into those lanes which lead out of the way. There are crooked paths,
paths in which men go astray, paths that lead to death and damnation,
but take heed of all those. Some of them are dangerous because of
practise, some because of opinion, but mind them not; mind the path
before thee, look right before thee, turn neither to the right hand
nor to the left, but let thine eyes look right on, even right
before thee; "Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be
established." Turn not to the right hand nor to the left. "Remove thy
foot far from evil." This counsel being not so seriously taken as
given, is the reason of that starting from opinion to opinion, reeling
this way and that way, out of this lane into that lane, and so missing
the way to the kingdom. Tho the way to heaven be but one, yet there
are many crooked lanes and by-paths that shoot down upon it, as I may
say. And again, notwithstanding the kingdom of heaven be the biggest
city, yet usually those by-paths are most beaten, most travelers go
those ways; and therefore the way to heaven is hard to be found, and
as hard to be kept in, by reason of these. Yet, nevertheless, it is in
this case as it was with the harlot of Jericho; she had one scarlet
thread tied in her window, by which her house was known: so it is
here, the scarlet streams of Christ's blood run throughout the way to
the kingdom of heaven; therefore mind that, see if thou do not find
the besprinkling of the blood of Christ in the way, and if thou do, be
of good cheer, thou art in the right way; but have a care thou beguile
not thyself with a fancy; for then thou mayst light into any lane or
way; but that thou mayst not be mistaken, consider, tho it seem never
so pleasant, yet if thou do not find that in the very middle of the
road there is written with the heart-blood of Christ, that he came
into the world to save sinners, and that we are justified, tho we are
ungodly, shun that way; for this it is which the apostle meaneth when,
he saith, "We have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood
of Jesus, by a new and living way which He hath consecrated for us,
through the vail--that is to say, His flesh." How easy a matter it is
in this our day, for the devil to be too cunning for poor souls, by
calling his by-paths the way to the kingdom. If such an opinion or
fancy be but cried up by one or more, this inscription being set upon
it by the devil, "This is the way of God," how speedily, greedily,
and by heaps, do poor simple souls throw away themselves upon it;
especially if it be daubed over with a few external acts of morality,
if so good. But it is because men do not know painted by-paths from
the plain way to the kingdom of heaven. They have not yet learned the
true Christ, and what His righteousness is, neither have they a
sense of their own insufficiency; but are bold, proud, presumptuous,
self-conceited. And therefore,
The fifth direction: Do not thou be too much in looking too high in
thy journey heavenward. You know men that run a race do not use to
stare and gaze this way and that, neither do they use to cast up their
eyes too high, lest haply, through their too much gazing with their
eyes after other things, they in the mean time stumble and catch a
fall. The very same case is this: if thou gaze and stare after every
opinion and way that comes into the world, also if thou be prying
overmuch into God's secret decrees, or let thy heart too much
entertain questions about some nice foolish curiosities, thou mayst
stumble and fall, as many hundreds in England have done, both in
ranting and quakery, to their own eternal overthrow, without the
marvelous operation of God's grace be suddenly stretched forth to
bring them back again. Take heed, therefore; follow not that proud,
lofty spirit, that, devil-like, can not be content with his own
station. David was of an excellent spirit, where he saith, "Lord,
my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty, neither do I exercise
myself in great matters, or things too high for me. Surely I have
behaved and quieted myself as a child that is weaned of his mother: My
soul is even as a weaned child." Do thou so run.
The sixth direction: Take heed that you have not an ear open to every
one that calleth after you as you are in your journey. Men that run,
you know, if any do call after them, saying, I would speak with you,
or go not too fast and you shall have my company with you, if they run
for some great matter, they use to say, Alas! I can not stay, I am
in haste, pray talk not to me now; neither can I stay for you, I am
running for a wager: if I win I am made; if I lose I am undone,
and therefore hinder me not. Thus wise are men when they run for
corruptible things, and thus shouldst thou do, and thou hast more
cause to do so than they, forasmuch as they run for things that last
not, but thou for an incorruptible glory. I give thee notice of this
betimes, knowing that thou shalt have enough call after thee, even the
devil, sin, this world, vain company, pleasures, profits, esteem among
men, ease, pomp, pride, together with an innumerable company of such
companions; one crying, Stay for me; the other saying, Do not leave me
behind; a third saying, And take me along with you. What, will you go,
saith the devil, without your sins, pleasures, and profits? Are you so
hasty? Can you not stay and take these along with you? Will you
leave your friends and companions behind you? Can you not do as your
neighbors do, carry the world, sin, lust, pleasure, profit, esteem
among men, along with you? Have a care thou do not let thine ear open
to the tempting, enticing, alluring, and soul-entangling flatteries
of such sink-souls as these are. "My son," saith Solomon, "if sinners
entice thee, consent thou not."
