Practical Discourses Volume 1, Discourse 7
MATTHEW XVI. 24.
Then said Iesus unto his Disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his Cross and follow me.
IN the 21. Verse our Saviour declares to his Disciples, that it was necessary for him to go up to Ierusalem, and there to suffer many things, and to be killed, and be raised again the third Day. Upon which St. Peter rebukes him v. 22. saying, be it far from thee, or as it may be render'd, be propitious to thy self; this shall not be unto thee. But Jesus considering that this was the Work he came into the World for, tartly rebukes him, get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an Offence unto me; for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of Men. i. e. thou talk'st as if thou didst not yet understand what God hath foretold of me, viz. that I shall be advanced to my Kingdom by my Sufferings, and as if thou wer'st meerly guided by Rules of humane Policy; according to which, to expose ones self to Calamities and Death, is a very odd way to Glory and Empire. But I tell thee, Peter, that it is not only certain that I must suffer in order to my Advancement, but that those also that will come after me, must deny themselves, and take up their Cross and follow me. In the management of which Words, I shall endeavour these Three Things;
1. To shew you what is here meant by denying our selves.
2. What abundant Cause and Reason there is for it.
3. How absolutely necessary it is to our eternal Happiness.
1. What is here meant by denying our selves. In general, by our selves here we are not to understand our Nature, considered as it is the Creature and Workmanship of God; for God hath endowed us with rational Faculties, and stamp'd immutable Principles of Reason upon our Minds; which Principles we are so far from being obliged to renounce, that they are the fundamental Laws of our Nature, by which we ought to regulate all our Motions and Actions. By our selves therefore we are to understand our sinful selves, or our corrupt Nature as it is under the Power and Dominion of wicked Principles and Inclinations; for so our selves doth in Scripture many times denote our sinful and corrupt selves. And so 2 Tim. 3. 2. 'tis made a Character of bad Men, that they should be lovers of their own selves; whereas in strictness to love our selves is so far from being a Fault, that it is a necessary Instinct of Nature, and the Root and Principle of our Virtue. By loving our own selves, therefore must be here meant, being indulgent to the vicious Inclinations of our Nature, as he explains himself in the following Words, being Covetous, Boasters, Proud, Blasphemers, &c. And accordingly Christ is said to have died for all, that they which live, should not henceforth live unto themselves; i. e. to their corrupt Principles and Inclinations; but unto him which died for them 2 Cor. 5. 15. By our selves therefore here we are to understand every thing in us that is opposite to God, every Motion and Inclination of our Nature that stands in Competition with his Will, and doth any way contend with his Authority. For the Soul of Man is a Throne to which God and its corrupt Nature are Rivals; God claims it by a natural and essential Right, as he is the Soveraign of Beings, and the Lord of the Creation; Corrupt Nature claims it without any Pretence of Right, but like a bare-fac'd Usurper derives its Propriety from its Possession, and will rule, because it will, and because it hath got Strength and Interest enough to support its Dominion. So that to deny our selves, is to renounce our corrupt Nature, and to refuse to be governed by it, and wholly to resign up our selves to the Government of God; to abandon those euil Inclinations which are God's Competitors in us, and would countermand his Will, and usurp his Dominion. In a Word, to deny our selves, is to give away our selves from our selves to God; to put all our Powers of Action out of our own Disposal into God's, and not to suffer any Desire or Inclination of our own to take Place of his Will, or prevail against his Authority. And therefore as they are said to deny God who reject his Authority in Compliance with the corrupt Inclinations of their Nature, Tit. 1. 16. so they may be truly said to deny themselves, who refuse to gratifie those their vicious Inclinations in Compliance with the Will of God. In short therefore, to deny our selves, is to prefer God's Will before our own, to sacrifice our Inclinations to our Duty. and in all Competitions between him and our Carnal Interests and Affections to take his Part, and follow his Command and Directions.
2. I proceed to the Second Thing proposed, which is to shew you what abundant Reason there is for this Duty; and this will evidently appear if we consider seriously how much more advantagious it is in all respects, for Men to be … by God, than by themselves; to … his Will, and comply with his Pleasure, rather than give up our selves to the Government of his Rival, viz. the Appetites and Inclinations of our own corrupt Nature: which will evidently appear in these following Particulars.
1. By thus denying our own Will in Complyance with the Will of God, we shall choose and act with much more Ease and Freedom.
2. We shall choose and act with much more Evenness and Consistency.
3. We shall choose and act with much more Peace and Satisfaction.
4. We shall choose and act with much more Prudence and Conduct.
5. We shall choose and act with much more Security of the Event.
1. By denying our own Will to comply with God's, we shall choose and act with much more Ease and Freedom. He that makes his own Will his Law, is upon every new Occasion put upon new Deliberations, and upon every Change of Circumstances is fain to change his Will, and to consult new Choices and Resolutions; in debating of which, he is commonly so maz'd and bewilder'd with cross Thoughts, and opposite Counsels and Deliberations, that he hardly knows which way to determin himself, and is more at a loss what to resolve upon, than how to execute his Resolution. And being thus clogg'd and incumber'd in the whole Course of his Motion, how is it possible he should act with any Ease and Freedom? But now when once a Man hath renounced his own Will, and intirely submitted himself to the Direction of God's, he is free from this Toil and Incumbrance. For the Will of God as to all the material Parts of our Duty is so plainly revealed, that an honest Mind with little Enquiry may be soon informed, and satisfied about it; and when once it is so, all its Choices are already determined, so far as they are concern'd in the Matter of its Duty; for God's Will being his, he no sooner knows that, but he rests in it immediately with a free Assent, and uncontrouled Approbation, and whatsoever the Event be, he is fixed to one steady Course of Motion, being resolved once for all, what ever happens, to do as God would have him. So that when once a Man hath intirely denied himself, and put himself out of his own Disposal into God's, God chuses for him, and thereby frees him from all the Trouble of doubting, and deliberating, and disputing pro and con, of being distracted between contrary Reasons, and bandied to and fro by cross and opposite Importunities. For now his Soul acquiescing in God, as in its proper Place and Element, doth no more dispute, no longer waver between Two Load-stones, but being unison with God, resounds and eccho's to his Will, and freely follows him without deliberation.
