good Soldier of Christ Jesus who firmly believes that He is now a Spectator and will very suddenly come to be a Judge and Rewarder of his sufferings How natural is it to run with Patience the Race that is set before us to him who has an Eternal Joy an Eternal Crown alway in his Eye And if a Life to come can make a Man rejoyce even in suffering Evil how much more in doing Good If it enable him to Conquer in the day of the Churches Tryal and Affliction how much more will it enable him to abound in all Vertues in the day of its Peace and Prosperity How freely will a Man give to the distressed Members of Christ who believes that he sees Christ himself standing by and receiving it as it were by their Hands and placing it to his own account to be repaid a thousand-fold in the great day of the Lord How easily will a Man allay the storms of Passion and cast away the weapon of Revenge and Anger with Indignation against himself if his Faith do but present him often with a view of that Canaan which the Meek in Heart shall inherit for ever How Importunately will a Man pray for the Pardon of Sin whose Sense whose Soul whose Imagination is struck with a dread of being for ever divided from God and excluded from the Joys and Vertues of the Blessed How fervently will a Man pray for the Spirit of God for the Increase of Grace whose Thoughts are daily swallowed up with the Contemplation of an Eternity and whose Mind is as fully possess'd of the certainty and the Glory of another World as of the emptiness and vanity of this How natural finally will it be to be poor in Spirit and to delight in all the Offices of an unfeigned Humility to that Man who has the Image of Jesus washing the feet of his Disciples and a little after Ascending up into Heaven alway before him But I know it will be here Objected we discern not this Efficacy you attribute to this Motive The Doctrine of another Life is the great Article of the Christian Faith and it is every where Preached throughout Christendom and yet Men generally seem to have as much fondness for this World as they could were there no other They practise no Vertues but such as are Profitable and Fashionable or none any further than they are so To this I answer though most act thus there are many I hope very many who do otherwise and that all in general do not proceeds from want either of due Consideration or firm Belief of this Doctrine of another Life First from not Considerating it as we should 'T is the greatest disadvantage of the Objects of Faith compared with those of Sense that they are distant and invisible He therefore that will be Perfect that will derive any Strength and Vertue from this Motive must supply this distance by devout and daily Contemplation he must fetch the remore objects of Faith home to him he must render them as it were present he must see and feel them by the strength of Faith and the force of Meditation which if he do then will his Faith certainly prove a vital and victorious Principle then will no Pleasure in this World be able to combate the assured Hopes of an Heaven nor any worldly Evil or difficulty sustained for Vertue be able to confront the Terrors of an Hell A Second Reason why this Motive doth not Operate as it should is want of Faith We doubt we waver we stagger or take things upon trust assenting very slightly and superficially to the Doctrine of another Life and looking upon good Works rather as not injurious to this World then serviceable to a better And then 't is no more wonder that the unbelieving Christian does not enter into Perfection and Rest than that the unbelieving Jew did not 'T is no more wonder if the word of Life do not profit the Christian when not believed by him then if it do not profit a Pagan who has never heard of it And what is here said of Infidelity is in its measure and proportion true when applyed to a weak and imperfect Faith He therefore that will be Perfect must daily pray Lord I Believe help thou mine unbelief He must daily Consider the Grounds on which the Faith and Hope of a Christian stand the express declarations of the Divine Will concerning the future Immortality and Glory of the Children of God the demonstrastration of this contained in the Resurrection of Jesus from the Dead and his Ascension and Session at the Right Hand of God And to this he may add the Love of God the Merits of Jesus and the State and Fortune of Vertue in this World From all which one may be able to infer the undoubted certainty of another World The Sum of all amounts to this whoever will be Perfect must daily I should I think have said almost hourly ponder the blessedness that attends Perfection in another Life he must ponder it seriously that he may be throughly perswaded of it he must ponder it often that the Notions of it may be fresh and lively in his Soul SECT II. Of the several Parts of Perfection WHat the several Parts of Religious Perfection are will be easily discerned by a very slight Reflection either on the Nature of Man or the general Notion of Perfection already laid down If we consider Man whose Perfection I am treating of as it is plain that he is made up of Soul and Body so 't is as plain that Moral Perfection relates to the Soul as the chief subject of it and to the Body no otherwise then as the Instrument of that Righteousness which is planted in the Soul Now in the Soul of Man we find these three things Vnderstanding Will and Affections In the Improvement and Accomplishment of which Human Perfection must consequently consist And if we enquire wherein this Improvement or Accomplishment lies 't is a Truth so obvious that it will not need any proof that Illumination is the Perfection of the Vnderstanding Liberty of the Will and Zeal of the Affections If in the next place we reflect upon the Description I have before given of Perfection nothing is more evident than that to constitute a firm Habit of Righteousness three things are necessary 1. The Knowledge of our Duty and our Obligations to it 2. The Subduing our Lusts and Passions that we may be enabled to perform it Lastly not only a free but warm and vigorous Prosecution of it In the first of these consists Illumination in the second Liberty and in the third Zeal Upon the whole then 't is evident both from the Nature of Perfection and of Man that I am now to treat in order of these three things Illumination Liberty and Zeal as so many Essential Parts of Religious Perfection Nor must I stop here but must to those three unavoidably add Humility For whether we consider the Sins of the
the Children of God and the blessed Fruit of it Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost would easily furnish me with invincible Arguments Nor would the contrary Opinion ever have been able to have kept the Field so long as it has done had it not been favoured by a weak and decayed Piety by the Fondnesses of Men for themselves in spight of their Sins and Frailties and by many mistaken Texts But that this Matter may if possible be freed from all Objections 1. I here distinguish between Inordinate and Natural Affections By Inordinate Affections I mean the Tendencies of the Soul towards that which is Vnlawful by Natural its Propension to the Body with which it is invested the Desire of its Health and Ease and the Conveniencies and Necessaries of Life for this end Now when Religion enjoyns Repugnances to the former Appetites the Obedience of the Perfect Man has no Reluctancy in it but when it enjoyns things as sometimes occasionally it does which thwart and cross the latter here the Obedience even of Christ himself could not be exempt from Conflict for our Natural Appetites in this sense of them will never be put off till our Bodies be I think this is so clear it needs not be illustrated by Instances or else 't were easie to shew that though good men have practised Temperance Chastity Charity and other Vertues of this kind with ease and pleasure too yet has Nature shrunk and startled at Persecution and Martyrdom though even here too the Courage and Resolution of some hath appear'd to be much above what Human Nature ever seem'd capable of 2. I do not in the least suppose that Nature is so changed but that the Inclinations to sinful Pleasure or Profit or any other forbidden Object will soon revive again even in the Perfect Man unless he keep a watch and guard upon himself and pass the time of his sojourning here in fear Not to be subject to disorderly Desires not to be liable to irregular Motions is the Priviledge of Souls when stript of a Mortal Body or cloath'd with an Immortal one Till then the Conjunction of Flesh and Blood will ever render the poor Soul obnoxious to carnal and worldly Appetites And the natural Appetites of the Body do so easily pass those Bounds that divide them from sinful ones that the best of men can never be secure but when the Mind is taken up in Contemplation Devotion good Works or engaged in the Prosecution of some just and honest Design or amused by some innocent Recreation for in these Cases the Body is either made the Instrument of Righteousness or at least wise 't is innocently busied and diverted from those Objects to which it has too too impetuous a Tendency I have now I think sufficiently stated the Notion of true Liberty and I hope sufficiently guarded it And have nothing to do but to proceed to the Fruits of it Which will serve for so many Motives or Inducements to its Attainment § 2. Of the Fruits of Liberty These may be reduced under four Heads 1. Sin being a great Evil Deliverance from it is great Happiness 2. A second Fruit of this Liberty is Good Works 3. It gives us a near Relation to God 4. The great and last Fruit of it is Eternal Life These are all comprised by the Apostle in Rom. 6.2.1 22 23. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed For the end of those things is death But now being made free from Sin and become Servants to God ye have your fruit unto Holiness and the end everlasting Life For the wages of sin is Death but the Gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And these are the great Ends which the Gospel that perfect Law of Liberty aims at and for which it was Preached to the World as appears from those Words of our Lord to St. Paul Acts 26.17 18. unto whom now I send thee to open their Eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgiveness of Sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by Faith that is in me I will here insist on these Blessed Effects of Christian Liberty not only because the Design of the Chapter demands it but also to prevent the being obliged to any tedious Repetition of them hereafter under every distinct Branch of Christian Liberty § 1. Sin is a great Evil and therefore Deliverance from the Dominion of it is a great Good To make this evident we need but reflect a little on the Nature and Effects of Sin If we enquire into the Nature of Sin we shall find that it is founded in the Subversion of the Dignity and defacing the Beauty of Human Nature and that it consists in the Darkness of our Understanding the Depravity of our Affections and the Feebleness and Impotence of the Will The Vnderstanding of a Sinner is incapable of discerning the Certainty and Force of Divine Truths the Loveliness of Vertue the unspeakable Pleasure which now flows from the great and precious Promises of the Gospel and the incomparably greater which will one day flow from the Accomplishment and Fruition of them His Affections which if fix't and bent on Vertue had been Incentives as they were designed by God to noble and worthy Actions being biass'd and perverted do now hurry him on to lewd and wicked ones And by these the Mind if at any time it chance to be awakened and render'd sensible of its Happiness and Duty is over-power'd and oppress'd If this were not the true State of a Sinner if the strength of Sin did not thus consist in the Disorder and Impotence of all the Faculties of the Soul whence is it that the Sinner acts as he does Is it not evident that his understanding is infatuated when he lives as if he were meerly wholly Body As if he had no Soul or none but one resulting from and dissolv'd with its Temperament and Contexture One designed to no higher purpose than to contrive minister to and partake in its Sensualities Is it not evident that He has little expectation of another World who laies up his Treasures only in this and lives as if he were Born only to make Provision for the Flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof 'T is true all Sinners are not equally stupid or obdurate but even in those in whom some sparks of Vnderstanding and Conscience remain unextinguished how are the weak Desires of Vertue baffled and over-power'd by the much stronger Passions which they have for the Body and the World Do they not find themselves reduced to that wretched state of Bondage wherein the good that they would do that they do not but the evil that they would not do that is present with them 'T is plain then that Sin is a Disease in our Nature that it not only extinguishes the Grace of the Spirit and obliterates the Image of God stampt
a gracious Master and thus the Child does with respectful Love meet the tenderness of his Parent and the Wisdom and Vertue which sometimes raises some one happy Mortal above the common size and height of Mankind does not surely diminish but increase the Affection and the Pleasure of his Friends that enjoy him Again the Nature of Enjoyment varies according to the various Faculties of the Soul and the senses of the Body One way we enjoy Truth and another Goodness One way Beauty and another Harmony and so on These things considered I saw there was no necessity in order to make God the Object of our Fruition either to bring Him down to any thing unworthy of his Glory or to exalt our selves to a Height we are utterly uncapable of I easily saw that we who love and adore God here should when we enter into his Presence admire and love him infinitely more For God being infinitely amiable the more we contemplate the more clearly we discern his Divine Perfections and Beauties the more must our Souls be inflamed with a Passion for Him And I have no Reason to doubt but that God will make us the most gracious Returns of our Love and express His Affections for us in such Condescensions in such Communications of Himself as will transport us to the utmost Degree that created Beings are capable of Will not God that sheds abroad his Love in our Hearts by his Spirit here fully satisfie it hereafter will not God who fills us here with the Joy of his Spirit by I know not what inconceivable ways communicate Himself in a more ravishing and Ecstatick manner to us when we shall behold him as he is and live for ever encircled in the Arms of his Love and Glory Upon the whole then I cannot but believe that the Beatifick Vision will be the Supream Pleasure of Heaven yet I do not think that this is to exclude those of an inferiour Nature God will be there not only all but in all We shall see him as he is and we shall see him reflected in Angels and all the Inhabitants of Heaven nay in all the various Treasures of that Happy Place but in far more bright and lovely Charcters than in his Works here below This is a state now that answers all Ends and satisfies all Appetites let 'em be never so various never so boundless Temporal Good nay a state accumulated with all temporal Goods has still something defective something empty in it That which is crooked cannot be made straight and that which is wanting cannot be numbred And therefore the Eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the Ear with hearing but all things are full of Labour Man cannot utter it And if this were not the state of temporal Things yet that one Thought of Solomon that he must leave them makes good the Charge of Vanity and Vexation And the contrary is that which compleats Heaven namely that it is Eternal Were Heaven to have an End that End would make it None That Death would be as much more intolerable than this here as the Joys of Heaven are above those of Earth For the Terrour and the Evil of it would be to be estimated by the Perfection of that Nature and Happiness which it would put an End to To Dye in Paradise amidst a Crowd of Satisfactions how much more intollerable were this than to Dye in those accursed Regions that bred continually Briars and Brambles Cares and Sorrows And now I doubt not but every one will readily acKnowledge that an Heaven were it believed were such a Fruit of Christian Liberty such a Motive to it as none could resist Did I believe this have I heard one say I would quit my Trade and all Cares and Thoughts of this World and wholly apply my self to get that other you talk of There was no need of going thus far But this shews what the natural Influence of this Doctrine of a Life to come is and that it is generally owing to Infidelity where 't is frustrated and defeated What is in this Case to be done what Proof what Evidences are sufficient to beget Faith in him who rejects Christianity and all Divine Revelation He that hears not Moses and the Prophets Christ and his Apostles neither will he believe though one rose from the dead This Doctrine of a Life to come was generally believed by the Gentile World It was indeed very much obscur'd but never extinguished by the Addition of many fabulous and superstitious Fancies so strong was the Tradition or Reason or rather both on which 't was built The Jews universally embraced it The general Promises of God to Abraham and his Seed and the several Shadows and Types of it in the Mosaick Institution did confirm them in the Belief of a Doctrine which I do not doubt had been transmitted to them even from Enoch Noah and all their pious Ancestors Nor must we look upon the Sadduces amongst the Jews or the Epicureans amongst the Gentiles to be any Objection against this Argument of a Life to come founded in Tradition and the universal Sense of Mankind because they were not only inconsiderable compared to the Body of the Jewish or Pagan World but also Desertors and Apostates from the Philosophy and Religion received To what End should I proceed from the Gentile and Jew to the Christian were Christianity entertained as it ought the very supposal of any Doubt concerning a Life to come would be impertinent Here we have numerous Demonstratitions of it Not only the Fortune of Vertue in this Life which is often very calamitous but even the Origine and Nature of it do plainly evince a Life to come For to what End can the Mortification of the Body by Abstractions and Meditations be enjoyned if there be no Life to come What need is there of Renovation or Regeneration by the Word and Spirit of God were there no Life to come One would think ' the common End of this natural Life might be well enough secured upon the common Foundation of Reason and Human Laws What should I here add the Love of God and the Merits of Jesus from both which we may derive many unanswerable Arguments of a Life to come For though when we reflect upon it it appears as much above our Merit as it is above our Comprehension yet when we consider that Eternal Life is the Gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord what less than an Heaven can we expect from an infinite Merit and Almighty Love The Love of God must be Perfect as Himself and the Merits of Jesus must be estimated by the Greatness of his Person and his Sufferings He that cannot be wrought upon by these and the like Gospel-Arguments will be found I doubt impenetrable to all others 'T is in vain to argue with such a one from natural Topicks and therefore I will stop here I should now pass on to the Third Thing the Attainment of Christian Liberty But
not be understood to proceed in it with a regard to all the Regenerate in General but only to the Perfect for the strength of Original Sin cannot but be very different in new Converts or Babes in Grace and in such as are advanced to an Habit of Righteousness This being premised I think I may on good Ground resolve That Original Sin in the Perfect Man may be so far reduced and master'd as to give him but very rare and slight Disturbance This seems to me evident from the great Change that must be wrought in him who is converted from a Sinner into a Saint If any Man be in Christ he is a new Creature old things are past away behold all things are become new 2 Cor. 5.17 and it is hard to conceive this new Nature without new Propensions and Inclinations not only different from but repugnant to our former Original and Corrupt ones or at least we must suppose this new Creation so far to have reformed and corrected the Man that Original Corruption has lost the Strength and Force which before it had This will be more clear yet if we observe never so slightly the several Parts of this great Change First the Soul of an excellent Person is filled with an unfeigned and habitual Sorrow for and Detestation of all Sin I hate saith the Psalmist every false way And how inconsistent is the strength and Heat of corrupt Propensions with the Tears and Aversions of a true Penitent how tame is the Body how pure the Mind when the Man is possess'd with a firm and holy Indignation against Sin when he dissolves in the pious Tenderness of a contrite Spirit Next the Soul of a good Man is possessed with an ardent Love of God and of Jesus with a