in Sin and Impenitency Who can be sure that God will give him â—he Grace to recover himself as those Hoâ—y Men did Those who presume to sin as they did in hopes that they shall in like manner wipe off their Sins by Repentance and Amendment reason just like a Man who should swallow down Poyson and conclude it would not kill him because some who have been Poysoned have Escaped Death But that which deserves here our greatest Consideration is the time which those Saineâ— lived in There is great difference between 〈◊〉 Christians and the good Men under the Old Testament Men before Christ haâ— not by a great deal that Light which we have and did not know as we do the Duties of Holiness Our Saviour teacheâ— us that distinction when he says * Mat. XII 1. The John the Baptist was the greatest among they who were born of a Woman but that the leâ—â— in the Kingdom of Heaven was greater theâ— John the Baptist that is to say that Christians have a much greater Light than either John Baptist or all the ancient Prephets had Now the measure of Knowledge ought to be the measure of Piety and therefore Christians ought to excel the Jews in Holiness What God did bear with as that time would be in us altogether intoleable and how can it be lawful for us to imitate the Ancients in their Vices when we are bound to surpass their Vertues This Principle is of great moment and without it we can hardly silence Profane Persons a Libertine insisting upon Presidents will say That Polygamy he keeping of Concubines Murder Divorce upon the slightest pretences and such like Disorders are not so criminal as they are imagined to be he will produce the Instances of Abraham and Jacob of the Judges of Israel of David and the Jews Far be it from us to detract from the honour and praise due to those Ancient Worthies they have done much for the Time they live in But God forbid too that we should lessen the Glory and the Advantages of the Christian Religion If we speak like Christians we will say That God in his Goodness did pass over many things by reason of the Time and of the natural Temper of the Jews who were a gross and carnal People Our Saviour's Answer to the Pharisees coneerning Divorce is very much to our purpose * Mat. XIX Moses suffered you to put away your Wives but from the beginning it was not so And then he adds that whosoever should imitate the Jews and do that which had been done and tolerated till then should be guilty of Adultery We may easily apply this Answer to the instance of St. Peter since before our Saviour's Ascension the Apostles were weak as yet and possessed with various Prejudices But I think my self bound to add a Word or two concerning the Example of St. Paul because it is commonly mistaken That Apostle says †1 Tim. I. 13 15. that he was a Blasphemer a Persecutor who was not worthy to be called an Apostle and that he was the chief of Sinners At the first hearing of these Words many imagine that St. Paul had been a profligate Man a Swearer and a Godless Wretch and yet he means nothing else but that he had once persecuted the Church For otherwise St. Paul before his Conversion to Christianity was a good Man and his Life was blameless and exemplary for this he appeals to God and the Jews Acts XXIII 1. and XXVI 4. If he did persecute the Church then it was through a blind Zeal and Ignorance and for that reason as he tells us himself ver 13. he obtained mercy from God Is not this quite another Case than that of those Christians who knowingly and wilfully allow themselves in Sin It is another mistake to make St. Paul say as some do that he is the greatest of Sinners he does not say that he says only that he is the chief or the first of those Sinners whom Jesus Christ did save His meaning is that he holds the first rank among converted Sinners that he is a remarkable Instance of the Divine Mercy and that Jesus had begun by him to shew his Clemency and Goodness Thus he explains himself Verse 16. For this cause says he I obtained Mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him This is exactly what he meant for as to what some imagine that St. Paul out of Humility acknowledges himself the greatest of all Sinners I think that explication is wrong and that it neither agrees with Truth nor Piety nor good Sense A good Man is not bound to think himself worse than the greatest sinners on the contrary he ought to bless God for that Good which the Divine Grace has wrought if him But as the last Refuge of Sinners is the Mercy of God so they commonly abuse those Places which set forth the greatness of that Mercy They found this principally upon these Words Where Sin does abound Grace does much more abound Under the Covert of this short Sentence the most flagitious Sinners think themselves safe But the bare reading of St. Paul's Discourse will soon convince us that this is to wrest the Scripture into a false and pernicious Sense The Apostle's Design is to shew that all Men being rendred Sinners in Adam and by the Law the Goodness of God was so great that he was willing to Save them through Jesus Christ In order to establish this Truth he had prove thâ— before Christ Sin and Death reigned erery where not only among the Heathen but also among the Jews upon this â—â—adds that where Sin did abound Grace â—â—mercy more abound to signify God's havâ—â—â— mercy on them when they were involved in Sin and Death In a Word St. Pâ—â— sets the happy Condition to which Mâ—â— were advanced by Jesus Christ in opposition to that which they were in before This is the sense of that place and the drift of the whole Epistle Can any one infer from thence that now we may freely sin and that Grace will exert in self rewards us whatever sins we may commit It is fit to observe besides that whiâ—â— St. Paul speaks of Grace he does not only mean the pardoning but likewise the saâ—ctifying Grace which destroys the pretention of the Libertines The Apoâ—â— himself confutes it with a great deal of vehemence He foresaw that some would â—gue like those we now contend with aâ—â— he makes this Objection to himself * Rom. 6.1 2 3 11 12. Whâ—â— then shall we continue in sin that Grace may bound And this is his Answer God forbid how shall we that are dead to sin live 〈◊〉 longer therein We who have been baptized into Christ's death that we should walk in newness of Life Reckon ye also your selves dead unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your Mortal Body
Directions which may facilitate the performance of all these Duties When Teachers shall go thus to work they will soon perceive some Amendment God's Blessing will accompany the use of those Means which he has appointed Christians being rightly informed will of their own accord apply themselves Virtue to Corruption will lessen by degrees and Christianity recovering its ancient Lustre will begin to appear with another Face than it does at this day CAUSE II. Prejudices and False Notions concerning Religion HOW Ignorant and Corrupt soever Men may be they cannot live absolutely without Religion very few at least can go so far If they are hindered by their Corruption to know and practise pure Christianity yet a remnant of Light and Conscience within them does not suffer them to run themselves wholly into Irreligion and to lay aside all thoughts of Salvation But to reconcile these two Principles of which one draws them off from Religion and the other leads them to it they form to themselves such Ideas of Religion as are agreeable to their Inclinations and flatter their Security and being possessed with those Ideas they confirm themselves more and more in their Corruption These false Notions and Prejudices are worse than Ignorance and prove a greater Obstacle to the reviving of Virtue and Piety It is better to deal with Men who are simply Ignorant than with People who have wrong Apprehensions and are full of Prejudices The former being not prepossessed may more easily be reclaimed but it is much harder to prevail upon preingaged Persons especially in point of Religion because while they maintain their Errors they fancy they defend the Truth and that they promote the Glory of God False Notions and Prejudices in Religion are therefore one of those Causes of Corruption which it concerns us most to take notice of I shall endeavour to point at the chief of them in this Chapter The first I shall name is the Opinion of those who think that Religion is intended only to comfort Men and to render them happy And it is no wonder that Men should commonly resolve all Religion into this The desire of Happiness is natural to Men and as they are sensible upon serious Consideration that perfect Happiness is not to be obtained in this World if it were for no other reason but that they must die they seek in Religion some Consolation and Remedy against that fatal necessity of quitting all the Pleasures and Advantages of this present Life Indeed the sense of their Corruption should restrain them from flattering themselves with the hopes of Salvation but they rely upon the assurances of the Divine