The Christian Life Part 3 Volume 4, Part 3 · Chapter 2
CHAP. II. Of the Means, and Instruments of Mortification.
HAVING explained wherein Mortification consists, I proceed in the next place to consider what are the Means and Instruments of it: And these are chiefly these Six;
First, FAITH.
Secondly, CONSIDERATION.
Thirdly, RESOLUTION.
Fourthly, DISCIPLINE.
Fifthly, FREQUENT receiving of the Sacrament.
Sixthly, CONSTANT Prayer.
I. FAITH, or a thorough Belief of the Truth of our Religion; which will furnish us with such Arguments against our Lusts, as all the Temptations they can muster up will never be able to resist. Hence St. Iohn tells us, that This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 1 Epist. v. 4. where by the World we are to understand all those Temptations to sin, that do arise from these outward worldly Objects wherewithal we are here surrounded. Faith therefore must needs be a mighty Instrument of mortifying our Sins, it being the Victory whereby we overcome all the Temptations to them: And indeed a firm Belief of the mighty Arguments of Christianity is in it self such an efficacious Means to dissuade us from sinning, that one would think it were impossible for the most bold and resolute Sinner to withstand it. For who but a mad Man would prostitute himself to the Charms and Flatteries of a base Lust, that believes that Promise which proposes a Heaven of immortal Ioys to dissuade him from it? Who would be frighted into any Sin by the most amazing Danger that can threaten, or befal him, that credits that Threat which denounces a Hell of endless and intolerable Woes against every wilful Transgression? Did we but believe, that it cost the Son of God his dearest Blood to redeem us from our Sins; How could we be so disingenuous to our best Friend, as to harbour those Lusts that were his Murderers, and which he abhors more than the Spear that pierced his Side, or the Nails that gored his Hands and Feet? Yea, how could we be so fool-hardy as to dally with those Sins, which are so infinitely odious unto God, that he would not be attoned for them by any meaner Sacrifice than the Blood of his own Son? In a word, did we but believe, that we must all appear before the Judgment-Seat of Christ, to give a strict Account for whatsoever we have done in the Flesh; What Temptation could there be great enough to ballance our Fear of that dreadful Tribunal? Doubtless, did we but heartily believe our Holy Religion, there is nothing in all the World would be so terrible as Sin to us; the mighty Arguments of the Gospel would so over-awe us, that we should not be able to think of it without Horrour and Amazement; the very Sight of it would scare us like an Apparition, and cause us to run away from it in as great a Fright, as if the Devil himself were at our heels. For, Lord! can I be so stupid, as to hug my Lusts, while I believe that I shall rue for it to all Eternity? Can I be so sensless of my own Interest, as to treat and entertain those Vices, which I verily believe will rob me of all that an everlasting Heaven means? No, no; Did I but believe the Propositions of the Gospel, doubtless I should sooner trust my Body among ravenous Cannibals, than my Soul among my Sins; and think my self much safer among Vipers and Scorpions, than in the Embraces of my Lusts; which whilst they wrap themselves in amorous Folds about me, sting me with an everlasting Venom. But our Misery is, that we are most of us Christians by chance; and have taken up our Religion upon trust, without ever satisfying our selves of its Credibility, or troubling our selves to enquire why or wherefore, we profess it: So that though perhaps we do not absolutely disbelieve, yet neither can we be properly said to believe it; it being a matter we never troubled our selves about, so as to enquire whether it be true or false; and therefore it is no great wonder, that it hath so little Effect upon us. For how can it be expected, that we should be affected with that which we do not believe; or be persuaded to part with those Lusts that are so dear to us, upon Proposals that we give no Credit to, and of whose Truth or Falshood we never troubled our selves to enquire? Let us therefore but satisfy our own Reason of the Truth of our Religion, by considering impartially those mighty Evidences it is founded upon; and then it will soon captivate our Souls into the Love and Obedience of it; and none of our Lusts will be able to withstand its mighty Force and Efficacy, but will all be forced to fall down before it, as Dagon did before the Ark of the Lord. This therefore is the first Instrument of Mortification, viz. a hearty Belief of the Christian Religion.