2. By denying our own Will to comply with God's, we shall choose and act with more Evenness and Consistency. For so long as Men live in Subjection to the Principles and Inclinations of their corrupt Nature, 'tis impossible they should act evenly and consistently with themselves; for our corrupt Nature is wholly governed by the Goods and Evils that are without us, and without our Power and Disposal; by Gain and Loss, by Ease and Pain, by Applause and Disgrace; and therefore all its Pleasures and Displeasures 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 are not our own Men, but do live in Subjection to a foraign Power, and must be what these Things that govern us will have us; we must turn as the Wind blows, and like Water take our Form from the Vessels we are poured into. And while the Passions and Appetites that overrule us are thus over-ruled by the Chances and Contingencies without us, we must of necessity be as various, as fickle, and as multiform as they; we must put on as many Humors as Fortune doth Countenances, and shift our Pleasures and Displeasures upon every Turn of her Wheel; in a Word, we must be as various, inconsistent, and contradictory to our selves, as the Chances and Accidents are that do befall us. Now what a wretched State is this, for a Man to be never the same, but be continually wreathing and distorting his Humour into all the antick Figures of his outward Condition, which change and vary almost every Moment? Doubtless that Man will find enough to do, that shall undertake to make Faces after an Ape, but he will find a great deal more that will needs be aping an inconstant Fortune through all its Grimaces and Changes of Countenance.
But now he that hath throughly learned to deny himself, and to submit intirely to the Government of God, is all of a Piece, and throughout even and constant with himself. He is for the main, the same Man when he loses as when he gains, when he is reproached, as when he is applauded; and the reason is, because he governs himself not by the uncertain Contingencies that are without him, but by the immutable Will that is above him; and while he doth so, he knows that his Happiness is as much above the reach of the impotent Malice of Fortune and Men, as the Moon is above the Noise of those impertinent Curs that sit yelping and barking at her from below. And being under the Command of one Rule, which is the Will of God, and one End which is the Enjoyment of God, he goes evenly on in a calm and composed Current of Action through all the Changes and Vicissitudes without him; and all his Motions and Designs, Choices and Prosecutions continue as uniform and consistent with themselves in the midst of the various Contingencies of this World as the Sovereign Will is that commands and determins them.
3. By denying our own Will to comply with Gods, we shall choose and act with much more Peace and Satisfaction. So long as a Man governs himself by the Appetites and Inclinations of his corrupt Nature, 'tis impossible he should ever be satisfied with himself; for besides that his own Reason will reproach and upbraid him with the natural Filthiness and Turpitude of his Actions, and represent them to himself as shameful and inglorious; besides which, I say his own Conscience will be ever and anon vexing and plaguing him with anxious and unquiet Thoughts and Reflections. For God hath imprinted a Dread of his own Power and Majesty so deep upon our Natures, that with all our Arts we are not able to deface and obliterate it; and tho' for some time perhaps we may suppress and stupifie it, yet in despight of our selves, it will first or last return again upon us, and avenge the Affronts and Violences we have offered it. Whilst therefore a Man sides with his corrupt Nature against God, it is impossible he should be throughly satisfied with himself; for either his Reason will be upbraiding him with the filthiness of his Actions, or his Conscience will be alarming him with the Vengeance that is due to them.
But when once a Man hath throughly denied his own Will and Affections, and intirely resign'd up himself to the Government of God, he will be able to produce God's own Will and Command for the Warrant of his Choices and Actions; and this will effectually discharge him at the Tribunals of his Reason and Conscience. For why should our Reason shame, or our Conscience terrifie us, so long as we choose and act in Subordination to God? for so long as we do thus, our Will and Actions are his, and being cloath'd in the Livery of his Authority, are thereby sufficiently protected both from Shame and Fear. For why should I be ashamed to do as God wills me, whom I know to be the Standard of all Perfection? or why should I be afraid to do as God wills me, whose Will is so intirely righteous and good, that I am sure it can never be displeasing to his Nature? Whilst therefore I choose and act in Submission to God, what should hinder me from being as couragious as Truth, and as confident as Innocence it self? for so long my Conscience must not only acquit me, but reverence me. So that now my Soul which heretofore lived in Thunders, and Lightnings, and Storms, will dwell above in a serene Aether, and there breath nothing but calm and gentle Thoughts; and instead of those uneasie Reflections that were wont to disturb my pleasant Scenes of Mirth, I shall be continually entertained with the silent Melodies of a clear Conscience, and crowned with the Applauses of my own Mind.
4. By denying our own Will to comply with God's, we shall choose and act with much more Prudence and Conduct. Did we understand either God or our selves, we could not but be sensible that it is much more for our Interest to be governed by his Will, than by our own; for tho' there is no doubt, but we wish well to our selves, and would not wilfully prejudice our own Interest: yet it is to be considered, that there is the same Benevolence towards us in God's Will; besides which, God's Will hath an infinite Wisdom to stear by, which sees through all the Intreigues of our Interest, and hath an intire Prospect of whatsoever can hinder or advance it. Whereas our Wills are generally guided either by a blind Sense, or by a short-sighted Reason that many times mistakes our Interest, and directs us to Rocks instead of Harbors. And when the Disadvantage on this side is so great and apparent, how can we imagine our selves so safe under the Government of our own Wills, as we are under the Government of God's? He would have us do this? and we would do the quite contrary; and yet we acknowledge his Will is as kind and benign to us, as ours is to our selves. Why then, which of the Two Wills do we think is the Wisest? God's sure we will all acknowledge. Will then, is it not much safer for us to take the Sun for our Guide, than to grope by the twinkling Light of a Glow-worm? While we follow our own Will, every Step, for all we know, may plunge us into Bogs and Quagmires; but while we follow God's, we choose as wisely for our selves, as an infinite Wisdom can direct us. So that what our Will chooses may be good for us, but what his Will chooses must be so; and therefore to be sure when ever we choose contrary to him, we choose against our own Interest. I am as confident of this, as of any Principle in Nature and Religion, that whatsoever God commands me to do, he must certainly know that it is for my Good, and that is the Reason why he commands it; and if it be, then this I am equally sure of, that whensoever I act contrary to his Command, I run from a certain Benefit, to a certain Mischief. But while I submit my Will to God's, I am guided by God's Wisdom, and in every genuine Act of Obedience, I am as infallible as Omniscience it self. Whilst therefore I am in the Exercise of my Duty, I am sure I am safe; because I am under the Direction of a Will that can never be misled, and so can never mislead me. And had any Thing he commands been hurtful to me, I know he is so good that he would never have enjoyned it; yea, had any Thing been but indifferent to me, I know he is so wise that he would never have concern'd himself or me about it. And if he hath commanded me nothing that is either hurtful or indifferent to me, it is doubtless richly worth my while to obey him even in the smallest and most inconsiderable Instances.
