necessity of Grace in the state of Innocence and of Sin 156 Disc 3 That the Grace of a Christian ought to be more powerfull then that of Adam 160 Disc 4 Different opinions of the power of Christian Grace 166 Disc 5 Wherein precisely consists the power of Grace effectual 170 Disc 6 That the names that S. Augustine gives Christian Grace do sufficiently testifie that it is effectuall 175 Disc 7 That we may judge of the power of Grace over a Christian by the power of Concupiscence over a Sinner 180 Disc 8 That Grace effectuall doth not destroy Grace sufficient 186 Disc 9 Answers to some Objections against Grace effectual 193 A Prosecution of the same Discourse 197 Disc 10 That the Christian finds more rest in placing his salvation in Grace then in Liberty 202 The fifth TREATISE Of the Vertues of a Christian Disc 1. Wherein consisteth Christian Vertue 207 Disc 2 Of the Division of Christian Vertues 212 Disc 3 Of the Excellency and Necessity of Christian Faith 217 Disc 4 Of Christian Hope 222 Disc 5 A Description of Christian Charity 227 Disc 6 Of the Properties and Effects of Christian Charity 233 Disc 7 Of Christian Prudence Iustice Fortitude and Temperance 238 Disc 8 Of Christian Humility 243 Disc 9 Of Christian Repentance 248 Disc 10. Of Christian Self-denyall 253 The sixth TREATISE Of the Nourishment and Sacrifice of a Christian Disc 1 Of three Nourishments answering to the three Lives of a Christian 259 Disc 2 Of the Nourishment of Man in his Innocency and of that of a Christian 264 Disc 3 That the Body of Iesus Christ is the same to a Christian that Manna was to the Iewes 269 Disc 4 That this Nourishment bestows upon the Christian all that the Divel promised Man in his Innocence if hee would eat of the forbidden Fruit. 274 Disc 5 That this Nourishment unites the Christian with the Son of God 279 Disc 6 Of the Dispositions that the Christian ought to bring for the receiving of this Nourishment 283 Disc 7 That the Christian ows God the honour of the Sacrifice 288 Disc 8 That the Christian had need that the Son of God should offer up for him the Sacrifice of the Crosse and of the Altar 293 Disc 9 Of the Difference of these two Sacrifices and what the Christian receives from both of them 298 Disc 10 Of the obligation the Christian hath to sacrifice himself to God 303 The seventh TREATISE Of the Qualities of a Christian Disc 1 That the Christian is the Image of Iesus Christ 308 Disc 2 That the Christian is a Priest and a Victime 313 Disc 3 That the Christian is a Souldier and a Conqueror 317 Disc 4 That the Christian is a King and a Slave 322 Disc 5 That the Christian is a Saint 327 Disc 6 That the Christian is a Martyr 332 Disc 7 That the Christian is a Lover 338 Disc 8 That the Christian is an Excile and a Pilgrime 343 Disc 9 That the Christian is a Penitent 347 Disc 10 That the most glorious Quality of the Christian is that of a Christian 352 The eighth TREATISE Of the Blessedness of a Christian Disc 1. That every man desires to be happy and that he cannot be so but in God 357 Disc 2 That the Perfect Felicity of a Christian cannot be found in this world 361 Disc 3 That the Christian tasts some Felicity here below 365 Disc 4 That Happiness consists not in pleasure but in grief 368 Disc 5 That Happiness is rather found in Poverty then in Riches 372 Disc 6 That the Felicity of a Christian upon earth consists rather in Humility then in Glory 377 Disc 7 That Felicity is rather found in Obedience then in Command 381 Disc 8 What is the happinesse of a Christian in Heaven and wherein it consists 385 Disc 9 That the Soul and Body of the Christian shall finde their perfection in the Beatifical Vision 391 Disc 10 Of the Miracles that are found in the Christian's Beatitude 396 THE CHRISTIAN MAN OR The Reparation of NATURE BY GRACE The first TREATISE Of the Christian's Birth The first DISCOURSE That the Christian hath a double Birth IF MAN have pass'd for a Monster in the opinion of some Philosophers * Est inter Carnem Spiritum colluctatio discordantibus adversus se invicem quotidiana congressio ut non ea quae volumus ipsi faciamus dum spiritus coelestia divina quaerit caro terrena secularia concupiscit Aug. lib. 1. contra Julian because he is compos'd of two parts which cannot agree certainly the Christian may very well pass for a Prodigie in the judgement of the faithfull since the parts whereof he is made maintain a war as long as life For though the body of man contain within its Constitution all the Elements these four Enemies agree when they are mixt together The Fire is confounded with the Water without losing its driness and the Earth is united to the Air without losing its heaviness if they are at odds by reason of their Contrariety they embrace by reason of their sympathie and if somtimes they grow irregular there is always some external Cause that produceth the Disorder The Soul and Body are yet more opposite then the Elements it it is the strangest Marriage within the Confines of Nature Mirus amor corporis animi in tanta disparitate non potest esse sine fato Pla. and when God associated them together to make Man he had a minde to shew that he was absolute in the Universe In him we observe Sense with Understanding Passion with Reason Heaven with Earth Nevertheless God hath so well temper'd their qualities that these two so different parts cease not mutually to love one another The Soul stoops below the priviledg of her Birth to succour the Infirmities of the Body and the Body soares above the meaness of its Extraction to be serviceable to the more noble operations of the Soul If they are exercised at the provocation of some rebel-lust there is always found some common friend that takes up the difference Self-love is content to set them at one thereby to establish his Empire over sinners Haec cupiditas vana ac per hoc prava vincit in eis ac frenat alias cupiditates Aug. lib. 4. contra Julia. c. 3. and accompanies his Commands with so many charms that these two subjects wrong one another to obey him The spirit basely submits to the Body in the unclean conversations of the wanton and the body does homage to the soul in the pleasing caresses of the Ambitious these two parties joyn their forces to bid Grace battail and though Divine Justice hath divided them for their punishment they forget their quarrel and are reconcil'd to execute their vengeance But the Christian is of such a Composure that he can never taste any peace in his person Division seems to constitute one part of his Essence and till Glory shall put a
the Captives that pine away for the loss of Liberty in prisons and those Miscreants that are broken upon the Wheel endure the extremity of Torments but because their sin is the cause of their punishment they may be sufferers but they cannot be Martyrs To deserve this Quality Nemo se extollat glorietur de passione nam si attendamus solâ—s passiones coronantur latrones si de passione gloriandum est potest ipse diabolus gloriari Aug. the interest of God must be mixt with Grief and the suffering takes its estimate from the justice of the Cause The Macchabees are Martyrs because they suffered for the Law of God and rather then violate it courageously lost their lives S. John Baptist augments the number of these glorious Champions because he died for the defence of Chastity and is the first victim this excellent vertue receiv'd The Saints who have spilt their blood in the Churches quarrels and have fought against Infidels or Hereticks for the interest of Faith justly deserve the quality of Martyrs and the Christian happily shares it with them because he suffers in obedience to Jesus Christ For when he pardons those that persecute him stifles those just resentments which are occasioned by injuries when he gives Calumny leave to blast his reputation and loseth Goods or Honour because he will not break the Commandments or violate the Counsels of the Son of God Non Martyrium sola effusio sanguinis consummat necsola dat palmam exustio flammarum pervenitur non solum occasu sed etiam contemptu Carnis ad Coronam Aug. Ser. 46 de Sanctis he is not less worthy of the name of Martyr then those that have shed their blood for the defence of his honour 'T is of such a one that we may say Occasion was wanting to his Will and that he had been in the Catalogue of Martyrs had he lived in the