mind or conscience as was the case of the better sort of Heathens or by the Law of Moses as the Jews were in our Saviours time Or lastly by the benefit of a Christian education as the state of those among our selves is who come to examine the truth of the Gospel and to enquire more nearly into the sense of it Suppose we a man already instructed by any of these means in the fundamental rules of practice desirous of further knowledge and satisfaction in the doctrine of the Gospel he must be careful to live up to those principles he is already instructed in resolving also to submit obediently to whatsoever else upon his further enquiry he shall find to be his duty Such a man thus prepared by doing his duty and thus resolved to do the will of God as far as it shall be made known to him such a one is the person to whom this promise of our Savior doth belong If any man will do his will he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self I proceed to the second thing propounded to shew the certainty of success to those that seek for knowledge with this preparation and here it will not be amiss to consider briefly in what sense this promise is to be understood before we undertake to prove the certainty of it We are to observe therefore that this promise of our Saviour is not to be understood so universally as though no man who was sincerely resolved to obey God shall fall into any kind of errours in matters of Religion For this is contradicted by the constant experience of all Ages for it would be very uncharitable to suppose that among most of the dissenting parties in Religion who maintain great controversies with one another there should not be some persons truly devout and sincere on both sides We are not therefore to suppose that a man truly religious shall not err at all but that he shall not be led into such errors as are dangerous to or inconsistent with his salvation And indeed the promise in this place is not set down in so general terms as that they should seem to require any larger interpretation than this I am speaking of If any man will do his will saith our Saviour he shall know of the doctrine I now beliver to you whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self Which cannot reasonably be extended beyond these two things 1. He shall receive satisfaction concerning the truth of Christian Religion in general that it is a doctrine truly divine and heavenly and that the author of it came from God and delivered his mind and will 2. He that will do the will of God shall be satisfied also concerning those particular truths which are indispensably necessary for him to know in order to his salvation These two things will be the undoubted effects of a religious frame of mind of a sincere resolution to do the will of God and will certainly be made good to all who seek for knowledge with that preparation and this we have great reason to be assured of whether we consider 1. The natural influence that a religious temper of mind hath upon the understanding to make it fit for the reception of divine truth 2. The peculiar blessing and assistance of Gods good spirit which always accompanies a truly religious man to guide him into all truth which is necessary for him I will begin with the former and shall endeavour to shew that the practice of religious Duties hath a natural efficacy upon the mind to clear its discerning faculties to make it capable of understanding and giving a full assent to the doctrine of the Gospel And this I shall make appear by instancing in some particular duties which are of a natural obligation which no man can be ignorant of each of which singly considered hath a very immediate influence upon the understanding to make it capable of divine knowledge In consideration of which it will also appear that the contrary vices to these are the onely causes of dangerous and damnable errors The Duties I shall particularly insist on are these 1. Simplicity of mind without prejudice 2. Purity of heart and affections 3. Humility 4. Calmness of Temper 5. Prayer to God These are all Duties of a natural obligation and therefore he that comes to examin the truth of the Gospel cannot be presumed ignorant of nor unwilling to practise them if he seek for knowledge with that preparation I have been speaking of 1. He that examines the doctrine of the Gospel with this intention to satisfie his conscience concerning those things that are necessary for him to believe and do resolving by Gods grace to do the will of God as far as it shal be made known to him such a one will bring with him an honest simplicity of mind not biassed by prejudice or preconceived opinions such a one will consider with himself that the truth of things doth not depend upon his own fancy or petty reasonings that a strong imagination cannot make those things Articles of Faith which God hath not revealed and therefore he will bring with him no preconceived opinion which he will not be ready to lay aside upon sufficient evidence to the contrary he will not endeavour to distort and wrest the plain words of Scripture to that sense of things which he formerly had but will readily yield up all his former notions to the authority of divine revelation That we are naturally obliged to this simplicity of judgment in all enquiries after truth is evident because in all manner of disputes this is one of the first things we challenge from our Adversary as our undoubted right that he would hear what we have to say without prejudice and therefore we also ought to bring with us to a religious debate the same free and unprejudiced minds which we expect from others And indeed this temper of mind is highly necessary and very advantageous to prepare us for the reception of truth For certainly the power of prejudice is very great to darken mens minds and to mould them into such apprehensions as are most suitable to it And therefore it is easie to observe how men who are engaged in a Party and prepossessed with the distinguishing opinions of their Sect easily find ways to pervert the plainest places of Scripture to their own sense to make it agree with the Analogy of their Faith that is of their darling Notions When I speak of laying aside prejudice in the search after divine truth I do not understand that we must call in question all kind of preconceptions we have had concerning religious matters Some things there are in Religion of so great certainty and evidence that though an Angel from Heaven should teach us otherwise we ought not to receive him Such are those preconceptions we have concerning the Being and Attributes of God that he is most wise just powerful faithful
