BX 5200 . B3 18A5 v. 1 Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691. The practical works of Richard Baxter; with a Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/practicalworksof01baxt_0 i t * I I ..ON DON THE PRACTICAL WORKS OF / RICHARD BAXTER WITH A PREFACE, GIVING SOME ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR, AND OF THIS EDITION OF HIS I'HACTICAL M'OKKS; AN ESSAY ON HIS GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES AND A PORTRAIT. IN FOUR VOLUMES. VOL. I. ? LONDON: ARTHUR BAIL AND CO., 25, PATERNOSTER ROW. MDCCCXLVH. JOHN GUILDS AND SON, BUNGAY. CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. An Essay on the Genius, Works, and Times of Baxter A Preface, giving some Account ok the Author, and of this Edition of his Practical Works A CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY ; OR, A SUM OF PRACTICAL THEOLOGY, AND CASES OF CONSCIENCE. PART I.— CHRISTIAN ETHICS. PAGE The Intvoduction 7 CHAPTER I. directions to unconverted, graceless sinners, FOR THE attainment OF SAVING GRACE. part I. What is presupposed in the reader of these Directions R Twenty Directions 11 PART II. Thirty Temptations whereby the devil hindereih men's conversion, with the proper remedies a(;ainst them 28 Ten Temptations by which he would persnade men, that their heinous, mortal sins, which prove them unconverted, are but the pardoned infirmities of the penitent .34 CHAPTER II. DIRECTIONS TO WEAK CHRISTIANS FOR THEIR ESTAB- LISHMENT AND CKOWTH. Direct. I. Against receiving rehgion merely for the novelty or refuitation of it 3G Direct. II. Let judgment, zeal, and practice go equally together ....... 38 Direct. Hi. Keep a short method of divinity, or a catechism, Still m your memory . . '. .39 Direct. IV. Certain cautions about controversies iu religion. Heb. vi. 1, opened . .40 Direct. V. Think not toohighlv of your first degrees of grace or gifts. Tim6 and diligence aie necessary a 2 PACE . XXI . Ixi to growth. How the Spirit doth illuminate. The danger of this sin 41 Direct. VI. Let neitiier difficulties nor oppositions, in the beginning, discourage you. Reasons . . 43 Direct. VI I. Value, and use a powerful, faithful inmistry. Reasons. Objections answered . . 44 Direct. VlII. For charity, unity, and Catholicism, against schism. Pretences for schism confuted . 46 Direct. IX. Let not sufferings make you sin by pas- sion, or dishonouring authority . . . .48 Direct. X. Take heed of running from one extreme into anotlier ib. Direct. XI. Be not too confident in vour first appre- hensions or opinions, but modestly suspicious of them 49 Direct. XII. What to do when controversies divide the church. Of silencing truiii .... .50 Direct. XIII. What godbness is. The best life on earth. How Satan woidd make it seem troublesome and ungrateful. 1. Hy difficulties. 2. By various sects. 3. Bv scrupulosity. 4. By your overdoing in your own inventions. .5. By perplexing fears and sorrows. G. My unmortified lusts. 7. By actual sms. 8. By ignorance of the covenant of grace . ."il Direct. XIV. Mortify tlie flesh, and rule the senses and the appetite . ...... .54 Direct. XV. He wary in choosing, not only your teachers, but vour company also. Their characters 55 Direct. XVI. VVhat books to prefer and read, and what to reject ....... 5G Direct. XVil. Take not a doctrine of libertinism for free grace ........ 57 Direct. XVIII. Take heed lest grace degenerate into counterfeits, formality, &c 59 Direct. XIX. Reckon not on prosperity or long life; but live as dying 60 Direct. XX. See that your religion be purely divine. That (iod be your First, and Last, and All : man nothing 61 CHAPTER III. THE GENERAL GRAND DIRECTIONS FOR WALKING WITH GOD. IN A LIFE OF FAITH AND HOLINESS: CONTAIN- ING THE ESSENTIALS OF GODLINESS AND CHRISTI- ANITY. Grand Direct. I. Understand well the nature, grounds, reason, and order of failli and godliness. Proposi- tions ofienini.; somewiiat of them. The reader must note, that here I blotted out the tneihod and helps iv CONTENTS. of faith, havini; more fully o|iciie(l them in a treatise called " The Reasons of the Ciiristiaii Religion : " and another of the " Unreasonableness of Infi- delity " 63 Grand jytirct. II. llow to live by faith on Christ. liow to make use of Christ, in twenty necessilios . 64 Grand Direct. III. How to btlievo in tlio Holy (ihost, and live by his grace. His witness, seal, earnest, &c. Q. When good ett'ects are from means, from our endeavour, and when from the Spirit? 69 Grand Direct. W. For a true, ordcrlv, and practical knowledge of (>od. A sclienie of his attributes . 71 Grand Direct. V. 0( self-resignation to (iod us our Owner. Motives, marks, means . . . .74 Grand Direct. VI. Of subjection to tJod as our Sovereign King. What it is. How to bring tiie soul into subjection to (jod. How to keep up a ready and constant obedience to him . . .75 Grand Direct. \'II. To learn of Christ as our Teacher. How ? The imitation of Christ . . 79 Grand Direct. VIII. To obey Christ our Physician or Saviour, in his repairing, healing work . . 03 How each faculty is diseased or de[)raved / The in- tellect; its acts and maladies. The will. Q. Whether the locomotive and sense can move us to sin, without the consent of the will, (or reason,) upon its bare omission ? The sin of the memory, imagination, affections, sensitive appetite, exterior parts, which needs a cure. Forty intrinsical evils in sin, which, make up its malignity. The common aggravations of sin. Special aggravations of the sins of the regenerate. Directions to get a hatred of sin. How 10 cure it 84 Grand Direct. IX. Of the christian warfare under Christ. Who are our enemies. Of the devil. The state of the armies, and of the war between Christ and Satan. The ends, grounds, advantages, auxiliaries, instruments, and methods of the tempter 91 How Satan keepeth off the forces of Christ, and frus- trateth all means 95 Christ's contrary methods ... . . 96 Temptations to particular sins, with directions for pre- servation ana remedy. 1. How Satan prepareth his baits of temptation. 2. How he a|)plieth them ib. Temptations to draw us off from duty . . . 107 Temptations to frustrate holy duties .... 109 Grand Direct. X. How to work as servants to Christ our Lord. The true doctrine of good works . .110 Directions for our serving Christ in well-doing. Where are many rules to know what are good works, and how to do them acceptably and suc- cessfully 112 Q. Is doing good, or avoiding sin, to be most look- ed at, in the choice of a calling or employment of life? . . . . . . . .114 Q. May one change his calling, for advantages to do good ? ib. Q. Who are excused from living in a calling, or from work? 115 Q. Must I do a thing as a good work, while 1 doubt whether it be good, indifferent, or sin ? . . .116 Q. Is it not every man's duty to obey his conscience? ib. Q. Is it not a sin to go against conscience ? . . ib. Q. Whether the formal cause alone do constitute obedience? ........ ib. Q. How sin must be avoided by one that hath an erroneous conscience ? . . . . . . ib. Q. How can a man lawfully resist or strive against an erring conscience, when he striveth against a sup- posed truth ? ....... ib. Q. Is not going against conscience, sinning against knowledge ? ib. Q. W hen the information of conscience requireth a long time, is it not a duty to obey it at the present ? 117 Q. May one do a great good when it cannot be done but by a little sin (as a lie) ? ib. Q. Must I not forbear all good works, which 1 can- not do without sin ? ib. PAG8 Q. Must I forbear a cerfctin, great duty, (as preach- ing the gospel,) for fear of a small, uncertain sin ? 117 Q. W hat shall a man do that is in doubt, after all the means that he can use ? 118 Sixteen Rules to guide a doubting conscience, and to know, among many seeming duties, which is the greatest, and to be preferred ib. Grand Direct. XI. "To love God as our I'ather, and Felicity, and End 120 The nature of holy love. God must be loved as the universal, infim'te Good. Whether passionately? What of God must be loved ? .... 121 What must be the motive of our first love ? Whether (iod's special love to us? The sorts of holy love. Why love is the highest grace . . . . ib. The contraries of holy love. How God is hated? The counterfeits of love 123 Directions how to excite and exercise divine love . ib. How to see God. Signs of true love . . .132 Grand Direct. XII. Absolutely to trust God with soul, body, and all, with full acquiescence. The nature of trust (of which see more in my " Life of P'aith," and " Display of Saving Faith" ) . . 134 The contraries. The counterfeits. Q. Of a particu- lar faith. The uses of trust 135 Fifteen Directions for a quieting and comforting trust in God ib. Grand Direct. XIII. That the temjierament of our religion may be a delight in God and holiness. Twenty Directions to procure it ; with the reasons of it ■ 138 Grand Direct. XIV. Of thankfulness to God, our grand Benefactor. The signs of it. Eigliteen Directions how to obtain and exercise it . .142 Grand Direct. X\'. For glorifying (!od. Ten Direc- tions how the mind must glorify God. Ten Direc- tions for praising God, or glorifying him with our tongues. Where are the reasons for praising God. Twelve Directions for glorifymg God Dy our lives . 146 Grand Diiect. XV' I. For heavenly-niindedness . 153 G/«H'/ J)//ef/. XVII. For self-denial. Only named, as being formerly written of at large . . . ib. An Appendix of the reasons and measure of divine and self-love 154 CHAPTER IV. SUBORDINATE DIRECTIONS AGAINST THE GREAT SINS MOST DIRECTLY CONTRARY TO GODLINESS. PART I. Directions against unbelief. Q. Whether it be un- belief, not to believe that our sins are pardoned, and we elected ? Can a man be surer that he be- lieveth, than he is that the thing believed is true? The article of remission of sin is to be believed applyingly . . . . . . . .166 Thirty-six Directions or helps against unbelief . .167 Q. Why the prophets were to be believed? . . 170 PART II. Directions against hardness of heart. What it is. The evd and danger of it 171 PART III. Directions agninst hypocrisy. What it is ; and who are hypocrites. The helps 176 PART IV. Directions against inordinate man-pleasing, or idoliz- ing man; or that overvaluing man's favour, which is the fruit of pride and cause of hypocrisy. What the sin is and is not. The difficulty of man-pleasing. CONTENTS. V PACE Pleasing God is our business and end. The mo- lives to it. The signs of it 183 PART V. Directions against pride, and for humility . . . 192 What they are. The inward seemings of pride, that are not pride. The outward seemings of pride, that are not it. The counterfeits of humility. Signs of the worst part of pride against God. Signs of the next degrees of pride against God. Signs of pride in and about religious duties. Signs of pride in common converse. The dreadful conse- quents of pride. A summary of the signs of hu- mility. Many considerations and helps against pride ib. PART VI. Directions against covetousness, love of riches, and worldly cares 214 What love of riches is lawful; and what unlawful : and what is covetousness. The malignity of it. The signs of it. Counterfeits or false signs of one not covetous, which deceive many. False signs or appearances of covetousness, that cause many to be falsely accused. Means to destroy it . . ib. PART VII. Directions against the master sin ; sensuality, flesh- pleasing, or voluptuousness 222 The nature of flesh-pleasing. What meant by flesh ; and what is man's corruption. What flesh-pleas- ing is unlawful, and how far a sin. The malignity of the sin. The plea or excuses of flesh-pleasers answered. Counterfeits of mortification or tem- perance, which deceive many flesh-pleasers. Seem- ings of sensuality which are not it. The enmity of the flesh ib. CHAPTER V. ruUTHEE SUBORDINATE DIRECTIONS FOR THE NEXT GREAT DUTIES OF RELIGION ; NECESSARY TO THE RIGHT PER- FORMANCE OF THE GRAND DUTIES. And first, Directions for redeeming as well as im- proving time. What is time here, and what are opportunities. What redeeming it is. To what uses, and from what, and by what, time must be redeemed 230 Tit. 1. Directions contemplative for improving time .232 Tit. 2. Directions contemplative for taking the due season 238 Tit. Z. Directions practical for iniproving time . 239 Rules to know what time must oe spent in . . 240 Tit. 4. Thieves or time-wasters to be watched against. 1. Sloth. 2. Excess of sleep. 3. Inordinate adorning of the body. 4. I'omp and curiosity in attendance, house, furniture, provision, entertainment, compli- ment and servitude to the humour of time-wasters. 5. Needless feasting, gluttony, and tippling. 6. Idle talk. 7. Vain and sinful company. 8. I'astinies, inordinate recreations, sports, plays. 9. I'.xchss of worldly business and cares. 10. Vain and sinful thoughts. 11. Heading vain books, romances, lay-books, &c. and vain studies. 12. An ungodly eart, which doth all things for a carnal end . 242 Tit. 5. On whom the duty of redeeming time is principally incumbent. I'^ight sorts especially called to redeem time 24.> CHAPTER Vr. DIRECTIONS ron TIIE GOVERNMENT OF THK THOUGHTS. Tit. 1. Directions against evil and idle thoughts . 247 PAGE Tit. 2. Directions to furnish the mind with good thoughts. Twenty great subjects or promptuaries affording abundant matter for meditation . . 249 Tit. 3. Directions to make good thoughts effectual . 255 1 . (ieneral directions for meditation or good thoughts ib. 2. Particular directions about the work of meditation 267 Tit. 4. The difference between a contemplative and an active life. Q. 1. VVhat is a contemplative life ? Q. 2. Is every man bound to it ? Q. 3. Whose duty is it? Q. 4. How far are all men bound to contemplation ? Answered in twelve Rules . . 259 Tit. 5. Directions to the melancholy about their thoughts. Signs of melancholy. The causes. Directions for cure. Special truths to be known, for preventing causeless troubles, &c. . . . 261 Tit. 6. Twentv Directions for young students for the most profitable ordering of their studying thoughts 267 Twenty instances of extremes to be avoided . . 271 CHAPTER VII. DIRECTIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PASSIONS. Tit.i. Directions against all sinful passions in general 273 Tit. 2. Directions against sinful love of creatures . 275 1. Helps to discover sinful love . . . . ib. 2. Helps to mortify sinful love .... 276 Tit. 3. Directionsagalnstsinfuldesiresand discontents 277 Tit. 4. Directions against sinful mirth and pleasure . 280 Tit. 5. Directions against sinful hopes . . . 282 Tit. 6. Directions against sinful hatred, aversion, or backwardness towards God and godliness . . 283 Tit. 7. Directions against sinful anger . . . 284 1. Directions meditative against it. 2. Directions practical against it ib. Tit. 8. Directions against sinful fear . . . 287 1. Of God. 2. Against sinful fear of the devil. 3. Against the sinful fear of men, and of suflTerings by them ib. Tit. 9. Directions against sinful grief and trouble of mind 293 Tit. 10. Directions against sinful despair and doubt- ing. What it is. When the day of grace is past. What sin is mortal, and what is infirmity, &c. . 296 CHAPTER VIII. DIRECTIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE SENSES. PART I. General Directions to govern them all by faith . .301 Deny not all our senses as the papists . . 303 PART II. Particular Directions for the government of the eyes . 306 PART III. Directions for the government of the ear . . . 307 PART IV. Directions for the governing the taste and appetite . 309 Tit. 1. Directions against gluttony. 1. What it is. 2. What are its causes. 3. The greatness of the sin. 4. Directions and helps against it. Rules for the measure of eating ib. Tit. 2. Against excess of drink, and drunkenness. 1. What it is. The various degrees. 2. The causes. 3. The greatness of the sin. 4. The excuses of it. (J. May we drink when thirsty, &c. ? Q. May one drink healths ? 5. Twenty Questions for the convic- tion of drunkards. Twelve Questions to prove that it is their wilfulness and not mere disability to for- bear. Practical Directions against tippling, &c. . 318 vi CONTENTS. Til. 1. Directions agninst fornication and all iinclean- ness. The greatness oC tlie sin. Directions tor tlie cure 330 Tit. 2. Directions against inward, filliiy lusLs . . 335 Directions against sinful excess of sleep . . 338 1. What is excess. 2. The evil of it. Q. Whether love of sleep may be a mortal sin '! The cure . ib. PART VII. Directions against sinful dreams . . . .341 CHAPTER IX. DIRECTIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE TONGl'E. Tit. 1. The general Directions. The moment of it. The duties of the ton;;ue. Thirty tongue sins. Tiie cure .342 Til. 2. Directions against profane swearing, and using God's name unreverently and in vain . . 347 What is an oath. Wliat is a lawful oath. How far the swearer's intent is necessary to the being of an oath. How far swearing by creatures is a sin. Q. Is it lawful to lay the hand on the book and kiss it in taking an oath ? Q. Is it lawful to give another such an oath or worse ! When (iod's name is taken in vain. The greatness of the sin. The cure . ib. Tit. 3. Directions against lying and dissembling 353 What truth is. How far we are bound to speak truth. Q. 1. Whether to every one that a-^keth us ? Q. 2. Or to every one that I answer to ? Q. 3. Are we bound ever to speak the whole truth ? Q. 4. Is all logical falsehood a sm (that is, to speak dis- agreeably to the matter). Q. 5. Or to speak con- trary to our minds (J. 6. Is it a sin when we speak not a known untruth, nor with a purpose to deceive? (i. 7. Or is this a lie ? Q. 8. Must our words be ever true in the proper, literal S-'nse ? Q. 9. Must I speak in the common sense, or in the hearer's sense? Q. 10. Is it lawful to deceive an- other by true words ? Q. 11. Doth lying consist in deceiving, or in speaking falsely as to the matter, or in speaking contrary to our minds ? What a lie is. How sin is voluntary. The intrinsical evil of lying. The cure ....... ib. Q. 1 . Is often lying a certain sign of a gracele';s state ? Where the question is again fully resolved (because it is of great importance). W hat sin is mortal, and what is mortified 359 Q. 2. Is it not contrary to the light of nature to suffer, e. g. a parent, a king, myself, my country, rather to be destroyed than to save them by a harmless lie ! The case of the raidwives in Egypt, and of llahab, opened 360 Q. 3. Is deceit by action lawful, which seemeth a practical lie ? And how shall we interpret Christ's making as if he would have gone further, Luke xxiv. 28 ; and David's feigning himself mad ; and com- mon stratagems in war ; and doing thmgs purposely to deceive another . ..... ib. Q. 4. Is is lawful to tempt a child or servant to lie, merely to try them ? . . . . . . ib. Q. 5. Is all equivocation unlawful ? . . . 361 Q. 6. Is all mental reservation unlawful ? . . ib. Q. 7. May children, servants, or subjects, in danger, use words which tend to hide their faults ? . . ib. Q. 8. May I speak that which I think is true, but am not sure ? ib. Q. 9. May I believe or speak that of another by way of news, discourse, character, which 1 hear reported by godly, credible pereons, or by many ? . ib. Tit. 4. Directions against idle talk and babbling. What is not idle talk ; and what is. The sorts of it. The greatness of the sin in general, and the special aggravations. The cure. Who must most carefully watch against this sin .... 361 Til. 5. Directions against filthy, ribald, scurrilous talk 367 Tit. 6. Directions against profane deriding, scorning, or opposing godliness ...... ib. What tlie sin is. The greatness of it, and sottish impudence, and terrible consequents. The cure . 368 CHAPTER X. DIRECTIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE BODY. PART 1. Directions about our labour and callings . . . 375 Tit. 1. Directions for the right choice of our labours or callings. Q. 1. Is labour necessary to all ? Q. 2. What labour is necessary ? Q. 3. Will religion exxuse us from labour? Q. 4. Will riches excuse us? Q. 5. Why labour is necessary ? The good of it. Q. 6. May a man have a calling consisting of various uncertain works ? Q. 7. May one have divers trades or callings at once? Directions . . . ib. Tit. 2. Directions against sloth and idleness. What it is, and what not. The aggravation of it. The signs of sloth. The greatness of the sin. Who should be most caieful to avoid it . . . . 378 Tit. 3. Directions against sloth and laziness in things spiritual, and for zeal and diligence. The kinds of false zeal. The mischiefs of false zeal. The signs of holy zeal. The excellency of zeal and dili- gence. Motives to excite us to it. Other helps . 382 Directions against sin in sports and recreations . . 386 What lawful recreation is. Eighteen necessary quali- fications of it: or eighteen sorts of sinful recreation. Q. Must all wicked men forbear recreations ? Q. What to judge of stage-plays, gaming, cards, dice, &c. The evil of them opened. Twelve convincing questions to them that use or plead for such pas- times. Seven more considerations for vain and sportful youths. Further Directions m the use of recreations ib. Directions about apparel, and against the sin therein committed ........ 391 Q. 1 . May pride of gravity and holiness be seen in apparel ? Q. 2. How else it appeareth ? Q. 3. May not a deformity be hid by apparel or painting ? Q. 4. May we follow the fashions ? Further directions ib. PART II. CHRISTIAN ECONOMICS. CHAPTER I. Directions about marriage ; for choice and contract . 394 Q. Whether marriage be indifferent? Who are called to marry ? Who may not marry ? . . . . 395 Q. What if parents command it to one that it will be a hurt to ? What if I have a corporal necessity, when yet marriage is like to be a great hurt to my soul ? Of parents' prohibition 396 Q. What if parents forbid marriage to one that cannot live chastely without it? or when affections are un- conquerable? ....... ib. CONTENTS. vii PAGE Q. U hat if the cliild have promised niarriase. and the parents be against it? Of the sense of Numb. XXX. How far such promise must be kept? . . 397 Q. What if tlie parties be actually married without parents' consent ? ib. Q. Mav the aged marrv that are frigid, impotent, sterile ? . . " 398 Tlie incoramodities of a married life to be considered by them that need restraint . . . . . ib. Es|)eciallv to ministers 400 Further Direction": ib. How to cure lustful love 402 Several cases about marrying with an ungodly person ib. Q. 1. What rule to follow about prohibited degrees of consanguinitv ? Whether the law of Moses, or of nature, or the laws of the land or church. &c. ? . 404 Q. 2. What to do if the law of the land forbid more degrees than Moses's law ?..... 405 Q. 3. Of the marriage of cousin-germans, beforehand ib. (J. 4. \\ hat such should do after they are married ? ib. Q. 5. What must they after do that are married in the degrees not forbidden bv name, Lev. xviii. and vet of the same nearness and reason ? . . . ib. Q. 6. If they marry in a dpgree forbidden, Lev. xviii., mav not necessitv make it lawful to continue it, as it made lawful the marriage of Adam's sons and daughters ? ib. Q. 7. Whether a vow of chastity or celibate may be broken, and in what cases ? ib. CHAPTER n. Directions for the choice of, 1. Servants . . . 407 2. Masters 408 CHAPTER in. DISPUTATION, WHETHER THE SOLEMN WORSHIP OF GOD IN AND BY FAMILIES AS SUCH, BE OF DIVINE AP- POINTMENT. Aff. Proved against the cavils of the profane, and some sectaries 409 What solemn worship is . . . . . . ib. What a family 410 Proof as to worship in general ib. Family advantages for worship ib. The natural obligation on families to worship God . 411 Families must be sanctified societies . . .412 Instructing families is a duty .... .414 Family discipline is a duty 415 Solemn prayer and praise are family duties . .416 Objections answered ....... 420 Of tlie frequency and seasons of fainilv worship. 1. Whether it should be every day. 2. Whether twice a day. 3. Whether morning and evening .421 CHAPTER IV. General Directions for the holy government of fami- lies 422 How to keep up authority ib. Of skill in governing 423 Of holy willingness 424 CHAPTER V. Special Motives to persuade men to the holy govern- j meni of their families 424 CHAPTER VI. Motives for a holy and careful education of children 427 CHAPTER VII. PACK The mutual duties of husbands and wives towards each other 431 How to maintain due conjugal love . . . . ib. Of adultery 432 Motives and means against dissension . . . 433 Motives and means to further each other's salvation . 435 Further duties 437 CHAPTER VIII. The special duties of husbands to their wives . . 438 CHAPTER IX. The special duty of wives to their husbands . . 440 Q. How far may a wife give, without her husband's consent t 441 Q. Of wives' propriety 442 Q. Is a wife guilty of her husband's unlawful getting, if she keep it? And is she bound to reveal.it (as in robbing) ? . . . . . . . . ib. Q. May a wife go to hear sermons when her husband forbiddeth her? ib. Q. Must a woman proceed to admonish a wicked husband when it maketh him worse ? . . . ib. Q. What she must do in controverted cases of re- ligion, when her judgment and her husband's differ ? 443 Q. How long, or in what cases, may husbands and wives be distant ? ib. Q. Mav the bare commands of princes separate hus- bands and wives (as ministers, judges, soldiers)? . ib. Q. May ministers leave their wives to go abroad to preach the gospel ? ib. Q. May one leave a wife to save his life in case of personal persecution or danger? . . . .444 Q. May husband and wife part by consent, if they find it to be for the good of both ? . . . ib. Q. May they consent to be divorced, and to marry others ? ib. Q. Doth adultery dissolve marriage ? . . . ib. Q. Is the injured person bound to divorce the other, or left free ? ib. Q. Is it the proper privilege of a man to put away an adulterous wife, or is it also in the woman's power to depart from an adulterous husband ? . . . ib. Q. May there be putting awav, or departing, without the magistrate's divorce or licence ? . . . 445 Q. What if both parties be adulterous ? . . . ib. Q. What if one purposely comiiiit adultery to be separate from the other ?..... ib. Q. Doth infidelity dissolve the relation ? . . . ib. (j. Doth the desertion of one party disoblige the other? ib. Q. Must a woman follow a malignant husband that goeth from the means of grace ? . . . . ib. Q. Must she follow him, if it be but to poverty or beggary ? 446 Q. What to do in case of known intention of one to murder the other ? ib. Q. Or if there be a fixed hatred of each other ? . ib. Q. What if a man will not sufi'er his wife to hear, read, or pray ; or do beat her so, as to unfit her for duty ; or a woman will rail at the husband in prayer time? kc ib. Q. Who may marry after parting or divorce ? . . 447 Q. Is it lawful to suffer, yea, or contribute to the known sin materially of wife, child, servant, or other relations? VVhere is opened what is in our power to do against sin, and what not . . . . ib. Q. If a gentleman have a great estate by which he may do much good, and his wife be so proud, pro- digal, and peevish, that if she may not waste it all in housekeeping and pride, she will die or grow vm CONTENTS. mad, or give him no quietness, wliat is his duty in so sad a case ! 449 CHAPTER X. Tlie duties ot parents for their children. Where are twenty special Directions for their education . 449 CHAPTER XI. Tlie duties of children towards their |)arents . 454 CHAPTER XII. The special duties of children and youth towards God 457 CHAPTER XIII. The duties of servants to their masters . . . 458 CHAPTER XIV. Tit. 1. The duty of masters towards their servants . 460 Tit. 2. The duty of masters to slaves in the plantations 4C1 Q. 1. Is it lawful for a christian to buy and use a man as a slave ? 462 Q. 2. Is it lawful to use a christian as a slave? . ib. Q. 3. What difference must we make between a servant and a slave ? ib. Q. 4. ^^ hat if men buy netrroes, or other slaves, of such as we may think did steal them, or buy them of robbers and tyrants, and not by consent? . . 463 Q. 5. May I not sell such again and make my money of them ? ib. Q. 6. May I not return them to him Uiat I bought them of? ib. CHAPTER XV. The duties of children and fellow-servants to one another 463 CHAPTER XVI. Directions for holy conference of fellow-serrants and others . . ' 464 Q. Mav we speak good when the heart is not affected with it? ib. Q. Is that the fruit of the Spirit which we force our tongues to ? ib. CHAPTER XVII. Directions for every member of the family, how to spend every ordinary day of the week . . . 466 CHAPTER XVIII. Tit. 1 . Directions for the holy spending of the Lord's (lay in families 470 Whether the whole dav should be kept holy ? . . ib. Tit. 2. More particular directions for the order of holy duties on that day 472 CHAPTER XIX. Directions for profitable hearing God's word preached 473 Tit. 1. Directions for understanding the word which you hear ib. Tit. 2. Directions for remembering what you hear . 474 Tit. 3. Directions for holy resolutions and aHiections in hearing . . '. 475 Tit. 4. Directions to bring what we hear into practice 476 CHAPTER XX. Directions for profitable reading the holy Scriptures 477 CHAPTER XXI. Directions for reading other books .... 478 CHAPTER XXII. Directions for right teaching children and servants, so as is most likely to have success. The sum of chris- tian religion 479 CHAPTER XXIII. Tit. 1 . Directions for prayer in general . . . 483 A scheme or brief explication of the exact method of the Lord's prayer 485 Tit. 2. Cases about prayer 486 Q. 1. Is the Lord's prayer to be used as a form of words, or only as a directory for matter and method ? ib. Q. 2. What need is there of any other prayer, if this be perfect ? . il). Q. 3. Is it lawful to prav in a set form of words ? . ib. Q. 4. Are those forms lawful which are prescribed by man, and not by God ? ib. Q. 5. Is free praving, called extempore, lawful? . ib Q. 6. Which is the better? ib. Q. 7. Must we ever follow the method of the Lord's prayer? 487 Q. 8. Must we pray only when the Spirit movelh us, or as reason guideth us ? . . . . . ib. Q. 9. May he pray for grace who dcsireth it not ? . ib Q. 10. May he pray that doubteth of his interest in God, and daie not call him leather as his child ? . 488 Q. 11. May a wicked man pray, or is he ever ac- cepted? ib. Q. 12. May a wicked man use the Lord's prayer? . ib. Q. 13. Is it idolatry or sin always to pray to saints or angels ? ........ ib. Q. 14. Is a man bound to pray ordinarily in his familv? ib Q. 15. Must the same man pray secretly, that hath before prayed in his family ? ib Q. 16. Is it best to keep set hours tor praver? . . ib. Q. 17. May we join in family prayers with ungodly persons ? . ib. Q. 18. What if the master or speaker be ungodly or a heretic? 489 Q. 19. Mav we pray absolutely for outward mercies, or only conditionally ? ib. Q. 20. May we pray for all that we lawfully desire? ib. Q. 21. How may we pray for the salvation of all the world ? ib. Q. 22. Or for the conversion of all nations? . . 490 Q. 23. Or that a whole kingdom may be converted and saved ? . . ib. Q. 24. Or for the destruction of the enemies of Christ or the kingdom ? ib. Q. 25. What is to be judged of a particular faith? . ib. Q. 26. Is every lawful prayer accepted? . . . ib. Q. 27. With what faith must I pray for the souls or bodies of others? ib. Q. 28. With what faith may we pray for the continu- ance of the church or gospel? .... ib. Q. 29. How to know when our prayers are heard? . ib Q. 30. How to have fulness and constant supply of matter in our prayers ? . . . . . . ib Q. 31. How to Keep up fervency in prayer? . . 491 CONTENTS. ix Q. 32. May we look to speed ever the belter for any thing in ourselves or our prayers ? Or may we piit any trust in them ? 492 Q. 33. How must that person and prayer be qualified, which God will accept ? ib. Tit. 3. Special Directions for family prayer . . ib. Tit. 4. Special Directions for secret prayer . . ib. CHAPTER XXIV. Directions for families about the sacrament of the Lord's supper 493 What are the ends of the sacrament? What are the parts of it ? ib. Q. 1 . Should not the sacrament have more preparation than the other parts of worship ? . . . . 495 Q. 2. How oft should it be administered ? . . ib. Q. 3. Must all members of the visible church commu- nicate ? ib. Q. 4. May any man receive it, that knoweth himself unsanctified ? ib. Q. 5. May an ungodly man receive it, that knoweth not himself to be ungodly ? ib. Q. 6. Must a christian receive who doubteth of his sincerity? ib. Q. 7. What if superiors compel a doubting christian to receive it, by excommunication or imprisonment : what should he choose ? 496 Q. 8. Is not the case of a hypocrite that knoweth not himself to be a hypocrite, and of the sincere who knoweth not himself to be sincere, all one, as to communicating? ....... ib. Q. 9. Wherein lieth the sin of an ungodly person if he receive ? . ib. Q. 10. Doth all unworthy receiving make one liable to damnation ? or what ? 497 Q. 11. What is the particular preparation needful to a fit communicant ? ib. Marks of sincerity ib. Preparing duties ....... 498 Q. 1. May we receive from an ungodly minister ? . ib. Q. 2. May we communicate with unworthy persons in an undisciplined church ? . . . . ib. Q. 3. What if I cannot communicate unless I con- ibrm to an imposed gesture, as sitting, standing, or kneeling ? 499 Q. 4. What if I cannot receive it, but as administered by the Common Prayer ? ib. Q. 5. If my conscience be not satisfied, may I come doubting ? ib. Obj. Is it not a duty to follow conscience as God's officer ? ib. What to do in the time of administration ? . .500 1. W hat graces must be exercised ? .... ib. 2. On what objects ? ib. 3. The season and order of sacramental duties . ib. CHAPTER XXV. Directions for fearful, troubled christians who are perplexed with doubts of their sincerity and justifi- cation 502 Causes and cure 503 CHAPTER XXVI. Tit. 1. Directions for declining, backsliding chris- tians : and about perseverance .... 505 The several sorts of backsliders ... ib The way of falling into sects, and heresies, and errors ib. And of declining in heart and life .... 506 Signs of declining 507 Signs of a graceless state ib. Dangerous signs of im|)enitency . . . .509 False signs of declining ib. Motives against declining ...... ib. PAGE Directions against it . . . , . .511 TU. 2. Directions for perseverance, or to prevent backsliding ib. Antidotes against those doctrines of presumption which would hinder our perseverance . . . 512 CHAPTER XXVII. Directions for the poor The temptations of the poor The special duties of the poor . CHAPTER XXVIII. Directions for the rich CHAPTER XXIX. Directions for the aged and weak CHAPTER XXX. 514 515 516 517 . 519 Directions for the sick 522 Tit. 1. Directions for a safe death to secure salvation ib. I. For the unconverted in their sickness. (A sad case.) 1. For examination ; 2. For repentance ; 3. For faith in Christ ; 4. For a new heart, love to God, and resolution for obedience ib. Q.Will late repentance serve the turn, in such a case ? 524 II. Directions to the godly for a safe departure . 525 Their temptations to be resisted . . . . ib. Tit. 2. How to profit by our sickness . . . 526 Tit. 3. Directions for a comfortable or peaceable death 527 Directions for resisting the temptations of Satan in time of sickness .... ... 531 Tit. 4. Directions for doing good to others in our sickness 533 CHAPTER XXXI. Directions to the friends of the sick that are about them 534 Q. Can physic lengthen men's lives ? . • . 535 Q 1. Is it meet to make known to the sick their dan- ger of death ? . ib. Q. 2. Must we tell bad men of their sin and misery when it may exasperate the disease by troubling them ? ib. Q. 3. What can be done in so short a time? . . 536 Q. 4. What to do in doubtful cases ? . . . ib. Q. 5. What order should be observed in counselling the ignorant and ungodly when time is so short? . ib. Helps against excessive sorrow for the death of friends; yea, of the vvorst 537 A form of exhortation to be read in sickness to the ungodlv, or those that we justly fear are such . ib. A form of exhortation to the i;odly in sickness, for their comfort. Their dying groans and joys . . . 541 PART III. CHRISTIAN ECCLESIASTICS. CHAPTER 1. Of the worship of God in iieneral. The nature and reasons of it, and Directions for it. How to know right ends in worship, &c. ..... 547 CHAPTER II. Directions about the manner of worship, to avoid all corru[)tions, and false, unacceptable worshipping of CONTENTS. God. The disailrantages of ungorlly men in judg- ing of holy worship. How far the Scriptures are the rule or law of worship and discipline, and how far not ? Instances of things vuideterniined in Scrip- ture. What commands of Scripture are not uni- versal and perpetual ? May danger excuse from duty, and when ? Rules for the right manner . . 553 CHAPTER III. Directions about the christian covenant with God, and baptism. The covenant, what ? The parties, mat- ter, terms, forms, necessary modes, fruits, &c. External baptism, what ? Complete baptism, what ? Of renewing the covenant 559 CHAPTER IV. Directions about the profession of our religion to others. The greatness of the duty of onen profes- sion. When and how it must be made f . 562 CHAPTER V. Directions about vows and particular covenants with God . . . 564 Tit. 1. Directions for the right making such vows and covenants. V\ hat a vow is ! The sorts of vows. The use and obligation. Whether any things be indifferent; and such may be vowed? As marrying, &c. May we vow things indifferent in tliemselves, though not in their circumstances ? In what cases we may not vow. What if rulers command it? W'liat if I doubt whether the matter imposed be lawful ! Of vowing with a doubting conscience ib. Tit. 2. Directions against perjury and perfidious- ness ; and for keeping vows and oaths. Tlie heinousness of perjury. Thirty-six Rules about the obligation of a vow, to sliow when and how far it is oblit:atory ; useful in an age stigmatized with 0])en perjury. (Mostly out of Dr. Sanderson.) \Vhat is the nullity of an oath? Cases in which vows must not be kept 569 How far rulers may nulUfy a vow? Numb. xxx. 0[)ened. Of the accidental evil of a vow. Of scandal. Q. Doth an error de persona caused by that person disoblige me ? .... .571 CHAPTER VI. Directions to the people concerning their internal and private duty to their pastors, and their profiting by the ministerial office and gifts .... 581 The ministerial office opened in fifteen particulars . ib. Tlie reasons of it 582 The true old ei)iscopacy ib. Special duties to your own pastors above others . 583 Of the calling, power, and succession of pastors . 584 The be>;t to be preferred 585 Tiie order of ministerial teaching, and the resolution of faith ib. How far human faith conduceth to divine . . 587 Of tradition ib. \\'hat use to make of your pastors .... 539 CHAPTER VII. Directions for the discovery of truth among con- tenders, and how to escape heresy and deceit. Cautions for avoiding deceit in disputations . . 590 CHAPTER VIII. PAGE Directions for the union and communion of saints, and for avoiding unpeaceableness and schism . 595 Wherein our unity consisteth ..... 596 What diversity will be in the churches. What schism is ? What heresy ? What a))ostasy ? ho are schismatics ? The degrees and progress of it. What separation is a duty '? 597 Q. Is any one form of church government of divine appointment ? Mav man make new church officers? 599 The benefits of christian concord ; to themselves, and to infidels 601 The mischiefs of schism 603 Whether papists or protestants are schismatics . . ib. The aggravations of division ..... 605 Two hinderances of our true apprehension of the evil of schism 606 Directions against it 607 Of imposing defective liturgies ib. The testimonies of antiquity against the bloody and cruel way of curing schism. Their character of Ithacian prelates 614 CHAPTER IX. Twenty Directions how to worship God in the church assemblies 616 CHAPTER X. Directions about our communion with holy souls de- parted, now with Christ 618 CHAPTER XI. Directions about our communion with the holy angels 622 ECCLESIASTICAL CASES OF CONSCIENCE. Q. 1. How to know which is the true church among all pretenders, that a christian's conscience may be quiet in his relation and communion ? . . . 626 Q. 2. Whether we mu«t esteem the church of Rome a true church ? and in what sense some protestant divines affirm it, and some deny it ? . . . 628 Q. 3. Whether we must take the Romish clergy for a true ministry? ....... 629 Q. 4. Whether it be necessary to believe that the pnpe is the antichrist ! 631 Q. 5. Whether we must hold that a papist may be saved ? ib. Q. 6. Whether those that are in the church of Rome are bound to separate from it ? And whether it be lawful to go to their mass or other worship ? . . 632 Q. 7. V\ hether the true calling of the minister by or- dination or election be necessary to the essence of the church ? ib. Q. 8. ^^'hether sincere faith and godliness be neces- sary to the being of the ministry I And whether it be lawful to hear a wicked man, or take the sacra- ment from him, or take him for a minister ? . . 633 Q. 9. Whether the people are bound to receive or consent to an ungodly, intolerable, heretical pastor, fyea, or one far less fit and worthv than a competi- tor,) if the magistrate command it, or the bishop impose him ? ....... ib. Q. 10. N\'hat if the magistrate command the people to receive one pastor, and the bishop or ordainers another, which of them must be obeyed ? . . 635 CONTENTS. xi PAGE Q. 11. Whether an uninterrupted succession either of right ordination or of conveyance by jurisdiction, be necessary to the being of the ministry, or of a true church 635 Q. 12. Whether there be or ever was such a thing in the world as one catholic church, constituted by any head besides or under Christ ? ... 636 Q. 13. Whether there be such a thin;; as a visible catholic church, and what it is ? . . . . 637 Q. 14. What is it that maketh a visible member of the universal church, and who are to be accounted such ? ib. Q. 15. Whether besides the profession of Christianity, either testimony or evidence of conversion or prac- tical irodliness be necessary to prove a man a mem- ber of the universal visible church ? . . . ib. Q. 16. What is necessary to a man's reception into membership in a particular church, over and above this aforesaid title? Whether any other trials, or covenant, or what ? 638 Q. 17. Wherein doth the ministerial office essentially consist? 639 Q. 18. Whether the people's choice or consent is ne- cessary to the office of a minister in his first work, as he is to convert infidels and baptize them ? And whether this be a work of office, and what call is necessary to it ? ib. Q. 19. Wherein consisteth the power and nature of ordination ? And to whom doth it belong ? And is it an act of jurisdiction ? And is imposition of hands necessary in it ? 640 Q. 20. Is ordination necessary to make a man a pastor of a particular church as such ? And is he to ' be made a general minister, and a particular church elder or pastor at once, and at one ordination ? . 641 Q. 21. May a man be oft or twice ordained ? . . ib. Q. 22. How many ordainers are necessary to the va- lidity of ordination by Christ's institution, whether one or more ? . " 643 Q. 23. What if one bishop ordain a minister, and three, or many, or all the rest protest against it, and declare him no mmister or aeirrade him, is he to be received as a true minister or not? . . . ib. Q. 24. Ilath a bishop power by divine right to ordain, degrade or govern, excommunicate or absolve, in another's diocess or church, either by his consent or against it? And doth a minister that officiateth in another's church, act as a pastor, and their pastor, or as a private man ? And doth his minis- terial office cease when a man removeth from his flock ? C44 Q. 25. Whether canons be laws, and pastors have a legislative power ? 645 Q. 26. Whether church canons or pastors' directive determinations of matters pertinent to their office, do bind the conscience, and what accidents will dis- oblige the people; vou may gather before in the same case about magistrates' laws in the political ' Directions; as also bv an impartial transferring the case to the precepts of parents and schoolmasters to 1 children, without respect to their power of the rod (or supposing that they had none such)? . . 646 Q. 27. What are Christ's appointed means of the unity and concord of the universal church, and con- sequentlv of its preservation, if there be no human universal head and governor of it u|)on earth? And if Christ hath instituted none such, whether pru- dence and the law of nature oblige not the church to set up and maintain a universal ecclesiastical monarchy or aristocracy ; seeing that which is every man's work, is no man's, and omitted by all ? ib. Q. 28. W ho is the judge of controversies in the church' 1. About the exposition of the .Scriptures and doctrinal points in themselves. 2. About either heresies or wicked practices, as they are charged on the persons accused of them ; that is, 1. Antecedently to our practice, bv wav of regula- tion. 2. Or consequentiv by judicial sentence (and execution) on oflenders ? . . . . ib. PACE Q. 29. Whether a parent's power over his children, or a pastor's, or many pastors or bishops over the same children as parts of tiieir flocks, be greater, or more obliging in matters of religion and public worshi[)? 647 Q. 30. May an office-teacher or pastor be at once in the stated relation of a pastor, and a disciple to some other pastor? ib. Q. 31. ^Vho hath the power of making church canons? 648 Q. 32. Doth baptism as such enter the baptized into the universal church ; or into a particular church, or both ? And is baptism the particular church covenant as such ? ...... ib. Q. 33. Whether infants should be baptized, I have answered long ago in a Treatise on that subject . ib. Q. VVhat infants shoidd be baptized ? And who have ri^ht to sacraments? And whether hypocrites are unequivocally or equivocally christians and church members, I have resolved in my " Disputation of IJight to Sacraments " ib. Q. 34. Whether an unbaptized person, who yet mak- eth a public profession of Christianity, be a member of the vicible church ? And so of the infants of be- lievers unbaptized ? ib. Q. 35. Is it certain by the word of God, that all in- fants baptized, and dying before actual sin, are un- doubtedly saved ? Or what infants may we sav so of? 649 Q. 36. What is meant by this speech, that believers and their seed are in the covenant of God ; which giveth them right to baptism ? . . . . 653 Q. 37. Are believers' children certainly in covenant before their baptism, and thereby in a state of sal- ^ vation ; or not till they are baptized ? . . . 654 Q. 38. Is infants' title to baptism and the covenant benefits given them by God in his promises upon any proper moral condition, or only upon the con- dition of their natural relation ; that they be the seed of the faithful ? ib. Q. 39. VVhat is the tnie meaning of sponsors, (pn- trimi,) or godfathers, as we call them ; and is it lawful to make use of them? . . . 655 Q. 40. On whose account or right is it that the infant hath title to baptism and its benefits? Is it on the parent's, ancestor's, sponsor's, the church's, the minister's, the magistrate's, or his own ? . . ib. Q. 41. Are they really baptized who are baptized according to the English Liturgv and canons, wiiere the parent seemeth excluded, and tiiose to consent for tne infant who have no power to do it ? . . 657 Q. 42. Hut the great question is, how tlie Holy Ghost is given to infants in baptism, and whether all the children of true christians have inward sanc- tifying grace? Or whether tliey can be said to be justified and to be in a state of salvation, that are not inherently sanctified ? And whether any fall from this infiint state of salvation ? . . . ib. Q. 43. Is the right of the baptized (infants or adult) to the sanctifying operations of the Holy Ghost now absolute ; or sus[)ended on further conditions ? And are the parents' further duty for their ciiildren such conditions of their children's reception of the actual assistances of the Spirit? Or are chddren's own actions such conditions ? And may apostate parents forfeit the covenant benefits to their bap- tized infants or not ? ...... 660 Q. 44. Doth baptism always oblige us at the present, and give grace at the present ; and is the grace which is not given till long after, given by baptism, or an efi'ect of baptism ? 661 Q. 45. VVhat is a proper violation of our baptismal covenant? ..... . . 662 Q. 46. May not baptism in some cases be repeated ; and when ? . . . . . . . . ib. Q. 47. Is baptism by laymen or women lawful in cases of necessity ; or are they nullities, and the person to be rebaptized ?..... 663 Q. 48. May anabaptists that have no other error, be permitted in church communion ? . . . . ib. xii CONTENTS. Q. 40. May one ofier liis cliikl to be baptized, with ttie sign of the cross, or tlie use of clirisins, the wiiile garment, milk and honey, or exorcisms as among ilu> l^nherans, wlio taketh tiie>e to be un- lawful things? CG3 Q. .")0. Wiu nce came the ancient universal custom of anointing at baptism, and putting on a white gar- ment, and tasting milk and honey ; and whether they are lawful to us ? 664 Q. .51 . W'hetiier it be necessary that they that are bap- tised in infancy, do solemnly at age review and ow n their baptismal covenant before they have right to the state and privileges of adult members ; and if they do not, whether they are to be numbered with christians or apostates ? ib. Q. ,52. Whether the universal church consists only of particular churches and their members? . . 665 Q. 53. Must the pastor first call the church and ag- gregate them to himself, or the church first congre- gate themselves and then choose the pastor ? . . ib. Q. 54. Wherein doth a particular ciiurch of Christ differ from a consociation of many churches? . ib. Q. 55. \N hether a particular church may consist of more assemblies than one ; or must needs meet all in one place ? ib. Q. 56. Is any form of church government of divine institution ? 666 Q. 57. Whether any forms of churches and church government, or any new church officers, may law- fully be invented and made by man ? . . . 668 Q. 58. Whether any part of the proper pastoral or episcopal power may be given or deputed to a lay- man, or to one of any other office ; or their proper work may be performed by such ? ... 673 Q. 59. Mav a layman preach or expound the Scrip- tures ; or what of this is proper to the pastor's office? 674 Q. 60. What is the true sense of the distinction of pastoral power in furo intcrioi-e et exteriore, rightly used ? . . ' ib. Q. 61. In what sense is it true, that some say that the magistrate only hath the external government of the church, and the pastor the internal ? . . . ib. Q. 62. Is the trial, judgment, or consent of the laily necessary to the admittance of a member into the universal or particular church ? . . . . 675 Q. 63. What power have the people in church cen- sures and excommunication ? . . . . ib. Q. 64. What is the people's remedy in case of the pastor's mal-administration ? . . . . . ib. Q. 65. May one be a pastor or a member of a par- ticular church who liveth so far from it, as to be incapable of personal communion with them ? . 676 Q. 66. If a man be injuriously suspended or excom- municated by the pastor or people, which way shall he have remedy ? ib. Q. 67. Dotii presence always make us guilty of the evils or faults of tiie pastor in God's worship, or of the church ? or in what cases are we guilty ? . . ib. Q. 68. Is it lawful to communicate in the sacrament with wicked men ? ib. Q. 69. Have all the members of the church right to the Lord's table, and is suspension lawful ? . . ib. Q. 70. Is there any such thing in the church, as a rank, or classis, or species of church members at age, who are not to be admitted to the Lord's table, but only to the hearing of the word and prayer, between infant members, and adult, confirmed ones ? . . 677 Q. 71. Whether a form of prayer be lawful ? . . 678 Q. 72. Are forms of prayer or preaching in the church lawful? 679 Q. 73. Are public forms of man's devising or com- posing lawful ? ib. Q. 74. Is It lawful to impose forms on the congrega- tion or the people in public worshi[) ? . . . ib. Q. 75. Is it lawful to use forms composed by man, and imposed not only on the people, but on the pastors of the churches ? ..... ib. Q. 76. Doth not the calling of a minister so consist in the exercise of his own ministerial gifts, that he may PAfJK not officiate without them, nor make use of other men's gifts instead of them ? 680 Q. Is it lawful to read a prayer in the church? . . ib. Q. 77. Js it lawful to pray in the chuicli without a |>rescril)ed or premeditated form of words ? . .681 Q. 78. Whether are set forms of words, or free pray- ing without them, the better way ; and what are the commodities and incommodities of each way ? . ib. Q. 79. Is it lawful to forbear the preaching of some truths, upon man's prohibition, that I may have liberty to preach the rest? yea, and to jiroinise to forbear them, or to do it for the church's peace ? . 683 Q. 80. May or must a minister silenced, or forbid to preach the gospel, go on still to preach it against the law ? ib. Q. 81. May we lawfully keep the Lord's dav as a fast ? . . . ■ . . . . ". .684 Q. 82. How should the Lord's day be spent in the main ? ib. Q. 83. May the people bear a vocal part in worship, or do any more than say, Amen ? . . . . ib. Q. 84. Is it not a sin for our clerks to make them- selves the mouth of the people, who are not ordained ministers of Christ ? 686 Q. 85. Are repetitions of the same words in church prayers lawful ? . . . . . . . ib. Q. 86. Is it lawful to bow at the name of Jesus ? . ib. Q. 87. Is it lawful to stand up at the gospel as we are appointed ? ib. Q. 88. Is it lawful to kneel when the decalogue is read ? ib. Q. 89. What gestures are fittest in all the public wor- ship? C87 Q. 90. What if the pastor and church cannot agree about singing psalms, or what version or translation to use, or time or place of meeting, &c. ? . . ib. Q. 91. What if the pastor excommunicate a man, and the people will not forbear his communion, as thinking him unjustly excommunicated ? . . ib Q. 92. May a whole churcii, or the greater part, be excommunicated ? ih Q. 93. What if a church have two pastors, and one excommunicate a man and the other absolve him, what shall the church and the dissenter do? . . 688 Q. 94. For what sins may a man be denied commu- nion or excommunicated ; whether for impenitence in every little sin, or for great sin without impeni- tence ? ib. Q. 95. Must the pastor examine the people before the sacrament ? ib. Q. 96. Is the sacrament of the Lord's supper a con- verting ordinance ? ib Q. 97. Must no man come to the sacrament that is uncertain or doubtful of the sincerity of his faith and repentance? 689 Q. 98. Is it lawful or a duty to join oblations to the sacrament, and how ? . . . . . . ib. Q. 99. How many sacraments are there appointed by Christ ? ib. Q. 100. How far is it lawful, needful, or unlawful, for a man to afflict himself by external penances for sin? 690 Q. 101 . Is it lawful to observe statea times of fasting imposed by others, without extraordinary occasions; and particularly Lent ? . ... .691 Q. 102. May we continue in a church where some one ordinance of Christ is wanting; as discipline, prayer, preacliing, or sacraments, though we have all the rest? .692 Q. 103. Must the pastors remove from one church to another, whenever the magistrate commandeth us, though the bishops contradict it, and the chiircii consent not to dismiss us ? And so of other cases of disagreement ib. Q. 104. Is a pastor obliged to liis flock for life; or is it lawful so to oblii;e himself ; and may he remove without their consent ? And so also of a church member the same questions are put . . . 693 Q. 105. When many men pretend at once to be the true pastors of a particidar churcii, against each CONTENTS xiii other's title, through differences between the ma- gistrates, the ordainers, and the flocks, what should the people do, and whom should they adhere to '! . 693 Q. 106. To whom doth it belong to reform a cor- rupted church ; to the magistrates, pastors, or people ? ........ ib. Q. 107. Who are to call synods; princes, pastors, or people ? . . '. . .... 694 Q. 108. To whom doth it belong to appoint days and assemblies for public humiliation and thanksgiving ? ib. Q. 109. May we omit church assemblies on the Lord's day, if the magistrates forbid them ? . . ib. Q. 110. Must we obey the magistrate if he only for- bid us worshipping God, in sucli a place, or coun- try, or in such numbers, or the like circumstances ? ib. Q. 111. Must subjects or servants forbear weekly lectures, reading, or such helps, above tlie Lord's day's worship, if princes or masters do forbid them ? 695 Q. 112. Whether religious worship may be given to a creature, and v.hat ? ib. Q. 113. What images, and what use of images, is lawful or unlawful / . . .... 696 Q. 114. Whether stage-plays, where the virtuous and vicious are personated, be lawful ? . . .699 Q. 115. Is it ever unlawful to use the known symbols and badges of idolatry ? .... -701 Q. 116. Is it unlawful to use the badge or symbol of any error or sect in the worship of God '/ . . ib. Q. 117. Are all indifferent things made unlawful to us, which shall be abused to idolatrous worship? . ib. Q. 118. May we use the names of week days which idolaters honoured their idols with, as Sunday, Monday, Saturday, and the rest? And so the months? . ' 702 Q. 119. Is it lawful to pray secretly when we come first into church, especially when the church is otherwise employed ? . . . . . . ib. Q. 120. May a preacher kneel down in the pulpit and use his private prayers when he is in the as- sembly ? ib. Q. 121. May a minister pray publicly in his own name singly, for himself or others ; or only in the church's name as their mouth to God ? . . . ib. Q. 122. May the name priests, sacrifice, and altar be lawfully now used instead of Christ's ministers, worship, and the holy table ? .... 703 Q. 123. May the communion table be turned altar- wise and railed in ; and is it lawful to come up to the rails to communicate ? . . . . . ib. Q. 124. Is it lawful to use David's psalms in our assemblies ? . ...... 704 Q. 125. May psalms be used as prayers, and praises, and thanksgivings ; or only as instructive ? even the reading as well as the singing of them ? . . ib. Q. 126. Are our church tunes lawful being of man's invention ? ib. Q. 127. Is church music by organs or such instru- ments lawful ? . . ' 705 Q. 128. Is the Lord's day a sabbath, and so to be called and kept, and that of diwne institution ; and IS the seventh-day sabbath abrogated ? &c. . . ib. Q. 129. Is it lawtui to appoint human holy-days, and observe them ? " . ib. Q. 130. How far are the holy Scriptures a law and perfect rule to us ? . " 706 Q. 131. What additions or human inventions in or about religion not commanded in Scripture, are lawful or unlawful ? ib. Q. 132. Is it unlauful to obey in all those cases where it is unlawful to impose and command, or in what cases? And how far pastors must be be- lieved and obeyed ? 707 Q. 133. What are the additions or inventions of men. which are not forbidden by the word of God (whether by rulers or by private men invented)? . 708 Q. 134. What are the mischiefs of unlawful additions in religion ? 709 Q. 135. W hat are the mischiefs of men's error on the b other extreme, who pretend that Scripture is a rule where it is not, and deny the aforesaid lawful things, on pretence that Scripture is a perfect rule (say some, for all things)? 710 Q. 136. IIow shall we know what parts of Scripture precept or example were intended for universal, constant obligation, and what weie but for the time and persons that they were then directed to? . 711 Q. 137. How much of the Scripture is necessary to salvation to be believed and understood ? . . 712 Q. 138. How may we know the fundamentals, essen- tials, or what parts are necessary to salvation ? And is the papists' way allowable that (some of them) deny that distinction, and make the difference to be only in the degrees of man's opportunities of know- ledge ? ib. Q. 139. What is the use and authority of the creed? And is it of the apostles' framing or not ? And is it the word of God or not ? 714 Q. 140. What is the use of catechisms ? . . . ib. Q. 141. Could any of us have known by the Scrip- tures alone the essentials of religion from the rest, if tradition had not given them to us in the creed as from apostolical collection . . . . ib. Q. 142. What is the best method of a true catechism or sum of theology ? ib. Q. 143. What is the use of various church confes- sions or articles of faith? 715 Q. 144. May not the subscribing of the whole Scrip- tures serve turn for all the aforesaid ends without creeds, catechisms, or confessions ? . . . ib. Q. 145. May a man be saved that believeth all the essentials of religion as coming to him by verbal tradition, and not as contained in the holy Scrip- tures, which perhaps he never knew ? . . . ib. Q. 146. Is the Scripture fit for all Christians to read, being so obscure? . ..... .716 Q. 147. How far is tradition and men's words and ministry to be used or trusted in, in the exercise of faith? lb. Q. 148. How know we the true canon of Scripture from Apocrypha ? ib. Q. 149. Is the public reading of the Scripture the proper work of the minister ; or may a layman ordi- nanly do it, or another officer? . .717 Q. 150. Is it lawful to read the Apocrypha, or any good books besides the Scriptures, to the church ; as homilies, &c. ? ib. Q. 151. May church assemblies be held where there is no minister ; or what public worship may be so performed by laymen (as among infidels or papists where nersecution hath killed, imprisoned, or ex- pelled tne ministry) ?...... ib. Q. 152. Is it lawful to subscribe or profess full assent and consent to any religions books besides the Scrinturcs, seeing all men are fallible ? . . ib. Q. 153. May we lawfully swear obedience in all things lawful and honest, either to usurpers, or to our lawful pastors? ...... 718 Q. 154. Must all our preaching be upon some text of Scripture? . ib. Q. 155. Is not the law of Moses abrogated, and the whole (JId Testament out of date, and therefore not to be rf-ad publicly and preached ? . . .719 Q. 156. Must we believe that Mosess law did ever bind other nations, or that any other parts of the Scripture linund them or belonged to them ; or that the .lews were all God's visible church on earth ? . ib. Q. 157. Must we think accordingly of the christian churches now, that they are only advanced above the rest of the world as the Jews were, but not the only people that are saved ? 720 Q. 158. Should not christians take up with Scripture wisdom only, without studying philosojihy, or other heathens' human learning? . . . . .721 Q. 159. If we think that Scripture and the law of nature are in any noint contradictory to eacl) other, which must be the standard bv which the other must be tried >...'.... 722 xiv CONTENTS. PACK (i. ICO. May we not look that God should yet give lis more revelations of his will, tlian there are already made in .Scripture ? 722 (J. IGl. Is not a tliird rule of the Holy Ghost, or more perfect kingdom of love, to be expected, as dirtereiit from the reij;n of the Creator and Re- deemer ? ih. (}. 102. May we not look for miracles hereafter ? . 723 Q. 163. Is the Scrii)ture to be tried by the Spirit, or the Spirit by the Scripture? and wfiich of them is to be preferred ? . . , . ■. . . ib. Q. 164. How is a pretended prophet or revelation to be tried ? . . ib. Q. 16.5. iMay one be saved who believeth that the Scripture hath any mistake or errors, and believeth it not all ? 724 Q. 166. Who be they that give too little to the Scrip- tures, and who too much ; and what is the danger of each extreme ? ib. Q. 167. How far do good men now preach and pray by the Spirit ? ".725 Q. 168. Are not our own reasons, studies, memory, strivings, books, forms, methods, and ministry need- less ; yea, a hurtful quenching or preventing of the Spirit, and setting up our own instead of the Spirit's operations? 726 Q. 169. How doth the Holy Ghost set bishops over the cluirches ?....... ib. Q. 170. Are temple-;, fonts, utensils, church lands, much more the ministry, holy ; and what reverence is due to them as holy ? ib. Q. 171. What is sacrilege, and what not? . . 727 Q. 172. Are all religious |irivate meetings, forbidden by rulers, unlawful conventicles, or are any such necessary ? ib. Q. 173. What particular directions for order of stu- dies and books should be observed by young stu- dents who intend the sacred ministry ? . . ib. Q. 174. What books should a poor man choose that for want of money or time can have or read but few ? There are three catalogues set down (but some- what disorderly as they came into my memory) . 731 1 . The smallest or poorest library .... 732 2. A poor library, that hath considerable additions to the former ib. 3. Some more additions to them, for them that can go higher, with some additional notes . . . 735 PART -Sfr— CHRISTIAN POLITICS. CHAPTER I. General Directions for an upright life The most passed by on necessary reasons . 737 740 CHAPTER II. A few brief memoranda to rulers, for the interest of Christ, the church, and men's salvation . .741 CHAPTER nr. Directions to subjects concerning their duty to rulers 744 Of the nature and causes of government . . . ib. Mr. Richard Hooker's " Ecclesiastical Polity," as it is for popularity, examined and confuted. Directions for obedience. Duty to rulers .... 745 Q. 1. Is the magistrate judge in controversies of faith or worship ? 753 Q. 2. May the oath of suprem.acy be lawfully taken, in which the king is pronounced supreme governor in all causes, as well ecclesiastical as civil ? . . 754 PACR (). 3. Doth not this give the pastor's power to the magistrate ? 754 Q. 4. Hath the king power of church discipline and excommunication ? ...... ib. (i. 5. If kings and bi.shops differ, which must be obeyed ? ib. Q. 6. Is he obliged to suffer who is not obliged to obey ? 756 Of admonition of rulers 758 ( j. 1 . Whether the sound authors of politics be against monarchy ? 750 Q. 2. Whether civilians be against it? . . . 760 (i. 3. Are historians against it? Greek, Roman, or christian ? ib. Q. 4. Whether Athens, Rome, Aristotle, philosophers, academies be against it ? . . . . . ib. Q. 5. Arc divines and church discipline against it ? . ib. Q. 6. Are Scripture and Christianity against it? . 761 Objections answered ....... ib. Q. 7. Are papists, prelatists, and puritans against it? 763 Hilson's and Andrews's vindication of the puritans . 764 (,'hristianity is the greatest help to government . . 765 Further Directions 767 Q. VVhether man's laws bind the conscience? . . ib. Q. Is it a sin to break every law of man ? More fully answered • . .768 CHAPTER IV. Directions to lawyers about their duty to God . . 769n CHAPTER V. The duty of physicians 771 CHAPTER VI. Directions to schoolmasters about their duties for children's souls 773 CHAPTER VII. Directions for soldiers about their duty in a point of conscience. (Princes, nobles, judges, and justices, are passed by, lest they take counsel for injury) . 774 CHAPTER VIII. Tit. 1. Directions against murder .... 778 The causes of it, — wars, tyranny, malignant, persecut- ing fury, unrighteous judgment, oppression and im- charitableness, robbery, wrath, guilt and shame, malice and revenge, wicked impatience, covetous- ness, ambition, &c ib. The irreatness of the sin 780 The consequents ib. Tit. 2. Advice against self-murder . . . . ib. The causes to be avoided, — melancholy, worldly trouble, discontent, passion, &c. Besides gluttony, tippling, and idleness, the great murderers . . ib. CHAPTER IX. Directions for the forgiving of injuries and enemies. Against wrath, malice, revenge, and persecution . 782 Practical Directions ....... ib. Twenty curing considerations ib. CHAPTER X. Cases resolved about forgiving wrongs, and debts, and about self-defence, and seeking our right by law or otherwise 785 CONTENTS. XV Q. 1. What injuries are wc bound to forgive? Neg. affirm, resolved 785 Q. 2. U'hat is the meaning of Matt. v. 38, &c. " Re- sist not evil ; but whosoever shall smite thee," &c. ? 787 Q. 3. Am I bound to forgive another if he ask me not forgiveness? Luke xvii.3, &c 788 Q. 4. Is it lawful to sue another at law? iCor. vi.7. ib. Q. 5. Is it lawful to defend our lives or estates against a robber, murderer, or unjust invader by force of arms ? ib. Q. 6. Is it lawful to take away another's life in defending my purse or estate only ? . . . 789 Q. 7. May we kill or wound another in defence or vindication of our honour or good name ? . . ib. CHAPTER XI. Special Directions to escape the guilt of persecution : determining much of the case about liberty in mat- ters of religion 790 What is persecution ib. The several kinds of it ' ib. The greatness of the sin 791 I 'nderstand the case of Christ's interest in the world 793 Q. Whether particular churches should require more of their members as conditions of communion than the catholic church ? and what ? . . . . 795 Penalties to be chosen that hinder the gospel least . 796 More Directions to the number of forty-one . . 797 CHAPTER XII. Directions against scandal as given . What scandal is, and what not Ttie sorts of scandalizing . The Scripture sense of it . Aggravations of the sin .Twenty Directions . CHAPTER XIII. 800 ib. 801 802 803 ib. Directions against scandal taken, or an aptness to re- ceive hurt by the words or deeds of others ; especially quarrelling with godliness. Or taking encourage- ment to sin 807 Practical Directions against taking hurt by others . ib. CHAPTER XIV. Directions against soul-murder and partaking of other men's sins 810 The several ways of destroying souls . . . ib. How we are not guilty of other men's sin and ruin .812 CHAPTER XV. General Directions for furthering the salvation of others 8 1 3 CHAPTER XVI. Special Directions for holy conference, exhortation, and reproof ........ 814 Tit. 1. Motives to holy conference and exhortation ih. Ttt.2. Directions to christian, edifying discourse .817 Tit. 3. S[)ecial Directions for exhortations and re- proofs 818 CHAPTER XVII. Directions for keeping peace with all men How the proud do hinder peace Many more causes and cures opened b 2 . 819 . 820 . 821 CHAPTER XVIII. PACE Tit. 1. Directions against all theft, fraud, or injurious getting, keeping, or desiring that which is another's . 823 Tit. 2. Cases of conscience about theft and such in- juries 824 Q. 1. Is it sin to steal to save one's life ? . . . ib. Q. 2. May I take that which another is bound to give me, and will not ? 825 Q. 3. May I take my own from an unjust borrower or possessor, if I cannot otherwise get it ? . . . ib. Q. 4. May I recover my own by force from him that taketh it by force from me ? . . . . . ib. Q. 5. May we take it from the rich to relieve the poor ? 826 Q. 6. If he have so much as that he will not miss it, maf 1 take some ? ib. Q. 7. May not one pluck ears of corn, or an apple from a tree, &:c. ? ib. Q. 8. May a wife, child, or sen-ant take more than a cruel husband, parent, or master doth allow ? (May children forsake their parents for such cruelty ?) . ib. Q. 9. May I take what a man forfeiteth penally ? . ib. Q. 10. What if I resolve, when I take a thing in ne- cessity, to make satisfaction if ever I be able ? . ib. Q. 11. What if I know not whether the owner would consent? . ib. Q. 12. May I take in jest from a friend, with a pur- pose to restore it? ib. Q. 13. May I not take from another to prevent his hurting himself ib. Q. 14. May I lake away cards, dice, play books, papist books, by which he would hurt his soul ? . ib. Q. 15. May not a magistrate take the subjects' goods when it is necessary to their own preservation ? . 827 Q. 16. May I take from another for a holy use ? . ib. CHAPTER XIX. General Directions and particular cases of conscience, about contracts in general, and about buying and selling, borrowing and lending, and usury in par- ticular 827 Tit. 1. General Directions against injurious bargain- ing and contracts . • ib. Til. 2. Cases about justice in contracts . . . ib. Q. 1. Must I in all cases do as I would be done by ? 828 Q. 2. Is a son bound by the contracts which parents or guardians made for him in his infancv ? . . ih. Q. 3. If parents disagree, how is the child to act ? . ib. Q. 4. Is one ohli<;ed by a contract made in ignorance or mistake of the matter ? ib. Q. 5. Doth the contract of a man drunk, or in a passion, or melancholy, bind him ? . . . 829 Q. 6. May another hold such a one to his contract, or if he give or play away his money ? . . . ib. Q. 7. Am I obliged by covenanting words without a covenanting intent ? ib. Q. 8. May I promise a robber money to save my life. or to save a greater commodity ? lb. Q. 9. May I give money to a judge or magistrate, to hire him to do me justice, and not to wrong me, or not to persecute me ? ..... ib. Q. 10. If I make such a contract may the magistrate take it of me ? ....... ib. Q. 11. If [ promise money to an officer or robber under a force, am I bound to pay it when the neces- sity is over ? So of other constrained promises . ib. Q. 12. .May I promise a thief or bribe-taker to con- ceal him, and must 1 keep that promise? . . 830 Q. 13. Must I keep a promise which I was drawn into by deceit ? ib. Q. 14. is it a covenant when neither of the contract- ing parlies understand each other ? . . . ib. Q. 15. Must I stand to a bargain made for me by a friend or servant to my injury ? . . . . ib. Q. 16. If I say, I will give one this or tliat, am I bound to give it him ! . . .831 CONTENTS. (J. 17. Doth .1 menial proiniso not uttered oblige / . y. 18. May 1 ]iromise to do a tiling simply unlawful, without a purpose to perfonu it, to save mv life t . Q. 19. May any thins: otherwise unlawful become a duty upon a promise to do it ? Q. ".'0. May he that promised for a reward to pro- mote another's sin, take the reward when he hath done it? Q. 21. Am I bound by a contract without witness or legal form ? Q. 22. May an office in a court of justice be bought for money ? Q. 23. May a place of magistracy or judicature be bought t Q. 24. May one sell a church benefice or orders ? Q. 2.5. May one buy orders or a benefice ? Q. 26. May 1 give money to servants or officers to assist my suit ? Q. 27. May I after give by vcay of gratitude to the bishop, patron, Sec. / Q. 28. May a bishop or pastor take money for ser- mons, sacraments, or other offices ! . . . Q. 29. May I disoblige another of his promise made to me ? Q. 30. What if it be seconded by an oath? Q. 31. Doth a promise bind, when the cause or rea- son proveth a iriistake ? ..... Q. 32. What if a following accident make it more to my hurt than could be foreseen ? . Q. 33. Or if it make it injurious to a third person ? . Q. 34. Or if a following accident make the perform- ance a sin ? Q. 35. Am I bound to him that breaketh covenant with me ? Q. 36. May I contract to do that which I foresee like to become impossible before the time of perform- ance ? . . Tit. 3. Cases about justice in buying and selling Q. 1. Am I bound to endeavour the gain of him that I bargain with as well as my own ? Q. 2. May I take more for my labour or goods than the worth, if I can get it ? Q. 3. May I ask more in the market than the worth ? Q. 4. How shall the worth of a commodity be judged of ? i'AOF. 831 ib. lb. ib. ib. ib. ib. 832 ib. ib. ib. ib. ib. ib. ib. ib. ib. Q. 5. May I conceal the faults, or make a thing seem better tban it is, by setting the best side outward, adorning, &c. f Q. 6. If I was deceived, or gave more than the worth, may I do so to repair my loss ? . . . . Q. 7. If I foresee a cheapness of my commodity, (as by coming in of ships, &c.) must I tell the buyer of it that knoweth it not ? Q. 8. May I keep my commodity if I foresee a dearth? Q. 9. May one use many words in buying and selling? Q. 10. May I buy as cheap as I can, or below the worth ? Q. 11. May I sell dearer for another's necessity ? (cases instanced in) Q. 12. May I take advantage of the buyer's ignorance? Q. 13. May I strive to get a good bargain before another ? Q. 14. May I buy a thing, or hire a servant, which another is first about, or call away his chapman ? . (i. 15. May I dispraise another's commodity, to draw the buyer to my own ? Q. 16. W hat to clo in cases of doubtful equity ? Q. 17. What if the buyer lose the thing bought before payment? (as if a horse die, &c.) . . . . Q. 18. If the tiling bought, (as ambergris, jewels, &c.) prove of much more worth than either party ex- pected, must more be after paid ? . Q. 19. What if the title prove bad, which was before unknown ?........ Q. 20. If a change of powers overthrow a title speedilv, who must bear the loss? Tit. 4. Cases about lending and borrowing Q. 1. May one borrow money who seeth no proba- bility that he shall be able to repay it ? . ib. 833 ib. ib. ib. ib. 834 ib. ib. ib. ib. ib. ib. 835 ib. ib. lb. ib. ib. ib. ib. Q. 2. May one drive a trade with borrowed money, when success and repayment are uncertain ? . . 836 Q. 3. May he that cannot pay his debts, retain any thing for his food and niiineiit ? . . . . ib. (J. 4. May one that breaketh, secure that to his wife and children, which on marriage he promised, before he was in debt ? . . . . . . . ib. Q. 5. May one that breaketh retain somewhat to set up again by compounding with his creditors ? . ib. Q. 6. May I in necessity break my day of payment? ib. (j. 7. May I borrow of one to keep day with another ? ib. Q. 8. May one that hath no probabilitv of paying the last man, borrow of one to pay another ? . . ib. Q. 9. Is it lawful to take pledges, pawns, or mortgages for security ? ....... ib. Q. 10. May a forfeiture, pledge, or mortgage be kept, on covenant-breaking ? 837 Q. 11. May I take the promise or bond of a third person as security for my money ? . . . ib. Q. 12. Is it lawful to lend upon usury, interest, or increase? ib. Q. 13. Whom are we bound to lend to ? . . . 839 Q. 14. Is it lawful to take money on usury, in such cases as the lender sinneth in ? . . . . ib. Q. 15. Doth not contracting for a certain sum make usury the more unlawful ? . . . . . ib. Tit. 5. Cases about I usory contracts . . . . 840 Q. 1. Is it lawful to lay wagers about the truth of our discourses ? ib. Q. 2. Is it lawful to lay wagers about horse-races, dogs, hawks, &c. ? ib. Q. 3. May one give money to see games or activities, bear-baitings, plays, &c. ? . . . . . ib. Q. 4. Is it lawful to play for money at cards, dice, lottery, &c. ? ib. Q. 5. Or at games of activity, as bowling, shooting, running, &c. ?....... ib. Q. 6. If the loser prove angry and unwilling to pay, may I get it of him by law ? ib. Tit. 6. Cases about losing and finding . . . ibr Q. 1. Must we seek out the loser to restore what we find? ib. Q. 2. May I take a reward as my due, for restoring what 1 found ib. Q. 3. May I wish to find any thing in my way, or be glad that I find it ? ib. Q. 4. May I not keep it, if no owner be found ? . ib. Q. 5. If others be present when I find it, may I not conceal, or keep it to myself ? . . . . 841 Q. 6. Who must stand to the loss of goods trusted to another ? ib. Tit. 7. Directions to merchants, factors, travellers, chaplains, that live among heathens, infidels, or papists ? . . ib. Q. 1 . Is it lawful to put one's self or servants, specially young unsettled apprentices, into the temptations of an infidel or popish country, merely to get riches as merchants do ? ib. Q. 2. May a merchant or ambassador leave his wife to live abroad ? 842 (i- 3. Is it lawful for young gentlemen to travel into other kingdoms, as part of their education ? The danger of common travelling . . . . ib. Directions for all these travellers in their abode abroad 845 CHAPTER XX. Tit. 1 . Motives and Directions against oppression . 846 The sorts of it ib. The greatness of the sin of oppression. The cure . 847 Tit. 2. Cases about oppression, especially of tenants . 849 Q. 1. Is it lawful to buy land of a liberal landlord, when the buyer must needs set it dearer than the seller did ? ib. Q. 2. May one take as much for his land as it is worth ? ib. Q. 3. May he raise his rents ? ib. Q. 4. How much below the full worth must a land- lord sell his land ? ib. CONTENTS. xvii PAGE Q. 5. May not a landlord that is in debt, or hath a payment to pay, raise his rents to pay it? . 849 Q. 6. If I cannot relieve the honest poor without raisin;; the rent of tenants that are worthy of less charity, may I do it ? . . . . . ■ 850 Q. 7. May I "penally raise a tenant's rent, or turn him out, because he is a bad man? . . . . ib. Q. 8. May one take house or land while another is in possession of it ? ib. Q. 9. May a rich man put out his tenants to lay the lands to his own demesnes ? ib. Q. 10. May one tenant have divers tenements? . . ib. Q. 1 1 . May one have divers trades ? . . . ib. Q. 12. Or keep shops in several market towns? . ib. CHAPTER XXI. Cases and Directions about prodigality and sinful waste ......... 851 What it is. Ways of sinful waste . . . . ib. Q. 1. Are all men bound to fare alike? Or what is excess ? . . . . . . . . . ib. Q. 2. What cost on visits and entertainments is law- ful ? (Whether the greatest good is still to be pre- ferred?) ib. Q. 3. V\ hat is excess in buildings ? .... 852 Q. 4. May we not in building, diet, &c. be at some charge for our delisiiit, as well as for necessity ? . ib. Q. 5. W hen are recreations too costly ? . . . 853 Q. 6. When is apparel too costly ? . . . . ib. Q. 7. When is retinue, furniture, and other pomp too costly ? ib. Q. 8. When is housekeeping too costly ?. . . ib. Q. 9. When are children's portions too ;;reat? . . ib. Q. 10. How far is frugality in small matters a duty ? ib. Q. 11. Must all labour in a calling? . . " .854 Q. 12. May one desire to increase and grow rich ? . ib. Q. 13. Can one be prodigal in giving to the church? ib. Q. 14. May one [live too much to the poor? . . ib. Q. 15. Mav the rich lay out on conveniences, pomp, or pleasure, when multitudes are in deep necessi- ties? ib. Directions against prodigality ib. CHAPTER XXII. Cases and Directions against injurious lawsuits, wit- nessinc, and judgment 855 Tit. 1 . Cases of conscience about lawsuits and pro- ceedings ........ ib. Q. 1. When is it lawful to go to law? . . ib. Q. 2. May 1 sue a poor man for a debt or trespass ? . ib. Q. 3. May I sue a surety whose interest was not concerned in the debt? . . . . . . ib. Q. 4. May I sue for the use of money ? . . . ib. Q. 5. May lawsuits be used to vex and humble an insolent, bad man ? ib. Q. 6. May a rich man use his friends and purse to bear down a ))Oor man that hath a bad cause ? . ib. Q. 7. May one use such forms in lawsuits (declara- tions, answers, &c.) as are false, according to the proper sense of the words? ib. Q. 8. May a person plead not guilty ? . . . ib. Q. 9. Is a man bound to accuse himself, and offer himself to justice? . . ... 856 Q. 10. May a witness voluntarily speak that truth, which he knoweth will be ill used ? . . . ib. Q. 1 1. May a witness conceal part of the truth ? . ib. Q. 12. Must a judge or jury proceed secundum alle- gutu et probata, when they know the witness to be false or the cause bad, but cannot evince it? . . ib. Tit. 2. Directions against these sins . . . ib. The evil of unjust suits ib. The evil of false witness ib. The evil of unjust judgments 857 The cure . . ' ib. CHAPTER XXIII. PACE Cases of conscience and Directions against backbiting, slandering, and evil-speaking .... 858 Tit. 1. Cases of conscience about backbiting and evil-speaking ib. Q. 1. May we not speak evil of that which is evil? . ib. Q. 2. May not the contrary be sinful silence and be- friending men's sins ? ib. Q. 3. What if religious, credible persons report it ? . ib. Q. 4. If I may not speak it, may I not believe them ? ib. Q. 5. May we not speak ill of open persecutors or enemies of godliness ? ib. Q. 6. What if it be one whose reputation counte- nanceth his ill cause, and his defamation would dis- able him ?........ ib. Q. 7. If I may not make a true narrative of matters of fact, how may we write true histories for pos- terity ? ib. Q. 8. What if it be one that hath been oft admonished ? ib. Q. 9. Or one that I cannot speak to face to face ? . ib. Q. 10. In what cases may we open another's faults ? 859 Q. 11. What if I hear men praise the wicked, or their sins ? . . ib. Q. 12. Are we bound to reprove every backbiter ? . ib. Tit. 2. Directions against backbiting, slandering, and evil-speaking ....... ib. T^V. 3. The great evil of these sins , . . .860 CHAPTER XXIV. Cases of and Directions against censoriousness, and sinful judging ....... 861 Tit.\. Cases of conscience about judging others . ib. Q. 1. Am I not bound to judge truly of every one as he is ? ib. Q. 2. How far may w-e judge ill of one by outward a|)pearance. as face, gesture, &c ib. Q. .3. How far may we censure on the report of others? 862 Q. 4. Doth not the fifth commandment bind iis to judge better of parents and princes than their lives declare tJiem to be ? ib. Q. 5. Whom must we judge sincere and holy chris- tians? . . . . ib. Q. 6. Is it not a sin to err, and take a man for better than he is ? . . ib. Q. 7. Whom must I take fora visible church member ? ib. Q. 8. W'hom must I judge a true worshipper of God ? ib. Q. 9. Which must I take for a true church? . . ib. Q. 10. Whom must we judge true prophets and true pastors of the church ? ib. Tit. 2. Directions for the cure of sinful censorious- ness 863 Tit. 3. Tlie evil of the sin of censoriousness . . 864 Tit. 4. Directions for those that are rashly censured by others 865 CHAPTER XXV. Cases and Directions about trusts and secrets . . 866 Tit. 1. Cases of conscience about trusts and secrets ib. Q. 1. How must we not put our trust in man ? . ib. Q. 2. Whom to choose for a trust ? . . . . ih. Q. 3. When may I commit a secret to another? . ib. Q. 4. Must I keep a secret when I am trusted with it, but promise it not? ib. Q. 5. What if a secret be revealed to me, without a desire to conceal it ? . . . . . . ib. 0. 6. V\ hat if it be against the king or state? . . ib. Q. 7. What if it be against the good of a third person ? ........ ib. Q. 8. What if a man in debt do trust his estate with me to defraud his creditors ? . . . . . ib. Q. 9. What if a delinquent intrust his person or estate w ith me to secure it from penalty ? ... . ih. xviii CONTENTS. Q. 10. ^Vhat if a friend intrust his estate with me to secure it from some great taxes to the l;ing ''. . . 866 Q. 11. Wiiat if a man that sutt'ercth for religion com- mit his person or estate to my trust ? . . . ib. Q. 12. If a papist or erroneous person intrust me to educate his cnildren in iiis error when lie is dead, I being of ins mind, must 1 perform it, when 1 am better informed ! 867 Q. 13. Wiiat if one turn papist, &c. after another hath committed his children to him ? . . . . ib. Q. 14. Must I wrong my estate to satisfy a dying friend in taking a trust .' ib. Q. 15. What if after the trust prove more to my hurt than I could foresee ? ib. Q. 16. W hat if he cast the trust on me, without my promise to accept it ? ib. Q. 17. May I not ease myself of a trust of orphans, by casting it on the surviving kindred, if they calumniate me as unfaitliful ? . . . . ib. Q. 18. Wiiat is a minister to do if a penitent confess secretly to him a heinous or a capital crime ? . ib. Tit. 2. Directions about trusts and secrets . . 868 CHAPTER XXVI. Directions against selfishness, as it is contrary to the love of our neighbour. The nature and evil of the sin, and the cure 868 CHAPTER XXVII. Cases and Directions for loving our neighbours as ourselves 870 Tit. 1 . Cases of conscience about loving our neigh- bour ib. Q. 1. IIovv must I love another as myself, in degree, or kind, or only reality ? ..... ib. Q. 2. What is the true nature of love to myself and others? 871 Q. 3. If none must be loved above their worth, how doth God love sinners ? ib. Q. 4. Must I love all in degree as much as myself? ib. Q. 5. Must I love any more than ravself ? . . ib. Q. 6. Must I love other men's wife, children, &c. better than my own, when they are better ? . . ib. Q. 7. Who is that neighbour whom I must love as myself? ib. Q. 8. Must we love and pray for antichrist, and those that sin against the Holy fJhost ? . . . . ib. Q. 9. Must we not hate God's enemies ? . . ib. Q. 10. May I not wish hurt to another more than to myself? ib. Tit. 2. Directions to love our neighbours as our- selves 872 2'it. 3. The reasons and motives of love to our neigh- bour ib. CHAPTER XXVIII. Cases of, and Directions for, the love of godly per- sons as such , . 873 Tit. 1 . Cases of conscience about love to the godly . ib. Q. 1 . How can we love the godly, when none can know another to be sincere ? ib. Q. 2. Must we love them as godly that give no ac- count of the time, manner, or means of their con- version ? ib. Q. 3. What if they are so ignorant that ihey know not what faith, repentance, conversion, &c. are ? . ib. Q. 4. Must I take the visible members of the church for truly godly ? ib. Q. 5. Must we take all visible members equally to be godly and lovely ? 874 Q. 6. Must we love all equally, strong and weak, that seem sincere ? ib. Q. 7. Must we love those better that have much PAGE grace and little useful gifts, or those that have less grace and more protit;ible gifts, for the church ? . 874 Q. 8. Must we love him as godly who Uveth in any heinous sin ? . . . . . . . . ib. Q. 9. Must an excommunicate person be loved as godly or not ? ib. Q. 10. Can an unsanctified man truly love a godly man ? 875 Q. 1 1 . Can he love him because he is godly ? . . ib. Q. 12. May he love a godly man because he would make hira godly ? ib. Q. 13. Doth any such love the godly more than others ? ib. Q. 14. Do all true christians love all the godly that wrong them, or differ from them ? . . . . ib. Q. 15. What is that love of the godly which proveth our sincerity, and which no hypocrite can reach to? ib. Tit. 2. Directions for true loving the children of God ib. Til. 3. Motives or meditative helps to love the godly 876 Tit. 4. The hinderances and enemies of christian love 877 Tit. 5. The counterfeits of christian love . . . 878 Tit. 6. Cases and Directions for intimate, special friends ib. Q. 1. Is it lawful to have an earnest desire to be loved by others ; especially by some one above all others ? ib. Q. 2. Is it lawful, meet, or desirable, to entertain that extraordinary affection to any, which is called special friendship ? or to have one endeared, intimate friend, whom we prefer before all others? .... 879 Q. 3. Is it meet to have more bosom friends than one ? ib. Q. 4. Is it meet for him to choose any other bosom friend, that hath a pious wife? and is any so fit for this friendship as a wife ? ib. Q. 5. Is it meet to love a friend for our own com- modity? Must I or my friend be the chief end of my love or friendship ? ib. Q. 6. May we keep any secret from such a friend ? or have any suspicion of hira, or suppose that he may prove unfaithful ? . 880 Q. 7. May we change an old bosom friend for a new one ? ib. Q. 8. What love is due to a minister that hath been the means of my conversion ? . . . . ib. Q. 9. What is the sin and danger pf loving another too much ? ib. Q. 10. What must be the qualifications of a bosom friend? . . .881 Twenty thin;^ necessary to such a friendship ; so rare as prove it rare ....... ib. Directions for the right use of special friendship . 882 CHAPTER XXIX. Cases and Directions for loving enemies and doing them good . 883 Tit. 1. Q. 1. Whom must I account and love as an enemy ? ib. Q. 2. Why and how must an enemy be loved ? . ib. Q. 3. Must I desire God to forgive him while he re- penteth not? ib. Q. 4. What if he be my enemy for religion, and so an enemy to God ? ib. Q. 5. What if my benefits enable and imbolden him to do hurt ? 884 Q. 6. May I not hurt an enemy in my own defence, and wish him as much hurt as I may do him ? . ib. Q. 7. Must kings and states love tiieir enemies ? How then shall they make war ? ib. Tit. 2. Motives to love and do good to enemies . ib. Tit. 3. Directions for the practice .... 885 CHAPTER XXX. Cases and Directions about works of charity . . 885 Tit. 1 . Cases of conscience about works of charity ? . ib CONTENTS. xix PACE Q. 1. What are the grounds and motives of good \ works .' 885 ; Q. 2. ^VIlat is a good work v\hich God hath promised ; to reward ? 886! Q. 3. What particular good works should one choose at this time, that would best improve his master's stock f 887 Q. 4. In what order must we do good works, and who must be preferred ? ib. Q. 5. Is it better to give in life-time or at death I . ib. Q. 6. and 7. Must we devote a certain proportion of our incomes ? and what proportion ? A letter to Mr. Gouge on that question ib. Til. 2. Directions for works of charity . . . 894 CHAPTER XXXr. Cases and Directions about confessing sins and inju- ries to others 895 Tit. 1. Cases about confessing sins and injuries to others ib. Q. 1. W'hen must we confess wrongs to those that we have wronged ? ...... ib. Q. 2. What will excuse us from such confessions ! . ib. Q. 3. Must I confess a purpose of injury which was never executed ? ib. Q. 4. When must sins against God be confessed to men ? ib. Tit. 2. The Directions for just confessing sin to others ^ 896 CHAPTER XXXII. Cases and Directions about satisfaction and restitution 896 Tif. 1. Cases of conscience about satisfaction and restitution ib. (i. 1. W' hat is satisfaction, what restitution, and when a duty ! Why did they restore fourfold by the law of Moses ? ib. Q. 2. IIow far is satisfaction and restitution neces- sary '. ib. Q. 3. Who are bound to make it? . . . . 897 Q 4. To whom must it be made ? . . . . ib. Q. 5. What restitution is to be made for dishonour- ing rulers or parents ? . . . . . . ib. Q. 6. IIow must satisfaction be made for slanders and lies ? ib. Q. 7. And for tempting others to sin and hurting their souls '! ib. Q. 8. And for murder or manslaughter ? . . . ib. Q. 9. Isa murderer bound to offer himself to justice? ib. Q. 10. Or to do execution on himself? . . . 898 Q. 11. What satisfaction is to be made by a forni- cator or adulterer ? ib. Q. 12. In what cases is a man excused from satisfac- tion and restitution ? ib. Q. 13. What if restitution will cost the restorer more than the thing is worth? . . . . . ib. Q. 14. What if confessing a fault will turn the rage of the injured person against me to my ruin? . . ib. Tit. 2. The Directions for practice . . . . ib. CHAPTER XXXIII. Cases and Directions about our obtaining pardon from fJod 899 Tif. 1. Cases of conscience about obtaining pardon from God ib. Q. 1. Is there pardon to be had for all sin without exception ? ib. Q. 2. W hat if one oft commit the same heinous sin ? ib. Q. 3. Is the day of grace and pardon ever past in this life? ib. Q. 4. May we be sure that we are pardoned ? . . ib. Q. 5. Can any man pardon sin against God, and how far? ib. Q. 6. Is sin forgiven before it is committed ? . . ib. Q. 7. Are the elect pardoned and justified before re- pentance ? ib. FAOE Q. 8. Is pardon or justification perfect before death? 900 Q. 9. Is our pardon perfect as to all sins past? . ib. Q. 10. May pardon or justification be lost or reversed? ib. Q. 11. Is the pardon of my own sin to be believed fide divina 1 and is it the meaning of that article of the creed ? ib. Q. 12. May one in any kind trust to his own faith and repentance for his pardon ? . . . . ib. Q. 13. What are the causes and conditions of pardon ? ib. Tit. 2. Directions for obtaining pardon from God . ib CHAPTER XXXIV. Cases and Directions about self-judging . . . 901 Tit. 1. Cases of conscience about self-judging . ib. Q. 1. What are the reasons, uses, and motives of self-judging ? ib. Q. 2. What should ignorant persons do whose ca- pacity will not reach to so high a work as true self- examination and self-jiidgini; ? . . . . ib. Q. 3. IIow far may a weak christian fake the judg- ment of his pastor or others about his sincerity and justification ? . . . . . . . . ib. Tit. 2. Directions for judging of our actions . . ib. Tit. 3. Directions forjudging of our estates, to know whether we are justified, and in a state of life . 902 ^ A MORAL PROGNOSTICATION. To the Reader .905 I. What shall befall the churches on earth, till their concord, by the restitution of their primitive purity, simplicitv, and charity 906 II. IIow that restitution is likely to be made, (if ever,) and what shall befall tl eni thenceforth unto the end, in that golden age of love . . . 914 THE REFORMED LITURGY. The ordinary public worship on the Lord's day • 922 The order of celebi-ating the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ ". 930 The celebration of the sacrament of baptism . . 934 Of catechising, and the approbation of those that are to be admitted to tiie Lord's supper . . . 936 Of the celebration of matrimony .... 937 The visitation of the sick, and {heir commimion . 938 The order of solemnizing the burial of the dead . ib. The extraordinarv days of humiliation and thanks- giving, and anniversary festivals .... 939 Of prayer and thanksgiving for particular members of the church ........ ib. A thanksgiving for the deliverance of women in child-bearing 940 Of |)astoral discipline, public confession, absolution, and exclusion fiom the holy communion of the church 941 A form of public admonition to the impenitent . . 942 A form of confession to be made before tlie congregation 943 A form of prayer for a sinner impenitent, after ])ublic admonition ........ ib. A form of rejection from the communion of the church 944 A form of absolution and reception of the penitent . ib. A form of thanksgiving, or prayer, for tlie restored penitent ib. APPENDIX. A larger litany, or general prayer, to be used at dis- cretion . 945 The church's praise for our redemption, to be used at discretion 947 AN ESSAY ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF RICHARD BAXTER. It is both soothing and inspiring to mark how time vindicates character, and rewards real merit. It is not necessary in order to the full enjoyment of this great truth, to have any thing personal, or even directly relative, at stake upon it. I have nothing ; and yet no recollection nor anticipation, which is not heavenly, yields me equal delight. There may, I indeed, be something selfish in this pleasure ; inasmuch as the final verdict of posterity con- firms my own private judgment of the men who won and warmed my heart by their writings, whilst I knew but little of their history, and still less of their times. It is not, however, this chiefly, that thrills the heart and satisfies the whole soul, when both the Urim and Thummim of time (like space revealing new stars) sparkle with the names of Owen, Howe, and Baxter, enshrined thus ; — The judicious Owen ; The seraphic Howe ; The holy Baxter. This is enjoyed as the public triumph of truth and holiness over calumny and prejudice ; and not I as the public ratification of our private opinion. Accordingly, it is enjoyed equally by all churchmen and dissenters, to whom the vindication of the righteous is dearer than the pecu- liarities or the success of a party. And how true time is to the real character of the men whose wrongs it avenges, and whose merits it rewards ! The proverbial epithet, " The holy Baxter," (like that older one, " The venerable Bede,") is just the verdict which a seraph " full of eyes within and without," might be expected to pronounce, after having deliberately reviewed the whole history and works of the sage of Kidderminster. Holiness was Baxter's distinguishing characteristic. It hallowed all that was great in his talents, and softened all that was irascible in his I temper. Those who cannot relish the beauty of his holiness, can neither appreciate nor understand his genius ; for it is power governed by holiness, and panting for perfection. Or, if any thing else had equal influence over Baxter, it was Eternity, as the home of peace and purity, as the goal of being and blessedness. Orme has mightily helped on the appreciation and emphasis of Baxter's holiness, by call- ing his character " nneartldrjr It was so, even in those points where it was most " of the earth, earthy." I mean, that its earthlincss was not of the common kind. It had redeem- ing qualities, like the fabled clod which imbibed the fragrance of the Persian roses, as their xxii ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. leaves fell upon it. There was something heavenly about Baxter's motives and designs, even when he warred most " after the manner of men." 1 shall have occasion to illustrate this fact more fully, in the course of my desultory hints on his character and writings. In the mean time, it is of more importance to observe, that time brings out nothing but the trulh, concerning any man it eventually vindicates. Where there has been no holiness, or but an average degree of it, no investiture with sanctity takes place. " The odour of sanctity" breathes around no ancient name, which was not revered or reviled, in its times, for holiness. Time is more scrupulous than the Vatican, in canonizing saints. It admits few into its calendar, but those " of whom the world was not worthy." Accordingly, whilst it has placed Milton in the front rank of poets and patriots, it has left his creed and his spirituality just as indefinite as he himself made them. It has done him justice to all the extent in which he exalted literature and endeared liberty ; but it has thrown no halo around his piety, nor given any spiritual charm to his name. Milton is less remembered in the closet and the sanctuary than Young ; and awakens none of the holy sympathies which Cowper wins so abundantly. I am not giving an opinion upon the reality of the piety or the orthodoxy of Milton ; but merely stating the fact, that they are not the basis of his immortality, nor the brightest gems of his crown. Every one is afraid to question them ; but no one dares to commend them, as models of faith or devotion ! It is not so in the case of Howe, Owen, or Baxter. The jus- tice now done to their works, has been won by the beauty of their holiness, and the devotion of their spirit. There were men of equal talents, and of greater learning, among their contem- poraries ; but how few of them has time identified with the hallowed names of the primitive confessors, or of the early reformers ! Even Stillingfleet has " no glory," compared with Leighton and Usher. They too had superiors on the bench ; but, except Hall and Taylor, which of them is now telling upon the progress of the world, or the holiness of the church ? It is unearthly men that acquire and keep a heavenly influence in the churches ; and they acquire it in all the churches of Christ. The defects of their theology, and the faults of their ecclesiastical polity, and the spirit of their politics, are all forgotten, if not forgiven too, in the presence of their holiness. We feel (whatever church we belong to) that Bishop Hall and John Howe, Archbishop Usher and John Owen, Jeremy Taylor and Richard Baxter, were " men of God," according to the measure of an angel. Indeed, we can hardly recollect their ecclesiastical distinctions at all, whilst communing with their devotional spirit. The prelates might have been mere presbyters, who ministered to his fathers in holy things, for any thing the pious dissenter recollects, whilst their works and worth are before him ; and the presbyters might all have been primates, from the weight which their name and character have amongst pious churchmen. Dr. Owen is vice-chancellor of both universities, as well as of all dissenting colleges, so far as they teach the theology of the Reformation, or " perfect " sanctified men " for the work of the ministry : " and Baxter, although he refused a bishopric, is Primate of all England, yea, and of America too, so far as the episcopate of closets and consciences is concerned. In acquiring this wide moral influence by the weight of his character, it is difficult to say whether churchmen or dissenters had most to forgive and forget towards Baxter. Both, however, have forgiven him much. Indeed, I should not like to tell either, how much. Orme has not ventured to do that ; and I refer to it, only to illustrate the process and pro- gress of the public mind, in decreeing the apotheosis of an unearthly " master in Israel." A man of real genius, and of radiant purity, who has identified himself, soul, body, and spirit, with human sympathies, and with divine hopes and fears, and with heavenly aspirations, until he evidently feels with all men, and for all men, disinterestedly, is sure to make all feel for himself, if not with him. A man who has thus been the angel of our common nature, in its universal sympathies, will be forgiven any thing that is not unpardonable. Faults ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. xxiii will be reckoned foibles ; erroi'S, oversights or mistakes ; and singularities, trifles : all, mere spots in the sun. For the public feel that they cannot afford to place such a friend under the microscope. Such friends are too few and far between, to be judged by inches when they disappear. The mantle of love which they spread over their species, is then spread over their own memory for ever. This is the whole secret of Baxter's triumph. His theological defects are forgiven, because they had no heretical influence upon himself or others ; and his polemical sins are forgotten, because he fought only for peace. Baxter, however, is not sufficiently known to all, to render these hints interesting, or even intelligible to all. Perhaps the following hints are more wanted by the generality of readers. If he does not know Milton, who has read his poetry only, neither does he know Baxter, who has read only " The Saints' Everlasting Rest," and the " Call to the Unconverted." These popular works, like the poetry of Milton, are, indeed, quite sufficient to account for and sustain all the public homage now paid to his venerable name. Any man is more than justified in calling Baxter one of his favourite authors, and in classing him with the lights of the world, who has studied even the abridgement of the " Saints' Everlasting Rest." That one work, like the " Paradise Lost " of Milton, settles for ever the question of the place and the palm which belong to Baxter. It has, however, displaced his other works too much, and too long ; just as the "Paradise Lost" did the Prose Works of Milton. These were almost unknown to ordinary readers, until the modern press brought them into a popular form, and , down to a moderate price. Until then, the generality hardly knew that the diamond pen of Ij Milton had ever written prose; for the few passages which they heard quoted in sermons and speeches, were too eftulgent to be deemed prose. Many supposed them to be quotations from Milton's Sonnets. But now, thousands divide their admiration equally, between his prose and his poetry. This is wanted in the case of Baxter also ; and it can only be produced in the same way now. The age of buying or of reading folios is gone by. Old works must have new forms and low prices ; and those who have studied them with care, must speak of them with spirit. It was thus, that the Paradise of Milton's Prose Works was " regained." And how few, comparatively, would have studied or purchased Howe, had not Robert Hall talked him into notice ! In this respect Howe owes as much to Hall, as Hall can be indebted to Howe. II It is no reflection on Howe to say this. He would have fallen out of popular notice, had not his admirers proclaimed their admiration. So would Jeremy Taylor, had Coleridge been silent : for, except his " Holy Living and Dying," his other works were almost forgot- 1 1 ten, until Coleridge began to enrich his own rich banquets with desserts from the " Golden Grove," and olives from the " Ductor Dubitantium." Donne also owes every thing to the same timely and hearty heralding : and even Barrow would have been only the companion of theologians, had not the Lake philosopher talked him into his original notoriety. It is thus just as true in literature as in nature, that " the greatest weights often hang on the smallest wires." No one, I am aware, could either talk or write into notice a superficial author. It is because " the half was not told," and could not be told, by eulogists, that profound authors keep their place. But still, it is by clusters cut from their Eshcols, and brought into the wilderness by Calebs and Joshuas, as specimens of " the fruit thereof," that the tribes are led on to Canaan, when tempted to go back to Egypt. Had no spies gone into the goodly land of puritanism, the church would be nearer the Egyptian side of the wilderness than she now is. I am devising (and I confess it) an apology for myself, as an editor of Baxter. I am merely a spy, in his land of promise ; a gleaner in his fields and vineyards. And I became so, little dreaming how far I should penetrate, and still less intending to tell the public what xxiv ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. I saw or enjoyed. I was seeking food for my own mind only. Indeed, I had Scotch preju- dices against Baxterianisni ; which, though vague, were somewhat inveterate ; for I had heard in early life, not a few anathemas against that system, from the lips of good men. My surprise, therefore, was not small, when I first discovered that the Baxter whom my parents loved for his " Saints' Everlasting Rest," better than they did Welwood for his " Glimpse of Glory in Emmanuel's Land," was the same Baxter, whom orthodox ministers denounced as almost a heretic. " How could he be so sound about heaven itself, and so unsound about the way to it?" This question puzzled me. It haunted me. It was by trying to solve it, that I came to study the works of Baxter. I began, however, too early, and with his con- troversial works first ; and thus was glad to leave the question in abeyance for years, and to take up with the popular, but untrue, explanation of the excellence of the " Everlasting Rest,"— "that he had written it in prison, where he had no book but his Bible to con- sult ;" whereas, it is the first book he wrote, although the second he published. The, dis- covery of this fact led, naturally, to the reflection, — if this was his first, what can his last be ! I turned at once to his " Dying Thoughts," to see how a mind which, at thirty, could range heaven as if at home amongst all its thrones and dominions, and open hell as with " the key of the bottomless pit," would carry out or sustain its visions in old age. I will not say that I was amazed to find so much power and glory in its last efforts ; but I was delighted to find exactly that happy medium between triumph and tranquillity, which might be expected from one who, like Paul, had almost been " out of the body " at an early period of his ex- perience, and who had, through life, been buffeted by many a messenger of Satan, as well as tried with many a thorn in the flesh. Baxter's dying thoughts are very like Paul's. What Orme says of the former is true of the latter, — " In these thoughts, as there are few rap- tures, so there are no depressions or despondencies. They discover throughout a solemn, calm, undisturbed serenity ; the steady contemplation of dissolution in all its consequences, with- out alarm or terror." Their tone is just that of a man, who was " ready to be offered." It is alternately angel-like praise, and child-like prayer, and sage-like musing. There may be a better way of beginning to study Baxter, than by comparing his first and last works. These form, however, " the double blaze of light," in which all his other works should be read. Indeed, in some of them he is uninteresting, if not almost unintelligible at times, if the reader allow himself to forget that the writer had been in " the third heaven." Baxter never forgets this. Whether dealing death-blows at error and sin, or splitting hairs in casuistry, or sketching plans of visible church union, or rebuking spiritual wickedness in high places, he is still the man who had " dwelt long on the sides of eternity," and who was always ready to be absorbed again in its bosom. He does not always tell this, when he is fighting, and defining, and distinguishing ; but he feels it always ; and it is the real secret of his earnestness and intensity. It is eternity that makes him prolix, whether speaking of himself or writing to others. His thirty-two reasons, in his " Penitent Confessions," for openly declaring himself for the parliament, as well as his " Fifty Reasons why a Sinner should turn without Delay," are proofs of this. He saw that he could never forget that step, and felt that he would review it in the light and leisure of eternity ; and therefore he placed it in all the lights of law and circumstances. He did not multiply reasons for it, chiefly because he wished to stand well with posterity ; but because he was intent on stand- ing well with his own conscience for ever. In the same spirit, also, he dealt with the dilemmas, and scruples, and fears of the conscientious : he was afraid of leaving any thing unsaid, which might affect their eternal welfare, or peril their souls. Accordingly, he pleads, and explains, and repeats, until he feels himself clear of their blood, and prepared to meet them at the last tribunal. Thus his " line upon line, and precept upon precept," both originate and centre in his realizations of eternity. He is always trying to do what will bear to be thought of for ever and ever. ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. XXV It would, I know, be easy to quote passages from Baxter, which are of" the earth, earthy." He could and did belabour some of his opponents, without ceremony, and almost without mercy. He was not, however, so angry as he seemed. " Whilst the readers think me angry," says he in his Life, " I feel no passion at such times in myself." This was not said either to justify or palliate his apparent severity ; for he adds, " Though I feel no anger, yet (which is worse) I know that there is some want of honour and love or tenderness to others ; or else I should not be apt to use such words as open their weakness and offend them. It is scandalous, and a hinderance to what I write." This confession may well be allowed to soften the condemnation, which must be passed upon some of Baxter's controversial works. His provocations, also, should never be forgotten, when his spirit is weighed in the balance of modern polemics. It is easier to be courteous now, than when the fanatics of Vane raved, and the malignants of Charles railed. Men wrote as they fought then, with desperation. The language of strife was their " mother tongue ;" and, as one says, " they had to speak loud, in order to be heard in these troublous days." Besides, Baxter was far more concerned to protect the many from error, than to vanquish or expose his opponents. He loved the war of words, indeed, with all his heart : but not so much for its own sake, as for the peace and safety of those who could not defend themselves. He fought, if not always wisely, yet only and honestly, that the gospel might have free course and be glorified every where, as it had been at Kidderminster. " If we be beside ourselves," he says in the preface to his " Treatise on Self-Denial," " it is for your cause." Still, he was, in another sense than Eli Bates said, " a vehement lover of peace." Neither apology nor explanation is wanted for what Dr. Chalmers calls well, " the solemn earnestness and urgency of appeal, by which the (practical) writings of the much-admired (Baxter) are distinguished." Or, if any explanation of his burning eloquence be wanted, it will be found in this fact : " He seems," says Dr. Chalmers, " to look upon mankind solely with the eyes of the spirit, and exclu- sively to recognise them in their spiritual relations, and in the great and essential elements of their immortal being. Their future destiny is the all-important concern which fills and engrosses his mind, and he regards nothing of any magnitude but what has a distinct bearing on their spiritual and eternal condition. His business is therefore always with the con- science, to which he makes the most forcible appeals. In his ' Call to the Unconverted,' he endeavours to move them by the most touching of all representations, — the tenderness of a beseeching God, waiting to be gracious, and not willing that any should perish. And while he employs every form of entreaty, which tenderness and compassion can suggest, to allure the sinner to ' turn and live,' he does not shrink from forcing on his convictions those considerations which are fitted to alarm his fears, — the terrors of the Lord, and the , wrath, not merely of an offended Lawgiver, but of a God of love, whose threatenings he dis- ■ regards, whose grace he despises, and whose mercy he rejects. And aware of the deceitful- ness of sin in hardening the heart, and in betraying the sinner into a neglect of his spiritual interests, he divests him of every refuge, and strips him of every plea for postponing his preparation for eternity. He forcibly exposes the delusion of convenient seasons, and the awful infatuation and hazard of delay ; and knowing the magnitude of the stake at issue, he , urges immediate repentance as if the fearful and almost only alternative were, ' Now or Never.' Thus he endeavours to arrest the sinner in his career of guilt and unconcern, and resolutely to fix his determination on turning to God this day without delay." There is much of this plying of the conscience " with all those arguments which are fitted to awaken the sinner to a deep sense of the importance and necessity of immediate repent- ance," in Chalmers's own early sermons. What influence Baxter had upon him then, he has not said ; but he becomes thoroughly Baxterian, in this respect, in his splendid preface to the " Call," and " Now or Never." Its argument and style throughout, and its spirit at the peroration, are all in Baxter's highest mood ; — graphic and glowing. Thus : " You who XXVI ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. wretchedly calculate on the repentance of the eleventh hour, are every day mustering up in greater force a formidal)leness against you, enemies to it. Oh the bigness of such a mislead- ing infatuation ! The proposed scene in which this battle for eternity is to be fought, and this victory for the crown of glory to be won, is a death-bed. It is when the last messenger stands by the couch of the dying man, and shakes at him the terrors of his grizzly counte- nance, that the poor child of infatuation thinks he is to struggle and prevail against all his enemies — against the unrelenting tyranny of habit — against the obstinacy of his own heart, which he is doing so nmch to harden — against Satan, to whom every day of his life he has given some fresh advantage over him. How can we think of letting you go, with any other repentance than the repentance of the moment that is now passing over you, when we look forward to the horrors of that impressive scene, on which you propose to win the prize of immortality, and to contest it singlehanded and alone, with all the weight of opposition you have accumulated against yourselves — a death-bed ; a languid, breathless, tossing, and agi- tated death-bed ; that scene of feebleness, when the poor man cannot help himself to a single mouthful — when he must have attendants to sit around him, and watch his every wish, and interpret his every signal, and turn him to every posture where he may find a moment's ease, and wipe away the cold sweat that is running over him, and ply him with cordials for thirst, and sickness, and insufferable languor? And this is the time, when occupied with such feelings, and beset with such agonies as these, you propose to crowd within the compass of a few wretched days, the work of winding up the concerns of a neglected eternity ! " The spell of Baxter was upon Chalmers when he wrote this appeal. So it was also upon Dr. Wilson, the Bishop of Calcutta, when he wrote a preface to " The Reformed Pastor." Like Chalmers, he says little about Baxter himself ; but he catches much of his manner and spirit. Indeed, all the editors of his separate treatises become transformed into his image, whilst explaining his design. An editor of his entire works may fail to convey an idea of them ; and can hardly do otherwise, owing to their multiplicity and variety ; except when, like Orme, he can produce a volume : whereas, any single practical work of Baxter's, how- ever diffuse in its style, is so definite in its object, that it stamps like a die, minds of even harder metal than gold ; and like a seal, spirits less melting than wax. Even Crewsdon, the quaker, waxes bold in the preface to his abridgement of " The Saints' Rest." " Should any reader be offended with the language in some of the following pages, the editor would beg of him to consider whether it has not the sanction of an authority not to be questioned. If it is the language of our Lord and his apostles, is it either wise or safe to forbear the use of such expressions as (we must conclude) do most fitly describe the awful realities of an other world ? " Bishop Wilson says of Baxter's " Reformed Pastor," " It is one of the best of his invaluable practical works. In the whole compass of divinity, there is scarcely any thing superior to it, in close, pathetic appeals to the conscience of the minister of Christ, upon the primary duties of his office. A few phrases and sentiments, indeed, will still be found which partake of Baxter's particular character, or arise from his habits of thinking on controverted matters. These are inseparable from human infirmity : and he is unworthy of the name of a christian, who can allow such trifling considerations to lessen the full effect of the general truths of this work, on his own heart and conscience." This is honourable to the Bishop ; but, to me, it is nothing, compared with his appeals, (so Baxterian !) " to the ministers of all the pro- testant churches of Europe and America." He quotes nothing — imitates nothing — re. models nothing from Baxter ; but he re-echoes him in every page and line. He makes his readers feel that he had been alternately " with Jesus " and Baxter, whilst preparing to beseech and adjure his brethren. " The gospel," says Bishop Wilson, " is an unspeakable gift. It touches on eternity. It concerns both worlds. It involves the glory of God, the honour of Christ, the welfare of souls. It is founded on the unutterable agonies of the cross ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. xxvii and ceases not until it has brought the penitent sinner to heaven. The blessings we have to offer are the greatest ; the woe we have to denounce is the most fearful. Every thing con- nected with our office partakes of the incomprehensible greatness of the gifts of the Saviour and the Holy Spirit. Till (then) our whole souls are animated, elevated, absorbed — till we see nothing to be important, compared with our work — till nothing satisfies us, or can satisfy us, but success in it — till we look on the affairs of human pursuit, and human wisdom, and human power, and human glory, as the toys of children in comparison — till we draw all our studies, all our affections, every faculty of our minds, and every member of our bodies, to this one point — till the salvation of souls is the one thing we aim at, the object of desire, the ruling passion of our souls — we can never expect a general revival of religion ; which can only spring, under the blessing of God, from such principles and impressions. To preach aright, is to give a tongue to prophets and apostles ; is to speak as the blessed Saviour and St. Paul spake ; it is to make truth intelligible, forcible, triumphant ; it is to clear away from the Bible false glosses, and present it in its native purity, and clothe it with the attri- butes of a living instructor ; it is to give to the written doctrine, the tenderness and pathos, the authority and force, with which it was first clothed by the inspired writers." It is thus Baxter makes good and great men speak and think. They cannot " resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake." The " unconverted " are not more moved by his calls to repentance, than the converted by his calls to diligence and fidelity. He fixes and transfixes both saint and sinner, with equal certainty. No mood of the natural or of the spiritual mind is unknown or inaccessible to him. He can not only trace the varieties and fluctuations of thought and feeling, through all their forms and phases ; but can throw himself into them all as if the worst and the best of them were equally his own ; — that thus he may wound the supine with a sword which has passed through his own soul, and make the trembling see how such wounds can be healed at the cross. Baxter cannot be resisted, but when his breathing and burning pages are skimmed; and even then, the eye falls upon hints which haunt the soul, and upon flaming swords which startle the spirit. Such is his power of arresting and rousing, of melting and disembodying, the mind ; of winding up purpose to resolution, and of bearing down excuses ; that were his works read in all worshipping families throughout the land, these families would send throughout the ministry, a call for energy, and unction, and adaptation, and diligence, which would be irresistible. Even Whitefield felt and owned the inspiration of Baxter at Kidder- minster. " I was greatly refreshed," he says, " to find what a sweet savour of good Mr. Baxter's doctrine, works, and discipline, remained to this day." And if the " sweet savour " of him, retained and breathed by those who cherished his memory, made the warm heart of Whitefield warmer, what would be the effect of Baxter's spirit-stirring works upon the pub- lic mind, were they as generally read as Bunyan's " Pilgrim," or as Doddridge's " Kise and Progress of Religion," or even as his own " Saints' Rest ? " Wilberforce also calls his Practical ^\ orks, " a treasury of christian wisdom ; " and says, " it would be a most valuable service to mankind to revise them, and render them more suited to the taste of modern readers." — Wilberforce^ s Practical Piety. True, it is a formidable undertaking, to go through his Practical Works only. Their bulk is forbidding, in these times of pocket-book literature ; and their style is supposed to be uncouth and crabbed. It is not to the credit of the age, however, that the faults of Bax- ter's style should be allowed to weigh against his real eloquence ; for he is eloquent in the best sense, even if " Colleges and halls " be ignorant of the fact. How could he be otherwise ? He had a soul of fire, in a body of infirmity ; and stood upon a hill where all the winds of heaven fanned it. Neither from xxviii ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. temporanient nor from circumstances, could Baxter be tame. All within and around him conspired to wing his pen. Its very irregularities, like the curves and circles of the eagle and the hawk, evince its strength and elasticity. So far as power and promptitude are con- cerned, it might have been plucked from the wing of seraph. They do not know Baxter, who doubt this. It ought, however, to occur to those who give him credit for being acute and searching, fearless and fiery, that he must also and often be truly eloquent. These qualities are the very elements of natural eloquence. No writer can be splendid or profound without them, except in words ; and with them, no writer can be heavy, except to the spoiled children of " light reading." Why should so many of those who can think, and do study, take for granted, that there is nothing fascinating or inspiring in Baxter ? This cannot be true, if there be any truth in the popular conviction, or in the proverbial acknowledgment, of his intensity. As a fiery writer, he must throw out occa- sionally both bolts and sheets of flame : as a searching writer, he must often throw open both the heights and depths of mind and conscience : and as an argumentative writer, on subjects which called forth the learning and skill of former ages, he must for ever excite and gratify curiosity by new and old forms of thought. Baxter does all this, and more. He is never, indeed, poetical like Jeremy Taylor ; nor witty like Dr. Donne ; and but seldom sententious like Bishop Hall. There is a total ab- sence of all adventitious qualities in his reasonings and illustrations — except his frequent quotations from the fathers, and reformers, and schoolmen, be reckoned such. Otherwise, he evidently found in practical ideas, however plain, all that complacency and inspiration, which some of his contemporaries found in " Thoughts that breathe, and words that burn :" and yet he never betrays his delight, but by pursuing his subject. With him it is a matter of conscience, rather than of taste or habit, to multiply " line upon line, and precept upon precept and their justness, not their originality nor their ingenuity, maintains his activity. He cares nothing about a fine thought, or a happy expression, for its own sake. He is dotingly fond of smart hits, and of hints which stick as well as strike ; but not because they are smart and sticking, but because they are likely to do good. It is impossible to trace in even his finest passages, any consciousness, on his part, that they are fine. The hope that they may be effectual in winning souls to Christ, or in weaning Christians from the world, reigns and radiates in them ; but nothing indicates the expectation or the wish, that they should win for himself a name or a niche in the temple of literary fame. Any one may trace in Jeremy Taylor, and Bishop Hall, and Dr. Donne, the inspiring influence of a fine idea upon their own minds. They evidently see how it will tell upon their fame, and upon their cause. It tells also upon their own genius. Like giants " refreshed with new wine," they glory in their power, and triumph in their success. W^e are thus compelled to feel — that they were as conscious of their own power, as we are convinced of its greatness. We cannot help seeing their own eyes sparkling over those splendid creations of their genius, which make the fire flash, or the dew fall, from our eyes. In a word, they enjoyed their success, when they wrote well. Bishop Hall evidently " numbered his stars," and could call them all by " their names," many as they were : and Taylor certainly studied to fascinate, for the sake of fascination as well as of devotion : and Donne indulged in wit and waggery, from sheer love to them, and from shrewd calculations of their effect at court. I do not mean to say, that Baxter betrays no consciousness of his success, when he writes well ; but, that it is not successful writing which gratifies him. He evidently glories in a line of conclusive argument, or of commanding appeal ; but only as the former seems to settle some grand controversy in the church, and the latter to secure immediate submission to God in the clo.set. Nothing absorbs him but the salvation of souls. When he wars ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. XXIX most, he is watching for souls. He goes into all fields of battle, chiefly for their sake ; and comes out again, whether rejoicing or sad, only more resolved to win souls. Even when he soars highest in contemplative reasonings, he remonstrates and implores at every step of his ascent. There is a passage in his work on " Walking with God," which always reminds me of the spirit in which those who stand on the sea of glass before the throne, cry down to man, whilst looking up to God, — " Who would not fear and glorify thee, thou King of saints; for thou only art holy!" It is this: — "God is so abundantly and wonderfully represented to us in all his works, as will leave us under the guilt of the most inexcusable contempt, if we overlook him, or live as without him in the world. