had never been recovered from his lost Condition to have attained the end of his Creation if God himself had not undertaken the great and otherwise insuperable Work of his Recovery by being made Man and in doing and suffering what he did to regain his Love. And therefore lastly whereas Christs bloody Death and Passion was the strongest and most endearing Argument and Motive of all other Testimonies of his stupendious Love to man for drawing his Affections off from the Love of the World to the Love of God which is the purging away of Sin the shedding of Christs pretious Blood on the Cross is said to be a Sacrifice for Sin that is for the putting or taking away of Sin even as the sacred Text it self directly asserteth He appeared to put away Sin by the Sacrifice of himself Hebr. 9. 26. Hence it is that mans Redemption and Salvation are so frequently attributed to Christs Death on the Cross it being the most remarkable Instance of his Love and thereupon the potentest Motive of all others to win mans firm Affection to himself For that our Blessed Saviours Incarnation and whatsoever he either did or suffered in his Manhood are likewise real Causes of mans Redemption and Salvation the Churches Litany assures us in which we pray to be delivered from all Sin and Mischief from the Crafts and Assaults of the Devil from the Wrath of God and from everlasting Damnation by the Mystery of Christs holy Incarnation by his holy Nativity and Circumcision by his Baptism Fasting and Temptation by his Agony and Bloody Sweat by his glorious Resurrection and Ascension and by his sending of the Holy Ghost aswell as by his Cross and Passion Object 6. If after all the Endeavour that hath been used to frame Arguments to solve Objections and to explicate how mans Redemption Reconciliation and Salvation are in a true scriptural Sense wrought by Christ for clearing the Assertion that the sincere habitual Love of God or Charity is the Formal Cause of Justification it be found that the Assertion it self is repugnant to the 11th Article of our Religion wherein it is said that we are justified by Faith only for the Merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ all that has been done is nothing better not to say worse then labour in vain Solut. That Christ's Doings and Sufferings which constitute his Merit are a real Cause of mans Justification has been both asserted and proved in this Section so that if any difference be between what the 11th Article teaches and what is averred by me concerning Justification 't is only after what manner the Merit of Christ justifies a Sinner namely whether as an Efficient or a Formal Cause And yet even as to this also there will be found no difference when the matter is well discussed For I stedfastly hold and maintain together with the Article that Christ's Merit is apprehended and applied to a Sinner for his Justification by Faith only whilst he firmly believes that God through them will according to his free Promise in the Gospel deliver him from the Slavery of Sin and the Consequent of it everlasting Misery so that in regard it is the Grace of Faith alone which draws the Merit of Christ home to a Christians Soul whence it becomes an effectual Motive to gain his Affections in turning them from the false Pleasures of the World unto God the sole true Delight of the Soul which is to be an efficient Cause of cleansing the Heart from Sin through Charity it must needs be that in this sense we are justified for the Merit of Christ by Faith only And that the 11th Article of Religion is to be understood in this sense seems clear both from the words wherein it is expressed and from the Churches Homily referred to for a fuller explication of what they intend The words of the Article are these We are accounted righteous before God only for the Merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith and not for our own Works or Deservings Wherefore that we are justified by Faith alone is a most wholsome Doctrine and very full of Comfort as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification Here 't is plain that our Blessed Saviour is affirmed to be the meritorious Cause of Justification and it is undeniably true that aswell Divines as Philosophers place a Meritorious Cause among the efficient Causes whence the learned Prelate Forbesius writeth thus Justitia Christi nos justificari ut Causa formali atque etiam meritoria ut asserunt qui priorem tuentur sententiam nempe Christi Justitiam esse Causam formalem Justificationis dici non potest nequit enim fieri ut eadem res sit simul Causa efficiens ad quam Meritum reducitur Formalis ejusdem effecti quia sic simul de essentia effecti foret non foret cum Causa formulis sit interna 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 efficiens autem externa uti constat Considerationes modestae pacificae Lib 2. Cap. 3. Paragr 5. Seeing then it is impossible that a Meritorious Cause should be a Formal Cause and that in the 11th Article no mention is made of a Formal Cause it remains that the Merit of Christ spoken of in the Article is either an efficient Cause of Mans Justification or else none at all And the same is likewise manifest from the Churches Homily referred to in the Article in which we read Part 2. Par. 4. as follows You shall understand that in our Justification by Christ it is not all one thing the Office of God unto Man and the Office of Man unto God. Justification is not the Office of Man but of God or Man cannot make himself righteous by his own Works neither in part nor in the whole for that were the greatest Arrogancy and Presumption of Man that Antichrist could set up against God to affirm that Man might by his own Works take away and purge his own Sins and so justifie himself What can well be more plain unless it were expressed in the very Language of the Schools then that God is here affirmed and Man denied to be the efficient Cause of his Justification But Justification is the Office of God only and is not a thing which we render to him but which we receive of him not which we give to him but which we take of him by his free mercy and by the only merits of his most dearly beloved Son our only Redeemer Saviour and Justifier Jesus Christ Here the free Mercy of God and the Merits of Christ are put together as Causes of the same kind and who is ignorant that the free Mercy of God is an efficient Cause only of Justification so that the true understanding of this Doctrine We be freely justified by Faith without Works or that we be justified by Faith in Christ only is not that this our own Act to believe in Christ or this our Faith in Christ which is