joy which it affords us in this spiritual Race which infinitely over-ballances all the false pleasures we forsake and all the difficulties we undergo in undertaking this enterprize And lastly I might put you in mind of the great danger reproach and confusion of face which will certainly attend us if by our negligence and indifference we fall short of this glorious prize all which arguments ought to have a mighty influence upon us to awake and excite our utmost industry and vigour to promote our vigilance and to confirm strengthen and maintain our courage constancy and resolution to go on stedfastly in the ways of holiness and to run with patience the Race set before us But the prosecution of these and the like arguments would be too large a scope for the time allotted to this exercise and the words of the Text confine my thoughts to a more particular consideration of the example of the Saints Martyrs and holy Confessors who have gone before us in this glorious Race and have already finished their course with patience Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight c. The word Martyr or Witness in an Ecclesiastical sense is usually restrained to such onely who have laid down their lives in testimony of the truth of the Gospel but in the language of holy Scripture I find no such limitation of it Any of these who were either great examples of obedience and faith in God any who bare witness to divine truth though they were not called to suffer death for that testimony being indifferently stiled by that name The Fathers mentioned in the former Chapter cannot all be accounted Martyrs in the stricter sense however they all help to make up the number which by reason of the multitude of them is here called a Cloud of Witnesses Now the force of their witness and example to engage us in a like diligence and constancy in running the Race set before us I shall endeavour to represent in these following particulars 1. They were witnesses of the truth and faithfulness and goodness of God in whom we believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him and therefore that our labour and industry in our Christian Race shall not be in vain I mention this truth more particularly because it seems to be the onely Creed which all the Saints recited in the former Chapter agreed in Some of them 't is true had a great prospect and hope of a Messias to come Abraham rejoiced to see his day Jacobs prophecy of him is very punctual and particular The other Prophets give witness to him But yet it appears not that all there mentioned had any knowledge at all either that he was to come or what he should do or suffer for the World And therefore the Apostle in the beginning of the Chapter lays down that viz. That God is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him as the fundamental Article of their Belief in confidence of which they willingly underwent so many Trials and Temptations with such bravery and undaunted resolution If therefore we look upon these men onely as giving testimony to this truth yet this alone is sufficient reason for our imitation of them and doth justifie the wisdom of our choice in being religious and serving the same God on whom they believed and forsaking all in obedience to him as they did before us Since we have the same convictions of Reason that they had that our God whom we serve is a Rewarder of those that put their trust in him and are further confirmed in our belief of this by their patience and constancy in the same Profession and by their chearful suffering Persecution for it By their suffering we have this satisfaction at least that we are not singular in this our persuasion concerning God and that he hath not been without his Witnesses in all Ages who have laid down their lives in this Faith and Assurance and therefore we ought to be stedfast in it without wavering Now if any should object that the numbers of those who have died in this Faith though they are here called a Cloud of Witnesses are yet but a very few in comparison of those who have lived without God in the World and have despised and rejected all hopes of a future reward To this it is easie to reply that the credit of any testimony doth not depend on the number and noise of those that affirm any thing but from the manner of the evidence they give Now a few men who give sufficient proof that they understand perfectly what they say and do and would not deceive others are more to be valued as Witnesses than ten thousand of the ruder multitude who take up reports upon trust and if you come to examine them they shrink into nothing They said something they know not what but know not whence they had it nor why they said it The case is the same in matters of religion those that have been truly pious and religious have in all Ages been men of the clearest and best understandings that have always been able to give a reason of their Hope that was in them and to satisfie the World that they did not pretend this for any temporal advantage they did deliberately and chearfully expose themselves to the most severe Trials and Persecutions for their testimony of it not accepting deliverance as the Apostle speaketh that they might obtain a better resurrection This was the case of those Heroick Spirits recited in the foregoing Chapter They were men of found mind as appears by the glorious things they did and suffered many of which are at large recorded in sacred Story They knew the value of life as well as others they were sensible of disgrace and pain and want and could have no reason to expose themselves to these things without a mighty evidence and conviction of the truth of what they believed concerning God of the greatness of his Power that he was able to reward them after this life of the greatness of his Wisdom that he knew when and how to do it better than they could choose of the Justice of his Providence that he would certainly do it But then on the contrary for those that have rejected this belief or at least have not lived answerably to it it is plain that much the greatest part of them are onely a rash inconsiderate multitude of no understanding in these matters who never took time to think whether Religion had any real foundation in Nature or Reason or not and therefore these are not competent Judges in the case and not to be regarded as Witnesses For those others who have lived wickedly and have yet had some reason to consider of the grounds and obligations of a religious course of life it is plain that these are most of them self-condemned and act against the conviction of their
