Three Practical Essays, Essay 2 · Chapter 3
CHAP. III. Of right Notions concerning Religion in general.
1. SEcondly, Endeavour to attain right Nations concerning Religion in general. Next to the Belief of the Truth and of the Necessity of Religion, there is nothing of greater Importance than the framing right Notions concerning the Nature of it. For when Religion is represented as requiring any thing, that is either not possible or not necessary to be practised; when 'tis represented as consisting in such things, as are either not worthy of God, or not profitable to Men; in a word, when Religion is so represented, that Men may hope to be religious without being vertuous, and to be accepted of God for some outward performances, without a holy temper and disposition of Mind; this cuts the very Sinews and undermines the Foundation of all Religion.
2. Now therefore to attain right Notions concerning the Nature of Religion, a Man ought firmly to persuade himself of these following Considerations: That the exercise of those great Moral Vertues, of Godliness, Righteousness and Temperance, which are the eternal and unchangeable Law of God, is a thing in its own Nature both truly excellent, and indispensably necessary to prepare Men for that Happiness which is the Reward of Religion: That God truly and sincerely desires to make Men happy, by the exercise of these Vertues: And that therefore the great and ultimate Design of all true Religion, is to recommend these Vertues, and to inforce their practice.
3. That the exercise of these great Moral Vertues, of Godliness, Righteousness and Temperance, which are the eternal and unchangeable Law of God, is a thing in its own Nature truly Noble and Excellent, is evidently acknowledged by the common Consent and Verdict of all Mens Consciences. These Virtues are the imitation of the Perfections of God; and as no Man is so brutish, as not to admire the Perfections of Justice and Goodness, when he considers them abstractedly in God; so he cannot but pay a proportionable respect, to whatever he sees carry their resemblance in Men. Hence Vertue is the most lovely and venerable of all things, and approves it self to the Reason and Consciences of Men: Hence Vice becomes truly odious, and however it may insinuate it self into the Practice, can never recommend it self to the Judgment of Mankind. Hence even those very Persons, who by the prevailing Power of some Interest or Lust, are themselves drawn aside out of the Paths of Virtue, *Placet suâpte natura, adeoque gratiosa virtus est, ut insitum etiam sit malis probare meliores. Seneca de Benef. 4.cannot yet forbear to give it its true Character and Commendation in others. Thus the Officers, who were sent by the Pharisees to apprehend Jesus, could not forbear declaring, that he spake as never Joh. 7. 46.Man spake: And the Roman Governour, when he gave Sentence that he should be Crucified, could not at the same instant forbear openly professing, that he found no fault in him. Men cannotJoh. 18. 38. chuse but think well of that Virtue, which the Dominion of their Lusts forces them to desert, or the necessity of their Affairs compels them to discourage: They cannot but wish, they were the Men they are not; and pray with Balaam, that though they imitate not the Life, yet at least they might die the death of the Righteous, and thatNumb. 23. 10. their last end may be like his. Though therefore virtuous Men are frequently persecuted in the World, and sometimes meerly for their Virtue; yet tis not because Virtue can ever be hated, but because those from whom they suffer, mistake it to be what it is not; or else because, knowing it to be what it is, they are notwithstanding prevailed upon by some private Interest, to persecute it contrary to the Judgment of their Conscience, which would force them to honour and respect it. An Instance of the former Case, are all the Persecutions of the Christians in the Primitive Times: 'Tis certain these Men were Virtuous and Religious, and 'tis certain they suffered meerly upon that account: But then 'tis also as certain, that those from whom they suffered, did not persecute them because they thought them Religious, but because they mistook them not to be so; they did not persecute them because they thought them to be worshippers of the true God, but because they looked on them as despisers of their false ones: They were so unhappily blinded by Prejudice and Idolatry, that they mistook Religion for Superstition, and Superstition for Religion: Hence they implacably persecuted that Doctrine, whose Evidence and Conviction, if they would have opened their Eyes, they could not have resisted; and endeavoured to root out the true Religion, out of Zeal to the honour of a false one. An eminent Instance of the latter Case, is the Condemnation of our Saviour: He was manifestly innocent of the Crimes laid to his Charge, and Pilate knew him to be so; but then 'tis also manifest, that he did not condemn him because he was Innocent, but because he was willing to do the Jews a pleasure: Our Saviour's InnocenceAct. 24. 27. was sufficient, to convince the Mind of his Judge; and 'twas only Interest, that overpowered the force of that Conviction. Virtue therefore is truly Noble and Excellent in it self; and wicked Men, even while they are persecuting it, cannot deny it to be so.
