the grace of Contentment by great Consideration and diligent Care of himself in several Conditions not as if the habit of this grace had been infused into him at once Phil. 4. 11 12. I have learn'd in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need And thus I have done with the first thing I propounded to Consider namely the true and just Importance of this Metaphor of the new Creation The two Particulars which remain I shall by God's assistance finish in my next Discourse SERMON IX Of the Nature of Regeneration and its Necessity in order to Justification and Salvation GALAT. VI. 15. For in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Uncircumcision but a new Creature THE Observation I am still upon from these Words is this viz. That in the Christian Religion nothing will avail to our Justification but the Renovation of our Hearts and Lives exprest here by a New Creature In treating of which I propos'd the doing of three things First To shew the â—rue import of this Metaphor of a new Creature Secondly To shew that this is the great Condition of oâ—â— Justification And Thirdly That it is highly Reasonable that it should be so In treating of the first of these Particulars I have consider'd some Doctrines as founded upon this Metaphor which I have shewn at large not only to have no Foundation in Scripture or Reason or Experience but also to be very unreasonable in themselves and contrary to the plain and constant tenour of Scripture and to the ordinary Method of God's grace in the Regeneration of Men whether by a Religious and Virtuous Education or in those who are reclaim'd from a notorious wicked Course of Life And that I have so long insisted upon this Argument and handled it in a more contentious way than is usual with me did not proceed from any love to Controversie which I am less fond of every day than other but from a great desire to put an end to these Controversies and quarrellings in the dark by bringing them to a clear state and plain issue and likewise to undeceive good Men concerning some current Notions and Doctrines which I do really believe to be dishonourable to God and contrary to the plain declarations of Scripture and a cause of great perplexity and discomfort to the Minds of Men and a real discouragement to the Resolutions and Endeavours of becoming better Upon which Considerations I was strongly urgent to search these Doctrines to the bottom and to contribute what in me lay to the rescuing of good Men from the disquiet and entanglement of them I will conclude this Matter with a few Cautions not unworthy to be remembred by us That we would be careful so to ascribe all Good to God that we be sure we ascribe nothing to him that is Evil or any ways unworthy of him That we do not make him the sole Author of our Salvation in such a way as will unavoidably charge upon him the final impenitency and ruine of a great part of Mankind That we do not so magnifie the grace of God as to make his Precepts and Exhortations sâ—gnifie nothing Such as these Make ye new Heâ—â—ts and new Spirits strive to enter in at the strait gate Where if by the strait gate be meant the difficulty of our first entrance upon a Religious Course that is of our Conversion and Regeneration I cannot imagine how it is possible to reconcile our being meerly passive in this work and doing nothing at all in it with our Saviour's Precept of striving to enter in at the strait gate unless to be very active and to be meerly passive about the same thing be all one and an earnest contention and endeavour be the same thing with doing nothing Again that we do not make the utmost degeneracy and depravation which Men ever arrived at by the greatest abuse of themselves and the most vile and wicked practices the standard of an unregenerate state and of the common Condition of all Men by Nature And lastly that we do not make some particular instances in Scripture of the strange and sudden Conversion of some Persons as namely of St. Paul and the Jaylor in the Acts the common rule and measure of every Man's Conversion so that unless a Man be as it were struck down by a Light and Power from Heaven and taken with a fit of trembling and frighted almost out of his wits or find in himself something equal to this he can have no assurance of his Conversion whereas a much surer Judgment may be made of the sincerity of a Man's Conversion by the real Effects of this Change than by the Manner of it This our Saviour hath taught us by that apt resemblance of the operation of God's Spirit to the blowing of the wind of the Original Cause whereof and of the reason of its ceasing or continuance and why it blows stronger or gentler this way or that way we are altogether ignorant but that it is we are sensible from the sound of it John 3. 8. The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound of it but canst not tell whence it cometh nor whither it goeth So is every one that is born of the Spirit The effects of God's Holy Spirit in the Regeneration of Men are sensible tho' the manner and degrees of his operation upon the Souls of Men are so various that we can give no account of them by which one wou'd think our Saviour had sufficiently caution'd us not to reduce the Operations of God's grace and Holy Spirit in the Regeneration of Men to any certain Rule or Standard but chiefly to regard the sensible effects of this secret work upon the Hearts and Lives of Men. And after all it is in vain to contend by any Arguments against clear and certain experience If we plainly see that many are insensibly changed and made good by pious Education in the Nurture aud Admonition of the Lord and that somâ— who have long lived in a prophane neglect and contempt of Religion are by the secret power of God's word and Holy Spirit upon calm consideration without any great terrours and amazement visibly changed and brought to a better Mind and Course it is in vain in these Cases to pretend that this Change is not real because the Manner of it is not answerable to some Instances which are Recorded in Scripture or which we have observ'd in our Experience and because these Persons cannot give such an account of the time and manner of their Conversion as is agreeable to these instances which is just as if I should meet a Man beyond Sea whom I had known in England and would not believe that he had crost the Seas because he said he had a smooth and easie
happy are ye if ye do them As if he had said This which I have now done is easie to be understood and so likewise are all those other Christian Graces and Virtues which I have heretofore by my Doctrine and Example recommended to you but it is not enough to know these things but ye must likewise do them The End and the Life of all our Knowledge in Religion is to put in practice what we know It is necessary indeed that we should know our Duty but Knowledge alone will never bring us to that Happiness which Religion designs to make us partakers of if our Knowledge have not its due and proper influence upon our Lives Nay so far will our Knowledge be from making us Happy if it be separated from the Virtues of a good Life that it will prove one of the heaviest aggravations of our misery and it is as if he had said if ye know these things wo be unto you if ye do them not From these words then I shall observe these three things which I shall speak but briefly to First That the Knowledge of God's Will and our Duty is necessary to the practice of it If ye know these things which supposeth that we must know our Duty before we can do it Secondly That the Knowledge of our Duty and the Practice of it may be and too often are separated This likewise the Text supposeth that Men may know their Duty and yet not do it and that this is very frequent which is the Reason why our Saviour gives this Caution Thirdly That the Practice of Religion and the doing of what we know to be our Duty is the only way to Happiness If ye know these things happy â—re ye if ye do them I begin with the First of these namely That the Knowledge of God's Will and our Duty is necessary in order to the Practice of it The truth of this Proposition is so clear and evident at first view that nothing can obscure it and bring it in question but to endeavour to prove it and therefore instead of spending time in that I shall take occasion from it justly to reprove that preposterous Course which is taken and openly avowed and justified by some as the safest and best way to make Men Religious and to bring them to Happiness namely by taking away from them the Means of Knowledge as if the best way to bring Men to do the Will of God were to keep them from knowing it For what else can be the meaning of that Maxim so currant in the Church of Rome that Ignorance is the Mother of Devotion or of that strange and injurious practice of theirs of Locking up from the People that great Storehouse and Treasury of Divine Knowledge the Holy Scriptures in an unknown Tongue I know very well that in justification of this hard usage of their People it is pretended that Knowledge is apt to puff Men up to make them Proud and Contentious Refractory and Disobedient and Heretical and what not and particularly that the free and familiar use of the Holy Scriptures permitted to the People hath ministred occasion to the People of falling into great and dangerous Errors and of making great disturbance and divisions among Christians For answer to this pretence I desire these four or five things may be Considered First That unless this be the Natural and Necessary effect of Knowledge in Religion and of the free use of the Holy Scriptures there is no force in this Reason and if this be the proper and natural effect of this Knowledge then this Reason will reach a great way farther than those who make use of it are willing it should Secondly That this is not the natural and necessary effect of Knowledge in Religion but only accidental and proceeding from Men's abuse of it for which the thing it self is not to be taken away Thirdly That the proper and natural Effects and Consequences of Ignorance are equally pernicious and much more certain and unavoidable than those which are accidentally occasioned by Knowledge Fourthly That if this Reason be good it is much stronger for withholding the Scriptures from the Priests and the Learned than from the People Fifthly That this danger was as great and as well known in the Apostles times and yet they took a quite contrary Course First I desire it may be consider'd that unless this be the natural and necessary effect of Knowledge in Religion and of the free use of the Holy Scriptures there is no force in this Reason for that which is necessary or highly useful ought not to be taken away because it is liable to be perverted and abused to ill purposes If it ought then not only Knowledge in Religion but all other Knowledge ought to be restrained and supprest for all Knowledge is apt to puff up and liable to be abused to many ill purposes At this rate Light and Liberty and Reason yea and Life it self ought all to be taken away because they are all greatly abused by many Men to some ill purposes or other so that unless these ill effects do naturally and necessarily spring from Knowledge in Religion the Objection from them is of no force and if they do necessarily flow from it then this Reason will reach a great way further than those that make use of it are willing it should for if this be true that the Knowledge of Religion as it is Revealed in the Holy Scriptures is of its own Nature so pernicious as to make Men proud and Contentious and Heretical and Disobedient to Authority then the blame of all this would fall upon our blessed Saviour for revealing so pernicious a Doctrine and upon his Apostles for publishing this Doctrine in a known Tongue to all Mankind and thereby laying the Foundation of perpetual Schisms and Heresies in the Church Secondlyâ— But this is not the natural and necessary effect of Knowledge in Religion but only accidental and proceeding from Mens abuse of it for which the thing it self ought not to be taken away And thus much certainly they will grant because it cannot with any face be denied and if so then the Means of Knowledge are not to be denied but only Men are to be cautioned not to prevert and abuse them And if any Man abuse the Holy Scriptures to the Patronizing of Error or Heresie or to any other bad purpose he does it at his peril and must give an account to God for it but ought not to be deprived of the means of Knowledge for fear he should make an ill use of them We must not hinder Men from being Christians to preserve them from being Hereticks and put out Mens Eyes for fear they should some time or other take upon them to dispute their way with their Guides I remember that St. Paul 1 Cor. 8. 1. takes notice of this accidental inconvenience of Knowledge that it puffeth up and that this Pride occasioned great Contentions and Divisions among
them but the Remedy which he prescribes against this mischief of Knowledge is not to with-hold from Men the Means of it and to Celebrate the Service of God the Prayers of the Church and the Reading of the Scriptures in an unknown Tongue but quite contrary Chap. 14. of that Epistle he strictly enjoyns that the Service of God in the Church be so performed as may be for the edification of the People which he says cannot be if it be Celebrated in an unknown Tongue and the Remedy he prescribes against the accidental mischief and inconvenience of Knowledge is not Ignorance but Charity to govern their Knowledge and to help them to make a right use of it ver 20. of that Chapt. after he had declared that the Service of God ought to be performed in a known Tongue he immediately adds Brethren be not Children in understanding how-be-it in malice be ye Children but in understanding be ye Men. He commends Knowledge he encourageth it he requires it of all Christians so far is he from checking the pursuit of it and depriving the People of the Means of it And indeed there is nothing in the Christian Religion but what is fit for every Man to know because there is nothing in it but what is designed to promote Holiness and a good Life and if Men make any other use of their Knowledge it is their own fault for it certainly tends to make Men good and being so useful and necessary to so good a purpose Men ought not to be debarr'd of it Thirdly Let it be Consider'd that the proper and natural Effects and Consequences of ignorance are equally pernicious and much more certain and unavoidable than those which are accidentally occasioned by Knowledge for so far as a Man is ignorant of his Duty it is impossible he should do it He that hath the Knowledge of Religion may be a bad Christian but he that is destitute of it can be none at all Or if ignorance do beget and promote some kind of Devotion in Men it is such a Devotion as is not properly Religion but Superstition the ignorant Man may be zealously superstitious but without some measure of Knowledge no Man can be truly Religious That the Soul be without Knowledge it is not good says Solomon Prov. 19. 2. because good practices depends upon our Knowledge and must be directed by it when as a Man that is trained up only to the outward performance of some things in Religion as to the saying over so many Prayers in an unknown Tongue this Man cannot be truly Religious because nothing is Religious that is not a Reasonable Service and no Service can be Reasonable that is not directed by our Understandings Indeed if the end of Prayer were only to give God to understand what we want it were all one what Language we Prayed in and whether we understood what we asked of him or not but so long as the end of Prayer is to testifie the sense of our own wants and of our dependance upon God for the supply of them it is impossible that any Man should in any tolerable propriety of Speech be said to Pray who does not understand what he asks and the saying over so many Pater Nosters by one that does not understand the meaning of them is no more a Prayer than the repeating over so many Verses in Virgil. And if this were good Reasoning that Men must not be permitted to know so much as they can in Religion for fear they should grow troublesome with their Knowledge then certainly the best way in the World to maintain Peace in the Christian Church would be to let the People know nothing at all in Religion and the best way to secure the ignorance of the People would be to keep the Priests as ignorant as the People and then to be sure they could teach them nothing but then the mischief would be that out of a fondness to maintain Peace in the Christian Church there would be no Church nor no Christianity which would be the same wise Contrivance as if a Prince should destroy his Subjects to keep his Kingdom quiet Fourthly Let us likewise Consider that if this Reason be good it is much stronger for withholding the Scriptures from the Priests and the Learned than from the People because the danger of starting Errors and Heresies and Countenancing them from Scripture and managing them plausibly and with advantage is much more to be feared from the Learned than from the Common People and the Experience of all Ages hath shewn that the great Broachers and Abettors of Heresie in the Christian Church have been Men of Learning and Wit and most of the famous Heresies that are Recorded in Ecclesiastical History have their Names from some Learned Man or other so that it is a great mistake to think that the way to prevent Error and Heresie in the Church is to take the Bible out of the hands of the People so long as the free use of it is permitted to Men of Learning and Skill in whose hands the danger of perverting it is much greater The Ancient Fathers I am sure do frequently prescribe to the People the constant and careful reading of the Holy Scriptures as the surest Antidote against the Poison of dangerous Errors and damnable Heresies and if there be so much danger of seduction into Error from the Oracles of Truth by what other or better Means can we hope to be secâ—red against this danger If the word of God be so cross and improper a Means to this End one would think that the teachings of Men should be much less effectual so that Men must either be left in their ignorance or they must be permitted to learn from the word of truth and whatever force this Reason of the danger of Heresie hath in it to deprive the Common People of the use of the Scriptures I am sure it is much stronger to wrest them out of the hands of the Priests and the Learned because they are much more capable of perverting them to so bad a purpose Fifthly and lastly this danger was as great and visible in the Age of the Apostles as it is now and yet they took a quite contrary Course there were Heresies then as well as now and either the Scriptures were not thought by being in the hands of the People to be the Cause of them or they did not think the taking of them out of their hands a proper Remedy The Apostles in all their Epistles do earnestly Exhort the People to grow in Knowledge and commend them for searching the Scriptures and charge them that the word of God should dwell richly in them And St. Peter takes particular notice of some Men wresting some difficult passages in St. Paul's Epistles as likewise in the other Scriptures to their own destruction 2 Pet. 3. 16. where speaking of St Paul's Epistles he says there are some things hard to be understood which they that are unlearned