firm Belief and a steady Hope of a blessed Eternity with enlightened Eyes he beholds the Vanity of all earthly Things and admires the Solidity the Weight and Duration of Heavenly Glory he is risen with Christ and therefore seeks those things that are above where Christ sits on the right hand of God He has set his Affection on things above and not on things on the Earth for he is dead and his Life is hid with Christ in God And must we not now suppose such a one cleansed and purified from all corrupt Affections when the very Bent of his Soul is quite another way must we not suppose the Force and Strength of depraved Nature overpowred and subdued by these heavenly Affections How mortified must such a Man be to the World and to the Body how feeble is the Opposition that inferiour Nature can raise against a Mind invested with so absolute and soveraign Authority and endowed with Light and Strength from above Lastly the Perfect Man has not only crucified the Inordinate and sinful Lusts and Affections of the Body but has also obtained a great Mastery even over the natural Appetites of it how else can it be that his Desires and Hopes are in Heaven that he waits for the Lord from thence that he desires to be dissolved and to be with Christ and groans to be rid of the corruptible Tabernacle of the Body He that is thus above the Body may certainly be concluded to be in some degree above even the most natural Appetites He that has set himself free in a great Measure even from his Aversion to Death and in his Affection at least very much loosen'd the bond the knot that unties Soul and Body may certainly very reasonably be presumed to be much more above all covetous ambitious or wanton Inclinations These are the Grounds on which I attribute to the Perfect Man so high a Degree of Freedom from Original Sin as I do in the Proposition laid down 2ly But yet I do not in the least think that the most Perfect Man upon Earth can so extinguish the sparks of Original Corruption but that if he do not keep a Watch and Guard upon himself they will gather Strength and revive again And the Reason of this is plain because it has a Foundation in our very Nature The Dispute concerning the Existence of Original Corruption in us after Baptism or Regeneration is methinks a very needless one For if it be about the Notion we ought to entertain of it that is whether it be properly Sin or not this is a Contention about Words for what signifies it by what Name we call this Remainder of Original Pravity when all grant that the Stain and Guilt of it is washed off and pardoned But if it be about the Force and Efficacy of it this indeed is a Controversie of some Moment but a very foolish one on one side for to what purpose can it be to say a great many subtil and puzling Things against a Truth that every Man feels and experiments at one time or other Upon the whole then I may thus describe the Liberty of the Perfect Man with respect to Original Sin He has mortified it though not utterly extirpated it he has subdued it though not exterminated it and therefore he is not only free from sinful and inordinate Lusts and Affections but also in a far greater measure than other Men from those Infirmities and Irregularities which are as it were the struglings and Ebullitions of Original Sin not yet sufficiently tam'd He has advanced his Victory very far even over his natural Appetites he has no stronger Inclination for the Body or for the World and the Things of it than such as becomes a Man that is possessed with a deep sense of the Vanity of this World and the Blessedness of another The World is in a high Degree crucified to him and he counts all things but dung and dross in comparison with the Excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord. His Sorrows and his Joys his Desires and his Fears be the occasion never so just or lawful pass not the modest Bounds of a wise Moderation He desires without Impatience cares and contrives hopes and pursues without Anxiety or Sollicitude he is cautious without Fear and Pusillanimity he is sad without Dejection or Despondency and Pleasant without Vanity All this indeed shews him not only to have conquered Sin and Folly but in a great Measure also his natural Propension to them But after all this happy Creature must remember that he is still in the Body in the Body whose Appetites will soon pass beyond their due Bounds if he be indulgent or careless he must remember that he is not immutably holy his Understanding is not so clear and bright but that it may be deceived nor the Bent of his Affections so strongly set upon good but that they may be perverted and therefore he must be sober and vigilant and fear always Thus have I stated the Cureableness of our Original Corruption And as I think I have plainly the Countenance of Scripture so I do not see that I in the least clash with that Clause in the Ninth Article of our Church
we courted till we be possess'd of a Habit of that Vertue which is a direct Contradiction to it and take as much pleasure in the Obedience as ever we did in the Transgression of a Divine Command 2ly There are some Sins of that provoking Nature so criminal in their Birth and mischievous in their Consequences That one single Act or Commission of one of these is equivalent to a Habit of others such is Murther Idolatry Perjury Adultery these cannot be committed without renouncing Humanity as well as Christianity without resisting the Instincts and Impulses of Nature as well as the Eight of the Gospel and the Grace of the Spirit We must break thorough a great many Difficulties and Terrors e're we can come at these Sins we must commit many other in order to commit one of these we must deliberate long resolve desperately and in Defiance of God and Conscience and what is the Effect of Habit in other Instances is a necessary Preparative in these that is Obduration In this Case therefore the unhappy Man that has been guilty of any one of these must not look upon himself as set free when he is come to a Resolution of never repeating it again But then when he loaths and abhors himself in Dust and Ashes when he has made the utmost Reparation of the Wrong he is capable of when if the Interest of Vertue require it he is content to be oppress'd with Shame and Sufferings when in one word a long and constant Course of Mortification Prayers Tears and good Works have washed off the Stain and Guilt 2. We must be free not only from a Habit but from single Acts of deliberate presumptuous Sin The Reason is plain Mortal Sin cannot be committed without wounding the Conscience grieving the Spirit and renouncing our Hopes in God through Christ for the time at least The wages of Sin is Death is true not only of Habits but single Acts of Deliberate Sin Death is the penalty the Sanction of every Commandment and the Commandment does not prohibit Habits only but single Acts too Nor is there indeed any room for Doubt or Dispute here but in one Case which is If a Righteous Man should be taken off in the very Commission of a Sin which he was fallen into Here indeed much may be said and with much Uncertainty But the Resolution of this Point does not as far as I can see minister to any good or necessary End and therefore I will leave it to God In all other Cases every thing is clear and plain For if the Servant of God fall into a presumptuous Sin 't is universally acknowledg'd that he cannot recover his Station but by Repentance If he repent presently he is safe but if he continue in his Sin if he repeat it he passes into a state of Wickedness widens the Breach between God and his Soul declines insensibly into a Habit of sin and renders his Wound more and more incurable 'T is to little purpose I think here to consider the vast Difference there is in the Commission even of the same sin between a Child of God and a Child of Wrath because a Child of God must not commit it at all if he do though it be with Reluctancy though it be as it were with an imperfect Consent and with a divided Soul though the Awe of Religion and Conscience seems not utterly to have forsaken him even in the midst of his sin though his Heart smite him the very Minute it is finish'd and Repentance and Remorse take off the Relish of the unhappy Draught yet still 't is Sin 't is in its Nature Damnable and nothing but the Blood of Jesus can purge the Guilt 3. The Perfect Man may be supposed not only actually to abstain from Mortal Sin but to be advanced so far in the Mortification of all his inordinate Affections as to do it with Ease and Pleasure with Constancy and Delight For it must reasonably be presumed that his Victory over ungodly and worldly Lust is more confirm'd and absolute his Abhorrence of them more deep and sensible more fixt and lasting than that of a Beginner or Babe in Christ The Regenerate at first fears the Consequence of sin but by Degrees he hates the Sin it self The Purity of his Soul renders him now incapable of finding any pleasure in what he doted on before and the Love of God and Vertue raiseth him above the Temptations which he was wont to fall by old things are past away and all things are become new 4. Lastly The Perfect Man's Abstinence is not only more easie and steady but more entire and compleat also than that of others He has a regard to the End and Design of the Law to the Perfection of his Nature to the Purity and Elevation of his Sowl and therefore he expounds the Prohibitions of the Law in the most enlarg'd Sense and interprets them by a Spirit of Faith and Love He is not content to refrain from Actions directly criminal but shuns every Appearance of Evil and labours to mortifie all the Dispositions and Tendencies of his Nature towards it and to decline whatever Circumstances of Life are apt to betray the Soul into a Love of this World or the Body he has crucified the World and the Body too That Pleasure that Honour that Power that Profit which captives the Sinners tempts and tries and disquiets the Novice is but a burthen a trouble to him he finds no Gust no relish in these things He is so far from Intemperance so far from Wantonness so far from Pride and Vanity that could he without any Disadvantage to the Interest of Religion he would imitate the Meanness the Plainness the Laboriousness the Self-denial of our Saviour's Life not only in Disposition and Affection of his Soul but even in his outward State and Deportment and would prefer it far above the Pomp and Shew of Life In one word he enquires not how far he may Enjoy and be Safe but how far he may deny himself and be wise he is so far from desiring forbidden Satisfactions that he is unwilling and afraid to find too much Satisfaction in the natural and necessary Actions of an animal Life I need not prove this to any one who has read the foregoing Chapters for it is what I have been doing throughout this Treatise It is nothing but what is consonant to the whole Tenour of the Scripture and to the Example of the best Times And 't is conformable to what the best Authors have writ who have any thing of Life and Spirit in their Works or have any true Notion of the great Design of Christian Religion which is an heavenly Conversation Let any one but cast his Eye on St. Basil or any other after him who aim'd at the same thing I now do the promoting Holiness in the World in the Beauty and Perfection of it and he will acknowledge that I am far from having carried this matter too high I
