what he allows and much more to be zealous against what he approves and commandeth is contrary to his Will Interest and Honour This is not in a true account Zeal for God but rather against him That Zeal which is not according to knowledg which is not guided and warranted by the Word hath an errour in the foundation It hath nothing to difference it from the Zeal of the grossest Idolaters in the World A Papist may be heartily zealous in his way zealous to promote his Religion and gain Proselytes to it zealous against the soundest Christians crying out against such as dangerous Hereticks wishing that they might come to their old work again to burn such as Hereticks In this his Zeal he may follow his judgment thinking he should do God good service as Joh. 16.2 even in persecuting the faithful to the death if it was in his power when alas he is miserably mistaken This will not justifie any in their Zeal for Idolatry that they think God best served most honoured that way This will not warrant any in their rage against the Saints and Servants of the most High God that they take them to be Hereticks or Hypocrites But they shall find it was their duty to have informed themselves better and not to condemn the righteous and not to call good evil The Devil that cannot endure but is an utter enemy to right Zeal is ready to promote a false blind Zeal all he can He is never weary of blowing this coal This he knows would do him Knights service He cannot but account such his best servants who are zealous in his service Such do as much as can be to credit his Cause who put the honourable title of Zeal for God upon the service they do his grand enemy Such fight against God while they carry his Colours blind Zeal is a piece of the greatest disservice to the interest of God and Religion Sometimes blind Zeal fights with a shadow strikes at a Sign-post but letteth the enemy quietly pass by And which is worse it sometimes falleth foul on those whom it ought to defend A Man acted with Blind Zeal is like one that shoots at Rovers who is more likely to do mischief than hit the Mark or like one that fighteth blindfold striking Friends as soon as Foes What sad havock what woful work hath blind Zeal oft made in the Church Even like a violent Fire that getting head layeth all waste before it The Devil has no stiffer prop to uphold his Kingdom and no fiercer engine of Persecution or battering Ram to employ against the Kingdom of Christ Therefore let not any please themselves in this that they are Zealous in their way when perhaps they are out of the way And if so the more haste the worse speed Zeal in a false way casts Men more behind No Offering acceptable to God without Fire yet to offer strange-Fire here is very perillous And that is not Fire from Heaven where there is heat without Light Where these go alone either Heat without Light Zeal without Knowledg or Light without Heat Knowledg without Zeal it is sadly ominous but where they go together very comfortable Are you zealous but who and what are you zealous for And what is your Zeal against I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Hosts says Elijah because the Children of Israel have forsaken thy Covenant thrown down thine Altars and slain thy Prophets c. 1 King 19.14 Is thy Zeal against Sin indeed So that thou canst not indure to see God dishonoured his Worship neglected and contemned his Truth opposed his Saints and Servants evil intreated c. Is thy Zeal for that which is good Gal. 4.18 It is good to be zealously affected alwayes in a good thing The Apostle Paul was very zealous before his Conversion but of the traditions of his Fathers Gal. 1.14 Many have a Zeal but for their own fancies and private opinions Oh what pitty is it that such spirits should evaporate and be lost Let a Man's Zeal be never so hearty if the Mettal have not a right stamp it is not currant Zeal unless it be rightly guided sayes learned Hooker when it indeavoureth most busily to please God Eccl. polit l. 5. §. 3. p. 190. forceth upon him those unseasonable Offices which please him not For which cause if they who this way swerve be compared with such as are sincere sound and discreet as was Abraham the friend of God the service of the one is like unto flattery the other like the faithful sedulity of friendship 2. Right Zeal burns within before it flames out Hypocrites can be hot in their expressions but are not fervent in spirit Hot in the Mouth but cold at Stomach cold at Heart Like Glow-worms fiery in appearance yet really cold in themselves Blind Zeal is strange Fire an hypocritical fained Zeal is false Fire But true Zeal is not all in shew though it will shew it self It lieth chiefly in the fervency and intention of the Spirit and Affections The life of Zeal is in the Heart As when the Apostle Paul was at Athens seeing the City wholly given to Idolatry his spirit was stirred in him and this stirred him up to dispute and Preach against their Idolatry Act. 17.16 c. As Ezekiel's hearers with their mouth shewed much love Ezek. 33.13 it is possible that many in their outward expressions may shew much Zeal declaming freely and often against the Sins of the Age as the horrible increase of Prophaneness growth of Popery c. and may seem to bewail the woful declining state of true Piety amongst us but are our hearts deeply touched and affected with the sense of these things Surely that Zeal which is only from the teeth outward is not true but feigned 3. True Zeal hath respect to God it pointeth towards God As Fire ascends Sparks fly upwards That is not right Zeal which is flashy vain-glorious in pretence for God but really for self To pretend Zeal for the Lord as Jehu did but really to design and aim at self-applause and self-advantage this is to mock God or this is but to flatter him And certainly that God which searcheth the heart will put a difference betwixt such flatterers and his true friends They that have a true Zeal for God will ordinarily prefer God's Honour and Interest before their own concerns True Zeal is accompanied with self-denial Such can be zealous for God when they are like to suffer for their Zeal They could better endure to suffer themselves than that the Truth should suffer They could take it more patiently to be reviled themselves to have their names cast out as evil than that the good wayes of God be evil spoken of 4. True Zeal will burn alone As Elijah was zealous for the Lord God of Hosts even when he seemed to himself to be left alone when he knew not of one that would take his part 1 Kings 19.10 As the Apostle Paul
the Truth and in the Cause of God Answer 1. It concerns you to be well assured that it is God's Truth you are Zealous for How many that take their own private conceits for Divine Truths 2. All Truths are not of equal importance And though the least Truth may not be denied or opposed yet lesser Truths may be silenced and concealed when a Zealous contending for them would be to the wrong and prejudice of far greater and more necessary Matters That is not to defend but to betray the Interest of God and his Truth when Men care not perdere substantiam propter accidentia to lose the substance of Religion for Accidents and Circumstances And that is Erratick Zeal and Mischievous like Fire out of its place when Men are so hot and earnest in contending about lesser Points that they themselves neglect and do what in them lieth to hinder others minding the main of Religion Zeal like Fire in its proper place is of great use and benefit But out of its place very dangerous and destructive And remember Sirs that true Zeal for God is most for those Truths and Duties wherein the great interest of Religion lieth And is most against such things whereby God is most dishonoured the Gospel obstructed Religion most wronged discredited c. 8. Right Zeal is joyned with Christian Moderation is for Christian Concord One of a truly zealous Spirit is also of an healing closing Spirit is of a publick Spirit Right Zeal is more for the common interest of Religion than for private Opinions It is no Firebrand no Incendiary in the Church It is moved at what it sees amiss it is for Reformation but will not hurry Men upon disorderly actings in their passionate sense of Disorders It is against extreams on both Hands Passionate Transports and rash heady Courses are not the effects of an holy but of a bitter Zeal Right Zeal keepeth within due compass It is for Edification not for Destruction It is for Peace and Unity It is for Sodering and Cementing not for Separating such as should Joyn. As Fire though it separate Heterogenials congregates Homogenials Yea it will melt divers Metals into one Lump True Zeal is not for perverse Disputings tending to Strife but for godly Edifying in Faith It is not for kindling Dissentions or causing Offences and Divisions amongst Christians but is moved with great Grief at the sight of such things As the Apostle Who is offended and I burn not It is for maintaining the unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace And they that are more zealous to maintain some By-opinions than to maintain Union and Communion with their Fellow-Christians are quite besides the Mark. The Churches Peace and Edifying one another in Love are far greater Matters than any unnecessary Opinions which too many too zealously contend for Yea Vnnecessary is too good a word for some of them I should have said unsound Opinions O that the Guilty here would seriously consider whether it would not be more for the Honour of God the Credit and Interest of the Gospel and the securing of true Religion amongst us to joyn with their Fellow-Christians so far as they can to hold together to their mutual help strengthening and encouragement than to be so hot for their Opinions which if they were true yet are far remote from the Foundation and so far from being necessary to