The Right Method for a Settled Peace of Conscience, Direction 14
DIRECTION XIV.
14. Yet further I would have you to understand this: That As the leaſt meaſure of Saving Grace is ordinarily undiſcernable from the greateſt meaſure of common Grace, (notwithſtanding the greatneſs of the change that it makes) ſo a meaſure ſomewhat greater is ſo hardly diſcernable, that it ſeldom brings Aſſurance: And therefore it is only the ſtronger Chriſtians that attain Aſſurance ordinarily; even thoſe, who have a great degree of Faith and Love, and keep them much in exerciſe, and are very watchfull and carefull in Obedience: And conſequently (moſt Chriſtians being of the weaker ſort) it is but few that do attain to Aſſurance of their Juſtification and Salvation.
HEre are two or three points which I would have you diſtinctly to obſerve, though I lay them all together for brevity. 1. That it is only a greater meaſure of Grace that will ordinarily afford Aſſurance. 2. That therefore it is only the ſtronger and holier and more obedient ſort of Chriſtians that uſually reach to a Certainty of Salvation. 3. That few Chriſtians do reach to a ſtrong or high degree of Grace. 4. And therefore it is but few Chriſtians that reach to Aſſurance.
For the two firſt of theſe it will evidently appear that they are true, by reviewing the Reaſons which I gave of the laſt point ſave one. He that will attain to a Certainty of Salvation, muſt 1. Have a large meaſure of Grace to be diſcerned. 2. He muſt have that Grace much in Action, and lively Action: For it is not meer Habits that are diſcernable. 3. He muſt have a clear underſtanding to be acquainted with the Nature of Spiritual things: To know what is a ſound evidence, and how to follow the ſearch, and how to repell particular Temptations. 4. He muſt have a good acquaintance and familiarity with his own heart: and to that end muſt be much at home, and be uſed ſometime to a diligent obſervation of his heart and waies. 5. He muſt be in a good meaſure acquainted with, and a Conquerour of contradicting Temptations. 6. He muſt have ſome competent cure of the deep Deceitfulneſs of the heart, and it muſt be brought to an open, plain, ingenuous frame, willing to know the worſt of it ſelf. 7. He muſt have ſome cure of that ordinary confuſion and tumultuous diſorder that is in the thoughts and affections of men: and get things into an order in his minde. 8. He muſt be a man of Diligence, Reſolution, and unwearied Patience, that will Reſolvedly ſet on the work of ſelf-examination, and painfully watch in it, and conſtantly follow it from time to time till he attain a Certainty. 9. He muſt be one that is very fearfull of ſinning, and carefull in cloſe obedient walking with God, and much in ſincere and ſpiritual duty, that he keep not conſcience ſtill in accuſing and condemning him, and God ſtill offended with him, and his wounds freſh bleeding, and his Soul ſtill ſmarting. 10. He muſt be a man of much fixedneſs and conſtancy of minde, and not of the ordinary mutability of mankinde; that ſo he may not by remitting his zeal and diligence, loſe the ſight of his evidences, nor by leaving open his ſoul to an alteration by every new intruding thought and temptation, let go his Aſſurance as ſoon as he attaineth it. All theſe things in a good degree are Neceſſary to the attaining of Aſſurance of Salvation.
