frowardly and perversly and the natural Object of the Will unto which it is properly ordinated is to will that which is Good and to will that chiefly which is the chiefest Good and that subordinately which is a less or subordinate Good 3. The Affections which whether they are distinct from the Will or but the more intense Motions of it is not necessary here to dispute but certainly they have a great share in the bringing of the Soul to its just Position and Respect to Almighty God And although the Brute Animals have certain Passions analogal to these Affections in Man yet there is a great Disparity between them 1. Because there are some Affections that seem most peculiar to the Humane Nature I shall name but those of Hope Dependance and Gratitude And although there are some extraordinary Examples and Instances of such Affections in Animals yet in truth they are but Shadows of these that are in the reasonable Nature as the Phantasie of Brutes is but a kind of Shadow of the Humane Intellect and the Appetite but a Shadow of the Will 2. Because even in all the Affections or Passions which seem most common to the Humane and Animal Nature as Love Joy Fear Anger c. there is this great difference 1. That the Affections of the Humane Nature are naturally under the Regiment of Reason and Understanding and so are or ought to be governed by it and are therefore in Man Reasonable Faculties but the Passions of Brutes as they are excited merely by their Sentient Phantasie so they are at best but under the Regiment of it so that the Humane Affections have another kind of formal Nature or Tincture as I may call it than the like Affections in Animals 2. That the Affections in Animals and Men that come under the same denomination yet are distinguished by their Objects The Affections of a bare sentient Nature as Love Hatred Fear Joy c. are always terminated in a sensible Good to be desired or Evil to be avoided but the Affections of the Humane Soul have not only for their Objects sensible Good or Evil but also Good and Evil of a higher and nobler Size namely Moral or Intellectual Good to be prosecuted and entertained with Love Joy Delight Complacency and Desire and Moral and Intellectual Evil to be shunned or avoided or born with Hatred Detestation Grief c. and these Objects of this latter Nature strike upon the Humane Affections with more vigour and energy by how much they are greater and of greater importance than sensible Good or Evil. And as thus the Divine Goodness hath furnished the Humane Soul with these excellent Faculties and Instruments to keep and bring about the Humane Soul to her due Position to her Maker so he hath furnished these Faculties with such Objects as are highly serviceable and conducible to this End And these are contained in those two Books or Volumes 〈◊〉 That of the Works and Providence of God 2. That of Divine Revelation both which do afford to the Humane Reason Intellect and Nature admirable Motives to incline the Soul to its true Habitude and Position toward Almighty God but especially the latter of these CHAP. X. Touching the Rational Instances and Motives of the Conversion of the Soul to God upon the Account of the Works of Nature and Providence ALthough Almighty God hath so ordered the Frame of the Humane Soul that it hath many Handles as it were whereby it may be kept and turned about to its due Position unto Almighty God which is its Happiness and Perfection and he that made us knows so well our Frame that he can and doth daily apply fit Attractives to those Ansulae humanae Animae yet amongst them all there are three principal Affections of the Soul that are of great moment and use in this matter viz. Love Gratitude and Dependance 1. Love is the strongest and most vigorous Affection of the humane Soul it is the great Spring that excites and governs all the Wheels and Motions of the Soul and is in truth the natural and proper Verticity of the Humane Soul The Soul moves entirely after that which it entirely loves and that doth as naturally carry the Motion of the Soul toward it as the Magnet governs the Motions of the Needle so that it is somewhat more than morally true Anima est ubi amat If a Man entirely loves Wealth or Pleasures or Honours the Soul entirely moves after it useth all means to attain it is disquieted and vexed if she miss it and is in effect wholly governed and managed by the strength of his Love to it It commands all the rest of the Affections and Actions of the Man his Reverence his Care his Vigilance Attention Obedience Love is as strong as Death and that Object that hath once gotten this Affection leads the Man as it pleaseth and therefore Hos 11.4 stiled the Cords of a Man the Bands of Love And if this Affection be principally set upon the Glorious God the Soul is placed and settled in its due Position and is entirely under his Government Now there are two great and powerful Attractives of this Affection viz. 1st Excellency Beauty or Goodness which are but different Expressions of the same thing and 2. Love and the Effects or Indications thereof Bounty and Beneficence 1. As to Excellence and Beauty it is in all Instances a Motive and Excitation of Love Every thing in Nature so much as it hath of Beauty and Excellence so much of our Love it doth obtain Now the admirable Order and Beauty of the Universe doth not only convince the Understanding that there is a God the Soveraign Cause of this Order and Beauty of the Universe and the several Parts thereof but doth necessarily conclude a Transcendent Beauty and Excellence in that Soveraign Cause namely an immense Power Wisdom Goodness and Perfection in him who made and continually ordereth and disposeth it in that excellent Frame and Order 2. Beneficence and Bounty unto allthings especially to that Subject wherein this Affection lodgeth And although it be true that the innate intrinsick appropriate Goodness and Perfection of any Being doth upon a true rational Account deserve our Love though it were not at all extrinsecally communicative of Goodness to us yet it is certain that Love and Beneficence in any Object doth more vigorously work upon our Affection of Love than the simple intrinsick Excellence of the Object it self And the Reason is because Beneficence Love and Communicative Goodness hath not only an intrinsick Beauty and Loveliness but also gives us an Interest and Benefit in it and by it and so upon the Account of Self-Love of Love to our selves it increaseth our Love to that beneficent Object and Self-love that hath a great Interest in every Man renders his Love to a beneficent Object more vigorous and active Now if any Man considers the incomparable Bounty and Goodness of God to the Humane Nature upon the account
