a great and carnest dislike of his sins past and of himself for them a serious intention never to return to them again a firm purpose to live hereafter according to the law of God and the duties of that state wherein he is a delight and taking pleasure in divine matters and in doing of good works a contempt of the world and of all worldly things lastly a longing desire of the life to come with a wearinesse of this present He that by such signs as these shall perceive that by Gods grace he is become a Christian must also know that in the way of God not to go forward is to go backward and that he onely goeth forward who findeth himself to grow daily stronger and more fervent in the grace of God and in all virtue Now this is chiesly procured by continuall Prayers as we have said elsewhere which no man can make rightly but he that studyeth Simplicity that is to say Sincerity or purity of heart integrity of conversation together with neglect or renouncing of whatsoever is supersluous He therefore that desires to live Christianly according to the duty of that State wherein he intendeth to fix and settle himself must be carefull as we say to live Simply that is Innocently Purely and undissemblingly and in a word answerably in all things to what his profession requireth so as he may be alwayes as much as possible intent upon Divine and Good Things I mean upon the Service of God by Prayer Meditation and other Duties of Religion or upon the Service of his Neighbour by works of mercy spirituall corporall at home and abroad But because it is difficult yea almost impossible to give instructions here proper for all persons by reason of the different estates and conditions of men I shall advise every one who hath desire to live indeed this life of a Christian to addresse himself to some good Ghostly-Father who by his learning and experience may be able to direct him and according to his counsell to govern himself in his spirituall affairs But let him take heed that he fall not into the hands of these luke-warm and indifferent Confessours who have indeed some form or shew of piety but renounce the power thereof It may be thought perhaps very hard to escape such persons who have outwardly pretenses of sanctity and God onely is the discerner of hearts Nay whereas it is said by their fruits ye shall know them though they bee indeed but a kind of hypocrites and dissemblers yet have they some apparence of good works How then shall we know them I say still it shall not be difficult to know them for any man that desires to walk uprightly seeing it is written Light is sprung up even in darknesse to the upright in heart And in another place Your anointing shall teach you all things And even in naturall things we see those which have different forms can never absolutely agree especially if those forms be contrary now the form that is to say the spirit and disposition of a true Christian and of a formalist are as contrary as can be the one that is to say the true Christian looking onely at the service of God the other ever to his own interest therefore 't is impossible they should resemble in all things and consequently impossible that the true Christian who is himself zealous for God and of a right intention should not disoern him who is but luke-warm and an hypocrite especially after some conversation and that the Anointing of the Holy Ghost as was said Illuminates him As soon therefore as it appears that the Father whom he hath chosen is one of those who are not as they should be let him fly from him as he would fly from a Serpent for as Solomon saith He that walketh with the wise shall be wise but the friend of fools shall become like unto them But having found a good man indeed let him open the very secrets of his heart to him let him often and plainly confesse his sinnes and according to his advise let him frequent the holy Communion for as we have shewen elsewhere amongst all the Ceremonies of Religion the Sacraments of Pennance of the Eucharist are most efficacious both to cause to augment and to preserve Grace And therefore 't is the duty of every good Christian to keep himself diligently in estate to frequent those Sacraments with devotion After that a man is thus become a Christian and labours to live Christianly the Third precept I am to give him is This That he consider well that by many Tribulations we must enter into the kingdome of God For we say in Christian Religion that to live well we must do good and suffer evill and so persevere unto death He therefore that desires to live like a Christian must prepare and fit himself for tribulation according to that of the wise man My sonne when thou comest to serve God saith he stand in fear and prepare thine heart for Temptation because adversity foreseen doth lesse trouble us And that he may more easily endure that which comes let him often remember the labours and passions of our Blessed Saviour and of his Saints as well of the New as the Old Testament let him read frequently the histories and lives of the Saints because as the Apostle faith Whatsoever things are written for our learning they are written that we by Patience and Consolation of the Scriptures might have Hope let him often yea continually if it were possible haue before his eyes the shortnesse of this life and the eternity of that which is to come that is to say the eternity of our glory or pains For seeing nothing can hinder but that this short life of ours must quickly passe away that at the end of this we must of necessity arrive at the other which never shall have end whosoever shall seriously and duely think of this will surely lesse regard the troubles of the world nay he will think himself happy if by them he can escape those eternall pains of hell and gain heaven though at last He must also remember that God Almighty hath prepared most excellent rewards for all those who for his Sake suffer temptations and persecutions here as it is written Eye hath not seen nor the ear heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man what things God hath prepared for them that love him He that thinks of this will not certainly much shrink at any temporary tribulations but rather be ready to cry out confessing with the Apostle that the passions of this present life are not equall to the Glory which is to come which shall be revealed in us by the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be ascribed Glory and Dominion through all ages for ever Amen FINIS