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. Cannot you see that, which all the world re- vealeth ; nor hear that, which all the world proclaimeth ? O sing ye forth the honour of his name ; make his praise glorious. Can we pass him by, that is every where present, and by every creature represented to us ? Can we forget him, when all the world are our re- membrancers ? Can we stop our ears against the voice of heaven and earth ? Can we be ignorant of him, when the whole creation is our teacher ? Can we overlook that holy, glorious name, which is written so legibly upon all things our eyes ever beheld, that nothing but blindness, sleepiness, or distraction, could possibly keep us from discerning it ? " I have many times wondered, that, as the eye is dazzled so with the beholding of the greatest light, that it can scarcely perceive the shining of a lesser, so the glorious, transcend- ent majesty of the Lord, doth not even overwhelm our understandings, and so transport and take us up, as that we scarce observe or remember any thing else. For naturally the greatest objects of our sense, are apt to make us insensible, at that time, to the smaller ; and our exceeding great business, is apt to make us utterly forget and neglect those (things) that are exceedingly small. And, oh, what nothings are the best and greatest of the creatures, in comparison with God ! And what toys and trifles are all our other businesses in the world, in comparison of the business we have with him ! " But I have been stopped in these admirations, by considering, that the wise Creator hath fitted and ordered all his creatures according to the use he designeth them to. And therefore, as the eye must be receptive only of so nmch light as is proportioned to its use and pleasure ; and must be so distant from the sun, that its light may rather guide than blmd us, and its heat rather quicken than consume us ; so God hath made our understand- ing capable of no other knowledge of him here, than what is suited to the work of holiness. Our souls, in this lantern of a body, must see him through so thick a glass, as not to dis- tract us, or take us off" the works which he enjoineth us : and God and our souls shall be at such a distance, as that the proportionable light of his countenance may conduct us, and not overwhelm us ; and his love be so revealed, as to quicken our desires, and draw us on to a better state, but not so as to make us utterly impatient of this world, and utterly weary of our lives. So that when I consider, that certainly all men would be distracted, if their appre- hensions of God were any whit answerable to the greatness of his majesty and glory, (the bram being not able to bear such high operations of the soul, nor the passions which would necessarily follow,) it much reconcileth my wondering mind to the wise and gracious provi- dence of God, in setting innocent nature itself at such a distance from his glory, though it I reconcile me not to that doleful distance which is introduced by sin, and which is furthered by Satan, the world, and the flesh. " And it further reconcileth me to this disposure and will of the blessed God, when I consider that, if God, and heaven, and hell, were as near and open to our apprehensions, as the things are which we see and feel, this life would not be.what God intended it to be, a life of trial and preparation for another. What trial would there be of any man's faith, or love, or obedience, or consistency, or self-denial, if we saw God stand by, or apprehended c XXX ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF 15AXTEK. him as if we saw him It would he no more praiseworthy or rewardahle, to ahhor all tempt- ations to worldliness, amhition, gluttony, drunkenness, lust, cruelty, than it is ibr a man to be kept from sleeping tkat is pierced with thorns ; or for a man to forbear to drink a cup of melted gold, which he knows will burn out his bowels. " 13ut though in this life we may neither hope for, nor desire, such overwhelming sensible apprehensions of God, as the rest of our faculties cannot answer, nor our bodies bear ; yet that our apprehensions of him should be so base, and small, and dull, and inconstant, as to be borne down by the noise of worldly business, or by the presence of any creature, or by the tempting baits of sensuality, this is the more odious, by how much God is more great and glorious than the creature, and even because the use of the creature itself is but to reveal the glory of the Lord. It is no unjust dishonour or injury to the creature, to be ac- counted as nothing in comparison with God, that it may (thus) be able to do nothing against him and his interests ; but to make such a nothing of the most glorious God, by our con- temptuous forgetfulness or neglect, as that our apprehensions of him cannot prevail against the sordid pleasures of the flesh, and against the richest baits of sin, and all the wrath and allurements of man, — this is but to make a god of dust, and dung, and nothing. It is a wonder that man's understanding can become so sottish, as thus to wink the sun itself into a con- stant darkness. O sinful man, into how great a depth of ignorance, stupidity, and misery, art thou fallen ! " This is a specimen of Baxter's eloquence ; " and many such things are with him." In this line of argumentative appeal, he has no equal. Butler reasons in this way ; but he cannot remonstrate at the same time, nor in tbe same tone. Baxter thrills most when he thinks best. His light and heat radiate together, and generally in equal degrees. He who could thus turn " the distance " at which God sets his glory beyond sensible observation, into an argument for gratitude and obedience, may easily be supposed to kindle, when " nearness to God " is his theme. Accordingly, it would be difficult to find a nobler passage in the whole compass of devotional writing, than the following, on walking with God. " To walk with God and live to him, is incomparably the highest and noblest life. To converse with men, is only to converse with worms : whether they be princes or poor men, they difffer but as the bigger animals from the lesser. If they be wise and good, then converse may be profitable and delightful, because they have a beam of excellency from the face of God. But if they be foolish, or ungodly, how loathsome is their conversation ! Certainly as the spirits of the just are so like to angels, that Christ says, we shall be as they, and equal to them ; so the wicked are nearer kin to devils, than they themselves will easily believe. x\nd shall we delight more to converse with brutes and incarnate devils than with God ? Is it not a more high and excellent conversation to walk with God, than to be the companions of such degenerate men ? How sad a life must it then be to converse with such, were it not for the hope we have of furthering their recovery and salvation ! " But to walk with God, is a word so high, that I should have feared the guilt of arro- gance in using it, if I had not found it in the holy Scriptures. It is a word that importeth so high and holy a frame of mind, and expresseth such high and holy actions, that the naming of it striketh my heart with reverence, as if I heard the voice to Moses, ' Put olF thy shoes from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.' Methinks he that shall say to me, Come, see a man that walks with God, doth call me to see one who is next unto an angel, or a glorified soul. It is a far more reverend object in mine eye, than ten thousand lords or princes, considered only in their fleshly glory. It is a wiser action for people to run and crowd together, to see a man that walks with God, than to see the pomp- ous train of princes, their entertainments, or their triumphs. O happy man, that walks with God, though neglected and contemned by all about him ! What blessed sights doth he daily see ! What ravishing tidings, what pleasant melody, doth he daily hear, unless it be ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. XXXI in his swoons or sickness ! What delectable food doth he daily taste ! He seeth by faith the God, the glory, which the blessed spirits see at hand by nearest intuition. He seeth that in a glass and darkly, which they behold with open face. He seeth the glorious majesty of his Creator, the eternal King, the Cause of causes, the Composer, Upholder, Preserver, and Governor of all the worlds. He beholdeth the wonderful methods of his providence ; and what he cannot reach to see, he adniireth, and waiteth for the time when that also shall be open to his view. He seeth by faith the world of spirits, the hosts that attend the throne of God ; their perfect righteousness ; their full devotedness to God ; their ardent love ; their flaming zeal ; their ready and cheerful obedience ; their dignity and shining glory, in which the lowest of them exceedeth that which the disciples saw on Moses and Elias when they appeared on the holy mount, and talked with Christ. He heareth by faith the heavenly con- cert, the high and harmonious songs of praise, the joyful triumphs of crowned saints, the sweet commemorations of the things that were done and suffered on*earth, with the praises of Him that redeemed them by his blood, and made them kings and priests to God : herein he hath sometimes a sweet foretaste of the everlasting pleasures, which, though it be but little, as Jonathan's honey on the end of his rod, or as the clusters of grapes which were brought from Canaan into the wilderness, yet are they more excellent than all the delights of sinners. And in the beholding of this celestial glory, some beams do penetrate his breast, and so irradiate his longing soul, that he is changed thereby into the same image, from glory to glory ; the Spirit of glory and of God do rest upon him. " And oh what an excellent holy frame doth this converse with God possess his soul of ! How reverently doth he think of him ! What life is there in every name and attribute of God which he heareth or thinketh on ! The mention of his power, his wisdom, his goodness, his love, his holiness, his truth, how powerful and how pleasant are they to him ! when to those that know him but by the hearing of the ear, all these are but like common names and notions ; and even to the weaker sort of christians, whose walking with God is more uneven and low, interrupted by their sins, and doubts, and fears, this life and glory of a christian course is less perceived. " And the sweet appropriating and applying works of faith, by which the soul can own his God, and finds himself owned by him, are exercised most easily and happily in these near approaches to God. Our doubts are cherished by our darkness, and that is much caused by our distance : the nearer the soul doth approach to God, the more distinctly it heareth the voice of mercy, the sweet, reconciling invitations of love ; and the more clearly it dis- cerneth that goodness and amiableness in God, which maketh it easier to us to believe that he loveth us, or is ready to embrace us ; and banisheth all those false and horrid apprehen- sions of him, which before were our discouragement, and made him seem to us more terrible than amiable. As the ministers and faithful servants of Christ are ordinarily so misrepre- sented by the malignant devil, to tho.se that know them not, that they are ready to think them some silly fools, or false-hearted hypocrites, and to shun them as strange, undesirable persons ; but when they come to a thorough acquaintantance with them by a nearer and familiar converse, they see how much they were mistaken, and wronged by their prejudice and belief of slanderers' mi.sreports : even so a weak believer, that is under troubles, in the apprehension of his sin and danger, is apt to hearken to the enemy of God, that would show him nothing but his wrath, and represent God as an enemy to him: and in this case it is exceeding hard for a poor sinner to believe that God is reconciled to him, or loveth him, or intends him good ; but he is ready to dread and shun him as an enemy, or as he would fly from a wild beast or murderer, or from fire or water, that would destroy him : and all these injurious thoughts of God are cherished by strangeness and disacquaintance. But as the c 2 xxxii ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. soul doth fall into an understanding and serious converse with God, and having been often with him, doth find him to be more merciful than he was by Satan represented to him, his experience reconcileth his mind to God, and maketh it nmch easier to him to believe that God is reconciled unto him : when he hath found much better entertainment with God than he expected, and hath observed his benignity, and the treasures of his bounty laid up in Christ, and by him distributed to believers, and hath found him ready to hear and help, and found him the only full and suitable felicitating good, this banisheth his former horrid thoughts, and maketh him ashamed that ever he should think so suspiciously, injuriously, and dishonourably of his dearest God and Father. " Yet I nmst confess that there are many upright troubled souls, that are much in reading, prayer, and meditation, that still find it hard to be persuaded of the love of God, and that have nmch more disquietude and fear since they set themselves to think of God, than they had before. But yet for all this, we may well conclude, that to walk with God is the way to con- solation, and tendeth to acquaint us with his love. As for those troubled souls, whose experi- ence is objected against this, some of them are such as are yet but in their return to God, from a life of former sin and misery, and are yet but like the needle in the compass that is shaken, in a trembling motion towards their rest, and not in any settled apprehensions of it. Some of them by the straying of their imaginations too high, and putting themselves upon more than their heads can bear, and by the violence of fears or other passions, do make them- selves incapable of those sweet consolations which else they might find in their converse with God ; as a lute, when the strings are broken with straining, is incapable of making any melody. All of them have false apprehensions of God, and therefore trouble themselves by their own mistakes. And if some perplex themselves by their error, doth it follow that therefore the truth is not comfortable ? Is not a father's presence consolatory, because some children are afraid of their fathers, that know them not because of some disguise ? And some of God's children walk so unevenly and carelessly before him, that their sins pro- voke him to hide his face, and to seem to reject them and disown them, and so to trouble them that he may bring them home ; but shall the comforts of our Father's love and family be judged of by the fears or smart of those whom he is scourging for their disobedience, or their trial ? Seek God with understanding, as knowing his essential properties, and what he will be to them that sincerely and diligently seek him ; and then you will quickly have experience, that nothing so much tendeth to quiet and settle a doubting, troubled, unstable soul, as faithfully to walk with God." Well might the editor of the treatise from which these extracts are given, call Baxter, " the most forcible and fervid of puritan writers." The editor, (Young, of Perth,) like others who have prefaced single books of Baxter, becomes Baxterian in manner, in spite of all his nationalities. Although a Scotch seceder, he cannot help forgetting all that he had heard or read in early life against Baxterian theology. Its memory, indeed, cannot lift its head, in the presence of old Richard's devotional spirit. That, like the fire of heaven, con- verts every thing into its own substance which is capable of ignition from live coals off the altar. Those who know David Young will appreciate the weight of his deliberate judg- ment : — " You have the ' Duty and Privilege of Walking with God,' not only sketched in its general outline, but powerfully delineated in its nature and spirit, its manifold utilities and indispensable obligation. Nor is the delineation merely contemplative, but, in a prac- tical point of view, controversial and searching. It goes directly to the conscience, detect- ing its sophistries and delusions ; showing it its error and evasions ; evincing the claims of God upon man, and disclosing man to himself, — with a warmth of eloquence, and cogency of holy argument, which depravity may resist, but reasoning can never refute." That this is the opinion of no common man, the following passage will evince ; and may, perhaps. ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. XXX iii tempt some who praise Baxter, without reading much of Kim, to read and judge for themselves. It will also illustrate further the transforming power of Baxter's eloquence upon eloquent men. " It is amidst the musings of a pious secrecy with the Lord, when conscious of no restraint even from the presence of his fellow-christians, and caught away in happy seclusion from terrestrial concerns, that the christian enjoys the fulness of his liberty, and soars into the altitudes of delight. It is in this particular state of mind, more effectually than in any other, that he gets above the mists and shadows which becloud the glories of spiritual things, and diminish their power to captivate or awe — it is here his eyesight is cleared and strengthened for a boundless and steady survey of the wonders of the Godhead manifest in flesh — it is here that the business of this world, in its cares and crosses, or treacherous en- ticements, falls off from him, like the mantle of the ascending prophet, and is quite forgotten while he worships afar — it is here that the weightier woes of life, moral as well as secular, are surmounted or mitigated, deprived of their power to oppress, and converted into the means of mellowing and extending the emotions of spiritual delight — it is here that the re- membrances of past experience, with manifold sins and forgivenesses, are freshened and re- newed, exalting the Creator, but abasing the creature, and teaching him to sing in sweetest melody, of mercies mingled with judgment — and it is here too, as in his presence-chamber, with the special favourite of his love, that the Spirit of the living God surpasses his ordinary condescension ; displaying the tenderness of his compassion, and the exceeding riches of his grace, with a clearness, a force, and glowing interest, which fill the soul with holy rapture, and lift it into sublimities of adoration and praise." There, is another specimen of the effect of studying Baxter : — no borrowing, no imitating, no modelling from him ; but yet a visible and audible companionship of spirit with him. And then, his style spoils none of its admirers. It gives life, and compass, and point to their own style. Even Chalmers improves by Baxter's impulses ; Wilson kindles ; and Young culminates. Why do so few of our theological students know Baxter only by name, or imagine that there is nothing to be gained by studying him? Why, the mere mental discipline of fol- lowing him through one of his circuitous and elaborate treati.ses, would give them more in- sight into mind, and into their own minds, than any lecture on mental philosophy they ever heard or read. Any of his great works is a living lecture upon pneumatology ; metaphysics in motion. He both practises and spurns all our theories of association, imagination, and generalization. Any theory of mind may be confirmed or confuted, illustrated or perplexed, from the vast and varied moods of Baxter's versatile spirit. He can assimilate it to every thing, or assimilate every thing to it. High and low are alike to him, as to the ease with which he reaches them, and the readiness with which he passes from the one to the other; and yet he has no rule in ascending or descending in the regions of argument and appeal. He soars and dives — never without an object, nor without a solemn one — but never accord- ing to any system. The only answer that can be given to the ever-recurring questions — what put this and the next thing into his head — where is he going now — how will he get back to his subject?— is, he is doing " all things, to save some." What Whitefield called his rambles in the woods of America—" h mil i in/ for souls" is the only explanation of Bax- ter's ascending and descending motions on the Bethel-ladder of revelation. They are with- out any plan, but his grand purpose. And certainly his windings and gyrations, many and abrupt as they are, are not more nor greater than the transitions of the souls he tried to win. His longest arguments are shorter than their excuses, and his minuteness less than their trifling. Dr. Doddridge's high opinion of Baxter is not so well known as it ought to be. It is, indeed, fairly and fully given in " Orme's Life of Baxter," although not exactly in all its connexion. That fine passage, " Baxter is my particular favourite," really begins thus, in ^Doddridge's letter,—" I have lately been reading ' Barrow's Works,' and ' Pearson upon the xxxiv ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. Creed,' which I have studied with great care. I have now before me ' Burnet on the Articles,' in which 1 meet with very agreeable entertainment. Baxter is my particular favourite ; and it is impossible to tell you how much I am charmed with the devotion, the good sense, and pathos, which are every where .to be found in that writer. I cannot indeed forbear looking upon him as one of the greatest orators that our nation ever produced, both with regard to copiousness and energy : and, if he has described the temper of his own heart, he appears to have been so far superior to the generality of those whom we must charitably hope to be good men, that one would imagine God raised him up to disgrace and condemn his brethren, by showing what a Christian is, and how few in the world deserve the charac- ter. I have lately been reading his ' Gildas Salvianus,' which has cut me out some work amongst my people, that will take me off from so close an application to my private studies as I could otherwise covet ; but may, I hope, answer some valuable purposes to myself and others." Good Doddridge ! It cuts me to the heart. It was with Burnet before him, and with Pearson and Barrow fresh in his memory, that Doddridge wrote this deliberate eulogium. It was also in answer to a special application from John Wesley, for a list of books suited to his young preachers, that he enumerated amongst the authors which stood " highest in his esteem," Baxter, as a practical and devo- tional writer ; naming many of his works, and closing the list thus — " that inimitable piece of devotion, his ' Converse with God in Solitude.' " Doddridge was not, of course, insensible to the faults or the defects of Baxter. His taste was too discriminating to overlook them, and his spirit too candid to conceal them ; but both too noble to be prejudiced by them. He assigns one reason for the inaccuracy of Bax- ter's style, which seems, at first sight, very strange. " His style is inaccurate, because he wrote continually in the views of eternity." This may mean, that he felt himself so near to the gates of death continually, that he durst not pause to polish his style : or it may mean, that his realizations of eternity were so vast and vivid, that they would neither wait for the best words, nor bend to the forms of any style. This is true, whether Doddridge meant this or not. Like Paul, Baxter heard " unspeakable words " when his spirit seemed out of the body, and caught up into paradise. The entire passage, as given by Orme from Orton, is, " His style is inaccurate, because he had no regular education, and because he wrote continually in the views of eternity ; but judicious, nervous, spiritual, and remarkably evangelical : a manly eloquence, and the most evident proof of an amazing genius ; with respect to which, he may not improperly be called the English Demosthenes." Doddridge proves that he had gauged the spirit of both De- mosthenes and Baxter, before he made this bold comparison. He says of the style of his favourite divine, precisely what a real scholar would say of the Grecian orator's, it is " exceedingly proper for conviction." This is the real characteristic of the Demosthenian eloquence : it was commanding, just because it was convincing. Here is another strong reason for urging the study of Baxter upon the rising ministry. They happily know the forms and force of Demosthenes' close reasonings and rousing appeals. They feel the effect of them on their own spirit, as it alternately burns or becomes breathless ; an alternation of mood, never produced by the artificial rhetoric of his rivals, even when dealing out invective and fulmination. Baxter is Demosthenes baptized. He convinces, and thus commands. He knows all the points at which mind and conscience, hope and fear, can be assailed ; and he throws himself upon them all by turns, and upon each again and again, and upon the whole at once, and always so earnestly and directly, that the reader feels himself environed with facts, and images, and arguments, and motives, now shining like golden sceptres, and anon glaring like flaming swords, upon which he cannot shut his eyes, turn where he will, nor try what he can, except by shutting the book. Of how few modern writers can this be said ! In general, they are not convincing. It is a rare thing, ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. XXXV that even the best of them deal with the whole man at once. They can assail him powerfully in the details of his nature ; but their sword, although sharp, is not " two-edged " enough to pierce " even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow," at one thrust. This is the grand defect of modern remonstrance. It deals with us " bit by bit," and not with our entire being at once and equally. I know well how I am exposing myself, by expressing this opinion. It is, however, true, whoever it may expose. One writer works upon the judgment only, another on the conscience only, a third upon the feelings only, and a fourth upon the imagination chiefly ; as if, like fire-engines, they could not play upon more than one point at a time. Baxter comes down, like a deluge from heaven, upon the whole surface and centre of our being at once : and the rea.^on is obvious ; — his own entire being is concentrated upon his purpose. Like the prophet, he spreads his whole self, in all its lengths and breadths, in all its depths and heights, life and warmth, over the whole frame of the being he would resuscitate. But no man has explained his style so well as him- self : " The commonness and the greatness of men's necessity, commanded me to do any thing that I could for their relief, and to bring forth some water to cast on this fire, though I had not at hand a silver vessel to carry it in, nor thought it the most fit. The plainest words are the most profitable oratory, in the weightiest matters. Fineness is for ornament, and delicacy for delight ; but they answer not necessity, though sometimes they may modestly attend that which answers it. Yea, when they are conjunct, it is hard for the necessitous reader to observe the matter of ornament and delicacy, and not to be carried away from the matter of necessity ; and to hear or read a neat, concise, sententious dis- course, and not to be hurt by it ; for it usually hindereth the due operation of the matter, keeps it from the heart, stops it in the fancy, and makes it seems as liglit as the style. We use not to stand upon compliment when we run to quench a common fire ; nor to call men to escape from it, by an eloquent speech. If we see a man fall into fire or water, we stand not on mannerliness in plucking him out ; but lay hands upon him, as we can, without delay." This is at once a specimen of, and a profound reason for, what Bates calls " the noble negligence " of Baxter's style. And as it did not offend Addison by its occasional roughness, nor Dr. Johnson by its plainness, it must have many redeeming qualities. Orme has characterized it with great success, in his masterly " Life and Times of Baxter." His style " is considerably diversified. It is often incorrect, rugged, inharmonious ; abounding in parentheses and digressions, and enfeebled by expansion. It is happiest when it is divested entirely of a controversial character, and the subject relates to the gi-eat interests of salvation and charity. It then flows with a copiousness and purity, to which there is nothing superior in the language in which he wrote. The vigorous conceptions of his mind are then con- veyed in a corresponding energy of expression ; so that the reader is carried along with a breathless impetuosity, which he finds it impossible to resist. " Truth in all its majesty and infinite importance alone occupied the throne of his spirit, and dictated the forms in which its voice should be uttered : and when it spoke it was in language divinely suited to its nature ; never distracting by its turgidness, or disgusting by its regularity. He could be awfvd or gentle, pathetic or pungent, at pleasure ; always suiting his words to his thoughts, and dissolving his audience in tenderness, or overwhelming them with terror, as heaven or hell, the mercies of the Lord, or the wrath to come, was the topic of discourse. It may be confidently affirmed, that from no author of the period could a greater selection of beautiful passages of didactic, hortatory, and consolatory writing, be made." Perhaps I have both said and quoted too much upon this subject. Certainly too much, for all who, like myself, are fond of Baxter, as a practical, experimental, and devotional writer. His readers need no " letters of commendation " on his behalf from any quarter, much less from me. I know, however, the prevalent reason for the neglect of the study of XXXV 1 ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. Baxter ; and, therefore, have encircled and enshrined his chief works, with a cloud of wit- nesses, ancient and modern, which will awaken curiosity, and inspire confidence, and secure attention, wherever great names have any weight. And most cheerfully have I gone through the labour of abridging and transcribing the testimonies of judges, whose competency cannot be questioned. May I be allowed also to say to my younger brethren in the ministry, that I deeply regret not having studied Baxter carefully, before I ventured to write upon some of his favourite subjects i I see now, how nmch better I should have understood these subjects, and myself too, had I mastered the deep, and yet dazzling, philosophy of his expei'imental writings. But I was foolishly afraid of the temptation to imitate him ; not seeing then, that imitation is impossible ; for he is the Shakspeare of practical, and the Cromwell of polemical, divinity. " Panting thought Toils after him in vain," when it tries to imitate him ; but it catches much of his spirit, whilst tracing him. There is one subject on which Baxter failed, although it was his favourite one — the catholic tinion of the churches. It was, however, the fault of his times, that he did not succeed. He had no vantage ground, on which to ply or plant his levers : for it is in moving the church, as in moving the world, every thing depends upon obtaining purchase ; and that is not to be found in either the duty or the beauty of unity. The protestant churches will never unite, for the sake of the abstract loveliness, nor for the sake of the personal advantages, of " dwelling together in unity." They were created, and they subsist, for the benefit of the world, and not for their own peace or prosperity chiefly. So long as they are idle, or but half at work, in that wide " field," they will continue to quarrel, or to stand aloof from each other. Judah will vex Ephraim, and Ephraim vex Judah, until both set themselves to evangelize the world. Indeed, it would be a pity if churches, any more than individuals, could have " peace," whilst they go on frowardly in the way of their own heart, in allowing two-thirds of the world to perish for lack of knowledge. Peace ! " There is no peace, saith my God," to those who are wicked enough to wink at this enormity. Every church will be a " troubled sea, which cannot rest ; " and the tides of all these troubled seas will cross and chafe each other, until they all bear upon their bosom the ark of the covenant, freighted with the unsearchable riches of Christ, and chartered to all nations. It is merely a cheap or a lazy method of inculcating and enforcing unity upon the churches, to prove that the world is only to be won by the spectacle of their union. They never will, they never did unite, but in order to win the world. Pity to the Gentiles, brought and bound the first churches into holy and harmonious confederation. Not until the claims of the perishing heathen concentrated their sympathies, did their own hearts or hands unite fully, even at the cross in which they individually gloried. Neither their common faith, nor their joint hope, made them visibly " one in Christ Jesus," until their common object was to bless the world. It is not easy to account for Orme's statements on this subject. No one knew better the inseparable connexion between the prosperity of the church and the spread of the gospel. No one felt or did more, in a short time, for that purpose. Both his heart and soul were in the object. Yet, strange to say, he concludes his masterly review of Baxter's Treatises on " Catholic Communion," by the vague statement, (for it is vague, however solemn,) that " a greater portion of the spirit of Christ, and a brighter manifestation of his holy image, will do more to unite all his disciples, than the most perfect theory of church government that has yet been recommended, or forced on the world." This is, of course, perfectly true ; but unless it mean by " the spirit and image of Christ," Christ's zeal and love for the world, as well as his likeness to the Father, it is not to the purpose. For how could the world, at ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. XXXV ii large, know of the fact, were the protestant churches one to-morrow ? That union would, indeed, tell powerfully upon the world at home ; but not much upon the world abroad, unless it were a union for spreading the gospel in all nations. It would, of course, if it could be realized, lead to that work ; but it cannot. That work must lead to the union. It began all the real unity of the primitive churches ; and they became disunited only when they relaxed from their " first works." Harris is wiser than Orme ! Robert Hall even, by a strange oversight, has put the effect for the cause, in arguing from primitive times, the necessity of visible union. " While a visible unanimity prevailed amongst the followers of Christ, his cause every where triumphed." But "no sooner was the bond of unity broken by the prevalence of intestine quarrels and dissensions, than the interests of truth languished." Here, the unity is put forward as the grand cause of suc- cess, and the disunion as the grand cause of failure, in spreading the gospel ; — whereas, the fact is, that the unity was the effect of what Hall well calls, " the concentrated zeal, and the ardent co-operation, of a comparative few, impelled by one spirit and directed to one object;" and the disunion, the effect of flinching from that one object. What I complain of, in the argument of Hall and Orme, is, that it urges the unity for the sake of the conversion of the world, without urging the conversion of the world as the only enterprise which can produce that unity. Accordingly, all the "visible unanimity" we have, has grown out of, and up with, the spirit of evangelization. Good men, of all denomi- nations, did not first agree to merge their peculiarities, and then proceed to circulate the Bible. and send out missionaries. They first agreed to "pity the nations," and then pro- ceeded to love each other. Their object produced their unity ; and until that object be- come supreme in all the churches, their unity can neither be perfect nor universal. Their hearts cannot fill with mutual love, whilst their hands are not full of public work. They will remain sectional, until they resolve to fill the whole earth with the glory of God and the Lamb. Even quarrelling will not stop, until they commit themselves so deeply upon the salvation of a perishing world, that they cannot afford, nor find time, to quarrel. How well Baxter would have understood this fact, and how warmly he would have pressed it home, had he lived in our times ! He would have remodelled all that he had written about catholic unity, and retracted some of it more unequivocally than he did his " Holy Commonwealth:" for, as Orme truly says, "he had the germs of all our great societies in \ his gigantic mind," and wanted only opportunity, in order to have originated them all. i Of Baxter's orthodoxy, Orme says, he was probably such a Calvinist as Dr. Williams, and such an Arminian as Richard Watson. There is certainly truth in this ; and yet ! not much. He was too good a theologian, to base accountability upon grace ; and too I practical a philosopher, to theorize on " passive power." Indeed, it is as impossible to identify Baxter with any formal creed, as with any known sect. Arminians and Calvinists i may equally claim and reject him by turns, just as episcopalians, presbyterians, and inde- pendents, may plead him for or against their several systems of church government. And it is well, that the author of the " Saints' Everlasting Rest" should thus seem to belong to all parties. He was " meant for mankind ;" li and therefore the only account which can be given of his creed, is, that man is lost by sin, and saved by grace : and the only definition of his polity, is, " Little children, love one another." Thus all churches, with equal truth, may say of him, " Ours is a Baxter, resolute and calm, Keen to unravel, candid to concede : His spirit breathing like a spicy balm, Round the tall cedar, and the humble weed." Even Dr. Johnson confessed this, when Boswell asked him what works of Baxter he xxxviii ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. should read. " Read any of them ; for they are all good." It is easier to believe this, than to give the Dr. credit for having read them all. He skimmed books of this kind, as he skirted the Hebrides ; touching only here and there, and guessing the rest. The following are weightier testimonies. As a writer, Baxter had the approbation of some of his greatest contemporaries, who best knew him, and were under no temptations to be partial in his favour. Dr. Barrow said, " His practical writings were never mended, and his controversial ones seldom con- futed." With a view to his casuistical writings, the Honourable Robert Boyle declared, " He was the fittest man of the age for a casuist, because he feared no man's displeasure, nor hoped for any man's preferment." Bishop Wilkins observed of him, " That he had cultivated every subject he had handled ; that if he had lived in the primitive times, he would have been one of the fathers of the church ; and that it was enough for one age to produce such a person as Mr. Baxter." Archbishop Usher had such high thoughts of him, that by his earnest importunity he put him upon writing several of his practical discourses, particularly that celebrated piece, his " Call to the Unconverted." Dr. Manton, as he freely expressed it, " thought Mr. Baxter came nearer the apostolical writings than any man in the age." And it is both as a preacher and a writer that Dr. Bates considers him, when, in his funeral ser- mon for him, he says, " In his sermons there was a rare union of arguments and motives, to convince the mind and gain the heart. All the fountains of reason and persuasion were open to his discerning eye. There was no resisting the force of his discourses, without denying reason and divine revelation. He had a marvellous facility and copiousness in speaking. There was a noble negligence in his style, for his great mind could not stoop to the affected eloquence of words : he despised flashy oratory ; but his expressions were clear and power- ful, so convincing the understanding, so entering into the soul, so engaging the aiFection , that those were as deaf as adders who were not charmed by so wise a charmer. He was animated with the Holy Spirit, and breathed celestial fire, to inspire heat and life into dead sinners, and to melt the obdurate in their frozen tombs. His books, for their number, (which, it seems, was more than one hundred and twenty,) and variety of matter in them, make a library. They contain a treasure of controversial, casuistical, and practical divinity. His books of practical divinity have been effectual for more numerous conversions of sinners to God, than any printed in our time ; and, while the church remains on earth, will be of continual efficacy to recover lost souls. There is a vigorous pulse in them, that keeps the reader awake and attentive." To these testimonies may not improperly be added that of the editors of his Practical Works, in four folio volumes : in the preface to which they say, " Perhaps there are no writings among us, that have more of a true christian spirit, a greater mixture of judgment and affection, or a greater tendency to revive pure and undefiled re- ligion ; that have been more esteemed abroad, or more blessed at home, for the awakening the secure, instructing the ignorant, confirming the wavering, comforting the dejected, re- covering the profane, or improving such as are truly serious ; than the Practical Works of this author." Such were the opinions of eminent persons, who were well acquainted with Mr. Baxter and his writings. It is therefore the less remarkable that Mr. Addison, from an accidental and a very imperfect acquaintance, but with his usual pleasantness and candour, should mention the following incident : " I once met with a page of Mr. Baxter. Upon the perusal of it, I conceived so good an idea of the author's piety, that I bought the whole book." Among the instances of persons that dated their true conversion from hearing the sermons on the '* Saints' Rest," when Mr. Baxter first preached them, was the Rev. Mr. Thomas Doolittle, M. A., who was a native of Kidderminster, and at that time a scholar about seven- teen years old, whom Mr. Baxter himself afterwards sent to Pembroke Hall, in Cambridge, where he took his degree. Before his going to the university, he was upon trial as an ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. xxxix attorney's clerk, and under that character, being ordered by his master to write something on a Lord's day, he obeyed it with great reluctance, and the next day returned home, with an earnest desire, that he might not apply himself to any thing, as the employment of life, but serving Christ in the ministry of the gospel. His praise is yet in the churches, for his pious and useful labours, as a minister, a tutor, and a writer. In the life of the Rev. Mr. John Janeway, Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, who died in 1657, we are told that his conversion was, in a great measure, occasioned by his reading several parts of the " Saints' Rest." And in a letter which he afterwards wrote to a near relative, speaking with a more immediate reference to that part of the book which treats of heavenly contemplation, he says, " There is a duty, which, if it were exercised, would dispel all cause of melancholy ; I mean, heavenly meditation, and contemplation of the things which true christian religion tends to. If we did but walk closely with God one hour in a day in this duty, oh, what influence would it have upon the whole day besides, and, duly performed, upon the whole life ! This duty, with its usefulness, manner, and directions, I knev/ in some measure before, but had it more pressed upon me by Mr. Bax- ter's ' Saints' Everlasting Rest ; ' a book that can scarce be overvalued, for which I have cause for ever to bless God." This excellent young minister's life is worth reading, were it only to see how delightfully he was engaged in heavenly contemplation, according to the directions in the " Saints' Rest." It was the example of heavenly contemplation, at the close of this book, which the Rev. Mr. Joseph Alleine, of Taunton, so frequently quoted in conversation, with this solemn intro- duction, " Most divinely says that man of God, holy Mr. Baxter." Dr. Bates, in his dedication of his funeral sermon for Mr. Baxter to Sir Henry Ashhurst, Bart., tells that religious gentleman, and most distinguished friend and executor of Mr, Baxter, " He was most worthy of your highest esteem and love ; for the first impressions of heaven upon your soul were in reading his invaluable book of the ' Saints' Everlasting Rest.'" In the Life of the Rev. Mr. Matthew Henry, we have the following character given us of Robert Warburton, Esq., of Grange, the son of the eminently religious Judge Warburton, and the father of Mr. Matthew Henry's second wife. " He was a gentleman that greatly affected retirement and privacy, especially in the latter part of his life ; the Bible, and Mr. Baxter's ' Saints' Everlasting Rest,' used to lie daily before him on the table in his parlour ; he spent the greatest part of his time in reading and prayer." In the Life of that honourable and most religious knight. Sir Nathaniel Barnardiston, we are told, " that he was constant in secret prayer and reading the Scriptures ; afterwards he read other choice authors : but not long before his death he took a singular delight to read Mr. Baxter's ' Saints' Everlasting Rest,' and preparation thereunto ; which was esteemed a gracious event of Divine Providence sending it as a guide to bring him more speedily and directly to that rest." Besides persons of eminence, to whom this book has been precious and profitable, we have an instance in the Rev. Mr. James Janeway 's " Token for Children," of a little boy, whose piety was so discovered and promoted by reading it, as the most delightful book to him next the Bible, that the thoughts of everlasting rest seemed, even while he continued in health, to swallow up all other thoughts ; and he lived in a constant preparation for it, and looked more like one that was ripe for glory, than an inhabitant of this lower world. And when he was in the sickness of which he died, before he was twelve years old, he said, " I pray, let me have Mr. Baxter's book, that I may read a little more of eternity, before I go into it." Nor is it less observable, that Mr. Baxter himself, taking notice, in a paper found in his study after his death, what number of persons were converted by reading his " Call to the xl ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. I ncoinortpcl," accounts of which he had received hy letters every week, expressly adds, " This little hook (the ' Call to the Unconverted') God hath hlessed with unexpected suc- cess heyond all that I have written, except the ' Saints' Rest.' " With an evident reference to this hook, and even during the life of the author, the pious Mr. Flavel affectionately says, " ]\Ir. liaxter is almost in heaven, living in the daily views and cheerful expectation of the saints' everlasthi;/ rest with God; and is left for a little while among us, as a great example of the life of faith." And Mr. Baxter himself says, in his preface to his " Treatise of Self- Denial," " I must say, that of all the hooks which I have written, I peruse none so often for the use of my own soul in its daily work, as my ' Life of Faith,' this of ' Self-De- nial,' and the last part of the ' Saints' Rest.' " On the whole, it is not without good reason that Dr. Calamy remarks concerning it, " This is a hook for which multitudes will have cause to bless God for ever." I introduce these testimonies, as I did the former, that their number and weight may tempt many to judge for themselves, and to extend their reading in Baxter far heyond the treatises which are now popular. " If such the sweetness of the streams, What must thu fount ain be!" It is hardly credible, but it is true, that, so lately as the close of the last century, speci- mens of the best of Baxter's arguments, on the great points at issue between Calvinists and Arminians, were brought before the public without his name, that they might be read with- out prejudice, and make their own impression before the author could be discovered. This was done by Eli Bates, Esq., in a volume entitled, " Observations on some important Points in Divinity ; chiefly those in Controversy between the Arminians and Calvinists ; extracted from an Author of the Seventeenth Century." Even in the second edition of this volume, in 1811, Baxter's name is not given in the title-page, nor allowed to appear soon in the preface. The fact is. Bates was too fond of Baxter's theology, to peril it at once upon his name. He knew his peculiarities, and could not forget the odium they once excited. Perhaps he was right ; for although Thomas Edwards's (that " Nimrod amongst heresy hunters," as Orme calls him) " Baxterianism Barefaced " was almost forgotten by the public, Baxterianism was still the name of a heresy amongst Calvinists in general. Bates, therefore, introduces l^is favourite, thus incog and slyly : — " It is a saying recorded of Alphonsus, king of Arragon, surnamed The Wise, ' That of the innumerable things in life, which are made objects of men's desires and pursuits, all are troubles, except old wood to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to converse with, and old books to read.' Upon the last of these articles particularly, having taken up the opinion of this wise prince, it has been my practice to rummage the shops of old booksellers, where I have frequently discovered a mass of intellectual treasure, lying in some obscure corner amidst dust and cobwebs. In such circumstances, the work from which the present is ex- tracted came under my notice. The author I was not unacquainted with ; and the opinion I had formed of him inducing a perusal, I found a fresh and eminent proof of his piety and wisdom ; the great extent of his theological knowledge, his acute discernment, his candour and charity. And when I considered that this excellent work, as it then existed, could be of little use ; it being at the same time scarce and bulky, very irregular in its composition, and encund)ered with school learning; I thought it might be doing the world a service, to publish an extract, containing its more esssential parts, disentangled as nmch as possible from scholastic terms and subtleties. " I allow, that amongst the excellences of our author, we are not to account his style. His words are sometimes ill chosen, and his sentences unmeasured. For these defects, should any apology be necessary, it may be drawn partly from the age in which he lived, when men seemed more solicitous how to think than speak ; to dig truth out of the mine. ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. xli than afterwards to work it into shape or poHsh it into elegance. All that I challenge for him is, the truth and importance of his matter. " This is an age of taste as well as reason ; and the phraseology of Scripture, which abounds in the pious writers of the last century, is in danger of appearing uncouth to men of modern refinement. To such we may observe, that every art and science must be allowed its pecu- liar language. When new discoveries are made, new words, or new combinations of words, may be wanting to express them. Cicero himself, when he introduced the Greek learning among his countrymen, was forced to borrow from the Greek tongue ; and Bacon, in estab- lishing the principles of true philosophy, had to invent names as well as things. Let it then be permitted in delivering the philosophy of heaven, to employ such terms as are best adapted to convey its doctrines. " Should this volume fall into the hands of any who are fluctuating between the two rival systems, of Arminianism and Calvinism, it may direct them to that middle point, where all that is good in either seems to meet, and all that is exceptionable (in both) to be excluded ; the grace of God being here vindicated without subverting his moral govern- ment, and the liberty of man asserted without usurping upon the grace of God. " As to those who think they have decided the matter, either by exalting man into a little divinity, or by degrading him into a machine ; who to render him responsible raise him to independence, or to secure his dependence deprive him of responsibility : such ought to remember the danger of extremes ; and that extreme more especially should excite their caution, which, from the complexion of the times, is become most dangerous." Thus Bates introduced, and apologized for, his favourite " old author ;" and the dexterous bait took. Not a few Calvinists found out, that there was an old and powerful writer, whom the Arminians could not claim, and would not quote, for themselves, even although he fought their battle at some of its hottest points ; and still more Arminians discovered, that Cal- vinism did not necessarily limit the call of the gospel, nor subvert the free agency of man. It is a curious fact that, even now, Baxter is not so much a favourite with Arminians, as Owen. A bookseller, who has the opportunity of knowing, and the inclination to notice, told me this fact. Accordingly, Dr. Adam Clarke, although he gave his name, and a preface, to a new and cheap edition of Baxter's " Christian Directory," did not say one word about Baxterianism. On the other hand, (and it is not unworthy of record,) so far as I have known any abandonments of hyper-calvinism, in consequence of reading, they were the effect of Eli Bates's " Extracts from an Author of the Seventeenth Century." When Bates did introduce Baxter by name, in the second edition of the Extracts, it was not until he had heralded his " old author" by a flourish of trumpets from Bishop Wilkins, Dr. Barrow, Mr. Boyle, Stillingfleet, and Howe. Then he ventures to say, " After such testimonies in favour of Ricfiakd Baxtkr, I would hope no reader, whatever be the size of his understanding, will refuse to lend him a patient hearing ; especially when he is told, that what is here offered contains the result of his best thoughts and inquiries." It is not only without grudging, but with great delight, I thus give an embodied view of the high tributes paid to Baxter by the master-spirits of his own times, and of our age. He deserved them all ; and they desei-ve to be held in everlasting remembrance, as " the gold, and frankincense, and myrrh," which will always be won from wise men, eventually, by every incarnation of holy genius, whatever manger it may have been born in, and what- ever Herods sought its life. There is, however, something more valuable than even the vindication of real merit. The simplicity of the gospel, as glad news, intended to gladden all who believe them with the heart, must not be confounded with the general excellence of Baxter's creed or character. Grace is more free in the gospel, than it is in his " Aphorisms on Justification ;" and faith is a simpler, though not less solemn thing, than it appears in any of his works. He does, and designed to, lead sinners to the Cross only for all their xlii ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. salvation ; but in doing so, he oftener resembles the pillar of fire and cloud which led the Jews to Canaan, than the star of Bethlehem which led the Magi to Christ. The path he points out, although safe, is both circuitous and intricate; and however well it suited himself, and those who saw him going before them, it is not, as a map of the way to heaven, so complete or simple, " that the wayfaring man, though a fool," could not " err therein." Baxter's creed, however vague or apparently varying on some points, is uniformly true to the cardinal points, that man is ruined by sin, and saved by grace. He means, indeed, by salvation, much more than some do, who, like himself, call it deliverance from hell and sin. He had as awful and loathing views of sin, as they have of hell ; and therefore he insists upon the necessity of kinds and degrees of grace, which involve so much working, and watching, and warring against sin, that grace seems " no more grace," to those who can content themselves without eminent holiness. It is Baxter's supreme love to holiness, which makes him appear legal, when he traces the reign of grace in sanctification. He then calls for a co-operation with grace, which would be legal, if pardon were his object. Holiness is, however, his object, when he thus conditionalizes grace ; and therefore any one who dislikes effort, can easily find fault with him. And they will find fault ; for he almost unchristianizes all who leave their growth in grace to accident, or make their sancti- fication succumb to circumstances. I do not mean to insinuate that all who have found fault with Baxter's theology, took offence at the strictness of its practical design ; but I do mean, that it will inevitably give offence to every man, who, instead of giving " all diligence " to make his " calling and election sure," takes them both for granted, because he holds certain opinions, and feels occasionally peculiar emotions, and is not exactly immoral. Those who feel the necessity of doing more and better than this, in order to be able to " read their title clear To mansions in the skies," need not be afraid for their orthodoxy, even if they study Baxter's " Aphorisms on Justifi- cation ;" provided always they keep the Bible in their hands : for the aphorisms which de- part from it, depart so far, that they leave us " alone" with Paul, until Baxter join him again ; which he soon does, and so fully, that we either wonder why he left Paul for a moment, or suspect that he was unconscious of it. But Baxter, although occasionally inconsistent with himself, and with Paul too, in the details of a doctrine of grace, is never at variance with its spirit or its design as a whole. Even when he most confounds faith and works, in his theory of justification, he insists most upon the fact, " that no works of the regenerate, internal or external, are to join with Christ's sufferings and merit, as any part of satisfaction to God's justice for our sins ; no, not the least part of the least sin : neither faith, love, repentance, nor any works of ours, are true efliicient causes of our remission or justification — either principal or instrumental. Faith itself doth not merit our pardon or justification, nor justify us either as a work, or as faith." Surely he who said such things (and many such things are with Baxter) ought not to be suspected of seeking to be justified, " as it were by the works of the law," or by the work of faith. He neither practised nor taught such Pharisaism. Few, perhaps, dislike more than I do his definitions of faith. They are not worse, how- ever, than some of Doddridge's ; but who suspects Doddridge of legality, even when he says, that " faith in Christ includes in its nature and inseparable effects, the whole of moral virtue ? " — Lectures, p. 424, 2nd ed. Even when he says, that " Christ made satisfaction for the sins of all those who repent of their sins, and return to God in a way of sincere though imperfect obedience," we do not allow this to bring his evangelical spirit into ques- ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. xliii tion. Let Baxter have all the advantage of his pervading spirit and design ; for he de- serves it as much as Doddridge. It is not an easy task, to give a digest of the leading points even, in Baxter's theological system. I will, however, attempt to furnish one, almost in his own words, that the readers of his Practical Works may have a key to his creed. 1 . " The great evil sin brought upon man was the loss of God's approbation and compla- cency, of his Spirit's saving communion and help, of the divine image on the soul, and of the right to eternal life : all of which man's own sin cast away ; and he was thus both criminal and executioner, without any change in God. Man having thus cast away his in- nocency, he could not communicate to posterity that which he had lost ; so that our nature is vitiated with original sin, and unhappy in the miserable effects." This is the sub- stance of Baxter's views of the fall ; for he attached but little importance to his peculiar notions of the death threatened against the first sin. 2. " When God judged man for sin, at the same time he promised him a Saviour ; and through him, as promised, made a new law of grace with man. By this new covenant, God becometh man's mprciful Redeemer, Pardoner, and Ruler, on terms of grace, in order to recovery and salvation. Man was to believe God as such, and accordingly to devote him- self in covenant to God." It is from this view of covenanting, that Baxter's chief pecu- liarities arise. By adhering to the forms and design of a covenant, he is compelled to adjust his definitions of both law and grace, faith and works, to the character of such a federal transaction. 3. " This law or covenant was made with all mankind in Adam ; for all were in his loins. God hath given us no more proof that the first covenant was made with Adam as the father of mankind, than that the second was so made. Accordingly, God doth not use them agreeably to the violated law of innocency. None are left like the devils in despair, under the unremedied covenant of innocency alone. The Father gave up the whole lapsed world to the Son ; promising to accept his sacrifice and performance, and to give him re- spectively the government of the church and the world, that thus he might establish the law of grace in its perfect edition. The Son assumed man's nature, to do and suffer in perfect obedience to his Father's will and law of redemption." Here, now, Baxter begins to diverge from the beaten track of the schools ; sometimes as wisely as widely, and now and then needlessly. 4. " Christ did not take upon him, strictly and properly, the natural or civil person of any sinner — much less of all the elect, or of all sinners ; but the person of a Mediator be- tween God and sinners. In the person of a Mediator, he voluntarily suffered the penalty in our stead : not, however, by a full representation of our pcrnom ; nor so that we could say truly in a legal sense, that we ourselves had satisfied God's justice by Christ ; but he suffered in our stead and place, to procure pardon and life, to be given by himself on his own terms and in his own way. He took our guilt upon himself, only in its relation to punishment. They are ill words to say, ' that Christ was by imputation the greatest sinner in the world.' Had God so imputed our sins to him, as to esteem him literally a sinner, God nmst have hated him ; whereas God was always well pleased with him, and never hated him. He suffered only as a sponsor for sinners, that they might be delivered. " The true reaaon for the satisfactoriness of Christ's sufferings was, that they were a most apt means for the demonstration of the governing justice, holiness, wisdom, and mercy of God ; by which he could attain the ends of his law and government, better than by exe- cuting the law on the world in its destruction. " The meamre of the satisfaction made by Christ was, that it was a full mlvo to God's justice, and demonstration of it ; in order that he might give pardon and life to sinners, upon the new terms of the covenant of grace. xliv ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. " Tho matter of Christ's meritorious righteousness, was his perfect fulfilling of the law given him as a Mediator ; or the performance of the conditions of the mediatorial covenant ; from which resulted the merit and dueness of all the benefits promised in that covenant to Christ, tliough mostly for men. This was the righteousness of Christ for man ; and hence arosp his merit for us." In all this Baxter has before him, not so much the inquiry of a sinner, " How shall man be just with God .'" — as the disputes of the schoolmen, whether it be Christ's divine, his habitual, his active, or his passive righteousness, that is made ours to justification. It is TuUie, Maccovius, Crandon, Crisp, and Saltmarsh — not penitents — he is answering, when he argues thus. When he answers the question, " What shall I do to be saved?" he does not hesitate to say, " All that the covenant requireth on our part to make us righteous, and to entitle us to the Spirit and everlasting life, is, that as penitent believers we accept Christ and life accoi-ding to the nature, ends, and uses of the gift ; and this also by grace." So far is Baxter from all intention of teaching a way of meriting salvation, that he says ex- pressly, " It is hlaspltcmy to hold that man or angel can merit of God, in point of commu- tative justice ; which giveth one thing in exchange for another, to the benefit of the receiver. Neither man, angel, nor any other creature, can have any good, but by God's gift : and that gift must needs be free, seeing the creature hath nothing to give that can add to him, or but what is absolutely his own. Man's duty meriteth only in point of governing dis- tributive justice : and not every way neither in respect to that ; for governing justice is distinguished according to the law we are under, which is the law of grace." I am not trying to vindicate Baxter, but to shield him from misrepresentation on the one hand, and from vague compliments on the other hand. It is as unfair to call him a merit-monger, as it is imprudent to hush up his theological faults by an appeal to his per- sonal holiness. Orme does the latter too often. But truth cannot afford to let Baxter himself pass as a fair representative of Baxterianism. He was holier in character than it was evangelical in form. Its best form (and even that is not unobjectionable) is, perhaps, in the following statement. " The law of grace is, in its first notion, a free gift of Christ and pardon, and a right to eternal life, to all who will accept it believingly, as it is offered ; that is, according to the nature of the gift. And this gift, or conditional promise of pardon, no man can merit : for Christ's perfect righteousness and sacrifice hath already merited it for us ; and so hath left us no such work to do. Nor is there the least place for any human merit or rewardableness from God, but on the supposition of Christ's meritorious righteous- ness, and of this free gift or promise of pardon and life, already made to us without our desert. " But yet this is not a mere gift ; but also a true law. It hath its condition and many com- manded duties ; and so is a law of grace. And only in respect to this law of grace is man rewardable, or can merit." In all this Baxter certainly intends nothing beyond the indispensableness of faith and holiness, in order to final salvation ; but still, his expressions are unhappy, if not calculated to mislead. He really means, that we can only obtain the free gift by believing, and can only prove our belief of the gospel by our obedience : but, surely, " merit" is not the proper name of faith or obedience, nor " rewardableness" the ground of their obligation. Let us take care, however, in our avoidance of the words, " conditions, terms, &c. of the gospel," that we do not run into the other extreme. The swe qua non of modern theology, should not mean or require less than Baxter called for. 5. Baxter's views on election have been much misrepresented ; indeed caricatured. I never found in his writings, nor met with any one who had, the reported maxim, " that the gospel net is sure to catch all the elect, and free to catch as many more as it can." It would certainly be possible by the process of bringing together separate assertions, to make out a .ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. xlv semblance to this maxim, just as Edwards proved Baxter to be both a papist and a quaker ; but in no other way. Orme is fully borne out by the tenor of Baxter's theology in saying, " That he was much more a Calvinist than he was an Arminian. His declared approbation of the ' Assembly's Confession,' and of the synod of Dort's decisions, with trifling excep- tions, is, I think, decisive on this point ; while the general train of his writing, when he loses sight of controversy, is much more allied to the Genevese reformer, than to the Dutch remonstrants." The following passage from the " End to Controversies," justifies this opinion : " Election and reprobation go not jJCH'i passu, or are not equally ascribed to God. For in election God is the cause of the means of salvation by his grace, and of all that truly tendeth to procure it. But on the other side, God is no cause of any sin which rs the means and merit of damnation ; nor the cause of damnation, but on the supposition of man's sin. So that sin is foreseen in the person decreed to damnation ; but not caused ; seeing the decree must be denominated from the effect and object. But in election, God decreeth to give us his grace, and be the chief cause af all our holiness ; and doth not elect us to salvation on foresight that we will do his will, or be sanctified by ourselves without him." Baxter is still more explicit in his Notes on the Ephesians : and as they were written for his own private use, and give his final judgment on controverted points, he ought to be judged by them. " Election is from the foundation of the world. It is one decree or election of God, by which he chooseth Christ to be our Head, and us to be his members. It is one and the same election by which God hath chosen us to the praise and glory of his grace, and to be holy and blameless before him in love. That love is the sum of that holi- ness and blamelessness, to which we are predestinated. We are not only predestinated to life on condition of holiness ; but we are predestinated to holiness itself ; and, consequently, to faith and repentance ; and not only on condition that we believe and repent. And so election is of individual persons, to faith, holiness, and salvation ; and not only of believers, nor of persons to be saved if they believe. A conditional puts nothing into being or act. Were the Scripture dark in the point of God's free electing of some to faith and repentance, more than others of equal guilt and pravity, experience might fully satisfy us of it. " The apostle tells us of no such decrees as causeth man's damnation. God causeth and giveth grace ; and foreknoweth what he will give : but he doth not cause or give men sin, nor necessitate any to commit it ; and therefore neither decreeth nor foreknoweth it as his own work, but as man's: so that election and non-election, or reprobation, are not of the same kind, degree, or order. " It is strange that any should think that God would undertake so great a work as man's redemption, and not effectually secure the success by his own will and wisdom ; but leave all to the liihricoiis will of man." Few Calvinists would, I apprehend, go beyond this, or stop short of it. Well, this is the calm and final judgment of IJaxter upon the subject of revealed sovereignty ; and by this, not by insulated passages in his controversial works, he should be judged and reported. 6. On the subject of the final perseverance of the saints, it would be easy to array, in appearance, Baxter versus Baxter; and very difficult to reconcile him with himself. Still, he had, if we have not, a satisfactory method of harmonizing his apparent discrepancies, in his own mind. He says so ; and he is too transparently honest to be doubted. Besides, it was not a point on which he dogmatized, although he litigated the question throughout a quarto pamphlet. He even shelters his own " uncertainty" under the wing of Augustine and the judgment of the ancient churches. His uncertainty did not, however, regard " true confirmed christians." Of their perseverance Baxter had no doubts. Identifying himself with Paul, he says, " I am persuaded that the bond of love between God and all true confirmed christians, made in and by our Mediator Christ, is so strong and sure, that it will never be dissolved by the terrors of death, or the love of life, nor by malignant d xlvi ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. spirits, nor by what man doth, nor what shall hereafter befoU us or assault us. Nothing hath power to cause CJod to cease from loving us, or us to cease loving God. I think no confirmed christian doth totally and finally fall away," Rom. viii. 38. " Therefore, not- withstanding all the objections that are against it, and the ill use that will be made of it by many, and the accidental troubles into which it may cast some believers, it seems to me that the doctrine of perseverance is grounded on the Scriptures ; and therefore is to be maintained, not only as extending to all the elect, against Lutherans and Arminians ; but also to all the truly sdtictijicd, against Augustine and the Jansenians." Orme says, " This statement (the last) will, I apprehend, satisfy the most fastidious reader of the substantial orthodoxy of Baxter on this point." Is it not more likely to startle the most superficial reader, to find the elect and the sanctified thus distinguished, seeing they are identical in Scripture ? The fact is, (and Orme should have stated it,) that Baxter, although he had no doubt of the final perseverance of the sanctified, or of " truly confirmed christians," was not so sure about all the justified. He quotes Luther's and Melancthon's condenmation of the anabaptists (who deny that any once justified can again lose the Holy Ghost) in a way that indicates his own leaning to the eleventh Article of the " Augustine Confession" on this point. He sums up his historical inquiries on the subject thus : " Except Jerome truly accuse Jovinian with it, there is not, that I know of, any father, christian, or heretic, for above a thousand years after Christ, who hath held that no truly justified person fall finally away and perish — even Augustine, Prosper, and Fulgentius, not excepted." " This historical truth is useful to be known." Even in his Notes on the New Testament, Baxter is not explicit. He says, on John xv. 6, " Whether there be not an initial, unconfirmed degree of grace (like Adam's) which may be lost, which else would save, (for confirmed grace is never totally lost,) is a controversy so ancient, and amongst the wisest and best of men, that it requireth great modesty in the deciders." That modesty he himself exemplified on this subject ; for he is not so inconsistent as he is re- ported, nor as he seems to be, when he distinguishes between the elect and the sanctified. He means by the sanctified and confirmed, not a class besides the elect ; but those who had not yet " made their election sure" to themselves. In a word, it is not the perseverance of the humble followers of holiness which Baxter questions. He flings fathers and councils to the winds, when the comfort of sincere, though unassured, christians is at stake. It is the final safety of those who settle their election by logic, that he argues against. On no subject, perhaps, is Baxter more judicious, than on that of assurance. " The faith by which we are justified is not," he truly says, " a believing that we are justified ; but a believing that we may be justified: not a believing that Christ is ours more than other men's, or that we shall be saved; but a believing in Christ that he may be ours, and that we may be saved by him. There is assurance in this faith : not assurance that we are sincere, or shall be saved; but assurance that God's promises and all his words are true, and that he will perform them ; and that Christ is the Saviour of the world ; and that the love of God is our end and happiness ; and that all this, even pardon and life, is offered to us in Christ, as well as unto others : which offer faith accepteth ; but the believer is often uncertain of the sincerity of his own belief ; and so, uncertain of his salvation." No man can, ordinarily, be assured of his salvation or justification, but by being assured i first of the truth of God's promise, and of his own sincerity in believing it. For his as- surance is the result of this argument : — " Whosoever sincerely repenteth and believeth is justified : I sincerely believe and repent ; therefore I am justified." And the weakness of j: the apprehension of cither of these premises, is ever (felt) in the conclusion ; which always followeth the weaker part. How true this is ! We dare not draw the conclusion, " I am i justified," whilst we doubt the sincerity of our faith or repentance. It would be a pity if ;! we could, if there be good reasons for doubting the sincerity of either. Sincerity, however ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. xlvii is not so very difficult to ascertain, as some imagine. No man can be a hypocrite, without intending to be so ; nor insincere, without design. If, therefore, I have no design nor desire to pretend to believe what I disbelieve, nor to pretend to repent of sins I am not sorry for, I am not insincere in either my faith or my repentance. Both may be weak and very defective ; but neither can be feigned, without my knowledge and intention. The fact is, it is the con- sciousness that something is held back from the authority of the Saviour, that leads us to doubt our sincerity in what we have yielded : and doubt it we shall, until we yield to him at the point where we stand out against his authority. Neither the Holy Spirit, nor our own spirit, will witness to our sincerity, whilst we allow any known sin to prevail. All compromise here, under whatever pretence, is believing the devil's old lie, " Ye shall not surely die, even if ye eat." The substance of Baxter's opinion on assurance is this : " They err on extreme, who say that all or any are commanded to believe (as if it were God's word) that they are justified : and they err on the other hand, who command or commend doubting, as if it were a duty or a benefit. The truth is, doubting of our sincerity or of our justification, if we are sincere, is a sin of infirmity, and a calamity, proceeding from the want of a due acquaintance with ourselves, which we should use all possible diligence to obtain." A due acquaintance with the Scriptures, also, is equally necessary. I will not say, that any are commanded by the word of God to believe that they are justified ; but as it is expressly revealed, that whoso- ever believeth on the Son of God is justified, I must affirm that it is the duty of all true believers to believe their own justification. I quite agree with Baxter, that it is a " sin of infirmity to doubt our justification," if we are conscious of sincerity before God. It is, how- ever, a sin of imprudence, and of oversight also : and if " a calamity " too, as he says, it is, like most other calamities, incurred by imprudence of some kind. It is of very great importance in reading Baxter, on any experimental or practical subject, to keep this Scriptural truth distinctly and for ever before the mind. He does not, indeed, throw us, for all the knowledge of personal justification, upon the fruits of faith ; but he is very jealous of what may be known of it, from believing the divine testimony, that " right- eousness is upon all them who believe." We need, however, the comfort of this revealed fact, in order to abound in the fruits of faith. Indeed, unless peace come from believing the gospel of peace itself, we can neither do nor endure well in the service of God. The only thing further, really necessary to complete a fair view of Baxter's system, is, a specimen of his theory of divine operations upon the soul. He entered deeply and solemnly into the question, whether they were physical or moral ? What he thought of the advocates of a physical change on the soul, will be only too obvious from the following rebuke. " Those who think souls are converted, but as boys whip tops, and women turn wheels, or the spring moveth a watch, are Cartesian -blind theologues, who overlook the very nature of that theology which they profess ; which is, the doctrine of ' the kingdom of God, over man.'' Whilst they see little but matter and motion, they are fitter mechanically to treat of or deal with stones, or bricks, or timber, than men ; being unfit to treat of human government, much more of divine." This is not, however, the spirit in which he pursues the subject. He feared God, if he did not " regard man," when the nature of divine operations was in question. " The method of God's operation on the soul is so unsearchable, that I had rather silence than pretend to decide many of the controversies long agitated about it : and had not men's audacious decisions and furious contentions made it accidentally necessary to repress their presumption and errors, I should reverently have passed by much that I must now meddle with. But the cure must be suited to the disease. " So much as is intelligible herein, is amiable and glorious ; and the prospect of God's pro- vidence is delectable to the wise ; for his works are great and excellent, sought out of them who have pleasure therein. d 2 xlviii ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. The nature and order of them cannot he known hy the single consideration of particular effects ; l)ut hy heginning at the original, and proceeding orderly from the superior causes to the inferior, and seeing how every thing worketh in its proper capacity and place : which man can do hut very defectively ; and therefore knoweth hut little, or in part. " God is one infinite Spirit, in three essential virtues or principles, life, (or active power,) understanding, and will. Not that life, intellect, and will, are formally the same in God as in the creature, or can formally be conceived by us ; but while we must know God in a glass, man's soul must he that glass ; and we must use such notions and names of God, or none. " These principles, as transcendent in perfection, are called greatness, (or omnipotence,) wisdom, and goodness, (or love,) by names borrowed from their effects upon the creatures. " This one God is revealed to us in three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit ; one in essence : incomprehensibly three ad intus, but discernibly three in their operations ad extrn, and relations thereto. " The three divine Persons do always inseparably co-operate ; but so as that there is a trinity also of their impressions or vestigia, which are answerably to have a threefold attri- bution, each principle being eminently apparent in its own impressions, though in union with the rest. " God's works are creation, governing, and perfecting ; and so he is, 1. The first efficient of all being, by creating and continuing, which are as one. 2. The disposing or governing cause. 3. The end. " God is so active as not to be at all passive : all the active creatures are first passive, as receiving the influx of the First Cause ; but they are naturally active in that dependence, and supposing that influx. " As the great First Cause, God hath settled a course of second causes, that one thing may act upon and move another ; and though he work upon the highest of these causes immediately without any other subordinate cause, yet on all the rest he ordinarily worketh by superior created causes ; which are some of them necessary, and operate in one constant course, and some of them voluntary and free, and operate more mutably and contingently. " The course of necessitating causes is commonly called nature, and the influence of angels, and other voluntary causes, distinguished from natural ; but they all operate as second causes under the influx and government of God. " God hath ordained one great universal Second Cause to convey his Spirit and grace by, which is Jesus Christ. As the sun is the universal cause of motion, light, and heat to in- ferior creatures ; and as God operateth by the sun ; so is Christ ordained to be the Sun of Righteousness, by whom God conveys his spiritual influx to men's souls ; and there is no other conveyance to be expected. " That God communicateth his grace ordinarily by means, as he ordinarily causeth natural effects by means, may be proved thus : He hath made so large provision of means, and that in an admirable frame, constituting as it were a moral world," that we may justly conclude that he does not ordinarily work without them. " Had not God decreed to com- municate grace by means, he could have done it by a Jiat. God worketh on all things according to their nature : and of course, suitably to the nature of man. Experience shows that those prosper best in grace, who most faithfully and diligently use the means. We frnd also that the greatest neglecters and despisers of means, are every where most graceless, and the worst of men. " But I would not be understood to assert, that the means are effectual of themselves ; l)ut only that God operateth moral effects by (moral) means, as he doth natural by natural means." Such were Baxter's leading sentiments. And it will be seen even from this sketch, that on all great points in theology, he was afraid of pushing them to an extreme, lest by over- ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. xlix doing he should undo them. It is not vacillation, but caution or candour, that makes him appear undecided at times. But neither the writings nor the character of Baxter can be fully appreciated, unless a vivid recollection of his times is for ever present to his readers: and this, in one sense, Baxter himself renders almost impossible, by throwing his readers so deeply in upon the state of their own souls before God, and so far out amongst the audits of eternity, that they hardly dare to throw themselves back upon the history of Cromwell or the Stuarts, of the church or the state, they are so absorbed with personal interests and responsibilities. And it is not desirable, in general, that we should realize, or even remember, all the circumstances under which Baxter wrote. They would, indeed, account for the peculiarities of some of his modes of reasoning, and for the spirit of many of his reproofs, and even for the character of some of his practical maxims ; but they would not explain his intensity nor his fidelity. With his views of eternal and universal responsibility, he would have been intense and faithful under any circumstances. A Baxter's " call to the unconverted," would be as loud and urgent now that the public mind is tranquil, as it was when that mind was moved to its very foundations, and strained to its utmost heights of excitement. He would cojnmend and enforce the claims of " the saints' everlasting rest," now that we are under the vine and fig- tree of inviolable freedom, as warmly as he did when bonds and imprisonments, exile and infamy, were the lot of the puritans. Were he alive now, Baxter would reform even his " Reformed Pastor," by gathering from the facilities furnished by our times for doing the work of an evangelist and catechist, stronger motives to ministerial diligence and fidelity, than even those which he drew from the distractions and events of his own times. For circumstances did not make him what he was. He would have been alternately a Boanerges and a Bar- nabas, any where, and at all times. It was in him to be so. He would have made himself tell upon, and to be felt by, any state of society, because he was fit to gauge and grapple the world or the church, and because divine authority swayed his conscience like an instinct, and told upon himself as it tells upon an angel. The title of one of his books, (repulsive as it is,) " A Saint or a Brute," explains Baxter's spirit better than any circumstances can do. The man who saw no medium between a saint and a brute, could neither be the creature nor the creation of circumstances ; but nmst, in any age, have soared to saintship, or sunk into sensuality. He himself had an awful dread of the extreme of daring and disobedience, to which he felt himself capable of going ; I refer to his " Penitent Confessions." But whilst the recollection of his times is not essential to the understanding of his general purpose or spirit, it is even more than a key to many of his peculiarities. I mean, it does more than explain them ; it often justifies the severity of his rebukes, and palliates his violence. This is not, however, the chief advantage. What is noblest, and wisest, and heavenliest in his Practical \\ orks, becomes wonderful when read in the light in which it was written. I do not refer to his life as " one long disease," as Southey well calls it, but as one long controversy. The rack of pain can call forth wonderful trains of thought and tones of feeling ; but the rack of suspense has no tendency to strengthen the mind, nor to improve its devotional spirit. And yet Baxter, although for ever racked by suspense of some kind,— now for the issue of political contests, and anon for the issue of a polemical dispute, and always for the issue of the ecclesiastical negociations in which he was involved, — could rise superior to the whole, and write of heaven as if he were in it ; of peace, as if there had been neither wars nor rumours of war ; and of union, as if he had never seen division. Accordingly, there are trains of thought and feeling, so deep, tranquil, and heavenly, that they seem, like the music of the nightingale, impossible except in a shady and sweet grove > and yet they were breathed in prison, under neglect and calumny, and amidst all the turmoil of public and personal controversies. Baxter could thus steal away from the world and himself 1 ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. too, as if he had both the power and the privilege of going "out of the body" whenever he chose. It is not less interesting, and it is even more useful, in reading his Practical Works, to remember the transitions he so often made from the highest spheres of abstract speculation, and from the hottest fields of controversy, to the calm regions of ordinary duty ; — from a " Methodus Theologi.*," to " Mother's Catechism;" from " The History of Bishops and Councils," to " The Poor Man's Family Book;" from " The Holy Commonwealth," to " Counsels for Young Men." He is equally at home in both departments. He never comes flushed or fluttered from the arena of strife, into the domestic circle. He might have just descended from the third heavens, or issued from the inner sanctuary, instead of coming as from Edom or Bozrah ; he is so perfectly collected when he begins to counsel the ignorant, or to console the penitent. Neither his manner nor his spirit reminds them of his speculations or his disputes. Baxter is wholly the " man of God," whenever he sets himself to commend godliness, as profitable or pleasant. How he could thus combine in himself the daring theorist, and the devotional seraph ; the abstract metaphysician, and the simple pastor; the combatant, and comforter; he him- self, I suppose, hardly understood. He has not tried to explain it. Perhaps it never astonished him at all : for as his heart was like the river-spunge, susceptible even to satura- tion with whatever stream passed over it, its alternate fulness with sweet and bitter, clear and dark, waters, would seem to himself only a matter of course, from the abundance of such waters. Still, to us, this combination of wide and apparently incompatible extremes, is wonderful. We see it too seldom not to be surprised at it. Versatility of mind is not, indeed, uncommon ; but to be as vigorous, as versatile, and spiritual at all points, under all circumstances, is equally rare, both as an endowment and as an attainment. But this is not what I wanted to say, when I suggested the propriety of reading Baxter's works in the light of his times. What I have said of Owen elsewhere, will, with a little alteration, explain what I mean. His Practical Works are amongst the few things, at that national crisis, upon which the contemplative eye can repose with unmixed or conscientious delight. What a contrast they present to the spirit of his age ! They are emphatically " a still small voice," stealing in between the thunder-peals of the political heavens and the earthquakes of the ecclesiastical globe. When I bring before me, in idea, the scene of the civil war, crowded with daring spirits wound up to desperation, agitated by the clash of rival energies, rival principles, rival prejudices, rival motives, and rival arms ; whilst crowns, mitres, and maces lie as broken shields upon the arena of conflict ; I feel as if it must have been impossible to do any thing but " stand still, and see the salvation of God." But, to walk with God, working for God, rather by the glare of lightning than by light, and to be at once a presiding spirit in the conflict and a concentrated student in the closet, as Baxter was, would be to me a contradiction in terms, were not both his walk and works before me. Csesar wrote Commentaries during his campaigns ; but the world never wit- nessed the union of public enterprise and private exertion, upon the scale or scheme pre- sented in Baxter. His engagements seem, in fact, subversive of each other : for what is more incompatible, apparently, than solving cases of private conscience, and counselling the great assembly of the nation ; than being alternately closeted with weeping penitents, and with wily statesmen ; than exploring the mazes of antiquity, and tracing the workings of melancholy ; than drawing schemes of ecclesiastical comprehension, and leading pilgrims to wells of salvation in the wilderness ; than watching Cromwell, and teaching children ; than negociating with the last Charles, and walking with God ? And yet, these are the extremes of study and action, which Baxter managed to combine in his own life and character, without compromising principle, or serving " the Lord deceitfully." He was a perfect Proteus, but without guile or stratagem. Like the angel Gabriel, he could accom- ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. li modate himself, with equal facility and effect, to the timid Mary, as to the learned Daniel. Like light, he could pass with equal rapidity and purity through any medium, whenever the cause of truth or humanity required his presence. The explanation of all this is to be found in that tweartJtlmess, (how 1 thank Orme for this word !) which has already explained so much. It enabled him to pass " unspotted" through the contaminating and conflicting world, in which he lived. It awed both Crom- well and Charles. Neither dared to tamper with his unearthly integrity, nor dreamt of bribing his unearthly disinterestedness, after they knew him. Neither of them understood how he was so " crucified to the world, or the world to him ; " but both felt that the two- fold crucifixion had gone too far for their purposes. So far, I have taken the darkest view of Baxter's times. That age had, however, a very bright as well as a very dark side. There were " giants" in virtue, as well as in vice, " in those days." Indeed, in one sense, there never was a healthier period in the history of British piety. The really pious of aU parties were eminently pious ; men equally mighty in the Scriptures and in prayer ; equally attached to the closet and the sanctuary ; equally exemplary at home and in the world. It was with the rich dew of their own holiness, that they were baptized puritans. The name was originally won by moral worth, however it came to be applied afterwards to peculiarities of sentiment or system. The real puritan laity of all the protestant churches, were " devout men, full of wisdom, and of the Holy Ghost." Their name will be an everlasting memorial of their " pureness," in spite of all old slanders and new sarcasms. Neither Southey nor senators can perpetuate it as a nickname. I refer to the holy, devout, and thoughtful character of the real puritans, in order to ex- plain the character of Baxter's works. He, indeed, was not the creature of circumstances ; but he adapted himself to the spirit of his age, and was the very image of its best form. He created much of its puritanism ; but he also found not a little of it, to identify himself with at first. The leaven which he put into so many measures of meal, was put into his own measure, by the godly descendants of the Reformation ; a class, if but few in number, not feeble in intellect nor in principle; men who had read much, and thought more, and " prayed always." To such men, Baxter adapted his first works ; and through their me- dium appealed to all men. And it was the welcome given to his writings by these grand- children of the Reformation, that won the attention and confidence of the public to him, in the first instance. It is of some importance to remember this fact. It throws considerable light upon the cast and bulk of many of Baxter's treatises. These were not larger nor more polemical than the works of the Reformers. Every private library contained huge folios of divinity, as well as hosts of pamphlets ; so that Baxter had to go to both extremes, and to write alternately by the acre and by the inch. Without massive volumes he would have been deemed no " master in Israel ;" and without skirmishing pamphlets, no " watchman upon the walls of Zion." He, therefore, produced both in abundance, and with equal facility ; for he was alike master of the arts of saj) and sally, in controversy. Besides, " Divinity as a science was," as the editor of Col. Hutchinson's Memoirs says, " a study then in vogue." He adds, " A study environed with danger, and which led the Colonel into whatever errors he was guilty of." The errors of the Hutchinson family will not prove much against the study of divinity as a science ! I refer to that family, however, as a specimen of the reading habits of the age. The " library at the family seat of Owthorpe contained a vast number of folio volumes of polemical divinity, and Mr. Hutchin- son had been encouraged by his father" to study them. Such were the existing libraries and readers when Baxter began to write. He had, therefore, to present the science of divinity in all the forms which the other sciences wore, when facts were nothing without Hi ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. theories and authorities, and Scripture not much without fathers, councils, and schoohnen to back its testimony. This makes scholastic divinity both tedious and teasing to us. It was by this process, however, that the great truths of the Reformation gained the attention of our fathers. We may call it pedantry, to bring up " the first principles of the oracles of God," each under the escort of a host of human authorities ; but it was thus they were common-]}laced in the public mind. What is familiar to us, was both new and strange to the children of the Reformation, and not common-place even to its grandchildren. Our common-place truths were, to them, what the newest forms of theology are to us, — points to be weighed and watched over, and to be judged of by the character of the men who originate and espouse them. In a word, owr f ami lidr was their irrofonnd ; and profoundly they studied it. That mind is not to be envied, which is only amused by the pedantry of the old writers, and only amazed at the patience of the old readers. It is easier to smile at both than to imitate either. If they were too elal)orate, we arc too superficial. I certainly do not wish to see the pedantry of the old divines revived, nor the patience of modern readers taxed, by endless quotations (whether translated or transcribed) from the fathers and the schoolmen ; but I do long to see books enriched with the treasures of antiquity, that families may be enraptured, and students inspired, by the union of " things new and old." Quotation is pedantry only when it is needless, or not in point, or merely for parade. It is both a duty and a beauty, when it can illustrate or commend great truths. Their old friends should never be forgotten, nor unnamed, when great attention is wanted to them. See what Professor Tholuk, of Halle, has done in his Expositions, by extracts from the exegetical works of the fathers and Reformers. Who dreams of pedantry, when Tholuk walks with the wise men of antiquity in the train of revelation ? Who is not refreshed and inspired by alternate glimpses of Chrysostom and Calvin, x\ugustine and Luther, Theodoret and Melancthon, St. Bernard and Beza ? Even Erasmus and Grotius, yea, Aquinas and the Talmuds, tell upon the object of the writer, and upon the soul of the reader, as Tholuk quotes them. This is scholarship, not pedantry. This is what we want in our own theology ; not exactly for satisfac- tion as to what is truth, but that truth may have the force of truth, by compelling us to think. How few modern books require much thought from us ! The aim of many seems to be to supersede, by simplification, the necessity of thinking. On the other hand, the few which are the fruit of deep thought, rather tax than entice our patience. W« have no relief, but such as relaxes attention. Whereas, if instead of the modern episode, allegory, or poetical quotation, we were thrown upon other minds than the author's from time to time, and upon other modes of expression, and upon the ancient forms of the same ideas, this would be both relief and stimulus. It would create pauses enough to enable the powers of the mind, like " the wings of the wind," to renew their strength for a mightier effort. We belong to the past, as well as to the present and the future. At least, the past belongs to us. It is a heritage, of which no writer has any warrant to deprive us, or to conceal from us. Why should not " our fathers," as well as the Jewish, be brought around us as a " great cloud of witnesses ? " Many of them died for, as well as " in, the faith ; " and sealed with their blood the truths which they adorned by their lives and illustrated by their pens. There ought to be a demand made upon theologians for this kind of authorship. By all means, let simplifiers, like myself, be tolerated in guiding the weak in faith as we can ; and let the ingenious be encouraged to furnish " milk for babes : " but from the stewards of the mysteries of the kingdom, strong men should demand " strong meat." It will be demanded, if a few more of the works of the puritans are thrown into circulation. Baxter himself will do his old work again, by this new form. He will create an appetite, which cannot be " fed with the crumbs " which fall from the table of even a rich man. The lips of the prophets ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. liii must keep knowledge, and the lips of the sons of the prophets acquire knowledge, if the press send the puritans " abroad in the land." Polish will not long be a substitute for power, nor sparkles for point, nor declamation for reasoning, when this " resurrection of the witnesses " takes place. It is begun already. Taylor and Howe, Charnock and Chillingworth, Greenhill and Edwards, have come out of their graves, and already " appeared to many in the holy city ; " and now Baxter will appear to more. The following sketch of himself, from his own pen, will be his best introduction. Let Sylvester's note, however, introduce it, and illustrate the portrait. " His person," Sylvester states, " was tall and slender, and stooped much ; his counte- nance composed and grave, somewhat inclining to smile. He had a piercing eye, a very articulate speech, and his deportment rather plain than complimental. He had a great command over his thoughts. He had that happy faculty, so as to answer the character that was given of him by a learned man dissenting from him, after discourse with him ; which was, that ' He could say what he would, and he could prove what he said.'" Some few years before his death, Baxter took a minute and extensive survey of his own character, and committed it to paper. From this paper the following extracts are taken : — " Because it is soul-experiments which those that urge me to this kind of writing do ex- pect that I should especially communicate to others, and I have said little of God's dealing with my soul since the time of my younger y€sars, I shall only give the reader so much satis- faction as to acquaint him truly what change God hath made upon my mind and heart since those unriper times, and wherein I now differ in judgment and disposition from myself. And, for any more particular account of heart-occurrences, and God's operations on me, I think it somewhat unsavoury to recite them ; seeing God's dealings are much the same with all his servants in the main, and the points wherein he varieth are usually so small, that I think such not fit to be repeated. Nor have I any thing extraordinary to glory in, which is not common to the rest of my brethren, who have the same spirit, and are servants of the same Lord. And the true reason why I do adventure so far upon the censure of the world, as to tell them wherein the case is altered with me, is, that I may take off young, inexperienced christians from being over-confident in their first apprehensions, or overvalu- ing their first degrees of grace, or too much applauding and following unfurnished, inexpe- rienced men ; but may somewhat be directed what mind and course of life to prefer, by the judgment of one that hath tried both before them. " The temper of my mind hath somewhat altered with the temper of my body. When I was young, I was more vigorous, affectionate, and fervent in preaching, conference, and prayer, than ordinarily I can be now : my style was more extemporary and lax ; but by the advantage of affection, and a very familiar moving voice and utterance, my preaching then did more aff"ect the auditory, than many of the last years before I gave over preaching ; but yet what I delivered was much more raw, and had more passages that would not bear the trial of accurate judgments, and my discourses had both less substance and less judgment than of late. " My understanding was then quicker, and could more easily manage any thing that was newly presented to it upon a sudden ; but it is since better furnished, and acquainted with the ways of truth and error, and with a multitude of particular mistakes of the world, which then I was the more in danger of, because I had only the faculty of knowing them, but did not actually know them. I was then like a man of a quick understanding that was to travel a way which he never went before, or to cast up an account which he never laboured in before, or to play on an instrument of music which he never saw before ; and I am now like one of somewhat a slower understanding, by that prcBwatura senectm, which weakness and excessive bleedings brought me to, who is travelling a way which he hath often gone, and is casting up an account which he hath often cast up, and hath ready at hand, and that is liv ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. playing on an instruniont which he hath often played on : so that I can very confidently say, that niy judgment is much sounder and firmer now than it was then; aiid I can now judge of the effects, as well as of the actings of my understanding ; and, when I peruse the writings which I wrote in my younger years, I can find the footsteps of my unfurnished mind, and of my emptiness and insufficiency : so that the man that followed my judgment then, was more likely to have been misled by me than he who should follow it now. " And yet, that I may not say worse than it deserveth of my former measure of under- standing, I shall truly tell you what change I find now, in the perusal of my own writings. Those points, which then I thoroughly studied, my judgment is the same of now as it was then ; and therefore, in the substance of my religion, and in those controversies which I then searched into, with some extraordinary diligence, I find not my mind disposed to a change. But in divers points that I studied slightly and by the halves, and in many things which I took upon trust from others, I have found since that my apprehensions were either erroneous, or very lame. " And I must say further, that what I last mentioned on the by, is one of the most notable changes of my mind. In my youth I was quickly past my fundamentals, and was running up into a multitude of controversies, and greatly delighted with metaphysical and scholastic writings, though, I must needs say, my preaching was still on the neces- sary points. But, the older I grew, the smaller stress I laid upon these controversies and curiosities, (though still my intellect abhorreth confusion,) as finding far greater uncertainties in them than I at first discerned, and finding less usefulness comparatively, even when there is the greatest certainty. And now it is the fundamental doctrines of the catechism which I most highly value, and daily think of, and find most useful to myself and others. The creed, the Lord's prayer, and the ten commandments, do find rne now the most acceptable and plentiful matter for all my meditations. They are to me as my daily bread and drink. And, as I can speak and write of them over and over again, so I had rather read or hear of them, than any of the school niceties, which once so much pleased me. And thus I observed it was with old Archbishop Usher, and with many other men ; and I conjecture that this effect also is mixed of good and bad, according to its causes. " The bad cause may, perhaps, be some natural infirmity and decay. And, as trees, in the spring, shoot up into branches, leaves, and blossoms, but, in the autumn, the life draws down into the root; so possibly my nature, conscious of its infirmity and decay, may find itself insufficient for numerous particles, and to rise up for the attempting of difficult things, and so my mind may retire to the root of christian principles ; and also I have often been afraid, lest ill-rooting at first, and many temptations afterwards, have made it more neces- sary for me than many others to retire to the root, and secure my fundamentals. But, upon much observation, I am afraid lest most others are in no better a case ; and that, at the first, they take it for a granted thing, that Christ is the Saviour of the world, and that the soul is immortal, and that there is a heaven and a hell, &c. while they are studying abundance of scholastic .superstructures, and at last will find cause to study more soundly their religion itself, as well as I have done. " The better causes are these : — 1 . I value all things according to their use and ends, and I find in the daily practice and experience of my soul, that the knowledge of God, and Christ, and the Holy Spirit, and the truth of Scriptures, and the life to come, and of a holy life, is of more use to me than all the most curious speculations. 2. I know that every man must grow, as trees do, downwards and upwards both at once, and that the roots increase as the T)ulk and branches do. 3. Being near death and another world, I am the more regardful of those things which my everlasting life or death depend on. 4. Having most to do with ignorant, miserable people, I am commanded, by my charity and reason, to treat with them of that which their salvation lieth on, and not to dispute with them of formalities and nice- ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. Iv ties, when the question is presently to be determined, whether they shall dwell for ever in heaven or in hell. In a word, my meditations must be most upon the matters of my prac- tice and my int-erest ; and, as the love of God, and the seeking of everlasting life, is the matter of my practice and my interest, so must it be of my meditation. That is the best doctrine and study, which maketh men better, and tendeth to make them happy. I abhor the folly of those unlearned persons, who revile or despise learning, because they know not what it is ; and I take not any part of true learning to be useless. And yet my soul ap- proveth of the resolution of holy Paul, who determined to know nothing among his hearers, that is, comparatively to value and make ostentation of no other wisdom, but the knowledge of a crucified Christ. To know God in Christ is life eternal. As the stock of the tree afFordeth timber to build houses and cities, when the small, though higher multifarious branches are but to make a crow's nest, or a blaze ; so the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ, of heaven and holiness, doth build up the soul to endless blessedness, and affordeth it solid peace and comfort, when a multitude of school niceties serve but for vain janglings, and hurtful divisions and contentions. I would persuade my reader to study and live upon the essential doctrines of Christianity and godliness. And, that he may know that my tes- timony is somewhat regardable, I presume to say, that in this I as much gainsay my natural inclination to subtilty and accuracy in knowing, as he is like to do by his, if he obey my counsel. And I think, if he lived among infidels and enemies of Christ, he would find that to make good the doctrine of faith and of life eternal, were not only his noblest and most useful study, but also that which would require the height of all his parts, and the utmost of his diligpnce, to manage it skilfully to the satisfaction of himself and others. " I add, therefore, that this is another thing which I am changed in ; that whereas, in my younger days, I never was tempted to doubt of the truth of Scripture or Christianity, but all my doubts and fears were exercised at home, about my own sincerity and interest in Christ, and this was it which I called unbelief ; since then, my sorest assaults have been on the other side : and such they were, that, had I been void of internal experience, and the ad- hesion of love, and the special help of God, and had not discerned more reason for my religion than I did when I was younger, I had certainly apostatized to infidelity, though, for atheism or ungodliness, my reason seeth no stronger arguments than may be brought to prove that there is no earth, or air, or sun. I am now, therefore, much more apprehensive than heretofore, of the necessity of well-grounding men in their religion, and especially of the witness of the indwelling Spirit ; for I more sensibly perceive that the Spirit is the great witness of Christ and Christianity to the world. And though the folly of fanatics tempted me long to overlook the strength of this testimony of the Spirit, while they placed it in a certain internal assertion, or enthusiastic inspiration, yet now I see that the Holy Ghost, in another manner, is the witness of Christ and his agent in the world. The Spirit in the prophets was his first witness, and the Spirit by miracles was the second ; and the Spirit by renovation, sanctification, illumination, and consolation, assimilating the soul to Christ and heaven, is the continued witness to all true believers. And, ' if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, the same is none of his,' Rom. viii. 9; even as the rational soul in the child is the inherent witness, or evidence, that he is the child of rational parents. And, therefore, ungodly persons have a great disadvantage in their resisting temptations to un- belief, and it is no wonder if Christ be a stumbling-block to the Jews, and to the gentiles foolishness. There is many a one that hideth his temptations to infidelity, because he thinketh it a shame to open them, and because it may degenerate doubts in others ; but, I f:^ar, the imperfection of most men's care of their salvation, and of their diligence and resolu- tion in a holy life, doth come from the imperfection of their belief of Christianity and the life to come. For my part, I must profess, that when my belief of things eternal, and of the Scripture, is most clear and firm, all goeth accordingly in my soul, and all temptations to hri ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. sinful compliances, worldliupss, or flesh-pleasing, do signify worse to me than an invitation to the stocks or bedlam ; and no petition seemeth more necessary to me, than, ' Lord, in- crease our faith : I believe, help thou my unbelief.' " In my younger years, my trouble for sin was most about my actual failings, in thought, word, or action, except hardness of heart, of which more anon ; but now I am much more troubled for inward defects, and omission or want of the vital duties or graces in the soul. My daily trouble is so much for my ignorance of God, and weakness of belief, and want of greater love to God, and strangeness to him, and to the life to come, and for want of a greater willingness to die, and longing to be with God in heaven, as that I take not some immoralities, though very great, to be in themselves such great and odious sins, if they could be found as separate from these. Had I all the riches of the world, how gladly should I give them, for a fuller knowledge, belief, and love of God and everlasting glory ! These wants are the greatest burdens of my life, which often make my life itself a burden. And I cannot find any hope of reaching so high in these, while I am in the flesh, as I once hoped before this time to have attained ; which maketh me the wearier of this sinful world, which is honoured with so little of the knowledge of God. " Heretofore I placed much of my religion in tenderness of heart, and grieving for sin, and penitential tears ; and less of it in the love of God, and studying his love and goodness, and in his joj-ful praises, than I now do. Then I was little sensible of the greatness and excellency of love and praise, though I coldly spake the same words in its commendation as I now do. And now I am less troubled for want of grief and tears, though I more value humility, and refuse not needful humiliation ; but my conscience now looketh at love and delight in God, and praising him, as the top of all my religious duties, for which it is that I value and use the rest. " My judgment is much more for frequent and serious meditation on the heavenly bless- edness, than it was heretofore in my younger days. I then thought that a sermon on the attributes of God, and the joys of heaven, were not the most excellent ; and was wont to say, ' Every body knoweth this, that God is great and good, and that heaven is a blessed place ; I had rather hear how I may attain it.' And nothing pleased me so well as the doc- trine of regeneration, and the marks of sincerity, because these subjects were suitable to me in that state. But now I had rather read, hear, or meditate on God and heaven, than on any other subject ; for I perceive that it is the object that altereth and elevateth the mind, which will be such as that is which it most frequently feedeth on ; and that it is not only useful to our comfort, to be much in heaven in our believing thoughts, but that it must animate all our other duties, and fortify us against every temptation and sin ; and that the love of the end is the poise, or spring, which setteth every wheel agoing, and must put us on to all the means ; and that a man is no more a christian indeed, than he is heavenly. " I was once wont to meditate most on my own heart, and to dwell all at home, and look little higher. I was still poring either on my sins or wants, or examining my sincerity. But now, though I am greatly convinced of the need of heart-acquaintance and employment, yet I see more need of a higher work ; and that I should look oftener upon Christ, and God, and heaven, than upon my own heart. At home I can find distempers to trouble me, and some evidences of my peace ; but it is above that I must find matter of delight and joy, and love and peace itself. Therefore I would have one thought at home, upon myself and sins, and many thoughts above, upon the high, and amiable, and beautifying objects. " Heretofore I knew much less than now, and yet was not half so much acquainted with my ignorance. I had a great delight in the daily new discoveries which I made, and of the light which shined in upon me, like a man that cometh into a country where he never was before ; but I little knew, either how imperfectly I understood those very points, whose dis- covery 80 much delighted me, nor how much might be said against them, nor how many ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TliMES OF BAXTER. Ivii things I was yet a stranger to : but now I find far greater darkness upon all things, and perceive how very little it is that we know in comparison of that which we are ignorant of; and I have far meaner thoughts of my own understanding, though I must needs know that it is better furnished than it was then. " Accordingly, I had then a far higher opinion of learned persons and books than I have now ; for what I wanted myself, I thought every reverend divine had attained, and was familiarly acquainted with. x\nd what books I understood not, by reason of the strangeness of the terms or matter, I the more admired, and thought that others understood their worth. But now, experience hath constrained me, against my will, to know that reverend, learned men are imperfect, and know but little as well as I, especially those who think themselves the wisest ; and, the better I am acquainted with them, the more I perceive that we are all yet in the dark. And the more I am acquainted with holy men, that are all for heaven, and pretend not much to subtilties, the more I value and honour them. And, when I have studied hard to understand some abstruse admired book, as ' De Scientia Dei,' ' De Pro- videntia circa malum,' ' De Decretis,' ' De Priedeterminatione,' ' De Libertate Creaturae,' &c. I have but attained the knowledge of human imperfection, and to see that the author is but a man as well as I. " And at first I took more upon my author's credit than now I can do ; and when an author was highly commended to me by others, or pleased me in some part, I was ready to entertain the whole ; whereas now I take and leave in the same author, and dissent in some things from him that I like best, as well as from others. " At first the style of authors took as much with me as the argument, and made the arguments seem more forcible ; but now I judge not of truth at all by any such ornaments or accidents, but by its naked evidence. " I now see more good and more evil in all men than heretofore I did. I see that good men are not so good as I once thought they were, but have more imperfections ; and that nearer approach, and fuller trial, doth make the best appear more weak and faulty, than their admirers at a distance think. And I find that few are so bad, as either their malicious enemies, or censorious separating professors, do imagine. In some, indeed, I find that human nature is corrupted into a greater likeness to devils than I ever thought any on earth had been ; but, even in the wicked, usually there is more for grace to make advantage of, and more to testify for God and holiness, than I once believed there had been. " I less admire gifts of utterance, and bare profession of religion, than I once did ; and have much more charity for many, who, by the want of gifts, do make an obscurer profes- sion than they. I once thought, that almost all that could pray movingly and fluently, and talk well of religion, had been saints. But experience hath opened to me what odious crimes may consist with high profession ; and I have met with divers obscure persons, not noted for any extraordinary profession, or forwardness in religion, but only to live a quiet, blameless life, whom I have after found to have long lived, as far as I could discern, a truly godly and sanctified life ; only their prayers and duties were, by accident, kept secret from other men's observation. Yet he that upon this pretence would confound the godly and the ungodly, may as well go about to lay heaven and hell together. " I am not so narrow in my special love as heretofore. Being less censorious, and talk- ing more than I did for saints, it must needs follow that I love more as saints than I did before. " I am much more sensible how prone many young professors are to spiritual pride, and self-conceitedness, and unruliness, and division, and so to prove the grief of their teachers, and firebrands in the church ; and how much of a minister's work lieth in preventing this, and humbling and confirming such young, inexperienced professors, and keeping them in order in their progress in religion. Iviii ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. " Yet I am more sensible of the sin and mischief of using men cruelly in matters of religion, and of pretending men's good, and the order of the church, for acts of inhumanity and uncharitableness. Such know not their own infirmity, nor yet the nature of pastoral government, which ought to be paternal, and by love ; nor do they know the way to win a soul, nor to maintain the church's peace. " I am more deeply afflicted for the disagreements of christians, than I was when I was a younger christian. Except the case of the infidel world, nothing is so sad and grievous to my thoughts, as the case of the divided churches ; and, therefore, I am more deeply sensi- ble of the sinfulness of those prelates and pastors of the churches who are the principal cause of these divisions. Oh how many millions of souls are kept by them in ignorance and ungodliness, and deluded by faction as if it were true religion ! How is the conver- sion of infidels hindered by them, and Christ and religion heinously dishonoured ! The contentions between the Greek church and the Roman, the papists and the protestants, the Lutherans and the Calvinists, have woefully hindered the kingdom of Christ. " I am further than ever I was from expecting great matters of unity, splendour, or pros- perity to the church on earth, or that saints should dream of a kingdom of this world, or flatter themselves with the hopes of a golden age, or reigning over the ungodly, till there be a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. And, on the contrary, I am more apprehensive that sufferings must be the church's most ordinary lot, and chris- tians indeed must be self-denying cross-bearers, even where there are none but formal, nominal christians to be the cross-makers. And though, ordinarily, God would have vicis- situdes of summer and winter, day and night, that the church may grow extensively in the summer of prosperity, and intensively and rootedly in the winter of adversity ; yet, usually, their night is longer than their day, and that day itself hath its storms and tempests. " I do not lay so great a stress upon the external modes and forms of worship, as many young professors do. I have suspected myself, as perhaps the reader may do, that this is from a cooling and declining from my former zeal, though the truth is, I never much com- plied with men of that mind ; but I find that judgment and charity are the causes of it, as far as I am able to discover. I cannot be so narrow in my principles of church communion as many are, that are so much for a liturgy, or so much against it, so much for ceremonies, or so much against them, that they can hold communion with no church which is not of their mind and way. If I were among the Greeks, the Lutherans, the independents, yea, the anabaptists, that own no heresy, nor set themselves against charity and peace, I would hold, sometimes, occasional communion with them as christians, if they will give me leave, without forcing me to any sinful subscription or action ; though my most usual communion should be with that society which I thought most agreeable to the word of God, if I were free to choose. I cannot be of their opinion, that think God will not accept him that prayeth by the Common Prayer book, and that such forms are a self-invented worship which God rejecteth ; nor yet can I be of their mind that say the like of extemporary prayers. " I am much less regardful of the approbation of man, and set much lighter by contempt or applause, than I did long ago. I am often suspicious that this is not only from the in- crease of self-denial and humility, but partly from my being glutted and surfeited with human applause, and all worldly things appear most vain and unsatisfactory when we have tried them most. But though I feel that this hath some hand in the effect, yet, as far as I can perceive, the knowledge of man's nothingness, and God's transcendent goodness, with whom it is that I have most to do, and the sense of the brevity of human things, and the nearness of eternity, are the principal causes of this effect, which some have imputed to self-conceitedness and moroseness. " I am more and more pleased with a solitary life ; and though, in a way of self-denial, I could submit to the most public life, for the service of God, when he requireth it, and ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. lix would not be unprofitable that I might be private ; yet, I must confess, it is much more pleasing to myself to be retired from the world, and to have very little to do with men, and to converse with God and conscience, and good books. " Though I was never much tempted to the sin of covetousness, yet my fear of dying was wont to tell me, that I was not sufficiently loosened from the world. But I find that it is comparatively very easy to me to be loose from this world, but hard to live by faith above. To despise earth is easy to me ; but not so easy to be acquainted and conversant in heaven. I have nothing in this world which I could not easily let go ; but to get satisfying appre- hensions of the other world, is the great and grievous difficulty. " I am much more apprehensive than long ago of the odiousness and danger of the sin of pride; scarce any sin appeareth more odious to me. Having daily more acquaintance with the lamentable naughtiness and frailty of man, and of the mischiefs of that sin, and, especially, in matters spiritual and ecclesiastical, I think, so far as any man is proud, he is kin to the devil, and utterly a stranger to God and to himself. It is a wonder that it should be a possible sin, to men that still carry about with them, in soul and body, such humbling matter of remedy as we all do. " I more than ever lament the unhappiness of the nobility, gentry, and great ones of the world, who live in such temptation to sensuality, animosity, and wasting of their time about a multitude of little things ; and whose lives are too often the transcripts of the sins of Sodom — pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness, and want of compassion to the poor. And I more value the life of the poor labouring man, but especially of him that hath neither poverty nor riches. " I am much more sensible than heretofore of the breadth, and length, and depth of the radical, universal, and odious sin of selfishness, and therefore have written so much against it ; and of the excellency and necessity of self-denial, and of a public mind, and of loving our nf ighbour as ourselves. " I am more and more sensible that most controversies have more need of right stating than of debating ; and, if my skill be increased in any thing, it is in that, in narrowing controversies by explication, and separating the real from the verbal, and proving to many contenders, that they differ less than they think they do. " I am more solicitous than I have been about my duty to God, and less solicitous about his dealings with me, as being assured that he will do all things well ; and as acknowledging the goodness of all the declarations of his holiness, even in the punishment of man, and as knowing that there is no rest but in the will and goodness, of God. " Though my works were never such as could be any temptation to me to dream of obliging God by proper merits in commutative justice ; yet one of the most ready, constant, undoubted evidences of my uprightness and interest in his covenant, is the consciousness of my living as devoted to him. And I the more easily believe the pardon of my failings, through my Redeemer, while I know that I serve no other master, and that I know no other end, or trade, or business ; but that I am employed in his work, and make it the business of my life, and live to him in the world, notwithstanding my infirmities. And this bent and business of my life, with my longing desires after perfection, in the knowledge, and belief, and love of God, and in a holy and heavenly mind and life, are the two standing, constant, discernible evidences, which most put me out of doubt of my sincerity. And I find that constant action and duty is it that keepeth the first always in sight ; and constant wants and weaknesses, and coming short of my desires, do make those desires still the more troublesome, and so the more easily still perceived. " Though my habitual judgment, and resolution, and scope of life be still the same, yet I find a great mutability as to actual apprehensions, and degrees of grace ; and, conse- quently, find that eo mutable a thing as the mind of man, would never keep itself, if God Ix ON THE GENIUS, WORKS, AND TIMES OF BAXTER. were not its keeper. \\ hen I have been seriously musing upon the reasons of Christianity, with the concurrent evidences methodically placed in their just advantages before my eyes, I am so clear in my belief of the christian verities, that Satan hath little room for a tempt- ation. Hut, sometimes, when he hath on a sudden set some temptation before me, when the foresaid evidences liave been out of the way, or less upon my thoughts, he hath by such surprises amazed me, and weakened my faith in the present age. So also as to the love of God, and trusting in him, sometimes, when the motives are clearly apprehended, the duty is more easy and delightful. And, at other times, I am merely pcissive and dull, if not guilty of actual despondency and distrust. " Thus much of the alterations of my soul, since my younger years, I thought best to give the reader, instead of all those experiences and actual motions and affections, which I suppose him rather to have expected an account of. And having transcribed thus much of a life which God hath read, and conscience hath read, and must further read, I humbly lament it, and beg pardon of it, as sinful, and too unequal and unprofitable. And I warn the reader to amend that in his own, which he findeth to be amiss in mine ; confessing, also, that much hath been amiss, which I have not here particularly mentioned, and that I have not lived according to the abundant mercies of the Lord. But what I have recorded, hath been especially to perform my vows, and declare his praise to all generations, who hath filled up my days with his invaluable favours, and bound me to bless his name for ever. " Arid that which I named before on the by, is grown one of my great diseases. I have lost much of that zeal which I had to propagate any truths to others, save the mere funda- mentals. When I perceive people or ministers, which is too common, to think they know what indeed they do not, and to dispute those things which they never thoroughly studied, or expect I should debate the case with them, as if an hour's talk would serve instead of an acute understanding and seven years' study, I have no zeal to make them of my opinion, but an impatience of continuing discourse with them on such subjects, and am apt to be silent, or to turn to something else ; which, though there be some reason for it, I feel cometh from a want of zeal for the truth, and from an impatient temper of mind. I am ready to think that people should quickly understand all in a few words ; and, if they can- not, lazily to despair of them, and leave them to themselves. And I the more know that it is sinful in me, because it is partly so in other things, even about the faults of my servants, or other inferiors ; if three or four times warning do no good on them, I am much tempted to despair of them, and turn them away and leave them to themselves. " I mention all these distempers, that my faults may be a warning to others to take heed, as they call on myself for repentance and watchfulness. O Lord, for the merits, and sacri- fice, and intercession of Christ, be merciful to me a sinner, and forgive my known and unknown sins." A PREFACE, GIVING SOME ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR, AND OF THIS EDITION OF HIS PRACTICAL WORKS. It is no vain boast, through a fondness of our own nation, but is gjenerally owned by our protestant brethren beyond the seas, that there is no language in which there are more valuable treatises of practical divinity to be met with, than in ours. And perhaps upon the strictest search and comparison, as far as there is any occasion for a decisive judgment, it might be found that there are no writings of that kind among us that have more of a true christian spirit, a greater mixture of judgment and affection, or a greater tendency to revive pure and undcfiled religion ; that have been more esteemed abroad, or more blessed at home, for the awakening the secure, instructing the ignorant, confirming the wavering, comforting the dejected, recovering the profane, or improving such as are truly serious; than the Practical Works of this author. Many of them have been often reprinted, and are as generally spread through the kingdom as any tracts whatever. Others of them have been printed but once, and are not so commonly known as they deserve. Others are small, and might in time be as good as lost, if not preserved by being joined with the rest of his works. This collection of them is designed for the benefit of the present age, and of posterity ; to be a standing monument in our libraries of the unwearied endeavours of one to promote serious godliness in the land ; who under a mean education made mighty improvements; who in a crazy body had a mostiactive soul; and in a private sphere had a noble public spirit, that would have filled the most eminent station with advantage. It is also intended for the advantage of ministers and students in divinity, who will here have, at an easy rate, such a treasure of practical divinity as no other part of the christian church can furnish with. And for a help to families, who will here find what may suit them, in all their different relations, capacities, and circumstances, and under that vast variety of providential dispensations in which they may need assistance. That great man, Bishop Wilkins, was used to say of Mr. Baxter, That if he had lived in the primitive times he had been one of the fathers of the church. What then more fit than a collection of his works, that posterity may be taught to do him justice ? It was a great attempt in a time of war ; and the going through with it at such a time is a hopeful prognostic, that the God of peace hath blessed ends to serve by it ; a subserviency to which cannot but be a matter of comfortable reflection. It is usual to prefix to collections of this sort, some historical account of the author. This were perhaps as little needful in tlie case of Mr. Baxter, as of any other that could be mentioned, because of the large account of himself that he left prepared for the press, which has been published since his death in folio ; an abridgement of which was afterwards drawn up in octavo, that has been as generally read by persons of all sentiments and persuasions as most narratives of that kind. But that the want of it may not be charged as an unpardonable omission, and that such as have not consulted either of those narratives, may know what sort of person he was that was the author of those works, which after having been long extant separately, are here published together, the following brief account of him is thought fit to be added. He was a native of Shropshire, and came into the world, Nov. 12, 1615. His family was of some standing in that county, and had made some figure. John Baxter, Esq. in the time of Edward the Fourth, was thrice bailiff" of Shrewsbury ; and owned a whole street in that town, which with other estates went with a daughter to Mr. Barker, of Hammond, grandfather to Colonel Mildmaye's lady. e II A PREFACE, Mis nephew llojyer married a co-heiress of Richard Leighton, of Leighton, Esq. by whom descended to him several luiiulreds per annum, of wliieh lie was deprived after long law-suits with the heir male. His son \\'illiam was reduced to the quality of a freeholder, of £60 per annum, but was married to Elizabeth the daugliter of Rogt r Biest, of Atcham Grange, a gentleman of £400 per annum. His son Ric-liard married the daugliter of Richard Forrester, of Sutton, of the family of Sir William Forrester, of \\'atliiig-street in Shropshire, who was secretary to Bishop Bonner. His son Richard married one of the Adeneys, who were wealthy clothiers in Worcestershire ; and he was the father of our Richard, whose fame spread itself throughout the kingdom. The estate of the family was clogged with debts, which among other inconveniences that attended it, proved a great liinderance in his education. The schoolmasters of his youth, who were such as those parts of the country then afforded, were neither eminent for their learning, nor the strictness of their morals. His greatest help in grammar learning was under Mr. John Owen, master of the free-school at Wroxeter, with whom he continued till he had been some time the captain of his school, and was advanced as far as his assistance would forward him. His friends not being able to support the charge of an academical life, his master Mr. Owen recommended him to Mr. Richard Wickstead, who was chaplain to the council at Ludlow, with whom he spent a year and half. The main advantage he had while he was with him, lay in the free use of his library, which was valuable : and this advantage he improved to his utmost. Afterwards, he went through a course of philosophy, with the assistance of the learned Mr. Francis Garbett, then minister of Wroxeter, who conducted his studies, and much encouraged him : and he was making a hopeful progress, when on a sudden he was diverted. Being about eighteen years of age, he was persuaded to make trial of a court life, as the most likely way to rise in the world. In order to it, he was sent up to Whitehall, to Sir Henry Herbert, master of the revels. He received him courteously, but could not prevail with him to stay : his inclinations were set quite another way ; and Providence had other purposes to serve by him in the world. He returned down into the country, and followed his studies with indefatigable earnestness ; and soon made such improvements as amazed those that knew how slender his helps were, and how difficult it is for a man to beat out his way himself. Though he never led an academical life, (which he much desired,) yet by the divine blessing upon his rare dexterity and diligence, his sacred knowledge (as Dr. Bates expressed it in his funeral sermon) was in that degree of eminence, as few in the University ever arrive to. His early seriousness was remarkable. Dr. Bates tells us, that his father said with tears of joy to a friend, My son Richard I hope was sanctified from the womb ; for when he was a little boy in coats, if he heard other children in play speak profane words, he would reprove them, to the wonder of them that heard him. As he grew up, he listened to the instructions and example of his father, and abhorred those profane sports which were common on the Lord's days, in the places where he lived ; and while the rest were dancing, he was employed in religious exercises. He betimes loved his Bible, and was afraid of sinning. He loathed the company of scoffers ; and loved religion the better for their re- proaches. And yet corruption even in him had its sallies in childhood and youth, which he afterwards lamented with great concern and sorrow. But when he was fourteen years of age, upon his reading " Parsons of Resolution," as corrected by Bunny,* such impressions were made upon his spirit as never wore off to the day of his death. His bodily weakness kept him afterwards very solicitous about the state of his soul : he read all the practical treatises he could meet with, in order to his direction and satisfaction ; and yet was long kept with the calls of approaching death as it were at one ear, and the questionings of a doubtful conscience at the other. The exercise of his spirit was very pressing for a great while ; till at length it pleased God to quiet him, by giving him a probability of the safety of his state, though he had not an undoubted certainty. He observes of himself, that though for the greatest part of his life afterwards, he had no such degree of doubtfulness as was any great trouble to him, or procured any sinking, disquieting fears, yet he could not say that he had such a certainty of his own sincerity in grace, as excluded all doubts and fears to the contrary. From the age of twenty-one, till near twenty-three, his weakness was so great, that he hardly thought it po.ssible he should live above a year ; yet being willing to do some good to ignorant and careless sinners before he died, he even then entered into the ministry, and was examined and ordained by the bishop of Worcester, who also gave him a licence to teach school at Dudley, where Mr. Richard Foley, of Stourbridge, had a little before erected a free-school, which he committed to his care. He owns that when he received orders, he never had read over the Book of Ordination, nor half the Book of Homilies, nor considered the Book of Common Prayer with any exactness, nor weighed * Mr. Baxter tells us, he met with several eminent christians that magnified the good they had rceived by that book. And particularly he relates a remarkable passage, in his book against the "Revolt to a Foreign Jurisdiction," p. 5.39, 540. He says, that when he was twenty-cne years of age, at a private meeting of some tninisters and christians in Shrewsbury, ("where were present Mr. Cradock, Mr. Richard .Symonds, and Mr. Fawler, who was afterwards cast out at St. Bride's, in IGfi'i,) Mr. Symonds t""k occasion to speak of some pious women, who were in great doubt as to the sincerity of their con- version, because they knew not the time and means and manner of it; and thereupon desired any that were willing to open the case as to tliemselvos, to s^itisfy such persons. Among these, there were two others, viz. Mr. Fawler, and Mr. Michael Old, who gave the same account as Mr. Baxter did : viz. that after many convictions and a love to piety, the first lively motion that awakened their s presented to the parliament ; but the high-church party made such an interest, that it was carried by a vote that no man should bring in a bill of this tiature. He afterwards in the year 1673, upon the desire of the Earl of Orrery, drew up terms of union between the conformists and the • The pentlcman that compiled the third volunne of the " Complete History of England," quoting that part of the Ahridge- ment of Mr. Baxter's Life, where this is mentioned, declares, p. Sl'i, tliat "that part of liie relati(m as to the oft'er of a chapel, is known to he false." This appearin}^ a direct contradiction to Mr. l?a.xter's relation of a malter of fact, in which himself was immediately concerned, tronhled manv ; the rather because it seemed to strike at the credit ■ These are ctmsiderable as chris- tians simply, with respect to God, or in their rela- tions to others : these relations are either ecclesias- tical, civil, or domestical (family relations). Accordingly, my intended method is, I. To direct ungodly, carnal minds, how to attain to a state of grace. 