laying its Mouth as St. Augustin teaches me to speak to the Spring of all Happiness do more than taste the sweetness of it We may expect to have it fill'd with those delicious Pleasures which we know attend on Love and which in that State will be proportionable to the greatness of the good that is embraced and to the strength and ardency of the embracement And whereas here in this World Men are apt to love beyond all reason whereby their Love becomes adulterate and is mix'd with so many discontents thâ—t it proves but a bitter sweet there our Understanding will be in its full growth and highest pitch so that as nothing which is reasonable shall be omitted to be done nothing likewise shall be done that is unreasonable This Love will be grounded upon the clearest Judgment this Flame kindled by the purest Light so that there shall be no trouble or disquiet in it but perfect rest and peace And whereas in this World Mens Affections flow to things that are not near so big as themselves i. e. as their own Desires and so they languish and faint and fall sick even in the enjoyment of the best good it affords because they find it is not a supply proportionable to their want or to their expectation There will be no such emptiness or want of satisfaction in those Coelestial Enjoyments because we shall embrace not only our proper good but that which is commensurate to our desires and beyond our hopes Our Affections will not fall then upon that which cannot sustain the whole weight of them but feeling themselves born up to the greatest height of Love by a good so full that it will leave no room for complaint or uneasiness they will enjoy the most solid rest and satisfaction Do but conceive them in your Minds what a pleasure it is here in this Life to love and to be beloved and you will have some notion whereby to take a measure of the Life we are speaking of which will consist in such mutual Love and delightful correspondencies And they who have neither Father nor Mother Wife nor Children near Kindred nor Relations whereon to place their Affection let them consider if they have but a singular Friend what the pleasure is that two persons who sincerely and purely love take in the sweet Company and Conversation of each other Or if I must suppose any Man to be so unkind and so unhappy as to have no love for any body but his own self let him think what contentment he hath and how he is pleased if he can arrive any thing near to a quiet enjoyment of his dear self And such a delightful state may be a small Image of Heaven where holy Souls will love God with a far greater flame than ever they did or shall then love themselves because he will appear infinitely more lovely and to bear also a far greater love to them than it is possible for them to do to themselves Now none can tell how transporting it will be to a good Soul when it fâ—els it self the beloved of God as well as full of love to him because we cannot think how great the Love of the Almighty is unlesâ— we could know how great he is himself This is a thing that cannot fail to have a strange power over our affections and to master them so that we shall be quite taken out of our selves for we all extremely love to be beloved If any Neighbour shews us an unexpected and undeserved Kindness we are apt to think he is the best person in the World And the poorest Wretch in the World if we see in him the undoubted signs of an hearty love to us we cannot chuse but requite it with some expressions of kindness back again nay if a Dog or such a dumb Creature do but fawn upon us or delight in our Company and with a great deal of observance follow us wheresoever we go we cannot but be so far pleased with this inclination towards us as to make much of it and to be troubled to see any harm befall it and to love to see it play and be well pleased Judge then what a pleasure it will be to pious Souls to find themselves beloved of him who hath put these kind Resentments into our Natures To what an height will the sweet breathings of his Love blow up the Flames of theirs Into what Extasies will they fall when they feel by the happy fruits what an exceeding great affection their heavenly Father bears to them It is above our present thoughts to apprehend the Joy that will then overflow them But we may conceive a little of it if we remember that God is love and that by our Love he will be in us and by his Love we shall be in him He proceeds to speak of the love of Saints and Angels The pleasure joy and delectation that naturally and necessarily flows from this knowledge and love of God the Happiness which the Body shall be exalted to and the eternal duration of all these This Eternal Life our Blessed Saviour hath brought to light through the Gospel and hath promised it to all those who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality Rom. 2.7 1 John 2.25 And this is the promise that he hath promised even eternal life Some perchance may say The great disproportion that is between the Services and Rewards makes this Promise of Eternal Life difficult to be believed For who can think that God should recompence our poor and imperfect Duties and Services performed for a very short time with such an immense and eternal weight of Glory and Happiness To this I answer That though indeed it cannot consist with God's Justice to punish any Creature without or beyond its demerit yet nothing hinders but that he may be as bountiful as he pleases and in his Rewards exceed all the deserts and even expectations of his Creatures an hundred or a thousand fold Let us then admire the transcendent and unmerited goodness and love of God in doing such great things for us as sending his Son into the World to take our nature upon him to suffer Death for our Sins and to give us the great Promise of Eternal Life and let us endeavour in some measure to answer this Love by sutable Affections of the most ardent Love and Gratitude Let us also love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity which we have all the reason in the World to do considering the greatness of his Love to us manifested by the great things he hath done and suffered for us John 15.9 As the Father hath loved me saith our Saviour to his Disciples so have I loved you And v. 13. he proceeds to say Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for hiâ— fâ—iends Ye are my Friends c. By which Words he intimates that he was about to make the greatest demonstration of his Love to his
