this Law may be easily seen only by Reading it where it doth appear that all things are dispos'd with so much Wisdom Equity and Judgment that the Antientest Greek and Roman Legislators having some knowledge of it have form'd their principal Laws by it which appears by that they call their Laws the Twelve Tables and by the other Proofs mention'd by Josephus But this Law is at the same time the strictest â—nd most rigorous Law in the World obliging this People to keep them within bounds in observing a thousand particular laborious Duties under pain of Death so that it is as wonderful that it should always be kept for so many Ages by so head-strong and impatient a People as this whereas all other Nations chang'd their Laws from time to time although more easie to be kept 2. * This People is yet more admirable in their Sincerity They keep with great respect and fidelity the Book wherein Moses declares they have ever been ungrateful to God and saith that they will be so also after his Death but he calls Heaven and Earth to witness against them that he hath warn'd them of it that to conclude God growing displeas'd at them would disperse them over the Face of the Earth that as they provok'd him by Worshipping those which were not Gods he would provoke them by calling a Nation that was not his People nevertheless this Book that renders them so perverse they keep it as safe as their Life It is a sincerity that cannot be equall'd in the World nor has not its Root in Nature 3. * Moreover I do not find any cause at all to question the truth of this Book which contains all these things for there is a great difference betwixt a Book made by a single Person and that he disperses amongst the People and a Book that is made by a whole People 4. * This is a Book made by Authors that were contemporaries any History that is not Contemporary is Suspitious as the Books of the Sybills Trismegistus and many others that have been cry'd up in the World and have been found false afterwards But 't is not so with Contemporary Authors §. IX Of the Injustice and Corruption of Man. 1. MAn is visibly made for thinking it is his greatest Merit and Dignity his whole Duty is to think as he ought the true method of thinking is to begin by ones self by ones Author and by ones latter End. Nevertheless what is it is thought of in the World Seldom of these things but of taking ones Pleasure of growing Rich of getting Reputation of becoming a King without thinking what 't is to be a King or to be a Man. 2. * The thought of Man is a thing admirable by Nature It must needs have very great faults to be undervalu'd yet it has such that nothing is more ridiculous How great is it by its Nature how despicable through its Defects 3. * If there be a God he it is that ought to be lov'd and not the Creatures The Reasoning of the Wicked in the Book of Wisdom is only grounded upon this That they perswade themselves there is no God this being granted say they let us enjoy the Creatures But had they known there is a God they would have concluded the quite contrary And it is the conclusion of the Wise There is a God let us not therefore enjoy the Creatures Then all that invites us to cleave to the Creature is Evil because it hinders us either from serving God if we do know him or to seek him if we do not â—now him Now we are full of Concupiscence â—hen we are full of Evil therefore we should â—bhor our selves and every thing that fastens to â—ught else but God only 4. * When we would think of God how maâ—y things do we find that would hinder us and â—hat tempt us to think of something else All â—his is Evil and even born with us 5. * It is not true that we are worthy others â—hould love us it is not just we should desire it were we born reasonable and with any degree of Knowledg of our selves and others we should not have this Inclination yet 't is born with us then are we born unjust Every one seeks-himself this is against all order we should be for the general to be for ones self is the beginning of all disorder in War Peace and Oeconomy c. 6. * If the Members of Societies Natural and Civil tend to the good of the Body the Societies themselves should tend to a more general Body 7. * Whoever hates not in himself this Self-love and this instinct of preferring himself above every thing is very blind seeing there is nothing more opposite to Justice and Truth for it is false that we deserve it and it is unjust and impossible to attain to it seeing all desire the same thing It is therefore an evident injustice that we are born in which we must free our selves from and yet we cannot divest 8. * Nevertheless no other Religion but the Christian ever observ'd this was a Sin nor that we were born in it nor that we were bound to resist it nor ever thought of prâ—scribing any Remedies 9. * There is an intestine War in Man betwixt Reason and the Passions he might enjoy some rest had he Reason and not Passions oâ— had he Passions and not Reason but having both the one and the other he cannot be without Wars not being able to have Peace with the one without having variance with the other so that he is always divided and contrary to himself If it be an Ignorance which is unnatural to live without searching what one is it is yet a far more terrible one to live ill in believing God All Men almost are in one or the other of these two Mistakes §. X. Jews 1. GOD intending to shew that he could form a People Holy with an inward Holiness and fill them with an Eternal Glory did accomplish in the things of Nature what he was to have done in those of Grace to the end it might be seen that he could do things invisible seeing he did those that were visible He sav'd his People from the Deluge in the Person of Noah he brought them out of the Loyns of Abraham he redeem'd them from their Enemies and brought them into a Land of Rest The design of God was not to save from the Deluge and cause a great People to proceed from Abraham only to bring them into a Land of Plenty but as Nature is a Symbol of Grace so these visible Miracles are Images of invisible ones that he design'd to do 2. * Another Reason why he made the Jewish Nation was that intending to wean his People from Carnal and Perishable things he would shew by so many Miracles that 't was not for want of Power 3. * This People was plung'd in these Earthly Thoughts that God lov'd their Faâ—her Abraham his Body and what should proceed