2. To direct those that have saving grace, how to use it ; both in the contemplative and active parts of their lives ; in their duties of religicm, both l)rivate and public ; in their duties to men, both in their ecclesiastical, civil, and family relations. And, by the way, to direct those that have grace, how to discern it, and take the comfort of it ; and to direct them how to grow in grace, and persevere unto the end. And if any reader should be discouraged at the number of duties and directions set before him, I en- treat him to consider, 1. That it is God, and not I, that imposeth all these duties on you : and who will question his wisdom, goodness, or power to make laws for us and all the world ? '1. That every duty and direction is a mercy to you ; and therefore should not be matter of grief to you, but of thanks. They are DIRECTORY. Part I. but like the commands of parents to their cliildren, when they bid them eat their meat, and wear their clothes, and go to bed, and eat not poison, and tumble not in the dirt; and cut not your fingers, and take heed of fire and water, &c. To leave out any such law or duty, were but to deprive you of an excellent mercy ; you will not cut of!" or cast away any member of your body, any vein, or sinew, or artery, upon pretence that the number makcth them troublesome, when the diminishing of that numl)er would kill or maim you. A student is not offended that he hath many books in his library ; nor a tradesman that he hath store of tools ; nor the rich at the number of his farms or flocks. Believe it, reader, if thou bring not a malignant quarrelsome mind, thou wilt fmd that God hath not burdened, but blessed thee with his holy precepts, and that he hath not appointed thee one unnecessary or unprofitable duty ; but only such as tend to thy content, and joy, and happiness."' O let it be the daily, earnest prayer of me and thee, that our hearts prove not false and unwilling to follow the directions which are given us, lest we condemn ourselves in the things which we allow. Your practice now will show, whether it be through want of will or skill, if henceforth you unfaithfully neglect your duty. If you are willing, obey now what is plainly taught you, and show by your dili- gence that you are willing. CHAPTER I. PART I. Directions to unconverted, graceless Simiers, for the at- tainivg of true saving Grace. » If ungodly, miserable sinners were as few, as the devil and their self-love would make themselves be- lieve,'' I might forbear this part of my work as need- less. For the whole need not the physician, but the sick. If you go into twenty families, and ask tliem all, whether any of them are in an unsanctified .state, unrenewed and unpardoned, and under the WTath and curse of God'? you will meet with few that <^ Uuae sunt viae, dupiitesque cursus aniraorum e corpore exeuntium. Nam qui se vitiis huraanis contaminaiunt et libitlinibus se tratliderunt, iis deviura quoddam iter est, seclu- sum a toncilio deorum. Qui autem se intei;ros castosque ser- varuut, quibusque fuit minima cum corporibus contagio, suntque in corporibus humanis vitam imitati deorum, iis ad illos d quibus sunt profecti, facile patet reditus. Soc. in Cic. ]. Tusc. Qui rocte et honesle curriculum vivcndi il natura datum cnnfecerit, ad astra facile revertelur: Non qui aut im- moderate, aut intemperanter vixerit. Cicero de L'nivers. Im- probo bene esse non potest. Id Par. Quod si inest in homi- num gen>;re, mens, fides, virtus, concordia, unde haic in terras nisi a. siiperis diffluere poluerunt? cumque sit in nobis con- silium, ratio, prudentia, uecesse est deos haec ipsa liabere ma- jora : Nec haocre solum, sed etiam his uti in optimis et max- iinis rebus. Cicero de Nat. Deor. 1. 2. p. 76. Quod si pojna, si inetus supplicii, non ipsa turpitudo, deterret ab iiijuriosa facinorosaque vita, nemo est injustus: at incauti potius ha- bciidi sunt improbi. Callidi, non boni sunt, qui utilitate tan- tuui, non ipso honesto, utboni viri sint, moventur. Cicero de Leg. 1. 1. p. 289. Ut nihil interest, utrum nemo valeat, an nemo possit valere; sit non intelligo quid intcrsit, utrum nemo sit sapiens, an nemo esse possit. Cic. de Nat. Deor. 1. .3. p. 1.38. Cicero was afraid to speak what he knew of the Unity of the Eternal (ind. the Rlakcr of all: Ilium quasi parentcm hujiis iiniversltatis invcnire, difKcile : et cum iii- will not tell you, they hope it is better with them than so ; and though they are sinners, as all are, yet that they are repenting, pardoned sinners. Nay, .there is scarce one of many of the most wicked and notoriously ungodly, but hope they are in a penitent, pardoned state. Even the haters of God will say they love him ; and the scorners at godliness will say that they are not ungodly ; and that it is but hypo- crisy and singularity that they deride : and it were well for them, if saying so woidd go for proof, and he that will be their Judge would take their words. But God will not be deceived, though foolish men are wise enough to deceive themselves. Wickedness will be wickedness when it hath clothed itself with veniris, indicare in vulgus nefas. Lib. de Univers. p. 2. And the same he saith, Lib 2. de Nat. Deor. <' Vult Dcus quodammodo pati vim; et hoc summa; est beneiicentiae, ut ad benefaciendum se pulsari solicitarique velit. Jos. Acosia, 1. 4. c. 12. p. 39G. ' Leg. Danielis Episcop. Epist. ad Bonif. Mogunt. inter Epist. l?onif. 67. de Methodo convertondi Paganos. 1' Hasit tam dcspeiati insula; excidii, insperatique mentio auxilii, memoriae eorum qui utriusque miraculi testes extitcrc : et ob hoc reges, publici, privati, sacerdotes, ecclesiastici, suum quique ordinem servarunt. At illis decedentibus, cum suc- cessisset aetas tempcstatis illius nescia, et praesentis tantum serenitatis expers, ita cuncta veritatis ac justitiae modeiamina concussa ac subversa sunt, ut earum non dicam vestigium, sed ne nionumcntum quidem in supra dictis propemodum or- dinibus appareat ; cxceptis paucis, et valde paucis, qui ob amissioncm tantae multitudinis, quae quotidie prona ruit ad tartara, tam brevis numcri habentur, ut eos quodammodo venerabilis mater ecdesia in sinu suo recumbentes non vi- deat, quos solos veros filios habeat. Quorum ncquis me cgre- giam vitam omnibus admirabilem, Deoque amabilem carpere putet; si qua liber'us de his, immo lugubrius, cumulo malo- rum compulsus, qui serviunt non solum veiitri, sed et diabolo potius quam Christo. Gildas p. (mihi) 511. It was Pylha- goras's saying, (which Ambrose saith he hath from the Jews,) ('•omniunem atque usitatam populo viaui, nun esse tcrendam. Chap. I. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 9 the fairest names : God will condemn it when it hath found out the most phiusible pretences and excuses. Tliough the ungodly think to bear it out in pride and scorn, and think to be saved by their hypocriti- cal lip-service, as soon as the most holy worshippers of the Lord, yet " shall they be like chaff which the wind driveth away : they shall not be able to stand in judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous," Psal. i. 4 — 8. And if God know better than foolish men, then certainly the flock is little to whom the " Father will give the kingdom," Luke xii. 32. And "wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat : because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it," Matt. vii. 13, 14. When Christ was asked, " Lord, are there few that be saved ?" he answered, " Strive to enter in at the strait gate ; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able," Luke xiii. 23, 24. But, alas ! we need no other information than common experience, to tell us whether the greatest part of men be holy, and heavenly, and self-denying ; that seek first the king- dom of God and his righteousness, and love God above all, and will forsake all they have for the sake of Christ : and undoubtedly none but such are saved; as you may see Heb. xxi. 14; Matt. vi. 20, 21, 33; Luke xiv. 33. Seeing tlicn the godly are so few, and the ungodly so many ; and that God will take nothing for holi- ness that is not such indeed ; and seeing it is so ter- rible a thing to any man that hath his wits about him, to live one day in an unconverted state, because he that dieth so, is lost for ever ; methinks it shoidd be our wisdom, to be suspicious of ourselves, and careful lest we be deceived in so great a business, and diligent in searching and examining our hearts, ■whether they arc truly sanctified or not ; because it can be no harm to make sure work for our salvation ; whereas presumption, carelessness, and negligence, may betray us to remediless misery and despair. I do not here su])pose the reader to have any such acquaintance with liis heart, or care of his salvfition, or obedient willingness to be taught and ruled by Jesus Christ, as is proper to those tliat are truly sanctified; for it is ungodly persons that now I am Sjpeaking to. And yet, if I shr)uld not su](])ose them to have some capacity and disposition to make use of the directi(ms which I give them, I might as well pass them by, and spare my labour. I tell thee therefore, reader, what it is tliat I ])resuppose in thee, and expect from thee, and I tliink tfiou wilt not judge me unreasonable in my suppositions and expectations. 1. I suppose tliee to be a man, and ETrTa mln!'' therefore that thou hast reas(m and natural free will, (that is, the natural faculty of choosing and refusing,) whicli should keep thy sensitive appetite in obedience ; and that thou art Cum flespicere rocpimus et scntirc, quid simus, et quid ab animantibus t;ctoris differamus, turn pa insrqui incipiouuis ad quae nali siinuis. Cicprn .'j. de finib. See Iho proof of tJio Godhead, and that Ciod is the Governor of the world, and that there is another life for man, in the l)ep;inning of my "Holy Commonwealth," chap. ), 2, .3. Commoda quibus utimur, lucem qua fi uimur, spiritum quern dncimus, a Deo nobis dari et impartiri videmus. Cicero pro Itos. Quis est tarn vecors, qui cum suspexerit in coelum, deos esse non sen- tiat ? et ea qu.e tanta mente fiunt, ut vix quisquam arte ulla ordinem rerum atque vicissitudinem persequi possit, casu fieri putet? Cicerode Ucsp. Arusp. Head Galen's Ilvmnstothe Creator, Li. de usu partium, praecipuc, 1. iii. cap. '10. Nulla gena est tarn immansueta, neque tarn ferrca, qu;c non eliamsi iynoret qualem Deum habere deceat, tamen habendum sciat. Cic. 1. de Lcfr. Omnibus innatum, et quasi instulptum est, essedeo.s. IddeNat, Deor. AgnoscimusDeume.xoperibusejus. capable of loving and serving thy Creator, and en- joying him in everlasting life. 2. I suppose that thou knowest That thou linowest thyself to be a man; and therefore tiiis; and wiiat a that thy sensitive part, or flesh, should no more rule thee, or be ungoverned by thee, than the horse should rule the rider, or be unruled by him : and that thou understandest that thou art made on purpose to love and serve thy Maker, and to be happy in his love and glory for ever. If thou know not this much, thou knowest not that thou art a man, or else knowest not what a man is. 3. I suppose thee to have a natural xiiatthou i.ast self- self-love, and a desire of thy own love ami a desire preservation and happiness ; and that bappy. thou hast no desire to be miserable, or to be hated of God, or to be cast out of his favour and presence into hell, and there to be tormented with devils ever- lastingly : yea, I will suppose that thou art not in- diflierent whether thou dwell in heaven or hell, in joy or torment ; but would fain be saved and be happy ; whether thou be godly or ungodly, wise or foolish, I will be bold to take all this for granted : and I hope in all this I do not wrong thee. 4. I suppose thee to be one that knowest that thou didst not make JorthytTf "ami''' thyself; nor give thvself that power that the first cause or"wisdom which thoii hast ; and that "I,;ver'';vis'd,im''and he that made thee and all the world, [^uodi'lei^s'of Tii'the must needs be l)efore all the world ; cr. atures, hath and that he is eternal, having no be- i:;':,';;?;'l,r;rl";i;aa ginning (for if ever there had been ail tin y. And a time when there Avas nothing, there |)"'''<^''!"''= , , ° , . there IS a God. never would have been any tiling ; because nothing can make nothing) ; and I suppose tliou dost confess that all the power, and wisdom, and goodness of the whole creation set together, is less than the power, and wisdom, and goodness of the Creator ; because nothing can give more than it hath to give. I suppose, therefore, that thou dost confess that there is a God ; for to be the eternal, infinite Being, and the most powerful, wise, and good, and the first cause of all created being, and l)ower, and wisdom, and goodness, this (witli tlie subseijuent relations to the creature) is to be (iOl). If thou wilt deny that there is a (iod, thou must deny that thou art d man, and that there is any man, or any being. h I suppose thou knowest that That the Creator (jod, who gave a being unto all things, of u the Lord is by this title of creation, the abso- "i"! lute Owner or Lf)rd of all: and that raiiiMiiVcreaiu're ; he that made the reasonable crea- «"t7. noVnllr' inents,rt SO that he is so faithful th;;t them by iiercit and he wiU not, and SO all-sufiicient that lies and tiiat he xi(>ed not, deceive mankind, and liath rewards and , ' . ' , . puiiishments here- govern ttiem by mere deceit : this better beseems the devil, tlian God : and therefore that as he governeth man on earth by the hopes and fears of another life, he doth not delude them into such hopes or fears ; and as he doth not j:rocure obedience by any rewards or punishments in tliislife, as the principal means, (the wicked prosper- ing, and the best being jiersecuted and afflicted here,) therefore his rewards or pimishments must needs be principally hereafter in the life to come. For if he have no rewards or punishments, he hath no judgment; and if he have no judgment, he hath no laws (or else no justice) ; and if he have no laws, (or no juNtice,) he is no governor of man (or not a righte- ous governor) ; and if he be not our governor, (and just,) he is not our God; and if he were not our God, we had never been his creatures, nor had a being, or been men. That man I i ^ suppose thou knovi^est that if houn(i"in'iove'anci ^'O'l li'"^ "ot (iiscovcred what he obi-yCiod above all, would do with US in the life to come, 0,h:ri;l';;:|;:.';:nd y-V"^" is IdghHest bound to olny that we rannot be and love his Maker, because lie is h.»ers by his ser- our absolute Lord, our highest Ruler, and our chief Benefactor ; and all that we are to have is from him. And that if man be boimd to spend his life in the sei-v^icc of his God, it is cer- tain that he shall be no loser by him, no, not by the costliest obedience that we can perform; for God '' Miindiis numinn rep;itiir, estqiin quasi communis urbs et civitas hciminuni. Cicero 2. do tinib. Impiis apud inferos .lunt paaiic praeparata;. Citeio 1. do Invent. Impii apud inferos ptrnas hiunt. Idem. Phil, ct 1. do Logib. Jovem cannot appoint us any thing that is vain ; nor can he be worse to us than an honest man, that will see that we lose not by his service. Therefore that God for whom we must spend and forsake this life, and all those pleasures which sensualists enjoy, hath cer- tainly some greater thing to give us, in another life. 10. I may take it for granted at the ^ 1 ,1 1 -.1 *i If 1 hat no infidel can worst, tliat neither tliyself, nor any say, He is sure infidel in the world, can say that you •iiii'-' is no life to are sure that there is not another life for man, in which his present obedience shall be re- warded, and disobedience punished. The worst that ever infidel could say was, that he thinketh there is no other life. None of you dare deny the possi- bility of it, nor can with any reason deny the pro- bability. Well, then, let this be remembered while we proceed a little further with you. U. I suppose or expect that you Tliat you are sure have so much use of sense and reason, Jj™'''?^,?/"* as to know the brevity and vanity of ami' that the pro- all the glory and pleasures of the habiiity or possi- flesh ; and that they are all so quickly j'iy'^^rlfsery'"""' gone, that were they greater than should command they are, they can be of no consider- i5jjjjj.'|^j.'''',|'f """^ able value. Alas, what is time ! How rational creature, quickly gone, and then it is nothing ! a^-ainst all that can and all things then are nothing "s^"'"' which are passed with it ! So that the joys or sorrows of so short a life, are no great matter of gain or loss. I may therefore suppose that thou canst easily conclude, that the bare probability or possibility of an endless happiness, should be infinitely preferred before such transitory vanity, even the greatest matters that can be expected here ; and that the probability or possibility of endless misery in hell, should engage us with far greater care and diligence to avoid it, than is due for the avoiding any thing that you can think to escape by sinning; or any of the sufl'erings of this momentary life. If you see not this, you have lost your reason ; that the mere probability or possibility of a heaven and hell, shoidd much more command our care and diligence, than the fading vanities of this dreaming, transitory life. 12. Well, then, we have got thus ^^^^^ ^ far in the clearest light. Y OU see holy life is every that a religious, holy life, is every man s duty, were it ' J i i 1 tl, .. „ . but on the account man s duty, not only as they owe it „,■ such a possibility to God as their Creator, their Owner, or probability : and Governor, and Benefactor; but also, "'erefore that ' r 1 really tliere is such because as lovers ot ourselves, our a joy and misery reason commandetli us to have ten lieieafier; because 11* 1 1 1 r (iod doth not make thousandfold more regard ol a pro- ,,1,^ faculties in bable or possible joy and torment vain, nor make us which are endless, "than of any that ^^'Jf^'^';' is small and of slitu't continuance. And if this be so, that a holy life is every man's duty, with respect to tlie life that is to come, then it is most evident, that there is such a life to come indeed, and that it is more than probable or ))Ossible, even certain. For if it be but man's duty to manage this life, by the hopes and fears of another life, then it must follow, that cither there is such a life to come, or else that God hath made it man's duty to hope, and fear, and care, and labour, and live in vain : and that he himself doth tantalize and cheat his creatures, and rule the world by mo- tives of deceit, and make religion and obedience to our Maker to be a life of folly, delusion, and our loss. And he that bclieveth this of God, doth dominatorcm reium, et omnia nutu regentcm, et prajsentem et pra^polcntem, qui dubitat, baud sane intelligo, cur non idem, sol sit, an nuUus sit dubitari possit. Citcr. do Nat. Deor. 2. p. 18. Chap. I. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 11 scarce believe him to bo God. Though I have mentioned this argument in another treatise, I think it not unmeet here to repeat it for thy benefit. That all tiio mat- 13. And Seeing I ,su})posL' thee to tprs of iilis traiiM- be convinced of the life to come, and ::rhnat/as'nJ.v ^^^'^ happiness and misery is rpter to the life to there, I must needs suppose that thou dost confess, that all things in this life, whether prosperity or adversity, honour or dishonour, are to be esteemed and used as they refer to the life to come. For nothing is more plain, than that the means are to have all their esteem and use in order to their end. That only is good in this life, which tendeth to the hapjaness of our end- less life ; and that is evil indeed in this life, that tendeth to our endless hurt, and to deprive us of the everlasting good. And therefore no price or motive should hire us to sin against God, and to forfeit or hinder our endless happiness. . 14. I may suppose, if thou have That no man ran , , ' love God too much, reason, that thou valt contess that nnr niakn too ^ure God cannot be too much loved, nor ofh,.saivafon. ^^^^^^^^ exactly, nor served too diligently (especially by such backward sinners, that have scarce any mind to love or worship him at all) ; and that no man can make too sure of heaven, or pay too dear for it, or do too much for liis salvation, if it be but that which God hath appointed him to do. And that you have nothing else that is so much worth your time, and love, and care, and labour. And therefore though you have need to be stopped in your love, and care, and labour for the world, because for it you may easily pay too dear, and do tot) much ; yet there is no need of stopping men in their love, and care, and labour for God and their salvation ; which is worth more than ever we can do, and where the best are apt to do too little. That this life i, ^ 15-, ^ suppose thee to be one ^ivpri irs for trial that knowcst, that this present life ami |.rr|,arHtinnto js mven US ou trial,'' to prepare for the life to come. it »i i u ii r,. • i tiie lite that shall come after: and that as men live here, they shall speed for ever ; and that time cannot be recalled when it is gone, and therefore that we should make the best of it while we have it. .J, ^ ^.^ Ifi. I suppose thee also to be easily ihonlhirsho„i,i he convinced, that seeing man hath his serious anri frc- reason and life for matters of evcr- TtuTe Mate lasting consequcncc, his thoughts of them shoidd be frequent and very serious, and his reason should be used about these things, l)y retired, sober deliberation. That you ran tell, '7. And I suppose thee to be modo atque constantia. Cic. in Cato Maj irp. Ex tpnftstint homines, non ul iiipolap, et hahi- (atorps, spd quasi spectatorps stiperarum i-pnini at(|uo cades- tium; quarum speptacuhim ad nullum aliud animan- liuin pprtinef. Cicero 2. dp Nat. Dpor. .Sic lial.eto ; tp non psse mortalrm, sed corptis hoc. Idem. Somn. Scip. Cum natuia cittcras animantcs alijccissct ad pastum, solum homi- Perhaps you will say, that while I am directing you to be holy, I suppose you to be holy first ; for all this scemeth to go far towards it. But I must profess that I see not any thing in all these suppo^ sitions, but what 1 may suppose to be iri a heathen ; and that I think all this is but supp.osing thee to have the use of thy reason, in the points in hand. Speak freely : Is there any one of all these points that thou canst or darest deny ? I think there is not. And therefore if heathens and wicked men deny them in their practice, that doth but show that sin doth brutify them, and that, as men asleep, or in a crowd of business, they have not the use of the reason which they possess, in the matters which their minds are turned from. 18. Yea, one thing more I think I ^, , - 11 i ii i. -11 That most amon^ may suppose in all or most that will i,s|iroies>tohe]ieve read this book ; that you take on you in C'iiri>t, and ron- also to believe in Je.sus Christ, and b"',™e, £e''''' '° in the Holy Ghost the Sanctifier, and that the Scriptures are the word of God. And if you do so indeed, I may then hope that my work is in a manner done, before I begin it : but if you do it but opinionatively and unetl'eetually, yet God and man may plead with you the truths which you profess. Having told you what 1 presuppose in you, I pro- ceed now to the directions. Eut I again entreat and charge thee, reader, as thou lovest thy soul, and wouldst not be condemned for hypocrisy and sloth, that thou dost not refuse to put in practice what is taught thee, and show thereby, that whatever thou pretcndest, thou art not willing to do thy part for thy own salvation, no not in the most reasonable, necessary things. f Direction I. If thou be truly willing to be sanc- tified and a child of God, remain not in a state of ignorance ; but do thy best to come into the light, and understand the word of God, in the matters of salvation. If knowledge be unnecessary, why have we under- standing ?»' and wherein doth a man excel a beast? If any knowledge at all be necessary, certainly it must be the knowledge of the greatest and most necessary things : and nothing is so great and neces- sary as to obey thy Maker, and to save thy soul. Knowledge is to be valued according to its useful- ness. If it be a mattt r of as great concernment to know how to do your worldly business, and to trade and gather worldly wealth, and to understand the laws, and to maintain your honour, as it is to know how to be reconciled unto God, to be pardoned and justifi(d, to please your Creator, to prepare in time for death and judgment, and an endless life, then let worldly wisdom have the pre-eminence. But if all earthly things be dreams and shadows, and valuable only as they serve us in the way to heaven, then sin't ly the heavenly wisdom is the best. Alas, how far is that man from being wise, that is acquainted w ith all the jiunctilios of the law, th;it is excellent in the knowledge of all the languages, sciences, and nem erp.xit, Pt ad eo-li quasi cownationis, domiciliique pristini coiisppctmn excitavit : turn sppciem ita formavit (Jris, ut in ea ppnitus rpiMindito.s mores pffingpret. Cic. 1. de Lefjib. Nisi Upus istis le corporis custi>diis liberaverit, ad caduni adiliis patere non potest. Cicero Somn. Scip. Animi omnium sunt iminortales : sed bonorum divini. (^ic. 2. de Lpoib. Bono- rum mentcs mihi divina; atque a:terna; vidcnlur, pI px homi- num vita ad deorutn religionem et sanctimouiaiii((ue migrate. Idem. Animus pst iiifjpnpratus a Dpo, p\ quo verp vtd agnatio mdds cum codcstibus, vel genus vcl stirps appellari potest. Idem. 1. de Leg. Qui seipsvim cognovcvit, cognnscpt in se omnia: Deum, ad cujus imaginem f'actus est : mundum, ctijus siniulaclirum Hrril ; crcaturas nmnes cum quibus .svmboluin liabet. Paul. Sealiger Thcs. p, 722. 12 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. arts, and yet kiioweth not how to live to God, to niortily the i\csh, to conquer sin, to deny liiniself, nor to answer in judgment for liis fleshly life, nor to escape dnnniation ! As far is such a learned man from being wise, as he is from being liappy. Two sorts among us do (juietly live in danming ignorance. First, abundance of i)oor people, who tliink they may continue in it, because they were bred in it ; and that because they arc not book- learned, therefore they need not learn how to be saved ; and because their parents neglected to teach them when they were young, therefore they may neglect themselves ever after, and need not learn the things tiiey were made for. Alas, sirs, what have you your lives, your time, and reason for ? Do you think it is only to know how to do your worldly business? Or is it to prej)are for a better world? It is better that you knew not how to eat, or drink, or speak, or go, or dress yourselves, than that you know not the will of God, and the way to your salvation. Hear what the Holy (ihost saith, 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4, " But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost : in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." Darkness is unsafe and full of fears ; the light is safe and comfortable. A man in ignorance is never like to hit his way : nor can he know whether he be in or out ; nor what enemy or danger he is near. It is the devil that is the prince of darkness, and his kingdom is a kingdom of darkness, and his works are works of darkness. See Eph. vi. 12.; Col. i. 13; 1 John ii. 11 ; Luke xi. 34, 35. Grace turneth men from darkness to light. Acts xx^•i. 18, and causeth them to east off the works of darkness, Rom. xiii. 12 ; because we are the children of light and of the day, and not of darkness or of night, 1 Thess. v. 5. They that were sometimes darkness, are light in the Lord, when they are con- verted, and must walk as the children of the light, Eph. V. 8. In the dark the devil and wicked men may cheat yon, and do almost what they list with you. You will not buy your wares in the dark, Cum quern poenitel peccasse pene innoceiis est : maxima purgationum pars est Vdluntaiia poeuilentia deliitorum. .Seal. Tlies. p. 712. Fatilius iis ignoscitur qui non perseveiare sed ab enato se revocare, moliuntur; est enim hunianum pec- care, sed belluinum in erriire perseverare. Cic. in Vat. Even Aristotle could say, that he that believed as he ()UL;ht of the jiods, should think as well of himself, as Alexander tliat comniandeth so many men. Plutarch, de Tranquil. Anim. p. 155. Nullus suavior animo cibus est, (juam cojinitio veritatis. Lactant. Instit. 1. 1. c. 1. It is a marvellous and doleful case to think how ignorant some people live, even to old age, under constant and excellent teaching. Some learn neither words nor sense, but hear as if they heard not: some learn words, and know the sense no more than if they had learned but a tongue unknown ; and will repeat their creed and catechism, w hen they know not what it is that they say. A worthy minister of Helvetia tolrl me, that their people are very constant at their sermons, and yet most of them grossly ignorant of the things which they most frequent- ly hear. It is almost incredible what ignorance some minis- ters report that ihey have found in some of the eldest of their auditors. Nay, when I have examined some that have pro- fessed strictness in religion, above the common sort of people, I have found some ignorant of some of the fundamentals of the christian faith. And I remember what an ancient bishop about twelve hundred years ago saith, Maximus Taurinensis in his homilies, that when he bad long preached to his people, even on an evening after one of his sermons, he beard a cry or noise among the people, and hearkening what it was, they were by their outcry helping to deliver the moon, that was in labour and wanted help. His words are, Quis non mideste feral sic vos esse vestra; salutes iuiniemores, ut eliam coelo teste peccetis ? Nam cum ante dies plerosque cum cupiditate pulsaverim, ipsa die circiter vesperam lania vocileratio populi extilit, ut irreligiositas ejus penelraret ad coelum. Quod cum requircrem quid sibi clamor hie velit? dixcrunt nor travel, nor do your work in the dark : and will you juilge of the state of your souls in the dark ? and do the work of your salvation in the dark ? I fell you file devil could never entice so many souls to hell, if he did not first i)Ut out the light, or put out their eyes. They would never so follow him by crowds, to everlasting torments, by daylight, and with open eyes. If men did hut know well what they do when they iire sinning, and whither they go in a carnal life, they would quickly stop, and go no further. All the devils in liell could never draw so many thither, if men's ignorance were not the advantage of temptations. Another sort among us that are ignorant of the things of God, are sensual gentlemen, and scholars, that have so much breeding as to tmderstand the words, and speak somewhat better than the ruder sort, but indeed never knew the nature, truth, and goodness of the things they speak of:'' they are many of them as ignorant of the nature of faith, and sanc- tification, and the working of the Holy Ghost in planting the image of God upon the soul, and of the saints' communion with God, and the nature of a holy life, as if they had never heard or believed, that there is such a thing as any of these in being. Nicodemus is a lively instance in this case: a ruler in Israel, and a Pharisee, and yet knew not what it was to be born again. And the pride of these gallants maketh their ignorance much harder to be cured, than other men's ; because if hindereth them from knowing and confessing it. If any one would convince them of it, they say with scorn, as the Pha- risees to Christ, John ix. 40, " Are we blind also ? " Yea, they are ready to insult over the children of the light, that are wise to salvation, because they differ from the loose or hypocritical oj)inions of these gentlemen, in some matters of God's worship ; of which their worships are as competent judges, as the Pharisees of the doctrine of Christ, or as Nico- demus of regeneration, or as Simon Magus, or Ju- lian, or Porphyry, of the gifts of the Holy Gho.st. These honourable, miserable men, will bear no con- tradiction or reproof: who dare be so unmannerly, mihi quod laboranti lunae vestra vociferatio subveniret; et defectum ejus suis clamoribus adjuvaret : Kisi equidem et miratus sum vanitateni, quod quasi devoli Christiani Deo ferebatis auxilium. Clamabatis enim ne tacentibus vobis perderet elementum . tanquam inlirnuis enim et imbecillis, nisi vestris adjuvaretur vocibus, non posset luniiuaria de- fendere quae creavit. It is cited also by Papirius Massonus in vita Hilarii Papa;, fol. 07. Therefore popery is suitable to the children of darkness, and unsuitable to the children of light, because it greatly befriendeth ignorance, hindering the people from the Holy Scriptures, and quieling them with the opiate of an easy implicit faith, in believing as the Koman church believetb, tiiough they know not what it believeth, or mistake, and think it believeth that which it doth not. Ockain. lib. de Sacram. Altar, cap, 1, citeth Innocent. Extra de Sum. Trin. to prove the great benefit and efli< acy of implicit faith, that it would prove an error to be no sin : " In taiitum, inquit, valet tides implicita, ut dicunt aliqui, ut si aliquis earn habet, quod scilicet credit quicquid Ecclesia credit, si false opiniatur, ratione natural! motus, quia pater est vel prior lilio, vel quod tres persona; sint tres res ab in- vicem distaiites, non est haereticus, nec peccat ; dummodo hunc errorem non defendat, et hoc ipsum credit, quia credit ecdesiam sic credere, et suam opinioneiii fidei ecclesia; sup- ponit. Quia licet sic male opinetur, non tamen est ilia fides sua, immo tides sua est fides Ecclesi;e. This implicit faith, being nothing but to believe that the church errelh not, is not an implicit faith in God, (to believe that all that God reveal- eth is true,) which all men have that believe in God, as rational an excuse for ignorance and error, as a belief in the church of Home? This is too short and easy a faith to be etlectual to the true ends of faith. Si igilur tant.ne sit elHcacia; fides implicita, ut excuset ignoranter errantem circa ilia qu.Tj in Scriptura canonica suiit expvessa, inullo magis cxcusabit ignoranter opiiianlem aliquid quod nec in Scriptura canouica reperitur expressum. Ockam. ibid. Chap. 1. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 13 disoLcdient, or bold, as to tell them that they are out of tlie way to heaven, and strangers to it (that I say not, enemies) ; and to presume to stop tliem in the way to hell, or to hinder them from damning them- selves, and as many others as they can ? They think this talk of Christ, and grace, and life eternal, if it he but serious, (and not like their own, in form, or levity, or scorn,) is but the troublesome preciseness of hypocritical, humorous, crack-brained fellows : and say of the godly, as the Pharisees, John vii. 47 — 49, " Are j^e also deceived ? Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him ? But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed." Well, gentlemen or poor men, whoever you be that savour not the things of the Spirit, Rom. viii. 5 — 7, 13, but live in ignorance of the mysteries of salvation, be it known to you, that heavenly truth and holiness are works of light, and never prosper in the dark ; and that your best understanding should be used for God and your salvation, if for any thing at all. It is the devil and his deceits that fear the light. Do V)ut understand well what you do, and then be wicked if you can ; and then set light by Christ and holiness if you dare ! 0 come but out of darkness into the light, and you will see that which will make you tremble to live ungodly and uncon- verted another day : and you will see that which will make you with penitent remorse lament your so long neglect of heaven, and wonder that you could live so far and so long beside your wits, as to choose a course of vanity and bestialitv' in the chains of Satan, before the joyful liberty of the saints : and, though we must not be so uncivil as to tell you where you are, and what you are doing, you will then more uncivilly call yourselves, " exceed- ingly mad and foolish, disobedient, deceived, serv- ing divers lusts and pleasures," as one did that thought himself before as wise and good as any of you. Acts xxvi. 1 1 ; Tit. iii. 3. Live not in a sleepy state of ignorance, if ever you would have saving grace. Direct. II. Especially labour first to understand the true nature of a state of sin and a state of grace. It is like you will say, that all are sinners ; and that Christ died for sinners ; and that you were re- generate in your baptism ; and that for the sins that since then you have committed, you have repented of them, and therefore you hope they are forgiven.' But stay a little, man, and understand the matter well as you go ; for it is your salvation that lieth at the stake. It is very true that all are sinners : but it is as true, that some are in a state of sin, and some in a state of grace ; some are converted sinners, and some unconverted sinners ; some live in sins incon- sistent with holiness, (which therefore may be call- ed mortal,) others have none but infirmities which consist with spiritual life (which in this sense may be called venial); some hate their sin, and long to be perfectly delivered from it, and others so love it, as they are loth to leave it. And is there no differ- ence, think you, between these ? It is as true also, that Christ died for sinners: (or else where were our hope?) but it is true also, that he died to " save his people from their sins,"!* Matt, i. 21, and " to bring them from darkness unto light, ' Poenitcnti optimus est portus, mutatio cnnsilii. Cic Phil. 12. ^ Bonum gratia; unius honiinis majus est qiiam bonum na- turae totius universi. Aquin. 12. q. 113. art. 9. ' Quicquid Deo gratiim dignuinquc ofiertur, do bono thc- sauro cordis dcfertur. Intra nos quippc est quod Deo ofi'eri- mus, omne viz. acceptabile munus ; Itii timor Dei ibi con- fessio, ibi largitas, ibi sobrietas, ibi paupertas spiritus, ibi com- passin, &c. Potho Prnmiens. de Domo Dei, 1. 2. I)e regno l)ei quod intra nos est nieditamur vanitates et insanias falpas, and from the power of Satan unto God," Acts xxvi. 18, and " to redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works," Tit. ii. 14, and " that except a man be born again, and converted, and become as a little child, (in humility and beginning the world anew,) he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven," John iii. 3, 5 ; Matt, xviii. 3, and that even he that died for sinners, will at last condemn the workers of iniquity, and say, " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire," Matt. xxv. 41, "I never knew you," Matt. vii. 23. It is very true, that you were sacramentally re- generate in baptism, and that he that believcth and is baptized, shall be saved, and all that are the chil- dren of promise, and have that promise sealed to them by baptism, are regenerate. The ancients taught that baptism puts men into a state of grace ; that is, that all that sincerely renounce the world, the devil, and the flesh, and are sincerely given up to God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, according to the covenant of grace, and profess and seal this by their baptism, shall be pardoned, and made the heirs of life. But as it is true, that baptism thus saveth, so is it as true,' that it is not the " outward washing only the filth of the fle.sh" that will suffice, but the " answer of a good conscience towards God," I Pet. ii. 21 ; and that " no man can enter into the king- dom of God, that is not born of the Spirit, as well as of water," John iii. 5 : and that Simon Magus and many another have had the water of baptism, that never had the Spirit, but still remain in the " gall of bitterness, and bond of iniquity, and had no part nor lot in that business, their hearts being not right in the sight of God," Acts viii. 13, 21, 23. And nothing is more sure, than that " if any man have not the Spirit of Christ (for all his baptism) he is none of his," Rom. viii. Sj ; and that if you have his Spirit, you "walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit;" and are " not carnally but spiritually minded," and are " alive to God," and as " dead to the world," Rom. viii. 1, 5—8, 10, i:3, 14. Whether all that were baptized are such as these, when they come to age, judge you. It is true also, that if you truly repent, you are forgiven : but it is as true, that true repentance is the very conversion of the soul from sin to God, and leaveth not any man in the power of sin. It is not for a man when he hath had all the pleasure that sin will yield him, to wish then that he had not committed it, (which he may do then at an easy rate,) and yet to keep the rest that are still jjleasant and profitable to his flesh ; like a man that casts away the bottle which he hath drunk empty, but keeji's that which is full ; or as men sell off their barren kine, and buy milch ones in their stead : thi.s kind of repentance is a mockery, and not a cure for the soul. If thou have true repentance, it hath so far turned thy heart from sin, that thou wouldst not commit it, if it were to do again, though thou hadst all the same temptations ; and it hath so far turned thy heart to God and holiness, that thou wouldst live a holy life, if it were all to do again, though thou hadst the same temj)tations as afore aMinst it (because thou hast not the same heart). This is the nature of true repentance ; such a rejientance indeed is dum intcrioribus anima: virtutibus, in quibus regnum Dei consistit, privati, ad exteriora quwdam studia duciniur, ot circa corporales cxercitationes qun; ad niodic um utiles esse viden- fur, occupamur, fruttus spiritus, qui sunt charitas, pax, gau- dium, &c intus mininie possidenius, et extcrius quarundum consuetudinum observantias sectaniur; in exercitiis tantuia corporalibus quae sunt jejunia, vigilia;, asperitas sen vilitas vestis, &c. regulatn nobis vivendi quasi perl'cctam statuentes. Idem ibid. 14 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. never too hite to save ; but 1 am sure it never comes too soon. Mark, now. I beseech you, wlnit a state of sin, and what a state of holiness is. lie that is in a state of sin, hath luibitually and ])rcdonnn;nilly a CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Paut I. iiiillit, remcniher soberly that God is present, that time is hastiiit; to jin end, that judgnu'iit is at hand, where thou must give aeeount of all thy liours, of thy lusts, and j)assions, and desires ; of all thy thoughts, and words, ar.d deed-; ; and that thy endless joy or misery dependeth wholly and certainly on this little time. Think but soberly on such things as these, hut one hour in a day or two, and try whe- ther it will not once recover thee to wit and godliness ; and folly and sin will vanish away before the force of considering reason, as the darkness vanisheth be- fore the light. 1 entreat thee now as in the pre- sence of (iod, and as thou wilt answer the denial of so reasonable a request at the day of judgment, that thou wilt but resolve to try this course of a sober, serious consideration, about thy sin, thy duty, thy danger, thy hope, thy account, and thy everlasting state : try it sometimes, especially on the Lord's days ; and do but mark the result of all ; and whither it is that such sober consideration doth point or lead thee ? whether it be not towards a diligent, holy, heavenly life ? If thou deny me thus much, God and thy conscience shall bear witness, that thou thoughtest thy salvation of little worth, and there- fore mayst justly be denied it. Would it not be strange that a man should be penitent and godly, that never once thought of the matter with any seriousness in his life P Can so many and great diseases of soul be cured, before you have once soberly considered that you have them, and how great and dangerous they are, and by what remedies they must be cured ? Can grace be ob- tained and exercised, while you never so much as think of it ? Can the main business of our lives be done without any serious thoughts ; when we think it fit to bestow so many upon the trivial matters of this world ? Doth the world and the flesh deserve to be remembered all the day, and week, and year ? and doth not God and thy salvation deserve to be thought on one hour in a day, or one day in a week ? Judge of these things, but as a man of reason. If thou look that God, who hath given thee reason to guide thy will, and a will to command thy actions, should yet carry thee to heaven like a stone, or save thee against or without thy will, before thou didst ever once soberly think of it, thou mayst have leisure in hell to lament the folly of such expectations. Direct. VI. Suffer not the devil by company, pleasure, or worldly business, to divert or hinder thee from these serious considerations. The devil hath but two ways to procure thy damnation. The one is, by keeping thee from any sober remembrance of spiritual and eternal things ; and the other is, if thou wilt needs think of them, to deceive thee into false, erroneous thoughts. To bring to pass the first of these, (which is the most common, powerful means,) his ordinary way is by diversion ; v finding thee still something else to do ; putting some other thouo;hts into thy mind, and some other work into thy nand ; so that thou canst never have leisure for any sober thoughts of God : whenever the Spirit of God knocks at thy door, thou art so taken up with other company, or other busi- ness, that thou canst not hear, or wilt not open to him. Many a time he hath been ready to teach thee, but thou wast not at leisure to hear and learn. Many a time he secretly jogged thy conscience, and checked thee in thy sin, and called thee aside to consider soberly about thy spiritual and everlasting state, when the noise of foolish mirth and pleasures, P Even learning and honest studies may be used as a di- version from more necessary thinf^s. .Saith Petrarch, in Vita Sua, Ingenio aui ad orane bonum ct salubrc studium aplo ; sed ad moralem praecipue philusophiam, et ad poeticam prono. or the bustles of encumbering cares and business, have caused thee to stop thy ears, and put him off, and refuse the motion. And if tiie abused Spirit of God depart, and leave thee to thy beloved mirth and business, and to thyself, it is but just; and then thou wilt never have a serious, elfectual thought of heaven, perhaps, till thou have lost it ; nor a sober thought of hell, till thou art in it ; unless it be some despair- ing, or some dull, ineffectual thought. O therefore, as thou lovest thy soul, do not love thy pleasure or business so well as to refuse to treat with the Spirit of (iod, who comes to offer thee greater pleasures, and to engage thee in a more im- portant business. O lay by all, to hear awhile what God and conscience have to say to thee. They have greater business with thee, than any others that thou convcrsest with. They have better off"ers and mo- tions to make to thee, than thou shalt hear from any of thy old companions. If the devil can but take thee up a while, with one pleasure one day, and another business another day, and keep thee from the work that thou camest into the world for, till time be gone, and thou art slipt unawares into damnation, then he hath his desire, and hath the end he aimed at, and hath won the day, and thou art lost for ever. It is like thou settest some limits to thy folly, and purposest to do thus but a little while : but when one pleasure withereth, the devil will provide a fresh one for thee ; and when one business is over, which causeth thee to pretend necessity, another, and another, and another will succeed, and thou wilt think thou hast such necessity still, till time is gone, and thou see, too late, how grossly thou wast de- ceived. Resolve, therefore, that whatever company, or pleasure, or business would divert thee, that thou wilt not be befooled out of thy salvation, nor taken off" from minding the one thing necessary. If com- pany plead an interest in thee, know of them whether they are better company than the Spirit of God and thy conscience ; — if pleasure would detain thee, in- quire whether it be more pure and durable pleasures, than thou mayst have in heaven, by hearkening unto grace ; — if business still pretend necessity, inquire whether it be a greater business than to prepare thy soul and thy accounts for judgment, and of greater necessity than thy salvation. If not, let it not have the precedency : if thou be wise, do that first that must needs be done ; and let that stand by that may best be spared. What will it profit thee to win all the world, and lose thy soul ? At least, if thou durst say that thy pleasure and business are better than heaven, yet might they sometimes be forborne, while thou seriously thinkest of thy salvation. Direct. VII. If thou wouldst be converted and saved, be not a malicious or peevish enemy to those that would convert and save thee : be not angry with them that tell thee of thy sin or duty, as if they did thee wrong or hurt. God worketh by instruments : when he will con- vert a Cornelius, a Peter must be sent for, and will- ingly heard. When he will recall and save a sinner, he hath usually some public minister or private friend, that shall be a messenger of that searching and convincing truth, which is fit to awaken them, enlighten them, and recover them. If God furnish these his instruments with compassion to your souls, and willingness to instruct you, and you will take them for your enemies, and peevishly quarrel with them, and contradict them, and perhaps reproach Quam ipsam proccssu temporis neglexi, sacris literis delecta- tus, in quibus sensi dulcedinera abditam, quam aliquando toutempseram ; poeticis literis non nisi ad ornaraeutuui re- scrvatis. Chap. I. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 17 them, and do them a mischief for their good will, what an inhuman, barbarous course of ingratitude is this ! Will you be angry with men for endeavour- ing to save you from the fire of hell ? Do they en- deavour to make any gain or advantage by you ? or only to help your souls to heaven ? Indeed, if their endeavours did serve any ambitious design of their own, to bring the world (as the pope and his clergy would do) under their own jurisdiction, you had reason then to suspect their fraud. But the truth is, Christ hath purposely appointed his greatest church- officers to be but ministers, even the servants of all, to rule and save men as volunteers, without any coercive power, by the management of his powerful word upon their consciences ; and to beseech and entreat the poorest of the flock, as those that are not lords over God's heritage, nor masters of their faith, but their servants in Christ, and helpers of their joy ; that so whenever we deliver our message to them, they may see that we exercise not dominion over them, and aim at no worldly honours, or gain, or ad- vantage to ourselves, but at the mere conversion and saving of their souls. Whereas, if he had allowed us to exercise authority as the kings of the gentiles, and to be called gracious lords, and to encumber our- selves with the affairs of this life, our doctrine would have been rejected by the generality of the world, and we should always have come to them on this great disadvantage, that they would have thought we sought not them, but theirs ; and that we preach- ed not for them, but for ourselves, to make a prize of them:i as the Jestiits, when they attempt the conversion of the Indians, do still find this their great impediment, the princes and people suppose them to pretend the gospel, but as a means to sub- jugate them and their dominions to the pope; be- cause they tell tliem that they nmst he all subject to the l)0pe, if they will be saved. Now when Christ hath appointed a poor, self-denying, entreating mi- nistry, against whom you can have none of these pr -t'-nces, to stoop to your feet, with the most sub- missive entreaties, that you would but turn to God and live, you have no excuse for your own barljarous in.rratitude, if you will fly in tlieir faces, and use them as your enemies, and be oll'ended with them for endeavouring to save you. You know they can hold their tithes and livings by smoothing, and cold, and general preaching, as well as by more faithful dealing (if not better) : you know they can get no v.'orldly advantage by dealing so plainly with you : you know that they hazard by it their reputation with such as you ; and they cannot be ignorant that it is like to expose them to your ill will and in- dignation. And they are men as well as you, and therefore, undoubtedly, desire the good will and the good word of others, and take no ])leasure to be scorned or hated : undoubtedly they bieak through much temptations and reluctancy of the flesh, before they can so far deny themselves as to endeavour your salvation on such ti rms : and seeing it is all for you, m "thinks you should be their chief encouragers ; if others should o]ipose them, you should be for them, bceaus ' they are for you. If I go with a convoy to relieve a besieged garrison, I shall expect ojjposi- tion from the enemy that besiegelh them; but if the besieged themselves shall shoot at us, and use us as enemies for venturing our lives to relieve them, it is time to be gone, and let them fake what they get by it. Perhaps you think that the preacher, or private 1 I Peter v. 2—1; 2 Gov x. 4; 2 Cnr. v. 19. 20; 2 O.ir. i. 21; 1 Cor. iv. 1; 2 Cor. iii. 6, and xi. 2.3; Joel i. 9, 1.3; 2Cor. iv. 5; Mark x. 44; Matt. xx. 27 ; Luke xxii. 24— 26. VOL. I. C admonisher, is too plain with you ; '■ but you should consider that self-love is like to make you partial in your own cause, and therefore a more incapable judge than they. And you should consider that God hath commanded them to deal plainly, and told them that else the people's blood shall be required at their hands, Isa. Iviii. I ; Ezek. xviii. And that God best knoweth what medicine and diet is fittest for your disease ; and that the case is of such grand importance (whether you shall live in heaven or hell for ever ?) that it is scarce possible for a minister to be too plain and serious with you : and that your disease is so obstinate, that gentler means have been too long frustrate, and therefore sharper must be tried ; else why were you not con- verted by gentler dealing until now ? If you fall down in a swoon, or be ready to be drowned, you will give leave to the standers-by to handle you a little more roughly than at anotlier time, and will not bring your action against them for laying hands on you, or ruffling your silks or bravery ; if your house be on fire, you will give men leave to speak in another manner, than when they modulate their voices into a ci^il and complimenting tone. It may be you think that they are censorious in judging you to be unconverted, when you are not; and to be worse and in more danger than you are, and speaking harder of you than you deserve. But it is you that should be most suspicious of yourselves, and afraid in so great a matter of being deceived. A stander-by may see more than a player : 1 am sure he that is awake may know more of you, than you of yourselves when you are asleep. But suppose it were as you imagine ; it is his love that mistakingly attempteth your good: he intendeth you no harm : it is your salvation that he desireth ; it is your damnation that he would prevent. You have cause to love him, and t)e thankful for his good- will, and not to be angry with him, and reproach him for his mistakes. He is none of tliose that brings you into the iiujuisifion, and would fine, or imprison, or banish, or burn, or hang, or torment you, in order to convert and save you : the worst he doth, is but to speak those words, which, if true, you are deeply concerned to regard ; and if mistaken, can do you no hurt, unless you are the cause yourself. If it be in public preaching, he speaketh generally by descrip- tions, and not by nomination ; no more of you, than of others in your case ; nor of you at all, if yon are not in that case. If he speak privately to you, there is no witness but yourself; and therefore it is no matter of disgrace. Never, for .shame, ])ri tend that thou art willing to be converted and saved, when tiiou hatest those that would promote it; and art angry with every one that fcdls thee of thy case, and eouldst find in thy heart to stop their mouths, or do them a mischief. Direct. VIII. If thou art willing indeed to be con- verted, do thy best to discover that yet thou art un- converted, and in a lost and miserable state. Who will endeavour to cure a disease which he thinks he hath not ? or to vomit up the poison which he thinks he never took, or taketh to be no jioison ? or to come out of t'ne ditch, tliat thinks he is not in it ? or who will t'lrn back again, that will not believe but he is in the right way ? Who will labour to be converted, that thinks he is converted ah'eady ? Or who will come to Christ as the jihysieian of his soul, that thinks he is not sick, or is cured already 1' The common cause that men live and die without the grace of repentance, sanctifieation, and justification, ' Seneca Ep. 87. scribit, Tarn noressarium i'uisse Romano p')pulo nasci CatDnera, quam Scinionem : alter enira cum hustibus nostris, alter cum moribus bcllum gessit. 18 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Vakt I. which should save them, is because they will not believe but th:it they have it, when tliey have it not ; and that they are j)enitent, and justified, and sancti- fied already. It is not niy desire to make any of yon think worse of your condition than it is ; but if you will not know what it is, you will not be fit for re- covering grace, nor nse the means for your own re- covery : you think it is so sad a conclusion, to find yourselves in a state of condemnation, that you are exceeding unwilling to know it or confess it. But I beseech you consider but these two things : first, eitlier it is true that you are in so miserable a stat<-, or it is not true : if it be not true, the closest trial will but comfort you, by discovering that you are sanctified already ; but if it be true, tlien do you think it will save you to be ignorant of your danger ? Will it cure your disease, to believe that you have it not ? Will tiiinking well of yourselves falsely, prove that you are well indeed?* Is it the way to grace, to think you have it, when you have it not? Will it bring "you to heaven, to think that yon are going thither, when you are in the way to hell ? Nay, do yon not know, that it is the principal temptation of the devil, to keep men from a state of repentance and salvation, to deceive them thus, and persuade them that they are in such a state already ? Judge sober- ly of the case. Do you think if all the impenitent, nnconverted sinners in the world were certain that they are indeed in a graceless state, in which if they died, they were past all hope, that they would not quickly look about them, and better understand the offers of a Saviour, and live in continual solicitude and fear, till they found themselves in a safer state ? If you were sure yourselves, that you must yet be made new creatures, or be damned, would it not set you on work to seek more diligently after grace than ever you have done ? The devil knoweth this well enough ; that he could scarce keep you quiet this night in his snares, but you would be ready to repent and beg for mercy, and resolve on a new life, before to-mor- row, if you were but sure that you are yet in a state of condemnation. And therefore he doth all he can to hide your sin and danger from your eyes, and to quiet you with the conceit, that though you are sinners, yet you are penitent, pardoned, and safe. Well, sirs, there can be no harm in knowing the truth. And therefore will you but try yourselves, whether you are unsanctified or not ? You were baptized into the name of the Holy Ghost as your Sanetifier; and if now you neglect or mock at sanc- tification, what do you but deride your baptism, or neglect that which is its sense and end ? It doth not so much concern you to know that you live the life of nature, as to know whether sanctification have made you spiritually alive to God. And let me tell you this to your encouragement, that we do not call you to know that you are uncon- verted, and unpardoned, and miserable, as men that have no remedy, V)ut must sit down in despair, and be tormented with the fore-knowledge of your end- less pains before the time. No ; it is but that you may speedily and thankfully accept of Christ, the full remedy, and turn to God, and quickly get out of your sin and terror, and enter into a life of safety and of peace. We desire not your continuance in that life which tendefh to despair and horror: we would have you out of it, if it were in our power, be- fore to-morrow ; and therefore it is that we would have you understand what danger you arc in, that you may go no further, but speedily turn back, and seek for help. And I hope there is no hurt, though ' Bernard, do Grad. Humil. grad. 8. describetli men's excus- ing their sins thus, " If it may be, they will say, I did not do it ; ur else. It was no sia, hut lawful ; or else, 1' did it not oft or there be some present trouble, in such 4 discovery of your danger as this is. Well, if you are but willing to know, I shall help you a little to know what you arc. 1. If you are persecutors, or haters, Marks of an imcon- or deriders of men, for being serious n-rUii »taie. and diligent in the service of God, and fearful of sin- ning, and because they go not with the multitude to do evil, it is a certain sign that you are in a state of death : yea, if you love not such men, and desire not rather to be such yourselves, than to be the greatest of the nngodlv. ISee Gal. iv. 29 ; Acts xxvi. II: 1 Tim. i. I Pel. iv. 2—5; Psal. xv. 4; 1 John iii. 8 — 15; John xiii. 35: Psal. Ixxxiv. 10. 2. If you love the world best, and set your affec- tions most on things below, and mind most earthly things ; nay, if you seek not first God's kingdom, and the righteousness thereof; and if your hearts be not in heaven, and your affections set on the things that are above ; and you prefer not your hopes of life eternal before all the pleasures and prosperity of this world, it is a certain sign that you are but worldly and ungodly men. See this in Matt. vi. 19 — 21, 33; Phil. iii. 18—20; Col. iii. 1—4; Psal. Ixxiii. 25; 1 John ii. 15—17; James i. 27; Luke xii. 20, 21 ; xvi. 25. 3. If your estimation, belief, and hopes, of ever- lasting life through Christ, be not such, as will pre- vail with you to deny yourselves, and forsake fattier, and mother, and the nearest friends; and house, and land, and life, and all that you have, for Christ, and for these hopes of a happiness hereafter, you are no true christians, nor in a state of saving grace. See Luke xiv. 26, 33; Matt. x. 37—39; xiii. 21, 22. 4. If you have not been converted, regenerated, and sanctified by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, making you spiritual, and causing you to mind the things of the Spirit above the things of the flesh. If this Spi- rit be not in you, and you walk not after it, but after the flesh ; making provision for the flesh, to satisfy its desires, and preferring the pleasing of the flesh before the pleasing of God, it is certain that you are in a state of death. See Matt, xviii. 3: John iii. 3, 5, 6; Heb. xii. 14; Rom. viii. 1,5—13; xiii. 13, 14; Luke xvi. 19, 25 ; xii. 20, 21 ; Heb. xi. 25, 26 ; 2 Cor. iv. 16—18; V. 7; Rom. viii. 17, 18. 5. If you have any known sin which you do not hate, and had not rather leave it than keep it, and do not pray, and strive, and watch against it, as far as you know and observe it ; but rather excuse it, plead for it, desire it, and are loth to part with it, so that your will is habitually more for it than against it, it is a sign of an impenitent, unrenewed heart. 1 John iii. 3—10, 24; Gal. v. 16, 19—25; Rom. vii. 22, 24; viii. 13: Luke xiii. 3, 5: Matt. v. 19, 20; 2 Tim. ii. 19: Psal. v. 5; Luke xiii. 27. 6. If you love not the word, as it is a light dis- covering your sin and duty, but only as it is a gene- ral truth, or as it reproveth others : if you love not the most searching ])reaching, and would not know how bad you are, and come not to the light, that your deeds may be manifest, it is a sign that you are not children of the light, but of the darkness, John iii. 19—21. 7. If the laws of your Creator and Redeemer be not of greatest power and authority with you, and the will and word of God cannot do more with you, than the word or will of any man ; and the threaten- ings and promises of God be not more prevalent with you, than the threats or promises of any men, it is a sign that yon take not God for your God, but in much; or else, I meant no harm; or else. I was persuaded by another, and drawn to it by temptation " Chap. I. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 19 heart are atheists and unsfodly men. Luke xix. 27 ; Malt. 21—23,26; Dan. iii. 16—18; vi. 5, 10 ; Jer. xvii. 5, 6; Luke xii. 4; Acts v. 29; Psal. xiv. 1, &c. 8. If you have not, in a deliberate covenant or resolution, devoted and given up yourselves to God as your Father and felicity, to Jesus Christ as your only Saviour, and your Lord and King, and to the Holy Ghost as your Sanctifier, to be made holy by him, desiring that your heart and life should be per- fectly conformed to the will of God, and that you might know him, and love him, and enjoy him more ; you are void of godliness and true Christianity ; for this is the very covenant which )-ou make in baptism, which you call your christening. Matt, xxviii. 19, 20 ; 2 Cor. viii. 5; 1 Cor. vi. 17; John i. 10 — 12; Gal. iv. 6; Rom. viii. 14, 15. I have now plainly showed you, and fully proved, from the word of God, by what infallible signs an ungodly man may know that he is ungodly, if he wiU. May you not know whether it be thus with you, if you are willing to know ? May you not know, if you will, whether your desire and design of life be more for this world or that to come ? and whether heaven or earth be preferred and sought first ? and whether your fleshly prosperity and pleasure, or your souls, be principally cared for and regarded ? May you not know, if you will, whether you love or loathe the serious worshippers of God ? ' and whether you had rather be delivered from your sins or keep them ? and whether your wills be more against them, or for them ? and whether you love a holy life or not ? and whether you had rather be perfect in holiness and obedience to God, or be ex- cused from it, and please the flesh ? and whether yon had rather be such a one as Paul, or as Csesar ? a persecuted saint in poverty and contempt, or a per- secuting conqueror or king ? May you not know, if you will, whether you love a searcliing ministry, that telleth you of the worst, and would not deceive you ? May you not know, whether you are re- solvedly devoted and given up to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as your Father and felicity, your Saviour and your Sanctifier; and whether the scope, design, and business of your lives is more for God, or for the flesh, for heaven, or earth ; and which it is that bears the sway, and which it is that comes behind, and hath but the leavings of the other, or only so much as it can spare ? Certainly these arc things so near you, and so remarkable in your hearts, that you may come to the knowledge of them if you will. But if you will not, who can help it ? What a sottish cavil is it then of those ignorant men, that ask us, when we fell them of these things. Whether ever we were in heaven ? or ever saw the book of life ? and how we can tell who shall be saved, and who shall be damned ? If it were about a May-game this jesting were more seasonable; but to talk tlius distractedly about the matters of salva- tion and damnation, and to make such a jest of the damning of souls, is a kind of foolery that liath no excuse. What though we never were in heaven ? and never saw the book of life ? dost thou think I never saw the Scriptures ? Why, wretched sinner, dost thou not know, that Christ came down from heaven, to tell us who they be that shall come thither, and who they be that shall be shut out ? • Atque haud scio an pietate arlversus Dcos sul)lata, fides etiani, et societas fiiimaiii geiieris, et una excellcntissima virtus, juslitia, tcjllalur, Cicero dp Nat Door. p. 4. " Mira Ciceronis fictio in li. de Univcrsit. p. ,358. Atque ille qui recto et honest e curriculum vivendi u natura datum con- fecerit, ad illud astrum, quo cum nptus fuerit, revertetur. Qui autem immoderate et intemperate vixerit, eum secundus ortus c 2 And did he not know what he said? Is God the Governor of the world, and hath he not a law by which he governeth them ? and can I not tell by the law, who they be that the Judge will condemn or save ? What else is the law made for, but to be the ride of life, and the rule of judgment ? Read Psal. i. and xv. ; Matt. v. vii. and xxv., and all the texts which I even now cited, and see in them whetlier God hath not told you who they be that shall be saved, and who they be that shall be condemned ? nay, see whether this be not the very business of the word of God ? And do you think that he hath written in vain ? But some men have loved igno- rance and imgodliness so long, till the Spirit of grace hath cast them off, and left them to the sottishness of their carnal minds, so that " the^- have eyes and see not, and ears and hear not, and hearts and under- stand not." But those that are willing and diligent to know their sin and duty, in order to their re- covery, God wiU not let them search in vain, nor hide the remedy from their eyes. Direct. IX. When you have found yourselves in a state of sin and death, understand and consider what a state that is. It may be you will think it a tolerable condition, and linger in it, as if you were safe ; or delay your repentance, as if it were a matter of no great haste ; unless you open your eyes, and look round about you, and see in how slippery a place you stand. Let me name some instances of the misery of an unre- generate, graceless state, and then judge of it as the word of God directs you. I. As long as you are unconverted, you must needs be loathsome and abominable to God." His holy nature is unreconcilable to sin, and would be unre- concilable to sinners, if it were not that he can cleanse and purify them. Did you know what sin is, and know God's holiness, you would understand this much better. Your own averseness to God, ;uid your dislike of the holiness of his laws and servants, might tell you what thoughts he hath of you. " lie hateth all the workers of iniquity," Psal. v. 5. In- deed he taketh you for his enemies, and as such he will handle you, if you be not converted. I know many persons that are most deeply guilty, especially men of honour and esteem in the world, would scorn to have this title given to themselves; but verily God is not fearfid of offending them, nor so tender of their defiled honour, as they are of their own, or as they expect the preacher should be. If those be the king's enemies that refuse his government and set U]) another, then those are the enemies of God, and of the Redeemer, and of the Holy (ihost, that set up the base concupiscence of their flesh, and the honour and prosperity of this world, and the will of man, and refuse the government of (iod their Creator and Redeemer, and refuse the sanctifying teachings and operations of the Holy Ghost. Read Luke xix. 27- Some think it strange that any men should bo called "haters of God;" and I believe you will find it hard to meet with fliat man that will confess it by himself, till converting grace or hell constrain him And indeed if God himself had not charged men with that sin, and called them by that name, we should scarce have found belief or patience when we had endeavoured to convince the world of it. Entreat in fi<;uram mulicl)rem transfcret, et si ne turn quidora finem vitiorum faciet, gravius etiara jactabitur, ct in suis moriliua simillimas fi<;uras pecudum, et lerarum transferetur : ncquo malorum terminum prius aspicict, quam illam sequi ca'perit conversionem, quam liabebat in se, &c. cum ad primam et optimam affectionem animi pervenerit. •20 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. 1'aut I. but the worst of mpii to rupent of hafin<^ (iod, and try how tlicv will takr it. Vet tlu-y may read that nanie in Scripture, Hoiii. i. 30; Psal. Ixxxi. IT): Luko xix. 14. Did not tlu' Jews hat(> Christ, think you, when they nuirdered him ? and when they hated all his followers for Ids sake? Matt. x. 'J2; Mark xiii. 13. x\nd doth not Christ say, "that they sliall be liated for his sake, not only of the Jews, but also of all nations, and all men." Matt. xxiv. 9 ; x.22; even by the "world," Johnxvii. 14; xv. 1/ — 19, &c. And this was a hating " lioth Christ and his Father," John xv. '23, 24. But you will say, it is not possible that any man can hate God. I answer, how then eame the devils to hate him ? Yea, every unsjodly man hateth God : indeed no man hateth him as good, or as merciful to them ; but they hate him as holy and just, as one that will not let them have the pleasure of sin, without damn- ing them; as one engaged in justice to cast them into hell, if tlu y die without conversion ; and as one tliat hath made so pure and precise a law to govern tbem, and convinceth them of sin, and calls them to that rp])entanee and holiness which they hate. Why did the world hate Christ himself? He tells you, John vii. 7, "The world cannot hate you, but me it hateth, because I testify against it, that the works th Tcof are evil." John iii. 19, "This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather tlian light, because their deeds were evil." Nay, it is a wonder of blindness, that this God-hating world and age should not perceive that they are God-haters, while they hate his servants to the death, and implacably rage against them, and hate his holy ways and kingdom, and bend all their power and interest in most of the kingdoms of the world, against his in- terest and his people upon earth : while the devil fighteth his battles against Christ through the world, by their hands, they w'ill yet confess the devil's malice against God, but deny their own ; as if he used their liands without their hearts. Well ! poor, wretched worms ! instead of denying your enmity to him, lament it, and know that he also taketh you for his enemies, and will prove too hard for you when you have done your worst. Read Psal. ii. and tremble, and submit. This is especially the case of persecutors and open enemies ; but in their mea- sure also of .ill that would not have him to reign over them. And therefore Christ came to reconcile us unto God, and God to us ; and it is only the sanc- tifif d that are reconciled to him. See Col. i. 21 ; Phil. iii. 18; i Cor. xv. 25; Rom. v. 10. "The carnal mind is enmity against God ; for it is not subject to the law of God ; nor indeed can be," Rom. \-iii. Mark that text well. 2. As long as you are unsanctified, you are unjus- tified and unpardoned : you are under the guilt of all the sins that ever you committed : every sinful thought, word, and deed, of which the least desc rveth hell, is on your score, to be answered for by your- self: and what this signifieth, the threatenings of the law will tell you. See Acts xxvi. 18; Mark. iv. 12; Col. i. 14. There is no sin forgiven to an im- penitent, unconverted sinner. 3. And no wonder, when the unconverted have no special interest in Clirist. The pardon and life that Rom viii '). ^n^'''" God, is given in and with the Son: " God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son : he that hath the Son, hath life ; and he that hath not the » Unus gehonnae ignis ct in inferno, sed non uno modo omnes excruciat poccatores. Uniuscujusque enim quantum exiirit culpa, tantiirn illic sentitur ct pteua : nam sicut hit- anus sol non ouiDia. corpora xqualiter calefacit, ita illic uuus S(m, hath not life," I John v. 10—12. Till we are members of Christ, we have no part in the pardon and salvation purchased by him : and ungodly sinners are not his nu iiibers. So tliat Jesus Christ, who is the hope and life of all his own, doth leave thee as he foimd thee : and that is not the w-orst ; for, 4. It will be far worse with the iui])enifent re- jecters of the grace of Christ, than if they had never heard of a Redeemer. For it caimot be, that God having provided so precious a remedy for sinful, miserable souls, should sutler it to be despised and rejected, without increased punishment. Was it not enough that you liad disobeyed your great Creator, but you must also set light by a most gracious Re- deemer, that ollercd you pardon, purchased l)y his blood, if you would but liave come to God hy him ? Y'ea, the Saviour that you despised shall be himself your Judge, and the grace and mercy which you set so light by, shall be the heaviest aggravation of your sin and misery. For " how shall you escape, if you neglect so great salvation ? " Heb. ii. 3. " And of how m'.ich sorer punishment" (than the despisers of Moses' law) "shall they be thought wor- thy, wlio have trodden under foot the Son of God," &c. Heb. X. 29. 5. The very prayers and sacrifice of the wicked are abominable to God (except such as contain their returning from their wickedness). So that terror ariseth to you from that which you expect should be your help. Sec Prov. xv. 8 ; xxi. 2/; Isa. i. 13. 6. Your common mercies do but increase your sin and misery (till you return to God) : your carnal hearts turn all to sin; Tit. i. 15, "Unto the pure all things are pure : but unto tlu m that are defiled, and unbelieving, is nothing jiurc : but even their mind and conscience is defiled." 7. While you are unsanctified, you are impotent, and dead to any holy, aeci ptable work : when you should redeem your time, and prepare for eternity, and try your states, or jiray, or meditate, or do good to others, you have no heart to any such spiritual works : your minds are biassed against them, Rom. viii. 7. And it is not the excusable impotency of such, as would do good, but cannot: but it is the malicious impotency of the wicked, (the same with that of devils,) that cannot do good, because they will not ; and will not, because they have blind, ma- licious, and ungodly hearts, which makes their sin so much the greater. Tit. i. 16. 8. While you have unsanctified hearts, you have at all times the seed and disposition unto every sin ; and if you commit not the worst, it is because some providence restraining the tempter hindereth you. No thanks to you that you do not daily commit idolatry, blasphemy, theft, murder, adultery, &c. It is in your hearts to do it, when you have but temptation and opportunity ; and will be, till you are renewed by sanctifying grace. 9. Till you are sanctified you are heirs of death and hell," even under the curse, and condemned al- ready in point of law, though judgment have not passed the final sentence. See John iii. 18, 19, 36. And nothing is more certain, than that you had been damned and undone for ever, if you had died before you had been renewed by the Holy Ghost ; and that yet this will be your miserable portion, if you should die unsanctified. Think, then, what a life you have lived until now ? and think what it is to live any longer in such a case, in which if you die, you are certain to be danmed. Conversion may save ifrnis animas pro qualitate crimimim dissimiliter exurit. Hn(;o Etherianus de Anim. re^res. cap. 12. " Idem undique in iufernum descensus est," saith Anaxagnras (in Laert.) to one that only lameutcd that he must die in a strange country. Chai'. I. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 21 you, but unbelief and self-flattery will not save you from this endless misery, Heb. xii. 14; ii. 3; Matt. XXV. 4(j. 10. As long as you are unsnnctified, you are hast- ing to this misery : sin is like to get more rooting ; and your hearts to be mor-^ hardened, and at enmity with grace : and God more provoked ; and the Spirit more grieved : and you are every day nearer to your final doom, when all these things will be more sen- sibly considered, and better understood, 2 Tim. iii. 13;'2 Pet. ii. 3. Thus I have given you a brief account of the case of unrenewed souls, and but a brief one, because I have done it before more largely. (Treatise of Conversion.) Direct. X. When you have found out how sad a condition you are in, con-ider what there is in sin to make you amends or repair your loss, that should be any hinderance to your c^mversion. Certainly you will not continue for nothing (if you know it to be nothing) in so dangerous and doleful a case as this. And yet you do it for that which is much worse than nothing, not considering what you do. Sit down sometimes, and well bethink you, what recompence the world or sin will make yoii, for your God, your souls, youi hopes, and all, when they are lost and past recovery ? Think what it will then avail or comfort you, that once you Wcr^' honoured, and had a great estate ; that once you fared of the best, and had your delicious cups, and merry hours, and sumptuous attire, and all such pleasures. Think whether this will abate the hor- rors of death, or put by the wrath of God, or the sentence of your condemnation : or whether it will ease a tormented soul in hell ? If not, think how small, and short, and silly a commodity and pleasure it is, that you buy so dear; and what a wise man can see in it, that should make it seem worth the joys of heaven, and worth your enduring everlasting tor- ments. What is it that is supposed worth all this ? Is it the snare of preferment ? Is it vexing riches ? Is it befooling honours ? Is it distracting cares ? Is it swinish luxury or lust ? Is it beastly pleasures ? Or what is it else that you will buy at so wonderful d"ar a rate ? O lamentable folly of ungodly men ! O foolish sinners! unworthy to see God I and worthy to be miserable ! 0 strangely corrupted heart of man, that can .sell his Maker, liis Redeemer, and his salvation, at so base a ])rice ! Direct. XI. And when you are casting up your account, as you put all that sin and the world' will do for you in the one end of the scales, so put into the other the comforts both of this life, and of that to come, which you must part with for your sins. Search the Scriptures, and consider Ivow hap;>y the saints of God arc there described. Think what it is, to have a j)urified, cleansed soul; to be free from the slavery of the flesh and its concupiscence ; to have the sensitive appetite in subjection unto reason, and reason illuminated and rectified by faith ; to be alive to (iod, and disposed and enabled to love and serve him ; to have access to him in prayer, with boldness and assurance to be heard ; to have a seal- ed pardon of all our sins, and an interest in Christ, who will answer for them all and justify us ; to be the children of God, and the heirs of heaven : to have peace of conscience, and the joylul hopes of endless joys; to have communion with the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit, and to have that Spirit dwell- ing in us, and working to our further holiness and joy; to have communion with the saints ; and the * Alicnus est a fiilc qui .vl agpndam prenitentiam tcmpus expeclat seiict-tutis. Jected of thee, in order to thy title to the benefits of this covenant, but deliberately, unfeigncdly, entirely Luc. xii. Multos vitam dilTerenlcs mors incerta pia:venit. III. ib. cx Sencc. 22 CHRISTIAN DIRECTOUY. Part I. to consent to it, and to continue that consent, and lierforni wliat thou eonscntest to luM-rorni, and that by the helj) of tlie p^raee which will be j,Mven thee. See, Iheretbre. tliat thou well deliberate of the mat- ter, but without delays : and count what thou sh:dt gain or lose by it. And if thou find that thou art like to be a loser in the end, and kuowest of any better way, even take it, and boast of it, when thou hast tried the end ; but if thou art past doubt, that there is no way but this, despatch it resolutely and seriously. And take heed of one tliinij, kst thou say. Why, this is no more than every b:uly kuoweth, and than 1 liave done a hundred times, to give up mysidf in covenant to (iod the Fatli; r. Sou, and Holy Cihost. Uost thou know it, and yet hast thou not done it ? Or hast thou done it with thy lips, and not unfcigu- edly with thy heart ? Lament it as one of tliy yrrat- est sins, that thou hast thus provokingly dallied with God ; and admire his mercy, that he will yet vouch- safe to enter into covenant with one, that hath hypo- critically ])rofancd his covenant. If thou hadst ever seriously thus covenanted and given up thyself to God, thou wouldst not have neglected him by an un- godly life, nor lived after to the devil, the world, and the flesh, which were renouncr d. I tell you, the making of this christian vow and covenant witii God in Christ, is the act of greatest conseipienee of any in all tliy life, and to be done with the greatest judg- ment, and reverence, and sincerity, and foresight, and firm resolution, of any thing that ever thou dost. And if it were done sincerely, by all that do it ignor- antly, for fashion, only with the lips, then all pro- fessed christians would be saved ; whereas now, the abusers of that holy name and covenant will have the deepest place in hell. Write it out on thy heart, and \)nt thy heart and hand to it resolvedly, and stand to thy consent, and all is thine own : conver- sion is wrought when tliis is done. Direct. XIV. In present performance of thy cove- nant with God, away with thy former sinful life ; and see that thou sin wilfully no more ; but as far as thou art able, avoid the temptations which have deceived tliee. God will never be reconciled to thy sins : if he he reconciled to thy person, it is as thou art justified by Christ, and sanctified by the Spirit : he entertaineth thee as one tliat turneth with repentance from sin to him. If thou wilfully or negligently go on in thy former course of sin, thou showest that thou wast not sincerely resolved in thy covenant with God. I know infirmities and imperfections will not be so easily cast otr, but will cleave to thee in tliy best obedience, till the day of tliy perfection come. But I speak of gross and wilful sin ; such as tliou canst forbear, if thou be but sincerely, though imperfectly, willing.^ Hast thou been a profane swearer or curser, or used to lake God's name in vain, or used to back- biting, slandi ring, lying, or to ribald, filthy talk ? It is in thy power to "forbear these sins, if thou be but willing. Say not, I fall into them through custom before I am aware ; for that is a sign that thou art not sincerely willing to forsake them. If thou wert truly penitint, and thy will sincerely opposite to these sins, thou wouldst be more tender and fearful to offend, and resolved against them, and make a greater matter of them, and abhor them, and n(jt commit them, and say, I did it before I was aware ; no more than thou wouldst spit in the face of thy ' Nae illi falsi sunt, qui diversissimas res pariter expectant, ignaviac voluptatem ct pi.nmia virtutis. Sallust. Tenebit to diabolus sub sppcie liljcrlatis addietuin, ut sit tibi liberuin peccare, non viveie : Caplivum te tenet author sceleruiu, father, or curse thy mother, or slander thy dearest friend, or speak treason against the king, and say, I did it through custom before 1 was aware. Sin will not be so played with by those that have been soundly humbled for it, and resolved against it. Hast thou been a drunkard, or tippler, sj)ending thy jireeious hours in an ale-house, prating over a I)ot, in the company of foolish, tempting sinners ? It is in thy power, if thou be truly willing, to do so no more. If thou love and choose such company, and jilaces, and actions, and discourse, how canst thou say thou art willing to forsake them, or that thy heart is changed? If thou do not love and choose them, how canst thou commit them, when none com- pels thee ? No one earrieth thee to the place ; no one forceth thee to sin ; if thou do it, it is because thou wilt do it, and lovest it. If thou be in good earnest with God, and wilt be saved indeed, and art not content to part with heaven for thy cups and com- pany, away with them presently, without delay. Hast thou lived in wantonness, fornication, un- cleanness, gluttony, gaming, pastimes, sensuality, to the pleasing of thy ilesh, while thou hast displeased God ? O bless the patience and mercy of the Lord, that thou wast not cut off all this while, and damned for thy sin before thou didst rep,entl And, as thou lovest thy soul, delay no longer ; but make a stand, and go no further, not one step further in the way which thou knowest leads to hell. If thou knowest that this is the way to thy damnation, and yet wilt go on, what pity dost thou deserve from God or man ? If thou have been a covetous worldling, or an am- bitious seeker of honour or preferment in the world, so that thy gain, or rising, or reputation, hath been the game which thou hast followed, and hath taken thee up instead of God and life eternal ; away now with these known deceits, and hunt not after vanity and vexation. Thou knowest beforehand what it will prove when thou hast overtaken it, and hast enjoyed all that it can yield thee ; and how useless it will be as to thy comfort or happiness at last. Surely, if men were willing, they are able to for- bear such sins, and to make a stand, and look before them, to prevent their misery : therefore God thus jileads with them, Isa. i. 16 — 18, " Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes ; cease to do evil, learn to do well," &c. Isa. Iv. 2, 3, " Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread P and your labour for that which satisfieth not ? Hearken diligently imto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me : hear, and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you." Yer. 6, 7, " Seek ye the Lord while he may be found ; call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the luirighteous man his thoughts ; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly jtardon." Christ supposeth that the foresight of judgment may restrain men from .sin, when he saith, " Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee," John v. 14, and viii. 11. Can the presence of men restrain a fornicator ; and the presence of the judge restrain a thief, yea, or the foresight of the assizes ? And shall not the presence of God, with the foresight of judgment and damna- tion, restrain thee ? Remember, that impenitent sin and damnation are conjoined. If you will cause one, God will cause the other. Choose one, and you compedes tibi libidinis imposuit, et undique te scpsit armata. rustodi'i; Legem tibi dcdit ut licitum putes omne quod non licet; et vivum te in etein.-c mortis foveam demersit. Hugo Elherianus de Animar. regressu, cap. 9. Chaf. I. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 23 shall not choose whether you shall have the other. If you will have the serpent, you shall have the sting. Direct. XV. If thou have sincerely given up thy- self to God, and consented to his covenant, show it, by turning the face of thy endeavours and conversa- tion quite another way, and by seeking heaven more fervently and diligently than ever thou soughtest the world, or fleshly pleasures. Holiness consisteth not in a mere forbearance of a sensual life, but principally in living unto God. The principle or heart of holiness is within, and consist- eth in the love of God, and of his word, and ways, and servants, and honour, and interest in the world, and in the soul's delight in God, and the word and ways of God, and in its inclination towards him, and desire after him, and care to please him, and loth- ness to offend him. The expression of it in our lives, consisteth in the constant, diligent exercise of this internal life, according to the directions of the word of God. If thou be a believer, and hast subjected thyself to God, as thy absolute Sovereign, King, and Judge, it will then be thy work to obey and please him, as a child his father, or a servant his master, Mai. i. 6. Do you think that God will have servants, and have nothing for them to do ? Will one of you commend or reward your servant for doing nothing, and take it at the year's end for a satisfactory answer or account, if he say, I have done no harm ? God calleth you not ordy to do no harm, but to love and serve him with all your heart, and soul, and might. If you have a better master than you had before, you should do more work than you did before. Will you not serve God more zealously than you served the devil ? Will you not labour harder to save your souls than you did to damn them ? Will you not be more zealous in good, than you were in evil ? " What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is defrtli. But now being made free from sin, and become ser- vants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life," Rom. vi. 21, 22. If you are true believers, you liave now laid up your hopes in heaven, and therefore will set yourselves to seek it, as world- lings set themselves to seek the world. And a slug- gish wish, with heartless, lazy, dull endeavours, is no fit seeking of eternal joys. A creejjing pace be- seemeth not a man that is in the way to heaven ; especially who went faster in the way to hell. This is not running as for our lives. You may well be diligent and make haste, where you have so great encouragement and help, and whi re you may expect so good an end, and where you are sure you sliall never, in lif- or death, have cause to repent of any of your just endeavours; and where every step of your way is pure, and clean, and delectable, and paved witli mercies, and fortified and secured by divine protec- tion ; and where Christ is your conductor, and so many have sped so well before you, and the wisest and best in the world are your companions. Live ' Acosta saith, that the Indians are so addicted to their idolatry, and unwearied in it, that he knowcth not what words can sufficiently declare, how tr)tally their minds are transformed into it, no whuremonger having so mad a love to his whore, as they to their idols: so that neither in their idleness or their ljusiness, neither in public or in private, will they do any thing, till they have first used their super- stition to their idols, they "ill neither rejoice at weddings, nor mourn at funerals, neither make a feast, or partake of it, nor so much as move a foot out of doors, or a hand to any work, without this heathenish sacrilege : and all this they do with the greatest secrcsy, lest the chiistians should know it. Lib. 5. cap. 8. p. 107. See here how nature teacheth all men that there is a Deity to he W'lrshipped with all possible love and industry! And shall the worshippers of the true God then as men that have changed their master, their end, their hopes, their way, and work. Religion lay- eth not men to sleep, though it be the only way to rest. It awakeneth the sleepy soul to higher thoughts, and hopes, and labours, than ever it was well acquainted with before. " He that is in Christ, is a new creature ; old things are passed away ; behold, all things are become new," 2 Cor. v. 17- ^ ou never sought that which would pay for all your cost and dili- gence till now ; you never were in a way that you might make haste in, witliout repenting of your haste, till now. How glad should you be that mercy hath brought you into the right way, after the wanderings of such a sinful life !^ And your gladness and thankfulness should now be showed, by your cheerful diligence and zeal. As Christ did not raise up Lazarus from the dead, to do nothing, or live to little ptn-pose (though the Sciipture giveth us not the history of his life) ; so did he not raise you from the death of sin, to live idly, or to be unprofitable in the world. He that giveth you his Spirit, to be a principle of heavenly life within you, expecteth that you stir up the gift that he hath given you, and live according to that heavenly principle. Direct. XVL Engage thyself in the cheerful, constant use of the means and helps appointed by God, for thy confirmation and salvation. He can never expect to attain the end, that will not be persuaded to use the means. Of yourselves you can do nothing. God giveth his help, by the means which he hath appointed and fitted to your help. Of the use of these, I shall treat more fully afterwards ; I am now only to name them to thee, that thou mayst know what it is that thou hast to do."" 1. That you must hear or read the word of God, and other good books which expound it and ajiply it, I showed you before. The new-born christian doth incline to this, as the new-born child doth to the breast; 1 Pet. ii. I, 2, "Laying aside all malice, and guile, and hyjiocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, tliat ye may grow thereby." Psal. i. 2, 3, the blessed man's " delight is in the law of the Lord, and therein doth he meditate day and night." 2. Another means is the public worshipping of God in communion with his church and people, besides the benefit of the word there preached, tile prayers of the church are effectual for the members ; and it raiseth the soul to holy joys, to join with well ordered assemblies of the saints, in the praises of the Almighty. The assemblies of holy worshippers of God, are" the jilaces of his delight, and must be the places of our delight. They are most like to the celestial society, that sound forth the jiraises of the glorious .lehovah, with purest minds and cheerful voice. " In his tem))le doth every one speak of his glory," Psal. xxix. 9. In such a choir, what soul will'not be rapt up with delight, and desire to join in tiie concert and harmony ? In such a llame of united then think it unnecessary preciseness, to be as diligent and hearty in his service ? *> Ilow penitents of old did rise even from a particular sin, judge by these words of Paciimus Faia;nes. ad Pcenit. Uibl. I'at. To. .3 p. 71. " You must not only do that which niav be seen of the priest, and praised by the bishop — to weep before the church, to lament a lost or sinful lil'i! in a sorilid garment, to fast, pray, to roll on the earth ; if any in- vite vou to the bath (or such pleasures) to refuse to go: if any bid you to a feast, to say, These things are for the happy; I have sinned against God, and aui in danger to perish for ever! What should I do at banquets, who have UTimged the Lord? IJesiiles these, you must t^ike the poor by the hand, you must beseech the widow, lie at the feet of the presbyters, beg of the church to forgive y(ju, and pray for you : you must try all means rather than perish. 24 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. di'siros and praises, what soul so cold and dull that will not intlanii'd, and with more than ordinary facility and alacrity lly up to (iod? .'5. Anotlicr means is private prayer unto God. ^Vhen Goil would tell Ananias that Paul was con- verted, he saith of him, '• Behold, he prayeth," Acts ix. 11. Prayer is the breath of the new creature. The spirit of adoption given to every child of (iod is a sp r.t of prayer, and teacheth them to cry, "Abba, Father," and helpeth their infirmities : when they know not what to pray for as they ought, and when words are wanting, it (as it were) intercedcth for them with groans, which they catmot exjiress in words, Gal. iv. G : Rom. viii. 15. "ili, 'IJ. And God knoweth the meaning of the Spirit in those groans. The lirst workings of grace are in desires after grace, provoking the s:)ul to fervent prayer, by which more grace is speedily obtained. "Ask," then, "and ye shall have ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall he opened to you," Luke xi. 9. 4. Another means to he used is confession of sin ; not only to God, (for so every wicked man may do, because he knoweth that God is already acquainted with it all, and this is no addition to his shame : he so little regardcth the eye of God, that he is more ashamed when it is known to men,) but in three cases confession must be made also to man. 1. In case you have wronged man, and are thus bound to make him satisfaction : as if you have robbed him, defrauded him, slandered him, or borne false witness against him. 2. In case you are children or ser- vants, that are under the government of parents or masters, and are called by them to give an account of your actions : you are bound then to give a true account. 3. In case you have need of the counsel or prayers of others, for the settling of your consciences in peace : in this case, you must so far open your case to them, as is necessary to their eiTectual help for your recovery ; for if they know not the dis- ease, they will be unfit to apply the remedy. In these cases, it is true, that "he that covcreth his sins shall not prosper : but he that confesseth and for- saketh them, shall have mercy," Prov. xxviii. 13. 5. Another means to be used, is the familiar com- pany and holy converse with humble, sincere, ex- perienced christians. The Spirit that is in them, and breatheth and acteth by them, will kindle the like holy flames in you. Away with the company of idle, prating, sensual men, that can talk of nottiing but their worldly wealth, or business, or their re- putations, or their appetites and lusts ; associate yourselves with them that go the way to heaven, if you resolve yourselves to go in it. 0 what a deal of difierence will you find between these two sorts of companions ! The one sort, if you have any thoughts of repentance, would stifle them, and laugh you out of the use of your reason, into their own dis- tracted mirth and dotage : and if you have any serious thoughts of your salvation, or any inclina- tions to repent and be wise, they will do much to divert them, and hold you in the jjower and snares of Satan, till it be too late : if you have any zeal, or hcavenly-mindcdness, they will do much to rpiench it, and fetch down your minds to earth again. The other sort will speak of things of so great weight and moment, and that with seriousness and reverence, as will tend to raise and quicken your souls ; and ' Of how great conoprnment faithful pastors are for the conversion of the uni^odly, see a Jesuit, Acosta, fib. 4. c. 1, 4. Intinitum esset ca;tcra persequi, quse (.ontra hos fatuos jjrin- cipes tauaos, contra pastores stultos, vel potius idola pastiirum, contra seipsos potius pascentes, contra vajsanos prophetas, contra sacerdotes contemptores, alquc arn>(;antes, contra stcrcus solennitatura, contra popularis plausus captatores, possess you with a taste of the heavenly things which they discourse of; they will encourage you by their own experiences, and direct you by that truth which hath directed them, and zealously com- municate what they have received : they will pray for you, and teach you how to pray : they will give the example of holy, humble, obedient lives, and lovingly admonish you of your duties, and rej)rove your sins. In a word, as the carnal mind doth savour the things of the flesh, and is enmity against God, the comjjany of such will be a powerful means to in- fect you with their jjlague, and make you such, if you were escaped from them ; much more to keep you such, if you are not escaped : and as they that are spiritual, do mind the things of the Spirit, so their converse tendeth to make you spiritually- minded, as they are, Rom. viii. 7, 8. Though there are some useful qualities and gifts in some that are ungodly, and some lamentable faults in many that are s])iritual ; yet experience will show you so great a difference between them in the main, in heart and life, as will make you the more easily believe the difierence that will be between them in the life to come. 6. Another means is serious meditation on the life to come, and the way thereto ; which though all cannot manage so methodically as some, yet all should in some measure and season be acquainted with it. 7. The last means is, to choose some prudent, faithful guide and counsellor for your soul,'^ to open those cases to which are not fit for all to know, and to resolve and advise you in cases that are too hard for you : not to lead you blindfold after the interest of any seduced or ambitious men, nor to engage you to his singular conceits, against the Scripture or the church of God; but to be to your soul, as a phy- sician to your body, or a lawyer to your estates, to help you where they are wiser than you, and where you need their helps. Resolve now, that instead of your idle company and pastime, your excessive cares and sinful j)lea- sures, you will wait on God in the seasonable use of these his own apjiointed means ; and you will find, that he hath appointed them not in vain, and that you shall not lose your labour. Direct. XVII. That in all this you may be sin- cere, and not deceived by a hypocritical change, be sure that God be all your confidence, and all your hopes be placed in heaven ; and that there be no secret reserve in your hearts, for the world and flesh ; and that you divide not your hearts between God and the things below, nor take up with the re- ligion of a hypocrite, which giveth God what the flesh can spare. When the devil cannot keep you from a change and reformation, he will seek to deceive you with a superficial change and half reformation, which goeth not to the root, nor doth recover the heart to God, nor deliver it entirely to him. If he can by a par- tial, deceitful change, persuade you that you are truly renewed and sanctified, and fix you there that you go no further, you are as surely his, as if you had continued in your grosser sins. And, of all other, this is the most connnon and dang( rous cheat of souls, when they think to halve it between God and the world, and to secure their fleshly interest of contra inexplcbilns pecunia; gurgites, taeferasque pestes, pro- pheticus scriiio dcclamat. Vix alias saiicti patres plcnioribus velis feruntur in I'eiagiis, quam cum de sacerdutali conlumefia oralio est. Acosta, ib. p. .353. Non est iste sacerdos, non est sed infestus, atrox, dofosus, illusor sui, et fupus in duminicum gregem ovina pella armatus. Ibid. Chap. I. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 25 pleasure and prosperity, and their salvation too ; and so they will needs serve God and mammon. „. , „ , ... This is the true character of a sclf- Tne full de^rnption , . . , ■ , tt ■ ■ i oi a false o.iivrr- deceiving hypocrite.'' He is neither sioii, and of a iiy- so fully persuaded of the certain truth pocriie. ^£ Scripture and the life to come, nor yet so mortified to the flesh and the world, as to take the joys of heaven for his whole portion, and to subject all his M orldly prosperity and hopes thereunto, and to part with all things in this world, when it is ne- cessary to the securing of his salvation : and there- fore he will not lose his hold of present things, nor forsake his worldly interest for Christ, as long as he can keep it. Nor will he be any further religious, than may stand with his bodily welfare ; resolving never to be undone by his godliness ; but in the first place to save himself, and his prosperity in the world, as long as he can : and therefore he is truly a carnal, worldly-minded man ; being denominated from what is predominant in him. And yet, because he knoweth that he must die, and for aught he knows, he may then find, against his will, that there is another life which he must enter upon ; lest the gospel should prove true, he must have some religion : and therefore he will take up as much as will stand with his tem])oral welfire, hoping that he may liave both tliat and heaven hereafter ,• and he will be as religious as the predominant interest of the flesh will give him leave. He is resolved rather to venture his soul, than to be here undone : and that is his fir.Nt principle. But he is resolved to be as godly as will stand with a worldly, flishly life : that is his second principle. And he will hope for heaven as the end of siu-h a way as this : that is his third. Therefore he will place most of his religion in those things which are most consistent with vvorldliness and car- nality, and will not cost his flesh too dear : as in being of this or tliat opinion, church, or party, (whether )apist, protestant, or some smaller party,) in ad- lering to that party and being zealous for them, in acquiring and using such jtarts and gifts, as may make him highly esteemed by others : and in doing such good works as cost him n(jt too dear : and in forbearing such sins as would procure his disgrace and shame, and cost his flesh dearer to commit them, than forbear them; and sucli other as his flesh can spare : this is his fo\n-tli principle. And he is re- solved, when trial calleth liim to part with (iod and his conscience, or with the world, that he will ratlier let go God and conscience, and venture upon the pains hereafter, which he thinks to be uncertain, than to run upon a certain calamity or undoing here ; at least, he liath no resolution to the contrary, w hich will carry him out in a day of trial : this is'his fifth principle. And his sixth princijile is, That yet he will not torment himself, or blot his name, with con- fessing himself a temporizing worldling, resolved to turn any way to save himself. And therefore he will be sure to believe nothing to l)e truth and duty that is dangerous ; but will furnish hini.self with argu- ments to prove that it is not the will of God; and that sin is no sin : yea, perhaps, conscience and duty shall be pleaded for his sin : it shall be out of ten- derness, and i)iety, and charity to others, that he will sin; and will charge them to be the sinners thai comply not, and do not wickedly as well as he. He will be one that shall first make a controversy of * Whereas tliore are In o preat and erievnus sorts of trouble raised, one in the cliiirches at the trial of members, and an other in men's consciences in trying their states, about this question, How to know true conversion or sanctiticalion ? I must tell them in both these troubles, plainly, that Christianity is l)ut one thini;, tlic same in all ases, which is their consent to the baptismal covenant : and there is no such way to re- every sin which his flesh calls necessary, and of every duty which his flesh counts intolerably dear; and then, when it is a controversy, and many reputed wise, and some reputed good, are on his side, he thinks he is on equal terms with the most honest and sin- cere : he hath got a burrow for his conscience and his credit : he will not believe himself to be a hypo- crite, and no one else must think him one, lest they be uncharitable ; for then the censure must fall on the whole party ; and then it is sufficient to defend his reputation of piety to say, Though we differ in opinion, we must not differ in affection, and must not condemn each other for such differences (a very great truth where rightly applied.) But what is it, 0 hypocrite, that makes thee differ in cases where thy flesh is interested, rather than in any other? and why wast tliou never of that mind till now that thy worldly interest requireth it ? and how cometh it to pass, that thou art always on the self- saving opinion ? and whence is it that thou consult- est with those only that are of the opinion which thou desirest should be true, and either not at all, or partially and slightly, with those that are against it ? Wast thou ever conscious to thyself, that thou hast accounted what it might cost thee to be saved, and reckoned on the worst, and resolved in the strength of grace to go through all ? Didst thou ever meddle with much of the self denying part of religion, or any duties that would cost thee dear ? May not thy conscience tell thee, that thou never didst believe that thou shouldst suffer much for thy religion ; that is, thou hadst a secret purpose to avoid it ? O sirs ! take warning from the mouth of Christ, who hath so oft and plainly warned you of this sin and danger ! and told you how necessary self-denial, and a suffering disposition is, to all that are his dis- ciples ; and that the worldly, fleshly principle, pre- dominant in the hypocrite, is manifest by his self- saving course : he must take up liis cross, and follow him in a conformity to his sufferings, that will in- deed be his discijile. We must sutler with him, if we will reign with him, Rom. viii. 17, 18. Matt, xiii. 20 — 22, '• He that received the seed in stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it, yet hath he not the root in himself, but dureth for a while ; for when tribida- tion or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns, is he that heareth the word, and the care of this world, and the deceitfuluess of riches, choke the word, and he becometli unfruitful." If thou have not taken heaven for thy part, and art not resolved to let go all that would keep thee from it, 1 must say to thy conscience, as Christ to one of thy lin decessors, Luke xviii. 22, " Yet lackest thou one thing," and such a one, as thou wilt find of flat ne- cessity to thy salvation. And it is likely some fry- ing time, even in this life, will detect thine hyjjo- crisy, and make thee " go away sorrowful," for thy riches' sake, as he, vcr. 23. If godliness with con- tentment seem not sufficient gain to thee, thou w ilt make thy gain go instead of godliness ; that is, thy gain shall be next thy heart, and have the precedency which godliness should have, and thy gain shall choose thee thy religion, and overrule thy conscience, and sway thy life. 0 sirs ! take warning by the apostates, and tem- solve this question, as to write or set before you the covenant of baptism in its proper sense, and then ask your hearts, whether you unfeignedly and resolvedly consent. He that consenteth truly, is converted and justified ; and he that pro- lesseth consent, is to be received into the church by baptism (if his parents' consent did not bring him in before, which he is to do neverthelesii himself at age). 2G CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I, porizinii hypocrites, tliat have looked behind tliem, and, with Dema.s, far tlie workl forsaken their duty, and are set up by justiee as pilhirs of salt, for your warning; and renienil)ranee. And as evt r you would make sure work in turning to God, and escape the too late repentance of the iiypocrite, see that you go to the root, and resign tlie world to the will of Goil, — and reckon what it may cost you to b.- followers of Christ,— and look not after any portion, but tlie favour of God and life eternal,— and s> c that there be no secret reserve in your hearts for your worldly interest or prosperity, — and think not of lialving it bi'tween God and the world, nor making your re- lis^ion compliant with the desires and interest of tlie flesh. Take (iod as enough for you, yea, as all, or else you take him not as your God. Direct. XVII I. If you would prove true converts, come over to (Jod, as your Father and felicity, with desire and delight, and close witli Christ, as your only Saviour, with thankfulness and joy ; and set upon the way of godliness with pleasure and alacrity, as your exceeding privilege, and the only way of profit, honour, and content : and do it not as against your wills, as thos.; that liad rather do otherwise if they durst, and account the service of God an un- suitable and unpleasant thing. You are nevrr truly changed, till your hearts be changed; and the heart is not changed, till the will or love be changed. Fear is not the man ; but usual- ly is mixed with unwillingness and dislike, and so is contrary to that which is indeed the man. Though fear may do much for you, it will not do enough : it is oft more sensible than love, even in the best, as being more passionate and violent; but yet there is no more acceptableness in all, than there is will or love. ■= God sent not soldiers, or inquisitors, or persecutors, to convert the world by working upon their fear, and driving them upon that which they take to l)e a mis- chief to them : but he sent poor preachers, that had no matter of worldly fears or hopes to move their auditors witli : but had authority from Christ to oder them eternal life ; and who were to convert the world by proposing to them the best and most desirable condition, and showing them where is the true felicity, and proving the certainty and excellency of it to them, and working upon their love, desirj, and hope : God will not be your God against your wills, while you esteem him as the devil, that is only ter- rible and hurtful to you, and take his service for a slavery, and had rather be from him, and serve the world and the flesK, if it w-ere not for fear of being damned. He will be feared as great, and holy, and just ; but he will also be loved as good, and holy, and merciful, and every way suited to be the felicity and rest of souls. If you take not God to be better than the creature, (and better to yon,) and heaven to be better for you than earth, and holiness than sin, you are not converted; but if you do. then show it by your willingness, alacrity, and delight. Serve him with gladness and cheerfulness of heart, as one that hath found the w'ay of life, and never had cause of gladness until now. If you see your servant do all his work with groans, and tears, and lamentations, you will not think he is well pleas-'d with his mas- ter and his work. Come to God willingly with your hearts, or you come not to him indeed at all. You must either make him and his service your de- light, or at least your desire ; as apprehending him most fi: to be your deliglit, so far as you enjoy him. Direi-t. XIX. Remember still that conversion is the turning from your carnal selves to God ; and * Passibilis limorest irrationahilis, etad irrationabilia enn- sfitutus, scd cum pr.