The Christian Life, Chapter 4 · Section 3

The Christian Life · Chapter 4 · Section 3

p. 298SECT. III. Concerning the Second Part of the Christian Warfare; with a particular Account of the Duties thereunto appertaining.

I SHALL now proceed to the Second Part of our Christian Warfare, viz. the Course and Progress of it, which consists in holy living. For when once we have reduced our Wills to a firm and well-grounded Resolution of entring into this militant State, that which is next incumbent upon us is to pursue our Resolution in the future Course of our Lives and Actions, that is, to abstain from all Sin and endeavour to mortifie our Inclination to it, and to practise all the contrary Graces and Virtues, and endeavour to improve them to farther and farther degrees of perfection; or as the Scripture expresses it, to cease to do evil and to learn to do well; to strive against sin and to die to it, and to grow in grace and perfect holiness in the fear of God. In this consists the Course and Progress of our Christian Warfare. In order whereunto it's indispensably necessary that we should still repeat the Practice of those Duties by which we were first prepared to enter into it; all those means by which our good Resolution p. 299was produced, being naturally conducive to maintain and support it. And therefore we find that Faith and Consideration, &c. are not enjoined as temporary Duties, that are only to be practised in the Beginning of our Warfare, but as means that will be always necessary for us throughout our whole Progress to Heaven. For so we are commanded not only to acquire a sincere Faith or Belief of the Gospel, but to continue and be stablished in it, Col. i.2, 3. compared with Cap. ii.7. And so again we are injoined not only to admit the proposals of Religion into our Consideration, but to keep them there, Luk. viii.15. and suffer them to dwell richly in us, Coll. iii.16. And so for all those other preparatory Duties. For that from a hearty Conviction of our need of Christ we should beg all Mercies of God in his Name and for his sake, is a standing Precept of Christian Devotion, John xvi.24. and so is also Confession of our sins to God, 1 John i.9. and Prayer for his Grace and Assistance, Coll. iv.2. Nor is it only required that we should once repent or change our bad Resolution for a good one, but that we should also repeat and confirm our good Resolution; that we should stablish our hearts, that is, keep our Wills fixed and determined to all good Intentions and Purposes, p. 300James v.8. and stand fast in the Lord, that is, adhere to the Profession and Practice of Christianity with a firm and constant Resolution, Phil. iv.1. For to proceed in our Christian Warfare, is constantly to live up to our good Resolution, which will require a continued Application of those means by which we were first prepared and disposed to enter into it. Thus Faith is no less necessary to inable us to perform, than it was to prepare us to make our good Resolution; and still the more we believe our Religion, the more we shall think our selves concerned in its proposals, and consequently the more firmly we shall be resolved to close with and embrace them; and so still as our Faith improves in degrees of Certainty, our Resolution will proportionably grow stronger and stronger. Again, if it were necessary to the Birth of our Resolution that we should first duly weigh and consider the Motives and the Difficulties of the Duties we were resolving on, then it will be no less necessary to the Growth and Emprovement of it that we should frequently consider over these Motives and Difficulties again, and ballance them one against another. And at first especially, while our good Resolution is yet in its Infancy, it will be very necessary that we should every day before we p. 301go abroad into the World spend some portion of Time in fore-thinking of the many Temptations that do lie in wait for us, whether in our Business or Company or necessary Refreshments and Diversions; and fore-arming our selves against them with the Motives and Arguments of our Religion; that so we may have our Weapons ready when ever they shall assault us, and be always provided to resist them. Again, if it were necessary to the forming our Resolution, that we should be convinced of the Necessity and Reality of our Saviours Mediation, then it will be no less necessary to the performance of it that our Hope and Fear which are the Springs of our Action should still be excited by the glorious Assurance of Mercy and horrid Prospect of Sin which this Conviction implies. Once more, was it necessary to the well making of our Resolution that we should affect our selves before-hand with a hearty Shame and Sorrow for our past Transgressions, then will it be no less necessary for the strengthening and confirming it, that we should ever and anon revive this our Shame and Grief, by reflecting on the Filthiness of our past State, and the Weakness and Imperfection of our present, and by an ingenuous Confession of both to the high and holy God; that so our Shame and Sorrow for p. 302our Sins being digested into Anger and Displeasure, may sharpen our Resolution and animate it more and more against them. In short, if it be necessary to the founding of our Resolution, that we should first earnestly implore the divine Grace and Assistance, then it will be no less necessary for the continuance of it, that for the same purpose we should continually apply our selves to the Throne of Grace; that we should every Morning commit our selves to Gods Grace and Protection, and never presume to venture among the Snares of the World without him; that we should count it as unsafe for us to go out of our Chambers without being armed with Gods Aid, as 'tis to rush naked into a Battle amongst Swords and Spears: in a word, that we should every Morning and Evening at least, recommend our selves to God, and beseech him to defend us against all those Terrors and Allurements which either the Devil or our own Lusts shall propose to withdraw us from our good Resolution. And if upon all these preparatory Exercises of our Faith, Consideration, &c. it was at first necessary for us to enter into a solemn Resolution, it will be no less necessary that with the same continued Preparations we should frequently iterate and renew it; especally at first, till the p. 303Strength of our bad Inclinations is in some measure broken and abated. Now we should take care to go every day out of our Chambers fresh armed, as men that expect an Enemy at the Threshold; and not to trust our weak Souls among the Temptations of the World till we have first chained up our Inclinations with new Vows of fidelity. So that you see the Duties of our Entrance into the Christian Warfare are not so peculiar to to that State, but that they are also to be practised in the Course and Progress of it.

BUT then besides these, there are sundry others that are necessary to our successful Progress therein. All which I shall reduce to these following Heads,

1. That we take care to arm our selves with Patience and Courage to undergo and encounter the Trouble and Difficulty of it.

2. That we propose to our selves the most excellent Examples.

3. That we apply our selves to our Spiritual Guides for Direction.

4. That we be very curious of our Aims and Intentions.

5. That we should possess our minds with a lively Sense and awful Apprehension of Gods Presence with, and Inspection over us.

p. 3046. That we frequently examine and review our own Actions.

7. That we be very watchful and circumspect in the Conduct and Management of our selves.

8. That we should betake our selves to some honest Calling, and behave our selves diligently and industriously therein.

9. That we should endeavour after a chearful Frame of Spirit.

10. That we should maintain in our minds a constant Sense and Expectation of Heaven.

11. That we should live in the constant use of the external Ordinances and Institutions of our Religion.

I. TO the Course and Progress of our Christian Warfare, it is necessary that we arm our selves with Patience and Courage to undergo and encounter the Troubles and Difficulties of it. For so we are commanded to be strong in the Lord, Ephes. vi.10. and to be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus, 2 Tim. ii.1. that is, to fortifie our selves with the Grace of God and the Motives of Religion against all those Hardships and Oppositions which may rise up against us in our March to Heaven; for we are assured before-hand that we have need of patience that after we have done the will of God we p. 305may receive the promise, Heb. x.36. and therefore we are bid to strengthen our selves with all patience and long suffering with joyfulness, Coll. i.11. and to run with patience the race that is set before us, Heb. xii.1.

FOR though it is certain that when we have well and wisely resolved, the greatest Difficulty of our spiritual Warfare is over, yet it cannot be dissembled that even when this is performed, and we proceed from hence to Execution, there will, at first especially, arise such Difficulties and Oppositions in our way as will sufficiently try our Courage and Patience. And though if when we were forming our Resolution we considered the whole matter, we could not but foresee great Difficulties in the Execution of it, and be very sensible what strong Inclinations from within and Temptations from without we were to struggle and contend with; yet alas the Difficulties of all Undertakings are usually much less in our Foresight, than in our Sense and Experience of them. For while they are in our Foresight we have only the Notions and Ideas of them to encounter, and these being not so stubborn as the things themselves are much more easily conquered by us. So that when instead of our own easie and compliant Notions we come to contend with the Difficulties themselves, we p. 306very often find the Face of things quite changed, and those Difficulties which did so easily submit to our Apprehensions, do many times make an obstinate Resistance to our Endeavours. And thus many times it is in the matter in hand. So that when we are fore-casting the Difficulties of Religion in our Minds, we must always allow for the Distance of them which usually lessens their Appearance, and conclude with our selves that when we are actually ingaged with them we shall find them much more stiff and incompliant to our Endeavours than they are now to our Thoughts; and accordingly prepare and arm our selves against them. For when from considering we proceed to encounter them, we must expect to find that to discourse and execute are things of a widely different nature; and that those Difficulties which we so easily vanquished in our Thoughts and Discourses, will when we are actually contending with them put us to a much harder Trial of our Valour and Constancy than we were aware of.

FOR if we should have nothing but our own bad Inclinations and the ordinary Temptations of the World to struggle with, yet even these we shall find sufficient to exercise our utmost Patience and Constancy. For we must not expect that our bad Inclinations, p. 307especially after they have been pampered and improved by a long and frequent Repetition of forbidden Enjoyments, will be presently subdued and mortified when there are so many Temptations all around us cotinually exciting and provoking them. No, you may be assured they will struggle for their lives before they give up the Ghost, and if they are deeply radicated, will not be torn from their Roots without a great deal of Time and Labour. So that unless you have a great stock of Patience and Courage to endure and out-stand their tedious Resistances to your pious Endeavours, and to deny them those vicious satisfactions which they feed and live upon, till you have starved them out, you will quickly be weary of contending with them, and rather chuse to yield them their Desires, than be plagued with their restless Importunities.

BUT then besides these ordinary Difficulties of denying your sinful Desires and Inclinations, it may be your Lot to take up the Cross too, and to follow your Saviour through a dark Lane of Sufferings and Persecutions; and then you will need a world of Patience and Courage to undergo all that Shame and Reproach, Loss and Pain, Fear and Suffering, through which you must fight your way to Heaven if ever you come p. 308there. Since therefore this may happen to ye, and is not altogether unlikely, it concerns ye as ye hope for Heaven to fore-arm and prepare your selves against it. So that our Christian Warfare exposing us, as it doth, to so many certain and probable Difficulties, it is not without reason that the Apostle exhorts us to be stedfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as we know that our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord.