II. ANOTHER Instrument of Mortification is Consideration. For we have no other way to mortify our Lusts, but only by Reason and Argument, and 'tis impossible that any Arguments should persuade us, unless we duly consider the Strength and Force of them. 'Tis true, our Religion furnishes us with sufficient Arguments to baffle all the Temptations of Sin; But what will it signify to have good Arguments in our Bibles, while they are out of our Thoughts, and are not at all regarded by us? Do we expect they should cure our Souls, as Charms and Amulets do our Bodies, meerly by being written upon Paper, and worn in our Bosoms? Why then may they not as well charm a Swine into Cleanliness, or a savage Tyger out of his natural Fierceness and Cruelty? But alas! all the Arguments in the World to an inconsiderate Mind, are but like so many Arrows shot against an Anvil, where they cannot stick but are forced to rebound and fly off again without making any Impression on it. And hence in the Parable of the Seed, the reason which our Saviour assigns why it prospered not in the High-way, the stony, and thorny Ground, was either that they considered not at all, or not enough, Matth. xiii. 19, 20, 21, 22. either they were wholly inconsiderate, so that the Seed of God's Word lay scattered upon the surface of their Minds, like Corn upon the Highway, to be picked, and devoured by the Fowls of the Air; or they considered but a little, so that the Divine Seed being not throughly rooted in them, produced only a present Fit, and pang of Religion, which in the Heat of the next Temptation withered and died away; or else they considered but by halves, their Minds being all over-grown with worldly Cares and Thoughts, which quickly choked that Holy Seed, and rendered it barren and unfruitful. Thus Inconsideration, you see, will render the most powerful Motives insignificant; and it will be to no purpose for Religion to knock at the door of our Souls, while our Reason is asleep, and our Understandings deaf to its Importunities. But would we be but so true to our own Interest, as to inure our selves to a through Consideration of our Religion, that would arm us with such invincible Arguments, as none of our Lusts would be able to withstand; and we should have so many good Thoughts, like Guardian Angels, perpetually encamped about us, that whensoever the Devil or the World besieged us, they would find our Souls impregnably fortified against all their Batteries. If in the Morning, before we go into the World, we would sit down a while, and take a little pains to antidote our Souls with such Thoughts as these; O my Soul! now am I going into the midst of a crowd of temptations, where ever and anon one bad Object or other will be beckoning to me, and inviting me unto that which is evil; let us therefore consider a little what answer we shall return to all their importunities: By and by perhaps some great opportunity of gain may present it self before thee, to tempt thee to a fraud or consenage; but alas! What a poor recompence will a little Money be for all that Eternity of misery, whereunto I shall consign my self by it? Can I carry this sorry Pelf thither with me? Or if I could, can I bribe my Flames, or corrupt my Tormentors with it? And shall I for such a trifling momentary Gain, incur such an everlasting Damage? When I have thus answered this Temptation, perhaps immediately after some amorous Object may present it self, to court me to the Harlot's Bed; but O my Soul! Will the Pleasures I am promised there compensate the loss of all that Heaven of immortal Ioys, which I shall forfeit by it? And if they will not, as doubtless they will not, shall I be so childish, as for the Pleasures of a moment to extinguish all my hope of being pleased for ever? And when thou hast thus baffled this Temptation, perhaps thou mayst be solicited a new with some importunate invitation to Intemperance; but O my Soul! Remember the bitter Agonies that thy Saviour endured upon the Score of thy Sins; how this among the rest filled his deadly Cup, and vomited it full of Gall and Vinegar; and can I be so sensless as to make light of any sin, the guilt whereof was so heavy as to crush the Lord of Life into his Grave? Shall I be so disingenuous as to gratifie any Lust, that had a hand in the murder of my dearest Saviour, my Saviour who loveth me a thousand times better than I love my self? And now no sooner hast thou repulsed this temptation, but happily some other may assault thee; thou mayst be presented with a favourable opportunity of treating thy Lusts so privatly and securely, as that no Eye shall discover thee; and then how difficult will it be for thee to refuse such an inviting Occasion: but consider O my Soul! thou art always and every where under the inspection of thy Iudg, by whose righteous Doom thou must stand or fall for ever; and he that seeth what thou dost in private will one day call thee to account, and openly unmask all thy actions, and present them bare-faced upon the publick Theatre before all the world of Spirits; unless therefore thou couldst find a place to be wicked in where God might not see thee, 'tis in vain to promise thy self coverts and retirements; for he will one day bring to light all thy deeds of Darkness, and display thy shame to the open view of the world: would we, I say, but take the pains every Morning, before we enter into the World, to season and antidote our Souls with such Meditations as these, it would doubtless mightily contribute to the Mortification of our Lusts. For this would make the Arguments of our Religion so familiar to us, that no Temptations whatsoever would be able to baffle our Resolutions; which being backed with such a Strength of Reason, would stand like a Rock of Adamant, outbraving the Fury of those Waves that dash themselves against it, and forcing them to retire after all their threatning Rage in empty and insignificant Foams. For what Temptation can be too hard for that Soul, that is armed with the Hope of Heaven and the Fear of Hell; and is furnished with Arguments from all the Quarters of Reason and Religion, to oppose against it? This therefore is another of those Means and Instruments, by which we are to Mortifie our Lusts; viz. a serious Consideration of the Motives and Arguments whereby we are to oppose them.
