in which no Defect or Blemish can be discerned perfect in the variety and Number of its Powers in the fitness and Measure of every power in the use and value of every Endowment A perfect Soul is that whereunto nothing can be added to please our Deâ—â—re As all its Objects are perfect so 〈◊〉 it self It is able to see all that is to be seen to love all that is Lovely to hate all that is Hateful to desire all that is Desirable to honour all that is Honorable to esteem all that can be valued to delight in all that is Delightful and to enjoy all that is Good and fit to be enjoyed If its Power did fall short of any one Object or of any one Perfection in any Object or of any Degree in any Perfection it would be imperfect it would not be the Master piece of Eternal Power PERFECT life is the full exertion of perfect power It implies two things Perfection of Vigour and perfection of intelligence an activity of life reaching through all Immensity to all Objects whatsoever and a freedome from all Dulness in apprehending An exquisite Tenderness of perception in feeling the least Object and a Sphere of activity that runs parallel with the Omnipresence of the Godhead For if any Soul lives so imperfectly as to see and know but some Objects or to love them remisly and less then they deserve its Life is imperfect because either it is remisse or if never so fervent confined PERFECT Fruition as it implieâ— the Perfection of all objects more nearly imports the intrinsick Perfection oâ— it s own Operations For if its Object be never so many and perfect in themselves a Blemish lies upon the Enjoyment if it does not reach unto all their Excellence If the Enjoyment of one Object be lost or one Degree of the enjoyment abated it is imperfect PERFECT Vertue may best be understood by a consideration of its Particulars Perfect Knowledg is a thorow compleat understanding of all that may be Known Perfect Righteousness is a full and adequate Esteem of all the value that is in Things It is a Kind of Spiritual Justice whereby we do Right to our selves and to all other Beings If we render to any Object less than it deserves we are not Just thereunto Perfect Wisdome is that whereby we chuse a most perfect end actualy pursue it by most perfect Means acquire and enjoy it in most perfect manner If we pitch upon an inferiour end our Wisdom is imperfect and so it is if we pursue it by feeble and inferior Means or neglect any one of those Advantages whereby we may attain it And the same may be said of all the Vertues NOW if all Objects be infinitely Glorious and all Worlds fit to be enjoyed if GOD has filled Heaven and earth and all the Spaces above the Heavens with innumerable pleasures if his infinite Wisdome Goodness and Power be fully Glorified in every Being and the Soul be created to enjoy all these in most perfect Manner we may well conclude with the Holy Apostle that we are the children of GOD and if Children then Heirs Heirs of GOD and joynt heirs with Christ if so be that we suffer with him that we may also be glorified together That our light Affliction that is but for a Moment worketh out for us a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory That beholding as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord we shall at last be transformed into the same Image from Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. For all his Works of which the Psalmist saith They are worthy to be had in remembrance and are sought out of all them that have pleasure therein are like a Mirror wherein his Glory appeareth as the face of the Sun doth in a clear fountain We may conclude further that Vertue by force of which we attain so great a Kingdome is infinitely better then Rubies all the Things thou canst desire are not to be compared to her So that with unspeakable comfort we may take Courage to go on not only in the study but the Practice of all kind of Vertues concerning which we are to treat in the ensuing Pages For as the Apostle Peter telleth us He hath given to us all things that pertain to Life and Godliness through the Knowledge of him that hath called us to Glory and virtue whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises that by these you might be Partakers of the Divine Nature having escaped the Corruption that is in the World through List. And besides this saith he giving all diligence adde to your Faith vertue and to vertue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness Charity For so an Entrance shall be Ministred to you abundantly into 〈◊〉 everlasting Kingdome of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Which Kingdom being so Divine and Glorious as it is we have need to bow our Knees to the GOD and father of our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole Family in Heaven and Earth is named that he would grant us according to the Riches of his Glory to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inward Man that Christ may dwell in our Hearts