his good Spirit to enable us to understand and do those things which are necessary for us and to lead us into all truth For we are not to understand this promise of our Saviour as though God would infuse the knowledge of divine truth by a miracle but that those that will do the will of God shall be blest by him in the diligent use of those ordinary means which he hath appointed for their instruction And therefore in the old Oeconomy the Jews were referred to Moses for their instruction what they ought to do And under the Gospel God hath given some Apostles some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting the Saints for the work of the Ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ and to these men and their successors we must have recourse in order to instruction and satisfaction in matters of Religion To these themselves we may have recourse in the Books of the New Testament which they have left behind them as a certain guide to us in all things necessary if we be not wanting to our selves To their Successors we have recourse in our attendance upon the publick Ministry who derive their commission by a continued succession from the Apostles who were impowered by Christ to ordain others for the continuance of their Office to the end of the World And to these persons thus impowered all private Christians ought to apply themselves with humility and diligence for their instruction and in the diligent use of those means of knowledge above-mentioned he that will do the will of God by vertue of this promise of our Saviour shall know of the doctrine 3. This condition if any man will do his will implies further that in our search after divine truth and in our use of those means of knowledge which God hath afforded us we must propose to our selves the doing the will of God as the ultimate end of our knowledge This is that which is more particularly expressed in the Text. Many there are who are very inquisitive after truth but they have oft-times very different and undue ends in their enquiry sometimes they do it to gratifie their curiosity sometimes that they may be able to maintain their Party they are ingaged in with some plausible shew of reason sometimes they do it for ostentation and vain-glory that they may appear wiser and more learned than their neighbours and sometimes they seek for knowledge as other men do their Merchandise that they may make a gain of it and provide for their subsistence in the World Now Now all these several sorts of Enquirers may possibly attain the several ends they propose to themselves they may grow learned and wise in the ordinary account of men they may grow rich and gain esteem and applause among men and in this they have their reward but still they may want the true knowledge and satisfaction which our Saviour here speaks of which is not attainable by any that do not intend and resolve to do the will of God according to their knowledge this alone makes them capable of a full and sensible conviction of the divine authority and excellency of those revelations which are contained in the Gospel For it is not every one that can talk superficially about religious matters or that can give a tolerable account of the rational grounds upon which the truth of the Gospel is conveyed to us not every one that can dispute learnedly about points of Faith and decide Controverfies not every one that is thus accomplished is properly said to know of the doctrine in our Saviours sense No he that is resolved to do the will of God absolutely and entirely such a one shall receive a more full and ample satisfaction concerning those things that are necessary for him than can be gained by the strongest reasonings and most convincing demonstrations He shall find in his soul a lively sense of the excellency of those truths which the Gospel delivers such as shall leave no room for doubtfulness or disputing 4. We must not onely intend and resolve to do the will of God and propose to our selves this as the great end of our enquiry but we must actually endeavour to discharge those duties we already know if we hope to attaim to a sufficient satisfaction in our Religion for he that neglects to do the will of God as far as he already knows he cannot be presumed to have a sincere resolution of submitting to those further instructions which he may find in the Gospel And indeed in this place our Saviour may well be understood to exact this qualification of those who came to hear him that they should practise those duties they already knew if they would be satisfied concerning the truth of his Religion for otherwise it may seem an improper and preposterous way of proceeding to persuade men first to obey the Gospel and then to promise them satisfaction about the truth of it Men are not willing to enter upon a way of living so strict and severe as the Gospel enjoyns without being satisfied before hand of the truth of it that that is truly the will of God which is there required and that it is their great duty and interest to obey it Nay it is manifest by sad experience that many who are convinced of the truth of the Gospel are yet very backward to practise the precepts of it but how much more unwillingly would they undertake this practice if they were not capable of satisfaction about the truth of the Gospel till they had obeyed it So that it is most reasonable to suppose that the doing the will of God here spoken of must in part be understood of those previous instructions in the will of God which those who came to hear our Saviour had before received The Jews to whom our Saviour here directs his discourse had the instructions of Moses and the Prophets from whom they might have understood the principal rules of good living and their obedience to Moses and the Prophets would doubtless have been a great preparation for their reception of the Gospel and then for those Enquirers after truth who have been bred up in a Christian Commonwealth they cannot be supposed to be wholly ignorant of their duty No man can ordinarily grow up in a Christian Society to an age capable of such enquiries but must have been competently instructed in the general rules of good living in the substantial and necessary parts of Religion Those three great branches of Duty which S. Paul teaches us to be the summe of the Gospel the living righteously soberly and godly in the World are in themselves of so evident an obligation that no man who hath come to the use of Reason especially in a Christian Common-wealth can be ignorant that it is his duty to live so Suppose we then a man competently instructed in the general rules of good living whether by the Law of Nature written in his
