I know that it is so absolutely necessary that those who will live a Christian Life do both believe and practiss it I shall shew thee yet further that the Not-considering or the Nor-practising this Self-Denyal hath been the main cause why so many have rejected the Gospel in all Ages and why so many of these that have seemed to receive it have yielded so lame and so imperfect an obedience to it Did'st thou never read in thy Bible how few of those that heard Christ preach whil'st he was upon the earth and saw the Miracles that he wrought especially of the greater sort did truly believe in him Have any of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him was a choaking Question to any that would dare to speak for him John 7. c. 48. v. Those few Disciples that he had were of the poorer sort of people that had not much to trust to or much to lose for his sake if any of hte richer or greater sort were convinced that He was the Christ yet they did not dare to own it they would go by night and in secret to tell him of their Faith but publikly and openly they professed it not and what might be the Reason of this do'st thou think Had not these great men those natural Powers of judging of assenting and consenting to the truth which the others had was not their natural courage as great and woul they not have shewed it as much in other Cases as these poor people could have done Yes undoubtedly In all other matters they were the wise those the ignorant they the bold and the hardy those the poor spirited and cowardly but in this case the wise were fools and the couragious meer Dastards And how was this those great those rich and proud men could not or would not learn this one lesson which would have opened their blind eyes and have raised their poor Spirits to that degree of Boldness which they beheld in the Disciples of Christ and wondered at How can ye believe said Christ himself to them as long as ye receive Honour from one another and seek not the Honour that cometh from God only John 5. c. 44. v. They loved themselves and the Praise of men too well to approve of any thing that would lessen their Reputation in the least or bring them one step lower in the Esteem of the World and they were too covetous as appears from other places of Scripture to leave all to follow one that had not a house to put his-head in Did'st thou never observe the monstrous unbelief of many among us and the gross Hypocrisy of others did'st thou never observe what great opposition is made by some men against some of the clearest truths of Christianity who yet seem very fond of other truths that are not so clear and lye not so level to humane capacities and did'st thou never take notice how strict some men are in some things who yet allow themselves in the breach of very plain and very weighty precepts as for Instance the Doctrine of the Trinity we see unanimously acknowledged by many thousands among us when the Divine authority of Christ's Ministers and the Right of their maintenance meets with many opposers in all places and some men can preach and pray from morning till night and talk Scripture to each other with much seeming seriousness when like the Pharisees of old they will embrace any fair occasion that is offered to devour the House of a poor Widow or Orphan or to exalt themselves somewhat higher in the World And what do'st thou think is the Reason of these things The same without doubt that hindred the Jews of old from receiving Christ and if these truths which they profess to believe and these Christian duties which they are constant in did as much oppose their worldly Interests and fleshly Lusts as the acknowledging of Jesus to be the Christ did oppose the Interests and Lusts of the unbelieving Jews they would quickly discover the truth of it by falling away from those truths and those dutyes if not also from the whole Religion Not that I believe that they have been meer dissemblers from their first profession or that they are and have been so zealous in some things meerly for the compassing of worldly Ends without any conviction of the truth or goodness of them for I doubt not but many of them have meant well from the very beginning but That naughty and corrupt affections which being unrenounced did so fatally prejudice the Jews against the Person of Christ do as strongly prejudice them against great part of his doctrine Those corrupt affections which they should have renounced at their first setting out are like a thick cloud upon the eyes of their minds not suffering them to discern those truths which to resigned men are as manifest as the Sun at noon-day and as a strong byass upon their Wills drawing them aside from those good paths which they have a desire to walk in They purpose well in the general like the Rich man before spoken of when he came to Christ and they do well in those things that oppose not their inordinate affections but when they are to learn those Duties to which their Lusts will not be reconciled either they are not able to understand them or have not the Power to practise them as the Wolf in the Fable that was set to school to read could make no word of all the Letters but a Lamb because of his appetite to the flesh of that harmless Creature so they can understand approve and follow nothing but what they love and are inclined to or however nothing that crosses their Affections and Inclinations I will conclude therefore and I think I have good reason for it that if we desire and are resolved to be Christians we must in the first place renounce our selves and entirely put off our carnal Lusts and Worldly affections Our Desires and Resolutions will be vain and come to nought if we fail to Do it We may purpose well and perhaps do many good things though we do omit it we may make a fair Show for a while and mount up to Heaven in our own thoughts and in the opinion of the World but like as an unwise Builder that raises a very fair structure upwards not having laid a good and firm foundation will in a little time be convinced of this error by its ruine so when a time of tryal and temptation comes our own Fall will shew us ours when the Winds blow and Rains fall and the Floods come our pretty Frame of Religion will come to Ruine and our high raised hopes will perish together with it Now after this I suppose I need not tell thee that I have insisted so much upon this Particular with great Reason § 2. It remains That I endeavour briefly to beget a good opinion in thee of the duty I have been speaking of to shew thee that it is not such an
