The Christian Life Part 2 Volume 1, Part 2 · Chapter 5
CHAP. V. Of the necessity of believing divine Rewards and Punishments in order to our being truly Religious.
HUMANE Nature is framed to move upon the Hinges of Hope and Fear, and to be elicited and drawn forth in Action either by the Proposal of some attainable Good or Prospect of some avoidable Evil, the former of which begets Hope in us, and that Pursuit; the latter Fear, and that Flight and Avoidance; and accordingly we find all Laws address to the Hopes and Fears of Men with Proposals of Reward and Punishment, as to the Master-Springs and Principles of their Action, by which they are moved to do or forbear according as they are required and enjoyned. And indeed to give Laws to Men without inforcing them with Rewards and Punishments, would be to leave it indifferent whether they obeyed them or no, which is inconsistent with the Nature of Laws; for Laws necessarily imply an Obligation to Obedience; but what Obligation could we have to obey them, did they leave it indifferent as to any Good or Evil accrewing from it, whether we obeyed them or no; for if it will be as well for us one way as t'other, what matter is it which way we determine our selves? And this holds good in nothing more than in the Matter of our Obedience to the Laws of Religion, to which our corrupt Nature is above all things backward and averse; all that spiritual Exercise which those Laws require being quite against the Grain of our Earthy and sensual Inclinations; so that were we not drawn to it by the Hope of Good, and driven by the Fear of Evil, to be sure our own bad natures would keep us at an eternal Distance from it; but unless we believe God to be a Rewarder of those that obey, and a Punisher of those that despise him, we have no ground to hope for any Good, or to dread any Evil at his hands.
For unless we believe that he will Crown those that serve him with some Mark of his Favour, how can we think he is pleased with them; there being no other way for him to express his being Pleased, but by Crowning 'em with some signal Reward; and if he be not Pleased with those that serve him, to be sure he is not Displeased with those that Neglect him; and if he be not Displeased with 'em, what Reason have we to apprehend that he will Punish 'em? Thus the unbelief of Gods being a Rewarder of those that obey him draws after it an unbelief of his being a Punisher of those that Despise him, and so on the contrary. For unless we believe him to be so much concerned for his Service as to punish those that neglect it, we have no reason to think he is so much concerned for it as to reward those that embrace it. So that the belief and unbelief of Gods being a Rewarder and a Punisher do by necessary consequence mutually imply each other; and unless we believe Both there is no reason we should believe Either. And when our nature is so averse, as it is, to his Service, what should induce us to serve him when we expect no Good from him, or hinder us from slighting him when we fear no Evil? And what is there can bring us home to God when we are carried away from him with an impetuous Tide of corrupt Inclinations, and have neither Hope nor Fear to Bound or Restrain it? So that considering the Aversation of our Nature to Gods service, it is morally impossible we should ever be heartily reconciled to it without being Drawn with the Hope of Reward, and Driven with the Fear of Punishment.
In the Prosecution of this Argument I shall indeavour to shew,
First, How far it's necessary that our Belief of divine Rewards and Punishments should extend.
Secondly, What Evidence there is to induce us to believe them.
Thirdly, By what Means this is to be Begotten and Confirmed.
SECT. I. How far it is necessary that our belief of divine Rewards and Punishments should extend.
FOR to induce us to submit to the Obligations of Religion, it is by no means sufficient that we believe in the general that God will Reward us if we do well, and Punish us if we do wickedly. For this we may firmly believe, and yet at the same time prefer the Pleasures of sin as much greater Goods than the Rewards of Vertue, and Dread the Difficulties of Vertue as much greater Evils than the Punishments of sin; wherefore to Render our Belief of divine Rewards and Punishments an Effectual Principle of Religion these four things are necessary.
First, That we should believe that God is so far a Rewarder of those that serve him, and so far a Punisher of those that neglect him, as to make a Plain and sensible Distinction between them.
Secondly, Considering how Promiscuously the Goods and Evils of this World are distributed among Good and Bad men, it's necessary we should believe, That there is a Future state of Rewards and Punishments.
Thirdly, It is necessary we should believe those Future Rewards and Punishments to be such as do Infinitely Transcend any Good we can Reap by our sins, and any Evil we can Incur by doing our Duty.
Fourthly, It is necessary we should believe that there is no other way for us to Avoid those Punishments but by forsaking our sins, or to Acquire those Rewards but by submitting to our Duty.
I. IT is necessary we should believe that God is so far a Rewarder of those that serve, and so far a Punisher of those that Neglect him, as to make a plain and sensible distinction between them. For unless we believe that God makes some Distinction between those serve and those that neglect him, we shall Confound Good and Evil in our own Apprehensions, and look upon all humane actions as Indifferent, and thereby dissolve all the Ties and Obligations of Religion. For things are in Themselves, as they are in the Judgment and Esteem of God, who cannot be mistaken in Estimating their Natures; and therefore unless there be some Distinction between Men and Men, and Actions and Actions in the Esteem of God, rhey must be all Alike and Indifferent in their Own natures. And if all Actions are Indifferent in themselves, we are free from all the Ties and Obligations of Religion, and 'tis left Indifferent to us whether we will Worship God or Blaspheme him. So that unless we believe that God makes some Distinction between the Good and bad, Religion can have no force at all upon our minds.
But now there is no other way for God to Distinguish between Men and Men, but by Rewarding and Punishing them; because if he make any Distinction in his Affections between us, we may be sure his Love will incline him to Reward, and his Hatred to Punish us; and since 'tis as Easie to him to follow his Inclination as not, since he can Reward where he Loves, and Punish where he Hates without any Disturbance to his own Happiness, what should hinder him from doing it, supposing that he really loves or hates, or makes any Distinction in his Affections between those that serve and those that neglect him? So that unless he Reward the one and Punish the other, he can make no Visible Distinction in his Affections between them. If he be Contrarily affected to Good and Bad men, his Affections will infallibly appear in his Actions; but if he use them Alike, it is plain they are Alike to him. So that unless we believe that God distinguishes between Good and Bad men by Rewarding and Punishing them, we must look upon Both as Indifferent to him, and believe that he concerns himself neither with the one nor the other; and if we think it is Indifferent to God whether we are Good or Bad, to be sure it will not be Indifferent to us, whose natures are so Biassed with Bad Inclinations, which having neither Hope nor Fear to Restrain them, will Run towards Bad Objects without Rub or Interruption. And what likelihood is there that we who are so Prone and Inclinable to evil, should concern our selves in the service of God, whilst we look upon it as a thing Indifferent to him whether we serve him or no?
Wherefore to the subduing our minds to the Obligations of Religion, it is necessary we should believe that God is so far a Rewarder of Good, and Punisher of Bad Men, as to make a sensible Distinction between them, and demonstrate that he is differently affected towards them. For to what end should we serve a God that takes no notice of us, that regards not what we do, but sits above in the Heavens as an unconcerned spectator of our Actions; why should we cross our own inclinations, and forsake our beloved lusts, for his sake, when it is altogether Indifferent to him what we do, or whither we go, or what becomes of us?