You know what it cost the young man whom Solomon speaks of in the vii.
of the Proverbs, that was enticed by a harlot: "With much fair speech
she won him, and caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips
she forced him, till he went after her as an ox to the slaughter, or
as a fool to the correction of the stocks"; even so far, "till the
dart struck through his liver," and he knew not "that it was for his
life." "Hearken unto me now therefore," saith he, "O ye children, and
attend to the words of my mouth, let not thine heart incline to her
ways, go not astray in her paths, for she hast cast down many wounded,
yea, many strong men have been slain (that is, kept out of heaven); by
her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death."
Soul, take this counsel, and say, Satan, sin, lust, pleasure, profit,
pride, friends, companions, and everything else, let me alone, stand
off, come not nigh me, for I am running for heaven, for my soul, for
God, for Christ, from hell and everlasting damnation; if I win, I win
all; and if I lose, I lose all; let me alone, for I will not hear. So
run.
The seventh direction: In the next place be not daunted tho thou
meetest with never so many discouragements in thy journey thither.
That man that is resolved for heaven, if Satan can not win him by
flatteries, he will endeavor to weaken him by discouragements; saying,
Thou art a sinner, thou hath broken God's law, thou art not elected,
thou cometh too late, the day of grace is passed, God doth not care
for thee, thy heart is naught, thou art lazy, with a hundred other
discouraging suggestions. And thus it was with David where he saith,
"I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the loving-kindness of
the Lord in the land of the living." As if he should say, the devil
did so rage, and my heart was so base, that had I judged according
to my own sense and feeling, I had been absolutely distracted; but I
trusted to Christ in the promise, and looked that God would be as good
as his promise, in having mercy upon me, an unworthy sinner; and this
is that which encouraged me, and kept me from fainting. And thus must
thou do when Satan or the law, or thy own conscience, do go about to
dishearten thee, either by the greatness of thy sins, the wickedness
of thy heart, the tediousness of the way, the loss of outward
enjoyments, the hatred that thou wilt procure from the world or the
like; then thou must encourage thyself with the freeness of the
promises, the tender-heartedness of Christ, the merits of His blood,
the freeness of His invitations to come in, the greatness of the sin
of others that have been pardoned, and that the same God, through the
same Christ, holdeth forth the same grace as free as ever. If these be
not thy meditations, thou wilt draw very heavily in the way of heaven,
if thou do not give up all for lost, and so knock off from following
any farther; therefore, I say, take heart in thy journey, and say to
them that seek thy destruction, "Rejoice not against me, O my enemy,
for when I fall I shall arise, when I sit in darkness the Lord shall
be a light unto me." So run.
The eighth direction: Take heed of being offended at the cross that
thou must go by before thou come to heaven. You must understand (as I
have already touched) that there is no man that goeth to heaven but he
must go by the cross. The cross is the standing way-mark by which all
they that go to glory must pass.
"We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of heaven."
"Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution." If thou art in thy way to the kingdom, my life for thine
thou wilt come at the cross shortly (the Lord grant thou dost not
shrink at it, so as to turn thee back again).
"If any man will come after me," saith Christ, "let him deny himself,
and take up his cross daily, and follow me." The cross it stands,
and hath stood, from the beginning, as a way-mark to the kingdom of
heaven. You know, if one ask you the way to such and such a place,
you, for the better direction, do not only say, This is the way, but
then also say, You must go by such a gate, by such a stile, such
a bush, tree, bridge, or such like. Why, so it is here; art thou
inquiring the way to heaven? Why, I tell thee, Christ is the way; into
Him thou must get, into His righteousness, to be justified; and if
thou art in Him, thou wilt presently see the cross, thou must go close
by it, thou must touch it, nay, thou must take it up, or else thou
wilt quickly go out of the way that leads to heaven, and turn up some
of those crooked lanes that lead down to the chambers of death.
