A Christian Directory Volume I Part 43

_Object._ IX. It is better to be a man, though a sinner and miserable in h.e.l.l, than not to be at all. Else G.o.d would never ordain, cause, or permit it.

_Answ._ It is better to the highest ends, G.o.d's glory, and the universal order, to be a punished man, than to be nothing (when G.o.d will have it so); because punishment, as to those highest ends, is good; though it is not best for the poor miserable sinner: but the same cannot be said of sin. It is indeed better also to those highest ends, to be a man though a sinner (while G.o.d continueth humanity); but not to be a man and a sinner: for the latter implieth some good to be in the sin which hath no good, and therefore G.o.d neither causeth it, nor willeth it, though he permit it. But though a sinful man is better than no man to G.o.d's ends, it followeth not, that to be a man is better than to be a good man.

_Object._ X. If that be best and most amiable which is most to the glory of G.o.d, then it is more amiable to be a sinner in h.e.l.l torment glorifying his justice, than not to be at all, or to be a brute.

_Answ._ It is neither of these that is offered to your love and choice, but to be holy. All good is not matter of election; but that good which is in h.e.l.l is not the sin, but the punishment. For the sin doth reputatively, and as much as in it lieth, rob G.o.d of his glory, and punishment repaireth it. Therefore love the punishment if you can, and spare not, so you love holiness better; for that would honour G.o.d more excellently, and please him more.

_Object._ XI. If I must love to be like G.o.d, I must love to be great, and I must love the greatest as most like him.

_Answ._ You must love to be like him in those perfections which you are capable of, and the ends and uses of your proper nature: therefore you must be desirous to be like him in your measure, even in such power and greatness as are suitable to the nature and ends of a rational soul. Not in such strength as he giveth a horse, or such magnitude as he giveth a mountain, which is not to be most like him; but in the vital activity and power of an intellectual free agent: to be powerful and great in love to G.o.d and all his service, and in all good works, to be profitable to the world, to be lively and ready in all obedience, strong to suffer, and to conquer sin and all temptations; in a word, to be great and powerful in wisdom and true goodness. Thus seek even in power to be like G.o.d in your capacities.

_Object._ XII. G.o.d himself doth not love men only for their goodness, nor love that best which is best. For he loveth his elect while enemies and unG.o.dly; and he telleth Israel he loved them because he would love them, and not because they were better than others; and in the womb he loved Jacob best, when he was no better than Esau.

_Answ._ 1. Distinguish between G.o.d's complacence and benevolence. 2.

Between the good that is present, and foreseen good with a present capacity for it.

1. G.o.d had a greater benevolence to Jacob than Esau, and to the Israelites than to other nations that were perhaps not much worse. And it is not for our goodness that G.o.d decreeth to make us good, or to give us a double proportion of any of those mercies, which he giveth not as Rector, but as Dominus and Benefactor, as an absolute Owner and free Benefactor. And with this love of benevolence he loveth us when we are his enemies, that is, he purposeth to make us good; but this benevolence is but a secondary love and fruit of complacency, joined with the free, unequal distribution of his own.

2. But for complacency, which is love in the first and strictest sense, G.o.d so loveth the wicked though elect, no further than they are good and lovely, that is, (1.) As they have the natural goodness of rational creatures: (2.) And as they are capable of all the future service they will do him, and glory they will bring him; (3.) And as his infinite wisdom knoweth it fit to choose them to that service. Or, if the benevolence of election do go before his first complacence in them above others, as being before his foresight that they will serve and love better, yet still this proper love, called complacence, goeth not beyond the worth of the thing loved.

_Object._ Doth G.o.d love us complacentially in Christ, beyond the good that is in us?

_Answ._ Not beyond our real and relative good, as we are in ourselves, by his grace, and as we are in Christ related to him, and both ways such as demonstrate the divine perfections, and shall love, and glorify, and please him for ever.

So much for the opening of the true nature of love to G.o.d, ourselves, and others, and of man's ultimate end, and of the nature of holiness and goodness, and those mysteries of religion which are involved in these points.

CHAPTER IV.

SUBORDINATE DIRECTIONS AGAINST THOSE GRAND HEART SINS, WHICH ARE DIRECTLY CONTRARY TO THE LIFE OF G.o.dLINESS AND CHRISTIANITY.

[Sidenote: The recital of such sins as the former positive directions do detect, and afford help against.]

The positive directions to the essential duties of G.o.dliness and christianity have already given you directions against the contrary sins: as, in the first grand direction you have helps against direct unbelief. In the second you have directions against unbelief, as it signifieth the not using and applying of Christ according to our various needs. In the third you have directions against[134] all resisting or neglecting the Holy Ghost. (Which were first, because in practice we must come by the Son and the Spirit to the saving knowledge and love of the Father.) In the fourth you have directions[135] against atheism, idolatry, and unG.o.dliness. In the fifth you have directions against self-idolizing, and self-dependence, and unholiness in alienating yourselves from G.o.d. In the sixth you are directed against rebellion and disobedience against G.o.d. In the seventh you have directions against unteachableness, ignorance, and error. In the eighth you have directions against impenitency, unhumbleness, impurity, unreformedness, and all sin in general as sin.