Love Fear and Obedience the other that which indeed should be in Subjection namely the sensual part which naturally respects the pleasures contentments and delights of this World and such Provisions as may be subservient to them as Riches Honour c. Now if the intellectual Part be so servile and base as to be overmatched by the sensual or to be carried and governed by it the true genuine Verticity or Direction of the Soul is in a manner altered and transposed especially if that prevalence be strengthned by long Custom and Usage which gives a kind of other Nature to the Soul than what is truly natural to it whereby it comes to pass in process of time that the whole Soul even the intellectual part thereof becomes sensual and is entirely leavened with a sensual Ferment if I may so call it and so habituated to a constant Conversion of it self to the World as if indeed it were no other than a sensual Soul the innate and connatural Characters of even Natural Religion being wonderfully obscured and weakened in it CHAP. IX Concerning the several Instances and Means of the Conversion of the Soul to God THe true and natural state and position of the Soul of Man consists in the entire converting of it self to God the Author and End of its Being in all Submission and Obedience in Gratitude and Thankfulness in Resignation and Dependance in Worship and Adoration in Sincerity and Uprightness And in this Position and State it first stood before the Apostasy of the first Man And besides what is mentioned in the former Chapter there were three things especially that carried off the Soul from this state and position and still very much obtain among the Children of Adam 1. A want of due Attention to those Natural and implanted Principles of Religion and Piety that are connatural to the Soul radicated in it and with due Attention capable of great Advance and Improvement 2. The Byass and Inclination of the sensual Appetite to present and sensual Delights and affectation of the present worldly Advantages which are a sort of Provisions for these sensual Lusts as Wealth Honour Worldly Power Glory Splendour which wheel about the Soul towards them avert it from its Duty unto and Delight in God and corrupt and imbase and prostitute the humane Soul And thereby it comes to pass in the Soul thus displac'd from its true position that these very external Blessings that Almighty God lends us to draw us to him as Health Strength Wealth Reputation Honour Abundance of all external good things are made so many Means of averting the Soul from that God that gives them and makes us place our whole Desires towards them and delight in them and to forget that God that gives them 3. The Temptations and subtle Insinuations of Satan that Enemy of Mankind who being irrecoverably fallen from his Duty to his Maker useth all the Means he can to avert the Souls of Men from God and to render them as irrecoverably lost as himself There seems also to be Three great Means to retain the Human Soul in its just and due Respect and Position toward Almighty God and to reduce him to it and thereby to attain that Happiness and Felicity that is sutable to his Condition For it is a certain Truth as I have before observed That every created Being then and only then attains that Felicity that it is capable of when it stands in that Place Station Position and Order that the Wise and Glorious God hath appointed and instituted for it and when it loseth that Station or Position it is like a Bone out of joint full of disorder discomposure and Pain The First is that Connatural Propension and Byass that is implanted and tincted in the very Texture and Fabrick of the Human Soul whereby it is secretly inclined to an Acknowledgment and Veneration and Subjection unto a Supreme Being Secondly The Rational and Intellectual Sight in the Soul not considered simply and singly in it self alone but as it stands furnished by the Divine Goodness with Objects attracting and bringing about the Soul unto God and containing and keeping it in that Position Thirdly A Secret and Sweet and Efficacious Influx of the Divine Spirit upon the Human Soul solliciting moving and inclining it to the Love and Obedience of Almighty God The First Means I call Natural the Second Rational and the Third Spiritual and Supernatural CHAP. X. Concerning the Natural Means of the Soul's Conversion to Almighty God THERE are implanted and characterized in the Human Soul certain common Notions and Inclinations which seem to be the first Rudiments of Natural Religion and Conversion to God even antecedently to any actual Ratiocination And as the Glorious God hath planted in the Animal Nature certain Animal Instincts and Inclinations whereby they are guided and governed to the conserving and perfecting of their Animal Life so he hath ingraven on the very Fabrick of the Human Soul certain Characters and Inclinations which may conduct or assist him to the perfection of his Rational and Intellectual Life which consists in the Conversion and due Position and Respect of the Soul to the Glorious God and his Will And among many of these common Notions that might be observed this is the greatest and the most universal and of the greatest Importance namely that there is a most Soveraign Being the Cause and Governour of all Things of perfect Power Wisdom and Goodness that Loves and will reward them that fear honour and obey him and will punish them that neglect or disobey him And that therefore he is to be Feared to be Worshiped to be Invoked and to be Praised And these common imprinted Notions have been a great Means of the establishing a Natural Religion almost in all Nations of the World though Ignorance and Evil Custom have oftentimes corrupted these Notions as to the manner and object of their Worship And this is that which Tully Lib. 2. Cap. 24. de Legibus observ'd to my Hand Nam quod aliquibus cohaerent homines è mortali genere sumserunt quae fragilia essent caduca Animam esse ingeneratam à Deo ex quo verè vel agnatio nobis cum Coelestibus vel genus vel stirps appellari potest Itaque extot generibus nullum est animal praeter hominem quod habeat notitiam aliquam Dei de ipsisque Hominibus nulla Gens est neque tam immansueta neque tam fera quae non etiam si ignoret qualem habere Deum deceat tamen habendum sciat This secret connatural Byass as I may call it of the Human Soul towards God seems to arise from Two sorts of Principles The former sort of Principles are such as are in their kind common to all created Beings the latter more specifically applicable to the Make and Frame of the Human Soul Touching the former sort those Inclinations Propensions and Dispositions of all created Beings are these whereby by a kind of