4. Again, That the exercise of those great Moral Virtues, of Godliness, Righteousness and Temperance, is a thing indispensably necessary to prepare Men for that Happiness which is the Reward of Religion, is evident from the Consideration of the Nature of that Happiness. The Happiness which Religion promises to holy and good Men, is this; That they shall be received into the blessed Society of Angels, and of the Spirits of just Men made perfect; and thatHeb. 12. 23. with them they shall be admitted into the immediate presence of God, to enjoy that Satisfaction which must necessarily arise, from the Contemplation of his Perfections, and from the … of his Favour. And if this be the Case, then nothing is more evident, than that the exercise of Virtue is indispensably necessary, to prepare Men for the enjoyment of this Happiness. For what agreement can there be, between a sensual, spightful, or malicious Soul, and the pure Society of the Spirits of just Men made perfect? We see even in this Life, how ungrateful the Society of good Men is, unto those that are wicked; and as it is in this, so doubtless it will be in the other World. Those Souls which have been wholly immersed in Sense, and given up to the Pleasures of this present World; can never be fit Company for those spiritual and refined Minds, whose Desires and Enjoyments are as far exalted above every thing that is gross and sensual, as Heaven is above Earth: And those malicious Spirits, whose delight upon Earth was in nothing but Hatred, Envy and Revenge; can never converse in Heaven with those Divine Souls, who feed and live upon no other Pleasures, but those of Goodness, Holiness and Love. In like manner, what can be more impossible, than for an earthly and wicked Soul, to be made happy by the Vision and Fruition of God? To see God is to behold and contemplate those glorious Perfections, of infinite Goodness, Purity and Truth; and to enjoy God, is so to love and adore those amiable Perfections, as to be transformed into the likeness and resemblance of them: And is it possible for a wicked Soul, to be made partaker of this Happiness? Tell a covetous Worldling of a Treasure laid up in Heaven, where neither Mat. 6. 20.Moth nor Rust doth corrupt, and where Thieves do not break through and steal: Tell him of a never-fading Inheritance in the World to come, or of a City not made with Hands, whose Builder and Maker is Heb. 11. 10.God: Tell an ambitious aspiring Mind, of the Glory that shall be revealed hereafter; Rom. 8. 18.or a voluptuous Person of spiritual and refined Pleasures, which Eye hath not seen, nor Ear heard, neither hath it entered into the Heart of Man to conceive them; 1 Cor. 2. 9.and will they have any relish of these things? Will they not be much more inquisitive after the Glories of Earth, and the Gratifications of Sense? So that unless we suppose God should work a Miracle for these Men, and when he removes them into another World, should transform them also into new Creatures, 'tis no more possible for them to enjoy the Happiness of Heaven, than for Body to enjoy the Pleasures of Spirit, or for Darkness to have communion and agreement with Light. I do not say, That if God should transplant these Men into Heaven, he could not make them happy there; but while they are so exceedingly indisposed for it, nothing is more certain than that he never will. The exercise therefore of Virtue, is the indispensable Condition of Happiness: And in proportion as we draw nearer to the Perfection of Virtue, so do we to the Fountain and Perfection of Happiness. The greater degrees of Virtue any Being is indued with, so much the higher Rank does it obtain in the Order of Creatures: The highest Angels, so much as they obey the Will of God more intirely, and imitate the Divine Life more perfectly than Men do, so much are they exalted above Men, and have a nearer approach to the immediate presence and enjoyment of God: And by how much one Man in this Life obtains a greater degree of Holiness than another; so much a more excellent degree of Happi-ness is he prepared to receive in the World to come.
