Cabinet Library of Divinity.
STUDY and reflection are allowed to be necessary preparatives
to all great pursuits. To attempt to gain by hazardous risks, what may be secured
by the safe methods of a sober and laborious diligence, is both unwise and dishonest: in the annals of learning a sciolist and an empiric are characters proverbially
treated with contempt; and the worth of all those systems by which states are supported,
and civilization carried on, consists in their greatest possible freedom from what
is empirical or capricious. But if the exercise of thought and sound judgment be
thus necessary in the affairs of life, it can scarcely be less so in those which
intimately regard the condition and fate of man in his eternal relations: to make
him fit for immortality, must, at all events, require as much care as to render
him respectable in the world; and the road to heaven is certainly not more easy
to be discovered than the well-beaten path to temporal distinction. The exercise
therefore of thought, the pursuit of knowledge, the careful employment, in short,
of all
Wisdom is the knowledge of truth combined with a disposition
to obey it. It has its beginning in the head, and its confirmation in the heart.
It observes, and from observation gains skill in judgment: experience teaches it
prudence, and prudence gives it safety. By the familiarity which it acquires with
the objects in which goodness resides, it learns to love goodness
A principle by which the human soul is so highly exalted above its ordinary condition, is surely worth any exertion we can snake as the price of its acquisition. Let us, therefore, consider the position in which we stand for commencing the work, and what are the principal points at which we must aim in its progress.
It is not difficult to prove that the world itself offers few
excitements to the pursuit of wisdom, or that there is less freedom, less knowledge,
less in short of every thing that forms the foundation of happiness, than either
a wise or a good man would desire. In vast tracts of the globe, and where the human
race leaves not a plain or valley unpeopled
Now what may we deduce from this? Can we hesitate to conclude,
that though we have passed over the boundary line, both in respect to the country
and the age in which we live, there is, even on this side of it, much confusion,
many evils, and a still wide and open space left for their increase? And when we
bear this in mind, while we picture to our thoughts the scenes where truth hath
not yet set her hallowed foot—where no light hath fallen on men’s hearts to soften
and direct them—what is the prospect which the world presents, but a series of vast,
ill-cultivated tracks, where wisdom hath to struggle hard for a spot of ground to
stand on, and her efforts are perpetually resisted by the untoward dispositions
of those who should worship and obey her? And what have we to counterbalance these
It is through this great interpreter of heavenly wonders that
Christ still publishes the message of his Father, ‘Look unto me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth.’ Men’s hearts are drawn by his influence to desire truth: their consciences are awakened, and being awakened, are taught where to seek for
peace: attention thus secured, the voice of God is heard clear and distinct above
all the clamour of the world. On some souls the call produces great and conspicuous
effects: they live deeply and solemnly impressed with holy convictions of the divine
power and mercy; and these convictions are accompanied with strivings after good,
with open declarations of devotion to the cause of God, and manifold instances of
piety, both by word and action, the true development of holy principle. On the rest
the impression is less vivid, and the effects far less remarkable; but the words
of God are heard: it is known that he calls men unto him, and while they pursue
their course, neglectful of righteousness, contradicting and despising the laws
of the gospel, there is a general consciousness that the Almighty is calling to
repentance, that a system is in action which
Thus our birth into the world gives us an existence in which
we have a great capacity for happiness, and possess faculties for performing works
of equal wonder and utility; but it places us at the same time in the midst of evil,
and leaves us at the beginning the prey of evil. In the midst of all those elements
of good and of greatness which form the proper groundwork of human nature, corruption
has commenced its operations, and in the very core of the precious fruit, in the
very heart and blood, we see the original of evil transplanted from Adam to ourselves,
as it was transfused in the beginning from the devil into Adam. And a great point
for our consideration is the universality of the ill. Go where we may, do what we
may; be sunk in poverty and distress, be elevated to the highest pinnacle of grandeur,
it is still present to us, still infests our nature, still poisons every draught
we take of life. At the first mention of this fact the human mind naturally resists
its admission: it recoils from the idea of inborn corruption; it cannot endure
to have a mirror placed before it, which so clearly manifests its deformity;
If we succeed in acquiring this first view of our
But this condition of sin is not one of simple danger, resulting
from the errors into which it may lead us. Were there no God, the violation of the
proper laws of our being, and of the relations which belong to its in social existence,
would be attended with the most terrible consequences; but seeing that sin is not
only a breaking of the rules by which alone good can be attained, but an open defiance
of the Almighty, it necessarily brings upon us not only that vast class of ills
which result from gross errors of conduct—from headstrong passion—from blindness
of heart and mind; but exposes us to the wrath of the Most High God, which, as
his creatures, we have incomparably greater reason to dread than any other evil
of which it is possible to form a conception; for not only are life and death dependent
on his will, but all that can make life happy, or death terrible. It is therefore
not simply because he can with one sweep of his lightning cut off myriads of his
creatures, or that he can, whenever he will, bury us in darkness, that we have reason
to tremble at the idea of his anger; but because the withdrawal of his mercy must
necessarily be the extinction of every gleam of hope, and must leave us a prey to
deep and perpetual despair; and, because the punishments which he will inflict on
sin will be according to
And is not the hare imagination of such a sequel to all the cares,
the toils and troubles of this life, sufficient to make us tremble with horror?
Is it not beyond conception dreadful to think, that after having passed through
the world labouring to gain wealth, to possess the smiles of our fellow-creatures,
to make a name for ourselves; and after having perhaps succeeded, and been allowed
to enjoy for a succession of years something like a satisfied ambition, or to have
lived in comfort and quiet on the fruits of our industry; is it not terrible to
think that we may, in the midst of our
The strongest proof, indeed, that we can have of men’s blindness
is the little and partial impression which the thought of these things makes upon
their minds: but what, if touched with some anxiety respecting our personal fate;
what, if now trembling lest when the thread of life is cut, our own spirits should
feel themselves borne away into that region of endless sorrow—what comfort must
we not derive from that precious doctrine which accompanies the warning, and which
tells us, that while we must pass the time of our sojourning here in fear, from
the consideration just stated, so we ought to do so from the remembrance of God’s
wonderful mercy; inasmuch as those very souls which we have in our keeping, and
the fate of which depends upon the manner in which we pass the time of our sojourning
The world forms its plans on the notion of its perpetuity and
independence. It takes into account none of those modifying influences which should
spring from the expectation of a futurity, in which its whole system must be lost
in one of infinitely greater magnitude. Pursuing the course which would be wise,
or consistent only, were it assured of the unchangeable continuance of things as
they now exist, it expends all its forces upon the present; contemplates the power
it possesses in relation only to immediate necessities; and in its boldest attempts
to pursue, or seize upon the means of good, looks not beyond the narrow limit which
the voice of some popular experimentalist has marked out for the struggle. With
this notion of the all-sufficiency of the present is combined that of its self-power
and independence. It concludes, that it can effect what is essential to its happiness;
that it sees and can put in motion the various springs of life, so as to make them
produce the required result; and that having attained the object immediately sought,
reflection and foresight may remain unexercised till some other purpose of present
importance require their employment. But what is the real state of things, while
the world is thus confining its thoughts to temporal affairs, and
There is, on the other hand, a very numerous class, who do often
speak of the mercy of God, who refuse not to acknowledge the influence of his benignity
in the production of the good which they
Unfortunately the youth of both the higher and
Now, look where we will, study what we may, it is almost invariably
found that the first and general views we take of things are altogether erroneous.
In the natural world, not an object presents itself
Our next consideration must be, what is the nature
And how, then, is the mind to obtain that clarifying and enlargement
of its faculties which may render it sensible of the truths before, perhaps, wholly
unperceived? As truth may be unknown, first, because of the state of the mind,
and secondly, because of the nature of the subject; so the fitness by which the
mind is made capable of entering the noble circle of universal truth, and divine
truth alone forms the bright circumference to that circle, must have a twofold influence;
that is, in the one instance, it must purify and strengthen
The general effects of a systematic and patient attention to
the exercise of religious thought are infinitely greater and more important than
those who have not pursued it are willing to believe. It abridges no power or faculty
in its just liberty of action; but, on the contrary, by freeing the mind
From general considerations of this kind, the reader may profitably pass to those particular meditations and rules of thought and action contained in the following work. They are founded on the soundest principles of Christian truth; but to be practically useful, they must he read with singleness of heart, and a spirit teachable and quiet. Thus studied, they will, without doubt, conduct him to the full enjoyment of that happiness which is the exclusive possession of the wise and the holy.
The pious and learned author of the valuable Reflections to which
we thus allude, was born at Barrow, in Leicestershire, in the year 1638. Having
completed the earlier part of his education, he entered St. John’s College, Cambridge,
and shortly became distinguished, not only for his general advancement in learning,
but for his extensive acquirements in the languages of the East. He was ordained
both deacon and priest in the month of January, 1660, and immediately received the
living
Cotemporary writers speak in the strongest and
The character of Bishop Beveridge thus drawn is clearly manifested in his writings. Some things there are in them which may be attributed to the spirit of the age in which he lived; and we lament that so amiable and holy a man should ever have been betrayed into the use of expressions which always savour more of wrath than of the zeal which warms itself before the altar of divine love. There is also an occasional obscurity in his expositions of doctrine; but this is rarely or ever the case except when he endeavours to assist the comprehension of his readers by the false aids of metaphysics or scholastic logic. Few writers, on the whole, can he read with equal profit: still fewer are more earnest or more spiritual.
H.S.
Sept. 22, 1834.
INTRODUCTORY.—Page 1.
Article I.—Page 6.
I believe there is One God, the Being of all beings.
Article II.—Page 10.
I believe, that whatsoever the most high God would have me to BELIEVE or DO, in order to his glory, and my happiness, he hath revealed to me in his holy Scriptures.
Article III.—Page 39.
I believe that as there is one God, so this one God is three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Article IV.—Page 41.
I believe that I was conceived in sin, and brought forth in iniquity; and that, ever since, I have been continually conceiving mischief, and bringing forth vanity.
Article V.—Page 44.
I believe the Son of God became the Son of man, that I, the son of man, might become the son of God.
Article VI.—Page 50.
I believe that Christ lived to God, and died for sin, that I might die to sin, and live with God.
Article VII.—Page 53.
I believe that Christ rose from the grave, that I might rise from sin, and that he is ascended into heaven, that I may come unto him.
Article VIII.—Page 57.
I believe that my person is only justified by the merit of Christ imputed to me; and that my nature is only sanctified by the Spirit of Christ implanted in me.
Article IX.—Page 72.
I believe God entered into a double covenant with man, the covenant of works made with the first, and the covenant of grace made in the second Adam.
Article X.—Page 82.
I believe, that as God entered into a covenant of grace with us. so hath he signed this covenant to us by a double seal, baptism and the Lord’s supper.
Article XI.—Page 93.
I believe that after a short separation, my soul and body shall be united together again, in order to appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, and be finally sentenced according to my deserts.
Article XII.—Page 103.
I believe there are two other worlds, besides this I live in; a world of misery for unrepenting sinners, and a world of glory for believing saints.
Resolution I.—Page 115.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to walk by rule, and therefore think it necessary to resolve upon the rules to walk by.
Resolution II—Page 116.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to make the Divine Word the rule of all the rules I propose to myself.
Resolution III.-Page 118.
1 am resolved, that as I am not able to think or do any thing that is good, without the influence of the divine grace; so I will not pretend to merit any favour from God, upon account of any thing I do for his glory and service.
Resolution I.—Page 121.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to make Christ the pattern of my life here, that so Christ may be the portion of my soul hereafter.
Resolution II.—Page 122.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to walk by faith, and not by sight, on earth, that so I may live by sight, and not by faith, in heaven.
Resolution III.—Page 125.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, always to be looking upon God, as always looking upon me.
Resolution I.—Page 128.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to watch as much over the inward motions of my heart, as the outward actions of my life.
Resolution II.—Page 129.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to stop every thought, at its first entering into my heart, and to examine it whence it comes, and whither it tends.
Resolution III.—Page 131.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to be as fearful to let in vain, as careful to keep out sinful thoughts.
Resolution IV.—Page 133.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to be always exercising my thoughts upon good objects, that the devil may not exercise them upon bad.
Resolution V.—Page 135.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, so to marshal my thoughts, that they may not jostle one another, nor any of them prejudice the business I am about.
Resolution I.—Page 139.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, always to make my affections subservient to the dictates of my understanding, that my reason may not follow, but guide my affections.
Resolution II.—Page 141.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to love God, as the best of goods, and to hate sin, as the worst of evils.
Resolution III.—Page 145.
I am resolved, by the assistance of divine grace, to make God the principal object of my joy, and sin the principal object of my grief and sorrow; so as to grieve for sin more than suffering, and for suffering only for sin’s sake.
Resolution IV.—Page 147.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to desire spiritual mercies more than temporal; and temporal mercies only in reference to spiritual.
Resolution V.—Page 149.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to hope for nothing so much as the promises, and to fear nothing so much as the threatening, of God.
Resolution VI.—Page 153.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to arm myself with that spiritual courage and magnanimity, as to press through all duties and difficulties whatsoever, for the advancement of God’s glory and my own happiness.
Resolution VII.—Page 155.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, so to be angry, as not to sin; and, therefore, to be angry at nothing but sin.
Resolution I.—Page 159.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, never to speak much, lest 1 often speak too much; and not to speak at all, rather than to no purpose.
Resolution II.—Page 161.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, not only to avoid the wickedness of swearing falsely, but likewise the very appearance of swearing at all.
Resolution III.—Page 163.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, always to make my tongue and heart go together, so as never to speak with the one, what I do not think in the other.
Resolution IV.—Page 166.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to speak of other men’s sins only before their faces, and of their virtues only behind their backs.
Resolution V.—Page 168.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, always to speak reverently to my superiors, humbly to my inferiors, and civilly to all.
Resolution I.—Page 171.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to do every thing in obedience to the will of God.
Resolution II.—Page 174.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to do every thing with prudence and discretion, as well as with zeal and affection.
Resolution III.—Page 175.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, never to set my hand, my head, or my heart, about any thing but what I verily believe is good in itself, and will be esteemed so by God.
Resolution IV.—Page 178.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to do all things for the glory of God.
Resolution V.—Page 180.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to mingle such recreations with my business, as to further my business by my recreations.
Resolution I.—Page 184.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to honour and obey the king, or prince, whom God is pleased to set over me, as well as to expect that he should safeguard and protect me, whom God is pleased to set under him.
Resolution II.—Page 187.
I am resolved, by the same divine grace, to be as constant in loving my wife, as cautious in choosing her.
Resolution III.—Page 191.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to do my endeavour to give to God whatsoever children he shall be pleased to give me; that as they are mine by nature, they may be his by grace.
Resolution IV.—Page 194.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to do my duty to my servants as well as expect they should do theirs to me.
Resolution V.—Page 196.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to feed the flock that God shall set me over, and with wholesome food, neither starving them by idleness, poisoning with error, nor puffing them up with impertinence.
Resolution VI.—Page 200.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to be as faithful and constant to my friend, as I would have my friend to be faithful and constant to me.
Resolution I.—Page 204.
I am resolved, if possible, to redeem my time past by using a double diligence for the future, to employ and improve all the gifts and endowments, both of body and mind, to the glory and service of my great Creator.
Resolution II.—Page 206.
I am resolved, by the divine grace, to employ my riches, the outward blessings of Providence, to the same end; and to ob. serve such a due medium in the dispensing of them, as to avoid prodigality on the one hand, and covetousness on the other.
Resolution III.—Page 209.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to improve the authority God gives me over others, to the suppression of vice, and the encouragement of virtue; and so for the exaltation of God’s name on earth, and their souls in heaven.
Resolution IV.—Page 211.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to improve the affections God stirs up in others towards me, to the stirring up of their affections towards God.
Resolution V.—Page 215.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to improve every good thought, to the producing of good affections in myself, and as good actions with respect to God.
Resolution VI.—Page 216.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to improve every affliction God lays upon me, as an earnest or token of his affection towards me.
WHEN, in my serious thoughts, and more retired meditations, I
am got into the closet of my heart, and there begin to look within myself, and consider
what I am, I presently find myself to be a reasonable creature: for was I not so,
it would be impossible for me thus to reason and reflect. But, am I a reasonable
creature? Why then, I am sure, within this veil of flesh there dwells a soul, and
that of a higher nature, than either plants or brutes are endued with; for they
have souls indeed, but yet they know it not, and that because their souls, or material
forms, as the philosophers term them, are not any thing really and essentially distinct
from the very matter of their bodies; which being not capable of a reflective act,
though they are, they know it not, and though they act, they know it not; it being
impossible for them to look within themselves, or to reflect upon their own existence
or actions. But it is not so with me; I not only know I have a soul, but that I
have such .a soul, which can consider of itself, and deliberate of
And, indeed, was there never another argument in the world to convince me of the spiritual nature of my soul, this alone would be sufficient to wrest the belief and confession of it from me: for what below a spirit can thus reflect upon itself? or, what below a spirit can put forth itself into such actions, as I find I can exercise myself in? My soul can, in a moment, mount from earth to heaven, fly from pole to pole, and view all the courses and motions of the celestial bodies, the sun, moon, and stars; and then the next moment returning to myself again, I can consider where I have been, what glorious objects have been presented to my view; and wonder at the nimbleness and activity of my soul, that can run over so many millions of miles, and finish so great a work in so small a space of time. And are such-like acts as these the effects of drossy earth, or impenetrable matter? Can any thing below a spirit raise itself so much beyond the reach of material actions?
But stay a little; what is this soul of mine that I am now speaking
of, that it is so nimble in its actions, and so spiritual in its nature?
Why, it is that which actuates and informs the several organs and members of my
body, and enables me not only to perform the natural actions of life and sense;
but likewise to understand, consult, argue, and conclude; to will and nill, hope
and despair, desire and abhor, joy and grieve, love and hate; to be angry now,
and again appeased. It is that by
Not as if I totally excluded this earthly substance of my body from being a part of myself; I know it is. But I think it most proper and reasonable to denominate myself from my better part: for, alas! take away my soul, and my body falls of course, into its primitive corruption, and moulders into the dust, from whence it was first taken. ‘All flesh is grass,’ says the prophet, ‘and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.’ And this is no metaphorical expression, but a real truth; for what is that which I feed upon, but merely grass digested into corn, flesh, and the like; which by a second digestion, is transfused and converted into the substance of my body? And thence it is, that my body is but like the grass, or flower of the field, fading, transient, and momentary, to-day flourishing in all its glory, to-morrow cut down, dried up, and withered. But now, how far is this beneath the spiritual and incorruptible nature of my immortal soul? which subsists of itself, and can never be dissolved, being not compounded of an earthly or elementary matter, as the body is, but is a pure spiritual substance infused into me by God, to whom, after a short abode in the body, it is to return, and to live and continue for ever, either in a state of happiness or misery, in another life.
But must it so indeed? How much then does it concern me, seriously
to bethink myself, where I had best to lead this everlasting life, in the
But heaven, they say, is a place hard to come at, yea, the King
of that glorious place hath told me, that ‘strait is the gate, and narrow is the
way, that leads to life, and that there be but few that find it.’
Now, though there be but one way, and that a narrow one too,
that leads to heaven; yet there are two things requisite, to all those that walk
in it; and they are faith and obedience, to believe and to live aright. So that
it as much behoves me, to have my faith rightly confirmed in the fundamentals
I believe there is One God, the Being of all beings.
THE other articles of my faith I think to be true, because they are so; this is true because I think it so: for if there was no God, and so this article not true, I could not be, and so not think it true. But in that I think, I am sure I am; and in that I am, I am sure there is a God; for if there was no God, how came I to be? How came I hither? Who gave me my being? Myself? That could not be; for before I had a being, I was nothing; and therefore, could do nothing, much less make myself a being. Did my parents give me my being? Alas! they knew not that I should be, before I was; and, therefore, certainly, could not give me my being, when I was not.
As to my soul, (which I call myself,) it is plain they could not give me that, because it is a being of a spiritual nature, quite distinct from matter, (as my own experience tells me,) and, therefore, could not be the product of any natural or material agent: for, that a bodily substance should give being to a spiritual one, implies a contradiction. And if it could neither make itself, nor take its rise from any earthly or secondary cause, I may certainly conclude, from my own reason, as well as from divine revelation, that it must be infused by God, though I am not able to determine, either when, or how, it was done.
As to my body; indeed, I must own it was derived from my parents,
who were immediately
And the like may be said of all other created beings in the world. For there is no natural cause can give being to any thing, unless it has that being it gives, in itself; for it is a received maxim in philosophy, that nothing can give what it has not. And so, however the bodies of men, or brutes, or plants, may now, in the ordinary course of nature, be produced by generation, yet there must needs be some one supreme almighty Being in the world, that has the being of all other beings in itself; who first created these several species; and endued them with this generative power to propagate their kind. And this supreme Being is that which we call God.
Hence it is, that there is not a leaf, no not a line, in this
great book of the creation, wherein we may not clearly read the existence and
perfections of
I say, the Being of all beings, because whatsoever excellency
or perfection is in any other thing, is eminently, yea, infinitely comprehended
in him; so that he is not only the creature’s perfection in the concrete, but in
the abstract too; he is not only all-wise, all-good, all-mighty, &c., but he is
all-wisdom, all-goodness, all-might, all-mercy, all-justice, all-glory, &c. And
as he is the ocean and abyss of all these perfections in himself; so is he the fountain
of them all to us. Insomuch that we have nothing, not so much as the least moment
of life, but what is communicated to us from this ever-living God. And not only
what we, poor sinful worms are, or have, but even whatsoever those nobler creatures
the angels have, it is but a beam
Lift up thine eyes therefore, O my soul, and fix them a little
upon this glorious object! How glorious, how transcendently glorious, must he needs
be who is the Being of all beings, the perfection of all perfections, the very glory
of all glories, the eternal God! He is the glory of love and goodness, who is good,
and doth good continually unto me, though I be evil, and do evil continually
against him. He is the glory of wisdom and knowledge, unto whom all the secret
thoughts, the inward motions and retirements of my soul, are exactly known and
manifest. Never did a thought lurk so secretly in my heart, but that his
all-seeing eye could espy it out: even at this time, he knows what I am now
thinking of, and what I am doing, as well as myself. And indeed, well may he
know what I think, and speak, and do, when I can neither think nor speak, nor do
any thing, unless himself be pleased to give me strength to do it. He is the
glory of might and power, who did but speak the word, and there presently went
out that commanding power from him, by which this stately fabric of the world
was formed and fashioned. And as he created all things by the word of his power,
so I believe, he preserves and governs all things by the power of the same word:
yea, so great is his power and sovereignty, that he can as easily throw my soul
from my body into hell, or nothing, as I can throw this book out of my hand to
the ground: nay, he need not throw me into nothing; but, as if I should let go
my hold, the book would presently fall, so, should God but take away his
supporting hand from under me, I should
I believe, that whatsoever the most high God would have me to BELIEVE or DO, in order to his glory, and my happiness, he hath revealed to me in his holy Scriptures.
UPON the same account that I believe there is a God, I believe
likewise, that this God is to be worshipped; the same light that discovers the
one, discovering the other too. And therefore it is, that as there is no nation
or people in the world, but acknowledge some deity, so there is none, but worship
that deity which they acknowledge; yea, though it be but a stick or a stone, yet
if they fancy any thing of divinity in it, they presently perform worship and homage
to it. Nay, that God is to be worshipped, is a truth more generally acknowledged,
than that there is a God. No nation, I confess, ever denied the latter, but no particular
person ever denied the former: so that the very persons, who through diabolical
delusions, and their own prevalent corruptions, have suspected the existence of
a Deity, could not but acknowledge that he was to be worshipped, if he did exist; worship being that which is contained in the very notion of a Deity; which is,
that he is the Being of all beings, upon whom all other things or beings
That, therefore, there is a God, and that this God is to be worshipped, I do not doubt; but the great question is, who is this God whom I ought to worship? And, what is that worship which I ought to perform unto him? The former I have resolved upon in the foregoing article, as the light of reason and my natural conscience suggested to me; the latter I am resolved to search out in this, viz. Which of all the several kinds of worship that men perform to the Deity, and the several religions that men profess in the world, I had best make choice of to profess and adhere to. The general inclinations which are naturally implanted in my soul to some religion, it is impossible for me to shift off; but there being such a multiplicity of religions in the world, I desire now seriously to consider with myself, which of them all to restrain these my general inclinations to.