connatural Instinct one thing hath a special Inclination or Propension to another by the very Institution and Law of their Nature antecedently to any distinct perception of the Reason of such their Inclination And this kind of Natural Propension of one thing to another is principally observable in these ensuing Instances First Every thing hath a natural Kindness Propension and Conversion to that from which it immediately receiv'd its Being This we see daily in Animals in Vegitables in some inanimate Beings The stupid Magnet pays a kind of obsequiousness and sequaciousness to the Earth from which it receiv'd immediately its magnetical Nature and the Needle to that Pole of the Magnet that touched and animated it Now although All created Beings receiv'd their Beings from the Fiat of Almighty God and therefore in their several kinds pay a constant observance of that Law of Nature which he at first gave them yet the Human Soul in its first Production had a more special and immediate and signal Production by Almighty God than any other created Beings at least the Angels excepted He breathed into him the Breath of Life and Man became a living Soul And whether the Origination of the Souls of Men propogated by successive Generation be the same as was at first of the Soul of the first Man or Whether the Souls of Men in succeeding Generations be by a kind of Irradiation or Participation of the first created Human Soul it alters not the Matter for both in the one Supposition and in the other the Human Soul had a special admirable singular emanation from Almighty God above all other created Beings the Angels excepted And upon this Account even of that natural Respect and Propensity between the Principiatum and its immediate Principle there ariseth an in-bred natural Propension and Tendency of the Soul to God wherein she doth recognize him as the special Author of her Being Secondly Similitude and Likeness is a natural fund of Propension and Inclination of one thing to another This is one of the most common Grounds of all Sympathies in Nature as might easily be made out by induction of Particulars Now the Humane Soul bears the greatest Similitude to the Divine Nature of any created Being that we are acquainted with The Scriptures tell That Man was in a special manner created in the Image of God and Reason tells us That the most lively Impression of that Image was upon the Soul and although a contracted Corruption hath in many eminent Respects defac'd that Image as to the Habits of the Soul yet still it retains its Natural and as I may call it its Essential Similitude in the Purity of its Substance its Indissolubility and Immortality in its admirable Faculties of Intellect and Will and the Liberty thereof And upon this Account as it hath a similar Congruity to its Prototype so it must needs have a natural Love Propension and Inclination to it Thirdly We see in all created Beings a natural Propension Love and Conversion of every thing to that from which it receives its Protection and Defence its Conservation and Perfectibility and this is a great Reason of most of the Sympathies in Nature and of those Conversions and Motions of one thing toward another and this not only in Things endued with a sensible Perception but also in Beings destitute of Sense Thus Vegitables will reach after the Water and moist Particles of the Earth to receive their Nourishment and towards the Sun and its warm Rays to receive heat and advance of their vital Principles and the poor senseless Magnet will reach after the Earth and its Magnetick Effluxes to receive a Preservation and farther increase of its Magnetick Vigour Now the Soul though it be a noble Being yet it is a dependant Being and though it be created Immortal yet it hath a passive receptive Power whereby it is perfectable to a higher degree of Excellence and Perfection which no Being in the World but the Being of Beings can satisfie and fill and though it be immortal yet in its state of Union with the Body it is affected with the Good and Evil that befalls the Body and stands in need of an uncessant Protection and Supply from the Author of her Being And therefore by a kind of natural Instinct and Dependance reacheth after him And this is that which I call the Natural or Connatural Means of Converting the Soul to God even by a kind of innate Propension antecedent to any Acts of Ratiocination or rational Argumentation Illation or Conviction CHAP. IX Concerning the Reasonable or Intellectual Means of Converting the Soul to God BEsides that Natural Byass or Tendency of the Soul to God spoken of in the last Chapter there is yet another and more vigorous Principle placed in the Human Soul principally for that purpose namely the Intellectual and Rational Nature and Faculties planted in the Soul and the conduct and guidance thereof And this certainly is highly necessary for that end for although the natural Byass and Propension of the Soul be of great Use to convert the Soul to the Original and Fountain of her Being yet it is but a tender and choice Plant and stands in need of a continuing cherishing and due Attention to it and therefore we see by Experience as the Case now stands with Mankind it is easily checked discouraged and impaired by Evil Customs and the present Allurements and Importunities of our Lusts And therefore that Mankind might be furnished with more effectual Means to retain the Soul in its due Position and Habitude to Almighty God he hath furnished the Soul with certain Faculties and Affections that might more effectually bring it to its true natural State to its due respect and habitude unto God and thereby to attain its Everlasting Happiness There are therefore placed in the Humane Nature these Three great Reasonable Faculties 1. The Intellective Faculty 2. The Will 3. The humane Reasonable Affections 1. The Intellective Faculty which hath not only a Perception of things represented through the Senses but by a Rational Process to deduce and frame Conclusions from them of a higher and nobler Nature than the bare sensible Objects in themselves amount unto and also to improve those natural Congenite Sentiments whereof in the former Chapter to a greater Degree and Perfection than they are in their first Appearance to find out another kind of Good than what barely appears in the Objects of Sense namely a Moral and Intellectual Good to examine consider and determine of the disparity of things that are in themselves Good and to give a due Prelation and Preference to that Good which is the chiefest and most valuable 2. The Will which is not a bare irrational peremptory Faculty to will or refuse what it pleaseth but in its true regular Constitution and manner of acting is a rational Faculty and acts according to the reasonable Dictate and Conclusion of the Understanding and when it acts otherwise it acts inordinately
