and when a Client sought to humour him in every thing he was at last angry with him because he did not provoke him There are some Tempers so easily provoked and yet so hard to be reconciled as if their Original Sin did not lie in Concupiscence but in Ill-nature And yet even that is a kind of Concupiscence for the Stoicks defined Anger by Libido and said it was a Lust of Revenge and so far seem'd more unreasonable than that of Intemperance because this aims only at Pleasure in things which are apt to produce it however mean and unreasonable but the other is an extravagant and unnatural Pleasure which arises from anothers Pain and dissers from the other as the Pleasures of evil Spirits do from those of Brutes But if we happen to converse among such who take Pleasure in doing us Injuries upon every slight Occasion by some personal Affronts or litigious Suits or unjust Exactions in ordinary Cases what are we to do May we not right our selves by retaliating the Injury upon them Since the Law of Moses did allow of Retaliation in case of real Injuries an Eye for an Eye a Tooth for a Tooth and so by an equitable Construction of the Law it may extend to personal Affronts Thus the Jews indeed understood it but if our Saviour had allow'd their Interpretation he would never have said But I say unto you that ye resist not evil There was a Spirit of Revenge in them so as they would pass by no kind of Injuries although they were such which the Law had made no provision for and this our Saviour condemns But here comes a hard Case to be resolv'd not so in it self but the Custom of the World hath made it so for when a mistaken Notion of Honour and Conscience come in Competition it is not an easie thing to forgo Honour for Conscience sake The Case is concerning Contumelious Words and Personal Affronts which are given to Men of Honour Is it unlawfull for them to right themselves according to the receivâ—d Customs among them when the Law takes no notice of such Injuries and so seems to leave it to them This is the Case and I have put it as fair as the thing will bear I might say in general that our Saviour makes no distinction of Mens Honour and Quality in his Commands and that for all that I can see such must be saved on the same Terms with others That Honour is but an imaginary thing when it slands in Competition with the Rule of Conscience and that no Custom is to be observed against Reason and Religion But here lies the insuperable Difficulty how the exposing one anothers Lives for the sake of Reproachfull Words or Personal Affronts can be reconciled to this Command of Christ For my part I cannot see how it is possible to do it since in this Case there is a studied and premeditated Design of Revenge in the Case of such Injuries which are here mention'd and that of the highest Nature and beyond any Proportion between the Offence and the Punishment which all men out of Passion think in common Justice ought to be consider'd I know some Casuists in the Church of Rome allow it to be lawfull to take away the Lives of any who give them Contumeâ—ious Words but these have been condemned as very loose Casuists and they have found out a subtle way of directing the Intention whereby to keep from breaking the Laws of Christ but this is too subtle to be reconciled with the Plainness of his Laws and they all deny it to be lawfull by way of Revenge Others say much better that although Nature may seem to give an injured Person a Right to vindicate himself by the best means he can yet that Right is so restrained and limited by Christ's Commands in this case that it is by no means lawful for Christians to use it and to pretend to do it for a Reparation of Honour à ratione pietate valdè alienam videtur is repugnant both to Reason and Religion saith one who very well understood the Rules of both But all the pretended Right of Nature is taken away by Laws and where those declare it to be Wilfull Murder to take away the Life of another on such Accounts as these there is no colour left for natural Right which supposes no determination by Laws I consess it requires a more than ordinary Degree of Christian Fortitude as well as Patience to be able to despise such a prevailing Custom But if Men hope to be saved by Christ they must observe his Commands and if they ence declare that they are resolved to do so in this particular if they do the same in all others it will be then thought to be Conscience and not Cowardice for them to decline a Challenge and that upon good Grounds they decline such a Custom which no good man could ever approve nor any wise man defend 3. Love of Enemies This seems to be harder yet Is it not enough to bear them but must we love them too Yes Christ hath strictly required it But I say unto you Love your Enemies and again in this very Chapter But love your Enemies If he had bid Men love their Friends and take heed of their Enemies there are some Ages of the World wherein this had been no impertinent Advice But how can those be supposed to love their Enemies who hardly love any thing but themselves Self-Opinion Self-Will Self-Interest prevail over the far-greatest part of Mankind I wish I could not say even among those who call Christ Lord Lord. But Self-Love as natural as it is must be artificially disguised for if it appears too openly it meets with so much Self-Love in others that it will not be easily born Therefore the most crafty Lovers of themselves if they design to have the Love of others must conceal their inward Passion For he that appears to set up himself is certain to make the rest of Mankind his Enemies for even those who would do the same will be the most displeased with those who do it Therefore the most certain way to Honour and universal Esteem is to mind the Good of others more than our own to be Just and Charitable and Kind to all and to oblige as many as we can without Partiality or Prejudice And this I say is that Love of Enemies which our Saviour requires which doth not suppose the same kind of Affection to them which we have to our Friends for that is grounded an mutual Love and Good-will to each other which if we suppose in Enemies we suppose a Contradiction for that is to suppose them not to be Enemies but Friends What then is it which our Saviour means It is certainly an Universal Charity or a Readiness of Mind to do good to all although they have personally provoked or injured us And so Christ himself explains it by doing good to our Enemies praying for them and
such a Case the Mind cannot be at ease till it be done So that the very Difficulty of Repentance lays the Foundation for greater Peace of Mind afterwards And who will think much of such a Difficulty which is so necessary to Peace with God and his own Conscience 2. The love of God above all things This is so fundamental a Duty that we cannot place our Happiness in God without it For if we do not love God above all things we must love somewhat else so and whatever we love above all things that we make our Happiness But I am affraid the greatest Part of the World love all things above him For we are to judge of Men's love and esteem by what they court and pursue and desire and delight in it is impossible there should be such a Love of God where the Stream of the Affections and Course of Actions run quite another way I mean to the Vanities of this World of which the Apostle hath said If any Man loves it the love of the Father is not in him But this is a hard Point For some degree of love to this World is allowable else how can we thank God for the Comforts of it And all Persons who know God do grant that his Perfections are far above all the World and therefore they seem to have a Value and Esteem for him above it We must here distinguish a notional Esteem from that which is Practical A notional Esteem implies no more than a mere Conviction that God must exceed all the Excellencies which are scattered in the Creatures but a practical Esteem is when the Acts of our Souls towards him are suitable to the Apprehensions we have in our Minds concerning him When we adore his infinite Perfections and delight in the Meditation of them when we desire to do all things pleasing to him and avoid what we know to offend him when we believe and hope and trust in him and commit our selves to his Conduct in this World in hopes of being happy with him in another This is the Love of God above all things but alas Where is this Love of God to be found It is no very hard Matter to work up a heated and devout Imagination to the Fancy of Raptures and Ecstasies and Mystical Unions but after all This is the love of God that we keep his Commandments As the true Love of a Prince is not to flatter and admire him and watch for his Smiles but to observe his Directions and obey his Orders and to do what is most for his Service And although such a Love of God be hard to those whose hearts are full of carnal Affections and are taken up with