time of persecution But not to betray the Cause that I defend I am obliged to say that to be vertuous is title enough to be a Martyr For since Nature is corrupted by sin there is no Vertue that is not accompanied with Grief We learn Vices without a Master we carry the seeds of them in our souls and preventing bad examples we act wickedness before we have seen it But Christian vertues are so difficult that their conquest costs us much labour and travel we learn them with much ado forget them easily preserve them with care neither is it Nature nor Art but Grace and Sorrow that forms the Habit in us They cross our Inclinations we must fight to gain them and seeing wickedness is passed into our Nature Vertues are become our Torments The Darkness we come into the world with clouds the light of our Prudence the infirmities we have inherited from our first Father make the victory over Strength extremely difficult Interest which is inseparable from Self-love is an opposition naturally set against Justice and this heat without which we cannot live and by a deplorable unhappiness entertains the flames of Impurity is an obstacle to Continence It produceth thoughts which stain the lustre of this Vertue motions which trouble its rest so that S. Augustine had great reason to say that of all the Trials of a Christian the most furious was that of Chastity where the Conflict is so long the Victory so rare and the Danger so great I would adde to the words of this holy man without varrying much from his conceit that 't is the sharpest Martyrdom a Believer can endure because he confesseth in another place that to mortifie the Flesh to tame Pride makes up the best part of the Martyr 'T is perhaps upon this ground that the rigid Tertullian who hath defended the advantages of Chastity with the prejudice of Truth it self hath acknowledged this vertue so austere that 't is easier to die for her Majus est in castitate vivere quà m pro castitate mori Terâ— then to live with her As if he would tacitely insinuate that 't is a harder matter to be chaste then to be a Martyr and that a Christian who hath overcome impurity may easily subdue grief If having considered the severity of the Vertues we consider the rigour of the Gospel we shal finde it cannot be obeyed without the badg of Martyrdom Every People hath its Laws and there are none so barbarous whom Nature or Custom have not furnished with some Policy The Greeks lived according to the Laws of their Sages The Romanes followed the Twelve Tables and those that had neither Kings nor Law-givers have had for their guide the light of Nature which is a relique of Innocence The Jews were governed by the Law of Moses which if it gave them not strength enough to combat sin it gave them light enough to know and avoid it But the Christian hath so severe a Law that if Love did not sweeten the severity thereof it would drive men to despair and more tragical then Judaism would occasion not onely prevaricators but obstinate and hardned disciples For it hath not one Article which is not a Paradox and which thwarts not the Reason as well as the Inclinations of sinners The First is that to love God aright we must hate our selves and bestowing all our affection upon him reserve nothing but hatred for our selves The second is to renounce our Will that is to say to quit all the advantages Nature hath endued us with not to reason in our Mysteries not to listen to our Inclinations in the practise of Vertues The Third which is not less rigid and seems to violate the sweetest Laws of Nature obligeth us to forsake father and mother and to trample upon the belly of her that bare us to follow the voice of him that calls us to his service But the Fourth which hath to deal with the dearest and most violent of our Passions commands us to pardon our enemies to forget the injuries they have done us and to stifle all those just resentments the love of honour or of life can possess us with Who will not pronounce these Laws so many tortures these Commandments so many Pursuivants making inquisition after our Inclinations into the very inmost recesses of our Wils and one while lopping of love another while Hatred subjects us to as many sufferings as Martyrs undergo whose arms or legs were chopt off by the cruelty of Tyrants This made S. Augustine confess that the life of a Christian was a painful Martyrdom Vita Christiani si secundum Evangelium vivat crux est Martyrium Aug. nor that any man could observe the Laws of the Gospel but must condemn himself to a punishment as grievous as that of the Cross For this reason also will I make it appear in this following Discourse that Christians suffer more then the Martyrs These glorious Heroes of the Church suffered for the most part but in the body their souls were quiet in the midst of
Sinners All his Actions testifie that he considers his Church as his Spouse and the Faithfull as his Children because he was willing to enter into their humiliations and to exalt them to his Greatnesses For though the Church be not Iesus Christ nor Iesus Christ the Church yet their union is so strict that they are two in one flesh two in one voice two in one passion and two in one rest Indeed if we examine these words well we shall find that they contain the chiefest conditions of the marriage of Iesus Christ with his Church and that they clearly explaine the priviledges which the quality of being members of the Son of God bestows upon the Faithfull They are both in one flesh because the Church is born of Iesus Christ upon the Crosse and that the Sacraments which produce and preserve her issued from the wounds of her Beloved They are two in the same flesh because in the Eucharist he nourisheth her with his Body and Blood and in that mystery tries to transform her into himself as hee was transformed into her in the Incarnation when he was made Man to become her Beloved Wherefore Saint Augustine hath very well observed Ut noveritis quia unus dicitur Christus caput corpus suum ipse dicit cum de conjugio loqueretur sunt duo in carne una ergo jam non duo sed caro una sed forte hoc dicit de quocunque conjugio Auli Paulum Ego autem dico in Christo Ecclesia fit ergo ex duobus una quaedā persona ex capite corpore ex sponso sponsa Aug. in Psal 30. that the Church was all things to Jesus Christ and that Jesus Christ was all things to his Church She is his Mother because she conceived him in the womb of the Virgin she is his Daughter because she was born of his death and proceeding from his wounds honours as her Father him whom she loves as her Bridegroom she is his Sister because she fulfils the will of the Father and obtains that quality by her obedience Thus Jesus Christ and his Church are truly allied by flesh and may upon a better title then other conjugall parties say in the difference of their conditions they are but one Body They have also but one voice because they always speak together the Church is the Organ of her Beloved and Iesus Christ is the interpreter of his Church He expressed himself by her mouth before he was born upon Earth he speaks yet by her now that he is ascended up into Heaven and as their interests are inseparable their prayers are common and their language is equally entertained by the Father Thence it comes to passe that Saint Augustine unfolding this profound mystery teacheth us that the Son of God carries himself diversly towards the Faithfull according to the different qualities that separate or unite him to them He intercedes for them as their Chief Priest whose principall Office is to offer up mens prayers and to draw down blessings from Heaven upon their heads He hears their supplications with his Father to whom he is equall in Majesty he is willingly overcome by the tears of the distressed and having prayed for them as their Priest he hears them as their God Finally he prays in them as their Head he delivers the Word in the name of his Body he defends the interests of his members he pleads his own cause in pleading theirs and asks a Grace for himself in begging mercy for them Thence it comes to passe that the Father giving way to the Prayers of his Son so easily lends an ear to the Petitions of the Church because hee ownes the voice of Jesus Christ in that of his Spouse and grants that to the merits of the one which he might justly