Advice to an Only Child, Chapter 10 – Chapter 14
CHAP. X. Of making Religion a delight.
MAke Religion your great delight and Recreation. Delight your ſelf in the Lord, Pſal. 37.4. Or as the Apoſtle enjoyns, Rejoyce in the Lord alway, and again I ſay rejoyce, Phil. 4.4. 1 Theſ. 5.16. Take delight in God himſelf, in his infinite Excellencies and Perfections, in his Goodneſs, Love, and Mercy, in his Word and Works, in his Commands, and in his Promiſes, in his Ways, and in his Heaven, which he hath prepared for Souls. This, and my laſt Advice for a daily mourning for ſin, are no way inconſiſtent, but lovingly meet and kiſs each other. Chryſoſtom obſerves, that David the great mourner in Iſrael, was alſo the chief finger in Iſrael. As with one Eye we look down to our ſins, ſo we mourn; but as with the other Eye, i. e. the Eye of Faith, we look up to God, and his Mercy pardoning ſin upon Repentance, ſo we rejoyce. Godly ſorrow makes pardoning Mercy taſte the ſweeter, and cauſeth greater joy and delight in God. Muſick upon the Water ſounds louder, and is much ſweeter than upon the Land. Joy upon the Waters of Godly Sorrow is moſt ſweet and pleaſant. Chryſoſtom calls ſorrow for ſin the Mother of Joy. I aſſure you God never commanded ſorrow for ſin barely for it ſelf, but only in order unto joy.
2. God would not have any of his People lead ſad drooping and melancholy Lives, for thereby they would diſhonour their heavenly Father, and diſparage his Houſe keeping, as if there were not Bread enough in their Fathers houſe, but rather a want of Neceſſaries there. Yea it would make the World ready to think that he were a hard Maſter toward them, and Jeſus Chriſt an unkind Husband. If a Wife be always ſad, and ſit puling and whining, will not every one be ready to ſay, that ſhe hath a bad Huſband? This Sackcloth doth not become the Court of the King of Saints, nor beſeem thoſe that live within it. Spiritual Chearfulneſe is that which becomes Religion, ſets a gloſs thereon, and makes it ſhine gloriouſly, and look moſt amiably in the Eyes of the World, and may cauſe them to fall to love with it.
3. But whatſoever the Wor think of Religion, it is not of a melancholy temper, but of a ſanguine complexion. It may well ſay to them, Call me no more Marah, i. e. Bitterneſs; but call me Naomi, which ſignifies Pleaſantneſs; for it is of all others the moſt pleaſant and delightſom Life, i. e. in reſpect of inward complacency and gladneſs, though not in reſpect of paſſionate joy or mirth. All her ways are ways of pleaſantneſs, and all her paths are peace, Prov. 3.17. Thus the way of Religion is ſtrawed with Roſes, with inward peace and tranquillity. Walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comforts of the Holy Ghoſt, are claſpt and laid together; Acts 9.31. Chriſtians have meat to eat that the World knows not of. What means this Muſick, ſaid the Elder Brother of the returning Prodigal? There's the White-Stone, and the New Name, that none know but they that have it; Rev. 2.17. There's hidden Mannah for their Souls to feaſt upon.
4. And indeed how can a believing Soul that walks cloſely with God chuſe but rejoyce, when it is always in the preſence of God and Chriſt? Can the Children of the Bride-chamber mourn while the Bridegroom is with them? Matth. 9.15. It is reported, that our Saviour, when he was on the Earth, had ſuch a chearful Countenance, that the Jews that lived in his days, when they found themſelves ſad and melancholy, would ſay to one another, Come let us go and look upon Mary 's Son that we may be chearful. How true that is I know not; but this I am ſure, that looking upon Jeſus Chriſt by an Eye of Faith, will make a Soul rejoyce abundantly. Tho' now you ſee him not, yet believing you rejoyce, with joy unſpeakable and full of glory; 1 Pet. 1.8. Joy comes in by believing. Actings of Faith will cauſe Jeſus Chriſt to ſet abroach this Royal Wine of Joy for you, which will never be a-tilt, but alway run freſh while you act Faith, to draw. A believing Soul hath a Bird in its own boſom, that makes moſt ſweet and pleaſant Melody. Faith ſpies out God's Love in all things, ſees all providential Diſpenſations come from God as a Token of Love, and ſo rejoyceth in all. When a Wife receiveth but a ſmall thing from her Husband abroad, as a Token of Love, ſhe rejoyceth more in it, than in forty times more which ſhe had at home before. But moſt of all Faith ſees Love of God ſhine forth in the Gifts of Grace, and Priviledges of Heaven. Hath God given you the rich Jewel of Grace, a Patent for Heaven, a Grant of the Priviledges of his Court, the Right of Adoption to the being a Daughter of God? You have abundant cauſe to rejoyce and triumph in him, and to glory in the God of your Salvation.
