common learning, sciences or arts. And I have proved to you, that among too many called great scholars in the world, many books, and much reading and acquaintance with all the arts of speaking, with grammar, logic, oratory, metaphysics, physics, history, laws, &c. is but one of Satan's last and subtlest means of wasting precious time, deceiving souls, and keeping such persons from pursuing the ends of their excellent wit, and of life itself, that would not have been cheated, diverted and undone, by the grosser way of brutish pleasures: but holy souls have a sanctified use of all their common knowledge, making it serve their high and holy ends. But O that some learned men would in time, as well understand the difference between common learning (which serveth fancy, pride, or worldly hopes ;) and the love of God and a heavenly life; as they must know it when they come to die! CHAP. XV. Use, Exhort. 1. Not to deceive ourselves by overvaluing a dead or an unholy Knowledge. IT grieveth my soul to observe how powerfully, and how commonly Satan still playeth his first deceiving game, of calling off man from love, trust, and obedience, to an ensnaring and troublesome, or unprofitable sort of knowledge. And how the lust of knowing carrieth away many unsuspected to misery, who escape the most dishonourable sort of lust! And especially, what abundance in several ways take notional knowledge, which is but an art of thinking and talking, for real knowledge; which is our acquaintance with God and grace; and which changeth the soul into the image of him that we seek and know; and filleth us with love, and trust, and joy. Two sorts are especially here guilty. I. The learned students before described: II. The superficial sort of people accounted religious. I. I have already shewed how pitiful a thing it is, that so many academical wits, and so many preachers, (to say nothing of the grossly proud, tyrannical and worldly clergy;) do spend so many years in studies, that are used but in the service of the flesh, to their own condemnation; and never bend their minds to kindle in themselves the love of God, nor a heavenly desire or hope, nor to live in the comfortable prospect of glory. How many preach up that love and holiness, (as the trade that they must live by) which they never fervently preached to themselves, nor practised sincerely one hour in their lives! How many use to preach funeral sermons, and bury the dead, that are unprepared for death themselves, and hardened in their security and unholy state, by those sights, those studies, those words, which should awaken and convince them, and which they plead themselves for the conviction of their hearers! O miserable scholars ! Miserable preachers! Miserable doctors and prelates, who study and preach to their own condemnation; and have not knowledge enough to teach them to love God, nor to set more by the heavenly glory, than this world; but by spiritual words, do both hide and cherish a fleshly and a worldly mind! You will find at death, that all your learning was but a dream, and one of the vanities that entangle fools; and you will die as sadly as the unlearned, and be beaten with more stripes, than they that knew not their master's will. 1. Unholy knowledge is but a carcase, a shadow, the activity of a vain mind, or a means without the end, and unfit to attain it. A map is not a kingdom, nor doth it much enrich the owner. The names of meats and drinks will not nourish you and to know names and notions, giveth you no title to the things so named. You may as well think to be saved for being good musicians, physicians or astronomers, as for being learned divines, if your knowledge cause not holy love it may help others to heaven, but it will be but vanity to you; and you will be as "sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” (1 Cor. xiii. 1.) You glory in a lifeless picture of wisdom; and hell may shortly tell you, that you had better have chosen any thing to play the fool with, than with the notions and words of wisdom mortified. 2. Nay, such profanation of holy things is a heinous sin. Who is more like the devil than he that knoweth most, and loveth God least? To know that you should love and seek God most, and not to do it, is wilfully to despise him in the open light. As the privation of God's love is the chief part of hell, so the privation of our love to God is the chief part of ungodliness or sin; yea, and much of hell itself. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. Unholy knowledge is a powerful instrument of Satan's service; in the service of pride, and ambition, and heresy, one learned and witty, ungodly man will merit more of the devil by mischieving mankind, than any of the common, unlearned sort and none are so likely impenitently to glory in this sin. They will be proud of such adorned fetters; that they can sin philosophically, and metaphysically, in Greek and Hebrew, and with logical subtlety, or oratorical fluency, prove against unlearned men, that they do well in damning their own souls, and that God and heaven are not worthy of their chief love and diligence; such men will offend God more judiciously than the ignorant, and will more discreetly and honourably fool away their hopes of heaven, and more successfully deceive the simple. Their wisdom, like Ahithophel's, will serve turn to bring them to destroy themselves: and is it any wonder if this be foolishness with God? (1 Cor. iii. 19.) The understanding of a man is a faculty unfit to be abused and prostituted to the slavery of the flesh. The abuse of the senses is bad, but of the understanding worse; because it is a nobler faculty. When they that "knew God, glorified him not as God, but became vain in their imagination, their foolish heart was darkened, and professing themselves wise (philosophers or Gnostics) they became fools;" (Rom. i. 21. 