and wickedness a gulf is fized and they that would pass from God to sin and the devil cannot not that there shall ever be in any a real and predominant desire so to pass as I suppose I have already proved but it denotes the impossibility of the thing It is equally impossible that a godly soul should fall from God and become an hater of him fall from his love and image and take upon him the image of the devil as it was for Lâ—zarus to quit Abrahams bosome for the flames of hell the case seems to be the same the former being the most reall Heaven and the latter the truest Hell True Religion is that holy fire which being once kindled in the soul from Heaven never goes out whereof the fire of the altar was but a faint and imperfect resemblance It is as true in this respect of good men as it is of wicked men in an other their fire never goes out And here now we are presented with another great difference between true and counterfeit Religion All counterfeit Religion will fade in time though never so specious and flourishing All dew will pass away though some lye much longer than other All land-floods will fail yea the flood of Noah at length dryed up though it were of many moneths duration But this well of water which our Saviour speaks of here will never utterly fail cold Adversity cannot freeze it up scorching prosperity cannot dry it up The upper springs of uncreated grace and goodness will evermore feed those nether springs of grace and holiness in the creature Though Heaven and earth pass away yet shall the seed of God remain he that hath begun a good work will certainly perform it Eph. 1. 6. Where the grace of God hath begotten a Divine principle and spirit of true Religion in a soul there is the central force even of Heaven itself still attracting and carrying the soul in its motions thitherward untill it have lodged it in the very bosome and heart of God If any principle lower than true Religion do actuate a man it will certainly waste and be exhausted though it may carry him swiftly in a rapid motion yet not in a steady though it may carry him high yet not quite through A meteor that is exhaled from the earth by a forreign force though it may mount high in appearance and brave it in a blaze enough to be envyed by the poor twinkling stars and to be admired by ordinary spectators yet its fate is to fall down and shamefully confess its base original That Religion which men put on only for a cloak wâ—ll wear out and drop into rags if it be not presently thrown by as a garment out of fashion You have read of the seeming righteousness of Jehu founded in ambition and cruelty the piety and devotion of Joash grounded upon a good and vertuous education the zeal of Soul for the worship of God and his fat Sacrifices growing upon a root of superstition as Samuel that man of God interprets it 1 Sam. 15. 22. and you have seen the shamefull issue of all these dissemblers and the stinking snuff in which all this candle-light Religion ended very much unlike to that sun-light lustre of true and genuine goodness which shineth more and more unto the perfect day according to that elegant description which the spirit of God makes of it in the writings of Solomon whose pen hath as much adorned this great truth as his life hath blotted it Prov. 4. 18. To this purpose I might fairly alleadge the frequent testimonies which the Holy Ghost in Scripture gives concerning such hypocritical and unprincipled professors that having no root they wither away in a scorching season that they are again entangled in the pollutions of the world and overcome that like dogs they turn to their own vomit again and like Sows wallow in the mire from which they had been washed 2 Pet. 2. 20 22. together with many others of the same nature as also the prophesies that are made concerning them that that which they seemed to have shall be taken away from them Luke 8. 18. that they shall proceed no further for their folly shall be manifest to all men 2 Tim. 3. 9. that evil men and seducers and of those self-seducers are the worst shall wax worse and worse 2 Tim. 3. 13. with other places of the like nature It were easie to record many histories of many men especially great men who have speedily I had almost said disdainfully thrown off that semblance of humility meekness self-denyal justice and faithfulness which they had put on for a vizard during their probationarship for preferment the better to accomplish their selfish designs and to be possest of some base ends of their own But yet I will not deny but that a hypocrite may maintain a fair conformity to and correspondence with the letter of the law of God he may continue fair and specious to the very end of his life yea perhaps may go to his grave undiscovered either to himself or any in the world besides I believe many men have lived and dyed Pharisees have never apostatized from that righteousness which they profest but have persevered in their formality and hypocrisie to the last But yet although that counterfeit righteousness and Religion may possibly not fade away yet nevertheless being of an earthly and selfish constitution it is transitory and fading and if it were soundly assaulted and battered with persecutions and temptations no doubt would actually vanish and disappear on the other hand the promise of God is pregnant and precious Isa 40. 31. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall walk and no faint Take encouragement from hence all ye that love the Lord go on in the strength of God Be the more lively by how much the more you are assured that this well of water shall spring up in you into everlasting life Make this good use of this comfortable doctrine will God indeed work in you both to will and to do why then so much the rather work out your own salvation according to the Apostle Phil. 2. 12. will the Lord God be with you will he not fail you nor forsake you till you have finished all your work why then Be strong and of good courage and do as good David inferrs and argues 1 Chron. 28. 20. Have you this hope this firm ground of hope in the promise and goodness of God why then purifie your selves as God is pure according to the Apostle 1 Joh. 3. 3. stop the mouths of those men that say the Doctrine of perseverance is prejudicial to godliness let them see and be forced to acknowledge it that the more a godly soul is assured of the infinite and unchangeable love and care of God towards him the more is he winged with love and zeal with speed mounting up thither daily where he longs to arrive They that understand the doctrine of perseverance
Though faith abhors the blasphâ—my of laying blame upon God yet it so fixes the soul upon him and causes her so to eye his hand and end in all mal-administrations of men that she hath no leisure to fall out with men or quarrel with instruments These Discontents I said were frequently attended with an evil and seditious zeal for relaxation discovering itself in secret treacherous conspiracies and many times in boisterous and daring attempts These are at the first sight so directly contrary to the character given of Religious men viz. the Psal 35. 20. Gal. 5. 22 23. Col. 3. 12 13 14 15 16. quiet of the Land and the genius of Religion which is wholly made up of love peace long-suffering gentleness goodness faithfulness meekness temperance mercy kindness humbleness of mind forbearance forgiveness charity thankfulness wisdom that it is easie to conceive that Religion in the power of it would certainly heal this evil disease also There are many pretenders to Religion whose complaint is still concerning oppression and persecution their cry is all for liberty and deliverance but to make it the more passable and plausible they stile it the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ This pretence is so fair but withall so deceitfull that I count it worth my time to speak a little more liberally to it And here I do from the very bottom of my soul protest that I account the advancement of the glory of God and the Kingdom of Christ to be the most desirable thing in the World and that it is highly becoming the greatest spirits upon earth to employ the very utmost zeal and diligence to assist the accomplishment thereof yea so utterly do I abhor irreligion and Atheism that as the Apostle speaks in somewhat a like case I do verily Phil. 1. 18. rejoyce that Christ is professed though it be but pretended and that truth is owned though it be not owned in truth I will further add that the oppressing and obstructing of the external progress and propagation of the Gospel is hated of Christ and to be lamented of all true Christians Yea I will further allow men a due sensibleness of their personal oppressions and injuries and a natural warrantable desire to be redeemed from them And now having thus purged my self I entreat the Christian Reader patiently and without prejudice to suffer me to speak somewhat closely to this matter Yea I do verily assure my self that I shall be accepted or at least indulged by all free and ingenuous spirits who are rightly acquainted with the genius of Christian Religion and do preferr truth before interest And first For the complaint that is mostly concerning oppression and persecution certainly Religion if it did rightly prevail in our hearts would very much heal this distemper if not by a perfect silencing of these complaints yet surely by putting them into another tune I reckon that Religion quite silences these complaints when it engages the soul so entirely in serving the end of God in afflictions and in a right improvement of them for religious purposes that she list not to spend her self in fruitless murmurings and unchristian indignations As fire seizeth upon every thing that is combustible and makes it fewel for itself and a predominant humour in the body converts into its own substance whatever is convertible and makes it nourishment to itself so doubtless this spirit of burning this divine principle if it were rightly predominant in the soul would nourish itself by all things that lye in its way though they seem never so heterogeneous and hard to be digested and rather than want meat it would with Sampson fetch it out of the very eater himself But if Religion should not utterly silence these complainings by rendring the soul thus forgetful of the body and regardless of its smart in comparison of the happy advantage that may be made of it yet methinks it should draw the main stream of these tears into an other channel and put these complaints into an other tune It is very natural to the Religious