institutions commands and prohibitions of such men as it hath pleased God to invest with Authority under himself of obliging others which we call Humane Law To these some would adde Custome as a fourth rule of action because they observe there are many cases wherein all the former ceasing wise and good men are wont to govern themselves by laudable and prevailing customs but this so far as it is obliging may be reduced to Humane Law Others also would adde the Law of Charity or of avoiding scandall as a fifth but this is both provided for by the positive Law of God and also deducible from naturall principles Therefore the three aforesaid measures comprize all that which can fall under the notion of Law and consequently every such thing as is to be esteemed a sin must consist in a deviation from or going cross to either all or some one or other of them For it is evident of it self that every thing is free till something restrain and circumscribe it and it cannot be evill but good to make use of that liberty which derogates from no other which infringes no Authority being retrenched by none And it is as evident that we owe account of our selves and carriage only to God ultimately forasmuch as we derive our being and we have and are from him and him only he therefore who gave us our being and all our powers and faculties and their respective accommodations and who continually supports us in the exercise of them may justly prescribe to us and set us what boundaries shall seem fit to his infinite Wisedome Now there are but three ways wherein he hath imposed any obligation or restraint upon us viz. Either by such footsteps of his Will as the mind of man may trace in the order of the Creation those intimations of good and evill which are interwoven in the very nature and order of things and to be observed by naturall reason Or secondly by extraordinary interposition expresly dictating his mind and will to the sons of men Or lastly delegating Authority to those whom his Providence hath constituted in Superiority to prescribe to us in all such things as were not foreprized by the two former i. e. that in all cases where neither the Laws of nature nor the Divine Law were infringed there it was his will we should govern our selves by the Laws of men These I say are all the ways God hath thought fit and all that are imaginable of laying any obligation upon us Therefore wherever there is sin either some plain dictate of Reason is contradicted or some positive Law of God violated or the Sanction of human authority opposed and where neither of these is done there can be no sin upon the forecited reason of the Apostle where there is no law there is no transgression WHICH plain truth we have thus carefully deduced principally for the prevention or remedy of two mistakes very rife in this matter The former is of certain honest and well-meaning but timorous and superstitious persons who not content to approve themselves to the aforesaid measures nor thinking it sufficient for their security that neither the Law of Nature nor any expresse either divine or humane Law disallow their actions are afraid of their own shadows and suspect sin and danger they know not why nor whence their heart misgives them when there is nothing in the case but either that the thing they are about is contrary to the course of their education or forbidden by the imperious dictate of some person to whose usurped authority they have prostituted their judgments Now would such persons be induced to consider that lawfull and unlawfull are relative terms and respect some definite rule or other which must determine any action to be this or that that God is well pleased that his laws be observed and is not so severe and rigid as to oblige us negatively that is that we shall doe nothing but what he commands that there is a great field of liberty interjacent between expresse sin and expresse duty and in that we may expatiate without offence that all actions are good within that scope and though they admit of such different degrees as that some may be much better then others yet none are evil that touch not upon the bounds and limits of Law If I say these things were considered which are no more then the effect of what I said before then would those honest minds be undeceived and enfranchised who for want of such consideration are put to the unhappy choice either to be dispoiled of all liberty or deprived of all peace besides that by such jealousies they tempt both themselves and others to think hardly of God and consequently of that provoke all such men as are strangers to Religion to nauseate and abhorr it THE other mistake which we here seek to prevent is of those that quite contrary to the former are so far from thinking the three Rules of Action we laid down to be insufficient that they persuade themselves it is no great matter for Law or Rule The persuasion of a man 's own conscience an honest intention and a zeal of God are able to bear out and justifie an undertaking though against the expresse and literal direction of some Law in being This conceit strange as it is hath neverthelesse had its Patrons and Proselytes both amongst Jews and Christians and been the cause of mischief enough to both Now it is true that it is within the power of Conscience to make that which was before indifferent in the general to become good and laudable in particular or contrariwise by its dissent to render it evil and vicious because God having given it a judicature its consent is to be had in what we doe in which sense I take it that of the Apostle is to be understood Whatsoever is not of faith is sin and for that reason an erring conscience as I shall shew by and by is also some mitigation of a miscarriage in practice But it is far from that prerogative of being able to legitimate any action prohibited by any of the aforesaid rules for it is but a Judge not a Law and must be governed by the measures forelaid Or if we allow too that the light of conscience is one of those measures as we doe yet must it not bear down both the other that is it is onely a Law and justifies an action when neither divine nor humane Laws have restrained it and not else Wherefore upon the whole matter it is apparent that the three Rules aforesaid in conjunction make up the standard of good and evil every thing is a sin that goes contrary to any of them and nothing is so that doth not § II. 2. BUT Secondly to render any action of ours culpable it is not sufficient that some Law in being be broken unlesse that Law be also promulged i. e. such as is or may be known for otherwise in effect it is no Law