by Faith that we being rooted and grounded in Love may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the Breadth and Length and Depth and Height and to know the love of Christ which passeth Knowledg that we may be filled with all the fulness of GOD. TO be Partaker of the Divine nature to be filled with all the Fulness of GOD to enter into his Kingdom and Glory to be transformed into his Image and made an Heir of GOD and a joynt Heir with Christ to live in Union and Communion with GOD and to be made a Temple of the Holy Ghost these are Divine and transcendent things that accompany our Souls in the Perfection of their Bliss and Happiness the Hope and Belief of all which is justified and made apparent by the explanation of the very nature of the Soul its Inclinations and Capacities the reality and greatness of those Vertues of which we are capable and all those objects which the Univers affordeth to our Contemplation CHAP. III. Of Vertue in General The Distribution of it into its several Kinds its Definition BEfore we come to treat of particular Vertues it is very fit that we speak something of VERTUE in General VERTUE is a comprehensive Word by explaining which we shall make the way more easy to the right Understanding of all those particular Vertues into which it is divided Forasmuch as the Nature of Vertue enters into knowledge Faith Hope Charity Prudence Courage Meekness Humility Temperance Justice Liberality c. Every one of these hath its essence opened in part by the explication of that which entreth its Nature which is VERTUE in General THE Predicament of
and his infinite Goodness abused and undervalued all Obligations imposed and all Rewards prepared in vain is worse than to see ones Palace on fire as soon as it is builded or ones Wife smitten with Leprosie and ones only beloved Son run mad For a Child to trample on his Fathers Bowels is nothing in Comparison He therefore that feels what he made GOD to endure what Grapes of Sodom and Clusters of Gomorrah he offered to his Teeth how evil a thing and bitter it is to forsake GOD how the Scripture saith He was grieved at the Heart when he saw the Corruption and Impiety of the Earth and how the Sorrow inflicted was so sore as to make him repent that he had made Man in the World he surely will be more concerned at the Evil he hath done than at any Evil he can otherwise suffer and his Godly Sorrow as Moses's Rod did eat up all the Rods of the Egyptians will devour all other Sorrows whatsoever TO consider that GOD was the first Patient Person in the World must needs sweeten the Bitterness of Patience and make it acceptable unto us to consider that we alone brought it upon our selves and may thank our selves for the folly of its Introduction must make us out of very Indignation against our selves contented to suffer and in pure Justice quietly to digest it but to consider yet further that GOD by bearing our Offences with Patience took off the trouble of them from us and by refusing to ease himself of the greatness of his displeasure in pouring it back again on our own heads digested it so as to turn our eternal Torments into transitory Woes nay into his own Agonies and Pains on the Cross this will help our Reason to rejoyce at our light Afflictions which are but for a moment especially since they work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory The first Impression of that abominable Mischief which occasioned Patience in GOD made it a Calamity but not a Vertue Detestation and Grief in themselves are but Sufferings and meer Sufferings have no Vertue nor so much almost as Action in them If his detestation and grief had broken out in Impatience we had all been destroyed Anger and Fury had been poured down upon us That which made it a Vertue was the great and mighty Continence whereby it was kept in and governed for all our Benefit For it was full of Goodness and Compassion and Mercy and Love and that was indeed the vertue of Patience in which so much Magnanimity and Government did appear so much Wisdom and Stedfastness and Immutability and upon this vertue of that Act whereby he retained his displeasure the whole Kingdom of Grace and the glory of his Mercy and Love and the blessedness and exaltation of his Church is founded it depended upon it and from his Patience it proceeded PATIENCE then is that Vertue by which we behave our selves constantly and prudently in the midst of Misfortunes and Troubles That Vertue whereby we do not only forbear to break out in Murmurings and Repinings or support our selves from sinking under Afflictions or suppress our Discontentments and refrain from Anger and Disquiet but whereby we retain our Wisdom and the goodness of our Mind notwithstanding all the Confusions and Disorders that would disturb us and demean our selves in a serene and honourable manner surmounting the Pains and Calamities that trouble us and that would otherwise overwhelm us While we move in a quick and vigorous manner