refuse to the demerits of the other He might answer us as David sometimes did that widow that made so eloquent a speech to him in behalf of Absalom Is not the hand of Joab with thee in this Loquatur Christus in nobis ut quem gerimus iu pectore babeamus in cre Cypr. For when he understands the innocent voice of his Son mingled with ours and sees that we make use of the merits and arguments of Jesus Christ to perswade him he may say to every sinner Is not the hand of Christ with thee in this Or beholding the accomplishment of that Figurative History acted heretofore in the family of Isaac where the Cadet got the blessing of his father by a mysterious surprise he might say The hands are Esau's but the voice is Jacob's because 't is true that the voice of the Son of God covers many times our bad actions and his innocent mouth obtains Graces for us in stead of punishments our guilty hands would deservedly draw down upon us Oftentimes out of an excess of love he loads himself with our sins and forgetting his Greatness appears before his Father as a Delinquent he puts on the habit of a servant takes the place of rebels and making a change advantageous for them takes their Offences and puts upon them his Merits Thence it comes to past that on the Cross where he stands the Caution of Sinners he complains that his Father forsakes though he be inseparable from him and beholding himself as the Victim of Sin useth language unworthy of his Innocence but worthy of his Love Orator ergo in forma Det orat in forma servi ibi creator hic creatus creaturam mutandam non mutatus assumens secum nos faciens unum hominem caput corpus oramus ergo ad illum per illum in illo dicimus cum illo dicit nobiscum longe à salute mea verb a delictorum Aug. praef in Ps 85. and the condition he was in This is it that S. Augustine acquaints us with in that discourse that comprebends as many Mysteries as Words If we consider Jesus Christ as equal to his Father he hears our prayers with him if we consider him in the form of a servant as like to sinenrs he presents his prayers with them there he is the Creator here he is created but remaining unchangeable is united to his Creature to change him and makes himself one man with him whereof they are joyntly the Head and Body Thus sometimes we pray to him and sometimes also we pray in him and he prays with us he speaks by our mouth we by his and living in one and the same Body we many times use the same language 'T is in the view of this Mystery that S. Augustine hath discovered a Secret to explain all those passages that seem to concern the Innocence of Jesus Christ For as by consequence of the Marriage contracted with the Church he is included in her obligations he speaks many times in the person of the Church and that we mistake not we must have this alliance always before our eyes and not be astonished that the Son of God who
enough above the rest of creatures and though it leave him his liberty considers not sufficiently the dignity of his extraction For it seems God deals with Men as with the Elements that he makes scarce any difference between Angels and Beasts and that this Soveraign governs so absolutely in his State that he much more regards his own glory then the welfare of his subjects He determines also free creatures as well as necessary if he oppresse not their liberty he takes no pains to gain it and more solicitous to make himselfe obeyed then loved he masters the will rather by force then sweetnesse The second passeth into another extream and seems to be so carefull of the salvation of man that it neglects the glory of God makes his grace a bondage opens heaven to all the world makes Mercy sparkle abroad to the detriment of Justice ascribes more to liberty then to grace renders man insolent since his Fall will have him as familiar with God since his rebellion as during his innocence Imagines that nature received no blemishes by sin and that the will under the thraldome of Concupiscence is as vigorous as under the Empire of Originall righteousnesse The third handles Grace a little more respectfully then the second 't is me thinks a bold opinion but not impudent it covers self-love under honourable pretences it bestowes that upon the Mercy of God that it takes from his Justice it intitles not liberty so absolutely to salvation but it preserves the rights of Grace which if it make not victorious it makes at least wel-disposed if it reign not over the will it does over the inclinations and if it offers a sufficient grace to all men it confesseth neverthelesse the effect is not produced but when it agrees with the constitution or humour of Man But after all this it seems to overturn the order of Predestination gives more to merits then to grace imposes Laws upon its Soveraign and obliges him when he means to save a sinner to consult rather their dispositions then his own will and pleasure Let us see what Saint Augustine hath most constantly believed concerning this Subject and lest we mistake our way take him for a guide that hath so generously defended its Cause against the Impiety of Hereticks The Fift DISCOURSE Wherein precisely consists the power of Effectuall Grace THere is no man but may observe that the Loadstone draws iron to it but there is no Philosopher can discover wherein this vertue consists We need but open our eyes to see how this stone which may be called one of the miracles of Nature lifts up the iron assoon as moved towards it that it gives a kind of feeling to this senslesse metal and in despite of its hardness softens it into a tendernesse of affection We behold with astonishment that it leaps from the Earth to follow that which draws it that it steals from it self to embrace it Quid ferri duritia pugnatius sed cedit patitur amores trahitur namque à magnete lapiâ—e domitrix illa rerum omnium materia ad inane nescio quid currit atque ut propius venit assistit teneturque complexu haeret Pli. lib. 36. cap. 16. and clings so strongly to it that violence must be used to part them But certainly 't is very difficult to comprehend what is that secret vertue that imprints this power in the Loadstone The whole Body of Philosophers have troubled themselves to no purpose to discover it whatever pains they have taken and whatever watchings they have spent in this study they have not to this day been able to find out the occult cause of so evident an effect they are ignorant whence this sympathy between the Loadstone and the Iron grows nor can they render a reason why this stone attracts this metal and not others they know not whether this attraction have more of sweetness or of force whether it draw the Iron by affecting it or by forcing it and whether it complies with its inclination or over-bears its weight and obstinacy What I have said of the Loadstone may as truly be verified of Grace Its power is so publick and its attempts so common that there is no body but knows and admires them It triumphs daily over the liberty of sinners lifts these wretches from the Earth enlightens the blind softens the obdurate converts the obstinate and subdues these rebels But though all the Faithful acknowledge a vertue whose effects they resent they know not precisely wherein it consists they are divided in their opinions and though they all take S. Augustine for their Master they express themselves in such different terms that though taught in the same School it seems they have not all learnt the same Lesson Inasmuch as this incomparable Doctor is pleased in all his Works to break forth in commendations of Grace consacring all his Labours to the glory of that which drew him out of his sin he sometimes admires its Force and seems to place all its vertue in its invincible puissance he will have it the mistress of hearts strongly over-ruling the Will of sinners and like a Soverain more respecting her own Majesty then the Inclination of her subjects Sometimes he changeth his language and meditating rather to preserve the Liberty of Man then the Power of Grace he seems to place its vertue in its compliance he represents it to us as a sweet perswasion flattering man to gain him setting upon him where he is weakest to overcome him studying his inclinations to make him in love entring into his meaning to accommodate it to that of its own and like Lovers who become complacent