5. You ſee what kind of joy and delight it is, that I have here commended to you: It is not an Enthuſiaſtick joy or delight, through irrational raptures, which reaſon can give no account of; but it's a rational, ſolid complacency of the Soul in God; nor is it a meer ſenſual joy. It's not the joy of thoſe merry ones of the Age, that ſpend their Life in vain and ſinful pleaſures, whoſe mirth is madneſs (as the Wiſe man calls it; Eccleſ. 2.2.) Mad men will laugh, and hoop, and hollow, as if they were full of joy; but who knows not that their condition is very ſad? In the midſt of laughter the heart is ſad, and the end of that mirth is heavineſs; Prov. 14.13. Do not the jollieſt ſinners find a damp after all their mirth? and alas their mirth will laſt but a while; their feaſt will be ſoon over; the cloth will be ſhortly drawn, the muſick ſhall ceaſe to play at their doors, and then nothing ſhall be heard, but lamentable out-cries, bitter wailing, and gnaſhing of the Teeth for ever.
I have been the longer on this, that I might keep you from that prejudice againſt Religion, which is in the hearts of moſt, as if it were a ſad and a melancholy life; as if the bitter herb of Grace would poiſon the flower of all their Mirth. And for the ſame reaſon I ſhall add another Advice a-kin to this.
CHAP. XI. Of Praiſe and Thankfulneſs to God.
1. LIve a Life of Praiſe and Thankfulneſs to God. This inclines the Soul to a holy rejoycing in God. Let him have your admiring Praiſes continually. O ſteep your thoughts in the Love and Mercies of God! Say often with your ſelf, O what hath God done for me! what great Mercies hath he offered and tendred to my Soul? what a mercy is it that I am alive? that he hath bore with me thus long? and waited for my Repentance? what aſtoniſhing riches of Love and Free Grace is it that I am on this ſide Hell, and that there is an Alſufficient Saviour provided for me? I'll therefore live to the praiſe of his Glory, and bear witneſs to his tranſcendent Excellency.
2. Give God both tongue and heart to praiſe him. Anatomiſts obſerve, that the tongue of man is tyed to the heart by a double ſtring. May not this intimate that God would have the tongue, as well as the heart, a ſtringed Inſtrument of his Praiſe? But yet he regards not the Praiſes of the tongue at all, if you do not make melody in your heart unto him. What doth God require of you for all his mercies and loving-kindneſſes, but only praiſe? Some hold their Lands by paying the Rent of a Pepper-corn, or the like. We hold all that we have from God, who requires only that we ſhould pay this poor Qui… ▪ rent a Pepper-corn of Thankfulneſs, which if we pay daily to him, he will give in more mercies. Trumpeters delight to ſound where they may have an Eccho, and God to give where he may have an Eccho of Praſe. God is much delighted with the praiſes of his People; he likes well a thankful frame of heart; and indeed the heart is never in a better frame, than when it's tuned into a thankful Note.
3. Labour very much to get your ſelf moulded into this excellent frame of a thankful and praiſeful ſpirit. Do you love and affect mirth and pleaſure? let me then prevail with you to endeavour ſeriouſly to get this Truth engraven as a Principle in your breaſt, that you will never find more pure and clarified pleaſure, more ſweet delight, more raviſhing joy, than when you are in a God-praiſing, and a Chriſt-admiring frame. David's mouth is filled as with marrow and fatneſs; i. e. with the moſt ſweet and delicious pleaſure when he praiſes the Lord; Pſal. 62.5. Yea this will be bleſſedneſs to you. Bleſſed (ſaith that holy Pſalmiſt) are they that dwell in thy houſe, for they will be ſtill praiſing thee; Pſal. 84.4. By being thus employed, you will hold a Conſort with Heaven, and fill up the Muſick there.