under our Burthen and by a true Courage improve our Afflictions and turn them into the Spoils of Invincible Reason IT is an easie Observation that Troublous Times are the Seasons of Honour and that a Warlike-Field is the Seed-Plot of great and Heroical Actions Men that live in quiet and peaceful Ages pass through the World as insensibly as if they had all their daies been asleep Hazards and Calamities and Battles and Victories fill the Annals with Wonder and raise Great Men to an eminent degree of Fame and Glory It is Saint Chrysostoms opinion That a Man shews far greater Bravery that grapples with a Disease or surmounts his evil Fortune or behaves himself with Courage in distress bears the burning of his House or the loss of his Goods or the death of his Children with an equal Spirit in the midst of all Calamities retains his Integrity with Humility and Patience and Blesses GOD chearfully submitting with Resignation to his Will and shews himself Constant in all Estates then he that in the midst of a prosperous Condition buildeth Hospitals and Temples shineth in the exercise of Bounty and Magnificence and obligeth all the World without any other Expence than that of his Monies A Pelican that feeds her young ones with her Blood is a more Noble Bird than an Eagle that fills her Nest with Ravine though taken from the Altar For though that of a Sacrifice be the more Sacred food that of ones own Blood is more near and costly TIMES of Affliction are Seed-times for a future Harvest We are made perfect through Sufferings though the Way be mysterious and the Manner almost incomprehensible whereby the Sufferings we endure conduce to our Perfection Consider the Patience of Job how great a spectacle his Sufferings made him to GOD Angels and Men and how glorious he became by his Patience to all Generations THIS Vertue has an Appearance by reason of its Objects and Materials so cross to its disposition that if any thing be difficult in all Nature to be understood Patience is one it being a thing of the most deep and obscure value It s Nature and Effect seem contrary to each other It raises a Man by depressing him it elevates by overwhelming it honours by debafing it saves by killing him By making a Man little and nothing it magnifies and exalts him No Act of Love is attended with such bleeding Circumstances as that of Cruel Resolution in exposing our selves to all Calamities that can befal our Souls for our Beloved's sake It is the glory of the good Shepheard that He laies down his life for the Sheep And for this very Cause is our Saviour honoured by GOD and Men because being in the form of GOD he made himself of no Reputation but took on himself the form of a Servant and died the most cursed Death of the Cross for the sake of the World Wherefore saith the Text that is For which very Cause GOD also hath highly exalted him and given him a Name which is above every Name that at the Name of JESUS every Knee should bow of things in the Heaven things in the Earth and things under the Earth Nor is this Gift of GOD so purely Arbitrary but that it has a foundation in Nature Angels and Men do not bow their Knees only because they are commanded but because they see Reason to incline them to bow their Knees There is something in our Saviours Nature Action and Merit that deserves
from all Eternity that there should be Millions of Blessed Persons to whom we may communicate our selves concerns our Glory as it doth also that that they should be Great and Perfect that are made to Admire and Delight in us If we enter Into his Eternal Glory as the Scripture saith and our Bliss be individually one with his or so perfectly like his as is promised it is no fault to desire Glory for it is Goodness it self that desires Glory and Esteemeth all those its Best and Sovereign Treasures that are capable of Loving and Delighting in it THERE is in the Goodness of GOD and Men and Angels a Living Power that is exquisitely tender in Sence and and feeling which as it feels and apprehends it self doth also feel its Object and apprehend both its own and its Objects Excellences By Vertue of which Living Power it is able to delight in its own Goodness and its Objects Glory The Apple of its Eye is not more tenderly regarded than the Person which it Loveth It is afflicted in all our Afflictions and crowned and delighted in all our Prosperities It tendeth by its nature to the Benefit of others and cannot endure the least Damage or Detriment to any It infinitely hates the least Defect in it self or in its Creatures Nothing can be Evil to it but what is Evil to another Its Interests and its Objects are so united that it intirely lives and sees and feels and enjoys in others All its inclination is to be doing Good and it has no other Element than the Felicity of its Creatures In friendship it appeareth and from Love it proceedeth it endeth in felicity It hath many Great and Glorious Designes all contending with each other for Supremacy