the Follies and Vanities of this World yet we cannot take one true step in the way to Heaven without the Love of God For even those who have most corrupted the Doctrine of Repentance do confess that there can be no true Contrition for Sin which is not founded on the Love of God as the Principle of it and however they have dangerously flattered and deceived those who are so weak to believe them that Attrition with the Sacrament of Penance is sufficient to put Men into the State of Grace yet St. Peter's Keys must have an extraordinary Virtue if they can change Nature into Grace or Fear into Love or mere Horrour of Conscience into true Repentance But although such a Love of God above all things be so hard a thing to Minds prepossessed with the Love of other things yet no one can deny that it is the most reasonable Duty in the World The very Thoughts of God if they are such as we ought to have imply that he is the best the wisest the most perfect Being and therefore the most amiable and desirable Object And whither then should the most Natural Stream of our Affections run but towards him What do we mean to suffer so much Earth and Filthiness to obstruct the free Passage of them in their most proper Course What can we meet with in this deceitfull World that can bear the least Proportion to such infinite Goodness Oh what a difference is there between our Reason and our Love We verily believe that God deserves our Love above all things and yet how small a share hath he in it We love what we profess to despise above all things viz. our Sins and this vain World and we really too much despise what we still profess to love above all things viz. God and our Eternal Happiness O miserable Condition of Humanity Made to be happy and yet fond of Misery loving what 's vain and yet despising Vanity hating what 's good and yet accounts it best and therefore fittest for our Choice and Love The Love of God above all things is so just and reasonable that those who do it least approve it as the most excellent Imployment of our Minds and those that do it most think they fall short of what God deserves from them The more we know of God the more we know that we ought to love and delight in him and all our Difficulty in the Practice of it can never make us think it is unreasonable to love him above all things without whom nothing can make us happy and who alone can do it 3. Universal Holiness of Heart and Life If this were not necessary to Salvation our Apostle would not have pressed it with so much earnestness as he doth As obedient Children not fashioning your selves according to the former lusts in your ignorance but as he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all Manner of Conversation because it is written be ye holy for I am holy Again Dearly beloved I beseech you as Strangers and Pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the Soul And again That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of Men but to the Will of God This is a hard saying to Mankind who part with nothing so hardly as with their Sins yet these must be parted with if ever we hope to get to Heaven I do not say that a Perfection in Holiness is required for that were to suppose Happiness in this World since there can be no perfect Holiness without it but there must be a constant uniform and sincere Endeavour after it by avoiding all known and wilfull Sins and doing all our Duties to God in such a Manner as our Conscience cannot charge us with gross Neglect or Insincerity There are some things we cannot say are down-right Sins yet if they lead to them if they indispose our Minds to God and his Service if they tend to Lightness and Vanity and make us more easie to entertain the Devil's Temptations we ought to avoid them as the Snares of the Devil So on the other side there are some things which we cannot say are plain and express and necessary Duties of Religion yet they tend so much
incomprehensible Mysteries how a Man by Nature can be a God really and truly by Office how the incommunicable Perfections of the Divine Nature can be communicated to a Creature how God should give his Glory to another and by his own Command require that to be given to a Creature which himself had absolutely forbidden to be given to any besides himself It is said by a famous Jesuiâ— I will not say how agrecably to their own Doctrines and Practices about Divine Worship that the Command of God cannot make him worthy of Divine Worship who without such a Command is not worthy of it And it is very absurd to say that he that is unworthy of it without a Command â—an become worthy by it for it makes God to command Divine Honour to be given to one who cannot deserve it For no meer Man can desâ—rve to be made God But it is more agreeable to the Divine Nature and Will not to give his Honour to a Creature 3. But after all the Invectives of these Enemies to Mysteries we do not make that which we say is Incomprehensible to be a Necessary Article of Faith as it is Incomprehensible but we do assert that what is Incomprehensible as to the Manner may be a Necessary Article as far as it is plainly revealed As in the Instances I have already mentioned of the Creation and Resurrection of the Dead would they in earnest have Men turn Infidels as to these things till they are able to comprehend all the Difficulties which relate to them If not why should this suggestion be allow'd as to the Mysteries which relate to our Redemption by Jesus Christ If it be said the Case is not alike for those are clearly revealed and these are not this brings it to the true and proper Issue of this Matteâ— and if we do not prove a clear Revelation we do not assert their being Necessary Articles of Faith but my present business was only to take off this Objection that the Mâ—steries were incomprehensible and therefore not to be received by us II. And so I come to the second Way by which we are to examine the several Senses of Christ Jesus coming to save Sinners Which of them tends more to the Benefit and Advantage of Mankind or which is more worthy of all Acceptation And that will appear by considering these things 1. Which tends most to the raising our Esteem and Love of Christ Jesus 2. Which tends most to the begetting in us a greater Hatred of Sin 3. Which tends most to the strengthening our Hope of Salvation by Jesus Christ. 1. As to the raising in us a greater Esteem and Love of Christ. We are certain that the Infinite Love and Condâ—â—cension of Christ Jesus in undertaking such a Work as the saving of Sinners makes it most worthy of all Acceptation Some Men may please themselves in thinking that by taking away all Mysteries they have made their Faith more easie but I am certain they have extremely lessen'd the Argument for our Love viz. the Apprehensions of the wonderfull Love and Condescension of Christ in coming into the World to save Sinners And yet this is the great Argument of the New Testament to perswade Mankind to the Love of God and of his Son God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son c. This is indeed a mighty Argument of Love if by the only begotten Son be meant the Eternal Son of God who came down from Heaven as St. John speaks just before but if no more be meant but only that God made a meer Man to be hâ—s Son and after he had preached a while here on Earth and was ill used and crucified by his own People he exalted him to be God and gave him Divine Attributes and Honâ—urs this were an Argument of great Love to the Person of Christ but not to the rest of Mankind But God's Love in Scripture is magnified with respect to the World in the sending of his Son In this was manifested saith the Apostle the Love of God towards us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the World that we should live through him Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be a Propitiation for our Sins The great Love we still see is towards us i. e. towards Mankind but according to the other Sense it must have been herein was the Love of God manifested to his Son that for his Sufferings he exalted him above all Creatures He that spared not his own Son saith St. Paul but deliver'd him up for us all If he were the Eternal Son of God who came to suffer for us there is a mighty Force and Emphasis in this Expression and very apt to raise our Admiration and our Love but what not sparing his own Son is there if nothing were meant but that he designed by Sufferings to exalt him For not sparing him supposes an Antecedent Relation of the highest Kindness but the other is only designing extraordinary Kindness for the sake of his Sufferings Therefore the Argument for the Love of God is taken from what his Son was when he deliver'd him up for us all he was his own Son not by Adoption as others are St John calls him his only begotten Son and God himself his beloved Son in the Voice from Heaven and this before his Sufferings immediately after his