of Idleness and Lukewarmness but also as far as it might be even of Sin of Infirmity and Original Corruption what else was I doing but prosecuting this one Designe namely the implanting and propagating in the World the State of Zeal However something there seems to me yet wanting to compleat my Undertaking and that I am to endeavour now To which End I will here discourse of three Things 1. What it is in general I mean by Zeal 2. What is that Perfection of Holiness or Righteousness wherein it consists And 3. Of the Efficacy or Force of this Holiness as it exerts it self in good Works Of these the two Former shall be the Argument of this the Third of the following Chapter § 1. of Zeal in General what it is I do not exclude some Degrees of Zeal from every Period of the Christian's Life Sincerity cannot subsist wholly without it The Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness which is the subject of one of our Saviour's Beatitudes must be more or less in every Child of God But it may signifie one thing in the Infant another in the Adult Christian in the one the Conquest of Sin or rather of the Reliques and Remains of former sinful Habits and the Attainment of habitual Goodness is the Object of this Hunger and Thirst In the other it imports a vehement Desire of whatever is yet wanting to a further Accomplishment and Consummation of Righteousness already fix't and establish'd the entire and ultimate Perfection of it in Heaven and in the mean Time the promoting the Divine Glory upon Earth whatever it cost him to do so By a State of Zeal then I here mean Vertue or Holiness not in the bud or in the blossom but in its full Strength and Stature grown up and ripe and loaded with blessed Fruits I mean that Holiness that is the Result of Illumination or Clearness of Judgment of the Strength and Force of Holy Resolution and the Vigour and Energy of Holy Passions In a word I mean that folie spiritual and operative Religion which may be felt and enjoy'd by us our selves in the Serenity and Tranquility of Conscience the Longings and Breathings of Pious Desires the Joys and Pleasures of a Rational Assurance discern'd by the World in our Lives and Actions in the Modesty of our Garb in the Plainness and Humility of all things else that pertain to the Port of Life in the Temperance of our Meals the Purity and Heavenliness of Conversation the Moderation of our Designs and enjoyments the Instruction of our Families with a tender and undefatigable Watchfulness over them the Constancy of our Attendance upon and the Devoutness of our Deportment in the publick Worship of God and finally in the Activity and Generosity of our Charity Or to speak my Thoughts in the Language of St. Paul a State of Zeal is that Perfection or Maturity of Holiness which abounds in the Work of Faith the Labour of Love and the Patience of Hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God and our Father 1 Thess 1.3 Now the end of all this is the advancing the Glory of God and therefore Zeal is well enough describ'd or defin'd by an ardent or vehement Desire of doing so Now this is advanced two Ways First by our Personal and Inherent Holiness And Secondly by the Fruit of it good Works Of both which I will now speak a little more particularly § 2. Of that Perfection of Holiness which constitutes the State of Zeal Here I will Enquire into two Things 1. Whether the Perfect Man must be possessed of all the Treasures of Goodness Whether he must be adorned by a Confluence and an Accumulation of all Vertues 2. What Height of Vertue what Degree of Holiness he may be supposed to arrive at 1. Of the Extent of Righteousness It is generally thought That Universality is as essential and necessary a Property of Gospel Righteousness as Sincerity and Perseverance That there is an inseparable Connexion and Union between all Christian Vertues so that he who wants any must be concluded to have none This want being not like a Blemish that diminishes the Beauty or a Maim that weakens the Strength but like a Wound that dissolves the Frame and Contexture of the Natural Body This Opinion is partly built upon Reason which tells us That there is a native Lustre and Beauty in all Vertues and therefore there is no one in the whole Systeme of Morality but must be lovely and amiable to a good Man Partly upon Scripture in which we find the Christian represented as holy in all manner of Conversation 1 Pet. 1.15 perfect in every good work Heb. 13.21 as fill'd with all the Fulness of God Eph. 3.19 as fruitful in every good work Col. 1.10 and exhorted in the most comprehensive Terms imaginable to the Practice of every Vertue Finally Brethren whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any Vertue and if there be any praise think 〈◊〉 these things To which may be added numerous Texts importing That Faith is a Principle of Vniversal Righteousness and That the Fear and Love of God do equally oblige us to all his Commandments and That the Violation of one involves us in the Guilt of all And the result of all this seems to be plainly this That the whole Chain of Graces is dissolved and lost if there be but one Link wanting But at this rate as the Sincere Man must be endow'd with all manner of Vertues so must the Perfect excel in all But the one and the other Assertion If we consider things closely seems to have in them insuperable Difficulties There is a vast Variety in the Natures of Men in the States and Conditions of Life and in the kinds and Degrees as well of the Sanctifying as of the Miraculous Gifts of God St. Paul tells us every Man has his proper Gift of God 1 Cor. 7.7 From whence it seems naturally to be inferr'd That every Man is not capable of attaining to an Excellence and Eminence in every Vertue Experience tells us That there are different kinds of Natures as well as Soils and that some kinds of Vertues like some kinds of Seed will thrive better in one than in another Nor does Grace alter the Matter much since it generally accommodates it self to Nature Lastly it seems very hard That every Man should have the Vertues of all Men of all States of all Capacities every particular Member the Vertues of the whole Church the Beauty and Strength of the Church as well as of the natural Body or Common-wealth consisting not in the All-sufficieney of every Member but in that Variety of Gifts and Graces that cements and unites enriches and Supports the whole To come up to Matter of Fact I read of the Faith of Abraham the Meekness of Moses the Patience of Job the Love of
and the Passions tender it is more easie to gain Perfection then to preserve it When a Profligate Sinner in the day of God's Power is snatch'd like a Fire-brand out of the Fire rescued by some amazing and surprizing Call like Israel by Miracles out of Egypt I wonder not if such a one loves much because much has been forgiven him I wonder not if he be swallowed up by the deepest and the liveliest sense of Guilt and Mercy I wonder not if such a one endeavour to repair his past Crimes by Heroick Acts if he make hast to redeem his lost time by a zeal and vigilance hard to be imitated never to be parllel'd by others Hence we read of Judah's Love in the day of her Espousal Jer. 2.2 And of the first love of the Church of Ephesus Rev. 2.4 as the most Perfect And in the first times of the Gospel when Men were Converted by astonishing Miracles when the Presence and Example of Jesus and his Followers when the Perspicuity and Authority the Spirit and Power the Lustre and Surprize of the Word of Life and Salvation dazled over-power'd and transported the Minds of Men and made a thorough change in a moment and when again no man professed Christianity but he expected by his Sufferings and Martyrdom to seal the truth of his Profession I wonder not if Vertue ripened fast under such miraculous Influences of Heaven or if Assurance sprung up in a moment from these bright proofs of an unshaken Integrity But we who live in colder Climates who behold nothing in so clear and bright a Light as those happy Souls did must be content to make shorter and slower Steps towards Perfection and satisfie our selves with a natural not miraculous Progress And we whose Vertues are so generally under-grown and our Tryals no other then common ones have no reason to expect the Joys of a Perfect Assurance till we go on to Perfection 2ly As Perfection is a work of time so is it of great Expence and Cost too I mean 't is the effect of much Labour and Travel Self-denial and Watchfulness Resolution and Constancy Many are the Dangers which we are to encounter through our whole Progress towards it Why else are we exhorted to learn to do good To perfect Holiness in the fear of God 2 Cor. 7.1 2. To be renewed in the Spirit of our Minds from day to day Eph. 4.23 To watch stand fast to quit us like Men to be strong 1 Cor. 16.13 To take to us the whole Armour of God that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil and when we have done all to stand Eph. 6.11.13 To use all diligence to make our calling and election sure 2 Pet. 1.10 and such like Nay which is very remarkable these and the like Exhortations were address'd to Christians in those times which had manifold advantages above these of ours If I should say That the Spirit of God the Sanctifying Grace of God was then power'd forth in more plentiful measures then ever after not only Scripture as I think but Reason too would be on my side The Interest of the Church of Christ required it Sanctity being as necessary as Miracles to Convert the Jew and the Gentile But besides this the then wonderful and surprizing Light of the Gospel the Presence of Jesus in the Flesh or of those who had been Eye-witnesses of his Glory a crowd of wondrous Works and Miracles the expectation of terrible things Temporal and Eternal Judgments at the door and an equal expectation of Glorious ones too All these things breaking in beyond expectation upon a Jewish and