JUSTIFYING FAITH OR That Faith BY WHICH The JUST do LIVE Briefly describ'd In a DISCOURSE on 1 Joh. 5. 12. By the Author of a late Book Entitled Summum Bonum or An Explication of the Divine Goodness c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 S. Basil in Psal 115. To this Discourse is added an Abstract of some Letters to an Eminent Learned Person concerning the Excellency of the Book of Common Prayer c. LONDON Printed for William Crook at the Sign of the Green Dragon without Temple-Bar 1679. ILLUSTRISSIMO Virtutum Omnium Exemplari Domino HENEAGIO FINCH BARONI DAVENTRIAE Summo ANGLIAE Cancellario AEQuum videtur ut Linguâ non Vulgari Te Alloquar Colendissime DOMINE Quem Genii Indolis adeo non Vulgaris esse Expertus sum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tuam Verè Coelestem Ego sane Naturam potius SERAPHICAM vocarem quà m HUMANITATEM Nimirùm hujusmodi in Me contulisti Beneficium ut Quale sit Solus DEUS Cognoverit nec quisquam poterit Mortalium Rem aliquam Tot tam Miris Involutam Circumstantiis Animquantumvis Perspicacissimo penitâ— Inspicere Hasce nostras Bonitatis Infinitae Explicationis Nostrae Vindiâ— as Liturgiae Anglicanae Laudes Tâ— bi Dicatas velim namque Anim Tuo Gloriosissimum Bonitatis Infinitae seu Divinae Characterem Impressum Vâ— disse gestio ac Tui sanè Me semper Oportebit in Precationibus Nostrâ— Quotidianis Meminisse utpote Qâ— sum ero Dum Spiritus hos râ—get artus Amoris ac Reverentiae Vinculo Arctissimo Dominationi Tuae Obstrictus E. E. To the Learned and Pious READERS THE more just the Complaint is of the Excessive multitude of Books so much the greater cause there is for the Publication of such short Discourses as This by which I have contributed some assistance to Persons Virtuously dispos'd to observe that Excellent Precept 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Simplifica Teipsum viz. to draw off their Minds from the Distracting multiplicity of Imaginations concerning the Truth to the Life and Practice of the Truth it self which chiefly consists in the Efficacy of this Apprehension That the Divine Essence is Absolutely One And that Our Lord Jesus Christ with the Father and the Holy Ghost is the Onely True God He that believes This as he ought will certainly despise this present World anâ— love the Lord our God with all his Heart and with all his Soul and with all his Strength and with all his Mind and his Neighbour as Himself I doubt not but you will readily joyn with me in this Fervent Aspiration 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He that hath the Son hath Life he that hath not the Son of GOD hath not Life 1 Joh. 5 12. THese words are such a kind of Epitome of the Gospel as that is of the Law which is given us by our Saviour Luke 10. 27. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart c. For what is the Subject of the Gospel but the Good Will of God towards Men through His beloved Son Jesus Christ our Lord that to Believe in Him is the Way the onely Way to Life and Salvation which is fully implyed in these words of the Apostle He that hath the Son hath Life c. Here let us consider first what Life is as we are to understand it in this place Secondly what it is to have the Son Life I shall define thus 'T is a Principle of Acting according to the Nature of Man By the Nature of Man I do not understand his Essential Form That without which he cannot be a Man but that Course Mode or Kind of Acting which he was Made or Constituted in Now you know Moses sayes that Man was Made after the Image of GOD and Solomon sayes that GOD made Man upright to wit He appointed him to Actuate his Intellectual Faculties Chiefly and Principally upon Himself the Fountain of all Goodness Infinite Beauty Infinite Love and his Senses with his Passions or Sensitive Affections upon Objects fully Agreeable and Satisfactory to their several Capacities In a word Nature is to abhorre that which is Evil and to cleave to that which is Good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sayes the Stoick 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Man may be said to be Alive or Dead either in respect of his Animal or Sensitive or of his Rational or Spiritual Faculties In respect of the former every Man lives till there be a Separation of the Soul and Body for all the Sensible Motions of any Mans Body in this present World that tend Directly to the Support or Conservation of the Sensitive Nature viz. to the keeping of the Soul and Body together are in some measure Pleasing or satisfactory But by reason of those manifold Pains and Diseases anguishes and dissatisfactions of our Senses External and Internal which