Salvation that not one of hundreds that are saved and now in Heaven was ever of their Way and Opinion here To be so rigid in their Way to carry as if all were unfit and unworthy for them to hold Christian Communion with that come not over to such Opinions of theirs alas this is Wild-fire not true Spiritual Zeal And verily I cannot think of any thing that will probably more harden and encourage Papists at this Day than the sad Rents and Dissentions amongst Protestants As he said Is not the hand of Joab in all this So it is probable enough the Heads of Jesuites have been in this Divide impera They know a Kingdom divided against it self is not likely to stand long and hope to raise themselves on our Ruines 9. That is right Zeal when we are more moved with Indignities offered unto God than with any Injuries done to our selves When we are more zealous in God's Cause than in our own We find Numb 12.1 2. Miriam and Aaron speak against Moses yet he seemed not at all concerned for himself We find not any reply that he made He was meek in his own cause Whereas upon sight of the Peoples Impiety their Idolatry in the Cause of God he was presently all on a flame His anger waxed hot Exod. 32.19 To be mild in our own cause but zealous in God's is a sign that we are indeed zealous for God As it is a sign of the contrary when we are remiss as can be unmoved unless when our own Interest is wrapt together with God's Interest As most Parents and Masters can bear it well enough though Children fail never so grosly in respect of the Duty that they owe to God though Servants plainly neglect and contemn God's Service They can bear with their Impiety with their taking God's Name in vain with the prophaning of his Day c. And yet many times they are all Fire and Tow if such do but fail in point of good Manners to them if they be not very observant of them and their commands Now it is true the least Irreverence towards Parents and so negligence in Servants are Sins against God But if upon that account you are most moved and displeased then you will be displeased at other Sins as well and more displeased at greater Sins than you are at these You will be zealous for God when Self is not so much concerned 10. Right Zeal for God is joyned with real Love and true compassion towards Men towards Sinners Thus while we hate their Sins we should yet love and heartily wish well to their Persons While we cannot bear with them that are evil in that which is evil yet we should be glad to do them good and glad indeed if by any means we might be helping to make them better As great Enemies as the Jews were to the Gospel and to the Apostle Paul yet he could not but pity them and his hearts desire and prayer to God was for them that they might be saved Rom. 10.1 Zeal against Sinners hath anger and grief in it not hatred As in the Apostle 2 Cor. 12.21 True Zeal desires their Conversion rather than Confusion And would rejoyce more in their Reformation than in their Ruine Our Saviour checked the furious Zeal of the Disciples when they would fain have been calling down Fire from Heaven to consume those poor Creatures that would not receive him Ye know not what manner of Spirit ye are of Luke 9.54 55. They were too hasty at that time a spirit of Revenge was stirring in them which was not Elias's spirit
Treachery The settled bent of their Hearts and so the general course of their Lives is right 16. The upright Man is striving after and growing up towards full Perfection The Righteous shall hold on his way And he that hath clean Hands wax stronger and stronger Thus the Way of the Lord is strength to the Upright And his Word does good to the Upright Mic. 2.7 It is an ill sign when one is at a constant stay in Religion When one holds on in a round of Duties without going forward And commonly Hypocrites go out at last in a stinking snuff But the Path of the Just is as the shining Light which shineth more and more unto the Perfect Day Prov. 4.18 Such are pressing towards the Mark Phil. 3.14 15. Of Zeal TIT. 2.14 A peculiar People zealous of good Works 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 accensum studio bonorum operum as Beza fervently given unto good Works as in our old English translation Zeal is a word of various acceptation In general it signifies heat and fervour From 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ferveo In Heb. 10.27 there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we read fiery indignation in our old Translation violent Fire This Word is transferred to the heat and fervour of the Spirit and Affections which is of diverse kinds As 1. There is a natural Zeal As some naturally are of lively active spirits full of mettle as we use to say Luther seemeth to have been naturally of such a temper As Bucer said of him Nihil in eo non vehemens What an happy thing it is when such a temper is guided and acted by Grace Ordinarily such will do more for God 2. There is a carnal Zeal We find emulations among the works of the Flesh reckoned up Gal. 5.19 20 21. In the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Apostle James condemns 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a bitter Zeal Jam. 3.14 Envy is a kind of Zeal but not of the right kind It is bitter Zeal It is a sort of wild Grapes There is a Blind Zeal Such as Idolaters Papists Persecuters may be acted by A blind zeal when Men are Zealous in a false way and Zealous against the Truth Taking light for darkness and darkness for light Calling good evil and evil good There is a superstitious extravagant and erratick zeal when Men are Zealous about such things where it would be a vertue to be cool and moderate And there is an Hypocritical Zeal when Men have or seem to have great Zeal for the Truth and against Errour and falshood but it is only for self-respects and carnal ends Thus carnal Zeal moves in a large Sphere takes a great compass 3. There is a Spiritual Zeal A being zealous of good Works indeed and zealous for God even for his sake An holy Zeal This is both commanded Rev. 3.19 Be zealous And commended Num. 25.11 Phinehas the Son of Eleazer hath turned my wrath away while he was zealous for my sake So this Zeal should not go unrewarded Many commend lukewarmness and indifferency in Religion under the terms of Moderation Prudence and Discretion But Christ and the World are not of a mind A lukewarm temper the Lord cannot endure Rev. 3.15 16. Because thou art luke-warm and neither cold nor hot I will spue thee out of my mouth But as Bishop Hall observes Vol. 1. p. 903. The goodness of God winks at the Errors of honest Zeal and so loveth the strength of good Affections that it passeth over their Infirmities Again ib. p. 938. He Pardoneth the Errours of our fervency rather than the indifferencies of lukewarmness Indeed where there is no Zeal for God there is no Love to God Qui non Zelat non amat Where there is Life there will be some heat Here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be spiritually alive and to be lively are not more alike in sound than really akin Zeal in one degree or other is as inseparable from spiritual Life as heat is from fire It 's true as every sincere Christian is not a Nathaniel for degree and measure of Sincerity and plain-heartedness So neither is every such Soul a Moses a Phinehas an Elias for Zeal Yet the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force Mat 11.12 And it is one property of Christ's redeemed ones his peculiar People to be zealous of good Works This holy Zeal of which I am to speak as was said of Vprightness and Sincerity is not any distinct particular Grace but a modus or respect of other Graces Though some define it as a compound of Love and Anger Zelus est affectus ex amore irâ mixtus cum scil irascimur ei à quo laeditur id quod amamus Yet I cannot so confine it There must be Zeal accompanying our Repentance 2 Cor. 7.11 And Zeal in our Love We must love fervently 1 Pet. 1.22 and 4.8 And it is the symtom of corrupt times when love waxeth cold Mat. 24.12 Zeal is the spritely vigour and activity of all Grace the ardor of all the Affections with the earnestness and intention that is in all spiritual actings Indeed the chief heat of it is in the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 12.11 This Fire is burning in the gracious Heart in the sanctified Will and Affections yet its heat is further diffused into the Conversation All our Spiritual Sacrifices must be offered up with this Fire Fervent in Spirit serving the Lord. Prayer must be Zealous fervent Prayer Jam. 5.16 Col. 4.12 13. Ministers must Preach zealously as Apollos Act. 18.25 None are allowed to do the work of the Lord negligently remisly There must be Zeal in hearing the Word Here our hearts should burn within us as Luk. 24.32 we should be zealous in reproving as Gal. 2.11 Yea no good work is well done without Zeal We must be zealous of and zealous in good Works It s not enough barely to do good Works but we must be earnest upon it and vigorous in the Work Quest But how shall we know whether our Zeal be right Answ 1. True Zeal is guided by a right Judgment a judgment regulated by the Word To allude to that Isa 4.4 The spirit of judgment must go along with the spirit of burning A blind ignorant rash Zeal is not good nor will it prove ones estate good Such a Zeal Paul had while a desperate Persecuter Act. 26.9 which afterwards he saw to be fury and madness rather than Zeal v. 11. This made him Mad once not his learning as Festus would have had it v. 24. such a Zeal the carnal unbelieving Jews had Rom. 10.2 Let Men be never so zealous in their way if it be not God's way their Zeal runs waste God is not honoured but dishonoured not well pleased but displeased with that Zeal which is not according to his Word To be zealous for what he hath not commanded and much more to be zealous for what he hath forbidden to be zealous against