II. TO the Course and Progress of our Christian Warfare it is necessary that we propose to our selves the most excellent Examples. For Experience tells us that good Example hath a stronger Influence upon men than good Precepts or Counsels; and the reason is plain, because he that only gives others good Advices or Instructions doth not give them that Security that he believes himself, as he that seconds his Counsel with his own Example. For they who are instructed do in a great measure depend upon the Judgment and Authority of their Teachers, and therefore must have a reasonable Security that their Teachers do believe themselves before they will be induced to believe and comply with what they are taught; and such a Security is not to be fetcht so much from their Words as from p. 309their Actions. But when by their Examples they transcribe their own Doctrines, it is visible they are in earnest, and that is a probable Argument to their Disciples that their Doctrine is true. So that good Example teaches with greater Force and Authority than good Doctrine can do, because it more sensibly confirms what it teaches, and doth at the same time direct us what to do, and by a very popular Argument prove that we ought to do it. Besides when the matter which the Teacher advises or enjoins is hard and difficult, he ought for the Encouragement of those whom he teaches, to give them a full Assurance that 'tis practicable; which no Argument will so effectually do as his own Example. For when they see that he himself practises what he teaches, that is an ocular Demonstration to them that 'tis practicable. So that good Example carries in it this strong Encouragement to Goodness, that there is nothing in it but what is possible, and that the greatest Difficulties that attend it are such as may be conquered by Diligence and sincere Endeavour. And as it gives us the most sensible Direction and Encouragement to Virtue, so it also represents it to us to the greatest Advantage. For whereas Precepts and Discourses of Virtue are only the Pictures and artificial Descriptions p. 310of it, a virtuous Example is Virtue animated and exposed to our view in all its living Charms and Attractions. And therefore by how much Nature exceeds Art, and the most accomplished Beauties excel their Statues and Pictures, by so much is Virtue in Examples more amiable and attractive than in Precepts and Discourses. Since therefore in good Examples we see Virtue alive and in motion, exerting it self in the most comely Actions and graceful Gestures, this must much more effectually recommend and indear it to our Minds and Affections than the most pressing Discourses or lively Descriptions of it.

THIS therefore is one of those great means of holy living which the Gospel hath prescribed us, viz. that we should propose to our selves the best and most excellent Examples; that we should be followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises, Heb. vi.12. and that we should be followers of the Apostles and Leaders of the Flock of Christ, as they were of Christ himself, 1 Cor. xi.1. But because the Examples of the best of Men have a great many imperfections in them, and are very often intermixt either with Excesses or Defects, and tainted with Superstition or Enthusiasm, by reason whereof they frequently mislead p. 311those that tread too close upon the heels of them; therefore we are more particularly directed to the Example of the great Master of our Religion; which though it consists of an unspotted Innocence and perfect Virtue, yet is every way accommodated to the State and Condition of humane Nature and Conversation. For he conversed among men with a modest Virtue, and such as was every way consistent with an ordinary Course of life. His Piety was even and constant and unblameable, but such as fairly complied with civil Society and a secular Conversation. It affected not high Transports, and Raptures of Devotion, but was such as was both fit and easie for Mortals to imitate. His Virtue consisted not in prodigious Fastings, or sour and unpracticable Abstractions from Sense, but in a life of Justice and Temperance, of Humility and Charity and Patience, and the like; that is, in such a life as is not only proper, but possible for us to transcribe. So that in his glorious Example he hath transmitted to us an imitable Virtue; for he took care not to out-run the Capacities of Men in inimitable Expressions of Sanctity and Virtue, but so far as he could innocently, complied with our Weakness, and kept pace with our Strength; that so he might entertain us all along with the Comforts of his Company, p. 312and the Influence of a perpetual Guide. And as that Rule of Faith which he hath propounded to us, is fitted to our Understandings, being very short, easie and intelligible; so, as an excellent Writer of our own hath observed, that Copy of Manners which he hath set before us, is not only fitted with Excellencies worthy, but also with Compliances possible to be imitated by us.

AND as his Example is all imitable, so it is all throughout substantially good. For it consisted in a modest Piety, a simple and unaffected Goodness. His Devotions to God never affected the Stage, nor did they ever evaporate in enthusiastick Rants, or unaccountable Raptures of Passion, but were always secret and serious, calm and manly, animated with a seraphick Fervour, and yet conducted with Reason and Sobriety. His Government of himself was exact and regular, his Affections were always fixt to their proper Objects, and never exceeded the just Limits of Reason; and his Appetites were always moderated by his Vnderstanding, and never transgressed the bounds of Temperance and Nature. His Conversation among men was most innocent and candid, free and ingenuous; neither vain nor morose, haughty nor sordid, but equally poised between all Extremes. He was just without p. 313Partiality, humble without Affectation, charitable and beneficent without Noise or Respect of Persons. His Zeal was wise, temperate and substantial, such as did not spend it self in a furious Contention for, or Opposition to things of an indifferent Nature, but it quietly submitted to the Customs of his Countrey and of the Church in which he was born and educated; and all his Invectives were against Hypocrisie and Immorality, which were the only things to which his noble and generous Temper could never be reconciled. In a word, his whole Religion was modest and serious, and affected rather to be seen than to be heard, and to be than to be seen. His Heavenly-mindedness was such as rendred him neither too sour nor too talkative; and his Patience was always equally distant from Stupidity and Effeminacy. For so when he endured that miserable Death of the Cross, he suffered like a Man that was sensible of Pain, and yet very well knew how to undergo it as became him. For as on the one hand he did not breath out his Soul like an effeminate Epicure, in whining Complaints and wretched Lamentations; so neither on the other hand did he give up the Ghost like a flanting Stoick in a huffing Contempt of death, or an affected Insensibility of Pain p. 314and Misery. But from the beginning to the end he acted his Part in that bloody Tragedy, as one that was neither insensible of Torment, nor conquered by it. For the last words which he breathed, which were a hearty Prayer for his Murderers, manifested his Soul to be calm and serene under all the Agonies of his Body. Thus is his great Example intirely composed of those excellent Virtues, that are the proper Graces and Ornaments of humane Nature. Now though there be some Actions of our Saviours Life which were never intended for our Imitation, viz. such wherein he either exercised or proved and asserted his divine Authority; yet whatsoever he did of precise Morality, and in pursuance to his own Laws, he designed and intended for our Imitation. So that in all such matters, as his Law is to be our Map and Rule, so his Practice is to be our Guide and President.

FOR this is the great End of our Religion, to which God hath predestinated us. namely, to be conformable to the Image of his Son, Rom. viii.29. and in this consists our putting on of the Lord Jesus Christ, namely, in imitating his Manners, and following the Garb and Fashion of his Conversation; and accordingly our Saviour tells his Disciples, John xiii.15. I have given you p. 315an example (that is of Humility and Charity) that you should do as I have done to you; and 'tis one of his great Commands that we should learn of him who was meek and lowly of heart, with a promise that in so doing, we should find rest unto our Souls. Mat. xi.29.

WHEREFORE if we would lead a holy Life, pursuant to our holy Resolution, we must set holy Examples before our eyes, and especially that most holy one of our blessed Saviour. We must peruse the History of his sacred Life, and diligently observe his Carriage and Demeanour in all those Capacities and Circumstances wherein he was placed, and closely apply it all to our selves as a perfect Pattern of Action. Thus and thus did my Saviour, Sic ille manus sic ora— so he demeaned himself when he was in my Circumstances, after this manner he acted and thus he suffered; and can I follow a more glorious Example, nay would it not be a burning Shame for me not to imitate his Manners whilst I profess my self his Disciple? Think, O my Soul, what would he have now done, if he were in thy Condition and had thy Temptations before him. Would he have pawned his Innocence for such a Trifle, or prostituted himself to such a base, infamous Action, to avoid such an inconsiderable Inconvenience? No, doubtless p. 316he would not; and art thou not ashamed to comply with such a Temptation, knowing with what Indignation thy Saviour would have rejected it? If we would but thus inure our selves to reflect upon our Saviours Example, and apply it to and compare it with our own Actions, we cannot imagine with what a divine Emulation 'twould inspire us; how it would animate our Weaknesses, and shame our Irregularities, and inamour our Souls with true Virtue and Goodness.

III. TO the Course and Progress of our Christian Warfare it is also necessary that we should frequently apply our selves for Advice and Direction to our spiritual Guides. For it is to be considered that men of a secular Life and Conversation are generally so engaged in the Business and Affairs of this World, that they very rarely acquire Skill enough in Religion to conduct themselves safely to Heaven through all those Difficulties and Temptations that lie in their way. For before they can be capable to guide themselves safely, they must in all points of great moment be able to distinguish between Truth and Falshood, and to make a difference between good and evil, which in many Instances do border so near upon one another, that it requires much greater Skill and Knowledge than the Generality p. 317of men are Masters of to discern the Point and Boundary that parts them. And supposing their Vnderstandings to be so well instructed as to be able to resolve them truly in all those doubtful Cases wherein they are or may be concerned, yet still there is generally such a fault in their Wills as renders them incompetent Judges for themselves; and that is, that through an Excess of Self-love they are prone to be partial in their own Concerns, and consequently, unless the Case be very plain, to vote that true that is most for their Interest, and determine on that side they are most inclined to. For when a mans Judgment is before in Suspence, a very small weight of Interest on the wrong side of the Question usually turns the Scale against the greater probability on the right. And whilst Interest fees mens Affections, and their Affections bribe their Judgments, it will be almost impossible for them to secure their Innocence whilst they determine all Cases of Right and Wrong at the Tribunal of their own Reason. For when once they have determined falsly (as many times to be sure they will) besides the many single Miscarriages in Practice that will be consequent thereunto; by practising on upon their false Determinations, they will intangle themselves in such evil Customs p. 318and Habits, as by that time they have discovered the Error of their Judgment will render it very difficult for them to correct the error of their Practice. And therefore to secure our selves in our Innocence and Duty, it is mighty necessary that in all doubtful Cases we should appeal from our selves to the Judgment of others, who having no Interest to biass them one way or t'other, will be much more impartial, and therefore (if they have but equal Understanding) more competent Judges of our Case than our selves.

UPON both which accounts the Christian Religion hath wisely separated an Order of Men from the World to be the Guides and Conducts of Souls, to oversee and direct the secular Flock, who upon the above-mentioned accounts cannot be supposed to be in all Cases competent Guides of themselves. For 'twas to this purpose that our Saviour before his Ascension commissioned his Disciples, Mat. xxviii.18, 19, 20. All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. And that he did p. 319not intend this meerly for a temporary Commission which was to expire with the first Bishops and Propagators of the Gospel, but designed to have it derived from their hands to all the succeeding Ages of Christianity, is evident not only from the Promise annexed to it, that he would be with them to the end of the world, which plainly shews that 'twas to continue in force till then; but also from hence, that they to whom this Commission was immediately given, did actually derive it to others, 2 Tim. i.6. with a strict Charge that these also should successively derive it to others, Tit. i.5.

AND as by this perpetual Commission Christ hath Established a Succession of men to be the Guides of Souls to the end of the World, so he hath obliged all Christian People to attend to and respect them as such. For he that heareth you, saith he, heareth me, and he that despiseth you despiseth me, and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me, Luk. x.16. and 1 Cor. iv.1. the Apostle injoins all Christians to account of these spiritual Guides as of the Ministers of Christ, and stewards of the Mysteries of God; so also 1 Thess. v.12, 13. he earnestly beseeches them, as a matter of vast importance, that they would know them which labour among them, and are over them in the Lord, and were to p. 320admonish them, and esteem them very highly in love for their works sake; and Heb. xiii.17. he gives this Injunction, obey them which have the rule over you, and submit your selves; for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief; for that is unprofitable for you.

