injudicious distempered Spirit And 't is a like case as if a Malefactor at the same time is under Sentence by which he is condemned to die and under a most dangerous Disease that appears very probably mortal to him He has a compassionate Prince willing to save his Life and he at once vouchsafes him his Pardon and provides a very skilful and able Physician for the curing of his Disease The wretched Creature hearing of this falls a disputing which of these is the greater Favour to have my Disease cured or to have my Crime pardoned and in the heat of the Dispute he neglects both looks after neither This is indeed less supposeable in the instanced case but how great a Distemper doth it shew that it should be so in this which is of so unexpressibly greater importance And now further it is agreed on all hands that Faith in a Redeemer is necessary to Salvation with those that are Adult and capable of attending to the Gospel Revelation But here what Disputes are there raised With what Fervor are they managed concerning the place of it or the kind of that necessity which this Faith is of in order to the safe state of a Sinner A like Case again as if such a Condemned Malefactor is told of his Princes professed gracious Intendments towards him but he doubts the Sincerity of his Professions He gives him all desirable Assurances and tells him Do but trust me and all shall be well But he presently falls a disputing Yea but how am I to consider this trust We suppose it only such a Trust as may be fitly enough placed upon a Man Which way is it to contribute towards my Safety or Welfare Is it to be an Instrument or a Condition How absurd an Abuse were this of the Clemency of a Propitious Prince If there were a publick Proclamation of Pardon to many Offenders at once concerned together and they all agree only to disagree to vie with one another their skill in criticizing upon the Words or in disputing the Method contending about the Order and Coherence of Parts and make it their business not thankfully to accept but cavil at to tear and mangle and pluck in pieces the Proclamation and defeat the kind Design and gracious Tender of their Prince What Clemency would not this provoke to the highest Resentment and Indignation And what now can be stranger or more perverse than that a Revelation from Heaven of so much good will to men in the substance so plain and that so directly concerns the Salvation of Souls should be so torn and mangled Consider'd for no purpose less than that for which it was vouchsafed and that the very end it self should be in so great part eluded that was so kindly designed in it Tho' yet the Endeavour of salving Difficulties that occur by earnest Prayer diligent Study and by amicable and placid Collation among Brethren or comparing of Sentiments sincerely designed for a clearer understanding the Frame of the Gospel-truth or how it may be with most advantage represented to Men for the promoting of the Common Salvation can be liable to no just Reprehension being managed with that Reverence that so Sacred things challenge and with a due sense of our own Ignorance and Imperfection That only which is blamable in this case and whereof I reckon no Account can be given or Defence made is that when for the substance the Gospel propounds and lays before us so plain a way wherein men are to endeavour the saving of their Souls as wherein the wayfaring man tho' a Fool needs not err i. e. That there must be Repentance towards God Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ a renewed Heart an Holy Life One comes and pretends to shew that Order of these things one way so as to compose a Scheme of them that is represented as most necessary to be observed and held to No saith another I 'll give you a righter Scheme of Salvation another way and mightily presses the Necessity of that and the dangerous mistakes of the other And thus they cover a plain way with Thorns and Briars do not instruct but perplex and distract whom they should direct create Distinctions and Oppositions of Scheme to Scheme not only without necessity but almost without a difference and yet insist with Vehemency and lay Men's Salvation upon their understanding the matter so or so when it is hoped thousands have been saved that never heard of the one Scheme or the other as they are distinguished and opposed to each other Who can justify this Again in the 7. Place When any do with great Zeal contend for this or that Opinion or Notion as very Sacred and highly Spiritual as they account with no other Design than that under that pretence they may indulge their own carnal Inclination with the greater liberty It was the very Genius of this sort of men against whom this Epistle was meant whether they were then called Gnosticks it matters not The Name well agreed to them and they were known by it afterwards They were Men of much pretenâ—e to Knowledge and sublime Notions as they counted them And herein lay their Religion and under this pretence they