It cloths it self with Glory and adornes its Essence with all Kind of Beauties It endures all Afflictions and Hazzards It undertakes all Labors It builds a Palace and provides a Kingdome for its Beloved And yet when all is done nothing can exceed the Delight which it taketh in the Person of its Beloved All the Honour and Esteem and Glory it desires it findeth there the Use and Value of all its Treasures consists in the Benefit they do to its Beloved Infinite Goodness can be seated no where but in Love alone for that onely is capable of infinite Benevolence and Complacency THE Liberal Soul deviseth Liberal Things and by Liberal Things shall he stand The more Good it doth the more Good it is and the more Good the more Great and Honourable the more perfect and Happy There can be no Excess in Goodness because the more Delightful it is to its Object and the more Divine and Glorious its Object is the more abundant Pleasure it taketh in communicating all Felicities to its Object the more Great and manifold its Treasures are the more Sweet and Precious the Things are which it giveth away and the more it s Beloved delighteth in them by so much the more Admirable and Divine it is its Goodness and its Blessedness are both the Greater There is no Inconvenience which it can possibly meet but a stop or Impediment It cannot be hurt by it self because its Essence is always overflowing and the only Evil it can fear from others is the unkindness of its Object or the Wrong that it may receive from free Agents For Angels and Men being made free that they may Love and Honour and Praise in a voluntary manner and be and become Good of their own Accord because they cannot be made Morally or Divinely Good without the Liberty of their Concurrence and their own Consent there is some fear that they may abuse their Power because for the more Illustrious use of it they are left in the Hand of their own Counsel Howbeit he has endeavoured as much as as is possible without prejudicing their Excellence to secure their Duty he hath infused into them the greatest Inclinations to goodness imaginable and the Greatest principles of Honour he hath shewn them the Glory and felicity of Goodness by his one Example he hath commanded them by the Severest Laws that are possible to be Good he hath founded their Peace and Pleasure in Goodness he hath made the suspension of Goodness uncouth and unnatural all evil Actions Dark and disagreeable he has laid infinite Obligations upon them to exercise Goodness and set Eternal Rewards before them He hath made the Object unto which they must shew it extremly amiable he hath given them all Advantages Helps and Assistances He hath prepared the Severest Penalties and Torments to punish the Omission of it And for a Complement of all will extremely be grieved if they fail to shew it This in the Estate of Innocency Since the fall indeed we must be kind and Good to injurious Persons but this is founded in his own Goodness toward us Sinners and tho it be a difficult Work in the first Appearance Carries us to higher and more Perfect Glory THAT such a Goodness as this should be cannot be incredible to them that are acquainted with the Nature of the Universe tho it seemeth hard at least if not impossible to them that converse with peevish men Being corrupt in their Understandings they are narrow and base and servile in their Affections They start at a shadow and boggle at a feather Sin hath transformed them into slaves and Cowards They misapprehend the Nature of their Duty like Fools that were made to be great and Mighty as Kings They think they shall be undone if they become too Great and Good they fear they shall grow weak and Contemptible by Goodness whereas nothing makes them so Amiable and Glorious as Excess of Goodness TO shew that there is such a Goodness as that which infinitely delights in powring out its Glory upon all Creatures the Sun was made Which continues Night and Day powring out its Streams of Light and Heat upon all Ages yet is as Glorious this day as it was the first Moment of its Creation To shew this the Stars were made that shine in their Watches and Glitter in their Motions only to serve us The Moon was made to shew this Goodness which runs her race for ever to serve us The Earth was made to support us Springs and Rivers expend their Streams to revive us Fruits and Flowers and Herbs and Trees delight us All corruptible Things wast and consume away that they may sacrifice their Essence to our Benefit For if they were made Stiffe and unalterable they could not feed us nor communicate their Essence and Perfection to us The Emanations and Effusions of Minerals are unknown but that of Spicies and Odours is well understood And if these by Disbursing their proper sweetness become more sweet and enlarge themselves if they are made Bright and fair for our sake if they enjoy any Light and Pleasure in their Service as the Sun and Stars do as Herbs and Flowers do as Beasts and Birds and Fishes do the Goodness of the Creator is