THERE being therefore an Order of men that are thus sanctified and set apart from the World, by the Commission of our Saviour, to consult the various Necessities of Souls, and administer to them in all their religious Concerns; it would doubtless mightily contribute to their successful Progress in the Christian Warfare, if in all their streights and difficulties men would apply themselves to them for Counsel and Direction with such Modesty and Sincerity as they ought to do. For besides that they might reasonably expect a greater Blessing upon their Counsels than other mens, they being commissioned Guides under the great Shepherd of Souls, who, we must needs suppose, will more especially cooperate with the Means of his own Ordination, besides this I say, they being persons that are wholly devoted to the Study and Ministries of Religion, must needs be supposed caeteris paribus, to have a farther Insight into the Cases p. 321of Souls, into their Dangers and Refuges, Diseases and Remedies, and consequently to be better able to counsel and direct them than men of a secular Life and Conversation. If therefore men would be but so kind to themselves, as to apply themselves in all their spiritual Exigencies to a holy, wise and well-instructed Guide; to uncover their Sores, lay open their Cases, and reveal the Secrets of their Souls to him, so far as is necessary to enable him to make proper Applications; it is not to be expressed what a vast Advantage they might make of him. He would be instead of a good Genius or Tutelar Angel to their Souls, to suggest many a good Thought to them, and feed their Meditations with many an useful Notion; to enable them to extract from the Articles of their Belief their just and proper Inferences, and reduce them to practical Principles; to rectifie their Wanderings, and extricate them from their Doubts; to comfort them in their Sorrows, and quicken them in their Indispositions; to warm their Indifferencies, and moderate their Zeal, so as that they may neither be becalmed by the one, nor over-born by the too violent Gusts of the other; and in a word, to direct them to the proper Methods of mortifying their bad Inclinations and conducting their Religion so, as to render p. 322it more easie and delightful to them. These and a great many other good Offices a wise and well-experienced Guide would be able to do men, if they would but take him along with them in their Journey to Heaven, and modestly submit themselves to his Conduct and Direction. And in thus doing they would act not only with greater Security to their Innocence, but with greater satisfaction to their Consciences; because then their Actions would be warranted not only by their own private Sentiments, which in many Cases they will have just cause to suspect, but also by the better and more impartial Judgment of an authorised Guide. For if under his Conduct they should happen in any doubtful Instance to err from the way of Truth or Righteousness, they will have this Satisfaction, that they have used the best Means to prevent it, the Means to which God himself hath remitted them, to whom alone they are accountable for their Actions, and who, as they may well imagine, will very much compassionate such Miscarriages as may follow upon their Submission to his own Appointments. But if notwithstanding the great Care that he hath taken of their Souls, in appointing them Pilots to steer them safely to Heaven, they will embark without p. 323them, and presume so far upon their own Skill as to venture to their eternal Port through all those Rocks and Quicksands that lie in their way; they must needs be in great Danger of miscarrying, which if they do; they may thank themselves for it and can expect no Pity from God, whose careful provision for their eternal Safety they have so ungratefully contemned and neglected.

IV. TO our prosperous Course and Progress in the Christian Warfare it is also necessary that, as often as we can, we should actually intend and aim at God in the Course of our Lives and Actions. For it is of mighty Advantage to the Conduct of a mans Life to have his Intentions united, and continually to act with one steady Drift and Aim. Because while he intends but one thing, he unites the whole Vigour of his Nature in the pursuit of it, and is continually driving at it with all the Force and Activity of his Faculties. 'Tis an Italian Proverb, From the man of one Business good Lord deliver me; because minding that only, he must needs be supposed to be the more expert and sagacious in it, and consequently the more able to exceed and over-reach another man who hath only minded it by the by; but when a man acts with a multifarious Intention, p. 324he must needs be distracted in his Operations, and the force of his Faculties being divided by the multiplicity of his Aims must needs be so weakned that 'twill be impossible for him to pursue any one of them with Vigour and Activity. 'Tis one of Pythagoras his Maxims, foreign, a man ought to be one, i. e. so far as he is able, to fix all his Aims upon one End and unite them in one Center, and not to suffer himself to be tossed hither and thither by independent Designs and Intentions; because this will unavoidably distract him in his prosecutions, and so divide and weaken his Principles of Action that he will be able to do nothing to any Purpose. God therefore being the great Object of Religion, it is necessary in order to our progress therein, that we should, as much as in us lies, respect and aim at him in the whole Course of our Actions; that we should continually look up to him as to the directing Star by which we are to steer our Motions and conduct our whole Lives under a fixt Intention to obey his Will, and imitate his Nature.

AND indeed unless we do this, we are not good Men in the Sense and Judgment of Religion. For Religion, as such, is a Rule of divine Worship; and under this Notion the Christian Religion in particular enjoins p. 325all its Duties, viz. of Homage and Worship, to God. For it requires us to do all as unto God, Col. iii.23. and to do all to the glory of God, 1 Cor. x.31. that is, to do all in Obedience to him, and Imitation of him, from a sincere Acknowledgment of the Perfections of his Nature, of his sovereign Authority over us, and immutable Right to rule and command us. Not that an actual, explicite Intention of obeying or imitating God is necessary to every good Action; for our Occasions of doing good, being so infinite and so often occurring in our secular Affairs, and our Minds being so incapable as they are of attending many things at once; it is impossible for us actually to intend Obedience to God in every good thing we perform; but that in the general we should heartily intend it is indispensibly necessary to the consecrating our best Actions, and adopting them into the Family of Religion. For that we must obey God, is the fundamental Law of Religion, from whence all the particular Commands and Prohibitions of it do receive their Force and Obligation. So that unless we do what he commands with a general Intention of Mind to obey him, we do not act upon a religious Obligation, and consequently though our Actions should be materially good, yet are they not formally religious.

p. 326NOW to the fixing and setling such a general Intention in our Minds, it is necessary that in the particular Exercises of our Religion we should; so far as we are able, actually intend and aim at God; that we should throw by all other Ends, so far as we are able, and refer our Actions directly and immediately to him; in a word, that we should formally devote and dedicate them to his blessed Will and Pleasure, so as to be able to say, this and this I do purely to please God, with a single Intention of Soul to resemble and please him, to transcribe his Nature and comply with his Will. For which end we must take care as oft as we can to perform our religious Actions in such a manner, as that no secular Ends may interpose between God and our Intentions; to be as private and as modest as we can in our Religion, and not expose it any more than needs must to the eye of the World, lest Applause and Reputation should intrude themselves upon us, and carry away our Intention from God. For thus our Saviour advises in the Case of Charity and Prayer, Mat. vi.1, 7. that we should not do our alms before men, to be seen of them, nor sound a trumpet before them, to make the Streets ring of our Charity; nay, if possible, that we should not let our left hand know what our p. 327right hand doth; but that our Alms should be secret, and known only to God and our selves; and that when we pray, we should not affect to make a pompous shew of it, in the Synagogues and corners of the streets, but that we should enter into our closets and shut our door and in the most private manner unbosom our Souls to God; the sense of all which is that should we endeavour, so far as in us lies, so to circumstantiate our Charity and Devotion as not to give any Opportunity to secular Ends and Aims to obtrude themselves upon us, to mingle with our pious Intentions and deflower the Purity of them.

NOT that I think it unlawful for a man to intend any thing but God in the discharge of his Duty, or that our Intention is bad when it immediately respects any worldly End, such as Pleasure or Profit or Honour, which are proposed by God himself as Arguments to persuade men to their Duty; and what hurt can it be for men to aim at that in the discharge of their Duty, which God hath proposed to them as an Encouragement to it? 'Tis true if worldly Advantage be the only or chief End we aim at, our Intention is naught, and so are all the Actions thence proceeding; but if together with that we do so heartily intend and p. 328aim to please God and conform our selves to his blessed Will and Nature, as to continue on in the path of our Duty to him not only when we have no prospect of outward Advantage to induce us to it, but when outward Evils and Inconveniences lie in our way, we need not doubt but our Intention is truly good and sincere, notwithstanding those immediate Respects which it many times hath to secular Ends and Inducements. But yet it is certain that the more it respects these, the more imperfect it is, and the more liable to be vanquished by outward Temptations. For it's a plain sign that 'tis conscious of its own Weakness, when it dares not stand alone, but is fain to call in to it the Assistance of these worldly Ends to support and defend it; and the less of worldly Aim there is in our religious Intention, to be sure the more pure and simple it is, and the more of substantial Piety there is in it; and though it may be truly sincere notwithstanding its being compounded with secular Aims and Respects, yet the more of these there is in it, the weaker and more instable it must necessarily be. For, our Mind being finite, cannot possibly intend many things with equal Strength and Vigour, as it can do one; and when its Intention is dispersed among various Objects p. 329it must necessarily be more languid than when 'tis collected, united and fixt upon one; and consequently the more a mans Intention respects the World, the less in proportion it must respect God, and so on the contrary. And then the less a man respects God in his Duty, and the more he respects the World, the more liable he will be to the Temptations of worldly Loss or Advantage. For when those Advantages which he so much respects lie on the opposite side to his Duty, to be sure he will be so much the more inclined to desert it; and as often as Fortune shifts sides, and carries with it the Advantages of Pleasure, Profit or Honour, from Virtue to Vice, or from Vice to Virtue, he will still be ready to face about with it, and be always veering like a Weathercock to a contrary Point upon every Change of Wind. Whereas when a mans Intention purely respects God, 'twill be immovably fixt among all the Changes and Alterations from without. For there is no outward Change or Capricio of Fortune can hinder a man from pleasing God, whose Love to us depends not upon our being poor or rich, pleased or pained, depressed or advanced, but upon our being truly virtuous and religious. And therefore if our Aim be purely to please him, we shall be sure p. 330to continue so, which side soever Fortune smiles upon.

WHEREFORE to our successful Progress in Religion it is highly necessary that, so far as in us lies, we should abstract and separate our religious Intentions from all these worldly respects; and this must be done by looking frequently up to God, and actually referring and dedicating our Actions to him; by shutting our eyes, when we are entring upon any Duty, to all worldly Considerations, and determining with our selves, this I will do purely because 'tis Godlike, or because God hath commanded it; whether I shall be commended or disgraced for it, whether I shall get or lose by it I will not now regard, it is sufficient that it is good, and that God hath commanded it, and therefore for this Reason only I will do it, without any other Respect or Consideration. By which means we shall by degrees so purifie our Intentions, and refine them from worldly Aims, that we shall be able to act vigorously in Religion without any other Respect but that of pleasing God, and conforming our selves to his Will and Nature. And when once we can do thus, we are in a great forwardness in Religion. For now the Will of God hath got such an Ascendant over ours, that as we can cheerfully p. 331obey him without external Inducements, so we can freely contemn all Inducements to the contrary; and it being our great and chief Aim to please and be like him, the things that are without us will have very little Power to move us one way or 'tother. Because now our great Aim is above them, and our eyes are so stedfastly fixt upon God, that we are not at leisure to regard them. And our Mind being thus indisposed to listen to the restless Importunities of external Goods and Evils, our Innocence is safe, and we may pass triumphantly through all their Temptations. 'Tis a noble Saying of Epictetus, lib. 2. c. 19. foreign, &c. foreign, i. e. there is no other way for a man to eject sorrow and fear and lust from his soul, but by looking up to God alone, and resigning our selves to him only, and devoting our lives to the Obedience of his Commandments. And elsewhere he tells his Scholars, that the main thing which he drove at was, foreign, i. e. to make them free and blessed by persuading them to look up to God in every thing whether p. 332it be small or great, lib. 2. c. 19. For whilst in our religious Intentions we do too much respect the things that are without us, we do in a great measure intrust them with our Virtue and Religion; and so far as we make them Inducements to our Duty, so far it is in their Power to secure or betray it. As for Instance, so much as I aim at Profit in any religious Action, so much Power Profit hath over my Religion; and if the same Profit should invite me to a wicked Action, it will have as much Power to betray my Religion, as it had to secure it; for the same Gain will have the same Influence on me when it tempts me to sin, as it hath when it tempts me to obey. What a dangerous thing therefore is it for men to intrust such a treasure as their Innocence and Religion in such irresponsible hands, and to give those outward things which are the Temptations of Vice, a power to dispose of their Virtue? What is this but to commit the keeping of our Sheep to a Wolf, or of our Chastity to a Goat? Wherefore as we would be safe in our religious Progress, it highly concerns us to purifie our good Intentions so far as we are able from all worldly Respects, and to level them directly and immediately at God. And in order hereunto,