5. And That God agreeably to this natural Order of things, does truly and sincerely desire to make Men happy by the exercise of Virtue, is evident both from our natural Notions of God, and from the Revealed Declaration of his Will. God, who is a Being infinitely happy in the injoyment of himself, and who created all things for no other reason, but to communicate to them his Perfections and his Happiness, cannot possibly but make every Man as happy, as the condition of his Nature, and the improvements of his Virtue make him capable to be: And that he will do so, he hath moreover assured us by most express and repeated declarations: He declares that his Delight is in them that fear him, and that he Rejoyces over them for good; He invites men with all the tender promises of a compassionate Father, to Repentance and Reformation; and swears by himself that he hath no pleasure in the destruction of the wicked, but earnestly desires that they should return and live: And nothing can be more absurd, than to imagine that God has secretly made any determination, which may be contrary to what he has so openly and expresly revealed. What sort of Men he has decreed to be happy or miserable he has clearly and fully declared to us in his Word: And other Decrees than this, if he has at all made any, tis neither necessary nor possible for us to know. Sufficient it is for us, that as sure as God and his Scriptures are true, so sure are we, that he that believes and obeys the Gospel, shall be happy; and that God neither has, nor can Decree any thing, whereby a truly Religious Man may be excluded from Happiness, or a Sincere Man from the possibility of becoming truly religious.
6. Since therefore God truly and sincerely desires, to make men Happy by the exercise of Virtue; and since that Virtue, which is the Condition of this Happiness, is no other than the Practice of those great Moral Duties, of Godliness, Righteousness and Temperance, which are the Eternal and Unchangeable Law of God; as has already been shewn; it follows necessarily, that the great and ultimate design of all true Religion, can be no other than to recommend these Virtues, and to enforce their practice. Other things may be Helps and Assistances of Religion; many External Observances may for wise Reasons be positively commanded, and may be of exceeding great use, as means to promote Devotion and Piety; but the Life and Substance of all true Religion, the End and Scope in which all things else must terminate, cannot possibly be any other, than the Practice of these great and Eternal Duties.
7. In Natural Religion this is very evident: For the Foundation of its Obligations being nothing else, but a due consideration of the Nature of God, and his Relation to Men; tis plain, all that these things naturally led Men to, was only to keep up in themselves such a Holy Temper and Disposition of Mind, as might discover it self in a constant endeavour of being Like unto God, and of obeying his Laws. And though this most simple and absolute Religion, did through the corruption of Mens Wills and Affections, quickly degenerate into the grossest Idolatry, and most ridiculous Superstition; tho' instead of real and substantial Virtue, the generality of Men soon fell into the Observance of foolish and absurd Rites, and the World was overspread with Ignorance and Vice; yet the wisest and most considerate Men amongst the Heathens always understood, that*foreign. Plato Alcibiade 2. God did not look so much at the Outward Pomp and Ceremony of Religion, as at the Inward Holiness and Purity of the heart; that†Cohtur autem, non taurorum opimis corporibus contrucidatis, nec auro argentoque suspenso, nec in thesauros stipe infusâ, sed pià & rectà-voluntate. Seneca Ep. 116. God valued not Sacrifices and Rich Offerings, but only the Piety and Devotion of the Mind: and that the*Vis Deos propitiare? Bonus esto: Satis illos coluit, qui imitatus est. Seneca Ep. 96. only way to keep the Favour of God, was to imitate his Nature, and to obey his Commands.
