as the Weather and 〈◊〉 Temptations are presented apt to 〈◊〉 fir'd with Carnal Desires or frozen wâ—â—â— Carnal Fears and to desert our Dutâ— Therefore 't is necessary to fix them by repeated Vows of Obedience We 〈◊〉 directed to arm our selves with the same Minds that is with firm Resolutions to cease from Sin The girdle of Truth is a principal part of our spiritual Armour that fastens it upon us Stedfast Engagements to obey God are powerful to excite every Grace in its season to rise up in defiance against our spiritual Enemies David says I have sworn and will perform it that I will keep thy Precepts By the solemn and frequent renewing our Vows of Obedience the Tempter is discourag'd and flyes from us Let us every Morning next our Hearts resolve to walk with God all the day 4. God is well pleased with our sincere Resolutions to keep close to him Who is this that engages his Heart to close with Men He is the Inspector and Judge of our Hearts and notwithstanding ouâ— Infirmities accepts our sincerity 5. There are peculiar Circumstances that enforce the inviolable observation of our Sacramental Vows Our original and permanent Obligation that we contracted in our Baptism in the presence of the Church when we were listed under our Redeemer's Colours to oppose his Enemies and ours Satan in combination with the Flesh and the World should have a strong and constant influence into our Lives Our understanding and voluntary renewings of this at the Lord's Supper makes it more binding 'T is mentioned before that God is pleased by an admirable Condescension to be a party in the Covenant and binds himself to bestow his most free Favours and takes pleasure in performing what is promised 'T is becoming his Wisdom to glorifie his Moral Perfections in his Transactions with Man not only his Mercy but his Truth in saving us The Lord thy God he is God the faithful God which keepeth Covenant and Mercy with them that love him and keep his Commandments The Attribute of Faithfulness is set next the Deity as very dear and pleasing to him He engages himself partly for our Comfort to dispel the Clouds of Fear that are apt to rise in our Bosoms from the sense of our many and mighty Sins therefore his Mercy is secur'd to us by a Covenant and that Covenant establish'd by an Oath the sure evidence 't is irrevocable and seal'd by the Blood of the Mediator and partly to instruct us by his Example to maintain our Integrity which we engage in sealing our part of the Covenant 'T is said of God that he cannot Lye from the Veracity of his Nature and the unchangeableness of his Will and he reckons of his People they will not Lye from that Divine Disposition that is proper to them Now that God is pleased in that Ordinance to give us the clearest and strongest Assurance of his Pardoning Mercy should make us very observant and exact in performing the Condition of it What our Saviour said to the Man heal'd Miraculously of his Lameness is vertually signified in every Pardon we receive Go away sin no more lest a worse thing befal you Sin is extremely aggravated when Perfidiousness and Ingratitude are mix'd with Disobedience Our Resolutions against Sin are preventing Physick but in breaking them the Remedy increases the Disease and accelerates Death more painfully and suddenly I will hear what God the Lord will speak he will speak peace to his people but let them not return to folly To sin against the Law is a high provocation but to sin against special Love grieves the Holy Spirit and deeply wounds our Spirits Now since our hearts are deceitful above all things and since our Resolutions are fleet and fading let us earnestly pray for Divine Grace to Establish them and entirely depend upon it 'T is more easie to raise a Fortification in time of Peace than to defend it in time of War In the absence of a Temptation we readily purpose to abstain from Sin but when they assault us how often are we surpriz'd and vanquish'd David resolves I will keep thy Statutes but to keep his Resolution inviolate he prays O forsake me not utterly He Promises I will take heed to my ways that I sin not with my tongue I will keep my mouth as with a bridle but he Addresses himself to God for assistance Set a watch before my mouth and keep the door of my lips Our Resolutions are Light and Feathery soon scatter'd by a storm of Fear 't is as dangerous to trust in a Heart of Flesh as in an Arm of Flesh. Nothing is more unstable than Water but when pour'd into a strong Cistern 't is as sure as that that contains it Thus Divine Grace preserves our unstable Heart from slipping 4. The Religious observation of the Lords Day is an Excellent means for the increase of Holiness 'T is worthy of our serious Observing that the Fourth Commandment is enforc'd with a Note of Excitation Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day to impress the sense of our Duty upon Conscience and to coâ—fine our transgressing Nature that is so apt to alienate that time that is Sacred to God and the Interest of our Souls to Carnal and Profane Uses 'T is sanctified and set apart by the Lord of our Persons and Time for the celebrating the most Excellent Works of his Power and Goodness in Creation and Redemption He that gave us our Beings and rais'd us from the Dust to an Honour little lower than the Angels those Heavenly Spirits and has ransom'd us from our woful Bondage he that dignified us with the Impression of his own Image and the Assumption of ours The Morality of the Command is perpetual that one day of seven be Consecrated and Separated for Divine Worship but the designation of the Day to the Jewes was in remembrance of their Deliverance from Egypt and to Christians in remembrance of our Deliverance from the Tyranny of the spiritual Pharaoh Satan and his infernal Army Benefits exceeding those of Creation and rescuing from the Bondage of Egypt Indeed every Day we should Redeem Time from business and pleasures for the immediate Service of God but on the Lord's Day we must be entirely Conversant in Holy Duties Publick and Private and abstain from Common Works unless of Necessity and Mercy The Religious Rest of the Fourth Commandment is to be observed by Christians so far as 't is requisite for our attendance on the Service of God 'T is not only our Duty but our heavenly Priviledge that being tir'd in the dust and toil of the World we have a freedom and are call'd to draw near to God with the promise that he will draw near to us that when we pay our Homage we shall receive infinite Blessings for then in the Communion of Saints we present our requests with a filial freedom to God and we receive his Precepts for the ordering our Lives to please him
