our judgment for that which has least Now 't is certainly much more suitable to the reasonable Mind to acknowledge that things may be true which we are not able to conceive and comprehend than to deny the natural and proper sense of many clear and express texts of Scripture that declare those things And by this we may judge of the Glosses of Socinus and his followers who without reverence of the Majesty of God and the sincerity of his Word rack the Scriptures to make them speak what they do not and use all Arts to silence them in what they do reveal Unhappy men 〈◊〉 that affect to be esteem'd Ingenious and Subtil to the extreme hazard of their own Salvation How much safer and more easie is it to believe the plain sense of the Scriptures than the turns and shifts that are invented to elude it and extricate Heretical Persons out of the difficulties that attend their Opinions I shall add the Doctrine of the Trinity is so expressly set down in the Gospel of Christ that 't is impossible the Son of God who is Infinite and Eternal Love who gave himself for our Redemption should have declar'd it and engag'd his Disciples in all Ages and Places in an Error of such dreadful Consequence as the Worshipping those who are not God 2. 'T is alledged that if a Person sincerely searches into the Scripture and cannot be convinc'd that the supernatural Doctrines of the Trinity and others depending upon it are contain'd in them he shall not be Condemn'd by the Righteous Judge of the World for involuntary and speculative Errors To this I answer 1. This pretence has deceiv'd many who were guilty of damnable Heresies and there is great reason to fear deceives men still The heart is deceitful above all things and most deceitful to it self Who can say that neither Interest nor Passion neither Hope nor Fear neither Anger nor Ambition have interven'd in his Inquiry after Truth but he has preferr'd the knowledge of Divine Truths before all Temporal Respects and yet he cannot believe what the Scripture reveals of the Nature of God and the oeconomy of our Salvation let this Imaginary Man produce his Plea for I believe there was never any such There are many that make reason the Soveraign Rule of Faith and determine such things cannot be true because they cannot understand how they can be true Prodigious Inference the most absurd of all Errors that makes the narrow Mind of Man the measure of all things This is the proper Principle of that horrible Compofition of Heresies and execrable Impieties which so many that are Christians in Profession but Antichristians in Belief boldly Publish They will choose to Err in matters of Infinite Importance rather than Confess their Ignorance And which is astonishing they will readily acknowledge the defectiveness of Reason with respect to the understanding of themselves but insolently arrogate a right to determine things in the Nature of God 'T is true Ignorance the more invincible is the more excusable but when the Error of the Mind is from a vicious Will both the Error and the Cause of it are sinful and inexcusable When the corrupt Will has an Influence upon the Understanding and the Mind is stain'd with some Carnal Lust when a Temptation diverts it from a serious and sincere considering the Reasons that should induce us to believe Divine Doctrines their Unbelief will be justly punish'd The Scripture declares That an evil heart is the cause of unbelief Pride and obstinacy of Mind and Carnal Lusts are the Cause that so many renounce those Eternal Truths by which they should be saved 2. 'T is alleged That speculative Errors cannot be Damnable To this I answer 1. The Understanding of Man in his Original State was Light in the Lord and regular in its directions now 't is dark and disorder'd and in the points of Religion that are reveal'd any Error induces guilt and if obstinately defended exposes to Judgment Some Truths are written because necessary to be believed others are to be believed because written 2. According to the quality of the Truths reveal'd in Scripture such is the hurtfulness of the Errors that are opposite to them Some Truths are necessary others profitable some Errors are directly opposite to the Saving Truths of the Gospel others by Consequence undermine them Those who deny the Lord that bought them are guilty of damnable Heresies capital Errors not holding the head 3. The Doctrine of the Trinity is not a mere speculative Truth nor the denial of it a speculative Error the Trinity is not only an Object of Faith but of Worship In Baptism we are dedicated to the Sacred Trinity in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost which clearly proves they are of the same Authority and Power and consequently of the same Nature for 't is impossible to Conceive of three Infinite Beings for by necessity one would limit another The Apostle