one the other is Dead The Works of Love are the End of all Miracles and more Blessed then they Nay Love is the End of Faith as well as it is of the Law for the Apostle saith The End of the Commandment it Charity out of a pure Heart and of a good conscience and of Faith unfeigned It is the End of the very Creation of the World of all Gods Labors and Endeavours of all his Ways in all Ages all the faculties and powers of the Soul the very End of the Redemption of Mankind the End of the Jewish Oeconomy under the Law the End of all the Dispensations of Grace and Mercy under the Gospel the End of our Saviours coming down into the World the End of all his Miracles Tears and Blood the End of the Holy Ghosts appearing upon Earth the End of all the Means of Grace and in some sort the very last End of all Rewards and Punishments whatsoever The everlasting Continuance of this Love is the End of Eternity it self in a manner and if our Love be not the End of GODS Love his is of ours And if the Truth be deeply inquired into the Intermixture is so sweet that his is the End of ours ours of his For he Loveth us with the Love of Benevolence that we may Love him and he desires to be beloved of us that he may Love us with another Kind of Love distinct from the former even that of Complacency Which Love of Complacency is the Crown of ours and so Delightful to us that it is the very End of our Desire and begetteth in us a new Love of Complacency fitly answering his unto us NOW if Love be the End of all the laws Works and Ways of GOD of all our Saviours Labours and sufferings of our souls and Bodies of the whole Creation of all the Endeavours and Desires of the Deity in all the Dispensations of his Grace and Providence there must be something in its Nature Equivalent to all these Transcendent Undertakings to justifie the Wisdom that selected Love for its Sovereign Object for it is the office of Wisdome to suit the means and their End together so that the Excellency of the one may be worthy of all the Cost and Difficulty of the other For it is a foolish thing to pursue a base and feeble End by Glorious and Wonderful Methods because its Vileness will Disgrace the Design and with it their Beauty their very Grandure will be absurd where their Issue is but contemptible The Apostle therefore telleth us that Love is the fulfilling of the Law and that it is the Bond of Perfectness And pursuing its properties a little more Ample he saith Charity suffereth long and is kind Charity envyeth not Charity Vaunteth not it self is not puffed up doth not behave it self unseemly seeketh not her own is not easily provoked thinketh no evil rejoyceth not in iniquity but rejoyceth in the Truth beareth all Things believeth all things hopeth all things endureth all things Charity never faileth c. IT is one noble Effect of Charity that it suffereth afflictions cheerfully and patiently for the sake of its Beloved Another is its Kindness to its Object its sweet and Courteous inclination to do all manner of Good Another for which it is highly valuable is that it envieth not the Felicity or Glory of its Beloved but taketh Pleasure to see it far higher and greater then its own is not apt to vaunt and brag of its Perfections but hath an humble Esteem of all its Atchievments doth not behave it self in distasteful manner but studies and designes the Honour Benefit and satisfaction of its Object But that which of all other is its greatest Perfection is that it seeketh not its own it is not Mercenary or self ended but truly Generous and Heroick in its Performances It Sacrificeth it self and all its interests to the Advantage of its Object it preferreth the person it Loveth above it self desires its Exhaltation and delights in its Glory more then its own It is not easily provoked because it puts the best sence upon all that is done by its Object Thinketh no evil is not suspicious or malevolent or censorious but frameth honourable and fair Ideas of all that is thought or done by its Beloved Hateth all Impurity that may displease its Object all black and crooked Apprehensions that may wrang and disguise it beareth all with Hope and Equanimity because it believeth its Object to be Good and Wise till it must of necessity change its Opinion and entertain a Judgement tending to its condemnation It is no longer Charity then but dislike and aversion when it ceaseth to think well of its Object for it is another Principle or distinct in Nature from Love as its Actions are from the Actions of Love the diversity of the Effects evidently proving a Difference in their Causes THE Quality by which Charity rejoyceth in the Truth is an incomparable excellence and commendation of its Nature Because the Truth is GODS infinite Goodness and Love and Providence which are exercised in preparing Delights and Treasures for his Beloved The truth is the Felicity and Glory of the Soul And if it be true that all Eternity is full