III. ANOTHER Instrument of Mortification is a hearty and well-grounded Resolution: and indeed without a firm Resolution it is in vain for us to attempt the mortifying of our Lusts, or any difficult Undertaking whatsoever. For there is a wide Distance between Thoughts and Things, and 'tis much easier to discourse of Things than to pass them into Execution: for clear Reasonings are accompanied with a wonderful Delight, because there we engage only with Designs; and fighting only with the Idea's of Things, they will easily suffer themselves to be conquered by us, and taken Captive at our Will: but when we pass into Practice, that will revolt and oppose us in the Execution, which was so very compliant in the Thought and Meditation; then you will find that you must wrestle stoutly with those Difficulties that will make Head against you, and that these will put you to a greater Proof of your Valour and Constancy than ever you did imagin; so that unless you are armed with a great Strength of Resolution, you will be beaten oft at the first Attempt, and meeting with greater Resistance than you expected, be forced upon a base and Cowardly Retreat. Now to form a firm Resolution requires a great deal of Prudence and good Conduct; for it is of great avail in all Cases to begin well; and as a Foundation well laid doth secure the Superstructure, so a Resolution well formed will render the Execution of what we are to do a great deal more easie and feasible▪ Before we do resolve therefore on mortifying our Lusts, let us be sure to make use of the former Instrument of Mortification; that is, let us acquaint our selves with all those mighty Arguments against sin, wherewith either our Reason or Religion can furnish us; and let us consider them over and over, till they are familiar to our Understandings, and our Thoughts have extracted the utmost Force of them: for which End it will be necessary for us to seek Direction from our Spiritual Guides. Then let us seriously consider with our selves, what it is that we are about to do, what Vices we must divorce, and what Vertues we must espouse; and let us throughly inform our selves before-hand of all the foul Ways, and steep Ascents, and dangerous Precipices that are in the Road of our Duty: and then as you go along in your Meditations, ask your own Hearts whether there be any Passage that they startle at, or whether notwithstanding all, they are seriously willing you should go on? Remonstrate to your own Souls, that in such a place your Lust will be tempting you with the Genial Pleasures of an adulterous Bed, and desire them to deal plainly with you whether they can be deaf to those bewitching Invitations; tell them that before you have gone many Paces farther, the Wants of poorer Men than your selves will be soliciting your Charity, and desire to know of them whether they are willing you should do good and trust God for a Repayment; represent to them how highly you may be provoked at the next step by the injurious Carriage of some insolent Adversary, and know of them whether they are willing to contain their savage Passions within the bars of Reason and Sobriety: and so go on in your own Thoughts through all the Paths of your Duty, and never cease putting these and such like Questions distinctly to your own Souls, till they give an express Consent to every Duty that presses for a Resolution. And it will very much conduce to the settling of a fixed Iudgment in you, if you do not conclude too soon, but weigh all these things over again; if you would ask your selves the next Morning, whether you still continue of the same Mind, and whether your former Consent was not the effect of a present Heat, or whether now after the cool of the Night you do still allow of it; for in all probability if you resolve in hast, you will repent at leisure. And this, I doubt not, is the Bane of most of our good Resolutions, that generally they are the Effects of some transitory Passion, and not of a sober Iudgment and serious Deliberation: for when Men resolve well in Heats of Passion, they resolve to do they know not what themselves, but swallow their Religion by the Lump, without considering the Particulars of it; and so they do by their Duty, as Men do with bitter Pills, which they can swallow whole, but when they come to chew, those prove so distastful, that presently they spit