most powerful commanding affection and the end of all the other passions which they proâ—essedly subserve and seek and the most natural inseparable affection of the soul there being none that desireth not delight 3. Nor is it in vain that God hath provided and offered such plenty of most excellent objects for our Delight especially himself in his attributes Love Mercy Son Spirit and Kingdom which Bruits were not made to know or to enjoy 4. Nor hath he given us in vain such excellent convenient and various helps and inferiour preparations which tend to our delight even for body and mind to further our Delight in God 5. Nor is it in vain that he maketh us yet more neerly capable by his Spirit even by affecting humiliations and mortifying cleansing illuminating and quickning works And that the Kingdom of God consisteth in Righteousness Peace and joy in the Holy Ghost And that the spirit hath undertaken to be the comforter of Believers who is sent upon no low or needless work 6. Nor did Christ purchase his peoples Joys in vain by the price of his grievous sufferings and sorrows Having bâ—rn our griefs and being made a man of sorrows that we that see him not might rejoyce in believing with joy unspeakable and full of glory 7. Nor is it in vain that he hath filled his word with such matter of Delight and Comfort in the gladdest tidings that could come to man and in such free and full and faithful promises 8. Nor hath he multiplied his commands for his Rejoycing and delight in vain again and again commanding us to Rejoyce and allwaies to Rejoyce 9. Nor is it insignificant that he hath forbidden those worldly cares and fears and griefs which would devour their joyes Nor that he hath so clearly shewed them the way to Joy and blameth them if they walk not in it 10. He filleth up their lives with mercies and matter of delight by his direction support provisions and disposals And all this in their way of tryal and in the valley of tears 11. How tender is he of their sufferings and sorrows not afflicting willingly nor delighting to grieve the sons of men 12. He taketh not away their delight and comfort till they cast it away themselves by sinning or self-afflicting or neglecting his proposed pleasures 13. He never faileth to meet them with his delights while they walk in the way prescribed to that end unless Isa 63. 9. 2 Cor. 2. 7. Zeph. 3. 17. Deut. 30 9. 10. 15. Isa 62. 5. Jam. 2. 13. Joh. 14. 13. 18. when it tendeth to their greater pleasure to have some present interruption of the pleasure 14. In their greatest needs when themselves and other helps must fail he giveth them oft-times the greatest joys 15. And he takes their delights and sorrows as if they were his own In all their afflictions he is afflicted and he delighteth in their wellfare and rejoyceth over them to do them good Cannot you see the will of your Father in all this 16. If you cannot yet lift up your heads and foresee the eternal Delights which he hath prepared for you when you shall enter into your Masters Joy And then judge whether God be for your Delight § 5. Direct
acceptance of their work O that we would do that honour and right to true Religion as to shew the world the nature and use of it by living in the cheerful Praises of our God and did not â—each them to blaspheme it by our mis-doings I have said the more of the excellency and benefits of this work because it is one of your best helps to perform it to know the Reasons of it and how much of your Religion and Duty and comfort consisteth in it and the forgetting of this is the common cause that it is so boldly and ordinarily neglected or slubbered over as it is § 23. Direct 2. The keeping of the heart in the admiration and glorifying o◠〈◊〉 according to Direct 2. the forâ—-going Directions is the principal help to the right praising of him with 〈…〉 ps For out of the hearts abundance the mouth will speak And if the Heart do not bear itâ— part no praise is mâ—lâ—dious to God § 24. Direct 3. â—ead much those Scriptures which speak of the praises of God especially the Psalms Direct 3. and furnish your memories with store of those holy expressions of the excellencies of God which he himself hath taught you in his Word None knoweth the things of God but the Spirit of God who teacheth us in the Scriptures to speak divinely of things divine No other diâ—lâ—ct so well becometh the work of praise God that best knoweth himself doth best teach us how to know and praise him Every Christian should have a treasury of these sacred materials in his memory that he may be able at all times in Conference and in Worship to speak of God in the words of God § 25. Direct 4. Be much in singing Psalms of praise and that with the most heart-raising cheerfulness Direct 4. and melody especially in the holy assemblies The melody and the conjunction of many serious holy souls doth â—end much to elevate the heart And where it is done intelligibly reverently in conjunction with a rational spiritual serious Worship the use of Musical Instruments are not to be scrupled or refused any more than the Tunes and Melody of the Vâ—ic◠§ 26. Direct 5. Remember to allow the praises of God their due prâ—portion in all your prayers Direct 5. Use not to shut it out or forget it or cut it short with two or three words in the conclusion The Lords Prayer begins and ends with it and the three first Petitions are for the glorifying the Name of God and the coming of his Kingdom and the doing oâ— his Will by which he is glorified and all this before we ask any thing directly for our selves Use will much help you in the Praise of God § 27. Direct 6. Especially let the Lords Day be principally spent in Praises and Thanksgiving for the Direct 6. work of our Redemption and the benefits thereof This day is separated by God himself to this holy work And if you spend it ordinarily in other Religious duties that subserve not this you spend it not as God requireth you The thankful and praiseful Commemoration of the work of mans Redemption is the special work of the day And the celebrating of the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ which is therefore called the Eucharist was part of these laudatory exercises and used every Lords Day by the Primitive Church It is not only a holy day separated to Gods Worship in general but to this Eucharistical Worship in special above the rest as a day of Praises and Thanksgiving unto God And thus all Christians ordinarily should use it § 28. Direct 7. Let your holy conferâ—â—ce with others be much about the glorious Excellencies Direct 7. Works and Mercies of the Lord in way â—f praise and admiration This is indeed to speak to Edification and as the Oracles of God Eph. 4. 29. that God in all things may be glorified 1 Pet. 4. 11. Psal. 29. 9. In his Temple doth every one speak of his glory Psal. 35. 28. My tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praises all the day long Psal. 145. 6 11 21. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts They shall speak of the glory of thy Kingdom and talk of thy power to make known to the Sons of men his mighty acts and the glorious Majesty of his Kingdom My mouth shall speak of the praises of the Lord and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever Psal. 105. 2 3. Talk ye of all his wondrous works glory ye in his holy name § 29. Direct 8. Speak not of God in a light unreverent or common sort as if you talkt of common Direct 8. things but with all possible seriousness gravity and reverence as if you saw the Majesty of the Lord. A common and a holy manner of speech are contrary That only is holy which is separated to God from common use You speak prophanely in the manner how holy soever the matter be when you speak of God with that careless levity as you use to speak of common things Such speaking of God is dishonourable to him and hurts the hearers more than silence by breeding in them a contempt of God and teaching them to imitate you in sleight conceits and speech of the Almighty Whereas one that speaketh reverently of God as in his presence doth ofttimes more affect the hearers with a reverence of his Majesty with a few words than unreverent Preachers with the most accurate Sermons delivered in a common or affected strain When ever you speak of God let the hearers perceive that your hearts are possessed with his Fear and Love and that you put more difference between God and man than between a King and the smallest Worm so when you talk of death or judgement of Heaven or Hell of holiness or sin or any thing that nearly relates to God do it with that gravity and seriousness as the matter doth require § 30. Direct 9. Speak not so unskilfully and foolishly of God or holy things as may 〈…〉 pt the hearers Direct 9. to turn it into a matter of scorn or laughter Especially understand how your p 〈…〉 are suited to the company that you are in Among those that are more ignorant some weak discourses may be tolerable and profitable For they are most affected with that which is delivered in their own Dialect and Mode but among judicious or captious hearers unskilful persons must be very sparing of their words lest they do hurt while they desire to do good and make Religion sâ—em ridiculous We may rejoyce in the scorns which we undergo for Christ and which are bent against his holy Laws or the substance of our duty But if men are jeered for speaking ridiculously and foolishly of holy things they have little reason to take comfort in any thing of that but their honest meanings and intents Nay they must be humbled for being a dishonour to the name of godliness
have a higher birth than they and higher hopes and higher hearts by setting light by that which their hearts are set upon as their felicity When seeming Christians are as worldly and ambitious as others and make as great a matter of their gain and wealth and honour it sheweth that they do but cover the base and sordid Spirit of worldlings with the visor of the Christian name to deceive themselves and bring the faith of Christians into scorn and dishonour the holy name which they usâ—r◠§ 35. Dirâ—ct 4. It much hâ—noureth God when his servants can quietly and fearlesly trust in him Diâ—â—ct 4. iâ— the â—â—ce of all the dangers and threatnings which Devils or men can cast before them and can joyfully sufâ—er pain or dâ—ath in obedience to his commands and in confidence on his promise of everlasting happinesâ— This sheweth that we believe indeed that there is a God and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him Heb. 11. 6. and that he is true and just and that his promises are to be trusted on and that he is able to make them good in despight of all the malice of his enemies and that the threats or frowns of sinful Worms are câ—ntemptible to him that feareth God Psal. 58. 11. Sâ— that men shall say Verily there is a reward for the righteous Verily there is a God that judâ—eth in the earth and that at last will judge the world in righteousness Paul glâ—ried in the Thâ—ssal â—iaâ—s for their faith and paâ—ience in all their persecutions and tâ—ibulations which they endured as a mâ—nifest tâ—ken â—f the righteous judgement of God that they might be accounted worthy of the Kingdâ—m 〈…〉 God fâ—r which they suffered Seeing it is a righteous thing with Gâ—d to recompence tribulation to them that trouble us and rest with his Saints to those that are troubled 2 Thess. 1. 4 5 6 7. If ye be rep 〈…〉 d for the name of Christ happy are ye for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you â—â— their part he is evil spâ—ken of but on your part he is glorified 1 Pet. 4. 14. If any man suffer as a Christian let him not be ashamed but let him glorifie God on this behalf Vers. 16. When confidence in God and assurance of the great reward in Heaven Matth. 5. 11 12. doth cause a believer undâ—untedly to say as the three Witnesses Dan. 3. We are not careful O King to answer thee in this mâ—tter The God whâ—m we serve is able to deliver us when by faith we can go through the tryal of carnal mâ—ckings and scourgings of bonds and imprisonment to be destitute and afflicted yea and toâ—tured not accepting deliverance upon sinful terms thus God is glorified by believers List up your voices O ye afflicted Saints and sing fâ—r the Mâ—jesty of the Lord Glorifie ye the Lord in the fires even the name of the Lord God of Israel in the Islâ—s of the Sea Iâ—a 24. 14 15. Sing to his Praise with Paul and Silas though your feet be in the stocks Iâ— God call for your lives remember that you are nâ—t your own you are bought with a price therefâ—re glorifie God in your bodies and Spiâ—its which are his 1 Cor. 6. 20. Rejoyce in it if you bear in your bodies the marks of the Lord Iesus Gal 6. 17. And if you alwayes bear about in the body the dying of the Lord Iesus that the life also of Iesus may be manifested in your bodies 2 Cor. 4. 10. And with all boldness see that Christ be magnified in your bodies whether it be by life or death Phil. 1. 20. Hâ— dishonoureth and reproacheth Christ and faith that thinks he is not to be trusted even unto the death § 36. Direct 5. It much honoureth God when the hopes of everlasting joyes do cause believers to Direct 5. liâ—e much more jâ—yfully than the most prosperous worldlings not with their kind of doting mirth in vain sports and pleasures and foolish talking and uncomely jests But in that constant cheerâ—ulness and gladness which beseemeth the heirs of glory Let it appear to the world that indeed you hope to live with Christ and to be equal with the Angels Doth a dejected countenance and a mournâ—ul troubled and complaining life express such hopes or rather tell men that your hopes are small and that God is a hard Master and his service grievous Do not thus dishonour him by your inordinate dejectedness Do not affright and discourage sinners from the pleasant service of the Lord. § 37. Direct 6. When Christians live in a readiness to dye and can rejoyce in the approach of death Direct 6. and lâ—ve and long for the ay of Iudgement when Christ shall justifie them from the slanders of the woâ—ld and shall judge them to eternaâ— joyes this is to the glory of God and our profession When death which is the King of fears to others appeareth as disarmed and conquered to believers when Iudgement which is the terror of others is their desire this sheweth a triumphant faith and that godliness is not in vain It must be something above nature that can make a man desire to depart and be with Christ as best of all and to be absent from the body and present with the Lord and to comfort one another with the mention of the glorious coming of their Lord and the day when he shall judge the world in righteousness Phil 1. 21. 2 Cor. 5. 8. 1 Thess. 4 18. 2. 1 10. § 38 Direct 7. The Humility and Meekness and Patience of Christians much honour God and their Direct 7. holy faith as Pride and Passion and Impatience dishonour him Let men see that the Spirit of God doth cast down the devillish sin of Pride and maketh you like your Master that humbled himself to assume our flesh and to the death of the Cross and to the contradiction and reproach of foolish sinners and made himself of no reputation but endured the shame of being derided spit upon and crucified Phil. 2. 7 8 9. Heb. 12. 2. and stooped to wash the feet of his Disciples It is not stoutness and lifting up the head and standing upon your terms and upon your honour in the world that is the honouring of God When you are as little children and as nothing in your own eyes and seek not the honour that is of men but say Not to us O Lord not to us but to thy Name be the glory Psal. 115. 1. and are content that your honour decrease and be trodden into the dirt that his may increase and his name be magnified this is the glorifying of God So when you shew the world that you are above the impotent passions of men not to be insensible but to be angry and sin not and to give place to wrath and not to resist and avenge your selves Rom. 12. 19. and to be meâ—k and lowly in heart Matth. 11. 29. It will appear that
Actions divers from that which commandeth my affections As those that put children relations families neighbours under our especiall charge and care though often others must be more loved 20. That Good which is the object of Love is not a meer Universal or General notion but is allwaies some particular or singular being in esse reali vel in esse cognito As there is no such thing in rerum natura as Good in a meer General which is neither the Good of natural existence or of moral perfection or of Pleasure Profit Honour c. Yea which is not in this or in that singular subject or so conceived so there is no such thing as Love which hath not some such singular object As Rada and other Scotists have made plain 21. All Good is either GOD or a CREATURE or a Creatures Act or Work 22. GOD is GOOD Infinitely Eternally Primitively Independently Immutably Communicatively of whom and by whom and to whom are all things The Beginning or first efficient the Dirigent and ultimately ultimate cause of all created Good As Making and Directing All things For Himself 23. Therefore it is the duty of the Intellectual Creature to Love God Totally without any exceptions or restrictions with all the Power Mind and Will not only in degree above our selves and all the world But also as GOD with a Love in kind transcending the Love of every Creature 24. All the Goodness of the Creature doth formally consist in its threefold Relation to GOD viz. 1. In the Impresses of God as its first Efficient or Creator as it is his Image or the effect and demonstration of his perfections viz. his Infinite Power Wisdom and Goodness 2 In its Conformity to his Directions or Governing Laws and so in its Order and Obedience 3. And in its Aptitude and Tendency to God as its final cause even to the demonstration of his Glory and the Complacency of his Will 25. All Created Good is therefore Derivative Dependant Contingent Finite Secondary From God By God and To God receiving its Form and Measure from its respect to Him 26. Yet as it may be subordinately From man as the Principle of his own Actions and By man as a subordinate Ruler of himself or others and To man as a subordinate End so there is accordingly a subordinate sort of Goodness which is so denominated from these respects unto the Creature that is himself Good subordinately 27. But all this subordinate Goodness Bonum à nobis Bonum per nos Bonum nobis is but Analogically so and dependantly on the former sort of Goodness and is something in due subordination to it and against it nothing that is not properly Good 28. The best and excellentest Creatures in the foresaid Goodness-related to God are most to be loved and all according to the Degree of their Goodness more than as Good in relation to our selves 29. But seeing their Goodness is formally their Relation unto God it followeth that they are Loved 〈◊〉 only for his sake and consequently Gods Image or Glory in them is first Loved and so the true Love of any Creature is but a secondary sort of the Love of God 30. The best being next to God is the universe or whole Creation and therefore next him most to be loved by us 31. The next in Amiableness is the whole coelestial society Christ Angels and Saints 32. The next when we come to distinguish them is Christs own Created Glorified Nature in the Person of the Mediator Because Gods Glory or Image is most upon him 33. The next in Amiableness is the whole Angelical society or the orders of Intellectual Spirits above man 34. The next is the spirits of the Just made perfect or the Triumphant Church of Saints in Heaven 35. The next is all this lower world 36. The next is the Church in the world or militant on earth 37. The next are the particular Kingdoms and Societies of the world and so the Churches according to their various degrees 38. The next under societies and multitudes are those individual persons who are Best in the three fore-mentioned respects Whether our selves or others And thus by the objects should our Love that is Rational be diversified in Degree and that be Loved best that is best 39. The Amiable Image of God in man is as hath oft been said 1. Our Natural Image of God or the Image of his three Essential properties as such that is Our Vital Active Power our Intellect and our will 2. Our Moral Image or the Image of his said properties in their perfections viz. Our Holiness that is Our Holy Life or spiritual vivacity and Active Power Our Holy Light or Wisdom our Holy Wills or Love 3. Our Relative Image of God or the Image of his Supereminencie Dominion or Majesty which is 1. Common to Man in respect to the Inferiour Creatures that we are their Owners Governâ—rs and End and Benefactors 2. Eminently in Rulers of Men Parents and Princes who are Analogically sub-owners sub-rulers and sub-benefactors to their inferiors in various degrees By which it is discernable what it is that we are to Love in man and with what variety of kinds and degrees of Love as the Kinds and degrees of amiableness in the objects differ 40. Even the Sun and Moon and frame of Nature the Inanimates and Bruits must be Loved in that Degree Compared to Man and to one another as their Goodness before described that is the Impressions of the Divine perfections do more or less Gloriously appear in them and as they are adapted to him the ultimate end 41. As God is in this life seen but darkly and as in a Glass so also proportionably to be Loved For our Love cannot exceed our Knowledge 42. Yet it followeth not that we must Love him only as he appareth in his works which demonstrate him as effects do their cause For both by the said works improved by Reason and by his word we know that he is before his works and above them and so distinct from them as to transcend and comprehend and cause them all by a continual causality And therefore he must accordingly be Loved 43. It greatly hindereth our Love to God when we overlook all the intermediate excellencies between Him and us which are much better and therefore more amiable than our selves such as are before recited 44. The Love of the universe as bearing the liveliest Image or impress of their Cause is an eminent secondary Love of God and a great help to our Primary or Immediate Love of him Could we comprehend the Glorious excellency of the universal Creation in its matter form parts order and uses we should see so Glorious an Image of God as would unspeakably promote the work of Love 45. Whether the GLORY of God in HEAVEN which will for ever beatifie the beholders and possessors be the Divine Essence which is every where or a Created Glory purposely there placed for the felicity of holy spirits and
therefore good in himself it can hardly be conceived but that in all this there is some kind of secret love to God as better than my self 87. In all this note that it is one thing to Love God under the notion of the Infinite Good better than my self and all things and another thing for the will to Love him more as that notion obligeth 88. And the reason why these are often separated is because besides a slight intellectual apprehension there is necessary to the Wills just determination a clear and deep apprehension with a right disposition of the Will and a suscitation of the Active Power 89. Yea and every slight Volition or Velleity will not conquer opposing Concupiscence and Volitions nor is every Will effectual to command the life and prevail against its contrary 90. Therefore I conceive that in our first believing in Christ even to Justification though our Reason tell us that he is more Amiable than our selves and we are desirous so to Love him for the future and have an obscure weak beginning of Love to God as God or as so conceived yet 1. The strength of sensitive self-love maketh our Love to our selves more passionately strong 2. And that Reason at least in its Degree of Apprehension is too Intense in apprehending our self-interest and too remiss in apprehending the Amiableness of God as God And so far even our Rational Love is yet greater to our selves though as to the Notion God hath the preheminence 3. And that in this whole affair of our Baptismal Covenanting Consent or Christianity our Love to our own felicity as such is more Powerful and effectual in moving the soul and prevailing for our resolution for a new life than is our Love to God as for himself and as God 91. And therefore it is that Fear hath so great a hand in our first Change For all that such Fear doth it doth as moved by self-love I mean the fear of suffering and damnation And yet experience telleth us that Conversion commonly beginneth in Fear And though where self-love and fear are alone without the Love of God as Good in and for himself there is no true grace yet I conceive that there is true grace initial in those weak Christians that have more Fear and self-love in the passionate and powerful part than Love to God so be it they have not more love to sin and to any thing that stands in competition with God 92. Therefore he that hath a Carnal self-love or inordinate inclining him to the creature which is stronger in him than the Love of God is Graceless Because it will turn his heart and life from God But he that hath only a necessary self-love even a love to his own spiritual eternal felicity operating by strong desire and fear conjunct with a weaker degree of Love to God as Good in himself I think hath grace and may so be saved Because here is but an unequal motion to the same End and not a competition 93. If any dislike any of this decision I only desire him to remember that on both hands there are apparent Rocks to be avoided First It is a dangerous thing to say that a man is in a state of grace and salvation who loveth not God as God that is better than himself And on the other hand the experience of most Christians in the world saith that at their first believing if not long after they Loved God more for themselves than for Himself and Loved themselves more than God though they knew that God was better and more amiable and that the fear of misery and the desire of their own salvation was more effectual and prevalent with them than that Love of God for himself And I doubt that not very many have this at all in so high a degree as to be clear and certain of it And if we shall make that necessary to salvation which few of the best Christians find in themselves we either condemn allmost all professed Christians or at least leave them under uncertainty and terrors Therefore Gods Interest speaking so lowd on one hand and mans experience on the other I think we have need to cut by a thred and walk by line with greatest accurateness 94. By this time we may see that as Christ is the way to the Father and the Saviour and recoverer of lapsed man from Himself to God so â—aith in Christ as such is a Mediate and Medicinal Grace and work And that faith is but the bellows of Love And that our first Believing in Christ though it be the regenerating work which generateth Love yet is but a middle state between an unregenerate and a regenerate Not as a third state specifically distinct from both but the initium of the latter or as the embrio or state of Conception in the womb is as to a man and no man Faith containeth Love in fieri 95. As the Love of our selves doth most powerfully though not only move us to close with Christ as our Saviour so while hereby we are united unto Him we have a double assistance or influx from him for the production of the purer Love of God The one is Objective in all the Divine demonstrations of Gods Love in his Incarnation Life Death Resurrection in his Doctrine Example Intercession and in all his benefits given us in our pardon adoption and the promises of future Glory The other is in the secret operations of the Holy Spirit which he giveth us to concur with these means and make them all effectual 96. The true state of sanctification as different from meer vocation and faith consisteth in this pure Love of God and Holiness and that more for himself and his Infinite Goodness than for our selves and as our felicity 97. Therefore when we are Promised the spirit to be given to us if we Believe in Christ and sanctification is promised us with Justification on this condition of faith this is part of the meaning of that promise that if we truly take Christ for our Saviour to bring us to the Love of God though at present we are most moved with the Love of our selves to accept him he will by his word works and spirit bring us to it initially here and perfectly in Heaven even to be perfectly Pleased in God for his own perfect Goodness and so to be fully Pleasant to him And thus besides the extraordinary gifts to a few the spirit of holiness or Love which is the spirit of Adoption is promised by Covenant to all Believers 98. Accordingly this promise is so fulfilled that in the first instant of time we have a Relative Right to Christ as our Head and the sender of the spirit and to the Holy Spirit himself as our sanctifier by undertaking according to the terms of the Covenant But this doth not produce allwaies a sensible or effectual Love of God above our selves in us at the very first but by degrees as we follow the work of faith
in our practice 99. For it is specially to be noted that the Doctrinal or Objective means of Love which Christ doth use and his internal spiritual influx do concur And his way is not to work on us by his spirit alone without those objects nor yet by the objects without the spirit nor by both distinctly and dividedly as producing several effects But by both conjunctly for the same effect The spirits influx causing us effectually to improve the objects and reasons of our Love As the hand that useth the seal and the seal it self make one impression 100. As Christ began to win our Love to God by the excitation of our self love multiplying and revealing Gods mercies to our selves so doth he much carry it on to increase the same way For while every day addeth fresh experience of the greatness of Gods Love to us by this we have a certain Tast that God is Love and Good in Himself and so by degrees we learn to Love him more for himself and to improve our notional esteem of his Essential Goodness into Practical 101. Though Faith it self is not wrought in us without the Holy Ghost nor is it if sincere a common gift yet this operation of the spirit drawing us to Christ by such arguments and means as are fitted to the work of believing is different from the Consequent Covenant-right to Christ and the spirit which is given to Believers and from the spirit of Adoption as recovering us as aforesaid to the Love of God 102. In this last sense it is that the Holy Ghost is said to dwell in Believers and to be the new name the pledge the earness the first fruits of life eternal the witness of our right to Christ and life and Christs agent and witness in us to maintain his cause and interest 103. Even as a man that by sickness hath lost his Appetite to meat is told that such a physicion will cure him if he will take a certain medicinal food that he will give him And at first he taketh it without appetite to the food or medicine in it self but meerly for the Love of health but after he is doubly brought to Love it for it self First because he hath tasted the sweetness of that which he did but see before and next because his health and appetite is recovered so is it with the soul as to the Love of God procured by believing When we have tasted through the perswasion of self-love our tast and recovery cause us to Love God for himself 104. When the soul is risen to this Habitual predominant Love of GOD and Holiness as such for their own Goodness above its own felicity as such though ever in conjunction with it and as his felicity it self then is the Law written in the Heart and this Love is the virtual fullfilling of all the Law And for such it is that it is said that the Law is not made that is In that measure that they Love the Good for it self they need not be moved to it with threats or Promises of extrinsick things which work but by self-love and fear Not but that Divine Authority must concur with Love to produce obedience especially while Love is but imperfect but that Love is the highest principle making the commanded Good connatural to us 105. And I think it is this spirit of Adoption and Love which is called The Divine Nature in us as it inclineth us to Love God and Holiness for it self as Nature is inclined to self-love and to food and other necessaries Not that the specifick essential Nature that is substance or form of the soul is changed and man Deified and he become a God that was before a man But his humane Soul or Nature is elevated or more perfected as a sick man by health or a blind man by his sight by the spirit of God inclining him habitually to God himself as in and for himself And this is all which the publisher of Sir H. Vanes notions of the two Covenants and two Natures can soundly meâ—n and seemeth to grope after 106. By all this you see that as the Love of God hath a double self-love in us to deal with so it dealeth variously with each 1. Sensual inordinate self-love it destroyeth both as it consisteth in the inordinate Love of sensual pleasure and in the inordinate love of self or life 2. Lawful and just self-love it increaseth and improveth to our further good but subjecteth it to the highest purest Love of God 107. By this you may gather what a confirmed Christian is even one in whom the pure Love of God as God and all things for God is predominant and more potent than not only the vicious but also the good and lawful and necessary love of himself 108. Though Christians therefore must study themselves and keep up a care of their own salvation yet must they much more study God his Greatness Wisdom and Goodness as shining in his works and word and in his Son and as foreseen in the Heavenly Glory And in this knowledge of God and Christ is life eternal And nothing more tendeth to the holy advancement and perfection of the soul than to keep continually due apprehensions of the Divine Nature Properties and Glorious appearances in his works upon the Soul so as it may become a constant course of contemplation and the habit and constitution of the mind and the constant guide of Heart and Life 109. The attainment of this would be a tast of Heaven on Earth Our wills would follow the will of God and Rest therein and abhor reluctancy All our duty would be both quickned and sweetned with Love Self-interest would be disabled from either seducing us to sin or vexing us with griefs cares fears or discontents We should so far trust soul and body in the Will and Love of God as to be more comforted that both are at his will than if they were absolutely at our own And GOD being our All the constant fixing satisfying object of our Love our souls would be constantly fixed and satisfied and live in such experience of the sanctifying grace of Christ as would most powerfully conquer our unbelief and in such foretasts of Heaven as would make Life sweet Death wellcome and Heaven unspeakably desirable to us But it is not the meer Love of personal Goodness as our own perfection that would do all this upon us 110. The soul that is troubled with doubts whether he Love God as God or only as a means of his own felicity in subordination to self-love must thus resolve his doubts If you truly believe that God is God that is the Efficient Dirigent and Final cause the just end of every rational agent the Infinite Good and chiefly to be loved in comparison of whom you are vile contemptible and as nothing If you feelingly take your self as lothsome by sin If you would not take up with an everlasting sensual pleasure alone without Holiness if you could
The definition is false as hath been shewed and as the instance proveth else a man could not be said to love Learning Virtue or any quality but only to love the person that wanteth it or hath it But Love is a Complacency and benevolence is but its effect or antecedent 2. The unholy wish not good to God for they would all depose him from his Godhead They would not have him to be a hater of their sin nor to be their Holy and Righteous Governour and Judge Object 9. It is better to Be a man though a sinner and miserable in Hell than not to be at all Else God would never ordain cause or permit it Answ. 1. It is better to the highest ends Gods Glory and the Universal Order to be a punished man than to be nothing when God will have it so Because Punishment as to those highest ends is good Though it is not best for the poor miserable sinner But the same cannot be said of sin It is indeed better also to those highest ends to be a Man though a sinner while God continueth humanity But not to be a Man and a sinner For the latter implyeth some Good to be in the sin which hath no Good and therefore God neither causeth it nor willeth it though he permit it But though a sinful man is better than no man to Gods ends it followeth not that to be a man is better than to be a good man Object 10. If that be best and most amiable which is most to the glory of God then it is more amiable to be a sinner in Hell torment glorifying his Iustice than not to be at all or to be a bruit Answ. 1. It is neither of these that is offered to your Love and Choice but to be Holy All Good is not matter of Election But that Good which is in Hell is not the sin but the punishment For the sin doth reputatively and as much as in it lyeth rob God of his glory and punishment repaireth it Therefore love the punishment if you can and spare not so you love Holiness better For that would honour God more excellently and please him more Object 11. If I must love to be like God I must love to be Great and I must Love the Greatest as mâ—st like him Answ. You must love to be like him in those perfections which you are capable of and to the ends and uses of your proper nature Therefore you must be desirous to be like him in your measure even in such Power and Greatness as is suitable to the Nature and Ends of a Rational soul. Not in such strength as he giveth a Horse or such magnitude as he giveth a Mountain which is not to be most like him But in the vital activity and power of an Intellectual free-agent To be Powerful and great in Love to God and all his service and in all good works to be profitable to the world to be lively and ready in all obedience strong to suffer and to conquer sin and all temptations In a word to be Great and Powerful in Wisdom and true Goodness Thus seek even in Power to be like to God in your Capacities Object 12. God himself doth not love men only for their Goodness nor Love that best which is best For he loveth his Elect while enemies and ungodly and he telleth Israel he loved them because he would love them and not because they were better than others And in the womb he loved Jacob best when he was no better than Esau. Answ. 1. Distinguish between Gods Complacence and Benevolence 2 Between the good that is present and foreseen good with a present capacity for it 1. God had a greater Benevolence to Iacob than Esau and to the Israelites than to other Nations that were perhaps not much worse And it is not for our Goodness that God decreeth to make us good or to give us a double proportion of any of those mercies which he giveth not as Rector but as Dominus and Benefactor as an absolute Owner and free Benefactor And with this Love of Benevolence he loveth us when we are his enemies that is he purposeth to make us good But this benevolence is but a secundary Love and fruit of Complacency joyned with the free unequal distribution of his own 2. But for Complacency which is Love in the first and strictest sense God so loveth the wicked though Elect no farther than they are Good and Lovely that is 1. As they have the Natural Goodness of Rational Creatures 2. And as they are capable of all the future service they will do him and glory they will bring him 3. And as his Infinite Wisdom knoweth it fit to choose them to that service Or if the Benevolence of Election do go before his first Complacence in them above others as being before his foresight that they will serve and love him better yet still this proper Love called Complacence goeth not beyond the worth of the thing loved Object Doth God love us Complacentially in Christ beyond the Good that is in us Answ. Not beyond our Real and Relative Good as we are in our selves by his grace and as we are in Christ related to him and both wayes such as demonstrate the Divine perfections and shall Love and Glorifie and Please him for ever So much for the opening of the true Nature of LOVE to God our selves and others and of mans ultimate end and of the Nature of Holiness and Goodness and those Mysteries of Religion which are involved in these points CHAP. IV. Subordinate Directions against those Grand heart-sins which are directly contrary to the Life of Godliness and Christianity THE positive Directions to the Essential Duties of Godliness and Christianity have already given you Directions * The recital of such sins as the former Positive Directions do detect and afford help against against the contrary sins As in the first Grand Direction you have helps against direct Unbelief In the second you have Directions against Unbelief as it signifieth the not using and applying of Christ according to our various needs In the third you have Directions against †Of the sin against the Holy Ghost I have written a special Treatise in my Unreasonableness of Infidelity all resisting or neglecting the Holy Ghost Which were first because in Practice we must come by the Son and the Spirit to the saving Knowledge and Love of the Father In the fourth you have Directions * Since the writing of this I have published the same more at large in my Reasons of the Christian Religion and in my Life of Faith against Atheism Idolatry and Ungodliness In the fifth you have Directions against self-idolizing and self-dependance and unholiness in an alienating your selves from God In the sixth you are Directed against Rebellion and Disobedience against God In the seventh you have Directions against Unteachableness Ignorance and Error In the eighth you have Directions against Impenitency
him when ever he provoketh us to it but only endeavour to strengthen our Faith and destroy the remnants of unbelief § 38. Direct 35. Remember that Christ doth propagate his Religion conjunctly by his spirit and his Direct 35. word and effecteth himself the faith which he commandeth For though there be sufficient evidence of credibility in his word yet the blinded Mind and corrupt perverted hearts of men do need the cure of his medicinal Grace before they will effectually and savingly believe a doctrine which is so holy high and heavenly and doth so much control their lusts See therefore that you distrust your corrupted hearts and earnestly beg the Spirit of Christ. § 39. Direct 36. Labour earnestly for the Love of every Truth which you believe and to feel the Direct 36. renewing power of it upon your hearts and the reforming power on your lives especially that you may be advanced to the Love of God and to a Heavenly mind and life And this will be a most excellent help against all temptations to unbelief For the Heart holdeth the Gospel much faster than the Head alone The seed that is cast into the earth if it quicken and take root is best preserved and the dâ—eper rooted the surer it abideth but if it die it perisheth and is gone When the seed of the holy word hath produced the new creature it is sure and safe But when it is retained only in the brain as a dead Opinion every temptation can overturn it It is an excellent advantage that the serious practical Christian hath above all hypocrites and unsanctified men Love will hold faster than dead belief Love is the Grace that abideth for ever and that is the enduring faith which works by Love The experienced Christian hath felt so much of the power and Goodness oâ— the wâ—rd that if you puzzle his head with subtile reasonings against it yet his heart and experience will not suffer him to let it go He hath taâ—ted it so sweet that he will not Believe it to be bitter though he cannot answer all that is said against it If another would perswade you to believe ill of your dearest friend or Father Love and experience would better preserve you from his deceit than reasoning would do The new creature or new nature in believers and the experience of Gods Love communicated by Jesus Christ unto their souls are constant witnesses to the word of God He that believeth hath the witness in himself that is The Holy Ghost which was given him which is an objective testimony or an evidence and an effective Of this see my Treat of Infidelity Unsanctified men may be 〈◊〉 turned to Infidelity For they never felt the renewed quickning work of faith nor were â—vâ—â— brought by it to the Love of God and a holy and heavenly mind and â—iâ—â— They that never were Christians at the Heart are soonest turned from being Christians in opinion and name Quest. BY what Reason evidence or obligation were the Iews bound to believe the Prophets Seing Isaiah Jeremy Ezekiel c. wrought no miracles and there were false Prophets in their daies How then câ—uld any man know that indeed they were sent of God when they nakedly affirmed it Answ. I mention this objection or case because in my book of the Reas. of Christian Religion to which for all the rest I refer the Reader it is forgotten And because it is one of the hardest questions about our faith 1. Those that think that every book of Scripture doth now prove it self to be Divine propâ—ia luce by its own matter stile and other properties will accordingly say that by Hearing the Prophets then as well as by Reading them now this intrinsick satisfactory evidence was discâ—â—nable All that I can say of this is that there are such Characters in the Prophecies as are a help to faith as making it the more easily credible that they are of God but not such as I could have been ascertained by especially as delivered by parcels then if there had been no more 2. Nor do I acquiâ—sce in their answer who say that Those that have the same spirit know the stile of the spirit in the Prophets For 1. This would suppose none capable of believing them groundedly that had not the same spirit 2. And the spirit of sanctification is not enough to our discerning Prophetical inspirations as reason and experience fully proveth The guist of discerning spirits 1 Cor. 12. 10. was not common to all the sanctified 3. It is much to be observed that God never sent any Prophet to make a Law or Covenant on which the salvation of the people did depend without the attestation of unquestionable Miracles Moses wrought numerous open miracles and such as controlled and confuted the contradictors seeming Miracles in Egypt And Christ and his Apostles wrought more than Moses So that these Laws and Covenants by which God would rule and judge the people were all confirmed beyond all just exception 4. It must be noted that many other Prophets also wrought Miracles to confirm their doctrine and prove that they were sent of God as did Elias and Elisha 5. It must be noted that there were Schools of Prophets or Societies of them in those times 1 Sam. 10. 10. 19. 20. 1 Kings 20. 35 41. 22. 13. 2 Kings 2. 3 5 7 15. 4. 1 38. 5. 22. 6. 1. 9. 1. 1 Cor. 14. 32. Who were educated in such a way as fiâ—ted them to the reception of prophetical inspirations when it pleased God to give them Not that meer education made any one a Prophet nor that the Prophets had at all times the present actual guiâ—t of prophesie But God was pleased so far to own mens commanded diligence as to joyn his blessing to a meet education and at such times as he thought meet to illuminate such by Visions and revelations above all others And therefore it is spoken of Amos as a thing extraordinary that he was made a Prophet of a herdsman 6. Therefore a Prophet among the Jews was known to be such usually before these Recorded Prophecies of theirs which we have now in the Holy Scriptures 1. The spirits of the Prophets which are subject to the Prophets were judged of by those Prophets that had indeed the Spirit And so the people had the testimony of the other Prophets concerning them 2. The Lords own direction to know a true Prophet by Deut. 18. 22. is the coming to pass of that which he foretelleth Now it is like that before they were received into the number of Prophets they had given satisfaction to the societies of the Prophets by the events of things before foretold by them 3. Or they might have wrought miracles before to have satisfied the members of the Colledge of their calling though these Miracles are not all mentioned in the Scripture 4. Or the other Prophets might have some Divine testimony concerning them by visions revelations or
a continual suâ—vitv affording still fresh delights though thou meditate on him a thousand years or to all eternity Thou maist better say that the Ocean hath not water enough for thee to swim in or that the Earth hath not room enough for thee to tread upon than that there is not matter enough in God for thy longest Meditations and most delighting satisfying thoughts The blessed Angels and Saints in Heaven will find enough in God alone to employ their minds to all eternity O horrid darkness and atheism that yet remaineth on our hearts that we should want matter for our thoughts to keep them from feeding upon air or filth or want matter for our delight to keep our mindâ— from begging it at the creatures door or hungring for the husks that feed the Swine when we have the Infinite God Omnipotent Omniscient most good and bountiful our life and hope and happiness to think on with delight § 3. Direct 3. If you have but an eye of faith to see the things of the unseen world as revealed Direct 3. in the sacred Word you cannot want matter to employ your thoughts Scripture is the glass in which 3. The world to come you may see the other world There you may see the Antient of Dayes the Eternal Majesty shining in his Glory for the felicitating of holy glorified Spirits There you may see the humane nature advanced above Angels and enjoying the highest Glory next to the uncreated Majesty and Christ reigning as the King of all the world and all the Angels of God obeying honouring and worshipping him you may see him sending his Angels on his gracious messages to the lowest members of his body the little ones of his flock on earth you may see him interceding for all his Saints and procuring their peace and entertainment with the Father and preparing for their reception when they pass into those mansions and welcoming them one by one as they pass hence There you may see the glorious celestial society attending admiring extolling worshipping the Great Creator the Gracious Redeemer and the Eternal Spirit with uncessant glorious and harmonious Praise you may see them burning in the delicious flames of holy Love drawn out by the Vision of the face of God and by the streams of Love which he continually powreth out upon them you may see the magnetick attraction of the uncreated Love and the felicitating closure of the attracted Love of holy Spirits thus united unto God by Christ and feasting everlastingly upon him you may see the ravishments of joy and the unspeakable pleasures which all these blessed Spirits have in this transporting Sight and Love and Praise You may see the extasies of Ioy which possess the souls of those that are newly passed from the Body and escaped the sins and miseries of this world and find there such sudden ravishing entertainment unspeakably beyond their former expectations conceivings or belief You may see there with what wonder what pity what lothing and detestation those holy glorified souls look down upon earth on the negligence contempt sensuality and profaneness of the dreaming and distracted world You may see there what you shall be for ever if you be the holy ones of Christ and where you must dwell and what you must do and what you shall enjoy All this you may so know by sound believing as to be carried to it as sincerely as if your eyes had seen it Heb. 11. 1. 2 Cor. 5. 7. And yet can your thoughts be idle or carnal or worldly and sinful for want of work Are your meditations dry and barren for want of matter to employ them Doth the fire of Love or other holy affections go out for want of fuell to feed it Is not Heaven and Eternity spatious enough for your minds to expatiate in Is not such a world as that sufficient for you to study with fresh and delectable variety of discoveries from day to day or that which is more delightful than variety Would you have more matter or higher and more excellent matter or sweeter and more pleasant matter or matter which doth nearlier concern your selves Get that faith which all that shall be saved Live by which makes things absent as operative in some measure as if they were present and that which will be as if it now were and that which is unseen as if it were now open to your eyes and then your Thoughts will want neither matter to work upon nor altogether an actuating excitation If this were not enough I might tell you what Faith can see also in Hell which is not unworthy See in my Tract on Heb 11. 1. called The Life of Faith of your serious Thoughts What work is there what direful complaints and lamentations what self-tormentings and what sense of Gods displeasure and for what But I will wholly pass this by that you may see there is delightful work enough for your thoughts and that I set you no unpleasant task § 4. Direct 4. Get but the Love of God well kindled in your Heart and it will find employment Direct 4. even the most high and sweet employment for your Thoughts Your selves shall be the Judges whether 4. The work of Love your Love doth not for the most part rule your thoughts assigning them their work and directing them when and how long to think on it See but how a lustful lover is carried after a beloved silly piece of flesh Their thoughts will so easily and so constantly run after it that they need no spur Mark in what a stream it carrieth them how it feedeth and quickneth their invention and elevateth an ordinary fancy into a Poetical and passionate strain What abundance of matter can a Lover find in the narrow compass of a dirty Corpse for his thoughts to work on night and day And will not the Love of God then much more fill and feast your thoughts How easily can the Love of money find matter for the thoughts of the worldling from one year to another It s easie to think of any thing which you love O what a happy spring of Meditation is a rooted predominant Love of God Love him strongly and you cannot forget him You will then see him in every thing that meets you and hear him in every one that speaketh to you If you miss him or have offended him you will think on him with grief If you taste of his Love you will think of him with Delight If you have but hope you will think of him with Desire and your Minds will be taken up in seeking him and in understanding and using the Means by which you may come to enjoy him Love is ingenious and full and quick and active and resolute It is valiant and patient and exceeding industrious and delighteth to encounter difficulties and to appear in labours and to shew it self in advantageous sufferings and therefore it maketh the mind in which it reigneth exceeding busie and findeth the
interâ—ss him in all § 26. Direct 12. Let every meditation be undertaken in a humble sense of thy own insufficiency Direct 12. with a believing dependance on thy Head and Saviour to guide and quicken thee by his holy Spirit and to cover the infirmities of thy holiest thoughts Whatever good is written upon our hearts must be written by the Spirit of the living God and this trust we must have through Christ to Godward not that we are sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves but our sufficiency is of God 2 Cor. 3. 3 4 5. How heavily will all go on or rather how certainly shall we labour in vain and cast off all if Christ cast us off and leave us to our selves Think not that your life and strength is radically in your selves Go to him by renewed acts of faith by whom you must be quickned § 27. Direct 13. Let not your holy thoughts be so seldom as to keep you strange to the matter of Direct 13. your meditations nor so short as to be gone before you have made any thing of it Now and then a cursory thought will not acquaint the soul with God nor bring it to a habit and temperament of holiness Whereas that which you think on frequently and seriously as your business and delight will become the nutriment and nature of your souls As the air which we daily breathe in and the food which we daily live upon doth to our bodies And you will find that as use will breed skill and strength so it will cause such acquaintance and familiarity as will very much tend to the fruit and comfort of the work Whereas they that only cast now and then a look at God and holiness or are seldom and short in holy thoughts do lose so quickly the little which they get that it makes no great alteration on them § 28. Direct 14. Yet do not over-do in point of violence or length but carry on the work sincerely Direct 14. according to the abilities of your minds and bodies lest going beyond your strength you craze your brains and discompose your minds and disable your selves to do any thing at all Though we cannot estimatively love God too much yet is it possible to think of him with too much passion or too long at once Because it may be more than the Spirits and brain can bear And if once they be overstrained if they break not like a Lute-string screwed too high they will be like a legg that is out of joint that can pain you but not bear you While the soul â—ideth on so lame or dull a Horse as the body is it must not go the pace which it desireth but which the body can bear or else it may quickly be dismounted or like one that rideth on a tired Horse It is not the Horse that goeth at first with chafing heat and violence which will travel best But you must put on in the pace that you are able to hold out You little know how lamentable and distressed a case you will be in or how great an advantage the Tempter hath if once he do but tire you by over-doing § 29. Direct 15. Choâ—se not unnecessarily or ordinarily the bitterest or most unpleasant subjects for Direct 15. your meditation lest you make it grow a burden to you but dwell most on the sweet delightful thoughts of the infinite Love of God revealed by Christ and the eternal glory purchased by him and the wonderful helps and mercies in the way As it is the Gospel which Christs Ministers must preach to others so it is the Gospel which in your Meditations you must preach most to your selves It s Love and Pleasure which you must principally endeavour to excite And you must do it by contemplating amiableness and felicity the objects of love and pleasure For the thoughts of terror and wrath and misery are unfit to stir up these Though to the unconverted dull secure presumptuous or sensual sinner such thoughts are very necessary to awake him and prepare him for the thoughts of love and peace It is the principal part of this art to keep off loathing and aversness and to keep up readiness and delight § 30. Direct 16. When you are in company let out the fruit of your secret meditations in holy Direct 16. edifying discourse Gather not for your selves only but that you may communicate to others The good Scribe instructed to the Kingdom of God must bring forth out of his treasure things new and old Matth. 13. 52. That is Good which doth good God is communicative and the best men are likest to him Nay a fluent discourse sometimes is a great instructer to our selves and bringeth those things into our minds with clearness which long meditation would not have done For one thing leadeth in another and in a warm discourse the Spirits are excited and the understanding and memory are engaged to a close attention so that just in the speaking we have oft-times such a sudden appearance of some truth which before we took no notice of that we find it is no small addition to our knowledge which comes in this way As some find that vocal prayer doth more excite them and keep the mind from wandring than meer mental prayer doth so free discourse is but a vocal meditation And what mans thoughts are not more guilty of disorder vagaries and interruptions than his discourse is § 31. Direct 17. Obey all that God revealeth to you in your meditations and turn them all into Direct 17 faithful practice and make not thinking the end of thinking Else you will but do as the ungodly and disobedient in their prayers Eccles. 5. 1 2. who offer to God the Sacrifice of fools and consider not that they do evil Away with the sin and do the duty on which you think § 32. Direct 18. Think not that the same measure of contemplation and striving with their own affections Direct 18. is necessary to all but that an obediential active life may be as acceptable to God when he calleth men to it as a more contemplative life This leadeth me necessarily to give you some Directions about the difference of these wayes Tit. 4. The Difference between a Contemplative life and an obedient active life with Directions concerning them THis task will be best performed by answering those Questions which here need a Solution § 1. Quest. 1. What is a Contemplative Life and what is an Active obediential life Quest. 1. Answ. Every active Christian is bound to somewhat of contemplation and all contemplative persons What is a contemplative life are bound to Obedience to God and to so much of Action as may answer their abilities and opportunities But yet some are much more called to the one and some to the other And we denominate from that which is most eminent and the chief We call that a Contemplative life when a mans state and calling
