dung and dross in comparison of him Can he in one word ever be seduced to renounce and hate Religion who has had so long an Experience of the Beauty and of the Pleasure of it Good Habits when they are grown up to Perfection and Maturity seem to me as natural as 't is possible Evil ones should be And if so 't is no less difficult to extirpate the One then the Other And I think I have the Scripture on my side in this Opinion Does the Prophet Jeremy demand Can the Ethiopian change his Skin or the Leopard his Spots then may you that are accustomed to do Evil learn to do Well Jer. 13.23 St. John on the other hand does affirm Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin for his Seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God 1 Ep. 3.9 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not v. 6. These are the Grounds of Assurance with respect of the time to come As to Personal and Peremptory Predestination to Life and Glory 't is at least a controverted Point and therefore unfit to be laid as the Foundation of Assurance But suppose it were granted I see not which way it can effect our present enquiry since the wisest amongst those who stickle for it advise all to Govern themselves by the general Promises and Threats of the Gospel to look upon the Fruits of Righteousness as the only solid proof of a state of Grace and if they be under the Dominion of any Sin not to presume upon Personal Election but to look upon themselves as in a state of Damnation till they be recovered out of it by Repentance Thus far all sides agree and this I think is abundantly enough for here we have room enough for Joy and Peace and for Caution too room enough for Confidence and for Watchfulness too The Romanists indeed will not allow us to be certain of Salvation Certitudine fidei cui non potest subesse falsum with such a Certainty as that with which we entertain an Article of Faith in which there is no room for Error i. e. we are not so sure that we are in the Favour of God as we are or may be that there is a God We are not so sure that we have a title to the Merits of Christ as we are or may be that Jesus is the Christ Now if this assertion be confined to that Assurance which regards the time to come as I think it generally is and do not deny Assurance in General but only certain Degrees or Measures of it then there is nothing very absurd or intolerable in it For a less Assurance then that which this Doctrine excludes will be sufficient to secure the Pleasure and Tranquility of the Perfect Man But if this assertion be design'd against that Assurance which regards our present State then I think it is not sound nor agreeable either to Reason Scripture or Experience For first the Question being about a matter of Fact 't is in vain to argue that cannot be which does appear manifestly to have been And certainly they who rejoyced in Christ with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory were as fully perswaded that they were in a State of Grace and Salvation as they were that Jesus was Risen from the Dead Secondly 't is one thing to ballance the Strength and Degrees of Assurance another to ballance the Reasons of it For it is very possible that Assurance may be stronger where the Reason of it may not be so clear and evident as where the Assurance is less Thus for Example the evidence of Sense seems to most learned Men to be stronger then that of Faith And yet through the assistance of the Spirit a Man may embrace a Truth that depends upon Revelation with as much confidence and certainty as one depending upon Sense And so it may be in the case of Assurance The Spirit of God may by its Concurrence raise our Assurance as high as he pleases although the Reason on which it be built should not be Divine and Infallible but meerly Moral and subject at least to a possibility of Error But Thirdly Why should not the certainty I have concerning my Present State be as Divine and Infallible as that I have concerning an Article of Faith If the Premises be Infallible why should not the Conclusion He that Believes and Repents is in a State of Grace is a Divine an Infallible Proposition and why may not this other I Believe and Repent be equally Infallible though not equally Divine What Faith and Repentance is is revealed and therefore there is no room for my being here mistaken Besides I am assisted and guided in the Tryal of my Self by the Spirit of God So that the truth of this Proposition I Believe and Repent depends partly upon the evidence of Sense and I may be as sure of it as of what I do or leave undone partly upon the evidence of inward Sensation or my Consciousness of my own Thoughts and I may be as sure of it as I can be of what I love or hate rejoyce or grieve for And lastly it depends upon the evidence of the Spirit of God which assists me in the Examination of my Self according to those Characters of Faith and Repentance which he hath himself revealed And when I conclude from the two former Propositions that I am in a State of Grace he confirms and ratifies my Inference And now let any one tell me what kind of certainty that is that can be greater than this I have taken this pains to set the Doctrine of Assurance in a clear Light because it is the great Spring of the Perfect Man's Comfort and Pleasure the source of his Strength and Joy And this puts me in mind of that other fruit of Perfection which in the beginning of this Chapter I promised to insist on which is Its Subserviency to our Happiness in this Life That Happiness increases in proportion with Perfection cannot be denied unless we will at the same time deny the Happiness of a Man to exceed that of an Infant or the Happiness of an Angel that of Man Now this truth being of a very great Importance and serving singly instead of a thousand Motives to Perfection I will consider it impartially and as closely as I can Happiness and Pleasure are generally thought to be only two words for the same thing Nor is this very remote from truth for let but Pleasure be solid and lasting and I cannot see what more is wanting to make Man Happy The best way therefore to determin how much Perfection contributes to our Happiness is to examin how much it contributes to our Pleasure If with the Epicurean we think Indolence our supream Happiness and define Pleasure by the absence of Pain then I am sure the Perfect Man will have the best claim to it He surely is freest from the Mistakes and Errors from the Passions and Follies that embroil Human Life he creates
no evil to himself nor provokes any unnecessary danger His Vertue effectually does that which Atheism attempts in vain dispels the terror of an invisible Power he needs not drown the Voice of Conscience by Wine or Noise or the toil of Life it speaks nothing to him but what is kind and obliging it is his Comforter not his Persecutor And as to this World he reaps that satisfaction and tranquility from the Moderation of his Affections which Ambition and Avarice do in vain promise themselves from Preferments or the increase of Wealth If therefore there were any state on this side Heaven exempt from Evil it must be that of the Perfect Man But he knows the World too well to flatter himself with the expectation of Indolence or an undisturb'd tranquility here below and is as far from being deluded by vain Hopes as from being scar'd by vain fears or tortur'd and distended by vain desires He knows the World has its Evils and that they cannot wholly be avoided he knows it and dares behold them with open Eyes survey their Force and feel and try their Edge And then when he has collected his own strength and called in the Aid of Heaven he shrinks not nor desponds but meets Evil with that Courage and bears it with that evenness of Mind that he seems even in his Afflictions nearer to Indolence then the Fool and Sinner in his Prosperity So that I cannot forbear professing there appears so much Beauty so much loveliness in the deportment of the Perfect Man with respect to the Evils of Life that for that reason alone were there no other I should admire and prefer his Vertue above any Possession or Enjoyment of Life Give me leave to compare the Saint and Sinner on this occasion and but very briefly The wise Man's eyes saith Solomon Eccles 2.14 are in his head but the fool walks in darkness The wise Man sees that he has Enemies I mean Evils and therefore he informs himself well of their Strength observes their Motion and prepares for the Encounter but Ignorance and Stupidity is the greatest blessing of the Sinners Life and his most admir'd Quality is not to be apprehensive of Evil till it crush him with its Weight But if the Sinner be not fool enough to arrive at this degree of brutality then as soon as the report of the most distant Evil or the most inconsiderable reaches his Ear how it fills his Imagination how it shakes his Heart and how it embitters his Pleasures And to what poor and despicable Arts to what base and dishonourable shifts does his Fear force him When on the same occasion we discover nothing in the Perfect Man but a beautiful mixture of Humility and Faith Devotion and