4. And becauſe you are unable by all your Songs of Thanks and Praiſe to reach unto that height of Praiſe, which the Love and Mercies of God call for from you, even a Note above Ela, ſuch a high Note as would crack all your Strings, all your Faculties to get up unto; therefore call to Angels and Arch-Angels, and all the Quire in the Cathedral of Heaven, to ſing glory, honour and praiſe to him that ſits upon the Throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever.
CHAP. XII. Of Humility.
1. LEarn to live humbly before God. This will help very much to advance that Praiſe and Thankfulneſs that I have now been praiſing to you. The humble Canaanitiſh, how thankful would ſhe be for a Crum falling from the Table of Mercy? Matth. 15. A dram of Mercy will then weigh very heavy with you, when you look upon your ſelf as the very duſt of the ballance.
2. The Prophet Micah, chap. 6.8. declaring what is good, and what the Lord requires of us, gives this Inſtruction; Walk humbly with thy God. We put on our beſt Robes when we are to be taken into familiar converſe with great perſons: And therefore that you may walk with the great God, and converſe with him, be clothed with Humility, as the Apoſtle Peter exhorts, 1 Pet. 5.5. This is a plain, but a very comely and neat Sute of Apparel. The Greek word that the Apoſtle uſeth in that place, ſeems to allude to the Knots or Ribbands that Women tie about them for Ornament. Humility is an excellent Ribband, that doth not only adorn the Soul, but ties all the Graces together on a knot; it's the ſtring of all thoſe precious and goodly Pearls, which if it break, they are all ſcattered. If you ſuffer Pride to break this ſtring, your loſe all your Virtues. When the low Violet of Humility withers, all your other Flowers will die. Hence Bernard, who calls Faith the Mother, ſtiles Humility the Nurſe of all Graces. God will give all Grace to the humble; 1 Pet. 5.5. The richeſt Wine is laid up in the loweſt Cellars. The graces and comforts of the Spirit are not laid in the high and lofty heart. It's ſaid of Sancta Clara, that ſhe was but once in all her life tickled with the thoughts of Pride, and ſhe felt not the comforts of the Spirit of twenty years after. Without this Garment of of Humility the Soul is naked and thread-bare. It's a Grace of the greateſt worth, and yet it will coſt you the leaſt to keep it.
9. Shew your Humility by your ſweet contentedneſs with that condition which the Wiſdom of God ſhall aſſign you; ſhew it by your being ſo far from over-valuing your ſelf, that you do entertain mean and low thoughts of your ſelf; and let it alſo appear by your ſetting light by the eſteem of others, and by patient bearing all their ſlights. It's hard indeed to be cut in this Vein, and not to bleed very ſore, if not deadly. Shew your Humility alſo by abandoning bravery or coſtlineſs of Apparel for oſtentation.
4. Now that you may become humble, and keep your ſelf ſo, ſtudy much the Corruption of Nature, and to know your ſelf: Say often to your ſelf, O what a vile ſinful Nature have I! how full of corruption, which makes my life full of ſin? how empty am I of all good? in what a Bankrupt condition is my poor Soul? And if you would in this caſe take a right and impartial view of your ſelf, there is one falſe Glaſs which you muſt avoid, which is the Glaſs of Self-love; this will repreſent all fair to you, and make you ſeem to your ſelf better than you are: This is it which makes ones own pride, and vanity, and unbelief, and unholineſs ſeem to be a little ſin, a tolerable fault, and not to deſerve damnation. It will make every common Grace appear to be ſaving Grace, and a ſtate of Godlineſs; and every Duty a true mark of Regeneracy.
CHAP. XIII. Of Meekneſs.