of the things of this Life he cannot want a powerfull Incentive to draw out his Love to such a Benefactor Let a Man but consider the noble Structure and Frame of the Humane Body the admirable Faculties of his Soul the Dominion that thereby he hath over all things in the inferiour World the Provision that is made for his Food Cloathing Habitation Medicine Delight the Accommodation of Animals Vegetables Minerals Elements Meteors nay of the very Motions and Influences of the Heavenly Bodies to his Use Contentation Convenience Health Pleasure Delight and infinite more Topicks of this nature he hath reason to conclude even upon the Account of the Works of Nature and of the common Effects of Divine Providence that Almighty God is a most Bountiful Benefactor unto him and therefore deserves his highest and intensest Love And most certainly it is the want of due Attention and Consideration that all the Good we have is from his Bounty and Beneficence if we do not return unto him the greatest Love and Observance imaginable even upon the bare Account of this liberal Beneficence And this is that which the Apostles intimate even in relation to the Heathens Act. 14.17 Nevertheless he left not himself without Witness in that he did good and gave rain from Heaven and fruitful Seasons filling our hearts with food and gladness Therefore the Divine Love and Beneficence to Mankind is a great Attractive of the Love of the Soul to God Magnes amoris amor And what is said by the Apostle as to those greater Indications of the Divine Love whereof hereafter 1. Joh. 4.10 the antecedent Love of God to Mankind even in these common Administrations of his Providence doth not only deserve but upon a kind of natural Attraction draws out our Love to him 2. The second Affection that I principally insisted upon is that of Gratitude which seems to be an Inclination or Rational Instinct of the Humane Soul and so naturally radicated in the Soul that he that is without a kind of natural Cogency as I may call it to it seems to have put off the very humane Nature and Apostatized from it The Obligation to it is so natural so universal and so operative that Ingratitude is both odious to Mankind and breeds in the Person himself a secret Shame and Self-Condemnation And the Effects of Gratitude are 1. A secret Connexion and uniting of the Soul to the Benefactor 2. An Endeavour by all due Means to requite the Benefit with all the Offices of Love and Duty And to say the truth Gratitude is but a kind of Instance and Indication of Love to a Benefactor and ariseth upon the same Account namely as Benefits received inviteth Love so it raiseth Gratitude to the Benefactor And therefore the very same Communicative Goodness of God that naturally exciteth our Love exciteth our Gratitude and therefore need not again to be here repeated And because the Goodness of God to Mankind even in his common Providences doth exceed any commensurate Retribution or Recompence to him we cannot by any Means advantage him that is All-sufficient in himself therefore the natural Effect of Gratitude is to make the best Retribution we can namely to Observe Honour Glorifie Praise and Acknowledge his Goodness and Bounty to Obey his Will with all Chearfulness and Alacrity to convert and turn the Aspect and Tendency of our Souls to him which is the true state position and verticity of the humane Soul 3. The Third Affection which I shall instance in is that of Trust and Dependance which ariseth upon Four Premises 1. A daily Sense and Experience of our own Wants Deficiencies and Dangers and of our own Insufficiency to overmatch or avoid them All the Instances of our Lives furnish us with Experiences of this Nature And 2. A due Sense of a Sufficiency of Power in some other Being to relieve or supply us 2. A due Sense of abundant Goodness Beneficence and Good Will in the same Powerfull Being to be propitious unto us 4. A Sense that that Powerfull and Beneficent Being is or may be acquainted with our Exigencies and Extremities And upon this Account it is that in such Instances which Men ordinarily suppose are governable or to be mastered by other Means Men ordinarily fly unto them as to their Wits and Contrivances to their Riches and Wealth to their Friends and Relations to Princes and Magistrates to Physicians and Surgeons according to the various Conditions of their Needs or Wants but when Extremities or Fears rise above the Relief of ordinary Means there are few People in the World but have recourse to the Sovereign Power of God for their Relief Jonah 1.5 When the Mariners the roughest and boldest Generation of Men were in a Storm that exceeded their Pilot's Skill then the Mariners were afraid and cryed every one unto his God and reproved Jonah for not calling upon his God so that the Affection of Fear also hath its part in the Exercise of this Affection and though the Saying of the Poet savours too much of Atheism Primus in orbe Deos fecit Timor yet in this Sense it hath a Truth that Extremities and invincible Fears and Dangers draw Men to the Recognition and Veneration of God which possibly could not be so easily drawn thereunto In their Affliction they will seek me early And not only Extremities are the Motives of this Conversion to God in Supplications and Dependance but also the common Experience of the Deficiency and Disappointments that do so commonly happen in ordinary Means doth carry the Minds of Men to the Sovereign Power of Almighty God to bless and prosper the Means to supply the Defects thereof to interpose in their Disappointments And this in all Ages and Nations we may observe to be usual And now although the Divine Beneficence even in these external Benefits is in it self a sufficient Attractive of our Love and Gratitude to God and our Dependance upon him since all these are Acts of his free Bounty and Goodness and as without him we cannot procure them so neither can we at all deserve them or the least of them yet these Means had not that effect that might reasonably be expected by such a Benefactor And the Reasons or Occasions thereof were principally these First Because by Evil Education and Customs and by the subtlety of the Enemy of God and Man and his Instruments the Notion of God was greatly corrupted in the Minds of Men they fell to Idolatry and Polytheism making Creatures and Idols their Gods This is that which the Apostle learnedly and truly describes Rom. 2. Secondly The Commonness and Assiduity of these Benefits rendered them less observed and valued and Mankind thereby grew almost as senseless of their value or of the Author of them as the Brute Beasts they were either not taken notice of or not considered but enjoyed as things of Course and a common Natural State of things and so Men enjoyed them without any value or
