THELIFEOFGODIn theSOULofMAN.Mistakes about religion.1.ICANNOT speak of religion, but I must lament, that among so many pretenders to it, so few understand what it means; some placing it in the understanding, in orthodox notions and opinions; and all the account they can give of their religion is, that they are of this, or the other persuasion, and have joined themselves to one of those many sects whereinto Christendom is most unhappily divided: others place it in a constant course of external duties, and a model of performances; if they live peaceably with their neighbours, keep a temperate diet, observe the returns of worship, frequenting the church, or their closet, and sometimes extend their hands to the relief of the poor, they think theyhave sufficiently acquitted themselves: others again put all religion in rapturous heats, and all they aim at is, to pray with passion, and to be affected with those kind and melting expressions wherewith they court their Saviour, till they persuade themselves that they are mightily in love with him. Thus are these things, which have any resemblance of piety, and, at best, are but means for obtaining it, or particular exercises of it, frequently mistaken for the whole of religion; nay, sometimes wickedness and vice pretend to that name. I speak not now of those gross impieties wherewith the Heathens were wont to worship their gods: there are but too many Christians, who would consecrate their vices, and hallow their corrupt affections; whose rugged humour and sullen pride, must pass for Christian severity; whose fierce wrath, and bitter rage against their enemies, must be called holy zeal; whose petulancy towards their superiors, or rebellion against their governors, must have the name of Christian courage and resolution.What religion is.2. But certainly religion is quite another thing; and they who are acquainted with it, will entertain far different thoughts, and disdain all those shadows of it. They know, by experience, that true religion is an union of the soul with God; a real participation of the divine nature; or, in the apostle’s phrase,Christ formed within us.Briefly, I know not how the nature of religion can be more fully expressed, than by calling it adivine life; and, under these terms, I shall discourse of it, shewing first, how it is called alife, and then how it is termeddivine.Its permanency and stability.3. I choose to express it by the name oflife, first, because of its permanency and stability. Religion is not a sudden start or passion; tho’ it transport a man to extraordinary performances. There are few but have convictions of the necessity of doing something for the salvation of their souls, which may push them forwards some steps with a great deal of haste; but anon, they flag and give over; they did shoot forth, fresh and high, but are quickly withered, because they had no root in themselves. These sudden fits may be compared to the convulsive motions of bodies newly beheaded; which, however violent and impetuous, can be of no long continuance: whereas the motions of holy souls are constant and regular, proceeding from a permanent and lively principle. It is true this divine life continueth not always in the same strength and vigour, yet it is not extinguished; nor are holy men abandoned to the power of those corrupt affections, which sway the rest of the world.Its freedom and unconstrainedness.4. Again, religion may be termedlife, because it is an inward, free, and self-moving principle;and those who have it, are not acted only by external motives, driven merely by threatnings, nor bribed by promises, nor constrained by laws; but are powerfully inclined to that which is good, and delight in the performance of it. The love which a pious man bears to God, and goodness, is not so much by virtue of a command enjoining it as by a new nature prompting him to it; nor doth he pay his devotions as a tribute, to appease the divine justice; but these religious exercises are the proper emanations of the divine life, the natural employments of a new-born soul. He prays, and gives thanks, and repents not only because these things are commanded, but because he is sensible of his wants, and of the divine goodness, and of the folly and misery of a sinful life. His charity is not forced, nor his alms extorted from him; his love makes him willing to give, and, though there were no outward obligations, hisheart would devise liberal things. Injustice, or intemperance, and all other vices, are as contrary to his temper, as the basest actions to the most generous spirit: so that I may well say withSt.John,Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin: for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.¹Though religious persons do much eye the law of God, and have a great regard unto it, yet it is not so much the sanction of the law, as itspurity and goodness, which prevail with them. They account it excellent and desirable in itself; and that in keeping of it there is great reward. And that divine love wherewith they are acted, makes them become a law unto themselves.Quis legem det amantibus?Major est amor lex ipse sibi.Who shall prescribe a law to those that love?Love’s a more powerful law, which doth them move.¹1 Johniii.9.5. In a word, what our blessed Saviour said of himself, is, in some measure, applicable to his followers, that it is theirmeat and drink to do their Father’s will.¹And as the natural appetite is carried out towards food, though we should not reflect on the necessity of it; so are they carried, with a natural and unforced propension toward that which is good and commendable. It is true, external motives are of great use to stir up this inward principle, especially in its infancy; when ’tis often so languid, that the man himself can scarce discern it, hardly being able to move one step forward, but when he is pushed by his hopes, or his fears; by the pressure of an affliction, or the sense of a mercy; by the authority of the law, or the persuasion of others: yet, if such a person be conscientious and uniform in his obedience, and earnestly groaning under the sense of his dulness, theseare the first motions of the divine life; which, though it be faint and weak, will surely be cherished by the influences of heaven, and grow unto greater maturity. But he who is utterly destitute of this inward principle, and contents himself with those performances whereunto he is prompted by education or custom, or the fear of hell, can no more be accounted a religious person, than a puppet can be called a man. This forced and artificial religion is commonly heavy and languid, like the motion of a weight forced upward. It is scant and niggardly, especially in those duties which do violence to mens inclinations; for those slavish spirits will be sure to do no more than is absolutely required; ’tis a law that compels them, and they will be loth to go beyond what it stints them to; nay, they will ever be putting such glosses on it, as may leave them the greatest liberty. Whereas the spirit of true religion is frank and liberal, far from such peevish and narrow reckonings; and he who hath given up himself entirely unto God, will never think he doth too much for him.¹Johniv.34.Religion a divine principle.6. By this time, I hope, it appears, that religion is, with reason, termeda life, or vital principle; and that we are to distinguish betwixt it, and that obedience which is constrained, and depends upon external causes. I come next to give an account why I term ita divine life: and so it may be called, not only in regard of itsfountain and original, having God for its author, and being wrought in the souls of men, by the power of his Holy Spirit; but also in regard of its nature, religion being a resemblance of the divine perfections, the image of the Almighty shining in the soul of man: nay, it is a real participation of his nature, it is a beam of the eternal light, a drop of that infinite ocean of goodness; and they who are endued with it, may be said to haveGod dwelling in their souls, and Christ formed within them.What the natural life is.7. Before I descend to a more particular consideration of this, it will be fit to speak a little of that natural or animal life which prevails in those who are strangers to the other: and by this I understand nothing else, but our inclination and propension towards those things, which are pleasing to nature; or self-love issuing forth, and spreading itself into as many branches as men have several appetites and inclinations. The root and foundation of the animal life I reckon to be sense, as it is opposed to faith, and importeth our perception of things, that are either grateful or troublesome to us. Now these animal affections, as they are implanted in us by nature, are not vicious or blameable; nay, they are instances of the wisdom of the Creator, furnishing his creatures with such appetites as tend to the preservation and welfare of their lives. Theseare instead of a law to the brute beasts, whereby they are directed towards the ends for which they were made. But man, being made for higher purposes, becomes criminal when he is transported by the inclinations of this lower life, to neglect the more noble designs of his creation. Our natural affections are not wholly to be destroyed, but to be over-ruled by a more excellent principle: and the difference betwixt a religious and wicked man is, that in the one the divine life bears sway; in the other the animal prevails.The different tendencies of the natural life.8. But it is strange to observe to what different courses this natural principle carries those who are guided by it, according to the divers circumstances that concur with it to determine them. And the not considering this, frequently occasions dangerous mistakes, making men think well of themselves, by reason of that seeming difference which is betwixt them and others. Whereas their actions all the while flow from one and the same original. If we consider the natural temper of men, we find some airy, frolicksome, and light, which makes their behaviour extravagant and ridiculous; whereas others are serious and severe, and their whole carriage gains them reverence and esteem. Some are of a rugged, and morose temper, and can neither be pleased themselves, nor endure that othersshould be so; while others have a sweetness in their natures, and find the greatest pleasure in the endearments of society, and the mutual complacency of friends. And it is well that nature hath provided this complectional tenderness, to supply the defect of true charity in the world, and to incline men to do something for one anothers welfare. Again, in regard of education, some have never been taught to follow any other rules, than those of pleasure or advantage; but others are enured to observe the strictest rules of decency and honour.9. In fine, it is no small difference in the deportment of mere natural men that arises from the strength or weakness of their judgment. Intemperance and lust, injustice and oppression, and all those other impieties which abound in the world, are the effect of theanimal lifewhen it is neither over-powered by religion, nor governed by natural reason? But if it once take hold of reason, and get judgment to be of its party, it will disdain gross vice, and spring up unto fair imitations of virtue. But this is not all: this natural principle, by the help of reason, may take a higher flight, and come nigher to religion. It may incline a man to the diligent study of divine truths: for why should not these, as well as other speculations, be grateful to inquisitive minds? It may make men zealous in maintaining and propagating such opinions as they have espoused. It may make them delight tohear and compose excellent discourses about the matters of religion; for eloquence is very pleasant, whatever be the subject; nay, some