And the reason of this my inquiry is not, that I am in the least
dissatisfied with that religion I have already embraced; but because it is natural
for all men to have an overbearing opinion and esteem for that particular religion
they are born and bred up in. That, therefore, I may not seem biased by the prejudice
of education, I am resolved to prove and examine them all, that I may see and
hold
Indeed, there was never any religion so barbarous and diabolical
but it was preferred before all other religions whatsoever, by them that did profess
it: otherwise they would not have professed it. The Indians, that worship the devil,
would think it as strange doctrine to say that Christ is to be feared more than
the devil; as such as believe in Christ, think it is, to say the devil is to be
preferred before Christ. So do the Mahometans call all that believe not in Mahomet,
as well as Christians call those that believe not in Christ, infidels. And why,
say they, may not you be mistaken, as well as we? Especially, when there is at
least, six to one against your Christian religion; all of which think they serve
God aright, and expect happiness thereby as well as you. So that to be a Christian,
only upon the grounds of birth or education, is all one, as if I was a Turk or a
heathen; for if I had been born amongst them, I should have had the same reason
for their religion, as now I have for my own: the premises are the same, though
the conclusion be ever so different. It is still upon the same grounds, that I profess
religion, though it be another religion which I profess upon these grounds; so that
I can see but very little difference, betwixt being a Turk by profession, and a
That, therefore, I may make diligent and impartial inquiry into all religions, and so be sure to find out the best, I shall, for a time, look upon myself as one not at all interested in any particular religion whatsover, much less in the Christian religion; but only as one who desires, in general, to serve and obey him that made me, in a right manner, and thereby to be made partaker of that happiness my nature is capable of. In order to this, it will be necessary to propose to myself some certain marks or characters, whereby I may be able to judge and make choice of the religion I intend to embrace: and they are, in general, these two, viz.
First, That is the best religion, wherein God is worshipped and served most like himself, i. e. most suitably and conformably to his nature and will. And,
Secondly, Since all men naturally desire, and aspire after
happiness, and our greatest happiness
To embrace a religion without these marks, would be worse than to have no religion at all; for better it is to perform no worship to God, than such as is displeasing to him; to do him no service, than such as will be ineffectual to make me happy, and not only frustrate my expectations of bliss, but make me for ever miserable.
The religion, then, that I am to look after, must be such a one, wherein I may be sure to please God, and to be made happy with him; and, by consequence, such a one, wherein all the cause of his displeasure and my misery may be removed; and that is sin. For sin being infinitely opposite to him, as he is a Being of infinite purity and holiness, must certainly set me at the greatest distance from him, and render me most odious in his sight; and whosoever does so, must make me as miserable as misery can make me. For as our holiness consisteth in likeness, so doth our happiness in nearness to God: and if it be our happiness to be near unto him, it must certainly be our misery to be at a distance from him. In enjoying him we enjoy all things, he being and having all things in himself; and so in not enjoying him, we are not only deprived of all that we can enjoy, but made liable to the punishments that are the consequence of it.
That there is no such thing in nature, as virtue and vice, as
good and evil, as grace and sin, is what I can by no means persuade myself to, for
my conscience tells me, that there is: and not only mine, but every one
that ever yet lived, upon the face of
And being thus conscious to myself, that I have sinned against
my Maker, I may reasonably conclude, that as he is omniscient, and, by consequence,
a witness of these my offences, so must he likewise be just in the punishment of
them; for it cannot stand with his justice, to put up with such offences, without
laying suitable punishments upon the offender. And these punishments must be infinite
and eternal; for wherein doth the nature of divine justice consist, but in giving
to sin its just punishments, as well as to virtue its due rewards? Now that
the punishment of sin in this world, is not so much as it deserves, nor, by consequence,
as much as, in justice, ought to be laid upon it, to me it is clear, in that every
sin being committed against an infinite God, deserves infinite punishment; whereas
all the punishments we suffer in this world cannot
Upon these grounds, therefore it is, that I am fully satisfied in my conscience, that I am a sinner; that it cannot stand with the justice, nor the existence of God that made me, to pardon my sins, without satisfaction made to his divine justice for them; and yet, that unless they be pardoned, it is impossible for me to be happy here, or hereafter. And therefore must I look after some religion, wherein I may be sure, my sins may be thus pardoned, and my soul made happy, wherein I may please God and God may bless me. Which that I may be the better able to discover, I shall take a brief survey of all the religions I ever heard of, or believe to be in the world.
Now, though there be as many kinds of religions as nations; yea, almost as particular persons in the world; yet may they all be reduced to these four; the Paganish, Mahometan, Jewish, and Christian religion.
As to the first, it is indeed of a very large extent, and comprehends
under it all such as neither acknowledge Mahomet to be a prophet, nor expect
a promised Messiah, nor believe in a crucified Jesus: and, since it is the
majority of numbers, that usually carries the vogue, let me see whether the paganish
religion, being further extended, and more generally professed than any, or indeed
all the rest, be not the true religion, wherein God is most rightly worshipped,
and I may be the most certainly saved. And here, when I take a view of this religion,
as it is dispersed through several parts of Asia, Africa, and America, I find them
very devout in worshipping their deities, such as they are, and
But now, to go no further, this seems to me at first sight to
be a very strange and absurd sort of religion; or rather, it is quite the reverse
of religion. For the true notion we have of religion, is the worshipping the true
God, in a true manner: and this is the worshipping false gods in a false manner.
For, I cannot entertain any other notion of God, than as one supreme Almighty Being,
who made and governs all things, and who, as he is a spirit, ought to be worshipped
in a spiritual manner. And therefore, as the very supposing more deities than one
implies a contradiction; so the paying divine homage, in a gross, carnal manner,
to material and corporeal beings, which are either the work of men’s hands, or at
best, but creatures like ourselves, which can neither hear nor understand what we
say to them, much less give us what we. desire of them, is not religion, but idolatry
and superstition, or rather madness and delusion. So that this religion, I see,
if I should embrace it, would be so far from making me happy, that the more zealous
I should be for it, the more miserable I should be by it. For he that made these
things cannot but be very angry at me, if I should give that worship to them, which
is only due to himself; and so, in the way whereby I expect my sins should be pardoned,
they would be more increased; it
The next religion, that hath the most, suffrages and votes on its side, is the Mahometan religion, so called from one Mahomet an Arabian, who, about a thousand years ago, by the assistance of one Sergius, a Nestorian monk, compiled a book in the Arabian tongue, which he called Alcoran, which he made the rule of his followers’ faith and manners, pretending that it was sent from heaven to him, by the hand of the angel Gabriel.
This book I have perused, and must confess, find many things in it agreeable to right reason: as that there is but one God, gracious and merciful, the Lord of the whole universe; that this God we are to resign ourselves wholly to; that all that obey him shall be certainly rewarded, and all that disobey him, as certainly punished; and the like. But yet, I dare not venture my soul upon it, nor become one of the professors of it; because, as there are many things consonant., so there are many things dissonant to the natural light that is implanted in me; as, that God should swear by figs and olives, by Mount Sinai, as this book makes him to do, in the chapter of the figs: that Solomon should have an army composed of men, and devils, and birds; and that he should discourse with a bird, which acquainted him with the affairs of the queen of Sheba, and the like.
As to the argument whereby be would persuade
But if this were granted, there is still another objection against this religion; and that is, that the rewards therein promised will not avail to make me happy, though I should be partaker of them. For all the promises made to us in this paradise, are but mere sensible pleasures; as that we shall have all manner of herbs, and fruits, and drinks, and women with exceeding great and black eyes, as in the chapter of the merciful and judgment, and elsewhere; and such pleasures as these, though they may indeed affect my body, yet they cannot be the happiness of my soul. Indeed, I know not how this book should promise any higher happiness than that of the body, because it shows no means of attaining to it; it shows no way, how my sins may be pardoned, and so my soul made happy. It saith, I confess, that God is gracious and merciful, and therefore will pardon sin; so be is also just and righteous, and therefore must punish it. And how these two can stand together, is not manifested in the Alcoran; and therefore I dare not trust my soul with it.
Thus, upon diligent search, have I found the two religions, that
are most generally professed, to have little or nothing of religion in them. I shall
therefore, in the next place, take a view of that religion which hath the fewest
followers, and that is the Jewish. A religion, not established by any human laws,
nor, indeed, generally professed in any nation, but only by a company of despicable
people, scattered up and down the world, which as the prophet expresses it, ‘are
become a proverb of reproach, and a by-word among all nations whither they are driven.’
The principles of this religion
This book also I have diligently read and examined into, and
must ingenuously confess, that at the very first glance methought I read divinity
in it, and could not but conclude, from the majesty of its style, the purity of
its precepts, the harmony of its parts, the certainty of its promises, and the excellency
of its rewards, that it could be derived from no other author but God himself. It
is here only that I find my Maker worshipped under the proper notion of a Deity,
as he is Jehovah, and that is the right manner, for we are here commanded ‘to
love and serve him with all our hearts, with all our souls, our might and mind,’
But that which I look upon, still, as the surest character of
the true religion, is, its holding forth the way, how I being a sinner, can be invested
with this happiness, or how God can show his justice, in
Neither are there any doubts and scruples concerning this great mystery, but what this book does clearly answer and resolve; as will appear more plainly from a distinct consideration of the several objections that are urged against it.
As, 1. That it does not seem agreeable either to reason or Scripture that one man should bear the sins of another; because every man has enough to do to bear his own burden; and since sin is committed against an infinite God, and therefore deserves infinite punishment, how can any finite creature bear this infinite punishment? especially, it being due to so many thousands of people as there are in the world!
But this book sufficiently unties this knot for me, by showing
me, that it is not a mere man, but God himself, that would bear these my sins; even
he whose name is, ‘Jehovah Tsidkenu,’ ‘The Lord our
Objec. 2. But my reason tells me, God is a pure Spirit, and, therefore, how can he suffer any punishments? or, suppose he could, how can one nature satisfy for the offences of another? It was man that stood guilty; and how can it stand with the justice of God, not to punish man for the sins he is guilty of?
To resolve this doubt, this holy book assures me, that this God
should become man, expressly telling me that as his name is ‘Wonderful, Counsellor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace,’ so he should be born
a child, and given as a Son.
Objec. 3. But if he be born as other men are, he must needs be a sinner, as other men be; for such as are born by natural generation, must necessarily be born also in natural corruption.
To remove this obstacle, this holy book tells me, that ‘A
virgin shall conceive and bear this Son, and his name shall be Emmanuel.’
But there is one thing more yet, that keeps me from settling
upon this religion; and that is, the expiration of the time in which this book
promiseth this person should come into the world; for it is expressly said, that
‘Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon the city, to finish the
transgressions, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for
iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision,
and the prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.’
So likewise doth this book of the law, (as they call
it) assure us, that the sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from
between his feet until Shiloh come,’
So likewise it was expressly foretold in this book, that ‘the
glory of the second temple should be greater than the glory of the former.’
Indeed, the time of the Messiah’s coming was so expressly set
down in these and the like places, that Elias, one of their great rabbies, gathered
from hence that the world should last six thousand years; two thousand without the
law, two thousand under the law, and two thousand under the Messiah, Sanh. c. 11.
Hence it is, that my natural reason draws me into this dilemma,
that either that book which the Jews receive as the word of God is indeed not so;
or else that they do not rightly apply it: and so, that either their religion is
a false religion, or else their profession of it a false profession: and therefore,
I must go hence and seek me some other religion to fix my soul upon. Not as if my
reason told me. that all the prophecies which I have mentioned here, were false
in themselves, but only that they appear so to this sort of professors; for, for
my own part, I cannot shake off my faith in this law, which they profess to believe
in; especially now I have so seriously perused it, and so deliberately weighed
and considered of it. Neither can I believe that ever any Mahometan or Indian, that
did, without prejudice, set himself to read it through, and to examine every particular,
by the light of unbiassed reason, could say, it was ever hatched in a human brain;
but that it is indeed of a heavenly stamp and divine authority. And, therefore,
though I am forced by the strength of
Well, there is but one religion more generally professed in the
world, that I am to search into; which if, upon good grounds, I cannot fix upon,
I shall be the most miserable of all creatures; and that is, the Christian religion,
so named from Jesus Christ, whose doctrine, life, and death, is recorded by four
several persons, in a book which they call the Gospel. And this book appears to
me to be of undoubted authority, as to the truth and certainty of those things that
are therein recorded. For, if they had been false, both the persons that wrote them,
and he of whom they wrote had so many malicious enemies ready, upon all occasions,
to accuse them, that they had long ago been condemned for lies and forgeries. But
now, these writings have been extant for above sixteen hundred years, and never
so much as suspected, but even by the worst of enemies, acknowledged to be a
true relation of what passed in the world about that time: my reason will not
permit me to be their first accuser, but enjoins me to receive them, under that
notion, in which they have been brought down to me through so many generations,
without any interruption whatsoever. For this general reception on all hands, is
a sufficient ground for me to build my faith upon, as to the
This book, therefore, I have also diligently perused, and find
it expressly asserts that Jesus Christ, whose life and death it records, was indeed
that person, who was long promised by God, and expected by the Jews: and, that
all the prophecies under the old law, concerning that Messiah, God-man, were actually
fulfilled in this person: which if, upon diligent search, I can find to be true,
I shall presently subscribe both with hand and heart, to this religion. It is a
comfort to me that it acknowledgeth the Jewish law to be sent from God; for, truly,
if it did not, my conscience would scarcely permit me to give any credit to it;
being so fully convinced that that book is indeed of a higher extract than human
invention, and of greater authority than human institution. And therefore it is
that I cannot, I dare not believe, but that every particular prophecy contained
in it, either is, or shall be, certainly fulfilled, according to every circumstance
of time and place mentioned therein; and by consequence, that this prophecy, in
particular, concerning the Messiah’s coming, is already past; the time wherein it
was foretold he should come, being so long ago expired. So that I do not now doubt
whether the Messiah be come or no, but whether this Jesus Christ, whom this book
of the gospel speaks of, was indeed the person.
And first, for the birth of the Messiah, the law saith, he was
to be ‘born of the seed of Abraham,
The law says, that he was to be ‘brought out of Egypt.’
And as for the time of this Jesus coming into the world, it is
certain that this Jesus came before the ‘second temple was demolished;’ for it is
said, that he ‘went into it;’ yea, himself, ‘taught daily in it;’
But further, the law saith, that though the Messiah should be
crucified, ‘yet God will not leave his soul in hell, nor suffer his Holy One to
see corruption;’
Lastly. He was not only to rise again, but the law saith, ‘he
was to ascend on high, to lead captivity captive, and to give gifts to men.’
Thus the gospel seems to me to he a perfect transcript of the
law, and the histories of Jesus nothing else but the prophecies of Christ turned
into a history. And, when to this I join the consideration of the piety of the life
which this man led, the purity of the doctrine which he taught, and the miraculousness
of the works he wrought, I cannot but be further confirmed in the truth of what
is here related. For the miracles which he wrought, as the healing of the sick
with a word of his mouth, raising the dead, feeding so many thousands with five
loaves, and the like, were so powerful and convincing, that his very enemies, that
would not believe him to be the Messiah, could scarce deny him to be a god. Joseph. Antiq. lib. xviii. c. 4.
Neither was the doctrine of the gospel only established at the
first, but likewise propagated by miracles afterwards, as it was necessary it should
be, for, if it had been propagated without miracles, itself had been the greatest
miracle of all. It was, no doubt, a great miracle, that a doctrine so much contrary
to flesh and blood, should be propagated by any means whatsoever; but a far greater,
that it should be propagated by a company of simple and illiterate men, who had
neither power to force, nor eloquence to persuade men to the embracing of it. For
who would have thought that such persons as these were, should ever make any of
the Jews, who expected a king for their Messiah, to advance them to temporal dignities,
or believe, that that Jesus, whom they themselves scourged and crucified at Jerusalem,
was the person? Or, that they should be able to propagate the gospel amongst the
Gentiles also, who neither believed in the true God, nor expected any thing of a
Messiah to come and redeem them? But this they did, and brought over not only many
persons, but whole nations and countries to the profession of the gospel; propagating
this most holy doctrine among the most barbarous and sinful people in the world,
maugre all the opposition that the world, the flesh, and the devil, could make against
it. Now can any man, that exerciseth his reason think they did all this purely by
their own strength? No sure, none of these wonderful effects could ever have been
produced by any thing
And now, methinks, I begin to perceive this divine Spirit is
come upon me too, and seems, by its powerful influence, to be working up my heart
into a thorough persuasion, that it is Christ, and Christ alone, I am to cast my
soul upon; that it is he alone, that is the way to life, and his word alone, the
word of life, which ‘whosoever believes, and is baptized into, shall be saved, and
he that believeth not, shall be damned.’ Away, then, with your Pagan idolatries,
your Mahometan superstitions, and Jewish ceremonies; it is the Christian religion
alone, that I am resolved to live and die in, because it is this alone, in which
I am taught to worship God aright, to obtain the pardon and remission of my sins,
and to be made eternally happy. And, since all his doctrines and precepts are contained
in the Holy Scriptures, it is necessary that I shall assent unto them, as a standing
revelation of God’s will and an eternal treasure of divine knowledge; whereby all,
that sincerely believe in Christ, may
Without any more ado, therefore, I believe, and am verily persuaded, that all the books of the ancient law, with all those that have been received into the canon of the Scripture by the church of God, since the coming of Christ, which we call the New Testament; I say, that all these books, from the beginning of Genesis to the end of the Revelations, are indeed the word of the eternal God, dictated by his own Spirit, unto such as himself was pleased to employ in the writing of them; and that they contain in them a perfect and complete rule of faith and manners; upon the due observance of which, I cannot fail of worshipping and serving God, in such a manner, as will be acceptable to him here, and of enjoying hereafter ‘those exceeding great and precious promises,’ that he has reserved in heaven, for such as do so.
Unto these books, therefore, of the law and gospel, I am resolved by his grace that wrote them, to conform all the ensuing articles of my faith, and all the actions and resolutions of my life. Insomuch that whatsoever I find it hath pleased his Sacred Majesty herein to insert, I believe it is my duty to believe; and whatsoever he hath been pleased to command me, I believe it is my duty to perform.
I believe that as there is one God, so this one God is three Persons,—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
THIS, I confess, is a mystery which I cannot possibly conceive, yet it is a truth which I can easily believe; yea, therefore it is so true, that I can easily believe it; because it is so high, that I cannot possibly conceive it; for it is impossible any thing should be true of the infinite Creator, which can be fully expressed to the capacities of a finite creature: and, for this reason, I ever did, and ever shall, look upon those apprehensions of God to be the truest, whereby we apprehend him to be the most incomprehensible; and that to be the most true of God, which seems most impossible unto us.
Upon this ground, therefore, it is, that the mysteries of the
gospel, which I am less able to conceive, I think myself the more obliged to believe;
especially this mystery of mysteries, the Trinity in Unity, and Unity in Trinity,
which I am so far from being able to comprehend, or indeed to apprehend, that I
cannot set myself seriously to think of it, or to screw up my thoughts a little
concerning it, but I immediately lose myself, as in a trance, or ecstacy: that
God the Father should be one perfect God of himself, God the Son one perfect God
of himself, and God the Holy Ghost one perfect God of himself; and yet that these
three should be but one perfect God of himself; so that one should be perfectly
three, and three perfectly one; that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost should
be three, and yet but one; but one
ARTICLE IV.
I believe that I was conceived in sin, and brought forth in iniquity; and that, ever since, I have been continually conceiving mischief, and bringing forth vanity.
This article of my faith, I must of necessity believe, whether
I will or no; for if I could not believe it to be true, I should therefore have
the more cause to believe it to be so; because unless my heart was naturally very
sinful and corrupt, it would be impossible for me not to believe that which I have
so much cause continually to bewail; or, if I do not bewail it, I have still the
more cause
And, therefore, for my own part, I am resolved by the grace of
God never to go about to confute that by wilful arguments, which I find so true
by woeful experience. If there be not a bitter root in my heart, whence proceeds
so much bitter fruit in my life and conversation? Alas! I can neither set my hand
nor heart about any thing, but I still show myself to be the sinful offspring of
sinful parents, by being the sinful parent of a sinful offspring. Nay, I do not
only betray the inbred venom of my heart, by poisoning my common actions, but even
my most religious performances also, with sin. I cannot pray, but I sin: nay, I
cannot hear, or preach a sermon, but I sin; I cannot give an alms, or receive the
sacrament, but I sin; nay, I cannot so much as confess my sins, but my very confessions
are still aggravations of them; my repentance needs to be repented of, my tears
want washing, and the very washing of my tears need still to be washed over
again with the blood of
And whence can such a continued stream of corruption flow, but from the corrupt cistern of my heart? And whence can that corrupt cistern of my heart he filled, but from the corrupt fountain of my nature? Cease therefore, O my soul, to gainsay the power of original sin within thee, and labour now to subdue it under thee. But, why do I speak of my subduing this sin myself? Surely, this would be both an argument of it, and an addition to it. “It is to thee, O my God, who art both the searcher and cleanser of hearts, that I desire to make my moan? It is to thee I cry out in the bitterness of my soul, ‘O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?’ Who shall? Oh! who can do it, but thyself? Arise thou, therefore, O my God, and show thyself as infinitely merciful in the pardoning, as thou art infinitely powerful in the purging away of my sins.”
I believe the Son of God became the Son of man, that I, the son of man, might become the son of God.
OH! how comfortably does this raise me from the lowest abasement of sin and misery, which I have before acknowledged to be my natural state, to the highest exaltation of happiness and glory, in a spiritual one! This is that great article of faith, by which all the benefits of our Saviour’s death and passion are made over to me in the new covenant, and by which, if I perform the conditions therein required, I shall not only be retrieved from the bondage and corruption that is inherent in me, as a child of wrath, but be justified and accepted as the Son of God, and be made a joint heir with Christ. This is a point of the greatest moment and concern, which, by the grace and assistance of him of whom I speak, and in whom I thus believe, I shall therefore be the more exact and particular in the searching and examining into.
Now, when I say, and believe, that God became man, I do not so
understand it, as if the divine nature took upon it a human person, but that a divine
person took upon him the human nature, i.e. it was not the divine nature, in general,
without respect to the persons, but one of the persons in the divine nature, which
took flesh upon him, and yet to speak precisely, it was not the divine person abstracted
or distinct from the divine nature, but it was the divine nature in that person
which thus took upon it the human. And this was not the
For, first, the Father could not have become this Son of man, because, then, he, that had begotten from eternity, should have been begotten in time; by which means, as he was the Father to the Son, so would the Son also have been the Father unto him; and so the order betwixt the Father and Son destroyed.
Nor, secondly, could the Holy Ghost have taken our nature upon
him, because the bond of personal union betwixt the divine and human nature is
from the Spirit; (and thence it is, that every one that is partaker of Christ’s
person, is partaker of his Spirit also;) which could not be if the Spirit itself
had been the person assuming. For, I cannot conceive, how the same person could
unite itself, by itself, to the assumed nature: and therefore we read, that in
the virgin’s conception of our Saviour, it was neither the Father nor the Son
himself, but the Spirit of the Most High, which did overshadow her.
And, further, if the Holy Ghost had been my Redeemer, who should
have been my sanctifier? If he had died personally for me, who should have applied
his death effectually to me? That I could not do it myself is, beyond contradiction,
evident; and that either the Father, or the Son, should do it, is not agreeable
to the nature or order of the divine operations; they, as I believe, never acting
any thing
But now, that the Spirit, whose office it is to apply the merit and mediation of God-man to me could not have done it, if himself had been that God-man, seems to me as clear and manifest as the other: for, if he had done it, he should either have done it by the Father, by the Son, or by himself. He could not do it by the Father, nor the Son, because he does nothing by them, but all things from them. The Father acts in the Son by the Spirit, the Son from the Father by the Spirit, the Spirit from the Father and the Son. And therefore it likewise follows, that as the Spirit could not unite itself before, so neither can it apply itself here, to the human nature; for, to assume the human nature into the divine, and to apply the divine nature to the human, are two distinct offices; and, therefore, to be performed by two distinct persons. The first could have been done only by one that was really man, as well as God; the other, only by one that was merely God, and not man.
