come unto him, and they shall find reft unto their fouls: his yoke fball prove easy to them, and his burthen light*: in perfect conformity to what had been prophefied of him, that he should feed his flock like a shepherd: gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bofomt. Religion hath both its severities and its encouragements: and the whole of both must be laid before mankind; but the one or the other dwelt on, as the cafe requires; that fo, fome may be alarmed into right conduct, others quieted in it; and neither the heart of the righte ous made fad, whom God hath not made fad; nor the hands of the wicked strengthened, by promifing him lifet. Bat undoubtedly the principal need is, of mens being awakened to a fenfe, that God requires much more, than is ufually practifed, or even thought of. For fuperfluous fears, though we ought carefully to guard against them, are, of the two, not hear so pernicious as deceitful hopes. It is indeed a very awful confideration that the difficulties of becoming what we fhould be are fo great and furmounted by fq few. But fill the truth ought not to be disguised and the difficulty of doing what may and muft be done, is no argument for any thing but unwearied diligence: and for that, it is the strongest argument in the world. That most men act wickedly, is no more an objection against religi on; than that most men act unwifely, is against common prudence. That fo many fail by taking a wrong courfe, is only a warning to make fure of taking the right. And if in that, feveral duties are painful, it is not chriftianity, that hath made them fo. All its peculiar precepts are caly in themselves, and affiftances to the practice of the reft. The hard fayings are declared indeed in the gofpel; but enjoined by reafon itself, when duly cultivated, and by the very nature of things. Thefe, therefore, are unchangeably what they are, and all we have to do is to fubmit to them. But if our religion had made the duties of life ftricter, it hath made the hopes of affistance and reward fo much ftronger, that we should have no manner of caufe to complain; much lefs to faint.. The temptations to difobey, which arife from our make and circumstances, God himself hath expofed us to; and therefore if we apply to him, will affuredly fupport us under, to a degree that he will accept. The ill habits which proceed from wrong education only, cannot have got very ftrong hold;

* Matth. xi. 28, 29, 30. ↑ If. xl. II.

Ezek. xiii. 22.

if

if we begin but to extirpate them, as foon as we come to the government of ourselves. And as for those which, by our voluntary misconduct afterwards, have taken deeper root; fince the mischief is of our own doing, we are bound to more pains and more patience in undoing it again. When a long irregularity hath impaired health, a long strictness of regimen will be needful to recover it: but every disease of the foul is curable at length, though many of the body are not. Indeed the fevere trials are almost wholly at first; and therefore our Saviour hath peculiarly remarked, that strait is the gate: but when once we have contracted our appetites and paffions enough, to get through that; the remaining obftacles diminish, ufually by quick degrees: and after a while, the ways of wif dom become pleasantnefs; and all her paths peace*. Then the difficulties themfelves turn into delight, and the happy traveller goes on his way rejoicing; till, the days of his pilgrimage being completed, entrance is miniftered unto him abundantly into the everlafting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Fefus Chriftt.

66

66

66

I conclude with the words of a heathen writer; but highly deferving every chriftian's attention. "Think of the life of man, as of a long road, leading towards a holy temple where we are to be initiated in divine myfteries: a road full of "paffengers, fome loitering and trifling, fome running about, "and hindering one another; fome wandering, and lofing "themfelves. For many are the devious and deceitful paths, leading to pits and precipices: but one alone, narrow and fteep and rough and trodden by few, that points directly for "wards; which brave and induftrious fouls, with great re"folution, force their way through: earneftly longing for the "initiation, and captivated with the beauty of the place they "afpire to: where when they arrive, all their labour ends, and every defire is fully fatisfied. Begin the journey then: enter and be initiated; take poffeffion of the good things provided there: for wishes themselves can extend no far"thert."

Prov. iii. 17. 2 Pet. i. 11. Max. Tyr. Diff. 23. Ed. Dav. 4to, 39.

SER

THE MORTIFICATION OF IRREGULAR DESIRES AND
APPETITES, AN EVIDENCE OF A TRUE CHRISTIAN.

GAL. V. 24.

And they, that are Chrift's, have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lufts.