whose office it is to take Care of Souls And those that are ready to follow the Conduct and Counsel of every one that will take upon him to be their Guide or Instructor are not much less to be blamed than those that will commit their Souls to none and therefore thou art to take the greatest Care and to use the best Skill thou hast in the choice of thy Guide and because it is a matter of no little difficulty to make a right Choice it will not I hope be thought impertinent to give thee some assistance And 1. I advise thee to betake thy self to thy Closet and to beg of God to direct thee in thy Choice Though thou hast ever so much Skill in judging of men yet it is possible that in this Case thou may'st be deceived and the more thou trustest to thy own Skill the greater danger thou art in of being deceived God usually suffering those that have a great opinion of themselves to misearry in their best Undertakings and therefore in this as well as in other things thy security lies in an humble Confidence in God's direction which thou art to beg of him by fervent Prayer and though the Blessing be great yet thou hast no Reason to doubt but thou shalt obtain it if thou do'st ask aright for since he hath done so much for thy Soul already He will not deny thee any thing thou may'st be confident that he knows to be necessary for its Welfare and Happiness If any of you lack Wisdome saith St. James let him ask of God who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him chap. 1. v. 5. And what greater Wisdome can'st thou desire than that which may enable thee to chuse to good Guide except it be that which may enable thee to follow him when thou hast made Choice of him which thou art also to ask to God But then 2. Though thou must not confide in thy own Skill but in the Assistance and Direction of Almighty God yet since his Assistance and Direction can be expected only in a rational way it will behove thee to make Use of that Skill which God giveth thee and that with as much Care as if thy Success depended altogether upon it This in other matters thou thinkest thy self bound to do and I can see no Reason why thou shouldest not be of the same Mind in this Case Thou must therefore look out into the World and consider who among those Guides of Souls that are known to thee is most fit to be trusted and if thou do'st desire the opinion of some serious and discreet Friends as thou art wont to do when thou needest a Physitian for thy Body or a Lawyer for settling thy Estate I think thou wilt do very well only let me caution thee That thou do not presume to make Judgment of any one with whom thou art not throughly acquainted for otherwise though it is possible thou may'st hit right yet it is two to one that thou wilt be deceived which will be a fault that will admit of no Excuse And the same caution thou art to take in receiving the judgments of others which thou wilt not think to be needless if thou do'st consider That as some few have a better Repute in the World than they do deserve so others have a worse and it is commonly observed that many excellent men have suffered very much from many meerly because they have given Credit to the Reports of those who were never intimately acquainted with them and yet have presumed to pass their Censures on them But to help thee as much as I can in this matter which is really of very greato Importance to thee it will not be amiss to give thee a short Account of the Qualifications and Properties of a good Guide referring thee for further Instruction to the Epistles of St. Paul to Timothy and Titus And 1. A good Guide is one that hath received Authority from Christ to take Care of Souls not immediately from Christ but mediately i.e. by imposition of hands from some Bishop of the Church who in a constant Succession from the Apostles of our Lord had Authority to give it As for those that pretend to derive Authority immediately from Christ thou must look upon them as Impostors till they can shew those Testimonials of their Authority which the Apostles did viz. the Gifts of Tongues and Miracles and if their Learning and seeming Piety should chance to incline thee to believe otherwise of them it behoves thee to cal to Mind that Caution which Christ hath given thee Matth. 7.15 Beware of false Prophets which come to you in Sheeps-Cloathing but inwardly they are ravening Wolves And as for those that pretend to Authority derived by the hands of some of the Inferiour Ministers in the Church which are now and have been for many hundred years called Presbyters and by that name distinguished from Bishops thou may'st upon the same grounds on which thou hast received thy Christianity believe them to pretend to that which they have not for it is certain by unquestionable Records that for above fifteen hundred years there was no such Authority allowed or acknowledged in Presbyters by the Church of Christ and as for those in this last Age that did first pretend to this Authority and did take upon them to confer it upon others by imposition of their hands it is certain that all the Authority they had or could confer they received from Bishops which was only an Authority to preach the Word and administer the Sacraments according to the Rules of the Gospel the Canons of the Church and this in Subordination to their Bishops and not an Authority to ordain others in opposition to their Bishops and therefore if it be true That none can give that which they have not to give and that none can be presumed to have received that which was never given them as certainly it is thou hast great reason to believe that those persons whom I now speak of have no Authority from Christ to take care of Souls And then in the last place for those that call themselves the Ministers of Christ and pretend to have been so by the declared Consent of a small number of people combined together under the name of a Church thou mayest believe them to be what they call themselves when they can prove That the Apostles of our Lord were the peoples Ministers and not Christ's I mean That they did receive their Authority from the People and not from Christ Now if these men have no Authority from Christ they have no Promise of Christ's presence assistance and Blessing in those Exercises they take upon them to perform in his Name and if they have no Promise of Christ's Presence or Blessing thou hast no Reason to give up thy self to their Conduct Thou may'st perhaps hear them speak many good things of themselves and their followers and make great