it may dispose to a kind of devotion. The glorious things that are spoken of heaven; the similitudes made use of in scripture, of crowns and scepters, and rivers of pleasure, may affect a man’s fancy, and make him wish to be there, tho’ he neither understand nor desire those spiritual pleasures which are shadowed forth by them: and when such a person believes that Christ has purchased those glorious things for him, he may feel a kind of tenderness and affection, and imagine he is mightily enamoured with him; and yet all the while continue a stranger to the holy temper and spirit of the blessed Jesus.10. To conclude, there is nothing proper to make a man’s life pleasant, or himself eminent in the world; butthisnatural principle, assisted by reason, may prompt him to it. And though I do not condemn these things in themselves; yet it concerns us nearly to know their nature, both that we may keep within bounds, and that we may learn never to value ourselves on the account of such attainments, nor lay the stress of religion upon our natural appetites or performances.Wherein the divine life doth consist.11. It is now time to return to the consideration of thatdivine life, thatlife which is hid with Christ in God, and therefore hath no glorious shewor appearance in the world, but to the natural man seems mean and insipid. As the animal life consists in that narrow love which is terminated on a man’s self, and in his propension to those things that are pleasing to nature; so the divine life stands in an universal affection, and in the mastery over our natural inclinations. The root of the divine life is faith; the chief branches are, love to God, charity to man, purity and humility; for (as an excellent person observed) however these names be common and vulgar, yet do they carry such a mighty sense, that the tongue of man or angel can pronounce nothing more weighty or excellent. Faith hath the same place in the divine life, which sense hath in the natural; being indeed a kind of sense, or feeling persuasion of spiritual things: it extends itself unto all divine truths; but in our lapsed estate, it hath a peculiar relation to the declarations of God’s mercy to sinners thro’ a Mediator; and therefore, receiving its denomination from that principal object, is ordinarily termedfaith in Jesus Christ.12. The love of God is such a delightful sense of God’s love to us, as makes the soul resign itself wholly to him, desiring above all things to please him, and delighting in nothing so much as in communion with him, and being ready to do or suffer any thing for his sake. A soul thus possessed with divine love, must needs be enlarged towards all mankind in sincere affection,because of the relation they have to God, being his creatures, and having something of his image stamped upon them. And this is thatcharityI named as the second branch of religion, and under which all the parts of justice, all the duties we owe to our neighbour, are eminently comprehended. For he who doth truly love all the world, will be nearly concerned in the interest of every one, and so far from wronging any person that he will resent any evil that befals others, as if it happened to himself.13. Bypurity, I understand such a disposition of mind, as makes a man despise and abstain from all pleasures of sense or fancy, which either are sinful in themselves, or tend to extinguish or lessen our relish of more divine and intellectual pleasures. It doth also infer a resoluteness to undergo all those hardships he may meet with in the performance of his duty; so that not only charity and temperance, but also Christian courage and magnanimity, may come under this head.14.Humilityimports a deep sense of our inward and outward sins, and of our utter helplessness; which is always accompanied with a profound submission to the will of God, and deadness to the applause of men.These are the highest perfections that men are capable of, the foundation of heaven laid in the soul; and he who hath attained them, needs not desire to pry into the hidden rolls of God’s decrees,to know what is determined about his everlasting condition, but he may find a copy of God’s thoughts concerning him written in his own breast. Those beginnings of happiness which he feels in the conformity of the powers of his soul to the nature of God, are a sure pledge that his felicity shall be perfected, and continued to all eternity. And it is not without reason that one said,I had rather see the real impressions of a godlike nature upon my own soul, than have a vision from heaven, or an angel sent to tell me, that my name was enrolled in the book of life.Religion better understood by actions than by words.15. When we have said all we can, the secret mysteries of a divine life can never be sufficiently expressed: nor can they be truly understood but by those that have a sense and relish of spiritual things.There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth this understanding.The power and life of religion may be better expressed in actions than in words: And therefore we may take the best measure of those gracious endowments, from the deportment of those in whom they reside; especially from the holy life of our blessed Saviour, a main part of whose business in this world was to teach by his practice what he required of others, and to make his own conversation an exact resemblance of those unparalleled rules which he prescribed: so that if ever true goodness was visible to mortal eyes,it was when his presence beautified this lower world.Divine love exemplified in our Saviour; his diligence in doing God’s will; and his patience in bearing it.16. That devout affection wherewith his blessed soul constantly burned towards his heavenly Father, expressed itself in an entire resignation to his will. It was hisvery meat, to do the will, and finish the work of him that sent him. This was the exercise of his childhood, and the constant employment of his riper age. He spared no pains while he was about his Father’s business; but took such satisfaction in the performance of it, that, when being faint and weary with his journey, he rested onJacob’s well, and intreated water of theSamaritanwoman; the success of his conference with her, and the accession that was made to the kingdom of God, filled his mind with such delight, as seemed to redound to his very body, refreshing his spirits, and making him forget his thirst, and refuse the meat which he had sent his disciples to buy. Nor was he less patient and submissive in suffering the will of God, than diligent in doing of it. He endured the sharpest afflictions, and extremest miseries that ever were inflicted on any mortal, without a repining thought, or discontented word. For though he was far from a stupid insensibility, and had as quick a sense of pain as other men, and the deepest apprehension of whathe was to suffer in his soul, (as hisbloody sweat, and thesore amazement and sorrowwhich he professed, do abundantly declare) yet did he intirely submit to that severe dispensation of providence, and willingly acquiesced in it.His constant devotion.17. Another instance of his love to God, was his delight in conversing with him by prayer; which made him frequently retire from the world, and spend whole nights in that heavenly exercise; though he had no sins to confess, and but few secular interests to pray for: which, alas! are almost the only things that are wont to drive us to our devotions. Nay, we may say his whole life was prayer, a constant course of communion with God. If the sacrifice was not always offering, yet was the fire still kept alive. Nor was he ever surprized with that dulness of spirit which we must many times wrestle with, before we can be fit for the exercise of devotion.His charity to men.18. In the second place I shall speak of love towards all men; but he who would express it must transcribe the history of the gospel: for scarce any thing is recorded to have been done or spoken by him, which was not designed for the good of some one or other. All his miraculous works were instances of his goodness, as well as his power, and they benefited those on whom they were wrought, as well as amazed the beholders. His charity was not confined to hiskindred, or relations; nor was all his kindness swallowed up in the endearments of that peculiar friendship which he carried toward the beloved disciple. But every one was hisfriendwho obeyed hisholy commands, Johnxv.4. andWhosoever did the will of his Father, the same was to him ashis brother, and sister, and mother.19. Never was any unwelcome to him, who came with an honest intention; nor did he deny any request, which tended to the good of those that asked it: So that what was spoken of theRomanEmperor, whom, for his goodness, they called thedarling of mankind, was really performed by him, that never any departed from him with a heavy countenance, except that rich youth,Markx.who was sorry to hear that the kingdom of heaven stood at so high a rate, and that he could not save his soul and his money too. The ingenuity that appeared in his first address, had already procured some kindness for him; for it is said,And Jesus beholding him, loved him. But must he for his sake cut out a new way to heaven, and alter the nature of things; which makes it impossible that a covetous man should be happy?His meekness.20. And what shall I speak of his meekness, who could encounter the monstrous ingratitude of that miscreant who betrayed him, in no harsher terms than these,Judas betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss? What further evidence couldwe desire of his fervent and unbounded charity, than that he willingly laid down his life for his most bitter enemies, and mingling his prayers with his blood, besought the Father that his death might not be laid to their charge, but might become the means of eternal life, to those very persons who procured it.His purity.21. The third branch of the divine life ispurity, a neglect of worldly enjoyments and accommodations, and a resolute enduring of all such troubles as we meet with in the doing of our duty. Now surely if ever any person was wholly dead to all the pleasures of the natural life, it was the blessed Jesus; who seldom tasted them when they came in his way, but never stept out of his road to seek them. Though he allowed others the comforts of wedlock, and honoured marriage with his presence, yet he chose the severity of a virgin life: and though he supplied the want of wine with a miracle, yet he would not work one for the relief of his own hunger in the wilderness. So gracious was he in allowing others such gratifications, as himself thought good to abstain from, and supplying not only their pressing necessities, but also their less considerable wants. We many times hear of our Saviour’s sighs, and groans, and tears, but never that he laughed, so that through his whole life he answered that character given of him by the prophet,A man of sorrows, and acquainted with griefs.Nor were the troubles of his life other than matters of choice: for never did there any appear on the stage of the world with greater advantages to have raised himself to the highest secular felicity. He who could bring together such a prodigious number of fishes into his disciples net, and at another time receive that tribute from a fish which he was to pay to the temple, might easily have made himself the richest person in the world; nay, without any money, he could have maintained an army powerful enough to have jostledCæsarout of his throne, having oftner than once fed several thousands with a few loaves and small fishes: but to shew how small esteem he had of all the enjoyments in the world, he chose to live in so poor and mean a condition, thatthough the foxes had holes, and the birds of the air had nests, yet he, who was Lord of all things, had not where to