And that must needs be so; for, otherwise, God should act upon
man by man, by the person man, as well as God; and, by consequence, all the dispensations
of his grace toward us, would have been stopped in the frailty of the human, though
perfect nature, So that it would have availed me
And lastly, as, if the Father had become man, there would have been two Fathers; so if the Spirit had become man, there would have been two Sons, the second person begotten from eternity, and the third person begotten in time. But now, by the Son’s taking our nature upon him, these and far greater difficulties are avoided, which we might easily perceive, could we sufficiently dive into the depth of that wisdom of the Father, in sending his Son, rather than his Spirit, or coming himself in his own person. However, to us, it cannot but seem most equitable, (if reason may hold the balance,) that he, who is the middle person, between the Father and the Spirit, should become the Mediator betwixt God and man: and that he, who is the Son of God in the glorious Trinity, should become the Son of man in his gracious mystery.
But, on the other side, as it was not the divine nature, but
a divine person that did assume, so neither was it a human person, but the human
nature that was assumed; for otherwise, if he had assumed the person of any one
man in the world, his death had been beneficial to none but him, whose person he
thus assumed and represented. Whereas, now that he has assumed the nature of man
in general, all that partake of that nature, are capable of
Again, when I say, the Son of God became the Son of man, I do not mean, as if, by this, he should cease to be what he was before, the Son of God, for he did not leave his godhead to take upon him the manhood; but I believe he took the manhood into his godhead; he did not put off the one, to put on the other, but he put one upon the other: neither do I believe that the human nature, when assumed into the divine, ceased to be human; but as the divine person so assumed the human nature, as still to remain a divine person, so the human nature was so assumed into a divine person, as still to remain a human nature: God, therefore, so became man, as to be both perfectly God, and perfectly man, united together in one person.
I say, in one person; for, if he should be God and man in distinct
persons, this would avail me no more, than if he should be God only, and not man,
or man only, and not God; because the merit and value both of his active and passive
obedience is grounded merely upon the union of the two natures in one and the same
person. He, therefore, by his life and death merited so much for us, because the
same person, that so lived and died, was God as well as man; and every action that
he did, and every passion that he suffered, was done and suffered by him that was
God, as well as man. And hence it is, that Christ, of all the persons in the
The sum of all this is—man can suffer, but he cannot satisfy; God can satisfy, but he cannot suffer; but Christ being both God and man, can both suffer and satisfy too; and so is perfectly fit both to suffer for man, and to make satisfaction unto God, to reconcile God to man, and man to God. And thus, Christ having assumed my nature into his person, and so satisfied divine justice for my sins, I am received into grace and favour again with the most high God.
Upon this principle, I believe that I, by nature the son of man,
am made by grace the son of God, as really as Christ, by nature the Son of God,
was made by office the Son of man: and so, though in myself, ‘I may say to corruption,
thou art my mother,’ yet in Christ I may say to God, ‘Abba Father.’ Neither do I
believe this to be a metaphorical expression, viz. because he doth that for me
which a father doth for his child, even provide
1 believe that Christ lived to God, and died for sin, that I might die to sin, and live with God.
AND thus, by faith, I follow my Saviour from the womb to
the tomb, from his incarnation to his
And hereupon it is, that I verily believe, that whatsoever Christ
either did or suffered in the flesh, was meritorious; not that his life was righteous
And, as for his death, I believe it was not only as much, but
infinitely more, satisfactory to divine justice, than though I should have died
to eternity. For, by that means, justice is actually and perfectly satisfied already,
which it could never have been, for my suffering for my sins myself; for if justice
by that means could ever be satisfied, if it could ever say, ‘It is enough;’ it
could not stand with the same justice, now satisfied, still to inflict punishment,
nor, by consequence, could the damned justly scorch in the flames of God’s wrath
for ever. Neither did the death of my Saviour reach only to the condemning, but
likewise to the commanding power of sin; it did not only pluck out its sting,
but likewise deprive it of its strength; so that he did not only merit by his death,
that I should never die for sin, but likewise that I should die to it. Neither
did he only merit by his life, that I should
I believe that Christ rose from the grave, that I might rise from sin, and that he is ascended into heaven that I may come unto him.
As Christ came from heaven to earth, so I believe be went from
earth to heaven, and all for the accomplishment of my salvation; that after he
had lived a most holy life, he died a most cruel death; that he was apprehended,
arraigned, accused, and condemned, by such as could not pronounce the
Which inheritance, I believe, he doth so much
And that he hath thus undertaken to plead my cause for me, I
have it under his own hand and seal; himself by his Spirit assuring me, that if
‘I sin, I have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous.’
I believe that my person is only justified by the merit of Christ imputed to me; and that my nature is only sanctified by the Spirit of Christ implanted in me.
AND thus I do not only believe Christ to be my Saviour, but I
believe only Christ to be my Saviour. It was he alone ‘that trod the wine-press
of his Father’s wrath’ filled with the sour and bitter grapes of my sins. It was
he that carried on the great work of my salvation, being himself both the ‘author
and the finisher’ of it. I say it was he, and he alone; for what person or persons
in the world could do it, besides himself? the angels could not if they would, the
devils would not if they could; and as for my fellow-creatures, I may as well satisfy
for their sins, as they for mine; and how little able even the best of us are to
do either, i. e. to atone either for our own transgressions, or those of others,
every man’s experience will sufficiently inform him. For how should we, pour worms
of the earth, ever hope, by our slime and mortar, (if I may so speak,) of our own
natural abilities, to raise up a tower, ‘whose top may reach to heaven?’ Can we
expect by the strength of our own hands to take heaven by violence? or by the price
of our own works to purchase eternal glory? It is a matter of admiration to me,
how any one that pretends to the use of his reason, can imagine, that he should
he accepted before God for what comes from himself? For, how is it possible
No, I believe there is no person can merit any thing from God,
but he that can do more than is required of him; which it is impossible any creature
should do. For, in that it is a creature, it continually depends ‘upon God, and therefore
is
Upon this account, I shall never be induced to believe that any creature, by any thing it doth, or can do, can merit, or deserve any thing at the hand of God, till it can be proved that a creature can merit by that which God doth; or that God can be bound to bestow any thing upon us, for that which himself alone is pleased to work in us, and by us; which, in plain terms, would be as much as to say, that because God had been pleased to do one good turn for us, he is therefore bound to do more; and, because God path enabled us to do our duty, he should therefore be bound to give us glory.
It is not, therefore, in the power of any person in the world
to merit any thing from God, but such a one who is absolutely co-essential with
him, and so depends not upon him either for his existence or actions. And, as there
is no person can merit any
But further, God the Father could not properly be said to do it in his own person, because, being (according to our own conception) the party offended, should he have undertaken this work for me, he, in his own person, must have undertaken to make satisfaction to his own person, for the offences committed against himself; which, if he should have done, his mercy might have been much exalted, but his justice could not have been satisfied by it. For justice requires, either that the party offended should be punished for these offences, or, at least some fit person in his stead, which the Father himself cannot be said to be, in that he was the party offended, to whom the satisfaction was to be made: and it is absurd to suppose, that the same person should be capable of making satisfaction, both by and to himself, at the same time.
It remains, therefore, that there were only two persons in the
holy Trinity, who could possibly be invested with this capacity; the Son and the
Spirit: as to the latter, though he be indeed the same in nature with the Father,
and a distinct person from hint, and so far in a capacity to make satisfaction to
him; yet not being capable both of assuming the human nature into the divine, and
also uniting and applying the divine nature to the human, (as I have showed
before in the fifth article,) he was not
From all which, as I may fairly infer, so I hope I may safely fix my faith in this article, viz. That there was only one person in the whole world that could do this great work for me, of justifying my person before God, and so glorifying my soul with him; and that was the Son of God, the second person in the glorious Trinity, begotten of the substance of the Father from all eternity; whom I apprehend and believe to have brought about the great work of my justification before God, after this or the like manner.
He being, in and of himself, perfectly coequal, coessential,
and coeternal with the Father, was in no sort bound to do more than the Father himself
did; and so whatsoever he should do, which the Father did not, might justly be
accounted as a work of supererogation; which, without any violation of divine justice,
might be set upon the account of some other persons, even of such whom he pleased
This motion, the Father, out of the riches of his grace and mercy,
was pleased to consent unto: and hereupon, the Son assuming our nature into his
Deity, becomes subject and obedient both to the moral and ceremonial laws of his
Father, and, at last, to death itself; ‘even the death of the cross.’ In the one,
he paid an active, in the other a passive obedience; and so did not only fulfil
the will of his Father, in obeying what he had commanded, but satisfied his justice
in suffering the punishment due to us for the transgressing of it. His active obedience,
as it was infinitely pure and perfect, did, without doubt, infinitely transcend
all the obedience of the sons of men, even of Adam too, in his primitive state.
For, the obedience of Adam, make the best of it, was but the obedience of a finite
creature; whereas the obedience of Christ was the obedience of one that was infinite
God, as well as man. By which means the laws of God had higher obedience performed
to them, than themselves in their primitive institution required; for being made
only to finite creatures, they could command no more than the obedience of finite
Now, this obedience being more than Christ was bound to, and
only performed upon the account of those whose nature he had assumed, as we, by
faith, lay hold upon it, so God, through grace, imputes it to us, as if it had been
performed by us in our own persons. And hence it is, that as, in one place, Christ
is said to be ‘made sin for us,’
These things considered, I very much wonder how any man can presume
to exclude the active obedience of Christ from our justification before God,
as if what Christ did in the flesh was only of duty, not at all of merit; or,
as if it was for himself, and not for us. Especially, when I consider, that suffering
the penalty is not what the law primarily requireth; for the law of God requires
perfect obedience, the penalty being only threatened to (not properly required of)
the breakers of it. For, let a man suffer the penalty of the law in never so high
a manner, he is not therefore accounted obedient
Hence it is, that I cannot look upon Christ as having
made full satisfaction to God’s justice for me, unless he had performed the obedience
I owe to God’s laws, as well as borne the punishment that is due to my sins: for
though he should have borne my sins, I cannot see how that could denominate me righteous
or obedient to the law, so as to entitle me to eternal life, according to the tenor
of the old law, ‘Do this and live.’
But now, if we have no such obedience in our surety, as we cannot
have, if he did not live, as well as (he, for us; let any one tell me what title
he hath, or can have, to eternal life. I suppose he will tell me, he hath none in
himself, because he hath not performed perfect obedience to the law. And I tell
him, he hath none in Christ, unless Christ performed that obedience for him, which
And now I speak of Christ’s being our surety, as the apostle
calls him,
Now, there are two things that we owe to God, which this our surety is hound to pay for us, viz. first, and principally, obedience to his laws, as he is our Creator and governor; and secondly, by consequence, the punishment that is annexed to the breach of these laws, of which we are guilty. Now, though Christ should pay the latter part of our debt for us, by bearing the punishment that is due unto us; yet, if he did not pay the former and principal part of it too, i. e. perform the obedience which we owe to God, he would not fully have performed the office of suretyship, which he undertook for us; and so would be but a half-mediator, or half-saviour, which are such words as I dare scarce pronounce, for fear of blasphemy.
So that, though it is the death of Christ by which I believe
my sins are pardoned; yet it is the life of Christ, by which I believe my person
is accepted. His passion God accounts as suffered by me, and therefore I shall not
die for sin: his obedience God
And thus it is into the merit of Christ that I resolve the whole work of my salvation; and this, not only, as to that which is wrought without me, for the justification of my person, but likewise as to what is wrought within me for the sanctification of my nature. As I cannot have a sin pardoned without Christ, so neither can I have a sin subdued without him; neither the fire of God’s wrath can be quenched, nor yet the filth of my sins washed away, but by the blood of Christ.
So that I wonder as much at the doctrine that some men
have advanced concerning free-will, as I
And this my faith is not grounded upon a roving fancy, but the
most solid reasons; forasmuch as, of ourselves, we are not able, in our understandings,
to discern the evil from the good, much less then, are we able, in our wills, to
prefer the good before the evil; the will never settling upon any thing, but what
the judgment discovers to it. But now, that my natural judgment is unable to apprehend
and represent to my will the true and only good under its proper notion, my own
too sad experience would sufficiently persuade me, though I had neither Scripture
nor reason for it. And yet the Scripture also is so clear in this point, that I
could not have denied it, though I should never have had any experience of it;
the Most High expressly telling me, that the ‘natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; neither can he
know them, because they are spiritually discerned.’
So that I believe it a thousand times easier for a worm, a fly, or any other despicable insect whatsoever, to understand the affairs of men, than for the best of men in a natural state to apprehend the things of God. No; there is none can know God, nor, by consequence, any thing that is really good, but only so far as they are partakers of the divine nature: we must, in some measure, be like to God, before we can have any true conceptions of him, or be really delighted with him; we must have a spiritual sight, before we can behold spiritual things: which every natural man being destitute of, he can see no comeliness in Christ, why he should be desired; nor any amiableness in religion, why it should be embraced.
And hence it is, that I believe, the first work that God puts
forth upon the soul in order to its conversion, is, to raise up a spiritual light
within it, to clear up its apprehensions about spiritual matters, so as to enable
the soul to look upon God as the chiefest good, and the enjoyment of him as the
But this is not all the work that God hath to do upon a sinful
soul, to bring it to himself; for though I must confess that in natural things,
the will always follows the ultimate dictates of the understanding, so as to choose
and embrace what the understanding represents to it, under the comely dress of good
and amiable, and to refuse and abhor whatever, under the same representation, appears
to be evil and dangerous; I say, though I must confess, it is so in natural, yet
I believe, it is not so in spiritual matters. For, though the understanding may
hare never such clear apprehensions of spiritual good, yet the will is not at all
affected with it, without the joint operations of the grace of God upon us; all
of us too sadly experiencing what St. Paul long ago bewailed in himself, that
‘what we do, we allow not,’
And the reason of it is, because, as by our fall from God, the whole soul was desperately corrupted; so it is not the rectifying of one faculty, which can make the whole straight; but as the whole was changed from holiness to sin, so must the whole be changed again from sin to holiness, before it can be inserted into a state of grace, or so much as an act of grace to be exerted by it.
Now, therefore, the understanding and will being two distinct faculties, or, at least two distinct acts in the soul, it is impossible for the understanding to be so enlightened, as to prefer the good before the evil, and yet for the will to remain so corrupt, as to choose the evil before the good. And hence it is, that where God intends to work over a soul to himself, he doth not only pass an enlightening act upon the understanding and its apprehensions, but likewise a sanctifying act upon the will and its affections, that when the soul perceives the glory of God, and the beauty of holiness, it may presently close with, and entertain it with the choicest of its affections. And without God’s thus drawing it, the understanding could never allure the soul to good.
And therefore it is, that for all the clear discoveries which
the understanding may make to itself concerning the glories of the invisible world,
yet God assures us, it is himself alone that affects the soul with them, by inclining
its will to them: for it is God ‘which worketh in us both to will and to do of
his good pleasure.’
I am sure, to say none shall be saved, but those that will of themselves, would be sad news for me, whose will is naturally so backward to every thing that is good. But this is my comfort, I am as certain, my salvation is of God, as I am certain it cannot be of myself. It is Christ who vouchsafed to die for me, who hath likewise promised to live within me: it is he that will work all my works, Moth for me and in me too. In a word, it is to him I am beholden, not only for my spiritual blessings and enjoyments, but even for my temporal ones too, which, in and through his name, I daily put up my petitions for. So that I have not so much as a morsel of bread, in mercy, from God, but only upon the account of Christ: not a drop of drink, but what flows to me in his blood. It is he that is the very blessing of all my blessings, without whom my very mercies would prove but curses, and my prosperity would but work my ruin.
“Whither therefore, should I go, my dear and
I believe God entered into a double covenant with man, the covenant of works made with the first, and the covenant of grace made in the second Adam.
THAT the most high God should take a piece of earth, work it
up into the frame and fashion of a man, and ‘breathe into his nostrils the breath
of life,’ and then should enter into a covenant with it, and should say, ‘Do this
and live,’ when man was bound to do it, whether he could live by it or no, was without
doubt, a great and amazing act of I love and condescension; but that, when this
covenant was unhappily broken by the first, God should instantly vouchsafe to renew
it in the second Adam; and that too upon better terms, and more easy conditions
than the former, was yet a more surprising mercy; for the same day that Adam eat
the forbidden fruit did God make him this promise, that ‘the seed of the woman should
A covenant so gracious and condescending, that it seems to be
made up of nothing else but promises. The first was, properly speaking, a covenant
of works, requiring on man’s part a perfect and unsinning obedience, without any
extraordinary grace or assistance from God to enable him to perform it; but here,
in the second, God undertakes both for himself and for man too, having digested
the conditions to be performed by us, into promises, to be fulfilled by himself,
viz. that he will not only pardon our sins, if we do repent, but that he will give
us repentance, that so we may deserve his pardon; that he will not only give us
life, if we come to Christ, but even draw us to Christ, that so he may give us life;
and so not only make us happy, if we will be holy, but make us holy, that so we
may be happy: for the covenant is, not that he will be our God, if we will be his
people, but he will be our God, and we shall he his people. But still, all this
is in and through Christ, the surety and mediator of this covenant, in whom all
the ‘promises are yea and amen,’
What therefore though I can do nothing in this covenant of myself? yet this is my comfort, that he hath undertaken for me, who can do all things. And therefore it is called a covenant of grace, and not of works, because in it there is no work required from me, but what, by grace, I shall be enabled to perform.
And as for the tenor in which this covenant runs, or the Habendum, and grant which each party covenants for, it is express in these words, ‘I will be your God, and you shall be my people;’ God covenants with us, that we shall be his people, we covenant with God, that he shall be our God. And what can God stipulate more to us, or we stipulate more to him than this? What doth not God promise to us, when he promises to be our God? and what doth he not require from us, when he requires us to be his people.
First, He doth not say, I will be your hope, your help, your
light, your life, your sun, your shield, and your exceeding great reward; but I will
be your God, which is ten thousand times more than possibly can be couched under
any other expressions whatsoever, as containing under it whatsoever God is, whatsover
God hath, and whatsoever God can do. All his essential attributes are still engaged
for us; we may lay claim to them, and take hold on them: so that what the prophet
saith of his righteousness and strength, ‘surely shall one say, in the
As for example; hath he a Son? He hath died for me. Hath he
a Spirit? It shall live within me. Is earth his? It shall be my provision. Is
heaven his? It shall be my portion. Hath he angels? They shall guard me. Hath
he comforts? They shall support me. Hath he grace? That shall make me holy. Hath
he glory? That shall make me happy. For the Lord will
And as he is nothing but what he is unto us, so he doth nothing
but what he doth for us. So that whatsoever God doth by his ordinary providence,
or (if our necessity requires) whatsoever he can do by his extraordinary power,
I may be sure, he doth and will do for me. Now he hath given himself to me, and
taken me unto himself, what will he not do for me that he can? And what can he
not do for me that he will? Do I want food? God can drop down manna from the clouds,
or bid the quails come down and feed me with their own flesh, as they did the Israelites;
And as in God’s giving himself, he hath given whatsoever he is, and whatsoever he hath unto me, and will do whatsoever he can do for me; so in my giving myself to him, whatsoever I have, I am to give to him, and whatsoever I do I am to do for him. But now, though we should thus wholly give up ourselves to God, and do whatsoever he requires of us, (which none, I fear, without some degree of presumption, can say he has done,) yet I there is an infinite disproportion between the grant I on God’s part, and that on ours, in that he is God, and we but creatures, ‘the workmanship of his own hands,’ to whom it was our duty to give ourselves, whether he had ever given himself to us or no: he is ours by covenant only, not by nature; we are his both by covenant and nature too.
Hence we may infer, that it is not only our duty to do what he hath commanded us, because he hath said, ‘Do this and live;’ but because he hath said, ‘Do this;’ yea, though he should say, Do this and die, it would still be our duty to do it, because we are his, wholly of his making, and therefore wholly at his disposing; insomuch that should he put me upon the doing that which would inevitably bring ruin upon me, I am not to neglect obeying him for fear of destroying myself, his will and pleasure being infinitely to be preferred before my life and salvation.
But, if it were my duty to obey his commands, though I should
die for it, how much more when he hath promised, I shall live by it? Nay, I shall
not only live, if I obey him, but my obedience itself shall be my life and happiness;
for if I be obedient unto him, he is pleased to account himself as glorified by
me; ‘for herein is my Father glorified, if ye bring forth much fruit.’
As for the grant, therefore, in the covenant of grace; I believe
it to be the same on our parts,
This, therefore, being the tenor of this covenant of grace, it follows, that I am none of my own, but wholly God’s: I am his by creation, and his by redemption, and, therefore, ought to be his by conversion. Why, therefore, should I live any longer to myself, who am not my own but God’s? And why should I grudge to give myself to him, who did not grudge to give himself for me? or rather, why should I steal myself from him, who have already given myself to him? But did I say, I have given myself to my God? Alas! it is but the restoring myself to him, whose I was ever since I had a being, and to whom I am still infinitely more engaged, than I can thus cordially engage myself to him; for, as I am not my own, but his, so the very giving of myself to him, is not from myself, but from him. I could not have given myself to him, had he not first given himself to me, and even wrought my mind into this resolution of giving myself to him.
But, having thus solemnly by covenant given myself to him, how doth it behove me to improve myself for him; my soul is his, my body his, my parts his, my gifts his, my graces his, and whatsoever is mine, is his; for, without him I could not have been, and therefore could have nothing. So that I have no more cause to be proud of any thing I have, or am, than a page hath to be proud of his fine clothes, which are not his, but his master’s; who bestows all his finery upon him, not for his page’s honour or credit, but for his own.
And thus it is with the best of us, in respect of
Having, therefore, thus wholly surrendered and given up myself to God, so long as it shall please his majesty to entrust me with myself, to lend me my being in the lower world, or to put any thing else into my hands, as time, health, strength, parts or the like; I am resolved, by his grace, to lay out all for his glory. All the faculties of my soul, as I have given them to him, so will I endeavour to improve them for him; they shall still be at his most noble service; my understanding shall be his, to know him; my will his, to choose him; my affections his, to embrace him; and all the members of my body shall act in subserviency to him.
And thus, having given myself to God on earth, I hope God in a short time will take me to himself in heaven: where, as I give myself to him in time, he will give himself to me unto all eternity.
I believe, that as God entered into a covenant of grace with us, so hath he signed this covenant to us by a double seal, baptism and the Lord’s supper.
As the covenant of works had two sacraments, viz. ‘the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil;’ the first signifying and sealing life and happiness to the performance, the other death and misery to the breach of it: so the covenant of grace was likewise sealed with two typical sacraments, circumcision and the passover. The former was annexed at God’s first making his covenant with Abraham’s person; the other was added, at his fulfilling the promises of it, to his seed or posterity, which were therefore styled, ‘the promised seed.’ But these being only typical of the true and spiritual sacraments, that were afterwards to take place upon the coming of the Messiah, there were then, ‘in the fulness of time,’ two other sacraments substituted in their stead, viz. baptism and the supper of the Lord. And these sacraments were both correspondent to the types by which they were represented.
As to the first, viz. circumcision, whether I consider the time
of conferring it, or the end of its institution, I find it exactly answers to the
sacrament of baptism in both these respects. For, as the children under the law
were to be circumcised in their infancy, at eight days old; so are the children
under the gospel to be baptized in their infancy
Not that I think it necessary, that all parents should be endued
with what we call a saving faith, to entitle their children to these privileges
(for then none but the children of such who have the Spirit of Christ truly implanted
in them, would be qualified to partake of the covenant) but even such, who by an
outward historical faith have taken the name of Christ upon them, are by that means
in covenant with God, and so accounted holy in respect of their profession, whatever
they may be in point of practice.
