Practical Discourses Volume 1, Discourse 10
JOHN XIV. 27.
Peace I leave with you, my Peace I give unto you: not as the World giveth, give I unto you: Let not your Heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
THese Words are a Part of our Saviour's farewell Discourse to his Disciples, in which after he had given them some necessary Instructions for the Information of their Faith, and Conduct of their Manners, in which after he had comforted them with the Assurance that e'er long he would return again to them by his holy Spirit, and assist them in their Work, and support them under their Troubles, he takes a solemn leave of them, Peace I leave with you Which among the Hebrews was the usual Form of Salutation when they met or parted, Shalom Lacha, Peace be unto you; where, by Peace, they meant all manner of Blessings; so that it was equivalent to all those Three Salutations among the Greeks foreign, in which they wished to each other Satisfaction of Mind, Health of Body, and Success of Affairs. So that in this Salutation Peace I leave with you, our Soviour wishes all Good to his Disciples, of which, Peace strictly taken, is one of the principal Instances. Nor, saith he, do I only wish Peace to you in general, but I give you my Peace, or the Wish and Salutation of my Peace; which is a much better Peace than that which Men have hitherto enjoyed, an inward Peace of Mind and Soul founded upon much surer Grounds and better Principles than those which natural Reason and Philosophy pretend to. And this new kind of Péace which is properly mine, because founded upon my Principles, I give unto you: not as the World giveth, give I unto you. The Men of the World give the Salutation of Peace to each other many times out of meer Complement, without any real Wish, or hearty meaning, and when they mean what they say, it is commonly nothing but an empty impotent Wish that conduces nothing, or at least, not enough to the Peace and Satisfaction of those whom they salute. But as for my part, as I give you the Salutation of Peace, so I heartily mean and wish that you may enjoy it; nor do I only wish you Peace, but I have also taken Care to furnish you with such abundant Means, and effectual Principles of Peace, as that if you are not extreamly wanting to your selves, you cannot long be without it. The Words thus Explained, the Sense of them may be resolved into this Proposition.
That our blessed Lord as he heartily wishes Peace and Quiet of Mind to all his Disciples and Followers, so he hath taken Care to furnish them with the most sufficient and effectual Means to obtain it: the Truth of which, evidently appears upon a full Consideration of these Two Particulars: First, that he hath taken the most effectual Care to remove from us all the Causes of Trouble and Disquiet of Mind. Secondly, that he hath taken Care to supply us with the most effectual Principles of Peace and Satisfaction of Mind.
1. I begin with the first of these, viz. that our blessed Lord hath taken the most effectual Care to remove from us all the Causes of Trouble and Disquiet of Mind; and they are principally these Five.
1. The Sense of Guilt.
2. False and extravagant Estimations of the good Things of the World.
3. Our taking up wrong Measures and Opinions of the Evils of the World.
4. An effeminate Softness and Delicacy of Temper.
5. Misplacing of our Happiness in Things that are out of our own Power.
1. One Cause of disquiet of Mind, is the Sense of Guilt. For God hath imprinted such an awful Apprehension of his own invisible Power and Majesty on our Minds, that whenever we reflect upon the manifold Provocations we have given him, to arm his Omnipotent Vengeance against us, it must naturally suggest very anxious and direful Thoughts to our Minds, and fill us with black and horrible Apprehensions of the fatal Consequents of his Wrath and Displeasure against us. So that till such time as Men have stupified their natural Sense of God by a long Custom, and inveterate Habit of sinning, it will be as impossible for them to be at Peace under the Apprehension of his Displeasure, as it is to sleep with an Alarm in their Ears. But till such time as our Saviour had procured for us the new Covenant, by which God hath solemnly obliged himself to pardon us upon our Repentance; sinful Men, tho' true Penitents, could never have arrived at that Degree of Security, that God was reconciled to them, as is necessary to set their Minds at Rest, and free them from all Anxiety. For tho' to repent is the best thing a Sinner can do, yet this doth not at all alter the Nature of the Sin he repents of, so as to render it less evil, or less deserving of Punishment; and so long as the Desert of Punishment remains, God hath a natural Right to execute it, and so long we can never be certain whether he will exact it or no. Some wavering Hopes a poor Penitent might have arrived to, upon the Consideration of the infinite Benignity of the divine Nature, but the utmost Comfort he could have given himself, was that of the penitent King of Nineveh; who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? Jonah 3. 9. But alas! when a Man's Mind is hagg'd and ridden with his Guilts, who can tell? is such a poor Relief as must necessarily leave it extreamly anxious and disponding. But now upon our Saviour's procuring for us the new Covenant, you and I, and every one of us can tell, and that with as much certainty as that God is true, that if we do repent, and turn from our evil Ways, God will turn, and repent of his Anger, and Displeasure against us. So that now all we have to do is to reflect upon our selves, and examin whether we are true Penitents or no, whether we have submitted our Will to Gods, with a full Purpose and Resolution to fly whatever he forbids, and follow whatever he commands us; and if we have, we may upon the Terms of the New Covenant, from thence as certainly conclude that he is reconciled to us, and that his high Displeasure against us, is all converted into the dearest Kindness and Complacency, as we can that he is God, or which is all one, that he is true and faithful; which doubtless is one of the most solid Foundations of Peace and Satisfaction in the World. For what can disturb me while I feel my self lodged in his Arms and Embraces whose Wisdom, I am sure, no Craft can out-wit, and with whose Power no Force is able to contend. Here I dwell as in an impregnable Fortress, where nothing can come at me, but what is for my good; how then can any thing prove adverse to me, while he is my Friend, in whose Hands and Disposal every thing that concerns me is placed?