in this present World we are subject unto the Church may well say as she doth In the midst of Life we are in Death Non est vivere sed valere Vita sayes the Epigrammatist The Rational or Spiritual Life He only Lives whose Heart is set upon God as the Principal Object of all his Love so that all his other Loves flow from and back again into the Love of God as Lesser Waters from and into the Ocean Even those who habitually love the Lord their God with all their Heart and with all their Soul when they exert any Act of the Will that is not Formally nor Virtually the Love of God they are Dead and they abide in Death 'till they are Renew'd by Repentance 'till the Course of their Souls be turn'd by an Act of Holy Love Thus a great Number of those that are truly Godly that live the Rational Divine Life by reason of their manifold Backslidings may say of themselves as St. Paul speaks in respect of his temporal Calamities that they are in Death oft 2 Corinth 11 23. The best Life Rational or Sensitive which most men Live as to this present World differs little or nothing more from Death than a Shadow from Darkness I conceive the Pen-men of the Holy Ghost have so often compar'd the Life of Man to a Shadow not only in respect of his Vanishing Perishable Condition but also of that Deficiency of Light or Life which All of us in this Mortal Body are Subject unto But that little Portion of Spiritual Life if I may so speak which He that hath the Son is Partaker of even here upon Earth is Infinitely more worth than the whole World and as for his Sensible Death or Dissatisfactions which he suffers at present they continually work together for his Good they are no other than the Instruments of the Holy Ghost working upon him to fit and prepare him for an Eternal Life of Soul and Body in Heaven This Notion of Life and Death which I have endeavour'd to Express unto you we may easily Demonstrate to be most suitable to the Sense and Import of several Texts of Scripture She
able to Arise from the Dead Not in Thine own Naturall Power but thou mayst Certainly by the Power of the Lord of Life that Calls upon Thee to arise This Call this Commandement is Life Everlasting If Thou wilt not Stop thine Ears against it Thou shalt Live for ever But I do not yet understand this Mystery how I should Act in the Power of Christ Take it for Thine own Rely upon It in a Sense of Thine Interest or Propriety in It. How shall I do that why It is in a manner Thine own already because It is Freely offer'd unto Thee So that there can be no other Cause of thy Abiding in Death but the Perverseness of Thine own Will Because Thou wilt be a Fool and Embrace this Present World and Despise the Lord of Glory Because Thou wilt be the Worst of Mad men a Destroyer of Thy self a Lover of Death But oh why Wilt Thou dye Receive the Lord Jesus and He will give thee Power to become one of the Sons of God to have thy Conversation in Heaven He will make thee Partaker of Eternal Life of Joy Unspeakable and full of Glory And O that We would All Hearken with the utmost Propensity and Intention of our Hearts and Minds to the Voice of the Lord Our God Calling upon Us in the Words of the Blessed Psalmist with which I shall Conclude my Discourse Kiss the Son lest He be angry and ye Perish from the way when his Wrath is Kindled but a little Blessed are all they that put their Trust in Him AMEN HALLELUIAH AN ABSTRACT OF SOME LETTERS TO AN Eminent Learned PERSON Concerning the EXCELLENCY Of the BOOK of COMMON-PRAYER c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 8. 1. LONDON Printed for William Crook at the Green Dragon without Temple-Bar 1679. SIR I Humbly entreat you to tell me whether you do not Judge it Sinful to stay at home on the Lords Day rather then go to Church only to hear the Common Prayer Preaching doubtless is in no wise to be Neglected but this I must say that I cannot apprehend that that person has any Actings of that Faith which worketh by Love without which All the Knowledge we gain by Hearing Sermons does not Edify but only Puff up the Mind who when he comes to the Place of God's publick Worship knowing that he may not expect a Sermon there is not Confident that he shall be as much Edified by the Prayers Chapters c. as he should be by never so good a Sermon But however by reason of the Rarity of the Habit of True Christian Faith even in that part of the World which we call Christendome and the frequency of the long Interruptions of its Actings where it is Various fresh Expressions of Saving Truths which are apt to Excite the Minds of the Unsanctifyed by the Phantasie to give heed to the Sense they import are very Necessary