Pandora's Box of calamities if there be none it is in vain to repent fruitless to weep endless to bewail madness to adde to my own infelicities If there be a rigid fate upon me I will curse God and die But sure whilest there is a God there must be goodness his Name speaks his Nature will he break a bruised reed will he contend with dust and ashes Can infinite perfection be implacable and inexorable It is true he hath no need of me but for the same reason he cannot delight in my misery He cannot repent and change his mind because his wisedom foresaw from the beginning all possible contingencies but if I repent and change my mind the same inchangeableness of his will oblige him as well then to save me as before to destroy me How far he will extend mercy and what instances he will make of it I cannot define but who knows but he may yet admit of my submission however I cannot be worse then I am and it is possible my condition may be better here I perish certainly if I cast my self upon his goodness I can but perish therefore I will try I will arise and go to my Father c. And thus his deliberation brings him to resolution which is the second Stage of Repentance CHAP. II. Of Resolution THE CONTENTS § I. That Consideration and all those other previous acts of the mind mentioned in the former Chapter frequently miscarry and are nothing till they are fixed by Resolution § II. The nature of Resolution of the will and the force and efficacy thereof which is shewed to be such as that the Devil nor any other being under God can force it The importance of that truth briefly shewed and the proof of it from experience § III. The properties of a true Penitent Resolution 1. That it be not rash but deliberate 2. That it be peremptory 3. Present And 4. uniform and universal § IV. The Inducements of a Penitent Resolution 1. It s availableness with God by the exorableness of his Nature 2. The possibility of performing it And 3. The easiness of it by the power of his grace 4. The flat necessity of coming to it § I. WE have seen in the foregoing Chapter the motions of an awakened Conscience the working of a troubled minde and therein the first glimpses of hope and signs of recovery But let not any man think that when he is arrived at this condition his work is done his peace made with God and he become a true Convert For if he stay here he perishes as certainly as if he had never made any reflection or considered at all It is one thing to be apprehensive of ones danger and a far greater to have escaped it The discovery of a disease is necessary in order to the cure but it is far from the cure it self It is an unhappy but not an unusual sight to see men upon whom either the pain of some present affliction or the fearfull prospect of divine vengeance hereafter may have so far prevailed as to make them with great shame and abhorrence reflect upon their former disorders and cast up their pleasant morsels who yet shall quickly return again to their own vomit and resume their usual extravagancies A Rock it self may be observed to drop upon change of weather which nevertheless relents not but is as hard and as much a Rock as ever And some extraordinary accident may rouze the most careless sinner and put him upon an effort of purging off his impurities who yet when the storm is over shall settle again upon his Lees. It is no very rare thing to observe men dissolve into tears and weep as heartily over their old sins as ancient friends doe when there is a necessity of parting and yet like them wish and hope to meet and enjoy each other again THEREFORE as we see the formerly dissolute but now relenting Son in the Text contents not himself with passionate expressions or ineffective wishes but resolves upon action I will arise saith he and goe to my Father So the true penitent sinner that is in earnest to save his Soul sits not down under a dozing melancholy pleases not himself with wishing and complaining spends not his time in doubting and disputing but puts himself forward upon the business For saith he whilest I sit still time passes away life flies away apace and death and judgment are coming on wherefore some speedy course must be taken and there is but one way what affords any hope which is that of real reformation in which case no deliberations shall hold me longer in suspence no floth shall benumb me nothing shall tempt me to delay any longer I am resolved I will make the experiment of becoming a new man from an old sinner and upon these terms I will cast my self upon God's mercy and if I perish I perish § II. THIS is the second Stage of Repentance viz. Resolution which I am now further to treat of But it is evident by what we have said already that the Resolution we are to speak of is not a meer logical conclusion by way of inference from premises that such or such a thing is best and fit to be done for every man that uses his reason cannot choose but speculatively assent to this as his duty and his interest the proceedings of reason being as natural and necessary as those of sense Insomuch that it is not in a man's power to deny a plain consequence or disbelieve what there is evident reason for There is therefore no moral vertue in such a conclusion and so a man may perish notwitstanding as it is too notorious that many dōe who act contrary to such conclusions of their reason But the Resolution we here intend and which we make the second step of Repentance is practical and the act of the will namely its decretory and definitive sentence for the actual prosecution of such a course as by Consideration and the former process of reason is discovered to be fit and necessary Or rather it is the wills actual application of it self to the business in conformity to which all the inferiour powers are put into action also as being subject to its authority influenced upon by its power and carried about with the swinge of this primum mobile this first and great Orb of the Soul FOR the more clear understanding of this power of the will and of the nature of Resolution let us suppose Reason and Sense as two parties pleading their respective causes and interests in which case if we should suppose a kind of drawn battel between them and the matter left in aequilibrio notwithstanding it is within the power of the will to give the cause which way it pleases or suppose also that Reason acquitts it self never so well and baffles its adversary yet all will be but a speculation and no effects follow till the will interposes its sovereignty and decrees peremptorily what shall be done And