II. Considering how Promiscuously the Goods and Evils of this life are distributed among Good and Bad Men, it is necessary that we should believe there is a Future state of Rewards and Punishments. For though sometimes in this life God rewards Good men, and punishes Bad with such signal and Remarkable Goods and Evils as are sufficient Indications of the vast Distinction he makes between them, yet this is Extraordinary and besides the Constant and Regular Course of his Providence, which for wise and excellent ends and purposes doth ordinarily scatter Good and Evil among men with an open and undistinguishing hand; insomuch that as the Wise man observes, Eccles. 9.1, 2, 3. No man knoweth either Love or Hatred by all that is before him; all things come alike to all, there is one event to the Righteous and to the Wicked, and as is the Good so is the sinner, and he that sweareth as he that feareth an Oath; this is an evil among all things that are done under the Sun that there is one Event to all. Since therefore Gods love of Good men and Hatred of Bad appears not by any thing before us, we must either conclude that they are both Indifferent to him, which would be to Rase the very Foundations of Religion, or that there is a Future state of Rewards and Punishments wherein there will be no more such Promiscuous Distributions, no more such Cross-coupling of Prosperity with Vice, and Misery with Virtue, but all things will be Adjusted sutably to mens Deserts and Qualifications, and those that are Good Advanced to immortal Glory and Honour, and those that are Bad Deprest into eternal Shame and Confusion. For the Difference which God makes between them in the present course of his Providence is too small and indiscernable to induce us to believe that he makes any Difference between them in his Esteem and Affection; and therefore either we must believe that there is another state wherein he makes a far wider difference between them, or conclude that they are both Indifferent to him, and that he hath no more Regard to the one than the other, or that he hath no Regard at all to Either, which as I shewed before, utterly dissolves the Obligations of Religion.
III. IT is necessary we should believe those Future Rewards and Punishments to be such as do Infinitely Transcend any Good we can reap in our sinful neglect of God and any Evil we can incur by our submission to him. 'Tis true, were our natures equally inclined to submit to or neglect him, we should need no more Good and Evil to move us one way than t'other; but the same Proportion of Goods and Evils which tempts us now to Forsake and Abandon him, would equally tempt us to serve and obey him: but alas, this is far from our case; for in submitting to God we move counter to our selves, we cross the Grain of our Degenerate Nature, and run away from our dearest Inclinations; whereas in forsaking him, we Row with the Tide, and are driven on with an impetuous current of sinful Lusts and Affections; and the case being thus, the temptations on the one side must be incomparably greater, if ever they prevail with us, than they need be on the other. For Men are easily tempted to act in compliance with their own Inclinations; and the smallest Goods or Evils that can be proposed to 'em from without, will readily induce 'em to do what they have a mind to; but to prevail with a Man to do that which he is extreamly averse to, to act against Nature, and live in defiance with his own Inclinations, requires a mighty force of outward temptation; and it must be a very great Good that he will not lose, a very formidable Evil that he will not incur, rather than enter into any course of action that is irksom and ungrateful to his nature. So that unless we believe the Goods and Evils of the other World to be incomparably greater than all the pleasures of Sin, and all the sufferings of Piety and Virtue, there will not be force enough in our Faith to persuade us; because those future Goods and Evils move against Nature, and persuade us to a course of life we are extreamly averse to, whereas these present ones join hands with our Inclinations, and find a ready concurrence in our wills and affections; and a very small temptation will prevail against a great one, when it hath Nature, that Bosom Orator, to solicite and plead for it. Wherefore unless we believe the Rewards and Punishments of the future state to be such as infinitely outweigh those present Goods and Evils that tempt us to sin, they will never be able to prevail against 'em; because they must not only out-tempt them, but, which is the much harder task of the two, they must out-tempt the Reluctances of our Degenerate nature; and yet for future Goods and Evils to out-tempt present ones is not so easie a matter neither; especially if those future ones are invisible and out of the Ken of our sense, which is the case here. For Futurity lessens all Objects to the Mind, even as distance doth to the Eye, and makes things appear to us much smaller than they are in their own natures; So that the futurity of the Rewards and Punishments of the other life are a mighty disadvantage to 'em when they stand in competition with present Goods and Evils; because the later appear to us in their full Proportion, and Magnitude, with all their tempting circumstances about 'em, whereas the former exhibit to us a dim and confused Landskip of things afar off, of things which we never saw nor felt, and which by reason of their distance imprint very dark Idea's on our minds. And as their Futurity lessens their appearance, and renders it confused and indistinct, so their Invisibility weakens their force and influence on our minds, which no Objects can so nearly affect as those that strike upon our Senses. So that unless by an immense magnitude they compensate for being future and insensible, it is impossible they should prevail with such minds as ours against present and sensible Goods and Evils. Wherefore to render our belief of a future State effectual to reduce us to God and our Duty, it's absolutely necessary we should believe the Rewards and Punishments of it to be infinitely greater than all the Goods and Evils that can tempt us to Sin; and that not only because our natures are extreamly averse to that which these Rewards and Punishments tempt us to, but because the Goods and Evils which tempt us the contrary way have the prevailing Advantages of being present and sensible.
IV. And lastly, IT is necessary we should believe that there is no other way for us to acquire these Rewards or avoid these Punishments, but by submitting to the Obligations of Religion. For to be throughly convinced and persuaded of the immense Rewards and Punishments of the other life, is by no means sufficient to reduce us unto God, so long as we do but Dream of any possible way to obtain those Rewards and avoid those Punishments without submitting to Him, to which above all imaginable ways our corrupt nature hath the greatest Antipathy. So that though we were never so much convinc'd of the absolute necessity of escaping Hell and purchasing Heaven, yet if at the same time we have a prospect of any other way or means of effecting it, to be sure we shall shun this this most ungrateful one of forsaking our Sins and returning to God. And if listing our selves into Godly Parties, or putting on a demure and sanctified countenance, if being moped, dejected or unsociable, if whining or fasting, or long prayers, or an affected Gurb, or rigid observance of holy Times; if consuming our lives in a barefooted Pilgrimage, or wearing a hair Shirt, or whipping our Bodies, or spending our Estates in Masses and Indulgencies; if being made free of a holy Confraternity, or visiting Altars and Shrines, or numbering Prayers, like Faggots by a Tally of Beads; if these or any of these will but secure us of Heaven and from going to Hell, we shall think 'em a thousand times more tolerable and easie than to submit our wills to God in all the instances of true Piety and Vertue; in the doing of which we must strangle the corrupt inclinations of our nature, tear our beloved Lusts from our hearts, rack off our earthy affections from their Lees, and refine and spiritualize 'em into a divine Zeal, and Love and Devotion, than which there is nothing in the World more irksom to a degenerate nature. So that 'till we are reduc'd to an utter despair of reaping the Rewards and escaping the Punishments of the other Life by any other means than this of submitting our selves to the Obligations of Religion, our faith will be altogether ineffectual.
SECT. II. What Evidence there is to induce us to believe these future Rewards and Punishments.