And therefore, though the seal be changed, yet the covenant privileges, wherewith the parties stipulating unto God were before invested, are no whit altered or diminished; believers children being as really confederates with their parents, in the covenant of grace now, as they were before under the .Jewish administration of it. And this seems to be altogether necessary; for otherwise, infants should he invested with privileges under the type, and be deprived of, or excluded from them, under the more perfect accomplishment of the same covenant in the thing typified; and so the dispensations of God’s grace would be more strait and narrow since, than they were before the coming of our Saviour, which I look upon to be no less than blasphemy to assert.
And, upon this ground, I believe, it is as really the duty of
Christians to baptize their children now, as ever it was the duty of the Israelites
to circumcise theirs; and therefore St. Peter’s question, ‘Can any man forbid
water, that these should not he baptized, who have received the Holy Ghost as
well as we?’
As for a command for infant baptism, I believe, that the same
law that enjoined circumcision to the Jewish, enjoins baptism likewise to Christian
children, there being the same reason for both. The reason why the Jewish children
were to be circumcised, was because they were Jewish children, horn of such as professed
the true worship of God, and were in covenant with him; and there is the same reason
why Christian children are to be baptized, even because they are Christian children,
born of such as profess the true worship of the. same God, and are confederates
in the same covenant
But why should it be supposed, that there is no command in the
New Testament for infant baptism? There are several texts that seem to imply its
being practised in the first preaching of the gospel, as particularly in the case
of Lydia and the keeper of the prison,
And this is the sense that all the ancient translations agree in: nor, indeed, will the text itself bear any other;
especially, not that of teaching; for, though the apostles should have taught
all nations, yet they were not presently to baptize them unless they became disciples,
and professors of the , doctrine that they were taught. A man may be taught the
doctrine of the gospel, and yet not believe it; and even though he should believe,
yet unless he openly profess his faith in it, he ought not presently to be baptized.
For, without this outward profession, the very professing of Christ cannot entitle a man to this privilege before men, though
it doth before God; because we cannot know how any one stands affected towards
Christ, but only by his outward profession of him. It is the inward profession of
Christ’s person that entitles
Now, as it was in the Jewish church, when any one became a proselyte,
not only himself, but whatsoever children he had, were to be circumcised; so in
the church of Christ, whensoever any person is brought over into the profession
of the Christian religion, his seed are equally invested with the outward privileges
of it with himself, though they be not as yet come to years of discretion, nor able;
of themselves, to make their profession of that religion they are to be received
and baptized into. For, so long as children are in their infancy, they are (as I
before observed) looked upon as parts of their parents, and are therefore accounted
holy, by the
And hence it is, that I verily believe, that in the commission which our Saviour gave to his apostles, to ‘disciple and baptize all nations,’ he meant, that they should preach the gospel in all nations, and thereby bring over all persons of understanding and discretion to the profession of his name, and in them, their children; and to ingraft both root and branch into himself, the true vine, by baptizing both parents and children in the ‘name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.’
The main objection against this is, that infants are not in a
capacity either to learn and understand their duty in this covenant, or to stipulate,
and promise for their future performance of the conditions of it. But this difficulty
is easily removed, when I consider, that it is not by virtue of their own faith
and knowledge, but that of their parents; that they are admitted to this sacrament; nor is it required that they should stipulate or promise in their own persons,
but by their god-fathers or sponsors, who enter into this engagement for them, and
oblige them, when they come to age, to take it upon themselves; which accordingly
they do. And this engagement by prosy, does as effectually bind them to the performance
of the conditions, as if they were actually in a capacity to
And, as baptism thus comes in the place of the Jews’ circumcision,
so doth our Lord’s supper answer to their passover. Their paschal lamb represented
our Saviour Christ, and the sacrificing it the shedding of his blood upon the cross; and as the passover was the memorial of the Israelites’ redemption from Egypt’s
bondage,
So that, I believe, this sacrament of the Lord’s supper under
the gospel, succeeds to the rite of sacrificing under the law; and is properly
called the Christian sacrifice, as representing the sacrifice of Christ upon the
cross. And the end of both is the same: for, as the sacrifices under the law were
designed as a propitiation or ‘atonement for sins,’ by transferring the punishment
from the offerer to the thing offered, which is therefore called ‘the accursed thing.’
And as the end of both institutions was the same, so they were both equally extended. The paschal lamb was ordered for all the congregation of Israel, and so is the sacrament of the Lord’s supper to be administered to all the faithful people in Christ, that do not exclude themselves from it. And for this reason, I believe, that as all the congregation of Israel was to eat the passover, so is all the society of Christians to receive the Lord’s supper; those only to be excepted, who are altogether ignorant of the nature of that covenant it seals, or openly and scandalously guilty of the breach of the conditions it requires.
But why, say some, should there be any exception? Did not Christ
die for all mankind? And is not that death said to be a ‘full, perfect, and sufficient
sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world?’ All this
is true, but it does not from hence follow, that all men must be actually saved
and absolved from their sins, by virtue of his death. No, it is only they who apply
to themselves the merit of his passion, by partaking duly of this holy sacrament,
which is the proper means by which these blessings are conveyed to us, ‘whereby we
are sealed to the day of redemption.’ I say, duly, because though this sacrament
was ordained for all, yet all will not make themselves worthy of it; and those
that are not so, are so far from reaping any benefit from it, that, as the
apostle says, ‘they eat and drink their own damnation, not discerning the Lord’s
body,’
First, That I should examine, confess, and bewail my sins before God, with a true sense of, and sorrow for them; and taking firm resolutions for the time to come, utterly to relinquish and forsake them, solemnly engage myself in a new and truly Christian course of life.
Secondly, That I should he in perfect charity with all men; e. that I should heartily forgive those who have any ways injured or offended me; and make restitution or satisfaction to such whom I have, in any respect, injured or offended myself.
Thirdly, That I should, with an humble and obedient heart, exercise the acts of faith, and love, and devotion, during the celebration of that holy mystery; and express the sense I have of this mystery; by devout praises and thanksgivings for the great mercies and favours that God vouchsafes to me therein; and by all the ways and measures of charity that he has prescribed, manifest my love and beneficence to my Christian brethren.
These are the proper graces, this the wedding-garment that every true Christian, who comes to be a guest at this holy supper, ought to be clothed and invested with.
“Do thou, O blessed Jesus, adorn me with this holy robe, and
inspire my soul with such heavenly qualities and dispositions as these; and then
See further, Treatise of the Sacrament.
I believe that after a short separation, my soul and body shall be united together again, in order to appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, and be finally sentenced according to my deserts.
I KNOW this body, which, for the present, I am tied to, is nothing
else but a piece of clay, made up into the frame and fashion of man; and therefore,
as it was first taken from the dust, so shall it return to dust again: but then
I believe, on the other hand, that it shall be as really raised from the earth,
as ever it shall be carried to it; yea, though perhaps it may go through a hundred,
or a thousand changes, before that day come. There are, I confess, some points in
this article, which are hardly to be solved by human reason; but, I believe, there
are none so difficult, but what may be reconciled by a divine faith: though it
be too hard for me to know, yet it is not too hard for God to do. He that should
have told me some years ago, that my body then was, or should be a mixture
of particles fetched from so many parts of the world, and undergo so many changes
and alterations, as to become
And this article of my faith, I believe, is not only grounded
upon, but may, even by the force of’ reason, be deduced from, the principles of
justice and equity; justice requiring that they who are co-partners in vice and
virtue, should be co-partners also in punishments and rewards. There is scarce a
sin a man commits, but his body lath a share in it; for though the sin committed
would not be a sin without the soul, yet it could not he committed without the body; the sinfulness of it depends upon the former, but the commission of it may lawfully
be charged upon the latter: the body could not sin, if the soul did not consent;
nor could the soul sin, especially so oft, if the body did not tempt to it. And
this is particularly observable in the sins of adultery, drunkenness and gluttony,
which the soul of itself cannot commit, neither would it ever consent unto them,
did not the prevalent humours of the body, as it, were, force it to
Neither is the body only partner with the soul in these grosser sins; but even the more spiritual sins, which seem to be most abstracted from the temperature of the body, as if they depended only upon the privity and corruption of the soul: I say, even these are partly to be ascribed to the body. For instance, an atheistical thought, which, one would think, was to be laid upon the soul, because the thought takes its rise from thence; yet if we seriously weigh and consider the matter, we shall find, that it is usually the sinful affections of the body that thus debauch the mind into these blasphemous thoughts; and that it is the pleasures of sense that first suggested them to us, and raise them in us. And this appears, in that there was no person that ever was, or indeed ever can be, an atheist at all times; but such thoughts spring up in the fountain of the soul, only when mudded with fleshly pleasures. And thus it is in most other sins; the carnal appetite having gotten the reins into his hand, it misleads the reason, and hurries the soul, wheresoever it pleaseth. And, what then can be more reasonable, than that the body should be punished, both for its usurping the soul’s prerogative, and for its tyrannizing so much over that, which, at the first, it was made to be subject to?
But further, it is the body that enjoys the pleasure, and
therefore, good reason, that the body should likewise bear the punishment of the
sin. Indeed, I cannot perceive, how it can stand with the principles of justice,
but that the body, which
Hence it is, that though the Scriptures had been silent in this
point, yet methinks I could not but have believed; how much more firm and steadfast,
then, ought I to be in my faith, when truth itself hath been pleased so expressly
to affirm it? For thus saith the Lord of hosts, ‘Thy dead men shall live, together
with my dead body shall they arise.’
And, as I believe my body shall he thus raised from the grave, so I believe the other part of me, my soul, shall never be carried to it; I mean it shall never die, but shall be as much, yea, more alive, when I am dying, than it is now; so much my soul shall be the more active in itself, by how much it is less tied and subjected to the body.
And further I believe, that so soon as ever my breath is out
of my nostrils, my soul shall remove her lodging into the other world, there to
live as really to eternity, as I now live here in time. Yea, I am more certain,
that my soul shall ‘return to God who gave it,’ than that my body shall return to
the earth, out of which I had it. For I know, it is possible my body may be made
immortal, but I am sure my soul shall never be mortal. I know, that at the first,
the body did equally participate of immortality with the soul, and that had not
sin made the divorce, they had lived together, like loving mates, to all eternity.
And I dare not affirm that Enoch and Elias underwent the common fate; or, suppose
they did, yet, sure I am, the time will come, when thousands of men and women shall
not he dissolved and die, but be immediately changed and caught up into heaven,
or to their eternal confusion, thrust down into hell; whose bodies, therefore, shall
undergo no such thing as rotting in the
Not that I think my soul must always live, in despite of omnipotence
itself, as if it was not in the power of the Almighty, to take my being and existence
from me; for I know, I am but a potsherd in the potter’s hands, and that it is
as easy for him to dash me in pieces now, as it was to raise it up at the first.
I believe, it is as easy for him to command my soul out of its being, as out of
its body; and to send me back into my mother’s nothing, out of whose womb he took
me, as it was at first to fetch me thence. I know he could do it, if he would, but
himself hath said, he will not, and therefore, I am sure, he cannot do it; and that,
not because he hath not power, but because he hath not will to do it; it being
impossible for him to do that which he doth not will to do. And that it is not
his will or pleasure even to annihilate my soul, I have it under his own hand, that
my ‘dust shall return to the earth as it was; and my spirit
Thus, likewise, hath it pleased his sacred Majesty to assure
me, that if ‘our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a
building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens,’
The day and place being appointed by the King of kings, the glorious
Majesty of heaven, and Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ, who long ago received
his commission from the Father to be the ‘judge of the quick and dead,’
Things being thus set in order, the judge shall read his commission, i. e. declare and manifest himself to be the judge of all the earth, sent by the God of heaven to judge them that had condemned him, and, in that very body, that was once crucified upon the cross, at Jerusalem, for our sins. So that all the world shall then behold him shining in all his glory and majesty, and shall acknowledge him to be now, what they would not believe him to be before, even both God and man, and so the judge of all the world from whom there can he no appeal.
And having thus declared his commission, I believe the first
work he will go upon, will be to open the book of God’s remembrance, and to cause
all the indictments to be read, that are there found on record against those on
his right hand; but behold, all the black lines of their sins being blotted out,
with the red lines of their Saviour’s blood, and nothing but their good works, their
prayers, their sermons, their meditations, their alms and the like, to be found
there; the righteous judge, before whom they stand, turning himself before them,
with a serene and smiling countenance, will declare to them before all the world,
that their sins are pardoned, and their persons accepted by him, as having believed
in him; and therefore will he immediately proceed to pronounce the happy sentence
of election on them, saying, ‘Come, ye
The sentence being thus pronounced, the righteous (and I hope myself amongst the rest) shall go up with shouts of joy and triumph, to sit with our blessed Redeemer, to judge the other parts of the world, who sit at the left hand of the tribunal, with ghastly countenances and trembling hearts, to receive their last and dreadful doom. Against these all the sins that they committed, or were guilty of, shall be brought up in judgment against them, as they are found on record in the book of God’s remembrance, and the indictments read against every particular person, high or low, for every particular sin, great or small which they have committed.
And the truth of this indictment shall be attested by their own consciences, crying, Guilty, guilty; I say, by their own consciences, which are as a thousand witnesses: yea, and by the omniscience of God too, which is as a thousand consciences. And therefore, without any further delay, shall the judge proceed to pronounce the sentence, the doleful sentence of condemnation upon them, Depart ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’
This, I believe, or such like, will be the method of Christ’s proceeding with us in that great and terrible day of trial and retribution.
“Oh! may those awful thoughts and ideas of it always accompany
me, and strike such a deep and lively impression upon my heart, in every action
of life, as to deter me from offending this just and Almighty being, in whose power
it is to
I believe there are two other worlds, besides this I live in; a world of misery for unrepenting sinners, and a world of glory for believing saints.
WHEN death hath opened the cage of flesh, wherein the soul is penned up, whither it flies, or how it subsists, I think it not easy to determine, or indeed to conceive. As for the Platonic aërial and etherial vehicles, succeeding this terrestrial one, I find neither mention of, nor warrant for them, in the word of God. And, indeed, to suppose that a spiritual substance cannot subsist of itself, without being supported by a corporeal vehicle, is, in my opinion, too gross a conceit for any philosopher, much more for one that professes himself a divine, to advance or entertain. Only this I am sure of, that according to the distinction of lives here into good or bad, and the sentence passed upon all hereafter, of absolution or condemnation, there will be a twofold receptacle for the souls of men, the one of happiness, and the other of misery.
As to the first, I believe, that at the great and general assizes
of the world, there will be a glorious entrance opened for the righteous into the
holy of holies, the seat and fountain of all bliss and happiness, where they shall
draw nigh to the most high God, ‘behold his presence in righteousness,’ and reign
with him for ever in glory, where they shall see him ‘face to face,’
But oh! what a rare soul shall I then have, when it shall be extended to every thing that ever was, or ever could have been! What a happy creature shall I then be, when I shall know, and so enjoy him that is all things in himself! What can a creature desire more? yea, what more can a creature be made capable of enjoying or desiring! And that which always will accompany this our knowledge and enjoyment, is, perfect love to what we enjoy and know, without which we should take pleasure in nothing, though we should have all things to take pleasure in. But who will be able not to love the chiefest good, that knows and enjoys him, and therefore enjoys him because he knows him? Questionless, in heaven, as I shall enjoy whatsoever I can love, so shall I love what- soever I enjoy. And this, therefore, I believe to be the perfection of my happiness, and the happiness of my perfection, in the other world; that I shall perfectly know and love, and so, perfectly enjoy and rejoice in the most high God; and shall be, as known, so perfectly loved, and rejoiced in him. And questionless, for all our shallow apprehensions and low estimations of these things now, they cannot choose but be vast and unconceivable pleasures, too great for any creature to enjoy whilst here below.
If we have but the least drop of these pleasures distilled into
us here upon earth, how strangely do they make us, as it were, beside ourselves,
by
As to the other state, viz. that of the wicked in another life,
I believe, it will be as exquisitely miserable and wretched, as that of the righteous
is happy and glorious. They will be ‘driven for ever from the presence of the Lord,’
from those bright and blessed regions above, where ‘Christ sits at the right hand
of God,’ to those dark and dismal
What sort of torments or punishment they are there to undergo, I am as unable to express, as I am unwilling ever to experience; but according to the notions which Scripture and reason give me of these matters, I believe they will he twofold, viz. 1. Privative, and, 2. Positive, that is, the wicked will not only be deprived of all that is good and happy, but actually condemned to all that is evil and miserable; and this in the most transcendent degree.
The first part of their punishment will consist in envious melancholy, and self-condemning reflections upon their having defeated and deprived themselves, not only of their carnal mirth and sensual enjoyments, their friends, fortunes, and estates in this world; but also of all the infinite joys and glories of the next, the presence of God, the society of saints and angels, and all the refreshing and ravishing delights which flow from the fruition of the chiefest good. And what adds yet further to their anguish and remorse, is that they have lost the hopes of ever regaining any of these enjoyments.
Oh! how infinitely tormenting and vexatious must such a condition be, which at once gives them a view both of the greatest happiness and the greatest misery, without the least hopes either of recovering the one, or being delivered from the other! How must they tear, torment, and curse themselves for their former follies; and too late wish that they had been stifled in the womb, or drowned in the font which was to be their second birth?
And, if the late privation of heaven and happiness be so miserable and tormenting, how will it rack their consciences, and fill their souls with horror and amazement, to behold the eternal God, the glorious Jehovah, in the fierceness of his wrath, continually threatening to pour out his vengeance upon them! how much more, when he positively consigns them over to the power of the devil, to execute his judgment in full measure! when they are gnawed upon by the worm of their own consciences, feel the wrath of the Almighty flaming in their hearts, and fire and brimstone their continual torture! and all this without the least alloy or mixture of refreshment, or the least hopes of ending or cessation.
In a word, when they have nothing else to expect but misery for their portion, weeping and wailing for their constant employment, and the devil and damned fiends their only companions to all eternity: and this is that world of misery, which all that will not be persuaded to believe in Christ here, must be doomed for ever to live in hereafter.
I know the subjects of this article were never the objects of my sight, though they are of my faith. I never yet saw heaven or
hell, the places I am now speaking
of; but why should my faith be staggered or diminished because of that; I never
saw Rome, Constantinople, or the flaming Sicilian hill, Etna, yet I believe there
is such a burning mountain, and such glorious cities; because others who have been
there, have told me so, and faithful writers have related and described them to
me, and shall I believe my fellow-worms, and not my great Creator, who is truth
itself? What though I
I know my senses are fallible, and therefore may deceive me, but my God, I am sure, cannot. And therefore let others raise doubts and scruples as they please, I am as fully satisfied and convinced of the truth of this article, as any of the rest.
“Do thou, O my God, keep me steadfast in this faith, and give me grace so to fit and prepare myself to appear before thee, in the white robes of purity and holiness in another world, that whenever my dissolution comes, I may cheerfully resign my spirit into the hands of my Creator and Redeemer; and from this crazy house of clay, take my flight into the mansions of glory; ‘where Christ sits at the right hand of God;’ and with the joyful choir of saints and angels, and the blessed spirits of ‘just men made perfect,’ chant forth thy praises to all eternity.”
As obedience without faith is impossible, so faith without obedience
is vain and unprofitable: ‘For as the body,’ says St. James, ‘without the spirit
is dead, so faith without good works is dead also.’
In order, therefore, to qualify myself for this happiness, it will be necessary for me to settle firm and steady Resolutions, to fulfil my duty, in all the several branches of it, to God, my neighbour, and myself; and to take care these Resolutions be put in practice according to the following method.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to walk by rule, and therefore think it necessary to resolve upon the rules to walk by.
AND this rather, because I perceive the want of such rules has
been the occasion of all, or most of my miscarriages. For, what other reason can
I assign to myself; for having trifled and slimed away so much time, as I have done
in my younger years, but because I did not thoroughly resolve to spend it better? What is the reason I have hitherto lived so unserviceably to God, so unprofitably
to others, and so sinfully against my own soul, but because I did not apply myself
with that sincerity of resolution, diligence, and circumspection, as a wise man
ought to have done, to discharge my duty in these particulars? I have, indeed,
often resolved to bid adieu to my sins and follies, and to enter upon a new course
of life; but these resolutions being not rightly formed upon steady principles,
the first temptation made way for a relapse, and the same bait that first allured
me, has no sooner been thrown in my way, but I have been as ready to catch at it
again, and as greedy to swallow it, as ever. At other times again, I have acted
without any thought or resolution at all; and then, though some of my actions might
be good in themselves, yet being done by chance, and without any true design or
intention, they could not be imputed to me as good, but rather the quite contrary: so that, in this respect, the want of resolution has not only been the occasion
of my sinful actions, but
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to make the Divine Word the rule of all the rules I propose to myself.
As the will of God is the rule and measure of all that is good,
so there is nothing deserves that name, but what is agreeable and conformable thereto:
and this will being fully revealed and contained in the holy Scripture, it will
be necessary for me, in directing my course over the ocean of this world, that I
should fix my eye continually upon this star, steer by this compass, and make it
the only landmark, by which I am to be guided to my wished-for haven. I must not,
therefore, have recourse to the inward workings of my own roving fancy, or the corrupt
dictates of my own carnal reason: these are but blind guides, and will certainly
lead me into the ditch of error, heresy, and irreligion, which in these our self-admiring
days, so many
I am resolved, that as I am not able to think or do any thing that is good, without the influence of the divine grace; so I will not pretend to merit any favour from God, upon account of any thing I do for his glory and service.
AND indeed I may very well put this resolution amongst the rest; for should I resolve to perform my resolutions by mine own strength, I might as well resolve never to perform them at all: for truth itself, and mine own woeful experience hath convinced me, that I am not able of myself, so much as to think a good thought; and how then shall I be able of myself, to resolve upon rules of holiness according to the word of God, or to order my conversation according to these resolutions, without the concurrence of the divine grace? Alas! should the great God be pleased to leave me to myself to resolve upon what is agreeable to my corrupt nature, what strange kind of resolutions should I make? What should I resolve upon? Certainly, only nothing but to gratify my carnal appetite with sensual and sinful pleasures, to indulge myself in riot and excess, to spend my time, and revel out my parts and talents, in the revels of sin and vanity. But now, ‘to live holily, righteously, and godly in this present world,’ to deny my own will, that I may fulfil the will of God; alas! such resolutions as these would never so much as come into my thoughts, much less would they discover themselves in my outward conversation.
But suppose I should be able to make good resolutions,
But if so, then whither tend my resolutions? Why so strict,
so circumspect a conversation? Why, it is to justify that faith before others,
and mine own conscience, which I hope, through Christ, shall justify my soul before
God. And I believe further, that the holier I live here, the happier I shall live
hereafter; for though I shall not be saved for my works, yet I believe I shall be
saved according to them. And thus, as I dare not expect to be saved by the performance
of my resolutions without Christ’s merit, so neither do I ever expect
No, “it is thyself, my God, and my guide, that I wholly and solely depend upon! Oh! for thine own sake, for thy Son’s sake, and for thy promise sake, do thou both make me to know what thou wouldst have me to do, and then help me to do what thou wouldst have me to know! Teach me first what to resolve upon, and then enable me to perform my resolutions; that I may walk with thee in the ways of holiness here, and rest with thee in the joys of happiness hereafter!”
HAVING thus far determined in general, to form resolutions for
the better regulating of my life, I must now descend to particulars, and settle
some rules with myself, to resolve my future life and conversation wholly into holiness
and religion. I know this is a hard task to do; but I am sure, it is no more than
what my God and my Father has set me; why therefore should I think much to do it? Shall I grudge to spend my life for him, who did not grudge to spend his own blood
for me? Shall not I so live that he may be glorified here on earth, who died that
I might be glorified in heaven, especially considering, that if my whole
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to make Christ the pattern of my life here, that so Christ may be the portion of my soul hereafter.
LET the whole world go whither it will, I am resolved to
walk in the steps that my Saviour went in before me: I shall endeavour in all
places I come into, in all companies I converse with, in all the duties I
undertake, in all the miseries I undergo, still to behave myself as my Saviour
would do, were he in my place. So that wheresoever I am, or whatsoever I am
about, I shall still put this question to myself, Would my Saviour go hither?