onely to become absolute stoops to the liberty of the sinner to triumph over it nor is his slave but to become his mistress Sometimes he walks between these two Extremes and joyning force with sweetness he speaks of Grace as of a victorious complacency he describes her as a Queen displaying her Beauty as well as her Power to keep her subjects in obedience and knowing that Nature hath given her as many Allurements as she hath done Forces unites both together to tame the rebels of her State She imitates the conduct of Providence whereof shee is an emanation and mingling Sweetness with Authority executes her designes leading men whither she pleaseth These three manners whereby S. Augustine expresseth himself in his Writings have produced three Opinions in the Church which acknowledge him for Master boasting to be of his minde and to stand to his Doctrine The first is that which is ascribed to S. Thomas which delivering it self in terms very significant but somewhat barbarous placeth the power of Grace in Predetermination Those that hold this Opinion will have God always preserve his Soveraignty when he deals with the Creature Voluntas Dei est prima summa omnium causa Aug. lib. 3. de Trin. applying him as he will and using rather compulsion then fair means discovers a desire
more delight him Nay the Lascivious wanton is not so much in love with beauty as with pleasure because he placeth his affection sometimes upon objects that have no appearance of beauty and many times forsakes a handsome woman to court a deformed one Thus pleasure is a powerfull charm that masters all hearts plunders liberties and makes slaves that never complain of their bondage because they are voluntary Lovers that seek the secret of purchasing affection study nothing but complacency being assured they shall produce love in that heart where they have begot pleasure Flatterers never insinuate into the minds of great men but by rendring themselves acceptable nor doe their false Commendations steal in at the ears but because pleasure takes up the place of truth The very Devils though our mortall enemies seduce us not but because they please us and had they not found out the art of mixing pleasure with sin all their temptations would be fruitless But the will of man though never so free hath such an inclination toward pleasure that did she never so strongly barracado her self she could not possibly resist it she holds out against truth because she is blind and sees not the beauties 't is adorned with she secures her self against violence because she is free and naturally opposeth whatever seems to incroach upon her liberty she does not acquiesce in reason because she is deaf nor hears any discourse but such as charms the understanding by convincing it But pleasure hath allurements which she can no wayes withstand she trembles when ever it sets upon her she is afraid to lose her liberty in his presence and knowing the power it hath over her inclinations she cals in sorrow to her succour to guard her against this pleasing enemy If it be true that pleasure reigns absolutely over the will we need not think it strange that grace which is nothing else but a victorious suavity hath such advantage over her for besides that this Heavenly influence surpasseth all the delights in the world that charm us having more allurements then glory and beauty that makes so many Lovers and Martyrs it insinuates much deeper into the will then whatever ravisheth us mortals Tunc enim bonum concupisci incipit cum dulcescere incipit ergo benedictio dulcedinis est gratia Dei qua fit in nobis ut nos delectet cupiamus hoc est amemus quod praecipit nobis Aug. Being in the hands of Jesus Christ whom nothing can resist it glides into the very Center of our heart making impressions there that are never more strong then when they are most agreeable thence it cashieres all pleasures that have unjustly usurpt upon us and knowing all the weaknesses of the place it sets upon we need not wonder if she make her self mistresse Other pleasures enter not into the will but at the gate of the senses they have lost half their strength before they can make their approach and her inclinations being unknown to them they many times cause aversion intending to procure love But grace wooes the heart without the mediation of the senses and more powerfull then pleasures that act not upon all the faculties of the soul carries light into the understanding faithfulnesse into the memory and pleasure into the will so that we need not wonder if the sinner suffer himself to be overcome by a Divine quality that sheds delight into all the powers and faculties of the soul That which Grace effects thus agreeably by pleasure it brings to pass more powerfully by Love For according to the judgement of S. Augustine Amor imperiü babet super omnes animae vires propter hoc quod ejus objectum est bonum Aristo Di. Tho. and when God means to convert a sinner his sole design is to make him his Lover Love is the Master of all hearts There is no impossibility this passion undertakes not Miracles are his sports and all the prodigies Antiquity hath teem'd with are nothing but the effects of this Soveraign Scripture is never more eloquent then when it intends to express the force thereof nothing satisfies it in this design all words seem too weak to express its conceptions and finding no comparisons that answer the dignity of the subject it descends to the Tombes where having considered the Trophies of death is forc'd to confess that his power equals not that of Love it passeth to the very Center of the Earth observes the unrelenting hardness of Hel and comparing the pains of the damned with the anxiety of lovers leaves us in doubt whether Hel or Love be more pitiless But not to aggravate his power by such strange comparisons let it suffice to judg of him by his effects Though he be the son of the Wil yet is he the Master he disposeth so absolutely of his Mother that she hath no motions but what her Son inspires her with she undertakes nothing but by his orders 't is the weight that sets her a going the Loadstone that attracts her the King that governs her and she so absolutely depends upon his power that nothing but another love can dis-engage her she is so fierce or so free that neither violence nor fear can tame her she laughs at tortures preserves her liberty in the midst of fetters and many times torments make her but more wilfull Only Love mollifies her hardness his charmes gain upon her what sorrow cannot and experience teacheth us there is no surer Command then that which is founded upon Love In the mean time Vanity which is almost the inseparable companion of Greatness perswades Kings that 't is a debasement to seek the love of their subjects and seduced by this false Maxime they endeavour to make themselves feared not being able to make themselves beloved But God who hath formed the heart of man and knows how they may be vanquished without being forc'd owes all his Conquests to his Love he never appears more absolute then when he tames a rebellious Will when of an Enemy he makes a Lover and changing his inclinations sweetly compels him to fall in love with him Forinsecus terret per Legem intrinsecus delectat per Amorem Aug. His Power sparkles in his Corrections he astonisheth sinners when he loosens the mountains from their foundations when he makes the earth shake under their feet the thunder rumble over their heads and threatens the world with an universal Deluge or a general Conflagration But all these menaces convert not the Guilty the fear that terrifies them reduceth them not to their duty their heart remains criminal when their mouthes and their hands be innocent and if God inspire not his love into them he punisheth indeed their offence but changeth not their Will This prodigious Metamorphosis is reserved for his love 't is his charity that must triumph over rebels nor is there any thing but his Grace that by its imperious sweetness can oblige a sinner to love him I am not