-cc-ipit qui cum disciplina et recta rationc coasistit, cujus pruprium est reverentia. Qui enim propter therefore that it engageth you in a perpetual opposi- tion to vour own corrupt conceits and wills, to mor- tify and annihilate them, and captivate them wholly to the lioly word and will of God. Think not that your conversion despatcheth all that is to be done in order to your salvation. No, it is but the begiiniing of your work, that is, of your delight and happiness ; you are but engaged by it to that which must be performed throughout all your lives; it entereth you into the right way, not to sit down there, but to go on till you come to the desired end. It entereth you into Christ's army, that afterwards you may there win the crown of life ; and the great enemy that you engage against, is yourselves. There will still be a law in your mem- bers, rebelling against the law that the Holy Ghost hath put into your minds : your own conceits and your own wills are the great rebels against Christ, and enemies of your sanctification. Therefore it must be your resolved daily work to mortify them, and bring them clean over to the mind and will of God, which is their rule and end. If you feel any conceits arising in you that are contrary to the Scripture, and quarrel w'ith the word of God, sup- press them as rebellious, and give them not liberty to cavil with your Maker, and malapertl}^ dispute with your Governor and Judge ; but silence it, and force it reverently to submit. If you feel any will in you contrary to your Creator's will, and that there is something which you would have or do, which God is against, and hath forbid you, remember now how ^eat a part of your work it is, to fly for help to the Spirit of grace, and to destroy all such rebellious desires. Think it not enough, that you can bear the denial of those desires ; but presently destroy the desires themselves. For if you let alone the desires, they may at last lay hold uptm their prey, before you are aware : or if you should be guilty of nothing but the desires themselves, it is no small iniquity ; being the corruption of the heart, and the rebellion and adultery of the principal faculty, which should be kept loyal and chaste to God. The crossness of thy will to the will of God, is the sum of all the im- piety and e\il of the soid ; and the subjection and conformity of thy will to his, is the heart of the new creature, and of thy rectitude and sanctification. Favour not therefore any self-conceitedness or self- willedness, nor any rebelliousness against the mind and will of God, any more than you would bear with the disjointing of your bones, which will be little for your ease or use, till they are reduced to their proper place. Direct. XX. Lastly, Be sure that you renounce all conceit of self-suftieiency or merit in any thing you do, and wholly rely on the Lord Jesus Christ, as your Head, and Life, and Saviour, and Intercessor with the Father. Remember that " without him ye can do nothing," John XV. 5. Nor can any thing you do be accejitable to God, any other way than in him, the beloved Son,' in whom he is well pleased. As your persons had never been accepted but in him, no more can any of your services. All your repenlings, if you had wept "out your eyes for sin, would not have satisfied the justiee of God, nor proeur . d you pardon and justifi- cation, without the satisfaction and merit of Christ. If he had not first taken away the sins of the world, and reconciled them so far to God, as to procure and tender them the pardon and salvation contained in his covenant, there had been no place for your re- pentance, nor faith, nor prayers, nor endeavours, as Cliristumet docti inam pjus Deum limot, cum reverentia ei sub- jectusest; cum ille qui per verheraaliaquc tormenta timet Deuni, passibilem tiraoreni habete viderur. Dydimus Alex, in Pet. 1. Chap. I. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. •17 to any hope of your salvation. Your believing would not have saved you, nor indeed had any justilying object, if he had not purchased you the promise and gift of pardon and salvation to all believers. Objection. But perhaps you will say, That if we had loved God, without a Saviour, we should have been saved; for Gud cannot hate and damn those that love him. To which I answer. You could not have loved God as God, with.out a Saviour : to have loved him as the giver of your worldly pros])erity, with a love subordinate to the love of sin and your carnal selves, and to love him as one that you imagine so unholy and unjust, as to give you leave to sin against him, and prefer every vanity before him, this is not to love God, but to love an image of your own fantasy ; nor will it at all procure your salvation. But to love him as your G(jd and happi- ness, with a superlative love, you could never have done without a Saviour. For, 1. Objectively ; God being not your reconciled father, but your enemy, engaged in justice to damn you for ever, you could not love him as thus related to you, because he could not seem amiable to you ; and therefore the damned hate him as their destroyer, as the thief or murderer hates the judge. '1. And as to the effici- ency ; your blinded minds and depraved wills could never have been restored so far to their rectitude, as to have loved God as God, without the teaching of Christ, and the r(newing, sanctifying work of his Spirit. And without a Saviour, you could never have expected this gift of the Holy Ghost. So that your supposition itself is groundless. Indeed conversion is your implanting into Christ, and your uniting to him, and marriage with him, that he may be your life, and help, and hope. " He is the way, the truth, and the life : and no man Cometh to the Father, but by him," John xiv. (j. "God hath given us ( tcrnal life, and this life is in his Son: he that hath the Son, hath life: and he that hath not the Son, hatli not life," 1 John v. 11, 12. "He is the Vine, and we are the brandies: as the branch cannot Itear fruit of itself, except it al)ide in the vine, so n' ither can we, except we abide in him: he that abiiieth not in Christ, is cast forth as a branch, and withered, to be burned," John xv. 4 — 6. All your life and hel]) is in him, and from him : without Christ, you cannot believe in the Father, as in one that will show you anv .-aving mercy, Ijut only as the devils, tliat believe Jiim just, and tremble at his justice. Without Christ, you cannot love God, nor have any lively apprehensions of his love. Without Christ, you can have no hope of heaven, and therefore no endeavours for it. ^\'ith- out him, you cannot come near to God in ])rayer, as liaving no confid -nce, because no aihnittance, ac- ceptance, cr hop( . Without him, how terrible are the thoughts of death ! wliieh in him we may s: c as a conqiien d thing : and when w c renn mber that he was dead, and is now alive, and the Lord of life, and hath the keys of deatli and hell, with what boldness may we lay down this flesh, and suffc r death foundress our souls ! It is only in Clirist tliat we can comfortably think of the world to come ; when we remember tliat he must be our Judge, an(l tliHt in our nature, glorified, he is now in the highest. Lord of all ; and that he is " jireparing a ])lace for us, and will come again to take us to himself, that where he is, there we may be also," John xiv. 3. Alas ! without Christ, we know not how to live an ' Evory ono is not, a thiof, that a dog barks at; nor an hypofrritc, that hypocrites call so. K As the Athenians, that condemned Socrates to death, and then lainentctl it, and erected a liia/eii statue for his nieniorial. Acusta sailh, that he tliat will be a pastor to the Indians, hour ; nor can have hope or peace in any thing we have cr do ; nor look with comfort either upward or downward, to God, or the creature; nor tliink with- out terrors of our sins, of God, or of the life to come. Resolve, therefore, that as true converts, you are wholly to live upon Jesus Christ, and to do all that you do by his Spirit and strength ; and to expect all your acceptance with God upon his account. When other men are reputed philosophers, or wise, for some imsatisfactory knowledge of these transitory things, do you desire to know nothing but a crucified and glorified Christ : study him, and take him (ob- jectively) for your wisdom. When other mtn have confidence in the flesh, and in their show of wisdom, in will-worship, and humility, after the command- ments and doctrines of men, (Col. ii. 20 — 23,) and would establish their own righteousness, do you rejoice in Christ your righteousness ; and set con- tinually before your eyes his doctrine and example, as your rule : look still to Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith, who contemned all the glory of the world, and trampled upon its vanity, and sub- jected himself to a life of suffering, and made himself of no reputation, but " for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame," and underwent the contradiction of sinners against him- self. Live so, that you may truly say, as Paul, Gal. ii. 20, " I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live : yet not I, but Christ liveth in me : and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Having given you these directions, I most earnestly Ijeseech you to peruse and practise them, that my labour may not rise up as a witness against you, which I intend for your conversion and salvation. Think on it, whether this be an unreasonable course, or an unpleasant life, or a thing unni cessary ? and what is reasonable, necessary, and pleasant, if this be not ? And if you meet with any of those distracted sinners, that would deride you from Christ and your salvation, and say, this is the way to make men mad,'' or, this is more ado than needs; I will not stand here to manifest their brutishness and wickedness, having largely di^ne it already, in my book called, "A Saint or a Brute," and " Now or Never," and in the third part of the "Saints' Rest:" but only 1 desire thee, as a full defensative against all the pratings of the enemic s of a holy, heavenly life, to take good notice but of these three things. 1. Mark well the language of the holy Scriptures, and see whether it speak not contrary to these men; and bethink thee vlutlnr (iod or they be wiser, and w hether (iod or tliey must be lliy judge ? 2. Mark, whether the se men do not cliange their minds. (-' and turn their tongues wlien they come to die? Or think w Ik tli, 8; Cleansed, and yourselves devoted and Prov. xxi 27 ; ' sanctified to God : for an evil tree "■ "' will bring forth evil fruit: first make the tree good, and the fruit will be good. It is the love of God, and the hatred of sin, and a holy and heavenly life, whicli are the good works that God chiefly calleth for; and faitli,and repentance, andcon- versicm in order to these. And will God take your lip-labour, or the leavings of your flesh by way of alms, while the world and fleshly pleasure have your hearts? Indeed, you do no work that is truly VOL. I. D Psal. xl. 12. Psal. IL good. The matter may be good ; but you poison it with bad principles and ends. " The carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be ; but is enmity to God," Rom. viii. 6, 7- Tempt. XXVII. Some are tempted to think, that God will not condemn them because they are poor and afflicted in this life, and have their sufferings here : and that he that condemneth the rich for not showing mercy to the poor, will himself show them mercy. Direct. XXVII. Hath he not .showed you mercy ? And is it not mercy which you vilify and refuse ? even Christ, and his Spirit, and holy communion with God ? or must God show you the mercy of glory, without the mercy of grace ? which is a con- tradiction. Strange ! that the same men that will not be entreated to accept of mercy, nor let it save them, are yet saying, that God will be merciful and save them. And for your poverty and suffering, is it not against your will ? you cannot deny it : and will God save any man for that which is against his will ? You would have riches, and honour, and pleasure, and your good things in this life, as well as others, if you could tell how : you love the world as well as others, if you could get more of it. And to be carnal and worldly for so poor a pittance, and to love the world when you suffer in it, doth make you more inexcus- able than the rich. The devils have suffered more than you, and so have many thousand souls in hell ; and yet they shall be saved never the more. If you are poor in the world, but rich in faith and holiness, then you maj' See Heb.^xi. 6, 7, well expect salvation, James ii. 5. But if your sufferings make you no more holy, they do but aggravate your sin. Tempt. XXVIII. Also the devil blindeth sinners, by keeping them ignorant of the nature and power of holiness of heart and life. They know it not by any experience ; and he will not let them see it and judge of it in the Scripture, where it is to be seen without any mixed contraries ; but he points them only to professors of holiness, and commonly to the weakest and the worst of them, and to that which is worst in them, and showeth them the miscarriages of hypocrites, and the falls of the weaker sort of christians, and then tells them. This is their godliness and religion; they are all alike. Direct. XXV HI. But it is easy to see, how these men deceive and condemn themselves. This is as if you should plead that a beast is wiser than a man, because some men are druTik, and some are passion- ate, and some are mad. Drunkenness and passions, which are the disturbances of reason, are no disgrace to reason, but to themselves : nor were they a dis- grace themselves, if reason which they hinder were not honourable. So no man's sins are a disgi'ace to holiness, which condemneth them : nor were they bad themselves, if holiness were not good, which they oppose. It is no disgrace to the day- light or sun, that there is night and darkness : nor were darkness bad, if light were not good. Will you refuse health, because some men are sick? nay, will you rather choose to be dead, because the living have infirmities ? The devil's reasoning is foolisher than this ! Holiness is of absolute necessity to salva- tion. If many that do more than yon, are as barl as you imagine, what a case then are you in, that liave not near so much as they ! If they that make it their greatest care to please God, and be saved, are a.s very hypocrites as the devil would persuade you, what a hopeless ease then are you in, that come far short of them ! If so, you must do more than they, CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. ami not less, if you will be saved ; or else out of your own mouths will you be coudcnincil. Tempt. XXIX. Another way of the tempter is, \ty (lr:i\ving tiiem desperately to venture their souls ; eomi' on them what \\ ill. they w ill put it to the ven- ture, rather than live so striet a life. Direct. XXIX. But. () man, consider what thou dost, and who will have the loss of it ! and how quickly it may be too late to recall thy adventure ! What sho\dd put thee on so mad a resolution ? Is sin so good ? is hell so easy ? is thy soul so con- temptible ? is heaven such a trifle ? is God so hard a master ? is his work so grievous, and his way so bad ? doth he recjture any thing unreason- al)lc of you ? hath God set you such a tjrievous task, that it is better venture on damnation than per- form it ? You cannot believe this, if you believe him to be God. Come near, and thiidi more deliberately on it, and you will find you might better run from j-our food, your friend, your life, than from your God. and from a holy life, when you run but into sin and hell. Tempt. XXX. Another great temptation is, in making them believe that their sins are but such common infirmities as the best have : they cannot deny but they have their faults ; but are not all men sinners ? They hope that they are not reigning, un- pardoned sins. Direct. XXX. But, oh how great a difference is between a converted and an unconverted sinner .' between the failings of a child and the contempt of a rebel ! between a sinner that hath no gross or mortal sin, and hateth, bewaileth, and striveth against his infirmities ; and a sinner that loveth his sin, and is loth to leave it, and maketh light of it, and loveth not a holy life. God will one day show you a difference between these two, when you see that there are sinners that are justifi.ed and saved, and sinners that are condemned. Tempt. I. But here are many subordinate tempta- tions, by which Satan persuades them that their sins are but infirmities : one is, because their sin is but in the heart, and appeareth not in outward deeds : and they take restraint for sanctification. Direct. I. Alas ! man, the life and reign of sin is in the heart ; that is its garrison and throne : the life of sin lieth in the prevalence of your lusts within, against the power of reason and will. outward sins are but acts of obedience to the reigning sin within ; and a gathering tribute for this, which is the king. For this it is that they make provision, Rom. xiii. 14. On this all is consumed, James iv. 3. Original sin may be reigning sin (as a king may be born a king). Sin certainly reigneth, till the soul be converted and born again. Te?i>pt. II. The devil tells them it is but an infirm- ity, because it is no open, gross, disgraceful sin : it is hard to believe that they are in danger of hell, for sins which are accounted small. Direct. II. But do you think it is no mortal, heinous sin, to be void of the love of God and holiness ? to love the llesli and the world above liim ? to set more by earth than heaven, and do more for it ? However they show themselves, these are the great and mor- t;il sins. Sin is not less dangerous for lying secret in the heart. The root and heart are usually luiscen. Some kings (as in China, Persia, &c.) keep out of sight for the honour of their majesty. Kings are the spring of government ; but actions of state are executed by officers. When you see a man go, or work, you know that it is .'-omething within which is the cause of all. If sin ajji/eared without, as it is within, it would lose much of its power and majesty. Then ministers, and friends, and every good man would cast a stone at it ; but its secrecy is its peace. The devil himself prevaileth by keeping out of sight. If he were seen, he would be less obeyed. So it is with the reigning sins of the heart. Pride and covetousness may be reigning sins, though they ap- pear not in any notorious, disgraceful course of life. David's hiding his sin, or Rachel her idol, made them not the better. It is a mercy to some men, that God permitteth them to fall into some open, scandalous sin, which may tend to humble them, who would not have been humbled nor convinced by heart-sins alone. See Jer. iv. 14; Hosea vii. 6, 7- An oven is hottest when it is stopped. Tempt. III. Satan tells them, they are not unpar- doned, reigning sins, because they are common in the world. If all that are as bad as I must be con- demned, say they, God lielp a great number. Direct. III. But know you not that reigning sin is much more common than saving holiness ? and that the gate is wide, and the way is broad, that leadeth to destruction, and many go in at it ? Salvation is as rare as holiness : and damnation as common as reigning sin, where it is not cured. This sign there- fore makes against you. Tempt. IV. But, saith the tempter, they are such sins as you see good men commit : you play at the same games as they : you do but what you see them do ; and they are pardoned. Direct. IV. You must judge the man by his works, and not the works by the man. And there is more to be looked at, than the bare matter of an act. A good man and a bad may play at the same game, but not with the same end, nor with the same love to sport, nor so frequently and long to the loss of time. Many drops may wear a stone : many stripes with small twigs may draw blood. Many mean men in a senate have been as great kings : you may have many of these little sins set ;dl together, which plainly make up a carnal life. The power of a sin is more con- siderable than the outward show. A poor man, if he be in the place of a magistrate, may be a ruler. And a sin materially small, and such as better men commit, may be a sin in power and rule with you, and concur with others which are greater. Tempt. V. But, saith the tempter, they are but sins ot omission, and such are not reigning sins. Direct. V. Sins of omission are always accom- panied with some positive, sensual afi'ection to the creature, which chverteth the soul, and causeth the omission. And so omission is no small part of the reigning sin. The not using of reason and the will for God, and for the mastering of sensuality, is much of the state of ungodliness in man. Denying God the heart and life, is no small sin. God made you to do good, and not only to do no harm : else a stone or corpse were as good a christian as you ; for they do less harm than you. If sin have a ne- gative voice in your religion, whether God shall be worshipped and obeyed or not, it is your king : it may show its power as well by commanding you not to pray, and not to consider, and not to read, as in commanding you to be drunk or swear. The wicked are described by omissions : such as " will not seek after God : God is not in all his thoughts," Psal. X. 4. Such as " know not God, and call not on his name," Jer. x. 25. That have " no truth, or mercy, or knowledge of God," Hos. iv. 1. That "feed not, clothe not, visit not" Christ in his mem- bers, Matt. XXV. ; that hide their talents, Matt. xxv. Indeed, if God have not your heart, the creature hath it ; and so it is omission and commission that go together in your reigning sin. Chap. I. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 3.') Tempt. VI. But, saith the tempter, they are but sins of ignorance, and therefore they are not reigning sins : at least you are not certain tliat they are sins. Direct. VI. And indeed do you not know that it is a sin to love the world better than God ? and fleshly pleasure better than God's service ? and riches better than grace and holiness ? and to do more for the body than for the soul, and for earth than for heaven ? Are you uncertain whether these are sins ? And do you not feel that Ihey are your sins ? You cannot pretend ignorance for these. But what causeth your ignorance ? Is it because you would fain know, and cannot ? Do you read, and hear, and study, and inquire, and pray for knowledge, and yet cannot know ? Or is it not because you would not know, or think it not worth the pains to get it ; or because you love your sin ? And will such wilful ignorance as this excuse you ? No ; it doth make your sin the greater. It showeth the greater dominion of sin, when it can use thee as the Philistines did Samson, put out thy eyes, and make a drudge of thee ; and conquer thy reason, and make thee believe that evil is good and good is evil. Now it hath mastered the principal fortress of thy soul, when thy understand- ing is mastered by it. He is reconciled indeed to his enemy, who taketh him to be a friend. Do you not know, that God should have your heart, and heaven should have your chiefest care and diligence: and that you should make the word of God your rule, and your delight, and meditation day and night ? If you know not these things, it is because you would not know them : and it is a miserable case to be given up to a blinded mind ! Take heed, lest at last you commit the horridest sins, and do not know them to be sins. For such there are that mock at godliness, and persecute christians and ministers of Christ, and know not that they do ill ; but think they do God service, John xvi. 2. If a man will make himself drunk, and then kill, and steal, and abuse his neighbours, and say, I knew not that I did ill, it shall not excuse him. This is your case. You are drimken with the love of fleshly pleasure and worldly things, and these carry you so away, that you have neither heart nor time" to study the Scriptures, and hear, and think what God saith to you, and then say that you did not know. Tempt. VII. But, saith the tem])ter, it cannot be a mortal reigning sin, because it is not committed with the whole heart, nor without some struggling and resistance : dost thou not feel the Spirit striving against the flesh ? and so it is with the regenerate. Gal. V. 17; Rom. vii. 20—23. The good which thou dost not do, thou wouldst do ; and the evil which thou dost, thou wouldst not do; so then it is no more thou that dost it, but sin that dwelleth in thee. In a sensual unrcgenerate person, there is but one party, there is nothing but flesh ; but thou feelest the com- bat b! tw( en the flesh and the Spirit within thee. Direct. VII. This is a snare so subtle and danger- ous, that you have need of eyes in your head to escape it. Understand therefore, that as to the two texts of Scripture, much abused by the tempter, they speak not at all of mortal reigning sin, but of the unwilling infirmities of such as had subdued all such sin, and walked not after the flesh, but after the Spirit ; and whose wills were habitually bent to good ; and fain would have been perfect, and not have been guilty of an idle thought, or word, or of any imperfection in tlieir holiest service, but lived up to all that the law refjuireth : but this they coidd not do, ijecause the flesh did cast many stops before the will in the ])erformanee. I'.ut this is nothing to the case of one that livcth in gross sin, and an un- godly life, and hath strivings and convictions, and | unelfectual wishes to be better and to turn, but never doth it. This is but sinning against conscience, and resisting the Spirit that v/ould convert you ; and it maketh you worthy of many stripes, as being rebel- lious against the importunities of grace. Sin may be resisted where it is never conquered; it may reign nevertheless for some contradiction. Every one that resisteth the king, doth not depose him from his throne. It is a dangerous deceit to think that every good desire that contradicteth sin, doth conquer it, and is a sign of saving grace. It must be a desire after a state of godliness, and an ellectual desire too. There are degrees of power : some may have a less and limited power, and yet be rulers. As the evil spirits that possessed -what resistance of men's bodies, were a legion in one, ^i" may L>e in Uie and but one in others, yet both were ""^"'"y- possessed; so is it here. Grace is not without re- sistance in a holy soul ; there are some remnants of corruption in the will itself, resisting the good ; and yet it foUoweth not that grace doth not rule. So is it in the sin of the unrcgenerate. No man in this life is so good as he will be in heaven, or so bad as he will be in hell ; therefore none is void of all moral good. And the least good will resist evil, in its degree, as light doth darkness. As in these cases : 1. There is in the unrcgenerate a remnant of natural knowledge and conscience. Some discoveries of God and his will there are in his works : God hath not left himself without witness. See Acts xiv. 17; xvii. 27; Rom. i. 19, 20; ii. 7—9. This light and law of nature governed tlie heathens; and this in its measure resisteth sin, and assistt th conscience. 2. When supernatural extrinsic revelation in l!ie Scripture, is added to the light and law of nature, and the ungodly have all the same law as the best ; it may do more. .3. Moreover, an ungodly man may live under a most powerfid preacher, that will never let him alone in his sins, and may stir up much fear in him, and many good purposes, and almost persuade him to be a true christian ; and not only to have some inefFectual wishings and strivings against sin, but to do many things after the preacher, as Herod did after John, and to escape the common pollutions of the worid, 2 Pet. ii. 20. 4. Some sharp affliction, added to the rest, may make him seem to others a true penitent : when he is stopped in his course of sin, as Balaam was by the angel, with a drawn sword, and seeth that he cannot go on but in danger of his life ; and that God is still meeting him with some cross, and hedging up his way with thorns (for such mercy he showeth to some of the imgodly) ; this may not tmly bried resistance of sin, but some reformation, ^\'hen the Babylo- nians were planted in Samaria they feared not God, and he sent lions amcmg them ; and then they feared him, and sent U]i some kind of service to him, ])er- formed by a base sort of priests; " they feared the Lord, and served their own gods," thinking it was safest to please all, 2 Kings xvii. 25, 32, 33. Afflic- tion maketh bad men likest to the good. .5. Good e(hication and company may do vei-y much : it may help them to much knowledge, anil make them professors of strict religion ; and constant companions with those that fear sin, and avoid it; and therefore they must needs go far then, as Joash did all the days of Jehoiada, 2 Chron. xxiv. 2. As plants and fruits change with the soil by transjdant- ation, and as the climate maketh some blackmoors and some white ; so education and converse have so great a power on the mind, that they come next to grace, and are oft the means of it. 36 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. G. And (iod {jivcth to many, internally, sonic i,'race ot" tile Spirit, whicii is not proper to them that are saveii. but common or preparatory only. And this may make nuich resistance ai^ainst .sin, thouLfh it do not mortify it. One that should live but un is soini'thintr in tlu- nature of man, rt nriinini^ in the best, whieh disposetli us to be niueh more passionately alleeted with things when tlicy seem new to us, and are first apprehended, than when tliey are old, and we have known or used them long. There is not, I believe, one man of a thousand, but is mucli more delighted in the light of truth, when it fn-st appeareth to him, than when it is trite and familiarly known ; and is mueh more affected with a powerful minister at first, than when he hath long sat under him. The same sermon that even transported them at the first hearing, would affect them less, if they had heard it preached a hundred tim. s. The same books whicli greatly affected us at the first or second reading, will affect us less when we have read them over twenty times. The same words of prayer that take much with us when sel- dom used, do less move our affections when they are daily used all the year. At our first conversion, we have more passionate sorrow for our sin, and love to the godly, than we can afterwards retain. And all this is the case of learned and unlearned, the sound and unsound, thotigh not of all alike. Even heaven itself is spoken of by Christ, as if it did participate of this, when he saith, that "joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repentcth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, that need no repentance," Luke XV. 7, 10. And I know it is the duty of minis- ters to take notice of this disposition in their hearers, and not to dull them with giving them still the same, but to profit them by a pleasant and profitable va- riety : not by preaching to them another Christ, or a new gospel : it is the same God, and Christ, and Spirit, and Scripture, and the same heaven, the same church, the same faith, and hope, and repentance, and obedience, that we must preach to them as long as we live ; though they say, we have heard this a hundred times, let them hear it still, and bring them not a new creed. If they hear so oft of God, and Christ, and heaven, till by faith, and love, and fruition, they attain them as their end, they have heard well. But yet there is a grateful variety of subordinate particulars, and of words, and methods, and season- able applications, necessary to the right performance of our ministry, and to the profiting of the flocks : though the physician use the same apothecary's shop, and dispensatory, and drugs, yet how great a variety must he use of compositions, and times, and manner of administration. But for all this, though the best are affected most with things tliat seem new, and are dulled with the long and frequent use of the same expressions, yet they are never weary of the substance of their reli- gion, so as to desire a change. And though they are not so passionately affected with the same ser- mons, and books, or with the thoughts or mention of the same substantial matters of religion, as at first they were ; yet do their judgments more solidly and tenaciously embrace them, and esteem them, and their wills as resolvedly adhere to them, and use them, and in their lives they jiractise them, better than before. Whereas, they that take up their reli- gion but for novelty, will lay it down when it ceaseth to be new to them, and must cither change for a newer, or have none at all.'' And as unsound are they that are religious, only because their education, or their friends, or the laws, Fere idem exitus pst ndii pt amoris insani. Senec.de Bon. Scientia qu;cest rcmotaa justitia, cdlliditas piitium qiiam .lapioiitia appcUanda est. V. .Scali^. Of the necessity of prudence in religious men, read Nic. Videlius de Prudent. Veterum. The imprudences of well meaning; men have done as rouch hurt to the church sometimes as the persecution or judgment of their rulers, or the custom of the country, hath made it necessary to their reputation : these are hypocrites at the first setting out, and therefore cannot be saved by continuance in such a carnal religiousness as this. I know law, and cus- tom, and education, and friends, when they side with godliness, are a great advantage to it, by affording helps, and removing those impediments that might stick much v'ith carnal minds. But truth is not your own, till it be received in its proper evidence ; nor your faitli divine, till you believe what you be- lieve, because God is true who doth reveal it; nor are you the children of God, till you love him -for himself ; nor are you truly religious, till the truth and goodness of religion itself be the principal thing that maketh you religious. It helpeth much to dis- cover a man's sincerity, when he is not oidy religious among the religious, but among the profane, and the enemies, and scorners, and persecutors of religion : and when a man doth not pray only in a praying family, but among the prayerless, and the deriders of fervent constant prayer : and when a man is hea- venly among them that are earthly, and temperate among the intemperate and riotous, and hohleth the truth among those that reproach it and that hold the contrary : when a man is not carried only by a stream of company, or outw;ird advantages, to his religion, nor avoideth sin for want of a temptation, but is re- ligious though against the stream, and innocent when cast (unwillingly) upon temptations ; and is godly where godliness is accounted singularity, hypocrisy, faction, humour, disobedience, or heresy : and will rather let go the reputation of his honesty, than his honesty itself. Direct. II. Take heed of being religious only in opinion, without zeal and holy practice ; or only in zealous affection, without a sound, well grounded judgment; but see that judgment, zeal, and practice be conjunct. Of the first part of this advice, (against a bare opi- nionative religion,) I have spoken already, in my " Di- rections for a Sound Conversion." To change your opinions is an easier matter than to change the heart and life. A holding of the truth will save no man, without a love and practice of the truth. This is the meaning of James ii. where he speaketh so much of the unprofitaldeness of a dead, unaffected belief, that worketh not by love, and commandeth not tlie soul to practice and obedience. To believe that there is a God, while you neglect him and disobey him, is unlike to please him. To believe that there is a heaven, while you neglect it, and prefer the world before it, will never bring you thither. To believe your duty, and not to perform it, and to believe that sin is evil, and yet to live in it, is to sin with aggra- vation, and have no excuse, and not the way to be accepted or justified with God. To be of the same belief with holy men, without the same hearts and conversations, will never bring you to the same feli- city. " He that knoweth his master's will and doth it not," .shall be so far from being accepted for it, that he " shall be beaten with many stripes." To believe that holiness and obedience is the best way, will never save the disobedient and unholy. And yet if judgment be not your guide, the most zealous affections will but precipitate you ; and make you run, though quite out of the way, like the horses when they have cast the coachman or the riders.^ of enemies, e. g. When Constantine, the son of Constans, was emperor, some busv men would prove from the orthodo.\ doc- trine of the Trinity, that his two brethren, Tiberius and He- ra(dius, should rci^n with him : saying, Si in Trinitate credi- mus, tres etiam coronnmus ; which cost the chief of them a hanging. Abbas Urspergens. Edit. Melancth. p. 162. CllAP. II. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 39 To ride post when you are quite out of the way, is but laboriously to lose your time, and to prepare for further labour. The Jews that persecuted Christ and his apostles, had the testimony of Paul himself, that they had a " zeal of God, but not according to knowledge," Rom. x. 2. And Paul saith of the de- ceivers and troublers of the Galatians, (whom he wish- ed even cut off,) that they did zealously allect them, but not well. Gal. iv. 17. And he saith of him- self, while he persecuted christians to prison and to death, "I was zealous towards God as ye are all tkis day," Acts xxii. 3, 4. Was not the papist, St. Dominick, that stirred up the jiersecution against the christians in France and Savoy, to the murdering of many thousands of them, a very zealous man ? And are not the butchers of the Inquisition zealous men ? And were not the authors of the third Canon of the General Council at the Lateran, under Pope Inno- cent the third, very zealous men, who decreed that the pope should depose temporal lords, and give away their dominions, and absolve their subjects, if lliey would not exterminate the godly, called here- tics? Were not the papists' powder-plotters zeal- ous men ? Hath not zeal caused many of latter times to rise up against their lawful governors ? and many to persecute the church of God, and to deprive the people of their faithful pastors without compas- sion on the people's souls ? Doth not Christ say of such zealots, "The time cometh, when whosoever killeth you, will think he doth God service," John xvi. 2; or offereth a service (acceptable) to God. Therefore Paul saith, " It is good to be zealously affected always in a good matter," Gal. iv. 18; showing you that zeal indeed is good, if sound judg- ment be its guide. Your first ([uestion must be, Whether you are in the right way ? and your second. Whether you go apace ? It is sad to observe what odious actions are committed in all ages of the world, by the instigation of misguided zeal ! And what a shame an imprudent zealot is to his profession ! while making himself ridiculous in the eyes of the adver- saries, he brings his profession itself into contempt, and maketh the ungodly think that the religious are but a company of transported brain-sick zealots ; and thus they are hardened to their perdition. How many things doth unadvised affection provoke well- meaning ])tople to, that afterwards will be their shanu' and sorrow. Labour therefore for knowledge, and soundness of understanding ; that you may know truth from false- hood, good from evil ; and may walk confidently, while you walk safely ; and that you become not a shame to your profession, by a furious persecution of that wb.ich you must afterwards confess to be an error; by drawing others to that which you would after wish that you had never known yourselves. And yet see tiiat all your knowledge have its eflicacy upon your hrart and life; and take every truth as an instrument of God, to reveal himself to you, or to draw your heart to him, and conform you to his holy will. Direct. III. Labour to understand the true method of divinity, and see truths in their several degrees and order; that you take not the last for the first, nor the lesser for the grt ater. Therefore see that you be well grounded in the catechism ; and refuse not to learn some catechism that is sound and full, and keep it in memory while you live.'' Method, or right order, exceedingly heli)eth un- Leg. Acost. 1. 4, c. 21 et 22. de fruttu cateclii/andi. Et Li. T). ' Opus f st imprimis duplici catcchismo: Uno toiiipcn""";; aijiiities or are young beginners, and but new- born babes, you are entering into " the snare and tur, quod esset timidus, at ideo inquit, paium pecco. 42 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. fondemnation of the devil," even into the odious sin of pride ; yea, a pride of those spiritual ^nfts which are most contrary to pride ; yea, and a pride of that which you have not, which is most foolish pride. Mark the words of Paul, when he forbids to choose a young beginner in religion to the ministry, 1 Tim. iii. 6: " Not a novice, (that is, a young, raw chris- tian,) lest being lifted up (or liesotted) willi pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil." Why are young beginners more in danger of this than other christians ? One would think their infancy should be conscious of its own infirmity. But Paul knew what he said. It is, (1.) Partly because the suddenness of their change ; coming out of darkness into a light which they never saw before, doth amaze them, and transport them, and make them think they are almost in_ heaven, and that there is not much more to be attained. Like the beggar that had a hundred pounds given him, having never seen the hundredth part before, imagined that he had as much money as the king. (2.) And it is partly because tliey have not knowledge enough to know how many things there are that yet they are ignorant of.'' They never heard of the Scripture difficulties, and the knots in school divinity, nor the hard cases of conscience : whereas, one seven years' painful stu- dies, will tell them of many hundred difficulties which tliey never saw ; and forty or fifty years' study more, will clothe them with shame and humility', in the sense of their lamentable darkness. (3.) And it is also because the devil doth with greatest industry lay this net to entrap young converts, it being the w'ay in which he hath the greatest hope. 2. Your hasty conceits of your own goodness or ability, will make you presumptuous of your own strength, and so to venture upon dangerous tempta- tions, which is the way to ruin. You will think you are not so ignorant, but you may venture into the company of papists, or any heretics or deceivers, or read their books, or be present at their worship. And I confess you may escape ; but it may be other- wise, and God may leave you, to " show you all that was in your hearts," as it is said of Hezekiah, 2 Chron. xxxii. 21, 25, 26. 3. And your overvaluing your first grace, will make you too secure, when your souls have need of holy awfulness and care, to " work out your salva- tion with fear and trembling," Phil. ii. 12; and to " serve God accej)tably, with reverence , and godly fear, as knowing that he is a consuming fire," Heb. xii. 2% 29. And security is the forerunner of a fall. 4. It will make you neglect the due labour and patience in the use of means, for further knowledge and increase of grace, while you think you are so well already.' And so you will be wors:' than those that are ever learning, and never come to any ripe knowledge : for you will think that you are fit to hf teachers, when you have need to be tauglit that which you will not submit to learn. And then, " when for the time ye ought to have been teachers, you will have need to be catechised, or taught again which be the first principles of the oracles of God, as having need of milk, and not of strong meat." Mark here, how the Holy Gliost maketh time and exercise necessary to such growth as must enable you to be teachers, Heb. v. 12 — 14. Therefore he addeth, " but strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age ; those who by reason of use have Qui tliscipulum rudein et datum habet, contra ventum adversu flumine iiavi<;at, sorpentom nutrit, aconitum excolit, hostem diicet. Petrarch. IJial. 41. li. 2. ' Beatus est cui vol in spiiectule contifjerit, qua sapientiam erasque opiniDUes i.-mspqui pusset. Cii-ero ile fin. Even when a teacher is impatient with his people's un- their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." Mark here, how wisdom and strength is to be ex- pected. 5. This over-hasty conceit of your own ability, will tempt you to run into controversies, and matters that you are not fit for ; and so divert you from ne- cessary and seasonable studies. (J. It will make you over-confident of all your own o])iijions, and stiff in all your own conceits ; too like him, Prov. xiv. 16, " The fool rageth and is confi- dent." How many and many a time have I heard a man that understood not what he talked of, and could scarce speak sense, to plead for his opinion so con- fidently, as to scorn or pity the wisest contradicter, when his ignorance, and phrenetic confidence and rage, did make him a real object of pity, to men of ordinary understandings. There is a kind of mad- ness in this disease, that will not leave you wit enough to know that you are mad. 7. It will make you also very censorious of others : this ignorant pride will make you think other men's knowledge to he ignorance, if they be not just of your fond opinions ; and other men's graces to be none, if they be not of your mind and way. None are so ready as such to censure those that are better than themselves, or that they have no acquaintance with, as being but civil, moral men, or being erroneous or deluded. It is a very loathsome tiling, to hear an ignorant, self-coneeited fellow to talk of those that are a hundred times wiser and much bi'tter than himself, as magisterially, with a proud compassion or contempt, as if he were indeed the wise man, that knoweth not what he saith. 8. And it will make you rebellious against your governors and teachers, and utterly unteachable, as despising those that should instruct and rule you."* You will think yourselves wiser than your teachers, while you are but in the lowest form. It is such that James speaks to, Jam. iii. 1, " My brethren, be not many masters, (or teachers,) knowing that ye shall receive the greater condemnation." And that whole chapter, well worth your studying, is spoke to such. 9. And thus it will entangle you in heretical opi- nions, to which there is no greater preparatory, than pride-possessing, half-witted young beginners in re- ligiim. 10. And so it will make you troublers of the church, contending unpeaceably for that which you under- stand not. 11. And ittendeth to hypocrisy, making you give thanks for that which you never had ; as puffed up with a knowledge that is not enough to keep you humble, and wanting the charity which would edify yourselves and others, 1 Cor. viii. 1. 12. And it tendeth to delude you in ptjint of assur- ance of salvation ; taking your own over-valuing self-esteem for true assurance ; which is not ordina- rilv to be expected, till grace be come to strength. 13. Lastly, It tendeth to corrupt your ap])rehcn- sions of the nature of Christianity itself; while you will judge of it in others according to your own over- valued measure : when, if you knew it as it is in the heart and practice of the sober, wise, humble, chari- table, peaceable, mortified, heavenly believer, you would see that it hath a higher glory than any that is manifested by you. I have named to you all these sad effects of over- valuing your beginnings in religion, that as you love profitableness, they oft think hifjhliest of their knowledge, and they are proud while their dulness tireth out their guides : for, Quoquisque est solertior et inj^eniosior, hoc docet iracun- dius et laboriosius. Quod enim ipse celeriter arripuit, id quum tardc percipi videt, discruciatur. Cicero pro Kos. Chap. II. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 43 your souls, you may avoid them. I take it to be a matter of exceeding great moment, for your safety and perseverance, that while you are infants in grace, you know yourself to be such ; that you may keep your form, and learn first the lessons that must first be learned, and " walk humbly with your God, and obey those that are over you in the Lord," Heb. xiii. 7, 17; 1 Thess. i. 5, 12, and may wait on the Spirit, in the use of means, and may not rejoice the tempter, by corrupting all that you have received, and imitating him, in falling from your state of hope. Direct. VI. Be not discouraged at the difficulties and oppositions which will rise up before you, when you begin resolvedly to walk with God. As discouragements keep off mul- '^°mL7/ts''l.Ttri!uf ■ titudes from religion, so they are great temptations to many young be- ginners to turn back, and as the Israelites in the wilderness, ready to wish themselves again in Egypt. Three sorts of discouragements arise before them. 1. Some from the nature of the work. 2. Some from God's trials. 3. And some from the malice of the devil and his instruments : or all these. 1. It cannot be expected but that infants and weak- lings should think a little burden heavy, and an easy work or journey to be wearisome. Young beginners are ordinarily puzzled, and at a loss, in every trade, or art, or science. Young scholars have a far harder task, than when they are once well entered : learn- ing is wondrous hard and unpleasant to them, at the first ; but when they are once well entered, the knowledge of one thing helps another, and they go on with ease. So a young convert, that hath been bred up in ignorance, and never used to prayer, or to heavenly discourse, nor to hear or join with any that did, will think it strange and hard at first. And those that were used to take their pleasure, and fulfil the desires of the flesh, and per- haps to swear, ;ind talk filthily, or idly, or to lie, will find, at first, some difficulty to overcome their cus- toms, and live a mortified, holy life : yet grace will do it, and prevail. Especially in point of know- ledge, and atjility of expression, be not too hasty in your expectation, but wait with patience, in a faith- ful, diligent use of means, and that will be easy and delightful to you afterwards, which before dis- couraged you with its difticulties. 2. And God himself will have his servants, and his graces, tried and exercised by difficulties. He never intended us the reward for sitting still ; nor the crown of victory, without a fight ; nor a fight, without an enemy and opposition. Innocent Adam was unfit for his state of confirmation and reward, till he had been tried by temptation. Therefore the martyrs have the most glorious crown, as having undergone the greatest trial. And shall we presume to murmur at the method of fiod ? 3. And Satan, having liberty to tempt and try us, will quickly raise uji storms and waves before us, as soon as we are set to sea ; which nuike young begin- ners often fear, that they shall never live to reach the haven. He will show thee the greatness of thy former sins, to persuade thee that they shall not Ije pardon- ed. He will show thee the strength of thy passions and corruptions, to make thee think they will never be overcome. He will show thee the greatness of the oi)])osition and suffering which thou art like to undergo, to make thee think thou shall never ' Nihil homini metuendum nisi ne fcclicitatem excludal' Solon ill Laei t, p. .31. "> Spcui us crj;') sum do Christo Deo, ct Domino meo. Haec RpRi dicatis, suliigat ijjnibus, adipat bestiis, cxcruciet omnium tormpiilorum gpneiibus. si cessero, frustra sum in ecclcsiae catholica baptizatus ; nam si haec praiscns vita sola csset, et persevere. He will do hi.s worst to meet thee with poverty, losses, crosses, injuries, vexations, persecu- tions, and cruelties, yea, and unkindness from thy dearest friends, as he did by Job, to make thee think ill of God, or of his service. If he can, he will make them thy enemies that are of thine own household. ' He will stir up thy own father, or mother, or hus- band, or wife, or brother, or sister, or children, against thee, to persuade or persecute thee from Christ : therefore Christ tells us, that if we hate not all these, that is, cannot forsake them, and use them as men do hated things, when they would turn us from him, we cannot be his disciples, Luke xiv. 20; Matt. X. Look for the worst that the devil can do against thee, if thou hast once lifted thyself against him, in the army of Christ, and resolvest, whatever it cost thee, to be saved. Read Heb. xi. But how little cause you have to be discouraged, though earth and hell should do their worst, you may perceive by these few considerations. (1.) God is on your side, who hath all your ene- mies in his hand, and can rebuke them, or destroy them in a moment. Oh what is the breath or fury of dust or devils, against the Lord Almighty I " If God be for us, who can be against us ?" Rom. viii. .31. Read often that chapter, Rom. viii. In the day when thou didst enter into covenant with God, and he with thee, thou didst enter into the most impreg- nable rock and forti-ess, and house thyself in that castle of defence, where thou may est (modestly) defy all adverse powers of earth or hell. If God cannot save thee, he is not God. And if he will not save thee, he must break his covenant. Indeed, he may resolve to save thee, not from affliction and persecu- tion, but in it, and by it. But in all these suff"erings you will " be more than conquerors, through Christ that loveth you :" that is, it is far more desirable and excellent to conquer by patience, in sulTering for Christ, than to con([uer our persecutors in the lield, by force of arms. O think on the saints' triumphant boastings in their God. I'sal. xlvi. 1 — 3, " God is our refuge and strengtli, a very present help in trouble : therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and thougli the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea." I'sal. hi. 1 — 5, when his " enemies were many " and " wrested his words daily," and " fought against him, and all tlieir thoughts were against him," yet he saith, " What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God will I praise his word; in God have I put my trust: I will not fear what flesh can do unto me." Remember Christ's charge, Luke xii. 4, " Fear not them tliat can kill the body, and after that have no more tliat they can do. But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear : fear him, which after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell ; yea, I say unto you, fear him." If all the world were on thy side, thou might yet have cause to fear ; but to have God on thy side, is infinitely more. (2.) Jesus Christ is the Captain of thy salvation, Heb. ii. 10, and hath gone before thee this way him- self, and hath ccmquered for thee ; and now is en- gaged to make thee conijueror : and darest thou not go on where Christ doth lead the way ? He was per- fected through sullering himself, and will see that thou be not destroyed l)y it. Canst thou draw back, when thou seest his steps, and his blood?'" (3.) Thou art not to conquer in thy own strength, aliani qua; vera est, ntm sppraromus aetei nam, nec ita facerem ut modicum ct tcmpoialilpr (jloriarrr, d ingratu? existeiem qui suam (idem mihi cnutulit, ('rPiUori. Victorianus ad Hunncrychiuu in Vii t. Utic p. IGI. Vit tnr Uticensis saith, that bof'oro tho persocution of Huuiicryi hus these visions were seen : 1. All the lights put out in the church, and a darkness 44 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. but by the Spirit of God, and the power of tlmt ^race which is suthcient for tlici", and his strcnf,'th which appoareth most in our weakness, 2 Cor. xii. 9. And " you can do all thinf^s tlirouj^h Christ that strength- cneth yon," Phil. iv. 13. "Be of good cheer, he hath overcome the world," John Jfvi. 3;5. (4.) All that are in heaven have gone this way, and overcome such oi)p()siti()ns and ditlieulties as these :" they were tempted, troubled, scorned, opposed, as well as you ; and yet they now triumph in glory. "These are they that come out of great tribula- tion, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb: therefore are they before the throne of (rod, and serve him day and night in his temple : and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them," Rev. vii. 14. And all that ever come to heaven (at age) are like to come this way. And doth not the company encourage you ? and the success of those that have overcome before you ? Will you have the end, and yet refuse the way ? (5.) Consider how much greater difficulties ungodly men go through to hell. They have stronger ene- mies than you have : the devil and wicked men are your enemies ; but God himself is theirs, and yet they will go on. Men threaten but death to dis- courage you, and God threateneth damnation to dis- courage them ; and yet they go on, and are not dis- couraged. And will you be more afraid of man, than sinners are of God." and of death or scorns, than they are of hell ? (6.) Yea, and you yourselves must cast your souls on these greater evils, if by discouragement you turn from the way of godliness. You must run into hell for fear of burning ; and upon everlasting death, to escape a temporal death, or less : you will choose God for your enemy, to escape the enmity of man ; and how wise a course this is, judge you; when if you do but see that your ways please God, he can " make your enemies be at peace with you," if he see it for your good, Prov. xvi. 7- If you will fear, fear him that can damn the soul. (7.) Lastly, Remember what abundance of mercies you have to sweeten your present life, and to make your burden easy to you : you have all that is good for you in this life, and the promise of everlasting joy ; for godliness thus " is profitable to all things," I Tim. iv. 8. What abundance of mercy have you in your bodies, estates, friends, names, or souls, which are the greatest ! What promises and expe- riences to refresh you ! What liberty of access to God ! A Christ to rejoice in, a heaven to rejoice in ! and yet shall a stony or a dirty way discourage you more than these shall comfort you ? The sum of all is, your w'ork will grow easier and and stink succeeded. 2. The church filled with abundance of swine and goats, 3. Another saw a great heap of corn unwinnowed, and a sudden whirlwind nlew away all the chaff : and after that, one came and cast out all the stricken dead and useless corn, till a very little heap was left. 4. Another heard one cry on the top of a mount, Migrate, migrate. 5. Another saw great stones cast from heaven on the earth, which flamed and destroyed; but he hid himself in a cham- ber, and none of them could touch him. Page 405. Sed hoc edilicium ubi construere visus est diabolus, statiin illud de- struere dignatus est Christus. Id. ib. " Id. ib. saith tliat an Arian bishop being put over a city, all thai could take ship tied away to Spain, and the rest not only refused all the temptations of the bishop, but also pub- licly celebrated the divine mysteries in one of their houses; and the king being hereal. enraged, caused them in the open market-place to have their tongues and right hands cut off by the root; and that they yet spake after as well as before. And them that will not believe it, he referreth to one of them then living, and honoured for this in the emperor's court, that still spake perfectly. I'age 462, 4G.'5. " Sulpitius Severus in Vit. Martini, noteth that none but sweeter to you, as your skill and strength increase. Your enemies are as grasshop])ers before you ; the power of the Almighty is engaged by love and pro- mise for your help ; and do you pretend to trust in God, and yet will fear the face of man ? Isa. 1. (5 — 10, " I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair : I hid not my face from shame and spitting : for the Lord God will help me ; therefore shall I not be confounded, there- fore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near that justifietli me ; who will contend with me ? Let us stand to- gether : who is mine adversary ? let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God will help me : who is he that shall condemn me ? Lo, they all shall wax old as a garment ; the moth shall eat them up." Isa. li. 7, 8, " Hearken to me, ye that know righteous- ness, the peojile in whose heart is my law ; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be afraid of their revilings : for the moth shall eat them up like a gar- ment, and the worm shall eat them like wool : but my rigliteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation." He is no soldier for Christ, that will turn back for fear of scorns, or of any thing that man can do against him. And consider whether heaven should be easilier come to ? They are things of unspeakable glory that you strive for ; and they are unworthily despised, if any thing be thought too good to part with for them, or any labour, or difficulties, or sufferings too great to undergo to procure them. Direct. YII. If it be in your power, live under a ju- dicious, faithful, serious, searching, powerful minis- ter ;" and diligently attend his public teaching, and use his private counsel for more particular directions and application, for the settling and managing the affairs of your souls ; even as you take the advice of phy- sicians for your health, and of lawyers for your estates, and tutors for your studies. I give this direction only to those that may enjoy so great a mercy if they will. Some live where no such minister is. Some are children, or servants, or wives, that are bound and cannot remove their habi- tatitms, or enjoy such liberty, by reason of the un- willingness and restraint of others. Some are so poor, that they cannot remove their dwelling for such advantages. And some are so serviceable in their places, that they may be bound to stay under a very weak minister, that they may do good to others, where they have best opportunity. But let him that can be free, and possess so great a mercy, accept it thankfully, though to his cost. As Christ said in another ease, " Every man cannot receive the say- ing ; but he that can receive it, let him." There is abundance of difference between a bishops were against him because he was unlearned and of no presence. Look more in your teachers at matter than fine words. Augustin. de Cathechizand. rud. cap. 9. His maxiine utile est imsse ita esse prajponondas verbis sententias, ut pra-po- nitur animus corpori : e.\ quo fit, ut ita malle deboant vcriores quam disertiorcs audire sermones, sicut malle dcbent pruden- tiorcs quam formosiores habere ainicos. Noveriut ctiam mm esse vocein ad aures Dei nisi animi affectum: ita enim non irridebunt si aliquos antistites et ministros forte animadver- terint vcl cum barbarismis et solcecismis Deum invocare, vel cadcm verba qufe pronunciant, non intelligere, perturbateque dislinguerc. Vid. Filesacum de Episc. autoiit. p. 105. Poe- nituit multos van.-e sterilisque cathedrae. .luven. Italis Cice- ronianis sum iniquior, quia tantum loquuntur verba, non res, et rhetorica ipsorum plerunique est KoAa/ctDTiKi; : Est glossa sine textu : nux sine nucleo : nubes sine pulvia. PluiniE sunt meliores quam avis ipsa. Buchozer. Take heed lest prejudice or any corruption possess your minds, for then all that you hear will be unsavoury or unprofitable to you : Magna debet esse eloquontia, quae invitis placeat, ait Senec. praef. lib. 10. Controv. Chap. II. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 45 weak, unskilful, unexperienced, dead-hearted, formal teacher, and such a one as is described in the direc- tion. Some that are senseless or indifFt'rent in such matters as these themselves, would persuade you to he so too, and look first in your settlement to your bodily conveniences, and be content with such a teacher as accidentally you are cast upon. And they will IcU you, that the work of grace dependeth not on the preachers' gifts, but on the gift and blessing of the Spirit of God : the formalists and the enthu- siasts concur in this, though from different principles : but though God can frustrate the fittest means, and can work without means, or by that which is least fitted to the end, yet it is his ordinary way to work by means, and that for the soul as well as for the body ; and to work most by the aptest means. And I am sure it is the duty of every teacher, to preach in the fittest manner that he can for the people's edification ; and not to do God's work deceitfully, and ineptly, because God can bless the unfittcst means : and it is the people's duty to attend upon the best they can enjoy, though God can equally work by the weakest or by none. As that pretence will not excuse the contemners of God's ordinances, that upon every little business stay at home, and attend upon no ministry at all ; no more will it ex- cuse them, that refuse that help which is most suited to their edification, and take up with a worse, when they might have better. We are not to neglect duty upon a presumptuous expectation of miraculous or extraordinary works : when we can have no bet- ter, we may hope for the greater benefit from the weakest ; but not when it is the choice of our own presumptuous, irreligious hearts. God can make Daniel and his companions to thrive better by eating pulse, than others that fed at the table of the king : and rather than sin against God, we must cast our- selves on him for unusual supplies, or leave all to his will. But few would therefore be persuaded causelessly to live on pulse, when they may have better. And one would think this truth should have no contradiction, especially from those men, that are apt to obscure and extenuate the Spirit's opera- tions on the soul, and to confess no grace, but what consisteth in a congruous ordination of means and circumstances. When their doctrine layeth all a man's hopes of salvation upon this eongruity of means and circumstances, should they afterwards teach men to undervalue or neglect the fittest, and wilfully cast their souls upon the most unfit and un- likely means ? But ungodliness first resolveth what to speak against, before it resolveth what to say ; and will contradict God's word, though it contradict its own ; and will oppose holiness, though by a self-opposing. But the spiritual relish and experience of the godly, is a very great preservative to them against such deluding r{'asonings as these. It is harder for a sophister of greatest subtilty or authority, to persuade him that hath tasted them, that sugar is bitter, or wormwood sweet, than to persuade him to believe if, that never tasted them : and it is hard to make a healthful man believe it is best for him to eat but once a week, or best to live on grass or snow. I doubt not but those that now I speak to, have such experience and perception of the benefit of a ju- dicious and lively ministry, in comparison of the P Acosta nofeth if as a great hindcrance of the Indians' conversiun. that their teachers shift for better livings, and stay not fill they are well acquainted with the people, and that the bishops are of the same temper: Hacc tanta clades est aniniarnm, ut satis deplorari nnn possit; nihil sacerdos Chrisli pr.Tclari pruficiot in salute Inrlorum, sine familiari ct honiinuni et rcriim notitia, 1. 4. f. 10. p. .'}!K). Sunt autcm multi qui injunclo muneri copiose se safisfacere cxistiraant, ignorant, cold, and lifeless, that no words will make them indifferent herein. Have you not found the ministry of one sort enlighten, and warm, and quicken, and comfort, and strengthen you, much more than of the other ? I am sure I have the com- mon sense and experience of the faithful on my side in this, which were enough of itself against more than can be said against it. Even new-born babes in Christ have in their new natures a desire (not to senseless or malicious pratings, but) to the rational sincere milk, (to XoyiKov aco\bv yaXa,) that they may grow by it, and to perform to God a ra- tional service, Rom. xii. I. And it must needs be a very proud and stupid heart that can be so insensible of its own infirmity, sinfulness, and necessity, as to think the weakest, dullest minister may serve their turns, and that they are able to keep up their life, and vigour, and watchfulness, and fruitfulness, with any little ordi- nary help. I cannot but fear such men know not what the power and efficacy of the word upon the heart and conscience nieaneth ; nor what it is to live a life of faith and holiness, and to watch the heart, and walk with God. If they did, they could not but find so much difficulty herein, and so much backwardness and unskilfulness in tht mselves hereto, as would make them feel the necessity of the great- est helps ; and it could not be but they must feel the difference between a clear and quickening sermon, and an ignorant, heartless, dead discourse, that is spoken as if a man were talking in his sleep, or of a matter that he never understood, or had experience of. Alas, how apt are the best to cool, if they be not kept warm by a powerful ministry ! How apt to lose the hatred of sin, the tenderness of conscience, the fervency in prayer, the zeal and fulness in edi- fying discourse, and the delights and power of hea- venly meditations, which before we had ! How apt is faith to stagger if it be not powerfully imderpropt by the helpers of our faith ! How hardly do we keep up the heat of love, the confidence of hope, the resolution and fulness of obedience, without tne help of a i^owerfiil ministry ! Nay, how hardly do we do our i)art in these, in any tolerable sort, even while we have the clearest, liveliest helps, that are ordinarily to be had ! And can any that are not blind and j)roud, imagine that they are so holy and good, that they are above the necessity of such assistance, and that the weakest breath is enough to kindle the fire of holy love and zeal, and keep tlu-m in the fear and obedience of God? Alas, we are under languish- ing weakness, and must be dieted with the best, or we shall soon decay ; we are cripples, and cannot go or stand without our crutches. And there must be some savour of the Spirit in him that will be fit to make us spiritual, and some savour of faith and love in him that would kindle faith and love in us; and he must speak clearly and convincingly that will be understood, and will prevail with such as we ; and he must speak feelingly, that would make us fed, and speak seriously, that would be much regarded by us, and would make us serious. fi. And ministers are not set up only for public preaching, but for private counsel also, according to our particular needs. p As physicians are not only to read you instructions for the dieting and curing of orationem dnminiramet symbolum et salutationem angeliram, turn pra-ccpta decalogi Hispani. idomate identidem Indis recitantes, eorum infantes baptizantes, inortuos sepelienles, nia'rimonio juvenes collncantes, et rem sacrani festis diebus facientis. — Neque tonsrientia, quam utinam cauterizatam non habcant, mordontur quod dispersae sint oves Domini, &c. c. 7. p. 37.3. 4f> CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. yourselves, but to be present in your sickness to di- rect you in the particular application of remedies ; and as lawyers are to assist you in your particular cases to free your estates from encumbrances, and preserve or rescue them from contentious men ; choose therefore some able minister to he your ordi- nary counsellor in the matters of (iod. And let him be one lhat is humble, faithful, experienced, and skilful, that liath leisure, ability, and willingness to assist you. As infants in a family are unable to help them- selves, and need the continual help of others, and therefore God hath put into the hearts of parents a special love to them, to make them diligent and pa- tient in helping them ; so is it in the family of Christ ; most christians, by far, are young or weak, in un- derstanding and in grace ; it is long before you will be ])ast the need of others' help, if ever in this life. If you feel not this your infirmity and need, it is so much the greater. God will have no men to be self-sufficient ; we shall all have need of one an- other, that we may be useful to one another ; and God may use us as his messengers and instruments of conveying his mercies to each other ; and that even self-love may help us to be sociable, and to love one another : and our souls must receive their part of mercy, by this way of communication, as w ell as our bodies : and therefore, as the poor, above all men, should not be against charity and commu- nicating, that need it most ; so young christians that are weak and unexperienced, above all others, should be most desirous of help, especially from an able, faithful guide. But be sure you deal sincerely, and cheat not your- selves, by deceiving your counsellor, and hiding your case. To do so by your law'yer, is the way to lose your suit ; and to do so by your physician, is the way to lose your life ; and to do so with your pastor and soul-counsellor, is the way to lose your souls. And let the judgment of your pastor or judicious friend about the state of your souls be much regarded by you, though it be not infallible. How far such must be trusted, I am afterward to open to you, with other of your duties belonging to you in this relation. I now only proceed to general advice. Direct. VIII. Keep right apprehensions of the excellency of charity and unity among believers, and receive nothing hastily that is against them ; espe- cially take heed lest under pretence of their au- thority, their number, their soundness, or their holi- ness, you too much addict yourselves to any sect or party, to the withdrawing of your special love and just communion from other christians, and turning your zeal to the interest of your party, with a neg- lect of the common interest of the church ; but love a christian as a christian, and promote the unity and welfare of them all.i Use often to read and well consider the meaning and reason of those many urgent passages in Scrip- ture, which e.Khort all christians to unity and love.'' Such as John xi. 52; xvii. 11,2! — 23; 1 Cor. iii. 10, 17; xii. throughout; 2 Cor. xi. 13; 1 Thess. v. 12, 13; Phil. ii. 1—3; 1 Pet. iii. 8; Rom. xvi. 17; 1 Cor. i. 10 ; iii. 3 ; xi. 18. And John xiii. 35 ; Rom. xii. 9, 10; xiii. 10; 2 Cor. xiii. II; Gal. v. 6, 13, 22: Col. i. 4; 1 Thess. iv. 9 ; 1 John iii. II, 14, 23; iv. 7) 11, H), 19 — 21. Surely if the very life of god- liness lay not much in unity and love, we should never have had such words spoken of it, as here you 1 Agaiast uncharitableness and schism, see more in part. 2. ch. 23. ■■ Utrumque imperium, et Mahometicum et pontificium oilum est, ex dissidiis de doctrina — Cum in oriente dilace- rata; essont ccclesiaj — et hxc vaiictas in miiltorum animis ciubitationcs ct odium religionis cliristianx accendcret, et dis- (ind. Love is to the soul, as our natural heal is to the body: whatever destroyeth it, destroyetli life; and therefore cannot be for our good. He certain, that opinion, course, or motion, tends to death, that tends to abate your love to your bretln-cn, much more which under pretence of zeal, provoketh you to hate and hurt them. To divide the body is to kill it or to maim it ; dividing the essential, necessary parts, is killing it; cutting off any integral part, is maim- ing it. The first can never be an act of fiiendship, which is the worst that an enemy can do : the second is never an act of friendship, but when the cutting off a member which may be spared is of absolute necessity to the saving of the whole man, from the worse division between sold and body. By this judge what friends dividers are to the church, and how well they are accepted of God. He that loveth any christian aright, must needs love all that appear to him as christians. And when malice will not suffer men to see Christianity in its profession, and credible appearance in another, this is as well contrary to christian love, as hating him when you know him to be a true christian. Censo- riousness (not constrained by just evidence) is con- trary to love, as well as hatred is. There is a union and communion with christians as such : this consisteth in having one God, one Head, one Spirit, one faith, one baptismal covenant, one rule of holy living, and in loving and praying for all, and doing good to as many as we can. This is a union and communion of mind, which we must hold with the catholic church through the world. And there is a bodily local union and communion, which consisteth in our joining in body, as well as mind, with particular congregations : and this, as we cannot hold it with all, nor with any congregation, but one at once ; so we are not bound to hold it with any, that will drive us fi-om it, unless we- will com- mit some sin:* statedly we must hold it with the church which regxdarly we are joined to, and live with ; and occasionally we must hold it with all others, where we have a call and opportunity, who in the substance worship God according to his word, and force us not to sin in conformity to them. It is not schism to lament the sins of any church, or of all the churches in the world : the catholic church on earth consists of sinners. It is not schism to refuse to be partaker in any sin of the purest church in the world : obedience to God is not schism. It is not schism that you join not bodily with those congre- gations where you dwell not, nor have any particular call to join with them ; nor that you choose the purest and most edifying society, rather than one that is less pure and profitable to you ; cce/erix pari- bus, supposing you are at liberty : nor that you hold not bodily communion with that church, that will not suffer you to do it, without sinning against God; nor that you join not with the purest churches, when you are called to abide w'ith one less pure. But it is worse than schism to separate from the universal church : to separate from its faith is apos- tasy to infidelity. To separate from it in some one or few essential articles, while you pretend to hold to Christ the Head, is heresy : to separate from it in Spirit, by refusing holiness, and not loving such as are truly holy, is damning ungodliness or wicked- ness : to differ from it by any error, of judgment or life, against the law of God, is sin. To magnify ciplina laxata esset, &c. Melancth. Ep. Dedic. Chron. Ca- rionis. ' Ecclesia vera discreta est a ccctu Cain, qui secesserat a patre, et halmit suos ritus, et suam sectam. Ita slatim initio vcrae doctrinae vocern et veram ecclesiam pars humani generis deseruit. Cation Chronic, lib. 1. p. 16. Chap. II. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 47 any one church or party, so as to deny due love and coninumion to the rest, is schism. To hmit all the church to your party, and deny all or any of the rest to he christians, and parts of the universal church, is schism by a dangerous breach of charity ; and this is the principal schism that I here admonish you to avoid. It is schism also to condemn unjustly any particular church, as no church ; and it is schism to withdraw your bodily communion from a church that you were bound to hold that communion with, upon a false supposition that it is no church, or is not law- fully to be communicated w ith. And it is schism to make divisions or parties in a church, though j-ou divide not from that church. Thus I have (briefly) told you what is schism. 1. One pretence for schism is (usurped) authority, which some one church may claim to command others that owe them no subjection. Thus pride, which is the spirit of hell, having crept into the church of Christ, and animated to usurpations of lordship and dominion, and contending for superiorit)% hath caused the most dangerous schisms in the church, that it was ever infested with. The bishop of Rome (advantaged by the seat and constitution of that empire) having claimed the government of all the christian world, condemneth all tlie churches that will not be his subjects ; and so hath made himself the head of a sect, and of the most pernicious schisms that ever did rend the church of Christ : and the bishop of Constantinople, and too many more, have followed the same method in a lower degree, exalt- ing themselves above their brethren, and giving them laws, and then condemning and persecuting them that obey them not. And when they have im- posed upon other churches their own usurped authori- ty and laws, they have laid the jjlot to call all men schismatics and sectaries, that own not their tyran- nical usurpation, and that will not be schismatics and sectaries with them : and the cheat lieth in this, that they confound the churches' unity with their pretended authority, and schism with the refusal of subjection to them. If you will not take them for your lords, they cry out that you divide from the church : as if we could hold communion w ith no churches, but those whose bishops we obey. Com- munion with other churches is maintained by faith and charity, and agreement in things necessary, without subjection to them. As we may hold all just communion with the churches in Armenia, Arabia, Russia, without subjection to their bishops ; so may we with any other church besides that of which we are members. Division or schism is con- trary to unity and concord, and not to a usurped government : though disobedience to the pastors which God hath set over us is a sin, and dividing from them is a schism. Both the pope and all the lower usurpers .should do wel? first to show their commission from God to be our rulers, before they call it schism to refuse their government. If they had not made better advantage of fire and sword, than of Scripture and argument, the world would but have laughed them to scorn, when they had heard them say. All are schismatics that will not be our subjects : our dominion and will shall be neces- sary to the unity of the church. The universal church indeed is one, united under one head and overnor: but it is only Jesus Christ who is that ead, and not any usurping vicar or vicc-christ. The bishops of jjarticular churches are his officers ; but he hath deputed no vicar to his own office, as the universal head. Above all sects, take heed of this pernicious sect, who pretend their usurped authority for their schism, and have no way to promote their sect, but by calling all secta- ries that will not be sectaries and subjects unto them. 2. Another pretence for schism is the numbers of the party. This is another of the papists' motives ; as if it were lawful to divide the church of Christ, if they can but get the greater party. They say, We are the most, and therefore you should yield to us : and so do others, where by the sword they force the most to submit to them. But we answer them. As many as they are, they are too few to be the univer- sal church. The universal church, containing all true, professing christians, is much more than they. The papists are not a third part, if a fourth, of the whole church. Papists are a corrupted sect of chris- tians : I W'ill be against dividing the body of Christ into any sects, rather than to be one of that sect or dividing party, which is the greatest. 3. Another pretence for schism is the soundness or orthodoxness of a party. Almost all sects pretend that they are wiser and of sounder judgment than all the christian world besides : yea, those that most palpably contradict the Scriptures, (as the papists in their half-communion and unintelligible service,) and have no better reason why they so believe or do, but because others have so believed and done already. But, (1.) the greatest pretenders to orthodoxness are not the most orthodox: (2.) and if they w'ere, I can value them for that in which they excel, wathout abating my due respect to the rest of the church. (3.) For the whole church is orthodox in all tlie essentials of Christianity, or else they were not chris- tians : and I must love all that are christians with that special love that is due to the members of Christ, though I must superadd such esteem for those that are a little wiser or better than others, as they deserve. 4. The fourth pretence for schism, is the holiness of the party that men adhere to. But this must make but a gradual difference, in our esteem and love to some christians above others: if really they are most holy, I nuist love them most, and labour to be as holy as they ; but I must not therefore imjustly deny communion, or due respect, to other christians that arc less holy ; nor cleave to them as a sect or divided party, whom 1 esteem most holy. For the holiest are most charitable, and most against the divisions among christians, and tenderest of their unity and peace. The sum of this direction is: 1. Highly value christian love and unity. 2. Love those most that are most holy, and be most familiar with them, for your own edification : and if you have your choice, hold local j)ersonal communicm with the soundest, purest, and best qualified church. 3. But entertain not hastily any odd opinion of a divided party ; or, if you do hold it as an opinion, lay not greater weight on it than there is cause. 4. Own the best as best, but none as a divided sect ; and espouse not tlieir dividing interest. 5. Confine not your special love to a jjarty ; especially for agreeing in some opinions with you ; but extend it to all the members of Christ. (). Deny not local communion, when there is occasion for it, to any church that hath the sub- stance of true worship, and forceth you not to sin. 7. Love them as true christians and churches, even when they thus drive you from their communion. It is a most dangerous thing to a young convert, to be insnared in a sect : it will, before you are aware, possess you with a feverish, sinful zeal for the opinions and interest of that sect ; it will make you bohl in bitter invectives and censures, against those that difl'cr from them ; it will corrupt your church communion, and fill your very prayers with partiality and human passions ; it will secretly bring 48 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part II. malici , under the name of zeal, into your minds and words : in a word, it is a secret but deadly enemy to christian love and peace. Let them that are wiser, and more orthodox and godly, tlian others, show it as the Holy Ghost directeth them : James iii. i;3 — 18, " Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you ? let him show out of a good conversa- tion his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying (or zeal) and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion (or tunndt) and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above, is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, fall of mercy and good fruits, without partiality (or wran- gling) and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of right- eousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." Direct. IX. Take heed lest any persecution or wrong from others, provoke you to any unwarrantable passions and practices, and deprive you of the charity, meekness, and innocency of a christian ; or make you go beyond your bounds, in censiu'ing, reviling, or resisting your rulers, who are the officers of God. Persecution and wrongs are called temptations in Scripture, because they try you, whether you will hold your integrity.' As many fall in such trials, through the fear of men, and the love of the world, and their prosperity ; so when you seem most con- firmed against any sinful compliance, there is a snare laid for you on the other side, to draw you into pas- sions and practices that are unwarrantable. Those that are tainted with pride, uncharitable- ness, and schism, will itch to be persecuting those that comply not with them in their way ; and yet, while they do it, they will most cry out against pride, uncharitableness, and schism themselves. This is, and hath been, and will be too ordinary in the world. You may think that schism should be far from them, that seem to do all for order and unity. But never look to see this generally cured, when you have said and done the best you can : you must, therefore, resolve, not only to fly from church division yourselves, but also to undergo the persecu- tions or wrongs of proud or zealous church dividers. It is great weakness in you, to think such usage strange : do you not know that enmity is put, from the beginning, between the woman's and the ser- pent's seed ? And do you think the name or dead profession of Christianity doth extinguish the enmity in the serpent's seed ? Do you think to find more kindness from proud, ungodly christians, than Abel might have expected from his brother Cain ?" Do you not know that the Pharisees (by their zeal for their pre-eminence, and traditions, and ceremonies, and tlie expectation of worldly dignity and rule from the Messiah) were more zealous enemies of Christ than the heathens were ? and that the carnal mem- bers of the church are oft the greatest persecutors of the spiritual members ? " As then he that was bom after the flesh, did persecute him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now," (and will be,) Gal. iv. 29. It is enough for you, that you shall have the inheritance, when the sons of the bond- woman shall be cast out. It is your taking the ordi- nary case of the godly for a strange thing, that makes you so disturbed and passionate, when you • When the Arian bishops had made Hunnerychus believe that the orthodox turned the appointed disputation into popu- lar clamour, and were against the king, ne forbad them to meet, or to baptize, or ordain, and turned all the same laws against them which had been made against the Arians. Victor. Utic. p. 417, +18. " Quiesrerem nisi tantos talesque monies malitiae cpiscopo- ruDi, vol caeterorum saccrdotum aut clericoruni, in nostro suffer : and reason is down, when passion is up. It is by overwhelming reason with passion and discon- tent, that "oppression niaketh" some "wise men mad," Eccles. vii. 7 ; for passion is a short, imperfect madness. You will think in your passion, tluit you do well, when you do ill ; and you will not j)erceive the force of reason, when it is never so plain and full against you. Remember, therefore, that the great motive that causeth the devil to persecute you is not to hurt your bodies, but to tempt your souls to im- patience and sin : and if it may be said of you as of Job, chap. i. 22, "In all this Job sinned not," you have got the victory, and are " more than conquer- ors," Rom. viii. 37—39. Doth it seem strange to you, that " few rich men are saved," when Christ telleth you it is " so hard," as to be " impossible with men?" Luke xviii. 27 ; Mark x. 27. Or is it strange, that rich men should be the ordinary rulers of the earth ? Or is it strange, that the wicked should hate the godly, and the world hate them that are " chosen out of the world ? " What of all this should seem strange ? Expect it as the common lot of the faithful, and you will be better prepared for it. See therefore that you " resist not evil," (by any revengeful, irregular violence,) Matt. v. 39. "Let every soul be subject to the higher powers, and not resist, lest they receive damnation," Rom. xiii. 1 — 3. Imitate your Lord, that " when he was reviled, re- viled not again ; when he suffered, he threatened not, but committed all to him that judgeth righteously ; leaving us an ensample, that ye should follow his steps," 1 Pet. ii. 21, 23. An angry zeal against those that cross and hurt us is so easily kindled and hardly suppressed, that it appeareth there is more in it of corrupted nature than of God. We are very ready to think that we may " call for fire from heaven " upon the enemies of the gospel ; but " you know not what manner of spirit ye are then of," Luke ix. 55. But Christ saith unto you, " Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you ; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven," Matt. v. 44, 45. You find no such prohibition against patient sufTering wrong from any. Take heed of giving way to secret wishes of hurt to your adversaries, or to reproach- ful words against them : take heed of hurting yourself by passion or sin, because others hurt you by slanders or persecutions. Keep you in the way of your duty, an.l leave your names and lives to God. Be careful that you keep your innocency, and in your patience possess your souls, and God will keep you from any hurt from enemies, but what he will cause to work for your good. Read Psal. xxxvii. " Commit thy way unto the Lord ; trust also in him ; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noon-day. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him : fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringcth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath : fret not thyself in anywise to do evil," ver. 5 — 8. Direct. X. When you are repenting of or avoiding any extreme, do it not without sufficient fear and caution of the contrary extreme. quoque ordine erigi adversus Deum vidissem. Gildas de Ex cid. Britan. H^7rt':;ll. "P^r""^; tl"^ conh-overted dif- ficulties in religion, where Scnjjture is not very plain, be too peremptory, confident, or fixed ; but hold them modestly with a due suspicion of your unripe understandings, and with room for further information, supposing it possible, or pro- bable, that upon better instruction, evidence, and ma- turity, you may, in such things, change your minds. I know, the factions that take up their religion on the credit of their party, are against this direction : thinking that you must first hit on the right church, and then hold all that the church doth hold ; and therefore change your mind in nothing which you this way receive. I know, also, that some libertines and half believers would corrupt this direction, by extending it to the most plain and necessary truths ; persuading you to hold Christianity itself but as an uncertJiin, probable opinion. But, as God's foundation standeth sure, so we must be surely built on his foundation. He that be- vor,. I. ' E lieveth not the essentials of Christianity, as a certain, necessary revelation of God, is not a christian, but an infidel. And he that believeth not all that which he understandeth in the word of God, believeth nothing on the credit of that word. Indeed faith hath its weakness, on those that are sincere ; and they are fain to lament the remnants of unbelief, and cry, " Lord, increase our faith ; help thou our unbe- lief." But he that approveth of his doubting, and would have it so, and thinks the revelation is uncer- tain, and such as will warrant no firmer a belief, I should scarcely say, this man is a christian. Chris- tianity must be received as of divine, infallible reve- lation. But controversies about less necessary things, cannot be determined peremptorily, by the ignorant or young beginners, without hypocrisy, or a human faith going under the name of a divine. I am far from abating your divine belief of all that you can understand in Scripture, and implicitly of all the rest in general. And I am far from diminishing the credit of any truth of God. But the reasons of this direction are these : 1. When it is certain that you have but a dark, uncertain apprehension of any point, to think it is clear and certain, is but to deceive yourselves by pride. And, to cry out against all uncertainty, as scepticism, which yet you cannot lay aside, is but to revile your own infirmify, and the common infirmity of mankind, and foolishly to suppose that every man can be as wise and certain, when he list, as he should be. Now reason and experience will tell you, that a young, unfurnished understanding, is not like to see the evidence of difficult points, as, by nearer ap- proach and better advantage, it may do. 2. If your conclusions be peremptory, upon mere self-conceitedness, you may be in an error for aught you know ; and so you are but confident in an error. And then how far may you go in seducing others, and censuring dissenters, and come back when you have done, and confess that you were all this while mistaken yourselves ! 3. For a man to be confident that he knowcth what he knowetli not, is but the way to keei) him ignorant, and shut the door against all means of further information. When the opinion is fixed by j)rejudice and conceit, there is no ready entrance for the light. 4. And, to be ung^-oundedly confident, so young, is not only to take up with your teacher's word, in- stead of a faith and knowledge of your own, but also to forestall all diligence to know more : and so you may lay by all your studies, save only to know what those men hold, whose judgments are your religion : too i)opish and easy a way to be safe. 5. If you must never change your first opinions or apprehensions, how will you grow in understanding ? Will you be no wiser at age, than you were in childhood, and after long study and exjierience, than before ? Nature and grace do tend to in- crease. Indeed, if you should be never so peremptory in your opinions, you cannot resolve to liold them to the end : for light is powerful, and may change you whether you will or no : you cannot tell what that light will do, which you never saw. But prejudice will make you resist the light, and make it harder for you to understand. I speak this upon much experience and observa- tion. Our first unrii)e apprehensions of tilings will certainly be greatly changed, if we are studious and of imj)roved understandings. Study the controver- sies about grace and free-will, or about other such ])oiiits of difficulty, when you are young, and it is two to one that ripeness will afterward make them quite 50 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. anotlier thing to you. For niy own part, my judg- ment is altcnnl from many of my youthful, conlident apprehi-nsions : and w hero it holdcth the sanu- con- clusion, it rojeetcth abundance of the arguments, as vain, which once it rested in. And where I keep to the same conclusions and argiunents, my apprehen- sion of them is not the same, but 1 see more satisfy- ing light in m;iny things, which I took but upon trust before. And if i had resolved' to lu)ld to all my first opinions, I must have forborne most of my studies, and lost much truth, which I have discovered, and not made that my own, whic-h 1 did hold ; and I must have resolved to live and die a child. The sum is. Hold fast the substance of religion, and every clear and certain truth, which you see in its own evidence : and also reverence your teachers ; especially tlie universal church, or the generality of wise and godly men ; and be not hasty to take up any private opinion ; and especially to contradict the opinion of your governors and teachers, in small and controverted things. But yet, in such matters, re- ceive their opinions but with a human faith, till in- deed you have more, and therefore, with a supposi- tion, that time and study is very like to alter your apprehensions : and with a reserve, impartially to study and entertain the ti'uth, and not to sit still just where you were born. What to iio wiii-n Direct. XII. If controversies occa- roiuiovei>ics iii. lii- sion any divisions where you live, be vuie the ch...rch. ^^^^.^ j^^j^ ^^^^ jj^^ interest of common truth and good, and to the exercise of charity. And become not passionate contenders for any party in the division, or censurers of the peace- able, or of your teachers, that will not overrun their own understandings, to obtain with you the esteem of being orthodox or zealous men ; but suspect your own unripe understandings, and silence your opinions till you are clear and certain; and join rather with the moderate and the peacemakers, than with the contenders and dividers. You may easily be sure that division tendeth to the ruin of the church, and the hinderance of the gospel, and the injury of the common interest of re- ligion.You know it is greatly condemned in the Scriptures. You may know that it is usually the ex- ercise and the increase of pride, uncharitablencss, and passion ; and that the devil is best pleased with it, as being the greatest gainer hy it. But, on the other side, you are not easily certain which party is in the right: and if you were, you are not sure that the matter will be worth the cost of the contention : or if it be, it is to be considered, whether the truth is not like to get more advantage by managing it in a more peaceable way, that hath no contention, nor stirreth up other men so much against it, as the way of controversy doth. And whatever it prove, you may and should know, that young christians, that want both parts, and helps, and time, and experience to be thoroughly seen in controversies, are very unfit to make themselves parties ; and that they arc yet more unfit to be the hottest leaders of these parties, and to spur on their teachers, that know more than they. If the work be fit for another to do, that knoweth on what ground he goeth, and can foresee " Stoici (licunt cum neraine stultorum esse litigandum : om- nesquo stiillos insaiiire. Lacrt. in Zenone. y Consuniinjj; zeal doth use at last to burn up tlie owners of it. Whatever they say or do against others in their intempe- rtite violence, they teath others at last to say and do airainst them, when they liave opportunity. How the orthodox taught the Arians to use severity atrainst thciri, may he seen in Victor. Utic. p. 1 17 — 1 19, in the edict of Hunnerychus : Legem quam duduui Chri-^tiani Imperatores nostri contra eos et alios hairc- ticos pro honorificentia ceelesirn eathnlica! dederunt, adversus nos illi propouerc nou eruhueiunt, v. g. lie.i Hun. &c. Tri- the end, yet certainly it is not fit for you. And there- fore forbear it till you are more fit. I know those that would draw you into such a contentious zeal, will tell you, that their cause is the cause of God, and that you desert him and betray it, if you be not zealous in it: and that it is but the counsel of llcsh and blood which maketh you pretend moderation and peace : and that it is a sign that you are hypocrites, that are so lukewarm, and carnally comply with error : and that the cause of God is to be followed with the greatest zeal and self-denial. And all this is true, if you but be sure that it is in- deed the cause of God ; and that the greater works of God be not neglected on such pretences ; and that your zeal be uuich greater for faith, and charity, and unity, than for your opinions. But upon great ex- perience, I nmst tell you, that of the zealous contend- ers !" in the world, that cry up " The cause of God, and truth," there is not one of very many, that un- derstandeth what he talks of; but some of them cry up the cause of God, when it is a brat of a proud and ignorant brain, and such as a judicious person would be ashamed of. And some of them are rashly zealous, before they have parts or time to come to any judicious trial. And some of them are misguided by some person or party, that captivateth their minds. And some of them are hurried away by passion and discontent. And many of the ambitious and worldly are blinded by their carnal interests. And many of them, in mere pride, think highly of an opinion, in which they are somewhat singular, and which tiiey can, with some glorying, call their own, as cither invented by them or that, in which they think they know more than ordinary men do. And abundance, after long experience, confess that to have been their own erroneous cause, which they before entitled the cause of God. Now when this is the case, and one crieth, Here is Christ, and another. There is Christ ; one saith, This is the cause of God, and another saith. That is it ; no man that hath any care of his conscience, or of the honour of God and his profession, will leap before he looketh where he shall alight ; or run after every one that will whistle him with the name or pretence of truth or a good cause. It is a sad thing to go on many years to- gether in censuring, opposing, and abusing those that are against you, and in seducing others, and misem- l)loying your zeal, and ])arts, and time, and poison- ing all your prayers and discourses, and in the end to see what mischief you have done for want of knowledge, and with Paul to confess, that you were mad in opjjosing the truth and servants of God, though you did it in a zeal of God through ignorance. Were it not iiuich better to stay till you have tried the ground, and ])revent so many years' grievous sin, than to escape by a sad repentance, and leave be- hind you stinking and venomous fruit of your mis- take ? and worse, if you never repent yourselves. Your own and your brethren's souls are not so lightly to be ventured upon dangerous, tmtricd ways. It will not make the truth and chin-ch amends, to say at last, I had thought I had done well. Let those go to the wars of disputing and contending, and censuring, and siding with a sect, that are riper, and umphalia et majcstatis regia; probatur esse virtutis, mala in autores consilia retorquere: quisquis enira pravitalis aliquid inyenerit, sihi impulet quod ineurret. — Nullos convcntus homousion sacerilotes assuinant, nec aliquid mysteriorum, qua; luagis poUuunt, sihi vcndiccnt. Nullam habeant ordinandi lieentiam. — « tenor of Uie keep the substance of the gospel un- sos|«^'- known or unobserved to you : he would hide the wonderful love of God revealed in our Redeemer, and all the riches of saving grace, and the great deliver- ance and privileges of believers, and the certain hopes of life eternal : and the kingdom of God, which consisteth in righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, sh;dl be represented to you as consisting in errors only, or in trifles ; in shadows and shows, and bodily exercise which profiteth little, 1 Tim. iv. 8. If ever you would know the pleasures of faith and holiness, you must labour above all to know God as revealed in his infinite love in the Mediator, and read the gospel as God's act of oblivion, and the testament and covenant of Christ, in which he giveth you life eternal: and in every duty draw near to God as a reconciled Father, the object of your ever- lasting love and joy. Know and use religion as it is, without mistaking or corrujiting it, and it will not appear to you as a grievous, tedious, or confounding thing. Direct. XIV. Be very diligent in mortifying the desires and pleasures of the flesh ; and keep a con- tinual watch upon your senses, appetite, and lusts ; and cast not yourselves upon temptations, occasions or opportunities of sinning, remembering that your salvation lieth on your success. The lusts of the flesh, and the pleasures of the w^orld, are the common enemies of God and souls, and the damnation of those souls that perish. And there is no sort more liable to temptations of this kind, than those that are in the flower of their youth and strength. When all the senses are in their vigour, and lust and appetite are in their strength and fury, how great is the danger I and how great must your diligence be if you will escape I The appetite and lust of the weak and sick, are weak and sick as well as they ; and there- fore they are no great temptation or danger to them. The desire and pleasure of the senses do abate, as natural strength and vigour doth abate : to such there is much less need of watchfulness ; and where nature hath mortified the flesh, there is somewhat the less for grace to do. There needs not much grace to keep the aged and weak from fornication, uncleanness, excessive sports and carnal mirth : and gluttony and drunkenness also are sins which youth is much more liable to. Especially some bodies that are not only young and strong, but have in their temperature and complexion a special inclination to some of these, as lust, or sport, or foolish mirth, there needeth a great deal of diligence, resolution, and watchfulness for their preservation. Lust is not like a corrupt opinion, that surpriseth us through a defect of reason, and vanishcth as soon as truth ap- peareth ; but it is a brutish inclination, which though reason must STibdue and govern, yet the ])erfectest reason will not extirpate, but there it will still dwell. And as it is constantly with you, it will be stimng when objects are presented by the sense or fantasy to allure. And it is like a torrent, or a headstrong horse, that must be kept in at first, and is hardly re- strained if it once break loose and get the head. If you are bred up in temperance and modesty, where there are no great temptations to gluttony, drinking, sports, or wantonness, you may think a while that your natures have little or none of this concupis- cence, and so may walk without a guard : but when Chap. II. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 55 you come where baits of lust abound, where women, and plays, and feasts, and drunkards are the devil's snares, and tinder, and bellows, to inflame your lusts, you may then find to your sorrow, that you had need of watchfulness, and that all is not morti- fied that is asleep or quiet in you. As a man that goeth with a candle among gunpowder, or near thatch, .should never be careless, because he goeth in continual danger ; so you that are young, and have naturally eager appetites and lusts, should re- member that yovi carry fire and gunpowder still about you, and' are never out of danger while you have such an enemy to watch. And if once you suffer the fire to kindle, alas ! what work may it make, ere you are aware ! James i. 14, 15, " Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin : and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." Little knoweth the fish, when he is catching or nibbling at the bait, that he is swallowing the hook which will lay him presently on the bank. When you are looking on the cup, or gazing on alluring beauty, or wantonly dallying and pleasing your senses with things un- safe, you little know how far beyond your intentions you may be drawn, and how deep the wound may prove, how great the smart, or how long and difficult the curt'. As you love your souls, observe Paul's counsel, 2 Tim. ii. 22, " Flee youthful lusts." Keep at a full distance : come not near the bait. If you get a wound in your consciences, by any wilful, heinous sin, O what a case will you be in ! How heartless unto secret dutj' ! afraid of (iod, that should be your joy ; deprived of the comforts of his pre- sence, and all the pleasure of his ways ! How miserably will you be tormented, between the ty- ranny of your own concupiscence, the sting of .sin, the gripes of conscience, and the terrors of the Lord ! How much of the life of faith, and love, and heavenly zeal, will be quenched in a moment ! I am to speak more afterwards of this ; and therefore shall only say, at present, to all young converts that care for their salvation, "Mortify the flesh," and "always watch, and avoid temptations." Direct. XV. Be exceeding wary, not only what teachers you commit the guidance of your souls unto, but also with what company you familiarly converse;* that they be neither such as would cor- rupt your minds with error, or your hearts with viciousness, profanencss, lukewarmncss, or with a feverish, factious zeal : but choose, if possible, judi- cious, holy, heavenly, humble, unblamable, self-de- nying persons, to be your ordinary companions, and familiars ; but especially for your near relations. It is a matter of very great importance, what teachers you choose, in order to your salvation.'' In this the free grace of God much diflereneeth some from others : for, as poor heathens and infidels have none that know more, than what the book of nature teacheth (if so much); so in the several nations of christians, it is hard for the people to have any, but such as the sword of the magistrate forceth on them, or the stream of their countr}''s custom recom- mendeth to them. And it is a wonder, if pure truth and holiness be countenanced by either of these. But, when and where his mercy pleaseth, God send- eth wise and holy teachers, with compassion and * Namsi falsi et solo nomine fumidi, non modo non oonsu- lendi, srd vitandi sunt, quilius nihil est iinportunius, nihil in- sulsius, &c. Petrarch. Dial. 117. lib. 2. Scicntis est posse durere. Proverb. Sub indocio tamcn doctus evadere potes, afflatu aliquo divino, ul Cicero loquitur. Augustinus dc seipso testatur (cui non omnia credere nclas est) quod ct Aristotelicas Catcgorias, qua; infer difficiiliraa diligence to seek the saving of men's souls ; so that none but the malignant and obstinate are deprived of their help. Ambitious, proud, covetous, licentioTis, ungodly men, are not to be chosen for your teachers, if you have your choice. In a nation where true religion is in credit, and hath the magisti'ate's countenance, or the major vote, some graceless men may join with better, in preaching and defending the purity of doc- trine and holiness of life : and they may be very serviceable to the church herein ; especially in ex- pounding and disputing for the truth. But even there, more experienced, spiritual teachers are much more desirable : they will speak most feelingly, who feel what they speak ; and they are fittest to bring others to faith and love, who believe, and love God and holiness themselves. They that have life, will speak more lively than the dead. And in most places of the world, the imgodliness of such teachers makes them enemies to the truth which is according to godliness : their natures are at enniit}- to the life and power of the doctrine which they should preach : and they will do their worst to corrupt the magis- trates, and make them of their mind : and, if they can but get the sword to favour them, they are, usually, the cruellest persecutors of the sincere. As it is notorious among the papists, that the baits of power, and honour, and wealth, have so vitiated the body of their clergy, that they conspire to uphold a worldly government and religion ; and, in express contradiction to sense and reason, and to antiquity, and the judgment of the church, and to the holy Scriptures, they captivate the ignorant and scn,sual to their tyranny and false worship, and use the se- duced magistrates and multitude, to the persecuting of those that will not follow them to sin and to per- dition. Take heed of proud and worldly guides. And yet it is not every one that pretendeth piety and zeal, that is to be heard, or taken for a teacher. But, 1. Such as preach, ordinarily, the substantial truths which all clnistians are agreed in. 2. Such as make it the drift of their preaching, to raise your souls to the love of God, and to a holy, heavenly life, and are zealous against confessed sins. 3. Such as contradict not the essential truths, by errors of their own ; nor the doctrine of godliness, by wicked, malicious applications. 4. Such as drive not on any ambitious, tyrannical designs of their own, but deny themselves, and aim at your salvation. 5. Such as are not too hot in proselyting you to any singular opinion of their own : it being the prediction of Paul to the Ephesians, Acts xx. 30, " Of your own- selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." 6. Such as are judicious with holy zeal, and zealous with judgment. 7. Such as are of experience in the things of God, and not young begiimers, or novices in religion. 8. Such as bear reference to the judgments of the generality of wise and godly men, and are tender of the unity of the church; and not such as would draw you into a sect or party, to the contempt of other christians ; no, not to a parly that hath the favour of rulers and the people, to promote them, y. Such as are gentle, peaceable, and charitable ; and not such as burn with hcdlish malice against their brethren, nor with an ungodly, or cruel, con- suming zeal. 10. Such as live not sensually and numerantur, et artes liberales, quas sinf^ulas ii praeceptoribus didicisse magnum diciturj nullo tradente, omncs intellexit. Bernurdus item, vir doctnua ct siuictitatc clarissimus, omnes suas literas (quarum inter cun< tos sui temporis abuudantissi- inus fuit ) in silvis ct in a^ris didicit, non hominum magislerio, scd mcililp.iido ot orando, nee ullos uuquam alios pra^ceptores habuit, quaui qucrcus ct I'agos. Petrarch, lib. 2. Dialog. 40. 56 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Paiit I. wickedly, contrary to the doctrine which they preach : but show hy their hves, that they LcHeve what they say, and feel the power of the truths which they preacli. And your familiar companions have great advan- tage to help or hinder your salvation, as well as your teachers.*^ The matter is not so great, whom you meet by the way, or travel with, or trade and buy and sell with, as whom you make your intimate or familiar friends. For sucii have both the advan- tage of their interest in your atTections, and also the adrantage of their nearness and familiarity ; and, if they have but also tlie advantage of higher abilities than you, they may be powerful iustrunients of your good or hurt. If you have a familiar friend, that will defend you from error, and help you against temptations, and lovingly reprove your sin, and feel- ingly speak of God, and the life to come, inditing his discourse from the inward power of faith, and love, and holy experience ; the benefit of such a friend may be more to you, than of the learnedest or greatest in the world. How sweetly will their speeches relish of the Spirit, from which they come ! How deeply may they pierce a careless heart .' How powerfully may they kindle in you a love and zeal to God and his commandments ! How seasonably may they dis- cover a temptation, prevent your fall, reprove an error, and recover your souls ! How faithfully will they watch over you ! How profitably will they provoke, and put you on ; and pray with you fer- vently when you are cold ; and mind you of the truth, and duty, and mercy, which you forget ! It is a very great mercy to have a judicious, solid, faith- ful companion in the way to heaven. But if your ears are daily filled with froth and folly, with ribaldry or idle stories, with oaths and curses, with furious words or scorns and jeers against the godly, or witli the sophistry of deceivers, is it likely this should leave a pleasant or wholesome relish on your minds ? Is it likely that the effect should not be seen, in your lean or leprous hearts and lives, as well as the efiects of an infected or unwholesome air or diet will be seen upon your diseased bodies ? He is ungodly, that liketh such company best : and he is proud and presumptuous, that will unnecessarily cast himself upon it, in con- fidence that he shall receive no hurt : and he is careless of himself, that will not cautiously avoid it : and few that long converse with such, come olF without some notable loss ; except when we live with such, as Lot did in Sodom, grieving for their sin and misery, or as Christ conversed w-ith publicans and sinners, with a holy zeal and diligence to con- vert and save them, or as those that have not liberty, who bear that which they have not power to avoid. Among the rest, your danger is not least from them that are eager to proselyte you to some party or unsound opinion : that they think they are in the right, and that they do it in love, and that they think it necessary to your salvation, and that truth or godliness are the things which they profess, all this makes the danger much the greater to you, if it be not truth and godliness indeed, which they pro- pose and plead for. And none are in more danger than the ungrounded and unexperienced, that yet <■ Impprat (Rex)ut nostra; rclifjionis illorum mensa nullum communom habcrent, ncque cum Catholicis omnino vcsceren- tur. Quae res non ipsis aliquod praestitit bcnpficiura, sed nobis maximum contuUt lucrum: nam sisermo eorum sicut cancer cousuevit serpere, quanto maj^is communis mensa ciborura potuit iuquiuare, cum dicat Apostolus, cum nefariis nec cibum habere communem. Victor. Utic. p. 418. Mag- num virtutis praesidium societas bonorum, socius exemplo excitat, sermone recreat, consilio instruit. orationil)Us ad- juvat, auturitate cuntinct, qux omnia solitudiui desunt. Jos. are so wise in their own esteem, as to be confident that they know treith from error when tliey hear it, and are not al'raiil of any deceit, nor much sus- picious of their own understandings. But of this before. The like danger there is of the familiar company of lukewarm onos, or the profane.'' At first you may be troublefi at their sinful or unsavoury "dis- course, and make some resistance against the infec- tion ; but before you are aware, it may so cool and damp your graces, as will make your decay discern- ible to others. First, you will hear them with less oflence ; and then you will grow indifferent what company you are in ; and then you will laugh at their sin and folly; and then you will begin to speak as they ; smd then you will grow cold and seldomer in prayer and other holy duties ; and if God prevent it not, at last your judgments will grow blind, and you will think all this allowable. But of all bad company, the nearest is the worst. If you choose such into your families, or into your nearest conjugal relations, you cast water upon the fire ; you imprison yourselves in such fetters as w'ill gall and grieve you, if they do not stop you ; you choose a life of constant, close, and great tempta- tions : whereas, your grace, and comfort, and salva- tion, might be much promoted by the society of such as are wise and gracious, and suitable to your state. To have a constant companion to open your heart to, and join with in prayer, and edifying con- ference, and faithfully help you against your sins, and yet to be patient with you in your frailties, is a mercy which worldlings neither deserve nor value. Direct. XVI. Make careful choice of the books which you read. Let the holy Scriptures ever have the pre-eminence ; and next them, the solid, lively, heavenly treatises, which best expound and apply the Scriptures ; and next those, the credible histo- ries, especially of the church, and tractates upon inferior sciences and arts : but take heed of the poi- son of the writings of false teachers, which would corrupt your understandings ; and of vain romances, play-books, and false stories, which may bewitch your fantasies, and corrupt your hearts. As there is a more excellent appearance of the Spirit of God in the holy Scriptures, than in any other book whatever, so it hath more power and fit- ness to convey the Spirit, and make us spiritual, by imprinting itself upon our hearts. As there is more of God in it, so it will acquaint us more with God, and bring us nearer him, and make the reader more reverent, serious, and divine. Let Scriptm-e be first and most in your hearts and hands, and other books be used as subservient to it. The endeavours of the devil and papists to keep it from you, doth show that it is most necessary and desirable to you. And when they tell you, that all heretics plead the Scrip- tures, they do but tell you, that it is the common rule or law of christians, which therefore all are fain to pretend ; as all lawyers and wranglers plead the law of the land, be their cause never so bad, and yet the laws must not be therefore concealed or cast aside : and they do but tell you, that in their con- cealment or dishonouring the Scriptures, they are worse than any of those heretics. When they tell Acosfa, 1. 4. c. 1.3. Dicunt Stoici amicitiam solos inter bonos, quos sibi innicem studioium similitude conciliet, posse consistero. I'orro amicitiam ipsam societatem quandam esse dicuut omnium qua; sunt ad vitam neccssaria, cum amicis ut nobisuiet ipsis utamur : atque ob id amicum eligendum, amicorumque multitudincm inter expetenda ponunt: inter malos non posse constaie amicitiam. Laert. in Zenone. Non tamen ut corporura, sic animoium morbi, transcunt ad nolentes : Imo vero nobilis animus, vitiorum odio, ad amo- rem virtutis accenditur. Petrarch. Dialog, de alior. morib. Chap. II. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 5; you that the Scriptures are misunderstood, and abused, and perverted to maintain men's errors, they might also desire that the sun might he obscured, because the purblind do mistake, and murderers and robbers do wickedly by its liglit ; and that the earth might be subverted, because it bears all evil-doers ; and highways stopped up, because men travel in them to do evil ; and food prohibited, because it nourish- eth men's diseases. And when they have told you truly of a law or rule (whether made by pope or council) which bad men cannot misunderstand, or break, or abuse and misapply, then hearken to them, and prefer that law, as that which preventeth the need of any judgment. The writings of divines are nothing else but a preaching the gospel to the eye, as the voice preach- eth it to the ear. Vocal preaching hath the pre- eminence in moving the affections, and being diver- sified according to the state of the congregations which attend it : this way the milk cometh warmest from the breast. But books have the advantage in many other respects : you may read an able preacher, when you have but a mean one to hear. Every congregation cannot hear the most judicious or pow- erful preachers ; but every single person may read the books of the most powerful and judicious. Preachers may be silenced or banished, when books may be at hand : books may be kept at a smaller charge than preachers : we may choosi> books which treat of that very subject which we desire to hear of; but we cannot choose what subject the preacher shall treat of Books we may have at hand every day and hour ; when we can have sermons but seldom, and at set times. If sermons be forgotten, they are gone. But a book we may read over and over till we re- member it ; and if we forget it, may again peruse it at our pleasure, or at our leisure. Sothatgood books arc a very great mercy to the world. The Holy Cihost chose the way of writing, to preserve his doctrine and laws to the chnreh, as knowing how easy and sure a way it is of keei)ing it safe to all generations, in comparison of mere v< rbal tradition, which might have made as many controver.sies about the very terms, as there be memories or persons to be the pre- servers and reporters. Books are (if well chosen) domestic, present, con- stant, judicious, pertinent, yea, and powerful ser- mons; and always of very great use to your salva- tion; but especially when vocal preaching failcth, and preachers are ignorant, ungodly, or dull, or when they are persecuted, and forbid to preach. You have need of a judicious teacher at hand, to direct you what books to use or to refuse. For among good books there are some very good that are sound and liv.dy : and some are good, but mean, and weak, and somewhat didl : and sonu- are very good in part, but have mixtures of errf)r, or else of incau- tclous, injudicious expressions, fitter to piizzl ■ tlian edify the weak. I am lolh to name any of these latter sorts (of whicli abundance have come forth of late) ; but to the young beginner in religion, I may be bold to r. 'commend (next to a sound catechism) Mr. Rutherford's Letters, Mr. Robert Bolton's Works, Mr. Perkins's, Mr. Whateley's. Mr. Ball, of Failh, Dr. Pr. ston's, Dr. Sibbs's, Mr. Ilildershain's, Mr. Pink's Sermons, Mr. Joseph Rogers's, Mr. Rich. Roge rs, Mr. Richard Allen's, Mr. Gurnall's, Mr. Swinnock's, Mr. Josepli Simonds's. And to estaldisli you against [ioi^tv. Dr. ('hallouer's Cn do Krcles. Cathol., Dr. Field,'of tlie (,'burcli. Dr. White's Way to the Churcli, with the Defence, Bishop Usher's Answer to tlie Jesuit, and Chillingworth, witli Dre- lincourt's Summary. And for right principles aljout redemption, &c. Mr. Truman's Great Propitiation, and of Natural and Moral Impotency ; and Mr. William Fenner, of Wilful Impenitency, ^Ir. Hotch- kis, of Forgiveness of Sin. To pass by many other excellent ones, that I may not name too many. To a very judicious, able reader, who is tit to cen- sure all he reads, there is no great danger in the reading the books of any seducers : it doth but show him how little and thin a cloak is used, to cover a bad cause. But, alas I young soldiers, not used to such wars, are startled at a very sophism, or at a terrible threatening of damnation to dissenters, (which every censorious sect can use,) or at every confident, tri- umphant boast, or at every thing that hath a fair pre- tence of truth or godliness. Injudicious persons can answer almostno deceiver which they hear : and when they cannot answer them, they think they must yield, as if the fault were not in them, but in the case ; and as if Christ had no wiser followers, or better de- fenders of his truth, than they. Meddle not there- fore with poison, till you better know how to use it, and may do it with less danger, as long as you have no need. As for piay-books, and romances, and idle tales, I have already showed in my " Book of Self-Denial," how pernicious they are, especially to youth, and to frothy, empty, idle wits, that know not what a man is, nor what he hath to do in the world. They arc powerful baits of the devil, to keep more neces- sary things out of their minds, and better books out of their hands, and to poison the mind so much the more dangerouslj', as they are read with more de- light and pleasure : and to fill the minds of sensual people with such idle fumes, and intoxicating fan- cies, as may divert them from the serious thoughts of their salvation : and (which is no small loss) to rob them of abundance of that precious time, which was given them for more important business ; and which they will wish and wish again at last, that they had spent more wisely. I know the fantastics will say, that these things are innocent, and may teach men nuich good (like him that must go to a whore-house to learu to hate uncleanness, and him that would go out with rolibers to learn to hate thievery) : but I shall iu)w only ask them as in the presence of God, I. Whether they could spend that time no better? 2. Whether better books and prac- tices would not edify them more ? 3. Whether the greatest lovers of romances imd plays, be tlu' great- est lovers of the book of God, aiul of a holy life ? 