2. Another Cause of Disquiet of Mind, is our false and extravagant Estimations of the good Things of this World. The main Spring of those Troubles which perplex our Minds, is the Goods and Evils that are without us, and without our Power and Disposal, in which we commonly fancy far more Good and Evil than really there is. We look upon the good Things of this World as unskilful Spectators do on Landskips, in which while they stand at a Distance, they fancy they behold here a smiling Meadow, there a delightful Grove, and there a lofty Mountain; but upon a nearer Approach, and more considerate View, find all this goodly Prospect to be nothing but a course Canvas artificially painted with Colours and Shadows. Thus while we behold the Riches, the Pleasures, and the Honours of this World at a Distance, to our wild Imaginations there appear vast Mountains of Happiness in them, fruitful Fields of Pleasure, delightful Groves of Content and Satisfaction, which while we are in the pursuit of them, fills our Minds full of Cares, and anxious and solicitous Thoughts about them; but then as we approach nearer to them, and come to survey them more closely, the Mountains presently dwindle into Mole-hills, the Fields and the Groves into empty Shadows; and after all our Labour and Care to possess our selves of them, our Enjoyment of them amounts not to the Tithe of our Hope, and so we are still restless and unsatisfied, both while we are in the Quest, and while we are in the Possession of them. While we are in the Pursuit of them, we are wild and imaginative; we swell with fantastick Joys, and juggle our selves into Expectations as great and eager as our own Desires; but as soon as we are possessed of them, we presently find their Vanity and Emptiness, and perceiving how little they are able to perform of those vast Things they promised us, our abused Fancy that had raised it self with such high and swelling Expectations, falls flat underneath the Disappointments of Fruition, and so while we are following, we are restless, and when we have overtaken them, we are dissatisfied; all which arises from those extravagant Estimations we make of them. Whereas did we but value them as they are, and according to the true Rules of Reason and Religion, we should pursue them with far more Indifference, and enjoy them with far more Content. While we are in pursuit of them, we should look upon them as Things without which we may be happy, and consequently as Things that have not worth enough in them to deserve of us any mighty Care or Solicitude, and so we should follow them with a calm and sedate Mind; and entering into the Possession of them with a moderate Expectation, we should find every Thing in them, that we hoped for; for all the Good that they promised, they would be sure to perform, and so we should have no disappointed Hope to vex & disturb us, but our Expectation would be intirely satisfied in our Enjoyment. Thus would we take care to fix in our Minds a true Estimation of the good Things of this World, and to prize them at those Rates that our Religion sets upon them, they would never be able to give us half the Disturbance they now do; for then we should look upon them as Things that are extrinsick to our Happiness, as Things that we may want without Damage, or enjoy without Advantage to our main Interest; and esteeming them as such, we should pursue them with much less Concern, and enjoy them with much more Satisfaction; We should not be vexed with such an impatient Desire of gaining them, nor alarmed with so many tormenting Fears of losing them; but with S. Paul we should know both how to want them, and how to abound in them, and to undergo both Fortunes with a calm, and chearful Mind.
3. Another Cause of Disquiet of Mind, is our taking up wrong Measures and Opinions of the Evils of the World. As for those Evils which are only the Objects of our Faith and Reason, and such are the eternal Evils of the other World, we are always apt to lessen and diminish them, and flatter our selves with soft and easie Apprehensions of them; but as for those that strike upon our Sense, we are ever prone to swell and magnifie them; which is the reason that the former disquiet us too little, and the latter too much, tho' our Disquiet for the one is necessary to prevent them, whereas our Trouble for the other doth only serve to render them more grievous and oppressive. For the greatest Power these outward sensible Evils have to hurt and damnifie us, they derive from our own Imagination, which oftentimes disguises them in grim and frightful Vizards, and makes them appear to us a Thousand Times more terrible than they are, insomuch that the Prospect and Apprehension is generally more grievous to us, than the Sense and Experience of them, and what we imagin in them, is far more than what we feel. And thus we turn each Whip into a Scorpion, and swell our Mole-hill into a Mountain of Misery; so that the greatest part of what we suffer, is generally of our own creating, because we suffer not only the real Evils which are in the Things themselves, but which are commonly more, the fantastick too which our own Imagination forms and affixes to them. So that would we but take Care to strip Realities from Fantastry, it would be impossible for those Evils which we feel or fear to give us half the Disturbance that they do; and the only way for us to do this, is to take our Measures of these outward Evils from Religion, which will soon satisfie us that they are nothing near so formidable in themselves, as we imagin them. For as for Instance, what mighty Matter is there in the loss of these outward Goods which are all so extrinsick to our Happiness, which cannot help us in our greatest Needs, nor make us easie in their fullest Enjoyment, and which Thousands enjoy not, and yet are a Thousand Times more happy than those who possess them in the greatest Abundance? Again, what great Evil is it for a Man to be contemned, and reproached, and vilified? for as for these Things they are Good or Evil as we please to fancy them, and there is scarce any other Venom in them, than what our own Imagination doth infuse. If