Baptism when as yet there was nothing extraordinary done by him as to the great Design of his coming Which shews that there was an Antecedent Relation between him and the Father and that therein the Love of God and of Christ was manifested that being the only begotten Son of the Father he should take our Nature upon him and for our sakes do and suffer what he did This is indeed an Argument great enough to raise our Admiration to excite our Devotion to inflame our Affections but how flat and low doth it appear when it comes to no more than this that there was a Man whom after his Sufferings God raised from the Dead and made him a God by Office Doth this carry any such Argument in it for our Esteem and Love and Devotion to him as the other doth upon the most serious Consideration of it 2. Which tends most to beget in us a greater Hatred of Sin For that is so contrary to the Way of our Salvation by Jesus Christ that what tends most to our Hatred of it must conduce most to our Happiness and â—herefore be most worthy of all Acceptation It is agreed on all hands that Christ did suffer very much both in his Mind and in his Body In his Mind when it is said that he was troubled in Spirit that he began to be sorrowfull and very heavy and soon after My Soul is exceeding sorrowfull even unto death St. Luke saith that he was in an Agony wherein he not only prayed more
Difficulty still increaseth and therefore it is time to come to the Resolution of it and that will be by shewing that the Difference between the carnal and spiritual Mind lies in these three Things 1. In the deliberate Judgment and Choice 2. In the prevailing Interest 3. In the constant Rule and Measure of Actions 1. In the deliberate Judgment and Choice For the main difference as to the carnal and spiritual Mind lies in the different End which is aimed at by them Where the chief End is the pleasing our selves and the enjoying of any thing as our Happiness under the Supream Good whatever Thoughts and Intentions we may at some times have to repent of our Sins and turn our Souls from the Love of Sin to the Love of God as long as we continue pursuing a wrong End we have too great Reason to conclude our Minds to be yet carnal and sold under sin For while the Apostle represents himself so he tells us he had his Conscience thoroughly awakened with the Sense of his Sins even of those which the World is least apt to be sensible of inward and secret Sins he was not only convinced of the Excellency and Purity of the Law but had some Pleasure and Satisfaction in it he had some hearty desires to be rid of his beloved Sins but yet they were too hard for him he sighed and lamented under his deplorable Condition but till the Grace of God came to set him free he was in a miserable and hopeless State But how is it that the Grace of God thus refines and purifies the Minds of Men so as of Carnal to make them Spiritual when the same Passions and Inclinations remain A Change there must be and that real and spiritual and therefore in our best Faculties viz. our Understandings and our Wills not by a Revelation of New Objects to the Mind nor by offering any Force upon the Will but by fixing the Judgment of the Mind and the Choice of the Will upon the best and most desirable Objects which is God himself as the Supreme Good The Turn of the Soul which makes one spiritually minded must not be only from gross and sensual Inclinations but from every other kind of Good which stands in Competition with the Supreme A truly spiritual Mind is one that is possessed with the Love of God above all and that values other things as they tend to the Enjoyment of Him God must be the only Center of his Hopes and Designs for in him alone his true Happiness consists As the Psalmist expresses it Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth I desire besides thee Whatever falls short of this may agree to a carnal Mind but a carnal Mind can never love God as he ought to be loved not with a Supreme transcendent Degree of Love which is alone proper and suitable to him All other kind of Love is beneath his Infinite Goodness and Perfections and to love him as we do his Creatures is to do him the greatest Dishonour for it levels their Perfections and supposes them to deserve the same Degree of Affection from us But there may be many spiritual Notions in Men's minds about God and Religion about mystical Unions and the Participations of Divine Love many seeming Spiritual Raptures and Ecstasies and yet there may not be this spiritual Mind For the Heats of Enthusiasm may seem to be very Spiritual but are of another kind they are Spiritual as they are the Effects of a great heating of the Spirits by the Force of a vehement Imagination which hath been often accompanied with as vehement an Inclination to sensual Pleasures which shews the plain Difference between an exalted Fancy and a spiritual Mind A Spiritual Mind is such a one as is not only throughly convinced of the Reality of Spiritual things but of their Excellency and Desirableness above any others that can be offer'd to our Choice It sees through all the glittering Vanities of this World and soars above the most tempting and bewitching Follies of Mankind here It frequently retires from the Noise and Confusion the Hurry and Vexation of Worldly Affairs that it may converse more freely with invisible Objects not meerly by way of Contemplation but by raising the Affections of the Soul towards them as the things which it hath chosen for its Happiness And this makes a wonderfull Alteration in the thoughts that these different Tempers have concerning the same things I do not deny but those who have carnal Minds may have some raised and spiritual Thoughts but they are too cold and speculative they may have noble and refined Speculations about the invisible World may be fully convinced that the things which are seen could not be what they are were it not for the things which are not seen and that the things which are not seen are of incomparably greater value than those which are so much more admired because they are seen But we must not conclude that because Men do really believe Spiritual things therefore they are spiritually minded for that were to suppose all to be Saints who are not Atheists but there must be such a due Preference in our Minds of that Invisible and Eternal State above all that is accounted great and desirable here as gives a just Denomination to one that he is spiritually minded i. e. that his Mind and Soul is fixed upon another World as his proper Happiness and other things are regarded and valued in subserviency to it 2. A Spiritual Mind is discerned by the Prevailing Interest For as long as we are made up of Flesh and Spirit there will and must be a Combat between them For the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh and these are contrary the one to the other so that ye cannot do the things that ye would And yet the same Apostle soon after adds They that are Christ's have crucified the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts the Meaning is that in some particular Instances and less remarkable Cases the Flesh may sometimes be too hard for the Spirit but in all notorious Instances of the Lusts of the Flesh which he reckons up and in the main Issue of all lesser Combats the Spirit will be too hard for the Flesh in those who are spiritually minded as the Flesh will be too hard for the Spirit at last in those who are carnally minded If we look on them in the time of the Combat it will be hard to judge which is most likely to prevail but those may have the better in some particular Skirmishes who may lose very much in the State of the War a good Man may be foiled by Surprise or under some disadvantage but he will recover himself and it may be gain Ground by his Falls and a bad Man may in some fits of Devotion seem so spiritually minded that one might be apt to think he were quite changed till he returns