within us doth justifie us and deserve our Justification for that were to count our selves to be justified by some Act or Vertue within our selves The Act or Vertue here mentioned being set in opposition to the Merits of Christ which are an efficient Cause 't is in effect as if it were said The Merit of Christ only and not any Act or Virtue of our own whatsoever is the efficient Cause of our Justification But the true understanding and meaning hereof is that although we hear Gods Word and believe it and although we have Faith Hope and Charity Repentance Dread and Fear of God within and do never so many Works thereunto yet we must renounce the merit of all our said Virtues of Faith Hope and Charity and all other Vertues and good Works which we either have done shall do or can do as things that be far too weak and unsufficient and imperfect to deserve remission of our Sins and our Justification and therefore we must trust only in Gods Mercy and that Sacrifice which our High Priest and Saviour offered upon the Cross Lo here again Christs Merits and Mans are set one against the other which would be impertinent if they were not spoken of the same sort of Causes but of Causes different in kind and a meritorious Cause is an efficient Cause as was seen above The Merit of Christ then in the 11th Article of our Religion is not to be understood of the Formal Cause of Mans Justification or Righteousness but of the efficient Cause thereof in respect of which I assert it to be most truly said that We are justified by Faith only because by it alone Christs Merits are applied to us SECT XII Neither by the Light of Nature nor by the Law of Moses without Christ could ever any either Jew or Gentile be eternally saved and come to Glory but through him both of them might The Christian Religion is in many respects preferable to the Law of Nature and the Law of Moses The Injunction of the Judaical Ordinances Rites and Ceremonies had a farther Tendency then the exacting of meer Obedience 1. SInce the ultimate End of creating Man was that he might be eternally happy through the perfect Love of God for ever Sect. 4. it plainly follows that inasmuch as no man since Adams Fall can attain to the perfect Love of God but through Christ Sect. 9. and 11. There is none other Name under Heaven given among Men whereby we must be saved Acts 4. 12. 2. For though some few do by nature i. e. the Light of natural Reason the things contained in the Law viz. the Moral for the Gentiles could not by the Law of Nature observe the Ceremonial Law of the Jews Rom. 2. 14. by being brought through a serious Consideration of the glorious Structure of the World more especially of Man himself and of Gods Providence in preserving and governing all things to adore the Divine Majesty to pray to him and to praise him as the Author of all Good and thence contract an habitual Love to him above the Enjoyment of the vain Pleasures of the World. And albeit many by the Law of Moses have not only obtained the habit of Charity but have also acquired an high degree and measure thereof yet in that neither Jew nor Gentile could ever without Christ attain to the perfect Love of God Sect. 9. and 11. 't is clear that through Christ they must do it if ever they arrive at eternal Bliss 3. Which most blessed State forasmuch as God is no respecter of Persons but in every Nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted with him Acts 10. 34 35. and that he who habitually loves God above all things is Righteous Sect. 11. every one who departs this Life with an habitual Love to God shall at length obtain For seeing all must appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his Body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad 2 Cor. 5. 10. 't is plain that every righteous man whatsoever shall receive a righteous mans Reward at the last day which Reward is everlasting Bliss 4. For since nothing is wanting to one endued with sincere Charity but something to perfect the same in him to make him for ever happy and that the glorious appearance of Christ coming to Judgment will throughly purge out of the Soul of every one habitually possessed of Charity all the Relicks of worldly Affections Sect. 11. Solut. of Object 4. and thereby entirely disposed and ultimately and immediately prepared to obtain the Beatific Vision 't is evident that the Reward which every righteous man shall have at the last day is everlasting Bliss Object 1. If every one of all Mankind from the beginning of the World to the end thereof that habitually loves God above all things and consequently his Neighbour as himself Sect. 11. Solut. of Object 2. when he leaves this World shall at length be eternally blessed through Christ what need men concern themselves so much as they do what Religion they be of Solut. It concerns every one so much as his Salvation is worth to be solicitous to be a Member of the Catholic Christian Religion not only because there 's small hopes that he who is not desirous to take the best course he can to be saved will in sincerity of heart observe the Rules of any Law whatever but also because if notwithstanding the Divine Excellency of the Precepts Motives and Discipline of the Gospel-Dispensation thousands perish within the Bosom of Christ's Visible Church through the strong Temptations of the World the Flesh and the Devil wherewith they are overcome the perdition of Souls will be certainly much greater and more general where those potent Adversaries of man's Bliss find small Resistance made against them Wherefore since no man ever attain'd to live a virtuous Life in order to the End for which he was created but in regard he was directed and inclined thereunto either by the Law of Nature or by some Revealed Law of which later sort there are only two the Jewish and the Christian 't is apparent that if the Christian Religion be in many respects highly preferable for the obtaining of Felicity by it to them both it alone where it can be had is to be chosen and embraced And that the Christian Religion is in many respects highly preferable to them both for that End is evident For First It doth exceedingly much more fully and clearly reveal to the World the Nature of God the Immortality of the Soul the Excellency of the Fruit of a virtuous godly Life after Death and the intolerable Torments of the Wicked in the World to come Secondly It gives far more perfect Rules and shews abundantly more efficacious Helps and Means of leading such a Life as must bring men to Felicity if ever they attain thereto Thirdly It propounds infinitely more convincing and powerful Arguments