It is the cross which keepeth those that are kept from heaven. I am
persuaded, were it not for the cross, where we have one professor we
should have twenty; but this cross, that is it which spoileth all.
The ninth direction: Beg of God that He would do these two things for
thee: First, enlighten thine understanding: And, secondly, inflame thy
will. If these two be but effectually done, there is no fear but thou
wilt go safe to heaven.
One of the great reasons why men and women do so little regard the
other world is because they see so little of it: And the reason why
they see so little of it is because they have their understanding
darkened: And therefore, saith Paul, "Do not you believers walk as
do other Gentiles, even in the vanity of their minds, having their
understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through
the ignorance (or foolishness) that is in them, because of the
blindness of their heart." Walk not as those, run not with them: alas!
poor souls, they have their understandings darkened, their hearts
blinded, and that is the reason they have such undervaluing thoughts
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the salvation of their souls. For when
men do come to see the things of another world, what a God, what
a Christ, what a heaven, and what an eternal glory there is to be
enjoyed; also when they see that it is possible for them to have a
share in it, I tell you it will make them run through thick and thin
to enjoy it. Moses, having a sight of this, because his understanding
was enlightened, "He feared not the wrath of the king, but chose
rather to suffer afflictions with the people of God than to enjoy the
pleasures of sin for a season. He refused to be called the son of
the king's daughter"; accounting it wonderful riches to be accounted
worthy of so much as to suffer for Christ with the poor despised
saints; and that was because he saw Him who was invisible, and had
respect unto the recompense of reward. And this is that which the
apostle usually prayeth for in his epistles for the saints, namely,
"That they might know what is the hope of God's calling, and the
riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints; and that they
might be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and
length, and depth, and height, and know the love of Christ, which
passeth knowledge." ...
The tenth direction: Cry to God that He would inflame thy will also
with the things of the other world. For when a man's will is fully set
to do such or such a thing, then it must be a very hard matter that
shall hinder that man from bringing about his end. When Paul's will
was set resolvedly to go up to Jerusalem (tho it was signified to him
before what he should there suffer), he was not daunted at all; nay,
saith he, "I am ready (or willing) not only to be bound, but also
to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." His will was
inflamed with love to Christ; and therefore all the persuasions that
could be used wrought nothing at all.
Your self-willed people, nobody knows what to do with them: we use to
say, he will have his own will, do all what you can. Indeed, to have
such a will for heaven, is an admirable advantage to a man that
undertaketh a race thither; a man that is resolved, and hath his will
fixt, saith he, I will do my best to advantage myself; I will do my
worst to hinder my enemies; I will not give out as long as I can
stand; I will have it or I will lose my life; "tho he slay me, yet
will I trust in him. I will not let thee go except thou bless me." I
will, I will, I will, oh this blest inflamed will for heaven! What is
it like? If a man be willing, then any argument shall be a matter
of encouragement; but if unwilling, then any argument shall give
discouragement; this is seen both in saints and sinners; in them that
are the children of God, and also those that are the children of the
devil. As,
1. The saints of old, they being willing and resolved for heaven,
what could stop them? Could fire and fagot, sword or halter, stinking
dungeons, whips, bears, bulls, lions, cruel rackings, stoning,
starving, nakedness, etc., "and in all these things they were more
than conquerors, through him that loved them"; who had also made them
"willing in the day of his power."