THAT there are future Rewards and Punishments is a Doctrine universally assented to by all Ages, and Nations, and Religions, and there is scarce any first Principle in Phisosophy, in which Mankind are more generally agreed. Thus among the Heathen Poets, Divines and Philosophers, there is an unanimous acknowledgment of these future States, although their descriptions of 'em are generally nothing but the dreams of an extravagant fancy. For so as Josephus observes, speaking of the Essenes Doctrine concerning the future State of the blessed foreign, &c. i. e. they teach, as all the Greek Nations also do, that for good Souls there are blessed Seats prepared beyond the Ocean in a Region that is always free from Rain and Snow, and excessive heats, being perpetually fanned with gentle breeses from the Ocean; which description he hath translated almost verbatim out of the 4th. Book of Homers Vlyssea, where he brings in Proteus thus bespeaking Menelaus, foreign, &c. i. e. The Gods shall send thee to the Fields of Elysium which lie on the utmost parts of the Earth where thou shalt live secure and happy, there being neither Rain, nor Snow, nor Winter, but the blessed Inhabitants are perpetually refresh'd with the gentle breathing of cool Zephyrs from the Ocean. Plato tells us of an antient Law concerning Men, foreign, i. e. which was always and is still in force among the Gods, that those who lived just and holy lives should after their death go into the Isles of the blessed, where they should enjoy all manner of happiness without the least intermixture of misery; but that those who lived here unjustly and ungodly should be sent into that Prison of just punishment, which is called Hell, Plat. Gorg. p. 312. Thus also Tully Tuscul. lib. 1. permanere animos arbitramur consensu nationum omnium, i. e. We believe, as all Nations do, that the Souls of Men do survive their Bodies; and to name no more, Seneca Epist. 117. tells us, Cum de animarum aeternitate disserimus, non leve momentum apud nos habet consensus omnium aut Timentium Inferos, aut Colentium, i. e. when we discourse of the Eternity of Souls, the general consent of all Men either fearing or worshipping the Hellish powers is of very great moment. And indeed this belief of the future states being so generally imprinted on Mens minds is a very probable argument of the reality of them, it being hardly conceivable, how the Reason of all mankind should have so unanimously consented in it, had it not been extreamly agreeable to the make and frame of our minds, and we cannot suppose any false proposition to be agreeable to the frame of our mind, without reflecting dishonourably upon the truth of him that framed it. And indeed this notion of a future state is such as hath been generally imbraced by those Persons who are least capable of deducing it by a Logical dependence of one thing upon another, and therefore since it hath no dependency in their minds on any other antecedent notion, how could it have been so generally entertain'd, did not the common dictate of Nature or Reason acting alike in all Men, move 'em to conspire in it, though they knew not one anothers minds. For it hath been believed with a kind of repugnancy to sense, which discovers all things round about it to be mortal, and which upon that account would have been too apt to have seduced ruder minds into a disbelief of any other state; had not some more powerful impression on their Souls forcibly urg'd 'em to believe it.
BUT because this Argument drawn from universal consent is liable to some little exception, I shall not insist upon it, but indeavour to prove the reality of this future state of Rewards and Punishments from these Topicks:
First, From the Wisdom of God's Government.
Secondly, From the Justice of his Providence.
Thirdly, From the natural capacity of our Souls to survive our Bodies, and to enjoy future Rewards, and suffer future Punishments.
Fourthly, From the natural expectance we have of future Rewards, and dread of future Punishments.
Fifthly, From the excellent frame and structure of humane Nature.
Sixthly, From the Testimony of the Christian Religion.
I. FROM the Wisdom of God's Government. That Mankind is under the Government of God, is evident from that Law which he hath imprinted on our nature, by which our actions are distinguish'd into Good and Evil, Virtuous and Vitious; of which sufficient proof hath been given, Ch. 1. and since God hath given a Law to our natures, there is no doubt to be made but he hath taken sufficient care to inforce the observance of it by Rewards and Punishments, otherwise his Government over us would be very insecure and precarious. For that Law giver doth only Petition his Subjects to obey, who doth not promise such rewards and denounce such penalties as are sufficient to oblige 'em thereunto.
BUT now there is no Reward can be sufcient to oblige us to obey, which doth not abundantly compensate any loss or evil we may sustain by our obedience; no punishment sufficient to deter us from disobeying that doth not far surmount all the Benefits and Pleasures which we can hope to reap from our Disobedience; but unless there be a future state, the Law of Nature can propose no such Rewards and Punishments to us. For if we have nothing to dread or hope for beyond the Grave, our present interest is all our concern, and in reason we ought to judg things to be Good or Evil according as they promote or obstruct our temporal happiness. Now though it is certain that in the general there is a natural good accrewing to us from all vertuous actions; as on the contrary a natural evil from all vitious ones; and it is ordinarily more conducive to our temporal Interest to obey than to disobey the Law of our natures; yet there are a world of instances wherein Vice may be more advantageous to us than Vertue, abstracting from the Rewards and Punishments of another life. It is ordinarily better for me to be an honest Man than a Knave; it is more for my Reputation and usually for my Profit too; and it is more for the publick good in which my own is involved; but yet in several circumstances it may be better for me with respect only to this World to be a Knave than an honest Man. For whensoever I can cheat so secretly and securely as not to fall under the publique lash nor impair my reputation, and I can gain more by the Cheat than I shall lose in the damage of the Publique, it will be doubtless more advantageous for me as to my worldly interest to cheat than to be honest; and how often such fair opportunities of cozenage do occur, no Man can be insensible that hath but the least insight into the affairs of this World. So that if there were no future Rewards and Punishments, this great Law of Righteousness would not have force enough universally to oblige us; because there are a world of instances wherein we might gain more good and eschew more evil by doing unrighteously, than all its present Rewards and Punishments do amount to. And the same may be said of all other laws of Nature, which without the great motives of future happiness and misery can no longer induce Men to obey 'em than it is for their temporal interest to do so. For suppose I can secretly stab or poison a Man whom I hate or dread, or from whose death I may reap any considerable advantage, what should restrain me from it? If you say the Law of Nature, pray what Reward doth the Law of Nature propose that is sufficient to compensate for the disatisfaction of my Revenge, or for the danger I run in suffering my Enemy to live; or what punishment doth the Law of Nature denounce that can ballance the advantage of a thousand or perhaps ten thousand pounds a year that may accrew to me by his death?
IF you say the Law of Nature proposes to me the reward of a quiet and satisfied Mind, and denounces the punishment of a guilty and amazed Conscience; I easily answer, that this peace and horror which is consequent to the forbearance or commission of sin, arises from the hope and dread of future Rewards and Punishments; which being taken away, to sin or not sin will be indifferent as to any peace or horror that can follow upon it; and when this restraint is taken off, what consideration will there be left that is sufficient to withhold me from the bloody fact, when ever I have an opportunity to act it securely, and am furiously spurred on to it by my own Revenge and Covetousness? So that if there be no Rewards and Punishments in another life to inforce the commands of the Law of Nature, it's certain that there are no such annex'd to it in this as are universally sufficient to oblige us to observe 'em. For as for the Goods and Evils of this life, they are ordinarily distributed among Men with so little respect and discrimination, as not only to occasion but to justifie that famous observation of the Wise Man, that all things happen alike to all. Either therefore there are other Goods to be hoped for, and other Evils to be feared, or there are a world of cases wherein God hath not sufficiently provided to secure our obedience to the Law of our Nature; and to imagine that God should give a Law to his Creatures, and take no care to secure the Authority of it, is a most sensless Blasphemy of the Wisdom of his Government; for this would be to expose his own Authority to contempt, and to cast his Laws at the feet of his Creatures to be spurned and trampled on by 'em at their pleasure.