afraid to injure mans Liberty in using terms so significant because supposing Grace nothing but Love it can do no violence to the Will for of all the things in the world there is none freer then Love A man cannot complain that he is forced when nothing but charms of affection are employed to gain him and if there are some Lovers that have blamed the rigour of their mistresses there is none that have found fault with their love If it be an Evil 't is a voluntary one it hurts none but those that willingly embrace it and of so many punishments that torment us there is none more innocent because none more free Crowns may be snatched from Soveraigns Confidence may be taken from Philosophers Orators may be convinced any man may lose his life but whatever stratagems are made use of whatever violence men practise a Lover cannot be forced nor his love extorted from him Seeing then Grace is nothing but Charity and Charity nothing but a holy Love we must not apprehend violence nor imagine that the assaults of this divine quality can at all injure our Liberty because it does not disengage us from evil but by obliging us to love God If Grace cannot force our Will because it is a victorious love it ought less to constrain it because according to the language of S. Augustine 't is a pleasant perswasion For this great man considering that he was to deal with Free-will on one side and the Power of Grace on the other that he was to maintain the Empire of God and the Liberty of Man he hath always exprest himself so happily that he never prejudic'd either and as indeed Grace never forceth Man but perswades him it holds something of Eloquence or of Reason that triumphs over Liberty without compelling it Rhetorick is an Art that teacheth us to perswade Truth Orators are agreeable Soveraigns that bear rule over the mindes of their Auditors that calm their Passions change their Designes Quid enim inter Pisistratum Periclem interfuit nisi quod ille armatus hic sine armis tyrannidem gessâ—â— Cicer. and gently force their Wills Therefore was it unhandsomely done of that Ancient to compare Pericles with Pisistratus because this Tyrant domineered but over mens Bodies that Orator exercised a dominion over their Souls the one made use of Violence the other employed nothing but Sweetness the one procured the hatred of his Subjects the other the love of his Auditors For no man could complain of Pericles because he used nothing but Eloquence to perswade his Command was founded upon Reason his chief Force consisted in Truth he subjected no Understandings but by clearing them nor changed any mens Wills but in taking them by their interests or their inclinations In a word Eloquence may boast her self a Soveraign that reigns without arms subdues people by her word convinceth Philosophers by her reasons and subjects Monarchs by her power She protects the Innocent comforts the Distressed condemns or absolves the Guilty and as she animates the Advocates or the Judges produceth different miracles in their souls Whether she inchant the Ears by the harmonious cadencies of her Periods whether she excite love and hatred by her gestures her principal designe is to master the Liberty of Man She sets not upon the Understanding but to gain the Will she appears complacent that she may be perswasive nor doth she require the attention or her auditors but that she may get their consent 'T is true never any man complains of her violence because she is sweet and he that hath changed his minde at the hearing of an Orator never accused him of Tyranny 'T is certainly upon this ground that S. Augustine calls Grace a powerful perswasion because imitating Eloquence it clears our Spirits calms our Passions and gains our Consent It hath this advantage over Eloquence that it hath no need of our Ears to win our Hearts it transmits it self by it self into the inmost recesses of the soul findes out Reason in her Throne without employing the Senses carries Light into the Understanding and kindles Love in the Will Thus she perswades what she will to the obstinate subdues rebels without arms makes her Subjects will what she desires they should and when she displays all her forces she works the conversion of a sinner in a moment This certainly was the power Jesus Christ made use of when he laid Saint Paul flat at his feet when he converted that Persecutor into an Apostle changed his heart and his tongue and made him that breathed nothing but murder say Lord what wilt thou have me to do He lost not his Liberty for having lost his Fury he changed not his Nature for having changed his Judgement nor can we say that the perswasion that gained his consent was less free or more violent for being so sudden Grace knows how to be obeyed without making us slaves she can perswade without compelling and more powerful then Eloquence is able to make us love what we hated before That great Orator that guided the Romane Common-wealth with his Tongue and made his opinion so dexterously pass into the soul of his Auditors that gallant man I say hath wrought miracles by his Eloquence which we have much ado to allow the grace of Jesus Christ to effect He could boast that he altered the resolution of Caesar defending the cause of Ligarius that he shook the papers out of the hands and the hatred out of the heart of that Conquerour that he made him recal the sentence he had already pronounced in his soul that he overcame him by his Reasons that fubdued all by his Arms and trampled upon the pride of a Tyrant that had triumphed over the Liberty of Rome In the mean time we have much ado to believe that Grace can work miracles we weaken its Vertue to preserve our own Free-will we are not content that Jesus Christ should be as powerful as an Orator and when we hear of these victorious Graces and of these invincible perswasions we imagine as if there were a designe to oppress the publike Liberty Let us ascribe that to Grace which we grant to Eloquence let us confess that the Son of God knows how to imprint Truth in our spirit and Love in our heart to perswade us infallibly let us acknowledge that he is not to seek by what stratagems to gain our inclinations that his Grace more intimate then Concupiscence is able to become the mistress of our Wills and whatever command she exerciseth over us she never destroys our Liberty because she hath no other designe then to enfranchise it out of servitude The Seventh DISCOURSE That we may judge of the power of Grace over the Christian by that of Concupiscence over the Sinner FOrasmuch as the things of the world never appear with greater lustre then when they are set in opposition against their contraries I conceive in this Discourse I shall not do amiss to confront Concupiscence
confess that all we do is rather of God then of our selves He says the same thing again speaking of Perseverance and perswades all the Faithful that their salvation ought to be founded upon their humility because God hath indued them with Graces whereby they are made acquainted with his power and their own weakness For he will not have the Saints glorifie themselves for their perseverance in good out of their own abilities but from the assistance of his Grace neither hath he given them a succour equal to that he bestowed upon the first man whereby he might have persevered if he would because foreseeing that they would not persevere had they not from him the power and the wil he hath given them both out of his pure mercy Indeed their will is so effectually warm'd by the holy Spirit that they are able to doe the good because they wil and they will it because God hath inspir'd them with a will to it For did God abandon them to themselves in this infirmity which serves as a remedy against their pride and did he give them no other assistance but that by which Adam might have persevered if he would they would stoop to the assaults of temptations in the frailty of their flesh nor would they ever persevere because the weakness of their will would not suffer them to will the good at all or to will it so strongly as to doe it Therefore God desiring to succour their misery hath given them a grace that so moves this rationall faculty that she never resists it that in her weakness she may be vigorous enough to surmount all the adversities of life But because these manners of speeches might perswade the ignorant that a grace that acts so energetically would destroy liberty Saint Augustine instructs us that her force consists in her sweetness that she works upon the will only by the pleasure she there produceth nor that she is victorious but because she is agreeable