Works Volume 4, Sermon 6
The VI. SERMON.
2 COR. VII.1.
Having therefore theſe promiſes (dearly Beloved) let us cleanſe our ſelves.
THERE is not, I conceive, any piece of Divinity more unluckily miſtaken, more inconveniently corrupted and debauch'd by the paſſions and luſts of men, made more inſtrumental to their fouleſt purpoſes, than that of the Promiſes of Chriſt; whether by giving them the incloſure and monopoly of our Faith, (the Commands of Chriſt and the threats of Chriſt, which have as much right to be believed as they, his Kingly and Prophetick Office, to which he was as particularly anointed as to that of our Prieſt, being for the moſt part ſet aſide as unneceſſary, and by many ſteps and degrees at laſt not only left quite out of our Faith, but withal fall'n under our envy, become matter of quarrel againſt any that ſhall endeavour to obtrude them not only ſo impertinently, but ſo dangerouſly, either on our Goſpel or on our Practice:) or whether again by perſwading our ſelves and others that the Promiſes of Chriſt are particular and abſolute, confined to ſome few, and to thoſe howſoever they be qualified; when the whole harmony and contexture of Chriſtian doctrine proclaims directly the contrary, that they are general and conditional, a Picture that looks every man in the face that comes into the room, but cannot be imagined to eye any man elſe, unreſtrained to all ſo they ſhall perform the condition, and an [foreign] thoſe diffuſive ſtore-houſes ſeal'd up againſt all who do not perform it.
Shall we therefore have the patience, and the juſtice, and the piety, a while to reſiſt theſe ſtrong prejudices, to reſcue this ſacred Theme from ſuch miſpriſions, to ſet up the Promiſes of Chriſt in ſuch a poſture as may have the ſafeſt and kindeſt influence, the benigneſt and moſt auſpicious aſpect upon our lives, not to ſwell and puff up our fancies any longer, with an opinion, that we are the ſpecial Favorites to whom thoſe Promiſes are unconditionally conſign'd, but to engage and oblige our ſouls to that univerſal cleanſing that may really inſtate us in thoſe Promiſes, either of deliverance here, or ſalvation eternally; that may, like the Angel to St. Peter in Priſon, even to God himſelf, ſhake off thoſe gyves and manacles which have even incumbred his Omnipotence, made it impoſſible for him to make good his Promiſes, temporal or ſpiritual, to ſuch unclean uncapables as we? To this purpoſe there is one ſhort word in the Text which hath a mighty importance in it, the [foreign] the [theſe] anext to the Promiſes. What's the interpretation of that you muſt enquire of the cloſe of the former chapter; and that will tell you, that upon coming out from the pollutions and villanies of an impure profane Heathen world, (and ſuch is our unregenerate eſtate, I would I could not ſay, ſuch is the condition of many of us that moſt depend on God's promiſes) on our going out of this tainted Region, our ſtrict ſeparation from all the provoking ſins of it, all the mercies of Heaven and (which ſome have a greater guſt and appetite to) of earth alſo, are become our portion, a moſt liberal hoſpitable reception; I will receive you, and I will be a Father to all ſuch Proſelyte gueſts, and you ſhall be my ſons and daughters, ſaith the Lord Almighty: as if his Almightineſs, which is here pawn'd for the diſcharge of theſe promiſes, could not bring them down upon us, unleſs by this coming out of Sodom (to which this Angelical exhortation was ſent to rouze us) we ſhould render our ſelves capable of them.
In a word, the Promiſes here, as all other in the Goſpel, are not abſolute, but conditional Promiſes, on condition of cleanſing from all impurity, and not otherwiſe; and if there be in the whole world an engagement to cleanſing, an obligation to the practice of the moſt defamed purity that a profane Age can ſcoff or rail at, this certainly may be allow'd to paſs for it. Having therefore, &c.
The words are an Exhortation to cleanſing, and in them you may pleaſe to obſerve theſe three particulars:
1. The Ground.
2. The Addreſs.
3. The Exhortation it ſelf.
The Ground the fitteſt in the world for this turn when you ſhall conſider it throughly; foreign, theſe Promiſes.
The Addreſs, adding ſomewhat of ſweetneſs to that of rational advice, [Having theſe Promiſes, dearly beloved.]
And the Exhortation it ſelf, in the remainder of the words at large in the whole verſe. We ſhall content our ſelves with the contraction of it, foreign, let us cleanſe our ſelves.
I begin with the firſt, The ground or foundation of the Apoſtle's exhortatory to cleanſing, foreign, theſe promiſes.
1. Promiſes.
2. And particularly, conditional Promiſes.
And yet 3ly, more particularly, the conditional Promiſes of this Text, the [theſe Promiſes] as they are ſet down in the end of the former Chapter, are the moſt competent, moſt ingaging, effectual arguments or impellents to ſet any Chriſtian upon the work of Chriſtian practice, that eſpecially of impartial univerſal cleanſing.
'Twill be beſt demonſtrated if we take them aſunder, and view them in the ſeveral gradations.
1. Promiſes are a very competent argument to that purpoſe, a bait to the moſt generous paſſion about us, our emulation or ambition, drawing us with the cords of a Man, the moſt rational maſculine allectives, I ſhall add, (to an ingenuous Chriſtian man, as that ſignifies neither Saint in Heaven, nor Beaſt on Earth, but that middle imperfect ſtate of a Chriſtian here) the moſt agreeable proper argument imaginable to ſet us a cleanſing.