that is in a due and congruous subordination of them unto superiour goods For the Christian life being as it is a life of wisdome a life of most perfect prudence and discretion when we see that the things which the world so much admireth riches honours pleasures c. are by them viz. good Christians in a manner neglected we cannot but conclude that they find themselves satisfied otherwise that is possessed of riches honours pleasures c. of a more noble and more excellent nature then those be which they seem to despise For having the grace of God and our Saviour Christ himself dwelling in them by Faith they conceive themselves thereby in possession of so great a good that in comparison thereof there is little else worthy of their desires They have also hereby an assured hope to recover in the Resurrection whatsoever Beauty or other ornaments of the body here they might seem to want yea in that degree of excellency and glory which the heart of man cannot now conceive and to injoy with Christ for ever that life and endlesse felicity of which the Apostle speaketh Eye hath not scen nor the ear heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive what Things God hath prepared for them that love him And hence we observe that good Christians be generally of a chearfull and pleasing Conversation not seeming either to desire or to fear any thing overmuch in this world and to be as it were out of the Gun-shot of inordinate sorrow according as it is written Nothing shall grieve the Just man of whatsoever happeneth unto him and as it was said of the Apostles of our Saviour They went from the Councell rejoycing that they were held worthy to suffer reproch for the name of Christ The XIX Conclusion THat it is no hard matter to attain Christian life and therein by Gods help to persevere unto the end The principall thing required thereto is the grace of God that grace I mean which is not onely a meer gift of God or freely given but that which maketh a man formally gracious with God or just This indeed is onely to be had from God but he through his Infinite and Immense Goodnesse being so ready and inclined to give it unto them that ask in that respect there is no difficulty to attain Christian life For if he spared not his own sonne as the Apostle argueth but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him give us and that easily all Things There is also required some disposition on our part to receive the grace of God which yet renders not the attaining of Christian life nor perseverance therein through Grace difficult or hard For can it be hard for a man to do that which is in his own power Can it be hard for a man to do that which naturall reason tells him is best is for his own good and in his own election Let a man therefore but obserue three precepts and he shall find the attaining and perseverance in Christian life by Gods grace easie The first is That he have continuall Thoughts and reflexions upon the miseries of Humane life and especially upon the hour and issues of his death For seeing that man dyeth as all other creatures do he ought often thus to think and reason with himself To what purpose do I thus labour What good do all these Riches and Honours do me I am sure to dye and leave them all I am sure to dye yet the hour and time of my death is most uncertain What if I dye to day as 't is possible enough what good would it then do me to have had the whole world at command Or thus If the condition of man and beast be alike as in death we seem truly we men are a great deal more unhappy then they for unto bruit beasts Nature it self provideth a convenient food convenient cloathing houses and other necessaries for their life which we men have not but with a great deal of labour and pains Beasts are satisfied with that onely which is present never taking care for the future as man doth who is never contented with what he hath but still desiring insatiably more and vexed with a Million of cares for that which is to come Beasts are not subject to half those infirmities of body which man is sicknesse weaknesse wearinesse c. and for those of the mind tribulations anxieties distresses which we suffer in infinite variety every day they know them not Beasts are content with a little their desire is presently satisfied with but a small provision but the desires of man are without end his heart is restlesse inscrutably perverse and miserable with all Lastly beasts have no Thoughts of any future life nor of the Immortality of Soul about which men are extreamly perplexed almost in continuall dread and apprehensions of going after all the troubles and toylings of this life unto pains eternall If therefore our soul be not indeed Immortall there is no creature so miserable as man But if it be Immortall then certainly our finall rest is not here but must be sought in some other life And seeing that it were an absurd thing to imagine that man whom both God and nature have made the most noble and most excellent of all other Creatures should yet be found to be of them all the most miserable we must confesse some other happiness reserved for him or else deny the providence of God over his works For seeing that in the world many Things daily appear new which were not before and that nothing can possibly make it self or give Being to it self it cannot be doubted but that every Thing in the world is made to be by something else which was before it unlesse we will be such fools as to say All things come to passe by chance that is by nothing for chance is nothing but our ignorance or non-praevision of the true cause a paradox sufficiently confuted by the very order of the universe and that wonderfull regularity which is observed yea sensible in all the proceedings of nature And seeing again that in causes subordinate we may not run from one to an other in infinitum we must pitch at last upon some one which shall be the first and generall cause of all and This is confessed to be God whence also we see that without any discourse of Argument but by meer instinct of nature men generally acknowledge God and also worship him in some way or other nor was there ever man found that could settle in the opinion that There was no God And that God hath providence over the world the course of nature as we said even now sufficiently sheweth and the Philosophers themselves confesse saying that the work of nature is the work of an Intellect which erreth not And although it hath come in dispute among them whither God hath providence over humane affairs perhaps in regard of the great irregularities