Mercy which Religion gives to Men and they persuade themselves that their Sins will not obstruct their Felicity This is properly the Notion which Men entertain of Religion and that which they think it is good for But that Religion should indispensably oblige Men to fear God and to live well and that without this there is neither true Religion nor Happiness is that which is not commonly believed There is no question but that the Design of Religion is to comfort Men and to lead them to Happiness This was God's purpose in sending his Son to redeem the World But this is not the only end of Religion it is intended besides for the Glory of God and the Sanctification of Men and it does properly consist in the Service and Obedience which are paid to God Salvation is a consequence of this Service and a gratuitous Reward which God is pleased to bestow upon those who honour and fear him Nothing therefore is more absurd than the conceit of those who look only upon that side of Religion which promises Comfort and Salvation and nothing is more dangerous or more apt to make Men remiss and careless in their Duty yet this imagination is very common and if I was to define Religion by the ordinary apprehensions which Men have of it I would say that it is nothing else but a mean to bring Sinners to Heaven and to make Men eternally happy whatsoever their course and manner of Life may be But Men would not so easily promise themselves Salvation if they had not very mean and imperfect Ideas of Religion I shall therefore observe Secondly That Men commonly place Christianity either in bare Knowledge or in an external Profession or in Confidence But Holiness does not make a part of their Notion of Religion or at best it makes but a very inconsiderable part of it It is not to be denied but that Knowledge is essential to Religion and that as it holds the first rank in it so it is the Foundation of it all Nay it is impossible to engage Men to Holiness without laying first in them the Foundation of good and sound Doctrine This I have proved in the first Chapter of this Treatise An outward and publick Profession is likewise essential to Religion for one cannot be a Christian without it And further It is beyond all doubt that Religion inspires Confidence Peace and Joy The Knowledge of Christ and of the Salvation he has procured for us must naturally produce these effects Knowledge Profession and Confidence are therefore included in the Idea of Religion but as necessary as they are yet they are not sufficient Knowledge is not the whole of Religion since the Gospel as well as Experience teaches us that it may be found in the worst of Men it is not therefore a saving knowledge but when it produces Piety and Charity The Definition which St. Paul gives of the Christian Religion is that it is a knowledge of the truth according to godliness We may read what the same Apostle tells us concerning that Knowledge which is void of Charity 1 Cor. XIII As for an outward Profession it is altogether useless without Sanctity A Hypocrite may live in the Church and perform even with Applause the external Duties of Piety This we may likewise learn from Scripture and daily Experience Lastly All Confidence which is not supported by Piety is vain and deceitful The bare persuasion that one shall be saved gives no Man a Right to Salvation A very wicked Person may without any ground rely upon God's Mercy and this is what Divines call Presumption and Security * Tit. I. 1. But tho' all this is very plain both from Scripture and good Sense yet Men entertain Opinions contrary to it A great many think themselves Christians because they know the Truths and Doctrines of Christianity I do not enquire here whether all those who think they know Religion do really know it But howsoever this Knowledge true or false makes many judge most favourably of themselves it does so puff them up that they look on themselves as the Stays and Supporters of Religion Others of whom there is an infinite number imagine that so they profess the true Religion they need not fear any thing concerning their Salvation especially if this outward Profession is attended with some apparent
is thought mean and disgraceful It would therefore be an easy thing to them to correct the Notions which Men commonly have of Religion As soon as they shall love and honour it other Men will no longer be ashamed of it but will place their Glory in practising it This I am to inlarge upon in the second Part of this Treatise CAUSE VI. The delaying of Repentance I Do not know whether any Illusion is more Ordinary or contributes more to the support of Vice in the World than that which I design to attack in this Chapâ—er and that is the Delaying Repentance We must not believe that Men are so blind and so hardened as never to think of their Salvation There are few who have not a general Intention to obtain it Even â—mong those who live ill many are convinced that Conversion is necessary and that they are not yet in a state of Grace If it be asked why then they do notrepent I answer That so unreasonable a Proceeding which seems so contradictory to it self ought to be imputed to the hope they entertain of clearing all scores one day by Repentance and of obtaining the Pardon of all their Sins through the Divine Mercy This is the true Cause of the greatest part of those Sins which are committed in the World It is that deceitful Hope which frustrates all the endeavours that are used to make Men for sake their Vicious Habits The delay of Conversion ought therefore to be placed among the Causes of the bad lives of Christians and the importance of this Subject has made me resolve to bestow a particular Chapter upon it Now to handle this matter right we are to observe two different ways of putting off Conversion for all Men do not delay it in the same manner and the same Sentiments and Dispositions ought not to be supposed in them all Some put it off to a remote time and to the very end of their Lives Others do not adjourn it so long they design to go about it a good while before Death at least they hope so and they put it off to an undetermined time The first sin properly in hopes of Pardon but the others sin in hopes of Repentance The former deceive themselves more grossly they think that in order to be saved it is enough to beg for Mercy and to repent tho' never so late the Illusion of the others is more subtil they conceive it is necessary to reform and to forsake sin but for all that they do not Convert themselves Tho' these two ways of delaying have an affinity with one another and might in a great measure be encountered with the same Arguments yet I shall consider them here separately Men commonly entertain this Opinion That if they do but Repent at the end of their Lives their Sins will be no hindrance to their Salvation They allot for this Repentance the Approaches of Death Old-Age or the time of Sickness and they suppose that then they shall fit themselves for a Christian Death by Confessing their Sins and having recourse to the Divine Mercy It is not I think needful to prove that this Opinion is very common for who can deny it Neither will I go about to shew that it feeds Corruption and encourages Security by proposing to Men such a method of Salvation as leaves them at liberty to live still in Sin for that is self-evident It is more important to let Men see how false and dangerous an Imagination that is which makes them believe that so they Repent before Death they shall avoid Damnation and be Saved In order to this we must endeavour to discover the Principle they Act upon and to unfold the true Sentiments of their Hearts The delay of Repentance includes Two different Motions the one carries a Man towards Salvation and the other towards Sin On the one had Man is neither such an Enemy to himself as to be altogether unconcerned about his Salvation nor so as blind not to perceive that Repentance is necessary On the other hand he is so addicted to his Lusts that he cannot resolve to renounce them In perplexity Self-love finds him out an Expedient by which he things to reconcile with his Appetites the care of his Salvation And that is that if he sins yet he intends to Repent But here it is manifest that this Man puts a Cheat upon himself and that such Sentiments proceed only from self-love and from a strong affection to Sin Nothing else but the absolute necessity of Dying and of giving an Account to God obliges him to destin the end of his Life to Acts of Repentance For it cannot be said that the Love of God and of Vertue has any share in this Conduct Is it any love or regard to God that makes a Man desire him in his last Extremity and when he can enjoy the World no longer This shews that a Man thinks of God only because he expects Salvation at his Hands which is to deal with him as with an Enemy to whom we surrender our selves as late and upon as good Terms as we can and only that we may not perish Such a Delay includes a positive Resolution to offend God and to gratify one's Passions at least for