4. W^hether they feel in themselves that the love of these vanities doth increase their love to tlie word of God, and kill their sin, and ])repare them for the life to come ? or clean contrary ? And I would de- sire men not to prate against their own experience and reason, nor to dispute themselves into damn- able imj)enitency, nor to befool tlieir souls by a few silly words, which any but a sensualist may ])erceive to be mere deceit and falsehood. If this will not serve, they shall be shortly convinced and answered in another manner. Direct. XVII. Take heed that you receive not a doctrine of libertinism as from tiie gospel ; nor con- ceive of (Jhrist as an encourager of sin ; nor pretend free grace for your carnal security or sloth ; for this is but to set up another gospel, and another Christ, or rather the doctrine and works of the devil, against Christ and the gospel, and to turn the grace of God into wantonness. Because the devil ktioweth that you will not re- ceive his doctrine in his own name, his usual method is to propoimd and preach it in the name of Christ, which he knoweth you reverence and regard. For if Satan concealed not his own name and hand in every temptation, it would spoil his game ; and the 5S CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. more oxci llont ami splciulid is liis pretence, tlie more powerful the teinptatioii is.*^^ They that gave heed to sedueinj,' .si;irits and doel lines of devils, no doubt thou^jht hetti'r of tlie s])irits and the doetrines, espe- cially seeming ttriet, (for the devil hath his strict- nesses,) "as forbidding to marry, and abstinence from meats which (lod hath created to be received with thanksgiving," 1 Tim. iv. I, ;i. But the strictnesses of the devil are always intended to make men loose. They shall be strict as (he Pharisees in traditions and vain ceremonies, and l)uilding the tombs of the j)ro- phets, and garnishing the sepulclires of the righteous, that they may hate and murder the liviiig saints that worshii) God in spirit and in truth. Licentiousness is the proper doctrine of the devil, which all his strictness tendeth to promote. To receive such prin- ciples is pernicious : but to father them upon Christ and the gospel, is blasphemous. The libertines, antinomians, and autonomians of this age, have gathered you too many instances. The libertine saith, " The heart is the man ; there- fore you may deny the truth with your tongue, you may be present at false worship, (as at the mass.) you need not suffer to avoid the speaking of a word, or subscribing to an untruth or error, or doing some little thing : but as long as you keep your hearts to God, and mean well, or have an honest mental re- servation, and are forced to it by others, rather than suffer, you may say, or subscribe, or swear any thing which you can yourselves put a lawful sense upon in your own minds, or comply with any outward actions or customs to avoid offence and save yourselves." The antinomians tell you, that "The moral law is abrogated, and that the gospel is no law ; (and if there be no law, there is no governor nor govern- ment, no duty, no sin, no judgment, no punishment, no reward) ; that the elect are justified before they are born, or repent, or believe ; that their sin is par- doned before it is committed ; that God took them as suffering and fulfilling all the law in Christ, as if it had been they that did it in him : that we are justi- fied by faith only in our consciences : that justifying faith is but the believing that we are justified : that every man must believe that he is pardoned, that he may be pardoned in his conscience ; and this he is to do by a divine faith, and that this is the sense of the article, ' I believe the forgiveness of .sins,' that is, that my .sins are forgiven ; and that all are for- given that believe it : that it is legal and sinful to work or do any thing for salvation : that sin once pardoned need not be confessed and lamented, or at least, we need not ask pardon of .sin daily, or of one sin oft : that castigations are no punishments ; and yet no other punishment is threatened to believers for their sins ; and consequently that Christ hath not ])rocured them a pardon of any sin after believing, but jirevented all necessity of pardon ; and therefore they must not ask pardon of them, nor do any tiling to obtain it : that fear of hell must have no hand in our obedience, or restraint from sin. And some add, th;it he that cannot repent or believe, must comfort himself that Christ repented and believed for him (a contradiction)." ^ Many such doctrines of licentious- ness the abusers of grace have brought forth. And the sect which imitateth the father of pride in affecting to be from under the government of God, and to be the law-givers and rulers of themselves and all others, (which I therefore call the autonomians,) • Siquis est hoc robore animi, atque hac indole virtutis ac conlineiitiae, ut lespuat omnes voluptates, omncmquc vita; sua; cursum labore corporis, alquc in animi contenlionc con- ficiat, quera non quies, noii rrmiss.io, uon a!qualium studia, non hidi, non t(inviv ia d('lc< tant ; nihil in vila expetondum putet nisi qu'jd est cum laude et honorc conjunctum ; hunc are licentious and much more. They equally con- tend against C'hrist's government, and for Ihi'ir own : they fill tlie w(n-ld with wars and bloodshed, opjires- sion and cruelty, and tlie ears of God with the cries of the martyrs and oppressed ones ; and all that the spiritual and holy discipline of Christ may be sup- pressed, and seriousness in religion made odious, or banished from the earth, and that themselves may be taken for the centre, and pillars, and lawgivers of the church, and the consciences of all men may be taught to cast off all scruples or fears of off^eiiding (iod, in comparison of off ending them ; and may ab- solutely submit to them ; and never stick at any feared disobedience to Christ : they are the scorners and persecutors of strict obedience to the laws of (iod, and take those that fear his judgments, to be men affrighted out of their wits ; and that to obey him exactly (which, alas ! who can do, when he hath done his best) is but to be hypocritical or too pre- cise : but to question their domination, or break their laws, (imposed on the world, even on kings and states, without any authority,) this must be taken for heresy, schism, or a rebellion, like that of Korah and his company. This Luciferian sjiirit of the proud auto- nomians hath filled the christian world with blood- shed, and been the greatest means of the miseries of the earth, and especially of hindering and persecut- ing the gospel, and setting up a pharisaical religion in the world : it hath fought against the gospel, and filled with blood the countries of France, Savoy, Ilh;rtia, Bohemia, Belgia, Helvetia, Polonia, Hun- gary, Germany, and many more ; that it may appear how much of the Satanical nature they have, and how punctually they fulfil his will. And natural corruption containcth in it the seeds of all these damnable heresies : nothing more natural to lapsed man, than to shake off the government of God, and to become a lawgiver to himself, and as many others as he can; and to turn the grace of God into wantonness. Therefore the profane, that never heard it from any heretics but themselves, do make themselves such a creed as this, that " God is merci- ful, and therefore we need not fear his threatenings, for he will be better than his word : it belongeth to him to save us, and not to us, and therefore we may cast our souls upon his care, though we care not for them ourselves. If he hath predestinated us to sal- vation, we shall be saved ; and if he have not, we shall not; whatever we do, or how well soever we live. Christ died for sinners, and therefore though we are sinners, he will save us. God is stronger than the devil, and therefore the devil shall not have the most : That which pleaseth the ffesh, and doth God no harm, can never be so great a matter, or so much offend him, as to procure our damnation. What need of so much ado to be saved, or so much haste to turn to God, when any one that at last doth but repent, and cry (iod mercy, and believe that Christ died for him, shall be saved ? Christ is the Saviour of the world, and his grace is very great and fi-ce, and therefore God forbid that none should be saved but those few that are of strict and holy lives, and make so much ado for heaven. No man can know who shall be saved, and who shall not ; and therefore it is the wisest way, to do nobody any harm, and to live merrily, and trust God with our souls, and put our salvation upon the ventm'e : nobody is saved for his own works or deservings ; and therefore our lives mea scntentia divinis quihusdam bonis instructum atque or- natum puto, Cic. pro Cael. ' For sound principles in these points, read Mr. Gibbon's Sermon of Justification, in the Morning; Exercises at St. Giles'; and Mr. Truman's two books before named, and Le Blank's Theses in Latin, with the Thes. Salmuriens. &c. Ch.ap. II. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 59 may serve the turn as well as if tlu-y were more strict anci holy." This is the creed of the ungodly ; by which yon may see how natural it is to them to abuse the gospel, and plead God's grace to quiet and strengthen them in their sin, and to embolden them- selves on Christ to disobey him. But this is but to set Christ against himself ; even his merits and mercy against his government and Spirit ; and to set his death against the ends of his death ; and to set our Saviour against our salvation ; and to run from God and rebel against him, because Christ died to recover us to God, and to give us repentance unto life ; and to sin, because he died to save his people from their sins, " and to purify a pe- culiar people to himself zealous of good works," Matt. i. 21 : Tit. ii. 14. " He that committeth sin is of the devil : for the devil sinneth from the begin- ning. For this purpose the Son of God was mani- fested, that he might destroy the works of the devil," 1 John iii. S : John viii. 44. Direct. XVIII. Watch diligently both against the more discernible decays of grace, and against the degenerating of it into some carnal affections, or something counterfeit, and of another kind. And so also of religious duties. We are no sooner warmed with the celestial flames, but natural corruption is inclining us to grow cold ; like hot water, which loseth its heat by degrees, un- less the fire be continually kept under it. Who feel- eth not that as soon as in a sermon, or prayer, or holy meditation, his heart hath got a little heat, as soon as it is gone, it is prone to its former earthly tt mjjer, and by a little remissness in our duty, or thouglits, or business about the world, we presently grow cold and dull again. Be watchful, therefore, lest it decline too far. Be frequent in the means that must preserve you from declining: when faintness telleth you that your stomach is emptied of the former meat, supply it with another, lest strength abate. You are rowing against the stream of fleshly interest and inclinations ; and therefore intermit not too long, lest you go faster down by your ease, than you get up by labour. The degenerating of grace, is a "Zg^.e7a.r^ of backsliding, very common, and too little observed. It is, when good affections do not directly cool, but turn into some carnal aff'cctions somewhat like Ihem, but of another kind: as, if the body of a man, instead of dying, shouhl receive the life or soul of a beast, in- stead of the reasonable, human soul. For instance : I. Have you believed in God, and in Jesus Christ, and loved him accordingly ? You shall seein to do so still as nuich as formerly, when yoi;r corrupted minds have received some false representation of him : and so it is indeed another thing that you thus corruptly believe and love. 2. Have you been fer- vent in prayer ? You shall be fervent still ; if Satan can but corrupt your prayers, by corrupting your judgment or aflections, and get you to think that to be the cause of (iod, which is against him ; and that to be against liim, which he commandetli ; and those to be the troubkrs of the church, wliich are its best and faithfullest members : turn but your prayers against the cause and people of God by your mis- take, and you may pray as fervently against them as you will. The same I may say of preaching, and conference, and zeal : corrujjt them once, and turn fhem against God, and Satan will join with you for zealous and frequent preaching, or conference, or disputes. 3. Have you a confidence in Christ and his promise for your salvation ? Take heed lest it tuni into carnal security, and a persuasion of your good estate upon ill grounds, or you know not why. 4. Have you the hope of glory? Take heed lest "it turn into a careless venturousncss of your soul, or the mere laying aside of fear and cautelous suspicion of yourselves. 5. Have you a love to them that fear the Lord ? Watch your hearts, lest it degenerate into a carnal or a partial love. Many unhcedful young persons of different sexes, at first love each other with an honest, chaste, and pious love ; but impru- dently using too much familiarity, before they were well aware it hath turned into a fleshly love, which hath proved their snare, and drawn them further into sin or trouble. Many have honoured them that fear the Lord, who insensibly have declined to honour only those of them that were eminent in wealth and worldly honour, or that were esteemed for their parts or place by others, and little honoured the humble, poor, obscure christians, who were at least as good as they : forgetting that the " things that are highly esteemed among men, are abomination in the sight of God," Luke xvi. 15; and that God valueth not men by their places and dignities in the world, but by their graces and holiness of life. Abundance that at first did seem to love all christians, as such, as far as any thing of Christ appeared in them, have first fallen into some sect, and over-admiring their party, and have set light by others as good as them, and censured them as unsound, and then withdrawn their special love, and confined it to their party, or to some few ; and yet thought that they loved the godly as much as ever, when it was degenerate into a factious love. 6. Are you zealous for God, and truth, and holiness, and against the errors and sins of others ? Take heed lest you lose it, while you think it doth increase in you. Nothing is more apt to degenerate than zeal : in how many thousands hath it t\irned from an in- nocent, charitable, peaceable, tractable, healing, pro- fitable, heavenly zeal, into a partial zeal for some party, or opinions of their own ; and into a fierce, censorious, uncharitable, scandalous, turbulent, dis- obedient, unruly, hurting, and destroying zeal, ready to wish for fire from heaven, and kindling contention, confusion, and every e\nl work. Head well James iii. 7. So if you are meek or patient, take heed lest it degenerate into stujiidity or contempt of those you suffer by. To be ])atient is not to be merely insensible of the affliction ; but by the power of faith to bear the sense of it, as overruled by things of greater moment. How ajjt men are to corrupt and debase all duties of religion, is too visible in the face of the far great- est part of the christian world. Throughout both the eastern and the western churches, the papists, the (j reeks, the Armenians, the Abassines, and too many others, (though the essentials of religion througli (iod's mercy are retained, yet,) how much is the face of religion altered from what it was in the days of the apostles ! The ancient simi)licity of doc- trine is turned into abundance of new or private opinions, introduced as necessary articles of religion : and, alas, how many of them false ! So that chris- tians, bi ing too jjroud to accept of the ancient test of Christianity, cannot now agree among themselves what a christian is, and who is to be esteemed a christian ; and so they deny one another to be chris- tians, and destroy their charity to each other, and divide the church, and make themselves a scorn by their (livisi(ms to the infidel world: and thus the primitive unity, charity, and peace is partly destroyed, and partly degenerate into the unity, charity, and peace of several sects among themselves. The pri- mitive sim])lieity in government and discipline, is with most turned into a forcible secular government, exercised to advance one man above otiiers, and to .satisfy his will and lusts, and make him the rule of other men's lives, and to suppress the power and spirituality of religion in the world. The primitive GO CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. simplicity of worship is tiirnpil into such a mask of ce- remony, and sticli a task of formalities and bodily ex- ercise, that if one of tlie apostolical chi islians sliould come among liiem, he would scarce tliink that this is the same employment which formerly tiie church was exercised in, or scarce know religion in this antic dress. So that the amiable, glorious face of Christianity, is so spotted and deliled, that it is hid- den from the unbelieving world, and they laugh at it as irrational, or think it to be but like their own : and the principal hinderanee of the conversion of heathens, Maliometans, and other unbelievers, is the corruption and diCornuty of the churches that are near them, or should be the instruments of their conversion. And the probablest way to the conver- sion of those nations, is the true reformation of the churches, both in cast and w est : which, if they were restored to the ancient spirituality, rationality, and simplicity of doctrine, discipline, and worship ; and lived in' charity, humility, and holiness, as those whose hearts and conversations are in heaven, with all worldly glory and honour as under their feet ; they would then be so illustrious and amiable in the eyes even of heathens and other infidels, that many would flock into the church of Christ, and desire to he such as they : and their light would so shine before these men, that they would sec their good works, and glo- rify their heavenly Father, and embrace their faitli. The commonest way of the degenerating of all religious duties, is into this dead formality, or life- less image of religion. If the devil can but get you to cast off the spirituality and life of duty, he will give you leave to seem very devout, and make much ado with outward actions, words, and beads ; and you shall have so much zeal for a dead religion, or the corpse of worship, as will make you think that it is indeed alive. By all means take heed of this turning the worship of God into lip-service. The commonest cause of it is, a carnality of mind (fleshly men will think best of the most lleshly religion) ; or else a slothfulness in duty, which will make you sit down with the easiest part. It is the work of a saint, and a diligent saint, to keep the soul itself both regularly and vigorously employed with God. But to say over certain words by rote, and to lift up the hands and eyes, is easy : and hypocrites, that are con- scious that they arc void of the life and spirituality of worship, do think to make all up w itli this for- mality, and quiet their consciences, and delude their souls with a handsome image. Of this I have spoken more largely in a book called, " The Vain Religion of the Formal Hypocrite." Yet run not here into the contrary extreme, as to think that the Ixidy must not worship (iod as well as the soul, or that the decent and edifying determina- tion of the outward circumstances of r ligion, and tlie right ordering of worship, is a needless thing, or sinful ; or that a form of prayer in itself, or when imposed, is unlawful : L'ut let the soul and body of religion go together, and the alterable adjuncts be used, as things alterable, while the life of holiness is still kept up. Direct. XIX. Promise not yourselves long life, or prosperity and great matters in the world, lest it entangle your hearts with transitory things, and en- gage you in ambitious or covetous designs, and steal away your hearts from God, and destroy all your serious apprehensions of eternity. i Nemini c.xplorafum potest esse quomodo sesp habitunim sit corpus, lion ijico :v\ annum sed ad vesppruin. Cicero, 2 clu fin. L)ii boiii ! quid est in hoininis vita diu ? Mihi nc diutur- num quidcni quicqnam videtur, in quo est aliquid extromuni. Cum fuiai id ailvcnit. tuni ilhid pnetcriit, cliluxil: tanlum rcmanct quod virtutc et recte factis sit consccutus : horte qui- Our own experience, and tiie alterations which the approach of death makes upon the most, doth sensibly prove, that the expectation of a speedy change, and reckoning upon a short lifi-, doth greatly help ns in all our preparation, and in all the work of lioliness through our lives. Come to a man that lieth on his death-bed, or a prisoner that is to die to-morrow, and try him Avith discourse of riches, or honours, or temptations to lust, or drunkenness, or excess ; and he will think you are mad, or very im- pertinent, to tell him of such things. If he be but a man of common reason, you shall sec that he will more easily vilify such temptations, than any reli- gious persons will do, in their jirospcrity and health. Oh how serious are we in repenting and perusing our former lives, and casting up our accounts, and ask- ing. What we shall do to be saved, when we see tliat death is indeed at hand, and time is at an end, and we must away ! Every sentence of Scripture hath then some life and power in it ; every word of exhortation is savoury to us ; every reproof of our negligence and sin is then well taken ; every thought of sin, or Christ, or grace, or eternity, goes then to the quick. Then time seems precious; and if you ask a man w'hether it be better spent in cards and dice, and plays and feastings, and needless recreations and. idleness, or in prayer, and holy ccmference, and read- ing and meditating on the word of God and the life to come, and the holy use of our lawful labours ; how easily will he be satisfied of the truth, and con- fute the cavils of voluptuous time-wasters ! Then his judgment will easilier be in the right, than learning or arguments hefore could make it.s In a W'ord, the expectation of the speedy approach of the soul into the presence of the eternal God, and of our entering into an unchangeable, endless life of joy or torment, hath so much in it to awaken all the powers of the soul, that if ever we will he serious, it will make ns serious, in every thought, and speech, and duty. And therefore, as it is a great mercy of God, that this life, which is so short, should be as uncer- tain, and that frequent dangers and sicknesses call to us to look about us, and be ready for our change ; so usually the .sickly, that look for death, are most considerate : and it is a great part of the duty of those tliat are in youth and health, to consider their frailty, and the shortness and uncertainty of their lives, and always live as those that wait for the coming of their Lord. And w'e have great reason for it, when we are certain it w ill be ere long ; and when we have so many perils and weaknesses to warn us, and when we are never sure to see another hour ; and w'hen time is so swift, so quickly gone, so unrecoverable, and nothing when it is past. Common reason re- quireth such to live in a constant readiness to die. But if youth or health do once make you reckon of Irving long,'' and make you ])ut away the day of your departure, as if it were far off; this will do much to deceive and dull the best, and take away the power of every truth, and the life of every good thought and dutjs and all will be apt to dwindle into custom- ariness and form. You will hardly keep the facul- ties of the soul awake, if you do not still think of death and judgment as near at hand. The greatest certainty of tlie greatest change, and the greatest joy or misery for ever, will not keep our stu])id hearts awake, unless we look at all as near, as well as certain. This is plain in the common difference dcm codupt, et dies, et menses, et anni, nec prseteritum tetn- j)US unquam revertitur, nee quid sequatur sciri potest. Cic. in Cat. Alaj. Quem saepc transit, casus aliquando invenit. Nihil tarn finnum cui pcriculum non sit ; etiara ab in- valido. Chap. II. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. GI fliat we find among all men, between their thoughts of death in health, and when they see indeed that they must presently die. They that in health could think and talk of death with laughter, or lightly, ■without any awakening of soul, when they come to die are oftentimes as much altered, as if they had never heard before that they are mortal. By which it is plain, that to live in the house of mirth is more dangerous than to live in the house of mourning ; and that the expectation of long life is a grievous enemy to the operations of grace, and the safety of the soul. And it is one of the greatest strengtheners of your temptations to luxury, ambition, worldliness, and almost every sin. When men think that they shall have many years' leisure to repe nt, they are apt the more boldly to transgress : when they think that they have yet m;my years to live, it tempteth them to pass away time in idleness, and to loiter in their I'aee, and trifle in all their work, and to overvalue all the pleasures, and honours,' and shadows of fe- licity that are here below. He that hath his life in his house or land, or hath it for inheritance, will set more by it, and bestow more upon it, than if he thought he must go out of it the next year. To a man that thinks of living many years, the favour of great ones, the raising of his estate, and name, and family, and the accommodations and pleasing of his flesh, will seem great matters to him, and will do much with him, and will make self-denial a very hard work. Therefore, though healtli be a wonderful great mercy, as enabling him to duty that hath a heart to use it to that end ; yet it is by accident a very great danger and snare to the heart itself, to turn it from the way of duty. Tlie best life for the soul, is that which lea.>t endangereth it by being over pleas- ing to the body, and in which the flesh hath the smallest interest, to set up and plead against the Spirit. Not but that the largest stock must be ac- cepted and used for fiod, when he trusteth us with it : for when he settetli us the hardest work, we may expect his greatest help. But a dwelling as in tents, in a constant unsettledness, in a movable condition, having little, and needing little, never feeling any thing in the creature to tempt us to say, " Soid, take thy rest ; " this is to most the safest life", wliich giveth us the freest advantages for heaven. Take heed therefore, as yon love your souls, of falling into the snare of worldly hopes, and laying designs for rising, and riches, and i)Ieasing your- selves in the thoughts and prosecution of these things, for then yon are in the readiest way to j)er- dition ; even to idolatrous worldliness, and apostasy of heart from God, and opening a door to every sin that seems but necessary to your worldly ends, and to odious hyjjocrisy for a cloak to all ihis, and to quiet your guilty minds with something that is like religion. When once you are saying, with worldly security, as he, Luke x'ii. 17—19, " I will pidl down my barns, and build gi-eater, and there will I bestow all my fruits and goods ; and I will say to my soid. Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry;" you are then befooling yourselves, and near being calh d a\yay as fools by death, ver. 20, 21. And when, without a sense of the uncertainty of your lives, you are saying, as those in .lames i"v. 1.3, 14, "To-day or to-morrow we will go into such a city, and con- ■ De bnnis et mails ita disserebat Plato: Finem esse Deo similem fieri: Virtuteni suflicero qiiideni ad bene bealeqiie vivendum; ciKterum inslrumentis imli<;cir, corp(jris bums, robore, sanitate, inte^'ntate sensiiiiiii, &c. p^xlerioi ilms eliam, opibus, generis clantate, glmia, &c. Ea et si non tinue there a year, and buy, and sell, and get gain, whereas you know not what will be on the morrow ; " you forget what yom- lives arc, that they are "a vapour appearing a little while, and then vanishing away," ver. 14. "Boast not thyself therefore of to- morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth," Prov. xxvii. 1. Direct. XX. See that your religion be purely di- vine, and animated all by God, as the beginning, the way, and the end; and tliat first upon thy soul, and then upon all that thou hast or dost, there be writ- ten " HOLINESS TO THE LORD ; " and that thou corrupt not all with an inordinate hypocritical re- spect to man. To be holy is to be divine, or devoted to God, and appropriated to him, and his will, and use ; and that our hearts and lives be not common and unclean.' To be godly, is to live to God, as those that from their hearts believe that he is God indeed, and that " he is the rewardtr of them that diligently seek him," that he is " our God all-sufficient, our shield and exceeding great reward," Heb. xi. G ; Gen. xv. 1 ; xvii. 1 ; and that " of him, and through him, and to him are all things," that all may give the glory for ever unto him, Rom. xi. 36. As God is infinitely above all creatures, so living upon God, and unto God, must needs advance us above the highest sensual life ; and therefore religion is transcendently above all sciences or arts. So much of God as is in you and upon you, so much you are more excel- lent than the highest worldly perfection can advance you to. God should be the First, and Last, and All in the mind, and mouth, and life of a believer. God must be the principal matter of your religion. The understanding and will must be exercised upon him. When you awake you sliould be still with him, Psal. cxxxix. 8. Your meditations of him should be sweet, and you should be glad in the Lord, Psal. civ. 34. Yet creatures, under him, may be the fre- quent, less principal matter of your religion ; but still as referred unto him. God must be tiie author of your religion : (iod must institute it, if you expect he should accept it and reward it. God must be the rule of your religion, as revealing his will concerning it in his word. God must be the ultimate end of your religion ; it must be intended to please and glorify him. God must be the continual motive and reason of your religion, and of all you do: you must be aljle truly to fetch your reason from heaven, and to say, I do it because it is his will ; 1 do it to please, and glorify, and enjoy him. Ciod must be taken as the Sovereign .ludge of your religion, and of you, and of all you do; and you must wholly look to his justi- fication and ajijtrobation, and avoid whatever he con- demneth. Can you take God for your Owner, your Sovereign, your Saviour, your sufficient Protector, your Portion, your All P If not, you cannot be godly, nor be saveil : if his authority have not more power upon you, than the authority of the greatest upon earth, you are atheistical hypocrites, and not truly religious, whatever you pretend. If " holiness to the Lord " be written ni)on you, and all that is yours, you are devoted to him as his own ))eculiar ones. If your names be set upon your sheeji, or ])late, or clothes, you will say, if another should take them. They are mine ; do yon not see my mark upon them ? Slavery to the flesh, the world, and the devil, is the mark that is written upon the ungodly (upon the foreheads of the profane, and upon the hearts aflliieiint, nihiloiiiinus tainen bealiim fore sapientem. — Ar- t)itratiir et Doos Immana cerneie afque curare : et demones esse — I'orrii in dialniris justiliam divinaiii legem arbitratus est, lit ad juste a^rr nduni pntentius persiiaderet, ne pust nior- (<'ui po^nas iniprubi lueieiit. l-acr(. in I'liit. 62 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. of hypocrites and .ill) ; and Satan, (he world, and the lle^jh have their service. If you are con.secrated to God, and bear his name and mark upon you, tell every one that would lay claim to you, that you are his, and resolved to live to him, to love him, to trust him, and to stand or fall to him alone. Let God be the very life, and sense, and end of all you do. \Vhen once man hath too much of your regard and observation, that you set too mucli by his favour and esteem, or eye him too nuich in your profession and practice ; when man's approbation too much comforteth you, and man's displeasure or dispraise doth too much trouble you ; when your fear, and love, and care, and obedience are too much taken up for man ; you so far withdraw yourselves from God, and are becoming the servants of men, and friends of the world, and turning back to bondage, and forsaking our Rock and Portion, and your excellency; the soul of religion is departing from you, and it is dying and returning to the dust. And if once man get the pre-eminence of God, and be preferred and set above him in your hearts or lives, and feared, trusted, and obeyed before him, you are then dead to God, and alive to the world; and as men are taken for your g' ds, you must take up with such a salvation as they can give you. If your alms and prayer are done to be seen of men, and to procure their good thoughts and words; if you get them, make your best of them; " for verily," your Judge hath said unto you, " you have your reward," Matt. vi. 1 — 3. Not that man is absolutely to be contemned or disre- garded.'' No ; under God, your superiors must be obeyed ; you must do wrong to none, and do good to all, as far as in you lieth ; you must avoid offence, and give good example, and, under God, have so much regard to men, as to become all things to all men for their salvation. But if once you set them above their rank, and turn yourselves to an inordinate de- pendence on them, and make too great a matter of their opinion or words concerning you, you are losing your godliness or divine disposition, and turning it into man-pleasing and hypocrisy. When man stands in competition with God, for your first and chief regard, or in opposition to him, or as a sharer in co-ordination with him, and not purely in subordination to him, he is to be numbered with things to be forsaken. Even good men, whom you must love and honour, and whose communion and help you must highly value, yet may be made the object of your sin, and may become your snare. Your honouring of them, or love to them, must not entice you to desire inordinately to be honoured by them, nor cause you to set too much by their appro- bation. If you do, you will find that while you are too much eyeing man, you are losing God, and connipting your religion at the very heart. And you may fail among those, that, how holy soever, may have great mistakes in mattt rs of religion, tending to much sin, and may be somewhat censorious against those that are not of their mind ; and so the retaining of their esteem, and the avoiding of their censures, may be- come one of the greatest temjitations of your lives. And you will find that man-pleasing is a very difTi- cult and yet unprofitable task. Love Christ as he appearetli in any of his servants, and be followers of them as they are followers of Christ, and regard their approbation as it agreeth with Christ's : but O see that you are able to live upon the favour of God alone, and to be quieted in his acceptance, .\lte spectare si volos, atque banc sedem, et aeternam do- mum contiieri, ncque sermonibus vulf^i dederis te, nec in prae- viis humanis spem posuei is reriim tiiarum: suis te illcccbris oportet ipsa villus tralial ad vcrum dccus. Cicero somii. though man despise you ; and to be pleased so far as (iod is pleased, though man be displeased with you ; and to rejoice in his justification, though men con- demn you with the odiouscst slanders and the great- est infamy, and cast out your names as evil-doers. See that (joiI be taken as enough for you, or else you take him not as your (iod; even as enough without man, and enough against man; that you may be able to say, " If God be for us, who can be against us ? Who is he that condemneth ? It is God that justi- fieth," Rom. viii. 31, 33, 34. " Do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be a servant of Christ," Gal. i. 10. Jer. xvii. 5—8, " Thus saith the Lord ; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and nuikcth flesh his arm, and whose heart de- parteth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good comcth.' — Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat Cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." Isa. li. 22, " Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils : for wherein is he to be accounted of P " •Having given you these directions, I must tell you in the conclusion, that they are like food, that will not nourish you by standing on your table, or like physic, that will not cure you by standing in the box : they must be taken and digested, or you will find none of the benefit. It is not the reading of them that will serve the turn to so great use, as the safe proceeding and confirmation of beginners or novices in religion : it will require humility to perceive the need of them ; and labour to learn, digest, and prac- tise them. Those slothful souls, that M'ill refuse the labour, must bear the sad effects of their negligence : there is not one of all these directions, as to the mat- ter of them, which can be spared. Study them, un- derstand them, and remember them, as things that must be done. If either a senselessness of your necessity, or a conceit that the spirit must do it with- out so much labour and diligence of your own, do prevail with you, to piu- pus with them, that men should live a(;ain, and become im- mortal. The like he saith of many other sects. It is a thinj; most irrational to doubt of the being of the unseen worlds, and the more excellent inhabitants thereof; when we consider that this low and little part of God's creation is so full tif in- habitants ; if a microscope will show your very eyes a thousand visible creatures which you could never see without it, nor know that they had any beint;, will you not allow the pure intellectual sight to go much further beyond your nucro- scope Milker. And so faith in Christ is but the means to bring us to the love of God, though in time they are connexed. 13. Knowledge and faith are the eye of the new creature, and love is the heart ; there is no more spiritual wisdom, than there is faith ; and there is no more life, or acceptable (pialilication, or amiableness, than there is love to God. 14. All truths in divinity are revealed in order to a holy life ; both faith and love are the principles and springs of practice. 15. Practice aflbrdeth such experience to a be- lieving soul, as may confirm him greatly in the be- lief of those supernatural revelations, which he before received without that help. I(). The everlasting fruition of (iod in glory being ,the end of all religion, must be next the heart, and most in our eye, and must objectively animate our whole religion, and actuate us in every duty. 17. The pleasing of God being also our end, and both of these (enjoying him and ])leasing him) being in some small foretastes attainable in this life, the endeavour of our souls and lives must be by faith to exercise love and obedience ; for thus God is pleased and enjoyed. IH. All things in religion are fitted to the good of man, and nothing to his hurt : God doth not com- • niand us to honour him by any thing which would make us miserable ; but by closing with and magni- fying his love and grace. 19. But yet it is his own revelation by which we must judge what is finally for our good or hurt; and • we may not imagine that our shallow or deceivable wit is sufficient to discern without his word, what is best or worst for us ; nor can we rationally argue from any present temporal adversity or unpleasing bitterness in the means, that " This is worst for us, and therefore it is not from the goodness of God:" but we must argue in such cases, " This is from the goodness and love of God, and therefore it is best." 20. The grand impediment to all religion and our salvation, which hindereth both our believing, loving, and obeying, is the inordinate sensual inclination to carnal self and present transitory things, cunningly proposed by the tempter to insiiare us, and divert and steal away our hearts from God and the life to come. The understanding of these propositions will much help you in discerning the nature and reason of religion. Grand Direct. II. Diligently labour To use Christ and in that part of the life of faith, which inr «pon bim as our eonsistcth in the constant use of ' <""■""''■ Christ, as the mi ans of the soul's access to God, ac- ceptance with him, and comfort from him : and think not of coming to the Father, but by him. To talk and boast of Christ is easy, and to use him Thales' sayintfs in Laert. are, Animas esse immoitales : Anti(|uissimum' omnium entinm Ueus ; ingenitu senim : Pul- cherriiiium mundus, ii Deo enim factus : Maximum locus; capit eniminuiia: Velocissimum mens; nam per universa discurrit: l'"oi tissimum necessitas ; cuncta eiiiui superat. Sapientissimum lenipus : invenit namque omnia. Q. utruia prius factum nox an dies ? U. Nox, una prius die. Q. La- tet no Dcos homo male afjens ? R. Ne cogilans qiiidein. Q. Quid diiiicilc ? li. Seipsuni noscere. Q. Quid fac ile ? if. Ab alio moveri. Q. Quid suavissinuim ? H. Frui. Q. Quid Ueus ? R. Quod initio et sine caret, p. M, 20, 21. <^ Conjungi vult nos inter nos, atque connecti per mutua benelicia charitatis : adeo ut tola justilia et piaeceptum hoc Dei, communis sit utilitas hominuni. O miiam cleinentiam Domini ! O inefl'abilem Dei bcnii^nitatem ! I'ramiuin nobis pollicetur, si nos invicem dilijjanius; id est, si nos ea prae- stemus invicein, quorum vicissim indigeinus: et nos superbo et ingrato animo, ejus remittimur voluntati, cujus etiam im- perium benehcium est. Hicron. ad Celant. bee ray book of the "Reasons of the Christian Reli^iou." Chap. lil. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 05 for tlie increase of our carnal security, and boldness in sinning : but to live in the daily use of Christ to those ends of his office, to which he is by us to be made use of, is a matter of orreater skill and dili- gence, than many self-esteeming professors are aware of. What Christ himself hath done, or will do, for our salvation, is not directly the thing that we are now considering of ; but what use he requireth us to make of him in the life of faith. He hath told us, that his flesh is meat indeed, and his blood is drink indeed ; and that except we eat his flesh and drink his blood, we have no life in us. Here is our use of Christ, expressed by eating and drinking his flesh and blood, which is by faith.'' The general parts of the work of redemption, Christ hath himself per- formed for us without asking our consent, or im- posing upon us any condition on our parts, without which he would not do that work : as the sun doth illustrate and warm the earth whether it will or not, and as the rain falleth on the grass without asking whether it consent, or will be thankful ; so Christ, without our consent or knowledge, did take our na- ture, and fulfil the law, and satisfy the offended Law- giver, and merit grace, and conquer Satan, death, and hell, and became the glorified Lord of all : but for the exercise of his graces in us, and our advance- ment to communion with God, and our living in the strength and joys of faith, he is himself the object of our duty, even of that faitli which we must daily and diligently exercise upon him : and thus Christ will profit us no further than we make use of him by faith. It is not a forgotten Christ that objectively comfort- eth or encourageth the soul ; but a Christ believed in, and skilfully and faitlifully used to that end. It is objectively (principally) that Christ is called our wisdom, 1 Cor. i. 30. The knowledge of him, and the mysteries of grace in him, is the christian or divine philosophy or wisdom, in opposition to the vain philosophy which the learned heathens boasted of. And therefore Paul determined to know nothing but Christ crucified, that is, to make ostentation oi' no other knowledge, and to glory in nothing but tlie cross of Christ, and so to preach Christ as if he knew nothing else but Christ. See I Cor. i. 2.3 ; ii. 2 ; Gal. vi. 14. And it is objectively that Christ is said to dwell in our liearts by faith, Ejih. iii. IJ. Faith keepeth him still upon the heart by continual cogi- tation, application, and improvement : as a friend is said to dwell in our hearts, whom we continually love and think of. Christ himself teacheth us to distinguish between ffiith in God, (as God,) and faith in himself (as Me- diator) : John xiv. 1 , " Let not your heart be troubled : ye believe in God;" (or, believe ye in God?) " be- lieve also in me." These set together are the sufli- cient cure of a troubled heart.'' It is not faith in God as God, but faith in Christ as Mediator, that I am now to speak of; and that not as it is inherent Vel propter unioncm inter crcaturamctCreatorem neces- saria fuit incarnatio. Sicut in Divinitate una est essentia et trcs persona;; ita in Cliristo una persona et tres essentia;, Deitas, anima, ctcaro. Christus secundum naturam divinita- tis est genitus; secundum animam creatus ; et secundum carnem (actus. Unio in Christo triplex est ; Deitatis ad ani- mam ; Deitatis ad eai nem ; et animae ad cariiem. I'aul. Scaliger Thcs. p. 72."j. Christus solus, et quideni secundum utramque naturam dicitur caput ecclesia;. Id. p. 7'2fJ. ' Ex apostolica et vetcri traditione, nemo baptizatur in ecclesia Christi, nisi prius rojratus, an credat in Deum Pa- trem, et in .lesum Christum Dei Filium, et in Spiritum Sanc- tum, responderit, firniiter se credere : quantum vis ergo heres sit, si judicii aliquid hahet, et ita rogatur, et ita respondct prorsusque ita expresse credere jubetur : namque implicite et :nv.)lute ncm istha;c solum, sed quaecunque Divines lilerae pro- dunt, credit, de quibus tamen mm omnibus interrogatur, quod ea expresse scire omnia, illi mininie opus sit. Acosta, 1. 5. c. VOL. I. F in the understanding, but as it is operative on the heart and in the life : and this is not the smallest part of the life of faith, by which the just are said to live. Every true christian must in his measure be able to say, with Paul, Gal. ii. 20, " I am crucified with Christ : nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me : and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." The pure Godhead is the beginning and the end of all ; but Christ is " the image of the invisible God, the first- bom of every creature ; and by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and imasible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers, all things were created by him and for him : and he is before all things, and by him all things do consist. And he is the head of the body, the church ; who is the be- ginning, the first-born from the dead : that in all things he might have the pre-eminence," Col. i. 16 — 19. " In him it is that we who were sometime far off, are made nigh, even by his blood : for he is our peace, who hath reconciled both Jew and gentile unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby : and came and preached peace to them that were far off", and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have an access by one Spirit unto the Father : so that now we are no mor j strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and- of the household of God," Eph. ii. 13, 14, l& — 19. " In him" it is that " we have bold- ness and access with confidence through faith in him," Eph. iii. 12. " He is the way, the truth, and the life : and no man cometh to the Father, but by him," John xiv. (j. It is " by the blood of Jesus that we have boldness" (and liberty) "to enter into the holiest : by a new and li\nng way which he hath consecrated for us through the vail, that is to say, his flesh." Because " we have so great a Priest over the house of God, we may draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith," &c. Heb. x. 19 — 22. " By him it is that we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and boast in hope of the glory of God," Rom. v. 1,2. So that we must liave " all our communion with God through him." Supposing what I have said of this subject in my " Directions for a Sound Conversion," Direct. 5, (which I hope the reader will peruse,) I shall here briefly name the uses which we must make of Christ by faith, in order to our holy converse with God : ' but I must tell you that it is a doctrine which re- ([uireth a prepared heart, that hath life within to enable it to relish holy truth, and to dispose it to diligence, delight, and constancy in practice. A senseless reader will feel but little savour in it, and a sluggish reader that suffereth it to die as soon as it hath touched his ears or fantasy, will fall short of the practice and the pleasure of this life. He must 6. p. 461. Christian religion beginneth not at the highest, but the lowest: with Christ incarnate, teaching, dying, &c. Dr. Boy's postil. p. 121. out of Luther. f Sane omnium virtutum radix et fundamentum fides est; qu.T; certantos adjuvat, vincentes coronat, et ccelesti dono (|Uosfbim dol'cctu signorum remunerat: nihil enim quod sin- cern; fidci detiegetur, quia nec aliud a nobis Deus, quam fidem cxigit • banc diligit, banc requirit, huic cuucta promittit et Iribuit. S. Eulogius Mart. Arch. Tolet. Memorial. Sanct. p. I. Notandum, quod cum (ides inortua sit pr.eter opera, jam neque fides est : nam neque homo mortuus, homo est. — Non enim sicut spiritum corpore meliorem, ita opera fidei pra>po neiida sunt, quando gratia salvatur homo, non ex oneribus sed ex tide ; nisi forte et hoc in qua;stione sit, quod salvel fides qua; cum operibus propriis vivit ; tanquam aliud genus iiperuin sit, prx'ter qua; salus ex fide proveniat: nec auteni sunt opera qmc sub umbra legis observantur. Didymus Alexand. in Jac. cap. 2. 66 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Pakt r. have failii tliat will live by faitli : nnd he must have the heai( and nnture oi' a ehikl, that will take pleasure in loving, reverent, and obedient converse with a father. I. The darkness of ij^norance and unbelief is the great impediment of the soul that desiretli to draw near to God. When it knoweth not (iod, or knoweth not man's eapacity of enjoying him, and how much he regardeth the heart of man ; or knoweth not by what way he must be sought and found : or when he (loubteth of the certainty of the word w liieh declareth the duty of the hopes of man : all this, or any of this, will suppress the ascendin .,' desires of the soul, and clip its wings, and break the heart of its holy aspir- ings after God, by killing or weakening the hopes of its success. Here then make use of Jesus Christ, the great Rcvealer of God and his will to the blinded world, and the great Confirmer of the divine authority of his word. Life and immortality are brought more fully to light by the gospel, than ever they were by any other means. Moses and the pro])hets did bring with their docti'ine sufficient evidence of its credibi- lity. But Christ hath brought both a fidler revela- tion, and a fuller evidence to help belief. An in- spired prophet, which proveth his inspiration to us, is a credible messenger : but when God himself shall come down into flesh, and converse with man, and teach him the knowledge of God, and the way to life, and tell him the mysteries of the world to come, and seal his testimony with unquestionable proofs, who will not learn of such a Teacher? and who will deny belief to such a Messenger, except absurd, un- reasonable men ? Remember, then, when ignorance or unbelief w'ould hinder your access to God, that you have the ablest Teacher and the surest Witness to acquaint you with God in all the world. If God had sent an angel from heaven, to tell you what he is, and what he requireth of you, and what he will do for you, would it not be very acceptable to you ? But he hath done much more ; he hath sent his Son :s the Deity itself hath appeared in flesh : he that hath seen God, and he that is God, hath come among men to acquaint them with God. His testimony is more sure and credible than any angel's. Heb. i. 1 — 3, " God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past to the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us Ijy his Son." John i. 18, " No man hath seen God at any time ; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." We have "nei- ther heard the voice of God, nor seen his shape," John V. 37. " No man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God ; he hath seen the Father," John vi. 46. " No man knoweth the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him," Matt. xi. 27. What more can we desire, that is short of the sight of the glory of God, than to have him revealed to ns by a messenger from heaven, and such a messenger as himself has seen him, and is God himself? Plato and Plotinus may describe God to us according to their dark conjectures ; something we may discern of him by observing his works ; but Christ hath declared what he saw, and what he knew, beyond all possibility of mistake. And lest his own testimony snould seem questionable to us, he hath confirmed it by a life of miracles, and l)y rising from the dead himself, and ascending visibly to heaven ; and by the Holy Ghost, and his miraculous gifts, « Dilcctio Dei misit nobis salvatorem : cujus gratia sedvati sumus : ut pussideamus banc gratiam, communicatio facit spiritus. Ambros. in '2 Cor. xiii. 1.3. *■ O Domine Jesu doles non tua sed mea vulnera ! Ambros. which he gave to the messengers of his gospel. Had it been no more than his resurrection from the dead, it had been enough to prove the utter unreasonable- ness of unbelief. 2. It is also a great impediment to the soul in its approach to God, that infinite distance disableth us to conceive of him aright. We say, as Kiihu, Job xxxvi. '2(5, " Behold, God is great, and we know him not." And, indeed, it is impossible that mortal mean should have any adequate apprehensions of his es- sence. But in his Son he hath come down to us, and showed himself in the clearest glass that ever did reveal him. Think of him therefore as he ap- peared in our flesh ; as he showed himself in his holiness and goodness to the world. You may have positive thoughts of Jesus Christ ; though you may not think that the Godhead was flesh, yet may you think of it as it appeared in flesh. It may quiet the understanding to conceive of God as incarnate, and to know that we cannot yet know him as he is, or have any adequate conceptions of him. These may delight us till we reach to more. 3. It hindcreth the soul's approach to God, when tlie infinite distance makes us think that God will not regard or take notice of such contemptible worms as we : we are ready to think that he is too high for our converse or delight. In this case the soul hath no such remedy, as to look to Christ ; and see how tlie Father hath regarded us, and set his heart upon us, and sent his Son to seek and save us. Oh won- derful, astonishing condescension of eternal love ! Believe that God assumed flesh to make himself fa- miliar with man ; and you can never question whe- ther he regard us, or will hold communion with us. 4. It hindereth our comfortable access to God, when we are deterred by the glory of his infiniteness and majesty. As the eye is not able to gaze upon the sun, unless it be overshadowed ; so the soul is afraid of the majesty of God, and overwhelmed by it, when it should be delighted in it. Against this there is no sucli remedy, as to behold God appearing to us in his Son, where his majesty is veiled, and where he approacheth us familiarly in our nature, to invite us to him with holy confidence and reverent boldness. Christ did not appear in a terrible form : women durst discourse with him ; beggars, and crip- ples, and diseased people durst ask his help ; sinners durst eat with him : the proud contemned him, but the lowly were not frightened from him. He " took upon him the form of a servant, and made himself of no reputation," that lie might converse familiarly with the meanest, and those of no reputation. Though we may not debase the Godhead, to imagine that it is humbled in glory, as it was on earth, in the flesh of Christ ; yet this condescension is unspeak- able encouragement to the soul to come with bold- ness unto God, that was frighted from him. 5. When the guilt of sin atfrighteth us from God, and we arc tliinking that God will not accept such great offenders as we have been, then Christ is our remedy, who hath paid our debt, and borne our stripes, and procured and sealed us a pardon by his blood.'' Shall pardoned sins drive us from him that pardoneth them ? He hath justified us by his right- eousness. The curse and damnation are terrible indeed ; but he hath taken them away, and given us a free discharge. (i. The infirmities also of our soids in duty, are oftentimes a great discouragement to us, in our ap- de Fide ad Grat. 1.2. c..3. Nos immortalitate male usi sumus ut moreremur : Christus mortalitate bene usus est Ut vivere- mus. August, de Doct. Christ. 1. i. c. 14. Chap. 111. CHRISTIAN ETHICS 67 proaches to the most holy, jealous God. To find so little knowledge of God, so little love to him, such cold desires, such wandering and distracted thoughts, such ancti justiquc in rebus diviuis sint. Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 73 f I. In his r 1. One; and indivisible : in Three Persorts.' I BEING : ) 2. Immense : and incomprehensible. 1 Quod sit. ( 3. Eternal.*' »1. The FATHER, ' 2. The SON, 3. The HOLY GHOST. •> 1 . Necessary, Independent, Immutable. g II. In his . NATURE *i Quid sit. III. In his PERFEC- TIONS : Qualis sit. A SPIRIT land LIFE itself. ■ I . Simple : uncompounded. 2. Impassionate, incorruptible, immortal. 3. Invisible, intactible, &c. ■ 1. POWER, 2. UNDERSTANDING, ' 3. WILL. I. OMNIPOTENT, _. OMNISCIENT, 13. MOST GOOD. s MOST GREAT, 1- BEING HIMSELF. -v ) 2. KNOWING HIMSELF, f 1. 2. MOST WISE, 3. MOST HOLY and HAPPY.-^ I. The EFFI- CIENT Cause of all things : Rom. X. 36, " OF HIM." IL TheDIRI- GENT Cause: "THROUGH HIM." III. The FINAL Cause: "TO HIM, are all things : to whom be glory for ever. Amen." I. CREATOR and Conserver. 3. REGENERA- TOR and Sanc- tifier. 3. LOVING and ENJOY- ING HIMSELF. REDEEMER and Saviour. ^1. Our OWNER orl LORD : most Ab- solute, Free, and 1 Irresistible. I 2. Our RULER or King : 1. By Legislation : 2. Judgment : .3. Execution : Absolute, perfect, True, Holy, Just, Merciful, Patient, Terrible. 3. OurBENEFAC- TORor FATHER; 1. Most Loving : 2. Most Bountiful : 3. Most Amiable : (Patient, Merciful, Constant.) Causally and Objectively (d)] (d) I. Our Life, and Strength, and Safety. 2. OurZ?^/j<, and Wisdom. 3. Our Love and Joy : and so our End, and Rest, and Happiness hereafter (e) (e) 1 . Perfecting our Natures in Heaven- ly Life. 2. Whom we sliall behold in glorious Light. 3. Whom we shall Please and Love ; and be Pleased in him, and Loved by him ; Rejdice iu him. Praise him, and so Enjoy him, Perfectly and Per- petually. See these practically opened and improved, in the First Part of my "Divine Life." The more full expli- cation of the attributes, fit for the more capacious, is reserved for another tractate. For the right improvement of the knowledge of !>.ll these attributes of God, I must refer you to the fore-mentioned treatise. The arts which you are to exercise upon God are these : \. Tlie clearest know- ledge you can attain to." 2. The firmest belief. 3. The highest estimation. 4. The greatest admira- tion, f). The heartiest and sweetest complacency or love. 6. The strongest desire. 7- A filial awful- ness, reverence, and fear. 8. The Ijoldesf (|uietiiig trust and confidence in him. 5). The most fixed waiting, dependence, hope, and expectation. 10. The most absolute self-resignation to him. 11. The full- est and quietest submission to his disposals. 12. The humblest and most absolute subjection to his govern- ing authority and will, and the exactest obedience to his laws. 13. The boldest courage and fortitude in his cause, and owning him before the world in the greatest sufl'erings. 14. The greatest thankfulness for his mercies. 15. The most faithful improvement of his talents, and use of his means, and perform- ance of our trust. 16. A reverent and holy use of his name and word : with a reverence of his secrets ; " De i sin, to cast you into a preventing fear. A beast tliat hath once fallen into a gulf or quick-sand, will iiardly be driven into the same again : a fish that was once stricken and escaped the hook, will fear and fly from it the next time : a bird (hat hath once escajjed the snare, or the talons of the hawk, is afterwards afraid of the sight or noise of such a thing. Remember where you fell, and what it cost you, and what you escaped which it miglit have cost you, and you will obey more accurately hereafter. Direct. VI. Remember that this is your day of 78 CIIIUSTIAN DIRECTORY. ?AUT I. trial, and what dpjiends upon your accurate obedi- ence, tiod A\ ill not crown untried servants. Satan is purposely sull'ered to tempt yon, to try whether yon will he true to God or not. All the hope that his malice hath of undoing you for ever, consisteth in his hope to make you disolx dient to God. Me- thinks these considerations sliouhl awaken you to the most watchful and diligent obedience. If you were told beforehaTid, that a thief or cut-purse had undertaken to rob you, and would use all his cunning and industry to do it, you would then watch more carefully than at another time. If you were in a race to run for your lives, you would not go then in your ordinary )'acc. Doth God tell you before, that he will try your obedience by temptation, and as you stand or fail, you shall speed for ever ; and will not this keep you watchful and obedient ? Direct. Vll. Avoid tliose tempting and deluding objects, which are still enticing your hearts from your obciHence ; and avoid that diverting crowd and noise of compaiiy or worldly business, which drowns the voice of God's commands. — If God call you into a life of great temptations, he can bring you safely through them all ; but if you rush into it wilfully, you may soon find your own disability to resist. It is dangerous to be under strong and importunate temptations, lest the stream should bear us down ; but especially to be long under them, lest we be weary of resisting. They that are long solicited, do too often yield at last : it is hard to be always in a clear, and ready, and resolute frame : few men have their wits, much less their graces, always at hand, in a readiness to use. And if the thief come when you arc dropped asleep, you may be robbed before you can awake. The constant drawings of temptation, do oft- times abate the habit of obedience, and diminish our hatred of sin and holy resolutions, by slow, insensible degrees, before we yield to commit the act. And the mind that will be kept in full subj ection, must not be so diverted in a crowd of distracting company or business, as to have no time to think on the motives of his obedi- ence. This withdi'awing of the fuel may put out the fire. Direct. VIII. If you are unavoidably cast upon strong temptation, take the alarm ; and put on all the armour of God, and call up your souls to watch- fulness and resolution, remembering that you are now among your enemies, and must resist as for your lives. — Take every temptation in its naked, proper sense, as coming from the devil, and tending to your damnation by enticing your hearts from your subjection unto God : suppose you saw the devil him- self in his instruments offering you the bait of pre- ferment, or honour, or riches, or lleshly lust, or sports, or of delightful meats, or drinks, to tempt you to excess ; and suppose you heard him say to you plainly, Take this for thy salvation ; sell me for this thy God, and thy soul, and thy everlasting hopes ; commit this sin, that thou mayst fall under the judg- ment of God, and be tormented in hell with me for ever. Do this to please thy flesh, that thou mayst displease thy God, and grieve thy Saviour : I cannot draw thee to hell, but by drawing thee to sin; and I cannot make thee sin against thy will ; nor undo thee, but by thy own consent and doing : therefore I pray thee con.sent and do it thyself, and let me have thy company in. torments. This is the naked mean- ing of every temptation : suppose therefore you saw and heard all this, w'ith what detestation then would you reject it ! with what horror would you fly from the most enticing bait ! If a robber would en- tice you out of your way and company, with flatter- ing words, that you might fall into the hands of his companions, if you knew all his meaning and design beforehand, would you be enticed after him ? Watch therefore, and resolve when you know beforehand the design of the devil, and what he intendeth in every temptation. Direct. IX. Be most suspicious, fearful, and watch- ful about that, which your flesh doth most desire, or finds the greatest pleasure in. — Not that you should deny your bodies all delight in the mercies of God : if the body have none, the mind will have the less : mercy must be differenced from punishment; and must be valued and relished as mercy : mere natural pleasing of the senses is in itself no moral good or evil. A holy improvement of lawful pleasure, is a daily duty : inordinate pleasure is a sin : all is inor- dinate which tendeth more to corrupt the soul, by enticing it to sin, and turning it from God, than to fit and dispose it for God and his service, and pre- serve it from sinning. But still remember, it is not sorrow but delight that di-awelh away the soul from God, and is the flesh's interest which it sets up against him. Many have sinned in sorrows and dis- contents ; but none ever sinned for sorrows and dis- contents : their discontents and sorrows are not taken u]) and loved for themselves; but are the effects- of their love to some pleasure and content, which is denied them, or taken IVom them. Therefore, though all your bodily pleasures are not sin, yet, seeing nothing but the pleasures of the flesh and carnal mind is the end of sinners, and the devil's great and chiefest bait, and this only causeth men's perdition, you have great reason to be most afraid of that which is most pleasing to your flesh, and to the mind as it is corrupt and carnal : escape the delusions of fleshly pleasure, and you escape damnation. You have far more cause to be afraid of prosperity, than of adver- sity ; of riches, than of poverty ; of honour, than of obscurity and contempt ; of men's praises and ap- plause, than of their dispraises, slanders, and re- proach ; of preferment and greatness, than of a low and mean condition ; of a delicious, than of less tempting meats and drinks ; of curious, costly, than of mean, and cheap, and plain attire. Let those that have hired out their reason to the service of their fleshly lusts, and have delivered the crown and scep- tre to their appetites, think otherwise. No wonder if they that have sold the birthright of their intel- lects to their senses, for a mess of pottage, for a whore, or a high place, or a domineering power over others, or a belly-full of pleasant meats or liquors, do deride all this, and think it but a melancholy conceit, more suitable to an eremite or anchorite, than to men of society and business in the world. As heaven is the portion of serious believers and mortified saints alone, so it shall be proper to them alone to understand the doctrine and example of their Saviour, and practically to know what it is to deny themselves, and forsake all they have, and take up their cross and follow Christ, and by the Spirit to mortify the deeds of the body, Luke xiv. 26- — 29, 3.3; Rom. viii. 5—7, 13; Col. iii. 1 — 4. Such know that millions part with God for pleasures, but none for griefs : and that hell will be stored with those that preferred we alth, and honour, and sports, and gluttony, drirdv and filthy lusts, before the holiness and luippiness of believers ; but none will be damned for preferring poverty, and disgrace, and abstinence, hunger and thirst, and chastity before them. It must be something that seemeth good, that must en- tice men from the chiefest good : apparent evil is no fit bait for the devil's hook. Men will not displease God, to be themselves displeased ; nor choose pre- sent sorrows instead of everlasting joys ; but for the pleasures of sin for a season many will despise the endless pleasures. Direct. X. Meet every motion to disobedience Chap. MI. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 79 with an army of holy graces ; with wisdom, ai\d fear, and hatred, and resolution, with love to God, with zeal and courage ; and quench every spark that falls upon your hearts before it breaks out into a flame. — When sin is little and in its infancy, it is weak and easily resisted ; it hath not then turned away the mind from God, nor quenched grace, and disabled it to do its office. But when it is grown strong, then grace grows weak, and we want its help, and want the sense of the presence, and attributes, and truths of God, to rebuke it. 0 stay not till your hearts are gone out of hearing, and straggled from God beyond the observance of his calls. The habit of obedience will be dangerously abated, if you resist not quickly the acts of sin. Direct. XI. Labour for the clearest understanding of the will of God, that doubtfulness about your duty do not make you flag in your obedience, and doubt- fulness about sin do not weaken your detestation and resistance, and draw you to venture on it. — When a man is sure what is his duty, it is a great help against all temptations that would take him off: and when he is sure that a thing is sinful, it makes it the easier to resist. And, therefore, it is the de- vil's method to delude the imderstanding, and make men believe that duty is no duty, and sin is no sin ; and then no wonder if duty be neglected, and sin committed: and therefore he raiseth up one false prophet or other to say to Ahab, " (io, and prosper ;" or to say. There is no hurt in this ; to dispute for sin, and to dispute against duty. And it is almost incredible how much the devil hath got, when he hath once made it a matter of controversy. Then every hypocrite hath a cloak for his sin, and a dose of opium for his conscience, when he can but say. It is a controversy ; some are of one mind, and some of another, you are of that opinion, and I am of this : especially if there be wise and learned on both sides; and yet more, if there be religious men on both sides; and more yet, if he have an equal number on his side; and most of all, if he have the major vote (as error and sin have commonly in the world). If Ahab have but four hundred lying, flat- tering prophets to one Micaiah, he will think he may hate him, reproach him, and ])('rsecute him with- out any scruple of conscience. If it be made a con- troversy whether bread be bread, and wine be wine, when we see and taste it ; some will think they may venture to subscribe or swear that they hold the ne- gative, if their credit, or livings, or lives lie upon it ; much more if they can say. It is the judgment of tlie church. If it be once made a controversy, whether perjury be a sin, or whether avow materially lawful bind, or whether it be lawful to equivocate, or lie with a mental reservation for the truth, or to do the greatest evil, or speak the falsest thing with a true and good intent and meaning, almost all the hypo- crites in the country will be for the sinful part, if their fleshly interest require it ; and will think them- selves wronged, if they are accounted hypocrites, liars, or perjured, as long as it is but a point of con- troversy among learned men. If it be once made a controversy, whether an excommunicate king become a private man, and it be lawful to kill him, and whe- ther the pope may absolve the subjects of temporal lords from their allegiance, (notwithstanding all their oaths,) and if such learned men as Suarez, Bellar- mirie. Perron, &c. are for it, (to say nothing of San- tarellus, Mariana, &c.) you sliall have a Clement, a Ravilliac, a Faux, yea, too great choice of instru- ments, that will be satisfied to strike the blow. If many hold it may or must be done, some will be found too ready to do it: especially if an approved general council (Lateran. sub Innoc. III. Can. 3.) be for such papal absolution. We have seen at home how many will be imboldened to pull down govern- ment, to sit in judgment on their king, and condemn him, and to destroy their brethren, if they can but say, that such and such men think it lawful. If it were but a controversy once whether drunkenness, whoredom, swearing, stealing, or any villany be a sin or not, it would be committed more commonly, and with much less regret of conscience. Yea, good men will be ready to think that modesty requireth them to be less censorious of those that conunit it, because in controverted cases they must suspect their own understandings, and allow something to the judgment of dissenters. And so all the rules of love, and peace, and moderation, which are requisite in controversies that are about small and difllcult points, the devil will make use of, and apply them all to the patronage of the most odious sins, if he can but get them once to have some learned, wise, religious of- fenders. And from our tenderness of the persons we easily slide to an indulgent tenderness in censuring the sin itself: and good men themselves, by these means, are dangerously disabled to resist it, and pre- pared to commit it. Direct. XII. Take heed lest the devil do either cast you into the sleep of carnal security, or into such doubts, and fears, and perplexing scruples, as shall make holy obedience seem to you an impossi- ble or a tiresome thing. When you are asleep in carelessness, he can use you as he list ; and if obe- dience be made grievous and ungrateful to you, your heart will go against it, and you will go but like a tired horse, no longer than you feel the spur : you are half conquered already, because you have lost the love and pleasure of obedience ; and you are still in danger lest difficulties should quite tire you, and weariness make you yield at last. The means by which the tempter cffecteth this, must afterward be spoken of, and therefore I shall omit it here. By the faithful practice of these directions obedi- ence may become, as it were, your nature, a familiar, easy, and delightful thing; and may be like a cheer- ful servant or child, that waitcth for your commands, and is glad to be employed by you. Your full sub- jection of your wills to God, will be as the health, and ease, and quietness of your wills : you will feel that it is never well or easy with you, but when you are obecUent and pleasing to your Creator's will. Your "delight will be in the law of the Lord," Psal. i. 2. It will be sweeter than honey to you, and better than tliousands of gold and silver; and this not for any by-respect, but as it is the " law of God ; " a "liglit unto your feet," and an infallible guide in all your dutv. You will say with David, Psal. cxix. 1(), 24, 30,47, 70, 77, 174, "1 will delight myself in thy statirtes ; I will not forget thy word. Thy testimonies are my delight and my counsellors. Make me to go in the path of thy commandments, for therein do I delight." And as Psal. xl. 8, " I delight to do thy will, O my God, yea, thy law is within my heart." And, O "blessed is the man that fearcth the Lord ; that delightcth greatly in his command- ments," Psal. cxii. 2. Grand Direct. VII. Continue as Lpamin? a, di.ci- the covenanted scholars of Christ, the pii-s of Christ our Propliet and Teacher of his church, 'Readier, to learn of him by his Spirit, word, and ministers, the farther knowledge of God, and the tilings tliat tend to your salvation ; and this witli an honest, will- ing mind, in faith, humility, and diligence ; in obe- dience, patience, and peace. Though I spake before of our coming to God by .Jesus Christ, as he is the way to the Father; it is 80 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I, meet that we distinctly speak of our relation nnd duty to him, as he is our Teacher, our Captain, and our Waster, as well as of our improving him as Mediator immediately unto God. The necessity of believers, and the ottice and work of Christ himself, doth tell us how much of our religion doth consist in learning of him as his disciples. Acts vii. 37, " A prophet shall the Lord your (Jod raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me, him shall you hear." This was the voice that came out of the cloud in the holy mount, Matt. xvii. 5, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him." Therefore is the title of disciples connnonly given to believers. And there is a twofold teaching which Christ hath sent his ministers to perform ; both mentioned in their commission. Matt, xxviii. ID, 20. The one is, to "teach the nations;" as to make disciples of them, by persuading them into the school of Christ, which containeth the teaching of faith and repent- ance, and whatever is necessary to their first admis- sion, and to their subjecting themselves to Christ himself as their stated and infallible Guide. The other is the teaching them further to know more of God, " and to observe all things whatsoever he com- mandcth them." And this last is it we are now to speak of, and I shall add some sub-directions for your help. Directions for Learning of Chriat, as our Teacher. Direct. I. Remember who it is that """chr'S!'" your 1 eacher : that he is the Son of God, that knoweth his Father's will, and is the most faithful, infallible Pastor of the church. — There is neither ignorance, nor negligence, nor ambition, nor deceit in him, to cause him to con- ceal the mind of God. There is nothing which we need to know, which he is not both able and willing to acquaint us with. Direct. II. Remember what it is that he teacheth you, and to what end. — That it is not how to sin and be damned, as the devil, the world, and the flesh would teach you ; nor how to satisfy your lusts, or to know, or do, or attain the trifles of the world : but it is how to be renewed to the image of God, and how to do his will and please him, and how to be justified at his bar, and how to escape everlasting fire, and how to attain everlasting joys : consider this well, and you will gladly learn of such a Teacher. Direct. III. Let the book which he himself hath indited by his Spirit, be the rule and principal matter of your learning. — The holy Scriptures are of divine inspiration : it is them that we must be judged by, and them that we must be ruled by, and therefore them that we must principally learn. Men's books and teachings are but the means for our learning this infallible word. Direct. IV. Remember that as it is Christ's work to teach, it is yours to hear, and read, and study, and pray, and practise what you hear. — Do your part, then, if you expect the benefit. You come not to the school of Christ to be idle. Knowledge droppeth not into the sleepy dreamer's mouth. Dig for it as for sil- ver, and search for it in the Scriptures as for a hidden treasure : meditate in them day and night. Leave it to miserable fools, to contemn the wisdom of the Most High. Direct. V. Fix your eye upon himself as your pat- tern, and study with earnest desire to follow his holy example, and to be made conformable to him. — Not to imitate him in the works which were proper to him as God, or as Mediator ; but in his holiness, which he hath proposed to his disciples for their imitation. He knew how effectual a perfect example would be, where a ])erfect doctrine alone would be less regarded. Example bringeth doctrine nearer to our eye and heart ; it maketh it more observ- able, and telleth us witli more powerfid ajjplieation. Such you must be, and thus you must do. The eye maketh an easier and deeper impression on the imagination and mind, than the ear doth ; there- fore Christ's example should be nuich preached and studied. It will be a very great help to us, to have still upon our minds the image of the holy life of Christ; that we be allected, as if we always saw him doing the holy actions which once he did. Paul calls the Galatians " foolish," and "bewitched," that " obeyed not the truth, when Christ had been set forth as crucified among them evidently before their eyes," Gal. iii. 1. Papists think that images serve well for this turn : but tlie records of Scripture, and the living images of Christ whom they persecute and kill, are far more useful. How much example is more operative than doctrine alone, you may per- ceive by the enemies of Christ, who can bear his holy doctrine, when they cannot bear his holy ser- vants, that practise that doctrine before their eyes. And that which most stirs up their enmity, hath the advantage for exeitin^ the believer's piety. Let the image of Christ, in all his holy examples, be always lively written upon your minds. 1. Let the great ones of the world remember, that their Lord was not bom of such as bore rule, or were in worldly pomp and dignity, but of persons that lived but meanly in the world (however they were of the royal line) ; how he was not born in a palace, but a stable, and laid in a manger, without the attendance or accommodations of the rich. 2. Remember how he subjected himself unto his reputed father, and his mother, to teach all children subjection and obedience, Luke ii. 51. 3. And how he condescended to labour at a trade, and mean employment in the world; to teach us that our bodies, as well as our minds, must express their obedience, and have their ordinary employ- ment; and to teach men to labour and live in a calling ; and to comfort poor labourers, with assur- ance that God accepteth them in the meanest work, and that Christ himself lived so before them, and chose their kind of life, and not the life of princes and nobles, that live in pomp, and ease, and pleasure. 4. Remember how he refused not to submit to all the ordinances of God, and to fulfil all righteous- ness, and to be initiated into the solemn adminis- tration of his office by the baptism of John, Matt, iii. 15 — 17, which God approved, by sending down upon him the Holy (ihost : to teach us all to expect his Spirit in the use of his ordinances. 5. Remember how he voluntarily begun his work, with an encounter with the tempter in the wilder- ness, upon his fasting ; and suffered the tempter to proceed, till he moved him to the most odious sin, even to worship the devil himself : to teach us that God loveth tried servants, and expecteth that we be not turned from him by temptations ; especially those that enter upon a public ministry, must be tried men, that have overcome the tempter : and to com- fort tempted christians, who may remember, that their Saviour himself was most blasphemously tempted to as odious sins as ever they were ; and that to be greatly tempted, without consenting or yielding to the sin, is so far from being a sin in itself, that it is the greatest honour of our obedience ; and that the devil, who molesteth and haunteth us with his temptations, is a conquered enemy, whom our Lord in person hath overcome. 6. Remember how earnestly and constantly he preached ; not stories, or jingles, or subtle contro- versies, but repentance, and faith, and self-denial, and obedience. So great was his love to souls, that, Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 81 when he had auditors, he preached, not only in the temple and synagogues, but on mountain.s, and in a ship, and any other convenient place ; and no fury of the rulers or Pharisees could silence him, till his hour was come, having his Father's commission. And even to particular persons, he vouchsafed, by conference, to open the mysteries of salvation, John iii. and iv. ; to teach us to love and attend to the plain and powerful preaching of the gospel, and not to forbear any necessary means for the honour of God, and the saving of souls, because of the enmity or opposition of malicious men, but to "work while it is day, seeing the night is coming when none can work," John ix. 4. 7. Remember how compassionate he was to men's bodies, as well as to their souls ; going up and down with unwearied diligence, doing good ; healing the blind, and lame, and deaf, and sick, and possessed : and how all his miracles were done in charity, to do good ; and none of them to do hurt ; so that he was but living, walking LOVE and MERCY. To teach us to know God, in his love and mercy ; and to abound in love and mercy to our brethren ; and to hate the spirit of hurtfulness, persecution, and un- charitableness ; and to lay out ourselves in doing good ; and to exercise our compassion to the bodies of men, as well as to their souls, according to our power. 8. Remember how his zeal and love endured the reproach, and resisted the opposition of his friends, who went to lay hold on him as if he had been be- side himself, Mark iii. 20, 21 : and how he bid Peter " Get behind me, Satan ; thou art an offence unto me : for thou savourest not the things of God, but those of men," when in carnal love and wisdom he rebuked him for resolving to lay down his life, say- ing, " Be it far from thee, this shall not be unto thee," Matt. xvi. 22, 23. To teach us to expect that carnal love and wisdom in our nearest friends, will rise up against us in the work of God, to dis- courage us both from duty and from sufferings ; and that all are to be shaken ofl", and counted as the instruments of Satan, that would tempt us to be un- faithful to our trust and duty, and to favour ourselves by a sinful avoiding of the sufferings which God doth call us to undergo. 9. Remember how through all his life he despised the riches of the world, and chose a life of poverty, and was a companion of the meanest, neither possess- ing nor seeking sumptuous houses, or great attend- ance, or spacious lands, f>r a large estate. He lived in a visible contemi)t of all the wealth, and splendour, and greatness of the world : to teach us how little these little things are to be esteemed ; and that they are none of the treasure and portion of a saint ; and what a folly it is to be fond of such snares, and di- versions, and temptations which make the way to heaven to be to us as a needle's eye. 10. Observe, how little he regardeth the honour and applause of men; Phil. ii. 7 — 9, how "he made himself of no reputation, but took upon him the form of a servant,'' refusing to be "made a king," or to have a "kingdom of this world," John vi. 1.5. Though he told malignant blasphemers how greatly they sinned in dishonouring him, yet did he not seek the honour of the world : to teach us how little the thoughts or words of ignorant men do con- tribute to our happiness, or are to be accounted of; and to turn our eyes from the impertinent censures of flesh and blood, to the judgment of our Almighty Sovereign, to whom it is that we stand or fall. 11. Remember also how little he made provision for the flesh, and never once tasted of any immo- ' If irpnatvxh in Luke vi. 12. do signify an oratory, it VOL. I. G derate, sinful pleasure. How far was he from a life of voluptuousness and sensuality ! Though his avoiding the formal fastings of the Pharisees, made them slander him as a "gluttonous person," and "a wine-bibber," Matt. xi. 19, as the sober christians were called carnh ori, by those that thought it im- lawful to eat flesh ; yet so far was he from the guilt of any such sin, that never a desire of it was in his heart. You shall never find in the gospel that Christ spent half the morning in dressing him, choosing rather to shorten his time for prayer, than not to appear sufficiently neatified, as our empty, worthless, painted gallants do : nor shall you ever read that he wasted his time in idle visitations, or cards, or dice, or in reading romances, or hearing stage-plays : it was another kind of example that om- Lord did leave for his disciples. 12. Mark also, how far Christ was from being guilty of any idle, or lascivious, or foolish kind of talk ; and how holy and profitable all his speeches were : to teach us also to speak as the oracles of God, such words as tend to edification, and to adminis- ter grace unto the hearers, and to keep our tongues from all profane, lascivious, empty, idle speeches. 1.3. Remember, that pride, and passion, are con- demned by your pattern. Christ bids you "Learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls," Matt. xi. 28, 29. Therefore he resolveth that "except" men "be con- verted and become as little children, they shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven," Matt, xviii. 3. Behold therefore the Lamb of God, and be ashamed of your fierce and ravenous natures. 14. Remember that Christ your Lord and pattern did humble himself to the meanest office of love, even to wash the feet of his disciples : not to teach you to wash a few poor men's feet, as a ceremony once a year, and persecute and nnirder the servants of Christ the rest of the year, as the Roman Vice- Christ doth ; but to teach us, that if he their Lord and Master washed his disciples' feet, we also should stoop as low in any office of love, for one another, John xiii. 14. 15. Remember also that Christ your pattern spent whole nights in prayer to God ; ' so much was he for this holy attendance upon God : to teach us to " pray always and not wax faint," Luke xviii. 1. And not to be like the impious God-haters, that love not any near or serious addresses unto God, nor those that use them, but make them the object oftheir cruelty or scorn. If5. Remember also that Christ was against the Pharisees' outside, hypocritical, ceremonious worship, consisting in lip-labour, affected repetitions, and much babbling: their "Touch not, taste not, handle not," and worshipping God in vain, according to their traditions, "teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." He taught us a serious, spiritual worship : not "to draw nigh to God with our mouth, and honour him with our lips, while our hearts are far from him ;" but to " worship God who is a Spirit, in spirit and truth," Matt. xv. (> — 9; John iv. 23, 24; Matt, xxiii. 17. Christ was a sharp reprover of hypocritical, blind, ceremonious, malicious Pharisees ; and warn- eth his disciples to take heed oftheir leaven. When they are offended with him, he saith, " Every jilant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up : let them alone, they be blind leaders of the blind," &c. Matt. xv. 12—14. To teach us to take heed of autonomous, supercilious, domineer- ing, formal hypocrites, and false ti aehers, and to dill'erence between (he shepherds and the wolves. yet importetb that he continued for prayer in it. S2 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. 18. Though Christ seems cautelously to avoid the owning of the Romans' usurpation over the Jews, yet rather tlian offend them lie payetli tribute himself, Matt. xvii. 25 — 27, and biddeth thcni " render to Citsar the things that are Cicsar's, and to (Jod the things that are God's," Matt. xxii. 21. The Phari- sees bring their eontroversy to him hypocritically, " Whether it be lawful to give tribute fo Ca-sar, or not?" (For that Cfpsar was a usurper over them, they took to be past controversy.) And Christ would give them no answer that should insnare himself, or encourage usurpation, or countenance their se- dition : teaching us much more to pay tribute cheer- fully to our lawful governors, and to avoid all se- dition and offence. ly. Yet is he accused, condemned, and executed among malefactors, as aspiring to be " King of the Jews," and the judge called, " none of Caesar's friend," if'lie let him go : teaching us to expect that the most innocent christians should be accused, as ene- mies to the rulers of the world, and mistaken go- vernors be provoked and engaged against them, by the malicious calumnies of their adversaries ; and that we should, in this unrighteous world, be con- demned of those crimes of which we are most inno- cent, and which we most abhor, and have borne the fullest testimonies against. 20. The furious rout of the enraged people deride him by their words and deeds, with a purple robe, a sceptre of reed, a crown of thorns, and the scorn- ful name of " King of the Jews ; " they spit in his face, and buffet him, and then break jests upon him ; and in all this " being reviled he reviled not again, but committed all to him that judgeth righteously," 1 Pet. ii. 21 — 23. Teaching us to expect the rage of the ignorant rabble, as well as of deluded govern- ors ; and to be made the scorn of the worst of men ; and all this without impatience, reviling, or threaten- ing words ; but quieting ourselves in the sure ex- pectation of the righteous judgment, which we and they must shortly find. 21. When Christ is urged at Pilate's bar to speak for himself, he holds his peace : teaching us to ex- pect to be questioned at the judgment-seat of man ; and not to be over-careful for the vindicating of our names from their most odious calumnies, because the judgment that will fully justify us is sure and near. 22. When Christ is in his agony, his disciples fail him; when he is judged and crucified, they "for- sook him and fled," Matt. xxvi. 56 : to leach us not to be too confident in the best of men, nor to expect much from them in a time of trial, but to take up our comfort in God alone, when all our nearest friends shall fail us. 23. Upon the cross he suffereth the torments and ignominy of death for us, praying for his murderers : " leaving us an example that we should follow his steps," 1 Pet. ii. 21 ; and that we think not life itself too dear to part with, in obedience to God, and for the love of Christ and one another, 1 John iii. 16; and that we forgive and pray for them that perse- cute us. 24. In all this suffering from men, he feels also so much of the fruit of our sin upon his soul, that he crieth out, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? " to teach us, if we fall into such calamity of soul, as to think that God himself for- saketh us, to remember for our support, that the Son of God himself before us, cried out, " My God, why hast thou forsaken me ?" and that in this also we may expect a trial, to seem of ourselves forsaken of God, when our Saviour underwent tlie like before us. I will instance in no more of his example, because I would not be tedious. Hither now let believers cast their eyes : if you love your Lord, you should love to imitate him, and be glad to find yourselves in the way that he hath gone before you. If he lived a worldly or a sensual life, do you do so : if he was an enemy to preaching, and praying, and holy living, be you so : but if he lived in the greatest contempt of all the wealth, and honours, and pleasures of the world, in a life of holy obedience to his Father, wholly preferring the kingdom of heaven, and seek- ing the salvation of the souls of others, and patient- ly bearing persecution, derision, calumnies, and death, then take up your cross, and follow him in joyfully to the expected crown. Direct. VI. If you will learn of Christ, you must learn of his ministers, whom he hath appointed under him to be the teachers of his church. — He purposely enableth them, inelineth them, and sendeth them to instruct you : not to have dominion over your faith, but to be your spiritual fathers, and " the ministers by whom you believe, as God shall give " (ability and success) " to every one " as he pleases ; " to plant and water," while " God giveth the increase ; to open men's eyes, and turn them from darkness to light ; " and to be " labourers together with God, whose hus- bandry and building you are ; " and to be " helpers of your joy." See 2 Cor. ii. 4; Acts xxvi. 17, 18; 1 Cor. iii. 5 — 9; iv. 15. Seeing therefore Christ hath appointed them, under him, to be the ordinary teach- ers of his church, he that " heareth them," (speak- ing his message,) "heareth him," and he "that de- spiseth them, despiseth him," Luke x. 1(5. And he that saith, I will hear Christ, but not you, doth say in ellcct to Christ himself, I will not hear thee, nor learn of thee, unless thou wilt dismiss thy ushers, and teach me innnediately thyself. Direct. VII. Hearken also to the secret teachings of his Spirit, and your consciences, not as making you any new law or duty, or being to you instead of Scriptures or ministers ; but as bringing that truth into your hearts and practices, which Scriptures and ministers have first brought to your eyes and ears. — If you understand not this, how the office of Scrip- ture and ministers differ from the office of the Spirit and your consciences, you will be confounded, as the sectaries of these times have been, that separate what God hath joined together, and plead against Scripture or ministers under pretence of extolling the Spirit, or the light within them. As your meat must be taken into the stomach, and pass the first concoction, before the second can be performed, and chylification must be before sanguification ; so the Scripture and ministers must bring truth to your eyes and ears, before the Spirit or conscience bring them to your hearts and practice. But they lie dead and uneifcctual in your brain or imagination, if you hearken not to the secret teachings of the Spirit and conscience, w hich would bring them further. As Christ is the principal Teacher without, and ministers are but under him ; so the Spirit is the principal teacher within us, and conscience is but under the Spirit, being excited and informed by it. Those that learn only of Scriptures and ministers, (by hearing or reading,) may become men of learning and great ability, though they hearken not to the sanctifying teachings of the Spirit, or to their consciences. But it is only those that hearken first to the Scriptures and ministers, and next to the Spirit of God, and to their consciences, that have an inward, sanctifying, saving knowledge, and are they that are said to be taught of God. Therefore, hearken first With your ears, what Christ hath to say to you from without ; and then hearken daily and diligently with your hearts, what the Spirit and conscience say within. Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 83 For it is their office to preach over all that again to your hearts, which you have received. Direct. VIII. It being the office of the present ordinary ministry, only to expound and apply the doctrine of Christ already recorded in the Scriptures, believe not any man that contradicteth this recorded doctrine, what reason, authority, or revelation soever he pretend. Isa. viii. 20, " To the law and to the testimony : if they speak not according to these, it is because there is no light in them." No reason can be reason indeed that is pretended against the reason of the Creator and God of reason. Authority pre- tended against the highest authority of God, is no authority : God never gave authority to any against himself ; nor to deceive men's souls ; nor to dispense with the law of Christ ; nor to warrant men to sin against him ; nor to make any supplements to his law or doctrine. The apostles had their " power only to edification, but not to destruction," 1 Cor. x. 8 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 10. There is no revelation from God that is contrary to his own revelation, already de- livered as his perfect law and rule unto the church ; and therefore none supplemental to it. If an " apos- tle or an angel from heaven ( per possibile vel impos- sibile) shall evangelize to us besides what is evan- gelized," and we " have received," he must be held " accursed," Gal. i. 6 — 8. Direct. IX. Come not to learn of Christ with self- conceitedness, pride, or confidence in your prejudice and errors-; but as little children, with humble, teach- able, tractable minds. Christ is no teacher for those that in their own eyes are wise enough already : un- less it be first to teach them to " become fools " (in their own esteem, because they are so indeed) " that they may be w'ise," 1 Cor. iii. 18. They that are prepossessed with false opinions, and resolve that they will never be persuaded of the contrary, are unmeet to be scholars in the school of Christ. " He resisteth the proud, but giveth more grace unto the humble," 1 Pet. v. 5. Men that have a high conceit of their own understandings, and think they can easily know truth from falsehood, as soon as they hear it, and come not to learn, but to censure what they hear or read, as being able presently to judge of all, these are fitter for the school of the prince of pride, and father of lies and error, than for the school of Christ. Except conversion make men as little children, that come not to carp and cavil, but to learn, they are not " meet for the kingdom of Christ," Matt, xviii. 3 ; John iii. 3, 5. Know how blind and ignorant you are, and how dull of learning, and humbly beg of the heavenly Teacher, that he will accept you, and illuminate you : and give up your understandings absolutely to be inforgied by him, and your hearts to be the tables in which his Spirit shall write his law ; believing his doctrine upon the bare account of his infallible veracity, and resolving to obey it; and this is to be the disciples of Christ indeed, and such as shall be taught of .God. Direct. X. Come to the school of Christ with ho- nest, willing hearts, that love the truth, and fain would know it, that they may obey it ; and not with false and biassed hearts, which secretly hinder the understanding from entertaining the truth, because they love it not, as being contrary to their carnal in- clinations and interest. The word that was received into honest hearts, was it that was as the seed that brought forth plentifully, Matt. xiii. 23. When the heart saith unfeigncdly, " Speak, Lord, for thy ser- vant heareth ; teach me to know and do thy will ;" God will not leave such a learner in the dark. Most of the damnable ignorance and error of the world, is from a wicked heart, that pereeiveth that the truth o 2 of God is against their fleshly interest and lusts, and therefore is unwilling to obey it, and unw illing to believe it, lest it torment them, because they disobey it. A will that is secretly poisoned with the love of the world, or of any sinful lusts and pleasures, is the most potent impediment to the believing of the truth. Direct. XI. Learn with quietness and peace in the school of Christ, and make not divisions, and meddle not with others' lessons and matters, but with your own. Silence, and quietness, and minding your own business, is the way to profit. The turbulent wran- glers that are quarrelling with others, and are reli- gious contentionsly, in envy and strife, are liker to be corrected or ejected, than to be edified. Read James iii. Direct. XII. Remember that the school of Christ hath a rod ; and therefore learn with fear and rever- ence, Heb. xii. 28, 2'J ; Phil. ii. 12. Christ will sharp- ly rebuke his own, if they grow negligent and offend : and if he should cast thee out and forsake thee, thou art undone for ever. " See," therefore, " that ye refuse not him that speaketh: for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we, if we refuse him that is from heaven," Heb. xii. 25. " For how shall we escape if we neg- lect so great salvation ; which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by them that heard him ; God also bearing them wit- ness, both with signs, and wonders, and divers mira- cles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will ?" Heb. ii. 3, 4. " Serve the Lord therefore with fear, and rejoice with trembling : kiss the Son, lest he be angrv, and you perish in the kindling of his wrath," Psal. ii. U, 12. Grand Direct. YIII. Remember that you are related to Christ as the 1° °'?''y Christ as Physician of your souls, and to the healing work, ami Holy Ghost as your Sanctifier. Make iiis Spirit in iu it therefore your serious study, to Ije „,or£' ^ cured by Christ, and cleansed by his Spirit, of all the sinful diseases and defilements of your hearts and lives. Though I did before speak of our believing in the Holy Ghost, and using his help for our access to God, and converse with him ; yet I deferred to speak fully of the cleansing and mortifying part of his work of sanctification till now ; and shall treat of it here, as it is the same with the curing work of Christ, related to us as the Physician of our souls : it being part of our subjection and obedience to him, to be ruled by him, in order to our cure. And what I shall here write against sin, in general, will be of a twofold use. The one is, to help us against the inward corruptions of our hearts, and for the outward obedience of our lives, and so to further the work of sanctification, and prevent our sinning. Tiie other is, to help lis to repentance and humiliation, habitual and actual, for the sins which are in us, and which w^e have already at any time committed. The general directions for this curing and cleans- ing of the soul from sin, are contained, for the most part, in what is said already : and many of the par- ticular directions also maybe fetched from the sixth direction before-going. I shall now add but two general directions, and many more particular ones. Direct. I. The two general directions ar(^ these: 1. Know what corruptions the soul of man is natu- rally defiled with : and this containeth the knowledge of those faculties, that are the seat of these corrup- tions, and the knowledge of the corruptions that have tainted and perverted the several faculties. Direct. II. 2. Know what sin is, in its nature or intrinsic evil, as well as in the effects. 84 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. Ho« tho ,creral J' '^^''e I'frls OF faculties to be incuUiesof thesoui Cleansed and cured, are both the iiUr s'li superior and inferior. (1.) Tiie un- derstanding, though not the first in the sin, must be first in the cure : for all that is done upon the lower faculties, nuist be by tlic governing power of the will : and all that is done upon the will, according to the order of human iiatxire, must be done by the understanding, liut the understand- ing hath its own diseases, which must be known In »hat canes a "^^^^^^^ ^''^ malady in general is sound nndersinnd- ignorancc ; wliich IS not Only a pri- ins may be igiiur- vation of actual knowledge, but an undisposedness also of the under- standing to know the truth. A man may be de- j)rived of some actual knowledge, that hath no dis- ease in his mind that causeth it : as in a case that either the object be absent, and out of reach, or that there may be no suflicient revelation of it, or that the mind be taken up wholly upon some other thing, or in case a man shut out the thoughts of such an object, or refuse the evidence, which is the act of the will, even as a man that is not blind, may yet not see a particular object, 1. In case it be out of his natural reach ; 2. Or if it be night, and he want extrinsic light; 3. Or in case he be wholly taken up with the observation of other things ; 4. Or in case he wilfully either .shut or turn away his eyes. How tlie under- I' ''^ ^ ^ery hard question to re- standing- can be the solve, how far and wherein the dis- >ubjeci of sin ? eases of the understanding may be called sin ? Because the understanding is not a free, but a necessitated faculty ; and there can be no sin, where there is no liberty. But to clear this, it must be considered, 1. That it is not tliis or that faculty that is the full and proper subject of sin, but the man : the fulness of sin being made up of the vice of both faculties, understanding and will, conjunct. It is properer to say. The man sinned, than. The intellect or will sinned, speaking exclusively as to the other. 2. Liberium arbitrium, free choice, is belonging to the man, and not to his will only, though principally to the will. 3. Though the will only be free in itself, originally, yet the intellect is free by participation, so far as it is counnanded by the will, or dependeth on it for the exercise of its acts. 4. Accordingly, though the understanding, primitively and of" itself, be not the subject of mo- rality, of moral virtues or of moral vices, which are immediately and primarily in the will ; yet par- ticipatively its virtues and vices are moralized, and become graces or sins, laudable and rcwardable, or vituperable and pimishable, as they are imperate by the will, or depend upon it. Consider then, the acts, and habits, and disposi- tion of the understanding ; and you will find. That .some acts, and the privation of them, are necessary, naturally, originally, and imalterably ; and these are not virtues or sinful at all, as having no morality. As, to know unwillingly, as the devils do, and to be- lieve when it cannot be resisted, though they would: this is no moral virtue at all, but a natural perfec- tion only. So, 1. To be ignorant of that which is no object of knowledge, or which is naturally beyond our knowledge, as of the essence of God, is no sin at all. 2. Nor, to be ignorant of that wViich was never revealed, when no fault of ours hindered tlie revelation, is no sin. 3. Nor, to be without the ])resent, actual knowledge or consideration of one point, at that moment when our thoughts are law- fully diverted, as in greater business, or suspended, as in sleep. 4. But to be ignorant, wilfully, is a sin, participatively in the intellect, and originally in the will. 5. And to be ignorant for want of revelation, when ourselves are the hinderers of that revelation, or the meritorirttis cause that we want it, is our sin : because, though that ignorancc be immediately ne- cessary, and hypolhetically, yet originally and re- motely it is free and vohnitary. So, as to the habits and disposititm of the intel- lect : it is no sin to want those, which man's under- standing in its entire and primitive nature was with- out. As, not to be able to know without an object, or to know an imrevealed or too distant object, or actually to know all things knowable, at once. But there are defects or ill dispositions, that are sinfully contracted ; and though these are now immediately natural' and necessary, yet being originally and re- motely voluntary or free, they are participatively sinful. Such is the natural man's disability or un- disposedness to know the things of the Spirit, when the word revealeth them. This lieth not in the want of a natural faculty to know them, but, I. Radically in the will. 2. And thence in contrary, false apprehensions which the intellect is prepos- sessed with, wliich resisting the truth, may be called, its blindness or inipotency to know them. And 3. In a strangeness of the mind to those spiritual things which it is utterly unacquainted with. Note here, 1. That the will may be guilty of the understanding's ignorance, two ways : either, by positive avcrseness prohibiting or diverting it from beholding the evidence of truth ; or, by a privation and forbearance of that command or excitation which is necessary to the exercise of the acts of the understanding. This last is the commonest way of the sin in the understanding ; and that may be truly called voluntary which is from the will's neg- lect of its office, or suspension of its act, though there be no actual volition or nolition. 2. That the will may do more in causing a disease in the understanding, than it can do in curing it. I can put out a man's eyes, but I cannot restore them. 3. That yet for all that, God hath so ordered it in his gracious dispensation of the grace of the Re- deemer, that certain means are appointed by him, for man to use, in order to the obtaining of his grace, for his own recovery : and so, though gi-ace cure not the understanding of its primitive, natural weakness, yet it cureth it of its contracted weakness, which was voluntary in its original, but necessary, being contracted. And, as the will had a hand in the causing of it, so must it have, in the voluntary use of the aforesaid means, in the cure of it. So much to show yon how the understanding is guilty of sin. Thor.gh no ac tual knowledge he so immediate as to be without the Tbeoperaiionsand . ^^,1 1 p , maladies 01 the mediation of the smse and fantasy, intellect, yet sup])osing these, knowledge is distinguished into immediate r.nd mediate. The im- mediate is when the being, quality, &c. of a thing, or the truth of a proposition, is known immediately in itself by its proper evidence. Mediate knowledge is when the being of a thing, or the truth of a pro- jiosilion, is known by the means of some other inter- venieiit thing or proposition, whose evidence afford- elh us a light to discern it. The understanding is much more satisfied when it can see things and truths immediately in their proper evidence. But when it cannot, it is glad of any means to help it. The fcrther we go in the scries of means, (know- ing one thinE; by another, and that by another, and so on,) the more unsatisfied the understanding is, as apprehending a possibility of mistake, and a ' Maxime pars hominum moibo jactatur codcra. Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 80 difficulty in escaping mistake in the use of so many vtedia. When the evidence of one thing in its proper na- ture showeth us anothei-, this is to know hy mere discourse or argument. When the medium of our knowing one thing is the credibility of another man's report that knoweth it, this is (though a discourse or argument too, yet) in speciiil, called, belief ; which is -trong or weak', certain or uncertain, as the evidence of the reporter's credibility is certain or uncertain, and our apprehen- sion of it strong or weak. In both cases, the understanding's fault is either an utter privation of the act, or disposition to it ; or else a privation of the rectitude of the act. When it should know by the proper evidence of the thing, the privation of its act is called ignorance or nesci- ence, and the privation of its rectitude is called error (which differ as not seeing, and seeing falseh'.) When it should know by testimony, the privation of its act is simple unbelief, or not believing, and the jjrivation of its rectitude is either disbelief, when they think the reporter crreth, or misbelief, when it believeth a testimony that is not to be believed. So that you see by what is said, that the diseases of the mind to be cured, are, 1. Mere ignorance. 2. Error; thinking truth to be falsehood, and falsehood truth. 3. Unbelief 4. Disbelief. And 5. Misbelief. „ .... But as the goodness is of chief Rom. viii. o — /. 1 • .1 1 • . ^• regard in tlie object, so the aiscernmg of the truth about good and evil, is the chiefest office of the understanding. And therefore its disesteem of God, and glory, and grace, and its misesteem of the fleshly pleasure, and worldly prosperity, wealth, and honour, is the principal malady of the mind. (2.) The diseases of the will, are in its inclinatioti, and its acts. 1. An inordinate inclination to the pleasing of the fleshly appetite and fantasy, and to all carnal baits and temporal things, that tend to please it, and inordinate acts of desire accordingly. 2. An irrational backwardness to God, and grace, and spiritual good, and a refusal or nolition in act accordingly. These are in the will, 1. Because it is become much subject to the sensitive appetite, and hath debased itself, and contracted, by its sinful acts, a sensual inclination, the flesh having the dominion in a corrupted soul. 2. Becau.se the intellect being also corrui)ted, ofttimes misleadeth it, by overvaluing transient things. 3. Because the will is become destitute (in its corrupted state) of the power of divine love, or an inclination to God and holy tilings, which should countermand the seduction of carnal objects. 4. And the understanding is much d( sti- tute of the light that should lead them higher. 5. Because the rage of the corru])ted appetite is still seducing it. Mark therefore, for the right under- standing of this, our greatest malady : 1. That the will never desireth evil, as evil, but as a carnal or a seeming good. 2. Nor doth it hate good as good, but as a seeming evil, because God and grace do seem to be his enemies, and to hurt him, by hindering him of the good of carnal pleasure which he now prefcrreth. 3. Nay, at the same time that he loveth evil as it pleaseth the flesh, he hath naturally, as a man, some averseness to it, so far as he apprehendeth it to be evil : and when he liateth God and holiness as evil, for hindering him of his carnal pleasure, he naturally loveth them, so far as he apprehendeth them to be good. So that there is some love to (iod and good, and some hatred to evil, in the ungodly; for while man is man, he will have naturally an incdination to good as good, and against evil as evil. 4. J5ut the apprehension of sensitive good is the strongest in him, and the apprehension of spiritual good is weakest; and therefore the will receiving a greater impress from tlie carnal appetite and mind, than from the weak apprehensions of spi- ritual good, is more inclined to that which indeed is Worst ; and so things carnal have got the dominion, or chief commanding interest, in the soul. 5. Note also, that sin receivetli its formality, or moral evil, first in the will, and not in the intellect or sensitive appetite : for it is not sin till it be positively or pri- vately, immediately or mediately, voluntary. But the first motions to sin are not in the will, but in the sensitive appetite ; though there, at first, it be not formally sin. 6. Note, that neither intellect, object, appetite, or sense, necessitate naturally the will to sin, but it remaineth the first in the sin and guilt. It is a matter of great difficulty to understand how sin first entered into the innocent soul ; and it is of great importance, because an error here is of dan- gerous consequence. Two sorts seem to me to make (lod so much the necessitating cause of Adam's first sin, (and so of all sin,) as that it was as naturally impossible for Adam to have forborne it, according to their doctrine, as to have conquered God : 1. Those that assert the Dominican, immediate, physical, pre- determining pre-motion (which no created power can resist). 2. And those that say the will acts as necessitated by the intellect in all its acts (and so is necessitated in all its omissions) ; and that the intel- lect is necessitated by objects (as, no doubt it is, unless as its acts are sub imperio voluntatis) ; and all those objects are caused and disposed of by God. But it is certain that God is not the cause of sin ; and therefore this certainty overruleth the case against these tenets. At present it seemeth to me, that sin entered in this method : 1 . Sense perceiveth the forbidden thing. 2. The appetite desireth it. 3. The imagination tliinketh on its desirableness yet further. 4. The intellect conceiveth of it (truly) as good, by a simple apprehension. 5. The will accordingly willeth it by a simple complacency or volition. Thus far there was no sin. But, (>. The will here adhered to it too much, and took in it an excess of conifjlaccncy, when it had power to do otherwise: and here sin begun. 7. And so when the cogitations should have been called off"; 8. And the intellect should have minded God, and his command, and proceeded from a simjde apprehension to the comparing act, and said, Tiie favour of God is better, and his will should rule, it omitted all these acts, because the will omitted to command them; yea, and hindered them. 9. And so the intidlect was next guilty of a nov-renuo, — I will not forbid or hinder it (and the will a(-cord- ingly). 10. And next of a positive deception, and the will of consent unto the sin, and so it being " fin- ished, brought forth death." If you say, the will's first sinful adhesion in the sixth instance, could not be, unless the intellect first diri'cted it so to do ; 1 deny that, because the will is the first jirinciple in men's actions quoad exercilium, though the intellect be the first as to specification. And therefore the will could suspend its exercise and its excitation of the mind. In all this I go upon commcm principles : but 1 leave it to further incptiry ; 1. How far the sensitive appetite may move the lo- comotive faculty without the will's command, while the will doth not forbid? And whether reason be not given man, as the rider to the horse, not to en- able him to move, but to rule his motion : so that as the horse can go if the rider hinder not, so the sensi- tive appetite can cause the actions of eating, drink- ing, thinking, speaking sensually, if reason do but drop asleep, or not hinder. 2. And so whether in the first sin (and ordinarily) the sensitive appetite. 80 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. fantasy, and passion bo not the active mover, and the rational powers first jfiiilty only by onnltinij their restraining; },^overnnieiit, which they were able to have exercised? 3. And so, whether sin be not (or- dinarily) a brutish motion, or a voluntary unman- ning of ourselves, the rational j)owers in the begin- ning being guilty only of omission or privation of restraint ; but afterwards brought over to subserve the sensitive appetite actively ? 4. And so, whether the will, which is the priucipiuin actus quoad exer- citium, were not the lirst in tlie omission ? The in- tellect having before said, This must be further considered, the will commanded not that further con- sideration, when it could and should? However, if it be too hard for us to trace our own souls in all their motions, it is certain that the will of man is the first subject of moral good and evil; and uncertainties must not make us deny that which is certain. The reader who understandeth the importance and consequence of' these points, I am sure, will pardon me for this interposition of these diiiicult controvert- ed points (which I purposely avoid where I judge them not very needful in order to the defence or clearing of the plainer common truths) : and as for others, I must bear their censure. The degree of sinfulness in the will lieth in a stiff- ness and obstinacy, a tenaciousness of deceitful temporal good, and an eagerness after it; and stub- bom averseness to spiritual good, as it is against that temporal fleshly good. This is the will's disease." (3.) The sinfulness of the memory is in its rcten- tivcness of evil, or things hurtful and prohibited ; and its looseness and neglect of better, spiritual, ne- cessary things. If this were only as things present have the natural advantage to make a deeper impress upon the fantasy, and things unseen and absent have the disadvantage, it were then but a natural, innocent infirmity ; or if in sickness, age, or weakness, all kind of memory equally decay. But it is p^lain, that if the Bible be open before our eyes, and preaching be in our ears, and things unseen have the advantage of their infinite greatness, and excellency, and con- cernment to us, yet our memories are like walls of stone to any thing that is spiritual, and like walls of wax, on which you may write any thing, of that which is secular or evil. Note here, also, that the faultiness of the memory is only so far sinful as it is voluntary : it is the w ill where the sin is as in its throne, or chiefest subject. Because men love carnal things, and love not spiritual things, therefore it is that they mind, and understand, and remember the one, and not the other. So that it is but as imperate, and participatively, that the memory is capable of sin. (4.) The sinfulness of the imagination consisteth in its readiness to think of evil, and of common earthly things, and its unaptncss to think of any thing that is holy and good ; and when we do force ourselves to holy thoughts, they are disorderly, confused, un- skilfully managed, with great averseness. — Here also voluntariness is the life of the sin. (5.) The sin of the affections, or passions, consisteth in this : — That they are too easily and violently moved by the sensitive interest and appetite ; and are habitually jjrone to such carnal, inordinate mo- tions, running before the understanding and will, (some of them,) and soliciting and urging them to evil ; and resisting and disobeying the commands of reason and the will : but dull and backward to things spiritually good, and to execute the right dictates of the mind and will. " Animi labes ncc diutumitate evanescit, nec manibus ullis elui potest — Non incestiim vel aspersione aqujE vel dierum numero tollitur. Cicero 2. de Legib. (6.) The sin of the sensitive appetite consisteth in the inordinate rage or immoderateness to its object, which causeth it to disobey the commands of reason, and to become the great inciter of rebellion in the soul ; violently urging the mind and will to consent to its desires. Materially this depcndeth much on the temper of the body ; but formally this also is so far sinful as (positively or privately, mediately or immediately) it is voluntary. To have an appetite simply to the object of ap])etite is no sin ; but to have a diseased, inordinate, unruly a])petite, is a sin, not primarily in itself considered, but as it is voluntary, as it is the appetite of a rational free agent, that hath thus disordered the frame of its own nature. ("•) The sin of the exterior parts, tongue, hand, eyes, feet, Ike. is only in act, and not in habit, or at least, the habits are weak and subject to the will. And it is in the execution of the sinful desires of the flesh, and commands of the will, that the same consisteth. These parts also are not the primary subject of the guilt, but the will, that cither positively puts them ujion evil, or doth not restrain them when it ought ; and so they are guilty but participatively and second- arily, as the other imperate faculties are : it is not good or evil merely as it is the act of tongue or hand, but as it is the act of the tongue, or hand of a rational free agent (agreeable or disagreeable to the law). If a madman should speak blasphemy, or should kill, or steal, it were no further sin, than as he had voluntarily contracted the ill disposition which caused it while he had the use of reason. If a man's hand were held and forced by another to do mischief ut- terly against his will, it is the sin of the chief agent, and not of the involuntary instrument. But no force totally cxcuseth us from guilt, which leaveth the act to our rational choice. He that saith, Take this oath, or I will kill thee, or torment thee, doth use force as a temptation which may be resisted, but doth not constrain a man to swear : for he leaveth it to his choice whether he will swear, or die, or be tormented ; and he may and ought to choose death rather than the smallest sin. The will may be tempted, but not constrained. Direct. II. 2. Labour clearly to understand the evil of sin, both intrinsical in itself, and in its aggrava- tions and efl^ects. — When you have found out where it is, and wherein it doth consist, find out the malig- nity and odiousness of it. I have heard some chris- tians complain, that they read much to show them the evil of sin in its effects, but meet with few that show them its evil in itself sufficiently. But, if you see not the evil of sin in itself, as well as in the effects, it will but tempt you to think God unjust in over-punishing it ; and it will keep you from the principal part of true repentance and mortification ; which lieth in hating sin, as sin. I shall therefore show you, wherein the intrinsical malignity of sin consisteth. 1. Sin is (formally) the violation of the perfect, holy, righteous law of God. 2. It is a denial or contempt of the authority, or governing power, of God : as if we said. Thou shalt not be our Governor in this. 3. It is a usurping the sovereign power to our- selves of governing ourselves, in that act : for when we refuse God's government, we set up ourselves in his stead; and so make gods of ourselves as to ourselves, as if we were self-sufficient, independent, and had right hereto. 4. It is a denying or contempt of the wisdom of God, as if he had nnwiscly made us a law which is unmeet to rule us. 5. It is a setting up of our folly in the place of God's wisdom, and preferring it before him ; as if CUAP. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 87 we were wiser to know how to govern ourselves, and to know what is fittest and best for us now to do, than God is. 6. It is a contempt of the goodness of GoJ, as he is the maker of the law : as if he had not done that which is best, but that which may be coiTccted or contradicted, and there were some evil in it to be avoided." 7. It is a preferring our naughtiness before his goodness, as if we would do it better, or choose better what to do. 8. It is a contempt or denial of the holiness and purity of God, which sets him against sin, as light is against darkness. 9. It is a violation of God's propriety or dominion, robbing him of the use and service of that which is absolutely and totally his own. 10. It is a claiming of propriety in ourselves, as if we were our own, and might do with ourselves as we list. 11. It is a contempt of the gracious promises of God, by which he allured and bound us to obedience. 12. It is a contempt of the dreadful threatenings of God, by which he would have restrained us from evil. 13. It is a contempt or denial of the dreadful day of judgment, in which an account must be given of that sin. 14. It is a denying of God's veracity, and giving him the lie : as if he were not to be believed in all his predictions, promises, and threats. 15. It is a contempt of all the j)ri'sent mercies, (which are innume rable and gicat,) by which God obligeth and encouragt th us to obey. 16. It is a contempt of our own afflictions, and his chastisements of us, by which he would drive us from our sins. 17. It is a contempt of all the examples of his mercies on the obedient, and his terrible judgments on the disobedient, (men and de\'ils,) by which he warned us not to sin. 18. It is a contempt of the person, office, suffer- ings, and grace of Jesus Christ, who came to save us from our sins, and to destroy the works of the devil ; being contrary to his bloodshed, authority, and healing work. 19. It is a contradicting, fighting against, and in that act prevailing against the sanctifying ofhcc and work of the Holy Ghost, that moveth us against sin, and to obedience. 20. It is a contempt of holiness, and a defacing, in that measure, the image of God upon the soul, or a rejecting it : a vilifying of all those graces which are contrarj' to the sin.' 21. It is a pleasing of the devil, the enemy of God and us, and an obeying him before God. 22. It is the fault of a rational creature, that had reason given him to do better. 23. It is all willingly done and chosen by a free agent, that could not be constrained to it.' 24. It is a robbing God of tlie honour and plea- sure which he should have had in our obedience ; and the glory which we should Ijring him before the world. 25. It is a contempt of the omnipresence and omniscience of God, when we will sin against him before his face, when he stands over us, and seeth all that we do. » See Plutartli's Tract, entitled, " That vice is suflicicnt to make a man wretched." Si non ipso honesto movemur ut viri boni simus, sed utilitate aliqua, atquc fructu, callidi siimus, non boni ; si emolumentis, non suapte natura, virtus expctitur. vana erit virtus, quse malitia rccffe dicitur. P. Seal. p. 741. 26. It is a contempt of the greatness and alniighti- ness of God, that we dare sin against him who is so great, and able to be avenged on us. 27. It is a wrong to the mercifulness of God, when we go out of the way of mercy, and put him to use the way of justice and severity, who delightelh not in the death of sinners, but rather that ihey obey, repent, and live. 28. It is a contempt of the attractive love of God, who should be the end, and felicity, and pleasure of the soul. As if all that love and goodness of God were not enough to draw or keep the heart to him, and to satisfy us and make us happy ; or, he were not fit to be our delight. And it showeth the want of love to God: for if we loved him rightly we should willingly obey him. 29. It is a setting up the sordid creature before the Creator, and dung before heaven, as if it were more worthy of our love and choice, and fitter to be our delight ; and the pleasure of sin were better for us than the glory of heaven. 