is magnified and Ages enlightned the Ministry of Angels and the Dispensations of Providence by which the Care and Tenderness of GOD is shewn the infinite measures and Violences of his Love the infinite Variety and Number of Obligations the present Advantages and Benefits the Eternal Rewards the Relation of GOD to Man as a Father and a friend a Bridegroom and a King a Light and Example the sweetuess of our Union and Communion with him and the Gift of the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven all these Things which the Angels desire to look into were by the Christian Religion with the rest before mentioned plainly revealed with our victory over Death the Resurrection of our Bodies and Life Eternal IN the Light of these Circumstances the Interior form of Vertuous Acts more evidently appears For to exercise Vertue in the Quality and Capacity of a Son of GOD is another sort of Business than to exercise Vertue as an ordinary Mechanick and to do all things being clothed with a Sence of our Coelestial Grandeur as we are Heirs of the World infinitely Beloved of GOD ordained for his Throne Delightful in the Eyes of all Angels and Men Beloved and honored by all the Creatures made Partakers of the Divine Nature intending and designing to Please all Spectators in Heaven and Earth by the excellency of our Actions This makes every little Deed as it were infinite within while the Matter of the Action seemeth nothing it renders the Form Divine and Blessed THE best Actions of the prophaner Heathen fell under the notion of Dead Works By which name the Apostle calleth all wicked Deeds to intimate the Privation of all that excellency that ought to be in Humane Actions Every Deed and Thought of ours ought to be Inspired with Life from Heaven The Light of the Understanding and the vigor of the Will is the Soul that informes it When it is void of Knowledge and springs not from that series of GODS infinite Love that ought to animate it nor regardeth those Eternal Joys that are set before us nor at all considers those Obligations that are laid upon us it is bereaved of its Vital and Essential form it is like a fair Carcase without a Soul unsensible of those Interests and Concerns that ought chiefly to be valued and promoted And by this you may see clearly that the Matter of a Good act falles infinitely short of that Perfection wherewith it ought to be inspired if this Soul or Form be wanting which tho less visible to the Eye of flesh is of as much greater Excellence and Importance as the Soul in nature is above Body THUS when a Heathen giveth to the Poor the matter of the Act is the very self same which a Christian man does So is an Act of Courage or Patience in encountring Death the subduing of the Appetite and the Denial of a Lust a piece of Justice against Interest and friendship an Act of Prudence Temperance or Fidelity In all these if we respect the Matter of them Heathens have acted in a manner as high as any Christian and consequently appear to vulgar Apprenhensions as Heroick and Stupendious But consider the inside the Heathen did it that he might satisfie his Conscience and and please the GODS that he might acquire honor and immortal fame or please the generous Inclination of his own Soul which delighted in Honor and Worth or assert his own Principles or five his friends or preserve his Country And doubtless these are Great and brave considerations but they are limited and finite and Sick of two Defects for the most part that are incurable They were Sacrifices of Obedience to false Gods plain Idolatry and attended with an ignorant Loftiness and Height of Mind that confided in them and besides this they aspired to little more then a Glorious name in following Ages WHEREAS the Christian makes all Kind of Graces to meet and concentre in every Action Wisdom Goodness Justice Courage Temperance Prudence Humility Penitence Patience Meekness Liberality Cheerfulness Gratitude Joy in the Holy Ghost Devotion Piety Faith Hope Charity all Kind of Holiness And his Action extends to all the Objects of these Graces and includes their Causes He remembers the infinite Obligations that are laid upon him by that Deity which infinitely Loves him the Benefit of the Creation and the Glory of the Divine Image the Guilt of fall and that blot and misery that lyes upon him the Wonder of his Redemption and the Love of Christ his Death and Passion the Miraculous Pains and Endeavors of GOD in all Ages to reclaim him the Giving of the Holy Ghost and his holy Baptism the New Covenant which he is in with GOD the Height and Glory of his Place and station the Beauty of the World and his Dominion over all the Living Creatures the Joy and Amity of all the Angels the Benefit and Welfare of all his Neighbours the Joy and Prosperity of future Ages the Glory of GOD the Honour of his Church and the Propagation of Religion the Salvation of others Souls and the Eternal State and condition of his own the Acquisition of a Coelestial and Eternal Kingdom and the Delight he taketh in an infinite Sphere of Eternal Joys the fervent Desire he has to be Grateful to the Almighty all these by the Light of his Divine and Coelestial Knowledge enter into the Act for want of which the other work that is wrought by an Ignorant Heathen is in a Manner rightly called a Work of Darkness I do not speak this as if I would discourage a Heathen from doing the Best that he is able or condemn those reasons upon which he proceedeth in his Vertuous Deeds No nor as if all this were necessary to the Acceptance of an Action But to shew how highly Christianity does ennoble the Soul of Man how far more sublime its Principles are and how far more perfect it makes his Actions When they are what they may be And withal to provoke Christians to a more Intelligent and lofty Practice of Christian Vertues lest they differ not in their Morals from the better sort of Heathens All these things are necessary to the perfection of an Action tho not to its Acceptance And GODS Omnipresence and Power and Wisdom and Love ought to be considered in all places among all Persons upon all occasions And the Blood of Christ and the infinite Glory of Eternal Bliss But that which above all I chiefly intend is to shew what influence the great Perfection of Felicity hath upon all our Vertues not only to stir us up to do them but by entering their Constitution to inspire them with their Beauty and form for their fuller Lustre Glory and Perfection That we may see also how Great and Transcendent that Life must be wherein every Act is capable of so much Majesty and Magnificence if I may so speak by reason of the variety of its Ends and Causes And how abominable and absurd they are all that
and Conversations It s exercise in Self-denial measure mixture and proportion Its effects and atchievments Chap. XXIII Of Temperance in God How the Moderation of Almighty Power guided in his Works by Wisdom perfecteth the Creation How it hath raised its own Glory and our Felicity beyond all that simple Power could effect by its Infiniteness Chap. XXIV Of Patience It s original How God was the first patient Person in the World The nature and the glory and the blessed effects of his eternal Patience The Reason and design of all Calamities Of Patience in Martyrdom The extraordinary reward of ordinary Patience in its meanest obscurity Chap. XXV The cause of Meekness is Love It respects the future beauty and perfection of its object It is the most supernatural of all the Vertues The reasons and grounds of this Vertue in the estate of Grace and Misery It s manifold effects and excellenlencies Of the Meekness of Moses and Joseph Chap. XXVI Humility is the basis of all Vertue and Felicity in all estates and for ever to be exercised As Pride does alienate the Soul from God Humility unites it to him in adoration and amity It maketh infinite Blessedness infinitely greater is agreeable to the truth of our condition and leads us through a dark and mysterious way to Glory Chap. XXVII That Contentment is a Vertue Its causes and its ends Its Impediments Effects and Advantages The way to attain and secure Contentment Chap. XXVIII Of Magnanimity or greatness of Soul Its nature It s foundation in the vast Capacity of the Understanding It s desire Its objects are infinite and eternal Its enquiries are most profound and earnest It disdaineth all feeble Honours Pleasures and Treasures A Magnanimous Man is the only Great and undaunted Creature Chap. XXIX Of Modesty It s nature It s original Its effects and consequences Chap. XXX The excellent nature of Liberality Rules to be observed in the practice of it Regard to our Servants Relations Friends and Neighbours must be had in our Liberality as well as to the Poor and Needy How our external acts of Charity ought to be improved for the benefit of mens Souls Liberality maketh Religion real and substantial Chap. XXXI Of Magnificence in God Its resemblance in Man The chief Magnificence of the Soul is Spiritual It is perfectly expressed in the outward life when the whole is made perfect and presented to God God gives all his Life to us and we should give ours all to him How fair and glorious it may be Chap. XXXII Of Gratitude It feeds upon Benefits and is in height and fervour answerable to their Greatness The Question stated Whether we are able to love GOD more than our selves It is impossible to be grateful to GOD without it A hint of the glorious Consequences of so doing Chap. XXXIII The Beauty of Gratitude It s principal Causes Amity and Communion are the great effect of its Nature The true Character of a grateful Person Gods incommunicable Attributes enjoyed by Gratitude All Angels and Men are a grateful Persons Treasures as they assist him in Praises He sacrifices all Worlds to the Deity and supreamly delighteth to see him sitting in the Throne of Glory An APPENDIX Of Enmity and Triumph Of Schism and Heresie Fidelity Devotion Godliness Wherein is declared how Gratitude and Felicity inspire and perfect all the Vertues To the Reader The Author 's much lamented Death hapning immediately after this Copy came to the Press may reasonably move the Readers charity to pardon those few Errata's which have escaped in the Printing by so sad an occasion CHRISTIAN ETHICKS OR DIVINE MORALITIE Opening The Way to Blessedness By The rules of Virtue and Reason CHAP. I. Of the End for the sake of which Virtue is desired IT is the Prerogative of Humane Nature to understand it self and guide its Operations to a Known End which he doth wholly forfeit that lives at random without considering what is worthy of his Endeavors or fit for his Desires THE End is that which crowns the Work that which inspires the Soul with Desire and Desire with a quick and vigorous Industry It is last attained but first intended in every Operation All Means which can be used in the Acquisiton of it derive their value from its Excellency and we are encouraged to use them only on the Account of that End which is attained by them IT is the Office of Morality to teach Men the Nature of Virtue and to encourage them in the Practice of it by explaining its use and Efficacy THE Excellence of Virtue is the Necessity and Efficacy thereof in the Way to Felicity It consisteth in this Virtue is the only Means by which Happiness can be obtained SINCE the Consideration of the End is that alone which does animate a Man to the use of the Means they that treat of Virtue do worthily propose the End in the beginning and first shew the Excellency of Bliss before they open the Nature of Virtue For it is a vain thing to discover the Means unless the End be desired by those to whom the Nature and use of them in their tendency to that End is taught and commended for if the End be despised all endeavors are but fruitless which instruct us in the Means and the Knowledge of them vain if they never be used or improved THAT Reason whereby Man is able to Contemplate his End is a singular Advantage wherein he is priviledged above a Beast It enables him not only to examine the Nature and perfection of his End but the Equity and fitness of the Means in Order thereunto and the singular Excellency of his first Cause as its Glory and Goodness appeareth in the Design and Contrivance Especially in making mans Happiness so compleat and perfect THE Heathens who invented the name of Ethicks were very short in the Knowledge of Mans End But they are worse then Heathens that never consider it THE more Excellent the End is the more prone by nature we are to pursue it and all the Means conducive thereunto are the more Desirable REASON which is the formal Essence of the Soul of Man guides Him to desire those Things which are absolutely supreme For it is an Eternal Property in Reason to prefer the Better above the Worse He that prefers the worse above â—he Better acts against Nature and â—wervs from the Rule of Right Reason WHATEVER Varieties of Opinion there are concerning Happiness all conclude and agree in this that Mans last End is his perfect Happiness And the more Excellent his Happiness is the more ought his Soul to be enflamed with the Desire of it and inspired with the greater Industry THE more perfect his Bliss is the greater is the Crime of despising it To pursue an infinite and Eternal Happiness is Divine and Angelical to pursue a Terrene and Sensual Felicity is Brutish but to place Felicity in Anger and Envy is Diabolical the pleasures of Malice being Bitter and Destructive TO
other mens Souls shining in the Acts of their Understanding throughout all Eternity and extending themselves in the Beams of Love through all Immensity and thereby transformed every one of them into a Sphear of Light comprehending the Heavens every Angel and every Spirit being a Temple of GODS Omnipresence and Perfection this alone will be a ravishing Spectacle to that Goodness which delights to see innumerable Possessors of the Same Kingdome Much more will the Perfection of the Kingdome it self which by infinite Wisdome is so constituted that every one is the Sovereign Object the First born and Sole heir and End of the Kingdome Every one the Bride of GOD every one there a King yet without Confusion or Diminution every one distinctly enjoying all and adding to each others fruition TO understand all this and not to delight in it is more miserable then not to understand it To see it without being able to enjoy it is to pine away in a prison from whence we see the Glory of a Palace and repine in our misery at the Pleasures of those that are about it To delight in these Things without being affected with them is impossible Nor is there any Affection but that of Love whereby we can enjoy them THE Angels see the Glory of GODS Kingdom and delight in it the Damned see the Joys of the Blessed and are tortured by them the Wicked upon Earth neither see nor are affected with them the Saints on Earth apprehend them in part and believe them desire and endeavour after them they wait with Expectation for the whole and by certain degrees as it were in a Glass enjoy the Image and Reflection of them As many as they comprehend they actually delight in for their love is awakened and extended to the goodness of all they understand which it feeds upon by meditation and turnes into Nourishment for the Beneffit of their Souls which are made more Great and Strong and Vigorous by their Fruitions But without Love it is easie to see that no Goodness can be at all enjoyed GOD does desire Love from us because his Wisdom very well knows that without Love the World would be in vain and the End of the Creation frustrated his Goodness is diffusive and infinitly desires to communicate it self which it cannot do unless it be Beloved To receive it is the highest service we can do unto it nothing being more agreeable to the Nature of his Goodness then that it should be enjoyed His Blessedness consisteth in the pleasure he taketh in the Felicity of others and brancheth it self out into two Parts the Pleasure of Communicating all to others and the pleasure of receiving all from others in the satisfaction which he taketh to see others Blessed in the Returns of those joys and Praises which are offered up to his Goodness and Glory His Glory desires to be seen and delighted in To be esteemed and beloved to be honored and admired is natural to Glory the Brightness of whose splendor is more Sensibly Pleasant in the Reflection of its face and in the Joy that it makes in anothers Soul His Holiness takes Pleasure in pure and upright Actions of all which Love is the fountain There is an Objective fitness and Excellency in Love for which it is infinitely valued by him It is one of the first and immediate Properties of Love to desire to be beloved to make its object most Amiable and Beautiful as well as Blessed to be united to it to have its own Goodness acknowledged its Essence approved its excellency desired admired and delighted in to see all its Actions Appearances Gifts and Tokens esteemed and to feel its own Efficacy in the Grateful Acceptance it finds in the Raptures it occasions in the flames it enkindles in anothers Soul Now Love is the fountain of all Honour Gratitude Praise and Esteem By Love the Soul is transformed into the Similitude of GOD by love made Bright and Beautiful all its Blessedness and Glory are founded in its Love it is by Love it self made Communicative and Diffusive and Great and Rich and as the Scripture speaketh fit for Delights All Obedience and service are founded in Love And if a Creature that is Beloved must freely give up it self to anothers Pleasure before it can shew its Love or intirely be enjoyed Love is of all other things in the World most fit to answer Love because the very heart and Soul is given thereby to the Person that desires it LOVE is the Fountain of all Benefits and Pleasures House Estate and Lands Authority Wealth and Power Life it self is consecrated and Devoted by a Lover to his Object So that on our side all is given to GOD by Love as well as by Love it is received from him The Heavens and the Earth and all the Creatures are Gifts and Tokens of his Love Men and Angels are a Present of his Love which he hath infinitely adorned and made endlessly serviceable to every Soul that is Beloved All these his Love would have us to receive with a due Esteem and therefore is it than of his Love he will have us to exercise our reason aright and Love them as much as their Goodness deserveth When we see and understand their Excellence and Esteem them according to the transcendent value that appeareth in them we adorn our selves with their fair Ideas we enlarge and beautifie our Souls with Bright and clear Apprehensions and which is much more with regular and well ordered Affections we enrich our selves and increase our Greatness in the fruition of his Gifts we are lively and pleasant and vigorous Creatures full of Knowledge and Wisdome and Goodness and fit to offer up all these things unto him again while we empty them as Helps and Advantages in that Service which we pay unto him For our Love to himself is enkindled by these Incentives and while we sacrifice our selves and them unto him we delight in nothing more then to see him that is so Great in Love and Bounty the Author and Possessor of all his Glories CHAP. VIII Of the Excellency of Truth as it is the Object and Cause of Vertue The Matter and form of Vertuous Actions That their form is infinitely more Excellent then their Matter and the Heathen Morality infinitely defective and short of the Christian. I do not see that Aristotle made the End of Vertue any other then a finite and temporal Felicity which is infinitely short of that felicity which is here begun and enjoyed for ever He did not make GOD the Object and End of the Soul and if all Acts are distinguished into their Kinds by their Objects and their Ends those Vertues must be infinitely base that have no other Objects or Ends but Creatures and those only Divine and Noble that flow from an infinite and Eternal Original respect an infinite and Eternal Object rest in an Infinite and Eternal End His Difinition of Felicity importeth all this but his Behavior makes me to