the present He that thinks to Repent hereafter is not willing to Repent now He allots the present time for the satisfying of his Lusts and for the committing of those Sins which are to be the matter of his future Repentance This is all that is fixed and certain in his Resolution for as to what he promises for the future it is most uncertain and if we consider the thing right he promises nothing at all for he does not know whether he shall not die very soon nor what he shall do in case he lives sometime longer The Hazard to which a Man exposes himself by this Delay is evident In order to a compleat Repentance Two Things are requisite The first is to have Time and Opportunity to Repent the second is to make use of that Time and Opportunity Those who put off their Conversion to the last Must suppose that they shall have these two Advantages But these things are extreamly uncertain and no Man in the World can be sure of them 1. No Man can promise himself that he shall have Time and Opportunity to Repent at the end of his Life It is true in fact that more than one Half of Mankind die without having time to prepare for Death If we reckon up all those who are snatched away in an Instant by unforeseen Accidents or a sudden Death all those who perish in War all those who are seized with Distempers which take away their Senses all those whom the Approaches of Death do not move to Repentance because they do not apprehend themselves in any danger of dying And if we add to these those whose only Preparation is to have a Minister to pray by their Bed-side when they can hardly hear a few Words of
of good things are sprinkled with that Spirit of Fanaticism I shall not stand to give here the Character of those Books nor to shew the mischief they may do in relation to Libertines or to those Persons who want either Knowledge or a discerning Judgment because I will not repeat what I have said of Mystical Piety Part I. Cause II. Art VIII 3. Some Authors who have put out Books of Piety have made it their whole Business to administer Comfort Those who read their Works may easily see that they looked upon the Comfortable side of Religion and that their principal design was to fill their Readers with Confidence Hope and Joy Without doubt it is a laudable and pious Design to use ones endeavours to Comfort the Afflicted and particularly good Men and I confess that we find in the Books which have been composed with that view many edifying things and noble Sentiments of Piety but for all that those Books may easily inspire Men with security when the Consolations which they dispense are not attended with great Circumspection and Prudence I could wish that all those who have published Books of this kind had well considered these two following Truths The first is that the Comforts which Religion affords belong only to true Christians so that it is an essential part of the Duty of Comforters carefully to distinguish Persons and to mark clearly who those are that have aright to Religious Comforts The Second is that it is as necessary to Sanctifie as it is to Comfort Men Nay That the Sanctifying them is the more necessary of the two because Holiness is more essential to a good Man than Consolation and Joy and also because Men are much more inclined to presume than to condemn themselves besides that there are but few who want Comfort in comparison with those who ought to be teâ—tified The Consolations of which the Books of Piety are full are intended either for Afflicted Persons or for Sinners As for the first it is better to teach them how to make a good life of their Afflictions and to bring them to examine and amend their Lives than to discourse to them upon some general Topick of Comfort which perhaps will only lay them faster asleep in security and which is besides generally misapplied For all that the Gospel says of Afflictions is commonly laid together and that too with no great Judgment and what is said only of the Afflictions of the Faithful who suffer for Christ's sake is applied to the Afflictions which are common to all Mankind It is much more necessary to teach Men how to die well than to fortify them against the fear of Death Nay we cannot give them a more substantial Comfort than if we persuade them to live well since a good Life will most certainly bring them to a happy Death But we ought to be particularly cautious when we comfort Sinners and give them assurances of the Divine Mercy for if this is not done with great circumspection we may easily harden and ruin at the same time that we are comforting them This is the mischief of those Books which speak but little of Repentance and insist much upon Confidence whose only design it is to encourage the greatest Sinners and to exhort them to a bold reliance upon God's Mercy without fearing either the heinousness or the Multitude of their Sins Such Consolations are capable of a good Sense but if they are not proposed with due explication and restrictions vast numbers of People will abuse them That which has been writ by some Authors in Books of Devotion concerning Sin and Good Works is apt to lead Men into this fancy That good Works signify nothing in order to Salvation and that Sin does not obstruct it Under pretense of answering the Accusations of the Devil and of the Law these Authors enervate the strongest Arguments for the necessity of Good Works they confute the Declarations of Scripture concerning Sanctification and they destroy as much as in them lies the Sincerity and Truth of the Precepts and threatnings of the Gospel For what they call the Accusations of the Devil and of the Law is sometimes nothing else but the just apprehensions of a guilty Conscience which are inspired by the Gospel and which should be cherished and fortified to bring Sinners to Repentance instead of being removed by ill dispensed Consolations It is said to this that Sinners are not to be driven to Despair But do we make Sinners desperate by saying that they are not in a State of Salvation when really they are not Do we not comfort them enough when we exhort them to have recourse to God's Mercy and to repent What if we should by unseasonable Consolations fill them with a vain and groundless Confidence would not that security ruin them more certainly than Desperation To make Men fearless is the ready way to undo them After all I cannot imagine why People should talk so much of Despair and seem so hugely afraid of it By the endeavours used in Books and Sermons to keep Sinners from it one would think that we had great reason to fear on that hand and that nothing were more ordinary than for Men to despair of the Divine Mercy and yet there is nothing more unusual For one Sinner who is terrified with his Sins thousands are undone by Security It is remarkable than the Scripture speaks but seldom of Despair and when we have well examined all the places which are thought to mention it we shall not find many that speak positively of it Many Church-men who have Cure of Souls confess that they never saw any Person afflicted with Despair And as for the Instances which are alledged to this purpose it is certain that what is called Desperation is commonly nothing else but a Fit of the Spleen and an effect of Grief and Melancholy So that those who make long Discourses to prevent Sinners falling into Despair take great pains to little purpose and do for the most part fight with a shadow 4. There is another Fault in some Books of Devotion quite contrary to this I have now observed which is that they terrify their Readers without reason If Authors otherwise Pious and Learned had not spoken in their Writings of the Sin against the Holy Ghost of Reprobation Despair the Power of the Devil and of some other Matters many People would have been free from those terrible Frights which the indiscreet handling of those Subjects did throw them into The reading of such Books has occasioned and does still produce great Mischiefs when they are read by Men of weak Heads that are inclined to Melancholy and the Number of such Persons is very considerable Some have fancied they had committed the Sin against the Holy Ghost and being possessed with that dismal Thought they have spent their Lives in dreadful Apprehensions of which nothing could cure them Others have imagined that their Case cure them Others have imagined that their Case was
