Practical Discourses Volume 2, Discourse 2
1 JOHN V.3.
— And his Commandments are not grievous.
I Proceed now to the next Part of the Text, viz. the Motive by which this obedient Love of God is enforced; and his Commandments are not grievous: foreign, they are not heavy, or burthensome; they have no such Weight or Difficulty in them, as ought in reason to discourage us from keeping them. For in these Words the Apostle seems to anticipate an Objection; alas if this be the Love of God to keep his Commandments, what Man is able to love him? for if his Commandments are not absolutely impossible, yet are they at least so extremely difficult, that scarce any Man can have the Courage to undertake the Performance of them. This, saith our Apostle, is a mighty Mistake, or a wretched Pretence for Mens Sloth and Idleness; for verily and truly the Commands of God have no such Difficulty in them, but are in themselves very gentle and easie to be born. And with this Assertion our blessed Saviour doth most perfectly accord, Mat. xi.30. My yoke is easie, and my burthen is light. And the Prophet David makes it not only easie, but delightful, Psal. xix.8. The Statutes of the Lord are right, rejoycing the heart; the Commandments of the Lord are pure, enlightning the eyes. And then in the 10th Verse he tells us, that they are more to be desired than gold, yea than much fine gold; and sweeter than honey, or the honey-comb. So far they are from being Toils and Burthens, that in Reality they are Pleasures and Recreations. But farther to demonstrate this Truth to you, That God's Commands are not burthensome and difficult, I shall do these two things.
I. Shew you that they are facile and easie in themselves.
II. That Christ by what he hath done, hath rendred them much more facile than they are in themselves.
I. That the Commands of God are facile and easie in themselves: And this will evidently appear if we consider,
1. That whatsoever they enjoyn hath some natural Good appendent to it.
2. That every Thing which they enjoyn is highly agreeable to our reasonable Natures.
3. That They are all perfective of our Natures, and conducive to our Happiness.
4. That in themselves they are plain and simple, and direct, and have no Intricacies or Labyrinths in them.
5. That they are all so inseparably connected to one another, that they mutually promote and help forwards each other.
1. That whatsoever they enjoyn hath some natural Good inseparably appendent to it, to sweeten and endear it. The great and wise First-Mover hath so ordered Things in the Course of Motion which he hath established, that such and such Actions should be ordinarily attended with such and such Effects and Consequents; and this is one great Way by which he hath signified to the World his Dislike or Approbation of humane Actions by the Effects and Consequents which he hath chained and annexed to them. If in the Course of Things which he hath established, such an Action be ordinarily attended with a good Effect, he thereby signifies his Approbation of it, and declares that it is his Will and Pleasure that we should do and persevere in doing it: But if the Consequents which in the Course of Nature are ordinarily linked to such an Action are evil and hurtful, he thereby declares his Dislike and Abhorrence of it; and that it is his Will and Pleasure that we should carefully and constantly avoid it. For the great Author of our Beings hath so framed our Natures, and placed us in such Circumstances and Relations, that there is nothing vicious but is also injurious to us; nothing virtuous but is advantagious; and in this the Good and Evil of all humane Virtues and Vices do consist; and 'tis purely for this Reason, why he forbids the one and commands the other; because he is our Friend, and would not have us neglect any Thing that tends to our Good, nor do any Thing that is hurtful and injurious to us; and because he knows that while we are thus framed, and do continue in these Circumstances and Relations, it is impossible but Virtue should be an Advantage, and Vice a Mischief to our Natures. And indeed the great Sanction of the Law of Nature, is nothing else but that natural Good and Evil which is ordinarily consequent to the Actions which it commands and forbids. For when God had no otherwise revealed himself to the World than only by the established Course and Nature of Things, that was the only Bible whereby Mankind could be instructed in his Will and Pleasure; and there being no Threats or Promises antecedently annexed unto bad and good Actions, his Will and Pleasure concerning our doing or avoiding them, was only visible in those good or bad Effects and Consequences, which in the Course of Nature he had made necessary to them. And indeed the Moral Good and Evil of all Actions, is finally to be resolved into the natural Good and Evil that is appendent to them; for therefore our Actions are morally good, because they are naturally beneficial to us; and therefore are they morally evil, because they are naturally prejudicial and hurtful; and those that are neither of these, are indifferent Actions; and stand in the middle between Good and Evil. And indeed this Distinction of Actions by their Effects and Consequents, is in most Particulars so plain and sensible, that all the World hath taken Notice of it: For whereas all good Actions have an apparent Tendency either to the Publick Good, wherein our own Private is involved, or to our own animal and sensitive Good, our Quiet, and Health, and Reputation, and Prosperity; or to the Perfection of our rational Natures, and the sovereign Pleasure and Happiness of our Minds; all bad Actions tend directly contrary, either to the Damage and Ruine of the Publick-Weal, or to the Hurt and Prejudice of our animal and sensitive Felicity; to the diseasing of our Bodies, the staining our Names, or the impoverishing our Estates; or to the defacing and blemishing the Beauty of our rational Natures, and the Interruption and Disturbance of all the Pleasures and Felicities of our Minds. And this Distinction of good and evil Actions is so immutably fixed in the Nature of Things, that it can never be obliterated, until God wholly alters the Course of his Creation, and impresses quite contrary Laws of Motion on it. For so long as we continue what we are in the same Nature and Circumstances, and Relations to God and one another, Righteousness and Godliness, Humility and universal Love must necessarily be good for us; and their Contraries bad and destructive to our Happiness.