not in it self and out of God but out of it self and in the very Will of God in the Justice of his Decree in the order of his Providence which is the true cause of it without which it had not arriv'd by whom alone it is come to pass and in the very manner that 't is hapned We should adore with an humble silence the impenetrable height of his Secrets We should adore the Holiness of his Decrees We should praise the Wisdom of his Providence and joining our Will unto Gods Will we should with him in him and for him desire the thing that he appointed in us and for us from all Eternity 2. * There is no Comfort to be found but in Truth only Doubtless Seneca and Socrates have nothing that can perswade or Comfort us on these occasions they were in the Ignorance that blinded all Men at first they thought Death was Natural to Man and all the Discourses they grounded upon this false Principle are so vain and empty that they only serve to shew in the general how weak Man is seeing the greatest Productions of the Wisest Men are so mean and childish It is not so of Jesus Christ it is not so of the Canonical Books of the Scriptures Truth is therein plainly discover'd and true Comfort is as Infallibly join'd thereunto as Error is infallibly separated from it Let us then consider Death in the Truth taught us by the Holy Ghost We have this admirable advantage to know that truly and effectively Death is a Punishment of Sin imposed upon Man to expiate his Crime necessary to Man to cleanse him from Sin it is that alone can deliver the Soul from the Lust of the Flesh which Saints are subject to while they live in this World. We know Life and the Life of Christians is a continual Sacrifice which cannot determine but in Death We know Jesus Christ coming into the World lookt on himself and offer'd himself to God as a true Sacrifice that his Birth his Life his Death Resurrection Ascension and his Session at the Right Hand of God are but one only Sacrifice we know what befel Jesus Christ must happen to all his Members Let us then consider Life as a Sacrifice and that the Evils of our Lives make no impression on the Minds of Christians but in measure as they hinder or accomplish this Sacrifice Let us call that only Evil which makes the Offering of God the Offering of the Devil but let us call that Good which makes the Offering of the Devil in Adam the Offering of God and by this Rule let us examine the Nature of Death To this purpose we must have recourse to the Person of Jesus Christ for as God regards not Man but by the Mediator Jesus Christ so also Men should neither regard themselves nor others but by Jesus Christ if we do not pass the middle we find in our selves only true Miseries or abominable Pleasures but if we consider all things in Jesus Christ we shall find all manner of Consolation Satisfaction and Edification Let us consider Death in Jesus Christ not out of Jesus Christ out of Christ it is horrible detestable and the horror of Nature In Jesus Christ it is quite another thing it is Amiable Holy and the Joy of the Faithful All is sweet in Jesus Christ even Death it self it is for this he suffered and dyed to Sanctifie Death by his Sufferings and as God and as Man he was Great in the highest Degree and mean in the lowest degree to the end to Sanctifie in himself all things Sin excepted and to be the Pattern of all Conditions To consider what Death is and to die in Christ Jesus one should see what place it has in the continual Sacrifice and to this effect observe that in the Sacrifices the chief thing was the Death of the Offering The Oblation and Sanctification that went before were the Dispositions but the Substance is the Death wherein by the loss of Life the Creature gives to God all Obedience it can in becoming nothing in the sight of his Majesty and in Adoring his Sovereign Being which subsists alone essentially It 's true there is yet something farther after the Death of the Offering without which his Death is of no value it is Gods accepting the Sacrifice it is what is mention'd in the Scriptures Et odoratus est Dominus odorem suavitatis It is this indeed that crowns the Oblation but it is rather an action of God towards the Creature than of the Creature towards God and it don't hinder but the last Action of the Creature is Death These things were accomplish'd in Jesus Christ coming into the World he Offerr'd himself Obtulit semetipsum per Spiritum Sanctum Ingrediens mundum dixit Hostiam oblationem noluisti tunc dixi Ecce venio In capite libri scriptum est de me ut faciam Deus voluntatem tuam He offer'd himself by the Holy Ghost entring into the World he said Lord Sacrifices and burnt Offering thou wouldst not a Body hast thou prepared me And I said Behold I come as it is written to do thy Will O God and thy Law is written within my Heart this is his Oblation his Sanctification followed immediately after his Oblation This Sacrifice continued all his Life and was finished by his Death It was necessary that by Sufferings he should enter into Glory and though he was the Son of God it was requisite he should learn Obedience In the Days of his Flesh having with strong cries and tears offer'd Prayers and Supplications to him that was able to deliver him from Death he was heard according to his Obedience to God his Father And God raised him from the Dead and sent him his Glory figur'd under the Law by the Fire of Heaven that came down upon the Sacrifices to burn and consume his Body and to make it live with the Life of Glory It is what Jesus Christ obtained and has accomplished by his Resurrection So that this Sacrifice being perfect by the Death of Jesus Christ and consummated by his Resurrection where the Figure of the Flesh of Sin was swallow'd up in Glory Jesus Christ fulfilled all things on his part and there only remained that the Sacrifice should be accepted of God and that as the Smoak ascended and carry'd the sweet savour to the Throne of God also Jesus Christ should in that perfect State of immolation be offer'd carry'd and received at the very Throne of God and this was accomplish'd in the Ascension wherein he rose up by his own Power and by the power of the Holy Ghost that compass'd him round about he was raised up as the Smoak of the Sacrifices which was the Figure of Jesus Christ was carry'd up by the Air that supported it which is the Figure of the Holy Ghost and in the Acts it is said expresly That he was received up into Heaven to assure us that this Holy Oblation accomplish'd
Reason seeing it is a thing above his Reason and that it is a thing so far from being contriv'd by his Reason that his Reason is lost when it is presented to him 10. * These two Estates of Innocence and Corruption being laid down it is impossible but we should be convinc'd of them 11. * Let us follow our own Sense let us observe our own selves and try if we do not find the lively Characters of these two Natures 12. * So many contradictions would they be found in a single Subject 13. * This duplicity of Man is so visible that some have thought we had two Souls a single Subject appearing to them uncapable of such great and sudden varieties from a boundless Presumption unto an extraordinary lowness of Spirit 14. * So that all these contrarieties which seem most to alienate Men from the knowledg of Religion are the very things should most of all direct them to the knowledg of the Truth As for my particular I freely confess that as soon as the Christian Religion discovers this Principle that the Nature of Man is Corrupt and fallen from God it presently enables me to see clearly the Character of this Truth for Nature is such that in all things it shews plainly the loss of God both in Man and without Man. Without these Divine Lights what were Man able to do unless he rais'd himself up in the little remainder of the Thoughts of their last Dignity or cast themselves down in the sense of their present Misery for not having a clear view of the Truth they could never attain to perfect Virtue some considering Nature as corrupted others as irreparable they could not have avoided Pride or Sloth which are the Springs of all Vice seeing they could