is mended and renewed it discovers the Sins that were undiscern'd 3. There must be a fixed resolution to reform our Lives wherein we have been culpable The Soul can never recover its lapse from above but by returning thither that is by a real performance of the Duties of the Law that fully represent the Law-giver's Will and Soveraignty Now the reflecting upon our Hearts and Lives to improve the Good and correct the Evil in them is very useful for that end 4. It must be frequent lest we become ignorant and forgetful of our selves Some of the wiser Heathens made a scrutiny of their Actions every day 'T is related of Sextius a Philosopher that in the end of the day he throughly examin'd the Actions of it What Evil have I cur'd What Vice have I resisted In what am I become better Seneca tells us it was his daily practice to give an account of his Actions before the Judicatory of Conscience The Author of the Golden Verses gives Counsel in order to proficiency in Vertue to revise in our thoughts at night Wherein have I transgress'd what have I done what have I omitted In doing this we shall preserve Conscience more tender and sensible for continuance in Sin hardens it This will be a preventive Medicine for if the sting of Remorse follows our omissions of Good and commissions of Evil and a divine Joy is felt in remembrance of our progress in Holiness this will be a constant motive to restrain us from disorderly Actions and to form us to Perfection Besides there is a great difference between the habits of the Body and of the Mind the first wear and decay by continual use the habits of the Mind by frequent practice whether vicious or vertuous increase and are confirm'd And since in the most excellent Saints there remain Sins of unavoidable weakness the renewing our Repentance every day is necessary to obtain the pardon of our Sins which is promised to all that mourn and strive against Sin We are commanded not to let the Sun go down on our wrath much less on God's In short let us every Morning consider the Duty of the day which is a valuable part of our Lives and the proper seasons of doing it and charge our Souls with a diligent regard to it 'T is prudent Advice how to make slothful Servants industrious in the Morning to prescribe their Work in the Evening to require an account what is done or left undone and to commend or censure to reward or punish according to their diligence or neglect There are rarely found Servants of so depraved a temper so rebellious to Authority and Reason so untractable but they will mend by this managing If this Duty be constantly practised in a due manner it will be of infinite profit to us We read in the process of the Creation that God revis'd the Works of every day and saw they were Good and in the end saw they were very good and ordain'd a Sabbath a sign of his complacence in his Works Thus if in the review of our Actions we find our Conversation has been in godly sincerity that we have been faithful to God and our Souls in striving after Perfection this reflection will produce Rest and Joy unspeakable Joy that centres in the Heart and is united to the substance of the Soul Joy that will flourish in Adversity when Carnal Joy withers a Joy that will not leave us at Death but pass with us into the eternal World This Oyl of Gladness will make us more active and chearful in our universal Duty But if we have been slack and careless in Religion if Sins have been easily entertain'd and easily excus'd the remembrance will imbitter Sin and make us more vigilant for the future To make this Duty more profitable we should compare our selves with our selves and with others 1. With our selves that we may understand whether we are advancing towards Perfection Sometimes there is a gradual declension in the Saints themselves not observed When Sampson had lost his mysterious Hair upon the preserving of which his Strength depended and the Philistines had seized him he awoke out of his sleep and said I will go out as at other times before and shake my self and he wist not that the Lord was departed from him Thus many decline in their valuations and affections to things spiritual and are less circumspect in their Conversations less fervent in their desires of Grace and faithful in the improvement of it than formerly and this deserves Heart-breaking Sorrow 2. Besides the comparing our selves with others who have excell'd us in Holiness and have been more watchful to abstain from Sin and more zealous in doing Good is very useful This will wash off the colour of the common Excuse That without the Holiness of an Angel 't is impossible to be preserved undefiled in the midst of sensual Temptations But as the Philosopher demonstrated the possibility of Motion by walking before a captious Caviller that denyed it so when many Saints that have the same frail Natures and are surrounded with the same Temptations keep themselves pure in their Dispositions and Actions when they are regular in Duties of civil Conversation with Men and in holy Communion with God and we that have the same Spirit of Grace and Word of Grace to instruct and assist us fall so short of their attainments how will the comparison upbraid us and cover us with confusion I shall add that the deceitfulness of the Heart is discovered in this Men are very apt to please themselves in the comparison with those who are notoriously worse but averse from considering those who are eminently better But this will be of no avail in the day of Judgment for the Law of God is the Rule to which we must conform not the Examples of others Besides how can any expect that the Wickedness of others should excuse them in Judgment and not fear that the Holiness of others shall accuse and condemn them CHAP. XIII Continual watchfulness requisite for our advancing to Perfection This respects the preventing Evil and doing Good The Malice the Craft the Diligence and Numbers of our Spiritual Enemies We are very receptive of Temptations Watchfulness respects our doing Good in its season and with its proper Circumstances A due regard to the Duties of our several Relations is necessary in order to the perfecting of Holiness Domestick sacred and civil Relations considered The last Counsel Let our progress towards Heaven be with the same Zeal as at our first entrance into it and the same Seriousness as when we come to the end of it 7. COntinual Watchfulness is requisite that we may be rising towards Perfection in Holiness The state of Sin in Scripture is represented by a deep Sleep that is the true Image of Death Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee Light The spiritual Sleep is understood by comparison with the natural In
the same Spiritual Family This Affection proceeds from the upper springs of Grace the exercise of it is immediately terminated on Men but ultimately respects the Glory of God for whose sake 't is performed To do good and distribute forget not for with such Sacrifice God is well-pleased In short our Love to God must be supream and for himself our Love to Men and other things only in the degrees he allows and not for themselves but for God who commands to love them as they bear his Image or are instrumental in the performance of our Duty Otherwise we are in danger of being alienated from the Love of God when any person or thing becomes a Temptation to us to do any thing either to obtain or preserve them against his Will But if we love them only for his sake we shall readily part with them as a Snare or offer them as a Sacrifice if his Will requires it As if we love some particular Meat because 't is healthful and not because 't is pleasant upon the first discovery that 't is hurtful we shall reject it The properties of this Love are specified in the Command 1. It must be sincere The Apostle directs Let Love be without dissimulation Love is essentially sincere 't is seated in the Heart and express'd in real actions 't is cordial and operative There is an empty noise of Love and Respects that proceeds from a double Heart not entire and ingenuous Some by fair Promises work and wind Men to obtain their Ends and then slip through them How often are the sincere deceiv'd by the liberal expressions of Love untryed and untrue mistaking a shining Counterfeit for a real Ruby But though the Humane Eye cannot see through the disguise he that commands sincere Love pierces into the Heart and if it be wanting there his Anger burns against the vain pretenders to it Some will