of the Efficacy of Christianity or of the sincerity of its Precepts Promises and Threatnings I grant then that Corruption is great that the Course of the World is very bad and that in all probability there will always be Wickedness upon Earth But that this Corruption should be always the same so that no Reformation can be hoped is what cannot be maintained without affronting Religion without introducing Fatality and extinguishing all Zeal among Christians By the Maxims we have hitherto Examined Men endeavour to prove that the practice of Holiness is either of no great necessity or that it is impossible But there are some others which represent the Study of Vertue as dangerous so that here vicious Men do not stand barely upon the defensive part but they attack their Adversaries who recommend the Duties of Holiness 1. They pretend that we cannot insist so much upon Works without obscuring the Glory of the Divine Mercy We must ascribe all say they to Mercy and nothing to our own Righteousness There is no true Christian but acknowledges That our Salvation is entirely owing to the Divine Mercy and rejects the Opinion which attributes any Merit to Good-works It is that Mercy which gave us Christ for our Redeemer and our Salvation is founded upon that Redemption It is that Mercy which pardons the Sins of those who Believe and Repent and which bears with the Infirmities of Regenerate Christians And it is from the same Mercy that we expect that Glorious and un-merited Reward which is laid up in Heaven for Good Men. All these are as many Acts of the pure Mercy of God But as we have shewed that the Mercy which Saves us does not excuse us from Good-works so the necessity of Good-works does not lessen in the least the Riches of God's Mercy Unless we admit that there are Contradictions in Scripture we must acknowledge that the Doctrine of Sanctification does perfectly agree with the Doctrine of Grace And in Truth to say That God gave up his Son to Death in order to Save Men and that he will grant Remission of Sins and Eternal Happiness to every believing and repenting Sinner is as much as can be said to magnify the Divine Mercy Except we should pretend that God would be more merciful if he did indifferently Save all Mankind and Reward Vice and Vertue alike but this would be a horrid Thought and no less than downright Blasphemy Then Sinners might say indeed Let us continue in Sin that Grace may abound Let us suppose that a Prince pardons a Rebellious Subject and that he is ready to confer the greatest Honours and Benefits upon him on condition that this Subject shall accept of the Pardon that is offered him and shall relapse no more into the same Crime Would any Man be so unreasonable as to say that the Clemency of that Prince would be much greater if he did grant his Favours to this Rebel tho' he should persist in his Crime And yet this is the same thing which some Men would have God do It is very strange that any one should think to Honour God by such Conceits as do not only injure his Mercy but his other Perfections too Because God is Merciful must we forget that he is Holy Just and Good It is said that we must ascribe all to the mercy of God what then must we have no regard to his Holiness his Justice and his Truth Must what the Scripture tells of these last Perfections be faintly and tenderly expounded whilst we press and scrue up to the highest pitch what it says of Mercy As to what is added that we ought to ascribe nothing to our own Righteousness it is unquestionably true But do we ascribe any thing to Man when we say that he is bound to do his Duty and to accept the favour which God is pleased to bestow upon him Can any Man say that the Rebel I Mentioned just now is the Author of his own Happiness and that he deserves the Pardon granted him by his Prince because he accepts of it and fulfils the condition upon which it is offered What reason then has a Man to value himself upon his own Righteousness or to arrogate any Merit to himself since he is indebted to the Grace of God both for the beginnings and the progress of his Sanctification In short we should take heed that for fear of ascribing any thing to Man we may not rob the Divine Grace of what belongs to it by not acknowledging its Gifts and Power in a Regenerate Man 2. Here is another Maxim which is alledged in Confirmation of the preceding and which aims at the same Mark It is this That we must not speak so much of Good-works lest we inspire Men with Pride and Presumption And to support this Maxim it is usual to run out upon Mens inclination to Pride and upon the heinousness of that Sin But this Maxim proceeds only from the false and confused Notions which Men have about Religious Matters Either this Maxim has no Sense at all or else it mounts to this That whosoever applies himself to Holiness and Good-works is in danger of falling into Pride and that a neglect of Vertue contains a Man within the Bounds of Humility Which is as much as to say that a Man may be Holy without Humility and humble without Holiness Two Things which are the most ridiculous and contradictory that can be asserted At this rate it would be a dangerous thing to be a Good Man and more safe to be otherwise By pursuing Vertue and Holiness a Man draws near to Sin and to the greatest of Sins I mean Pride and by neglecting Holiness he attains Humility which is one of the chief Christian Vertues If this is true all that we call Vice or Vertue is but an empty sound It is much that Men should not see that there can be no Holiness without Humility nor Humility without Holiness that where there is Holiness there is Humility and Pride is excluded and that where Pride is there is no true Sanctification The holier a Man grows he becomes the more humble and he is so far from coming the nearer to Pride by proceeding in Holliness that on the contrary he removes the farther from it The instance of our Blessed Saviour who was both perfectly Holy and perfectly Humble is a proof that Humility is not incompatible with Holiness But the Nature of Humility is not well understood There are many who conceive no other Humility but that which arises from the Disorders of a vicious and irregular Life So that when they would humble good Men they rank them among the vilest Sinners they make them say that there is nothing but Wickedness and Abomination in them and that they have deserved Eternal Damnation by innumerable Sins which they have committed every Moment of their Lives and even by the best Actions they have done The strongest Expressions and the most excessive Hyperboles are scarce sufficient to
we ought to live no longer in Sin These are his own words * Rom. 7.14 15 16 17.18 What then Shall we Sin because we are not under the Law but under Grace God forbid On the contrary Sin shall not have dominon over you for ye are not under the Law but under Grace you were formerly the servants of Sin but now being made free from Sin and become the servants of God Ye have your fruit unto holiness We need but read the sequel of his Discourse to see how he inveighs against those who turned the Grace of the Gospel into a pretense to live in Sin Before I leave this matter I shall taâ—â— notice of two Errors which are pretty common The First is the applying to Christians at this day all those things which were spoken of old by the Apostles to the Converted Jews It is said that we are no more under the Law and Christians are often exhorted to bless God for being no longer under the Curse of the Law and the Yoke of Moses And upon this a great many Oppositions are observed betwixt the Law and the Gospel For my part I do not think those Exhortations and Oppositions so very proper to be insisted on when we are speaking to Men who never were Jews unless we do it with a design to shew the Excellency of the Gospel-Covenant above that of the Law and the advantages of Christians above Jews For after all the Law was given only to the Jews and the Gentiles were never subjected to the Ceremonies or the Curse of it as the Jews were Why should we then say to People who never were under the Law You are no more under the Law The Apostles indeed spoke in that manner to the Converted Jews but as to those who were formerly Pagans it would be more fitting to tell them * Thess 1.9 Ephes 11.12 4.17 You have been converted from Idols to the living God Remember that ye were in times past Gentiles without hope and without God in the World and therefore live no longer like Heathens It is a great fault not to expound the Scripture according to the true scope of it and to apply all that it contains to all sorts of Persons without distinction The other Error is of greater consequence People fancy that because we are not under the Law which was a Covenant of Rigor we are now to speak of nothing else to Men but of Grace and Promises and that it is contrary to the Spirit of the Gospel to threaten and to denounce Curses against Sinners It has been said already in what sense the Law was a Covenant of Rigor in opposition to the Covenant of Grace but the Gospel has also its Curses and they are much more terrible than those of the Law The Gospel speaks of the future Punishments of another Life in much clearer and stronger Expressions than the Law does To be convinc'd of this we need but reflect upon that opposition which St. Paul makes between the Law and the Gospel in the Tenth Chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews He that despised Moses Law died without mercy under two or three Witnesses of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who has trodden under foot the Son of God and has counted the Blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing and has done despight unto the Spirit of Grace We know him that has said Vengeance belongeth unto me I will recompense faith the Lord. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hand of the living God 3. The Libertines do likewise abuse what St. Paul says in the Epistle to the * Gal. 5. Galatians concerning Christian Liberty when he declares that Christians are freed from the bondage of the Law when he exhorts them to stand fast in that Liberty and protests that Christ prositeth nothing to those who would be justified by the Law But a Man may see with half an Eye that the Apostle means only that Christians are no longer bound to observe Circumcision and the other Ceremonies of the Law of Moses That St. Paul has no other view or design but this will plainly appear to every one who will read the whole Epistle and particularly the second Chapter of it In the V Chapter we find two things which are decisive in this Matter 1. St. Paul speaks there expresly of Circumcision * Gal. V. Behold I Paul say unto you that if you be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing for I testifie again to every Man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole Law †ver 13. Christ is become of none effect unto yon whosoever of you are justified by the Law ye are fallen from Grace 2. It is very observable with what circumspection the Apostle delivers himself left his Doctrine should be wrested to favour Licentiousness after he had said You are called to liberty he adds immediately only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh He explains what he means by living after the Flesh by making an enumeration of those Sins which the Flesh produces and which exclude Men from the Kingdom of Heaven He exhorts Men to live after the Spirit and to practise the Christian Vertues In the Fourth Chapter he pursues the same Exhortations and he ends the Epistle with these remarkable Words which contain the summ of his Doctrine * Chap. VI. 15. For in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Vncircumcision but a new Creature that is to say Whether a Man be a Jew or a Heathen it matters not so he believes in Jesus Christ and observes God's Commandments †ver 16. Peace and Mercy be on them all who walk after this Rule Is there anything plainer than this Doctrine And yet how clear soever it may be Christian Liberty is alledged to set Men free from the Obligation to keep God s Commandments All that St. Paul fays against Circumcision and the Ceremonies of the Law is by an Enormous Blasphemy turned against the Holy Commandments of the Son of God Can any thing more Odious or Prophane be imagined than the perverting of the Holy Scripture at this rate 4. Those who plead on the side of Corruption are wont to object against what is said in behalf of Holiness this Sentence of Solomon's | Ephes VII 16. be not righteous overmuch neither make thy self over-wise And what Inferences do they riot draw from thence They conclude from this Place That a Man ought not to pretend so much to Holiness or to set up for a good Man and that in all things Mediocrity is best One may easily apprehend that such Sentiments must needs introduce Licentiousness especially when they are thought to be supported by a Divine Authority But let us see whether or no such Conceits can be founded upon this Sentence of Solomon's I shall ask in the first place Whether it is possible for a
Man to be too Just or too Wise and whether there can be a vicious excess in Righteousness or Wisdom If a Man may be over-righteous he may likewise love God too much for to be righteous and to love God is the same thing Now God requires that we should love him with all our Heart and consequently that we should be as righteous as it is possible for us to be But far from being over-righteous we can never be righteous enough And if we can never be righteous enough is there any occasion to exhort us that we should not be over-righteous I wish Men had at least that reverence for the Scripture as not to make it speak Absurdities I know the ordinary Evasion Vicious Men will say that when Piety runs to excess it leads to Superstition or Pride and becomes troublesome and ridiculous Every body says that but without Reason I have refuted that Opinion and shewed that true Piety never degenerates into Superstition or Pride and that Devout Men who are Superstitious or troublesome have but a false Devotion or a misguided Zeal This may direct us to the true meaning of the Sentence in Question Solomon does not speak here of true Justice and Wisdom For whether he may have an eye here upon Superstitious or Hypocritical Persons whose Righteousness is but imaginary which Sense is adopted by many Interpreters or whether he speaks of those who exercise Justice with too much severity as some think or whether as it is conceived by others he gives this advice to busy and presumptuous People who meddle in things which do not concern them and fancy themselves able to determine all Matters however it is plain that Solomon does not speak here of good Men who exactly follow the Rules of true Justice and Wisdom If we stick to the last of these Three Expositions which seems to agree best with Solomon's design then the meaning of this place is clear and rational and has nothing in it contrary to Piety whereas the sense which is put upon these Words by the Libertines is both Absurd and Impious Those who would either justify or excuse Corruption use to object in the second place That since the Scripture teaches that all Men and even good Men are deeply ingaged in Corruption it must follow from thence that Holiness and Good-works are not so very necessary and that the practice of these is impossible Now to prove this universal Corruption of all Men they bring several Declarations of Scripture and this among the rest There is not one that doeth good no not one c. Psal 14. Rom. 3. If their meaning in citing these Words was only to shew that there is no Man altogether free from Sin and if it was granted on the other-hand that good Men do not sin in the same manner that the wicked do I would not quarrel much about this Interpretation tho' not altogether exact or agreeable to the scope of David in the 19th Psalm But there is another design in it which is to inferr from these Words that Men differ very little from one another that they are all guilty of many great Sins and that none do or can practise the Duties of Holiness In a word this is intended for the Apology of Corruption and to silence those who oppose it If what David says in this place is to be strictly understood it will follow that there is not one good Man upon Earth that all Men are perverted that they are all become abominable by their Sins and that there is not one single Person that is just or that fears God But this Consequence raises Horrour it is contrary to Truth and Experience and to what the Scripture declares in a Thousand places where it speaks of Good Men and distinguishes them from the Wicked Nay this Consequence may be destroy'd from what we read in that very Psalm which mentions the Just who are protected by God and the Wicked who persecute them This complaint of David must therefore be understood with some restrictions By reading the XIV Psalm we may perceive that David intends to describe in it the extream Corruption of Men in his time There he draws the Picture of Impiety and Atheism and speaks of those Fools who say in their hearts that there is no God and whose life is a continued chain of Sins It must be observed in the next place that when St. Paul cites these words out of the XIV Psalm in the Epistle to the Romans Chap. III. he does it with a design to shew that the Jews were not much better than the Heathens and that they had as much need of a Saviour * V. 9. What then are we better than they No in no wise for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles that they are all under sin This is the Assertion which St. Paul maintains and which he proves from that complaint which David made of Old †V. 19. There is not one that does good c. From whence he concludes that all mouths must be stopped and that all the World is become guilty before God so that the Law of Moses could neither justify nor sanctifie the Jews But he teaches at the same time that Christ was come to rescue Men out of that miserable Condition And it were a strang thing if we must dill say of Christians that there is none that does good no not one 2. This answer is to be applied to that place in the Ephesians where it is said * Ephes II. 1. i. that we are dead in trespasses and sins for to the same end these words are quoted I do not deny but all Men abstracting from the Divine Grace are to be considered as dead in their Sins That is St. Paul's meaning in that place he speaks here of the Natural state of Men and particularly of Heathens which was a State of Corruption and Death in which they had perished had not God taken pity upon them But the Apostle intends to make the Ephesians sensible of that unparallel'd Mercy of God by which they were converted to Christianity being but poor Heathens before who were dead in their sins and obnoxious to the Wrath of God He does not say to them you are dead in your sins it is falsifying the Text to cite it so and to say we are dead in our sins but you were dead he speaks of the time past when they were Heathens * and 5. c Among whom says he speaking of the Jews we had our Conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind but now he adds God has quickned us together with Christ both you that were Heathens and we that were Jews are raised again from this spiritual death by virtue of God's great Mercy This is the true meaning of that place which gives us a lively Idea of Mens Natural Corruption and of that happy State to which Christ