lay his head. He did not frequent the courts of princes, nor affect the acquaintance of great ones; but being reputed the son of a carpenter, he had fishermen, and other such poor people, for his companions, and lived at such a rate as suited with the meanness of that condition.His humility.22. And thus I am brought unawares to speak of hishumility, the last branch of the divine life, wherein he was a most eminent pattern to us, that we mightlearn of him to be meek and lowly in heart. I shall not now speak of that infinitecondescension of the eternal Son of God, in taking our nature upon him; but only reflect on his lowly deportment while he was in the world. He had none of those sins and imperfections, which may justly humble the best of men; yet he was so entirely swallowed up with a deep sense of the infinite perfections of God, that he appeared as nothing in his own eyes, I mean so far as he was a creature. He considered those eminent perfections which shined in his blessed soul as not his own, but the gifts of God; and therefore assumed nothing to himself for them, but with the profoundest humility renounced all pretences to them. Hence did he refuse that ordinary compellation ofgood Master, from one, who, it seems, was ignorant of his divinity:Why callest thou me good? There is none good but God only.As if he had said, “The goodness of any creature (and such only thou takest me to be) is not worthy to be named or taken notice of; it is God alone who is originally and essentially good.” He never made use of his miraculous power for vanity or ostentation: he would not gratify the curiosity of theJewswith a sign from heaven, some prodigious appearance in the air; nor would he follow the advice of his countrymen and kindred, who would have had all his great works performed in the eyes of the world, for gaining him the greater fame. When his charity had prompted him to the relief of the miserable, his humility made him many timesenjoin the concealment of the miracle; and when the glory of God, and the design for which he came into the world, required the publication of them, he ascribed the honour of all to his Father, telling them,That of himself he was able to do nothing.23. I cannot insist on all the instances of humility in his deportment towards men; his withdrawing himself when they would have made him a king; his subjection, not only to his blessed Mother, but to her husband, during his younger years, and his submission to all the indignities and affronts which his rude and malicious enemies put upon him: the history of his holy life, recorded by those who conversed with him, is full of such passages as these; and indeed the serious and attentive study of it, is the best way to get right measures of humility, and all the other parts of religion, which I have been endeavouring to describe.Let me here subjoin a prayer that may be proper when one, who had formerly entertained some false notions of religion, begins to discover what it is.APRAYER.Infinite and eternal Majesty, author and fountain of being and blessedness, how little do we poor sinful creatures know of thee, or the way to serve and please thee? We talk of religion, andpretend unto it; but alas! How few are there that know what it means? How easily do we mistake the affections of our nature, for those divine graces which alone are acceptable in thy sight? It may justly grieve me to consider, that I should have wandered so long, and contented myself so often with vain shadows of religion; yet I cannot but acknowledge and adore thy goodness, who hast been pleased, in some measure, to open mine eyes, and let me see what it is at which I ought to aim. I rejoice to consider what mighty improvements my nature is capable of and what a divine temper doth shine in those whom thou causest to approach thee. Blessed be thine infinite mercy, who sentest thine own Son to dwell among men, and instruct them by his example, as well as his laws, giving them a perfect pattern of what they ought to be. O that the holy life of the blessed Jesus may be always in my thoughts, till I receive a deep sense and impression of those graces that shined so eminently in him; and let me never rest, till that new and divine nature prevail in my soul, and Christ be formed within me.The excellency and advantage of Religion.1.AND now, having discovered the nature of true religion, let us fix our meditations a little on the excellency and advantages of it. But what words can express that inward satisfaction, those hidden pleasures, which cannever be rightly understood, but by those who feel them?A stranger intermeddleth not with their joy¹.Holiness is the right temper, the vigorous and healthful constitution of the soul: its faculties had formerly been enfeebled and disordered, so that they could not exercise their natural functions; it had wearied itself with endless tossings and rollings, and was never able to find any rest. Now that distemper being removed, it feels itself well; there is a due harmony in its faculties, and a sprightly vigour possesseth every part: the understanding can discern what is good, and the will can cleave unto it; the affections are not tied to the motions of sense, and the influence of external objects; but are stirred by more divine impressions, are touched with a sense of invisible things.¹Proverbsxiv.10.The excellency of divine love.2. Let us descend into a nearer view of religion, in the several branches of it named before. Let us consider that love wherewith holy souls are united to God, that we may see what excellency is involved in it. Love is that powerful passion, by which all the faculties of the soul are determined, and on which both its perfection and happiness depend. The worth and excellency of a soul is to be measured by the object of its love. He who loveth mean and sordid things, doth thereby become base and vile; but a noble and well placed affection advances the spirit to aconformity with the perfections which it loves. The images of these frequently present to the mind, and, by a secret energy, insinuate into the very constitution of the soul, and mould and fashion it unto their own likeness. Hence we see how easily lovers or friends slide into the imitation of the persons whom they affect; and how, even before they are aware, they begin to resemble them, not only in the more considerable instances of their deportment, but also in their voice and gesture, and that which we call their mein and air: and certainly we should as well transcribe the inward beauties of the soul, if they were the object and motive of our love. But as all the creatures we converse with have their mixture and alloy, we are always in hazard to be corrupted by placing our affection on them: passion easily blinds our eyes, so that we first approve, and then imitate the things that are blameable in them. The true way to improve and ennoble our souls, is by fixing our love on the divine perfections, that we may have them always before us, and derive an impression of them on ourselves; andbeholding, with open face, the glory of the Lord, may be changed into the same image, from glory to glory. He who hath raised his eyes towards that uncreated beauty and goodness, and fixed his affection there, is quite of another spirit, of a more excellent and heroic temper than the rest of the world; and cannot but infinitely disdain all mean and unworthythings, will not entertain any low or base thoughts, which might disparage his high and noble pretensions. Love is the greatest and most excellent thing we are masters of; and therefore it is folly and baseness to bestow it unworthily. It is indeed the only thing we can call our own; other things may be taken from us by violence, but none can ravish our love. Is any thing else be counted ours, by giving our love, we give all, so far as we make over our hearts and wills, by which we possess our other enjoyments. It is not possible to refuse him any thing, to whom, by love, we have given ourselves; nay, since it is the privilege of gifts, to receive their value from the mind of the giver, and not to be measured by the event, but by the desire, he who loveth, may, in some sense, be said not only to bestow all that he hath, but all things else which may make the beloved person happy; since he doth heartily wish them, and would really give them, if they were in his power. Certainly therefore love is the worthiest present we can offer unto God, and it is extremely debased when we bestow it another way.3. When this affection is misplaced, it doth often vent itself in such expressions, as point at its proper object. The blasphemous terms of adoration, wherein men sometimes express their passion, are the language of that affection which was designed for God; as he who is accustomed to speak to some great person, doth perhaps unawaresaccost another with those titles he was wont to give him: But certainly that passion which accounteth its object a Deity, ought to be bestowed on him who really is so; those unlimited submissions, which debase the soul, is directed to any other, will exalt and ennoble it, when placed here. Those chains and cords of love, are infinitely more glorious than liberty itself; this slavery is more noble than all the empires in the world.The advantages of divine love.4. Again, as divine love advances and elevates the soul, so it is that alone which can make it happy. The highest pleasures, the most substantial delights, that human nature is capable of, are those which arise from a well-placed and successful affection. That which imbitters love, and makes it ordinarily a very troublesome passion, is the placing it on those who have not worth enough to deserve it, or gratitude to requite it, or whose absence may deprive us of their converse, or their miseries occasion our trouble. To all these evils are they exposed, whose chief affection is placed on creatures; but the love of God delivers us from them all.The worth of the object.5. First, Love must needs be full of disquietude, when there is not excellency in the object to answer the vastness of its capacity: So violent a passion cannot but torment the spirit when it finds not wherewith to satisfy its cravings; and indeedso large and unbounded is its nature: that it must be extremely straitened, when confined to any creature: nothing below an infinite good can afford it room to stretch itself, and exert its vigour and activity. What is a little skin-deep beauty, or some small degrees of goodness, to satisfy a passion which was made for God? No wonder lovers do so hardly suffer any rival, and do not desire that others should approve their passion by imitating it: They know the scantiness of the good which they love, that it cannot suffice two, being in effect too little for one. Hence love,which is strong as death, occasionethjealousy, which is cruel as the grave; the coals whereof are coals of fire, which hath a most violent flame.6. But divine love hath no mixture of this gall. When once the soul is fixed on that supreme good, it finds so much goodness, as doth not only satisfy its affection, but overpower it too: It finds all its love to be too languid for such an object, and is only sorry that it can command no more: It wishes for the flames of aSeraph, and longs for the time when it shall be wholly dissolved in love. And because it can do so little itself, it desires the assistance of the whole creation, that angels and men would concur with it in the admiration and love of these infinite perfections.The certainty to be beloved again.7. Again, love is accompanied with trouble, when it misses a suitable return of affection.Love is the most valuable thing we can bestow, and by giving it, we in effect give all that we have: and therefore it must needs be afflicting, to find so great a gift despised; that the present which one hath made of his whole heart cannot