Blessedness By it he is capable of all their Affections and of the Services which his Laws require By it all Angels and Cherubims are moved to admire and adore his Glory By it all Creatures visible and invisible are made his Treasures By it he is multiplied and magnified in every Soul as the same Object is in several Mirrors being intirely represented in every living Temple of his Eternal essence By it he becometh his own end and the Glorious Author and the King of Heaven By it he liveth a Divine and a Blessed Life and by it he is what he is for ever By it all the Graces Exaltations and Vertues of all his Creatures are made his Joys and their Persons and Praisers are Delightful to him Of all his Laws and Decrees and Counsels his Goodness is the fountain It is the Original and final Cause of all our Thanksgivings Our ease and repose and Satisfaction our Bliss and enjoyment are founded in it and caused by it For its own Pleasure all our Delights are made exquisite in their place and the most of them Eternal For its own Glory it maketh all its Creatures Glorious and prizeth its own Glory because it is the Sovereign Delight of all its Creatures It is every way compleat and perfect as infinitely Convenient as it is Great in Bounty as Good to it self as to all others There is no End of all its Perfection and for that Cause it is Incomprehensible TO be made Partaker of the Divine Nature without having the Goodness of Almighty GOD is impossible Nor can we enjoy his Goodness or bear the similitude of his Glory unless we are good in like Manner We enjoy the Goodness of GOD and may be said to have it either when we have its Similitude in our selves or the Pleasure of it in others Since the Goodness of GOD is the great Object of our Joy its Enlargment is our Interest and the more there are to whom he is Good and the more he communicates his Felicity to every one the Greater Pleasures he prepares for us and the more is our goodness therein delighted To see innumerable Millions in Communion with him and all of them made Glorious and Blessed and every one seated in his throne is the greatest Elevation of our Souls and the highest Satisfaction in the World When our Goodness meeteth his in all Places and congratulates the Felicity of every person we may then use the Words of our Saviour because we are endued with the same Mind and Affection And as he accepts all the Good that is done to his Members as done to himself saying Inasmuch as ye have done it to the least of these my Brethren ye have done it to me Our Souls will reply Inasmuch as thou hast done all this to the least of these my Brethren thou hast done it to me for loving our Neighbours as our selves all Angels and Men will be our fellow Members our Brethren our other selves As we delight in all Acts of Goodness for their own sakes that are done to us so shall we delight in all the Bounties of GOD for theirs who are the partakers of them and in GOD for this very reason Because he is good to all We shall be as Happy in others as in our selves and Esteem the Goodness of GOD our Felicity because it hath prevented our Goodness and done all for them which were it undone we should desire to do our selves because our Goodness is a principle that carries us to delight in their perfect Felicity VVhich that we may do the more Sweetly and with more full Satisfaction and perfect Reason his Goodness to all others is but the Perfection of Goodness to us for they are all made Blesed for our fuller and greater Felicity HAD GOD withheld or withdrawn his Goodness from all others it had not been Greater to us but less The Stars are no hindrance to our Enjoyment of the Skie but the Light and Beauty of the place which we contemplate Were they all annihilated the Heavens would be obscure They do us many Services of which we should be bereaved by their Absence and Destruction GOD by giving Beams and influences to them made our Treasures more rich and fair which are increased and multiplied by their Beauty and Number Did the Sun shine upon us and upon Nothing else it would be less beneficial to us than now it is Its Beams that are scattered seem to be lost yet were they contracted upon one his Body would be consumed and all the rest of the World be dark about him those Rays which fly from the Sun to the utmost parts of the World illuminate all Objects and from them more conveniently return to the Eye with their Beauty and Glory which by those Rayes that are dispersed become visible and Profitable They fall not all upon every single man but work for him in other places begetting Herbs and Fruits and Flowers and Minerals and Springs and Trees and Jewels with all that is rich and delectable in the VVorld for his fruition It serves Beasts and Fowles and Fishes for my sake and for my sake does it serve even Men and Angels That they being more Divine and Glorious Creatures might adorn Heaven and Earth with their Persons which without them would be void and Empty For we all desire to be seen and Known and Beloved and for that Cause without Living Agents should be very Desolate and discontented THUS you see if GOD had given all Eternity and Immensity to a man if he had made no other Creatures but him alone his Bounty had been defective Whereas by the Creation of these he hath filled Eternity and Immensity with Treasures All which he hath made ours by commanding them to Love us as themselves fit to be enjoyed and beloved by us by filling them with his Goodness and making them in his Image For every one of them is to Love all his Creatures as he does and to delight in the Beauty and Felicity of all and to be the joy and Delight of all as as he is And the Greater and the Richer and the fairer they are the more Great and Happy are we because they are made our Lovers and Friends our Brides and Brethren our Sons and Daughters our Fathers and our Servants which the more Honourable and Excellent they are the more Delightful the more Glorious and Blessed these are their Love is the more precious and Acceptable True Goodness removes all Envy and Contention out of the VVorld and introduces nothing but Peace and Bounty and Joy unspeakeable and full of Glory WE Love nothing more then to be Delightful to others and to have our Glory seen is a natural Desire which our Saviour has countenanced by his own Petition It is our Interests that the Eys should be innumerable that see and admire the Glory which we had with the Father in some Sense before the VVorld was that they should see I mean how much we are Beloved of GOD
be Unmindful of our Concerns in the Dispensations of his Providence Especially Since the World how Glorious soever it is is but the Theatre of more Glorious Actions and the Capacity of Time as Great and Large as that of the Universe Ages are as long and as Wide as Kingdoms Now if GOD have altogether neglected the Government of the World all Time will be Dark and vain and innumerable Bright and Delighful Objects which were possible to be desired denied to the Soul and the better half of GODS Love be removed But if GODS Will and Pleasure be Uniform in his Operations and Time it self Beautified by this Wisdome Goodness and Power as well as the World our Faith will have a peculiar Excellency because it is that by which all the Beauties in Time and Providence are enjoyed Especially if it be able to see and feel them in clear Light and in as lively a manner as the Reason of the Soul can do when most fully informed It is evident that without this Faith the Greater half of our Felicity can never be enjoyed TO Know that we are Men encompassed with the Skies and that the Sun and Moon and Stars are about us with all the Elements and Terrestrial Creatures is matter of Sence and Reason as it is also that we have the Dominion and use of them and that such Excellencies and Degrees of Goodness are Connatural to them But their utmost Perfection is discovered only by the Truth of Religion that alone discloses their first Cause and their last End without which all their Intermediate uses are Extremely Defective It is for more Pleasant to see the Infinite and Eternal GODHEAD from the incomprehensible Height of his Glory shooping down to the abyss of Nothing and actually making all these Transcenent Things out of Nothing for our sakes then to see our selves at present surrounded with them This is the first Act of all the Ornaments of Time and Nature Which tho it be founded on clear Reason yet is it an Object of our Highest Faith as it is revealed by the Word of GOD and therefore it is said Through faith we understand that the Worlds were made For Faith and Reason are not so divided but that the formally Distinct they may enter into each others Nature and Materially be the same The very same Object I mean that is Known to Reason may by Faith be believed Reason not destroying but confirming Faith while it is Known upon one account and believed on another For there is a Mutual Convenience between these two Faith is by Reason confirmed and Reason is by Faith Perfected TO see GOD stooping down to Create the World and Nothing follow is not so Beautiful as to see him afterward in the Act of making Man and Giving him Dominion over all the Creatures It is more pleasant to see Man made in GODS Image then to see the World made for the use of Man For the End of the Creation is that upon which all the Perfection of its Glory does depend and the more Noble Man is for whose use the World was made the more sublime and Glorious its End is To see him placed in the Estate of Innocency Light and Glory wherein he was secure from Death and Sin and Sickness and Infelicity if himself pleased is very Delightful so it is to see that Nature never intended any of those Abortive Errors that now so confound us But to see the End why man was placed in such an Estate to be his Trial and the End of that his freindship with GOD whose Exercise consisteth in voluntary Acts of Gratitude and Amity and the End of those the Beauty of his Life and his fuller Exaltation to Bliss and Glory this is far more Pleasant then the other To see him fall is infinitely Displeasing but the fault is intirely charged on himself And had GOD Eternally destroyed him tho we perhaps had never lived to see it yet we confess it would have been just in it self and the Justice Adorable But to see GOD exalting his mercy in pardoning the offence and for all our sakes redeeming Man by the Death of his Son is sweet still as it is also to see his infinite Justice and Holiness in the Manner of our Redemption To see him lay the foundation of our Hope on a certain Promise seconded with his Long-suffering yet defer the Accomplishment of it for our greater Benefit wisely forbearing to send his Son till the fulness of Time is very transporting but the Reason of it is very Difficult to understand His foresight of our Obstinate Blindness and Incredulity was the Cause of His Dealy That he might gain Time before our Saviour came to speak of him to paint him forth to make him the expectation of the World and the Hope of all Nations To see him for that End reveal himself to Abraham Isaac and Jacob and bringing down their Posterity into the Land of Egypt that he might make that Nation out of which our Saviour was to spring Famous by Miracles and by his Conduct and Government of them more Glorious then all Nations to appear himself among them and give his Oracles unto them and to make them conspicuous to the Eye of all the World by mighty Signes and Wonders and Judgments punishing them for their offences yet Graciously continuing a Seed among them that christ might be raised up according to the Prophesies that went before concerning him To see all the Mysteries of the Gospel painted out in so Lively a Manner in all the Types and Figures of the Ceremonial Law and that Service with so much splendor and Glory continued before he came by the Space of two thousand years wherein all the mysteries of his Kingdome are exhibited to see the Volumen of the Book in which it was written of him so highly magnified and exalted by them that crucified him after it was written and that now continue so much to oppose him as the Jews do To see the Prophets at various Times and in Divers manners so clearly to describe all the particulars of his Life and Doctrine his Eternity his Godhead the Hypostatical Union his Incarnation in the Virgins Womb his Poverty his Meekness his Miraculous Life his Death and Passion his Resurrection and Ascention into Heaven the Sudden and Miraculous Conversion of the Gentiles compared to a Nation 's being born at once the very Town where he should be born and the City from whence the Law should go forth into all the World and the Temple in which the Gospel should begin to be preached To see the Accomplishment of all these Things attended with so many Glorious and Transcendent Wonders and the utter subversion of that Nation for their Incredulity when they had slain him To see Kings and Queens become the Nursing Fathers and Mothers of the Church and so many Glorious Empires receive his Law that was hanged on a Tree To see Temples erected over all the World to a Crucified GOD
Despair has comfort and refreshment answerable to it in infinite Hope 'T is the present food and Support of our Lives 't is the Anchor of our Souls in the midst of all the Storms and Tempests in the World 't is the foretaste of Bliss and Coelestial Glory a Glympse and Appearence of the Beatifick Vision without which to Live is to Dye and to Dye is to perish for evermore THE Great Reason for which a right Hope is accounted so Great a Vertue is because its Objects do really surpass all Imagination The fulness of the GODHEAD in the Soul of Man the Perfection of the Divine Image a Transformation for Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord Communion with the Father Son and Holy Ghost infinite Love and Bounty the Estate of a Bride in Communion with GOD the Possession of his Throne with another Kind of sweetness then the Bridegroom himself enjoys the Resurrection of the Body and Life Eternal in a Kingdome where all Occasions of Tears and Fears shall ever be removed Where all Regions and Ages and Spaces and Times and Eterternities shall be before our Eys and all Objects in all Worlds at once Visible and infinitely Rich and Beautiful and Ours Our very Appetites also being ravished with Sensible Pleasures in all our Members not inconsistent with but springing from these high and Supeperior Delights not distracting or confounding our Spiritual Joys but purely Superadded and increasing the same while our Bodies are made like to his most Glorious Body by that Almighty Power whereby he is able to subdue All Things to himself all these infuse their Value and the Hope that is exercised about these Things is a Vertue so great that all inferior Hopes which this doth Sanctifie are made Vertues by it but without this all other Hopes are Debasements and Abuses of the Soul meer Distractions and delusions and therefore Vices I Know very well that Presumption and Despair are generally accounted the Extreams of Hope and the only vices that are Opposite thereunto But I Know as well that there may be many Kinds and Degrees of Hope of which so me may be vicious and some Vertuous and that some sorts of Hope themselves are Vices When ever we make an inferior Desire the Sovereign Object of our Hope our Hope is abominable Idolatrous and Atheistical We forget GOD and magnifie an inferior Object above all that is Divine To Sacrifice all our Hopes to Things unworthy of them or to be Remiss and sluggish in Hoping for Things of infinite Importance is apparently Vicious But to be just to all our Encouragements and to lift up our Eys to the Eternal GOD with an humble Expectation to wait upon him and to hope for all that from his Bounty which his Goodness has promised to desire the most high and perfect Proofs of his Love is the Property of a most Great and Noble Soul by which it is carried above all the World and fitted for the Life of the most high and perfect Vertue CHAP. XVII Of Repentance It s Original its Nature it is a Purgative Vertue It s necessity its Excellencies The measure of that sorrow which is due to Sin is intollerable to Sense confessed by Reason and dispensed with by mercy REPENTANCE is a Sowre and austere Kind of Vertue that was not created nor intended by GOD but