the Children of God and the blessed Fruit of it Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost would easily furnish me with invincible Arguments Nor would the contrary Opinion ever have been able to have kept the Field so long as it has done had it not been favoured by a weak and decayed Piety by the Fondnesses of Men for themselves in spight of their Sins and Frailties and by many mistaken Texts But that this Matter may if possible be freed from all Objections 1. I here distinguish between Inordinate and Natural Affections By Inordinate Affections I mean the Tendencies of the Soul towards that which is Vnlawful by Natural its Propension to the Body with which it is invested the Desire of its Health and Ease and the Conveniencies and Necessaries of Life for this end Now when Religion enjoyns Repugnances to the former Appetites the Obedience of the Perfect Man has no Reluctancy in it but when it enjoyns things as sometimes occasionally it does which thwart and cross the latter here the Obedience even of Christ himself could not be exempt from Conflict for our Natural Appetites in this sense of them will never be put off till our Bodies be I think this is so clear it needs not be illustrated by Instances or else 't were easie to shew that though good men have practised Temperance Chastity Charity and other Vertues of this kind with ease and pleasure too yet has Nature shrunk and startled at Persecution and Martyrdom though even here too the Courage and Resolution of some hath appear'd to be much above what Human Nature ever seem'd capable of 2. I do not in the least suppose that Nature is so changed but that the Inclinations to sinful Pleasure or Profit or any other forbidden Object will soon revive again even in the Perfect Man unless he keep a watch and guard upon himself and pass the time of his sojourning here in fear Not to be subject to disorderly Desires not to be liable to irregular Motions is the Priviledge of Souls when stript of a Mortal Body or cloath'd with an Immortal one Till then the Conjunction of Flesh and Blood will ever render the poor Soul obnoxious to carnal and worldly Appetites And the natural Appetites of the Body do so easily pass those Bounds that divide them from sinful ones that the best of men can never be secure but when the Mind is taken up in Contemplation Devotion good Works or engaged in the Prosecution of some just and honest Design or amused by some innocent Recreation for in these Cases the Body is either made the Instrument of Righteousness or at least wise 't is innocently busied and diverted from those Objects to which it has too too impetuous a Tendency I have now I think sufficiently stated the Notion of true Liberty and I hope sufficiently guarded it And have nothing to do but to proceed to the Fruits of it Which will serve for so many Motives or Inducements to its Attainment § 2. Of the Fruits of Liberty These may be reduced under four Heads 1. Sin being a great Evil Deliverance from it is great Happiness 2. A second Fruit of this Liberty is Good Works 3. It gives us a near Relation to God 4. The great and last Fruit of it is Eternal Life These are all comprised by the Apostle in Rom. 6.2.1 22 23. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed For the end of those things is death But now being made free from Sin and become Servants to God ye have your fruit unto Holiness and the end everlasting Life For the wages of sin is Death but the Gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And these are the great Ends which the Gospel that perfect Law of Liberty aims at and for which it was Preached to the World as appears from those Words of our Lord to St. Paul Acts 26.17 18. unto whom now I send thee to open their Eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgiveness of Sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by Faith that is in me I will here insist on these Blessed Effects of Christian Liberty not only because the Design of the Chapter demands it but also to prevent the being obliged to any tedious Repetition of them hereafter under every distinct Branch of Christian Liberty § 1. Sin is a great Evil and therefore Deliverance from the Dominion of it is a great Good To make this evident we need but reflect a little on the Nature and Effects of Sin If we enquire into the Nature of Sin we shall find that it is founded in the Subversion of the Dignity and defacing the Beauty of Human Nature and that it consists in the Darkness of our Understanding the Depravity of our Affections and the Feebleness and Impotence of the Will The Vnderstanding of a Sinner is incapable of discerning the Certainty and Force of Divine Truths the Loveliness of Vertue the unspeakable Pleasure which now flows from the great and precious Promises of the Gospel and the incomparably greater which will one day flow from the Accomplishment and Fruition of them His Affections which if fix't and bent on Vertue had been Incentives as they were designed by God to noble and worthy Actions being biass'd and perverted do now hurry him on to lewd and wicked ones And by these the Mind if at any time it chance to be awakened and render'd sensible of its Happiness and Duty is over-power'd and oppress'd If this were not the true State of a Sinner if the strength of Sin did not thus consist in the Disorder and Impotence of all the Faculties of the Soul whence is it that the Sinner acts as he does Is it not evident that his understanding is infatuated when he lives as if he were meerly wholly Body As if he had no Soul or none but one resulting from and dissolv'd with its Temperament and Contexture One designed to no higher purpose than to contrive minister to and partake in its Sensualities Is it not evident that He has little expectation of another World who laies up his Treasures only in this and lives as if he were Born only to make Provision for the Flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof 'T is true all Sinners are not equally stupid or obdurate but even in those in whom some sparks of Vnderstanding and Conscience remain unextinguished how are the weak Desires of Vertue baffled and over-power'd by the much stronger Passions which they have for the Body and the World Do they not find themselves reduced to that wretched state of Bondage wherein the good that they would do that they do not but the evil that they would not do that is present with them 'T is plain then that Sin is a Disease in our Nature that it not only extinguishes the Grace of the Spirit and obliterates the Image of God stampt
and Revealed Religion and utterly to extinguish all Conscience of Good and Evil. But this is such an Attempt in which I confess I could never have believed that the most daring sinner could have proved succesful had not the Scriptures told me that there are some who are past feeling Eph. 4.19 of a fear'd Conscience 2 Tim. 4.2 who are not ashamed when they have committed Iniquity neither can they blush Jer. 6.15 who call good evil and evil good that put darkness for Light and light for darkness that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter Isa 5.20 Such sinners there are then but what does this amount to What can their Sense or Example weigh I am sure these poor Wretches are as far distant from any true Happiness as from true Sense and deserve our Pity not Imitation As will easily appear from these following Considerations 1. 'T is true Conscience depends upon Opinion but what if this Opinion depend upon Sense and Truth What if it be built upon the Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power In what a deplorable Condition are these Men of Wit The Fear of an angry God a Judgment to come and an Hell is no common or ordinary Fear 'T is not the Fear of a scratch or wound in the Body of a baâ—â—e in the Pursuit of Preferment or a Disappointment in that of Pleasure 't is not the loss or the forfeiture of Estate in part or whole 't is not a Blot upon our Reputation 't is not the Death of a Child a Brother or what is more unless he be such a Friend 't is not any thing of this kind that is the Object of this Fear but Misery pure and unallay'd complicated accumulated Misery Misery unalterable incurable and lasting as long as Eternity Methinks before one should venture on a Sin which is threatned with such a state as this and much more before one should resolve to continue in it were reasonable to be very sure that the Notion of a Hell were false and the Doctrine of Eternal Punishment a meer Bug-bear Nay I protest in a matter of this Importance I think one should scarce trust to a Demonstration unless it had passed the Test of the most solid and Impartial part of Mankind and stood the Shock and Trial of many Ages But alass after the utmost Efforts of Wit and Lust what has ever yet been produced that has been able to undergo the Examination even of an honest Man What Arguments have yet been started against a Judgment to come that have been able to work upon any who were truly serious in the Point And if a Judgment to come why not an Hell Revelation is plain and Reason can find no Inconsistency