IF it be Objected, that all that this Argument proves, is, that to secure our obedience to the Law of Nature, it's necessary we should believe that there are future Rewards and Punishments; but that it doth not hence follow that 'tis necessary that there should be future Rewards and Punishments; because whether there be any such things or no, our belief of 'em will be sufficient to secure the Authority of the Law; I answer, That if our belief of future Rewards and Punishments be necessary, one of these two things must inevitably follow; either that the Objects of our Belief are real, which is the thing I am proving, or that to countenance the Authority of his Laws, it's necessary for God to impose upon our faith, and deceive us into the belief of a falshood. For if to inforce God's Law, it's necessary we should believe that there are future Rewards and Punishments, either there must be such things really existing, or God must inforce his Law with our belief of a falshood; and to imagin, that when God might have created for us a future state of Reward and Punishment, if he had so pleased, and governed us by the hopes and fears of it, he hath rather chosen to govern us by Tricks and Lyes, and to wheedle us into obedience by a cheat and delusion, is a Blasphemy no less sensless than horrid. Since therefore to secure the Authority of that Law by which the humane Nature is to be governed, it is necessary that it should be inforc'd with the motives of everlasting Reward and Punishment, one of these three things necessarily follows; either that God hath not sufficiently inforc'd his Law, which is a soul imputation on his Wisdom, or that he is fain to inforce it with a Lye, which is an impious reflection on his Truth, or that there are everlasting Rewards and Punishments.
II. FROM the Justice of the divine Providence. For if there be a divine Providence presiding over the World (as, that there is, hath been already sufficiently proved) Justice and Equity, which is the most glorious perfection of an Over-ruling power, must necessarily be included in the notion of it. For without Justice, over-ruling power is nothing but an impotent Tyranny, whch to attribute to God is far more dishonourable and incongruous to the nature of his perfections, than to strip him of all Providence, as Epicurus did, and shut him up in the heavens in a state of everlasting Sloth and Luxury. For not to Govern, is only to do Nothing; but to Govern without Justice, is to do Mischief; and 'tis a much less Derogation from the Perfection of any Being, to suppose it to be Idle than to suppose it to be Mischievous. So that allowing that God, who is the most perfect of all Beings, governs the World, it would not be only Blasphemous, but Nonsense to imagine that he governs it unjustly. Now the proper justice of Government consists in the Equality of its Distributions; for since there is such a thing as immutable Good and Evil in the actions of free and reasonable Agents, it is naturally fit and due that those who do good should receive good, and those who do evil, evil, from their hands who have the Government of actions; and this proportionably to the good and evil of their doings. So that Gods Governing the World justly, consists in Distributing good to those that do good, and evil to those that do evil, or in other words in Proportioning Rewards and Punishments to men according to the Good and Evil he finds in their actions; and unless we suppose him to do this, it is non-sense to imagine that he Governs the World.
BUT if all his Distributions are confined to this life, and there is neither Reward nor Punishment to be expected from him in another, there are infinite instances of his Providence wherein it will be impossible to defend his equality and justice. For if there be no other Scene of good and evil, reward and punishment, but only this life, all the afflicted good and prosperous bad men that ever were in the World, of which there infinite instances, are so many reproachful. Monuments of the woful inequality of the divine Government. For how many Millions of brave Souls have there been, who have thought nothing too dear for God and his service, and have sacrificed their lusts, their lives, and their fortunes to him, and yet upon this supposal have reaped no other recompence for so doing but only a miserable life, and a wofull death, and an obscure dishonourable grave? As, on the contrary, how many Millions of Millions of wicked men that have lived in open defiance to all that is sacred, and just, and good, blasphemed God, affronted his authority, and trampled upon all the Laws of his Government, and yet, supposing there is no other life, have undergone no other punishment for so doing but to live prosperously, and die quietly, and lie inshrined in a Marble Monument? Now how can we otherwise Apologize for the justice of Providence when it thus cross-couples Prosperity with Vice, and Adversity with Vertue, but only by supposing this present life to be only the state of our Trial and Probation, which will quickly determine in our everlasting Recompence or Punishment, according as we behave and acquit our selves in it; upon which supposal the justice of Providence may be fairly accounted for, were the present distributions of it a thousand times more unequal than they are? For then we need not wonder that good and bad men are at present so unequally treated, since now they are only upon their Proof and Trial, which, as I have shewn before, requires such a treatment, but their Reward and Punishment is reserved for another state, wherein all these seeming inequalities shall be fairly adjusted, and Vertue shall be crowned with everlasting Glory and Pleasure, and Vice damn'd to eternal horror and confusion. But if the Goods and Evils of this present life, are all the reward and punishment that good and bad Men are to expect, where is the Justice of the divine Government, that many times oppresses its Friends, and advances its Enemies, and in the conclusion extinguishes their Beings together, and therewith all possibility of making any future retribution of good to the one, or evil to the other? And therefore if it be true, that the Judge of all the World will do righteously, that first or last he will certainly distribute his Rewards and Punishments to his Subjects accord to the Merit and Demerit of their actions, it must be as true, that for the main he hath reserved the doing it to a future state; since it cannot be denied but that at present he very often doth the quite contrary; and if it be but as evident that there is such a future state as it is that God governs the World justly, I think 'tis as fair an assurance of it as any modest Man can require.
III. FROM the natural capacity of our Souls to survive our Bodies, and enjoy future Rewards and suffer future Punishments, it also follows that there is a future state of Reward and Punishment. For we find in our Souls a certain innate force and power, whereby they determine themselves which way they please in their motions and operations; whereby they are exempt from the necessitating influence of any thing that is forein to 'em; and this innate liberty or power of self-determination is necessarily supposed in the management of all humane Affairs; in Commerce and Treaties, in Government and Laws and Administrations of Justice, in Councils, Admonitions, reproofs and persuasions: in all which applications are made to our Souls as to free and self-determining Agents, that have the absolute disposal of their own motions, and can direct 'em which way they please; and indeed were not our Souls left to their own free disposal, but concluded by the Laws of a fatal necessity, as we see all material Agents are, such applications to 'em as these, would be very absurd and ridiculous, and we may as reasonably hope to tame Wolves and Tygers by reading Ethicks to 'em, or to still the North-wind by sending Ambassadours to him to propose Articles of Peace, as to prevail upon Mens minds by moral addresses and persuasions; because if they are not masters of their own choices, whatsoever the rigid Laws of necessity determine 'em to, they must necessarily choose in despight of all persuasions to the contrary.
NOW by this self-determining Power our Souls do evidently manifest themselves to be immaterial substances, and consequently not liable to Death and Corruption. For if they were matter they would be moved like matter, i. e. by the pressure or thrusting of other matter upon 'em; and it would be no more in their power to move any other way than that which some other matter presses and impels 'em, than it is for a stone not to move upwards when 'tis impel'd by the force which your Arm impresses on it, and not to move down again when that force is spent, and 'tis prest back by its own weight and gravity. Whereas we feel in our Soul an innate power to determine it self which way it pleases, and even to move quite contrary to all forein impressions. For when 'tis prest on by outward Object to such and such thoughts and purposes with all imaginable vigour, it often stems the impetuous Tide, and thinks and purposes the quite contrary. How then can that be matter which is not determined in its motions by matter, but when it pleases can either move counter to all material impressions, or of two material impressions can move counter to the strongest.