could not but express his Zeal for God at Athens when he had none to back him Acts 17. Come see my Zeal for the Lord says Jehu a Kings 10.16 An Hypocrite is not well pleased if he have not some to take notice of his Zeal some that will applaud him for it His Zeal in a good cause is soon cooled if he have not some about him such as would encourage and help to blow it up Whereas true Zeal will burn still when there are none about it but such as endeavour to blow it out As Lot's Soul was vexed from day to day in Sodom with their unlawful deeds 2 Pet. 2.8 If a Zealous Christian hath his lot cast in a wicked prophane Place or Family even there will his Zeal be breaking forth True Zeal will not be smothered or put out with the coldness and deadness of others about it but rather useth to be more excited and intended As Fire burns hottest in cold frosty Weather 5. True Zeal is not Partial but would appear for all that wherein God's Honour and Interest lieth It is as Extensive as sincere and sound Obedience It is Quantitas intensiva obedientiae according to Dr. Ames Thus to be Zealous of good works in the whole kind of them ready to promote any good Work earnestly desirous to abound in every good Work would shew our Zeal to be right But a partial Zeal as a partial Obedience is not right As partial heats in the Body are no signs of good Health To be Zealous for works of Charity but no friends of Holiness and true Piety Or to seem forward for pious Exercises but to be careless of other Moral Duties To be negligent in the duties of our particular Callings and Relations cannot be right True Zeal in a Magistrate will make him active for God as a Magistrate as Nehemiah was True Zeal in a Minister will make him diligent in the work of his Ministry Like Apollos who being fervent in Spirit spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord Acts 18.25 True Zeal in the Master of a Family will make him Industrious in his Place To instruct his Houshold in the Way of the Lord and to engage them in God's Service after Abraham's example Yea one that is truly Zealous of good Works will act uniformly Not be hot in Prayer Hearing Conference and Cold and Heartless as to other Duties 6. True Zeal sets against all Sin as it is discovered This will cause ones Blood to rise against Sin So a Man will be ready to reprove and shew his dislike of Sin as he has opportunity So he will endeavour in his Place according to his Power to oppose Sin to prevent suppress it True Zeal will make a Man an enemy to Sin wheresoever he sees it wheresoever he meets with it To appear very forward to condemn the faults of an Enemy of such as bear no good will to us and to bear with Sin in our Friends in such as are nearly related to us this is not right True Zeal would make one like Levi in God's Cause Who said unto his Father and to his Mother I have not seen him neither did he acknowledg his Brethren nor knew his own Children Deut. 33.9 As Asa would not bear with Idolatry in his own Mother 2 Chron. 15.16 In the trial of your Love observe its working at a distance as this will better appear in its workings towards those that are farthest off in its being extended to Strangers Enemies than in its workings towards Friends and Relations that are near you But in the trial of your Zeal on the contrary especially observe how it worketh near hand To condemn Sin in others but to indulge and spare our own Sins is not right Some are so Zealous against others Offences De Adventu Dom. Ser. 4. as Bernard says that they might seem to hunger and thirst after Righteousness if they had the same judgment also of their own Sins But now a weight and a weight as he alludes is an abomination to the Lord. True Zeal would least endure Sin in its own Territories As Fire has most power on what is next it Zeal where it is in truth will be firing out ones own Corruptions Like an Hearth of fire among Wood and like a Torch of fire in a Sheaf As the Psalmist says My Zeal hath consumed me Psal 119.139 So Zeal will be consuming ones Lusts Are we salted with this Fire according to the expression Mark 9.49 A truly Zealous Christian has the greatest indignation against his own Sins and is most forward to take revenge on himself and them 2 Cor. 7.11 And he would not spare one of his Sins Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel yet this shewed his Zeal was not right that he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam he was still for the Golden Calves 2 Kings 10.28 29. A resolved indulgence and allowance of any known Sin and true Zeal are inconsistent 7. A right and regular Zeal is most vehement in the greatest Matters As Fire the grosser the substance that it takes hold Ignis in materia densiori acriùs urit and feeds upon the hotter it burns True Zeal is more for plain and necessary Duties than for any disputable point or matter of Controversie So likewise it riseth against Sin according to the quality and aggravations thereof What one noteth to have always been the Hypocrites guise Dr. Downam on Psal 15. p. 33. is the genius of false Zeal scil To neglect the greater Duties and to affect the observation of the less to prefer Circumstances before the Substance and Ceremonies before the works either of Piety or Charity to place the height of their Religion either in observing or urging Ceremonies or contrariwise in inveighing against them Observe it to be more Zealous for or against a Ceremony than for the weightiest and most substantial Duties or than against great and foul Enormities to be more Zealous about some disputable Point and Opinion wherein sound Christians may have different apprehensions than for main matters of Faith and Godliness matters essential to true Christianity wherein all that are Christians indeed must agree both as to Belief and Practice is no good sign You would not take him for a wise and careful Builder that laid the greatest weight on the weakest part of the Wall So it must be indiscreet Zeal or worse than indiscreet which is more for unnecessary Opinions than for the most substantial Duties and fundamental Truths Is that true Zeal for God Or rather is it not a selfish Zeal which is for ones own Opinions neglecting those things which make most for the Honour of God and wherein the main interest of Religion lieth Though many warm themselves at these Sparks many comfort themselves that they are Zealous in their way for their own Parties and Opinions yet in the end they may lie down in sorrow for it But some will say Would you not have us Zealous for
hold on by consent and affiance Or thus there is the primary and principal Object of Faith and the secondary and less principal Object The primary and principal Object of Faith are the fundamentals essentials and most necessary points of the Christian Religion Such Divine Doctrines Promises and Precepts without assent and consent unto which we cannot believe unto Salvation or be sound Christians Yet I shall not contend with those that make Christ the only Mediator and Saviour the principal Object of Faith forasmuch as I doubt not but we are agreed that the belief of all that is necessary to be known and believed of Christ doth suppose and include the belief of all other points that are absolutely necessary to Salvation And as he is the Chief and principal Means of bringing us to God the Scriptures have a chief reference and respect to Christ Luk. 24.44 Joh. 5.39 The secondary and less principal Object of Faith takes in other things contained in the Word that are of good use indeed Rom. 15.4 2 Tim. 3.16 But though all Scripture be of use and profitable yet all that is there written is not absolutely necessary to be distinctly known and explicitely believed And yet you may not hence infer that if you know and believe so much as is absolutely necessary to Salvation there needeth no more None are to stand at a stay in Religion All that are in the School of Christ must be making proficiency growin Faith and Knowledg We should diligently improve the means that the Word of Christ may dwell in us richly that we may be filled with the knowledg of his Will And further as a late Writer noteth there are points of Faith secondarily fundamental Fowler Design of Christianity p. 235. the disbelief of which cannot consist with true Holiness in those to whom the Gospel is sufficiently made known And all such Doctrines as are with indisputable clearness revealed to us the belief of these is absolutely necessary from an external cause though not from the nature of the points themselves viz. in regard of their perspicuity that nothing can cause Men to refuse to admit them but that which argueth them to be stark naught and to have some unworthy and base end in so doing or in the phrase of Scripture 2 Tim. 3.8 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reprobate concerning the Faith Note one thing more touching the Object of Faith scil That more is taken into the necessary Object of Faith now under the Gospel than was necessary before The Mystery of our Redemption by Christ being more fully unfolded in the Gospel a more distinct explicite Faith in Christ is required of us than was required of those to whom less was revealed Revelatio est mensura Fidei Le Blanc Though Noah Abraham and all the faithful before Christ were justified and saved by Faith yet not by that special kind of Faith that such as live under the Gospel are saved by I mean there are new Articles of Faith relating to Christ his Office and Undertaking as Mediator essential to a Gospel-Faith that were not essential to Faith before the promulgation of the Gospel Nor did the Apostles themselves believe some of them till after Christ's Resurrection concerning whom excepting Judas we have no doubt but they were true Believers Next to shew you the special and proper Acts of Faith