introduced by Sin made fair by Mercy in remitting the offence and pardoning the Sin It is a Strange Kind of off-spring which flows from Parents so infinitely different and has a mixture in its Nature answerable to either an Evil which it derives from Sin and a Goodness which flows from Mercy It s Evil is that of Sorrow Indignation and Shame Its Goodness is the usefulness and necessity of the thing considering the Condition we are now in It is highly ingrateful to Sence but transcendently convenient and amiable to Reason for it is impossible for him that has once been defiled with sin ever to be cleansed or to live after in a Vertuous manner unless he be so ingenious as to lament his Crime as to loath acknowledge and detest his Error THE Union of the Soul and Body is mysterious but that Sin and Mercy should be united as Causes so infinitely different for the production of a Child so Black and so Beautiful is the Greattest Wonder which the Soul can contemplate on this side Heaven and will continue to be remembred for ever and appear more Wonderful than before when the perfect Disparity and Opposition between them is clearly seen in the Light of Glory THE Efficient Cause of Repentance is either Remote or Immediate It s immediate Efficient Cause is the Gracious Inclination or the Will of the Penitent its remote Efficient is GOD the Father of Lights from which every Good and Perfect Gift descended It s Material Cause is Sorrow It s Formal Cause which makes it a Vertue is the Reason and Manner of that Sorrow the Equity and Piety wherewith it is attended containing many ingredients in its Nature too long a particular to be described here It s Final Cause is either immediate or ultimate the first is Amendment the last Salvation BEING thus bounded by its Causes its Definition is Easie Repentance is a Grace or Christian Vertue wherein a man confesses hates and forsakes his Sin with Grief that he hath been Guilty of it and purposes of Amendment of Life in Order to His Peace and Reconciliation with GOD that he may answer the Obligations that lye upon him discharge his Duty lay hold on the Advantages of GODS Mercy escape everlasting Damnation and be made a Partaker of Eternal Glory AMONG the Vertues some are Purgative and some are Perfective The Purgative Vertues are all Preparatory to Bliss and are occasioned only by the Disorder of the Soul the perfective are Essential to our formal Happiness and Eternally necessary by the Law of Nature Repentance is not in its own Nature If Simply and absolutely considered necessary to Bliss But in Relation to Sinners it is as necessary as Physick to the Recovery of Health or as the Change it self is by which we pass from the Distemper we are Sick of to the right and Sound Estate which we had lost by the Disease As the malady is accidental so is the Cure For the Nature of Man may be well and perfect without either this or the other He that is originally pure has no need of a Purgative Vertue but he that is faln defiled musts needs rise and wash away the filth before he can be clean FOR this Cause even among the Heathens themselves the more Knowing and Learned have a Conscience of Sin their Priests and Philosophers devised several Rites and Manners of Purgation which they taught and imposed on their Disciples with much Circumstance and Ceremony in order to their Reception Nor was there any Temple or Religion in the World that pretended not something to Diviner Mysteries Which were graced beautified
of the Soul and its Honour founded in the freedom of its Desire Whatsoever it does not desire and delight in tho the matter of the performance be never so excellent the Manner is spoiled and totally Blasted Now can we compel another to desire or delight in any Thing The Soul in it self hath an Inclnation to or an a version from every object The Ingennity and Worth of the Soul is expressed in the Kindness of its own Intention in the freedom of its Desire to do what is Excellent in the delight it taketh to love its Goodness is founded Now tho GOD infinitely hated Sin yet he gave us an irrevocable Power to do what we pleased and adventured the Hazzard of that which he infinitely hated that being free to do what we would we might be Honourable and delightful in doing freely and of our own Accord what is Great and Excellent For without this Liberty there can be no Love since Love is an active and free affection that must spring from the Desire and pleasure of the Soul It is the Pleasure of a Lover to promote the Felicity of his object Whatsoever Services he is compelled to do he is either meerly passive in them or Cross unto them they are all void of the Principal Grace and Beauty that should adorn them and make them pleasant and satisfactory men may be Dead and moved like stones but in such causes there is no Love neither do they act of themselves when they are over-ruled and forced by another For this cause hath it pleased God in order to our Perfection to make the most Sublime and Sovereign Creatures all Free wherein he hath expressed the greatest Love in the World As we may see by all the Displeasures and Pains it hath cost him through our Abuse of so illimited and great a perfection But where his Love is most Highly and Transcendently expressed there are we most prone to suspect it Nature is so Cross and disorderly There can be no Wisdom without a voluntary Act for in all Wisdome there is Counsel and design Where no consultation nor Election precedes the best operation in all the World is Blind and Casual Fortune and chance must have no hand in that which wisdom Effecteth no more then Force and necessity must have in that Goodness where all the kindness ought to be in the Intention of the Benefactor There is something in it which I cannot explain It is easily conceived but will never I think in Words be expressed The Will has a mighty hand in all the Divinity of perfect Goodness It is the Mind of the Doer that is the principal object of all our Desire and Expectation HAVING for these Causes made his Creatures free he has forfeited their Choise and secured their Determination as far as was possible He hath done all that can be devised to make them Love us and left nothing undone but only that which was absolutely necessary that they might Love They could not Love us if they were not left to themselves to do it freely And their Ability being provided for nay an Inclination given to make them willing he has strictly commanded enjoyned them to Love by Nature allured them ordered us so that we might be fit to be Beloved he hath made it sweet and rational to Love given them his own Example and solemnly protested that he will accept of no Love to himself but what is accompanied with Love to his friends and servants engaged them to Love or be Eternally miserable And if for all this they will not Love the fault is none of his All that he has done to let secure then Love to himself he has done to secure then Love to us and is as much or more concerned in their Love to us then in that which himself requireth and Expecteth Nay he hath made it impossible for them truly to Love themselves without doing of it And if they will neither Love GOD nor themselves we may well be despised for Company He infinitely desires their Love and would take infinite Pleasure in the Operation There is no Way to make themselves Honourable and Delightful to GOD but only by Loving us as his soul requireth And by all these Inducements and Causes are we our selves stirred up to Love freely to exert the Power of Love to others in like manner THAT which yet further commendeth this Vertue of Love unto us is that it is the only Soul of all Pleasure and Felicity in all Estates It is like the Light of the Sun in all the Kingdomes and Houses and Eyes and Ages in Heaven in Earth in the Sea in Shops and Temples in Schooles and Markets in Labours and Recreations in Theatres and Fable It is the Great Daemon of the World and the Sole Cause of all Operations It is evidently impossible for any Fancy or Play or Romance or Fable to be composed well and made Delightful without a Mixture of Love in the Composure In all Theatres and Feasts and Weddings and Triumphs and Coronations Love is the Soul and Perfection of all in all Persons in all Occupations in all Diversions in all Labours in all Vertues in all Vices in all Occasions in all Families in all Cities and Empires in all our Devotions and Religious Actions Love is all in all All the Sweetness of Society is seated in Love the Life of Musick and Dancing is Love the Happiness of Houses the Enjoyment of Friends the Amity of Relations the Providence of Kings the Allegiance of Subjects the Glory of Empires the Security Peace and Welfare of the World is seated in Love Without Love all is Discord and Confusion All Blessings come upon us by Love and by Love alone all Delights and Blessings are enjoyed All happiness is established by Love and by Love alone is all Glory attained GOD Knoweth that Love uniteth Souls maketh men of one Heart in a House filles them with Liberallity and Kindness to each other makes them Delightfull in presence faithful in Absence Tender of the Honour and Welfare of their Beloved Apt to obey ready to please Constant in Trials Patient in sufferings Couragious is Assaults Prudent in Difficulties Victorious and Triumphant All that I shall need to observe further is that it compleated the Joys of Heaven Well therefore may Wisdome desire Love well may the Goodness of GOD delight in Love It is the form and the Glory of his Eternal Kingdome And therefore it is that the Apostle saith Charity never faileth but whether there be Prophesies they shall fail whether there be Tongues They shall cease whether there be Knowledge it shall vanish away For we know in part and we Prophesie in part but when that which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away For now we see through a Glass darkly but then Face to Face now I Know in part but when shall I know as also I am Known And now abideth Faith Hope and Charity these three
him might have bin it must be just such a Power as this is and act just in such a manner as this hath done or it would be displeasing This hath done all that we can desire all that all Powers infinite and eternal can do well and therefore all possible Powers are conceived in him He is the full and adaequate object of all Desire because the Fountain of all the most Glorious things and the sole perfect cause of all Enjoyment whatsoever CHAP. XXXIII The Beauty of Gratitude It s principal Canses Amity and Communion are the great effect of its Nature The true Character of a Grateful Person GOD'S Incommunicable Attributes enjoyed by Gratitude All Angels and Men are a Grateful Person 's Treasures as they assist him in Praises He sacrifices all Worlds to the Deity and supreamly delighteth to see him sitting in the Throne of Glory GOD having prepared the way to Gratitude by infusing generous and noble Principles into the Soul beautified the Exercise of it by divers other provisions that conspire to make it amiable and delightful By the one he made it Possible by the other desirable ONE of the greatest ornaments of this Vertue is the Grateful Sence of Benefits received For in it the Felicity of the Receiver consisteth on it his Grateful behaviour dependeth by it he is made Grateful or Acceptable and it is one of the great Ends intended in the Gift bestowed by the Donor whose Satisfaction ought to be regarded highly by every honest and worthy Receiver That Grateful Sence is the crown of the Gift the Light wherein its Beauty appears the Temple of its Honour as it were the Womb wherein it is conceived and findeth its life and value perfected SHOULD we stand upon the Explication of these we should have little room for the Fruits and Effects of Gratitude which are the principal things intended in this Chapter But in short you may take this account The greatest Benefits we can receive are but Abortive or rather turned into Curses without a Grateful acknowledgment of them All Gifts are but Carkasses devoid of Life unless inspired with that Sence which maketh them Delightful For as Causes without Effects are not Causes of Blessings if they Bless not are falsely reputed Blessings No Benefits can be Blessings unless they are crowned with our Complacency They must be conceived in the Mind before they can be transformed into Joy and be transformed into Joyes before they can produce those Praises which are the musick of the Benefactors Soul as well as of the Receivers They are not conceived unless they are quickened with the Life of the Receiver nor are they reputed Blessings till they are had in Reputation An interior Sence is the Life and Soul of every Blessing without which a whole World of Delights would be but a Chaos the very Kingdom of Heaven but a Confusion to him for whom it is prepared and a Soul among the Angels but a Fool in Paradice An Ungrateful Person bereaves himself of the Pleasure that should spring from his Enjoyment for the stifles the enjoyment of the Gift he receiveth He Eclipses and extinguishes his own blessedness by the dulness of his Soul and the perversness of his Behaviour He may be surrounded with Causes of Delight but is not blessed that is not full of the Joyes wherewith he is surrounded When he is full of Joyes he must needs overflow with Complacencies which are the very element of Thanksgiving the matter and fuel as well as the Soul of Praises Were there nothing in a Grateful Sence but this Gratitude were an incomparable Vertue because all the effects of infinite and eternal Bounty are by vertue of that Grace applyed to the Soul and enjoyed thereby but are lost without it That certainly must be a great Vertue by force of which we inherit all things AS for the Beauty of the Receiver it is evident that a dull and heavy Complexion is the disgrace of his Nature His Stupidity makes him a worthless piece of Clay that cannot be improved to any advantage A carelessness and contempt of Benefits springeth from his Sottishness which maketh him Ingrateful that is Odious because he cannot be won by Kindness nor wrought upon by Gifts But he is more deformed because he acts in a bruitish manner against Reason while he faileth to do what is fit and proper on such occasions It is a base and dirty Temper that cannot be enflamed with the Love of a Benefactor It is incapable of high and generous Sentiments is dull and dry insipid and untractable as dead as a Log of Wood a crabbed and knotty piece of matter that cannot be wrought and only fit for the fire But a quick and lively Perceiver a tender Sence and sprightly Intelligence is all honour and delight upon the Reception all activity life and vigour Angelical in his nature sweet and heavenly apt to come up to the Benefactor and answer his desires He is rich and abundant in amiable Resentments and prone to make Returns suitable to the Kindness wherewith he is affected He has a strange kind of Beauty lodged in his Soul there is a sweet Correspondence and a delicate Convenience between his Nature and his Benefactors All his Inclinations are Purity and Praise he is a great encouragement to the Love of his Benefactor an ornament to his Person an admirer of his Worth an appendix of his Honour and a pleasure to his Disposition all Life and Goodness He is capable of Amity in the heights of its exercise A wise and worthy Benefactor designs the felicity and contentment of the Person to whom he imparteth his Bounties and if he were able would do that for him which above all other things is most to be desired not compel him to be Grateful whether he would or no for that would but spoil the beauty of his Return but make him capable of the best and highest Resentments that he might have the Joy of seeing his Benefits work kindly All which are lost and thrown away upon an ungrateful Person This GOD hath done He has put brave Principles and Inclinations into the Soul of Man and left him freely to exert them with infinite desire to see him act freely but generously and nobly For by this means only is he made capable of Honour and the essence of Gratitude consists in the freedom of its operation Having so made him and desiring nothing more than a lovely Behaviour his Joy is as great as his Goodness can inspire when he sees that sweetness which attends the Operation and the work of Reason in a Grateful Person and the Joy which he occasions is his own Joy in the Soul of his Creature Of which to rob GOD is a kind of Spiritual Sacriledge and a cruel Murther committed on our selves For we have an inclination to delight in the Joyes of which we are the Authors and by a kind of Eccho or reflection find the Pleasure doubled which we take and