p. 333V. To render the Course and Progress of our Christian Warfare successful, it is also necessary that we possess our Minds, with an awful Apprehension of Gods Presence with, and Inspection over us. Among the many excellent Rules, which the Heathen Moralists have given for the Conduct of mens Lives, this is one, that in the whole Course of their Lives they should imagin some excellent person, for whom they have a great Veneration, to be present with 'um, as a Witness and Spectator of all their Actions. And it was wholesome Advice that one gave his lewd Friend, that he should hang the Picture of his grave and serious Father in the Room where he was wont to celebrate his Debauches; imagining that the severe eye of the good old Man, though but in Effigie, would give a mighty check to the wanton Sallies of the intemperate Youth. And if the bare Fiction of a Mans being present with us, or his being present only in a dead Picture, may be rationally supposed to have so strong an Influence on our Actions; of how much greater Force must our firm Belief and Sense of Gods Presence with us be to regulate our Lives and Actions? And that he is thus present with us we have sufficient reason to conclude, not only from the infinite Plenitude of his Essence, which being p. 334Self-existent could not be bounded or limited by any Cause from without, and therefore must necessarily be boundless and immense; but also from express Assertions of Scripture, which assures us that his eyes are in every place beholding the evil and the good, Prov. xv.3. That he is a God at hand and not a God afar off; and that no man can hide himself in secret places that he shall not see him; and that he fills heaven and earth, Jer. xxiii.23, 24. and that we can go no whither from his presence, Psal. cxxxix.7, 8. and that all things are naked and open to his eyes, Heb. iv.13. that is, that the World is surrounded and filled with his Being, which is both the Womb that contains, and the Soul that pervades the Creation; and that being thus present with us wherever we are, he must needs be supposed to have a constant Inspection over us, and a clear Sense and Perception of whatsoever we do.

AND he being thus present with us in Reality and not in Fiction or Picture, it must doubtless be of mighty avail to the Well-government of our Lives; to be continually inspired with an actual and vigorous Sense of it. And therefore our Saviour commands us to do good from a lively Sense that Gods eye is upon us, Matt. vi.4.6. That our father who sees us in secret shall p. 335reward us openly. And this I conceive to be the meaning of that comprehensive Precept which God gave to Abraham, Walk before me and be thou perfect, Gen. xvii.1. i. e. behave thy self as one that art sensible thou art always in my Presence, and under my eye, and in the sense of this see thou beest upright and sincere, and that thou dost not vainly attempt to impose upon me by any demure Shews or hypocritical Pretences. And the same is implied in that of the Apostle, Col. iii.22, Servants obey in all things your Masters according to the flesh, not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God, i. e. be not like those Servants that do their Duty for no other end but to ingratiate themselves with their Masters, and accordingly do it no longer than while their Masters eye is upon them; but do you it with all Sincerity, out of an awful respect to God, considering that when mans eye is off, his eye is upon you. The sense of all which is, that after the example of holy David, Psal. xvi.8. we should endeavour to set the Lord always before us, and to possess our minds with a quick and lively Sense of his being continually present with us, wheresoever we are, and whatsoever we are about, and a constant Witness and Spectator of all our Actions.

p. 336AND this we shall find will be of unspeakable Use to us in the whole Course and Progress of our Christian Warfare. For,

1. It will mightily restrain us from all sinful Actions. For as St. Austin observes, the greatest part of Sin is taken away if a man hath but a Witness of his Conversation; and much more if he be sensible that he hath such a Witness as God, with whom he is infinitely more concerned than with all the World besides; who is the Judg of all his Actions, the Rewarder of Vertue, and Punisher of Vice, the eternal Source of all those Evils or Goods that he can fear, or hope for. And who but a man that is desperately wicked, dares do an evil Action in the Presence and Sight of such a formidable Witness? For suppose you beheld this Almighty Being sitting upon a Cloud in some visible Form, with a Thunder-bolt in his hand; and from thence looking down upon you, curiously observing how you demean your selves, and closely pursuing you with his awful eye through all your dark Retreats and Privacies; would not the thought of any Action that is displeasing to him be ready to strike you into Trembling and Horror? Could you imagin your selves to be any where secure in your Wickedness while you saw your selves uncovered to his All-seeing p. 337Eyes, to which your Closets lie as open as your Halls, and your Hearts as the High-ways? Doubtless you could not. Why now the lively Belief and Apprehension of a thing, is equivalent to a sensible Perception. If I were throughly assur'd that the King were listening behind the Curtain, and heard every word that is spoken in the Room, I should doubtless be as much afraid of talking Treason against him, though I saw him not, as if he stood just before me. And so though God be with me in an invisible manner, and I am not able to see him through that thick Curtain of Matter which is drawn between me and his Spiritual Essence, yet if I firmly believe that he is behind it, and am constantly aware that he is listening to what I say, and prying into what I do, that he keeps Intelligence with my Thoughts, and is intimately acquainted with all my Designs and Intentions, it will render me as cautious of my Thoughts and Words and Actions, as if I saw him standing by me in a visible Shechinah or Glory, to record every Passage of my Life, and enter into his Debt-books every Item of my Guilt against the great Day of Accounts. But how much the want of such a due Apprehension of Gods Presence with us, lets men loose to all Wickedness, may be collected from that of p. 338the Prophet, Ezek. ix.9, The iniquity of the house of Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness, and how comes this to pass? Why, they say, the Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not; whereas, on the contrary, David attributes his keeping Gods precepts and testimonies, to the lively Sense he had that his ways were always before God, i. e. lay open to his Sight and Inspection, Psal. cxix.168. But then,

2. Such a lively Sense of Gods Presence with, and Inspection over us, will be of mighty Use to keep us sincere and upright in the whole Course of our Actions. For alass to what purpose should we dissemble and conceal our Wickedness from the eye of the World, so long as we lye open to the eye of God? Would you not think it very strange to see a Company of Prisoners that within a few Hours are to be tryed for their Lives, solicitously concerning themselves how to appear lovely and innocent to one another, hiding their Deformities, and disguizing their Crimes with artificial Pretexts and Apologies, that so they may cheat and juggle one another into a mutual good Opinion of themselves; but in the mean time take no notice of their Judg, who sits before them upon the Bench, observing all their p. 339Tricks and Impostures, and holds their Lives in his Hands, being commissionated to discharge or condemn them according as he finds them innocent or guilty. And yet just thus do those men act whose Religion is nothing but a vain Ostentation and Ambition of popular applause; they skrew their Looks, study their Actions, force their Inclinations, and all to compose themselves into an outward Semblance of Religion; they imploy a world of Care and Art to disguise themselves, and with the Colours of Sanctity to varnish their unhallowed Natures; they openly deny themselves their dearest Pleasures, and in the view of the world are many times forced to act against the grain of their strongest Inclinations; and all this to mask their depraved Tempers, that they may appear what they are not, in the view of the world, and juggle themselves into a Saintly Reputation: but whilst they are thus industriously courting the good Opinion of their Fellow-prisoners, their All-seeing Judg upon whose final Sentence their everlasting Fate depends, is present with them; and, though they take no more notice of him than if he were a cypher in the World, is perfectly conscious to all their Artifice, and sees through all their hypocritical Disguizes, and will ere long unmask and expose p. 340them to the View and Scorn of all the World. And this considered, what a ridiculous Folly is Hyprocrisie, that hides us only from those that have little or nothing to do with us, but leaves us bare and naked to his eye with whom we are most concerned. Alas! what a poor project is it to take so much pains, as we do, to recommend our selves to men, to men that must stand at the same Tribunal, and undergo the same Judgment with our selves? For what will their good Opinion avail us, if the Judg disaprove us, in whose hands our Lives and Souls are? If he think well of us, we are safe though all the World should condemn us; but if he condemn us, though every Creature should acquit, they cannot rescue us from his Sentence. But alas! how differently soever God and Men may think of us now, yet when he comes to discover his Thoughts of us, in his publick Judgment and Sentence, all the World will be of his Mind; and if we stand right in his Opinion, we shall be applauded by the whole Universe, howsoever we may be vilified now; as on the contrary, if he condemn us, we shall be sure to be hissed at throughout all the Congregation of Spirits, how gloriously soever we may be thought of at present. And by how much the better we are esteemed of p. 341now, by so much the more we shall be hissed at then, when the Cheat is discovered, and the hypocritical Vizor is pluckt from our Devils faces.

THIS if men duly considered, and fixt it in their Minds, would effectually cure them of all their Hypocrisie. For alas! what Hypocrisie can so cunningly disguise them, as to render them Incognito to Omniscience? If men will be wicked therefore, they were e'en as good put on a bold Face, and be wicked openly; for 'tis to very little purpose for them to sneak into Corners, unless they could find one dark enough to conceal them from God, and cover them from his All-seeing Eye. For why should that man be ashamed or afraid to let a Boy or Neighbour be conscious to his Wickedness, that never scruples to commit it in the open View of the dreadful Majesty of Heaven, by whose final Sentence his everlasting Fate must be decided?

AND so on the other hand, to what purpose should we study to be more devout and temperate, sober and charitable in the view of the World, than we are in our Retirements, when we have no other Eye but God's upon us? That which we are mainly concerned in, is to approve our selves to him, and if we can do this, what great matter p. 342is it though our Closet be all our Stage, and Heaven our only Spectator? God hears the softest Whispers of our Souls, and sees through all our honest Intentions, and our most secret Vertues are as legible to his Eye as if they were written on our Foreheads with a Sun-beam. We need no Trumpet to proclaim our Alms in his Ears, for he knows by whom such a poor man was relieved, such a starving family succoured, though we should not superscribe our Names upon our Charity, nor let our left hand know what our right hand hath done. And if by the sincere Discharg of our Duty we have approved our selves to God, what need we concern our selves any farther? since 'tis not from Men, but from God, that we expect the Recompence of our Obedience. No doubtless, did we but live under the constant sense of God Presence with, and Inspection over us, we should regard him much more in every good Action, and the good Opinion of the World much less than we do; and the more secret our good Deeds were, the more we should rejoice in them, because they would give us a stronger Testimony of our Simplicity and Sincerity. For what should move us to be good when God only sees us, but pure Respect to his Authority, and an honest Intention of obeying p. 343him? And if Obedience be our Design, the more private our good Deeds are, the more Pleasure they will afford us, because those good Deeds have most of Obedience in them, that have least of the Theatre.