State and Position and thereby attaining that Perfection Happiness and Everlasting Blessedness and Rest that is possible for any reasonable Man to desire or expect Only I must add this Caution that when I speak of the Doctrine of the Gospel and Christian Religion I do by no means exclude the Divine Revelation of the Old Testament for both Testaments make but one entire System of the True Christian Doctrine the Old Testament is preparatory to the New and the New Testament Explicative of the Old and takes in either in express Terms or by necessary admission all the Truths of God delivered in the Old and is recommended by Christ himself to his Disciples and Followers together with those other additional Discoveries and Precepts that he made and gave But yet thus much must needs be added That the Doctrine of Christianity as it is singly revealed in the New Testament gives a much greater Light makes more full Discoveries and contains more effectual Instances to bring about the Soul to Almighty God than that Old Testament alone did or could do And I shall now proceed to some of those most Eminent Particulars and Instances for this purpose 1. Whereas the Notion of God was greatly Corrupted in the Minds of Men as is shewn in the former Chapter the Christian Doctrine rectified those Notions and gives us a true Discovery of the Divine Nature so far as our finite Understandings are capable of it Acts 17.23 Whom ye ignorantly worship him declare I unto you here we have the great Discoveries of the Perfection Excellency and Beauty of the Divine Nature and therefore an Object infinitely deserving the greatest Excess of our Love and of our Dependance and Reverence his Eternity Unity Purity Holiness Goodness Wisdom Power Justice Mercy Placability Long-suffering Gentleness Faithfulness Truth in a word that he is the Perfection of all Excellencies the Chiefest Good and the most Sovereign Object of all our Love even upon the single Account of his own transcendent Perfection and Excellence But I come to things more specifically applicable to the Redemption of Mankind by Christ Jesus Therefore 2. I have in the former Chapter mentioned the Suspicions and Inclinations of Mankind to think the Soul is immortal and that there is a Future State thereof for Rewards and Punishments but this Supposition was much clouded with uncertain Conjectures and Imaginations But Christ in the Gospel hath given us a full Discovery and Assurance of the Immortality of the Soul and a full Prospect of the future State of Rewards and Punishments and therefore is truly said to have brought Immortality and Life to Light by the Gospel 3. Whereas in the former Chapter I have shewed that although the External Blessings distributed among the Children of Men were greatly Valuable and more than any Creature could either deserve or by his own Power procure and therefore Almighty God in respect of these highly deserved our Love as our greatest Benefactor yet that many wise and considerate Men considering the promiscuous Dispensation of External Blessings and the great Excellency of the humane Soul did reach after Blessings of a higher Nature and Use than such as only served the Meridian of this Life Here we have a Discovery of the immense Beneficence and Love of the Glorious God unto Mankind and therefore the highest Attractive of the Soul namely Immortal Happiness Glory and Blessedness freely and bountifully offered by Almighty God through Jesus Christ to all that will be but converted and turn unto him and this done upon the Account of his own Beneficence and communicative Goodness unto the Children of Men that were Enemies and estranged from God by Evil Works as well as to the rest of Mankind Certainly if Love undeserved Love be the greatest Attractive of Love if the free Collation of the greatest Benefits that the humane Nature is capable of namely Immortal Glory Life and Blessedness be the greatest Allective of Love and Gratitude to our Benefactor then here is such an Attractive of the Soul to God as its chiefest Benefactor that cannot be elsewhere matched or equalled But this is not all Therefore 3. There is yet farther such an Instance of Love in the manner of procuring this Benefit that seems to equal the very Benefit it self namely God Almighty sending his Son his only Son into the World so far to humble himself as to take our Nature upon him with all its Natural Infirmities Sin only excepted 2. In that Nature to live a poor despised persecuted Life reproached with the most odious though undeserved Calumnies 3. In that Nature to be betrayed by his own Disciple condemned by his own Country-men that were of highest Esteem among them the Priests Scribes and Sanhedrim mocked by the Soldiers Crowned with Thorns his Flesh torn with Scourging delivered over to the Gentiles to be Executed and then exposed to a most painful ignominious Death among Thieves and Malefactors And which yet was more than all this his very Soul made as it were an Offering for Sin heavy unto the Death astonished and in an Agony by the Eclipsing for the time of the Comfort and Influence of the Divine Presence and Love And all this done to expiate the Sins of Men to become a Sacrifice for the Sins of his very Enemies and purchase and impetrate for them this greatest Benefit of Everlasting Life and Glory and all this thus done by the very Design Counsel and Contrivance of the Offended God to satisfie his own Justice to magnifie his own Mercy and to save his undeserving Creature These are Instances of a strange and stupendous Love and do Aggrandize the very Benefit it self than which yet there could not be a Greater So God loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son into the world that as many as believed on him should not perish 1 John 4.10 Here is Love not that we loved him but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our Sins Herein the Love of God is manifest that when we were yet Sinners Christ dyed for us And now if any be so inquisitive as to ask Why was all this adoe Could not God have saved Men without such a hard and bloody Scene or if he would not give Mankind Everlasting Life without Conversion of the Soul to him could he not by the Empire of his Power have over-ruled the Hearts of the Children of Men to such a Temper and Position I Answer It is true he could and might have done so but he that made Man an intellectual and a free Agent and placed all those Affections in his Nature which I have before-mentioned was not minded to abrogate nor alter the humane Nature and at once to shew both his Constancy to those Laws he hath most wisely settled in Nature and yet to bring about this Great Work of Conversion of the Soul to God without offering Violence to the Laws that he had settled in Nature and therefore in