in the Doctrine Human Laws punish a single Offence sometimes with Death or Banishment with loss of Estate and by this and divers other Ways extend the Punishment of the Criminal to his Posterity that is make it as Eternal as they can And shall it be thought unjust in God to punish the repeated Provocations of an impenitent Life the Neglect of that great Salvation wrought by the Blood and published by the Mouth of his dearly Beloved Son and all this wilfully in Defiance of the Light of the Gospel and Sollicitations of the Spirit in Defiance of Mercies and Chastisements shall it I say be thought unjust in God to punish this by a miserable Eternity when Infinite Goodness has in vain tried all imaginable means to reclaim a Sinner what has he to complain of if God leave him to the Effects of his own Choice Sin as it alienates our Affections from God here so must it certainly exclude us from his Presence and his Favour hereafter And what can be the Case of that wretched Creature who is banished for ever to those black and dismal Regions which no Ray no Influence of Divine Goodness can ever reach Where shall those unhappy Creatures dwell which shall be chased by the Presence and Glory of God out of the new Heavens and the new Earth or which rather can never approach either but in that outward Darkness which is parted from the World of the Blessed by an unpassable Gulph Ah! then if this be so what do wretched Men gain by growing impudent in Wickedness alas the more insensible Men are of the Deformity and Danger of Sin the more desperate their state the more incurable their Disease and the nearer they to Death and Destruction My Spirit shall not always strive with Man This is indeed a blessed Advantage to stand upon the brink of Damnation 'T is a glorious Victory to have defeated all the Means of Grace and Happiness 'T is an Heroick Atchievement to be able to extinguish all true Sense and Reason as well as Religion and become impregnable impenetrable to all Arguments to all Motives which either the tenderest Love or the profoundest Wisdom of God and Man can attack us by 2. I cannot but think that those very Men who for the most part are obdurate and insensible do suffer some though rare returns of Anxiety and Fear Why else are they such avowed Enemies to Solitude and Retirement to all serious and calm Reflections that they are ready to take up with a most trifling and contemptible Business or Diversion nay tired with a dull and tasteless Repetition of a Folly they chuse to repeat it to their Lives End rather than be alone and thoughtful What is this but to confess that there is something within which they are afraid to awaken that there is such a Brightness in Divine Truth that they dare not open their Eyes upon it lest it should fill their Souls with the Terrours of God This Height of Wickedness then at best is a state fit only for Fortunate Sinners who can roul and tumble from Folly to Folly from one Impertinence or Extravagance to another endlesly and yet what becomes of these poor Things when a Disaster when a Disease nay but a wakeful hour by Night forces them to retire into themselves 3. A Sinner does not soon arrive at this state of Insensibility It costs him very dear to grow impudent in his Lust Many a Pang many a Torment has he suffer'd first often has he felt the Wounds of Conscience often has he trembled and shrunk at the Menaces of God The Soul can no more be reconciled to Sin than the Body to Excess but by passing thorough many painful and sickly Fits many uneasie Pangs and Qualms And is it not worth the while to endure so much in order to be damned Is it not an infallible Mark of more than vulgar Wisdom to purchase Misery at so dear a rate To endure hardship as good Soldiers of Christ Jesus for a Crown a never-fading Crown this with them is an undertaking that deserves to be exposed and lashed with the utmost severity of Spight and Confidence but to suffer as it were repeated Martyrdoms to gain an Hell this is what they think becomes Men of their
Sins through his Name amongst all Nations And this is one Blessed advantage which Revealed Religion has above Natural that it contains an express Declaration of the Divine Will concerning the Pardon of all Sins whatsoever upon these Terms Natural Religion indeed teaches us that God is Merciful but it teaches us that he is Just too and it can never assure us what Bounds God will set to the Exercise of the one or the other and when Justice and when Mercy shall take Place What Sins are and what are not capable of the benefit of Sacrifice and Repentance And this uncertainty considering the Sins of the best Life was ever naturally apt to beget Despondencies Melancholy and sometimes a Superstitious dread of God The Second Ground of assurance as it relates to our present State is an Application of the Condition of Life laid down in the Gospel to a Man 's own Particular Case thus They that Believe and Repent shall be Saved I Believe and Repent therefore I shall be Saved Now that a Man upon an Examination of himself may be throughly assured that he does Believe and Repent is evident from Scripture which does not only exhort us to enter upon this Examination but also assert that Assurance Joy and Peace are the natural Fruits of it But let a Man examine himself and so let him eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup 1 Cor. 11.28 Examine your selves whether ye be in the Faith prove your own selves Know ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates 2 Cor. 13.5 But Sanctifie the Lord God in your Hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every Man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear 1 Pet. 3.15 And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his Commandments 1 Joh. 2.3 Beloved if our Hearts condemn us not then have we confidence towards God 1 Joh. 3.2 'T is true Men do often deceive themselves and entertain a more favourable Opinion of their state then they ought But whence proceeds this Even from too Partial or Superficial Reflections on themselves or none at all And therefore the Apostle teaches us plainly that the only way to correct this Error is a Sincere and diligent search into our selves For if a Man think himself to be something when he is nothing he deceiveth himself But let every Man prove his own Work and then shall he have rejoycing in himself alone and not in another Gal. 6.3 4. But it is Objected against all this that the Heart of Man is so deceitful that it is a very difficult Matter to make a thorough discovery of it We often think our selves Sincere when the success of the next Temptation gives us just reason to call this Sincerity into question such is the contradictions Composition of our Nature that we often act contrary to our inward Convictions and frequently fail in the execution of those designs in the performance of those resolutions which we have thought very well grounded and this being not to be charged upon the Insufficiency of God's Grace but the Levity or Insincerity of our own Hearts how can we safely frame any right Opinion of our Selves from those affections and purposes which are so little to be rely'd upon To this I Answer First We are not to conclude any thing concerning our Progress or Perfection too hastily we are not to determine of the final Issue of a War by the success of one or two Engagements but our Hopes and Assurances are to advance slowly and gradually in proportion to the abatement of the Enemy's Force and the increase of our own so that we may have time enough to examine and prove our own Hearts Secondly A Sincere Christian but especially one of a Mature Vertue may easily discern his spiritual state by the inward movings and actings of the Soul if he attend to them For is it possible that such a one should be ignorant what Impressions Divine Truths make upon him Is it possible he should be ignorant whether his Faith stand firm against the shock of all Carnal objections whether he earnestly desire to please God as loving him above all things whether he thirst after the Consolation and Joy of the Spirit more then after that of sensible things Is it possible the Soul should bewail its Heaviness and Driness which the best are liable to at some season or other Is it possible that the Soul should be carried upwards frequently on the Wings of Faith and Love that it should maintain a familiar and constant Conversation with Heaven that it should long to be delivered from this World of trouble and this Body of Death and to enter into the Regions of Peace of Life and Righteousness Is it possible I say that these should be the Affections the Longings and Earnings of the Soul and yet that the Good Man the Perfect Man who often enters into his Closet and Communes with his own Heart should be ignorant of them It cannot be In a word can the Reluctances of the Body and the Allurements of the World be disarm'd weaken'd and reduc'd Can the Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness be very eager the relish of spiritual Pleasure brisk and delightful and the contempt of worldly things be real and thoroughly