soul to make God all things unto itself to lay to heart the interest of truth and holiness more than any particular interest of its own and to bewail the disservice done to God more than any self-incommodation Must not he needs be a good subject to his Prince who can more heartily mourn that Gods Laws are not kept than that he himself is kept under that can be more grieved that men are cruel than that they kill him that can be more troubled because there are oppressions in the world than because he himself is oppressed such subjects Religion alone can make As for the Cry that is made for liberty and deliverance I confess I do not easily apprehend what is more or more naturally desirable than true liberty yea I believe there are many devout and Religious souls that from a right noble and generous principle and out of a sincere respect to the Author and End of their creation are almost intemperately studiouâ— of it do prefer it above all prefermeâ—◠〈◊〉 hing that may be properly 〈◊〉 â—â—sual and would purchase it with any thing that they can possibly part with But yet that I may a little moderate if not quite stifle this cry I must freely profess that I do apprehend too much of sensuality generally in it because this liberty is commonly abstracted from the proper end of it and desired meerly as a naturally convenient good and not under a right religious consideration Self-love is the very heart and centre of the animal life and doubtless this natural principle is as truly covetous of self-preservation and freedom from all inconveniences grievances and confinements as any Religious principle can be And therefore I may well allude to our Saviours words and say If you love and desire Mat. 5. 47. deliverance only under the notion of a natural good what do you more than others Do not even Publicans the same But were this divine principle rightly exercising its Soveraignty in the soul it would value all things and all estates and conditions only as they have a tendency to the advancement and nourishment of itself With what an ordinary not to say disdainfull eye would the Religious soul look upon the fairest self-accommodations in the world and be ready to say within itself What is a meer abstract deliverance from afflictions worth Wherein is a naked freedom from afflictions to be accounted of Will this make me a blessed man Was not profane and impudent Ham delivered from the deluge of Water as well as his brethren Were not the filthy shameless daughters of Lot delivered from the deluge of Fire as well as their Father And yet we are so far from rising up and calling these people blessed that the heart of every chast and modest Christian is ready to rise against the very mention of their names when he remembers how both the one and the other though in a different sense
and not by force and constraint as a fool to the correction of the stocks or a bear to the stake These are all genuine off-springs of holy religion in the Soul and they are utterly uncapable of force Violence is contrary to the nature of them for to use the Apostles words with the change of one word Hope that is forc'd is not hope Now a little further to explain this excellent property of true Religion we may a little consider the Author and the object of it The author of this noble and Free principle is God himself who hath made it a partaker of his own nature who is the Free agent himself is the fountain of his own Acts. The uncreated life and liberty hath given this priviledge to the religious Soul in some sense to have life and liberty in it self and a dominion over its own Acts. I do not know that any created Being in the world hath more of divinity in it than the Soul of man qua nihil homini dedit Deus ipse divinius as Tully speaks nor that any thing in the Soul doth more resemble the Divine essence than the noble Freedom that the soul hath in itself which freedom is never so divine and generous as when it is objected upon God himself This excellent freedom is something of God in the Soul of man and therefore may justly claim the Free spirit for its author Psal 51. 12. 2. Cor. 3. 17. or the Son of God for its original according to that in Joh. 8. 36. If the Son shall make you free then shall ye be free indeed But here it may be demanded whether the command of God do not act the godly soul and set it upon its holy motions I confess indeed that the command of God is much eyed by a godly man and is of great weight with him and do's in some sense lay a constraint upon him but yet I think not so much the authority of the Law as the reasonableness and goodness of it do's prevail principally with him The Religious Soul do's not so much eye the Law under the notion of a command as under the notion of holy just and good as the Apostle speaks and so embraces it chooses it and longs to be perfectly conformable to it I do nor think it so proper to say that a good man loves God and all righteousness and holiness and religious duties by vertue of a command to do so as by vertue of a new nature that God hath put into him which doth instruct and prompt him so to do A religious Soul being reconciled to the nature of God do's embrace all his Laws by vertue of the equitableness and perfection that he sees in them not because they are commanded but because they are in themselves to be desired as David speaks Psal 19. 