appetites which every man is endued with which tend to the preservation of life and the propagation of mankind are in themselves the work of God and are designed by him for good ends and we may lawfully gratifie them so far as is requisite for the accomplishment of those ends But this is one of the greatest trials of our prudence and resolution in the government of our lives to understand the true bounds how far we may lawfully indulge the lower faculties and to restthere for if our Reason which should prefide over them once let go the reins by which she should govern and restrain them they easily get the mastery and are not to be reduced to their just measures without great difficulty and reluctancy Now the regulating these desires I conceive to be that which our Saviour recommends to us S. Matt. v. 8. as a means to attain to the beatifical vision of God Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Which blessing though it principally be understood of the blissful sight or knowledge of God in the Kingdom of Heaven yet hath it part of its accomplishment in this life The pure in heart being the best qualified to judge of those divine and spiritual things which God hath made known to us in the Gospel And this will easily appear if we consider how much the contrary Vices tend to the debauching the Understanding in these matters The fumes of Lust and Intemperance are very pernicious to our rational powers they make men dull and of no understanding even in the ordinary affairs of life and then surely if they make men unfit for worldly business they will render them infinitely more uncapable of religious enquiries A man who is led captive by his impure desires will not easily be brought to spend so much time to enquire seriously into the nature of Religion as is necessary for his satisfaction he is afraid he should be convinced of something that would ruffle and discompose his thoughts awaken his conscience and put a check to his Carreer of pleasure and therefore while he can find pretences to defer his enquiry he will But then suppose a man of this temper should for once undertake to peruse the Gospel yet being prepossessed with the love of these sensual delights he would find out many Arguments to defend himself withal many arts and evasions to justifie or at least to palliate and excuse his practice and then withall it is certain he would not have a due relish of the excellency of those precepts which the Gospel gives nor of the rewards it promises they being of a more refined and spiritual nature and of a kind so vastly different from what he is most delighted with So S. Paul tells us 1 Cor. ij 14. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned To this purity of heart I have been speaking of may be reduced a generous contempt of the World a freedom from all covetous and ambitious desires for he that hath his heart set upon riches or upon the pomps and gallantries of the World is not in any capacity of receiving or understanding the Gospel These two Vices Covetousness and Ambition have even from the Apostles times been noted for the great causes of Infidelity and Heresie The love of Money was that which made the young man in our Saviours time go away sorrowful because he could not be admitted a Disciple of our Saviour without relinquishing his large possessions This was the cause of Demus's Apostasie from the Religion he once embraced because he loved the present World Diotrephes is noted by S. John for his ambition for he withstood the Apostle loving to have the pre-eminence S. Paul also puts these two causes together Pride and Covetousness as the principal reasons of Heresie and false doctrine 1 Tim. vj. 3. If any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholsom words even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the doctrine which is according to godliness he is proud knowing nothing but doting about questions and strifes of words supposing that gain is godliness And indeed it is easie to observe how hard it is to convince any man of what is contrary to his interest or ambitious desires and therefore we cannot but understand that this duty of purity of heart which consists in regulating our worldly and sensual affections highly conduces to the understanding and embracing the Gospel because it takes away those dangerous causes of Errour and Apostasie 3. A third branch of Duty which I proposed to treat of as being a necessary qualification for all Enquirers after divine truth is Humility and the efficacy of this duty to make us capable of divine impressions will appear if we consider these properties of an humble and modest man 1. He that is truly humble and sensible of his many defects and infirmities will readily acknowledge that he is not able to understand all Mysteries He knows the nature of God which is infinite cannot be comprehended by his finite and narrow faculties He knows that no reasonings of ours can give us so true an account of the Nature and Attributes of God and of the various methods of his providence towards men as God himself can and therefore he doth with all reverence submit his understanding to those revelations which God hath made in the Gospel and provided they be there plainly delivered he will not be discouraged from his belief of them by any of those imperfect reasonings wherewith men of corrupt minds may endeavour to shake his Faith 2. A truly humble man will not be too curious and inquisitive in praying into those things which are not clearly revealed much less will he be positive and dogmatical concerning them This vertue of humility will lead him to consider that had the knowledge of such and such controverted doctrines been necessary for him they would have been delivered in Scripture with the same plainness as other things of the greatest importance are he will satisfie himself that God was able to have interpreted his mind to the World as far as he thought convenient and therefore where God hath not used this plainess he thinks it a sufficient check to his curiosity and that he ought not to pry into it According to that of Moses Deut. xxix 29. The secret things belong unto the Lord our God but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever 3. An humble man is naturally apt to learn he is willing to be instructed he will easily believe that some other men may have better abilities to understand and judge of truth than himself especially he will have a great deference and regard to his spiritual Guides who are set over him for his instruction in the way of righteousness he will consider that these men are commissioned by God and have a peculiar