efficacious Cause of Mans Eternal Felicity the truth of which shall hereafter God assisting be shown in particular as it hath already been in general SECT XI Faith Hope and Charity are necessary Means for procuring everlasting Bliss Sincere habitual Charity formally expels Mortal Sin and is therefore formal but in compleat Righteousness Perfect Charity formally expells all Sin and is therefore perfect formal Righteousness or the absolute fulfilling of the Divine Law. 1. SInce it is clear by Sect. 8. Solut. of Object 1. that God created Man and gave him a Law not in expectation of any Profit or Pleasure to be acquired to himself but altogether for the Benefit and Delight of Man and that it is likewise proved in Sect. 4. that the End for which Man was created and had a Law given him is the full Fruition of God by perfect Love it necessarily follows in regard the End cannot be obtain'd but by Means available for procuring of it that the Knowledge of the Means available thereto no less than of the End it self is requisite to be had in order to the Acquisition of the perfect Love of God or that full Enjoyment of him which is Mans Ultimate End and eternal Felicity 2. And because Men arrive not at the certain Knowledg of things but either by Demonstration which begets Science or by an inerrable Testimony which creates an infallible Belief 't is clear seeing a Demonstration wherein Felicity consists tho it be a thing in it self demonstrable as appears by Sect. 4. cannot by the generality of Mankind be attained unto much less wherein all the Means available to the obtaining of Felicity some of them being positive and supernatural are placed that a Revelation from God who alone is inerrable was necessary for the Discovery both of the Means of Bliss and of Bliss it self to the World in order to Man's acquiring of Beatitude 3. And forasmuch as that Knowledg which proceeds from and is caused by Divine Revelation is Divine Belief or Faith 't is plain that Divine Faith is required on Man's part towards the obtaining of Felicity 4. And in regard it is ineffectual to the obtaining of Felicity to have firm Belief only wherein it truly consists and what the Means available to procure it are without some farther Progress made towards the getting possession of it which will never be unless a man have Hope by reason of the Divine Promise that in the due use of the means of Bliss he shall acquire the same 't is plain that Divine Hope is likewise requisite as well as Faith for every one that shall eternally be saved 5. And forasmuch as he that has a right Belief both of Bliss and the Means available to it and withal an Assurance that in the due use of the Means Felicity will be attainable by him shall reap no Benefit thereby if he never enter upon a resolved serious Course of making a constant diligent use of those Means which he most certainly will not do unless he first have an unfeigned ardent desire to enjoy the End whereto they tend the eternal Fruition of God 't is evident that the sincere and hearty love of God or Charity proceeding from Faith and Hope for no good Man stedfastly desires what he believes not to be true or has no Hope to obtain is moreover necessary for the acquirment of Felicity 6. And seeing the habitual Love of God above all things is utterly inconsistent with the habitual Love of the World above God 't is manifest that by the accession of the habitual Love of God above all things into the Soul the habitual Love of the World above God is necessarily expelled and consequently that Sin whether taken privatively as an Aversion from God or positively for a Conversion to the Creature which brings everlasting Death and Damnation Sect. 7. whence it is called mortal and damnable Sin. 7. Hence in regard as well Paena sensus as Paena damni are the natural and necessary Result of the perpetual Continuance in sin in the manner before shown Sect. 7. it is manifest that Charity possessing the Soul and thereby freeing it from mortal Sin by formally expelling it out of the same Par. 6. secures it from the Danger both of the loss of Heaven and of incurring the Pains of Hell. 8. And forasmuch as he that is secured from the Danger of Damnation and the Pains of Hell is freed from the Guilt of mortal Sin which is a liableness to be eternally damned and tormented for Sin and that he who is freed from the Guilt of mortal Sin is blameless and innocent in respect of the mortal Breach of the Law which alone creates a mortal Guilt and that he who is blameless and innocent in respect of the mortal Breach of the Law is a righteous Person or acquit by the Law from the Punishment due in respect of such Breach it necessarily follows that Charity in regard it formally expells mortal Sin the mortal Breach of the Law is formal Righteousness or the formal Cause of Justification being that which formally justifies and makes Righteous 9. And as every degree of sincere habitual Charity formally expells mortal Sin and thereby frees the Soul from mortal Guilt and the Consequent of it eternal Pain as well that of the Torments of Hell as of the loss of Heaven so doth perfect Charity formally expel all Sin and consequently remove all Guilt and thence exempt from all Pain and Misery whatsoever For he that loves God with all the Might and Power of his Soul hath thereby of necessity totally rooted out of it all the love of the World and so hath no Sin but is perfectly Righteous and hath fulfilled the Great Commandment or Royal Law Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind which to do is compleat Righteousness the highest Act of glorifying God and eternal Felicity Object 1. When the Act whereby the Law of God is transgressed be it Adultery Theft or any other Enormity is over the Sin is past and yet the Guilt remains which is contrary to what hath been said Solut. The Sin is not past when the Act of Adultery Theft or any other Enormity is over For since Sin formally taken is a Want or Privation of that sincere hearty Affection which the Soul ought to have unto God as its Sovereign Good Sect. 8. Par. 3 4 't is evident that the Sin still remains tho the materially sinful Act be over so long as there is a Want of the due Love of God in the Soul which there always is till it be habitually endued with Charity And while the Sin remains the Guilt must needs do so but no longer for 't is only while a Man is in the State of mortal Sin that he is obnoxious to eternal Misery and not when he is in the State of Grace or ready Way to Bliss as he evermore is when he has an habitual