I am resolved, by (he grace of God, to walk by, faith, and not by sight, on earth, that so I may live by sight, and not by faith, in heaven.
AND truly, this resolution is so necessary to the performance
of all the rest, that without it I can do nothing, with it I can do every thing
that is required. The reason why I am so much taken with the garnish and seeming
beauty of this world’s vanities, so as to step out of the road of holiness to catch
at. or delight myself in them, is only because I look upon them with an eye of sense.
For could I behold every thing with the eye of faith, I should
And, oh, could I but always look through this glass, and be constantly
upon the mount, taking a view of the land of Canaan, what dreams and shadows would
all things here below appear to be? Well, by the grace of God, I am resolved no
longer to tie myself to sense and sight, the sordid and trifling affairs of this
life, but always to walk as one of the other world, to behave myself in all places,
and at all times, as one already possessed of my inheritance, and an inhabitant
of the New
By this means, I shall always live, as if I was daily to die; always speak, as if my tongue, the next moment, were to cleave to the roof of my mouth: and continually order my thoughts and affections in such a manner, as if my soul were just ready to depart, and take its flight into the other world. By this means, whatsoever place I am in, or whatsoever work I am about, I shall still be with my God, and demean myself so, as if, with St. Jerome, I heard the voice of the trumpet crying out, “Awake, ye dead, and come to judgment.”
And thus, though I am at present here in the flesh, yet I shall
look upon myself as more really an inhabitant of heaven, than I am upon earth. Here
I am but as a pilgrim, or a sojourner, that has ‘no abiding city;’ but there I have
a sure and everlasting inheritance, which Christ has purchased and prepared for
me, and which faith has given me the possession of. And, therefore, as it is my
duty, so I will constantly make it my endeavour, to live up to the character of
a true Christian, whose portion and conversation is in heaven, and think it a disgrace
and disparagement to my profession, to stoop to, or entangle myself with such toys
and trifles as the men of the world busy themselves about; or to feed upon husks
with swine here below, when it is in my power, by faith, to be continually
supplied with spiritual manna from heaven,
1 am resolved, by the grace of God, always to be looking upon God, as always looking upon me.
WHERESOEVER I am, or whatsoever I am doing, I must still consider the eye of the great God as directly intent upon me, viewing and observing all my thoughts, words, and actions, and writing them down in the book of his remembrance, and that all these, unless they be washed out with the tears of repentance, and crossed with the blood of my crucified Saviour, must still remain on record, and be brought in judgment against me at the great day. That therefore, I may always behave myself as in his presence, it behoves me thoroughly to consider, and be persuaded, not only that my outward man, but even also, the secret thoughts, the inward motions and retirements of my soul, all the several windings and turnings of my heart, are exactly known and manifest, as anatomized before him. He knows what I am now thinking, doing, and writing, as well as I do myself; yea, he sees every word whilst it is in my heart, before it be brought forth and set down. He knows all the resolutions I have made, and how often, poor creature! I have broken them already since I made them.
Upon this consideration, I resolve to stand my ground against
all temptations, and whenever I find myself in danger to be drawn aside by them,
May these thoughts and considerations always take place in my heart, and be accompanied with such happy effects in my conversation, that I may live with God upon earth, and so love and fear his presence in this world, that I may for ever enjoy his glory in the next!
BUT who am I, poor, proud, sinful dust and ashes, that I should
expect to live so holy, so heavenly, as is here supposed! ‘Can grapes be gathered
from thorns, or figs from thistles?’ Can the fruit be sweet, when the root is bitter? Or the
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to watch as much over the inward motions of my heart, as the outward actions of my life.
FOR, my heart, I perceive is the womb, in which all sin
is first conceived, and from which, my Saviour tells me, ‘proceed evil thoughts,
adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness,
an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.’
I am resolved by the grace of God to slop every thought, at its first entering into my heart, and to examine it whence it comes, and whither it tends.
So soon as ever any new thought begins to bubble in my soul,
I am resolved to examine what stamp it is of, whether it springs from the pure fountain
of living waters, or the polluted streams of my own affections; as also, which way
it tends, or takes its course, towards the ocean of happiness, or pit of destruction.
And the reason of this my resolution, I draw from the experience I have had of the
devil’s temptations, and the working of my own corruptions; by which I find that
there is no sin I am betrayed into, but what takes its rise from my inward thoughts.
These are the tempters that first present some pleasing object to my view, and then
bias my understanding, and prevent my will, to comply with the suggestion. So that,
though the Spirit of God is pleased to dart a beam into my heart at the same time,
and show me the odious and dangerous effects of such thoughts; yet I know not how
or why, I find a prevailing suggestion
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to be as fearful to let in vain, as careful to keep out sinful, thoughts.
I DO not look upon vain thoughts as only tending to sin, but
as in themselves sinful; for that which makes sin to be sin, is the want of conformity
to the will of God; and that vain thoughts are not conformable and agreeable to
the divine will, appears, in that God himself, by the mouth of his royal prophet,
expressly saith, ‘I hate vain thoughts.’
But what are these vain thoughts, I am thus resolving against? Why all wanderings and distraction in prayer, or hearing the word of God; all
useless, trifling, and impertinent thoughts, that do
Or, if I chance, at any time, to think a good while upon one thing, it is just to as much purpose as the man’s thoughts were, which I have sometimes heard of and smiled at, who having an egg in his hand, by a sort of chimerical climax, improved it into an estate; but while he was thus pleasing himself with these imaginary products, down drops the egg, and all his hens, and cattle, and house, and lands, that he had raised from it, vanished in the fall. These, and such like, are vain thoughts, that I must, for the future, endeavour to avoid; and though it will be impossible for me wholly to prevent their first entering into my mind, yet I resolve, by the grace of God, not to harbour or dwell upon, or delight myself with them. And then notwithstanding they are, in some sense, sinful, yet they will not be imputed to me as such, provided I use my utmost endeavours to avoid them. Which that I may be the better able to do,
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to be always exercising my thoughts upon good objects, that the devil may not exercise them upon bad.
THE soul being a spiritual substance, is always in action, and its proper and immediate act is thinking, which is as natural and proper to the soul, as extension is to the body: it is that upon which all the other actings of the soul are grounded; so that neither our apprehensions of, nor affections to, any object can be acted without it. And hence it is, that I think the soul is very properly defined, substantia cogitans, a thinking substance; for there is nothing else but a spirit can think, and there is no spirit but always doth think. And this I find by experience to be so true and certain, that if at any time I have endeavoured to think of nothing (as I have oftentimes done) I have spent all the time in thinking upon that very thought.
How much, therefore, doth it concern me to keep my soul in continual
exercise upon what is good; for be sure, if I do not set it on work, the devil
will; and if it do not work for God, it will work for him; I know sinful objects
arc more agreeable to a sinful soul; but I am sure, holy thoughts are more conformable
to a holy God. Why, therefore, should I spend and revel out my thoughts upon that
which will destroy my soul? No, no; I shall henceforth endeavour always to be
employing my thoughts upon something that is good: and, therefore, to have good
subjects constantly at hand to
It is, indeed, a singular advantage of that high and heavenly
calling, in which the Most High, of his wisdom and goodness, has been pleased to
place me, that all the objects we converse with, and all the subjects we exercise
our thoughts upon, are either God and heaven, or something relating to them. So
that we need not go out of our common road to meet with this heavenly company, good
thoughts. But then, I do not account every thought of God, or heaven, which only
swims in my brain, to be a good and holy thought, unless it sinks down into my heart
and affections, e. unless to my meditations of God, and another world, I join a
longing for him, a rejoicing in him, and a solacing myself in the hopes of a future
enjoyment of him. Neither will this be any hinderance, but a furtherance to my studies;
for, as I know no divine truths
This resolution, therefore, extends itself, not only to the subject-matter of my thoughts, but also to the quality of them, with regard to practice, that they may influence my life and conversation, that whether I speak, or write, or eat, or drink, or whatsoever I do, I may still season all, even my commonest actions, with heavenly meditations; there being nothing I can set my hand to, but I may likewise set my heart a working upon it. Which, accordingly I shall endeavour, by the blessing of God, to do. And, for the better ordering of my thoughts,
I am resolved, by the grace of God, so to marshal my thoughts, that they may not justly one another, nor any of them prejudice the business I am about.
MY soul being by nature swift and nimble, and by corruption
inordinate and irregular in its operations, I can never set myself to think upon
one thing, but presently another presses in, and another after that, and so on,
till by thinking of so many things at once, I can think upon nothing to any purpose.
And hence it is that I throw away thousands of
These, and such like, are the methods by which I design and resolve
to regulate my thoughts: and,
BUT whilst I am thus arranging my thoughts, I find something
of a passion or inclination within me, either drawing me to, or driving me from,
every thing 1 think on; so that I cannot so much as think upon a thought, but it
is either pleasing or displeasing to me, according to the agreeableness or disagreeableness
of the object it is placed upon, or to my natural affections, If it comes under
the pleasing dress and appearance of good, I readily choose and embrace it; if
otherwise, I am as eagerly bent to refuse and reject it. And these two acts of the
will are naturally founded in those two reigning passions of the soul, love and
hatred, which I cannot but look upon as the grounds of all its other motions and
affections. For what are those other passions of desire, hope, joy, and the like,
but love in its several postures? and what else can we conceive of fear, grief,
abhorrence, &c. but so many different expressions of hatred, according to the several
circumstances that the displeasing objects appear to be under. Doth my understanding
represent any thing to my will, under the notion of good and pleasant? My will
is presently taken and delighted
On the other hand, doth my understanding represent any object to my will, as evil, painful, or deformed? How doth it immediately shrink and gather up itself into a loathing and hatred of it! and this hatred, if the ungrateful object he present, puts on the mournful sables of grief and sorrow: if it be at any distance from it, it boils up into detestation and abhorrence; if ready to fall upon it, it shakes for fear; if difficult to be prevented, it strengthens itself with courage and magnanimity, either to conquer or undergo it. These affections, therefore, being thus the constant attendants of my thoughts, it behoves me as much to look to those as to the other, especially, when I consider, that not only my thoughts, but even my actions too, are generally determined to good or bad, accordingly as they are influenced by them. That my affections, therefore, as well as my thoughts, may be duly regulated,
I am resolved by the grace of God, always to make my affections subservient to the dictates of my understanding, that my reason may not follow, but guide my affections.
THE affections, being of themselves blind and inordinate, unless they are directed by reason and judgment, they either move towards a wrong object, or pursue the right a wrong way. And this judgment must be mature and deliberate, such as arises from a clear apprehension of the nature of the object that affects me, and a thorough consideration of the several circumstances that attend it. And great care must be taken, that I do not impose upon myself by fancy and imagination, that I do not mistake fancy for judgment, or the capricious humours of my roving imagination, for the solid dictates of a well-guided reason. For, my fancy is as wild as my affections: and, ‘if the blind lead the blind, they will both fall into the ditch.’
And, alas! how oft am I deceived in this manner! If I do but
fancy a thing good and lovely, how eager are my affections in the pursuit of it?
If I do but fancy any thing evil and hurtful to me, how doth my heart presently
rise up against it, or grieve or sorrow for it? and this, I believe hath been the
occasion of all the enormities and extravagancies I have been guilty of, through
the whole course of my past life, divesting me of my reasonable faculties, as to
the acts and exercises of them, and subjecting my soul to the powers of sense, that
I could not raise my affections above them. Thus,
And thus, poor wretch, have I been carried about with the powerful charms of sense, without having any other guide of my affections, but what is common to the very brutes that perish; fancy supplying that place in the sensitive, which reason does in the rational, soul. And, alas! what is this, but, with Nebuchadnezzar, to leave communion with men, and herd myself with the flocks of the beasts of the field? And what a shame and reproach is this to the image of God, in which I was created!
Oh! Thou, that art the author of my nature, help me, I beseech thee, to act more conformably to it, for the time to come; that I may no longer be bewildered or misled by the blind conduct of my straggling fancy; this ignis fatuus, that hurries me over bogs, and precipices to the pit of destruction, but that I may bring all my affections and actions to the standard of a sound and clear judgment; and let that judgment be guided by the unerring light of thy divine word: that so I may neither love, desire, fear, nor detest any thing, but what my judgment thus formed, tells me I ought to do.
I know it will be very hard thus to subdue my affections to the
dictates and commands of my
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to love God, as the best of goods, and to hate sin, as the worst of evils.
As God is the centre of our concupiscible affections, so sin is the object of those we call irascible; and the affections of love and hatred being the ground of all the rest, I must have a great care that I do not mistake or miscarry in them: for if these be placed upon wrong objects, it is impossible any of the rest should be placed upon right ones. In order, therefore, to prevent such a miscarriage, as God is the greatest good, and sin the greatest evil, I resolve to love God above all things else in the world, and to hate sin to the same degree; and so to love other things, only in relation to God; and to hate nothing but in reference to sin.
As for the first, the loving God above all things, there is nothing seems more reasonable, inasmuch as there is nothing lovely in any creature, but what it receives from God; and by how much the more it is like to God, by so much the more it is lovely unto us. Hence it is that beauty, or an exact symmetry and proportion of parts and colours, so attracts our love, because it so much resembles God, who is beauty and perfection itself. And hence it is likewise, that grace is the most lovely thing in the world, next to God, as being the image of God himself stamped upon the soul; nay, it is not only the image and representation, but it is the influence and communication of himself to us; so that the more we have of grace, we may safely say, so much the more we have of God within us. Why, therefore, should I grudge my love to him, who only deserves it? who is not only infinitely lovely in himself, but the author and perfection of all loveliness in his creatures; why, the true reason is, that my affections have run a gadding without my judgment, or else my judgment hath been baulked or anticipated by my fancy; whereas, now that my apprehensions of God are a little cleared up, and my judgment leads the way, though nobody sees me, yet methinks I cannot but blush at myself, that I should ever lie doting upon these dreams and shadows here below, and not fix my affections upon the infinite beauty and all-sufficiency of God above, who deserves my love and admiration so infinitely beyond them. However, therefore, I have heretofore placed my affections upon other things above God, I am now resolved to love God, not only above many, or most things, but above all things else in the world.
And here, by loving God, I do not understand that sensitive affection I place upon material objects; for it is impossible, that that should be fixed upon God, who is a pure spiritual being; but that, as by the deliberate choice of my will I take him for my chiefest good, so I ought to prefer him as such, before my nearest and clearest possessions, interests, or relations, and whatsoever else may at any time stand in competition with him.
And thus, as I shall endeavour to love God, so likewise to hate
sin, above all things: and this is as necessary as the former; for all things have
something of good in them, as they are made by God; but sin being, in its own nature,
a privation of good, and directly opposite to the nature and will of God, (as I
have before showed,) it has nothing of beauty or amiableness to recommend it to
my affections. On the contrary, it is a compound of deformity and defilement, that
is always attended with punishment and misery: and must, therefore, be the object
of my hatred and abhorrence, wheresoever I find it. For, as God is the centre of
all that is good, so is sin the fountain of all the evil in the world. All the strife
and contention, ignominy and disgrace, misfortunes and afflictions that I observe
in the world; all the diseases of my body, and infirmities of my mind; all the
errors of my understanding, and irregularities of my will and affections; in a
word, all the evils whatsoever, that I am affected with, or subject to, in this
world, are still the fruits and effects of sin: for if man had never offended the
chiefest good, he had never been subject to this train of evils which attended
his transgression. Whensoever, therefore, I find myself begin to detest and
abhor any evil, I shall, for
Having thus fixed my resolutions with regard to those two commanding passions of my soul, love and hatred;
I am resolved, by the assistance of divine grace, to make God the principal object of my joy, and sin the principal object of my grief and sorrow; so as to grieve for sin more than suffering, and for suffering only for sin’s sake.
THE affections of joy and grief are the immediate issues of love
and hatred, and, therefore, not at all to be separated in their object. Having,
therefore, resolved to love, I cannot but resolve likewise to rejoice in God above
all things; for the same measure of love I have towards any thing, the same measure
of complacency and delight I must necessarily have in the enjoyment of it. As, therefore,
I love God above all things, and other things only in subserviency to him, so much
I rejoice in God above all things, and in other things only as coming from him.
I know I not only may, but must rejoice, in the mercies and blessings that God confers
upon me; but it is still my duty to rejoice more in what God is in himself, than
in what he is pleased to communicate to me: so that I am not only bound to rejoice
in God, when I have nothing else, but when I have all things else to rejoice in.
Let therefore my riches, honours, or my friends fail me: let my pleasures, my health
and hope, and all fail me; I am still resolved, by his grace, to rejoice in the
Lord, and to joy in the God of my salvation. On the other hand, let honour or riches
be multiplied upon me; let joy and pleasure, and all that a carnal heart (like
mine) can wish for or desire, be thrown upon me; yet I am still resolved, that
as it is
And, as God shall be my chiefest joy, so shall sin be my greatest
grief; for I account no condition miserable, but that which results from, or leads
me into sin; so that when any thing befals me, which may bear the face of suffering,
and fill my heart with sorrow, I shall still endeavour to keep off the smart till
I know from whence it comes. If sin has kindled the fire of God’s wrath against
me, and brought these judgments upon me, oh! what a heavy load shall I then feel
upon my soul! and how shall I groan and complain under the burden of’ it:
but if there be nothing of the poison of sin dropped into this cup of sorrows,
though it may perhaps prove bitter to my senses, yet it will in the end prove
healthful to my soul, as being not kindled at the furnace of God’s wrath, but at
the flames of his love and affection for me. So that I am so far from having
cause to be sorry for the sufferings he brings upon me, that I have much greater
cause to rejoice in them, as being an argument of the love and affection he
bears to me; ‘For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son
whom he receiveth.’
And having thus resolved to rejoice in nothing but God, ‘and grieve
for nothing but sin, I must not be cast down and dejected at every providence which the men here
below account a loss or affliction; for, certainly, all the misery I find in any
thing extrinsical, is created by myself; nothing but what is in me being properly
an affliction to me; so that it is my fancy that is the ground of misery in all
things without myself: If I did not fancy
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to desire spiritual mercies more than. temporal; and temporal mercies only in reference to spiritual.
HAVING rectified the balance of my judgment according to the
Scripture; when I would begin to weigh temporal things with spiritual, I find there
is no proportion, and so no comparison to be made betwixt them. And will any wise
man, then, that pretends to reason, be at a stand which of these to choose, which
to esteem the best, or desire most? Alas! what is there in the world, that can
fill the vast desires of my soul, but only he who is infinitely above me and my
desires too? Will riches do it? No, I may as soon undertake to fill my barns
Come, therefore, my dear Lord and Saviour! whilst thy servant
is breathing after thee; and possess my heart with the spiritual blessings of grace
and faith, peace and charity; and let none of these empty and transient delights
of this world stand in competition with them! Thou art the source and centre of
all my wishes and desires; ‘even as
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to hope for nothing so much as the promises, and to fear nothing so much as the threatenings, of God.
MY soul being inflamed with holy desires after God, my
heart. cannot but be big with the hopes and expectations of him: and, truly, as
there is nothing that I can absolutely desire, so neither is there any thing
that [ can assuredly hope for and depend upon but God himself, and the promises
he has made to me in his divine word. For, as all things derive their being and
subsistence from him, so they are all at his beck and command, and are acted and
influenced as his wisdom and pleasure sees fit to order them. All the secondary
causes are in his hand, and he turns them which way soever he will; so that,
howsoever improbable and disproportionate the means he uses may appear to be, he
never fails to accomplish the end, or whatever he wills or decrees to be done.
And., therefore,
But suppose God should not favour me with the bright part of
his promises, but, instead of the blessings of health and prosperity, should visit
me with crosses and afflictions; yet I have still the same grounds for my hope and
confidence in him, and may say, with the psalmist, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will
not fear what the devil or man can do unto me.’ For, though their spite and malice
may sometimes cross, torment, afflict, and persecute me; yet, since I am assured
they are only as instruments in the hand of God, that cannot go beyond their commission,
nor make me suffer more than I am able to bear, I may comfort myself, under all
these afflictions, by the same divine promise that St. Paul had recourse to, on
the like occasion, to wit, ‘That all shall work together for good, to them that
love God, who are the called according to his purpose.’
And as the promises of God, upon all these accounts, are to be
the object of my hope; so are his threatenings to be of my fear and aversion; as
the former are of excellent use to raise and revive the most drooping hearts, so
the latter are of weight enough to sink and depress the stoutest and most undaunted
spirits, and make them lick up the dust of horror and despair. Not to mention any
thing of the exquisite and eternal miseries denounced against the wicked in the
next world, with which the Scriptures every where abound, there is one punishment
threatened to be inflicted here, which is, of itself, sufficient to do this; and
that is,
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to arm myself with that spiritual courage and magnanimity, as to press through all duties and difficulties whatsoever, for the advancement of God’s glory and my own happiness.
CHRISTIANITY is well termed a warfare, for a warfare it is, wherein
no danger can be prevented, no enemy conquered, no victory obtained, without much
courage and resolution. I have not only many outward enemies to grapple with, but
I have myself, my worst enemy, to encounter and subdue. As for those enemies which
are not near me, by the assistance of God’s Spirit, I can make pretty good shift
to keep them at the sword’s point: but this enemy, that is gotten within me, has
so often foiled and disarmed me, that I have reason to say, as David did of his
enemies, ‘It is too strong for me;’ and as he said of the chief of his, ‘I shall
one day fall by the hands of Saul:’ so I have too much occasion to say, I shall
fall by myself, as being myself the greatest enemy to my own spiritual interest
and concerns. How necessary is it, then, that I should raise and muster up all my
force and courage, put on my spiritual armour, and make myself strong in the Lord,
and in the power of his might? I know I must strive, before I can enter
in at the strait gate; I must win the crown, before I can wear it, and be a member
of the church militant, before I can be admitted into the church triumphant. In
a word, I must go through a solitary wilderness, and conquer many enemies,
I am resolved, by the grace of God, so to be angry, as not to sin; and, therefore, to be angry at nothing but sin.
THE former part of the resolution is founded in
the express command of St. Paul, ‘Be ye angry, and sin not.’
Now, as nothing can deserve my anger, but what is disagreeable
to my nature, and offensive to the author of it, so nothing but sin can properly
he called its object. The chief thing that I am to aim at in my actions, is the
honouring, serving, and pleasing of God; and how can I serve and please God in being
angry at any thing but what I know is displeasing to him? I may be scorned, reproached,
and vilified among my equals, or accused, condemned, and punished by my superiors;
and these are treatments that are but too apt to raise and transport men into anger
and revenge: but then, before I suffer this passion to boil up in me, I ought to consider whether I have not behaved
But, how shall I be sure to be angry at nothing but sin, and
so not to sin in my anger, when every petty trifle or cross accident is so apt to
raise this passion in me? Why, the best method I can take, is, that which the wise
man directs me to, ‘not to be hasty in my spirit,’
HAVING thus far cleansed the fountain of my heart, with
regard to my thoughts and affections, which are the immediate issues of my
active soul, the next thing incumbent upon me, is to regulate my outward
conversation, both with respect to my words and actions. As to the first, the
holy Scripture assures me, that the tongue is ‘a world of iniquity.’ And again,
that ‘it is an unruly evil, which no man can tame.’
I am resolved, by the grace of God, never to speak much, lest I often speak too much; and not to speak at all, rather than. to no purpose.
IT is the ‘voice of fools that is known by the multitude of words.’
In which there are ‘diverse vanities,’
I know there are some words, that are purely jocose, spoken with
no other intent but only to promote mirth, and divert melancholy; and these words,
so long as they are harmless and innocent, so long as they do not reflect dishonour
upon God, nor injure the character and reputation of my neighbour, are very lawful
and allowable; inasmuch as they conduce to the refreshing and reviving of my spirits,
and the preservation of my health. But then, I must always take care so to wind
and turn my discourse, that what recreates me in speaking,
I am resolved by the grace of God, not only to avoid the wickedness of swearing falsely, but likewise the very appearance of swearing at all.
PERJURY is a sin, condemned by the very laws of nature; insomuch
that I should wrong my natural faculties should I give way to, or be guilty of it.