2. See again, on the other side, the children of the devil, because
they are not willing, how many shifts and starting-holes they will
have. I have a married wife, I have a farm, I shall offend my
landlord, I shall offend my master, I shall lose my trading, I shall
lose my pride, my pleasures, I shall be mocked and scoffed, therefore
I dare not come. I, saith another, will stay till I am older, till my
children are out, till I am got a little aforehand in the world, till
I have done this and that and the other business; but, alas! the thing
is, they are not willing; for, were they but soundly willing, these,
and a thousand such as these, would hold them no faster than the cords
held Samson, when he broke them like burnt flax. I tell you the will
is all: that is one of the chief things which turns the wheel either
backward or forward; and God knoweth that full well, and so likewise
doth the devil; and therefore they both endeavor very much to
strengthen the will of their servants; God, He is for making of His
a willing people to serve Him; and the devil, he doth what he can to
possess the will and affection of those that are his with love to sin;
and therefore when Christ comes closer to the matter, indeed, saith
He, "You will not come to me. How often would I have gathered you as a
hen doth her chickens, but you would not." The devil had possest their
wills, and so long he was sure enough of them. Oh, therefore cry hard
to God to inflame thy will for heaven and Christ: thy will, I say,
if that be rightly set for heaven, thou wilt not be beat off with
discouragements; and this was the reason that when Jacob wrestled with
the angel, tho he lost a limb, as it were, and the hollow of his thigh
was put out of joint as he wrestled with him, yet saith he, "I will
not," mark, "I will not let thee go except thou bless me." Get thy
will tipped with the heavenly grace, and resolution against all
discouragements, and then thou goest full speed for heaven; but
if thou falter in thy will, and be not found there, thou wilt run
hobbling and halting all the way thou runnest, and also to be sure
thou wilt fall short at last. The Lord give thee a will and courage.
Thus I have done with directing thee how to run to the kingdom; be
sure thou keep in memory what I have said unto thee, lest thou lose
thy way. But because I would have thee think of them, take all in
short in this little bit of paper.
1. Get into the way. 2. Then study on it. 3. Then, strip, and lay
aside everything that would hinder. 4.. Beware of by-paths. 5. Do not
gaze and stare too much about thee, but be sure to ponder the path of
thy feet. 6. Do not stop for any that call after thee, whether it be
the world, the flesh, or the devil: for all these will hinder thy
journey, if possible. 7. Be not daunted with any discouragements thou
meetest with as thou goest. 8. Take heed of stumbling at the cross. 9.
Cry hard to God for an enlightened heart, and a willing mind, and God
give thee a prosperous journey.
Provocation: Now that you may be provoked to run with the foremost,
take notice of this. When Lot and his wife were running from curst
Sodom to the mountains, to save their lives, it is said, that his wife
looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt; and yet
you see that neither her example, nor the judgment of God that fell
upon her for the same, would cause Lot to look behind him. I have
sometimes wondered at Lot in this particular; his wife looked behind
her, and died immediately, but let what would become of her, Lot would
not so much as once look behind him to see her. We do not read that he
did so much as once look where she was, or what was become of her; his
heart was indeed upon his journey, and well it might: there was the
mountain before him, and the fire and brimstone behind him; his life
lay at stake, and he had lost it if he had looked behind. Do thou so
run and in thy race remember Lot's wife, and remember her doom; and
remember for what that doom did overtake her; and remember that God
made her an example for all lazy runners, to the end of the world; and
take heed thou fall not after the same example. But,
If this will not provoke thee, consider thus, 1. Thy soul is thine own
soul, that is either to be saved or lost; thou shalt not lose my soul
by thy laziness. It is thine own soul, thine own ease, thine own
peace, thine own advantage or disadvantage. If it were my own that
thou art desired to be good unto, methinks reason should move thee
somewhat to pity it. But, alas! it is thine own, thine own soul. "What
shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his
own soul?" God's people wish well to the souls of others, and wilt not
thou wish well to thine own? And if this will not provoke thee, then
think.
Again, 2. If thou lose thy soul, it is thou also that must bear the
blame. It made Cain stark mad to consider that he had not looked to
his brother Abel's soul. How much more will it perplex thee to think
that thou hadst not a care of thine own? And if this will not provoke
thee to bestir thyself, think again.
3. That, if thou wilt not run, the people of God are resolved to deal
with thee even as Lot dealt with his wife--that is, leave thee behind
them. It may be thou hast a father, mother, brother, etc., going
post-haste to heaven, wouldst thou be willing to be left behind them?
Surely no.