Pagan World over-whelm'd before by thick darkness and whose abominations were too notorious to be conceal'd and too detestable to be excused or defended could not but produce a very great and sudden change Now therefore if in these times many did start forth in a moment fit for Baptism and Martyrdom if many amongst these were suddenly changed justified and crowned I wonder not this was a day of Power a day of Glory wherein God asserted Himself exalted his Son and rescued the World by a stretched out Hand I should not therefore from hence be induced to expect any thing like at this day But yet if notwitstanding all this Christians in those happy times amidst so many Advantages stood in need of such Exhortations what do not we in these Times If so much Watchfulness Prayer Patience Fear Abstinence and earnest Contention became them when God as it were bowed the Heavens and came down and dwelt amongst Men what becomes us in those days in the dregs of time when God stands as it were aloof off to see what will be our latter end retired behind a Cloud which our Heresies and Infidelities Schisms and Divisions Sins and Provocations have raised To conclude he that will be Perfect must not sit like the Lame Man by Bethesdah's Pool expecting till some Angel come to cure him but like our Lord he must climb the Mount and Pray and then he may be transformed he may be raised as much above the Moral Corruption of his Nature by Perfection as our Saviour was above the Meanness and Humility of his Body by his Glorious Transfiguration These two Observations are of manifold use For many expect Pleasure when they have no right to it they would reap before Vertue be grown up and ripen'd and being more intent upon the Fruit of Duty then the discharge of it they are frequently disappointed and discouraged Others there are who mistaking some fits and flashes of Spiritual Joy for the Habitual Peace and Pleasure of Perfection do entertain too early Confidences and instead of perfecting Holiness in the fear of God they decline or it may be fall away through Negligence and Security or which is as bad the Duties of Religion grow tasteless and insipid to them for want of that Pleasure which they ignorantly or presumptuously expect should constantly attend 'em And so they are disheartened or disgusted and give back which they would never do if they did rightly understand that Perfection is a work of time that a setled Tranquility an Habitual Joy of Spirit is the Fruit only of Perfection and that those short Gleams of Joy which break in upon new Converts and sometimes on other imperfect Christians do depend upon extraordinary Circumstances or are peculiar Favours of Heaven Lastly there are many who have entertain'd very odd Fancies about the Attainment of Perfection they talk and act as if Perfection were the Product not of Time and Experience but an Instant as if it were to be infused in a moment not acquir'd as if it were a meer Arbitrary Favour not the Fruit of Meditation and Discipline 'T is true it cannot be doubted by a Christian but that Perfection derives it self from Heaven and that the Seed of it is the Grace of God Yet it is true too and can as little be doubted by any one who consults the Gospel
all our sinful or vain desires devote our selves to the Service of Jesus and learn to expect Happiness from nothing else but the Merits and the Imitation of his Cross So profound is the Wisdom of this Institution that it evidently speaks God the Author of it and proclaims the too common neglect of it in most parts of this Nation an in-excusable Sin and Folly 3. A Third end of Instrumental Duties of Religion is the raising and keeping up Holy and Devout Affections I know not why Passion is so commonly undervalued and disparaged in Religion unless they who thus treat it mean nothing by it but a short-liv'd and superficial commotion of the Mind which leaves no print or relish behind it and is presently succeeded by Sin and Folly Holy Passion is the vigour and strength of the Soul 't is the state and frame of the Mind when it is throughly moved and affected And therefore to form to ones self Religion destitute of Passion is little better than to content ones self with one that is lazy lukewarm and lifeless And though there be some Tempers very unapt to be moved yet 't is hard to imagine how even these can be wrought up to a Resolution or that Resolution be supported and continued without their being affected so throughly as to feel either a real Passion or something very nearly approaching one 'T is an excellent Frame of Spirit when the Soul is easily elevated and transported into Holy Passion And I find that all those Vertues or rather Acts of Vertue which are described to the Life and which are by all judg'd most Perfect and Lovely have most of Passion in them How warm and Passionate was the Love of David for his God! What Flame what vehemence of Desire was he moved by when he cries out Psal 42.1 2. As the Heart panteth after the water-brooks so panteth my Soul after thee O God My Soul thirsteth for God for the living God What awful Concussions and Agitations of Spirit did he feel when he thus describes his Fear My Flesh trembleth for fear of thee and I am afraid of thy Judgments Psal 119.120 What afflictions of Soul what tenderness of Heart do we meet with in the Repentance of St. Peter when He went forth and wept bitterly Of Mary Magdalen or whoever that Woman in Luk. 7. was when she washed the Feet of our Saviour with her Tears and wiped them with the Hairs of her Head And of the Royal Psalmist when he watered his Couch with his Tears Psal 6.6 Nor were the Pleasures of Assurance less sensible and vehement then the sorrows of Repentance when the first Christians rejoyced with Joy unspeakable and Hopes full of Glory Shall I here add that Holy Indignation against Sin that vehement desire of making some Reparation for it which is the effect of Godly Sorrow that Zeal and Fervency of Spirit in the Service of God which is the highest Character of Perfection it self Shall I call these Passions I must not for though they have the heat and agitation of Passion they have in them the firmness and steadiness of an Habit. And I wish with all my Heart that all those other excellent Affections of Soul which I before named could be rendered Natural and Habitual The nearer we come to this undoubtedly the Perfecter I doubt Mortality is incapable of any such height But the more frequent as well as the more vehement and fervent the better certainly For great is the Force and Vertue of Holy Passion the flame of Love refines our Nature and Purifies it from all its Dross the Tears of a Godly Sorrow extinguish all our carnal and worldly Lusts and the Agitations of Fear preserve the chastity and purity of the Soul 'T is plain then that our Religion ought to be animated by Holy Passions that the more frequent and natural these grow the more Perfect we are that being the most excellent frame of Spirit when we are most apt to be sensibly and throughly affected by Divine Truths By what Means we may attain to this is now briefly to be considered 'T is certain that great and Important wonderful and glorious Truths will not fail to affect us and that throughly unless Lust or Infidelity have render'd us stupid and impenetrable And that Gospel Truths are such is no doubt at all let the Conviction be full the Representation lively and the Truth will do its work 'T is for want of such circumstances and such sensible Notions of an Object as may strike the Imagination for want of close and particular Applications when Divine Truths do not move us This now does not only call us to the frequent Meditation of the most Affecting Subjects the Majesty and Omnipresence of God the Sufferings of Christ Death and Judgment Heaven and Hell but it shews also how to model and form our Meditations that they prove not cold and sluggish Let the Object of our Thoughts be described by the most sensible Images or Resemblances let it be clad with the most natural circumstances let it be made as particular as it can by fixing its Eye upon us and pointing its Motion towards us but above all and in the first place let the Proof of it be clear and strong Prayer is an Exercise very apt to move the Passion The Mind having disengaged it self from all Earthly and Bodily Affections is prepared for the impression of Truth and the Spirit of God it draws nearer into the Presence of God and the sense of this sheds an awful Reverence upon it it has a clearer calmer and more serious View of Divine Things then when it is obscured and disturbed by worldly Objects In a word Meditation is in this Exercise render'd more solemn and more particular and when the Holy Fire is kindled in the Soul it dilates and diffuses it self more and more till the strength of Desire the vehemence of Holy Love transcending the weakness of this Mortal Nature we faint under the Passions that we cannot bear The Lord's Supper is an Holy Rite wonderfully adapted to raise excellent Passions Here Christ is as it were set forth Crucified amongst us we see His Body broken and His Blood poured forth here with a devout Joy we receive and embrace Him by Faith and Love in those Symbols of His Body and Blood and Pledges of His Love The Soul must be very ill prepared it must have very imperfect Notions of Sin and Damnation the Cross of Christ Grace and Salvation which is not sensible of a Crow'd of Holy Passions springing up in it at this Sacrament Hymns and Psalms have by I know not what Natural Magick a peculiar Force and Operation upon a pious Mind Divine Poetry has a noble elevation of Thoughts it does not devise and counterfeit Passions but only vents those which it feels and these are pure and lovely kindled from above Therefore are all its Characters natural its Descriptions lively its Language moving and powerful and all is