and unstable wrest as they do also the other Scriptures to their own destruction Here the Danger Objected is taken notice of but the Remedy prescribed by St. Peter is not to take â—â—om the People the use of the Scripâ—ures and to keep them in ignorance â—ut after he had cautioned against the like weakness and errors he exhorts them to grow in Knowledge ver 17 18. Ye therefore Beloved seeing ye know these things before that is seeing ye are so plainly told and warned of this danger beware lest ye also being led away with the error of the wicked fall from your own stedfastness but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that is of the Christian Religion believing it seems that the more knowledge they had in Religion the less they would be in danger of falling into damnable Errors I proceed to the Second Observation viz. That the Knowledge of our Duty and the Practice of it may and often are separated This likewise is supposed in the Text that Men may and often do know the Will of God and their Duty and yet fail in the Practice of it Our Saviour elsewhere supposeth that many know their Master's Will who do not do it and he compares those that hear his Sayings and do them not to a foolish Man that built his house upon the sand And St. James speaks of some who are hearers of the word only but not doers of it and for that Reason fall short of Happiness And this is no wonder because the attaining to that knowledge of Religion which is necessary to Salvation is no difficult task A great part of it is written in our hearts and we cannot be ignorant of it if we would as that there is a God and a Providence and another State after this Life wherein we shall be Rewarded or Punished according as we have lived here in this World that God is to be Worshipped to be Prayed to for what we want and to be Praised for what we enjoy Thus far Nature instructs Men in Religion and in the great Duties of Morality as Justice and Temperance and the like And as for Revealed Religion as that Jesus Christ the Son of God came in our Nature to save us by revealing our Duty more clearly and fully to us by giving us a more perfect Example of Holiness and Obedience in his own Life and Conversation and by dying for our Sins and rising again for our Justification these are things which Men may easily understand and yet for all that they are difficulty brought to the Practice of Religion I shall instance in three sorts of Persons in whom the knowledge of Religion is more remarkably separated from the Practice of it and for distinction sake I may call them by these three Names the Speâ—ulative the Formal and the Hypocritical Christian The first of these makes Religion only a Science the second takes it up for a Fashion the third makes some Worldly advantage of it and serves some secular Interest and Design by it All these are upon several accounts concerned to understand something of Religion but yet will not be brought to the Practice of it The first of these whom I call the Speculâ—tive Christian is he who makes Religion only a Science and studies it as a piece of Learning and part of that general knowledge in which he affects the reputation of being a Master he hath no design to practice it but he is loth to be ignorant of it because the knowledge of it is a good Ornament of Conversation and will serve for Discourse and Entertainment among those who are disposed to be grave and serious and because he does not intend to practice it he passeth over those things which are plain and easie to be understood and applies himself chiefly to the Consideration of those things which are more abstruse and will afford Matter of Controversie and subtle Dispute as the Doctrine of the Trinity Predestination Free-will and the like Of this temper seem many of the School-Men of old to have been who made it their great study and business to puzzle Religion and to make every thing in it intricate by starting infinite questions and difficulties about the plainest truths and of the same rank usually are the Heads and Leaders of Parties and Factions in Religion who by needless Controversies and endless Disputes about some thing or other commonly of no great moment in Religion hinder themselves and others from minding the Practice of the great and substantial Duties of a good Life Secondly There is the Formal Châ—istian who takes up Religion for a Fashion He is born and bred in a Nation where Christianity is profest and Countenanced and therefore thinks it convenient for him to know something of it Of this sort there are I fear a great many who read the Scriptures sometimes as others do to know the History of it and go to Church and hear the Gospel preached and by this means come in some measure to understand the History of our Saviour and the Christian Doctrine but do not at all bend themselves to comply with the great End and Design of it they do not heartily endeavour to form and fashion their Lives according to the Laws and Precepts of it they think they are very good Christians if they can give an account of the Articles of their Faith profess their Belief in God and Christ and declare that they hope to be Saved by him tho' they take no care to keep his Commandments These are they of whom our Saviour speaks Luke 6. 46. who call him Lord Lord but do not the things which he said Thirdly Hypocritical Christians who make an interest of Religion and serve some worldly design by it These are concerned to understand Religion more than ordinary that they may counterfeit it handsomly and may not be at a loss when they have occasion to put on the garb of it And this is one part of the Character which the Apostle gives of those Persons who he foretels would appear in the last days 2 Tim. 3. 2. he says they should be Lovers of their own selves Covetous Heady High-Minded Lovers of Pleasure more than Lovers of God having a form of Godliness but denying the Power of it Now these Men do not love Religion but they have occasion to make use of it and therefore they will have no more of it than will just serve their Purpose and Design And indeed he that hath any other Design in Religion than to please God and save his Soul needs no more than so much knowledge of it as will serve him to act a part in it upon occasion I come to the Third and last Observation viz. That the Practice of Religion and the doing of what we know to be our Duty is the only way to Happiness If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them not if ye know these things happy are ye but
defined and determined so that no Man that is in any measure free from interest and prejudice can easily mistake in any great and material part of his Duty We have the Nature of God plainly revealed to us and such a Character of him given as is most suitable to our natural Conceptions of a Deity as render him both awful and amiable for the Scripture represents him to us as Great and Good Powerful and Merciful a perfect hater of Sin and a great lover of Mankind and we have the Law and manner of his Worship so far as was needful and the Rules of a good Life clearly exprest and laid down and as a powerful Motive and Argument to the obedience of those Laws a plain discovery made to us of the endless Rewards and Punishments of another World And is not this a mighty advantage to the doing of God's Will to have it so plainly declared to us and so powerfully enforced upon us So that our Duty lies plainly before us we see what we have to do and the danger of neglecting it so that considering the advantage we have of doing God's Will by our clear knowledge of it we are altogether inexcusable if we do it not Secondly The knowledge of our Lord's Will is likewise a great obligation upon us to the doing of it For what ought in reason to oblige us more to do any thing than to be fully assur'd that it is the Will of God and that it is the Law of the great Soveraign of the World who is able to save or to destroy that it is the pleasure of him that made us and who hath declared that he designs to make us happy by our obedience to his Laws So that if we know these things to be the Will of God we have the greatest obligation to do them whether we consider the Authority of God or our own interest and if we neglect them we have nothing to say in our own excuse We knew the Law and the advantage of keeping it and the penalty of breaking it and if after this we will transgress there is no Apology to be made for us They have something to plead for themselves who can say that tho' they had some apprehension of some parts of their Duty and their Minds were apt to dictate to them that they ought to do some things yet the different apprehensions of Mankind about several of these things and the doubts and uncertainties of their own Minds concerning them made them easie to be carried off from their Duty by the vicious inclinations of their own Nature and the tyranny of Custom and Example and the pleasant temptations of flesh and blood but had they had a clear and undoubted Revelation from God and had certainly known these things to be his Will this would have conquered and born down all Objections and Temptations to the contrary or if it had not would have stopt their mouths and taken away all excuse from them There is some colour in this plea that in many cases they did not know certainly what the Will of God was but for us who own a clear Revelation from God and profess to believe it what can we say for our selves to mitigate the severity of God toward us why he should not pour forth all his wrath and execute upon us the fierceness of his anger Thirdly The neglect of God's will when we know it cannot be without a great deal of wilfulness and contempt If we know it and do it not the fault is solely in our wills and the more wilful any sin is the more hainously wicked is it There can hardly be a greater aggravation of a Crime than if it proceed from meer obstinacy and perverseness and if we know it to be our Lord's Will and do it not we are guilty of the highest contempt of the greatest Authority in the World And do we think this to be but a small aggravation to affront the great Soveraign and Judge of the World not only to break his Laws but to trample upon them and despise them when we know whose Laws they are Will we provoke the Lord to jealousie are we stronger than he We believe that it is God who said Thou shalt not commit Adultery thou shalt not Steal thou shalt not bear false witness against thy Neighbour thou shalt not hate or oppress or defraud thy Brother in any thing but thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self and will we notwithstanding venture to break these Laws knowing whose Authority they are stampt withal After this contempt of him what favour can we hope for from him what can we say for our selves why any one of those many stripes which are threatned should be abated to us Ignosci aliquatenus ignorantiae potest contemptus veniam non habet Something may be pardoned to ignorance but contempt can expect no forgiveness He that strikes his Prince not knowing him to be so hath something to say for himself that tho' he did a disloyal act yet it did not proceed from a disloyal Mind but he that first acknowledgeth him for his Prince and then affronts him deserves to be prosecuted with the utmost severity because he did it wilfully and in meer contempt The knowledge of our Duty and that it is the will of God which we go against takes away all possible excuse from us for nothing can be said why we should offend him who hath both Authority to command us and Power to destroy us And thus I have as briefly as I could represented to you the true ground and reason of the aggravation of those Sins which are committed against the clear knowledge of God's Will and our Duty because this knowledge is so great an advantage to the doing of our Duty so great an obligation upon us to it and because the neglect of our Lord's Will in this case cannot be without great wilfulness and a down-right contempt of his Authority And shall I now need to tell you how much it concerns every one of us to live up to that knowledge which we have of our Lord's Will and to prepare our selves to do according to it to be always in a readiness and disposition to do what we know to be his Will and actually to do it when there is occasion and opportunity And it concerns us the more because we in this Age and Nation have so many advantages above a great part of the World of coming to the knowledge of our Duty We enjoy the clearest and most perfect Revelation which God ever made of his Will to Mankind and have the light of Divine Truth plentifully shed amongst us by the free use of the holy Scriptures which is not a sealed Book to us but lies open to be read and studied by us this Spiritual Food is rained down like Manna round about our Tents and every one may gather so much as is sufficient we are not stinted nor have the word of God given out to