we think them great Evils, they will be sure to vex and discompose us, which is the greatest Injury they can do us; but if we scorn and despise them, they are impotent Things, which like Wild-fire, do only crack and vanish into Air, but leave no formidable Effects behind them. To name no more, what mighty Hurt is there in being persecuted for Righteousness sake? Suppose I were banished from my Friends and native Country, do I not see Men every Day undertake a voluntary Exile, and banish themselves into the remotest Parts of the World, only to get an Estate, or to learn Experience, or satisfie a Curiosity? for all the difference between one and t'other, is only this, that the one is forced, and the other voluntary, and why the one should be worse than the other, there can be no other Reason assigned, but only this, that we imagin it so. Could we but cure our erroneous Fancy, such Banishment would be only a more advantageous Travel, since doubtless, he who travels to save his Conscience and Innocence, and secure his Hopes of everlasting Bliss, makes the best Voyage in the World. Suppose I should suffer a close Imprisonment, and be secluded from human Conversation; is it such a deplorable Thing for a Man to be kept within Doors, to be snatch'd out of the Crowd and Hurry of the World, and be forced to retire within himself, and converse with God, and Heaven, and his own Thoughts? Are not these Company enough to entertain our Solitudes, and to supply the Want of the Noise of the World, in which there is commonly so much of Discord and Impertinence? But then suppose the worst that you can suppose; that you should suffer a tormenting Death, and be chased out of the World with the severest Instruments of human Cruelty. It is certain that e'er long you must have died whether you had suffer'd Martyrdom or no; only now you die a little sooner, and so anticipate your eternal Happiness. And if you had died a natural Death, perhaps the Torment might have been much greater; you might have languished much longer under the Gout, or Stone, or Strangury, than under the Hands of the Executioner, and endured the same Degree of Torment, without the Comfort of dying in a brave Cause, and being assured of an immortal Recompence. Thus Religion sets the Evils of this World in a true Light, and represents them to us in their own natural Forms and Colours, without any of that terrible Pomp in which our Imagination is so apt to dress and disguise them; it assures us that they are all design'd for our good, and are convertible into it, and if we take Care to make a wise and pious Use of them, we shall be the better for them for ever; it certifies us that they can deprive us of no Good, but what e'er long will be insignificant to us; and that they can do us no Hurt, but what e'er long we shall be insensible of for ever; and by thus exposing these Evils naked to us, it shews us their Nakedness, and Impotence, and thereby deprives them of the Power they borrow of our Fancies to disturb our Tranquility and Peace.
4. Another Cause of Disquiet of Mind, is an effeminate Softness, and Delicacy of Temper, arising from our Neglect of exercising those Vertues which naturally tend to confirm and fortifie the Mind against troublesome and disquieting Accidents; such as Faith, Patience, and Self-denial, Submission and Resignation to God, which when like so many Guardian Angels they pitch their Tents about the Soul, are an invincible Defence to her against the Strokes and Impressions of Misfortune, and without which, she is left altogether naked and unguarded amidst all the disquieting Accidents that surround her. For in the Absence of these heavenly Graces, a Man hath nothing wherewithal to resist any Evil that befalls him, but only the insensible Stupidity, and brutal Sturdiness of his Temper, which can never hold out long under any pressing Calamity; and when once these are broke by the repeated Strokes and Impressions of unfortunate Accidents, the Man presently dissolves into Softness and Effeminacy; for now the natural Brawniness of Temper being worn away like a Stone with the continual Droppings of Rain, his Mind will become so tender, and sore, and uneasie, that every little Touch of Misfortune will pain and disturb him; in which Case he can derive no Relief from his Reason, having all along disused himself to advise and consult with it; and so every Alarm of Danger from without, presently raises a Tumult within, and puts his whole Soul into an uproar, in which his Mind is left naked of all Relief, and utterly abandoned of those wise and brave Thoughts which should guard and defend it. But now had he taken Care but to educate his Mind in the School of Christianity, that by instructing him in all those manly Vertues of Patience and Temperance, Constancy and Resignation to the Will of God, would have inspir'd him by Degrees with such an invincible Stayedness and Firmness of Spirit, as would have rendred his Peace and Tranquility impregnable against all the Assaults of Misfortune. And when all is done, these Vertues are the best Protection we have against the Power of those calamitous Accidents that surround us. For when by Temperance a Man hath weaned himself from the Pleasures of the Body, when by Patience he hath hardned himself against the Pains and Displeasures of it, when by Constancy to himself, he hath acquired a continual Presence of Mind, and ready Use of his Reason and Consideration, when by frequent Acts of Resignation to God he hath reduced himself to an Habit of embracing every Accident as a Token of Love, and bidding every Thing welcome that befals him; when, I say, these happy Effects are produced in him, he is as safe and secure from the disquieting Power of these evil Accidents below, as if he lived in the uppermost Regions of the Air, where he enjoys a perpetual Calm and Serenity, where he tramples upon Clouds, and is above all Storms, and with a chearful and composed Mind can sit securely, smiling at the rolling Thunder below, whilst it grumbles and bursts underneath his Feet. Thus will the constant Practice of these excellent Graces, so steel and harden our tender Minds, that those Evils will be able to make no Impression on us, which now do wound us to the Heart. For as the Light of the Sun, and Freshness of the Air which are apt to offend the Sickly and Tender, are not only tolerable but delightful to Men of hail and vigorous Constitutions; so many of the little Hardships which trouble and incommode the Tender and Delicate, are so far from disturbing patient and temperate Minds, that they rather refresh and divert them