THAT our Souls therefore are immaterial, is just as evident as that they have liberty of will; and that they have liberty of will, needs no other proof than the common sense and feeling of mankind; and whatsoever essence feels this freedom within it self, whereby it is absolved from the rigid Laws of matter, may with all the reason in the World conclude it self immaterial; and if our Souls are immaterial substances, to be sure they can naturally subsist and live without these Bodies, and must necessarily do so unless God destroys 'em, as having no contrary qualities or divisible parts, no principles of death or corruption in 'em; and since God hath made our Soul of an immaterial and immortal nature, we have all the reason in the World to conclude that he will not unravel his own workmanship, but permit it to survive its Body, and enjoy or indure that happy ot miserable Fate which it self hath chosen and made.
IV. FROM the natural expectance we have of future Rewards and dread of future Punishments, it is also evident that there is a state of future Rewards and Punishments. Thus after the commission of any flagitious wickedness there naturally arise ill-abodings in Mens minds of a dire after-reckoning; and though the Commission be secret and conceal'd from all humane cognizance, so that there is no reason to dread the corrections of publique Justice for it, yet when ever the Man reflects on it, it fills his mind with horrible presages of a woful Futurity; as, on the contrary, when ever a Man doth any great good or conquers any violent temptation to evil, it lifts up his Soul into a blessed expectation, and swells his hope with the promise of a future Reward; and though the good he hath done, or the evil he hath avoided, gives him no kind of prospect of any present advantage, yet his mind is soothed and ravished with the contemplation of it, which naturally suggests to him the joyous hopes of a recompence to come. For, whence should this hope and dread spring up in Mens minds upon the Commission of good and bad actions, but from some common impression upon humane nature, intimating to us a future state of Reward and Punishment? If you say, 'tis from those religious Principles which we imbibe in our Education; I would fain know how came this Principle concerning the future state to be so universally imbibed, if there were not something in it that is very agreeable with the reason of all mankind? For, whatever is the matter, wee see 'tis very easily embraced, but very difficultly parted with; Mens Minds do catch at it with a strange kind of greediness, but when once they have swallowed it, it never comes up again without straining and violence; and what should be the reason of this, if there were not something in it that is very agreeable with the natural tast and rellish of our understandings? We know there have been great Wits and Philosophers that have taken as much pains to rase the belief of a future state out of Mens minds as ever any others did to imprint it there; and yet though their Doctrine hath been always highly befriended by Mens wicked lusts and affections, to which the belief of a future state is the most terrible and vexatious thing in the World, yet with all their Wit and Sophistry they have never been able to root it out of Mens minds. If then our hopes and fears of another World be merely owing to our Teaching and Education, why should not teaching erase as well as imprint 'em; especially when it is so powerfully seconded with all the Bosom Rhetorick of Mens vitious inclinations? Whereas on the contrary, those who have most industriously attempted to extinguish their sense of another World, have generally been very unsuccessful, and though in the Riot of their sinful delights, they many times charm and stupifie it for the present, yet no sooner do they retire into themselves and coolly reflect upon their own minds, but it presently awakes again, and haunts and pursues 'em; and though they use all imaginable ways to divert their minds from the thoughts of another world, and, to avoid these Bosom Accusers and Tormentors, run for Sanctuary to all things without 'em, to Sports and Recreations, to Wine and Women, to Care and Business, yet still they pursue 'em, and ever and anon break in upon 'em, and scare and terrifie 'em; and because their minds are so haunted with these importunate terrours of the World to come, they are affraid to look inwards, but are fain to live abroad in their own defence, as not daring to trust themselves alone with themselves; all which are plain Presages of a future Judgment and Vengeance that awaits wicked Souls after this life. For if this dread of future Punishment be natural to us (as its sticking so closely and universally to humane Nature plainly argues it is) it must be imprest on us by the great Author of Nature; and for him to impress a Passion on us which hath no real Object, would be to impose a Cheat upon our Natures and abuse our minds with a false Alarm. So that either we must suppose that God hath implanted in our Natures a …ead of that which is not, which is a dishonourable reflection on his Truth and Veracity; or that there is really a future Punishment answerable to that dread.
AND as the dread of future Punishment is natural to us when we do ill, so the desire and expectance of future Reward is no less natural to us when we do well. For I dare boldly say there never was any vertuous Man, of whatsoever Nation or Religion, or sect of Philosophers, whose mind hath not been winged with earnest hopes and desires of a future happiness, and there is none that ever yet either denied or despair'd of it, but only such as have first debauched the very Principles of their Nature. For such it's evident were the Sadduces and Epicureans, sects of Men that had drowned all that was humane in 'em in sensuality and voluptuousness and are branded upon Record for their shameful Indulgence to their own brutish Genius; and such are no Standards of humane Nature, but ought rather to be look'd upon as Monsters of Men. And therefore as we do not judg of the natural Figures and proportions of humane Bodies by monstrous and mishapen births, so neither ought we to judg of what is natural or unnatural to Men by those brutes in humane shape, who, by submitting their Reason to their passions and Appetites, have disfigur'd their Natures and distorted it into an unnatural Position; But if we would know what is humane and natural to us, we must take our measures from those who live most conformably to the Laws of a Rational Nature; and these are they whom we call Pious and Virtuous, who are therefore to be look'd upon as the true Standards of humane Nature, by whom we may best judg of what is natural and unnatural to us; and if we judg by these, we shall most certainly find that Virtue, and the hopes of Immortality are so nearly allied, that like Hippocrates Twins they live and die together. For though while Men live a brutish and sensual Life, their future hopes are usually drowned in their present Enjoyments; yet when once they recover out of this unnatural state, and begin to live like reasonable beings, immediately they feel great desires and expectations of a future happiness springing up in their minds, and so arising higher and higher proportionably as they advance in virtue and goodness; which is a plain evidence that these hopes and desires are natural to us and interwoven with the frame and constitution of our Souls. But now how can it consist with the goodness of God to implant such desires and hopes in our Natures, and then withhold from 'em that which is the only Object that can sute and satisfie 'em? For as a great Divine of our own hath well observed, Other Beings, we see, have no natural desire in vain, the good God having so ordered things that there are Objects in Nature apportioned to all their natural Appetites; but if there be no future state of happiness reserved for good Men, We are by a natural Principle most strongly inclined to that which we can never attain to; as if God had purposely framed us with such inclinations, that so we might be perpetually tormented between those two Passions Desire and Despair, an earnest propension after a future Happiness, and an utter incapacity of enjoying it; as if Nature it self whereby all other things are disposed to their perfection did serve only in Man to make him miserable, and, which is more considerable, as if Virtue which is the perfection of Nature, did only serve to contribute to our infelicity, by raising in us such desires and expectations as without a future Happiness must be for ever disappointed. But if this Desire and Expectation be natural to us, as it evidently is, it must be implanted there by the God of Nature, with whose truth and goodness it can never consist to inspire us with such Desires and Hopes as he knows have no Object in the nature of things, and so can never be fulfilled and accomplish'd.