declares without Controversie great is the mystery of Godliness God manifest in the flesh The Nature and End of this Divine Mystery is to form the spirits of Man to believe and love and obey God For in it there is the clearest Revelation of God's admirable Love to Men of his unspotted Holiness his incorruptible Justice the great Motives of Religion In that Divine Doctrine we have the most ravishing Image of Piety and Vertue the most becoming the Nature of God to give and of Man to receive Briefly God Commands us to believe in his Son without Faith in him we are uncapable of Redemption by him When Christ perform'd Miraculous Cures he requir'd of the Persons whether they did believe in his Divine Power and what he declar'd himself to be Electing Mercy ordains the Means and the End The Apostle gives thanks to God because he has chosen the Thessalonians to Salvation through Sanctification of the Spirit and the belief of the Truth Holiness and Faith in the Doctrine of the Gospel are indispensable qualifications in the Learn'd and Ignorant that would be saved by the Son of God 'T is a high Contempt of the Truth and Goodness of God not to yield a firm Assent to what he has reveal'd concerning our Salvation by his Incarnate Son He that believes not the Record that God hath given of his Son makes God a Liar This infinitely provokes him and inflames his Indignation To dis-believe the Testimony that Jesus Christ has given of the Divinity of his Person and Doctrine is to despise him it robs him of his Essential and his acquir'd Glory by the work of our Redemption There can be no true Love of God without the true knowledge of him as he is reveal'd not onely in his Works but in his Word Our Saviour who is the Way the Truth and the Life has declar'd when he gave Commission to his Apostles to preach the Gospel to the World whoever believes and is baptised shall be saved whoever believes not shall
and of different degrees of Goodness the Vine the Fig-tree the Apple-tree if an Apple-tree produce the best Fruits in its kind though not equal to the Fruit of the Vine 't is perfectly good Thus in the World there are several Conditions of Life among Men some are in places of Dignity and Superiority others of subjection and service A Servant that is faithful and diligent adorns the Gospel and excels in that Relation and is equally accepted of God as others in a higher order He that gain'd two Talents was esteem'd as faithful as he that gain'd five because the profit resulting from the improvement was in proportion to the stock entrusted with him There is a Perfection Relative to the various Spiritual States of Christians here St. John addresses his Counsel to Christians under several Titles to Children to Young Men and Fathers with respect to their different Ages in Christianity A Child is perfect in the quality of a Child when he has the stature the strength the understanding that is becoming his Age though he is distant from that compleat state to which he will arrive in his mature Age. A young Man has the Perfection proper to his Age. A new Convert that has such degrees of Knowledge and Holiness as are suitable to the Means and his Time of advancement by them is esteem'd Compleat in that state of Grace Some are enter'd into the School of Heaven and are in the first Lessons of Christianity others have made a higher progress in it to the fulness of the Stature Beyond the Perfection attainable here there is an absolute Perfection of Holiness in the extent of its parts and intention of degrees 'T is our present Duty to aspire and endeavour after this but attain'd only in Heaven where every Saint is renewed into the perfect Image of God and made glorious in holiness the great end of our Saviour's Love in dying for us By gradations Christians ascend to that Consummate state the period of Perfection CHAP. VI. Particular Graces Consider'd the internal Principles of Perfection Divine Faith Doctrinal Justifying and in the disposal of Providence Doctrinal Faith is not Imagination nor Reason The Objects of it The Motives consider'd The Essential Perfections of God Faith a divine Revelation is the most reasonable Act of the Humane Mind God's Truth a Principle immediately evident His Jurisdiction reaches to mens Understandings God never requires our Assent to supernatural Truths but he affords sufficient Conviction that they are reveal'd by him God reveals himself in Scripture by humane expressions according to our Capacity We are obliged to believe supernatural Doctrines no farther than they are reveal'd To attempt the Comprehensive knowledge of them is perfectly vain 't is impossible impertinent and dangerous Curiosity often fatal to Faith An Answer to Objections that supernatural Doctrines are not reconcileable to Reason That when men use all means sincerely to know the truth of them