promise of the divine Spirit to enable them in the discharge of their holy Office and therefore that they ought to be attended to with such reverence as is due to the Ambassadors of God to the interpreters of his mind and will Not that the truly humble man is bound to yield a blind assent to whatever he hears delivered from a Pulpit or that he is presently to renounce his own reason and understanding whenever it is contradicted by his immediate Pastor No we do not claim this dominion over the reason and consciences of our brethren We do not require an absolute assent to all we say onely thus much an humble man will and ought to think his duty not to oppose every private scruple of his own to the received doctrine of the Church in which he lives much less to separate from it without manifest and plain grounds He ought rather to distrust his own private judgment when it stands in competition with the publick sense of the Church and to use all possible diligence for further information before he be positive in his opinion He ought to apply himself with all humility to his Superiours to desire satisfaction from them and he ought to attend to them with patience and submission and to be very cautious lest any prejudice or self-interest should be the ground of his persuasion and then if after a due diligence he find himself still unconvinced yet still humility will oblige him not to judge those who differ from him nor to withdraw himself from the publick service of God as long as there is nothing required of him as a condition of Communion which he is not fully convinced to be be unlawful Now he that proceds with this humility and deliberation in the examination of those doctrines of the Church which seem doubtful to him This humble temper will either lead him to the means of satisfaction from the instruction of his Superiours or at least will secure him from the danger and malignity of his Errour For simple Errour is not dangerous in it self unless it arise from a culpable cause or unless it lead to sin or disobedience And this an humble man will hardly be tempted to for the sake of any private Opinion 4. An humble and modest man will be willing to yield to such Arguments as the matter he enquires about is capable of and will not require greater evidence for revealed truths than the nature of the things will admit of And indeed the want of this temper of mind may justly be accounted the fundamental Principle of Atheism and Irreligion Many disputers there are in the World who think it an Argument of Wit and Parts to be able to defend a Paradox and to stand their ground against all opposition These men seek not Truth but Victory and do not so much endeavour to satisfie themselves as to amuse others and therefore as long as they are able to raise an Objection which they think their Adversary cannot answer they take it for granted that it is unanswerable and think that a sufficient reason to deny the force of all positive Arguments whatsoever Now this perverse and conceited way of disputing renders men very unfit to enquire after truth in any kind of Science but especially in Religion for the doctrine of the Gospel is not capable of such proofs but that a perverse and unteachable Spirit may find some kind of evasions to abate the force of them and may raise some kind of groundless suspicion that possibly things might have been otherwise than they are there represented The evidence of Christian Religion in these days doth in great measure depend upon the historical truth of those relations of matters of fact which were done by our Saviour and his Apostles in confirmation of the doctrine they taught and the truth of those things is attested by as credible witnesses as any matter of fact ever was and matters of fact are not capable of any other or better proof than the testimony of those who were eye-witnesses of them But yet still a man that were perverse and obstinate might say that the evidence of sense is more convincing than that of witnesses That seeing is believing and if I could see some of those signs and wonders wrought now which are reported to have been done in our Saviours time I would believe But as for these Historical narrations if either the Authors of them were themselves deceived or did intend to deceive or delude posterity neither of which is absolutely impossible if either of these things should have been those relations are no evidence at all Now although it be the most absurd and unreasonable thing in the world to suppose that so many thousands of the Primitive Christians should lay down their lives so cheerfully in testimony of the truth of the Gospel without being satisfied about it themselves or with intention to deceive others Though this be the absurdest thing in the world yet if any man will be so perverse as to think so of the Apostles and first Christians what further Argument can be used to convince him For what further evidence can we expect of any mans sincerity in what he saith than that he will lay down his life to attest it as they did And then for their knowledge in these things we may well appeal to the divine wisdom wherewith they spake and wrote that such men could not be deceived in the plainest matters Yet still the testimony of the Apostles and first Christians is not so great evidence as that of sense though it be as great as the nature of the thing is capable of And therefore a man that is resolved to yield to nothing but sensible demonstration must expect to go away unsatisfied as to the truth of the Gospel because it is not now capable of that kind of evidence But now an humble Enquirer after truth that sought for knowledge in order to practice such a one would not be thus obstinate and refractory in his proceedings He would content himself with such evidence as the things he enquires about are capable of and will require no greater And indeed it is reasonable to suppose that those perverse disputers who are not content with that rational evidence we have for the truth of the Gospel would not be convinced though they saw a miracle For our Saviour hath plainly told us in a like case If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they believe though one arise unto them from the dead The Law of Moses was at first confirmed to the Jews by miracles but afterwards they were to be content with the testimony of their Fathers concerning it and those who would not believe the doctrine of Moses upon that evidence according to our Saviours judgment would not be convinced by the greatest miracle even the resurrection of one from the dead The case is now the same with us as it was with the Jews in our Saviours time At the
