Three Practical Essays, Essay 2 · Chapter 9
CHAP. IX. Of Innocence and an early Piety.
1. SEcondly, Consider the inestimable Advantage of Innocence, and of an early Piety. Innocence is a Jewel which no Man understands the value of, and no Man knows what he does when he first parts with it. When a Man is first beaten from his good Resolutions, and seduced by the Temptations of Sin and Folly, he is then driven from his best strong-hold; his Strength, his Courage, his Assistance is diminished; and when or how far he shall be able to recover them, he cannot tell. When a Man is first inticed to sin wilfully and against knowledge, he makes Shipwrack of a good Conscience, and parts with that Peace of Mind, which how far he shall ever be able to recover, he cannot know. When a Man is first vanquish'd by the Enemies of his Salvation, the World, the Flesh, or the Devil; and prefers any Pleasure, or any Interest to his Duty; he then forfeits his Title to the Crown promised to those who shall overcome; and how far his Endeavours will afterwards be accepted, he cannot tell.
2. While a Person who has entered early into the Profession of Religion, is yet innocent and uncorrupted with Vice; he begins his Christian Warfare with firm and unbroken Resolutions, with a free and undistracted Mind, and with the certain Assistance of God's Holy Spirit: But when once he has forfeited this happy Innocence, and is fallen from his first Love; his Zeal for Virtue grows less strict, and his hatred against Vice less severe; his Resolutions become weaker and more inconstant, his Passions stronger, and his Mind more unsettled; and the Grace of God is proportionably withdrawn from him; so that it becomes much more difficult to recover his first State, than it had been to preserve it. Think not therefore, when first Temptations offer themselves, that you can now yield to them, and afterwards return to your Duty: (For if your Resolutions when firmest are not able to resist, much less will they do it when they have once been broken; if you cannot withstand the temptations of Vice while it is yet at a distance, much less will you be able to do it when it has interested your Passions and insinuated it self into your Affections; if you cannot maintain your Ground while the Spirit of God is ready constantly to assist you, much less will you do it when he has withdrawn himself from you:) But resolve bravely now, while it is called to Day, while you have Time and may do it with the greatest Advantages, to make your Religion easie, and your Happiness secure; set out with a mighty Resolution in the Christian Race, and press forward toward the Mark of the Prize of the high Calling: Despise all the Temptations of the World, and the Flesh; and resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.
3. Again, while one who has early entered into the Profession of Religion, maintains his Integrity, and stands firm against all the Temptations of Sin and Satan; he carries with him not only a quiet Conscience and an undisturbed Mind, but such a full Assurance and Joy in the Holy Ghost, as inables him to perform his Duty not only willingly but cheerfully, and to despise all the Temptations of this present World as Vanity and Nothing: But when once he has made Shipwrack of a good Conscience, and is overcome by the Temptations of the World and the Devil, to sin in any gross and notorious Instances; then Fears and Doubts, Anxieties and Scruples, must be his Portion; and though by Repentance he may recover a well grounded Hope, and through the Mercy of God a certain expectation of Pardon, yet not easily the assurance and joy of Innocence. Think not therefore, when you are tempted by Sin, that you may now yield to its Solicitations, and afterwards by Repentance recover your first peace and quiet of Conscience: (For when once the support of a good Conscience is lost, Obedience will be much more difficult; and Peace will not return, but after much Labour and many Fears, after great Sorrow and long Doubts: But resolve now to resist the very first Motions of Sin; and be convinced there is no Pleasure but in a good Conscience, nor any Joy but in the Obedience of God's Commands.
4. Lastly, While one who has entered betimes into the Profession of Religion, continues resolutely to preserve his Innocence, and conquers all the Temptations of Sin; he has a certain Title to that exceeding weight of Glory, that Crown of Righteousness, which God has laid up for those who shall keep the Faith and patiently continue in well-doing: But when once he turns from the holy Commandment delivered unto him, and is overcome by the inticements and allurements of Sin, he forfeits his Title to that Crown of Glory; and to what degree his after-endeavours will restore him, he cannot tell. That Repentance will procure him Mercy and Pardon, is certain; but to recover the Reward and the Crown of Innocence, it must be very early and very effectual. All that a late Penitent can hope for, is to obtain forgiveness and be admitted to Heaven: The bright Crowns will be reserved for those, who have fought the good Fight and overcome the World. Think not therefore, when you are assaulted by Temptation, that you may now enjoy the Pleasures of Sin, and afterward by Repentance attain to the Reward of Virtue also: (For though God hath indeed promised that those who are hired into the Vineyard at the eleventh hour, that is, those who are late instructed in the Religion of Christ, or in the knowledge of their Duty, shall have the same Reward with those who have born the burden and heat of the Day; yet he has no where promised that those who stand idle in the Vineyard till the 11th Hour, that is, who notwithstanding they believe the Gospel and know their Duty, yet defer their Repentance to the last, shall receive likewise the same Reward:) But resolve now, as a faithful Soldier of Christ, to resist resolutely the Temptations of the Devil, to despise the Glory and Vanity of the World, to get above the Pleasures and Deceits of Sense; and then your Labour will be sure not to be in vain in the Lord.