and are not Convinc'd of it they shall not be Condemn'd for involuntary speculative Errors I Will now particularly Consider those Graces that are of a more Excellent Nature and have a more powerful Causality and Influence in the lives of Christians Faith and Love Hope and Fear are the internal Principles of Christian Perfection I will first discourse of Divine Faith the first principle and foundation of Religion as the Apostle declares He that comes to God must believe that he is and the rewarder of them that diligently seek him The belief of his Being and Bounty is the Motive of Holy Worship This Grace is most Honourable to God and beneficial to us The understanding is our Supreme Faculty and by submitting it to divine Revelation we pay the most humble Homage to him By Faith we Conceive of God becoming his divine Perfections in believing the Revelation he has made of his Nature which is as Incomprehensible as 't is Invisible and the declaration of his Will though the things promis'd are encompass'd with opposition and seeming impossibilities we glorifie his perfect Veracity and Omnipotence in the highest manner He that believes the divine Testimony sets his Seal that God is true ratifies his word in the most solemn manner Faith is most beneficial to us 'T is the root of the Spiritual Life from whence all other Graces derive their flourishing and fruitfulness 'T is not only productive of its own acts but excites and animates every Grace in its distinct exercise Like the animal Spirits that give motion and vigour to all the Senses Faith in Christ conveys to a weak Christain a kind of Omnipotence The Apostle declares I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me The most eminent effects of other Graces either active or suffering Fortitude Zeal Self-denyal Patience are attributed to Faith as the Honour of a Victory is ascribed to the General by whose Conduct and Courage the Battle is managed though 't is obtained by the Valour of the Soldiers By Faith we are justified from the guilt of our many and mighty Sins We are purified from their deep Pollutions We are adopted into the line of Heaven and are saved from misery extreme and eternal I will consider Divine Faith under three Heads 1. Doctrinal Faith 2. Justifying Faith 3. Faith in the disposal of all things by the ruling Providence of God Doctrinal Faith I will consider 1. In its nature 2. The objects of it 3. The motives 4. The efficacy 1. The nature of it All the notions of Faith agree in this 't is a dependance upon the truth of another Thus Trust is called Faith because it relies upon the truth of a Promise And one is said to keep his Faith inviolate when he performs the Promise that another relyed on Faith in the propriety of expression is an assent for the veracity of the speaker Accordingly Divine Faith is a firm assent of the Mind to things upon the authority of Divine Revelation 'T is distinguish'd from Imagination and from comprehensive Reason Fancy draws a Copy of those Objects that are perceived by the external Senses or compounds many Copies together but creates no images of things not perceptible by the Senses We can imagine Mountains of Gold because we have seen Gold and Mountains We conceive monstrous mixtures in Dreams but no actors can appear on the theatre of Fancy but in borrowed habits from sensible things But the Objects of Faith are such things as Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard and transcend the capacity of the Imagination to conceive and of the external Senses to represent Yet Infidels blaspheme the Eternal Truths of Divine Things as the fictions of Fancy 2. Faith is distinguish'd from Science acquired by Study and from Reason Reason implies a progress from one degree of Knowledge to another by consequences drawn from the first to the second But Faith asserts to things upon the account of superiour Authority that reveals them and commands us to believe them The same things may be
the Objects of Faith and of Reason buâ— in different respects Reason may discover them by ascending from effects to their causes or descending from causes to their effects Faith receives them as revealed in Scripture By Faith we know the Worlds were made which may be proved by clear Reason 2. The Objects of Faith The general Object of Faith is the Word of God the special are those Doctrines and Promises and Things that Reason cannot discover by its own Light nor perfectly understand when revealed The Word of God contains a Narrative of things past and Predictions of things to come The destruction of the old World by a deluge of Waters and the consumption of the present World by a deluge of Fire are Objects of Faith But the Unity of the Divine Nature and the Trinity of Divine Persons the Incarnation of the Son of God his Eternal Counsels respecting Man's Redemption never