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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A75003	The beauty of holiness Written by the author of The whole duty of man, &c. To which is added holy devotions upon several occasions, fitted to the main uses of a Christian life.	Allestree, Richard, 1619-1681.; Hove, Frederick Hendrick van, 1628?-1698, engraver.	1684 (1684)	Wing A1096A; ESTC R223525	94,600	252

lost his pristine purity and subjugated himself to the cruel tyranny and dominion of sin in this deplorable state being utterly unable to help himself our blessed Lord redeemed us from our captivity by offering up himself a ransom to satisfie divine Justice and all this that we might walk in newness of life And now what ingratitude is it to despise so much love Sure If he that despised Moses law died without mercy of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the Bloud of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing Heb. 10.28 29. He must certainly be of a very base and disingenous spirit who takes pleasure in sin when he considers how dearly Christ paid for it Hath he been at so much pains undergone such dismal sufferings to purchase our peace and will we notwithstanding frustrate his designe how strange to astonishment is this that men should prefer captivity to freedom Alas is it not enough that our blessed Master was so barbarously and despitefully used by the Jews and Roman Souldiers but must we be also Actors in the Tragedy and by our sins crucifie him again Did he not die that we might live and shall we spend our life in offering despite unto him Strange that so much madness should lodg in the breasts of any into whom God hath breathed the breath of life I might here also adde that it is a contemning and offering of the greatest despite to the Holy Spirit to despise Holiness for upon this account is the third person of the blessed Trinity called the Holy Ghost because his peculiar office is to enable us to perform holy actions now if we continue in our rebellion if we reject the offers of grace and the internal motions of the Spirit to Holiness we do hereby become guilty of quenching the Spirit of God and offering despite unto him which is so horrid a piece of villany that Heaven threatens it with the severest torments SECT 5. Holiness the most proper and effectual means for attaining length of days Of all outward and temporal blessings length of days hath justly the precedency since without this all others can afford little or no comfort The possession and enjoyment of other mercies can bestow no satisfaction to men lying on their beds of languishing nay there is no comfort be it never so great but men would willingly quit with to acquire this Now since this is above all things so universally desired it cannot but very much enhance the value of Holiness to demonstrate that there is nothing so proper nor more effectual to procure length of days than this In order to my proving of this I shall first make it plain from Scripture that length of days is due to holy men by vertue of the many true and faithful promises and secondly I shall appeal to common experience to determine the case First there is nothing more evidently asserted in Scripture than that Holiness hath the promise of length of days annexed to it Prov. 3.1 2. My son forget not my law but let thine heart keep my commandments for length of days and long life shall they adde unto thee This encouraging motive is pressed very effectually by Moses in his exhortation to obedience Deut. 4.40 Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes and his commandments which I command thee this day that it may go well with thee and with thy children after thee and that thou maist prolong thy days upon the earth Upon this account we also finde that there are many promises of this nature to obedient Children Exod. 20.12 Honour thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee And as Righteousness tendeth to life as the Wise man observes so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death Prov. 11.19 There is nothing more evident from Scripture than that sin hath a natural tendency to shorten mens lives nay the great God who is serious in his threatnings hath assured us it is so upon which account we may well conclude with the Wise man Prov. 10.27 The years of the wicked shall be shortned The whole tenour of the Scripture abounds with many such promises and threatnings and the thing is so plain that I need not stand to transcribe many texts But besides Scripture this truth is also plainly attested by common experience for if we examine who are the men who for ordinary are most obnoxious to diseases and live shortest we shall finde it true enough that the vitious are the men who live not out half their days Prov. 23.29 30. Who hath woe who hath sorrow who hath wounds without cause they that tarry long at the wine c. Holiness is repugnant and inconsistent with excess which naturally puts a period to the lives of men It forbids all manner of vice which leads down to the chambers of death and keeps men within