seem to grace others with a flourish of words that they may tax them more freely and without suspicion To praise without a ground of real worth is sordid Flattery but to commend with a mischievous intent is the worst Treachery Some will assist the Sick day and night and seem to sympathize with them in their Pains and Sorrows but their design is to obtain a rich Legacy They appear like mourning Doves but are real Vulturs that smell a Carcass to feed on There are others less guilty who esteem empty Complements to be Courtly Decencies and though 't is not their design to be injurious to those whom they caress yet their Love is only from the Tongue which in the Apostle's expression is but a tinkling Cymbal Their pretended Friendship is like Leaf-Gold very extensive but soon worn off for want of depth Others are Mercenaries that like the Heathens do Good to those from whom they receive Good their Love degenerates into Traffick and does not proceed from a Divine Principle Ingenuous and Christian Spirits have not such crooked Inclinations always reflecting upon their own Interest 'T is true Christian Love declares it self in alternate acts of Kindness but is also exercised where there are no such inducements This is to imitate our Heavenly Father who does good to all without any desert in the receivers and beyond all requital Affliction is the Furnace wherein sincere Friends are tryed and discern'd from the deceitful their Afflictions are common their Compassions and cordial assistance are common This is the most certain and significant Character of unfeigned Love not to fail in a calamitous season Job aggravates his Sorrows by this reflection that his Friends dealt deceitfully as Brooks that run in a full stream in Winter when Snow falls and there is no want of refreshing Waters but when 't is hot they are dryed up and vanish We may securely rely on their Friendship who afford us undesir'd supplies in time of trouble The Observation of the wise Philosopher is verified in every Age That Men in a flourishing condition are surrounded with Friends but in an afflicted are forsaken This Consideration should inflame us with a holy ambition of the friendship of God for his sincere Love is most tenderly express'd in our distress The Psalmist enforces his Request by this motive Be not far off for trouble is near 'T is often seen that Men fly from their Acquaintance when the clearest tryal is to be made of their Affection but then the blessed God draws nearest to us and affords Relief and Comfort 2. Our Love must be pure Seeing you have purified your Souls in obeying the Truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the Brethren see that ye love one another with a pure Heart fervently The purity of Love either respects the cause of it or the exercise and effects of it The cause of pure Love is the Divine Command and the Divine Pattern set before us The Love of God to Men is a leading Rule to us He loves them according to the resemblance of his imitable Perfections in them and consequently the more holy and heavenly the more righteous and gracious Men are the more they should be endear'd to our Affections This is to love God in them and according to their true lovelyness This is to love them by the impression of that Love wherewith God loves himself Our Saviour tells us They that do his Father's Will are his Brothers Sisters and Mothers There is an impure Love that proceeds from the similitude of vicious Affections and is entertain'd by sinful Society that is fatally contagious The Tempter most forcibly allures when he is least suspected He conceals the Serpents Sting in the Tongue of a Friend The Friendship of the World is contracted and cemented by sensual Lusts and the end of it will be the tormenting the Corrupters and the Corrupted together for ever The exercise and effects of pure Love principally respect the Soul the more excellent and immortal part of our Friends We are commanded to exhort one another while 't is called to day and to provoke one another to love and good works Exhortation includes Instruction and Admonition The giving Counsel how to preserve the Purity and secure the Salvation of the Soul how to prevent Sin or to cure it by the conviction of Conscience when ignorant of its Duty by the excitation of the Affections when cold and sluggish and direction to order the Conversation aright The performance of this Duty is inseparable from pure and unfeigned Love and the neglect of it is an argument of deadly Hatred Thou shalt not hate thy Brother in thy Heart nor suffer Sin to lye upon him If you discover any prognostick or symptom of a Disease growing in a Friend that threatened his Life what a cruel neglect were it not to advise and urge him to apply the best means for his preservation Much more are we obliged to rectifie the Errors in Judgment and Miscarriages in Conversation which they are guilty of especially since Spiritual
Diseases are infinitely more dangerous and are not so easily discern'd and felt as Bodily are To suffer unconcernedly a Friend to lye and languish in a course of Sin is Soul-murder and in Murder there are no accessaries every one is a principal 'T is prophesied concerning the time of approaching Judgment that iniquity shall abound and the love of many wax cold by not convincing Sinners in order to reform them This exercise of Love must be frequent while 't is called to day and solemn without bitterness and contempt or a seeming indifference of the success that it may be evident it does not proceed from a censorious Humour or an impertinent Curiosity but from pure Love It must be attended with earnest Prayer to the Father and Physician of Spirits to give healing Vertue to it otherwise 't is but Moral Counsel And it must be received with Meekness and Gratitude The rejecting holy Counsel discovers a double Leprosie for the rise of it is from Pride in the Understanding Self-conceit and Pride in the Will perverse Obstinacy The mutual discharge of this Duty is the most precious desirable and advantageous benefit of Friendship We must perform it to all within the compass of our direction and warm influence we must imitate the Angels earnest Counsel to Lot escape for thy life out of Sodom not to delay that he might not be consum'd O that this Angelical Zeal and Compassion possess'd the breasts of Christians It may justly cover with Confusion many who profess entire Friendship to others and yet their Conversation with them is directly opposite to the Rules of Friendship laid down by the Wise and Vertuous Heathens Scipio prescrib'd this first and inviolable Rule of Friendship That we never desire our Friends to do acts of Moral Turpitude nor do them though desired Another as useful a Rule is laid down by Laelius 'T is the inseparable property of sincere Friendship to give and receive admonition to give it freely not harshly to receive it meekly not with recoil and reluctancy These Vertuous Heathens will rise in Judgment against many who by sordid and base Acts by filthy Lusts and filthy Lucre foment and maintain their Friendships that count it the surest preservative of Friendship to nourish and foment the spring and stream of the Sensual Appetite that will issue into the Lake of Fire 3. Love must be Fervent The degree respects the inward Affection and the outward Effects of it There is such a union of Affections between the Saints that one is as it were transfus'd into another their Afflictions are mutual their Compassions and Assistance are mutual This intenseness of Love is signified by Loving our neighbours as