enter'd into the Heart of Man to conceive but are as far above our thoughts as the Heavens are above the Earth and cannot be comprehended God may be considered absolutely in himself or as revealing himself and his Will to us We have some knowledge of his Being and Divine Attributes Wisdom Power Goodness in his Works of Creation and Providence but we believe in him as declaring his Mind and Will to us in his Word We may know a Person and his excellent Vertues Intellectual and Moral but we cannot believe in him without some discovery of his Thoughts and Affections to us 3. The motives of Belief are to be considered Divine Faith must have a Divine Foundation Faith may be absolutely true and relatively false Many believe the Doctrine of the Gospel upon no other grounds than the Turks believe the Alcoran because 't is the reigning Religion of their Country and by the impression of Example From hence their Faith is like the House built on the Sand and when a Storm arises is in danger of falling The firm foundation of Faith is the essential supreme Perfections of God unerring Knowledge immutable Truth infinite Goodness almighty Power 'T is equally impossible that he should be deceived or deceive His infinite Understanding is the foundation of his perfect Veracity And whatsoever is the Object of his Will is the Object of his Power for to will and to do are the same thing in him 'T is true the knowledge of things by experimental Sense is a clearer perception than the perswasion of them by Faith The first is to see the original the other is to see the copy that usually falls short of it 'T is therefore said We now see in a glass darkly But the Divine Testimony in it self has the most convincing evidence above the assurance we can have by the report of our Senses which often deceive us through the indisposition of the Faculty or the unfitness of the medium or distance of the Objects or the knowledge of things by discursive Ratiocination The objective certainty of Faith is infallible We know with the highest assurance that God can no more lye than he can dye 'T is said All things are possible with God but to lye or dye are not possibilities but passibilities not the effects of Power but proceed from Weakness We know the sacred Scriptures are the Word of God by the signatures of his Perfections Wisdom Holiness Goodness Justice and by the Miracles perform'd by the Pen-men of them that proved they were divinely inspir'd and consequently infallible in what they wrote From hence Faith is often express'd by Knowledge Nicodemus gives this testimony of our Saviour We know thou art a teacher come from God We believe and are sure thou art that Christ the Son of the living God We know that if the house of this earthly tabernable be dissolved we have a building made without hands eternal in the Heavens We know that he was manifested that he might take away Sin We know that when Christ shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is I will not insist upon the particular supernatural Doctrines revealed in the Gospel for there is little new to be said upon those Points If Men with renewed Minds and Hearts considered the testimony of Scripture there would need no more arguing But I will lay down some Considerations that prove Divine Faith to be the reasonable act of the Humane Understanding 2. Answer the Objections alledged to justifie the disbelief of Divine Doctrines that we are not able to conceive nor comprehend 1. That God is true is a Principle immediately evident not dependently upon an antecedent motive This by its native irresistible evidence is beyond all dispute and exempted from all critical Inquiries There is no Principle written in the Minds of Men with clearer Characters 'T was the saying of a wise Heathen If God would converse visibly with Men he would assume Light for a Body and have Truth for his Soul God is most jealous of the Honour of his Truth Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name Truth is the supreme Character of the Deity The Apostle builds the assurance of Christians upon the Promises and their strong Consolation upon this infallible Rock God that cannot lye From hence it follows that in supernatural Doctrines we must first consider the authority of the revealer and then the nature of Doctrines 2. God's Jurisdiction extends to our Understandings as well as to our Wills He rules our Understandings by light our Wills by empire If God did command us to believe only Truths in themselves evident our receiving them would not be an undoubted respect to his Authority but to believe his testimony without the evidence of things is an Obedience worthy of him And we are equally obliged to believe his testimony concerning the truth of things notwithstanding the reluctancy of the carnal Mind and their seeming repugnance to the natural notions of