which is taken in the communication of our Bounties And in this there is founded a certain sympathy of Delight which carries us to feel and be affected with anothers Joy and makes it an Object and a Caufe of ours nay almost the very Form aud Essence of ours when we are the Authors of it A Grateful Soul holds Intelligence with GOD as it receives his Bounties it delights in his Complacencies THE great effect of Obligation and Gratitude is Amity and Communion A Grateful Soul is deeply concerned in the Honour of his Benefactor in his Benefactors Pleasure Life and Safety in all his Successes Prosperities Advancements in all his Felicity and Glory He is afflicted in all his Afflictions he is delighted in all his Enjoyments he is crowned in all his Promotions he is wronged and injured in all his Affronts he is touched with the least Displeasure that can befal him Nay he is more tender of his Benefactors Repose than his own The apple of his Eye is the tenderest part in himself yet he had rather have it touched than the Person of his Benefactor No wounds can wound him more than those which his Benefactor receiveth and he in him His own wounds may kill his Body but these destroy his Contentment A thousand Injuries and Calumnics against himself he can forgive and is never provoked but when his Friend is offended He slights himself and prefers his Benefactor He would make his Face a Stepping stone to his Benefactors Glory He exposes his body to Swords and Spears and Arrows for his Benefactors safety He would rather be torn to pieces and suffer a thousand Deaths than permit his Benefactor to be slain or dishonoured Now all this in time of Trial and distress would seem disadvantagious But besides the Obligation there is Sence of Honour that compâ—â—â— a man thereunto and a certain beauty in the act of Gratitude distinct from the goodness of the Benefit that is so naturally sweet to the goodness of the Soul that it is better to die than renounce it And a certain Baseness on the other side an odiousoess in Ingratitude in the very act so abominable that it blasts any Safety and Repose that can be gotten by it WHERE the Benefits are small the Vertue of Gratitude is less powerful and perfect for its strength depends upon its food and nourishment A thin and spare diet is not very healthful for it Though all the benefits that are done upon the Earth by Men to Men are infinitely mean if compared to those which the Godhead does to the least of his Creatures yet the World is full of the praise of this Vertue and an Ingrateful man is the most hateful Object living Former Ages afford us many rare and glorious Examples of the power of Gratitude and its sacred Zeal for and tenderness of its Object The union between the Body and the Soul is nothing comparable to the union of Love and its Beloved though the Causes are but slight upon which it is founded The Soul will often forsake its mansion to dwell with its beloved It esteems all its beauties and Members only for its Beloloveds sake Yet Colours and Features a little red and white a sparkling Eye a brisk Conversation and a delectable Humor are all that breed it all that produce this mighty effect this prodigy of Nature There is something more where the Life and Honour of a man has been saved by the kindness of a Benefactor especially if he be rich and amiable that has delivered us If he be great and honourable that was the Author of the benefit the obligation is the greater For the Worth of the Person enters into the nature of the act and enhances its value Yet all this put together is exceeded by the Gratitude of a worthy Soul because his own Worth inclines him to be more Generous than the Cause requires and to magnifie the benefit by the mighty addition of his own goodness It is the natural property of Goodness to communicate it self any occasion of doing it is instead of a Cause But when there is a Cause it is like a spark to Powder it enkindles a flame in his Inclination All acts of Gratitude have a great deal of sweetness in their own nature and for the sake of that beauty which is seated in themselves will not be rigorous and exact in their proportions since it is a beautiful thing to exceed in Goodness It s own disposition prompts it to do more than is deserved by the Kindness it receives and if not to conceive it self more obliged than it is yet to be more honourable in its Returns than the meer goodness of its Benefactor can exact because it conceives it self by its own Vertue obliged to be Noble and Munificent in all its acknowledgments BUT however slow Gratitude may be in the Returns which it maketh for smaller benefits it is infinitely prone to exceed all measure when it is infinitely obliged Praises are not fed by mean Contentments but by sublime ones The acknowledgment is cool where the benefits are small and the Contentments imperfect where they are limited and restrained Full Satisfaction hath another kind of influence on the Soul of Man than single Kindnesses or some few particular Supplies An infinite Bliss produces more vigorous and joyful efforts than bare Acknowledgments Here upon Earth there are disquiets and destres and expectations and Complaints and defects and imperfections fears and interests to be still secured that lame and darken our Contentment and Gratitude But in Heaven all these admixtures of alloy are remov'd The glory of the light in which our Gratitude appeareth adds lustre and beauty to the increase of its Perfection In the utmost height of our Satisfaction there is such an infinite and eternal force that our Gratitude breaks out in exulting and triumphing Effusions all our Capacities Inclinations and Desires being fully satisfied we have nothing else to do but to Love and be Grateful An infinite and eternal Kingdom given to him that was taken out of Nothing by a King that is infinite in greatness and beauty all his Joyes and all his Treasures it makes the Soul a fountain of Delights whole nature is to receive no more but overflow for ever When the Soul cometh once to love GOD so infinitely above it self as the cause requireth its only delight is to magnifie him and to see him blessed The beauty and sweetness of its own Gratitude is as rich and divine as all his Gifts It is tempted here infinitely more to exceed its Causes than ever before Amazements Admirations Affections Praises Hallelujahs Raptures Extasies and Blessings are all its delights The pleasure of Loving is its only business it is turned all into flame and brightness and transportation and excess It infinitely passes Light and Fire in quickness and motion all Impediments are devoured and GOD alone is its Life and Glory The more Great the more high the more excellent he is the more
Love is made compleat and Perfect it will be like his and the Benefit of it will be Eternal BEFORE we can fully discern the Benefit of Love or see the Glory of it in all its high and admirable Effects we must consider what Love is and doth in GOD. For as we have said The Life of GOD is Love nay the Apostle saith GOD is Love By Loving he begot his Love And if his Love be his Godhead his Essence is an infinite and Eternal Act of Love by extending which through all infinity and by Loving Eternally he begot his infinite and Eternal Essence which is the Love that filleth all Worlds with Beauty and Glory When you consider it well An Act of Love is begotten by Loving And if his Wisdome and Goodness and Blessedness and Glory be seated in Love his Love is his Wisdome which is the Son of GOD and his Goodness and his Glory and his Blessedness For all these tho we conceive them diversly are the same Thing and of the Son of GOD it is said that he is the Wisdom of the Father and the Brightness of his Fathers Glory He is the Life of the Father by whom also he made the Worlds and the Love of the Father for whom all Things were created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth visible and invisible whether they be Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers all Things were created by him and for him For GOD enjoyeth all Things by his Love which is his Eternal Son and made them as perfect and delightful as it was possible for things created to be that he might take Pleasure in them As he himself is made Glorious and Delightful in the Eyes of all Angels and Men by Love so doth his whole Kingdom arise and Spring from Love the Beauty and felicity of all his Creatures their Joys and Praises their Uses and Perfections are founded in his Love ' by his Love he begetteth all his pleasures in himself by his Love he made his Treasures infinite and by that alone doth he take infinite Pleasure and Delight in himself and his Kingdome Thus useful is the Love of GOD. Had not GOD from all Eternity Loved had he never desired nor delighted in any thing he had never exerted his Almighty Power never communicated his Goodness or begot his Wisdom never enjoyed Himself never applyed himself to the Production of his Works never appeared in his Glory to any eie whatsoever Removing his Love we remove all the Properties and Effects of his Essence and are utterly unable to conceive any Idea of his Godhead For his Power tho it be Almighty yet if it be Dead and idle is fruitless and Deformed Idle Power is not the Essence of the Deity but a meer Privation and Vacuity or at least a positive Being as ignoble as it is unactive The Reason of his Works is founded in Love so are all the Obligations that are laid upon his Creatures to adore him All their Rewards are founded in Love and by Love prepared All his Laws are the Laws of Love all his Attributes and Counsels are Love in several formes acting upon several occasions When his Love communicates it self in Joys to innocent Creatures it is Goodness when it attains the most perfect End by the most perfect means it is Wisdome when it rescues guilty Creatures from Hell it is Mercy when it punishes the Rebellious it is Justice when it inspires Obedience into any obstinate Person it is Grace when it delights in the Beauty of all its Works it is Blessedness when it appears in the perfection of its works it is glory For Glory is the perfection of Beauty that ariseth from and is seated in the lustre of excellent Actions discovering the internal Properties of an excellent Agent which is by those his Properties and Actions made Delightful to all Judicious Spectators NOR is it onely in GOD but in us also that the fruits and Benefits of Love are ineffable For by loving as it ought to do the Soul acquires its own Perfection and is united to all its Objects By loving as it ought to do it is made Holy and Wise and Good and Amiable Onely by Loving does it embraces the Delights of which it is capable Love is the root and Soul of those Actions for which a Creature is desired and praised by others IT is an infinite Advantage that we are able to live in GODS Image if we please For if GOD alone be infinitely Glorious and Blessed there is no way for us to become Glorious and Blessed but by being made either by our selves or some other like unto him BY nature he hath implanted the Similitude of his power which we are to improve by Grace turning it into Act after his Similitude To be able to Love is neither Grace nor vertue but a meer Gift of GOD a natural Endowment which may be Blasted or compleated Actually to love is the Work of vertue for by that Act we enjoy our Felicity HAD GOD limited and confined our understanding our power of Loving had been shut up in Bounds Had he made it infinite but not prepared objects for the same our Love had been deluded and had lost its force Had he made some Objects but not so many as it was capable of Loving it had been Superfluous and dissatisfied Had he prepared Objects innumerable and Endless but made them evil our Love had been irrational had he commanded us to Love them Had he made more Objects then we were able to love we had been discontented But having made all Objects infinitely Amiable and Glorious and filled his Immensity and Eternity with himselfe and with the Lustre of his Actions Love is an infinite Vertue because nothing is wanting but an Act of Love to enjoy them IF they are all Amiable in all Respects they are all according to our Hearts desire in their Natures Places Durations Ends Occasions Causes Uses Service Relations Properties Operations c. All things as they immediatly proceed from him are in all respects most perfectly pleasing And if we have an Eye to see and discern this and a Soul able to resent the Benefit if our nature be so vast and perfect as to see and take pleasure in all their Circumstances it is the most unreasonable and bruitish thing in the world to withdraw our Affection from them nay it is worse then Diabolical For we Kill our selves we blast our Felicity we offend GOD we slight the Beauty of all his Creatures we break his Laws we act against nature we darken the Light and Splendor of our Souls we deface his Image we grieve his Love we do the most vicious and abominable thing that is imaginable But if we excite and a waken our Power we take in the Glory of all objects we live unto them we are sensible of them we delight in them we transform our souls into Acts of Love and Knowledge we proceed out of our selves into all Immensities
and Eternities we render all Things their Due we reap the Benefit of all we are Just and Wise and Holy we are Grateful to GOD and Amiable in being so We are not divided from but united to him in all his Appearances Thoughts Counsels Operations we adorn our souls with the Beauty of all objects whatsoever are transformed into the Image of GOD live in communion with him nay live in him and he in us are made Kings and Priests unto GOD and his sons forever There is an exact and pleasant Harmony between us and all the Creatures We are in a Divine and spiritual Manner made as it were Omnipresent with all Objects for the Soul is present only by an Act of the understanding and the Temple of all Eternity does it then becom when the Kingdom of GOD is seated within it as the world is in the Eye while it lives and feels and sees and enjoyes in every object to which it is extended it s own its objects Perfection IF by our voluntary Remisness or Mistake or Disorder we dote upon one Object or suffer some few things to engage our Souls so intirely as to forget and neglect all the rest we rob all those we desert of their due Esteem and abridge our selves of that Liberty and Extent wherein the greatness of our soul consisteth As if the Sun that is made to shine upon all the World should withdraw its Beams from the Stars and the Heavens and chuse to shine upon nothing else but a Spire of Grasse a grain of Dust or a little sand We lose innumerable Objects and confine our selves to the Love of one by sacrificing all our Affection to that become guilty of Idolatry in one respect of Atheism in another For we elevate that Creature which we love alone into the place of GOD and we rob the Creator of that supream affection which is due unto him And in so doing bereave our selves of the Sovereign Object in the fruition of which all the rest are happily enjoyed Thus when a man so Loveth his Wife or Children as to despise all mankind he forfeits his Interest in all Kingdoms and the Beauty of all Ages is taken from his Eys his Treasures are contracted and his Felicity is maimed and made Defective When a Covetous man doteth on his Bags of Gold the Ambitious on Titles of Honor the Drunkard on his Wine the Lustful Goat on his Women the foolish Hector on his Dice and Duels they banish all other Objects and live as absurdly as if a King should relinquish his Crown and confine his Thoughts and Care to a Country Mannor I will not deny but that there are many Disorders and Evils in the World many Deformities Sins and Miseries but I say two things first that in the Estate of innocency wherein all things proceeded purely from GOD there was no Sin nor sickness nor Death nor Occasion of Complaint or Calamity Secondly that all the Evils that are now in the world men brought on themselves by the Fall And there is great need of distinguishing between the works of GOD and the works of men For all that GOD did is Lovely and Divine nothing is bitter and distasteful but what we have done himself surveyed the whole Creation and pronounced concerning every Thing that it was exceeding Good So that he was in all his Works an Object of Complacency To these we add two Considerations more That of all the Evils and Mischeifs which men have introduced there is not one left uncorrected in his Kingdome Secondly that GOD bringeth Order out of Confusion Light out of Darkness Good out of Evil and by a Providence irresistable and a Power infinite so limiteth and divideth all that even Evils themselves become the Matter of his Victory the Ground of his Triumph They are all improved and he makes the Greatest Evils Objects of Joy and Glory NOW if all Things before GOD are fit to be enjoyed all Good Things perfect all Evil overcome if without any Change of Place or Scituation all Things are naked and open before his Eyes and there be no Walls to exclude or Skreens to hide no Gulph to pass nor Distance to over come but all things equally neer and fair there is some Hope that the same Felicity is prepared for the soul which is made in his Image and that every thing being fit for GOD is full of infinite Depth and Beauty For which Cause St. John being in Spirit saw all the Kingdomes of the World become the Kingdomes of the Lord and of his Christ and heard every Creature which is in Heaven and on the Earth and under the Earth and such as are in the Sea and all that is in them saying Blessing and Honor and Glory and Power be unto him that Sitteth upon the Throne and to the Lamb for evermore This we are the rather induced to believe because the Faithful Servant is commaned to enter into the Joy of his Lord and our Masters Joys are the Rewards of Believers Our Savionr telleth us his Lord will make his Wise Servant Ruler over all his Goods in one-place and over all that he hath in another TO see beyond all Seas and through all interposing Skreens and Darknesses is the Gift of the Understanding and to be able to Love any Object beyond the Skies any Thing that is Good from the Centre of the Earth to the Highest Heavens is the Property of the Soul which it exerciseth here by Parts and Degrees but shall at once exert at the Day of Consummation The Infinity of the Father in the Son the Godhead of the Son in the Holy Ghost will entirely be enjoyed IT is the Glory of man that his Avarice is insatiable and his Ambition infinite that his Appetite carries him to innumerable Pleasures and that his Curiosity is so Endless that were he Monarch of the World it could not satisfie his Soul but he would be curiously inquisitive into the original and End of Things and be concerned in the Nature of those that are beyond the Heavens For having met with an infinite Benefactor he would not be sit for his Bounty could any finite Object satisfie his Desire and for this Cause is his Reason so inquisitive to see whether every thing be Delightful to his Essence which when he findeth agreable to his Wish and to exceed his Imagination it is impossible to declare how his Avarice and Ambition will both rejoyce how much his Appetite will be satisfied and his Curiosity delighted To sit in the Throne of GOD and to enjoy Communion with him in those Things which neither Eye hath seen nor Ear heard nor hath it entered into the Heart of Man to conceive is no mean thing the Advancement is infinitely Greater then we are able to understand No young man can gaze upon a Beauteous face with greater Pleasure no Epicures Sence he ravished with more Delight than that which he apprehends in so Glorious a fruition THE very sight of