consequences of loving our Neighbour as our selves If we loved him as our selves we would wish him as much good and do him as much good as we do to our selves We would willingly that other Men should do their Duties to us shew us all kindness and be helpful and beneficial to us in all our Wants and Necessities and why because we love our selves Had we the same love to them it would have the same effects We would do the same good to them that we desire from them To instance in the particular Commands Children Subjects and Inferiors would yield to their Parents Magistrates and Superiors all that Honour Reverence and Obedience which themselves would expect and desire from their Inferiors were they in the same Relations and Circumstances No Man would willingly have his own Body killed or wounded or any way tormented and put to pain because no Man ever yet hated his own flesh but nourisheth and cherisheth it as the * Eph. 5.29 Apostle speaks Did he then love his Neighbour as himself he would be so far from injuring him in that kind that he would not suffer others to do so if he could help it Every Man is jealous of the Loyalty of his Wife and impatient of having his Enclosure invaded and made common because he sets a high value on her Love and Fidelity and looks upon it as a great dishonour as well as an injury done him to be robbed of it Think we then he would offer such an abuse and wrong to his Neighbour did he love him as himself and were as tender of his Reputation as his own Did Men love their Neighbours as themselves there would be no need of Locks and Bars to secure their Goods from rapine and surreptions by Thieves and Robbers because there would be no such so that every Man might lie down securely and there would be none to make him afraid Love is so far from invading another's right that it is liberal and communicative and willing rather to part with its own The like if it were needful might easily be shewn in the rest of the Commandments relating to our Neighbour It remains now that we speak of the Effects and Consequents of a Holy Life upon the Soul or Inward Man They are I. The regulating and exalting of our Faculties and inabling them for their proper Functions II. The Peace Tranquillity and Joy attendant to and consequent thereupon 1st As for the regulating and exalting of our Faculties they are 1. The Vnderstanding 2. The Will 3. The Affections 1. The Vnderstanding As Sin and Vice doth stupifie and blind it and disable it to judge aright so the Commandments of God when obeyed do enlighten it and enable it to discern and approve things that are excellent Psalm 119.98 Thou through thy Commandments hast made me wiser than miâ—e enemies for they are ever with me v. 99. I have more understanding than all my teachers for thy testimonies are my meditation v. 100. I understand mâ—re than the aâ—cients because I keep thy precepts Psalm 111.10 A good understanding have all they that do his Commandments 2. The Will The Perfection whereof consists in a perfect resignation to the Will of God and true liberty that is freedom from the Bondage of Sin and Corruption from the slavery of Satan from the dominion of every vile Affection Wicked Men are real Slaves and Vassals to their Lusts This the very Heathen acknowledged as Cicero and Horace Juvenal Persius and others From this Bondage the Son of God delivers us John 8.34 Our Saviour saith Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin And v. 36. If the son therefore shall make you free ye shall be free indeed 3. The Affections or Passions The Law of God requires and commands us to moderate and rule them to place them upon their proper Objects and to keep them within their due bounds and good reason there is we should hold a strict hand over them Animum rege qui nisi paret Imperat. If they be given way to and the Bridle let loose they become the great disturbers of Mens peace quiet and tranquillity Anger Hatred Envy c. What storms and tumults do they raise in the Breast what mischievous imaginations do they excite what plotting and counterplotting of revenge breaking out many times into railings revilings opprobrious Language bitter Curses and Execrations they toss the Mind to and fro as contrary Winds do the Sea causing it to cast up Mire and Dirt. On the contrary where the Passions are duely governed and moderated kept within their proper bounds and channels the Soul is calm and serene and fit for any Employment or Exercise Civil or Religious 2dly The Happiness of the Inward Man consists in that peace joy and tranquillity that is attendant upon or consequent to our obedience to God's Commands 1. Pleasure and Delight attends the performance of our Duties Vertuous and Pious Actions are agreeable to the Nature and Inclinations of good Men It is as grateful and pleasing to a good Man to do good as to an hungry Man to eat or a thirsty Man to drink It is as great a satisfaction to his Rational Inclinations as those other are to the sensual Appetites Nothing can be more delightful and welcome to a generous Mind than an opportunity of shewing it self grateful to Parents Friends and Benefactors and making ample returns to those