But This is most evident that People are exceeding apt to take the Sensible Workings of their Soul stir'd up by the Novelty of Expression in Sermons the Emphatical Pronunciation of the Preacher c. for Fervency of SPIRIT which Sensible Motions I presume you will grant are of no value otherwise than as they are Subservient to Rational Abhorrence of all Sin of all Inordinate Affection to Finite Objects or to a Rational or Spiritual Inclination to the ONE INFINITE GOOD through JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD the Effectual Notices of which INFINITE GOOD how is it possible but we should be continually stir'â— up unto in the Hearing of the Common Prayer we would Apprehend the Free Offers of the Spirit of Truth which the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ makes unto us in an Unlimited Abundance in the Use of all such Means of Grace as He calls us unto Here I could Run out with much Fervor oâ— Indignation against the Despisers of these Means oâ— Grace Strong Guards from those Accursed Errors Socinianism c. which whilst I liv'd in Oxford seem'd to me to be coming in like a Mighty Torrent upon this Distracted Kingdom whilâ— the Frequent Professions of Belief of the TRINITY Gloria patri and the Three Creeds were caâ— out of Our Churches If it be say'd what Reformation have we now c. I Reply that one Reason of this Kingdom 's Miscarriages I might say Abominations is that some of those that are syncerelâ— Learned Pious have not such an Esteem of ouâ— Liturgie as they Ought to have And hundreds â—â— those that are thought by the Vulgar to be so â—â— themselves Despise it or Countenance others in doing You give me not any punctual Answer to my Question whether you do not Judge it Sinful to stay at home though to read Good Books c. on the Lords Day rather than come to Church when nothing is to be heard there but the Common Prayer You say you are more against spending the Lords Day in Idleness or in any thing which is worse than in Hearing that alone I thank God I was never so Mad as to make a question of This I have nothing to say to it but that I dislike these words worse than the Common Prayer which seem to insinuate that It is not Good I am not guilty of â—lighting Preaching as 't is taken in contradistinction to Reading c. as you seem to Conceit I Affirm that to Suit or Proportion our Expectations of Grace in the Use of All Means whereunto we are Called to the Apprehensions of INFINITE Bounty c. is a Property of Saving Faith But say you GOD who appointeth several Means doth usually work according to them and when he withdraweth them it is a Judgment which it were not if he had promis'd as much Grace without them as with them I grant that God who appointeth several Means doth usually work according to them But I utterly Deny that when he withdraweth any Particular Means of Grace it is a Judgment to Him who is in the Act of syncere Love to the Blessed Jesus for such a one is at All Times and in All Places Under the Gracious Influences of the INFINITY of Light and Love directing him how by Submission to the Diuine Will withdrawing any Particular Means of Grace and by the Renewing his Resolutions to make a Right Use of all such Means as God shall at any time call him unto c. He may Receive of the Fullness of Christ in as great Measures as he could have done in the Use of the Means withdrawn from him The LORD give us both Understanding in all Things Now I have found the way by your Letter to discover your Thoughts concerning the Common Prayer in your Printed Papers I shall not trouble you with any more Post-Letters on that Subject but shall stick to the Defence of this Great Truth that the withdrawing of any particular Means of Grace is not a Judgment to him that is in the Act of Divine Love Against which you Argue thus That
which tendeth to hinder his continuance in that Act of Love is a Judgment but such is the withdrawing of some Means of Grace I Answer the withdrawing c. is so far from being Directly and in its own Nature that which tendeth to hinder c. that as It is in its own Nature viz. the work of the Infinitely Good GOD It is the Means of Grace and he takes it for Such that is in the Act of Divine Love as I endeavour'd to shew you in my last We question not say you Gods bounty but his Will shew us a Promise that when a man is deprived of the Preaching of the Gospel the Communion of the Church the Company of all good men and cast amongst impious deceivers and haereticks he shall have his love continued and encreas'd as much as if he had better Means I Answer This Promise of Our Saviour Whatsoever ye shall Aske the Father in my Name he will give it you John 16. 