not shun falling therein by weakness or be freed by Pride for did they know the Excellency of Man they would be ignorant of his Corruption whereby they would avoid Sloath but would be plunged into Pride And did they know the Infirmity of Nature they would not know its Dignity whereby though they avoided the Vanity of it yet it was by running head-long into despair From hence proceeded the divers Sects of Stoicks Epicureans Dogmatists and Accademists c. It is Christian Religion only is capable of curing these two Evils not in making them expel each other by Worldly Wisdom but in expelling both of them by the Simplicity of the Gospel For it teacheth the Just whom it lifteth up to the participation of the Divinity it self that in this exalted State they yet have in them the Spring of all the Corruption which during the course of Life renders them subject to Error Misery Death and Sin and it informs the most guilty that they are capable of the favour of their Redeemer whereby it makes those fear whom it justifies and affords Comfort to those it Condemns It doth with so much evenness temper fear with hope by this double capacity which is common to all of Grace and Sin that it humbleth infinitely more than Reason can do but without casting into despair and elevateth infinitely more than the Pride of Nature yet without puffing up shewing plainly thereby that being free from Error and Vice it only appertains to her both to correct and instruct Men. 15. * We cannot comprehend the glorious Estate of Adam the Nature of Sin nor the manner how it reacheth unto us these things were transacted in a State of Nature diflerent from ours and do surpass our present capacity and indeed all those things are unnecessary for our Knowledg to free us out of our Miseries all that behoves us to know is that by Adam we are miserable corrupt estranged from God but Redeemed by Jesus Christ and of this we have admirable Proofs upon Earth 16. * Christianity is surprising It enjoyns Man to confess that he is vile and abominable and at the same time it commands him to endeavour to be like God without such a Ballance this elevation would render him extreamly Vain or this lowness would render him horribly Contemptible 17. * Misery inclines us to despair greatness doth inspire presumption 18. * The Incarnation discovers to Man the height of his Misery by the greatness of the Remedy that it wanted 19. * There is not to be found in Christian Religion that degree of Misery which makes us incapable of Happiness nor a State of Holiness that is exempt from Sin. 20. * There is no Doctrine more suitable to Man than this it informing him of his double capacity of receiving and losing Grace by reason of the double danger whereunto he is always exposed of Despair or of Pride 21. * Philosophers never prescrib'd any means proportion'd to these two States they inspired only thoughts of Pride and Greatness and this is not the true State of Man they inspir'd also Toughts of meanness and that is not neither the State of Man there must be thoughts of meanness not of the abjectness of Nature but of Repentance not to rest in it but to proceed on to Greatness there must be thoughts of greatness but of that greatness which proceeds from Grace not Merit after having been humbled 22. * No body is so happy as a true Christian nor so Virtuous Reasonable and Aimable With how little Pride doth a Christian think he is united to God how unconcernedly doth he compare himself to the Worms of the Earth 23. * Who then can refuse to believe these Heavenly Lights and to Adore them For is it not as clear as the Light that we feel in our selves indelible Characters of Excellence and is it not also as certain that we feel every Moment the Effects of our deplorable State What then doth this chaos and horrible confusion inform us but the truth of this double State with such a loud Voice that 't is impossible to resist §. IV. It is not incredible that God should unite himself to us WHat most of all hinders Men from believing that they are capable of being united to God is nothing else but the musing upon their own wretchedness if they think on it sincerely and extend it as far as I have done that they confess this vileness to be indeed very great and that we are of our selves uncapable of knowing if his Mercy cannot make us worthy of him For I would fain know how this Creature that confesses himself so Vile comes to limit the Mercy of God and to set it the bounds that his Fancy doth suggest Man knows so little what God is that he doth not know what he himself is and being troubled at the sight of his own State how dares he say God cannot render him capable of communicating himself to him I would ask him if God requires ought else of him but to know and love him and wherefore he should think God should not make himself be known and loved of him seeing he is naturally capable of Love and Knowledg for there 's no question to be
foretold then there would have been difficulty even for the good for the sincerity of their Heart would not have suffered them to have understood that a × for example signifies 600 years But the time was clearly foretold and the manner of it in Types By this means the wicked taking the good things promis'd for Worldly Goods they err though the time be plainly foretold but the good do not err for the understanding of good things promis'd depends of the Heart that calls that good which it loves but the understanding of the promis'd time depends not of the Heart and so the clear Prediction of time and obscure of Riches doth only deceive the wicked 15. * What was the Messias to be seeing that by him the Scepter was to continue for ever in Judah and that at his coming the Scepter was to be taken away from Judah To cause that in seeing they should not see and in hearing they should not understand nothing was more just 16. * Instead of complaining that God hid himself we are bound to give him Praise for so much discovering himself and also render him Thanks for not discovering himself to the Wise and the Great who were unworthy to know so Holy a God. 17. * The Genealogy of Jesus Christ is in the Old Testament mingled with so many other things that it can hardly be discern'd had not Moses kept the Register but of the Pedigree of Jesus Christ only it would have been too palpable after all they that consider it narrowly may see that of Jesus Christ by Thamar and Ruth c. 18. * The most apparent defects give matter to those that rightly understand things for Instance the two Genealogies of Matthew and Luke it is evident they were not made by concert 19. * Let us not be therefore charged with want of Light seeing we own it but let the Truth of Religion be confessed even in the very obscurity of Religion in the little Light we have and the indifference we have to know it 20. * Were there but one Religion God would be too manifest were there no Martyrs but in our Religion it would be the same 21. * Jesus Christ to leave the Wicked in their blindness said not that he was not of Nazareth nor that he was not the Son of Joseph 22. * As Jesus Christ continu'd unknown amongst Men so Truth continues amongst common Opinions without any outward difference so the Eucharist in common Bread. 