Two other arguments there are, both very conſiderable, I confeſs.
1. The Love (in the Moraliſt of Vertue, but in the Chriſtian) of God himſelf; and that Love, if it be gotten into our hearts, will be very effectual toward this end; the love of God conſtrains us, ſaith the Apoſtle.
2. The Fear of thoſe threats, thoſe formidable denunciations which the Goſpel thunders out againſt all unmortified carnal men, that horrid repreſentation of our even Chriſtians God, as he is ſtill under the Goſpel, (to all unreform'd, obdurate ſinners) a conſuming fire; and conſequently, what a direful thing it is to fall into the hands of that living God: and knowing theſe terrors of the Lord we perſwade men, ſaith the ſame Apoſtle. There is ſome rouzing oratory, ſome awakening rhetorick and eloquence in this alſo. And let me tell you, though it be but by the way, that I am not altogether of their opinion, that think theſe terrors of the Lord, are not fit arguments to work on regenerate men; that fear is too ſlaviſh a thing to remain in a Child of light, a Chriſtian. I confeſs my ſelf ſufficiently perſwaded that our Apoſtle made choice of no arguments, but ſuch as were fit to be made uſe of by Chriſtians, and thoſe terrors are more than once his choſen arguments, even to thoſe that had received the Kingdom that cannot be moved, Heb. 12.28. and are exhorted foreign, to have grace, to make uſe of that precious talent received, (which ſuppoſes a gracious perſon) or poſſibly foreign, to be thankful to this munificent Donour for this ineſtimable gift, yea, and this duty raiſed to the higheſt pitch that a Chriſtian is capable of, to ſerving God foreign, whether that refer to the perſons, and ſignifie ſerving with all chearfulneſs and alacrity and well-pleaſedneſs, or to God, as we render it, ſerving him acceptably with reverence and godly fear; you have ſtill in this Apoſtle theſe terrors immediately annex'd to inforce this duty, for our God is a conſuming fire. And ſo again you cannot but remember the advice of working, and working out ſalvation, and emphatically our own ſalvation, with fear and trembling; not only with love and faith, but peculiarly fear and trembling, this trembling fit enough to accompany the Saint to Heaven gates, to Salvation it ſelf: and therefore the foreign, without fear, in the 1. of Luke, which we ordinarily joyn with the foreign, as if we were thereby obliged to ſerve him without fear, is in ancient Copies and Editions joyn'd with the foreign, that we being delivered without fear, (i. e. without danger) might ſerve him in holineſs, &c. And ſo I think 'tis a little clear, that the fear which is ſo caſt out by perfect love, that, as the Apoſtle ſaith, 1 John 4.18. there is no fear in love, is not the fear of God's wrath, but of temporal dangers and perſecutions: For ſo that love to Chriſt, if it be perfect, ſuch as Chriſt's was to us, Chap. 3.16. (and is referred to again, Chap. 4.17. that as he is, ſo we ſhould be in this world) will make us content to adventure any thing for the beloved, even death it ſelf, the moſt hugely vaſt formidable, (as 'tis there, foreign, to lay down our lives for Chriſt;) but ſure not the diſpleaſing of God, and torments of Hell; that were too prodigal an Alms, too wild a Romance valour, would have too much of the modern point of honour for St. John to preſcribe, and ſo certainly is but miſ-applied to this buſineſs. And ſo ſtill I cannot but think it wiſdom and ſober piety in him that ſaid, He would not leave his part in Hell (the benefit which he had from theſe terrors) for all the goods of this world; knowing how uſeful the fleſh of the Viper was to cure his poiſon, the torments to check the temptations, the apprehenſion of the Calenture that attended to reſtrain from the pleaſant but forbidden fruits, that were always a ſoliciting his ſenſes: and ſhe that ran about the City (that Novarnius tells us of) with the brand of fire in one hand, and a bottle of water in the other, and ſaid, Her buſineſs was to ſet Heaven on fire with the one, and quench Hell-flames with the other, that there might be neither of them left, only pure love to God to move or incite her piety, had certainly a little of the flatus thus to drive her, her ſpleen was ſomewhat ſwoln, or diſtemper'd, or, if one may gueſs by her appearing in the ſtreet, ſhe was a little too wild and aereal in her piety. But this by the way, as a conceſſion that there is (not only Love, but) Fear alſo that may ſet men a cleanſing, as well as the Promiſes in the Text; the denuntiation of Puniſhments is as conſiderable an act of Chriſt's Kingly office, whereby he is to rule in our hearts by faith, as that of propoſing Rewards, that other act of Regality, Rom. 13. And the truth is, all's little enough to impreſs the duty: and happy is he that hath this threefold cord, this threefold obligation, paternal, and both kinds of regal, each actually in force upon his Soul; and eternally happy, if either or all may effectually perform the work on him.
But then ſtill, if we obſerve diſtinguiſhingly, and exactly apply and proportion the arguments to the imperfect Chriſtian ſtate, you ſhall find that Promiſes are the moſt proper, congruous, agreeable argument, moſt apt and hopeful to do the deed, to have the impreſſion upon the heart.
Fear is an argument, but to an ingenuous nature not altogether ſo appropriate.
Hope, the relative to Promiſes, is more generous than that, more noble, more worthy of the Chriſtian's breaſt, a perſon of ſo royal an extraction.