obtain any return. Perfect love is a kind of wandering out of ourselves; it is a sort of voluntary death, wherein the lover dies to himself, and all his own interests; not thinking of them, nor caring for them; and minding nothing but how he may please the party whom he loves. Thus he is quite undone, unless he meets with reciprocal affection; he neglects himself, and the other hath no regard to him: But if he be beloved, he is revived, as it were, and liveth in the soul and care of the person whom he loves. And now he begins to mind his own concernments, not so much because they are his, as because the beloved is pleased to own an interest in them; he becomes dear unto himself, because he is so unto the other.8. And herein the divine lover hath unspeakably the advantage, having placed his affection on him whose nature is love, whose goodness is as infinite as his being; whose mercy prevented us, when we were his enemies, therefore cannot chuse but embrace us, when we are become his friends. It is impossible that God should deny his love to a soul devoted to him, and which desires nothing so much as to please him. He cannot disdain his own image, nor the heart on which it is engraven. Love is all the tribute which wecan pay him, and it is the sacrifice which he will not despise.The presence of the beloved person.9. Another thing which disturbs the pleasure of love, and renders it a miserable and unquiet passion, is absence from those we love. It is not without a sensible affliction that friends part, tho’ for some little time: But if death have made the separation, as some time or other it must, this occasions a grief scarce to be parallel’d by all the misfortunes of human life. But, O how happy are those who have placed their love on him, who can never be absent from them! They need but open their eyes, and they shall every where behold the traces of his presence and glory, and converse with him whom their soul loveth; and this makes the darkest prison, or wildest desart, not only supportable, but delightful to them.The divine love makes us partake of an infinite happiness.10. In fine, a lover is miserable, if the person whom he loveth be so. They who have made an exchange of hearts by love, get thereby an interest in one another’s happiness and misery; and this makes love a troublesome passion, when placed on earth. The most fortunate person hath grief enough to mar the tranquillity of his friend: and it is hard to hold out, when we are attacked on all hands, and suffer not only in our own person, but in another’s: But if God be the object of our love, we share in an infinite happiness.We rejoice to behold the glory of God, and receive comfort and pleasure from all the praises wherewith men and angels extol him. It delights us beyond expression to consider, that the Beloved of our souls is infinitely happy in himself, and that all his enemies cannot shake or unsettle his throne:That our God is in the heavens, and doth whatever pleaseth him.Behold, on what sure foundations his happiness is built, whose soul is possessed with divine love, whose will is transformed into the will of God, and whose sole desire is, that his Maker should be pleased! O the peace, the rest, the satisfaction, that attendeth such a temper of mind!He that loveth God finds sweetness in every dispensation.11. What an infinite pleasure must it needs be, thus as it were to lose ourselves in him; and, being swallowed up in the overcoming sense of his goodness, to offer ourselves a living sacrifice, always ascending unto him in flames of love? Never doth a soul know what solid joy is, till it give itself up unto the author of its being, and feel itself become a devoted thing; and can say, from an inward sense and feeling,My Beloved is mine, and I am his: I am content to be any thing for him, and care not for myself, but that I may serve him. A person moulded into this temper, finds pleasure in all the dispensations of providence: temporal enjoyments have another relish,when he tastes the divine goodness in them, and considers them as tokens of love sent by his dearest Lord and Maker: and chastisements hereby lose their sting; the rod, as well as the staff, comfort him: he rejoices, that though God does not the will of such a worthless creature as himself, yet he accomplishes his own designs; which are infinitely more holy and wise.The duties of religion are delightful to him.12. The exercises of religion, which to others are insipid, yield the highest pleasure to souls possessed with divine love: they rejoice when they are called togo up to the house of the Lord, that they maysee his power and his glory, as they have formerly seen it in his sanctuary¹. They never think themselves so happy, as when, having retired from the world, they have placed themselves in the presence of God, and entertain communion with him: they delight to adore his perfections, and recount his favours; and to protest their affection to him, and tell him a thousand times that they love him; to lay out their troubles or wants before him, and disburthen their hearts in his bosom. Repentance itself is a delightful exercise, when it floweth from the principle of love. There is a secret sweetness which accompanies those tears of remorse, those meltings of a soul returning unto God, and lamenting its former unkindness.¹Psalmslxiii.2.13. The severities of a holy life, and that constant watch which we are obliged to keep overour hearts and ways, are troublesome to those who are only ruled by an external law, and have no law in their minds inclining them to their duty. But where divine love possesseth the soul, it stands as centinel to keep out every thing that may offend the Beloved. It complieth chearfully, not only with explicit commands, but with the most secret notices of the Beloved’s pleasure; and is ingenious in discovering what will be most grateful and acceptable unto him. It makes mortification and self-denial change their harsh and dreadful names, and become easy, sweet and delightful things.The excellency of charity.14. The next branch of the divine life isuniversal loveto man. The excellency of this grace will be easily acknowledged; for what can be more noble than a heart enlarged to embrace the whole world? Whose wishes and designs are levelled at the welfare of the universe, which considereth every man’s interest as its own? He, who loveth his neighbour as himself, can never entertain any base or injurious thought, or be wanting in any expressions of bounty. He had rather suffer a thousand wrongs, than be guilty of one; and never accounts himself happy, but when some one or other hath been benefited by him. The malice or ingratitude of men is not able to resist his love. He overlooks their injuries, and pities their folly, and overcomes their evil with good; and never designs any otherrevenge against his most bitter and malicious enemies, than to put all the obligations he can upon them, whether they will or not. This inward goodness and benignity of spirit reflects a sweetness and serenity upon the very countenance, and makes it amiable and lovely: it inspires the soul with a noble resolution and courage, and makes it capable of enterprising and effecting the highest things: those heroic actions which we are wont to read with admiration, have, for the most part, been the effects of the love of one’s country, or of particular friendships; and certainly a more extensive affection must be much more powerful and efficacious.The pleasure that attends it.15. Again, ascharityflows from an excellent temper, so it is accompanied with the greatest satisfaction. It delights the soul to feel itself thus enlarged; to be delivered from those disquieting passions, malice, hatred, and envy; and to become gentle, sweet, and benign. Had I my choice of all things for my present felicity, I would pitch upon this, to have my heart possessed with the greatest kindness and affection towards all men. I am sure this would make me partake in all the happiness of others, their inward endowments, and outward prosperity. And though I should frequently meet with occasions of grief, yet there is a sweetness in commiseration, which makes it infinitely more desirable than a stupid insensibility. And the considerationof that infinite goodness and wisdom, which govern the world, might repress any excessive trouble for particular calamities that happen in it. Certainly, next to the love of God, that ardent affection wherewith blessed souls embrace one another, is justly to be reckoned as the greatest felicity of those regions above. And did it universally prevail in the world, it would anticipate that blessedness, and make us taste the joys of heaven upon earth.The excellency of purity.16. A third branch of religion ispurity; a contempt of sensual pleasures, and resoluteness to undergo those troubles and pains we may meet with in the performance of our duty. Now, the naming of this may suffice to recommend it as a most excellent quality. There is no slavery so base, as that whereby a man becomes a drudge to his own lusts. Never can that person be capable of any thing noble, who is sunk in the gross pleasures of sense, or bewitched with the airy gratifications of fancy. But the religious soul is of a more sublime and divine temper. It knows it was made for higher things, and scorns to step aside one foot out of the ways of holiness, for obtaining any of these.The delight it affords.17. And thispurityis accompanied with a great deal of pleasure. Whatsoever defiles the soul disturbs it too. All impure delights have a sting in them, and leave smart and trouble behindthem. Excess and intemperance, and all inordinate lusts, are so much enemies to the health of the body, and the interests of this present life, that a little consideration might oblige any rational man to forbear them on that very score. And if the religious person go higher, and do not only abstain from noxious pleasures, but neglect those that are innocent, this is not to be looked upon as any uneasy restraint, but as the effect of better choice: his mind is so taken up with sublime delights, that he cannot be concerned in these. Any person that is engaged in a violent affection, will easily forget his ordinary gratification; will be little curious about his diet, or his bodily ease, or the divertisements he was wont to delight in. No wonder then, if souls, overpowered with divine love, despise inferior pleasures, and be almost ready to grudge the body its necessary attendance for the common accommodations of life, judging all these impertinent to their main happiness, and those higher enjoyments they are pursuing. As for the hardships they may meet with, they rejoice in them, as opportunities to testify their affection: and since they are able to do so little for God, they are glad of the honour to suffer for him.The excellency of humility.18. The last branch of religion ishumility; and however, to vulgar eyes, this may appear a despicable quality, yet, really, the soul of man is not capable of a higher and more noble endowment.It is a silly ignorance that begets pride; but humility arises from a nearer acquaintance with excellent things, which keeps men from doating on trifles, or admiring themselves because of some petty attainments.I know not what thoughts people may have ofhumility, but I see almost every person pretending to it, and shunning such expressions and actions as may make them be accounted arrogant and presumptuous; so that those who are most desirous of praise, are loth to commend themselves. What are all those compliments and modes of civility so♦frequent in our ordinary converse, but so many protestations of the esteem of others, and the low thoughts we have of ourselves? And must not humility be an excellent endowment, when the very shadows of it are so necessary a part of good breeding?
Mistakes about religion.