our selves in similitude and likeness How ardent are our desires and earnest our endeavours for our Temporal Happiness and principally if we are inlightned for our Eternal Happiness Accordingly we should be affected and diligent for procuring the present and future Happiness of others How vigilant and active are we to prevent imminent and destructive Evils that threaten us here but specially if we are Serious and Considering to escape from the Wrath to come we should be proportionably careful to rescue others from Temporal or Spiritual Evils to which they are obnoxious How jealous are we of our own Reputation how unwilling to incur Censure to have our Faults aggravated and to bear the Prints of Infamy Love to our Neighbour should make us tender of their good Names to conceal their Faults or to make a favourable Construction of them and not to expose them to Shame and to vindicate them when their Enemies would make them appear Culpable by Calumnies In short our love must be so sincere pure and fervent to our Brethren that we may have a clear and comfortable Evidence that we are born of God and that God dwells in us and we in him But among Christians how rare is Christian Love Their Love is excessive to themselves and defective to others 2. The forgiving Injuries is an excellent Effect of Christian Love This implyes an intire disposition and resolution to pardon all Offences declaring it self in real Acts when there is occasion This Duty is hard and distastful to Corrupt Nature The Apostle injoyns us see that none renders evil for evil follow that which is good The manner of the Expression intimates our proneness to Acts of Revenge For vicious Self-love makes us more apt to retain the sense of Injuries than of Benefits How many receive signal Favours and within a little while neglect their Benefactors withdraw grateful Respects and Converse with them as 't is not usual to walk in a Vineyard when the Vintage is past But if an Injury be once offer'd 't is provoking as if it were re-acted every day by the continual remembrance of it But the Command is strict and universal and allows no freedom but of voluntary Obedience To make us feel the weight of the Duty and to be more tenderly sensible of it our Saviour tells us If you do not forgive neither will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses An unforgiving Temper is an invincible Bar against our obtaining divine Mercy We can neither receive Pardon nor have it continued nor enjoy the Comfortable Sense of it without pardoning others 'T is a sin of such Malignity that it invenomes Poison it self it actuates the Guilt of all other Sins and seals the doom of the unrelenting and hardned against the offending Brother The Servant that upon his humble Request had Ten Thousand Talents forgiven yet upon his cruel exacting Three Hundred Pence from his Fellow-servant his Pardon was Reverst and he was deliver'd to the Tormentors till his Debt was entirely paid The lines of this Duty are clearly drawn in the divine Pattern set before us God pardons Sins intirely he blots them out as a thick cloud the Saints in Heaven are as accepted in his Sight as the Angels that always obey'd his Commands He pardons frequently In many things we offend all It would tire the hand of an Angel to Register the Pardon 's issued from the Throne of Grace to Rebellious Sinners He Pardons Sins of a very provoking Nature he makes our Crimson Sins to be as white as Snow and Scarlet Sins as white as Wooll The Provocation begins on our part the Reconciliation begins on God's part He beseeches us to be reconcil'd as if it were his Interest that we should not be destroyed by Severe Justice God can destroy his Enemy in the twinkling of the Eye in the beating of the Pulse yet he Supports and Comforts them every day Our Saviour has set us the highest Pattern of Forgiving Love When he was Nail'd to the Cross he prayed for his Cruel Murtherers Father forgive them they know not what they do How perswasive should his Pattern be Shall we be so tenderly sensible of the hatred of an Enemy and so stupidly insensible of our Saviour's Love Shall the resenting remembrance of Injuries deface in us
Saints that eminently distinguish them from others and these we should especially regard Enoch walked with God His Life was a continual regard of God therefore he was translated into his glorious Presence Abraham's Faith was illustrious in that without reluctancy he address'd himself to offer up his beloved Son a Command so heavy that God would not permit his performing it Moses Self-denial was truly admirable in choosing to live in a solitary naked Desert rather than in the Egyptian Court wherein was the heigth of Pomp and the centre of Pleasure Job's Patience was unparallel'd when encompass'd with the sharpest Affliction Daniel prefer'd a Den of Lyons to Darius's Palace rather than neglect one day his desired Duty of Prayer to God Whom would it not inflame to read the Narrative of the Tryals of the excellent Saints recorded in the 11th to the Hebrews They were persecuted and patient afflicted and resign'd they were victorious over the blandishments of the alluring World and the terrors of the enraged World From those Instances the Apostle exhorts us to run our race with Patience looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our Faith The Knowledge that is in our view from the practice of others will make Obedience more easie and best lead us to practice These excellent Examples should make us blush with Shame and bleed with Grief that notwithstanding there is a more copious communication of Grace by the Gospel than under the Law and a more clear revelation of the glorious Reward we are so many degrees below them Nothing will convince us more of our Negligence than comparative and exemplary Instruction There is an envious Emulation among those that are in Publick Places 't is not so pleasing to see many below them as 't is uneasie and grievous to see any above them This seems to be one of those Plants that in its native Soil is poisonous but transplanted into another Climate and under another Heaven is not only innocent but healthful 'T is a noble Emulation worthy the breast of a Saint to strive to excel others in Holiness 5. Our present Joy and future Glory are improved according as we rise to Perfection here The Life of a Saint may be compar'd to the Labour of the Bees who all the day either fly from their Hives to the Flowers or from the Flowers to their Hives and all their art and exercise is where there is fragrancy or sweetness In divine Worship the Soul ascends to God by holy thoughts and ardent desires and God descends into the Soul by the communication of Grace and Comfort 'T is true the Carnal Man cannot see nor taste the divine delight that a Saint has real Experience of for a lower Nature is incapable of the perceptions and enjoyments of an higher A Plant cannot apprehend the pleasure of Sense nor a Beast the pleasures of Reason and Reason must be prepared and elevated to enjoy the pleasures of Holiness which makes all the charming Contents of this World insipid and nauseous For according to the excellency of the Objects and the capacity and vigour of the Faculties exercised upon them such is the delight that results from their union The holy Soul is a Heaven inlightened with the Beams of the Sun of Righteousness a Paradise planted with immortal Fruits the Graces of the sanctifying Spirit and God walks in it communicating the sense of his Love Are not Life and Light and Liberty productive and preservative of Joy And