by evil He is out of the reach of any temptation to evil Whoever is tempted to any thing is either tempted by his own inclination or by the allurement of the Object or by some external Motive and Consideration but none of all these can be imagined to have any place in God to tempt him to evil For First he hath no temptation to it from his own inclination The holy and pure Nature of God is at the greatest distance from â—vil and at the greatest contrariety to it He is so far from having any inclination to â—vil that it is the only thing in the World to which he hath an irreconcilable Antipathy This the Scripture frequently declares to us and that in a very emphatical manner Psal 5. 4. He is not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness neither shall evil dwell with him The words are a Diminution and less is said than is intended by them the meaning is that God is so far from taking pleasure in Sin that he hath a perfect hatred and abhorrence of it Hab. 2. 13. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look upon iniquity As when Men hate a thing to the highest degree they turn away their eyes and cannot endure to look upon it Light and Darkness are not more opposite to one another than the Holy Nature of God is to Sin What fellowship hath Light with Darkness or God with Belial Secondly There is no allurement in the Object to stir up any inclination in him towards it Sin in its very nature is imperfection and irregularity crookedness and deformity so that unless there be an inclination to it before-hand there is nothing in it to move any ones liking or desire towards it it hath no attractives or enticements in it but to a corrupt and ill-disposed Mind Thirdly Neither are there external Motives and Considerations that can be imagined to tempt God to it All Arguments that have any temptation are either founded in hope or fear either in the hope of gaining some benefit or advantage or in the fear of falling into some mischief or inconvenience Now the Divine Nature being perfectly happy and perfectly secured in its own happiness is out of the reach of any of these temptations Men are many times tempted to evil very strongly by these Considerations they want many things to make them happy and they fear many things which may make them miserable and the hopes of the one and the fears of the other are apt to work very powerfully upon them to seduce them from their Duty and to draw them to Sin but the Divine Nature is firm against all these attempts by its own fullness and security So that you seâ— now the Proposition upon which the Apostle grounds his Argument is evidentally true and beyond all exception that God cannot be tempted with evil Let us then in the Second place consider the Consequence that clearly follows from it That because God cannot be tempted with evil therefore he cannot tempt any Man to it For why should he desire to draw Men into that which he himself abhors and which is so contrary to his own nature and disposition When Men tempt one another to Sin they do it to make others like themselves and when the Devil tempts Men to Sin it is either out of direct malice to God or out of envy to Men. But none of these Considerations can have any place in God or be any Motive to him to tempt Men to Sin Bad Men tempt others to Sin to make them like themselves and that with one of these two Designs either for the comfort or pleasure of Company or for the countenance of it that there may be some kind of Apology and Excuse for them For the Comfort and Pleasure of Company Man does not love to be alone and for this Reason bad Men endeavour to make others like themselves that agreeing with them in the same disposition and manners they may be fit Company for them For no Man takes pleasure in the Society and Conversation of those who are of contrary Tempers and Inclinations to them because they are continually warring and clashing with one another And for this Reason bad Men hate and persecute those that are good Let us lie in wait say they for the Righteous because he is not for our turn and he is contrary to our doings he is grievous unto us even to behold for his life is not like other Mens and his ways are of another fashion as it is exprest in the Wisdom of Solomon So that wicked Men tempt others to Sin that they may have the pleasure and contentment of their Society But now for this Reason God cannot be imagined to tempt Men to Sin because that would be the way to make them unlike himself and such as his Soul could take no pleasure in Another Design that bad Men have in seducing others to Sin is thereby to give countenance to their bad actions and to be some kind of Excuse and Apology for them Among Men the multitude of Offenders does sometimes procure impunity but it always gives countenance to Vice and Men are apt to alledge it in their excuse that they are not alone guilty of such a fault that they did not do it without Company and Example which is the Reason of that Law Exod. 23. 2. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil implying that Men are very apt to take encouragement to any thing that is bad from Company and Example But neither hath this Reason any place in God who being far from doing evil himself can have no Reason to tempt others to do so by way of excuse and vindication of himself And when the Devil tempts Men to Sin it is either out of direct malice to God or out of envy to Men. Out of malice to God to spoil his Workmanship and to pervert that which came innocent and upright out of his hands to rob God of his Subjects and to debauch them from their Duty and Allegiance to him to strengthen the Rebellion which he has raised against God and to make him as many Enemies as he can But for this End God cannot tempt any Man for this would be to procure dishonour to himself and to deface the work of his own hands Another Reason why the Devil tempts Men is Envy When he was fallen from God and Happiness and by his own Rebellion had made himself miserable he was discontented to see the happy Condition of Man and it grieved him at his very heart and this moved him to tempt Man to Sin that he might involve him in the same misery into which he had plunged himself It is a pleasure to Envy to over-turn the happiness of others and to lay them level with themselves But the Divine Nature is full of goodness and delights in the happiness of all his Creatures His own incomparable felicity has placed him as much above any temptation to envying
Author of the Sins of Men. I proceed now to the Second That every Man is his own greatest Tempter But every Man is tempted when he is drawn aside of his own lust and enticed God does not tempt any Man to Sin but every Man is then tempted when by his own Lust his irregular Inclination and Desire he is seduced to evil and enticed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is caught as it were with a bait for so the greek word signifies In which words the Apostle gives us a true account of the prevalency and efficacy of temptation upon Men. It is not because God has any design to ensnare Men in Sin but their own Corâ—uption and vicious inclination seduce them to that which is evil To instance in the particular temptation the Apostle was speaking of Persecution Suffering for the Cause of Religion to avoid which many did then forsake the Truth and Apostatiz'd from their Christian Profession The true Cause of which was not the Providence of God which permitted them to be exposed to those Sufferings but their inordinate love of the good things of this Life and their unreasonable fears of the Evils and Sufferings of it they valued the enjoyments of this present Life more than the favour of God and that Eternal Happiness which he had promised to them in another Life and they feared the Persecutions of Men more than the threatnings of God and the dreadful punishments of another World They had an inordinate affection for the ease and pleasure of this Life and their unwillingness to part with ease was a great temptation to them to quit their Religion by this bait they were caught when it came to the trial And thus it is proportionably in all other sorts of temptations Men are betrayed by themselves and the tâ—mptation without hath a Party within them with which it holds a secret correspondence and which is ready to yield and give consent to it so that it is our own consent and treachery to our selves that makes any temptation Master of us and without that we are not to be overcome Every Man is tempted when he is drawn aside of his own lust and enticed It is the Lust of Men complying with the temptations which are offer'd to us which renders them effectual and gives them the Victory over us In the handling of this Argument I shall from these words of the Apostle observe to you these two things First That as the Apostle doth here acquit God from any hand in tempting Men to Sin so he does not ascribe the prevalency of temptation to the Devil Secondly That he ascribes the prevalency of temptation to the Lust and vicious inclinations of Men which seduce them to a compliance with the temptations that are presented to them Every Man is tempted when he is drawn aside of his own lust and enticed These two Observations shall be the subject of my present Discourse First That as the Apostle doth here acquit God from any hand in tempting Mâ—n to Sin so he does not ascribe the prevalency and efficacy of temptation to the Devil That he acquits God I have shewn at large in my former Discourse It is evident likewise that he does not ascribe the efficacy and prevalency of temptation to the Devil for the Apostle in this Discourse of his concerning temptations makes no express mention of the Devil he supposeth indeed that baits are laid for Men every Man is tempted when he is drawn aside of his own lust and enticed i. e. when he plays with the baits that are laid for him and swallows them And the Scripture elsewhere frequently tells us that the Devil is very active and busie to tempt Men and is continually laying baits before them but their own Lusts are the Cause why they are caught by them And I do the rather insist upon this because Men are apt to lay great load upon the Devil in the business of temptation hoping thereby either wholly or at least in a great measure to excuse themselves and therefore I shall here consider how far the Devil by his temptations is the cause of the Sins which Men by compliance with those temptations are drawn into First It is certain that the Devil is very active and busie to Minister to them the occasions of Sin and temptations to it For ever since he fell from God partly out of enmity to him and partly out of envy and malice to Mankind he hath made it his great business and employment to seduce Men to Sin and to this end he walks up and down the Earth and watcheth all occasions and opportunities to tempt Men to Sin and so far as his Power reacheth and God permits him he lays baits and temptations before them in all their ways presenting them wiâ—h the occasions and opportunities to Sin and with such baits and allurements as are most â—uitable to their tempers and most likely to prevail with their particular inclinations and as often as he can surprizing Men with these at the easiest time of access and with such Circumstances as may give his temptations the greatest force and advantage Of this the Scripture assures us in general when it tells us of these wiles and devices of Satan and of the methods of his temptations so that tho' we do not particularly discern how and when he doth this yet we have no reason to doubt of the thing if we believe that there is such a Spirit in the World as the Scripture particularly tells us there is that works in the Children of disobedience and that God from whom nothing is hidden and who sees all the secret Engines which are at work in the World to do us good or harm hath in mercy to Mankind given us particular warning of it that we may not be wholly ignorant of our Enemies and their malicious Designs upon us and that we may be continually upon our guard aware of our danger and armed against it Secondly The Devil does not only present to Men the temptations and occasions of Sin but when he is permitted to make nearer approaches to them does excite and stir them up to comply with these temptations and to yield to them And this he does not only by employing his Instruments to solicit for him and to draw Men to Sin by bad Counsel and Example which we see frequently done and probably very often by the Devil's instigation those who are very wicked themselves and consequently more enslaved to the Devil and under his Power being as it were Factors for him to seduce others but besides this 't is not improbable but the Devil himself does many times immediately excite Men to Sin by working upon the humours of their Bodies or upon their Imaginations and by that means infusing and suggesting evil motions into them or by diverting them from those Thoughts and Considerations which might check and restrain them from that wickedness to which he is tempting them or by some other ways and means
this Pattern hath been since not only closely followed but out-done by the Doctrines and Practices of the Church of Rome as we have too much Reason to remember upon this day But to proceed in the farther explication of the Text the meaning whereof in short is this that the ritual and instrumental parts of Religion and all Laws and Duties concerning them are of less Value and Esteem with God than those which are of a moral Nature especially the great Duties and Offices of Piety and Humanity of the love of God and of our Neighbour And if we consider the matter well we shall see the Reason of it to be very plain because natural and moral Duties are approved of God for themselves and for their own sake upon account of their own natural and intrinsical Goodness but the ritual and instrumental parts of Religion are only pleasing to God in order to these and so far as they tend to beget and promote them in us they are not naturally good in themselves but are instituted and appointed by God for the sake of the other and therefore great Reason there is that they should be subordinate and give way to them when they come in competition with one another For this is a known Rule which takes place in all Laws that Laws of less importance should give way to those that are of greater quoties Leges ex circumstantiâ— colliduntur ita ut utraque servari non potest servanda est lex potior When ever two Laws happen to be in such circumstances as to clash with one another so that both of them cannot be observed that Law which is better and of greater consequence is to be kept And Tully gives much the same Rule in this matter In comparing of Laws says he we are to consider which Law is most useful and just and reasonable to be observed From whence it will follow that when two Laws or more or how many soever they be cannot be observed because they clash with one another ea maxime conservanda putetur quae ad maximas res pertinere videatur It is reasonable that that Law should be observed which is of greatest Moment and Concernment By what hath been said we may learn what is the meaning of this Saying which our Saviour more than once cites out of the Prophet I will have Mercy and not Sacrifice From the words thus explained I shall take occasion to prosecute the two Propositions which I mentioned before namely First That Natural Religion is the Foundation of Instituted and Revealed Religion Secondly That no Instituted Religion was ever designed to take away the obligation of Natural Duties but is intended to establish and confirm them And both these are sufficiently grounded in the Reason of our Saviour's Discourse from this Rule I will have Mercy and not Sacrifice I. That Natural Religion is the Foundation of Instituted and Revealed Religion and all Revealed Religion does suppose and take for granted the clear and undoubted Principles and Precepts of Natural Religion and builds upon them By Natural Religion I mean obedience to the Natural Law and the performance of such duties as Natural Light without any express and supernatural Revelation doth dictate to Men. These lye at the bottom of all Religion and are the Great and Fundamental Duties which God requires of all Mankind as that we should love God and behave our selves reverently towards him that we should believe his Revelations and testifie our dependance upon him by imploring his aid and direction in all our necessities and distresses and acknowledge our obligations to him for all the Blessings and Benefits which we receive that we should moderate our Appetites in reference to the Pleasures and Enjoyments of this World and use them temperately and chastly that we should be just and upright in all our Dealings with one another true to our word and faithful to our trust and in all our words and actions observe that Equity towards others which we desire they should use towards us that we should be kind and charitable merciful and compassionate one towards another ready to do good to all and apt not only to pity but to relieve them in their misery and necessity These and such like are those which we call Moral Duties and they are of eternal and perpetual obligation because they do naturally oblige without any particular and express Revelation from God And these are the Foundation of Revealed and Instituted Religion and all Revealed Religion does suppose them and build upon them for all Revelation from God supposeth us to be Men and alters nothing of those Duties to which we were naturally obliged before And this will clearly appear if we consider these three things First That the Scripture every where speaks of these as the main and Fundamental Duties of the Jewisâ— Religion Secondly That no Instituted Service of God no positive part of Religion was ever acceptable to him when these were neglected Thirdly That the great Design of the Christian Religion was to restore and reinforce the practice of the natural Law 1. That the Scripture every where speaks of these as the main and Fundamental Duties of the Jewish Religion When our Saviour was ask'd which was the first and great Commandment of the Law he answered Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy strength and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self One would have expected he would have given quite another Answer and have pitched upon some of those things which were so much magnified among the Jews and which they laid so much weight upon that he should have instanced in Sacrifice or Circumcision or the Law of the Sabbath but he overlooks all these as inconsiderable in comparision and instances only in those two great heads of Moral Duty the love of God and our Neighbour which are of natural and perpetual obligation and comprehend under them all other Moral Duties And these are those which our Saviour calls the Law and the Prophets and which he says he came not to destroy but to fulfill Mat. 5. 17 18 19 20. Think not that I am come to destroy the Law or the Prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfill for verily I say unto you 'till Heaven and Earth pass one jot or one title shall in no wise pass from the Law 'till all be fulfilled Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least Commandments and shall teach men so he shall be call'd the least in the Kingdom of Heaven but whosoever shall do and teach them the same shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven For I say unto you that except your Righteousness shall exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven That our Saviour doth not here speak of the Judicial or Ceremonial Law of the Jews but of the Duties of the Moral Law