8. Nor is it less evident that the great and ultimate design of the Jewish Religion, was to preserve and increase the Moral Virtue of Men. For though God did impose upon the Jews a burdensom System of Rites and Ordinances; yet 'tis plain he did it, not that he took any delight in that External and Ceremonial Service, but that by condescending in that manner to the infirmities and prejudices of a stiffnecked People, he might keep up the Worship of the True God, and restore that Holiness and Inward Religion of Mens Minds, which the Light of Nature had not been sufficient to maintain. This therefore God perpetually inculcates to them by his Prophets, that he did not value their Ceremonious Performances without Holiness and Obedience to the Moral Law: I spake not to your Fathers, saith he, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the Land of Egypt, concerning Burnt-Offerings and Sacrifices; but this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my Voice, Jer. 7. 22. Nay, so far was God from Instituting the Jewish Service upon any other design, than the making that People more holy than the Heathen about them were, that whensoever it failed of having that desired Effect, he declares that he even abhorred all their Religious Exercises: He that killeth an Ox, is as if he slew a Man; he that sacrificeth a Lamb, as if he cut off a Dogs neck; he that offereth an Oblation, as if he offered Swines Blood; and he that burneth Incense, as if he blessed an Idol; yea they have chosen their own ways, and their Soul delighteth in their Abominations, Isa. 65. 3. And though the later Jews grew generally so superstitious in the observance of their Ceremonies, as thereby even to neglect the weightier matters of the Law; yet those who considered things more throughly, always maintain'd & taught zealously, that *foreign Philo Jud…us.it was not slaying a multitude of Sacrifices, or bringing splendid Offerings, or even building and adorning the Temple of God with all the cost and beauty in the World, that could truly denominate a Man religious; that it was a great deceit for Men to think that God would be flattered and put off with Outward & Ceremonious Services instead of Truth, Righteousness and Holiness of Mind▪ and that †foreign Philo de Plantati…ne Noe.nothing could be more ridiculous, than for Men to be very careful not to enter into the Temple, which is built of Wood and Stone, without first washing and cleansing their bodies; and yet not be afraid to appear before God in Prayer, with unclean and polluted Minds.
9. Lastly, That the only design of God's Instituting the Christian Religion, was to make Men yet more Vertuous and more Holy; is evident from the whole Tenour of the Gospel. The design of our Saviour's Life and Preaching, was to give Men a body of more Spiritual and Refined Laws; to set them an Example of a more perfect and holy Life; and to make a clearer Revelation of the Wrath of God against all Rom. 1. 18.ungodliness and unrighteousness of Men: The Design of his Death and Passion, was to make an Expiation for Sins that are past, and to make a fuller discovery of the heinous nature of Sin, which God would not pardon even upon true Repentance, without so great and sufficient a Satisfaction: And the Design of his sending the Holy Spirit, was to purifie to himself a peculiar People, by teaching and enabling Men, that denying ungodliness and worldly Tit. 2. 12.lusts, they should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present World.
10. Accordingly we find the Apostles every where in their Epistles, plainly declaring and giving Men warning, that since they had now received a most full Revelation of the Will of God, and a most clear Discovery of the Rewards and Punishments of a future State; if their Virtue did not become proportionable to their Knowledge, and they purified not themselves from all filthiness both of flesh 2 Cor. 7. 1.and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God; it would be even worse for them,2 Pet. 2. 21. than if they had never known the way of Righteousness. Be not deceived, saith Saint Paul, neither Fornicators, nor Idolaters, nor Adulterers, nor Thieves, nor Covetous, nor Drunkards, &c. i. e. no unrighteous person, shall inherit the Kingdom of God, 1 Cor. 6. 9. And again, Let no man deceive you with vain words; For because of these things cometh the Wrath of God upon the Children of disobedience, Eph. 5. 6. And again, Of which things I tell you before, as I have also told you in times past, that they who do such things, shall not inherit the Kingdom of God, Gal. 5. 21. And all those Metaphorical Expressions, such as the New Man, the New Creature, the New Birth, Regeneration, Conversion, and the like, by which the Apostles frequently represent Religion, do manifestly tend to this; that under the Gospeldispensation, nothing will stand a Man in any stead, but an entire Reformation of Life and Manners; and that all other things are nothing, except only the keeping … Cor. 7. 19.the Commandments of God.