them out again. When therefore you have calmly considered with your selves all the Arguments against your Sins, and all the Difficulties of forsaking them, and you have reason'd your Wills into an express Consent to part with them for ever: then betake your selves to your bended Knees, and in the most solemn manner devote your selves unto God: O Lord, I acknowledg, I have been a great Offender against thee; and that my past life has been nothing else but a continued Rebellion; but now I see my folly, and am ashamed to think what a notorious Offender I have been; wherefore here I solemnly promise in thy dreadful presence, and in the presence of all thy holy Angels, that wherever I have done amiss, I will do so no more: be witness, O thou Righteous Iudg of the World, that here I shake hands with all my darling Lusts, and bid them adieu for ever: wherefore be gone ye Soul-destroying Vipers, that have twined so long about me; away, ye wretched Idols, whom I have too long adored; for in the name of God I am fully resolved never to entertain you more. And now having reduced our selves to a good Resolution of Mind, our greatest Difficulty is over: for so long as we keep our Resolution, we are invincible, and all the Powers of Hell will not be able to prevail against us. For our Wills are not to be forced by any Power whatsoever; and there is no Temptation in the World can make us return to our Sin, so long as we are heartily resolved against it: so that all we have now to do is to keep the ground we have gotten, and not to suffer our Spiritual Enemies to batter down those good Resolutions we have raised against them, which if we can but maintain will infallibly secure us against all their Power and Malice.
IV. ANOTHER Instrument of Mortification is a wise and prudent Discipline. When by Consideration we have brought our selves to a thorough Resolution of Amendment, then to confirm and secure our Resolution, there are sundry wise and prudent Methods to be used: as First, a frequent Repetition and Renewal of it. For at first our vicious Inclinations will muster up all their Strength against our Resolution, and a perpetual Contest there will be between them, till either the one or the other is subdued: but our good Resolution being yet but raw and infirm, will ever and anon be apt to flinch and retreat; so that unless we often renew and reinforce it, it will not long be able to withstand the Assaults and Importunities of our vicious Inclinations. Wherefore if we mean to be successful in this Work of Mortification, it will be necessary for some time at least till the Strength of our bad Inclinations is broken, that we should every Morning before we go abroad into the World renew our Vows and Resolutions of Obedience, and reinforce them with a serious Consideration of those great Arguments whereupon they were first founded; that we should go out of our Chambers armed as Men that wait for their Enemies, and not trust our own Souls among the Temptations of the World, till we have first chained up our Inclinations with new Vows of Fidelity. Let us therefore every day as soon as we open our Eyes thus resolve with our selves; I am now going into a world of Temptations, where I shall be solicited both from within and without to falsifie my Vows which I have made to my God, and to betray my own Soul into everlasting Perdition: wherefore I do here in the dreadful presence of God, and of my Saviour, and of all the heavenly Host renew and ratifie again the good Resolutions I have made, without any reservation or exception; and whatsoever Invitations I may have to the contrary, I will never revoke this promise which I now make, or any part of it: so help me, O my God. And if for a while we would but use our selves to this Method, I doubt not but we should quickly find our good Resolutions so strengthened and confirmed, that the Gates of Hell would not be able to prevail against them: but if when we have made a Resolution against our sins, we do not take care to confirm and renew it, we shall find the Strength of it will by degrees so decay and abate, that at last it will be foil'd and baffled by every Temptation that encounters it. This therefore is one Part of that wise and prudent Discipline we are to exercise over our selves, when we are throughly resolved against our sin, frequently to renew our Resolution.