On the other ſide, the Love of God, (for his own ſake) Love of his attributes and excellencies, that admirable, dazling, amazing beauty of his Divine Eſſence, O! 'tis a warming grace, infinitely melting and raviſhing to thoſe that have their hearts truly poſſeſs'd with it.
But is not this, again, a little above the proportion of the imperfect, inchoate, very moderate ſtate of the Chriſtian in this life? is it not a little more proportionable to that of the future viſion? The Chriſtian, you know, here is made up of two Contraries, the fleſh and ſpirit, foreign, combind'd and yok'd together; and as the Fear may be too degenerous for the ſpirit, ſo the Love of ſo tranſcendent a ſpiritual object, will be far too elevated and generous for the fleſh, 'tis not capable of ſo pure, Angelical a gueſt.
This of Hope is of a middle temper, and ſo a little more congruous and apportion'd to the middle ſtate, more ingenuous than Fear, and not ſo elevated as Love. Let Hell be ſet open wide upon us on one ſide, and it is apt to ſwallow us up with horrour and deſpair, and ſo that Fear may miſcarry and ruin us: Let the tranſcendent Excellencies of God be let looſe on us on the other ſide, and they ſwallow us up again in ecſtaſie and amazement. When our Saviour comes into Peter's Ship, clothed but with one ray of this infinite beauty, (the gracious miracle of the fiſh) poor creature! he falls down at Jeſus's feet with a [depart from me, for I am a ſinful man:] and the Text gives the reaſon, For he was aſtoniſhed at ſuch a preſence of his. And you know what Moſes thought of ſeeing God's face, ut videam & vivam! he ſhould be never able to out-live it. And as the beholding and the preſence, ſo the high pitch of Love let in by that beholding, faſten'd on the divine luſtre, 'tis moſt-what too high for our earthly ſtate, even for the regenerate Chriſtian in this life. The beholding him in the reflexion and the dark beholding is that which in the Apoſtles judgment is the richeſt portion we can aſpire to in this life; and that is the beholding him in his graces and in his promiſes, as Hope is but a glimpſe of Viſion: and thus we chearfully, and with delight to our very fleſh, expect that glory which ſhall be reveal'd; not which is revealed already, or if it were, would burn up and calcine this fleſh of ours, turn the natural into a ſpiritual body, could not conſiſt with ſuch temper'd or conſtituted Tabernacles as now we carry about with us. And let that ſerve for the clearing the firſt ſtep in the gradation, that Promiſes are a fit and proper argument to work upon our preſent ſtate, to ſet us a purifying.
And, O that this might be our uſe of Promiſes! no flattering our ſelves into Hell with a claim of Heaven, but as a crane or engine to raiſe us from the depth, fetch us from the lees of ſin, and, like the Sun-beams on this earth of ours, to attract and force us up toward its region of purity; that as the Philoſopher in Eunapius was taller in his ſtudy, in time of ſpeculation, than at any other time, ſo this meditation and ſtudy of this part of the Book of life, the Promiſes of Chriſt, might be able to raiſe us above our ordinary pitch or ſtature, to rarifie, and ſo to cleanſe. Having therefore theſe Promiſes, let, &c.
2. Of all Promiſes the conditional are fitteſt for this turn, to oblige and engage us to purifying. 'Tis the property of conditional Promiſes, never to belong to any but thoſe that perform the condition. That which Chriſt requires of us in the great Indenture between him and us, as the homage to be perform'd to him on our part, be it never ſo ſlight and inconſiderable, never ſo deſpicable a pepper-corn, ſo pitifully unproportionable to the great rent he might require, or to the infinite treaſure of glory that he ſo makes over to us, that mite of obedience, of faith, of love, of purity, is yet moſt ſtrictly required by Chriſt, even now (under the foreign of the Goſpel) to be performed to him. The mercy and the pardon and the huge moderation of that Court, though it hath mollified the ſtrict Law into never ſo much Chancery, will not proceed further, and mollifie obedience into libertiniſm: It hath treaſures of mercy for thoſe who have not obeyed the Law in the ſtrictneſs of perfect un-ſinning obedience; the Evangelical righteouſneſs ſhall ſerve turn where the Legal is not to be had: but then ſtill there muſt be honeſt punctual payment of the Evangelical; and without that, the Goſpel is ſo far from being Goſpel, meſſage of mercy, embaſſie of Promiſes, that it is but an enhancement and accumulation of much ſorer puniſhments on them that have ſinn'd againſt that, that have not obeyed the Goſpel of Chriſt. Our Saviour hath brought down the market, provided as eaſie bargains of bliſs for us as could be imagin'd; but this being granted, you muſt not now fancie another farther ſecond Saviour, that muſt rid you of theſe eaſie gainful tasks, which the firſt in meer kindneſs and benignity to you, hath required of you.
Be Heaven and the viſion of God never ſo cheap a purchaſe, yet the foreign, the Law of Faith, of Goſpel, is as that of the Medes and Perſians, that no unclean thing ſhall enter therein; and that without holineſs (foreign, all one with the foreign in the Text) without that ſincere, though never ſo imperfect, ſanctification, without cleanſing, mortifying here, no man ſhall ever ſee the Lord. Should any boiſterous, unclean, unqualified invader, foreign, break in on thoſe ſacred manſions, commit ſuch riots, ſuch burglary upon Heaven. Heaven muſt be unconſecrated by ſuch violence, ceaſe to be the Palace of God, a place of purity, or of bliſs. And if this be not an argument fit to impreſs this duty, the neceſſity, but withal the eaſe, of the performance, the no Heaven without it hereafter, and yet the no grievance by it here, if this be not an obligation to cleanſing, I know not what may be counted ſuch. He that hath taken down all the Promiſes of the Goſpel, as abſolute, unconditionate Promiſes, that ſees his name written indeleble in the Book of life, I know not through what tube or perſpective, and reſolves that all the provocations and ſacriledges and rebellions againſt Heaven, ſhall never be able to reſiſt his Nativity, to diſturb his horoſcope, to reverſe his fatal deſtin'd bliſs, may well be excuſed, if he be not over-haſty to cleanſe or purifie.