5. And lastly, Another Cause of Disquiet of Mind, is our misplacing of our Happiness in Things that are out of our own Power. For Happiness is the great Load-stone that attracts and governs all our Motions, the Mark of all our Aims and Intentions, and the End of all our deliberate Actions. Whilst therefore we place our Happiness in Things that are out of our Power, we must be governed by Things that are out of our Power, and while we are so, we can never be quiet. For the Things that are out of our Power, being all of them casual and contingent, such as Honour, and Greatness, and Carnal-Pleasures; we can never be secure of the Comfort and Happiness we place in them, and consequently, our Happiness and Misery must be as casual and contingent as the Goods and Evils are from whence they do arise. And whilst we are governed by such casual Things as these, we can never be our own Men, but must live in Subjection to a forraign Power, and be what the Things that govern us will have us; and so long as the Passions and Appetites that over-rule us, are over-ruled by the Chances and Contingencies without us, we must be as various, as sickle, and as multiform as they. Whilst therefore we place our Happiness in these uncertain Enjoyments, it is impossible our Mind should ever be at rest, but like a Ship in a tempestuous Sea, must be perpetually tossed and driven to and fro by the furious Gusts of our own Passions, which can never be calm and sedate, till we fix upon a Happiness that is certain and Stable: For as our Desires can never be satisfied till we are compleatly happy, so our Fears can never be composed till such time as we are secure of our Happiness. But so empty and fickle is all worldly Good, that we can never be either happy in it, or secure of it; for when we have what we did first desire, that only inflames our Thirst, and makes us gasp for more; and then the Tenure of all is so insecure, that the Accession of more doth only increase our Fear of losing what we have. So that our Mind must be perpetually ground between these Two restless Millstones, the Desire of getting more, and the Fear of losing what we enjoy; and therefore seeing it is impossible for us to alter the Nature of these outward Goods, or to render them either more secure, or more satisfying, the only way for us to be truly happy, is to alter the Temper of our own Minds, to wean them from this World, and determin them to an Happiness that is more Solid and Substantial, and within our own Disposal; and such a Happiness is that which Christianity proposes to us, an Happiness that depends upon our own free Acts, and grows out of the Graces and Vertues of our own Mind. For so that everlasting Heaven which the Gospel proposes to us is inseparably annexed to the right and good Use of our natural Liberty, and consequently is as much within our Power, as our own Resolutions, and voluntary Motions. Whilst therefore we are under the Government of this Christian Happiness, we are Masters of our own Fortunes, and do live independently on Chance and the Wills of Men, and it is within our own Power to be happy without asking leave of any but God and our selves. Now we are no longer Tenants at Will to the little Casualties and Accidents of the World, no longer liable to be turned out of our Happiness by Storms, or Fires, or Invasions, by the Contingencies of Providence, or the Knaveries and Cruelties of Men; no more exposed like miserable Vagrants to beg our Happiness from Door to Door, to creep, and cringe, and fawn to the Humours of an inconstant World, to court its Smiles, or tremble at its Frowns. For if Heaven be the Happiness we depend on, there is nothing can deprive us of it, but our own free Acts, and it is as much in our Power not to be miserable, as not to be wicked; and our Happiness being all imbarked in the same bottom with our Piety and Vertüe, they must both of them run the same Fate, and eitherswim or sink together. If therefore we would be at Peace within our selves, we must put our selves under the Government of the Happiness of Christians, which is the only one that we can be sure of, there being no other within our own Power and Disposal; for till this is done, we are like Men in a Crowd, encompassed about with so many cross rancountring Accidents as will never let us be at rest, but be perpetually shoving, and jostling us to and fro, and still as we get free from one, another will be pressing upon us, and that which thrusts on this, will still be thrust on by another without any Pause or Intermission; and so our miserable Minds will be always hurried about, and never want Causes of Disquiet: But when once we have fix'd upon that Happiness above, we shall be so much above these little Accidents below, and their Force will be so broken, before they can reach us, that we shall scarce be sensible of their saint Impressions, and so we shall pass on as quietly and undisturbedly through them, as we do now through those Crowds of Motes that are always dancing in the Air about us.
And so I have dispatched the first Thing … proposed, which was to shew that our blessed Lord in order to his giving us his Peace, hath removed from us all Causes of Disquiet.
2. I now proceed to the Second, which is to shew, that he hath also taken Care to supply us with the most effectual Principles of Peace, and Satisfaction of Mind; and they are these following:
1. That by the Sacrifice of himself, he hath purged away our Guilts, and thereby given us the most certain Ground of Peace of Conscience.
2. That as he sacrificed himself for us, while he was upon Earth, so now he is in Heaven, he hath the Ordering and Disposal of every Thing that concerns or befals us.