27. would Ingage the Heart of any one in the Act of Divine Love if God should put him into such a Condition as you express to expect from GOD through Our LORD JESUS as much Grace or Improvement of his Divine Temper under that Dispensation of Providence as he knows he could have grounds to Expect in the Use of those Means of Grace which the Only Wise GOD has thought fit to Withdraw from him But I am ready to say with you If God should take away the Bible and Preaching from the Land I would take it for a Judgment though the Common Prayer were left us neither did I ever say any thing to the contrary but I have say'd implicitly and shall upon all occasions say expresly that nothing retains the Nature of a Judgement or Sign of the Wrath of God to him that is in the Act of Divine Love which Essentially implies Rational Complacence in Every thing that proceeds from the Will of the Infinitely Good GOD I do not Grant as you may gather from what I have say'd that any Particular Means of Grace are Better or more Spiritually advantageous than the being Depriv'd of them will certainly be to him that Complies with the Divine Will in that Dispensation Doing whatsoever is his Duty to do in Relation thereunto If in saying we question not Gods Bounty but his Will and Gods bounty giveth Grace according to his Liberty of Will you imply this Proposition which I find asserted by a very Ingenious Person E. W. in his NO PRAEEXISTENCE p. 13. that the Will of God sometimes Obstructs the Effluxes of his Goodness your meaning is False as I shall Demonstrate if you shall call me thereto 'T would be Absur'd indeed to say that Gods Bounty giveth Grace per modum naturae quantum in se but Gods Offers of Grace as I have formerly exprest my self are in an unlimited Abundance Grace is Receiv'd by the Faithful Ad modum Recipientis 't is only the Measure or Non-Ultra of the Recipients Expectancy that Stints its Influence I shall not give you and my selfe the trouble of writing unto you any of my Reflexions on the former part of your Letter supposing that whatsoever is in it Opposite to my Assertion will be fully Refuted in my Reply to your Direct Answer to my last beginning thus But you have a Promise that whatsoever we ask shall be given Ans yes whatsoever you ask according to Gods Will but it may be his will to punish a cold Love and other Sins consistent with Love and not to remove the punishment upon our asking and indeed why should any man ask iâ— that is of your opinion But you describe him to be one that wholly complieth with the Divine Will doing whatsoever is his Duty You do not well to leave out these words of mine in that Dispensation and in Relation thereunto for by them I signifyed the praying conditionally for the Restoration of the Lost Means of Grace and the using of all possible means for the Recovery of them because it is our Duty so to do not but that we may have sufficient grounds to Expect from God in case he Judg'd fit not to Restore them the same Grace we should Expect by the Restoration of them This is a full Answer to those words of yours one part of his Duty is to ament the Judgement of the removal of the Means and to pray for the restoration so that here you are self-contradictory and to these words why should any man ask it that is of your opinion By an Act of Divine Love I understand such an Act of the Will or Tendency of the Heart to God as implies an Aversion 〈…〉 Finite Objects unless as they stand in 〈…〉 Him or to speak more Accurately As they 〈…〉 Him He that is in this Act has all things that are of God actually Good unto him And whatsoever he Asks being Actually in this Divine Temper of Mind which implies that Faith which Punishes the Heart is certainly According to the Will of God which is Our Sanctification as the Apostle speaks which certainly implies thus much that God would have us to Ask nothing of him Principally and Absolutely but that we may be HOLY as He is HOLY And that when we ask in Syncerity for Grace or Holiness in the Name of Jesus It is alwayes the Will of God to supply the Defect of any Particular Means of Grace But if you mean say you that as long as a man is perfect and never sinneth no want of Means hurteth him c. I mean as I have often say'd that when a man is in the Act of Divine Love as I have describ'd it no want of Means hurteth him but it does not follow but it is Our Duty as earnestlâ—â—â— Desire any particular Means of Grace when 〈…〉 Depriv'd of them as to make use of them when we have them but this Desire as of all things else but Grace or Holiness is but 〈…〉 Exception 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Royal