that toucheth not the heart neither Is it loss of children or friends or is it pain and sickness I confess these are sore but yet they do not touch the heart If they come thither it is your doing and though thither they should come moderately if they are immoderate it is your own sinful doing It is you that grieve and make the heart ake God and man did but make the flesh ake If others hurt your bodys will you therefore vex your minds Will you pierce through your hearts because they touch your name or goods If so remember which part of your sorrow is of their making and which is of your own And can you for shame go beg of Gâ—d or man to ease the grief which you your selves are causing and willfully continue it while you pray against it And why lament you that which you cause and choose It is a shame to be willfully your own tormentâ—r◠§ 20. Direct 14. Abhor all that tendeth to take down the power and government of Reason that is Direct 14. all fâ—â—bleness and câ—wardize of mind and a melancholy a piâ—vish passionate disposition and labour to keep up the authâ—rity of Reason and to keep all your passions subject to your wills which must be done by Christian faith and fortitude If you come once to that childish or distracted pass as to grieve and say I cannot help it I know it is sinful and immoderate but I cannot choose if you say true you are out of the reach of counsel advice or comfort You are not to be preacht to nor talkt to nor to be written for we do not write Directions to teach men how to touch the Stars or explain the Asperites or inequalities of the Moon or the Opacous parts of Saturn or to govern the Orbs or rule the Chariot of the Sun If it be become a natural impossibility to you Doctrine can give you no remedy But if the impossibility be but Moral in the weakness of your Reason and want of consideration it may by Doctrine Consideration and Resolution be overcome You can do more if you will than you think you can How come you to lose the command of your Passions Did not God make you a rational creature that hath an understanding and will to rule all Passions How come you to have lost the Ruling power of Reason and will You would take it for a disparagement to be told that you have lâ—st the use of your Reason And is it not a principal use of it to Rule the passions and all other inferior subject powers You say you cannot choose but grieve But if one could give you that creature which you want or desire then you could choose You could rejoyce if one could restore you that Child that Friend that Estate which you have lost But God and Christ and Heaven it seems are not enough to cure you if you must have but theâ— you cannot choose but grieve And what hearts have you then that are thus affected Should not those hearts be rather grieved for God will sometime make you see that you had more power than you used § 21. Direct 15. Observe the mischiefs of excessive sorrow that you may feel what reason you have Direct 15. to avoid it While you know not what hurt is in it you will be the more remiss in your resisting it I shall briefly name you some of its unhappy fruits § 22. 1. It is a continual pain and sickness of the mind This you know by feeling 2. It is a The ill effects of sinful grieâ— destroyer of bodily health and life For worldly sorrow worketh death 2 Cor. 7. 10. Prov. 17. 22. A merry heart doth good like a medicine but a broken spirit dryeth the the bones 3. It putteth the soul out of relish with its mercies and so causeth us to undervalue them and consequently to be unthankful for them and not to improve them 4. It destroyeth the sense of the Love of God and lamentably undisposeth the soul to Love them And therefore should be abhorred by us were it but for that Even Anaâ—agoâ—as a Philosopher could say â—o one that asked him Nullâ—m tibi paâ—riae â—ura est Mihi quidem pâ—â—â—â—iae cura est quidem summa digitum 〈…〉 lum intendâ—ns Laâ—rt p 85. one effect 5. It destroyeth the joy in the Holy Ghost and unfitteth us to obey that command of God Rejoyce continually 6. It contradicteth a Heavenly mind and conversation and hindereth us from all foreâ—asts of the everlasting joys 7. It undisposeth us to the excellent work of Praise Who can ascend in the Praises of God while Grief doth oppress and captivate the soul 8. It destroyeth the sweetness of all Gods Ordinances Hearing Reading Prayer Sacraments we may force our selves to use them but shall have no delight in them 9. It hindreth the exercise of Faith and raiseth distrust and sinful doubts and fears within us 10. It causeth sinful discontents and murmurings at God and man 11. It maketh us impatient pievish froward angry and hard to be pleased 12. It weakneth the soul to all that 's good and destroyeth its fortitude and strength For it is the Ioy of the Lord that is our strength Neh. 8. 10. 13. It hindreth us in the duties of our callings who can do them as they should be done under the clog of a disquiet mind 14. It maketh us a grief and burden to our friends and robs them of the comfort which they should have in and by us 15. It maketh us unprofitable to others and hindreth us from doing the good we might when we should be instructing exhorting and praying for poor sinners or minding the Church of God we are all taken up at home about our own afflictions 16. It maketh us a stumbling block and scandal to the ungodly and hindreth their conversiion while the Devil setteth us before the Church doors to keep away the ungodly from a holy life as men set scar-crows in their fields and gardens to frighten away the birds 17. It dishonoureth Religion by making men believe that it is a melancholy vexatious self-tormenting life 18. It obscureth the Glory of the Gospel and crosseth the work of Christ his Spirit and Ministers who all come upon a message of Great joy to all Nations and proclaim Glad tidings to the worst of sinners much more to the sons of God and heirs of life 19. It misrepresenteth God himself as if we would perswade men that he is a hard and cruel master that none can please though they do all through a Mediator upon a covenant of grace and that it is worse with us since we served him than before and that he delighteth in our grief and misery and is against our peace and joy and as if there were no joy nor pleasure in his service Such hideous doctrine do our lives preach of God when those that profess to fear and seek him do live in such immoderate
soon as Isaac had given it to Iacob Answ. When he had sold his birth-right it was too late to recall it for the right was made over to his Brother It seemeth to be Isaac's Repentance which â—â—aw found no place â—â—â—â— But â—â— it be spoken oâ— the unacceptableness of his own Repentance when it was too late it signifieth not that any mans is too late in this life as to 〈…〉 and it was not Repentance and cryes and tears that could recal the right he had sold nor recal the words that Isaac had spoken But this doth not prove that our day of grace doth not continue till death or that any man Repenting before his death shall be rejected as Esau's repentance was The Apostle neither saith nor meaneth any such thing The sense of his words are only this much Take heed lest there be any so prophane among you as to set so light by the blessings of the Gospel even Christ and life eternall as to part with them for a base lust or transitory thing as Esau that set more by a morsel of meat than by his birth-right For let them be sure that the time will come even the time mentioned by Christ Matth. 25. 10 11. when the door is shut and the Lord is come when they will dearly repent it and then as it was with Esau when the blessing was gone so it will be with them when their blessing is gone Repentance and cries and tears will be too late For the Gospel hath its justice and terrors as well as the Law This is all in the Text but there is no intimation that our day of Grace is as short as Esau's hope of the blessing was § 15. Obj. 4. Saul had but his time which when he lost he was forsaken of God Obj. 4. Answ. Saul's sin provoked God to reject him from being King of Israel and to appoint another in Answ. his stead But if Saul had Repented he had been saved after that though not restored to the Crown And its true that as God withdrew from him the spirit of Government so many before death by the greatness of their sins cause God to forsake them so far as to withhold those motions and convictions and fears and disquietments in sin which sometime they had and to give them over to a reprobate mind Rom. 1. 28. to commit all uncleanness with greediness and glory in it as being past feeling Eph. 4. 18 19. If it be thus with you you would be no better you would not be recovered you think sin is best for you and hate all that would reform you § 16. Obj. 5. It is said 2 Cor. 6. 2. Behold now is the accepted time behold now is the day of salvavation Obj. 5. And Heb. 3. 7 12 13. To day if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts lest any of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin Answ. This saith no more than that the present time is the hest yea the only certain time and we Answ. are not sure that the day of salvation will continue any longer because death may cut us off But if it do not yet sin is a hardening thing and the longer we sin the more it hardeneth yea God may withhold the motions of his spirit and leave us to our selves to the hardness of our hearts and thus he doth by thousands of wicked persons who are left in impenitency and hatred of the truth But most certainly if those men Repented they might be saved and the very reason why they have not Christ and life is still because they will not consent § 17. Direct 6. Understand by what help and strength it is that the Obedience to the Gospel must be Direct 6. performed not meerly by your own strength but by the help of grace and strength of Christ If he have but made you willing he will help you to perform the rest You are not by this Covenant to be a Saviour and sanctifier to your selves but to Consent that Christ be your Saviour and the Holy Spirit your Sanctifier You might else despair indeed if you were left to that which you are utterly unable to do Though you must work out your own salvation with fear and trembling it is he that worketh in you to will and to do of his good pleasure Phil. 2. 13. § 18. Direct 7. Understand well the difference between mortal sins and Infirmities that you may not Direct 7. think that every sin is a sign of death or gracelesness but may know the difference between those sins which should make you think your selves unjustified and those sins which only call for particular humiliation being such as the justified themselves commit Though in the Popish sense we take no sin to be venial that is which in it self is properly no sin nor deserveth death according to the Law of works yet the distinction between Mortal and Venial sin is of very great necessity that is between sins which prove a man De quâ vide Tract Râ—b Baâ—oâ—â—â—â— Of Mortal and Venial sin in a state of death or unjustified and sins which consist with a state of Grace and justification between sins which the Gospel pardoneth not and those which it pardoneth that is all that stand with true Repentance There are some sins which every one that Repenteth of them doth so forsake as to cease committing them And there are some lesser sins which they that Repent of them do hate indeed but yet frequently renew as our defective degrees in the exercise of Repentance it self faith love trust fear obedience our vain thoughts and words some sinful passions omissions of many duties of thought affection word or deed towards God or man some minutes of time over-slip us prayer and other duties have a sinful coldness or remissness in them and such like Many such sins are fitly called Infirmities and Venial because they consist with Life and are forgiven It is of great use to the peace of our Consciences to discern the difference between these two for one sort require a Conversion to another state and the other require but a particular repentance and where they are unknown are forgiven without particular repentance because our general repentance is virtually though not actually particular as to them One sort are cause of judging our selves ungodly and the other sort are only cause of filial humiliation Any one may see the great need of discerning the difference but yet it is a matter of very great judgement doctrinally to distinguish them much more actually to discern them in every instance in your selves The way is to know first what is the condition of the New-Covenant and of absolute necessity to salvation or justification and then every sin that is inconsistent with that condition is mortal and the rest that are consistent and do consist with it are venial or but infirmities As Venial signifieth only that sort of sin which is
for fear of punishment These wishes and purposes will never save thee It must be a renewed Nature Loving God and hating the sin that must make thee capable of salvation But yet in the mean time it is necessary that thou forbear thy sin though it be but through fear for thou canst not expect else that the Holy Ghost should renew thy Nature Therefore I will give thee Directions how to forbear thy sin most surely and easily if thou be but willing and withall to promote thy willingness it self with the performance Practical Directions against Tipling and Drunkenness § 76. Direct 1. Write over thy bed and thy chamber door where thou maist read it every morning Direct 1. before thou goest forth some Text of holy Scripture that 's fit to be thy Memorandum As 1 Cor. 6. 10. Drunkards shall not inherit the Kingdom of God and Rom. 8. 13. If ye live after the flesh ye shall dye but if by the Spirit you mortifie the deeds of the body you shall live And read it before thou goest out of thy doors § 77. Direct 2. Also fall down on thy knees to God and earnestly beg of him to keep thee that day Direct 2. from temptations and ill company and from all thy fleshly desires and excess and especially that he would renew thy nature and give thee a hatred of the sin § 78. Direct 3. Keep thy self in the constant employments of thy Calling and spend not one quarter of Direct 3. an hour in idleness and allow not leisure to thy thoughts so much as to think of thy drink and pleasure much less to thy body to follow it God hath commanded thee whoever thou art to labour six days and in the sweat of thy brows to eat thy bread and hath forbidden idleness and negligence in thy calling Avoid this and it will help thee much § 79. Direct 4. Reckon not upon long life but think how quickly death will come and that for Direct 4. ought thou knowest thou maist dye that day and how dreadful a case it would prove to thee to be found among Tiplers or to dye before thou art truly converted Think of this before thou goest out of thy doors and think of it as thou art going to the ALE-house Look on the Cup and the Grave together The dust of those bones will be wholsom Spice to thee Remember when thou seest the Wine or Ale how unlike it is to that black and lothsom liquor which thy blood and humours will be turned into when thou art dead Remember that the hand that taketh the Cup must shortly be scattered bones and dust and the mouth that drinketh it down must shortly be an ugly hole and the Pallate and Stomach and Brain that are delighted by it must shortly be stinking puddle and that the Graves of Drunkards are the Field or Garden of the Devil where Corpse are sowed to â—ise at the resurrection to be fewel for Hell § 80. Direct 5. When thou art tempted to the Ale-house call up thy Reason and remember that there Direct 5. is a God that seeth thee and will judge thee and that thou hast an endless life of joy or torment shortly to possess and that thou hast sinned thus too long already and that without sound Repentance thy case is desperate and that thou art far from true Repentance while thou goest on in sin Ask thy self Have I not sinned long enough already Have I not long enough abused mercy Shall I make my case remediless and cast away all hope Doth not God stand by and see and hear all Am I not stepping by death into an endless world Think of these things and use thy Reason if thou be a man and hast Reason to use § 81. Direct 6. Exercise thy self daily in Repenting for what is past and that will preserve thee Direct 6. for the time to come Confess thy former sin to God with sorrow and beg forgiveness of it with tears and groans If thou make light of all that 's past thou art prepared to commit more Think as thou goest about thy work how grievously thou hast sinned against thy knowledge and conscience in the sight of God against all his mercies and how obstinately thou hast gone on and how unthankfully thou hast rejected mercy and neglected Christ and refused grace Think what had become of thee if thou hadst dyed in this case and how exceedingly thou art beholden to the patience of God that he cut thee not off and cast thee not into Hell and that he hath provided and offered thee a Saviour and is yet willing to pardon and accept thee through his Son if thou wilt but resolvedly return and live in faith and holiness These penitent thoughts and exercises will kill thy sin and cure thee Fast and humble thy self for what thou hast done already As the holy Apostle saith 1 Pet. 4. 1 2 3 4 5. For asmuch as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh arm your selves likewise with the same mind for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men but to the will of God For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles when we walked in lasciviousness lusts excess of wine revellings banquetting abominable idolatries wherein they think it strange that you run not with them to the same excess of ryot speaking evil of you who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead § 82. Direct 7. Keep from the place and company Ephes. 5. 7 11. Be not partakers with them Direct 7. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them Thou canst not deny but thou art able to do this if thou wilt Canst thou not stay at home and come not near them If thou be willing to escape run not into the snare § 83. Direct 8. Stop at the first cup be not drawn on by little and little As the sluggard saith Direct 8. Yet a little more sleep so the drunkard saith yet a little more drink I will take but one cup more Understand thy due measure that thou maist know what is excess To an ordinary healthful body that doth not very much labour and sweat a quart in a day is enough To cold and flegmatick persons it is too much The old Rule was Prima ad sitim secunda ad hilaritatem tertia ad voluptatem quarta ad insaniam The first Cup is for thirst the second for mirth the third for sensual pleasure the fourth for madness Especially you that have drunk too much so long should rather drink less than other men Your soul requireth it for penitence and for prevention Your bodies require it to cure the crudities already heaped up § 84. Direct 9. Avoid the tempting ceremonies of drunkards such as
covering him § 4. 3. And that God hath not put this Law into mans nature without very great cause albeit the Implicite belief and submission due to him should satisfie us though we knew not the causes particularly yet much of them is notorious to common observation As that if God had not restrained lust by Laws it would have made the female sex most contemptible and miserable and used worse by men than dogs are For first rapes and violence would deflowre them because they are too weak to make resistance And if that had been restrained yet the lust of men would have been unsatisfied and most would have grown weary of the same woman whom they had abused and taken another at least when she grew old they would choose a younger and so the aged women would be the most calamitous creatures upon earth Besides that lust is addicted to variety and groweth weary of the same the fallings out between men and women and the sicknesses that make their persons less pleasing and age and other accidents would expose them almost all to utter misery And men would be Law-makers and therefore would make no Laws for their relief but what consisted with their lusts and ends So that half the world would have been ruined had it not been for the Laws of matrimony and such other as restrain the lusts of men § 5. 4. Also there would be a confused mixture in procreation and no men would well know what children are their own which is worse than not to know their Lands or Houses § 6. 5. Hereby all natural affection would be diminished or extinguished As the love of Husband and Wife so the Love between Fathers and Children would be diminished § 7. 6. And consequently the due education of children would be hindered or utterly overthrown The mothers that should first take care of them would be disabled and turned away that fresh harlots might be received who would hate the offspring of the former So that by this means the world and all societies and civility would be ruined and men would be made worse than bruits whom nature hath either better taught or else made for them some other supply Learning Religion and civility would be all in a manner extinct as we see they are among those few savage Cannibals that are under no restraint For how much all these depend upon education experience telleth us In a word this confusion in procreation would introduce such confusion in mens hearts and families and all societies by corrupting and destroying necessary affection and education that it would be the greatest plague imaginable to mankind and make the world so base and beastly that to destroy mankind from off the earth would seem much more desirable Judge then whether God should have left mens Lusts unrestrained § 8. Object But you 'll say there might have been some moderate restraint to a certain number as Object it is with the Mahometans without so much strictness as Christ doth use Answ. That this strictness is necessary and is an excellency in Gods law appeareth thus 1. By Answ. the greatness of the mischief which else would follow To be remiss in preventing such a confusion in the world would be an enmity to the world 2. In that mans nature is so violently inclined to break over that if the hedge were not close there were no sufficient restraining them they would quickly run out at a little gap 3. The wiser and the better any nation or persons are even among the Heathens the more fully do they consent to the strictness of Gods Laws 4. The cleanest sort of bruits themselves are taught by nature to be as strict in their copulations Though it be otherwise with the meer terrestrial beasts and birds yet the aërial go by couples Those that are called the fowles of the Heavens that fly in the air are commonly taught this chastity by nature as if God would not have lust come near to Heaven 5. The families of the Mahometans that have more wives than one do shew the mischief of it in the effects in the hatred and disagreement of their wives and the great slavery that women are kept in making them like slaves that they may keep them quiet And when women are thus enslaved who have so great a part in the education of children by which all virtue and civility are maintained in the world it must needs tend to the debasing and brutifying of mankind § 9. 7. Children being the pretiousest of all our treasure it is necessary that the strictest Laws be made for the securing of their good education and their welfare If it shall be treason to debase or counterfeit the Kings coyn and if men must be hanged for robbing you of your goods or money and the Laws are not thought too strict that are made to secure your estates how much more is it necessary that the Laws be strict against the vitiating of mankind and against the debasement of your image on your children and against that which tendeth to the extirpation of all virtue and the ruine of all societies and souls § 10. 8. God will have a holy seed in the world that shall bear his image of holiness and therefore he will have all means fitted thereunto Bruitish promiscuous generation tendeth to the production of a bruitish seed And though the word preached is the means of sanctifying those that remain unsanctified from their youth yet a holy marriage and holy dedication of children to God and holy education of them are the former means which God would not have neglected or corrupted and to which he promiseth his blessing As you may see 1 Cor. 7. 14. Mal. 2. 15. Did not he make one Yet had he the residue of the spirit And wherefore one That he might seek a godly seed Therefore take heed to your spirit and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth For the Lord bateth putting away § 11. 9. Yea lust corrupteth the mind of the person himself if it be not very much restrained and moderated It turneth it from the only excellent pleasure by the force of that bruitish kind of pleasure It carrieth away the thoughts and distempereth the passions and corrupteth the phantasie and Solomons wives turned away his heart aâ—ter other Gods 1 Kings 11. 4. The wisdom of Solomon preserved him not from the power of lust and the deceit of women 1 Pet. 2. 10. Fleshly â—â—â—â—ts that fight against the â—oâ—l thereby doth easily corrupt the intellect and heart Pleasure is so much of the End of man which his Nature leadeth him to desire that the chief thing in the world to make a man Good and Happy is to engage his heart to those Pleasures which are Good and make men Happy And the chief thing to make him Bad and Miserable is to engage him in the pleasures which make men Bad and end in Misery And the principal thing by which you may know
wouldst be free from lust keep far enough from the tempting object If possible Direct 3. dwell not in the house with any person that thou feelest thy self endangered by If that be not possible avoid their company especially in private Abhor all lascivious and immodest actions Dost thou give thy self the liberty of wanton dalliance and lustful embracements and yet think to be free from lust wilt thou put thy hand into the fire when thou art afraid of being burnt either thou hast the power of thy own heart or thou hast not If thou hast why dost thou not quench thy lust If thou hast not why dost thou cast it upon greater temptations and put it farther out of thy power than it is Fly from a tempting object for thy safety as thou wouldst fly from an enemy for thy life These Loving enemies are more dangerous than hating enemies They get the Key of our hearts and come in and steal our treasure with our consent or without resistance when an open enemy is suspected and shut out § 6. Direct 4. Command thy Eyes and as Job 31. 1. make a Covenant with them that thou mayest Direct 4. not think on tempting objects Shut these Windows and thou preservest thy heart Gaze not upon any 〈…〉 and â—â—proveâ—â— them that â—ast a wanton 〈…〉 at women in Coaches aâ— they pass by and look out at Windows to have a full view of them and yet think that they 〈…〉 fault suffering a curious eye and a wandering mind to slide and run every way pag. 142. alluring object A look hath kindled that fire of Lust in many a heart that hath ended in the fire of Hell It s easier to stop lust at these outward doors than drive it out when it hath tainted the heart If thou canst not do this much how canst thou do more An ungoverned eye fetcheth fire to burn the soul that should have governed it § 7. Direct 5. Linger not in the pleasant snares of lust if thou feel but the least beginnings of it Direct 5. but quickly cast water on the first discerned spark before it break â—um hâ—â—t modiâ—â—â—angunt praecordia motus Sâ— pâ—get in primo lâ—minâ— siste pedem Opâ—r me dum nova sunt subiti mala semina morbi â—â—â—â—uus incipienâ—ire resiâ—â—aâ— equus Nâ—m mâ—â—a daâ— vires Dum noâ—uâ—â—st câ—â—pto poâ—ius pugnemus amoâ—i Hamma râ—â—â—â—ns parva sparsa resedit aqua Iâ—â—â—â—ea â—aciâ—â— serpunt in vesâ—era flammae â—â— mala â—adiâ—es altius arbor agit out into a flame The Amorous Poet can teach you this Ovid. de Rem Am. If ever delay be dangerous it is here For delay will occasion such engagements to sin that you must come off at a far dearer rate If the meat be undigestible its best not look on it it s the next best not to touch or taste it but if once it go down it will cost you sickness and pain to get it up again and if you do not you perish by it § 8. Direct 6. Abhor lascivious immodest speech As such words come from either vain or filthy Direct 6. hearts and shew the absence of the fear of God so they tend to make the hearer like the speaker And if thy eares grow but patient and reconcileable to such discourse thou hast lost much of thy innocence already Christians must abhor the mentioning of such filthy sins in any other manner but such as tends to bring the hearers to abhor them Be not deceived evil words corrupt good manners 1 Cor. 15. 33. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister grace to the hearers and grieve not the holy spirit of God Corrupt communication is rotten stinking communication and none but Dogs and Crows love Carrion But Fornication and all uncleanness and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inordinate lust or luxury let it not be once named among you as becometh Saints neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor jesting c. § 9. Direct 7. Abhor the covering of filthy lust with handsome names to make it the more acceptable Direct 7. Their discourse is more dangerous that would thus dress up an ugly lust than theirs that speak of it in nâ—sty language Thus among the bruitish party it goeth under the names of Love and having a Mistris and Courting and such like But as one saith thats cited in Stobaeus It is doubled Lust that is commonly called Love and doubled Love is stark madness If filthiness will walk abroad let it go for filthiness and appear as it is § 10. Direct 8. Avoid the Reading of Romances and Love stories which are the Library of Venus Direct 8. or the Devils Books of the Lustful art to cover over filthiness with cleanly names and bewitch the fantasies of fools with fine words To make men conceive of the ready way to Hell under the notions and images of Excellency Beauty Love Gallantry And by representing strong and amorous passions to stir up the same passions in the Reader As he that will needs read a Conjuring Book is well enough served if Devils come about his ears so he that will needs read such Romances and other Books of the Burning art it is just with God to suffer an unclean Devil to possess them and to suffer them to catch the Feaver of Lust which may not only burn up the heart but cause that pernicious deliration in the brain which is the ordinary symptome of it § 11. Direct 9. Avoid all wanton Stage-plays and Dancings which either cover the odiousness of lust Direct 9. or produce temptations to it As God hath his preachers and holy assemblies and exercises for the Communion 〈…〉 ial 30. of Saints and the stirring up of Love and holiness so these are Satans instruments and assemblies and exercises for the communion of sinners and for the stirring up of lust and filthiness They that will go to the Devils Church deserve to be possessed with his Principles and numbred with his Disciples The ancient Christians were very severe against the seeing of these spectacula shews or plays especially in any of the Clergy § 12. Direct 10. Avoid all tempting unnecessary ornaments or attire and the regarding or gazing Direct 10. on them upon others It is a procacious lustful desire to seem comely and amiable which is the common Ly 〈…〉 dâ—r forbad his daughters to wear the brave attire which Dâ—o 〈◊〉 sent them Ne lâ—xuâ—iâ— consâ—iâ—uae tâ—â—poâ—â—es videantur Iâ—st câ—â—spicuoâ—s in â—â—â—â—ury they shoâ—ld seem the moâ—e dâ—formed cause of this excess The Folly or Lust or both of fashionists and gawdy Gallants is so conspicuous to all in their affected dress that never did Pride more cross it self than in such publications of such disgraceful folly or lust They that take on them to be adversaries to lust and yet are careful when they present themselves to sight to appear
in the most adorned manner and do all that Harlots can do to make themselves a snare to fools do put the charitable hard to it whether to believe that it is their tongues or their backs that are the lyer As Hierome saith Thou deservest Hell though none be the worse for thee for thou broughtest the poyson if there had been any to drink it Let thy apparel be suited not only to thy rank but to thy disease If thou be enclined to lust go the more meanly clad thy self and gaze not on the ornaments of others It s folly indeed that will be enamoured on the Taylors work yet this is so common that its frequently more the apparel than the person that â—ntiseth first and homely rags would have prevented the deceit As the Poet saith Auferimur cultu gemmis auroque teguntur Omnia pars minima est ipsa puella sui Ovid. de Remed Am. § 13. Direct 11. Think on thy tempting object as it is within and as it shortly will appear without Direct 11. How ordinary is it for that which you call Beauty to be the portion of a fool and a fair skin to cover a silly childish pievish mind and a soul that is enslaved to the Devil And as Solomon saith Prov 11. 22. As a jewel of Gold in a Swines snout so is a fair woman without discretion And will you lust after an such adorned thing Think also what a dunghill of filth is covered with all those ornaments that it would turn thy stomach if thou sawest what is within them And think what a face that would be if it were but covered with the Pox and what a face it will be when sickness or age hath consumed or wrinkled it And think what thy admired Carkass will be when it hath lain a few days in the grave Then thou wouldst have little mind of it And how quickly will that be O man there is nothing truly amiable in the Creature but the image of God the wisdom and holiness and righteousness of the soul. Love this then if thou wilt Love with wisdom with purity and safety For the Love of Purity is pure and safe § 14. Direct 12. Think on thy own death and how fast thou hastest to another world Is a lustful Direct 12. heart a seemly temper for one that is ready to dye and ready to see God and come into that world where there is nothing but pure and holy doth abide § 15. Direct 13. Consider well the tendency and fruits of lust that it may still appear to your Direct 13. minds as ugly and terrible as it is indeed 1. Think what a shame it is to the soul that can no better rule the body and that is so much defiled by its lusts 2. Think what an unfit companion it is to lodge in the same heart with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit shall a member of Christ be thus polluted shall the Temple of the Holy Ghost be thus turned into a Swine sty Is lust fit to dwell with the Love of God wilt thou entertain thy Lord with such odious company what an unkindness and injury is this to God that when he that dwelleth in the highest Heavens condescendeth to take up a dwelling in thy heart thou shouldst bring these Toads and Snakes into the same room with him Take heed lest he take it unkindly and be gone He hath said he will dwell with the humble and contrite heart but where said he I will dwell in a lustful heart 3. Think how unfit it makes thee for Prayer or any holy address to God What a shame and fear and deadness it casts upon thy spirit 4. And think how it tends to worse Lust tendeth to actual filthiness and that to Hell cherish not the Eggs if thou wouldst have none of the Brood It s an easie step from a Lustful heart to a defiled body and a shorter step thence to everlasting horrour than you imagine As St. Iames saith Every man is tempted when he is drawn aside of his own lust and entised then when lust both conceived it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death Jam. 1. 13 14. Gal. 6. 8. If ye sow to the flesh of the flesh ye shall reap corruption Remember that Lust is the spawn of sin and sin is the way to Hell § 16. Direct 14. Be sure to keep up a holy constant Government over thy Thoughts Suffer them not Direct 14. to go after tempting filthy sensual things As soon as ever a thought of Lust comes into thy mind abhor it and cast it out Abundance of the cure and of thy safety lyeth upon thy Thoughts They that let their Thoughts run uncontrolled and seed on filthiness are already fornicators in the heart and are hatching the Cockatrice Eggs and no wonder if from Thoughts they proceed to deeds O what a deal of uncleanness is committed by the Thoughts which people are little ashamed of because they are unseen of men If the Thoughts of many were open to beholders what wantonness and lust would appear in many adorned Sepulchres Even in the time of holy Worship when once such give the unclean spirit possession of their thoughts how hardly is he cast out they can scarce look a comely person in the face without some vicious thought If Hierome confess that in his Wilderness his Thoughts were running among the Ladies at Rome what may we think of them that feed such filthy Phantasies Say not you cannot rule your Thoughts You can do much if you will and more than you do If money and honour can make an ungodly Preacher command his Thoughts to holy things in the studies of Divinity through much of his life you may see that your Thoughts are much in your power but of this before § 17. Direct 15. If other means serve not open thy case to some friend and shame thy self to him as Direct 15. I advised under the former Title Confession and shame and advise will help thee § 18. Direct 16. Above all go to Christ for help and beg his spirit and give up thy Heart to better Direct 16. things O if it were taken up with God and Heaven and the Holy life that 's necessary thereto these things are so Great and Holy and sweet and of such concernment to thee that they would leave little room for Lust within thee and would make thee abhor it as contrary to those things which have thy heart No such cure for any carnal Love as the Love of God nor for fleshly lusts as a spiritual renewed Heavenly mind Thou wouldst then tell Satan that God hath taken up all the room and thy narrow Heart is too little for him alone and that there is no room for lust or the thoughts that serve it A true Conversion which turneth the heart to God doth turn it from this with other sins though some sparks may still be unextinguished It was once noted
men are never unprovided for wise speech But the mouth of fools bewrayeth their folly Prov. 15. 2. The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness Prov. 14. 3. In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride but the lips of the wise shall preseve them Prov. 18. 6 7. A fools lips enter into contention and his mouth calleth for strokes A fools mouth is his destruction and his lips are the snare of his soul. But you 'll say To tell us that we should get wisdom is a word soon spoken but not a thing that 's easily or quickly done It 's very true And therefore it 's as true that the tongue is not easily well used and governed for men cannot express the wisdom which they have not unless it be by rote Therefore you must take Solomons counsel Prov. 2. 1 2 3 4 5. My son if thou wilt receive my words and hide my commandments with thee so that thou encline thine ear to wisdom and apply thy heart to understanding yea if thou cryest after knowledge and liftest up thy voice for unstanding If thou seâ—kest her as silver and searchest for her as for hidden treasures Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God For the Lord giveth wisdom c. § 44. Direct 6. In the mean time learn to be silent till you have learnt to speak Let not your Direct 6. tongues run before your wits speak not of that which you do not well understand unless as Learners to â—â—m 1 19. Slow to speak slow to wâ—ath Prov. 17. 28. receive instruction Rather of the two speak too little than too much Those that will needs talk of things which they understand not do use either to speak evil of them as Iud. 10. when they are good or to speak evilly of them be they good or bad He that cannot hold his tongue well cannot speak well There is a time to keep silence and a time to speak Eccles. 3. 9. Amos 5. 13. There is a time so evil that the prudent should keep silence At such a time Nihil aequè proderit quam quiescere minimum cum aliis loqui plurimum secum saith Seneca It 's then the best way to be quiet and to say little to others and much to your selves You have two ears and one tongue Hear twice and speak once we oftner repent of speaking then of being silent Few words are quickly answered for To be wary and sparing of your speech doth not only avoid abundance of contention danger and repentance but also procureth you a reputation of wisdom Plutark saith well that Pauca loquentibus paucis legibus opus est There needs but few Laws for them that speak but few words When one said to the Cynick when he was much silent If thou art a wise man thou dost foolishly If thou be a fool thou dost wisely He answered Nemo stultus tacere potest A fool cannot hold his tongue And he that cannot hold his tongue cannot hold his peace Pythagoras his counsel in this agreeth with Christs Aut sile aut affer silentio meliora either be silent or say something that is better than silence It was a wise answer of him that being asked whom covetous Landlords and whom covetous Lawyers hated most did answer to the first Those that eat little and sweat much For they usually live long and so their Leases are not soon expired and to the second Those that speak little and love much For such ☜ seldom make any work for Lawyers Two things are requisite in the matter of your speech that it be somewhat needful to be spoken and that it be a thing which you understand Till then be silent § 45. Direct 7. Take heed of hasty rashness in your speech and use deliberation especially in great Direct 7. or in doubtful things Think before you speak It 's better to try your words before you speak them Noli cito loqui est enim insaniae indicium Bias iâ— Laert. than after A preventing tryal is better than a repenting tryal But if both be omitted God will try them to your greater cost I know in matters that are throughly understood a wise man can speak without any further premeditation than the immediate actuating of the knowledge which he doth express But when there is any fear of mis-understanding or a disability to speak fiâ—ly and safely without fore-thoughts there hasty speaking without deliberation especially in weighty things must be avoided Prov. 29. 20. seest thou a man that is hasty in his words there is more hope of a fool than of him especially take heed in speaking either to God in prayer or in the name of God or as from God in preaching or exhortation or about the holy matters of God in any of thy discourse Eccles. 5. 1 2. Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God and be more ready to hear than to offer the sacrifice of fools for they consider not that they do evil that is watch thy self in publick worship and be forwarder to learn of God and to obey him as sensible of thy ignorance and subject to his will than to offer him thy sacrifice as if he stood in need of thee while thou neglectest or rejectest his commands Be not rash with thy mouth and let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God for God is in Heaven and thou upon earth therefore let thy words be few For a dream cometh through multitude of business and a fools voice is known by multitude of words that is Come to God as an obedient learner and a receiver and not as a giver and therefore be readier to hear what he hath to command thee than to pour out many words before him as if he would accept and hear thee for thy babling If loquacity and forwardness to talk many undigested words be a sign of folly among men how much more when thou speakest to God that is in Heaven § 46. Direct 8. Keep a holy government over all your passions as aforesaid and especially try all Direct 8. those words with suspicion which any passion urgeth you to vent For Passion is so apt to blind the judgement that even holy passions themselves must be warily managed and feared as you carry fire among straw or other combustible matter As grievous words stir up anger Prov. 15. 1. so anger causeth grievous words Be not hasty in thy spirit to he angry for anger resteth in the bosom of fools Eccles. 7. 9. To govern the tongue when you are in any Passion either Love or fear or grief or anger is like the governing of a Ship in storms and Tempests or the managing of a Horse that is fierce and heated Prov. 14. 16 17. The fool rageth and is confident He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly Prov. 21. 19. It is better to dwell in the
as all metaphors are equivocal and yet may be used 2. When the equivocal sense is the most usual or obvious and if it be not understood it is through the hearers fault or extraordinary dulness 3. When a Robber or usurping Tyrant or any cruel enemy that hath no authority to do it shall seek to ensnare my life by questions I may lawfully answer him in such doubtful words as purposely are intended to deceive him or leave him ignorant of my sense so be it they be not lies or false in the ordinary usage of those words 4. And to such a person I may answer doubtfully when it is apparent that it is a doubtful answer and that I do it as professing that I will answer him no more particularly nor plainly but will conceal the rest Quest. 6. Whether all mental reservation be unlawful Quest. 6. Answ. This needeth no other answer than the former If the expressed words be a Lie the mental Answ. reservation will not make them justifiable as a truth But if the expressed words of themselves be true then the mental reservation may be lawful when it is no more than a concealment of part of the truth in a case where we are not bound to reveal it But of both these cases I must refer the Reader to what I have said about Vows Tom. 3. Chap. 5. Tit. 2. without which he will not know my meaning Quest. 7. May Children Servants or Subjects in danger use words which tend to hide their faults Quest. 7. Answ. 1. When they are bound not to hide the fault they may not Which is 1. When due obedience Answ. or 2. the greater good which will follow require them to open it 2. When they are not bound to open it they may hide it by just means but not by Lies or any evil In what cases they may hide a fault by just means I shall here say no more to Quest. 8. May I speak that which I think is true but am not sure Quest. 8. Answ. If you have a just call you may say you think it is true but not flatly that it is so Answ. Quest. 9. May I believe and speak that of another by way of news discourse or character which I hear Quest. 9. reported by godly credible persons or by many Answ. 1. The main doubt is when you have a call to speak it which is answered after Tom. 4. at Answ. large 2. You may not so easily believe and report evil of another as good 3. You must not believe ill of another any further than evidence doth constrain you Yet you may believe it according to the degree of evidence or credibility and make use of the report for just caution or for good But not to defame another upon uncertainty or without a call 4. The sin of Receiving and spreading false reports of others upon hearsay is now so common among those that do profess Sobriety and Religion that all men should take heed of it in all company as they would do of the Plague in an infectious time And now it is so notorious that false news and slanders of others are so common neither good mens words nor common fame will allow you or excuse you to believe or report any evil of another till you are able to prove that it is your duty But all Christians should joyn in Lamenting and reproving this common uncharitable sin Tit. 4. Special Directions against Idle talk and Babling § 1. Direct 1. UNderstand well what is idle talk For many take that to be vain which is not Direct 1. and many take not that to be vain which is I shall therefore open this before I go any further § 2. The judgement of infidels and impious men here are of little regard 1. Some of them What is not idle talk think prayer to be but vain words because God knoweth our wants and hearts Iob. 22. 2 3. and our service is not profitable to him As if he had bid us seek him in vain Isa. 45. 19. These I have elsewhere Jâ—b 21 15. Mal. 3. â—4 confuted 2. Others think frequent preaching vain and say as the Infidels of Paul Act. 17. 18. What will this Babler say and as Pharaoh Exod. 5. 9. Let them not regard vain words But God saith Deut. 32. 46 47. Set your hearts to all the words which I testifie among you for it is not a vain thing for you because it is your life 3. Some carnal wretches think all vain in Gods service which is spiritual and which they understand not or which is above the reach of a fleshly mind 4. And some think all vain in Preaching Conference Writing or Prayer which is long But Christ spake Job 34 9 Heb. 13. â—5 no vain words when he prayed all night Luk. 6. 12. Nor are we bid pray in vain when we are bid pray continually instantly and importunately 1 Thes. 5. 17. Act. 6. 4. Luk. 18. 1 2. Nor did Paul speak idly when he preacht till midnight Act. 20. Godliness is not vain which is profitable to all things 1 Tim. 4. 8. Indeed as to their own salvation the wicked may make our preaching vain but the word of God returneth not empty The oblations of the disobedient are vain Isa. 1. 13. and the prayer of the wicked abominable to the Lord but the prayer of the upright is his delight Prov. 15. 8. 4. Some think all preaching vain of that which they know already whereas they have most need to hear of that lest they condemn themselves by sinning against their knowledge 2 Pet. 1. 12 13. Rom. 14. 22. 6. Some think it vain if the same things be often preached on or repeated see Phil. 3. 1. though yet they never received and obeyed them Or if the same words be oft repeated in prayer though it be not from emptiness or affectation but fervencie Mark 14. 39. Psalm 136. 119. 7. Unbelievers Isa. 49. 4â— 5. think our boasting in God is vain 2 King 18. 20. 8. And some malitious adversaries charge it on Ministers as Preaching in vain whenever the hearers are not converted See Heb. 4. 2. Gal. 5. 2. 3. 4. 4. 11. Isa. 53. 1. § 3. On the other side many that are godly mistake in thinking 1. That all talk is vain which is not of absolute necessity to some great use and end 2. And that all mirth and pleasant discourse 1 King 18 27. Prov. 29. 9. is vain Whereas the Holy Ghost saith Prov. 17. 22. A merry heart doth good like a medicine but a broken spirit dryeth the bones Prov. 15. 13. A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken Gen. 26. 8. King Abimelech saw Isaack sporting with Rebekah his wife Laughing as the Hebrew is or playing as the Chaldee and Samaritan and Sept. or jeasting as the Syriack Arabick and Vulgar Latine § 4. Observe these
qualifications and your mirth and sporting talk will not be idle 1. Let it be such and so much as is useful to maintain that cheerfulness of mind and alacrity of spirits which is profitable to your health and duty For if bodily recreations be lawful then tongue-recreations are lawful when they are accommodate to their end 2. Let your speech be savoury seasoned with salt and not corrupt and rotten communication Jeast not with filthiness or sin 3. Let it be harmless to others Make not your selves merry with the sins or miseries of other men Jeast not to their wrong 4. Let it be seasonable and not when another frame of mind is more convenient nor when graver or weightier discourse should take place 5. Let it be moderate and not excessive either wasting time in vain or tending to habituate the mind of the speakers or hearers to levity or to estrange them from things that should be preferred 6. See that all your mirth and speech be sanctified by a holy end that your intent in all be to whet your spirits and cheer up and fit your selves for the service of God as you do in eating and drinking and all other things 7. And mix with cautelous reverence some serious things that the end and use be not forgotten and your mirth may not be altogether as empty and fruitless as that of the unsanctified is Sporting pleasant and recreating talk is not vain but lawful upon these conditions 8. Still remembring that the most holy and profitable discourse Iam. 5. 13. Is any merry Let him sing Psalms What is idle talk The sorts of it Otiosum verbum est quod justae necessitatis aut intentione piae utilitatis ca 〈…〉 t. Gregor Moral must be most pleasant to us and we must not through a weariness of it divert to carnal mirth as more desirable but only use natural honest mirth as a necessary concomitant to exhilerate the spirits § 5. Idle or vain words then are such as are unprofitable and tend not to do good I here forbear to speak of those Idle words which are also worse than vain as mentioned before among the sins of the tongue Idle words are 1. Either simply such which tend to no good at all 2. Or comparatively such which are about some small or inconsiderable good when you should be speaking of greater things The former sort are always idle and therefore always sinful The latter sort are sometimes lawful in themselves that is when greater matters are not to be talked of In its season it is lawful to speak about the saving of a penny or a point or a pin But out of season when greater matters are in hand this is but idle sinful talk § 6. Also there is a great deal of difference between now and then an Idle word and a babling prating custom by which it becometh the daily practice of some loose-tongued persons so that the greater part of the words of all their lives are meerly vain § 7. The particular kinds of Idle talk are scarce to be numbred Some of them are these § 7. 1. When the tongue is like a vagrant beggar or masterless dog that is never in the way and never out of the way being left to talk at random about any unprofitable matter that comes before it And such will never want matter to talk of every thing they see or hear is the subject of their chat And one word begetteth occasion and matter for another without end § 8. 2. Another sort of idle talk is the vain discourses by word or writing of some learned 1 Cor. 3. 20. Rom. 1. 21. men in which they bestow an excessive multitude of words about some small impertinent thing not to edifie but to shew their wit which Sâ—neca reprehends at large § 9. 3. Another sort of idle talk is vain and immoderate Disputings about the smaller circumstances oâ— Religion or frequent discourses about such unedifying things while greater matters should be talkt of Tit. 3. 9. But avoid foolish questions and genealogies and contentions and strivings about the Law for they are unprofitable and vain 1 Tim. 1. 5 6 7. Now the end of the Commandment is charity out of a pure â—eart and of a good Conscience and of faith unfeigned from which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling desiring to be teachers of the Law understanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirm 1 Tim. 6. 20. O Timothy keep that which is committed to thy trust avoiding profane and vain bablings and opposition of sciences falsly so called which some professing have erred concerning the faith 2 Tim. 2. 16. But shun prophane and vain bablings for they will increase unto more ungodliness Tit. 1. 10 11. There are many unruly and vain talkers c. § 10. 4. Another sort of Idle talk is the using of a needless multitude of words even about that â—â—â—â—â— â—5 16. Saith Hugo thâ—re is a time when â—o â—â—ag and a time when soâ—â—thia should be spâ—ken but never â— time whâ—n All should be spoken which is good and necessary in it self but might better be opened in a briefer manner Even in preaching or praying words may be vain which is when they are not suited to the matter and the hearers For you must note that the same words are necessary to one sort of hearers which are vain as to another sort And therefore as Ministers must take heed that they suit their manner of speech to their auditors so hearers must take heed lest they censoriously and rashly call that vain which is unnecessary to them or such as they There may be present many ignorant persons that the preacher is better acquainted with than you And the ignorant lose that which is concisely uttered They must have it at large in many words and oft râ—peated or else they understand it not or remember not that which they understand But yet a real excess of words even about holy things must be avoided Eccles. 5. 23. Be not rash with thy mouth and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God The Spartans banished an Oraâ—or for saying He could speak all day of any suoâ—ect â—â—asn See the Manual of prayers printed at 〈◊〉 1658. pag. 507. for God is in Heaven and thou upon earth therefore let thy words be few for a dream cometh through the multitude of business and a fools voice is known by the multitude of words Two causes of idle words in prayer must be avoided 1. Emptiness and rashness 2. Affectation that is 1. Affectation to words as if you should be heard for saying so many words over and over as the Papists in their Iesus Psalter say over the name Iesu nine times together and those nine times fifteen times over besides all their repetitions of it in the petitions themselves between So in the Titles of the B. Virgin in her Litany p. 525. Hypocrites in all ages and Religions have the same