otherwise but in a way agreeable to infinite Wisdom and Righteousness If these were not the Perfections of his Nature he could not be God and if they be he can never do any thing repugnant to them And as long as we own him to be God we must allow his Wisdom and Righteousness in all he doth 3. He hath declared That he will give satisfaction to all Mankind concerning the Secrets of his Providence But not in this World and therefore we ought with Patience to wait for the day of the Revelation of the righteous judgment of God It is then great Boldness and Presumption in us to censure his Proceedings before that day comes And so I pass to the second Sense 2. These words may be taken with respect to Religion and here it is necessary to shew in what Sense this is to be understood For those who have no love to Religion think a little too much and are glad to find such Expressions as these to justifie their gross Neglect and Contempt of it But to prevent Mistakes I shall endeavour these things To fhew that if Religion be rightly understood there is no fear of Men's doing too much in it 2. That by reason of Mens Mistakes and false Notions about it they may easily exceed their due Bounds 1. That if Religion be rightly understood there is no Danger of exceeding the Bounds of it That I may speak more distinctly we are to consider Religion in general as comprehending all the Duties we owe to God which are of a different Nature 1. There are some Duties which are fundamental and necessary in our Minds without which we can have no Religion such are the owning God for our Creator and Governour and depending upon him for our Happiness 2. Some are External and Occasional which being positive Duties are capable of different Obligations according to the Circumstances of Persons And according to these we may lay down two Rules 1. None can do too much as to inward and fundamental Duties of Religion 2. None can do too much as to the external and positive Duties while they keep to that Obligation which God hath laid upon them or they have justly laid on themselves 1. As to internal and fundamental Duties as owning God and our Dependence upon him for our Happiness as being the Supreme Good and therefore only capable of making us Happy And there is so great a Necessity of this in order to our Welfare that we cannot exceed in it since we are his Creatures and are utterly unable to make our selves in the least Happy without him And if we take this Dependence upon God in all the parts of it we shall find we cannot go beyond our Duty in it For it implies these things 1. A clear and strong Conviction of our Minds that God alone can make us Happy And this we can never be too much convinced of yea all the Arguments in the World are few enough to settle our Minds about it Which appears by the great Pains the wise Man takes in this Book to convince Mankind that there is nothing but Vanity and Vexation of Spirit to be found here This he delivers upon his own Experience after all the Searches and Pain and Care and Contrivances he had used about it And after that he gives an account of the several Conditions of Life and shews that there is no Satisfaction to be had in any of them and he puts the utmost can be supposed that a Man enjoy a long and prosperous Life yet that is so inconsiderable to the future State that it bears no Proportion and therefore we ought to look above and beyond this State if we would be Happy 2. A due Sense of God upon our Minds which he calls remembring our Creator For although there be sufficient Evidence of his Being yet we are too apt to forget him there being so many other things to put him out of our Minds and therefore at all times we need to be called upon to remember our Creator but especially in the time of Youth when the Vanities and Pleasures and Temptations of the World have the greatest relish with us and when the things of Religion are most apt to be despised yet even then we cannot be too much put in mind of our Duty with respect to God Because an early Sense of God will prevent a deal of Evil and lay a Foundation for the greatest Peace of our Minds and the best Conduct of our Peace 3. A constant regard to God in the Course of our Actions Not meerly that we ought to be concerned for his Honour on whom we depend but we must consider what he hath commanded and what he hath forbidden and upon what Terms For God ought to prescribe to us the Conditions of our Happiness and it is a vain thing to expect it in any other way Therefore we can never be too solicitous about such things which our eternal Happiness depends upon Because a miscarriage herein is the most fatal We cannot be too much concerned about the Sincerity of our Repentance and Faith and Obedience to Christ because these are the plain and necessary Conditions of our Salvation and we cannot watch our selves too much against the Temptations to Sin which is the greatest Enemy to our Happiness and yet we are in continual Danger of falling into it and of continuing it And when the Danger is so great so near so constant we can never exceed in the Watchfulness and Care of our selves 4. Inward Love and Affection to God without which there can be no Happiness in him For that must suppose Union and mutual Satisfaction But how can we possibly exceed in this when God deserves so much more than we can give him And he requires no less from us than our whole Heart and Soul and Strength Which doth not only imply Integrity but Vigour in our Affection towards him And to content our selves with a mean degree of Love is to shew that we neither know nor esteem him as we ought for the more we known him we must love him the more So that in the great and fundamental Duties of Religion we can never do too much 5. Patient Submission to the Will of God under all the Accidents of Life The utmost Care we can use cannot alter the common Methods of Providence and here all things happen alike to all Therefore we cannot too much wean our selves from the uncertain Comforts of this Life nor too much resign our selves up to God's disposal We have always Passions enough within us to keep us in Exercise and Trials enough without us to put us upon subduing those Passions which are too apt upon every Cross and Disappointment to fly out and to grow uneasie Here is therefore work enough for us to do and is like to be so as long as our Bodies and Souls are together in this State And he that thinks he can do too much in this Work
more valuable than any other Delight whatsoever and he now found impossible to be enjoy'd in a Course of Rebellion against his heavenly Father 3. In the Conviction of his Folly upon due Consideration of what he had done which is Emphatically called Coming to himself having before acted so much below himself and against himself unworthy of the Relation he stands in to God of those Faculties he had bestow'd upon him and of those hopes and expectations he might have had from him either as to this or another World 4. In the Resolution he takes upon this Conviction no longer to delay his purpose of repenting and returning home but to embrace the present opportunity of doing it freely heartily and ingenuously I will arise and go to my Father c. Having formerly in this Place and on a like Occasion considered the prodigal Son 's coming to himself I shall now pursue the Method of his Repentance in the Resolution he here takes to arise and go to his Father c. And therein I shall enquire into these things I. What grounds a Sinner hath to incourage him to repent or to form such a Resolution in his Mind that he will arise and go to his Father when he knows he hath so much provoked and offended him II. How necessary it is in order to true Repentance to form a fixed and steady Resolution to go through with it I will arise and go c. First What grounds a Sinner hath to incourage him to repent or to make Application to his Father in order to Forgiveness since he is convinced he hath so justly offended him For if we consider the Circumstances here mention'd he had no such Reason to hope to be receiv'd into Favour upon such easie Terms as are here expressed For 1. He had wilfully forsaken his Father's House without any just Cause of Complaint of any hard usage there 2. He had embraced such a Course of Life which he knew was displeasing to him living riotously and disorderly in a way contrary to his Will 3. He never thought of returning home till mere Necessity forced him till Hunger and Poverty made him come to himself And what could be more disobliging to a Father than such Circumstances as these 1. His Father never forced him from home nor made his Condition uneasie there Our Saviour here represents Almighty God as dealing with Mankind like a tender and indulgent Father and not like a severe and hard Master his Laws being intended for our Good and not for his own Advantage There is no Duty of ours towards God or our selves or others but is founded on this Relation to God as a Father to Mankind Nothing can be more reasonable in general than that the Father should order and direct his Children and give such Rules which are fitting for them to observe And if we examine the particular Laws of Nature or the Dictates of Reason as to Good and Evil we shall find them very agreeable to God's Paternal Government What is the Duty of Prayer to God but asking daily Blessing of our heavenly Father What is our Thanksgiving but a solemn owning his Paternal Care and Bounty towards us And in these two the main Duties of Natural Religion consist The Neglect whereof is such a disrespect to our heavenly Father as is not consistent with our believing him to be so For as God himself argues in the Prophet A Son honoureth his Father and a Servant his Master If then I be a Father where is mine Honour And if I be a Master where is my Fear God was a Father by the Right of Creation and Providence but he was a Master to the Jews in respect of