that ye should obey it in the lusts hereof The Apostle pursues these Exhortations to the end of the Chapter 2. The Promises and Instances of God's Mercy are frequently also taken in a sense which favours Corruption and Security All that the Gospel says upon this head is interpreted by vicious Men as if the Son of God was come into the World to give Men a license to sin To this purpose the Instances of that Woman who was a sinner of Zacheus and the converted Thief are often alledged as likewise the Parable of the Prodigal Son of the Publican and of the Labourers And from these Instances as well as from our Saviour's Declarations †Mat. 11.13 that he is not come to call the righteous but Sinners to Repentance it is concluded that the greatest Sinners may obtain Salvation as well as the Just But if those who quote these Instances did narrowly examine them they would read in them their own Condemnation For first all these Sinners mentioned in the Gospel did repent and were Converted That Woman who had been a Notorious Sinner expresses the most lively Sorrow the Publican smites his Breast the Prodigal comes to himself again and detests his former excesses Zacheus if he was an unjust man restores fourfold From these Instance we may very well infer that God never rejects returning sinners But even this is an invincible Argument that there is no mercy for those who persist in their Sins and that too in hopes of Pardon Besides we must know that our Saviour's design in all these Parables and Instances was to inform Men that he was come to invite the greatest Sinners to Repentance and especially to let the Jews understand that for all the high opinion they had of their own Dignity and Merit the Heathens who lived in the greatest Corruption were to be admitted into God's Covena◠and to have a Share in his favour Which actually happened to all those Heathens who did believe in Jesus Christ These Instances and Parables then represent the Stare Men were in at that time and not the State of those who are entred already into the Christian Church It can never be said too much nor remembred too often in the reading of the Gospel that there is a vast difference between those Heathens who never heard a word of God or Jesus Christ◠and Christians who are born in the Church and live in the Covenant with God Thus I think I have examined those Places of Scripture which are most commonly abused by the Libertines If I have omitted any I hope what has been said in this Chapter may serve to suggest pertinent and satisfactory Answers to them CAUSE V. A false Modesty COrruption is not wholly to be imputed to that Ignorance or to those Prejudices and loose Opinions which prevail among Christians For men do not always sin through want of Knowledge or out of mere Wantonness and Libertinism There are many who acknowledge the viciousness of the Age and the necessity of a good life and yet they neglect their Dury intirely or at least they are very remiss in the doing of it acting for the most part against their own persuasions There must be then other Springs of Corruption in Men besides those which we have hitherto discovered It is necessary to search into these and to find out if possible why many persons who want no Instruction and are solicited by the Motion of their own Consciences to embrace the side of Vertue and Piety do not withstanding continue in Vice and Corruption This seems to proceed chiefly from two Dispositions which Men are commonly i◠On the one hand they are restrained by an ill Shame from acting suitably to the sentiments of their own Consciences and on the other hand they put off their Conversion hoping that they shall one Day make up all the Irregularities of their Conduct by Repentance I look upon these two Disposition as two of the principal Causes of Corruption and therefore I thought in might be proper to consider them both distinctly I design to treat of false Modesty in this Chapter and to shew 1. The Nature and 2. the Effects of it 1. By false Modesty I mean that Shame which hinders Men to do that which they know to be their Duty I call this Shame vicious or illl to distinguish it from another kind of Shame which is good and commendable which consists in being ashamed to do ill things If false Shame is a source of Corruption that other Shame which restrains from Evil is a Principle of Vertue and a Preservative against Sin And therefore it ought to be as carefully cherished and maintained as vicious Shame should be avoided or shaken off For as soon as the sense of this commendable Shame is gone Innocency is irrecoverably lost It is a part of the Character of Sinners in Scripture that their Wickedness raises no blushing or confusion in them I say then that this false Shame keeps Men from doing at the same time what they know and approve to be their Duty and it is under that Notion particularly that I am to consider it here It is not my design to speak of that Shame which arises from Ignorance or Contempt and which is to be met with in those profane and worldly Men who because they do not know Religion or judge it unworthy of their Application think it a disgrace to follow its Maxims I refer such Men to the first Chapter of this Book and to some further Considerations which I am to insist upon elsewhere The Shame I speak of at present supposes some Knowledge in the Mind and some value for and inclination to Piety From whence it appears how dangerous the Effects of that Shame are and how important it is to know and observe them since it seduces and corrupts even those who are none of the worst Men and of whom otherwise we might reasonably hope well Now to apprehend the Nature of this vicious Shame it must be observed that Shame commonly springs from two Causes Sometimes it proceeds from the Nature of the thing we are ashamed of or from the Opinion we have of it Thus Men are ashamed of things which either are or appear dishonest in their Nature But sometimes also Shame is an effect of the regard we bear to other Mens Judgment and then we are ashamed to do things which may bring Contempt upon us and Disgrace us in the World One may soon perceive that the Shame that is vicious does not arise from the first of these Causes Religion has nothing in it that is shameful arid dishonest for far from that it is of all things the most Comely and Honourable and the most worthy of a Man and it appears such even to those who by reason of a groundless Shame dare not practise the Rules of it The true Cause then of this false Modesty is a feeble regard to Mens Judgment and a fear of falling under their Contempt
thing They will say perhaps that they hope to confirm themselves in a good Purpose but what do they found this Hope upon What do they wait for and what new thing do the imagine will happen to them Have they any assurance that God will use for their Conversion other Means and Motives than those which he has used already Nay how do they know but that they shall be deprived of those Means and Helps which hitherto have been tender'd them How can they tell whether there is a time to come for them and whether their Life is not just ready to end All this is very uncertain But what is certainly true is this that through so many Procrastinations their Hearts grow harder and their return to Vertue becomes more difficult The Love of Sin increases by the Habit of sinning and the Means appointed to work Repentance lose something of their force every day These Considerations do evidently shew that the deferring of Conversion is an Error as gross as it is dangerous I think it will not be useless to conclude this Chapter with observing that the Reason why so many put off their Conversion is because they look upon Repentance as an austere and melancholy Duty And this Notion must needs put them upon deferring the Practice of it It is therefore of the greatest moment to destroy that Prejudice and to shew on the contrary that if there is any sad and deplorable Condition it is that of a Man who lives in Sin For that is either a State of Fear and Uncertainty or of Security and Insensibility Such a Man can have no solid Peace of Conscience during his Life and what Agitations must he fall into when the thoughts of Death and of a Judgment to come happens to make some lively