of Man than these Evangelical Precepts before-mentioned as might be made easily evident by Induction of Particulars 3. The Peace and Good of Mankind and of humane Societies is a thing justly valuable by all Wise and Good Men And what in the world is more conducible thereunto then Veracity and Truth Fidelity Righteousness Justice Temperance Sobriety Charity Beneficence Longanimity Goodness Forgiveness Meekness Humility Contentation and all this bound on to the Soul by the strictest Bond of the Love Fear and Duty we owe to the God of Heaven The greatest part of the Disorders in humane Society arise by those Vices that are contrary to those excellent Vertues as by Pride Ambition Covetousness Falseness Dissimulation Churlishness Injustice Unrighteousness These and the like Distempers of Soul fill the World with Rapine Violence Oppression Contention and Deceit which are cured and remedied by an Observance of the Evangelical Doctrine than which there cannot be any thing more conducible to the perfecting of the humane Nature and benefit of humane Societies 5. The Evangelical Doctrine evermore inculcates these two great Qualifications of the humane Soul namely the True Knowledge of God and the true Love of God the former is that which excites the latter and the latter is that great commanding Affection of the Soul that fully brings about the Soul to God and to a chearful and sincere Observance of him and his Will The Love of God is the First and great Commandment and draws along with it the Whole Duty of Man to God And this is most consonant to what Reason it self dictates and Experience evidenceth he that hath but the firm hold upon this Affection governs a Man as he pleaseth 6. The Evangelical Doctrine in order to bring about Man to love God gives us the highest most transcendent and obliging Instances of the Love of God the antecedent undeserved Love of God to Man especially in the admirable Oeconomy of our Redemption by Christ as hath been before-shewed And certainly this is the most rational way that can be imagined for the gaining of this great Affection and the Conversion of the Soul to God 1. It is in it self a most effectual Means to that end Love and Beneficence is the great Attractive of Love as hath been before shewn and that Great God that formed the humane Soul and placed it in its several Habitudes and Affections and therefore best knows what doth most vigorously strike upon those active Strings the Soul did therefore choose this effectual Magnetism to bring about the Soul to him 1 John 4.10 Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us first Again 2. This Method of Attracting the Soul to God by the great and primitive Instances of his Love to Man is most sutable to the Frame and Mould of the Nature of the humane Soul and offers no Violence to it It is true the Glorious God is not necessarily bound to the Laws that he hath established in Nature they were Laws given to his Creatures and not to himself and he may and sometimes for great Ends derogates from those Laws by the Interposition of his own immediate Power as in Miracles And upon the same Account may or might if he please break in upon the Laws that he hath instituted in the humane Soul and might infringe the Liberty of his Will and turn him about to him by an irresistible over-powring Necessity But the Wise God hath settled and established the Rules and Laws of the Natures of things with so great Wisdom and Foresight that he rarely violates them but ordinarily proceeds in the way of his Providential Regiment of all things according to those Laws and Institutions which he hath fixed in the Natures of things in things simply Natural he usually proceeds by Natural Applications and in Rational Beings by Means sutable to a Rational Nature and therefore hath chosen this Means to draw the Soul of Man to him namely by the Cords of a Man and the Bonds of Love as most sutable to the Complexion Nature and Constitution settled by his own Ordination in the humane Soul Upon the whole Matter therefore I conclude that as the Apostle Rom. 12. stiles the Consecration of the Body and Soul to God a reasonable Service so I do with the same Evidence of Reason style the Doctrine of the Gospel the Christian Religion a reasonable Religion a Religion fitted and ordered with the most exquisite Reason and sutableness thereunto to bring the Soul to its due Position Respect and Habitude to Almighty God and thereby to have an Everlasting Happiness CHAP. XIV Concerning the Supernatural Means of retaining the Soul in its due Respect and Position to Almighty God and of the Reduction thereof unto it I Have hitherto considered of those two Means of Reduction of the Soul to its due Position and Respect to Almighty God which I have stiled Natural and Rational It now remains that I should consider the Third Means which I call Supernatural It appears in the consideration of the Natural Causes and Effects in the World that besides the Intrinsick Powers and Propensions of things there are certain Extrinsick common adjuvant Causes that have a great Influence in the Effects and Appearances in the World The Magnet hath not only its intrinsick active Principle its Form from which its Motions proceed but there is also a common Magnetism of the Earth and its Effluxes that greatly assist excite and direct its Motions Animals and Vegetables have not only their intrinsick specifical vital Principles of their specifical Motions and Operations but the Sun and its heat and influence is an universal adjuvant exciting Principle of all vital and sentient Operations And not only the ancient Philosophers as Aristotle and Plato and their several Commentators as Simplicius Themistius Alexander Aphrodiceus Avicen and Averroes but also the Jewish Doctors and the Christian Philosophers and Divines for some Ages after Christ did think that besides the individual intellectual Soul of every Man there was also a certain common intelligent Nature or Being substituted by Almighty God whose Office it was to illuminate the humane Soul to excite actual Intellection in it and to communicate unto it these common intellectual Principles which ordinarily and generally obtain in all Men and stood in relation to the humane Intellectual Soul as the Sun and its Light and Influence stands in relation to vital Natures in the Lower World And this they call Intellectus Agens which Averroes supposeth to be Vltima Intelligentiarum separatarum and deputed to the actuating and exciting of Intellection in Men. This Opinion hath been possibly upon Reasons probable enough laid aside for many Ages in the Christian Church the Use therefore that I make of it only is this that though this Opinion seems to be dark and obscure and not bottom'd upon a clear Evidence yet it carries with it and under it an Adumbration of a great and real Truth though they attained not a