heareth you saith he heareth me and he that despilseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me Where we see that as he hath given that Authority which he had received from his Father to these his Ministers so he doth require all men to own it and submit unto it and that he will account the Disowning the Not obeying the Rejecting and Despising them in the Exercise of it as the Disowning Rejecting and Despising of himself and his Authority and his Father likewise will judge it to be a Rejecting and Despising him and his Sovereign Power and Authority But this is not all that the Holy Scriptures speak concerning this matter it was foreseen by God how hardly the generality of men would be convinced of these things and therefore the Holy Spirit stirred up the blessed Apostles frequently to put men in mind of the Authority of Christ's Ministers and the Duty that we owe unto them Thus we find St. Paul telling the Corinthians That they are the Ambassadours of Christ and Stewards of the Mysteries of God and charging them to esteem them as such 1 Corinth 4.1 v. and we find him beseeching the Thessalonians to know them that did labour among them and were over them in the Lord and did admonish them and to esteem them very highly in Love for their work sake 1 Thess 5.12 13. And the Author to the Hebrews charges them to obey them that had the Rule over them or their Guides or Leaders so the word signifies and to submit themselves and he backs his Charge with this Reason That they did watch for their Souls is those that were to give account i.e. they are appointed by Christ to watch for mens Souls and they must give Account to him of the Souls committed to their Charge and this they can never be able to do with any Comfort if they will not obey and submit themselves to them and this he tells them viz. their making their Account sad and grievous by their Non-Submission would be unprofitable for them He means more than his words express according to a way of Speaking very usual in the Scriptures i.e. this will be so far from being profitable for them men that it will bring the greatest Damage and mischief to them viz the Ruine and perdition of their Souls I forbear to mention any more places of Scripture and I omit to urge the Practice of the first and best christians as also the black Characters that are given by some of the Holy Writers of those that did slight the Guides and Governours of the Church and refuse to submit themselves unto them because I have promised not to be tedious Now having carefully observed and seriously weighed these things give me leave to put some few Questions briefly to thee Do'st thou believe that there is no need of these Spiritual Guides in the World if there be no need of them why did Christ appoint them why did He not leave men to themselves in the Concerns of their Souls as he hath done in those things that concern their Bodies and their outward Estates For That he hath not appointed any Order of Men to teach men how to provide for their Bodies or to encrease their Estates is confest by all Was there need of these Guides for the first preaching of Christianity to the World and is there no need of them for the propagation and maintenance of it in the World I forbear to press thee with the Natural Blindness of mens Understandings with that Inconsideration Rashness Levity Inconstancy which is inseparable tof Humane Nature 〈◊〉 also with that Averseness to the things of God and the great Interests of our Souls which all men feel and good men cannot but complain of We may be confident That if Christ had not known that the World needed spiritual Guides He would never have appointed any such nor have promised them those Assistances which thou hast now heard of nor have taken any Care to inform men of the Duty they do owe unto them and therefore are not those men too much puft up in their fleshly Minds or too regardless of their Everlasting Interests that account these Guides to be of no Use to them or are wanting in that Respect for them and dependance upon them which they ought to have I doubt not but thou wilt confess it But further do'st thou not understand by what hath been said that men may receive very great Advantages by their spiritual Guides if they please themselves Surely those of old that received them as the Galatians did chap. 4.14 as the Angels of God yea even as Christ Jesus did believe so Besides was not the making of this Provision for the Good of mens Souls a great demonstration of Christ's Love and Care for them and therefore must not they be great despisers of the Love of Christ and Enemies to their own Souls that make little Account of it and seek no Advantage by it or can they with the least shadow of Reason call themselves Christians or expect to be Partakers of those Benefits which he hath promised to his faithful Servants who have no Regard at all to his Ordinances and Institutions or no other Regard to them than as they please their own Humors and are agreeable to their Stubborn Wills I doubt not but thou wilt answer to these Demands according to my hearts Desire and therefore thou can'st not but acknowledge that my Advice is good and useful That thou commit thy Soul to the Care and Conduct of a Spiritual Guide I proceed now to shew thee briefly how thou must practise this Advice The Practice of the former Advice 1. Thou must make Choice of a good Guide I call him a good Guide who having Authority from Christ is able to direct thee aright in all the Concerns of thy Soul and will be faithful to thee Christ hath no where promised that none shall take upon them to be Guides of Souls but those that have Authority from him nor that all those that have Authority from him shall discharge their Office faithfully Among his Twelve Apostles there was a Judas and among the Seven Deacons ordained by the Apostles Tradition tells us there was one that failed and in those Writings that we have of some of the Apostles we find complaints of some that loved the World more than Christ and their own fleshly Lusts more than the Good of Souls and St. Peter hath told us that as there were of old false Prophets among God's people so there shall be false Teachers among Christians who through Covetousness shall with feigned words make Merchandize of them 2 Pet. 2.1 2 3. And therefore it is no matter of Wonder if there be some such among us now but it ought to be matter of Caution to thee with whom thou do'st trust thy Soul Thy Soul is a Jewel of too great Value to be put into the hands of every Pretender yea or of every one