What a mighty Advantage therefore have those happy Persons who have intirely renounced their own Wills, and submitted themselves to Gods? for whilst others, poor Wretches! do grope about under the Conduct of their own blind Wills, and do they know not what, and go they know not whither themselves, but live by Chance and act at Random; They are conducted in all their Choices and Actions by an all-wise Will that never fails to measure their Actions by the best Rules, and point them to the best Ends. So that while they move by the Directions of that heavenly Guide, they are sure of their Ends, and do know infallibly before hand, that all their Choices and Actions shall finally conspire in their own Happiness.
5. And lastly, By denying our own Wills, to comply with God's, we shall choose and act with much more security of the Event. One of the great Causes why Mens Minds are so unquiet and anxious, is, that they are not able to discover the Events of their own Designs and Actions, and it is this that makes them so doubtful and tremulous in their Motions, and Causes them to act with so much Caution and Anxiety; because they are not able to pry into those hidden Events that lurk in the Womb of their Designs. Now while Men give up themselves to follow the Inclinations of their own corrupt Nature, they cannot but be fearfull of ill Consequents, especially when they consider, that the Consequents of their Actions are in the hands of God, against whom they are in Rebellion. For our Understanding being our leading Faculty, and the Eye that is to direct our Practice, it is impossible that whilst that doth either disapprove or doubt of our Actions, we should ever be able to act with Steadiness, and Assurance. For while a Man acts with a misgiving Mind, and that which should be the Guide of his Actions is dissatisfied with his Way, he walks like a benighted Traveller in a dangerous Road, and is fain to feel out his Steps, and tread cautiously, lest he should stumble into a Bog, or a Precipice. Whilst therefore a Man knows that his Actions are displeasing to God, and considers that the Events of them are in God's hands, he must be very unreasonable if he expect to be blessed, and prospered in them; he must either conclude, that God's Displeasure is nothing but a dead and ineffectual Passion, or that his way of expressing it, is by Smiles and Endearments. So that whilst we take part with our corrupt Nature against God, we can never have any rational Security of the Events of our Actions, but must see abundant Cause, if we do not wilfully shut our Eyes, to be afraid of every Thing that happens to us; because nothing can happen to us, but by his Disposal whom we daily incense and provoke by our Actions.
But now he who hath sincerely resigned up himself to God, knows enough of the Events of his own Actions to set his Heart at Rest, and keep his Mind in a quiet Enjoyment of it self; for he acts with the full Consent and Approbation of his Mind, and hath no by-ways from the Road of his Reason and Conscience; but keeping straight forwards, as he doth in the plain Tracts of eternal Goodness, he treads firmly and boldly, being secure of the Ground he goes upon, and is neither ashamed nor afraid of his own Actions; which being such as his best and purest Reason approves, have the chearful Euges and Applauses of his Conscience continually ecchoing and resounding after them. And when a Man is well satisfied that his Ways are pleasing to God, he may chearfully expect, that the End and Events of them will be blessed and prosperous; he may build upon it, that God will first or last express the Pleasure he takes in his Actions, by crowning them with a happy Success, and that how grievous soever any present Event of his righteous Actions may be, yet there is a great deal of Righteousness in it; because it proceeds from the righteous Lord who loveth Righteousness; and that in the winding up of the Bottom, that which now seems most grievous, will be found most beneficial to him. For suppose I had an infallible Physitian, whom I know to be my Friend, constantly attending on me, and ordering my Diet, my Physick, and my Exercise; how securely should I live, and how chearfully should I follow all his Rules and Prescriptions! should he order me a course or a distastful Diet, I should thus conclude with my self; well, I am sure this is for my Health, and how nauseous soever it be at present, I know I shall be the better for it as long as I live; and this would render it very grateful and palatable. Should he prescribe a strong and painful Purgative; I should thus conclude, well, this is to remove or prevent a Disease that will be much more painful than all the present Gripes and Twinges it gives me, and I am sure it will have its Effect, and set me perfectly at Ease within a very few Moments: and this Consideration would turn my Pain into Pleasure. In a Word, should he impose upon me a toilsom and laborious Exercise, I should resolve thus with my self; well, tho' I stretch and sweat for it now, I shall certainly be the better for it anon, and reap many Years Health and Vigour from my present Toil and Weariness; and this Reflection would convert a Drudgery into a Recreation. And yet this is the real Case of those Men, who have intirely denied their own Wills, to choose and act in subordination to God: For he is an infallible Physician, and they have made him their Friend by submitting themselves to him, and putting their Lives and Interests in his Hands; and therefore since as he is God, and their Friend, he cannot but know and design what is good for them, they have all the Security in the World, that every thing he orders them, shall conduce to their good, so long as they follow his Prescriptions, and that he will order them nothing, but what they would order for themselves, if they were but as infallible as he is, and did fully comprehend all his Reasons; and in a Word, that tho' this or that Event may be for the present very troublesom in its Operation, yet if they do not hinder the Effect of it by their own Irregularity, it shall certainly conduce to their everlasting Health and Happiness. And under this Perswasion, how chearfully may a Man bear up under all Events, and welcome the worst that can happen to him; for being secure of the infallibility of God's Skill, and of the sincerity of his Kindness to him, he hath abundant Reason to conclude, that since all Events are under God's Disposal, he will take effectual Care, that nothing shall happen to him but what is for his good. For while his Will is subject to God's, his Condition is a Thousand Times more safe and secure than if God's Will were subject to his; because tho' there be the same Benevolence to him in both, yet his Will might mislead God's, but God's Will cannot mislead his.