VI. To prosper our Course and Progress in the Christian Warfare, it is also necessary that we should frequently examin and review our own Actions. For this our Religion injoins as a necessary Part of the militant Life of a Christian, So 2 Cor. xiii.5, Examin your selves whether you be in the faith, prove your own selves; and particularly, it is injoined as a proper Preparation to the Sacrament, Let a man examin himself, and so let him eat, 1 Cor. xi.28. So also Gal. vi.4. Let a man prove, or examin, his own work, where the Greek word foreign, which in all these Texts we render to prove or examin, hath two Significations. First, to call our selves to Account, to try our past Actions by the Rule, whether they be good or evil; Secondly, to take such a due Care of our Actions as that upon a strict Tryal of them we may be able to approve them to God and our own Consciences. In the first of which Sences the New-Testament doth most commonly understand it, namely to call our selves to Account, and make a strict Survey p. 344of our Actions, and pass an impartial Judgment upon them, whether they are good or evil; and accordingly, 1 Cor. xi.31. instead of foreign in the 28th Verse, i. e. let a man examin himself, the Apostle uses as a synonimous Phrase, foreign, i. e. if we judg our selves, if we summon our past actions before the Tribunal of our Consciences, and try and examin them by the Rule whether they are good or evil, and according as we find them, to approve or condemn our selves for them.

AND this is a Duty of great Necessity to the successful Prosecution of our Christian Warfare. For unless we do frequently reflect upon our selves, and take a strict Account of our past Actions and Behaviour, we shall incur a thousand Errors and Immoralities in the Hurry of our secular Occasions, without taking any Notice of them; and those sins which we heedlesly commit, and never think of afterwards, though at first perhaps they may have little or no Malice in them, do yet leave a malicious Infusion behind them, and infect the will with bad Inclinations, and insensibly dispose it to wilful and deliberate Sins. For the Pleasure of one bad Action will be still inviting us to another, and that to a third, and so we shall be inconsiderately tolled on from Sin to Sin p. 345in the course of a heedless and unreflecting Life, till, before ever we are aware, our Inclination to the Sin which we have so heedlesly repeated, becomes too strong for our pious Resolution. For when we have carelesly permitted one Sin to break through our Fence, that will open a gap for another to follow, and if this be not presently stopt by Repentance, 'twill make the Breach yet wider for others, and those again for others, till at last they have quite trodden down our good Resolution, and made a Through-fare in our Wills for a Custom of sinning. But if we frequently reflect upon, and examin our selves, 'tis impossible our Faults should long escape our Discovery, and we shall be sure to see them time enough to correct and amend them before they are too deeply rooted in our Natures, and have wound themselves too far into our Inclinations; and a wound in our Innocence, as well as our Bodies, may be easily cured if it be taken in time, but if it be neglected too long, it will rancle by Degrees into an incureable Gangreen.

AND as frequent Self-Examination is a great Bridle to our Sin, so it is also an effectual Spur to our Vertue. For as when a man reflects upon his Sins and Miscarriages, and considers how and where he hath done p. 346amiss, his Conscience will be presently urging and exciting him to Repentance and Amendment; so when he reflects upon his own Vertue and Sincerity, his conscience will smile upon and crown him with Applauses, and give him such a sweet and grateful Relish of his own Actions, as will mightily incourage him to persevere in Well-doing. For in all our Self-examinations we taste the difference between Good and Evil, the Sweetness of that, and the Bitterness of this, and consequently, the oftner we do so, the more we shall be sure to like and approve of the one, and to dislike and nauseate the other.

WHEREFORE to secure a good success to this our Christian Warfare, as it is necessary, especially at first, that we should every Morning, before we go into the World, repeat and inforce our good Resolution; so it is no less requisite, especially till we have made some considerable Progress, that we should every Night, when we are withdrawn from the World, strictly examin the performances of the Day, whether they are such as do comport with our solemn Engagements. And if upon an impartial Survey, it appear that they do, though as yet it be but weakly and imperfectly, let us attend to the Sense of our own Minds, to that silent p. 347Melody that resounds from our Consciences to our Actions, and so lye down in Peace, blessing and adoring that Grace, by which we have been assisted and preserved. Or if it appear that we have been unwarily faulty, for want of due Care and Watchfulness, let us resolve to take more Care for the future, and thereby to put a timely Stop to our Sin before it hath too far insinuated into our Will and Inclinations; but if we are conscious of any wilful Breach upon our Morning Vows of Obedience, let us lament and bewail it with Shame and Indignation. What have I done, O wretched Traitor that I am to God and my own Soul! I have falsified my Vows to Heaven, and broke those Sacred Bands by which I was tyed up from my Lusts and my Ruin, What can I plead for my self, base and unworthy that I am? with what Face can I go into his dreadful Presence whom I have so often mocked with my treacherous Promises of Amendment? Yet go I will, though I am all ashamed and confounded, and confess and bewail mine Iniquity before him.

IF we would but take care thus to call our selves to Account every Night, and impartialy to censure the Actions of the day, it is not to be imagined how fast 'twould set us forward in our Christian Warfare; how p. 348much the Reflection on a well-spent Day would chear and enliven us; how the grateful Sense of it would spirit our Faculties, and encourage us to go on against all Oppositions; how much the Review of the Sins of the Day would contribute to make our Reason more vigilant, and our Consciences more tender for the future; how much the Pleasure of our Sins would be allayed and abated by the stinging Reflections we should make upon them, and how much the Dread of having the same Reflections repeated to us at Night, would secure us against the Temptations of the Day.

VII. TO prosper the Course of our Christian Warfare, it is also necessary that we should be very watchful and circumspect. For this also is one of those militant Duties which the Gospel injoins us. Thus Matt. xxvi.41. Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation; and Mark xiii.37. What I say unto you, I say unto all, watch: so also, 1 Cor. xvi.13. Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit your selves like men; and 1 Thes. v.6. Wherefore let us not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober; where the Nature of the Duty is plainly discovered by its Opposite or Contrary, let us not sleep, but watch, i. e. do not behave your selves like men that are asleep, that take no Notice or p. 349Regard of what is done by, to, or about them; but be sure you exercise a suitful, prudent and constant Care over your own Actions and those manifold Temptations that assault and surround you. And therefore elsewhere 'tis exprest by walking circumspectly, Eph. v.15. i. e. looking round about you, weighing the nature and circumstances of your Actions, and using all honest Care either to prevent the Temptations that threaten you, or to provide against them; so that in short the sense of this Duty is this, that we carefully avoid acting rashly and precipitantly without considering before-hand the Nature of our Action whether it be good or evil; that in all doubtful and suspicious Cases we impartially consult our Rule and Conscience, and look before we leap, and take care to satisfie our selves of the Goodness of our Designs, before we put them into Execution; in a word, that we do not carelesly run our selves into Temptations, but, if possible, to avoid them, if not to be sure to arm our selves against them, and keep as far off from all sin, especially from that we are most inclined to, as is consistent with our necessary Occasions; or, in fewer words, 'tis to be always well advised in what we do, whether it be good or evil; and if it be evil, to remove so far as p. 350we can from all Occasions that lead to it, and provide our selves with Considerations against it, and to keep them always awake in our Minds, that we may not be surprized by it unawares.

WHICH is a Duty indispensably necessary for us in the whole Course of our Christian Warfare, For whilst we accustom our selves to act rashly and inconsiderately, without bethinking before-hand what we say or do, we wander like blind men in a Field that is full of Pits and Quagmires, and are every moment in Danger of stumbling into one Mischief or other, and shall certainly plunge our selves into many an evil Custom before ever we have bethought our selves of the evil of it; and so instead of conquering our old Sins, we shall be ever and anon running our selves into new ones, and while we are running away from one evil, shall many times stumble into another, and to avoid the Defects of Vertue leap head-long into the Excesses of it. For in most moral Actions the Transition from the utmost of what is lawful into the nearmost of what is sinful is indiscernible; and that line which parts this Vertue from that neighbouring Vice is generally so small, that 'tis hard to distinguish where they are separated, and to fix the just Boundary whitherto we may p. 351go and no farther. But then considering that almost every Vertue lies in the Middle between two sinful Extremes, neither of which are separated from it by any plain or visible Land-mark, how is it possible for us, without great Care of our Steps, to keep on stedfastly in the right Path, when there are so many wrong ones bordering upon it? For when we perceive we have wandred too far towards either Extreme, and are indeavouring to retrieve our selves, if we do not take great Care of our Steps we shall be apt to wander as far the other way, and so stumble out of one Extreme into another. For he who lives heedlesly and incuriously, regards not how near he approaches to any sin, provided he doth but keep himself out of it; and when once a man takes the Liberty to go as near to any Sin as he thinks he lawfully may, it is a thousand to one but he will be transported by his Inclination a great deal further than he should. So true is that of Clem. Alex. Paedag. lib. 2. c.1. foreign, i. e. they who will do all things that are lawful, will quickly be induced to do what is unlawful; especially if they be strongly inclined to it; because the very Nearness of what a man loves, doth always render it more tempting and p. 352alluring to him. Thus he that hath a strong inclination to Lying, can never be safe so long as he allows himself to be excessively talkative; he that is vehemently propense to fleshly Lust, must needs indanger his Innocence if he come too near the farthermost Limits of a modest Freedom; and he whose nature is prone to Malice and Revenge cannot but run a mighty Hazard if he indulge to himself the utmost Degree of a just and lawful Resentment. For bad Inclinations are never so impatient of Restraint, as when they are within Prospect of their proper Satisfactions, and the objects which attract them are near and easie to be injoyed. Upon which Account it must needs be a very dangerous thing for such as are ingaged in the Christian Warfare to live within Sight of the Temptations they are most inclined to; because the nearer they are to them the more they will court and importune them, and while a man comes near a beloved Lust and doth not enjoy it, he doth but Tantalize himself, and inrage his Appetite after those vicious Satisfactions whose alluring Relishes he had almost forgotten. If therefore he would obtain a perfect Victory over his Lust, he must not only forbear to act, but also to approach it; at least, till he hath so far weaned his Inclination from it, as that p. 353its Nearness ceases to be a Temptation to him. For Inclination, like all other Motion, is always swiftest when it is nearest its Center, and when once 'tis within the Reach and Attraction of it, it hurries towards it with Fury and Impatience; and if in this its violent Rage it happen to break out to its beloved Sin, and to tast the forbidden Pleasure of it, 'twill thereby immediately recover all its impaired Strength, and become as headstrong and outragious as ever; and so all that Ground which we get in a Months Abstinence from our sin, we shall lose in a Moments Injoyment of it. Upon this account therefore it highly concerns us, if we would succeed in our Christian Warfare, to be very watchful and circumspect, to look well to our Steps, and not approach too near to any Sin, but especially to any that we are strongly inclined to.

