with Perseverance unto the End in conjunction with it Then the Answer of Paul and Silas is the short Summary of the Gospel and they might well promise Salvation to whosoever should accomplish the purpose of it That this indeed is the Importance may appear by the words of our blessed Saviour who having been asked by a Iew as Paul and Silas by a Gentile what Course was to be taken whereby to inherit Eternal Life gave him an Answer which some may censure as too much savouring of the Law but yet it seems not unsuitable to the oeconomy of the Gospel If thou wilt enter into life keep the Commandments Now in as much as Paul and Silas did not teach another Doctrin but the same in other words with their Master Christ they must needs be understood to have given This Answer That if the Jailour should so believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as to imitate his Example and yield obedience to his Commands and continue so to do all the days of his life he should not fail in that Case of his being sav'd And though the Rule is very true That nothing is wanting in any Sentence which is of necessity understood which well might justifie Paul and Silas in the conciseness of their expression Yet not contented with this excuse they rather chose not to want it by speaking largely to the Jailour the Word of God After the very same manner § 13. That the People may not wrest the outward Letter of the Scripture to their Damnation we must carefully explain and disentangle it to their Safety If any of Us shall be consulted by either Believers or Unbelievers about the means of their being sav'd we have two ways of Answer and both exact but both are to be taken cum grano salis and with a due Interpretation We may answer with our Saviour They are to keep the Commandments or else with Paul and Silas that they are to believe in the Lord Iesus Christ. But if the former we must add This is the chief of the Commandments that we believe on the Name of the Lord Iesus Christ 1 Joh. 3. 23. And although we must have an inherent righteousness in part yet there is need that That of Christ be imputed to us if but to make up all the wants and the vacuities of our own For our own is no better than filthy Rags if impartially compar'd with our double Rule to wit The Doctrin and Life of Christ. We must negotiate indeed with the Talents of Grace that we may not be cast into outer Darkness yet so as to judge our selves at best to be unprofitable Servants weigh'd with the Greatness of our Redeemer and with the Richness of our Reward Or if we give them the second Answer we must also speak to them the Word of God We must explain what it is to believe in Christ and by the help of some Distinctions duly consider'd and apply'd teach them to see through all the Fallacies and flatten the edge of all objections which are oppos'd to the Necessity of strict obedience and good works When any Iustifying Vertue is given to Faith we must tell them it is meant of Faith unfeigned When we speak of the Sufficiency of Faith unfeigned we must shew them how Love is the Spirit of Faith Whether because in the Active it works by Love or else because in the Passive in which the Syriac and Tertullian translate the word by works of Charity and Obedience Faith is wrought and made perfect When we celebrate the force of a lively Faith we must season it with a Note that Faith is dead being alone When 't is said out of St. Paul that we are justified by Faith without the Deeds of the Law 't is fit we add out of St Iames that we are justified by Works and not by Faith only For to shew that St. Iames does not either contradict or confute St. Paul The Works excluded by St. Paul are no other than the Deeds of the Ceremonial Law And those included by St. Iames are no other than the Works of the Moral Law So we are justified by Faith as the Root of Works and we are justified by Works as the Fruit of Faith Not by Faith without Works for then St. Iames would not be Orthodox nor yet by Works without Faith for then we could not defend St. Paul but by such a Faith as worketh and by such Works as are of Faith By Both indeed improperly as being but necessary Conditions But very properly by Christ as being the sole meritorious Cause Again because 't is very natural for Carnal Professors of Christianity so to enhaunce the Price of Faith as to depretiate good Works and make obedience to pass at the cheaper Rate They must be told that when our Saviour ascribes the moving of Mountains and other Miracles to Faith He does not speak of That Faith which is a Sanctifying Grace Gal. 5. 22. but of that Faith alone which is an Edifying Gift 1 Cor. 12. 9. by which a man may do wonders and yet be damn'd Matth â— 22 23. So when he said unto the Ruler who had besought him to heal his bed-rid Daughter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Only Believe He only meant it was sufficient for the healing of her â—ody without alluding in any measure unto the saving of her Soul So far he was in that place from giving any ground of hope to a Solifidian And therefore briefly let it suffice me to say once for all That when we find men Believers without good Life we must shew them how many ways a man may be a Believer without true Faith may be justified in the Praemisses yet not sav'd in the Conclusion may get no more by his Knowledge than to be beaten with many stripes and have no more of a Saviour than to be damn'd by We must instruct them to distinguish betwixt the Act and the Habit of their Believing But above all betwixt a Speculative and a Practical Belief A Belief in the Heads and the Hearts of men A Belief which does consist with a drawing back unto Perdition and That by which a man believes unto the saving of the Soul § 14. Stand forth therefore Thou Antinomian or Thou Fiduciary or whosoever else Thou art who art a sturdy Believer without true Faith and ever namest the Name of Christ without departing from Iniquity Try thy self by this Touchstone which lyes before thee and examin whether thy Heart be not as apt to be deceiptful as 't was once said to be by the Prophet Ieremy Let the Tempter that is without make thee as credulous as he can And let the Traytor that is within make thee as confident as he will of thy Faith in Christ yet Thou wilt find when all is done there is exceeding great Truth in the Spanish Proverb That 't is a very hard Thing to believe in God And so very few there are who attain unto it