the Belief and Obedience of the Truth in converting Mens Minds unto God and placing them in their just and due Habitude to Almighty God And this according to the various Workings thereof is sometimes called the Spirit of Regeneration the Spirit of Renovation the Spirit of Sanctification the Spirit of Holiness the Spirit of Adoption the Spirit of Prayer and Supplication the Spirit of Life c. according to the various Energies that this great Effusion of the Influences of the Blessed Spirit had upon the Minds of Men. And this great and more diffusive and effectual Effusion of this Influence under the Gospel was no other than what was prophesied of by the ancient Prophets Isa 25.7 I will destroy in this Mountain the covering cast upon the face of all people Isa 11.9 The Earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the Sea Isa 54.13 All thy Children shall be taught of the Lord Isa 59.20 This is my Covenant that I will make with them my Spirit that is upon thee and the words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart from thee nor from thy seed nor from thy seeds seed Ezek. 36.27 I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes and keep my Judgments and do them Isa 44.3 I will pour out my Spirit upon thy Seed Joel 2.28 I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh And this Energy of the Divine Influence appears first by a secret Irradiation and Illumination of Understanding 2. By a powerful Persuasion and inclining of the Will both which as they were with a more vigorous and effectual Dispensation under the first breaking out of the Light of the Gospel so they do accompany the Publication of it unto this day and shall unto the end of the World though by reason of the Corruption of the Lives and Manners of Mankind not with equal Success in all Ages And thus far concerning the Supernatural Means of converting the Soul to God and consequently restoring it to its true Felicity and Blessedness CHAP. XIV The Conclusion AND thus I have taken Occasion upon this small Particle of Nature which hath been under my Consideration to make this not unprofitable Digression touching the true genuine and natural Position and Conversion of the Soul towards Almighty God I have shewn what it is namely The humble and sincere Love of him Trust in him Obedience to him and Delight in him I have shewn that this is the most natural and reasonable Habitude of the Soul that wherein consists her Duty Happiness and Rest I have shewn the great Reasonableness and Obligation of the Soul unto it the Means instituted by the God of Heaven for our Attainment of it And that every thing in the World attains and enjoys its sutable Perfection and Felicity when it attains and keeps that Position State Station and Place which the great and wise Creator and Disposer of all things hath appointed for it and consequently there is no way for the humane Soul to attain its sutable Perfection and Tranquillity here in this Life and everlasting Happiness and Glory hereafter but in its holding that due Habitude and Respect to Almighty God before described And that this next to the Glory of his Great Name is the principal Reason and End of all these admirable and special Methods of his Providence towards the Children of Men both in their Creation Preservation and that stupendous Work of their Redemption by Christ If we shall now look into the several Parts of the Vniverse we shall find that every thing in nature intensely affects that Station Position and Order that the God of Nature hath instituted for them and in the holding thereof they attain and enjoy all that Felicity if I may so call it that their Nature is capable of and when by any Accident they are out of that Station they are in discomposure and therefore by a strange regular connatural Appetite they endeavour to recover it again If we look up to the Heavenly Bodies they constantly and regularly observe and keep those Stations and Motions that the God of Nature by the Law of their Creation hath instituted for them If we look unto the Planetary and Elementary Bodies we shall observe no less If we look upon the Animals we shall observe them regularly to comport themselves according to the several instituted Laws of their Species and those admirable fixed Instincts that are rivetted into their Constitutions If we look upon Vegetables they all regularly in all their vital Appearances do follow strictly and regularly the Laws and Methods of their several Kinds Nay this pitiful inconsiderable Mineral the Magnet in all his Motions and Affections regularly and exactly follows those Laws and Directions that are implanted in his Nature But if we cast our Eyes or Thoughts upon the Children of Men and their Ways and Walks whose immortal Souls are directed to a nobler End than most of other visible Creatures and have Capacities fitted to have a Reception of the noblest Object in the World the Glorious and Eternal God and to have an humble Communion with him which is his True Position Habitude and Happiness I say if we look on Mankind we shall for the most part find it quite otherwise like Babies Ideots and Fools they fix their Souls and the whole Verticity of them pardon my borrowed Expression upon Rattles Baubles and Toys and imbase their Souls and Faculties with poor sordid Vanities and Trifles and neglect that Magnum oportet wherein their Perfection and Happiness consists so that we may justly take up the Prophet's Complaint both against our selves and others Jer. 8.7 The Stork in the Heaven knoweth her appointed times and the Turtle and the Crane and the Swallow observe the time of their coming But my People know not the Judgment of the Lord. And were this in the time of Paganism those times of Ignorance which the Apostle says Acts 17.30 God winked at the Wonder were not great But this happens in the Christian World where the Gospel and Holy Religion instituted by the Son of God is published and professed to be believed as we shall easily find if we take but an Estimate of the Ways Designs and Delights of Men even in the Christian World 1. How many there be that bid open Defiance to Heaven Atheists that account it the Glory of their Wit and Courage to make a Scorn of Religion and of the Life to come and this not only by their Actions but even by open Professions and Words as far as they durst do for fear of Humane Laws 2. How many there be that wholly give themselves up to sensual Pleasures Debauchery Incontinence Gluttony Drunkenness that make little or no Improvement of their Reason but in making Provision for their sensual Lusts and fulfilling of them with more advantage than Brutes the whole Bent and Current and Tendency of their Souls is after Sensuality and wholly