he might redeem them that were under the Law and that those who were in the condition of Servants before might be set at liberty and receive the adoption of Sons But how did his being made under the Law qualifie him to redeem those who were under the Law Thus By submitting to it himself he shewed that he owned the Authority of it and that he had no malice or enmity against it or as he himself expresses it that he came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill it And being fulfill'd and having serv'd the time and end for which God intended it it expir'd of it self like a Law which is not made for perpetuity but limited to a certain period And our Blessed Saviour who came with greater Authority than Moses and gave greater Testimony of his Divine Authority had sufficient power to declare the expiration of it and by Commissioning his Disciples before and after his death to Preach the Gospel to the whole World he put an end to that particular Law and Dispensation which only concern'd the Jewish Nation by giving a general Law to all Mankind So that from the Death of our Saviour and his Ascension into Heaven upon which followed the general publication of the Gospel the Law of Moses ceased and according to our Saviour's express appointment Proselytes were to be admitted into the Christian Church only by Baptism and not by Circumcision And â—f Circumcision which was the sign of that Covenant was laid aside then the whole Obligation of that Law and Covenant which God had made with the Jews was also ceased It was once indeed the mark of God's chosen and peculiar People but now that God hath revealed himself to the whole World by his Son and offers Salvation to all Mankind Gentiles as well as Jews the wall of separation is broken down and Circumcision which was the mark of distinction between Jews and Gentiles is taken away and therefore he is said to have made peace by his Cross and to have blotted out and taken away the hand-writing of Ordinances nailing it to his Cross that is from the time of his Death to have taken away the obligation of the Law of Moses tho' it was a good while after before the Jews were wholly weaned from the veneration and use of it Nay it was some time before the Apostles were clearly convinc'd that the Gospel was to be preach'd to the Gentiles this being one of those Truths which our Saviour promised after his departure his Spirit should lead them into the perfect knowledge of and then they were fully instructed that the Law of Moses was expir'd and that it was no longer necessary to the Salvation of Men that they should be Circumcised and keep that Law And tho' it was once enjoyn'd by God himself to the Jews and their Obedience to it was necessary to their acceptance with God yet now by Christ Jesus God had offered Salvation to Men upon other Terms and whether they were Circumcised or not was of no moment to their Justification or Salvation one way or other but provided they perform'd the Condition of this New Covenant of the Gospel they were all alike capable of the Divine Favour and Acceptance But I proceed to that which I mainly intended to prosecute from these words and that is the Second Particular in the Text namely that according to the terms of the Gospel and the Christian Religion nothing will avail to our justification and acceptance with God but the real renovation of our Hearts and Lives neither Circumcision nor uncircumcision but a new Creature For the full explication of this I shall do these three Things First Shew what is imply'd in this Phrase of a new Creature Secondly That this is the great Condition of our justification and acceptance with God and that it is the same in substance with Faith perfected by Charity and with keeping the Commandments of God Thirdly That it is very reasonable it should be so 1. What is imply'd in this Phrase of a new Creature It is plain at first sight that it is a Metaphorical expression of that great and thorough change which is made in Men by the Gospel or the Christian Religion The Scripture sets forth to us this Change by great variety of expressions by Conversion and turning from our Iniquities unto God by Repentance which signifies a change of our Mind and Resolution and is in Scripture call'd Repentance from dead works and Repentance unto Life by Regeneration or being born again by Resurrection from the Dead and rising to newness of Life by Sanctification and being wash'd and cleans'd from all filthiness and impurity which three last Metaphors are imply'd in Baptism which is call'd Regeneration Tit. 3. 5. According to his Mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the â—oly Ghost and our being born again of Water and the Holy Ghost John 3. 3. Except a Man be born again c. and ver 5. except a Man be born of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God and the purifying of our Consciences Heb. 10. 22. having our Hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience and our Bodies wash'd with pure water and the answer of a good Conscience towards God 1 Pet. 3. 21. Baptism doth now save us not the putting away of the filth of the Flesh but the answer of a good Conscience towards God and finally our being Baptiz'd into the Death and Resurrection of Christ Rom. 6. 3 4. Know ye not that so many of us as were Baptized into Jesus Christ were Baptized into his death therefore we are buried with him by Baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of Life And lastly this Change is set forth to us by Renovation and our being made New Creatures and new Men 2 Cor. 5. 17. Therefore if any Man be in Christ that is professeth himself a Christian he is a new Creature old things are past away behold all things are become new And so likewise Ephes 4. 22 23 24. this great Change is exprest by putting off concerning the former Conversation the old Man which is corrupt according to the lusts of deceit and being renewed in the spirit of our Minds and putting on that new Man which after God is Created in Righteousness and true Holiness The Expression is very emphatical renewed in the spirit of our Minds that is in our very Minds and Spirits to signifie to us that it is a most inward and thorough Change reaching to the very center of our Souls and Spirits And Colos 3. 9 10 11th verses it is represented much after the same manner Seeing ye have put off the old Man with his deeds and have put on the new Man which is renewed in knowledge after the Image of him that Created him where there is neither Greek nor Jew Circumcision nor
Uncircumcision Barbarian Sâ—ythian bond nor free but Christ is all and in all Which is the same with what the Apostle says here in the Text that in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Uncircumcision but a new Creature that is these external Marks and Differences signifie nothing but this inward Change the new Creature Christ formed in us this in the Christian Religion is all in all But that we may the more clearly understand the just importance of this Metaphor of a new Creature or a new Creation I shall First Consider what it doth certainly signifie by comparing this Metaphorical Phrase with other plain Texts of Scripture And Secondly That it doth not import what some would extend it to so as to found Doctrines of great Consequence upon the single strength of this and the like Metaphors in Scripture without any manner of countenance from plain Texts First I shall consider what this Metaphor doth certainly import so as to be undeniably evident from other more clear and full Texts of Sripture namely these two Things 1. The greatness of this Change 2. That it is effected and wrought by a Divine Power 1. The greatness of this Change it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a new Creation as if the Christian Doctrine firmly entertained and believed did as it were mould and fashion Men over again transforming them into a quite other sort of Persons than what they were before and made such a change in them as the Creating Power of God did in bringing this Beautiful and orderly frame of things out of their dark and rude Chaos Thus the Apostle represents it 2 Cor. 4. 6. God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness alluding to the first Creation hath shined into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ We are translated from one extream to another Acts 26. 18. When our Lord sends Paul to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles he tells him what a change it would make in them by opening their eyes and turning them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God And St. Peter expresses the change which Christianity makes in Men by their being call'd out of darkness into a marvellous light 1 Pet. 2. 9. And so St. Paul Eph. 5. 8. Ye were sometimes darkness but now are ye light in the Lord. And indeed wherever the Doctrine of Christ hath its full effect and perfect work it makes a mighty change both in their inward Principles and outward Practice it darts a new light into their Minds so that they see things otherwise than they did before and form a different judgment of things from what they did before it endues them with a new Principle and new Resolutions gives them another Spirit and another Temper a quite different sense and gust of things from what they formerly had And this inward change of their Minds necessarily produceth a proportionable change in their Lives and Conversations so that the Man steers quite another course acts after another rate and drives on quite other designs from what he did before And this is remarkably seen in those who are reclaimed from Impiety and Prophaneness to Religion and from a vicious to a virtuous course of Life The Change is great and real in all but not so sensible and visible in some as others in those who are made good by the insensible steps of a pious and virtuous Education as in those who are translated out of a quite contrary state and tâ—rn'd from the power of Satan unto God and translated out of the Kingdom of Darkness into the Kingdom of Christ which was the case of the Heathen World in their first Conversion to Christianity Secondly This Change is effected and wrought by a Divine Power of the same kind with that which Created the World and raised up Christ Jesus from the Dead two great and glorious Instances of the Divine Power and to these the Scripture frequently alludes when it speaks of this New Creation God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined into our hearts Like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father so we also are raised to newness of life saith St. Paul Rom. 6. 4. And to the same purpose the same Apostle speaks Ephes 1. 19 20. And that ye may know what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe according to the operation of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead So that our Renovation and being made new Creatures is an instance of the same glorious Power which exerted it self in the first Creation of things and in the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the Dead but not altogether after the same manner as I shall shew under the next Head I should now in the second place proceed to shew that this Metaphor of a new Creation doth not import what some Men would extend it to so as to found Doctrines of great consequence upon the single strength of this and other like Metaphors of Scripture without any manner of countenance and confirmation from plain Texts But this I reserve to another Discourse SERMON VI. Of the Nature of Regeneration and its Necessity in order to Justification and Salvation GALAT. VI. 15. For in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Uncircumcision but a new Creature IN these words are contained these two Things First That the Gospel hath taken away the obligation of the Law having taken away the sign of that Covenant which was Circumcision Secondly That according to the terms of the Gospel and the Christian Religion nothing will avail to our justification and acceptance with God but the real renovation of our Hearts and Lives For the full explication of this I propounded to do these three Things I. To shew what is imply'd in this Phrase of a new Creature II. That this is the great Condition of our justification and acceptance with God and that it is the same in sense and substance with those other expressions in the two parallel Texts of Faith perfected by Charity and keeping the Commandments of God III. That it is very reasonable that this should be the Condition of our justification and acceptance to the favour of God I began with the first of these viz. To shew what is imply'd in this Phrase of a New Creature as to which I shew'd First What this Metaphor doth certainly import so as to be undeniably evident from other more clear and full Texts of Scripture namely the greatness of this Change and that it is effected by a Divine Power I now proceed Secondly To shew that it doth not import what some would extend it to and that so as to found Doctrines of great Consequence upon the meer and single strength of this and other like Metaphors of Scripture without any manner of countenance
and confirmation from plain Texts such Doctrines as these three 1. That as the Creation was by an irresistible act of the Divine Power so is this new Creation or Conversion of a Sinner 2. That as Creatures were meerly passive in their being made and contributed nothing at all to it no more do we to our Conversion and Regeneration 3. That as the Creation of the several Ranks and Kinds of Creatures was in an instant and effected by the powerful word of God only saying let such and such things be and immediately they were so this new Creation or the work of Regeneration is in an insâ—ant and admits of no degrees Concerning these three Doctrines of great Momâ—nt and Consequence in Divinity I shall shew with all the clearness and bâ—evity I can that they are built solâ—ly â—pon Metaphors of Scriptuâ—e â—orâ—â—â—'d aâ—d strain'd too far withouâ— any real ground and foundatioâ— from Scripture or Reason nay contrary to the tenor of the one and the dictates of the other nay indeed contrary to the general experience of the operation of God's Grace upon the Minds of Men in their Conversion First It is pretended that as the Creation was by an irresistible act of the Divine Power so is the new Creation or the Conversion of a Sinner and this is solely argued from the Metaphorical expressions of Scripture concerning Conversion such as being called out of darkness into light alluding to that powerful word of God which in the first Creation commanded the light to shine out of darkness being quicken'd and rais'd to a new Life and from this Metaphor here in the Text of a new Creation But surely it is a dangerous thing in Divinity to build Doctrines upon Metaphors especially if we strain them to all the similitudes which a quick and lively imagination can find out whereas some one obvious thing is commonly intended in the Metaphor and the meaning is absolv'd and acquitted in that and it is folly to pursue it into all those similitudes which a good fancy may suggest When our Saviour says that he will come as a Thief in the night it is plain what he means that the Day of Judgment will surprize the careless World when they least look for it that he will come at an hour when they are not aware and tho' he resemble his coming to that of a Thief in the night yet here is nothing of Robbery in the case So here when the change which Christianity makes in Men is called a new Creation this only imports the greatness of the Change which by the power of God's grace is made upon the hearts and lives of Men and the Metaphor is sufficiently absolv'd in this plain sense and meaning of it agreeable to the literal expressions of Scripture concerning this thing and there is no need that this Change should in all other respects answer the work of Creation and consequently there is no necessity that it should be effected in an irresistible manner or that we should be altogether passive in this Change and that we should no ways concur to it by any act of our own or that this work should be done in an instant and admit of no steps and degrees It is not necessary that this Change should be effected in an irresistible