Confidence or Assurance in God He is not afraid of evil tidings his Heart is fixed trusting in the Lord Psal 112. a frame of Spirit which to those who have opportunity and sense to observe it renders him both more belov'd and rever'd Lastly if we consider the wicked and the good Man actually under the weight and pressure of Evil how much unlike is the state of the one in reality to that of the other even while the outward circumstances are the same What Chearfulness what Courage what Resignation what Hopes adorn the One What Instruction to all what Satisfaction to his Friends and Relations does his Deportment afford And how does it inspire and warm the Breasts of those that converse with him with an esteem for and love of Goodness and himself What Charm what Delight is there in those gracious Speeches that proceed at this time out of a Good Man's Mouth I know that my Redeemer liveth The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away and blessed be the Name of the Lord Thou of very faithfulness has caused me to be afflicted God is the strength of my Heart and my Portion for ever And such-like And how often does he pour out his Heart in secret before God How often does he reflect on the gracious and wise ends of Divine Chastisement And how often does he with desire and thirst Meditate on that fulness of Joy which expects him in the Presence of God! But let us cast our Eye now on the Voluptuary on the Ambitious on the Covetous or any other sort of Sinner under Disgrace Poverty Sickness or any such Calamity what a mean and despicable Figure does such a one make What Impatience what Despondency what Guilt what Pusillanimity does every Word every Action betray Or it may be his Insolence is turned into Crouching and Fawning his Rudeness and Violence into Artifice and Cunning and his Irreligion into Superstition Various indeed are the Humours and very different the Carriage of these unhappy Men in the Day of Tryal but all is but Misery in a different dress Guilt and Baseness under a different appearance Here I might further remark that that Faith which produces Patience in Adversity produces likewise Security and Confidence in Prosperity I will lay me down may every good May say in the words of the Psalmist and sleep and rise again for thou Lord shalt make me dwell in safety And surely the one is as serviceable to the ease of Human Life as the other But I think I have said enough to shew that if Pleasure be suppos'd to imply no more then Indolence the Perfect Man has without Controversie a far greater share of it than any other can pretend to But let us take Pleasure to be not a meer Calm but a gentle Breeze not to consist in meer Rest and Quiet but a delightful Motion not in the meer Tranquility of the Mind but in the Transport of it or some thing nearly approaching it Perfection I 'm confident will suffer nothing by this change of the Notion of Pleasure How many Pleasures has the wise Man which depend not on Fortune but Himself I mean his Diligence and Integrity and to which the Sinner is an utter Stranger What Pleasure what Triumph is equal to that of the Perfect Man when he Glories in God and makes his boast of him all day long When he rejoyces in the Lord with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory When being fill'd with all the fulness of God transported by a Vital Sense of Divine Love and strengthen'd and exalted by the mighty Energie of the Spirit of Adoption he maintains a Fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus All Communion with God consists in this Joy of Love and Assurance and has a taste of Heaven in it Let the most Fortunate and the wisest Epicurean too Ransack all the Store-houses and Treasures of Nature let him Muster together all his Legions of Pleasures and let him if he can consolidate and incorporate them all and after all being put into the Scale against This alone they will prove lighter then Vanity it self To be the Care the Delight the Love of an Almighty God to be dear to him who is the Origine and Fountain of
his Vices which he did not reflect on sufficiently before he is vex'd and troubled at the plagues and mischiefs his Sin and Folly have already procured him and thinks he has reason to fear if he persist others far more intolerable Then he calls to mind the Goodness the long-suffering of God the love of Jesus the Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power and how distant soever he be from Vertue he discerns there is a Beauty and Pleasure in it and cannot but judge the Righteous happy These thoughts these Travels of the mind if they be not strangled in the Birth by a Man 's own wilfulness or Pusillanimity or unhappily diverted upon some Temptations do kindle in the Bosom of the Sinner the desires of Righteousness and Liberty they fill him with Regret and Shame cast him down and humble him before God and make him finally resolve on shaking off the Yoke This may be called a state of Illumination and is a state of Preparation for or Disposition to Repentance Or if it be Repentance it self 't is yet but an Embrio To perfect it 't is necessary Secondly That the Sinner make good his Resolutions and actually break with his Lusts he must reject their Sollicitations and boldly oppose their Commands he must take part with Reason and Religion keep a Watch and Guard over his Soul and must earnestly labour by Mortification and Discipline by Meditation and Prayer to root out Vice and Plant Vertue in his Soul This in the Language of the Prophet is ceasing to do Evil and learning to do well Isa 1.16 17. He that has proceeded thus far though he feel a great Conflict within though the Opposition of Lust be very strong and consequently the discharge of his Duty very difficult he is nevertheless in a state of Grace but in a state of Childhood too he is sincere but far from being Perfect And yet this is the state which many continue in to the end of their Lives being partly abus'd by false Notions and taught to believe from Rom. 7. that there is no higher or perfecter state partly intangled and incumbred by some unhappy circumstances of Life Or it may be the Force or Impetus of the Soul towards Perfection is much abated by the Satisfaction of Prosperity and the many Diversions and Engagements of a Fortunate Life But he that will be Perfect must look upon this state as the beginning of Vertue For it must be remembred that a stubborn and powerful Enemy will not be subdued and totally brought under in a Moment The Christian therefore must prosecute this War till he has finished it I will not say by Extirpating but disabling the Enemy But here I would have it well observ'd that the Reducing the Enemy to a low condition is not always effected by an uninterrupted Series of Victories for seldom is any so Fortunate or so Brave so Wise or so watchful as to meet with no Check in the long Course of a difficult War 't is enough if he be not discourag'd but instructed and awaken'd by it And to prevent any fatal disaster too Errors must carefully be avoided First a hasty and fond confidence in our selves with an over-weaning contempt and neglect of the Enemy And next all false and cowardly Projects of Truces and Accommodations Nor is the sitting down content with poor and low Attainments very far removed from this Latter This is the second Stage of the Christian's Advance towards Perfection and may be call'd the state of Liberty The third and last which now follows is the state of Zeal or Love or as Mystick Wrighters delight to call it the state of Vnion The Yoke of sin being once shaken off the Love of Righteousness and a delight in it is more and more increased And now the Man proceeds to the last round in the Scale of Perfection The Wisdom Courage and Vigour of a Convert is generally at first employed in subduing his corruptions in Conquering his ill Habits and Defeating his Enemies in watching over his own Heart and guarding himself against Temptations But this being once done he is in full Liberty to pursue the works of Peace and Love Now he may advance from necessary to voluntary Acts of Self-denial which before would have been putting old Wine into new Bottles contrary to the Advice of our Master Mat. 9.17 Now he may enlarge his Knowledge and exchange the Milk of the Word for strong Meat for the Wisdom and the Mysteries of it Now he may extend his watchfulness his care and whereas they were before wisely for the most part confined to his own safety he may now like our Saviour go about doing good Act. 10.38 protecting strengthning and rescuing his weak Brethren propagating the Faith and enflaming the bosoms of Men with the love of Jesus and his Truths Now in a word he may give himself up to a Life of more exalted Contemplation Purity and Charity which will be natural and easie now though it were not so in the beginning And this Life is accompanied with Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost with Confidence and Pleasure Now the Yoke of Christ is easie and his burden light now he rejoyces with Joy unspeakable and Hopes full of Glory Now 't is not so much he that lives as Christ that lives in