setled and yet the Man be insensible of all this It cannot be But if we fell these Affections in us we may safely conclude that we are Partakers of the Divine Nature that we have escaped the corruption that is in the World through Lust and that the New Creature is at least growing up into a Perfect Man to the Measure of the Stature of the fulness of Christ Thirdly The surest Test of a State of Grace is our abounding in Good Works You shall know the Tree by its Fruit is our Masters own Rule and it can never deceive us He that doth Righteousness is born of God If then we be frequent and fervent in our Devotion towards God if we be modest and grateful in the Successes Patient and Resigned Calm and Serene under the Crosses and Troubles of Life If we be not only Punctual but Honourable in our dealings if we be Vigorous and Generous in the Exercises of Charity if we be not only just and true but meek gentle and obliging in our Words if we retrench not only the sinful but something from the innocent Liberties and Gratifications of Sense to give our selves more entirely up to the Duties and Pleasures of Faith If finally we never be ashamed of Vertue nor flatter complement nor wink at Vice if we be ready to meet with Death with comfort and retain Life with some degree of Indifference If these things I say be in us we have little reason to doubt of the goodness of our State For Good Works being the natural Fruit of Grace it is impossible we should abound in the one without being possessed
Mind but never benefit it but there are others which are in the Language of Solomon like Health to the Navel and Marrow to the Bones Wisdom and Vertue Life and Honour the Favour of God and Man attend them where e're they dwell And these are the Truths which Illuminate Truths that are Active and Fruitful that make us wise and good perfect and happy such as we have a mighty Interest in such as have a strong Influence upon us such as give a new Day to the understanding and new Strength and Liberty to the Will such as raise and exalt our Affections and render the whole Man more rational more steady more constant more uniform These are the Truths which make Men great and modest in Prosperity erect and couragious in Adversity always content with this World yet alway full of the Hopes of a better Serene Calm and well assured in the present state of their Souls and yet thirsting after Perfection Maturity and the absolute Consummation of Righteousness in the World to come Now the Truths that effect all this are all reducible to those which I have mentioned under the former Head For in those we find all that is necessary to Life and Godliness to Vertue and Glory in those we find all that is necessary to raise and support true Magnanimity to enlarge and free the Mind and to add Strength and Courage to it For what can more certainly promote all this than Immortality and Glory What can be a surer Foundation for the Hope of both to rest on than the Favour of God himself And what can more effectually reconcile and ingratiate us with God than sincere universal Righteousness and the Mediation of his dearly Beloved Son 3. The Third Character of Illuminating Truth is that they are Pleasant and Agreeable to the Soul Hence it is that the Royal Psalmist pronounces the Word of God sweeter than the Honey and the Honey Comb that he ascribes to it Delight and Joy For he tell us that it rejoyces the Heart that it enlightens the Eyes And accordingly we find the true Servants of God not only continually blessing and praising God in the Temple but magnifying him by Psalms and Hymns in their Prisons and rejoycing in the midst of Tribulation But when I reckon Pleasure and Delight amongst the Fruits of Illumition I must add that there is a vast difference between the Fits and Flashes of Mirth and the serenity of a Fixt and Habitual Delight between the Titillations of Sense and the solid Joys of the Mind and lastly between the Pleasures of Fancy and of Reason And when I say Illumination consists in the Knowledge of pleasant and agreeable Truths I mean it of rational Pleasure an habitual Tranquility of the Mind And then the Matter is beyond Question Whatever Truths do contribute to promote this the Study and Contemplation of them must be our true Wisdom Joy when 't is solid and rational does enlarge and exalt the Mind of Man 'T is as it were Health to the Navel and Marrow to the Bones it renders us more thankful to God more kind and courteous to Man 'T is an excellent Preparation to invite more Plentifully Influxes of the Spirit of God Hence did Elijah call for a Musical Instrument when he desired to Prophesie And we find the Company of Prophets rejoycing with Hymns Musick and Dances all outward Testimonies of the inward Transports and Ravishment of their Minds And as I am perswaded that that which distinguishes a Godly sorrow from a Worldly or Impious one Repentance and Contrition from the Agonies and Perplexities of Dispair is the peace and tranquility which attends it so am I perswaded that God does press and invite us to Mourning and Sorrow for Sin for this Reason not excluding others because it naturally leads on to Peace and Joy A soft and tender Sorrow dissipating the Fears and Distresses of Guilt like mild and fruitful Showers that do lay Storms In a word there is no such powerful Antidote against Sin nor spur to Holy Industry as Holy Pleasure Pious Joy or Spiritual Peace and Tranquility This is a Partaking or Anticipating the powers of the World to come and the mightiest Corroboration of every thing that is good in us The Study then of such Truths is true Wisdom And Illumination thus far will consist in quitting those Errors which beget Melancholy Superstition Desperation and in such Truths as enlarge our view of the Divine Perfections and exhibit to us a nearer Presence of his Goodness and Glory Such again as unfold the Dignity of Human Nature and the wise and gracious Ends of our Creation Such Lastly as extend our Prospect and enlarge our Hopes support our Frailties and excite our Vigour 4. The last property of those Truths in the Knowledge of which Illumination consists is that they are such as procure us a Reward If we reflect upon those three Heads under which I ranged those Truths which Illuminated the Gentile and Jewish World we shall easily discern how well they fit this Character They fill the Mind with Joy and Peace and make it abound in Hope they Purge the Man from his natural Corruption and fortifie the Mind against such Impressions from outward Good or Evil in this World as disquiet and torment the Sinner they procure him the Protection of God's Providence and the Assistance of his Spirit in this Life and they invite him to hope for Glories and Pleasures in another far above any thing that the Heart of Man can conceive God is the God of Hope He has all Fulness and Sufficiency in himself And therefore Blessed must all they be who have the Lord for their God Jesus is the Fountain of all Consolation He is made unto us of God Wisdom and Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption Happy is he that does rejoyce always and glory in Him Righteousness is a state of Health and Strength of Perfection and Beauty of Peace and Tranquility of Rest and Hope Blessed are they who are possessed of it who are made free from Sin and become Servants of God who have their Fruit unto Holiness and the end everlasting Life Such are already past from Death to Life for the Spirit of Life and Holiness of God and Glory rests upon them This is the Character that distinguishes Gospel Knowledge from all other sorts of Knowledge No knowledge of Arts or Sciences and much less the most exquisite knowledge of all the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Darkness can pretend to an Eternal Reward A short and impure Pleasure and a transcient Interest is all that this sort of Knowledge can bestow and very often instead of Pleasure and Profit it requites its Disciples with Pain and Trouble The Gospel only contains those Truths which confer Life and Immortality on those that Believe and Obey them 'T is the Gospel alone that teaches us how we are to gain the Love and Favour of God and 't is God alone who Rules and Governs