10. In which Psalm the holy man gives us a full account why he did so love and esteem the laws and commandments of God viz. because they are perfect right pure clean true sweet and lovely as you will find v. 7 8 9 10. To love the Lord our God with all our heart and strength and mind is not only a duty by vertue of that first and great commandment that doth require it but indeed the highest priviledge honour and happiness of the Soul To this purpose may that profession of the Psalmists be applyed Psal 119. 173. I have chosen thy precepts and ver 30. I have chosen the way of truth Choosing is an act of judgement and understanding and respects the quality of the thing more than the authority of the command David did not stumble into the way of truth accidentally by vertue of his education or acquaintance or the like circumstance nor was he whipt or driven into it by the meer severity of a law without him but he chose the way of truth as that which was indeed most eligible pleasant and desireable What our blessed Saviour sayes concerning himself is also true of every true Christian in his measure he makes it his meat and drink to do the will of God Now we know that men do not eat and drink because Physitians prescribe it as a means to preserve life but the sensual appetite is carryed out towards food because it is good sweet suitable so is the spiritual appetite carryed out towards spiritual food not so much by the force of an external precept as by the attractive power of that higher good which it finds suitable and sufficient for it As for the object of this Free and generous spirit of Religion it is no other than God himself principally and ultimately and other things only as they are subservient to the enjoyment of him God as the supream good able to fill and perfectly satisfie all the wants and indigencies of the soul and so to make it wholly and eternally happy is the proper object of the Souls most free and chearful motions The Soul eyes God as the perfect and absolute good and God in Christ as a feasable and attainable good and so finds every way enough in this object to encourage it to pursue after him and throw it self upon him Religion fixes upon God as upon its own centre as upon its proper and adequate object it views God as the Infinite and absolute good and so is drawn to him without any external force The Godly Soul is overpowred indeed but it is only with the infinite goodness of God which exercises its Soveraignty over all the faculties of the Soul which over-powring is so far from straitning or pinching it that it makes it truly free and generous in its motions Religion wings the Soul and makes it take a flight freely and swiftly towards God and eternal life it is of God and by a sympathy that it hath with him it carryes the Soul out after him and into conjunction with him In a word the godly Soul being loosned from self-love emptyed of self-fulness beaten out of all self-satisfaction and delivered from all self-confining lusts wills interests and ends and being mightily overcome with a sense of a higher and more excellent good goes after that freely centres upon it firmly grasps after it continually and had rather be that than what itself is as seeing that the nature of that supream good is infiâ—itely more excellent and desirable than its own Thus have I briefly explain'd and confirmed the Freeness of this principle in the truly godly Soul I would now make some little improvement of it but that it seems needful I should here interweave a cautionary concession or two First It must be granted that somethings without the Soul may be motives in our common sense and encouragements to the Soul to quicken and â—asten and strengthen it in its religious acts Though grace be an internal principle and most free from any constraint yet it may be excited or stirred up as the Apostle speaks 2 Tâ—m 1. 6. by such means as God hath appointed hereunto as prayer
know not how much but I think he hath not very much of God neither fight of him nor love of him that could be content to abide for ever in this imperfect mixed low state and never be perfected in the full enjoyment of him And it seems that they in whom the love of God is rightly predominant potent flourishing do also look earnestly for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life Jude 2. without doubt they ought to do 2 Pe◠3. 12. What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God! Let this suffice by way of general Reprehension 2. More particularly the consideration of the Active nature of true Religion may well serve to correct a mistake about that noble grace of faith How dishonourably do some speak of this excellent and powerfull grace when they make it to be a slothfull passive thing an idle kind of waiting or a Melancholick sitting still which indeed and in truth is Life and power Be not mistaken in so high and eminent a grace True faith doth not only accept the imputed righteousness of Christ for justification but by a lively dependance upon God drinks in divine influences and eagerly sucks in grace and vertue and life from the fountain of grace for its more perfect sanctification And for this cause I think a purifying vertue is ascribed to it Act. 15. 