Oaths have so taught them by That Example to dispense easily with their own that if the Iews are ask't the Reason why the Mahomedans are permitted by God Almighty to prevail against Christendom for more than a Thousand years together without Controul and to boast of their Prosperity as a notable mark of the True Religion an Argument ad homines I mean to the Romanists and the Fanaticks not easily to be Answer'd They will ascribe it to the Blasphemies Execrations and Violations of Oaths Those of Allegiance more especially which have abounded and do abound more amongst Christians than amongst Them For the End of Temporal Blessings are Spiritual If God gave the Lands of the Heathen to the Israelites to this end he gave them that they might observe his Statutes Psal. 105. 44. And therefore when we forfeit our Spiritual Blessings we cannot rationally expect to injoy our Temporal Should we pass through all Orders and Ranks of men which might be done with ease enough but that the Time will not permit it Lord for how little Christian Faith how much faithlesness and falsness and praevarication should we discover Excepting only These Nations wherein we live Soveraigns mind nothing more than the exhausting of their Subjects and not excepting These Nations wherein we live Subjects mind little less than the enfeebling of their Soveraigns If the People here in England would either All travel a broad or at least take the pains to be taught at home how like Princes rather than Subjects in point of Liberty and Propriety they live at home being compared with other Subjects throughout the habitable World They would be certainly more contented than now they are with their Condition They would be certainly so far from being given to change and such passionate Abhorrers of All Sedition as not to suffer themselves for ever to be undone by their Foelicities Men of all Ranks and Qualities would acquiesce in their great happiness and learn to know when they are well Men of Trade would be contented to part with the paring of their Nails to secure their Fingers Men of Land would be contented to pay little Taxes and Men of Mony would not grumble to pay None at all Dissenting Clergymen would not study to please the People for their own profit more than to profit them for their own pleasure Nor would the People on the other side be so addicted as they are commonly both to envy and defraud and defame the Clergy Men of Law would be contented to raise up great Fortunes to Them and Theirs out of the Ruins of other mens and to injoy in full Peace All the Profits and Effects of Dire Contention Physicians would be contented to dispose of mens Lives not only at a safe but at a profitable rate and with Tentimes greater Fees than were ever yet heard of in Foreign Parts All sorts of People in a word would most thankfully acquiesce in their several Stations Whereas for want of due knowledge or of an ingenuous Consideration how much better even Artificers and common Mechanicks do live in England than men of the noblest blood and breeding under All foreign Governments without Exception I say for want of due Reflection on This great Truth All the Foundations of our Earth do seem to be utterly out of Course Men are so drunk with their Prosperities so tired out with Tranquillity grown so restive with sitting still in the Scorner's Chair In contradiction to The Apostle and His Advice They do so study to be unquiet and not to do their own business but the business of other men they are so sharp and quick-sighted in ordering other mens Affairs though most commonly blind as Beetles in all the Managements of their own are so perplext and dissatisfied with they-cannot-tell-what are so restless in their Indeavours to prevent things unavoidable to bring about things impossible and to provide against things which never are likely to ensue they do so mutiny and repine at the good Providences of God and are so unwilling to permit him to rule the World his own way being bewitch't with an Opinion that They are able to do it better by quaint Contrivances of their own are so unwilling that their Governours may be enabled to Protect for fear they should be tempted by such an Ability to oppress them I say by All these Infelicities which too much Felicity hath occasion'd The World is now grown to so ill a pass that we may take up the words of the Prophet Ieremy and apply them to the Places and Times we live in Run to and fro through the Streets and seek into all the broad Places thereof if ye can find a man if there be any that executeth Iudgment that seeketh the Truth and I will pardon it § 8. I know it may easily be objected against the Argument I have us'd That no wants of Faith in the second Notion of the word can prove 't is wanted in the first For let the Practice of men amongst us be what it will yet their Principles they will say may be as Orthodox as their Professions and they have still a firm Assent unto the Truth of Christ's Gospel in All its Doctrines But to This Objection it may as easily be Answer'd that as a Practical Infidel or Atheist is a worse Monster than a Speculative so there is no better way to prove the first than by the second Men may believe the Word of God with an Human Faith when yet 't is easy to demonstrate They do not believe it with a Divine one Nor is there any greater Instance of the Deceitfulness of a man's Heart than is his Treacherous Belief that he does Believe and that with a truly-Christian Faith when yet he proves by All his Practice that he is either no Believer or such a Believer of the Gospel as he is of Iulius Caesar's or Cicero's Works and no whit better For why should men be more forcibly and more effectually restrain'd as we see they are from committing a lesser Evil which is forbidden under the Poenalty of a meerly human Law and where the Poenalty is no greater than the loss of a man's Ears or the forfeiture of his Estate than from committing a greater Evil which is forbidden by God himself under the Poenalty of their missing the Ioys of Heaven and also of abiding the Pains of Hell but that they do more believe the one than they do the other It cannot be for This reason that men do think it a greater Misery to suffer a little for a short Time than all imaginable Torments to all Eternity It cannot be that they had rather fry in Hell without ceasing than indure the short loss of Life and Fortune But the true Reason must needs be This that men are as Confident of the one as they are Diffident of the other They have a manifold Experience of Temporal Punishments But the Tempter makes them hope there are none Eternal They are strong in
Ioy at the Return of Good Friday upon which they were to celebrate their Master's Suffrings on the Cross as that the sense of Their suffrings seem'd to be wholly swallow'd up by the far greater sense which they had of His. Though they were scatter'd and dispers't as far asunder as the Ingenie of Malice could well contrive some imprison'd upon the Land some under Hatches upon the Sea some in Caves of the Wilderness and some condemn'd upon the Scaffold Yet as the Angles of a Pyramid however distant at the Basis do still come nearer as they Ascend and at last Concenter in the Conus so how distant soever the one from the other those Christians were in respect of their Bodies here below They met together in their Affections at the same Throne of Grace And though Our Church like Theirs in the late ill Times was truly Militant when with the Burden she labour'd under she sadly hung down her Head yet Sursum Corda she lifted up her Heart to the Lord of Glory And by an union of Affections kept all her Holy Days and Feasts with the Church Triumphant It would be certainly a voluminous if not an Endless Undertaking thô otherwise easy enough to prove by way of Induction or by a Catalogue of the Particulars how many Myriads have been enabled to run with Patience the Race that was set before them by meerly looking unto Iesus the Author and Finisher of their Faith so far forth as for the Ioy that was set before him he endured the Cross and despised the shame and so sate him down at the right hand of