5. 'Tis to those who thus overcome, that those great and glorious Promises in the New Testament are made: Rev. 21. 7. He that overcometh, shall inherit all things; and Rev. 3 21. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my Throne; even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his Throne: and the like. He that overcometh; that is, He that having embraced the Gospel of Christ, and being firmly persuaded of the Truth of his Religion, continues stedfast in this Faith and in the Obedience thereof, in spight of all the Temptations of Sin and Satan to the contrary. In the Primitive Times, the great Temptation with which Christians were assaulted, was Persecution; by which they were tempted to deny their Saviour, and to renounce that Faith which they had once embraced, by returning again to the Idolatrous worship of the Heathen Gods: This was their peculiar Conflict and Trial; and he that in that great Trial resisted unto Blood, chusing rather to endure the most exquisite Torments, and to die the most cruel Death, than to deny Christ, was said in a peculiar and more emphatical Sense to have overcome: And to those Persons we must understand these great Promises, to be primarily and more immediately made. But that they proportionably belong to all other Christians also, who in the midst of any other Temptations shall keep the Works of Christ, and victoriously persevere in their Integrity to the end, is evident: For the Promise is not made to him that overcometh, for that reason because 'tis this or that particular Temptation that he overcomes; but because he maintains his Integritry inviolable to the last, notwithstanding the force of any Temptation to the contrary. And perhaps if we consider the Matter closely, 'tis not easie to determine which is more difficult and shews a greater constancy of Mind, to die for the sake of Christ, or to live in the constant contempt of all the Pleasures and Enjoyments of Life; to part actually with all our temporal Goods for the Name of Christ, or to keep them with such indifferency as if we enjoyed them not. Those Persons therefore who entring early into the Profession of Religion, when their temptations to Sin were most numerous and most powerful, continued stedfast in the Love of God and of Virtue, unmoved amidst the perpetual Allurements of Pleasure, the dazling Vanities of worldly Glory, and the manifold Deceitfulness of Riches; were by the Ancients looked upon with *Quicunque permanserint sicut infantes, non … tes malitiam, honorati…res erunt omnibus illis quos jam dixi.—▪ Felices ergo vos, quicunque removeritis malitiam à vobis, & indue… tis innocentiam, quia primi videbitis Deum.—Felices vos, quicunque innocentes estis sicut infantes▪ quonia n pars vestra bona est & honorata apud Dominum. Hermas 3. 9.no less Esteem, than those who suffered for the Name of Christ; and were thought to have a Title to as great a Reward.
6. Let those who have still the Time before them, and are so happy as not to have been yet seduced through the deceitfulness of Sin, consider these things. Let them consider, what a Prize they have in their Hands; and let them be zealous that no Man take their Crown. Let them consider, that if God and Angels rejoyce at the Conversion of an old and great Sinner, much more must they be pleased to see a young Person amidst the alluring Glories and Pleasures of the World, bravely resisting all its Temptations. Let them consider, that That time, which a dying Sinner would, if it were possible, give Millions of Worlds to redeem, is now in their Hands; and they may make a glorious use of it. Let them consider, that they are yet cloathed with the white Robe of Innocence; and if they be careful never to defile that Garment, they may attain to a Portion among those few, who shall walk Rev. 3. 4.with Christ in white, for they are worthy. Let them consider, that if they zealously continue to maintain their Innocence and their good Works for a few Years, they will soon be almost out of the danger of Temptation; they will escape the bitter Pangs of Remorse and Repentance; they will be wholly above that greatest of human Miseries, the dread and horrour of Death; and may, not only without Fear, but even with exceeding Joy, expect the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ at the Judgment of the great Day, and in the Glory of the World to come. Lastly, let them consider, that if they hold fast the confidence and rejoycing of their Hope firm unto the end, they shall be intitled to all those great and inconceivable Promises, which our Saviour has made to those who shall overcome: To him that overcometh, will I give to eat of the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God, Rev. 2. 7. He that overcometh, shall not be hurt of the second Death, ver. 11. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white Raiment, and I will not blot his Name out of the Book of Life, but I will confess his Name before my Father, and before his Angels, Rev. 3. 5. Him that overcometh, will I make a Pillar in the Temple of my God, and he shall go no more out, and I will write upon him the Name of my God, and the Name of the City of my God, which is New Jerusalem, ver. 12. And, To him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me, in my Throne, even as I also overcame, and am sit down with my Father in his Throne, V. 21.