Now this wise and excellent Constitution of Things doth very much tend to the facilitating of Virtue and Goodness to us. For when Things are so constituted that it is become our Interest as well as our Duty to pursue Virtue and eschew Vice; when that which distinguishes our Duty from our Sin, is the good that it doth us, and the apparent Tendency it hath to our Happiness; this, if we love our selves, must needs very much endear and recommend it to us: For now we serve our selves in serving our Maker, the substance of all whose Injunctions is no more than this, that we should pursue our own Happiness by doing all those Things which are necessary thereunto. I confess had he made those Actions which are our Sins to be our Duty, we had then some Reason to complain; for then we should have been bound in pure Obedience to God to damnify our selves; and like the wretched Priests of Baal, to cut and slash our own Bodies and Souls meerly to humour and gratify the Divinity whom we adore; then in obeying him we must have acted our own Tragedy, and made our selves miserable in pure Loyalty to our Maker. For there is such an inseparable Bane clings to all vicious Actions as necessarily renders them destructive and venomous; and we may as soon clip off the Sun-beams with a Pair of Scissers, as separate Vice from its mischievous Consequences. But now when the Sum of all that God requires of us is to be good to our selves, and Friends to our own Happiness; to do what is beneficial, and avoid what is hurtful to us; when every Command of his is an Instance of his Love to us, and exacts nothing of us but what we would have done of our own Accord, had we but known what is good for us as well as he; and loved our selves as well as he loves us: In a word, when at the End of every good Action there stands some natural Good beckning and inviting us to it; and at the End of every bad One some natural Evil to warn and affright us from coming at it; so that we cannot run from any Duty into any Sin, without leaving a Benefit for a Mischief, and leaping out of some Degree of Happiness into some Degree of Misery: When things I say are thus, as it is apparent they are, with what Conscience can we complain that our Duty is burthensome and uneasie? This therefore is one great Reason why God's Commands cannot be grievous, because they require nothing but what is beneficial, and forbid nothing but what is hurtful and injurious to us. And sure no Man can have Reason to complain, that is forbid Poyson, and commanded to eat nothing but what is wholsome and nourishing.
2ly. Another Thing that facilitates the Commands of God is this, That they are highly agreeable to our reasonable Natures. And hence the Apostle calls the whole of our Religion a reasonable Service, Rom. xii.1. And for the Truth of this I dare appeal to any considering Man in the World, whether those Virtues which God hath enjoyned be not in their own Nature far more reasonable than any of the Contrary Vices; whether (supposing there be a God that made and governs the World; and from whom we derive our Beings, and all the Blessings we enjoy or expect) it be not much more reasonable in the Nature of the Thing, that we should worship and revere, and love and honour, and obey him, than that we should neglect and despise, blaspheme and rebel against him; or whether we can behave our selves so unworthily to One that hath deserved so well at our hands, without doing the greatest Violence to our own Reason; whether since we are all of us reasonable Beings, and our Reason is the noblest Ingredient of our Natures, it doth not much better become us to subject our blind Passions and Appetites, to those eternal Rules of Temperance which Right Reason prescribes, than to let loose the Reins to them, and suffer them to run headlong into all Excesses and Riots; whether since we are incorporated into the great Society of Mankind, it be not much more conducive to the Good of the Whole to behave our selves justly and honestly, charitably and obliging one towards another, than to defraud and oppress, malign and persecute one another. I dare appeal to any Man that hath ever thought twice of these Matters, whether in point of Reasonableness, the Advantage is not wholly on the side of Virtue; yea, and whether the opposite Vices compared with these Virtues, seem not as extravagant as the wildest Freaks of a Mad-man, compared with the wise Managements of a Minister of State. But I need not appeal to particular Men in this Matter, since all the reasonable World is agreed in the point, and the Men of all Ages and Nations, and Religions, how much soever in other points they have dissented from one another, yet in this have still been unanimous, That Virtue is the wisest and most reasonable Thing in the World, and Vice the most absurd and irrational; and this not only in the general, but in all those particular Instances of Virtue and Vice which Christianity commands and forbids. For excepting the two Sacraments, and believing in Jesus Christ, and the Observation of the Lord's Day, which are the instituted Means of our Religion, there is nothing made Matter of Duty to us, but what all the wise World had long before pronounced most highly fit and reasonable.
