The Parable of the Pilgrim, Parable · Chapter 20
CAP. XX.
How they will indeavour to puff him up with Spiritual Pride. A deſcription of one of our conceited Believers. And alſo of a certain Artificial Religion which deceives many.
AND now if they ſee that your Will to him is ſo ſtrongly ſet, and your Heart touched ſo powerfully with his love, that neit her by Poverty nor Sickneſs, by Fancies nor Fears, by Perſwaſion nor Violence, no nor by ſins neither it can be hindred from going to him; they will grow extream angry and you may expect the very laſt aſſault of an inraged enemy which commonly is worſe then all the reſt. Nothing can more provoke their ſpirits then to find that all they ſay is ſlighted and diſ-regarded. There are no words you can ſpeak of them that they eſteem ſo reviling, as the ſcorn you put upon them by not hearkning to any of their words to you. It will incenſe them to take a ſudden revenge, when they ſee you ſo obſtinately reſolved as to force your way through the midſt of all the difficulties wherewith they ſurround you. This will neceſſitate them to invent a new Method to ſurpriſe you and to lay their trains in a way quite different from the preceding: which though they may ſeem not hard to diſcover, yet have more of Malice, if not of Craft, then any other. For now it is poſſible they will fain a compliance with you and make as if they neither could, nor had a mind any longer to reſiſt you. They will commend your conſtancy, and praiſe your reſolute mind, and indeavour to make you believe that they are ſo ſenſible of it, that they will forbear to trouble you. Nay, to ſuch a complaiſance will they form themſelves, that you ſhall hear no more of the badneſs and difficulty of the way wherein you are; but they will ſay, it is excellent, eaſie and void of all dangers, which are now diſheartned from preſenting themſelves to a mind that is only reſolved to overcome them. By this means they will ſecretly labour to cauſe a very good opinion of your ſelf to ſteal into your mind, and ſtudy to blow you up into an empty conceit of your own worth and ſufficiency. They will bring before you all the good deeds that you have done and diſplay your Victories before your eyes and let you know what a gallant perſon you are accounted. They will tell you how all men admire you; that the whole world muſt needs love you and have you in great eſteem for your piety; yea, even venerate the ſanctity of your Converſation. They will not ſpare to ſay that you have ſhown ſuch love to Jeſus as none can equal, and eſpecially that your courage and valour is ſo eminent that it is above their praiſes. And all this with a great deal more they will ſuggeſt unto you, only to breed in you as lofty an eſteem of your piety as they perſwade you others muſt needs have of it; and to puff you up with ſuch a vain joy, that you may pleaſe your ſelf in your ſelf and forget to go forward to Jeruſalem. But if you tender at all your own wellfare and would not miſcarry after you have done ſo worthily, hold all this for an illuſion and a dangerous piece of flattery. Look upon it as a deadly poiſon under the taſt of honey and ſo throw it away ſaying, I will have none of it: I AM NOUGHT, I HAVE NOUGHT; Do not think to pleaſe me with this diſſembled ſweetneſs, for that which I deſire is nothing ſhort OF THE PEACE which is promiſed to me at JERUSALEM.