9. Faith is not a lazy languid thing content to wait for salvation till the world to come but it is even now gasping after it and accomplishing it too in a way of mortification self-denyall and growing up in God it is not content to be a candidate waiting for life and happiness but is actually drawing down Heaven into the soul attracting God to itself sucking in participations of divine grace and image into the soul Its motto is that of the famous painter nulla dies sine lineâ it longs to find some divine lineament some line of Gods image drawn upon the soul daily Faith is a giving grace as well as receiving it gives up the whole soul to God and is troubled that it can give him no more it binds over the soul afresh to God every day and is troubled that it can bind it no faster nor closer to him The believing soul is wearyed because of muderers murdering loves lusts cares earthly pleasures and calls mightily upon Christ to come and take vengeance upon them it is wearyed because of those robbers that are daily stealing away precious time and affections from God which are due unto him and calls upon Christ to come and scourge these thieves these buyers and sellers out of his own Temple In a word the godly soul is Active and faith is the very life and Action of the soul itself Lastly Let me exhort all Christians from hence to be zealous to be fervent in spirit serving the Lord and longing after him Stir up the grace of God that is in you Quench not i. e. blow up enflame the spirit of God in you Awake Christian soul out of thy Lethargy and rejoyce as the Sun to run the race that is set before thee and as a mighty man refreshed with Wine to fight thy spiritual battels against the armies of uncircumcised prophane and earthly concupiscences love and passions Eye God as your centre the enjoyment of him as the Happiness and full conformity to him as the perfection of your souls and then say Awake Arise O my Soul and hide not thy hand in thy bosome but throw thy self into the very heart and bosome of God lay hold upon eternal life Again observe how all things in the world pursue their several perfections with unwearied and impatient longings and say come my soul and do thou likewise Converse not with God so much under the notion of a Law giver but as with love itself nor with his commands as having authority in them but as having goodness and life and sweetness in them Again consider your poverty as creatures and how utterly impossible it is for you to be happy in your selves and say Arise O my soul from off this weak and tottering foundation and build thy self up in God cease pinching thy self within the straits of self-sufficiencies and come stretch thy self upon infinite Goodness and Fulness Again pore not upon your attainments do not sit brooding upon your present accomplishments but forget the things that are behind and say Awake O my soul there is yet infinitely much more in God pursue after him for it till thou have gotten as much as a created Being is capable to receive of the divine nature In a word take heed you live not by the lowest examples which thing keeps many in a dwindling state all their dayes but by the highest Read over the Spouse her temper sick of Love Davids temper waiting for God more than they that watch for the morning breaking in heart for the longing that he had to the Lord and say Arise O my Soul and live as high as the highest it is no fault to desire to be as Good as holy as happy as an Angel of God And thus O my soul open thy mouth wide and God hath promised to fill thee CHAP. VI. That Religion is a lasting and persevering principle in the soules of men proved by several Scriptures The grounds of this perseverance assigned first negatively It doth not arise from the absolute inamissability of grace in the creature nor from the strength of mans Free-will Secondly Affirmatively the grace of election cannot fail The grace of Justification is neither suspended nor violated The Covenant of grace is everlasting The Mediator of this Covenant lives for ever The promises of it immutable The righteousness brought in by the Messiab everlasting An objection answered concerning a regenerate mans willing his own apostasie An Objection answered drawn from the falls of Saints in Scripture as also from those Scriptures that seem to imply a mans falling away A discovery of counterfeit Religion and the shamefull apostasie of false professors An encouragement to all holy diligence from the consideration of this doctrine the rather that we may stop the mouths of those that falsly affirm that the same is prejudicial to true godliness I Come now to the third property of true Religion contained in these words and that is the perseverance of it And here the foundation of my following discourse shall be this proposition True Religion is a lasting and persevering principle in the Souls of good men It is said of the hypocritical Jews that their goodness was as the early dew that soon passeth away Hos 6. 4. But that principle of true goodness which God planteth in the souls of his people is compared to a well of water evermore sending forth fresh streams and incessantly springing up towards God himself our Saviour compares hypocritical professors to seed sown upon stony ground that springs up