This therefore must needs render the Commands of God very easie to us, that they do so perfectly agree with our reasonable Natures, and require nothing of us either to be done or avoided, but what the Reason of every wise Man would have obliged him to, whether God had commanded it or no. So that now to facilitate our Duty, we have the full Concurrence of our Reason, which upon due and impartial Consideration cannot but approve and recommend it to us as the most reasonable Thing in the World; and if it be so, how is it possible that it should be in its own Nature grievous? Is it so hard a Matter for Men to act like Men, and not to live their own Reverse and Antipodes? Is it such a mighty Burthen to comply with the most genuine Inclinations of our Nature, and to swim with the full Tide and Current of our Reason, in obeying those Commands which are so far from offering any Violence to our Faculties, that they have their full Consent and Approbation? Let Men say and teach what they please, 'tis as apparent as the Sun, that the Difficulties of Religion commence not so much upon the Stock of Nature, as of Education and evil Habits and Customs; for in all other Instances, that which is natural is always facile and easie; and if Reason be the Nature of a Man, Religion must be either natural or unreasonable. So that Religion disagrees with us upon no other Account, but only because we disagree with our selves; and it just so far crosses us, as we do the Current of our own rational Natures. We have sophisticated our Natures with the Intermixtures of sensual and devilish Habits, and they are these that the Commands of God do agrieve; and so 'tis not the Man that is so burthened with Religion, but 'tis either the Beast, or the Devil that is in him.
3ly. Another Thing that facilitates God's Commands is this, That they are mightily furthered and promoted by all the natural Instincts and Passions of human Nature. There are certain Propensions in human Nature antecedent to all Reason and Discourse, that seem to be implanted in us by the wise Author of our Beings, for no other End but only to minister to Virtue and Religion; such in particular are Self-Love, the Love of Truth, and of Pleasure, Commiseration and Gratitude, and Affectation of Praise; all which do discover themselves in us in our early Infancy, before we are capable of discoursing our selves into them. For even in young Infants you may observe a great Inclination to defend themselves, and to repel Injuries, which proceeds from the Principle of Self-love that is in them; a vehement Desire of what seems good to them, and a great Displeasure when they perceive themselves deceived; the later of which must proceed from their Love of Truth, as the former from their Love of Goodness. Again, when they see a miserable Object, or one whom they think so, they presently bemoan it, and express by their Actions a very earnest Desire to defend and relieve it; which proceeds from that natural Commiseration that is in them. Again, as soon as they are able to distinguish Faces and Persons, we see they express the greatest Love and Fondness to those that tend and feed them, and do them most good; which is a plain Expression of their natural Gratitude. And as soon as they understand the Meaning of Words or Actions, they shew themselves highly pleased when they are commended and applauded, and much grieved and ashamed when they are derided and exposed; which plainly discovers their natural Affectation of Praise. These and such like Instincts and Propensions there are found in human Nature, which being well managed and improved by our Reason, prove excellent Instruments of Virtue and Religion; and do very much facilitate and further our Practice of them. For this our natural Self-love being guided by our Reason, doth strongly incline us to serve and obey God, who being the most powerful Agent in the World, can do us the greatest Good if we please him, and the greatest Hurt if we affront and provoke him; so that as we love our selves, it concerns us to use all reasonable Ways to endear and reconcile our selves to him. Thus our natural Desire of Good, if conducted by our Reason, will incline us to do the best Actions, since from these the greatest Good will necessarily redound to us; and our Love of Truth by good Management may be easily improved into Honesty and Sincerity, and an universal Abhorrence of Vice upon the Account of those notorious Cheats and Impostures that are in it. Thus also by the Bias of our natural Commiseration, we are strongly inclined to Charity and Beneficence, and universal Love; and by its own innate Gratitude our Nature is propense to the Love of God, who is our Sovereign Benefactor; to honour and obey our Parents, and do all the Acts and Offices of a noble and generous Friendship. And to name no more, thus by our natural Affectation of Praise we are strongly inclined to do praise-worthy Things, and consequently to exercise our selves in all those amiable Virtues, which by common Consent are lookt upon as the Graces and Ornaments of human Nature. Thus by all those Instincts that God hath implanted in our Natures, we are inclined to Virtue, and Obedience to his Will: And for this Reason chiefly hath he implanted them in us, because they are excellent Instruments of Religion, having in them such a natural Aptitude and Proneness to facilitate our Duty by inclining us to it, and to farther us in Holiness and Virtue. I confess, there are none of these Instincts but may be improved into Vices; nor is there any Thing so good, but what may be perverted to very bad Purposes: And if Men will abuse