And here I ſhould have entred a ſerious caution againſt Spiritual Pride and a vain conceit of your own abilities, with which moſt of the world is infected; but that is included already in the general advice that I have given you: and beſides I ſee you are ſo humble as to become a learner. It may ſeem indeed a thing worthy of little or no praiſe for thoſe who are Ignorant to come to be inſtructed; but there are few I aſſure you of our contentious Chriſtians though never ſo ſilly who are yet arrived at this perfection. They think themſelves fit not only to diſpute with their Miniſter, but to be his Teachers. They are his Maſters rather then his Schollers: and they do not only call him in queſtion, but boldly deliver their opinion of him. If they had ſo much modeſty and ſenſe of Chriſtian duty left, as to bring their doubts unto him about what he ſayes, it could not but be eſteemed a commendable care of their ſouls. But alas! they are grown to that degree of inſolence and are ſo monſtrouſly arrogant, that they have poſſeſſed themſelves of the chair, and ſit as Judges of his Sermons. What elſe means the rebukes which they meet withall, the haſty cenſures which are paſſed upon them, and the Magiſterial ſentence which is inſtantly pronounced with ſuch a peremptorineſs, as if there lay no appeal from the Bar of their underſtanding? It hath been my hard hap to converſe with many of them; and among the reſt I fell into the company of one the other day, who ſpake of his Guide with ſuch a ſcorn, and condemned his Sermons with ſo much confidence and laught ſo loudly at his Ignorance, and likewiſe cavilled ſo impertinently at his expreſſions when he had nothing to ſay againſt the ſenſe of what he had ſpoken, that a well diſpoſed man (though a little fierce) ſaid he had ſome doubt whether the Devil did not appear unto us to try if he could infect us with the leproſie of his Pride and Paſſion. And indeed I thought that I never ſaw thoſe things more evident in any man, except it was in another of the ſame ſort who came to cheat us (as a neighbour of mine ſaid) in the ſhape of an Angel of light. This Perſon after a great many godly expreſſions, whereby it is like he deceived himſelf into an opinion of his Saintſhip, fell into a kind of Chriſtian compaſſion, and ſeemed to have his Bowels yerning over his Teacher; ſaying, Alas poor man! my ſoul is grieved for him: He is ſo weak and unquallified for the work he hath undertaken. He is utterly void of the Spirit, and underſtands not the workings of it in the hearts of Gods people. I can never think of him but it pitties me to ſee how much he is in the dark: a ſtranger to the power of Godlineſs, and the myſteries of the Covenant of Grace. Poor Soul! who puts us upon doing (and they ſay is careful of that himſelf) but knows not what it is to believe. Is it not a great happineſs Sir that we have the teachings of the Spirit; and that the vail is taken from our eyes which ſtill hangs before the men of the World? Hath not Chriſt done much for us who hath made us wiſer then our Teachers?—
I could not for my heart but here interrupt him (knowing that the perſon whom he thus undervalued was a true lover of our Saviour and excellently ſkill'd in his Religion) or elſe I think we ſhould have heard as much in his own praiſe as we had in the others diſcommendation. But the truth is, I never heard any thing ſo fulſome from the mouth of man; and found my ſelf far more impatient of ſuch filthy ſtuff, than he could be of the Sermons at which he expreſſed ſo great diſlike. And, to ſay nothing at all of the man, I cannot but think that this Spirit is the very Firſt-born of the Devil, the eldeſt of all the daughters of Pride, the Prince of Darkneſs in the garments of Light, the dregs of Chriſtian Phariſaiſm which now as much deſpiſes Chriſts Miniſters, as the Jewiſh did Chriſt and his Apoſtles. God I hope will never ſuffer you to ſuck in this poiſon of the Serpent, nor lick up this vomit of the old Scribes and Phariſees. I diſcern me-thinks that you are as far from it, as they were from the Kingdom of Heaven, or elſe I ſhould beſtow more time upon you to ſeaſon you againſt this leaven, which will ſowre the whole lump of your Religion and render it as offenſive to God as it ſelf is to all ſober Chriſtians. But I need not have ſaid ſo much: I muſt ſuppoſe you as empty of all humanity as this diſpoſition is of Chriſtianity, as far from Reaſon as it is from the Spirit of God, or elſe hope that this Spiritual Pride, this devout Devil ſhall never poſſeſs you. For what is it but madneſs (even in the opinion of thoſe men) for one that was never bred in the myſteries of that profeſſion, to come into an Apothecaries ſhop, and there to condemn all his Drugs and Medicines for rotten and corrupt, to ſpit upon his compoſitions, and offer to throw them all out of doors as fit to be mingled with the dirt? And yet there is not more ſenſe in the humour of thoſe perſons that uſe the Sermons they hear after that faſhion: which evidently proves that they deſerve not the name of Sober, much leſs of Wiſe and underſtanding Chriſtians. Though the matter of ſuch diſcourſes have been long conſidered and duly weighed, and diligently compoſed out of the Word of God; yet theſe men who do not ponder them ſo many Minutes as their Inſtructers do dayes, and have no more ſkill in thoſe matters then in their neighbours trades which they never profeſſed; reject them at firſt hearing, beſpatter them with their ignorant cenſures, and (as if they were in a frantick fit) caſt them out, as they would fain do their Authors, like unſavoury ſalt that is good for nothing but to be troden under feet.