him For the life which he now leads is entirely the product of Faith and Love and his greatest business is to maintain the Ground which he has got and to hold fast the steadfastness of his Hope unto the end To render this short account of the growth of Vertue from its very Seed to Maturity the more useful and to free it from some scruples which it may otherwise give occasion to I will here add two or three Remarks 1. That the State and Habit of Perfection is a different thing from some suddain Flights or Efforts of an Extraordinary Passion and so is the fixt and establish'd Tranquility of the Mind from some suddain Gusts and short lived fits of spiritual Joy No man attains to the Habits of Vertue and Pleasure but by degrees and the natural method and order by which he advances to either is that which I have set down But as to some Sallies of the most pure and exalted Passions as to short liv'd fits of Perfection as to transcient Tasts short and suddain transports of spiritual Pleasure it is very often otherwise God sometimes either to allure the frailty of a new Convert or to Fortifie his Resolution against some hazardous Tryal does raise him to an extraordinary height by more then usual Communications of his blessed Spirit and ravishes him by some Glances as it were of the Beatifick Vision Raptures of Love the melting tenderness of a pious Sorrow the Strength of Resolution and Faith the Confidence and Exultancy of Assurance do sometimes accompany some sort of Christians in the beginnings of Righteousness or in the state of Illumination Where the Conviction is full the Imagination lively
all our sinful or vain desires devote our selves to the Service of Jesus and learn to expect Happiness from nothing else but the Merits and the Imitation of his Cross So profound is the Wisdom of this Institution that it evidently speaks God the Author of it and proclaims the too common neglect of it in most parts of this Nation an in-excusable Sin and Folly 3. A Third end of Instrumental Duties of Religion is the raising and keeping up Holy and Devout Affections I know not why Passion is so commonly undervalued and disparaged in Religion unless they who thus treat it mean nothing by it but a short-liv'd and superficial commotion of the Mind which leaves no print or relish behind it and is presently succeeded by Sin and Folly Holy Passion is the vigour and strength of the Soul 't is the state and frame of the Mind when it is throughly moved and affected And therefore to form to ones self Religion destitute of Passion is little better than to content ones self with one that is lazy lukewarm and lifeless And though there be some Tempers very unapt to be moved yet 't is hard to imagine how even these can be wrought up to a Resolution or that Resolution be supported and continued without their being affected so throughly as to feel either a real Passion or something very nearly approaching one 'T is an excellent Frame of Spirit when the Soul is easily elevated and transported into Holy Passion And I find that all those Vertues or rather Acts of Vertue which are described to the Life and which are by all judg'd most Perfect and Lovely have most of Passion in them How warm and Passionate was the Love of David for his God! What Flame what vehemence of Desire was he moved by when he cries out Psal 42.1 2. As the Heart panteth after the water-brooks so panteth my Soul after thee O God My Soul thirsteth for God for the living God What awful Concussions and Agitations of Spirit did he feel when he thus describes his Fear My Flesh trembleth for fear of thee and I am afraid of thy Judgments Psal 119.120 What afflictions of Soul what tenderness of Heart do we meet with in the Repentance of St. Peter when He went forth and wept bitterly Of Mary Magdalen or whoever that Woman in Luk. 7. was when she washed the Feet of our Saviour with her Tears and wiped them with the Hairs of her Head And of the Royal Psalmist when he watered his Couch with his Tears Psal 6.6 Nor were the Pleasures of Assurance less sensible and vehement then the sorrows of Repentance when the first Christians rejoyced with Joy unspeakable and Hopes full of Glory Shall I here add that Holy Indignation against Sin that vehement desire of making some Reparation for it which is the effect of Godly Sorrow that Zeal and Fervency of Spirit in the Service of God which is the highest Character of Perfection it self Shall I call these Passions I must not for though they have the heat and agitation of Passion they have in them the firmness and steadiness of an Habit. And I wish with all my Heart that all those other excellent Affections of Soul which I before named could be rendered Natural and Habitual The nearer we come to this undoubtedly the Perfecter I doubt Mortality is incapable of any such height But the more frequent as well as the more vehement and fervent the better certainly For great is the Force and Vertue of Holy Passion the flame of Love refines our Nature and Purifies it from all its Dross the Tears of a Godly Sorrow extinguish all our carnal and worldly Lusts and the Agitations of Fear preserve the chastity and purity of the Soul 'T is plain then that our Religion ought to be animated by Holy Passions that the more frequent and natural these grow the more Perfect we are that being the most excellent frame of Spirit when we are most apt to be sensibly and throughly affected by Divine Truths By what Means we may attain to this is now briefly to be considered 'T is certain that great and Important wonderful and glorious Truths will not fail to affect us and that throughly unless Lust or Infidelity have render'd us stupid and impenetrable And that Gospel Truths are such is no doubt at all let the Conviction be full the Representation lively and the Truth will do its work 'T is for want of such circumstances and such sensible Notions of an Object as may strike the Imagination for want of close and particular Applications when Divine Truths do not move us This now does not only call us to the frequent Meditation of the most Affecting Subjects the Majesty and Omnipresence of God the Sufferings of Christ Death and Judgment Heaven and Hell but it shews also how to model and form our Meditations that they prove not cold and sluggish Let the Object of our Thoughts be described by the most sensible Images or Resemblances let it be clad with the most natural circumstances let it be made as particular as it can by fixing its Eye upon us and pointing its Motion towards us but above all and in the first place let the Proof of it be clear and strong Prayer is an Exercise very apt to move the Passion The Mind having disengaged it self from all Earthly and Bodily Affections is prepared for the impression of Truth and the Spirit of God it draws nearer into the Presence of God and the sense of this sheds an awful Reverence upon it it has a clearer calmer and more serious View of Divine Things then when it is obscured and disturbed by worldly Objects In a word Meditation is in this Exercise render'd more solemn and more particular and when the Holy Fire is kindled in the Soul it dilates and diffuses it self more and more till the strength of Desire the vehemence of Holy Love transcending the weakness of this Mortal Nature we faint under the Passions that we cannot bear The Lord's Supper is an Holy Rite wonderfully adapted to raise excellent Passions Here Christ is as it were set forth Crucified amongst us we see His Body broken and His Blood poured forth here with a devout Joy we receive and embrace Him by Faith and Love in those Symbols of His Body and Blood and Pledges of His Love The Soul must be very ill prepared it must have very imperfect Notions of Sin and Damnation the Cross of Christ Grace and Salvation which is not sensible of a Crow'd of Holy Passions springing up in it at this Sacrament Hymns and Psalms have by I know not what Natural Magick a peculiar Force and Operation upon a pious Mind Divine Poetry has a noble elevation of Thoughts it does not devise and counterfeit Passions but only vents those which it feels and these are pure and lovely kindled from above Therefore are all its Characters natural its Descriptions lively its Language moving and powerful and all is