the Bondage of the Law and as there was a Spirit of Bondage on that account in them which inclined them to a more servile Fear so there ought to have been a natural Spirit of Adoption toward God as their Supreme Creatour and Father which should excite all Men to such a dutifull Love such a reverential Esteem such a Mixture of Awe and Kindness as is in Children towards their Parents Yea it ought to be much greater than that can be supposed because the Distance is Infinite between God and us and our Dependence more immediate and necessary and there is in him a Concurrence of all Perfections which may cause in us the highest Esteem and the humblest Adoration There is an unquestionable Duty owing by Children to their earthly Parents but how much rather saith the Apostle ought we to be in subjection to the Father of Spirits The Fathers of our Flesh may be very Kind but not Wise in their Love or Wise and not so Kind or they may be both Wise and Kind but not able to help their Children They may love and pity and pray for them when they are in Misery or Sickness and Pain but after all they are unable to relieve them For the most indulgent Father when his bowels yearn and his heart is ready to break at the sight of a Child lying under the Agonies of Death is not able to give a Moments Respite to the terrible Pangs which he can neither behold nor abate But our heavenly Father hath not only Infinite Wisdom but Infinite Kindness and Power and where all these are joined together what Honour what Love what Fear is due unto him Although there be defects in their Parents yet Children are still bound to obey them and to shew a mighty Regard and Reverence towards them but here it is so much otherwise that if we could conceive our selves without this Relation to God yet his Perfections are so many so great so infinite as to deserve and require our utmost Veneration The prodigal Son could then have no Reason to complain of the Duty which he owed to his Father And was it not fit for him to appoint the Orders of his Family and to expect that his Children should behave themselves therein as became the Relation they stood in to himself and to one another That they should have a decent Regard to themselves in Sobriety Temperance Command of their Passions and Care of their Words That they should behave themselves towards their Brethren with Sincerity Kindness and Justice which comprehend all the Duties we owe to one another And what now was there in all this that the Prodigal could have any Cause to complain of or that should make his Father's House so uneasie to him But his Father had just Cause to be provoked when his wise Counsels and prudent Care and constant Kindness and righteous Government were so much slighted and despised by a disobedient and ungratefull Son who had so little Sense of his Duty or his Interest as to be weary of being so well at home and therefore impatiently desiring to find out new Methods of living well as he then thought when the best Orders of his Father's Family were become so displeasing to him 2. But what were these new and fine
said he doubted he could not Why then said the Philosopher smiling are not you ashamed to be guilty of so much Folly as to be so exceedingly cast down under such a Calamity as though you were the only Person in the World that underwent it This was agreeable enough to his Humour in exposing the Folly of Mankind which was a Subject large enough for his whole Life but he was too pleasant upon it I do not deny but the Moralists did find out some very usefull Considerations to bear Men up under the common Accidents of Life but those of greatest Moment were such as are much improved by Christianity viz. the Wisdom of Providence the Usefulness of Trials the Benefit of Patience and the Expectation of a better State 2. As to voluntary and chosen Sufferings We have in Scripture several extraordinary Instances of this kind of Magnanimity such as Abraham's leaving his Kindred and Country and going he knew not whither on God's Command and his readiness to sacrifice his Son which argued an entire Sacrifice of himself to the Will of God Such was Moses his choosing rather to suffer Affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the Pleasures of Pharaob's Court Such was the Son of God's choosing to suffer for our sakes with admirable Resignation to the Divine Will and praying for his Persecutors under the greatest Agonies on the Cross. Such was the Apostle's Resolution and Courage when they rejoyced to be accounted worthy to suffer for the sake of Christ when they were more than Conquerors in the midst of Persecutions And truly the Magnanimity of Suffering rather than Sinning was never so much shewn to the World as in the Case of the Primitive Christians There were some few Heroick Instances of Suffering for Truth among the Heathens but they were no more to be compared with the numerous Examples of the Primitive Church than the Miracles of the Vestal Virgins were with those of the Apostles It could not but amaze the common sort of Spectators of Rome who were wont to see the Gladiators who were either hired or condemned to that cruel Entertainment of others with their blood to behold a sort of grave and serious Persons expose themselves to so much Torment and Cruelty when so small a matter as burning a little Incense would set them free This was a new Spectacle to the World and it could not but put them upon thinking what strange sort of Philosophy this was which inspired ordinary Persons with such a Magnanimity in suffering They had never found those who pretended to Philosophy among them very fond of Suffering for the Doctrine they taught They rather liked the Example of Aristotle than Socrates who when the People of Athens were enraged against him withdrew to Chalcis and when he was upbraided with it made a witty Excuse that he had no mind the City of Athens should sin twice against Philosophy Whereas the Christians were so forward to suffer for their Doctrine that it was imputed as a Fault to them and it appears by Tertullian that some out-went the bounds of Christianity in offering themselves too freely to it This made such as Antoninus and others impute all their Sufferings to an invincible Obstinacy and a sort of Madness which possessed them which had been easily confuted if they would have had the Patience to have examin'd the Reasons and Grounds of their Religion as they did the peculiar Doctrines of the several Sects of Philosophers But this is not all which Christian Magnanimity doth imply for it is not only a Spirit of Power but of Love and of a sound Mind And so it hath II. A Respect to the Humours and Passions of Men. And truly there is such a Variety and uncertainty in them so much Folly and Mistake so much Prejudice and Peevishness in some so much Wilfulness and Stiffness in others so little Regard to the true Interests of Religion and Vertue under all the Pretences to it that those who sincerely desire to promote them had need of Magnanimity to bear them up against such Humours and Distempers of Men's minds Aristotle hath well observed that Magnanimity doth go beyond the Consideration of Dangers It makes a man more ready to do Kindnesses than to receive them and to forget Injuries I add and to forgive them for else it is rather want of Memory than Magnanimity It is well he adds one thing viz. that he that hath Magnanimity is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Contented within himself so he had need to be for he will find very little Satisfaction abroad especially in an Age when Sincerity is almost lost when Men have used themselves to so much Hypocrisie and Dissimulation with God and Man that they can zealously pretend to love what they would be glad to ruine and cry up Peace and Unity only to get an Opportunity to destroy them But still true Magnanimity keeps a Man's own mind at Ease and makes him to govern himself as the same Philosopher observes with due Temper and Moderation in all things Such a one is not only easie to himself but to all others as far as is consistent with his Duty For a mind truly great hath nothing of Bitterness or Sowerness Peevishness or Ill-will to the rest of mankind All malice and cruelty argue a mean and base Spirit The more noble and generous any Tempers are the more tender and compassionate they are the more ready to oblige the more easie to forgive the more willing to be reconciled But to be more particular there are two things implied in this Spirit of Love and of a sound Mind 1. The making all reasonable Allowances for the Infirmities of others It makes men to consider the Prejudices of Education the Variety and Weakness of most men's Judgments the Power of Perswasion the Biass of Parties and the Shame and Reâ—roach which Persons undergo that break off from them after they have been once ensnared by them On these Accounts it makes them rather pity than triumph over the Follies of mankind There are two things which a great mind doth most abhorr in Religion and are most directly contrary to a Spirit of Love and a sound Mind and these are Hypocrisie and Cruelty which make men false to God and Enemies to mankind These two often go together and although they are masked under a Pretence of Religion yet there are no two things more opposite to the true Spirit and Design of it St. John concludes that man to have no true Love to God who doth not love his Brother He that loveth not his Brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen And we may argue the other way If a man doth not love God how can he love his Brother When the Love of God is the best Foundation for Charity and Kindness to our Brethren who were at first made after the Image of God and have it again renewed in them by the