VIII. TO give us good Success in this our Christian Warfare, it is also necessary that we be diligent and industrious in our particular Callings. This is one of those instrumental Duties which our Religion prescribes throughout the whole Course and Progress of our Christian Warfare. Thus 1 Thes. 4. x, 2. We beseech you brethren that you increase more and more, and that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and p. 354work with your own hands, as we commanded ye; and this 2 Thes. iii.10. he backs with another, that if any would not work, they should not eat, i. e. that they should not be maintain'd in their Sloth and Idleness, and like Drones be permitted to dwell at ease in the Hive, and devour the Labours of the more industrious Bees; and this verse xi. he calls walking disorderly, and v. viii. and ix. he tells us that 'twas for this cause that he rather chose to work with his own hands for his Livelihood, than to be maintained by them, as he might justly have demanded; that he might make himself an Example of Diligence for them to follow. So also, Eph. iv.28. Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, i. e. imploying himself in some honest Calling, that he may have to give to him that needs; the sense of all which is to oblige us to ingage our selves in some honest Calling or Employment, and to be diligent and industrious in it.

AND how necessary this is to secure us in the whole Course and Progress of our Religion, appears from hence, that we are naturally a sort of very active Beings, that must be imployed one way or other; that we have a Mind within us, that will be always in Motion, that being a spiritual subsistence, p. 355and as such, of a quite different Nature from dull and sluggish Matter, will never admit of Rest and Inactivity; that derives all its Pleasures from Action, and hath nothing to live upon but the grateful relish of its own Motions. And this being the state of that active Principle within us, that constitutes us Men, we had need take great care to keep it honestly busied and imployed. For it being naturally such an exceeding busie thing, 'twill be sure to find something or other to work upon; and if it be not constantly imployed about honest and lawful things, 'twill quickly divert the current of its Motion another way, and exert its Activity upon dishonest and unlawful ones. And hence it is that, since the Apostacy of humane Nature, God hath placed the generality of Men in such Circumstances wherein some honest Calling, and their Diligence and Industry therein, is indispensibly necessary to their comfortable Subsistence. For he wisely considered that such was the Indisposition of our degenerate Natures to the divine and spiritual Exercises of Religion, that 'twould be impossible for us in this imperfect State to keep our Minds always intent upon them, to fix our thoughts continually upon him, and exert our Powers without any Pause or Interruption in perpetual p. 356Acts of Love, Adoration and Imitation of him; that there is such a Repugnance in our tempers to these blessed Operations, that if we had nothing else to do, they would soon grow irksome and intolerable to us; and therefore, lest being quite tired out with these spiritual Acts of Religion, we should hate them, and so turn the Current of our Activity into the contrary Channel, he hath placed us in such Circumstances, wherein we have frequent Opportunities to rest our wearied Minds from these abstracted Exercises in such innocent Employments as are necessary to our comfortable Subsistence in this World. So that by putting us under the necessity of imploying our selves in secular Trades and Callings, he hath taken care to intercept our Minds, that they may not fly off from the pure Acts of Religion into the contrary Impieties; and that when they are not divinely, they may be innocently imployed, and by diverting our Activity with honest, when it is weary of spiritual Exercise, he hath taken a wise Course to confine and bound it, and leave it less Scope and Liberty to rove and make Incursions into sinful and prohibited Actions. And therefore, as Aristotle commends Archytas for his Invention of Rattles, because Children by playing p. 357with them are kept from breaking Vessels of use; so ought we to admire the Wisdom and Goodness of God, for thus necessitating us to exert our Activity in secular Acts and Trades, because by this innocently imploying our corrupt and busie Natures, he hath taken an admirable Course to divert us from mischievous Actions.

AND he having thus obliged us by our Necessities to follow some honest Calling for a comfortable Livelihood, he expects that we should be diligent and industrious in that particular Calling wherein his Providence hath placed us. For otherwise he looses his End; which was to restrain us from being sinfully active, by necessitating us to be innocently so. And now that by putting us into those Necessities by which we are put upon furnishing one another with those several Conveniences of life, for the supply of which our respective Trades and Callings are intended, we by being diligent therein approve our selves faithful Servants in the great Family of God, and by industriously discharging those particular Offices wherein he hath placed us, we act as dutiful Ministers of his Providence towards one another. Because by so doing we supply those Wants and Necessities which God hath made, and which p. 358he hath made to be supplyed by our Office and Ministries; So that now to mind our own Business, is a Part of our Religion, and 'tis that particular Part to which Gods Providence hath called us. If therefore we are idle and neglective in this, we are undutiful Servants to the common Master of the World, how officious soever we may be in other matters. For this is the proper Work of our Office, and therefore if we are unfaithful in this, we can be faithful in nothing. Should the Bayliff of a Family neglect letting his Masters Lands and gathering in his Rents, he would be thought a bad servant, how diligent soever he might be in the Kitchen or the Stables; and so if we are remiss in our particular Offices and Employments, we are bad Servants to God, how sedulous soever we may be either in the Offices of other Men, or in the common Services which we all owe him; and he that neglects his own Calling to serve God in his Closet or in the Church, is like an unfaithful Steward that neglects providing for the Family to dress the Garden and water the Flowers.

'TIS true as we ought not to devote to the common Service of God, that Time and Attendance which by the rules of Prudence and good Husbandry are appropriated to p. 359our particular Callings; so neither ought we to permit our particular Calling so to ingross our Time and Attendance as to leave none for our Prayers and those common Services whether private or publick, which as Creatures and Christians we are obliged to render to our Creator. For as he that to serve God neglects his Calling is a religious Truant, so he that to attend his Calling neglects to serve God is a prophane Drudge. But for a truly pious and industrious Man it is not at all difficult so to keep his Business and his Religion apart, as that they may not interfere with one another; and faithfully to discharge whatsoever his Calling exacts of him, and yet leave void Spaces enough in his time to do all that his Religion requires.

NEITHER are we obliged to be so industrious in our Calling as to deny our selves any moderate Refreshments or Recreations, which are not only useful, but sometimes necessary to breath our Spirits after they have been almost stifled in a Croud of Business, and divert our wearied Thoughts, which like the strings of a Lute by being slackned now and then will sound the sweeter when they are wound up again. But then we ought to take care that we do not turn our Physick into Food, and make p. 360that our Business which should be only our Diversion; that our Recreations be short, and apt to refresh, but not to steal away our Minds from severer Employments. For long Sports and Recreations are like a large Entry to a little House, they take up so much Room in the narrow Compass of our Time, that there is not Space enough left in it for the more useful Apartments; and so far as our Sports do exceed the Measures of necessary and convenient Recreation, they are unwarrantable Encroachments upon our Calling and Religion. 'Tis true, as for the Measures of Convenience, they are not alike to all; for as for those whose large Fortunes have placed them beyond the Necessities of the World, they may conveniently allow themselves larger Portions of Recreation than those of meaner Circumstances, who having not yet made a competent provision for their Families, are obliged in Justice to a more constant Industry, lest they fall under St. Pauls Censure of being worse than Infidels. But how plentiful soever our outward Condition may be, it will by no means warrant us either to live idely, or to make our Recreations our continual Employments; but the more Leisure we have from secular Business, the greater Portions of our Time we ought to consecrate p. 361to Religion, and since our Bodies and our Families are so liberally provided for, to be so much the more industrious in supplying the Necessities of our Souls, that so these may not be the only miserable things about us. But then our Natures being so depraved, as that they cannot dwell long on the severe Exercises of Religion and yet so active as that if in the Intervals of our Religion they be not Innocently imployed, they will be apt to run into Mischief; 'tis in our own Defence necessary, how prosperous soever our outward Condition may be, that we should find out some honest Business or other to keep our Activity regularly Exercised. And this will be no hard matter for us to do, considering how many generous, liberal and ingenuous Employments there are, fit for persons of the highest Rank and Condition. They may dedicate such Portions of their Time to the useful Studies of Philosophy or History, or of the Laws and Customs of their own Countrey; and such to the Inspection of their own Estates, or to overlook and govern their Families, and such to examine the Complaints of their Tenants, or the Necessities of their Neighbours, or to reconcile Differences or conciliate Love and good Neighbourhood among those that are near or under them; in these and such like Employments p. 362they may innocently exercise their active Minds, and thereby not only divert themselves from sinful Courses, but also render themselves very useful to the World.

BUT whatsoever our Condition in the World may be, it must doubtless be of very dangerous Consequence to our Religion not to be innocently and usefully imployd. For as the wise Cato hath observed, nihil agendo, male agere disces, i. e, by accustoming your self to do nothing, you will most certainly learn to do ill. For your busie Mind, like Nature, will admit of no Vacuum but must be always full of one thing or other; and it can no sooner dismiss its pious or honest thoughts, but vicious and unlawful ones will be swarming about it. For religious, lawful and sinful Objects, are the only Companions our Minds have to converse with, and therefore since they must and will be conversing with one thing or other, we ought to take great care that as soon as ever they have done entertaining religious Objects, they be presently supplyed and presented with lawful ones, with some honest Business, or innocent Diversion; that so we may not be at leisure to attend to those sinful Objects, which in the others Absence will be perpetually crouding and thrusting p. 363themselves upon us. For when we are neither honestly nor religiously imployed, we shall be perfectly at leisure to attend to any Invitation to Sin; and since we must still be doing one thing or other, our having nothing else to do, will be a strong inducement to do that which is evil, and to spend our restless Activity in some irregular Course or other, accordingly as we are tempted and inclined. If we are of a busie and pragmatical Temper, our leisure will presently invite us to be intermedling with other Folks Business, to be tampering with State Affairs and casting new Models of Government, and censuring the Wisdom of those publick Administrations of which we do not understand the Reasons: If we are of a froward peevish and untractable Temper, we shall be apt when we have nothing else to do, to be venting our Activity in factious and turbulent Zeal, in seditious Pratings and Conspiracies▪ in backbiting our Adversaries, and fetching and carrying scandalous Reports to create Jealousies and Animosities between Neighbour and Neighbour. In a word, if we are of sanguin and jovial Dispositions, our idle hours will be so many tempting Opportunities to Intemperance and Wantonness, Profaness and Scurrility, and all the other Wickednesses of a lewd and p. 364dissolute Conversation. If therefore we mean to be secured from sinful Actions, we must allow our selves no leisure from religious or honest ones, which for the above named Reason, we shall find utterly unpracticable, if we be not diligent and industrious in some honest Calling.

BUT whilst mens Minds are honestly imployed, they will not be at leisure to listen to Temptation; and 'twill be difficult for any of those Inducements to Sin, which the Devil and outward Objects do perpetually suggest to us, to obtain Admittance to speak with our Thoughts, whilst they are thus taken up with wiser and better Company. But as soon as we dismiss these, we do in effect beckon Temptations to our selves, and invite the Devil and the World to invite us to be wicked. For, as we say Opportunity makes the Thief, i. e. it tempts him to steal, and so when we give the Devil the Opportunity of an idle Hour, we do thereby tempt him to tempt us, and importunately invite him to steal away the Treasure of our Innocence, by putting the Key of it into his hand, and giving him a free Access to it. And though we should be firmly resolved not to sin, yet tis impossible we should be safe so long as we are at leisure to be tempted; because while we are at leisure we p. 365shall be very often disputing and holding Argument with the Tempter, who by his Quirks and Sophistries will many times circumvent such Novices as we, before we are aware. But when we are not only resolved against him, but are also so imployed as that we are not at leisure to attend to him, it is past his skill to fasten any Temptation upon us. Wherefore, if we would be secure in the Course of our Christian Warfare, we must follow St. Jeroms Counsel to his Friend Rusticus, Semper boni aliquid operis facito, ut Diabolus te semper inveniat occupatum, be always doing one good Work or other, that so the Devil may always find thee busie.