consequently as the natural Life the more lively and vigorous the more pleasant it is so the spiritual The more we are like God the more we are loved of him and the more clear revelations of his Love are communicated to us The more we are freed from the chains of Sin and bondage of Satan the more joyful and glorious is our Liberty Indeed the Saints are sometimes in darkness but their Sorrows are from their defects in Holiness from their not improving the means of Grace whereby they might rise to Perfection For as when Sadness oppresses us the vital Spirits retire to the Heart and are shut up in their springs that Nature does not perform its operations with delight so when the Holy Spirit the Eternal Comforter is grieved by our quenching his pure Motions he withdraws his comforting Influences and the Soul is left desolate The Experience of all the Saints is a demonstration that Religion the more it fastens us to our Duty and to God by the bands of Love the happier we are and that the state of a renewed Christian is so far from being gloomy and melancholy that 't is the joyful beginning of Heaven By excelling in Holiness our future Glory will be increas'd The life and order of Government consists in the dispensing Rewards and Punishments God will recompence the wicked according to the Rule of Justice and their Desert and the future Happiness of the Saints will be in degrees according to the degrees of their Holiness Not as if there were any Merit in our Works to procure the Eternal Reward which is the Gift of his most free Love but his Love rewards us according to his Promise that they who sow bountifully shall reap bountifully and in proportion as the Graces of the Saints are exercised here their Glory will be in Heaven In this the Goodness of God is admirable he works all in us and rewards his own work His Service is the best for he that commands works and he that obeys reigns If we respect the Glory of God and our own let us endeavour to be compleat in Holiness 'T is true God bestows his Favours as a free Lord and liberal Benefactor variously but he distributes Rewards in the next Life as a Governour according to the inviolate Rule establish'd by his Wisdom in his Word As the quality of the Reward is according to the kind of our Works so the degrees are according to the measure of them To imagine that a Carnal Man may be saved without Holiness is as unreasonable as to think that a Man may be made miserable without Sin It is to attribute an irregular Clemency to him We must distinguish between the desert of the Reward and the order of dispensing it There is no possibility or shadow of Merit for the Grace of Obedience is antecedent to the Grace of the Reward CHAP. XII The effectual means to rise to Perfection in Holiness Unfeigned Faith in our Saviour who is the efficient and exemplary cause of inherent Holiness Prayer a means to obtain an increase of Holiness Frequent and attentive hearing reading and meditation of the Word a means of growth in Grace The Word must be mix'd with Faith and an earnest desire to improve Grace by it It must be laid up in the Mind and Memory It must be sincerely received The Religious Use of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper an excellent means to increase Grace Repentance Faith and Love are improved by it The renewing our
it are clear and pure directing us in our universal Duty the Promises are precious encouraging us by the prospect of the Reward the Threatenings terrible to preserve us from Sin There is an instrumental fitness in the Word preached to perfect the Image of God in us for the manner of conveying the Revelation to us has a congruity to work upon the subject to whom 't is revealed The first insinuation of Sin was by the Ear the first inspiration of Grace is by it Through the Ear was the entrance of Death 't is now the gate of Life In Heaven we shall know God by sight now by hearing When a Minister of the Gospel is inlightened from Heaven and zealous for the Salvation of Souls he is fitter for this Work than if an Angel were a ministring Spirit in this sense and imployed in this holy Office For he that Preaches has the same interest in the Doctrine declar'd by him his everlasting Happiness is nearly concern'd and therefore is most likely to affect others When a holy fire is kindled in the Breast it will inflame the Lips the Mind convinces the Mind and the Heart perswades the Heart But we must consider that as the Instrument cannot effect that for which 't is made without 't is directed and applyed for that end so without a superiour influence of the Holy Spirit that gives vital Power to the preaching of the Word 't is without efficacy What our Saviour speaks of the Natural Life is applicable to the Spiritual Man lives not by Bread alone but by every Word that proceeds from God's mouth A Minister with all his Reason and Rhetorick cannot turn a Soul from Sin to Holiness without the Omnipotent Operation of the Spirit The Apostle tells the Thessalonians that the Gospel came not to them in Word only but also in Power and in the Holy Ghost The Gospel then comes only in Word when it pierces no further than the Ear that is the sense to try Words and distinguish different Sounds and Voices But the Truth of God directed and animated by the Spirit doth not stop at the Ear the door of the Soul but passes into the Understanding and the Heart that make a change so real and great in the qualities of Men as is express'd by substantial productions 'T is therefore said We are begotten and born again by the incorruptible seed of the Word The Word becomes effectual for the increase of Holiness when 't is mix'd with Faith which binds the Conscience to entire Obedience 'T is the Word of God our King Law-giver and Judge the Rule of our present Duty and of future Judgment in the great day of decision The Divine Law is universal and unchangable and the Duties of it are not necessary for some and needless for others but must be obeyed without partiality notwithstanding the repugnance of the Carnal Passions When 't is seriously believed and considered the hearers are induced to receive it with preparation and resolution of yielding to it There is no Truth more evident nor injur'd than this that perfect Obedience is due to the Will of God declar'd in his Word This all profess in the general but contradict in particulars when a Temptation crosses the Precept Now the first act of Obedience to the Truth is the believing it with so stedfast an assent wrought by the Spirit that it purifies the Heart and reforms the whole Man 2. With Faith there must be joyn'd an earnest desire to grow in Holiness This is declar'd by St. Peter As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby In the Natural Life there is an inseparable Appetite of Food to maintain it the inward sense of its necessities causes a hunger and thirst after suitable supplies to preserve and improve it This is experimented in every one that is born of the Spirit they attend and apply the Word of God to them not merely to prevent the sharp reflections of Conscience for the impious neglect of their Duty for that proceeds from Fear not from Desire but to grow in Knowledge and Holiness not in an aiery flashy Knowledge that is only fruitful to increase Guilt and Punishment but substantial and saving Knowledge that is influential upon practice Hearing is in order to doing and doing is the way to Happiness 'T is not the forgetful hearer but the doer of the Word shall be blessed in his deed The bare knowledge of Evil does no hurt nor the bare knowledge