themselves, and willfully deboach the Instincts of their Nature, there is no Remedy for their Folly; and they must thank themselves when they feel the dismal Effects of it. But this I think is plain, that there are no Propensions in human Nature, but what are much more improvable into Virtue than into Vice; and if Men would but use themselves well, and as it becomes reasonable Creatures to do, they would doubtless find themselves very much farthered in their Duty by the natural Instincts which God hath implanted within them. And this is a mighty Advantage on Virtues side, that it is thus aided and assisted with all the Instincts of our Natures; which like obedient Handmaids, are most readily inclined to execute its Commands, and minister to its Pleasure and Interest. How then is it possible that Religion in it self should be burthensome and grievous to us, when the Propensions of our Nature do so fairly comply with it, and it is helped forwards and promoted by all their united Force and Influence? 'Tis difficult indeed for a Man to go against the Grain; but to act according to Nature, to follow our own Propensions, and to do what we are inclined to by natural Instinct, is doubtless the easiest Thing in the World.
4ly. Another Thing that makes those Virtues which God Commands to be easie is this, that they are all so inseparably connected to one another, that they mutually promote and help forward each other; For all the Virtues are so mutually concatenated, that the stirring of any one Link moves the whole Chain. Thus for Instance, the true Knowledge of God naturally inflames the Soul with the Love of him; and then the Love of him insensibly transforms her into the Image of his beloved Goodness; for he that loves God must needs be inamoured with that divine Goodness which is the Root of his Love: And while he is ravished with the Sweetness of his Good Will, the Undeservedness of his Grace, and the Clemency of his Pardon, an heavenly Spirit steals into his Soul, and he loves, and becomes like God so both at once, that like a Wedg of Steel, he is transformed into the Likeness of the Fire that heats him; and is all inflamed and inlightened at the same Moment. And as he burns with Love, so he resembles the Goodness that set him on Fire, and becomes pure as that is pure, and holy as that is holy, and just and merciful as that heavenly Original is which he copies and transcribes. Thus wheresoever the Love of God is, it hath all the god-like Virtues attending it; and that being the first Link in the heavenly Chain, whensoever it moves, it communicates Motion to all the rest. For he that heartily loves God, will love those whom God loves; and so the Love of God will draw Brotherly-Charity after it; and he who loves those whom God loves, will be just and righteous in his Dealings and Deportment towards them; and so Brotherly-charity will draw Righteousness after it: And he that demeans himself justly and righteously towards others, will neither undervalue them, nor overvalue himself; and so Righteousness will draw Humility after it: And he that doth not overvalue himself, is fairly disposed to be sober in all his Passions; and so Humility draws Temperance and Sobriety, and Meekness after it. Thus one Virtue smoothens the Way to another, and makes it not only possible but easie; for there is such a near Neighbourhood between these heavenly Sisters, that when we are arrived at one, we pass insensibly to the next; and so on by Degrees, till we are gone round with them all. For though there be not an immediate Dependence of every Virtue upon every one Virtue, so as to make it necessary for a Man to have all Virtues in every Moment that he hath one; for a Man may be charitable, and yet not presently humble; as he may be just, and yet not immediately temperate: Yet there is so near a Dependence between them, that one always disposes the Mind for another; this Virtue always makes way for its next Neighbour, and that for its next, and so on all around the whole Circle of Virtues. Thus Humility naturally disposes the Mind to Meekness, Meekness to Charity, Charity to Justice, Justice to Devotion, (which is giving God his Due) and Devotion to Heavenly-mindedness and Contempt of the World; and so all along there is a gentle and easie Transition from one to t' other. Now this must needs mightily facilitate the Virtues of Religion, that they are so nearly confederated to each other, and so do naturally contribute to each others Assistance. For whereas if it were not for this there would still be the same Difficulty in practising the second Virtue as there is in practising the first, and in practising the third as there is in practising the second, and so every single Virtue would be equally difficult; now the main Difficulty lies in the first we begin with, for by practising of that we shall be so well disposed for the next, that afterwards we shall go on with much more Ease and Pleasure; for the first Virtue being set a going, like the First-moving Heaven, will communicate its Motion from Orb to Orb, from one Virtue to another, till the whole Sphere whirls round in an harmonious Order. Thus all the Virtues you see do naturally lighten and ease one another, and every one contributes something to make every one more easie; so that had we but the Courage to begin to practise them, we should find they would every day grow more easie and easie to us, and that not only because we should be more and more Habituated to them, but because they being mutually allyed to one another, the stronger they grow the more vigorously they must farther and promote each other.