hearty Affection unto God Par. 6 7 8. Object 2. The sincere habitual Love to God above all things cannot of it self alone justifie any one because the Divine Law requires that a Man love his Neighbour also as himself Solut. True it doth so but since it is impossible but that he who cordially desires and accordingly stedfastly endeavours to enjoy God eternally should also unfeignedly wish the like to his Neighbour which comprehends all Mankind and assists him when occasion serves in what is necessarily conducible thereunto so far as he well can in doing of which the Duty of loving a Mans Neighbour as himself is fulfilled as will be at large set forth in the Explanation of the Decalogue Sect. 18. and 19. 'T is plain that he who loves God above all things doth in consequence thereto of necessity love his Neighbour like as himself If a Man love me he will keep my Words John 14. 23. And this Commandment have we from him that he who loveth God loves his Brother also 1 John 4. 21. But of this more hereafter in the three last Sections Object 3. If Men be formally justified by their own habitual Righteousness then are they not formally justified by the Righteousness of Christ imputed to them But Men are formally justified by the Righteousness of Christ imputed to them Christ is made unto us Righteousness 1 Cor. 1. 30. Therefore Men are not formally justified by their own habitual Righteousness Solut. In answer to the proof of the Minor Proposition viz. That Christ is made unto us Righteousness I return that in the same Text he is likewise said to be made unto us Wisdom and Sanctification and Redemption and therefore if Christ's Righteousness can be proved from thence to be the formal Cause of man's Justification or that man is formally just thereby by the same Text it may be equally and as well proved that man is formally wise and formally holy by the Wisdom and Holiness of Christ which if he truly were then would a justified Person be as just wise and Holy as Christ himself and consequently he ought to have no remorse for any thing he ever did nor to crave pardon for his Sins and by consequence since Sin is a Transgression of the Law unless he no more transgress God's Law than our Blessed Saviour himself did he 'l be a Transgressor of the Law and not a Transgressor of the Law a Sinner and no Sinner at the same time which is impossible Christ's Righteousness therefore in the quoted Text is Metonymically to be understood for the efficient Cause of man's Righteousness even as his Wisdom and Holiness likewise are in respect of our being wise and holy In this sense all the meritorious Doings and Sufferings of Christ may be rightly said to be ours whilst by virtue of them Grace is wrought in our Hearts by which we overcome the Temptations of the World the Flesh and the Devil so that the Benefit of them really redounds to us and whatever Righteousness we have here or shall have hereafter it is the very effect of the righteousness of Christ For since rational Arguments Motives are the proper inducements whereby a Rational Creature is inclined to Good whilst through them the Understanding is illuminated with Truth and the Will excited to the love of it 't is evident that nothing possibly besides except the immediate irresistible Will of God could so effectually work on mens rational Souls to cause them to forsake the love of the World for the love of God as Arguments and Motives fetcht from the consideration of Christ's love to man his Incarnation Doctrine Conversation Passion Resurrection Ascension Session at the right hand of his Father and his coming to Judgment Whence in very truth those men who in attributing man's formal Righteousness to the Righteousness of Christ made his by imputation through Faith think they attribute more to Christ and give him greater honour than they do that hold the sincere habitual love of God to be the formal cause of Justification are under a manifest Mistake For since Christ is personally God and not personally Man and that the infinite value of his precious merits is from the hypostatical Union of his Manhood with the Deity 't is plain that it is far more excellent and glorious that Christ's righteousness which comprehends the whole merit of all his active and passive Obedience should be the efficient Cause of man's Justification by producing a real habitual Righteousness in his Soul than the formal cause thereof by a meer imputed Righteousness because such imputed Righteousness in case it were possible would be the Righteousness of Christ as man for otherwise a righteous person would be infinitely righteous and consequently be God since nothing is infinitely perfect in any respect whatever but he alone whereas if his Righteousness be the efficient Cause of man's Righteousness it is proper to him as he is both God and Man. But indeed it is impossible that Christ's Righteousness should become formally man's for seeing it is personal and thence a thing extrinsecal to every one but himself 't is not possible to become a formal Cause to others in that a formal Cause whether it be substantial or accidental is an internal Cause and essentially constitutive of the thing whereof it is a Cause For instance Man's Soul is the formal Cause and a substantial essential part of man as man or a rational Animal Prudence is the formal Cause and an accidental essential part of man as he is prudent and so is Temperance of a temperate man and every Abstract else of the Concrete to which it is appropriated For what is a prudent man but one habitually indued with Prudence or a temperate man but one whom the habit of Temperance formally makes such And must not a righteous person by parallel Reason be one habitually possessed of Righteousness If it were not thus but that on the contrary a prudent man could be prudent by the Prudence of another without the Habit of Prudence within himself then were it possible that a man might be prudent though really imprudent in all his doings and so be prudent and utterly imprudent at once And if a man could be temperate without the Virtue of Temperance inherent in him he might possibly be temperate when he wallowed in the Sink of all filthy Pleasures and thence be temperate and not at all temperate at the same time And so in like manner if a man could be righteous by the Righteousness of another without any inherent Righteousness of his own he might possibly at the same instant be righteous and a notorious Transgressor of God's Law and consequently be a just and unjust person a Sinner and no Sinner both together If it were replied that God always in the very moment wherein Christ's Righteousness through Faith is imputed to any man infuses entire holiness into his Soul so that he exactly keeps every Divine Precept I would make this