3. That he hath procured for us a Futurity, sufficiently happy to make us infinite amends for the worst Evils that can befal us here.
4. That he hath established this happy Futurity upon such Terms and Conditions, as are within the reach of our own Power.
5. That he hath taken Care in his Absence to provide for us such Supports as are proportionable to every Burthen he will lay upon us.
1. One Principle of Peace and Satisfaction of Mind wherewith our Saviour hath supplied us is this, that by the Sacrifice of himself, he hath fully purged away our Guilts, and thereby given us the most certain Ground of Peace of Conscience: For he declared that he died in our Persons and stead, and that all those miserable Things he endured upon the Cross, were in lieu of that Punishment that was due to God for our sins; that the Blood he spilt there, was designed by him for the Price of our Redemption, and that the Life he laid down there, was in exchange for the forfeited Lives of our Souls. And to manifest God's Acceptance of it, as an Equivalent for our Punishment, he rose from the dead, and was actually discharged from the Prison of the Grave; by which he gave us an Acquittance under God's own Hand, purporting, that he had graciously accepted his Son's Death in lieu of our Punishment, and that if now we would heartily repent and amend all our past Guilts and Obligations to Punishment should, in Consideration thereof, be for ever dissolved. Who then can lay any thing to the Charge of God's Elect, seeing it is Christ that hath died, and thereby tendred a full Ransom for us to God; yea, rather, that is risen again, and thereby certified us, that the Father of Mercies hath graciously accepted and allowed of it? So that if now we repent, we are as certain of our Pardon, as we are of the Death and Resurrection of our Saviour; which are such Facts, of which we have as plain Demonstration as the Nature of Things will bear. And having so certain a Ground of Peace of Conscience before us, what can be more conducive to the Ease and Satisfaction of our Minds? For a quiet Conscience is a Paradise within a Wilderness, whereinto a Man may retire when he can find nothing else to live upon, and live chearfully and merrily in despite of all Misfortunes, which, like Showers of Hail falling upon the Tiles of a Musick-House, are not able with all their Clattering and Noise, to disturb the grateful Harmony within. As therefore when all is smooth and prosperous without, a Man may shelter himself there from the Persecutions of his Conscience, so when all is calm and serene within, he may shelter himself there from the Persecutions of the World; but when both are bestormed, he hath no Refuge to fly to. And therefore that we may never be left utterly forsaken and abandoned, our blessed Saviour by washing away our Guilt in his own Blood, hath opened to us a safe Retreat within our own Breasts, viz. that of a quiet and serene Conscience, whereinto we may easily retire, and house our selves when we are persecuted with Storms and Tempests from without.
2. Another Principle of Peace and Satisfaction of Mind wherewith our Saviour hath furnished us, is this, that as he sacrificed himself for us when he was upon Earth, so now he is in Heaven, he hath the Ordering and Disposal of every Thing that concerns or befalls us. For now he is in Heaven, he intercedes for us in Vertue of that Sacrifice which he offered on Earth; and in the Vertue of this his meritorious Intercession, all Power is given him in Heaven and Earth. And indeed herein consists the Royalty of his Priesthood, viz. that by interceding for us as a Priest, and continuing so to do, he first obtained, and still continues vested with a kingly Power and Authority to bestow upon us all those heavenly Blessings he intercedes for. And hence all the Graces and Favours of God are in Scripture said to be derived to us in, or by, or through Iesus Christ; implying, that as it is from God the Father originally, that all our Mercies flow, so it is through God the Son immediately, that they are handed and derived to us; and that interceding for us as he doth, and always hath done, in Vertue of the powerful Oratory of his Sacrifice, he was first constituted, and is still continued the royal Distributer of all his Father's Graces and Favours to Man-kind. So that now we are assured, there is nothing can happen to us good or bad, but by his merciful Disposal; and can we think any thing bad that comes from his hand, who hath evidenced himself so much our Friend as to die for us? He who loved us to such a stupendous Degree, as to come down from Heaven, and assume our Natures, and therewith, all our innocent Infirmities and Miseries, and at last to suffer for us the most grievous and infamous Death; can he be unkind to us now he is our King, and hath the ordering and disposal of all our Affairs? Whenever therefore any calamitous Accident befals us, and we begin to grieve or repine at it; let us remember that it is through his Permission or Appointment, who was so much our Friend while he was upon Earth, that he tendred our Welfare far beyond his own Life; and if this doth not set our Hearts at rest, and reconcile us to the worst of Things that can happen to us, we are beyond the Reach and Influence of Reason and Discourse. For how can we suspect any thing to be hurtful to us, that is sent us down from our merciful Redeemer in Heaven, who when he was upon Earth never thought any thing, no not his own Life and Blood too much, or too dear for us. How grievous soever therefore any present Accident may appear to us, the Hand it came from, speaks and declares it to be a Token of Love, since to be sure nothing but Love can proceed from that Hand whose Heart alway loved us far above its own Ease, and Joy, and Life.