This is the second truth that remains to be proved to satisfie my promise and to manifest the last resemblance between Concupiscence and Charity Though the former be sometimes so violent that she hardly leaves the sinner any liberty to resist she never employs force to extort his consent she is not of the humour of those tyrants which make use of nothing but torments to reduce their subjects to their designs and knowing that Empires are preserv'd by the same means they are acquired endeavour to keep that by cruelty they have gotten by violence But she corrupts the wil by pleasure proposing nothing but what is delightful she dexterously mixeth smiles with frowns profit with loss glory with shame and so artificially disguiseth the objects shee presents sinners with that they complain not even in the midst of their torments 'T is shee that sweetens the laborious travels of Conquerors charms the discontents of the Covetous comforts the Lascivious in the tortures that accompany their wantonness she gilds the chaines of al lthe slaves that follow her makes them acceptable when she cannot make them glorious sowing pleasure where shee cannot sow profit nor reputation Thence it comes to passe that her Empire is so firmly established among finners that to destroy it grace must change their wils subduing the vanity of their criminall pleasures by the truth of her innocent delights For she walks in the steps of her enemy she imitates her she intends to ruine and benefiting by her wiles she never sets upon the will of a sinner but she is seconded with pleasure her chiefe Stratagem is to render vertue agreeable to take off that austerity that suffers her not to be accosted and to lay all her Stoicall morosity upon the face of sin This is it that Saint Augustine declares by those words where he exhorts a sinner to be converted Confess your selves saith he in the presence of Almighty God and you shall obtain from his bounty that the vertue which seem'd so stern will seem sweet and easie When he hath wrought this first miracle you shal finde that facil which now you apprehend as impossible you shall have as much satisfaction in justice as formerly you had in iniquity Sobriety will relish better then drunkenness you will discern more charms in Alms then in Robbery and taste a farre richer pleasure in giving your own then in taking that of your neighbour Prayer will out-vie the Pastimes of the Theatre Psalmes and Hymnes will entertain you better then amorous Sonnets or the Aires of the Court you will goe to Church more chearfully then ever you went to a Play and reflecting upon the change of your heart you will acknowledge Grace the cause thereof and that the barren ground of your soul bare no fruits but because the Lord hath been pleased to water it with the perfumes of his Divine Influences For 't is an undoubted Maxime that Good though never so excellent begins not to be desired till it begin to be pleasurable Though it have more charms then beauty more lustre then glory more invitations then profit if it convey not pleasure into the will it knows not how to beget love Pleasure is the Load-stone that draws all hearts that are capable of love 't is the poyson that distils into the heart of all sinners and the only answer they return those that condemn them They oppose nothing but pleasure against all reproaches and when truth it self accuseth them they have but one reason wherewith to defend themselves they cannot forsooth leave that they take so much delight in Indeed they would never sin did not pleasure solicit them nor would the Devil ever master their will did he not make use of pleasure to gain their consent He employs the same devices against them he did against our first Father he makes use of the flesh to gain the spirit as he dealt with the woman to seduce the man he tries by suggestion to produce pleasure in his heart that pleasure may quicken sin He knows that this Commander is too free to be compell'd but he knows also that he is too amorous to hold out if he call not in another to his aid whereby he may be defended This also is the way God deals with souls to gain them he useth not his power but his sweetness he employs not his threats but his promises and when he intends to vanquish a creature he makes not use of pain but of pleasure he combates sensual delights with spiritual ones he opposeth the charms of vertue against the allurements of sin he inspires thoughts so sweet and so powerful that they blot out all those of the Earth and knowing very well that the Will always complies with the more predominant delectation that solicits her he is content to be lik't that he may be victorious For if Concupiscence contest with Grace about the conquest of a heart she that promiseth the highest pleasure shall prevail and though never so free the Helen will be overcome by the
for all the world that according to the saying of our Saviour ill interpreted it may be carried by violence and without passing thorow the Church a man may scale heaven The desire of their Salvation is the source of these unjust desires They chuse not this side nor embrace this opinion but because they believe it favours their hopes Vanity is mixt with Interest being the children of Adam they imitate the pride of their Father they are guilty of his crime before they are aware nor do they consider that whilst they go about to subject Grace to their Liberty they follow his steps who had a minde to be god for no other end but that he might live an Independent in respect of his Soveraign But were they far enough from the vain oftentation of their first father they would certainly fall into his misfortune whilst they think to avoid it For all Theologie assures us that Men and Angels were lost because their Grace being subjected to their Liberty made them not constant in good they made ill use of their advantage because they were masters of it nor did they fall into sin but because their salvation was put into their own hands Their Fall teacheth us that we can have no weaker support then our selves that the Grace which relies onely upon our own Will is very frail and that sinners that ground their hope upon the certainty of their resolution are very blinde or very proud The Angels were much more illuminated then we their light was much purer then ours their strength was not mixt with weakness These pure spirits were not embodied in flesh and blood and Nature being happily united with Grace in their person banished all disorders that are in the creature by reason of sin In the mean time all these advantages hindered them not from falling the first temptation shook their Liberty because not submitted to Grace The beauty of Lucifer dazled them and struck them in love his promises made them forget those of God and the hope they fancied of raigning with that proud Angel made them side with him in his rebellion All these misfortunes have no other Cause but the weakness of Liberty and he that should ask these wretched spirits in the midst of their torments would receive no other answer but that their Grace was unprofitable because it depended upon their Will Neither are you to object that the faithful Angels were saved by the same succour the other neglected because all Divines are not agreed and 't is disputed in the Schools of the assistance they received to oppose the rebellion of Lucifer The greatest part of the Fathers were of opinion that the mystery of the Incarnation was revealed to them at that instant that they drew force from Jesus Christ that they fought under his banner that they overcame by the blood of the Lamb and that they owe their triumphs to the Sacrifice of his death S. Augustine is of this belief and though according to his Principles Si utrique boni squaliter creati sunt istis mala voluntate cadentibus illi amplius adjuti ad eam beatitudinis plenitudinem unde se nunquā casuros certissimi fierent pervenerunt Aug. l. 12. de Civ Dei c. 9. it seems we must conclude that the good Angels were not recompensed but because their Will made good use of their Grace he unsays it in other places and confesseth ingenuously that they received new assistances and that they were victorious because they were better seconded then the others I know what may be said in answer to this passage but I finde it so clear