Reason as to obey his Precepts notwithstanding the reluctancy of the corrupt Will and the inclinations to forbidden things 3. God never requires our assent to supernatural things revealed in his Word but affords sufficient conviction that they are Divine Revelations When God deputed any by Commission for an extraordinary Work he always afforded a Light to discover the Commission was uncounterfeit Moses was sent from God with a Command to Pharaoh to release the Israelites from their cruel Servitude and he had the Wonder-working Rod to authorise his Commission and confirm the truth of his Message by Miracles The Divinity of the Scripture the Rule of Faith shines with that clear and strong evidence that only those whose Minds are prevented with a conceit of the impossibility of the Doctrines contained in it and perverted by their Passions can resist it Colour'd Objects are not discern'd more clearly by their Colours nor Light by its Lustre than that the Scriptures are of Divine Revelation Reason is an Essential Faculty of Man and by it we are directed
nearness of an Evil and the apprehensions of it the stronger is the Fear In the turning of Sinners the impressions of it are different Stronger degrees are requisite to rouse the obdurate and to make them fly from the Wrath to come The Jaylor surprised with Terrors cryes out Sirs what shall I do to be saved 'T is said The Lord open'd the heart of Lydia as with an oyl'd Key but an Earthquake was necessary to open the Jaylors Till there is felt something more tormenting than carnal sweets are pleasing Men will not mortifie their Lusts. One will not suffer a part of his Body to be cut off unless an incureable Gangrene threatens speedy Death The World is present and sensible and continually diverts men from the consideration of their Souls unless Eternal things are by a strong application impress'd on their Minds Till urged by the Terrors of Everlasting Death they will reject the offers of Everlasting Life While Carnal Men are in Prosperity they hate Instruction to prevent Sin and despise Reproof to correct Sin they slight the fearful report of Thunder and do no more tremble at the Torments of Hell threaten'd in the Word of God than at Squibs and Crackers the sport of Boys But in sharp Afflictions and the approaches of Death when Conscience draws near to God's Tribunal it becomes bold and resumes the Government and calls them to an account for all their Rebellions and forces them to Confess what they would fain Conceal their fears of Eternal Judgment 2. Holy Fear preserves and increases Religion This may be consider'd as it includes Reverence of God with Circumspection and Caution The Fear of Reverence is an inseparable Affection and Character of a Saint Hear the prayers of thy servants who desire to fear thy name The desires include the sincerity of this Grace in opposition to Hypocrisie and pretences for they are the unfeigned Issues of the Soul and the freeness of the Affection in opposition to Violence and Constraint The Name of God implies his Excellent Attributes the proper Motives of Holy Fear His Majesty is ador'd by the Angels in their humble posture before his high Throne His Purity wherein God does so excel and we are so defective excites the most awful respects of him Who would not fear thee for thou art holy Holy and reverend is his name His Goodness to a Holy ingenuous Soul is a motive of fear they shall fear the Lord and his goodness If Fear declines and slumbers there is present danger of losing the purest sweetness of Love and Joy that proceed from intercourse and Communion with God His Omniscience and the recompences of his Justice and Power keeps the Soul Cautious lest we should offend him What Stupidity what fury to provoke so dreadful an Adversary who can dispatch a Sinner to the Grave and Hell in a Moment Some object that 't is unsuitable to the gracious dispensation of the Gospel for the Children of God to reflect upon his Terrible Attributes But are they wiser than God who uses this Discipline as Medicinal either to prevent Sin or to correct them into their Duty Are they more Evangelical than our Saviour who counsell'd his Disciples I say unto you my friends be not afraid of them that can kill the body and after that have no more that they can do But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear fear him which after he hath kill'd hath power to cast into hell I say unto you fear him Are they more Spiritual than St. Paul who from the Consideration of our being accountable for all things done in the Body before the inlightned Tribunal of Christ infers Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we perswade men This Influenc'd him to a zealous discharge of his Duty It may seem very difficult to reconcile the exercise of holy Fear with Faith and the Sanctified Affections of Love