30. In all which it appeareth, that it is a practical atheism, in its degree ; a taking down God, or deny- ing him to be God : and a practical idolatry, setting up ourselves and other creatures in his stead. 31. It is a contempt of all the means of grace, which are all to bring us to obedience, and keep us or call us from our sins : prayer, sacraments, &c. 32. It is a contempt of the love and labours of the ministers of Christ ; a disobeying them, grieving them, and frustrating their hopes and the labours of their lives. 33. It is a debasing of reason, the superior faculty of the soul, and a setting up of the flesh or inferior faculties, like setting dogs to govern men, or the liorse to rule the rider. 34. It is a blinding of reason, and a misusing the noblest faculties of the soul, and frustrating them of the use and ends which they were made for : and so it is the disorder, monstrosity, sickness, or death of the soul.' 35. It is, in its measure, the image of the devil upon the soul, who is the father of sin : and there- fore the most odious deformity of the soul ; and this where the Holy Ghost should dwell, and the image and delight of God should be. 36. It is the moral destruction not only of the soul, but of the whole creation, so far as the creatures are appointed as the means to bring or keep us unto God : for the means, as a means, is destroyed when it is not used to its end. A ship is useless if no one be carried in it. A watch, as such, is useless, when not used to show the hour of the day. All the world, as it is the book that should leach us the will of God, is cast by, when that use is cast by. Nay, sin useth the creature against God which should have been used for him. 37. It is a contradicting of our own confessions and professions ; a wronging of our consciences ; a violation of our covenants and self-obligations to God. 38. It is a i)rcferring of time before eternity, and regarding things of a transitory nature, and a mo- ment's pleasure, before that which never shall have end. 39. It is a making a breach in the The porvcrtinj; harmonj' and order of the world: as .ami confusion of the dislocation or deformity of a par- y Voluntarium est omne peccatum. Tolle cxcusationem : nemo pcccat invitus. Martin. Dunilens. de Morib. Nihil interest quo ammo facias, quod fccisso vitiosum est, quia acta cernuntur, animu.s non videtur. Id. ibid. Sick bodies only sufl'er ill ; but sick souls both suffer ill and do ill. Plutarch's Mor. p. 314. 88 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. ticidar member, is the trouble and deformity of all the body, because the comeliness and welfare of the whale, C(mtaineth the comeliness, i>roi)orti(>n, and welfare of all the parts. And as the dislocation or breakinjj of one part in a wateh or clock, is against the use of all the engine ; so every man being a part of the kingdom of God, doth by sin make a breach in the order of the whole ; and also giveth an ill example to otlier parts, and makes himself unservice- able to the body ; and dishonoureth the whole body with the blot of rebellion ; and lets in judgment on the world ; and kindleth a consuming fire in the l>lace where he liveth ; and is cruel and injurious to others. 40. Sin is not only a preferring the body before the soul, but it is also an unmercifulness or cruelty against ourselves, both soul and body, and so is con- trary to the true use of the indelible principle of self-love ; for it is a wounding and abusing the soul and defiling the body in this life, and casting both on the wrath of God, and into the fiames of hell here- after, or a dangerous venturing them into the way of endless damnation and despair, and a contempt of those insufi'erable torments. All these parts of ma- lignity and poison are intrinsical to sin, and found in the very nature of it. The common aggravations of sin b dng written of by many, and easily gathered from what is said of the nature of it, I shall briefly name only a few. 1. The infinite perfection of God in all those blessed attributes and relations, which sin is against, is the greatest aggravation of sin. 2. The inconceivable glory of heaven, which is despised, is a great aggravation of sin. 3. So is the greatness of the torments of hell, which sinners despise and venture on, 4. So is the great opposition that God hath made against sin, having said and done so much against it, and declared himself to hate nothing else imme- diately in the world. 5. The clearness of evidence against it, the nothing- ness of all that can be said for it, is also a great aggravation of it. (5. So is the fulness, and fitness, and power of all the means in creatures, providences, and Scriptures, that is vouchsafed the world against it. 7. So is the experience and warning of all ages, the repentings of the converted, and the disowning it by almost all when they come to die. Wonderful ! that the experience of the world for above five thou- sand years, will teach them no more efl'ectually to avoid so mortal, pernicious a thing. 8. The nearness to us also is an aggravation : it is not a distant evil, but in our bowels, in our very hearts ; we are bound so strictly to love ourselves, that it is a great aggravation to do ourselves so great a mischief. 9. The constant inhesion of sin is a great aggra- vation : that it is ever with us, lying down and rising up, at home and abroad ; we are never free from it. 10. That it should poison all our common mercies, and corrupt all our duties, is an aggravation. But we shall take up some of these anon. The special aggravations of the sins of God's own children are these 1. They sin against a nearer relation than others do ; even against that God that is their P'ather by the new birth, which is more heinous than if a stranger did it. 2. They are Christ's own members : and it is most unnatural for his members to rebel against him, or do him wrong. * See the Assembly's Larger Catechism about aggrava- 3. They sin against more excellent operations of the Spirit tlian others do, and against a principle of life within, them. 4. They sin against the differencing grace, which appeared in their conversion. God took them out of a world of sinners, whom he passed by when he could as well have sanctified them : and should they so quickly thus requite him ? 5. They sin against the pardon and justification wdiich they have already received. Did God so lately forgive them all their former debts, so many, so great and heinous sins, and that so freely to them, wdien tlie procurement was so dear to Christ ? and should they so soon forget, or so ill requite, so great a mercy ? (). They sin against a more serious covenant, which at their conversion they entered into with God, than other men do. 7. They sin against all the heart-breaking or hum- bling sorrows, which they have tasted of at their conversion, and since. They have known more of the evil of sin than others, in their sad experience of its sting. 8. They sin against more knowledge than other men : they have known more what sin is, and what Christ is, and what the will of God is, than others : and therefore deserve to be beaten with many stripes. 9. They have oftener confessed sin than others, and spoke odiously of it, as the vilest thing, and ag- gravated it to God and man. 10. Their many prayers against it, and all their labour in hearing, and reading, and sacraments, and other means, do aggravate it. 11. They make a greater profession of strict obe- dience, and therefore sin against their own profession. 12. They have renewed their promises of obe- dience to God, in prayer, at sacraments, and at other times, much more than others. 13. They have had more experience than others of the goodness of obedience, and of the comforts and benefits that attend it, in the favour of God, and communion with him therein. 14. Their sins are aggravated by all the reproofs and exhortations which they have used to others, to tell them how unreasonable and bad it is to provoke the Lord. 15. They sin under greater ho])cs of glory than others do ; and provoke that God with whom they hope to live for ever. 16. The high titles of love and praise which God doth give them in his word, do aggravate their sin. That he should call them his treasure, his peculiar people, his jewels, and the aj)ple of his eye, his sons and daughters, and a holy peojjle, and priests to God, and boast of them as a people more excellent than their neighbours; and after this they should ■sin against him. 17. They have had audience with God, the answer of prayers, and many a deliverance and mercy in this life, which others have not; which aggravate their sins, as being thus contemned, and as obliging them more to God than others. 18. They dishonour God more than any others by their sins. His honour lieth not so much upon the actions of the nngodly, as on those that are nearest to him. 19. They harden the wicked more than such sins in other men would do. They cause them to blas- pheme, and reproach the godly for (heir sakes, and say. These are your religious men ! You see now what their strictness is. And they hinder the con- version and salvation of others: they grieve the tions of sin. Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 89 godly, and ■WTong the church and cause of God, much more than the sins of others do. 20. Lastly, They please the devil more than the sins of other men. How busy is he to have drawn a Job to sm ! and how would he have boasted against God, and his grace, and his servants, if he had pre- vailed, when he boasted so much before, in the false presumption of his success ! as if he could make the godly forsake God, and be as bad as others, if he have leave to tempt them. I shall next give you some particular direc- tions, besides those foregoing, to help you to think of sin as it is, that you may hate it; for your cleans- ing and cure consist in this : so far as you hate sin it is mortified, and you are cured of it. And there- fore, as I have anatomized it, that you may see the hatefulness of it, I shall direct you to improve this for your cure. How to hate sin Direct. I. Labour to know God, ' and to be affected with his attributes, and always to live as in his sight.— No man can know sin perfectly, because no man can know God perfectly. You can no fhrthcr know what sin is than you know what God is, whom you sin against : for the formal malignity of sin is relative, as it is against the will and attributes of God. The godly have some knowledge of the malignity of sin, because they have some knowh dge of God that is wronged by it. The wicked have no practical, prevalent knowledge of the malignity of sin, because they have no such knowledge of God. They that fear God will fear sinning; they that in their hearts are bold irre- verently with God, will, in heart and life, be bold W'ith sin : the atheist, that thinketli there is no (iod, thinks there is no sin against him. Nothing in the world will tell us so plainly and powerfully of the evil of sin, as the knowledge of tlie greatness, wis- dom, goodness, holiness, authority, justice, truth, &c. of God. The sense of his presence, therefore, will revive our sense of sin's malignity. Direct. II. Consider well of the office, tlie blood- shed, and the hoty life of Christ. — His ofhcc is to expiate sin, and to destroy it. His blood was shed for it: his life condemned it. Love Christ, and thou wilt hate that which caused his death. Love him, and thou wilt love to be made like him, and hate that which is so contrary to Christ. These two great lights will show the odiousness of darkness. Direct. III. Think well both how holy the office and work of the Holy (iho.st is, and how great a mercy it is to us. — Shall (iod himself, the heavenly light, come down into a sinful heart, to illuminate and purify it? and yet shall I keep my darkness and defilement, in opposition to such wonderful mercy ? Though all sin against the Holy Ghost be not the unpardonable blasphemy, yet all is aggra- vated hereby. Direct. IV. Know and consider the wonderful love and mercy of God, and think whfit he hath done for yon ; and you will hate sin, and be ashamed of it. — It is an aggravation which makes sin (jdious even to common reason and ingenuity, that we should oll'end a (jod of infinite goodness, who hath filled up our lives with mercy. It will grieve you if you have wronged an extraordinary friend : his love and kind- ness will come into your thoughts, and make you angry with your own utikindness. Here look over the catalogue of God's mercies to you, for soul and body. And here observe that Satan, in hiding the loveof God from j^ou, and tempting you under the ])re- tence of humility to deny his greatest, s])ecial mercy, doth seek to destroy youi- repentance and humiliation also, by hiding the greatest aggravation of your sin. Direct. V. Think wliat the soul of man is made for, and should be used to, even to love, obey, and glorify our Maker; and then you will see what sin is, which disableth and jierverteth it. — How excel- lent, and high, and holy a work are we created for and called to ! And should w e defile the temple of God ? and serve the devil in filthiness and folly, where we should entertain, and serve, and magnify our Creator ? Direct. VI. Think well what pure and sweet de- lights a holy soul may enjoy from God, in his holy service ; and then you will see what sin is, which robbeth him of these delights, and preferreth fleshly lusts before them. — O how happily might we per- form every duty, and how fruitfully might we serve our Lord, and what delight should we find in his love and acceptation, and the foresight of everlasting blessedness, if it were not for sin ; which bringeth down the soul from the doors of heaven, to wallow with swine in a beloved dunghill ! Direct. Yll. Bethink you what a life it is which you must live for ever, if you live in heaven ; and what a life the holy ones there now live ; and then think whether sin, which is so contrary to it, be not a vile and hateful thing. — Either you would live in heaven, or not. If not, you are not those I speak to. If you would, you know that there is no sinning ; no worldly mind, no pride, no passion, no fleshly lust or pkasures there. Oh, did you but see and hear one hour, how those blessed spirits are taken up in loving and magnifying the glorious God in purity and holiness, and how far they are from sin, it would make you loathe sin ever after, and look on sinners as on men in bedlam wallowing naked in their dung. Especially, to think that you hope yourselves to live for ever like those holy spirits ; and therefore sin doth ill beseem you. Direct. YIII. Look but to the state and toiment of the damned, and think well of the diirerence be- twixt angels and devils, and you may know what sin is. — Angels are pure ; devils are polluted : holiness and sin do make the difference. Sin dwells in hell, and holiness in heaven. Kinuniber that every temptation is from the devil, to make you like him- self; as every lioly motion is from Christ, to make you like himself. Remember when you sin, that you are learning and imitating of the devil, and are so far like him, John viii. 44. And the end of all is, that you may feel his pains. If hell-fire be not good, then sin is not good. Direct. IX. Look always on sin as one that is ready to die, and consider how all men judge of it at the last. — AVhat do nu n in heave u say of it ? and what do men in lu ll say of it? and w hat do men at death say of it ? and what do converted souls, or awakened consciences, say of it? Is it then followed with delight and fearlessness as it is now ? is it then a])plauded? will any of them speak well of it ? Nay, all the world speaks evil of sin in the general now, even whin they love and commit the several acts. Will you sin when you are dying? Direct. X. Look always on sin and judgment log! ther. — Remember that you must answer for it before God, and angels, and all the world ; and you will the better know it. Direct. XI. Look now but upon sickness, poverty, shame, despair, death, and rottenness in the grave, and it may a little hel[) you to know what sin is. — Tliese are things within your sight or feeling ; you need not failli to tell you of them. And by such effects you might have some little knowledge of the cause. Direct. XII. Look but upon some eminent, holy persons upon earth, and upon the mad, profane, malignant world; and the dillerence may Icll you 90 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. in part what sin is. — Is there not an amiablencss in a lii)ly, hlanieU'ss person, that Hveth in h)ve to (iod anil man, and in tlie joyful hojics of life eternal P Is not a beastly drunkard or whoreinonijer, and a raying swearer, and a malicious persecutor, a very deformed, loathsome creature ? Is not the mad, confused, i','-- noraut, ungodly state of the world a very pitiful sight? What then is the sin that all this doth con- sist in ? Though the ])rincipal part of the cure is in turn- ing the will to the hatred of sin, and is done by this discovery of its malignity ; yet I shall add a few more directions for tlic executive part, supposing that what is said already has had its efi'eet. Direct. I. When you have found out your disease and danger, give up yourselves to Christ as the Saviour and Physician of souls, and to the Holy Ghost as your Sanctificr, remembering that he is sufficient and willing to do the work which he hath undertaken. — It is not you that are to be saviours and sanetiliers of yourselves (unless as you work under Christ). But he that hath undertaken it, doth take it for his glory to perform it. Direct. II. Yet must you be willing and obedient in applying the remedies prescribed you by Christ, and observing his directions in order to your cure. — And you must not be tender, and coy, and fine, and say. This is too bitter, and that is too sharp ; but trust his love, and skill, and care, and take it as he prescribeth it, or giveth it you, without any more ado. Say not. It is grievous, and I cannot take it : for he commands you nothing but what is safe, and wholesome, and necessary, and if you cannot take it, you must try whether you can bear your sickness, and death, and the fire of hell ! Are humiliation, confession, restitution, mortification, and holy dili- gence, worse than hell ? Direct. III. See that you take not part with sin, and wrangle not, or strive not against your Phy- sician, or any that would do you good. — P^xcusing sin, and pleading for and extenuating it, and striving against the Spirit and conscience, and wrangling against ministers and godly friends, and hating re- proof, are not the means to be cured and sanctified. Direct. IV. See that malignity in every one of your particular sins, which you can see and say is in sin in general. — It is a gross deceit of yourselves, if you will speak a great deal of the evil of sin, and see none of this malignity in your pride, and your worldliness, and your passion and peevishness, and your malice and uncharitablcness, and your lying, backbiting, slandering, or sinning against conscience for worldly commodity or safety. What self-con- tradiction is it for a man in prayer to aggravate sin, and when he is reproved for it, to justify or excuse it ! for a popish priest to enter sinfully upon his place, by subscribing or swearing the Trent Con- fession, and then to preach zealously against sin in the general, as if he had never committed so horrid a crime ! This is like him that will speak against treason, and the enemies of the king, but because the traitors are his friends and kindred, will protect or hide them, and take their parts. Direct. V. Keep as far as you can from those temptations which feed and strengthen the sins which you would overcome. — Lay siege to your sins, and starve them out, by keeping away the food and fuel which is their maintenance and life. Direct. VI. Live in the exercise of those graces and duties which are contrary to the sins which you are most in danger of. — For grace and duty are con- trary to sin, and killcth it, and eureth us of it, as the fire cureth us of cold, or health of sickness. Direct. Hearken not to weakening unbelief and distrust, and cast not away the comforts of God, wliich are your cordials and strength. — It is not a frightful, dejected, desijairing frame of mind, that is fittest to resist sin ; but it is the encouraging sense of the love of God, and thankful sense of grace received (with a cautelous fear). Direct. VIII. Be always sus])icious of carnal self-love, and watch against it. — For that is the liurrow or fortress of sin ; and the common patron of it; ready to draw you to it, and ready to justify it. We are very prone to be partial in our own cause ; as tlie case of Judah with Tamar, and David when Nathan reproved him in a parable, show. Our own passions, our own pride, our own censures, or backl)itings, or injurious dealings, our own neg- lects of duty, seem small, excusable, if not justifiable things to us ; whereas we could easily see the faultiuess of all these in another, especially in an enemy : when yet we should be best acquainted with ourselves, and we should most love ourselves, and therefore hate our own sins most. Direct. IX. Bestow your first and chiefest labour to kill sin at the root ; to cleanse the heart, which is the fountain ; for out of the heart cometh the evils of the life. — Know which are the master-roots ; and bend your greatest care and industry to mortify those : and they are especially these that follow ; 1. Ignorance. 2. Unbelief. 3. Inconsiderateness. 4. Selfishness and pride. 5. Fleshliness, in i)leasing a brutish appetite, lust, or fantasy. 6. Senseless hardhearteduess and sleepiness in sin. Direct. X. Account the world and all its pleasures, wealth, and honours, no better than indeed they are, and then Satan will find no bait to catch you. — Esteem all as dung with Paul, Phil. iii. 8 ; and no man will sin, and sell his soul, for that which he ac- counteth but as dung. Direct. XI. Keep up above in a heavenly conver- sation, and then your souls will be always in the light, and as in the sight of God, and taken up with those businesses and delights which put them out of relish with the baits of sin. Direct. XII. Let christian watchfulness be your daily work ; and cherish a preserving, though not a distracting and discouraging fear. Direct. XIII. Take heed of the first approaches and beginnings of sin. Oh how great a matter doth a little of this fire kindle ! And if you fall, rise quickly by sound repentance, whatever it may cost you. Direct. XIV. Make God's word your only rule ; and labour diligently to understand it. Direct. XV. And in doubtful cases, do not easily depart from the unanimous judgment of the gene- rality of the most wise and godly of all ages. Direct. XVI. In doubtful eases be not passionate or rash, but proceed deliberately, and prove things well, before you fasten on them. Direct. XVII. Be acquainted with your bodily temperature, and what sin it most inclincth you to, and what sin also your calling or converse doth lay you most open to, that there your watch may be the stricter. (Of all which I shall speak more fully under the next Grand Direction.) Direct. XVIII. Keep in a life of holy order, such as God hath a])pointed you to walk in. For there is no preservation for stragglers that keep not rank and file, but forsake the order which God command- eth them. — And this order lieth principally in these points : 1. That you keep in union with the univer- sal church. Separate not from Christ's body upon any ])retence whatever. With the church as re- generate, hold spiritual communion, in faith, love, and holiness : with the church as congregate and Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 91 visible, hold outward communion, in profession and worship. 2. If you are not teachers, live under your particular, faithful pastors, as obedient disciples of Christ. 3. Let the most godly, if possible, be your familiars. 4. Be laborious in an outward calling. ^ Direct. XIX. Turn all God's providences, whether of prosperity or adversity, against your sins. — If he give you health and wealth, remember he thereby obligeth you to obedience, and calls for special service from you. If he afflict you, remember that it is sin that he is olTended at, and searchcth after ; and therefore take it as his physic, and see that you hinder not, but help on its work, that it may purge away your sin. Direct. XX. Wait patiently on Christ till he have finished the cure, which will not be till this trying life be finished. — Persevere in attendance on his Spi- rit and means ; for he will come in season, and will not tarry. " Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord : his going forth is prepared as the morning, and he shall come unto us as the rain : as the latter and former rain upon the earth," Hos. vi. 3. Though you have oft said, " There is no heal- ing," Jer. xiv. 19 ; " he will heal your backslidings, and love you freely," Hos. xiv. 4. " Unto you that fear his name, shall the Sun of righteousness arise, with healing in his wings," Mai. iv. 2 : " and blessed are all they that wait for him," Isa. xxx. 18. Thus I have given such directions as may help for humiliation under sin, or hatred of it, and deliver- ance from it. Grand Direct. IX. Spend all vour Chru't^I-aiiirthe ^^^^ '^^ ^ skilful, vigilant, resolute, tempter." ' ' and valiant war against the flesh, the world, and the devil, as those that have covenanted to follow Christ the Captain of your salvation. The flesh is the end of temptation,'' for all is to please it, Rom. xiii. 14, and therefore is the greatest enemy ; the world is the matter of tem])tation ; and the devil is the first mover, or eflicient of it : and this is the trinity of enemies to Christ and us, which we renounce in baptism, and must constantly resist. Of the world and fiesh I shall speak chap. 4. Here I shall open the methods of the devil. And first I shall prepare your understanding, by opening some pre- supposed truths. 1. It is presupposed, that there is a devil. He that believeth not tliis, doth prove it to others, by showing how grossly the devil can befool him. Apparitions, witchcrafts, and temptations are full proofs of it to sense ; besides what Scrijiture saifh. 2. It is supposed that he is the deadly enemy of Christ and us.*^ He was once an angel, and fell from his first estate Ity sin, and a world of evil spirits with him ; and it is probable his envy against mankind might be the greater, as knowing tliat we were made to sufceed him and his followers, in their state of glory : for Christ saith, that we shall " be equal with the angels," Luke xx. .36. He showed his enmity to man in our innocency, and by his temjitation caused our fall and misery. But after the fall. Cod ])ut an enmity into the nature of man against devils, as a merciful preservative against temptation : so that as the whole nature of man abhorreth the na- ture of serpents, so doth the soul abhor and dread the diabolical nature. And, therefore, so far as the devil is seen in a temptaticm now, so far it is frus- * See my treatise of " Crucifying the World," and of " Self-denial." '■ Of tlie Temptations to hinder Conversion, see before, chap. i. trated ; till the enmity in nature be overcome by his deceits : and this help nature hath against tempta- tion, which it seems our nature had not before the fall, as not knowing the malice of the devil against us. There is a natural enmity to the devil himself put into all the woman's natural seed : but the moral enmity against his linful temptations and works, is put only into the spiritual seed by the Holy Ghost (except what remnants are in the light of nature). I will be brief of all this and the next, having spoken of them more largely in my " Treatise against Infi- delity," Part iii. The devil's names do tell us what he is."* In the Old Testament he is called, I. The " serpent," Gen. iii. 2. The Hebrew word, translated " devils," in Lev. xvii. 7, and Isa. xiii. 21, signifieth hairy, as satyrs are described ; and sometimes he-goats ; be- cause in such shapes he oft appeareth. 3. He is called " Satan," Zech. iii. I. 4. " An evil spirit," 1 Sam. xviii. 10. 5. " A lying sjiirit," I Kings xxii. 22 ; for he " is a liar, and the father of it," John viii. 44. 6. His offspring is called " a spirit of un- cleanness," Zech. xiii. 2. 7. And he (or his spawn) is called " a spirit of fornication," Hos. iv. 12; that is, idolatry. 8. " A perverse spirit, causing stagger- ing and giddiness as a drunken man," Isa. xix. 14. In the New Testament, 1. He is sometimes called simply " a spirit," Mark ix. 20,26; Luke ix. 39; x. 20. 2. Sometimes, Trviviiara aKadapra, " unclean spi- rits," Luke vi. 18; as contrary to the Holy Spirit; and that from their nature and effects. 3. And after, Saifioftiov, " demons," a word taken in a good sense in heathen writers, but not in Scripture ; because they worshipped devils under that name, (unless perha])s Acts xvii. 18; 1 Tim. iv. 1.) And, cV/ijuwv with respect to their knowledge, and, as some think, to the knowledge promised to Adam, in the tempt- ation. 4. ritipajwv, " the tempter," Matt. iv. 5. " Satan," Matt. iv. ; 1 Pet. v. 8. 6. 'ExdpoQ, " an cne- mv," Matt. xiii. 28, 39. 7- " The strong man armed," Matt. xii. 8. " Angels," 1 Cor. vi. 3; 2 Pet. ii. 4. " Angels which ke])t not their first state," Jude 6. 9. " A S])irit of divination," Acts xvi. 16. 10.' " A roaring lion," 1 Pet. v. 8. 11. " A min'dercr," John viii. 44. 12. " Belial," 2 Cor. vi. 15. 13. " Beel- zebub," Matt. xii. the " god of flies." 14. " The prince of this world," John xii. 21, from his jiower over wicked men. 15. " The god of this world," 2 Cor. iv. 5, because the world obey him. 16. " Tlio prince of the power of the air," Ejjh. ii. 2. 17. " The ruler of the darkness of this world," Kph. vi. 12. " Principalities and ])owers." 18. " The father of the wicked," John viii. 44. 19. " The dragon, and the old serpent," Rev. xii. 20. AtdftoXoc, " the calumniator," or " false accuser," often. 21. 'O Trofjj- p6r, " the evil one," Matt, xxiii. 19. 22. " An evil si)irit," Acts xix. 15. 23. A 7roX\i»ur, " the destroyer," and " Abaddon," the " king of the locusts," and " angel of the bottomless pit," Rev. ix. 11, (unless that speak of antichrist). .3. He is too strong an enemy for lapsed sinful man to deal with of himself. If he conquered us in inno- cency, what may he do now? He is dangerous, (1.) By the greatness of his subtlety. (2.) By the great- ness of his power. (3.) By the greatness of his malice. And hence, (4.) By his constant diligence, watching when we sleej). Matt. xiii. 25; and "seek- ing nit;ht and day to devour," 1 Pet. v. 8 ; Rev. xii. 4. 4. Therefore Christ hath engaged himself in our cause, and is become the " Captain of our salvation," •I Vide Pool's Synopsis, Critic, in I.ovit. i. 77. In these latter tiie word "spirit." signifieth the ill disposition, which .Satiin as a tempter causetb, and so be is known by it as his oflsi)rinij. 92 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. Heb. ii. 10.' And tlie world is forniod into two armies, that live in continual war: the devil is the ])rince and treneral of one, and liis ani,fels and wieked men are his armies : Christ is the Kinjj and Gi neral of the other, and his ansrels (lleh. ii. 14) and s;unts are his army. Between these two armies are the greatest contlict in the world. 5. It i.s supposed also, that this war is carried on, on both sides, within us, and without us ; by inward solicitation-:, and outward means, which are fitted thereunto. (). 15oth Christ and Satan work hy officers, instru- ments, and means. Christ hath his ministers to jireach his STospel, and ]inll down the kingdom of Satan. And Satan hath his ministers to preach licentious- ness and lies, and to resist the gospel and kingdom of Christ, 1 Cor. iii. 5; iv. I; 2 Cor. xi. 15; Acts xiii. 8 — 10. Christ hath his church, and the devil hath his synagogue. Christ's soldiers do every one, in their places, fight for him against the devil. And the devil's soldiers do every one, in tluir places, fight against Clirist. The generals are both unseen to mortals ; and the unseen power is theirs ; but their agents are visible. The soldii rs fight not only against tiie generals, but against one another ; but it is all. or chiefly, for the generals' sakes. It is Christ that the wicked persecute in his servants, Acts ix. 4; and it is the devil whom the godly hate and resist in the wicked. But yet here are divers notable di (Terences. I. The devil's servants do not what they do in love to him, but to their own flesh ; but Christ's servants do ■what they do in love to him, as well as to themselves. 2. The devil's army are cheated into arms and war, not knowing what they do ; but Christ doth all in the open light, and will have no servants but those that deliberately adhere to him, when they know the worst. 3. The devil's servants do not know that he is their general ; but Christ's followers do all know their Lord. 4. The devil's followers disown their master and their work ; they will not own that they fight against Christ and his kingdom, while they do it: but Christ's followers own their Captain, and his cause, and work; for he is not a master to be ashamed of. 7. Both Christ and Satan work persuasively, by moral means, and neither of them by constraint and force. Christ forceth not men against their wills to good, and Satan cannot force them to be bad; but all the endeavour is to make men willing ; and he is the conqueror that getteth and keepeth our own consent. 8. Their ends arc contrary, and therefore their ways are also contrary. The devil's end is, to (h-aw man to sin and damnation, and to dishonour (iod ; and Christ's end is, to draw man from sin to holiness and salvation, and to honour (iod. But Christ maketh known his end, and Satan conccaleth his end from his followers. 9. There is somewhat within the good and bad for the contrary part to work upon ; and we are, as it were, divided in ourselves, and have somewhat in us that is on both sides. The wicked have an honour- able acknowledgment of God, and of their greatest obligation to him ; a hatred to the devil ; a love of themselves ; a willingness to be happy, and an un- willingness to be miserable ; and a conscience which approveth of more good than they do, and condemn- eth much of their transgression. This is some ad- vantage to the persuasions of the ministers of Christ to work upon ; and they have reason capable of knowing more. ' See my "Treatise against Infidelity," as before cited. The soldiers of Christ have a fleshly apjietite, and the remnants of ignorance and error in tlieir minds, and of earthliness, and carnality, and averseness to (iod in their wills, with a nearness to this world, and much strangeness to the world to come. And here is too much advantage for Satan to work on by his temptations. 10. But it is the predominant part within us, and the scope of our lives, which showeth which of the annies we bilong to. And thus we must give up our names and hearts to Christ, and engage under his conduct against the devil, and conquer to the death, if we will be saved. Not to fight against the bare name of the devil; for so will his own soldiers, and s])it at his name, and hang a witch that makes a contract with him : but it is to fight against his cause and work, which is by fighting against the world and the flesh, and for the glory of God. In opening to you this holy war, I shall, First, Shew you what we must do on the oflensive part. Secer danger of your places, and keep a constant watch against them. Tempt. V. The devil suiteth his temptations to our several relations. Parents he tempteth to be cold and regardless of the great work of a wise and holy education of their children. Children he tempt- eth to be disobedient, imthankful, void of natural aifection, unreverent dishonourers of their parents. Husbands he temptrth to be unloving, unkind, ini- patietit with tlv weaknesses of their wives ; and w'ives to be peevish, self-willed, proud, clamorous, passionate, and disobedient. Masters he tempteth to use their servants only as their beasts, for their own commodity, without any care of their salvation and (iod's service ; and servants he tempteth to be car- nal, untrusty, false, .slothful, eye-servants, that fake more care to hide a fault, than not to commit it. 98 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. Ministers and mngistratcs he tempteth to seek them- selves, and nejrleet their eharge, and set up their own ends instead of the common good ; or to mis- take the common good, or the means that lendeth to it. Snhjects and ])eoj)le he tempteth to dishonour and uuiinuir agfiinst their governors, and to censure them unjustly, and to disobey them, and rebel ; or else to honour, and fear, and serve them more than God, and against God. Direct. V. Here learn well the duties and dangers of your own relations, and remember that it is much of your work to be faithful and excellent in your re- lations. And mind not so much what other men owe to you, as what you owe to God and them. Let masters, and ministers, and magistrates first study and carefully practise their own duties, and yet they must next see that their inferiors do their duties, be- cause that is their office : but they must be more de- sirous that God be first served, and more careful to procure obedience to him, than that they be honour- ed or obeyed themselves. Children, servants, and subjects must be taken up in the well-doing of their proper work ; remembering that their good or hurt lieth far more upon that, than upon their superiors' dealings with them, or usage of them. As it is your own body, and not your superior's, which your soul doth animate, nourish, and use, and which you have the continual sense and eharge of; so it is your own duty, and not your superiors', which you have to do and to answer for, and therefore most to mind and talk of. Tempt. VI. The tempter also suiteth his tempta- tions to our advantages, and hopes of rising or thriv- ing in the world : he seeth which is our rising or thriving way ; and there he layeth his snares, ac- commodated to our designs and ends, making some sinful omission or commission seem necessary there- to. Either Balaam must prophesy against the eople of God, or else God must keep him from onour, by keeping him from sin, Numb. xxiv. II. If once Judas be set on, What will you give me ? the devil will teach him the way to gain : his way is necessary to such sinful ends. Direct. VI. Take heed therefore of overvaluing the world, and being taken w ith its honour, pleasure, or prosperity ; take heed, lest the love of earthly things engage you in eager desires and designs to grow great or rich. For if once your heart have such a design, you are gone from God : the heart is gone, and then all will follow as occasion calls for it. Understand these scriptures : Prov. xxiii. 4, " La- bour not to be rich." Prov. xxviii. 20, 22, " He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent. — He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye." 1 Tim. vi. (), 9, " But they that will be rich fall into temptations and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition : for the love of money is the root of all evil. But godli- ness with contentment is great gain." Jer. xlv. 5, " Seek not great matters for yourselves." Be dead to the world: fear more the rising than the falling way. Love that condition best, which fitteth thee for communion with God, or maketh thee the most profitable servant to him ; and hate that most, which is thy greatest hinderance from these, and would most enslave thee to the world. Tempt. VII. The tempter suiteth his temptations to our company : if they have any error or sin, or are engaged in any carnal enterprise, he will make them snares to us, and restless until they have insnared us. If they love us not, he will make them continual provocations, and set before us all their wrongs, and provoke us to uncharitableness and revenge. If they love us, he will endeavour to make their love to us to be the shoeing-horn or harbinger of their errors and evil ways, to draw us to their imitation. He findeth something in all our company, to make the matter of some temptation. Direct. VII. Converse most with God: let faith make Christ and angels your most regarded and ob- served company ; that their mind and presence may more afTect you than the mind and presence of mor- tal men. Look not at any man's mind, or will, or actions, without respect to God who governeth, and to the rule by which they should all be suited, and to the judgment which will open and reward them as they are. Never see man without seeing God : see man only as a creature dependent on his Maker's will. And then you will lament and not imitate him when he sinneth ; and you will oppose (and Christ saith " hate," Luke xiv. 2(3) and not be seduced by him, when he would draw you with him to sin and hell : had Adam more observed God than Eve he had not been seduced by his helper. Then you will look on the proud, and worldly, and sensual, as Solomon on the slothful man's vineyard, Prov. xxiv. 30 — 32, " I saw and considered it well, 1 looked on it, and received instruction." You would not long for the plague or leprosy, because it is your friend's disease. Tempt. VIII. The tempter maketh advantage of other men's opinions or speeches of you, or dealings by you ; and by every one of them w ould insnare you in some sin. If they have mean thoughts of you, or speak despising or dishonouring words of you, he tempteth you by it to hate them, or love them less, or to speak contemptuously of them. If they ap- plaud you, he tempteth you by it to be proud ; if they wrong you, he tempteth you to revenge ; if they enrich you, or are your benefactors, he would make their benefits a price to hire you to some sin, and make you pay as dear for them as your salvation cometh to. If they scorn you for religion, he would make you ashamed of Christ and his cause ; if they admire you, he would ch-aw you by it to hypocrisy. If they threaten you, he would draw you to sin by fear, as he did Peter ; if they deal rudely with you, he tempteth you to passion, and to requite them with the like, and even to distaste religion itself, if men professing religion be against you, or seem to do you any wrong. Thus is every man a danger to his brother. Direct. VIII. Discern in all men what there is of God to be your help, and that make use of ; and what there is of Satan, sin, and self, and that take heed of. Look upon every man as a helper and a tempter ; and be prepared still, to draw forth his help, and resist his temptation. And remember, that man is but the instrument; it is Satan that tempteth you, and God that trieth you, by that man ! Saith David of Shimei, " The Lord hath bidden him ;" that is, he is but God's rod to scourge me for my sin, as my son himself is. As Satan was his instrument in trying Job, not by God's efTecting, but permitting the sin : observe God and Satan in it, more than men. Tempt. IX. His temptations also are suited to our fore-received opinions and thoughts. If you have but let in one lustful thought, or one malicious thought, he can make great advantage of that nest-egg to gather in more ; as a little leaven to leaven the whole lump : he can roll it up and down, and do much to hatch it into a multitude. If you are but tainted with any false opinion, or prejudice against your teacher, your ruler, or your brother, he can im- prove it to such increase, and raise such conclusions from it, and more from them, and reduce them all to practice, as shall make observers with astonishment say, Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth ! Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 99 Direct. IX. Take heed what thoughts you first admit into your mind ; and especially cherish and approve none but upon very good trial and exami- nation. And if they prove corrupt, sw eep clean your fantasy and memory of them, that they prove not inhabitants, and take not up their lodgings in you, or have not time to spawn and breed. And fill up the room with contrary thoughts, and useful truth, and cherish them daily, that they may increase and multiply ; and then your hearts will be like a well- peopled kingdom, able to keep their possession against all enemies. Tempt. X. Also he fitteth his temptations to your natural and acquired parts. That if you are weak, he may either discourage you ; or (which is more usual and dangerous) make you think better of them than they are, and to think you know much, when it is next to nothing ; and to make you wise in your own eyes, and easily to receive an error, and then to be confident in it: not to discern between things that differ ; but to be deceived into false zeal, and false ways, by the specious pretences and shows of truth ; and then to be zealous for the deceiving of others. Also that you may be a dishonour to truth and godliness, by your weakness and ill manage- ment of good causes ; and may give them away through your unskilfulncss to the adversary. If you are of stronger wits and parts, the tempter will draw you to despise the weak ; to take common gifts for special grace ; or to undervalue holiness and hu- mility, and overvalue learning and acuteness : he will tempt you (dangerously) to loathe the simplicity of Christianity and of the Scriptures, as to style and method ; and to be offended at the cross of Christ. So that such persons are usually in greater danger of infidelity, heresy, pride, and insolent domineering over the flock of Christ, than vulgar christians that have lower parts. Direct. A. Labour to be well acquainted with yourselves. If you are weak, know your weakness, that you may be humble, and fearful, and seek for strength and help. If you are comparatively strong, remember how weak the strongest arc ; and how little it is that the wisest know. And study well the ends and use of knowledge ; that all you know may be concocted into love and holiness ; and use it as remembering that you have much to give account of. Tempt. XI. Moreover the tem])tcr will fetch ad- vantage against you, from your former life and ac- tions. If you have gone out of the way to heaven, he would harden you by custom, and make you think it such a disgrace or trouble to return, as that it is as good go on, and put it to the venture. If you have done any work materially good, while your heart and course of life is carnal and worldly, he would quiet you in your sinful, miserable state, by applauding the little good that you have done, if a good man have erred or done ill, he will engage his honour in it, and make him study to defend it, or excuse it, lest it prove his shame ; and tempt men, as he did David, to hide one sin with another. If he get hold of one link, he will draw on all the chain of sin. Direct. XI. Take heed therefore what you do; and foresee the end. Let not the devil get in one foot : try your way, before you enter it. Kiit if you have erred, come off, and that thoroughly and betimi-s, whatever it cost; for be sure it will cost more to go on. And if he would make a snare of the good that you have done, remember that this is to turn it into the greatest evil ; and that there must be a concur- rence find integrity of good to make you acceptable, and to save you : heart and life nnist be good to the end. H 2 Tempt. XII. Lastly, he fitteth his temptations to the season. He will take the season just when an evil thought is likest to take with you ; and when the winds and tide do serve him : that will take at one time (when a man hath his wits and heart to seek) which would be abhorred at another. In afflicting times he will draw you to deny Christ, with Peter, or shift for yourselves by sinful means ; in prosperous times he will tempt you to security, worldliness, and forgetfulness of the night and win- ter which approachkth : the timing his temptations is his great advantage. Direct. XII. Dwell as with God, and you dwell as in eternity, and will see still that as time, so all the pleasure, and advantages, and dangers, and suf- ferings of time, are things of themselves of little moment. Keep your eye upon judgment and eter- nity, where all the errors of time will be rectified, and all the inequalities of time will be levelled, and the sorrows and joys that are transitory will be no more ; and then no reasons from the frowns or flat- teries of the times will seem of any force to you. And be still employed for God, and still armed and on your watch, that Satan may never find you dis- posed to take the bait. The Tempter's Method in applying his prepared Baits, Tempt. I. The devil's first work is, to present the tempting bait in all its alluring, deceiving proper- ties ; to make it seem as true as may be to the un- derstanding, and as good and amiable as may be to the will. To say as much as can be said for an evil cause ; he maketh his image of truth and goodness as beautiful as he can : sin shall be sugared, and its pleasure shall be its strength, Heb. xi. 25. Sin shall have its wages paid dow^n in hand, 2 Pet. ii. 15. He will set it out with full-mouthed praises : 0 what a fine thing it is to be rich, and please the flesh con- tinually ! to have command, and honour, and lusts, and sport.s, and what you desire ! Who would re- fuse such a condition that may have it ? All this will I give thee, was the temptation which he thought fit to assault (Christ himself with. And he will cor- rupt the history of time past, and tell you that it went well with those that took his way, Jer. xliv. 17. And for the future, he w ill promise them, that they shall be gainers by it (as he did Eve) and shall have peace, though they please their flesh in sinning : see Deut. xxix. 19. Direct. I. In this ('ase, first inquire what God saith of that which Satan so commcndeth. The commendations and motions of an enemy are to be suspected. God is most to be believed. 2. Then consider not only whether it be good, but how long it will be good; and what it will ])rove at the end; and how we shall judge of it at the parting; and withal consider what it tendeth to ; whetlier it tend to good or evil ; and whether it be the greatest good that we are capable of And then you will see, that if there were no good, or apjiearance of good in it, it could do a voluntary agent no hurt, and were not fit to be the matter of a temptation : and you will see that it is temjioral good set up to deceive you of the eternal good, and to entice you into the greatest evil and misery. Doth the devil show thee the world, and say, " All this will I give thee ?" Look to Christ, who showeth thee t)ie glory of the world to come, with all things good for thee in this world, and saith more truly, " All this will I give thee." The world and hell are in one end of the balance, and pardon, holiness, and heaven are in the other. Which now wilt thou prefer? If the devil have more to give thee and bid for thee than Christ, let him take thee. 100 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part Tempt. 11. The tempter laboureth to keep God, and ('nrist, and heaven out of sif^lit, that they darken not the splendour of liis bait ; and to hide tliose potent reasons from tlicni, hy whicli they might easily repel the temptation: so that though they are well known and sure, and Seripture be full of them, they shall none of them be ready at hand to use, when the temptation cometli ; so that to them they shall be all as nothing : and this he doth by unbelief and inconsiderateness. Direct. II. Live by faith. See that God tlie Father, the Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit, dwell within you, and take up your hearts, and your liopes be placed all on heaven, and that these be your very life and business ; and then you w'ill always have that at hand which may repel the tempter. A heart taken up with (iod and Christ, conversing in heaven, is always fortified, and prepared to meet every temptation with abhorrence. Let your souls be still possessed with as constant apprehensions of the evil of sin, the danger of sinning, the presence, authority, and holiness of God, the wrong that sin doth him, the hurt it doth ourselves and others, and what it did to Jesus Christ, as you have of the danger of fire, and water, and poison ; and then the tempter will not speed. Tempt. III. It is the great care of the devil to keep out of sight, that he be not seen himself in the temptation. As the angler keepeth himself behind the bush, and the fowder hideth himself from the birds, or else they would fear, and fly, and escape ; so doth the devil use all his art, to hide himself from the sinner's observation ; that the deluded soul shall little think that the devil is so near him, and hath so great a hand in the business. If the ambitious or covetous worldling saw the devil offer him the bait, and heard him say, " All this will I give thee ;" he would have the smaller list to take the bait. If the devil appeared to the whoremonger, and brought him his whore, and encouraged him to his filthiness, it would cool his lust : or if he appeared to the drunkard, and presented him the cup, he would have hut little list to drink. If the proud and the malicious saw the devil at their backs, rejoicing in their sin, and putting them on, it might affright them half into their wits. Therefore the great endeavour of the devil is, to persuade men that it is not he that makes the motion to them : it is such a friend, or such a neighbour, or gentleman, or minister, or wise man; it is not the devil ! till the fish is caught, and the bird is in the net, and then the author of all appeareth, to kill them, and carry them away without any concealment. Direct. 111. Mark but the tendency and the manner of the temptations, and you may perceive the author. Who else is it that is so much against God, and against your everlasting happiness ? Who else is it that would so abuse your reason, to prefer things temporal before things eternal, and the brutish pleasures of a corruptible flesh before the interest of immortJil soids ? Who else so contradicteth all the word of God ? Read God's warnings, and he will tell you who it is. Take every temptation then (whoever be the messenger) as if thou sawest the devil standing by, and making the motion to thee, and heardest himself exhort thee to the sin. Sup- Eose you saw him conducting you to the whore- ouse, the play-house, the ale-house, and making you entertainment as tlie master of the game. How then would you take it? and what would you do? Woidd you go, and be angry at the precise preacher that would hinder you ? and w'ouhi you take the devil's part? No, nature hath possessed you with a fear of him, and an enmity to him : use it for your safety. It cannot be good for you that comes from him. He hath a fouler face to appear to you in, than ever yet you saw, when you have done his work, and are where he would have you. O know with whom you have to do. Tempt. IV. The tempter is most careful also to hide from men the nature and tendency of the tempt- ation itself; that they shall not know that it is a temjitation when they are tempted, but shall have nothing in sight but the bait which they desire. The angler doth not only hide himself from the fish, but also his rod, and line, and hook, as much as he can. The fowler covereth his nets, so that either the fish and bird shall not see the snare, or shall not know what it is, and what it is there laid for : so when the bait of pleasure, and honour, and wealth is presented by the devil, to the fornicator, gamester, proud, or covetous, they shall not see what the devil is doing now, and what a game he is playing for their souls ! They shall not perceive the connexion that there is between the pleasure and the sin, and the sin and the threatening, and the threatening and the judgment, and the judgment and the everlasting punishment. When Judas was bargaining with the Pharisees, he knew not that the devil was in him driving on the match. Direct. IV. Be wise and suspicious : blindness or fool-hardiness will lead yon into the snare. Be wise, that you may know the tendency of every thing that is presented to your thoughts, and may be able to perceive a danger. Be sus])icious and cautelous, that you make a sufficient trial, and go upon sure grounds, and avoid the very appearance of evil : when it is hell that you fear, come not too near. Play not as the fly about the candle : salvation is necessary ; but preferment, or wealth, or liberty, or credit, or life itself are not necessary to you ! Prove all things. Flatter not yourselves into the snares by foolish hopes, and judging of things as the flesh would have them to be, rather than as they are. If no danger appear, turn up all coverings, and search and see that none be hidden. The devil hath his gunpowder plots, and mines, which may blow you up before you are aware. Not only lawfulness and indifferency, but great good is the pretence for greatest evil. Tempt. V. It is the tempters care to bring the tempting object near enough, or draw tlie sinner near enough to it. The net must come to the fish, or the fish to the net. The distant fire will not burn the wood. The devil's chief confidence is in the sensi- tive appetite, which worketh strongliest at hand. If he get the drunkard into the ale-house, and show him the cup, he hath half conquered him already ; but if he be scrupulous and modest, some one shall drink a health, or importune him, and put the cup into his hand. The thief, with Achan, shall see the bait, and the sight will work a covetous desire. The glutton shall have the tempting dishes before him, and be at a table which by variety of delicious food is fitted to become his snare ; whereas if he had nothing set before him, b'.it the poor man's simple food which hath nothing in it fit to tempt him, he might easily have escaped. The fornicator shall have his beau- tiful dirt brought near him, and presented to him in a tempting dress ; for at a sufficient distance there had been little danger. The ambitious person shall have preferment offered him, or brought so fair to his hand, that wdth a little seeking it may be attain- ed. The fearful coward shall be threatened with the loss of estate or life, and hear the report of the cannons, gims, and drums of Satan. Peter is half conquered when he is got among questioning com- pany in the high priest's hall. Thus David, thus Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 101 Lot, thus ordinarily sinners ate drawn into the snare. Direct. V. As ever you would preserve your inno- cency and your souls, fly as far from tempting objects as you can : I say, as you can, without distrusting God in the neglect of a certain duty. A wife, or a servant, that are bound, cannot fly ; nor must we leave undone our certain duty upon an uncertain danger, which may otherwise be avoided ; but keep off from the temptation at as great a distance as you can : the safest course is the best when your souls lie at the stake : if it be not necessary, plead not the lawfulness of what you do, when it is a temptation to that which is unlawful. You say, it is lawful to wear such curious ornaments, and set out yourselves in the neatest dress ; but is it lawful to be proud or lustful, or to consume your time unprofitably ? If not, tempt not yourselves or others to it. Keep away from the place where the snare is laid. Look first to the end before thou meddle with the begin- ning. Why should I eat that which I know I can- not digest, but must cast it up again ? And why sliould I taste that which I must not eat ? And why should I desire to have that set before me, and to look upon that which I must not taste ? Come not near if thou wouldst not be taken. What dost thou at the ale-house with a cup before thee, if thou wouldst not be drawn to excess of drink ? If thou be subject to excess in eating, make not thy own table thy temptation. Fly from the temptation as thou wouldst do from hell, or from the devil him- self. See not the bait of lust, or come not near, if thou be inclinable to lust : saith Solomon, " Remove thy way far from her, and come not near the door of her house," Prov. v. 8. " For her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death, her steps take hold on hell," ver. 4, 5. " Her house inclineth to death, and her paths unto the dead. None that go to her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life," chap, ii. 18, 19. "Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death," chap. vii. 27. "Whoso is simple, kt him turn in hither: and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. But he knoweth not that the dead are there ; and that her guests are in the depths of hell," chap. ix. 16—18. " Lust not after her beauty in thy heart, neither let her take thee with her eye-lids. — Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burnt? Can one go upon hot coals and his feet not be burnt?" chap. vi. 2.5, 2/, 28. Remember that you pray daily, " Lead us not into temptation:" and if you will nm into it your- selves, arc not your prayers hypocritical and an abuse of God ? If you would be saved from sin, you must be saved in God's way ; and that is, by flying from temptations ; and not drawing near, and gazing on forbidden objects, and tempting yourselves : even as God's holy means must be used by all that would come to hohness and heaven ; so the devil's must be avoided by him that woidd escape sin and hell. But if you cannot remove far enough from the snare, then double your fear, and watchfulness, and resolu- tion : fly with Joseph, Gen. xxxix. 12, from the sin, if you cannot go out of the house. How care- fully should every foot be placed, when we know that every step we tread is among snares ! Rule your senses if you cannot remove the bait: make Job's covenant with your eyes, that you look not on that which would allure. Job xxxi. I. Let every sense have a constant watch. Tempt. VI. The next great work of the tempter js, to give us the fairest opportunities to sin, and to remove all impediments, and show men encouraging hopes and invitations. He will show the thief which way he may steal ; and show the covetous man which way he may thrive, and deceive, and overreach ; and the ambitious man which way he may rise ; and the fornicator how he may obtain his desire, and sin un- known ; and then he tells them how easy it is ; now no one seeth you ; you may do it without fear or shame. It is the devil's great care to take all things out of the way that would afl'right, or hinder sinners ; that they may have full opportunity to invite them. Therefore he is very desirous that public impedi- ments shoidd be all removed ; especially in a godly magistrate and minister, and that the common dis- grace of sinning may be taken off, and if it may be, turned against religion, or fall on them that are the greatest adversaries to sin. Direct. VI. It is therefore a principal part of your wisdom and watchfulness, to avoid the opportunities of sinning, and keep out as many impediments as may be in your own way. It is a most foolish and sinful thing in some men, who think it a brave thing to have power to do hurt, though they pretend that they abhor the doing of it. He that saith he hateth oppres- sion, yet would have a power to oppress ; to have all men at his will and mercy he thinks is brave : so they that would not be gluttonous would have a tempting table still before them, presuming that their own will is a sufficient preservative against the sin : so they that would not be insnared with lust, have yet a desire to appear as comely, and lovely, and desirable as may be, and to be as much beloved, that they may have other affections at command ; and also to have ojjportunity offered them, that they may sin if they will. And is thy will so well estab- lished, mortified, and unchangeable, as to be so far trusted ? O foolish sinner ! that no better knowest thyself; nor observest thy danger; nor perceivest that this very desire to have the power to do evil showeth a degree of the evil in thy heart, and that thou art not yet so far from it as thou must be, if thou wouldst be safe. Contrive thyself (if thou be wise and love thyself) into the greatest ditficully of sinning that thou canst. Make it impossible, if it may be done. The power is for the act. Desire not to be able to sin, if thou wouldst not sin ; not that natural power to do good should be destroyed because it is also a power to do evil, but cast as many blocks in the way of thy sinning as thou canst, till it amount to a moral impossibility. Desire the j . strictest laws and governors, and to ^''^ ' be still in the eye of others, and contrive it that thou mayst have no hope of secrecy. Contrive it so that it may be utter shame and loss to thee if thou sin. If thou be tempted to fornication, never be pri- vate with her or him that is thy snare. If thou be tempted to deceive and rob those that trust thee, avoid the trust; or if ever thou have done it, restore and confess, that shame may preserve thee. Tempt. Vll. Next the tempter importunately so- liciteth our thoughts or fantasies to feed upon the tempting thing : that the lustful person may be think- ing on the objects of his lusts; and the ambitious man thinking on his desired honour; and the covetous man of his desired wealth, his house, or lands, or gainful bargains ; and the malicious man be think- ing of all the real or imaginary wrongs which kin- dle malice. Direct. VII. Keep a continual watch upon your thoughts. Remember that this is the common en- trance of the greatest sins; and if they go no fur- ther, the Searcher of hearts will judge thee for the adultery, murder, and other sins of thy heart. But especially see that your tlioughts be so em- 102 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. ployed on bettor things, that sin may never find them vacant. Tempi. VIII. The tempter also is diligent to keep tile end from the sinner's eye, and to persuade him that there is no danijer in it, and that it will he as good at last as at first. He cannot endnre a thought, a word of death or judgment, unless he can first for- tify the sinner by some presumptuous hope, that liis sins are pardoned, and liis case is good : either he will make them believe him, that there is no such danger to the soul as sliould deter them ; or else he keepeth them from thinking of that danger. He is loth a sinner should so much as look into a grave, or go to the house of mourning, and see the end of all the living, lest he should lay it to heart, and thence perceive what worldly pleasure, wealth, and greatness is, by seeing where it leaveth sinners. If one do but talk of death or judgment, and the life to come, the devil will stir up some scorn, or weari- ness, or opposition against such discourse. If a sin- ner do but bethink himself in secret, what will be- come of him after death, the devil will either allure him, or trouble him, and never let him rest, till he have cast away all such thoughts as tend to his sal- vation. He cannot endure when you see the pomp and ])leasure of the world, that you should think or ask, How long will this endure ? and what will it prove in the latter end ? Direct. VIII. Go to the holy Matt'iutv^ ' Scriptiires, and see what they fore- tell concerning the end of godliness and sin : God knoweth better than the devil, and is more to be believed. You may see in the word of God, what will become of saints and sinners, godly and ungodly, at the last, and what they will think and say when they review their present life ; and what Christ will say to them, and how he will judge them, and what will be their reward for ever. This is the infallible prognostication where you may fore- see your endless state. In this glass continually foresee the end. Never judge of any thing by the present gust alone. Ask not only how it tasteth, but how it worketh, and what will be the efTects : remember that God's law hath inseparably conjoined holiness and heaven, and sin unrepented of and hell ; and seeing these cannot be separated indeed, let them never lie separated from each other in your thoughts. Otherwise you will never understand Christ or Satan. When Christ saith, " Wilt thou deny thyself, and take up the cross and follow me ? " his meaning is, shall I heal thy carnal, worldly heart and life, and bring thee by grace to the sight of God in endless glory ? You will never under- stand what prayer, and obedience, and holy living mean, if you see not the end, even heaven conjoined to them. When the devil saith to the glutton. Eat also of this pleasant dish ; and to the drunkard. Take the other cuj) ; and to the fornicator, Take thy plea- sure in the dark ; and to the voluptuous, Go to the play-house, or the gaming-house ; come, play at cards or dice ; his meaning is, Come, venture upon sin, and fear not God's threateiiings, and refuse his word, and Spirit, and grace, that I may have thy comjiany among the damned, in the fire wliich never shall be quenched. This is the true English of every temptation. Open thy ears then, and when- ever the devil or any sinner tempteth thee to sin, hear him as if he said, I pray thee, leap into the flames of hell. Tempt. IX. If the tempter cannot quickly draw men to the sin, he will move them at least to abate their resolution against it, and to deliberate about it, and hear what can be said, and enter into a dis- pute with Satan or some of his instruments ; telling them, that it is a sign of falsehood which will not endure the trial, and that we must prove all things. And while the sinner is deliberating and disputing, the venom is working itself into his veins, and sense is secretly undermining and betraying him, and de- ceivintj his mind, bribing his reason, and seducing his will : just as an enemy will treat with those that keep a garrison, that, during the treaty, he may send in spies, and find out their weakness, and corrupt the soldiers ; so doth the devil with the sinner. Direct. IX. Remember that it is Christ, and not Satan, that you are to hear. Truth is strong, and can bear the trial, before any competent judge ; but you are weak, and not so able to judge as you may imagine. Ignorant, unskilful, and unsettled persons are easily deceived, be the cause never so clear. If it be a cause untried by you, it is not untried by all the godly, nor imknown to him that gave you the holy Scriptures. If it be fit to be called in question and disputed, take the help of able godly teachers or friends, and hear what they can say : matters of endless life or death are not rashly to be ventured on. But if it be a thing past dispute, in which you have been already convinced and resolved, reject the tempter, and tell him, that you owe him not so much service, as to dispute with him whether you should care for your salvation ? Else there will be no end, till you are be- " " '' trayed and undone : innocent Eve is deceived when once it comes to a dispute. Be not like Balaam, that tempted God, and would not be satisfied with his answer. Tempt. X. Also the tempter overeometh very many, by making them presumptuously confident of their own strength : saying. Thou art not so weak as not to be able to bear a greater temptation than this. Canst thou not gaze on beauty, or go among vain and tempting company, and yet choose whether thou wilt sin ? It is a child indeed that hath no more government of themselves. Cannot thy table, thy cup, thy house, thy lands, be pleasing and de- lectable, but thou must needs over-love them, and turn them to sin ? Direct. X. O know thy own weakness, the treacherous enemy which thou still earnest about thee, who is ready to open the back-door to the devil ! Remember that flesh is on the tempter's side, and how much it can do with thee before thou art aware. Remember what an unsettled wretch thou art, and how many a good purj)ose formerly hath come to nothing, and how oft thou hast sinned by as small a temptation. Remember that without the Spirit of Christ, thou canst do nothing, nor stand against any assault of Satan ; and that Christ giveth his Sj)irit and hel[) in his own way, and not to those that temjit him to forsake them, by thrusting them- selves into temptations. Shall ever mortal man pre- sume upon his own strength, after the falls of an Adam, a Noah, a Lot, a David, a Solomon, a Heze- kiah, a Josiah, a Peter ? and after such ruins of mul- titudes of professors, as our eyes have seen ? " AH these things happened unto them for ensamples, and they are written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall," 1 Cor. X. II, VI. Tempt. XI. It is a great project of the devil, and successful with many, to draw them to venture on the sin, by showing them first the effectual remedy, the abundant mercy of God, the sufficient satisfaction made by Christ, the full, and free, and universal promise ; that these are sufficient to cleanse the soul of any sin, therefore you need not fear. Direct. XI. But God is just, as well as merciful; Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 103 Rom. ix. Heb X. 2j to Clirist, and the harder is repentance; and the sharper if you do repi'nt, because the deeper is your wound. Re- pent therefore speedily, and go no further, unless you would have the devil tell you next, It is now too late. Tempt. XVIII. The tempter maketh use of the greater sins of others, to persuade men to venture upon less. Thou liearest other men curse, and swear, and rail, and dost thou stick at idle talk ? How many in the world are enemies to Christ, and persecute his ministers and servants, and dost thou make so j^reat a matter of omitting a sermon, or a prayer, or other holy duty ? Direct. XVIII. As there are degrees of sin, so there are degrees of punishment : and wilt thou rather choose the easiest place in hell than heaven ? How small soever the matter of sin be, thy wilful- ness, and sinning against conscience, and mercies, and warnings, may make it great to thee. Are great sinners so happy in thy eyes, that thou wouldst be as like them as thou darest ? Tempt. XIX. Also he would imbolden the sinner, because of the commonness of the sin, and the mul- titude that commit either that or worse, as if it.were not, therefore, £0 bad or dangerous. Direct. XIX. But remember, that the more ex- amples you have to take warning by, the more in- excusable is your fall. It was not tlie number of angels that fell, that could keep them from being devils and damned for their sin : (iod w ill do justice on many as well as on one. The sin is the greater, and therefore the punishment shall not be the less. Make the case your own : will you think it a good reason for any one to abuse you, beat you, rob you, because that many have done so before ? He should rather think, that you are abused too much already, and therefore he should not add to your wrongs. If when many had spit in Christ's face or buffeted him, some one shc>uld have given him another spit or blow, as if lie had not enough before, would you not have taken him to be the worst and cruellest of them all ? If you do as the most, you will speed as the most. Tempt. XX. It is a dangerous temptation when the devil proposeth some very good end, and maketli sin seem the fittest, or the necessary means to ac- complish it : when he blindeth men so far as to think that it is necessary to their salvation, or to other men's, or to the welfare of the church, or progress of tlie gosj)el, or the jileasing of God, then sin will he committed without regret, and continued in with- out rejjentance ; on this account it is that heresy, and will-worship, and superstition are kept up : Col. ii. 18, — 2.3, " Having a show of wisdom in w ill- worship, and humility, and neglecting the body." It is for God that much of the wickedness of the world is done against God : it is for the church and truth that papists have miu'dered and persecuted so many. Direct. XX. Remember that God necdeth no sin- ful means to attain his ends : he w ill not Ije beholden to the devil to do his work ; he would not have for- bad it, if he would have had you done it. He is never at such a loss, but he can find right means enougli to perform his work by : it is a great jiart of our wisdom which our salvation lieth on, to choose and use ri^jlit nu ans, when we are resolved on a right end. It is a horrible injury against (iod to entitle him to sin, and make it seem necessary to his ends and honour. Good ends will not justify evil actions. What sin so odious that hath not had good ends pre- tended for it P Even Christ was murdered as a male- factor for good ends, at least pretended, even to vindicate God's lumoiir from blasjihemy, and Ca'sar from injury, and the nation from calamity. And his disciples were killed that (iod might be served by it, and pestilent troublers of the world taken away, John xvi. 2 ; Acts xxiv. 5; xvii. 6. Tempt. XXI. He would make us presume because we are God's children, and special grace cannot be wholly lost, and we have found that once we had grace, therefore we may venture as being safe. Direct. XXI. But many thousands shall be damned, that once thought they had the truth of grace. It is a hard controversy among learned and godly men, whether some in a state of saving grace do not fall from it and perish ; but it is past controversy, that they shall perish that live and die impenitently in wilful sin. To plead truth of grace for encourage- nii nt in sin, is so much against the nature and use of grace, as may make you question the truth of it. You can be no surer that you have true gi-aee, than you are sure that you hate all known sin, and desire to be free from it. Christ teacheth you how to answer such a horrid temptiition, Matt. iv. G, 7, " If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down : for it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee" — "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Sonship, and promises, and truth of grace, are incongruous argu- ments to draw you to sin, and heinous aggravations of sin so committed. Tempt. XXII. The devil oft most dangerously imitateth the Holy (ihost, and comes in the shape of an angel of light : he will be for knowledge in the gnostics ; for unity and government in the papists ; for mortification in the friars ; for free grace and ten- derness of our brethren's consciences in the liber- tines ; for peace and mutual forbearance in the Soeinians ; for zeal, self-denial, and fearlessness of men, and piretended revelations and spirituality, in the quakers. He will be against heresy, schism, error, disobedience, hypocrisy, pretendedly, in haters and jierseeutors of holiness and reformation ; and when he will seem religious, he will be superstitious, and seem to outgo Christ himself Direct. XX 11. Keep close to Christ, that you may know his voice from the voice of strangers ; and get holy wisdom to try the spirits, and to discern be- tween the things that differ : let the whole frame of truth and godliness be in your head and heart, that you may perceive when any would make a breach in any part of it. The devil setteth up no good but in order to some evil. Therefore, examine whither it tendeth ; and not only what it is, but what use he would have you make of it. And love no evil, be- cause of any good that is pretended for it ; and dis- like or reject no good, because of any evil use that is by others made of it. And whatever doctrine is brought you, try it thus: 1. Receive none that is against the certain nature, attributes, and honour of God. 2. Nor any that is against the light or law of nature. 3. Nor any that is against the Scripture. 4. Nor any that is against holiness of heart and life. 5. Nor any against charily and justice to men. 6. Nor any (about matters to be ordered by men) that is against order; nor any against government and the peace of church and state. 7. Nor any that is against the true unity, jieace, and con.munion of saints. H. Nor any that is certainly inconsistent with great and certain truths. Thus try the spirits, wliether thry be of (iod. Tempt. XXI II. The tempiter usually draweth men to one extreme, under j retence of avoiding another ; causing men to be so fearful of the danger Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. ^ 105 on one side, as to take no heed of that on the other side. Direct. XXIII. Understand all your danger; and mark the latitude or extent of God's commands; and watch on every side : and you must know in what duties you are in danger of extremes and in what not. In those acts of the soul that are purely rational, about your ultimate end, you cannot do too much ; as in knowing God, and loving him, and being willing and resolved to please him. But pas- sions may possibly go too far, even about God, espe- cially fear and grief; for they may be such as nature cannot bear without distraction, death, or hinderance of duty : but few are guilty of this. But towards the creature, passions may easily exceed : and in exter- nal actions towards God or man there may be ex- cess. But especially in point of judgment, it is easy to slide from extreme into extreme. And you must know in every duty you do, and every sin which you avoid, and every truth you receive, what is the contrary or extreme to that particular truth, or sin, or duty ; and keep it in your eye. If you do not thus watch, you will reel like a drunken man from side to side, and never walk uprightly with God. You will turn from prodigality to covetousness, from cruel persecution to libertinism, or from libertinism to persecuting cruelty ; from hypocritical formality to hypocritical pretended spirituality, or from en- thusiams and faction to dead formality. But of this 1 have spoken at large, chap. v. part II. " Direc- tion to Students." Tempt. XXIV. On the contrary, the tempter usually pleadeth moderation and prudence against a holy life, and accurate zealous obedience to God ; and would make you believe that to be so diligent in duty and scrupulously afraid of sin, is to run into an extreme, and to be righteous over-much, and to make religion a vexatious or distracting thing, and that it is more ado thiin needs. Direct. XXIV. This I have answered so oft, that I shall here say but this : that God cannot be too much loved ; nor heaven too much valued, nor too diligently sought or obeyed ; nor sin and hell be too much avoided : nor doth any man need to fear doing too much, where he is sure when lie hath done his best to do too little. Hearken what men say of this at death. Tempt. XXV. The tempter would persuade us that one sin is necessary to avoid another ; and that of two evils you must choose the less, as if there were no other way. Thus James and John did by sinful, uncharitable zeal, desire to ptmish sin, liuke ix. 54. Peter would sinfully fight against the sinful Jews, Matt. xxvi. 52. Thus he bids men lie, to avoid some dishonour to God and religion ; and per- secute, to preserve the unity of the church, and keep out sin ; and commit a lesser sin themselves to escape a greater. Direct. XXV. This is to abuse God, as if he had made that necessary which he forbids, and had not provided you lawfid means enough to use against every sin. This is wilfully to do that which you pretend you are unwilling to do, even to sin. Of two evils avoid both, but be sure you consent to neither. Tempt. XXVI. He i)leadeth christian liberty to entice to sin, especially to sensuality. Hath not Christ purchased you liberty to use the creatures? all things are yours. No men but the godly have just title to them. Direct. XXVI. He never purchased us liberty to abuse the creature, as poison to hurt ourselves ; to hinder mortification, and strengthen our enemy, and our snare, and to steal away our hearts from God. It is a liberty from sin, and not a liberty to sin, that Christ hath purchased us. Tempt. XXVII. He pleadeth the necessity of wife, children, estate, life, &c. Necessity makes it lawful. Direct. XXVII. There is no necessity of sinning. He cannot be Christ's disciple, that thinks it more necessary to save his life, or provide for wife and children, than to obey his Lord, Luke xiv. 26, 33. God must be trusted with these. Tempt. XXVIII. But, saith the tempter, it is natural to lust, to love honour, ease, pleasure, &c. ; therefore it is no sin. Direct. XXVIII. Nature is corrupted and sinful; and it is natural to you to be rational, and to rule your sense and appetite by reason, and not to do what lust or appetite desireth. Else man is but a beast. Tempt. XXIX. But, saith the tempter, authority commandeth it; it is your parent's or master's will, and you must obey. , Direct. XXIX. There is no power, but from God ; therefore none against him or above him. They must be obeyed in all things lawful, but not in sin. They cannot save you nor themselves from the wrath of God. Tempt. XXX. But, saith the tempter, you have promised or vowed that you will do it, and are not at liberty. Direct. XXX. The vow of a lawful thing must be kept ; but if you vow to sin, it is another sin to per- form it, and to wrong God or man because you have vowed to wrong him. Tempt. XXXI. But, saith the tempter, it is a con- troversy, and many learned and good men think it is no sin. Direct. XXXI. You have the more reason to be . fearful and cautelous, when you see that the case is so obscure, and the snare so subtle, and are sure that many learned and good men on one side or other are deceived before you. Kemcmber God is your King and Judge ; who will not take it for an excuse for sin, that learned or good men did it, or defended it. Consult not with llesh and blood, but with God. Tempt. XXXII. But, saith the tempter, will you be singular, and be pointed or hooted at by all. Direct. XXXII. In doctrine I will not be singular from the holy catholic church of God ; in worship I will not in singularity or schism separate from tlie communion of saints : but in doctrine I will be sin- gular from infidels and heretics ; and in a holy life I will be singular from the ungodly, and jirofane, and sensual ; lest if I do as they, to avoid their scorns, I speed as they. Tempt. XXXIII. But you are weak, and you can- not help it, till (iod will give you grace to do it. Direct. XXXI II. Therefore 1 must not be wilful, and negligent, and rash, and do that evil which I may forbear, nor resist and refuse that grace, and help, and mercy without which I can do tiothing. Tempt. XXXIV. But you repent, and ask God forgiveness through Christ, every night, for the sins of the (lay. Direct. XXXIV. Repenting is a sorrowful turning of the heart from sin to God. You repent not if you turn not. To mock God with such hypocritical praying and repenting is itself a heinous sin. Will you take it for repenting, if a man that spits in your face and beatetli you, shall do it every day, and ask you forgiveness at riight, and purpose to do it still, because he asked forgiveness. 'J'emjU. XXXV. But every man siiuicth daily : you do but as the best men in the world do. Direct. XXXV. No true christian that is justified hath any sin but what he hatcth more than lovuth, 106 CHRISTIAN and would fain be rid of, and striveth against in the use of holy means. He hath no belovfd sin which he would not part with, but had rather keep than leave. Tempt. XXXVI. But those that seem strict and godly are hypocrites, and secretly as bad as you. Direct. XXXVI. This is just like the devil, the accuser of those that are s;inctificd and justified by Christ, the father of malice and lies ; to charge that on them, which he confesseth is secret and he can- not prove. So he said of Job, that if he were touch- ed in his estate or body, he wotild forsake his godli- ness ; but he was found a liar. But be it how it will, 1 am sure I must be holy or I shall not see God, and if " 1 live after the flesh 1 shall die," Heb. xii. 14; Rom. viii. 9, 13; and other men's misery will be no case to me. Tempt. XXXVII. But, saith the tempter, if you will not sin, come but near it, and do that which is lawfid. Direct. XXXVII. Indeed we must not run into a contrary extreme, under pretence of flying far enough from sin ; but if you keep out of other sin, you can- not go too far from any. To be near sin, is to be near God's wrath, and near that which tendeth to hell fire. And to come near it is the common way of coming to it. He that could wish he might do it, is infected at the heart already. Keep a tender conscience, and a constant sense of the danger of sinning. Tempt. XXXVIII. It is a great snare, when sin is got into credit, 1. By putting fair names upon it, calling luxury and gluttony keeping a good house, and a good table ; tippling is called drinking a cup with a friend ; lust and filthiness are called love ; worldliness is called thriftiness and good husbandry; idleness and loss of time are called the leisure of a gentleman ; slothfulness is called a not being too worldly ; time-wasting sports are called recreations ; pride is called decency and handsomeness ; proud revenge is called honour and gallantry ; Romish cruelty, and persecution, and wasting the church, are called keeping up order, obedience, and unity; disobedience to superiors is called not fearing man ; church divisions are called strictness and zeal. 2. Especially if a sin be not in disgrace among the stricter sort, it greatly prepareth men to commit it : as breaking the Lord's day, beyond sea, in many re- formed churches : and at home, spiritual pride, cen- soriousness, backbiting, disobedience, and church divisions are not in half that disgi-ace among many professors of strictness, as they deserve, and as swearing, &c. are. Direct. XXXVIII. Remember, that whatever be the name or cloak, God judgeth righteously, ac- cording to the truth ; names may deceive us, but not our Judge. And sin is still in disgrace with God, however it be with men. Remember, the come- lier the paint and cover are, the greater is the danger, and the more watchful and cautelous we should be. It is not imperfect man, but the perfect law of God, which must be our rule. The great success of this temptation should deter us from en- tertaining it. What abundance of mischief hath it done in the world ! Tempt. XXXIX. Sometimes, the devil tempteth men to .some heinous sin, that, if he prevail not, at least he may draw them into a less. As cheating chafferers will ask twice the price of their commo- dity, that, by abating miicli, they may make you willing to give too much. He that would get a little, must ask a great deal. He will tempt you to drunk- enness, and if hi' draw you but to tippling or time- wasting, he hath got something. If he tempt you DIRECTORY. P;,rt J to fornication, and he get you but to some filthy- thoughts, orinnnodest, lascivious talk or actions, he hath done nuich of that which he intended. If he temjjt you to some horrid cruelty, and you yield but to some less degree, or to some unjust or uncharit- able censures, you think you have conquered, when it is he that eonquereth. Direct. XXXIX. Remember, that the least degree of sin is sin, and " death the wages of it," Rom. vi. 23. Think not that you have escaped well, if your hearts have taken any of the infection, or if you have been wounded any where, though it might have been worse. If the tempter had tempted you no further but to a lustful, malicious, or proud thought or word, you would perceive that if he prevail, he eon- quereth : so may you when he getteth this much, by a shameles asking more. Tempt. XL. He tempteth us sometimes, to be so fearful and careful against one sin, or about some one danger, as to be mindless of some other, and lie open to his temptation. Like a fencer, that will seem to aim all at one place, that he may strike you in another while you are guarding that. Or like an enemy, that giveth all the alarm at one end of the city, that he may draw the people thither, while he stormeth in another place. So Satan makes some so afraid of w'orldliness, that they watch not against idleness ; or so fearful of hardheartedness, and dead- ness, and hypocrisy, that they w-atch not against passion, neglect of their callings, or dcjectedness ; or so fearful of sinning or being deceived about their salvation, that they fear not the want of love, and joy, and thankfulness for all the mercy they have received, nor the neglect of holy praise to God. Direct. XL. Remember, that as obedience must be entire and universal, so is Satan's temptation against all parts of our obedience ; and our care must extend to all if we will escape. It would cure your inordi- nate fear in some one point, if you extended it to all the rest. Tempt. XLI. Sometimes, by the suddenness of a temptation, he surpriseth men before they are aware. Direct. XLI. Be never unarmed nor from your watch ; especially as to thoughts, or sudden passions, or rash words, which are used to be committed for want of deliberation. Tempt. XLII. Sometimes, he useth a violent earn- estness, especially when he getteth passion on his side. So that reason is borne down ; and the sinner saith, I could not forbear. Direct. XLII. But remember, that the very eager unruliness of your passion is a sin itself : and that none can compel you to sin : and that reason must de- liberate and rule ; or else any murder or wickedness may have the excuse of urgent passions. Tempt. XLIII. Sometimes he useth the violence of men : they threaten men, to frighten them into sin. Direct. XLIII. But are not God and his threaten- ings more to be feared ? Do men threaten imprison- ment, or death, or ruin ? And doth not God threaten ev,erlasting misery ? And can he not defend you from all that man shall threaten, if it be best for you ? See tlie portion of the fearful. Rev. xxi. 8. Tempt. XLIV. Sometimes variety of temptations distracteth men, that they do not look to all at cmce. Direct. XLIV. Remember, that one part of the city unguarded, may lose the whole in a general assault. Tempt. XLV. Sometimes he ceaseth, to make us secure, and lay by our anns, and then surpriseth us. Direct. XLV. Take heed of security, and Satan's ambushments. Distinguish between cessation and conquest. You conquer not every time that you have rest and quietness from temptation. Till the Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 107 sin be hated, and the contrary grace or duty in prac- tice, you have not at all overcome : and when that is done, yet trust not the devil or the flesh ; nor think the war will be shorter than your lives, for one as- sault will begin where the former ended. Make use of every cessation but to prepare for the next encounter. Tempt. XLVI. He will tempt you to take striving for overcoming ; and to think, because you pray and make some resistance, that sin is conquered; and because your desires are good, all is well. Direct. XLVI. But all that fight do not overcome. " If a man strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully," 1 Tim. ii. 5. " Many will seek to enter and shall not be able," Luke xiii. 24. Tempt. XLVII. He followeth the sinner with fre- quency and importunity, till he weary him, and make him yield. Direct. XLVII. I. Remember that Christ is as im- portunate with thee to save thee, as the devil can be to damn thee ; and which then should prevail ? 2. Be you as constant in resistance ; be as oft in prayer and other confirming means. Do as Paul, 2 Cor. xii. 7, 8, who prayed thrice, (as Christ did in his agony,) when the prick in the flesh was not removed. 3. Tempt not the tempter, by giving him encourage- ment. A faint denial is an invitation to ask again. Give him quickly a flat denial, and put him out of hope, if you would shorten the temptation. Tempt. XLVIII. Lastly, the devil would sink the sinner in despair, and persuade him now it is too late. Direct. XLVIII. Observe his design, that it is but to take off that hope which is the weight to set the wheels of the soul a going. In all he is against God and you. In other sins he is against God's authority : in this he is against his love and mercy. Read the gospel, and you will find that Christ's death is sufllicient; the promise is universal, full, and free ; and that the day of grace is so far con- tinued till the day of death, and no man shall be denied it that truly desireth it. And that the same God that forbiddeth thy presumption, forbiddeth also thy despair. Temptations to draw us off from Duty. Tempt. I. The greatest temptation against duty is, by persuading men that it is no duty. Thus in our days we have seen almost all duty cast off by this erroneous fancy. One saith, That the holy observa- tion of the Lord's day is not commanded of God in Scripture. Another saith. What Scripture have you for family prayer, or singing psalms, or baptizing infants, or praying before and after sermon, or for your office, ordination, tithes, churches, &c. An- other saith. That church government and discipline are not of divine institution. Another saith, That baptism and the Lord's supper were but for that age. And thus all duty is taken down instead of doing it. Direct. I. Read and fear. Matt. v. 19, " Whosoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called 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." Denying duty is too easy a way of evading obedience to serve turn. Denying the laws that bind you to pu])lic payments will not save you from them ; but for all that, if you deny, you must be distrained on. And God will make it dearer to you, if you put him to distrain on you for duty. Must he go to law with you for it ? He will quickly show you law for it, and prove that it was your duty. Open your doubts to able men, and you will hear more evidence than you know ; but if pride and false -heartedness blind you, you must beax your punishment. Tempt. II. Saith the tempter. It is a duty to weak ones, but not for you : you must not be still under ordinances, in the lower form : every day must be a sabbath to you, and every bit a sacrament, and every place as a church : you must live above ordinances in Christ. Direct. II. We must live above Mosaical ordi- nances, Col. ii. 18, 21 ; but not above Christ's ordi- nances : unless you will live above obedience and above the government of Christ.? Hath not Christ appointed the ministry, and church helps, " till we all come to a perfect man ? " Eph. iv. 13 ; and pro- mised to " be with them to the end of the world ? " Matt, xxviii. 20. It is befooling pride that can make you think you have no need of Christ's instituted means. Tempt. III. But thou art unworthy to pray or re- ceive tne sacrament : it is not for dog.s. Direct. III. The wilful, impenitent refusers of grace, are unworthy. The willing soul, that fain would be what God would have him, hath an accepted worthiness in Christ. Tempt. IV. But while you doubt, you do it not in faith ; and therefore to you it is sin. Direct. IV. But is it not a greater sin to leave it undone ? Will doubting of all duty excuse you from it ? Then you have an easy way to be free from all ! Do but doubt whether you should believe in God, or Christ, or love him, or live a godly life, and it seems you think it will excuse you. But if you doubt whether you should feed your child, you deserve to be hanged for murdering it, if you famish it. If you doubt of duty, it is duty still, and you are first bound to lay by your doubts. But things indifferent, left to your choice, must not be done with a doubting conscience : it was of such things that Paul spake. Tempt. V. The devil puts somewhat still in the way, tliat seemeth necessary, to thrust out duty. Direct. V. God hath not set you work which he alloweth you no time for. Is all your time spent in better things ? Is it not your carnal mind that makes you think carn;\l things most needful ? Christ saith, " One thing is needful," Luke x. 42. " Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you," Matt. vi. 33. Had you that love and delight in holiness as you should, you would find time for it. An unwelcome guest is put off witli any excuse. Others, as poor as you, can find time for duty, because they are will- ing. Set your business in order, and let every thing keep its proper place, and you may have time for every duty. Tempt. VI. But you are so unable and unskilful to pray, to learn, that it is as good never meddle witii it. Direct. VI. Set yourselves to learn, and mark those that have skill ; and do what you can. You must learn by practice. The unskilfullest duty is better than none. Unworded groans come oft from the Spirit of God, and God understandeth and ac- cepteth them, Rom. viii. 26, 27. Tempt. VII. It will be so hard and long to learn, that you will never overcome it. Direct. VII. Willingness and diligence have the promise of God's help. Remember, it is a thing that must be done. When your own disuse and sin hath made it hard, will you put (iod and your souls off with that as an excuse ? If you had neglected to teach your child to speak or go when it is young, should he therefore never learn ? Will you despair, 8 See my two sheets for the Ministry. 108 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. and let go all your hope on this pretence? or will you liope to be saved without j)raycr and other lioly duty ? How foolish are both these ! Sick men must eat, thoui^h their stomachs be against it; they can- not live else. Tempt. YIII. But thou findest thou art hut the worse for duty, and never the better for it. Direct. YIII. Satan will do what he can to make it go worse with you after than before. He will dis- courage you if he can, by hindering your success, that he may make you think it is to no purpose : so, many preachers, because they have fished long and catched nothing, grow cold and heartless, and ready to sit down and say, as Jer. xx. 9, " I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name." So in prayer, sacrament, reproof, &C. the devil makes great use of this. What good hath it done thee ? But patience and perseverance win the crown. The beginning is seldom a time to perceive success : the carpenter is long at work before he rear a house ; nature brings not forth the plant or birth the first day. Your life-time is your working time. Do your part, and God will not fail on his part. It is his part to give success ; and dare you accuse him, or suspect him ? There is more of the success of prayer to be behevcd than to be felt. If God have pro- mised to hear he doth hear, and we must believe it whetlier we feel it or not. Prayers are often heard long before the thing is sent us that we prayed for : we pray for heaven, but shall not be there till death. If Moses's message to Pharaoh ten times seem lost, it is not lost for all that. What work would ever have been done, if on the first conceit of unsuccess- fulness it had been given ofl"? Be glad that thou hast time to plough and sow, to do thy part, and if God will give thee fruit at last. Tempt. IX. But, saith the tempter, it goeth worse with thee in the world, since thou settest thyself to read, and pray, and live obediently ; thou hast been poorer, and sicker, and more despised since, than ever before : Jer. xx. 8, Thou art " a derision daily, every one mocketh thee." This thou gettest by it. Direct. IX. He began not well, that counted not that it might cost him more than this to be a holy christian. If God in heaven be not enough to be thy portion, never serve him, but find something better if thou canst. He tliat cannot lose the world cannot use it as he ought. If thou hadst rather be at the devil's finding and usage than at God's, thou art worthy to speed accordingly. Nay, if thou think thy soul itself worse, remember that we are not worst when we are troubled most : physic makes sick, when it works aright. Tempt. X. Satan filleth many with abundance of scruples about every duty, that they come to it as sick persons to their meat, with a peevish, quarrel- ling disposition. This aileth, and that aileth it; something is still amiss, that they cannot get it down ; this fault the minister hath in praying or preaching ; or the other circumstance is amiss, or the other fault is in the company that join with them : and all is to turn them off from all. Direct. X. But do you mend the matter by casting ofl" all, or by running into greater inconveniences ? Is not their imperfect ])raycr and communion better than your idle neglect of all, or unwarrantable divi- sion ? It is a sign of an uj)right heart to be most about heart-observation, and tjuarrelsome with them- selves ; and the mark of hypocrites to be most (juar- relsomc against the manner of other men's perform- ances, and to be easily driven by any ])retences from the worship of God and communion of saints. Tempt. XI. The devil will set one duty against another : reading against hearing ; praying against preaching ; private against public ; outward and in- ward worship against each other ; mercy and justice, piety and charity, against each other ; and still labour to eject the greater. Direct. XI. The work of God is an harmonious and well-composed frame : if you leave out a part you spoil the whole, and disadvantage yourselves in all the rest ; place them aright, and each part help- eth and not hindereth another ; plead one for another, but cast by none. Temjpt. XII. The commonest and sorest tempt- ation IS by taking away our appetite to holy duties, by abating our feeling of" our own necessity : when the soul is sleej)y and feeleth no need of prayer, or reading, or hearing, or meditating, but thinks itself tolerably well without it ; or else grows sick and is against it, and troubled to use it ; so that every duty is like eating to a sick stomach, then it is easy to tempt it to neglect or omit many a duty : a little thing will serve to put it by, when men feel no need of it. Direct. XII. 0 keep up a lively sense of your ne- cessities: remember still that time is short, and death is near, and you are too unready. Keep ac- quaintance with your hearts and lives, and every day will tell you of your necessities, which are greatest when they are least perceived. Tevipt. XI II. The tempter gets much by ascribing the success of holy means to our own endeavour, or to chance, or something else, and making us over- look that present benefit, which would greatly en- courage us : as when we are delivered from sickness or danger upon prayer, he tells you so you might have been delivered if you had never prayed. Was it not by the physician's care and skill, and by such an excellent medicine ? If you prosper in any busi- ness. Was it not by your own contrivance and dili- gence ? Direct. XIII. This separating God and means, when God worketh by means, is the folly of atheists. When God heareth thy prayer in sickness or other danger, he showeth it by directing the physician or thyself to the fittest means, and blessing that means ; and he is as really the cause, and prayer the first means, as if he wrought thy deliverance by a miracle. Do not many use the same physician, and medicine, and labour, and diligence, who yet miscarry ? Just observation of the answers of prayer might do much to cure this. All our industry may say as Peter and John, Acts iii. 12, " Why look ye so earnestly on us, as if by our own power or holiness we had done this ? " when God is glorifying his grace, and owning his appointed means. Tempt. XIV. Lastly, the devil setteth up some- thing else in opposition to holy duty, to make it seem unnecessary. In some he sets up their good desires, and saith, God knoweth thy heart without express- ing it; and thou mayst have as good a heart at home as at church. In some he sets up supersti- tious fopperies of man's devising, instead of God's institution. In some he pretendeth the Spirit against external duty, and saith. The Si)irit is all ; the (lesh profiteth nothing. Yea, in some he sets uj) Christ himself against Christ's ordinances, and saith. It is not these, but Christ, that profits you. Direct. XIV. This is distracted contradiction : to set Christ against Christ, and the Spirit against the ordinances of the Spirit. Is it not Christ and the Spirit that appointed them ? Doth he not best know in what way he will give his grace ? Can you not preserve the soul and life, without killing the body ? Cannot you have the water, and value the cistern or spring, without ctitting off the pipes that must con- vey it ? O wonderful ! that Satan could make men Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. so mad, as this reasoning hath showed us that many are in our days. And to set up superstition or pre- tend a good heart against God's worship, is to accuse him that appointed it of doing he knew not what, and to think that we are wiser than he ! and to show a good heart by disobedience, pride, contempt of God and of his mercies ! Temptations to frustrate holy Duties, and make them ineffectual. The devil is exceeding diligent in this: 1. That he may make the soul despair, and say, Now I have used all means in vain, there is no hope. 2. To double the sinner's misery by turning the very remedy into a disease. 3. To show his malice against Christ, and say, I have turned thy own means to thy dishonour. Consider, therefore, how greatly we are concerned to do the work of God effectually. Means well used are the way to more grace, to communion with God, and to salvation ; but ill used, they dishonour and provoke him, and destroy ourselves, like children that cut their fingers with the knife, when they should cut their meat with it. Tempt. I. Duty is frustrated by false ends: as, I. To procure God to bear with them in their sin (whereas it is the use of duty to destroy sin). 2. To make God satisfaction for sin (which is the work of Christ). 3. To merit grace (when the imperfection merits wrath). 4. To prosper in the world and escape affliction. Jam. iv. 3 (and so they are but serving their flesh, and desiring God to serve it). 5. To quiet conscience in a course of sin (by sinning more in offering the sacrifice of fools, Ecclcs. v. I, 2). 6. To be approved of men (and verily they have their reward. Matt. vi. 5). 7. To be saved ■when they can keep the world and sin no longer (that is, to obtain that the gospel may all be false and God unjust). Direct. I. First see that the heart be honest, and God, and heaven, and holiness most desired, else all that you do will want right ends. Tempt. II. When ignorance or error make men take God for what he is not, thinking blasphemously of him, as if he were like them, and liked their sins, or were no lover of holiness, they frustrate all their worship of him. Direct. II. Study God in his Son, in his word, in his saints, in his works : know him as described be- fore, chap. iii. direct, iv. And see that your wicked corrupted hearts, or wilful forgetting him, blind not your understandings. Tempt. III. To come to God in ourselves and out of Christ, and use his name but customarily, and not in faith and confidence. Direct. 111. Know well your sin, and vilencss, and desert, and the justice and holiness of God ; and then you will see that if Christ reconcile you not, and justify you not by his blood, and do not sanctify and help you by his Spirit, and make you sons of God, and intercede not for you, there is no access to God, nor standing in his sight. Tempt. IV. The tempter would have you pray hypocritically, with the tongue only, without the heart: to put off" God in a few customary words, with seeming to pray (as they do the poor, James ii. with a few empty words) either in a form of words not understood, or not considered, or not felt and much regarded ; or in more gross hypocrisy, praying for the holiness which they will not have, and against the sit) which they will not jjart with. Direct. W . 0 fear the holy, jealous, heart-search- ing God, that hatetli hypocrisy, and will be worship- ped seriously in spirit and truth, and will be sancti- fied of all that draw near him, Lev. x. 3 ; and saith, they "worship him in vain, that draw nigh him with the lips, when the heart is far from him," Matt. XV. 8, 9. See God by faith, as present with thee, and know thyself, and it will awaken thee to seri- ousness. See Heb. iv. 13; Hos. viii. 12, 13. Tempt. V. He would destroy faith and hope, and make you doubt whether you shall get any thing by duty. Direct. V. But, I. Why should God command it, and promise us his blessing if he meant not to per- form it? 2. Remember God's infiniteness, and om- nipresence, and all-sufficiency : he is as verily with thee, as thou art there : he upholdeth thee : he show- eth by his mercies, that he regardeth thee ; and by his regarding lower things : and if he regard thee, he doth regard thy duties. It is all one with him to hear thy prayers, as if he had never another creature to regard and hear. Believe then, and hope and wait upon him. Tempt. VI. Sometimes the tempter will promise you more by holy duty, than God doth, and make you expect deliverance from every enemy, want, and sickness, and speedier deliverance of soul, than ever God promised ; and all this is, to make you cast away all as vain, and think God faileth you, when you miss your expectations. Direct. VI. But God will do all that he promiseth, but not all that the devil or yourselves promise. See what God promiseth in his word. That is enough for you. Make that and no more the end of duties. Tempt. VII. The tempter usually would draw you from the heart and life of duty, by too much ascrib- ing to the outside : laying too much on the bare doing of the work, the giving of the alms, the liear- ing of the sermons, the saying the words, the hand- some expression, order, manner ; which in their places are all good, if animated with spirit, life, and seriousness. Direct. VII. Look most and first to the soul in duty, and the soul of duty. The picture of meat feedeth not ; the picture of fire warmeth not ; fire and shadows will not nourish us : God loveth not dead carcasses instead of spiritual worship : we regard not words ourselves, further than they express the heart. Let the outer part have but its due. Tempt. VIII. He tempteth you to rest in a forced, affected, counterfeit fervency, stirred up by a desire to take with others. Direct. VIII. Look principally at God and holy motives, and less at men, that all your fire be holy, fetched from heaven. Tempt. IX. He would keep you in a lazy, sluggish coldness, to read, and hear, and pray as asleep, as if you did it not. Direct. IX. Awake yourselves with the presence of God, and the great concernment of what you are about, and yield not to your sloth. Tempt. X. He would make you bring a divided, distracted heart to duty, that is half about your world- ly Imsiness. Direct. X. Remember God is jealous, your busi- ness with him is great, much lieth on it; call off" your hearts, and let them not stay beliind : all the powers of your souls are little enough in such a work, Ezek. xxxiii. 31. Tempt. XI. Ignorance, unskilfulness, and unac- quaintedness with duty, is a great impediment to most. Direct. XI. Learn by study joined with practice. Be not weary, and difficulties will be overcome. Tempt. XII. Putting duty out of its i)lace, and neglecting the season that is fittest, makes it oft done slightly. 110 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. Direct. XII. Redeem time, and despatch other business, that idk'ncss deprive you not of leisure ; and do all in order. Tempt. XIII. Neglecting one duty is the tempt- er's snare to spoil another. If he can keep you from reading, you will not understand well what you hear. If he keep you from meditating, you will not digest what you hear or read. If he keep you from hear- ing, you will want both matter and life for prayer, and meditation, and conference. If he keep you from godly company, you will be hindered in all, and in the practice : no one is omitted, but you are disad- vantaged by it in all the rest. Direct. XIII. Observe how one duty helpcth another, and take all together each one in its place. Tempt. XIV. Sometimes the tempter doth call you oil to other duty, and puts in unseasonable mo- tions to that which in its time is good; he interrupts })rayer by meditation, he sets seeming truth against ove, and peace, and concord. Direct. XIV. Still know which duties are great- est, and which is the due season for each, and do all in order. Tempt. XV. He spoileth duty, by causing you to do it only as a duty, and not as a means for the good of your own souls ; or only as a means, and not as a duty. If you do it only as duty, then you will not be quickened to it by the ends and benefits, nor carried by hope, nor fit all to the end, nor be so fervent or vigorous in it, as the sense of your own good would make you be. And if you do it only as a means, and not as a duty, then you will give over or faint, when you want or question the success : whereas, the sense of both would make you vigorous and constant. Direct. XV. Keep under the sense of God's authority, that you may feel yourselves bound to obey him, whatever be the success ; and may resolve to wait in an obedient way. And withal, admire his wisdom in fitting all duties to your benefit, and com- manding you nothing but what is for your own or others' good, or to his honour : and mark the reason and tendency of all, and your own necessity. Tempt. XVI. The tempter hindereth you in duty, as well as from duty, by setting you a quarrelling with the minister, the words, the company, the man- ner, the circumstances ; that these things may divert your thoughts from the matter, or distract your mind with causeless scruples. Direct. XVI. Pray and labour for a clear judg- ment, and an upright, self-judging, humble heart, which dwelleth most at home, and looketh most at the spiritual part, and affectcth not singularity. 7'empt. XVII. The tempter spoileth duty by your inconstancy ; while you read or pray so seldom, that you have lost the benefit of one duty, before you come to another, and cool by intermissions. Direct. XVII. Remember that it is not your divertisement, but your calling, and is to your soul as eating to your bodies. Tempt. XVIII. Sometimes Satan corrupteth duty by men's private passions, interest, and opinions, making men, in preaching and praying, to vent their own conceits and spleen, and inveigh against those that differ from them, or offend them, and profane the name and work of God; or proudly to seek the praise of men. Direct. XVIII. Remember that God is most jealous in his worship, and hateth hypocritical pro- faneness above all profaneness. Search your liearts, and mortify your passions ; and especially selfishness, remembering that it is a poisonous and insinuating sin, and will easily hide itself with a cloak of zeal. * Tempt. XIX. False-hearted reservedness is a most j accursed corrupter of holy duty ; when the soul is not wliolly given up to God, but sets upon duty from some common motive ; as, because it is in credit, or to please some friend, purposing to try it awhile, and leave it if they like it not. Direct. XIX. Fear God, thou hypocrite, and halt not between two opinions. If the Lord be God, obey and serve him with all thy heart ; but if the devil and the flesh be better masters, follow them, and let him go. 7'empt. XX. Lastly, The tempter hindereth holy duty much, by wandering thoughts, and melancholy perplexities, and a hurry of temptations, which tor- ment and distract some christians, so that they cry out, I cannot pray, I cannot meditate ; and are weary of duty, and even of their lives. Direct. XX. This showeth the malice of the tempter, and thy weakness ; but, if thou hadst rather be delivered from it, it hindereth not thy acceptance with God. Read for this, what I have said chap. v. part 2. at large ; especially in my Directions to the Melancholy. I have been forced to put off many things briefly here, which deserved a larger handling ; and I must now omit the discovery of those temptations, by which Satan keepeth men in sin, when he hatn drawn them into it. 2. And those by which he causeth declining in grace, and apostasy. 3. And those by which he discomforteth true believers ; be- cause else this direction would swell to a treatise ; and most will think it too long and tedious already, though the brevity which I use, to avoid prolixity, doth wrong the matter through the whole. Ac- quaintance with temptations is needful to our over- coming them. Grand Direct. X. Your lives must For serving Christ belaid out in doing God service, and our Master in good doing all the good you can, in works "'""^ *' of piety, justice, and charity, with prudence, fidelity, industry, zeal, and delight ; remembering that you are engaged to God, as servants to their lord and master ; and are intrusted with his talents, of the improvement whereof you must give account. The next relation between Christ and us, which we are to speak of, (subordinate to that of King and subjects,) is this of Master and servants. Though Christ saith to the apostles, John xv. 15, " Hence- forth I call you not servants, but friends ;" the mean- ing is not that he calleth them not servants at all, but not mere servants, they being more than servants, having such acquaintance with his counsels as his friends. For he presently, verse 20, bids them " Remember that the servant is not greater than his lord." And John xiii. 1.3, " Ye call me Master and Lord : and ye say well ; for so I am." And Matt, xxiii. 8, " One is your Master, Christ ; and all ye are brethren :" so ver. 10. And the apostles called themselves the " servants of Jesus Christ," Rom. i. 1 ; and 1 Cor. iv. 1 ; Phil. i. I : and " of God," Tit. i. 1, &c. He is called our Master, and we his servants, because he is our Rec- auTst's'sjrVa" is! tor, ex plena dominio, with absolute propriety ; and doth not give us laws to obey, while we do our own work, but giveth us his work to do, and laws for the right doing of it: and it is a service under his eye, and in dependence on him for our daily provisions, as servants on their lord. God hath work for us to do in the world ; and the performance of it he will recjuire. God biddeth his sons " Go work to day in my vineyard," Matt. xxi. 28 ; and expect- eth that they do it, ver. 31. His " servants" are as " husbandmen," to whom " he intrusteth his vine- Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. Ill yard, that he may receive the fruit," ver. 33, 34, 41, 43. " Faithful servants shall be made rulers over his household," Matt. xxiv. 45, 46. Christ deliver- eth to his servants his talents to improve, and w^ill require an account of the improvement at his com- ing. Matt. XXV. 14. Good works, in the proper, comprehensive sense, are all actions internal and external, that are morally good ; but in the narrower acceptation, they are works, not only formally good, as acts of obedience in general, but also materially good, such as a servant doth for his master, that tend to his advantage, or the profit of some other, whose welfare he regardeth. Because the doctrine of good works is controverted in these times, I shall first open it briefly, and then give you the directions. 1. Nothing is more certain, than that God doth not need the service of any creature ; and that he receiveth no addition to his perfection or felicity from it ; and, consequently, that on terms of commu- tative justice, (which giveth one thing for another, as in selling and buying,) no creature is capable of meriting at his hands. 2. It is certain, that on the terms of the law of works, (which required perfect obedience as the condition of life,) no sinner can do any work so good, as in point of distributive, governing justice, shall merit at his hands. 3. It is certain, that Christ hath so fulfilled the law of works, as to merit for us. 4. The redeemed are not masterless, but have still a Lord, who hath now a double right to govern them. And this Governor giveth them a law : and this law requireth us to do good works, as much as we are able, (though not so terribly, yet) as obligingly as the law of works : and by this (of Christ) we must be judged : and thus we must be judged according to our works : and to lie judged is nothing else but to be justified or condemned. Such works therefore are rewardable according to the distributive justice of the law of grace, by which we must be judged. And the ancient fathers, who (without any opposition) spoke of good works as meritorious with God, meant no more, but that they were such as the righteous Judge of the world will reward according to the law of grace, by which he judgeth us. And this doctrine being agreed on as certain truth, there is no contro- versy with them, but whether the word merit was properly or improperly used : and that both Scrip- ture and our common speech alloweth the fatlicrs' use of the word, I have showed at large in my " Confession." 5. Christ is so far from redeeming us from a ne- cessity of good works, that he died to restore us to a capacity and ability to perform them, and hath new- made us for that end. Tit. ii. 14, " He gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Eph. ii. 10, " For we are his work- manship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, whicli God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." fi. Good works opposed to Christ, or his satisfac- tion, merit, righteousness, mercy, or free grace in the matter of justification or salvation, are not good works, but proud self-confidence and sin. But good works, in their due subordination to God's mercy, and Christ's merits and grace, are necessary and rewardable. 7- Though God need none of our works, yet that which is good materially plcascth him, as it tendcth Vir bonus ost qui prodest quihus notesf, nocet autem nemini. P. Scaliij. No pigeat pvan>;elicum ministrum, aigro- tutn visitare, vcuio ali(|ui) rccreare, fauiilicum cibario saltern pane pascerc, nudum opei ire, pauperem, cui non est adjutor, to his glory, and to our own and others' benefit, which he delighteth in. 8. It is the communicating of his goodness and excellencies to the creature, by which God doth glo- rify himself in the world ; and in heaven, where is the fullest communication, he is most glorified. Therefore the praise which is given to the creature, who receiveth all from him, is his own praise. And it is no dishonour to God, that his creature be ho- noured, by being good, and being esteemed good : otherwise God would never have created any thing, lest it should derogate from himself ; or he would have made them bad, lest their goodness were his dishonour ; and he would be most pleased with the wicked, and least pleased with the best, as most dis- honouring him. But madness itself abhorreth these conceits. 9. Therefore, as an act of mercy to us, and for his own glory, (as at first he made all things very good, so) he will make the new creature according to his image, which is holy, and just, and good, and will use us in good works ; and it is our honour, and gain, and happiness to be so used by him. As he will not communicate light to the world without the sun (whose glory derogate th not from his honour) ; so will he not do good works in the world immediately by himself only, but by his servants, whose calling and daily business it must be, as that which they are made for, as the sun is made to give light and heat to inferior things, Eph. ii. 10. " Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven," Matt, v. 16. Christ was far from their opinion that think all good works that are attributed to good men are dishonourable to God."" 10. He is most beholden to God, that is most exercised in good works. The more we do, the more we receive from him : and our very doing it- self is our receiving ; for it is he that " giveth us both to will and to do, " by his operation in us, Phil, ii. 13 ; even " he, without whom we can do no- thing, " John XV. 5. 1 1. The obligation to good works, that is, to works of piety, justice, and charity, is essential to us as servants of the Lord. We arc practical atheists, if we do not works of piety to God : we are rebels against God, and enemies to ourselves, and unmeet for human society, if we do not the works which are good for ourselves, and for others, if we have ability and opportunity. This is our fruit which God ex- pecteth ; and if we l)ear it not, he will hew us down, and cast us into the fire. 12. Though doing no hurt will not serve turn, without doing good, yet it is not the same works tliat are required of all, nor in the same degree, but ac- cording to every man's talent and opportunities. Matt. XXV. 14, 15, &c. 13. God looketh not only nor principally at the external part of the work, but much more to the heart of him that doth it ; nor at the length of time, but at the sincerity and diligence of his servants. And therefore, though he is so just, as not to deny the reward which was promised them, to those that have borne the burden and heat of the day ; yet he is so gracious and bountiful, that he will give as much to those that he findeth as willing and dili- gent, and would have done more if they had had op- portunity. Matt. XX. 12 — 15. You see in all this, what our doctrine is about good works, and how far those papists are to be believed, who persuade their igno- a divitum calumniis et potentia eripere, pro afflictis princi- pcm magistratumve convenire : rem familiarom consilio au- gere, morientibus sedulo et benigne astare, lites ot dissidia componere, &c. Acosta, 1. 4. c. 18. p. 418. 112 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. rant disciples, that we account them vain anil needless things. Direct 1071!) for faithful xeniiig Chrixt, and doing good. Direct. I. Be sure that you have that holiness, justice, and charity within, which are the necessary principles of good works. — For " a good tree will bring forth good fruit, and an evil tree evil fruit. Make the tree good, and the fruit good. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart, bringeth forth evil things." As out of the heart j)roceed evil works. Matt. xv. 19, 20, so out of the heart must good works come, Matt. vii. 16 — 20. Can the dead do the works of the living? or the unholy do the works of holiness ? or the un- righteous do the works of justice ? or the unchari- table do the works of charity ? Will he do good to Christ in his members on earth, who hatcth them ? Or will he not rather imprison them, than visit them in prison ; and rather strip them of all they have, than feed and clothe them ? Or if a man should do that which materially is good, from pride, or other sinful principles, God doth not accept it, but taketh all sacrifice but as carrion that is offered to him with- out the heart. Direct. II. Content not yourselves to do some good extraordinarily on the by, or when you are urged to it ; but study to do good, and make it the trade or business of your lives. — Having so many obligations, and so great encouragements, do what you do with all your might. If you would know whether you are servants to Christ, or to the llesh, the question must be, which of these have the main care and diligence of our lives ; for as every carnal act will not prove you servants to the flesh, so every good action will not prove you the servants of Christ. Direct. III. Before you do any work, consider ■whether you can truly say, it is a service of God, and will be accepted by him. See therefore that it be done, 1. To his glory, or to please him. 2. And in obedience to his command. — Mere natural actions, that have no moral good or evil in them, and so be- long not to morality, these belong not to our present subject ; as being not the matter of rational (or at least of obediential) choice. Such as the winking of. the eye, the setting of this foot forward first, the taking of this or that meat, or drink, or instrument, or company, or action, when they are equal, and it is no matter of rational (or obediential) choice, &c. But every act that is to be done deliberately and rationally, as matter of choice, must be moralized, or made good, by doing it, 1 . To a right end ; and, 2. According to the rule. " Whether we eat, or drink, or whatsoever we do, (that is matter of rational choice,) must be done by us to the glory of God," 1 Cor. X. 31. All works tend not alike to his glory ; but some more immediately and directly, and others remotely ; but all must ultimately have this end. Even servants that labour in their painful work, must "do it as to the Lord, and not (only, or ulti- mately) to men ; not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ," from whom they must have their greatest reward or punishment, Eph. vi. 5 — 8 ; Col. iii. 22 — 25. All the comforts of food, or rest, or recreation, or pleasure which we take, should be intended to fit us for our Master's work, or strengthen, cheer, and help us in it. Do nothing, deliberately, that belongs to the govern- ment of reason, but God's service in the world ; which you can say, he set you on. ' Some think they merit by curing the hurts which they have caused themselves. Seii ncquitia est, ut cxtrahas mer- gere, evertere ut suscites, inciuderc ut emittas. Noa enim Direct. IV. Set not duties of piety, justice, or cha- rity against each other, as if they had an enmity to ea; jirayiT. And tliat which may exi-use an aj)osth^ for i\()t prcai-liiiii; in iho ti'iii- ])U' or syiiatjofiiK's, or not having the emperor's or tho high priest's allowance or consent, or lor not con- tinuing in ()!)