It will ſeem a wonder perhaps unto you that ſuch men as theſe ſhould eſteem themſelves Religious, How is it poſſible, will you be ready to ſay, that ſuch a notorious want of Modeſty and Humility of Spirit ſhould not make them ſuſpect their want of true Chriſtianity? I know indeed that nothing is more confident then Ignorant heat, but I marvel that in their cool moods, they do not accuſe themſelves at leaſt of raſhenſs and inconſiderate zeal. And truly I ſhould ſtand amazed at it too, did I not know that there is ſuch a fair counterfeit of Religion in the World that not only deceives others, but thoſe alſo in whom it is. You behold every day many Images which have all the outward parts and proportions of men to whoſe ſimilitude they are exactly formed. And perhaps you have heard of a Statue that walked and that ſpoke alſo, wherein the Artiſt indeavoured to expreſs the motions of inward life. Which may ſerve as a reſemblance to you of ſuch an Artificial Religion, that not only the outſide and the garb of Piety is repreſented by it, but there is an imitation alſo of the inward motions of the ſoul in ſuch affections of fear and love and joy as are in truly Religious hearts. Do not think it ſtrange nor wonder at this which I now tell you, for it is a very great truth which I thought not ſafe to conceal from you. And if you will have ſo much patience, I will diſcover to you the trick of it, and ſhow you by what mechanical powers this liveleſs Engine (for it is no better) is ſtirred and acted in the wayes of God.
You know the force that Colours and Sounds and other ſuch material Objects have upon our ſenſes; and how they excite a great many motions in our animal ſpirits without aſking our leave or ſtaying for our conſent. You cannot be ignorant neither that theſe motions are in the ſoul it ſelf, which hath reſentments according to the quality of thoſe objects that it is impreſſed withall. And again you cannot but perceive by my diſcourſe with you, that the figures and images of things may be raiſed in your fancy by that means, as well as conveighed by the doors of ſenſe. Suppoſe then that the beauty and lovelineſs of Chriſt were deſcribed to a company of men in very freſh colours and fair lineaments. That he was painted before their imagination by ſome ſweet-ton'd Orator as white and ruddy, the chiefeſt often thouſand. That this ſpeech of him ſhould be trim'd with nothing but gems and pretious ſtones, rayes and glories, odors and perfumes, crowns and diadems wherewith he ſaith this Prince of Glory and Woer of Souls is perpetually adorned. And then he ſhould tell them that his heart ſtands open to them, that he intends to lay them in his very boſome, that he would fain embrace them in his arms, and will waſh them in his blood, make them amiable and fair as well as himſelf, put upon them the robes of his righteouſneſs cover with his glorious garments to hide all their deformities, and ſo preſent them to God without ſpot or blemiſh that they may reign as ſo many Kings with him for ever. Suppoſe I ſay that ſuch a diſcourſe were made with much affection (and I believe you have ſometimes heard the like) would it not as agreeably move the imagination of a fleſhly man and be as apt to touch his heart with an inclination to this beautiful perſon; as a lovely face preſented before the eyes doth give him a pleaſure and ſtirs up a paſſion in him toward it? Truly I nothing doubt but this picture of Chriſt might impreſs ſuch a conceit of him in the fancy, as might excite admiration, deſire, love, delight and ſuch other paſſions as ſhall be the imitation of thoſe that are in pious ſouls who are in love with the Vertues and Spirit of our Saviour. He may not at all ſuſpect but that he bears an affection to the Lord Jeſus, and in great zeal anathematize and curſe all thoſe who are not juſt affected like himſelf. He will condemn as much as your ſelf all thoſe dull and groſs ſouls who are imployed in ſetting the poſtures of the face, and amuſing the world with countenances. He laughs at them who are buſied in ordering the motions of the head, and bending the eyes to devotion. He is far above theſe actions of the body and feeling his ſoul in a devout poſture and toucht with Religious paſſions; he knows no reaſon why he ſhould not think himſelf to be worthy to wear the name of devout and Religious.