your Power and to neglect his Treasures but it is infinite VVisdome by the best of all possible Means to embrace and enjoy them Because an infinite End is thereby attained even GOD himself who is thereby made the portion of the Soul and its Reward forever THE best of all possible Means whereby we can acquire his Eternal Treasures is to imitate GOD in our Thoughts and Actions to exert our Powers after his Similitude and to attain his Image which is after GOD in Knowledg Righteousness and true Holiness For by Knowing all Things as GOD Knoweth them we transform our Souls into an Act of Knowledge most Bright and Glorious By Loving all Things as GOD Loveth them we transform our VVills into an Act of Love which is most Sweet and Blessed VVe enrich and Beautifie our selves with the Image of his Goodness while we communicate our Souls in our Powers to all Objects in his whole Eternity VVe magnifie our selves by magnifying Him in all his Works We do right to our selves by doing right to GOD and all other Things VVhich for as much as we must here on Earth learn by Degrees and can never perfectly accomplish the VVork till it is given us in Heaven it is VVisdome to walk in the Paths of Righteousness as far as we are able and to do those Things here tho small and defective which he will recompence with a Reward so perfect hereafter IF ever we be so happy as to come to Heaven his VVisdome shall be our VVisdom his Greatness our Greatness his Blessedness our Blessedness his Glory our Glory All his Joys and Treasures shall be ours his Life and Love ours and Himself ours for evermore HIS VVisdome is made ours because it is the Light in which we shall see Light and learn thereby to inherit all Things the Exemplar and Original of our VVisdome the Fountain and Patern of all our Joys the Author and Inventor of all our Delights the End and Sum of all our Desires the Means of all our Felicity our very Blessedness and Glory CHAP. X. Of Righteousness How Wisdome Justice and Right Reason are shut up in its Nature What GOD doth and what we acquire by the Exercise of this Vertue RIGHTEOUSNESS and VVisdome are neer allyed For to be Just towards all Objects is to render them their spiritual Due their Due Esteem It is VVisdome because thereby we attain our End and enjoy their Excellency It is Right Reason because to value all Things just as they are tendering to them neither more nor less then they deserve is to do Right to our selves and them it is a Vertue because by force thereof we attain our Happiness For the better understanding of this Vertue we must Know that there is a Righteousness of Apprehension a Rightteousness of Esteem a Righteousness of Choise and a Righteousness of Action Righteousness of Thought is that Habit by Vertue of which we think aright forming and framing within our selves aright Apprehensions of all Objects whatsoever This tho it be the First and smallest Part of Righteousness is of Great importance because no man can use that aright the Nature of which he does not apprehend He that mistakes his Hand for his Meat will rise hungry from Table He that mistakes a Fiddle for an Axe will neither cut Wood well nor make good Musick The Misapprehension of Great and Transcendent Objects whether visible or Spiritual is not perhaps so Gross but more pernicious and Destructive He that apprehends GOD to be a Tyrant can neither honour GOD nor Love him nor enjoy him He that takes Vertues to be vices and apprehends all the Actions of Religion unpleasant will loath and avoid them He that conceits Nothing in the World to be his own but his low Cottage and course diet will think it needless to praise his Maker and will deny himself to be happy in those narrow and Mean enjoyments He that thinks all the wealth is shut up in a Trunk of Gold will little regard the Magnificence of the Heavens the Light of the Sun or the Beauty of the Universe RIGHTEOUSNESS in esteem is that Habit by Vertue of which we value all things according as their Worth and Merit requires It presupposes a right Apprehension of their Goodness a clear Knowledge of all their excellencies It is a Virtue by which we give to every thing that place in our Soul which they hold in Nature It is wonderful both for its extent and Value For there is Room enough for all Objects in the esteem of the Soul and it is by esteem that they are honored perfected and enjoyed A wise man will actually Extend his Thoughts to all Objects in Heaven and Earth for fear of losing the Pleasure they afford him which must necessarily spring from his esteem of their excellency HONOUR and Esteem are neer a kin How the Creatures are honoured by esteem needeth not to be unfolded but how they are perfected by it is a little Misterious A thing is then perfected when it attains its End Now the End for which all things were made is that they may be seen and enjoyed They are seen that they may be esteemed and by an intelligent and right esteem are all enjoyed In our esteem therefore they find and attain their end and by attaining that are consequently perfected The Application of Actives to Passives is a mystery in Nature of very great and General Importance In all Pleasures Cures and Productions All satisfactions Joys and Praises are the happy off-spring of Powers and Objects well united Both the one and the other would lie void and barren if they never met together and when they meet their Union must be regular wise and holy GOD is an Object of Mans Esteem Which unless it were able to render him his Due and Quadrat with his Excellencies a man could never be Righteous towards GOD. For that Esteem is void of Righteousness that either exceeds or falles short of its Object If it becometh us to fulfil all Righteousness it becometh GOD to endue us with the Power of Esteeming all that is Good and Excellent according to the Worth and Value thereof For which cause he enables us to Esteem all that we can see in Heaven and Earth and in the Heaven of Heavens For this Esteem is the Foundation of that choise which is the Original Spring of all excellent Actions Even GOD himself meeteth his Honour in the esteem of our Souls He is injured by the Sacrilegious Impiety that robs him of his Esteem being infinitely Quick and Tender in apprehending he is more jealous of his Honour and more grieved when he loseth it then any other His Wisdom and his Love are infinitly offended when they are slighted and profaned but pleased extreamly when they are sanctified and honored and that they are by a just Esteem And for this cause he hath made us able to attend him in all his Works and in all his ways and to have Communion with him in
Things which we certainly Know and those which we are perswaded to believe what Authority the Relation is of what is the Design and integrity of the Relators what is the Use and End of the things revealed whether they are important or frivolous absolutely necessary meerly convenient or wholy Superfluous things to be abhorred or things to be desired Absurd or Amiable what Preparations went before what Causes preceded their Existence what Effects followed what Concomitants they had what Monuments of them are now left in the world How the Wise and Learned judge of them what Consent and Unity there is in all the Relations and Histories and Traditions of the Things reported WHERE there is no Repugnance between the Objects offered to our Faith and the Things we already know no Inconsistance in the Things themselvs no difference no Contention between the Relators no fraud in promoting nor folly discernable in the first Embracing of the Things that are published no Want of Care in Sifting and examining their Reality nor any want in the Hearers of Industry Skill and Power to detect the Imposture there is a fair Way laid open to the Credible of such Objects attested and revealed with such Circumstances But if the Things attested were openly transacted in the face of the World and had Millions of Spectators at the first if they were so publick as to be taken notice of in all Kind of Histories of those times and places if they were founded on great and weighty causes if they were pursued by a constant Series and succession of affairs for many Ages if they produced great and publick alterations in the World if they overcame all suspicious oppositions obstacles and impediments if they changed the state of Kingdoms and Empires if old Records and Monuments and Magnificent Buildings are left behind which those Occurrences occasioned our Reason it self assists our Belief and our Faith is founded upon Grounds that cannot be removed Much more if the Things be agreeable to the Nature of GOD and tend to the Perfection of Created Nature if many Prophesies and long Expectations have preceded their Accomplishment if the misteries revealed are attested by Miracles and painted out many Ages before by Types and Ceremonies that can bear no other Explication in Nature nor have any Rational use besides if all the Beauty of former Ages is founded in and compounded by their Harmony if they fitly answer the Exigencies of Humane Nature and unfold the True Originals of all the Disorder and Corruption in the world if the Greatest and Best Part of Learning it self consists in the Knowledge of such affairs if the Doctrines on which they attend be the most pure and Holy and Divine and Heavenly if the most of them are rooted in Nature it self when they are examined and considered but were not discerned nor Known before if they supply the Defects of our Understanding and lead us directly to felicity if they take off our Guilt and are proper Remedies to heal the Distempers and Maladies of our Corruption if they direct and quiet the passions of Men and purifie their Hearts and make men Blessings to one another if they exterminate their vices and Naturally tend to the Perfection of their Manners if they lead them to Communion with GOD and raise up their Souls to the fruition of Eternity enlarge their Minds with a Delightful Contemplation of his Omnipresence enrichâ—â— them with infinite varieties of Glorious Objects fit to be enjoyed if they perfect all the Powers of the Soul and Crown it with the End for which it was was prepared Where all these Things meet together they make a Foundation like that of the Great Mountains which can never be moved But if there be any flaw or Defect in these Things if any of them be wanting our Faith will be so far forth lame and uncertain as our Reason shall discern its Cause to be failing NOW of all the Thingsthat the World doth afford the Christian Religion is that alone wherein all these Causes of Faith perfectly concur Insomuch that no Object of Faith in all the World is for Certainty Comparable to that of Religion Never had any Truth so many Witnesses never any Faith so many Evidences they that first taught and published it despised all the Grandeurs and Pleasures in the World designed nothing but their Eternal Felicity and the Benefit of men trampled all Honours and Riches under feet attested the Truths they taught and revealed by Miracles wrought not in obscure Corners but in the Eye of the Sun many Nations far distant from each other were in a Moment reduced and changed at a time Millions of Martyrs were so certain of the Truth of these Things that they laught at Persecutions and Flames and Torments The Jews that are the great enemies of Christianity confess those Histories and Prophesies and Miracles and Types and Figures upon which it is founded They reverence the Book wherein they are recorded above all the Writings in the World confess that they had it before our Saviour was born and glory that it was theirs before it was ours Their whole Faith and Religion is made up of Such Materials which being granted it is impossible the Christian Religion should be false Turks acknowledge the Historical Part. The Artifices of Corruptors have been all detected and must of necessity so be as long as there are inquisitive Men in the World All Schismaticks and Hereticks have cavilled and disputed about the true Interpretation of certain Texts but never so much as Doubted much less shaken the foundation Nay when you look into Matters well the very Certainty of the one was the occasion of the other The great Moment of what they took for granted made the strife the more Eager THIS Advantage our Faith has above all it is suspected only by Lazy and Profane half witted men that are as Empty as self conceited as rash as Wanton and as much Enemies to Felicity and Vertue as to Truth and Godliness But the more you search into it the more Light and Beauty you shall discern in the Christian Religion the Evidences of it will appear still more deep and abundant as endless in Number force and Value as they are unexpected AMONG other Objects of Felicity to be enjoyed the Ways of GOD in all Ages are not the least considerable and Illustrious Eternity is as much Beautified with them as his Omnipresence is with the Works of the Creation For Time is in Eternity as the World is in Immensity Reason expects that the one should be Beautiful as well as the other For Since all Time may be Objected to the Eye of Knowledge altogether and Faith is prepared in the Soul on purpose that all the Things in Time may be admitted into the Eye of the Soul it is very Displeasing to Humane Reason that Time should be horrid and Dark and empty or that he that has expressed so much Love in the Creation of the World should
clear Monuments concurring together without any Dissonancy in the Things themselves or Contention of Parties How dost thou know that there was such a man as King James or William the Conqueror Is he not a mad man that will doubt or Dispute it All that thou hast to confirm thee in the certainty of these and infinitely more conspires together to confirm thee in the certainty of the other The History of the Bible is confest by Turks and Jews and Infidels and which is far more by the Testimony of the Church which deserves to be believed above them all And if the History be true there were such Persons as Adam Enoch Noah Abraham Joseph Moses Samuel David Solomon Elias Elisha Josiah Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel Daniel and the rest of the Prophets such persons as Jesus Christ and his Apostles in such Ages such Prophesies and such Accomplishments at vast Distances such Acts and such Miracles and such Doctrines upon such occasions And if all this Matter of fact be true t is impossible but these Doctrines must be Divine which the Devil and wicked men so much Oppose and Blaspheme in the World And if these Doctrines are true then all the Promises of GOD are true and there is a large foundation of Eternal Hope prepared for the Soul because if all these Preparations be not Eternally disgraced by the feebleness of their End the Glory and Felicity which is designed by them is infinite and Eternal THAT all these Things are intended for thy Benefit thou mayst clearly see by thy very Power to see them and by the Natural Influence which they have upon thy Estate and condition For tho it may happen by some succeeding Accident that thy Power to see and enjoy all may be bereaved of its Objects when thine Interest is Eclipsed and forfeited by thy Rebellion and the Influence of all may at last through thine own Default be ineffectual and Malevolent to Thee yet thou art assured by the Nature of GOD and of thy own Soul that it could not be intended Evil from the Beginning nay the very Order and disposition of the Things themselves importeth the Design to be Felicity and Glory For all these Things were written for our Admonition upon whom the Ends of the world are come And the Apostle expresly saith that whatsoever Things were written aforetime were written for our Learning that we through Patience and Comfort of the Scriptures might have Hope This Hope maketh not ashamed because the Love of GOD is shed abroad in our Hearts We Delight in Beauty and by that very Inclination that we have unto it are apt to Delight in any Thing that is Amiable We delight to see the Order and Perfection of GODS Ways and GOD himself taketh Pleasure in manifesting his Wisdome and Goodness for the Behoof of our Souls because he is Great in Bounty and infinite in Love by his very Essence Nay further we are every one Capable of all the Benefit that accrueth thereby and by Nature fitted to celebrate his Praises for all the Advantages that by any of his Dispensations are imparted to us and have Liberty to improve them all for the Acquisition of that Glorious End to which we are ordained The Nature of GOD which is hereby manifested to be Love to his Creatures is that which enableth thee by this very means to honour and adore him and by so doing to enter into his Kingdome where he that did all these Things for a farther End will appear in Glory and shew thee a Perfection of Life and Bliss that is worthy of all this Care and Providence being as great as thy Heart can Wish or desire HOPE is for its Extent and Dimensions vast and wonderful All the Honour Advancement Exaltation Glory Treasure and Delight that is concievable in Time or Eternity may be hoped for all that the Length and Breadth and Depth and Height of the Love of GOD which passeth Knowledge is able to perform All that Ambition or Avarice can desire all that Appetite and Self-Love can pursue all that Fancy can imagine Possibles and Delightful Nay more then we are able to ask or think we are able to desire and aspire after if it be promised to us the very throne of GOD and all the Joys of his Eternal Kingdom And the more Sublime its Objects are the more Eagerly violently does our Hope pursue them because there is more Goodness in them to ravish our Desire TO fall from the Height of ones Hopes where the Kingdome and Glory was infinite to which we aspire is to fall from the Height of Heaven into the Depth of Hell it produceth a misery and Anxiety in the Soul an Indignation and Sorrow answerable to all the Greatness of our Objects and the expectancies of our Hopes Especially where the Hope is Lively and Tender and Strong and Sensible of all it conceiveth FOR it is the property of a true and lively Hope to Elevate the Soul to the Height of its Object tho dull and drowzy Hopes make no Impression or Alteration in the Mind The Soul extends it self with a kind of Pleasure in its Wishes and in touching The Possibility of such Goodnesses as it proposes to its self in its own Imagination Love and Beauty even in Romances are Delightful the very Dreams and Ideas of the Perfections of Bliss have a Pleasure as well as their Reallity The Desires of it are something more Rich and Sacred then the fancy or Imagination but to Hope for such a Thing with a clear and joyful expectation is to grasp at its fruition with a faint Kind of Promise that it shall at last be ours Had our Hopes in Spiritual Things as much Sence as they have in Temporal those Beams of Assurance that enlighten our Hope and fill it with Glory would infuse a solid Strength into our Desire and our pleasures would be so Great that we should not exchange them for all the Empires in the World Especially if it ascended so high as to be founded on infinite and Eternal Causes and the only fears that did chequer our Hope sprung from Nothing but the Danger of being Wanting to our selves For who would think That when our Lives and Liberties are at stake we should be false to our selves that infinite Love and Power should be tendered to us infinite Beauty and Goodness be before us infinite Honour and Pleasure be offered us Eternal Delights inestimable Riches Ever flourishing Joys an infinite Empire be without fraud attainable and we be so Treacherous and false to our selves as to fleight it all It is an Absurdity so incredible that we should lose all these Enjoyments by our own Default and bare Remissness that we shall hate our selves Eternally if we lose so fair an Advantage Yet this is our Case we daily do that which in point of Reason is impossible to be done and for doing which we judge our selves Guilty of Eternal Tortures All the Misery that is lodged in infinite