God Nor indeed can it be otherwise with such as Love and believe in the Lord Jesus in sincerity And give an Evidence of Both by their new obedience For so long as we are such the Spirit it self saith St. Paul beareth witness with our Spirits that we are children of God And if Children then Heirs Heirs of God and joynt Heirs with Christ if so be we suffer with him that we may also be glorified together with him And suffer with him we shall with the greater ease if not Ambition because we shall reckon with St. Paul That the Suffrings of this present Time are not worthy to be compared with the Glory which shall be revealed in us and because the whole Trinity is clearly ingaged in our behalf For so St. Paul tells us in the following Parts of the same Chapter God the Father gave us his Son and all good things together with him God the Son gave us Himself not only that he might dye but also rise from the Dead and be an Advocate for us incessantly at the right hand of God Thirdly God the Holy Ghost ingageth for us as much as either both by helping our Infirmities through which we know not what we should pray for as we ought And by making Intercession for us with Groans not to be utter'd And whilst so great a Care is taken both of us and our Interest by God Himself It cannot but follow that all the Crosses which shall be laid upon us by others will work together for our Comfort in this life present as well as for our Glory in that to come § 19. Lastly the Burden of Christ is light when freely taken upon our selves as in particular when he Commands us somewhat like what the Ammonites commanded the men of Iabesh Gilead to pluck out an Eye a right Eye too and to cast it from us For First it is not an Absolute but a Conditional Command We are to pluck out an Eye upon a supposal that it offends us that is to say If it is scandalous and makes us stumble into Sin and into such wasting Sin as makes us fall headlong into Hell for so our Saviour does infer in his very next words In such a formidable Case and for the preventing of such a Mischief It is not only not grievous but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith our Saviour It is profitable for thee that one of thy Members perish and not that thy whole Body be cast into Hell So that Secondly 't is not a Positive but a Comparative Command And 't is the Dictate of Common Sense That of two evils of Punishment we are in Prudence to choose the least As rather to lose one Eye than Both and rather Both than the whole Body and rather the Body than the Soul To suffer any thing rather than Death and Death it self rather than Hell A man having a Gangraene in any Limb of his Body will not only permit but hire the Artist to cut it off And by consequence will confess it very much better and more desirable to Pluck out his Eye and to cast it from him than by keeping it in his Head to be Cast into Hell Better suffer under Them who can destroy the Body only than under Him who can destroy both Body and Soul Yea Thirdly 't is the Dictate of Sanctified Reason That of any two evils whereof the one is of Sin the other of Affliction we must choose to Suffer the greatest rather than wilfully Do the least Our first Care must be to make a Covenant with our Eyes not to look upon a Maid Next in order to That Design we should not look round about us in the Streets of the City for fear our Eyes become our Enemies Or if our Eyes chance to wander beyond the Bounds of That Counsel our third degree of Care must be not to gaze upon a Woman lest we fall by those things that are pretious in her v. 5. 8. Or if This cannot be done 't is better to out them whilst they are innocent as Virginius did his Daughter than continue them as Inlets to Sin and Hell Nor should we be griev'd at our Advantage though it be bought with great Pain whilst it is for the Prevention of a very much greater Last of all this Commandment which is so grievous to us in Sound is very far from being such in its intrinsick signification For in our Saviour's gratious sense 'T is but the Vanity of the Eye which we are bound to pluck out 'T is but the Violence of the Hand which we are bound to cut off And the obliquity of the Foot which we are bid to cast from us as is shewn more at large in an other Place Several vices of the Soul being fitly enough expressed by so many Members of the Body And That severest of our Lord's Precepts If thy Right Eye offend thee pluck it out if thy Right hand offend thee cut it off if thy Right Foot offend thee cast it from thee may very well admit of this Serene Signification That we must pluck out a Lust thô as dear to us as a right Eye And we must cut off an Avarice thô as dear to us as a right Hand And we must cast away an Ambition of greater things than are good for us thô perhaps as dear to us as
Feaver as soon as he found his Soul the worse for the Recovery of his Body If nothing but Dangers can keep us safe as indeed all Dangers contribute to it unless the Danger of Security be of the number we have most reason to fear what we commonly most affect such a full flowing Tide of Good Things here as made our Saviour's Description of Dives his Heaven upon Earth If we find in our selves that Scriptural Character of a Bastard a being suffer'd to live in Sin without the chastisement of Sons we well may wish for those Terrors which take so much from our Felicities as to give us good hope that we may be Sons We can never better discern the great Advantages coming to us by Frights and Terrors such as These in my Text than by reflecting upon them in some Examples When God himself would gain Reverence both to his Majesty and his Law and beget in his People a fear to break it it pleas'd his Wisdom to deliver it with many Circumstances of Terror even with Thundring and Lightning with Fire and Tempest with the sound of a Trumpet and the voice of words which voice was so terrible that they who heard it intreated they might not hear it any more And so terrible was the sight that Moses said I exceedingly fear and quake Heb. 12. 18 19 20. And St. Paul having premis'd a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we must all appear before the Iudgment-seat of God does presently add thereupon an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Knowing therefore the Terrors of the Lord we persuade men Which is as if he should have said That the Due Consideration of a Iudgment to come should be the strongest of all Incitements to the Amendment of our Lives This in reason should prevail when all things else are ineffectual Nor does any thing more dispose us for such a sad consideration than the happy Interruptions of our Prosperity David boasted in his Prosperity He should never be removed Psal. 30. 6. But when God hid his Face it presently follows that he was troubled v. 7. Then he cried unto the Lord and piously made his Supplication v. 8. Just so it was with the whole People Israel The more they were compass'd about with Blessings they presently sinn'd so much the more Psal. 78. 17. But when he slew them they sought him and inquired early after God v. 34. Nor was it otherwise in the Times of the Prophet Ieremy and Amos Wo be to them that are at ease in Zion Amos 6. 1. For they put far off the evil Day v. 3. But in the Time of their Trouble men are ready to say Arise and save us Jer. 2. 