of our Duty without practice does no Good Feeding without digesting the Food and turning it into Blood and Spirits affords no Nourishment nor Strength The most diligent hearing and comprehensive knowledge of our Duty without practice is not profitable The enemy of our Souls is content that Divine Truths should be in our Understandings if he can intercept their passage into our Hearts and Conversations He practices over continually the first Temptation to induce us by Guile to choose the Tree of Knowledge before the Tree of Life We are therefore commanded to be doers of the Word not hearers only deceiving our own Souls 3. That the Spiritual Life may be increased by the Word it must be laid up in the Mind and Memory and hid in the Heart David says I have hid thy Word in my Heart that I may not sin against thee His Affection to the Word caused his continual Meditation of it that it might be a living Root of the Fruits of Holiness in their season If there were the same care and diligence in remembring and observing the Rules of Life prescrib'd by the Wisdom of God in the Scriptures as Men use in remembring and practising Rules for the recovery of the Health of their Bodies and 't is justly requisite there should be more since the Life of the Soul infinitely excels the Life of the Body how holy and blessed would they be The Advice of the Roman Physician that is conducive for the Health of the Body is applicable to the Soul After a full Meal abstain from laborious Actions that the heat of the Spirits may be concentered in the Stomach for Digestion otherwise if diverted and imployed in Labour the Stomach will be filled with Crudities Thus after hearing the Word our thoughts should not be scattered in the World but we should recollect and revolve it in our Minds that it may be digested into practice 'T is said of the Virgin Mary She kept thâ—se sayings and pondered them in her heart There are powerful Motives to ingage us to a conscientious attendance upon this Duty Our Saviour tells us He that hears me that is with subjection of Soul hath Eternal Life And in one Instance he has declar'd how much approv'd and acceptable it was to him For when Martha was imployed about entertaining him and Mary was attentive to receive his Instructions he said Mary has chose the better part that shall not be taken from her His feeding Mary was more
and by a Temporal Holy Rest are prepar'd for an Eternal Glorious Rest. The observing this Command enables us to do the rest for the Duties of it are Divine and Spiritual and have a powerful influence in the Souls of Men for the exercise of Grace by a proper efficacy increases it and in their sanctifying that day God sanctifies them and liberally bestows the Treasures of Grace and Joy the consequent Blessing of the divine Institution The Profaners of that Holy Time do vertually renounce their Allegiance to the Crâ—ator and Redeemer they will not attend upon his Oracles but despise the Persons and Office of the Ministers of Christ and their Contempt reflects upon him They make the Sabbath their delight in another sense than the Commandment intends they make it a Play-day Others who are call'd and counted Christians who are good in every thing but wherein they should be best they are Just and Merciful Temperate and Chaste Affable and Obliging to Men but wretchedly neglect the duties of Piety to God and the sanctifying his day That precious and dear interval to a Saint from the business of the World is a galling restraint to Carnal Men from their secular Employments 'T is true they will go to the publick Worship either for seculary respects Custom or the Coertion of the Laws or the impulse of Conscience that will not be quiet without some Religion but they are glad when 't is done and by vain discourses dash out of their minds the instructions of the Word of God They spend a great part of the day as if it were unsanctified time in curious dressing in Luxurious Feasting in Complemental Visits in Idleness and sometimes in Actions worse than Idleness The certain Cause of this Profaneness is they are not partakers of the divine Nature that inclines the Soul to God and raises our esteem of Communion with him as a Heaven upon Earth and from hence it follows that they come and go from the Publick Ordinances neither cleansed from Sin nor chang'd into the divine Image But those who conscientiously employ that day in Duties proper to it in Prayer and Hearing and Reading the Scriptures and spiritual Books in holy Conference whereby Light and Heat is mutually Communicated among the Saints and in the Meditation of Eternal things whereby Faith removes the Vail and looks into the Sanctuary of Life and Glory as Moses by Conversing with God in the Mount came down with a shining Countenance so a divine Lustre will appear in their Conversations in the following Week 5. The frequent discussion of Conscience and review of our Ways is an effectual Means of rising to Perfection in Holiness This Duty is difficult and distastful to Carnal Persons for Sense is prevalent and fastens their Thoughts upon External Objects that they are unfit for reflecting upon themselves for the proper and most excellent operations of the Reasonable Soul wherein they are rais'd to the Rank of Angelical Spirits and to a resemblance of the Deity who Eternally Contemplates with Infinite Delight the Perfections of his Nature and the Copy of them in his Works They are insensible of the Nobility of their Nature and cannot sequester themselves from Worldly things and enter into the Retirements of their Souls They are afraid and unwilling to look into their Hearts lest they should be Convinc'd and over-argued by Conscience of their woful Condition Home is too hot for them Their study is to Charm their Cares and not to be disturb'd in their Security But the Duty is indispensable requir'd of us We are commanded to stand in awe and sin not and commune with our own hearts to search and try our wayes and turn to the Lord to prove our own work The benefit resulting from it is worth our Care and should make us to digest all difficulties in the performance David declares I thought on my wayes and turned my feet to thy testimonies He first reflected on his ways and then reform'd them Conscience must be awaken'd by Grace or Judgment to Self-reflection The examen of Conscience either regards our spiritual State or our Actions in their Moral Qualities of Good and Evil. The first is of infinite moment that we may understand whether we are in the state of polluted Nature or in a renewed state and consequently whether in the present Favour of God or under his Displeasure and accordingly what we may expect in the next World a blessed or miserable Eternity But as was before observed Men are very averse from the severe tryal of their state for fear the issue will be perplexing the exact inquiry into their Lives is like the Torment on the Rack Or if sometimes they turn their thoughts inward to consider themselves they do it slightly not with sincere Judgment and though their spiritual state be uncertain or apparently evil yet they are resolved not to doubt of it This neglect is fatal to many who comfort themselves with their Company because the most are in no better condition than they are This I shall not insist on but consider the survey of Mens Actions Conscience is the centre of the Soul to which all Moral Good and Evil has a tendency 't is an internal supervisor and guardian which a Man always carries in his Bosom To perform its Office it must 1. Be inlightened with the clear knowledge