'Tis an act of the moſt admirable power of the divine reſtraining, or preventing grace, that ſome men that do thus believe this doctrine of unconditional Promiſes, are yet reſtrain'd from making this ſo natural uſe of it, from running into all the riots in the world.
And certainly, 'tis as irrefragable a convincing teſtimony of man's free will to evil, even after his Reaſon and the Spirit of God have offer'd him never ſo many arguments to the contrary, that many men which believe the conditionate Promiſes, do not yet ſet reſolutely a cleanſing, the obligation hereto from Reaſon being ſo direct and concluſive, that all the Devils in Hell cannot anſwer the force of it. Only our ſtupid, undiſciplin'd, abſurd, illogical hearts have the skill to avoid it, running headlong and wilfully after the old impurities, even then when they are moſt fully without all dubibitancy reſolv'd, that all the joys of Heaven are forfeited by this choice.
I have done with the ſecond ſtep in my gradation, the ſpecial convincing energy of the conditional promiſes to enforce cleanſing.
Come we now to the third and laſt ſtep in the gradation, the particularity of the [theſe conditional promiſes] in this Text, Promiſes of God's receiving us upon our ſeparating, his being our Father, and we His Sons and Daughters, upon our coming out, &c. in the end of the former chapter.
God will not receive any uncleanſed, polluted ſinner, will not be a Father to any, be he never ſo importunate or confident in his foreign, will not own him to any degree of Sonſhip that doth not bodily ſet a purifying.
'Twas a virulent objection and accuſation of the Heathen Celſus againſt Chriſt, that he called all Sinners to come unto him, Publicans, Harlots, all, and had an hoſpitable reception for ſuch; from whence his ignorance and malice was willing to conclude Chriſt's Church to be a Sanctuary for ſuch uncleanneſſes, a kind of Romulus's Aſylum, to be filled only with thoſe Inhabitants which all other Religions had loath'd and vomited out. And 'twas Zoſimus's deſcant upon Conſtantine, that he turn'd Chriſtian, becauſe he had committed thoſe crimes for which no other Religlon would admit expiation. But Origen in his admirable Writings againſt that Heathen's objections makes a diſtinction of Invitations; There is, ſaith he, the invitation of the Thief, and the invitation of the Phyſician: of the Thief, to get as many Companions; of the Phyſician, as many Patients as he can: the firſt to debauch the innocent, the ſecond to recall the laps'd, to cure the diſeaſed; the former to continue and confirm them in their former impure courſes, the latter to purge out and to reform all their impurities. And the latter only was the interpretation and deſign of Chriſt's call, [that of ſinners to repentance] the very language in this Text, the Come out and be ye ſeparate, and touch not the unclean thing. And ſo Chriſtianity in Zoſimus's ſtyle, but another ſenſe than what he deſign'd it, is foreign, the ſtrongeſt purgative in the world, the Angel a haſtening and leading out of Sodom with an eſcape, fly for thy life, neither ſtay thou in all the plains; and then, and not till then, foreign, and I will receive you.
And ſo ſtill the peculiarity of theſe promiſes, theſe of our being ſons, or our being received, hath a moſt perſwaſive quickening force toward the duty of purifying. Will any man be content to be that abject from God, that loathed, refuſe, reprobated creature, ſuch an one that all the prayers of all the Saints on earth, interceſſions and ſuffrages of Martyrs and Angels in heaven, yea, the very gaping wounds and vocal bloud of Chriſt upon the Croſs, I ſhall add, the minutely advocation and interceſſion of that glorified Saviour at the right hand of his Father, cannot help to any tolerable reception at God's hands? Can you have fortifi'd your ſelf ſufficiently againſt that direful voice of the Go ye Curſed into everlaſting fire; and not only not God, but not the ſo-much-as mountains or hills willing or able to receive you into any tolerable degree of mercy, not one Lazarus with one drop to cool the tip of a flaming tongue, but only the gaping inſatiable pit, that irreverſible abyſs of pollutions and of horror, that region of curſings and torments, of ſin and flames, the only hoſpital to receive thee? If thou canſt think comfortably of this condition, be well pleaſed to venture all this for the inlarging of thy carnal fruitions one minute longer, and withall diſclaim the whole birthright of thy Chriſtendom, the dignity and inheritance of ſons and daughters of the Lord Almighty; if thou doſt not repent of thy long, tedious, prodigal march into the Aegyptian far Country only to accompany with Swine, and be fed with their foreign, to which the advantages of ſin are compared, (that wooden, unhealthy fruit of the Carobe, or arbor Ceratonia, as Dioſcordies and Pliny deſcribe that which we render husks in the Goſpel;) if, I ſay, we can upon deliberation prefer this ſtarving and pining in the Herd, before feaſting and being embraced in the Father's houſe, this portion of Swine before that of Sons, we have then a ſufficient fortification againſt this argument in this Text, a ſerious ſuperſedeas for purifying: but upon no cheaper condition than this, can it be ſued out; you muſt give your ſelves up to the certain fire and brimſtone of Sodom, if you will ſtill continue in the impurities and burnings of Sodom; not the leaſt gleam of hopes upon any terms but thoſe of purifying; Whoſoever hath this hope on him, the this, that is, the conditional hope of ſeeing there, or here of being received by God, if it be foreign, hope on God, he purifies himſelf, ſaith St. John. If he do not purifie, 'tis either,
1. Not ſo much as foreign, abſolute throwing off, diſclaiming all hope, perfect fury and deſpair; or, if he have any hopeful thought about him, 'tis
2. None of the foreign, none of the rationable, grounded, conditional, but a flattering, fallacious, foundationleſs, becauſe unconditionate, hope, which the bigger it ſwells the more dangerous it proves; an Apoſteme or Tympany of hope, made up either of air or putrid humor: and then foreign, like the conſumptive Patient, the more he hopes the farther he is gone, the more deeply deſperate is his condition.