In the ninth you are directed against[136] security, unwatchfulness, and yielding to temptations, and in general against all danger to the soul. In the tenth you are directed against barrenness, unprofitableness, and sloth, and uncharitableness; and against mistakes in matter of duty or good works. In the eleventh you are directed against all averseness, disaffection, or cold indifferency of heart to G.o.d. In the twelfth you are directed against distrust, and sinful cares, and fears, and sorrows. In the thirteenth, you are directed against an over sad or heartless serving of G.o.d, as merely from fear, or forcedly, without delight. In the fourteenth, you are directed against unthankfulness. In the fifteenth, you are directed against all unholy or dishonourable thoughts of G.o.d, and against all injurious speeches of him, or barrenness of the tongue, and against all scandal or barrenness of life. In the books referred to in the sixteenth and seventeenth, you are directed against selfishness, self-esteem, self-love, self-conceit, self-will, self-seeking, and against all worldliness, and fleshliness of mind or life. But yet, lest any necessary helps should be wanting against such heinous sins, I shall add some more particular directions against such of them as were not fully spoken to before.

FOOTNOTES:

[134] Of the sin against the Holy Ghost, I have written a special treatise in my "Unreasonableness of Infidelity."

[135] Since the writing of this, I have published the same more at large in my "Reasons of the Christian Religion," and in my "Life of Faith."

[136] Of presumption and false hope, enough is said in the "Saints'

Rest," and here about temptation, hope, and other heads afterward.

PART I.

_Directions against Unbelief._

[Sidenote: Whether not to believe that my sins are pardoned, be indeed unbelief?]

I know that most poor troubled christians, when they complain of the sin of unbelief, do mean by it, their not believing that they are sincere believers, and personally justified, and shall be saved. And I know that some divines have affirmed, that the sense of that article of the creed, "I believe the remission of sins," is, I believe my sins are actually forgiven. But the truth is, to believe that I am elect or justified, or that my sins are forgiven, or that I am a sincere believer, is not to believe any word of G.o.d at all: for no word of G.o.d doth say any of these; nor any thing equivalent; nor any thing out of which it can be gathered: for it is a rational conclusion; and one of the premises which do infer it, must be found in myself by reflection, or internal sense, and self-knowledge. The Scripture only saith, "He that truly believeth is justified, and shall be saved." But it is conscience, and not belief of Scripture, which must say, I do sincerely believe: therefore the conclusion, that I am justified, and shall be saved, is a rational collection from what I find in Scripture and in myself, set together; and resulting from both, can be no firmer or surer than is the weaker of the premises. Now certainty is objective or subjective; in the thing, or in my apprehension. As to objective certainty in the thing itself, all truths are equally true; but all truths are not equally discernible, there being much more cause of doubting concerning some, which are less evident, than concerning others, which are more evident. And so the truth of G.o.d's promise of justification to believers, is more certain; that is, hath fuller, surer evidence to be discerned by, than the truth of my sincere believing. And, that I sincerely believe, is the more debile of the premises, and therefore the conclusion followeth this in its debility; and so can be no article of faith. And as to the subjective certainty, that varies according to men's various apprehensions. The premises, as in their evidence or apt.i.tude to ascertain us, are the cause of the conclusion as evident, or knowable. And the premises, as apprehended, are the cause of the conclusion as known.

[Sidenote: Whether a man can be more certain that be believeth, than he is that thing believed is true?]