Riddles in the midst of all which to think so well of GOD as he deserveth is the most acceptable thing in the World for it argues a great confidence of his Worth and a Love that is founded on Substantial Causes never to be removed It feedeth the Soul with a lively hope and fair Expectation of great Things from him by which alone we do right to His GODHEAD in acknowledging the Perfection of his Love and Goodness and by which alone we are made able to adore him and to live in Union and Communion with him THERE is great Talk of Friendship it is accounted the only Pleasure in the World Its Offices are highly magnified of all Kindness of Behaviour a through and clear communication of Souls a secure Reliance upon each others Fidelity a perfect Discovery of all our Thoughts Intentions and Resentments an ardent willingness to impart Lives and Estate for the Benefit of our Friend the Reposing of all our Secrets in each others Bosomes to do all services and suffer all afflictions for each others sakes to prefer the Concerns of our Friend upon all Occasions above our own these are the Magnalia Amicitiae Arcana mutuae Benevolentiae the Great and mighty Effects for which Friendship is admired But all these without a good Opinion of our Friend are nothing worth they are but Externals of Friendship the greatest Secret in its Nature is the mutual agreement of Souls and Spirits the Delight which either taketh in the other the honour and esteem they give and receive the Approbation and Love of each others Dispositions the Sence and Admiration of each others Vertues the continual Desire of being alwayes together peculiar Extasie which the Beauty of either occasioneth in the other when of all other Treasures in the World their Persons are the greatest to one another Either is the proper Element and Refrigerium of the others Soul Their Bosomes are the mutual Receptacles and Temples of each others accomplishments whereinto they are received in all their Desert and have Justice done to every degree and Perfection in their Nature their Hearts are the Thrones where they are exalted and magnified and live at Ease are honoured and worshipped extolled and reign as absolute in each others Souls There are some slight aims and Adumbrations of this Friendship on Earth but the best and highest Degree of it here beneath is but a rude and imperfect shadow only GOD is the Sovereign friend all Adoration paid to any one beside is meer Idolatry Our Hearts can be absolutely Sacrificed to none but him because he alone is immutable in Goodness We cannot infinitely honour and delight in any but Him it is he alone that can infinitely honour and delight in us All our Lives Estates and Services are Due to him his Will alone is to be wholly ours because no other Will is infallibly Right Wise Holy but his alone THE Union of our Wills is a Perfection of Love but that at which he aimeth by all his Labours and Gifts and Benefits is our Right and Good Opinion of his Excellencies and Perfections That we should see and discern his interior Properties admire his Graces adore his Perfections adore and magnifie his Beauty and Glory this is the End for which he communicates himself in all his Works and Ways unto us it is the End of the Whole Creation and of all the Excellent Things in the universe for by this he establisheth his Empire in our souls and makes us Pleasing to himself in all our Operations And for this Cause it is that the Apostle plainly tells us that tho we give our Body to be burned and all our Goods to feed the poor without Charity it profiteth nothing To render to GOD the Honour that is due to his Name to receive and admire all his Bounties to rejoyce in all his Operations to adore him in all his Ways to take pleasure in all his Works to fill Heaven and Earth with our Joys and Praises is a Work which cannot but be agreeable by its Nature to his Eternal Essence And if this be the Work of Love it is that which is most Excellent because he is therein both pleased and enjoyed GOD and all his Creatures are united together by Love alone and in the Eternal Exercise of pure and perfect Love all Blessedness and Glory consisteth IF you require what it is to love GOD you will find it worthy of his Highest desire because thereby all our souls nay all his Creatures and his whole Kingdome are perfected for to Love GOD as we ought to do is to Honour him as our Father Benefactor Bridegroom and King to contemplate him as our Cause with Complacency and to rest in him as our End to delight in him as our Creator Preserver Lawgiver and Redeemer to dedicate our selves wholly to that Service whatever it be wherein he is chiefly pleased and delighted It is to love him in himself in all his Works in all his Ways in all his Laws in all his Attributes in all his Thoughts and Counsels in all his Perfections It implies the Knowledge of all Objects the Use of all Means the Attainment of all Ends all Wisdome and Goodness all Obedience and Gratitude all Righteousness and Holiness all Joy and Praise all Honour and Esteem all Blessedness and Glory For it is to Love him with all our Heart and with all our Soul with all our Strength and with all our Might with all our Understanding with all our Will with all our Affection with all the Powers of our soul with all our Inclinations and Faculties in all his Creatures in all his Appearances in Heaven and Earth in Angels and Men in all Kingdoms and Ages It is to see and desire to Esteem and delight in his Omnipresence and Eternity and in every Thing by which he manifesteth himself in either of these so that all Enlargement and Greatness and Light and Perfection and Beauty and Pleasure are founded in it and to Love him to Perfection implies all Learning and Attainment because we must necessarily be acquainted with all Things in all Worlds before we can thorowly and compleatly do it Which here upon Earth to do by Inclination and Endeavour to the utmost of our Power is all that is required of us And if we do it to our utmost it shall be rewarded in the Beatifick Vision with a full and Blessed Pefection with an actual Love exactly resembling his and fully answerable to it in the Highest Heavens THERE are two common Motives of Love among Men the one the Goodness and Excellency of the Person the other his particular Kindness and Love to us And both these are in the Highest Degree in GOD. He is of infinite Goodness and and Excellency in himself for there is nothing Good in the world but what hath received all its Goodness from Him His Goodness is the Ocean and all the Goodnesses of Creatures little Streams flowing from that Ocean Now you would think
the World are regulated they are as our Savour calleth them Good or Evil Treasures out of which proceeds Murders Adulteries Thefts Slanders c. Or Praises Honours Preferments Riches Pleasures all kind of Gifts and Benefits And the prudent mans main Business is to make himself intirely beloved by all the World which can never be without great Fidelity Courage Goodness Prudence and Dexterity Flattery and Base compliances makes a man Odious THE Last End of prudence is Eternal Happiness and Glory to which it moveth by crooked Meanders and windings out as occasion requireth It is a strange Vertue for its Conversant amongst Terrene and inferior Objects and yet a far more Difficult Vertue then Wisdom it self Wisdome is a more High and Heavenly Vertue but its Rules are always fixed and its objects Stable where as Prudence hath no set and Stated Rules but in all occasions is to mould and shape it selfe it knows not which way till it comes to Action Its Paths are in the Deep and mighty Waters among Storms and tempests CHAP. XXI Encouragements to Courage It s Nature cause and End Its Greatness and Renown Its Ornaments and Companions Its objects Circumstances Effects and Disadvantages how Difficulties increase its vertue It s Verand Triumphs How subservient it is to Blessedness and Glory LOVE and Prudence are the parents of Courage A Feeble Hen a Timerous Mother will Sacrifice their Lives for their young ones And he that forgetteth all his own Interests divests himself together with them of his Fears and despising Death first easily slighteth all other Things Even a Coward by Nature is made more Bold and confident by Skill at his weapon And he that is always assured of the Victory can never be afraid of the Encounter or the Enemy He that is Dexterâ—ous at the use of all Vertues and knows how to apply them so as ever to come off more honourably will laugh at the Trial of his own Innocence and make a Game of Difficulties and Terrors VALOUR is a right and strong Resolution of the Soul whereby it dare encounter with any Difficulty and Trouble for Vertues sake It is the Armour of the Soul against all Impressions of Fear its Effect is an Equal and uniform stayedness of Mind against all Dangerous and Terrible Accidents It containeth Magnanimitie Patience Constancy Invincible Resolution Boldness and Industry in its Nature It s cause is the Love of Vertue and the sence of Honour Indignation against any thing that is Base and vile a High Ambition and desire of Glory It s End is the preservation of a Mans person and Honesty the Conquest of all Opposition in the Way to Bliss the Destruction or Subjection of Enemies Triumph and Conquest the Establishment of Peace the Attainment of Liberty and Glory Its Attendants are Prudence Justice and Temperance the principal Ornament and Grace of valour is Worth and Goodness its Aids and Encouragements are insinite it groweth Great and High by making use of all the Causes of Hope and Confidence Conflicts and Dangers are the Element in which it lives It owns its whole being to them for without Causes of Fear there could be no courage in all Nature The Knowledge of GOD is the root of Divine Valour and Fidelity to his Laws its Commendation The Assurance of his Love and all those Things that serve to beget and confirm it are subservient to it It draws in strength and Encouragements form all Obligations and Rewards from all Great and Holy examples from the Knowledge of its own Sublimity from the Greatness of Felicity from the Omnipotence and Omnipresence and Providence of the Deity from his Truth and Goodness and from all those Things wherein he has manifested his Love above the Heavens OF all the Vertues in greatest Estimation this is most renowned For its Prerogative is so great that it is simply called VERTUE Vertue being the Word to express and signifie Valour among the Latines because the Force and Efficacy that is in it is most visible and Apparent and by that all other Vertues are secured vindicated Exercised and made Useful It is stiled Manhood among the English with a peculiar Emphasis As is the Essence of a man was founded in Courage because his Vigor is emasculated and his Dignity lost that is Effeminate and Timerous for he is scarce a Man that is a Coward WHAT a Glorious and incomparable Vertue this is appeareth from the Baseness and Ineptitude of its Contrary A Coward and an Honest Man can never be the same a Coward and a constant Lover can never be the same a Coward and a Brave Man can never be the same Cowardice and Wisdome are as incompatible forever as Love and Wisdom were thought toâ— be of Old A Coward is always despicable and Wretched because he dares not expose himself to any Hazzards nor adventure upon any Great Attempt for fear of some little Pain and Damage that is between him and an Excellent Atchievment He is baffled from the Acquisition of the most Great and Beautiful Things and non plust with every Impediment He is conquered before he begins to fight The very sight of Danger makes him a Slave He is undone when he sees his Enemy a far off and wounded before the Point of the Sword can touch his shadow He is all wayes a Terror and Burden to himself a Dangerous Knave and an useless Creature STRANGE is the Vigour in aâ— Brave Mans Soul The Strength of his Spirit and his irresistible Power the Greatness of his Heart and the Height of his Condition his mighty Confiedence and Contempt of Dangers his true Security and Repose in himself his Liberty to dare and do what he pleaseth his Alacrity in the midst of Fears his invincible Temper are advantages which make him Master of Fortune His Courage fits him for all Attempts renders him serviceable to GOD and MAN and makes him the Bulwark and Defence of his King and Country LET those Debauched and unreasonable men that deny the Existence of Vertue contemplate the Reality of its Excellency here and be confounded with shame at their Prodigious Blindness Their Impiety designs the Abolishment of Religion and the utter Extirpation of all Faith and Piety while they pretend the Distinction between Vertue and Vice to be meerly feigned for the Awing of the World and that their Names have no foundation in Nature but the Craft of Politicians and the Tradition of their Nurses Are there no Base fellows nor Brave Men in the World Is there no difference between a Lion and a Hare a faint hearted Coward and a Glorious Heroe It s there Nothing Brave nor vile in the world What is become of these Rodomontadoes wits Where is the boasted Glory of their Personal Valour if there be no Defference but Courage and Cowardize be the same thing HOW empty these Self but shallow conceited Ranters are is evident by their short and narrow measures They place all Gallantry and Worth in Valour all the
depths and changes of our Condition all our Desires all our primitive and virgin Joyes the whole story of our Creation and Life and Fall and Redemption in all the newness of its first appearance all our Wants and Dangers Exigencies and Extremities all our Satisfactions and Delights are present together in our Humility and are so infinitely near and present thereunto so sweet and vigorous in their mixture so strangely powerful in their influence that they inspire our Hearts enter our Thoughts and incorporate with our Souls and are as near and sweet as our present condition be it never so blessed All put together is far more sweet than our present Condition a great part of our felicity and glory is in it while we take it in by our Conceptions here and apply it to our Souls in an humble manner but it will be much more our felicity in Heaven It is of so much concernment that a Great Divine in our English Zion said The greater part of our eternal happiness will consist in a grateful Recognition not of our Joyes to come but of Benefits already received NOW look into the office and work of Humility I will not tell you how here upon Earth it shunneth all strife and contention about Places and all the Mischiefs consequent thereto nor of the Unity and Peace and Honour it produceth These are all but Temporal Benefits It has ten thousand other Walks and Circuits and periods of Revolution I will tell you how it behaves it self in Paradice and in Heaven HUMILITY by leading us to the bottom of our Condition sets our Original before our eyes considers that eternal abyss of Idleness and Vacuity out of which we were taken that miracle by which we were made of Nothing How destitute we should have been in our selves had not GOD created the World had he not been pleased to communicate himself and his Glory to us How weak and unable we were to devise or desire any Felicity yet how infinitely necessary the preparation of it after we were created How great our desires and expectations were how sore and urgent our wants and necessities how much we needed infinite Wisdom and almighty Power to fill Immensity with the omnipresence of their Glory and to fill their omnipresence with Effects and Treasures How gracious and good GOD was to do all this for us without our asking and how justly Davids rapture may be taken up by the Soul The King shall joy in thy strength O Lord and in thy Salvation how greatly shall he rejoyce Thou preventest him with the blessings of Goodness thou settest a Crown of pure Gold on his head His glory is great in thy Salvation Honour and Majesty hast thou laid upon him For thou hast made him most Blessed for ever thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy Countenance We might have been made and put in the condition of Toads who are now created in the Image of GOD have dominion over all his Works and are made capable of all Eternity The infinite condescention of GOD is the amazement of the Soul The depth of its low estate increaseth the height of its