manner God may do so when he pleaseth without any injury to his Creatures for it is certainly no wrong to any Man to be made good and happy against his will and I do not deny but that God sometimes does so The Call of the Disciples to follow Christ seems to have been a very sudden and forcible impression upon their Minds without any appearing reason for it for it is not reasonable for any Man to leave his Calling and follow every one that bids him do so The Conversion of Saul from a Persecutor of Christianity to a Zealous Preacher of it was certainly effected if not in an irresistible yet in a very forcible and violent manner The Conversion of three thousand at one Sermon when the Holy Ghost descended in a visible manner upon the Apostles was certainly the effect of a mighty and over-powering degree of God's grace And the like may be said of the sudden Conversion of so many Persons from Heathenism and great wickedness and impiety of Life to the sincere profession of Christianity by the preaching of the Apostles afterwards But that this is not of absolute necessity nor the ordinary method of God's grace to work upon the minds of Men in so over-powering much less in an irresistible manner is as plain as any thing of that Nature can be both from Experience and the Reason of the thiâ—g and the constant tenour of the Scripture We find that many perhaps the greatest part of those that are good are made so by the insensible steps and degrees of a Religious Education and having been never vicious can give no great account of any sensible Change only that when they came to years of understanding they consider'd things more and the Principles that were instill'd into them in their younger years did put forth themselves more vigorously at that time as Seeds sprout out of the ground after they have a good while been buried and lain hid in the Earth And it is contrary to Reason to make an irresistible act of Divine Power necessary to our Repentance and Conversion because this necessarily involves in it two things which seem very unreasonable First That no Man Repents upon Consideration and Choice but upon meer force and violent necessity which quite takes away the Virtue of Repentance whatever virtue there may be in the consequent acts of a Regenerate State Secondly It implies that the Conversion and Repentance of those upon whom God doth not work irresistibly is impossible which is the utmost can be said to excuse the impenitency of Men by taking it off from their own choice and laying it upon the impossibility of the thing and an utter disability in them to choose and do otherwise And it is likewise contrary to the constant tenour of the Bible which supposeth that Men do very frequently resist the Grace and Holy Spirit of God It is said of the Pharisees by our Saviour Luke 7. 30. that they rejected the Counsel of God against themselves that is the merciful Design of God for their Salvation And of the Jews Acts 7. 51. that they always resisted the Holy Ghost So that some operations of God's grace and Holy Spirit are resistible and such as if Men did not resist them would be effectual to bring them to Faith and Repentance else why are the Pharisees said to reject the counsel of God against themselves that is to their own ruine implying that if they had not rejected it they might have been saved and if they had it had been without irresistible Grace for that which was offered to them was actually resisted by them Other Texts plainly shew that the Reason of Mens impenitency and unbelief is not
were made were only passive in their Creation and as they could make no resistance so neither could they contribute any thing â—o their being what they are And this Doctrine is not only argued from the Metaphor of a new Creation but from several other Metaphors used in Scripture to describe our Natural State as namely darkness blindness and our being dead in trespasses and sins from whence it is inferr'd that we contribute no more to our Renovation than darkness doth to the introduction of light than a blind Man can do to the recovery of his sight or a dead Man to his own Resurrection but are wholly passive in this work And to countenance this Notion they make great advantage of the Character which is given in Scripture of the most degenerate Heathen taking it for granted that their Condition is the true standard of a Natural and unregenerate State and to this purpose they insist particularly upon that description of the gentile Idolaters Eph. 4. 18 19. Having the understanding darken'd being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their hearts who being past feeling have given themselves over to lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness Which is indeed a description of Men in their Natural State but not of all but of such as by the worst sort of vicious practices of the grossest Idolatry and most abominable lewdness were degerated to the utmost so that their Condition seemed desperate without a miraculous and an extraordinary grace of God which was probably afforded to many of these In like manner they argue the common Condition of Mankind from the description which is given of the wickedness of Men before God brought the Flood upon them Gâ—n 6. 5. God saw that the wickedness of Man was great in the Earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually This they make the Character of all Men in their Natural State whereas this is a description of an extraordinary degeneracy of Men signifying that the world was then extreamly bad and depraved to the highest degree for God gives this as a Reason why he was resolved to drown the World and to destroy Man from the face of the Earth because their wickedness was grown to so great an height But if this were a description of the Natural State of Mankind this could be no particular Reason for bringing a Flood upon the World at that time there being the same Reason for it for fifteen hundred years before and ever will be the same Reason to the end of the World that is that Men are naturally corrupt and depraved Surely they consider the Scripture very superficially that interpret it at this rate 'T is too true that the Nature of Man is sadly corrupted and depraved but not so bad as by vicious practices and habits it may be made all Men are not equally at the same distance from the grace of God some are nearer to the Kingdom of God than others and less force and violence will serve to rescue them from the power of Satan and to transplant them into the Kingdom of Christ The prevalency and dominion of sin makes an unregenerate state as the prevalency of Grace puts a Man into a Regenerate state An unregenerate Man is not necessarily as bad as is possâ—ble no more than it is necessary to a regenerate state that a Man be perâ—ectly good so that it is a great mistake to argue the common Condition of all Mankind from the descriptions that are given in the Scripture of the worst of Men and therefore if it were granted that irresistible grace were necessary for the Conversion of such it will not follow that the same is necessary to all All unregenerate Men are not equally devoid of a sense of God and Spiritual things they have many Convictions of what they ought to be and do and under those Convictions are very capable of perswasion which dead Men are not The grace of God is necessary to the Conversion of a Sinner but it is not necessary that he should be only passive in this work Experience tells us the contrary that we can do something that we can cooperate with the grace of God and the Scripture tells us the same and makes it an argument and encouragement to us to work out our own Salvation because God works in us both to will and to do of his own goodness Phil. 2. 12 13. Besides that it is the greatest and justest discouragement in the world to all endeavours of Repentance and Reformation to tell Men that they can do nothing in it He that is sure of this that he can do nothing in this work is a Fool if he make any attempt to become better because he struggles with an impossibility and if the work will be done at all it will be done without him and he neither can nor ought to have any hand in it But will any Metaphor bear Men out against so palpable an absurdity as this And yet after all there is no force in these Metaphors to prove what they aim at by them For if to be dead in sin signifies an utter impotency to goodness then to be dead to sin must on the contrary signifie an impossibility of sinning for just as the unregenerate Man is dead in sin so he that is regegenerate is said in Scripture to be dead to sin But yet the best of regenerate Men notwithstanding they are dead to sin and alive to God do offend in many things and too frequently fall into sin Why then should the Metaphor be so strong on the one side that a Man who is said to be dead in sin should not be able so much as to cooperate with the grace of God in the work of Repentance and Conversion In sâ—ort if this be true that Men in an unregenerate and unconverted state are perfectly dead and have no more sense of Spiritual Things than a dead Man hath of Natural Objects then all Precepts and Exhortations to Repentance and all Promises and Threatnings to argue and perswade Men thereto are vain and to no purpose and it would be every whit as proper and reasonable for us to preach in the Church-yard over the graves of dead Men as in the Church to the unregenerate because they can no more act and move towards their own recovery out of a state of Sin and Death than the dead Bodies can rise out of their graves But it is said that the end of Exhortations and Promises is not to declare to Men their Power but their Duty But if they be insensible it is to as little purpose to declare to them their Duty as their Power Besides it will be an hard thing to convince Men that any thing is their Duty which at the same time we declare to them to be out of their Power But this is Pelagianism to say that of our selves we can Repent
to our selves as concurring some way or other to this work Hence we are said to believe and repent to turn from our evil ways and to turn to the Lord to cleanse and purifie our selves Hence likewise are those frequent Commands in Scripture to amend our ways and doings to wash our hearts from wickedness to repent and turn our selves and to make our selves new Hearts and new Spirits So that all these Causes the Spirit of God his Ministers his Word and we our selves do all some way or other concur and contribute to this Effect God indeed is the Principal and hath so great an hand in this Work from beginning to end that all the rest are nothing in Comparison and we do well to ascribe to him the whole glory of it that no Flesh may glory in his sight But nevertheless in strictness of speech sufficiently warranted by Scripture the Ministers of God and the Word of God and we our selves do all co-operate some way or other to our Conversion and Regeneration and by ascribing to any of these such parts as they truly have in this work God is not robbed of any part of the glory of his grace much less of the whole Much less is it the ascribing it all to our selves whom we affirm to have the least part in it not worthy to be mention'd in Comparison of the riches of God's grace towards us And yet unless we do something what can be the meaning of making our selves new hearts and new spirits Is it only that we should be passive to the irresistible operation's of God's grace that is that we should not hinder what we can neither hinder nor promote that we should so demean our selves as of necessity we must whether we will or no. So then to make our selves new hearts and new spirits is to do nothing at all towards the hinderance or furtherance of this work and if this be thâ— meaning of it it is a Precept and Eâ—hortation just as fit for Stones as for Men that is very improper for either 2. Objection But however we do extenuate and lessen the grace of God if there be any active concurrence and endeavours on our part towards this Change For answer to this three things deserve to be consider'd First It is very well worthy our Consideration that they who make this Objection have the confidence to pretend that they do not dâ—minish the grace of God by confining it to a very small part of Mankind in Comparison nay they will needs face us down that by this very thing they do very much exalt and magnifie it and that the grace of God is so much the greater by how much the fewer they are that are partakers of it But I hope they only mean that the grace is greater to themselves in which conceit there is commonly as much of envy as gratitude but surely they cannot mean that the grace which is limited to a few is greater in it self and upon the whole matter than that which is extended to a great many it being a down-right Contradiction to say that the grace of God is magnified by being confined For at this rate of Reasoning the lesser it is the greater it must be and by undeniable consequence would be greatest of all if it were none at all So that it seems the grace of God may be extenuated in favour of our selves but when we do so we must say we magnifie it Secondly But to come close to the Objection tho' it be true that if God's grace in our Conversion do not do all it does not do so much as if it did all yet this is really no injury or dishonour to the grace of God and tho' in some sense it doth extenuate it it doth not in truth and reality take off from the glory of it In my Opinion the grace and favour of a Prince is not the less in offering a Pardon to a Traytor who puts forth his hand and gladly receives it than if he forc'd it upon him whether he would or no. I am sure it is in the first Case much fitter to give it and he on whom it is conferr'd much better qualified to receive it 'T is no disparagement to a Prince's Favour that it is bestow'd on one who is in some measure qualified to receive it But be it more or less in one Case than the other this is certain that in both Cases the Man ows his Life to the great grace and goodness of his Prince and I cannot see how it lessens the grace that the miserable Object of it the guilty and condemned Person was either by his humble submission or thankful acceptance of it in some degree better qualified to receive such a Favour than an obstinate Refuser of it Thirdly Which is the Principal Consideration of all we must take great heed that while we endeavour to make God to do all in the Conversion of Sinners we do not by this means charge upon him the ruine and destruction of impenitent Sinners which I doubt we should do if we make the Reason of their impenitency and ruine their utter impotency and disability to Repent and we certainly make this the Reason of their impenitency and ruine if there be no other difference but this between penitent and impenitent Sinners namely that in the one God works Repentance by an irresistible act of his Power so that he cannot but Repent and denys this grace to the other without which he cannot possibly Repent But the Scripture chargeth the destruction of Men upon themselves and lays their impenitency at their own door Oh Israel thou hast destroyed thy self but in me is thy help Hosea 13. 9. But where is the help when the grace absolutely necessary to Repentance is denied And how is their destruction of themselves if it is unavoidable let them do what they can Isa 5. 3 4. God appeals to his People Israel that nothing was wanting on his part that was fit and necessary to be done that they might bring forth the fruits of Repentance and better Obedience And now O Inhabitants of Jerusalem and Men of Judah judge I pray you between me and my Vineyard what could have been done more to my Vineyard that I have not done in it wherefore when I looked that it should bring forth grapes brought it forth wild grapes Is it true that God hath done all that was necessary to have brought them to Repentance Then if irresistible grace be necessary he afforded them that but that was not afforded them because then they must unavoidably have Repented and there had been no cause for this Complaint If he did not afford it but only the outward means of Repentance without the inward grace as some say then it is easie to judge why they did not Repent Because they could not and there seems to be no Cause either of Wonder or Complaint Besides that it will be hard to justifie that Saying What could I have done more