did not exact of his Disciples as a necessary Preparation for his Doctrine the Knowledge of Tongues the History of Times or Nature Logick Metaphysicks Mathematicks or the like These indeed may be serviceable to many excellent Ends They may be great accomplishments of the Mind great Ornaments and very engaging Entertainments of Life They may be finally very excellent and necessary Instruments of or Introductions to several Professions or Employments But as to Perfection and Happiness to these they can never be indispensably necessary A Man may be excellently habitually Good without more Languages then one He may be fully perswaded of those great Truths that will render him Master of his Passions and independent of the Word that will render him easie and useful in this Life and glorious in another though he be no Logician nor Metaphysician Yet would I not all this while be supposed to exclude the use of true Reason and solid Judgment Though the meanest capacity may attain to its proper Perfection that is such a measure of Knowledge as may make the Man truly wise and happy yet the more capacious any Man's Soul is and the more enlarged his Knowledge the more Perfect and Happy He. 4. The Qualifications previously necessary to Illumination are two or three Moral ones implied in that Infant Temper our Saviour required in those who would be his Disciples These are Humility Impartiality and a Thirst or love of Truth First Humility He that will be taught of God must not be Proud or Confident in himself He must not over-rate his own Parts and Capacity nor lean too stifly to his own understanding He must firmly believe that Illumination is the Work of God and on Him he must depend He must confess the weakness of his own Faculties the natural Poverty and Indigence of his understanding and so look up to God who is the Fountain of Wisdom and giveth Grace to the Humble but resisteth the Proud Secondly Impartiality Sincerity or a certain Purity and innocence of Judgment if I may be allowed to speak so That the Vnderstanding may be capable of Divine Light it must not be blur'd and Stain'd by false Principles It must not be biassed nor influenced by any corrupt inclinations Some to prove their Impartiality or Freedom of Judgment abandon themselves to the scrupulousness of Scepticism and a wanton itch of endless Disputation and Contradiction But I cannot think it necessary to our Freedom and Impartiality to deny the Evidence of our Senses to oppose the Vniversal Reason of Mankind and to shake off all Reverence for the Integrity of Man and the Veracity of God No this savours too much either of Ostentation or of a raw and unexperienced Affectation of new Theories and Speculations He secures his Freedom sufficiently who guards his Reason against the force of groundless Prepossessions and senseless Modes and Customs against the Lusts of the Body and the prejudices of Parties Who keeps a strict Eye upon the Motions and Tendencies of his inferiour Nature who admits not the Dictates of a Single Person or Party for Catholick Reason who considers that there are Revolutions of Phylosophy and Opinions as well as States and Kingdoms and judges well of Times and Men e're he pay much deference to Authority But Thirdly this is not all that is necessary to any compleat Degree of Illumination Impartiality is necessary to the first Dawnings of it but if we would have it increased and diffuse its self into a perfect Day of Spiritual Wisdom and Vnderstanding we must hunger and thirst after Truth An unprejudiced Mind is necessary to qualifie us for the first Rudiments of Truth but we must be inflamed with Desire and Love of it e're we shall enter into the Sanctuary or Recesses of it Therefore our Saviour invites to him every one that thirsts Joh. 7.37 And St. Peter exhorts us as new born Babes to desire the sincere Milk of the Word that we may grow thereby 1 Epist 2.2 And St. Paul imputes the Damnation of those that perish to want of Love of the Truth 2 Thess 2.10 'T is too trifling to Object here how come we to thirst after what we do not know For it concerns every Man to enquire what will become of him for ever and if he be already assured that there is another World and a glorious Salvation to be attained it is natural to thirst after the Resolution of such Questions as these What shall I do to be saved What shall I do to inherit an Eternal Life And such is the Beauty of Illuminating Truth that every Glance of it kindles in our Hearts the Love of it And such its boundless Perfection that the more we know the more still shall we desire to know Having thus considered what qualifies Man for Illumination my next business is to enquire § 2. What one thus qualified is to do for the actual Attainment of it All the Advice that I can think fit here to be given may be reduced to four Heads 1. That we do not suffer our Minds to be engaged in quest of Knowledge forreign to our purpose 2. That we apply our selves with a very tender and sensible Concern to the Study of Illuminating Truths 3. That we act conformable to those Measures of Light which we have attain'd 4. That we frequently and constantly address our selves to God by Prayer for the Illumination of his Grace 1. That we do not suffer c. This is a natural and necessary Consequence of what has been already said concerning Illumination For if Illumination consist in the Knowledge not of all sort of Truths but the most necessary and important such as purifie and perfect our Nature such as procure us sacred and stable Pleasure and all the Rewards that flow from our Adoption to God it is then plain he who would be Perfect ought not to amuse and distract his Mind in Pursuit of trifling or divertive Knowledge that he ought to shun and not to admit whatever is apt to entangle perplex or defile him and to fix his Thoughts and confine his Meditations to the great Truths of the Gospel He that knows the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent knows enough to oblige him to Vertue and to open the way to Glory and everlasting Life He that knows nothing but Jesus Christ and him Crucified knows enough in order to Peace Grace and Joy enough to promote Holiness and Hope Hope that abounds in Joy unspeakable and full of Glory 2. We must apply our selves with a very tender and sensible Concern to the Study of Illuminating Truths This Rule must be understood to enjoyn three things 1. Great Care and Caution in examining Doctrins proposed and in distinguishing between Truth and Falsehood 2. Great Diligence and Industry to increase and enlarge our Knowledge 3. Frequent and serious Reflection upon the Truths we know 1. There is need of great Caution in the Trial and Examination of Doctrins This the
is All the claim the Sinner lays to Pleasure is confin'd to the Present Moment which is extreamly short and extreamly uncertain the Time that is Past and to Come he quits all Pretention to or ought to do so As to the time Past the thing is self evident For the Sinner looking back sees his Pleasures and Satisfactions the Good Man his Tryals and Temptations past and gone The Sinner sees an end of his Beauty and his Strength the Good Man of his Weaknesses and Follies the one when he looks back is encountred with Sin and Folly Wickedness and Shame the other with Repentance and Good Works Guilt and Fear haunt the Reflections of the one Peace and Hope attend those of the other As to the time to come the Atheist hath no Prospect at all beyond the Grave the Wicked Christian a very dismal one the weak and Imperfect a doubtful one only the Wise and Perfect an assured joyful and delightful one And this puts me in mind of that which is the proper Fruit of Perfection and the truest and greatest Pleasure of Human Life that is Assurance assurance of the Pardon of Sin assurance of the Divine Favour assurance of Immortality and Glory Need I prove that Assurance is an unspeakable Pleasure One would think that to Man who is daily engag'd in a Conflict with some Evil or other it were superfluous to prove that it is a mighty Pleasure to be rais'd though not above the Assault though not above the Reach yet above the Venom and Malignity of Evils To be fill'd with Joy and Strength and Confidence to ride triumphant under the Protection of the Divine Favour and see the Sea of Life swell and toss it self in vain in vain threaten the Bark it cannot sink in vain invade the Cable it cannot burst One would think that to Man who lives all his Life long in Bondage for fear of Death it should be a surprizing Delight to see Death lie gasping at his Feet Naked and Impotent without Sting without Terror One would finally think that to Man who lives rather by Hope then Enjoyment it should not be necessary to prove that the Christian's Hope whose Confidence is greater its Objects more glorious and its Success more certain than that of any worldly Fancy or Project is full of Pleasure and that it is a delightful Prospect to see the Heavens opened and Jesus our Jesus our Prince and Saviour sitting at the Right Hand of God Thus I have I think sufficiently made out the Subserviency of Perfection to the Happiness of this present Life which was the thing propos'd to be done in this Chapter Nor can I imagine what Objections can be sprung to invalidate what I have said unless there be any thing of Colour in these two 1. To reap the Pleasure will some one say which you have discrib'd here it requires something of an exalted Genius some Compass of Understanding some Sagacity and Penetration To this I Answer I grant indeed that some of those Pleasures which I have reckon'd up as belonging to the Perfect Man demand a Spirit rais'd a little above the Vulgar But the richest Pleasures not the most Polish'd and Elevated Spirits but the most Devout and Charitable Souls are best capable of Such are the Peace and Tranquility which arises from the Conquest and Reduction of all inordinate affections the satisfaction which accompanies a sincere and vigorous discharge of Duty