V. FROM the excellent frame and constitution of humane Nature, it's also evident that there is a future state of Reward and Punishment. For whoever shall impartially consider the frame of our Natures, will easily discern that we are made for much greater purposes than to enjoy this World, and that our faculties are as much too big for these sensitive fruitions as the Channel of the Ocean is for the streams of a little River. For the highest happiness we can frame an Idea of, is the enjoyment of God by contemplation and love and imitation of his Perfections, as I have proved at large, Part. 1. c. 3. which doth as far excel all Worldly happiness, as the Enjoyments of a Prince do the pleasures of a Fly; and yet it is evident that our minds are framed with a natural capacity of enjoying this supream Beatitude, i. e. of contemplating, and loving and imitating God. For as for the Being and Existence of God, all things round about us preach and proclaim it, and which way soever we turn our Eyes we behold the footsteps of his Power and Wisdom; and being endowed with a reasoning faculty, we can easily ascend to the infinite Perfections of his Nature by those borrowed Perfections we behold in his Creatures, which are so many lively Comments and Paraphrases upon him, and so far forth as they are Perfefections, must necessarily meet and concenter in him; and then such is the frame of our natures, that from the contemplation of the Beauty and Perfection of any Being, we naturally proceed to admire and love it; so that unless our wills be violently prejudiced against the Perfections of God, our contemplation must necessarily kindle our love of 'em; and then those Perfections which we love and admire in another, we are naturally ambitious to transcribe into our selves; so that being once inflamed with the love of God, that will be continually prompting us to imitate him, and that will by degrees mould us into a fair and glorious resemblance of him. Thus God hath implanted in the very frame of our Nature a most forward capacity of enjoying himself, which in the perfection of it infinitely transcends all that can be imagined in a terrestrial Paradise. And yet though we have faculties that we are sure are naturally capable of enjoying him to Perfection; of contemplating him without weariness, of loving him without aversion, of imitating him without difficulty or interruption; in this present state of things it is morally impossible we should ever arise to it. For our faculties are clog'd with so many sinful prejudices, interrupted with so many bodily necessities, diverted with so many secular occasions, that it cannot be reasonably expected even from the best Men in the World, that they should in this life approach the Perfection of the happiness of divine Enjoyment; especially if there were no other life but this, for then it would be folly so much as to attempt it. For what Man in his Wits would ever think it worth the while to spend a considerable part of his life in waging War with himself, mortifying his Affections, crossing and starving out his dearest inclinations (which yet he must do ere he can arrive to any comfortable degree of divine Enjoyment) if there were no other recompence to be expected at last, but to live a few days longer in a Rapturous Muse, and then lie down in everlasting darkness and insensibility. Were he not a thousand times better please and gratifie himself at present, content his craving desires with the goods that are before him, and take his fill of those sensual delights that readily offer themselves to his Enjoyment, than run away from 'em in a long and wearisom quest of spiritual joys, which for all he knows he may never arrive to, or if he doth, is sure within a few moments to be deprived of for ever. So that if there be no other state but this, it's plain we are made naturally capable of the highest happiness to no purpose; we are naturally capable of enjoying God, and yet such are our circumstances in this present state, that if there be no other, it is not to be expected we should ever arrive to any high degree of Enjoyment, and if it were, all things consider'd 'twould be an egregious piece of folly to attempt it; Now how can it consist either with the divine Wisdom or Goodness to create in us such vast capacities of spiritual happiness, and then place us in such circumstances wherein 'twould be both imprudent and in vain for us to pursue any other happiness but what is carnal and sensual? No wise Man would build a House unless he meant it should be inhabited; and can we imagine that the All-wise God would ever have created in us such vast and boundless capacities of happiness, merely to stand empty and be for ever uninhabited; that he who always proposes to himself the most noble and worthy ends of his Actions, would ever have form'd in us such superfluous capacities, or built such spacious Rooms in our Nature when he never intended to make any use of 'em?
AND then considering the Goodness as well as Wisdom of God, what likelihood is there that he should create such ample capacities in our Nature and furnish it with such excellent faculties, for no other end but to enjoy the trifling goods of this life; that he who hath created goods for all other creatures that are every way adequate to their natural capacities, should make us capable to partake of the felicities of Angels, and then stake us down to the pleasures of Swine? Especially considering that by making us capable of a higher happiness and sensible of our own capacity, he hath almost necessitated us to expect and desire it; and what is this, if he doth not intend it for us, but to create in us an appetite merely to vex and tantalize it; as if it were a recreation to him to sit above in the Heavens and behold the work of his own hands spending it self in weary struglings towards him, and vex'd all the while it continues in Being with an impotent desire of that which it shall never enjoy, and which by giving it a capacity to enjoy he hath encouraged it to desire and expect.
VI. And lastly, FROM the Testimony of the Christian Religion it is also evident that there is a future state of Reward and Punishment; which in most express terms assures us of another life beyond this, wherein we shall be for ever happy or miserable according to what we have done in the flesh; So that we have as full evidence of the reality of future Rewards and Punishments as we have of the truth of Christianity, and as full evidence of the truth of Christianity as all the miraculous works of our Saviour can give, and as full evidence of the truth of his Miracles as the most credible Testimony of eye witnesses can give, who not only confirmed their Testimony by other Miracles of their own, but at the last sealed it with their bloud, which is the highest security that mortal men can give of their fidelity; but though this Argument be of all others the most convincing and satisfactory, yet I shall insist no farther on it in this place, because I shall have occasion to prosecute it at large in the seventh Chapter.
SECT. III. By what means this belief of divine Rewards and Punishments is to be begotten and confirmed in us.