by whom he hath been obliged for the favours received Nothing more acceptable than to be employed in worthy Actions especially such as tend to promote publick good the peace and prosperity of our Country or Mankind in general The Heathen Poet could say Dulce decorum est pro Patria mori It is a sweet and comely thing even to die for ones Countrey Which yet I suppose is too high a flight or pitch of Charity for a Heathen to attain to and that there must be something of glory to carry them so far To overcome Evil with Good and return Kindnesses instead of Injuries thereby melting the Hearts of our Enemies and making them our Friends is certainly a more pleasant thing and much more for our peace and ease than revenging our selves of them To return good for evil is a Godlike quality our Saviour commanding us to love our enemies and to do good to them that hate us c. to engage us thereto proposes God's Example who causes his sun to shine on the evil and on the good and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust Who is kind unto the unthankful and the evil Cicero in his Gratulatory Oration to Caesar for M. Marcellus makes him that forgives Enemies and restores them to their former Dignities like to God Non ego illum summis viris comparo sed Deo similem judico 2. Peace and joy and confidence towards God is a necessary consequent of Obedience to his Commandments 1 Joh. 3.21 If our hearts condemn us not then have we confidence towards God and whatsoever we
among us at every meeting of Neighbour or Friends is this How do you that is are you in Health or no And the Answer Well or Ill that is in health or not As if Health were the chief or only good thing worth the enquiring after in the presence or enjoyment whereof we could not be miserable whatever else we wanted Nor in the absence happy or well whatever besides we possessed Indeed there is no taste or relish no comfort or delight in any worldly good where health is wanting and therefore it is by all Men highly valued and purchased at the dearest rate as Bishop Wilkins well observes Health is such a just temper and constitution of all the parts of the Body both solid and fluid as may inable the several Members and Faculties duly to perform their natural Functions from whence proceeds not only an indolency or freedom from Pain and Sickness but also vigor and activity alacrity and light-heartedness a pleasant and delicious sympathy in the Soul To this head I refer freedom from Bodily Pain the extremity whereof is altogether inconsistent with Happiness St. Augustine confesses That he was compelled to consent to Cornelius Celsus who affirmed Bodily Pain to be the greatest Evil. Neither saith he did his Reason seem to me absurd viz. That Man being compounded of two parts Soul and Body of which the first is the better the latter the worser the greatest good must be the best thing belonging to the better part that is Wisdom And the greatest Evil the worst thing belonging to the worser part that is Pain Whether this Reason be solid and conclusive let others judge but I fully agree with him in the Assertion That of all Evils we are sensible of in this World Bodily Pain is the sorest It drowning as I may so say and taking away the sense of all other Evils and wholly possessing the Soul It is such an afflictive and tormenting Passion such a Vultur or Tyger tearing and gnawing upon the Soul so abhorrent to Humane Nature that an excessive degree of it must needs make a Man miserable and unhappy unless we can reconcile and unite extremes the greatest Evil that Man is capable of suffering with the greatest good he can enjoy Hence the Torments of Hell are every where in Scripture set forth by consuming Fire unquenchable Fire everlasting Burnings and Hell it self called a Lake of Fire a Lake which burns with Fire and Brimstone because Fire produceth the greatest Bodily Pain than which nothing is more terrible to Humane Nature and more likely to affright Men from Sin On the contrary St John in his Revelation considering the absolute inconsistency of Pain and Happiness tells us That in the New Jerusalem there shall be no sorrow nor any more Pain There is indeed a degree of Bodily Pain which may be said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not exceeding the measure of Man's Patience and there is a degree which we are not able to bear which takes up the whole Mind not suffering it to divert its thoughts one Minute to any other Object Away then with the foolish vaunts of the proud Stoicks who boast that their Wise Man is happy in Phalaris his Bull whom * Epist 52. St. Augustine thus smartly and ingeniously checks and confutes If Life may be happy in extreme bodily torment why do they advise a man afflicted with the most grievous Pains to depart out of it Why does not their Wiseman rather continue in it that he may enjoy the happiness of it Is a happy life to be forsaken and fled from But if such a Life be really miserable what else but pride hinders them from confessing it to be so You will say Did not the holy Martyrs endure the greatest Bodily Torments with invincible patience yea some of them with joy and exultation I answer 'T is true indeed they did so but then I suppose that as their Temptations and Sufferings were extraordinary so they were extraordinarily supported under them and that God as the Apostle saith did not suffer them to be tempted above what he enabled them to bear It seems to me most likely that he did quite take away or very much mitigate the sense of pain possibly by obstructing those Nerves which convey that motion to the Brain which excites such a sense or how else it seemed best to his Divine Wisdom I proceed now to prove that this Blessing is the portion of those who lead a godly Life who keep God's Commandments and abide in his Love And