due bounds in their eating and drinking Before mankind had corrupted themselves by their notorious and impudent vitiousness we read of their great length of days but the increase of sin multiplied diseases which hurry men to untimely deaths I deny not but the great Lord and Master of the Universe may for holy and wise ends known unto himself cut short the lives of the righteous yet surely if we consult either Experience or Reason we shall finde it certain beyond doubt that vertuous men enjoy for ordinary far the longest lives Some good men may be naturally of a brittle constitution yet how strangely has their life been protracted by their moderation and sobriety and how many strong men have had their days shortened by their intemperance and excess Indeed he that considers this well shall finde that Holiness is the most effectual means to promote long life both upon a moral and natural account Upon a moral account long life is the reward which the divine promises do secure to such men and on the contrary wickedness is threatned with shortness of days Upon a natural account the fire doth not more naturally produce heat than Holiness does procure health and length of days and there is nothing more evident than that the most of vices have a physical efficacy in the shortning of humane life That this is the necessary product and genuine effect of intemperance and lasciviousness needs no other argument to prove it but the daily examples of multitudes whom those sins have hurried to their graves And truly there is not any vice which does not like fire in mens bosoms torture and consume them and so disorders and discomposes them that they even neglect the necessary means of their health See Period of Humane life pag. 111 124 Edit 2. SECT 6. Holiness that which makes men honourable vice rendering men mean and ignoble Honour is an ornament so noble and venerable that he is but very sottish if not quite bruitish who doth not

pleasures he might otherwise freely enough delight in O how does it molest and torment him Nocte diéque suum gestare in pectore testem to have an inward principle of Fear haunting the sinner in his most retired enjoyment of pleasures which cannot be silenced by his utmost endeavours This this is it that torments him with anguish and confusion that allays the imaginary pleasure of the most charming Lust and in the midst of laughter makes his heart heavy which fully verifies the truth of what I said that the enjoyment of all other blessings can never free a man from torment nor a whit profit him that is destitute of Holiness Fourthly Holiness is the most incomparable blessing and frees the Soul from the worst of evils What David said of Goliahs Sword I may more safely say of Holiness There is none like it nothing in the world so apt to remove those disasters and turmoiling fears that inwardly work upon and damp the minds of men with severe checks and lashes as Holiness which being diametrically opposite to sin which is the worst of evils must therefore by a necessary consequence be the best of blessings Now seeing contraries placed near to other are the more discernable I shall therefore take a short view of the evil and malignity of sin that hereby the beauty and excellency of Holiness may appear the brighter and have the greater force to conquer our affections To express the evil and malignity of sin Scripture represents it by the most ugly and abominable things by the most dangerous and terrible Diseases Nay the great Apostle seems to want language and comparisons too to express the evil of it when he calls it exceedingly evil as if he had said it infinitely transcends all other evils the malignity of which no Pen can fully delineate and describe either in its nature or consequences In its Nature the Scripture-character of it is it is an enmity against God a transgression and voluntary violation of his most holy and righteous Law a disobedience of his Authority and a wicked contempt of all the divine Attributes 't is the woful stain and blemish of our Natures the disease of our Souls and the reproach of our Reason The consequences of sin are fearful and fatal So bad a cause can never fail to produce the worst effects for besides all the temporal calamities and mischiefs that befal Mankinde those unspeakable miseries and extream torments that accompany men to the other world are also the dreadful and sad effects of sin I have already shewed that every vice is naturally attended with some particular punishment but that indeed which is most terrible which should mightily amaze and startle the sinner are the dreadful miseries of another world Alas how dismal is the condition of those men who have lost the divine Image and consequently his love and favour and are liable to his fury and wrath who are possess'd with a legion of impure lusts which lead them captive and hurry them headlong to perdition where they must have their everlasting abode with impure spirits and devouring flames How impossible is it to give a just List and Catalogue of the sad and dreadful consequences of sin or fully describe the evil