Chapter VIII

_Shewing the excellency and greatness of a devout spirit, and
proving that a contrary spirit, is an indication of great
ignorance and stupidity._

I HAVE now finished what was intended; I have explained the nature of _christian devotion_, and shewn that it belongs to all orders, and more especially to those whose fortunes set them above the common level of mankind. I have endeavoured to point out to you, the _chief causes_ of the general indevotion of the professing christian world; and have shewn in _various characters_, how poor, how miserable they live, who are strangers to a life wholly devoted to GOD. I shall only add a word or two by way of conclusion, to prove that fervent devotion is the noblest temper of the greatest and noblest souls; and that a want of devotion, wherever it is, either amongst the learned or unlearned, is founded in gross ignorance, and in the greatest blindness and insensibility that can happen to a rational creature.

And here, I suppose it will be granted on all hands, that it is a sign of a great and noble mind for a man to be full of reverence and duty to his parents, to have the truest love and honour for his friend, and to excel in the highest instances of gratitude to his benefactor. Are not these tempers, in the highest degree, signs of the most exalted and perfect minds?

And yet what is _devotion_, but the highest exercise of these tempers, of _duty_, _reverence_, _love_, _honour_, and _gratitude_, to the amiable, glorious _parent_, _friend_ and _benefactor_ of all mankind? So long, therefore, as duty to parents, love to friends, and gratitude to benefactors, are thought great and honourable tempers; devotion, which is nothing else but duty, love, and gratitude to GOD, must have the chief place amongst our highest virtues.

Again; we know how our blessed LORD acted in a human body; it was “his meat and drink to do the will of his Father which is in heaven.” And if any number of heavenly spirits were to leave their habitations in the light of GOD, and be for a while united to human bodies, they would certainly tend towards GOD in all their actions, and be as heavenly as they could, in a state of flesh and blood.

They would act in this manner, because they know that GOD is the only good of all spirits; and that whether they were in the body or out of the body, in heaven or on earth, they must have every degree of their greatness and happiness from GOD alone. All human spirits therefore, the more exalted they are, and the more they know their divine original, and the nearer they come to heavenly spirits, by so much the more will they live to GOD in all their actions, and make their whole life a state of devotion.

A _devout man_ makes a true use of his reason; he sees through the vanity of the world, discovers the corruption of his nature, and the blindness of his passions. He lives by a _law_ which is not visible to vulgar eyes; he enters into the world of _spirits_, he compares the greatest things, sets eternity against time; and chuses rather to be forever great in the presence of GOD when he dies, than to have the greatest share of worldly pleasures whilst he lives. There is nothing, therefore, that shews so great a genius, nothing that so raises us above vulgar spirits, nothing that so plainly declares an _heroic_ greatness of mind, as great and fervent devotion.

When you suppose a man to be a _saint_, or all devotion, you have raised him as much above all other conditions of life, as a _philosopher_ is above an _animal_.

The greatest spirits of the heathen world, such as, _Pythagoras_, _Socrates_, _Plato_, _Epictetus_, and _Marcus Antoninus_, owed all their greatness to something they possessed, that resembled devotion. Their wisdom and deep contemplations, tended only to deliver men from the vanity of the world, and the slavery of bodily passions; and had they been endowed with the revelation of JESUS CHRIST, they might have justly been stiled great and devout men. For their main end of living, seemed to be, that they might act as spirits that came from GOD, and were soon to return to him.

But to proceed: Courage and bravery are words of a great sound, and seem to signify an heroic spirit; but yet humility, which seems to be the lowest, meanest part of devotion, is a more certain argument of a noble and courageous mind. A man that dares be poor and contemptible in the eyes of the world, to approve himself to JESUS CHRIST; that resists and rejects all human glory, that opposes the clamour of his passions, that meekly puts up all injuries and wrongs, and dares stay for his reward, till the invisible hand of GOD gives to every one their proper places, endures a much greater trial, and exerts a nobler fortitude, than he that is bold and daring in the fire of battle. For the boldness of a soldier, if he is a stranger to devotion, is rather weakness than fortitude; it is at best but mad passion, and heated spirits, and has no more true valour in it, than the fury of a tyger. For as we cannot lift up a hand, or stir a foot, but by a power that is lent us from GOD; so bold actions that are not directed by the laws of GOD, and done with a regard to his glory, are no more true bravery, than sedate malice is christian patience.

Farther; That part of devotion which expresses itself in sorrowful confessions, and penitential tears of a broken and contrite heart, which with some seems likewise another of the poorest and meanest things; is notwithstanding an indication of the most great and noble mind. For who does not acknowledge it an instance of an ingenuous, generous and brave mind, to acknowledge a fault, and ask pardon for any offence? Are not the finest and most improved minds the most remarkable for this excellent temper? Is it not also allowed, that the ingenuity and excellency of a man’s spirit is much shewn, when his sorrow and indignation at himself, rises in proportion to the folly of his crime, and the goodness and greatness of the person he has offended? Now if these things are so, then the greater any man’s mind is, the more he will be disposed to prostrate himself, and confess his faults before GOD, in all the humblest acts and expressions of repentance. And the greater the ingenuity, the generosity, judgment, and penetration of his mind is, the more will he exercise and indulge a passionate, tender sense of GOD’s just displeasure; and the more he knows of the greatness, the goodness, and perfection of the divine nature, the fuller of shame and confusion he will be at his own sins and ingratitude.