that 1. From the Promises of God 2. From the natural consequence of several Vertues commanded by him Such are 1. Temperance and Sobriety 2. Labor and Industry 3. A due government and moderation of our Passions 1. Health and Long Life I put them together the one for the most part being the consequent of the other are in Scripture promised as rewards to the obedience of the Commandments of God Exod. 23.25 Thou shalt serve the Lord thy God And I will take away Sickness from the midst of thee Deut. 7.15 And the Lord will take away from thee all Sickness and will put none of the evil Diseases of Egypt which thou knowest upon thee Prov. 3.7 8. Fear the Lord and depart from evil It shall be health to thy Navel and Marrow to thy Bones Prov. 3.16 It is said of Wisdom That length of days are in her right hand Psal 34.12 What man is he that desireth life and loveth many days that he may see good Keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips that thou speak no guile Depart from evil and do good c. repeated 1 Pet. 3.10 On the other side Sickness and grievous Diseases and premature Death are often threatned as Punishments of Sin and Disobedience Deut. 28.60 61. If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this Law c. He will bring upon thee all the evil Diseases of Egypt c. also every Sickness and every Plague which is nâ—t written in this Law Prov. 2.22 The wicked shall be cut off from the earth and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it Prov. 11.19 As righteousness tendeth to life so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own Death 2. Health and Long Life are the natural consequents of some Vertues commanded by God As 1. Temperance and Sobriety in the use of Meats and Drinks That this is a most effectual means to preserve Health I appeal to the general consent of Physicians who are the most competent Judges in this Case all unanimously prescribing a moderate Diet not only as a principal means to continue Health but also to cure many Diseases Hence Hipocrates saith 6 Epid. Sect. 4. Aph. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The exercise of preserving health is not to eat to satiety not to be slothful in labour That a very spare and ascetick Diet conduces much to Health and long Life may be confirmed by many eminent Examples St. Paul the first
Dropsy And in this sense a little that the righteous hath is better than great riches of the ungodly Now that the fear of God and practice of those Vertues he commands us is a real means of procuring and preserving a sufficiency of worldly Goods and contentment therewith we find confirmed by experience Let any man impartially consider what kind of persons those are among the generality of Men who in their several degrees and orders are accounted most able and most wealthy and it will appear that they are such as are most diligent in their Callings most just and honest in their dealings most regular and sober in their Conversations most liberal towards any good Work Upon which account it is that such places where men have the opportunity of being instructed in and excited to the Duties of Religion do thereupon thrive and flourish most it being one property of Religion to civilize men and make them more inquisitive in Learning and more diligent in practising their several Professions And as for contentment of Mind it is not to be obtained but upon the account of Religion Piety and Vertue Such men need not fear future want because they have God's Promise for their security Let them but do good and put their trust in him and verily they shall be fed They are also to consider that great riches cannot make them more happy than they are but rather expose them to Temptations But it may be objected 1. That there are some kinds of Vertues which seem to have a contrary tendency as Charity to those that want Bounty and Liberality to any good Work To which I answer That these Acts may very well consist with Riches in the most proper Notion of it as it denotes a sufficiency for our Occasions the ability of contributing in some proportion towards any worthy and charitable Work being in the esteem of every good man one of those occasions and conveniencies required to such a sufficiency and cannot any more be a prejudice to iâ— than it would be for a man to lay up some part of his Estate in the safest place to lend it out upon the best interest to part with it for the purchase of the same favour and assistance from others in the like exigencies to lay it out upon his pleasure with respect to that inward comfort and satisfaction which doth accompany the Conscience of doing worthy things And besides all this experience will assure us that there is a secret Blessing which doth for the most part accompany such Actions so that men grow the richer not the poorer for them according to that Proverb Giving to the poor increases a man's stâ—re And they that in this kind sâ—w bâ—uâ—tifully do often even in this world reap bountifully Obj. 2. There are some kind of Vices that seem to have a tendency to the enriching of men as Fraud Extâ—rtion Sordidness all kinds of unlawful ways of getting and keeping an Estate But to this it may be said 1. That these Vices may tend to the encreasing of Mens Possessions but not to the making of them truly rich and it is a plain argument that such persons do not think themselves to have a sufficiency who can apply themselves to such wretched Courses for the getting more 2. 'T is commonly seen in experience that there is a secret Curse attend such Practices a Canker that eats into such Gain a Hole in the bottom of the Bag by which it insensibly drains out and wasts away Malè parta ma è dilabuâ—tur He that shall carefully observe the usual course of things in the World may from his own experience find Instances enough to confirm those Sayings of the Wiseman Prov. 11.24 There is that scattereth and yet increaseth and there is that withhoâ—deth more than is meet but it tendeth to poverty Chap. 13.11 22. Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished The wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just Chap. 22 1â— â—e that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches shall certainly come to want Chap 28.8 He that by unjust gain increaseth his substance shall gather it for him that will pity the poor But if a man who by Extortion or unjust gain raises an Estate happens to transmit it to his Posterity he usually entails upon them a Curse together with it it decaying by degrees and coming to nothing De malè quaesit is vix gaudet tertius haeres The third Heir scarce ever enjoying an ill-gotten Estate Obj 3. It may be objected That there are some good Men that are poor and that God hath chosen the poâ—r of this world to receive the Gospel and to be rich in faith James 2.5 To this it may be said 1. That the Providence of God may so order it sometimes as to reduce good Men to great exigencies to wander up and down in Sheeps-Skins and Goats-Skins being destitute afflicted tormented But then these are particular exempt Cases such as are not suitable to the most usual and general course of things But besides such as are good Men may sometimes be defective in several of those Duties which Religion doth oblige them to as Diligence Caution c. And the poverty of such may justly be ascribed to their defect in Religion 2. As for that Scripture That God hath chosen the poor in this world it is not to be understood in the more absolute sense for such as want Necessaries because its plain from other Texts That though some of the Primitive Believers were by reason of the Persecution of those times reduced to great exigencies yet the generality of the rest were very liberal in their Contributions towards them But it must be understood in the Relative Sense concerning such as might be stiled comparatively poor that is such as were of a lower rank and meaner condition than others and consequently had less Temptation to corrupt and seduce them than those that did more abound in these earthly things of whom our Saviour saith It is hard for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God It may further be objected by those of the lowest rank of Poor We are as it were condemned to perpetual Poverty our condition is so mean and our charge so great and the gain so small and inconsiderable which comes in by our utmost Labour and Industry that it will scarce suffice to provide things absolutely necessary for the support of our selves and dependents so far are we from any possibility of mending our Estates or growing rich To These I answer That we do not say That all that are truly religious shall certainly grow rich let their Circumstances be what they will but only that obedience to God's Commands is the most likely way of improving and advancing a man's Estate that hath means and opportunities of gaining which though God hath denied thee yet hast thou no reason to be discontented with thy Condition or to complain that thou art hardly dealt with Thou art not so forlorn
4.8 9. Solomon saith of Wisdom that is the fear of God Exalt her and she shall promote thee and bring thee to honour She shall give to thy head an ornament of grace and a crown of glory Prov. 10.7 The memory of the just is blessed but the name of the wicked shall rot Prov. 3.35 The wise shall inherit glory But shame shall be the promotion of fâ—ols Piety and Vertue command a respect from all sorts of men Good men hold themselves obliged to give it by the Command of God and the excellency of the thing it being a gift of God and wicked men though they may deny that outward respect that is due to good and righteous persons yet even these cannot but have an inward veneration for Goodness and Religion It is very remarkable that even the rude and licentious Vulgar at Rome had such a reverence of the Person of Cato that though such lewdness was permitted by the Law in the Festival of Flora yet so long as he was present in the Theatre they could not go on with their obscene sports nor have the confidence to demand those Florales joci nudandarum meretricum as Seneca calls them The wicked indeed hate the righteous because his life is a reproof to them and gives them some check in their vicious courses taking from them their great excuse of the impossibility of God's Commandments and demonstrating that through the assistance of Divine Grace which is always granted to them who do what in them lies and pray for it it is possible to obey them to such a degree as will be accepted by God Wicked men though they hate vertue in the Subject yet simply and abstractly they acknowledge it to be good though in their practice they prefer Vice before Vertue yet never any arrived to that degree of sottishness as to say it was better than Vertue For example better to be a glutton and a drunkard than a temperate person to cheat and defraud than to be just and righteous in our dealings And therefore though they hate and persecute men for being religious yet they disguise the Subject of their hatred pretending it to be Hypocrisie Heresie Superstition or the like that they hate them for Whence it appears that they are self-condemned persons Seneca in his Fourth Book De Beneficiis cap. 17. hath much to this purpose Adeò gratiosa est virtus saith he ut insitum etiam malis sit probare meliora Virtue is so gracious that it is naturally ingrafted even in bad men to approve that which is good And again Nec quisquam tantum à naturali lege descivit hominem exuit ut animi causâ malus sit Neither hath any man so far degenerated from the natural Law and put off man as to be wicked for his minds sake