indulged themselves in all manner of Licentiousness When any do take up with meer Notions which they are zealous for accounting them very highly Spiritual and under pretext of these they indulge the Carnality of their Hearts if not of their Lives and Practices too And their sine Notion as they account it which they more uncertainly father upon the Spirit of Truth must be substituted in the room of all that Love Meekness Humility Heavenliness Self-denial which are the most certain and undoubted Fruits of this blessed Spirit When under the Pretence of being Notional Men and of knowing a great deal more than most others do any neglect their own Spirits and suffer Pride Avarice Ambition Vindictiveness and Falsehood to shelter themselves under the thin Cobweb of a few sine-spun Notions and they can now hereupon live at random with more case to their own Minds and they think with better Reputation as to other Men. Here is a glittering shew only of an aiery imagin'd pretended Spirituality drawn over but which doth not hide corrupt rotten putrid Flesh. Have you never known such a case when it might be said there goes a proud ambitious Mâ—n a covetous Man a false Man a malicious Man but he is a Man of rare and singular Notions knows a great deal more than most others do and this must atone for all his Crimes with God and Man and both quiet his Conscience and salve his Credit together And who can doubt but this man must be very fond of his own Opinions and zealously contend and dispute for them upon any occasion tho' he never so ineptly make it when they are to do him so great Service and to stand him in so much stead i. e. to supply the room for him of all real Religion and
puft up for others may also through the known Corruption of Nature even in the best do herein not a little to the puffing up of them too The Apostle's concluding of this Chapter with those Cautions Let us not be desirous of Vain glory provoking one another envying one another immediately upon his renewing of the Precept ver 25. Of walking in the Spirit And immediately before those Words Chap. 6. 1. If a man be over â—â—en with a fault ye which are Spiritual restore such a one in the Spirit of meekness shews how he understood the Case to be with these Galatian Christians that as to Doctrinals were yet sound and unfall'n That there was yet such Carnality working in their continued Contests tho' for the Truth such Pride such affectation of Vain-glory such wrathfulness as shew'd it was not meer love to Truth that kept up the Contest but some such worse Principles Nothing is plainer than that Principles and Ends measure one another And when that is done or coveted to be done that serves no good End or is so done as not to serve but destroy or hinder any end that is truly good the Principle must be very bad that moves the Wheel Disorderly Eccentrick Motions bewray their Principle and End together When the Carriage and Conduct of an Affair that carries with it the appearance of serving the Truth is impetuous eager precipitant when there is no good End in view of the present so modify'd Endeavour when enough is agreed already to serve the most important Ends Vnity among Brethren the Salvation of Souls and yet things are further insisted on unnecessary to either yea prejudscial to both and upon which the weight and stress of either of these cannot be laid without sin it too plainly appears Vain-glory to ones self or the slurring of a designed Adversary is the End and then the Principle is proportionable Yet even in the Light and when matters are thus open and in view Oppositions are push'd on and Men's Spirits rise to that pitch as to bear down what-ever is proposed only with design to make their Career a little slower Yea and they are apt rather than hearken to put opprobious Names and Characters upon them that are not altogether so furious as themselves Nor have they themselves the Patience to consider Consequences and whether these things tend that is that God is provoked that the Souls of Men are endanger'd greatly endanger'd I have found in my own Conversation that some even in Distress in Agonies have said Lord be merciful to us I know not which way to go one preaches one thing another reaches the quite contrary I know they mistake we do generally in substance preach the same Gospel Thanks be to God his Gospel is not confin'd to a few Men or to this or that Party of Men. But in the mean time it is a thing of very ill consequence to lay Stumbling-blocks before the blind Barrs and Obstructions in the way of the weak and the lame whereby they may be turned out of the way who should rather be strengthened It is not considered that where the danger is less of an utter Ruine to the Souls of Men there is however occasion'd a great Languor and Enfeeblement They should be considered and treated not only as being weak but lest they should be made so When they are diverted from the proper means of Improvement and Growth and their Minds are alienated from those means being otherwise engaged an ill Habit is contracted and when the Distemper hath seized some it spreads and soon infects more Nutriment is dispensed from the Head through the Body by the Co-operation of the several parts as those Texts Eph. 4. 