II. ANOTHER Part of it is frequent Reflection upon and Examination of our selves. And indeed if we do not inure our selves to this, we shall very often sin unawares without either considering what we are doing, or reflecting upon what we have done: and while we can thus sin without Check or Controul, it will be in vain for us to make Resolutions of Obedience. For still the Pleasure of one Act will invite us to another, and so in the hurry of our worldly Occasions, we shall go on to repeat sin after sin, without heeding what we do, or repenting of what we have done: and if we suffer one sin to break through the Fence, that will open a gap for others to follow; and if these are not presently stopp'd by serious Reflection, they will make the Breach yet wider for others; till at last they have trodden down all the Enclosures of our Resolution, and laid open our whole Souls into a Common, and Throughfare of Iniquity. But now by inuring our selves to a frequent Reflection upon and Examination of our own Actions, we shall in a great measure prevent those many Surprizes which otherwise will be unavoidable to us: and when at any time we stumble at unawares, the Penance we shall undergo in reflecting upon our fault will so embitter the Pleasure of it, as to render it incapable of seducing us again. Wherefore to secure the Mortification of our sins, as it is necessary that every Morning we should renew our Resolution against it, so it is no less requisite that every Night (especially till we have made some considerable Progress) we should seriously examin our Performances, whether they have comported with our Resolutions; and if upon an impartial Survey of our own Actions we find that they have, let us lie down in Peace, blessing and adoring that Grace by which we have been preserved. But if we are conscious to our selves of any Breach that we have made upon our Morning Vows of Obedience, let us bitterly bewail our own Folly and Baseness, and reflect upon it with the greatest Shame and Indignation: What have I done, O wretched Traitor that I am, both to God and my own Soul? I have mocked the great Majesty of Heaven, with solemn vows of Obedience, and broke the most sacred Ties to come at those Lusts which will be 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 so lately invoked to be Witness to those Vows which I have this day falsified? Yet go I will, though I am all ashamed and confounded, and confess and bewail mine Iniquity before him. And if we would but keep our selves a while to this strict Discipline, we cannot imagin how mightily it would contribute to the Mortification of our Lusts: it would make our Reason so vigilant, and our Conscience so tender, that in a little while we should be startled with every Appearance of Evil; and Death it self would not be so terrible, as Sin to to us; the Pleasure of our sin would be so allayed and abated by those stinging Reflections that would follow it upon, that it would be no longer capable of alluring and seducing us; and the dread of that bitter Penance, which we must undergo at Night, would sufficiently secure us against the Temptations of the Day.
Thirdly and Lastly, ANOTHER Part of that prudent Discipline which we are to exercise upon our selves, is to keep our selves at as great a distance from Sin, as prudently and conveniently we can. He that will mortifie his Sin, must at first not only abstain from sinning, but also from every thing that doth nearly approach and border upon it: as for instance, it is not sufficient to mortifie an intemperate Appetite, that we abstain from Drunkenness and Gluttony; but besides this, we must for a while at least be very abstemious, till we have reduced our Appetite from its wild Exorbitances, and not indulge to our selves the utmost Liberties of lawful Eating and Drinking: it is not sufficient for the subduing our wanton Inclinations, that we abstain from Adultery and Fornication; but we must also forbear those Meats and Drinks, those Gestures and Societies, those Sights and Sports which are apt to administer Fuel to our immodest Flames: to tame our malicious and revengful Passions, it is not enough that we abstain from all unjust Retaliations of Injuries; but we must moreover restrain our selves even from that lawful Displeasure and just Resentment, which may safely be allowed to a meek and charitable Disposition. And under these strict Restraints we must keep our selves for a while, till we have worn off our evil Inclinations, by habituating our selves to the contrary Vertues: and then we may safely unloose our Bands, and return again, to our lawful Freedoms. But if while we are strongly inclined to any sin, we will venture as near to it as lawfully we may, it is a mighty Hazard but our Inclination will carry us a great deal farther than we should go. For generally the Transition out of the utmost of what is lawful into the nearmost of what is sinful, is