inconveniencies in it First That this Supposition is to no purpose as to any real effect for the Salvation of Men because not one person more is saved notwithstanding this Universal sufficient Grace which they say is afforded to all for they take it for granted it is never effectual and then it seems very unreasonable to suppose that a Means sufficient to its End should Universally prove ineffectual nay on the contrary it is next to a Demonstration against the sufficiency of a Means if perpetually and in all instances it fails of its End This would tempt any Man to think that surely there is some defect in it or something that hinders the efficacy of it if being perpetually and generally afforded it doth perpetually and universally miscarry without so much as one instance among so many millions to the contrary So that this Opinion seems rather to be contriv'd for a colour and shelter against some absurdity which Men know not how to avoid otherwise than to sâ—rve any good purpose or to be embraced for the truth and probability of it The other middle Opinion is That some are Converted in an irresistible manner when God pleaseth and whom he designs to be extraordinary Examples and Instruments for the good of others and that sufficient Grace is afforded to others which is effectual to the Salvation of many and rejected by a great many And this avoids all the inconveniency of the other Opinion and is evidently most agreeable both to the tenour of Scripture and to the best notions which Men have concerning the Attributes and Perfections of God and gives greatest encouragement to the endeavours of Men. It agrees very well with the solemn declarations of Scripture that God is not wanting on his part to afford Men sufficient Means to bring them to Repentance that he desires not the death of a Sinner but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live That he would have all Men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth That he would not that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance That Mens destruction is of themselves And this makes all the Exhortations and Motives of Scripture to Repentance to be of some force and significancy and gives encouragement to the Resolutions and Endeavours of Men to become better This clearly acquits the Justice of God in the Condemnation of impenitent Sinners and sixeth the Reason of their ruine upon their own choice This perfectly reconciles the operation and assistance of God's grace in our Conversion and Regeneration in our Sanctification and Perseverance in a good Course with the concurrence of our own Endeavours and makes those plain Texts of Scripture have some sense and significancy in them Work out your own Salvation Repent and turn your selves from all your evil ways Make ye new Hearts and new Spirits These are more than a thousand Metaphors to convince a Man that we may and ought to do something towards our Repentance and Conversion And if any Man be sure that we neither do nor can do any thing in this Work then I am sure that these Texts signifie nothing Finally these Texts which speak most clearly of the necessity of the Divine Grace and Asâ—â—stance to our doing of any thing that is spiritually good do suppose something to be done on our part That of our Saviour without me you can do nothing implies that with his Grace and Assistance we can That of St. Paul I am able to do all things through Christ strengthning me implies that what we do by the strength of Christ is truly our own act I am able to do all things And this does not in the least prejudice nor obscure the glory of God's grace St. Paul it seems knew very well how to reconcile these two and to give the grace of God its due without rejecting all concurrence of our own industry and endeavour 1 Corin. 15. 10. But by the grace of God I am what I am and his Grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain not because it was irresistible and he meerly passive in the reception of it but because he did concurr and co-operate with it So he tells us his Grace that was bestowed upon me was not in vain but I laboured more abundantly than they all yet not I but the grace of God which was with me So that our Concurrence and Endeavour in the doing of any thing that is good does not derogate from the grace of God provided that we ascribe the good which we do to the assistance of Divine Grace to which it is incomparably more due than to our own activity and endeavour And so St. Paul does I labour'd abundantly yet not I but the grace of God which was with me So that the glory of God's grace may be advanced to its due pitch without asserting that we are meerly passive to the Operations of it God's grace may be abundantly bestowed upon us and yet we may labour abundantly God may work in us to will and to do and yet we may work out our own Salvation I have done with the Second Doctrine grounded upon this Metaphor of a New Creature SERMON VIII Of the Nature of Regeneration and its Necessity in order to Justification and Salvation GALAT. VI. 15. For in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Uncircumcision but a new Creature IN Discoursing on these Words that which I was last upon was to shew that this Metaphor of a New Creature doth not import what some would extend it to and that so as to found Doctrines of great Consequence upon the single strength of this and other like Metaphors viz. such Doctrines as these three First That as the Creation was by an irresistible act of the Divine Power so is this new Creation or the Conversion of a Sinner Secondly That as Creatures were meerly passive in their being made and contributed nothing at all thereto no more do we to our Conversion and Regeneration Thirdly That as the Creation was in an instant only by the powerful Word of God so this new Creation is in an instant and admits of no degrees The two first of these I have spoken to and shewed that as they had no necessary Foundation in this and the like Metaphors of Scripture so they are contrary to Reason and Experience and the plain and constant tenour of Scripture which is the Rule and Measure of Christs Doctrine I proceed now to consider the Third Doctrine which is grounded upon this Metaphor namely That as the Creation of the several Ranks and Orders of Creatures was in an instant and effected by the powerful Word of God saying let such and such things be and immediately they were so this new Creation is in an instant and admits of no steps and degrees And this Doctrine is nothing else but a farther pursuit of the Metaphor and admitting the two former Doctrines to be true and well grounded upon this
Metaphor this third Doctrine follows well enough from them for it is agreeable enough that that which is effected by an irresistible act of Omnipotence without any concurrence or operation on our part should be done in an instant and all at once Not that this is necessary but that it is reasonable for why should Omnipotence use delays and take time and proceed by degrees in the doing of that which with the same ease it can do at once and in an instant especially considering how well this suits with the other Metaphors of Scripture as well as with this of a new Creation viz. the Metaphor of Regeneration and Resurrection A Child is born at once and the Dead shall be raised in a moment in the twinkling of an eye But notwithstanding all this plausible appearance and Conspiracy of Metaphors I shall shew that this Doctrine of the Conversion and Regeneration of a Sinner being effected in an instant and all at once is not well grounded either upon Scripture or Experience Not but that God can do so if he pleaseth and works this Change in some much sooner and quicker than in others but there is nothing either in Scripture or Experience to perswade us that this is the usual much less the constant and unalterable Method of God's grace in the Conversion of a Sinner to bring it about in an instant without any sensible steps and degrees But for the full clearing of this Matter I shall proceed by these steps First I shall shew upon what mistaken Grounds and Principles this Doctrine relies besides the Metaphors already mention'd which I have shewn to be of no force to prove the thing Secondly I shall plainly shew what Regeneration is by which it will appear that it is not necessarily effected in an instant and at once but admits of degrees Thirdly That it is evidently so in experience of the ordinary Methods of God's grace both in those who are Regenerated by a Pious and Religious Education and in those who are reclaimed from a vitious Course of Life Fourthly That all this is very consonant and agreeable to what the Scripture plainly and constantly declares concerning it First I shall discover several Mistakes upon which this Doctrine is grounded besides the Metaphors already mention'd and which I have shewn to be of no force to prove the thing viz. That Regeneration is in an instant and admits of no degrees As 1. That Regeneration and Sanctification are not only different Expressions but do signifie two things really different But this is a gross mistake for Regeneration and Sanctification are but different expressions of the self self same thing for Regeneration is a Metaphor which the Scripâ—ure useth to express our translation and change from one state to another from a state of Sin and Wickedness to a state of Grace and Holiness as if we were born over again and were the Children of another Father and from being the Children of the Devil did become the Children of God and Sanctification is our being made Holy our being purified and cleansed from Sin and impurity And hence it is that Regeneration and Sanctification are attributed to the same Causes Principal and Instrumental to the Spirit of God and to the word of God we are said to be born again of the Spirit and to be sanctified by the Holy Ghost to be begotten of the word of truth and to be sanctified by the truth which is the word of God So that the Scripture speaks of them as the same thing and they must needs be so for if Sanctification be the making of us Holy and Regeneration make us Holy then Regeneration is Sanctification 2. It is said that Regeneration only signifies our first entrance into this state and Sanctification our progress and continuance in it But this likewise is a great Mistake For tho' it be true that Regeneration doth signifie our first entrance into this state yet it is not true that it only signifies that for it is used likewise in Scripture to signifie our continuance in that state for Christians are said to be the Children of God and consequently in a regenerate state not only in the instant of this Change but during their continuance in it Besides that our first Change is as well call'd our Sanctification as our Progress and Continuance in a state of Holiness So that neither in this is there any difference between Regeneration and Sanctification They do both of them signifie both our first entrance into an Holy state and our continuance and progress in it ' tho' Regeneration do more frequently denote the making of this Change and our first entrance into it 3. It is said that one of the main Differences between Regeneration and Sanctification is this that Regeneration is incapable of degrees and all that are Regenerate are equally so and one Regenerate Person is not more or less Regenerate than another whereas Sanctification is a gradual progress from one degree of Holiness to another and of â—hem that are truly Sanctified and Holy one may be more Sanctified and more Holy than another But this likewise is a meer fancy and imagination without any real ground For as an unregenerate state does plainly admit of degrees so likewise doth the regenerate and for the same Reason That an unregenerate state admits of degrees is evident in that some unregenerate Persons are more wicked than others and thereby more the Children of wrath and the Devil than others which are the Scripture expressions concerning the degrees of Mens Wickedness and Impiâ—ty In like manner they that are more Holy and more like God are more the Children of God and to be more a Child of God is surely to be more regenerate that is more renewed after the Image of God which consists in Righteousness and true Holiness So that it is a meer precarious assertion and evidently false to affirm that Regeneration doth not admit of degrees and that one is not more Regenerate than another 4 thly and lastly They ground this Conceit upon the Doctrine of the Schools which teach that in Regeneration and Conversion all the habits of grace are infused simul semel together and at once I confess I have no regard much less a veneration for the Doctrine of the Schools where it differs from that of the Holy Scriptures which says not one word of infused habits which yet are much talk'd of in Divinity and to speak the truth these words serve only to obscure the thing For to say that in Conversion the habits of all graces and virtues are infused together and at once is to say that in an instant Men that were vicious before in several kinds are by an Omnipotent act of God's grace and by a new Principle infused into them endued with the habits of the contraâ—y Graces and Virtues and are as Chast and Temperate and Just and Meek and Humble as if by the frequent practice of these Virtues they had become so That
and degeneracy of Humane Nature that there is a real Change made in them by the operation of God's grace upon their Minds yet it is as certain in experience that this Change is made in very many by very silent and insensible degrees 'till at length the seeds of Religion which were planted in them by a good Education do visibly prevail over all the evil inclinations of corrupt Nature so as to sway and govern the Actions of their Lives and when the Principles of grace and goodness do apparently prevail we may conclude them to be in a Regenerate sâ—ate tho' perhaps very few of these can give any account of the particular time and occasion of this Change For things may be seen in their Effect which were never very sensible in their Cause And it is very Reasonable that such Persons who never lived in any evil course should escape those Pangs and Terrours which unavoidably happen unto others from a course of actual Sin and the guilt of a wicked Life and if there be any such Persons as I have described who are in this gradual and insensible manner Regenerated and made good this is a Demonstration that there is no necessity that this Change should be in an instant it being so frequently found to be otherwise in Experience And as for others who are visibly reclaimed from a notorious wicked Course in these we likewise frequently see this Change gradually made by strong impressions made upon their Minds most frequently by the Word of God sometimes by his Providence whereby they are convinâ—'d of the evil and danger of their Course and awakened to Consideration and melted into Sorrow and Repentance and perhaps exercis'd with great terrours of Conscience 'till at length by the grace of God they come to a fixt Purpose and Resolution of forsaking their Sins and turning to God and after many struglings and conflicts with their Lusts and the strong byass of evil habits this Resolution assisted by the grace of God doth effectually prevail and make a real change both in the Temper of their Minds and the Course of their Lives and when this is done and not before they are said to be Regenerate But all the while this was a doing the new Man was forming and the work of Regeneration was going on and it was perhaps a very considerable time from the first beginning of it 'till it came to a fixt and setled state And this I doubt not in experience of most Persons who are reclaim'd from a vicious course of Life is found to be the usual and ordinary Method of God's grace in their Conversion And if so it is in vain to pretend that a thing is done in an instant which by so manifold experience is found to take up a great deal of time and to be effected by degrees And whereas some Men are pleased to call all this the Preparatory work to Regeneration but not the Regeneration it self this is an idle contention about words For if these Preparations be a degree of goodness and a gradual tendency towards it then the work is begun by them and during the continuance of them is all the while a doing and tho' it be hard to fix the point or instant when a Man just arrives at this state and not before yet it is very sensible when a Man is in it and this Change when it is really made will soon discover it self by plain and sensible effects Fourthly and Lastly all this is very agreeable to the plain and constant tenour of Scripture Isa 1. 16. where the Prophet exhorts to this Change he speaks of it as a gradual thing Wash ye make you clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil learn to do well that is break off evil and vicious habits and gain the contrary habits of virtue and goodness by the exercise of it The Scripture speaks of some as farther from a state of grace than others Jer. 13. 23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil plainly declaring the great difficulty equal almost to a natural impossibility of reclaiming those to goodness who have been long habituated to an evil course And the Scripture speaks of some as nearer to a state of grace than others Our Saviour tells the young Man in the Gospel who said he had kept the Commands of God from his youth that he was not far from the Kingdom of God But now if by an irresistible act of God's power this Change be made in an instant and cannot otherwise be made how is one Man nearer to a state of Grace or farther from it than another If all that are made good must be made so in an instant or not at all then no Man is nearer being made good than another for if he were nearer to it he might sooner be made so but that cannot be if all must be made good in an instant for sooner than that no Man can be made so If the similitude of our being dead in sins and trespasses be strictly taken no Man is nearer a Resurrection to a new Life than another as he that died but a week ago is as far from being raised to life again as he that died a thousand years ago the Resurrection of both requires an Omnipotent act and to that both are equally easie The two Parables of our Saviour Matth. 13. 31 33. are by many Interpreters understood of the gradual operation of grace upon the hearts of Men. That wherein the Kingdom of Heaven is likened to a grain of Mustard-seed which being sown was the least of all seeds but by degrees grew up to be the greatest of herbs and to leaven which a Woman took and hid in three measures of meal 'till the whole was leavened intimating the progress of God's grace which by degrees diffuseth it self over the whole temper of a Man's Mind into all the actions of his Life To be sure the Parable of the seed which fell upon good ground does represent the efficacy of the word of God accompanied by his grace upon the Minds of Men and that is said to spring up and increase and to bring forth fruit with patience which surely does express to us the gradual operation of God's word and grace iu the Renovation and Change of a Man's Heart and Life The New Testament indeed speaks of the sudden Change of many upon the first preaching of the Gospel which I have told you before is not a standard of the ordinary Method of God's grace the not considering of which hath been a great Cause of all the Mistakes in this Matter 'T is true those which were thus Converted to the belief of the Gospel their Faith was a virtual Principle of all grace and virtue tho' not formally the habit of every particular grace St. Paul himself who was a prime instance of this kind speaks as if he acquir'd