They speak much in a little that call Faith a practical Assent and a fiducial Consent I cannot exclude any of these three Acts Assent Consent and Affiance The two last are plainly expressed in the shorter Catechism and all three fully in the Confession of Faith forecited And so the learned and holy Bishop Vsher Body of Divinity p. 197. Edit 1648. to the Question What is true Saving-Faith Answereth It is such a firm Assent of the Mind to the Truth of the Word as flows into the Heart and causeth the Soul to embrace it as good and to build its eternal Happiness on it And it should not seem strange that so much is taken into the nature of true Faith As Divines now generally place it not in the Vnderstanding only or in the Will only but in both faculties conjunct if they be distinct faculties and not the very essence of the Soul disposed and acting differently towards the Object considered in a different notion and respect And methinks it is plain in Scripture that the Faith to which Salvation is promised doth not consist in one single Act for there are these diverse Acts even now mentioned attributed to it 1. It is an Assent An Assent to the Truth of the Word in general and particularly to the Promise of Salvation by Christ Though I shewed before that Faith consists not barely in Assent that this is not the whole of Faith yet we cannot deny but this is part of it We find Faith thus described again and again that we must acknowledg it one Act of Faith It would be strange indeed if a belief of the Truth be no part of Faith Then Martha answered nothing to the Question Joh. 11.26 27. when she said yea Lord I believe that thou art the Christ So see Rom. 10.9 But how does Faith assent to Divine Truth 1. Faith assenteth really not feignedly A true Believer doth not only profess or confess with his Mouth but believes in his Heart as he professeth to believe 2. Faith assents firmly not waveringly It riseth higher than opinion It is more than a Semi-perswasion of the Truth As they said We believe and are sure Not as Agrippa almost thou perswadest me to be a Christian I grant that as all Christians have not the same measure of Spiritual-Knowledg and as there are different degrees of Faith so all Believers have not the same degree of firmness of Assent And Faith does not wholly exclude all doubtings but overcometh them Indeed sometimes very horrid thoughts arise or are injected that would put the Soul upon questioning all but they are not entertained but ordinarily abhorred and rejected as they come As one says Herb. Palmer Paradoxes p. 64. §. 72. He is sometimes so troubled that he thinks nothing is true in Religion and yet if he did think so he could not be at all troubled It is true thus a Believer sometimes is sore shaken yet not quite taken off from all but rather put upon earnest Prayer and indeavours to be more rooted and grounded in Faith So these shakings are wont to end in his more firm establishment And take the weakest Believer out of such a swounding-fit and he has ordinarily a deeper sense of Divine Truths and a stronger assent to them than others whose Faith is unsound though these may have a far greater measure of Notional Knowledg even such an Assent that he dare venture his Soul and all his hopes and concerns deliberately upon them 3. Faith assents freely In this sense it is true that with the Heart Man believeth Some are convinced of the Truth but sore
against their Wills There Assent is a forced not a free Assent As some are willingly Ignorant so some again are knowing unwillingly As Light is troublesome to sore Eyes so Knowledg and Convictions to unsound Minds And they put off convictions as long as they can Though they may take some delight in speculative Truths though they may not be offended at some practical Truths yet those Soul-searching and practical Truths that would come nearest and that most concern them they are strongly prejudiced against A true Believer would not resist the Truth would not shut it out He willingly yields to and takes part with God's Truth when he knows it even against any Errour or sinful practice he had been for before And so 4. Faith assents impartially A Believer assents to the whole Word of God in general and to every thing which he sees held forth in God's Word as true And we receive no Truth upon the Testimony and Authority of God in his Word if we receive not every thing for Truth which we see his Word for A quatenus ad omne valet consequentia A partial Assent or yielding to some Truths with a rejection of others which we see as clearly laid down in the Word will not stand with true Faith Certainly I cannot have the Faith of a Christian without believing the Trinity in Unity the Incarnation Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the way of Mans Redemption and Salvation by him But now when carnal reasonings are subdued and a Man is come to assent to those great Mysteries and chief Articles of Faith where the greatest difficulty lay he will more easily assent to other points of less difficulty seeing them confirmed by the same Divine Testimony upon which he rests assured of the Truth of those higher Mysteries Thus though good Men and true Believers may err and differ in controvertible points in points not fundamental or essential to true Christianity yet they are agreed in this common Principle That whatsoever the Lord saith in his Word is true And therefore when they see the Scripture against any opinion they have held it immediately puts an end to the Controversy They dare not hold any opinion contrary to known Scripture As for those that are for bringing Scripture to their opinions and not for bringing their opinions to Scripture and such as obstinately maintain their errours against clear evidence of God's Word which they see and will not see they must needs be of corrupt Minds and reprobate concerning the Faith Yet further to shew the impartiality of Faith's assent to Divine Truth 1. Hereby a Believer assents to the Truth of any thing he sees God's Word for without any other reason As indeed it is most unreasonable not to believe that God who cannot Lye who cannot be deceived or deceive Heb. 11.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Faith is the evidence of things not seen Faith takes it for sufficient proof and good demonstration that a thing is so because God saith it when it doth not otherwise at all appear to a Man's Sence or Reason 2. Where the same thing may be proved both by Scripture and by humane Reason e.g. that the World was created and had a beginning as we are taught in the Scripture we may also prove it by Reason yet a Believer more chearfully acquiesceth in the Testimony of God in his Word is better satisfied with that than with any Arguments a Philosopher could bring for it To a Believer there is more weight in one single Scripture-Testimony to ballast his Judgment than in a multitude of Philosophical Reasons besides the Scripture 3. A Believer assents to the Truth of the Word in things that are quite above Mans Reason Fides nostra super ratione quidem est non tamen temerarie irrationabiliter ad sumitur Junilius Ep. Afri As that there are three Persons yet but one God that the Son of God took Mans nature that there are two natures in Christ yet but one Person that there shall be a resurrection of the Body the same numerical Body though resolved into Dust shall be raised again and re-united to the Soul Such points as quite non-plus humane reason Faith takes for great and certain Verities Where natural Reason would say How can these things be Faith will readily conclude they must certainly be true being attested by the God of Truth And yet by the way here is nothing for the Popish Monster of Transubstantiation for where hath God said that upon the words of Consecration the Bread is turned into Christs Body Or from what Word of God is so much necessarily inferred 4. A Believer assents to the Word in things that are purely contrary to the Wisdom of the Flesh and carnal Reason That which was to the Jews a stumbling-Block and to the Greeks foolishness a Believer admires as the Wisdom of God It is marvellous in the Eye of Faith That Godliness is great gain this passeth with Believers for currant Truth and an unquestionable principle though carnal Reason judgeth otherwise even that it bids Men loss Faith concludes with the Word that he that walketh uprightly walketh surely that Integrity is the best Policy when carnal Reason says that nothing sooner or more surely runs Men upon Rocks of danger Faith will give us to see that the righteous is more excellent than his neighbour even when such are commonly esteemed as the filth of the World and off-scouring of all things Thus Faith assents to divine Truth impartially 5. The Assent of true Faith is an holding Assent Men have not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Plato said a stable belief touching the Idea of Good The lusts of Mens Hearts are ever and anon streaming up and casting a Mist over their Minds Thus it is with the most They have a glimpse of their Truth sometimes but they soon shut it out There is great fickleness and inconstancy in their assent to the Truth A temporary Faith and a temporary Assent that comes and goes but stays not But Saving-Faith is such a Faith as is never lost And so its assent is holding and abiding They have damnation that cast off their first Faith 6. The Assent of true Faith is practical and efficacious It is an operative Assent According to that before-cited It acteth * Putásne Filium Dei repurat Jesum quisquis ille est homo qui ipsius nec terretur comminationibus nec attrahitur promissionibus nec praeceptis obtemperat nec consiliis acquiescit Nonne is etiam si fateatur se nosse Deum factis tamen negat Bern. in octav pasch Ser. 1. differently upon the belief of the Commands Threatnings and Promises of the Word That is it acteth suitably to the nature of each A belief of the Promises working Consent and Affiance a belief of the Threatnings Fear a belief of the Commands Obedience A dead Man is not a Man so neither is a dead Faith true Faith A sound Assent produceth a real