all the desire the perpetual Enjoyment of Him will also love him most hereafter for exactly according to the measure of the Manifestation of Gods Glory both to the Saints and Angels is the Measure of their Love of Him or Delight taken in the Contemplation of his Excellence and in this consists their Felicity which though it is sufficient and satisfactory to every one of them inasmuch as they all love him with their entire Affection or are delighted in him with all their might and so are happy to their own Desire yet do they not however enjoy equal Happiness because the love of God in some of them is more intense than in some others as answering to a fuller manifestation of his Glory to them Object 4. If the formal Cause of Justification be inherent Righteousness or Charity then doth every degree thereof truly justifie so that man's Righteousness may be greater or less and consequently either every degree of Righteousness will not give a just Title to Heaven so as Possession shall ever ensue thereupon or else imperfect Charity shall estate men in everlasting Felicity which is contrary to what hath been often said Solut. In Answer to this Objection I grant that every degree of habitual Charity from the highest to the lowest if either it be not lost or being lost be renewed entitles men so truly to Heaven I that they shall not departing this life therewith finally fail of the full possession of Bliss but sooner or later shall certainly obtain the same sooner or later I say because such an absolute full desire to enjoy the Presence of God as totally excludes all appetite to earthly Enjoyments and Satisfactions of this Life is the sole immediate disposition which prepares the Soul for Bliss so that those alone who through their ardent desire to be with God are weary of this World shall strâ—ight upon their departure hence go to pure and simple Joy but yet so intense as they shall afterwards have at the last upon the re-union of Soul and Body I do not say All the rest that depart this life not having the like ardency of desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ their God and Saviour will in all appearance of Reason retain the mixture of Affection to God and the World which they left the later with for how a meer separation of Soul and Body should root out all Affection to the World is I think a thing unaccountable till the Resurrection from the dead If it be said as indeed it is by some that Christ's appearing to the Souls of good men that departed this Life before his Death must needs have been a Motive and Cause of Change unto them whence it came to pass that the Graves were opened and many Bodies of the Saints which slept arose c. Matth. 27. 52 53. I answer that since it is here supposed that there had been no Motive offered before that his shewing himself to them which had altered the state into which they entered at their separation from the Body it is reasonable to think that there will likewise be no Motive to cause a Change in those which have left or shall leave this World after that his appearing till his coming to Judgment at the last day which in that it must needs in some degree or other be both dreadful and amiable to every one that hath not totally rooted out all Affection to the World according to their different Measures of Fear and Hope arising from their finding themselves more or less clogged with terrene Desires will be a Motive rightly adapted wholly to purge out all the Dreggs of impure Affections and so cause them to fix their Minds for ever upon God. But in the intenim they 'l continue in that condition which they left the World with and so each of them as their Love to God is greater will have more and purer Delight yet not be altogether void of anguish of Spirit by reason they cannot go immediately to God through the load of Sin which though not so heavy as to press them down to Hell yet will not suffer them to soar up to Heaven For we see even in this Life the more Pious that men are the more serene Joy and greater inward Contentment they enjoy but have not withstanding their Groans and Sighs and trouble of Spirit because they find the Old Man is not throughly conquered and subdued and however brought low is nevertheless often giving check to their Spiritual Joy and causing their Grief Nor is an incompleat imperfect State after this Life till the Day of Doom only consonant to Reason but the Sacred Scripture also and Catholic Tradition appear to make for it for what mean these Expressions of being recompensed at the Resurrection of the Just Luke 14. 14. Of the Spirit being saved in the Day of the Lord Jesus 1 Cor. 5. 5. Of finding Mercy of the Lord in that Day 2 Tim. 1. 18. but that something is to be received at the Day of Judgment not to be obtained before Which the practical Tradition of the Church both Eastern and Western give Testimony to by their praying for the Dead but not for the delivery of Souls out of Purgatory a Practise so universal that the Learned Mr. Thorndike saith It hath been a Custom so general in the Church to pray for the Dead that no beginning of it can be assigned no time no part of the Church where it was not used Epilogue to the Tragedy of the Church of England Book 3. Ch. 29. P. 333. And another of our Learned Country-men Dr. Hammond writeth thus 'T is certain that some measure of Bliss which shall at the Day of Judgment be vouchsafed the Saints when their Bodies and Souls shall be reunited is not till then enjoyed by them and therefore may safely and fitly be prayed for Annotat. on 2 Tim. 1. 16 17 18. For besides that it is evident from Holy Writ that there shall be a general Resurrection The hour is coming in which all that are in their Graves shall hear his Voice and shall come forth they that have done good unto the Resurrection of Life and they that have done Evil unto the Resurrection of Damnation John 5. 28 29. it is manifest likewise to our Reason that there must be a Re-union of every Soul and Body at the last Day for since Christ shall then appear in his Humanity Ye Men of Galilee why stand ye gazing up into Heaven this same Jesus which is taken up from you into Heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into Heaven Acts 1. 11. corporeal Eyes will be necessarily requisite to behold Him with and that not only because the Organs or Sense are the proper Means instituted by God for the giving notice of corporeal Objects to the Souls of Men but for this farther reason also that there may be a manifest equal Distribution of Justice to the whole Generation of Mankind for