or only because it is his pleasure to be so And again Maximum hoc habemus à natura meritum quod virtus in omnium animos lumen suum permittit etiam qui non sequuntur illum vident Nature hath herein deserved exceeding well of us That Vertue sends its light into all mens minds even they that do not follow it yet see it Against what is generally said That there is nothing truly honourable but Vertue it may be objected that Learning and Knowledge is honourable and yet it is not always accompanied with Vertue there being some learned men vicious as St. Augustin also supposes in that Saying Quid prodest esse peritum periturum I answer That the acquisition of Learning and Knowledge is by something vertuous and commendable viz. Labour and Industry in a Calling nay Knowledge it self being that which all men naturally desire and being some participation of a Divine Perfection viz. Omniscience and being that which distinguishes us from and advances us above brute Beasts and makes us capable of vertue and happiness a higher degree of it exalting our Faculities enabling us to act in a larger Sphere and to do more good must be acknowledged to be an excellent quality and to merit some honour and respect and all men generally think so and give it accordingly That it doth so appears further from the contrary that is Ignorance and Folly which is among all men very dishonourable and reproachful insomuch that men abhor nothing more than the imputation of Folly esteeming it a greater disgrace to be accounted Fools than to be accounted vicious though indeed wicked men be the greatest Fools and on the contrary godly men the only wise men Here I cannot but wonder that there should be such an unsatiable thirst after Honour implanted in the nature of man Why men should be so jealous of losing the reputation of any new Invention so troubled and disturbed at having any of their Observations or Discoveries though by themselves communicated to others published without an honourable mention of them so netled at the discovery of any mistake in their Writings though but Gramatical and being upbraided with it why they should be willing to accept of false honour and undue praises Why they should think it a great matter to be praised by ignorant persons and incompetent Judges for such Abilities and Gifts as they are not conscious to themselves of Doth praise add any thing to them of real good besides conceit I cannot conceive any other reason than what I intimated before that it might be a powerful spur to incite them to the practice and exercise of religious and vertuous Actions If it be objected that men are as jealous of their Reputation in point of Knowledge as they are in point of Vertue I answer It is an error and a fault and they ought not to be so though for the reasons before alledged I deny not Knowledge to be an excellent quality which enlarges and advances the Understanding and renders a man capable of greater Employments and doing more good than others of inferior Abilities and improvements And further that it is not Vertue alone to which Honour is due as appears in that we are commanded to honour Parents Magistrates Ministers in general as such without any restriction or exception of those that are vicious It is enough that they have an Authority derived from God and a kind of Divine Impress and Character upon them to make them venerable CHAP. X. Of Friends Sixthly FRiends are no small comfort and addition to our Happiness or Well-being in this World Scarce any outward Blessing so desirable useful and beneficial as Friendship Cicerâ— saith Non aquâ non igni pluribus in lâ—cis utimur quà am amicitiâ We have not more frequent use of Fire and Water than we have of Friendship Nothing so agreeable to Nature as it saith the same Author nothing so convenient either for Prosperity or Adversity Nothing more pleasant and delightful than the sincere love and affection of a Faithful Friend and a reciprocal love of him nothing more acceptable than his Society and Converse But besides the pleasure and delight which
ask we receive of him because we keep his Commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight Delight and Pleasure and satisfaction of Mind inward Peace and Tranquility naturally follow Religious Actions When a man hath done his Duty and spent his time well he can reflect upon his doings with comfort he is not afraid to review his Life past and call himself to an account for what he hath done Res severa est verum gaudium saith Seneca Vnde sit interrogas dicam ex boâ—a conscientia ex honestis consiliis ex rectis actionibus True joy is a severe thing Do you ask whence it comes I 'll tell you From a good â—onscience from honest Counsels from just Actions A good Conscience is said to be a continual Feast The Poet resembles it to a Brazen Wall which secures the Soul from all inward Trouble and Disquiet Fear and Terror Hic murus ah neus esto Nil conscire sibi nullâ pallescere culpâ I shall conclude this Particular with the Words of Dr. Wilkins Bishop of Chester The most rational solid sublime compleat durable Delights of all others do flow from the Conscience of well-doing 'T is a chief part this of that Heaven we enjoy upon Earth and it is a principal part of that Happiness which we hope to enjoy in Heaven next to the Beatifical Vision and Fruition of God is the Happiness of a good Conscience and next to that the Society of Saints and Angels Solomon saith of Wisdom that is the fear of God Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace Prov. 3.17 Peace internal Peace external Peace eternal Peace with our selves Peace with Men Peace with God as I have hear'd a Reverend Divine distinguish it On the other side no Man can be happy that keeps not a good Conscience But without Holiness of Life and Obedience to God's Commandments