5ly. And lastly, Another Thing that makes the Virtues that God hath commanded us easie is this, that in themselves they are plain and simple and direct, and have no Intricacies or Labyrinths in them. As for Sin and Wickedness it is an inextricable Labyrinth, in which the further a Man goes the more he will perplex and lose himself; it is a boundless Wilderness whose Paths do all thwart and cross one another. For all Vices consist in Extremes, and are either the Excesses or Defects of Virtue; so that there are two Vices to one Virtue, and both are Extremes thwarting and running counter to one another. Now amidst this great Diversity and Contrariety of Vices the Sinner must needs be extremely amazed and distracted; for his Lusts are so infinite that he can see no End of them, they do so cross and interfere with each other that while he humours one he displeases another. For in gratifying his Sordidness he affronts his Pride, and in feeding his Covetousness starves his Sensuality; so that his wretched Soul wanders among infinite Cross-ways, and is miserably distracted by its own contrary Desires, which, like Acteons Hounds, are continually worrying and tearing her in pieces. But all the Paths of Virtue lie strait forwards between the vicious Extremes, and like Parallel Lines do never interfere with one another; they never raise any contrary Desires, nor distract our Minds with inconsistent Passions; but all their Motions are regular and uniform, conspiring with and promoting one another. For the Truth of it is, Virtue is all but one intire Thing, much like the Center of a Circle, which though many Lines are drawn from it round about, and it is look'd upon sometimes as the Term of this Line, and sometimes of that, yet it is one Term to them all, and is in it self undivided: So is Virtue but one intire Perfection, though it seem to be diversified in regard of the many Affections that it moderates, and the several Actions which it doth produce; And though its Precepts and Actions are many, yet they are all ordinated to one End, and in that they are united as well as in the Principle from whence they proceed. And upon this Account there can be none of those perplexing Intricacies in the Paths of Virtue as are ordinarily found in the Ways of Sin, because they are all of them direct and strait, leading from one Principle to one and the same End; And the Principle and End of our Motion being one, 'tis impossible but our Designs, Desires and Pursuits should be simple and uniform; and consequently the whole Force of our Souls being bent one Way, we must needs proceed with more Alacrity and Ease than we can possibly do when 'tis divided and dispersed among so great a Multiplicity of Ends and Objects as Vice proposes to us. So that here is one great Advantage that Virtue hath above Vice in respect of Easiness, that whereas almost in every bad Action a Man hath a different End, now to satisfy this Lust, and anon the contrary; in every virtuous one his End is always the same; and whereas the former acts variously and inconsistently, and his Desires frequently clash and run a tilt at one another; the later always moves directly and uniformly, by one and the same Rule towards one and the same End. And whereas many Vices are in themselves full of Intanglements, Virtue is always plain and open, and free. As for Instance, how do we perplex and intangle our selves by Lying and Knavery, consuming the Pleasure of our Lives within a winding Maze of little Tricks and intricate Contrivances? And what shameful Retreats and false Colours, what Fucus's and Daubings are we feign to use to avoid Contradiction and Discovery? Whereas were we but honest and sincere in our Professions and Actions, our Way would be open and easie, and uniform; wherein we might pursue all our Ends by the directest Means, and need never wander about in the Labyrinths of a mysterious Subtilty; where we may walk without blushing in the Sight of the Sun, and in the View of the World, and have no Occasion to skulk into Coverts and Retirements. And the same may be said of Ambition, and Covetousness, and Pride, and wandering Lust, Vices that are usually full of great Intreagues and Mysteries; whereas the Contrary Virtues are all plain and simple, and have nothing of Difficulty or Intricacy in them. This therefore is a great Advantage that Virtue hath in Respect of Ease, that it is plain and uniform, and simple and direct. And so I have done with the first Thing proposed, which was to shew you that God's Commands in themselves are facile and easie. I now proceed
2. To the second Thing, which is to prove that our blessed Saviour by what he hath done, hath render'd them much more easie than they are in themselves. Now there are these Four Things which our Saviour hath contributed to the facilitating the Commands of God.