therefore shall Christ's Appearing when he comes to judge the World be with Power and Great Glory Then shall all the Tribes of the Earth mourn and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of Heaven with Power and great Glory Matth. 24. 30. to the end that the Wicked on the one hand beholding plainly with their Eyes his Glorious Appearance may be convinced of the justness of their Condemnation in being rejected and cast for ever from the Presence of God which is that Portion of their Misery called Poena Damni Sect. 7. because they preferred the Satisfaction of their sinful Lusts and vain Desines the perpetual Frustration whereof is that other share of their Torment named Poena sensus Sect. 7. before the Fruition of their great and glorious Maker and Redeemer And that the Godly on the other hand seeing Christ coming in his Glory may meet him with ineffable Joy to enter upon the Possession of his Beatific Presence to be everlastingly enjoy'd because they despised the fulfilling of their Lusts and wicked Desires here for the Fruition of Him hereafter to Eternity If it be objected that Christ shall at length deliver up the Kingdom to his Father that God may be all in all 1 Cor. 15. 28. And that therefore it seems that the Father alone shall be the sole Object of Mans Bliss in Heaven I answer that Christ delivering up the Kingdom to his Father signifies his leaving off or ceasing from his Mediatory Office whereby he was constituted King for the Protection of the Church and not that He shall not reign eternally together with his Father for otherwise why is it said that of his Kingdom there shall be no end Luke 1. 33. The Word God therefore in the 1 Cor. 15. 28. is not to be understood of the Father alone but of the whole Trinity accordingly as Doctor Hammond explicates it in his Paraphrase on the Place When all is subdued to Christ then shall Christ lay down that Office viz. of his Mediatorship which till then he exerciseth and then shall God the Father Son and Holy Ghost fill all the Elect with Glory and Bliss eternally Object 5. Although formal Righteousness be that Love of God in the Soul which expels out of it mortal Sin here and all Sin hereafter Yet if Christ came into the World only to take away Sin by introducing Charity into the Soul what doth Satisfaction Redemption Salvation Propitiation and Reconciliation made and obtained by Christ intend and signifie Solut They intend and signifie that God the Father through the gracious Intervention of his eternal Son consubstantial and co-equal with Himself wrought Salvation for lost Mankind whilst his Incarnation and the Consequents of it which he undertook for Man are the intermediate efficient cause proceeding from Gods Love of Benevolence the Principal Cause by which the Salvation of every one that comes to Bliss is really and powerfully effected and contain that Worth Virtue and Vigor as would be of efficacy enough to save the whole World yea infinite Worlds if they were possible besides But notwithstanding this seeing Man is neither converted nor perseveres in Grace nor goes to Bliss that is neither obtains Charity nor keeps Charity nor is perfected in Charity without his own voluntary Consent 't is apparent that the Merits of Christ are the efficient Cause of Mans eternal Welfare by really and effectually working preserving and perfecting the Love of God in the Soul whilst by Christs Heavenly Doctrine Mans understanding is divinely illuminated with the Knowledg of saving Truth and through that and the serious Consideration of his gracious and wonderful Actings and Sufferings in behalf of Man his Will is powerfully converted to God. Forasmuch then as sincere habitual Charity destroys mortal Sin Par. 6. and thereupon so far brings Man in favour with God or so near to him that he is freed from everlasting Destruction Par. 7. and that perfect Charity wholly extirpates all Sin Par. 9. and thereby constitutes Man in full favour or throughly unites him to God is it not clear and evident that Christ in cleansing the Soul through his Merits from Sin makes up the Breach it had caused between God and Man and so reconciles and brings them again together And is he not an effectual Mediator by whose means they are reconciled together who would otherwise have been at as great difference and distance as Heaven and Hell could make them And in regard unrighteous men are the Servants of Sin Rom. 6. 20. and that St. Peter speaking of the Servants of Corruption saith of whom a man is overcome of the same he is brought in Bondage 2 Pet. 2. 19. and that our Blessed Saviour himself testifieth that Whosoever commiteth Sin is the Servant or Slave of Sin John 8. 34. is it not plain that Christ inasmuch as by his Merits he effectually working Charity in the Soul doth truly deliver thereby from the Bondage and Slavery of Sin has really wrought through his Merits mans Redemption and is thence rightly called his Redeemer And because everlasting Damnation and the Pains of Hell are the unavoidable Consequents and Result of Sin unrepented of is not Christ in that he works Repentance and thereby saves men from eternal Destruction a true and real Saviour And in regard the Breach and Distance caused by Sin between God and Man could not be made up but by means sufficiently powerful to effect the same and that Christ did that by his Merits or Doings and Sufferings which was sufficiently powerful to make up the Breach and Distance between God and Man and that when nothing else was able to do it Sect. 9. is he not on good grounds said to have made a full Atonement and Satisfaction for Sin Not that God was ever affected with Anger and his Wrath really appeased it being impossible that there should be any alteration or change in God who is immutable Sect. 1. Par. 8. and without all variableness or shadow of turning James 1. 17. So that God loved us even when we were Sinners and Enemies Rom. 5. 8 10. and St. John says Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the Propitiation for our Sins 1 John 4. 10. Wherefore since there was no want of Love to wit of Benevolence for with the love of Complacency or Delight God cannot affect Sinners in the Almighty towards the making up the Breach and Distance between himself and man the whole failure of Love was on mans side whose Heart in that it was so fast wedded and glued to the World that neither the Consideration of the glorious and gracious Work of the Creation nor of the great and daily Mercy of Divine Providence proved Motives prevalent enough to make a Divorce and Separation between them some more potent Motive was necessary for the doing of it And because every Creature must needs fall infinitely short of affording such a Motive man