the contrary consist in being able not only to will but to do good in obeying those Commandments which we cannot but acknowledge to be holy and just and good And this is the very Notion which our Lord and Master gives us of it Joh. 8. For when the Jews bragg'd of their Freedom he lets them know that Freedom could not consist with Subjection to Sin he that committeth Sin is the Servant of Sin ver 34. That honourable Parentage and the Freedom of the Body was but a false and ludicrous Appearance of Liberty that if they would be free indeed the Son must make them so ver 36. i. e. they must by his Spirit and Doctrine be rescued from the Servitude of Lust and Errour and be set at Liberty to work Righteousness If ye continue in my word then are ye my Disciples indeed and ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free ver 31 32. Finally not to multiply Proofs of a truth that is scarce liable to be controverted as the Apostle describes the Bondage of a Sinner in Rom. 7. so does he the Liberty of a Saint in Rom. 8. For there ver 2. he tells us That the Law of the Spirit of Life has set the true Christian free from the Law of Sin and Death And then he lets us know wherein this Liberty consists in walking not after the Flesh but after the Spirit in the Mortification of the Body of Sin and Restitution of the Mind to its just Empire and Authority If Christ be in you the Body is dead because of Sin but the Spirit is Life because of Righteousness ver 10. And all this is the same thing with his Description of Liberty Chapter 6. where 't is nothing else but for a Man to be made free from Sin and become the Servant of God Thus then we have a plain account of Bondage and Liberty Yet for the clearer understanding of both it will not be amiss to observe that they are each capable of different Degrees and both the one and the other may be more or less entire compleat and absolute according to the different Progress of Men in Vice and Vertue Thus in some Men not their Will only but their very Reason is enslaved Their Vnderstanding is so far infatuated their Affections so entirely captived that there is no Conflict at all between the Mind and the Body they commit Sin without any Reluctancy before-hand or any Remorse afterwards their sâ—ared Conscience making no Remonstrance inflicting no wounds nor denouncing any Threats This is the last Degree of Vassalage Such are said in Scripture to be dead in Trespasses and Sins Others there are in whom their Lust and Appetite prevails indeed but not without Opposition They Reason rightly and which is the natural Result of this have some Desires and wishes of Righteousness but through the Prevalency of the Body they are unable to act and live conformable to their Reason Their Vnderstanding has indeed Light but not Authority It consents to the Law of God but it has no Power no Force to make it be obeyed it produces indeed some good Inclinations Purposes and Efforts but they prove weak and ineffectual ones and unable to grapple with the stronger Passion raised by the Body And as Bondage so Liberty is of different Degrees and different Strength For though Liberty may be able to subsist where there is much Opposition from the Body yet 't is plain that Liberty is most absolute and compleat where the Opposition is least where the Body is reduced to an entire Submission and Obsequiousness and the Spirit reigns with an uncontroul'd and unlimited Authority And this latter is that Liberty which I would have my Perfect man possessed of I know very well 't is commonly taught by some that there is no such State But I think this Doctrine if it be throughly considered has neither Scripture Reason nor Experience to support it For as to those Places Rom. 7. and Gal. 5. urged in favour of an almost Incessant strong and too-frequently prevalent lusting of the Flesh against the Spirit it has been often answered and proved too that they are so far from belonging to the Perfect that they belong not to the Regenerate But on the contrary those Texts that represent the Yoke of Christ easie and his burden light which affirm the Commandments of Christ not to be grievous to such as are made Perfect in Love do all bear witness to that Liberty which I contend for Nor does Reason favour my Opinion less than Scripture For if the Perfect man be a New Creature if he be transformed into a New Nature if his Body be dead to sin and his Spirit live to Righteousness in one word if the World be as much crucified to him as he to it I cannot see why it should not be easie for him to act consonant to his Nature why he should not with Pleasure and Readiness follow that Spirit and obey those Affections which reign and rule in him Nor can I see why a Habit of Righteousness should not have the same Properties with other Habits that is be attended with ease and pleasure in its Operations and Actions 'T is true I can easily see why the Habits of Righteousness are acquired with more Difficulty than those of any other kind but I say I cannot see when they are acquired why they should not be as natural and delightful to us as any other Lastly how degenerate soever Ages past have been or the present is I dare not so far distrust the Goodness of my Cause or the Vertue of Mankind as not to refer my self willingly in this point to the Decision of Experience I am very well assured that Truth and Justice Devotion and Charity Honour and Integrity are to a great many so dear and delightful so natural so easie that it is hard to determine whether they are more strongly moved by a sense of Duty or the Instigations of Love and Inclination and that they cannot do a base thing without the utmost Mortification and Violence to their Nature Nor is all this to be wondred at if we again reflect on what I just now intimated that the Perfect Man is a new Creature transformed daily from Glory to Glory that he is moved by new Affections raised and fortified by new Principles that he is animated by a Divine Energy and sees all things by a truer and brighter Light through which the things of God appear lovely and beautiful the things of the World Deformed and worthless just as to him who views them through a Microscope the Works of God appear exact and elegant but those of Man coarse and bungling and ugly My Opinion then which asserts the absolute Liberty of the Perfect Man is sufficiently proved here and in Chap. the first And if I thought it were not I could easily reinforce it with fresh Recruits For the glorious Characters that are given us in Scripture of the Liberty of
this Chapter is grown much too big already And to the consideration of the Fruit of this Liberty which I have so long insisted on nothing more needs to be added but the Observation of those Rules which I shall lay down in the following Chapters For whatever Advice will secure the several Parts of our Liberty will consequently secure the whole I will therefore close this Chapter here with a brief Exhortation to endeavour after Deliverance from Sin How many and powerful Motives have we to it Would we free our selves from the Evils of this Life let us dam up the Source of them which is Sin Would we surmount the Fear of Death let us disarm it of its Sting and this is Sin Would we perfect and accomplish our Natures with all excellent Qualities 't is Righteousness wherein consists the Image of God and Participation of the Divine Nature 't is the cleansing our selves from all Filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit and the perfecting Holiness in the fear of God that must transform us from Glory to Glory Would we be Masters of the most glorious Fortunes 't is Righteousness that will make us Heirs of God and Joynt-Heirs with Christ 't is the Conquest of our Sins and the abounding in good Works that will make us rich towards God and lay up for us a good Foundation for the Life to come Are we ambitious of Honour let us free our selves from the servitude of Sin 'T is Vertue only that is truly honourable and Praise-worthy and nothing surely can entitle us to so noble a Relation for this allies us to God For as our Saviour speaks they only are the Children of Abraham who do the Works of Abraham the Children of God who do the Works of God These are they who are born again not of the Will of the Flesh or of the Will of Man but of God These are they who are incorporated into the Body of Christ and being ruled and animated by his Spirit are entitled to all the blessed Effects of his Merit and Intercession These are they in a word who have overcome and will one day sit down with Christ in his Throne even as He also overcame and is set down with his Father in his Throne Rev. 3.21 Good God! how absurd and perverse all our Desires and Projects are We complain of the Evils of the World and yet we hugg the Causes of them and cherish those Vices whose fatal Wounds are ever big with numerous and intollerable Plagues We fear Death and would get rid of this Fear not by disarming but sharpning its Sting not by subduing but forgetting it We love Wealth and Treasure but 't is that which is Temporal not Eternal We receive Honour one of another but we seek not that which comes from God only We are fond of Ease and Pleasure and at the same time we wander from those Paths of Wisdom which alone can bring us to it For in a word 't is this Christian Liberty that makes Men truly free not the being in bondage to no Man but to no Sin not the doing what we list but what we ought 'T is Christian Liberty that makes us truly great and truly glorious for this alone renders us Serviceable to others and Easie to our selves Benefactors to the World and delightsome at home 't is Christian Liberty makes us truly prosperous truly fortunate because it makes us truly happy filling us with Joy and Peace and making us abound in hope through the Power of the Holy Ghost CHAP. IV. Of Liberty as it relates to Original Sin WHatever Difficulties the Doctrine of Original Sin really be involved in or seem at least to some to be so they will not concern me who am no further obliged to consider it than as it is an Impediment of Perfection For though there be much Disputes about Original Sin there is little or none about Original Corruption the Reality of this is generally acknowledged though the Guilt the Sinfulness or Immorality of it be controverted And though there be Diversity of Opinions concerning the Effects of Original Corruption in Eternity yet there is no Doubt at all made but that it incites and instigates us to actual Sin and is the Seed-plot of Human Folly and Wickedness All Men I think are agreed that there is a Byass and strong Propension in our Nature towards the Things of the World and the Body That the subordination of the Body to the Soul and of the Soul to God wherein consists Righteousness is subverted and overthrown That we have Appetites which clash with and oppose the Commands of God not only when they threaten Violence to our Nature as in the Cases of Confession and Martyrdom but also when they only prune its Luxuriancy and Extravagance That we do not only desire sensitive Pleasure but even to that Degree that it hurries and transports us beyond the Bounds that Reason and Religion set us We have not only an Aversion for Pain and Toil and Death but to that Excess that it tempts us to renounce God and our Duty for the sake of Carnal Ease and Temporal safety And finally that we are so backward to entertain the Belief of revealed Truths so prone to terminate our Thoughts on and confine our Desires within this visible World as our Portion and to look upon our selves no other than the mortal and corruptible Inhabitants of it that this makes us selfish and sordid proud and ambitious false subtle and contentious to the endless Disturbance of Mankind and our selves That this I say is the state of Nature that this is the Corruption we Labour under all Men I think are agreed And no wonder for did a Controversie arise about this there would be no need to appeal any further for the Decision of it than to ones own Experience this would tell every one that thus it is in Fact and Reason if we will consult it will tell us why it is so for what other than this can be the Condition of Man who enters the World with a Soul so dark and destitute of Divine Light so deeply immerced and plung'd into Flesh and Blood so tenderly and intimately affected by Bodily Sensations and with a Body so adapted and suited to the Things of this World and fastened to it by the Charms of Pleasure and the Bonds of Interest Convenience and Necessity This Account of Original Corruption agrees very well with that St. Paul gives us of it Rom. 7. and elsewhere And with that Assertion of our Lord and Master on which he builds the necessity of Regeneration by Water and the Holy Spirit Joh. 3.6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit Having thus briefly explained what I mean in this Chapter by Original Sin I am next to consider these two Things 1. How far this Distemper of Nature is curable 2. Which way this Cure is to be effected As to the first Enquiry I would