23. * If the Mercy of God be so great that it instructs us savingly even then when it hides it self what Light may we not expect when he shall unvail himself 24. * We can understand nothing of the Works of God unless we lay down this Principle That he blinds some and enlightens others §. XIX That the True Christians and the True Jews are not of the same Religion 1. THe Jewish Religion seemed essentially to consist in being come of Abraham in Circumcision in Sacrifices in Ceremonies the Ark the Temple at Jerusalem and to conclude in the Law and in the Covenant of Moses I say it consisted not in any of these things but in the love of God and God rejected all these other things God had no regard for the Carnal People that was to descend from Abraham That the Jews shall be punish'd of God as well as Strangers if they offend If you forget God and follow after strange Gods I tell you before-hand ye shall perish like the Nations that God has destroy'd in your sight That Strangers shall be received of God as well as the Jews if they love him That the true Jews lookt only for respect as they belonged to God and not to Abraham Thou art our Father though Abraham and Israel know us not thou art our Father and our Redeemer Moses himself has said that God was no accepter of Persons God saith he accepteth not Persons nor Sacrifices I say the Circumcision of the Heart is commanded Be ye Circumcised in Heart take away all Pride of Heart and harden not your selves any more for your God is a great God mighty and terrible and that accepts not Persons That God hath said he will one day do it God will Circumcise thy Heart and thy Childrens that thou mightest love him with all thy Heart That the uncircumcised of heart shall be judged for God will judg the uncircumcised People and all the Children of Israel because they are uncircumcised of Heart 2. * I say Circumcision was a Figure established to distinguish the Jewish People from all other Nations And hence it was that being in the Wilderness they were not Circumcised because they should not mingle themselves with other Nations and that since the coming of Jesus Christ it is no longer necessary That the love of God is recommended in all things I take Heaven and Earth to witness that I have set before you Life and Death that you may chuse Life that you may love God and obey him for he is your Life It is said that the Jews for want of this love should be rejected for their Sins and the Gentiles received in their stead and he said I will hide my face from them I will see what their end shall be for they are a very froward Generation Children in whom is no knowledg They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God they have provoked me to anger with their Vanities and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a People I will provoke them to anger with a foolish Nation That Temporal Riches are deceitful and that the chief Riches is to be united to God. That their Holy Days and Feasts are displeasing to God. That the Jews Sacrifices were displeasing to God and not only those of the wicked Jews but also that he was not pleas'd with those of the good Jews as appears by the 49th Psalm where before he addresses his Discourse to the wicked by these words Peccatori autem dixit Deus he saith He desires not the Blood nor Sacrifices of Beasts That the Sacrifices of the Gentiles shall be accepted of God and that God will not take any delight in the Sacrifices of the Jews That God will make a New Covenant by the Messias and that the Old Covenant shall be put away That old things shall be forgotten That the Ark shall no more be remembred That the Temple shall be rejected That the Sacrifices should be rejected and other pure Sacrifices established That the Order of Aaron's Priesthood should be rejected and that of Milchisedeck brought in by the Messias That this Priesthood should be Eternal That Jerusalem should be rejected and a new name given That this last name should be better than that of the Jews and should abide for ever That the Jews should be without Prophets without Kings Princes Sacrifices or Altars That yet neverthless they should
here on Earth was accepted and received of God in Heaven This is the State of things in our Blessed Lord Jesus now let us consider them in our selves When we are first admitted into the Church which is the World of the Faithful especially of the Elect wherein Jesus Christ entred from the Moment of his Incarnation by a peculiar Privilege belonging to the only Son of God we are Offered and Sanctified This Sacrifice continues through the whole course of Life and ends at Death wherein the Soul truly quitting all the Vices and love of the World with the Contagion wherewith it is infected during the course of this Life it finishes its Offering and is received into Bliss Let us not then grieve for the Death of Believers as Pagans do that have no hope When the Faithful depart this Life they are not lost We lost them upon a matter even from the moment they entred into the Church by Baptism from that instant they were Devoted to God their Life was Consecrated to God their Actions regarded the World only for God at their Death they were wholly freed from Sin and 't is then they were received of God and that their Sacrifice received its accomplishment and reward They did what they had Vowed they accomplish'd the Work God gave them to do they did the Work they were Created for the Will of God is fulfilled in them and their Will is swallow'd up into the Will of God Let not our Will separate what God has join'd together and let us stifle or restrain by understanding the Truth the instinct of corrupt and deprav'd Nature which only has false Glosses and that by its Illusions interrupts the Holiness of those Notions which the Truth of the Gospel doth inspire in us Let us not any longer consider Death like Pagans but like Christians that is to say with hope as St. Paul teacheth seeing it is the special Privilege of Christians Let us not consider a Body as a filthy Carrion for deluded Nature does so represent it to us but as the Living Temple of the Holy Ghost as Faith doth teach us For we know the Holy Ghost dwells in the Bodies of Saints till the Resurrection and that they shall be raised by the Power of the Spirit that resides in them to this effect This is the Opinion of some of the Fathers It was upon this account that the Eucharist was heretofore put in the Mouth of the Dead for knowing they were the Temple of the Holy Ghost it was thought convenient they should be united to this Holy Sacrament but the Church has changed this Custom not but the Bodies of Saints are decently buried but because the Eucharist being a Figure of the Bread of Life and for the Living it is not fit it should be given to the Dead Let us not look upon Believers departed in the Fear of God as ceasing to Live though Nature would suggest so but as beginning to live as Truth doth assure us Let us not look upon their Souls as lost and reduc'd to nothing but as vivified and united to the Sovereign Being and by hearkening to these Truths let us restrain the great Mistakes we are so inclin'd unto and those motions of horror which are so Natural to Men. 3. * God has Created Man with two Desires one for God the other for himself but with this restriction that the love for God