read with diligence and devotion the holy Scripture to frequent the hearing of the Word preached and to meditate often on the Contents of Sacred Writ how can it otherwise be but that he should by so doing acquire a firm and stedfast pious Belief of Divine Truths revealed by Christ and his Apostles 13. And in regard that he whose Petition to God is unfeigned and ardent and withal frequently used for obtaining of Hope and putting his Trust and Confidence in God that he will be graciously pleased to excite his Desires and prosper his Endeavours for the attainment of Bliss will doubtless be induced thereby to refrain from those things which he knows must destroy all hope of Salvation and to addict himself to a stricter Course of Life than he had formerly led and so by the daily Use and Exercise of such Ways and Means as are conducible to Felicity he 'l increase his Hope till it grow by degrees into an Habit. 14. And as for Charity whosoever heartily and with earnestness and constancy of Desire to attain to the Love of God above all things makes his humble address to the Heavenly Throne for the same it cannot otherwise fall out but that he must often be put upon the serious consideration of the unmerited great Love of God to Man in creating preserving and redeeming him of the transcendent value of the immense and endless Joys of Heaven and of the Vanity of the short and transitory Pleasures of this World which if pursued will bring him to intolerable and perpetual Misery whence he 'l learn to despise all sublunary fading Delights in comparison of the everlasting enjoyment of his most gracious Maker Sustainer and Saviour the greater and greater desire of which in his Heart cannot chuse but grow by an ardent constancy in Prayer for the same till Charity be habitually seated in the Soul. 15. Thus we see that Prayer if it be such as God commands doth certainly as a subordinate Cause under himself who is the principal Author of all good whatsoever always prove an effectual Means of instilling every Virtue both Theological and Moral into the Soul of Man so that all other Virtues not here particularly treated of as Humility Patience c. are as effectually got by fervent and frequent Prayer proceeding from a sincere affection and desire of them as those which have been handled be Yea and temporal Blessings both for our selves and others are also obtained of God by devout Prayer when the Divine Wisdom sees the bestowing of them will be a Means to improve in Godliness for the Prayers sake the Souls of those for whom the Prayer is made 16. And if Prayer rightly made be so potent and prevalent to procure the Habits of Virtue as we have seen it is how much more easily will it preserve them being once obtained since every time we seriously pray after the Soul is possessed with the habitual Love of God we are exercising and cultivating Faith Hope and Charity whilst he that loves God above all things firmly resolves that the grand and main Design of his whole Life shall be a continued Tendency through God's gracious Assistance towards the perpetual Fruition of him in Heaven so that whenever he makes his pious Addresses to God in Prayer they are always performed in Faith or a stedfast Belief of the Truth and faithful Performance of all Gospel Revelations and Promises and in an assured Hope and Confidence in the Mercy and Goodness of God towards him from the unfeigned Love he finds he has to God so that the more a pious man pray the more he exercises the Graces of Faith Hope and Charity whence their Habits must needs be confirmed and strengthened accordingly 17. The like is also true of the Moral Virtues whose Habits are corroborated and more firmly fixed by the devout Prayers of a godly person for the better one is established in Faith Hope and Charity the greater Vigilancy and Diligence will he use to subdue and keep under by Temperance his carnal appetite to do right by Justice to every one and to strive through Fortitude against all sinful Temptations and the practice of those Virtues cannot fail to invigorate and fortifie them proportionably to the measure thereof Object 1. Why may not you 'l say the meer Consideration of the necessity of Virtue for the obtaining of Blis put men upon the practice of all such things as are apt either to procure it or to keep it when it is procured And if it may what peculiar Excellency or benefit is there in devout Prayer Solut. That the sole Consideration if serious and frequent of the necessity of Virtue in order to Felicity will excite men to desire and seek after it and if already acquired to preserve it there 's no doubt to be made But nevertheless there is a Benefit peculiar to Prayer above and beyond the Utility of such Consideration For First in applying our selves to God who is our sole supream Good we fix our Thoughts more steadily on the Means available to the gaining thereof when we earnestly beg them of him to that end yea and the very Consideration of the Necessity of Virtue will it self be much improved and heightned thereby Secondly Whenever we devoutly pray we comport our selves with great reverence and Humility as before the Throne of God which rendring the Action of Prayer serious and sacred makes it to work a deeper impression of the Virtue prayed for in our Thoughts than the bare consideration of the Virtue without such Prayer would do Thirdly When with earnestness of Desire we petition our heavenly Father to grant us his merciful Assistance for the obtaining any Virtue we on our parts plainly engage our selves thereby to him to employ our own Care and Endeavours towards the acquiring thereof which must needs cause a stronger inclination in the Soul and a more sedulous diligence in our Actions to obtain the Virtue petitioned for than the sole Consideration of the Benefit thereof towards Bliss could possibly do Fourthly There is nothing more quickens the Desire and encourages the Endeavours after any thing we highly value than a well grounded Hope to obtain it by the Means used to obtain it by and we have his Promises who is no less faithful than able to perform that if we ask not amiss as we never do when we pray for Virtue with Sincerity Fervency and Constancy of Mind as is clear by what has been said in this Section we shall most certainly have our Request Object 2. If Sincerity Fervency and Frequency of Prayer be necessary for the acquiring of Virtue it is but rarely I fear attain'd unto for although many pray frequently and with a real desire of what they pray for yet are there but few that do it with much earnestness or fervency of Spirit Solut. There are several degrees of Fervency or Earnestness the lowest of all which and Sincerity of Affection always implies some degree thereof if