Philosopher speaks the Use of the Truth I Assert in this and my other Letters is to cure the Souls of men oâ— this most dangerous Disease viz. the Conceit thaâ— any thing can be Directly and in its own Nature the Hindrance of our Attainment to further Degrees of Grace or Holiness save only the Naughtiness of Our own Hearts From hence also it is manifest to those that understand that the Common Prayer is Agreeable to the Scriptures that no man can be a Loser as your word is in one of your Letters by comming to the Place of Gods Publick Worship to Hear those Prayers when there is no Preaching there unless by the Perverseness of his own Heart I do not speak this to derogate from frequent Preaching I know it is very Necessary especially for Unsanctifyed people I do not apprehend my self concern'd in what you bid me to demonstrate but this proposition Gods Will is the Same with Infinite Goodness is a Demonstration of the Falseness
of this that Gods Will sometimes obstructs the Effluxes of his Goodness I say further that 't is Essential to God being Infinite in Goodness to Fill the Capacities of his Creatures According to His Infinite Wisdom Though the Almighty may not be say'd to give Grace per modum naturae quantum in se yet he may rightly be say'd to do it Secundum Naturam Bonitatis Infinitae You do well to joyn Wisdom with Free-will for All that the ALMIGHTY Does is According to the Councel i. e. the Wisdom of his own Will which imports the Communicativeness of his Goodness to all the Capacities of his Creatures In Answer to my Saying that Gods Offers of Grace are in an unlimited Abundance you write thus Say you so who made thee to differ doth God do no more for any but offer them Grace is the Recipient's â—xpectancy none of his Gift can God make no man â—etter than he is nor take the Heart out of any man otherwise than by offer is not Faith whereby we accept that offer the Gift of God doth a clod or stone so â—int Gods Influence that he could not make it an Anâ—el if he pleas'd nor make any creature nobler or other than it is Doth God give as much Grace to all he Infidel Heathen World as to Christians or do they so stint his Influence that he can give them no more Woe to us if we have no more than the general Offers of Grace and yet I believe not that this offer is unlimited or equall to all the World Good Sir Be not so hasty do not run on in a conceit that my words import that we make our selves to Differ from the Unsanctified Doth God â—o no more say you for any but offer them Grace I Answer that Gods Offering of Grace is he making of men presently Capable of Doing â—is Will by the Assistance of his Good Spirit â—o that All the Acts or Inclinations to Act of Gracious Souls as such are the Gift of God The Reâ—ipient's Expectancy is the Gift of God but the Non-Ultra or Deficiency of it is of himself Can God make no man better than he is To this I Answer Any mans being Better than he is is not the Object either of Gods Volition or Nolition Not of the former for then you know His Will would be Resisted Not of the latter for â—hen he would be the Direct Cause of the Creatures not Doing what He hath Commanded him â—o Do the onely Cause then that any man is not what he Ought to be is the Perverseness of own Will As to the words following Nor tâ— c. If you think fit to continue this Dispute a express what you mean by them in a plain way Opposition to any thing that I have said I shâ— give you an Answer Doth a Cold or Stone â—â— I Answer Any such Creature may be Annihilaâ— and another Angel Created but that It shouâ— be made an Angel if we speak in sensu rigorosâ— implyes a Contradiction Every Creature is in own Nature Res OPTIMA though some Creatures are Better to Us than others because they â— more Exhibit to us the Notice of the Divine Goodness and some Creatures are better to themselves than others because they do more Enjoy It whiâ—â— is ALL in them All. God knows I do not Affâ—â—â— Obscurity of Expression but such Deep Thinâ— cannot be set forth in Vulgar Phrase To whâ—â— you say of the Heathen World I shall make other Reply but this that Gods Judgments are Uâ—searchable and his Wayes past finding out But though we cannot shew How Many Trutâ— concerning his Boundless Goodness c. do coâ—port with what we apprehend of His Wayes in mâ—ny Instances of His Dealings with the Sons of Meâ— it does not follow that we should thereupon the least Scruple at these Truths That Gods Offers of Grace are in an Unlimiâ— Abundance which you say you do not believe I prove thus If God cannot be the Direct Cauâ— of Stinting the Influences of His Grace or Goodness into the Hearts of Men Then