Hope and Joy But it will appear they are very consistent 1. Fear is the product of Faith and assurance of God's Favour is preserved by the Fear of his Displeasure Fear is not contrary to Faith but to Presumption Be not high-minded but fear A jealousie of our selves lest we should provoke God is joyn'd with a more entire and pure Trust in his Grace and Mercy 2. The Love and Fear of God have a mutual Causality on each other The Love of God excites Thoughts of his continual Presence and Perfections that cause an awful esteem of him by which Love is maintain'd Desires proceed from Love and 't is express'd in the forecited place thy Servants who desire to fear thy Name The fear of the Lord is their Treasure not their Torment for their fear to Offend him is from their pure Love to Please him Indeed servile Fear that is meerly from the consideration of his Anger and Power is consistent with the Love of Sin and inconsistent with the Love of God 't is a judicial and violent impression on Conscience that Carnal Men would sain deface that they might freely enjoy their desir'd Objects and 't is by Fits for God sometimes thunders in the Conscience as well as in the Air. But filial Fear is the Habitual Constitution of a Saint he is voluntary and active to preserve it in continual Exercise 3. The Fear of God and Hope are joyn'd in Scripture and in the Hearts of Believers The Lord delights in those that fear him and hope in his mercy Fear and Hope contemper each other Fear without Hope is slavish and Hope without Fear is secure As the growth of things in Nature Flowers and Fruits is from the heat of the Days and the cold moisture of the Nights so growth in Grace is by the warm encouragements of Hope and the chilling influence of Fear A regular Hope in the Promises is joyn'd with an humble Fear and Subjection to his Commands 4. Holy Fear is mixed with Joy Serve the Lord with fear and rejoyce with trembling Carnal Joy and Carnal Fear and Sorrow are contrary Extremes that proceed from contrary Causes A prosperous State in this World and the Satisfaction of the Sensual Desires is the root from whence carnal Joy springs and is nourisht and the being deprived of Temporal good things disabled by Sickness to enjoy them or the prospect of some imminent Disaster are the cause of Fear and Guilt But the exercise of Spiritual Joy and Holy Fear are consistent at the same time for the serious reflection on the Divine Attributes excite both those Affections We read that when Mary Magdalen with the other Mary came to the Sepulchre of Christ at the bright appearance of an Angel that declar'd his Resurrection they went away with fear and great joy Sinful Affections are opposite to Grace but Gracious Affections are inseparable The fear of offending God is a preservative of our Joy in him as a Hedge of Thorns is a Fence to a Garden of Roses In the Kingdom of Love and Joy the Reverent Fear of God is in
with some attainments and presume we are perfect We must be contending till our Conquest over Sin be clear and compleat The reflection upon our progress will give new Spirits to proceed to new work To him that continues in well-doing Glory and Immortality is the reward Perseverance is the Crown of Christianity 2. I now come to answer the Allegations that are brought to discourage Men from endeavours after perfect Holiness I have in the Preface Answered some of the principal Objections I will consider some others to remove the most plausible Pretences The first Objection against the Divine Command of being perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect is the impossibility of obeying it How can sinful Dust and Ashes be perfect as the holy God is To this a clear Answer may be given 1. 'T is true if a Law be absolutely impossible it cancels it self For there can be no authority in a superiour to command nor obligation on a Subject to obey in a matter that is not capable of his choice Absolute impossibility quenches desire and causes despair and that enervates the strength of the Soul and cuts the sinews of Industry Now we cannot suppose that God whose Wisdom Rectitude and Goodness are essential and unchangable should command reasonable Creatures any thing utterly impossible for then the cause of their Sin and Misery would not rise from themselves but they would be fatally lost and undone for ever 2. The Command signifies not a resemblance of equality for in that sense there is none holy as the Lord but of analogy and conformity to his holy Nature of which intellectual Creatures are capable 3. In the present state our Conformity is not entire our Graces are not pure our Vertues not refin'd without allay But this is from our culpable impotence And it cannot be imagined that God should reverse this Law and dissolve the obligation of it because we have contracted a sinful disability to