1. The Assistance of his Holy Spirit.
2. The Influence of his own Example.
3. The merciful Indulgence and Condescension of his Gospel to the Weakness and Infirmity of our Natures.
4ly. The glorious Rewards he hath promised us upon our sincere Obedience.
1. To the rendring of God's Commands easie, he hath contributed the Assistance of his Holy Spirit. For he hath promised to give his Holy Spirit unto every one that asks; and therefore though our Nature of it self be extremely weak, and not able of it self to stand under the easie Burthen of its Duty, if we will but struggle and do what we are able, he is engaged by promise not to suffer us to sink▪ For if by doing what we can, it is in our Power to engage him to enable us to do what we cannot, it is certainly in our Power to do all; for though in our own Strength we cannot do all, yet if we please, it may be in our Power to do more than all through him that will strengthen us, if we will but do what we can.
2ly. To the rendring of God's Commands easie, he hath also contributed the Influence of his own most holy Example. For by his own most perfect Obedience to the Commands of his Father, he hath not only set us a Copy to write after, but he hath also given us most convincing Evidence that our Obedience is both possible and honourable. That it is possible we see by what he hath done, and it is certain that what hath been done may be done; that it is honourable we see by his doing of it; for certainly so great a Person as the Son of God, would never have stooped to an inglorious Obedience. So that the Example of our Saviour not only encourages our Obedience, but crowns and dignifies it; and renders it a fit Object both of our Endeavour and Ambition: For by doing himself what he requires of us, he hath plainly demonstrated not only that it may be done, but also that it highly becomes us to do it. Thus the glorious Example of our Saviour whilst it directs our Obedience, doth at the same Time excite and encourage it. For he conversed among Men with a modest Virtue, such as was suitable to an ordinary Course of life. His Piety was even, constant, and unblamable; complying with civil Society, and a secular Conversation. It broke not forth into high Transports and Seraphic Expressions; but was such as was both fit and easie for Mortals to imitate. His Virtue consisted not in prodigious Fastings, or high Abstractions from Sense, but in a life of Justice and Temperance, Humility and Charity, and Patience; that is, in such a Life as was not only proper, but possible for us to lead. And by this Means he hath transmitted to us the more of an imitable Virtue; for he did not out-run the Capacities of Men in prodigious Expressions of Sanctity and Virtue; but complied with our Weakness, and kept pace with our Strength, that so he might entertain us all along with the Comforts of his Company, and the Influences of a perpetual Guide. And as that Rule of Faith which he hath propounded to us is fitted to our Understandings, being very short, easie and intelligible; so the Copy of Manners which he hath set before us is not only fitted with Excellencies worthy, but also with Complyances possible to be imitated. And therefore how efficaciously must such a glorious Example contribute to the facilitating the Commands of God to us, since it doth not only point us to our Duty, but also excite us to perform it; and that both by its Condescension to our Strength and Capacity; and by the plain Demonstration it gives, that our Duty is both possible and honourable?
3dly. To the rendring of God's Commands easie to us, our Saviour hath also contributed the merciful Indulgence and Condescention of his Gospel to the Weakness and Imperfection of our Natures: For in his Gospel he hath mercifully considered our State, that we are but frail imperfect Creatures, that are very prone to act inconsiderately, and to be ever and anon surprised in this great Hurry of Temptations; and therefore in his holy Gospel he hath made Provision for us accordingly, that is, he hath proportioned our Burthen to our Strength, and taken the Measure of our Duty by our Capacities. For all that he hath required of us as the Condition of our eternal Salvation is only this, that we should honestly endeavour to understand what he commands and forbids us, and that we should not live in the wilful Neglect of any known Duty, or in the wilful Commission of any known Sin; and if we do this he hath engaged himself to make such a merciful Abatement for our Infirmities and Inadvertencies, and Follies and Surprises, that they shall never rise in Judgment against us so as to exclude us from eternal Happiness. So that now there can be nothing our Duty that is naturally impossible, nothing necessary to our eternal Happiness that is morally impossible; that is, that cannot reasonably be expected from us, considering our State and Circumstances; and what is neither of these cannot be supposed to be very grievous and burthensome. For unless we account it hard that we are not left at Liberty to be obstinate Rebels to our God and Saviour, and with an audacious Forehead to reject what they command, and pursue what they forbid, it is certain there can be no such Thing as a Burthen or Grievance in all our Religion.