Now it is a great doubt with some, Whether a man can possibly be more certain that he believeth, than he is that the thing believed is true; because the act can extend no further than the object; and to be sure I believe, is but to be sure that I take the thing believed to be true. But I shall grant the contrary, that a man may possibly be surer that he believeth, than he is that the thing believed is true; because my believing is not always a full subjective certainty that the thing is true, but a believing that it is true. And though you are fully certain that all G.o.d's word is true; yet you may believe that this is his word, with some mixture of unbelief or doubting. And so the question is but this, Whether you may not certainly, without doubting, know, that you believe the word of G.o.d to be true, though with some doubting. And it seems you may. But then it is a further question, Whether you can be surer of the saving sincerity of your faith, than you are that this word of G.o.d is true. And that ordinarily men doubt of the first, as much as they doubt of the latter, I think is an experimented truth. But yet grant that with some it may be otherwise, (because he believeth sincerely, that so far believeth the word of G.o.d, as to trust his life and soul upon it, and forsake all in obedience to it: and that I do so, I may know with less doubting, than I yet have about the truth of the word so believed,) all that will follow is but this, that of those men that doubt of their justification and salvation, some of their doubts are caused more by their doubting of G.o.d's word, than by the doubting whether they sincerely though doubtingly believe it; and the doubts of others, whether they are justified and shall be saved, is caused much more by their doubting of their own sincere belief, than by their doubting of the truth of Scriptures. And the far greatest number of christians seem to themselves to be of this latter sort. For no doubt, but though a man of clear understanding can scarcely believe, and yet not know that he believeth; yet he may believe sincerely, and not know that he believeth sincerely. But still the knowledge of our own justification is but the effect or progeny of our belief of the word of G.o.d, and of our knowledge that we do sincerely believe it, which conjunctly are the parents and causes of it: and it can be no stronger than the weaker of the parents (which _in esse cognoscibili_ is our faith, but _in esse cognito_ is sometimes the one, and sometimes the other). And the effect is not the cause; the effect of faith and knowledge conjunct, is not faith itself. It is not a believing the word of G.o.d, to believe that you believe, or that you are justified; but yet, because that faith is one of the parents of it, some call it by the name of faith, though they should call it but an effect of faith, as one of the causes. And well may our doubtings of our own salvation be said to be from unbelief, because unbelief is one of the causes of them, and the sinfullest cause.

[Sidenote: The article of remission of sin to be believed applyingly.]

And that the article of remission of sin is to be believed with application to ourselves, is certain: but not with the application of a.s.surance, persuasion, or belief that we are already pardoned; but with an applying acceptance of an offered pardon, and consent to the covenant which maketh it ours. We believe that Christ hath purchased remission of sin, and made a conditional grant of it in his gospel, to all, viz. if they will repent, and believe in him, or take him for their Saviour, or become penitent christians. And we consent to do so, and to accept it on these terms. And we believe that all are actually pardoned that thus consent.

By all this you may perceive, that those troubled christians which doubt not of the truth of the word of G.o.d, but only of their own sincerity, and consequently of their justification and salvation, do ignorantly complain that they have not faith, or that they cannot believe: for it is no act of unbelief at all, for me to doubt whether my own heart be sincere: this is my ignorance of myself, but it is not any degree of unbelief; for G.o.d's word doth no where say that I am sincere, and therefore I may doubt of this, without doubting of G.o.d's word at all. And let all troubled christians know, that they have no more belief in them, than they have doubting or unbelief of the truth of the word of G.o.d. Even that despair itself, which hath none of this in it, hath no unbelief in it (if there be any such). I thought it needful thus far to tell you what unbelief is, before I come to give you directions against it. And though the mere doubting of our own sincerity be no unbelief at all, yet real unbelief of the very truth of the holy Scriptures, is so common and dangerous a sin, and some degree of it is latent in the best, that I think we can no way so much further the work of grace, as by destroying this. The weakness of our faith in the truth of Scriptures, and the remnant of our unbelief of it, is the princ.i.p.al cause of all the languishings of our love and obedience, and every grace; and to strengthen faith, is to strengthen all. What I have fullier written in my "Saints' Rest," part 2, and my "Treatise against Infidelity," I here suppose.

_Direct._ I. Consider well how much of religion nature itself teacheth, and reason, (without supernatural revelation,) must needs confess: (as, that there is another life which man was made for, and that he is obliged to the fullest love and obedience to G.o.d, and the rest before laid down in the Introduction.) And then observe how congruously the doctrine of Christ comes in, to help where nature is at a loss, and how exactly it suits with natural truths, and how clearly it explaineth them, and fully containeth so much of them as is necessary to salvation; and how suitable and proper a means it is to attain their ends; and how great a testimony the doctrines of nature and grace do give unto each other.[137]

_Direct._ II. Consider, that man's end being in the life to come, and G.o.d being the righteous and merciful Governor of man in order to that end, it must needs be that G.o.d will give him sufficient means to know his will in order to that end; and that the clearest, fullest means must needs demonstrate most of the government and mercy of G.o.d.

_Direct._ III. Consider, what full and sad experience the world hath of its pravity and great corruption; and that the natural tendency of reason is to those high and excellent things, which corruption and brutishness do almost extinguish or cast out with the most; and that the prevalency of the lower faculties against right reason, is so lamentable and universal, to the confusion of the world, that it is enough to tell us, that this is not the state that G.o.d first made us in, and that certainly sin hath sullied and disordered his work. The wickedness of the world is a great confirmation of the Scripture.

_Direct._ IV. Consider, how exactly the doctrine of the gospel, and covenant of grace, are suited to the lapsed state of man; even as the law of works was suited to his state of innocency: so that the gospel may be called the law of lapsed nature, as suited to it, though not as revealed by it; as the other was the law of entire nature.