Or, 3. no foreign, hope on him, on God: 'Tis a dependance on ſome fatal chain, (ſome Necromantick trick, of believing thou ſhalt be ſaved, and thou ſhalt be ſaved) nay, on Satan himſelf, ſome reſponſe from his Oracle, that foreign, that wizard fleſh within us, that hath thus bewitch'd us to its falſe pleaſures firſt, and then its fallacious hopes, the fatall'ſt, horrid'ſt condition in the world: you may excuſe the Preacher and the Apoſtle, if it carry them both into a kind of foreign, an out-cry of love, and pity, and deſire, to prevent this unremediable ruine to which thou art poſting, to catch thee when thou art nodding thus dangerouſly, with a moſt affectionate, compaſſionate compellation of a [dearly beloved] let us cleanſe. Which brings me to the ſecond General, the Addreſs, adding ſomewhat of earneſtneſs and ſomewhat of ſweetneſs to the Exhortation, Having therefore theſe Promiſes, dearly beloved.
The Exhortation to purifying, reforming, mortifying of ſins, is an effect and expreſſion of the greateſt kindneſs, ſincereſt love, and tendereſt affection imaginable. You ſhall ſee this exemplified by the moſt earneſt Lover that ever was in the world. Will you believe the holy Ghoſt? Greater love than this hath no man ſhewed, than to lay down his life for his friend. Now our Saviour you know, laid down his life (ſomewhat more than the life of a mere man, the life of the foreign, that divine celeſtial Perſon) on purpoſe to fetch back this divine, but ſcorn'd, Purity into the world again: He gave himſelf for us, ſaith St. Paul, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purifie unto himſelf a peculiar people, Tit. 2. laid down his life for that only prize to which the Apoſtle here exhorts, this of purifying. You ſhall ſee it again, Act. 3. ult. God having raiſed up his Son Jeſus, ſent him to bleſs us, in-turning every one from his iniquities: This turning from iniquities, the purifying in the Text, was the prime end and deſign of Chriſt's coming into the world, of all his glorious Offices, and the exerciſes of them, and that the moſt bleſſed work of mercy that could ever be meant to polluted Souls; this turning is there the interpretation of his bleſſing of us, [to bleſs us in turning, &c.] 'Twere ſuperfluous farther to aſſiſt this truth, in ſhewing you what an act of benefaction and mercy, of charity and real bleſſing it is, to contribute in any the ſmalleſt manner to the mortifying of any ſin in any: 'tis the reſcuing him from the moſt noiſome, miſerable, putrefied, piteous condition in the world. The plagues of Aegypt, the Frogs, and Flies, and Lice, and Locuſts of Aegypt, and the Murren, and Death of the firſt-born, were but the imperfect emblems of theſe unclean hated Vermin in the Soul, that devour all the fruit and corn of the land, all the Chriſtian vertues and graces, deſpoil and depopulate all that is precious or valuable in it; and then what proud Pharaoh would not fall on his knees to Moſes, to make uſe of his power with Heaven, to deliver him from ſuch plagues as theſe?
And yet to ſee how quite contrary 'tis order'd in the world: God is fain to ſend ſuppliants to us, that we will but be content to part with an impurity, that we will but endure ſo huge a bleſſedneſs. You know we are Embaſſadors for Chriſt, and what's the nature of an Embaſſage? why, ſetting up this impure unmortifi'd ſinner in a throne, (to have an Embaſſie addreſs'd to him, is an argument of a Prince) and not only men, but God himſelf, as it were, proſtrate before his foot-ſtool, the King of Heaven to this proud reigning ſinner on earth, to beſeech him but to part with theſe weapons of his hoſtility againſt God, theſe provoking impurities; as though God did beſeech you by us, (God himſelf becomes the ſuppliant, and then we Miniſters may very well be content with the imployment) we pray you in Chriſt's ſtead, be ye reconciled unto God. Thus through the whole Book of Canticles, is the beloved Husband of his Church moſt paſſionately a wooing her to this duty, to this opening to him, giving him an admiſſion, all upon this ſcore, that he might come in to bleſs and purifie; and O what Rhetorick is beſtowed on her! far beyond the [dearly beloved] in this Text, Open to me, my love, my dove, my undefiled, my fair one: he calls her fair and undefiled on purpoſe that he may make her ſuch: and O that we had but that Saviour-like paſſion, that bleſſing kindneſs to our own poor periſhing Souls, ſome of thoſe bowels of love to our own bowels! That we have not, is the greateſt defect of ſelf-love, the moſt contrary ſin againſt our grand fundamental principle, that of Self-preſervation, (which can combine with the devil for the undermining and ruining and ſubverting of whole Kingdoms, on that one commanding deſign of getting off the croſs from off our one ſhoulders, on whomſoever it be laid, but cannot think fit to aſſiſt Heaven in purging out one refuſe impurity out of the Soul.) Yet ſhall I not on ſuch diſcouragements give it over as a forlorn impoſſible hope, but proceed one Stage farther on this errand, to the laſt General, the Exhortation it ſelf, foreign, &c. Let us cleanſe our ſelves: 1. Cleanſe, 2. our ſelves, 3. us our ſelves: the verb is active, the pronoun reciprocal, and the verb and pronoun both plural. And ſo, beſide the duty it ſelf of cleanſing, two Circumſtances of this duty we muſt learn from hence; namely, 2. That it is the Chriſtian's task upon himſelf, this of purifying: then, 3. That it ought to be the common united deſign of all Chriſtians, the Apoſtle and people together, to aſſiſt one another in this work, this of purifying.