1.ICANNOT speak of religion, but I must lament, that among so many pretenders to it, so few understand what it means; some placing it in the understanding, in orthodox notions and opinions; and all the account they can give of their religion is, that they are of this, or the other persuasion, and have joined themselves to one of those many sects whereinto Christendom is most unhappily divided: others place it in a constant course of external duties, and a model of performances; if they live peaceably with their neighbours, keep a temperate diet, observe the returns of worship, frequenting the church, or their closet, and sometimes extend their hands to the relief of the poor, they think theyhave sufficiently acquitted themselves: others again put all religion in rapturous heats, and all they aim at is, to pray with passion, and to be affected with those kind and melting expressions wherewith they court their Saviour, till they persuade themselves that they are mightily in love with him. Thus are these things, which have any resemblance of piety, and, at best, are but means for obtaining it, or particular exercises of it, frequently mistaken for the whole of religion; nay, sometimes wickedness and vice pretend to that name. I speak not now of those gross impieties wherewith the Heathens were wont to worship their gods: there are but too many Christians, who would consecrate their vices, and hallow their corrupt affections; whose rugged humour and sullen pride, must pass for Christian severity; whose fierce wrath, and bitter rage against their enemies, must be called holy zeal; whose petulancy towards their superiors, or rebellion against their governors, must have the name of Christian courage and resolution.
What religion is.
2. But certainly religion is quite another thing; and they who are acquainted with it, will entertain far different thoughts, and disdain all those shadows of it. They know, by experience, that true religion is an union of the soul with God; a real participation of the divine nature; or, in the apostle’s phrase,Christ formed within us.Briefly, I know not how the nature of religion can be more fully expressed, than by calling it adivine life; and, under these terms, I shall discourse of it, shewing first, how it is called alife, and then how it is termeddivine.
Its permanency and stability.
3. I choose to express it by the name oflife, first, because of its permanency and stability. Religion is not a sudden start or passion; tho’ it transport a man to extraordinary performances. There are few but have convictions of the necessity of doing something for the salvation of their souls, which may push them forwards some steps with a great deal of haste; but anon, they flag and give over; they did shoot forth, fresh and high, but are quickly withered, because they had no root in themselves. These sudden fits may be compared to the convulsive motions of bodies newly beheaded; which, however violent and impetuous, can be of no long continuance: whereas the motions of holy souls are constant and regular, proceeding from a permanent and lively principle. It is true this divine life continueth not always in the same strength and vigour, yet it is not extinguished; nor are holy men abandoned to the power of those corrupt affections, which sway the rest of the world.
Its freedom and unconstrainedness.
4. Again, religion may be termedlife, because it is an inward, free, and self-moving principle;and those who have it, are not acted only by external motives, driven merely by threatnings, nor bribed by promises, nor constrained by laws; but are powerfully inclined to that which is good, and delight in the performance of it. The love which a pious man bears to God, and goodness, is not so much by virtue of a command enjoining it as by a new nature prompting him to it; nor doth he pay his devotions as a tribute, to appease the divine justice; but these religious exercises are the proper emanations of the divine life, the natural employments of a new-born soul. He prays, and gives thanks, and repents not only because these things are commanded, but because he is sensible of his wants, and of the divine goodness, and of the folly and misery of a sinful life. His charity is not forced, nor his alms extorted from him; his love makes him willing to give, and, though there were no outward obligations, hisheart would devise liberal things. Injustice, or intemperance, and all other vices, are as contrary to his temper, as the basest actions to the most generous spirit: so that I may well say withSt.John,Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin: for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.¹Though religious persons do much eye the law of God, and have a great regard unto it, yet it is not so much the sanction of the law, as itspurity and goodness, which prevail with them. They account it excellent and desirable in itself; and that in keeping of it there is great reward. And that divine love wherewith they are acted, makes them become a law unto themselves.
Quis legem det amantibus?Major est amor lex ipse sibi.
Quis legem det amantibus?Major est amor lex ipse sibi.
Quis legem det amantibus?
Major est amor lex ipse sibi.
Who shall prescribe a law to those that love?
Love’s a more powerful law, which doth them move.
¹1 Johniii.9.
¹1 Johniii.9.
¹1 Johniii.9.
5. In a word, what our blessed Saviour said of himself, is, in some measure, applicable to his followers, that it is theirmeat and drink to do their Father’s will.¹And as the natural appetite is carried out towards food, though we should not reflect on the necessity of it; so are they carried, with a natural and unforced propension toward that which is good and commendable. It is true, external motives are of great use to stir up this inward principle, especially in its infancy; when ’tis often so languid, that the man himself can scarce discern it, hardly being able to move one step forward, but when he is pushed by his hopes, or his fears; by the pressure of an affliction, or the sense of a mercy; by the authority of the law, or the persuasion of others: yet, if such a person be conscientious and uniform in his obedience, and earnestly groaning under the sense of his dulness, theseare the first motions of the divine life; which, though it be faint and weak, will surely be cherished by the influences of heaven, and grow unto greater maturity. But he who is utterly destitute of this inward principle, and contents himself with those performances whereunto he is prompted by education or custom, or the fear of hell, can no more be accounted a religious person, than a puppet can be called a man. This forced and artificial religion is commonly heavy and languid, like the motion of a weight forced upward. It is scant and niggardly, especially in those duties which do violence to mens inclinations; for those slavish spirits will be sure to do no more than is absolutely required; ’tis a law that compels them, and they will be loth to go beyond what it stints them to; nay, they will ever be putting such glosses on it, as may leave them the greatest liberty. Whereas the spirit of true religion is frank and liberal, far from such peevish and narrow reckonings; and he who hath given up himself entirely unto God, will never think he doth too much for him.
¹Johniv.34.
¹Johniv.34.
¹Johniv.34.
Religion a divine principle.
6. By this time, I hope, it appears, that religion is, with reason, termeda life, or vital principle; and that we are to distinguish betwixt it, and that obedience which is constrained, and depends upon external causes. I come next to give an account why I term ita divine life: and so it may be called, not only in regard of itsfountain and original, having God for its author, and being wrought in the souls of men, by the power of his Holy Spirit; but also in regard of its nature, religion being a resemblance of the divine perfections, the image of the Almighty shining in the soul of man: nay, it is a real participation of his nature, it is a beam of the eternal light, a drop of that infinite ocean of goodness; and they who are endued with it, may be said to haveGod dwelling in their souls, and Christ formed within them.
What the natural life is.
7. Before I descend to a more particular consideration of this, it will be fit to speak a little of that natural or animal life which prevails in those who are strangers to the other: and by this I understand nothing else, but our inclination and propension towards those things, which are pleasing to nature; or self-love issuing forth, and spreading itself into as many branches as men have several appetites and inclinations. The root and foundation of the animal life I reckon to be sense, as it is opposed to faith, and importeth our perception of things, that are either grateful or troublesome to us. Now these animal affections, as they are implanted in us by nature, are not vicious or blameable; nay, they are instances of the wisdom of the Creator, furnishing his creatures with such appetites as tend to the preservation and welfare of their lives. Theseare instead of a law to the brute beasts, whereby they are directed towards the ends for which they were made. But man, being made for higher purposes, becomes criminal when he is transported by the inclinations of this lower life, to neglect the more noble designs of his creation. Our natural affections are not wholly to be destroyed, but to be over-ruled by a more excellent principle: and the difference betwixt a religious and wicked man is, that in the one the divine life bears sway; in the other the animal prevails.
The different tendencies of the natural life.
8. But it is strange to observe to what different courses this natural principle carries those who are guided by it, according to the divers circumstances that concur with it to determine them. And the not considering this, frequently occasions dangerous mistakes, making men think well of themselves, by reason of that seeming difference which is betwixt them and others. Whereas their actions all the while flow from one and the same original. If we consider the natural temper of men, we find some airy, frolicksome, and light, which makes their behaviour extravagant and ridiculous; whereas others are serious and severe, and their whole carriage gains them reverence and esteem. Some are of a rugged, and morose temper, and can neither be pleased themselves, nor endure that othersshould be so; while others have a sweetness in their natures, and find the greatest pleasure in the endearments of society, and the mutual complacency of friends. And it is well that nature hath provided this complectional tenderness, to supply the defect of true charity in the world, and to incline men to do something for one anothers welfare. Again, in regard of education, some have never been taught to follow any other rules, than those of pleasure or advantage; but others are enured to observe the strictest rules of decency and honour.
9. In fine, it is no small difference in the deportment of mere natural men that arises from the strength or weakness of their judgment. Intemperance and lust, injustice and oppression, and all those other impieties which abound in the world, are the effect of theanimal lifewhen it is neither over-powered by religion, nor governed by natural reason? But if it once take hold of reason, and get judgment to be of its party, it will disdain gross vice, and spring up unto fair imitations of virtue. But this is not all: this natural principle, by the help of reason, may take a higher flight, and come nigher to religion. It may incline a man to the diligent study of divine truths: for why should not these, as well as other speculations, be grateful to inquisitive minds? It may make men zealous in maintaining and propagating such opinions as they have espoused. It may make them delight tohear and compose excellent discourses about the matters of religion; for eloquence is very pleasant, whatever be the subject; nay, some it may dispose to a kind of devotion. The glorious things that are spoken of heaven; the similitudes made use of in scripture, of crowns and scepters, and rivers of pleasure, may affect a man’s fancy, and make him wish to be there, tho’ he neither understand nor desire those spiritual pleasures which are shadowed forth by them: and when such a person believes that Christ has purchased those glorious things for him, he may feel a kind of tenderness and affection, and imagine he is mightily enamoured with him; and yet all the while continue a stranger to the holy temper and spirit of the blessed Jesus.