and malignity of it But yet this imperfect glance may in part satisfie and inform us that a holy and vertuous life which excludes all those mischiefs and inconveniencies which both in this and the next life attend sin is the best of blessings and frees us from the worst of evils Fifthly Holiness is the best evidence of our being in favour with God and of our adoption to Gods Family How sedulous and inquisitive are many good Christians to understand their spiritual state and condition that they may know into which of the two regions of the other world they shall be stated after death This is certainly a matter of the greatest consequence and deserves every mans most serious consideration a mistake here being so exceedingly dangerous like a wound in the vital parts it proves mortal and incurable if continued in Now the most infallible mark and character of our being in favour with God and that which comprehends all others is that which the beloved Apostle sets down 1 Joh. 3.7 8 9 10. Little children let no man deceive you he that doth righteousness is righteous And every one that doth righteousness is born of God Chap. 2.29 He that committeth sin is of the Devil Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the Devil Whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God Let men pretend what they will if they be destitute of righteousness they are of their Father the Devil and can claim no interest in God as their Father seeing it is purity of Spirit that gives us a title to be the Children of the most high 2 Cor. 6.17 18. Be ye separate and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you and will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my sons and daughters saith the Lord Almighty The whole tenour of the Scripture abounds with so many such instances that I shall supersede a tedious citation of texts This then being so infallible and certain a character methinks every rational man may quickly come to the knowledge of his spiritual estate A bad man may certainly enough know whether he breaks the divine Laws and goes in a continued course of sin and a good man may sufficiently know whether he obeys the divine Laws and is sincere in his actions These are things so plain and undeniable that all doubts of this kinde are ridiculous Now 't is no difficulty to draw these plain inferences I break the divine Laws therefore I am not of God or I obey them therefore I am a Child of God And thus every considering man who impartially considers and exactly examines his life and actions may be fully enough ascertained whether he be a Childe of God or not Alas how useless and dangerous is it to ascend unto Heaven to search the secret and eternal Decrees of God which belong not to us to pry into that we may know whether our Names be written in the Book of Life or not He that doth righteousness needs not fear any latent Decree concerning his reprobation and it is the vainest thing imaginable for impenitent and obstinate sinners to dream that God hath from eternity elected them to life The pure nature of God is so perfectly opposite to sin that it is quite impossible there can be any agreement betwixt him and sinners no more than there can be betwixt light and darkness The Psalmist acquaints us That he is not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness And the Apostle hath told us That the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men But yet the righteous Lord loveth the righteous These are the men whom he esteems his Children to

whom the promises of eternal life belong In the last pace there is nothing in the world that will prove so effectual to comfort men at the hour of death as the sweet thoughts of their being separated from the pollutions of the world How unspeakably comfortable is it for men when they are just stepping into the other world to reflect upon the good life they have led and that they carry in their bosoms Consciences void of offence both towards God and towards man This is indeed that noble and Sovereign Cordial that revives the spirits of good men in their passage through the valley and shadow of death and makes their comforts abound and overflow Death is not so small a matter as some men think in Scripture it is not unfitly called the King of terrours Now nothing can free men from the terrour of it but a good Conscience and this cannot be had without Holiness which makes all calm and serene within It will afford men little pleasure when they come to die to reflect upon the earthly pleasures they have enjoyed these things profit not in the day of wrath but the Conscience of well doing makes men salute death without dread and astonishment and lift up their heads with joy because the day of their redemption approacheth But with the ungodly and wicked it is not so then their sins stare them in their face and so terrifie and affright them that no wonder though in the extremity of their agony they prefer strangling and death to life If holy Job doth so heavily complain of the terrours of God how much more terrifying shall the apprehensions of a severe and terrible