4thly. And lastly, To the rendring of God's Commands easie to us our Saviour hath contributed the Promise of a glorious Reward upon Condition of our sincere Obedience: And this is such a vast Contribution to the Ease of our Duty, as is sufficient to turn it all into Jubilee and Recreation. For when I seriously consider that after I have spent a few Moments here in the noble Exercises of a sincere Piety and Virtue, I shall be translated into a Region of immortal Pleasures, where, in the Society of my God and Saviour, of Angels and of blessed Spirits, I shall spend an Eternity in one continued uninterrupted Act of rapturous Love and Joy and Pleasure; where, in a perfect Freedom from all the Arrogancies of Flesh and Blood, and from all the Vexations of an ill-natured World, I shall live as happily for ever as all the Joys of an everlasting Heaven can make me; in a word, where I shall have nothing else to do, but to converse with the most happy Lovers, and to bear a part in that ravishing Consort of Praises and Halelujahs, wherewith they laud and celebrate the Fountain of all their Happiness: I say when I consider these Things, methinks I am enabled by those glorious Hopes and Expectations to scorn and despise all Difficulties, and, if need require, even to embrace the Flames of Martyrdom: But as for those gentle Toils of watching and praying, of keeping a constant Guard upon my self and contending against the Stream of my own depraved Inclinations; Lord! how inconsiderable they appear to me; And how heartily do I pity those miserable crest-fallen Souls that tamely suffer themselves to be frighted out of Heaven by such harmless Scare-crows. Thus while I stand on the Tiptoes of my Hope, and see Heaven at my Journeys End, I over-look all Rubs and Hardships in my Way, and pass on triumphantly without minding them. And indeed when the Reward of our Obedience is so great, so infinitely transcending the Desert of it, I am astonished to think that ever any reasonable Being should be so shameless and immodest, as to take any Notice of those trifling Difficulties that are in it: For with what Conscience can we account any Thing hard, the Reward whereof is a Crown of immortal Glory? How can our Voyage be troublesome, when our Port is the Indies of Pleasure? No, no; the Work can never be hard that hath Heaven for its Wages, the very Prospect whereof is enough to reconcile us to all the Difficulties in the Way to it, and to carry us through them not only with Ease but with Triumph. For he that hath Heaven for his Haven must be infinitely peevish if he quarrels at a rough Sea, and doth nor bless the Storms and Winds that are driving him thither.
And thus I have proved to you at large that the Commands of God are not grievous, and that both because they are easie in their own Nature, and are made much more easie by our Blessed Lord and Saviour.
But after all that hath been said, I do foresee a material Objection that will be made against this Discourse, and that is this; That it contradicts the universal Experience of Mankind. For do not the Generality of those Men that have attempted a religious Life find by Experience a great deal of difficulty? Are they not forced to strive and wrastle with themselves, and to do the greatest Violence to their own Inclinations? Are they not forced to keep themselves under a severe Discipline, to pray earnestly, and watch diligently to prevent the Surprises and Incursions of those Temptations that continually way-lay them wheresoever they are, and whatsoever they are about? And do they not many times find the difficulties so great, as that they are quite beaten off and utterly disheartned by them?