first promulgation of the Gospel it was confirmed from Heaven by such signs and wonders and mighty works which could not have been wrought but by the almighty power of God attesting the truth of what our Saviour and his Apostles taught But the doctrine of the Gospel being once sufficiently confirmed God expects now that man should rest satisfied with that evidence which he then gave and is conveyed down to us by the testimony of those who were witnesses of those miracles and mighty works with which it was then attested Nor is it to be expected that God should now work miracles to convince the obstinate since the evidence he hath already given is sufficient for those who are humble and teachable and will render the obstinate inexcusable Men may therefore if they please dispute themselves out of their Religion upon I know not what vain surmises and set up for Wits and men of more than ordinary reach not to be imposed on by any Historical Narrations though never so well attested but in the end they will find how far this perverse and arrogant humour falls short of true wisdom when for the sake of that they reject the divine and heavenly doctrine which if carefully attended to and obeyed is able to save their souls By what hath been said it is easie to understand how necessary a qualification humility is in order to our enquiry after truth and how effectual it is to make us fit for the reception of it 4. A fourth branch of duty very advantagious to us to make us capable of divine knowledge is calmness of temper and moderation of passions He that comes to enquire after truth must bring with him a quiet and sedate temper he must be willing to hear patiently what can be said on both sides and by no means engage his passion on either part till he hath first satisfied his Reason about it Our passions are then very useful and beneficial to us when they promote our vigour in the prosecution of things that are vertuous and praise-worthy and when they encourage us to make a bold resistance against all things that are wicked and unworthy of us but then that we may be assured that our passion is duely exercised it is necessary that our reason should have first throughly considered of the matter and given in its impartial sentence before we suffer our passions to interpose in our examination of truth For when once our affections are engaged on any side they do certainly biass the judgment and make it admit of every small appearance or shadow of truth which seems to favour the opinion we have a fansie for and to reject with disdain the strongest reasonings when they are opposed to what we desire should be true Men do not then sincerely seek for truth but endeavour to prove that true which they have a mind to and though they happen to be mistaken they will not then endure to be better informed and are impatient of any contradiction And this is accounted one great reason why among so many Writers of Controversie so few have ever changed the opinions they at first maintained or have yielded the cause when they have been fairly and fully answered Alas it is hard for them to renounce those beloved notions which had been impressed on their minds in their younger years and they had rather take hold of any shift or evasion then grant they had been in an errour But if they find their own reason begin to waver being in part convinced by the force of contrary reasons they fly for refuge to the Authority of others and fortifie themselves with this consideration that such and such men are men of noted learning and piety and yet they are all of this opinion and yet doubtless they understood the force of those arguments better than we do and would have yielded to them had they thought them convincing Thus when Reason of it self would yield yet their affection to the cause and the men that maintain it makes them hold out still and though they have a glimpse of truth they dare not they cannot receive it But the passion I intended principally to speak of as being a great hindrance to our receiving the Truth is that of Anger which is a boisterous unruly passion and disorders all the powers of the reasonable soul and makes them wholly unfit for any impressions of truth A man that is angry and impatient will not allow his Adversary leave to speak out half an argument but presently he is provoked and then he is not able to make a reasonable defence though he should have the truth on his side he doth not then consider what is most fit and proper to be said but casts out at random what his passion first suggests to him all his thoughts are then in commotion and like the troubled waves will not receive any perfect image of things and you may as well hope to convince a mad man as him Now this heat of passion as it makes men very unfit to be wrought upon by others so it commonly suggests to us very improper ways of arguing when we endeavour to convince them who differ from us This temper of mind produces those sharp and satyrical Treatises whereby some men endeavour if not to convince yet to shame and silence their Adversaries by exposing their persons and representing them to the World under odious Characters Now certainly what ever these men may hope this method of railing and reviling though the persons they accuse may really deserve all that is said of them yet I say this is not a fit method for the propagation of truth For as the piety of one man ought to be no defence or security for his errour so neither ought it to be any argument against the truth that it is defended by a bad man and therefore all the Arguments that are levelled against the person of our Adversary are wholly besides the purpose they tend onely to the breach of Charity not to the convincing any mans judgement that differs from us And certainly our blessed Savior when he gave us so many precepts of meekness and charity towards all men when he so often requires us not to judge and condemn our brethren over whom we have no jurisdiction when he represents to us the danger of uncharitable speeches S. Matt. v. 22. Whosoever shall say to his brother Raca shall be in danger of the council and whosoever shall say Thou Fool shall be in danger of Hell-fire When our Saviour so often inculcates these and the like precepts requiring so humble and charitable demeanour towards our brethren both in thoughts words he cannot be supposed to give the least permission to his Disciples to endeavour to propagate or defend any part of his doctrine by reproachful and contumelious usage of the persons they contend with Sure I am his own example was infinitely different from what men practise in these days Our Saviour had certainly more