such conditions but his Grace worketh by means and a conditional Promise is his stablished means to draw Mans Heart to the performance of the Condition which well considered is a sufficient answer to the Arguments that are commonly urged against the conditionality of the Promises As the Spirit worketh powerfully within so he useth that word from without Direct to sound Convers p. 289 290. as his Instrument which worketh sapientially and powerfully to the same work And the like observation we may take concerning the Threatnings in the Word Therein ordinarily some such evil as we naturally abhor and dread is threatned either to excite us to our duty which our corrupt hearts and natures are exceeding backward to or to deter us from Sin to which we are naturally prone and strongly inclined Now to apply these things to the point in hand The Believer is made sensible what a Sinner he has been and what woe and wrath is due to Sin and Sinners that indeed he has deserved Hell for his Portion yet withal he believes according to the Word that God is in Christ reconciling Sinners unto himself that he so loved the World as to give his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have Everlasting Life that Jesus Christ is the only and an all-sufficient Saviour that he is willing as well as able to save those that come to God by him But withal that there is no coming to him only as a Saviour so as to find welcome but he must come to him also as a Leader and Commander resolving sincerely to obey and follow him that without taking his Yoak upon us we cannot find rest for our Souls To these things a Believer cannot but subscribe These things are set home and kept close to his Heart and such Truths as these being mixed with Faith firmly assented to they work effectually Thus he deliberately makes choice of Christ as the only meet help for his Soul in all the World Now go to Hypocrites and Unbelievers and it appears they have but some faint and weak Assent to the foresaid Truths Did they really believe Heaven and Hell and that without an interest in Christ there is no hope of Heaven but to Hell they must go all the World cannot save them how is it possible they should make so light of Christ as they do preferring a momentary pleasure or a little worldly pelf before him which a true Believer accounts but dung and trash If you tell a Man there is a Lyon in the way behind him with open mouth ready to devour him and he flees not as for his Life does it not plainly shew that he believes not what you say So that Sinners do not flee to Christ it shews they do not believe their misery and danger out of Christ Or if sometimes they have strong Convictions that startle and terrify them they have Arts and Devices to put them off They will not suffer them to stay Their corrupt Wills and Affections call off their thoughts from such things as most nearly concern them As we read Mat. 13.15 Their Eyes they have closed lest at any time they should see with their Eyes and hear with their Ears and should understand with their Heart and should be converted and I should heal them Their Eyes they have closed Thus poor Sinners wink hard shut the Windows to keep out the Light that they may still sleep on in Sin Or when they can be no longer quiet as they are then they bribe their Consciences and deceive themselves with a seeming Faith a seeming Conversion a seeming Reformation which they take up with as sufficient as poor Laodicea thought her self rich Thus by one means or other they are kept off from a serious and deliberate closing with the Lord Jesus But then come to a sound Believer and he is as sure that the Word of God will prove true as that there is a God which is as sure as that there are any Creatures in the World and so that Heaven and Hell are not Fancies which have a being only in Mens imaginations but unquestionable realities that all Miseries and Sufferings in this life are case and pleasure compared with the Torments of Hell and Miseries of the Damned and all the Pleasures and enjoyments of this Life but pain and loss compared with the Joys of Heaven that if ever he be saved he must be saved by Christ and that he cannot hope to be saved by Christ but in his own way Thus he sees it unquestionably his grand concern to accept of Christ as he is offered And such Truths being set home by the Spirit with Power and Evidence they have a mighty force to pull down strong-holds and carnal reasonings in the Heart against them to bring into Captivity every Thought to the Obedience of Christ And thus the Will and Affections are wrought upon And what sorrow then See Dr. Preston of Effectual Faith p. 204. to think of ones former natural and sinful State and what Fear O what will become of me if I get not a Part and Interest in Christ If I fall short of Heaven at last then where am I how miserable shall I be to Eternity And what vehement desire after Christ Give me Christ or I die And what resolution in the Will I will go to Christ and give up my self to him and cast my self upon him If I perish I perish Lord whither should I go Thou hast the words of Eternal Life Thus a Believer consents and closeth with Christ deliberately upon clear conviction that he has no other way to take 3. A true Believer consents unfeignedly and heartily True Faith is Faith unfeigned 1 Tim. 1.5 A Sound Believer does not take up with a profession of Faith in Christ and of subjection to him does not think it enough to say Lord Lord to speak honourably of him but hath his heart opened to receive the King of Glory The Lord Jesus Christ is his desire and choice indeed And as he had rather have Christ alone for his Portion than the whole World without him so he had rather be subject to the Laws of Christ than freed from them Though the Flesh is still lusting in him against the Spirit and the Law in his Members rebelling against the Law of his Mind yet he can truly say his Will is more to Christ and to his Service than to please and gratify the Flesh and to serve Sin And he repents not of any thing he does for Christ but is grieved and ashamed that he does no more and that what he hath done has been done in no better manner but he heartily repents of his serving Sin heretofore and of what he hath done displeasing unto Christ And in the ordinary habitual and prevailing bent of his will he is for taking part with Christ and his Laws against the lustings of the Flesh against the motions and workings of remaining corruption in him He is so
no signs of an humble heart 7. Humility would not suffer us to be led away with predominant self-conceit The humble have low thoughts of themselves their Gifts Abilities and Performances The proud are contrary over-valuing themselves thinking highly of themselves and of what they do 1. Humility will not suffer one to be conceited of his Wisdom and Knowledg Pro. 26.12 Seest thou a Man wise in his own conceit there is more hope of a fool than of him He is a proud fool and worse than a fool that is in any measure sensible of his foolishness and willing to acknowledg and to be cured of it There is more hope of such a one who would be more teachable more tractable The humble Soul is more ready to take notice of its darkness its ignorance than of its knowledge is very sensible of its short-sightedness and sees the need it hath to learn When proud spirits though very shallow think they know enough already Like young Scholars that when they have got a little smattering of Learning fancy themselves taller by the head than others when seven years more spent in diligent study might help them to see how little they know how much they are still in the dark Novices that know least are commonly most puffed up with a conceit of their Knowledg And hence it is that such are most subject to fall into errours They think themselves wiser than their Teachers And the conceit they have of their own knowledge will not bear a contradiction from any nor suffer them to question or suspect their own Opinions to take things into sober consideration Yet I would not plead for Scepticism or perswade you to doubt of every thing Nor would I have Christians deny the knowledg that God hath given them As Knowledge is a gift of God we ought to reflect on what he hath given to be thankful for it And indeed Knowledge in the very nature of the thing is manifest to them that have it You may as well go about to perswade a Man out of his senses that he does not see or hear what he sees and hears as that he does not know what indeed he knoweth He that is awake knows he is awake and you cannot make him think that he does but dream He that is enlightened with the sound knowledg of God and Christ is assured of the truth of those things which were but notions and fancies to him before And it highly concerneth Christians to be so grounded in the knowledg of the Truth that they may hold fast the profession of it without wavering that they may be ready to give a reason of their Faith and Hope to any that shall ask and demand it of them and that it may not be in the power of the most learned and subtile Jesuite or Sophister to wrest it from them and that they may be able to keep their ground to stand fast though there should be never so great and general Apostacy and falling away from the Truth though they should be censured as singular proud and self-conceited that took themselves to be wiser than all the World besides It is neither pride nor obstinacy but stedfastness and constancy to hold fast known Truth though we were left alone had none about us that would own it or own us in the profession