of Joys and all the World enriched with Delights that a man is infinitely beloved of GOD and made in his Image on purpose that he might enjoy all the Best of all possible Treasures in his similitude he may well rejoyce in the Truth because no Truth can be greater or more delightful than that himself is exalted to the Throne of GOD and ordained to live in Communion with him BUT that Quality by which the Soul believeth and hopeth all things that concern the Honour and Fidelity of its Beloved is yet more acceptable and delightful than the former For a good opinion of the Nature and Intention of the Person with whom we are united is the Basis and Foundation of all our Respect the Cement of our Peace and the Life and Soul of all that Honour that is paid unto him The very Grace and Beauty of all our Conversation dependeth upon it and if it be true that we are more to love GOD for the intrinsick Perfections of his Essence then for all his Gifts the chief Business of our Knowledge is to Frame glorious Apprehensions of his Nature and to Believe him in all things so Kind and Wise that he is True and Faithful in all his Declarations and most fit to be Honoured in all the Dispensations of his Providence because he is ever mindful of his Protestations and Promises For then we can believe that all things shall work together for our Good can safely trust our selves and all that is ours in his hands resign our selves up to his Disposal with Joy and say Thy Will be done for it is Holy Good and acceptable Thy Will alone is of all other Wilis most Perfect and Desirable There are on Earth indeed more nice Emergencies many Obscurities and
and Eternal Reason The similitude of which Reason being the Essence of the Soul all these things fall out for our glory and satisfaction also NOW if GOD himself acquired all his Joyes by Temperance and the glory of his Kingdom is wholly founded in his Moderation We may hope that our Moderation and Temperance in its place may accomplish Wonders and lead us to the fruition of his by certain steps and degrees like those that are observed in the Womb towards Manhood and in the School of our Childhood towards perfect Learning TOO much Rain or too much Drought will produce a Famine the Earth is made fertile by a seasonable mixture of Heat and Moisture Excess of Power may overwhelm but moderation is that which perfecteth and blesseth the Creation ALMIGHTY Power is carried far beyond it self or really is made Almighty by vertue of that Temperance wherein Eternal Wisdom is eternally Glorified IF any thing be wanting to the full demonstration of the perfection of GODS Kingdom it is the consideration of his Delay for we are apt to think he might have made it Eternally before he did But to this no other Answer is necessary though many might be made then that all Things were from all Eternity before his Eyes and he saw the fittest Moments wherein to produce them and judged it fit in his Wisdom first to fill Eternity with his deliberations and Counsels and then to beautifie Time with the execution of his Decrees For were there no more to be said but this his Empire is eternal because all Possibilities nay and all Impossibilities are subject to his Will But if it be confessed that Eternity is an everlasting Moment infinite in duration but permanent in all its parts all Things past present and to come are at once before him and eternally together Which is the true Reason why Eternity is a standing Object before the Eye of the Soul and all its parts being full of Beauty and Perfection for ever to be enjoyed IF any man be disposed to cavil further and to urge that GOD might at the very first have placed Angels and Men in the state of Glory the Reply is at hand that GOD very well understandeth the beauty of Proportion that Harmony and Symmetry springs from a variety of excellent Things in several places fitly answering to and perfecting each other that the state of Trial and the state of Glory are so mysterious in their Relation that neither without the other could be absolutely perfect Innumerable Beauties would be lost and many transcendent Vertues and Perfections be abolished with the estate of Trial if that had been laid aside the continual appearance and effect of which is to enrich and beautifie the Kingdom of GOD everlastingly That GOD loveth Man far more than if he had placed him in the Throne at first and designeth more Glory and Perfection for him than in that dispensation he could have been capable of all which springeth from the Restraint of his Power in some occasions that it might more fully be exerted in the perfection of the whole and of all things that were possible to be made might end in the Supream and most absolutely Blessed Therefore upon the whole Matter we may conclude with solomon Happy is the man that findeth Wisdom and the man that getteth Understanding For the Merchandize of it is better than the Merchandize of Silver and the Gain thereof than of fine Gold