Foundation of that upon the first and great Commandment Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Strength We need not to question but where-ever there is such a Love of God as is here required there will be true Godliness in all the parts of it And where this is wanting all external shews of Devotion want the true Life and Spirit of it For it is the Love of God which makes all our weak and imperfect Services to be acceptable to him and without it all our Prayers and our Fastings and all other appearances of Devotion are empty and infipid Formalities Not but that the Acts themselves are commendable but they are like a Body without a Soul dull and heavy or like the leaves of a Tree in Autumn which make a great noise in the Wind but are dry sapless and soon fall to the Ground But where the Love of God prevails it keeps up the Life and Order and Vigour of Devotion and preserves it from being tainted by hypocrisie or choaked by the love of this World or decaying from want of Constancy and Resolution Thus I have set before you some of the most remarkable Duties of Christianity not such as depend on the Opinions and Fancies of men but such as our Blessed Saviour the great Law-giver of his Church hath made the necessary Conditions of our Salvation by him And what now can we say for our selves We do call Christ Lord Lord or else we renounce our Baptismal Vow and all hopes of Salvation by him But can we say that we love God when we love what he hates viz. Sin Can we say we love him with all our Heart and Soul when our Hearts are so much divided between him and the Vanities of this World Can we say we love him with all our Might when our Love to God is apt to grow cold and remiss upon any apprehension of Difficulties Can we say that we love our Neighbour as our Selves when we despise and scorn him or over-reach and defraud him or oppress and ruin him If it go not so far are we as tender of his Reputation as of our own as unwilling to see him injured as ready to help him in his Necessities as we should desire it from others if we were in the same Circumstances If strict Sobriety and Temperance be the Duties of Christians where are those Virtues to be generally found I do not speak of particular Persons but I am afraid there is hardly such a thing left as a Sober Party among us What profane customary Swearing is every-where to be met with What Complaints are daily made of the Abounding of all sorts of Wickedness even to an open Scorn and Contempt not barely of Christianity but of any kind of Religion For many who have long denied the Power seem to be grown weary of the very Form of Godliness unless it serves some particular End and Design So that if we look abroad in the World we find little Regard shew'd to the Precepts of Christ and yet those who commit these things call Christ Lord Lord. What is the meaning of all this gross Hypocrisie Nothing would have been thought more Absurd or Ridiculous than for one who used no kind of Abstinence to be thought a Pythagorean or one that indulged his Passions à Stoick or one who eats Flesh and drinks Wine a Brachman or Banian It is really as much for any one to break the known and particular Precepts of Christ and yet desire to be thought a Christian. For a loose profane and debauched Christian is a Contradiction in Morality it is to be a Christian against Christ to call him Lord Lord and yet to defie his Laws and Authority A Star without Light a Guide without Eyes a Man without Reason a Sun with nothing but Spots are not more absurd Suppositions than a Christian without any Grace or Vertue But let us say what we will there are and will be such who will own Christ and call him Lord Lord and yet will not part with their sins for him There were multitudes of such formerly who would lay down their Lives for the Ground he trod on and yet would not mortifie one Sin for his sake The Reason is still the same which our Saviour mentions they hope that calling him Lord Lord will make amends for all and yet it is not possible that fairer warning should be given to any than he hath given in this Case that let them pretend what they will he will say to them at â—he great Day Depart from me all ye workers of Iniquity O dreadful Sentence Not to be mention'd without Horrour not to be thought upon without Astonishment How miserable for ever miserable must their condition be whom Christ at that day shall bid to Depart from him What is this some will be apt to say but to put all Christians into utter Despair For who is there that can say that he hath done all that Christ hath said Truly we have a sufficient Ground for deep Humility and serious Repentance and timely Reformation But there is a great difference between the Failing of our Duty and the Works of Iniquity between the Infirmities of those who sincerely endeavour to do his Will and the Presumptuous Sins of those who despise it between Sins committed and heartily repented of and Sins habitually practised and continued in without any Marks of Amendment Such must go out of this World in a State of Sin and therefore can expect nothing but that dreadfull Sentence which I tremble at the very thoughts of Repeating But there are others who in the sincerity of â—heir Hearts have endeavour'd to do his Will and whose Sincerity will be so far accepted by him that he will say to them at that Day Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World To which God of his infinite Mercy bring us through the Mediation of Christ Jesus our Lord. SERMON VIII Preached before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL March the 13 th 1691 2 Romans VIII 6. For to be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace IN thâ—se Words is imply'd a Distribution of Mankind into those who are carnally and spiritually minded which Distinction is so large and comprehensive as to take in all sorts and conditions of Men and of so great Moment and Importance that their Life or Death Happiness or Misery depend upon it But considering the Mixture of Good and Evil in Mankind it is not an easie matter to set the Bounds of the carnal and spiritual Mind and considering the frequent Impunity and Security of bad Men and the Fears and Troubles which the best are not exempted from it seems next to impossible to make out at least as to this Life that to be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace Yet our Apostle doth
the least Reflection or Consideration would make them see how bad their condition is For they have no true Sense of God or Religion at all they have no serious thoughts or apprehensions of Divine and Spiritual things this World they pretend to know something of and have too great an Esteem of the Vanities and Pleasures of it for these wholly take up their Hearts and Time and they have a savour and relish for any thing that tends to their Greatness or Honour or Entertainment of their Appetites or Fancies here buâ— if we speak to them of another World of God and Heaven and a Spiritual Disposition of Soul either they look on us with Amazement as if they were insensible of such things or else with Scorn and Contempt as if we went about to deceive them Alas They are too wise to be imposed upon by us and they have other things to mind I am sure not greater or weightier which take up all their Time and so what through the Business and the Impertinencies of this World their Time passeth away as a Table that is told and as though it were a pleasant Tale they are troubled only to think it will be so soon at an End But these are not the Persons who require any such Care to pass a right Judgment upon them for they can pretend to nothing that is spiritual as to the Tempers and Dispositions of their Minds and therefore such as these must be set aside for it is too apparent that they are only sensual and carnally minded But as the Papists distinguish of the Body of Christ so may we of the carnal Mind there is a gross and Capernaitical Sense and there is a more refined and if I may use the Expression a more Spiritual Sense of it For altho' it be a great Absurdity in them to suppose that a meer