and our Reflections upon it the Security and Rest which flows from Self-resignation and Confidence in the Divine Protection And lastly the Joy that springs from the full assurance of Hope But 2ly It may be Objected 't is true all these things seem to hang together well enough in Speculation but when we come to examine the matter of fact we are almost tempted to think that all which you have said to prove the ways of Wisdom ways of Pleasantness and all her Paths Peace amounts to no more then a pretty Amusement of the Mind and a Visionary Scheme of Happiness For how few are there if any who feel all this to be truth and Experiment the Pleasure you talk of How few are they in whom we can discover any signs of this Spiritual joy or fruits of a Divine Tranquility or Security I answer in a word The examples of a perfect and mature Vertue are very few Religion runs very low and the Love of God and Goodness in the Bosoms of most Christians suffers such an allay and mixture that it is no wonder at all if so imperfect a State breed but very weak and imperfect Hopes very faint and doubtful joys But I shall have occasion to examine the force of this Objection more fully when I come to the Obstacles of Perfection CHAP. V. Of the Attainment of Perfection Particularly an account of the Manner by which Man Advances or grows up to it I Have in the first second and third Chapters explain'd the Notion of Religious Perfection In the fourth Chapter I have insisted on two effects of it Assurance and Pleasure My method therefore now leads me to the Attainment of Perfection Here I will do too things 1st I will trace out the several Steps and Advances of the Christian towards it and draw up as it were a short History of his Spiritual Progress from the very Infancy of Vertue to its Maturity and Manhood 2ly I will discourse briefly of the Motives and Means of Perfection Of the Christian's Progress towards Perfection Many are the Figures and Metaphors by which the Scripture describes this alluding one while to the Formation Nourishment and Growth of the Natural man another while to that of Plants and Vegetables One while to the dawning and increasing Light that shines more and more to the perfect Day Another while to that succession of Labours and Expectations which the Husbandman runs through from Plowing to the Harvest But of all the Similes which the Spirit makes use of to this end there is one especially that seems to me to give us the truest and the liveliest Image of the Change of a Sinner into a Saint The Scripture represents Sin as a state of Bondage and Righteousness as a state of Liberty and teaches us that by the same steps by which an enslaved and oppressed People arrive at their Secular by the very same does the Christian at his Spiritual Liberty and Happiness First then as soon as any Judgment or Mercy or any other sort of Call awakens and penetrates the Sinner as soon as a clear Light breaks in upon him and makes him see and consider his own state he is presently agitated by various Passions according to his different Guilt and Temper or the different Calls and Motives by which he is wrought upon One while Fear another while Shame one while Indignation another while Hope fills his Soul He resents the Tyranny and complains of the Persecution of his Lusts he upbraids himself with his folly and discovers a meanness and shamefulness in
good Soldier of Christ Jesus who firmly believes that He is now a Spectator and will very suddenly come to be a Judge and Rewarder of his sufferings How natural is it to run with Patience the Race that is set before us to him who has an Eternal Joy an Eternal Crown alway in his Eye And if a Life to come can make a Man rejoyce even in suffering Evil how much more in doing Good If it enable him to Conquer in the day of the Churches Tryal and Affliction how much more will it enable him to abound in all Vertues in the day of its Peace and Prosperity How freely will a Man give to the distressed Members of Christ who believes that he sees Christ himself standing by and receiving it as it were by their Hands and placing it to his own account to be repaid a thousand-fold in the great day of the Lord How easily will a Man allay the storms of Passion and cast away the weapon of Revenge and Anger with Indignation against himself if his Faith do but present him often with a view of that Canaan which the Meek in Heart shall inherit for ever How Importunately will a Man pray for the Pardon of Sin whose Sense whose Soul whose Imagination is struck with a dread of being for ever divided from God and excluded from the Joys and Vertues of the Blessed How fervently will a Man pray for the Spirit of God for the Increase of Grace whose Thoughts are daily swallowed up with the Contemplation of an Eternity and whose Mind is as fully possess'd of the certainty and the Glory of another World as of the emptiness and vanity of this How natural finally will it be to be poor in Spirit and to delight in all the Offices of an unfeigned Humility to that Man who has the Image of Jesus washing the feet of his Disciples and a little after Ascending up into Heaven alway before him But I know it will be here Objected we discern not this Efficacy you attribute to this Motive The Doctrine of another Life is the great Article of the Christian Faith and it is every where Preached throughout Christendom and yet Men generally seem to have as much fondness for this World as they could were there no other They practise no Vertues but such as are Profitable and Fashionable or none any further than they are so To this I answer though most act thus there are many I hope very many who do otherwise and that all in general do not proceeds from want either of due Consideration or firm Belief of this Doctrine of another Life First from not Considerating it as we should 'T is the greatest disadvantage of the Objects of Faith compared with those of Sense that they are distant and invisible He therefore that will be Perfect that will derive any Strength and Vertue from this Motive must supply this distance by devout and daily Contemplation he must fetch the remore objects of Faith home to him he must render them as it were present he must see and feel them by the strength of Faith and the force of Meditation which if he do then will his Faith certainly prove a vital and victorious Principle then will no Pleasure in this World be able to combate the assured Hopes of an Heaven nor any worldly Evil or difficulty sustained for Vertue be able to confront the Terrors of an Hell A Second Reason why this Motive doth not Operate as it should is want of Faith We doubt we waver we stagger or take things upon trust assenting very slightly and superficially to the Doctrine of another Life and looking upon good Works rather as not injurious to this World then serviceable to a better And then 't is no more wonder that the unbelieving Christian does not enter into Perfection and Rest than that the unbelieving Jew did not 'T is no more wonder if the word of Life do not profit the Christian when not believed by him then if it do not profit a Pagan who has never heard of it And what is here said of Infidelity is in its measure and proportion true when applyed to a weak and imperfect Faith He therefore that will be Perfect must daily pray Lord I Believe help thou mine unbelief He must daily Consider the Grounds on which the Faith and Hope of a Christian stand the express declarations of the Divine Will concerning the future Immortality and Glory of the Children of God the demonstrastration of this contained in the Resurrection of Jesus from the Dead and his Ascension and Session at the Right Hand of God And to this he may add the Love of God the Merits of Jesus and the State and Fortune of Vertue in this World From all which one may be able to infer the undoubted certainty of another World The Sum of all amounts to this whoever will be Perfect must daily I should I think have said almost hourly ponder the blessedness that attends Perfection in another Life he must ponder it seriously that he may be throughly perswaded of it he must ponder it often that the Notions of it may be fresh and lively in his Soul SECT II. Of the several Parts of Perfection WHat the several Parts of Religious Perfection are will be easily discerned by a very slight Reflection either on the Nature of Man or the general Notion of Perfection already laid down If we consider Man whose Perfection I am treating of as it is plain that he is made up of Soul and Body so 't is as plain that Moral Perfection relates to the Soul as the chief subject of it and to the Body no otherwise then as the Instrument of that Righteousness which is planted in the Soul Now in the Soul of Man we find these three things Vnderstanding Will and Affections In the Improvement and Accomplishment of which Human Perfection must consequently consist And if we enquire wherein this Improvement or Accomplishment lies 't is a Truth so obvious that it will not need any proof that Illumination is the Perfection of the Vnderstanding Liberty of the Will and Zeal of the Affections If in the next place we reflect upon the Description I have before given of Perfection nothing is more evident than that to constitute a firm Habit of Righteousness three things are necessary 1. The Knowledge of our Duty and our Obligations to it 2. The Subduing our Lusts and Passions that we may be enabled to perform it Lastly not only a free but warm and vigorous Prosecution of it In the first of these consists Illumination in the second Liberty and in the third Zeal Upon the whole then 't is evident both from the Nature of Perfection and of Man that I am now to treat in order of these three things Illumination Liberty and Zeal as so many Essential Parts of Religious Perfection Nor must I stop here but must to those three unavoidably add Humility For whether we consider the Sins of the