THOUGH the evidences of future Rewards and Punishments be such as are sufficient to convince any reasonable mind, yet it is evident that in this degenerate state of our natures there is a strong repugnancy to the lively belief of them, insomuch that the bare proposal of evidence is not sufficient effectually to persuade us; wherefore before we dismiss this Argument, it will be neeessary to add to what hath been said such means and directions, as, together with the evidences, are proper to dispose our minds to the effectual belief of the future state; and these I shall reduce to these four particulars,
I. IF we would effectually believe the future state of Rewards and Punishments, we must fix and inure our minds to serious thoughts and considerations. For whilst our minds are taken up with fancies and levities, with wild or ludicrous or incoherent Ideas, or entertained with the cares or pleasures of this life, they will not be at leisure to turn their thoughts towards another World. For to think close of another World requires a very serious and thoughtful mind; because the other World doth not press upon our Senses as this World doth, which wheresoever we turn our selves is continually thrusting its Objects into our minds through our Eyes and Ears, and whispering to our thoughts through the Organs of our Senses which are the most immediate Entries and Inlets to our Mind. So that the other World being quite out of sight, and this always in view, it is as difficult for us to keep the one out of our Minds as to let the other in. For before we can set our selves to think closely of the other World, we must shut our Eyes and Ears to the Objects of this; otherwise they will obtrude themselves upon us, and draw away our thoughts and meditations; we must gather in our thoughts from the Objects of Sense that are round about us, take leave of this World, and retire into our own minds, and shut up our selves within our selves, that none of these sensitive things may come at us, and that we may be wholly at leisure to entertain our selves with the invisible things of another World. And this we shall never be able to do so long as our Minds are vain, and roving, and desultory, and possess'd with wild imaginations or restless cares or extravagant mirth and Jollities; for these things will put our thoughts upon so many vagaries, and render them so loose, and wild, and incoherent, that they will never be able to hang long enough together to form any serious conceptions. So that when we would fix them upon the other World we shall scarce be able to gather them in from those outward Objects among which they are squandered; or if we do, we shall never keep them long enough together to form any serious apprehensions of it; but as soon as they have taken a cursory view of it, they will be flying abroad again, and roving into vanity and impertinence. So that while our Minds are light and vain, they cannot think enough of another World seriously to apprehend and believe it; the Rewards and Punishments of that invisible state are things too serious for our wild thoughts to dwell on; and 'till our minds are grown more fixt and steady, till they are more withdrawn from sensitive Objects, and more accustomed to retired thinking, they will be too volatile and fugitive seriously to apprehend, and heartily to believe a future state. If therefore we would attain to a firm belief of it, we must indeavour to reclaim our wild thoughts by accustoming our selves to serious thinking; and when by sad and serious meditations we have rendred our minds more fixt and retired, we must
II. Indeavour to remove those vicious prejudices which indispose us to the belief of future Rewards and Punishments. For while men live in opposition to God, and have therefore reason to apprehend his displeasure, this will strongly prejudice our minds against the belief of a future state; because this belief must necessarily gall and disturb us, and render our vicious courses extremely troublesom and uneasie. For when a Man is resolved to lead an ill course of life, and at the same time believes it will conclude in eternal wretchedness, his faith will be a perpetual plague to his Mind, like Belteshazzars Mene Tekel it will scare and alarm him in his sinful Carouses, and imbitter the gust of them with many a sad thought and dire reflection; and 'till he either shakes hands with his Creed, or his ill Resolution, it will be impossible for him ever to be quiet. Whilst therefore he resolves to continue his ill courses, it is his interest to believe there is no other World but this; he is obliged to it in his own defence, and as he hopes to enjoy himself, and sin without disturbance; and then his interest having bribed his affection, his affection will be sure so to biass his reason, that it will be a difficult matter for him to convince and persuade himself. For if there be future Rewards, he knows he hath no interest in them; if future Punishments, he is conscious he must feel and indure them; and to believe that there are such goods as he shall never be the better for, and such evils as he shall be infinitely the worse for, must needs be extremely repugnant to his inclinations. For that which men would not have, they are averse to believe; and that which they are averse to believe they are not easily convinced of, because their aversion will cast such a mist before their minds as that they will hardly be able to discern a fair Probability in a clear Demonstration. Wherefore if ever you would arrive at a firm belief of the future Rewards and Punishments, you must indeavour to dispel from your minds those prejudices against it with which your own ill courses are apt to inspire you, by resolving with your selves to lay aside your sinful affections and interests while you are examining the evidences of another World, and not to suffer them to intermingle with your reasonings; concluding that in a matter of such infinite moment 'tis the greatest madness in the world to think as you wish and believe as you affect; that 'tis not your unbelief will either extinguish the joys of Heaven, or quench the flames of Hell, and that since the nature of things will not bend to your wishes, and be as you would have them, it is your true interest to believe that they are what they are, especially in a matter of such infinite concern to you; that if Heaven and Hell are not dreams but realities, you will most certainly find them so whatever you think of them, and that therefore it concerns you as much as an eternity of happiness or misery amounts to, to believe that they are real if they are so, lest out of a vain confidence that there are no such things, you forfeit Heaven and incur Hell fire. With such thoughts as these you must often encounter those prejudices which sin raises in your minds; and when once you have conquer'd them, and reduced your minds to an impartial desire of being rightly informed in this matter, and in order to that, to give an equal hearing to the reasons on both sides, you are fairly prepared for the belief of another World, which cannot fail to obtain upon your understandings, if
III. YOU duly examine those motives of credibility upon which those future Rewards and Punishments are proposed. For though Faith be the gift of God, yet it is a gift which he confers upon us as he doth all his other blessings, in the use of due and proper means; and as it is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, but not without the concurrence of the diligent hand, so 'tis the grace of God that gives us faith, but not without our application to the natural means. Now the natural means of faith is a due consideration of the evidence upon which the matter to be believed is founded and proposed. For though the matter be never so evident in it self, yet it is not evident to us 'till we have duly considered it; and if we believe without evidence, we believe with our wills, and not with our understandings; whereas in reality believing is properly an act of the understanding, whereby it assents to a thing as true, which it cannot do without some proof and evidence that it is so; and therefore when we assent to things as true with our wills without our understandings, or, which is the same thing, without proof and evidence, we cannot so properly be said to believe, as not to disbelieve them. For there are a world of things which men do neither deny nor affirm, believe nor disbelieve, that is, about which they never concern their thoughts, nor trouble their heads one way or t'other. And thus it is here; there are many who pretend to believe another World, but if you ask them why, they can give no reason, nor did they ever enquire whether there be any to be given; so that it is plain whatever they imagine, they do not believe it; for to believe without understanding, is as perfect nonsense as to understand without evidence, or believe without faith. So that that which they call faith, is only not disbelieving; whether there be another World or no, they never troubled their heads to enquire, and so having no evidence pro or con, their understanding doth neither affirm nor deny, believe nor disbelieve, but negligently leaves the matter in suspence and uncertainty.
The natural means of faith therefore, you see, is a due enquiry into the evidence of the truth and reality of the things we believe; and therefore if we would indeed believe that there is a future World of Rewards and Punishments, we must seriously consider the reasons and evidences that prove and assert it, and urge them close to our understandings, 'till they have forced and extorted from them a rational and well-grounded assent; which if we do, laying aside all partiality and prejudice, there is no doubt but they will be found weighty enough to turn the Scale against all Objections to the contrary; especially if
IV. And lastly, You add to all these means fervent and hearty Prayer. For Prayer in it self is a very proper and useful means to beget and confirm in us the belief of the other World, because it is an abstraction of the mind from those sensitive and material objects which stand like hills and mountains between us and the invisible World, and intercept our Prospect of it. For whenever our mind is engaged in a serious and hearty prayer, it dispels all earthly things before it, and scatters them out of sight, and having no Mists or Clouds in its way, nothing but a fair and clear heaven above it, thither it directs its Eyes, and Thoughts, and Desires without any lett or interruption. Now the very withdrawing our minds from sensible things to converse with spiritual and invisible ones, doth, as I shewed before, mightily dispose us to the belief of another World. When therefore by frequent and hearty prayer our minds have been accustomed to retire from the objects of sense, and to fix their thoughts and contemplations upon God, they will be able to turn themselves with more ease and readiness to the invisible things of another World, which the more familiar they are to us, the better able we shall be to apprehend and believe them.