3. Another Principle of Peace and Satisfaction of Mind wherewith our Saviour hath supplyed us is this, that he hath procured for us a Futurity sufficient to make us infinite Amends for the worst of Evils that can befal us here; for he hath not only purchased for us Life and Immortality at the Price of his Blood, but hath also clearly discovered and brought it to light by his Gospel, the joyous Prospect of which is abundantly sufficient to support our Spirits under the most direful Accidents. For now when any melancholy Apprehensions begin to invade my Mind, this blessed Theme furnishes me with such a mighty Force of joyous Considerations as are abundantly sufficient to dispel and scatter them, and cause them to fly away like the Morning Mists before the rising Sun. Hold out, O my Faith and Patience, it is but a very little while that I have to suffer: This woful Dream that now lies hovering over my Imagination will vanish as soon as I awake in Eternity, and be as if it had never been at all. There all these sad Remembrances shall in one Moment be for ever lost, and swallowed up in one continued everlasting Joy; there I shall unload my self at once of all my present Sighs and Griefs, and in their room take up eternal Songs of Praise and Hallelujahs; there I shall be placed far above all these Clouds and Storms in a calm and quiet Region, where there is nothing but Light and Harmony, nothing but Peace, and Ioy, and Love; from thence I shall e'er long look down upon this dark unquiet Atmosphere, and remember with Joy all the foul tempestuous Weather I here endured, and have now surmounted, and the glad Remembrance of what is past will then serve only as a Foil or Shadow to set off that blessed State of Things, and render it more charming and illustrious. Why then art thou cast down, O my Soul, under the Sense of these short-liv'd transitory Evils of which within these very few Moments thou shalt be sure to take leave for ever? Tho' this Night be dark it is but short, and then will follow an everlasting Day. Tho' thy Voyage be foul, it is not long; 'tis only a short days Sail to a blessed Eternity, from whose happy Shores thou wilt a little while hence be looking back upon this boisterous Sea, and blessing those angry Storms and Waves that drove and hastned thee to that happy Port; where every Moments Injoyment will be sufficient to recompense thee a thousand-fold for all the Hardships under which thou art now suffering and complaining. Such Thoughts as these that blessed Futurity our Saviour hath purchased for us do naturally suggest to our Minds, which mingling with the utmost Griefs and Anxieties that any Evil from without can raise within us are abundantly sufficient to compose and calm them, and to create a happy Serenity in our own Breasts, while all without us is stormy and tempestuous. For what outward Evil is there weighty enough to sink a Mind, that hath the hope of an everlasting Heaven to support it?
4. Another Principle of Peace and Satisfaction of Mind wherewith our Saviour hath supplyed us is this, that he hath established this happy Futurity upon such Terms and Conditions as are within the Reach of our own Power; that is, upon Faith in Christ, and Repentance from dead Works; which tho' in this degenerate State of our Nature it be not immediately in our Power to perform, yet mediately it is by those Helps and Assistances which God hath promised to us, and inseparably annexed to our making a good Use of our own natural Power. For since God by his own free Promise hath entailed the Assistances of his Grace upon our honest Endeavour, his Grace is as much at our devotion as our own Faculties, and it is as much in our Power to perform what we cannot without his Grace, as it is to perform what we can; and therefore seeing by his Assistance we can perform the Conditions of eternal Life, it is in our Power to perform them, because it is no less within our Power to oblige him to assist us than it is to oblige our selves to exert our own Power and Endeavours; the Conditions of our Happiness being through the Grace of God within our own Power, our Happiness is so too; which if duly considered is a mighty Support under all Afflictions from without. For why should we grieve that it is in the Power of Men and a thousand adverse Accidents to rob us of our Ease and our Wealth, our Liberty and Reputation? God be praised our main Happiness consists not in these Things, but in Heaven; there lies the Treasure of our Hearts, and the Hope of our Lives, of which there is none but our selves can disappoint us. If we will be happy in the eternal Possession of that inexhaustable Mine of Bliss, we may, and all the Hardships and Inconveniencies we may endure on the Way to it are neither able to obstruct our Passage, nor hinder our safe Arrival; unless by a base Surrender to them we betray our selves. So that now we may give a bold Defyance to all the combining Malice of Men and Devils, and tell them that we will be happy, eternally happy in despite of the worst they can do to us, seeing the matter wholly depends upon our own Courage and Resolution backt and assisted by the never-failing Grace of God. There is nothing that Men or Misfortune can deprive me of but I can live without, and maintain my self in a happy and glorious Post for ever. Why then should I grieve to see my Drugs flung over-board, which within a few Moments hence will be of no Use or Value to me, so long as it is in my Power to save all my precious and immortal Fraight; and thereby to secure my self of a most happy and prosperous Voyage? Whenever therefore we are threatned with sad Contingencies, or with the Power or Malice of Men, we have this Answer ready to return to them; God be praised, our main Happiness depends not upon you; we can, if we will, go to Heaven in despight of you, and when once we are there we shall be far beyond your Reach, and then these light Afflictions which you now lay upon us, and which are but for a moment, will be found unworthy to be compared with that eternal Glory which shall be revealed to us. Which Consideration closely applied, and deeply imprinted on our Minds, is of sufficient Vertue to ease and relieve us under the most calamitous Circumstances; for while our main Chance and Interest is safe, all is well with us, and then we are secure none can prejudice us but our selves.