averted from that God that gave them their Souls for better Purposes 3. How many there be that set the whole stress and tendency of their Souls to the getting of VVealth sometimes indeed by Lawful Means but at other times by all kind of Oppression Cousenage Deceit Rapine and Violence and make their Wealth their only Delight Hope and Confidence 4. How many there are that make it the whole Business of their Souls to gain Honour and Preferments great Offices Titles Power Pre-eminence and Authority over others wherein if they are disappointed their Souls as it were dye within them and if they obtain they wholly bless themselves therein till another Opportunity of farther Acquists be found and then their restless ambitious Souls press on farther for higher and greater Acquists of the same nature 5. How many there be that pretend to the Profession of Christianity falsly and hypocritically for base and secular Ends that make a Gain of Godliness when they have not one Spark of True Religion in their Hearts 6. Nay yet farther among those that are the greatest Pretenders to Christian Religion I mean the Romish Clergy how universally they imbase the very Nature of God and Christ in their Image-Worship How do they even under a Disguise of Religion turn away the Souls of Men from the Worship Honour Fear and Love of God by substituting the Adoration and Veneration of Angels and Saints Shrines Reliques and Toys and carrying over that Love Honour Service Dependence and Confidence which the Soul should repose in the Glorious God and his Son Christ Jesus unto Creatures contrary to the Express Will of God revealed in his Word and contrary to the whole Design of the Christian Religion and the whole Oeconomy of the Wise and Glorious God to unite the Soul unto him Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve so that although there be many great Errours in the Profession of that Church yet this doth in a most special and direct manner steal away the Soul from its due Habitude unto the God of Heaven 7. Nay yet farther even in those that have a true Sense of Religion and their Duty to Almighty God yet the Pleasures Profits Preferments and Gaities of this present VVorld starve that Fervor of the Love and Conversion of the Soul to God and leave but a small Portion of the Heart for the Ever Glorious God Nay the Great Searcher of all Hearts knows that if our Love to the Glorious God were strictly weighed with that First and Great Commandment repeated by our Saviour Mat. 22.37 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy mind which is most certainly our Duty our Love to God would be generally found to stand in need of many Grains of allowance from his Mercy and Goodness to make it accepted All therefore that I shall say is To remind my self and others of the Saying of the Prophet in another Case Isa 46.8 Remember this and shew your selves Men Men that have or should have Reason and Judgment to steer their Actions and Affections Remember that we have in our Bosoms Immortal Souls Souls that will survive all our sensual Pleasures all the Wealth Riches and Honours of this World which when this Bodily Life ceaseth will have no Gust or Relish to an Immortal Soul or if any but to trouble and vex it Remember that this Immortal Soul is capable of an Immortal Fruition of the greatest Good the Vision and Love of the Glorious God Remember that the Means to attain this blessed and beatifical Vision of God hereafter is the Conversion of the Soul to God by true Love of him Obedience to him and Trust in him while we enjoy a Life here on Earth Remember that this is the true genuine natural Habitude and Position of the Soul and its Perfection and Happiness Remember that it is not necessary for us to be rich to be great to enjoy an Affluence of all Worldly Contentments nay possibly yea probably this may be our greatest detriment and estrange our Souls from God But it is of absolute Necessity to us to have our Everlasting Souls everlastingly happy And now Remember this and shew your selves Men Men and not Children to lavish away our Time our Lives and Souls in Trifles in things that will not be of any use or convenience to our Everlasting State but if they last so long will last no longer than our Lives in this World which may be but a Year but a Day but an Hour Shew your selves therefore Men Men that understand the Worth and Value of your Souls your Everlasting Souls and do not imbase them into an Employment and State below their worth and value Shew your selves Men Men that have or should have discretion to consider that your Everlasting State of Happiness or Misery depends upon the well or ill Management of your Lives and Thoughts in this Life which is but a State of Probation in order to Eternity Remember and shew your selves Men Men that understand your Interest and your greatest Concernment and while you live here in this World set your Hearts upon that which is the Chief End of your coming into the World and as in reason you would wish to have done when you come to dye namely the entire Conversion of your Souls to the Ever-Glorious God the Beginning and End of your Being in all Humble Love Obedience Faith Dependance Honour and Service in the frequent Thoughts of him and Applications to him in Veneration Worship Service and Devotion to him in all humble Imitation of him in what he is imitable by you viz. in Holiness and Purity in Righteousness and Justice in Mercy and Beneficence in Truth and Veracity and this will be the Perfection the Happiness and Everlasting Blessedness of your Souls to all Eternity PSALM lxxxvi 8. Neither are there any Works like Thy Works THE Consideration of the Excellency of the Works of Almighty God is as large as are the very Works themselves which as they are of almost insearchable Number and variety so the Excellencies of the Divine Wisdom Power and Goodness appearing in almost every Work of his are of an unsearchable Number and Variety If a wise and industrious Man should spend all the days of his Life in the search of the admirable Structure and Faculties of the least Fly or of one Organ of our Sense the Eye or the Ear he must conclude even such a particular Enquiry with that Complaint The greatest part of what I have discovered doth not equal the least part of what I am ignorant of notwithstanding all my Inquiry and Diligence I shall therefore content my self with the comparing of some few of these Works of God that seem most ordinary and common with some of the choicest Works of the most exact and curious of the Children of Men and by that Comparison we shall see how much these Works of God