27. Exactly thus it was with the very Disciples of our Lord. For whilst all was well with them and that their Ship injoy'd a Calm Their Blessed Master was asleep and They as perfectly secure as if his Eye had been watching over them But behold a great Tempest which made the Sea cover the Ship made them also cry out and awake their Master out of his sleep with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord save us we perish 'T is true indeed they so spake of a meer Temporal Destruction And of That they spake too from a Panick Fear But how many in the World do hardly come to Lord save us or what must we do that we may be sav'd until they are like the poor Syrian just ready to perish Yet even This becomes an Argument to prove the Danger of our Felicities and the benefit growing to us from seeing the Terrors of the Lord That They who are Scoffers at Religion during the Time of their Health and Plenty are universally on their Death-Beds of the Religion of the Clinicks and being brought down to the Brink of Hell will commonly lift up their Hands and their Eyes to Heaven crying out in the language though not in the Spirit of Christ's Disciples Lord save us we perish And sometimes too although very seldom not only in the language but in the sense and syncerity of the poor Seeker in my Text what must we do that we may be sav'd Belshazzar had not in all his Life so much as a Fit of true Devotion until the fingers of a man's Hand coming forth out of a wall of their own accord or invisibly helpt by an hand from Heaven and setting his Judgment before his Eyes in Mene Tekel upharsin had even loosed the Ioynts of his Loins and Knees and together with his Countenance had chang'd his Heart too And to conclude with That Instance which is afforded out of the Text as being That that gave Occasion to all the rest we see the Iailour of Philippi was never truly in his wits until thus frighted Until the Miracle of the Earthquake had struck his Prison into a Palsie and Himself into a Trembling it never entred into his Thoughts what should become of him hereafter But when he saw by signs and wonders which fill'd him with Ecstasie and Astonishment That there was Punishment for the Wicked Reward for the Righteous and a God that judgeth the Earth and Quite another kind of God than what He had hitherto adored A God that could bow down the Heavens and make the Earth become Quaker A God that gave Light to the blackest Dungeon shook the Prison by its Foundations conveighed Liberty to the Captives and fill'd the Hearts of the Despised with unspeakable Ioy in the Holy Ghost He very easily inferr'd that they had hitherto been but Idols which he had paid Devotion to and That in requital of his Idolatries he was lyable to the wrath of the only True God That Paul and Silas were apparently two of his Emissaries or Heraulds as might be gather'd from the Miracles which had been wrought for their sakes That They by consequence could inform him touching the means of his Escape And therefore instantly he resolv'd to lay himself at their Feet though They were Pris'ners of the Dungeon and He the Master of the House saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sirs so the English or rather Masters and Lords so the Greek What must I do that I may be sav'd And this does lead me from the End to the proper Object of his Inquiry or the Means inquired after for its Attainment The second Part of my Division and now in order to be consider'd The End of the Inquiry being Future and Invisible is only the object of our Thoughts or at the most of our Desires But the Means of its Attainment are as I noted here imply'd to consist in Practice And therefore This is That part whereof the most of Mankind can least indure the Consideration Of the few who are concern'd to wish and supplicate for the End fewer yet are contented to trouble themselves about the Means They will readily ask that they may be sav'd But not so readily inquire what they must do that they may be sav'd For should they ask what they must
is here imply'd Come we now from the double Object to observe in the Text a double Act too Whereof the first is Internal and that express'd the second External and that imply'd The Act Internal which is express'd is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to believe The Act External which is imply'd is to confess what is believ'd in spite of Temptations to conceal it And this did the Iailour of Philippi in the next Verses after my Text. For as inwardly with the Heart a man believeth unto righteousness so outwardly with the Mouth Confession is made unto Salvation Indeed the Gnosticks were all for the Inward Act only for the better avoiding of Persecution But the Outward is by God as indispensably requir'd And the Inward Act without it is not sincere Thence it is that they are coupl'd as the condition of Salvation Rom. 10. 9. If thou shalt confess with thy Mouth the Lord Iesus and believe in thine Heart that God hath raised him from the Dead thou shalt be sav'd Believing and speaking are from the same spirit of Faith 2 Cor. 4. 13. It is written I believed and therefore have I spoken We also believe and therefore speak A double Act then there must be if the end be to be sav'd A True Believer must be a Confessor in time of Trial And when duly call'd to it a Martyr too Again As the Object and the Act so too the Subject of it is double For though begun in the Intellect yet 't is consummated in the Will as Aquinas and his Followers do rightly state it or else it would be meerly an human Faith Fides cui potest subesse Dubium a Faith whose very formal Reason is a radical Fear I do not mean an ingenuous but carnal Fear a Faith without Love and without Activity and so without the effect of Obedience too And therefore Cajetan argues well That an habit of Salvifick or saving Faith must be at once both a Speculative and a Practical habit And truly such is That Faith which is required in the Text as may appear by the Effects and Products of it in the Context For first the Iailour did assent unto the Things that were preached by Paul and Silas which infer's the Christian Faith to have got already into his Head And then immediately after we find it sunk into his Heart too witness the Sacrament of his Baptism which he received from Paul and Silas witness also his tender Charity in his washing of their stripes his entertaining them at his Table and his rejoycing even in That that might be temporally his Ruin v. 34 which are a proof of his abounding in those fruits of the Spirit Acts of Iustice and Gratitude and works of Mercy and spiritual Ioy in the Holy Ghost All Effects and Diagnosticks of saving Faith The overflowings of That Love which to use St. Paul's phrase is shed abroad in the Heart of a true Believer And thus we have the twofold Subject of Believing as we ought in the Lord Iesus Christ to wit the Intellect and the Will too Our full Assent must be seconded by our Love of the Truth and Obedience to it and that by a natural Production of the one out of the other For what at first is no more than The light of Knowledge in the Brain does by enkindling in the Bowels the Fire of Love of Love to God in the first place and to our Neighbour in the second produce