passage and was waâ—ted over by a gentle Wind and could tell no Stories of Storms and Tempests And thus I have fully and faithfully endeavour'd to open to you the just importance of this Phrase or Expression in the Text of the new Creature or the new Creation I proceed to the Second Particular I propounded namely that the real Renovation of our Hearts and Lives is according to the terms of the Gospel and the Christian Religion the great Condition of our justification and acceptance with God and that this is the same in sense and substance with those Phrases in the parallel Texts to this of Faith perfected by Charity and of keeping the Commandments of God That according to the terms of the Gospel the great Condition of our justification and acceptance with God is the real Renovation of our Hearts and Lives is plain not only from this Text which affirms that in thâ— Christian Religion nothing will avail us but the new Creature but likewise from many other clear Texts of Scripture and this whether by Justification be meant our first Justification upon our Faith and Repentance or our continuance in this state or our final Justification by our solemn Acquital and Absolution at the Great Day which in Scripture is called Salvation and Eternal Life That this is the Condition of our first Justification that is of the Forgiveness of our Sins and our being received into the grace and favour of God is plain from all those Texts where this Change is exprest by our Repentance and Conversion by our Regeneration and Renovation by our Purification and Sanctification or by any other terms of the like importance For under every one of these Notions this Change is made the Condition of the forgiveness of our Sins and acceptance to the favour of God Under the Notion of Repentance and Conversion Acts 2. 38. Repent and be Baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins Acts 3. 19. Repent and be Converted that your sins may be blotted out Upon the same account a penitent acknowledgement of our Sins which is an essential part of Repentance is made a Condition of the forgiveness of them 1 John 1. 9. If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness Under the notion of Regeneration and Renovation 2 Cor. 5. 17. If any Man be in Christ that is become a true Christian which is all one with being in a justified state he is a new Creature old things are past away behold all things are became new Tit. 3. 3 4 5 6 7. where the Apostle declares at large what Change is requir'd to put us into a justified state and to entitle us to the inheritance of Eternal Life For we our selves were also sometimes foolish disobedient deceived serving divers lusts and pleasures living in malice and envy hateful and hating one another But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour towards Man appeared not by works of Righteousness which we have done that is not for any precedent Righteousness of ours for we were great Sinners but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour that being justified by his Grace we should be made heirs according to the hope of Eternal Life So that the Change of our former Temper and Conversion and Regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost is antecedently necessary to our Justification that is to the pardon of our Sins and our restitution to the favour of God and the hope of Eternal Life So likewise under the notion of Purification and Sanctification 1 Cor. 6. 9 10 11. where the Apostle enumerates several Sins and Vices which will certainly exclude Men from the Favour and Kingdom of God from which we must be cleansed before we can be justified or saved Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Revilers nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God And such were some of you but ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God 2 Cor. 6. 17 18. where the Apostle likewise makes our purification a Condition of our being received into the favour of God and reckon'd into the number of his Children Touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you and will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my Sons and Daughters saith the Lord Almighty And that by not touching the unclean thing is here certainly meant our Sanctification and Purification from Sin is evident from what immediately follows in the beginning of the next Chapter Having therefore these promises Dearly Beloved let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God that is having this Encouragement that upon this Condition we shall be received to the favour of God let us purifie our selves that we may be capable of this great Blessing And our continuance in this state of grace and favour with God depends upon our perseverance in Holiness for if any Man draw back my Soul shall have no pleasure in him And Lastly this is also the Condition of our final Justification and Absolution by the Sentence of the great Day Mat. 5. 8. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Joh. 3. 3. Except a Man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God Heb. 12. 14. Follow Holiness without which no Man shall see the Lord. 1 John 3. 3. The Apostle there speaking of the blessed sight and enjoyment of God tells us what we must do if ever we hope to be Partakers of it Every Man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure And this Condition here mentioned in the Text of our being New Creatures is the same in sense and substance with those Expressions which we find in the two parallel Texts to this where Faith which is perfected by Charity and keeping the Commandments of God are made the Condition of our justification and acceptance with God Gal. 5. 6. In Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Uncircumcision but Faith which is consummate or made perfect by Charity and 1 Cor. 7. 19. Circumcision is nothing and Uncircumcision is nothing but the keeping of the Commandments of God It is evident that the Design and Meaning of these three Texts is the same and therefore these three Expressions of the new Creature and of Faith perfected by Charity and of keeping the Commandments of God do certainly signifie the same thing That the New Creature signifies â—he change of our state from a state of Disobedience and Sin to a state of Obedience and
that the Resurrection of the Dead should precede the general Judgment And what more Magnificent and suitable to this glorious Solemnity than the awful Circumstances which the Scripture mentions of the appearance of this great Judge that he shall descend from Heaven in great Majesty and Glory attended with his mighty Angels and that every eye shall see him that upon his appearance the frame of Nature shall be in an agony and the whole World in Flame and Confusion that those great and Glorious Bodies of Light shall be obscured and by degrees extinguish'd the Sun shall be darkned and the Moon turned into Blood and all the Powers of Heaven shaken yea the Heavens themselves shall pass away with a great noiseâ— and the Elements dissolve with â—ervent heat the Earth also and all the Works that are therein shall be burnt up I appeal to any Man whether this be not a Representation of things very proper and suitable to that Great Dayâ— wherein he who made the World shall come to Judge it and whether the wit of Man ever devised any thing so awful and so agreeable to the Majesty of God and the solemn Judgement of the whole World The description which Virgil makes of the Judgment of another World of the Elisian Fields and the Infernal Regions how infinitely do they fall short of the Majesty of the Holy Scripture and the description there made of Heaven and Hell and of the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord so that in Comparison they are Childish and trifling and yet perhaps he had the most regular and most govern'd imagination of any Man that ever lived and observed the gâ—eatest decorum in his Characters and Descriptions But who can declare the great things of God but he to whom God shall reveal them Secondly This Expression of the â—â—ath of God being Revealed from Heaven doth not only imply the clear discovery of the thing but likewise something extraordinary in the manner of the Discovery It is not only a Natural impression upon the Minds of Men that God will severely punish â—inners but he hath taken care that Mankind should be instructed in this Matter in a very particular and extraordinary manner He hath not left it to the Reason of Men to Collect it from the Consideration of his Attributes and Perfections his Holiness and Justice and from the Consideration of the promiscuous administration of his Providence towards good and bad Men in this World but he hath been pleased to send an extraordinaâ—y Person from Heaven on purpose to declare this thing plainly to the World the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven that is God sent his own Son from Heaven on purpose to declare his wrath against all obstinate and impenitent Sinners that he might effectually awaken the drouzie World to Repentance he hath sent an extraordinary Ambassador into the World to give warning to all those who continue in their Sins of the Judgment of the great Day and to summon them before his dreadful Tribunal So the Apostle tells the Athenians Acts 17. 30 31. Now he commandeth all Men â—very where to Repent because he hath appointed a Day in which he will judge the World in Righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all Men in that he hath raised him from the Dead Thirdly This Expression implies likewise the certainty of this Discovery If the wrath of God had only been declared in the Discourses of Wise Men tho' grounded upon very probable Reason yet it might have been brought into doubt by the contrary Reasonings of Subtle and Disputing Men but to put the Matter out of all question we have a Divine Testimony for it and God hath confirmed it from Heaven by Signs and Wonders and Miracles especially by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead for by this he hath given assurance unto all Men that it is he who is ordained of God to judge the quick and dead Thus you see in what respect the wrath of God is said to be reveal'd from Heaven in that the Gospel hath made a more clear and particular and certain discovery of the Judgment of the great Day than ever was made to the World before I proceed to the Third Observation which I shall speak but briefly to namely that every Wicked and Vicious Practice doth expose Men to this dreadful danger The Apostle instanceth in the two chief Heads to which the Sins of Men may be reduced Impiety towards God and Unrighteousness towards Menâ— and therefore he is to be understood to denounce the wrath of God against every particular kind of Sin comprehended under these general Heads so that no Man that allows himself in any impiety and wickedness of Life can hope to escape the wrath of God Therefore it concerns us to be entirely Religious and to have respect to all God's Commandments and to take heed that we do not allow our selves in the practice of any kind of Sin whatsoever because the living in any one known Sin is enough to expose us to the dreadful wrath of God Tho' a Man be Just and Righteous in his Dealingâ— with Men yet if he neglect the Worship and Service of God this will certainly bring him under Condemnation and on the other hand tho' a Man may serve God never so diligently and devoutly yet if he be defective in Righteousness toward Men if he deal falsly and fraudulently with his Neighbour he shall not escape the wrath of God tho' a Man pretend to never so much Piety and Devotion yet if he be unrighteous he shall not inherit the Kingdom of God if any Man over-reach and defraud his Brother in any matter the Lord is the avenger of such saith St. Paul 1 Thes 4. 6. So that here is a very powerful Argument to take Men off from all Sin and to engage them to a constant and careful discharge of their whole Duty toward God and Men and to Reform whatever is amiss either in the frame and temper of their Minds or in the Actions and Course of their Lives because any kind of wickedness any one sort of vicious Course lays Men open to the vengeance of God and the punishments of another World the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of Men there is no exception in the Case we must forsake all Sin subdue every Lust be holy in all manner of Conversation otherwise we can have no reasonable hopes of escaping the wrath of God and the damnation of Hell But I proceed to the Fourth Observation namely that it is a very great aggravation of Sin for Men to offend against the light of their own Minds The Apostle here aggravates the wickedness of the Heathen World that they did not live up to that Knowledge which they had of God but contradicted it in their Lives holding the truth of God in unrighteousness And that he speaks here of the Heathen is