And thus I have endeavoured to represent to you the abundant Advantages that do arise from Self-denyal, i. e. from renouncing our own corrupt Will and Inclination, and intirely submitting our selves to the Will of God; which are such as, one would think, should prevail with any Man that doth but love himself, and sincerely respect his own Interest. For this is as certain a Truth, and as much confirmed by Experience, as any Maxim in Philosophy, that there is no state of humane Life in which a Man can be happy, whilst his own corrupt Will is his Law; nor none in which he can be miserable, whilst he is intirely resigned and devoted to the Will of God.
3. I now proceed to the third and last Thing proposed, which was to shew you how absolutely necessary it is to our eternal Happiness, that in Obedience to God, we should deny our own Will and corrupt inclinations; and this will evidently appear if we consider
1. That the Disposal of our Happiness is not in our own Will but God's.
2. That the Standard of our Perfection is not our own Will but God's
3. That the Conformity of our Nature to our Happiness consists not in what we will, but in what God wills
4. That the essential Acts and Ingredients of our Happiness, are not what we will but what God wills.
1. That the Disposal of our Happiness is not in our own Will, but in Gods. If we would be everlastingly Happy, we must comply with that blessed Will upon which our everlasting Happiness depends; and the Apostle assures us, that eternal Life is the Gift of God. If it were in our Power to support and defend our selves in a blisful Existence to all Eternity, we might with some Confidence set up for independent Free-willers, and live as we list; and after we have followed the Swing of our own corrupt Inclinations in this World, promise to our selves an Eternity of Happiness in the other: But alas, we are a sort of poor precarious Beings, that are beholding to God for every Breath we draw, and for every Moment of our Existence and Duration; and if he should withdraw from us the vital Influence of his Providence but for the Twinkling of an Eye, we should be so far from continuing happy, that we should vanish into nothing. And therefore if we intend to be happy for ever, it is necessary we should submit our selves to his Will, upon whom every Moment of our Being depends. For when meerly by withdrawing his Arm from us, he can let us drop into nothing when he pleases, how can we hope, when we will not be ruled by him, to be upheld by him in a happy Being for ever? can we think that the wise and holy Governour of the World will be so regardless of his own Authority, as to sustain and uphold his Subjects in their Rebellions against him; unless it be with a design to reduce them, or to make them everlasting Monuments of his Vengeance? No, no; since our Being and Well-being doth for ever depend upon him; we may build upon it, that either he will be obey'd by us, or that he will not so uphold us, as to encourage us in our Rebellion; and consequently, that if he doth uphold us forever, as he hath declared he will, it will be with a dreadful Purpose, viz. to continue us in an everlasting ill Being, and hang us up in Chains for publick Spectacles of his Vengeance, that all his Creation may take warning by us. Wherefore if we are resolved to adhere to our own Will in Opposition to God's, it is in vain for us to aspire after a happy Being hereafter, unless we can find some way to deprive God of the Disposal of it, and secure it in our own Power. For so long as God remains the sole Arbitrator of our Fate, we must make his Will ours, or renounce all our Hopes of Happiness.
2. It is to be considered that the Standard of our Perfection is not our own Wills, but Gods. For the Faculties of every Nature being the Senses by which it perceives and enjoys its own Happiness, it is impossible we should ever enjoy a perfect Happiness so long as the Faculties by which we are to enjoy it are imperfect. Ours therefore being a rational Nature, all whose Motions are under the Direction of an understanding, and the Command of a free Will, is framed and designed for a rational Happiness; which it is as impossible for us perfectly to enjoy whilst our rational Faculties are out of Order, as it is to perceive the Pleasures of delicious Meats, and Sounds, and Odours whilst the Sensories of our Tast, and Smell, and Hearing are discomposed and obstructed by any bodily Disorder. But now while we follow our own Will in Contradistinction to Gods, our rational Nature is all over out of Tune; for whereas according to the true Order and Constitution of our Nature, our Understanding is to guide our Will, and our Will to command all our Passions and Appetites; so far forth as our Will swerves and deflects from Gods, it goes quite counter to the Principles of its own Reason and Understanding, and subjects it self to the Dominion of those Passions and Appetites which it ought to command; it chooses and refuses by the Inclination of its Affections, and not by the Directions of its Reason and Conscience; which is the reason of that Civil War there is between the Law in its Mind and the Law in its Members, that is between its Reason and Conscience, and its corrupt Lusts and Inclinations: because while its Will takes Part against God, it sides with its Lusts against its Reason, and whilst it doth so, it will be so far from being happy, that it will be continually at War with its self, and its Will and its Conscience will be perpetually clashing with one another. For so long as a Man goes against his Reason, his Reason must necessarily go against him, and be continually reproaching and upbraiding him, and vexing his Mind with severe and angry Reflections. And how can a Man enjoy himself, whilst he is thus divided; or how can he enjoy the Happiness of a rational Nature, whilst he is thus divided from his Reason, and lives in perpetual Variance with it? A Body may as soon be at Ease whilst its Bones are out of Joint, as a Soul whilst its Faculties are thus broken and divided. If ever we would be happy with our Reason about us, we must be all of a piece with our Reason; that is, our Will must be rational, our Affections must be rational, and our Actions must be rational; if they are not, our Reason will be as much against them as they are against it, and so there will be an everlasting Broil and Mutiny within us. Till therefore we are throughout perfectly rational, that is, till all our Faculties are intirely compliant with our Reason, it is impossible we can ever be perfectly happy; and tho' we had Power enough to defend our selves from all hurtful Impressions from without, and to ward off the Blows not only of Devils and Men, but even of God himself; yet so long as our Reason and our Will are at Variance, our Will will be a spightful Devil to us, and our Reason an angry God. So that while we are imperfect, you see, we cannot be happy, and while we follow our own Will against God, we cannot be perfect. For to follow God and Right Reason, saith the Philosopher, is the same thing; and to present our selves, saith a far greater Author, a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, is our reasonable service, Rom. 12. 1. For the Will of God being invariably determined in all its Choices and Refusals, by the infinite Wisdom and Goodness of his Nature, must be the most perfectly rational Will in the World, and as such, the Standard and Pattern of all other Wills; and therefore so far forth as our Will doth deflect from his, it must necessarily be imperfect and irrational: But while I govern my Will by his, and do choose and refuse by his Commands and Prohibitions, I follow the Pattern of my Perfection; and while I follow his Will which is a most perfect Transcript of his Nature, I transcribe his Perfections into my own. For while I am copying his Will I am imitating his Nature, and while I am imitating his Nature I am growing into his Likeness and Resemblance: And when once my Will is all god-like, and its Affections and Inclinations are perfectly conformable to God's, then I am perfectly rational, and shall be perfectly happy. For now as I resemble God in his Perfections, I shall resemble him in his self-enjoyment; my Reason will be perfectly satisfied with my Will, even as God's Reason is with his; and my Nature will be a fair and beautiful Prospect to my Understanding, even as God's Nature is to his. I shall contemplate my own Graces with a transcendent Pleasure and Delight, and while I alternately turn my Eyes upon God and my self, and compare Grace with Grace, and Beauty with Beauty, I shall feel, as he doth, a Heaven of Content and Joy springing up in my Bosom. Thus by denying our own Will, you see, and submitting to God's, which is the Standard of our Perfection, we naturally grow up into Blessedness; whereas by following our own Wills in Opposition to God's, we fatally sink our selves into Wretchedness and Misery.