undiscernable; the foreign or Line that metes out a Vertue form its neighbouring Vice being commonly so small, that it is hard to distinguish where they part, or to find out the just Boundary whereto we may go and no farther: so that when we think we are only upon the Extremities of what is lawful, we are many times passed the Line, and are far gone within the Borders of what is sinful. So that unless we had an infallible Guide to accompany us in all our Actions and Circumstances, and to point out to us the particular Limits of lawful and unlawful; it is impossible we should be safe within the Neighbourhood of Evil: but like those who dwell upon the Confines of two hostile Countries, we shall still lie open to Invasion on every side. For our bad Inclinations are never so impatient of Restraint, as when they are within Prospect of Satisfaction, and the objects which attract them are near and easie to be enjoy'd: now they will struggle with all their Might against our Resolution, and taking a new scent of those beloved Lusts whose alluring Relishes they had almost forgotten, with all the ties of Conscience we shall hardly be able to withhold them from following the beloved Game. So that unless we keep our selves at a convenient Distance from sin, our bad Inclinations will be always within View of Temptation; which the nearer it is, the more it will court and importune them: and while we keep near our sin, and do not enjoy it, we do but tantalize our selves, and enrage our own Hunger by keeing a Bait before us which we dare not swallow. If ever therefore we mean to mortifie our Lusts, we must not only avoid coming at them, but so far as we can, approaching towards them; at least till we have so weaned our Inclination from them, that their Nearness ceases to be a Temptation to us. These are the Parts of that wise and prudent Discipline, which we are to exercise upon our selves, as a Mean and Instrument to mortifie our Lusts.
V. ANOTHER Instrument of Mortification is frequent Receiving of the Sacrament. And indeed I do not know any one more effectual Cause, or more fatal Symptom of the Decay of Christian Piety among us, than is the common and woful Neglect of this solemn Ordinance, which were it but frequented with that wise and due Preparation that it ought to be, would doubtless be highly instrumental to reform the World, and to make Men good in good earnest. For besides that those sacred Elements are by God's Institution become moral Conveyances of the Divine Grace, whereby our good Resolutions are nourish'd and confirm'd; there we have represented openly to our Senses one of the greatest Arguments against Sin in all our Religion, viz. the Passion and Sacrifice of our blessed Saviour: There he is represented to my Eyes in all his Wounds and Agonies, bruised and broken for my Sin, and bleeding to expiate my Transgressions. And, O my obdurate Soul, canst thou behold this tragical Spectacle, without Indignation against thy Sins which were the Cause of it? Does not thy Heart rise against thy Sins, whilst thou here beholdest him weltering in his Blood, and hearest those gaping Wounds it issueth from proclaiming them his Assassines and Murderers? But if thou hast not Ingenuity enough to prompt thee to revenge thy Saviour's quarrel upon these his mortal Enemies, yet methinks Self-love would move thee not to be fond of thy Sins, when thou here beholdest how much the Son of God endured to expiate them. For how canst thou think of sinning without Trembling and Astonishment, who hast here before thine Eyes such a dreadful Example of God's Severity against it? Does it not strike thy Soul into an Agony to behold this bloody Tragedy, wherein the all-merciful Father is represented so inexorably incensed against thy Sins, that he that was the most innocent Person that ever was upon Earth, and also the greatest Favourite that ever was in Heaven, could not with all his Prayers and Tears obtain thy Pardon, without undergoing for thee the bitter Agonies of a woful Death? Sure if thou hast any one Spark of Love in thee either towards thy Saviour, or thy self, this solemn Commemoration of his Passion cannot but affect thee with Horror and Indignation against thy Sins. But then as in this great Solemnity we do commemorate our Saviour's Passion, so we do also renew the Vows of our Obedience to him; which (as I have shewed you) is very instrumental in it self to the subduing of our sins; but much more, when it is done in so sacred a manner. For as Feasting upon Sacrifices was always used as a federal Rite, both among the Iews, and Heathens, whereby God and Men by eating together did mutually oblige themselves to one another; so the Lords Supper being a Feast upon the Sacrifice of Christ's Body and Blood, when we come thither we eat and drink of his Sacrifice, and do thereby devote our selves in the most solemn manner to his Service: We swear Allegiance to him upon his