conscience being as it were bribed in their testimony by the love they bear to the pleasures and profits and honours of this World Now if we lay aside these two sorts of men those that act by no principle of Reason at all and those who are manifestly corrupted by their lusts and smother and contradict their own Reason neither of which can be esteemed fit men to be relied upon as Judges of Truth the remainder of the World if there be any not reducible to one of these two sorts is infinitely a less number than those who have been constant Witnesses to and Assertors of the Divine Providence and that with the loss of all other things that are most dear to them and of life it self And therefore I think it reasonable to infer that though the Fathers in the former Chapter be considered onely as Witnesses of this Truth in general that God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him yet their examples added to the convictions of our own Reason are sufficient to justifie the wisdom of our choice in being religious though we had no further motives to it than this inasmuch as they who renounce Religion do it either without or against their Reason and there can be no competent evidence on their side who do so but the force of their examples before mentioned will be yet more considerable to engage us to imitate their patience if we consider 2. The great difference between their state and ours and the far greater advantages we enjoy above them How far their knowledge extended beyond the the principle before mentioned it is not easie nor necessary to determine But thus much is plain that their condition was much more imperfect than ours under the Gospel The knowledge they had of a future state was dark and obscure the promises they received were mysterious and unevident but now under the Gospel the case is much otherwise The types and shadows and ceremonies of the Law under which the promised Messias was obscurely represented of old are now exchanged for the substance it self Now life and immortality is brought to light by the Gospel We have now greater demonstration of the goodness and mercy of God towards us than they had in that he spared not his own Son but gave him for us all We have a better prospect of the promised reward We have now clearer promises of the divine Spirit to assist and support us in all our Trials and to enable us to run our Race with patience These and many other advantages of knowledge we enjoy These encouragements to practise we have received beyond what the Fathers were acquainted with And this the Apostle refers to in the conclusion of the former Chapter These all having obtained a good report through saith received not the promises God having provided some better things for us that they without us should not be made perfect Now the inference from this consideration is very plain and obvious For if the Fathers before the coming of our Saviour who received not those exceeding great and pretious promises which are revealed in the Gospel did yet exercise so great degrees of Faith so mighty a confidence and trust in God as to endure such bitter things in obedience to him as we read they did how strongly should this excite and provoke our zeal and fervor to follow after them in this glorious enterprize and to run with patience the Race set before us how should we be ashamed and blush to read the History of their sufferings and the glory of their vertues if we who enjoy so many advantages above them do yet come short of their bravery and resolution and constant obedience to the will of God 3. The examples of those who have gone before us in the ways of Vertue ought to have this further influence to engage us in the like chearful discharge of our duty inasmuch as they are witnesses of the possibility of those things that are required of us in order to the attainment of that reward the Crown we seek for The hardest duties required of us have been long since accomplished by them and accomplished with such full assurance of hope such ravishing apprehensions of the joy set before them as perfectly over-balanced all the difficulties they met with and made them joyful and couragious amidst the most severe tortures Let no man then pretend that the commands of God are impossible to be kept that his Laws are hard or grievous to be done since we have seen them fulfilled in so high a manner and that under a more imperfect dispensation than that of the Gospel as the state of those manifestly was nor is it a bare possibility of our task which we are taught by their example but they are Witnesses of the loveliness of Vertue that it is very excellent and desirable worthy our choice and constant embraces though it be attended with greatest dangers and persecution For if it were not so it were not possible that all the Saints and Martyrs who have gone before us should have expressed so constant a joy and satisfaction in what they suffered for its sake It was a fansiful supposition of Tully that if Vertue could be seen by bodily eyes it would appear so comely and amiable so beautiful and lovely that men would need no other arguments to invite them to embrace it I will not say this supposition is altogether extravagant because it may fairly be understood of those great examples of Vertue some of which have appeared in all Ages to vindicate its practice from all the disadvantages under which the folly and slothfulness of men is wont to represent it In brave and Heroick examples Vertue appears as it were clothed with flesh and blood visible to the eyes of the most stupid and insensible since there are none so barbarous and savage who will not follow a truly vertuous man with reverence and applause though they see him oft-times clouded by affliction and oppressed by the malicious and unjust The truth is no kind of Arguments hath greater advantages of persuasion and leave us more without Excuse than good and vertuous Examples Others may speak great things in commendation of Vertue and the Reward prepared for it but if notwithstanding they live not as they teach there is an easie answer to be made to such Exhortations and we may be apt to reply Surely these men do not really believe what they endeavour to persuade us for if they did it would be their interest to practise Vertue as well as ours and why do they neglect it But when men teach us by Example as well as Doctrine then they may urge their precepts with good assurance and we have no excuse or pretence left why we should not follow and imitate them The Saints therefore and Martyrs who have left behind them such glorious Memorials of their obedience and faith in God and patient sufferings for conscience sake do herein give us the most powerful