10. To conclude, there is nothing proper to make a man’s life pleasant, or himself eminent in the world; butthisnatural principle, assisted by reason, may prompt him to it. And though I do not condemn these things in themselves; yet it concerns us nearly to know their nature, both that we may keep within bounds, and that we may learn never to value ourselves on the account of such attainments, nor lay the stress of religion upon our natural appetites or performances.
Wherein the divine life doth consist.
11. It is now time to return to the consideration of thatdivine life, thatlife which is hid with Christ in God, and therefore hath no glorious shewor appearance in the world, but to the natural man seems mean and insipid. As the animal life consists in that narrow love which is terminated on a man’s self, and in his propension to those things that are pleasing to nature; so the divine life stands in an universal affection, and in the mastery over our natural inclinations. The root of the divine life is faith; the chief branches are, love to God, charity to man, purity and humility; for (as an excellent person observed) however these names be common and vulgar, yet do they carry such a mighty sense, that the tongue of man or angel can pronounce nothing more weighty or excellent. Faith hath the same place in the divine life, which sense hath in the natural; being indeed a kind of sense, or feeling persuasion of spiritual things: it extends itself unto all divine truths; but in our lapsed estate, it hath a peculiar relation to the declarations of God’s mercy to sinners thro’ a Mediator; and therefore, receiving its denomination from that principal object, is ordinarily termedfaith in Jesus Christ.
12. The love of God is such a delightful sense of God’s love to us, as makes the soul resign itself wholly to him, desiring above all things to please him, and delighting in nothing so much as in communion with him, and being ready to do or suffer any thing for his sake. A soul thus possessed with divine love, must needs be enlarged towards all mankind in sincere affection,because of the relation they have to God, being his creatures, and having something of his image stamped upon them. And this is thatcharityI named as the second branch of religion, and under which all the parts of justice, all the duties we owe to our neighbour, are eminently comprehended. For he who doth truly love all the world, will be nearly concerned in the interest of every one, and so far from wronging any person that he will resent any evil that befals others, as if it happened to himself.
13. Bypurity, I understand such a disposition of mind, as makes a man despise and abstain from all pleasures of sense or fancy, which either are sinful in themselves, or tend to extinguish or lessen our relish of more divine and intellectual pleasures. It doth also infer a resoluteness to undergo all those hardships he may meet with in the performance of his duty; so that not only charity and temperance, but also Christian courage and magnanimity, may come under this head.
14.Humilityimports a deep sense of our inward and outward sins, and of our utter helplessness; which is always accompanied with a profound submission to the will of God, and deadness to the applause of men.
These are the highest perfections that men are capable of, the foundation of heaven laid in the soul; and he who hath attained them, needs not desire to pry into the hidden rolls of God’s decrees,to know what is determined about his everlasting condition, but he may find a copy of God’s thoughts concerning him written in his own breast. Those beginnings of happiness which he feels in the conformity of the powers of his soul to the nature of God, are a sure pledge that his felicity shall be perfected, and continued to all eternity. And it is not without reason that one said,I had rather see the real impressions of a godlike nature upon my own soul, than have a vision from heaven, or an angel sent to tell me, that my name was enrolled in the book of life.
Religion better understood by actions than by words.
15. When we have said all we can, the secret mysteries of a divine life can never be sufficiently expressed: nor can they be truly understood but by those that have a sense and relish of spiritual things.There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth this understanding.The power and life of religion may be better expressed in actions than in words: And therefore we may take the best measure of those gracious endowments, from the deportment of those in whom they reside; especially from the holy life of our blessed Saviour, a main part of whose business in this world was to teach by his practice what he required of others, and to make his own conversation an exact resemblance of those unparalleled rules which he prescribed: so that if ever true goodness was visible to mortal eyes,it was when his presence beautified this lower world.
Divine love exemplified in our Saviour; his diligence in doing God’s will; and his patience in bearing it.
16. That devout affection wherewith his blessed soul constantly burned towards his heavenly Father, expressed itself in an entire resignation to his will. It was hisvery meat, to do the will, and finish the work of him that sent him. This was the exercise of his childhood, and the constant employment of his riper age. He spared no pains while he was about his Father’s business; but took such satisfaction in the performance of it, that, when being faint and weary with his journey, he rested onJacob’s well, and intreated water of theSamaritanwoman; the success of his conference with her, and the accession that was made to the kingdom of God, filled his mind with such delight, as seemed to redound to his very body, refreshing his spirits, and making him forget his thirst, and refuse the meat which he had sent his disciples to buy. Nor was he less patient and submissive in suffering the will of God, than diligent in doing of it. He endured the sharpest afflictions, and extremest miseries that ever were inflicted on any mortal, without a repining thought, or discontented word. For though he was far from a stupid insensibility, and had as quick a sense of pain as other men, and the deepest apprehension of whathe was to suffer in his soul, (as hisbloody sweat, and thesore amazement and sorrowwhich he professed, do abundantly declare) yet did he intirely submit to that severe dispensation of providence, and willingly acquiesced in it.
His constant devotion.
17. Another instance of his love to God, was his delight in conversing with him by prayer; which made him frequently retire from the world, and spend whole nights in that heavenly exercise; though he had no sins to confess, and but few secular interests to pray for: which, alas! are almost the only things that are wont to drive us to our devotions. Nay, we may say his whole life was prayer, a constant course of communion with God. If the sacrifice was not always offering, yet was the fire still kept alive. Nor was he ever surprized with that dulness of spirit which we must many times wrestle with, before we can be fit for the exercise of devotion.
His charity to men.
18. In the second place I shall speak of love towards all men; but he who would express it must transcribe the history of the gospel: for scarce any thing is recorded to have been done or spoken by him, which was not designed for the good of some one or other. All his miraculous works were instances of his goodness, as well as his power, and they benefited those on whom they were wrought, as well as amazed the beholders. His charity was not confined to hiskindred, or relations; nor was all his kindness swallowed up in the endearments of that peculiar friendship which he carried toward the beloved disciple. But every one was hisfriendwho obeyed hisholy commands, Johnxv.4. andWhosoever did the will of his Father, the same was to him ashis brother, and sister, and mother.
19. Never was any unwelcome to him, who came with an honest intention; nor did he deny any request, which tended to the good of those that asked it: So that what was spoken of theRomanEmperor, whom, for his goodness, they called thedarling of mankind, was really performed by him, that never any departed from him with a heavy countenance, except that rich youth,Markx.who was sorry to hear that the kingdom of heaven stood at so high a rate, and that he could not save his soul and his money too. The ingenuity that appeared in his first address, had already procured some kindness for him; for it is said,And Jesus beholding him, loved him. But must he for his sake cut out a new way to heaven, and alter the nature of things; which makes it impossible that a covetous man should be happy?
His meekness.
20. And what shall I speak of his meekness, who could encounter the monstrous ingratitude of that miscreant who betrayed him, in no harsher terms than these,Judas betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss? What further evidence couldwe desire of his fervent and unbounded charity, than that he willingly laid down his life for his most bitter enemies, and mingling his prayers with his blood, besought the Father that his death might not be laid to their charge, but might become the means of eternal life, to those very persons who procured it.
His purity.
21. The third branch of the divine life ispurity, a neglect of worldly enjoyments and accommodations, and a resolute enduring of all such troubles as we meet with in the doing of our duty. Now surely if ever any person was wholly dead to all the pleasures of the natural life, it was the blessed Jesus; who seldom tasted them when they came in his way, but never stept out of his road to seek them. Though he allowed others the comforts of wedlock, and honoured marriage with his presence, yet he chose the severity of a virgin life: and though he supplied the want of wine with a miracle, yet he would not work one for the relief of his own hunger in the wilderness. So gracious was he in allowing others such gratifications, as himself thought good to abstain from, and supplying not only their pressing necessities, but also their less considerable wants. We many times hear of our Saviour’s sighs, and groans, and tears, but never that he laughed, so that through his whole life he answered that character given of him by the prophet,A man of sorrows, and acquainted with griefs.Nor were the troubles of his life other than matters of choice: for never did there any appear on the stage of the world with greater advantages to have raised himself to the highest secular felicity. He who could bring together such a prodigious number of fishes into his disciples net, and at another time receive that tribute from a fish which he was to pay to the temple, might easily have made himself the richest person in the world; nay, without any money, he could have maintained an army powerful enough to have jostledCæsarout of his throne, having oftner than once fed several thousands with a few loaves and small fishes: but to shew how small esteem he had of all the enjoyments in the world, he chose to live in so poor and mean a condition, thatthough the foxes had holes, and the birds of the air had nests, yet he, who was Lord of all things, had not where to lay his head. He did not frequent the courts of princes, nor affect the acquaintance of great ones; but being reputed the son of a carpenter, he had fishermen, and other such poor people, for his companions, and lived at such a rate as suited with the meanness of that condition.
His humility.