(' city or country ; would not excuse them if they had renounced their callings, or totally, as to all times, and j^laces, and maimer ol' j)crform- ance, have ceased their work for fear of men. Rule XIII. If the duty to be omitted and the sin to ])e committed seem ctjual in greatness, and our douht be e(iual as to both, it is commonly held safer to avoid the connnission more studiously than the omi.ssion. For which there are many reasons given. Ihde XIV. There is usually much more matter for fear and suspicion, ctvteris paribus, of sins to be committed, than of duties to be omitted, when the commission is made necessary to the doing of the duty. Both because it is there that the fear begin- neth : for I am certain that the good work is no duty to me, if the act be a sin which is its necessary con- dition. Therefore, so far as I suspect the act to be sinful, I must needs suspect the duty to be no duty to me at that time : it is not jwssible I should be rationally more persuaded that the duty is my duty, than that the condition is no sin. If it were the saving of the lives of all men in the country, 1 could no further take it to be my duty, than I take that to be no sin by which it must he done, it being a thing jiast controversy, that we must not sin for the accom- plishment of any good whatsoever. And also be- cause the sin is supposed to be always sin, but few duties are at all times duties : and the sin is a sin to every man, but the duty may be another man's duty, and not mine. For instance : Charles V. im- poseth the Interim upon Germany : some pastors yielded to it ; others refused it, and were cast out. Those that yielded pleaded the good of the churches, and the prevention of their utter desolation, but yet confessed that if the thing imposed were sinful, it was not their duty to do it for any good whatsoever, but to seek the good of the church as well as they could without it. The other that were cast out argued, that so far as they were confident the Inte- rim was sinful, they must be confident that nothing w-as their duty that could not be done without it, and that God knew best what is good for his church, and there is no accomplishing its good by sin and God's displeasure ; and that they did not therefore forsake their ministry, hut only lose the ruler's li- cence ; for they resolved to preach in one place or other till they were imprisoned, and God can serve himself by their imprisonment or death, as well as by their preaching. And while others took tlieir places that thought the Interim lawful, tlie churches W'cre not wholly destitute ; and if God saw it meet, he could restore their fuller liberties again : in the mean time, to serve him, as all pastors did for three hundred years after Christ, without the licence of the civil magistrate, was not to cast away their office. Another instance : the zealous papists in the reign of Henry III. in France, thought that there was a necessity of entering the League, and warring against the king, because religion was in danger, the preservation whereof is an unquestionable duty. The learned and moderate lawyers that were against them said, that there being no question but the king had the total sovereignty over them, they were sure it was a sin to resist the higher powers, and there- fore no preservation of religion could be a duty or lawful to them which must be done by such a cer- tain sin : sin is not the means to save religion or the commonwealth. Rule XV. "When a thing is not prohibited and sin- ful simply in itself, but because of some accidental or consequential evil that it tendeth to, there a greater accidental or consecpicntial good may pre- ponderate the evil, and make the thing become no sin, but a duty. It is a matter of exceeding diiii- culfy to discern ofttimes whether a thing be simply and absolutely forbiilden, or only by accident and alterably, and to discern which accident doth i)re- l)onderate. There are so many observations that should here be taken in, .and so much of a man's life and peace is concerned in it, that it deserveth a trea- tise by itself. And therefore 1 shall not meddle with it any further here, lest an insufficient tractate be worse than none, in a case where error is so easy and perilous. Rule XVI. As to the danger of the sinner himself, there is a great deal of difference between an error and sin of human frailty, when the service of God, and true obedience, and the common good, is sin- cerely intended, and an error and sin of false-heart- edncss and sloth, when selfishness is the secret spring of the error, and carnal interest the real end, thougli God and his service be pretended. And usually the concomitants will show something of this to others. For instance ; two magistrates and two ministers submit to some questioned imposition, all pretend that the glory of God, and his service, is it that prevaileth with them to submit. The one of the magistrates faithfully serves God afterward with his authority, and showeth thereby that he meant sin- cerely : the other doth no good in his place, and showeth his hypocrisy. One of the ministers preach- eth zealously, and privately laboureth as one that thirsteth for the saving of souls : the other preach- eth formally, and coldly, and heartlessly, and never converteth a soul, and neglecteth the work which he pretended was his end. Grand Direct. XI. Let it be most ^ i ■ f , , , , , , For lovin*^ God as deeply engraven on thy heart, that our I'atiipr, our God is infinitely good and amiable; Beneiactor, and our thy grand Benefactor and Father in ' Christ ; the end of all ,that thou art and hast ; and the everlasting rest and happiness of thy soul : see therefore that thy inflamed heart be entirely and ab- solutely offered up unto him by the mediation of his Son, to love him, to trust him, to delight in him, to be thankful to him, to glorify him, and through faith to long for the heavenly glory, where all this will be perfectly done for ever. And first let us speak of love. I did in the first direction persuade you to lay a good foundation in faith and knowledge. In the second I directed you how to live upon Christ. In the third, how to believe practically in the Holy Ghost. In the fourth I directed you to the orderly and practical knowledge of all the attributes of God. In the fifth, how to know God practically in his first grand relation, as he is your Owner. In the sixth, how to know him practically in his second grand re- latifm, as he is your King or Governor ; and in subor- dination to his governing relation. In the seventh I directed you in your relation of disciples to Chris your Teacher. And in the eighth 1 directed you in your relation of patients to Christ your Physician, and the Holy Ghost as your Sanctifier. In the ninth I directed you in your relation of soldiers to Christ the Captain of your salvation. In the tenth 1 di- rected you in the relation of servants to Christ your Master. And now being past those subordinate rela- lations (to the second), I proceed to direct you in your third grand relation to God as your Benefactor, Father, and Felicity. And because there are divers great duties in this general, I shall first begin with this of love ; and afterwards speak distinctly of the rest. Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 121 Directions for loving God as our Father and Felicity. Here I shall first give you these general prepara- tives (and then give you directions for the exercise of holy love). 1. You must understand the nature of love to God. 2. You must understand the differ- ences of this love. 3. You must understand the rea- sons of it. 4. And the contraries of it. 5. And the counterfeits of it. „ , . , , I. For the understanding its nature God IS not loved as , ,i • i n." » a particular sood, ODServe these tilings: 1. It IS not i)iit .IS the univcr- the love of a particular good, but of ..aigood. ^jjg infinite, Universal Good. The creature is a particular good, and our love to it is a particular, limited love, confined as to a point. God is the Universal Good, and our love to him is not limited by the object, but by the narrowness and imperfec- tion of our faculties themselves. As suppose you had variety of candles in your room, and you had diamonds and other refulgent things ; you love each of these with a particular love, for their splendour and usefulness ; and you more easily observe and feel the motion of this confined love. But light itself, as light, you love with a more universal love ; which is greater, but not so sensibly observed. (Not as we speak of notional universals in logic, which have no existence but in particulars ; but of the natural, transcendent, infinite good, eternally existent, and arbitrarily appearing in some created particles.) As the love of an infinite light would differ from the love of a candle, and the love of an infinite heat from the love of a fire, and the love of infinite wisdom it- self from the love of a wise man, and the love of infinite goodness itself from the love of a good man ; so doth the love of God from the love of a particular, created good. 2. Our love to God is not ordinarily so passionate as our love to creatures ; because the nearness and sensibleness of the creature promoteth such sensible operations. But God is not seen, or felt, or heard, but believed in by faith, and known by reason. And the narrowness of the creature making resist- ances, stops, and difficulties, occasioncth a turbulent passionateness of love ; when the infiniteness of God hath no such occasion. Our love to creatures is like the running of a stream in a channel that is too nar- row for it, where stops and banks do make it go on with a roaring violence ; but our love to God is like the brook that slideth into the ocean, where it is insensibly devoured. Therefore our love to God must principally be perceived, not in violent passions, but in, 1. A high estimation of him. 2. In the will's adhering to him. 3. And in the eff"ects (to be men- tioned anon). Yet when a passionate love is added to these, it may be the most excellent signifieativcly and effectively. Some philoso])hers Whethpr God may think that God cannot at all be loved be tnp oljjert of . , . , , , . pa-Hsionaie love. With a passionate love, because he is a pure, immaterial Being, and there- fore cannot be the object of a material act or motion, such as our passions are ; and, therefore, that it is some idol of the imagination that is so loved. But, 1. If they mean that his pure essence, in itself, is not the immediate object of a passion, they may say the same of the will itself ; for man (at least in flesh) can have no other volition of God, but as he is ap- prehended by the intellect. And if by an idol they mean the image of fJod in the mind, gatliered from the appearances of God in creatures, man in flesh hath no other knowledge of him ; for here we know him but darkly, enigmatically, and as in a glass, and have no formal, proper conception of him in his essence. So that the rational powers themselves do no otherwise know and will God's essence, but as re- presented to us in a glass. 2. And thus we may also love him passionately ; it being God in his objective being as apprehended by the intellect that we both will and pa'ssionately love. The motion of the sonl in flesh may raise passions, by the instrumentality of the corporeal spirits, towards an immaterial ob- ject; which is called the object of those passions, not merely as passions, but as the passions of a ra- tional agent ; it being more nearly or primarily the object of the intellect and will, and then of the pas- sions, as first apprehended by these superior powers. A man may delight in God ; or else, how is he our felicity ? and yet, we know of no delight which is not passion. A man may love his own soul with a passionate love ; and yet it is immaterial. When I passionately love my friend, it is his immaterial soul, and his wisdom, and holiness, which I chiefly love. 3. It is not only for his excellen- cies and perfections in himself, nor p^jee,' of^Mov"" only for his love and benefit to us, that grace doth cause a sinner to love God ; but it is for both conjunctly ; as he is good, and doth good, especially to us, in the greatest things. 4. Our first special love to God, is orderly and rationallv to be raised, Wl'at is fiie mn- 1 • 1. tive of our first love by the belief of his goodness in him- to God. self, and his common love and mercy to sinners, manifested in his giving of his Son for the world, and giving men the conditional promise of pardon and salvation, and offering them Christ and life eternal, and all this to us as well as others : and not to be caused by the belief or persuasion of his special, peculiar, electing, redeeming, or saving love to us above others, that have the same invitations and offers. It is the knowledge of common love and mercy, and not of special love and mercy, as already possessed, that is appointed to be the motive of our first special love to God. (Yet there is in it an appre- hension that he is our only possible felicity, and that he will give us a s])eeial interest in his favour, if we return by faith in Christ unto him.) For, 1. Every man is bound to love God with a special love: but every man is not specially beloved by him : and no man is bound to love God as one that specially loveth him but those that indeed are so beloved by him ; for else they were bound to believe a falsehood, and to love that which is not ; and grace should be an error and deceit. The object is before the act. God's special love must in itself be before its revelations ; and as revealed it must go before our belief of it; and as believed it must go before our loving it, or loving him as such, or for it. 2. The first saving faith is inseparably conjunct with special love ; for Christ is believed in and willed, as the way or means to (iod as the end (otherwise it is no true faith). And the volition of the end (which is love) is in or- der of nature before the choice or use of the means as such : and if we must love God as one that specially loveth us, in our first love, then we must believe in him as such by our first faith : and if so, it must be to us a revealed truth. But (as it is false to most that are bound to believe, so) it is not revealed to the elect themselves : for if it be, it is either by or- dinary or extraordinary revelation. If by ordinary, either by Scripture flirectly, or by evidences in our- selves which Scripture maketh the characters of his love. But neither of these ; for Scripture promiseth not salvation to named, but described persons ; and evidence of special love there is none, before faith, and repentance, and the first love to (lod. And ex- traordinary revelation from heaven, by inspiration or angel, is not the ordinary begetter of faith ; for faith is the belief of God, speaking to us (now) by 122 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. his written word. So that wliore there is no object of h)ve. there can he no love ; ;uul win re thi re is no revelation of it to the iiiulerstandiiii,', there is no ol)- jeet for the will ; ami till a man lirst believe and love (iod, he hath no revelation that (iod doth specially love him. Search as long as you will, you will find no other. 3. If the wicked were condennied for not loving a false or feij^ned object, it would (juiet their consciences in hell when they had detected the deceit, and seen the natural iiniiossibility and con- tradiction. 4. The first love to (iod is more a love of desire, than of possession ; and therefore it may suffice to raise it, tliat we see a possibility of hein^ for ev< r happy in God, and enjoying him in special love, though vet we know not that we possess any such love. Tlie nature of the thing proclaimeth it most rational and due, that we love the inliuite (iood, that hath done so nnich by the death of his Son, to remove the impediments of our salvation; and is so far reconciled to the world in his death, as by a mes- sage of reconciliation, to entreat them to accept of Christ, and pardon, and salvation freely ollered them, 2 Cor. v. 19, 20; and is himself the ottered ha])piness of the soul. He that dare say, that this nuich hath not an objective sufficiency to engage the sold in special love, is a blind undervahier of won- derful mercy. 5. The tirst special grace bringeth no new object for faith or love, but causeth a new act upon the formerly revealed object. 5. But our love to God is greatly increased and advantaged afterwards by the assurance or persuasion of his peculiar, special love to us. And therefore all christians should greatly value such assurance, as the appointed means of advancing them to greater love to (iod. 6. As we know God here in the glass of his Son, and word, and creatures, so we most sensibly love him here, as his goodness appeareth in his works, and graces, and his word, and Son. 7. The nearer we come to perfection, the more we shall love God for himself and his infinite natural goodness and perfections, not casting away the re- spects of his goodness and love as to ourselves, but highlicst regarding himself for himself, as carried to him above ourselves. II. Though love in its own nature be still the same, and is nothing but the rational appetite of good; or the will's volition of good apprehended by the understanding ; the first motion of the will to good, arising from that natural inclination to good, which is the nature of the will, and the pondus aniiiKP, the poise of the soul ; or from healing grace which repaireth the breach that is made in nature ; yet love in regard of the state of the lover, and the way of its imperatc acting, is thus dirterenced. I. Either the lover is in the hopeful pursuit of the thing beloved, and then it is desiring, seeking love. 2. Or he is, or secmeth to be, denied, destitute, and deprived of his beloved (in whole or in part) : and then it is a mourning, lamenting love. 3. Or he enjoyeth his beloved, and then it is enjoying, de- lighting love. 1. The ordinary love which grace causeth on earth is a predominancy of seeking, de- siring love, encouraged by some little foretastes of enjoying, delighting love, and, in a great measure, attended with mourning, lamenting love. 2. The "> Nobiliiis et priestanlius est charitatom exescere in Deo, quam virtutcs propter Deum. Cliaritas cimipcn'iiosissima ad Uemn via est perquain cclerrimc in Deum porvenitur; nec sine eharitate alujua virtus supernaturaliter liomini sapit: charitas enim forma omnium virtutum est. Per hoc chari- tatis exercitium, homo ad tanlam sui ahominationem venit, uf non solum seipsum (-onlcmnat, verum etiam se ab aliis con- temni a^rjuo aniino I'erat ; imo etiam ab aliis coutemptus gau- deat. — Thaulerus, lior. c. 7. p. 114. state of deserted, dark, declining, relapsing, and melancholy, tempted christians, is a predominance of mourning, lamenting love, assisted with some help of seeking, desiring love; but destitute of enjoying, delighting love. 3. The state of the glorified is jjfr- fretioii of enjoying, delighting love alone. And all the rest are to bring us unto tliis.'" 111. The reasons why love to God is so great, and high, and necessary a thing, and so much esteemed above other graces, are: 1. It is the motion of the soul that tcndeth to the end; and the end is more I'xcelh nt than all the means as such. 2. The love, or will, or lieart is the man ; where the heart or love is, there the man is: it is the fullest resignation of the whole man to (iod, to love him as God, or oiler him the heart. God never hath his own fully till we love him. Love is the grand, significant, vital motion of the soul ; such as the heart, or will, or love is, such you nuiy boldly call the man. 3. The love of God is the perfection and highest improve- ment of all the faculties of the soul, and the end of all other graces, to which they tend, and to which they grow up, and in which they terminate their operations. 4. The love of God is that spirit or life of moral excellency in all other graces in which (though not their form, yet) their acceptableness doth consist, without which they are to God as a lifeless carrion is to us. And to prove any action sincere and acceptable to God, is to prove that it comes from a willing, loving mind, without which you can never prove it. 5. Love is the commander of the soul, and therefore God knoweth that if he have our hearts, he hath all, for all the rest are at its command ; for it is, as it were, the nature of the will, which is the commanding faculty ; and its ob- ject is the ultimate end which is the commanding object. Love setteth the mind on thinking, the tongue on speaking, the hands on working, the feet on going, and every faculty obeyeth its command. 6. The obedience which love commandeth, partici- jiateth of its nature, and is a ready, cheerful, sweet obedience, acceptable to God, and pleasant to our- selves. 7. Love is a pure, chaste, and cleansing grace ; and most powerfully castetli out all creature pollution from the soul : " the love of God doth quench all carnal, sinful love ; and most effi.'ctually carrieth up the soul to such high delights, as causeth it to contemn and forget the toys which it before admired. 8. The love of God is the true acknowledging and honouring him as good. That blessed attribute, his goodness, is denied, or despised, by those that love him not. The light of the sun would not be valued, honoured, or used by the world, if there were no eyes in the world to see it. And the goodness of God is to them that love him not, as the light to them that have no eyes. If God would have had his goodness to be thus unknown or neglected, he would never have made the intellectual creatures. Those only give him the glory of his goodness that truly love him. 9. Love (in its attainment) is the enjoy- ing and delighting grace : it is the very content and felicity of the soul : both as it maketh us capable to receive the most delightful communications of Ciod's love to us ; and as it is the soid's delightful closure with its most amiable felicitating object. 10. Love is the everlasting grace, and the work " Austin, (Tract. 9. in John,) having showed that among men, it maketh no one lieautit'ul to love one that is beautiful, saith, Anima nostra fceda est per iniquitatem : amando Deura pulchra eHic itur: qualis amor qui reddat pulchrum aman- tem ? Deus semper pater est : amavit nns fujdos, \it ex focdis t'aceiet pulcluos: pulehri erimus amando eum qui pulcher est. Quantum in te crescit amor, tantum crescit pulchritudo; quia ipsa charitas animae pulchritudo est. Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 123 whicli we must be doing in heaven for ever. These are the reasons of love's pre-eminence. IV. The love of creatures hath its contraries on both extremes, in the excess and in the defect ; but the love of God hath no contrary in excess : for Infinite Goodness cannot possibly be loved too much (unless as the passion may possibly be raised to a de- gree distracting or disturbing the brain). Tlie odious vices contrary to the love of God are, 1. Privative ; not loving him. 2. Positive ; hating him. 3. Opposite ; loving his creatures in his stead : all these concur in every unsanctified soul. That they are all void of the true love of God, and taken up with creature love, is past all doubt; but whether they are all haters of God, may seem more questionable. But it is as certain as the other ; only the hatred of God in most doth not break out into that open opposition, persecution, or blasphemy, as it doth with some that are given up to desperate wickedness ; nor do they think that they hate him. But the aversation of the will is the hatred of God ; and if men had not a great aversation to him, they would not forsake him, and refuse to be converted to him, notwithstanding all the arguments of love that can be used to allure them. Displaeency, nolition, and aversation are hatred. If you think it impossible that men can hate God, whom they confess to be infinitely good, consider for the true understanding of this hatred, 1. That it is not as good that they hate him ; 2. and it is not God simply in himself considered ; 3. and therefore it is not all in God ; 4. and it is not the name of God ; 5. but it is, 1. God as he seemeth unsuitable to them, and unfit for thj^r delight and love : which seeming is caused by their carnal inclination to things of ano- ther nature, and the sinful perverting of their appe- tites, and the blindness and error of their minds. 2. And it is God as he is an enemy to their carnal concupiscence ; whose holy nature is against their unholiness, and hateth their sin, and his laws forbid them the things which they most love and take de- light in : and so they hate God, as a madman hateth his keeper and physician, and takes them for his enemies ; and as a hungry dog doth hate him that keepeth him from the meat which he lovcth, or would take it out of his mouth. 3. And they hate God, as one who by his holiness, justice, and truth is en- gaged to condemn them for their sin, and so (conse- quently to their sin) is their enemy that will destroy them (unless they forsake it) : when their wills are enslaved to their sins, and they cannot endure to be forbidden them, and yet see that (Jod will damn them in hell-fire if they cast them not away: this fillcth them with (Hsplacency against God, as holy and just. 4. And then, eonserjuently, tliey hate him in the rest of his attributes : as his omniscience, that he always seeth them ; his omnipresence, that he is always with them; his omnipotency, that he is irre- sistible and able to punish them: his very mercy a^ expressed to others, when they must have no part in it ; yea, his very immutability, eternity, and bemg, as he is to continue an avenger of their iniquity : so that the wicked in despair do wish that there' were no God ; and in prosperity, they wish he were not their Governor and Judge, or were unholy and unjust, allowing them to do what they list without account or punishment. Thus God is hated by the wicked according to the measure of their wickedness, and carnal interest, and concupiscence which he is against. Where you may note, 1. that the hatred of (iod beginneth at the sensual love of things temporal which he forbiddeth ; 2. that the wicked great ones of the world, and those that have tlie strongest con- cupiscence, are usually the greatest haters of God, as having the greatest adverse interest, and being most in love with the things which he prohibiteth and will condemn. V. The counterfeit of love to God is something that seemeth like it, and yet is consistent with preva- lent hatred, or privation of true love, and maketh self-deceiving hypocrites. 1. One is when so much of God is loved as men think hath no opposition to their lusts and carnal interest (as his mercy and readiness to forgive) ; and then they think that they truly love God, though they hate his holiness and other attributes. 2. Another counterfeit is, to love God upon mistakes, imagining that he is of the sinner's mind, and will bear with him and not condemn him, though he continue sensual and ungodly : this is not indeed to love God, but something contrary to God. If men's fantasies will take God to be like the devil, a friend to sin, and no friend to holiness, and false in his threatenings, &c. and thus will love him ; this is so far from being indeed the love of God, that it is an odious blaspheming of him. 3. Another counter- feit is, to love God only for his temporal mercies, as because he preserveth and maintaineth them, when yet he is resisted when he would give them things spiritual. 4. Another is, when the opinionative ap- probation of the mind, and honouring God with the lips and knee, are mistaken for true love. In a word, whatever love of God respecteth him not as God indeed, and is not superlative, but is subservient to creature love, is but a counterfeit. VI. The directions for the exercise of the love of God are these : Direct. I. Consider well, that the love of our Crea- tor, Redeemer, and Regenerator, is the very end for which we are created, redeemed, and regenerate ; and how just it is that God should have the end of such excellent works, and that by neglecting or op- posing the love of God, which is the end, we neglect or oppose the works of creation, redemption, and regeneration themselves. — Let us plead these works of God with our hearts, and say, — 1. O sluggish soul ! dost thou forget the use for wliich thou wast created, and for which thou wast endowed with rational fa- culties? Dost thou repent that thou art a man, and refuse the employment of a man ? What is the means or instrument good for, but its proper end, and use, and action ? (iod made the sun to shine, and it shin- eth ; he made the earth to supi)ort us and bear fruit, and it doth accordingly : and he made thee to love him, and wilt thou refuse and disobey ? How noble and excellent is thy employment in comparison of theirs ! Is the fruit of the earth, or the labour of thy bea.st, or the service of any inferior creature, so sweet and honourable a work as thine, to know and love thy bountiful, glorious Creator? How haj)py is thy lot ! how lilessed is thy portion in comparison of theirs ! And dost thou forsake thy place, and descend to more ignolde ol)jects, as if thou hadst rather been some silly, sordid animal ? If thou hadst not rather be a beast than a man, wliy choosest thou the love and pleasures of a beast, and refusest the love and pleasures of a man ? Is creation, and the image of God in a rational, free sf)id, a thing thus to be con- temned for nothing ? What is the sun good for, if it should yield no light or heat ? And wliat art thou good for more than the beasts that perisli, if thou know not and love not thy Creator ? If God should offer to unman thee, and turn thee into a horse or dog, thou wouldst tliink he thrust thee into misery ; and yet thou canst voluntarily and wilfully im- man thyself, and take it as thy ease and pleasure. If death came this night to dissolve thy nature, it would not please thee ; and yet thou canst daily de- stroy thy nature, as to its use and end, and not la- ment it ! It were better I had never been a man, nor r>4 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. never had a heart or love within me, if I use it not in the holy love of niy Creator. It is true, 1 have a hody that is made to eat, and drink, and sleep ; hut all this is but to serve my soul in the love of him that <;ivcth me all. Life is not for meat, or drink, or play ; but these are for life, and life for the higher ends of life. 2. Look unto thy Redeemer, drowsy sonl ! and con- sider for what cud he did redeem thee : Was it to wan- der a few years about the earth, and to sleep, and sport awhile in llcsh ? Or was it to crucify thee to the world, and raise thee up to the love of God? He came down to earth from love itself, being full of love, to show the loveliness of God, and reconcile thee to him, and take away the enmity, and by love to teach thee the art of love. His love constrained him to oiler himself a sacrifice for sin, to make thee a priest thyself to (iod, to oiler up the sacrifice of an inflamed heart in love and praise ; and wilt thou disappoint thy Redeemer, and disappoint thyself of the l)enelits of his love ? The means is for the end ; thou mayst as well say, I would not be redeemed, as to say, 1 would not love the Lord. 3. And bethink thyself, O drowsy soul, for what thou wast regenerated and sanctified by the Spirit? "VVas it not that thou mightst know and love the Lord ? What is the Spirit of adoption that is given to believers, but a Spirit of predominant love to God ? Gal. iv. (>. Thou couldst have loved vanity, and doted on thy fleshly friends and pleasures, without the Spirit of God : it was not for these, but to de- stroy these, and kindle a more noble, heavenly fire in thy breast, that the Spirit did renew thee. Ex- amine, search, and try thyself, whether the Spirit hath sanctified thee or not. Knowest thou not, that if " any man have not the Spirit of Christ, the same is none of his?" 2 Cor. xiii. 5; Rom. viii. 9. And if Christ and his Spirit be in thee, thy love is dead to earthly vanity, and quickened and raised to the most holy God. Live then in the Spirit, if thou liave the Sj)irit: to walk in the Spirit is to walk in love. Hath the regenerating Spirit given thee on purpose a new principle of love, and done so much to excite it, and been blowing at the coals so oft, and shall thy carnality or sluggishness yet extinguish it ? As thou wouldst not renounce or contemn thy creation, thy redemption, and regeneration, contemn not and neglect not the love of thy Creator, Re- deemer, and Regenerator, which is the end of all. Direct. II. Think of the perfect fitness of God to be the only object of thy superlative love : and how easy and necessary it should seem to us to do a work so agreeable to right reason and uncorrupted nature ; and abhor all temptations which would make God seem unsuitable to thee. — 0 sluggish and unnatural soul ! should not an object so admirably fit allure thee ? Should not such attractive goodness draw thee ? Should not perfecj; amiableness win thee •wholly to itself? Do but know thyself and God, and then forbear to love him if thou canst ! Where should the fish live, but in the water ? And where should birds lly, but in the air ? God is thy very element : thou diest and sinkest down to brutishness, if thou forsake him or be taken from him. What should delight the smell, but odours ? or the appe- tite, but its delicious food ? or the eye, but light, and ■what it showeth ? and the ear, but harmony ? and what should delight the soul, but God ? If thou know thyself, thou knowest that the nature of thy mind inclineth to knowledge ; and by the knowledge of effects, to rise up to the cause ; and by the know- ledge of lower and lesser matters, to ascend to the highest and greatest. And if thou know God, thou knowest that he is the cause of all things, the Maker, Preserver, and Orderer of all, the Being of beings, the most great, and wise, and good, and happy ; so that to know him, is to know all ; to know the most excellent, independent, glorious Being, that will leave no darkness nor unsatisfied desire in thy soul. And is he not then most suitable to thy mind? If thou know thyself, then thou knowest that thy will, as free as it is, hath a natural, necessary inclination to goodness. Thou canst not love evil as evil ; nor canst thou choose but love aj)prehended goodness, especially the chiefest good, if rightly apprehended. And if thou know God, thou knowest that he is in- finitely good in himself, and the cause of all the good that is in the world, and the giver of all the good thou hast received, and the oidy fit and suitable good to satisfy thy desires for the time to come. And yet, shall it be so hard to thee to love, so agreeably to perfect nature, so perfc'ct, and full, and suitable a good ? even Goodness and Love itself, which hath begun to love thee ? Is any of the creatures which thou lovest so suitable to thee ? Are they good, and only good, and perfectly good, and unchange- ably and eternally good ? Are they the spring of comfort, and the satisfying happiness of thy soul ? Hast thou found them so ? or dost thou look to find them best at last ? Foolish soul ! canst thou love the uneven, defective, troublesome creature, if to some one small, inferior use it seemeth suitable to thee ? and canst thou not love Him, that is all that rational love can })ossibly desire to enjoy ? What though the creature be near thee, and God be infi- nitely above thee ? He is nearer to thee than they. And though in glory he be distant, thou art passing to him in his glory, and wilt presently be there. Though the sun be distant from thee, it communi- cateth to thee its light, and heat, and is more suit- able to thee than the candle that is nearer thee. What though God be most holy, and thou too earth- ly and unclean ? is he not the fitter to purify thee, and make thee holy ? Thou hadst rather, if thou be poor, have the company and fiivour of the rich that can relieve thee, than of beggars that will but complain with thee. And if thou be unlearned or ignorant, thou wouldst have the company of the w'ise and learned that can teach thee, and not of those that are as ignorant as thyself. Who is so suitable to thy desires, as he that hath all that thou canst wisely desire, and is willing and ready to satisfy thee to the full ? Who is more suitable to thy love, than he that loveth thee most, and hath done most for thee, and must do all that ever will be done for thee, and is himself most lovely in his infinite per- fections ? 0 poor, diseased, lapsed soul ! if sin had not corrupted, and distempered, and perverted thee, thou wouldst have thought God as suitable to thy love, as meat to thy hunger, and drink to thy thirst, and rest to thy weariness, and as the earth and water, the air and sun, are to the inhabitants of the world ! 0 whither art thou fallen ? and how far, how long, hast thou wandered from thy God, that thou now drawest back from him as a stranger to thee, and lookest away from him as an unsuitable good ? Direct. III. Imagine not God to be far away from thee, but think of him as always near thee and with thee, in whose present love and goodness thou dost subsist. — Nearness of objects doth excite the facul- ties : we hear no sound, nor smell any odour, nor taste any sweetness, nor see any colours, that are too distant from us. And the mind being limited in its activity, neglccteth, or reaehcth not things too distant, and requireth some nearness of its object, as well as the sense ; especially to the excitation of affections and bodily action, A distant danger Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 12.") stirreth not up such fears, nor a distant misery such grief, nor a distant benefit such pleasure, as that which is at hand. Death doth more deeply affect us, when it seemeth very near, than when we think we have yet many years to live. So, carnal minds are so drowned in flesh, and captivated to sense, that they take little notice of what they see not, and therefore think of God as absent, because they see him not : they think of him as confined to heaven, as we think of a friend that is in the East Indies, or at the antipodes, who is, if not out of mind as well as out of sight, yet too distant for us delight- fully to converse with. — Remember always, O my soul, that none is so near thee as thy God. A Seneca could say, of good men, that God is with us, and in us. Nature taught heathens, that in him we live, and move, and have our being. Thy friend may be absent, but God is never absent from thee ; he is with thee, when, as to men, thou art alone. The sun is sufficient to illuminate but one part of the earth at once ; and therefore must leave the rest in darkness. But God is with thee night and day ; and there is no night to the soul, so far as it enjoy eth him. Thy life, thy health, thy love, and joy, are not nearer to thee than thy God : he is now before thee, about thee, within thee, moving thee to good, restraining thee from evil, marking and accepting all that is well, disliking and opposing all that is ill. The light of the sun doth not more certainly fill the room, and compass thee about, than God doth with his goodness. He is as much at leisure to observe thee, to converse with thee, to hear and help thee, as if thou wert his only creature : as the sun can as well illuminate every bird and fly, as if it shined unto no other creature. Open the eye of faith and reason, and behold thy God ! Do not forget him, or unbelievingly deny him, and then say. He is not here. Do not say, that the sun doth not shine, because thou winkest. 0 do not quench thy love to God, by feigning him to be out of reach, and taken up with other converse ! Turn not to inferior delights, by thinking that he hath turned thee off to these : and love him not as an absent friend ; but as the friend that is always in thy sight, in thy bosom, and in thy heart ; the fuel that is nearest to the flames of love. Direct. IV. All other graces must do their part in assisting love, and all be exercised in subservience to it, and with an intention, directly or remotely, to promote it. — Fear and watchfulness must keep away the sin that would extinguish it, and preserve you from that guilt which would frighten away the soul from God. Repentance and mortification must keep away diverting and deceiving objects, which would steal away our love from Gocl. Faith must show us God as present, in all his blessed attributes and perfections. Hope must depend on him, for nearer access and the promised felicity. Prudence must choose the fittest season, and means, and helps from our special approaches to him, and teach us how to avoid impediments. And obedience must keep us in a fit capacity for communion with him. The mind that is turned loose to wander after vanity the rest of the day, is unfit in an hour of prayer or medita- tion, to be taken up with the love of God. It must be the work of the day, and of our lives, to walk in a fitness for it, though we are not filways in the im- mediate, lively exercise of it. To sin wilfully one hour, and be taken up with the love of God the next, is as unlikely, as one hour to abuse our parents, and provoke them to correct us, and the next to find the pleasure of their love ; or one hour to fall and break one's bones, and tlie next to run and work as pleasantly as we did before. And we must see that all other graces be exercised in a just subserviency to love ; and none of them degenerate into noxious extremes, to the hinderance of this, which is their proper end. When you set yourselves to repent and mourn for sin, it must be from love, and for love : that by ingenuous lament- ation of the injuries you have done to a gracious God, you may be cleansed from the filth that doth displease him, and being reconciled to him in Christ, may be fit to return to the exercises and delights of love. When you fear God, let it be with a filial fear, that comes from love, and is but a preservative or restorative for love. Avoid that slavish fear, as a sin, which tendeth to hatred, and would make you fly away from God. Love casteth out this torment- ing fear, and freeth the soul from the spirit of bond- age. The devil tempteth melancholy persons to live before God, as one that is still among bears or lions that are ready to devour him ; for he knoweth how much such a fear is an enemy to love. Satan would never promote such fears, if they were of God, and tended to our good. You never found him promoting your love or delight in God ! But he careth not how much he plungeth you into distract- ing terrors. If he can, he will frighten you out of your love, and out of your comforts, and out of your wits. A dull and sluggish sinner he will keep from fear, lest it should awaken him from his sin ; but a poor, melancholy, penitent soul he would keep under perpetual terrors : it is so easy to such to fear, that they may know it is a sinful, inordinate fear ; for gracious works are not so easy. And resist also all humiliation and grief, that do not, immediately or remotely, tend to help your love. A religion that tendeth but to grief, and tcrminateth in grief, and goeth no further, hath too much in it of the malice of the enemy, to be of God. No tears are desirable, but those that tend to clear the eyes from the filth of sin, that they may see the better the loveliness of God. Direct. V. Esteem thy want of love to God (with the turning of it unto the creature) to be the heart of the old man ; thy most comprehensive, odious sin : and observe this as the life of all thy particular sins, and hate it above all the rest. — This is the very death and greatest deformity of the soul ; the absence of God's image, and Spirit, and objectively of him- self— I never loathe my heart so much, as when I observe how little it loveth the Lord. Methinks all the sins that ever I committed, are not so loathsome to me, as this want of love to God. And it is this that is the venom and malignity of every particular sin. I never so much hate myself, as when I ob- serve how little of God is within me, and how far my heart is estranged from him. I never do so fully aj)prove of the justice of God, if it should condemn me, and thrust me for ever from his presence, as when I oliserve how far I have thrust him from my heart. If there were any sin, which proceeded not from a want of love to God, I could easilicr j)ardon it to myself, as knowing that God would easilier pardon it. But not to love the God of love, the fountain of love, the felicity of souls, is a sin, unfit to be ])ardoned to any till it be repented of, and partly cured ; Christ will forgive it to none that keep it ; and when it is incurable, it is the special sin of hell, the badge of devils and damned souls. If (iod will not give me a heart to love him, I w-ould I had never had a h< art. If he will give me this, he giv- eth me all. Haj)py are the poor, the despised, and the persecuted, that can but live in the love of God! () miserable emperors, kings, and lords, that are strangers to this heavenly love, and love their lusts above their Maker ! Might I but live in the fervent 1*26 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Paut 1. love of God, \vh;it niiittur is it in what country, or what cottajjo, or what prison I live? If I live not in the U)vo ot (iod, my conntry wouKl be worse than banishment, a palaee wouUi be a prison ; a erown would be a miserable eoniforf, to one that hath cast away his comfort, and is f^oinjj to everlastinfr shame and woe. — Were we but iluly sensible of the wortli of love, and the odiousness and malignity that is in the want of it. it would keep us from beuig (juiet in the daily neglect of it, and would quicken us to seek it, and to stir it up. Direct. VI. Improve the principle of self-love, to the promoting of the love of God, by considering what he hath done for thee, and what he is, ami would be to thee. — 1 mean not carnal, inordinate self-love, which is the cliiefest enemy of the love of God; but I mean that rational love of happiness, and self-preservation, which God did put into inno- cent Adam, and hath planted in man's nature as necessary to his govermnent. This natural, inno- cent self-love, is that remaining principle in the heart of man, which God himself doth still presup- pose in all his laws and exhortations ; and wliich he taketh advantage of in his works and word, for the conversion of the wicked, and the persuading of his servants themselves to their obedience. This is the common principle in which we are agreed with all the wicked of the vi orld, that all men should desire and seek to be happy, and choose and do that which is best for themselves ; or else it were in vain for ministers to preach to them, if we were agreed in nothing, and we had not this grovmd in them to cast our seed into, and to work upon. And if self-love be but informed and guided by understanding, it will compel you to love God, and tell you that nothing should be so much loved. Every one that is a man must love himself; we will not entreat him, nor be beholden to him for this : and every one that loveth himself, will love that which he judgeth best for himself: and every wise man must know, that he never had nor can have any good at all, but what he had from God. Why do men love lust, or wealth, or honour, but because they think that these are good for them ? And would they not love God, if they practically knew that he is the best of all for them, and instead of all? — Unnatural, unthankful heart ! canst thou love thyself, and not love him that gave thee thyself, and gives thee all things ? Nature teacheth all men to love their most entire and neces- sary friends : do we deserve a reward by loving those that love us, when publicans will do the like P Matt. v. 46. Art thounotbound to love them thathate thee, and curse, and persecute thee ? ver. 44, 45. What reward then is due to thy unnatural ingratitude, that canst not love thy chiefest Friend ? All the friends that ever were kind to thee, and did thee good, were but his mes- sengers to deliver what he sent thee. And canst thou love the bearer, and not the Giver? He made thee a man, and not a beast. He cast thy lot in his visible church, and not among deluded infidels, or miserable heathens, that never heard, unless in scorn, of the Redeemer's name. He brought thee forth in a land of light, in a reformed church, where know- ledge and holiness have as great advantage as any where in all the world ; and not among deluded, ignorant papists, where ambition must have been thy governor, and ])ride and tyranny have given thee laws, and a formal, ceremonious image of piety must have been thy religion. He gave thee parents that educated thee in his fear, and not such as were pro- fane and ignorant, and would have restrained and persecuted thee from a holy life. He spoke to tliy conscience early in thy childhood, and prevented the gross abominations which else thou hadst commit- ted. He bore with the folly and frailties of thy youth. He seasonably gave thee those books, and teachers, and company, and helps, which were fittest for thee ; and blest them to the further awakening and instruct- ing of thee, when he passed by others, and left them in their sins. He taught thee to pray, and heard thy prayer. He turned all thy fears and groans to thy spiritual good. He pardoned all thy grievous sins : and since that, how nuieh hath he endured and forgiven ! He gave thee seasonable and neces- sary stripes, and brought thee up in the school of afHietion ; so moderating them, that they might not disable or discourage thee, but only correct thee, and keep thee from security, wantoimess, stupidity, and contempt of holy things, and might spoil all tempta- tions to and)ition, worldliness, voluptuousness, and fleshly lust. By the thrcatenings of great calami- ties and death, he hath freiiuently awakened thee to cry to Heaven; and by as frequent and wonderful deliverances, he hath answered thy prayers, and en- couraged thee still to wait upon him. He hath given thee the liearty prayers of many hundreds of his faithful servants, and heard them for thee in many a distress. He hath strangely preserved thee in manifold dangers. He hath not made thee of the basest of the people, whose poverty might tempt them to discontent; nor set thee u})on the pinnacle of worldly honour, where giddiness might have been thy ruin, and where temptations to pride, and lust, and luxury, and enmity to a holy life, are so violent that few escape tiiem. He hath not set thee out upon a sea of cares and vexations, worldly busi- nesses and encumbrances ; but fed thee with food convenient for thee, and given thee leisure to walk with God. He hath not chained thee to an unpro- fitable profession, nor used thee as those that live like their beasts, to eat, and drink, and sleep, and play, or live to live ; but he hath called thee to the noblest and sweetest work ; when that hath been thy business, which others were glad to taste of as a re- creation and repast. He hath allowed thee to con- verse with books, and with the best and wisest men, and to spend thy days in sucking in delightful know- ledge : and this is not only for thy jjleasure, but thy use ; and not only for thyself, but many others. O how many sweet and precious truths hath he allow- ed thee to feed on all the day, when others are diverted, and commonly look at them sometimes afar off! O how many precious hours hath he granted me, in his holy assemblies, and in his honourable and most pleasant work ! How oft hath his day, and his holy uncorruptcd ordinances, and the com- munion of his saints, and the mentioning of his name atid kingdom, and the ])leading of his cause with sinners, and the celebrating of his praise, been my delight ! 0 how many hundreds that he hath sent, have wanted the abundant encouragement which I have had ! When he hath seen the disease of my despondent mind, he hath not tried me by denying me success, nor sufl'ered me, with Jonah, according to my inclination to overrun his work ; but hath enticed me on by continued encouragements, and strewed all the way with mercies : but his mercies to me in the sotds of others, have been so great, that I shall secretly acknowledge them, rather than here record them, where I nmst have respect to those usual mer- cies of believers, which lie in the common road to heaven. And how endless would it be to mention all ! All the good that friends and enemies have done me ! All the wise and gracious disposals of his providence ; in every condition, and change of life, and change of times, and in every place wherever he brought me ! His every day's renewed mercies ! His support under all my hmguishings and weak- Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 127 ness ; his plentiful supplies ; his gracious helps ; his daily pardons ; and the glorious hopes of a blessed immortality which his Son hath purchased, and his covenant and Spirit sealed to me ! O the mercies that are in one Christ, one Holy Spirit, one holy Scripture, and in the blessed God himself! These I have mentioned, unthankful heart, to shame thee for thy want of love to God. And these I will leave upon record, to be a witness for God against thy in- gratitude, and to confound thee with shame, if thou deny thy love to such a God. Every one of all these mercies, and multitudes more, will rise up against thee, and shame thee, before God and all the world, as a monster of unkindncss, if thou love not him that hatli used thee thus. Here also consider what God is for your future good, as well as what he hath been hitherto ; how all-sufficient, how powerful, merciful, and good. But of this more anon. Direct. "VII. Improve the vanity and vexation of the creature, and all thy disappointments, and in- juries, and affiictions, to the promoting of thy love to God. — And this by a double advantage : First, by observing that there is nothing meet to divert thy love, or rob God of it ; unless thou wilt love thy trouble and distress ! Secondly, that thy love to God is the comfort by which thou must be supported under the injuries and troubles which thou meetest with in the world ; and therefore to neglect it, is but to give up thyself to misery. — Is it for nothing, O my soul, that God hath turned loose the world against thee ? that devils rage against thee ; and wicked men do reproach and slander thee, and seek thy ruin; and friends prove insufficient, and as Ijroken reeds ? It had been as easy to God, to have prospered thee in the world, and suited all things to thy own desires, and have strewed thy way with the flowers of worldly comforts and delights; but he knew thy proneness to undo thyself by carnal loves, and how easily thy heart is enticed from thy God; and therefore he hath wisely and mercifully ordered it, that thy temj)tations shall not be too strong, and no creature shall appear to thee in an over amiable, tempting dress. Therefore he hath suffered them to become thy enemies : and wilt thou love an enemy better than thy God? what! an envious and malicious w'orld ; a world of cares, and griefs, and pains ; a weary, restless, empty world? How deep and piercing are its injuries! How superficial and deceitful is its friendship ! How- serious are its sorrows ! What toyish shows and dreams are its delights ! How constant are its cares and labours ! How seldom and short are its flatter- ing smiles ! Its comforts arc disgraced by the cer- tain expectation of succeeding sorrows : its sorrows are heightened by the expectations of more : in the midst of its flatteries, I hear something within me saying. Thou must die : this is but the way to rot- tenness and dust : I see a winding-sheet and \ a grave still before me : I foresee how I must lie in pains and groans, and then become a loathsome corpse. And is this a world to be more delighted in than God ? What have I left me for my support and solace, in the midst of all this vanity and vexation, hut to look to him that is tlie all-sufficient, sure, never-failing good ? I must love him, or I have nothing to love but enmity or deceit. And is this the worst of God's design, in permitting and causing my pains and disappointments here? It is but to " () orator, in tiia orationo plus dilige Deum quam teip- sum ct alia : ct si line faris, jusUis os et prudens, et do chari- tate et sanctilate habituatiis : Qui habitus est amicus tuus in oratinne — O Orator! quando orabis pro commissis, justitiam, Dei tecum teneas diligcndo; non autem odiendo : quia si sic. drive my foolish heart unto himself, that I may have the solid delights and happiness of his love. O then let his blessed will be done ! Come home, my soul, my wandering, tired, grieved soul ! Love, where thy love shall not be lost : love Him that will not reject thee, nor deceive thee ; nor requite thee as the world doth, with injuries and abuse : despair not of enter- tainment, though the world deny it thee. The peaceable region is above. In the world thou must have trouble, that in Christ thou mayst have peace. Retire to the harbour, if thou wouldst be free from storms. God will receive thee, when the world doth cast thee off', if thou heartily cast off the world for him. — Oh what a solace is it to the soul, to be driven clearly from the world to God, and there to be exer- cised in that sacred love, which will accompany us to the world of love ! Direct. VIll. Labour for the truest and fullest conceptions of the goodness and excellencies of God, which are his amiableness ; and abhor all misrepre- sentations of him as unlovely. — That which is appre- hended as unlovely cannot be loved ; and that which is apprehended as evil, is apprehended as unlovely. Therefore, it is the grand design of Satan to hide God's goodness, and misrepresent him as evil : not to deny him to be good in himself, for in that he hath no hope to be believed ; but to persuade men that he is not good to them, or to make them forget or overlook his goodness. Not to persuade them that God is evil in himself : but that he is evil to them, by restraining them from their beloved sins, and hating them as sinners, and resolving to damn them if they go on impenitcntly. This, which is part of the goodness of God, he maketh them believe is evil, by engaging them in a way and interest, which he knoweth that God is engaged against, and enticing them under the strokes of his justice. And he tempteth believers themselves to poor, diminu- tive, unworthy thoughts of the goodness and merci- fulness of God, and to continual apprehensions of his wrath and terrors. And if he can make them be- lieve that God is their enemy, and think of him only as a consuming fire, liow little arc they like to love him ! If christians knew how much of the devil's malice against God and them doth exercise itself in this, to make God appear to man unlovely, they wotdd more studiously watch ngainst such misrepre- sentations, and fly from tliem with greater hatred." Not that we must first, by the advice of arrogant reason, and self-love, as some do, draw a false de- scription of goodness and amiableness in our minds, and make that the measure of our judgment of God, his nature, attributes, and decrees; nor take his goodness to be only his suitableness to our opinions, wills, and interest. But we must lake out from the word and works of God, that true description of his goodness which he hath given of himself, and ex- punge out of our conceits whatsoever is contrary to it. Think of God's goodness in proportion with his other attributes. — O my squI, how unequally hast thou thought of God ! Thou easily believest that his power is omnipotence, and that his knowledge is omniscii nce ; but of his goodness, how narrow and poor are thy conceivings ! as if it were nothing to his power and knowledge. How oft hast thou been amazed in the consideration of his greatness, and how seldom affected with the apprehensions of his goodness ! Thou gratifiest him that w'ould have thee believe and tremble as he doth himself, and not misericordia Dei non posset esse tua amira, eo quia injustus esset; et tuus habitus cssot crudclis et a spc et charitate pro- longatus et tuuni amare in odire esset perversum, de quo odire esset in seternuni hal>ituatus. Raim. LuUius, Arte Magna do Applie. cap. 114. p. 557, 558. 128 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. him that wmild have thee believe and love. 1 low- oft hast thou sulVered the niaHeioiis enemy to aecnse (iod to thee, and make thee believe that he is a hater of man, and hateful to a man, or a hater of thee, that he mii^ht make thee hate him I How oft hast thou sullereti him to draw in tliy thou^^hts a false representation of thy dearest Lord, and show him to thee as in that unlovely shape ! How oft have thy conceptions dishonoured and blasphemed his love and goodness, while thou hast seemed to magnify his knowledge and his power ! Think of him now as love itself, as fuller of goodness than the sea of water, or the sun of light. Love freely and boldly, without the stops of suspicions and fears, where thou art sure thou canst never love enough ; and if all the love of men and angels were united in one llamc, they could never love too much, or come near the proportion of the glorious goodness which they love ! Cast thyself boldly into this ocean of delights. Though the narrowness of thy own capacity confine thee, yet, as there are no bounds in the object of thy love, let not false, unbelieving thoughts confine thee. Oil that I were all eye, to see the glorious amiable- ness of my (iod ! Oh that I were all love, that I might be filled with his goodness ! Oh that all the passions of my soul were turned into this holy j)as- sion ! Oh that all my fears, and cares, and sorrows, were turned into love ! and that all the thoughts that confusedly crowd in upon me and molest me, were turned into this one incessant thought, of the infinite goodness of my God ! Oh that all my tears and groanings, yea, and all my other mirth and pleasures, were turned into the melodious songs of love ! and that the pulse, and voice, and operations of love, were all the motion of my soul ! Surely in heaven it will be so, though it is not to be ex- pected here. Direct. IX. The great means of promoting love to God, is duly to behold him in his appearances to man, in the ways of nature, grace, and glory. First, therefore, learn to understand and improve his ap- pearances in nature, and to see the Creator in all his works, and by the knowledge and love of them to be raised to the knowledge and love of him. — Though sin hath so disabled us to the due improvement of these appearances of God in nature, that grace must restore us, before we can do it effectually and ac- ceptably ; yet objectively nature is still the same in substance, and affordeth us much help to the know- ledge and love of God. He knoweth nothing of the world aright, that knoweth not God in it, and by it. Some note that the greatest students in nature are not usually the best proficients in grace ; and that philosophers and physicians are seldom great ad- mirers of piety ; but this is to judge of the wise by the foolish, and to impute the ignorance and impiety of some, to others that abhor it. Doubtless he is no philosopher, but a fool, that seeth not c.nd admireth not the Creator in his works. Indeed if a man do wholly give himself to know the shape and form of letters, and to write them curiously, or cut them in brass or stone, or to print them, and not to under- stand their significations or use, no wonder if he be ignorant of the arts and sciences, which those letters well understood would teach him ; such a man may be called an engraver, a scrivener, a printer, but not a scholar : and no better can the atheist be called a philosopher or learned man, that denieth the most wise Almighty Author, while he beholdeth his works, when the nature and name of God is so plainly en- graven upon them all. It is a great part of a chris- tian's daily business, to see and admire God in his works, and to use them as steps to ascend by to him- self. Psal. cxi. 2 — i, " The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all iticm that have pleasure therein, llis work is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever, lie hath made his wonderful works to be remembered." Psal. cxliii. 5, " I meditate on all thy works ; 1 muse on the work of thy hands." Psal. Ixxvii. 12, " I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings." Psal. xeii. 4, (i, " For thou. Lord, hast made me glad through thy work ; I will triumph in the works of thy hands. A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this." \\s the praising of (iod's works, so the observing of God in his works, is much of the work of a holy soul. Psal. cxlv. 3 — 7, lOi 17) " Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised ; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and sliall declare thy mighty acts. 1 will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts ; and I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great good- ness, and shall sin^ of thy righteousness. All thy works shall praise tnce, O Lord ; and thy saints shall bless thee. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works." Rom. i. 19, 20, "That which may be known of God is manifest to them ; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisi- ble things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead ; so that they are without excuse." If we converse in the world as believers or rational creatures ought, we should as oft as David repeat those words, Psal. cvii. "0 that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wondrous works to the children of men ! And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing. They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters ; these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep," ver. 21 — 24. But this is a subject fitter for a volume (of physics theologically handled) than for so short a touch. What an excellent book is the visible world for the daily study of a holy soul ! Light is not more visible to the eye in the sun, than the goodness of God is in it and all the creatures to the mind. If I love not God, when all the world revcaleth his lovehness, and every creature telleth me that he is good, what a blind and wicked heart have I ! 0 wonderful wisdom, and goodness, and power which appeareth in every thing we see ! in every tree, and plant, and flower ; in every bird, and beast, and fish ; in every worm, and fly, and creeping thing ; in every part of the body of man or beast, much more in the admir- able composure of the whole ; in the sun, and moon, and stars, and meteors ; in the lightning and thunder, the air and winds, the rain and waters, the heat and cold, the fire and the earth, especially in the com- posed frame of all, so far as we can see them set together ; in the admirable order and co-operation of all things ; in their times and seasons, and the won- derful usefulness of all for man. 0 how glorious is the power, and wisdom, and goodness of God, in all the frame of nature ! Every creature silently speaks his praise, declaring him to man, wliose oflice is, as the world's high priest, to stand between them and the great Creator, and expressly offer him the praise of all. Psal. viii. ."^6, 9, " When I consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained ; what is man, that thou art mindful of him ? and the son of man, that thou visitest him ? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have do- Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS, 129 minion over the works of thy hands ; thou hast put all things under his feet. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!" "Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and declare his wondrous vvorks to the children of men ! " "The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord," Psal. xxxiii. 5 — 9. Read Psal. Ixv. Thus love God as appearing in the works of nature. Direct. X. Study to know God as he appeareth more clearly to sinners in his goodness in the works of grace ; especially in his Son, his covenant, and his saints, and there to luve him, in the admiration of his love. — Here love hath made itself an advan- tage of our sin and unworthiness, of our necessities and miseries, of the law and justice, and the flames of hell. The abounding of sin and misery hath glorified abounding grace ; that grace which fetcheth sons for God from among the voluntary vassals of the devil, which fetcheth children of light out of darkness, and living souls from among the dead, and heirs for heaven from the gates of hell ; and brings us as from the gallows to the throne. 1. A believing view of the nature, undertaking, love, obe- dience, doctrine,, example, sufferings, intercession, and kingdom of Jesus Christ, must needs inflame the believer's heart with an answerable degree of the love of God. To look on a Christ and not to love God, is to have eyes and not to see, and to over- look him while we seem to look on him. He is the liveliest image of Infinite Goodness, and the mes- senger of the most unsearchable, astonishing love, and the purchaser of the most invaluable benefits that ever were revealed to the sons of men. Our greatest love must be kindled by the greatest reve- lations and communications of the love of God. i\nd "greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends," John xv. 13. That is, men have no dearer and clearer a way to express their love to their friends ; but that love is aggravated indeed, which will express itself as far for enemies. " But God commendeth his love to- ward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, i7iuch more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by liis life," Rom. v. 8, 10. Steep, then, that stiff and hardened heart in the blood of Christ, and it will melt : come near, with Thomas, and by the passage of his wounds get near unto his heart, and it will change thy unkind, unthankful heart into the very nature of love. Christ is the best teacher of the lesson of love that ever the world had; who taught it not only by his words, but by his blood, by his life, and by his death : if thou canst not learn it of him thou canst never learn it. Love is the greatest commander of love, and the most effectual argument that can insuperably constrain us to it: and none ever loved at the measure and rates that Christ hath loved. To stand by such a fire is the way for a congealed heart to melt, and the coldest affections to grow warm. A lively faith still holding Christ, the glass of infinite love and goodness, before our faces, is the greatest lesson in the art of love. 2. Behold God also in his covenant of grace, which he hath made in Christ. In that you may see such sure, such great and wonderful mercies, freely given out to a world of sinners, and to your- selves among the rest, as may afford abundant miatter for love and thankfulness to feed on while you live. There you may see how loth God is that sinners should perish; how he delighteth in mercy: and how great and unspeakable that mercy is. There you may see an act of pardon and oblivion granted upon the reasonable condition of believing, penitent VOL. I. K acceptance, to all mankind ; the sins that men have been committing many years together, their wilful, heinous, aggravated sins, you may there sec pardoned by more aggravated mercy ; and the enemies of God reconciled to him, and condemned rebels saved from hell, and brought into his family, and made his sons. Oh what an image of the goodness of God is apparent in the tenor of his word and covenant ! Holiness and mercy make up the whole — they are expressed in every leaf and line ! The precepts, which seem too strict to sinners, are but the perfect rules of holiness and love, for the health and hap- piness of man. "What loveliness did David find in the law itself ! and so should we, if we read it with his eyes and heart : it was sweeter to him than honey ; he loved it above gold, Psal. cxix. 127 ; and, ver. 97, he crieth out, "0 how i love thy law ! it is my meditation all the day." And must not the Lawgiver then be much more lovely, whose goodness here appeareth to us ? " Good and upright is the Lord ; therefore will he teach sinners in the way," Psal. XXV. 8. " I will delight myself in thy com- mandments, which I have loved : my hands also will I lift up to thy commandments, which I have loved ; and I will meditate in thy statutes," Psal. cxix. 47, 48. How delightfully then should I love and medi- tate on the blessed Author of this holy law ! But how can I read the history of love, the strange design of grace in Christ, the mystery which the angels desirously pry into, the promises of life to lost and miserable sinners, and not feel the power of love transform me ? " Behold, with what love the Father hath loved us, that we should be called the sons of God," 1 John iii. 1. How doth God shed abroad his love upon our hearts, but by opening to us the superabundance of it in his word, and opening our hearts by his Spirit to jierceive it ? Oh when ca poor sinner that first had felt the load of sin, and the wrath of God, shall feelingly read or hear what mercy is tendered to him in the covenant of grace, and hear Christ's messengers tell him, fi-om God, that all things are now ready ; and therefore invite him to the heavenly feast, and even compel him to come in, what melting love must this affect the sinner's heart with ! When we see the grant of life eternal sealed to us by the blood of Christ, and a pardoning, justifying, saving covenant, so freely made and surely confirmed to us, by that God whom we had so much offended, oh what an incentive is here for love ! When I mention the covenant I imply the sa- craments, which are but its appendants or confirming seals, and the investing the believer solemnly with its benefits. But in these God is pleased to conde- scend to the most familiar communion v.ith his church, that love and thankfulness might want no helps. There it is that the love of God in Christ applieth itself most closely to jiarticular sinners ; and the meat or drink will be sweet in the mouth, which was not sweet to us on the table at all. Oh how many a heart hath this aflected ! How many have felt the stirrings of that love, which before they felt not, when they have seen Christ crucified before their eyes, and have heard the minister, in his name and at his command, bid them " take," and " eat," and "drink ; " commanding them not to refuse their Saviour, but take him and the benefits of his blood as their own ; assuring them of his good-will and reJidiness to forgive and save them. 3. Behold also the loveliness of God in his holy ones, who bear his image, and are advanced by his love and mercy. If you are christians indeed, you are taught of God to love his servants, and to see an excellency in the saints on earth, and make them the 130 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. people of your di'light, Psal. xvi. 1,2; 1 Tlioss. iv. !). And tins must nctds ;ic<]u;unt you witli tlu' ^jri att'raiui- ahleuoss, in the most holy Ciod, that made them holy. Oh how oft have the fi'elin Isa. Ixiii. 9; 2Cor. ii. 7; Zenh. iii. 17; Dcut. xxx. 9; X. 10; Isa. Ixii. 5; James ii. 13; John xiv. 1,3, 18. 140 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. thoughts. 3. Ai;d thy speeches of him will be sel- dom, or heartless, I'oreecl speeches, ^\'ho ktiowetli not how readily our thoughts and tonj,Mies do I'ollovv our delight ? l]e it house, or land, or books, or friends, or actions, whieli are our delight, we need no force to bring our tlioughts to them. The world- ling thinks and tasteth of his wealth and business; the proud man, of his dignities and honour ; the voh4)tuous beast, of liis husis, and sports, and meats, and drinks ; because they most ilelight in these. And so must the christian of his God, and hopes, and holy business, as being his delight." 4. It will keep you away from holy duties, in wnich you should have connnunion with (iod, if you have no delight in God and them. This makes so many neglect botli )ublic and secret worship, because tlu y have no de- ight in it ; when those that delight in it are ready in taking all opportunities. 5. It will corruj)t your judgments, and draw you to think that a little is enough, and that serious diligence is unnecessary precisencss, and that one quarter of your duty is an excess. A man that hath no delight in God and godliness, is easily drawn to think, that little, and .seldom, and cold, and formal, and heartless, lifeless preaching and praying may serve the turn, and any lip-service is acceptable to God, and that more is more ado than needs. And hence, he will be further drawn to reproach those that go beyond him, to quiet his own conscience, and save his own reputa- tion ; and at last be a forlorn, Satanical revih r, hater, and persecutor of the serious, holy worshippers of God. Jer. vi. 10, "Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them : they liave no delight in it : therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord." G. If you delight not in it, you will do that which you do, without a heart, with backwardness and weariness : as your ox draweth unwillingly in the yoke, and is glad when you unyoke him : and as your horse that goeth against his will, and will go no longer than he feels the spur, when delight would cause alacrity and unweariedness. 7- It makes men apt to quarrel with the word, and every weakness in the minister oflendcth them, as sick stomachs that have some fault or other still to find with their meat. 8. It greatly inclincth men to carnal and forbidden plea- sures, because they taste not the higher and more excellent delights. Taverns, and ale-houses, plays, and whores, cards, and dice, and excess of recreation, must be sought out for them, as Saul sought a witch and a musician instead of God. It would he the most eflectual answer to all the silly reasonings of the voluptuous, when they are pleading for the law- fulness of their unnecessary, foolish, time-wasting sports, if we could but help them to the heavenly nature and hearts that more delight in God.^ This better pleasure is an argument that woidd do more to confute and banish their sinful pleasure, than a twelvemonth's disputing or preaching will do with them, while they are strangers to the soul's delight in God. Then they would rather say to their com- panions, O come and taste those high delights, which we have found in God ! 9. The want of a delight in Ciod and holiness, doth leave the soul as a prey to sorrows : every affliction tliat assaulteth it may do its wor^t, and hath its full blow at the naked, unfortified heart : for creature delights will prove but a poor preservative to it. 10. This want of a delight in God and holiness, is the way to apostasy itself. Few men will hold on in a way that they have no delight in, when all other delights must be forsaken for it. The caged hypocrite, while he is cooped up to a stricter life than he himself desires, ' Lxtari in Deo eal res omnium summa in terris, Bu- choltzer. even while he seemeth to serve him, is loathsome to (iod ; for the body williout the will is but a carcass or carrion in his eyes. If you had rather not serve (lod, you do not serve him while you seem to serve him. If you had rather live in sin, you do live in sin, rei)utatively, while you forbear the outward act: ft>r in God's account, the heart, or will, is the man : and what a man had rather be (habitually) that he is indeed. And yet, this hynocrite will be still looking for a hole to get out of his cage, and forsake his unbeloved outside of religion: like a beast that is driven in a way that he is loth to go, and will be turning out at every gap. All these mischiefs follow the want of delight in God. On the contrary, the benefits which follow our delight in God, (besides the sweetness of it,) are unsj)eakable. Tliose which are contrary to the forementioned hurts, I leave to your own considera- tion. 1 . Delight in God will prove that thou knowest him, and lovest him, and that thou art prepared for his kingdom ; for all that truly delight in him shall enjoy him. 2. Prosperity, which is but the small addition of earthly things, will not easily corrupt thee or transport thee. 3. Adversity, which is the withholding of earthly delights, will not much grieve thee, or easily deject thee. 4. Thou wilt receive more profit by a sermon, or good book, or conference, which thou delightest in, than others, that delight not in them, will do in many. 5. All thy service will be sweet to thyself, and acceptable to God : if thou delight in him, he doth certainly delight in thee, Psal. cxlix. 4; cxlvii. 11 ; I Chron. xxix. 17. 6. Thou hast a continual feast with thee, which may sweeten all the crosses of thy life, and afford thee greater joy than thy sorrow is, in thy saddest case. 7- When you delight in God, your creature delight will be sanctified to you, and warrantable in its jjropcr jilace ; which in others is idolatrous, or corrupt. These, with many other, are the benefits of delight in God. Direct. VI. Consider how suitable God and holi- ness are to be the matter of thy delight, and take heed of all temptations which would represent him as unsuitable to you. — He is, I. Most perfect and blessed in himself. 2. And full of all that thou canst need. 3. He hath all the world at his com- mand for thy relief. 4. He is nearest to thee in ])rescnce and relation in the world. 5. He hath fitted all things in religion to thy delight, for matter, variety, and benefit. 6. He will be a certain and constant delight to thee : and a durable delight, when all others fail. Thy soul came from him, and there- fore naturally should tend to him : it is from him, and for him, and therefore must rest in him, or have no rest. We delight in the house where we were born, and in our native country, and in our parents ; and every thing inclineth to its own original : and so shoidd the soul to its Creator. Direct. VII. Corrupt not your minds and appetites with contrary delights. — Addict not yourselves to fleshly pleasures : taste nothing that is forbidden. Sorrow itself is not such an enemy to spiritual de- lights, as sensual, sinful pleasures are. 0 leave your beastly and your childish pleasures, and come and feast your souls on God, Isa. Iv. 1 — 3. Away with the delights of lust, and pride, and covetous- ness, and vain s])orts, and gluttony, and drunkenness, if ever yon would have the solid and durable delights ! Think not of joining both together. Bethink your- selves : can it be any thing but the disease and wickedness of thy heart, that can make a play, or a feast, or drunken, wanton company, more jjleasant » Tres sunt virtutis conditiones, tentationis remotio, actuum multiplicatio, et in bono delectatio. P. Scaliger, Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 141 to thee than God? What a heart is that which thinketh it a toil to meditate on God and heaven ; and thinks it a pleasure to think of the baits of pride and covetousness ! "What a heart is that which thinks that sensuality, wantonness, and vanity are the pleasure of their families, which must not be turned out; and that godliness, and heavenly dis- course and exercises, would be the sadness and trouble of their families, which must not be brought in, lest it mar their mirth ; that thinks it an intoler- able toil and slavery to love God, and holiness, and heaven, and to be employed for them ; and thinks it a delightful thing to love a whore, or excess of meat, or drink, or sports ! Can you say any thing of a man that is more disgraceful, unless you say he is a devil ? It were not so vile for a child to delight more in a dog than in his parents, or a husband to delight more in the ugliest harlot than in his wife, as it is for a man to delight more in tleshly vanities than in God. Will you be licking up this dung, when you should be solacing your souls in angelical pleasures, and foretasting the delights of heaven ? Oh how justly will God thrust away such wretches from his everlasting presence, who so abhor his ways and him ! Can they blame him for denying them the things which they hate, or set so light by, as to pre- fer a lust before them ? If they were not haters of God and holiness, they would never be so averse even to the delights which they should have with him. Direct. VIII. Take heed of a melancholy habit of body ; for melancholy people can scarce delight in any thing at all, and therefore not in God. Delight is as hard to them, as it is to a pained member to find pleasure, or a sick stomach to delight in the food which it loathes. They can think of God with trouble, and fear, and horror, and despair ; but not with delight. Direct. IX. Take heed of an impatient, peevish, self-tormenting mind, that can bear no cross ; and of overvaluing earthly things, which causeth im- patience in the want of them. Make not too great a matter of fleshly pain or pleasure. — Otherwise your minds will be called to a continual attendance on the flesh, and taken up with continual desires, or cares, or fears, or griefs, or pleasures ; and will not be permitted to solace themselves with God. The soul that would have pure and high delights, must abstract itself from the concernments of the flesh ; and look on your body, as if it were the body of another, whose pain or pleasure you can choose whether you will feel. When Paul was rapt up into the third heaven, and saw the things unutterable, he was so far freed from the prison of sense, that he knew not whether he was in the body or out of it. As the separated souls, that see the face of (iod and the Redeemer, do leave the body to be buried, and to rot in darkness, and feel not all this to the in- terrupting of their joys ; so faith can imitate such a death to the world, and such a neglect of the flesh, and some kind of elevating separation of the mind, to the things above. If in this near conjunction you cannot leave the body to rejoice or sufl'er alone, yet, as itself is but a servant to the soul, so let not its pain or ])lcasure be predominant, and control the high oj)erations of the soul. A manly, valiant, be- lieving soul, though it cannot a])ate the pain at all, nor reconcile the flesh to its calamity, yet it can do more, notwithstanding the pain, to its own delight, than strangers will believe. Some women, and jjassionate, weak-spirited men, especially in sickness, are so jjeevish, and of such impatient minds, that their daily work is to discjuiet and torment themselves. One can scarce tell how to speak to them, or look at ihcm, but it oflcndeth them. And the world is so full of occasions of pro- vocation, that such persons are like to have little quietness. It is unlike that these should delight in God, who keep their minds in a continual, ulcerated, galled state, incapable of any delights at all, and cease not their self-tormenting. Direct. X. It is only a life of faith, that will be a life of holy, heavenly delight : exercise yourselves, therefore, in believing contemplations of the things unseen. — It must not be now and then a glance of the eye of the soul towards God, or a seldom saluta- tion, which you would give a stranger ; but a walk- ing with him, and frequent addresses of the soul unto him, which must help you to the delights which be- lievers And in their communion with him. Direct. XI. Especially let faith go frequently to heaven for renewed matter of delight, and frequently think what God will be to you there for ever, and with what full, everlasting delight he will satiate your souls. — As heaven is the place of our full de- light, so the foresight and foretaste of it, is the high- est delight which on earth is to be attained. And a soul that is strange to the foresight of heaven, wiU be as strange to the true delights of faith. Direct. XII. It is a great advantage to holy de- light, to be much in the more delightful parts of worship ; as in thanksgiving and praise, and a due celebration of the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ. — Of which 1 have spoken in the foregoing directions. Direct. XIII. A skilful, experienced pastor, who is able to open the treasury of the gospel, and pub- licly and privately to direct his flock in the work of self-examination, and the heavenly exercises of faith, is a great help to christians' spiritual delight. — The experiences of believers teach them this : how oft do they go away refreshed and revived, who came to the assembly, or to their pastors, in great distress, and almost in despair I See Job xxxiii. 23 ; 2 Cor. i, 3, 4. It is the office and delight of the ministers of Christ, to be "helpers of his people's faith and joy," 2 Cor. i. 24 ; Pliil. i. 4, 25; 1 Thess. ii. 20. Direct. XIV. Make use of all that prosperity, and lawful pleasure, which God giveth you in outward things, for the increase and advantage of your de- light in God. — Though corrupted nature is apter to abuse prosperity and earthly delights, than !iny other state, to the diverting of the heart from God ; and almost all the devil's poison is given in sugared or gilded allectives ; yet the primitive, natural use of prosperity, of health, and plenty, and honour, and peace, is to lead up the mind to (iod, and give us a taste of his sjjiritual delights ! That the neighbour- hood of the body might be the soul's advantage ; and that God, who in this life will be seen by us but in a glass, and will give out his comforts by his ap- pointed means, might make advantage of sensitive delights, for his own reception, and the communica- tions of his love and pleasure unto man : that, as soon as the eye, or ear, or taste, perceiveth the delight- fulness of their several objects, the holy soul might presently take the hint and motion, and be carried up to delightful thoughts of him that giveth us all these delights. And, doubtless, so far as we ran make use of a delight in friends, or food, or health, or habitations, or any accommodations of our bodies, to further our delight in God, or to remove those melancholy fears or sorrows, which would hinder this spiritual delight, it is not only lawful, but our duty to use them, with that moderation as tendeth to this end. Direct. XV. Make use ofaflliction, as a great ad- vantage for your purest and unmixed delight in God. 14_> CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. — The son ants of Christ havf iisiiall)- ii(?ver so much of the joy in the Holy (ihost, as in tht-ir 'greatest siilVi'rini^s ; osjiecially if tht"y he for liis sake. Tlie soul never retireth so ri'adily atul (li'liL;htfiilly to God, as when it hath no one else that will receive it, or that it can take any comfort from. Ciod coniforteth \is most, when he hath made us see that none else can or will relieve us. \Vhen all friends have for- saken us save only one, that one is sweeter to us then than ever. \\'hen all our house is fired down except one room, tliat room is pk'asantcr to us than it was before. He that hath lost one eye, will love the other better than before. In prosperity our delif^hts in (iod are too often c(nTupted by a mixture of sensual delight ; but all that remaineth when the creature is gone, is purely divine. Direct. XVI. Labour by self-examination, de- liberately managed under the direction of an able spiritual guide, to settle your souls in the well- grounded persuasion of your special interest in God and heaven : and then sutler not Satan, by his trou- blesome importunity, to renew your doubts, or mo- lest your peace. — An orderly, well-guided, diligent self-examination, may quickly do much to show you your condition ; and if you are convinced that the truth of grace is in you, let not fears and susjiicion go for reason, and cause you to deny that which you cannot, without the gainsaying of your consciences, deny. You see not the design of the devil in all this : his business is, by making you fear that you have no interest in God, to destroy your delight in him and in his service : and next that, to make you through weariness forsake him ; and either despair, or turn to sensual delights. Foresee and prevent these designs of Satan, and sutler him not at his pleasure to raise new storms of fears and troubles, and draw you to deny your Father's mercies, or to suspect his proved love. Direct. XV n. Damp not your delights by wilful sin. — If you grieve your Comforter he will grieve you, or leave you to grieve yourselves : in that mea- sure that any known sin is cherished, delight in God will certainly decay. Direct. XVIII. Improve your observation of wick- ed men's sensual delights, to provoke your souls to delight in God. — Think with yourselves : Shall hawks, and hounds, and pride, and filthiness, and cards, and dice, and plays, and sports, and luxury, and idleness, and foolish talk, or worldly honours, be so delightful to these deluded sinners ? and shall not my God and Saviour, his love and promises, and the hopes of hea- ven, be more delightful to me ? Is there any com- parison between the matter of my delights and theirs ? Direct. XIX. Labour to overcome those fears of death, which would damp your joys in the foresight of everlasting joys. — As notliing more feedeth holy delights than the forethoughts of heaven ; so there is scarce any thing that more hindereth our delight in those forethoughts, than the fear of interposing death. See what I have written against this fear, in my "Treatise of Self-denial," and "Saints' Rest," and in my " Treatise of Death, as the last Enemy," and in my " Last Work of a Believer." Direct. XX. Pretend not any other religious duties against your delights in God and holiness ; but use tliem all in their proper subservience to this. — Peni- tent sorrow is only a purge to cast out those corrup- tions which hinder you from relishing your spiritual delights. I'se it therefore as physic, only when there is need ; and not for itself, but only to this end ; and turn it not into your ordinary food. De- light in (iod is the health of your souls: say not you cannot have wliile to be healthful, because you must take physic, or that you take physic against health, or instead of health, but for your health. So take up no sorrow against your delight in God, or instead of it, but for it, and so nnieh as jiromoteth it. See the directions for love beforegoing. By this time you nuiy see, that holy delight ad- joined to love, is the princi])al part of our religion, and that they mistake it which place it in any thing else. And therefore how inexcusable are all the ungodly enemies or neglecters of a holy life. If it had been a life of grief and toil, they had had some jtretence ; but to tly from pleasure, and refuse de- light, and such delight, is inexcusable. Be it known to you, sinners, (iod calleth you not to forsake de- light, but to accept it ; to change your delight in sin and vanity, for delight in him. You dare not say but this is better : you cannot have your houses and lands for ever, nor your lust and luxury for ever ; but you may have (iod for ever. And do you hope to hve for ever with him, and have you no de- light in him ? Men deal with Christ as the papists with the reformed churches : because we reject their formalities and ceremonious toys, they say we take down all religion. So because we would call men from their brutish pleasures, they say w'e would let them have no pleasure ; for the epicure thinks, when his luxury, lust, and sport is gone, all is gone. Call a sluggard from his bed, or a glutton from his feast, to receive a kingdom, and he will grudge, if he ob- serve only what you would take from him, and not what you give him in its stead. When earthly plea- sures end in misery, then who would not wish they had preferred the holy, durable delights ? Grand Direct. XIV. Let thankful- ness to God thy Creator, Redeemer, ^^°^2ttl. and Regenerator, be the very tem- perament of thy soul, and faithfully expressed by thy tongue and life. Though our thankfulness is no benefit to God, yet he is pleased with it, as that which is suitable to our condition, and showeth the ingenuity and honesty of the heart. An unthankful person is but a devourer of mercies, and a grave to bury them in, and one that hath not the wit and honesty to know and ac- knowledge the hand that giveth them ; but the thankful looketh above himself, and returneth all, as he is able, to him fi'om whom they flow. True thankfulness to God is discerned from coun- terfeit, by these qualifications : 1. True thankfulness having a just estimate of mercies comparatively, jireferreth spiritual and everlasting mercies before those that are merely corporal and transitory. But carnal thankfulness chiefly valueth carnal mercies, though notionally it may confess that the spiritual are the greater. 2. True thankfulness inclineth the soul to a spiritual rejoicing in God, and to a desire after more of his .spiritual mercies : but carnal thank- fulness is only a delight in the prosperity of the flesh, or the delusion and carnal security of the mind, inclining men to carnal, empty mirth, and to a desire of more such fleslily pleasure, plenty, or content : as a beast that is full fed, will skip, and play, and show that he is pleased with his state ; or if he have ease, he would not be molested. 3. True thankfulness kindleth in the heart a love to the giver above the gift, or at least a love to God above our carnal pros- jjcrity and pleasure, and bringeth the heart still nearer unto God, by all his mercies. But carnal thankfulness doth spring from carnal self-love, or love of fleshly prosperity; and is moved by it, and is subservient to it, and loveth God, and thanketh him, but so far as he gratifieth or satisfieth the flesh. A childlike thankfulness maketh us love our Father more than liis gift, and desire to be with him in his Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 143 arms ; but a dog doth love you and is thankful to you hut for feeding him : he loveth you in subordi- nation to his aj)petite and his bones. 4. True thank- fulness inclineth us to obey and please him, that obHgeth us by liis benefits. But carnal thankfulness puts God off with the hypocritical, complimental thanks of the lips, and spends the mercy in the pleasing of the tiesh, and makes it but the fuel of lust and sin. 5. True thankfulness to God is neces- sarily transcendent, as his mercies are transcendent. The "saving of our souls from hell, and promising us eternal life, besides the giving us our very beings and all that we have, do oblige us to be totally and absolutely his, that is so transcendent a Benefactor to us, and causeth the thankful person to devote and resign himself and all that he hath to God, to answer so great an obligation. But carnal thankfulness falls short of this absolute and total dedication, and still leaveth the sinner in the power of self-love, devoting himself (really) to himself, and using all that he is, or hath, to the pleasing of his fleshly mind, and giving God only the tithes or leavings of the flesh, or so much as it can spare, lest he should stop the sti'eams of his benignity, and bereave the flesh of its prosperity and contents. Directions for Thankfulness to God, our Benefactor. Direct. I. Understand well how great this duty is, in the nature of the thing, but especially how the very design and tenor of the gospel, and the way of our salvation by a Redeemer, bespeaketh it as the very complexion of the soul, and of every duty. — A creature that is wholly his Creator's, and is pre- served every moment by him, and daily fed and maintained by his bounty, and is put into a capacity of life eternal, must needs be obliged to incessant gratitude. And unthankfulness among men is justly taken for an unnatural, monstrous vice, which for- feiteth the benefits of friendship and society : 2 Tim. iii. 2, the "unthankful" are numbered with the " unholy," &c. as part of the monsters which should come in the last times (and which we have lived to see, exactly answering that large descrijjtion of them). But the design of God in the work of re- demption, is purposely laid for the raising of the highest thankfulness in man : and the covenant of grace containeth such abundant, wondrous mercies, as might comjjel the souls of men to gratitude, or leave them utterly without excuse. It is a great truth, and much to be considered, that gratitude is that general duty of the gospel, which containeth and animateth all the rest, as lieing essential to all that is properly evangelical. A law, as a law, re- quireth obedience as the general duty : and tliis obedience is to be exercised and found in every par- ticular duty which it requircth. And the covenant with the Jews was called, The Law, because the regulating part was most eminent: and so obedience was the thing that was eminently required by the law, though their measure of mercy obliged "them also to thankfulness. But the gospel or new cove- nant is most eminently a history of mercy, and a tender and promise of the most unmatchable Ix ncfits that ever were heard of by the ears of man : so that the gift of mercy is the predominant or eminent part in the gospel or new covenant: and though still (iod be our Governor, and the new covenant also hath its precepts, and is a law, yet tliat is, in a sort, hut the subservient ])art. And what obedience is to Gratit,,,). h to .1,. «• '-"i^'' thankfulness is to a iimmiso, mudi benefit, even tiie formal answering wi.at obedietue is of its obligation : so that though we totlie law. ,, ,^ , " are callect to as exact obedience as ever, yet it is now only a thankful obedience that we are called to. And just as law and promises or gifts are conjoined in the new covenant, just so should obedience and thankfulness be conjoined in our hearts and lives ; one to God as our Ruler, and the other to him as our Benefactor : and these two must animate every act of heart and life. We must repent of sin ; but it must be a thankful repenting, as be- cometh those that have a free pardon of all their sins procured by the blood of Christ, and offered them in the gospel: leave out this gratitude, and it is no evangelical repentance. And what is our saving faith in Christ, but the assent to the truth of the gospel, with a thankful acceptance of the good which it offereth us, even Christ as our Saviour, with the benefits of his redemption. The love to God that is there required, is the thankful love of his redeemed ones : and the love to our very enemies, and the forgiving of wrongs, and all the love to one another, and all the works of charity there required, are the exercises of gratitude, and are all to be done, on this account, because Christ hath loved us, and forgiven us, and that we may show our thankful love to him. Preaching, and praying, and sacra- ments, and public praises, and communion of saints, and obedience, are all to be animated with gratitude ; and they are no further evangelically performed, than thankfulness is the very life and complexion of them all. The dark and defective opening of this by preachers, gave occasion to the antinomians to run into the contrary extreme, and to derogate too much from God's law and our obedience ; but if we obscure the doctrine of evangelical gratitude, we do as bad or worse than they. Obedience to our Ruler, and thankfulness to our Benefactor, conjoined and co-operating as the head and heart in the natural body, do make a christian indeed. Understand this well, and it will much incline your hearts to thank- fulness. Direct. II. Let the greatness of the manifold mercies of God, he continually before your eyes. — Thankfulness is caused by the due apprehension of the greatness of mercies. If you either know them not to be mercies, or know not that they are mercies to you, or believe not what is said and promised in the gospel, or forget them, or think not of them, or make light of them through the corruption of your minds, you cannot be thankful for them. I have before spoken of mercy in order to the kindling of love, and therefore shall now only recite these fol- low ing, to be always in our memories. 1. The love of (iod in giving you a Redeemer, and the love of (Christ in giving his life for us, and in all the parts of our redemption. 2. The covenant of grace, the pardon of all our sins : the justificatitm of our per- sons : our adoption, and title to eternal life. 3. The aptness of means for calling us to Christ : the gra- cious and wise disposals of Providence to that end : the gifts and compassion of our instructors: the care of parents : and the helps and examples of the servants of Christ. 4. The efficacy of all these means : the giving us to will and to do, and opening of our hearts, and giving us repentance unto life, and the Spirit of Christ to mortify our sins, and purify our nature, and dwell within us. 5. A stand- ing in his church, under the care of faithfid pastors: the liberty, comfort, and frequent benefit of his word and sacraments, and the puljlic comnumion of his saints, fi. The company of those th;it fear the Lord, and their faithful admonitions, reproofs, and encouragements : the kindness they have showed us for body, or for soul. 7. The mercies of our rela- tions, or habitations, our estates, and the notable alterations and passages of our lives. 8. The mani- fold preservations and deliverances of our souls. 144 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. from errors and seducers ; from terrors and distress; from (lanj;erous temptations, and many a soul-woiiiid- in-^ sin : and that w e are not left to the errors and (h'sires of our liearts, to seared conseiences, as for- saken of (lod. it. The manifohl ih'livcranees of our ho(Hes from enemies, hurts, cHstresses, sicknesses, and death. 10. The mercies of adversity, in whole- some, necessary chastisements, or honourable suf- ferings for his sake, and support or comfort under all. II. The comnmnion which our souls have had with God, in the course of our private and puhlic duties, in prayer, sacraments, and meditation. 12. The use which he hath made of us for the good of others ; that our time hath not been wholly lost, and we have not lived as l)urdens of the world. 13. The mercies of all our friends and Ids servants, which were to us as our own ; and our interest in the mercies and puhlic welfare of his church, which are more than our own. 14. His patience and forbear- ance witli us under our constant unprofitableness and provocations, and his renewed mercies notwith- standing our abuse : our perseverance until now. 15. Our hopes of everlasting rest and glory, when this sinful life is at an end. Aggi'avate these mer- cies in your more enlarged meditations, and they ■wdll sure constrain you to cry out, " Bless the Lord, O my soul : and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits : who forgiveth all thine iniquities ; who healeth all thy diseases ; who redeemeth thy life from destruction ; who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies," Psal. ciii. 1 — 4. " Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise ; be thankful to him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good ; his mercy is ever- lasting ; and his truth cndureth to all generations," Psal. c. 4, 5. "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy to them that fear him," Psal. ciii. 8, 11. "0 give thanks unto the Lord ; for he is good : for his mercy cndureth for ever," Psal. cxxxvi. 1, &c. "O give thanks unto the Lord ; call upon his name ; make known his deeds among the people. Sing ye unto him, sing psalms unto him ; talk ye of all his won- drous works. Glory ye in his holy name : let the heart of them rejoice that seek him," Psal. cv. 1—3. Direct. III. Be well acquainted with the great- ness of your sins, and sensible of them as they are the aggravation of God's mercies to you. — This is the main end why God will humble those that he will save ; not to drive them to despair of mercy, nor that he taketh pleasure in their sorrows for themselves ; but to work the heart to a due esteem of saving mercy, and to a serious desire after it, that they may thankfully receive it, and carefully retain it, and faithfully use it. An unhumbled soul sets light by Christ, and grace, and glory : it relisheth no spiritual mercy : it cannot be thankful for that which it findeth no great need of But true humili- ation recovereth our appetite, and teacheth us to value mercy as it is. Think therefore what sin is, (as I have opened to you, direct, viii.) and think of your manifold aggravated sins : and then think how great those mercies are that are bestowed on so great, unworthy sinners ! Then mercy will melt your humljlcd hearts, when you confess that you are " unworthy to he called sons," Luke xv. ; and that you are not worthy to look up to heaven," Luke xviii. 13; and that you are "not worthy of the least of all the mercies of (Jod," Gen. xxxii. 10. The humble soul is the thankful soul, and therefore so greatly valued by the Lord. Direct. IV. Understand what misery you were de- livered from, and estimate tiie greatness of the mercy, by the greatness of the i)uuishment which you had deserved. — Misery as well as sin must tell us the greatness of our mercies. This is before opened, chap. i. direct, ix. Direct. V. Suppose you saw the damned souls, or suppose you had been one day in hell yourselves, bethink you then how thankful you would have been for Christ and mercy. — And you were condemned to it by the law of God, and if death had brought you to execution you had been there, and then mercy would have been more esteemed. If a preacher were sent to those miserable souls to offer them a pardon and eternal life on the terms as they are offered to us, do you think they would make as light of it as we do ? Direct. VI. Neglect not to keep clear the evidences of thy title to those especial mercies for which thou shouldst be most thankful : and hearken not to Satan when he would tempt thee to think that they are none of thine, that so he might make thee deny God the thanks for them which he expectcth. — Of this I have spoken in the directions for love. Direct. VII. Think much of those personal mer- cies which God hath showed thee from thy youth up until now, by which he hath manifested his care of thee, and particular kindness to thee. — Though the common mercies of God's servants be the great- est, which all other christians share in with each one ; yet ])ersonal favours peculiar to ourselves, arc apt much to affect us, as being near our appre- hension, and expressing a peculiar care and love of us. Therefore christians should mark God's deal- ings with them, and write down the great and nota- ble mercies of their lives (which are not unfit for others to know, if they should see it). Direct. VIII. Compare thy proportion of mercies with the rest of the people's in the world. And thou wilt find that it is not one of many thousands that hath thy proportion. — It is so small a part of the world that are christians, and of those so few that are orthodox, reformed christians, and of those so few that are seriously godly as devoted to God, and of those so few that fall not into some perplexi- ties, errors, scandals, or great afflictions and dis- tress, that those few that are in none of these ranks have cause of wondrous thankfulness to God ; yea, the most afflicted christians in the world. Suppose God had divided his mercies equally to all men in the world, as health, and wealth, and honour, and grace, and the gospel, &c. ; how little of them would have come to thy share in comparison of what thou now possesses! ! how many have less wealth or honour than thou ! how many thousands have less of gospel and of grace ! In reason therefore thy thank- fulness should be proportionable and extraordinary. Direct. IX. Compare the mercies which thou wantest, with those which thou possessest, and ob- serve how much thy receivings are greater than thy sufferings. — Thou hast many meals' plenty, for one day of scarcity or pinching hunger ; thou hast many days' health, for one day's sickness : and if one part be ill, there are more that are not; if one cross be- fall thee, thou escapest many more that might be- fall thee, and which thou descrvest. Direct. X. Bethink thee how thou wouldst value thy mercies, if thou wert deprived of them. — The want of them usually teacheth us most effectually to esteem them. Think how thou shouldst value Christ and hope, if thou wert in despair ! and how thou woulst value the mercies of earth, if thou wert in hell ! and the mercies of England, if thou wert among bloody inquisitors and persecutors, and wicked, Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 145 cruel heathens or Mahometans, or brutish, savage Americans ! Think how good sleep would seem to thee, if thou couldst not sleep for pains ! or how good thy meat, or drink, or clothes, or house, or maintenance, or friends, would all seem to thee, if they were taken from thee ! and how great a mercy health would seem, if thou wert imder some torment- ing sickness ! and what a mercy time would seem, if death were at hand, and time were ending ! and what a mercy thy least sincere desires, or measure of grace, is, in comparison of their case that are the haters, despisers, and persecutors of holiness ! These thoughts, if followed home, may shame thee into thankfulness. Direct. XI. Let heaven be ever in thine eye, and still think of the endless joy which thou shalt have with Christ. — For that is the mercy of all mercies ; and he that hath not that in hope to be thankful for, will never be thankful aright for any thing ; and he that hath heaven in promise to be thankful for, hath still reason for the highest, joyful thanks, whatever worldly thing he want, or though he were sure never more to have comfort in any creature upon earth. He is unthankful indeed, that will not be thankful for heaven ; but that is a mercy which will constrain to thankfulness, so far as our title is discerned. The more believing and heavenly the mind is, the more thankful. Direct. XII. Look on earthly and present mercies in connexion with heaven which is their end, and as sweetened by our interest in God that giveth them. — You leave out all the life and sweetness, which must cause your thankfulness, if you leave out God and overlook him. A dead carcass hath not the loveliness or usefulness as a living man. You mortify your mercies, when you separate them from God and heaven, and then their beauty, and sweetness, and excellency are gone ; and how can you be thankful for the husks and shells, when you foolishly neglect the kernel ? Take every bit as from thy Father's hands : remember that he feedeth, and clotheth, and protecteth thee, as his child : it is to " Our Father which is in heaven," that we must [(o every day for our " daily bread." Taste his love in it, and fhou wilt say that it is sweet. Remember whither all his mercies tend, and where they will leave thee, even in the bosom of Eternal love. Think with thyself, how good is this with the love of God ! this and heaven are full enough for me. Coarse fare, and coarse clothing, and coarse usage in the world, and hard labour, and a poor habitation, with heaven after all, is mercy beyond all human estimation or conceiving. Nothing can be little, which is a token of the love of God, and leadcth to eternal glory. The relation to heaven is the life and glory of every mercy. Direct. XIII. Think oft how great a mercy it is, that thankfulness for mercy is made so great a part of thy duty. — Is it not the sweetest employment in the world to be always thinking on so sweet a thing as the mercies of God, and to be mentioning them with glad and thankful hearts ? Is not this a sweeter kind of work than to be abusing mercy, and casting it awny upon fleshly lusts, and sinning it away, and turning it against us ? Yea, is it not a sweeter work than to be groaning under sin and misery ? If God had as much fixed your thoughts upon saddening, heart-breaking objects, as he hath (by his commands) upon reviving and delighting objects, you might have thought religion a melancholy life. But when sorrow is required but as prepar;itory to delight, and cheer- ful thanksgiving is made the life and sum of your religion, who but a monster will think it grievous to live in thankfulness to our great Benefactor? To VOL. I. L think thus of the sweehiess of it will do much to incline us to it, and make it easy to us. Direct. XIV. Make conscience ordinarily of allow- ing God's mercies as great a room in thy thoughts and prayers, as thou allowest to thy sins, and wants, and troubles. — In a day of humiliation, or after some notable fall into sin, or in some special cases of distress, I confess sin and danger may have the greater share. But, ordinarily, mercy should take up more time in our remembrance and confession than our sins. Let the reasons of it first convince you, that this is your duty ; and, when you are con- vinced, hold yourselves to the performance of it. If you cannot be so thankful as you desire, yet spend as much time in the confessing of God's mercy to you, as in confessing your sins and men- tioning your wants. Thanksgiving is an effectual petitioning for more : it showeth that the soul is not drowned in selfishness, but would carry the fruit of all his mercies back to God. If you cannot think on mercy so thankfully as you would, yet see that it have a due proportion of your thoughts. This course (of allowing mercy its due time in our thoughts and prayers) would work the soul to greater thankfulness by degrees. Whereas, on the contrary, when men accustom themselves to have ten words or twenty of confession and petition for one of thanksgiving, and ten thoughts of sins, and wants, and troubles, for one of mercies, this starveth thank- fulness and turneth it out of doors. You can com- mand your words and thoughts if you will ; resolve, therefore, on this duty. Direct. XV. Take heed of a proud, a covetous, a fleshly, or a discontented mind ; for all these are enemies to thankfulness. — A proud heart thinks itself the worthiest for more, and thinks diminutively of all. A covetous heart is still gaping after more, and never returning the fruit of what it hath re- ceived. A fleshly mind is an insatiable gulf of corporal mercies ; like a greedy dog that is gaping for another bone when he hath devoured one, and sacrificeth all to his belly, which is his god, Phil, iii. 18. A disctmtented mind is always murmuring and never pleased, but findeth something still to quarrel at ; and taketh more notice of the denying of its unjust desires, than of the giving of many undeserved mercies. Thankfulness prospereth not, where these vices prosper. Direct. XVI. Avoid as much as may be a melan- choly and over-fearful temper; for that will not suffer you to see or taste your greatest mercies, nor to be glad or thankful for any thing you have, but is still representing all things to you in a terrible or lamentable shape. — The grace of thankfulness may he habitually in a timorous, melancholy mind ; and that appeareth in their valuation of the mercy. How glad and thankful would they be, if they were as- sured that the love of God is towards them ! But it is next to impossible for them, ordinarily, to exercise thankfulness, because they cannot believe any thing of thi mselves that is good and comfortable. It is as natural for them to be still fearing, and despairing, and complaining, and troubling themselves, as for froward children to be crying, or sick men to groan. Befriend not therefore this miserable disease, but resist it by all due remedies. Direct. XVU. Take heed of unthankful doctrines, which teach you to deny or undervalue mercy. — Such is, 1. The doctrines of the Pelagians, (whom Prosper calleth the Ungrateful,) that denied faith and special grace to be any special gift of God ; and that teach you, that Peter is no more beholden to God than Judas, for his differencing g^ace. 2. The doctrine which dcnieth general grace, (which is presupposed 146 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I, unto spofial,) and tolls the world, tliat C'lirist died only for tlu- elect, and that all the nierey of the yospol is eontined to them alone ; and teaeheth all men to deny (iod any thanks Cor Christ or any gospel nierey, till they know that they are ek-et and justi- fied ; and would teaeh the w icked, (on earth and in hell,) that they ought not to accuse themselves for sinning against any gospel mercy, or for rejecting a Christ that died for them. 3. All doctrine which makes God the physical, efHcient predeterminer of every act of the creature considered in all its cir- enmstances ; and so tells you, that saving grace is no more, nor any otherwise caused, of (iod, than sin and every natural act is ; and our thanks that we owe him for keephig us from sin is but for not irresistible prenioving us to it. Such doctrines cut the veins of thankfulness ; and being not doctrines according to godliness, the life of grace and spiritual sense of believers are against them. Direct. XVllI. Put not God off with verbal thanks, but give him thyself and all thou hast. — Thankfulness causeth the soul to inijuire, " What shall 1 render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me ? " Psal. cxvi. 12. And it is no less than thyself and all thou hast that thou must render ; that is, thou must give God not only thy tithes, and the sacrifice of Cain, but thyself to be entirely his ser- vant, and all that thou hast to be at his command, and used in the order that he would have thee use it. A thankful soul devoteth itself to God ; this is the " living, acceptable sacrifice, " Rom. xii. 1. It studieth how to do him service, and how to do good with all his mercies. Thankfulness is a power- ful spring of obedience, and makes men long to be fruitful and profitable, and glad of opportunities to be serviceable to God. Thus law and gospel, obedience and gratitude, concur. A thankful obedience and an obedient thankfulness arc a christian's life. " Offer unto God thanksgiving ; and pay thy vows to the Most High : and call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me ; and to him that ordereth his conversation aright, I will show the salvation of God," Psal. 1. 14, 15, 23. 1 beseech thee now that readest these lines, be so true to God, be so ingenuous, be so much a friend to the comfort of thy soul, and so much love a life of pleasure, as to set thyself for the time to come to a more conscionable performance of this noble work ; and steep thy thoughts in the abundant mercies of thy God, and express them more in all thy speech to God and man. Say as David, " O Lord, truly I am thy servant ; thou hast loosed my bonds. I will ofl'er to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord," Psal. cxvi. 16,' 17- " I will extol thee, () Lord, for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave ; thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remem- brance of his holiness. Thou hast put off my sack- cloth and girded me with gladness ; to the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. () Lord my (Jod, I will give thanks to thee for ever," Psal. xxx. I — 4, 1 1, 12. "1 will praise the name of God with a song, and magnify him with thanksgiv- ing. This also shall please the Lord better than an ox," Psal. Ixix. 30, 31. " It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, () Most High ; to show forth thy loving-kind- " Heb. i. 3; Acts vii. bh; Rom. iii. 23; Rev. xxi. 11, 23; ness in the moming, and thy faithfulness every night," Psal. xcii. 1, 2. " At midnight will I rise to give thanks unto thee, because of thy righteous judg- ments," Psal. cxix. 62. " Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name ; the upright shall dwell in thy presence," Psal. cxl. 13. Remember that you are conmianded " in every thing to give thanks," 1 Thess. V. 18. W^ien God is scant in mercy to thee, then be thou scant in thankfulness to him ; and not when the devil, and a forgetful, or unbeliev- ing, or discontented heart, would hide his greatest mercies from thee. It is just with God to give up that person to sadness of heart, and to uncomfortable, self-tormenting melancholy, that will not be per- suaded by the greatness and multitude of mercies, to be frequent in the sweet returns of thanks. Grand Direct. XV. Let thy very j^^.^. heart be set to glorify God, thy Cre- "K^fy <> • ator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier ; both with the esti- mation of thy mind, the praises of thy mouth, and the holiness of thy life. The glorifying of (iod, being the end of man and the whole creation, must be the highest duty of our lives ; and therefore deserveth our distinct considei"- ation. " W^hether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God," I Cor. x. 31. " That God in all things might be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen," I Pet. iv. II. I shall therefore first show you what it is to glorify God, and then give directions how to do it. To glorify God is not to add to his essential per- fections, or felicity, or real glory The glory of God is a word that is taken in these various senses : 1. Sometimes it signifieththe essential, transcendent excellencies of God in himself considered ; so Rom. vi. 4 ; Psal. xix. 2. 2. Sometimes it signifieth that glory which the angels and saints behold in heaven : what this is, a soul in flesh cannot formally conceive or comprehend. It seemeth not to be the essence of God, because that is every where, and so is not that glory ; or if any think that his essence is that glory, and is every where alike, and that the creature's ca- pacity is all the difl!"erence betwixt heaven and earth, he seems confuted in that the glory of heaven will be seen by the glorified body itself, which it is thought cannot see the essence of God. Whether, then, that glory be the essence of God, or any imme- diate emanation from his excellency, as the beams and light that are sent forth by the sun, or a created glory for the felicity of his servants, we shall know when with the blessed we enjoy it. 3. Sometimes it is taken for the appearance of God's perfections in his creatures, either natural or free agents, as discerned by man, and for his honour in the esteem of man. John xi. 4, 40 ; I Cor. xi. 7 ; 2 Cor. iv. 15 ; Phil, i. 1 1 ; ii. 1 1 ; Isa. xxxv. 2 ; xl. 5, &c. And so to glorify God is, 1. Objectively, to represent his excel- lencies or glory ; 2. Mentally, to conceive of them ; 3. and Verbally, to declare them. I shall therefore distinctly direct you, 1. How to glorify God in your minds. 2. By your tongues. 3. By your lives. Directions for glorifying God with the Heart. Direct. I. Abhor all blasphemous representations and thoughts of God, and think not of him lamely, unequally, or diminutively, nor as under any corpo- real shape ; nor think not to comprehend him, but reverently admire him. — Conceive of him as incom- prehensible and infinite : and if Satan would tempt thee to think meanly of any thing in God, or to think Jude21; 1 Pet. iv. 13; 2 Cor. iii. 18. Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 147 highly of one of his perfections, and meanly of an- other, abhor such temptations ; and think of his power, knowledge, and goodness, equally as the in- finite perfections of Goi.'^ Direct. II. Behold his glory in the glory of his works of nature and of grace, and see him in all as the soul, the glory, the all of the whole creation. — What a power is that which made and preserveth all the world ! What a wisdom is that which set in joint the universal frame of heaven and earth, and keepeth all things in their order ! How good is he that made all good, and gave the creatures all their goodness, both natural and spiritual, by creation and renewing grace ! Thus " the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handy work," Psal. xix. 1. "His glory covereth the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise," Hab. iii. 3. " The voice of the Lord is upon the waters ; the God of glory thundereth," Psal. xxix. 3 ; cxlv. Direct. III. Behold him in the person, miracles, resvurection, dominion, and glory of his blessed Son : — " who is the brightness of his glory, and the ex- press image of his person ; upholding all things by the word of his power, and having by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, being made better than the angels," Heb. i. 3, 4. "By him" it is that " glory is given to God in the church," Eph. iii. 21. "God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name : that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth ; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father," Phil. ii. 9—11. " Pray," there- fore, that the " God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the acknowledgment of him : the eyfes of your understanding being enhghtened ; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the work- ing of his mighty ])ower, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his right hand in the celestials, far above all princi- pality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come ; and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be Head over all things to his church," Eph. i. 17, &:c. "The Father hath glorified his name in his Son," John xii. 28; xiii. 31, 32; xiv. 13; xvii. 1. Direct. IV. Behold God as the end of the whole creation, and intend him as the end of all the actions of thy life. — You honour him not as God, if you pnic- tically esteem him not as your ultimate end ; even the pleasing of his will, and the honouring him in the world. If any thing else be made your ehiefest end, you honour it before him, and make a god of it. Direct. V. Answer all his blessed attributes with suitable affections, (as I have directed in my "Trea- tise of the Knowledge of God," and here briefly direct, iv.) and his relations to us with the duty whicli they command, (subjection, love, &c.) as I have ojtened in the foregoing directions. We glo- rify him in our hearts, when the image of his attri- butes is there received. Direct. VI. Behold him by faith as always pre- sent with you. — And then every attribute will the more affect you, and you will not admit dishonour- able thoughts of him. Pray to him as if you saw him, and you will speak to him with reverence. "" Lege Gassendi Oration, inaugural, in Institut. Astronom. L 2 Speak of him as if you saw him, and you dare not take his name in vain, nor talk of God with a com- mon frame of mind, nor in a common manner, as of common things. " By faith Moses forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king ; for he endured as seeing him that is invisible," Heb. xi. 27. God is contemned by them that think they are behind his back. Direct. VII. Think of him as in heaven where he is revealed in glory to the blessed, and magnified by their high, everlasting praise. — Nothing so much helpeth us to glorify God in our minds, as by faith to behold him where he is most glorious. The very reading over the description of the glory of the New Jerusalem, Rev. xxi. and xxii. will much affect a believing mind with a sense of the gloriousness of God. Suppose, with Stephen, we saw heaven open- ed, and the Ancient of days, the great Jehovah, glo- riously illustrating the city of God, and Jesus in glory at his right hand, and the innumerable army of glorified spirits before iiis throne, praising and magnifying him with the highest admirations, and joyfullest acclamations, that creatures are capable of; would it not raise us to some of the same admi- rations ? The soul that by faith is much above, doth most glorify God, as being nearest to his glory. Direct. VIII. Foresee by faith the coming of Christ, and the day of the universal judgment, when Christ shall come in flaming fire with thousands of his holy angels, to be glorified in his saints, and ad- mired in all them that do believe, 2 Thess. i. 10. Direct. IX. Abhor all doctrines, which blaspheme or dishonour the name of God, and would blemish and hide the glory of his majesty. — I give you this rule for your own preservation, and not in imitation of uncharitable firebrands and dividers of the church, to exercise your pride and imperious humour, in condemning all men, to whose opinions you can ma- liciously affix a blasphemous consequence, which either followeth but in your own imagination, or is not acknowledged, but hated, by those on whom you do affix it. Let it suffice you to detest false doc- trines, without detesting the persons that you ima- gine guilty of them, who profess to believe the con- trary truth as stedfastly as you yourselves. Direct. X. Take heed of sinking into flesh and earth, and being diverted by things sensible from tlie daily contemplation of the glory of God. — If your belly become your god, and you mind earthly things, and are set upon the honours, or profits, or ])leasures of the world, when your conversation should be in heaven, you will be glorying in your shame, when you should be admiring the glory of your Maker, Phil. iii. 18 — 20; and you will have so much to do on earth, that you will find no leisure (because you have no hearts) to look up seriously to God. Directions far glorifying God with our Tongues in his Praises. Direct. I. Conceive of this duty of praising God according to its super- """.sreat a duty f 4- 11 • 1 ■ T_' i_ praisinir God IS. Jative excellencies, as being the high- est service that the tongue of men or angels can perform. To bless, or praise, or magnify God, is not to make him greater, or better, or happier than he is ; but to declare and extol his greatness, good- ness, and felicity. And that your hearts may be in- flamed to this excellent work, I will here show you how great and necessary, how high and acceptable a work it is. \. It is the giving to God his ehiefest due.'' A speaking of him as he is ; and when we have spoken Christianus est homo diccns et faoiens ingrata diabolo; et ornans gloriam Dei, autoris vitse et satis suae, liucholtzer. 