16. Col. 2. 19. do with great Emphasis and Elegancy speak Understand it so that how far soever there is or ought to be actual Communion every Limb and Joynt contributes something to the strength and vigour of the rest So is Nourishment ministred and spreads it's self in the Body to it's edifying it's self in love Which Love if it fail an universal Languor cannot but ensue the free Circulation of Vital Spirits being obstructed and stopt And those that are most sensible if they be not so much otherwise damnified cannot when they observe it but be grieved and take it bitterly to Heart when the Tokens appear to their View of a general Decay The living Members of any Body are pained when the Body is wasted and rent dead or stupify'd and benummed Members feel it not are unapprehensive But above all it ought to be considered and how little is it that the Holy Spirit is grieved and doth as we may fear it will more sensibly retire The Gospel in which it is wont to breathe is trifled with The glorious Gospel The Gospel of the Grace of God! Can Men find nothing else to play with by which that blessed Spirit hath begotten many a Soul to God and nourish'd them unto Life Eternal That precious thing designed for so great and sacred purposes as pampered wanton Children do with their Food they dally with or quarrel about it or squander and throw it away How can this but offend The self-procur'd Distempers which did precede and those that ensue encrease the Offence When 't is said Eph. 4. 30. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God and presently subjoyned ver 31. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and evil-speaking be put away Is it not less to us to collect that these things do more peculiarly grieve the Spirit That Spirit of Grace of all Love Goodness Sweetness and Benignity There is but one Body and one Spirit a Spirit that spreads vital Influence in the Body What can you think of that Spirit that feels every where That is in the Body an universal Sentient How can that Spirit but be grieved Passion it is not capable of hut just and sedate Displicency that matters should be so How should any of us like it to have our living Body torn Limb from Limb and part from part Though with him real Commotion and Disturbance can have no place Intellectual Resentment is infinitely greater and deeper than we can either feel or conceive But where this angry tumify'd Proud Flesh is the governing thing none of these tremendous Consequences or Considerations while it is so take any place The litigious quarrelsom Genius 〈◊〉 throw off all will find no leisure or 〈◊〉 for a calm Thought But though the course in which we are engaged should be ready to set on fire the whole â—â—â—rse of Nature will be still for casting abroad Firebrands and Arrows and Death and make us think this fine sport If indeed there were room for any cooler Thoughts one would think such as these should not lie remote How little any of us know or are capable of knowing in this our present state That they that think they know most or are most conceited of their own Knowledge know nothing as they ought to know
Morality And if he have happened upon such Notions as are really true and revealed by God himself by how much the more certainly Divine they be so much the greater is the Wickedness so basely to prostitute Sacred things Truths that are the very Off-spring of Heaven unto so vile purposes It were Fault enough to make them serve different or other purposes than they are capable of i. e. to supply the room of Religion and real goodness What an Indignity is that to Religion to suppose an empty spiritless Opinion can fill up it's place A thing that does a man no good for which his Mind and Spirit is nothing the better Much more that shelters what is so very bad Can this serve for Religion That Religion that consists with being proud with being deceitful with being malicious with being revengeful learn learn to despise such a Religion Much more that is taken up to vail over these and exclude all real goodness Again 8. When in the maintaining any Doctrine of the Gospel in opposition to others we industriously set our selves to pervert their meaning and impute things to them that they never say Or again If we charge their Opinions whom we oppose with Consequences which they disclaim professing it may be rather to disclaim their former Opinion and change their Judgment than admit such Consequences if they could discern any Connexion between the one and the other This surely argues a mighty Disposition to contend when we will quarrel with one that is really of our own Mind for herein he appears to be virtually already of the same mind in a greater matter at least than he differs with us about