whatever is venerable grave decent and becoming For doubtless there is such a thing as Natural Decency and Decorum which may be rated according to the different Circumstances and Qualifications of Men. Thus some things may pass irreprehensible in a private Person which are unbecoming a Prince And that which may be allowed in another would yet be unfit for a Minister of the Gospel who is to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Tim. 3.2 of good behaviour which in Verse 8. is expressed by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Grave i. e. Adorned with a comely Gravity and Decency in his whole Conversation So that whatever Degree or Place a Man holds in the World he ought to Act suitably and agreeably to it Thus Parents and Masters ought to set their Children and Servants an Example of Gravity and Becomingness Which though in many things it is to be taken and measured from the Use and Custom of the Place and Nation wherein they are yet there are some General Rules of becomingness which Nature and Reason will furnish us withal For Grave and Venerable and Becoming being Things of a Moral Nature it is certain that there is some Rule and Measure whereby these things are to be known as well as for any other Vertue As 1. This Gravity and Becomeingness which the Apostle advises us to follow requires that we Act in all things suitably to the Dignity of our Nature We are to Consider that God hath made us Rational Creatures and endued us with a Power of discerning between Moral Good and Evil. Now we having the Laws of Good and Evil of what is Base and Deformed and what is Honest and Becoming engraven upon our Souls whenever we Transgress these Rules we Act contrary to the Excellency and Dignity of our Nature Hence was that Precept of the Philosophers Reverere teipsum Reverence thy self i. e. Take Care that thou Act not below the Dignity and Eminency of thy Nature For Right Reason being that Rule and Measure according to which all our Actions are to be formed and squared whenever we swerve and deviate from that Rule we go below and debase our Natures And this Superiority of Reason over all our Animal and Brutish Passions and Inclinations is denoted in Gen. 1.28 where God bids Man have Dominion over the Fish of the Sea and over the Fowl of the Air and over every living thing that moveth upon the Earth There are many Passions and Affections and Sensations which arise from the Body and as they are Innocent in themselves so they are Necessary to the Perfection of our Nature Wherefore Man being made after the Image of God he has likewise an Empire and Rule and Dominion given him over all his Bodily Affections and Inclinations to moderate and guide them in the lesser World as God doth all the parts of the greater throughout the whole Creation Thus St. Jude Verse 6 speaking of the Lapsed Angels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which kept not their first Estate the Vulgar Latin has it Principatum suum non servaverunt which is thus expressed by Simplicius after the Platonical manner In Epictet p. 163. and in terms very little different from the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 neglecting that Archical Power wherein consisted their similitude with God and giving themselves up to the Conduct of their irrational Appetites Now when the Bruitish Life leads us astray from the Government of Reason and we cast away that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Principality and Archical Rule wherewith God hath invested us over all our Corporeal Passions and Affections then the Order of the Creation is inverted and the Beast governs the Man than which nothing can appear more unbecoming and unhandsome to every one that hath any spiritual sense and discerning in him It was an Evil which Solomon says he saw under the Sun Eccles 10.7 Servants upon Horses and Princes walking as Servants upon the Earth The Moral is true in every Wicked Man in whom Reason is dethron'd and the lowest of his Appetites and Desires command and force him to obey them For any Man therefore by Intemperance Debauchery and a lawless pursuit after sensual Pleasures to abuse any Power of his Body or Faculty of his Soul he does that which is Dishonest and Uncomely in forcing Reason from its Seat and setting up his Brutish Lusts in its stead To be carried out in a fond doating upon the World and an immoderate love of Sensual Vanities and to follow them with a mighty eagerness and desire as if they were the ultimate Happiness of Man it is to debase and dishonour our Souls It is an abuse and a slur cast upon Humane Nature because we make use of it to those Purposes which God never intended it for In like manner to be over-curious in making Provision for the Body and to bestow too much time in Decking and Adorning that to the Prejudice and Neglect of the Soul it is what is unbecoming and dishonourable to a Man because 't is a preferring our worser part before our Souls which are much the Nobler half of us Now as for that Decency which ought