and uttered in such strong expressions that those that explain it will pardon me if I remain in my opinion and if with S. Augustine I believe that the good Angels owe not their salvation to Grace Sufficient but to that Christian Grace the Word Incarnate merited for them by his travels Though Man was not advantaged equal to the Angels neither in Nature nor in Grace because they were Hierarchies and one was the rule of the other yet every one confesseth Mans Will was created right his Understanding cleared his Senses faithful and his Passions obedient He felt not those revolts which now trouble our rest the Flesh warred not against the Spirit and those two parts notwithstanding their difference were not as yet enemies original righteousness composed their quarrels and living in good intelligence under the dominion of this prerogative they conspired together mans felicity Sufficient Grace was always offered him whatever enterprise he took in hand this faithful companion never left him she came to his aid as often as he called upon her or rather preventing his desires and his necessities waited his orders and directions Nevertheless amidst all these priviledges miserable man lost himself the first temptation made him forget his duty though he knew that his Soul was taken out of Nothing and his body formed of the slime of the earth he suffered himself to be perswaded that in violating the Laws of God he could make himself immortal Whence think you proceeded this misfortune and what was the cause of so dismal a disgrace 'T was not the strength of the temptation for that was ridiculous and we cannot yet conceive how it could make any impression upon the minde of a Rational creature 'T was not Concupiscence for this infamous daughter was not born before her Father nor had Sin as yet given her a Being 'T was not the refusal of Grace for it was due to man in this state or at least was never denied him 'T was then his Liberty which was the cause of his misfortune his Will which without being forced by temptation corrupted by the Senses or sollicited by the Passions made no use of Grace and so fell headlong into sin If it be true that Free-will was so impotent in the state of Innocence What can we expect in the state of sin And if Sufficient Grace supported by original righteousness hindered not Man from falling What assistance can we promise our selves thence now that it is assaulted by Concupiscence Let us rest our Salvation upon a surer Foundation let us implore some more vigorous Grace let us give our Liberty leave to be over-born by its motions let us grow wise by our Fathers losses and not pitch our hope upon a succout which ruined him onely because he was subject to his Will Grace is changed with Nature as this is not in her primitive purity neither is the other in her primitive weakness JESUS CHRIST is come to be the Founder of a New Order in the world and because he findes men in infirmities which they had during the state of Innocence he furnisheth them with stronger Graces that the Remedie surpassing the Disease may afford them a perfect Cure When he had to do with Adam whose vigour was natural because his Forces were not yet divided he left his Salvation at his own disposal and giving him a Grace
Judge and Executioner In the quality of a Witness he is bound to examine his Conscience to Wrack his Memory to search the inmost thoughts of his Minde the secretest intentions of his Will and to convent himself before himself without Excuse or Flattery As a Judge he ought to consider the Number and the Quality of the crimes dextrously to examine the prisoner carefully to observe the cause of the fault and with Justice to pronounce sentence whereby the Criminal may suffer according to his desert and the party offended receive fatisfaction to his dignity And because soul and body are both concerned in the sin they must be joyntly condemned but the soul being the author of the iniquity and the body but the minister or complice he must begin the correction by an inward sadness mixed with Fear and Love and finish it by an external pain attended with Shame and Sorrow For there would be a kinde of Injustice to separate those in the Punishment that were Partners in the Fault and the Repentance would be imperfect did it not reach the body as well as the soul Having pronounced righteous judgement the Judge must take upon him the quality of the Executioner and execute what himself hath ordained being zealous for the Justice of God betraying Self-love so that he abandon it to Charity and full of anger and indignation revenge Jesus Christ upon his enemy All true Penitents have done thus the Contrition of their spirit hath produced the Maceration of their body and having conceived a mortal displeasure at their offences they have obliged their eyes to bewail them their hands to punish them and their mouthes to confess them They joyned Fastings to Prayer Watchings to Reading Discipline to Obedience that mortifying both soul and body they might obtain pardon for both these offenders Nothing can yeeld such assistance to so good a designe as the consideration of a second quality of Repentance For it takes the name from Pain 't is a Punishment as well as a Judgement 't is mingled with Grace and Rigour In peccatorem poenitentia pronuntians pro Dei indignatione fungitur temporali afflictatione aeterna supplicia non dicam frustratur sed expungit Tertul. and according to the conceit of Tertullian 't is an abridgement of eternal pains The sinner if a believer is not ignorant that his crimes which inflict death upon his soul merit hell he knows very well the decree is gone out the truth whereof he cannot question and that every transgressor that loseth Grace is worthy of the Torments the devil and his angels suffer When he is converted therefore and by the favour of Repentance hath his sins remitted he is obliged in spirit to descend into the centre of the earth to consider the pains the damned endure and then to equalize his sorrow he ought to imitate what he hath seen and to deal so severely with himself that he may satisfie that Justice which inflicts eternal punishments upon his enemies But nothing ought so much to animate him against himself as the consideration of his offence which being in its own nature infinite merits eternal punishments For though the sin be committed in a moment Momentaneum est quod delectat aeternum est quod cruciat Greg. Mag. and the pleasure that accompanies it be but an illusion yet doth it put the sinner in a condition out of which he cannot arise but by Grace which is not at his disposal He falls into this abyss by his own proper motion but he cannot get out of it by his own strength He may defend himself when he is tempted but being overcome he cannot rid himself of his enemy He enters into a slavery that insensibly engageth him into a necessity If Grace which he cannot challenge as his due prevent him not he lives and dies in a very deplorable condition and carries the same minde into hell which he cherished upon the earth Therefore doth the Divine Justice that reads mens hearts and looks rather upon the dispositions then actions of offenders inflict an eternal punishment upon a sin not fully finished and condemns a transgressor to endless torments who had always offended had he always lived But though he should not retain this unhappie disposition till his death 't is enough to merit an everlasting punishment that he hath committed a sin whose malice hath no bounds For Reason tells us there is no proportion between the Creature and the Creator the distance that separates them is infinite and therefore the sinner that forsakes the Creator to adhere is infinite Qui peccat mortaliter vult Deum esse impotentem aut injustum aut insipientem quia vellet Deum aut sua peccata nescire aut vindicare non posse aut vindicare nolle Bern. offers him an infinite injury which cannot justly be punished but by an eternaltorment Indeed he endeavours to destroy God by his offence he would rob him of his perfections and in the minde he is in to content himself he would have God void of light to see him without goodness to hate him without power to correct him Therefore is the Penitent at the sight of so many disorders and injustices obliged to make war upon himself to take Gods part against