1. EXerciſe a meek ſpirit in all your converſe in the World. Would you be richly adorned? the Apoſtle Peter will tell you how it may beſt be, and what is the beſt faſhion; and that is, the ornament of a meek and quiet ſpirit; 1 Pet. 3.3, 4, 5. You may perhaps think that ſuch a meek deportment would be a derogation from your Credit; but ſee there, how God counts it an Ornament, better than that of wearing of Gold, or putting on of coſtly Apparel; yea ſuch an Ornament as is in his ſight of great price. And it is the beſt faſhion alſo; v. 5. for ſo holy women of old adorned themſelves.
2. Gratifie me your Father in this ſmall requeſt; Never provoke others unto Paſſion, neither be you by others provoked thereunto. But what, ſhall I be trampled upon? no, it will be your greateſt glory and honour to paſs by an affront. A cool ſpirit is an excellent ſpirit; according as it is in the marginal reading of Prov. 17. v. 27. But ſhall I not then be accounted a Fool? No, it will be your beſt Wiſdom: For the Wiſdom which is from above is gentle, peaceable, eaſie to be intreated; Jam. 3.17. A gracious meek ſpirit will put up many an affront, and never rage. Full Veſſels will bear many a knock and ſtroke, and yet make no noiſe: But if there be envying and ſtrife in you, are you not carnal? 1 Cor. 3.3. This wiſdom comes not from above, but is earthly, ſenſual, deviliſh; Jam. 3.15. Theſe overflowings of the Gall, are cauſed by corrupt and noxious humours within. Let me perſwade you then to take this gentle Medicine, this grace of Meekneſs, which will ſtop thoſe bitter overflowings, and effectually cure the burning Feaver of Paſſion, which is cauſed thereby, and readily heal an angry Sore. This cool ſpirit will either prevent ſparks from kindling, or ſoon quench them. Meekneſs is a ſoft and gentle breath, a ſmooth and pleaſant fann, that cools the Paſſions. It's ſoft Wooll that breaks the force of Cannon-ſhot, that damps the fierceſt anger.
CHAP. XIV. Of Living in Love and Charity to all.
1. LIve in Love and Charity to your Neighbour. Be careful to get this grace engraven on your breaſt, and as it were moulded into your very Nature. Live in this Element of Love; let the acting thereof be ſo natural and familiar to you, that he that runs may read this New Commandment, which Chriſt left, of loving one another, written in you, as it were in Letters of Gold. Oh how main a part of Religion and Holineſs lies in this duty of Love? I do not know through all the New Teſtament any one duty, ſo much inculcated and preſt on, as this of Love; no ſtring ſo much beat upon, as if it made the beſt Muſick, and ſweeteſt Harmony in Chriſtian Religion.
2. You muſt love all, even the moſt wicked in the World, as having the natural Image of God, or the marks of his Perfection in the Rational Soul. David indeed profeſt his hatred of God's Enemies, but it was (according to the ordinary gloſs) of their ſins, not of their perſons. That effect of Lightning in breaking the Sword, and not bruiſing the Scabbard, is accounted as one of Natures great Myſteries. But this heavenly flame of Love and Charity, ſeems much more myſterious and admirable in its operations, whilſt it would by all means keep ſafe, and preſerve the perſon of our vicious Neighbour and Enemy, when it hath a deadly hatred unto, and a deſire to deſtroy his Vices.
3. Though you love all, yet your beſt and choiceſt Love muſt be to the Saints, in whom the Moral Image of God, which conſiſts in righteouſneſs and true hollneſs (and is the ſpecial Loadſtone of Love) doth ſhine and ſparkle forth. In the parallel Lines which are drawn from the Circumference to the Center, they all draw to it, and the nearer the Center, the nearer they are to one another. God is the Center of Love, and the nearer we come to him, the nearer are we to one another in ſpiritual Affection. There's a Conſanguinity of Graces among the Saints, and therefore the greateſt Love, as there is among perſons of the ſame blood and kindred: They are all the Children of God by Faith.
4. Let this Love put you upon being ready to do all the good you can, as you have opportunity, but eſpecially to thoſe that are of the houſhold of Faith. Let the Errand on which Jeſſe ſent David, be your great buſineſs in the World. Look how thy Brethren fare. Conſider the Poor ſo as to relieve them. Deny your ſelf Superfluities, that you may ſupply the Poor with Neceſſaries. The Poor are God's Wardrobe; you cannot hang up your Riament in a better place.