a good Conscience cannot be kept Esay 57.21 There is no peace to the wicked saith my God Guilt is an obligation to Punishment but an obligation to Punishment infers an expectation of it and whosoever expects it doth really suffer it as Seneca excellently Dat poenas quisquis expectat quisquis autem meruit expectat That man doth really suffer punishment who expects it But whosever hath deserved it expects it Were it not for diversion and non-attendance to his Condition a wicked man would carry a continual Hell in his Breast there is therefore as I have noted elsewhere but a thought's distance between him and Hell His only security is in being a stranger to himself This one would think should be the most powerful curb imaginable to restrain men from sin and the most effectual Persuasive in the World to a Holy life That those that live in Sin cannot think upon their Condition without fear and disquiet especially those who are guilty of secret Crimes who are liable to those more severe Lashes and affrighting Rebukes of Conscience These Men are not able to hear such Sins reproved without blushing and confusion and inward trouble of Mind Rubet Auditor cui frigida mens est Criminibus tacitâ sudant praecordiaculpâ He whose Spirits feel Cold guilt his Crimes laid open Blushing hears His conscious Intrails sweat Nay sometimes they are in such distress as to be a burthen to themselve as holy Job * Job 7.20 speaks and weary of their very Beings so as to chuse Strangling rather than Life or else to be their own delators and publish their guilt God hath implâ—nted in our Natures as I noted before an aversation from and dislike of Sin The Reason of Man cannot be reconciled to it but must needs disapprove and condemn it We know as the Apostle speaks Rom. 7. that the Law and Commandment of God is holy and just and good and therefore he that lives in Sin is a self-condemned person and can have no inward peace You will oâ—ject Consuetudo peccandi tolliâ— sensum â—eâ—catiâ— The Custom of sinning takes awâ—y tâ—â— sense of Sin And some men have their Consciences cauterized being pâ—st feeling and go on securely in their viciouâ— Couâ—ses without check or remorse I answer That such men indeed who long râ—sâ—st the Grace of God he is pleased â—t â—â—st to withdraw it from them and gâ—ve them up to a reprobate Mind to do things not convenient yet is not their condition the better for this But this senselesness or stupidity is a more dangerous and incurable Disease answering to a Lethargy or Apoplexy in the Body Neither yet doth the Troubles of Mind arising from an evil Conscience determine in Death but continue for ever This is that Worm which dieth not a sad reflection upon our own desperate madness and folly in leading such wicked Lives as have brought this Misery upon us and a perpetual indignation against and condemnation of our selves I have often wondred that the very Heathen who had no clear Revelation of a future Estate after this Life ended nor any more than an ancient Tradition of Rewards and Punishments then to be received or suffered accordingly as Men had lived vertuous or wicked Lives should be so terrified with a sense of guilt and that the consciousness of secret Crimes should be so grievous and insupportable to them arming their Minds against themselves and making them their own Tormentors as the Poet expresses it Quos diri conscia facti Mens habet attonitos surdo verbere coedit Occultum quatiente animo tortore slagellum I cannot but think that this great terrour and anxiety of Mind attending the consciousness of any heinous sin is more than the effect of an expectation of punishment grounded only upon an ancient Tradition but that the sense of a connexion between Sin and Punishment is deeply imprinted upon the Soul of Man by the Finger of God and is one great Argument of the existence of a Deity Against what we have said concerning the Happiness that attends the godly in this present State it mâ—y be objected Is it not said in Scripture Psal 34.19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous And do we not read in the Hebrews Chap. 11.37 of some who had trial of bonds and imprisonments who were stoned sawn in sunder tempted slain with the swâ—rd waâ—dred about in Sheeps skins and Goatâ—-skins being destitute afflicted tormented of whom the world was not worthy And doth not the Apostle say 1 Cor. 15.19 If in this life onâ—y we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable And 2 Tim. 3.12 All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution To all this I answer That we speak according to the natural and usual course of things But there are some exceptions from general Rules peculiar and exempt Cases some righteous persons whom for weighty and wise Reasons God is pleased to permit to be exercised with great and sore Aâ—llictions and Distresses either perhaps to manifest his own Power in supporting them or
destitute neglected a Wretch as thou may'st imâ—gine There is a great Philosopher affirms That there is no Man born into the World and grown up to years of discretion but hath received more good at the hands of God than evil more pleasure than pain though he overlooks and considers not the pleasure as thinking it due to him but fixes too much upon the pain which is indeed due and for the most part deserved Another great * Bishop Wilkins Divine saith thus Suppose all manner of evils and afflictions which are now promiscuously scattered up and down in the world whether they concern Soul or Body Spiritual Blindness and Obduracy Poverty Slavery Reproach Sickness Pain Maimedness Deformity c. I say suppose all these were to be distributed among Mankind so as every one were to have an equal share of them would you be content to stand to this distribution I suppose there are not many persons in this