of it As was said of Athanasius Vnus Athanasius contra totum Mundum the whole World against Athanasius and Athanasius against the World But this is Pride when one conceiteth himself to be knowing while he is very ignorant It is Pride that makes one seem to himself more knowing than he is So also when one hath high thoughts of admires himself for what he knows he is proud knowning nothing as he ought They that know most of God and the things of God have no such ground to be conceited of themselves for what they know as they have indeed to be humbled to blush and be ashamed that they know no more 2. Humility will not suffer one to be conceited of his abilitiy and sufficiency An humble Soul dares not encounter Temptation in its own strength dares not undertake and set upon Duty in its own strength As Paul though an eminent Apostle says of the Work he was called unto Who is sufficient for these things 2 Cor. 2.16 And chap. 3.5 not that we are sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves but our sufficiency is of God The humble Soul is really sensible of its Infirmities and of an absolute need of the Spirits assistance to help its infirmities as Rom. 8.26 Humility and self-confidence do not agree 3. Humility will not suffer one to be highly conceited of his best services It will teach a Man to have low thoughts of all he does This takes away the Grace of any performance when a Man is proud of what he has done Who so active for God as Paul was yet he was not puft up with his services but served the Lord with all humility of mind Act. 20.19 He arrogated nothing to himself I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me Gal. 2.20 I laboured more abundantly than they all yet not I but the Grace of God which was with me 1 Cor. 15.10 Not I but Christ in me not I but the Grace of God with me And did not his face shine more for this veil on it And 1 Tim. 1.12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord says he who hath enabled me So 1 Cor. 7.25 he speaks of himself as one that had obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful had obtained mercy to do his Duty The more he was enabled to do for God to serve God faithfully the more he saw himself obliged to God's Mercy Humble Souls will acknowledg their own righteousness to be but as filthy rags Isa 64.6 As rags that are not sufficient to cover them as filthy rags that have so much sin in them as would render them more polluted still if the Lord should behold them with the strict eye of his Justice only The truely humble can see more evil in their best Duties than natural Men are wont to discern in their plain and gross transgressions When Nehemiah had been most active for God yet he saw need of pardoning Grace and Mercy Neh. 13.22 Remember me O my God concerning this also and spare me according to the greatness of thy Mercy Ita fiduciam ponit Wolph non in meritis suis sed in misericordia Dei Thus Humility is opposit to self-conceit 8. Humility is opposite to a predominant affectation of humane applause and vain-glory It will teach us to say as in Psal 115.1 Not unto us O Lord not unto us but unto thy name give Glory The Humble Soul would not set up for it self Laert. in Biam l. 1. p. 61. Bias could say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what good thou dost refer it unto God let God have the praise He sets his heart as the heart of God as
the Christian Society As Colledges have their Statutes and other Companies and Societies their particular Orders This is an Order for all that are of Christ's School And without renouncing Self we cannot rightly depend on Christ without forsaking Self we cannot follow Christ without crossing Self we cannot comply with the Will of Christ without denying self we cannot be ready to confess Christ we cannot be willing and prepared to die to suffer for Christ How easily are Men brought to deny the Faith and Truth to deny God and Jesus Christ that have not learnt to deny themselves Will Lovers of themselves will Self-seekers stick to Christ and his Truth when put upon trial whether indeed they are content to sell all for the Pearl of price Whether they can forsake all for Christ When the Cross shall follow those that follow Christ will not such flinch from him then Yea before any such Trials come all that have not learnt to deny themselves have denied God and Christ already in their Hearts and are daily denying him in their Works and Lives Though Men have a form of Godliness yet while they deny the power thereof so far they deny God And to deny the power of Godliness is a sad preparation and introduction to the grossest and most shameful denial of God and Christ when a Temptation thereunto shall come No wonder therefore that Christ says here Whosoever will come after me let him deny himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let him utterly deny himself The simple Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is as much as to deny that with this Preposition added it seems to signifie more to deny with an Emphasis to deny with contempt and abhorrence of ones self Quest But what is it to deny our selves Answ 1. In the Negative 1. We must not deny our selves to be what indeed we are as we must not feign our selves to be what we are not As the Prophet Ahijah said to the disguised Wife of Jeroboam Why feignest thou thy self to be another It is one thing to disguise and another to deny our selves The Hypocrite that seems to be what he is not and would not appear to be what he is is yet far from that Self-denial Christ calls us to he deceives himself and others while he does not deny himself So likewise many a sensless Sinner when admonished of his Faults will not acknowledg that he is the Man whom such a repoof concerns He will justifie himself though his Lips prove him perverse and though it may further provoke the Lord to plead with him as Jer. 2.35 To deny the Truth here is quite opposite to Self-denial Again Some there are in another Extream For whom God hath done much yet being clouded with Melancholy c. they cannot see so clear as otherwise they might and thereupon soon question yea deny any good wrought in them The condition of these is far better than the others spoken of before Yet they are to be pittied and such an Humour not to be fed or encouraged It is one thing to deny our selves and another to deny God's goodness to us It is no way contrary to Self-denial for a Christian to say with the Apostle 1 Cor. 15.10 By the Grace of God I am what I am Some go further yet and charge themselves more deeply than there is just cause As some poor troubled Spirits will not down with it but that they have sinned the unpardonable Sin c. But though we are not to deny our selves we are not falsly to accuse our selves 2. We are not to deny our selves in that sense wherein it is said that God cannot deny himself 2 Tim. 2.13 He abideth faithful he cannot deny himself He is ever as good as his Promise constant to his Word We may not in this sense deny our selves may not go back from lawful promises made either to God or Men. We should not use lightness yea and nay 3. We are not to renounce the use of our Reason That is no piece of Self-denial intended or required here That would be to make the Christian Religion unreasonable And how great a reproach would that cast upon Religion What is Man but Animal rationale or Ens ratione praeditum a Creature endued with Reason That it is as natural to him as congruous to that form and kind of being which his Creator has given him that he should use his Reason as that the Sun Moon and Stars should shine and give forth their light And it is certainly the highest and noblest use our Reason serves for to help us in the discovery of Truth and to direct us in the choice of Good Therefore no doubt we may be the Servants of Christ upon more Honourable terms than Nahash would have put upon the Men of Jabesh-Gilead Christ never required his Followers in this sense to put out their right Eyes though we must part with our dearest Lusts which have been as our right Eyes yet when these are pluckt out we should see never the worse But it is the way of Antichrist to perswade Man to an implicit Faith and to blind Obedience It is the drift and design of the Synagogue of Satan to get Men hood-winkt that they may be content to see with the Eyes of their Rulers and Leaders and follow them which way they please But we should be ready always to give an answer to every Man that asketh us a Reason of our Faith 1 Pet. 3.15 And can we give a Reason of our Faith without using our Reason And how oft doth the Lord reason with Men about Matters of Religion See Isa 46. from ver 5. to ver 9. Then would he not have Men use their Reason here Yea how does he upbraid Men that they used their Reason no better that they did not shew themselves Men See Isa 44.19 Chap. 27.11 It is a People of no understanding And it is plain the Scriptures that are a Rule for our Faith and Practice could not be rightly applied and made use of without putting forth our Reason Mat. 22.29 31 32. Where Christ telleth the Sadducees that denied the Resurrection Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures No Man could discover the Resurrection of the Dead in that Scripture brought for it without the use and exercise of Reason And farther We must have Reason to convince those who as yet believe not the Divine Original and Authority of the Scriptures How else should Heathens Infidels be convinced and converted Would we have them change their Way and Opinions without seeing any Reason for it And while Hereticks and Men of unsound Minds abuse their Reason setting it against the Truth should not we use and improve our Reason in defence of the Truth Can we 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 confute Gain-sayers without using our Reason And the Apostle would have Christians not as Children but Men in understanding 1 Cor. 14.20 And that is a weighty passage which some have laid down who have written to good