his Offers of Graâ—â— in an Unlimited Abundance But God cannot the Direct Cause c. The Minor is evident in â— That the Essence of God is Infinite Goodness I shall in this Paper give you my Reflexions but some part of your last Letter wherein there many things so pertinently Express'd in Opâ—â—sition to what I have written to you that my â—â—flexions or rather Animadversions thereon are â—eeding Advantageous unto me for the Imâ—â—ovement of my most Satisfactory Speculations â—â—â—cerning the Divine Goodness whose Infinity we â—â—st be ever Careful that we do not derogate â—â—m upon any Pretences of Preserving the Liberâ—â— of the Divine Will Liberty of Will so far as â—â—mplyes Perfection must of necessity be implied the Notion of the Infinity of Being I Declare is to be the Root of all my Apprehensions in â—â—eological Matters EST UNUM SIMPLICIâ—R INFINITUM â— shall now betake my self to the Consideration what you say in your last Letter I think I â—â—d not give any other Reply to that you say man doth use all possible Means for the Recoveâ—â—â— c. but only to tell you that by all possible â—ans I understand All things which we Know â—e such Means being also Assur'd that 't is possiâ—â— for us to use them as such On my Explicaâ—â— of what I understand by an Act of Divine â—e your Animadversion is this How easie had it â— for you to have told me whether you mean a perâ—â— Love or an Imperfect culpably and a perfect Aversion c. or a culpably Imperfect I must confess I have observ'd so many Learned men needlesly Entangling themselves in the hardest Knots of Controversie by reason of these words Perfection and Imperfection Attributed to the workings of men Hearts that I have thought it my Duty to do what I can do to avoid the use of them but since you Urge me to it I shall Tell you that the Motion oâ— Tendency of the Heart which I call an Act of Divine Love does not imply or include in its Nature any culpable Imperfection but is as contrary to all Love of Creatures or Finite Objects unless only such as arises from their Relation to the First Being as Light is to Darkness To my saying that he who is in the Act of Divine Love has All things that are of God Actually Good unto him you Answer thus While he is sinfully imperfect in this Act he hath not the perfection which he wants nor that complacential acceptance with God nor that perfect freedom from castigatory Penalties internal or external nor that Glory which would be good to him and all this is of God I Answer As to Castigatory Penalties so far as they import nothing but what may be imputed unto God as the Author thereof they are Actually good to Him viz. they All work together for his Good whilst he is in the Act of Divine Love and all his Reflexions thereon
are the Rejoycing of his Heart The Perfection he wants c. are not but only in GOD the Fullness of All that he Wants and certainly it is actually Good for him That there is in God whatsoever is Wanting unto him By being Actually in this Divine Temper I mean the exerting of an Act of Divine Love or Adhaerence of the Heart unto God in which Act there is nothing Culpable though there may remain Dispositions in the Heart very contrary thereunto from which it often comes to pass that many of us who are in some measure Sanctified Sink deep into such Impurities of Heart and Mind as we sometimes Fancy our selves Elevated so far Above that there 's no Danger of Falling into them But I can far more easily Describe what it is to be Holy i. e. to be in the Light than Discourse accurately and Clearly of the Works of Darkness He cannot Ask any thing not Agreeable to the Divine Will who Desires nothing but This or in Subordination thereunto that his Will may be Conformable to the Divine Will in All things Whether he Pray Directly and Expresly for Things Temporal or Spiritual he Actuates his Heart in a way of Conformity to the Will of God who Prays as he Ought viz. Asking in Faith which worketh by Love I suppose by what I have already say'd you will perceive that â—n Asking for Holiness we Virtually Ask for Justification or Pardon and the continuance of being c. And when we expresly Ask for these According to the Mind of Christ We Virtually Ask for Holiness or Purity of Heart The Consummation whereof is the Fullness of Life and Glory All Desires of Holiness are Acts of Holiness Consider'd with Respect to their Efficacy to make way for further Acts or Tendencies of Heart unto God The Free Mercy of GOD in JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD is the Root and Principle of all that Good which groweth in Us or if you will in which We Grow the Sense of which is implyed in