but such a Digestion of them by serious and devout Meditation as may in a manner incorporate them with us And this the Scripture plainly teaches when to signifie the Force and Vertue of the Gospel above that of the Law it uses these words For this is the Covenant that I will make with the House of Israel after those days saith the Lord I will put my Laws into their Minds and write them in their Hearts Heb. 8.10 intimating that no Laws no Principles can ever influence us till they be deeply imprinted in our Hearts To wind up all There are several kinds of Knowledge of the same Truths There is a Knowledge which serves us only as Pisga's top did Moses to shew us Canaan but not to bring us into it There is again a Knowledge which serves us only as the Talent did the wicked Servants not to procure Rewards but Punishments And finally there is a Knowledge which like the Talents in the Hand of the faithful and good Steward enriches us first and recommends us afterwards to higher Trusts and Dignities which improves and perfects our Nature first and then puts us into possession of such Blessings as only Nature thus improved and perfected is capable of And this Knowledge must not be a slight superficial and undigested one it must not be a confused and obscure a weak and imperfect one This is not the Knowledge which will bring forth those excellent Fruits which we have reason to expect from true Illumination But it must be a Knowledge that has all the quite contrary Characters even such as I have before described at large That this is an Observation of the greatest weight and moment is evident to any one who will give himself leave to make any Reflection on the present State of Christianity For how does the power of Darkness prevail amidst the Light of the Gospel How has the Devil erected his Throne in the midst of that Church which should be the Kingdom of God and Sin and Death reign where Life and Immortality are Preached Whence is this Are Men ignorant of those Truths which make up the Systeme of true Wisdom This is not easie to be imagined scarcely of the darkest corners of the Popish Churches much less of ours And therefore we must conclude that this is because our Knowledge is not such as it ought to be with respect to its clearness certainty and Digestion CHAP. II. Of the Fruits and Attainments of Illumination HAving dispatched the Notion of Illumination in the foregoing Chapter and shew'd both what Truths and what sort of Knowledge of them is requisite to it I am next to treat 1. Of the Fruits And 2. Of the Attainment of it S. 1. As to the Fruits of Illumination I have the less need to insist upon them because whatever can be said on this Head has been in a manner anticipated All the Characters of Illuminating Truth and Illuminating Knowledge being such as sufficiently declare the blessed effects of true Illumination I will therefore be very short on this Head and only just mention two Advantages of Illumination As the use of Light is especially twofold to Delight and Guide us so do we reap two benefits from Illumination 1. The first and most immediate one is That it sets the whole Man and the whole Life right that it fixes our Affections on their proper and natural Object and directs all our Actions to their true End I do not mean that the Vnderstanding constantly and necessarily influences and determines the Will. Expeperience tells us that we have a fatal Liberty That our Affections are too often independant of our Reason that we sin against the Dictates of Conscience that we pursue false Pleasure and a false Interest in opposition to the True and in plain opposition to our Judgment too at least to a sedate and calm one And the Reason of all this is because we consist of two different and repugnant Principles a Body and a Soul and are solicited by two different Worlds a temporal and an eternal one But all this notwithstanding 't is certain that Illumination in the Mind has a mighty Influence upon us For it is continually exciting in us wise Desires and excellent purposes 'T is always alluring and inviting us towards our Sovereign Good and restraining and detering us from Sin and Death It alarms disquiets disturbs and persecutes us as often as we err and wander from the Path of Life In one word the great Work of Illumination is to be always representing the Beauties and Pleasures and the Beatitude and Glory of Vertue and remonstrating the Evils and Dishonours the Deformities and Dangers of Vice so that a Man will never be at rest who has this Light within him till it be either extinguished or obeyed 2. This Light within us if it be followed and complied with not mud-died and disturbed if it be not quenched and extinguished by wilful Sin or unpardonable Oscitancy and Remisness if in a word its Influence be not interrupted disperses all our Fears as well as Errors creates an unspeakable Tranquility in the Soul spreads over us a calm and glorious Sky and makes every thing in us and about us look gay and verdant and beautiful The Dissipation of Pagan Darkness and all Participations or Resemblances of it Deliverance from a state of Bondage and Wrath the Peace of God the Love of Jesus the Fellowship of the Holy Ghost the Immortality of the Soul the Resurrection of the Body the Perfection and Blessedness of Eternity good God! what surprizing what ravishing Themes are these for the thoughts of an enlightened Soul to dwell upon Blessed and Happy is he who enjoys this Pleasure upon Earth And that we may I am now to Discourse S. 2. Of the Attainment of Illumination Now whatever advice can relate to this may be reduced under two Heads 1. What Qualifications do render Man capable of Illumination 2. What it is that one duly qualified is to do in Pursuit of it § 1. To begin with the Qualifications requisite to Illumination One Man is distinguished from another several ways By his Estate or Fortune by Natural or acquired Endowments and by Moral Dispositions and each of these may have some though a very different Influence upon Human Perfection For if we enquire after only the Essence and Integrity of Perfection then are there two or three Moral Qualifications which are all that is required in order to this But if we enquire after the largeness of its Stature the Symmetry of its Features the Lustre of its Complexion and the Elegance of its dress then may we allow something to be ascribed to Fortune to Nature and a liberal Education This is an Observation very necessary to be made For though every Man may be capable of Perfection that is Habitual Holiness if it be not his own fault yet is not every Man capable of being equally Perfect because of that accidental Variety which I have suggested and
on the Soul in its Creation but also scatters and diffuses I know not what Venome and Infection thorough it that makes it eagerly pursue its own Misery 'T is a Disease that produces more intollerable Effects in the Soul than any whatever can in the Body The Predominancy of any noxious Humour can breed no Pain no Disturbance equal to that of a Predominant Passionâ— no Scars or Ruins which the worst Disease leaves behind it are half so deformed and loathsom as those of Vice Nay that last Change which Death it self produces when it converts a beautiful Body into Dust and Rottenness is not half so contemptible or hateful as that of Sin when it transforms Man into a Beast or Devil If we do not yet sufficiently comprehend the Nature of Sin by viewing it as it exists in our Minds and Hearts we may Contemplate it in our Actions And here 't is Blindness and Folly Rashness and Madness Incogitance Levity Falshood and Cowardise 't is every thing that is mean and base and all this aggravated by the most accursed Ingratitude that Human Nature is capable of These and the like Reflections on the Nature of Sin cannot chuse but render it hateful And if Secondly we make any serious ones on the Effects of it they cannot fail of rendering it frightful and dreadful to us These Effects may be especially reduced to Three 1. The ill Influence Sin has upon our Temporal Concerns 2. Guilt And 3. Fear As to the First of these I shall only say that we suffer very few Evils but what are owing to our own Sins that it is very rarely any Calamity befalls us but we may put our Finger on the Fountain the Sin I mean from whence the Mischief flows Whence come Wars and Fighting amongst you saith St. James come they not from your Lusts which war in your Members This is every jot as applicable to Private as Publick Contentions and where Envy Strife and Contention is no evil Work no Disaster will be long absent I might run through all the different kinds of Evils that infest the Body or embroil the Fortune that blast our Hopes or stain our Desires and easily shew that they all generally spring from our Vices Nay what is worse yet I could shew that Sin converts our good things into evil and our Enjoyments into Punishments that it renders the slightest Evils intollerable turns Scratches into Wounds and Wounds into Gangrenes But this is too copious a subject and would insensibly render me Voluminous when I would be as short as possibly I can A Second Effect of Sin is Guilt which is nothing else but a Consciousness of having done ill and an Obligation to Punishment resulting from it And though Men often Sin with Hopes of Impunity yet it is hard to imagine even on this supposal that they should sin without suffering the Reproaches of their own Minds which surely must be very uneasie to them To be perpetually vex't at ones own Folly to commit those things which we inwardly condemn and be in continual Pain lest they should come to Light to be always displeased at ones self and afraid not only of the Reflections of others but our own This is methinks a great Evil did no other attend our sin But Thirdly Fear is almost inseparably joyned with Guilt for Guilt does not only damp the Chearfulness and enfeeble the Vigour of the Mind it does not only destroy that Confidence Man would otherwise naturally have in God and