exaltation All that it wanted in it self it findeth in the goodness of its Benefactour and the joy of being so Beloved is greater than that of having all these things of our selves for ever For the Love of GOD alone and his goodness in Giving is our last and best and proper Felicity Hereupon follows the extinction of all Envy Regret and Discontentment the sacrificing of our selves the annihilating of our selves the lowliness of our selves And the Exaltation of GOD and the Adoration of GOD and the Joy of adoring the Greatest of all other The Amity and Friendship between GOD and his Creature the Unity of both and their happiness for ever Without this Humility of looking into the bottom of our first Condition all this is impossible And for this cause is Humility an eternal Vertue in all estates for ever to be enjoyed I might have said exercised THUS in the estate of Sin and Misery all the odiousness of our Guilt all our despair and deformity all our shame and misery all the necessity of Hating GOD and being hated of him comes before the eyes of an humble Soul with all the mercies and condescentions of eternal Love in the work of Redemption AND in the state of Glory it self all the particular Sins Neglects Rebellions Apostasies and Villanies we committed against GOD after all his mercy and goodness in the Death of his Son how infinitely base we were in despising all his Bounties and Glories how infinitely those Offences made us unworthy of Heaven and the eternal Glory we now enjoy how marvellous and incomparable his Love was in pursuing us with so much Long-suffering and Patience how amiable he is and how vile and unworthy we are in all this it is the office of Humility to feel and ponder Thus you see its work and you may easily conjecture at its eternal Reward All things are in it in the utmost height and depth of Resignation and Contentment enjoyed I need not observe that sweetness of Conversation that Civility and Courtesie that springs from Humility The Meek and Lowly are the same men the Kind and Charitable and the Affable and the good are all of them Humble and so are all they that prefer others above themselves and render themselves amiable by honouring their Inferiours and giving place to their Equals At least they imitate Humility as Complemental Courtiers do for their advantage And it is no small token of its excellency that the greatest enemies of Humility and Vertue are forced sometimes to flie to it for succour as those that well know they can never thrive nor prosper in the World without Esteem nor gain Esteem without covering their Vices under the mask of Vertue All the advantages and effects of this will be enjoyed eternally CHAP. XXVII That Contentment is a Vertue Its Causes and its Endi Its Impediments Effects and Advantages The way to attain and secure Contentment THOUGH we have not named it in our first distribution of Vertue into its several kinds yet the commendation which Contentment hath in Scripture imports it to be a Vertue so does the difficulty of attaining it and the great and mighty force it is of in our Lives and Conversations Having Food and Rayment saith the Apostle let us therewith be content For Godliness with Contentment is great Gain Where he fitly noteth that Godliness is the original of true Contentment and that the Gain of so great a Vertue is inestimable The truth is it is impossible to be happy or grateful without it A discontented Mind is exceeding prone to be peevish and fretful and throws a man into all the indecencies of Avarice Ambition Envy Treason Murther Contention Turbulency Murmuring Repining Melancholy and Sowrness Anger Baseness and Folly into all the Malevolence and Misery which can disorder the Soul or disturb the World Suspicion
Unbelief Enmity against GOD Fear and Cowardice Barrenness in good and praise-worthy Employments Weariness and Complaint hatred of Retirement Spiritual Idleness and Ignorance are its Companions followed by Debaucheries and all the sorts of vile and wicked Diversions For Man is an unwelcome Creature to himself till he can delight in his Condition and while he hates to be alone exposeth himself to all kind of Mischiefs and Temptations because he is an active Creature and must be doing something either Good or Evil TRUE Contentment is the full satisfaction of a Knowing Mind It is not a vain and empty Contentment which is falsely so called springing from some one particular little satisfaction that however Momentany it be does for the present delight our Humour but a long habit of solid Repose after much study and serious Consideration It is not the slavish and forced Contentment which the Philosophers among the Heathen did force upon themselves but a free and easie Mind attended with pleasure and naturally rising from ones present Condition It is not a morose and sullen Contempt of all that is Good That Negative Contentment which past of Old for so great a Vertue is not at all conducive to Felicity but is a real Vice for to be Content without cause is to sit down in our Imperfection and to seek all ones Blis in ones self alone is to scorn all other Objects even GOD himself and all the Creation It is a high piece of Pride and stiffness in a man that renders him good for nothing but makes him Arrogant and Presumptuous in the midst of his blindness his own slave and his own Idol a Tyrant over himself and yet his only Deity It makes a man to live without GOD in the World and cuts him off from the Universe It makes him incapable either of Obligation or Gratitude his own Prison and his own Tormâ—ntour It shuts up the Soul in a Grave and makes it to lead a living Death and robs it of all its Objects It mingles Nature and Vice in a confusion and makes a man fight against Appetite and Reason Certainly that Philosopher has a hard task that must fight against Reason and trample under foot the essence of his Soul to establish his Felicity Contentment is a sleepy thing If it in Death alone must die A quiet Mind is worse than Poverty Unless it from Enjoyment spring That 's Blessedness alone that makes a King Wherein the Joyes and Treasures are so great They all the powers of the Soul employ And fill it with a Work compleat While it doth all enjoy True Joyes alone Contentment do inspire Enrich Content and make our Courage higher Content alone 's a dead and silent Stone The real life of Bliss Is Glory reigning in a Throne Where all Enjoyment is The Soul of Man is so inclin'd to see Without his Treasures no mans Soul can be Nor rest content Uncrown'd Desire and Love Must in the height of all their Rapture move Where there is true Felicity Employment is the very life and ground Of Life it self whose pleasant Motion is The form of Bliss All Blessedness a life with Glory Crown'd Life Life is all in its most full extent Stretcht out to all things and with all Content The only reason why a Wise and Holy man is satisfied with Food and Rayment is because he sees himself made possessour of all Felicity the image of the Deity the great Object of his eternal Love and in another way far more Divine and perfect the Heir of the World and of all Eternity He knows very well that if his honour be so great as to live in Communion with GOD in the fruition of all his Joyes he may very well spare the foul and feeble Delights of men And though the Law be not so severe as to command him to be Content without Food and Rayment yet if for GOD's sake he should by the wickedness of Men be bereaved of both he may well be Patient nay and die with glory And this indeed is that which maketh Contentment so great a Vertue It hath a powerful influence upon us in all Estates to take off our Perplexity Sollicitude and Care and to adorn our lives with Liberty and Chearfulness by which we become acceptable and admirable to the Sons of Men. It makes us prone to be Kind and Liberal whereby we become Obliging and full of good Works For it delivers us from all servile Fear and gives us Courage and Confidence in GOD. For well may we dare to trust him in such little Matters who has manifested his Friendship and Bounty in such infinite good things and made it impossible for us to be Miserable if we are pleasing to him An intelligent and full Contentment elevates the Soul above all the World and makes it Angelical it instills a Divine and Heavenly Nature enflames the Soul with the love of GOD and moves it to delight in Devotion and Prayer The sweetness of his Thoughts and the beauty of his Object draws a Lover often into Solitudes And a Royal Man in a strange Country especially when he has heard tidings of his Fathers Death and the devolving of his Crown and Throne on himself desires to be alone that he may digest these Affairs in his Thoughts a little He delights in being retired because he can find nothing worthy of himself in Company Magnanimous Souls are above Garlands and Shepherds And there is no greatness of Soul like that which perfect Contentment inspires BUT that which above all other things makes me to note the Vertue of Contentment is its great influence efficacy and power in confirming our Faith For when I see the Beauty of Religion I know it to be true For such is its excellency that if you remove it out of the World all the things in Heaven and Earth will be to no purpose The business of Religion is the Love of GOD the Love of Angels and Men and the due esteem we owe to inferiour Creatures Remove this Love this Charity this Due Esteem this delight that we should take in all amiable Objects Life and Pleasure are extinguished I see Nature it self teaching me Religion And by the admirable Contexture of the Powers of my Soul and their fitness for all Objects and Ends by the incomparable Excellency of the Laws prescribed and the worthiness and Beauty of all the Objects for which my power are prepared see plainly that I am infinitely Beloved and that all the cross and disorderly things that are now upon Earth are meer Corruptions and depravations of Nature which free Agents have let in upon themselves All which since they are reducible to the Government of Reason and may be Wisdom be improved to my higher happiness I am sure I am redeemed and that there is some eternal Power that governs the World with so much Goodness for my felicity since I my self was not able to do it That all Ages are beautified by his Wisdom for my
Communion with him can be its satisfaction The Terrours Allurements and Censures of men are the dust of its feet their Avarice and Ambition are but feebleness before it Their Riches and Contentions and Interests and Honours but insignificant and empty trifles All the World is but a little Bubble Infinity and Eternity the only great and soveraign things wherewith it converseth A Magnanimous Soul is alwaies awake The whole globe of the Earth is but a Nutshell in comparison of its enjoyments The Sun is its Lamp the Sea its Fishpond the Stars its Jewels Men Angels its Attendance and GOD alone its soveraign Delight and supream Complacency The Earth is its Garden all Palaces its Summer houses Cities are its Cottages Empires its more spacious Conrts all Ages and Kingdoms its Demeans Monarchs its Ministers and publick Agents the whole Catholick Church its Family the eternal Son of GOD its Pattern and Example Nothing is great if compared to a Magnanimous Soul but the Soveraign Lord of all Worlds Mistake not these things for arbitrary flourishes of Luxuriant fancy I speak as I am inspired by Felicity GOD is the Cause but the knowledge of a Mans self the Foundation of Magnanimity Trismegistus counteth thus First GOD secondly the World thirdly Man the World for Man and Man for GOD. Of the Soul that which is sensible is Mortal but that which is reasonable Immortal The Father of all things being full of Light and Life brought forth Man like unto himself whom he loved as his proper Off-spring for he was all Beauteous having the Image of his Father This in his Poemander Again he saith Man is a divine and living thing not to be compared to any Beast that lives upon the Earth but to them that are above in the highest Heavens that are called Gods Nay rather if we shall be bold to speak the truth he that is a MAN INDEED is above them He is infinitely greater than the gods of the Heathen And a God like unto himself as the Wise Man observes he cannot make At least saith Trismegistus they are equal in Power For none of the things in Heaven will come down upon Earth and leave the limits of Heaven bur a Man ascends up into Heaven and measures it He knoweth what things are on high and what below And that which is the greatest of all he leaveth not the Earth and yet is above so mighty and vast is the greatness of his Nature Wherefore we must be bold to say that an Earthly Man is a Mortal God and the Heavenly GOD is an Immortal MAN THIS is the Philosophy of the ancient Heathen wherein though there be some Errors yet was he guided to it by a mighty sence of the interiour Excellency of the Soul of Man and the boldness he assumes is not so profane but that it is countenanced here and there in the Holy Scripture GOD himself said unto Moses Lo I have made thee a God to Pharoah Again he telleth him concerning Aaron He shall be to thee instead of a Mouth and thou shalt be to him instead of God And again concerning all the Great men of the World in general I have said ye are Gods but ye shall die like Men. But let us see the Reason of the Heathen a little on which he foundeth his great Opinions In one place he maketh his Son Tatius to say I conceive and understand not by the sight of mine Eyes but by the intellectual Operation c. I am in Heaven in the Earth in the Water in the Air I am in the living Creatures in Plants in the Womb every where Whereupon he asketh him Dost thou not know O my Son that thou art born a God and the Son of The One as I am And the ground of this Question he unfoldeth in another place thus Consider him that contains all things and understand that nothing is more Capacious than that which is Incorporeal nothing more swift nothing more powerful but of all other things it is most Capacious most swift and most strong And judge of this by thy self Command thy Soul to go into India and sooner than thou canst bid it it will be there Bid it pass over the Ocean and suddenly it will be there not as passing from place to place but suddenly it will be there Command it to flie into Heaven and it will need no wings neither shall any thing hinder it not the fire of the Sun nor the AEther nor the turning of the Sphears nor the bodies of any of the Stars but cutting through all it will flie up to the last and furthest Body And if thou wilt even break through the Whole and see those things that are without the World if there be any thing without i.e. if the World be confined thou maist Behold how great Power how great swiftness thou hast Canst thou do all these things and cannot GOD After this manner therefore contemplate GOD to have all the whole World in himself as it were all Thoughts or Intellections If therefore thou wilt not equal thy self to GOD thou canst not understand GOD. For the like is intelligible by the like Increase thy self to an immeasurable Greatness leaping beyond every Body and transcending all Time become ETERNITY And thou shalt understand GOD. If thou belive in thy self that nothing is impossible but accountest thy self Immortal and that thou canst understand all things every Art every Science and the manner and custom of every living thing become higher than all Height and lower than all Depth comprehend in thy self the qualities of all the Creatures of the Fire the Water the Dry and the Moist and conceive likewise that thou canst at once be every where in the sea in the Earth at once understand thy self not yet begotten in the Womb Young Old Dead the things after Death and all these together as also all Times Places Deeds Qualities Quantities thou maist or else thou canst not yet understand GOD. But if thou shut up thy Soul in thy Body and abuse it and say I understand nothing I am afraid of the Sea I cannot climb up into Heaven I know not who I am I cannot what I shall be what hast thou to do with GOD For thou canst understand none of those fair and good things but must be a lover of the Body and Evil. For it is the greatest evil not to know GOD. But to be able to Know and to Will and to Hope is the strait Way and the divine Way proper to the Good It will every where meet thee and every where be seen of thee plain and easie when thou dost expect or look for it It will meet thee Waking Sleeping Sailing Travelling by Night by Day when thou speakest and when thou keepest silence For it is nothing which is not the Image of GOD. His Close is most divine And yet thou sayest GOD is Invisible but be advised for who is more manifest than he For therefore he made all things that thou by