22. And thus I am brought unawares to speak of hishumility, the last branch of the divine life, wherein he was a most eminent pattern to us, that we mightlearn of him to be meek and lowly in heart. I shall not now speak of that infinitecondescension of the eternal Son of God, in taking our nature upon him; but only reflect on his lowly deportment while he was in the world. He had none of those sins and imperfections, which may justly humble the best of men; yet he was so entirely swallowed up with a deep sense of the infinite perfections of God, that he appeared as nothing in his own eyes, I mean so far as he was a creature. He considered those eminent perfections which shined in his blessed soul as not his own, but the gifts of God; and therefore assumed nothing to himself for them, but with the profoundest humility renounced all pretences to them. Hence did he refuse that ordinary compellation ofgood Master, from one, who, it seems, was ignorant of his divinity:Why callest thou me good? There is none good but God only.As if he had said, “The goodness of any creature (and such only thou takest me to be) is not worthy to be named or taken notice of; it is God alone who is originally and essentially good.” He never made use of his miraculous power for vanity or ostentation: he would not gratify the curiosity of theJewswith a sign from heaven, some prodigious appearance in the air; nor would he follow the advice of his countrymen and kindred, who would have had all his great works performed in the eyes of the world, for gaining him the greater fame. When his charity had prompted him to the relief of the miserable, his humility made him many timesenjoin the concealment of the miracle; and when the glory of God, and the design for which he came into the world, required the publication of them, he ascribed the honour of all to his Father, telling them,That of himself he was able to do nothing.
23. I cannot insist on all the instances of humility in his deportment towards men; his withdrawing himself when they would have made him a king; his subjection, not only to his blessed Mother, but to her husband, during his younger years, and his submission to all the indignities and affronts which his rude and malicious enemies put upon him: the history of his holy life, recorded by those who conversed with him, is full of such passages as these; and indeed the serious and attentive study of it, is the best way to get right measures of humility, and all the other parts of religion, which I have been endeavouring to describe.
Let me here subjoin a prayer that may be proper when one, who had formerly entertained some false notions of religion, begins to discover what it is.
APRAYER.
Infinite and eternal Majesty, author and fountain of being and blessedness, how little do we poor sinful creatures know of thee, or the way to serve and please thee? We talk of religion, andpretend unto it; but alas! How few are there that know what it means? How easily do we mistake the affections of our nature, for those divine graces which alone are acceptable in thy sight? It may justly grieve me to consider, that I should have wandered so long, and contented myself so often with vain shadows of religion; yet I cannot but acknowledge and adore thy goodness, who hast been pleased, in some measure, to open mine eyes, and let me see what it is at which I ought to aim. I rejoice to consider what mighty improvements my nature is capable of and what a divine temper doth shine in those whom thou causest to approach thee. Blessed be thine infinite mercy, who sentest thine own Son to dwell among men, and instruct them by his example, as well as his laws, giving them a perfect pattern of what they ought to be. O that the holy life of the blessed Jesus may be always in my thoughts, till I receive a deep sense and impression of those graces that shined so eminently in him; and let me never rest, till that new and divine nature prevail in my soul, and Christ be formed within me.
The excellency and advantage of Religion.
1.AND now, having discovered the nature of true religion, let us fix our meditations a little on the excellency and advantages of it. But what words can express that inward satisfaction, those hidden pleasures, which cannever be rightly understood, but by those who feel them?A stranger intermeddleth not with their joy¹.Holiness is the right temper, the vigorous and healthful constitution of the soul: its faculties had formerly been enfeebled and disordered, so that they could not exercise their natural functions; it had wearied itself with endless tossings and rollings, and was never able to find any rest. Now that distemper being removed, it feels itself well; there is a due harmony in its faculties, and a sprightly vigour possesseth every part: the understanding can discern what is good, and the will can cleave unto it; the affections are not tied to the motions of sense, and the influence of external objects; but are stirred by more divine impressions, are touched with a sense of invisible things.
¹Proverbsxiv.10.
¹Proverbsxiv.10.
¹Proverbsxiv.10.
The excellency of divine love.
2. Let us descend into a nearer view of religion, in the several branches of it named before. Let us consider that love wherewith holy souls are united to God, that we may see what excellency is involved in it. Love is that powerful passion, by which all the faculties of the soul are determined, and on which both its perfection and happiness depend. The worth and excellency of a soul is to be measured by the object of its love. He who loveth mean and sordid things, doth thereby become base and vile; but a noble and well placed affection advances the spirit to aconformity with the perfections which it loves. The images of these frequently present to the mind, and, by a secret energy, insinuate into the very constitution of the soul, and mould and fashion it unto their own likeness. Hence we see how easily lovers or friends slide into the imitation of the persons whom they affect; and how, even before they are aware, they begin to resemble them, not only in the more considerable instances of their deportment, but also in their voice and gesture, and that which we call their mein and air: and certainly we should as well transcribe the inward beauties of the soul, if they were the object and motive of our love. But as all the creatures we converse with have their mixture and alloy, we are always in hazard to be corrupted by placing our affection on them: passion easily blinds our eyes, so that we first approve, and then imitate the things that are blameable in them. The true way to improve and ennoble our souls, is by fixing our love on the divine perfections, that we may have them always before us, and derive an impression of them on ourselves; andbeholding, with open face, the glory of the Lord, may be changed into the same image, from glory to glory. He who hath raised his eyes towards that uncreated beauty and goodness, and fixed his affection there, is quite of another spirit, of a more excellent and heroic temper than the rest of the world; and cannot but infinitely disdain all mean and unworthythings, will not entertain any low or base thoughts, which might disparage his high and noble pretensions. Love is the greatest and most excellent thing we are masters of; and therefore it is folly and baseness to bestow it unworthily. It is indeed the only thing we can call our own; other things may be taken from us by violence, but none can ravish our love. Is any thing else be counted ours, by giving our love, we give all, so far as we make over our hearts and wills, by which we possess our other enjoyments. It is not possible to refuse him any thing, to whom, by love, we have given ourselves; nay, since it is the privilege of gifts, to receive their value from the mind of the giver, and not to be measured by the event, but by the desire, he who loveth, may, in some sense, be said not only to bestow all that he hath, but all things else which may make the beloved person happy; since he doth heartily wish them, and would really give them, if they were in his power. Certainly therefore love is the worthiest present we can offer unto God, and it is extremely debased when we bestow it another way.
3. When this affection is misplaced, it doth often vent itself in such expressions, as point at its proper object. The blasphemous terms of adoration, wherein men sometimes express their passion, are the language of that affection which was designed for God; as he who is accustomed to speak to some great person, doth perhaps unawaresaccost another with those titles he was wont to give him: But certainly that passion which accounteth its object a Deity, ought to be bestowed on him who really is so; those unlimited submissions, which debase the soul, is directed to any other, will exalt and ennoble it, when placed here. Those chains and cords of love, are infinitely more glorious than liberty itself; this slavery is more noble than all the empires in the world.
The advantages of divine love.
4. Again, as divine love advances and elevates the soul, so it is that alone which can make it happy. The highest pleasures, the most substantial delights, that human nature is capable of, are those which arise from a well-placed and successful affection. That which imbitters love, and makes it ordinarily a very troublesome passion, is the placing it on those who have not worth enough to deserve it, or gratitude to requite it, or whose absence may deprive us of their converse, or their miseries occasion our trouble. To all these evils are they exposed, whose chief affection is placed on creatures; but the love of God delivers us from them all.
The worth of the object.
5. First, Love must needs be full of disquietude, when there is not excellency in the object to answer the vastness of its capacity: So violent a passion cannot but torment the spirit when it finds not wherewith to satisfy its cravings; and indeedso large and unbounded is its nature: that it must be extremely straitened, when confined to any creature: nothing below an infinite good can afford it room to stretch itself, and exert its vigour and activity. What is a little skin-deep beauty, or some small degrees of goodness, to satisfy a passion which was made for God? No wonder lovers do so hardly suffer any rival, and do not desire that others should approve their passion by imitating it: They know the scantiness of the good which they love, that it cannot suffice two, being in effect too little for one. Hence love,which is strong as death, occasionethjealousy, which is cruel as the grave; the coals whereof are coals of fire, which hath a most violent flame.
6. But divine love hath no mixture of this gall. When once the soul is fixed on that supreme good, it finds so much goodness, as doth not only satisfy its affection, but overpower it too: It finds all its love to be too languid for such an object, and is only sorry that it can command no more: It wishes for the flames of aSeraph, and longs for the time when it shall be wholly dissolved in love. And because it can do so little itself, it desires the assistance of the whole creation, that angels and men would concur with it in the admiration and love of these infinite perfections.
The certainty to be beloved again.
7. Again, love is accompanied with trouble, when it misses a suitable return of affection.Love is the most valuable thing we can bestow, and by giving it, we in effect give all that we have: and therefore it must needs be afflicting, to find so great a gift despised; that the present which one hath made of his whole heart cannot obtain any return. Perfect love is a kind of wandering out of ourselves; it is a sort of voluntary death, wherein the lover dies to himself, and all his own interests; not thinking of them, nor caring for them; and minding nothing but how he may please the party whom he loves. Thus he is quite undone, unless he meets with reciprocal affection; he neglects himself, and the other hath no regard to him: But if he be beloved, he is revived, as it were, and liveth in the soul and care of the person whom he loves. And now he begins to mind his own concernments, not so much because they are his, as because the beloved is pleased to own an interest in them; he becomes dear unto himself, because he is so unto the other.