She is more precious than Rubies and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared with her Length of Daies is in her right hand and in her left hand Riches and Honour Her Waies are waies of Pleasantness and all her Paths are Peace She is a Tree of Life to them that lay hold upon her and happy is every one that retaineth her The LORD by Wisdom hath founded the Earth by Understanding hath he established the Heavens My Son let not them depart from thine Eyes Keep sound Wisdom and Discretion Wisdom is the principal Thing therefore get Wisdom and with all thy Getting get Understanding For the same Wisdom which created the World is the only Light wherein it is enjoyed CHAP. XXIV Of Patience It s Original How GOD was the first Patient Person in the World The Nature and the Glory and the blessed Effects of his Eternal Patience The Reason and Design of all Calamities Of Patience in Martyrdom The extraordinary Reward of ordinary Patience in its meanest obscurity PATIENCE is a Vertue of the Third estate it belongs not to the estate of Innocence because in it there was no Affliction nor to the estate of Misery because in it there is no Vertue but to the estate of Grace it appertains because it is an estate of Reconciliation and an estate of Trial wherein Affliction and Vertue meet together In the estate of Glory there is no Patience THIS is one of those distastful Vertues which GOD never intended It received its bitterness from Sin its life and beauty from GOD's Mercy If we dislike this Vertue we may thank our selves for we made GOD first to endure it And if all things are rightly weighed no Creature is equal to GOD in Sufferings We made it necessary for the Eternal GOD-HEAD to be Incarnate and to suffer all the Incommodities of Life and the bitter Torments of a bloody Death that he might bear the Penance of our Sins and deliver us from eternal Perdition THE Corporeal Sufferings of our Saviour are not comparable to the Afflictions of his Spirit Nor are there any Sufferings or Losses so great as those we cast upon the GOD-HEAD He infinitely hateth Sin more than Death and had rather be Crucified a thousand times over than that one Transgression should be brought into the World Nothing is so quick and tender as Love nothing so lively and sensible in resenting No loss is comparable to that of Souls nor any one so deeply concerned in the loss as GOD Almighty No Calamity more peircing than to see the Glory of his Works made Vain to be bereaved of his Desire and frustrated of his End in the whole Creation He had rather we should give him the Blood of Dragons or the cruel Venom of Asps to drink than that we should pollute our selves or his Kingdom with a Sin Nay it were better if without a Sin it could be done that the whole World should be annihilated than a Sin committed For the World might be Created again with ease and all that is in it be repaired with a word but a Sin once committed can never be undone it will appear in its place throughout all Eternity Yet is so odious and so infinitely opposite to the Holiness of GOD that no Gall or Wormwood is comparable thereunto To see his Beloved blasted his Love despised and his Son rebellious to see the most amiable Law in the World broken his Kingdom laid waste and his Image defaced to see all his Labour marred and spoiled his Benefits slighted
we are in our own till we are gone a little further but on the other side of all this Baseness we find a better Life in Communion with the Deity For asmuch then saith St. Peter as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh arm your selves likewise with the same mind for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of Men but to the will of GOD. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles when we walked in Lasciviousness Lusts Excess of Wine Revellings Banquettings and abominable Idolatries wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of Riot There is a motion from Vice to Vertue and from one degree of Grace to another by which we leave the phantastick World with all its Shews and Gauderies and through many Afflictions and Persecutions come to the real and solid World of Bliss and Glory WHAT hand Humility has in leading us through all Afflictions and in facilitating the way of Pressure and Calamity I need not observe I shall note the Errour which men incur by their Weariness and Haste who because they do not immediately see the Bliss of Humility and Patience if they do not curse yet they boggle at all Calamity These men ought to be informed that the middle of the Way is not the place of Rest and Perfection They must pass thorow all these things to the further Regions of Clarity and Glory Men are not to stick in Calamities themselves but if Humility lead them to suffer all Indignities with Patience it must lead them further to the bottom of their estate and condition to the true light and to the clear and perfect sight of their own Vileness In which they shall