3. It is also to be considered that the Conformity of our Nature to our Happiness consists not in what we will, but in what God wills. To make us blessed it is not only necessary that there should be blisful Objects for us to enjoy, but that our Minds should agree with and be contempered to them; for unless we are affected suitably to the Worth and Excellency of them, all the Objects of Heaven cannot make us happy. For as Delicacies are grateful only to delicate Palats, and Musick to musical Ears; so the glorious Entertainments of the World to come are a Heaven only to heavenly Minds: For to dwell with a God whom I do not love, and to be confined to a Society of Spirits whose Tempers I am averse to; to be put upon Exercises against which I have an Antipathy, would be a tedious Constraint instead of a free Enjoyment; so that before ever Heaven can be a Heaven to me, my Mind must be tuned and adapted to its Joys and Beatitudes. And this is not to be effected by following our own Will but God's; for our Will as it stands in Opposition to God's is either a sensual or a devilish one, or both; and 'tis either Covetousness or Luxury which are the Lusts of the Flesh, or Pride or Malice which are the Lusts of the Spirit, that sway and determine it in all its Choices and Refusals; both which are as repugnant to the heavenly Enjoyments as Light is to Darkness, or one Contrary to to another. For between a spiritual Heaven and a carnal Mind, a divine Heaven and a devilish Mind, there is an irreconcilable Distance; and for such a Mind to live happily upon such a Heaven is as impossible in the nature of the Thing as it is for a hungry Wolf to fill his Belly with Syllogisms, or to satisfy its Appetite upon a Lecture of Philosophy. Whilst therefore we give way to our corrupt Will and Inclination we do contract an Antipathy to Heaven, and do what in us lies to prepossess our own Minds with an implacable Aversion to all its Joys and Beatitudes. We take an effectual Course to antidote our Souls against true Happiness, and to secure our Minds from being ever touch'd and affected with the divine and spiritual Pleasures of the World to come. So that if we are still resolved to take part with our own wicked Will against God, we were best take our Pleasure while we may have it, while we live among these sensitive Enjoyments that suit with our brutish Appetites and Affections; for when we go hence into the Spiritual World, that will be like a barren Wilderness to us, where we shall find nothing to live upon, but be forced to pine away a long Eternity under a desperate Hunger and Dissatisfaction. But if we heartily resign up our selves to God, and prostrate our Wills to his, we shall thereby quickly acquire a heavenly Frame and Disposition. For the proper Business of all those Duties he requires at our hands is to dress and prepare our Souls for Heaven, and make us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light. 'Tis by these that he carves and pollishes our Natures, cuts off the Roughnesses and Unevennesses of our Temper, and squares us into fit Materials for the heavenly Building. For this is the will of God, saith the Apostle, even our sanctification, 1 Thess. 4. 3. That is the purging our Nature from all its Aversion and Repugnancy to the Blessedness of Heaven, and the inlaying it with all those divine Dispositions wherein our Conformity with Heaven consists; for so our Saviour explains it, Io. 12. 50; I know that his commandment is life everlasting; that is, that what he commands, is the Seed and Principle of everlasting Blessedness: That it is the Charity and Humility, the Righteousness and Temperance, and Self-resignation which he commands, which do attemper our Minds to the heavenly State, and by which we are to relish the Joys and Pleasures of it for ever. For it is these Virtues that do reconcile our Appetites to Heaven, and without these, our Souls can no more relish the Joys of it, than our Palate can Sweet-meats while is is over-flowed with Gall. Unless therefore we will deny our corrupt Will and Affections, and submit our selves to God, it is Nonsense for us to talk of going to Heaven; for Heaven it self without a heavenly Disposition to relish it, is a tastless and insipid Thing, and it is as possible to please a blind Man with the Beauty of Colours, and a deaf Man with a Consort of Musick, as to gratifie a vicious Mind with its divine and spiritual Enjoyments.