to be even in our Apparel it is to be measured by the Custom and Manners of the best and wisest Persons among whom we live whose Judgment in this Case ought by no means to be slighted or undervalued The State likewise and Condition of Persons is to be Considered They that are Gorgeously Apparalled and live Delicately says Christ Luke 7.25 are in King's Courts In which our Saviour does not condemn the wearing of Rich Apparel either as a thing undecent or unlawful but seems to intimate that the Quality and Condition of Persons is to be observed 2. Gravity and Comeliness require that in all our Actions we consider the end of our Beings and that we Act suitably and agreeably to that end Every thing is such as is the end to which it is determined and as the end is more or less Noble so is the Excellency of a Creature proportionably more or less Now the highest and best end of Man as a Rational Creature must undoubtedly be the Participation of the Nature of God for there is nothing in the World more Noble nothing more Excellent than this Wherefore all Comeliness and Decorum consisting in an apt and due order and consent it follows that we then Act the most Becoming when we Act the most Agreeably and Consonantly to the Great and Universal End of our Beings Therefore whatever it be that hinders our Communication with God and our partaking of his Nature so far forth it is Dishonest Vile and Unsuitable to our Intellectual Creature It was good Advice of the Wise Ben Syrack Ecclesiast 7.36 Remember the end and thou shalt never do amiss For he that Acts agreeably and conformably to the end of his Being he Acts according to that Order which God hath appointed and therefore cannot be guilty of any thing that is Base and Unworthy Let
Spirit of God 1 Cor. 2.14 There is a Divine quickness and sagacity that springs up in a purified Soul whereby it readily apprehends and has a Vital Sense of Heavenly and Divine Things which they that are sunk and lost in Bodily Lusts and Passions are perfect strangers to And not only Philosophy but Christianity tells us of Two distinct Principles in Man which St. Paul calls by the Name of the inner and outer Man And these Two have their different Motions Tendencies and Designs The outer Man is the Inheritance we derive from Adam which he elsewhere Rom. 6.6 stiles the old Man which is to be Crucified with Christ That the Body of Sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve Sin Now this outer Man or old Adam is only the Corrupt Life of the Body which leads to all manner of Impurity and Vice and is to be Mortified and Destroyed But the inner Man is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Plotinus calls it the true Man whose very Form and Nature consists in pure and unspotted Righteousness and Holiness it is the Image of the Lord from Heaven and as is the Heavenly Adam such are they that are Heavenly Now each of these Two Principles of Life is very diligent and industrious to Diffuse and Propogate it self and therefore is never wanting to offer all fit and insinuating Arguments to promote its own Interest Hence the Apostle St. James Chap. 3.15 tells us of a Wisdom that is Earthly Sensual and Devilish Now this Wisdom is the Genuine Production and true Offspring of the Bodily Life 't is the Thoughts and Projects of the Old Adam and is said to be Earthly because all its Designs and Purposes are laid out and contrived merely for this Earth and World wherein we live And it is Sensual because it studies only for the Gratification of Sense and the Animal or Brutish Life And Devilish being such as only upholds the Devil's Kingdom and promotes his Reign and Empire throughout the World But then he says Verse 17. that there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Wisdom that descends from above from the Father of Lights and as it derives from Heaven so it is still endeavouring to attract and lift up the Soul thitherward This is that Wisdom which is communicated to the Soul from the Spirit of Christ and being it self so Pure and Holy will not dwell in a Body that is Polluted with all Carnal Excesses and Defilements And if we should look upon the Effects of Sensuality and Debauchery as they are Daily visible before our Eyes we shall find that nothing does more Corrupt and Spoil our Rational Powers There are none that spend their whole Time in Gratifying their Carnal Lusts but their Understandings grow Dull and Heavy and lose their Briskness and Liveliness their Memories are Treacherous and Decayed and their Fansies and Imaginations serve only as a Stage to Represent and Act over again their past Filthiness and Pollutions 3. Without this Purity of Flesh and Spirit there is no Union of our Souls with God Union and Communion with God are the greatest Blessings the Soul of Man can partake of But none can think that God will dwell in a Charnel-house or take up his Habitation among Dead Bones And those that are given up to Bodily Pleasures and drown themselves in Sensual Delights in St. Paul's sense are no better