Whoever took a talkative babler for a wise man He that is Logophilus is seldome Philologus much less Philosophus As Demosthenes Eccles 5. 3 7. Eccles. â—0 12 13. Eccles. 10. 14. Psal. 37. 30 Prov. 17. 27 28. 10. 20. 12. 18. 10 19. 18. 4 5 6. â—1 23. said to a Prater If thou knewest more thou wouldst say less They seldom go for men of action and vertue that talk much They that say much usually do little Women and Children and old folks are commonly the greatest talkers I may add mad folks Livy noteth that Souldiers that prate and brag much seldom fight well And Erasmus noteth that Children that quickly learn to speak are long in learning to go It is not the barking Curr that biteth Let it be the honour of a Parrot to speak much but of a man to speak wisely The mobility of their tongues an honour common to an Aspen leaf is all their honour that can multis verbis pauca dicere say a little in a great many of words but multa paucis much in few words is the character of the wise unless when the quality of the auditors prohibiteth it And qui sunt in dicendo brevissimi if the auditors can bear it shall be accounted the best speakers I am not of his mind that said He oft repented speaking but never repented silence But except they be Ministers few men have so much cause to repent of silence as of speech Non quam multa sed quam bene must be the Christians care As one said of Philosophy I may much more say of Religion that though an Orators excellency appeareth only in speaking yet the Philosophers and the Christians appeareth as much in silence § 26. 6. Where there is much idle talk there will be much sinful talk Prov. 10. 19. In the multitude of words there wants not sin but he that refraineth his lips is wise There are lyes or backbitings or medling with other folks matters or scurrilous jeasts if not many such sins that go along with a course of idle talk It is the vehicle in which the Devil giveth his most poysonous draughts Saith Lipsius It is given to Praters Non multa tantum sed male to speak ill as well as to speak much § 27. 7. Vain words hinder your own edification Who knoweth if you would hold your tongues but some one would speak wiselyer that might do you good Prov. 23. 8 9. § 28. 8. And you weary the Hearers unless they are strangely patient when you intend to please them or else you might as well talk all that by your self It is scarce manners for them unless you be much their inferiors to tell you they are aweary to hear you and to intreat you to hold your tongues But you little know how oft they think so I judge of others by my self I flye from a talkative person as from a Bed that hath Fleas or Lice I would shut my doors against them as I stop my Windows against the Wind and Cold in Winter How glad am I when they have done and gladder when they are gone Make not your selves a burden to your company or friends by the troublesome noise of an unwearied tongue § 29. 9. Many words are the common causers of contention Some word or other will fall that offendeth those that hear it or else will be carried to those that are absent and made the occasion of heart-burnings rehearsals brawls or Law-suits There is no keeping quietness peace and love with talkative pratlers at least not long § 30. 10. Are you not sensible what Pride and impudency is in it when you think your selves worthiest to speak As if you should say you are all children to me hold your tongues and hear me speak If you had Christian Humility and Modesty you would in honour prefer others before your selves Rom. 12. 10. You would think your selves unworthiest to speak unless the contrary be very evident and desire rather to hear and learn As Heraclitus being asked Why he alone was silent in the company answered That you may talk So when you talk above your parts it is as if you told the company I talk that all you may be silent § 31. 11. It is a voluntary sin and not repented of For you may easily forbear it if you will and you wilfully continue in it and therefore impenitency is your danger § 32. 12. Lastly Consider how unprofitable a sin it is and how little you have to hire you to commit it What get you by it Will you daily sin against God for nothing § 33. Direct 4. If you would not be idle talkers see that your hearts be taken up with something that Direct 4. is good And that your tongues be acquainted with and accustomed to their proper work and duty An Isa. 32. 4 5 6. Matth. 12 34 36. 2 Cor. 4. 13. John 3. 11. 1 John 4. 5. Prov. 16. 23. Psal. 40 5. Cant. 7. 9. empty head and heart are the causes of empty frothy vain discourse Conscience may tell you when your tongues run upon vanity that at that time there is no sense of sin or duty or the presence of God upon your hearts no holy Love no Zeal for God but you are asleep to God and all that 's good and in this sleep you moither and talk idly of any thing that cometh into your mind Also you make not conscience of speaking of that which is good or else it would keep out vanity and evil Remember what abundance of greater matters you have to talk of You have the evil of sin the multitude and subtilty of temptations and the way of resisting them to talk of You have your faults to lament your evidences to enquire after your mercies thankfully to open the greatness and goodness and all the attributes of God to praise You have all the works of God to admire even all the creatures in the world to contemplate and all Gods admirable Providences and Government to observe You have the mysterie of Redemption the person and office and life and miracles and sufferings and glory and intercession and reign of Christ to talk of And all the secret sanctifying operations of the Holy Ghost and all the Ordinances of God and all the means of Grace and all our duties to God and man and all the holy Scripture besides death and judgement and Heaven and Hell and the concernments of the Church of God and the case of the persons you speak to who may need your instruction exhortation admonition reproof or comfort And is not here work enough to employ your tongues and keep them from idle talk Make conscience of those Prov. 23. 16. duties commanded Ephes. 4. 29. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying and may minister grace to the hearers and grieve not the holy Spirit Psal. 145. 6 11 12 13 21. of God
Gods own Image and the clearest image of God that is under Heaven even that which Christ came down from Heaven to give us the Luk. 19 27. first draught of even that copy of the holy life of Christ which by the spirit of God is drawn upon the heart And he that scorneth at this image of God doth scorn at the Holy-Ghost that made it and scorn at Christ who gave us the first pattern and scorn at God himself whose image it is Saith Chrysostom God is loved and hated in his servants as a King is honoured or despised in his image And he that dare scorn God and scorn Iesus Christ and scorn the Holy-Ghost in the Image of God upon his children methinks should never have the face once to expect to be saved by the God that he doth scorn § 43. 18. Thou art the shame of humane nature and makest man so like a Devil that it is hard Quid hâ—mâ—ni 〈…〉 issimum Hoâ—â—â—â— inquit Martiâ— Dâ—mieâ—â— de Moâ—iâ— to prove that Devils can do much worse than thou Can there be a greater sin than for a creature to scorn and deride the Image and Laws of his Creator And hate and oppose or persecute men for obeying him and seeking to please him and to save their souls What couldst thou do worse if thou wouldst study to be as bad as thou canst What a shame is it to thy understanding to be so blind And to thy heart to be so wicked It were not half so great a shame to scorn the Sun for shining or the earth for bearing fruit For though these are Gods creatures yet they bear not the Image of his Holiness as his children do When he will condemn men at last it will be upon this account Matth. 25. 40. 45. Verily I say unto you in as much as you did it not or did it to one of the least of these my brethren ye did it not or did it unto me O wonderful that the nature of man can ever come to this to hate and oppose and scorn the Image and obedience of his Maker and make a mock of the Holiness of God! It is a great question whether the very tempting men to such sins as these be not the Devils greatest sin And to commit it is worse than to tempt thee to commit it caeteris paribus And for a man that hath a Saviour offered him thus to scorn his Saviours Grace and mock his servants must needs be far worse than for the Devil to do it who hath no Saviour no pardon offered and no hope but is shut up under endless desperation As it is worse for a child to curse his Father or scorn him than for an enemy to do it Think and tremble how near this deriding or opposing the Mat. 12. work of the Holy-Ghost doth come to the unpardonable Blasphemy against him § 44. 19. What villany may not be expected from thee that canst commit such a sin as this May not thy neighbour look for any mischief that thy carnal interest shall lead thee to do against him Is it any wrong to thee to think that thou art a thief a murderer a whoremonger a deceiver unless it be for want of a temptation to commit them Or that thou wouldst be a Trayâ—or against thy King and Psal. 123. 4. Country Or perfidious to thy truest friend if thou wert tempted to it When thou scornest men for obeying God himself Can that man stick at any wickedness that he is equally tempted to who daâ—e scorn his Maker the Redeemer and the Sanctifier And spit contempt upon Holiness it self the Image of his Judge For my part if ever I trust thee or any such man as thou with life or liberty or with the worth of a groat it shall be thy Interest and not thy honesty and conscience that I 'le trust I 'le trust thee little further than I would trust the Devil himself that governs thee § 45. 20. Lastly consider what thou wilt think of thy self for this at death and judgement Will Read well Jud. 14. 1â— Psal. 1. it comfort thee when thou art going to be judged of God to think that thou art now going into the presence of that God whom thou wast wont to scorn When thou seest Christ come with thousands of his holy Angels to judge the world will it comfort thee to think This is he whose holy life and precepts and servants I mockt or persecuted on earth Now I must be judged by him that I derided O dreadful case For a scorner or persecutor of Godliness to go to be judged by that holy God whose waies he scorned and persecuted If you say It was not Christ but a man that you derided see Mat. Prov. 9. 12. Prov. â—9 8. Isa. 28. 14. 25. 40 45. Luk. 19. 27. Act. 9. 4. Saul Saul why persecutest thou me If thou scorn a child for that in which he resembleth imitâ—â—eth or obeyeth his Father thou wilt find in the day of judgement to thy woe that it was the Father himself that was the utmost and principal object of thy scorn Then I had rather be the vilest Toad than such a Man Then wilt thou stand to what thou saidst Wilt thou then maintain thy slanders and reproach Wilt thou then condemn or scorn the godly when thou seest them justified at Christs right hand or glorified with him in Heaven No! as Mâ—l 3. 18. When God makes up his jewels Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not Then how gladly would you eat all the words of reproach and scorn that ever you uttered against a saint And wish that you had never spoken them I tell you it is an unseemly thing for the same man now to scorn at godliness who will so speedily tremble before the righteous God in the remembrance of it § 46. I have thought these discoveries of the horridness of this sin to be the best Directions against it For as it is a sin that thou gettest nothing by so it is a sin that thou maist easily leave if thou be willing But for those that are yet but in the way to it or in danger of it I shall add these further Directions to keep them from so desperate a wickedness § 47. Direct 1. Avoid the company of those distracted men that dare revile the servants and ways of Direct 1. God There is that in your corrupted natures which will incline you to imitate the most horrid blasphemies if you often hear them We have seen it in our days that in imitation of others men have been drawn to sins not to be named To drink healths to the Devil to make God dâ—mn me an ordinary by-word Be not therefore companions of them § 48. Direct 2. Take heed of sinning your selves into blindness of mind and hardness of heart Forsake Direct 2 not God lest you be forsaken
all their labour and suffering To think of the blessed end of all their pains and patience and how far they are now from repenting of it methinks should stir us up to zeal and diligence § 24. 8. To foresee what thoughts all the world will have of holy diligence at last how the best will wish they had been better and had done much more for God and their salvation and how the worst will wish when it is too late that they had been as zealous and diligent as the best How earnestly they will then knock and cry Lord open to us when it is all in vain and say to the watchful diligent souls Give us of your Oyle for our Lamps are gone out Matth. 25. To think how glad the most ungodly would then be if they might but have dyed the death of the righteous and their latter end might be Num. 23. 10. as his And what heart-tearing grief will seize upon them for ever to think how madly they lost their souls and sluggishly went to Hell to spare their pains of that sweet and holy work that should have prevented it Will not such forethoughts awaken the most sluggish stupid souls that will but follow them till they can do their work § 25. 9. Remember that thou must be zealous and diligent in this or nothing For there is nothing else that is worth thy seriousness in comparison of this To be earnest and laborious for perishing vanities is the disgrace of thy mind and will prove thy disappointment and leave thee at last in shame and sorrow when holy diligence will recompence all thy pains § 26. 10. Remember also that thou hast been slothful and negligent too long And how dost thou repent of thy former sloth if thou wilt be as slothful still Art thou grieved to think how many duties slothfulness hath put by and how many it hath murdered and frustrated and made nothing of and how much Grace and Mercy and Comfort it hath already deprived thee of and how much better thy case were if thou hadst lived in as much holy diligence as the best thou knowest And yet wilt thou be slothful still § 27. 11. Remember that thou hast thy Life and health and wit and parts for nothing else but by thy present duty to prepare for everlasting joyes that all Gods mercies bind thee to be diligent and every Ordinance and all his helps and means of grace are given to further thee in the work and Sun and Moon and Air and Earth and all attend thee with their help And yet wilt thou be cold and slothful and frustrate all these means and mercies § 28. 12. Remember how diligent thy Enemy is Satan goeth about even night and day like a 1 Pet. 5. ◠roaring Lyon seeking to devour And wilt thou be less diligent to resist him § 29. 13. Think what an example of diligence Christ himself hath left thee And how laboriously blessed Paul and all the holy Servants of Christ did follow their Masters work Did they Pray and watch and work as slothfully as thou dost § 30. 14. Remember how hot and earnest thou wast formerly in thy sin And wilt thou now be cold and negligent in thy duty when God hath set thee in a better way § 31. 15. Observe how eager and diligent worldlings are for the world and flesh-pleasers for their sports and pleasures and proud persons for their greatness and honour and malignant persons to oppose the Gospel of Christ and their own and other mens salvations Look on them and think what a shame it is to thee to be more cold and remiss for God § 32. 16. Observe how an awakening pang of Conscience or the sight of death when it seems to be at hand can waken the very wicked to some kind of serious diligence at the present so that by their confessions and cryes and promises and amendments while the fit was on them they seemed more zealous than many that were sincere And shall not saving grace do more with you than a fit of fear can do with the ungodly § 33. 17. Remember of how sad importance it is and what it signifieth to be cold and slothful If it be predominant so as to keep thee from a holy life it is damnable The spirit of slumber is a most dreadful judgement But if it do not so prevail yet though thou be a Child of God it signifieth a great debility of soul and foretelleth some sharp affliction to befall thee if God mean to do thee good by a recovery The decay of natural heat is a sign of old age and is accompanied with the decay of all the powers And sicknesses and pains do follow such decays of life And as you will make your Horse feel the rod or spur when he grows dull and heavy expect when you grow cold and dull to feel the spur of some affliction to make you stir and mend your pace § 34. 18. Remember that thy sloth is a sinning against thy knowledge and against thy experience and against thy own Covenants promises and profession and therefore an aggravated sin These and such like serious thoughts will do much to stir up a slothful soul to Zeal and Diligence § 35. Direct 4. Drown not your hearts in worldly business or delights for these breed a Direct 4. loathing and aversness and weariness of holy things They are so contrary one to the other that Luk. 8. 14. the mind will not be eagerly set on both at once but as it relisheth the one it more and more disrelisheth the other There is no heart left for God when other things have carryed it away § 36. Direct 5. Do all you can to raise your hearts to the Love of God and a delight in holy things Direct 6. and then you will not be slothful nor weary nor negligent Love and Delight are the most excellent remedy against a slow unwilling kind of duty Know but how good it is to walk with God and do his work and thou wilt do it chearfully § 37. Direct 6. A secret root of unbelief is the mortal enemy of zeal and diligence Labour for a Direct 7. well-grounded belief of the word of God and the world to come and stir up that belief into exercise when you would have your slothful hearts stird up When there is a secret questioning in the heart What if there should be no life to come What if the grounds of Religion are unsound This blasteth the vigor of all endeavors and inclineth men to serve God only with hypocritical halving and reserves and maketh men resolve to be no further Religious than stands with present fleshly happiness § 38. Direct 7. Take heed of debauching Conscience by venturing upon doubtful things much more Direct 7. by known and willful sin For when once Conscience is taught to comply with sin and is mastered in Rom. 14 21. 22. 1 Cor. 5. 6. Eph. 4. 29 30. one thing
Rich men may want great sums or larger provisions which the poor can easily be without And their condition lifting them up to greater pride doth torment them with greater discontents How few in all the world that have families are content with their estates § 24. 4. Hereupon a married life containeth far more temptations to worldliness or covetousness than a single state doth For when you think you need more you will desire more And when you find all too little to satisfie those that you provide for you will measure your estate by their desires and be apt to think that you have never enough Birds and Beasts that have young ones to provide for are most hungry and rapacious You have so many now to scrape for that you will think you are still in want It is not only till Death that you must now lay up but you must provide for children that survive you And while you take them to be as your selves you have two Generations now to make provisions for And most men are as Covetous for their posterity as if it were for themselves § 25. 5. And hereupon you are hindred from works of Charity to others Wife and Children are the devouring gulf that swalloweth all If you had but your selves to provide for a little would serve And you could deny your own desires of unnecessary things and so might have plentiful provision for good works But by that time Wife and Children are provided for and all their importunate desires satisfied there is nothing considerable left for pious or charitable uses Lamentable experience proclaimeth this § 26. 6. And hereby it appeareth how much a married state doth ordinarily hinder men from honouring their profession It is their vows of single life that hath occasioned the Papists to do so many works of publick charity as is boasted of for the honour of their Sect For when they have no Children to bequeath it to and cannot keep it themselves it is easie for them to leave it to such uses as will pacifie their Consciences most and advance their names And if it should prove as good a work and as acceptable to God to educate your own Children piously for his service as to relieve the children of the poor yet is it not so much regarded in the world nor bringeth so much honour to Religion One hundred pound given to the poor shall more advance the repution of your liberality and virtue than a thousand pound given to your own children though it be with as pious an end to train them up for the service of the Church And though this is inconsiderable as your own honour is concerned in it yet it is considerable as the honour of Religion and the good of souls is concerned in it § 27. 7. And it is no small patience which the natural imbecility of the female sex requireth you to prepare Except it be very few that are patient and manlike women are commonly of potenâ— fantasies and tender passionate impatient spirits easily cast into anger or jealousie or discontent and of weak understandings and therefore unable to reform themselves They are betwixt a man and a child Some few have more of the man and many have more of the child but most are but in a middle state Weakness naturally inclineth persons to be froward and hard to please as we see in children old people and sick persons They are like a sore distempered body You can scarce touch them but you hurt them With too many you can scarce tell how to speak or look but you displease them If you should be very well verst in the art of pleasing and set your selves to it with all your care as if you made it your very business and had little else to do yet it would put you hard to it to please some weak impatient persons if not quite surpass your ability and skill And the more you love them the more grievous it will be to see them still in discontents aweary of their condition and to hear the clamorous expressions of their disquiet minds Nay the very multitude of words that very many are addicted to doth make some mens lives a continual burden to them Mark what the Scripture saith Prov. 21. 9. It is better to dwell in a corner of the house top than with a brawling woman in a wide house Vers. 19. It is better to dwell in the wilderness than with a contentious and an angry woman So 25. vers 24. And Prov. 27. 15. A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike Eccles. 7. 28. One man among a thousand have I found but a woman among all those have I not found § 28. 8. And there is such a meeting of faults and imperfections on both sides that maketh it much the harder to bear the infirmities of others aright If one party only were froward and impatient the stedfastness of the other might make it the more tolerable But we are all sick in some measure of the same disease And when weakness meeteth with weakness and pride with pride and passion with passion it exasperateth the disease and doubleth the suffering And our corruption is such that though our intent be to help one another in our duties yet we are apter far to stir up one anothers distempers § 79. 9. The business care and trouble of a married life is a great temptation to call down our thoughts from God and to divert them from the one thing necessary Luk. 10. 42. and to distract the mind and make it indisposed to holy duty and to serve God with a divided heart as if we served him not How hard is it to pray or meditate with any serious fervency when you come out of a crowd of cares and businesses Hear what St. Paul saith 1 Cor. 7. 7 8. For I would that all men were as I my self I say to the unmarried and the widows It is good for them if they abide even as I. 26 27 28. I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress that it is good fâ—r a man so to be such shall have trouble in the flesh 32 33. But I would have you be without carefulness He that is unmarried careth for the things of the Lord how he may please the Lord But he that is married careth for the things of the world how he may please his wife 34 35. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord that she may be holy both in body and in Spirit but she that is married careth for the things of the world how she may please her husband And this I speak for your own profit not that I may cast a snare upon you but for that which is comely and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction 37 38. He that standeth stedfast in his heart having no necessity but hath power over his own will and hath so decreed in his heart that he will keep his
unclean use and to devote it God to be employed in his service To alienate this from God or not to use it for God when it is dedicated to him or sanctified by his own election and separation of it from common use is Sacriledge God hath a double Right of Creation and Redemption to all persons But a treble Right to the sanctified Ananias his fearful judgement was a sad example of Gods wrath on those that withhold from him what was devoted to him If Christian families as such be sanctified to God they must as such worship him in their best capacity That Christian families are sanctified to God I prove thus 1. A Society of holy persons must needs be a holy Society But a family of Christians is a society of holy persons Therefore 2. We find in Scripture not only single persons but the societies of such sanctified to God Deut. 7. 6. Thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God he hath chosen thee to be a special people to himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth So Deut. 14. 20 21. So the body of that Commonwealth did all jointly enter into Covenant with God and God to them Deut. 29. 30. 26. 17 18 19. Thou hast vouched the Lord this day to be thy God and to walk in his wayes And the Lord hath vouched thee this day to be his peculiar people that thou maist be an holy people to the Lord. So 28. 9. Dan. 8. 24. 12. 7. Josh. 24. devoteth himself and his house to the Lord I and my house will serve the Lord. And Abraham by Circumcision the Covenant or seal of the Covenant of God consecrated his whole houshold to God and so were all families after him to do as to the Males in whom the whole was consecrated And whether besides the typifying Intent there were not somewhat more in the sanctifying of all the first born to God who if they lived were to be the heads of the families may be questioned The Passeover was a family duty by which they were yet further sanctified to God Yea it is especially to be observed how in the New Testament the Holy Ghost doth imitate the language of the old and speak of Gods people as of holy societies as the Iews were As in many Prophesies it was foretold that Nations and Kingdoms should serve him of which I have spoken more in my Book of Baptism and among those who should mourn over him whom they have pierced in Gospel times when the Spirit of grace and supplication is powred forth are the family of the House of David apart and their Wives apart the family of the house of Nathan apart and their Wives apart Every family even all the families that remained apart and their Wives apart Zach. 11. 12 13 14. So Christ sendeth his Disciples to baptize Nations having discipled them and the Kingdoms of the World shall become the Kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ. And as Exodus 19. 5 6. saith of the Jews Ye shall be êa peculiar treasure to me above all people and ye shall be unto me a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation so doth Peter say of all Christians 1 Pet. 2. 5 6 7 9. Ye also as living stones are built up a spiritual house a holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Iesus Christ V. 9. But ye are a chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood an Holy Nation a peculiar people that you should shew forth the praises of him that hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light Mark how fully this Text doth prove all that we are about It speaks of Christians Collectively as in Societies and in societies of all the most eminent sorts A Generation which seems especially to refer to Tribes and Families A Priesthood Nation People which comprehendeth all the orders in the Nation oft times And in all these respects they are holy and peculiar and chosen to shew that Gods people are sanctified in these Relations and Societies And then mark the End of this sanctification V. 5. to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Iesus Christ. V. 9. to shew forth the praises of him that hath called you c. Yea it seems that there was a special dedication of families to God And therefore we read so frequently of housholds converted and baptized Though none at age were baptized but such as seemed believers yet when they professed faith they were all together initiated as A Houshold And it seems the Masters Interest and Duty were taken to be so great for the conversion of the rest that as he was not to content himself with his own Conversion but to labour presently even before his Baptism that his houshold should joyn with him that so the whole family at once might be devoted to God so God did bless this his own Order and Ordinance to that End And where he imposed Duty on Masters he usually gave success so that commonly the whole family was Converted and Baptized with the Ruler of the family So Acts 18. 8. Crispus believed on the Lord with all his house and they were Baptized And Acts 16. 32. Paul promiseth the Gaoler Believe on the Lord Iesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house and he and all his were Baptized straight way for he believed in God with all his house Ver. 33 34. And Lydia is described a Worshipper of God Acts 16. 14. ver 15. She was Baptized and her houshold And the Angel told Cornelius that Peter should tell him words whereby he and all his houshold should be saved Acts 11. 14. who were Baptized accordingly And 1 Cor. 1. 16. Paul baptized the houshold of Stephanus And Christ told Zacheus Salvation was come that day unto his house and he and all his houshold believed So that Noble man John 4. 53. Therefore when Christ sâ—nt â—orth his Disciples he â—aith If the house be worthy let your peace come upon it but if it be not worthy lâ—t yâ—ur peace return to you So that as it is apparently the Duty of every Christian Soveraign to do what he is able to make all his peâ—ple Gods people and so to dedicate them to God as a Holy Nation in a National Covenant as the Israelites were So is it the unquestionable Duty of every Christian Ruler of a family to improve his interest power and parts to the uttermost to bring all his family to be the people of Christ in the Baptismal Covenant and so to dedicate all his family to Christ. Yet farther I prove this in that believers themselves being all sanctified to God it must needs follow that all their Lawful Relations and especially all commanded states of Relation are also sanctified to God for when themselves are dedicated to God it is absolutely without reserve to serve him with all that they have and in every Relation and Capacity that he shall set them It were a
sin and misery of Cain and take warning by him Give place to others and in honour prefer others and seek not to be preferred before them Rom. 12. 10 16. God delighteth to exalt the humble that abase themselves and to cast down those that exalt themselves When the interest of your flesh can make you hate or fall out with each other what a fearful sign is it of a fleshly mind Rom. 8. 6 13. § 2. Direct 2. Take heed of using provoking words against each other For these are the bellows Direct 3. to blow up that which the Apostle calleth the fire of Hell Jam. 3. 6. A foul tongue setteth on fire the course of nature and therefore it may set a family on fire Jam. 3. 5 6. Where envying and strife is there is confusion and every evil work V. 15 16. If ye be angry refrain your tongues and sin not and let not the Sun go down upon your wrath neither give place to the Devil Ephes. 4. 26 27. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice and be ye kind one to another tender hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christs sake hath forgiven you Ephes. 4. 31 32. Revilers shall not inherit the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. 6. 10. § 3. Direct 3. Help one another with love and willingness in your labours and do not grudge at Direct 4. one another and say such a one doth less than I but be as ready to help another as you would be helpt your selves It is very amiable to see a family of such children and servants that all take one anothers concernments as their own and are not selfish against each other Psal. 133. 1. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity c. § 4. Direct 4. Take heed that you prove not Tempters to draw each other to sin and misery Either Direct 5. by joyning together in ryotousness or wronging your Masters or secret revelling and then in lying to conceal it Or lest immodest familiarity draw those of different sexes into a snare Abundance of sin and misery hath followed such tempting familiarity of men and maids that were fellow servants Their nearness giveth them opportunity and the Devil provoketh them to take their opportunity and from immodest wanton dalliance and unchaste words they proceed at last to more lasciviousness to their own undoing Bring not the straw to the fire if you would not have it burn § 5. Direct 5. Watch over one another for mutual preservation against the sin and temptations which Direct 6. you are most in danger of Agree to tell each other of your faults not proudly or passionately but in love and resolve to take it thankfully from each other If any one talk foolishly and idly or wantonly and immodestly or tell a lye or take Gods name in vain or neglect their duty to God or man or deal unfaithfully in their trust or labour let the other seriously tell him of his sin and call him to repentance And let not him that is guilty take it ill and angrily snap at the reprover or justifie or excuse the fault or hit him presently in the teeth with his own but humbly thank him and promise amendment O how happy might servants be if they would faithfully watch over one another § 6. Direct 6. When you are together and your work will allow it let your discourse be such as Direct 7. tendeth to edification and to the spiritual good of the speaker or the hearers Some work there is that must be thought on and talked of while it is doing and will not allow you leisure to think or speak of other things till it is done But very much of the work of most servants may be as well done though they think and speak together of heavenly things besides all other times when their work is over O take this time to be speaking of good to one another It is like that some one of you hath more knowledge than the rest Let the rest be asking his counsel and instructions and let him bend himself to do them good Or if you are equal in knowledge yet stir up the grace that is in you if you have any or stir up your desires after it if you have none Waste not your pretious time in vanity Multiply not the sin of idle words O what a load doth lye on many a soul that feeleth it not in the guilt of these two sins Lâ—ss of time and idle words To be guilty of the same sins over and over every day and make a constant practice of them and this against your own knowledge and conscience is a more grievous case than many think of Whereas if you would live together as the heirs of Heaven and provoke one another to the Love of God and holy duty and delightfully talk of the Word of God and the life to come what blessings might you be to one another and your service and labour would be a sanctified and comfortable life to you all Ephes. 4. 29 30. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying and may minister grace to the hearers and grieve not the holy Spirit of God 5. 3 4. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness or rather inordinate fleshly desire let it not be once named among you as becometh Saints neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor jeasting which are not convenient but rather giving of thanks Of this more anon § 7. Direct 7. Patiently bear with the failings of one another towards your selves and hide those Direct 7. faults the opening of which will do no good but stir up strife But conceal not those faults which will be cherished by concealment or whose concealment tendeth to the wrong of your Master or any other For it is in your power to forgive a fault against your selves but not against God or another And to know when you should reveal it and when not you must wisely fore-know which way is like to do more good or harm And if yet you be in doubt open it first to some secret friend that is wise to advise you whether it should be further opened or not § 8. Direct 8. If weakness or sickness or want afflict a Brother or Sister or fellow-servant be Direct 8. kind and helpful to them according to your power Love not in word only but in dead and truth 1 John 3. 18. Jam 2. CHAP. XVI Directions for holy Conference of Fellow-servants or others BEcause this is a duty so frequently to be performed and therefore the peace and edification of Christians is very much concerned in it I shall give a few brief Directions about it § 1. Direct 1. Labour most for a full and lively heart which hath the feeling of those things Direct 1. which your tongues should
that the Preacher would have marked and because the understanding of that will much help you to understand all the rest which dependeth on it and relateth to it § 6. Direct 6. Mark most those things which are of greatest weight and â—nâ—eâ—â—ent to your souls And Direct 6. do not â—ix upon some little sayings and by discourses or witty sentences like Children thâ—â— bring home some scraps and words which they do but play with § 7. Direct 7. Learn first your Catechisms at home and the great Essential points of Religion Direct 7. contained in the Creâ—d the Lords Prayer and the Ten Commandments And in your Hearing first labour to get a clearer understanding of these And then the lesser branches which grow out of these will be the better understood You can scarce bestow too much care and pains in learning these great essential points It is the fruitfullest of all your studies Two things further I here advise you to avoid 1. The hasly climbing up to smaller points which some call Higher before you have well received these and the receiving of those higher points independently without their due respect to these which they depend upon 2. The feeding upon dry and barren Controversies and delighting in the chaffe of â—ingling words and impertinent unedifying things or discourses about to â—â—aliâ—â—es and circumstances § 8. Direct 8. Meditate on what you hear when you come home till you better understand it Direct 8. Psal. 1. 2. § 9. Direct 9. Enquire where you doubt of those that can resolve and teach you It sheweth a Direct 9. careless mind and a contempt of the Word of God in most people and servants that never come to ask the resolution of one doubt from one weeks or years end to another though they have Passors or Masters that have ability and leisure and willingness to help them Matth. 13. Mark 4. 10. When Christ was alone they that were about him with the twelve asked him the meaning of his Parable § 10. Direct 10. Read much those holy Books which treat best of the doctrine which you would Direct 10. understand § 11. Direct 11. Pray earnestly for wisdom and the illumination of the spirit Ephes. 1. 18. Act. Direct 11. 26. 18. Jâ—m 1. 5. § 12. Direct 12. Conscionable Practising what you know is an excellent help to understanding Direct 12. Joh. 7. 17. Tit. 2. Directions for Remembering what you Hear THat want of Memory which cometh from Age and decay of Nature is not to be cured Nor should any servant of Christ be overmuch troubled at it Seeing Christ will no more cast off his servants for that than he will for age or any sickness But for that want of memory which is curable and is a fault I shall give you these Directions following § 1. Direct 1. It greatly helpeth Memory to have a full Understanding of the matter spoken which you would remember And ignorance is one of the greatest hinderances to Memory Common experience telleth you this how easily you can remember any discourse which you throughly understand For your very knowledge by invention will revive your memory And how hard it is to remember any words which are insignificant or which we understand not Therefore labour most for a clear understanding according to the last Directions § 2. Direct 2. A deep awakened affection iâ— a very powerful help to memory We easily remember any thing which our estates or lives lye on when trifles are neglected and soon forgotten Therefore labour to get all to your hearts according to the next following Directions § 3. Direct 3. Method is a very great help to memory Therefore be acquainted with the Preachers Method And then you are put into a path or tract which you cannot easily go out of And therefore it is that Ministers must not only be Methodical and avoid prolix confused and involved discourses and that malicious pride of hiding their Method but must be as oft in the use of the same method as the Subject will bear and choose that method which is most easie to the hearers to understand and remember and labour to make them perceive your tract § 4. Direct 4. Numbers are a great help to memory As if the Reasons the Uses the Motives the Signes the Directions be six or seven or eight when you know just the number it helpeth you much to remember which was the first second third c. § 5. Direct 5. Names also and signal words are a great help to memory He may remember one word that cannot remember all the sentence And that one word may help him to remember much of the rest Therefore Preachers should contrive the force of every Reason Use Direction c. as much as may be into some one emphatical word And some do very profitably contrive each of those words to begin with the same Letter which is good for memory so it be not too much strained and put them not upon greater inconveniences As if I were to direct you to the chiefest Helps to your salvation and should name 1. Powerful Preaching 2. Prayer 3. Prudence 4. Piety 5. Painfulness 6. Patience 7. Perseverance though I opened every one of these at large the very names would help the hearers memory It is this that maketh Ministers that care more for their peoples souls than the pleasing of curious ears to go in the common road of Doctrine Reason Uses Motives Helps c. and to give their Uses the same titles of Information Reproof Exhortation c. And yet when the Subject shall direct us to some other method the hearers must not be offended with us For one Method will not serve exactly for every Subject and we must be loth to wrong the Text or Matter § 6. Direct 6. It is a great help to memory often in the time of hearing to call over and repeat to your selves the names or heads which have been spoken The mind of man can do two things at once You may both hear what is said and recall and repeat to your selves what is past Not to stand long upon it but oft and quickly to name over e. g. the Reasons Uses Motives c. To me this hath been next to understanding and Affection the greatest help of any that I have used For otherwise to hear a Head but once and think of it no more till the Sermon is done would never serve my turn to keep it § 7. Direct 7. Grasp not at more than you are able to hold lest thereby you lose all If there be more particulars than you can possibly remember lay hold on some which most concern you and let go the rest Perhaps another may rather take up those which you leave behind Yet say not that it is the Preachers fault to name more than you can carry away For 1. Then he must leave out his enlargement much more and the most of his Sermon for it 's like you leave
satisfaction for our sins and Risen from the dead and conquered death and Satan and is ascended and Glorified in Heaven and that he is the King and Teacher and High Priest of the Church That he hath made a new Covenant of Grace and pardon and offered it in his Scriptures and by his Ministers to the World and that those that are sincere and faithful in this Covenant shall be saved and those that are not shall remedilâ—sly be damned because they reject this Christ and Grace which is the last and only remedy And here open to them the nature of this Covenant that God doth offer to be our Reconciled God and Father and Felicity and Christ to be our Saviour to forgive our sins and reconcile us unto God and renew us by his spirit and the Holy Spirit to be our sanctifier to illuminate and regenerate and confirm us and that all that is required on our part is such an unfeigned consent as will appear in the performance in our serious endeavours Even that we wholly give up our selves to be renewed by the holy spirit to be justified taught and Governed by Christ and by him to be brought again to the Father to Love him as our God and End and to live to him and with him for ever But whereas the temptations of the Devil and the allurements of this deceitful world and the desires of the flesh are the great enemies and hinderances in our way we must also consent to renounce all these and let them go and deny our selves and take up with God alone and what he seeth meet to give us and to take him in Heaven for all our portion And he that consenteth unfeignedly to this Covenant is a member of Christ a justified reconciled Child of God and an heir of Heaven and so continuing shall be saved and he that doth not shall be damned This is the Covenant that in Baptism we solemnly entred into with God the Father Son and Holy Ghost as our Father and Felicity our Saviour and our Sanctifier This in some such brief explication you must familiarly open to them again and again § 10. Direct 10. When you have opened the Baptismal Covenant to them and the Essentials of Direct 10. Christianity cause them to learn the Creed the Lords Prayer and the Ten Commandments And tell them the Uses of them that man having three Powers of soul his Understanding his Will and his Obediential or executive power all these must be sanctified and therefore there must be a Rule for each And that accordingly the Creed is the summary Rule to tell us what our Understandings must Believe and the Lords Prayer is the summary Rule to direct us what our wills must desire and our tongues must ask and the Ten Commandments is the summary Râ—le of our Practice And that the Holy Scripture in general is the more large and perfect Rule of all And that all that will be taken for true Christians must have a General implicite Belief of all the Holy Scriptures and a particular explicite Belief Desire and sincere practice according to the Creeds Lords Prayer and ten Commandments § 11. Direct 11. Next teach them a short Catechism by memory which openeth these a little Direct 11. more fully and then a larger Catechism The shorter and larger Catechism of the Assembly are very well fitted to this use I have published a very brief one my self which in eight Articles or Answers containeth all the essential points of Belief and in One Answer the Covenant-consent and in four Articles or Answers more containeth all the substantial parts of Christian duty The answers are some of them long for Children But if I knew of any other that had It is in my 〈…〉 and by it self so much in so few words I would not offer this to you because I am conscious of its imperfections But there are very few Catechisms that differ in the substance Which ever they learn let them as they go have your help to understand it and let them keep it in memory to the last § 12. Direct 12. Next open to them more distinctly the particular part of the Covenant and Catechism Direct 12. And here I think this Method most profitable for a family 1. Read over to them the best expositions that you can get on the Creed the Lords Prayer and the Ten Commandments which are not too large to confound them nor too brief so as to be hardly understood For a summary Mr. Brinsleyes True watch is good but thus to read to them such as Mr. Perkins on the Creed and Dr. King on the Lords Prayer and Dod on the Commandments are fit so that you may read one Article one Petition and one Commandment at a time And read these over to them divers times 2. Besides this in your familiar discourse with them open to them plainly one Head or Article of Religion at a time and another the next time and so on till you come to the end And here 1. Open in one discourse the nature of man and the Creation 2. In another or before it the nature and attributes of God 3. In another the fall of man and especially the Corruption of our nature as it consisteth in an inordinate inclination to earthly and fleshly things and a backwardness or averseness or enmity to God and Holiness and the Life to come and the nature of sin and the impossibility of being saved till this sin be pardoned and these natures renewed and restored to the Love of God and Holiness from this Love of the world and fleshly pleasures 4. In the next discourse open to them the doctrine of Redemption in general and the Incarnation and natures and person of Christ particularly 5. In the next open the Life of Christ his fulfilling the Law and his overcoming the Tempter his humble life and contempt of the world and the end of all and how he is exemplary and imitable unto us 6. In the next open the whole Humiliation and suffering of Christ and the pretenses of his persecutors and the Ends and Uses of his suffering death and burial 7. In the next open his Resurrection the proofs and the Uses of it 8. In the next open his Ascension Glory and Interâ—ession for us and the Uses of all 9. In the next open his Kingly and Prophetical offices in General and his making the Covenant of Grace with man and the nature of that Covenant and its effects 10. In the next open the Works or Office of the Holy Ghost in General as given by Christ to be his Agent in men on earth and his great witness to the world and particularly open the extraordinary gift of the spirit to the Prophets and Apostles to plant the Churches and indite and seal the holy Scripture and shew them the authority and use of the holy Scriptures 11. In the next open to them the ordinary works of the Holy Ghost as the Illuminater Renewer
some that may inform you should hear them pray sometime that you may know their spirit and how they profit § 20. Direct 20. Put such Books into their hands as are meetest for them and engage them to Direct 20. read them when they are alone And ask them what they understand and remember of them And hold them not without necessity so hard to work as to allow them no time for reading by themselves But drive them on to work the harder that they may have some time when their work is done § 21. Direct 21. Cause them to teach one another when they are together Let their talk be profitable Direct 21. Let those that read best be reading sometime to the rest and instructing them and furthering their edification Their familiarity might make them very useful to one another § 22. Direct 22. Tire them not out with too much at once but give it them as they can receive it Direct 22. Narrow mouth'd bottles must not be filled as wider vessels § 23. Direct 23. Labour to make all sweet and pleasant to them and to that end sometime mix Direct 23. the reading of some profitable history as the Book of Martyrs and Clarkes Martyrologie and his Lives § 24. Direct 24. Lastly Entice them with kindnesses and rewards Be kind to your Children Direct 24. when they do well and be as liberal to your servants as your Condition will allow you For this maketh your persons acceptable first and then your instructions will be much more acceptable Nature teacheth them to Love those that Love them and do them good and to hearken willingly to those they love A small gift now and then might signifie much to the further benefit of their souls § 25. If any shall say that here is so much ado in all these directions as that few can follow Direct 25. them I intreat them to consult with Christ that dyed for them whether souls be not pretious and worth all this adoe And to consider how small a labour all this is in comparison of the everlasting end And to remember that all is Gain and pleasure and a delight to those that have holy hearts And to remember that the effects to the Church and Kingdom of such holy Government of families would quite over-compensate all the pains CHAP. XXIII Tit. 1. Directions for Prayer in General § 1. HE that handleth this Duty of PRAYER as it deserveth must make it the second The Stoicks say Orabit sapiens ac vâ—ta faciet bona à diis postulans Lacrt. it Zenone So that when Scneca saith Cur deos precibus fatigatis c. he only intendeth to reprove the slothful that think to have all done by prayer alone while they are idle and neglect the means Part in the Body of Divinity and allow it a larger and exacter Tractate than I here intend For I have before told you that as we have three Natural faculties An Understanding Will and Executive Power so these are qualified in the Godly with Faith Love and Obedience and have three particular Rules The Creed to shew us what we must Believe and in what Order The Lords Prayer to shew us what and in what order we must Desire and Love And the Decalogue to tell us what and in what order we must do Though yet these are so near kin to one another that the same actions in several respects belong to each of the Rules As the Commandments must be Believed and Loved as well as Obeyed and the matter of the Lords Prayer must be believed to be good and necessary as well as Loved and Desired and Belief and Love and Desire are commanded and are part of our obedience yet for all this they are not formally the same but divers And as we say that the Heart or Will is the man as being the Commanding faculty so Morally the Will the Love or Desire is the Christian and therefore the Rule of Desire or Prayer is a Principal part of true Religion The internal part of this Duty I partly touched before Tom. 1. Chap. 3. and the Church Part I told you why I past by Tom. 2. it being not left by the Government where we live to Private Ministers discussion save only to perswade men to obey what is established and commanded Therefore because I have omitted the later and but a little toucht upon the former I shall be the larger on it in this place to which for several Reasons I have reserved it § 2. Direct 1. See that you understand what Prayer is Even The expressing or acting of our Direct 1. Desires before another to move or some way procure him to grant them True Christian Prayer is The believing and serious expressing or acting of our lawful desires before God through Iesus our Mediator by the help of the Holy Spirit as a means to procure of him the grant of these desires Here note 1. That inward Desire is the soul of Prayer 2. The expressions or inward actings of them is as the Body of Prayer 3. To men it must be Desire so expressed as they may Plerumque hoc negotium plus gentibus quam sermonibus agitur August Epist. 121. understand it But to God the inward acting of Desires is a Prayer because he understandeth it 4. But it is not the acting of Desire simply in it self that is any Prayer For he may have Desires that offereth them not up to God with Heart or Voice But it is Desires as some way offered up to God or represented or acted towards him as a means to procure his blessing that is Prayer indeed § 3. Direct 2. See that you understand the Ends and Use of Prayer Some think that it is of Direct 2. no Use but only to move God to be willing of that which he was before unwilling of And therefore because that God is Immutable they think that Prayer is a Useless thing But Prayer is Useful 1. As an act of Obedience to Gods Command 2. As the performance of a condition without which he hath not promised us his Mercy and to which he hath promised it 3. As a Means to actuate and express and increase our own Humility Dependance Desire Trust and Hope in God and so to make us capable and fit for Mercy who else should be uncapable and unfit 4. And so though God be not changed by it in himself yet the Real change that is made by it on our selves doth infer a change in God by meer Relation or Extrinsical denomination he being one that is according to the tenour of his own established Law and Covenant engaged to disown or punish the Unbelieving Prayerless and Disobedient and after engaged to Own or pardon them that are Faithfully Desirâ—us and Obedient And so this is a Relative or at least a denominative change So that in Prayer Faith and Fervency are so far from being useless that they as much prevail for the thing