thorow with many Sorrows ver 17 18 19. Charge them that are rich in this World that they be not high minded nor trust in uncertain Riches but in the living God who giveth us all things richly to enjoy That they do good that they be rich in good works ready to distribute willing to communicate Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on Eternal Life And to multiply no more Instances of Restraints of this or the like nature thus we ought to stand affected towards Praise and Reputation Interest and Power Beauty Strength c. We must neither be too Intent upon them nor enjoy them with too much Gust and Satisfaction for this is that Disposition which appears to me to suit best with the Spirit and Design of the Gospel and with the Nature of such things as being of a middle sort are equally capable of being either Temptations or Blessings Instruments of Good or Evil. 3ly The Scripture regulates and bounds our natural and necessary Appetites not so much by nicely defining the exact Degrees and Measures within which Nature must be strictly contained as by exalted Examples of and Exhortations to a Spiritual pure and heavenly Disposition Thus our Lord and Master seems to me to give some check to the stream of natural Affection and to call off his Disciples from it to the Consideration of a Spiritual Relation Mark 3.34 35. And he looked round about on them which sate about him and said behold my Mother and my Brethren For whosoever shall do the will of God the same is my Brother and my Sister and Mother To which words of our Lord I may joyn those of St. Paul henceforth know we no Man after the flesh yet now henceforth know we him no more 2 Cor. 5.16 The Answer of our Lord to a Disciple who would have deferr'd his following him till he had Buried his Father Matt. 8. â—1 and to him who begged leave to go and bid farewell first to his Relations and Domesticks Luke 9.61 does plainly countenance the Doctrine I here advance and so does St. Paul 1 Cor. 7.29 so often cited by me Not that our Saviour or his Apostles did ever account our natural Affections vicious and impure for 't is a Vice to be without them Rom. 1.31 not that they went about to diminish or abate much less to cancel the Duties flowing from them no They only prune the Luxuriancy of untaught Nature and correct the Fondnesses and Infirmities of Animal Inclinations Our natural Affections may entangle and enslave us as well as unlawful and irregular ones if we lay no Restraint upon them Religion indeed makes them the Seeds of Vertue but without it they easily betray us into Sin and Folly For this Reason I doubt not lest under pretence of satisfying our most natural and importunate Appetites we should be ensnared into the Love of this World and intangled in the Cares of it our Saviour forbids us to take thought for to morrow even for the necessaries of to morrow what we shall eat and what we shall drink and where-withal we shall be clothed Matt. 6. These are the Restraints laid upon the Body in Scripture which if any Man observe he will soon discern himself as far purified and freed from Original Corruption as Human Nature in this Life is capable of And that he may § 2ly He must fortifie and invigorate the Mind And this must be done two ways First by possessing it with the Knowledge of the Gospel and the Grace of the Spirit Secondly by withdrawing it often from the Body As to the former Branch of this Rule the Necessity of it is apparent since the state of Nature is such as has before been described we stand in need not only of Revelation to enlighten us but also of Grace to strengthen us Of the former to excite us to exert all the Force and Power we have of the Latter to enable us to do that which our natural Force never can effect It cannot be here expected that I should treat of the Operation of the Spirit and the Ways of obtaining it grieving and quenching it this would demand a peculiar Treatise I will here only observe That 't is the Work of the Spirit to repair in some Degree at least the Ruins of the Fall to rectifie Nature to improve our Faculties and to imprint in us the Divine Image That Meditation and Prayer and a careful Conformity to the Divine Will obtain and increase the Grace of the Spirit That Negligence and presumptuous Wickedness grieve and extinguish it As to the Knowledge of the Gospel I shall not need to say much here I have considered this matter in the Chapter of Illumination and will only observe that the Doctrines of the Gospel are such as if they be thoroughly imbibed do effectually raise us above a state of Nature and set us free from the Power and Prevalence of our Original Corruption Were we but once perswaded that we are Strangers and Pilgrims upon Earth That all Carnal Gratifications do war against the Soul That our Souls are properly our selves and That our first Cares are to be for them That God is himself our Sovereign Good and the Fountain of all inferiour Good that our Perfection and Happiness consist in the Love and Service of Him That we have a mighty Mediatour who once Died for us and ever Lives to make Intercession for us That a Kingdom incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away is reserved in Heaven for all meek faithful and holy Souls Were we I say but once thoroughly perswaded of these Truths with what Vigour would they impregnate our Minds how clear would be the Convictions of Conscience how uncontroulable the Authority of Reason how strong the Instincts and Propensions of the Mind towards Righteousness and Vertue These would alienate the Mind from the World and the Body and turn the Bent of it another way these would inspire it with other Desires and Hopes and make it form different Projects from what it had before old things are done away and all things are become new The Second Branch of this second particular Rule is that we must accustom our selves to retire frequently from the Commerce and Conversation of the Body Whether the Eating the forbidden Fruit did open to the Mind new Scenes of Sensuality which it thought not of and so called it down from the Serenity and Heights of a more pure and contemplative Life to participate the turbulent Pleasures of Sense immersing it as it were by this means deeper into the Body I pretend not to judge But 't is certain a too too intimate Conjunction of the Mind with the Body and the satisfactions of it does very much debase it 'T is our great Unhappiness that the Soul is always in the Senses and the Senses are always upon the World we converse with the World we talk of the World we think of the
will quote but one or two Passages of St. Basil (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 454. his Description of the Perfect Man with regard to his Self-denial runs thus He is one that consults the Necessities not the Pleasure of his Nature and seems to grudge the Time which he bestows on the Support and Nourishment of a corruptible Body He is so far from looking upon eating and drinking c. as an Enjoyment that he rather accounts it a Task or troublesome Service which the Frailty of his Nature demands at his hands Nor was this great Man more severe against the Lusts of the Flesh than against those other Branches of the Love of the World the Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 456. All Vanity and Affection of Praise and Respect all the Ostentation saith he and shew of Life is utterly unlawful for a Christian And all this is directly consonant to his Gloss (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 457. on those words of S. Paul they that use the World as not abusing it whatever is beyond use is abuse directly consonant to his Definition of Temperance (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p 454. That it is the Extirpation of Sin the Extermination of unruly Passions and the Mortification of the Body extending even to the natural Appetites and Affections of it I know not what Scruples or Mistakes the Doctrine I here advance concerning this Part of my Perfect Man's Liberty may be encounter'd with But I am Confident I have given no just Occasion for any I do not say of the Perfect with Jovinian that they cannot fall but I say they may and ought to stand and if it be not their own fault will do so I do not affirm of them as the Hereticks in Vincentius Lyrinensis did of their Part that they are priviledg'd from sin by a peculiar Grace and transcendent Favour but I affirm that they shall not want Grace to preserve them from it unless they be wanting to themselves I do not go about to maintain that God sees no sin in his Children but I maintain That Mortal Sin is not the Spot of his Children But do not I in this fall in with the Papists who assert the Possibility of keeping the Commands of God I answer That taking them in the sense in which they themselves in the Conference at Ratisbone defend this Doctrine I do They there tell us that when they talk thus they take the Law or Commands of God not in a strict and rigid but in a favourable and equitable i. e. a Gospel Construction And this is so far from being Heterodox that Davenant accounts