than Dead even while they Live an Earthly Life 1 Tim. 5.6 We Read indeed of Spirits conversing among the Tombs but God will have no Society with the Dead It is the Living alone that praise him and declare his Truth There can be no Intercourse nor Communion between God and such a Man's Soul that has no Life stirring in it but what is the very Life and Nature of the Spirits of Darkness who are the most of all alienated and estranged from him He that is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 6.17 that is there is such an intire Consent and Agreement between such an One and God that he wills nothing and desires nothing but what God wills and desires But there is is no Harmony Consent or Concord between God and that Person that is joined and tied to his Bodily Lusts and Corrupt Affections The pure Virgin-Chastity of the Soul is Violated and Defiled by Prostituting it to the Foul Embraces of Corporeal Pleasures so that it is a kind of Spiritual Fornication or Adultery Now to the intent we may all endeavour to attain this Purity that God requires and which it is our Interest to pursue let us 1. Abstract our Souls as much as we can from Sense and Sensible Delights Pleasures Even a Heathen could say Simpl. in Epictet p. 257. 78. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is That there is nothing more Destructive and Pernicious to the Soul than to give it self up to Bodily Pleasures because they do as it were nail and bind it fast to the Earth that it hath no might nor strength to lift up it self towards Heaven Therefore our Blessed Saviour requiring us to pluck out the Right Eye and cut off the Right Hand would have us do Violence to the Unruly Affections of the Body and bring them low and abate their Power by such a due Moderation that they may never betray us to Act against Reason and Conscience If we would endeavour to set a little loose from our Bodies and withdraw our Hearts from Sensual Pleasures and deny the Cravings of our Carnal Appetites we should not only find a mighty Peace and Satisfaction within our own Breasts but be more fitted to Converse with the God of Purity 2. Let us frequently represent to our selves that pure state of Angels in the upper Regions and that such a state cannot consist with Carnal Impurities Heaven is no Mahumetan Paradise filled with Carnal and Sensual but Divine and Intellectual Joys and Pleasures The time will quickly come when we shall be stript of these Earthly Bodies which we now so fondly Dote upon and Caress and Pamper to the fulfilling all their Impure Lusts And therefore it were our Wisdom to separate and disjoin our Minds from their too near Intimacy and Familiarity with them and to dwell often and much in our Thoughts upon that Future State in which all these Corporeal Pleasures will be at an end Then we should not be so unwilling and uneasie to leave our Bodies but should put them off with a full Assurance that we should not be left Naked but Clothed upon with our House from Heaven 3. Consider how infinitely Bodily Lusts and Affections debase our Souls and render them Brutish Every Christians Body is or ought to be God's Temple wherein he dwells and makes his Residence and it is a great Abuse and Profanation of this his Temple to make it a place for nothing but Carnal Debaucheries and Pollutions and in our Saviour's Language Turning it into a Den of Thieves and which is all one
much Candour and Passionate Sweetness that those whose Sins are Reproved may clearly see it is their Good and Benefit and Advantage that is only aimed at For otherwise Men's Minds may rather be Exasperated than Healed when Truth it self in such a Case is delivered with too great a Sharpness and Harshness Men do not usually care to hear of their Faults but when they shall be laid open and discovered with Bitterness Contempt and Scorn it is so far from casting an healing Influence upon their Souls that it provokes and inflames their Minds 3. He that would exactly follow that which is Lovely must provide that in doing Kindnesses he do not Upbraid and Shame them upon whom he intends to confer them There are many Persons of that tender and modest Disposition who blush and are ashamed either to ask or to receive those Kindnesses which really they want And then the doing things Lovely obliges a Man so to assist them in whatever it be as may least of all make them Ashamed Now by what has been said from General Observations drawn from the Life of our Saviour and by these few Particulars we may competently enough understand what the Apostle means by Exhorting us to the Practice of Whatsoever things are Lovely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whatsoever things are of good Report The last instance of Virtue the Apostle makes use of is to persuade us to the practice of such things as are of good Report By which we are taught to think of and do all such things as may purchase us a Good Name and Esteem and Reputation among such as are Virtuous and understand the differences of things Now from hence we are