render him Cowardly and Pusillanimous but it terrifies his Soul with Melancholy Apprehensions and makes him live continually in fear of Death and Punishment And thus the Scripture represents the state of a sinner The wicked flee when none pursue but the righteous are bold as a lion Prov. 28.1 If our heart condemn us God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things 1 John 3.2 There is no peace to the wicked saith the Lord Isa 48.22 To deliver them who through fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage Heb. 2.15 The sinners in Zion are afraid fearfulness has surpised the Hypocrites who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire who amongst us shall dwell with everlasting burnings Isa 23.14 Nor let any one wonder that notwithstanding the outward Gaiety of the sinner the Spirit thus describes the inward Condition of his Soul As long as Men retain the Belief of a God it is impossible they should wholly free themselves from the Fear of him They may indeed forget him in the Fits of Lust or Passion but in their Intermissions his Terrours will return upon them with more Violence Again as long as Men retain the common Principles of Truth and Justice if they acknowledge but the Obligation of that universal Law Thou shalt do to others as thou wouldest they should do unto thee 't is impossible they should reflect on their sins without Regret and uneasiness for there is no sin but has more or less Repugnancy in it to Truth Justice and Goodness Finally as long as Men are perswaded that there is such a Faculty as Conscience that God has prescribed them a Law and that they are accountable to Him the natural Conscience cannot chuse but by Fits and upon Occasions scourge and torture lance and gash them And 't is a hard matter to wear out these Notions they are so natural and obvious the Proofs of them are so clear their Reputation and Authority in the World is so well established and the Providence of God so frequently inculcates them Men may easily wear out all sense of the Beauty and of their Obligations to the Heights and Perfections of Vertue but they cannot so easily do this in reference to Virtue in general because 't is temper'd and accommodated to Human Nature and Society and necessary to the tollerable well-being of the World Men may soon I confess extinguish their Christianity but not Humanity and while this remains Sin will leave a Stain and Guilt behind it and Guilt will be attended by uneasiness and Fear The very Pagans who had advanced so far in Wickedness as to be given up to all dishonourable Passions and to commit all Vncleanness with Greediness had not yet so mortified and stupified their Consciences but that it gave them much Disturbance Rom. 1. ver 32. 't is said of them that they knew the Judgment of God that they which committed such things were worthy of Death And Rom. 2.15 their Consciences are said to accuse and condemn them And 't is of very wicked Men that the Author to the Hebrews affirms that through fear of Death they were all their life time subject to bondage But are there not will some say many Ingenious and Brave Spirits who have dispersed these vain Spectres and burst those superstitious Fetters by which you labour to scare and enslave the World I do not doubt indeed but that there are too many who have vigorously endeavour'd to cashier all Principles of Natural
Parts and Gallantry Blessed God! to what Degree of Madness and Stupidity may Men of the finest Natural Parts sink when abandon'd by Thee or rather when they themselves abandon Thee and that Light which Thou hast set up in the World Our Lord and Master thought the Profits and Pleasures of the whole World a poor Compensation for the Loss of the Soul What is a Man profited if he gain the whole World c. Matth. 16. But these Men rather than it should not perish for ever will charge through Shame and Pain Remorse and Sickness and all the Obstacles that God has set between us and a desperate Height of Wickedness 4. Though a Sinner may come to that Pass as to suppress his Conscience and master his Fears yet he must ever be conscious to himself of the Fruitlesness and the Meanness of a Course of Sin He must needs be inwardly sensible that he has wearied himself to commit Iniquity to no purpose that his Mind has been restless and tempestuous like a troubled Sea casting up its own Mire and Dirt He must be conscious to himself that he is false and unjust unconstant and ingrateful and in Bondage to such Lusts as are mean and poor and injurious to his Repose and which he has often wished himself free from And this no doubt must be a blessed Condition when a Man 's own Mind does to his face assure him that he is that very thing which all the World condemns and scorns and which he cannot endure to be charg'd with without resenting it as the highest Affront Certainly it were better that all the World should call me Fool and Knave and Villain than that I should call my self so and know it to be true My Peace and Happiness depends upon my own Opinion of my self not that of others 't is the inward sentiments that I have of my self that raise or deject me and my Mind can no more be pleased with any Sensation but its own than the Body can be gratified by the Relishes of another's Palate 5. The more insensible a Sinner grows the more intollerable is the Disorder and Distraction which Sin produces in his Affairs While Men are under any little restraints of Conscience while they are held in by Scruples and Fears and Fits of Regret while in a Word they Sin with any Modesty so long Sin will tollerably comport with their Interest and Reputation but as soon as they grow insensible and impudent they pass all bounds and there is nothing so dear and considerable to them which they will not Sacrifice to their Wickedness Now Wife and Children Friends Estate Laws Vows Compacts Oaths are no stronger Ties to them than Sampson's Wit hs or Cords Such a one as this is very well described in the Prophet Thou art a swift Dromedary traversing her ways a wild Ass used to the Wilderness that snuffeth up the Wind at her pleasure in her occasion who can turn her away Jer. 2.22 And again he is fitly represented to an Horse rushing into the Battel He has as much Contempt for his safety and Happiness as for Reason and Religion he defies Shame Ruin and Death as much as he does God and Providence in one word with an impudent and lewd stupidity he makes all the hast he can to be undone and since he will be so it were well if he could be undone alone I am sure we have too many Instances at this Day of the miserable and fatal Effects of Atheism and Deism to leave any room to doubt whether I have strained the point here or no. Upon the whole it does appear that Sin is a great Evil and that the Evil of it is not lessen'd but increased by Obduration And from hence the Proposition infer'd does naturally follow that Deliverance from it is a great Good so great that if we estimate it by the Evil there is in Sin Health to the Sick Liberty to the Captive Day to the benighted weary and wandring Traveller a Calm a Port to Passengers in a Storm Pardon to Men adjudged to Death are but weak and imperfect Images or Resemblances of it A Disease will at worst terminate with the Body and Life and Pain will have an End together But the Pain that Sin causes will endure to all Eternity for the Worm dies not and the Fire will not be quenched The Errour of the Traveller will be corrected by the approaching Day and his Weariness refreshed at the next Stage he comes to but he that errs impenitently from the Path of Life is lost for ever When the Day of Grace is once set upon him no Light shall e're recal his wandring Feet into the Path of Righteousness and Peace no Ease no Refreshment shall e're relieve his Toil and Misery Whilest the Feet of the Captive are loaded with Fetters his Soul may enjoy its truest Liberty and in the midst of Dangers and Dungeons like Paul and Silas he may sing Songs of Praise and Triumph but the Captivity of Sin defiles oppresses and enslaves the Mind and delivers up the miserable Man to those intollerable and endless Evils which inexorable Justice and Almighty Wrath inflicts upon Ingratitude and Obstinacy A Storm can but wreck the Body a frail and worthless Bark the Soul will escape safe to Shore the Blessed Shore where the happy Inhabitants enjoy an undisturbed an Everlasting Calm but Sin makes Shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience and he that perishes in it does but pass into a more miserable state for on the wicked God will rain Snares Fire and Brimstone storm and tempest this shall be their portion forever Psal 11. And Lastly a Pardon sends back a Condemned Criminal to Life that is to Sins and Sufferings to toils and troubles which Death if Death were the utmost he had to fear would have freed him from But he that is once delivered from Sin is past from Death to Life and from this Life of Faith of Love of Hope shall soon pass to another of Fruition and Glory § 2. A Second Fruit of Liberty is Good Works Here I will shew Two things First and this but briefly that the Works of Righteousness contribute mightily to our Happiness and that immediately Secondly That Deliverance from Sin removes the great Obstacles and Impediments of Righteousness and throws off that Weight which would otherwise encumber and tire us in our Race 1. Holiness is no small Pleasure no small Advantage to him who is exercised therein When Nature is renewed and restored the Works of Righteousness are properly and truly the Works of Nature and to do good to Man and offer up our Praises and Devotions to God is to gratifie the strongest and most delightful Inclinations we have These indeed are at first stifled and oppressed by Original Corruption false Principles and Vicious Customs But when once they have broke through these like Seeds through the Earthy Coats they are enclosed and imprisoned in and are impregnated warmed and cherished by