because no man charges another's Opinion with a Consequence designing thereby to oblige him to change his Opinion but as supposing it to be an agreed thing between them both that the Consequence is worse than the Opinion When therefore the Consequence I charge is disclaimed by him whom I oppose either it is justly charged or it is not If it be not his Opinion may be true notwithstanding what I herein say to the contrary and I am certainly so far in an Error But if it be justly charged being yet disclaimed we are formally agreed concerning the Consequence and are vertually agreed concerning the disputed Point too because he professedly disavows it upon supposition such a Consequence would follow which yet perhaps he sees not and so the Agreement must be much greater than the Difference And yet commonly this signifies nothing in order to Peace That is it is not enough that I see the same things that you do unless I also see it too with your Eyes 9. When sucb Disputes do arise at length to Wrath to angry Strife yea and even to fixed Enmity What dreadful Carnality is here Most deservedly so called if you only consider Flesh or Carnality as an unreasonable a brutal thing For what can be more unreasonable or unaccountable than to fall out with another man because he thinks not as I do or receives not my Sentiments as I also do not receive his Is it not to be considered that he no further differs from me than I do from him If there be cause of Anger upon this account on one side there is the same cause on the other too and then whether shall this grow And how little can this avail upon a rational Estimate Can any good come of it Doth it tend to the clearning of Truth Shall we see the better thorough the Clouds and Dust we raised Is a good Cause served by it Or do we think it possible the Wrath of Man should ever-work the Righteousness of God And when such Carnalities as these do exert themselves and the hot Steams and Fumes arise which the Apostle here calls the Lusts of the Flesh the Flesh lusting to Envy lusting to Wrath What is the Product or even the productive Cause but that sort of Fire which is without Light And you know what Fire that resembles And if a Man once find any Fervour of this kind stir or kindle in his Breast if he aright consider he would no more cherish it than one would do a Brand thrown into his Bosom from the Infernal Fire One would think in this case What have I stirring within me Something a kin to Hell Can this conduce to the Service of Divine and Heavenly Truth And let it be sadly considered our being upon such accounts angry with one another is a dismal token of God's being angry with us all and a provoking Cause of it too Methinks that should be a qualmy Thought and strike our Souls with a strange Damp Shall I indulge that in my self that is a mark upon me of Divine Displeasure and upon all in whom it is found To have his Holy Spirit retire that blessed Spirit of Love and of a sound mind and to leave us under the Power of rebellious lusting Flesh Can this be grateful or not be a dismaying frightful thing And whereas a right Scheme of Gospel-Doctrine is the thing pretended to be striven for I beseech you consider The more entirely and the more deeply the true Scheme of Gospel-Doctrine is inlaid in a man's Soul the more certainly it must form it into all Meekness Humility Gentleness Love Kindness and Benignity towards Fellow-Christian of whatsoever Denomination not confined not limited as that of the Pharisees unto their own Party but diffusing and spreading it self to all that bear the Charaster and Cognisance of Christ. The Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ is a Spirit of greater amplitude extends and diffuses it self through the whole Body of Christ. Nor can any Man more effectually disgrace his own Cause or make sure to worst himself in it than by defending it wrathfully For admit that he erre whom I oppose a thousand to one but that my Wrath is worse than his Error probably thousand times worse I go about therefore to take away a Moat from his Eye having a Beam in my own or am more concerned for a misplaced Hair upon his Head than I am for a Fiery Vlcer in my own Breast We are not 't is true to be so Stoical to condemn the Natural Passion of Anger as such for sinful But if it exceeds it's Cause and sets not with the Sun it becomes strange unhallowed Fire But again in the 10th place There is still a further appearance of great Carnality in such cases when any do adventure to judge of the Consciences and States of them whom they oppose or from whom they differ When they ascend the Tribunal usurp the Throne pass Sentence upon them as Men of no Conscience or of no Sincerity or Vprightness of Heart with God As if theirs were to be the Vniversal Conscience the measure of all Consciences and he that cannot be govern'd by their Conscience must have none at all Or he be stark blind towards Truth towards God and towards himself that sees not every thing they see or fancy