with the holy Praise of God from day to day As he that is acquainted with all that is in any Book can copiously discourse of it when he that knoweth not what is in it hath little to say of it so he that knoweth God and his works and himself and his sins and wants is acquainted with the best Prayer Book and hath alwayes a full heap of matter before him when ever he cometh to speak to God 3. Let him study the mysterie of mans Redemption and the Person and Office and Covenant and Grace of Christ and he need not want matter for prayer or praise A very Child if he see but a Pedlars pack opened where there are abundance of things which he desireth will learn Rev 3. 17 18. without-book to say O Father buy me this and give me that c. So will the soul that seeth the treasuries and riches of Christ. 4. Let him know the extent of the Law of God and the meaning of the ten Commandments If he know but what sins are forbidden in each Commandment and what duties are required he may find matter enough for Confession and Petition And therefore the view of such a brief Exposition of the Commandments as you may find in Mr. Brinsley's True-Watch and in Dr. Downams and Mr. Whateleys Tables will be a present furniture for such a use especially in dayes of humiliation So it will also to have a particular understanding of the Creed and the Lords Prayer which will furnish you with much matter 5. Study well the Temptations which you carry about you in your flesh and meet with in the world and are suggested by the Tempter and think of the many duties you have to do and the many dangers and sufferings to undergo and you will never be unfurnished for matter for your prayers 6. Observe the daily passages of Providence to your selves and others Mark how things go with your souls every day and hearken how it goeth with the Church of God and mark also how it goeth with your neighbours and sure you will find matter enough for prayer 7. Think of the Heavenly Joyes that you are going to and the Streets of the New Ierusalem will be large enough for faith to walk in 8. For words be acquainted with the phrase of Scripture and you will find provisions for all occasions Read Dr. Wilkins Book called The Gift of Prayer or Mr. Brinsleyes Watch or Mr. El. Par's Abba Father 9. Keep up the heart in a reverend serious lively frame and it will be a continual spring to furnish you with Matter When a dead and barren heart hath a dry and sleepy tongue 10. Ioyn as oft as you can with those that are full and copious in prayer For example and use will be very great helps 11. Quench not the Spirit of God that must assist you 12. In case of necessity use those Books or Forms which are more full than you can be your selves till you come to ability to do better without them Read further the Directions Tom. 1. Chap. 6. Tit. 2. for more § 31. Quest. 31. How should a Christian keep up an ordinary fervency in prayer Quest. 31. How to keep up fervency in prayer Answ. 1. See that knowledge and faith provide you Matter For as the fire will go out if there be not fewell so fervency will decay when you are dry and scarce know what to say or do not well believe what you understand 2. Clog not the body either with overmuch eating and drinking or over-tiring labours For an active body helpeth much the activity of the mind And the holiest person will be able but poorly to exercise his fervency under a dull or languishing body 3. Rush not suddenly upon prayer out of a crowd of other businesses or before your last worldly cares or discourses be washed clean out of your minds In Study and Prayer how certain a truth is it that Non bene fit quod occupato animo fit Hieron Epist. 143. ad Paulin. That work is not well done which is done with a mind that is prepossessed or busied about other matters That mind must be wholly free from all other present thoughts or business that will either Pray or Study well 4. Keep a tender heart and conscience that is not senseless of your own concernments For all your prayers must needs be sleepy if the heart and conscience be once hardned seared or fallen asleep 5. Take more pains with your hearts than with your tongues Remember that the success of your work lyeth most on them Bear not with their sluggishness Do by them as you would do by your Child or Servant that sleepeth by you at prayer You will not let them snort on but jog them till you have awakened them So do by your hearts when you find them dull 6. Live as in the continual presence of God but labour to apprehend his special presence when you are about to speak to him Ask your hearts how they would behave themselves if they saw the Lord or but the lowest of his holy Angels 7. Let faith be called up to see Heaven and Hell as open all the while before you and such a fight will surely keep you serious 8. Keep death and judgement in your continual remembrance and expectation Remember how all your prayers will be lookt back upon Look not for long life Remember that this prayer for ought you know may be your last but certainly you have not long to pray Pray therefore as a dying man should do 9. Study well the unspeakable iâ—cessity of your souls If you prevail not for pardon and grace and preservation you are undone and lost for ever Remember that necessity is upon you and Heaven or Hell are at the end and you are praying for more than a thousand lives 10. Study well the unspeakable excellency of those mercies which you pray for O think how blessed a life it would be if you could know God more and love him more and live a blameless heavenly life and then live with Christ in Heaven for ever Study these mercies till the flames of Love put life into your prayers 11. Study well the exceeding encouragements that you have to Pray and Hope If your Hope decay your fervour will decay Think of the unconceivable Love of God the astonishing mercy shewed to you in your Redeemer and in the helps of the Holy Spirit and how Christ is now interceding for you Think of these till faith make glad your heart And in this gladness let Praise and thanksgiving have ordinarily no small share in your prayers for it will tire out the heart to be alwayes poreing on its own distempers and discourage it to look on nothing but its infirmities And then a sad discouraged temper will not be so lively a temper as a thankful praiseful joyful temper is For Laetitia loquax res est atque ostentatrix sui Gladness is a very expressive thing and apt to shew
among those that cannot pray Iohn and Christ taught their Disciples Mat. 6. Luk. 11. to pray Tit. 4. Special Directions for secret Prayer § 1. Direct 1. LET it be in as secret a place as conveniently you can that you may not be Direct 1. disturbed Let it be done so that others may not be witnesses of it if you can avoid it and yet take it not for your duty to keep it unknown that you pray secretly at all for that will be a snare and scandal to them § 2. Direct 2. Let your voice be suited to your own help and benefit if none else hear you If it be Direct 2. needful to the orderly proceeding of your own thoughts or to the warming of your own affections you may use a voice But if others be within hearing it is very unfit § 3. Direct 3. In secret let the matter of your prayers be that which is most peculiarly your own Direct 3. concernment or those secret things that are not fit for publick prayer or are there passed by Yet never forgetting the highest interest of Christ and the Gospel and the World and Church § 4. Direct 4. Be less sollicitous about words in secret than with others and lay out your care about Direct 4. the heart For that 's it that God most esteemeth in your prayers § 5. Direct 5. Do not through carnal unwillingness grow into a neglect of secret prayer when you Direct 5. have time Nor yet do not superstitiously tye your selves to just so long time whether you are fit or at leisure from greater duties or not But be the longer when you are most fit and vacant and the shorter when you are not To give way to every carnal backwardness is the sin on one side and to resolve to spend so long time when you do but tire your selves and sleep or business or distemper maketh it a lifeless thing is a sin on the other side Avoid them both § 6 Direct 6. A melancholy person who is unfit for much solitariness and heart-searchings must be much Direct 6. short if not also seldomer in secret prayers than other Christians that are capable of bearing it And they must instead of that which they cannot do be the more in that which they can do As in joyning with others and in short ejaculations besides other duties but not abatâ—ing their piety in the main upon any pretence of curing melancholy CHAP. XXIV Brief Directions for Families about the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ. OMitting those things which concern the publick administration of this Sacrament for the Reasons before intimated Tom 2. I shall here only give you some brief Directions for your private duty herein § 1. Direct 1. Understand well the proper ends to which this Sacrament was instituted by Direct 1. Christ and take heed that you use it not to ends for which it never was appointed The true ends Q. What are the Ends of the Sacramâ—nâ— Matth. 26. 28. Mar. 14. â—4 Luâ— â—2 â—0 1 Cor. 11. 25. Heb. 9. 15 16 â—â— 1â— 1 Cor. 10. 16 24. Joh. 6. 32 35 51 58. are these 1. To be a solemn commemoration of the Death and Passion of Jesus Christ to keep it as it were in the eye of the Church in his bodily absence till he come 1 Cor. 11. 24 25 26. 2. To be a solemn renewing of the holy Covenant which was first entred in Baptism between Christ and the Receiver And in that Covenant it is on Christs part a solemn delivery of Himself first and with Himself the Benefits of Pardon Reconciliation Adoption and right to life eternal And on mans part it is our solemn acceptance of Christ with his Benefits upon his terms and a Delivering up our selves to Him as his Redeemed ones even to the Father as our Reconciled Father and to the Son as our Lord and Saviour and to the Holy Spirit as our Sanctifier with Professed Thankfulness for so great a benefit 3. It is appointed to be a lively objective means by which the spirit of Christ should work to stir up and exercise and increase the Repentance Faith Desire Love Hope Ioy Thankfulness and new-obedience of Believers by a lively Representation of the evil of sin the infinite Love of God in Christ the firmness of the Covenant or promise the greatness and sureness of the mercy given and the blessedness purchased and promised to us and the great obligations that are laid upon us And that herein Believers might be solemnly called out to the most serious exercise of all these 1 Cor. 11. 27 28 29 31. 1 Cor. 10. 16 17 â—1 1 Cor. 11. 25 26. 2 Cor. 6. 14. Act 2 42 46. 20. 7. graces and might be provoked and assisted to stir up themselves to this Communion with God in Christ and to pray for more as through a sacrificed Christ. 4. It is appointed to be the solemn profession of Believers of their Faith and Love and Gratitude and obedience to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost and of continuing firm in the Christian Religion And a badge of the Church before the world 5. And it is appointed to be a signe and means of the Unity Love and Communion of Saints and their readiness to communicate to each other § 2. The false mistaken ends which you must avoid are these 1. You must not with the Papists think that the end of it is to turn Bread into no bread and Wine into no wine and to make them Really the true Body and blood of Jesus Christ. For if sense which telleth all men that it is still Bread and wine be not to be believed then we cannot believe that ever there was a Gospel or an Apostle or a Pope or a man or any thing in the world And the Apostle expresly calleth it Bread three times in three verses together after the consecration 1 Cor. 11. 26 27 28. And he telleth us that the use of it is not to make the Lords Body really present but to shew the Lords death till be come that is As a visible representing and commemorating sign to be instead of his bodily presence till he come § 3. 2. Nor must you with the Papists use this Sacrament to sacrifice Christ again really unto the Father to propitiate him for the quick and dead and ease souls in Purgatory and deliver them out Rom. 6. 9. 1 Cor. 15. 3. 2 Cor. 5. 14 15. Heb. 9. 26. 10. 12 26. Heb. 9. 24. of it For Christ having dyed once dyeth no more and without killing him there is no sacrificing him By once offering up himself he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified and now there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin Having finished the sacrificing work on earth he is now passed into the Heavens to appear before God for his Redeemed ones § 4. 3. Nor is it any better than odious impiety to receive the Sacrament to
and hope for audience when they beg for mercy and offer up prayer or praises to him § 15. III. In the Communication though the Sacrament have respect to the Father as the Joh. 3. 5. 1 Cor. 12. 12 â—3 1 Cor. 15 45. Gal. 3. 14. 4. 6. Eph. 2. 22. principal Giver and to the Son as both the Gift and Giver yet hath it a special respect to the Holy Ghost as being that spirit given in the flesh and blood which quickeneth souls without which the flesh will profit nothing And whose Operations must convey and apply Christs saving benefits to us Ioh. 6. 63. 7. 39. § 16. These three being the parts of the Sacrament in whole as comprehending that sacred Action and participation which is essential to it The material Parts called the Relate and correlate are 1. Substantial and Qualitative 2. Active and passive 1. The first are the Bread and Wine as signs and the Body and Blood of Christ with his graces and benefits as the things signified and given The second are the Actions of Breaking Pouring out and Delivering on the Ministers part after the Consecration and the Taking Eating and Drinking by the Receivers as the sign And the thing signified is the Crucifying or Sacrificing of Christ and the Delivering himself with his benefits to the believer and the Receivers thankful Accepting and using the said gift To these add the Relative form and the ends and you have the definition of this Sacrament Of which see more in my Univers Concord p. 46 c. § 17. Direct 3. Look upon the Minister as the Agent or Officer of Christ who is commissioned by Direct 3. him to seal and deliver to you the Covenant and its benefits And take the Bread and Wine as if you heard Christ himself saying to you Take my Body and Blood and the pardon and Grace which is thereby purchased It is a great â—â—â—â—p in the application to have Mercy and pardon brought us by the hand of a commissioned Officer of Christ. § 18. Direct 4. In your preparation before hand take heed of these two extreams 1. That you Direct 4. come not prophanely and carelesly with common hearts as to a common work For God will be sanctified in them that draw near him Lev. 10. 3. And they that eat and drink unworthily not discerning the Lords Body from common bread but eating as if it were a common meal do eat death to Quinam auteâ—â— indigâ—i ineptive sint quibus Angelorum panis praebeatur sacerdoâ—um ipsoâ—um audâ—ta confessione â—aeâ—erisque perspectis judicium esto Acosta â— 6. c. 10. p. 549. themselves instead of life 2. Take heed lest your mistakes of the nature of this Sacrament should possess you with such fears of unworthy receiving and the following dangers as may quite discompose and unfit your souls for the joyful exercises of faith and Love and Praise and Thanksgiving to which you are invited Many that are scrupulous of Receiving it in any save a feasting gesture are too little careful and scrupulous of Receiving it in any save a feasting frame of mind The first extream is caused by Prophaneness and negligence or by gross ignorance of the nature of the Sacramental work The later extream is frequently caused as followeth 1. By setting this Sacrament at a greater distance from other parts of Gods worship than there is cause so that the excess of Reverence doth overwhelm the minds of some with terrours 2. By studying more the terrible words of eating and drinking damnation to themselves if they do it unworthily than all the expressions of Love and mercy which that blessed feast is furnished with So that when the Views of infinite Love should ravish them they are studying wrath and vengeance to terrifie them as if they came to Moses and not to Christ. 3. By not understanding what maketh a Receiver worthy or unworthy but taking their unwilling infirmities for condemning unworthiness 4. By Receiving it so seldom as to make it strange to them and increase their fear whereas if it were administred every Lords day as it was in the Primitive Churches it would better acquaint them with it and cure that fear that cometh from strangeness 5. By imagining that none that want Assurance of their own sincerity can receive in faith 6. By contracting an ill habit of mistaken Religiousness placeing it all in poâ—ing on themselves and mourning for their corruptions and not in studying the Love of God in Christ and living in the daily Praises of his name and joyful Thanksgiving for his exceeding mercies 7. And if besides all these the Body contract a weak or timerous melancholy distemper it will leave the mind capable of almost nothing but fear and trouble even in the sweetest works From many such causes it cometh to pass that the Sacrament of the Lords Supper is become more terrible and uncomfortable to abundance of such distempered Christians than any other ordinance of God And that which should most comfort them doth trouble them most § 19. Quest. 1. But is not this Sacrament more holy and dreadful and should it not have more preparation Quest. 1. than other parts of worship Answ. For the degree indeed it should have very careful preparation And we cannot well compare it with other parts of worship as Praise Thanksgiving Covenanting with God Prayer c. because that all these other parts are here comprized and performed But doubtless God must also be sanctified in all his other worship and his name must not be taken in vain And when this Sacrament was received every Lords day and often in the week besides Christians were supposed to live continually in a state of general preparation and not to be so far from a due particular preparation as many poor Christians think they are § 20. Quest. 2. How often should the Sacrament be now administred that it neither grow into contempt Quest. 2. or strangeness Answ. Ordinarily in well disciplined Churches it should be still every Lords day For 1. We have no reason to prove that the Apostles example and appointment in this case was proper to those times any more than that Praise and Thanksgiving daily is proper to them And we may as well deny the obligation of other institutions or Apostolical orders as that 2. It is a part of the seâ—led order for the Lords days worship And omitting it maimeth and altereth the worship of the day and occasioneth the omission of the Thansgiving and Praise and lively commemorations of Christ which should be then most performed And so Christians by use grow habited to sadness and a mourning melancholy Religion and grow unacquainted with much of the worship and spirit of the Gospel 3. Hereby the Papists lamentable corruptions of this ordinance have grown up even by an excess of reverence and fear which seldom receiving doth increase till they are come to Worship Bread as their God 4. By seldom communicating men are
that you must there exercise II. What there is objectively presented before you in the Sacrament to exercise all these Graces III. At what seasons in the administration each of these inward works are to be done § 47. I. The Graces to be exercised are these besides that holy fear and reverence common to all Worship 1. A humble sense of the odiousness of sin and of our undone condition as in our selves and a displeasure against our selves and loathing of our selves and melting Repentance for the sins we have committed as against our Creator and as against the Love and Mercy of a Redeemer and against the holy Spirit of Grace 2. A hungring and thirsting desire after the Lord Jesus and his Grace and the favour of God and communion with him which are there represented and offered to the soul. 3. A lively faith in our Redeemer his death resurrection and intercession and a trusting our miserable souls upon him as our sufficient Saviour and help And a hearty Acceptance of him and his benefits upon his offered terms 4. A Ioy and gladness in the sense of that unspeakable mercy which is here offered us 5. A Thankful heart towards him from whom we do receive it 6. A fervent Love to him that by such Love doth seek our Love 7. A triumphant Hope of life eternal which is purchased for us and sealed to us 8. A willingness and resolution to deny our selves and all this world and suffer for him that hath suffered for our Redemption 9. A Love to our Brethren our neighbours and our enemies with a readiness to relieve them and to forgive them when they do us wrong 10. And a firm Resolution for future obedience to our Creator and Redeemer and Sanctifier according to our Covenant § 48. II. In the naming of these Graces I have named their Objects which you should observe as distinctly as you can that they may be operative 1. To help your Humiliation and Repentance you bring thither a loaden miserable soul to receive a pardon and relief And you see before you the sacrificed Son of God who made his soul an offering for sin and became a Curse for us to save us who were accursed 2. To draw out your Desires you have the most excellent gifts and the most needful mercies presented to you that this world is capable of Even the Pardon of sin the Love of God the Spirit of Grace and the hopes of Glory and Christ himself with whom all this is given 3. To exercise your Faith you have Christ here first represented as crucified before your eyes and then with his benefits freely given you and offered to your Acceptance with a Command that you refuse him not 4. To exercise your Delight and Gladness you have this Saviour and this Salvation tendered to you and all that your souls can well desire set before you 5. To exercise your Thankfulness what could do more than so great a Gift so dearly purchased so surely sealed and so freely offered 6. To exercise your Love to God in Christ you have the fullest manifestation of his attractive Love even offered to your eyes and taste and heart that a soul on earth can reasonably expect in such wonderful condescension that the greatness and strangeness of it surpasseth a natural mans belief 7. To exercise your Hopes of Life Eternal you have the price of it here set before you you have the Gift of it here sealed to you and you have that Saviour represented to you in his suffering who is now there reigning that you may remember him as expectants of his Glorious Coming to judge the world and glorifie you with himself 8. To exercise your self-denyal and resolution for suffering and contempt of the world and fleshly pleasures you have before you both the greatest Example and Obligation that ever could be offered to the world when you see and receive a Crucified Christ that so strangely denyed himself for you and set so little by the world and flesh 9. To exercise your Love to Brethren yea and enemies you have his example before your eyes that Loved you to the death when you were enemies And you have his holy servants before your eyes who are amiable in him through the workings of his Spirit and on whom he will have you shew your Love to himself 10. And to excite your Resolution for future Obedience you see his double Title to the Government of you as Creator and as Redeemer and you feel the obligations of Mercy and Gratitude and you are to renew a Covenant with him to that end even openly where all the Church are witnesses So that you see here are powerful objects before you to draw out all these Graces and that they are all but such as the work requireth you then to exercise § 49. III. But that you may be the readier when it cometh to practice I shall as it were lead you by the hand through all the parts of the administration and tell you when and how to exercise every grace and those that are to be joyned together I shall take together that needless distinctness do not trouble you 1. When you are called up and going to the Table of the Lord exercise your Humility Desire and Thankfulness and say in your hearts What Lord dost thou call such a wretch as I What! me that have so oft despised thy mercy and wilfully offended thee and preferred the filth of this world and the pleasures of the flesh before thee Alas it is thy wrath in Hell that is my due But if Love will choose such an unworthy guest and Mercy will be honoured upon such sin and misery I come Lord at thy call I gladly come Let thy will be done and let that mercy which inviteth me make me acceptable and gratiously entertain me and let me not come without the wedding garment nor unreverently rush on holy things nor turn thy mercies to my bane § 50. 2. When the Minister is confessing sin prostrate your very souls in the sense of your unworthiness and let your particular sins be in your eye with their heinous aggravations The whole need not the Physicion but the sick But here I need not put words into your mouths or minds because the Minister goeth before you and your hearts must concurr with his Confessions and put in also the secret sins which he omitteth § 51. 3. When you look on the Bread and Wine which is provided and offered for this holy use remember that it is the Creator of all things on whom you live whose Laws you did offend and say in your hearts O Lord how great is my offence who have broken the Laws of him that made me and on whom the whole Creation doth depend I had my Being from thee and my daily bread and should I have requited thee with disobedience Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son § 52. 4. When the
â—ordidst garb of a cold and careless heart and life 10. When you grow hottest about some Controverted smaller matters in Religion or studious of the interest of some private opinion and party which you have chosen more than of the interest of the common Truths and Cause of Christ. 11. When in joyning with others you rellish more the fineness of the speech than the Spirit and weight and excellency of the matter and are impatient of hearing of the wholsomest truths if the speaker manifest any personal infirmity in the delivery of them And are weary and tired if you be not drawn on with novelty variety or elegancy of speech 12. When you grow more indifferent for your company and set less by the company of serious godly Christians than you did and are almost as well pleased with common company and discourse 13. When you grow more impatient of reproof for sin and love not to be told of any thing in you that is amiss but love those best that highliest applaud you 14. When the renewing of your Repentance is grown a lifeless cursory work When in preparation for the Lords Day or Sacrament or other occasions you call your selves to no considerable account or make no greater a matter of the sins which you find on your account than if you were almost reconciled to them 15. When you grow more uncharitable and censorious to brethren that differ from you in tolerable points and less tender of the names or welfare of others and love not your neighbour as your selves and do not as you would be done by 16. When you grow less compassionate to the ungodly world and less regardful of the common interest of the Universal Church and of Jesus Christ throughout the earth and grow more narrow private-spirited and confine your care to your selves or to your party 17. When the hopes of Heaven and the Love of God cannot content you but you are thirsty after some worldly contentment and grow eager in your desires and the world groweth more sweet to you and more amiable in your eyes 18 When sense and appetite 1 Cor. 7. 31. and fleshly pleasure is grown more powerful with you and you make a great matter of them and cannot deny them without a great deal of striving and regret as if you had done some great exploit if you live not like a beast 19. When you are more proud and impatient and are less able to bear disesteem and slighting and injuries from men or poverty or sufferings for Christ and make a greater matter of your losses or crosses or wrongs than beseemeth one that is dead to the flesh and to the world 20. Lastly When you had rather dwell on Earth than be in Heaven and are more unwilling to think of death or to prepare for it and expect it and are less in love with the coming of Christ and are ready to say of this sinful life in flesh It is good to be here All these are signs of a declining state though yet you are not come to apostacy § 15. But the signs of a mortal damnable state indeed are found in these following degrees 1. When a man had rather have worldly prosperity than the â—avour and fruition of God in Heaven Signs of a graceless state 2. When the interest of the flesh can do more with him than the interest of God and his soul and do more rule and dispose of his heart and life 3. When he had rather live in sensuality than in Holiness And had rather have leave to live as he list than have a Christ and Holy Spirit to sanctifie and cure him or at least will not be cured on the terms proposed in the Gospel 4. When he loveth not the means that would recover him as such The nearer you come to this the more dangerous is your case § 16. And these following signs are therefore of a very dangerous signification 1. When the Dangerous signs of impenitency pleasure of sinful prosperity and delights doth so far over-top the pleasures of holiness that you are under trouble and weariness in holy duties and at ease and merry when you have your sinful delights 2. When no perswasion of a Minister or friend can bring you so throughly to repent of your open scandalous sins as to take shame to your selves in a free confession of them even in the open Assembly if you are justly called to it to condemn your selves and give warning to others and glorifie the most Holy God But you will not believe that any such disgraceful confession is your duty because you will not do it 3. When you cannot bring your hearts to a full Resolution to let go your sin but though Conscience worry and condemn you for it you do but sleightly purpose hereafter to amend but will not presently resolve 4. When you will not be perswaded to consent to the necessary effectual means of your recovery as to abstain from the bait and temptation and occasion of sin Many a Drunkard hath told me he was willing to be reformed but when I have desired them then to consent to drink no Wine or Ale for so many months and to keep out of the place and to commit the Government of themselves for so many months to their Wives or some other friend that liveth with them and to drink nothing but what they give them they would not Consent to any of this and so shewed the hypocrisie of their professed willingness to amend 5. When sin becometh easie and the Conscience groweth patient with it and quiet under it 6. When the judgement taketh part with it and the tongue will plead for it and justifie or extenuate it insteâ—d of repenting of it These are dangerous signs of an impenitent unpardoned miserable soul. And the man is in a dangerous way to this 1. When he hath plunged himself into such engagements to sin that he cannot leave it but it will cost him very dear as it will be his shame to confess it or his undoing in the world to forsake it or a great deal of cost and labour must be lost which his ambitious or Covetous projects have cost him It will be hard breaking over so great difficulties 2. When God letteth him alone in sin and prospereth him in it or doth not much disturb him or afflict him This also is a dangerous case § 17. By all this you may perceive that those are no signes of a backsliding state which some False signs of declining poor Christians are afraid are such As 1. When poverty necessitateth them to lay out more of their time and thoughts and words about the labours of their callings than some richer persons do 2. When age or sickness causeth their memories to decay so that they cannot remember a Sermon so well as heretofore 3. When age or sickness taketh off the quickness and vigor of their spirits so that they have not the lively affections in prayer or holy
experiences thou wilt be very hardly kept from desperation Thou wilt read such passages as Heb. 6 4 5 6. and Heb. 10. 26 27 28 29. with so much horrour that thou wilt hardly be perswaded that there is any hope Thou wilt be ready to think that thou hast sinned against the Holy Ghost and that thou hast trampled underfoot the blood of the Covenant and done despite to the spirit of grace And thou wilt think that there is no being twice born again Or if thou be restored to Life thou wilt hardly ever be restored to thy comforts here if thy backsliding should be very great But indeed the danger is exceeding great lest thou never be recovered at all if once thou be twice dead and pluckt up by the roots Jud. 6. and lest God do finally forsake thee And then how desperate will be thy case § 35. 16. Is it not the example of Backsliders very terrible which God hath set up for the warning of his servants as monuments of his wrath Luk. 17. 32. Remember Lot's Wife saith Christ to them that are about to lose their estates or goods or lives by saving them How frightful is the remembrance of a Cain a Iudas a Saul a Ioas 2 Chron. 24. 2. a Iulian How sad is it to hear but such a one as Spira especially at his death crying out of his backsliding in the horrour of his soul and to see such ready to make away themselves § 36. 17. Consider that there is none that so much dishonoureth God as a Backslider Others are supposed to sin in ignorance But you do by your lives as bad as speak such blaspheamy as this against the Lord As if you should say I thought once that God had been the best Master and his servants the wisest and happiest men and Godliness the best and safest life but now I have tryed both and I find by experience that the Devil is a better master and his servants are the happiest men and the world and the flesh do give the truest contentment to the mind This is the plain blaspheamy of your lives And bethink thee how God should bear with this § 37. 18. There is none that so much hardeneth the wicked in his sin and furthereth the damnation of souls as the Backslider If you would but drive your Sheep or Cattle into a house those that go in first do draw the rest after them but those that run out again make all the rest afraid and run away One apostate that hath been noted for Religion and afterwards turneth off again doth discourage many that would come in For he doth as it were say to them by his practice Keep off and meddle not with a Religious life for I have tryed it and found that a life of worldliness and fleshliness is better And people will think with themselves Such a man hath tryed a Religious life and he hath forsaken it again and therefore he had some reason for it and knew what he did Woe to the world because of offences and woe to him by whom the offence shall come â—â—k 17. 1. Mat. 18. 7. How dreadful a thing is it think that mens souls should lie in Hell and you be the cause of it It were good for that man that a milstone were hanged about his neck and be were drowned in the depth of the Sea Matth. 18. 6 7. Luk. 17. 2. § 38. 19. There is none that are so great a terrour to weak Christians as these Backsliders For they are thinking how far such went before they fell away And those that think that true grace may be lâ—st are saying Alas how shall I stand when such that were better and stronger than I have faln away And those that think true grace cannot be lost are as much perplexed and say How far may an Hypocrite go that after falleth away How piously did this man live how sorrowfully did he repâ—nt how blamelesly did he walk how fervently and constantly did he pray how savourily did he speak how charitably and usefully did he live And I that come far short of him as far as I can discern can have no assurance that I am sincere till I am sure that I go further than ever he did Woe to thee that thus perplexest the consciences of the weak and hinderest the comforts of believers § 39. 20. Thou art the greatest grief to the faithful Ministers of Christ Thou canst not conceive what a wound it giveth to the heart and comforts of a Minister when he hath taken a great deal of pains for thy Conversion and after that rejoyced when he saw thee come to the flock of Christ and after that laboured many a year to build thee up and suffered many a frown from the ungodly for thy sake to see all his labour at last come to nought and all his glorying of thee turned to his shame and all his hopes of thee disappointed I tell thee this is more doleful to his heart than any outward loss or cross that could have befaln him It is not persecution that is his greatest grief as long as it hindereth not the good of souls It is such as thou that are his â—orest persecutors that frustrate his labours and rob him of his joyes And his sorrows shall one day cost thee dear The life and comforts of your faithful Pastors is much in your hands 2 Cor. 7. 3. 1 Thes. 3. 8. Now we Live if ye stand fast in the Lord. § 40. 21. Thou art more treacherous to Christ than thou wouldst be to a common friend Wouldst thou forsake thy friend without a cause especially an old and tryed friend And especially when in forsaking him thou dost forsake thy self Prov. 27. 10. Thy own friend and thy fathers friend forsake not Prâ—v 17. 17. A friend loveth at all times and a brother is born for adversity If thy friend were in distress wouldst thou forsake him And wilt thou forsake thy God that needs thee not but supplyeth thy needs Ruth was more faithful to Naomi Ruth 1. 16 17. that resolved Whither thou goest I will go and where thou lodgest I will lodge where thou dyest I will dye And hath God deserved worse of thee § 41. 22. Nay thou dealest worse with God than the Devils servants do with him Alas they are too constant to him Reason will not change them nor the Commands of God nor the offers of everlasting life nor the fears of Hell nothing will change them till the spirit of God do it And wilt thou be less constant to thy God § 42. 23. Consider also that thy end is so near that thou hadst but a little while longer to have held out And thou mightest have known that thou couldst keep thy worldly pleasures but a little while And it is a pitiful thing to see a man that hath born the forest brunt of the battle and run till he is almost at the end of the race to lose all for want of a
advantage of a Tempt 1. Christians bodily weakness to shake his faith and question his foundations and call him to dispute Hic labor extremus longaâ—um haec meta viarum est Virgil. over his principles again Whether the soul be immortal and there be a Heaven and a Hell and whether Christ be the Son of God and the Scriptures be Gods Word c. As if this had never been questioned and scanned and resolved before It is a great deal of advantage that Satan expecteth by this malitious course If he could he would draw you from Christ to infidelity But Christ prayeth for you that your faith may not fail If he cannot do this he would at least weaken your faith and hereby weaken every grace And he would hereby divert you from the more needful thoughts which are suitable to your present state and he would hereby distract you and destroy your comforts and draw you in your perplexities to dishonour God Away therefore with these blasphemous and unseasonable motions Cast them from you with abhorrence and disdain It is no time now to be questioning your foundations You have done this more seasonably when you were in a fitter case A paiâ—ed languishing body and a disturbed discomposed mind is unfit upon a surprize to go back and dispute over all our principles Tell Satan you owe him not so much service nor will you so cast away those few hours and thoughts for which you have so much better work You have the witness in your selves even the Spirit and Image and Seal of God You have been converted and renewed by the power of that word which he would have you question and you have found it to be owned by the Spirit of grace who hath made it mighty to pull down the strongest holds of sin Tell Satan you will not gratifie him so much as to turn your holy heavenly desires into a wrangling with him about those truths which you have so often proved You will not question now the being of that God who hath maintained you so long and witnessed his being and goodness to you by a life of mercies nor will you now question the being or truth of him that hath Redeemed you or of the Spirit or Word that hath sanctified guided comforted and confirmed you If he tell you that you must prove all things tell him that this is not now to do you have long proved the truth and goodness of your God the mercy of your Saviour and the power of his Holy Spirit and Word It is now your work to live upon that Word and fetch your hopes and comforts from it and not to question it § 10. Tempt 2. Another dangerous Temptation of Satan is when he would perswade you to Tempâ— â— Despair by causing you to mis-understand the tenour of the Gospel or by thinking too narrowly and unworthily of Gods mercy or of the satisfaction of Christ. But because this Temptation doth usually tend more to discomfort the soul than to damn it I shall speak more to it under Tit. 3. § 11. Tempt 3. Another dangerous Temptation is when Satan would draw you to overlook your Tempt 3. sins and overvalue your graces and be proud of your good works and so lay too much of your comfort upon your selves and lose the sense of your need of Christ or usurp any part of his office or hiâ— honour I shall afterward shew you how far you must look at any thing in your selves But certainly that which lifteth you up in pride or incroacheth on Christs Office or would draw you to undervalue him is not of God Therefore keep humble in the sense of your sinfulness and unworthiness and cast away every motion which would carry you away from Christ and make your selves and your works and righteousness as a Saviour to your selves § 12. Tempt 4. Another perillous Temptation is by causing the thoughts of death and the grave Tempt 4. and your doubts and fears about the world to come to overcome the Love of God and not only the comforts but also the desires and willingness of your hearts to be with Christ. It will abate your Love to God and Heaven to think on them with too much estrangedness and terror The Directions under Tit. 3. will help you against this Temptation § 13. Tempt 5. Another dangerous Temptation is fetcht from the remnants of your worldly Tempt 5. mindedness when your dignity or honor your house or lands your relations and friends or your pleasures and contentments are so sweet to you that you are loth to leave them and the thoughts of death are grievous to you because it taketh you from that which you over-love and God and Heaven are the less desired because you are loth to leave the world Watch carefully against this great Temptation Observe how it seeketh the very destruction of your grace and souls and how it fighteth against your Love to God and Heaven and would undo all that Christ and his Spirit have been doing so long Observe what a root of matter it findeth in your selves and therefore be the more humbled under it Learn now what the world is and how little the accommodations of the flesh are worth when you perceive what the end of all must be Would you never dye Would you enjoy your worldly things for ever Had you rather have them than to live with Christ in the Heavenly glory of the New Ierusalem If you had it is your grievous sin and folly And yet you know that it is a desire that you can never hope to attain Dye you must whether you will or not What is it then that you would stay for Is it till the world be grown less pleasant to you and your Love and minds be weaned from it When should that rather be than now And what should more effectually do it than this dying condition that you are in It is time for you to spit out these unwholsome pleasures and now to look up to the true the holy the unmeasurable everlasting pleasures Tit. 2. Directions how to Profit by our Sickness WHether it shall please God to recover you or not it is no small Benefit which you may get by his Visitation if you do your part and faithfully improve it according to these Directions following § 1. Direct 1. If you hear Gods call to a closer tryal of your hearts concerning the sincerity of your Direct 1. conversion and thereby are brought to a more exact examination and come to a truer acquaintance with your state be it good or bad the benefit may be exceeding great For if it be good you may be much comforted and confirmed and fitted to give thanks and praise to God And if it be bad you may be awakened speedily to look about you and seek for a recovery § 2. Direct 2. If in the review of your lives you find out those sins which before you overlookâ— or Direct 2. perceive
we are here on earth They were compassed with temptations and clog'd with flesh and burdened with sin and persecuted by the world and they went out of the world by sickness and death as we must do and yet now their tears are wiped away their pains and groans and sears are turned into unexpressible blessedness and joy And would we not be with them Is not their company desirable and their felicity more desirable The glory of the new Ierusalem is not described to us in vain Rev. 21. 22. God will be all in all there to us as the only sun and Glory of that world and yet we shall have pleasure not only to see our Glorified Redeemer but also to converse with the Heavenly society and to sit down with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the Kingdom of God and to Love and Praise him in consort and harmony with all those holy blessed spirits And shall we be afraid to follow where the Saints of all Generations have gone before us And shall the company of our best and most and happiest friends be no inducement to us Though it must be our highest joy to think that we shall dwell with God and next that we shall see the Glory of Christ yet is it no small part of my comfort to consider that I shall follow all those holy persons whom I once conversed with that are gone before me and that I shall dwell with such as Henoch and Elias and Abraham and Moses and Iob and David and Peter and Iohn â—nd Paul and Timothy and Ignatius and Polycarpe and Cyprian and Reader bear with this mixture For God will own his image when piâ—vish contenders do deny it or blaspheam it and will receive those whom faction and proud domination would cast ouâ— and vilifie with scorn and slanders Naziaâ—zene and Augustine and Chrysostome and Bernard and Gerson and Savonarola and Miraâ—dula and Taulerus and Kempisius and Melancthon and Alasco and Calvin and Bucholâ—zer and Bullinger and Musculus and Zanchy and Bâ—cer and Paraeus and Grynaeus and Chemnitius and Gerhard and Chamier and Capellus and Blondel and Rivet and Rogers and Bradford and Hooper and Latimer and Hildersham and Amâ—sius and Langley and Nicolls and Whitaker and Cartwright and Hooker and Bayne and Preston and Sibbes and Perkins and Dod and Parker and Ball and Usher and Hall and Gataker and Bradshaw and Vines and Ash and millions more of the family of God I name these for my own delight and comfort it being pleasant to me to remember what companions I shall have in the heavenly joyes and praises of my Lord. How few are all the Saints on earth in comparison of those that are now with Christ And alas how weak and ignorant and corrupt how selfish and contentious and froward are Gods poor infants here in flesh when above there is nothing but Holiness and Perfection If Knowledge or Goodness or any excellency do make the creatures truly amiable all this is there in the highest degree but here alas how little have we If the Love of God or the Love of us do make others Lovely to us it is there and not here that these and all perfections flourish O how much now do I find the company of the wise and learned the godly and sincere to differ from the company of the ignorant bruitish the proud and malitious the false-hearted and ungodly rabble How sweet is the converse of a holy wise experienced Christian O then what a place is the new Ierusalem and how pleasant will it be with Saints and Angels to See and Love and Praise the Lord. § 8. Direct 8. That sickness and death may be comfortable to you as your passage to Eternity Direct 8. take notice of the seal and earnest of God even the spirit of grace which he hath put into your hearts That which emboldened Paul and such others to groan after immortality and to be most willing to be absent from the body and present with the Lord was because God himself had wrought or made them for it and given them the earnest or pledge of his spirit 2 Cor. 5. 4 5 8. For this is Gods mark upon his chosen and justified ones by which they are sealed up to the day of their redemption Ephes. 4. 30. Ephes. 1. 13. In whom also after ye believed ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise 2 Cor. 1. 21 22. God hath annointed us and sealed us and given us the pledge or earnest of his spirit into our hearts This is the pledge or earnest of our inheritance Ephes. 1. 14. And what a comfort should it be to us when we look towards Heaven to find such a pledge of God within us If you say I fear I have not this earnest of the spirit Whence then did your desires of holiness arise what weaned you from the world and made you place your hopes and happiness above whence came your enmity to sin and opposition to it and your earnest desires after the Glory of God the prosperity of the Gospel and the good of souls The very Love of Holiness and holy persons and your desires to know God and perfectly Love him do shew that heavenly nature or spirit within you which is your surest evidence for eternal life For that spirit was sent from heaven to draw up your hearts and fit you for it And God doth not give you such natures and desires and preparations in vain This also is called The witness of the spirit with or to our spirit that we are the children of God and if Children then heirs heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ Rom. 8. 15 16 17. It witnesseth our adoption by evidencing it as a seal or pledge doth witness our title to that which is so confirmed to us The nature of every thing is suited to its use and end God would not have given us a heavenly nature or desire if he had not intended us for Heaven § 9. Direct 9. Look also to the testimony of a holy life since grace hath imployed you in seeking after Direct 9. the heavenly inheritance It is unlawful and perillous to look after any works or righteousness of So Hezektah your own so as to set it in whole or in part instead of Christ or to ascribe to it any honour that is proper to him As to imagine that you are innocent or have fulfilled the Law or have made God a compensation by your merits or sufferings for the sin you have committed But yet you must judge your selves on your sick beds as near as you can as God will judge you And he will judge every man according to his work and will recompense and reward men according to their works Matth. 25 39 40 c. Well done good and faithful servant Thou hast been faithful over a little I will make thee ruler over much Come ye blessed of my father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you for I was hungry
except it be Direct 4. such as must needs be admitted or such as are like to receive any good by the holy counsel of the sick It is a great annoyance to one that is near death to hear people talk to little purpose about the world or some impertinencies when they are going speedily to their endless state and have need of no more impediments in their way but of the best assistance that their friends can afford them Procure some able faithful Minister to be with them to counsel them about the state of their souls And get some holy able Christians to be much about them who are fit to pray with them and instruct them § 6. Direct 5. Bear with their impatience and grudge not at any trouble that they put you to Remember Direct 5. that weakness is froward and as you bear with the crying of children so must you with the pievishness of the sick And remember that shortly it is like to be your own case and you must be a trouble to others and they must bear with you Be not weary of your friends in sickness but loving and tender and compassionate and patient § 7. Direct 6. Deal faithfully and prudently with them about the state of their souls Your faithfulness Direct 6. must be shewed in these two points 1. That you do not flatter them with vain hopes of life when they are more likely to dye 2. That you do not flatter them with false perswasions that their state is safe when they are yet unsanctified nor put them in hopes of being saved without regeneration Your Prudence must be manifested 1. In suiting your counsel and speeches and prayers to their state and not using the same words to the ungodly as you would to the godly 2. In so contracting your counsel for the Conversion of the ungodly as not to overwhelm them with more than they can bear and yet not to leave out any point of absolute necessity to salvation Alas how much skill doth such a work require and how few Christians that I say not Pastors are fit for it § 8. Quest. But is it a duty when the sick are like to dye to make it known to them Quest 1. Answ. Sometime it is and sometimes not 1. Some sicknesses are such as will be so increased with Answ. fear that the Patient that before was in hope of a recovery will be put almost past hope And some sicknesses are much different and are not like to be so increased by it And some are past all hope already 2. Some are so prepared to dye that they have the less need to be acquainted with their danger and some are unconverted and in so dangerous a case that the absolute necessity of their souls may require it When the soul is in so sad a case and yet the body may be endangered by the fear of the sentence of death it is the safest course to tell them that though God may recover them yet their disease is so dangerous as calleth for their speedy and serious preparation for death which will not be lost if God restore them So that they may have so much hopes as to keep their fear from killing them and so much acquaintance with their danger as may put them upon their duty But in case there be already little or no hope or in case the Disease will be but little increased by the fear which is the case of the most the danger should not at all be hid § 9. Quest. Am I alwayes bound to tell a wicked man of his sin and misery when it may exasperate Quest. 2. his disease and offend his mind Answ. If it were a sickness that is void of danger in case his mind be quiet and be like to kill Answ. him if his mind be disturbed then it were the most prudent course to call him so far to Repentance and faith as you can do it without any dangerous disturbance of him Because it is most Charity to his soul to help him to a longer time of Repentance rather than to lay all the hopes of his salvation upon the present time But this is not an ordinary case Therefore ordinarily it is a duty to acquaint the sick person that is yet in his sin and unregenerate state with the truth of his danger and the necessity of renovation Alas it is a lamentable kind of friendship to flatter a poor soul into damnation or to hide his danger till he is past recovery When he is in a state of unexpressible misery and hath but a few Dayes or Weeks time left to do all that ever must be done for his salvation what horrid cruelty is it then to let him go to Hell for fear of displeasing or disquieting him § 10. Object But I am afraid I shall cast him into despair if I tell him plainly that he is in a state of damnation Answ. If you let him alone a little longer he will be in remediless despair There is no despair remediless but that in Hell But now you may help to save him both from present and endless desperation He must needs despair of ever being saved without a Christ or without the Regeneration of the Holy Spirit or without true faith and repentance and love to God and holiness But need he despair of attaining all these while Christ is offered him so freely and a full remedy is at hand He must know his sin and misery or else he is never like to scape it But he must also be acquainted with the true remedy and that is your way to keep him from despair and not by flattering him into Hell § 11. Quest. But what should one do in so short a time and with dead hearted sinners Alas what hope Quest. 3. is there If it were nothing but their Ignorance it cannot be cured in a moment And is there then any hope in so short a space to bring them to knowledge and faith and repentance and a changed heart to love God and holiness and that when pain and weakness do disable them Answ. The case indeed is very sad but yet while there is life there is some hope And while there Answ. is any hope we should do our best when it is for the saving of a soul And the difficulty should but stir us up to use our utmost skill and diligence But as it is the misery of such to delay conversion till so unfit a time so is it too frequently the sin of Believers that they delay their serious endeavours to convert men till such a time as they almost despair of the success § 12. Quest. But what shall we do in a doubtful case when we know not whether the person be renewed Quest. 4. and truly penitent or not which is the case of most that we have to deal with Answ. Answ. You can tell whether the grounds of your hope or of your fear concerning them be the greater
life and consequently rejected Christ as a Saviour and the Holy Ghost as a sanctifier and all the mercy which he offered you on these terms Quest. 8. If this hath been your case are you now unfeignedly grieved for it Not only because it hath brought you so near to Hell but also because it hath displeased God and deprived you of that Holy and comfortable life which you might all this while have lived and endangered all your hopes of Heaven Do you so far Repent as that your very Heart and Love is changed so that now you had rather have a Holy life on earth and the sight and enjoyment of God in the Heavenly Joyes for ever than to have all the pleasure and prosperity of this world Do you hate your sins and loath your self for them and truly desire to be made Holy Are you firmly Resolved that if God do recover you to health you will live a new and Holy life that you will forsake your fleshly worldly life and all your wilful sins and will set your self to learn the will of God and call upon him and live in the holy Communion of Saints and make it your chief care to please God and to be saved Quest. 9. Are you willing to these ends to Give up your self absolutely now to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost as your Reconciled Father your Saviour and your Sanctifier to be sanctified and Iustified and saved from your sins and from the wrath of God and live to God in Love and Holiness And are you willing to bind your self to this by entring into this Covenant with God renouncing the Flesh the World and the Devil Either your Heart is willing and sincere in this Resolution and Covenant or it is not If it be not there is no hope that your sin should be pardoned and your soul be saved upon any other or easier terms And for all that God is merciful and Christ died for sinners it was never his intent to save one impenitent unsanctified soul But if your Heart unfeignedly consent to this I Matth. 28. 19 â—0 2 Cor. 6. 10 17 18. have the commission of Christ himself to tell you that God will be your Reconciled God and Father and Christ will be your Saviour and the Holy Spirit will be your Sanctifier and Comforter and your sins are pardoned and your soul shall be saved and you shall dwell in Heaven with God for ever God did consent before you consented He shewed his Consent in purchasing and making and offering you this Covenant Shew your unfeigned Consent now by accepting it and giving up your self unreservedly to him and you have Christs Blood and Spirit and Sacrament to seal it to you The flesh and the world have deceived you but Trust in Christ upon his Covenant terms and he will never deceive you And now alas what pity is it that a soul that is in so miserable a case and is lost for ever if it have not help and speedy help should be deprived of all this Grace and Glory and only for want of Repenting and Consenting What pity is it that a soul that is ready to go into another world where mercy shall never more be offered it should rather go stupidly on to hell than Return to God and Accept his mercy Do but truly Repent and Consent to this Covenant and all the mercies of it are certainly yours God will be your God and Christ and the Spirit and pardon and Heaven and all are yours The Lord open and perswade your heart that you may not be undone and lost for ever for want of accepting the mercy that is offered you And now I know it would be comfortable to you if you could be fully assured that you are forgiven and shall be saved In a matter of such unspeakable moment how jâ—yful would a well-grounded certainty be to any man that hath the right use of his understanding I tell you therefore from God that there is no cause of your doubting on his part but only on your own There is no doubt to be made whether God be merciful nor whether Christ be a sufficient Saviour and sacrifice for your sins nor whether the Covenant be sure and promise of pardon and salvation to all true penitent believers be true All the doubt is whether your faith and Repentance be sincere or not And for that I can but tell you how you may know it and I shall open the Truth to you that I may neither Deceive you nor causlâ—sly Discomfort you If this Repentance and Change which you now profess and this Covenant which you have made Matth. 13. 19 20 21 22 23. Rom. 8. 7 8 9. Heb. 12. 14. Joh. 3. 3 5 6. Matth. 18. 3. 2 Cor. 5. 17. Eph. 6. 24. 1 Cor. 16. 22. Luk. 14. 26 27. with God 1. Do come only from a present fear and not from a changed renewed heart 2. And if your Resolutions be such as would not hold you to a holy life if you should recover but would die and fade away and leave you as were before when the fear is past then is it but a forced hypocritical Repentance and will not save you if you so die Though a Minister of Christ should Absolve you of all your sins and seal it by giving you the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ for all this you are lost for ever if you have no more For Absolution and the Sacrament are given you but on supposition that yâ—ur faith and Repentance be sincere And if this Condition fail in you the Action of the holiest Minister in the world will never save you But 1. If your Repentance and Covenant come not only from a present fear but from a Renewed Heart which now Loveth God and Christ and Heaven and Holiness better than all the Honours and Riches and Pleasures of the flesh and world and had rather have them even on Gods terms 2. And if this change be such as if you should recover would hold you to a Holy Life and not die or dwindle into hypocritical formality when the fright is over then I can assure you from the word of God that if you die in this Repentance you shall certainly be saved And though Late Repentance have so many difficulties that it too seldom proveth true and sound and it is an unspeakable madness to cast our salvation on so great a hazard and to defer that till such a day as this which should be the principal work of all our lives and for which the greatest care and diligence is not too much Yet for all that when Conversion is indeed sincere it is alwayes acceptable how late soever And a returning prodigal shall find Luk. 15. 19 20 21 22. Joh. 6. 37. better entertainment with God than he could possibly expect And never will Christ cast out one soul that cometh to him in sincerity of heart The Lord give you such a Heart and all is yours Amen