5. And lastly, another Principle of Peace and Satisfaction of Mind wherewith our Saviour hath supplyed us is this, that he hath taken Care, during his Absence from us, to provide for us such Supports as are proportionable to every Burthen he will lay upon us. For so he tells his Disciples, when he was departing from them, that it was expedient for them that he should go away, because until he went, according to the divine, Oeconomy, the Comforter was not to come; but when I depart, saith he, I will send him unto you, Jo. 16. 7. And accordingly when he departed he sent down his holy Spirit to represent himself and act as his Vicegerent in his heavenly Kingdom, and to do all that for us which he himself would have done had he continued personally present with us. So that tho' now he is a great way off from us in Person, yet by his Spirit he is still present with us; present with all that tender Affection, and with all those yerning Bowels of Compassion that he express'd towards us while he was upon Earth. And whereas had he continued among us in Person he could have been present with us only at such determinate Places and Distances, he is now present with us where-ever we are, in every Place, and at every Distance by his immense Spirit, which like an Omnipresent Soul being diffused through all his Mystical Body gives Life and Motion to every Part and Particle of it. And having thus taken Care to supply his personal Absence from us with this divine Presence, which is every way co-extended to the utmost Diffusion of his Church, we may depend upon it that where-ever or in what Circumstances soever we are, he is by us, and with us, beholding all our Needs with a compassionate Heart, and ready to extend to us whatever Aids and Supports we stand in need of. How then can we droop in his blessed Presence? How can our Hearts sink while he stands by us? What Evil is there can scare or distract our Minds, whilst we consider that the Almighty Spirit of the blessed Iesus our Friend is always and every where with us, ready bent to stretch forth his helping Hand to support us under every Oppression? Alas! I am afraid this Burthen will at length grow too heavy for me, that my Strength and Courage will at last be forced to yield, and sink underneath it. Well, tho' you fear your own Strength, yet sure you cannot doubt the Strength and Power of the Spirit of God, and his Strength is yours to all necessary Purposes as much as it is his own; and therefore unless you apprehend your Burthen to be too heavy for his Power as well as yours, you have no Reason to dread that you shall sink underneath the Weight of it. You are afraid lest you should be called forth to suffer for Righteousness sake, and lest under the Rage and Violence of Persecution your Faith and Constancy should shrink and yield. Why consider with your selves, are there not Thousands of Christians that have suffered before you, suffered as terrible Things as you can possibly dread, and this not only with Patience and Constancy, but with Ioy and Triumph? Why then should you suspect that blessed Spirit which supported them, to be less able or willing to bear up you? He who hath so often enabled so many tender Virgins, delicate Matrons, infirm and aged Bishops to sing in the midst of Flames, to smile upon Racks, to triumph upon Wheels and Catasta's; and in short, to endure such long and dolorous Martyrdoms, as many times they did, when their Tormentors took their Turns from Morning to Night, and plyed them with all Kinds of Cruelties till many times they were forced to give over, and confess that they had not Heart enough to inflict the Tortures which those poor Sufferers had Courage enough to endure: He, I say, who hath thus far enabled them, can he not as well enable you? Is his Arm shortned that he cannot save, or his Ear grown heavy that he cannot hear you as well as them? Consider then, you have the same Right that they had by the same neverfailing Promise to this his enabling Power, which by so many glorious Instances hath demonstrated it self sufficient to support you under the heaviest Oppressions; and therefore you have all the reason in the world to expect the same Aids and Supports from it if ever you should be reduced to the same Extremities. Our great Care therefore ought to be that we do not desert our Saviour, either by wilful Apostacy from his Faith, or Disobedience to his Laws; for so long as we continue faithful to him he cannot leave and desert us; our main Concern ought to be that we do our Part, and not that he doth his; for he cannot fail, tho' we may. If we prove true to him we may assuredly depend upon it that he will prove true to us, and not leave us destitute of any Help or Support that in any Condition is necessary for us. If therefore to serve the wise and holy Ends of his Providence he should at any time think it meet to call us to suffer, we may set our Hearts at rest upon this Assurance, that so long as we take Care to maintain our Integrity he must take Care to maintain our Strength, and not permit us to sink under any Burthen he lays upon us for want of any degree of Comfort and Support that our State and Condition requires. Which Consideration duely applyed cannot fail of giving a great deal of Ease to our anxious and desponding Minds.