4. And lastly, It is to be considered, that the essential Acts and Ingredients of our Happiness are not what we will, but what God wills. It is a great mistake, to imagine that the Happiness of Man consists in external Possessions, or in being seized of a great Plenty of outward Goods of any kind whatsoever; whether they be earthly or heavenly. It is not the possessing the outward Goods of this World, but the enjoying them that makes any Man happy; and if I had all the World in my Possession, no more of it could go into my Happiness than just what I enjoy; all the rest would be like the Possession of a great Mountain of Sand which I could neither eat, nor drink, nor apply to any of my Needs or Conveniencies: So that the Possession of outward Goods is good only as it is in Order to the Enjoyment of them, abstracted from which, it is altogether indifferent whether I am possessed of them or no. But now 'tis by our own Actions that we do enjoy the Goods we are possessed of, by applying them to the Needs and Conveniencies of our Nature, and by the Content and Satisfaction we take in the Application. So that in short, our Happiness is not in the Goods that are without us, but in the Enjoyment of them that is within us; that is, in those Acts of Fruition, by which we feel, and perceive them. And thus if we were possessed of all those outward Goods that Heaven abounds with, they could signifie nothing to our Happiness, unless we had an inward Enjoyment of them, and by proper Acts of Fruition did taste and perceive their Beauty and Delightfulness. So that all the Happiness, you see, that Heaven or Earth can afford us, is immediately lodged in our own Acts of Enjoyment, without which, neither the Possession of Wealth and Honour upon Earth, nor of the Presence of God, and Saints, and Angels in Heaven can make us in the least degree happy. Since therefore our Happiness is so immediately lodg'd in our own Acts, it will hence necessarily follow, that those Acts by which the Goods of Heaven are to be enjoyed are the Acts of our future Happiness. Now the chiefest Goods of Heaven, being God, and Saints, and Angels, and our Selves, the chiefest Happiness of Heaven must consist in those Acts by which God, and Saints, and Angels, and our Selves are enjoyed; and by what Acts can these be enjoyed, but by Godly, Saintly, and Angelical Ones? 'Tis by Worship and Contemplation, by Love and Imitation, by Dependance and Subjection that God is to be enjoyed by us; 'tis by Charity and Righteousness, by Modesty and Peaceableness, by Submission and Condescention that Saints and Angels are to be enjoyed by us; 'tis by Prudence and Moderation, by Fortitude, Temperance, and Humility, that we our selves are to be enjoyed by us: And therefore, if when we go into Eternity, we carry with us a Mind and Will habituated to these beatifick Actions, these Acts are the Sum and Substance of God's Will and Law. Whilst therefore we take Part with our own Will against God's, we act quite counter to our own Happiness, and go contrary to all the Acts of our heavenly Fruition and Enjoyment. For that which God designs in all his Commands, is to educate and train up our Nature for Heaven, to discipline and exercise it in the beatifical Acts of the heavenly Life; that so when it is advanced from this School of Probation, to the University of Happiness, it may be instructed in the Language, and naturalized to the Exercise of it; that it may be predisposed and habituated to Love and Dependance, to Charity and Righteousness, and all those beatifical Acts by which Heaven is enjoyed. So that while we follow his Will, we are learning to enjoy Heaven, and perfecting our selves in the Acts of our everlasting Fruition; that so when we go from hence to take Possession of the Goods above, we may be perfectly vers'd in the Enjoyment of them, and have the Skill and Ability to make a happy Use of them for ever. Whereas on the contrary, while we follow our own corrupt Will and Inclinations, we do not only not learn these blessed Acts of Fruition, but we learn the quite contraries. Instead of learning to enjoy God by Love and Adoration, we learn how to divide our selves eternally from him, by contracting Enmity to him, and a profane Contempt of his Majesty. Instead of learning to enjoy Saints and Angels by Charity and Righteousness, we learn how to banish our selves from their Society, by contracting malicious and dishonest Inclinations; in a Word, instead of learning to enjoy our selves by Humility and Temperance, we learn how to be our own Devils and Tormentors, by contracting Pride and an unlimited Propension to bodily Pleasures; by which means we shall at last render our Nature not only impotent, but also irreconcilable to all those blessed Acts of our future Happiness, and so utterly disable our selves from enjoying Heaven, that it would be a real Grievance to us to be forc'd to endure it. For when by thus following my own wicked Will, I have contracted a deep and inveterate Aversion to all those beatifical Acts by which Heaven is enjoyed, I have an Antipathy against Heaven in my Nature, and so long as this continues, Heaven must be a Torment to me instead of a Fruition; and if when I go from hence into Eternity, I should be admitted into Heaven, with this prevailing Aversion to the beatifical Acts of it; I should be so far from enjoying it, that I should loath it, and rather choose to banish my self from it for ever, than to be confined to a Condition so unsuitable to my Nature. Whilst therefore I am running from God after my own Will, I am running from Heaven; and if I do not stop the sooner, shall run my self to a Distance from it, as immense and irreconcilable as that which separated Dives from Abraham's Bosom.
And thus you see how indispensibly necessary upon all these Accounts Self-denyal is, in order to our future Happiness. Hence then, let us all be perswaded to renounce our corrupt Will and Affections, and resign up our selves to the Government of God: And further to move you hereunto, I beseech you briefly to consider with me these Four Things.
1. That in its self, this is the most just and equitable Thing you can do.
2. That in this consists the Life and Substance of all your Religion.
3. That this is the great Hinge upon which your Safety and Security depends.
4. That in this you do the most effectually consult your own Interest.
1. That to deny your own Wills, and resign up your selves to the Government of God, is in it self the most just and equitable Thing you can do. For all your Powers and Faculties are Gods by an unalienable Right and Property; your Understanding is his, and your Will is his, and all your Powers of Action are the Births and Products of his fruitful Will, and Almighty Goodness. And if it be thus, we must necessarily be obliged to subject our selves to him, and prostrate our Wills, and all our Powers of Action at his feet. If then we are his, as we must be if we are made by him, what have we to do to dispose of our selves contrary to his Will and Pleasure? with what Colour of Iustice can I choose what He commands me to refuse, when my Power of choosing is his, and he hath a far more undoubted Right to it than I have to the Cloaths on my Back? when he is the supream Proprietor of that Will wherewith I choose, with what Conscience can I vote with it against him, or give away any of my Choices and Elections from him? What is this but to embezzle my Masters Goods, and alienate his Property from his Use and Service? Remember, O Man! in every wicked Choice that thou makest, thou givest away thy self from thy right Owner, and dost sacrilegiously rob God of the Fruits of his own Creation, and must one Day expect to render a dreadful Account to him for every Choice thou hast given away from him, and for every Thought, and Word, and Action which thou hast presumed to dispose of contrary to his Orders: For thou hast no more Right to give away thy self, or any of thy Choices and Actions from God, and canst no more justifie thy self for so doing, than thou hast to sell away thy Landlords Feesimple, or to entail his Inheritance on thy Children. And before you make too bold with God's Property, or presume to dispose of his Goods at your Pleasure, you were best consider seriously whom you have to deal with; that you have not to do with a Being that is to be hector'd out of his Rights, or born down with Might and Violence; but with a God that is sufficiently sensible of your unjust Usurpations, and abundantly able to revenge them; that is jealous of his own Rights and Properties, has a deep Resentment of all your injurious Invasions of them, and an Almighty Arm to assert and vindicate them. And when you have considered this, then alienate your Choices from him if you dare; but in the mean Time, as you will answer the Injustice of it at the Tribunal of God, have a Care how you dispose of your selves contrary to his Orders, lest as a just Retribution he should one Day dispose of you contrary to your Wills to everlasting Misery and Despair.