10.13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to Man but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it The Design of which Words is certainly to encourage Christians against the bigest Temptations by an Assurance of Relief from God proportionable to our Necessities and consequently must imply that if we yield to a Temptation 't is our own fault God expects we should stand firm under the highest Trials Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a Crown of Life Rev. 2.10 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my Throne even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his Throne Rev. 3.21 But whosoever shall deny me before Men him will I also deny before my Father which is in Heaven Matt. 10.33 If therefore by Sins of Infirmity Men mean such as are consistent with the state of Grace i. e. such as good Men may frequently fall into without forfeiting the Peace of Conscience and the Favour of God I cannot possibly think that any Deliberate Sin can be such upon the score of the Temptation or that any of those Sins reckoned in the Catalogue Gal. 5. and Eph. 5. can be such on the account of the Violence or Perseverance with which they attack us But Secondly if by Sins of Infirmity they mean such Sins as Righteous Men are liable to I know not what they are from which they are exempted But if Lastly by Sins of Infirmity they mean such for which God is more easily entreated then there is no Question to be made but that there is a Difference in Sins which is to be estimated by the different Measures of Grace and Knowledge by the different Degrees of Deliberation and Surprise and by the Force or Weakness the Continuance or Shortness of a Temptation And Finally by the different Effects and Tendencies of Sins To all which I do not question but that the Spirit has regard in those Directions which it gives us for our Behaviour towards such as fall Gal. 6.1 Brethren if a Man be overtaken in a fault ye which are spiritual restore such a one in the Spirit of Meekness considering thy self lest thou also be tempted And of some have compassion making a difference And others save with fear pulling them out of the fire Jude 22 23. § 2. A Second sort of Actions are such as we call Involuntary that is those wherein we exercise no Deliberation no Choice Some have reduced Sins of Infirmity to this Head but with what Colour of Reason any one may judge For since Actions truly Involuntary are neither the Object of the Understanding nor Will 't is hard to conceive what Morality there can be in them The Grounds on which this Opinion is built are such as these First the Measure say they of Good and Evil is the Law of God But Involuntary and unavoidable Actions are not a proper Subject of Laws for to what purpose is it to prescribe Rules or to propose Rewards and Punishments to such Actions as are no way subject to our Choice Secondly they tell us 't is inconsistent with the Goodness of God and the Riches of Gospel Grace to impute those things to a Man as Damnable Sins which fall not within the Compass of his Power of Deliberation Now I must confess I am so far from denying any Actions that can lay a just claim to this Apology to be Venial that I cannot forbear thinking that they are not sinful For where there is no Law there is no Transgression But how does this way of arguing for the Excusableness of Involuntary Transgressions consist with those other Doctrines which they maintain concerning them namely That we are bound to Repentance for them That these Sins are not Venial in their own Nature but only through the Favour of God For the Law taken in its Rigour denounces Death against all Sin in general without Limitation or Exception so that if God should judge rigorously even Involuntary Sin would fall under that Sentence the wages of Sin is Death This I must confess seems to me very incoherent For if an Action be of that Nature that it cannot properly be the Matter or Subject of a Law how can it fall under the Condemnation of Law If it be of that Nature that it is incapable of any Moral Regulation nor subject to the Influence of Reward or Punishment how can it be meer Matter of Grace that a Man is not Damned for it In a word if an Action be truly and properly Involuntary it can by no means be Sin and if it be Voluntary it is subject to the Regulation of Laws 'T is a proper Instance of Deliberation and Freedom and capable of Rewards and Punishments And the Truth is the one needs no Apology and the other is not capable of any the one is a Mortal Sin and the other no Sin at all And therefore we must look for Venial Sin in some other Species of Action § 3. The last Class of Actions are those which are of a mixt Nature partly Voluntary and partly Involuntary And here I think we must place Sins of Infirmity by whatever Names we may call them For these surely if they are be rankt as by all they are amongst Actual Sins must be such Actions as have in them something of Voluntary something of Involuntary much of Human Frailty and something of Sinful much of unavoidable and something of Moral Obliquity These are the Transgressions which the Scripture seems to me to intend by Errors Defects Slips Motes the Spots of God's Children and these certainly if any must be the Sins that can consist with a state of Grace For these do not imply a Deliberate Wickedness in the Will much less an Habitual one nay they do not include in them any Wickedness at all strictly speaking but are truly the Effects of Human Frailty and the unhappy Circumstances of this Mortal Life Thus then I describe a Venial Sin it has in it so much of Voluntary as to mak it Sin so much of Involuntary as to make it Frailty it has so much of the Will in it that it is capable of being reduced and yet so much of Necessity in it it is never utterly to be extirpated it has some thing in it Criminal enough to oblige us to watch against it repent of it and yet so much in it pitiable and excusable as to entitle us to Pardon under the Covenant of Grace And thus I distinguish Venial from Mortal Sin Mortal Sin proceeds from a Heart either Habitually corrupted or deceived and captived for the time but Venial Sin results from the Imperfections and Infelicities of our Nature and our State Mortal Sin is truly Voluntary and Deliberate in the Rice and Birth of it and mischievous and injurious in its Consequence But
often repeated breeds a kind of Indifference or Lukewarmness and soon passes into Coldness and Insensibleness and this often ends in a reprobate Mind and an utter Aversion for Religion 2ly We must endeavour some way or other to compensate the Omission of a Duty to make up by Charity what we have defalc'd from Devotion or to supply by short Ejaculations what we have been forc'd to retrench from fix'd and regular Offices of Prayer And he that watches for Opportunities either of Improvement or doing Good will I believe never have Reason to complain of the want of them God will put into his hands either the one or the other and for the Choice he cannot do better than follow God's 3ly A single Omission must never proceed from a sinful Motive from a Love of the World or Indulgence to the Body Necessity or Charity is the only just and proper Apology for it Instrumental or Positive Duties may give way to moral ones the Religion of the Means to the Religion of the End and in Moral Duties the less may give way to the greater But Duty must never give way to Sin nor Religion to Interest or Pleasure Having thus briefly given an account what Omission of Duty is and what is not sinful and consequently so setled the notion of Idleness that neither the careless nor the scrupulous can easily mistake their Case I will now propose such Considetations as I judge most likely to deter Men from it and such Advice as may be the best Guard and Preservative against it 1. The First Thing I would have every one lay to heart is That a State of Idleness is a State of damnable Sin Idleness is directly repugnant to the great Ends of God both in our Creation and Redemption As to our Creation can we imagine that God who created not any thing but for some excellent End should Create Man for none or for a silly one The Spirit within us is an active and vivacious Principle our rational