For the same nature that tells me, the person of God is to be adored, tells me likewise
his name is to be reverenced; and what more horrid impiety can possibly be imagined,
than to prostitute the most sacred name of the most high God, to confirm the lies
of sinful men? I know swearing in a just matter, and right manner, may be as lawful
under the New, as under the Old Testament; for thus I find St. Paul saying, ‘As
God is true, I call God for a record upon my soul,’
But, again, there is more in the third commandment than the devil
would persuade the world
I am resolved by the grace of God, always to make my tongue and heart go together, so as never to speak with the one, what I do not think in the other.
As my happiness consisteth in nearness and vicinity, so doth
my holiness in likeness and conformity to the chiefest good, I am so much the better,
as I am the liker the best; and so much the holier, as I am more conformable to
the holiest, or rather to him who is holiness itself. Now, one
I know lies are commonly distinguished into officious, pernicious,
and jocose: and some may fancy some of them more tolerable than others. But, for
my own part, I think they are all pernicious, and therefore, not to be jested withal,
nor indulged upon any pretence or colour whatsoever. Not as if it was a sin, not
to speak exactly as a thing is in itself, or as it seems to me in its literal meaning,
without some liberty granted to rhetorical tropes and figures; (for so the Scripture
itself
But, there is another sort of lies most men are apt to fall into, and they are promissory lies; to avoid which, I am resolved never to promise any thing with my mouth, but what I intend to perform in my heart; and never to intend to perform any thing, but what I am sure I can perform. For, this is the cause and occasion of most promissory lies, that we promise that absolutely, which we should promise only conditionally. For, though I may intend to do as I say now, yet there are a thousand weighty things may intervene, which may turn the balance of my intentions, or otherwise hinder the performance of my promise. So that, unless I be absolutely sure I can do a thing, I must never absolutely promise to do it; and, therefore, in all such promises, shall still put in God willing, or by the help of God, at the same time lifting up my heart to God, lest I take his name in vain.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to speak of other men’s sins only before their faces, and of their virtues only behind their backs.
To commend men when they are present, I esteem almost as great a piece of folly as to reprove them when they are absent; though I do confess, in some cases, and to some persons, it may be commendable; especially when the person is not apt to be puffed up, but spurred on by it. But to rail at others, when they hear me not, is the highest piece of folly imaginable; for, as it is impossible they should get any good, so is it impossible but that I should get much hurt by it. For, such sort of words, make the very best we can of them, are but idle and unprofitable, and may not only prove injurious to the person of whom, but even to whom they are spoken, by wounding the credit of the former, and the charity of the latter; and so, by consequence, my own soul; nay, even though I speak that which is true in itself, and known to be so to me; and, therefore, this way of backbiting ought by all means to be avoided.
But, I must, much more, have a care of raising false reports
concerning any one, or of giving credit to them that raise them, or of passing my
judgment, till I have weighed the matter; lest I transgress the rules of mercy
and charity, which command me not to censure any one upon other’s rumours, or my
own surmises; nay, if the thing be in itself true, still to interpret it in the
best sense. But, if I must needs be raking in other men’s
I am resolved, by the grace of God, always to speak reverently to my superiors, humbly to my inferiors, and civilly to all.
THE most high God, the master of this great family, the world,
for the more orderly government of it, hath, according to his infinite wisdom, set
some in higher, some in lower places; hath made some as stewards, others as under
servants: and according to every man’s work that he expects from him, he measures
out his talents to him. Blessed be his name for it, he hath set me in a middle form,
giving me Agar’s wish, subject neither to envy on one hand, nor pity on the other; so that I have both superiors to reverence, and inferiors to condescend to. And
accordingly, it is my duty so to behave myself towards them, that the reverent expressions
of my mouth may manifest the obedient subjection of my heart to the power and authority
God has given them over me. It is the express command of the gospel, that we should
render to every man his due, ‘Fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour
belongeth,’
And as there is a reverence due from inferiors to superiors,
in point of conversation, so likewise are there some decent regards and civilities
to be showed even by superiors to their inferiors, who are always treated with candour
and condescension, in their ordinary capacities; and even when they are considered
as criminals, with meekness and moderation. Insomuch that methinks it is one of
the worst sights in the world, to see some men that are gotten upon a little higher
ground than their neighbours are, to look proudly and scornfully down upon all that
are below them, disdaining to vouchsafe them the least favour or respect whatsoever.
Such churlish, haughty, and foul-mouthed Nabals as these, are not only very
unjust, and unreasonable in their behaviour to others, but they are
THE other way of my soul’s putting forth, and showing herself
to the world, is by her actions, which it concerns me as much to look to and regulate,
as my words; forasmuch as there is not the least ill circumstance in any action,
but what, unless it be repented of, must be brought into question,
How much, therefore, doth it behove me to keep a strict watch over myself, and so to perform every action, and place every circumstance in it, that it may have its approbation in the court of heaven? Well, I am resolved, by the grace of God, to try what I can do. I know it is impossible for me to resolve upon particular actions: but howsoever I shall resolve upon such general rules, the application of which to particular acts may make them pleasing and acceptable in the sight of God; always premising this which I have resolved upon before, as the best foundation, viz. to square all my actions by the Scripture rule, and to do nothing but what I have some way or other, a warrant for from the word of God. Upon this fixed and steady principle,
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to do every thing in obedience to the will of God.
IT is not sufficient, that what I do is the will of God, but
I must therefore do it because it is the will of God. For, what saith my Father?
‘My son,
There are some persons, to the very frame and disposition of
whose spirits some sins are, in their nature, odious and abominable. Thus I have
know some, whose very constitutions have curried them into an antipathy to lust
and luxury; and others again, who could never endure to drink beyond their thirst,
much less to unman and be-beast themselves, by drinking to excess. And the like
may be observed of covetousness which Luther was such an enemy to, that it is said
to be against his very nature. Now, I say, though the abstaining
Hence, servants are commanded to be ‘obedient to their masters,
with good will doing service as to the Lord, and not to men,’
Do I see a poor wretch ready to fall down to the earth for want
of a little support, and my bowels begin to yearn towards him? Let me search into
my heart, and see what it is that raises this compassion in me. If it flows
only from a natural tenderness to a brother in misery, without regard to the love
of God, who has commanded and enjoined it, the poor man may be succoured and relieved,
but God will not be pleased or delighted with it. Again, do my friends stir me up
to pray or hear,
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to do every thing with prudence and discretion, as well as with zeal and affection.
WHILST I am penned up in this earthly tabernacle, I live almost
as in a darksome dungeon, having no light to work by, but a little that springs
in at the narrow crevices of my understanding. So that I have need to make use of
all that little light and knowledge I have, to regulate the heat and zeal that sometimes
sit upon my spirit. For good passions may sometimes carry me into bad actions;
my zeal, when hot in the pursuit of God’s glory, may sometimes hurry me beyond his
laws; especially when Christian prudence hath not first chalked out the way, and
set the bounds for it: as, in discourse, my zeal may put me upon throwing pearls
before swine, or using words, when silence may be more commendable; so in my actions
too, unless wisdom and discretion govern and command my affections, I shall frequently
run into such as would be altogether needless and impertinent, and therefore
But, my understanding and discretion is chiefly requisite for the ordering of time and place, and other particular circumstances, the irregular management of which may easily spoil the best of actions. For instance, that may be a good work at one time and place, which is not at another; and may be very innocent and becoming in one person, though quite contrary in another. It is therefore the proper office of’ my understanding to point out the fittest time, and place, and person, for the performance of each action I engage in. As for example, in distributing to the poor, my hand of charity must be either guided by the eye of understanding, where, when, how much, and to whom to give; or else I may, at the same time, not only offend God, but wrong my neighbour and myself too. And so for all other actions whatsoever, which I ought therefore never to set myself about, though it be of the lowest rank, without consulting the rules of wisdom, modelled by the law of God.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, never to set my hand, my head, or my heart, about any thing but what I verily believe is good in itself, and will be esteemed so by God.
WITHOUT faith, the apostle tells me, it is impossible to please
God.’
And truly, this particular will be of great use through my whole life for the avoiding of many sins, and for the doing of much good: for, many things which are good in themselves, may, for want of faith, become quite otherwise to me; my heart not believing what I do is good, my hand can never make it so. Or, if I think what I do is bad, though it be not so in itself, yet my very thinking it so, will make it so to me.
And this is what we call doing a thing with a good conscience,
or keeping, as St. Paul did, ‘our
For this reason, I resolve, in the presence of my great Creator,
never to do any thing, till I have first informed my conscience from the word of
God, whether it be lawful for me to do it, or no; or in case it be not determined
there, to make a strict search and inquiry into each circumstance of it, considering
with myself what good or evil may issue from it, and so what good or evil there
is in it; and according as my conscience, upon the hearing of the argument on both
sides, shall decide the matter, I shall do, or not do it; never undertaking
1 am resolved, by the grace of God, to do all things for the glory of God.
As I was not made by, so neither for myself; for God, says the
wise man, made all things for himself.
But how can I, poor worm, be said to do any thing to the glory of the eternal God? Why, in the same manner as he is said to do what he doth for his own glory; and how is that? By manifesting his glory to others. Thus, if I can but so live and act, as thereby to evidence, that the God I serve is a glorious God, glorious in holiness, glorious in goodness, glorious in wisdom, glorious in power, and the like; this is doing all things to the glory of God. For example, by praying to God, I avouch him to be a God infinite in knowledge, that he is present with me, and hears me pray, wheresoever I am; and I own him to be infinite in mercy, in that he will suffer such a sinful creature as I am to address myself to him, &c. And so there is not the least action I undertake, but I am so to manage it, as to manifest the glory of God by it, making it my end and design so to do; otherwise let me do what I will I am sure to sin; for though I confess, a good end can never make a bad action good, yet a bad end will always make a good action bad: so that, if ever I would do any thing that is good, I must be sure to do it to the glory of God.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to mingle such recreations with my business, as to further my business by my recreations.
HAVING wholly devoted myself to God, all I have, or am, is still to be improved for him; insomuch that was it not for the necessities of nature, every moment of my life should and ought to be spent in the immediate worship and service of him. But though nature requires some time from my solemn serving him, for the recreating of myself; yet grace requireth, that this recreating of myself should still be for the promoting of his service; so that my recreations do not only fit me for further service, but they, in themselves, should some way or other, be serviceable to him; which that they may be I must have as great a care in the choice, as in the use of my recreations.
There are some recreations that are so far from conducing to
his service, that they may make more for the incensing of his wrath: as drinking
and gaming, which though in themselves lawful, yet, as they often prove an occasion
of swearing, lying, cheating, and contention amongst men, and by consequence of
wrath in God; so they ought, by all means, to be shunned and avoided. Indeed, it
may be questioned, whether gaming be ever a lawful recreation? For, either it is
a lottery, or not. If it be a lottery, it is not lawful, because it is a great presumption
and sin to set God at work to recreate ourselves; for poor nothings to employ the
chiefest good, immediately to determine such
For what is the end of recreation, but to revive my languishing spirits, to let them rest and be quiet a little, when they are .tired with too much exercise, that they be fresher, livelier, and fitter for work afterwards? hence it is, that God indeed hath provided a recreation for all sensible creatures; sleep, which is the rest of the spirits in the nerves. When the little animal spirits have been all the day running up and down upon the soul’s errands, to lie down still and quiet, is a great refreshment and revivement to them, provided still, that it be moderately used. Whereas the indulging ourselves too much in it, is rather a clogging and stupifying of them: as we see in our bodies, which, when not accustomed to, are most averse from, and unfit for exercise.
So that the chief and only time for recreation, is, when my spirits
are either weary with labour and study, or else called in to some necessary employment
in some other place; as at and after meals, especially such as are of a hard digestion; for then the spirits have enough to do, to turn the food we eat into good nourishment.
And, therefore, the intenseness of study, running, wrestling, and such like violent
exercises, are not proper at such a time; because in studying, we draw the spirits
from the stomach to the head; so in the other exercises, such as moderate walking,
conference,
But, that which I have found the best recreation, both to my body and mind, whensoever either of them stands in need of it, is music, which exercises, at once, both my body and my soul; especially when I play myself. For then, methinks, the same motion that my hand makes upon the instrument, the instrument makes upon my heart; it calls in my spirits, composes my thoughts, delights my ear, recreates my mind, and so, not only fits me for after business, but fills my heart, at the present, with pure and useful thoughts, so that when the music sounds the sweetliest in my ears, truth commonly flows the clearest into my mind. And hence it is, that I find my soul is become more harmonious, by being accustomed so much to harmony, and so averse to all manner of discord, that the least jarring sounds, either in notes or words, seem very harsh and unpleasant to me.
That there is something more than ordinary in music, appears
from David’s making use of it, for driving away the evil spirit from Saul, and Elisha
for the bringing of the good spirit upon himself. From which I am induced to believe,
that there is really a sort of secret and charming power in it, that naturally dispels,
from the mind, all or most of those black humours, which the evil spirit uses to
brood upon, and by composing it into a more regular, sweet, and docible disposition,
renders it the fitter for the Holy Spirit to work upon, the more susceptible of
divine grace, and more faithful messenger, whereby to convey truth to the understanding.
But however that be, I must necessarily acknowledge,
But in this and all other recreations, I must always take care not to exceed my measure, either in point of time or intention; I must not follow them too close, nor spend too many hours in them, but still resolve to use them, as they may not become a snare to me, but answer the ends for which they were designed, that when God shall call me to it, I may give him as good an account of my recreations, as of my necessary duties.
BUT be not deceived, O my soul; thou art not yet advanced far
enough; it is not sufficient to pretend to holiness in my thoughts and affections,
and in my words and actions; unless I express it likewise in all the relations
and conditions of life. The commandments of God are said to be exceeding broad;
they extend themselves to every capacity I can possibly be in, not only enjoining
me to live soberly in respect to myself, but righteously to my neighbour, obediently
to my sovereign, lovingly to my wife, and faithfully to my people; otherwise I cannot
live holily unto God; and, therefore, if I
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to honour and obey the king, or prince, whom God is pleased to set over me, as well as to expect that he should safeguard and protect me, whom God is pleased to set under him.
THE King of kings, and Lord of lords, the great and glorious Monarch of all the world, having enacted many gracious laws, is pleased to set over every kingdom and nation such persons as may put them in execution. So that I cannot but look upon a lawful king, as truly a representative of the most high God, as a parliament is of the people; and am therefore persuaded, that whoever rebels against him, rebels against God himself; not only in that he rebels against the ordinance of God, and so, against the God of that ordinance, but because he rebels against him, whom God hath set up as his vicegerent, to represent his person, and execute his laws in such a part of his dominions.
Hence it is, that these two precepts, ‘Fear God, and honour
the king,’ are so often joined together in holy writ; for he that fears God’s power
cannot but honour his authority; and he that honours not the king, that represents
God, cannot be said to fear God, who is represented by him. And hence, likewise,
And he hath denounced as great a judgment against such as rebel
against the magistrate he hath ordained, as against those that rebel against himself;
‘For whosoever resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and they
that resist, shall receive to themselves damnation.’
Upon this ground it is, that I believe the wickedness of a prince cannot be a sufficient plea for the disobedience of his subjects; for it is not the holiness, but the authority of God that he represents, which the most wicked, as well as the most holy person, may be endowed with; and therefore, when the gospel first began to spread itself over the earth, though there was no Christian king, or supreme magistrate, of what title soever, to cherish and protect it; nay, though the civil powers were then the greatest enemies to it; yet, even then were the disciples of Christ enjoined to ‘submit themselves to every ordinance of man, for the Lord’s sake.’
Insomuch, that did I live among the Turks, I should look upon
it as my duty to obey the Grand Seignior, in all his lawful edicts, as well as the
most Christian and pious king in the world. For, suppose a prince be never so wicked,
and never so negligent in his duty of protecting me, it doth not follow, that I
must neglect mine of obeying him. In such a case, I have another duty added to this:
and that is to pray for him, and intercede with God for his conversion: for thus
hath the King of kings commanded, that ‘prayers, supplications, intercessions, and
giving of thanks, be made for all men,’ so more especially, ‘for kings and those
that are in authority, that we may live a quiet and peaceable life, in all
godliness and honesty.’
And, if I am thus strictly obliged to honour, obey, and pray
for a bad prince, how much more should 1 pay those duties to one, who represents
God, not only in his authority, but in his holiness too? In this case, sure, as
there is a double engagement to reverence and obedience, so I am doubly
punishable, if I neglect to show it, either to the prince himself, or those that
are set under him;
I am resolved, by the same divine grace, to be as constant in loving my wife, as cautious in choosing her.
THOUGH it be not necessary for me to resolve upon marrying, yet it may not be improper to resolve, in case I should, to follow these rules of duty; first in the choice of a wife; and secondly, in the affection that I ought to bear towards her.
As for the first, I shall always endeavour to make choice of
such a woman for my spouse, who hath first made choice of Christ as a spouse for
herself; that none may be made one flesh with me, who is not also made one spirit
with Christ my Saviour. For I look upon the image of Christ as the best mark of
beauty I can behold in her; and the grace of God as the best portion I can receive
with her. These are excellencies, which, though not visible to carnal eyes, are
nevertheless agreeable to a spiritual heart; and such as all wise and good men cannot
That this, therefore, may be my portion and felicity, I firmly resolve, never to set upon a design, before I have first solicited the throne of grace, and begged of my heavenly Father to honour me with the partnership of one of his beloved children; and shall afterwards be as careful and cautious as I can, never to fix my affections upon any woman for a wife, till I am thoroughly persuaded of the grounds I have to love her, as a true Christian.
If I could be thus happy, as to meet with a wife of these qualities
and endowments, it would be impossible for me not to be hearty and sincere in my
affection toward her, even though I had the greatest temptations to place them upon
another: for, how could I choose but love her, who has God for her Father, the church
for her mother, and heaven for her portion; who loves God, and is beloved
As to the duty, it is frequently inculcated in the Scripture,
that ‘husbands shall love their wives,’ and that not with a common love, but as
‘Christ
loved his church,’ yea, ‘as their own body,’ or, ‘as themselves,’
And, as love is the great duty, so it is likewise the chief happiness
of a married state. I do not mean that love whereby she loves me, but that wherewith
I love her; for, if I myself have not a cordial esteem and affection for her, what
happiness will it be to me, to be beloved by her? or rather, what a misery would
it be to be forced to live with one I know I cannot love? As ever, therefore, I
desire to be happy, I must perform my duty in this particular, and never aim at
any other end in the choice of a wife, nor expect any other happiness
But if I love her for her virtues, and for the sake of God, who has enjoined it as a duty, that our affections should not be alienated, or separated by any thing but death; then, though all the other sandy foundations fail, yet will my happiness remain entire, even though I should not perceive those mutual returns of love, which are due from her to me upon the same foundation. But, oh! the happiness of that couple, whose inclinations to each other are as mutual as their duties; whose affections, as well as persons,. are linked together with the same tie! this is the chief condition required to make the state of matrimony happy or desirable, and shall be the chief motive, with me, to influence me to enter into it. For, though it be no happiness to be beloved by one I do not love; yet it is certainly a very great one to be beloved by one I do. If this, then, be my lot, to have mutual expressions of love from the person I fix my affections upon, what joy and comfort will it raise in my heart? with what peace and amity shall we live together here? and what glory and felicity may we not promise ourselves hereafter?
What is here said of the duty in choosing and loving a wife,
may be likewise applied to a
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to do my endeavour to give to God whatsoever children. he shall be pleased to give one; that as they are mine by nature, they may be his by grace.
I HAVE sometimes wondered at the providence of God, in bringing so many millions of people out of the loins of one man; and cannot but make this use of it, even to stir up myself to a double diligence, in bringing up my children ‘in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.’ For who knows, but the salvation of ten thousand souls may depend upon the education of one single child?
If I train up my son in the ways of religion, and teach him what
it is to ‘keep a conscience void of offence towards God, and towards man;’ he will
then not only have an inward sense of his own duty, but take all possible care to instil it into others, whether children or servants, that are committed to his charge;
and these; again, will do the same to theirs, by teaching them to walk in the same
path; till, by degrees, the piety and holiness of one man has diffused itself to
all succeeding generations. But now, on the other hand, if I neglect the care of
my son’s education, and suffer the leprosy of sin and wickedness to taint and corrupt
him, it is great odds, without an extraordinary interposition of divine grace, but
the infection may
Hence it is, that I am resolved to endeavour to be a spiritual, as well as natural father to my children; yea, to take more care to get a portion for their souls in heaven, than to make provision for their bodies upon earth. For, if he be accounted ‘worse than an infidel that provides not for his family,’ the sustenance of their bodies, what is he that suffers his family to neglect the salvation of their souls?
That nothing of this, therefore, may be laid to my charge, if ever Providence sees fit to bless me with children of my own, I will take effectual care, so soon as conveniently I can, to devote them unto God by baptism; that what guilt they have contracted, by coming through my loins, may be washed away by the laver of regeneration; and then to be constantly soliciting at the throne of grace, that he who hath given them to me, would be pleased likewise to give himself to them.
The next thing to be done, as soon as they come to be capable
of instruction, is to take all occasions and make use of all means, to work the
knowledge of God into their heads, and the grace of Christ into their hearts; by
teaching them to ‘remember their Creator in the days of their youth;’ by acquainting
them with the duties that he that made them expects from them; with the rewards
they shall have, if dutiful; and the punishments they shall feel, if disobedient
children; still accommodating my expressions to the shallow capacity of
But I must still take care to let them understand, that what I do is from a principle of love and affection to them, not of fury and indignation against them; for, by this means God may correct me for correcting them: I may set before my children such an example of indiscreet and sinful passion, as they will be apt enough to learn, without my teaching them. On the other hand, it behoves me, if possible, so to order my family, that my children may not see or hear, and so not learn, any thing but goodness in it; for commonly, according to what we learn when we are young, we practise when we are old. And, therefore, as I shall take great care, that my children learn nothing that is evil or sinful at home; so likewise that they do not come into such company abroad, where their innocence may be assaulted with swearing, cursing, or any kind of profane or obscene discourse, which the generality of our youth are so obnoxious to.
Or at least, if this is not wholly to be avoided, to prevent
those poisonous weeds from taking root in the heart, it behoves me to take all
opportunities of discoursing to them of God and Christ, of the immortality
1 am resolved, by the grace of God, to do my duty to my servants as well as expect they should do theirs to me.
IT was Joshua’s, and, by God’s grace, it shall be my
resolution, that ‘I and my house fear the Lord.’ I, in the first place, and then
my house; for if I myself do not, I cannot expect that they should. So that, for
the ordering of my family in general, I must not only press their duty upon
them, but likewise practise my own duty, in suppressing all vicious and lewd
conversation, and composing all strife and contention amongst them; in praying
every day, at least twice with them; in catechising and expounding the principles of religion to them,
and in calling for an account of every sermon and godly
And, for this reason, I cannot believe, but it is as great a
sin to cumber my servants, as myself with too much worldly business. For how can
they spend any time in the service of God, when I require all their time in my own? And how justly should I be condemned, if by this means I should bring them into
a sort of necessity of sinning, either in not obeying God or not obeying me; not
that I think it is a servant’s duty to neglect his Creator to serve his master;
on the contrary, he is obliged, in all cases, where their commands interfere, to
‘obey God, rather than man.’ But where they do not, there is a
strict injunction upon all servants, that they should be ‘obedient to their masters
according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as unto
Christ.’
But how are servants to give obedience to their masters, ‘with
singleness of heart, as unto Christ?’ Why, by obeying them only in obedience
unto Christ; that is, they are therefore to do their master’s will, because it
is the Lord’s will they should do it; serving them, ‘not with eye-service, as
men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
with good-will doing service as unto the Lord, and not to men.’
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to feed the flock that God shall set me over, with wholesome food, neither starving them by idleness, poisoning with error, nor puffing them up with impertinence.