And when theſe apprehenſions and emotions (as we call them) are once begotten, it is no hard matter to maintain and breed them up to a greater growth. They may be fed perpetually with new objects that yield a freſh delight. The deſcription of Jeruſalem may be made ſo full of pleaſure, that an earthly man may be raviſhed therewith. And he hearing alſo certain ſigns and marks given of thoſe who are ſaid to have an intereſt in Chriſt, and ſhall be Heirs of Jeruſalem; it is very eaſie to conceive how ſuch a man may ſet himſelf a work, firſt to imprint his Fancy with ſuch Characters, and then to form his paſſions to ſome expreſſion and Apiſh imitation of them. Fancy, you know, hath a great command over all the paſſions, and being acquainted very well with the way to them, and the manner of awakening them, can call them forth upon this occaſion as eaſily as upon any other. It can make them as buſie when theſe divine matters preſent themſelves, as when ſenſible objects knock at our doors, and demand to be admitted to our converſe. There are no names of dearneſs which men of this ſtamp cannot beſtow upon Jeſus. They can ſpeak of him with an high pleaſure: and pray in a pathetick ſtyle, and not without devout tranſport. They find a Love to this kind of Communion with him. They can rejoyce to think of his fulneſs and ſufficiency. They can be aſtoniſhed at the freeneſs of his Grace. They can mourn for their ſins, and then call themſelves bleſſed for ſo doing. Nay, more than this, they can excite the paſſion of gratitude in their hearts: and if they hear withall that they muſt be regenerate and born again, they can follow the Fancy of that ſo long, till they think that they feel the throws and pangs of the new birth, a change wrought in their ſouls, and all the reſt, in the method and order wherein they had it deſcribed to them. They will firſt be caſt down in great humiliations. They will complain of the naughtineſs of their hearts, and the corruptions of their natures. They will loathe and abhor themſelves as abominable creatures. They will diſclaim all their own righteouſneſs and ſtrength, and think of bringing their hearts to the Promiſe. And if they have heard any better language to expreſs this work, they will bring themſelves to an imitation of all that is contained in that alſo. They will labour to deteſt their former courſes, and to make a choice of a new life. They will ſtrain themſelves to ſpit upon their ſins, and to caſt a ſmile upon the wayes of Virtue. They will at leaſt offer themſelves to Chriſt to be formed anew, and pray him to make them ſuch as he pleaſes.
Thus is one of the Religious Puppets of the world produced. This is the beginning and progreſs of that piece of work, which a good man now at Jeruſalem was wont to call a Mechanical Religion. And if you doubt at all whether or no there be ſuch an Artificial Device as this, which paſſes for Piety, do but call to mind one thing which you cannot but know if you have been a perſon of any obſervation, and you ſhall be convinced of it. There ariſes, you ſee, very often new modes and faſhions of Religion among us. The old wayes are much decryed, and the laſt invention is voted to be altogether Divine. Now if one of theſe perſons whom I have ſpoken of ſhall chance to fall into the acquaintance of a Sect, that is much different from the preſent which he hath long followed, you ſhal ſee him eaſily ſhift his form, and ſpeedily turn into another ſhape. He can ſoon quit the way wherein he was, and become religious after the manner of this novel plat-form. All the old ſigns and marks of Regeneration ſhall ſtand for nothing, and now he diſtinguiſhes himſelf from the men of the world by other Characters. Which is an evident token that he is moved by the power of imagination, and as external objects ſhall ſtrongly impreſs themſelves: that he hath no internal life, but is carried by the impulſe of forein things, which change his motions at their pleaſure. He ſeems to himſelf to be alive, and to be no leſs than divinely acted; but alas! he is only a walking Ghoſt, as appears in this too plainly: That like thoſe Images of living Bodies, he can alter himſelf ſo quickly, and be moulded into another figure. Such a ſhadow of a Chriſtian, perhaps, was he that hath been the occaſion of all this diſcourſe: whom we are not to think to have an inward life becauſe of the noiſe and buſtle that he made, and the confidence wherewith he ſpake; for theſe do but ſtill render him more like thoſe Ghoſts, who have a greater boldneſs, and cauſe many times more ſtir, than they that are really alive.