For the firſt, the duty it ſelf, foreign, cleanſe. This is not the actual acquiring, but the motion and proficiency and tendency toward Purity.
And ſo there again you have two things:
1. What this Purity is;
2. What this motion toward Purity.
The Purity is of two ſorts; the firſt oppoſed to filth, the ſecond to mixture: as the Wine is pure, both when 'tis fetch'd off from the lees and dregs, and when 'tis not mingled with water. In the firſt notion, the purifying here, is the purging out of carnality; in the ſecond, of hypocriſie: the firſt is the clean heart in David; the ſecond, the right or ſincere, ſingle or ſimple ſpirit: the firſt, from the filthineſs of the fleſh; the ſecond, of the ſpirit: and you will never be proſperous Alchymiſts, never get the Philoſopher's ſtone, never acquire the grand Chriſtian hope, if you miſcarry in either of theſe.
The firſt kind of Purity again, that of the fleſh, is two-fold, proportionable to the two fountains and ſources of carnality, foreign and foreign, luſt and rage, that foreign, infernal pair, that hath ſo undermined the peace of Souls and Kingdoms.
Luſt, the common parent both to all fleſhly and all worldly deſire, to the luſt of the fleſh and the luſt of the eye: the luſt of the fleſh again, either the warm, or the moiſt carnality, the burnings of the incontinent, or the thirſts of the luxurious; that deluge of fire and water, that had and ſhall have the honour to divide betwixt them the firſt and ſecond ruine of the world. And for the luſt of the eye, that cold drie piece of ſenſuality, that ſtrange kind of Epicuriſm, that mad raving paſſion after Stones and Minerals, the deifying of that forlorn Element, which, ſaith Ariſtotle, foreign, could never get any Advocate to plead for it, that which ſtruck Moſes into ſuch a paſſion, Theſe people have committed a great ſin, have made them gods of gold; This love of the world and things of the world, extravagant deſire, hot purſuit of ſuch cold embraces, (like the Embalmers in Herodotus, that had flames toward the chill'd earth, the Carkaſſes before them) this drie juiceleſs ſin, is yet able to pollute and defame the Soul, as earth, you know, is as apt to foul and ſ222ully as any thing; covetouſneſs is as irreconcilable with purity, as incontinence and intemperance, and all with the foreign, the theſe Promiſes in the Text.
So, in the ſecond place, for that of Rage, 'tis a fruitful teeming mother, which contains all the more ſublimate kinds of carnality, pride, and ambition, and all the generation of thoſe vipers, Gal. 5.20. Hatred, variance, emulation, wrath, ſtrife, ſeditions, hereſies, envyings, murthers, and the like, all prime works of the fleſh, verſe 19. though ſomewhat more volatile and aerial, i. e. have more of Satan and Lucifer in them than the other. Even he that but ſides in Religion, that makes that band of all charity and humility, an engine of faction or pride, that ſaith, I am of Paul, &c. is he not carnal? 1 Cor. 3.4. the moſt undoubted carnality in the world. A multitude of ſins there are under this one head, able to beſpot a Man, a Nation, into a Leopard; and thoſe ſpots are far from being the ſpots of ſons, reconcilable with the promiſes of this Text. But above all, one that pollutes in grain, that crimſon die, the guilt of Bloud, in which thoſe Souls that are roll'd (as every malicious, unpeaceable ſpirit certainly is, though he never had the courage to ſhed any) look ſo direful in God's ſight, that in compariſon with them, the mire and mud of the baſeſt Swine may paſs for a tolerable beauty; the bloud of men, ſaith Pſellus, yielding a fume or nidour that the Devils (and ſure none, but of their complexion and diet) are fed and fatten'd with: and Maimonides to the ſame purpoſe, that 'tis the food of Devils; that he that can feed on it, is a gueſt foreign at the table of Devils, and literally guilty of that which St. Paul mentions ſo ſadly, 1 Cor. 10.20. I would not that ye ſhould have fellowſhip with Devils, partake of that Cyclops feaſt prepar'd, like Hell, peculiarly for the Devil and his Angels, (thoſe great Abaddons and Apollyons) and cannot without injury and riot be ſnatch'd out of his hands, be ſwill'd and wallowed in by us; thoſe foreign, (that were ſo ſcandalouſly charg'd on the Primitive Chriſtians, and coſt Juſtin Martyr and Athenagoras ſuch Apologies) their feaſting on one another's fleſh: which charge ſhould it be now reſumed and brought in by Turks or Indians againſt us Proteſtants, (as they ſay it is, but certainly will be, when it is told in Gath and Askalon) Good God! what ſhould we do for an Apologiſt?