it a plain giving up the Question in Controversie But am I not run into the Error of the Pelagians and Quakers I answer if the one or the other assert That the Perfect Man passes thorough the whole Course of Life without falling into any Sin or That in the best part of Life he is impeccable and not subject to sin as in the Heat of Disputation their Adversaries seem sometimes to fasten on them I am at a wide Distance from them But if they teach That the Perfect Man has Grace and Strength enough to forbear Wilful Sin and that many actually do so I am I must confess exactly of their Mind But then I am at the same time of the same Mind with St. Austin and St. Jerome too For they teach the very same Doctrine For they never contended about the Possibility of Freedom or Deliverance from Mental Sin but only from Venial St. Jerome * Dial. Secund adv Pelag. p. 189. shall explain his own Sense Etenim absque vitio quod grecé dicitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hominem posse esse aio 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id est sine Peccato esse nego Which is the same thing that St. Austin commonly admits That Man may be sine Crimine but not sine Peccato without Mortal but not without Venial Sin And in this they are certainly of the Mind of the Scripture which every where represents the Perfect Man as holy blameless undefiled without Spot walking with God and in one word as free from Sin If any Man can reconcile these Texts which are very numerous with Mortal Sin I will not say in the best state of the best Men but a state of Sincerity and Regeneration I will acknowledge my Mistake But till then I cannot but think the Doctrine I advance necessary to establish the true Notion of Holiness and convince us of our Obligation to it This Doctrine is again necessary to wipe off those Aspersions and Calumnies the Quakers cast upon our Church as if it held That the Regenerate themselves may continue in their Sins nay cannot be freed from them Our Church teaches indeed Artic. 14. That the most Perfect Men are never utterly exempt from Defects Failings and Human Infirmities and I believe they themselves are not confident enough to teach otherwise only they will not call these Infirmities Sins And then the whole Controversie is reduced to this we agree in the thing but differ in the Name And in this Difference we are not only on the humbler but the safer side too for acknowledging them Sins we shall be the better disposed sure to be sorry for them to beg pardon of them and watch against them The Fruit of this Liberty has been sufficiently accounted for Chap. 3. And therefore I proceed S. 3. To propose some Rules for the Attainment of it 1. The Mind must be grounded and rooted in the Faith it must be thoroughly convinced and perswaded of these great Articles of the Christian Religion That there is a God and such a God Holy Just Omniscient and Omnipotent one the Incarnation Suffering and Glory of the Blessed Jesus a Judgment to come and the Eternal Rewards and Punishments of another Life The firm Belief of these things does naturally promote these two Effects 1. It will awaken a Sinner out of his Lethargy and Security it will disturb him in his sinful Enjoyments and fill his Mind with guilty Fears and uneasie Reflections And when the Man finds no Rest no security in his Sins this will naturally oblige him to endeavour the Conquest of them But then we must not stifle and suppress these Thoughts we must give Conscience full Liberty we must hear the Dictates of our own Minds patiently and consider seriously those terrible Truths which they lay before us till we go from this Exercise deeply impress'd with such Notions as these That our Sins sooner or later will certainly bring upon us temporal and eternal Misery That nothing but sincere Righteousness can produce true and lasting Happiness That it is a dreadful Danger to dally too long with Indgination or presume too far on the Mercy of a just and holy and Almighty God That the neglecting the great Salvation tender'd by the Gospel and procured by the Blessed Jesus the
dismissed from the Pilgrimage of this World and from the corruptible Tabernacle of the Body Nor do I Lastly doubt but that this Love is often sensibly transporting 't is a fire within that strives to break out and exert it self in the Fruitions of Heaven 't is a rich and mighty Cordial that raises Nature above it self and makes it all Purity all Glory Thus have I consider'd the Extent or Compass of the Perfect Man's Vertues And the Sum total is In some he must excell because Natural and Easie in others because necessary Universal ones he cannot want they are essential to Christianity others of a peculiar Nature he may unless his Circumstances exact them Nor is this any Diminutton of his Perfection Patience Fortitude Moderation Vigilance c. are the Vertues of Earth not Heaven and yet none thinks the blessed Inhabitants of that Place Imperfect because not endow'd with Habits which they do not want Above all he that will be Perfect must abound in those Graces which are of the most Heroick Nature Faith Love and Humility For these are they which most effectually exalt Man above himself and above the World which inflame him with a Zeal for the Honour of God and the Good of Man and enable him to surmount the Difficulties which he meets with in prosecuting this Glorious Design I am next to Enquire § 2. To what Height to what Degrees of Vertue the Perfect Man may advance I have in part anticipated this Enquiry already yet cannot forbear adding here two Observations First That Reason and Scripture seem to press us on towards an endless Progress in Vertue And yet Secondly That both seem to propose to us such a State of Perfection as attainable beyond which we cannot go that so the Beginner may not dispair of Perfection nor the Perfect abate any thing of their Vigilance and their Industry Such a Degree of Excellence to which nothing can be added such a Height above which there is no room to soar if apply'd to Man and this World is surely but an Imaginary Notion To dream of such a Perfection were to forget our Nature and our State no Sagacity of Judgment no Strength of Resolution no Felicity of Circumstances can ever advance us to this Height Such a Perfection as this that is incapable of any Increase belongs I believe to God alone or if we may allow it to Angels we must certainly deny it to Man In whom one would think the Appetites of the Body can never be so entrely subdued that there should be no place to extend his Conquest or render his Victory more entire and compleat and in whom one would think the Spirit of God should never reside in that Measure that there should be nothing to be added to his Fulness 'T is hard to conceive how we should study the Systeme of Divine Faith how we should daily reflect upon our Lives and Actions without growing in spiritual Wisdom and Understanding 'T is hard to conceive how we should give God the World and our selves repeated Proofs of our Integrity in the day of Tryal without increasing our Strength and Assurance and Love must naturally increase with these Whence it is that St. Paul acknowledging himself not yet Perfect resolves that forgetting those things that are behind and reaching forwards to those things that are before he would press on towards the Mark for the prize of the high Calling of God in Christ Jesus Phil. 3.13 14. And St. Austin resolves plenissima Charitas quam diu hîc homo vivit est in Nemine an absolute Plenitude of Charity is in no Mortal upon Earth And yet if we come to Fact and Practice one would be tempted to think that the Disciples of our Lord and Master had arrived at that State wherein their business was not to climb higher but rather to make good the Ground they had gain'd What could render St. Paul's Victory over the Body more compleat who assures us I am crucified with Christ And again I am crucified to the World and the World is crucified to me What could render the Authority and Dominion of his Mind more absolute or its Graces more consummate and entire who could say with Truth 't is not I who live but Christ who lives in me What would you have added to that Faith and Love which made him ready not only to be bound but to die at Jerusalem which made him long to be dissolved and to be with Christ As to those words of his Phil. 3.13 forgetting those things that are behind and reaching forwards c. they relate to his Tryals and Performances to his Perils and Conflicts not to his Attainments he does not here deny himself to be Perfect though that might well enough have become his Modesty and Humility but only that he was not to look upon himself as already at his Goal a Conqueror and Crown'd there being much yet behind to do and suffer notwithstanding all that he had passed through This is the Sense of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render not as though I were already perfect As to St. Austin I am of his Mind for he speaks Comparatively and does in effect no more than affirm That no Man living is as Perfect in this World as he will be in another which no Man sure can ever doubt If we consult Reason will it not be apt to tell us That as every Being has its Bounds set it so has every Perfection too That there is a Stature as of the Natural so of the Spiritual Man beyond which it cannot grow That as to Grace no more can be infused than our Natures are capable of Otherwise like too rich a Cordial it will not strengthen but fire our Natures or like too dazling a Light it will not assist but oppress our Faculties And does not the Parable of our Master countenance this Matth. 25.2 wherein he tells us That God gave to one five Talents to another two to another one to every Man according to his Ability By which one would think our Lord insinuates That the Measures of Grace are usually distributed in Proportion to the Capacities of Nature and that he who improved his two Talents into four arriv'd at his proper Perfection as well as he who improv'd his five into ten it being as absurd to expect That the Perfection of every Man should be the same as to expect that all Mens Bodies should be of the same Height or their Minds of the same Capacity Reflecting on all this together I cannot but be of Opinion That some have actually arriv'd at that strength of Faith at that ardour of Love that they seemed to have been uncapable of any considerable Accessions in this Life But yet new occasions may still demand new Vertues which were indeed before contained and included in Faith and Love but no otherwise than as Fruits and Trees are in their Seeds And some Degree of Original Corruption may still be lurking in the