_Direct._ V. Compare the many prophecies of Christ, with the fulfilling of them in his person. As that of Moses recited by Stephen, Acts vii. 37; and Isa. lviii; Dan. ix. 24-26, &c. And consider that those Jews which are the christians' bitterest enemies, acknowledge and preserve those prophecies, and all the Old Testament, which giveth so full a testimony to the New.

_Direct._ VI. Consider, what an admirable suitableness there is in the doctrine of Christ, to the relish of a serious, heavenly mind: and how all that is spiritual and truly good in us, doth close with it and embrace it from a certain congruity of natures, as the eye doth with the light, and the stomach with its proper food. Every good man in reading the holy Scripture, feeleth something (even all that is good) within him bear witness to it. And only our worse part is quarrelling with it, and rebels against it.

_Direct._ VII. Consider, how all the first churches were planted by the success of all those miracles mentioned in the Scripture. And that the apostles and thousands of others saw the miracles of Christ: and the churches saw the miracles of the apostles, and heard them speak in languages unlearned; and had the same extraordinary gifts communicated to themselves. And these being openly and frequently manifested, convinced unbelievers; and were openly urged by the apostles to stop the mouths of opposers, and confirm believers; (Gal. iii. 1-3;) who would all have scorned their arguments, and the faith which they supported, if all these had been fictions, of which they themselves were said to be eye-witnesses and agents. So that the very existence of the churches was a testimony to the matter of fact. And what testimony can be greater of G.o.d's interest and approbation, than Christ's resurrection, and all these miracles.

_Direct._ VIII. Consider, how no one of all the heretics or apostates, did ever contradict the matters of fact, or hath left the world any kind of confutation of them, which they wanted not malice, or encouragement, or opportunity to have done.

_Direct._ IX. Consider, how that no one of all those thousands that a.s.serted these miracles, are ever mentioned in any history as repenting of it, either in their health, or at the hour of death: whereas it had been so heinous a villany to have cheated the world in so great a cause, that some consciences of dying men, especially of men that placed all their hopes in the life to come, must needs have repented of.

_Direct._ X. Consider, that the witnesses of all these miracles, and all the churches that believed them, were taught by their own doctrine and experience, to forsake all that they had in the world, and to be reproached, hated, and persecuted of all men, and to be as lambs among wolves, in expectation of death; and all this for the hope of that blessedness promised them by a crucified, risen Christ. So that no worldly end could move them to deceive, or willingly to be deceived.

_Direct._ XI. Consider, how impossible it is in itself, that so many men should agree together to deceive the world, and that for nothing, and at the rate of their own undoing and death: and that they should all agree in the same narratives and doctrines so unanimously: and that none of these should ever confess the deceit, and disgrace the rest. All things well considered, this will appear not only a moral, but a natural impossibility; especially considering their quality and distance, there being thousands in several countries that never saw the faces of the rest, much less could enter a confederacy with them, to deceive the world.

_Direct._ XII. Consider the certain way by which the doctrine and writings of the apostles, and other evangelical messengers, have been delivered down to us, without any possibility of material alteration.

Because the holy Scriptures were not left only to the care of private men, or of the christians of one country, who might have agreed upon corruptions and alterations; but it was made the office of the ordinary ministers to read, and expound, and apply them. And every congregation had one or more of these ministers: and the people received the Scriptures as the law of G.o.d, and that by which they must live and be judged, and as their charter for heaven. So that it was not possible for one minister to corrupt the Scripture text, but the rest, with the people, would have quickly reproved him; nor for those of one kingdom to bring all other christians to it throughout the world, without a great deal of consultation and opposition (if at all); which never was recorded to us.

_Direct._ XIII. Be acquainted as fully as you can with the history of the church, that you may know how the gospel hath been planted, and propagated, and a.s.saulted, and preserved until now: which will much better satisfy you, than general, uncertain talk of others.

_Direct._ XIV. Judge whether G.o.d, being the wise and merciful Governor of the world, would suffer the honestest and obedientest subjects that he hath upon earth, to be deceived in a matter of such importance, by pretence of doctrines and miracles proceeding from himself, and which none but himself (or G.o.d by his special grant) is able to do, without disowning them, or giving any sufficient means to the world to discover the deceit.[138] For certainly, he needeth not deceit to govern us. If you say that he permits Mahometanism, I answer, 1. The main, positive doctrine of the Mahometans, for the worshipping of one only G.o.d, against idolatry, is true: and the by-fancies of their pretended prophet, are not commended to the world upon the pretence of attesting miracles at all, but upon the affirmation of revelations, without any credible seal or divine attestation, and obtruded on the world by the power of the sword. 2. And G.o.d hath given the world sufficient preservatives against them, in the nullity of the proof of them, and the evident foppery of the writings and the things themselves. So that honesty and diligence will easily escape them.