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2. There is the formal Chriftian, who takes up religion for a fashion. He is born and bred in a nation where Christianity is profeffed and countenanced, and therefore thinks it convenient for him to know fomething of it. Of this fort there are, I fear, a great many, who read the fcriptures fometimes as others do, to know the hiftory of it; and go to church, and hear the gofpel preached, and by this means come in fome measure to understand the hiftory of our Saviour, and the Christian doctrine; but do not at all bend themselves to comply with the great end and defign of it: they do not heartily endeavour to form and fashion their lives according to the laws and precepts of it; they think they are very good Chriftians, if they can give an account of the articles of their faith, profefs their belief in God and Chrift, and declare that they hope to be faved by him, though they take no care to keep his commandments. Thefe are they of whom our Saviour fpeaks, Luke vi. 46. who call him Lord, Lord; but do not the things which be faid.

3. Hypocritical Chriftians, who make an interest of religion, and ferve fome worldly defign by it. Thefe are concerned to understand religion more than ordinary, that they may counterfeit it handfomely, and may not be at a lofs when they have occafion to put on the garb of it. And this is one part of the character which the Apoftle gives of thofe perfons, who he foretells would appear in the last days, 2 Tim. iii. 2. he fays they fhould be lovers of their own felves, covetous, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power of it.

Now thefe men do not love religion, but they have occafion to make ufe of it, and therefore they will have no more of it than will just ferve their purpose and defign. And indeed he that hath any other defign in religion than to please God, and fave his foul, needs no more than fo much knowledge of it, as will ferve him to act a part in it upon occafion. I come to the

III. Third and last observation, viz. That the practice of religion, and the doing of what we know to be our duty, is the only way to happiness: If ye know thefe things, happy are ye if do them; not if ye know thefe things, happy are ye; but if ye know and do them. Now to convince men of fo important a truth, I fhall endeavour to make out these two things.

1. That the gofpel makes the practice of religion a neceffary condition of our happiness.

2. That the nature and reafon of the thing makes it a neceffary qualification for it.

1. The gospel makes the practice of religion a neceffary condition of our happiness. Our Saviour in his first fermon, where he repeats the promise of bleffedness so often, makes no promife of it to the mere knowledge of religion, but to the habit and practice of Chriftian graces and virtues, of meeknefs, and humility, and mercifulness, and righteoufnefs, and peaceableness, and purity, and patience under fufferings, and perfecutions for righteousness fake. And Matth. vii. 21. our Saviour doth mot fully declare, that the happiness which he promifes, did not belong to thofe who made profeffion of his name, and were fo well acquainted with his doctrine, as to be able to instruct others, if themselves in the mean time did not practise it: Not every one that faith unto me, Lord, Lord, fhall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will fay to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophefied in thy name and in thy name have caft out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Though they profefs to know him, yet because their lives were not answerable to the knowledge which they had of him and his doctrine, he declares that he will not know them, but bids them depart from him. And then he goes on to fhew that though a man attend to the doctrine of Chrift, and gain the knowledge of it; yet if it do

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not defcend into his life, and govern his actions, all that man's hopes of heaven are fond and groundless; and only that man's hopes of heaven are well grounded, who knows the doctrine of Chrift, and does it : ver. 24. Whofoever heareth thefe fayings of mine, and doth them, I will liken him unto a wife man who built his houfe upon a rock: And the rain defcended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that houfe: and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth thefe fayings of mine, and doth them not, fhall be likened unto a foolish man who built his houfe upon the fand: And the rain defcended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that houfe; and it fell, and great was the fall of it. Though a man had a knowledge of religion, as great and perfect as that which Solomon had of na tural things, large as the fand upon the fea-fhore, yet all this knowledge, feparated from practice, would be like the fand alfo in another refpect, a weak foundation for any man to build his hopes of happiness up

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To the fame purpofe St Paul fpeaks, Rom. ii. Not the bearers of the law are just before God; but the doers of the law fhall be justified: So likewife St James i. 22. Be ye doers of the word, and not bearers only, deceiving your own felves; and ver. 25. Whofo looketh into the perfect law of liberty,(that is, the law or doctrine of the gofpel), and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed and therefore he adds, that the truth and reality of religion is to be measured by the effects of it, in the government of our words, and ordering of our lives ver. 26. If any man among you feem be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but de ceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father, is this, to vifit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. Men talk of religion, and keeps a great ftir about it; but nothing will pass for true religion before God, but the virtuous and charitable actions of

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a good life; and God will accept no man to eternal life upon any other condition. So the Apostle tells us moft exprefsly, Heb. xii. 14. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall fee the Lord.

2. As God hath made the practice of religion a neceffary condition of our happiness, fo the very nature and reafon of the thing makes it a neceffary qualification for it. It is neceflary that we become like to God, in order to the enjoyment of him; and nothing makes us like to God, but the practice of holiness and goodnefs. Knowledge indeed is a divine perfection; but that alone, as it doth not render a man like God, fo neither doth it difpofe him for the enjoyment of him. If a man had the understanding of an angel, he might for all that be a devil: He that committeth fin is of the devil; and whatever knowledge fuch a man may have, he is of a devilish temper and difpofition: but every one that doth righteoufness is born of God. By this we are like God, and only by our likeness to him do we become capable of the fight and enjoyment of him; therefore every man that hopes to be happy by the bleffed fight of God in the next life, muft endeavour after holiness in this life. So the fame Apostle tells us, 1 John iii. 3. Every man that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself, even as he is pure. A wicked temper and difpofition of mind is in the very nature of the thing utterly inconfiftent with all reafonable hopes of heaven.

Thus I have fhewn, that the practice of religion, and the doing of what we know to be our duty, is the only way to happiness.

And now the proper inference from all this is, to put men upon the careful practice of religion. Let no man content himfelf with the knowledge of his duty, unless he do it: and to this purpose I fhall briefly urge these three confiderations.

1. This is the great end of all our knowledge in religion, to practise what we know. The knowledge of God and of our duty hath fo effential a refpect to practice, that the fcripture will hardly allow it to be properly called knowledge, unless it have an influence

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upon our lives: 1 John ii. 3. 4. Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that faith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

2. Practice is the best way to increase and perfect our knowledge. Knowledge directs us in our practice, but practice confirms and increaseth our knowledge: John vii. 17. If any man will do the will of God, he fhall know of the doctrine. The best way to know God, is to be like him ourselves, and to have the lively image of his perfections imprinted upon our fouls; and the best way to understand the Christian religion, is ferioufly to fet about the practice of it; this will give a man a better notion of Christianity than any fpeculation can.

3. Without the practice of religion, our knowledge will be fo far from being any furtherance and advantage to our happiness, that it will be one of the unhappiest aggravations of our mifery. He that is ignorant of his duty hath fome excufe to pretend for himself; but he that understands the Chriftian religion, and does not live according to it, hath no cloak for his fin. The defects of our knowledge, unless they be grofs and wilful, will find an eafy pardon with God; but the faults of our lives fhall be feverely punished, when we know our duty, and would not do it. I will conclude with that of our Saviour, Luke xii. 47. 48. That fervant which knew his Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, Thall be beaten with many stripes; for unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required. When we come into the other world, no confideration will fting us more, and add more to the rage of our torments than this, that we did wickedly, when we un• derstood to have done better; and chofe to make our felves miferable, when we knew fo well the way to have been happy.

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