Having thus shewn at large what abundant Provision our Saviour hath made for the Peace and Satisfaction of our Minds, I shall conclude all in a very few Words. Our blessed Saviour hath long since told us that in this World we shall have Trouble, but that in him we shall have Peace; which, tho' it were more eminently true in those early Days of Suffering and Persecution, doth yet hold most certainly true not only in Times of Peace, but even in the most prosperous Circumstances of humane Life. For we cannot but know that we are dependent upon Chance; we cannot but know that it is in the Power of ten thousand Contingencies to disturb us, and this in despite of us will create a great many anxious Thoughts, and vex us with melancholy Apprehensions of our Futurity: And tho' at present we may hush them with Jolity and Mirth, upon the next Reflection they will be sure to awake again, and to revenge themselves upon us for those Moments of Ease we ravished from them; and then when any evil Accident threatens or approaches us we can give our selves no certain Assurance of escaping it. For when we have done all that lies within the Compass of our Wisdom and Power, there may a thousand Crosses arise in our way which it is impossible for us either to foresee or prevent, and turn our most promising Designs upon our selves, and hasten the Evil upon us by those very Means which we chuse to prevent it; the Sense of which must necessarily cause many a stinging Thought to swarm about our Minds, and to vex and disturb us in our deepest Security. Thus in our best Estate we are poor and indigent Creatures, fain to seek abroad, and to go a begging for our Happiness from Door to Door; to depend upon Chance, and live insecure of every thing we either possess, or desire, or hope for. And considering how prone we are to be alarmed with the Prospect of a sad Futurity, and to magnify distant Evils in our own Apprehensions, and to aggravate present ones by our Impatience and Despair; and in a word, to pall our best Enjoyments by expecting more from them than their Nature will afford; considering these Things, I say, it is the greatest Nonsense in the World for Men to expect Peace and Satisfaction of Mind from any thing here below. And if we are thus liable to Disturbance in our best Estate, alas, what are we in our worst! When Calamities come rolling upon us like the Waves of the Sea upon the back of one another, and we have no Harbour in View to put in at. In this vast Tumult of things therefore whither shall we betake our selves for Tranquility and Peace? If we go into the World, every thing in it tells us it is not in me. If we go out of the World into Desarts and Solitudes, the Stings we shall either find there or carry thither with us will soon convince us that it is not in them. Where then can we hope to find Peace, but only in Iesus the Prince of Peace? To him therefore let us go with an humble Faith and obedient Will, with a resolved Mind to adhere to his Truth, and submit to his Laws, and wholly to resign our selves to his Conduct and Government. And if in him you do not find all that Peace and Satisfaction you have hitherto sought in vain, never give Credit to anything that is sacred more. I am sure it is to be found in him if we wisely, and honesty, and industriously seek it: Thousands have found it in him, who could find it no where else; and having found it have enjoyed themselves all their Days after in sweet Content and Peace, and at length have breathed out their Souls to him in Praises for the happy Discovery. And therefore if it be not our own fault we may soon add our selves to this blessed Number, by devoting our selves to him as they did, and surrendring our Lives and Interests to his Goverment and Disposal. And when once we have performed this with a sincere and resolute Intention, we shall by degrees perceive these Tempests within us quieted and abated, and our stormy Minds clearing up into an happy Serenity; and still as we more and more subdue our Wills and Affections to him we shall feel and experience our selves more and more at Ease, until at length we shall arrive to such a settled Peace and Tranquility of Soul as that it will be beyond the Power of any outward Concern to disturb us. And now our Mind will be a Paradise to it self, a Paradise wherein it will be able to live contented and happy, and to breath calm and gentle Thoughts how tempestuous soever its Condition is without. And finding all composed and quiet within, we shall lead a Life far more easy, and even, and consistent than ever; for now we shall no longer reserve our selves to follow Fortune and the Turns of outward Affairs, to comply with all the Mutabilities of the Wind, and still to transform our selves into new Shapes as we are running through the stillchanging Fashions of the World. Now we shall no longer perplex and intangle our selves by Knavish Tricks and sordid Complyances, by being forced still to study how to act a new Part, and to put on a new Garb of Humour and Conversation upon every new Alteration of Affairs; but our Way will ly even, easy, and direct before us, and whatsoever happens to us from without, whether it rains or shines, proves calm or tempestuous, the inward Peace and Satisfaction we shall find in following Iesus by our firm Adherence to his Truth, and Obedience to his Laws, will carry us safely thro' all Events, and render us far more happy even in our persecuted sincerity than we can reasonably suppose to be in the most prosperous Hypocrisie. Wherefore if ever you intend to be at Rest within, and to enjoy your selves in Peace and Tranquility; go to Iesus the Prince and Author of Peace; Take with you Words and say, O blessed Iesus, hitherto we confess other Lords have had Dominion over us, such as Pride and Ambition, Lust and Avarice; and these have all proved unmerciful Tyrants to us, they have continually harrased and oppressed our Minds; they have laid waste all our Peace, stripp'd and plundered us of our Self-enjoyment, and almost worn out our Lives in perpetual Troubles and Anxieties. Wherefore now at last we return unto thee weary and heavy laden, not only with Guilts but Vexations, resolving for the future that thee alone we will serve. O do not reject us thy oppressed and miserable Creatures, who are driven unto thee for Refuge from those cruel Taskmasters that have hitherto raigned over us; but permit us to spend the Remainder of our Days under thy happy Government. We know thy yoak is easy, and thy Burthen light; and therefore suffer us now at last, we beseech thee, to come unto thee that in thee we may find rest for our Souls, who have sought it in vain in everyThing but thee. And having thus surrendred up our selves to him, let us by our constant Perseverance in Well-doing endeavour to subdue our selves more and more to his Will in this full Assurance that from our hearty and punctual Conformity thereunto, we shall reap not only Peace and Tranquility here, but also immortal Glory and Happiness hereafter: Which we beseech thee to grant us all of thy infinite Mercy, O blessed Iesu; to whom with thy great Father and eternal Spirit be ascribed of us and all the World all Honour and Glory and Praise from this time forth and for evermore.
Amen.