own Body and Blood, and take the Sacrament upon it, that we will be his faithful Votaries. When we take the Consecrated Symbols into our hands, we make this solemn Dedication of our selves to God; Here we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, our selves, our Souls and Bodies to be a reasonable holy and lively sacrifice unto thee, and here we call to witness this sacred Blood that redeemed us, and those vocal Wounds that interceded for us, that from henceforth we oblige our selves never to start from thy service, what Difficulties soever we may encounter in it, and what Temptations soever we may have to forsake it. Now what can be a greater Restraint to us, when we are solicited to any Evil, than such a solemn and sacred Obligation? Methinks the Sense of that dreadful Vow that is upon us, should so over-awe us, that we should not be able to think of sinning without Horror: For, Lord! how shall I dare to cheat and defraud my Neighbour, when 'twas but the other day that I vowed to be honest, and took the Sacrament upon it! with what Conscience can I now hate or design revenge against my Brother, when I so lately swore unto God upon the Body and Blood of my Saviour, that I would love and forgive all the world! Surely if Men had any Sense of God, any Dram of Religion in them, they would not be able after such engagements to look upon any Temptation to sin without Trembling: And whatsoever Pretences of Unworthiness Men may make to keep themselves from this Ordinance, I doubt not but the great Reason of their Neglect is this, that they love their Lusts, and are resolved whatsoever comes of it they will not part with them; and so they will not come to the Sacrament, because they must be obliged to renounce their Lusts there, which they are extreamly unwilling to do. And if this be their Reason, as I fear it is, they are unworthy indeed, the more Shame for them; but it is such an Unworthiness as is so far from excusing their Neglect, that it is a foul Aggravation of it: For he that will not receive the Sacrament, because he will not renounce his Lusts, makes one Sin the Reason of another, and so pleads that for his Excuse which will be the Cause of his Condemnation. But if we are honestly resolved to part with all our Sins, and can but willingly devote them as Sacrifices to the Altar, we are sufficiently prepared for this great Solemnity, and shall be welcome Guests to the Table of our Lord: If we can sincerely pay our Vows at his Altar, we may confidently take the Cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. And having thus chained up our Lusts by the Vows of Obedience we have paid there, it will be hard for them to shake off such mighty Fetters, or ever to get loose again from so strict a Confinement; especially if we take care to repeat this our Sacramental Vow as often as conveniently we can. For (as I have already shewed you) the frequent Renewal of our holy Vows and Resolutions does mightily tend to strengthen and reinforce them: And therefore it is worth observing, how much care Christ hath taken in the very Constitution of his Religion, to oblige us to a constant Repetition of our Vows and good Purposes. For at our first Entrance into Covenant with him, we are to be baptized; in which Solemnity we do renounce the Devil and all his Works, and religiously devote our selves to his Service: But because we are apt to forget our Vows, and the matter of it is continually to be performed, and more than one World doth depend upon it; therefore he hath thought fit not to trust to our first Engagement, but so to methodize our Religion that we should ever and anon be obliged to give him new Security. For which End he hath instituted this other Sacrament, which is not like that of Baptism to be received by us once for all, but is to be often repeated; that so at every return of it we might be obliged again to renew our old Vows of Obedience: And doubtless would we but follow this good Design of our Saviour, we should be far more successful in our Religion than we are. For till we come to a confirm'd State of Goodness, our holy Fervour will be very apt to cool, our good Purposes to slacken and unwind, and our vertuous Endeavours to languish and grow weary: So that unless we revive our Religion by frequent Restoratives, in a little time it will faint, and dye away. Wherefore to keep it alive, it is very necessary that we should come to our great Master's Table every time we are invited by the solemn Returns of this holy Festival; that here we may renew our Vows, and reinvigorate our Resolutions, and repair our Decays, and put our sluggish Graces into a new Fermentation: And if we would thus frequently communicate with a due Preparation of Mind, we should doubtless at every Sacrament acquire new Life and Vigour, and our good Resolutions would every day get ground of our bad Inclinations, till at last they had totally subdued them.