28;) "and as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them up to vile affections." And yet many are proud of this mortal tympanite, as if it were a sound and healthful constitution; and think they have the surest right to heaven for neglecting it knowingly, and going learnedly in the way to hell. 3. You lose the chief delight of knowledge. O that you knew what a holy quietness and peace, what solid pleasure that knowledge bringeth, which kindleth and cherisheth holy love, and leadeth the soul to communion with God; and how much sweeter it is to have a powerful and experimental knowledge, than your trifling dreams! The most learned of you all have but the husks or shells of knowledge; and what great sweetness is in shells, when the poorest, holy, experienced Christian hath the kernel, which is far more pleasant! O try a more serious, practical religion, and I dare assure you, it will afford you a more solid kind of nourishment and delight. The pleasure of the speculative divine in knowing, is but like the pleasure of a mathematician or other speculator of nature; yea, below that of the moral philosopher: it is but like my pleasure in reading a book of travels or geography; in comparison of the true, practical Christian's; which is like their pleasure that live in those countries, and possess the lands and houses which I read of. 4. Nay, yet worse, this unholy knowledge doth often make men the devil's most powerful and mischievous instruments; for though Christ oft also so overrule the hearts of men, and the course of the world, as to make the knowledge and gifts of bad men serviceable to his church (as wicked soldiers oft fight in a good cause, and save the lives of better men), yet a worldly mind is more likely to follow the way of worldly interest; and it is but seldom that worldly interest doth suit with, and serve the interest of truth and holiness, but more commonly is its greatest adversary: therefore most usually it must be expected that such worldly men should be adversaries to the same truth and holiness which their worldly interest is averse to. And hence hath arisen that proud, worldly and tyrannical clergy, which hath set up and maintained the Roman kingdom, under the name of the Holy Catholic Church; and which hath by their Pope and pretended General Councils, usurped a legislative and executive power over the whole Christian world, and made great numbers of laws without authority, and contrary to the laws of Christ; multiplying schisms on pretence of suppressing them, and making so many things necessary to the concord of Christians, as hath made such concord become impossible; presumptuously voting other men to be heretics, while their own errors are of as odious a kind; yea, when holy truth is sometimes branded by them as heresy. And when they cannot carry the judgments, consciences and wills of all men along in obedience to their tyrannical pride, lust and interest, they stir up princes and states to serve them by the sword, and murder and persecute their own subjects, and raise bloody wars against their neighbours, to force them to obey these proud seducers. Yea, and if kings and states be wiser than thus to be made their hangmen or bloody executioners, to : the ruin of their best subjects, and their own everlasting infamy and damnation, they stir up the foolish part of the subjects against such rulers, and in a word, they will give the world no peace: so that I am past all doubt that the ten heathen persecutions so much cried out of, was but a small matter as against the Christian's blood, in comparison of what hath been done by this tyrannical clergy and the cruellest magistrates still seem to come short of them in cruelty, and seldom are very bloody or persecuting, but when a worldly or proud clergy stirs them up to it. And all the heresies that ever sprang up in the church, do seem to have done less harm on one side, than by pretences of unity, order and government, they have done on the other. O how unspeakably great have been, and still are the church's sufferings, by a proud and worldly clergy, and by men's abuse of pretended learning and authority! 5. I will add yet one more considerable mischief; that is, that your unholiness and carnal minds for all your learning, corrupteth your judgments, and greatly hindereth you from receiving many excellent truths, and inclineth you to many mortal errors. To instance in some particulars. 1. About the attributes and government of God. A bad man is inclined to doubt of God's particular providence, his holy truth and justice, and to think God is such an one as he would have him to be. Whereas they that have the love of God and goodness, have his attributes, as it were, written on their hearts; that he is good, and wise, and holy, and just, and true, they know by an experimental, certain knowledge, which is to them like nature and life itself. (John xvii. 3; Hos. ii. 20; Psal. xxxiv. 8, &c.) 2. The very truth of the Gospel and mystery of redemption is far more hardly believed by a man that never felt his need of Christ, nor ever had the operations of that Spirit on his soul, which are its seal, than by them that have the witness in themselves, and have found Christ actually save them from their sins who are regenerated by this holy seed, and nourished by this milk. (1 John v. 10-12; 1 Pet. i. 22, 23; ii. 2.) 3. Yea, the very truth of our soul's immortality, and the life and glory to come, is far more hardly believed by them, who feel no inclination to such a future glory; but only a |