Come we then in the laſt place to the laſt degree of Purity, that which excludes Hypocriſie or mixture, the ſin which hath ſo died this Nation, given it an heir-apparency to all the Phariſees woes. Not only that Notion of Hypocriſie which in our ordinary ſpeech hath ingroſs'd the title, the vain-glorious publiſhing all our own acts of piety: O! that is but a puny degree of this ſin; I know not whether I ſhould not do well to give it ſome good words in compariſon to its contrary, the deſiring to appear more impure, more impious than we are, (that groſs, confident, bold-fac'd devil, the far more dangerous of the two:) But, I ſay, the other more ſecret nice hypocriſie, the falſeneſs to God, taking in rivals into the heart, the partial, halting, mutilate obedience, that which keeps a reſerve for Satan, for Mammon, for my ſelf, when all ſhould be given up to God; but above all, that yet profounder piece, the Aegyptian Temple, a moſt glorious Fabrick moſt pitiouſly inhabited, nothing but Cats and Crocodiles within in ſtead of Gods; that of the painted Sepulchre, the noiſome, poyſonous ſecrecie under the lovelieſt diſguiſe, the Vault or Charnel-houſe of rottenneſs, of all the impurity in the world, (the deep-digg'd Golgotha and Aceldama) under the faireſt and moſt inviting inſcription; that Hiſtrionical piece of the Beaſts Tragedy, the couchaut, but ravening, Wolves under the Sheep's cloathing, the God brought in for the baſeſt ſervices, the impureſt contrivances in the world, and never pretended to, or thought on, till we had thoſe vile imployments for him: And this you will acknowledge ſufficiently inconſiſtent with the purifying in this Text, and ſo with the [theſe Promiſes.]
Having given you the ſeverals of this Purity by the contrary branches of the Impurity, we come now to the [foreign,] the notion of cleanſing or purifying, that is here ſo vehemently required of us: And that is not the having acquired this purity, having attained any perfection of this ſtate in either kind; but only the being on the way, the conſtant motion and growth, a ſetting out, and progreſs and proficiency in it, a daily purging and rinſing of the Soul, that good innocent kind of foreign, that pardonable Phariſaiſm of aſſiduous waſhings; a daily ſlaughtering of the great defilers one after another, one day of execution for Luſt, another for Rage; one for the impurities of the Tongue, the oathes, the lies, the profanations, the blaſphemies, the noiſome unſavoury diſcourſes, (Bleſſed Lord, that this might but be the day of demoliſhing that Babel of ſtrange heathen languages, the leaſt degree of which is intolerable among Chriſtians!) another for the impurities of the Eye, and a whole Ocean of purgations little enough for that; but above all, an every-day care for the drying up the great fountain of Leproſie in the Heart. In a word, a firm ratifi'd reſolution of mortifying and crucifying, a devoting and conſecrating all, and making as much ſpeed with them as we can. To that end, though the perfect Purity be not acquired, yet muſt theſe three eſſaies be made toward it, theſe three degrees of aſcent and proficiency obſerv'd:
1. Barring up the inlets, obſtructing the avenues againſt all future breakings in of the great polluters, the reſiſting all freſh temptations, (by the remembrance how dear they have formerly coſt our Souls, what flouds of tears, if we have done our duty, what a whole ſhop of purgatives to get out one ſpot ſo contracted) but eſpecially, ſtopping the recurrence of the old profane polluted habits, that foreign, the cleanſed ſwine returned to her old beloved wallowing again.
2. Our daily, minutely recourſe to that digitus Dei, finger of God, which alone, ſay the Jews, can cleanſe Lepers, with a Lord, if thou wilt, thou canſt make us clean; thou canſt prepare new Jordans of Grace beyond all our Rivers of Damaſcus, new banks, new treaſures of Purity.
And then, 3. taking the ſeaſonable advice of the Syrian ſervants, going down and waſhing in that Jordan, acting upon our ſelves by the power of this grace, thus fitly co-operating with God to the utmoſt of our derivative ſtrength; not lying like Creeples on the bank when we have a Betheſda before us, which yet will cleanſe none but thoſe that go into it. And that brings me to the former of the two circumſtances (belonging to this duty) denoted by the foreign, cleanſe our ſelves, That it is the Chriſtian's task upon himſelf, this of purifying; foreign, let us cleanſe our ſelves.
'Tis the prerogative of the grace of Chriſt, that he that is vouchſafed his portion of that, is thereby thus enabled to mortifie ſin, and advance toward purity; and it is the duty of all that are thus vouchſafed and dignified, to make uſe of that ſtrength to that end, to purifie themſelves. For as Aquinas obſerves out of Ariſtotle, that thoſe things are poſſible for us, which are poſſible by our friends, ſo what we are enabled to do by the grace of Chriſt, we are able to do. He that is born of God, is born an Athleta and Victor, the whole world is but a Pygmy before him: this is the privilege of that high deſcent, that be he the impotenteſt creature in the world, conſidered in his natural, carnal, or moral principles, either as born of bloud, or of the will of the fleſh, or of the will of man, he hath yet an acquiſition of a kind of omnipotence, from the derived communicated ſtrength of Chriſt, as he is born of God; foreign, he can do all things through Chriſt that ſtrengthens him. God by his preventing and ſubſequent grace, works in the Chriſtian to will and to do merely of his good pleaſure of bounty; and then the exhortation belongs to that Chriſtian, to work, and work out his own Salvation.