2. Consider that in this denying and resigning our selves to God, consists the Life and Substance of all our Religion. For what is Religion, but a … a Tying or Binding fast Mens Minds and … to God? It is the Bond of our Allegiance to the Throne of Heaven, by which we oblige our selves to be God's Subjects, and do resign up our Wills, and all our Powers of Action to his Government; and in this, as I shew'd you, consists Self-denyal. For when once we have master'd our own Self-Will, and conquer'd its Obstinacy, and persuaded it to yield up it self to the Will of God, then is his glorious Empire set up in our Souls, then he is crowned our Soveraign Lord, his Kingdom is come into us, and we may cry Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. But till once our Religion hath tied our Souls to God, and obliged our Will to renounce all other Lords, and submit to his Empire, it is only a Name, an empty Shew and Formality of Religion; 'tis a Religion without a Religion, or a Bond without a Tye; that is, 'tis down right Nonsense, and a Contradiction to it self. And what Shews or Professions soever we may make of Religion, how zealous or forward soever we may be in the external Acts of it, it will all signifie nothing to us, unless there be a prostrate Will, and a resigned Heart at the bottom. For this is the Alpha and Omega, the Corner and the Top-Stone of Religion, and to pretend Religion without this, is to pretend Loyalty in open Acts of Rebellion. And indeed could Religion consist with a rebellious Will, the Devil himself might very fairly pretend to it; for that which makes him a Devil, is nothing but his own boisterous Self-Will that is continually struggling and lifting up it self against God. And hence Belial is the Devil's Name, which signifies without Yoak; and accordingly the Children of Belial are described to be such, as do altogether break the Yoak, and burst the Bonds of the Lord. Jer. 5. 5. and called Children of Disobedience. Eph. 2. 2. because like their Father Belial they are impatient of Restraint, and will hearken to no Law but that of their own boundless Self-will. So far are those Men from being truly Religious, whose Wills are divided from God's, that they are in Belial's Predicament, unyoak'd from the Divine Government, and their Wills are in a strict Confederacy with the Devil. And hence the Prophet Samuel speaking of Saul's Rebellion against God, tells him, that Rebellion is as the Sin of Witchcraft, 1 Sam. 15. 23. that is, Rebellion against God, is an implicite Confederacy with the Devil, even as Witchcraft is an explicite one. For the Devil being the Prince and Ringleader of the Rebel-Creation, whoever sets up his Will against God, does thereby renounce his Allegiance to Heaven, and like a false Recreant joyns hands with the Devil in Rebellion against his Maker. And whilst a Man's Soul doth thus clasp Wills with the Devil, and conspires with him in his Rebellion against Heaven; what impudent Hypocrisie is it for him to pretend to Religion? Wherefore, either let us be so modest for the future as not to pretend to Religion, or any of those blessed Hopes it sets before us; or let us resolve to be so honest to our Pretensions as to deny our selves, and resign up our Wills to God. For while our Will and God's are divided and separated, and do in any Instance tread Antipodes to each other, all our Pretence of Religion is a shameless Cheat, which when it comes to be examined at the Tribunal of God, will be found a meer Paint, and artificial Complection dawb'd upon a black and devilish Nature.
3. Consider that upon our denying our selves and resigning our Wills to God, depends all our Safety and Security. For if God be against us, all the Powers of Heaven and Earth can't secure us; because his Will hath an infinite Power conjoyned with it, that like an irresistible Torrent bears down all Oppositions, and sweeps every Thing before it that stands in its way. To what purpose then should such impotent Things as we, set up our Wills against his, Can you ever hope to prevail against him, or to force his Almighty Will into a Compliance with yours? Gird up your selves like Men, and I will demand of you in the Name of God; have you an Arm like God, or can you thunder with a Voice like him? are ye able to withstand the Whirlwind of his Power, or to shelter your Heads against the Storms of his Vengeance? alas! no; a Feather in the Air may sooner stop a Thunder-bolt that comes roaring down from the Clouds, than you can the Course of that Almighty Will which doth whatever it pleases both in Heaven and Earth: And if so, with what safety can you oppose your impotent Will to it, or how can you expect to prosper in such an unequal Contention? Since therefore God doth so infinitely out-match you, and 'tis infallibly certain, that first or last he will be too hard for you; all that is left to your Choice is, whether you will do his Will or suffer it; whether you will obey his Commands, or endure his Inflictions: for one of these you must do, but which of the Two, is left to your own Election. If you think it more eligible to obey what God hath enjoyned, than to endure what he will inflict, you may by choosing the former, eternally secure your selves from the latter; For, besides, that such is the generous Goodness of God's Nature, as it will not permit him to trample upon the Prostrate, nor to deny fair Quarter to such as lay down their Arms, and freely surrender themselves to his Will and Disposal, besides this, I say, upon the Satisfaction which his own Son hath made for the Sins of the World, he hath obliged himself by a publick Grant and Promise of Mercy to receive us into his Favour and Protection upon our unfaigned Submission to him, and to treat us graciously notwithstanding all our past Rebellions, as if we had been for ever perfectly loyal to him, and had neither in Thought, nor Word, nor Deed offended him. So that if now if we will heartily submit our Wills to him, he cannot let loose his Power on us without forfeiting his Truth, and doing Violence to the Perfections of his own Nature. But notwithstanding all the Goodness of his own Nature, and all the Vertue of that Propitiation that he hath made for our Sins, this is a Law which he will never dispense with; I will see that my Creatures shall obey me, or feel me, that they shall conform to my Will, or sink under my Vengeance; and if they will be so desperate as to refuse the former, all the Powers of Heaven and Earth shall not secure them from the latter. If therefore you are so abandoned of all Reason, as to think it more eligible to suffer the Will of God than to obey it, you must e'en take what follows; for as sure as God is in Heaven, and you upon Earth, you shall one Day feel the Weight of his Arm, if you do not freely surrender your selves to his Will and Disposal. But before you do so, for your Souls sake consider once more what a terrible Election you are making, that 'tis the unquenchable Wrath of the everliving God that you are throwing your selves upon, a Wrath that will imprint it self upon every Faculty of your Nature, and be dropping like burning Sulphur upon your Souls for ever. And if after you have considered this, you will still adhere to your desperate Option, the Lord have Mercy upon your Souls.