Nation in so miserable and forlorn a condition that upon serious consideration of the special advantages they do or may partake â—f above many other Millions in the World would consent to it But I shall add further for thy encouragement and the vindication of the goodness of God to thee That he hath put thee into a near capacity of obtaining as happy an Estate as the Rich or Learned or Powerful The Gate of Heaven is set open to thee Eternal Life and Immortality offered to thee upon more easie terms in some respect than to the Rich and Mighty Consider that God may on purpose set thee in a low station put thee into a mean condition to remove from thee the Temptations to Pride Luxury and other Vices which Riches or Honour would have exposed thee to and which he foresaw thou wouldest not be able to resist Consider that he is Wise and knows better what Condition is fit for thee than thou thy self dost and likewise good and hath therefore chosen what is best and most proper for thee Bestir thy self then and make a Vertue of Necessity and what thou must suffer suffer patiently resigning thy Will to the Will of God And seeing thou hast not nor art ever likely to obtain those things in the enjoyment whereof many men falsly place their happiness labour after durable Riches and Righteousness an Inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away Be not contented to be miserable here and eternally miserable hereafter when thou needest not And seeing God hath denied thee these worldly Goods to compell thee as it were to seek after better This course if thou takest of loving and fearing God and keeping his Commandments thou shalt not only obtain Eternal Life hereafter but also render thy condition tolerable nay comfortable to thee here Thou shalt enjoy inward peace and satisfaction of Mind and for thy outward estate God will if he sees it best for thee raisâ— thee up Friends to assist thee or otherwise make such provision for thee that thou shalt not want what is necessary for thy support and maintenance CHAP. VIII Of Pleasure Fourthly I Proceed to Pleasure which is either Bodily or Spiritual Sensual or Intellectual But first I shall endeavour to explain what is meant by this Word Pleasure what is the true sense and notion of it Pleasure is that agreeable and delightful Sense that is excited in the Soul either by an impression or motion made upon the outward Organs or Sensation by any suitable Object and cenveyed by the Nerves to the Brain or else by internal consideration and reflection upon any Object or Action by the Understanding Those are called pleasant Tastes or Smells which are apt to cause such a gentle motion of the Nerves belonging to the Organs of those Senses the Tongue and Nose as is naturally destined to excite a grateful and delicious sense in the Soul Those delectable Sights which in like manner affect our Eyes as curious Pictures and Statues artificial Engines elegant and regular motions Those agreeable Sounds which have a charming influence on our Ears as Musick and Harmony The Touch or Feeling is gratified and delighted by various motions of those Nerves which do not minister to the other Senses To the Senses of Touch and Taste appertain those Pleasures which by the wise Providence of God are annexed to the satisfaction of our Natural Appetites These Appetites implanted in us and all Animals are to those Things or Actions which serve either to the support and preservation of the Individuum or each particular Animal or to the propagation of the Kind Those which serve to the support and preservation of the Individuum are the Appetites of Meat and Drink or the Actions of Eating and Drinking To which the Divine Providence hath not only premised a painful Sense of Hunger to be a Monitor to us when we have need of Meat and Drink and compel us to the use of them but hath also annexed Pleasure to the very Actions of Eating and Drinking which otherwise would have been no very grateful Exercise This Pleasure of eating and drinking abides no longer than till the Necessities of Nature are satisfied and so far Religion doth allow of it When our Hunger and Thirst are well appeased all that follows is but a faint kind of Pleasure if it be not rather to be stiled Satiety or Glutting Yet doth not the use of Meats and Drinks consist in an indivisible point there is a more moderate and restrained use of them When we keep within the bounds of our Appetites 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Hippocrates calls it not feeding to satiety nor of the most delicate Viands This ought to be our daily practice and there is a more free and liberal use of them in feasting which is also allowed us upon occasions of Joy and on Days of Thanksgiving as Marriages Christenings Victory over Publick Enemies Commemorations of great Mercies to Mankind in general our own Nation or our selves in particular Such are the Festivals of our Saviour's Nativity Resurrection Ascension Mission of the Holy Ghost c. Our Saviour himself was pleased to honour a Marriage-feast with his presence And he accepted of a great Feast from Matthew at his calling Luke 5.25 But to speak in general the Apostle saith God giveth us all things richly to enjoy And the Wiseman Eccles 5.18 It is good and comely for one to eat and to drink and to enjoy the good of all his labor that he taketh under the Sun all the days of his life which God giveth him for it is his portion And in the next Verse he saith It is the gift of God The same we have Chap. 3.13 So we see God allows us a free use and cheerful enjoyment of these outward Blessings We are to serve God with joyfulness and gladness of heart for the abundance of all things Deut. 28.47 God doth not prohibit us the use and participation of these or any other sensible Pleasures that are agreeable to Reason or