AND here I cannot but declare, that ever since I knew what it was
to study, I have found by experience,
But stay, my soul, let not thy thoughts run only upon the dignity
of thy function, and the spiritual pleasures that attend the faithful discharge
of it; but think likewise upon the strict account thou must give of it in another
life: the serious consideration of which, as it cannot but be a great comfort to
the true and faithful pastor, who has diligently fed his flock with the ‘sincere
milk of God’s
And that without partiality or exception, I must not single out
some of the best of my flock, such as I have the highest respect for, or
have received the greatest obligations from; but ‘minister to every one according
to their several necessities.’ If I meet with men of knowledge and virtue, my business
must be to confirm and establish them therein; if with those that are ignorant and
immoral, to teach and instruct them in the ways of religion, and by all means possible,
to reclaim and reduce them to the exercise of their duty; always remembering, that
as the blessed Jesus, the ‘great shepherd and bishop of our souls, was not sent,
save unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance;’ so it is the indispensable duty of his apostles and
ministers (and by the grace of God I shall make it mine) to follow his example in
this particular; to spare. no time nor pains in the reformation of sinners, though
it be never so irksome and difficult to accomplish; even though I should meet with
such as the prophet David speaks of,
To these ends, though preaching is, without doubt, a most excellent
and useful, as well as necessary duty, (especially if it be performed, as
it ought, with zeal and reverence, and the doctrine applied and pressed home, with
sincerity of affection,) vet, I shall not think it sufficient to instruct my people
only from the pulpit, but take all opportunities to instil good thoughts and principles
into their minds in my private conversation. I know it is impossible for all ministers
frequently to visit every particular person or family in their parish, there being,
in some parishes, especially in and about London, so many thousands of souls:
but,
howsoever, if it should please the Lord to call me to such a flock, though
I cannot visit all, I shall visit as many as I can; especially those that are sick
or infirm, and be sure to feed them ‘with the sincere milk of the word,’ such as
may turn to their spiritual nourishment, and make them ‘grow in grace, and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.’ I will not fill their heads with
speculative notions and niceties in divinity; (which, among the less judicious,
are very often the occasion of heresy and error, and sometimes also, of delusion
and distraction;) but my chief care shall be to instruct them in those necessary
truths which their Christian faith indispensably obliges them to know and believe,
and press them to the performance of those duties, without which
And since love and charity is the great characteristic of our profession, the bond and cement of all other Christian duties, in order to make my ministry the more successful, I resolve, in the last place, not only to avoid all differences and disputes with them myself, but amicably to compose all such as may arise among the neighbours. In a word, I shall make it my endeavour, in all things, so to approve myself as a faithful minister, both in life and doctrine before them, that at the last day, when the great God shall call for my parish, and myself to appear before him, I may be prepared to give an account of both; at least, to answer for as many of them as he requires; and may, with joy and comfort, pronounce this sentence of my Saviour, if it may, without offence, he applied to his ministers, ‘Behold I and the children which thou hast given me.’
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to be as faithful and constant to my friend, as I would have my friend to be faithful and constant to me.
HAVING before resolved to be zealous in loving God, I here resolve
to be as constant in loving my friend. But why do I resolve upon this? Is it
But then I must have a great care where and how I place this affection; for if I place it wrong, my very loving will be sinning. And therefore, I shall always endeavour to make such only my friends, as are friends to God. Not that I look upon it as necessary to love my friends always under that notion only as they are friends of God; for then, no love but that which is spiritual would be lawful; whereas there is, doubtless, a natural love, that is no less a duty, and, by consequence, no less lawful, than the other; as, the love of parents towards their children, and children towards their parents; and the mutual complacency that arises betwixt friends, as well as relations, from the harmony and agreement of humours and tempers. Thus our Saviour is said to have loved St. John more than any of his other disciples, which cannot be understood of a spiritual love; for this, undoubtedly, was equal to all; but being a man subject to the like passions (though not imperfections) as we are, he placed more natural affection upon, and might have more natural complacency in John than in his other disciples.
And, therefore, when I say, I am to make such my friends
only as are friends to God, my meaning is, that I will make none my friends, but
such as I know to be good men and good Christians, such as deserve my love in a
spiritual as well as a natural sense; and since I may lawfully love my friend in
both these senses, the one is so far from being exclusive, that it is really perfective
of the other. And for this reason, as the spiritual good of my friend is always
to be preferred before that which is temporal, I am resolved to found the one upon
the. other. I will always be ready, as oft as he stands in need, either of
my advice, encouragement, or assistance, to do him all the kind offices I can in
his worldly affairs, to promote his interest, vindicate his character from secret
aspersions, and defend his person from open assaults: to be faithful and punctual
in the performance of my promises to him, as well as in keeping the secrets he has
entrusted me with. But all these things are to be done with a tender regard to the
honour of God. and the duties of religion; so that the services I do him in his
temporal concerns, must be still consistent with, mid subservient to, the spiritual
interest and welfare of his immortal soul, in which I am principally obliged to
manifest my friendship towards him. If I see him wander out of the right way, I
must immediately take care to advertise him of it, and use the best means I can
to bring him back to it. Or if I know him to be guilty of any reigning vices, I
must endeavour to convince him of the danger and malignity of them, and importune
and persuade him to amend and forsake them. And lastly, I must be as constant in
keeping my friend, as cautious in choosing him, still continuing
These are the rules whereby I resolve to express my friendship unto others, and whereby I would have others to express their friendship unto me.
HAVING so solemnly devoted myself to God, according to the covenant
he hath made with me, and the duty I owe to him; not only what I am, and what I
do, but likewise what I have, is still to he improved for him. And this I am bound
to, not only upon a federal, but even a natural account; for whatsoever I have,
I received from him, and therefore, all the reason in the world, whatsoever I have
should be’ improved for him. For, I look upon myself as having no other property
in what I enjoy, than a servant hath in what he is entrusted with to improve for
his master’s use; thus, though I should have ten thousand pounds a year, I should
have no more of my own, than if I had but two-pence in all the world. For it is
only committed to my care for a season, to be employed and improved to the best
advantage, and will be called for again at the grand audit, when I must answer for
the use or abuse of it; so that, whatsoever in a civil sense I can call my own,
that, in a spiritual sense, I must esteem as God’s. And
In order to this, I shall make it my endeavour, by the blessing of God, to put in practice the following resolutions.
I am resolved, if possible, to redeem my time past by using a double diligence .fir the future, to employ and improve all the gifts and endowments, both of body and mind, to the glory and service of my great Creator.
TIME, health, and parts, are three precious talents, generally
bestowed upon men, but seldom improved for God. To go no further than myself, how
much time and health have I enjoyed, by God’s grace? and how little of it have
I laid out for his honour? On the contrary, how oft have I offended, affronted,
and provoked him, even when he has been courting me with his favours, and daily
pouring forth his benefits upon me? this, alas! is a sad truth, which whensoever
I seriously reflect upon, I cannot but acknowledge the continuance of my life as
the
For, since it has pleased God to favour me with the blessing of health, and I am not certain how soon I may be deprived of it, and thrown upon a bed of sickness, which may deprive me of the use of my reason, or make me incapable of any thing else, but grapling with my distemper; it highly concerns me to make a due use of this blessing, while I have it; to improve these parts and gifts that God has endowed me with, to the manifestation of his glory, the salvation of my soul, and the public good of the community whereof I am a member.
To these ends, it will be requisite for me frequently
I am resolved, by the divine grace, to employ my riches, the outward blessings of Providence, to the same end; and to observe such a due medium in the dispensing of them, as to avoid prodigality on the one hand, and covetousness on the other.
THIS, without doubt, is a necessary resolution, but it is likewise very difficult to put in practice, without a careful observance of the following rules.
First, never to lavish out my substance, like the prodigal, in
the revels of sin and vanity, but after a due provision for the necessities and
conveniences of life, to lay up the overplus for acts of love and charity towards
my indigent brethren. I must consider the uses and ends for which God has entrusted
me with such and such possessions; that
The second rule is, never to spend a penny, where it can be better
spared; nor to spare it where it can be better spent. And this will oblige me, whensoever
any occasion offers of laying out money, considerately to weigh the circumstances
of it, and, according as the matter, upon mature deliberation, requires, I must
not grudge to spend it: or, if at any time, I find more reason to spare, I must
not dare to spend it; still remembering, that as I am strictly to account for the
money God has given me, so I ought neither to be covetous in saving, or
For instance, if I lay out my money in clothing my body, the question must be, whether I do this only for warmth and decency, or to gratify my pride and vanity? If the former, my money is better spent; if the latter, it is better spared than spent. Again, do I lay it out in eating and drinking? if this be only to satisfy the necessities of nature, and make my life more easy and comfortable, it is without doubt, very well spent; but if it be to feed my luxury and intemperance, it is much better spared; better for my soul, in keeping it from sin, and better for my body, in preserving it from sickness; and this rule is the more strictly to be observed, because it is as great a fault in a servant not to lay out his master’s money when he should, as to lay it out when he should not.
In order, therefore, to avoid both these extremes, there is a
third rule to be observed under this resolution; and that is to keep a particular
account of all my receipts and disbursements, to set down in a book every penny
I receive at the hands of the Almighty, and every penny I lay out for his honour
and service. By this means I shall be, in a manner, forced both to get my money
lawfully, and to lay it out carefully: but how can I put that amongst the money
I have received from God, which I have got by unlawful means? certainly, such money
I may rather account as received from the devil for his use, than from God, for
his. And so must I either lay every penny out for God, or
I am resolved by the grace of God, to improve the authority God gives me over others, to the suppression of vice, and the encouragement of virtue; and so for the exaltation of God’s name on earth, and their souls in heaven.
THAT all power and authority hath its original from God, and
that one creature is not over another, but by the providence and will of Him, who
is over all; and so, by consequence, that all the authority we have over men is
to be improved for God, is clear, not only from that question, ‘Who made thee to
differ from another; and what hast thou, which thou didst not receive?’
And questionless, if I discharge this duty as I ought, whatever
sphere of authority I move in, I am capable of doing a great deal of good, not only
by my power, but by my influence and example. For common experience teaches us,
that even the inclinations and desires of those that are eminent for their quality
or station, are more powerful than the very commands of God himself; especially
among persons of an inferior rank, and more servile disposition, who are apt to
be more wrought upon by the fear of present punishment, or the loss of some temporal
advantage, than any thing that is future or spiritual. Hence it is, that all those
whom God entrusteth with this precious talent, have a great advantage and opportunity
in their hand, for the suppressing sin, and the exalting holiness in the world:
a word from their mouths against whoredom, drunkenness, and the profanation of the
Sabbath, or the like; yea, their very example and silent gestures being able to
do more
This, therefore, is my resolution, that whatsoever authority the most high God shall be pleased to put upon me, I will look upon it as my duty and always make it my endeavour, to demolish the kingdom of sin and Satan, and establish that of Christ and holiness in the hearts of all those to whom my commission extends; looking more at the duty God expects from me, than at the dignity he confers upon me. In a word, I will so exercise the power and authority God puts into my hands here, that when the particular circuit of my life is ended, and I shall be brought to the general assize to give an account of this among my other talents, I may give it up with joy; and so exchange my temporal authority upon earth, for an eternal crown of glory in heaven.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to improve the affections God stirs up in others towards me, to the stirring up of their affections towards God.
IF the authority I have over others, then questionless the
affection others have to me, is to be improved for God; and that because the affection
they bear to me in a natural sense hath a kind of authority in me over them in a
spiritual one. And this I gather from my own experience; for I find none to have
a greater command over me, than they that manifest the greatest affections for me.
T know the Scripture tells me, ‘There is no fear in love, but
that perfect love casteth out fear.’
But how comes this under the notion of a talent
Another way of my improving the affections of others to this end, is by setting them a good example; for commonly what a friend doth, be it good or bad, is pleasing to us, because we look not at the goodness of the thing that is done, but at the loveliness of the person that doth it. And if the vices of a friend seem amiable, how much more will his virtues shine? For this reason, therefore, whensoever I perceive any person to show a respect for, or affection to me, I shall always look upon it as an opportunity put into my hands to serve and glorify my great Creator, and shall look upon it as a call from heaven, as much as if I heard the Almighty say to me, I desire to have this person love me, and therefore have I made him to love thee: do thou but set before him an example of goodness and virtue, and his love to thy person shall induce and engage him to direct his actions according to it. This, therefore, is the rule that I fully resolve to guide myself by, with relation to those who are pleased to allow me a share in their esteem and affection, which I hope to improve to their advantage in the end; that as they love me, and I love them now, so we may all love God, and God love us to all eternity.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to improve every good thought to the producing of good affections in myself, and as good actions with respect to God.
WHATSOEVER comes from God, being a talent to be improved to
him, I cannot but think good thoughts to be as precious talents, as it is
possible a creature can be blessed with. But let me esteem them as I will, I am
sure my Master will reckon them amongst the talents he entrusts me with, and for
which he will call me to an account; and, therefore, I ought not to neglect
them. The Scripture tells me, ‘I am not sufficient of myself to think any thing
as of myself, but that my sufficiency is of God.’
But good thoughts must not only be improved to produce good affections in my heart, but likewise good actions in my life. So that the thoughts of God should not only make me more taken with his beauty, but more active for his glory; and the thoughts of sin should not only damp my affection to it, but likewise deter and restrain me from the commission of it.
And thus every good thought that God puts into my heart, instead of slipping out, as it does with some others without regard, will be cherished and improved, to the producing of good actions: these actions will entitle me to the blessing of God, and that to the kingdom of glory.
I am resolved, by the grace of God, to improve every affliction God lays upon me, as an earnest or token of his affection towards me.
EVERY thing that flows from God to his servants, coming under
the notion of talents, to be improved for himself, I am sure afflictions, as well
as other mercies, must needs be reckoned amongst those talents God is pleased to
vouchsafe. Indeed it is a talent, without which I should be apt to forget the improvement
of all the rest; and which, if well improved, itself will ‘work out for me a far
more Cor. iv. 17.
It is this that shows us the folly and pride of presumption,
as well as the vanity and emptiness of all worldly enjoyments; and deters us from
incensing and provoking him, from whom all our happiness as well as our afflictions
flow. Let, therefore, what crosses or calamities soever befal me, I am still resolved
to bear them all, not only with a patient resignation to the divine will, but even
to comfort and rejoice myself in them, as the greatest blessings. For instance,
am I seized with pain and sickness? I shall look upon it as a message from God,
sent on purpose to put me in mind of death, and to convince me of the necessity
of being always prepared for it by a good life, which a state of uninterrupted health
is apt to make us unmindful of. Do I sustain any losses or crosses? The true use
of this is, to make me sensible of the fickleness and inconstancy of this world’s
blessings,
But, besides the particular improvements of particular chastisements,
the general improvement of all is the increasing of my love and affection to that
God, who brings these afflictions upon me. For how runs the mittimus, whereby he
is pleased to send me to the dungeon of afflictions? ‘Deliver such a one to Satan
to be buffeted’ in the flesh: ‘that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord
Jesus.’
Thus have I reckoned up the talents God hath, or may put into
my hands, to be improved for his glory. May the same divine being that entrusteth
me with them, and inspired me with these good resolutions concerning them, enable
me, by
There are some other mercies, which might be set down in the catalogue of talents, as the graces and motions of God’s Holy Spirit, and the use of his holy ordinances, under the ministry of the gospel; but these being included and insisted on, under several of the foregoing heads, will not require a distinct consideration.
IF the principles of the Christian religion were well rooted
in the hearts of all mankind, what excellent fruit would they produce! the earth
would put on another face, bearing some resemblance to heaven itself: idolatry,
with all sorts of wickedness and vice, would be every where discountenanced and
suppressed; for all would worship the one living and true God, and him only: there
would be no more wars, nor rumours of wars; kingdom would not rise against kingdom,
nor nation against nation; but all princes would be at peace with their neighbours,
and their subjects at unity among themselves, striving about nothing but who should
serve God best, and do most good in the world. Then piety, and justice, and charity,
would revive and flourish again all the world over, and particularly in the church
and kingdom to which we belong. Then the prayers would be read twice a-day in every
parish as the law requires, and all people would heartily join together in offering
them up to the almighty Creator of the world. Then all that
But not to speak of other people, we of this nation rarely
find any such effect of this religion among ourselves; though it be as generally
professed, and as clearly taught among us, as ever it was in any nation, there are
but few that are ever the better for it; the most being here also as bad both in
their principles and practices, as they which live in the darkest corners of the
earth, where the light of the gospel never yet shined: though the kingdom in general
be Christian, there are many heathens in it, people that never were christened;
many that were once christened, and are now turned heathens again, living as ‘without
God in the world;’ many that would still be thought
For, of that vast company of people that are called Christians
in this kingdom, how few are they that live as becometh the gospel of Christ? that finish the work that God has given them to do, even glorify him in the world? How many that refuse or neglect to worship and serve him upon his own day? How
few that do it upon any other day, when they have any thing else to do? How many
that never receive the sacrament of the Lord’s supper in their whole lives? How
few that receive it above two or three times in the year, how often soever they
are invited to it? How many are the
It is indeed a matter of so much shame as well as grief, to all that have any regard for the honour of Christ their Saviour, that they cannot but be very solicitous to know how it comes to pass that his doctrine and precepts are so generally slighted and neglected as they are in our days? and how they may be observed better for the future than now they are? both which questions may be easily resolved; for we cannot wonder that of the many which profess the Christian religion, there are so few that live up to it, when we consider how few are duly instructed in the first principles of it.
The religion which Christ hath revealed to the word, is, by his
grace and blessing, settled and established among us, so as to be made the religion
of the kingdom in general; and therefore all that are born in it, are, or ought
to be, according to his order or institution, soon after baptized, and 90 made his
disciples, or Christians by profession. And the church takes security of those who
thus bring a child to be baptized, that when it comes to be capable of it, it shall
be instructed in the catechism which she for that purpose hath set forth, containing
all the principles of that religion into which it was baptized. But notwithstanding
this hath been neglected for many years, whereby it is come to pass
This therefore being the great cause of that shameful decay of
the Christian religion that is so visible among us, we can never expect to see it
repaired, unless the great duty of catechising be revived, and the laws that are
made about it, be
For here by nurture, we are to understand, as the Greek word παιδεία signifies, that discipline which parents ought to exercise over their children, to prevent their falling into, or continuing in any wicked course. And by the admonition of the Lord, is meant the catechising, or putting them in mind of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of what he would have them believe and do that they may be saved. For the original word, νουθεσία, which we translate admonition, properly signifies catechising. (Κατηκίζειν νουθεῖν, Heysch.) And therefore to catechise or instruct children in the knowledge of God and our Lord Jesus Christ, is a duty here laid upon all parents by almighty God himself; and all that neglect to educate or bring up their children in the admonition of the Lord by catechising or teaching them the principles of his religion, they all live in a breach of plain law, a law made by the supreme Lawgiver of the world, and must accordingly answer for it at the last day.
Wherefore all that are sensible of the great account which
they must give of all their actions, at that time, to the Judge of the whole
world, cannot but make as much conscience of this as of any duty whatsoever, so
as to use the utmost of their care and diligence, that their children may grow
It begins where a child begins to be a Christian, and therefore
hath a Christian name given him, even at his baptism, “wherein he was made a member
of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven.” Which great
privileges belong to all that are baptized, and to none else; none else being in
the number of Christ’s disciples: for our Lord Christ, a little before his ascension
into heaven, left orders with his apostles, and in them with all that should succeed
in his ministry of the church to the end of the world, to make all nations his disciples,
by baptizing them “in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,”
It is to be further observed, that when our Saviour ordained
baptism to be the means of admitting persons into his church, or the congregation
of his disciples, lest we should think, as some have done, that he meant it only
of those who are of riper years, he used the most general terms that could be invented,
requiring that all nations should he baptized; and if all nations, then children
also, which are a great, if not the greatest part of every nation. And accordingly
his church hath always baptized children as well as adult persons: when any who
are come to years of discretion, were willing and desirous to become Christ’s disciples,
that they might learn of him the way to heaven, they were made so by being baptized;
and if they had children, they were also baptized at the same time with their parents; and so were the children which were afterwards born to them; they also were baptized
soon after they were born: and that it is
But seeing they who are thus baptized according to the institution of Christ are thereby made his disciples, and in him the children of God, it is necessary they should then promise to believe and live from that time forward, according as he hath commanded; which promise therefore all that are grown up always use to make every one in his own person, and for that purpose were and ought to be catechised beforehand, and put in mind of what they were to promise when they were baptized; and therefore were called Catechumens. But children not being capable of making any such promise themselves, in their own persons, they were always admitted, and required to do it by their guardians; that is, by their godfathers and godmothers, which brought and offered them to be baptized; and are therefore obliged to take care that they be afterwards catechised or instructed in the principles of that religion into which they were admitted, and put in mind of the promise which they then made of framing their lives according to it.
This promise, therefore, which children make at their baptism
by their sureties, and which is implied in the very nature of the sacrament,
whether they have any sureties or no, consists of three general heads:
Secondly, “That they will believe all the articles of the Christian faith.”
Thirdly, “That they will keep God’s holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the days of their life.”
Which three things, under which the whole substance of the Christian religion is contained, being all promised by children when they are baptized into it, it is absolutely necessary that they be afterwards put in mind, so soon as they are capable of the promise, which they then made, and of the obligation which lies upon them to perform it: for otherwise it can never be expected that they should either do, or so much as know it; whereas the instructing them in this, the first part of the catechism, we prepare and dispose them for the understanding all the rest.
Particularly the apostles’ creed, which is next taught them,
containing all those articles of the Christian faith, which they promised to believe,
and nothing else, nothing but what is grounded upon plain texts of Scripture, and
hath always been believed by the whole catholic church in all ages and places all
the world over: here are none of those private opinions and controverted points
which have so long disturbed the church, and serve only to perplex men’s minds,
and take them off from the more substantial and necessary duties of religion, as
we have found by woeful experience, which our church hath taken all possible care
to prevent, by inserting no other articles of faith into the catechism which her
members are to learn, than
The other thing which they, who are baptized, promise is, “That they will keep God’s commandments,” which therefore are next taught in the catechism, without any mixture of human inventions or constitutions: those ten commandments which the supreme Lawgiver himself proclaimed upon Mount Sinai, and afterwards wrote with his own finger upon two tables of stone. These they are all bound to learn, because they are bound to keep them all, as they will answer it at the last day, when all mankind shall be judged by them.
But no man can keep these commandments without God’s special
grace, which we have no ground to expect without praying to him for it. And therefore
children are in the next place taught how to pray according to that form which Christ
himself composed, and commanded us to say, whensoever we pray.
The last part of the catechism is concerning the two sacraments which Christ hath ordained in his church, as generally necessary to salvation; that is to say, baptism and the Lord’s supper: both which our church hath there explained with such extraordinary prudence and caution, as to take in all that is necessary to be known of either of them without touching upon any of the disputes that have been raised about them, to the great prejudice of the Christian religion.
Seeing therefore this catechism is so full, that it contains all that any man needs to know, and yet so short, that a child may learn it: I do not see how parents may bring up their children in the ‘nurture and admonition of the Lord,’ better than by instructing them in it. I do not say by teaching them only to say it by rote, but by instructing them in it, so that they may understand, as soon and as far as they are capable, the true sense and meaning of all the words and phrases in every part of it; for which purpose it will be necessary to observe these rules.
First, You must begin betime, before your children have got any
ill habits, which may be easily prevented, but are not easily cured. When children
are baptized, being ‘born again of water, and of the Spirit,’ as the guilt of their
original sin is washed away in the ‘laver of regeneration,’ so that it will never
be imputed to them, unless it break out afterwards in actual transgressions;
so they receive also the Spirit of God to prevent all such eruptions, by enabling
them to resist the ‘temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil,’ to believe
and serve God according as they then promised; so far at least, that ‘sin shall
not have dominion
But how can such persons do this, that cannot read, nor say the
catechism themselves? This, I fear, is the case of too many among us. There
But for that purpose, when children have been taught the
catechism, they must be sent to the minister or curate of the parish where they
live, that he may examine and instruct them in it: examine them whether they can
say it, and instruct them so as to understand it. For though the words be all as
plain as they can well be made, yet the things signified by those words, are
many of them so high, that it cannot be expected that children should reach and
apprehend them without help, which therefore they must go to their minister for,
whose duty and office it is to acquaint them with the full sense and meaning of
every word, what is signified by it, and what ground they have to believe it is
God’s holy word. But to do this to any purpose requires more time than is
commonly allowed for it in our days. And that is one great reason there are so
few among us that are built up as they ought to be, ‘in their most holy faith.’