4. And lastly, Consider that if there were no Obligation to this Duty, or no Danger in the contrary, yet in thus denying our selves, and resigning our Wills to God, we do the most effectually consult our own Interest. For God, being infinitely happy in his own Perfections, and deriving all possible Satisfaction from his own Self-Sufficiency, cannot be supposed to desire any Thing for himself without himself; and being perfectly exempted from all Want and Indigence by the infinite Fulness of his Being, he can have nothing of Envy or Malice in his Nature, which are weak and impotent Passions that do always spring out of a sense of Need and Insufficiency, and are utterly inconsistent with a State of perfect Fulness and Beatitude. Since therefore in his outward Administrations he can have no Self-Ends to serve upon his Creatures, and since he can have no Principle of Envy or Malice towards them in his Nature, it hence necessarily follows that in ruling and governing them he can have no other Design upon them but to do them good, and make them like himself, i. e. perfectly good and perfectly happy. So that God's End and ours is always the same; we would be happy and God would have us so too, and we our selves cannot aim at our Happiness more heartily and sincerely than he does; all the Difference therefore between him and us is about the Means and Way to our Happiness: We are for one Way, and he is for another; we think the Way to our Happiness is to live in all Ungodliness and worldly Lusts, and he thinks the Way to it is to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present World. So that the whole Dispute between God and us, so far as Reason is concerned in it, depends upon this, whether God be in the right, or our selves; whether we are not deceived in chusing this Way, or God be not deceived in prescribing the contrary. If we have any Reason to think that we are wiser than God, or do better understand the Way to our own Happiness; then it must be acknowledged that in refusing God's Way and chusing our own, we do advisedly consult our own Interest; but this is such a Supposal, as, I believe, never entered into any Man's sober Thoughts. And if we have all the Reason in the world to conclude not only that God is wiser than we, but that whereas we are extremely short-sighted and apt to be imposed upon with glistering Shews and Appearances, he hath such a full Comprehension of all Things as that he cannot be deceived; then we may be sure that when we forsake our own Way and follow God's we cannot be misled, but at every step must be tending directly to our own Happiness. For if God cannot be deceived, and we may, it is certain that whenever our Way to Happiness lies contrary to his, he is in the right and we are in the wrong; and consequently that when we forsake his Way to follow our own, we go from Happiness to Misery. Is it likely that we should know what belongs to humane Nature, and the ordering and regulating its Affections and Actions? That we should understand the just Bounds and Measures where it is to be restrained and where to be indulged better than the God that formed and composed it. And if it be not, as doubtless it is not, were we not much better resign our Wills to his Government than to live at our own Disposal? For he desires to govern us for no other Reason but because he knows he can govern us much better than our selves. He sees that we are a sort of blind and precipitant Creatures, that must unavoidably stumble into eternal Ruine if we follow our own Wills; and therefore he would fain retrieve us our of our own Hands, that so having the sole Disposal of us himself, he may conduct us safely to Happiness. And when He intends as kindly to us as we can to our selves, were we not better follow his Wisdom than our own Folly? He knows that our Self-love will in the Effect prove Self-hatred to us, if it be not moderated and directed by a better and a wiser Love; and therefore he would have it under the direction of his, which is the best and wisest Love in the World. He desires to have the Government of our Will upon no other Account but only that he might determine all its Choices to our Happiness, and requires our Hearts of us meerly for this End, that he might fill them with Peace and Rest. He knows that our Perfection and Happiness lies in Compliance with our Duty, in Piety and Iustice, Mercy and Humility, and that out of the free and constant, sprightly and vivacious Exercise of these Virtues arises all our Heaven both here and hereafter; and knowing this, that tender Love he bears us, that mighty Concern he hath for our Welfare makes him thus urgent and importunate with us in his Demands of our Duty; for he regards our Duty no farther than it tends to our Good, and values each Act of our Obedience by what it contributes to our Happiness. He affects not to burthen us with unnecessary Impositions; all that he requires of us is what our Interest requires, which is so dear and precious to him that he will dispense with nothing that is necessary to promote and secure it; and 'tis therefore he will not dispense with us, because he cannot, without releasing us from our Obligation to be happy. Why then should we desire, O foolish Creatures that we are, to be released from the Yoak of his Government? Or how can we count it Liberty to be loosed from an infinite Goodness that is conducted by infinite Wisdom and Power? For whatsoever my blind Lusts and Passions may dictate, my Reason assures me that the greatest Priviledge that belongs to a Creature is to be under the Government of God, and that if he should release me from my Subjection to his Will by a Dispensation under the Broad-Seal of Heaven, and give me an unlimited Licence to live as I list, promising never to be displeased with me more, or to take any farther Cognizance of my Actions; the best and wisest Thing I could do for my self would be to resign back my self to his Government, and surrender up my blind and precipitant Will to his most wise and gracious Disposal! And if he should refuse to re-admit me to his Government, and abandon me for ever to my own Self-Will, I should be the most forlorn Soul on this side Hell; I should not know what to do, nor which Way to turn my self; but be forced to wander in a dark Wilderness without being ever able to discover any certain path-way to my Happiness. But so long as I am under the Government of God, I am sure I am safe; and while I follow his All-wise and most gracious Will, I know that I am going to a happy End; and that how rough soever my Way is, it will bring me to Canaan. What then remains but that from henceforth we utterly deny our selves, renounce our corrupt Wills and Inclinations, and chearfully resign our selves to the Will of God; which hath no other Design upon us but to do us Good, to raise and advance our degenerate Natures, and conduct us through the Kingdom of Grace into the Kingdom of Glory.