Obedience to the first and the second Table of the Law After the Object and the Act and the Subject of this Belief each of which is twofold we are in order to reflect on the Nature of it Which is indeed very closely but significantly couch'd in the Praeposition For 't is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 believe the Essence or Existence of Jesus Christ nor is it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 believe his Truth or Veracity But 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 believe and trust IN or UPON the Lord Jesus Believe at once his Propensity and Power to save thee Believe his Power for he is Dominus The Lord. And believe his Propensity for he is Iesus the Saviour Well therefore said the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews Whosoever cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Now what is thus said of God is exactly true of the Lord Iesus Christ. For God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself And whosoever cometh to Christ must believe as that he is so withal that he is a Rewarder too A Rewarder but of whom and on what Condition for he is not a Rewarder of all in general no nor of All that do believe him to have the Office of a Rewarder But of all such as seek him and that with diligence And of all who thus believe in Him as in the Lord Jesus Christ. Such an important monosyllable is the Praeposition in as 't is the English of the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in conjunction with an Accusative that the Life of the Text would be lost without it For standing here as it does betwixt the Act and the Object it does imply the true nature of saving Faith Pass we on from the Nature to the Necessity of Believing Which here is visibly imply'd by the Retrospect of the Text as 't is an Answer to the Question 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what must I do that I may be sav'd for sure the sense of the Answer if it be adaequate to the Question must needs be This Thou must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is of absolute Necessity and indispensably requir'd For as without our pleasing God it is impossible to be sav'd so we know without Faith it is impossible to please him Heb. 11. 6. Last of all we have here the Issue or the Conclusion of the whole Matter at once implyed in the Reflexion of the Answer upon the Question and expressed in the words of the Answer too Salvation is not the Effect but yet the necessary event of our Faith in Christ. Nor is it properly the wages but most certainly the Reward of a true Believer It comes to pass as unavoidably upon the Praemisses suppos'd as an Effect on a supposal of all things requisite to its Production For the Question having been This What must I do that I may be sav'd to which the Answer is Believe and thou shalt be sav'd An Answer given by Paul and Silas who spake as the Spirit gave them utterance here does arise a mutual Inference as of the Praecept and the Promise so of the Duty and the Reward Here is a necessary Tendency of the first towards the second and a necessary Dependence of the second upon the first For as Salvation cannot be had by such as live under the Gospel without a praevious Belief in the Lord Iesus Christ so wheresoever such Believing does go before 't is very plain that Salvation
Reason at once for the Matter and Manner of it First here is something to be done by every Follower of Christ and that because He is a Master It is not Master what shall I say or Master what shall I believe but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Master what shall I Do Here is Secondly observable in this Candidate of Heaven a meek Resignedness of mind to any Command of Christ imaginable and that because he is a Good or a Gracious Master The Servant presumes not to choose his work He does not bargain for Life Aeternal at such a Rate as he thinks fit with a Master I will do this or that but indefinitely asks with an humble kind of Indifference 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what shall I do These are Particulars more than enough not only to exercise and entertain our Attentions but perhaps to distract them too And therefore it cannot be taken ill if I shall gather their whole Result into Four Doctrinal Propositions First that the Son of God Incarnate who at present is our Advocate and will hereafter be our Iudge and who purposely came to save us from the Tyranny of our Sins is not only A Saviour to propose Promises to our Faith But also A Master to challenge obedience to his Commands We must not only believe him which is but to have him in our Brains nor must we only confess him which is but to have him in our Mouths no nor must we only love him though That is to have him in our Hearts but farther yet we must obey him and do him Service which is to have him in our Hands and our Actions too 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Master what shall I do And yet Secondly Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is not any way a Severe or Aegyptian-like Master who looks to reap where he never sow'd and exacts store of work without allowing any Materials but a Master full of Mercy and Lovingkindness And this he is in two respects To wit of the work which he requires which is not foesible only but pleasant and of the wages which he promiseth Aeternal Life For each of these reasons which do arise out of the Text he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A good Master And therefore Thirdly We must in gratitude unto so Good a Master as This behold our selves as obliged to two Returns to wit a Readiness of Obedience and a Resignedness of Wills First a Readiness of obedience even because he is our Master next a Resignedness of wills because he is our Good Master Our Christian Tribute to both together to wit his Authority and his Goodness must not only be Universal but Unconstrain'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what shall I do that is to say I will do any thing I am ready to perform whatever Service thou shalt appoint be it never so harsh or be it never so difficult Eternal Life is such a Prize as for which I can never do enough I say not therefore what I will do but humbly ask what I shall Yet Fourthly and lastly When we have done the most we can we are Unprofitable Servants Our Obedience is not the Cause but the aequitable Condition of our Reward And we finally arrive at Eternal Life not by way of Purchase as we are Servants but of Inheritance as we are Sons It is not here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wee seek not to merit or to deserve as some gross Christians pretend to do but meerly to Inherit Eternal Life I now have done with the Introduction wherein is included the Explication and Division of the Text. But as 't is easy for an Artist to design more work in a little Time than he is able to accomplish a long time after so however I have already drawn the Monogram or Scheme of my well-meant Project yet to fill it with the Zographesis by making it practical and easy not only useful to the most knowing but also familiar to the most Ignorant of those that read me will be the Business not of one but of several Essays And this the rather because Before I find Access to the four