And then do I need to ſay any more to the Confirmation of the third Point, That few Chriſtians reach this meaſure of Grace? O that it were not as clear as the light, and as diſcernable as the earth under our feet, that moſt true Chriſtians are weaklings and of the lower forms in the School of Chriſt! Alas, how ignorant are moſt of the beſt? How little Love, or Faith, or Zeal, or heavenly-mindedneſs, or Delight in God, have they? How unacquainted with a frequent exerciſe of theſe Graces? How unacquainted with the way of ſelf-examination? and how backward to it? and how dull and careleſs in it? doing it by the halves, as Laban ſearched Rachels Tent? How eaſily put off with an excuſe? How little acquainted with their own hearts? or with Satans temptations, and waies of deceiving? how much deceitfulneſs remaineth in their hearts? how confuſed are their mindes? and what diſtractions and tumults are there in their thoughts? how bold are they in ſinning? and how little tenderneſs of Conſcience, and care of obeying have they? how frequently do they wound Conſcience, provoke God, and obſcure their Evidences? and how mutable are their Apprehenſions? and how ſoon do they loſe that Aſſurance which they once attain? and upon every occaſion quite loſe the ſight of their evidences? yea and Remit their actual Reſolutions, and ſo loſe much of the Evidence it ſelf? Is not this the common caſe of Godly people? O that we could truly deny it: Let their lives be witneſs, let their viſible neglects, worldlineſs, pride, impatiency of plain Reproof, remiſneſs of Zeal, dullneſs and cuſtomarineſs in Duty, ſtrangeneſs to God, unwillingneſs to ſecret Prayer and Meditation, unacquaintedneſs with the Spirits operations and joyes, their unpeaceableneſs one with another, and their too frequent blemiſhing the glory of their holy Profeſſion by the unevenneſs of their walking, let all theſe witneſs, whether the School of Chriſt have not moſt children in it: and how few of them ever go to the Ʋniverſity of riper knowledge? and how few of thoſe are fit to begin here the works of their Prieſtly Office, which they muſt live in for ever? in the high and joyfull Praiſes of God and of the Lamb, who hath Redeemed them by his Blood, and made them Kings and Prieſts to God, that they may Reign with him for ever? I am content to ſtand to the Judgement of all humble ſelf-knowing Chriſtians, whether this be not true of moſt of themſelves? and for thoſe that deny it, I will ſtand to the Judgement of their Godly neighbors, who perhaps know them better then they know themſelves.
And then this being all ſo, the fourth point is undeniable, That It is but very few Chriſtians that reach to Aſſurance of Salvation. If any think (as intemperate hot ſpirited men are like enough to charge me) that in all this I countenance the Popiſh doctrine of Doubting and Uncertainty, and contradict the common doctrine of the Reformed Divines that Write againſt them; I anſwer, 1. I do contradict both the Papiſts that deny Aſſurance, and many forreign Writers who make it farre more Eaſie, Common, and Neceſſary then it is (much more both them and the Antinomiſts, who place Juſtifying faith in it.) But I ſtand in the midſt between both extreams; and I think I have the company of moſt Engliſh Divines. 2. I come not to be of this minde meerly by reading Books, but mainly, by reading my own heart, and conſulting my own experience, and the experience of a very great number of Godly people of all ſorts, who have opened their hearts to me, for almoſt twenty years time. 3. I would intreat the gainſayers to ſtudy their own hearts better for ſome conſiderable time, and to be more in hearing the caſe and complaints of Godly people; and by that time they may happily come to be of my minde. 4. See whether all thoſe Divines that have been very practical, and ſucceſsfull in the work of God, and much acquainted with the way of the Recovery of loſt ſouls, be not all of the ſame Judgement as I in this point, (ſuch as T. Hooker, Jo. Rogers, Preſton, Sibs, Bolton, Dod, Culverwell, &c.) And whither the confidenteſt men for the contrary be not thoſe that ſtudy Books more then hearts, and ſpend their daies in Diſputing, and not in winning ſouls to God from the world.
Laſtly, Let me add to what is ſaid, theſe two Proofs of this fourth Point here aſſerted.