11. How miserably then do those Men abuse this great Salvation, and turn the Grace of God into lasciviousness, who imagine, that because Christ has disannulled the Old Law, which was appointed only for a time, therefore we may be excused by our Christian Liberty from obeying the Eternal Commands of God; that because Christ has established for us a Covenant of Grace, therefore we need not be zealous to abound in good Works; that because Christ has Redeemed us from the Punishment of Sin, by the Sacrifice of himself, therefore we need not be zealous to rescue our selves from under the Power and Dominion of it; that because the Righteousness of Christ shall be available for us unto Justification, therefore there is no necessity we should have any of our own: In a word, that because Christ has promised Salvation to those who believe the Gospel, therefore there is no necessity we should be solicitous to obey it.
12. Our Saviour has indeed disannulled the Ceremonial part of the Law, which was appointed only for a time▪ but he has thereby more firmly Established the Moral part of the Law, which is of eternal and unchangeable Obligation: And therefore as nothing could be more foolish than the Opinion of those Judaizers, who thought that Christ had not abrogated any part of the Law; so nothing can be more impious than the Opinion of these Gentilizers, who contend that he has destroyed it all. Our Saviour has indeed purchased for us a Covenant of Grace, that is, a Covenant wherein Pardon is granted to past sins upon Repentance; but the indispensable Condition of that Covenant, is, that we be for the future zealous of good works: 2 Tim. 1. 10He has indeed brought Life and Immortality to light through the Gospel, and opened to us an abundant entrance into the Kingdom 2 Pet. 1. 11of God; but 'tis not that any unrenewed Nature should be admitted to have a share in those pure and undefiled Rewards, but that those who have broken Dan. 4. 27.off their Sins by Repentance, and their Iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor, may through his Merits be restored to the Love and Favour of God. Our Saviour has indeed redeemed us from the Punishment of Sin, by the Sacrifice of himself; but 'tis expresly upon condition, that we rescue our selves from the Power and Dominion of it. In order to this, he has made a most clear Discovery of the Will of God to us, and enabled us to obey it according to that Discovery▪ he has beaten off our Chains, and opened us a way to retreat out of the bondage of Sin and Satan, into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God; heRom. 8 21. ha… paid the Price, and Redeemed us out of Captivity: But if notwithstanding all this, we still continue in Sin, 'tis our own fault and extreme folly here, and will be our condemnation and misery hereafter; if notwithstanding all that Christ has done for us, we will yet sit still under the Power of Sin, we shall, notwithstanding all that he has done and suffered for us, at last fall into the Punishment thereof. The Righteousness of Christ is indeed so far available to those who sincerely desire to obey the Gospel, as that for his sake that Imperfect Righteousness, by which they could not be justified according to the Law, shall be acceptable before God (through Faith in him) unto Justification; But for one who uses no indeavours to be righteous himself, to expect to be justified by the external Imputation of the Righteousness of Christ, is for a Sick Man to expect to be made whole by the Imputation of anothers Health; or for a Miserable Man to be made happy meerly by the Imputation of another Mans Felicity. Righteousness is not an outward imaginary Quality, but an inward and real Disposition of heart and mind, which must shew forth it self in real and substantial acts of Holiness and Piety: Little Children, saith St. John, let no man deceive you; He that doth Righteousness is righteous, 1 John 3. 7. Lastly, Our Saviour has indeed promised Salvation, to those who Believe the Gospel; but 'tis most expresly upon this condition, that they Obey it also. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven▪ but he that doth the Will of my Father which is in Heaven, Matt. 5. 21. Without this Obedience, nothing in the World can stand a Man in any stead: His Believing and Professing the Truth of the Christian Faith, will avail him nothing: His continuing in the Communion of the Church of Christ, will profit him nothing: If any man seems to be religious, Jam. 1. 26.and continues in any one Sin, deceiving his own heart, that Mans Religion is vain: For though he could speak with the Tongue of Men and Angels, and had all 1 Cor. 13. 2.Faith, so that he could remove Mountains; yet if he were not holy in his Life and Conversation, it would profit him nothing. Many will plead before our Saviour at the Day of Judgment, that they have not only believed his Doctrine, but also have taught in his Name, and in his Name have cast out Devils, and in his Name done many Luk. 13. 26.wonderful Works, that is, have had the extraordinary Gift even of working Miracles; and yet if they be workers of Iniquity, he will say unto them, Depart from me, I know you not.