Faculties capacitate and qualifie us for doing Good this is the proper Work of Reason the truest and most natural Pleasure of a rational Soul Who can think now that our wise Creatour lighted this Candle within us that we might oppress and stifle it by Negligence and Idleness That he contriv'd and destin'd such a Mind to squander and fool away its Talents in Vanity and Impertinence As to our Redemption 't is evident both what the Design of it is and how opposite Idleness is to it Christ gave himself for us to Redeem us from all Iniquity and to purifie to himself a peculiar People zealous of good Works Tit. 2.14 and this is what our Regeneration or Sanctification aims at We are God's Workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good Works which God has before ordained that we should walk in them Eph. 2.10 How little then can a useless and barred Life answer the Expectations of God What a miserable Return must it be to the Blood of his Son and how utterly must it disappoint all the purposes of his Word and Spirit But What need I argue further the Truth I contend for is the express and constant Doctrine of the Scriptures is not Idleness and fulness of Bread reckoned amongst the Sins of Sodom what means the Sentence against the barren Fig-tree Luke 13.7 but the Destruction and Damnation of the Idle and the Sluggish the Indignation of God is not enkindled against the Barrenness of Trees but Men. What can be plainer than the Condemnation of the unprofitable Servant who perished because he had not improved his Talent Matt. 25.38 and how frequently does the Apostle declare himself against the idle and disorderly and all this proceeds upon plain and necessary Grounds Our Lord was an Example of Vertue as well as Innocence and he did not only refrain from doing Evil but he went about doing good We can never satisfie the Intention of Divine Precepts by Negative Righteousness when God prohibits the Filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit he enjoyns the perfecting Holiness in his Fear when he forbids us to do evil he at the same time prescribes the learning to do well What need I multiply more Words Idleness is a flat Contradiction to Faith Hope Charity to Fear Vigilance Mortification and therefore certainly must be a damning Sin These are all active and vigorous Principles but Idleness enfeebles and dis-spirits manacles and fetters us These are pure strict and self-denying Principles but Idleness is soft and indulgent These Conquer the World and the Body raise and exalt the Mind but Idleness is far from enterprising any thing from attempting any thing that is good it pompers the Body and effeminates and dissolves the Mind and finally whatever Innocence or Inoffensiveness it may pretend to it does not only terminate in Sin but has its Beginning from it from Stupidity and Ignorance from Vanity and Levity from Softness and Sensuality from some prevailing Lust or other 2. Next after the Nature the Consequences of Idleness are to be considered and if it be taken in the utmost Latitude there is scarce any Sin which is more justly liable to so many tragical Accusations for it is the Parent of Dishonour and Poverty and of most of the Sins and Calamities of this mortal Life But at present I view it only as it is drawn with a half Face and that the much less deformed of the two I consider it here as pretending to Innocence and flattering it self with the Hopes of Happiness And yet even thus supposing it as harmless and inoffensive as it can be yet still these will be the miserable Effects of it It will rob Religion and the World of the Service due to both it will bereave us of the Pleasure of Life and the Comfort of Death and send us down at last to a cursed Eternity For where are the Vertues that should maintain the Order and Beauty of Human Society that should relieve and redress the Miseries of the World where are the Vertues that should vindicate the Honour of Religion and demonstrate its Divinity as effectually as Predictions or Miracles can do where are the bright Examples that should convert the unbelieving part of Mankind and inflame the believing part with a generous Emulation Certainly the lazy Christian the slothful Servant can pretend to nothing of this kind As to the Pleasure of Life if true and lasting if pure and spiritual 't is easie to discern from what Fountains it must be drawn Nothing but Poverty of Spirit can procure our Peace nothing but Purity of Heart our Pleasure But ah how far are the Idle and Unactive from these Vertues Faith Love and Hope are the Seeds of them Victories and Triumphs Devotion Alms and good Works the Fruits of them But what a stranger to these is the Drone and Sluggard Then for the Comfort of Death it must proceed from a well spent Life he that sees nothing but a vast Solitude and Wilderness behind him
will never like the Israelites see a Canaan before him Life must be fill'd with good Works or else Death will look but dark and gloomy when the Conscience enquires every where after the Effects of the Word and the Spirit and the Blood of Jesus and can discover in all the parts in all the paths of Life no Tracks of any thing but Fancy and Fortune Humour and Indulgence How will it shrink and faint and tremble what pensive melancholy Doubts will damp and choke its Hope And how can it be otherwise Alas the Mind of a Christian is sufficiently informed that every Man shall receive according to what he has done in the Body God will judge every Man according to his Works what then must become of him who has none to shew If Immortality and Glory if Life and Peace be the Reward of well-doing nay of patient continuance in well-doing what will become of the drousie and supine and careless the Sot and the Sluggish who have slept and fool'd and trifl'd away Life 3. I might aggravate the Guilt of Idleness by taking an Estimate of the Talents it wastes the Obligations it slights and the Hopes it forfeits I might render Man more jealous and apprehensive of falling into it by observing how generally it prevails which is a plain Proof either of the strength of the Temptation or our Propension a plain Proof either that there is I know not what secret Magick in the Sin or else that the Cheat it imposes upon the World is a very clever a very dexterous one But I have said enough and where the former Considerations fail these will hardly succeed Therefore I will now pass on from Arguments to Advice which was the next thing proposed to be done And here my Advice must have regard to two different sorts of Persons 1. To such as are born to plentiful or competent Fortunes 2. To such as are to raise their own or to provide for the Support and Maintenance of themselves and their Families by their Labour or Industry in some Calling or profession To the Former the best Directions I can give are these 1. He that is Master of his Time ought to devote the more to Religion to whom God has given much of him much will be required Nor has such a one any Excuse left either for Omission or a hasty and cursory Performance of Duty but one one that will increase his Guilt i. e. Laziness Pleasure or some Sin or other Such a one therefore ought to be constant and diligent in frequenting the publick Assemblies of the Church his Attendance upon Prayers Sacraments Sermons must be such as becomes a Man who as it has pleased God seems born not to provide for Life but only to live only to improve and enjoy Life and carry on the nobler Designs of it and as becomes a Man whose good or ill Example is of such vast Importance to the Service or Dis-service of Religion Nor must such a ones Attendance on the Publick excuse him from the religious Offices of the Closet or his Family he ought to abound in each He may be more frequent in Meditation and Prayer in Reading and Instruction and perform each with more Justness and Solemnity than others can 2. Persons of Fortune ought to be careful in the Choice of Intimates and Friends Conversation is not always a Loss but sometimes a Gain of Time We often need to have our Forgetfulness reliev'd our Drowsiness awaken'd by the Discourses and Reflections of our Friends If Discourse were generally season'd with Grace Conversation would be the greatest Blessing if with Sense and Reason Innocence and Prudence it would be the most agreeable Entertainment of Human Life But how mischievous is the Acquaintance which infects us with Vanity and Lightness of Spirit which shews us nothing but a Gaudy out-side and a Frothy Soul whose Example binds Men in Civility to be foolish and makes Confidence and Vice and Mis-spence of Time a Fashion 3. It were to be wished That Persons of the best Rank were ever bred up to something to something that might improve to something that might amuse and innocently engage their Minds to something that might employ Life without encumbring it And yet alas what need I wish this how many excellent Qualities are necessary to render a Gentleman worthy of the Station where God has placed him Let him pursue these how many are the Vertues how many the Duties to which a Christian is oblig'd for him attend these There is