Body can be after the Manner of a Spirit yet it is not so to suppose a Carnal Mind to have a Mixture of some Spiritual Qualities and Dispositions in it And this makes the difference so much harder to be perceived between the carnally and spiritually minded since there are the same Faculties of Perception Reasoning and Application in both and the same common Principles of Religion may be owned by both which may in Reason be supposed to make some Impression on the Minds of the more ingenuous Part of Mankind who are not given over to such a Reprobate Sense as the former were Now how to distinguish between frequent good Impressions on the Mind and an habitual Temper and Disposition is not so easie to all who are concerned to distinguish them And yet a Person may be throughly convinced of his Sins and tremble at the Apprehension of the Justice and Severity of God against them he may have many Checks and Reluctancies of Conscience while he goes on to commit them he may sigh and groan and lament under the wretchedness of his Condition by his Love of Sin and yet may love his Sins all the while more than God or Heaven or any thing in Competition with them The difference doth not lie in the Nature or Number of the Impressions from without but in the inward Principle of Action A Cistern may be full of Water falling down from Heaven which may run as long as that holds which fell into it but a Spring hath it rising up within and so continues running when the other is spent A carnal Mind may have many Spiritual Convictions and good Motions and Inclinations but after a time they wear off and leave no lasting Effect behind them but where there is a Spring in the Soul there is a fresh and continual Supply of such Inclinations as keep up a constant Course of a Spiritual Life which our Saviour calls Rivers of living Water I confess it is hard to determine what a Habit or Principle abiding in our Minds is yet the Scripture doth evidently suppose such a thing when it speaks of the New Birth and the New Life and the New Creature and the Children of God all which are very insignificant Terms if there be not under them something answerable to the First Principles of Life and if there be not a Divine Spirit dwelling and acting in the Souls of good Men and raising them up above carnal and sensual Objects to things Divine and Spiritual and carrying them through the Passage of this World so as to prepare them for a better But yet there may be many things which carry some Resemblance to this Principle within which come not up to it There may be such Principles of Education and good Manners such Awakenings of Conscience such a Strength of Natural Reason and common Ingenuity as may carry one on to do some very good things and yet he may fall short of having a true Principle of Spiritual Life in him But then there must be another Principle within which contradicts this and prevails over it and carries him on to the Love of Sin which proves too strong for the Love of God and the due Regard to Spiritual things The Result of this Discourse is since the Carnal Mind is not to be taken meerly for such a one which stands out in opposition to the Gospel nor for such a one which is insensible of Spiritual things but such as may consist with a common Profession of Religion and have the same Convictions and good Impressions which others have it doth require a more than ordinary Acquaintance with our selves to be able to judge aright whether the Temper of our Minds be Carnal or Spiritual 2. But this is not all for since there is so great a Mixture of Good and Evil in the better sort of Mankind there is required not barely Knowledge of our selves but a good Judgment too to adjust the Proportions of Good and Evil in particular Persons so as to be able to judge whether we are carnally or spiritually minded For as those who are Carnal while they follow their carnal Inclinations may have many inward Strugglings by spiritual Convictions so those who are spiritually minded may meet with many Combats from the Flesh which may be troublesome where it cannot prevail But there is a great difference between the Spirit struggling against the Flesh in the carnally minded and the Flesh struggling against the Spirit in those who are spiritually minded For where there is no perfect Victory there will be some Opposition and the best have so many Failings to complain of in this World so many Infirmities and Defects in their good Actions so many Passions not brought into their due Order so many Omissions of Personal and Relative Duties such Variety of Tempers and Weakness of Resolution such Coldness in Devotion and unreasonable Dejections of Mind so many unaccountable Fears and such dreadfull Apprehensions of Death and the Consequences of it that these things must make great Abatements as to such as are truly spiritually minded But by all these things the
far before it for if they do not they have no Reason to expect any Happiness in it Why then should it be thought more unreasonable for God to bestow the Happiness of another Life on those who esteem and choose it than to give the good things of this Life to those who love and admire it I do not say the Wisdom is equal in the Choice but the Goodness of God is wonderfull in both Aâ—d there can be no imaginable Grounâ— to suspect that God should be really less kind to those who love him best It is a vain thing to talk of those being saved by Christ's coming into the World who do not heartily love God and keep his Commandments for the whole Design of the Gospel is to perswade us to one in order to the other and therefore it is not a well-grounded Hope but a fond Imagination for any to expect Salvation by Christ on any other Terms If we then take in the whole Hypothesis or true Scheme of Christianity together it is no other than that God sent his Son into the World that the World through him might be saved not by continuing in the sinfull Practices of this World which St. John calls the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eye and the Pride of Life but by subduing and mortifying all disorderly Passions do prepare themselves for a better State Now if there be in our Minds a firm Perswasion of the infinite Goodness of God of which we are convinced by meer Natural Reason why should it be thought hard to believe that God should take care of so great and good an End as the Eternal Salvation of those who truly love and obey him II. The next Principle agreeable to Natural Reason and Religion is That no such thing as Salvation or Happiness in a future State can be expected without the particular Favour of God For all who do own Natural Religion must agree that the Soul of Man is an immortal thinking Being and therefore its Happiness must consist in such a sort of thinking as carries the greatest Pleasure and Satisfaction along with it Let us think with our selves what a Soul separate from the Body can do to make it self happy Here it was intangled corrupted and therefore apt to be deceived by the false Appearances of things which glide through the Senses and leave too lasting Impressions on the Mind and thereby it comes to mistake Shews for Substance and meer Colours for Realities But this is a Mistake so common and so fatal to Mankind that very few are throughly undeceived in this World for one way or other they are apt to flatter themselves with some pleasing Mistakes and delightfull Errors of Life But assoon as the Soul is dislodged from this cloudy Mansion in the Body all things will then appear not as by an uncertain Sky light in a dark Room but in an open and distinct View and then it will be impossible to be any longer deceived by false Representations of things What then can be conceived sufficient to entertain and please the Mind Will it be the Reflection on the past Pleasures of the Body No certainly for those cannot bear a severe Reflection now and the very thoughts of them make Men's minds very uneasie for the most tempting Pleasures of Sin leave no gratefull Relish behind them How then should the Mind bear up it self in another State when its Reflections must be far more constant and severe What then Can the Mind lay it self asleep and put it self into a State of unthinking That were all one as a kind of Self-annihilation if it be of a thinking Nature There is a State of unthinking in this World which is too common when the Mind is as it were overwhelmed and stifled with Feathers I mean is so taken up with trifling and vain Imaginations as hardly give way to one serious Thought But this is impossible in another State and therefore nothing but what will bear a most strict and severe Scrutiny can give any Support or Comfort to the Mind then It must be true and real good to create any Satisfaction it must be durable and lasting to keep it up it must be complete and perfect to answer all the just and reasonable Desires of an immortal Soul And what can this be less than