Doctrinal Propositions I must direct to several Lessons from Those three Preliminary Subjects the Text affords us To wit the Quality of the Person who here inquires The excellent Nature of his Inquiry and The Condition of the Oracle inquired of First the Person here inquiring had three remarkable Qualifications Youth Wealth and Honour And yet for all that he did not ask as a young man How shall I purchase the sweetest Pleasures nor yet as a Rich man How shall I compass the greatest wealth no nor yet as a Ruler How shall I climb to the highest Pinacle of Preferment But notwithstanding his three Impediments pulling him down towards the Earth he seemed wholly to be solicitous How he might come by a place in Heaven And therefore hence we are to take out a threefold Lesson one for Young men another for Rich men a third for Rulers And I suppose of these three this particular Congregation does now consist First our Young men must learn from the example of this Inquirer to remember their Creator in the days of their youth whilst the evil days come not nor the years draw nigh when they shall say We have no pleasure in them Prov. 12. 1. And that especially for these three Reasons First the younger any one is he came the more lately out of the Hands of his Creator and has had the less time to grow forgetful of the Rock out of which he was hewn It is with mens Souls as with their Bodies and with their Bodies as with their Cloaths The newer commonly the better and the older so much the worse A little evil Communication is enough to ferment the greatest Mass of good manners And if the whole World does lye in wickedness as St. Iohn affirms it does how can we look to be the purer by growing old and decrepit in so much Dirt no the longer we converse with Pitch or Birdlime to which the wickedness of the World may very happily be compar'd It is by so much the harder to make us clean Besides we ought to run after Christ like this Inquirer in the Text not go to him like a Torpedo as if we did not affect but fear him or tanquam Bos ad Cerâ—ma as if we were afraid to be baited by him But now the younger any man is he can run so much the faster whereas grown old he will hardly go It was therefore the Blessing of God to Enoch that he took him away speedily and even hasten'd to cut him off to the end that wickedness might not alter his Understanding nor deceipt beguile his Soul Wisd. 4. 11 14. This was That that gave occasion to the young mans Inquiry which lyes before us For having heard our Saviour say Suffer little Children to come unto me for of such is the Kingdom of God v. 14.
on Earth too It is enough for poor Lazarus to have his Good things hereafter And enough for Rich Dives to have his proportion of Good things here But the good men I speak of will needs be happier than Lazarus and yet much richer than Dives too They will have their good things as well in this as another World All the subject of their Inquiry is not how to be better than other men in Acts of Iustice and Works of Mercy But how to be greater and more regarded which is call'd a being better in point of Quality and Degree And after these very things do the Gentiles seek They of Iava and the Molucco's They of Tartary and China whether as greedily as Christians I cannot tell But our Saviour spake only of Food and Rayment as of things which the Gentiles are wont to seek And well it were for Real Christians if Nominal Christians would seek no more If Food and Rayment would serve the turn Christians then like other Creatures might quietly live by one another But it seems they have no more than the Name of Christians who chiefly seek with the Gentiles the low concernments of the Flesh. For as many as are Christians in very good earnest will bestow themselves in seeking the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof supposing such things as These will be added to the rest as a good Appendix Man not living by Bread alone as our Saviour said to Satan but by bread as it is blessed by the good Word of God Nor indeed is he worthy to live by Bread who is not able to live without it who is not able to subsist upon better things When we reckon Food and Rayment among the Necessaries of Life which we do with good reason we only speak of such a painful and dying life as is not worthy our caring for unless in order to life Aeternal And for the nourishing of That the very famishing of the Body may pass for food unto the Soul From all which together it seems to follow That they who arrogate to themselves not only the greatest both Faith and Hope but the perfectest Assurance of life Aeternal do prove themselves unaware the greatest Infidels in the World whilst neglecting the grand Inquiry they ought to make after Heaven they let the Tide of their Affections run out wholly upon the Earth For did they really look for a Day of Iudgment as much as they do for an Hour of Death they would as certainly provide against the one as commonly they do against the other They would take as much Care to be just and honest as universally they do to be rich or healthful And make as much of their Souls by Mortification and Self-denial as now they do of their Bodies by a plentiful Injoyment of Creature-Comforts 'T is true indeed Life Aeternal is a thing which is quickly talk't of nor are there any so uncivil as not to afford it a friendly mention It is no hard thing to be another mans flatterer much less is it difficult to be ones own To be secure and praesumptuous is cheap and easy Yea 't is pleasant to flesh and blood to be carnally set free from that fear and trembling wherewith a man is to work out his own Salvation Thence it is that we abound with such an Herd of Fiduciaries and Solifidians who having persuaded themselves to fancy that Life Eternal is a thing which cannot possibly escape them and that all the next world is irresistibly their own They think they have nothing to do in This but to make a Trial whether it hath not been decreed that all shall be theirs that they can get and whether it hath not been decreed that they shall get all they try for and whether it hath not been decreed that they shall try to get All. When men are season'd with such a Principle they cannot think it concerns them to give all Diligence for the making of their Calling and Election sure by ceasing to do evil and by learning to do well or by adding to Faith Vertue and one Vertue unto another But supposing their Election so sure already as to be pass't the possibility of being miss't It is natural for them to give all diligence to make themselves sure of somewhat else For let them say what they will and let them think what they please and let them do what they can they cannot possibly give diligence to seek a thing in their possession or to secure what they believe it is impossible for them to lose No man living will light a Candle to look about for those Eyes which he believes are in his Head nor will he search after his head which is he doubts not upon his shoulders Our Saviour's two Parables of the lost Sheep and the lost Groat cannot but seem an arrant Iargon unto a man of such Principles as now I speak of For will He send about the Country to find a Sheep which is in his Fold or sweep the House for a Groat which he praesumes is in his Pocket No being poyson'd with an opinion that he was justified from Eternity and hath Grace irresistible and therefore cannot fall totally much less finally from Grace he will esteem it a thing impertinent for a man of his Talents to be so anxious as to Inquire what Good things he ought to do that he may inherit Eternal Life § 6. The great unhappiness of it is what I am sorry I have reason to believe I say truly That there are few Congregations wherein there are not such Professors as now I speak of who as long as fermented with such a Leven cannot possibly be profited by all our Preaching And therefore They above others must be inform'd That by the Nature of our Inquiries we ought to try as by a Touchstone of what sort we are whether Silver or Alchymy whether true and solid Gold or but polished Iron with double Gilt. By this we may explore from whence we came and whither 't is that we are going of whom we are and whom we are for For that Saying of our Saviour Matth. 