should be infinite that is to say without any other end but God only and that the love for himself should be finite and referring to God Man in this State would not only love himself without Sin yea he could not but love himself without Sin. Since the Fall Man has lost the first of these Loves and the love of himself being only left in this great Soul capable of an infinite love this Self-love has extended it self and filled the space the Love of God had left and so he loves only himself and all things for himself that is to say Infinitely This is the Original of Self-love it was Natural to Adam and just in his Innocency but it became criminal and immoderate after his Fall This is the Spring of this Love and the cause of its defectiveness and of its excesses It is the same of the immoderate desire of Power of Sloath and of other things The Application is easie to be made upon account of the horror we have of Death This Fear was natural and just in Adam whilst Innocent because his Life being very pleasing to God it was the same to Man and Death would have been horrible because it would have put an end to a Life that was conformable to the Will of God. Since Man Sinned his Life is become depraved his Soul and Body Enemies to each other and both to God. This change having infected so Holy a Life the love of Life remains nevertheless and the fear of Death resting also what was just in Adam is unjust in us This is the Original of the horror of Death and the cause of its defectivenss Let us then clear the horror of Nature by the light of Grace The fear of Death is Natural but 't is in the State of Innocence because it could not enter into Paradise but in finishing an Innocent Life It was just to hate it when it could not happen but in separating a Holy Soul from a Holy Body but 't is just to love it when it separates a Holy Soul from an Impure Body it was just to shun it when it would have broke the Peace betwixt the Body and Soul but not when it calms the highest Dissention To conclude when it would have afflicted an Innocent Body when it would have depriv'd the Body of the liberty of honouring God when it would have separated from the Soul a Body that submitted to its desires when it had destroyed all the Good Man was capable of it was just to abhor it but when it puts an end to a wicked Life when it takes from the Body the liberty of Sinning when it delivers the Soul from a powerful Enemy that resists all the Motions to its Salvation it is very unjust to have the same Sentiments Let us not then quit this Love Nature has given us for Life seeing we have received it from God but let it be for the same Life for which God has given it to us and not for a contrary end And in consenting to the Love Adam had for his Life in Innocency and that Jesus Christ himself had for his let us strive to hate a Life contrary to that which Jesus Christ loved and fear only the Death that Jesus Christ feared which befals a Body well pleasing to God but not fear a Death that punishing a guilty Body and cleansing a Vicious Body should give us quite contrary desires if we have ever so little Faith Hope and Charity It is one of the chief Principles of Christianity that all that befel Jesus Christ should also be fulfill'd in the Body
't is to thee it appertains as a Tribute I owe unto thee for thy Image is stamped upon it Thou didst there ingrave it Lord at the instant of my Baptism which is my second Birth but 't is quite blotted out the Idea of the World is so ingraven in it that thine cannot be seen Thou alone hadst power to make my Soul and thou only art able to renew it thou only wert able to stamp thine Image upon it thou only art able to restore it and to renew thy decayed Image that is to say Jesus Christ my Saviour who is thy Image and the Character of thy Glory V. O my God how happy is the Heart that can love so charming an Object that don't dishonour it but in whom 't is so safe to trust I find I cannot love the World without displeasing thee without hurting and dishonouring my self and nevertheless the World is the Object of my delight O my God how happy is that Soul of whom thou art the delight because it can willingly love thee not only without scruple but also with pleasure How firm and durable is her Happiness seeing her expectation shall not be frustrated because thou shalt never be destroy'd and that because neither Death nor Life shall ever separate her from the Object of her delight and that the same moment that shall plunge the wicked with their Idols into common Misery shall unite the Righteous with thee in a common Glory and as the one shall be destroyed with the perishable Objects which they delighted in so the others shall abide for ever in the Object that Eternally subsists of himself whereunto they were strictly united O how happy are those that with free Liberty and full bent of their Will do freely and perfectly love that which they are necessarily obliged unto VI. Accomplish O my God the good Desires thou art pleas'd to give me be thou the End as thou art the Beginning Crown thy own Gifts for I confess they are from thee Yes my God and very far from thinking there is any Merit in my Prayers that should oblige thee of necessity to grant them I most humbly confess that having given my Heart to the Creatures which thou madest only for thy self and not for the World nor for me I can expect no Grace but meerly from thy Mercy seeing there is nothing in me might invite thee to it and that all the natural Motions of my Heart being inclin'd to the Creatures or to my self cannot but displease thee I therefore give thee Thanks my God for the good Motions thou givest me and even for that which thou givest me that I give thee Thanks VII Touch my Heart with Repentance of my Sins seeing that without this inward Grief the outward Evils thou layest on my Body will be a farther occasion of making me transgress make me fully understand that bodily Pains are nothing else but the Punishment and Figure both together of the Evils of the Soul. But Lord grant that they may also prove the Remedy in making me consider in the Punishments I feel those which I did not feel in my Soul although I was sick and over-run with Ulcers For Lord the greatest of these Evils is this insensibleness and extream weakness that had deprived the Soul of all Sense and feeling of its own Miseries Make me to feel them sharply and that the residue of my Life may be a continual Repentance for the Offences which I have committed VIII Lord though my Life past has been exempt from heinous Crimes from which thou hast put from me all occasions yet it has been very odious in thy sight by my continual negligence in thy Service by the ill use of thy Holy Sacraments by dispising thy Holy Word and Motions of thy Spirit by the Sloath and unprofitableness of my Thoughts and Words by the loss of my time which thou gavest me only to adore and serve thee and seek in all my Businesses the means to please thee and to be sorrowful for the Sins are daily committed and which the best Men are subject unto so that their Life should be a continual course of Repentance without which they are in danger of falling from their Righteousness So O my God I have always been contrary to thee IX Yea Lord even to this Day I have been