If this could once he brought about throughout the kingdom, that
all children that are born and bred up in it, were thus fully instructed in the
knowledge of Christ, and of that religion which he hath revealed to the world, till
they are fit for the holy communion, and ready to engage in the affairs of the world,
the next generation would be much better than this, and Christianity would then
begin to flourish again, and appear in its native beauty and lustre. And verily,
whatsoever some may think, such especially as were never catechised themselves,
this is as great and necessary a duty as any that is required in all the
Bible. For God himself by his apostle expressly commands all parents to bring up
their children in the ‘nurture and admonition of the Lord;’ that is, as I have
showed, to catechise or instruct them in the principles of the doctrine of our Lord
Christ. And therefore they who do it not, live in the breach of a known law, yea,
of many laws. There being many places in God’s holy word, where the same thing is
commanded in other terms by Almighty God himself, saying, ‘These words which I command
thee this day, shall be in thy heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently to thy
children.’ And again, ‘Therefore shall ye lay up these words in your
heart, and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your head, that they may
be as frontlets between your eyes, and ye shall teach them your children.’
Seeing therefore that God hath laid so strict a command upon
all parents, to bring up their children in the knowledge of himself, and of their
duty to him, they can expect no other, but that be should take particular notice
whether they do it or not; and reward or punish them accordingly. As we see in Abraham,
what a special kindness hath God for him on this account? ‘Shall I hide from him,’
saith the Lord, ‘that thing which I do? Seeing that Abraham shall surely become
a great and mighty nation, and all the nations upon earth shall be blessed in him.’
But why had he such an extraordinary favour for Abraham above all other men? God
himself gives us the reason, saying, ‘For I know that he will command his
children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord.’
And how much God is displeased with parents neglecting to bring
up their children in his true faith and fear, and suffering them to grow up and
Be sure the saints of God in all ages have taken as much care to bring up their children well, as to live well themselves; making as much conscience of this, as of any duty whatsoever which they owe to God. That the children which he hath given them, may answer his end in giving them; that they may not he insignificant ciphers in the world, or as fruitless trees that serve only to cumber the ground; but that they may serve and glorify God whilst they are upon the earth, so as to be ‘meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.’
And verily all parents would make this their continual care and
study, if they minded either their own or their children’s good. Many complain,
not without cause, that their children are disobedient and undutiful to them; but
the cause is chiefly in themselves. When they have neglected their duty to their
children, how can they expect
But what a mighty advantage would it be to the children themselves
to be thus continually put in mind of their baptismal vow, the articles of our faith,
the duties of religion, and what else is contained in the catechism, from their
childhood all along till they come to be men or women? Their minds would be then
filled with such divine truths, and with so great a sense of their duty, that there
would be no room left for heresy or sin to enter, at least not so as to get possession,
and exercise any dominion there. The first impressions that are made upon us are
not soon worn out, but usually remain as long as we live. As the wise man observes,
‘Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart
from it.’
Wherefore if we have any regard either to our own or to our children’s eternal welfare, let us set upon this duty in good earnest; let us bring up our children so long in the ‘nurture and admonition of the Lord,’ till they fully know him, and all that he would have them believe and do, that they may be saved. But we must be sure to teach them by our example as well as instructions; we must not tell them one thing, and do another ourselves; but show them how to keep the faith and laws of God, by keeping them ourselves before their eyes, all the while we live together upon earth: that when we are all got one after another, out of this troublesome and naughty world, we and our children may at last meet together in heaven, and there praise and glorify almighty God, we for them, and they for us, and all for his grace and truth in Jesus Christ our Lord.
After this general instruction in the principles of our holy
religion, it will be necessary, as soon as our young Christian is capable of it,
to inform
THOUGH religion in general be a thing that all men naturally
agree in, yet there is nothing, I think, that men differ so much about, as about
the particular acts and exercise of it: for all nations in the world have some
religion; but there are scarce two amongst them all that have the same, yea, in
one and the same nation too there are divers modes of religion professed and practised.
No nation or country in the world, but will afford us instances of this; and our
own, I think, as many as any other whatsoever. For could we but cast our eyes into
the several corners of this land, at this very moment, what variety might we observe
in those acts which the several parties amongst us account to be religious! Some
we should see sitting silently for a while together, without either speaking, or
hearing a word spoken, until at length up starts a man or a woman, or some such
thing, and entertains them with a discourse made up of censure and malice, blasphemy
and nonsense; and this is all the religion they pretend to. Others we should find
crowded together in several corners, sometimes praying, sometimes discoursing as
it were,
Others there are, and by the blessing of God, far more than all the rest, in this nation who present themselves before the great Creator and possessor of the world, in that solemn and reverent manner which the constitutions of our church direct, humbly confessing their manifold sins against God, begging mercy and pardon from him, imploring his favour, and praising his name for all the expressions of his undeserved love to mankind: and all this in our vulgar tongue, that we all understand, and so perform a reasonable service unto God.
And verily, if we consider the institution itself
I shall not trouble the reader with any critical division of the words, for they naturally divide themselves into two parts.
First, That we should know, and then that we should ‘serve God with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind.’
I shall begin with the first, not only because it is first placed, but because it necessarily must precede the second; it being impossible for us to serve God aright unless we know him: for without this, all our services will be but like the altar which the Athenians dedicated ‘To the unknown God.’ By which inscriptions they manifested to the world, that they knew that they ought to serve some God, but they knew not that God whom they ought to serve. But that we may so know him as to serve him aright, I shall first show what it is of God which we must know in order to our serving him aright.
First, therefore, he that would serve God aright, must believe
and know that he is;
Secondly, it is necessary to know his essence too, as well as his existence; what, as well as that he is; what he is in himself, and what he is to us; that in himself he is, in and of himself, the source of his wisdom, the abyss of all power, the ocean of all goodness, the fountain of all happiness, the principle of all motion, and the centre, yea, perfection of all perfections in the world; whose nature or essence is so pure, so glorious, so immense, so infinite, so eternal, so every way perfect, transcendent, and incomprehensible, that the more we think of him, the more we contemplate upon him, the more we praise and admire him, the more we may. And the highest apprehensions that we can have of him, is still to apprehend him infinitely higher than all our apprehensions of him. And therefore, that man best knows God, that knows him to be beyond his knowledge, and that knows he can never know him enough.
But we must know too what he is to us, even the
Thirdly, it is necessary also to know the several attributes and perfections which he path revealed of himself in Scripture; that he is so wise as to know whatsoever can be known; so powerful as to do whatsoever can be done; so great and glorious in himself, that we have all just cause to fear him; so kind and gracious in his Son, that it is our duty also to trust in him; so true, that whatsoever he says is true, because he saith it; so good, that whatsoever he doth is good, because he doth it; so just, as to punish every sin that is committed, and yet so merciful as to pardon every sinner that repenteth; that he is pure without mixture, infinite without bounds, eternal without beginning, everlasting without end, and every way perfect without comparison.
Fourthly, We must know also the works of God, what he hath done,
wherein he hath manifested himself to us. But what hath God done? Or
Fifthly, It is necessary also to know, so as to believe, that
though there is but one God, yet there are three persons, all and every one of which
is that one God. I do not say it is necessary to understand or comprehend this mystery,
for that we cannot do; but we are not therefore the less to believe it, because
we cannot understand it: for there are many other things in divinity; yea, many
things in natural philosophy, and in geometry
Secondly, We must consider what kind of knowledge we ought to have of God, in reference to our serving him aright.
For we must not think that it is enough to know in general that
there is a God, and that he is wise and powerful, great and glorious, true and faithful,
good and gracious; these things a man may know in general, so as to be able to discourse
of them, and dispute for them too, and yet come short of that knowledge which is
requisite to our true serving of God: which should be such a knowledge as will
not only swim in the brain, but sink down into the heart; whereby a man is possessed
with a due sense of those things he knows, so that he doth not only know, but in
a manner feel them to he so. Thus David, who, in the text, calls upon his son to
‘know the God of his fathers,’ intimates elsewhere what knowledge he means: saying,
‘Oh taste and see that the Lord is good.’
But this practical and experimental knowledge of God doth necessarily presuppose the other, or the general knowledge of him, so as to be acquainted with the several expressions which God in Scripture hath made use of, whereby to reveal himself and his perfections to us; as when he is pleased to call himself the almighty God, the all-wise and infinite, the just and gracious God, and the like; or to say of himself, ‘I am that I am;’ that is, in and of myself eternal. Unless we first know that these and such like expressions belong to God, and what is the true meaning and purport of them, it is impossible for us to arrive at that knowledge of him, which is necessary to our serving him aright.
And I come to the last thing to
be considered here concerning the knowledge of God, even that it is necessary to
our serving him; so that none can serve him that does not first know him, and therefore
that the method, as well as matter of David’s advice is here observable: ‘Know thou
the God of
And verily one would think that this is a truth so clear, so evident of itself, that it needs no proof or demonstration; for how is it possible for us to know how to serve God, unless we first know that God whom we ought to serve? for all our services unto God should be both proper to his nature, and suitable to his perfections; and therefore, unless I first know his nature and perfections, how can I adjust my services to them? As for example, I am to fear his greatness, and trust on his mercy, and rejoice in his goodness, and desire his favour: but how can I do this, unless I know that he is thus great and merciful, good and favourable?
Moreover, as a man cannot serve God when he hath a mind to do it, so neither will he have a mind or heart to serve him unless he first knows him. For the motions of the will are always regulated by the ultimate dictates of the practical understanding; so that a man chooses or refuses, loves or hates, desires or abhors, according as he knows any object that is presented to him to be good or evil. And therefore how can I choose God as my chiefest good, unless I first know him to be so; or love him as I ought, above all things, unless I first know him to be better than all things; or perform any true service to him, unless I first know him to he such a one, as deserves to have true service performed unto him?
Nay, Lastly, nothing that we can do can be accepted as a service
to God, unless it be both grounded upon, and directed by a right knowledge of him.
God would not accept of blind sacrifices
But however indispensable this connexion be in its own nature, the church of Rome can make a shift to dispense with it; yea, so far as to assert that “ignorance is the mother of devotion.” But you must excuse them, for they do not mean by devotion, as we do, the real serving of God, but only the performing of some outward services to him. And such a kind of devotion, I confess, ignorance may be the mother of: but a man must be grossly ignorant that thinks this to be devotion, which is but a piece of pageantry, a mocking instead of serving God. And, for my part, I cannot but tremble to think what a dismal, what a dreadful account the heads of that church must hereafter give, for daring to keep the people in so much ignorance as they do; so as to render them incapable of serving God, that so they may be the more ready to serve the church; that is, the interests and designs of the court of Rome.
But let them look to that; whilst we, in the
First, God therefore made us that we might know him, and that
we might know that he made us. And therefore it is that he hath made rational creatures
capable of reflecting upon him that made us so: neither did he only make us at
first, but he still preserves us; we feed daily at his table, and live upon his
bounty. And the very beasts that any of us keep, know those that keep them; and
shall we be more brutish than brutes themselves, and not know him that keeps and
maintains us? Oh! how justly may God then call ‘heaven and earth to witness
against us,’
Secondly, There is none of us but have attained to knowledge in other things: some of us have searched into arts and sciences, others are acquainted with several languages; none of us but are, or would be expert in the affairs of this world, and understand the mysteries of our several trades and callings: what, and shall he alone, by whom we know other things, be himself unknown to us? What is, if this be not, a just cause, wherefore God should infatuate and deprive us of all our knowledge in other things? seeing we labour more to know them, than him from whom we receive our knowledge.
Thirdly, Ignorance of God, is itself one of the greatest sins
that we can be guilty of, and which God is most angry for. And God himself imputes
the destruction of his people, to the ‘want of knowledge.’
And therefore, to conclude, if any desire to perform the vow
they made in their baptism, to love and fear, to honour and obey the eternal God
that made them; if any desire to be Christians indeed, and holy in all manner of
conversation; if any desire to trust on the promises, and observe the precepts
of the great Creator and Possessor of the world, to live above the snares of death,
and to antedate the joys of heaven; if any desire to live the life, and to die
the death of the righteous, to serve God here so as to enjoy him hereafter; let
all such but study the Scriptures, and frequent the public ordinances; be constant
and sincere in
We have seen how we ought to know God; and we are now to
consider how we ought to serve him; without which, indeed, our knowledge of him
will avail us nothing. For, as the apostle argues, ‘Though I speak with the
tongues of men and angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass,
or a tinkling cymbal.’
In speaking unto which, I must beg the reader’s most serious and Christian attention, as to a matter which concerns our lives; yea, our eternal lives in another world. I hope there are none of those that pretend to instruct, so brutish and atheistical, as not to desire to serve God: none so proud and self-conceited, as to think that they serve him well enough already, or at least know how to do it. I write only to such as want to be instructed; read books of practical religion with no other design but to serve God, and to learn how to serve him better. And if this be our only design, as I hope it is, let us manifest it to the world, and to our consciences, by attending to, and fixing what we read upon our own hearts. For I may venture to say, that this is the noblest and most necessary subject that I can write, or any one can read of; and that, which if seriously weighed, rightly considered, and truly practised, will most certainly bring us to the highest happiness which our natures are capable of, or our persons were at first designed for.
Now, for our clear proceeding in a matter of great importance,
we will first consider what it is to serve God? A question very necessary to be
treated of and resolved, because of the general mistakes that are in the world about
it: many people
1. In devoting of ourselves, and all we have, or are, or do,
unto the honour of the eternal God; resigning our hearts wholly to him, and subduing
all our passions and affections before him. For seeing we were wholly made by him,
and wholly depend upon him, if we would serve God at all, we must serve him with
all we are; every faculty of our souls and member of our bodies employing
themselves in those services which he set them, so as to live as none of our
own, but as wholly God’s: his by creation, it was he that made us; his by preservation, it is he that
maintains us; and his by redemption, it is he that hath purchased us with his own
most precious blood: and therefore being
And as we are to serve him with all we are, so also with all
we have. ‘Honour the Lord with all thy substance, and with the first-fruits of
all thine increase.’
2. Hence the serving of God consisteth also in the performing of sincere and universal obedience to all his laws and commands, which is but the natural consequent of the former: for if our whole man, both soul and body, and whatsoever we have, or are, ought to be devoted to his glory, it must needs follow, that whatsoever we do should be conformable to his precepts; which also is no more than every one of us expects from our servants: for those whom we have covenanted with to be our servants, and whom we keep upon that very account, that they may serve us, we all expect that they should obey all our commands, and do whatsoever in justice and by our covenants we can enjoin them. But how much more then must we ourselves be obliged to obey all the laws and precepts of him that made us, whose creatures we are, and whose servants, by consequence, we ought to be?
I say, all his laws and precepts; for we must not think to pick
and choose, to do some things, and leave other things undone: for we should take
it ill if our servants should serve us so: if when we send them upon several businesses,
they should mind one of them, and neglect all the other, we
Just as if when Moses had broke the two tables of stone, whereon
the ten commandments were written, one man should have come and snatched away one
piece, a second run away with another piece, and a third with another, until at
length ten several persons had gotten ten several pieces whereon the ten commandments
were severally written; and when they had done so, every one of them should have
striven to keep the law that was written on his own piece, never minding what was
written in the others. Do you think that such persons as these are, could he reputed
the servants of God, and to observe his laws, when they minded only one particular
branch or piece of them? the case is our own; we hearing of several laws and commands,
which the most high God hath set us, get some one of them by the end, and run away
with that, as if we were not concerned in any of the rest. But let us still remember,
that the same finger that wrote one of the commands, wrote all the other too. And
therefore he that doth not observe all as well as one, cannot properly be said to
observe any at all. Neither indeed doth be serve God in any thing: for though he
may do something that God requires, yet it is plain, that he
But now one that would serve God indeed, hath ‘respect to all
his commandments;’
And so I come to the second thing to be considered here: that is, the manner how we ought to serve God, ‘even with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind.’
First, ‘With a perfect heart;’ that is, with integrity and
sincerity of heart, not from any by-ends or sinister designs, but out of pure obedience
to the laws of God, as he is the sovereign of heaven and earth, and in Christ, ‘our Lord and our God.’ A thing much to be observed in all our services: without
which, indeed, they are no services at
Secondly, We must not only serve God ‘with a perfect heart,’ but
with a ‘willing mind,’ or more properly, with a willing soul; that is, our will
and all the affections of our souls should be carried after, and exercised in the
service of almighty God. Our desires are to be inflamed towards it, our love fixed
upon it, and our delight placed in it. Thus the Israelites are said to have
‘sought the Lord with their whole desire.’
Thirdly, What is the reason why we ought to serve God
so? Because ‘he searcheth the heart, and understandeth all the imaginations
of the thoughts:’ that is, he is thoroughly acquainted with every thought
in our hearts, and with every motion and inclination of our souls infinitely
better than our-. selves are. And therefore it is vain for us to think to
put him off with outward and formal, instead of inward and real service: for he
doth not only see what we do, but knows too what we think while
we are doing of it: and doth not only observe the matter of our actions,
but the manner also of our performing them: it being his great prerogative
to ‘search the heart, and to try the reins, and to have all things naked and
open unto him,’
But to bring this matter more closely to ourselves: we have
been all at church, perhaps, performing our service and devotions to him that made
us; it is true, as to our outward appearance, there hath been no great difference
betwixt us, we have been equally present at these public ordinances, and we do not
know but one hath prayed and heard the word of God both read and preached as well
as another; so that seemingly our services are all alike as to us: but are they
so to God too? That I much question: for he hath taken especial notice all along,
not only of the outward gestures of our bodies, but likewise of the inward behaviour
of our hearts and souls before him; and therefore, as I hope he hath seen many
of us serving him with a ‘perfect heart and a willing mind;’ so, I fear he
hath found too many of us tardy, ‘coming before him as his people come, and sitting
before him as his people sit,’ while our hearts in the mean time have been about
our covetousness; and hath plainly seen, though our bodies have been at church,
our souls have been elsewhere, thinking upon our relations, or estates, or something
or other, besides what our thoughts should have been employed about in so solemn
a duty as the public worship. But know this, ‘O vain man, whosoever thou art, that
God will not be mocked;’ and though thou hast not seen, or perhaps so much as thought
of him, he hath seen thee and thy thoughts too; yea, at this very moment looks
upon thee. And what wilt thou answer him, the great Judge of the whole world, when
he shall tell thee to thy face, and call his omniscience to witness, that he saw
thee at this, as at other times, play the hypocrite with him, making as if thou
servest him, when thou servest him not; and instead of serving him ‘with a
perfect
Thus I have endeavoured to show both what it is to serve God,
and how we ought to do it: now let us not think it sufficient that we know how to
serve God, unless we serve him according to our knowledge. Let us remember our Saviour’s
words, ‘If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.’
Wherefore all ye that desire to go to heaven, to have him that
made you reconciled to you, and smile upon you; or that desire to be really and
truly happy; set upon the work which God sent you into the world about, put it
not off any longer, make no more vain excuses, but from this day forward, let the
service of God be your daily, your continual employment and pleasure: study and
contrive each day how to advance his glory and interest in the world, and how you
may walk mom strictly, more circumspectly, more conformably to his laws than ever.
But whatsoever service you perform unto him, be sure to do it with a perfect heart
and a willing mind.’ Think not to put him off with fancy instead of faith, or with
outward performances instead of real duties; but remember that he ‘searcheth the
hearts, and trieth the reins of the sons of men,’ and observes the inward motions
of the soul, as well as the outward actions of the life: and therefore wheresoever
you are, whatsoever you do, still bethink yourselves, that he that made you, still
looks upon you; taking notice not only of
But to conclude; whoever ye are that read this discourse, I have shown you the ‘things that belong unto your everlasting peace,’ have acquainted you with the method and manner of your serving God in time, in order to your enjoyment of him to eternity. How you are affected with what you have read, and whether you be resolved to practise it, yea, or no, it is only the eternal God that knows. But this I know, that if you will not be persuaded to serve God, yea, and to serve him too ‘with a perfect heart and a willing mind,’ you will one day wish you had, but then it will be too late. And therefore if you will put it to the venture, go on still, and with the unprofitable servant, ‘hide your talents in a napkin,’ or lavish them out in the revels of sin, and vanity; let thy belly be still thy god, and the world thy lord; serve thyself or Satan, instead of the ‘living God,’ but know that for this, ‘God will bring thee into judgment;’ after which, expect nothing else but to be overwhelmed with horror and confusion to eternity.
Whereas on the other side, such amongst you as shall sincerely endeavour from henceforth to serve ‘God with a perfect heart and a willing mind,’ I dare, I do assure them in the name of God, ‘their labour shall not be in vain in the Lord:’ for God suffers not his enemies to go unpunished, nor his servants unrewarded.
And therefore go on with joy and triumph in the service of so great and so good a master, and devote yourselves wholly to his service, and employ your talents faithfully for his glory. Remember the time is but short; and Christ himself will receive you into eternal glory, saying, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’
Genesis
3:15 14:19 18:19 22:18 39:21 49:10 49:10
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
4:5 5:11 6:7 7:6 8:15 10:14 11:13 14:2 14:21
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Job
Psalms
10:1 16:10 18:26 19:6 19:113 22:8 22:16 22:18 34:8 34:20 39:1 40:3 41:9 68:18 69:21 84:11
Proverbs
3:9 3:9 4:23 10:19 15:8 16:4 19:11 21:4 22:6 22:6 22:6 23:26
Ecclesiastes
Isaiah
1:2 1:3 1:4 6:9 7:14 7:14 9:1 9:2 9:6 9:6 11:1 26:19 35:5 35:6 40:3 45:24 53:3 53:5 53:5 53:10 53:12
Jeremiah
Daniel
Hosea
Amos
Jonah
Micah
Habakkuk
Haggai
Zechariah
9:9 11:12 11:13 12:10 13:7 13:7
Malachi
Matthew
1:1 1:18 2:1 2:1 2:19 2:20 3:1 3:2 3:17 4:12 4:23 4:23 5:16 7:14 8:20 12:36 13:13 13:49 20:28 21:6 21:9 22:31 22:32 24:31 25:31 25:32 25:33 26:15 26:47 27:26 27:34 27:35 27:35 27:38 27:42 27:43 27:48 28:6 28:9 28:16 28:17 28:18 28:19 28:19 28:19 28:20
Mark
4:12 7:21 7:22 10:14 15:1 15:19 15:24 15:27 15:42 16:14 16:16 16:19
Luke
1:5 1:6 1:35 11:2 13:24 19:45 19:47 22:6 22:44 23:33 24:6 24:13 24:14 24:15 24:34 24:43 24:51
John
3:5 4:18 4:34 5:22 5:23 8:44 9:1 12:14 13:17 15:8 16:7 16:13 17:3 19:23 19:33 19:36 20:19 20:27
Acts
2:8 2:38 2:39 2:39 3:6 3:7 5:12 5:15 5:16 10:47 12:7 12:8 12:9 12:10 16:15 16:33 17:31 18:28 26:25
Romans
3:31 6:12 6:14 6:18 7:15 8:28 8:32 12:1 13:1 13:1 13:2 13:7 14:23
1 Corinthians
1:30 2:14 4:7 5:5 6:20 6:20 7:14 7:14 10:31 10:31 10:31 11:29 13:1 13:12 15:6 15:8 15:22 15:52
2 Corinthians
1:18 1:20 1:23 3:5 5:1 5:21 5:21 5:21 15
Ephesians
4:14 4:26 4:29 5:25 5:28 5:33 6:5 6:5 6:6 6:6 6:7 6:7
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Hebrews
4:13 4:14 5:12 7:22 7:26 7:27 8:10 8:10 8:10 11:1 11:6 11:6 12:6
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
i ii iii iv v vi vii viii ix x xi xii xiii xiv xv xvi xvii xviii xix xx xxi xxii xxiii xxiv xxv xxvi xxvii xxviii xxix xxx xxxi xxxii xxxiii xxxiv xxxv xxxvi xxxvii xxxviii xxxix xl xli xlii xliii xliv xlv xlvi xlvii xlviii xlix l li lii liii liv lv lvi 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 54 54 55 56 56 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 262 253 254 256 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270