From all which considerations, it plainly appears, that devotion is a true elevation of the soul, and that a lively sense of honour, and great knowledge of ourselves, are the best natural helps that devotion hath. And if this does not prove, that _great devotion_ is the _noblest temper_ of the greatest and _noblest souls_, we have not an argument to prove, that there is any such thing as a wise man or a fool.

On the other hand, it will as evidently appear that a want of devotion, wherever it is, among the learned or unlearned, is founded on gross ignorance, and the greatest blindness and insensibility that can happen to a rational creature.

People indeed of fine parts and learning, or of great knowledge in worldly matters, may perhaps think it hard to have their want of devotion charged upon their ignorance; but if they will be content to be tried by reason and scripture, it may soon be made appear. For were not our LORD and his apostles, eminent instances of great and exalted devotion? And if we will grant, (as all professed christians must grant) that their devotion was founded on a true knowledge of the nature of devotion, the nature of GOD, and the nature of man; then it is plain, that all those who are insensible of devotion, neither know GOD, themselves, nor devotion.

Pray how comes it to pass, that most people have recourse to devotion, when they are under sickness, distress, or in fear of death? Is it not, because this state shews them more the want of GOD, and their own weakness, than they perceive at other times? And if devotion at these seasons, is the effect of a better knowledge of GOD, and ourselves, then the neglect and want of it at other times must be always owing to ignorance. Ignorance did I say? Yes, undoubtedly, and that the most _shameful ignorance_: for it is an ignorance of those things, which are most essential to us as rational creatures; I mean our relation to GOD, and the obligations we lie under to live wholly to his glory.

If a Judge had fine skill in painting, architecture, and music, but at the same time had gross and confused notions of equity, and a poor, dull apprehension of the value of justice, who would scruple to reckon him a poor ignorant Judge? If a Bishop should be a man of great address and skill in the art of preferment, and of a quick understanding how to raise and enrich his family in the world, but should have no taste or sense of the maxims and principles of the saints and fathers of the church; if he did not conceive the holy nature, and great obligations of his calling, and judge it better to be crucified to the world, than to live idly in pomp and splendor; who would scruple to charge such a Bishop with want of understanding?

But now, if a Judge is to be reckoned ignorant, nay shamefully so, if he does not feel and perceive the value and worth of justice; if a Bishop is to be looked upon as void of understanding, if he is more experienced in other things, than in the exalted virtues of his apostolical calling; then all common christians are to be looked upon as more or less shamefully ignorant, as they are more or less ignorant of those great things, which are the common, and ought to be the greatest concern of all christians.

If a man had eyes that could see beyond the stars, or pierce into the heart of the earth, but could not see the things that were before him, or discern any thing that was serviceable to him, we should reckon that he had but a very bad sight. And if another had ears that received sounds from the world in the moon, but could hear nothing that was said or done upon earth, we should look upon him to be as bad as deaf. In like manner, if a man has a memory that can retain a great many things; if he has a wit that is sharp and acute in arts and sciences, or an imagination that can wander agreeably in fictions; but has a dull, poor apprehension of his duty and relation to GOD, of the value of piety, or the worth of an interest in the righteousness of JESUS CHRIST, he may very justly be reckoned to have a very bad understanding. He is but like the man that can only see or hear such things as are of no benefit to him.

If an human spirit should imagine some mighty Prince to be greater than GOD, we should take it for a poor, ignorant creature; all people would acknowledge such an imagination to be the height of stupidity: But if this same human spirit should think it better to be devoted to some mighty Prince, than to be devoted to GOD, would not this be a greater proof of a poor, ignorant, and blinded nature?

Yet this is what all people do, who think any thing greater, better, or wiser, than a devout life. So that which way soever we consider this matter, it plainly appears, that devotion is an instance of great judgment, and of an elevated nature; and the want of devotion is a certain proof of the most shameful ignorance, and want of understanding.

Would you therefore not incur the imputation of the highest folly, and most shameful ignorance; would you be possessed of the noblest and most exalted judgment; would you avoid the senseless and vexatious miseries that attend a vain, sensual, and indevout life; would you act like a rational and redeemed creature; would you enjoy solid peace and happiness here, and have a well grounded hope and assurance of being invested with eternal joy and comfort in the blissful fruition of the glorious and ever-blessed GOD hereafter; let it be your highest concern henceforward, to ask, seek, and knock at the door of divine grace, till you obtain a true living faith in the righteousness of the once humbled but now exalted Redeemer, and as a proof of that, to devote yourself entirely, without reserve, to his honour, and do all the good you possibly can to all your fellow-creatures, for his great name’s sake.

PREFACE
To a NEW EDITION of the
HOMILIES;
As intended to have been published by
Mr. WHITEFIELD.