address of the Holy Spirit which we are considering of these are only the motions or visits which he vouchsafes to make pendente lite or whilst it is yet undetermined to whom men will ultimately belong That therefore which we are concerned about is the peculiar priviledge of very good men such as have cherished the motions entertained the visits and complied with the intimations of the Holy Spirit and when it is come to that from thenceforth he doth not visit them in transitu only or call upon them but resides and inhabits with them and becomes as it were a constant principle a Soul of their Souls in short they are the temples of the Holy Ghost THIS I take to be that which our Saviour means Jo. 14. 23. If any man love me he will keep my word and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him and that also of St. John in the name of our Saviour Rev. 3. 20. Behold I stand at the door and knock which phrase signifies the previous and more ordinary motions of his grace And if any man open to me i. e. if men attend to my admonitions and invitations and break off their custom of sin which barrs the door of their Souls against me then I will come in and sup with him c. i. e. then I will be a familiar guest or inhabitant with him and this is both interpreted and confirmed by St. Paul 1 Cor. 3. 16. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you i. e. being sanctified and made fit for the residence of that heavenly Guest he hath taken possession of you as his house and temple and more expresly yet by St. John 1 Ep. 3 24. He that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him and he in him and hereby we know that he abideth with us by his Spirit which he hath given us § II. NOW this inhabitation or residence of the Holy Spirit is called a Seal and men are said to be sealed by the Holy Spirit because as seals use to denote propriety so God hereby marks out as it were such men for his own i. e. as those that he hath a peculiar concern about those that have an interest in him and he in them and this is of wonderfull comfort and advantage especially in these four respects 1. THE Spirit thus inhabiting men gives them a title not only to God's care and providence but to an inheritance of Sons to a participation of that unspeakable felicity wherewith himself is eternally happy and glorious So the Apostle concludes in the forementioned place Eph. 1. 13 14. After ye believed ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance untill the time of the purchased possession q. d. We are hereby assured of Heaven and glory hereafter though we are not yet in possession of it or this is the pledge of our adoption upon which the inheritance is intailed Hence it is that the same Apostle Rom. 8. 11. makes this an assured argument of our resurrection But if the Spirit of him that raised Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised Jesus from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you q. d. You cannot lie under the power of death and the bonds of the grave but God will assert you to life and immortality because you have a principle of life the Holy Spirit in you which will as surely revive you as it raised Jesus from the dead for by his residence in you you are marked out as belonging to God and thereby he hath taken possession of you for himself WHEN God owned the Tabernacle amongst the Jews built by Moses and after that the Temple built by Solomon and solemnly dedicated to him for his House or Palace wherein to dwell amongst that people it pleased him as it were to take livery and seisin by the cloud which on the behalf of the Divine Majesty hovered over them and was therefore not improperly called by the Jews the Shekinah or dwelling presence and God was said to dwell between the Cherubims because there this symbol of the divine presence subsisted And as in the Christian Church all those miracles which the primitive Christians were inabled to perform were principally to assure their minds that God owned them and although they were destitute of humane help and persecuted both by Jews and Gentiles yet God was with them in which respect the Holy Ghost is called the Comforter so often by our Saviour I say in those miraculous effusions of the Holy Spirit the cloud as it were sate over the mercy-seat in the Christian Church which was now departed from the Temple of the Jews and denoted the collection of believers both of Jews and Gentiles united under Christ Jesus to be now God's peculiar houshold and family So also to all holy men in all Ages God is present by his Spirit by which they become Temples of the Holy Ghost upon which the Apostle pronounces peremptorily Rom. 8. 9. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Which I understand in this sense q. d. He is not arrived at the excellent state of Christianity that hath not experience of the residence of God's Holy Spirit in him ONLY this is to be remembred that this residence of the Holy Spirit in good men which we speak of is not to be judged of by miraculous effects nor are such to be expected now because those were proper only for the first Ages when whilst the Church was under persecuting Emperors and in its infancy God thought fit by such prodigious displays of his power and presence to make all the world see his concern for it and that as I said before he had taken possession of it but ordinarily and especially in the case of private Christians the presence of the Spirit with them discovers it self by such effects as these following For 2. THE Spirit of God though he doth not work miracles now yet doth he not meerly take up his residence in the hearts of holy men but actuates them prompts them forward in all good actions helps and strengthens them in their duty and inflames their resolution and zeal in all brave and generous enterprizes in respect of which we are said to be lead by the Spirit to live and walk in the Spirit Which is not so to be understood as if what good was done the Spirit did it for men nor much less as if he hurried men on whensoever they did well and so for defect of such motion were liable to bear the blame of their irregularities when they did evil for as on the one side he never moves but to that which is certainly good and agreeable to the standing rules of Scripture and natural reason so neither on the other hand when he incites to any such thing doth he overpower