Impression upon his Mind For granting that then he may use some endeavours to dispose himself to Repentance yet besides the danger of a late Repentance it is a sad thing to end one's Life in those Struggles and Terrors which must needs accompany such a Repentance A Man who delays his Conversion prolongs his Misery and makes it greater and more incurable But Joy and Tranquility are the portion of a pure Conscience There is no Felicity or Contentment like that of a Soul which is freed from the bondage of Sin Repentance is the beginning of that Happiness which grows sweeter and more perfect according to the progress we make in Virtue Then it is that a Man is happy in all the Circumstances of Life besides that he has the Comfort of being supported at the approaches of Death with that Peace and Joy which flow from a well grounded Confidence in the Divine Mercy from the Testimony of a good Conscience and from a steady hope of Immortality CAUSE VII Mens Sloth and Negligence in Matters of Religion IT is natural and ordinary to Men to be unconcerned about those things which they do not know or of which they do not apprehend the Use and Necessity And so we may easily conceive that Men living in Ignorance and being possessed with those Notions I have now Confuted must needs be very negligent and slothful in what relates to Religion But as this Sloth considered in it self is a visible Cause of Corruption so it will be fitting to take particular notice of it in this Chapter I suppose in the first place that it is impossible for a Man to attain the End which Religion proposes to him without using the proper Means which lead to that End In religious as well as in worldly Concerns nothing is to be had without Labour and Care As there are Means appointed for preserving the Life of the Body so there are some ordained for maintaining the Life of the Soul and th last means is of the two the more necessary because there is more care and forecast requisite in order to Salvation about preserving the Life of die Soul than for supporting that of the Body It is certain that the more excellent any thing is the more it requires our Care but besides that we see the Life of the Body is easily preserved a Natural Inclination prompts us to those things which are necessary for our Subsistence and the means of supplying our bodily Wants offer themselves to us as it were of their own accord But it is not so with the spiritual Life Considering our proneness to Evil and the present State we are in we cannot avoid being undone if we neglect the necessary Care of our Souls and if we follow all the Bents and Propensions of our Nature Religion obliges us upon many occasions to resist our Inclinations and to offer violence to our selves it requires Self-denial Watchfulness and Labour it lays many Duties upon us and it prescribes divers Means without the use of which we cannot but continue still in Corruption and Death I shall then but just name the Chiefest of those Duties and Means Before all things a Christian ought to be Instructed he ought to know with some exactness both the Truths and the Duties of Christianity Now this Knowledge cannot be acquired without Hearing Reading Meditation or some other Care of this Nature In the next place as Religion does not consist in bare Knowledge but chiefly in Practice none of those Means should be neglected which are proper to divert Men from Vice and to spur them on Vertue These Means are very many but they are all comprehended under these two principal Heads The Exercises of Devotion and the Circumspections which every Person ought to use The Exercises of Devotion are mighty Helps to Piety and Salvation I mean such as Meditation Reading and Particularly Prayer which is one of the most essential Acts of Religion as well as one of the most efficacious Means to advance Holiness There are on the other hand several methods of Circumspection and Care which are of absolute Necessity As for instance the foreseeing shunning the occasions which may draw us into sin the seeking those Opportunities and Aids which promote Piety the not being over-much concerned about the Body the cherishing good Thoughts and the resisting evil ones But above all it is a thing of the greatest Importance that every one should endeavour thoroughly to know himself which he cannot do but by examining his present state and by reflecting seriously and frequently upon his Actions and Words and upon the Thoughts and Motions of his Heart All these Cares are essential and necessary For without the use of those Means it is as impossible to be religious and pious as it would be to live and subsist with out Nourishment A Man who will neither eat nor drink must needs die in a little time And so the Spiritual Life will soon be extinct if the only means which can support it are not used Let us see now whether these Cares and Means which I have shewn to be necessary are made use of It is so visible that they are almost totally neglected that I need
what he says It is certain that all these together make up above the Half of Mankind Upon this I ask even supposing that it were time enough for a Man to Repent when he sees Death coming whether it would not be Folly and Madness for him to venture his Salvation upon the hope of repenting then It seems to many that it is the way to drive Sinners into despair to tell them they ought not to build the hope of Salvation upon what they shall do in the Extremity of Life But what I have said just now proves evidently that if Salvation did depend upon the manner of dying Men must live in continual Fears and in a kind of ' Desperation since their Salvation would depend upon a thing which the Half of Mankind cannot reckon upon On the contrary nothing is more comfortable to Men than to know that God grants them their whole Lives to work out their Salvation in and that if they improve to that purpose the Leisure and Conveniences they have their Death will be happy which way soever it may happen But tho' what I have said were not true and tho' all might assure themselves that they shall perceive the Approaches of Death and have time to prepare for that last Passage yet what certainty have they that they shall make use of that Opportunity and that their Conversion will not be most difficult if not impossible Conversion is not wrought without God interposing by those Means which Grace uses for that end And can any Man flatter himself with the Hope that these Means shall be offered him to the last and that God in his just Anger will not withdraw them from him There is neither particular Revelation nor General Promise to give such Assurances to any Man living So far from it that God tells us many things in Scripture which leave no ground for Hope to those who abuse his Mercy But further What can we imagine that God will do in favour of a hardned Sinner at the time of Death When God has made use of the Preaching of his Word of Exhortations Promises Threatnings inward Suggestions and Motions of his Grace when God I say has used all these Means for Twenty Thirty or Forty Years without any success I cannot Apprehend what Men expect that he should do more at the Hour of Death If it be said that he can by a particular Dispensation by sudden Inspirations by a kind of Miracle Convert a Sinner in his last Minutes I will not dispute what God can do but I will not scruple to say that in the ordinary course of Grace Conversion is not wrought by sudden and miraculous Inspirations The Gospel speaks of nothing like that and those who look for such Miracles had best see what they found their hope upon It is certain besides that Repentance is most difficult on Mans part when he is at the point of Death If a Man has lived in Ignorance and Vice is he not in great danger of dying Ignorant and Hardned How will he perform Duties then of which he has not so much as a Notion Can a Man at that time change his ill Inclinations and shake of his vicious Habits of a sudden All those who have applied themselves to the Work of Conversion know by experience that the Conquest I will not say of many but of one single Vice has required both Time and assiduous and constant care Vicious Habits are not to be destroyed but by degrees and good ones are acquired only by reiterated Acts. It is repugnant to Mans Nature that this should be done in an Instant How can any one then reckon that so considerable a Change as that which true Conversion requires will be effected in the short time of a Sickness And if this was possible and through great endeavours might be done yet can any Man assure himself that he shall have then all that Freedom and all that Strength of Mind and Body which are necessary to set about this general Reformation Is the time of Sickness wherein a Man is so much sunk and has the least either of Leisure or Strength so very sit for a Business of this Importance All that a Man can do then is to betake himself to some confused and abrupt Devotions the ordinary Refuge of those Sinners who have lived in a state of Obduration