That we may be ſure therefore that you are a living man, you muſt expoſe your ſelf to our touch, and demonſtrate it to the ſenſe of feeling. You muſt ſay as our Saviour did when his Diſciples took him for an Apparition, come near and handle me, and you ſhall ſee that I do not cheat you. Let thoſe that approach you perceive that Chriſt liveth in you, and ſhew forth your works out of a good converſation, and that in meekneſs of wiſdom. I mean in plain words, that it muſt appear to the world, that you are a ſubſtantial Chriſtian by all the acts of an Holy Life. You muſt make them ſenſible of your exact Juſtice, your unfeigned Charity, your Self-denyal, your Patience, your Peaceableneſs, and above all, your Meekneſs, Humility and Modeſty of Spirit: that if they had a mind they may not have the face to ſay, you have but the ſemblance and Apiſh imitation of Piety. And to ſay the truth, there is nothing will certainly evince it to your ſelf, but only this, that you feel in your heart a conſtant, powerful, and prevailing inclination to all good works.1 Joh 4.13 Hereby we know that we dwell in him, and he in us, becauſe he hath given us of his Spirit. If we know that he is righteous, we know that every one that doth Righteouſneſs is born of him. Cap. 2.19Let no man deceive you, he that doth Righteouſneſs is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth ſin is of the Devil. Cap. 3.8, 9, &c.Whoſoever is born of God, doth not commit ſin, for his ſeed remaineth in him, and he cannot ſin, becauſe he is born of God. In this the Children of God are manifeſt, and the children of the Devil; whoſoever doth not Righteouſneſs is not of God, neither he that loveth not his Brother. And indeed by this one mark laſt named, you ſhall detect the Artifice of thoſe ſeeming people: who notwithſtanding all their fair ſpeeches whereby they deceive the hearts of the ſimple, are never found to have a true and hearty Love to thoſe that follow not the Sect which they have embraced. It is a great while ago ſince a very eminent perſon told the world, that he noted but two ſmall wants in that ſort of men, viz. of Knowledge and of Love. He might have bated them one of the two, and yet their condition had been bad enough: though, if he had lived till now, he would have ſeen their Poverty increaſed, and that they want Humility as much as either of the other. They are indeed but ſmall wants in their account (eſpecially the two laſt of the three) and they can be very well content without them, if God will be ſo too. They eſteem themſelves Rich enough in other inviſible treaſures; nay, they have one Jewel of ſuch ineſtimable value (viz. their Faith) that it will compenſate for a thouſand wants that are no greater than theſe. But either I have loſt all my labour, or elſe I have made you ſenſible that there is nothing more imports you, than to ſee that you be not deficient in theſe two, Charity and Humility. I may ſafely, I ſuppoſe, refer you to your own memory for to be ſatisfied in their neceſſity; and ſo only ſay this concerning the former of them: That all your Faith is worth nothing, which worketh not by Love; and that he is a Lyer, who ſaith he Loveth God, and loveth not his Brother alſo.
That you may ſecure your ſelf therefore the better from this, and all other illuſions, what other counſel ſhould I give you, than to ponder that ſentence much which I wiſht you to carry along with you, and to let your thoughts run as little as may be upon any other thing, ſave Jeſus only and Jeruſalem? Draw your mind from the things which you ſee in this outward world, and make it to retire within unto your ſelf; that there you may talk with Jeſus, and behold Jeruſalem, and ſee that Glory where he is. Which when you have practiſed a competent time, as every thing will be unwelcome and painful to you, which is not related to them: So you will entertain every thing as very acceptable, which brings you into their familiarity. Not as if I would have you to neglect any buſineſs to which you are obliged in the world; for whatſoever it be which either Neceſſity or Charity requires, whether it be for your ſelf, friends, or Chriſtian Brethren, I muſt charge you to apply your ſelf to the doing of it with all care and exactneſs. Jeſus is not out of your eye (as I ſhall tell you further) when you are ſo imployed; for this is the thing by which he was known above all other, that he went about doing good. But if it be a buſineſs of no neceſſity, or if it be one wherein your particular perſon is not concerned, and your neighbour challenges not your aſſiſtance, let it alone, and trouble not your thoughts about it. And if it offer it ſelf to you, and preſs upon you, and would make you a medler in other mens matters (as moſt of our vain Believers are) tell it, you have ſomething elſe to do, and repeat ſtill thoſe words, I HAVE NOUGHT, AND NOUGHT DO I DESIRE BUT TO BE IN PEACE WITH JESUS AT JERUSALEM.