VI. And Lastly, ANOTHER Instrument of Mortification is constant Prayer. For besides that by our sincere and honest Prayers we are sure to obtain Strength and Assistance from God, to enable us to vanquish and subdue our Lusts, he having promised to give his Holy Spirit unto every one that asketh it: Besides this, I say, by a constant and serious Devotion our Hearts will be filled with such an overawing Sense of God, that in all our Actions we shall dread and revere his Authority, and be ready to tremble at every Thought of offending him. For there is nothing gives us such a quick Sense of God, as Prayer; that being the most immediate Address that we can make to him, and the highest Elevation of our Souls towards him. For we are a sort of Beings that are a kin to two Worlds, being placed in the middle between Heaven and Earth, as the common Center wherein these distant Regions meet. By our superiour Faculties we hold Communion with the spiritual World, and by our inferiour with the corporeal one: But to this sensible or corporeal World we lye open and bare, all its Objects being present to us, and striking immediately on our Senses; whereas between us and the spiritual World there is a Cloud of sensible things, which interrupts our Prospect of that clear Heaven above them; so that before we can perceive that which is Divine, we must remove this World out of the way, and withdraw our Souls from those Thoughts and Desires wherein these lower things have entangled them; that so we may lye open to the heavenly Light, and our cold Affections may be immediately exposed to the enlivening Warmths of the Sun of Righteousness. And hence arises the Necessity of holy Meditations and devout Prayers; the one being necessary to abstract our Minds from the Objects of corporeal Sense, and the other to inspire our Wills with divine Affections and Inclinations: For Meditation furnishes our Understandings with noble Thoughts and heavenly Ideas; and Prayer carries out our Wills to the Love of them, and joyns our Affections fast to them; so that by the one we are tied in our Minds, and by the other in our Choice of the better World. For Prayer does naturally sublimate our gross, and earthly Passions; and by keeping our Minds intent upon God, it wings our Affections towards him, and animates them with Divine Fires: And we do never rise from our Knees after a devout Address unto God, without deriving a magnetick Vertue from him, and being sensibly touched with his Charms and Attractions. So that if we did but inure our selves to fervent Prayer, those holy Affections which we should suck in with our Devotions would be instrumental to extinguish our vicious Inclinations; and we should go every day from the Throne of Grace with such a lively Sense of God, and such a vigorous Relish of Divine things, as would be sufficient to antidote us all the day after against the Venom of any sinful Contagion. Wherefore if we are in good earnest, and do seriously intend the Mortification of our Lusts, let us every day before we go into the World be seasoning of our Minds with holy Devotions; and while we are addressing unto God in the deepest Sense of his unbounded Perfections, and of our own Dependence upon him, let us pour out our Souls before him, and make an hearty Oblation of our Souls and Bodies to him. Let us offer up our Wills to him broken and contrite, that he may put them into what Form and Posture he pleases; shew him an Heart that quitteth all Interest in it self, and that would be only led and conducted by him; tell him that you are sensible, that to mortify your Lusts is far more difficult than to resolve to do it; and beseech him to enable you to be valiant in your Actions, as through his Grace you are already in your Minds and Hearts; that you may with as much Certainty, if not with as much Ease, do and effect, as you have projected and resolved. And having thus implored his Aid, and sincerely offered up your selves unto him, you have laid a strong Engagement upon him not to abandon you: For to be sure he will not throw away a Heart, that puts it self thus humbly into his hands; nor suffer the Devil to make a Prey of that which hath been so affectionately devoted to him. For it was by the Concurrence of his Grace, with our own Faculties, that this Resolution of Submission to him was begotten in us; and can we think that the Father of Love will ever abandon his own Offspring, while it crys out to him, and with pitiful and bemoaning Looks implores his Aid and Compassion? Surely this cannot choose but move his Fatherly Bowels, and make them yern and turn towards it, and by a strong Sympathy draw his compassionate Arm to aid and relieve it. Let us therefore but faithfully use our own Endeavours, and fervently implore God's Grace; and then to be sure he will never suffer that Divine Fire, which he hath kindled within us, to be over-born by our Corruptions; but will kindly cherish it with his own Influence, and touch it with an out-stretched Ray from Himself, till it hath burned through all that Rubbish that oppresses it, and till it rises into a victorious Flame.