14S CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part f. the hiijhi'st, how far fall wo short of the due ex- pression of his glorious iicrfeetioiis ! Oh how great praise ilotli tiiat ahniglitiiiess deserve, whieh ere- ated and conservelh all the world, and overruleth all the sons of n>en, and is able to do whatsoever he will! "Great is tlie Lord, and greatly to be praised ; and his greatness is unsearehable. One generation shall [jraise his works to another and de- clare his mighty acts : I will speak of the glorious honour of thy Majesty, and of thy wondrous works; and men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts, and 1 will deelare thy greatness," I'sal. exlv. 3 — 5. What jiraise doth that knowledge destrve which ex- feiuletli to all things that are, or were, or ever shall be I and that wisdom whieh ordcrcth all the world ! lie knoweth every thought of man, and all the secrets of the heart, Psal. xliv. 21; xciv. 11. "Known unto God are all his works, from the beginning of the world," Acts xv. 18. "His understanding is infinite," Psal. cxlvii. 5. What praise doth that goodness and mercy deserve, which is diffused throughout all the world, and is the life, and hope, and happiness of men and angels ! " His mercy is great unto the heavens, and his truth unto the clouds," Psal. Ivii. 10. " Oh how great is his good- ness to them that fear him ! " Psal. xxxi. 19 ; and therefore how great should be his praise ! " Who can utter_the mighty acts of the Lord, and who can .show forth all his praise ?" Psal. cvi. 2. " For great is the glory of the Lord," Psal. cxxxviii. 5. 2. It is the end of all God's wondrous works, and especially the end which man was made for, that all things might praise him objectively, and men (and angels) in estimation and expression. That his glorious excellency might be visible in his works, and be admired and extolled by the rational crea- ture : for this all things were created and are con- tinued : for this we have our tmderstanding and our speech : this is the fruit that God cxpectcth from all his works. Deny him this, and you are guilty of frustrating the whole creation, as much as in you lieth. You would have the sun to shine in vain, and the heavens and earth to stand in vain, and man and all things to live in vain, if you would not have God have the praise and glory of his works. There- fore, sun, and moon, and stars, and firmament, are called on to praise the Lord, Psal. cxlviii. 2 — 4, as they are the matter for which he must by us be praised. " 0 praise him therefore for his mighty acts : praise him according to his excellent great- ness," Psal. cl. 2. "Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and declare his wondrous w orks for the children of men," Psal. cvii. 8, &e. Yea, it is the end of Christ in the redemption of the world, and in saving his elect, that God might, in the church, in earth and heaven, have the "praise and glory of his grace," Eph. 1. (i, 12, 14. "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name," Heb. xiii. 15. "And let the redeemed of the Lord say, that his mercy endureth for ever," Psal. cvii. 2. For this, all his saints "are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that they should show forth the praises of him that hath called them out of darkness into his marvellous light," 1 Pet. ii. 5,9. 3. The praise of God is the highest and noblest work in itself. (1.) It hath the highest object, even the glorious excellencies of God. Thanksgiving is somewhat lower, as having more respect to ourselves and the benefits received ; but praise is terminated directly on the perfections of God himself. (2.) It is the work that is most immediately nearest on God, as he is our end: and as the end, as such, is better than all the means set together, as such, so are the final duties about the end greater than all the immediate duties. (3.) It is the work of the most excellent creatures of (jod, the holy angels : they proclaimed the coming of Christ, by way of praise, Luke ii. 13, 14, "(ilory to God in the high- est, on earth peace, good will towards men : " see Psal. ciii. 20; cxlviii. 2. And as we must be equal to the angels, it must be in equal praising God, or else it will not be in eiiuality of glory. (4.) It is the work of heaven, the place and state of all perfection ; and that is best and highest which is nearest heaven ; where " they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. — Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created," Rev. iv. 8, 10. Chap. xix. 5, " A voice came out of the throne, saying. Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great." Ver. (!, 7, " And I heard as it w^ere the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thundcrings, saying, Alleluiah : for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour unto him : for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." 4. It beseemeth us, and much concerneth us, to learn and exercise that work, which in heaven we must do for ever ; and that is, to love and joyfully praise the Lord : for earth is but the place of our apprenticeship for heaven. The preparing w'orks of mortifying repentance must in their place be done ; but only as subservient to these which we must ever do: when we shall sing the "new song" before the Lamb, " Thou art worthy ; — for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made us kings and priests unto our God," Rev. V. 9, 10. Therefore the primitive church of believers is described as most like to heaven ; Luke xxiv. .53, " W' ith great joy they were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God." " 0 praise the Lord therefore in the congregation of the saints : let Israel rejoice in him that made him : let the children of Zionbe joyful in their King," Psal. cxlix. I, 2. " Let the saints be joyful in glory : let the high praises of God be in their mouths," ver. 5, 6. 5. Though we are yet diseased sinners, and in our warfare, among enemies, dangers, and perplexities, yet praise is seasonable and suitable to our condition here, as the greatest part of our duty, whieh all the rest must but promote. Pretend not that it is not fit for you because you are sinners, and that humiliation only is suitable to your state. For the design of your redemption, the tenor of the gospel, and your own condition, engage you to it. Are they not en- gaged to praise the Lord, that are brought so near him to that end ? 1 Pet. ii. 5, 9; — that are reconciled to him ? — to whom he hath given and forgiven so much ? 1 Tim. i. 15 ; Tit. iii. 3, 5 ; Psal. ciii. 1—3;— that have so many great and precious promises ? 2 Pet. i. 4; — that are the temples of the Holy Ghost, who dwelleth in them, and sanctifieth them to God? — that have a Christ interceding for them in the highest ? Rom. viii. 33, 34 ; — that are always safe in the arms of Christ; that are guarded by angels; and devils and enemies forbidden to touch them, further than their Father seeth necessary for their good? — that have the Lord for their God? Psal. xxxiii. 12; iv. 8; — that have his saints for their companions and helpers ? — that have so many ordi- nances to help their souls ; and so many creatures and comforts for their bodies ? — that live continually Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 149 upon the plenty of his love ? — that have received so much, and are still receiving ? Should we not bless him every day with praise, that blesseth us every day with benefits ? Should we not praise the bridge that we go over ? — the friend that we have tried so oft ? And resolve, as Psal. cxlv. " Every day will I bless thee : I will praise thy name for ever and ever." Psal. Ixiii. 3, 4, " Because thy loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee : thus will I bless thee while I live : I will lift up my hands in thy name." Are they not bound to praise him on earth, that must reign with Christ for ever in heaven ? Rom. viii. 17, .33 ; Rev. i. 5, 6 ; Col. i. 12 ; I Pet. i. 4. 6. The ])raises of God do exercise our highest graces : praise is the very breath of love, and joy, and gratitude : it tendeth to raise us above ourselves, and make our hearts to burn within us, while the glorious name of God is magnified : it hath the most pure, and spiritual, and elevating effect upon the soul ; and therefore tendeth most effectually to make us more holy, by the increase of these graces. 7. To be much employed in the praise of God, doth tend exceedingly to the vanquishing all hurtful doubts, and fears, and sorrows. Joy and praise pro- mote each other. And this it doth, (I.) By keeping the soul near to God, and within the warmth of his love and goodness, Psal. cxl. 13. (2.) By the exer- cise of love and joy, which are the cordial, revi\ing, strengthening graces, Psal. xeiv. 19; cxvi. I. (3.) By dissipating distrustful, vexing thoughts, and di- verting the mind to sweeter things, Psal. civ. 34. (4.) By keeping off the tempter, who usually is least able to follow us with his molestations, when we are highest in the praises of our God. (5.) By bringing lint the evidences of our sincerity into the light, while the chiefest graces are in exercise, 2 Cor. iii. 18. (6.) And by way of reward from God, that loveth the praises of his meanest servants. And here I would commend this experiment, to uncomfortable, troubled souls, that have not found comfort by long searching after evidences in themselves. Exercise yourselves much in the praises of God : this is a duty that you have no pretence against. Against thanksgiving for his grace, you pretend that you know not that you have received his grace ; but to praise him in the excellency of his perfections, his power, and wisdom, and goodness, and mercy, and truth, is the duty of all men in the world. While you are doing this, you will feel your graces stir, and feel that comfort from the face of God, which you are not like to meet with in any other way whatso- i ver. Evidences are exceeding useful to our ordinary stated peace and comfort ; but it is oft long before we confidently discern them : and they are oft dis- cerned when yet the soul is not excited to much sense of comfort and delight : and we quickly lose the sight of evidences, if we be not very wise and cartful. But a life of praise bringeth comfort to the soul, as standing in the sunshine i)ringeth light and warmth : or as labouring doth warm the body : or as the sight and converse of our dearest friend, or the liearing of glad tidings, doth rejoice the heart, with- out any great reasoning or arguing the case. This is the way to have comfort by feeling, to be much in the hearty praises of the Lord. When we come to h'-aven we shall have our joy, by immediate vision, and the delightful exercise of love and i-raise. And if you would taste the heavenly joys on earth, you must imitate them in heaven as near as possibly you can ; and this is your work of nearest imitation. H. To live a life of praising God, will make reli- gion sweet and easy to us, and take off the weari- someness of it, and make the word of God a plea- sure to us. Whereas they that set themselves only to the works of humiliation, and leave out these soul- delighting exercises, do cast themselves into exceed- ing danger, by making relifjion seem to them a griev- ous and undesiraljle life. This makes men backward to every duty, and do it heartlessly, and easily yield to temptations of omission and neglect, if not at last fall off through weariness : whereas the soul that is daily employed in the high and holy praises of his God, is still drawn on by encouraging experience, and doth all with a willing, ready mind. 9. No duty is more pleasing to God, than the cheerful praises of his servants. He loveth your prayers, tears, and groans ; but your praises much more : and that which pleaseth God most, must be most pleasing to his servants ; for to please him is their end : this is the end of all their labour, that " whether present or absent, they may be accepted of him ," 2 Cor. v. 9. So that it is a final enjoying, and therefore a delighting duty. 10. To be much employed in the praises of God, will acquaint the world with the nature of true reli- gion, and remove their prejudice, and confute their dishonourable thoughts and accusations of it, and re- cover the honour of Christ, and his holy ways, and servants. Many are averse to a holy life, because they think that it consisteth but of melancholy fears or scrupulosity : but who dare open his mouth against the joyful praises of his Maker ? I have heard and read of several enemies and murderers, that have broke in upon christians with an intent to kill them, or carry them away, that finding them on their knees in prayer, and reverencing the work so much as to stay and hear them till they had done, have reverenced the persons also, and departed, and durst not touch the heavenly worshippers of God. This life of praise is a continual pleasure to the soul ; clean contrary to a melancholy life. It is recreating to the spirits, and healthful to the body, which is consumed by cares, and fears, and sorrows. It is the way that yieldeth that " mirth which doth good like a medicine, and is a continual feast," Prov. xvii. 22 ; XV. 15. Therefore saith the apostle, " Is any merry, let him sing psalms," James v. 13. He cannot bet- ter exercise mirth, than in singing praises to his God. This keeps the soul continually on the wing, desir- ing still to be nearer God, that it may have more of these delights : and so it overcomes the sense of per- secutions and afllictions, and the fears of death, and is a most excellent cordial and companion in the greatest sufferings. Was it not an excellent hear- ing, to have been a witness of the joy of Paul and Silas, when in the prison and stocks, with their backs sore with scourges, they sang at midnight the praises of the Lord ? Acts xvi. 2.5 ; so that all tlie doors were opened, and all the ])risoners' bonds were loosed, that had been their auditors ; so great was God's acceptance of their work. Oh that we would do that honour and right to true religion, as to show the world the nature and use of it, by living in the cheer- ful praises of our (iod, and did not teach them to blaspheme it, by our misdoings! I have said the more of the excellency and benefits of this work, because it is one of your best helps to perform it, to know the reasons of it, and how much of your religion, and duty, and comfort consisteth in it : ami the foryctting of this, is the common cause tliat it is so boldly and ordinarily neglected, or slub- bered over as it is. Dirrrt. II. Tlie keeping of the heart in the admira- tion and glorifying of God. according to the foregoing directions, is the principal helj) to the right praising of him with our ]\\is. — For out of the heart's al)iuid- ance the mouth will speak : and if the heart do not bear its part, no praise is melodious to God. 150 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. Direct. 111. Road niucli those Si-vipfnies which sjioak of tho jiraises of (iod: cspcc-ially the I'sahns : and fiirnisli your inomorii-.s witli sk)i-i' of those holy expressions of tin- exeeUciu-ies of (iod. which he himself hath taiiiiht you in his word. — None know- eth the thinjifs of' (iod, but the Spirit of (iod; wlio teacheth us in the Scripture to speak divinely of thinirs divine. No other dialect so well becometh the work of j^raise. God, that best knoweth liini- self, dotii best teach us how to know and praise him. Every christian should have a treasury of these sacred materials in his memory, that he may be able at all times, in conf rence and in worship, to speiik of God in the words of (iod. Direct. IV. Be mu{'h in singing- psalms of praise, and that with the most heart-raising cheerfulness and melody ; especially in the holy assemblies. — The melody and the conjunction of many serious, holy souls, doth tend much to elevate the heart. And where it is done intelligibly, reverently, in con- junction with a rational, spiritual, serious worship, the use of musical instruments are not to be scrupled or refused ; any more than the tunes or melody of the voice. Direct. V. Remember to allow the praises of God their due proportion in all your prayers. — Use not to shut it out, or forget it, or cut it short with two or three words in the conclusion. The Lord's prayer begins and ends with it : and the three first petitions are for the glorifying the name of God, and the coming of his kingdom, and the doing of his will, by which he is glorified : and all tliis before we ask any thing directly for ourselves. Use will much help you in the praise of God. Direct. VI. Especially let the Lord's day be prin- cipally spent in praises and thanksgivings for the work of our redemption, and the benefits thereof. — This day is separated by God himself to this holy ■work ; and if you spend it (ordinarily) in other re- ligious duties, that subserve not this, you spend it not as God requireth you. The thankfid and praise- ful commemoration of the work of man's redemption, is the special work of the day : and the celebrating of the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, (which is therefore called the Eucharist,) was part of these laudatory exercises, and used every Lord's day by the primitive church. It is not only a holy day, separated to God's worship in general ; but to this eucharistical worship in special above the rest, as a day of praises and thanksgiving imto God : and thus all christians (ordinarily) should use it. Direct. VII. Let your holy conference with others be much about the glorious excellencies, works, and mercies of the Lord, in way of praise and admira- tion.— This is indeed to speak to edification, and as the "oracles of God," Eph. iv. 29; "that God in all things may be glorified," I Pet. iv. 11. Psal. xxix. 9, " In his temple doth every one speak of his glory." Psal. xxxv. 28, " My tongue shall speak of thy righteousness, and of thy praises all the day long." Psal. cxlv. 6, 11, 21, "And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts. — They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power : to make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. — My mouth shall speak of the j)raises of the Lord ; and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever." Psal. cv. 2, 3, "Talk ye of all his wondrous works: glory ye in his holy name." Direct. Vlll. Speak not of God in a light, unreve- rent, or common sort, as if you talked of common things ; but with all possible seriousness, gravity, and reverence, as if you saw the majesty of the Lord. — A common and a holy manner of speech are con- trary. That only is holy which is sei)arated to God from common use. You speak jjrofauely, (in the maimer, how holy soever the matter be,) when you speak of (iod with that careless levity, as you use to sjieak of connnon things. Such speaking of God is dishonourable to him, and hurts the hearers more than sile nce, by breeding in them a contempt of (iod, and teaching them to imitate you in slight conceits and speech of the Almighty : whereas, one that speaketh reverently of (iod, as in his pre- sence, doth ofttimes more affect the hearers with a rcvert'uce of his Majesty, with a few words, than unrevereut preachers with the most accurate ser- mons, delivered in a common or aff'ected strain. Whenever you speak of God, let the hearers per- ceive that your hearts are possessed with his fear and love, and that you jiut more difference between (iod and man, than between a king and the smallest worm : so when you talk of deam or judgment, of heaven or hell, of holiness or sin, or any thing that nearly relates to God, do it with that gravity and seriousness as the matter doth require. Direct. IX. Speak not so unskilfully and foolish- ly of God, or holy things, as may tempt the hear- ers to turn it into a matter of scorn or laughter. — Especially understand how your parts are suited to the company that you are in. Among those that are more ignorant, some weak discourses may be tolerable and profitable ; for they are most affected with that which is delivered in their own dialect and mode : but among judicious or captious hear- ers, unskilful persons must be very sparing of their words, lest they do hurt while they desire to do good, and make religion seem ridiculous. We may rejoice in the scorns which we undergo for Christ, and which are bent against his holy laws, or the substance of our duty : but if men are jeered for speaking ridiculously and foolishly of holy things, they have little reason to take comfort in any thing of that, but their honest meanings and intents ; nay, they must be humbled for being a dishonour to the name of godliness. But the misery is, that few of the ignorant and weak have knowledge and hu- mility enough to perceive their ignorance and weak- ness, but they think they speak as wisely as the best, and are offended if their v/ords be not rever- enced accordingly. As a minister should study and labour for a skill and ability to preach, because it is his work ; so every christian should study for skill to discourse with wisdom and meet expres- sions about holy things, because this is his work. And as unfit expressions and behaviour in a minis- ter do cause contempt instead of edifying, so do they in discourse. Direct. X. Whenever God's holy name or word is blasphemed, or used in levity or jest, or a holy life is made a scorn, or God is notoriously abused or dishonoured, be ready to reprove it with gravity where you can ; and where you cannot, at least let your detestation of it be conveniently manifested. — Among those to whom you may freely speak, lay open the greatness of their sin. Or, if you are un- able for long or accurate discourse, at least tell them who hath said, " Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain : for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." And where your speech is unmeet, (as to some superiors,) or is like to do more harm than good, let your de- parting the room, or your looks, or rather your tears, show your dislike.'^ - Of prayer I have spoken afterward. Tom. 2, &c. Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 151 Directions for the glorifying God in our Lives. Direct. I. Our lives then glorify God, when they are such as his excellencies most appear in : and that is, when they are most divine or holy ; when they are so managed, that the world may see, that it is God that we have chiefly respect unto, and that HOLINESS TO THE LORD is written upon all our faculties and affairs. — So much of GOD as ap- peareth in our lives, so much they are truly venerable, and advanced above the rank of fleshly, worldly lives.f God only is the real glory of every person, and every thing, and every word or action of our lives. And the natural conscience of the world, which, in despite of their atheism, is forced to confess and reverence a Deity, will be forced (even when they are hated and persecuted) to reverence the appearance of God in his holy ones. Let it appear therefore, 1. That God's authority' commandeth you, above all the powers of the earth, and against all the power of fleshly lusts. 2. That it is the glory and interest of God that you live for, and look after principally in the world and not your own carnal interest and glory : and that it is his work that you are doing, and not your own ; and his cause, and not your own, that you are engaged in.s 3. That it is his word and law that is your rule. 4. And the example of his Son that is your pattern. 5. And that your hearts and lives are moved and acted in the world, by motives fetched from the rewards which he hath promised, and the punishments which he hath threatened, in the world to come. 6. And that it is a supernatural, powerful principle, sent from God into your hearts, even the Holy Ghost, by which you are inclined and actuated in the tenor of your lives. 7- And that your daily converse is with God, and that men and other creatures are compara- tively nothing to you, but are made to stand by, while God is preferred, and honoured, and served by you ; and that all your business is with him, or for him in the world. Direct. II. The more of heaven appeareth in your lives, the more your lives do glorify God. — Worldly and carnal men are conscious, that their glory is a vanishing glory, and their pleasure but a transitory dream, and that all their honour and wealth will shortly leave them in the dust ; and therefore, they are forced, in despite of their sensuality, to bear some reverence to the life to come. And though they have not hearts themselves to deny the plea- sures and profits of the world, and to spend their days in preparing for eternity, and in laying up a treasure in heaven ; yet they are convinced, that those that do so, are the best and wisest men ; and they could wish that they might die the death of the righteous, and that their last end might be like his. As heaven exceedcth earth, even in the reve- rent acknowledgment of the world, though not in their practical esteem and choice ; so heavenly chris- tians have a reverent acknowledgment from them, (when malice doth not hide their heavenliness by slanders,) though they will not be sut.h themselves. Let it appear in your lives, that really you seek a higher happiness than this world aflV)rdeth, and that you verily look to live with Christ; and that as honour, and wealth, and j)leasin-e command the lives of the ungodly, so the hope of heaven eoiiimandeth yours. Lot it a])pear that this is your design and business in the world, and that your hearts and con- versations are above, and that whatever you do or ' Turpissimum est philosonho secus docere quam vivit. Paul StaliKor. p. T». « Nam ilia qua; de regno ccBloinim commemoranter a suffer, is for this, and not for any lower end ; and this is a life that God is glorified by. Direct. 111. It glorifieth God, by showing the excellency of faith, when we contemn the riches and honour of the world, and live above the world- ling's life ; accounting that a despicable thing, which he accounts his happiness, and loseth his soul for. — As men despise the toys of children, so a believer must take the transitory vanities of this world, for matters so inconsiderable, as not to be worthy his regard, save only as they are the matter of his duty to God, or as they relate to him, or the life to come. Saith Paul, 2 Cor. iv. 18, " We look not at the things which are seen," (they are not worth our observing or looking at,) "but at the things which are not seen : for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." The world is under a believer's feet, while his eye is fixed on the celestial world. He travelleth through it to his home, and he will be thankful if his way be fair, and if he have his daily bread : but it is not his home, nor doth he make any great matter, whether his usage in it be kind or unkind, or whether his inn be well adorned or not. He is almost indifferent whether, for so short a time, he be rich or poor, in a high or in a low condition, further than as it tendeth to his ^Master's service. Let men see that you have a higher birth than they, and higher hopes, and higher hearts, by setting light by that, which their hearts are set upon as their felicity. When seeming christians are as worldly and ambitious as others, and make as great a matter of their gain, and wealth, and honour, it showeth that they do but cover the base and sordid spirit of worldlings, with the visor of the christian name, to deceive themselves, and bring the faith of christians into scorn, and dishonour the holy name which they usurp. Direct. IV. It much honoureth God, when his servants can quietly and fearlessly trust in him, in the face of all the dangers and threatenings which devils or men can cast before them ; andean joyfully suffer pain or death, in obedience to his commands, and in confidence on his promise of everlasting hap- piness.— This showeth that we believe indeed that "there is a God," and that "he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him," Heb. xi. 6; and that he is true and just ; and that his promises are to be trusted on ; and that he is able to make them good, in despite of all the malice of his enemies; and that the threats or frowns of sinful worms are contempt- ible to him that fcareth God. Psal. Iviii. 11, "So that men shall say. Verily there is a reward for the righteous : verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth," and that at last will judge the world in right- eousness. Paul gloried in the Thissalonians, "for their faith and patience, in all their persecutions and ti'ibulations which they endured ; as a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that they niiglit be accounted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which they suffered. Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble us, and rest with his saints to those that are troubled," 2 Thess. i. 4 — 7- " If ye be rej)roached for the name of Christ, happy are ye ; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified," 1 Pet. iv. 14. " If any man suffer as a christian, let him not be ashamed ; but let him glorify God on this behalf," ver. 16. When confidence in God, and assurance of the great reward in heaven, Matt. v. nobis, deque pra;spntium rorum contemptu, vel non capiunf, vcl mm facile sibi persuadent cum sermo factis evertitur. Acusta, lib. iv. c. 18. p. 418. I. V2 CHRISTIAN II, 12, (lolh cans.' a bc'lievcr undauntedly to say as the tlin-o witni'ssi's, Dan. iii. "Wo arc not carJful, O kiuy, to answer tlu'o in this niatlrr : the (iod whom we serve is able to deliver us :" when by f'aitii we ean go through the trial of cruel nioekiugs and scourg- ings, of bonds and iuiiirisounient, to be destitute and afllicted, yea, and tortured, not aeeepting di liverance, (upon sinful terms,) thus God is glorified by believers. " Lift up your voices," O ye alllicted saints, " and sing, for the majesty of the Lord. Glorify ye the Lord in the fn-es, even the name of the Lord God of Israel in the isles of the sea," Isa. xxiv. 14, 15. Sing to his praise with Paul and Silas, though your feet be in the stocks. If God call for your lives, remem- ber that " you arc not your own, you are bought with a price ; therefore glorify God in your bodies and spirits which are his," 1 Cor. vi. "io. llejoiee in it, if you " bear in your bodies the marks of the Lord Jesus," Gal. vi. 17; and if you " always bear about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, tliat the life also of Jesus may be manifested in your bodies, 2 Cor. iv. 10. And " with all boldness," see that " Christ be magnified in your bodies, whether it be by life or death," Phil. i. 20. He dishonoureth and reproacheth Christ and faith, that thinks he is riot to be trusted even unto the death. Direct. V. It much honoureth God, when the hopes of everlasting joys do cause believers to live much more joyfully than the most prosperous world- lings.— Not with their kind of doting mirth, in vain sports and pleasures, and foolish talking, and un- comely jests ; but in that constant cheerfulness and gladness, which bescemeth the heirs of glory. Let it appear to the world, that indeed you hope to live with Christ, and to be equal with the angels. Do a dejected countenance, and a mournful, troubled, and complaining life, express such hopes ? or rather tell men that your hopes are small, and that God is a hard master, and his service grievous ? Do not thus dishonour him by your inordinate dejectedness ; do not aflfright and discourage sinners from the pleasant service of the Lord. Direct. VI. When christians live in a readiness to die, and can rejoice in the approach of death, and love and long for the day of judgment, when Christ shall justify them from the slanders of the world, and shall judge them to eternal joys : this is to the glory of God and our profession. — When death, which is the king of fears to others, appcareth as disarmed and conquered to believers ; when judgment, which is the terror of others, is their desire ; this showeth a triumphant faith, and that godliness is not in vain. It must be something above nature that can make a man " desire to depart and be with Christ, as best of all," and " to be absent from the body and present with the Lord," and to " comfort one another" with the mention of the glorious coming of their Lord, and the day when he shall judge the world in right- eousness, Phil. i. 21 ; 2 Cor. v. 8 ; 1 Thess. iv. 18 ; 2 Thess. i. 10. Direct. VII. The humility, and meekness, and pa- tience of christians, much honour God and their holy faith ; as pride, and passion, and impatience dishonour him. — Let men see that the Spirit of God doth cast down the devilish sin of pride, and maketh you like your Master, that humbled himself to as- sume our flesh, and to the " deatli of the cross," and to the contradiction and reproach of foolish sinnerw, and " made himself of no reputation," but " endured the shame " of being derided, spit upon, and cruci- fied, Phil. ii. 7 — 9 ; Heb. xii. 2; and stooped to wash the feet of his disciples. It is not stoutness, and Hft- ing up the head, and standing upon your terms, and upon your honour in the world, that is the honouring DIRECTORY. Part I. of God. When you arc as little children, and as nothing in your own eyes, and seek not the honour that is of mm, but say, " Not to us, () Lord, not to us, but to thy name be the glory," Psal. cxv. 1 ; and arv' content that your honour decrease and be trodden into the dirt, that his may increase, and his name be magnified ; this is the glorifying of God. So when you show' the world, that you are above the im])otent passions of men, not to be insensible, but to be " angry and sin not," and to " give place to wrath," and not to resist and " avenge yourselves," Rom. xii. 19 ; and to be " meek and lowly in heart," Matt. xi. 29. It w ill appear that you have the wis- dom which is " from above," if you be " first i)ure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreateil, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and hyj)o- crisy," James iii. 17. " But if you have bitter envy- ing and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth," as if this were the wisdom from above which glorifieth God ; for this " wisdom de- scendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, and devilish," ver. 14, 15. " A meek and c[uiet spirit is of great price in the sight of God," I Pet. iii. 4; an ornament commended to women by the Scripture, which is amiable in the eyes of all. Direct. VI II. It honoureth God and our profession, when you abound in love and good works ; loving the godly with a special love, but all men with so much love, as mi-ikes you earnestly desirous of their welfare, and to love your enemies, and put uj) wrongs, and to study to do good to all, and hurt to none. — To be abundant in love, is to be like to God, who is love itself, 1 John iv. 7, 1 1 ; and showeth that God dweU- cth in us, ver. 12. " All men may know that we are Christ's disciples, if we love one another," John xiii. 35. This is the " new " and the " great command- ment; the fulfilling of the law," Rom. xiii. 10 ; John XV. 12, 17; xiii. 34. You will be known to be the " children of your heavenly Father, if you love your enemies, and bless them that curse you, and pray for them that hate and persecute you, and despitefully use you," INIatt. v. 44. Do all the good that possibly you can, if you would be like him that doth good to the evil, and whose mercies are over all his works. Show the world that you " are his workmanship, created to good w'orks in Christ Jesus, which he hath ordained for you to walk in," Eph. ii. 10. " Herein is your Father glorified, that ye bring forth much fruit," John xv. 8. " Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven," Matt. v. IB. " Ho- nour God with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thy increase," Prov. iii. 9. " And those tliat honour him he will honour," 1 Sam. ii. 30 ; when barren, worldly hypocrites, that honour God only with their lips, and flattering words, shall be used as those that really dishonour him. Direct. IX. The unity, concord, and peace of chris- tians, do glorify God and their profession ; when the-ir divisions, contentions, and malicious persecu- tions of one another, do heinously dishonour him. — Men reverence that faith and practice which they see us unanimously accord in. And the same men will despise both it and us, when they see us together by the ears about it, and hear us in a Babel of con- fusion, one saying, This is the way, and another, That is it ; one saying, Lo here is the true church and worship, and another saying, Lo it is there. Not that one man or a few must make a shoe meet for his own foot, and then say, All that will not dishonour God by discord, must wear this shoe : think as I think, and say as I say, or else you are schismatics. But we must all agree in believing and obeying God, and " walking by the same rule so far Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 153 as we have attained," Phil. iii. 15, 16. "The strong must bear the infirmities of the weak, and not please themselves ; but every one of us please his neigh- bour for good to edification ; and be like-minded one towards another, according to Christ Jesus, that we may with one mind and one mouth glorify God : receiving one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God," Rom. xv. I, 2, 5 — 7- Direct. X. Justice commutative and distributive, private and public, in bargainings, and in govern- ment, and judgment, doth honour God and our pro- fession in the eyes of aU : when we do no wrong, but do to all men as we would they should do to us. Matt. vii. 12: that no man go beyond or defraud his brother in any matter ; for the Lord is the avenger of all such, 1 Thess. iv. 6. — That a man's word be his master, and that we lie not one to an- other, nor equivocate or deal subtilly and deceitfully, but in plainness and singleness of heart, and in sim- plicity and godly sincerity, have our conversation in the world. Perjured persons and covenant-breakers, that dissolve the bonds of human society, and take the name of God in vain, shall find by his vengeance that he holdeth them not guiltless. Direct. XI. It much glorifieth God to worship him rationally and purely, in spirit and in truth, according to the glory of his wisdom and goodness ; and it dishonoureth him to be worshipped ignorantly and carnally, with spells, and mimical, irrational actions, as if he were less wise than serious, grave, understanding men. — The worshippers of God have great cause to take heed how they behave themselves ; lest they meet with the reward of Nadab and Abihu, and God tell them by his judgments, "that he will be sanctified in all them that come nigVi him, and before all the people he will be glorified," Lev. x. 1 — .3. The second commandment is enforced by the jealousy of God about his worship. Ignorant, rude, unseemly words, or unhandsome gestures, which tend to raise contempt in the auditors ; or levity of speech, which makes men laugh, is abominable in a preacher of the gospel. And so is it to pray ir- rationally, incoherently, confusedly, with vain repe- titions and tautologies, as if men thought to be heard for their babbling over so many words, while there is not so much as an appearance of a well composed, serious, rational, and reverent address of a fervent soul to God. To worship God as the papists do, with images, Agnus Dei's, crucifixes, crossings, spittle, oil, candles, holy water, kissing the pax, dropping beads, praying to the Virgin Mary, and to other saints, repeating over the name of Jesus nine times in a breath, and saying such and such sentences so oft, praying to (iod in an unknown tongue, and saying to him they know not what, adoring the con- secrated bread as no bread, but the very flesh of Christ himself, choosing the titular saint whose name they will invocate, fasting by feasting uj)on fish instead of flesh, saying so many masses a day, and offering sacrifice for the quick and the dead, jiraying for souls in purgatory, purchasing in- ilulgeiiccs for their deliverance out of jnirgatory from the p()pe, carrying the pretended bones or other relics of their saints, the pope's canonizing now and then one for a saint, pretending miracles to delude the people, going on pilgrimages to images, shrines, or relics, offering before the images, with a multitude more of such parcels of devotion, do mo.st heinously dishonour God, and, as the apostle truly saith, do make unbelievers say, " They are mad," 1 Cor. xiv. 2.3, and that they are "children in understanding," and not "men," ver. 20. Insomuch as it seemeth one of the greatest impediments to the conversion of the heathen and Mahometan world, and the chief- est means of confirming them in their infidelity, and making them hate and scorn Christianity, that the Romish, and the eastern, and southern churches, within their view, do worship God so dishonourably as they do : as if our God were like a little child that must have pretty toys bought him in the fair, and brought home to please him. Whereas, if the un- reformed churches in the east, west, and south were reformed, and had a learned, pious, able ministry, that clearly preached and seriously applied the word of God, and worshipped God with understanding, gravity, reverence, and serious spirituality, and lived a holy, heavenly, mortified, self-denying conversation, this would be the way to propagate Christianity, and win the infidel world to Christ. Direct. XII. If you will glorify God in your lives, you must be above a selfish, private, narrow mind, and must be chiefly intent upon the public good, and the spreading of the gospel through the world. — A selfish, private, narrow soul brings little honour to the cause of God : it is always taken up about itself, or imprisoned in a comer, in the dark, to the interest of some sect or party, and seeth not how things go in the world : its desires, and prayers, and endeavours go no further than they can see or travel. But a larger soul beholdeth all the earth, and is desirous to know how it goeth with the cause and servants of the Lord, and how the gospel gets ground upon the unbelieving nations ; and such are affected with the state of the church a thousand miles off, almost as if it were at hand, as being members of the whole body of Christ, and not only of a sect. They pray for the " hallowing of God's name," and the " coming of his kingdom," and the " doing of his will through- out the earth, as it is in heaven," before they come to their own necessities, at least in order of esteem and desire. The prosperity of themselves, or their party or country, satisfieth them not, while the church abroad is in distress. They live as those that know the honour of God is more concerned in the welfare of the whole, than in the success of any party against the rest. They pray that the gospel may have free course and be glorified abroad, as it is with them, and the preachers of it be " delivered from unrea- sonable and wicked men," 2 Thess. iii. I, 2. The silencing the ministers, and suppressing the interest of Christ and souls, are the most grievous tidings to tliem : therefore they " pray for kings, and all in authority," not for any carnal ends, but that " we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty," 1 Tim. ii. 1 — 3. Thus God nmst be glorified by our lives. Grand Direct. XVI. Let your life on earth be a conversation in heaven, by the constant work of faith and love ; even such a faith as maketh things future as now ])resent, and the unseen world as if it were continually open to your sight; and such a love as makes you long to see the glorious face of (iod, and the glory of your dear Redeemer, and to be taken u]) with blessed spirits in his perfect, end- less love and praise. My Treatise of " The Life of Faith," and the fourth part of " The Saints' Rest," being writti n wholly or mostly to this use, I must refer the reader to them, and say no more of it in this direction. Grand Direct. XVII. As the soul must be carried up to God, and devoted to him, according to all the foregoing directions, so must it be delivered from carnal selfishness, or flesh-pleasing, which is the Krand enemy to God and godliness in the world ; and from the three great branches of this idolatry, viz. the love of sensual pleasures, the love of worldly wealth, and the proud desire and love of worldly 154 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. honour and esteem: and the mortifying of these must bo much of tlu' hihour of your hves. Of this also 1 have written so nuieh in a " Treatise of Self-iienial," and in another caUed Tiie Crucify- ing of the World by the Cross of Christ," that 1 nIuiU now pass by all, save what will be more sea- sonable anon under the more particular directions, in the fourth part, when I come to sjjeak of selfish- ness, as ojiposed to the love of others.'' I have now given you the general grand direc- tions, containing the very being and life of godliness and Christianity ; with those particular subdirections which are needful to the performance of them. And 1 nmst tell yo\i, that as your life, and strength, and comfort principally di'iu-nd on these, so doth your succi'ss in resisting all your particular sins : and therefore, if you first obey not tliese general direc- tions, the more particular ones that follow will be almost useless to you, even as branches cut off from the stock of the tree, which are deprived thereby of their support and life. But upon supposition that first you will maintain these vital parts of your re- ligion, I shall proceed to direct you first in some particulars most lu'arly subordinate to the foremen- tioned duties, and then to the remoter branches. APPENDIX. The true doctrine of lore to God, to holiness, to ourselves, and to others, opened in certain propositions ; especially for resohing the questions. What self-love is lauful ?—uhat sinful? — Whether God must be loved above our own felicity, and how ? — Whether to love our felicity more than God, may stand with a state of saviiig grace? — Whether it be a middle state between sensuality and the divine nature, to love God more for ourselves tlianfor himself y — Whether to love God for ourselves be the state of a believer as he is under the promise of the ?iew covenant y — And whether the spirit and sand i/ical ion promised to believers, be the love of God for himself, and so the divine nature, promised to him that chooseth Christ and God by him out of self-love for his own felicity ? — How God supposeth and u orketh on the principle of self-love in man's conversion ? — With many such like. To avoid the tediousness of a distinct debating each question. Though these things principally belong to the theory, and so to another treatise in hand, called " Me- thodus Theologiffi;" yet because they are also prac- tical, and have a great influence upon the more prac- tical directions, and the right understanding of them may help the reader himself to determine a multi- tude of cases of conscience, the particular discussion and decision of which would too much increase this volume, which is so big already, I shall here explain them in such brief propositions as yet shall give light to one another, and I hope contain much of the true nature of love, which is the mystery of the chris- tian religion. Prop. 1. The fonnal act of love is complacency, expressed by a placet ; which Augustine so oft call- eth delectation. 2. Benevolence, or desiring the good of those we love, is but a secondary act of love, or an effect of the prime, formal act. For to wish one well is not to love him formally; but we wish him well be- cause we love him, and therefore fiirst in order love him. 3. Their definition of love is therefore inept, and but fi-om an effect, who say it is, Alicui bene velle, ut ipsi bene sit. 4. Love is either merely sensitive and passionate, which is the sensible act and passion of the sensitive and fantastical appetite ; or it is rational, which is the act of the rational appetite or will. The first is called sensitive in a double respect; 1. Because it followeth the aj)prehension of the senses, or fantasy, loving that which they apprehend as good ; 2. And because it is exercised passionately and feelingly by the sensitive appetite. And the other is called ra- tional, I. Because it is the love of that which reason apprehendeth as good ; and, 2. Because it is the complacency of that will which is a higher faculty than the sensitive appetite. 5. Sensitive love is oft without rational, (always h I pass not this by as a small matter, to be passed by also by the reader. For I take the love of God kindled by faith in Christ, with the full denial of our carnal selves, to be tlie sum of all religion. But because I would not injure so great in brutes,) but rational love is never totally without sensitive, at least in this life ; whether it be because that the sensitive and rational are faculties of the same soul, or because they are so nearly connexed as that one cannot here move or act without the other ? 6. But yet one is predominant in some persons, and the other in others. 7. Love is the complacency of the appetite in ap- prehended good. Good is the formal object of love. Sensitive love is the complacency of the sensitive appetite in sensible good (or in that which the sense and imagination apprehendeth as good). Rational love is the complacency of the rational appetite in that which reason apprehendeth good : the same thing with primary volition. 8. Good is not only a man's own felicity and the means thereto, called mihi bonum, good to me ; either as profitable, pleasant, or honourable (as some think that have unmanned themselves) : but there is ex- trinsic good, which is such in itself, in others, or for others, which yet is the natural object of man's love (so far as nature is sound). As the learning, and wisdom, and justice, and charity, and all other per- fections of a man at the antipodes, whom I never saw, nor hope to see, or to receive any benefit by, is yet amiable to every man that hath not unmanned himself. So also is the good of posterity, of coun- tries, of kingdoms, of the church, of the world, ap- prehended as future when we are dead and gone ; yea, if we should be annihilated, desirable, and therefore amiable to us ; when yet it could be no benefit to us. 9. Self-love is sensitive or rational. Sensitive, as such, is necessary and not free ; and it is purposely by the most wise and blessed Creator planted in man and brutes, as a principle useful to preserve the world, and to engage the creature in the use of the means of its own preservation, and so to bring it to a duty by saying but a little of it; and therefore desire the reader, who studieth for practice, and needeth such helps, to peruse the mentioned books of " Self-denial," and "Crucify- ing the world." Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 155 perfection, and to endue it with those fears and hopes which make us subjects capable of moral govern- ment. 10. The rational or higher appetite also hath a natural inclination to self-preservation, perfection, and felicity ; but as ordinable and ordinate to higher ends. 11. The rational powers cannot nullify the sensi- tive, nor directly or totally hinder the action of them ; but they may and must indirectly hinder the act, by avoiding the objects and temptations, by diverting the thoughts to higher things, &c. ; and may hin- der the effects by governing the locomotive power. 12. Sensitive self-love containeth in it, 1. A love of life, and that is, of individual self-existence; 2. And a love of all sensitive pleasures of life ; and, 3. Consequently, a love of the means of life and pleasure. 13. In sensitive self-love, therefore, self, that is, life, is both the material and formal object : we love ourselves even because we are ourselves ; we love this individual person, and loathe annihilation or dissolution. 14. Though the will (or higher faculties) are na- turally inclined also to love ourselves, and our own felicity, yet they exercise this inclination with a cer- tain Uberty ; and though the act of simple compla- cency or volition towards our own being and felicity be so free as yet to be necessary, yet the comparative act (by which comparing several goods, we choose one and refuse another) may be so free as not to be necessary ; that is, a man may will his own annihi- lation rather than some greater evil, (of which anon,) not as good in itself, and therefore not willed for it- self, but as a means to a greater good ; and so he may less nill it than a greater evil. 15. Also a tolerable pain may on the same account be willed, or less nilled, and so consented to, for the avoiding a greater evil ; but intolerable pain cannot possibly be willed or consented to, or not nilled, be- cause it taketh away the exercise of reason and free- will : but what is to be called intolerable I determine not, it being variously measurable according to the patient's strength. 16. The soul as intellectual, by its rational appe- tite, hath also a natural inclination to intellectual operations (to know and love) and to intellectual ob- jects as such, and to intellectual perfections in itself. Yet so that, though it necessarily (though freely) loveth the said acts and perfections wliile it hath a being ; yet doth it not necessarily love all the said objects, nor necessarily choose the continuance of its own being, but in some cases, as aforesaid, can yield or consr-nt to an annihilation as a lesser evil. 17- The rational soul being not of itself, nor for itself alone, or chiefly, is natunlly inclined not only to love to itself, and that which is for itself, but also to love extrinsic good, as was aforesaid ; and accordingly it should love that best which is best : for a qiiuti nus et ad oiime et ad grudiim, ralel argiimentum. If we mu.st love any thing or person because it is good, (as the formal reason,) then we shoidd love all that is good, and love that best which is best, if so dis- cerned. 18. Though I must love greater, simple, extrinsic good above myself, with that love which is purely rational, yet it cannot ordinarily be done with a more sensitive and passionate love. 19. I am not always bound to do most good to him that I love Ijetter than others, and ought so to love, nor to him that I must wish most good to. Because there ,ire other particular laws to regulate my actions, diverse from that which commandeth my affections : as those that put children, relations, families, neigh- bours, under our special charge and care; though often others must be more loved. 20. That good which is the object of love, is not a mere universal or general notion, but is always some particular or single being in esse reali, vel in esse cognito. As there is no such thing in rerum nalura, as good in a mere general, which is neither the good of natural existence, or of moral perfection, or of pleasure, profit, honour, &c. ; yea, which is not in this or in thatsingular subject, or so conceived ; so there is no such thing as love, which hath not some such singular object. (As Rada and other Scotists have made plain.) 21. All good is either God, or a creature, or a creature's act or work. 22. God is good infinitely, eternally, primitive- ly, independently, immutably, communicatively, of whom, and by whom, and to whom are all things : the beginning, or first efficient, the dirigent and ultimately ultimate cause of all created good; as making and directing all things for himself. 23. Therefore it is the duty of the intellectual creature to love God totally, without any exceptions or restrictions, with all the powei', mind, and will, not only in degree above ourselves and all the world, but also as God, with a love in kind transcending the love of every creature. 24. All the goodness of the creature doth formally consist in its threefold relation to God, viz. 1. In the impresses of God as its first Efficient or Creator ; as it is his image, or the effect and demonstration of his perfections, viz. his infinite power, wisdom, and goodness. 2. In its conformity to his directions, or governing laws, and so in its order and obedience. 3. And in its aptitude and tendency to God as its final cause, even to the demonstration of his glory, and the complacency of his will. 25. All creative good is therefore derivative, de- pendent, contingent, finite, secondary, from God, by God, and to God, receiving its form and measure from its respect to him. 26. Yet as it may be subordinately from man, as the principle of his own actions, and by man as a subordinate ruler of himself or others, and to man as a subordinate end ; so there is accordingly a subor- dinate sort of goodness, which is so denominated from these respects unto the creature, that is himself good, subordinately. 27. But all this subordinate goodness (boyium a nobis, bonum per tins, bonum nobis) is but analogically so ; and dependently on the former sort of goodness, and is something in due subordination to it, and against it, nothing, that is, not properly good. 28. The best and excellentest creatures, in the foresaid goodness related to God, are most to be loved ; and all according to the degree of their good- ness, more than as good in relation to ourselves. 2!). But seeing their goodness is formally their re- lation unto God, it followeth that they are lov{'(l primarily only for his sake, and consequently God's image or glory in them is first loved ; and so the true love of any creature is but a secondary sort of the love of God. 30. The best being next to God is the universe, or whole creation, and therefore next him most to be loved by us. 31. The next in amiableness is the whole celestial society, Christ, angels, and saints. 32. The next, when we come to distinguish them, is Christ's own created, glorified nature in the per- son of the Mediator, because God's glory or image is most upon him. .33. The next in amiableness is tlie whole angelical society, or the orders of intellectual spirits above man. CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part 1. 34. The next is the spirits of the just made per- fect, or the triumphant aiureh of sjiiuts in lieavcn. 35. The next is all this lower world. 3(). The next is tiie church in the worhl, or mili- tant on earth. 3/. The next are the particular kingdoms and so- cieties of the world, (and so the churches,) according to their various degrees. 3S. The next, under societies and multitudes, are those individual ])ersons who are hest in the three forementioned resi)ects, whether ourselves or others. And thus, by the objects, should our love that is ra- tional be diversified in degree, and that be loved best that is best. 3!). The amiable image of God in man is (as hath oft been said) : 1. Our natural image of God, or the image of his three essential properties as such, that is, our vital, active power, our intellect, and our will. 2. Our moral image, or the image of his said pro- perties in their perfections, viz. our holiness, that is, our holy life or spiritual vivacity and active power, our holy light or wisdom, our holy wills or love. 3. Our relative image of God, or the image of his supereminency, dominion, or majesty ; which is, 1. Common to man, in respect to the inferior creatures, that we are their owners, governors, and end (and benefactors) ; 2. Eminently in rulers of men, parents, and princes, who are analogically sub- owners, sub-rulers, and sub-benefactors to their in- feriors, in various degrees. By which it is dis- cernible what it is that we are to love in man, and with what variety of kinds and degrees of love, as the kinds and degrees of amiableness in the objects differ. 40. Even the sun, and moon, and frame of nature, the inanimates and brutes, must be loved in that de- gree compared to man, and to one another, as their goodness before described, that is, the imjiressions of the divine perfections, do more or less gloriously appear in them, and as they are adapted to him the ultimate end. 41. As God is in this life seen but darkly and as in a glass, so also proportionably to be loved ; for our love cannot exceed our knowledge. 42. Yet it followeth not that we must love him only as he appeareth in his works, which demon- strate him as effects do their cause ; for both by the said works improved by reason, and by his word, we know that he is before his works, and above them, and so distinct from them as to transcend, and comprehend, and cause them all, by a continual causality ; and therefore he must accordingly be loved. 43. It greatly hindcreth our love to God, when we overlook all the intermediate excellencies between him and us, which are much better, and therefore more amiable, than ourselves ; such as are before recited. 44. The love of the universe, as bearing the live- liest image or impress of its cause, is an eminent secondary love of God, and a great help to our pri- mary or immediate love of him. Could we compre- hend the glorious excellency of the universal cre- ation, in its matter, form, parts, order, and uses, we should see so glorious an image of God, as would unspeakably promote the work of love. 4.'). Whether the glory of God in heaven, which will for ever beautify the beholders and possessors, be the divine essence, (which is every where,) or a created glory purposely there placed for the felicity of holy spirits, and what that glory is, are questions fittest for the beholders and possessors to resolve. 4(). But if it be no more than the universal, exist- ent frame of nature, containing all the creatures of God beheld utio intuitu in the nature, order, and use of all the parts, it would In- an unconceivable felicity to the beholders, as being an unconceivable glorious demonstration of the Di ity. 47. It is lawful and a needful duty, to labour by the meaiis of such excellencies as we know, which heaven is resembled to in Scripture, to imprint \ipon our imaginations themselves, such an image of the glory of the heavenly society, Christ, angels, saints, and the heavenly jilaee and state, as shall help our intellectual apprehensions of the spiritual excel- lencies which transcend imagination. And the neg- lect of loving God as foreseen in the demonstration of the heavenly glory, doth greatly hinder our love to him immediately as in himself considered. 48. The Lord Jesus Christ, in his glorified, cre- ated nature, is crowned with the highest excellency of any jjartieular creature, that he might be the Me- diator of our love to God ; and in him (seen by faith) we might see the glory of the Deity. And as in heaven we shall have (spiritual, glorified) bodies as well as souls, so the glorified, created nature of Christ will be an objective glory, fit for our bodies (at least) to behold in order to their glory, as the divine nature (as it pleaseth God in glory) revealed, will be to the soul. 49. Tlie exercise of our love upon God as now ap- pearing to the glorified, in the glorious created nature of Christ, (beheld by us by faith,) is a great part of our present exercise of divine love : and we extin- guish our love to God, by beholding so little by faith our glorified Mediator. 50. We owe greater love to angels than to men, because they are better, nearer God, and liker to him, and more demonstrate his glory ; and indeed also love us better, and do more for us, than we can do for one another. And the neglect of our due love and gratitude to angels, and forgetting our relation to them, and receivings by them, and communion with them, and living as if we had little to do with them, is a culpable overlooking God, as he appear- eth in his most noble creatures, and is a neglect of our love to God in them, and a great hinderance to our higher more immediate love. Therefore by faith and love we should exercise a daily converse with angels, as part of our heavenly conversation, Phil, iii. 20, 21 ; Heb. xii. 22; and use ourselves to love God in them : though not to pray to them, or give them divine worship. 51. We must love the glorified saints more than the inhabitants of this lower world, because they are far better, and liker to God, and nearer to him, and more demonstrate his holiness and glory. And our neglect of conversing with them by faith, and of loving them above ourselves, and things on earth, is a neglect of our love to God in them, and a hin- derance of our more immediate love. And a loving conversation with them by faith, would greatly help our higher love to God. 52. Our neglect of love to the church on earth, and to the kingdoms and public societies of man- kind, is a sinful neglect of our love to God in them, and a hinderance of our higher love to him ; and the true use of such a public love, would greatly further our higher love. 53. If those heathens who laid down their lives for their countries had neither done this for fame, nor merely as esteeming the temporal good of their country above their own temporal good and lives, but for the true excellency of many above one, and for God's greater interest in them, they had done a most noble, holy work. 54. Our adherence to our carnal selves first, and then to our carnal interests and friends, and neglect- Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 157 ing the love of the highest excellencies in the ser- vants of God, and not loving men according to the measure of the image of God on them, and their relation to him, is a great neglect of our love of God in them, and a hinderance of our higher immediate love. And to use ourselves to love men as God ap- peareth in them, would much promote our higher love. And so we should love the best of men above ourselves. 55. The loving of ourselves sensually, preferring our present life and earthly pleasure before our higher spiritual felicity in heaven, and our neglecting to love holiness, and seek it for ourselves, and then to love God in ourselves, is a neglect and hinderance of the love of God. 56. Man hath not lost so much of the knowledge and love of God, as appearing in his greatness, and wisdom, and natural goodness in the frame of nature, as he is the Author of the creatures' natural good- ness, as he hath of the knowledge and love of his holiness, as he is the holy Ruler, Sanctifier, and End of souls. 57. The sensitive faculty and sensitive interest are still predominant in a carnal or sensual man ; and his reason is voluntarily enslaved to his sense : so that even the intellectual appetite, contrary to its primitive and sound nature, loveth chiefly the sensi- tive life and pleasure. 58. It is therefore exceeding hard in this depraved state of nature, to love God or any thing better than ourselves ; because we love more by sense than by reason, and reason is weak and serveth the interest of sense. 59. Yet the same man who is prevalently sensual, may know that he hath a rational, immortal soul, and that knowledge and rectitude are the felicity of his soul ; and that it is the knowledge and love of and delight in God, the highest good, that can make him perpetually happy : and therefore as these are apprehended as a means of his own felicity, he may have some kind of love or will unto them all. 60. The tiling therefore that every carnal man would have, is an everlasting, perfect, sensual plea- sure ; and he apprehendeth the state of his soul's perfection mostly as consisting in this kind of fe- licity : and even the knowledge and love of God, which he taketh for part of his fehcity, is principally apprehended but as a speculative gratifying of the imagination, as carnal men now desire knowledge. Or if there he a righter notion of (iod and holiness to be loved for themselves, even ultimately above our sensual pleasure and ourselves ; yet this is but an uneffectual, dreaming knowledge, producing but an answerable lazy wish: and it will not here pre- vail against the stronger love of sensuality and fan- tastical pleasure, nor against inordinate self-love. And it is a sensual heaven, under a spiritual name, which the carnal hope for. 61. This carnal man may love God as a means to this felicity so dreamed of; as knowing that without him it caimot be had, and tasting corporal comforts from him here : and he may love holiness as it re- moveth his contrary calamities, and as he thinks it is crowned with such a reward. But he had rather have that reward of itself without holiness. 62. He may also love and desire (Jhrist, as a means (conceived) to such an end ; and he may use much religious duty to that end ; and he may forbear such sins as that end can spare, lest they deprive him of his hoped-for felicity. Yea, he may suffer much to prevent an endless suffering. 63. As nature necessarily loveth self and self- felicity, God and the devil do both make great use of this natural pondus, or necessitating principle, for their several ends. The devil saith, thou lovest pleasure, therefore take it and make provision for it. God saith, thou lovest felicity, and fearest misery : I and my love are the true felicity; and adhering to sensual pleasure depriveth thee of better, and is the beginning of thy misery, and will bring thee unto worse. 64. God commandeth man nothing that is not for his own good, and forbiddeth him nothing which is not (directly or indirectly) to his hurt : and therefore engageth self-love on his side, for every act of our obedience. 65. Yet this good of our own is not the highest, nor all the good which God intendeth, and we must intend ; but it is subordinate unto the greater good aforementioned. 66. As a carnal man may have opinionative, unef- fectual convictions, that God and his love are his spiritual felicity (better than sensual) ; yea, and that God is his estimate end above his own felicity itself; so the sanctifying of man consisteth in bringing up these convictions to be truly effectual and practical, to renew and rule the mind, and will, and life. 67. Whether this be done by first knowing God as the beginning and end, above ourselves, and then knowing (effectually) that he is man's felicity ; or whether self-love be first excited to love him as our own felicity, and next we be carried up to love him for himself, as our highest end, it cometh all to one when the work is done ; and we cannot prove that God tieth himself constantly to either of these methods alone. But experience telleth us, that the latter is the usual way ; and that as nature, so grace beginneth with the smallest seed, and growetli up- ward towards perfection ; and that self-love, and desire of endless felicity, and fear of endless misery, are the first notable effects or changes on a repenting soul. 68. And indeed the state of sin lieth both in man's fall from God to self, and in the mistake of his own felicity, preferring even for himself a sensible good before a spiritual, and the creature before the Creator : and therefore he must be rectified in both. 69. And the hypocrite's uneffectual love to God and holiness is much discovered in this, that, as he loveth dead saints, and their images and holidays, because they trouble him not, so he best loveth (opinionatively) and least hateth (practically) the saints in heaven, and the holiness that is far from him, and God as he conceiveth of him as one that is in heaven to glorify men ; but he hateth (practically, though not professedly) the God that would make him holy, and deprive him of all his sinful pleasures, or condemn him for them : and he can better like holiness in his pastor, neighbour, or child, than in himself. 70. Therefore sincerity much consisteth in the love of self-holiness; but not as for self alone, but as carrying self and all to God. 71. As the sun-beams do without any interception reach the eye, and by them without interception our sight ascendeth and extendeth to the sun ; so God's communicated goodness and glorious revelation ex- tend tlirough and by all inferior mediums, to our understandings, and our wills, and our knowledge and love ;iscend and extend through all and by all again to God. And as it were unnatural for the eye illuminated by the sun, to see itself only, or to see the mediate creatures, and not to see the light and sun by which it seeth (nay, it doth least see itself) ; so it is unnatural for the soul to understand and love itself alone, (which it liltle undcrstandeth and should love with self-denial,) and the creatures only, and I5S CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part L not to love God, by whom wc know and love the cri'aturi'. 7'2. It is possible to love Ciod, and holiness, and heaven, as a coneeited state and means of our sen- sual felieity, and eseape of pain antl misery ; but to love Ciod as tlie true felieity of tlu- intelK'etual nature, and as our spiritual rest, and yet to lovi' him only or eiiielly for ourselves, and not rather for himself as our Iiighest end, iniplieth a eontradietion. The same 1 say of hoHness, as loved only for ourselves. The evidenee whereof is ]ilain, in that it is essential to (iod to be not only better than oin'selves and every creature, but also to be the ultimate end of all thinjjs, to which they shoulil tend in all their jierfections. And it is essential to iioliness to be the soul's devo- tion of itself to (iod as God, and not only to God as our felicity : therefore to love God only or chiefly for ourselves, is to make him only a means to our felieity, and not our chief end ; and it is to make ourselves better, and so more amiable than God, that is, to be gods ourselves. 73. This is much of the sense of the controversy between the Epicureans and the sober philosophers, as is to be seen in Cicero, &c. The sober philoso- phers said, that virtue was to be loved for itself more than for pleasure ; because if pleasure as such be better than virtue as such, then all sensual pleasure would be better than virtue as such. The Epicureans said, tliat not all pleasiure, but the pleasure of virtue was the chief good, as Torquatus's words in Cicero show. And if it had been first proved, that a man's self is his just, ultimate end, as the Jinix cut or the personal end, then it would be a hard question, whe- ther the Epicureans were not in the right as to the _/5f'7i)W cujus or tlie real end (which indeed is but a medium to the personal, cuij. But when it is most certain, that no man's person is to be his own ulti- mate end, as cui, but God, and then the universe, and societies of the world as beforesaid, it is then easy to prove that the sober philosophers were in the right, and that no man's pleasure is his ultimate end, Jmis ciijun ; because no man's pleasure is either such a demonstration of the divine perfection as virtue is, as such ; nor yet doth it so much conduce to the common good of societies or mankind, and so to the pleasing and glorifying of God. And this way Cicero might easily have made good his cause against the Epicureans. 74. Though no man indeed love God as God, who loveth him not as better tlian himself, and therefore loveth him not better, and as his absolutely ultimate end; and though no man desire holiness indeed, who desireth not to be devoted absolutely to God before and above himself: yet is it very common to have a false, imperfect notion of God and holiness, as being the felicity of man, and tliough not to deny, yet to leave out the essential superlative notion of the Deity; and it is more common to confess all this of God and holiness notionally, as was aforesaid, and practically to take in no more of God and holiness, but that they are better for us than temporary pleasures. And some go further, and take them as better for them, than any (though perpetual) mere sensual delights ; and so make the perfection of man's highest faculties (practically) to be their ultimate end; and desire or love God and holiness (defectively and falsely appre- hended) for themselves, or their own felicity, and not themselves, and their felicity and holiness, ulti- mately for God. Which showeth, that though these men have somewhat overcome the sensual concu- piscence or flesh, yet have they not sufficiently over- come the selfish disposition, nor yet known and loved God as (iod, nor good as good. 75. Yet is it not a sin to love God for ourselves, and our own felicity, so bo it we make him not a mere means to that felicity, as our absolutely ulti- mate end. For as (iod indeed is, I. The efheient of all our good ; 2. The dirigent cause, that leadeth us to it ; 3. The end in which our felieity tridy con- sisteth ; so is he to be loved on all tliese accounts. /(). If (lod were not thus to be loved for ourselves, (subordinated to him,) thankfulness would not be a christian duty. 77. Our love to (iod is a love of friendship, and a desire of a kind of union, conmnmion, or adherence. But not sueli as is between creatures where there is some sort of e([uality : but as between them that are totally ime(pial ; the one infinitely below the other, and absolutely subject and subordinate to him. 78. Therefore, though in love of friendship, a union of both parties, and ccmsequently a conjunct interest of both, and not one ahme, do make up the ultimate end of love ; yet here it shotdd be with an utter dispio])ortion, we being obliged to know God as infinitely better than ourselves, and therefore to love him incomparably more, though yet it will be but according to the proportion of the faculties of the lover. 79. The ])urest process of love, therefore, is, first thankfully to perceive the divine efficiencies, and to love God as communicative of what we and all things are, and have, and shall receive, and therein to see his perfect goodness in himself, and to love him as (jod for that goodness ; wherein is nothing but the final act, which is our love, and the final object, which is the infinite good. So that the act is man's, (from God,) but nothing is to be joined with God as the absolutely final object; for that were to join somewhat with God as God. 80. And though it be most true, that this act may be made the object of another act, and (as Amesius saith. Omnium gentium consensu dicimun Volo velle, so) we may and must say, Amoamare, I love to love God, and the very exercise of my own love is my delight, and so is my felicity in the very essential nature of it, being a complacency, and being on the highest objective good : and also this same love is my holi- ness, and so it and I are pleasing unto God ; yet these are all consequential to the true notion of the final act, and circularly lead to the same again. We must love our felicity and holiness, whicn consisteth in our love to God, but as that which subordinately relateth to God, in whicli he is first glorified, and then finally pleased ; and so from his will which we delight to please, we ascend to his total perfect being, to which we adhere by perfect love. In a word, our ultimate end of acquisition (and God's own, so far as he may be said to have an end) is the jdeasing of the divine will, in his glorification ; and our ultimate end of complacency, objectively, is the infinite good- ness of the divine will and nature. 81. There is, therefore, place for the question whether I must love God, or myself, more or better? as it is resolved. But there is no place for the ques- tion, whether I must love God or myself .f" Because God alloweth me not ever to separate them ; though there is a degree of just self-loathing or self-hatred, in deep repentance. Nor yet for the question, whether I must seek God's glory and pleasure, or my own felicity ? for I must ever seek them both, though not with the same esteem. Yea, I may be said to seek them both with the same diligence ; be- cause by the same endeavour and act that 1 seek one, I seek the other ; and 1 cannot possibly do any thing for one, that doth not equally promote the other, if I do them rightly, preferring God before myself, in my inward estimation, love, and intention. '82. Though it be essential to divine love, and con- Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 159 sequently to true holiness, to love God for himself, and as better than ourselves, (or else we love him not as God, as is before said,) yet this is hardly and seldom perceived in the beginning- in him that hath it; because the love of ourself is more passionate, and raiseth in us more subordinate passions, of fear of punishment, and desires of felicity, and sorrow for hurt and misery, &c. Whereas, God being im- material, and invisible, is not at all an object of our sense, but only of our reason and our wills, and therefore not directly of sensitive, jiassionate love : though consequently while the soul is united to the body, its acting even on immaterial objects, moveth the lower sensitive faculties, and the corporeal spirits. Also God needeth nothing for us to desire for him, nor sufTereth nothing for us to grieve for, though we must grieve for injuring him, and being displeasing to his will. 83. I cannot say nor believe (though, till it be searched, the opinion hath an enticing aspect) that the gospel faith which hath the promise of justifica- tion, and of the Spirit, is only a believing in Christ as the means of our felicity, by redemption and sal- vation, out of the principle of self-love alone, and for no higher end than our said felicity ; because he is not believed in as Clirist, if he be not taken as a re- conciler to bring us home to God. And we take him not to bring us to God as God, if it be not to bring us to God as the beginning and end of all things, and as infinitely more lovely than ourselves. And our repentance for not loving God accordingly above ourselves, must go along with our first justify- ing faith. Therefore, though we are learners before we are lovers, and our assent goeth before the will's consent, yet our assent that God is God, and better than ourselves, must go together with our assent that Christ is the Mediator to save us, by bringing us to him ; and so must our assent that this is salvation, even to love God above ourselves, and as better than ourselves ; and accordingly our con- sent to these particulars must concur in saving faith. 84. He, therefore, that out of self-love accepteth Christ as the means of his own felicity, doth (if he know practically what felicity is) accept him as a means to bring him to love God perfectly, as God above himself, and to be perfectly pleasing to his will. 85. Yet it is apparent that almost all God's pre- paring grace consisteth in exciting and improving the natural principle of self-love in man ; and mani- festing to him, that if he will do as one that loveth himself, he must be a christian, and must forsake ^in, and the inordinate love of his sensuality, and must be holy, and love God for his own essential as well as communicated goodness. And if he do other- wise, he will do as one that hateth himself, and seeketh in the event his own damnation. And could we but get men rationally to improve true self-love, they would be christians, and so be holy. 8G. But because this is a great, though tender point, and it that I have more generally touclied in the case. Whether faith in Christ, or love to God as our end, go first ? and because, indeed, it is it for which I principally premise the rest of these propo- sitions; I shall presume to venture a little further, and more distinctly to tell you, how much of love to God is in our first justifying faith, and how much not ; and how far the state of such a believer is a middle state between mere preparation, or common grace, and proper sanctification or possession of the Holy Ghost. And so, how far vocation giving us the first faith, and repentance, diflereth from sancti- fication. And the rather because my unriper thoughts and writings defended Mr. Pemble, who made them one, in opposition to the stream of our divines. And I conceive that all these following acts about the point in question, are found in every true believer, at his first faith, though not distinctly noted by himself. (I.) The sinner hath an intellectual notice, that there is a God, (for an atheist is not a believer,) and so that this God is the first and last, the best of beings, the Maker, Owner, Ruler, and Benefactor of the world, the just end of all created beings and ac- tions, and to be loved and pleased above ourselves : for all this is but to believe there is a God. (2.) He is convinced that his own chief felicity lieth, not in temporary or carnal pleasure, but in the perfect knowing, loving, and pleasing this God above himself : for if he know not what true salvation and felicity is, he cannot desire or accept it. (3.) He knoweth that hitherto he hath been with- out this love, and this felicity. (4.) He desireth to be happy, and to escape ever- lasting misery. (5.) He repenteth, that is, is sorry, that he hath not all this while loved God as God, and sought fe- licity therein. (6.) He is willing and desirous for the time to come, to love God as God above himself, and to please him before himself; that is, to have a heart disposed to do it. (7.) He findeth that he cannot do it of himself, nor with his old carnal, indisposed heart. (8.) He believeth that Christ, by his doctrine and Spirit, is the appointed Saviour to bring him to it. (9.) He gladly consenteth that Christ shall be such a Saviour to him, and shall not only justify him from guilt, and save him from sensible punish- ment, but also thus bring him to the perfect love of God. (10.) He had rather Christ would bring him to this by sanctification, than to enjoy all the pleasures of sin for a season, yea, or to have a perpetual sensi- tive felicity, without this perfect love to God, and pleasing of him. (11.) God being declared to him in Jesus Christ, a God of love, forgiving sin, and conditionally giving pardon and life to his very enemies, as he is hence the easilier loved with thankfulness for ourselves, so the goodness of his nature in himself is hereby insinuated and notified with some secret complacency to the soul. He is, sure, good, that is so merciful and ready to do good, and that so wonderfully as in Christ is manifested. (12.) So that as baptism (which is but explicit, justifying faith, or the expression of it, in covenant- ing with (io(l) is our dedication by vow to all the Three Persons ; to (iod the Father, as well as to the Son and Holy Ghost ; so faith itself is such a heart- dedication. (13.) Herein I dedicate myself to God as God, to be glorified and pleased in my justification, sanctifi- cation, and glorification, that is, in my reception of the fruits of his love, and in my loving him above all, as God : or to be pleased in me, and I in him, for ever. (14.) In all this the understanding acknowledgeth God to be (iod, (by assent,) and to be loved above myself, and the will dc-sireth so to love him : but the object of the will here directly, is its own future disposition and act. It doth not say, I do already love (iod, as (iod, above myself; but only I would so love him, and I would be so changed as may dis- I)ose me so to love him ; I acknowledge that 1 should so love him, and that I do love him for his mercies to myself and others. Nor can it be said, that Fulo relle, or rolo amare, a desire to love God as such, is direct love to God. Because it is not all one to have 160 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. God to be the object of my will, and to luive my own net of willint^ or loving to lie the object of it. And because that a man may lor other end.s (a.s for mere fear of hell) will to will or love that, w^hich yet he doth not will or love, at least for itself. (15.) In this ease, above all others, it is manifest, that every conviction of the imderstandiiiii; doth not accorilingly determine the will. For in this new convert, the nnderstanding saith plainly, (iod is to be loved as God, above myself: but the will saith, 1 cannot do it tliough I would : I am so captivated by self-love, and so void of the true love of God, that I can .say no more, but that Propter me rellem amare Dvum prnpter xe ; 1 love my own felicity so W(>11, tliat 1 love God as my felicity ; and love him luuler the notion of God the perfect good, who is infinitely better than myself; and desire a heart to love him more than myself; but I cannot say, that I yet do it, or that 1 love him best or mo.st, whom I acknowledge to be best, and as such to be loved. ( Ki.) Yet in all this, there is not only semen amnris, a seed of divine love to God as God, but the founda- tion of it laid, and some obscure, secret conception of it beginning, or in Jieri, in the soul. For while the understanding confesseth God to be most amiable, and the will desireth that felicity which doth consist in loving him above myself, and experience telleth me, that he is good to me, and therefore good in himself, it can hardly be conceived, but that in all this there is some kind of secret love to God, as better than myself. 87. In all this, note, that it is one thing to love God, under the notion of the infinite good, better than myself and all things, and another thing for the will to love him more, as that notion obligeth. 88. And the reason why these are often separated, is, because besides a slight intellectual apprehension, there is necessary to the will's just determination, a clear and deep apprehension, with a right disposition of the will, and a suscitation of the active power. 89. Yea, and every slight volition or velleity will not conquer opposing concupiscence and volitions : nor is every will ellVctual to command the life, and prevail against its contrary. yo. Therefore, I conceive, that in our first believ- ing in Christ, even to justification, though our reason tell us that he is more amiable than ourselves, and we are desirous so to love him for the future, and have an obscure, w'eak beginning of love to God as God, or as so conceived : yet, I. The strength of sensitive self-love maketh our love to ourselves more })assionately strong. 2. And that reason, at least in its degree of apprehension, is too intense in appre- hending our self-interest, and too remiss in appre- hending the amiableness of God as God : and so far, even our rational love is yet greater to ourselves, though, as to the notion, God hath the pre-eminence. 3. And that in this whole affair of our baptismal covenanting, consent, or Christianity, our love to our own felicity, as such, is more powerful and effectual, in moving the soul, and prevailing for our resolution for a new life, than is our love to God, as for him- self, and as God. 91. And therefore it is. that fear hath so great a hand in our first change : for all that such fear doth, it doth as moved by self-love ; I mean the fear of suffering and damnation : and yet experience telleth lis, that conversion commonly beginneth in fear. And though where self-love and fear are alone, without the love of God as good in and for himself, there is no true grace ; yet I conceive that there is true grace initial in those weak christians, that have more fear and self-love in the passionate and power- ful part, than love to God, so be it they have not more love to sin, and to any thing that stands in competition with God. 92. Therefore, he that hath a carnal self love (or inordinate) inclining him to the creature, which is stronger in him than the love of (iod, is graceless; because it will turn his heart and life from (iod. Hut he that hath only a necessary self-love, even a love to his own spiritual, eternal felicity, operating by strong desire and fear, conjunct with a weaker degree of love to God as good in himself, I think hath grace, and may so be saved : because here i.s but an unequal motion to the same end, and not a competition. 9,3. If any dislike any of this decision, I only desire him to remember, that on both hands there are apparent rocks to be avoided. First, it is a dangerous thing to say that a man is in a state of grace and salvation, who lovcth not God as God, that is, better than himself. And on the other hand, the experience of most christians in the w orld saith, that at their first believing, (if not long after,) they loved (lod more for themselves than for himself, and loved themselves more than God, though they knew that God was better and more amiable ; and that the fear of misery, and the desire of their own salvation, were more effectual and prevalent with them, than that love of God for himself. And I doubt, that not very many have this at all, in so high a degree as to be clear and certain of it. And if we shall make that necessary to salvation, which few of the best christians find in themselves, we either condemn almost all professed christians, or at least leave them under uncertainty and terrors. There- fore, God's interest speaking so loud on one hand, and man's experience on the other, I think we have need to cut by a thread, and walk by line, with greatest accurateness. 94. By this time we may see, that, as Christ is the way to the Father, and the Saviour and recoverer of lapsed man from himself to God ; so faith in Christ, as such, is a mediate and medicinal grace and work : and that faith is but the bellows of love : and that our first believing in Christ, though it he the regenerating work, which generateth love, yet is but a middle state, between an unregenerate and a regenerate : not as a third state specifically distinct from both, but the iuHiutn of the latter ; or as the embryo, or state of conception, in the womb, is as to a man and no man. Faith containeth love in fieri. 95. As the love of ourselves doth most powerfully (though not only) move us to close with Christ as our Saviour, so, while hereby we are united unto him, we have a double assistance or influx from him for the production of the purer love of God. The one is objective, in all the divine demonstrations of God's love ; in his incarnation, life, death, resurrec- tion, in his doctrine, example, intercession, and in^ all his benefits given us ; in our pardon, adoption, and the promises of future glory. The other is in the secret operations of the Holy Spirit which he giveth us to concur with these means, and make them all effectual. 9(5. The true state of sanctification, as different from mere vocation and faith, coiisisteth in this pure love of God, and holiness ; and that more for himself and his infinite goodness, than for ourselves, and as our felicity. 97. Therefore, when we are promised the Spirit, to be given to us if we believe in Christ, and sancti- fication is promised us, with justification, on this condition of faith, this is part of the meaning of that promise : — that, if we truly take (Christ for our Sa- viour, to bring us to the love of (iod, though at pre- sent we are most moved with the love of ourselves Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 161 to accept him, he will, by his word, works, and Spi- rit, bring us to it, initially here, and perfectly in heaven ; even to be perfectly pleased in God, for his own perfect goodness, and so to be fully pleasant to him. And thus, (besides the extraordinary gifts to a few,) the Spirit of holiness or love, which is the Spirit of adoption, is promised by covenant to all believers. 98. Accordingly, this promise is so fulfilled, that in the first instant of time we have a relative right to Christ, as our Head and the sender of the Spirit, and to the Holy Spirit himself as our Sanctifier by under- taking, according to the terms of the covenant. But this doth not produce always a sensible or effectual love of God above ourselves in us, at the very first, but by degrees, as we follow the work of faith in our practice. 99. For it is specially to be noted, that the doc- trinal or objective means of love, which Christ doth use, and his internal, spiritual influx, do concur. And his way is not to work on us by his Spirit alone, without those objects, nor yet by the objects without the Spirit, nor by both distinctly and divid- edly, as producing several effects ; but by both conjunctly for the same effect: the Spirit's influx causing us effectually to improve the objects and reasons of our love ; as the hand that useth the seal, and the seal itself, make one impression. 100. As Christ began to win our love to God by the excitation of our self-love, multiplying and re- vealing God's mercies to ourselves, so doth he much carry it on to increase the same way. For while every day addeth fresh experience of the greatness of God's love to us, by this we have a certain taste that God is love, and good in himself; and so by de- grees we learn to love him more for himself, and to improve our notional esteem of his essential good- ness into practical. 101. Though faith itself is nor wrought in us, without the Holy Ghost, nor is it (if sincere) a com- mon gift, yet this operation of the Spirit drawing us to Christ, by such arguments and means as are fitted to the work of believing, is different from the conse- quent covenant right to Christ and the Spirit, which is given to believers, and from the Spirit of adoption, as recovering us, as aforesaid, to the love of God. 102. In this last sense it is that the Holy Ghost is said to dwell in believers, and to be the new name, the pledge, the earnest, the first-fruits of life eternal, the witness of our right to Christ and life, and Christ's agent and witness in us, to maintain his cause and interest. 103. Even as a man, that by sickness hath lost his appetite to meat, is told that such a physician will cure him, if he will take a certain medicinal food that he will give him ; and at first he taketh it with- out appetite to the food or medicine in itself, but merely for the love of health ; but after he is doubly brought to love it for itself, first, because he hath tasted the sweetness of that which he did but see before, and next, because his health and appetite are recovered : so is it with the soul, as to the love of God procured by believing ; when we have tasted through the persuasion of self-love, our taste and re- covery cause us to love God for himself. 104. When the soul is risen to this habitual, pre- dominant love of God and holiness as such, for their own goodness, above its own fdicity as such, (though ever in conjunction with it, and as his felicity itself,) then is the law written in the heart ; and this love is the virtual fulfilling of all the law. And for such it is that it is said, that the law is not made ; that is, in that measure that they love the good for itself, they need not be moved to it with threats or promises of VOL. I. M extrinsic things, which work but by self-love and fear. Not but that divine authority must concur with love to produce obedience, especially while love is but imperfect : but that love is the highest prin- ciple, making the commanded good connatural to us. 105. And I think it is this Spirit of adoption and love which is called " The divine nature " in us, as it inclineth us to love God and holiness for themselves, as nature is inclined to self-love, and to food, and other necessaries. Not that the specific, essential nature, that is, substance or form, of the soul is changed, and man deified, and he become a god that was before a man ; but his human soul or nature is elevated or more perfected (as a sick man by health, or a blind man by his sight) by the Spirit of God inclining him habitually to God himself, as in and for himself. (And this is all which the publisher of Sir H. Vane's notions of the two covenants and two natures, can soundly mean, and seemeth to gi'ope after.) 106. By all this you see, that as the love of God hath a double self-love in us to deal with, so it dealeth variously with each: 1. Sensual, inordinate self-love it destroycth ; both as it consisteth in the inordinate love of sensual pleasure, and in the inordinate love of self or life. 2. Lawful and just self-love it in- creaseth and improveth to our further good, but sub- jecteth it to the highest, purest love of God. 107. By this you may gather what a confirmed christian is, even one in whom the pure love of God as God, and all things for God, is predominant and more potent than (not only the vicious, but also) the good, and lawful, and necessary love of himself. 108. Though christians therefore must study them- selves, and keep up a care of their own salvation, yet must they much more study God, his greatness, wisdom, and goodness, as shining in his works, and word, and in his Son, and as foreseen in the heavenly glory ; and in this knowledge of God and Christ is life eternal. And nothing more tendeth to the holy advancement and perfection of the soul, than to keep continually due api)rehensions of the divine nature, properties, and glorious appearances in his works u])on the soul, so as it may become a constant course of contemplation, and the habit and constitution of the mind, and the constant guide of heart and life. 10!). The attainment of this would be a taste of heaven on earth : our wills would follow the will of God, and rest therein, and abhor reluctancy : all our duty would be both (juickened and sweetened with love : self-interest would be disabled from either seducing us to sin, or vexing us with griefs, cares, fears, or discontents. We should so far trust soul and body in the will and love of God, as to be more comforted that both are at his will, than if they were absolutely at our own. And God being our all, the constant, fixing, satisfying object of our love, our souls would be constantly fixed and satisfied, and live in such experience of the sanctifying grace of Christ, as would most powerfully conquer our un- belief; and in such foretastes of heaven, as would make life sweet, death welcome, and heaven unspeak- al)ly desirable to us. But it is not the mere love of j)ersonal goodness, as our own perfection, that would do all this upon us. (110.) The soul that is troubled with doubts whetiier he love God as God, or only as a means of his own felicity in suborditiation to si lf-love, must thus resolve his doubts. If you truly believe that God is (iod, that is, the efficient, dirigent, and final cause, the just end of every rational agent, the infi- nite good and chiefly to be loved, in comparison of whom you are vile, contemptible, and as nothing ; if 1G2 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. you fi'i'linsjly take yourself as loathsome by sin ; if you woiilil not take u]) with an everlastini^ sensual j)K'asnre alone, without holiness, if yon could have it; no, nor with any perfection of your intellectual nature, merely ;is such, and for yourselves, without tlie i)leasiug and glorifyini; (!od in it; if you prac- tically perceive that every thing is therefore, and so far, good and amiable, as (iod shiiicth in it as its cause, or as it conducetli to glorify him, and please his will : if, accordingly, you lovi' that ju rson best, on whom you perceive most of God, and tliat is most serviceable to hiiii, though not at all beneficial to yourself; if you love the welfare of the church, the kingdom, the world, and of the luMvenly society, saints, angels, and Christ, as the divine nature, inte- rest, image, or impress makcth all lovely in their several degrees ; and would rather be aimihilated, were it put upon your choice, than saints, angels, kingdoms, church should be annihilated ; if your hearts have devoted themselves, and all that you have, to God, as his own, to be used to his utmost service ; if your chief desire and endeavour in the world be to please his blessed will ; and in that will, and the contemplation of his infinite perfections, you seek your rest ; if you desire your own everlasting happiness in no other kind, but as consisting in the perfect sight of God's glory, and in your perfect loving of him, and being pleasant or beloved to him, and this as resting more in the infinite amia'ileness of God, than the felicity which hence will follow to yourselves, though that also must be desired ; if now you deny your own glory for his glory; if your chief desire and endeavour be to love him more and more, and you love yourselves best when you love him most ; in a word, if nothing more take up your care than how to love God more, and nothing in the whole world (yourselves or others) seem more amiable to your sober, practical judgment, and your wills, than the infinite goodness of God as such ; — if all this be so, you have not only attained sincerity, (which is not now the question,) but this divine na- ture, and high, confirmed holiness ; though, withal, you never so much desire your own salvation, which is but to desire more of this love ; and though your nature have such a sensitive, selfish desire of life and pleasure, as is brought into subjection to this divine love. If any be offended that so many propositions must be used in opening the case, and say that they rather confound men's wits than inform them ; I answer, I. The matter is high, and I could not ascend by a shorter ladder. Nor have I the faculty of climbing it per saltum, stepping immediately from the lowest to the highest part. If any will make the case plainer in fewer words, and with less ado, I shall thankfully accept his labour as a very great benefit when I see it. 2. Either all these particulars are really diverse, and really pertinent to the matter in question, or not : if not, it is not blaming the num- ber that will evince it, but naming such particulars as are either unjustly or unnecessarily distinguished or inserted. And if it be but repeating the same things that is blamed, I shall be glad if all these W'Ords, and more, would make such weighty cases clear; and do confess that, after all, I need more light, and am almost stalled with the difficulties my- self But if the particulars can be neither proved false nor needless, but the reader be only overset with multitude, I would entreat him to be patient with other men, that are more laborious and more capable of knowledge : and let him know, that if his difficulties do not rather engage him in a diligent search, than tempt him to impatience and accusa- tion, I number him, not only with the slothful con- temners, but therefore also, with the enemies of knowledge ; even as I reckon the neglecters, and contenniers, and accusers of ])iety among its enemies. But ere 1 end, 1 nmst answer some objections. Object. I. Some will say. Doth not every man love God above himself and all, while he knoweth him to be better, ami so more lovely ? For there is some act of the will, that ansvvereth this of the under- standing. Aimr. You must know that the carnal mind is first captivated to carnal self and sensuality ; and therefore the most practical and powerful apprehen- sions of goodness or amiableness in every such per- son, doth fasten upon life and pleasure, or sensual prosperity. And the sense having here engaged the mind and will, the contrary conclusions (that God is best) are but superficial and uneffectual like dreams, and though they have answerable effects in the will, they are but uneffectual velleities or wishes, which are borne down with far stronger desires of the con- trary. And though God be loved as one that is no- tionally conceived to be best, and most to be loved, yet he is not loved best or most. Yea, though ordi- narily the understanding say God is best, and best to me, and for me, and most to be loved ; when it Cometh to volition or choice, there is a secret ap- prehension which saith more powerfully, et hie nunc, this sensible pleasure is better for me, and more eligible. Why else is it chosen ? Unless yon will say that the motion is principally sensitive, and the force of the sensitive appetite suspendeth all forcible opposition of the intellect, and so ruleth the locomotive faculty itself. But whether the intellect be active or but omissive in it, the sin cometh up to the same height of evil. However it be, it is most evident that while such men say God is most to be loved, they love him not most, when they will not leave a lust or known sin for his love ; nor show an}"" such love, but the contrary, in their lives. Object. II. But do not all men practically love God best, when they love wisdom, honesty, and goodness in all men, even in strangers that will never profit them ? And what is God but wisdom, goodness, and greatness itself? Answ. They first idolize themselves and their sen- sual delights ; and then they love such wisdom, goodness, and greatness, as is suitable to their selfish, sensual lust and interest. And it is not the prime good wdiich is above them, and to be preferred be- fore them, which they love as such, but such good- ness as is fitted to their fieshly concupiscence and ends. And therefore holiness they love not. And though they love that which is never like to benefit them, that is but as it is of the same kind with that which, in others nearer them, may benefit them, and therefore is suitable to their minds and interest. And yet we confess that the mind of man hath some principles of virtue, and some footsteps and witnesses of a Deity left upon it ; but though these work up to an approbation of good, and a dislike of evil, in the general noticm of it, and in particular so far as it crosseth not their lust, yet never to prefer the best things practically before their lust; and God is not loved best, nor as God, if he be not loved better than fleshly lust. Object. 111. But it seems that most or all men love (iod practically best. For there are few, if any, but would rather be annihilated, than there should be no God, or no world. Therefore they love God better than themselves. Jn.sw. I. They know that if there were no God or no world, they could not be themselves, and so must also be annihilated. 2. But suppose that they would rather be annihilated, than continue in pros- Chap. III. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 163 perity alone, were it possible, without a God, that is but for the world's sake, because the world cannot be the world without a God ; which proveth but that they are so much men, as to love the whole world better than themselves. But could the world possibly be what it is, without a God, I scarce think they would choose annihilation, rather than that there should be no God. 3. But suppose they would, yet I say that some sensual men love their lusts or sensuality better than their being ; and had rather be annihilated for ever, so they might but spend their lives in pleasure, than to live for ever without those pleasures. And therefore they will say, that a short life with pleasure, is better than a long one without it. And when they profess to believe the life to come, and the danger of sinning ; yet will they not leave their sinful pleasures to save their souls. Therefore, that man that would rather be annihilated than there should be no God, may yet love his lusts better than God, though not his being. 4. And I cannot say that every one shall be saved, that loveth God under a false idea or image better than Inmself ; no more than that it will save a distracted, melan- choly, venereous lover, if he loved his paramour or mistress better than himself. For God is not loved as God, if he be not loved as infinitely great, and wise, and good, which containeth his holiness, and also as the Owner, and holy Governor and end of man. If any therefore should love God upon con- ceit that God loveth him, and will indulge him in his sins ; or if he love him only for his gi-eatness, and as the fountain of all natural, sensible good ; and love him not as holy, nor as a holy and just Governor and end, it is not God indeed that this man loveth ; or he loveth him but secundum quid, and not as God. Object. IV. But suppose I should love God above all, as he is only great, and wise, and good in the production of all sensible, natural good, without the notion of holiness, and hatred of sin, would not this love itself be holy and saving ? Answ. Your love would be no holier or better, than the object of it is conceived to be. If you con- ceive not of God as holy and pure, you cannot love him with a pure and holy love. If you conceive of him but as the cause of sun and moon, light and heat, and life and health, and meat and drink, you will love him but with such a love as you have to these : which will not separate you from any sin as such, but will consist with all sensuality of heart and life. And it is not all in God, that nature, in its corrupted state, doth hate, or is fallen out with : but if you love him not so wi II as your lusts and plea- sure, nor love him as your most holy Governor and end, you love him not as God, or but secundum quid; but if you love him holily, you love him as holy. Object, v. God himself loveth the substance or person more than the holiness ; for he continueth the persons of men and devils, when he permitteth the holiness to perish, or giveth it not. Answ. As the existence and event, and the moral goodness, must be distinguished; so must (iod's mere volition of event, and his comjilaeency in good as good. God doth not will the existence of a rea- sonable soul in a stone or straw ; and yet it follf)weth not, that he loveth a stone or straw for its substance, better than reason in a man : for though God willeth to make his creatures various in degrees of good- ness, and taketh it to be good so to do, and that every creature be not of the best ; yet still this goodness of them is various, as one hath more ex- cellency in it than another. The goodness of the whole may require that each part be not best in itself, and yet best respectively in order to the beauty M 2 of the whole. As a peg is not better than a standard, and yet is better to the building in its place ; and a finger is not better than a head, and yet is better to the bod^' in its place, than another head would be in that place. The head therefore must be loved comparatively better than the finger, and the finger may be cut off to save life, when the head must not : so God can see meet to permit men and devils to fall into misery, and thieves to be hanged, and use this to the beauty of the whole, and yet love a true man better than a thief, and a good man better than a bad. And either you speak of goodness or holiness existent or non-existent. In a devil there is sub- stance, which is good in its natural kind, and there- fore so far loved of God ; but there is no holiness in him, and that which is not, is not amiable : but if you meant existent holiness, in a saint, then it is false that God loveth the person of a devil better than the holiness of a saint. Nor is it a proof that he loveth them equally, because he equally willeth their existence ; for he willeth not they shall be equal in goodness, though equally existent : and it is com- placency, and not mere volition of existence, which we mean by love. Otherwise your arguing is as strong if it run thus : that which God bringeth to pass, and not an- other thing, he willeth and loveth more than that other ; but God bringeth to pass men's sickness, pain, death, and damnation, and not the holiness, ease, or salvation of those persons : therefore he loveth their pain, death, and damnation better than their holiness : therefore we should love them better, than the devils or miserable men should love their misery better than holiness. God showeth what he loveth oft by commanding it, when he doth not effect it ; he loveth holiness in esse cognito, and in esse existente, respectively as his image. Object. But at least it will follow, that in this or that person as the devils, God loveth the substance better than holiness ; for what he willeth he loveth : but he willeth the substance without the holiness ; therefore he loveth the substance without the holi- ness. Answ. It is answered already. Moreover, I. God willed that holiness should be the duty of all men and devils, though he willed not insuperably and ab- solutely to efl'ect it. 2. The word "without" meaneth either an exclusion or a mere non-inclusion. God willeth not the person excluding the holiness : for he cxcludeth it not by will or work ; but only he willeth the person, not including the holiness as to any absolute will. And so God loveth the person without the holiness ; but not so much as he would love him if he were holy. Object. But you intimate, that it is best as to tlie Ijeauty of the universe, that there be sin, and unholi- ncss, and damnation ; and God loveth tiiat which is good as to the universe, yea, that is a higher good than personal good, as the subject is more noble, and therefore more to be loved of us as it is of God. Answ. I. I know Augustin is oft alleged as saying, lionuin est ul mnlum Jiat. But sin and jiunishment must be distinguished : it is true of punishment pre- supposing sin, that it is good and lovely, in respect to public ( nds, though hurtful to the person suffer- ing ; and therefore as God willeth it as good, so should we not only be patient, but be pleased in it as it is the demonstration of the justice and holiness of (iod, and as it is good, though not as it is our hurt. But sin (or uiiholiness privative) is not good in itself, nor to the universe: nor is it a true saying, that It is good that there be sin; nor is it willed of God, (though not nilled with an absolute, effective nolition,) as hath been elsewhere opened at large. Sin is not IG4 CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part 1 good to the universe, nor any part of the beauty of the ereature : (iod neither wiHeth it, eauseth it, nor loveth it. Object. At least he hath no <;freat love to hohncss in those persons, that he never giveth it ti\iiv. Abr. Buchciltzer in Scultct. cur. p. I.'j. Dicunt Stoici sapientcs esse sinccros, observateque et cavpre soUicite nequid de sc melius quam sit commendare pulemus fuco seu arte aliqua mala occultante, et bona quoe insunt apparcre faciente, ac circumcidere vocis omnem fic- ioncni. Lacrt. in Zcnone. Philusophia res adco difiicilis know themselves to be but dissemblers ; and these are commonly called, gross hypocrites: and some deceive both themselves and others, and think they are no hyjiocrites, but are as confident of their honesty and sincerity, as if they were no dissemblers at all : but yet they are as verily hypocrites as the former, because they seem to be religious and sin- cere, when indeed they are not, though they think they are ; and profess themselves to be true chris- tians, when they are nothing less. 'J'hese arc called close hypocrites, because they know not themselves to be hypocrites ; though they might know it if they would. This is the commonest sort of hypo- crites. There arc also two degrees of hypocrites : some of them have only a general profession of Christianity and godliness, which is the professed religion of the country where they live ; and these are hypocrites because they profess to be what they are not : and others make a greater and extraordinary profession of special strictness in their religion, when they are not sincere ; and these are eminently called hypo- crites: such as the Pharisees were among the Jews, and many friars, and Jesuits, and nuns among the papists, who by their separating vows, and orders, and habits, profess extraordinarily an extraordinary measure of devotion, while they want the life of godliness. In all hypocrisy there is considerable, 1. The thing pretended ; 2. The pretence, or means of seem- ing, or the cloak of their deceit. I. The thing pre- tended by common hypocrites is to be true christians, and servants of God, and heirs of heaven, though not to be so zealous in it as some of a higher degree. The thing pretended by eminent hypocrites is to be zealous, eminent christians, or at least to be sincere in a special manner, while they discern the common hypocrite not to be sincere. 2. The cloak of seem- ing or pretence by which they woidd be thought to be what they are not, is any thing in general that hath an appearance of godliness, and is apt to make others think them godly. And thus there are divers sorts of hypocrites, according to the variety of their cloaks or ways of dissimulation ; though hypocrisy itself be in all of them the same thing. As among the very Mahometans, and heathens, there oft arise some notable hypocrites, that by pretended revela- tions and austerity of life, profess themselves (as Mahomet did) to be holy persons, that had some ex- traordinary familiarity with God or angels. So among the papists there are, besides the common ones, as many sorts of hypocrites as they have self- devised orders. And every where the cloak of the common hypocrite is so thin and transparent, that it showeth his nakedness to the more intelligent sort : and this puts the eminent hypocrite upon some more laudable j)retence, that is not so transparent. As for instance, the hyjiocrisy of common papists, whose cloak is made up of penances and ceremonies, of saying over Latin words, or numbering words and beads for prayers, with all the rest of their trumpery before named, (chap. iii. gr. direct, xv. chrect. xi.) is so thin a cloak that it will not satisfy some among themselves, but they withdraw into distinct societies and orders, (the church and the profession of Christianity being not enough for them,) that they may be religious, as if they saw that the rest are not est, ut tarn vel simulare magna sit pars pljilosnphia;. Paul Scalig. It was one of the Roman laws of the VI Tables, " Impius ne audeto placere donis iram Deorum." " Let no ungodly person dare to go about to appease the displeasure of the gods by gifts : " viz. He must appease them first by rc- fonnation. Bona conscientia prodire vult et conspici ; ipsas nequitia tencbras timet. Senec. Chap. IV. CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 177 religious. And then the common sort of ungodly protestants have so much wit, as to see through the cloak of all the popish hypocrisy ; and therefore they take up a fitter for themselves ; and that is, the name of a protestant reformi'd religion and church, joined to the common profession of Christianity. The name and profession of a christian and a pro- testant, with going to church, and a heartless lip- service or saying their prayers, is the cloak of all ungodly protestants. Others, discerning the thin- ness of this cloak, do think to make themselves a better ; and they take up the strictest opinions in religion, and own those which they account the strictest party, and own that which they esteem the purest and most spiritual worship : the cloak of these men is their opinions, party, and way of worship, while their carnal lives detect their hypocrisy. Some that see through all- these pretences, do take up the most excellent cloak of all, and that is, an appearance of serious spirituality in religion, with a due observation of all tlie outward parts and means, and a reformation of life, in works of piety, justice, and charity ; I say, an appearance of all th^se, which if they had indeed, they were sincere, and should be saved ; in which the godly christian goeth beyond them all. By this it is plain, that among us in England all men that are not saints are hypocrites, because that all (except here or there a Jew or infidel) profess themselves to hi' christians ; and every true christian is a saint. They know that none but saints or godly persons shall be saved ; and there is few of them that will renounce their ho])es of heaven ; and therefore they must pretend to be all godly. And is it not most cursed, horrid hypocrisy, for a man to pretend to religion as the only way to his salvation, and confidently call himself a chris- tian, while he hateth and derideth the i)ower and ))ractice of that very religion which he dotli profess? Of this see my Treatise of " The vain Religion of the Formal Hypocrite." The hypocrite's ends in his pretences and dis- semblings are not all the same : ene intendeth the pleasing of parents, or some friends on whom he doth depend, that will else be displeased with him, and think ill of him. Another intendeth the pleasing of the hiehcr powers, when it falls out that they are fric-nds to godliness. Another intends the pre- serving of his esteem with religious persons, that they may not j'ldg • liim wicked and i)rofane. An- other intendeth t!ic hiding of some particular villany, or the success of som" ambitious enterprise. But the most common end is to qui^t and comfort their guilty souls, with an image of that holiness which they are without, and to steal some peace to their cons'-iences by a lie : and so because they will not be religious indeed, they will take up some show or image of religion, to make themselves as well as others believe that they are religious. p Direct. I. To escape hy))ocrisy, understand well wherein the life and power of godliness doth consist, and wherein it diflereth from the lifeless image or corpse of godliness. The life of godhness is ex- pressed in the seventeen grand directions in chap, iii. It principally consisteth in such a faith in Christ, as causeth us to love fiod above all, and obey him before all, and prefer his favour and the hopes of heaven before all the pleasures, or profits, or P When Petrarch, in vita sua, speaketh of otliers extoUinir his eloquence, he arldeth his own neglect of it. Ego itiO(J(j bene vixissein, qualiter dixisseiii purvi farereni. Ventosa gloria est, de solo verborum splendore fumain nnairere. Con- scientiam potius qiiam tamam attende. Falli sspe potent f-Amx: ronocientia Ttiin'"i:irp. S"ti"f. \ OI.. i. N honours of the world ; and to worshii) him in S|)irit and truth, according to the direction of I'.is v\ ()nl. The images of religion I showed you before, page 17fi. Take heed of such a lifeless image. IJirect. II. See that your chief study be about the heart, that tliere God's image may be planted, and his interest advanced, and the interest of the world and flesh subdued, and the love of every sin cast out, and the love of holiness succeed ; and that you content not 3-ourselves with seeming to do good in outward acts, when you are bad yourselves, and strangers to the great internal duties. The first and great work of a christian is about his heart. There it is that God dwelleth by his Spirit, in his saints ; and there it is that sin and Satan reign, in the un- godly. The great duties and the great sins are those of the heart. There is the root of good and evil : the tongue and life are but the fruits and expressions of that which dwelleth within. The inward habit of sin is a second nature : and a sinful nature is worse than a sinful act. " Keep yoTir hearts with all diligence : for from thence are the issues of life," Prov. iv. 23. Make the tree good, and the fruit will be good : but the " viperous generation that are evil, cannot speak good ; for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," Matt. xii. 33, 34. Till the Spirit have regenerated the soul, all outward religion will be but a dead and pitiful thing : though there is something which God hath appointed an unregenerate man to do, in order to his own conver- sion, yet no such antecedent act will prove that the person is justified or reconciled to God, till he be converted. To make up a religion of doing or saying something that good, while the heart is void of the Spirit of Christ, and sanctifying grace, is the hypocrite's religion, Rom. viii. 9. Direct. III. Make conscience of the sins of ih." thoughts, and the desire and other afTections or pas- sions of the mind, as well as of the sins of tongue or hand. A lustful thought, a malicious thoufjlit, a proud, ambitious, or covetous thought, especially i*" it proceed to a wish, or contrivance, or consent, i> a sin the more dangerous by how much the more in- ward and near the heart ; as Christ hath showed you, Matt. v. and vi. The hypocrite who most respecteth the eye of man, doth live as if his thoughts were free. Direct. IV. Make conscience of secret sins, which are committed out of the sight of men, and may be concealed from them, as well as of open and notorious sins. If he can do it in the dark and secure his reputation, the hypocrite is bold : but a sincere be- liever doth bear a reverence to his conscience, and much more to the all-seeing God. Direct. V. Be faithful in secret duties, which have no witness liut God and conscience: as meditation, and self-examination, and secret prayer ; and be not only religious in tlie sight of men. Direct. VI. In all public worship be more laborious with the heart, than with the tongue or knee : and see that your t(m!;ue overrrun not your heart, and leave it not behind. Neglect not tlie due composure of your words, and due behaviour of your bodies : but take much more pains for the exercise of holy desires from a believing, loving, fervent soul. Direct. VII. Place not more in the externals, or modes, or circumstances, or ceremonies of worshiji, than is due ; and lay not out more zeal for indificrent 'I Sic vivendum est, quasi in < (inspe( tu vivamus : Sic cogi- iHiidiini, taiiquani aliquis pectus intimuin prospicere possit. .Sciii'c Uciii dicam, ex qua mores aestiines nostras: vjx qucnipiam invenies, qui p')ssit aperto ostio vivere : janitores conscienlia nostra — sup^)osiiit: sir vivimus ut depreliciidi sit sjljito aspii'i. Scni.'c. hp. CC. CHRISTIAN DIRECTORY. Part I. or Utile thinf,'s than conieth to thoir share ; but let tlie great siil).stantials of religion have the proce- (lenev, and he far preferred before them.'- Let the love of tJod and man l)e the sum of your obedience ; and be sure yon learn well what that meancth, *' I will have mcrey, and not sacrifiee." And remember, that the great thing which God retjuirelh of you, is " to do justice, and love mercy, and walk humbly with your God. — Destroy not him with your meat for whom Christ dii d." Call not for fire from hea- ven upon dissenters ; and think not every man in- tolerable in the church, that is not in every little matter of your mind. Hemember that the hypocrisy of the Pharisees is