8. And herein the divine lover hath unspeakably the advantage, having placed his affection on him whose nature is love, whose goodness is as infinite as his being; whose mercy prevented us, when we were his enemies, therefore cannot chuse but embrace us, when we are become his friends. It is impossible that God should deny his love to a soul devoted to him, and which desires nothing so much as to please him. He cannot disdain his own image, nor the heart on which it is engraven. Love is all the tribute which wecan pay him, and it is the sacrifice which he will not despise.
The presence of the beloved person.
9. Another thing which disturbs the pleasure of love, and renders it a miserable and unquiet passion, is absence from those we love. It is not without a sensible affliction that friends part, tho’ for some little time: But if death have made the separation, as some time or other it must, this occasions a grief scarce to be parallel’d by all the misfortunes of human life. But, O how happy are those who have placed their love on him, who can never be absent from them! They need but open their eyes, and they shall every where behold the traces of his presence and glory, and converse with him whom their soul loveth; and this makes the darkest prison, or wildest desart, not only supportable, but delightful to them.
The divine love makes us partake of an infinite happiness.
10. In fine, a lover is miserable, if the person whom he loveth be so. They who have made an exchange of hearts by love, get thereby an interest in one another’s happiness and misery; and this makes love a troublesome passion, when placed on earth. The most fortunate person hath grief enough to mar the tranquillity of his friend: and it is hard to hold out, when we are attacked on all hands, and suffer not only in our own person, but in another’s: But if God be the object of our love, we share in an infinite happiness.We rejoice to behold the glory of God, and receive comfort and pleasure from all the praises wherewith men and angels extol him. It delights us beyond expression to consider, that the Beloved of our souls is infinitely happy in himself, and that all his enemies cannot shake or unsettle his throne:That our God is in the heavens, and doth whatever pleaseth him.
Behold, on what sure foundations his happiness is built, whose soul is possessed with divine love, whose will is transformed into the will of God, and whose sole desire is, that his Maker should be pleased! O the peace, the rest, the satisfaction, that attendeth such a temper of mind!
He that loveth God finds sweetness in every dispensation.
11. What an infinite pleasure must it needs be, thus as it were to lose ourselves in him; and, being swallowed up in the overcoming sense of his goodness, to offer ourselves a living sacrifice, always ascending unto him in flames of love? Never doth a soul know what solid joy is, till it give itself up unto the author of its being, and feel itself become a devoted thing; and can say, from an inward sense and feeling,My Beloved is mine, and I am his: I am content to be any thing for him, and care not for myself, but that I may serve him. A person moulded into this temper, finds pleasure in all the dispensations of providence: temporal enjoyments have another relish,when he tastes the divine goodness in them, and considers them as tokens of love sent by his dearest Lord and Maker: and chastisements hereby lose their sting; the rod, as well as the staff, comfort him: he rejoices, that though God does not the will of such a worthless creature as himself, yet he accomplishes his own designs; which are infinitely more holy and wise.
The duties of religion are delightful to him.
12. The exercises of religion, which to others are insipid, yield the highest pleasure to souls possessed with divine love: they rejoice when they are called togo up to the house of the Lord, that they maysee his power and his glory, as they have formerly seen it in his sanctuary¹. They never think themselves so happy, as when, having retired from the world, they have placed themselves in the presence of God, and entertain communion with him: they delight to adore his perfections, and recount his favours; and to protest their affection to him, and tell him a thousand times that they love him; to lay out their troubles or wants before him, and disburthen their hearts in his bosom. Repentance itself is a delightful exercise, when it floweth from the principle of love. There is a secret sweetness which accompanies those tears of remorse, those meltings of a soul returning unto God, and lamenting its former unkindness.
¹Psalmslxiii.2.
¹Psalmslxiii.2.
¹Psalmslxiii.2.
13. The severities of a holy life, and that constant watch which we are obliged to keep overour hearts and ways, are troublesome to those who are only ruled by an external law, and have no law in their minds inclining them to their duty. But where divine love possesseth the soul, it stands as centinel to keep out every thing that may offend the Beloved. It complieth chearfully, not only with explicit commands, but with the most secret notices of the Beloved’s pleasure; and is ingenious in discovering what will be most grateful and acceptable unto him. It makes mortification and self-denial change their harsh and dreadful names, and become easy, sweet and delightful things.
The excellency of charity.
14. The next branch of the divine life isuniversal loveto man. The excellency of this grace will be easily acknowledged; for what can be more noble than a heart enlarged to embrace the whole world? Whose wishes and designs are levelled at the welfare of the universe, which considereth every man’s interest as its own? He, who loveth his neighbour as himself, can never entertain any base or injurious thought, or be wanting in any expressions of bounty. He had rather suffer a thousand wrongs, than be guilty of one; and never accounts himself happy, but when some one or other hath been benefited by him. The malice or ingratitude of men is not able to resist his love. He overlooks their injuries, and pities their folly, and overcomes their evil with good; and never designs any otherrevenge against his most bitter and malicious enemies, than to put all the obligations he can upon them, whether they will or not. This inward goodness and benignity of spirit reflects a sweetness and serenity upon the very countenance, and makes it amiable and lovely: it inspires the soul with a noble resolution and courage, and makes it capable of enterprising and effecting the highest things: those heroic actions which we are wont to read with admiration, have, for the most part, been the effects of the love of one’s country, or of particular friendships; and certainly a more extensive affection must be much more powerful and efficacious.
The pleasure that attends it.
15. Again, ascharityflows from an excellent temper, so it is accompanied with the greatest satisfaction. It delights the soul to feel itself thus enlarged; to be delivered from those disquieting passions, malice, hatred, and envy; and to become gentle, sweet, and benign. Had I my choice of all things for my present felicity, I would pitch upon this, to have my heart possessed with the greatest kindness and affection towards all men. I am sure this would make me partake in all the happiness of others, their inward endowments, and outward prosperity. And though I should frequently meet with occasions of grief, yet there is a sweetness in commiseration, which makes it infinitely more desirable than a stupid insensibility. And the considerationof that infinite goodness and wisdom, which govern the world, might repress any excessive trouble for particular calamities that happen in it. Certainly, next to the love of God, that ardent affection wherewith blessed souls embrace one another, is justly to be reckoned as the greatest felicity of those regions above. And did it universally prevail in the world, it would anticipate that blessedness, and make us taste the joys of heaven upon earth.
The excellency of purity.
16. A third branch of religion ispurity; a contempt of sensual pleasures, and resoluteness to undergo those troubles and pains we may meet with in the performance of our duty. Now, the naming of this may suffice to recommend it as a most excellent quality. There is no slavery so base, as that whereby a man becomes a drudge to his own lusts. Never can that person be capable of any thing noble, who is sunk in the gross pleasures of sense, or bewitched with the airy gratifications of fancy. But the religious soul is of a more sublime and divine temper. It knows it was made for higher things, and scorns to step aside one foot out of the ways of holiness, for obtaining any of these.
The delight it affords.
17. And thispurityis accompanied with a great deal of pleasure. Whatsoever defiles the soul disturbs it too. All impure delights have a sting in them, and leave smart and trouble behindthem. Excess and intemperance, and all inordinate lusts, are so much enemies to the health of the body, and the interests of this present life, that a little consideration might oblige any rational man to forbear them on that very score. And if the religious person go higher, and do not only abstain from noxious pleasures, but neglect those that are innocent, this is not to be looked upon as any uneasy restraint, but as the effect of better choice: his mind is so taken up with sublime delights, that he cannot be concerned in these. Any person that is engaged in a violent affection, will easily forget his ordinary gratification; will be little curious about his diet, or his bodily ease, or the divertisements he was wont to delight in. No wonder then, if souls, overpowered with divine love, despise inferior pleasures, and be almost ready to grudge the body its necessary attendance for the common accommodations of life, judging all these impertinent to their main happiness, and those higher enjoyments they are pursuing. As for the hardships they may meet with, they rejoice in them, as opportunities to testify their affection: and since they are able to do so little for God, they are glad of the honour to suffer for him.
The excellency of humility.
18. The last branch of religion ishumility; and however, to vulgar eyes, this may appear a despicable quality, yet, really, the soul of man is not capable of a higher and more noble endowment.It is a silly ignorance that begets pride; but humility arises from a nearer acquaintance with excellent things, which keeps men from doating on trifles, or admiring themselves because of some petty attainments.
I know not what thoughts people may have ofhumility, but I see almost every person pretending to it, and shunning such expressions and actions as may make them be accounted arrogant and presumptuous; so that those who are most desirous of praise, are loth to commend themselves. What are all those compliments and modes of civility so♦frequent in our ordinary converse, but so many protestations of the esteem of others, and the low thoughts we have of ourselves? And must not humility be an excellent endowment, when the very shadows of it are so necessary a part of good breeding?