judgement be to the unsanctified and polluted To think how shortly he must be everlastingly separate from the good things he enjoyed here and be cast into utter darkness to have his portion with the damned in devouring Flames to be an everlasting resident in the Lake of fire and brimstone where he shall be continually tormented with that gnawing worm that never dies These are the amazing thoughts that will seize upon the sinner his Conscience then will not sleep nothing will be able to allay those Storms and Tempests that are raised by the fearful expectation of the reward due to sin At death men are generally wiser than at other times then they begin to consider what they have been doing and call themselves fool a thousand times for their disobedience and wickedness The smoak of worldly cares that formerly blinded their eyes are now dispelled they see their folly when it is too late to mend it and if they do no more yet Balaam-like they will cry O that I might die the death of the righteous CHAP. IV. Frivolous Cavils and Objections removed THe former Chapters having discovered the Beauty of Holiness and the mighty power and force of Arguments that excite to the practice of it one who weighs all this by the measures of equity cannot as any man would think but look upon it as the strangest prodigie that so just a Cause should miss of its effect and finde the sons of men who pretend to be such Masters of Reason so monstrously foolish in rejecting it upon the account of some frivolous and very fallacious cavils But the truth is resolute Impiety is set upon the Bench and made Judge and no wonder though it pass an unjust sentence and condemn Holiness because of its opposition to Vice The common imputations and prejudices which wicked men load Holiness with I shall reduce to the four following Heads First Holiness lays upon men heavy burdens and grievous to be born which makes humane life joyless and uneasie they being so inconsistent first with Peace and secondly with Pleasure and Satisfaction Secondly Experience informs us that wicked men enjoy pleasure and satisfaction in their ways there being no men so jovial and merry as they and that men who pretend to Holiness are sullen and melancholy and are exposed to heavy sufferings and trials Thirdly 'T is singularity and ambition that prevail more with men than any other motive to be holy Fourthly 'T is the greatest piece of folly ignorance and impudence for men to quit with present pleasures for mere uncertainties The first being the most material Objection I shall therefore more largely and distinctly examine it and in doing of this I shall desire these four things may be considered First that the divine Laws are not grievous and uneasie Secondly that Vice is much more troublesom and difficult than Vertue Thirdly that Holiness conduceth both to the Peace and Happiness of humane Societies and to the temporal Advantage of private persons And Fourthly that there is a great deal of more pleasure in the ways of Holiness than in the commission of sin That the divine Laws are not grievous and uneasie but extreamly reasonable and wise is a truth I have already made plain when I discoursed of the rule of Holiness The whole tenour of the Laws of Christianity being so exceedingly suitable to the very nature of men it cannot be rationally supposed that they can be grievous to them St. Paul to the Philippians gives us a brief and compendious but very full and comprehensive account of what things the Laws of our Christianity enjoyn viz. Whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely and whatsoever things are of good report all which are so agreeable to Reason that even the light of Nature prompts men to the doing of them and fully discovers it self to be an irreconcilable Enemy to all kinde of vices 'T is not then Reason but the impetuous Lusts of men that determines a holy Law to be grievous and uneasie and indeed no wonder though this unjust Judge make Holiness appear formidable and represent it as grievous to Mankinde it being so much the interest of this partial Judge to condem● it as criminal and to decrie it as a yoak intolerable and grievous to be born 'T is not probable that the most innocent shall pass uncondemned when an Enemy is set up in the Judgement seat to pass Sentence our blessed Saviour must be pronounced guilty by Pilat although even this uniust Judge openly profest he found no fault in him And seeing our great Law-giver met with so severe a sentence who can expect any more upright verdicts should pass upon his Laws But that the divine Laws are not indeed grievous to be born may easily appear from plain Texts of Scripture which is the onely infallible rule Our great Lord hath himself taught his Disciples That his yoak is easie and his burden light And one of his inspired Disciples has assured us that his commands are not grievous two Texts sufficient methinks to remove all those prejudices that are cast upon a holy life as if it were full of fatigue and trouble But besides Scripture Reason and Experience too come in to witness this truth First Reason