All this I confess is very true, and may very well be so without any Prejudice to the Argument in hand; for we have not been discoursing of what Religion may accidentally be, but of what it really is in it self. The Light in it self is pleasant to the Eye, but yet it may accidentally be grievous if the Eye be sore or weak, and not able to endure its Splendor. And so Religion, though in its self extremely easie, yet it may and often doth become accidentally difficult to us, by Reason of those sinful Prejudices against it which we do too often contract in the Course of a sinful Life But 'tis an unreasonable Thing for Men to measure the Easiness of God's Laws not by their own intrinsick Nature, but by the Reluctancy and Opposition which they find in their own Hearts against them. For to a Man in a Fever every Thing is bitter, but yet the Bitterness is not in the Honey he tasts, but in the Gall that overflows his own Palate. And so to a vicious Man every Virtue is a Burthen, but the Burthensomness is not so much in the Virtue as in his own Repugnancy to bear it. For I have already proved at large that Religion is every way agreeable to humane Nature, and therefore there can be no other Reason why it should not agree with us, unless it be that we disagree with our selves. We spoil our own Natures and do degenerate from the humane Nature into the brutal or diabolical; and what wonder is it that the Religion of a Man should be a Burthen to the Nature of a Beast or a Devil? But if we would take but a little Pains to retrieve our selves and weed out those unnatural Habits with which our Nature is over-grown, we should find that our Religion and That would very well accord, and then that which is our Burthen would become our Recreation. I confess before this can be accomplished, we must take a great deal of Pains with our selves; we must watch and pray, and strive and contend, and undergo the severe Discipline of a sorrowful Repentance, if ever we mean to recover our Natures again. But for God's sake consider Sirs, there is now no Remedy for this, and you may thank your selves for it; for you must undergo great Difficulties, take which side you please. If you resolve to continue as you are, you must be most wretched Slaves to your own Lusts; you must tamely submit to all their tyrannical Commands, and run and go on every Errand they send you; and though they countermand each other, and one sends you this Way, and another the quite contrary; though Sloth pulls you back, and Ambition thrusts you forwards, and Covetousness bids you save, and Sensuality bids you spend; though Pride bids you strut, and Flattery bids you cringe, and there is as great a Confusion in their Wills and Commands as there was in the Language of the Brick-layers of Babel; and though in such a Huddle of Inconsistencies you are frequently at your Wits end, and know not what to do, yet you must be contented to endure the Hurry, and if you cannot do all at once, you must do what you can; and when you have done so, 'tis a thousand to one but there will be as many of your Lusts dissatisfied as satisfied: And in the mean time while you are thus hurried about in the Crowd of your own sinful Desires, your wretched Conscience will ever and anon be alarming you with its ill-boding Horrors, and griping and twinging you with many an uneasie Reflection. Thus like miserable Gally-Slaves you must tug at the Oar, work against Wind and Tyde, and row through the Storms and Tempests of your own Conscience; and all this to run your selves upon a Rock, and invade your own Damnation. So that considering all, I dare say the Toil of being wicked is much more insupportable than that of a holy Life; and which is sad to consider, it hath no other Issue but eternal Ruin; for the wages of Sin, saith the Apostle, is death, Rom. vi.23. And methinks it should be very uncomfortable for a Man to work so hard for nothing but Misery, and even to earn his Damnation with the sweat of his Brows; especially considering, that the Toil and Drudgery of a sinful Life hath no End. For though Custom and Habit renders all other Things easie, yet by accustoming our selves to do Evil, we add to our Toil and render those cruel Taskmasters, our Lusts, more tyrannical and imposing; for still the more we gratify them, the more craving they will be, and the more impatient of denyal, and so by working for them we shall but increase our own Toil, and still acquire new Degrees of Labour and Drudgery. But as for the main Difficulty of Religion, it chiefly lies in the Entry to it; for there we must shake hands with all our darling Lusts, and bid them adieu for ever; and to persuade our selves throughly to this is the main Difficulty of all; for then, to be sure, they will cling fastest about us, and use their utmost Oratory to stagger our Resolution, and the old Love we have born them, and the dear Remembrance of the Pleasures which they have administred to us will make our Hearts relent and our Bowels yearn towards them. But if with all those mighty Arguments wherewith our Religion and our Reason furnishes us, and all those divine Assistances which we are encouraged to ask, and if we do, are assured to obtain, we can but conquer our Reluctancies, and heartily persuade our selves to part with them; this is the sharpest Brunt in all our spiritual Warfare; for now if we do but keep the ground that we have gotten, and maintain our Resolution against the Temptations that assault it, our Lusts will every day grow weaker and weaker, and that Pleasure and Ease, that Tranquility of Mind and Peace of Conscience which we shall feel accruing to us out of the Discharge of our Duty, will by Degrees so indear and connaturalize it to us, that at last it will be much harder for us to sin than to obey. Wherefore let us stand no longer, like naked Boys, shivering upon the Brinks of Religion, wishing that we were in, but afraid to venture; but let us consider seriously, resolve sincerely, and then leap in boldly; and though at first we may find it difficult to swim against the Stream, and stem the Tyde of our own bad Inclinations; yet if we can but hold out couragiously a while, we shall feel the Current slacken by Degrees till the Tyde of Nature turn, and run the contrary Way; and then we shall be carried on with Ease and Delight, and swim chearfully and pleasantly down with the Stream. For when once we have conquered the bad Inclinations of our Nature, Religion will be a mighty Ease and Refreshment to us, and we shall feel a thousand times more Pleasure and Satisfaction in it than ever we did in all our sinful Enjoyments; so that then we shall find the Truth of the Text, and be able to pronounce from our own Experience, that God's Commandments are not grievous.