Mankind John 15. 22 23 24. If I had not come and spoken unto them they had not had sin that is in Comparison their Sin had been much more excusable but now they have no cloak for their sin He that hateth me hateth my Father also If I had not done among them the works which none other Man did they had not had sin but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father How is that Our Saviour means that they had now sinned against all the advantages of knowing the will of God that Mankind could possibly have at once opposing Natural Light which was the dispensation of the Father and the clearest revelation of God's will in the Dispensation of the Gospel by his Son Now have they both seen and hated both Me and my Father The two remaining Observations I shall reserve to another Opportunity SERMON XI The Danger of all known Sin both from the Light of Nature and Revelation ROM I. 18 19. For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of Men who hold the truth in unrighteousness because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God hath shewed it unto them I Have handled Four of the Observations which I rais'd from these Words and shall now proceed to the other Two that remain Fifth Observation That the Natural Knowledge which Men have of God if they live contrary to it is a sufficient evidence of their holding the trâ—th of God iâ— unâ—â—ghteousness For thâ—â—eason why the Apostle chargeth them with this is Because that which may be known of God is manifest in that God hath shewed it â—nto them There is a Natural Knowledge of God and of the Duty we owe to him which the Apostle calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that of God which is obvious to be known by the light of Nature and is as much as is absolutely necessary for us to know There is something of God that is incomprehensible and beyond the reach of our Understandings but his Being and Essential Perfections may be known which he calls his Eternal Power and Godhead thâ—se he tells us are clearly seen being understood by the things which are made that is the Creation of the World is a plain demonstration to Men of the Being and Power of God and if so then God is naturally â—nown to Men the contrary whereof Socinus positively maintains tho' therein he be forsaken by most of his Followers an Opinion in my Judgment very unworthy of one who not without Reason was esteemed so great a Master of Reason and tho' I believe he did not see it undermining the strongest and surest Foundation of all Religion which when the Natural Notions of God are once taken away will certainly want its best support Besides that by denying any Natural Knowledge of God and his Essential Perfections he freely gives away one of the most plausible grounds of opposing the Doctrine of the Trinity But because this is a Matter of great Consequence and he was a great Man and is not to be confuted by contempt but by better Reason if it can be found I will Consider his Reasons for this Opinion and return a particular Answer to them First He says that if the Knowledge of God were Natural it would not be of Faith but the Apostle says that we must believe that he is The force of which Argument if it have any lies in this that the Object of Faith is Divine Revelation and therefore we cannot be said to believe what we Naturally know The Schoolmen indeed say so but the Scripture useth the word Faith more largely for a rela perswasion of any thing whether grounded upon Sense or Reason or Divine Revelation And our Saviour's Speech to Thomas Because thou hast seen thou hast believed does sufficiently intimate that a Man may believe what he sees and if so what should hinder but that a Man may be said to believe what he Naturally knows that is be really perswaded that there is a God from Natural Light Secondly His next Argument is because the same Apostle concludes Enoch to have believed God because he pleased God and without Faith it is impossible to please him From whence he says it is certain that Men may be without this Belief which if it be Natural they cannot Indeed if the Apostle had said that whoever believes a God must of necessity obey and please him then the Inference had been good that all Men do not Naturally believe a God because it is certain they do not please him but it is not good the other way no more than if a Man should argue thus that because whoever acts reasonably must be endowed with Reason therefore Men are not Naturally endowed with Reason For as Men may Naturally be endowed with Reason and yet not always make use of it so Men may Naturally know and believe a God and yet not be careful to please him His Third Argument is that the Scripture says that there are some that do not believe a God for which he cites that of David The Fool hath said in his heart there is no God which certainly proves that bad Men live so as if they believed there were no God nay it may farther import that they endeavour as much as they can to stifle and extinguish the belief of a God in their Minds and would gladly perswade themselves there is no God because it is convenient for them there should be none and whether David meant so or not it is very probable that some may arrive to that height of Impiety as for a time at least and in some moods to disbelieve a God and to be very confident of the Arguments on that side But what then Is the Knowledge and Belief of a God therefore not Natural to Mankind Nature it self as constant and uniform as it is admits of some Irregularities and Exceptions in Effects that are meerly Natural much more in those which have something in them that is voluntary and depends upon the good or bad use of our Reason and Understanding and there is no arguing from what is Monstrous against what is Natural It is Natural for Men to have five Fingers upon a Hand and yet some are born otherwise but in voluntary Agents that which is Natural may be perverted and in a great measure extinguisht in some particular instances so that there is no force at all in this Objection His Fourth and last Argument is that there have not only been particular Persons but whole Nations who have had no sense nor so much as suspicion of a Deity This I confess were of great force if it were true and for the proof of this he produceth the instance of Brasil in America But I utterly deny the matter of fact and History and challenge any Man to bring good testimony not only of any Nation but of any City in the World that ever were professed Atheists I know
if ye know and do them Now to convince Men of so important a Truth I shall endeavour to make out these two things First That the Gospel makes the Practice of Religion a necessary Condition of our Happiness Secondly That the Nature and Reason of the thing makes it a necessary Qualification for it First The Gospel makes the Practice of Religion a necessary Condition of our Happiness Our Saviour in his first Sermon where he repeats the Promise of Blessedness so often he makes no promise of it to the meer knowledge of Religion but to the Habit and Practice of Christian Graces and Virtues of Meekness and Humility and Mercifulnâ—sâ— and Righteousness and Peaceableness and Pâ—râ—ty and Patience under Suffâ—rings and Persecutions for Righteousness sake And Matth. 7. 2. our Saviour doth most fully declare that the happinesâ— which he promises did not belong to those who made profession of his Name and were so well acquainted with his Doctrine as to be able to instruct others if themselves in the mean time did not practise it Not every one that â—aith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven Many will say unto me in that day Lord Lord have we not Prophesied in thy Name and in thy Name cast out Devils and done many wondrous works and then will I profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye workers of Iniquity Tho' they profess to know him yet because their Lives were not answerable to the Knowledge which they had of him and his Doctrine he declares that he will not know them but bid them depart from him And then he goes on to shew that tho' a Man attend to the Doctrine of Christ and gain the knowledge of it yet if it do not descend into his Life and govern his Actions all that Man's hopes of Heaven are fond and groundless and only that Man's hopes of Heaven are well grounded who knows the Doctrine of Christ and does it Ver. 24. whosoever heareth these Sayings of mine and doth them I will liken him to a Wise Man who built his house upon a rock and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not for it was founded upon a rocâ— and every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doth them not shall be liken'd to a foolish Man who built his house upon the sand and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell and great was the fall of it Tho' a Man had a knowledge of Religion as great and perfect as that which Solomon had of Natural Things large as the sand upon the sea shore yet all thâ—s Knowledge separated from Practice would be like the sand also in another respect a weak Foundation for any Man to build his hopes â—f Happiness upon To the same purpose St. Paul speaks Rom. 2. 13. Not the hearers of the Law are just before God but the dâ—ers of the Law shall be justified So likewise St. James Chap. 1. 22. Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your own selves and ver 25. Who 's looketh into the perfect Law of Libert that is the Law or Doctrine of the Gospel and continueth therein he being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work this Man shall be blessed in his deed and therefore he adds that the truth and reality of Religion is to be measured by the effects of it in the government of our words and ordering of our Lives Ver. 26. If any Man among you seem to be religious and bridleth not his tongue but deceiveth his own heart this Man's Religion is vain Pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this to visit the Fatherless and Widow in their affâ—iction and to keep himself unspotted from the World Men talk of Religion and keep a great stir about it but nothing will pass for true Religion before God but the Virtuous and Charitable Actions of a good Life and God will accept no Man to Eternal Life upon any other Condition So the Apostle tells us most expresly Heb. 12. 14. Follow peace with all Men and holiness without which no Man shall see the Lord. Secondly As God hath made the Practice of Religion a necessary Condition of our Happiness so the very Nature and Reason of the thing makes it a necessary Qualification for it It is necessary that we become like to God in order to the enjoyment of him and nothing makes us like to God but the Practice of Holiness and Goodness Knowledge indeed is a Divine Perfection but that alone as it doth not render a Man like God so neither doth it dispose him for the enjoyment of him If a Man had the understanding of an Angel he might for all that be a Devil he that committeth sin is of the Devil and whatever Knowledge such a Man may have he is of a devilish temper and disposition but every one that doth righteousness is born of God By this we are like God and only by our likeness to him do we become capable of the â—ight and enjoyment of him therefore every Man that hopes to be Happy by the blessed â—ight of God in the next Life must endeavour after Holiness in this Life So the same Apostle tells us 1 John 3. 3. Every Man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure A wicked temper and disposition of Mind is in the very Nature of the thing utterly inconsistent with all reasonable hopes of Heaven Thus I have shewn that the Practice of Religion and the doing of what we know to be our Duty is the only way to Happiness And now the proper Inference from all this is to put Men upon the careful Practice of Religion Let no Man content himself with the Knowledge of his Duty unless he do it and to this purpose I shall briefly urge these three Considerations First This is the great End of all our Knowledge in Religion to practise what we know The knowledge of God and of our Duty hath so essential a respect to Practice that the Scripture will hardly allow it to be properly called Knowledge unless it have an influence upon our Lives 1 John 2. 3 4. Hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his Commandmentâ— He that saith I know him and keepeth not his Commandments is a Lyar and the truth is not in him Secondly Practice is the best way to increase and perfect our Knowledge Knowledge directs us in our Practice but Practice confirms and increaseth our Knowledge John 7. 17. If any Man will do the will of God he shall know of the Doctrine The best way to know God is to be like him our selves and to have the lively image of his Perfections imprinted upon our Souls and the best way to understand
and virtue is able to withstand But where Men are sincerely good and honestly resolv'd the Providence of God doth ward off these fierce blows and put by these violent thrusts and by a secret disposal of things keep them from being assaulted by these irresistible kinds of temptations The Consideration whereof as it is a great encouragement to Men to be sincerely good so likewise a great Argument for a continual dependance upon the Providence of God and to take us off from confidence in our selves and our own strength And this use the Apostle makes of it 1 Cor. 10. 12. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth that is confident that nothing shall be able to shake him or throw him down take heed lest he fall there hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to Men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but what is humane nothing but what an humane strength assisted by an ordinary grace of God may be able to resist and Conquer But there are greater and more violent temptations than these which you have not yet been tried with and when those happen we must have recourse to God for an extraordinary assistance And this is the Second way I mention'd whereby the Providence of God does secure good Men in case of extraordinary temptations which no humane strength can probably resist And this the same Apostle assures us of in the very next words God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it That is in case of great and violent temptations such as the Christians in the height of their Persecutions were exposed to God will secretly minister strength and support equal to the force and power of the temptation And this God did in an extraordinary manner to the Christian Martyrs and that to such a degree as made them joyfully to embrace their Sufferings and with the greatest chearfulness in the world to endure those torments which no humane patience was able to bear And where God doth thus secure Men against temptations or support them under them it is no reflection at all upon the goodness or justice of his Providence to permit them to be thus tempted Secondly God permits others to be thus tempted by way of Judgment and Punishment for some former great Sins and Provocations which they have been guilty of And thus many times God punisheth great and notorious Offenders by permitting them to fall into great temptations which meeting with a vicious disposition are likely to be too hard for them especially considering how by a long habit of wickedness and wilful commission of great and notorious Sins they have made themselves an easie prey to every temptation and have driven the Spirit of God from them and deprived themselves of thoâ—e aids and restraints of his Grace which he ordinarily affords not only to good Men but likewise to those who are not very bad And thus God is said to have hardened Pharaoh by those Plagues and Judgments which he sent upon him and his Kingdom But if we carefully read the Story it is said that he first harden'd himself and then that God hardened him that is he being hardened under the first Judgments of God God sent more which meeting with his obstinacy had this unnatural effect upon him to harden him yet more not that God did infuse any wickedness or obstinacy into him but by his just Judgments sent more Plagues upon him which hardened him yet more and which were likely to have that effect upon him considering the ill temper of the Man And it was just by way of punishment that they should And so likewise Joshua 11. 19 20. it is said that the Cities of the Canaanites did not make peace with Joshua because it was of the Lord to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in Battel that he might destroy them utterly that is for their former iniquities the measure whereof was now full the Providence of God did justly bring them into and leave them under those Circumstances which made them obstinate against all terms of Peace and this proved fatal to them And in the like sense we are to understand several other expressions in Scripture which likewise might seem very harsh As Isaiah 6. 10. Make the heart of this People fat and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and convert and be healed all which expressions signifie no more but that God for the former provocations and impenitency of that People did leave them to their own hardness and blindness so that they did not desire to understand and make use of the means of their recovery So likewise Rom. 1. 24. God is said to have given up the idolatrous Heathen to uncleanness to vile and unnatural lusts and Ver. 28. to a reprobate and injudicious Mind that is as a punishment of their Idolatry he left them to the power of those temptations which betrayed them to the vilest lusts And to mention but one Text more 2 Thes 2. 11. the Apostle threatens those that rejected the truth that for this cause God would send them strong delusions the efficacy of error that they should believe a lye that they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness that is as a just punishment for their renouncing the truth God gave them over to the power of delusion their error had its full scope at them to tempt them with all its colours and pretences But it is observable that in all these places which I have mention'd God is said to give Men up to the power of temptation as a punishment of some former great Crimes and Provocations And it is not unjust with God thus to deal with Men to leave them to the power of temptation when they had first wilfully forsaken him and in this case God doth not tempt Men to Sin but leaves them to themselves to be tempted by their own hearts lusts and if they yield and are Conquered it is their own fault because they have neglected God's grace whereby they might have been able to have resisted those temptations and have forced his holy Spirit to withdraw himself from them and to leave them open and naked to those assaults of temptation against which they might otherwise have been sufficiently armed Thirdly The last end of temptation which I mentioned is to try Men with a direct purpose and intention to seduce Men to Sin Thus wicked Men tempt others and thus the Devil tempts Men. Thus he tempted our first Parents and seduced them from their Obedience and Allegiance to God Thus he tempted Job by bringing him into those Circumstances which were very likely to have forc'd him into impatience and discontent And thus he tempted our blessed Saviour but found