informed 1. That all things are not indifferent and alike There is a Natural Bravery Excellency and Becomingness in some Actions and there is a Baseness and Filthiness in others whether we will or not For the Difference and Distinction of things does not depend upon our Wills nor can we change their Natures as we please Indeed to the Atheist and to such as do not believe the Existence of any Spiritual Being but resolve all things into Dead and Senseless Matter there is no Distinction or Difference of things but only what Men are pleased to make and then as oft as Wicked Men get into Power they may make things Vitious in themselves to be called by the Name of Virtues But since there is a God and none but Fools can think otherwise we are assured that all Virtue derives from him and is a participation of his Image and Nature and Consequently that there is an Essential Difference in the Nature of things And God hath Copied out and Engraven this his Image upon the Souls of Men whereby all Men that have a due use of their Faculties have likewise the differences of Good and Evil deeply Sealed upon their Minds and they cannot change them at their Pleasure Hence it comes to pass that such Actions as are Conformable and Agreeable to those Intellectual Laws and Principles which God has fixed in our Minds they are Virtuous and Praise-worthy and such as are otherwise they are Detestable and Vile and have an inward Turpitude sticking fast to them And since all Men have the Laws of Virtue written on their Hearts and are sensible that they ought to walk according to these there will Naturally arise an Esteem for those Persons who walk the nearest according to these Rules And this which we call Esteem or Fame and a Good Name or Report is indeed a part of the Reward of Virtue when Men are Applauded and Praised when they fulfil the end of their Creation and Act like Rational Creatures according to those Laws and Prescriptions the Eternal Mind has interwoven in the Essential Frame and Contexture of their Souls True it is Fame and Reputation is a thing that is mightily sought after even by those that are no great Admirers of the strictness of Virtue and there is in all Men a secret Desire and Tendency towards the Embalming and Consecrating their Names to after Ages Of which no other Reason can be given but that there are some secret Convictions and Natural Presages of a State of Immortality after this Life in all Men's Minds There is something that whispers to them and mixes it self with all their Thoughts and Actions that they have something in them that shall survive their Ashes and Live and Act when their Bodies are Dead and Rotten in the Grave And from hence they Naturally Affect and Desire a Continuation of themselves and a kind of Immortality in this Life And this sets them upon those various Ways and Methods of the Purchase and Acquisition of it some by Valour and Heroick Actions others by Honour and some by the increase of their Posterity Which evidently shews the Desires and Inclinations of all Men to continue and live for ever upon Earth at least in their Fame and Names and Memory although they are withdrawn from it as to their Personal Beings Thus we Read Psal 49.11 of some whose inward thought was That their Houses should continue for ever and they call their Lands after their own Names i. e. Many Men seeing that themselves are Mortal and quickly Die yet desire to perpetuate their Names and that their Memory should Live after them Whereas this only shews that there is implanted in Men Naturally a Sense that there are things of good Report which will procure Fame and Esteem and a Good Name while they Live here and continue it when they are gone from hence But they mistook in the Ways and Means of Attaining it But now true Religion assures us that it is only the sincere Practice of Virtue that will advance a Good Name and purchase Esteem here and continue it after Death according to that of the Scripture The Righteous shall be had in Everlasting Remembrance It is true many a Wicked Man's Name is Remembred but then 't is to his Infamy and Disgrace Therefore it is said Prov. 10.7 The Name of the Wicked shall Rot i. e. it shall be as Offensive and Unpleasant as a Dead and Rotten Carkass We Read of a Covetous and Treacherous Judas who sold his Master but we Detest and Abhor his Memory And of a Cruel and Bloody Herod but with almost as keen a Passion as those sorrowful Mothers felt at the Death of their little Infants Thus every Wicked Man if he be at all Remembred 't is with some Infamous Character and Note of Disgrace as that he was a Profane and Debauch'd or a Lascivious Covetous or Unjust Person and it were better that our Names Perish for Ever and we descend into a Common and Ignoble Grave than to be thus Remembred 2. We are informed that the proper Judges of things of good Report are Virtuous and Wise Persons Among all those things that are Valuable with Men there is none or at least ought not to be any of so high an Esteem as true Virtue which being the