IX. TO our Course and Progress in the Christian Warfare, it is also necessary that we should indeavour, so far as in us lyes, to keep up a constant Chearfulness of Spirit in our Religion. It is doubtless a great Disgrace to our Religion to imagin (as too many superstitious Christians do) that it is an Enemy to Mirth and Chearfulness, and a severe Exactor of Pensive looks and solemn Faces; that men are never serious enough till they are mope'd into Statues, and cloisterd from all Society, but that of their own melancholy Thoughts; that 'tis a Gospel-Duty to whine or to be silent, and retire themselves from the most innocent Pleasures p. 366and Festivities of Conversation; and in a word, that all kind of Mirth and facetious Humour is to be rankt among those Idle Words which our Saviour tells us shall be brought to Judgment. As if Religion were a Caput mortuum, a heavy, stark, insipid thing, that had neither Heat nor Life nor Motion in it; or were intended for a Medusa's Head to transform men into monuments of Stone. By which false Conceptions of it, they render it much more burthensome than it is in its own Nature. For to make Religion forbid us any thing that is humane and natural, is to render it a real grievance unto humane nature; 'tis to make our Duty run a tilt at the Principles of our Being, and set our Conscience and our Nature at Variance with one another. And therefore, since to be risible and sociable, is as natural to us as to be reasonable, to make our Religion an Enemy to our Mirth and Conversation, is to represent it as a tyrannical Invader of the essential Liberties and Properties of humane Nature. 'Tis true indeed, though it denies us not the freedom of an innocent Humour, nor disallows those little Plaisances and inoffensive Raileries of Fancy which are somtimes requisite to sauce our Conservation, and give it a quicker Relish; yet hath it taken care to bound our p. 367Merriments with the necessary Precepts of Sobriety and Gravity, that so by too much whifling up and down in the little levities of Fancy, our Minds may not grow vain and light and trifling, and be thereby indisposed to serious Thoughts and Reflections: But so long as we keep within the Bounds of Sobriety, and do not sally out into malicious or scurrilous or prophane Jesting, our Religion doth not only connive at our Mirth, but commend and approve it: and so remote is it from cramping those Strings and Sinews of the Mind, Chearfulness and Action, that it recollects their scatterd Vigour, and winds up their Slackness to a true Harmony.

FOR it requires that our speech should be alway with grace, Col. iv.6. i. e. as some Expositors understand the Phrase, that it should not be whining and melancholy, but sprightly and chearful; it bids us rejoice evermore, 1 Thes. v.16, and rejoice in the Lord alway, and again rejoice, Phil. iv.4. that is, to indeaver to be chearful in all Conditions, and to bear all Events with a serene and lightsome mind. And therefore the Apostle reckons this among the blessed Fruits and Effects of that Divine Spirit which accompanies and animates Christianity, viz. Joy, or Chearfulness, Gal v.22. and this is one of the Particulars in which p. 368the same Apostle makes the Christian Laws to consist, as they stand opposed to the Ritual Laws of the Jews; the Kingdom of Heaven, i. e. the Laws of the Christian Church, is not meat and drink, i. e. consist not of Injunctions or Prohibitions of things that are of a Ritual or indifferent Nature; but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, Rom. xiv.17. which three Particulars being opposed to things that are unnecessary, must by the Law of Oppositions denote things that are necessary; and therefore as by Righteousness and Peace, must be meant Justice and Peaceableness, so by Joy in the Holy Ghost, must be meant Chearfulness and Alacrity in doing the will of God; because Joy can be in no other Sense Matter of Necessary Duty. By all which its evident, that Chearfulness of Temper is so far from being discountenanced by our Religion, that 'tis required and injoined by it, so far as 'tis in our Power and Choice. And indeed it highly becomes us who serve so good a Master, to be free and chearful, and thereby to express a grateful sense of his Goodness, and of those glorious Rewards which we expect from his inexhaustible Bounty; but as for a gloomy Look and dejected Countenance, it better beseems a Gally-slave than a Servant of God. And as Chearfulness is a Duty that p. 369very well becomes our State, so it is highly necessary to support and carry us on in our Christian Warfare.

FOR Chearfulness is Natures best Friend; it removes its Oppressions, enlivens its Faculties, and keeps its Spirits in a brisk and regular Motion, and hereby renders it easie to it self, and useful and serviceable to God and Man. It dispels Clouds from the Mind, and Fears from the Heart, and kindles and Cherishes in us brave and generous Affections, and composes our Natures into such a regular temper as is of all others the most fit to receive religious Impressions, and the breathings of the Spirit of God. For what the Jews do observe of the Spirit of Prophesie, is as true of the Spirit of Holiness, that it dwells not with Sadness, but with Chearfulness; that being it self of a calm and gentle Nature, it loves not to reside with black and melancholy Passions, but requires a composed and serene Temper to act upon. And hence Tertul. in his de Spectac. Deus praecepit Spiritum sanctum, utpote pro Naturae suae bono tenerum & delicatum, Tranquillitate & Lenitate & Quiete & Pace tractare; non Furore, non Bile, non Ira, non Dolore inquietare, i. e. God hath commanded that the holy Spirit, who is of a tender and delicate Nature, should be entertained by us p. 370with Tranquility and Mildness, with Quietness and Peace, and that we should take care not to disturb him with Fury and Choler, or with Anger and Grief. And indeed Melancholy naturally infests the holy Spirit, and disturbs him in all his operations; it overwhelms the Fancy with black Reeks and Vapours, and thereby clouds and darkens the Understanding, and intercepts the holy Spirits Illuminations; and, like red coloured Glass before the eye, causes the most lovely and attractive Objects, to look bloody and terrible. It distracts the Thoughts, and renders them wild, roving and incoherent; and thereby utterly indisposes them to Prayer and Consideration, and renders them deaf and unattentive to all good Motions and Inspirations. It freezes up the Heart with dispairing Fears and Despondencies, and represents easie things as difficult to us, and difficult as impossible, and thereby discourages us from all those vertuous Attempts, to which the blessed Spirit doth so importunately excite and provoke us. In a word, it naturally benums and stupifies the Soul, obstructs its Motions, and makes it listless and unactive, and so by indisposing it to co-operate with the holy Spirit, renders it an incapable Subject of his divine Grace and Influence. Thus melancholy p. 371you see, by its sullen and malevolent Aspects, doth obstinately resist and counter-influence the holy Spirit, without whose Aid and Assistance we can never hope to prosper in our spiritual Warfare.

WHEREFORE if we mean to succeed in this great Affair, it concerns us to use all honest and innocent Means to dispel this black and mischievous Humour, and to beget and maintain in our Minds a constant Serenity and Chearfulness of Temper; and when ever our Spirits begin to droop and languish, to betake our selves to such natural Remedies, such harmless Diversions, Refreshments and Recreations, as are fit and proper to raise them up again; and not to suffer them to sink into a Bog of Melancholly Humours, whilst 'tis in our Power by any honest Art or Invention to support them. Which if we can but effect, will be of vast Advantage to us in the whole Course of our Religion. For in an even Chearfulness of Temper, our Spirits will be always lively, strong and active, and fit for the best and noblest Operations; they will give Light to our Understandings, Courage to our Hearts, and Wings to our Affections; so that we shall be able more clearly to discern divine and heavenly things, more resolutely to practise, and more vehemently to aspire after p. 372them; and our Considerations will be more fixt, our Devotions more intent, and all our spiritual Endeavours more active and vivacious. For a chearful Temper will represent every thing chearfully to us; 'twill represent God so lovely, Religion so attractive, the Rewards of it so immense, and the Difficulties of it so inconsiderable, and thereby inspire us with so much Life and Courage, as that none of all those spiritual Enemies we war and contend against, will be able to withstand our Resolution.

X. TO our Course and Progress in this our spiritual Warfare, it is also necessary that we maintain in our Minds a constant Sense and Expectation of Heaven; that since the things of the other World are future and invisible, and consequently less apt to touch and affect us than these worldly things which are continually pressing upon our Senses, we should as oft as we have Opportunity, withdraw our Thoughts from these sensible Objects, and retire into the immaterial World, and there entertain our selves with the close View and Contemplation of the Joys and Glories it abounds with. For we are a sort of Beings that being compounded of Flesh and Spirit, are by these opposite Principles of our Nature ally'd to two opposite Worlds, and placed in the p. 373middle between Heaven and Earth as the common Center wherein those distant Regions meet. By our spiritual Nature we hold Communion with the spiritual World, and by our corporeal with this earthly and sensible one; whose Objects being always present with us, and striking as they do immediately upon our Senses, we lye much more bare and open to them, than to those of the spiritual World. So that unless we now and then withdraw our selves from these sensible things, which hang like a Cloud between, we can never have a free Prospect into that clear Heaven above them. And hence it becomes necessary that we should now and then make a solemn Retirement of our Thoughts from earthly Objects and Enjoyments, that so we may approach near enough to Heaven to touch and feel the Joys and Pleasures of it, which while we transiently behold in this Croud of worldly Objects, is plac'd at such a Distance from us, that it looks like a thin, blew Landskip, next to nothing; and hath not apparent Reality enough in it to raise our Desires and Expectations.

AND hence we are commanded to set our affections upon, or as it is in the original, to mind those things that are above, Col. iii.2. and that by these things above, he means p. 374the Enjoyments of Heaven, it's plain from v. 1. where he expresly tells us that by the above in which these things are, he means Heaven, where Christ sits at the right hand of God. So that the Sence of the Precept is this, that we should fix in our Minds such lively Representations of the Glory and Reality of the Celestial State, as may raise in our Hearts a longing Desire and earnest Expectation of being made partakers of it. Which Hope and Expectation he elsewhere injoyns us to put on for an Helmet, i. e. for a necessary Piece of defensive Armour against the Difficulties and Discouragements of our Christian Warfare, 1 Thes. v.8. and Heb. vi.xix. this hope which enters into that within the veil, i. e. into Heaven, is said to be the Anchor of the soul both sure and stedfast, i. e. 'tis that which stayes and secures the Soul in the midst of those many Storms of Temptation it meets withall in its Voyage to Heaven; and it being so, we are bid to look to and imitate our Blessed Lord, who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is now sat down at the right hand of God, Heb. xii.2. The meaning of all which is, that we should earnestly indeavour to fix in our minds a vigorous Sense and Expectation of that immortal Happiness with which God hath p. 375promised to crown all that come off Conquerors from this spiritual Warfare; that all along as we march we should keep Heaven in our Eye, and incourage our selves with the Hope of it to charge through all those Difficulties and Temptations that oppose us in the way; in a word, that we should frequently awaken in our minds the glorious Thoughts of a blessed Immortality, and possess our selves with a lively Expectation of injoying it, if we hold out to the End.