of the Divine Law in its Precepts for Duties unknown cannot be practised and Sins unknown and unconsider'd cannot be loathed and forsaken The Law like a clear and equal glass that reflects the Beams according to their incidence discovers the beauties and spots of the Soul There are contain'd in it general Rules that respect all and particular Precepts that concern the several relations of Men. 2. The discussion of Conscience that it may be effectual must in the manner of it be regulated by the matter of the discussion that is good and evil Actions which are of eternal Consequence and the end of it the making us better Accordingly it must be 1. Distinct in comparing our Actions with the Rule that we may understand the defects of our best Duties and the aggravations of our Sins The Law enjoyns the Substance and Circumstances of our Duties and forbids all kinds and degrees of Sin The more particular the discussion is the more perfect 2. It must be serious and with sincere Judgment as previous to our Tryal at God's Tribunal This Consideration will excite the Conscience which is the directive and applicative Mind to be vigilant and impartial in sifting our selves that no Sin of omission or commission may be past over for what a high strain of Folly is it to be subtle to conceal any Sin from our selves which are open to the all-seeing Eyes of God Men are apt to be insensible of Sins of omission but there is no mere Sin of omission for it proceeds from a dislike of the commanded Duty which exposes to Judgment The more the Mind
a general Duty that binds all Relations and particular Relative to their several states There is Superiority in a Husband Sovereignty in Parents Authority in Masters but it must be temper'd with Discretion Indulgence and Humanity in the exercise of it The mutual Duty of Husband and Wife is Love wherein the Society Sweetness and Felicity of Marriage consists In this is included the bearing with the Infirmities of one another that allays the fierce Passions that are the cause of Strife and makes the patient party better The exercise of this Affection is distinguish'd the Love of the Husband is counselling and comforting providing and protecting the Love of the Wife obsequious and assisting His Superiority and her Subjection must be sweeten'd with Love The Husband must not be bitter nor the Wife sowre The Husband must govern the Wife as the Soul does the Body with wisdom and tenderness There is a servile Subjection from fear of Punishment or hope of Gain and a liberal Subjection full of freedom from Love and this is of Wives to Husbands and of Children to Parents The Wife tho' inferiour is a fellow-ruler with him over Children and Servants She is subject as his Vicegerent always preserving Love and Reverence in Affection and expressing Meekness and Obedience in Actions She as his Deputy is to dispose things for his Credit and Profit Prudence is requisite in both that they may deposite their Cares in each others Bosoms and trust their secret Thoughts as securely as in their own Hearts The principal Duty of Husbands and Wives is a tender Care for the Good of each others Souls The Husband should lead her in the way to Eternal Life by his Counsel and Example and the Wife by her humble and holy Conversation recommend Religion to his Mind and Affections The Soveraignty of Parents over Children must be mix'd with tender Affections not with Rigour We are commanded Parents provoke not your Children to wrath lest they be discouraged The Duty of Children is to reverence and obey their Parents in all things that are pleasing to God There can be no dutiful Love without Fear nor Paternal Authority without Love The religious and secular Government of the Family is in the Husband and Wife who are like the two great Luminaries in the Heavens the one rules in the absence of the other But 't is principally in the Husband This testimony is given of Abraham that so endear'd him to the Favour and Friendship of God as to reveal his secret Counsels to him I know Abraham that he will command his Children and Servants and Houshold after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord. The Master must not be imperious austere and fierce but manage his Power with that Condescension and Lenity with that exact performance of what is due to his Servants as becomes one that is accountable to the universal Master before whom he must stand in an equal Line and with whom there is no acceptance of Persons Servants must be humble incorrupt diligent and faithful Our Saviour inquires Who is that wise and faithful Servant And the Master calling his Servants to an account says Well done good and faithful Servant The Wisdom and Goodness of a Servant consists in his Fidelity In short The neglect of Prayer holy Instruction and setting a Pattern of Holiness to the Family the not watching for the Souls of Children and Servants to restrain them from Evil and excite them to Good will be a terrible Accusation against many Parents and Masters at the Day of Judgment The Provision for the Family is an indispensable Duty upon the Master of it There is a Divine Alliance between the Precepts of the Law they are all to be obeyed in their season The Duties of the first Table do not supersede our obedience to the Duties of the second If an Eagle should only gaze on the brightness of the Sun and suffer its young ones to starve in the Nest it were prodigiously unnatural He that by a pretence of serving God in Acts of immediate Worship neglects to provide for his Family is worse than an Infidel But how will those who by wasting their Estates or Idleness Ruin their Families appear before the Judgment-Seat of God The Superiours in the Family must preserve Order and Tranquility in it The Fire of Discord turns a House into a Little Hell full of the tormenting Passions Sorrow and Anguish Disdain and Despight Malice and Envy that blast the most flourishing Families But when Religion that is pure and peaceable Governs the House it turns it into a Paradise where the God of Peace dwells and delights and dispenses the most precious Fruits of his Favour Wisdom and Watchfulness are requisite to maintain an Harmonious Agreement in Families wherein are Persons of different and contrary Tempers Some are of such unnatural Dispositions that they love Jars and Dissentions as some Plants thrive on the top of the Alps where they are continually expos'd to Storms There is such and Irregularity in the Dispositions of some that between those Persons there is fierce Hatred where intire Love is due the Discord between Brothers is deeply wounding and hardly curable The reason of it is evident for where by the Law of Nature the dearest Love is requir'd and expected the not obtaining it is so injurious and provoking that the Hatred in one is equal to the Love to which the other does not Correspond The Spartan Magistrates Celebrated for their Wisdom and Justice being inform'd of frequent Quarrels between two Brothers likely to end in bloody Contentions they sent for their Father and punish'd him as more Culpable and Guilty in not timely Correcting them Ruling Wisdom in the Father of the Family so as to conciliate Love with Respect Soverity mix'd with Sweetness which rarely meet are necessary to prevent or compose Dissentions in those little Common-wealths In order to this the prime Care must be to quench the first sparks that appear that are seeds pregnant with Fire if they are blown up and fed with Materials they break forth into a sudden Flame And in the second place to observe and imploy every one in the Family in what is proper for them As the Stones in an Arch must be so cut and form'd that they may point one against another and support one another thus there are variety of Tempers and Talents in a Family and 't is the Wisdom of Superiours to observe and employ the several Persons for the good of the whole In short Authority is accepted with more easie submission in the Title of a Father than of a Master Therefore as Seneca observes the Romans that they might prevent Envy towards Masters and Contempt of the Servants call'd the Master The Father of the Family 2. There is a Sacred Relation between Pastor and People I shall but glance on the Duties belonging to them Evangelical Pastors are compar'd to the Luminaries of Heaven that by their Light Heat and