Things appear to us and the more the Mind rejoyces in the Lord the oftner 'tis rapt up into Heaven and as it were transfigured into a more glorious Being by the Joy of the Spirit and the Ardours of Divine Love the more flat and insipid are all earthly and carnal Satisfactions to it Another Effect that attends our shaking off the Dominion of Sin and our devoting our selves to the Service of God is our being purified from Guilt The Stains of the past Life are washed off by Repentance and the Blood of Jesus and the Servant of God contracts no new ones by wilful and presumptuous Sin Now therefore he can enter into himself and commune with his own Heart without any Vneasiness he can reflect upon his Actions and review each day when it is past without inward Regret or Shame To break off a vicious Course to vanquish both Terrours and Allurements when they perswade to that which is mean and base to be Master of ones self and entertain no Affections but what are wise and regular and such as one has Reason to wish should daily increase and grow stronger these are things so far from meriting Reproach and Reproof from ones own Mind that they are sufficient to support it against all Reproaches from without Such is the Beauty such the Pleasure of a well established Habit of Righteousness that it does more than compensate the Difficulties to which either the Attainment or the Practice of it can expose a Man Lastly He that is free from Guilt is free from Fear too And indeed this is the only way to get rid of all our Fears not by denying or renouncing God with Atheists but by doing the things that please Him He that is truly Religious is the only Man who upon rational Ground is raised above Melancholy and Fear For what should he fear God is his Glory his Boast his Joy his Strength and if God be for him who can be against him neither things present nor to come neither Life nor Death can separate him from the Love of God in Christ Jesus There is nothing within the Bounds of Time or Eternity that he needs fear Man cannot hurt him he is incompassed with the favour and loving kindness of God as with a Shield But if God permit him to suffer for Righteousness sake happy is he This does but increase his present Joy and future Glory But what is most considerable Death it self cannot hurt him Devils cannot hurt him the sting of Death is Sin and the strength of Sin is the Law but thanks be to God who giveth us the Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. For there is no Condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit These Considerations prove the present Condition of a Servant of God happy Happy in Comparison of the Loose and Wicked but in Comparison with what he shall be hereafter he is infinitely short of the Joy and Glory of his End In this respect indeed he is yet in a state of Tryal and Trouble of Discipline and Probation in this respect his Perfection and Happiness do but just peep up above the Ground the Fulness and Maturity of both he cannot enjoy till he come to Heaven And this is § 4. The Last Fruit of Christian Liberty That Heaven will consist of all the Blessings of all the Enjoyments that Human Nature when raised to an Equality with Angels is capable of that Beauties and Glories Joys and Pleasures will as it were like a fruitful and ripe Harvest here grow up there in all the utmost Plenty and Perfection that Omnipotence it self will e're produce is not at all to be controverted Heaven is the Master-piece of God the Accomplishment and Consummation of all his wonderful Designs the last and most endearing Expression of boundless Love And hence it is that the Holy Spirit in Scripture describes it by the most taking and the most admired things upon Earth and yet we cannot but think that this Image though drawn by a Divine Pencil must fall infinitely short of it For what temporal things can yield Colours or Metaphors strong and rich enough to paint Heaven to the Life One thing there is indeed which seems to point us to a just and adequate Notion of an Heaven it seems to excite us to strive and attempt for Conceptions of what we cannot grasp we cannot comprehend and the labouring Mind the more it discovers concludes still the more behind and that is the Beatifick Vision This is that which as Divines generally teach does constitute Heaven and Scripture seems to teach so too I confess I have often doubted whether our seeing God in the Life to come did necessarily imply that God should be the immediate Object of our Fruition or only that we should there as it were drink at the Fountain Head and being near and dear to Him in the highest Degree should ever flourish in his Favour and enjoy all Good heap'd up press'd down and running over I thought the Scriptures might be easily reconciled to this sense and the Incomprehensible Glory of the Divine Majesty inclin'd me to believe it the most reasonable and most easily accountable Injoyment and especially where an Intelligent Being is the Object of it seem'd to imply something of Proportion something of Equality something of Familiarity But ah what Proportion thought I can there ever be between Finite and Infinite what Equality between a poor Creature and his incomprehensible Creatour what Eye shall gave on the splendours of his essential Beauty when the very Light He dwells in is inaccessible and even the Brightness he vailes himself in is too dazling even for Cherub and Seraphs for ought I know to behold Ah! what Familiarity can there be between this Eternal and inconceiveable Majesty and Beings which He has formed out of nothing And when on this occasion I reflected on the Effects which the Presence of Angels had upon the Prophets and saw Human Nature in Man Sinking and dying away because unable to sustain the Glory of one of their Fellow-Creatures I thought my self in a manner obliged to yield and stand out no longer against a Notion which though differing from what was generally received seemed to have more Reason on its side and to be more intelligible But when I called to mind that God does not disdain even while we are in a state of Probation and Humility of Infirmity and Mortality to account us not only his Servants and his People but his Friends and his Children I began to question the former Opinion and when I had survey'd the Nature of Fruition and the various Ways of it a little more attentively I wholly quitted it For I observed that the Enjoyment is most transporting where Admiration mingles with our Passion where the beloved Object stands not upon the same Level with us but condescends to meet a Vertuous and aspiring and ambitious Affection Thus the happy Favourite enjoys
a gracious Master and thus the Child does with respectful Love meet the tenderness of his Parent and the Wisdom and Vertue which sometimes raises some one happy Mortal above the common size and height of Mankind does not surely diminish but increase the Affection and the Pleasure of his Friends that enjoy him Again the Nature of Enjoyment varies according to the various Faculties of the Soul and the senses of the Body One way we enjoy Truth and another Goodness One way Beauty and another Harmony and so on These things considered I saw there was no necessity in order to make God the Object of our Fruition either to bring Him down to any thing unworthy of his Glory or to exalt our selves to a Height we are utterly uncapable of I easily saw that we who love and adore God here should when we enter into his Presence admire and love him infinitely more For God being infinitely amiable the more we contemplate the more clearly we discern his Divine Perfections and Beauties the more must our Souls be inflamed with a Passion for Him And I have no Reason to doubt but that God will make us the most gracious Returns of our Love and express His Affections for us in such Condescensions in such Communications of Himself as will transport us to the utmost Degree that created Beings are capable of Will not God that sheds abroad his Love in our Hearts by his Spirit here fully satisfie it hereafter will not God who fills us here with the Joy of his Spirit by I know not what inconceivable ways communicate Himself in a more ravishing and Ecstatick manner to us when we shall behold him as he is and live for ever encircled in the Arms of his Love and Glory Upon the