upon a Cross at the will of proud malitious persecutoâ—s You shall there see that Person whom God hath Chosen to advance above the whole Creation and in John 17. â—4 Phil. 2 7 8 9 10. whom he will be more glorified than all the Saints The wonderful condescension of his Incarnation and the wonderful Mysterie of the Hypostatical Union will there be better understood And which is all in all you shall see the most Blessed God himself whether in his Essence or not yet undoubtedly in his Glory in that state or place which he hath prepared to reveal his Glory in Matth. 5. 8. Heb. 12. 14. for the Glorifying of holy Spirits You shall see him whose sight will perfect your understandings and Love him and feel the fulness of his Love which is the highest felicity that any created Being can attain Though this will be in different measures as souls are more or less amiable and capacious or else the humane nature of Christ would be no happier than we yet none shall have any sinful or trouble some imperfection and all their capacities shall be filled with God O dear friend I am even confounded and ashamed to think that I mention to you such high and glorious things with no more sense and admiration and that my soul is not drawn up in the flames of a more â—ervent Love nor lifted up in higher joyes nor yet drawn out into more longing desires when I speak of such transcendent happiness and joy O had you and I but a glimpse with Acts 7. 56. 2 Cor. 12. 3 4 5. Gal. 1. 4. blessed Stephen or Paul of these unutterable pleasures how deeply would it affect us and how should we abhorr this life of sin and be aweary of this dark and distant state and be glad to be gone from this Prison of flesh and to be delivered from this present evil world This is the life that you are going to live Though a painful Death must open the Womb of Time and let you into eternity how quickly will the pain be over And though Nature make Death dismal to you and sin have made it penal and you look at it now with backwardness and fear yet this will all be quickly past and your souls will be born into a world of joy which will make you forget all your fears and sorrows It is meet that as the Birth of Nature had its pains and the Birth of Grace hads its penitent John 16. 21. John 3. 3 5 7 8. sorrows so the Birth of Glory should have the greatest difficulties as it entreth us into the happiest state O what a change will it be to a humbled fearful soul to find it self in a moment dislodged from a sinful painful flesh and entred into a world of Light and Life and holy Love unspeakably above all the expressions and conceptions of this present life Alas that our present ignorance and fear should make us draw back from such a change That whilst all our brethren that dyed in faith are triumphing in these Joyes with Christ our trembling souls should be so loth to leave this flesh and be afraid to be called to the same felicity O what an enemy is the remnant of Unbelief to our imprisoned and imperfect souls That it can hide such a desirable Glory from our eyes that it should no more affect us and we should no more desire it but are willing to stay so long from God How wonderful is that Love and Mercy that brings such backward souls to Happiness and will drive us away from this beloved world by its afflicting miseries and from this beloved flesh by pain and weariness and will draw us to our joyful blessedness as it were whether we will or not and will not leave us out of Heaven so long till we are willing our selves to come away You seem now to be almost at your journeys end But how many a foul step have those yet to go whom you leave behind you in this dirty world You have fought a good fight and kept the faith and shall never be troubled with an enemy or temptation when this one concluding brunt is over You shall never be so much as tempted to unbelief or pride or worldly mindedness or fleshly lusts or to any defects in the service of your Lord But how many temptations do you leave us encompassed with and how many dangers and enemies to overcome And alas how many falls and wounds may we receive You seem to be near the end of your race when those behind you have far to run You are entring into the harbour and leave us tossed by Tempests on the Waves Flesh will no more entice or clog your soul You will no more have unruly senses to command nor an unreasonable appetite to govern nor a stragling fantasie or wandering thoughts or headstrong lusts or boistrous passions to restrain You will no longer carry about a root of corruption nor a principle of enmity to God! It will no more be difficult or wearisome to you to do good Your service of God will no more be mixed and blemished with imperfections You shall never more have a cold or hard or backward heart or a careless customary duty to lament That primitive Holiness which consisteth in the Love of God and the exercise and delights thereof will be perfected And those subservient duties of Holiness which consist in the use of Recovering means will cease as needless Preaching and Studying and Books will be necessary no more Sacraments and Church Discipline and all such means have done their work Repentance and Faith have attained their end As your bodies after the Resurrection 2 Cor. 3. 18. 2 Cor. 4. 6. 1 Cor. 13. 12. will have no need of food or rayment or care or labour so your souls will be above the use of such Creatures and Ordinances as now we cannot be without For the Glass will be unnecessary when you must see the Creator face to face Will it not be a joyful day to you when you shall know God as much as you desire to know him and love him as much as you desire to love him and be loved by him as much as much as you can reasonably desire to be loved and rejoyce in him as much as you desire to rejoyce Yea more than you can now desire I open you but a Casement into the everlasting mansions and shew you but a dark and distant prospect of the promised Land the Heavenly Ierusalem The satisfying sight is reserved for the time when thereby we shall have that satisfying fruition And is there any such thing to be hoped for on earth Will health or wealth will the highest places or the greatest pleasures make man happy You know it will not Or if it would the happiness would be so short as maketh it little worthy of our regard Have you not seen an end of all perfection Have you not observed and tryed what a deluding dream
5. 9 10. Rev. 4. 11 8. Rev. 15. 3. Heb. 12. 9. Matth. 6. 13. thâ—u not said Behold I come quickly Even so Come Lord and let the great Marriage day of the Lamb make haste when thy Spouse shall be presented spotless unblamable and glorious and the glory of God in the New Jerusalem shall be Revealed to all his holy ones to delight and glorifie them for ever In the mean time Remember Lord thy promise Because I live therefore shall ye live also And let the dead that dye in thee be blessed And thou that art made a quickning Spirit and art the Lord and Prince of life and hast said that not a hair of our heads shall perish Gather our departing souls unto thy self into the Heavenly Jerusalem and Mount Zion the City of the living God and to the Myriads of holy Angels and to the general Assembly and Church of the first born and to the perfected Spirits of the just where thou wilt make us Kings and Priests to God whom we shall See and Love and Praise for ever For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things and for his pleasure they are and were created And O thou the blessed God of Love the Father of Spirits and King of Saints receive this unworthy Member of thy Son into the heavenly Chore which sing thy Praise who rest not saying night and day Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty who Is and Was and Is to Come For Thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen The End of the Second TOME A Christian Directory The Third Part. Christian Ecclesiasticks OR DIRECTIONS TO PASTORS PEOPLE About Sacred Doctrine Worship and Discipline and their mutual Duties With the Solution of a multitude of Church-Controversies and Cases of Conscience By RICHARD BAXTER 1 Cor. 12. 25 27 28. That there should be no Schism in the body but the Members should have the same care one for another Now ye are the Body of Christ and Members in particular And God hath set some in the Church first Apostles c. Eph. 4. 3 4 12 c. Endeavouring to keep the Unity of the SPIRIT in the bond of Peace There is one Body one Spirit one Hope one Lord one Faith one Baptism Not One Ministerial Head one God * And he gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the Ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ Till we all come into the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ That we henceforth be no more Children tossed to and fro and carryed about with every wind of doctrine by the cogging or sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lye in wait to deceive But keeping the Truth in Love may grow up into him in all things which is the head even Christ From whom the whole body compacted and cemented together by every joynt of supply according to its power in proportion of each part worketh increase of the body to the edifying of it self in Love 1 Tim. 3. 15. That thou maist know how thou oughtest to behave thy self in the House of God which is the Church of the living God as A pillar and basis of the truth 1 Thess. 5. 12 13. We beseech you brethren to know them which labour among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love for their work sake and be at peace among your selves LONDON Printed by Robert White for Nevill Simmons at the Sign of the Princes-Arms in St. Pauls Church-yard 1673. Reader THat this part and the next are Imperfect and so much only is written as I might and not as I would I need not excuse to thee if thou know me and where and when I live But some of that which is wanting if thou desire thou maist find 1. In my Universal Concord 2. In my Christian Concord 3. In our Agreement for Catechising and my Reformed Pastor 4. In the Reformed Lyturgie offered to the Commissioned Bishops at the Savoy Farewel A Christian Directory TOM III. Christian Ecclesiasticks CHAP. I. Of the Worship of God in general § 1. THAT God is to be Worshipped solemnly by man is confessed by Qui totos dies precabantur immolabant ut sui liberi sibi superstites essent Superstitiosi sunt appellati quod nomen paâ—uit postea latius Qui autem omnia quae ad cultum Deorum pertinerent diligenter pertractarent tanquam relegerent sunt dicti Religiosi ex relegendo ut elegantes ex eligendo à diligendo diligentes ex intelligendo intelligentes Superstitiosi Religiosi alterum vitii nomen alterum laudis Cicer. nat Deor. lib. 2. pag. 73 74. all that acknowledge that there is a God But about the Matter and Manner of his Worship there are no small dissensions and contentions in the world I am not now attempting a reconciliation of these contenders The sickness of mens minds and wills doth make that impossible to any but God which else were not only possible but easie the terms of reconciliation being in themselves so plain and obvious as they are But it is Directions to those that are willing to worship God aright which I am now to give § 2. Direct 1. Understand what it is to worship God aright lest you offer him Vanity and sin for Direct 1. Worship The worshipping of God is the direct acknowledging of his Being and Perfections to his honour Indirectly or consequentially he is acknowledged in every obediential act by those that truly obey and serve him And this is indirectly and participatively to worship him And therefore all things are Holy to the Holy because they are Holy in the use of all and Holiness to the Lord is as it were written upon all that they possess or do as they are Holy But this is not the worship which we are here to speak of but that which is Primarily and Directly done to glorifie him by the acknowledgement of his excellencies Thus God is worshipped either inwardly by the soul alone or also outwardly by the body expressing the worship of the soul. For that which is done by the Body alone without the concurrence of the Heart is not true worship but an Hypocritical Image or shew of it equivocally called Worship The inward worship of the Heart alone I have spoken If they that serve their God with meer word and ceremony and mimâ—ca actions were so served themselves they might be â—ilâ—â—ced with Aristâ—ppâ—â— his defence of his gallantry and sumptuâ—uâ— fare Si vituâ—â—randum ait hoc essâ—t in celebritatibus deorum profectò non fieret Laert. iâ— Aristip. So Plato allowed drunkenness only in the Feasts oâ— Baâ—châ—s of in the former Tome The outward or expressive worship
and dead formality and offer God a Carrion for a Sacrifice and yet their Consciences are so far from checking them for this heynous sin that they are much pleased and quieted by it as if they had deserved well of God and proved themselves very godly people and by this sin had made him amends for the common sins of their lives Is it God himself and his sanctifying grace that those men seek after in his Worship who hate his grace and scorn sanctification and can leave God to be enjoyed by others if they may but enjoy their fleshly pleasures and riches and honours in the world Even the Haters of God and Holiness are so blinded as to perswade themselves that in his Worship they are truly seeking that God and Holiness which they hate And O what a deal of pains is many a formal Hypocrite at to little purpose in spending many 2 Tim. 3. 5. 1 Tim. 4. 7. hours in outside heartless lifeless worship while they never thirsted after God nor after a holy conformity to him communion with him or fruition of him in all their lives O what a deal of labour do these Pharisees lose in bodily exercise which profiteth nothing for want of a right end in all that they do because it is not God that they seek when Goliness is profitable to all things 1 Tim. 4. 8. And what is Godliness but the souls devotedness to God and seeking after him We have much adoe to bring some men from their diversions to Gods outward worship But O how much harder is it to bring the soul to seek God unfeignedly in that Worship where the Body is present When David in the Wilderness was driven from the Sanctuary he cryeth out in the bitterness of his soul As the Hart panteth after the water Brooks so panteth my soul after thee O God My soul thirsteth for God for the living God when shall I come and appear before God My tears have been my meat day and night while they continually sâ—y unto me where is thy God You see here that it was God himself that David thirsted after in his Worship Alas what is all the outward pomp of Worship if God be not the end and life of all Without him how vain a thing would the words of prayer and preaching and the administration of the Sacraments be It is not the dead letter but the quickening spirit that maketh the dead in sin to live that convinceth or comforteth the soul or maketh the worshipper holy or happy Nay it is some aggravation of your misery to be destitute of true Communion with God Isa. 29. 13. Matth. 15. 8. Matth. 11. â—3 Matth. 10. 15. Matth. 11. 23 24. 2 Sam. 15. 25 28 29. while you seem to worship him and to be far from him in the Heart while you draw so near him with the lips To boast of the Temple of the Lord and be forsaken by the Lord of the Temple That Capernaum shall be cast down to Hell that is but thus lift up to Heaven And it will be easier for Sodom in the day of judgement than for such as had the publick ordinances without God David left the Ark with Absalom at Hierusalem but God was not with Absalom but with David No marvel if such Hypocrites grudge at all that is costly in Gods service even the necessary maintenance of the Ministers For if they have only the shell of Ordinances without God it will scarce requite them for their cost No marvel if they think all their pains too much when they take up with the chaff which is scarcely worth their pains No wonder if they find small pleasure in Gods Service For what pleasure is there in the husks or chaff or in a deaf nut No wonder if they grow no better no holier or stronger by it For what strength will chaff and shadows breed No marvel if they are quickly weary and if a little of such Religion seem enough when the life and spirits and strength and sweetness is neglected O sinners remember that God desireth not yours but you and all your wealth and service is as nothing to him if he have not your selves when yet you are so little worth the having Nay how earnestly doth he sue to have you How dearly hath he bought you he may challenge you as his own Answer this kindness of God aright Let no ordinance nor no common mercy satisfie you if you have not God himself And to encourage you let me further tell you § 24. 10. If it be God himself that thou seekest in his worship sincerely thou shalt find him Because thou hast chosen the better part it shall not be taken from thee Because thou hungrest and Luk. 10. 42. thirsteth after him thou shalt be satisfied What joyful news is this to the thirsty soul 2. Thou art most welcome to God with these high desires This holy ambition and aspiring of Love is only acceptable to him If all ordinances be nothing to thee without God he will see that thou understandest the true use of ordinances and put down thy name among his Lovers whom he cannot despise He loveth not to see men debase their souls to feed on husks and chaff with hypocrites no more than to feed on filth and dirt with sensualists and worldlings As he accepted Solomons prayer â— Chron. 1. 11 12 13. because he asked not for little things but for great so he is very much pleased with the soul that is unsatisfied with all the world and can be content with nothing lower or worse than God himself 3. Nay because thou seekest God himself thou shalt have all things with him that are worth the having Matth. 6. 33. Rom. 8. 28. When hypocrites have but the carkass and shadow it 's thou that shâ—lt have the substantial food and joy As they that were with Paul when he was Converted did hear the voice but saw no man Act. 9. 7. so others shall hear the sound of the word and the name of God but it is thou that shall see him by faith that is invisible and feel the power and efficacy of all Thou shalt hear God speak to thee when he that sitteth in the same seat with thee shall hear no more than the voice of man It is he that seeketh after God in his Ordinances that is Religious in good sadness and is employed in a work that is worthy of an immortal rational soul. The delights of Ordinances as they are performed by man will savour of his imperfections and taste of the instrument and have a bitterness often mixed with the sweet when the delight that cometh from God himself will be more pure Ordinances are uncertain You may have them to day and lose them to morrow when God is everlasting and everlastingly to be enjoyed O therefore take not up short of God in any of his worship but before you set upon it call up your souls to mind the end and tell them
judgement about the controverted part is not much to be regarded God is not so likely to direct profane ones and false hearted hypocrites and bless them with a sound judgement in holy things where their Lives shew that their practical judgements are corrupt as the sincere that obey him in that which he revealeth to them We are all agreed that Gods Word must be your daily meditation and delight Psal. 1. 2. and that you should speak of it lying down and rising up at home and abroad Deut. 6. 6 7 8. and that we must be constant and fervent and importunate in prayer both in publick and private 1 Thess. 5. 17. Luke 18. 1. Iames 5. 16. Do you perform this much faithfully or not If you do you may the more confidently expect that God should further reveal his will to you and resolve your doubts and guide you in the way that is pleasing to him But if you omit the duty which all are agreed on and be unfaithful and negligent in what you know how unmeet are you to dispute about the controverted circumstances of duty To what purpose is it that you meddle in such controversies Do you do it wilfully to condemn your selves before God and shame your selves before men by declaring the hypocrisie which aggravateth your ungodliness What a lothesome and pitiful thing is it to hear a man bitterly reproach those that differ from him in some circumstances of worship when he himself never seriously worshippeth God at all When he meditateth not on the Word of God and instead of delighting in it maketh light of it as if it little concerned him and is acquainted with no other prayer than a little customary lip service Is such an ungodly neglecter of all the serious worship of God a fit person to fill the world with quarrels about the Manner of his worship § 3. Direct 3. Differ not in Gods worship from the common sense of the most faithful godly Christians Direct 3. without great suspicion of your own understandings and a most diligent tryal of the case For if in such practical cases the common sense of the faithful be against you it is to be suspected that the teaching of Gods Spirit is against you For the Spirit of God doth principally teach his servants in the matters of worship and obedience There are several errors that I am here warning you to avoid 1. The error of them that rather incline to the judgement of the ungodly multitude who never knew what it was to worship God in The disadvantages of ungodly men in judging of holy worship Spirit and truth Consider the great disadvantages of these men to judge aright in such a case 1. They must judge then without that teaching of the Spirit by which things spiritual are to be discerned 1 Cor. 2. 13 15. He that is blind in sin must judge of the mysteries of godliness 2. They must judge quite contrary to their natures and inclinations or against the diseased Habits of their Wills And if you call a drunkard to judge of the evil of drunkenness or a whoremonger to judge of the evil of fornication or a covetous or a proud or a passionate man to judge of their several sins how partial will they be And so will an ungodly man be in judging of the duties of godliness You set him to judge of that which he hateth 3. You set him to judge of that which he is unacquainted with It 's like he never throughly studyed it but its certain he never seriously tryed it nor hath not the experience of those that have long made it a great part of the business of their lives And would you not sooner take a mans judgement in Physick that hath made it the study and practice of his life than a sick mans that speaketh against that which he never studyed or practised meerly because his own stomach is against it Or will you not sooner take the judgement of an antient Pilot about Navigation than ones that never was at Sea The difference is as great in the present case § 4. 2. And I speak this also to warn you of another error that you prefer not the judgement of a Sect or Party or some few godly people against the common sense of the generality of the faithful For the Spirit of God is liklier to have forsaken a small part of godly people than the generality in such particular opinions which even good men may be forsaken in Or if it be in greater things it is more unreasonable and more uncharitable for me to suspect that most that seem godly are hypocrites and forsaken of God than that a party or some few are so § 5. Direct 4. Yet do not absolutely give up your selves to the judgement of any in the worshipping Direct 4. of God but only use the advice of men in a due subordination to the Will of God and the Teaching of Iesus Christ. Otherwise you will set man in the place of God and will reject Christ in his Prophetical Office as much as using co-ordinate Mediators is a rejecting him in his Priestly Office None must be called Master but in subordination to Christ because he is our Master Matth. 23. 8 9 10. § 6. Direct 5. Condemn not all that in others which you dare not do your selves and practise not Direct 5. all that your selves which you dare not condemn in others For you are more capable of judging in See Rom. 14. 15. 1. Cor. 8. 13. your own cases and bound to do it with more exactness and diligent enquiry than in the case of others Oft-times a rational doubt may necessitate you to suspend your practice as your belief or judgement is suspended when yet it will not allow you to condemn another whose judgement and practice hath no such suspension Only you may doubt whether he be in the right as you doubt as to your self And yet you may not therefore venture to do all that you dare not condemn in him for then you must wilfully commit all the sins in the world which your weakness shall make a doubt or controversie of § 7. Direct 6. Offer God no worship that is clearly contrary to his nature and perfections but such Direct 6. as is suited to him as he is revealed to you in his Word Thus Christ teacheth us to worship God as Lev. 19. 2. 20. 7. 1 Pet. 1. 16. he is and thus God often calleth for Holy worship because he is Holy 1. God is a Spirit therefore they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and Truth which Christ opposeth to meer external Ceremony or shadows John 4. 23 24. for the Father seeketh such to worship him 2. God is Incomprehensible and Infinitely distant from us Therefore worship him with Admiration and make not either visible or mental Images of him nor debase him not by undue resemblance of him The 2d Commandment Câ—â—â—â—o de Nat.
to make further enquiry and so when the soul is come so far as to see the same truths by supernatural Grace in the supernatural revelation of the Holy Scriptures then they become more effectual and saâ—ing which before were known but preparatorily And so the same Truths are then both the objects of Knowledge and of faith § 20. 4. Having acquainted you with mans ultimate End and Happiness in the life to come the 4. To know that Christ faith Repentance and obedience is the way to it next thing to be taught you by the Ministers of Christ is that Christ as our Saviour and faith and repentance and sincere obedience to be performed by us through his grace is the way to Heaven or the means by which we must attain this end Though the Knowledge of the Preachers wisdom piety and credibility remove some impediments which would make the receiving of this the more difficult to you yet you are not to take it barely on his word as a point of humane faith but you are to call for his proof of it that you may see better reasons than his affirmations for the entertainment of it § 21. 5. The proof that he will give you is in these two Propositions 1. Gods Revelations are all 5. To know that this is True because God hath revealed it or it is his Word true 2. This is one of Gods Revelations This is an argument Whatsoever God saith is true But this God saith Therefore this is true The first Proposition you â—re not to take upon the trust of his word but to learn of him as a Teacher to know it in its proper Evidence For it is the formal object of your faith The veracity of God is first known to you by the same Evidence and means as you know that there is a God And then it is by the force of this that you believe the particular truths which are the material object of faith 2. And the second Proposition that God hath revealed this is orderly to be first proved and so received upon its proper evidence and not taken meerly upon your Teachers word Yet if you do believe him by a humane faith as a man that is likely to know what he saith and this in order to a Divine faith it will not hinder but help your Divine faith and salvation and is indeed no more than is your duty § 22. Here not 1. That primarily these two Great Principles of faith God is True and this is Gods revelation are not themselves Credenda the Material objects of Divine faith but of Knowledge ☞ 2. That yet the result of both is de fide matter of faith 3. And the same principles are secondarily de fide as it is that there is a God For though they are first to be known by natural evidence yet when the Scripture is opened to us we shall find them there revealed And so the same thing may be the object both of knowledge and of faith 4. And Faith it self is a sort of Knowledge For though humane faith have that uncertainty in its premises for the most part as forbiddeth us to say properly I know this to be true because such a man said it Yet Divine faith hath that certainty which may make it an excellent sort of Knowledge as I have proved copiously elsewhere In believing man we argue thus Whatsoever so wise and honest a man saith is credible that is most ☞ likely to be true But this he saith Therefore c. But in believing God we argue thus Whatever God saith is credible that is as infallible truth But this God saith Therefore c. So that the word Credible signifieth not the same thing in the two arguments nor is Divine Faith and Humane faith the same § 23. 6. The next thing that the Preacher hath to teach you is the proof of the foresaid Minor 6. To knâ—w that the Gospel is his Word Proposition for the Major was proved in the proof of a Deity And that is thus The Gospel which Christ and his Apostles first Preached and is now delivered in the Sacred Scriptures is the Word or infallible revelation of God But this doctrine that Christ with faith and Repentance and obedience on our parts are the way to life Eternal is the Gospel which Christ and his Apostles first Preached c. Therefore it is the Word of God For the Minor you need not take your Teachers word if you can read for you may see it in the Books of which more anon But the Major is that which all men will desire to be assured of that the Gospel is Gods word And for that though a Belief of your Teacher is a help and good preparatory yet you are not there to stop but to use him as a Teacher to shew you the Truth of it in the proofs else you must take any thing for Gods Word which your Teacher affirmeth to be such And the proof which he will give you must be some Divine attestation which may be shewed to those whom we would convince § 24. 7. This Divine attestation which he is next to shew you hath many parts that it may be 7. The Divine attestation of the Gospel compleat and satisfactory 1. Gods antecedent Testimony 2. His inherent or impressed testimony 3. His adherent concomitant Testimony 4. His subsequent Testimony 1. Gods Antecedent Testimony by which he attesteth the Gospel is the train of Promises Prophesies Types and the preparing Ministry of Iohn which all foretold Christ and were fulfilled in him 2. Gods impressed ☞ testimony is that Image and superscription of God in his Governing-wisdom Holiness and Love which is unimmitably engraven on the Gospel as an Image upon a seal which is thereby made the Instrument to imprint the same on other things Thus as the Sun the Gospel shineth and proveth it self by its proper light 3. The conâ—omitant attestation of God is that of multitudes of certain uncontrouled miracles done by Christ and his Apostles which proved the approving hand of God and oblige all rational creatures to believe a testimony so confirmed to them Among these Christs own Resurrection and Ascension and the Gifts of his Apostles are the chief 4. The subsequent attestation of God is the power and efficacy of the Gospel in calling and sanctifying unto Christ a peculiar people zealous of good works and directing and confirming them against all temptations and torments to the end Producing that same Image of God on the souls of his Elect which is more perfectly engraven on the word it self making such changes and gathering such a people unto God as no other doctrine ever did And all these four attestations are but one even the Holy Spirit ☞ who is become the great witness of Christ and his Gospel in the World viz. 1. The spirit of Prophesie is the antecedent attestation 2. The Holy Image which the spirit hath Printed on the Gospel it self
how contrary soever among themselves but they all pretended Gods authority and entitled him to their sin and called it his service and censured others as ungodly or less godly that would not do as bad as they St. Iames is put to confute them that thought this wisdom was from above and so did glory in their sin and lye against the truth when their wisdom was from beneath and no better than earthly sensual and deviliish For the wisdom from above is first pure then peaceable gentle easie to be entreated full of mercy c. James 3. 17. § 78. 12. Church divisions are unlike to our Heavenly state and in some regard worse than the Kingdom of the Devil for he would not destroy it by dividing it against it selâ— Matth. 12. 26. O what a blessed harmony of united holy souls will there be in the Heavenly Ierusalem where we hope to dwell for ever There will be no discords envyings Sideings or contendings one being of this party and another of that but in the Unity of perfect Love that world of Spirits with joyful Eph. 4. 13 14 16. praise will magnifie their Creator And is a snarling envy or jarring discord the likely way to such an end Is the Church of Christ a Babâ—l of confusion Should they be divided party against party here that must be one in perfect Love for ever Shall they here be condemning each other as none of the children of the Most High who there must live in sweetest concord If there be shame in Heaven you will be ashamed to meet those in the delights of Glory and see them entertained by the Lord of Love whom you reviled and cast out of the Church or your communion causelesly on earth § 79. Remember now that Schism and making parties and divisions in the Church is not so small a sin as many take it for It is the accounting it a duty and a part of Holiness which is the greatest cause that it prospereth in the world And it will never be reformed till men have right apprehensions of the evil of it Why is it that sober people are so far and free from the sins of swearing drunkenness fornication and lasciviousness but because these sins are under so odious a character as helpeth them easily to perceive the evil of them And till Church-divisions be rightly apprehended as whoredom and swearing and drunkenness are they will never be well cured Imprint therefore on your minds the true Character of them which I have here laid down and look abroad upon the effects and then you will fear this confounding sin as much as a consuming Plague § 80. The two great causes that keep Divisions from being hated as they ought are 1. A charitable Two Hinderances of our true apprehensions of Schisme respect to the good that is in Church-dividers carrying us to overlook the evil of the sin judging of it by the Persons that commit it and thinking that nothing should seem odious that is theirs because many of them are in other respects of blameless pious conversations And indeed every Christian must so prudently reprehend the mistakes and faults of pious men as not to asperse the piety which is conjunct and therefore not to make their persons odious but to give the person all his just commendations for his piety while we oppose and aggravate his sin Because Christ himself so distinguisheth between the good and the evil and the person and the sin and loveth his own for their good while he hateth their evil and so must we And because it is the grand design of Satan by the faults of the godly to make their Persons hated first and their Piety next and so to banish Religion from the world And every friend of Christ must shew himself an enemy to this design of Satan But yet the sin must be disowned and opposed while the person is Loved according to his worth Christ will give no thanks for such Love to his children as cherisheth their Church-destroying sins There is no greater enemy to sin than Christ though there be no greater friend to souls Godliness was never intended to be a fortress for iniquity or a battery for the Devil to mount his Cannons on against the Church nor for a blind to cover the Powder-mines of Hell Satan never opposeth Truth and Godliness and Unity so dangerously as when he can make Religious men his instruments Remember therefore that all men are vanity and Gods interest and honour must not be sacrificed to theirs nor the most Holy be abused in reverence to the holiest of sinful men § 81. The other great hinderance of our due apprehension of the sinfulness of divisions is our too deep sense of our sufferings by superiours and our looking so much at the evil of persecutions as not to look at the danger of the contrary extream Thus under the Papacy the people of Germany at Luthers Reformation were so deeply sensible of the Papal cruelties that they thought by how many wayes soever men fled from such bloody persecutors they were very excusable And while men were all taken up in decrying the Roman Idolatry corruptions and cruelties they never feared the danger of their own divisions till they smarted by them And this was once the case of many good people here in England who so much hated the wickedness of the Prophane and the Haters of Godliness that they had no apprehensions of the evil of Divisions among themselves And because many prophanâ— ones were wont to call sober godly people Schismaticks and Factious therefore the very names begâ—n with many to grow into credit as if they had been of good signification and there had been really no such sin as schism and factiâ—n to be feared Till God permitted this sin to break in upon us with such fury as had almost turned us into a Babel and a desolation And I am perswaded God did purposely permit it to teach his people more sensibly to know the evil of that sin by the efâ—â—cts which they would not know by other means And to let them see when they had reviled and ruined each other that there is that in themselves which they should be more afraid of than of any enemy without § 82. Direct 5. Own nâ—t any cause which is an enemy to Love And pretend neither Truth nor Holiness Direct 5. nor Unity nor Order nor any thing against it The Spirit of Love is that one Vital Spirit which 〈…〉 9 〈…〉 4. 〈…〉 2. 〈…〉 19. â—â— 1 〈…〉 1 â—â—â—â— 5 〈…〉 2 â—â—â—â— 1. 7. Heb. 10. 24. 〈…〉 5. 6 13. doth animate all the Saints The increase â—f Love is the powerful Balâ—â—me that healeth all the Churches wounds Though loveless lifeless Physicions think that all these wounds must be healed by the Sword And indeed the Weapon-salve is now become the proper cure It is the Sword that must be medicated that the wounds made by it may be healed The decayes of
them greater Love and Honour than you ow 〈…〉 ny Saints on Earth Eph. 3. 15. The whole â—â—â—â—ly in Heaven and Earth is named of Christ. Those are the happiest and noblest paâ—â—s that are most pure and perfect and dwell in the highest and most glorious habitations nearest unto Christ yea with him If Holiness be lovely the most Holy are the most lovely We have many obligations therefore to Love them more than the Saints on earth They are more excellent and amiable and Christ Loveth them more And if any be Honourable it must especially be those spirits that are of greatest excellencies and perfections and advanced to the greatest Glory and nearness to their Lord. Make Conscience therefore of this as your duty not only to Love and Honour blessed souls but to Love and Honour them more than those that are yet on Earth And as every Duty is attended with Benefiâ— so we shall find this exceeding great benefit in the performance of this duty that iâ— will incline our â—earts to be the more Heavenly and draw up our Desires to the society which we so much Love and Honour § 2. Direct 2. Remember that it is a part of the life of faith to see by it the Heavenly Society of Direct 2. the blessed and a part of your Heavenly Conversation to have frequent serious and delightful thoughts Heb. 11. 1. of thâ—se Crowned souls that are with Christ. Otherwise God would never have given us such descriptions of the Heavenly Ierusalem and told us so much of the Hosts of God that must inhabit it for ever that must come from the East and from the West and sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God When it is said that our conversatiâ—n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is in Heaven Phil. 3. 20. the meaning extendeth both to our Relation Priviledges and Converse We are Denizâ—ns or Citizens of the Heavenly Society and our title to their happiness is our highest Priviledge and Honour and therefore our daily business is there and our sweetest and most serious converse is with Christ and all those blessed spirits Whatever we are doing here our Eye and Heart should still be there For we look not at the temporal things which are seen but at the eternal things which are not seen 2 Cor. 4. 18. A wise Christian that hath forsaken the Kingdom of darkness will be desirous to know what the Kingdom of Christ is into which he is translated and who are his fellow Subjects and what are their several ranks and dignities so far as tendeth to his congruous converse with them all And how should it affect us to find that we are come unto Mount Zion and unto the City of the living God the Heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels to the general Assembly and Church of the first born which are written in Heaven and to God the Iudge of all and to the spirits of Iust men made perfect and to Iesus the Mediator of the new Covenant Heb. 12. 22 23 24. Live then as the members of this society and exclude not the chief members from your thoughts and converse though our local visible communion be only with these rural inferiour inhabitants and not with the Courtiers of the King of Heaven yet our Mental Communion may be much with them If our home and treasure be there with them our Hearts will be there also Mat. 6. 21. § 3. Direct 3. It is the will of God that the Memory of the Saints be honoured on earth when they are Direct 3. dead It is some part of his favour which he hath promised to them Prov. 10. 7. The memory of the just is blessed but the name of the wicked shall rot Matth. 26. 13. Verily I say unto you wheresoever this Gospel shall be Preached in the whole world there shall also this that this woman hath done be told for a memorial of her The history of the Scripture recordeth the Lives of the Saints to their perpetual honour And God will have it so also for the sake of his abused servants upon earth that they may see that the slanders of malicious tongues shall not be able to obscure the glory of his Grace and that the lies of the ungodly prevail but for a moment And God will have it so for the sake of the ungodly that they may be ashamed of their malicious enmity and lyes against the godly while they perceive that the departed Saints do leave behind them a surviving testimony of their sanctity and innocency sufficient to confound the venemous calumnies of the Serpents Seed Yea God will have the Names of his eminent servants to be honoured upon earth for the honour of their Head and of his Grace and Gospel so that while malice would cast dishonour upon Christ from the meanness and failings of his servants that are alive the memory of the dead who were once as much despised and slandered shall rise up against them to his honour and their shame And it is very observable how God constraineth the bitter enemies of Holiness to bear this Testimony for the honour of Holiness against themselves that many who are the cruelest persecutors and murderers of the Living Saints do honour the Dead even to excess How zealous are the Papists for the multitude of their Holy dayes Concil Later sub Innoc. 3. can 3. and the honouring of their Names and Relicts and pretending many Miracles to be wrought by a very touch of their Shrines or Bones whilest they revile and muder those that imitate them and deprive Temporal Lords of their Dominions that will not exterminate them Yea while they burn the living Saints they make it part of their crime or Heresie that they honour not the Dayes and Relicts of the Dead so much as they To shew us that the things that have been shall be and that wickedness is the same in all generations Matth. 23. 29 30 31 32 33. Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites because ye build the Tâ—mbes of the Prophets and garnish the Sepulchres of the righteous and say If we had been in the dayes of our fathers we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the Prophets wherefore ye be witnesses to your selves that ye are the Children of them which killed the Prophets Filâ— ye up then the measure of your fathers Ye Serpents ye generation of Vipers how can ye escape the damnation of Hell I know that neither did the Pharisees nor do the Papists believe that those whom they murdered were Saints but Deceivers and Hereticks and the troublers of the World But if Charity be the grace most necessary to salvation then sure it will not keep any man from damnation that he had malice and uncharitableness sufficient to perswade him that the members of Christ were Children of the Devil But thus God will force even the persecutors and haters of his Saints to honour them And
if he constrain his enemies to it his servants should not be backward to do it according to his will § 4. Direct 4. Only such Honour must be given to departed Saints as subserveth the Honour of God Direct 4. and nothing must be ascribed to them that is his prerogative All that of God which was communicated to them and appeared in them must be acknowledged But so that God must be still acknowledged the spring of all and no honour given ultimately to them but it is God in them that we must behold and Love admire and honour § 5. Direct 5. The Honour of the Saints departed must be only such as tendeth to the promoting of Holiness Direct 5. among the living It is a most horrid aggravation of those mâ—ns sins who make their Honouring of the Saints departed a cover for their hating and persecuting their followers or that make it an engine for the carrying on some base design Some make it a devise for the advancing of their Parties and peculiar Opinions The Papists make it a very great means for the maintaining the Usurped power of the Pope giving him the power of Canonizing Saints and assuring the world what souls are in Heaven A Pope that by the testimony of a General Council as Ioh. 23. Eugenius c. is a Heretick and a wicked wretch and never like to come to Heaven himself can assure the world of a very large Catalogue of persons that are there And he that by the Papists is confessed fallible in matters of fact pretendeth to know so certainly who were Saints as to appoint them Holy dayes and command the Church to Pray to them And he that teacheth men that they cannot be certain themselves of their salvation pretendeth when they are dead that he is certain that they are saved To pretend the Veneration of Saints for such carnal ambitious designes and cheats and cruelties is a sin unfit for any that mentioneth a Saint So is it when men pretend that Saints are some rare extraordinary persons among the living members of the Church to make men believe that honouring them Rom. 1. 7. 1 Cor. 1. 2. 14. 33. Eph. 1. 8. 2. 19. 4. 12. 5. 3. Rom. 15. 25 26. will serve instead of imitating them and that all are not Saints that go to Heaven God forbid say they that none but holy persons should be saved we confess it is good to be Saints and they are the chief in Heaven but we hope those that are no Saints may be saved for all that But God saith that without Holiness none shall see him Heb. 12. 14. Heaven is the inheritance of none but Saints Act. 26. 18. Col. 1. 12. He that extolleth Saints to make men believe that those that are no Saints may be saved doth serve the Devil by honouring the Saints The same I may say of those that give them Divine honour ascribing to each a power to hear and help all throughout the world that put up prayers to them § 6. Direct 6. Look up to the blessedness of departed souls as members of the same body rejoycing Direct 6. with them and praising God that hath so exalted them This is the benefit of holy Love and Christian Unity that it maketh our brethrens happiness to be unto us in a manner as if it were our own 1 Cor. 12. 25 26. That there should be no schism in the Body but that the members should have the same care one for another that if one member be honoured all the members rejoice with it So far as selfishness is overcome and turned into the Uniting Love of Saints so far are all the joyes of the blessed souls in Heaven become the joyes of all that truly Love them upon earth How happy then is the state of all true believers that have so many to rejoice with Deny not God that Thanks for the saving of so many souls which you would not deny him if he saved but your friends estates or lives Especially when afflictions or temptations would deprive you of the Ioy which you should have in Gods mercies to your selves then comfort your selves with the remembrance of your brethrens Ioy. What an incongruous undecent thing is it for that man to pine away in sorrows upon earth who hath so many thousand friends in Heaven in joy and blessedness whose Ioyes should all be to him as his own § 7. Direct 7. When you feel a cooling of your love to God or of your zeal or reverence or other Direct 7. graces think then of the temper of those Holy Sâ—uls that see his glory O think with what fervour do they Love their God with what transporting sweetness do they delight in him with what Reverence do they all behold him And am not I his servant and a member of his family as well as they shall I be like the strangers of this frozen world when I should be like my fellow Citizens above As it will dispose a man to weep to see the tears and grief of others and as it will dispose a man to mirth and joy to see the mirth and joy of others so is it a potent help to raise the soul to the Love of God and delight in his service to think believingly of the Love and Delight of such a world of blessed spirits § 8. Direct 8. When you draw near to God in his holy Worship remember that you are part of the same Direct 8. society with those blessed spirits that are praising him in perfection Remember that you are members of the same Chore and your part must go to make up the Melody and therefore you should be as little discordant from them as possibly you can The quality of those that we joyn with in Gods service is â—pt either to dull or quicken us to depress or elevate us and we move Heaven-ward most easily and swiftly in that company which is going thither on the swiftest pase A believing thought that we are Worshipping God in Consort with the Heavenly Chore and of the high and holy raptures of those spirits in the continual praise of their Great Creator is an excellent means to warm and quicken us and raise us as near their holy frame as here on earth may be expected § 9. Direct 9. When you would possess your hearts with a lively sense of the odiousness of sin and Direct 9. would resist all temptations which would draw you to it think then how the blessed souls with God do judge of sin and how they would entertain such a temptation if the motion were made to them What think they of Coveteousness Pride or lust What think they of malice cruelty or lying How would they entertain it if Lands and Lordships pleasure or preferment were offered them to entice their hearts from God Would they venture upon damnation for a whore or for their games or to please their appetites Do they set as light by God and their
our deliverance from the Powder-plot I know not why it should be thought unlawful to do the like in this case also Provided 1. That it be not terminated in the honour of a Saint but of the God of Saints for giving so great a mercy to his Church 2. That it be not to honour a Saint meerly as a Saint but to some extraordinary eminent Saints Otherwise all that go to Heaven must have Festivals kept in remembrance of them and so we might have a million for a day 3. That it be not made equal with the Lords Day but kept in such a subordination to that Day as the Life or death of Saints is of inferiour and subordinate respect to the work of Christ in mans Redemption 4. And if it be kept in a spiritual manner to invite men to imitate the Holiness of the Saints and the constancy of the Martyrs and not to encourage sensuality and sloth CHAP. XI Directions about our Communion with the Holy Angels § 1. Direct 1. BE satisfied in knowing so much of Angels as God in Nature and Scripture Direct 1. hath revealed but presume not to enquire further much less to determine of unrevealed things That there are Angels and that they are holy Spirits is past dispute But what number they are and of how many worlds and of what orders and different dignities and degrees and when they were created and what locality belongeth to them and how far they excell or differ from the souls of men these and many other such unnecessary questions neither Nature nor Scripture will teach us how infallibly to resolve Almost all the Hereticks in the first ages of the Church did make their doctrines of Angels the first and chief part of their Heresies arrogantly intruding into unrevealed things and boasting of their acquaintance with the orders and inhabitants of the higher worlds These being risen in the Apostles dayes occasioned Paul to say Col. 2. 18. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of Angels intruding into those things which he hath not seen vainly puft up by his fleshly mind Direct 2. § 2. Direct 2. Understand so much of the Ministry of Angels as God hath revealed and so far take notice of your communion with them but affect not any other sort of communion Angelorum vocabulum nomen est officii non naturae nam sancti illi coelestis patriae spiritus semper sunt spiritus sed semper vocari Angeli non possunt Greâ—or I shall here shew how much of the Ministry of Angels is revealed to us in Scripture § 3. 1. It is part of the appointed work of Angels to be Ministring Spirits for the heirs of salvation Dan. 4. 13. Gen. 32. 1 2. Exod. 32. 2. Dan. 6. 22. Acts 12. 7 11. 1 King 19. 5 â— Heb. 1. 14. Not Ministers or Servants of the godly but Ministers of God for the godly As the Shepherd is not a servant of the sheep but for the sheep It is not an accidental or occasional work which they do extraordinarily but it is their undertaken Office to which they are sent forth And this their Ministry is about the ordinary concernments of our lives and not only about some great or unusual cases or exigents Psal. 34. 6 7. Psal. 91. 11 12. § 4. 2. It is not some but All the Angels that are appointed by God to this Ministration Heb. 1. 1 4. Are they not all ministring Spirits sent forth c. Mark here that if you enquire whether God have any higher Spirits that are not imployed in so low an Office but govern these Angels or if you enquire whether only this world be the Angels charge or whether they have many other worlds also of Viators to take care of neither Nature nor Scripture doth give you the determination of any of these questions and therefore you must leave them as unrevealed things with abundance more with which the old Hereticks and the Popish Schoolmen have diverted mens minds from plain and necessary things But that all the Angels minister for us is the express words of Scripture § 5. 3. The work of this Office is not left promiscuously among them but several Angels have their Luke 1. 13. 18. 19 26 28. 2. 10 13 21. Actâ— 10. 7. 22. 12. 8 9. Dan. 3 28. 6. 22. Gen. 24. 40. several works and charge Therefore Scripture telleth us of some sent of one message and some on an other And tells us that the meanest of Christs members on earth have their Angels before God in Heaven Matth. 18. 10. I say unto you that in Heaven their Angels do alwayes behold the face of my Father which is in Heaven Whether each true Believer hath one or more Angels and whether one Angel look to more than one Believer are questions which God hath not resolved us of either in Nature or Scripture But that each true Christian hath his Angel is here asserted by our Lord. § 6. 4. In this office of Ministration they are servants of Christ as the Head of the Church and the 1 Peâ— 3. 22. Matth. 26. 53. Mediator between God and man to promote the ends of his superiour office in mans Redemption Mat. 28. 18. All power is given to me in Heaven and Earth John 13. 3. Eph. 1. 20 21 22. And set him at his right hand in the celestials far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this world but also in that which is to come and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the Church Rev. 23. 16. I Iesus have sent Rev. 1. 1. mine Angel to testifie unto you these things in the Churches Whether the Angels were appointed about the service of Adam in innocency or only began their Office with Christ the Mediator as his Ministers is a thing that God hath not revealed But that they serve under Christ for his Church is plain § 7. 5. This care of the Angels for us is exercised throughout our lives for the saving of us from 2 Kings 6. 17. all our dangers and delivering us out of all our troubles Psal. 34. 6 7. This poor man cryed and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles the Angel of the Lord encampeth about them that fear him and delivereth them Psal. 91. 11 12. For he shall give his Angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy wayes They shall bear thee up in their hand lest thou dash thy foot against a stone In all our wayes that are good and in every step we tread we have the care and Ministry of tutelar Angels They are our ordinary defence and guard § 8. 6. In all this Ministry they perfectly obey the Will of God and do nothing but by his command Dan. 4. 35. Psal. 103. 10. Zech. 1. 8 10.