Influences are so beneficial to the lower World If they are Clouded with Ignorance or Eclips'd by the Interposition of Earthly things they are useless There are divers degrees of substantial Learning and Spiritual Skill but a sufficiency of Knowledge for the great work of saving Souls is requisite in all Zeal united with Knowledge is an indispensable Qualification When the Apostles were fill'd with the Holy Ghost descending in the significant Emblem of Fiery Tongues of what admirable Efficacy was their Preaching The first Sermon Converted Three Thousand that were Murderers of our Saviour and had the stains of his Blood fresh upon them Tongues of Flesh are without Vigour and make no lasting Impression on the Hearers but Tongues of Fire have a Divine Force and Operation to dispel the Errors of Mens Minds and quicken their Affections to Refine and Purifie their Conversations They must be diligent and watchful for the Souls of their people as those who must give an Account to the Supreme Pastor and Redeemer of Souls And as they must Teach what they Learn from the Gospel so they must live as they Teach If they are Sensual and Worldly how can their Prayers ascend with Acceptance to God and descend with a Blessing to the People There should be a singularity of Holiness distinguishing those who are Consecrated to Instruct and Govern the Church Their Sins are aggravated from the quality of their Persons this is signified in the Levitical Law that appointed the Expiatory Sacrifice for the Sin of the Priest should be as Costly as for the Sin of the whole Congregation So if the tenor of their Lives be not Correspondent to their Sermons it will destroy the force of the most inflaming Eloquence and render the Doctrines of the greatest Purity without Efficacy O that all who are engaged in this Holy and without their Personal Holiness dreadful Office would duely Consider the Account they must give of their managing of it to the great Shepherd at his Appearance The Duty of the People is to Obey to Imitate to Honour their Faithful Pastors otherwise every Sermon they Hear will be an Accusation and Argument against them in the Day of Judgment 3. The Civil Relation between the Magistrates and People bind them to the respective Duties of their different States Magistrates Supreme and Subordinate in the Scale of Government are the Ministers of God for the good of the People They derive their Authority from him and are stiled Gods by an Analogy and Deputation which necessarily infers they must Rule for his Glory The end of the Magistracy should be the end of the Magistrates in the exercise of Government that their Subjects may lead a peaceable and quiet life in all godliness and honesty The Prince as the Natural Head has the Supremacy in Place and Dignity over all the parts of the Body and is vigilant for their Preservation so being the Political Head highly exalted above all degrees in the Kingdom must be provident and solicitous for the Temporal Interest and the Eternal Benefit of his Subjects He must make Laws Holy Just and Good as becomes his Lieutenancy to Christ and to Command the Execution of them He is to consider that the Actions of Kings are Examples and their Examples Rules more influential unto the Lives of their Subjects than their Laws Those who are in the Seat of Judicature must dispense Judgment with a clear Serenity with calm Tranquility of Mind without Partiality and Passions they must not Honour the Rich nor Favour the Poor but be true to their Light and Integrity All that are Concern'd in their several Stations should dispense a vigorous Influence for the suppressing Vice and encouragement of Vertue and according to the Apostles Rule should be a terror to evil doers and a praise to those who do well Especially they should be cloth'd with Zeal in punishing Offenders that do not hide their horrid Abominations but commit them without fear of the Light of the Sun or of Nature and out-dare Satan when Impudence and Incontinence and Intemperance triumph in the Ruins of Modesty Chastity and Sobriety Seneca tells of some in old Rome that were not asham'd of the â—oulest Sins but when describ'd and represented on the Theatre gloried in their shame This heighth of Villany was not limited to the Age of Nero but to this Extremity Vice is arriv'd in our Times If by just Severity such Publick and Crying Wickedness be not supprest what reason is there to fear that the Righteous Judge of the World will make the Nation a spectacle of visible Vengeance and vindicate the Honour of his despis'd Deity How will Magistrates that are careless in the Execution of the Laws appear before the impartial Tribunal above when besides the guilt of their Sins by Personal Commission they shall be charg'd with the Sins Committed by their Connivance such heap'd Damnation will sink them into the lowest Hell The Duty of Subjects is the highest Reverence of the Sacred Authority wherewith Princes are Invested They must pay Tribute for the support of the Government They must Obey for God as Princes must Rule for God But in Sinful things as Princes have no Power to Command so the Subjects are under no obligation to obey To Conclude this Argument there is no Counsel more directive and profitable for our arriving to an excellent Degree of Holiness than this let our progress in the way to Heaven be with the same Zeal as we felt in our first entrance into it and with the same seriousness as when we shall come to the end of it The first and last Actions of the Saints are usually the most Excellent David's first and last Wayes were most Excellent see his Divine Frame near his End Although my house be not so with God yet he hath made with me an everlasting Covenant order'd in all things and sure this is all my desire although he make it not to grow New Converts when call'd out of Darkness into the marvellous Light of the Gospel are more zealous in their opposition to Sin and more Active and Chearful in the Service of God The bitterness of Repentance before Reconciliation Causes an Abhorrence of Sin They remember the Prayers and Tears the Anxieties of Conscience th Restless Hours that Sin cost them As one that is saved from Fire that was ready to devour him retains so strong an Impression of the danger that makes him fearful ever after They are fill'd with the Affections of Love and Thankfulness to God and Glorifie Mercy that spar'd them when Justice might have destroy'd them When no Eye had Compassion and no Relief was afforded in their extreme Misery when they lothed themselves frighted with the Image of Satan printed on their Soul then God did regard them with tender Affection when they fled from him then he did overtake them by preventing and prevailing Grace They have the quickest Sense of their Obligations to the Redeemer and the