all Motions â—â— the Heart acceptable unto God By Absolutely I mean but what we are to understand by Fiâ—â—â— in the Gospel where Our Saviour sayes Seâ—ye First the Kingdom of God c. i. e. Chiefly anâ— Principally so as to Ask nothing else but in Suâ—ordination thereunto and upon Condition if â— may conduce to our furtherance in the Way of Holiness which Lead unto Everlasting Gâ—â—ry I do still most confidently Averr that this is most Dangerous Disease of the Soul to Conceâ—â— that any thing can be Directly and in its own Nature the Hind'rance of Our Attainment to farther Degrees of Grace save only the Naughtiness oâ— Our own Hearts But say you Must we not carefully avoid that which Indirectly hinders also I Answer We must Avoid or Set our Heart against nothing but what we find to be the Will of God Reveal'd in his Word that we should Loath or bâ— Averse from Any thing which for ought wâ— know God will bring to pass as to the Deprivinâ— us of any particular Means of Grace we must endeavour to prevent by all wayes of Duty to God and Man which we Apprehend probable to prove Successfull for the Prevention thereof But we must have a Care that our Heart be Mov'd again this which for ought we know God will effect for the Glory of His Name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with Exception as I spake in my last You say the penal withholding of the Operations the Spirit is a Direct Hindrance and in its own Nature If it be True that whatsoever God is the Author â—f can never be in any wise Evil to us but only â—y our Wrong or Perverse apprehensions of it then â— suppose you will grant that this Proposition of â—ours bears no Force against me And whether this be a Truth or no I shall referr you to Consider by taking a Review of what I have already Written of the Divine Goodness And by your most â—erious and unprejudic'd Judgement of what I shall say hereafter in giving my Reflexions on your Animadversions on my saying that Gods Will is the Same with Infinite Goodness c. The Good Lord Lift up the Light of His Countenance upon Us that we may at length attain to the Full Enjoyment of the Way the Truth and the Life I shall here present you some more of my Apprehensions of the IMMENSE Influence of the Divine Goodness upon All and Every Part of the Creation I am Conscious to my self of the smalness of my Abilities to Express such a Truth in any way answerable to the Excellency and Importance thereof But some Sparklings of that Light viz. the Notion I have of the IMMENSITY of the Divine Goodness which from my Youth up has given me far greater Satisfactions than I should ever have had in all the Learning in the World without it some Sparklings I trust you will perceive in these following Lines You say to these words of mine Gods Will is the Same with infinite Goodness Very true but the Question is what that Goodness is I say it is not a Wiâ— to communicate to Creatures as much Good as he can For then the World had been Eternal c. I Answer that the Goodness of God is Himself the INFINITY of Goodness Wisdom Power of all Excellency and Perfection 'T was not Essential to Him to Create i. e. not necessary for the INFINITY of Being to Produce out of Himself these Finite Essences But they being Produc'd by His Power according to His Wisdom i. e. the Councell of His INFINITELY Good Will 't is Essential or Necessary to His being INFINITE to be ALL in them All. The Divine Power being INFINITE such Expressions as these as many Creatures as God can make c. can in no wise import any Reality to the Understanding To your saying that All Saints and Angels would have the same Degree of Glory I Answer that there is no Want in Heaven no Absence or Privative Not-Being of any Degree of Glory or Communicated Divine Goodness there is nothing but Refulgency of the GLORIOUS DIVINE NATURE That one Creature should be better to It self and to other Creatures is most Rational to conceive it being no way Inconsistent with the Notion of the One Infinite Goodness As for Damnation this I say So far as it imports nothing else but what is of God It is in its own Nature altogether Good It becomes Evil only to those to whom the Infinity of Love is a Consuming Fire There 's nothing Absolutely and in its own Nature Evil but SIN But of all Instances say there 's none that confuies me more than the perâ—â—sion of Sin To this I Answer that by Permision of Sin we must not conceive any thing of which â—e may say It is of God but only His making such â—eatures whose Nature implies a Possibility of â—nning and the continuing them in Being after â—â—ey have Sinned There is say you an Higher thing in God which his Goodness