24. 28. which historically refers to the Roman Army Wheresoever the Carkass is there the Eagles will be gathered together must needs be applicable and true in This sense also which is our Saviour's own Sense Luke 12. 34. Where your Treasure is there your Heart will be also From whence it follows unavoidably That if we are men of another world and have our Treasure laid up in Heaven we shall behave our selves as Pilgrims and perfect Sojourners here on Earth We shall be commonly looking Upwards with our Backs upon Egypt and our Faces towards Canaan Our Souls will be athirst for God Psal. 42. 1 2 3. our Hearts will pant after Eternity as the Hart panteth after the Water-Brooks crying out with holy David in an Exiliency of Spirit O when shall we appear before the Presence of God How low soever both our Bodies and
For when he was transfigur'd upon Mount Tabor a bright Cloud overshadow'd him and behold a voice out of the Cloud This is my beloved Son Hunc Audite Hear Him Matth. 17. 15. It is the Top of that Wisdom which we are capable of on Earth to sit with Mary at his Feet and to hear his Word Luke 10. 39 42. Fifthly if we inquire for the only true way which leadeth unto life and to life Eternal He alone is the Way the Truth and the Life John 14. 6. Are we affrighted at the Law He alone hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for us Gal. 3. 13. In a word He is the true Noah's Ark whereby to escape the Inundations of Sin and Hell He hath broken the Ice and made way for us that we may enter into the Gate Micah 2. 13. He is our Ionathan after the Spirit who first hath scaled in his Person the heavenly Mountain that we the Bearers of his Armour may follow after 1 Sam. 14. 1. The Ministration of his Word is the Spiritual Chariot by which he carries us with himself into the outward Court of the Temple and thence at last within the Veil into the Sanctum Sanctorum He alone is the Gate both of Grace and Salvation None can go unto the Father unless by Him John 14. 6. He alone is the Iacob's Ladder whose Top reacheth into the Heavens that is to say the True 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which as by a Bridge or Isthmus Heaven and Earth are tyed together Angels and Men pass to and fro Angels to Men and Men to Angels By Him hath the Father reconciled all things unto Himself Coloss. 1. 20. He it is that invites us when we are weary and heavy laden to come unto him for a Refreshment Matth. 11 28. From Him the Spirit and the Bride say Come And let him that heareth say Come And let him that is athirst Come And whosoever will let him come and take freely of the water of life Rev. 22. 17. All which being consider'd we thus may Argue within our selves If the great Queen of Shebah did choose to take so long a Iourney as from Shebah to Ierusalem and all to hear a wise man speak Matth. 12. 42. Or if Socrates though an Heathen was such a Lover of Wisdom as to travel for his Improvement through several Countries and put himself to learn of every great Master that he could hear of with how much a greater force of reason should we travel far and near to find out the Wisdom of the Father to learn of that Good as well as Great Master who alone hath the words of Eternal Life But some perhaps may here object That the Man in the Text met with Christ in the way whilst here on Earth How shall we find him out since his Ascension into Heaven The Psalmist tells us He is in Heaven and in Hell too If we go up into Heaven he is there And if we go down into Hell he is there also But to Heaven we cannot and to Hell we dare not go To which the Answer is very obvious That if Christ is in Hell because he is every where by the necessity of his Godhead he is by consequence here on Earth too for the very same reason And that we may not say with Seneca Qui ubique nusquam that he who is every where is no where for that he is every where invisible and so as difficultly found as if he were not The Righteousness which is of Faith speaketh on this wise Say not in thine heart who shall ascend into Heaven that is to bring Christ down from above Or who shall descend into the Deep that is to bring up Christ again from the Dead For Christ in his word is very nigh thee even in thy Mouth and in thine Heart that is the word of Faith which we preach We need not go to Compostella or travel in Pilgrimage to other places where they pretend at least to shew us his Seamless Coat and his Cross and his Crown of Thorns We need go no farther than to his Word and his Sacraments his Ministers and his Members And having thus found him out we must not content our selves with Herod to gaze upon him in Curiosity but with Zachaeus out of Devotion Nor must we grow old in our setting out but rather hasten to him betimes and as fast as we can run too And as humbly as it is possible we must go kneeling to him and ask him Good Master what shall we do or with the Disciples upon the Sea Master Master we perish That is we perish of our selves without thy stretched out Hand to support and save us And therefore lift we up our voices with those Ten Lepers in the way Iesus Master have Mercy on us For indeed he will never have Mercy on us unless we have mercy upon our selves that is to say unless we take him upon his own most righteous Terms not only as a Iesus who came to save us but withal as a Master who does expect to be served by us And this does lead me to consider the Compellation of our Inquirer concerning which I shall discourse upon the next Opportunity Now to the King Eternal Immortal Invisible the only wise God be Honour and Glory for ever and ever THE Goodness of Christ AS A LEGISLATOR MARK X. 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Good Master what shall I do that I may Inherit Aeternal Life § 1. HAving done with the Person who here inquires and with the excellent Nature of his Inquiry and with the only true Oracle inquired of It now remains that I proceed to the significant Compellation wherewith the Person who here inquires praepares the way to his Inquiry The Compellation as hath been said does consist of two Parts first the Subject 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Master next the Adjunct or Qualification 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Good § 2. From the first being compared with the matter of the Question that is to say with the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 't is very obvious to draw forth this Doctrinal Proposition That the Son of God Incarnate who at present is our Advocate and will hereafter be our Iudge and who purposely came to save us from the Tyranny of our Sins is not only a Saviour to offer Promises to our Faith but also a Master to exact Obedience to his Commands We must not only believe him which is but to have him in our Brains nor must we only confess him which is but to have him in our Mouths no nor must we only love him which were it possible to be done were only to have him in our hearts But farther yet we must Obey him and do him Service which is to have him in our Hands and our Actions too 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Master what shall I do § 3. A Proposition of such Importance to all that are Candidates for