God himself And therefore the Christian Religion speaks most agreeably to Natural Reason when it still supposes the Happiness of another World to consist in the Presence and Enjoyment of God For those must have all that is desirable who enjoy the Favour of him who commands all things and knows how to suit them to the greatest Advantage to those to whom he designs to shew his Favour And this Prospect of another State or of the Salvation of Mankind by Christ s coming into the World is that which lets us into another View of all that relates to the Son of God's coming into the World For if our Minds be possessed with great Apprehensions of the Power and Greatness of the World all that the Gospel represents as to the manner of God's sending his Son into the World his being born of an obscure Virgin being laid in the common Manger being bred up in a private Place having so mean Followers meeting with so cold a Reception from his own People and at last being exposed to an ignominious Death by them looks very reproachfull and contemptible But on the other side if we could raise our Minds to such Idea's of things here as the glorious Spirits above have and see how all things are esteemed by them according to the Ends and Purposes they are designed for we should then perceive how admirably all these things were fitted for his great End which was to wean Men's hearts from the Pomp and Vanities of this World and to prepare them for a better and we should then have quite another Opinion of these things For as there is a certain Greatness which is above all the formal Shews and affected Appearances of it so when a great and noble Design is to be carried on the true Measure of Decorum in that Case is that which is most serviceable to the principal End If a great Person had a Design to rescue some near Relations out of Slavery he would never go with a splendid Equipage and a long Train of Attendance which would but make his Person more gazed at and his Design less effectual If he had intended to have rescued them by force out of Captivity it had been necessary to have had Power and Strength proportionable to his Design but if it were only by Perswasion then he must accommodate himself to such Methods as were most likely to prevail The great End of the coming of Christ was to deliver the Souls of Men from a much worse Captivity viz. of their own sinfull Passions and the Devil's Tyranny by their means but he did not come in a way of Violence to break open the Prison-doors
God if the want of knowing him be not through their own Fault Assoon as they know God they confess that they are bound to love him but are they not bound to know him assoon as they are capable What allowance may be made in the Cases of gross Ignorance or natural Stupidity we are not concerhed to enquire but we now speak of those who have all Advantages and Opportunities of knowing God betimes and as to such their Ignorance is so far from being an Excuse that it is their Sin And that can never excuse from a Fault but when it is no Fault to be ignorant But Not to know God when Persons know so many other things in the World besides him is so much greater a Fault because all those other things lead them to the Knowledge of him So that I take it for granted that no Man of Understanding can avoid the Knowledge of God without shutting his Eye against the clearest Light without darkening his Understanding by unreasonable Prejudices without Confusion of Thought and Perplexity of Mind without groundless Imaginations and ridiculous Suppositions and most commonly not without very disorderly Passions and vicious Habits which make the very Thoughts of God uneasie to his Mind But suppose we do own and believe a God are we bound always to be thinking of him Must we spend our time in Contemplation of him and neglect all our Affairs here If not what are the bounds of our Duty which we may not omit without Sin There are two things which are necessary for us to do with respect to God in our Minds 1. To have frequent and serious Thoughts of him without which it will be impossile to keep our Minds in that Temper which they ought to be in For the Thoughts of God keep up a vigorous Sense of Religion inflame our Devotion calm our Passions and are the most powerfull Check against the Force of Temptations And therefore we ought to allow our selves fit Times of Retirement for Recollection and Consideration wherein we draw in our Thoughts from the Business and Impertinencies of this Life and even these go a great way in that which looks like Business that we may converse with God and our own Minds And those who do not sometimes withdraw from the Noise and Hurry the Dust and Confusion of this World must be great Strangers both to God and themselves and mind any thing rather than their chiefest Interest But I am afraid there are too many among us of whom the Psalmist's words are too true God is not in all their thoughts I wish there were not some who would make good another Reading of those words viz. All their thoughts are there is no God But I think not so much their deliberate Thoughts as their Wishes and Desires But those can never alter the Nature of things and therefore the wisest thing they can do is to make the Thoughts of God desirable to them and that can be only by reconciling themselves to him by a hearty and sincere Repentance 2. We are always bound to have an habitual Temper and Disposition of Mind towards God This is that which is commonly called the Love of God and is opposed to the Love of Sin Which doth not consist in sudden and transient Acts of Complacency and Delight in him but in a firm Purpose and Resolution of Mind to obey him The Jews think that the fundamental Precept of the Law as to the Love of God with all their heart and soul and strength goes no farther than that they should do that which the Law requires as to the Worship and Service of God But certainly the Love of God must go deeper and rise higher or else it will never come up to the great Design of Religion which is not only to do those outward Acts of Service which he commands and expects from us but to bring our Souls nearer to him to make him our chief End and to direct the Course of our Lives and the Acts of our Obedience in order to it Now this is a Duty towards God so necessary to our Happiness that we must be always obliged to it and at all times although it be an Affirmative Precept For the true Reason of the Difference of Obligation is from the Nature of the Commands and not from the Manner of Expressing them either Negatively or Affirmatively The Reason of the perpetual Obligation of Negative Precepts is that it can never be lawfull to do what God forbids but it may be sometimes lawfull to omit what he requires because the Circumstances may make it not to be a Duty at that time But when an Affirmative Precept is of that Nature that no Circumstances can alter the Obligation of it then it binds as much as a Negative And so it is as to the Command of true Repentance and turning from the Love of Sin to the Love of God for no Man can be in such Circumstances wherein he is not bound to do it But as to particular Acts of Repentance and of the Love of God supposing that habitual Temper the Obligation of them is according to the proper Seasons and Occasions of them When a Sinner is conscious to himself of fresh Acts of Sin he is bound to renew his Repentance and the Omission of it adds to his Guilt and when God calls Men to Repentance in a more than ordinary Manner by strong Convictions of Conscience or some awakening Providence or by some solemn Times of Fasting he is guilty of a farther Aggravation of his Sin if he neglects those Seasons of performing the proper Acts of Repentance But suppose we do know God and have this habitual Love to him as our chief End doth this come up to all that Mankind owes to God Do we know him and love him and serve him as we ought to do Do we not fail in the Manner and Degree of those very Duties which we in some Measure perform And are not these Failings Omissions And will not these Omissions be charged upon us as Sins How then can Mankind hope to escape the Wrath of God against those who continue in the Practice of Sin To answer this we must distinguish between Omission as a Defect and as a Wilfull Sin We must say as St. James doth In many things we offend all and in all things I am afraid we offend some way or other if God would be exact to mark what is done amiss But here lies the main Point as to this Matter how far God will charge those things upon us as Omissions which in us come rather from want of Power than of Will to do them I do not mean of Natural Faculties for those we have entire but of Moral Power i. e. of such a Measure of Divine Grace as will enable us to do things beyond the Imperfection and Infirmity of our present State which in this fallen Condition is like that of a Man under a Dead-Palsie who hath all the