1. The conſtant experience of the greateſt part of Believers, tels us, that Certainty of ſalvation is very rare. Even of thoſe that live comfortably and in peace of Conſcience, yet very few of them do attain to a Certainty. For my part, it is known that God in undeſerved Mercy hath given me long the ſociety of a great number of Godly people, and great intereſt in them, and privacy with them, and opportunity to know their mindes, and this in many places (my ſtation by providence having been oft removed:) and I muſt needs profeſs, that of all theſe I have met with few, yea very few indeed, that if I ſeriouſly and privately asked them, Are you Certain that you are a true Believer, and ſo are Juſtified and ſhall be Saved, durſt ſay to me, I am Certain of it. But ſome in great doubts and fears: moſt too ſecure and neglective of their ſtates, without Aſſurance, and ſome in ſo good hopes (to ſpeak in their own language) as calmeth their ſpirits, that they can comfortably caſt themſelves on God in Chriſt. And thoſe few that have gone ſo far beyond all the reſt, as to ſay, They were Certain of their ſincerity and ſalvation, were the Profeſſors whoſe ſtate I ſuſpected more then any of the reſt; as being the moſt proud, ſelf-conceited, cenſorious, paſſionate, unpeaceable ſort of Profeſſors: and ſome of them living ſcandalouſly, and ſome fallen ſince to more ſcandalous waies then ever: And the moſt of their humble, godly acquaintance or neighbours ſuſpected them as well as I. Or elſe ſome very few of them that ſaid they were Certain, were honeſt godly people (moſt women) of ſmal Judgement and ſtrong Affections; who depended moſt on that which is commonly called The ſenſe or feeling of Gods Love; and were the loweſt at ſome times, as they were the higheſt at other times: and they that were one monethmonth certain to be ſaved, perhaps the next monethmonth were almoſt ready to ſay, they ſhould certainly be damned. So that taking out all theſe ſorts of perſons, the ſober, ſolid, judicious Believers, that could groundedly and ordinarily ſay, I am Certain that I ſhall be Saved, have been ſo few, that it is ſad to me to conſider it. If any other mens experiences be contrary, I am glad of it; ſo be it they be Sober Judicious men able to gather experiences; and ſo they live not among meer Antinomians, and take not the diſcovery of their meer opinion, for a diſcovery of experience. For I have ſeen in divers profeſſors of my long acquaintance, the ſtrange power of Opinion and Phantaſie in this thing. I have known thoſe that have lived many years in doubting of their Salvation, and all that while walked uprightly; and in the late Warres, falling into the company of ſome Anabaptiſts, they were by them perſwaded that there was no right way to their comfort but by being Re-baptized, and aſſociating themſelves with the Re-baptized Church, and abſtaining from the hearing of the Unbaptized Pariſh Prieſts (as they called them) No ſooner was this done, but all their former doubtings and troubles were over, and they were as comfortable as any others (as themſelves affirmed) which no doubt proceeded from, partly the ſtrength of Phantaſie conceiting it ſhould ſo be, and partly from the Novelty of their way which delighted them, and partly from the ſtrong▪ Opinion they had that this was the way of Salvation, and that the want of this did keep them in the dark ſo long, and partly from Satans policy, who troubleth people leaſt, when they are in a way that pleaſeth him: But when theſe people had lived a year or two in this comfortable condition, they fell at laſt into the ſociety of ſome Libertines or Familiſts, who believe that the Scriptures are all but a dream, fiction or Allegory: Theſe preſently perſwaded them, that they were fools to regard Baptiſm or ſuch Ordinances, and that they might come to hear again in our Congregations, ſeeing all things were lawfull, and there was no Heaven or Hell but within men, and therefore they ſhould look to their ſafety and credit in the world, and take their pleaſure. This leſſon was quickly learned, and then they cried down the Anabaptiſts, and confeſſed they were deluded, and ſo, being grown looſe while they were Anabaptiſts, to mend the matter, they grew Epicures when they had been inſtructed by the Libertines, and this was the end of their new gotten comfort. Others I have known that have wanted Aſſurance, and falling among the Antinomians, were told by them that they undid themſelves by looking after Signs and Marks of Grace, and ſo laying their comforts upon ſomething in themſelves: whereas they ſhould look only to Chriſt for Comfort, and not at any thing in themſelves at all: and for Aſſurance, it is only the Witneſs of the Spirit without any Marks, that muſt give it them; and to fetch Comfort from their own Graces and Obedience, was to make it themſelves in ſtead of Chriſt and the holy Ghoſt, and was a Legal way: No ſooner was this Doctrine received, but the Receivers had Comfort at will, and all was ſealed up to them preſently by the Witneſs of the Spirit in their own Conceits: Whence this came, judge you: I told you my judgement before. Sure I am that the ſudden looſeneſs of their lives, anſwering their ignorant, looſe, ungoſpel-like doctrine, did certifie me that the Spirit of Comfort was not their Comforter: For he is alſo a Spirit of Holineſs, and comforteth men by the means of a holy Goſpel, which hath precepts and threatnings as well as Promiſes.