perform it Besides God is pleased to offer divine assistance to enable us to be like God in the kind of Holiness though not in the perfection of degrees And though we cannot attain to Perfection here we may be ascending to it The Apostle exhorts Christians to strive for the comprehension of the heigth and depth and length and bredth of the love of Christ that passes knowledge That is we must be adding new degrees of Light in our Minds We cannot know as we are known till we come to the full inlightned state above and we cannot be holy as God is holy till we come to his transforming presence in Heaven but we must be aspiring to it We have the most excellent incouragement to this Duty For if we are zealous in our desires and endeavours God will pardon our imperfections and accept us as if they were perfect But those who are settled in their defects and lye still in their laziness will be justly condemned 2. 'T is objected That this Duty is at least extreamly difficult To this I answer 1. Difficulty is an unreasonable pretence in matters of indispensable Duty and infinite consequence Our Saviour commands us to strive to enter in at the strait gate for strait is the gate and narrow is the way 't is hard to find and hard to keep but that only leads to Eternal Life The Kingdom of Heaven is to be taken by violence and the Wrath to come escap'd by flight 'T is better to take pains than to suffer Pains The Cords of Duty are more easie than the Chains of Darkness 2. There is nothing in Religion insuperable to the Love of God and of our Souls Love is not cold and idle but ardent and active in pursuit of its Object There are many Instances that resolved Diligence will overcome great obstacles to the designs of Men. Demosthenes the Athenian was the most unqualified for an Orator of a thousand His Breath was so short that he could not speak out a full Sentence his Voice and Pronunciation was so harsh and his Action so ungrateful and offensive to the most delicate Senses the Eye and Ear that the first time he spake in the publick Assembly he was entertained with Derision and the second with Disdain by the People yet by unwearied Industry and Exercise he corrected his defects and became the most Eloquent and Perfect Orator that ever flourish'd in Greece Now can there be any so difficult heigth in Religion but a strong resolution join'd with consequent endeavours and the supernatural assistance of the Holy Spirit will gradually attain to To naked Nature the Commands of plucking out the right Eye and cutting off the right Hand are extreamly hard Carnal Men pretend they can as easily stop the circulation of the Blood as mortifie their sensual Inclinations But by the Grace of God 't is not only possible but pleasant to abstain from fleshly Lusts that war against the Soul I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me saith the Apostle the word implies I can easily St. John declares his Commands are not grievous The yoke of Christ is a gracious yoke The impotence of Men to obey Christ consists in their obstinacy They are not infected by Fate nor determin'd by Destiny and constrain'd by strict Necessity to follow their sinful Courses but are chain'd to their alluring vicious Objects by the consent of their own Wills I will to convince those who are Christians only in title and profession and pretend invincible impediments against performing their Duty propound the Moral Excellencies that shin'd in some Heathens in regulating the angry and desiring Appetites Socrates who had a fiery Nature that inclin'd him to sudden Anger yet attain'd to such a constant equal Temper that when provok'd by Injuries his Countenance was more placid and serene his Voice more temperate his Words more kind and obliging Plato surprized with Passion for a great Fault of his Servant took a Staff to beat him and having lift up his Hand for a stroke stop'd suddenly and a Friend coming in and wondring to see him in that posture said I chastise an angry Man reflecting with shame upon himself Thus he disarm'd his Passion When Alexander had conquer'd Darius and taken his Queen a Woman of exquisite Beauty he would not have her brought into his presence that his Vertue might not be violated by the sight of her Scipio having taken a Town in Spain and among them a Noble Virgin very beautiful resign'd her untouch'd with her Ransom of great value to the Prince to whom she was contracted If it be said that Vanity assisted Vertue in these Persons and one Carnal Passion vanquish'd another the Desire of Praise the Pride of Life the Lust of the Flesh But shall not Divine Grace be more powerful than Humane Motives The impotence of Carnal Christians is not from the defect of assisting Grace but their culpable neglect of using it But for the intire Conviction of Carnalists that are under the tyranny of the voluptuous