But then, by our fervent and hearty prayers we shall also obtain the assistance of God, without the concurrence of whose grace we can do no good thing, and much less effectually believe the Rewards and Punishments of another life, which is the root and principle of all true Piety and Virtue. For to the forming a firm belief of this Doctrine in our minds, there is required a very severe and impartial consideration of the Proofs and Evidences upon which it is founded; and considering how vain and roving our thoughts are, how apt to fly off from any serious argument, and especially from this of another World, which is so offensive to our vicious appetites and affections, what likelihood is there that we should ever fix our mind to such a through examination of the Proofs of another World as is necessary to beget in us a lively belief of it, unless God, who alone can command our thoughts, co-operates with us, and animates our faint indeavours with his grace and assistance; unless he by suggesting the evidences of the future state to us, and by urging and repeating them, imprints them on our minds with all their natural force and efficacy; in a word, unless by following our flying thoughts with these his holy inspirations, and importuning them with, and almost forcing them upon them, he at last prevails with them to stay and look back and consider and seriously to ponder the weight and force of them, it is very improbable they should ever abide long enough upon our minds to settle into a firm and efficacious belief. Let us therefore earnestly implore the aid and assistance of God, and beseech him frequently to inspire our minds with the Arguments of a future life, and to urge, and repeat and set them home upon our thoughts, 'till by a due consideration of them we have extracted all their force and evidence, and digested it into a lively and active belief; and if to the use of all the abovenamed means you do but add this of Prayer and Supplication, you may depend upon it, that he who hath promised to open unto all that knock, and to be found of all that seek him, will never deny you any grace or assistance that is necessary to produce in you this fundamental Principle of Religion, viz, an effectual belief of the Rewards and Punishments of another world.
To conclude this Argument therefore, since this belief is so absolutely necessary to subject our minds to the obligations of Religion, let us endeavour as much as in us lies, to found it in our reason, by convincing our minds of the truth and force of those evidences upon which it is proposed. For while we believe upon trust and we know not why, our faith must needs be very weak and infirm, and like a Tree without root in the midst of a storm, be unable to outstand any blast of temptation. For the temptations of sin are such goods and evils as are evident to our senses, which do most certainly assure us that there are such things in the World as pleasure and profit, reproach and persecution; and therefore unless when we are tempted, our faith can confront the evidence of Sense with the evidence of Reason, and produce good proof of those future Goods and Evils which it puts in the ballance against these present temptations, it will hardly be able to withstand 'em. For what likelihood is there that the things which we believe without proof and evidence, should have comparably that force and influence upon us, as the things which we know, and feel and experience? So that when we come to oppose a Heaven and a Hell of whose reality and existence we have no evidence, to pleasures or profits, reproaches or persecutions, which strike immediately on our senses, it is easie to prognosticate which will be most prevalent.
BUT if our belief of the future Rewards and Punishments be founded on such evidence as satisfies our reason, what temptation in the World is there that can prevail against it; what good is there that can outbid Heaven, or what evil that can vie terrours with Hell? For we see by experience that the Objects of our faith, when it is grounded upon satisfactory evidence, do as much influence our minds as the Objects of sense; they who never saw the Indies unless it were in a Map, and so can only believe that there are such Countries, are yet as much affected with the rich Merchandize they abound with as those who have been there, and as ready to venture their Estates and Persons thither, through the danger of the Sea, in hope of a prosperous return. If therefore we believe that there is such a state as Heaven, with as full satisfaction of mind as we do that there is such a place as the Indies, doubtless our Faith would affect us as much as our Eyes, and we should be as forward to go to Heaven and venture through all dangers and difficulties thither, as if we had been there already and had seen with our own Eyes all the Glories and Delights it flows and abounds with. So that the evidence of our Faith, if it be clear and satisfactory, will as much affect our minds as the evidence of our sense; and Heaven and Hell will as vigorously influence our hope and fear, if with a full satisfaction of mind we believe 'em, as if we had seen and felt 'em. Conceive then that you had spent but one hour in Heaven, surveying with your own Eyes the glories of that Place, the Triumphs and Exultations of its blessed Inhabitants, and the rapturous Joys and delights wherewith it entertains 'em; conceive that after this you had been sent for another hour into Hell, and had there been spectators of the horrors and agonies of the damned, of their torture, and rage, and dire convulsions of Soul, caused by a desperate and remediless misery; in a word, conceive that after all, you had been dismiss'd into this World again, to choose your own fate and determine your selves to that happy or this miserable portion for ever; think now what your mind and resolution would be; whether you would not be willing to lose any thing rather than Heaven, or to endure any thing rather than Hell; whether any good or evil sin can tempt you withal, would be able to out-tempt the Rewards and Punishments of Eternity. Doubtless no; the remembrance you would have of the infinite Joys and intolerable Miseries you saw in that other World, would prove an invincible Antidote against all temptation. Now what your sense of the other World would be if you had seen it, that will your belief of it be, when 'tis founded upon clear and satisfactory evidence; 'twill be an infallible Counter-charm against the most bewitching temptations; 'twill render the greatest goods dreadful to us that becken us to Hell, and the greatest evils desireable that drive us towards Heaven. For Faith, saith the Apostle, is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen, Heb. 11.1. that is, it renders its invisible Objects as real and evident to us, as our sense doth visible ones; and when Heaven and Hell are become as evident to our faith as sensible things are to our senses, what good or evil is there in all the World that can out-tempt 'em? For what good is there so good as Heaven, or what evil so bad as Hell? So that if our belief of the future Rewards and Punishments be but founded on such evidence as gives a full satisfaction to our minds, 'twill draw our Souls to God like an invincible Loadstone, in despight of all the oppositions of temptations from without, and of all the counter-strivings of a corrupt nature from within; and there is nothing in the World will be able to withstand it; no good or evil that sin can promise or threaten that will have the power to resist its Almighty persuasions, but 'twill force its own way through all oppositions, and like an overflowing Torrent bear down all our carnal considerations before it.
WHEREFORE if ever we mean to disingage our selves from the slavery of sin, and entirely to devote our selves to God and his Service, let us in the use of the above-named Means endeavour to establish our minds in a firm and well-grounded belief of the other World; that so our faith being built upon a sure foundation of Reason, may be able to outstand all the waves of temptation, and to chase all those goods and evils before it that stand in the way of our return to God; and when by our faith we have so far overcome the World as to submit and resign our selves to God in despight of all its temptations, we shall find our belief of the other World every day grow and improve upon our hands, 'till at last it commences into a certain assurance. For 'tis not so much mens reason as their lusts that do object against the reality of the future World; they are loth to believe it, because it disturbs 'em in their sinful enjoyments, and so their will employs their reason to argue against it; and when once their wills are engaged in the controversie, a very slender probability will weigh more on that side than a clear Demonstration on the other. When therefore our wills are taken off by a free resignation of 'em to God, all that sinful prejudice which renders us now so averse to believe, will vanish from our minds; and then we shall see things as they are, and the arguments of another World will appear to our minds with such a convincing evidence, as will quickly dispel all our doubts and uncertainties, and render our Faith equivalent to a clear Vision. So that we shall pass through all the temptations of the World with the same constancy and resolution of Soul, as if we walked in open view of Heaven and Hell, and these mighty Objects which do so infinitely transcend all the Goods and Evils which sin can tempt us withal, will have as victorious an influence on our lives as if they were present and did strike immediately on our senses. And then how is it possible that any temptation whatsoever should be able to cope with or prevail against 'em? For he who is fully persuaded of the reality of Heaven and Hell, must be utterly abandoned of all his reason, if he sin for any Goods sake that is less than Heaven, or for any Evils sake that is less than Hell. When therefore we are drawn to God by such invincible hopes and fears as the firm belief of the other World will suggest to us, how is it possible that any temptation of sin should either dissuade us from coming to him, or persuade us to forsake him? Wherefore it concerns us to take all possible care to ground our faith well and improve and strengthen it, that so in despight of all temptations it may influence our wills and govern our practice, and safely conduct us through all the snares of this Life, and at length bring us home to everlasting Happiness.