as if he knew not himself carry as if he loved not himself as if he contemned himself as if he cared not what became of himself We must have no regard of our Selves have no regard of Estates Liberties or Lives but seem prodigal of them cast away all we have in the World rather than desert God and Christ to keep any thing here The substance of Self-denial is included in the particulars here laid down Yet I shall shew further by other Notes how we may know whether we have true Self-denial 1. Self-denial is not without Self-abhorrence Indeed it begins here it begins in a loathing of our selves for Sin Ordinarily Self-conceit reigns till such time as a Man is humbled and comes to see his own Vileness and abhors himself for Sin One never truly denies himself till he falleth out with himself First there is a falling out with himself and then a falling off from Self But till we are thorowly displeased with our selves we shall be still adhering to our selves And where Self-esteem prevails a Man is for Self-exaltation both which are contrary to Self-denial And further As one part of Self-denial is a denying and forsaking our Lusts taking their part no longer making no more provision for them and utter abandoning of them with a Will and Resolution to have no more to do with them before we come to this we must see the evil and baseness of Sin we must come to a loathing of it and to a loathing of our selves for it 2. True Self-denial is not without Faith in the Promises or without eying the recompence of Reward We must see greater matters than those things we are called to deny our selves in far greater matters that God hath promised or we shall never willingly and chearfully forgo Temporal Enjoyments for him Heb. 11.24 25 26. It was by Faith that Moses was so willing to deny himself in point of Honour refusing to be called the Son of Pharaoh's Daughter and in point of Pleasure chusing rather to suffer Affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the pleasures of Sin for a season and in point of Profit esteeming reproach for Christ greater Riches than the Treasures of Egypt For he had respect unto the recompence of the Reward When a Man comes to see that the Lord does not bid him any loss here but that he should be an everlasting gainer by denying himself then he may chearfully deny himself and otherwise he will hang back They cannot but account these hard sayings Let a Man deny himself and take up his Cross And if any Man hate not his Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brethren and Sisters yea and his own Life also he cannot be my Disciple I say they cannot but account these hard sayings who are not assured of the truth of the Hundred-fold Promise Mat. 10.29 30. who are not assured that Christ has greater things to give and bestow better Riches a better Name a better Inheritance a better Life than that he calleth any to part with for Him Now is Christ in so good Credit with us that we dare take his Word here that we dare put our whole Estates all our Concerns our very Lives into his Hand Would we trust him with all we have upon his single Bond And are the things of another World so real and certain to us and so great in our Eye that we cannot but dispise all things here below and count them but loss compared with the things above 3. True Self-denial is not without the Predominant Love of God and Jesus Christ As Self is taken down in any God and Christ are exalted As Self is losing Christ is gaining on the Soul The more Self comes to be slighted and disregraded the more Christ is esteemed The more Self-love is mortified the more does the Love of God and Christ prevail and take place And if we love him not above our selves how can we deny our selves for his sake He that loveth his Estate more than Christ cannot be willing to part with his Estate for Christ He that loves his Life more than Christ cannot be willing to lay down his Life for Christ Thus we can be no more sound in the point of Self-denial than we are in our love to God and Jesus Christ 4. True Self-denial is ever joyned with an humble frame of Heart As the Apostle Paul though he was in nothing behind the chiefest Apostles yet confessed himself to be nothing 2 Cor. 12.11 I have nothing to glory of 1 Cor. 19.16 Self-denial is not for arrogating any praise or honour unto Self which is due to God or would diminish and detract from God's Glory A Self-denying Spirit would not be pleased but very much disquieted with any praises from Men which tend to rob God of the Glory due to his Name He would abhor that Men should attribute any thing to him in a way injurious to the Honour of God 5. Self-denial will teach us to subject our minds and judgments to the Sentence of the Word It is not against the use of Reason as was shewn before but against the exalting of Man's Reason above or against the Wisdom of God It will subject Reason to the word of Faith which is indeed most reasonable Self-denial will take a Man off from Self-conceitedness from being wedded to his own opinions Self-denial will be pulling down strong holds of Carnal Reasonings with every high thing that exalteth it self against the Knowledg of God As the Apostle says We can do nothing against the Truth but for the Truth So one that has learnt to deny himself will not hold or maintain any Error or Opinion contrary to the word of Truth that he sees the Word of God against How plausible soever it may seem to carnal and corrupt Reason and how zealous soever he hath been for it yet once seeing it disagreeable to God's Word he dare no longer own it As we would not reject and deny Christ as Teacher and Prophet we must be willing to learn of Him we must be ready to hear Him in all He hath to say to us Acts 3.22 Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you Therefore they that are wedded to their own Opinions that have taken them for better for worse and will not be taken off though they have never so plain Scripture-evidence brought in against them such I say are not Self-denying Persons but rather Self-condemned And they that are so in love with their own Notions and Conceptions that they are rather for wresting the Word than for regulating their Conceptions by it And they that are so conceited of their own Knowledg and Abilities that they are readier to deny or question the truth of what is held forth in God's Word than to acknowledg or suspect the shallowness of their own Apprehension are not of a Self-denying Spirit Alas they are nearer denying God than denying themselves 6. Self-denial mainly opposeth and
Spirit as the Psalmist would prefer Jerusalem's welfare before his chief joy would make that the chief ingredient in his rejoycing as Dr. Hammond Or though he was never so low in the World it would not trouble so much as to think of the low estate of the Church and the declining state of Religion in the World But if our own losses crosses and afflictions lie exceeding heavy on us while the Churches miseries lie light if we have little sense of these are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph if it would sadly startle us to see our own Houses on fire and yet we are not moved to see fire cast into God's Sanctuary these things would shew miserable selfishness not Self-denial 17. Self-denial would teach us to account our selves more happy in serving pleasing honouring and enjoying God than in having our flesh pleased in prospering or being our selves advanced in the World Self-denial would cause us to be better satisfied though the flesh were pinched and crossed while our Souls prosper while Grace is vigorous and thriving and while communion and intercourse with God is maintained then if our Souls were sensibly declining Grace impar'd our hearts more straitned in holy Duties c. though things went never so well with us in the World 18. Self-denial would reconcile us to the strictest Commands that most fetter self This would make Christ's yoke easie When Self is denied we shall take part with the strictest Precepts and Commands that bind up Self most 19. Self-denial would also reconcile us to the harshest Providences as a means to beat down sinful Self and base selfishness When Self is denied what opposeth Self will not be disrellished so as before it would have been We shall be truly pleased the more we get victory over our selves by what ever means the victory be obtained though it be not gotten without blows without wounds in our flesh without breaches in our Estates and outward comforts 20. True Self-denial will prepare a Man for the cross He will not deny to suffer for Christ who has learnt to deny himself He that is come to deny himself will readily take up the Cross to follow Christ True Christian Self-denial if we have it will have an answer ready for us to give to the World to give to any that would draw or deter us from Christ scil That his we are not our own and him we will serve and to him we will cleave If Relations would draw us from him we shall have this to say That we are not theirs so much as Christ's and we had rather be His than theirs If Persecutors would fright us from him if they threaten to spoil us of our Goods to take away our Estates we shall have this to say That we have and would hold no Estates but to be laid out for him or laid down for him as he pleaseth If they threaten Death That we are His either to live to Him or to dy for Him which he pleaseth and that it is better for us to die for his Truth in his Service than to live to deny his Truth to his dishonour And this is Self-denial indeed to seek the Honour of Christ by the loss of all that may be dear unto us in this World Many would be content to deny themselves in some things here rather