deaf unto thy Holy Inspirations I have despised thy Oracles I have judged contrary to what thou judgest I have opposed the Holy Maxims which thou didst bring into the World from the bosom of thine Everlasting Father and according to which thou wilt Judge the World. Thou sayest Blessed are those that weep and Woe be to those that laugh but I have said Wretched are they that are sorrowful and Happy are those that rejoice I have said Happy are those that enjoy a large Fortune and a glorious Reputation and full State of Health and wherefore have I esteemed them Happy but only because these advantages should give them the greater opportunity with ease to enjoy the things of this World that is to say to displease thee Yea Lord I confess I have accounted Health a Blessing not because 't is a Means the better of serving thee to spend the more Days and Nights in thy Service and to do good to Neighbours but because by means thereof I could with the greater Freedom and Liberty give my self up to the enjoyment of the abundance of the things of this Life and the better enjoy the dangerous Pleasures of Sin do me the favour Lord to rectifie my depraved Reason and to conform my Thoughts unto thine Let me count my self Happy in Affliction and that in my being unable to act outwardly thou mayest in such manner purifie my Thoughts that they may no longer oppose thy Will that so I may feel thee within me because I cannot seek thee outwardly by reason of my weakness For Lord thy Kingdom is within thy Children and I shall find it within me if I there find thy Spirit and thy Will. X. But Lord what shall I do to prevail with thee to shed forth thy Spirit on this miserable Clay all that I am is odious unto thee and I can find nothing in me that may be acceptable in thy sight I see nothing in me Lord but only my Sorrows that have any resemblance with thine consider therefore O Lord the Evils that I suffer and those that hang over my Head. Look with an Eye of pity on the Wounds that thy hand has made in me O my Saviour thou didst love thy suffering in Death O God who becamest Man only to suffer more than any Man for the Salvation of Men O God who wast not Incarnate till after the Sin of Man and that tookest not a Body but therein to suffer all the Evils that our Sins deserved O God who so lovest the Bodies that suffer that thou didst choose for thy self the Body the most loaden with suffering that ever was in the World accept my Body not for
its own sake nor for the sake of any thing it has for there is nothing in it but deserves thine Anger but for the Pains it endures which alone can be worthy of thy Favour Love my Sufferings Lord and let my Sorrows invite thee to visit me But to finish the preparation of thine abode Grant O my Saviour that if my body has that in common with thine that it suffers for mine Offences my Soul may also have that in common with thine too that it might be in sadness for the same Offences and that so I may suffer with thee and as thou didst in my Body and in my Soul for the Sins which I have committed XI Grant me the Grace Lord to join thy Consolations to my Sufferings that I may suffer as a Christian I don't desire to be free from Sufferings that 's the recompence of Saints but I desire not to be abandon'd to the Sorrows of Nature without the Comforts of thy Spirit for that 's the Malediction of Jews and Infidels I don't desire to have a fulness of Consolation without any Suffering for that 's the Life of Glory neither do I desire to be in a fullness of Evils without Comfort this is the State of Judaism But I desire Lord to feel altogether the sadness of Nature for my Sins and the Comforts of thy Spirit by thy Grace for that 's the true State of Christianity Let me not feel sadness without Consolation but let me feel sadness and Comfort both together that I may at length attain to feel only thy Consolations without any Grief For Lord thou didst let the World languish without consolation before the coming of thy only Son now thou comfortest and softenest the Sufferings of thy Children by the Grace of thy beloved Son and thou wilt fill with perfect Happiness thy Saints in the Glory of thine only Son These are the admirable steps by which thou conductest thy Works Thou hast drawn me out of the First make me to pass through the Second to arrive at the Third Lord it is what I heartily beg of thee XII Suffer not that I may be in that distance from thee that I may consider this Soul sorrowful unto Death and this Body pressed by Death for my Sins and not rejoice to suffer both in my Body and in my Soul For what is there more shameful and yet more common in Christians and even in my self than whilst thou didst sweat Blood to expiate our Offences we live in Pleasures That Christians who make Profession to belong to thee that those who by Baptism have renounced the World solemnly in the Face of the Church to Live and Die with thee that those that make Profession to believe the World Persecuted and Crucified thee that those that believe thou didst expose thy self to Gods anger and to the rage of Men to ransom them from their Sins that those I say that believe all these Truths that consider thy Body as the Sacrifice that was deliver'd for their Salvation that consider the Pleasures and Sins of the World as the only Subject of thy Sufferings and the World it self as thy Executioner yet should seek to Pamper their Body with these same Pleasures in this same World and that those that cannot without horror see a Man imbrace and cherish the Murderer of their Father that gave himself to Death to restore them to Life how they can live as I have done with full delight in the World which I very well know was the Murderer of him that I acknowledge to be my Father and my God and that gave himself to the Death for my Salvation and that bore in his Body the Punishment due to my Sins It is just Lord that thou shouldst put a stop to such Sinful Delights as those were wherein I rested under the Shadow of Death XIII Take therefore from me Lord the sorrow which Self-love might give me for my own Sufferings and by reason that Worldly things don't succeed according to the Inclinations of my Heart that tend not to thy Glory But be pleased to cast me into a sorrow conformable unto thine let my Sufferings in some measure pacifie thine Anger Make them be an occasion of my Conversion and Salvation Let me not henceforth desire Health nor Life but that I may employ and end them for thee and with thee and in thee I don't ask Health nor Sickness nor Life nor Death but that thou wouldest dispose of my Health and Sickness of my Life and Death for thy Glory and my Salvation and for the good of thy Church and Saints of which I hope by thy Grace to make a part Thou only knowest what is expedient for me thou art the absolute Disposer of all things do what seems good in thy sight Give unto me take away from me but conform my Will to thy Holy Will and that in an humble and perfect submission and Holy confidence I may prepare my self to receive the Decrees of thine Eternal Providence and that I may equally adore all things that proceed from thee XIV Grant O my God that in a constant Uniformity of Mind I may receive all sorts of Events because we don't know what to ask for and that I cannot desire one