and deviations which seem to be in them more then in other things yet certainly it cannot be denied by any wise man but that he hath over them and over all and over the least as much as over the greatest Because Providence in every Thing is so much the more perfect and more excellent by how much it further extends it self and taketh care of more Things seeing then that the Providence of God must be acknowledged the most perfect of all it must also of necessity extend it self to all Things it must leave nothing unprovided for it must overpasse nothing We observe also in all causes a naturall and vehement inclination as it were to govern and perfect their effects as for example in bruit beasts what an admirable and great care have they of their young ones Seeing therefore that whatsoever good is in the second causes they have it from the first to which they do all naturally desire so much as may be to assimilate themselves it is manifest that the first and generall cause of all things as it were a Common Parent must have a great and exact care over all particular effects seeing he is the cause of all Beside if God hath not providence over humane affairs what is the reason is it because he cannot or because he knows not how to govern them or lastly because he will not none of these can be imagined of God For shall we think of God that he cannot or knoweth not how to execute that which man both knoweth and also is able to do and if but a good man who hath ability and skill to order affairs is also ever willing of his own part to do it shall we think of God who is most able most skilfull and wise and also insinitely good that he should be lesse willing Again if God Almighty had not care of humane affairs why hath he given man such a naturall instinct and inclination to worship him God and nature we use to say do nothing in vain We conclude therefore that it is an argument onely of madnesse or a distempered mind to say There is no God or that God is but hath not providence or care over us men and that it is the part duty of a wise man not onely to know but continually to consider that there is a Governour over the world who hath the same particular providence over men that he hath over other naturall Things that is to conduct guide them all by due means unto their proper and last ends And because it is his property to dispose All Things sweetly he guideth every one of them to their ends in such manne as is most congruous and agreeable to their severall natures and man in particular Freely according to that liberty of his will which is naturall to him From whence it is also that among men some are good and some are evill The good are they whose life is agreeable to reason conforming themselves to such Illuminations and Inspirations as they have from God in all things studying and endeavouring to please him The evill are those who follow not reason nor observe any rectitude or regularity of life If therefore the Divine Majesty hath providence over humane affairs and be Just as he is he must certainly have determined with himself both to reward the good and to punish such as be evill But this we see not done at least not exactly not particularly in this life therefore we must confesse some other life to come wherein the rewards of the Just and punishments of the wicked shall be more eminently seen Which if it be so how much doth it concern us to please God by a good life And seeing as we have elswhere shewen that there can be no better life then the Christian life is it is to no purpose for us to seek any where else how to live or how to please God for a life so led cannot be without its due reward cannot be frustrated of that happinesse which is promised to it if it could there were no life sure of happinesse for the life of Christians in many respects sheweth that God hath peculiar providence over them and therfore if their faith were not true neither could their life so much be governed by it nor would God sufter them long in that errour whose Goodnesse it is to Illuminate those which are Good and right of heart and to harden and leave in blindnesse onely those which are evil If therefore These Things be so let us believe in Christ and let us live Christianly for so doing as is manifest by what hath been said we cannot perish but must be happy in this world and in the next After a man hath by this first consideration prepared himself and is resolved to do what he can to attain Christian life the second Precept to be given him is this viz. That he seriously consider what that thing is wherein Christian life doth as it were essentially consist which is the grace of God I mean that grace which as we touched before doth justifie make a man good in the sight of God For we observe some men as soon as they begin to have a desire of living Christianly they presently apply themselves to the Ceremonies of religion and performing them exteriourly they imagine all on the sudden that they are become exceeding good Christians with which vanity many deceive themselves pretending to be Christians but falsly being indeed a foolish lukewarm yet very arrogant sort of people Men indeed looking onely on the outside praise what they see but God beholds the heart and sayes to these men as our Saviour said to the Pharisees ye are they who justifie your selves before men but God knows your hearts for many times that which is of high esteem with men is abomination before God He therefore that desires indeed to live Christianly let him endeavour with the utmost of his power to obtain the grace of God not resting til by some good signs arguments he can probably persuade himself that he hath obtained it And because the Grace of God is given in and by the Holy Sacraments to all those who devoutly and worthily come unto them let him prepare himself in the second place to receive the Sacraments with the best disposition and diligence he can In particular If he be a believer but yet not Baptized let him prepare himself and come to the Sacrament of Baptisme with atrue sincere Faith and good Intention If he be already a Christian but guilty of sins let him come with true Contrition pure Confession and perfect Satissaction and submit himself to the Sacrament of Pennance and thereby also devoutly sit himself for the Sacrament of the Eucharist and in this course let him persist constantly untill by some good conjectures he find that he may have obtained the Grace of God Now the best of that sort especially for beginners seem to be these viz. if he find in himself