Orbs besides what Scripture saith even reason will strongly perswade any rational man 1. When we consider that Sea and Land and Air and all places of this lower baser part of the world are replenished with inhabitants suitable to their natures And therefore that the incomparably more great and excellent Orbs and Regions should all be uninhabited is irrational to imagine 2. And as we see the Rational Creatures are made to govern the Brutes in this inferiour world so reason telleth us it is improbable that the higher Reason of the inhabitants of the higher Regions should have no hand in the government of man And yet God hath further condescended to satisfie us herein by some unquestionable apparitions of good Angels and many more of evil spirits which puâ—s the matter past all doubt that there are inhabitants of the unseen world And when we know that such there are it maketh it the more easie to us to believe that such we may be either numbered with the happy or unhappy Spirits considering the affinity which there is between the nature of our souls and them To conquer senseless Saducism is a good step to the conquest of irreligiousness He that is well perswaded that there are Angels and Spirits is much better prepared than a Sadducee to bâ—lieve the immortality of the soul And because the infinite distance between God and man is apt to make the thoughts of our approaching his Glory either dubious or very terrible the remembrance of those myriads of blessed Spirits that dwell now in the presence of that glory doth much embolden and confirm our thoughts As he that would be afraid whether he should have access to and acceptance with the King would be much encouraged if he saw a multituâ—e as mean as himself or not much unlike him to be familiar attendants on him I must confess such is my own weakness that I find a frequent need of remembring the holy Hosts of Saints and Angels that are with God to embolden my soul and make the thoughts of Heaven more familiar and sweet by abating my strangeness â—mazedness and fears And thus far to make them the Media that I say not the Mediators of my thoughts in their approaches to the Most High and Holy God Though the remembrance of Christ the true Mediator is my chief encouragement Especially when we consider how servently those holy Spirits do love every holy person upon earth and so that all those that dwell with God are dearer friends to us than our Fathers or Mothers here on earth are as is briefly proved before this will embolden us yet much more § 18. Direct 5. Make use of the thoughts of the Angelical Hosts when you would see the Glory and Direct 5. Majesty of Christ If you think it a small matter that he is the Head of the Church on earth a handful of people contemned by the Satanical party of the world yet think what it is to be Head over all things far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this world but also in that which is to come that is Gave him a power dignity and name greater than any power dignity or name of men or Angels and hath put all things under his feet Ephes. 1. 21 22 23. Being made so much better than the Angels as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they Of him it is said Let all the Angels of God worship him Heb. 1. 4 6. Read the whole Chapter Our Head is the Lord of all these Hosts § 19. Direct 6. Make use of the remembrance of the glorious Angels to acquaint you with the dignity Direct 6. of humane nature and the special dignity of the servants of God and so to raise up your hearts in Magna dignitas fidelium animarum ut unaquaeque habeat ab ortu nativitatis in custodiam sui Angelum depuâ—atum imo plures Hitro Luke 20. 36. thankfulness to your Creator and Redeemer who hath thus advanced you 1. What a dignity is it that thâ—se holy Angels should be all Ministring Spirits sâ—nt for our good that they should love us and concern themselves so much for us as to rejoyce in Heaven at our conversion Lord What is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him For thou hast made him a little lower than the Angels and hast crowned him with glory and honour Psal. 8. 4. 5. 2. But yet it is a higher declaration of our dignity that we should in Heaven be equal with them and so be numbered iâ—to their society and joyn with them everlastingly in the praise of our Creator 3. And it is yet a greater honour to us that our Natures are assumed into union of person with the Son of God and sâ— advanced above the Angels For he took not on him the nature of Angels but the seed of Abraham Nâ—r hath he put the world to come in subjection to the Angels Heb. 2. 5 16. This is the Lords doing and it is wonderous in our eyes § 20. Direct 7. When you would admire the works of God and his government look specially to the Direct 7. Angels part If God would be glorified in his works then especially in the most glorious parts If he take delight to work by Instruments and to communicate such excellency and honour to them as may conduce to the honour of the principal cause we must not overlook their excellency and honour unless we will deny God the honour which is due to him As he that will see the excellent workmanship of a Watch or any other Engine must not overlook the chiefest parts nor their operation on the rest So he that will see the excellent order of the works and Government of God must not over-look the Angels nor their Offices in the Government and preservation of the inferiour creatures so far as God hath revealed it unto us We spoil the Musick if we leave out these strings It is a great part of the glory of the works of God that all the parts in Heaven and Earth are so admirably conjoyned and joynted as they are and each in their places contribute to the beauty and harmony of the whole § 21. Direct 8. When you would be apprehensive of the excellency of Love and Humility and exact Direct 8. obedience tâ— the will of God look up to the Angels and see the lustre of all these vertues as they shine Heb. 1. 14. Psal. 103. 20 21 in them How perfectly do they Love God and all his Saints Even the weakest and meanest of the members of Christ With what humility do they condescend to minister for the heirs of salvation How readily and perfectly do they obey their Maker Though our chiefest pattern is Christ himself who came nearer to us and appeared in flesh to give us the example of all such duties yet under him the
3. Else there should be seldome any Church in the world for want of a Head yea never any For I have proved there and to Iohnson that there never was a true General Council of the Universal See also in my Reasons of Christian Religion Coâ—s 2. of the Interest of the Church Church But only Imperial Councils of the Churches under one Emperours power and those that having been under it had been used to such Councils And that it is not a thing ever to be attempted or expected as being unlawful and morally impossible Quest. 13. Whether there be such a thing as a Visible Catholick Church And what it is THe Antients differently used the terms A Catholick Church and The Catholick Church By the first they meant any particular Church which was part of the Universal By the second 1 Cor. 12. 12. and throughout they meant the Universal Church it self And this is it that we now mean And I answer Affirmatively There is a Visible Universal Church not only as a Community or as a Kingdom distinct from the King but as a Political Society 2. This Church is the Universality of Baptized Visible Christians Headed by Iesus Christ himself Eph. 4. 1 5 6 7 16. There is this and there is no other upon earth The Papists say that this is no Visible Church because the Head is not Visible I answer 1. It is not necessary that he be seen but visible And is not Christ a Visible person 2. This Church consisteth of two parts the Triumphant part in Glory and the Militant part And Christ is not only Visible but seen by the triumphant part As the King is not seen by the ten thousandth part of his Kingdoms but by his Courtiers and those about him and yet he is King of all 3. Christ was seen on earth for above thirty years and the Kingdom may be called visible in that the King was once visible on earth and is now visible in Heaven As if the King would shew himself to his people but one year together in all his life 4. It ill becometh the Papists of any men to say that Christ is not visible who make him see him taste him handle him eat him drink him digest him in every Church in every Mass throughout the year and throughout the world And this not as divided but as whole Christ. Object But this is not quatenus Regent Answ. If you see him that is Regent and see his Laws and Gospel which are his Governing instruments together with his Ministers who are his Officers it is enough to denominate his Kingdom visible 5. The Church might be fitly denominated Visible secundum quid if Christ himself were invisible Because the Politick Body is visible the dispersed Officers Assemblies and Laws are visible But sure all these together may well serve for the denomination Quest. 14. What is it that maketh a Visible Member of the Universal Church And who are to be accounted such 1. BAptism maketh a Visible member of the Universal Church and the Baptized as to entrance Matth. 28. 19. 〈…〉 1â— 16. unless they go out again are to be accounted such 2. By Baptism we mean open devotion or dedication to God by the Baptismal Covenant in which the adult for themselves and Parents for their Infants do Profess Consent to the Covenant of Grace which includeth a Belief of all the Essential Articles of the faith and a Resolution for sincere obedience and a Consent to the Relations between God and us viz. that he be our Reconciled Father our Saviour and our Sanctifier 3. The Continuance of this Consent is necessary to the continuance of our visible membership 4. He that through ignorance or incapacity for want of water or a Minister is not baptized and yet is solemnly or notoriously dedicated and devoted to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost in the same Covenant though without the outward Sign and professeth openly the same Religion is a visible Christian though not by a compleat and regular visibility As a Souldier not listed nor taking his Colours or a Marriage not regularly solemnized c. 5. He that forsaketh his Covenant by Apostacy or is totally and duly excommunicated ceaseth to be a visible member of the Church Quest. 15. Whether besides the Profession of Christianity either Testimony or Evidence of Conversion or Practical Godliness be necessary to prove a man a Member of the Universal Visible Church 1. AS the Mediator is the way to the Father sent to recover us to God so Christianity includeth John 14. 6. 1 Tim. 3. 16. 6 3 11. Godliness And he professeth not Christianity who professeth not Godliness 2. He that professeth the Baptismal Covenant professeth Christianity and Godliness and true Conversion 2 Pet. 1. 3. And therefore cannot be rejected for want of a Profession of Conversion or Godliness 3. But he that is justly suspected not to understand his own profession but to speak general words without the sense may and ought to be examined by him that is to baptize him And therefore though the Apostles among the Jews who had been bred up among the Oracles of God did justly presume of so much understanding as that they baptized men the same day that they professed to believe in Christ yet when they baptized converted Gentiles we have reason to think that they Acts 2. 38 39. first received a particular account of their Converts that they understood the three essential Articles of the Covenant 1. Because the Creed is fitted to that use and hath been ever used thereunto by the Churches as by tradition from the Apostles practice 2. Because the Church in all ages as far as Church History leadeth us upward hath used catechising before baptizing yea and to keep men as Catechumens some time for preparation 3. Because common experience telleth us that multititudes can say the Creed that understand it not If any yet urge the Apostles example I will grant that it obligeth us when the case is the like And I will not fly to any conceit of their heart-searching or discerning mens sincerity When you bring us to a people that before were the Visible Church of God and were all their life time trained up in the knowledge of God of sin of duty of the promised Messiah according to all the Law and Prophets and want nothing but to know the Son and the Holy Ghost that this Iesus is the Christ who will reconcile us to God and give us the sanctifying Spirit then we will also baptize men the same day that they profess to believe in Iesus Christ and in the Father as reconciled by him and the Holy Ghost as given by him But if we have those to deal with who know not God or sin or misery or Scripture Prophecies no nor natural verities we know no proof that the Apostles so haâ—â—ily baptized such Of this I have largely spoken in my Treatise of Confirmation 4. It is
in a state of salvation that are not inherently sanctified And whether any fall from this Infant state of salvation Answ. OF all these great difficulties I have said what I know in my Appendix to Infant Baptism to Mr. Bedford and Dr. Ward and of Bishop Davenants judgement And I confess that my judgement agreeth more in this with Davenants than any others saving that he doth not so much appropriate the benefits of baptism to the children of sincere believers as I do And though by a Letter in pleading Davenants cause I was the occasion of good Mr. Gatakers printing of his answer to him yet I am still most inclined to his judgement Not that all the baptized but that all the baptized seed of true Christians are pardoned justified adopted and have a title to the Spirit and salvation But the difficulties in this case are so great as driveth away most who do not equally perceive the greater inconveniencies which we must choose if this opinion be forsaken that is that all Infants must be taken to be out of the Covenant of God and to have no promise of salvation Whereas surely the Law of Grace as well as the Covenant of Works included all the seed in their capacity 1. To the first of these Questions I answer 1. As all true believers so all their Infants do receive initially by the promise and by way of obsignation and Sacramental Investiture in Baptism a Ius Relationis a right of peculiar Relation to all the three persons in the blessed Trinity As to God as Matth. 28. 19 20. their reconciled Adopting Father and to Jesus Christ as their Redeemer and actual Head and Justifier so also to the Holy Ghost as their Regenerater and Sanctifier This Right and Relation 1 Cor. 12. 12 13. adhereth to them and is given them in order to future actual operation and communion As a Marriage Covenant giveth the Relation and Right to one another in order to the subsequent Communion Eph. 4. 4 5. and duties of a married life And as he that sweareth allegiance to a King or is listed into an Army or is entred into a School receiveth the Right and Relation and is so correlated as obligeth to the mutual subsequent Offices of each and giveth right to many particular benefits By this Right and Relation God is his own God and Father Christ is his own Head and Saviour and the Holy Spirit is his own Sanctifier without asserting what operations are already wrought on his soul but only to what future ends and uses these Relations are Now as these Rights and Relations are given immediately so those Benefits which are Relative and the Infant immediately capable of them are presently given by way of communion He hath presently the pardon of Original sin by virtue of the Sacrifice Merit and Intercession of Christ. He hath a state of Adoption and Right to Divine Protection Provision and Church-communion according to his natural Capacity and Right to everlasting life 2. It must be carefully noted that the Relative Union between Christ the Mediator and the baptized persons is that which in Baptism is first given in order of nature and that the rest do flow from this The Covenant and Baptism deliver the Covenanter 1. From Divine Displicency by Reconciliation with the Father 2. From Legal Penalties by Justification by the Son 3. From sin it self by the operations of the Holy Ghost But it is Christ as our Mediator-Head that is first given us in Relative Union And then 1. The Father Loveth us with Complacency as in the Son and for the sake of his first beloved 2. And the Spirit which is given us in Relation is first the Spirit of Christ our The Spirit is not given radically or immediately to any Christian but to Christ our Head alone and from Him to us Head and not first inherent in us So that by Union with our Head that Spirit is next united to us both Relatively and as Radically Inherent in the Humane Nature of our Lord to whom we are united As the Nerves and Animal Spirits which are to operate in all the body are Radically only in the Head from whence they flow into and operate on the members as there is need though there may be obstructions So the Spirit dwelleth in the Humane Nature of our Head and there it can never be lost And it is not necessary that it dwell in us by way of Radication but by way of Influence and Operation These things are distinctly and clearly understood but by very few and we are all much in the dark about them But I think however doctrinally we may speak better that most Christians are habituated to this perilous misapprehension which is partly against Christianity it self that the Spirit floweth immediatly from the Divine Nature of the Father and the Son as to the Authoritative or Potestative conveyance unto our souls And we forget that it is first given to Christ in his Glorified Humanity as our Head and radicated in Him and that it is the Office of this Glorified Head to send or communicate to all his members from Himself that Spirit which must operate in them as they have need This is plain in many Texts of Scripture Rom. 8. 32. He that spared not his own Son but gave him up for us all how shall be not also with him freely give us all things when he giveth him particularly to us 1 John 5. 11 12. And this is the record that God hath given us eternal life and this life is in his Son He that hath the Son hath the life and he that hath not the Son hath not the life Rom. 8. 9. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ the same is none of his Eph. 1. 22 23. And gave him to be the Head over all things to the Church which is his body the fulness of him that filleth all in all John 15. 26. The Advocate or Comforter whom I will send unto you from the Father c. John 16. 7. If I depart I will send him unto you John 14. 26. The Comforter whom the Father will send in my Name Gal. 4. 6. And because ye are sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your Hearts crying Abba Father Gal. 2. 20. I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me I know that is true of his Living in us Objectively and Finally but that seemeth not to be all Col. 3. 3 4. For ye are dead and your life is bid with Christ in God when Christ who is our life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in Glory I know that in verse 3. by Life is meant Felicity or Glory But not only as appeareth by verse 4. where Christ is called Our Life Matth. 28. 19. All power is given unto me in Heaven and Earth ver 20. I am with you allwayes Joh. 13. 3. The Father hath given all things into his hands Joh. 17. 2
to a holy life or fit for Glory immediately without an inward Holiness of his own yet by what is said it seemeth plain that meerly on the account of the Condition performed by the Parent and of his Union Relatively with Christ thereupon and his title to Gods promise on these Grounds he may be said to be in a state of salvation that is to have the pardon of his Original sin deliverance from hell in right adoption and a right to the needful operations of the Holy Ghost as given to him in Christ who is the first receiver of the spirit 15. But when and in what sort and degree Christ giveth the actual operations of the spirit to all Covenanted Infants it is wonderful hard for us to know But this much seemeth clear 1. That Christ may when he please work on the soul of an Infant to change its disposition before he come to the use of Reason 2. That Christ and his spirit as in Covenant with Infants are ready to give all necessary assistance to Infants for their inherent sanctification in the use of those means and on those Mr. Whiston p. 60. sheweâ—h That even the promises of a new Heart c. Ezek 36 37 c. Though they may run in the external tenour of them absolutely yet are not absolutely absolute but have a subordinate condition and that is That the parties concerned in them do faithfully use the means appointed of God in a subserviency to his working in or bestowing on them the Good promised further conditions on which we must wait for it and expect it For the Holy Ghost is not so engaged to us in our Covenant or Baptism as to be obliged presently to give us all the grace that we want But only to give it us on certain further conditions and in the use of certain means But because this leadeth me up to another question I will suspend the rest of the answer to this till that be handled Only I must answer this objection Obj. It is contrary to the Holy nature of God complacenically to Love an unsanctified Infant that is yet in his Original Corruption unchanged and he justifieth none relatively from the guilt of sin whom he doth not at once inherently sanctifie Answ. 1. Gods complacencial Love respecteth every one as he is For it is Goodness only that he so Loveth Therefore he so Loveth not those that either Actually or Habitually Love not Him under any false supposition that they do Love him when they do not His Love therefore to the Adult and Infants differeth as the objects differ But there is this Lovely in such Infants 1. That they are the Children of believing sanctified Parents 2. That they are by his Covenant Relatively United to Christ and so are Lovely as his members 3. That they are pardoned all their original sin 4. That they are set in the way to Actual Love and holiness being thus dedicated to God 2. All imperfect Saints are sinners And all sinners are as such abhorred of God whose pure eyes cannot behold iniquity As then it will stand with his purity to accept and love the Adult upon their first believing before their further sanctification and notwithstanding the remnant of their sins so may it do also to accept their Infants through Christ upon their Dedication 3. As the actual sin imputed to Infants was Adams and their Parents only by Act and not their own it is no wonder if upon their Parents faith and repentance Christ wash and justifie them from that guilt which arose only from anothers act 4. And then the inherent pravity was the effect of that Act of their Ancestors which is forgiven them And this pravity or inherent Original sin may two wayes be said to be mortified radically or Virtually or inceptively before any inherent change in them 1. In that it is mortified in their Parents from whom they derived it who have the power of choosing for them and 2. In that they are by Covenant engraffed into Christ and so related to the cause of their future sanctification yea 3. In that also they are by Covenant and their Parents promise engaged to use those means which Gods being a God to any individual person doth râ—quire and presuppose that they do for the present supposing them capable or for the future as soon as capable take God in Christ as their God Ibid. p. 61. Christ hath appointed for sanctification 5. And it must be remembred that as this is but an inceptive preparatory change so the very pardon of the Inherent vitiosity is not perfect as I have elsewhere largely proved however some Papists and Protestants deny it While sin remaineth sin and corruption is still indwelling besides all the unremoved penalties of it the very being of it proveth it to be so far unpardoned in that it is not yet abolished and the continuance of it being not its smallest punishment as permitted and the spirit not given so far as to cure it Imperfect pardon may consist with a present right both to further sanctification by the Spirit and so to Heaven Obj. Christs body hath no unholy members Answ. 1. 1 Cor. 7. 14. Now are your Children holy They are not wholly unholy who have all the fore-described holiness 2. As Infants in Nature want memory and actual reason and yet initially are men so as Christs members they may want actual and habitual faith and Love and yet initially be sanctified by their Union with him and his spirit and their Parents Dedication and be in the way for more as they grow fit And be Christians and Saints in fieri or initially only as they are men Quest. 43. Is the right of the Baptized Infants or adult to the sanctifying operations of the Holy Ghost now Absolute or suspended on further Conditions And are the Parents further duty for their Children such conditions of their Childrens reception of the Actual assistances of the Spirit Or are Childrens own actions such Conditions And may Apostate Parents forfeit the Covenant benefits to their Baptized Infants or not Answ. THE question is great and difficult and few dare meddle with it And almost all Infant-cases are to us obscure I. 1. It is certain that it is the Parents great duty to bring up their Children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. 2. It is certain that God hath appointed this to be the means of their actual knowledge faith Eph. 6 4 5. Col 3. 21. Gen. 18 19. Deut. 6. 6 7 8. 11. 18 19 20. and holiness 3. And God doth not appoint such means unnecessarily or in vain nor may we ordinarily expect his grace but in the use of the means of Grace which he hath appointed us to use 4. It is certain that Gods receiving the Children of the faithful is an act of Gods Love to the Parents as well as the Children and promised as a part of his blessing on themselves 5. It is certain that these Parents
hold their own mercies upon the condition of their own continued fidelity And let their Apostasie be on other reasons never so impossible or not future yet the promise of continuance and consummation of the personal felicity of the greatest Saint on earth is still conditional upon the condition of â—his persevering sidelity 6. Even before Children are capable of Instruction there are certain duties imposed by God on the Parents for their sanctification viz. 1. That the Parents pray earnestly and believingly for them Second Commandment Prov. 20. 7. 2. That they themselves so live towards God as may invite him still to bless their Children for their sakes as he did Abrahams and usually did to the faithful's seed 7. It is certain that the Church ever required Parents not only to enter their Children into the Covenant and so to leave them but to do their after duty for their good and to pray for them and educate them according to their Covenant 8. It is plain that if there were none to promise so to educate them the Church would not baptize them And God himself who allowed the Israelites and still alloweth us to bring our Children into his Covenant doth it on this supposition that we promise also to go on to do our duty for them and that we actually do it 9. All this set together maketh it plain 1. That God never promiseth the adult in Baptism though true believers that he will work in them all graces further by his sanctifying spirit let them never so much neglect or resist him or that he will absolutely see that they never shall resist him nor that the spirit shall still help them though they neglect all his means or that he will keep them from neglecting the means Election may secure this to the Elect as such but the Baptismal Covenant as such secureth it not to the baptized nor to believers as such 2. And consequently that Infants are in Covenant with the Holy Ghost still conditionally as their Parents are And that the meaning of it The Holy Ghost is promised in Baptism to give the Child grace in his Parents and his own faithful use of the appointed means is that the Holy Ghost as your sanctifier will afford you all necessary help in the use of those means which he hath appointed you to receive his help in Obj. Infants have no means to use Answ. While Infants stand on their Parents account or Wills the Parents have means to use for the continuance of their grace as well as for the beginning of it 10. Therefore I cannot see but that if a believer should apostatize whether any do so is not the question and his Infant not be made anothers Child he forfeiteth the benefits of the Covenant to his Infant But if the propriety in the Infant be transferred to another it may alter the case 11. And how dangerously Parents may make partial forfeitures of the spirits assistance to their Children and operations on them by their own sinful lives and neglect of prayer and of prudent and holy education even in particular acts I fear many believing Parents never well considered 12. Yet is not this forfeiture such as obligeth God to deny his spirit For he may do with his own as a free benefactor as he list And may have mercy freely beyond his promise though not against his word on whom he will have mercy But I say that he that considereth the woful unfaithfulness and neglect of most Parents even the Religious in the Great work of holy educating their Children may take the blame of their ungodliness on themselves and not lay it on Christ or the spirit who was in Covenant with them as their sanctifier seeing he promised but conditionally M. â—â—istoâ— pag. â—3 As Abraham as a single person in Covenant was to accept of and perform the conditions of the Covenant so as a Parent he had something of duty incumbent on him with reference to his immediate seed And as his faithful performance of that duty incumbent on him in his single capacity so his performing that duty incumbent on him as a Parent in reference to his seed was absolutely necessary in order to his enjoying the good promised with reference to himself and his seed Proved Gen. 17 1. 18. 19. He proveth that the promise is conditional and that as to the continuance of the Covenant state the conditions are 1. The Parents upright life 2. His duty to his Children well done 3. The Childrens own duty as they are capable to give them the sanctifying Heavenly influences of his Life Light and Love in their just use of his appointed means according to their abilities 13. Also as soon as Children come to a little use of Reason they stand conjunctly on their Parents Wills and on their own As their Parents are bound to teach and rule them so they are bound to learn of them and be ruled by them for their good And though every sin of a Parent or a Child be not a total forfeiture of grace yet both their notable actual sins may justly be punished with a denyal of some further help of the spirit which they grieve and quench 11. And now I may seasonably answer the former question whether Infants Baptismal saving grace may be lost of which I must for the most that is to be said referr the Reader to Davenant in Mr. Bedfords Book on this subject and to Dr. Sam. Ward joyned with it Though Mr. Gatakers answers are very Learned and considerable And to my small Book called My Iudgement of Perseverance Augustine who first rose up for the doctrine of perseverance against its Adversaries carried it no higher than to all the Elect as such and not at all to all the Sanctified but oft affirmeth that some that were justified sanctified and Love God and are in a state of salvation are not elect and fall away But since the Reformation great reasons have been brought to carry it further to all the truly sanctified of which cause Zanchius was one of the first Learned and zealous Patrons that with great diligence in long disputations maintained it All that I have now to say is that I had rather with Davenant believe that the fore-described Infant state of salvation which came by the Parents may be lost by the Parents and the Children though such a sanctified renewed nature in holy Habits of Love as the adult have be never lost than believe that no Infants are in the Covenant of Grace and to be baptized Obj. But the Child once in possession shall not be punished for the Parents sin Answ. 1. This point is not commonly well understood I have by me a large Disputation proving from the current of Scripture a secondary original sin besides that from Adam and a secondary punishment ordinarily inflicted on Children for their Parents sins besides the common punishment of the World for the first sin 2. But the thing in question is
faith and repentance of children as they grow up is from Gods fulfilling of his Baptismal Covenant with them The reason is because that God in that Covenant did give them a Right of Relation to the holy Spirit in Christ their Head as their Sanctifier to operate on them as they are capable But if they first prove Apostates and be after converted God is disobliged yea to hypocrites never was obliged as to the engagement made by him in baptism And doth now 1. Freely give them faith and repentance as a Benefactor to his elect and then 2. As a Covenanter give them pardon and adoption c. 13. So to the adult that truly made the Baptismal Covenant and never apostatized from it all the Grace that God giveth them through their lives is his fulfilling of his promise made to them and sealed by baptism and a fruit of their baptism But to Hypocrites and Apostates it is otherwise as is before explained Quest. 45. What is a proper Violation of our Baptismal Covenant Answ. NOte well that there is a wide difference between these questions 1. When doth a man John 3 16 17 18 36. miss of or lose his present part in the Covenant or Promise of God in the Gospel This is as long as he is Impenitent an Unbeliever and Refuser 2. When doth a man totally lose his part John 1 11 12 13 and hope in that Promise or Covenant of God so as to be â—yable to all the penalty of it That is only by final Impenitence Unbelief and refusal when Life is ended 3. And when doth a man violate his own Covenant or promise made to God in baptism Which is our present question To which I answer 1. This Promise hath parts Essential and parts Integral We promise not both these parts alike nor on the same terms Though both be promised The essential parts are our essential duties of Christianity Faith Love Repentance in the essential parts c. The Integrals are the Integral 2 Pet. 2 20 21 22 23. duties of Christianity Heb. 6 2 4 5 6 â— 8. 2. He that performeth not the essential duties is an Apostate or Hypocrite 3. He that performeth not the Integral duties is a sinner not only against the Law of Nature and Heb. 10 26 27 28. Christs Precepts but his own Promise And in this sense we all confess our breach of Covenant with Christ But he is no Apostate Hypocrite or out of Covenant 1 Joh. 1 9 10. James 3. 2 3. Quest. 46. May not Baptism in some Cases be repeated And when Answ. 1. YOu must distinguish between Baptism taken Morally or only Physically 2. Between Baptism Morally as it is a Church or Visible Covenant and as a Heart Covenant 3. Between Real baptism and seeming baptism which is a Nullity 4. Between certain reception of baptism and that which is uncertain or justly doubted of And so I answer 1. Real and Certain Baptism as a visible Church-Ordinance may not be repeated Though the Heart-Covenant was wanting And though it wanted not only decent modes but integral parts 2. But in these cases Baptism may be used where it seemed to have been received before 1. When the person made no profession of the Christian faith nor his Parents for him if an Infant 2. If that profession notoriously wanted an Essential part As if he only professed to believe in God the Father and not in the Son or the Holy Ghost 3. If the Minister only baptized him into the name of the Father or Son or left out any essential part 4. If the person or Minister only contracted for a distant futurity As I will be a Christian when I am old c. and not for the present which is not to be christened but only to promise to be christened hereafter 5. If all application of water or any watery element was omitted which is the external sign 6. Of the Baptizers power I shall speak anon 7. If the Church or the person himself have just cause of doubting whether he was truly baptized or not to do it again with hypothetical expressions If thou art not baptized I baptize thee yea or simply while that is understood is lawful and fit And it is not to be twice baptized Morally but only Physically As I have fully opened in the Question of Re-ordination to which I must refer the Reader 3. And I confess I make little doubt but that those in Acts 19. were Re-baptized notwithstanding the witty evasion invented by Phil. Marnixius Aldegondus and Beza's improvement of it and the now common reception of that interpretation For 1. A new and forced exposition which no Reader Of Acts 19 1 2 3 4 5. dreameth of till it be put into his head is usually to be suspected lest art deceive us Whether it were re-baptizing 2. The omission of the Holy Ghost is an essential defect and maketh Baptism specifically another thing And he were now to be re-baptized who should be so baptized 3. Whatever some say in heat against the Papists Iohns baptism and our Christian baptism are so specifically distinct also that he that had now but Iohns were to be yet baptized The person of the Mâ—ssiah himself being not determinately put into Iohns baptism as such Nor can it be supposed that all the Jews that Iohn baptized were baptized into the profession of faith in this numerical person Iesus but only to an unknown Saviour undetermined However he pointed to Christ in the hearing of some of his disciples We must not run from plain truth in pievishness of opposition to Papists oâ— any other men 4. The fifth Verse would not be true of Iohns baptism as the History sheweth that When Johns hearers heard this they were baptized into the Name of the Lord Iesus This is contrary to the Text that recordeth it 5. In the fourth Verse the words that is on Christ Iesus are plainly Pauls expository words of Iohns and â—ot Iohns words Iohn baptized them into the Name of the Messiah that should come after him which indeed saith Paul was Christ Iesus though not then personally determined by Iohn 6. The connexion of the fourth fifth and sixth Verses puts all out of doubt 1. In the fourth Verse the last words are Pauls that is on Christ Iesus 2 In the next words Ver. 4. When they heard this they were baptized c. must refer to the last words or to his that was speaking to them 3. Ver. 6. The Pronoun Them when Paul had laid his hands on them plainly reâ—â—erreth to them last spoken of Ver. 5. which therefore was not Iohns hearers as such 4. And the â—ords they were baptized into the name of the Lord Iesus are plainly distinctive from Iohns baptism Saith Grotius Sic accepere Latinus Syrus Arabs Veteres omnes ante Marnixium â—ut verba Lâ—ucae Yet I say not so hardly of Iohns baptism as Tertuliâ—â— on this Text de Baptis Adeo pasâ—â—â—â—a in
of Psal. 23. 5. 92. 10. theirs but by former custome of the Countreys where they lived As 1. Anointing Luke 7. 46. Matth. 6. 17. Amos 6. 6. Psal. 89. 20. Lev. 16. 32. Luke 16. in Iudaea was like Bathing at Rome It was taken in those scorching Countreys for a wholsome and easing and comforting thing And therefore used to refresh the weary limbs of travellers and to comfort the sick 2. And it was the long accustomed Ceremony also used on Officers accounted sacred Kings and Priests who were anointed at their entrance and investiture 3. White Cloathing and Purple were then and there taken for the noblest attire Not appropriated Rev. 3 4 5. Thâ—y shall walk with me in white to sacred things and persons but as Scarlet lately in England the garb only of great men On which account not as a Sacred Vestment but as an honourable cloathing when the Bishops began to be advanced they were allowed to wear White Cloathing not only when they officiated but at other times 4. The Milk and Honey were there highly esteemed for food and accounted the character of the James 5. 14. Mark 6 13. Land of Promise 2. Hereupon by application the Churches used these signs in the Sacred Ordinance of baptism Not by new institution of the signification I say but by application of the old well known signification 3. As Natural Signs are commonly allowed to be applyed to holy things so signs whose signification is of old and commonly stated and well known by Agreement or Custome do seem in this not to be different from Natural Signs Such are all Words as signs of our minds No word signifying any thing Naturally but by Agreement or Custome only And such is kneeling in prayer and being uncovered and many the like About some of which Paul appealeth to the custome of the 1 Cor. 11. 16. Churches of God 4. It is most probable that these two things together brought in Anointing 1. The common use of Anointing then in both the foresaid Cases Common Refreshment and Sacred Investiture 2. And the mistake of all those Scripture Texts which command or mention Anointing Metaphorical Rev. 1. 6. 5. 10. 20. 6. 1 Pet. 2. 5 9. As 1 John 2. 27. The Anointing which you have received teacheth you all things Ezek. 16. 9. I washed thee I anointed thee with Oyl c. Psal. 105. 15. 1 Chron. 16. 22. Touch not mine anointed Rev. 3. 18. And withal reading that we are made Kings and Priests to God and a Royal Priesthood they thought this might be signified by the usual honourary signs of such as well as by words to be called such So that they took it as if in our age the baptized should be set in a Chair of State and sumptuously apparelled and a â—east made to solemnize it as they do at Weddings and the baptized person set at the upper end c. which are significant Actions and Ceremonies But they intended them not as new Sacraments or any part of the Sacrament but as a pompous celebration of the Sacrament by such additional ceremonial accidents 5. And you must remember that they lived among Infidels where their profession was made the common scorn which tempted them by such ostentation and pomp to seek to make it honourable and to shew that they so accounted it and to encourage those who were discouragable by the scorn On which account also they used the Cross and the Memorials of the Martyrs 6. Yet some yea many afterwards did seem to take the Anointing for a Sacramental Action When they read that the Laying on of hands was the sign of Giving the Holy Ghost as distinct from baptism and that the Spirit is called in Scripture the Anointing they joyned both together and made that which they now call the Sacrament of Confirmation 7. Whether the Anointing Milk and Honey and the White Garment were then sinful in themselves to the users I determine not But certainly they proved very ill by accident whilest at this door those numerous and unlawful Ceremonies have entered which have so troubled the Churches and corrupted Religion and among the Papists Greeks Armenians Abassines and many others have made the sauce to become the meat and the lace to go for cloathing and turned too much of Gods Worship into Imagery shadows and pompous shews Quest. 51. Whether it be necessary that they that are baptized in Infancy do solemnly at age renew and own their Baptismal Covenant before they have right to the state and priviledges of adult members And if they do not Whether they are to be numbered with Christians or Apostates Answ. 1. CHurch-membership is the same thing in Infants and in the Adult 2. Infants are naturally uncapable of doing all that in baptism which the adult must do As to understand profess c. themselves 3. The baptism of the Adult being the most compleat because of the maturity of the receivers is made the standing pattern in Scripture For God formeth his Ordinances to the most perfect ordinary receivers 4. Though an Infant be devoted acceptably to God by his Parents will yet when he is at age it must be done by his own will 5. Therefore a bare Infant title ceaseth when we come to age and the persons title ceaseth unless it be renewed by himself or his own Consent The reason is because the Conditions of his Infant Title then cease For his Parents will shall go for his no longer 6. Regularly and ad bene esse the transition out of the state of Infant-membership into the state of See the proofs of all in my Treatise of Co firmation Adult-membership should be very solemn and by an understanding personal owning of the Baptismal Covenant 7. There needeth no other proof of this than 1. That God in Scripture never gave adult persons title to his Covenant but by their own personal consent And at the first institution of baptism both went together Personal profession and baptism because the receivers were adult 2. And that Infants are capable of baptism but not of personal profession 3. Therefore though they are not to repeat baptism which was done before yet they are bound to make that profession at age which they never made before 8. Where this solemn Owning of their Covenant cannot be had by reason of Church corruptions and Magistrates prohibition there the persons ordinary joyning with the Church in the publick profession and worship is to be taken for an owning it 9. He that being baptized in infancy doth no way at full age own his Baptismal Covenant is to be taken for an Apostate 1. Because his Infant title ceaseth 2. And he notoriously violateth his Covenant 3. Because he can be no adult Christian that no way owneth Christ. 10. But this is to be understood of those that have opportunity For one in a Wilderness among Heathens only cannot joyn in publick Worship nor give testimony of his Christianity to the
cannot dispense with us for not Loving our Neighbours or not shewing mercy to the poor oâ— saving the lives of the neâ—dy in 〈◊〉 and diâ—â—ress Else they that at last shall hear I was hungry aâ—d yâ—â—â—â—â— mâ— not I was nâ—ked and ye 〈◊〉 â—â—â—â—â—â—â—â— I was in prison and ye visited me not might oft say â—â—â—◠〈…〉 〈◊〉 Magistrates for bad â—s Yet a lâ—ssâ—r Moral duty may be forbidden by the Magistrate for the sake of a greater because then it is no duty indeed and may be forborn if he forbid it not As to save one manâ— liâ—â— iâ— it would prove the death of a multitude or to save one mans house on 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—o woâ—lâ—â—â—â—â—â—any Therefore 10. Iâ— is lawful and â— dâ—â—â—â— to for â—â—â—â— some certain â—â—â—â— or number of Sermons Prayers or Sacraments c. when â—â—â—â—er the present â—se of them would apparently pâ—oâ—â—re more hâ—rt than good o◠〈…〉 forbear 〈◊〉 â—â—â—â— like to prâ—â—â—â—â— moâ—â— good than the doing of them For they are all for our Edification and are made for man and not man for them though for God As if forbearing this dâ—y 〈◊〉 pâ—â—â—â—uâ—â—â—â—â—â— liâ—â—â—â—y for many dayes serviâ—e afterward c. 〈…〉 at the 〈◊〉 oâ—â—an to forsake or forbear our Calling and duty when it is to bâ— judged Necessary to the honour of God to the good of the Church and of mens souls that is whâ—n aâ—â—in 〈◊〉 case Dan. 6. our Religion it self and our owning the true God doth seeâ— suspended by the suspence of our duty Or when the multitude of ignorant hardened â—â—godly souls and the want of fit men for number and quality doth put it past Controversie that our work is greatly necessary 12. Those that are not Immediately called by Christ as were the Apostles but by men being yet Mat. â—8 20. Râ—m 10. 14. 1 â—or 9. 16. â—â—â—â— â— 4â— 10. 4â— â—â—â—m 4 1 2. â—â—â—â— 8 4 12. 1â— 3â— statedly obliged to the death when they are called may truly say as Paul Necessity is laid upon me and woe â—e to me if I preach not the Gospel 13. Papists and Protestants concurr in this judgement Papists will preach when the Law forbids them And the judgement of Protestants is among others by Bishop Bilson of subjection and Bishop Andrews Tortur Tort. plainly so asserted 14. But all that are bound to preach are not bound to do it to the same number nor in the same manner as they have not the same opportunity and call Whether it shall be in this place or that to more or fewer at this hour or that are not determined in Scripture nor alike to all 15. The Temples tythes and such adjuncts of Worship and Ministry are at the Magistrates dispose and must not be invaded against his Laws 16. Where any are obliged to Preach in a forbidden discountenanced state they must study to do it with such prudence caution peaceableness and obedience in all the Lawful circumstantials as may tend to maintain peace and the honour of Magistracy and to avoid temptations to sedition and unruly passions Quest. 81. May we lawfully keep the Lords day as a fast Answ. NOt ordinarily Because God hath made it a day of thanksgiving And we must not pervert it from the use to which it was appointed by God But in case of extraordinary necessity it may be done As 1. In case that some great judgement call us so suddenly to humiliation and fasting as that it cannot be deâ—erred to the next day As some sudden invasion fire sickness c. Luk. 6. 5. 13. â—â— Maâ— 2. In case by persecution the Church be denyed liberty to meet on any other day in a time when publick fasting and prayer is a duty 3. In case the people be so poor or servants Children and Wives be so hardly restrained that they cannot meet at any other time It is lawful in such cases because Positives give way to Moral or Natural duties caeteris paribus and lesser duties unto greater The Sabbath is made for man and not man for the Sabbath Quest. 82. How should the Lords day be spent in the main Answ. I Have so far opened that in the Family-directions that I will now only say 1. That Eâ—charistical worship is the great work of the day And that it should be kept as a day of publick Psal. 92. 1 2 3 4 5. Psal. 118. 1 2 3 15 19 23 24 27 28 29. Act. 20. 7 9. Rev. 1. 10. Act. 24. 14 25 26 c. Psal. 16. 7 8 9 10. 1 Cor. 16. 1 2. Thanksgiving for the whole work of Redemption especially for the Resurrection of our Lord. 2. And therefore the celebration of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper was alwayes a chief part of its observation in the primitive Churches Not meerly for the Sacrament sake but because with it was still joyned all the Laudatory and Thanksgiving worship And it was the Pastors work so to pray and praise God and preach to the people as tendeth most to possess their souls with the liveliest sense of the Love of the Father the Grace of the Son and the Communion of the holy Spirit on the account of our Redemption 3. Though confession of sin and humiliation must not be the chief work of the day yet it may and must come in as in due subordination to the chief 1. Because there are usually many persons present who are members only of the visible Church and are not fit for the Laudatory and rejoycing part 2. Because while we are in the flesh our sâ—lvation is imperfect and so are we and much sin still remaineth which must be a grief and burden to believers And therefore while sin is mixt Psal. 2. 9 10 11. Heb. 12. 28 29. with grace Repentance and sorrow must be mixed with our Thanksgivings and we must rejoyce with trembling And though we receive a Kingdom which cannot â—e moved yet must our acceptable service of God be with reverence and Godly fear because our God is a consuming fire 3. Our sin and misery being that which we are saved from doth enter the definition of our salvation And without the sense of theâ— we can never know aâ—ight what mercy is nor ever be truly glad and thankful But yet take heed that this subordinate duty be not pretended for the neglecting of that Thanksgiving which is the work of the day Quest. 83. May the people bear a Vocal part in Worship or do any more than say Amen Answ. YEs The people should say Amen that is openly signifie their consent But the meaning 1 Cor. 14. Psal. 150. 81 2 3. 98. 5. 94. 1 2 3 c. 105. 7. 2 c. 145. thoughout Col. 3 16. is not that they must do no more nor otherwise express their consent saving by that single word For 1. There is no Scripture which forbiddeth more 2. The people bear an equal part in singing the Psalms which are prayer and praise
that nothing is of it self and directly any part of the Christian Religion which is not there 6. It instituteth those Sacraments perfectly which are the seals of Gods Covenant with man and the delivery of the benefits and which are the Badges or Symbols of the Disciples and Religion of Christ in the World 7. It determineth what Faith Prayer and obedience shall be his appointed means and Conditions of Justification Adoption and Salvation And so what shall be Professed and Preached in his name to the World 8. It is a perfect Instrument of donation or Conveyance of our Right to Christ and of Pardon and Justification and Adoption and the Holy Spirits assistances and of Glory As it is Gods Covenant promise or deed of gift 9. It instituteth certain Ministers as his own Church officers and perfectly describeth their office as instituted by him 10. It instituteth the form of his Church Universal which is called his body And also of Particular holy societies for his Worship And prescribeth them certain Duties as the Common Worship there to be performed 11. It determineth of a weekly day even the first to be separated for and used in this holy Worship 12. It is a perfect General Rule for the Regulating of those things which it doth not command or forbid in particular As that all be done wisely to edification in charity peace concord season order c. 13. It giveth to Magistrates Pastors Parents and other Superiours all that power by which they are authorized to oblige us under God â—o any undetermined particulars 14. It is the perfect Rule of Christs Judging Rewarding and punishing at last according to which he will proceed 15. It is the only Law that is made by Primitive Power 16. And the only Law that is made by Inâ—allâ—ble wisdom 17. And the only Law which is faultless and hath no thing in it that will do the subject any harm 18. And the only Law which is from Absolute Power the Rule of all other Laws and from which Psal. 12. 6. 19. 7 8 9 10. Psal. 119. there is finally no appeal Thus far the holy Scripture with the Law of nature is our perfect Rule But not in any of the following respects 1. It is no particular revelation or perfect Rule of natural Sciences as Physicks Metaphysicks c. 2. It is no Rule for the Arts for Medicine Musick Arithmetick Geometry Astronomy Grammar Râ—eâ—orick Logick nor for the Mechanicks as Navigation Architecture and all the Trades and occupations of men no not Husbandry by which we have our food 3. It is no particular Rule for all the muâ—able subordinate duties of any societies It will not serve instead of all the Statutes of this and all other Lands nor tell us when the Terms shall begin and end nor what work every Parent and Master shall set his Children and Servants in his family c. 4. It is no full Rule in particular for all those Political principles which are the ground of humane Laws As whether each Republick be Monarchical Aristocratical or Democratical What person or of what Family shall Reign Who shall be his Officers and Judges and how diversified so of his Treasury Munition Coin c. 5. It is no Rule of Propriety in particular by which every man may know which is his own Land or house or goods or Cattle 6. It is no particular Rule for our natural actions what meat we shall eat what Cloaths we shall wear So of our rest labour c. 7. It is no particular Law or Rule for any of all those Actions and Circumstances about Religion or Gods own Ordinances which he hath only commanded in general and left in specie or particular to be determined by man according to his General Laws But of these next Quest. 131. What Additions or humane Inventions in or about Religion not commanded in Scripture are lawful or unlawful Answ. 1. THese following are unlawful 1. To feign any new Article of faith or doctrine any Deut. 12. 32. Rev. 2â— 18. Col. 2. 18 19 20 21 22 23. 16 17. Mat. 15. 3 8 9. Gal. 1. 8 9. Jer. 5. 12. Jer. 14. 14. 23 25 26 32. Ezek. 13 9 19. 22. 28. Zeâ—h 13. 2 3 4 5 6. precept promise threatning prophesie or revelation and falsly to father it upon God and say that it is of him or his special Word 2. To say that either that is written in the Bible which is not or that any thing is the sense of a Text which is not and so that any thing is a sin or a duty by Scripture which is not Or to father Apocryphal Books or Texts or words upon the spirit of Christ. 3. To make any Law for the Church universal or as obligatory to all Christians which is to usurp the soveraignty of Christ For which treasonable Usurpation it is that Protestants call the Pope Antichrist 4. To add new parts to the Christian Religion 5. To make any Law which it did properly belong to the Universal Soveraign to have made if it should have been made at all Or which implyeth an accusation of ignorance oversight errour or omission in Christ and the holy Scriptures 6. To make new Laws for mens inward Heart-duties towards God 7. To make new Sacraments for the fealing of Christs Covenant and Collation of his benefits therein contained and to be the publick Tesserae Badges or Symbols of Christians and Christianity in the World 8. To feign new Conditions of the Covenant of God and necessary means of our Justification Adoption and salvation 9. To alter Christs instituted Church-Ministry or add any that are supra-ordinate co-ordinate or derogatory to their office or that stand on the like pretended ground and for equal ends 10. To make new spiritual societies or Church-forms which shall be either supra-ordinate co-ordinate Gal. 2. 5. or derogatory to the Forms of Christs Institution 11. Any impositions upon the Churches be the thing never so lawful which is made by a pretended Act. 15. 28 24 25. 2 Cor. 10. 8. 13. 10. 1 Cor. 14. 5 12 26. 2 Cor. 12. 19. Eph. 4. 12 16 1 Tim. 1 4. power not derived from God and the Redeemer 12. Any thing that is contrary to the Churches good and Edification to justice charity piety order unity or peace 13. Any unnecessary burden imposed on the Consciences of Christians especially as necessary either to their salvation communion liberty or peace 14. And the exercise of any power pretended to be either Primitive and underived or Infallible or Impeccable or Absolute 15. In general any thing that is contrary to the Authority matter form obligation honour or ends of the Laws of God in Nature or Scripture 16. Any thing which setteth up those Judaical Laws and Ceremonies which Christ hath abrogated in that form and respect in which he abrogated them 17. Where there is a doubt among sober Conscionable Christians lest in obeying man they should sin against
3. Either Christianity is something and discernable or nothing and undiscernable If the latter then Christians are not to be distinguished from Heathens and Infidels If the former then Christianity hath its Constitutive parts by which it is what it is And then it hath essential parts distinguishable from the rest 4. The word Fundamentals being but a Metaphor hath given room to deceivers and Contenders to make a Controversie and raise a dust about it Therefore I purposely use the word Essentials which is not so lyable to mens Cavils 5. Those are the Essentials of Christianity which are necessary to the Baptism of the Adult Know but that and you answer all the pratings of the Papists that bawle out for a list of Fundamentals And sure it is not this day unknown in the Christian world either what a Christian is or who is to be baptized Do not the Priests know it who baptize all that are Christened in the world And why is Baptism called our Christening if it make us not Christians And why hath Christ promised that He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved Mark 16. 16. if that so much faith as is necessary to baptism will not also serve to a mans state of salvation 6. The Baptismal Covenant of Grace therefore is the Essential part of the Gospel and of the Christian Religion And all the rest are the Integrals and Accidents or Adjuncts 7. This Covenant containeth I. Objectively 1. Things True as such 2. Things Good as such 3. Things Practicable or to be done as such The Credenda Diligenda Eligenda Agenda as the objects of mans Intellect Will and Practical power The Credenda or things to be known and believed are 1. God as God and our God and Father 2. Christ as the Saviour and our Saviour 3. The Holy Ghost as such and as the Sanctifier and our Sanctifier as to the offer of these Relations in the Covenant The Diligenda are the same three persons in these three Relations as Good in themselves and unto us which includeth the grand benefits of Reconciliation and Adoption Justification and Sanctification and Salvation The Agenda in the time of baptism that make us Christians are 1. The actual Dedition resignation or dedication of our selves to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost in these Relations 2. A Promise or Vow to endeavour faithfully to live according to our undertaken relations though not in perfection that is as Creatures to their Creator and their Reconciled God and Father as Christians to their Redeemer their Teacher their Ruler and their Saviour And as willing Receivers of the Sanctifying and Comforting operations of the Holy Spirit II. The Objects tell you what the Acts must be on our part 1. With the Understanding to know and believe 2 With the Will to love choose desire and resolve and 3. Practically to deliver up our selves for the present and to promise for the time to come These are the Essentials of the Christian Religion 8. The Creed is a larger explication of the Credenda and the Lords Prayer of the Diligenda or things to be willed desired and hoped for and the Decalogue of the Natural part of the Agenda 9. Suffer not your own Ignorance or the Papists Cheats to confound the Question about Fundamentals as to the Matter and as to the expressing words It is one thing to ask What is the Matter ☞ Essential to Christianity And another What Words Symbols or Sentences are Essential to it To the first I have now answered you To the second I say 1. Taking the Christian Religion as it is an Extrinsick Doctrine in signis so the Essence of it is Words and Signs expressive or significant of the Material Essence That they be such in specie is all that is essential And if they say But which be those words I answer 2. That no particular Words in the world are essential to the Christian Religion For 1. No one Language is essential to it It is not necessary to salvation that you be baptized or learn the Creed or Scriptures in Hebrew or Greek or Latin or English so you learn it in any Language understood 2. It is not necessary to salvation that you use the same words in the same Language as long as it hath more words than one to express the same thing by 3. It is not necessary to salvation that we use the same or any one single form method or order of words as they are in the Creeds without alteration And therefore while the Antients did tenaciously cleave to the same Symbol or Creed yet they used various words to express it by As may be seen in Irenâ—â—s Tertullian Origen and Ruffin elsewhere cited by me so that its plain that by the same Symbol they See the Appendix to my Reformed Pastor meant the same Matter though exprest in some variety of words Though they avoided such variety as might introduce variety of sense and matter 10. Words being needful 1. To make a Learner understand 2. To tell another what he understandeth it followeth that the great variety of mens capacities maketh a great variation in the necessity of Words or Forms An Englishman must have them in English and a Frenchman in French An understanding man may receive all the Essentials in a few words But an Ignorant man must have many words to make him understand the matter To him that Understandeth them the words of the Baptismal ☞ Covenant express all the Essentials of Christianity But to him that understands them not the Creed is necessary for the explication And to him that understandeth not that a Catechism or larger Exposition is necessary This is the plain explication of this question which many Papists seem loth to understand Quest. 139. What is the Use and Authority of the Creed And is it of the Apostles framing or not And is it the Word of God or not Answ. 1. THe Use of the Creed is to be a plain explication of the Faith professed in the Baptismal Covenant 1. For the fuller instruction of the duller sort and those that had not preparatory knowledge and could not sufficiently understand the meaning of the three Articles of the Covenant what it is to believe in God the Father Son and Holy Ghost without more words 2. And for the satisfaction of the Church that indeed men understood what they did in baptism and professed to believe 2. The Creed is the Word of God as to all the Doctrine or Matter of it what ever it be as to the order and composition of words 3. That is oft by the Antients called the Apostles which containeth the matter derived by the Apostles though not in a form of words compiled by them 4. It is certain that all the words now in our Creed were not put in by the Apostles 1. Because Vid. 〈…〉 Vossiâ—m de Symbolis some of them were not in till long after their dayes 2. Because the