whole then I cannot but believe that the Beatifick Vision will be the Supream Pleasure of Heaven yet I do not think that this is to exclude those of an inferiour Nature God will be there not only all but in all We shall see him as he is and we shall see him reflected in Angels and all the Inhabitants of Heaven nay in all the various Treasures of that Happy Place but in far more bright and lovely Charcters than in his Works here below This is a state now that answers all Ends and satisfies all Appetites let 'em be never so various never so boundless Temporal Good nay a state accumulated with all temporal Goods has still something defective something empty in it That which is crooked cannot be made straight and that which is wanting cannot be numbred And therefore the Eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the Ear with hearing but all things are full of Labour Man cannot utter it And if this were not the state of temporal Things yet that one Thought of Solomon that he must leave them makes good the Charge of Vanity and Vexation And the contrary is that which compleats Heaven namely that it is Eternal Were Heaven to have an End that End would make it None That Death would be as much more intolerable than this here as the Joys of Heaven are above those of Earth For the Terrour and the Evil of it would be to be estimated by the Perfection of that Nature and Happiness which it would put an End to To Dye in Paradise amidst a Crowd of Satisfactions how much more intollerable were this than to Dye in those accursed Regions that bred continually Briars and Brambles Cares and Sorrows And now I doubt not but every one will readily acKnowledge that an Heaven were it believed were such a Fruit of Christian Liberty such a Motive to it as none could resist Did I believe this have I heard one say I would quit my Trade and all Cares and Thoughts of this World and wholly apply my self to get that other you talk of There was no need of going thus far But this shews what the natural Influence of this Doctrine of a Life to come is and that it is generally owing to Infidelity where 't is frustrated and defeated What is in this Case to be done what Proof what Evidences are sufficient to beget Faith in him who rejects Christianity and all Divine Revelation He that hears not Moses and the Prophets Christ and his Apostles neither will he believe though one rose from the dead This Doctrine of a Life to come was generally believed by the Gentile World It was indeed very much obscur'd but never extinguished by the Addition of many fabulous and superstitious Fancies so strong was the Tradition or Reason or rather both on which 't was built The Jews universally embraced it The general Promises of God to Abraham and his Seed and the several Shadows and Types of it in the Mosaick Institution did confirm them in the Belief of a Doctrine which I do not doubt had been transmitted to them even from Enoch Noah and all their pious Ancestors Nor must we look upon the Sadduces amongst the Jews or the Epicureans amongst the Gentiles to be any Objection against this Argument of a Life to come founded in Tradition and the universal Sense of Mankind because they were not only inconsiderable compared to the Body of the Jewish or Pagan World but also Desertors and Apostates from the Philosophy and Religion received To what End should I proceed from the Gentile and Jew to the Christian were Christianity entertained as it ought the very supposal of any Doubt concerning a Life to come would be impertinent Here we have numerous Demonstratitions of it Not only the Fortune of Vertue in this Life which is often very calamitous but even the Origine and Nature of it do plainly evince a Life to come For to what End can the Mortification of the Body by Abstractions and Meditations be enjoyned if there be no Life to come What need is there of Renovation or Regeneration by the Word and Spirit of God were there no Life to come One would think ' the common End of this natural Life might be well enough secured upon the common Foundation of Reason and Human Laws What should I here add the Love of God and the Merits of Jesus from both which we may derive many unanswerable Arguments of a Life to come For though when we reflect upon it it appears as much above our Merit as it is above our Comprehension yet when we consider that Eternal Life is the Gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord what less than an Heaven can we expect from an infinite Merit and Almighty Love The Love of God must be Perfect as Himself and the Merits of Jesus must be estimated by the Greatness of his Person and his Sufferings He that cannot be wrought upon by these and the like Gospel-Arguments will be found I doubt impenetrable to all others 'T is in vain to argue with such a one from natural Topicks and therefore I will stop here I should now pass on to the Third Thing the Attainment of Christian Liberty But
World we project for the World and what can this produce but a carnal and worldly Frame of Spirit We must meditate Heavenly Things we must have our Conversation in Heaven we must accustom our selves to inward and Heavenly Pleasures if we will have Heavenly Minds We must let no day pass wherein we must not withdraw our selves from the Body and sequester our selves from the World that we may converse with God and our own Souls This will soon enable us to disdain the low and beggerly satisfactions of the outward Man and make us long to be set free from the Weight of this corruptible Body to breath in purer Air and take our fill of refined and spiritual Pleasure I have insisted thus long on the Cure of Original Sin not only because it is the Root of all our Misery but also because there is such an Affinity between this and the Sin of Infirmity which I am next to speak to that the same Remedies may be prescribed to both so that I am already eased of a part of the Labour which I must otherwise have under-gone in the following Chapter I am now by the Laws of my own Method obliged to consider the Effects of this Branch of Christian Liberty in the Perfect Man and to shew what Influence it has upon his Happiness But having Sect. 1. Chap. 4. discoursed at large of the Subserviency of Perfection to our Happiness and in Sect. 2. Chap. 3. of the happy Effects of the Christian Liberty in general I have the less need to say much here on this Head Yet I cannot wholly forbear saying something of it The Conquest over Original Corruption such as I have described it raises Man to the highest pitch of Perfection that our Nature is capable of makes him approach the nearest that Mortality can to the Life of Angels and plants him on the Mount of God where Grace and Joy and Glory shines always on him with more direct and strong Raies Now is Virtue truly Lovely and truly Happy now the Assurance of the Mind is never interrupted its Joy never over cast It enjoys a perpetual Calm within and sparkles with a peculiar Lustre that cannot be counterfeited cannot be equall'd Some faint and partial Resemblances I confess of this Vertue or rather of this State or Consummation of it have I though very rarely seen in some masterly strokes of Nature I have observed in some that sweetness of Temper in others that Coldness and absolute Command over themselves with respect to the Pleasures and in several that innate Modesty and Humility that natural Indifference for the Power Honour and Grandure of Life that I could scarce forbear pronouncing that they had so far each of them escaped the Contagion of Original Corruption and could not but bless and love them But after all there is a vast Difference between these Creatures of Nature and those of Grace the Perfection of the one is confined to this or that particular Disposition but that of the other is in its Degree Universal The Perfection of the one has indeed as much Charm in it as pure Nature can have but the other has a Mixture of something Divine in it it has an Heavenly Tincture which add something of Sacredness and Majesty to it that Nature wants The Perfection of the one is indeed easie to its self and amiable to others but the Perfection of the other is Joy and Glory within and commands a Veneration as well as Love from all it converses with Blessed State when shall I attain thy lovely Innocence when shall I enter into thy Divine Rest when shall I arrive at thy Security thy Pleasure CHAP. V. Of Liberty with respect to Sins of Infirmity THis is a Subject wherein the very Being of Holiness or Vertue the Salvation of Man and the Honour of God are deeply interessed For if we allow of such Sins for Venial as really are not so we destroy the Notion or evacuate the Necessity of Holiness endanger the Salvation of Man and bring a Reflection upon God as a Favourer of Impiety On the other hand if we assert those Sins damnable which are not really so we miserably perplex and disturb the Minds of Men and are highly injurious to the Goodness of God representing Him as a severe and intolerable Master But how important soever this Subject be there is no other I think in the compass of Divinity wherein so many Writers