thing rather than another without Presumption and without making my self a Judge and liable to answer the consequences which in thy Wisdom thou hast justly hid from me Lord I know I know but one thing which is That 't is good to serve thee and that 't is ill to offend thee besides this I don't know which is worst or best in any thing I can't tell which is best for me Health or Sickness Riches or Poverty or any thing else in the World these things pass the Skill of Men and Angels to discern and are hid in the secrets of thy Providence which I humbly adore and will not presume to pry into XV. Grant therefore Lord that such as I am I may conform my self to thy Will and that being sick as I am I may glorifie thee in my Sufferings without them I cannot attain to Glory and thou thy self my Blessed Saviour wouldst not arrive thereunto by any other way It is by the marks of thy Sufferings that thou wert known to thy Disciples and it is by Sufferings that thou dost also know those that are thy Disciples acknowledge me therefore for thy Disciple in the Pains which I suffer both in my Body and Mind for the Offences which I have committed And because nothing is well pleasing to God but what is offerr'd up by thee conform my Will to thy Will and my Sufferrings to those which thou hast suffered grant that mine may become thine unite me unto thee fill me with thy self and thy Holy Spirit Enter into my Heart and Soul to bring thither my Sufferings and to continue to maintain in me what is yet behind to suffer of thy Passion which thou dost fulfil in thy Members until the full consummation of thy Body
better to give true Comfort than all other Men whatsoever But what is most considerable is they teach those Remedies are not in our power All the rest taught some that there was none at all others that they were in our own Power and thereby have deceiv'd all those that trusted therein whereas these with a sincerity that no Deceiver ever durst pretend to assure us that we can do nothing of what we are commanded that we are born unclean and unable to resist Corruption and whilst we act only by our own Strength we shall undoubtedly stoop to the same Passions they command us to surmount But at the same time they tell us that we must implore this strength of God which we stand in need of that he will not refuse it to us and that he will also send a Redeemer unto Man who satisfying Gods Justice for them will repair this Weakness and will inable them to do all things he requires of them How excellent a Design is hear and how agreeable to Truth and Reason it self as far as Reason can share in it Let us consider and view it all at once in its full extent the better to comprehend its Greatness and Majesty All things are Created by God to whom nothing is impossible Man came out of his hands in a State worthy the Wisdom of his Maker He Rebels against him and forfeits all the Privileges of his Creation Sin and Punishment is transmitted to all Men and thereby they are born Perverse and Corrupt as is too evidently seen they retain some glimmering of their first Greatness and they are told they may be restor'd to it They find no ability in themselves to do it and they are taught that they have none but that they ought to seek it of God they find themselves at so great a distance from God that they can see no manner of way how they can draw near to him and they are promis'd a Mediator that will effect this great Reconciliation What can a Man of Reason and good Sense do herein but acknowledge that never any thing was better conceiv'd and those that spake so how little Proof soever they have they deserve to be believ'd There are several to whom the very mentioning of it will sufficiently convince for indeed this matter does not appear easie to be invented whoever will but narrowly examine it One only needs see what the ablest Men have said on this Subject either of themselves or after seeing the Books of Moses to judge that this is not of the Stamp and Invention of Men. In truth this is not their Voice and 't is strange they don't see it and that they don't use herein the same exactness of judging as they are wont to do in all other things for there 's no body but agrees that as for things which fall within our Sphere we have in us a Sentiment that makes us judge at first sight if what presents it self to us be the Work of Nature or of Men whether we receive it by Nature or by Custom no matter it never deceives us for Instance If in a Mountain in some remote Island we should find Steps regularly cut in a Rock or some strange Characters ingraven we should not fear to say there had been Men there before us and that those things could not be done by Nature Nevertheless have we examin'd the two infinite differences there is betwixt Nature and Art that they have nothing in common and if we judge so wel without Art why don't we extend farther the Principle that leads us thereunto and discern by what we feel in us and by the experience we have that these great Ideas are of a very different kind from what the Spirit of Man is able to produce But because Men are of that Nature that when they are but a little accustom'd to things they can scarce tell whether they were able to imagin them or not yet 't is not therefore expected they shall presently submit they shall be sufferr'd to count for nothing that 't is not Natural that with a design to impose on Men all things most contrary to Reason and Nature should be imploy'd Let them believe if they can that 't was not impossible Moses and those that follow'd him that Men so Wise and withal so Learned should of their own Head go about to invent a thing so incomprehensible as Original Sin and which appears so contrary to the Justice of God whereof they relate so many Wonders and besides that they should presume to Attribute to God an Expedient so strange for the Purifying of Men as that of sending his only Son into the World that he should die the Death At least let them do themseves right and for the little certainty they have in themselves of judging the least things they should judge themselves uncapable by their own Strength to determine whether Transmission of Sin wherein all doth consist be unjust or impossible And to conclude That they esteem and should judge themselves Happy that in a thing which so nearly concerns them instead of lying at the Mercy of their poor Reason which so easily is impos'd upon they need only Examin Matters of Faith and History for convincing Proofs that is to say things for which they have good Ground For once granting as 't is plainly evident that there is a God there needs not many Words be used to affirm that he cannot do any Injustice because his Will is the sole Rule of Good and Evil The Question is not to Examin what the thing is in him but only if those who insure us on Gods behalf that it is have sufficient Reason to be believ'd And it would be in vain to answer that one has Proof those things are unjust and impossible to shew they cannot be as 't is said there is that they are real to shew they are neither unjust nor impossible It cannot be there should be Reason on both sides and it must needs be that either the one or the other must be deceived and what indeed deceives them is That the Notions we have of what is Just and Unjust are strangely Limited seeing there is no farther Dispute amongst us but of Justice betwixt Man and Man that is to say amongst Brethren where all Duties are equal and reciprocal and that here is meant a Justice of the Creator towards the Creature where the Rules and Rights are infinitely disproportion'd But when all is done as they dare not boast fully to know how far the Power of God does extend and what his Justice is their Proofs instead of being Demonstrative they are only at best nothing but Reasoning of a Metaphysical Nature Grounded on Principles invented by Men and therefore uncertain whereas what is offerr'd them for Proof being of the Nature of things which are capable of certainty and intire Evidence Reason and good Sense obliges them to begin by these And to conclude if they find themselves convinc'd that they