a great deal requisite to make a good Master a good Husband a good Father a good Son a good Neighbour a good Parishioner an excellent Subject and an excellent Friend and yet there are many other Relations besides these In a word there is no Man who when he shall appear before God will not be found to have omitted many Duties and to have perform'd many other with less Care and Diligence than he ought and surely such a one cannot justly complain for want of Business I doubt rather on the contrary That whoever takes a just and full view of things will have reason to complain That Life is short and our Work great That let us use all the Diligence we can and be as frugal of our Time as we will we arrive much sooner at a Maturity of Years than of Knowledge and Vertue 4. The Diversions of Persons of this Quality ought to be well regulated such as become the Character of a Gentleman and the Dignity of a Christian that is that must be neither mean nor vicious But I have treated this and the foregoing Heads more copiously in Human Life to which I refer my Reader As to such in the next place who are engag'd in a Profession I have particularly considered their State in several Places and find little to add here but only to mind them That they may be guilty of Idleness too That their Idleness is the more criminal the less Temptation they have to it They may neglect the Duties of their Calling I mean their Secular Calling and if they be unfaithful and negligent in their Temporal Concern it is not to be expected that they should be more Sollicitous and Industrious about their Spiritual one They may again suffer the Cares of this Life to thrust out those of another and then they are truly idle and slothful Servants to God how industrious and faithful soever they are to the World for Life is but wasted and mis-spent if it make not Provision for Eternity and it matters little whether it be wasted in Pleasure or in Drudgery CHAP. VIII Of Unfruitfulness as it consists in Lukewarmness Coldness or Formality IN the former Chapter I consider'd that part of Unfruitfulness which consists in the Omission of Duty I am now to consider another part of it which consists in too perfunctory a Performance of it Besides those who are truly unprofitable because they slight or neglect the Duties of Religion there is another Sort
of Men who at the last Day will fall under the same Character and Condemnation not because they perform no Duties but because their Performance of them is depretiated by Coldness and Formality Men who make a fair Appearance of Religion and yet have no inward spiritual Life Men who do generally observe the external Duties of Religion but with so little Gust with such Indifference and Lukewarmness that they are neither acceptable to God nor useful to themselves This State of Deadness may be consider'd either more generally as it runs thorough the whole course of our Lives and Actions or more particularly in this or that Instance of Religion 1. When 't is so general that the Bent and Course of our Lives is for want of relish of the Things of God perverted and depraved when we have no Designs drive on no Ends that are suitable to the Excellency and Dignity of our Nature to the Holiness of our Profession and to the great and manifest Obligations of God when we have no Joys or Pleasures no Thirsts or Appetites that do truly become a Christian when we make no Progress no Advance towards our great End when our Discourses and Employments have no Tincture of the Spirit and no Tendency to Edification I think we may then boldly conclude that this is a state of Carnality and Death And that this want of Relish in the general Course of our Lives proceeds from a real want of a Sincere Faith and true Illumination For were the Mind once truly Enlighten'd were it once clearly convinc'd firmly and habitually perswaded of the Beauty and Excellence of the Things of God as we should have Notions different from those of worldly carnal Men so would there consequently be a Difference in the Nature of our Hopes and Fears of our Desires and Designs of our Joys and Sorrows and as necessarily in the main Scope and Tendency of of our Conversation Whoever therefore finds this general Stupidity in the Course of his Life let him not flatter himself in the Performance of any of the Duties of Religion he has a corrupt carnal and blind Heart his Performances proceed not from true Principles and have not that Life and Vigour in them that they ought they are as different from the Performances of a Man truly regenerate and sanctified as the Civilities and Complements of a well-bred Acquaintance from the substantial Offices of a Sincere and affectionate Friend Nor can any Man who will take the least pains to examin himself be ignorant of or mistaken in the Condition of his Soul if this be it For whoever will act honestly and impartially ought not to pass a Sentence of Absolution on himself upon the bare Performance of some relative or instrumental Duties of Religion but he ought to Inquire First What Vertues he Practises which put him upon Expence Hazard or Travel what Works of Piety or Charity he performs and what Proportion they bear to his Ability Next he ought to consider the Design and End he proposes to himself in all his Religious Performances whether he seek the Honour of God the Welfare of Man and his own Improvement and Growth in Goodness or whether he does this meerly to acquit himself of a task and discharge himself of what he takes for granted as a Duty though he finds no pleasure no advantage in it Thirdly he must reflect upon the Frame and Temper of his Mind in reference to these Duties what hunger and thirst he has for Righteousness what Warmth Ardor Elevation or Earnestness of Mind accompanies his Performances what Peace and Pleasure his Reflection on them or whether Religion be not a burthen to him or something to which Custom only reconciles him Lastly he ought to examine what Operation what Influence his Religious Performances have upon him Prayer Hearing Reading and such-like Duties do naturally tend to enlighten the Mind purifie the Heart increase our Love strengthen our Faith and confirm our Hope and therefore where this is not the Effect of them we may conclude that they are not discharg'd in that manner and with that Sincerity they ought He therefore that will examin himself aright must not ask himself how often he reads how often he hears c. and then rest there but must ask himself what Effect these Performances have had upon his Mind which he will soon discern if he demand of himself what the bent and scope of his Life is how much he advances and improves in the Conquest of any Vice and the Attainment of any Vertue what he loves or what he hates what Esteem he has for the Things of God and what for the things of Men. And in a word how he follows after Universal Righteousness and how he encreases in Purity of Heart and Poverty of Spirit 2. Lukewarmness or Coldness may be consider'd more particularly as it discovers it self in the Performance of this or that Duty in Hearing Reading Prayer and Participation of the Lord's Supper Now 't is certain that there is a Deadness in these Duties which proceeds from a carnal and unsanctified Heart and is a plain Symptom of a State of Sin And yet it is too common that they who are subject to it make little Reflection upon it and are little concerned for it On the other hand many complain of Lifelessness in Duty where there is no just ground for this Complaint And this is no small Evil to such for it disturbs the Peace of their Minds damps the Chearfulness and Alacrity of their Service and clogs and encumbers their Religion with needless doubts and Scruples Some have gone about to set this matter right very unskilfully and whilst they have as they thought shun'd Enthusiastick Raptures and irregular Heate have really betray'd the Cause of true and solid Fervency of Spirit and talked of Prayer and such other Duties in such a manner as cannot but reflect disadvantagiously on themselves amongst such as are moderately vers'd in the Scriptures and have any Experience of the Power of God's Word and Spirit upon their Souls But what surprises me most is that some of very deserved Repute have taught That the seeking spiritual Pleasure in Prayer is an Enemy to Perfection That Heat and Ardor of Spirit in Prayer does often happen to the weakest Christians and very seldom to the Perfect But my business not being to combat the Opinions of Men but to advance Truths in the most charitable and in the most effectual manner that I can Therefore without taking Notice of the Motives or Reasons which have byass'd any on this Subject I will lay down two or three Propositions which will I hope clear this Matter and promote the Design I am now carrying on 1. Then Lifelessness or Lukewarmness in these Duties must never be constant There is a vast Difference between habitual and accidental Coldness in Duty the Former is the Symptom of worldly carnal and unregenerate Minds but not the Latter Many are the Accidents which
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