have been so unfortunately engaged so that it is over-grown with Dispute and Controversie with Confusion and Obscurity and numberless Absurdities and Contradictions This I have thought necessary to observe in the Entrance of my Discourse not to insult the Performances of others or to raise in the Reader any great Expectation for my own but indeed for a quite contrary Reason namely to dispose him to a favourable Reception of what I here offer towards the rendring the Doctrine of Sins of Infirmity intelligible and preventing the Disservice which Mistakes about it do to Religion By Sins of Infirmity both Ancients and Moderns Papists and Protestants do I think understand such Sins as are consistent with a State of Grace and Favour from which the best Men are never entirely freed in this Life though they be not imputed to them This then being taken for granted I shall Enquire into these three Things 1. Whether there be any such Sins Sins in which the most Perfect live and dye 2. If there are what these be What it is that distinguishes them from Damnable or Mortal ones 3. How far we are to extend the Liberty of the Perfect Man in Relation to these 1. Whether there be any such That the best Men are not without Errors without Defects and Failings and that not only in their past Life or unregenerate State but their best and most Perfect one is a Truth which cannot one would think be controverted For what Vnderstanding is there which is not liable to Error what Will that does not feel something of Impotence something of Irregularity What Affections that are meerly Human are ever constant ever raised Where is the Faith that has no Scruple no Diffidence the Love that has no Defect no Remission the Hope that has no Fear in it what is the State which is not liable to Ignorance Inadvertency Surprise Infirmity where is the Obedience that has no Reluctancy no Remisness no Deviation This is a Truth which whether Men will or no they cannot chuse but feel the Confessions of the Holiest of Men bear Witness to it And the Pretension of the Quakers to a Sinless and Perfect State is abundantly confuted by that Answer one of the most eminent of them makes to an Objection which charges them with arrogating and assuming to themselves Infallibility and Perfection viz. That they were so far Infallible and Perfect as they were led by the Spirit of God For what is this but to desert and betray not defend their Cause 'T is plain then as to
void of understanding and lo it was all grown over with Thorns and Nettles had covered the face thereof and the stone wall thereof was broken down this is one plain Cause and commonly the First of our halting between God and Baal namely our Idleness and Sloth in Religion joyned with Pusillanimity and Cowardise which moves us to decline all Difficulties and disables us to make a bold Resistance against Temptations how criminal and guilty this must render us in the sight of God 't is no difficulty to guess Is this the Zeal the Revenge of an humble and active Penitent Is this to redeem the Time and efface the Memory of our past Sins and Provocations Is this the Conversation that becomes the Children of the Light and of the Day Is this our hunger and thirst after Righteousness is this our Ambition our Passion for an Heaven Finally is it thus we requite the Mercies and Obligations of God and the Love of Jesus that passeth Knowledge shall such halting trimming Christians as these think ye ever be judg'd endued with a true and living Faith who express it the whole Tenour of their Lives so much Coldness and Indifference for that Salvation which the Son of God thought worth the purchasing by so much Travel and so much Sorrow so much Shame and so much Blood 3. A Third Cause of our Halting between God and Baal is some Degree of Infidelity This was the Case of Israel too They were ever prone to Idolatry partly train'd up to it in Egypt and elsewhere partly being more capable of forming an Idea of a Finite and Topical God than of an Infinite and Universal one Jer. 23.23 Partly being fond of following the Fashions of other Nations And lastly mov'd partly by that great and long Prosperity which Egypt and other Idolatrous Nations enjoy'd and no doubt comparing it too with the Variety and Uncertainty of their own Fortune and the frequent Disappointment of their Expectations Hose 2. never laying it to Heart all the while that the way to secure their Prosperity was to change not their God but their Manners I would to God this were not too lively a Description of the State of too many Christians and that we could not trace our Lukewarmness and Fickleness in Religion too plainly back to the same Source or Origine namely some Degrees of Infidelity I wish the Prosperity of the wicked do not somewhat undermine the Belief of a Providence I wish whatever we talk of a Treasure in another World we do not now and then think it wisest to have our Portion in this I am afraid that the Decays and Dissolutions of our Nature in Death the Rottenness and Corruption of the Grave and the Variety of Changes and Fortunes our very Dust undergoes may tempt us to some Scruples and Jealousies about a post-humous Life But however it be in these points I am too too well assur'd that we do often doubt whether Vertue be the true Blessedness of Life whether there be that Pleasure in Righteousness the Scripture affirms there is I am confident the Notions of Righteousness and Holiness with which the Scripture furnishes us are often blur'd and blotted by the Maxims and Customs of the World and perswade my self that there is scarcely one of those that are Laodiceans and Trimmers in Religion that do not flatter themselves that God will not be as severe as his Threats and that he will receive them into Heaven upon milder and softer terms than the Gospel proposes Some such kind of Infidelity as this must possess the Heart where-ever the Life is so infinitely below our Profession When the Word preached doth not profit it is because it is not mingled with a due Measure of Faith in those that hear it If we did truly believe the Revelations of God if we did see the Promises of God as evident and present by Faith though distant in themselves 't were impossible but they must move but they must take us 't were impossible but they must enkindle in us another sort of Desire and this Desire would soon produce another sort of Endeavours another sort of Life When Moses beheld Canaan from Pisga how passionately did he desire to enter into that good Land When the Disciples had seen Jesus Ascend up into Heaven how were they transported with a Desire of following him how unspeakable was their Joy how fervent their Prayers how lasting and enlarged their Gratitude they returned to Jerusalem with great Joy and were continually in the Temple praising and blessing God How does a Prospect of Gain captivate the Covetous How does the Fancy or Expectation of Pleasure enflame the Voluptuary how does the Sight of Vanity and Grandure infect the proud and the Hope of Glory fire the Ambitious What hath the Beauty and Pleasures of Holiness no Attraction has Heaven no Charms in it has the Favour and Love of God and of Jesus no Force no Power in them Surely we have not the face to deny but that the Promises of God are great and precious one and if they raise no Passion in us it must not be through want of Excellent and Loveliness in them but want of Faith in us And then judge you how acceptable this kind of Infidelity must render us to God what Value can God have for a People whom no kindness can oblige no Arguments convince with whom no Miracles can gain Belief no Assurances or Promises find Credit Hell is the portion of the fearful and unbeliever Rev. 21.8 And what dreadful Judgments did overwhelm Israel as often as they thus halted between God and Idols It did not excuse them that they had some sort of Veneration for the Memory of Moses and his Miracles since this was not able to over-rule their Prejudice and Superstition that they retain some Honour for Abraham Isaac and Jacob and that God which was the Fear of their Fathers since they had as much or more for the Nations round about them and their Gods too And whatever Power they did acknowledge in the God of Heaven or whatever Benefit they did own themselves to have deriv'd from him as I can hardly think the Memory of either was utterly extinguish'd amongst them all this avail'd them nothing while they made their Court to other Gods too and put their Trust in their Patronage and Protection Though this be sufficient to make us sensible of the Guilt of a Laodicean Vertue and an uncertain halting Faith yet I must advance on and observe unto you a worse Principle if worse can be of this Deportment yet which is 4. The Fourth Fountain of this Unsteadiness and Remisness in Religion is some Remains of Corruption the Prevalency of some vicious Passion or other Mens Actions are the plainest Indications of their Affections If the Life looks two ways we need not doubt but that the Heart does so too This was that made the young Man in the Gospel fluctuate so between Christ and Mammon this was the