pleas'd to veil his Conduct and in such a manner to mingle Light with Obscurity that it should most depend on the Dispositions of the Heart to believe or to rest in Darkness So that those to whom he hides himself ought never to hope for any good till first they do as much as they can possible set themselves in the way of those that have found the Truth But they shall scarce give over counting for nought the Miserable Riches which some would deprive them of they will scarce begin to believe Poverty cannot be an Evil that Disgraces and Oppressions may be lookt upon as Good that nothing is to be shunn'd but offending God and nothing to be sought for but how to please him that all shall be clear to them and if there remains any Obscurity it will appear at least that it is only for those who desire to rest in it For Instance God was pleas'd to send his only Son into the World to save Men and at the same time to be a Stone of stumbling and an Object of contradiction to those who made themselves unworthy of so great a Blessing Could he have done any thing better than what he did to this End He was born of mean Parents he made him spend his Life without having wherein to lay his Head he only gave him the refuse of his People to be his Followers he would not that he should speak of any Sciences nor of any thing esteem'd great amongst Men he made him be thought a Deceiver he caus'd him to fall into the hands of his Enemies to be betray'd by one of his Disciples and forsaken by all the rest he made him tremble at the approach of Death which he sufferr'd publickly and as a Malefactor how could he better disguise him to those who only savour the things of Worldly Greatness and have no Eyes to behold true Wisdom But he also made him Command the Sea the Waves and the Wind yea he had also power over Devils and Death he made him know the inward Thoughts of those that spake with him he pour'd forth his Spirit upon him and put those things in his Mouth as could proceed from no other but God he made him speak the things of Heaven in such a manner as far surpasseth the reach of Men he was desirous to inform them the State of their Heart and how they might be deliver'd from their Miseries he made him live without the least appearance of Sin insomuch as his greatest Enemies had not the least pretext of accusing him he made him foretel his own Death and Resurrection and he raised him up out of the Grave What could there have been fitter to hinder him from being rejected by those who love true Greatness and Wisdom To conclude because all Ages and the whole Universe were concern'd in the same Conditions of Obscurity for some and of Light for others he would have his History and Life writ by none but his Disciples to render it suspicious to those who desir'd to be deceived and that it should be the most undoubted of all Histories that so they might be inexcusable For in a Word not to enter into this vast Field of Dispute if it be not true either the Apostles must be deceived or they must be Cheats and neither the one nor other is to be believ'd how could it be that they were deceiv'd those who said They were Eye Witnesses of the Life of Jesus Christ and also believ'd to be Chosen and endow'd with Gifts to that very End Could they be deceiv'd to know if they themselves healed the Sick if they raised the Dead What other or greater Sign could they have desired to be assur'd of knowing the Truth But if Jesus Christ made them believe during his Life how comes it to pass they were not better advis'd after his Death seeing they believ'd he was truly God that is Master of Life and Death For as for the Disciples of Mahomet who only call'd himself a Prophet it is plain they rested in Ignorance and Error after his Death and he was careful not to promise them to Rise again But it is not so of those of Jesus Christ they are far bolder accordingly they declare If he is not Risen all they did and said is in Vain It is thence they draw their greatest Comfort and Constancy and 't is very unlikely and even impossible but they believ'd at least that they saw him after his Death and they believ'd it with the greatest certainty could be in exposing themselves to all they sufferr'd and by reposing thereon the great Work wherein they had so happy success This being granted how can it be imagin'd they all believ'd so strongly a thing so difficult to be receiv'd and whereof the Eyes only can be the Judges Did they all dream it in one Night for they all declare they see him and we think they were all honest Men. Is it a Ghost that deceiv'd them for the space of Fourty Days or was it some Impostor that made them believe that he was the Man that Dy'd before their Eyes and whom they had laid in the Sepulcher and who afterwards found means to ascend up into Heaven in their sight This would be ridiculous to say and so much the more because 't is plainly seen by what we have left us of theirs that they were not so simple to believe That if Jesus Christ had been but a Common Man he could not have Raised himself from the Dead It would be altogether as Vain to say the Apostles were Deceivers and that after the Death of their Master they agreed amongst themselves to say he was Risen and should think all the World must take their Word for it For though it be said Men are Naturally Lyars it is not so in the Sense it is commonly taken It 's true they are born such inasmuch as they are born Enemies to God who is the Sovereign Truth and that their Heart is bent and prone to Vanity and Falshood which too often they look upon to be Real But else it is certain they Naturally love to speak Truth and it cannot well be otherwise the Natural Inclination tending to speak what one knows or at least what one believes that is what 's True in it self or in regard of him that speaks it Whereas for Lying there must be deliberation and design one must be at the trouble of inventing and it is seen such Men never Lye but for Interest or for Honour and then too because they cannot otherwise attain to it And they take great heed that what they say should seem probable and that the Falshood should not be discover'd especially if the Consequences are dangerous and if any should be found that Lye for Pleasure they never think but of enjoying it in the Moment not grounding any thing that 's Real upon their Lye. So that the Apostles could not possibly have any design of imposing upon Men in what they taught of