VVhether the VVorks of GOD were unworthy of his Choice or the best of all that were possible What his Laws are as to their nature and excellency Whether his Love be really sincere and infinite Whether there be any such thing as infinite Wisdom Goodness and Bounty Blessedness and Glory Such things as these are the Concerns and Inquiries of a Magnanimous Soul And if its expectations and desires are absolutely satisfied it will easily appear and break forth upon all Occasions into the most high and Magnanimous Actions Trismegistus or whoever else was the Author of that Book saw the deep Capacity of his own Soul but if a Conjecture may be made by the residue of the discourse did not understand the end at least not clearly for which it was implanted Some knowledge he had that all the things in Eternity were the Objects of that Power by reason of which he calls them Fair and Good but that they were to be the Treasures and Enjoyments of the Soul I do not find him affirming He that knows this must needs be of our Saviours mind who when all the Kingdoms of the World and the Glory of them were shewed him by Satan in a moment of time despised them all For the divine and Celestial Kingdom is infinitely greater and in a far more perfect manner to be enjoyed HE that knoweth the Honour which cometh from above will despise the Honour which men can pay and in comparison of that Honour which cometh from GOD only esteem all the Honour of this World but false and feeble Not as if Men were in the truth of Nature vile and despicable Creatures a Magnanimous man knows all others to be by Nature like himself and is apt to reverence all of his kind as sublime and Celestial Creatures But he is a Man of a clear and discerning Spirit and the Corruption of Nature makes him to slight all that is defiled He sees that Men are generally Evil deformed and blind erroneous perverse and foolish poor and miserable And that all the Honour which they generally give is irrational and feigned A little colour in the face a gay Coat a fine Horse a Palace and a Coach an Exchequer full of Gold or some such light and superficial Causes are all the grounds of the respect that they pay us And if the Glory and Esteem I have Be nothing else than what my Silver gave If for no other ground I am with Love or Praises crown'd 'T is such a shame such vile such base Repute 'T is is better starve than eat such empty Fruit. IF a King be dejected from his Throne it is but a poor comfort that he is admired by Persons condemned to die and praised by Beggars The dignity and power of the Persons that admire us is of great consideration in the love and delight which they take in us They all must vanish and perish as a Dream no Honour is truly great but that which is continual and endless too A great and mighty Soul can care for no Honour but that which comes from wise and amiable Persons that are themselves great and honourable most rich and powerful holy just blessed and glorious Honour from GOD and his holy Angels from the eternal Son of GOD and all his Saints is marvellous and substantial That Honour which is paid upon great and solid causes because a Man is well-pleasing to GOD and exalted to his Throne because he is the very true Image of GOD and has dominion over all the Creatures because he is infinitely beloved of GOD and all Angels and Men are commanded to love him because he is redeemed by the Blood of Christ and made a Temple of the Holy Ghost because he is a Priest and King to his eternal Creatour because he is full of Goodness and Wisdom adorned with all kind of Vertue and made an Heir of eternal Glory because he is Faithful and True and Just and Holy because he hath conquered Death and Hell and Sin and the Grave and triumpheth over them this is being paid by such Persons Honour indeed and to desire this Honour is the Property and the Vertue of a Magnanimous Soul An Eagle cannot stoop at Flies An Alexander or a Caesar cannot debase or confine their Souls to the pleasures of a Cottage in a Wilderness Infinite Hopes and infinite Desires infinite Fears and Despairs and Sorrows infinite Joyes and Delights and Glories infinite Adorations Praises and Thanksgivings infinite and eternal Objects are the only fit and proper Concerns for the Affections of a Great and Magnanimous Soul The very signification of the word is Greatness of Soul or if you please of Mind For a distinction may be made between the Soul and Mind The Soul of Man is the immutable essence or form of his Nature unimployed His power of Reasoning is alive even then when it is quiet and unactive and this is his Soul It is one and the same in all men and of it self equally inclined to all great and transcendent things but in the most it is misguided baffled and suppressed and though it be never so great it is to no purpose This greatness implanted by Nature is not Magnanimity It is a Natural disposition not an acquired habit as all Vertue is A Man is then said to be of such a Mind when he determines or thinks in such a manner His mind is Good that intendeth well his mind is Evil that designeth mischief So that the Mind is the Soul exerting its power in such an act and the greatest Soul in all the World is but Pusillanimous that mindeth little things A great Soul is Magnanimous in Effect a Mind applyed to mighty Objects Some men have a Magnanimity infused by the power of Education and are led by Custome to Great things and in a manner by Necessity for such is their Place and Calling that they are frequently led to greater Objects than other men Of this sort are the most eminent rank of Grandees and Princes Kingdoms and Thrones and Privy Councils and Queens and Armies are their natural Dialect This is no Vertue for though it be not innate by Nature yet they are born to it and it is given by Fortune Others consider what they have to do and make an election and though they are born in a poor and despicable estate are not Magnanimous by Nature or Fortune but by Choice and voluntary Election Not to satisfie the humour of a high Blood choler and fire nor to answer the necessities of a higher Calling but to discharge the office of Vertue and Wisdom And this is the Off-spring of the Will the true and genuine Vertue Which as it is far more worthy than any of the rest is guided to far better and more glorious Objects and more diffusively given by the Bounty of GOD to all kind of Men in all Conditions In the Poor it is more marvellous than in the Great and Rich It has such an undaunted property in its Nature
done were he in our places He cannot be the Soul of any of his Creatures but would be the Soul of that Soul the joy and delight of that Soul the life and glory of that Soul and that he cannot be unless that Soul will delight in him and love and honour him It is not he must honour himself but that Soul His desire is that that Soul would freely turn and delight in him freely of its own accord would incline it self to consider his Excellencies and dedicate it self to love and honour him This is one way for the Soul to be Magnificent towards Men too who by Nature delight to see GOD beloved and satisfied in a point of such infinite importance IT is true indeed that GOD can be full of Indignation and punish but for love to turn into anger is no compensation for the pleasure it lost by our miscarriage and to punish is a strange and troublesome work in which Love is extinguished or else afflicted Infinite Love puts an infinite value on the Gift And I think it is Magnificence to give a Gift of infinite value OUR Magnificence towards Men must be laid on a deep and eternal foundation We must be willing to give our selves to their comfort and satisfaction And that we cannot do but by imitating GOD in all his Goodness studying their felicity and desiring their love with the same earnestness to the utmost of our power doing in all places in all things in all Worlds the things they desire supposing them to be what they ought to be like Gods themselves THE best Principle whereby a man can stear his course in this World is that which being well prosecuted will make his Life at once honourable and happy Which is to love every man in the whole World as GOD doth For this will make a man the Image of GOD and fill him with the mind and spirit of Christ it will make every man that is the Representative of GOD and of all the World unto him It will make a man to reverence GOD in all Mankind and lift him up above all Temptations Discouragements and Fears It will make him to meet the love of GOD Angels and Men in every Person It will make a man truly glorious by making him pleasing to GOD and universally good to every one diffusive like the Sun to give himself to all and wise to enjoy their compleat Felicity If there were but one the Case is evident supposing more than one his duty is to love every one the more for all their sakes For since he must love all and they are all to love one and every one he must please them all by gratifying their love to one and by doing so to every one they are all concerned in the welfare of one and pleased in the love that is born to every one This in the state of Glory will be clear where every one like the Sun shall be clearly seen extending his love to all though here upon Earth where our estate is imperfect by reason of the imperfection of our Knowledge it doth not appear Our actions are limited for being finite in our outward demeanour they must needs be regulated by Justice and Wisdom But two things come in here to the assistance of Magnificence whereof the first is the inferiour perfection of our Love to all the second is the universal Satisfaction which the beauty of our outward life will afford at last Concerning the last two things are fit to be considered First that as GOD has communicated the Sun by making it visible to all and there is not a Star but is seen by all Nations and Kingdoms so has he communicated the Soul by making it visible to all and there is not a Thought that shall remain uncovered nor an action but it shall be seen by all for ever Secondly that as GOD himself is admired for his Inward Love so is he for the operations of his Outward Life I mean for his Works and Judgments When they saw his Works finished The Morning Stars sang together and all the Sons of GOD shouted for joy The Elders are represented before his Throne casting down their Crowns and saying Thou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power for thou hast created all these things and for thy pleasure they are and were created Where the perfection of GODS Pleasure in the GLORY of the Creation is evidently discovered to be one of the Joyes of Heaven a great matter of their Contemplation an eternal cause of their Praises His infinite and eternal Love is that by which he is All Glorious within all the sweetness of his Essence and all the perfection of the Soul is there but yet his Saints in the Church Triumphant sing the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb saying Great and Marvellous are thy WORKS Lord GOD Almighty Just and True are thy WAYES thou King of Saints His Works are the substantial Creatures in Heaven and in Earth his Waies are his proceedings and dispensations among them in all ages For all shall appear together for ever the one being Great and Marvellous the other beautified with Truth and Justice So that neither of these doth swallow up the other but both are distinct and perfect Our Love may be infinite on the Inside and yet our Life be diversified with many limited and particular actions Now if our Life be like GODS eternally to be seen and our Actions in passing pass not away but in the sphere of our life abide for ever our Life all at once is a mysterious Object interwoven with many Thoughts Occurrences and Transactions and if it be to be presented to GOD like a Ring or a Garland we had need to be very choice in the mixture of our Flowers and very curious in the Enammel of so rare a Token Perhaps it is his Crown nay our own His and our Royal Diadem It shall shine like a glory about our Souls for ever That there should be any dirt or blemish in it is inconsistent with our Felicity but it is a Magnificent Present if it be enchased with Jewels well chosen and curiously set I mean with the most pure and fit elections the most Wise and Just and excellent Actions the most bright and clear Apprehensions the most divine and ardent Affections The last are like Gold the ground work of the Crown but the work it self is a mixture of elaborate Distinctions that sparkle in their lustre like Gems of several cuts and colours An imperial Crown is a Magnificent Present from a King to a King But a Life like GODS in a sphere for which Time was lent that it might be well wrought and presented before him when made perfect as far surpasseth the most glorious Crown that did ever sit upon Monarchs brows as that can be supposed to excel a dull Clod of Earth or a piece of Rusty Iron There all Obligations and Laws and Duties and Occasions are
blessed is it self the more joyful and the more contented It s Nature is to shine and burn and admire to offer and to sacrifice up it self to its Joyes And GOD is its soveraign Joy its perfect happiness To suspend its beams were to act against Nature All overtures of Pleasure Beauty Glory Power Exaltation and Honour it would have added to its happiness The more Great the more Good the Wiser GOD is the greater is its Happiness The more he is admired and praised the greater is its Happiness The more he is magnified and pleased the greater is its Happiness All the Excellencies and Perfections in its Objective bliss though they are not locally removed are removed into the Soul of him that enjoyes it and there express themselves far more powerfully and effectually than if they were there alone No joy can be like that of seeing its Creatour adored no Service like that of magnifying its Beloved no pleasure like that of delighting its Beloved no melody like that of praising its Benefactor no honour like that of obeying its Preserver All Worlds are its Treasures because they manifest his Power and Glory all Angels and Men its Delights because they see and acknowledge the beauty of its Soveraign and eternal Perfection all Creatures the Instruments of its Joy that celebrate his Praises In him it enjoyes the glory of all Eternity the infinite beauty of all Immensity the innumerable riches of all Worlds the pleasures and adorations of all the Angels the state and magnificence of all Empires the splendour and perfection of all Ages all which it has in it self by his infinite Bounty as its own immediate and proper Possessions but far more divinely and sweetly enjoyes them by vertue of its Gratitude and Love to him whose they originally are and from whom they proceeded For the very true reason why it enjoyes it self and all its own Treasures is because it loves it self And the more it loves him the more it will be delighted with his fruitions It is more concerned it feels more it sees more it tastes more it possesses more it rejoyces more in its Object than it self The imagination and fancy that is in Love frames all the thoughts of its Beloved in it self it has an exquisite and tender sence of every change and motion in the mind of its Beloved Stir not up nor awake my Love till he please is the song of a feeling and affectionate Soul Every prick with a Needles point in its Object is a stab with a Dagger to it self It s heart bleeds in every drop of its Objects finger It loves his Beloved ten thousand times more than it self and is infinitely more pleased with its exaltation than its own The happiness of its Object is most its own True Gratitude is crowned in its Benefactor enthroned in its benefactor admired in its benefactor adored in its benefactor Nothing in all the World is so easily ravished as Love nothing is so lively as Love nothing so lovely Nothing so violent in its grief or joy nothing so capable of pain or pleasure All the Victories and Triumphs of its Saviour are its own My Joy my Life my Crown my Glory my exceeding great Reward my Love my Soul my Idol nay the GOD of my Soul my All in all This is the language of Love in its Rapture Seraphick Love It is Altar Heart and Sacrifice Angelical Love It is Priest and Temple All Service Freedom Duty Reward Desire Enjoyment Honour Praise Adoration Thanksgiving Extasie Pleasure Bliss and Happiness It is all Goodness and Beauty Paradice Heaven the life and Soul of Heaven All that is incommunicable in GOD Eternity almighty Power supream Dominion independent Majesty infinite Immensity with all the adorations and praises of all the Creatures are by such a Love and Gratitude enjoyed Loving GOD more than it self it is more happy in GOD than if it were a GOD. Could Is Deity be taken away and seated in it self the Soul of a Grateful Creature would be grieved at the exchange Even GOD in his place is perfectly enjoyed All Envy is by perfect Gratitude removed All Discontentment at any thing in its Object especially at its Objects Blessedness is abolished It is carried above all Thrones Dominions and Powers and still ascends eternally higher the higher its Object is exalted Could it be miserable in it self it would be happy in its Object but the higher it is exalted the more is its Creatour delighted If the resentment be wholly Spiritual the Soul perhaps may be transformed to Gratitude as Gratitude is to Contentment and Praise and Thanksgiving But it will have no Body no frail and corruptible Flesh no bones or members to look after All its operations are of one kind all its works and concernments are the same It has no Fear or Care to divert it no impediment or danger or distraction Pure Gratitude is so divine a thing that the Soul may safely wish to be turned all into Gratitude It s Employment and Nature are all one acknowledgment and benevolence united together It sacrifices all Worlds to the Deity and with infinite delight desires to offer all Honour and Glory to him It is very sensible that it can never pay so much Honour to GOD as is his due unless it be assisted with all the Tongues of Men and Angels It goes along with their Joyes and consents to their Praises In them it adores and by them it admires with them it conspires and takes in all their powers and divine affections It fees with all their Eyes hears with all their Ears speaks with all their Mouths and useth all their Hearts in loving and adoring All the tendencies and operations of Universal Nature are subservient to its desires It surmounts the Songs of David and yet we know how earnestly he exhorted all Creatures to praise him Praise ye the Lord Praise him in the Sanctuary Praise him in the Firmament of his Power Praise him in his mighty Acts Praise him according to his excellent Greatness Praise him in the Heights Praise him all ye Angels Praise him all his Hosts Praise him Sun and Moon Praise him all ye Stars of light Praise him ye Heaven of Heavens And when all is done it still confesseth that his Name is exalted far above all Blessing and Praise HE that praiseth GOD only for his Health and Food and Rayment and for his blessing on his Calling as too many only do either is very ignorant or upon a strict scrutiny will be detected for upbraiding GOD for the meanest of his bounty For his Love must infinitely be defective that is able to bestow Gifts infinitely more yet giveth us none but these He that sees not more Causes of Joy than these is blind and cannot see afar off The very truth or Religion is obscure to him and the cause of Adoration unknown He wanteth ten thousand demonstrations of the Love of GOD and as many Incentives to coflame his Soul in the Return