to urge it to this very purpose Rom. ij 14. when speaking of the Gentiles to whom God had made no particular revelation of his will as he had to the Jews yet notwithstanding he tells us that they also should be judged as others were inasmuch as they had the law of conscience written in their hearts and had from thence sufficient reason to expect that God would call them to account for the violation of it and reward those who did obey it The Gentiles which have not the law are a law unto them selves and shew the work of the law written in their hearts their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts the mean time accusing or else excusing one another in the day when God shall judge the secrets of all men 2. Besides the dictates and testimony of our own mind if we consider the Nature of God and his Attributes together with our necessary dependance on him this will give us further assurance that there is a further judgment to be expected God who gave us our being and doth continually preserve and support us in it who hath endued us with so many excellent perfections above other Creatures hath certainly the justest right to our obedience and service And accordingly he hath given Laws to Mankind for the government of our lives Laws agreeable to his own nature Laws that are holy and just and good and that none should plead ignorance of these Laws he hath as was observed written them in their souls and stampt upon them sufficient evidence of their divine authority and obligation And can we think the All-wise Creator hath done all this in vain Can we persuade our selves that these divine impressions upon our soul these notices of the will of God were implanted in our nature to no purpose at all No surely the natural promulgation of the divine Laws is alone sufficient evidence that he expects and requires obedience to them and that according to our observance or neglect of them he will one day either reward or punish us One of the first and most natural notions of God is that he is a rewarder of the good and vertuous And this belief S. Paul requires as antecedent to all religious worship of him He that cometh to God must believe that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him And if we must believe him a rewarder of the good we must upon the same ground of Reason believe that he is also a punisher of the bad Now if we look abroad into the World it is easie to observe that the distribution of humane affairs in this life hath very little appearance of that universal and impartial Justice which we have reason to believe God will exercise towards the Sons of men It is very plain that many men suffer in this World for their vertue and integrity and that others to the contrary raise themselves to a great degree of prosperity by wickedness and oppression When therefore we see some men prosper in their Villany others afflicted for their Piety what can we conclude but that the Judge of all the Earth hath appointed another time and place wherein he will judge the World in Righteousness and recompense all men according to their deserving It is true indeed God doth many times in this life exert his power in the punishment of some notorious Villanies There are many remarkable revolutions which happen in the World which carry with them very signal evidence of a divine Providence and Power presiding over humane affairs But the instances of this kind are very few in comparison with the great wickedness of Mankind and therefore we are not to look upon the judgments that befal men in this life as the compleat execution of the divine Vengeance onely that they are so many remembrancers to awaken men into a sense of that justice which will one day equally appear to all God is pleased many times to make his power known in the exemplary punishment of some men in this life sometimes for their own amendment that they may escape the Wrath to come sometimes for examples to others that they may see it and fear and remember that the MOST HIGH ruleth among the children of men but still the full execution of his justice is reserved to another life and there we must expect that he will bring every work into judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or bad 3. A further evidence of a Judgment to come may be taken from the concurrent testimony and belief of all Nations The many Religions of the Heathen though disagreeing infinitely in other things yet do all consent in this belief that there is another state after this when all men shall be rewarded or punished as they have done in this Hence arose the many Fables of their Poets concerning the punishment men underwent in Hell and their descriptions of Elyzium which they supposed to be the seat of happy souls who had lived here holy and innocent Hence it was that those good Heathens who were conscious to themselves of having lived up to the light they had were so undaunted and couragious at the approach of death being firmly persuaded that their souls should over-live their bodies and that they should enjoy the presence of God and the society of good and vertuous men that had gone before them Thus Pythagoras taught his Scholars that if they lived vertuously here when they came to leave the body they should go to Heaven and become like God and should be no more liable to death Thus Socrates said of himself when he was going to die that he should go to a just God and to men better than any living and that after death it was much better with good men than with the bad Many expressions to this purpose may be gathered from the Writings of the ancient Heathens which are sufficient intimation of this belief that there were rewards and punishments to be expected in another life according to our actions whether good or bad Now that this belief and expectation of a future state should be thus firmly received by all the several Parties in Religion by men of all Nations and Sects though they disagreed infinitely in other things must be grounded upon some certain Principles of Reason which are common to all men or else must be the effect of some early revelation made by God in the beginning before the several Nations were dispersed over the Earth Which of these may be the true account of this universal consent in this matter it is not easie to determine but whichsoever it be the inference will be certain that there is a Judgment to come because all Nations have agreed in the expectation of it For if they agreed in this Persuasion from the force of natural Principles there can be no greater evidence of the truth of any rational deduction than that all men that use their reason should argue alike and agree in the same