But will that serve the turn Are some hasty Reflections upon a Man's past Life some Acts of Contrition some Prayers proceeding from trouble and agony and extorted only by the fear of Death some Sobs and Groans indistinctly breathed up to Heaven are these I say sufficient to make amends for all that is past to extirpate many inveterate Habits and to secure to a Sinner an Eternity of Bliss I shall add Two Consideration which are Convincing and cannot be contested 1. By growing in Years Men lose the sense and remembrance of their Sins Age and Custom produce this Effect Excepting some extraordinary Sins which cannot be forgot most Men do not remember their Faults And how should they remember them since for the most part they do not perceive when they commit them We daily see Men who will Lye and Swear and fly out into Passion almost every Minute and yet do not reflect upon it nay they think themselves free from those Faults This Error proceeds so far that some very great Sinners who are living in Criminal Practices fancy themselves Pious and make no doubt but that they are in the Favour of God Now since the Custom of Sinning does blind Men to such a Degree is it likely that after they have spent their Lives in this Security they will effectually Repent at their Death Can a Man Repent who does not know the. Reasons why he should who docs not feel or has forgot his Sins and who thinks besides that he is in a good State and that he needs no Repentance 2. If Repentance supposes the Knowledge of Sin it supposes besides a Hatred of it But hew ho has loved Sin to the last is less able then to hate than he is to know his Sins I cannot comprehend how a Man who has loved the World all his Life who has made it his only delight and study to gratifie his Lusts and who has always been cold and indifferent towards Religion should when Death appears suddenly change his Inclinations hate what he loved and love what till then he looked upon with indifference So quick a passage from the Love to the Hatred of Sin is very rare The sorrow for Sin and the Hatred of it are always faint and weak in the beginnings of Repentance even in those who repent sincerely Conversion proceeds by degrees a Man must have discontinued sinning and be already settled in the Habits of Virtue before he can have a strong aversion to sin And what kind of Repentance then can that be which begins in the extremity of Life 1. But here it is Objected first that God is always
ready to restore the greatest Sinners to his Favour when they have recourse to his Mercy and that there are express Promises in the Gospel which assure us of this I grant it God never rejects a repenting Sinner But before a Man can build upon this the hope of being received into God's Favour at the Hour of Death he must be sure that he shall then sincerely repent Now I think I have demonstrated that this is what no Man can depend upon As to the Promises which are made to Repentance in the Gospel I do not deny but that they may be applied in a good sense to all Sinners but yet it is certain that they are made in favour of those whom God was to call to the Christian Religion and chiefly in favour of the Heathens Christ and his Apostles were to assure all Men that the sins they had commited should not exclude them from the Covenant of Grace provided they did sincerely mourn for them and part with them When the Heathens came to Baptism nothing else was required of them but that they should Repent and make a solemn Vow of being Holy for the time to come But as to Christians it cannot be said that God demands nothing of them but Repentance and Sorrow for Sins for he calls them to Holiness upon pain of Damnation In this sense it was that the Apostles preached Repentance and by this we may know how much Christianity is decayed That Repentance which consists in the Confession of Sins and in a Resolution to forsake them is the Duty at which the Heathens began This was the first thing which the Apostles required of them it was preparatory to the Christian Religion St. Paul * Heb. VI. places the Doctrine of Repentance among the Fundamental Points and the first Duties in which the Catechumens were instructed before Baptism But now Christians look upon Repentance as the Duty with which they are to end their Lives that is to say they design to end where the Heathens begun and to enter Heaven at the same Gate which admitted Pagans into the Church 2. It will be said further that sometimes Men who have lived in Sin die to all appearance in very good Dispositions To this I reply That we see a great many more of those Persons who die in a state of Insensibility and that by Consequence a Sinner who puts off his Repentance has more reason to fear than to hope For who has told him that the Fate of these last will not be his and what surer Presage can there be of so Tragical a Death than the present hardness of his Heart Besides I do not know whether it happens frequently as the Objection seems to suppose that Persons who have lived ill are well disposed when they die If Repentance can be saving and effectual when it begins only upon a Death-bed every body must own that it ought to be very lively and deep attended with demonstrations of the most bitter Sorrow and with all the Proofs that a dying Man can give of the Sincerity of his Conversion But we do not see many Instances of this Nature There are but few great Sinners who express a lively Compunction at their Death or a sincere Detestation of their Sins who have a due sense of their Wickedness and endeavour as much as they can to make Reparation for it who practise Restitution and edify all about them by discharging the other obligations of Conscience It is but seldom that we see such Penitents Besides the Expressions of Devotion and Repentance which are used by dying Men are not always sincere It is much to be feared that their Repentance is nothing else but a certain Emotion which the necessity of Dying and the approaches of God's Judgment must needs raise in the Mind of every Man who has his Wits about him and has some Ideas of Religion Nothing is more deceitful than the judging of a Man by what he either says or does when he is under the effects of Fear or Trouble It is commonly said of those who have given some signs of Piety upon their Death-beds that they have made a very Christian End But there is often a great Mistake in that Judgment And to be satisfied of it we need but observe what happens to some who have escaped Death or some eminent Danger While the Peril lasted who could be more humble and holy than they They shewed so much Devotion and uttered such Discourses that all the Standers by were edisyed by them their Tears their Prayers their Protestations of Amendment in a Word their whole Deportment had in all appearance so much of Christian Zeal in it that the Beholders were struck with Admiration But are there many of these who when the Danger is over continue in the same Dispositions remember their Promises or alter any thing in their former Course of Life Almost all of them return to their old Habits as soon as the Calamity is past These are generally the fruits of that Repentance which is excited by the fear of Death in those who Recover And what Effects then can it have in respect of those that Dye I confess we ought not to condemn any Body but I think we should not pronounce a definitive Sentence in favour of those who have led an ill Life For tho' Mens Judgment makes no alteration in the State of the Dead yet it may have a very pernicious Effect upon the Living who conclude from it that a Man may die well tho' he has lived ill And while I am upon this Subject I must say that nothing contributes more to the keeping up of these dangerous Opinions than when the Ministers of Religion commend without Discretion the Piety of the Dead And yet this is frequently done especially in great Towns and in the Courts of Princes There are to be found in those Places mean-spirited and unworthy Preachers who prostitute their Tongues and their Pens to the Praise of some Persons who had nothing of Christianity in their Lives and whose Condition should rather make a Man tremble But if some remnant of Shame restrains them from carrying their Flattery so far as to commend the Lives of those whose Panegyrick they have undertaken then they seek the Matter of their Praises in some signs of Piety which those Persons gave before they left the World Now I dare say that the most Atheistical Discourses and the Corruptest Maxims of Libertines are not by much so subtil a Poyson as such kind of Elogies delivered before Men who are engaged in all the Disorders of the Age and then dispersed through the World 3. The Instance of the Converted Thief who prayed to our Saviour upon the Cross and was received into Paradice is seldom forgotten But this Instance is generally very ill understood First it is supposed without any ground for it that this Thief repented only upon the Cross and that his Conversion was the effect of a sudden Inspiration But