therefore said to nourish the Body because being digested by the Stomach they afford Chyle which sanguified immediately refresheth and strengthens it so the Body and Blood of Christ crucified are there said to nourish the Soul because being applied to it by Faith they confirm it in Charity which is the Spiritual Nourishment and Strength thereof being that which immediately unites it to God Sect. 11. and in the Souls Union with God is the Spiritual Life Strength and Vigor thereof 6. That then the Sacrament of Baptism is the Sacrament of Initiation and introduces Charity into the Soul and the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper the Sacrament of confirming and strengthening the same is in general made manifest And how each of them in particular effects what it was instituted for shall be briefly seen 7. Baptism which is the initiating Ordinance is not to be administred to any that are capable to understand to what intent it was ordained till they give an account of their Belief of the Articles of the Christian Faith and make a serious and solemn profession of their unfeigned desire and stedfast resolution to forsake the World the Flesh and the Devil and to lead a godly righteous and sober Life in which if they be sincere and understand as they ought to do that the external washing with Water or dipping therein denotes the inward cleansing of the Soul from Sin or a dying to Sin and rising again to newness of Life and is a Seal likewise and Means thereof how can it be doubted of but that the Sacramental Action of Baptism being duly performed should to one so prepared have the Effect it was intended for and improve his holy purpose and resolution of leading a new Life into a real performance of the same For to suppose the Soul rightly prepared and immediately disposed to receive Baptism and Baptism duly administred and yet the Effect of Baptism or Res Sacramenti not to follow were to suppose an entire adequate Cause actually causing without its proper Effect ensuing or a thing actually to cause and yet nothing answering thereto actually caused which is impossible 8. And as to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper which is an Ordinance for Confirmation and strengthening of Grace in that it represents unto us the bloody Passion of our Saviour in a more solemn sacred and venerable manner by Christ's own intendment and designation than any other divine Institution doth it must certainly to him who comes with due Reverence and Devotion to that august Mystery and stupendious Token of God's immense and endearing Love to Man be the most effectual Means possible to cause a deep impression of Charity in his Soul and even ravish and transport him with the Love of so good and gracious a God and Benefactor Object 1. If the expulsion of Sin by the accession of Charity be the Effect of the Sacrament of Baptism then can no man be justified without being actually baptized with Water although he really repent and be truly converted to God. Solut. If so be that external Baptism were the only Cause of the Remission or taking away of mortal Sin the consequence would be good but the desire of Baptism for the washing away of Sin may be so ardent and operative in some that Charity will be obtained before the actual administration of the Sacrament and whensoever and by what means soever Charity is introduced into the Soul Mortal Sin is necessarily cast out thereby sect 11. par 6. But few without the Sacramental washing with water though piously disposed have the habit of Charity compleated in them Neither is Baptism given in vain even to those whose mortal Sin is expelled out of the Soul before it be administred for since there are as many degrees of Righteousness as there are of Charity sect 11. par 8 9. the actual receiving of that Sacrament will cause in them an encrease of Charity and so of Righteousness which is never perfect till the Love of God be so ardent that it wholly burns up all the dross of carnal and earthly Affections in the Soul Sect. 11. Object 2. If the Belief of the Articles of the Christian Faith and an earnest desire and a stedfast resolution to forsake Sin and to lead a godly Life be Dispositions necessarily required in those who are to be baptized then is Infant-Baptism a fruitless and insignificant thing Solut. It is evident as well by the Office of Baptism as by the Church-Catechism that Infants through their Sureties are engaged before the Church will admit them to Baptism except in imminent danger of Death in which Case the Church enjoyning speedy Baptism becomes it self Surety thereby and therefore orders that the Child if it live be brought into the public Congregation and that the Godfathers and Godmothers undertake for it like to what is done in public Baptism to believe themselves the Articles of Christian Faith and to renounce the World the Flesh and the Devil when they come to Age no less than such as are of ripe years are obliged to declare they already do unfeignedly all those things by which it appears that the Benefit which accrues by Baptism to both has a reference to and proceeds on their part upon the account and ground of a true profession of Faith and a real endeavour after Holiness of Life So that although Baptism be administred to Children before they understand it yet the effect and benefit of it more than this that they obtain thereby the grand Privilege of becoming Members of the visible Church whence they are brought to enjoy the great Blessing of Christian Education takes not place nor is reaped till they do And thus it is easie to apprehend as to those Children that live till they have the use of Reason how Baptism becomes profitable to them whilst if they get benefit thereby they must perform what their Sureties promised for them which if they unfeignedly do by cordially believing the Christian Doctrine and by taking a firm resolution through the Grace of God to live a godly Life the Consideration of the gracious Design of Christ's instituting of Baptism to take away Sin and of the solemn Celebration of it by the Church for their sake to that end will if the Consideration be such as it should be cause a loathing of Sin and a real forsaking thereof for the Love of God. For why Baptism already past should not through a serious reflecting on it especially when Confirmation is duly according to the great importance of it administred be an effectual Means of cleansing the heart from Sin as well as it is by the earnest desire thereof before it be had will not be easily I believe resolved The main difficulty to unfold is how Baptism can profit Children that die young Those who say that Grace is immediately infused by God will be hard put to 't to give a tolerable Reason to what good purpose the Use of Means is when the Effect receives