WHICH is a Duty of a vast Consequence to us in the Course of our spiritual Warfare. For Heaven being the End and Reward of our Warfare, must needs be the grand Encouragement thereunto; and consequently if once we lose Sight of Heaven, and suffer earthly things to interpose and eclipse the Glory and Reality of it, our Courage will never be able to bear up against those manifold Temptations that do continually assault us. But whilst we continue under a lively Sense of that blessed Recompence of Reward, that will so spirit and invigorate our Resolution, that nothing will be able to withstand it; and all the Terrors and Allurements that Sin can propose, will be forced to fly before it, and to retreat like so many impotent Waves that dash against a Rock of Adamant. For while we are under p. 376a lively Sense and Expectance of the Happiness above, we live as it were in the Mid-way between Heaven and Earth, where we have an open Prospect of the Glories of both, and do plainly see how faint and dim those below are in comparison with those above; how they are forced to sneak and disappear in the presence of those eternal Splendors, and to shroud their vanquisht Beauties, as the Stars do when the Sun appears. And whilst we interchangeably turn our eyes from one to t'other, how fruitlesly do the Pleasures, Profits and Honours below, importune us to abandon the Joys and Glories above, and with what Indignation do we listen to the proposals of such a senseless and ridiculous Exchange? And could we but always keep our selves at this stand, we should be so fortified with the Sight of those happy Regions above, that no Temptation from below would ever be able to approach us; and the sense that we are going on to that blessed State would carry us through all the weary Stages of our Duty with an indefatigable Vigour. For what may a man not do with Heaven in his Eye, with that potent, I had almost said Omnipotent, Encouragement before him? To pull out a right Eye, to cut off a right hand, to tear a darling Lust from his p. 377Heart, even when 'tis wrapt about it, and twisted with its Strings, what an easie Atchievement is it to a man that hath a Heaven of immortal Glories in his View? The Hope of which is enough to recommend even Racks & Torments, and turn the Flames of martyrdom into a Bed of Roses. For 'twas this blessed Prospect that inabled the Good old martyrs to triumph so gloriously as they did in the midst of their Sufferings; they knew that a few Moments would put an End to their Miseries, and that when once they had weather'd those short storms, they should arive at a most blessed Harbour, and be crowned at their landing; and that from thence they should look back with infinite Joy and Delight upon the dangerous Sea they had escaped, and for ever bless those Storms and Winds that drave them to that happy Ports for as the Author to the Hebrews tells us, they sought a heavenly Countrey, Heb. xi.14.16.

XI. AND lastly, To the successful Progress of our Christian Warfare, it is also necessary that we should live in the frequent use of the publick Ordinances and Institutions of our Religion; namely, in the religious Observation of the Lords Day, and in frequent Communion with one another in the Holy Sacrament, both which are of p. 378great Use to us in the Course and Progress of our spiritual Warfare. For as for the Lords Day, it is instituted, and ever since the Apostles Time hath been observed in the Christian Church, as a Day of publick Worship and weekly Thanksgiving for our Saviours Resurrection, in which the great Work of our Redemption was consummated. And certainly it must needs be of vast Advantage to be one day in seven sequester'd from the World and imployed in divine Offices, in solemn Prayers, Praises and Thanksgivings, and be obliged to assist and edifie one another by the mutual Example and Vnion of our Devotions; to hear the Duties of our Religion explained, the Sins against it reprehended, and the Doctrins of it unfolded and reduced to plain and easie Principles of Practice; what a mighty advantage might we reap from all these blessed Ministries, if we would but attend to them with that Concern and Seriousness which the matter of them requires and deserves? Especially if when the publick Offices are over, we would not let loose our selves all the rest of the Day, as we too frequently do, to our secular Cares and Diversions, and thereby choak those good Instructions we have heard, and stifle those devout and pious Affections which have been raised and p. 379excited in us; but instead of so doing, we would devote at least some good Portion of it to the Instruction of our Families, and to the private Exercise of our Religion, to Meditation and Prayer, to the Examination of our selves concerning our past Behaviour, and the reinforcing our Resolution to behave our selves better for the future; if, I say, we would thus spend our Lords Day, we should doubtless find our selves better Men for it all the Week after; we should go into the World again with much better Affections, and stronger Resolutions, with our Graces more vigorous, and our bad Inclinations more reduced and tamed, and whereas the Jews were to gather Manna enough on their sixth Day, to feed their Bodies on the ensuing Sabbath, we should gather Manna enough upon our Sabbath, to feed and strengthen our Souls all the six days after.

BUT to this we must also add frequent Communions with one another in the Holy Sacrament, which is an Ordinance instituted on purpose by our blessed Saviour, for the improving and furthering us in our Christian Warfare. For besides that herein we have one of the most puissant Arguments against Sin represented by visible Signs to our Sense, viz. the bloody Sacrifice of our p. 380blessed Lord to expiate and make Atonement for it; besides that those bleeding Wounds of his which are here represented by the breaking of the Bread and pouring out of the Wine, do proclaim our Sins his Asassines and Murderers, the thought of which, if we had any ingenuity in us, were enough to incense in us the most implacable Indignation against them; besides that his Sufferings for our Sins, of which this sacred Solemnity is a lively Picture, do horribly remonstrate Gods Displeasure against them, who would not be induced to pardon them upon any meaner Expiation than the Blood of his Son, than which Hell it self is not a more dreadful Argument to scare and terrifie us from them; in a word, besides that his so freely submitting and offering up himself to be a Propitiation for us, of which this holy Festival is a solemn Commemoration, is an expression of Kindness sufficient to captivate the most ungrateful Souls, and extort Obedience from them; besides all this, I say, as it is a Feast upon the Sacrifice of his Body and Blood, it is a Federal Rite, whereby God and we, by feasting together, do accordingly to the antient Customs both of Jews and Heathens, mutually oblige our selves to one another; whereby God, by giving us the mystical Bread and p. 381Wine, and we by receiving them, do mutually ingage our selves to one another upon those sacred Pledges of Christs Body and Blood, that we faithfully perform each others Part of that everlasting Covenant which was purchased by him. And what can be a greater Restraint to us when we are solicited to any Sin, than the sense of being under such a dreadful Vow and Obligation? With what face dare we listen to any Temptation to Evil, when we remember lately we solemnly ingaged our selves to the contrary, and took the Sacrament upon it? And verily I doubt 'tis this that lies at the bottom of that seeming modest Pretence of Vnworthiness, which men are wont to urge in Excuse for their Neglect of the Sacrament; namely, that they love their Lusts, and cannot resolve to part with them, and therefore are afraid to make such a solemn Abjuration of them, as the eating and drinking the consecrated Elements implies. And I confess, if this be their Reason, they are unworthy indeed, the more shame for them, but 'tis such an Vnworthiness as is so far from excusing, that it only aggravates their Neglect. For for any man to plead that he dares not receive the Sacrament because he is resolved to sin on, is to make that which is his Fault, his Apology, and to excuse one Sin p. 382with another. Wherefore if we are heartily resolved by the Grace of God to reform and amend, let us abstain no longer from this great Federal Rite, upon Pretence of Vnworthiness. For 'tis by the use of this, among other Means; that we are to improve and grow more and more worthy. For the very Repetition of our Resolution, as I have shewed above, is a proper Means of strengthning and confirming it; and certainly it must needs be much more so, when 'tis renewed and repeated with the Solemnity of a Sacrament. And therefore it is worth observing, how much Care our Lord hath taken, in the very Constitution of our Religion, to oblige us to a constant, solemn Repetition of our good Resolutions. For at our first Entrance into Covenant with him, we are to be baptized, in which Solemnity we do openly renounce the Devil and all his Works, and religiously devote our selves to his service. But because we are apt to forget this our baptismal Vow, and the Matter of it is continually to be performed, and more than one World depends upon it, therefore he hath thought fit not to trust wholly to this first Engagement, but hath so methodized our Religion, as that we are ever and anon obliged to give him new Security. For which End, he hath instituted p. 383this other Sacrament, which is not like that of Baptism to be received by us once for all, but to be often reiterated and repeated, that so upon the frequent Returns of it, we might still be obliged to repeat over our old Vows of Obedience. For he hath not only injoyned us that we should do this in remembrance of him, Luk. xxii.19. i. e. that we should celebrate this sacred Festival in the Memory of his Passion; but by thus doing the Apostle tells us we are to continue the Memorial of it to the end of the World, or to shew his death till he comes, 1 Cor. xi.26. And that this doth not, like the Precept of Baptism, oblige us for once only and no more, is evident from the foregoing words of this last recited Text, as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, which plainly shews that these sacramental Elements are to be more than once received by us. 'Tis true, how often 'tis to be done neither Christ nor his Apostles have any where defined, but if we consult primitive Example (which in the Absence of express Precept is the best Rule to determine our selves by) we shall find that it was very frequently received. For from some Passages in the Acts of the Apostles, it seems probable that Christians did then communicate every Day; as particularly p. 384Acts ii.46. where they are said to continue daily with one accord in the Temple, and breaking bread, foreign in the house, that is as it seems probable, in some upper room of the Temple; though perhaps this daily may refer only to the Lords Day, agreeably to that Acts xx.7. on the first day of the week when the Disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them. But it's certain that whensoever they assembled to the publick Worship, they closed it with the Lords Supper; which they did for a great while in the Western Churches every day in the Week, and in the Eastern, as St. Basil tells us, Epist. 289. four times a Week, besides Festivals. So that allowing for our Declensions from the primitive Zeal and Devotion, one would think that to communicate now once in four Weeks should be a very moderate Proportion. But as for those that wholly neglect this sacred Institution, for my own part I see not how they can excuse themselves from being guilty of a wilful Rebellion against their Saviour, or with what Confidence they can expect either that he should assist them with his Grace on the Way, or crown them with his Salvation in the End, when they so perversly turn their backs upon an Ordinance which he hath solemnly p. 385instituted for a Conveyance of the one, and a Seal of the other.

BUT would we take that Care that becomes us, to prepare our selves for, and frequent this holy Institution, there is no doubt but we should find it of mighty Advantage to us in the whole Course of our Religion. For till we are arived to a confirmed State of Good, our holy Fervours will be very apt to cool, our good Purposes to slacken and unwind, and our vertuous Endeavours to languish and tire; and therefore unless we take care frequently to revive our Religion with this spiritual Repast and Restorative, and still to add new Fewel to it as the Flame decays, it will quickly pine away and expire. But if upon the solemn Returns of this sacred Festival, we would constantly come with due Preparation to our masters Table, and here renew our Vows, re-invigorate our Resolutions, repair our Decays, and put our sluggish Graces into a new Fermentation, we should find our Religion not only live, but thrive, and be still acquiring new Degrees of Strength and Activity. But because this Argument hath been already so fully handled in our Practical Treatises, particularly by the Reverend Dr. Patrick in his Mensa Mystica and Christian Sacrifice, I shall refer the Reader p. 386thither for the farther Consideration of it.

And thus, with all the Brevity I could, I have indeavoured to give an Account of those Duties which are necessary in the Course and Progress of our Christian Warfare.