than openly deny Jesus Christ They could be content to suffer a little for him as to suffer Imprisonment awhile but not to suffer at a Stake to run with the foot-Men but not to contend with Horses As is indeed notably observed Mr. Baxt. Self-denial p. 31. A Man may deny Self for Self in many particulars and so may please Self more than he denies it This is no true Self-denial I would not be unfaithful to you And so I must tell you If it be thus that you would not forsake all rather than Christ forsake all I say for Christ when you may be called to it if you are for keeping back a part you do not yet deny your selves yea you have denied Christ already in your hearts and therefore unless you be changed have no ground to hope that Christ will own you I know many will count this an hard saying But how oft does Jesus Christ tell you as much That if Jesus Christ be to be believed so it is He alloweth us not to except any thing but requires us to be ready to lay down all even our very lives for him See Luk. 14.26 v. 33. Whosoever he be of you that for saketh not all that he hath cannot be my Disciple Though they were not called immediately to forsake all in act yet in intention and resolution they were to forsake all presently if they would be his Disciples They must be ready to bid adieu to all things in the World So weigh the Text and Context Whosoever will come after me let him deny himself and take up his Cross For whosoever will save his life shall lose it but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospel's the same shall save it That there is no being saved we see without being Martyrs that is if not actually yet intentionally and habitually having a will and resolution to lay down our very lives for Christ if called to it if we cannot keep them with a good Conscience with our fidelity to Christ One thing more you must note that it must be for Christ that we are willing to forsake all or though we should forsake all it would not prove us to be Self-denying persons If a Man was willing to die in the maintenance or profession of the Truth willing to lay down his life in this Cause to be enrolled with the noble Army of Martyrs to get an immortal Name to have his Memory honoured when he is dead and gone this is not true Self-denial This would be dying to ones self and for ones self not to the Lord and for the Lord. Thus you see how we may know whether we have learnt to deny our selves Yet I must grant that Self-denial is imperfect here as other Graces And Self is never fully vanquished in this life It is oft making insurrections in the Soul Indeed it is a close enemy an enemy that lies very near us The holiest Men on Earth are one way or other disturbed and set upon with this enemy Self But they are careful to watch against it they are fighting it they oppose it where-ever they meet with it And it concerneth us to look well to our selves for we can have no further evidence of the truth of Grace in us than we have that we are sincerely Self-denying and have not only our judgments and Consciences but also the prevailing part of our Wills against base selfishness OF SINCERITY AND UPRIGHTNESS PSAL. 37.37 Mark the Perfect Man and behold the Upright for the end of that Man is Peace AS the Lord takes pleasure in Vprightness 1 Chron. 29.17 So it is a thing that his
That Joy which is born down with any Affliction that comes is not like the Joy of the Spirit which is called strong Consolation Heb. 6.18 15. Spiritual Joy is not swelling But is accompanied with an humble frame of Spirit Heart-humbling Grace is a necessary preparative unto and a necessary preservative of Heart-raising and elevating Joys Isa 29.19 The meek or humble shall encrease their Joy in the Lord and the poor among Men shall rejoyce in the holy One of Israel Such as are lifted up in themselves are not so fit for Comfort as for a Casting down And one way or other they shall have a Casting down If not in Mercy and by Grace then by force and in fury When a Child of God is growing proud of his Comforts and Enlargements he is in the ready way to lose them As I may say Humility is the Save-all and Prolonger and Pride the Extinguisher If you can keep your Joy and Pride together it is more than a Child of God can do 16. Spiritual Joy is not intoxicating but a sober serious thing joyned with an holy Fear Care and Watchfulness Psal 2.11 Rejoyce with trembling When Daniel heard from God that he was a Man greatly beloved yet he stood trembling Dan. 10.11 That is not right rejoycing in the Lord which excludes Reverence towards him And when he speaks Peace yet he expects better carriage of his People than that they should grow secure and careless He expects that they should have a care not to return again to Folly Psal 85.8 Where he says Be of good chear thy Sins are forgiven thee He withal says Sin no more stand in in awe and sin not Grieve not the holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of Redemption And by sinning presumptuously the Lord would be provoked to hide his Face again to write bitter things against us Thus new storms of Trouble would be raised 17. Spiritual Joy would not put one upon a contemptuous carriage towards others But rather make him full of Charity and pity towards those that want and are strangers to what he enjoys Though a stranger doth not intermeddle with his Joy Prov. 14.10 yet he cannot but desire that others were partakers of the like Psal 51.12 13. Restore unto me the joy of thy Salvation Then will I teach Transgressors thy Wayes I shall encourage Sinners to come in by thy merciful dealing with me who have been so great a Sinner As Christ chargeth Peter when he was converted and restored to strengthen his Brethren Luke 22.32 And the Apostle Paul lays this down as one end the Father of Mercies hath in comforting us that we may be able to comfort them which are in any Trouble by the comfort wherewith we our selves are comforted of God 2 Cor. 1.4 And if we have not a tender pity towards poor troubled Spirits and such as have broken Bones if we have no Wine and Oyl to pour into wounded Consciences if we are not at all concerned for others under Spiritual Troubles we may justly fear our Joy is not right 18. Spiritual Joy will set Souls more on longing after the Joys of Heaven That Joy which comes from Heaven will be raising the Heart up towards Heaven Souls that have tasted that the Lord is Gracious will thirst after more and long for the fulness of Joy in his Presence will breath after the full Enjoyment of God in Glory 2 Cor. 5.5 8. God hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit Therefore We are willing rather to be absent from the Body and to be present with the Lord. If we have found any consolation in Christ beholding him through the Lattices how shall we desire to see the King in his Beauty and to see him Face to Face Spiritual Joy will make Souls more spiritually-minded will very much take off the affections from things on the Earth and set them upon things Above A BRIEF REHEARSAL 2 COR. 13.5 Examine your selves whether you be in the Faith prove your own selves TO write the same things here shall not be grievous to me if for you it may be safe and profitable To try and examine your selves whether you are in a state of Grace you cannot deny to be your Duty And to direct and assist you therein is the principal design of this Treatise Now of the things which we have spoken this is the Sum. 1. What Knowledg have you And of what kind 1. Have you more than a natural Knowledg of God 2. More than a notional Knowledg Are you come to a discerning of Spiritual things and to a Spiritual discerning of them Have you other thoughts of Sin and other thoughts of God and Christ and Holiness and Heaven than formerly you had 3. How come you by your Knowledg Whether in an humble diligent waiting on God in the use of the means he hath appointed 4. Have you not a bare Knowledg but are you also come to the acknowledgment of the Truth Not only a Verbal but a Real acknowledgment To know the certainty of those things wherein you have been instructed 5. Does your Knowledg reach your Hearts Has it a powerful influence on your Wills Are you not only resolved in your Judgments but also in your Choice 6. Is your Knowledg not only informing but reforming and renewing 7. Is your Knowledg humbling Or does it puff up 8. Is it nourishing as Food and Fuel to Grace and Spiritual Affections 9. Is it Fructifying Is it reduced to Practice 10. Is it Communicative 11. Is it growing And especially are you thriving 1. In the sound and experimental Knowledg of God and Christ 2. And getting more inward acquaintance with your own selves and the state of your own Souls 3. And in learning more of your own Duty and of the Counsel of God concerning you 2. Try your Faith And what can you say to those three principal acts of Faith scil Assent Consent and Affiance 1. How do you assent to Divine Truth 1. Do you assent Impartially 2. Do you assent freely Do you yield willingly to Divine Truth as it is discovered to you 3. Do you assent really Have you more than an half-perswasion of the Truth 4. Have you an holding Assent to the Truth 5. Is it a Practical Assent Does it draw on Consent 2. How do you consent to God's Terms 1. Do you consent entirely not partially 2. Do you consent deliberately 3. Do you consent heartily unfeignedly 4. Do you consent firmly and resolvedly 3. What trust and affiance have you in God and Christ I ask not what Assurance you have Yet is your Dependence on God in Christ And 1. Is it such as is accompanied with Self-distrust and Self-despair 2. And with an hearty acceptance of Christ and sincere subjection to him 3. And with a dependence on the Lord for Temporal Mercies and Deliverance as he sees fit for you Further Do those Scripture-notes given of Faith agree to you 1. Is Christ precious to you