THIS

HIS expreffion, crucifying the flesh, may probably seem to moft, when they first hear it, or attend to it, a very strange one: as, no doubt, numbers of others in fcripture do. But a little confideration will fhew, that there is no cause to cenfure them, or be offended at them. For amidst the multiplicity of languages, that are in the world, and the various nations, tempers and circumstances, of the people who are bred up to use them; it is unavoidable, but there will be in each many ways of speaking, which though easy and familiar by custom to one part of mankind, muft yet, to the reft, appear harsh and unaccountable. This is the cafe even of neighbouring countries in our own times: much more then muft it be expected in thofe tongues, of which the vulgar ufe hath long fince failed, and which formerly expreffed the fentiments of diftant nations, inspired both by the age and the climate they lived in, with a different turn of thought and ftile. Hence proceed the furprizing warmth and boldness of figure, the abrupt tranfitions, the fudden lofty flights of the eastern writers and fpeakers, utterly contrary to the cool and regular genius of the European languages. And amongst the former, the compofitions of the Jews muft of courfe have a peculiar tincture and propriety of their own not only because they were prohibited, for good reafons, all needlefs commerce with other lands; but chiefly because divine revelation delivered to them fuch doctrines and precepts, and confequently fuch terms, as the heathen had not :

which

which muft likewife greatly increase in number by frequent references to their own articles of faith, observances and facred books. When christianity was published to the world, here was again a new fet of discoveries and ideas, added to the preceding which being firft communicated in Hebrew, wee thence transfufed into Greek, by the apostles addreffing themfelves to the Gentiles. Thus was the ftile of the New-Tefta. ment produced: which being as literally translated, and closely imitated, as it well could, (for the nature of the thing requir ed ftrictness) the fame forms of fpeech have been derived down into the modern tongues of chriftian countries. And so it hath come to pass by a kind of neceflity, that, in discourses on religion, words, meanings, conftructions, images, occur, extremely remote from the common idiom of the language on other cccions. And thefe, weak perfons are apt to mistake, artful difputants to pervert, and unlearned or unfair affecters of wit and free thought to ridicule; though originally they were of plain fignification, and are ftill, when underflood, full of good fenfe and beauty.

Thus, crucifying, or as the apoftle elsewhere puts it, morti fying the fiefh, is a phrase far out of the road of our daily converfation, and of our reading on fubjects of business and entertainment: from whence it eafily happens, that the fuperftitious mifapprehend, and the prophane despise it; though ia deed it denotes a reasonable, a neceffary duty, and describes that duty, not only in a strong, but elegant manner. To fhew thele things clearly, I fhall

I. Explain to you the rife and general intention of this way of fpeaking.

II. Specify more diftinctly the nature of the duty defigned to be taught by it.

III. Shew you how strictly our belonging to Chrift obliges us to practise that doctrine.

I. I fhall explain to you the rife and general intention of this way of speaking in fcripture.

Now the words, flf and fpirit, though employed by the writers of the New-Teftament in different fenfes, according to the fubject of which they treat, are yet commonly expreffions of the moral ftate and character of men; the difpofitions of his

heart

• Col. iii. 5.

heart towards piety or fin. Spirit is the principle of reafon and religion: fleb of appetite and paffion. Every one feels in himfelf both right and wrong inclinations. The former our conIcience approves. And therefore purfuing them would on that account alone be properly called, walking after the Spirit *, that inward man, which naturally delighteth in the law of God t But a much stronger ground for it is, that the divine Spirit hath not only revealed to us the whole rule of life, and the most powerful motives to obferve it, but is continually prefent to our minds, exciting and ftrengthening us, if we permit him, to every good work. On the other hand, all flesh having corrupted his way before God ‡, finners may be juftly faid to walk after the flesh, because they live conformably to the wicked cuftoms of the world. But the true foundation of the phrafe is, that this corruptible body § fubjects the fallen children of Adam perpetually by its irregular propenfities, to a variety of temptations, hard to be overcome. And therefore even heathen authors have reprefented it, as the principal fource of moral evil: no wonder then, that thofe of fcripture do, on fuller knowledge of the cafe.

But in St. Paul more especially the flesh means our vicious tendencies; not only those to fenfual indulgence, but the whole fyftem of them. Thus ver. 13. of this chapter: brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only ufe not your liberty for an occafion to the flesh: that is, to any blameable purpose. But the particular blameable use, which he had in view, was that of uncharitable contention. For it follows immediately, but if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not confumed one of another. Again, ver. 19. having faid, that the works of the flesh are manifeft, he proceeds to reckon amongst them, not only adultery and lafcivioufnefs, but variance, envy, strife, fedition. And the fruits of the Spirit, opposed to these, ver. 22. are not only temperance, but long-fuffering, peace, goodness, faith, or fidelity, meekness.

Farther because there is a connexion and fympathy between the various difpofitions of the fame kind, whether moral or immoral, each adding vigour and strength to the other: the feveral vices, to which mankind is prone, are defcribed in God's VOL. II.

word,

L11

• Rom. viii. 4.

Rom. vii. 22.

Gen. vi. 11, 12.

§ Wild. ix. 15.