himself to punish a delinquent severely whose due it is to burn eternally and to continue a torment during his life which ought to continue for all generations The Tenth DISCOURSE Of the Renunciation and Self-denial of a Christian POlicie and Religion in the difference of their designes exact the same dispositions in their subjects Policie will have men prefer Publike interests before Private and to sacrifice their Fortune for the preservation of the State Religion also will have men consider nothing but the glory of Jesus Christ being always ready to immolate themselves in his quarrel Policie will not have men wedded to their goods lest Avarice should make them cowards Religion going a step further obligeth them to a voluntary poverty and will have them really or in affection divorced from their riches Finally Policie will have Subjects renounce their Will that they be more the States then their own Families and depend more upon their Soveraign then on Themselves Religion requires the same duty from her disciples Qui vult venire post me abneget semetipsum tollat crucem suam sequatur me Luc. 9. and will ahve them renounce their inclinations when they are admitted into the Church and Jesus Christ to be the Master of their actions and of their persons All the Maximes she gives us tend to this end all her counsels inspire us with this disposition and it seems the whole Gospel hath no other intention then to make us die to our selves that we may be guided by Jesus Christ And certainly we must confess If there be Rigour in the designe there is much Justice in it For besides that the Church no more then the State can subsist without submission and
Sacrifice that is offered is no longer a Sacriledge to be detested It is not Cruelty that makes Jesus Christ die but Piety 'T is no longer a Crime but an act of Religion to immolate him neither is he offered by the hands of Executioners but of Priests The Father receives this Sacrifice with Pleasure without Indignation the Son presents himself with Affection free from Sorrow Nature beholds it with Respect and no Horrour and Men partake of it Profitably and without Sin The fourth and last difference is that the Sacrifice of the Cross merits all and applies nothing and contrarily that of the Altar merits nothing and applies all For the comprehending of this Truth we must know that General Causes are the sources of all things nothing is produced here belowe that flows not from their fecundity the very operation of Particular Causes is an emanation of their vertue Did the Sun cease to shine all things of the world would not onely cease to act but also to subsist this goodly Star maintains them with its aspects and though he be not their Creator he is in some sort their Preserver But though he equally shed heat and light over all Creatures yet must we confess some receive his influences more favourably and apply them more faithfully With the Clouds he forms those Meteors which pleasantly ravish the eyes of the beholders with dew he enamels the Flowers which serve for an ornament to our Gardens with the Earth he produceth Gold and Iron which Avarice and Cruelty employed to a hundred different uses But did not these Causes that apply his power weaken his vertue and were there a Sun here belowe to receive his influences without confining them all the world are of opinion he would produce far nobler effects Virtus Causae generalis recipitur à causa particulari secundum suam agendi capacitatem D. Tho. and that in stead of Roses and Lilies we should see nothing but Stars in our Walks and Gardens But because he cannot act alone and the Causes that apply him debilitate his power we behold nothing here belowe answerable either to his excellency or beauty What we see in Nature we believe in Grace General Causes produce all but apply nothing Particular Causes produce nothing but apply all The death of Jesus Christ is the Spring-head of all Merit the Faithful can hope for nothing which is not acquired by that Sacrifice Heaven is not so much the recompence of their Vertue as of its Value and if the quality of Members which ties them to Jesus Christ as to their Head did not give them part in his merits they could not pretend to the inheritance of heaven In the mean time so powerful a Cause produceth nothing if not applied this fruitful Fountain sends forth no streams if there be no Chanels disposed to receive them Mors Christi Fons omnium bonorum Sacramenta vero Rivuli and this Star which darts forth so much heat and light makes neither flowers nor fruit grow up in the Church if there be not some secondary cause which conveys its vertue to us Therefore hath the Son of God instituted Sacraments in his Church which happily apply whatever he hath liberally merited for us upon the Cross They are so many Pipes issuing his blood into our hearts so many Suns carrying their influences into our souls but they have this unhappiness in applying his merits they weaken them and not being capable of receiving all his vertue neither have they the power of communicating it to us Every Sacrament operates in us according to its particular condition Baptism gives us our new birth Sacramenta novae legis representant passionē Christi à qua fluxerunt sicut effectus representant causam Hugo à Sancto Victor Confirmation strengthens us Repentance raiseth us Ordination designes us to the service of the Altar and being second causes they limit the vertue of this universal cause which they apply unto us But the Sacrifice of the Altar more happie and more powerful then the rest applies the merits of the Cross without any limitation It procures us all kinde of Graces hath the power to produce and raise us gives us life and strength unites us to God and takes us off from the world weakens concupiscence and sin and the Son of God finding himself applied by himself there are no wonderful effects which he cannot give a product to There he merits nothing because he is at the end of his Course in the place of his Rest and in the time of his Recompence But he applies all because being equal to himself he hath gained nothing by the Sacrifice of the Cross which he cannot communicate by the Sacrifice of the Altar Nothing can hinder his divine operations but our Weakness or our Malice for as he acts with Free causes without constraining them we must lend him our Will for our Sanctification that making him Master of our hearts we may in some sort assist him to raign absolutely in his State and prepare our selves worthily to receive at the Altar those Graces he hath merited for us upon the Cross The Tenth DISCOURSE Of the Obligation the Christian hath to sacrifice himself to God SInce the Son of God hath united in his person the Humane Nature with the Divine Deus erat homo factus est suscepit humanitatē non amisit divinitatem factus humilis mansit sublimis natus est homo non destitit esse Deus Aug. lib. de quinq haeres cap. 5. and mastering the difficulties which stood in opposition to the execution of so great a design hath effected this admirable Master-piece which accords baseness with greatness misery with happiness it seems he hath taken pleasure to conjoin in his person all those qualities which clash in others so that we may say he hath pacified all the differences that were in Heaven and in Earth Indeed he is the Father and the Son of the Church he produced her upon the Cross and is produced by her upon the Altar He is the Son and the Servant of his Father he associates two qualities which appear incompatible in men and tempering respect with love teacheth us that Gods being his Father hinders him not from being his Soveraign He is our Advocate and our Judge having pleaded our cause he pronounceth our sentence and I know not whether it be a ground of fear or of confidence in that we are assured that he that is entred into our obligations is admitted also into the rights of his Father and that one day he will punish those for whom he hath satisfied upon the Cross But if there be any qualities whose alliance ravisheth us in the person of Jesus Christ we must confess 't is that of Priest and Sacrifice These two are so different among men that nothing but a supream power or an extream love could unite them together When the Synagogue would represent us with the Sacrifice of the Son of God