2. And as the experience of the ſtate of Believers aſſureth us that few of them attain to Certainty; ſo experience of the imperfection of their underſtandings ſhews us that few of them are immediatly capable of it. For how few Believers be there that underſtand well, what is a ſound evidence, and what not? Nay how many Learned men have taught them, That the leaſt unfeigned Deſire of Grace, is the Grace it ſelf (as ſome ſay) or at leaſt a certain evidence of it (as others ſay:) Whereas, alas, how many have unfeignedly deſired many Graces, and yet have Deſired the Glory and Profits of the world ſo much more, that they have miſcarried and periſhed? How many have taught them that the leaſt unfeigned Love to God, or to the Brethren, is a certain Mark of ſaving Grace? Whenas many a one hath unfeignedly loved God and the Brethren, who yet have loved houſe, land, credit, pleaſure, and life ſo much more, that God hath been thruſt as it were into a corner, and hath had but the worlds leavings; and the poor Saints have had little compaſſion or relief from them, nor would be lookt on in times of danger and diſgrace. As Auſtin and the Schoolmen uſe to ſay, Wicked men do Ʋti Deo & frui creaturis, Ʋſe God and enjoy the creatures: Godly men do Frui Deo, & uti creaturis, Enjoy God and uſe the creatures. The meaning is, Both Regenerate and Unregenerate have ſome Will or Love, both to God and to the Creature: But the wicked do Will or Love the Creature as their chief Good with their chiefeſt Love, and they only Love God as a Means to help them to the Creature, with a Love ſubordinate to their Love to the Creature: Whereas the Godly do Will or Love God as their chief Good, with their chiefeſt Love or Complacency, and Love the Creature but as a Means to God, with an inferiour Love.
If then the Nature of Sincerity be ſo little known, then Aſſurance of Sincerity cannot be very common. More might be ſaid to prove that Certainty of Salvation is not common among true Chriſtians; but that it is labour in vain, as to them, ſeeing experience and their own ready confeſſion doth witneſs it.
Now what's the uſe that I would have you make of this? Why it is this: If Aſſurance of Sincerity and Juſtification (much more of Salvation) be ſo rare among true Chriſtians, then you have no cauſe to think that the want of it proveth you to be no true Chriſtian. You ſee then that a man may be in a ſtate of Salvation without it; and that it is not Juſtifying Faith, as ſome have imagined, nor yet a neceſſary concomitant of that Faith. You ſee that you were miſtaken in thinking that you had not the Spirit of Adoption, becauſe you had no aſſuring witneſs within you effectively teſtifying to you that you are the childe of God. All Gods children have the Spirit of Adoption: (For becauſe they are ſons, therefore hath God ſent the Spirit of his Son into their hearts, whereby they cry Abba Father, Gal. 4.6.) But all Gods children have not Aſſurance of their Adoption; therefore the Spirit of Adoption doth not alwaies aſſure thoſe of their Adoption in whom it abideth. It is alwaies a witneſs-bearer of their Adoption: But that is only objectively by his Graces and operations in them; as a Land-mark is a witneſs whoſe Land it is where it ſtandeth: or as your Sheep-mark witneſſeth which be your Sheep: or rather as a ſenſible Soul witneſſeth a living Creature, or a rational Soul witneſſeth that we are Men: But efficiently it doth not alwaies witneſs: as a Land-mark or Sheep-mark is not alway diſcerned: and a bruit knows not it ſelf to be a bruit: and a man is not alwaies actually knowing his own humanity, nor can know it at all in the Womb, in Infancy, in Diſtraction, in an Epilepſie, Apoplexie or the like diſeaſe which depriveth him of the uſe of reaſon. Beſides, it's no doubt, but the Apoſtle had ſome reſpect to the eminent gift of the Spirit, for Tongues, Prophecies, Miracles and the like which was proper to that age; though ſtill as including the Spirit of Holineſs.
You ſee then that you need not be alwaies in diſquiet when you want Aſſurance: For elſe how diſquiet a life ſhould moſt Chriſtians live! I ſhall ſhew you more anon that all a mans comforts depend not ſo on his Aſſurance, but that he may live a comfortable life without it: Trouble of minde may be overcome; Conſcience may be quieted; True peace attained, yea a man may have that Joy in the holy Ghoſt, wherein the Kingdom of God is ſaid to conſiſt, without Certainty of Salvation. (If there be any paſſage in my Book of Reſt, Part 3d, in preſſing to get Aſſurance, which ſeem contrary to this, I deſire that they may be reduced to this ſenſe, and no otherwiſe underſtood.) This ſhall be further opened anon, and other grounds of comfort manifeſted, beſides Aſſurance.