Mouths to confess him our Heads to believe him our Hands and Feet to serve him our Wills to be ruled and our Wits to be captivated by him our Hearts to love him and our Lives to dye for him All which though it is All is still too little if we impartially consider the Disproportion of our Reward that blessed Parallel drawn out for us by God's own Compass Life and Aeternity A man you know would do any thing whereby to find Life though in our Saviour's Oxymôron it is by losing it Matth. 10. 39. And as a man will part with any thing to save his life so with life too to eternize it If therefore our Saviour does bid us follow him let us not venture to choose our way And if we can but arrive at Heaven it matters not much though we go by Hell For comparing his Goodness with his Mastership his Promises with his Precepts and the Scantling of our Obedience with the Immenfity of our Reward we shall find that our work hath no proportion with our wages but that we may inquire when all is done Good Master what shall we do And this does prompt me to proceed to my last Doctrinal Proposition That when all is done that can be we are unprofitable Servants Our Obedience is not the Cause but the meer Condition of our Reward And we arrive at Eternal Life not by way of Purchase as we are Servants but of Inheritance as we are Sons It is not here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to deserve but to inherit Eternal Life As Christianity like Manhood hath its several steps and degrees of growth so the Soul as well as the Body doth stand in need of Food and Raiment And agreable to the Complexion of immaterial Beings she is not only bedeck't but sustain'd with Righteousness Now as none can inherit Eternal Life but He that is born of the Spirit And as he that is born of the Spirit must also be nourished with the Spirit before he can possibly live an holy and spiritual Life so it is only God the Spirit that gives us Birth God the Son that gives us Breeding and God the Father that gives us the privilege of Adoption The Spirit feedeth us as his Babes the Son instructs us as his Disciples the Father indows us as his Heirs It is the Spirit that fits us for our Inheritance the Son that gives us a Title to it And 't is especially the Father who doth invest us with the Possession But now of all God's External and Temporal Blessings which have any Resemblance unto his Spiritual methinks the Manna that fell from Heaven is the liveliest Embleme of his Grace Of which though some did gather more and some less yet they that gather'd most had nothing over and they that gather'd least had no lack Thus as Manna like Grace is the Bread of Heaven so Grace like Manna is also measur'd out by Omers For even they that have least of the Grace of God have enough if well us'd to inherit Heaven and even they that have most have not enough to deserve it But still the Parallel goes on For the reason why the Manna which God sent down to the People Israel would not indure above a Day was saith Philo upon the Place lest considering the Care by which their Manna was preserv'd more than the Bounty by which 't was given they might be tempted to applaud not God's Providence but their own Thus if God had bestow'd so full a measure of his Grace as to have left us altogether without our Frailties perhaps our very Innocence might have been our Temptation We might have found it an Inconvenience to have been dangerously Good Like those once happy but ever-since unhappy Angels whose very excellency of Nature did prove a kind of Snare to them even the purity of their Essence did give occasion to their defilement Their very Height and Eminence was that that helpt to pull them down and one reason of their falling was that they stood so firmly For though they were free from that Lust which is the Pollution of the Flesh yet they were lyable to Ambition which is the Filthiness of the Spirit As if their Plethory of Goodness had made them Wantons or the Unweildiness of their Glory had made them Proud 't was from a likeness to their Creator that they aspir'd to an Equality and so they were the first of all the Creatures as well in their Fall as their Perfections Now adding to this the consideration that Ingratitude does gather Increase of Guilt from a greater abundance of Obligations so as the Angels falling from Heaven could not fall less than as low as Hell we may perhaps find a reason for which to congratulate to our selves that Dimensum or Pittance of God's free Grace which hath left us our Infirmities as fit Remembrancers to Humility That being placed in a condition rather of Trembling than of Security every Instance of our defect may send us to God for a Supply God hath given us our Proportion that we may not grumble or despair but not such a Perfection as once to Adam and the Angels before their Fall that we may not like Them be either careless or presume So that making a due comparison of that faint measure of Goodness which now we possibly may have by the Grace of God with that full measure of Glory which now at least we hope for we must be fain to acknowledge when all is done that the greatest measure of our obedience is far from deserving the least of Bliss For as the Sun appears to us a most glorious Body and yet is look't upon by God as a spot of Ink so though the Righteousness of men doth seem to men to be truly such yet compar'd with our Reward it is no more than as filthy Rags That other promise of our Lord Never to see or to taste of Death had been sufficiently above our merits But to inherit Eternal Life too though I cannot affirm it above our wishes yet sure it is often above our Faith Had we no more than we deserv'd we should not have so great Blessings as Rain and Sunshine and God had still been Iust to us had he made our best wages to be as negative as our work For as the best of us all can boast no more than of being less guilty than other men so we can claim no other Reward than to be somewat less punish't that is to be beaten with fewer stripes As the Ox amongst the Iews being unmuzzl'd upon the Mowe by the special appointment of God himself at once did eat and tread the Corn whereby he received his Reward at the very same Instant in which he earn'd it so the Protection of such a Soveraign is Reward enough for our Allegiance and the present Maintenance of a Servant is the usual Recompence of his labour Whatsoever God