And were but the care and pains employed in the uſing and improving thoſe Talents which God hath given us, and calling to Heaven for ſupplies, which is miſ-ſpent and paultred away in pleading our impotencies, and diſabilities, and wants of grace, (that is, in acuſing, in the old Heathen ſtyle, God's illiberal dealing with his children, charging Heaven with all our failings) we might certainly reap better fruit of our time, be fairer proficients in this art of purging; and in the mean may ſpend our ſpirits moſt profitably in calling and haſtening one another to this ſo poſſible, and withal ſo neceſſary, task: and that is the laſt particular, That it ought to be the united deſign of all Chriſtians, the Apoſtle and people together, to aid and aſſiſt one another in this work of purifying, by entreaties, by exhortations, by all the engagements of love and duty; foreign, Let us cleanſe our ſelves.
The work, 'tis acknowledg'd, though poſſible to be gone through with, in ſuch a meaſure as ſhall be ſure of acceptance, is yet of ſome more than ordinary difficulty. How long hath this poor Nation been about it? ſo many years in the Refiners fire, in God's fornace for purifying, worn out and rent to pieces under the Fuller's ſope; and yet (God knows) as full of droſs and ſpots as ever, the poor Leper-kingdom thruſt out of the camp, (the Temple) baniſh'd from the old priviledges of the Iſraelite, the Oracle and the ſervice of God, God ſpitting in the face of it, in Moſes's ſtyle, (a kind of excommunicate ſtate;) all, on that charitable purpoſe, that it might be aſhamed and apply it ſelf to the Prieſt, to God for his purgatives; I ſhall add, look'd upon, pray'd over by that Prieſt ſo many years together; and that cure ſtill as far from being perfected as ever, the leproſie ſpreading in the skin, the ſins multiplying under the Prieſts inſpection, under God's rod; at the end of a ſeven years rinſing (not with ſope, but nitre) a thouſand times more odious ſpots, more provoking ſins, more helliſh impurities, than before. I remember what poor Porphyry was fain to do in purſuit of purgatives, the ſame that Saul after the commiſſion of his ſin that rent the Kingdom from him, betake himſelf foreign, to magick and conjuring, make friends to the Devil to help purifie him. O that we, having met with luckier preſcriptions, (recipe's from Heaven, that would be ſure to prove ſucceſsful) would not betray all, for want of applying them, that while it is called to day, while a poor ſpotted Kingdom lies a gaſping, the benefit of the laſt plunge, the foreign, might not be quite let ſlip, that this of purifying, the only true expedient yet untried (whilſt all others are experimented to be but mere Empirical ſtate-mountebankery) might at length be thought on, proſecuted with ſome vigour, every man entring into the retirement of his own breaſt, there to ſearch and view the ſpotted patient, the plague, the leproſie of his own heart! and again, every man making his arts of cure as communicative and diffuſive, as charitable and Catholick as he can, that as David was raviſh'd with joy, when they ſaid unto him, Let us go into the houſe of the Lord, (that pleaſant news and ſpectacle, a conſpiration for Piety) ſo we for that only errand that ſends us all to that houſe, the beginning and advancing of Purity; every man like an Iſraelite in his flight from Aegypt, not only going out in haſte, (a paſſeover toward purity) but alſo deſpoiling his Aegyptian neighbours, robbing one of his luſts, another of his detractions, one of his Atheiſtical oaths, another of his ſwiniſh exceſſes, one of his Infidel tremblings and baſeneſſes, another of his covetings and ambitions, his jewels of ſilver, and jewels of gold, and raiments, his moſt valued precious ſins, (the curſes with which he hath cloathed himſelf as with a garment, and which would one day, if they were not ſnatch'd from him, come like ſcalding water into his bowels, and oyl into his bones) and ſo yet, if it be poſſible, come out a troop, a legion of naked Wraſtlers, a whole ſhole of candidates toward Purity. Till ſomewhat be done this way, more than hitherto hath been done, Peace may hover over our heads, expreſs its willingneſs to light upon us; but, ad candida tecta columbae, that dove will not enter or dwell where Purity hath not prepared for her: or if ſhe ſhould ſo unlearn her own humour, 'twere danger ſhe would turn Vultur, that moſt deſirable bleſſing prove our fatal'ſt curſe, leave us in and to a ſtate of all impurities, to deprecate and curſe thoſe mercies that had betrayed us to ſuch irreverſible miſeries. Lord, purge, Lord, cleanſe us; do thou break thoſe veſſels of ours that will not be purified; caſt us again into what fornace thou pleaſeſt, that we may at length leave our droſs, our filth behind us: and having uſed thine own methods toward this end, and purged our eyes to ſee that it is thou that haſt thought this neceſſary for us, that haſt of very mercy, very fidelity thus cauſed us to be troubled, work in us that purity here, which may make us capable of that viſion, that peace, that fulneſs of ſanctity and glory hereafter: Which God of his infinite abyſs of Purity grant us all; To whom, with the Son, that Image of his Father's Purity, and the holy, ſanctifying, purifying Spirit, &c.