Again, 4. Will it not be a dishonor to thee to see the very boys and
girls in the country to have more with them than thyself? It may be
the servants of some men, as the housekeeper, plowman, scullion, etc.,
are more looking after heaven than their masters. I am apt to think,
sometimes, that more servants than masters, that more tenants than
landlords, will inherit the kingdom of heaven. But is not this a shame
for them that are such? I am persuaded you scorn that your servants
should say that they are wiser than you in the things of this world;
and yet I am bold to say that many of them are wiser than you in the
things of the world to come, which are of greater concernment.
Expostulation. Well, then, sinner, what sayest thou? Where is thy
heart? Wilt thou run? Art thou resolved to strip? Or art thou not?
Think quickly, man; have no dallying in this matter. Confer not with
flesh and blood; look up to heaven, and see how thou likest it; also
to hell, and accordingly devote thyself. If thou dost not know the
way, inquire at the Word of God; if thou wantest company, cry for
God's Spirit; if thou wantest encouragement, entertain the promises.
But be sure thou begin betimes; get into the way, run apace, and hold
out to the end; and the Lord give thee a prosperous journey. Farewell.
TILLOTSON
THE REASONABLENESS OF A RESURRECTION
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
John Tillotson, archbishop of Canterbury, renowned as a preacher,
was born at Sowerby, in Yorkshire, in 1630, the son of an ardent
Independent. After graduating from Clare College, Cambridge, he began
to preach in 1661, in connection with the Presbyterian wing of the
Church of England. He, however, submitted to the Act of Uniformity
the following year, and in 1663 was inducted into the rectory of
Veddington, Suffolk. He was also appointed preacher to Lincoln's Inn,
was made prebendary of Canterbury in 1670 and dean in 1672. William
III regarded him with high favor, and he succeeded the nonjuring
Sancroft in the arch-see of Canterbury. His sermons are characterized
by stateliness, copiousness and lucidity, and were long looked upon as
models of correct pulpit style. He died in 1694.
TILLOTSON
1630-1694
THE REASONABLENESS OF A RESURRECTION
_Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should
raise the dead?_--Acts xxvi., 8.
The resurrection of the dead is one of the great articles of the
Christian faith; and yet so it hath happened that this great article
of our religion hath been made one of the chief objections against
it. There is nothing that Christianity hath been more upbraided for
withal, both by the heathens of old and by the infidels of later
times, than the impossibility of this article; so that it is a matter
of great consideration and consequence to vindicate our religion in
this particular. But if the thing be evidently impossible, then it is
highly unreasonable to propose it to the belief of mankind.
I know that some, more devout than wise, and who, it is to be hoped,
mean better than they understand, make nothing of impossibilities in
matters of faith, and would fain persuade us that the more impossible
anything is, for that very reason it is the fitter to be believed; and
that it is an argument of a poor and low faith to believe only things
that are possible; but a generous and heroical faith will swallow
contradictions with as much ease as reason assents to the plainest and
most evident propositions. Tertullian, in the heat of his zeal and
eloquence, upon this point of the death and resurrection of Christ,
lets fall a very odd passage, and which must have many grains of
allowance to make it tolerable: "_prosus credible est_ (saith he),
_quia ineptum est; certum est, quia impossible_--it is therefore
very credible, because it is foolish, and certain, because it is
impossible"; "and this (says he) is _necessarium dedecus fidei_," that
is, "it is necessary the Christian faith should be thus disgraced by
the belief of impossibilities and contradictions." I suppose he means
that this article of the resurrection was not in itself the less
credible because the heathen philosophers caviled at it as a thing
impossible and contradictious, and endeavored to disgrace the
Christian religion upon that account. For if he meant otherwise, that
the thing was therefore credible because it was really and in itself
foolish and impossible; this had been to recommend the Christian
religion from the absurdity of the things to be believed; which
would be a strange recommendation of any religion to the sober and
reasonable part of mankind.
I know not what some men may find in themselves; but I must freely
acknowledge that I could never yet attain to that bold and hardy
degree of faith as to believe anything for this reason, because it was
impossible: for this would be to believe a thing to be because I am
sure it can not be. So that I am very far from being of his mind, that
wanted not only more difficulties, but even impossibilities in the
Christian religion, to exercise his faith upon.