see their Original their Misery their Sin their Glory their GOD and themselves their Bliss and their Forfeiture their Recovery and their Saviour their Hope and Despair their Obligations in the height of eternal Love and Bounty and their shame and confusion in the depth of their Apostasie and Ingratitude their infinite demerit and GODS infinite Mercy the riches of free Grace and their own Unworthiness And in all these the length and breadth and depth and height of the Love of GOD which passeth Knowledge that they might be filled with all the Fulness of GOD. HUMILITY makes men capable of all Felicity All deep Apprehensions and great Resentments all extents and distances of things all degrees of Grace and Vertue all Circumstances that increase the guilt of Sin all Adorations Prostrations Admirations Debasements Thanksgivings Praises Exaltations are founded in Humility All the Fulness of all Estates all Honour and Obedience all Devotion and Worship all the beauty of Innocence all the deformity of Sin all the danger of Hell all the cost of our Redemption all the hatred of our Stupidity and Perverseness all the hope of Heaven all our Penitence and Grief all our Fear and Expectation all our Love and all our Joy are contained in Humility there they are expressed there they are exercised There they are enlarged and beautified in like manner There they grow deep and serious and infinite there they become vigorous and strong there they are made substantial and eternal All the Powers of the Soul are employed extended and made perfect in this depth of Abysses It is the basis and foundation of all Vertue and Gratitude whatsoever It is in some sort the very fountain of Life and Felicity it self For as nothing is great but in comparison of somewhat less so nothing is sweet but what is New and Eternal All Life consists in Motion and Change The pleasure of Acquiring is oftentimes as great and perhaps alwaies greater than that of Enjoying The long possession of that which we have alwaies had takes away the sence and maketh us dull Old and Common things are less esteemed unless we rub up our Memories with some helps to renew them and our sences together Gifts are alwaies sweeter in the coming than in the abiding with us And if what I observe in the course of nature be of any force there is no possibility of enjoyment at least no perfection in fruition without some relation to the first Acquisition Old things are apt to grow stale and their value to be neglected by their continuance with us I have noted it often in the joy that young Heirs have when they first come to their Estates and the great felicity which Lovers promise to themselves and taste also when they meet together in the Marriage-bed The pleasures of all which pass off by degrees not solely by reason of our dulness and stupidity but far more from a secret in the nature of things For all Delight springs from the satisfaction of violent Desire when the desire is forgotten the delight is abated All Pleasure consists in Activity and Motion While the Object stands still it seemeth dead and idle The sence of our want must be quick upon us to make the sence of our enjoyment perfect The rapture proceeds from the convenience between us the marvellous fitness that is in such Objects to satisfie our Capacities and Inclinations The misery and vacuity must needs be remembred to make that Convenience live and to inspire a sence of it perpetually into us The coming of a Crown and the joy of a Kingdom is far more quick and powerful in the surprize and novelty of the Glory than in the length of its Continuance We perceive it by the delight which Lovers taste in recounting their Adventures The Nature of the thing makes the memory of their first Amours more pleasant than the possession of the last There is an instinct that carries us to the beginning of our Lives How do Old men even dote into lavish discourses of the beginning of their lives The delight in telling their old Stories is as great to themselves as wearisom to others Even Kings themselves would they give themselves the liberty of looking back might enjoy their Dominions with double lustre and see and feel their former Resentments and enrich their present Security with them All a mans Life put together contributes a perfection to every part of it and the Memory of things past is the most advantagious light of our present Condition Now all these sparkles of Joy these accidental hints of Nature and little raies of Wisdom meet together in Humility For an Humble man condescendeth to look into his Wants to reflect upon all his Vices and all his Beginnings with far deeper designs than is ordinarily done WE recount these ordinary discoveries of the inclination of Nature because Humility is if I may so speak the Rendezvous of their perfection All the stirrings of Grace and Nature all the acts of GOD and the Soul all his Condescensions and beginnings to advance us all his Gifts at their first coming all the