to true penitent believers with a right to everlasting life and as to the obligation to sincere obedience for salvation though not as to the yet future coming of Christ in the flesh And this Law of Grace was never 2 Tim. 3. 15. Rom. 15. 4. 16. 26. yet repealed any further than Christs coming did fulfill it and perfect it Therefore to the rest of the world who never can have the Gospel or perfecter Testament as Christians have the former ☞ Law of Grace is yet in force And that is the Law conjoyned with the Law of Nature which now the world without the Church is under Under I say as to the force of the Law and a former Matth. 22. 29. Luke 24. 27 32 45. John 5. â—9 Acts 17. 2. 11. 18. 24 25. John 20. 9. John 7. 38 42. 10. 35. 13. 18. 19. 24 28. Luke 4. 18. 21. 2 Tim. 3. 16. 2 Pet. 1. 19 20. Acts 8. 32 33 35. Rom. 1. 2. promulgation made to Adam and Noah and some common intimations of it in merciful forbearances pardons and benefits though how many are under it as to the knowledge reception belief and obedience of it and consequently are saved by it is more than I or any man knoweth 6. There are many Prophecies of Christ and the Christian Church in the Old Testament yet to be fulfilled and therefore are still Gods Word for us 7. There are many Precepts of God to the Jews and to particular persons given them on Reasons common to them with us where parity of Reason will help thence to gather our own duty now 8. There are many holy expressions as in the Psalms which are fitted to persons in our condition and came from the Spirit of God and therefore as such are fit for us now 9. Even the fulfilled Promises Types and Prophecies are still Gods Word that is his Word given to their several proper uses And though much of their Use be changed or ceased so is not all They are yet useful to us to confirm our faith while we see their accomplishment and see how much God still led his Church to Happiness in one and the same way 10. On all these accounts therefore we may still Read the Old Testament and preach upon it in the publick Churches Quest. 156. Must we believe that Moses Law did ever bind other Nations or that any other parts of the Scripture bound them or belonged to them or that the Iews were all Gods Visible Church on Earth Answ. I Conjoyn these three Questions for dispatch I. 1. Some of the Matter of Moses Law did Rom. 2. Rom. 1. 20 21 Enod 12. 19 43 48 49. 20. 10. Lev. 17. 12 15. 18. 26. 24. 16 22. Numb 9. 14. 15. 14 15 16 29 30. 19. 10. Deut. 1. 16. bind all Nations that is The Law of nature as such 2. Those that had the knowledge of the Jewish Law were bound â—ollaterally to believe and obey all the expositions of the Law of nature in it and all the Laws which were given upon reasons common to all the world As about degrees of Marriage particular rules of Justice c. As if I heard God from Heaven tell another that standeth by me Thou shalt not marry thy fathers Widow for it is abominable I ought to apply that to me being his subject which is spoken to another on a common reason 3. All those Gentiles that would be proselytes and joyn with the Jews in their policy and dwell among them were bound to be observers of their Laws But 1. The Law of Nature as Mosaical did not formally and directly bind other Nations 2. Nâ—r were they bound to the Laws of their peculiar policy Civil or Ecclesiastical which were positives The reason is 1. Because they were all one body of Political Laws given peculiarly to one political body Even the Decalogue it self was to them a political Law 2. Because Moses was not authorized or sent to be the Mediator or deliverer of that Law to any Nation but the Jews And being never in the enacting or Promulgation sent or directed to the rest of the World it could not bind them II. As to the second Question Though the Scripture as a writing bound not all the World yet 1. The Law of Nature as such which is recorded in Scripture did bind all 2. The Covenant of Psal. 145. 9 103. 19. Psal. 100. 1. Rom. 14. 11. Act. 34 35. Jud. 14. 15. Grace was made with all mankind in Adam and Noe And they were bound to promulgate it by Tradition to all their off-spring And no doubt so they did whether by word as all did or by writing also as it 's like some did as Henochs Prophesies were it 's like delivered or else they had not in terms been preserved till Iudes time 3. And God himself as aforesaid by actual providences pardoning and benefits given to them that deserved hell did in part promulgate it himself 4. The neighbour Nations might learn much by Gods doctrine and dealing with the Jews III. To the third Question I answer 1. The Jews were a people chosen by God out of all the Deut. 14. 2 3. 7. 2. 6 7. Exod. 19. 5. 6. 7 8. Lev. 20. 24 26. Deut. 4. 20 33. 29. 13. 33. 29. Rom. 3. 1 2 3. Nations of the Earth to be a holy Nation and his peculiar treasure having a peculiar Divine Law and Covenant and many great priviledges to which the rest of the World were strangers so that they were advanced above all other Kingdoms of the world though not in wealth nor worldly power nor largeness of Dominion yet in a special dearness unto God 2. But they were not the only people to whom God made a Covenant of Grace in Adam and Noe as distinct from the Law or Covenant of Innocency 3. Nor were they the only people that professed to Worship the true God neither was holiness and salvation confined to them but were found in other Nations Therefore though we have but little notice of the state of other Kingdoms in their times and scarcely know what National Churches that is whole Nations professing saving faith there were yet we may well conclude that there were other visible Churches besides the Jews For 1. No Scripture denyeth it and charity then must hope the best 2. The Scriptures of the Old Testament give us small account of other Countreys but of the Jews alone with some of their Neighbours 3. Sem was alive in Abrahams dayes yea about 34 years after Abrahams death and within 12 years of Ismaels death viz. till about An. Mundi 2158. And so great and blessed a man as Sem cannot be thought to be less than a King and to have a Kingdom governed according to his holiness and so that there was with him not only a Church but a National Church or holy Kingdom 4. And Melchizedeck was a holy King and
Father Word and Spirit are undivided But yet some things are more eminently attributed to one person in the Trinity and some to another 2. By the Law and Covenant of Innocency the Creator eminently ruled Omnipotently And the Joh. 5. 22 25. Prov. 1. 20 21 c. Son Ruled eminently sapientially initially under the Covenant of promise or grace from Adam till his Incarnation and the descent of the Holy Ghost and more fully and perfectly afterward by the Holy Ghost And the Holy Ghost ever since doth Rule in the Saints as the Paraclete Advocate or Agent of Christ and Christ by him eminently by holy Love which is yet but initially But the same Holy Ghost by perfect Love shall perfectly Rule in Glory for ever even as the spirit of the Father and the Son We have already the Initial Kingdom of Love by the spirit and shall have the perfect Kingdom in Heaven And besides the initial and the perfect there is no other Nor is the perfect Kingdom to be expected before the day of judgement or our removal unto Heaven For our Kingdom is not of this World And they that sell all and follow Christ do make the exchange for Mat. 5. 11 12. Luk. 18. 22 23. Mat. 10. 41 32. Luk. 6. 23. 16. 20. 1 Cor. 12. 2 3. 5. 1 3 8. Mat. 18. 10. 1 Thes. 4. 17 18. Mar. 12. 25. 2 Pet. 3. 11 12 13. 1 Pet. 1. 4. Heb. 10. 34. 12. 23. Col. 1. 5. Phil. 3. 20. 21. a Reward in Heaven And they that suffer persecution for his sake must rejoice because their reward in Heaven is great And they that relieve a prophet or righteous man for the sake of Christ and that lose any thing for him shall have indeed an hundred fold in value in this life but in the world to come eternal life We shall be taken up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord And those are the words with which we must comfort one another and not Jewishly with the hopes of an earthly Kingdom And yet we look for a new Heaven and a new Earth wherein dwelleth righteousness according to his promise But who shall be the inhabitants and how that Heaven and Earth shall diffâ—r and what we shall then have to do with Earth Whether to be Overseers of that Righteous Earth and so to judge or Rule the World as the Angels are now over us in this World are things which yet I understand not Quest. 162. May we not look for Miracles hereafter Answ. THe answer to Quest. 160. may serve to this 1. God may work Miracles if he please Lâ—ke 23. 8. and hath not told us that he never will 2. But he hath not promised us that he will and therefore we cannot believe such a promise not expect them as a certain thing Nor may any pray for the gift of miracles 3. But if there be any probability of them it will be to those that are converting Infidel Nations when they may be partly of such use as they were at first 4. Yet it is certain that sometimes God still worketh Miracles But arbitrarily and rarely which may not put any individual person in expectation of them Object Is not the promise the same to us as to the Apostles and primitive Christians if we could but believe as they did Answ. 1. The promise to be believed goeth before the faith that believeth it and not that faith before the promise 2. The promise of the Holy Ghost was for perpetuity to sanctifie all believers 1 Cor. 1â— 2â— 29. Heb. 2. 3 4. John 1â— 41. But the promise of that special gift of Miracles was for a time because it was for a special use that is to be a standing seal to the truth of the Gospel which all after ages may be convinced of in point of fact and so may still have the use and benefit of And providence ceasing Miracles thus expoundeth the promise And if Miracles must be common to all persons and ages they would be as no Miracles And we have seen those that most confidently believed they should work them all fail But I have written so largely of this point in a set Disputation in my Treatise called The Unreasonableness of Infidelity fully proving those first Miracles satisfactory and obligatory to all following ages that I must thither now refer the Reader Quest. 163. Is the Scripture to be tryed by the Spirit or the Spirit by the Scripture and which of them is to be preferred Answ. I Put the question thus confusedly for the sake of those that use to do so to shew them how to get out of their own Confusion You must distinguish 1. Between the Spirit in it self considered and the Scripture in it self 2. Between the several operations of the Spirit 3. Between the several persons that have the Spirit And so you must conclude 1. That the Spirit in it self is infinitely more excellent than the Scripture For the Spirit is God and the Scripture is but the work of God 2. The operation of the Spirit in the Apostles was more excellent than the operation of the same Spirit now in us As producing more excellent effects and more infallible 3. Therefore the holy Scriptures which were the infallible dictates of the Spirit in the Apostles 1 Joh. 4. 1 2 6. John 18. 37. 8. 47. are more perfect than any of our apprehensions which come by the same Spirit which we have not in so great a measure 4. Therefore we must not try the Scriptures by our most spiritual apprehensions but our apprehensions Acts 17. 11 12. Matth. 5. 18. Rom. 16. 26. by the Scriptures that is we must prefer the Spirits inspiring the Apostles to indite the Scripture before the Spirits illuminating of us to understand them or before any present inspirations the former being the more perfect Because Christ gave the Apostles the Spirit to deliver us infallibly Matth. 28. 20. Luke 10. 16. his own Commands and â—o indite a Rule for following ages But he giveth us the Spirit but to understand and use that Rule aright 5. This trying the Spirit by the Scriptures is not a setting of the Scripture above the Spirit it Rev. 2. 2. Jude 17. a Pet. 3. â— Ephes. 4. 11 12. 1 Cor. 12. 28 29. Ephes. 2. 20. self but is only a trying the Spirit by the Spirit that is the Spirits operations in our selves and his Revelations to any pretenders now by the Spirits operations in the Apostles and by their Revelations recorded for our use For they and not we are called Foundations of the Church Quest. 164. How is a pretended Prophet or Revelation to be tryed Answ. 1. IF it be contrary to the Scripture it is to be rejected as a deceit Acts 17. 11. 1 Cor. 15. 3 4 John 10. 35. John 19. 24 28 36 37. 2. If it be the same thing which is
in the Scripture we have it more certainly revealed already Therefore the Revelation can be nothing but an assistance of the persons faith or a call to obedience or a reproof of some sin which every man is to believe according as there is true evidence that indeed it is a Divine Revelation or Vision which if it be not the same thing is still sure to us in the Scripture 3. If it be something that is only Besides the Scripture as about events and facts or Prophecies of what will befall particular places or persons we must first see whether the evidence of a Divine revelation be clear in it or not And that is known 1. To the person himself by the self-attesting and convincing power of a Divine Revelation which no man knoweth but he that hath it And we must be very cautelous lest we take false conceptions to be such But to himself and others it is known 1. At present by clear uncontrolled Miracles which are Gods attestation which if men shew we are bound in this case to believe them 2. For the Future by the event when things so plainly John 3. 2. John 13. 19. 14. 20. Luke 21. 7 9 28 31 36. Matth. 5. 18. 24. 34. 21. 4. come to pass as prove the prediction to be of God He therefore that giveth you not by certain Miracles uncontrolled a just proof that he is sent of God is to be heard with a suspended belief you must stay till the event shew whether he say true or not And not act any thing in the mean time upon an unproved presumption either of the truth or falshood of his words 4. If you are in doubt whether that which he speaketh be contrary to Gods Word or not you must hear him with a proportionable suspicion and give no credit to him till you have tryed whether it be so or not 5. It is a dangerous snare and sin to believe any ones Prophecies or Revelations meerly because they are very Holy persons and do most confidently averr or swear it For they may be deceived themselves As also to take hysterical or melancholy delirations or conceptions for the Revelations of the Spirit of God and so to father falshood upon God Quest. 165. May one be saved who believeth that the Scripture hath any mistake or error and believeth it not all Answ. THe chief part of the answer to this must be fetcht from what is said before about Fundamentals Rev. 6. 10. 19. 9 11. 21. 5. 22. 6. 1 John 2. 8. 5. 20. 2 Cor. 1. 18. 1 Cor. 15. 1 2 3 c. 1. No man can be saved who believeth not that God is no lyar and that all his Word is true Because indeed he believeth not that there is a God 2. No man can be saved who believeth not the points that are essential to true Godliness nor any man that heareth the Word who believeth not all Essential to Christianity or the Christian Covenant and Religion 3. A man may be saved who believeth not some Books of Scripture as Iude 2 Pet. 2 Iohn 3 Iohn Revelations to be Canonical or the Word of God so he heartily believe the rest or the Essentials 4. He that thinketh that the Prophets Sacred Historians Evangelists and Apostles were guided to Mark 16. 16. Rom. 10. 12 13. John 3. 16 18. 1 John 4. 2 3. an Infallible delivery and recording of all the great substantial necessary points of the Gospel but not to an Infallibility in every by-expression phrase citation or circumstance doth disadvantage his own faith as to all the rest but yet may be saved if he believe the substance with a sound and practical belief Quest. 166. Who be they that give too little to the Scriptures and who too much and what is the danger of each extream Answ. I. IT is not easie to enumerate all the errors on either extream but only to give some instances of each 1. They give too little to the Scriptures who dâ—ny it to be indited by inspiration of the Infallible Spirit of God and to be wholly true 2. And they that detract from some parts or Books of it while they believe the rest 3. And they that think it is not given as a Law of God and as a Rule of faith and life 4. And they that think it is not an Universal Law and Rule for all the world but for some parts only supposing the predication of it 5. And they that think it an Imperfect Law and Rule which must be made up with the supplement of Traditions or Revelations 6. And they that think that it was adapted only to the times it was written in and James 4. 12. Isa. 33. 22. Râ—v 22. 18 19. Matth. 28. 20. Isa. 8. 16 20. Psal. 19. 7 8. 119. 130. Prov. 14. 20 22. 8 5. Deut. 12. 32. not to ours as not foreseeing what would be 7. And they that think it is culpably defective in Method 8. And they that think it culpably defective in phrase or aptness or elegancy of style 9. And they that think that it containeth not all that was necessary or fit for universal determination of that kind of things which it doth at all universally determine of As e. g. that it made two Sacraments but not all of that kind that are fit to be made but hath left men to invent and make more of the same nature and use 10. And those that think that it is fitted only to the Learned or only to the unlearned only to Princes or only to subjects c. 11. And those that think that it is but for a time and then by alteration to be perfected as Moses Law was 12. And those that think that the Pope Princes or Prelates or any men may change or alter it II. Those give too much in bulk but too little in vertue to the Scriptures 1. Who would set them up instead of the whole Law and Light of Nature as excluding this as useless where the Scripture is 2. And they that â—eign it to be instead of all Grammars Logick Philosophy and all other Arts and Sciences and to be a perfect particular Rule for every Ruler Lawyer Physicion Marriner Architect Husbandman and Tradesman to do his work by 3. And they that â—eign it to be fully sufficient to all men to prove its own authority and truth without 1 Joh. 1. 1 2 3. 3 John 12. Heb. 2. 3 4. John 21. 24. the subsidiary use of that Church-History and Tradition which telleth us the supposed Matters of fact and must help us to know what Books are Canonical and what not and without historical evidence that these are the true Books which the Prophets and Apostles wrote and the Miracles and Providences which have attested them 4. And those that think that it is sufficient for its own promulgation or the peoples instruction Ephes. 4. 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16. John 6.
that hath all these hath a constant Habit of prayer in him For prayer is nothing but the expression with the tongue of these Graces in the heart So that the Spirit of Sanctification is thereby a Spirit of Adoption and of Supplication And he that hath freedom of utterance can speak that which Gods Spirit hath put into his very heart and made him esteem his greatest and nearest concernment and the most necessary and excellent thing in all the world This is the Spirits principal help 5. The same Spirit doth incline our hearts to the diligent use of all those means by which our abilities may be increased As to read and hear and confer and to use our selves to prayer and to meditation self-examination c. 6. The same Spirit helpeth us in the use of all these means to profit by them and to make them all effectual on our hearts 7. The same Spirit concurreth with Means Habits Reason and our own endeavours to help us in the very act of praying and preaching 1. By illuminating our minds to know what to desire and say 2. By actuating our Wills to Love and holy desire and other affections 3. By quickning and exciting us to a liveliness and â—ervency in all And so bringing our former habits into acts the Grace of prayer is the heart and soul of gifts And thus the Spirit teacheth us to pray Yea the same Spirit thus by common helps assisteth even bad men in praying and preaching giving them common habits and acts that are short of special saving grace Whereas men left to themselves without Gods Spirit have none of all these forementioned helps And so the Spirit is said to intercede for us by exciting our unexpressible groans and to help our infirmities when we know what Rom. 8. 26. to ask as we ought Quest. 168. Are not our own Reasons Studies Memory Strivings Books Forms Methods and Ministry needless yea a hurtful quenching or preventing of the Spirit and setting up our own instead of the Spirits operations Answ. 1. YEs if we do it in a conceit of the sufficiency of our selves our reason memory John 15 1 3 4 5 7. studies books forms c. without the Spirit Or if we ascribe any thing to any of these which is proper to Christ or to his Spirit For such proud self-sufficient despisers of the Spirit cannot reasonably expect his help I doubt among men counted Learned and Rational there are too many such * Even among them that in their Ordination heard Receive yâ— the Holy Ghost and Oveâ— which the Holy Gâ—â—â—â—â—ath made you 〈…〉 that know not mans insufficiency or corruption nor the necessity and use of that Holy Ghost into whose name they were baptized and in whom they take on them to believe But think that all that pretend to the Spirit are but Phanaticks and Enthusiasts and self-conceited people when yet the Spirit himself saith Rom. 8 9. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ the same is none of his And Gal. 4. 6. Because we are sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts whereby we cry Abba Father 2. But if we give to Reason Memory Study Books Methods Forms c. but their proper place in subordination to Christ and to his Spirit they are so far from being quenchers of the Spirit that they are necessary in their places and such means as we must use if ever we will expect the Spirits help For the Spirit is not given to a Bruit to make him a man or rational nor to a proud despiser or idle neglecter of Gods appointed means to be instead of means nor to be a Patron to the vice of pride or idleness which he cometh chiefly to destroy But to bless men in the laborious use of the means which God appointeth him Read but Prov. 1. 20 c. 2. 3. 5. 6. 8. and you will see that knowledge must be laboured for and instruction heard And he that will lye idle till the Isa. 64. 7. Mat. 7. 13 14. 2 Pet. 1. 10. Spirit move him and will not stir up himself to seek God nor strive to enter in at the streight gâ—â—e nor give all diligence to make his Calling and Election sure may find that the Spirit of sloth hath destroyed him when he thought the Spirit of Christ â—ad been saving him He that hath but two Articles in his Creed must make this the second For he that cometh to God must believe that God is and that he is the Rewarder of them that diligently seek him Heb. 11. 6. Quest. 169. How doth the Holy Ghost set Bishops over the Churches Answ. 1. BY making the Office it self so far as the Apostles had any hand in it Christ himself Acts 20. 28. having made their Office 2. The Holy Ghost in the Electors and Ordainers directeth them to discern the fitness of the persons Acts 1. 24. Act. 13. 2. 15. 28 c. 14. â—3 elected and ordained and so to call such as God approveth of and calleth by the Holy Ghost in them Which was done 1. By the extraordinary gift of discerning in the Apostles 2. By the ordinary help of Gods Spirit in the wise and faithful Electors and Ordainers ever since 3. The Holy Ghost doth qualifie them for the work by due Life Light and Love Knowledge Willingness and Active ability and so both enâ—lining them to it and marking out the persons by his gifts whom he would have elected and ordained to it Which was done 1. At first by extraordinary gifts 2. And ever since by ordinary 1. Special and saving in some 2. Common and only fitted to the Churches instruction in others So that who ever is not competently qualified is not called by the Holy Ghost When Christ ascended he gave gifts to men some Apostles Prophets and Evangelists 1 Cor. 12. 12 13 28 29. some Pastors and Teachers for the edifying of his body c. Eph. 4. 7 8 9 10. Quest. 170. Are Temples Fonts Utensils Church-lands much more the Ministers holy And what reverence is due to them as holy Answ. THe question is either de nomine whether it be fit to call them holy or de re whether they have that which is called Holiness I. The word Holy signifieth in God essential transcendent Perfection and so it cometh not into our question In creatures it signifieth 1. A Divine nature in the Rational Creature Angels and Men by which it is made like God and disposed to him and his service by Knowledge Love and holy Vivacity which is commonly called Real saving Holiness as distinct from meer Relative 2. It is taken for the Relation of any thing to God as his own peculiar appropriated to him so Mar. 6. 20. Col. 1. 22. Tit. 1. 8. 1 Pet. 1. 15 16. 3. 5. 2 Pet. 3. 11. Exod. 22. 31. 1 Cor. 1. 1 2 3. 1 Cor. 6. 9 10 11. Heb. 12.
serve the Devil and the Flesh. God must be our First and Last and All. § 4. Not that any exact or full Body or Method of Divinity is to be Learnt so early But 1. The Baptismal Covenant must be well opened betime and frequently urged upon their hearts 2. Therefore the Creed the Lords Prayer and Decalogue must be opened to such betime that is They must be wisely Catechised 3. They must be taught the Scripture History especially Genesis and the Gospel of Christ. 4. They must with the other Scriptures read the most plain and suitable Books of practical Divinâ—s after named 5. They must be kept in the company of suitable wise and exemplary Christians whose whole conversation will help them to the sense and Love of Holiness And must be kept strictly from perverting wicked company 6. They must be frequently lovingly familiarly yet seriously treated with about the state of their own souls and made to know their need of Christ and of his holy spirit of Justification and Renovation 7. They must be trained up in the Practice of Godliness in Prayer pious speeches and obedience to God and man 8. They must be kept under the most powerful and profitable Ministers of Christ that can be had 9. They must be much urged to the study of their own hearts To know themselves what it is to be a Man to have Reason Free-will and an Immortal soul what it is to be a Child of Lapsed Adam and an unregenerate unpardoned sinner what it is to be a Redeemed and a sanctified Justified person and an adopted heir of life eternal And by close examination to know which of these conditions is their own To know what is their daily duty and what their danger and what their Temptations and impediments and how to escape § 5. For if once the soul be truly sanctified then 1. Their salvation is much secured and the main work of their lives is happily begun and they are ready to Die safely when ever God shall call them hence 2. It will possess them with a right end in all the studies and labours of their lives which is an unspeakable advantage both for their pleasing of God and profiting themselves and others without which they will but prophane Gods name and word and turn the Ministry into a worldly fleshly life and study and Preach for Riches Preferment or applause and live as he Luk. 12. 18 19. Soul take thy ease eat drink and be merry and they will make Theology the way to hell and study and preach their own condemnation 3. A Holy heart will be alwayes under the Greatest Motives and therefore will be constantly and powerfully impelled as well in secret as before others to diligence in studies and all good endeavours 4. And it will make all sweet and easie to them as being a noble work and relishing of Gods Love and the endless Glory to which it tendeth A holy soul will all the year long be employed in sacred studies and works as a good stomach at a feast with constant pleasure And then O how happily will all go on When a carnal person with a dull unwilling weary mind taketh now and then a little when his carnal interest it self doth prevail against his more slothful sensual inclinations but he never followeth it with hearty affections and therefore seldom with good success 4. And a holy soul will be a continual Treasury and fountain of holy matter to pour out to others when they come to the Sacred Ministry so that such a one can say more from the feeling and experience of his soul than another can in a long time gather from his Books 5. And that which he saith will come warm to the hearers in a more lively experimental manner than usual carnal Preachers speak 6. And it is liker to be attended by a greater blessing from God 7. And there are many Controversies in the Church which an experienced holy person caeteris paribus hath great advantage in above all others to know the right and be preserved from errours § 6. Direct 2. Let young mens time till about 18 19 or 20 be spent in the improvement of their Memories rather than in studies that require much judgement Therefore let them take that time to get Organical knowledge such as are the Latine and Greek tongues first and chiefly and then the Hebrew Chaldee Syriack and Arabick with the exactest acquaintance with the true Precepts of Logick And let them learn some Epiâ—ome of Logick without Book In this time also let them be much conversant in History both Civil Scholastical of Philosophers Orators Poets c. and Ecclesiastical And then take in as much of the Mathematicks as their more necessary studies will allow them time for still valuing Knowledge according to the various degrees of usefulness § 7. Direct 3. When you come to seek after more abstruse and real wisdom joyn together the study of Physicks and Theologie and take not your Physicks as separated from or independant on Theologie But as the study of God in his works and of his works as leading to himself Otherwise you will be but like a Scrivener and Printer who maketh his Letters well but knoweth not what they signifie § 8. Direct 4. Unite all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or knowledge of Real eâ—tities into one science both spirits and Bodies God being taken in as the First and last the Original Director and End of all And study not the doctrine of Bodies alone as separated from spirits For it is but an imaginary separation and a delusion to mens minds Or if you will call them by the name of several sciences be sure you so link those severals together that the due dependance of bodies on spirits and of the Passive natures on the Active may still be kept discemable And then they will be one while you call them divers § 9. Direct 5. When you study only to know what is True you must begin at the Primum câ—gnoscibile and so rise in ordine cognoscendi But when you would come to see things in their proper Order by a more perfect satisfying knowledge you must draw up a synthetical sebeme juxta ordinem â—ssendi where God must be the First and Last the first Efficient Governour and End of all § 10. Direct 6. Your first study of Philosophy therefore should be of your selves To know a man And the Knowledge of mans soul is a part so necessary so neer so useful that it should take up both the first and largest room in all your Physicks or knowledge of Gods works Labour therefore to be accurate in this § 11. Direct 7. With the knowledge of your selves joyn the Knowledge of the rest of the works of God but according to the usefulness of each part to your moral duty and as all are Related to God and You. § 12. Direct 8. Be sure in all your progress that you keep a distinct knowledge of things certain and things
them speedily Luk. 18. 7 8. what need you be so forward to justifie and avenge your selves Obj. If God will have their names to rot and spoken evil of when they are dead why may I not do it while they are alive Answ. There is a great deal of difference between a true Historian and a self-avenger in the reason of the thing and in the effects To dishonour bad Rulers while they live doth tend to excite the people to rebellion and to disable them to govern But for Truth to be spoken of them when they are dead doth only lay an odium upon the sin and is a warning to others that they follow them not in evil And this no wicked Prince was ever so Great and powerful as to prevent For it is a part of Gods resolved judgement Yet must Historians so Sâ—rt Aâ—râ—l Victor de Calig De quo nescio an decuerit memoriae prodi nisi forte quia juvat de principibus nosse omnia ut improbi saltem famae metu talia declinent open the faults of the person as not to bring the office into contempt but preserve the reverence due to the authority and place of Governours § 29. Direct 7. By all means overcome a selfish mind and get such a Holy and a publick spirit as Direct 7. more regardeth Gods honour and the publick interest than your own It is SELFISHNESS that is the great Rebel and Enemy of God and of the King and of our Neighbour A selfish private spirit careth not what the Common-wealth suffereth if he himself may be a gainer by it To revenge himself or to rise up to some higher place or increase his riches he will betray and ruine his King his Countrey and his nearest friends A selfish ambitious covetous man is faithful to no man longer than he serveth his ends nor is he any further to be trusted than his own interest will allow Self-denyal and a publick spirit are necessary to every faithful subject § 30. Direct 8. Wish not evil to your Governours in your secret thoughts but if any such thought Direct 8. would enter into your hearts reject it with abhorrence Eccles. 10. 20. Curse not the King no not in thy thought and curse not the rich in thy bed-chamber for a bird of the air shall carry the voice and that which hath wings shall tell the matter A feaverish misguided Zeal for Religion and a passionate discontent for personal injuries do make many greatly guilty in this point They would be much pleased if God would shew some grievous judgement upon persecutors and take no warning by Christs rebukes of Iames and Iohn but secretly are wishing for fire from Heaven not knowing what manner of spirit they are of They cherish such thoughts as are pleasing to them though they dare not utter them in words And he that dare wish hurt is in danger of being drawn by temptation to do hurt Obj. But may we not pray for the cutting off of persecutors And may we not give God thanks for it if he do it himself without any sinful means of ours Answ. Every Ruler that casteth down one sect or party of Christians and setteth up another perhaps as true to the interest of Christianity as they is not to be prayed against and his destruction wished by the suffering party 2. If he be a persecuter of Christianity and Piety it self as Heathens and Infidels are yet if his Government do They are dangerous passages which Petrarch hath though a good and learned and moderate man Dial. 49. Non tot passim essent Domini nec tam late â—urerent nisi populi insanirent cuique civium pro se charior â—oret res privata quam publica voluptas quam gloria pecunia quam libertas Vita quam Virtus Et statim Et sane si vel unum patria civem bonum habeat malum Dominum diutius non habebit The meaning is too plain Abundance of the most learned writers have such passages which must be read with caution Though I would draw none to the other extream Pâ—trarchs 68. Dial 85. Dialog de boâ—o Domino is as smart as the former but yet speaketh not all that contra Reges which be doth contra Dominos However he say that Inter Regem Tyrannum non discernunt Gâ—aii c. So Sr. Thoâ— More in his Poems Regibus è multis Regnum bene qui â—egat unum Vix tamen unus erit si tamen unus erit And that of Senec. Trag. ult Tantum ut noceat cupit esse potens more good than his persecution doth harm you may not so much as wish his downfall 3. If he were a Nero or a Iulian you must pray first for his conversion and if that may not be then next for his restraint and never for his destruction but on supposition that neither of the former may be attained which you cannot say 4. You must pray for the deliverance of the persecuted Church and leave the way and means to God and not prescribe to him Hurtful desires and prayers are seldom of God 5. You may freelyer rejoyce afterwards than desire it before because when a Iulian is cut off you know that Gods righteous will is accomplished when before you knew not that it was his will Yet after it is the deliverance of the Church and not the hurt of a persecuter as such that you must give thanks for Be very suspicious here lest partiality and passion blind you § 31. Direct 9. Learn how to suffer and know what use God can make of your sufferings and think Direct 9. not better of prosperity and worse of suffering than you have cause It is a carnal unbelieving heart that maketh so great a matter of poverty imprisonment banishment or death as if they were undone Bias interrogatus quidnam esset difficile Ferre inquit fortiter mutationem rerum in deterius Laert. p. 55. if they suffer for Christ or be sent to Heaven before the time As if Kingdoms must be disturbed to save you from suffering This better beseems an infidel and a worldling that takes his earthly prosperity for his portion and thinks he hath no other to win or lose Do you not know what the Church hath gained by suffering How pure it hath been when the fire of persecution hath refined it and how prosperity hath been the very that that hath polluted it and shattered it all to pieces by letting in all the ungodly world into the visible Communion of the Saints and by setting the Bishops on contending for superiority and overtopping Emperours and Kings Many thousands that would be excellent persons in adversity cannot bear a high or prosperous state but their brains are turned and pride and contention maketh them the scorn of the adversaries that observe them § 32. Direct 10. Trust God and live by faith and then you will find no need of rebellions or any Direct 10. sinful means
the authority which he committed to their trust § 86. 3. The Christian Religion bindeth subjects to obedience upon sorer penalties than Magistrates can inflict even upon pain of Gods displeasure and everlasting damnation Rom. 13. 2 3. And how great a help this is to Government it is so easie to discern that the simpler sort of Atheists do perswade themselves that Kings devised Religion to keep people in obedience with the fears of Hell Take away the fears of the life to come and the punishment of God in Hell upon the wicked and the world will be turned into worse than a den of Serpents and wild beasts adulteries and murders and poysoning Kings and all abomination will be freely committed which wit or power can think to cover or bear out Who will trust that man that believeth not that God doth judge and punish § 87. 4. The Christian Religion doth encourage obedience and peace with the Promise of the Reward of endless happiness caeteris paribus Heaven is more than any Prince can give If that will not move men there is no greater thing to move them Atheism and Infidelity have no such motives § 88. 5. Christianity teacheth subjects to obey not only good Rulers but bad ones even Heathens themselves and not to resist when we cannot obey Whereas among Heathens Princes ruled no longer than they pleased the Souldiers or the people so that Lampridius marvelled that Heliogabalus was no sooner butchered but suffered to reign three years Mirum fortasse cuipiam videatur Constantine venerabilis quod haec clades quam retuli loco principum fuerit quidem propè trienio ita ut nemo inventus Cicero saith that every Good man was in his heart or as much as in him lay one that killed Caesar. fuerit qui istum à gubernaculis Romonanae majestatis abduceret cum Neroni Vitellio Caligulae caeterisque hujusmâ—di nunquam tyranniceda defuerit § 89. 6. Christianity and Godliness do not only restrain the outward acts but rule the very hearts and lay a charge upon the thoughts which the power of Princes cannot reach It forbiddeth to curse the King in our bed-chamber or to have a thought or desire of evil against him It quencheth the first sparks of disloyalty and disorder And the rule of the outward man followeth the ordering of the heart And therefore Atheism which leaveth the Heart free and open to all desires and designes of rebellion doth kindle that fire in the minds of men which Government cannot quench It corrupteth the fountain It breaketh the spring that should set all a going It poisoneth the heart of Common-wealths § 90. 7. Christianity and Godliness teach men Patience that it may not seem strange to them to bear the Cross and suffer injuries from high and low And therefore that Impatience which is 1 Pet. 4. 12. the beginning of all rebellion being repressed it stayeth the distemper from going any further § 91. 8. Christianity teacheth men self-denyal as a great part of their religion And when selfishness Luk. 14. 29 33. is mortified there is nothing left to be a principle of Rebellion against God or our superiors Selfishness is the very predominant principle of the ungodly It is only for themselves that they obey when they do obey No wonder therefore if the Author of Leviathan allow men to do any thing when the saving of themselves requireth it And so many selfish persons as there be in a Kingdom so many several Interests are first sought which for the most part stand cross to the Interests of others The Godly have all one common center They unite in God and therefore may be kept in concord For Gods will is a thing that may be fulfilled by all as well as one But the selfish and ungodly are every one his own Center and have no common center to unite in their interests being ordinarily cross and inconsistent § 92. 9. Christianity teacheth men by most effectual arguments so set light by the Riches and honours of the world and not to strive for superiority but to mind higher things and lay up our Ungebantur Reges non pet dominum sed qui caeteris crudeliores existerent paulo post ab unctoribus non pro veri examinatione trucidabantur aliis electis trucioribuâ— Gildas de exc Brit. treasure in a better world and to condescend to men of low degree It forbiddeth men to exalt themselves lest they be brought low and commandeth them to humble themselves that God may exalt them And he that knoweth not that Pride and Covetousness are the great disquieters of the world and the cause of contentions and the ruine of States knoweth nothing of these matters Therefore if it were but by the great urging of humility and heavenly mindedness and the strict condemning of Ambition and Earthly-mindedness Christianity and Godliness must needs be the greatest preservers of Government and of order peace and quietness in the World § 93. 10. Christianity teacheth men to live in the Love of God and man It maketh Love the very heart and life and sum and end of all other duties of Religion Faith it self is but the bellows to kindle in us the sacred flames of Love Love is the end of the Gospel and the fulfilling of the Law To Love all Saints with a special Love even with a pure heart and fervently and to Love all men heartily with a common love To love our Neighbour as our selves and to Love our very enemies this is the life which Christ requireth upon the penalty of damnation And if Love thus prevail what should disturb the Government peace or order of the world § 94. 11. Christianity teacheth men to be exact in Justice distributive and commutative and to do to others as we would they should do to us And where this is followed Kings and States will have little to molest them when Gens sine justitiâ est sine remige navis in undâ § 95. 12. Christianity teacheth men to do good to all men as far as we are able and to abound in good works as that for which we are Redeemed and new made And if men will set themselves wholly to do good and be hurtful and injurious to none how easie will it be to govern such § 96. 13. Christianity teacheth men to forbear and to forgive as ever they will be forgiven of Rom. 14 15. 1. God and the strong to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please themselves but one another to their edification Not to be censorious harsh or cruel nor to place the Kingdom of Gal. 6. 1 2 3 4. Jam â—3 15 16 17. Titus 3. 2. God in meats and drinks and dayes but in righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Ghost To bear one anothers burdens and to restore them with the Spirit of meekness that are overtaken in a fault and to be peaceable gentle easie to be intreated full of mercy and good
of Iesus of Nazareth which thing I also did c. And 1 Tim. 1. 13. that it was ignorantly in unbelief that he was a blaspheamer a persecutor and injurious And on the other side some Persâ—cute Truth and Goodness while they know it to be so Not because it is Truth or Goodness but because it is against their carnal worldly interest and inclination As the Conscience of a worldling a drunkard a whoremonger beareth witness against his sin while he goeth on in it so oft-times doth the Conscience of the Persâ—cutor and he hath secret convictions that those whom he persecuteth are better and happier than himself § 5. 3. As to the cause sometime persecution is for Christianity and Godliness in the gross or for some great essential point And sometimes it is only for some particular Truth or duty and that perhaps of a lower nature so small or so dark that it is become a great Controversie whether it be Truth or errour duty or sin In some respects it is more comfortable to the persecuted and more heynous in the persecutor that the suffering be for the Greatest things For this leaveth no doubt in the mind whether our cause be good or not and this sheweth that the persecutors mind is most aliene from God and truth But in some other respect it is an aggravation of the sin of the persecutor and of the comfort of the persecuted when it is for smaller truths and duties For it is a sign of great uncharitableness and cruelty when men can find in their hearts to persecute others for little things And it is a sign of a heart that is true to God and very sincere when we will rather suffer any thing from Man than renounce the smallest truth of God or commit the smallest sin against him or omit the smallest duty when it is a duty 4. Sometime persecution is directly for Religion that is for matters of professed Faith or Worship And sometimes it is for a civil or a common cause Yet still it is for our Obedience to God or else it is not the persecution which we speak of though the Matter of it be some common or civil thing As if I were persecuted meerly for giving to the poor or helping the sick or for being Loyal to my Prince and to the Laws or for doing my duty to my Parents or because I will not bear false-witness or tell a lye or subscribe a falshood or any such like This is truly persecution whatever the matter of it be as long as it is truly for Obeying God that we undergo the suffering § 6. I omit many other less considerable distributions And also those afflictions which are but improperly called persecutions as when a man is punished for a fault in a far greater measure than it deserveth this is Injustice but not persecution unless it be his Religion and Obedience to God which is the secret cause of it § 7. Direct 2. Understand well the greatness of the sin of Persecution that you may be kept in a Direct 2. due fear of being tempted to it Here therefore I shall shew you how Great a sin it is § 8. 1. Persecution is a fighting against God So it is called Act. 5. 39. And to fight against God is odious Malignity and desperate folly 1. It is Venemous malignity for a Creature to fight against his Creator and a sinner against his Redeemer who would save him and for so blind a worm to rise up against the wisdom of the All-knowing God! and for so vile a sinner to oppose the fountain of Love and Goodness 2. And what Folly can be greater than for a Mole to reproach the Sun for darkness or a lump of Earth to take up Arms against the Almighty terrible God Art thou able to make good thy cause against him or to stand before him when he is offended and chargeth thee with sin Hear a Pharisee Act. 6. 38 39. And now I say unto you refrain from these men and let them alone for if this counsel or this work be of men it will come to nought But if it be of God ye cannot overthrow it lest happily ye be found even to fight against God Or hear Christ himself Act. 9. 4 5. I am Iesus whom thou persecutest It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks with bare feet or hands to beat the thorns How unmeet a match is man for God! He needeth not so much as a word to take away thy soul and crush thee to the lowest Hell His will alone can lay thee under thy deserved pains Canst thou Conquer the Almighty God Wilt thou assault the Power which was never overcome or storm Jehovahs Throne or Kingdom First try to take down the Sun and Moon and Stars from the Firmament and to stop the course of the Rivers or of the Sea and to rebuke the Winds and turn night into day and Winter into Summer and decrepit Age into vigorous Youth Attempt not greater matters till thou hast performed these It is a greater matter than any of these to conquer God whose cause thou fightest against Hear him again Isa. 45. 9. Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker Let the potsherd strive with the Potsherds of the Earth Shall the Clay say to him that fashioneth it What makest thou Or thy work He hath no hands And Isa. 45. 9. who would set the bryars and thorns against me in battel I would go through them I would burn them together Wo to the man that is not content to fight with men but chooseth the most dreadful God to be his enemy It had been better for thee that all the World had been against thee § 9. 2. Persecution opposeth the gracious design of our Redeemer and hindereth his Gospel and work of mercy to the world and endeavoureth the ruine of his Kingdom upon earth Christ came to save men and persecutors raise up their power against him as if they envyed salvation to the World And if God have made the work of mans Redemption the most wonderful of all his works which ever he revealed to the sons of men you may easily conceive what thanks he will give them that resist him in so high and glorious a design If you could pull the Stars out of the Firmament or hinder the motions of the Heavens or deny the rain to the thirsty Earth you might look for as good a reward for this as for opposing the merciful Redeemer of the World in the blessed work of mans salvation § 10. 3. Persecution is a resisting or fighting against the Holy Ghost Act. 7. 51. saith Stephen to the Jews Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears ye do alwayes resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did so do ye If you silence the Ministers who are the means by which the spirit worketh in the illuminating and sanctifying of souls Act. 26. 17 18. or if you afflict men for those Holy duties which the
is in two cases viz. 1. If they commit such capital crimes as God and man would have punished with death its fit they dye and then they are silenced For in this case it is supposed that their lives by their impunity are like to do more hurt than good 2. If their Heresie insufficiency scandal or any fault what ever do make them more hurtful than profitable to the Church it is fit they be cast out If their Ministry be not like to do more good than their faults to do harm let them be silenced But if it be otherwise then let them be punished in their bodies or purses rather than the peoples souls should suffer The Laws have variety of penalties for other men Will none of those suffice for Ministers But alas What talk I of their faults Search all Church History and observe whether in all ages Ministers have not been silenced rather for their duties than their faults or for not subscribing to some unnecessary opinion or imposition of a prevailing party or about some wrangling controversies which Church disturbers set afoot There is many a poor Minister would work in Bridewell or be tyed to shovell the Streets all the rest of the Week if he might but have liberty to preach the Gospel And would not such a penalty be sufficient for a dissent in some unnecessary point As it is not every fault that a Magistrate is deposed for by the Soveraign but such as make him unfit for the place so is it also with the Ministers § 39. Direct 18. Malignity and Prophaneness must not be gratified or encouraged It must be considered Direct 18. how the carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to his Law nor can be Rom. 8. 7 â— Gen. 3. 15. And that enmity is put between the Womans and the Serpents seed and that the whole business of the world is but the prosecution of the War between the Armies of Christ and Satan And that malignity inclineth the ungodly world to slander and reproach the servants of the Lord and they are glad of any opportunity to make them odious or to exasperate Magistrates against them And that their silencing and fall is the joy of the ungodly And if there be any Civil differences or sidings the ungodly rabble will take that side be it right or wrong which they think will do most to the downfal of the godly whom they hate Therefore besides the merits of the particular cause a Ruler that regardeth the interest of the Gospel and mens salvation must have some care that the course which he taketh against godly Ministers and people when they displease him be such as doth not strengthen the hands of evil doers nor harden them increase them or make them glad I do not say that a Ruler must be against what ever the ungodly part is for or that he must be for that which the major part of godly men are for I know this is a deceitful rule But yet that which pleaseth the malignant rabble and displeaseth or hurteth the generality of godly men is so seldome pleasing to God that its much to be suspected § 40. Direct 19. The substance of faith and the Practice of Godliness must be valued above all opinions Direct 19. and parties and worldly interests And Godly men accounted as they are caeteris paribus the best members both of Church and State If Rulers once knew the difference between a Saint and a sensualist a vile person would be contemned in their eyes and they would honour them that fear the Lord Psal. 15. 4. And if they honoured them as God commandeth them they would not persecute them And if the promoting of practical Godliness were their design there were little danger of their oppressing those that must be the instruments of propagating it if ever it prosper in the World § 41. Direct 20. To this end Remember the neer and dear relation which every true believer standeth Direct 20. in to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost They are called by God his peculiar treasure his jewels Exod. 19. 5. 1 Pet. 2. 9. Tit. 2. 14. 2 Cor. 6. 16 17 18. Mal. 3. 17 18. â—â—h 3. 17. 1 Cor. 3. 16. 2 Tim. 1. 14. 1 Joh. 4 15 16. his Children the members of Christ the Temples of the Holy Ghost God dwelleth in them by Love and Christ by faith and the Spirit by all his sanctifying gifts If this were well believed men would more reverence them on Gods account than causelesly to persecute them Zech. 2. 8. He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of my eye § 42 Direct 21. Look not so much on mens infirmities as to overlook or make light of all that is good in them But look as much at the good as at the evil And then you will see reason for lenity as well as for severity and for love and tenderness rather than for hatred and persecution And you will discern that those may be serviceable to the Church in whom blinded malice can see nothing worthy of honour or respect § 43. Direct 22. Estimate and use all lesser matters as means to spiritual worship and practical holiness Direct 22. If there be any thing of worth in Controversies and Ceremonies and such other matters of inferiour rank it is as they are a means to the power of Godliness which is their end And if once they be no otherwise esteemed they will not be made use of against the interest of Godliness to the silencing of the Preachers and persecuting the professours of it § 44. Direct 23. Remember that the Understanding is not Free save only participative as it is Direct 23. subject to the will It acteth of it self per modum naturae and is necessitated by its object further than as it is under the power of the will A man cannot hold what opinion he would himself nor be against what he would not have to be true much less can he believe as another man commandeth him My understanding is not at my own command I cannot be of every mans belief that is uppermost Evidence and not force is the natural means to compell the mind even as Goodness and not force is the natural means to win mens Love It is as wise a thing to say Love me or I will kill thee as to say Believe me or I will kill thee § 45. Direct 24. Consider that it is essential to Religion to be above the authority of man unless as Direct 24. they subserve the authority of God He that worshippeth a God that is subject to any man must subject his Religion to that man But this is no Religion because it is no God whom he worshippeth But if the God whom I serve be above all men my Religion or service of him must needs be also above the will of men § 46. Direct 25. Consider that an obedient disposition towards Gods Laws and a tender Conscience
holy industry of all their lives Say not God can give more to you in a year than to others in twenty For it is a poor argument to prove that God hath done it because he can do it He can make you an Angel but that will not prove you one Prove your wisdome before you pretend to it and overvalue it not Heb. 5. 11 12 sheweth that it is Gods ordinary way to give men wisdom according to their time and means unless their own negligence deprive them of his blessing Direct 6. Study to keep up Christian Love and to keep it lively For Love is not censorious but Direct 6. is inclined to judge the best till evidence constrain you to the contrary Censoriousness is a Vermine which crawleth in the carkass of Christian Love when the life of it is gone Direct 7. Value all Gods graces in his servants And then you will see something to love them Direct 7. for when hypocrites can see nothing Make not too light of small degrees of grace and then your censure will not overlook them Direct 8. Remember the tenderness of Christ who condemneth not the weak nor casteth Infants Direct 8. out of his family nor the diseased out of his Hospital but dealeth with them in such gracious gentleness as beseemeth a tender-hearted Saviour He will not break the bruised reed He carryeth his Lambs in his arms and gently driveth those with young He taketh up the wounded man when the Priest and Levite pass him by And have you not need of the tenderness of Christ your selves as well as others Are you not afraid lest he should find greater faults in you than you find in others And condemn you as you condemn them Direct 9. Let the sense of the common corruption of the world and imperfection of the godly moderate Direct 9. your particular censures As Seneca saith To censure a man for that which is common to all men is in a sort to censure him for being a man which beseemeth not him that is a man himself Do you not know the frailty of the best and the common pravity of humane nature How few are there that must not have great allowance or else they will not pass for currant in the ballance Elias was a man subject to passions Ionah to pievishness Iob had his impatiency â—â—ul saith even of the Teachers of the primitive Church They all that were with him seek their own and not the things of Iesus Christ. What blots are charged on almost all the Churches and almost all the holy persons mentioned throughout all the Scriptures Learn then of Paul a better lesson than censoriousness Gal. 6. 1. Brethren if a man be overtaken in a fault ye which are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness considering thy self lest thou also be tempted Bear ye one anothers burdens and so fulfill the Law of Christ. Let every man prove his own work and then be shall have rejoycing in himself alone c. Direct 10. Remember that Iudgement is Gods prerogative further than as we are called to it for Direct 10. the performance of some duty either of Office or of private Charity or self-preservation And that the Judge is as at the door And that judging unmercifully maketh us lyable to judgement without mercy The foresight of that near universal Judgement which will pass the doom on us and all men will do much to cure us of our rash censoriousness Direct 11. Peruse and observe all the Directions in the last Chapter against evil-speaking and backbiting Direct 11. that I may not need to repeat them Especially avoid 1. The snare of selfishness and interest For most men judge of others principally by their own interest He is the good man that is good to them or is on their side that loveth and honoureth them and answereth their desires This is the common false judgement of the corrupted selfish world who vilifie and hate the best because they seem unsuitable to them and to their carnal interest Therefore take heed of your judgement about any man that you have any falling-out with For its two to one but you will wrong him through this selfishness 2. Avoid passion which blindeth the judgement 3. Avoid Faction which maketh you judge of all men as they agree or disagree with your opinions or your side and party 4. Avoid too hasty belief of censures and rebuke them 5. Hear every man speak for himself before you censure him if it be possible and the case be not notorious Direct 12. Keep still upon your mind a just and deep apprehension of the malignity of this sin of Direct 12. rash censuring It is of greatest consequence to the mortifying of any sin what apprehensions of it are upon the mind If religious persons apprehended the odiousness of this as much as they do of swearing drunkenness fornication c. they would as carefully avoid it Therefore I shall shew you the Malignity of this sin Tit. 3. The evil of the Sin of Censoriousness § 1. 1. IT is an usurpation of Gods Prerogative who is the Judge of all the world It is a stepping up into his Judgement Seat and undertaking his work as if you said I will be God as to this action And if he be called The Antichrist who usurpeth the Office of Christ to be the Universal Monarch and Head of the Church you may imagine what he doth who though but in one point doth set up himself in the place of God § 2. 2. They that usurp not Gods part in judging yet ordinarily usurp the part of the Magistrate or Pastors of the Church As when mistaken censorious Christians refuse to come to the Sacrament of Communion because many persons are there whom they judge to be ungodly what do they but usurp the Office of the Pastors of the Church To whom the Keys are committed for admission and exclusion And so are the appointed Judges of that case The duty of private members is but to admonish the offender first secretly and then before witnesses and to tell the Church if he repent not and humbly to tell the Pastors of their duty if they neglect it And when this is done they have discharged their part and must no more excommunicate men themselves than they must hang Thieves when the Magistrate doth neglect to hang them § 3. 3. Censoriousness signifieth the absence or decay of Love which inclineth men to think evil and judge the worst and aggravate infirmities and overlook or extenuate any good that is in others And there is least Grace where there is least Love § 4. 4. It sheweth also much want of self-acquaintance and such heart-employment as the sincerest Christians are taken up with And it sheweth much want of Christian humility and sense of your own infirmities and badness and much prevalency of Pride and self-conceitedneâ—s If you knew how ignorant you are you would not be so peremptory in
nature of Carnal-selfishness and it is no better § 4. 3. SELFISHNESSE is the corruption of all the faculties of the soul. It is the sin of the mind by self-conceitedness and pride It is the sin of the will and affections by self-love and all the selfish passions which attend it Selfish desires angers sorrows discontents jealousies fears audacities c. It is the corruption of all the inferiour faculties and the whole conversation by self-seeking and all the forementioned evils § 5. 4. Selfishness is the commonest sin in the world Every man is now born with it and hath it more or less And therefore every man should fear it § 6. 5. Selfishness is the hardest sin in the world to overcome In all the unregenerate it is predominant For nothing but the sanctifying Spirit of God can overcome it And in many thousands that seem very zealous in Religion and very mortified in all other respects yet in some way or other selfishness doth so lamentably appear yea and is so strong in many that are sincere that it is the greatest dishonour to the Church of Christ and hath tempted many to infidelity or to doubt whether there be any such thing as true sanctification in the world The persons that seemed the most mortified Saints if you do but cross them in their self-interest or opinion or will or seem to slight them and have a low esteem of them what swellings what heart-burnings what bitter censurings what proud impatience if not Schisms and separations will it cause God hath better servants but too many which seem to themselves and others to be the best are no better How then should every Christian abhor and watch against this Universal Evil § 7. Direct 2. Consider oft how amiable a creature man would be and what a blessed condition the Direct 2. world and all societies would be in if selfishness were but overcome There would then â—e no pride no covetousness no sensuality no tyranny or oppressing of the poor no malice cruelty or persecution no Church-divisions no scandals nothing to dishonour Religion or to hinder the saving progress of the Gospel no fraud or treacheries no over-reaching or abusing others no lying noâ— deceit no neglect of our duty to others In a word no injustice or uncharitableness in the world § 8. Direct 3. Iudge of good and evil by sober Reason and not by bruitish sense And then oft Direct 3. consider whether really there be not a more excellent end than your self ish interest Even the publick good of many and the pleasing and glorifying of God And whether all mediate good or evil should not be judged of principally by those highest ends Sense leadeth men to selfishness and privateness of design But true Reason leadeth men to prefer the publick or any thing that is better than our self-interest § 9. Direct 4. Nothing but returning by converting Grace to the true Love of God and of Man for Direct 4. his sake will conquer selfishness Make out therefore by earnest prayer for the Spirit of Sanctification And be sure that you have a true apprehension of the state of Grace that is that it is indeed The Love of God and Man Love is the fulfilling of the Law Therefore Love is the Holiness of the soul Set your whole study upon the exercise and increase of Love and selfishness will dye as Love reviveth § 10. Direct 5. Study much the self-denying example and precepts of your Saviour His life and Direct 5. doctrine are the liveliest representation of self-denyal that ever was given to the World Learn Christ and you will learn self-denyal He had no sinful selfishness to mortifie yet natural-self was so wonderfully denyed by him for his Fathers Will and our Salvation that no other Book or Teacher in the world will teach us this lesson so perfectly as he Follow him from the Manger or rather from the Womb to the Cross and Grave Behold him in his poverty and contempt enduring the contradiction and ingratitude of sinners and making himself of no reputation Behold him apprehended accused condemned crowned with thorns clothed in purple with a reed in his hand scourged and led away to execution bearing his Cross and hanged up among Thieves forsaken by his own Disciples and all the world and in part by him who is more than all the world And consider why all this was done For whom he did it and what lesson he purposed hereby to teach us Consider why he made it one half the condition of our salvation and so great a part of the Christian Religion to Deny our selves and take up our Cross and follow him and will have no other to be his Disciples Luke 14. 26 31 33. Were a Crucified Christ more of our daily study and did we make it our Religion to learn and follow his holy example self-denyal would be better known and practised and Christianity would appear as it is and not as it is misunderstood adulterated and abused in the world But because I have long ago written a Treatise of Self-denyal I shall add no more CHAP. XXVII Cases and Directions for Loving our Neighbour as our selves Tit. 1. Cases of Conscience about Loving our Neighbour Quest. 1. IN what sense is it that I must love my neighbour as my self Whether in the kind of Quest. 1. love or in the degree or only in the reality Answ. The true meaning of the Text is You must love him according to his true worth without the diversion and hinderance of selfishness and partiality As you must love your self according to that degree of Goodness which is in you and no more so must you as impartially love your neighbour according to that degree of Goodness which is in him So that it truly extendeth to the reality the kind and the degree of love supposing it in both proportioned to the goodness of the object But before this can be understood the true nature of Love must be well understood Quest. 2. What is the true Nature of Love both as to my self and neighbour Quest. 2. Answ. Love is nothing but the prime motion of the Will to its proper object which is called Complacence The object of it is simple Goodness or Good as such It ariseth from suitableness between the Object and the Will as appetite doth from the suitableness of the appetent faculty and the food This GOOD as it is variously modified or any way differeth doth accordingly cause or require a difference in our Love Therefore that Love which in its prime act and nature is but one is diversly denominated as its objects are diversified To an object as simply Good in it self it followeth the Understandings Estimation and is called as I said meer Complacence or Adhesion To an Object as not yet attained but absent or distant and attainable it is called Desire or Desiring Love And as expected Hope or Hoping Love which is a conjunction of Desire
visit or relieve them Tit. 2. Directions for Loving the Children of God Direct 1. ONce get the Love of God and you cannot choose but love his Children Therefore first set Direct 1. your hearts to that and study the Directions for it Tom. 1. God must be first loved as God before the Godly can be loved as such Though perhaps this effect may sometime be more manifest than the cause Fortifie the cause and the effect will follow Direct 2. Get Christ to dwell in your hearts by faith Eph. 3. 17. and then you will love his members Direct 2. for his sake The study of the love of God in Christ and the belief of all the benefits of his love and sufferings will be the bellows continually to kindle your love to your Redeemer and to all those that are like him and beloved by him Direct 3. Cherish the motions of Gods spirit in your selves For he is a spirit of Love And it is Direct 3. the same spirit which is in all the Saints Therefore the more you have of the spirit the more Unity and the more Love you will have to all that are truly spiritual The decays of your own holiness containeth a decay of your love to the holy Direct 4. Observe their Graces more than their infirmities You cannot love them unless you take Direct 4. notice of that goodness which is their loveliness Overlooking and extenuating the good that is in others doth shew your want of love to goodness and then no wonder if you want love to those that are good Direct 5. Be not tempters and provokers of them to any sin For that is but to stir up the worser Direct 5. part which is in them and to make it more apparent and so to hide their amiableness and hinder your own love They that will be abusing them and stirring up their passions or oppressing wise men to try if they can make them mad or increasing their burdens and persecutions to see whether there be any impatiency left in them are but like the Horseman who was still spurring his Horse and then sold him because he was skittish and unquiet or like the Gentleman that must needs come as a Suitor to a beautiful Lady just when she had taken a Vomit and Purge and then disdained her as being unsavoury and lothsome Direct 6. Stir up their Graces and converse much with them in the exercises of grace If Aristotle Direct 6. or Socrates Demosthenes or Cicero stood silent by you among other persons you will perceive no difference between them and a fool or a vulgar wit But when once they open their lips and pour out the streams of wisdom and eloquence you will quickly perceive how far they excell the common world and will admire love and honour them So when you converse with Godly men about matters of trading or common employments only you will see no more but their blamelesness and justice But if you will joyn with them in holy Conference or Prayer or observe them in good works you will see that the spirit of Christ is in them When you hear the longings of their souls after God and their Heavenly desires and hopes and joys and their love to piety charity and justice express themselves in their holy discourse and prayers and see the fruits of them in their lives you will see that they are more than common men Direct 7. Foresee the perfection of their Graces in their beginnings No man will Love a seed or Direct 7. stock of those plants or trees which bear the sweetest and most beautiful flowers and fruits unless in the seed he foresee the fruit or flower which it tendeth to No man loveth the egg aright who doth not foreknow what a â—iâ—d it will bring forth Aristotle or Cicero were no more amiable in their infancy than others except to him that could foretell what men they were like to prove Think oft of Heaven and what a thing a Saint will be in Glory when he shall shine as the Stars and be equal to the Angels and then you will quickly see cause to love them Direct 8. Frequently think of the Everlasting union and sweet agreement which you must have with Direct 8. them in Heaven for ever How perfectly you will love each other in the Love of God How joyfully you will consent in the Love and Praises of your Creator and Redeemer The more believingly you foresee that state and the more you contemplate thereon and the more your Conversation is in Heaven the more will you love your fellow Souldiers and Travellers with whom you must live in blessedness for ever Tit. 3. Motives or Meditative helps to love the Godly Mot. 1. COnsider what Relation all the Regenerate have to God They are not only his Creatures Motive 1. but his Adopted Children And are they not honourable and amiable who Gal. 4. 6. are so near to God Mot. 2. Think of their near Relation to Jesus Christ They are his Members and his Brethren Motive 2. and the purchase of his sufferings and coheirs of everlasting life Rom. 8. 16 17. Ephes. 5. 26 27. Mot. 3. Think of the excellency of that spirit and holy Nature which is in them Regeneration Motive 3. hath made them partakers of the Divine nature and hath indued them with the spirit of Christ and hath by the incorruptible seed made them new Creatures of a Holy and Heavenly mind and life and hath renewed them after the Image of God And what besides God himself can be so amiable as his Image Mot. 4. Think of the precious price which was paid for their Redemption If you will estimate Motive 4. things by their price if the purchaser be wise how highly must you value them Mot. 5. Remember how dearly they are beloved of God their Creator and Redeemer Read and Motive 5. observe Gods tender language towards them and his tender dealings with them He calleth them his Children his beloved yea dearly-beloved his jewels the apple of his eye Deut. 33. 12. Psal. 60. 5. 127. 2. Col. 3. 12. Ier. 12. 7. Mal. 3. 17. Zech. 2. 8. Deut. 32. 10. Christ calleth the least of them his Brethren Matth. 25. Judge of his love to them by his incarnation life and sufferings Judge of it by that one heart melting message after his resurrection Joh. 20. 17. Go to my brethren and say unto them I ascend to my Father and your Father to my God and your God And should we not love them dearly who are so dearly beloved of God Mot. 6. They are our Brethren begotten by the same father and Spirit of the same holy seed the word Motive 6. of God and have the same nature and disposition And this Unity of nature and neerness of relation is such a suitableness as must needs cause love Mot. 7. They are our companions in labour and tribulation in our duty and sufferings They
Motive 7. are our fellow Souldiers and Travellers with whom only we can have sweet and holy converse and a Heavenly conversation when the carnal favour not the things of God Mot. 8. Consider how serviceable their graces render them for the pleasing of God and the good of Motive 8. men They are the work of God created to good works Ephes. 2. 10. They are fitted by grace to Love and praise their Maker and Redeemer and to obey his Laws and to honour him in their works as shining lights in a dark generation They are the blessings of the place where God hath planted them They pray for sinners and exhort them and give them good examples and call them from their sins and lovingly draw them on to conversion and salvation For their sakes God useth others the better where they live Ten righteous persons might have saved Sodom They are lovely therefore for the service which they do Mot. 9. All their graces will be shortly perfected and all their infirmities done away They are Motive 9. already pardoned and justified by Christ and every remaining spot and wrinkle will be shortly taken away Ephes. 5 26 27. and they shall be presented perfect unto God And they that shall be so perfect then are amiable now Mot. 10. They shall see the Glory of God and live for ever in his presence They shall be employed Motive 10. in his perfect Love and praise and we shall be their companions therein And those that must sing Halleluja's to God in perfect amity and concord in such an harmonious blessed chore should live in great endearedness in the way Tit. 4. The Hinderances and Enemies of Christian love Enemy 1. THE first Enemy of Christian Love is the inward unregeneracy and carnality of the mind Enemy 1. For the carnal mind is enmity to God and neither is nor can be subject to his law Rom. 8. 6 7. And therefore it is at enmity with Holiness and with those that are seriously holy The excellency of a Christian is seen only by faith believing what God speaketh of them and by spiritual discerning of their spiritual worth But the natural man discerneth not the things of the spirit but they are as foolishness to him because they must be spiritually discerned 1 Cor. 2. 14. There must be a suitableness of nature before there can be true love And he that will love them as holy must first love holiness himself Enemy 2. Another Enemy to Christian Love is selfishness or inordinate self-love For this will Enemy 2. make men love no one heartily but as they serve or love or honour them and according to the measures of their self ish interest If a Godly man will not flatter such persons and serve their proud or covetous humours they cannot love him A selfish person maketh so great a matter of every infirmity which crosseth his interest or every mistake which crosseth his opinon or every little injury that his done him that he cryeth out presently O what wicked and unconscionable people are these What hypocrites are they Is this their Religion Is this justice or charity All virtues and vices are estimated by them according to their own ends and interests chiefly They can think better of a common Whoremonger or Swearer or Atheist or Infidel that loveth and honoureth and serveth them than of the most holy and upright servant of God who thinketh meanly or hardly of them and standeth in their way and seemeth to be against their interest It is no commendations to him in this mans account that he loveth God and all that are godly if he seem to injure or cross a selfish man A carnal self-lover can love none but himself and for himself and maketh all faults which are against himself to be the characters of an odious person rather than those which are committed against God Enemy 3. Christian love is often diminished and marred by Degenerating into a Carnal sort of Enemy 3. Love through the prevalency of some Carnal Vice Thus they that loved a man for Godliness turn it into a selfish love for some honour or favour or benefits to themselves And young persons of different Sexes begin to love each other for piety and by undiscreet and unwary and sinful familiars are drawn before they are aware to carnal fond and sinful love And these persons think that their holy love is stronger than before when as it is stifled consuming and languishing as natural heat by a burning Feavor and is overcome and turned into another thing Enemy 4. Passion and Impatiency is a great enemy to Christian Love It is stirring up displeasing Enemy 4. words and carriage and then cannot bear them It meeteth every where with matter of displeasure and offence and is still casting water on this sacred fire and feigning or finding faults in all Enemy 5. Self-ignorance and partiality is a great enemy to love when it maketh men overlook Enemy 5. their own corruptions and extenuate all those faults in themselves which in others they take for heinous crimes And so they want that compassion to others which would bear with infirmities because they know not how bad they are themselves and what need they have of the forbearance of others Enemy 6. Censoriousness is an enemy to brotherly love as is aforesaid A censorious person will Enemy 6. tell you how dearly he loveth all the godly But he can allow so few the acknowledgement of their godliness that few are beholden to him for his love His sinful humour blindeth his mind that he cannot see anothers godliness He will love them for their sincerity when he can see it but that will not be till he hath better eyes Timon was a great lover of wisdom but a hater of all men because he took no man to be wise Enemy 7. Faction and Parties or siding in Religion is one of the greatest enemies of Christian Enemy 7. love For this causeth Censoriousness and maketh men so overvalue the Opinions which they have chosen and the interest of their party that they hardly see goodness in any that are not of their mind and quickly find faults or devise them in those that are against them Enemy 8. Conversing with malicious wicked or censorious persons is a great hinderance of the love Enemy 8. of godly men For he that heareth them daily slandered and represented as brainsick seditious self-conceited humorous hypocritical people will easily take them as odious but hardly as amiable unless he come nearer them and know them better than by a lyars words Enemy 9. Too high expectations is a great enemy to love When men either look that Saints on Enemy 9. earth should be like Saints in Heaven who have no infirmity or look for greater parts of nature or art ingenuity or excellency of speech than is in other persons or when selfishness and covetousness or pride doth make men look for great respect and
upon Justification c. which I have seen de nomine and neither of them seemed to take notice of it Be sure as soon as you peruse the terms of your question to sift this throughly and dispute verbal controversies but as verbal and not as real and material We have real differences enow we need not make them seem more by such a blind or heedless manner of Disputing § 22. Direct 11. Suffer not a rambling mind in study nor a rambling talker in Disputes to interrupt Direct 11. your orderly procedure and divert you from your argument before you bring it to the natural issue Both deceiving Sophisters and giddy headed praters will be violent to start another game and spoil the chase of the point before you But hold them to it or take them to be unworthy to be disputed with and let them go except it be where the weakness of the Auditors requireth you to follow them in their Wild-goose Chase. You do but lose time in such rambling studies or disputes § 23. Direct 12. Be caâ—telous of admitting false suppositions or at least of admitting any inference Direct 12. that dependeth upon them In some cases a supposition of that which is false may be made while it no way tends to infer the truth of it But nothing must be built upon that falshood as intimating it to be a truth False suppositions cunningly and secretly workt into arguments are very ordinary instruments of deceit § 24. Direct 13. Plead not uncertainties against certainties But make certain points the measure Direct 13. to try the uncertain by Reduce not things proved and sure to those that are doubtful and justly controverted But reduce points disputable to those that are past doubt § 25. Direct 14. Plead not the darker Texts of Scripture against those that are more plain Direct 14. and clear nor a few texts against many that are as plain For that which is interpreted against the most plain and frequent expressions of the same Scripture is certainly mis-interpreted § 26. Direct 15. Take not obscure Prophecies for Precepts The obscurity is enough to make Direct 15. you cautelous how you venture your self in the Practice of that which you understand not But if there were no obscurity yet Prophecies are no warrant to you to fulfill them no though they be for the Churches good Predictions tell you but de eventu what will come to pass but warrant not you to bring it to pass Gods Prophesies are oft-times fulfilled by the wickedest men and the wickedest means As by the Jews in killing Christ and Pharaoh in refusing to let Israel go and Iehu in punishing the house of Ahab Yet many self-conceited persons think that they can fetch that out of the Revelations or the Prophecies of Daniel that will justifie very horrid crimes while they use wicked means to fulfil Gods Prophecies § 27. Direct 16. Be very cautelous in what cases you take mens practice or example to be instead of Direct 16. precept in the sacred Scriptures In one case a Practice or example is obligatory to us as a Precept and that is when God doth give men a commission to establish the form or orders of his Church and Worship as he did to Moses and to the Apostles and promiseth them his Spirit to lead them into all truth in the matters which he employeth them in here God is engaged to keep them from miscarrying for if they should his work would be ill done his Church would be ill constituted and framed and his servants unavoidably deceived The Apostles were authorized to constitute Church officers and orders for continuance and the Scripture which is written for a great part historically acquaints us what they did as well as what they said and wrote in the building of the Church in obedience to their commission at least in declaring to the World what Christ had first appointed And thus if their practice were not obligatory to us their words also might be avoided by the same pretenses And on this ground at least the Lords day is easily proved to be of Divine appointment and obligation Only we must see that we carefully distinguish between both the Words and Practices of the Apostles which were upon a particular and temporary occasion and obligation from those that were upon an universal or permanent ground § 28. Direct 17. Be very cautelous what Conclusions you raise from any meer works of Providence Direct 17. For the bold and blind exposition of these hath lead abundance into most heynous sins No providence is instead of a Law to us But sometimes and oft-times providence changeth the Matter of our duty and so occasioneth the change of our obligations As when the husband dyeth the Wise is disobliged c. But men of worldly dispositions do so over-value worldly things that from them they venture to take the measure of Gods Love and hatred and of the causes which he approveth or disapproveth in the World And the wisdom of God doth seem on purpose to cause such wonderful unexpected mutations in the affairs of men as shall shame the principles or spirits of these men and manifest their giddiness and mutability to their confusion One year they say This is sure the cause of God or else be would never own as he doth Another year they say If this had been Gods cause he would never have so disowned it Just as the Barbarians judged of Paul when the Viper seized on his hand And thus God is judged by them to own or disown by his prospering or afflicting more than by his Word § 29. Direct 18. In controversies which much depend on the sincerity or experience of Godly men take Direct 18. heed that you affect not singularity and depart not from the common sense of the Godly For the workings of Gods spirit are better judged of by the ordinary tenour of them than by some real or supposed case that is extraordinary § 30. Direct 19. In Controversies which most depend on the testimony of Antiquity depart not from Direct 19. the judgement of the ancients They that stood within View of the dayes of the Apostles could better tell what they did and what a condition they left the Churches in than we can do To appeal to the Ancients in every cause even in those where the later Christians do excell them is but to be fools in reverence of our fore-fathers wisdom But in points of History or any thing in which they had the advantage of their posterity their testimony is to be preferred § 31. Direct 20. In Controversies which depend on the Experience of particular Christians or of the Direct 20. Church regard most the judgement of the most experienced and prefer the judgement of the later ages of the Church before the judgement of less experienced ages except the Apostolical age that had the greater help of the spirit An ancient experienced Christian or Divine is
more to be regarded in many points which require experience than many of the younger sort that are yet more zealous and of quicker understanding and expression than the elder So those that we call the Fathers or Ancients were indeed in the younger ages of the Church and we that are faln into the later and more exprienced age have all the helps of the wisdom and experience of the Ages that were before us And therefore God will require at our hands an account of these greater talents which we have received As it were unexcusable now in a Physicion that hath the help of such Voluminous institutions observations and experiments of former ages to know no more than those former times that had no such helps so would it be as unexcusable for this present age of the Church to be no wiser than those former ages When Aquinas Scotus Ariminensis and other Schoolmen delivered the Doctrine of Christianity to the Church in a dress so far different from Ignatius Irenaeus Tertullian Cyprian or any of those former ages they certainly thought that they had attained to a far greater excellency and accurateness in the Knowledge of Divinity than those their Ancestors had attained And whatever they swear in the Trent Oâ—th of not expounding any Scripture otherwise than the Fathers do I doubt not but Suarez and Vasquez and others of their modern Schoolmen thought so too and would have been loth to be accounted wise in the measure only of those ancients The later and elder ages of the Church have had abundant experience e. g. of the tendâ—ncy of Ambition and Papal aspirings and usurpations of the mischiefs of composing and imposing the Popish Missals and numerous ceremonies and of their implicite faith and their concealment of the Scriptures from the Vulgar and many such points And if we are never the wiser for all this experience we are the more unexcusable and may be judged as the neglâ—cters of our greater helps § 32. Direct 21. In Controversies which depend most upon skill in the Languages Philosophy or other Direct 21. parts of common learning prefer the judgement of a few that are the most Learned in those matters before the judgement of the most ancient or the most Godly or of the greatest numbers even whole Churches that are unlearned In this case neither Numbers nor Antiquity nor Godliness will serve turn but as one clear eye will see further then ten thousand that are purblind so one Hierome or Origen may judge better of a translation or the Grammatical sense of a Text than a hundred of the other Fathers could One man that understandeth a Language is fitter to judge of it than a whole Nation that understand it not One Philosopher is fitter to judge of a philosophical question than a thousand illiterate persons Every man is most to be regarded in the matters which he is best acquainted with § 33. Direct 22. In Controversies of great difficulty where Divines themselves are disagreed and a Direct 22. clear and piercing wit is necessary regard more the judgement of a few acute judicious well studied Divines that are well verst in those Controversies than of a multitude of dull and common wits that think to carry it by the reputation of their number It is too certainly attested by experience that Judicious Satis triumphâ—t Vâ—ritas si apud paucos bonosque accepta nec indoles ejus est placere multis Lipsius men are very few and that the multitude of the injudicious that have not wit enough to underderstand them nor humility enough to confess it and to learn of them have yet pride and arrogoncy enough to contradict them and often malice enough to vilifie them In such differences it is not only a sign of a wise man to be content with the approbation of a few but also to have but few approvers except where the injudicious do implicitly believe those few that are judicious Commonly a very few that are wiser than the multitude are fain to stand by and compassionate not only the World but the Church and see the disease and the easie remedy and all in vain while they are but neglected or despised by the rest that will not be made wiser by them § 34. Direct 23. In all contentions hold close to that which all sides are agreed in There is so Direct 23. much agreed on even between the Papists and the Protestants as would certainly save them all if all of them did sincerely believe Love and Practise it For they all confess that the whole Canonical Scripture is true Therefore be more studious sincerely to hold and improve those common truths which they all profess than to oppose the particular opinions of any further than that common truth requireth it See that the Articles of the common Creed which all profess be unfeignedly believed by you and that the Petitions in the Lords Prayer be sincerâ—ly and earnestly put up to God and that the ten Commandments be heartily and entirely obeyed and then no errour or difference will be damning to you § 35. Direct 24. Take nothing as necessary to salvation in point of faith nor as universally necessary Direct 24. in point of practice which the universal Church in every age since Christ did not receive For if any thing be necessary to salvation which the Church received not in every age then the Church it self of that age could not be saved and then the Church was indeed no Church For Christ is the Saviour of his body But certainly Christ had in every age a Church of saved-ones who openly professed all that was of common necessity to salvation An opinion may be true which accuseth the generality in the Church of some errour or imperfection For it is most certain that the Church on Earth is composed of none that have the use of reason but erring and imperfect members But no opinion can be true that condemneth all the Church to Hell in any one age For the Head and Husband of the Church must be her Judge § 36. Direct 25. Be not born down by the censoriousness of any to overrun your own understanding Direct 25. and the truth and to comply with them in their errours and extreams But hold to the truth Thus Peter and Barâ—abas erred Gal. 2. and keep your station Jer. 15. 19. Let them return unto thee but return not thou unto them It is too usual for the younger and more injudicious sort of Christians to be most zealous about some little Opinions Ceremonies and Words and to censure all those that differ from them with such bitter censures as ungodly flashearted c. that hereupon some of the more judicious forsake the truth and simplicity of the Gospel to comply with these censurers meerly to escape them or as some say that they may keep an interest in them to do them good But such carnal compliances though with the most zealous men will bring
or in some other Covenant or in no Covenant If they be under no Covenant or promise or under some other promise or Covenant only and not the same they are not to be Baptized For Baptism is a mutual Covenanting where the Minister by Christs Commission in his name acteth his part and the believer his own and his Infants part And God hath but one Covenant which is to be made sealed and delivered in baptism Baptism is not an equivocal word so as to signifie divers Covenants of God Obj. But the same Covenant of God hath divers sorts of benefits The special God giveth to the sincere and the Common to the common and hypocritical receiver Answ. 1. God indeed requireth the Minister to take Profession for the Visible Church-title And so it being the Ministers duty so far to believe a lyar and to Receive dissemblers wh 〈…〉 had no right to lay that claim you may say that God indirectly and improperly giveth them Church-priviledges But properly that is by his promise or Covenant-deed of gift he giveth them nothing at all For his Covenant is one and undivided in its action though it give several benefits and Though Providence may give one and not another yet the Covenant giveth all or none God saith that Godliness hath the promise of this life and of that to come but he never said that I know of To the bypocrite or unsound Act. 2. 39. Gal. 3 22 29. 1 Tim. 4. 8. Eph. 2. 12. 2 Tim. 1. 1. Heb. 4. 1. 6. 17. 9. 15. 10. 36. 8. 6. 2 Pet. 1. 4 5. Act. 2. 38. Act. 26. 18. Luk. 24. 47. believer I promise or give right to common mercies 2. But suppose it were otherwise yet either the Children of true believers have the true Condition of Right to the special blessings of the Covenant or they have not the condition of any at all For there can no more be required of an Infant as to any special blessings of the Covenant than that he be the Child of believing Parents and by them Dedicated to God Either this condition entitleth them to all the Covenant promises which the adult believer is entitled to as far as their natures are capable or it entitleth them to none at all Nor are they to be baptized For God hath in Scripture instituted but one baptism to profess one faith And that one is ever for the remission of sins He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved Mark 16. 16. 3. Or if all the rest were granted you yet it would follow that all Infants in the World even of true believers are left out of Gods Covenant of Grace that is the Covenant or promise of pardon of life and are only taken in to the Covenant of Church-priviledges And so 1. You will make two Covenants which you denyed and not only two sorts of benefits of one Covenant 2. And two species of Baptism while all Infants in the World are only under a Covenant of outward priviledges and have no baptism but the seal of that Covenant while believers have the Covenant promise and seal of pardon and life 2. And this is my second Reason Because then we have no promise or certainty or ground of faith for the pardon and salvation of any individual Infants in the World And so Parents are left to little comfort for their Children And if there be no promise there is no faith of it nor no Baptism to seal it and so we still make Antipaedobaptism unavoidable For who dare set Gods seal to such as have no promise Or pretend to Invest any in a neer and saving Relation to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost which is the very nature of Baptism when God hath given no such commission Obj. Yes Baptism and the Covenant of special promises are for all the Elect though we know not who they are Answ. 1. I deny not Gods Eternal antecedent Election But I deny that the Scripture ever mentioneth his pardoning or Glorifying any upon the account of Election only without certain spiritual conditions which may be given as the reason of the difference in judgement God may freely give the Gospel to whom he will and also faith or the first grace by the Gospel without any previous condition in man but according to his free Election only But he giveth pardon and Heaven as a Rector by his equal Laws and judgement and alwayes rendereth a reason of the difference from the qualifications of man 2. And if this were as you say it would still overthrow Infant baptism For either we must baptize all indifferently or none or else know how to make a difference All must not be baptized indifferently And Election is a secret thing to us and by it no Minister in the World can tell whom to baptize Therefore he must baptize none if there be no other differencing note to know them by Obj. God hath more elect ones among the Infants of true believers than among others And therefore they are all to be baptized Answ. 1. It will be hard to prove that much that he hath more if there be no promise to them all as such 2. If he have more yet no man knoweth how many and whether the Elect be one of ten twenty forty or an hundred in comparison of the non-elect For Scripture tells it not So that no Minister of a Church is sure that any one Infant that he ever baptized is elect 3. And God hath given no such rule for sealing and delivering his Covenant with the benefits as to cast it hap hazard among all because it is possible or probable it may belong to some Object You have no certainty what adult professor is sincere nor to which of them the special benefits belong no not of any one in a Church And yet because that there is a probability that among many there are some sincere you baptize them all Take then the birth priviledge but as equal to the profession of the adult Answ. This partly satisfied me sometimes But I cannot forget that A visible false or hypocritical profession is not the condition of Gods own Covenant of Grace nor that which he requireth in us to make us partakers of his Covenant-benefits Nay he never at all commandeth it but only commandeth that profession of Consent which followeth the real consent of the heart He that Rom. 10. 9. Acts 8. 37. condemneth lying maketh it neither the condition of our Church-membership as his gift by promise nor yet our duty And mark well that it is a Professed Consent to the whole Covenant that God requireth as the condition of our true right to any part or benefit of it He that shall only say I consent to be a visible Church-member doth thereby acquire no right to that membership no not in foro Ecclesiae But he must also profess that he consenteth to have God for his God and Christ for his Lord and Saviour and the Holy
Spirit for his Sanctifier So that he must be a lyar or a sound believer that maketh this profession But for an Infant to be born of true believers and sincerely by them dedicated in Covenant to God is all the Condition that ever God required to an Infant-title to his Covenant And it is not the failure of the true Condition as a false profession is Indeed if the proportion were thus laid it would hold good As we know not who sincerely covenanteth for himself and yet must baptize all that soberly profess it so we know not who doth sincerely Covenant for his Infant and yet we must baptize all whom the Parents bring with such a profession for themselves and them But if the sincere dedication of a sound believer shall be accounted but equal to the lying profession of the adult which is neither commanded nor hath any promise then Infants are not in the Covenant of Grace nor is their sincerest dedication to God either commanded or hath any promise If I were but sure that the profession of the Adult for himself were sincere I were sure that he were in a state of Grace And if I am not sure of the same concerning the Parents dedication of his Infant I must conclude that this is not a condition of the same Covenant and therefore that he is not in the same Covenant or Conditional promise of God unless there be some other Condition required in him or for him But there is no other that can be devised Object Election is the Condition Answ. Election is Gods act and not mans and therefore may be an Antecedent but no Condition required of us And man is not called to make Profession that he is Elected as he is to make profession of his faith and consent to the Covenant And God only knoweth who are his by Election and therefore God only can baptize on this account And what is the probability which the objectors mean that many of the Infants of the faithful are elected Either it is a promise or but a prediction If no promise it is not to be sealed by baptism If a promise it is absolute oâ— conditional If any absolute promise As I will save many children of believers 1. This terminateth not on any singular person as baptism doth and 2. It is not the absolute promise that baptism is appointed by Christ to seal This is apparent in Mark 16. 16. and in the case of the adult And it is not one Covenant which is sealed to the adult by baptism and another to infants Else baptism also should not be the same But if it be any conditional Covenant what is it and what is the condition And what is it that baptism giveth to the seed of believers if they be not justified by it from original sin You will not say that it conveyeth Inherent sanctifying Grace no not into all the Elect themselves which many are many years after without And you cannot say that it sealeth to them any promise so much as of visible Church-priviledges For God may suffer them presently to be made Ianizaries and violently taken from their Parents and become strangers and despisers of Church-priviledges as is ordinary with the Greeks Children among the Turks Now God either promised such Church-priviledges absolutely or conditionally or not at all Not absolutely for then they would possess them If conditionally what is the Condition If not at all what promise then doth baptism seal to such and what benefit doth it secure God hath instituted no baptism which is a meer present delivery of possession of a Church-state without sealing any Promise at all True baptism first sealeth the promise and then delivereth possession of some benefits Yea indeed outward Church-priviledges are such uncertain blessings of the promise that as they Matth. 6. 33. Rom. 8. 28 32 c. are but secondary so they are but secondarily given and sealed so that no man should ever be baptized if these were all that were in the promise The holiest person may be cast into a Wilderness and deprived of all visible Church-communion And doth God then Break his promise with him Certainly no It is therefore our saving Relations to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost which the promise giveth and baptism sealeth and other things but subordinately and uncertainly as they are means to these So then its plain that believers Infants have a promise of salvation or no promise at all which baptism was instituted to seal I have said so much more of this in my Appendix to the Treatise of Infant Baptism to Mr. Bedford in defence of Dr. Davenants judgement as that I must refer the Reader thither 8. I think it very probable that this ascertaining promise belongeth not only to the natural seed of believers but to all whom they have a true power and right to dedicate in Covenant to God which seemeth to be all that are properly their Own whether Adopted or bought But there is more darkness and doubt about this than the former because the Scripture hath said less of it 9. I am not able to prove nor see any probable reason for it that any but sound believers have such a promise for their children nor that any hypocrite shall certainly save his child if he do but dedicate him to God in baptism For 1. I find no promise in Scripture made to such 2. He that doth not sincerely believe himself nor consent to Gods Covenant cannot sincerely believe for his child nor consent for him 3. And that faith which will not save the owner as being not the condition of the promise cannot save another Much more might be said of this I confess that the Church is to receive the children of hypocrites as well as themselves And their baptism is valid in foro externo Ecclesiae and is not to be reiterated But it goeth no further for his child than for himself 10. Therefore I think that all that are Rightfully baptized by the Minister that is baptized so as that it s well done of him are not certainly saved by baptism unless they be also rightfully baptized in regard of their right to claim and receive it Let them that are able to prove more do it for I am not able 11. Whereas some mis-interpret the words of the old Rubrick of Confirmation in the English Liturgy as if it spake of all that are baptized whether they had Right or not the words themselves may serve to rectifie that mistake And that no man shall think any detriment shall come to children by deferring of their Confirmation he shall know for truth that it is certain by Gods Word that children being baptized have all things necessary for their salvation and be undoubtedly saved Where it is plain that they mean they have all things necessary ex parte Ecclesiae or all Gods applying Ordinances necessary though they should dye unconfirmed supposing that they have all things necessary to just baptism on their
own And the truth is after all later discoveries there is yet so much errour darkness uncertainty and confusion in the Philosophy of every pretending sect the Peripateticks the Stoicks the Pythagoreans and Platonists much more the Epicureans the Lullianists the Cartesians Act. 17. 18 19 c. Eph. 4. 18 19. Hos. 4. 1. 6. 6. Psal. 119. 99. 2 Pet. 3. 18. 2 Pet. 1. 3 5 8. â—ol 2. 3. 3. 10. Phil. 3. 8. Eph. 3. 19. Eph. 1. 17. Rom. 1. 20 21 28. Eccl. 1. 16 17 18. 1 Cor. 8. 1 11. 1 Cor. 13. 2 3 4. Rom. 2. 20. Jâ—m 3. 13 14 17. Jer. 4. 22. 1 Cor. 8. 2. Telesius Campanella Patricius Gassendus c. that it is a wonder that any that ever throughly tryed them can be so weak as to glory much of the certainties and methods of any which hitherto are so palpably uncertain and full of certain errours We may therefore make use of all true humane learning Real and Organical And he is the happy Scholar who fasteneth upon the CERTAIN and the USEFUL parts well distinguished from the rest and truly useth them to their great and proper ends But niceties and fooleries which some spend their lives in for meer ostentation and also uncertain presumptions should be much neglected And the great certain necessary saving Verities of Morality and the Gospel must be dearly loved and thankfully imbraced and studiously learned and faithfully practised by all that would prove wise men at last Quest. 159. If we think that Scripture and the Law of Nature do in any point contradict each others which may be the standard by which the other must be tryed Answ. IT is certain that they never do contradict each other 2. The Law of Nature is either that which is very clear by Natural evidence or that which is dark as degrees of Consanguinity unfit for Marriage the evil of officious lies c. 3. The Scriptures also have their plain and their obscurer parts 4. A dark Scripture is not to be expounded contrary to a plain natural 1 Cor. 5. 1 2. Verity 5. A dark and doubtful point in Nature is not to be expounded contrary to a plain and certain Scripture 6. To suppose that there be an apparent contradiction in cases of equal clearness or doubtfulness is a case not to be supposed But he that should have such a dream must do as he would do if he thought two Texts to be contradictory that is he must better study both till he see his errour still remembring that natural evidence hath this advantage that it is 1. first in order 2. and 1 Joh. 1. 1 2 3. Heb. 2. 3 4. most common and received by all But supernatural evidence hath this advantage that it is for the most part the more clear and satisfactory Quest. 160. May we not look that God should yet give us more Revelations of his will than there are already made in Scripture Answ. YOu must distinguish between 1. New Laws or Covenants to mankind and new predictions or informations of a partiâ—ular person 2. Between what may possibly be and what we may expect as certain or probable And so I conclude 1. That it is certain that God will make no other Covenant Testament or Universal Law for the Government of mankind or the Church as a Rule of Duty and of Iudgement Because he hath oft told us Gal. 1. 7 8 9. Mat. 28. 20. 2. Thes. 1. 10 11. Mark 16. 15 16. that this Covenant and Law is perfect and shall be in force as our rule till the end of the world Obj. So it was said of the Law of Moses that it was to stand for ever yea of many Ceremonies in it Answ. 1. It is in the Original only for ages and ages or to generations and generations which we translate for ever when it signifieth but to many generations 2. It is no where said of Moses Law as such that it should continue either till the end of the world or till the day of Iudgement Rev. 14. 6. Rev. 22. 18 19. Heb. 7. 28 29. 1 Tim. 1. 16. Rom. 6. 22. Joh. 5. 22 24. 6. 27 40 47. 12. 50. Heb. 1. 7 8 9. as it is said of the Gospel And 3. It is not said that he will add no more to the former Testament but contrarily that he will make a new Covenant with them c. But here in the Gospel he peremptorily resolveth against all innovations and additions 2. It is certain that God will make no new Scripture or inspired word as an infallible universal Rule for the exposition of the word already written For 1. This were an addition which he hath disclaimed and 2. It would imply such an insufficiency in the Gospel to its ends as being not intelligible as is contrary to its asserted perfection and 3. It would be contrary to that established way for the understanding of the Scripture which God hath already setled and appointed for us till the end 3. It is certain that God will give all his servants in their several measures the help and illumination Eph. 1. 18 19. of his spirit for the understanding and applying of the Gospel 4. It is possible that God may make new Revelations to particular persons about their particular duties events or matters of fact in subordination to the Scripture either by inspiration vision or apparition or voice For he hath not told us that he never will do such a thing As to tell them what shall befall them or others or to say Go to such a place or dwell in such a place or do such a thing which is not contrary to the Scripture nor co-ordinate but only a subordinate determination of some undetermined case or the circumstantiating of an action 5. Though such Revelation and Prophesie be Possible there is no certainty of it in general nor Mic. 2. 11. 1 King 22. 21 22. 1 Joh. 4. 1 2. 2 Thes. 2. 2. any probability of it to any one individual person much less a promise And therefore to expect it or pray for it is but a presumptuous tempting of God 6. And all sober Christians should be the more cautelous of being deceived by their own Imaginations because certain experience telleth us that most in our age that have pretended to prophesie or to inspirations or revelations have been melancholy crackt-brained persons neer to madness who have proved to be deluded in the end And that such crazed persons are still prone to such imaginations 7. Therefore also all sober Christians must take heed of rash believing every Prophet or pretended spirit lest they be led away from the Sacred Rule and before they are aware be lost in vain expectations and conceits Quest. 161. Is not a third Rule of the Holy Ghost or perfecter Kingdom of Love to be expected as different from the Reign of the Creator and Redeemer Answ. 1. THe works ad extra and the Reign of the
spirit of God hath taught them to perform or would force men from that which the spirit of Christ is sent to draw them to this is to raise War against that spirit into whose name you were your selves baptized § 11. 4. Persecution endeavoureth the damnation of mens souls either by depriving them of the Preaching of the Gospel which should save them or by forcing them upon that sin for which God will condemn them Yea the banishing or silencing of one faithful Preacher may conduce to the damnation of many hundreds If it be said that others who are set up in their stead may save mens souls as well as they I answer 1. God seldome if ever did qualifie supernumeraries for the work of the Ministry Many a Nation hath had too few but I never read of any Nation that had too many who were well qualified for that great and difficult work no not from the dayes of Christ till now so that if they are all fit men there are none of them to be spared but all are too few if they conjoyn their greatest skill and diligence Christ biddeth us pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth more labourers into his Harvest but never biddeth us pray to send out fewer or to call any in that were but tolerably fitted for the work 2. Many persecutors banish all Preachers of the Gospel and set up no other to do the service which they were called to And it is rarely seen that any who can find in their hearts to cast out any faithful Ministers of Christ have hearts to set up better or any that are competent in their stead But it is ordinarily seen that when the judgement is so far depraved as to approve of the casting out of worthy men it is also so far depraved as to think an ignorant unskilful heartless or scandalous sort of Ministers to be as fit to save men souls as they And how many poor Congregations in the Eastern and the Western Churches nay how many thousand have ignorant ungodly sensual Pastors who are such unsavoury Salt as to be unfit for the Land or for the Dunghill Whilest men are extinguishing the clearest lights or thrusting them into obscurity Matth. 5. 13 14 15. Luk. 14. 35. 3. And there may be something of suitableness between a Pastor and the flock which may give him advantage to be more profitable to their souls than another man of equal parts 4. And though God can work by the weakest means yet ordinarily we see that his work upon mens souls is so far Moral as that he usually prospereth men according to the fitness of their labours to the work and some men have far more success than others He that should expell a dozen or twenty of the ablest Physicions out of London and say theâ—e are enough left in their steads who may save mens lives as well as they might notwithstanding that assertion be found guilty of the blood of no small numbers And as men have sometime an averseness to one sort of food as good as any to another man and as this distemper is not laudable and yet he that would force them to eat nothing else but that which they so abhor were liker to kill them than to cure them so is it with the souls of many And there are few who have any spiritual discerning and relish but have some special sense of what is helpful or hurtful to their souls in Sermons Books and Conference which a stander by is not so fit a judge of as themselves So that it is clear that persecution driveth men towards their damnation And O how sad a case it is to have the damnation of one soul to answer for which is worse than the murdering of many bodies Much more to be guilty of the perdition of a multitude § 12. 5. Persecution is unjustice and oppression of the innocent And what a multitude of terrible threatnings against this sin are found throughout the holy Scriptures Doth a man deserve to be cruelly used for being faithful to his God and for preferring him before man and for being afraid to sin against him or for doing that which God commandeth him and that upon pain of greater sufferings than man can inflict upon him Is it not his Saviour that hath said Fear not them that can kill the body and after that have no more that they can do but fear him who after he hath killed hath power to cast into Hell yea I say unto you fear him Though Christianity was once called a Sect which every where was spoken against Act. 28. 22. and Paul was accused as a pestilent fellow and a mover of sedition among the people Act. 24. 5. and Christ was Crucified as a Usurper of the Crown yet innocency shall be innocency still in spight of malice and lying accusations because God will be the final Judge and will bring all secret things to light and will justifie those whom injustice hath condemned and will not call them as slandering tongues have called them Yea the Consciences of the persecuters are often forced to say as they did of Daniel Dan. 6. 5. We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel except we find it against him concerning the Law of his God And therefore the net which they were fain to lay for him was a Law against his Religion or prayers to God For a Law against Treason sedition swearing drunkenness fornication c. would have done them no service And yet they would fain have aspersed him there verse 4. Jer. 22. 13. Woe to hiâ— that buildeth his house by unrighteousness c. Isa. 33. 1. Woe to thee that spoilest and thou wast not spoiled Isa. 5. 20. Woe to them that call evil good and good evil Jer. 2. 34. In thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents Prov. 6. 16 17. Hands that shed innocent blood the Lord doth hate c. § 13. 6. Persecution maketh men likest unto Devils and maketh them his most notable servants in Daemones ex hominibus fieri quidam opinatâ— sunt perpetua criminum licentia c. Quod ut forte tolerabiliter dictum sit malarum voluntatum similitudo efficit qua homo malus atque in malis obstinatus pene daemonem aequat Petrarch de injusto Domin the world Many wicked men may neglect that duty which they are convinced they should do But to hate it and malice men that do it and seek their ruine this if any thing is a work more beseeming a Devil than a man These are the Commanders in the Armies of the Devil against the Cause and Kingdom of the Lord Iohn 8. 42. 44. and accordingly shall they speed § 14. 7. Persecution is an inhumane disingenuous sin and sheweth an extinction of the light of Nature A good natured man if he had no grace at all would abhorr to be cruel and to oppress his brethren and that meeâ—ly because they are true to their