and of different degrees of Goodness the Vine the Fig-tree the Apple-tree if an Apple-tree produce the best Fruits in its kind though not equal to the Fruit of the Vine 't is perfectly good Thus in the World there are several Conditions of Life among Men some are in places of Dignity and Superiority others of subjection and service A Servant that is faithful and diligent adorns the Gospel and excels in that Relation and is equally accepted of God as others in a higher order He that gain'd two Talents was esteem'd as faithful as he that gain'd five because the profit resulting from the improvement was in proportion to the stock entrusted with him There is a Perfection Relative to the various Spiritual States of Christians here St. John addresses his Counsel to Christians under several Titles to Children to Young Men and Fathers with respect to their different Ages in Christianity A Child is perfect in the quality of a Child when he has the stature the strength the understanding that is becoming his Age though he is distant from that compleat state to which he will arrive in his mature Age. A young Man has the Perfection proper to his Age. A new Convert that has such degrees of Knowledge and Holiness as are suitable to the Means and his Time of advancement by them is esteem'd Compleat in that state of Grace Some are enter'd into the School of Heaven and are in the first Lessons of Christianity others have made a higher progress in it to the fulness of the Stature Beyond the Perfection attainable here there is an absolute Perfection of Holiness in the extent of its parts and intention of degrees 'T is our present Duty to aspire and endeavour after this but attain'd only in Heaven where every Saint is renewed into the perfect Image of God and made glorious in holiness the great end of our Saviour's Love in dying for us By gradations Christians ascend to that Consummate state the period of Perfection CHAP. VI. Particular Graces Consider'd the internal Principles of Perfection Divine Faith Doctrinal Justifying and in the disposal of Providence Doctrinal Faith is not Imagination nor Reason The Objects of it The Motives consider'd The Essential Perfections of God Faith a divine Revelation is the most reasonable Act of the Humane Mind God's Truth a Principle immediately evident His Jurisdiction reaches to mens Understandings God never requires our Assent to supernatural Truths but he affords sufficient Conviction that they are reveal'd by him God reveals himself in Scripture by humane expressions according to our Capacity We are obliged to believe supernatural Doctrines no farther than they are reveal'd To attempt the Comprehensive knowledge of them is perfectly vain 't is impossible impertinent and dangerous Curiosity often fatal to Faith An Answer to Objections that supernatural Doctrines are not reconcileable to Reason That when men use all means sincerely to know the truth of them and are not Convinc'd of it they shall not be Condemn'd for involuntary speculative Errors I Will now particularly Consider those Graces that are of a more Excellent Nature and have a more powerful Causality and Influence in the lives of Christians Faith and Love Hope and Fear are the internal Principles of Christian Perfection I will first discourse of Divine Faith the first principle and foundation of Religion as the Apostle declares He that comes to God must believe that he is and the rewarder of them that diligently seek him The belief of his Being and Bounty is the Motive of Holy Worship This Grace is most Honourable to God and beneficial to us The understanding is our Supreme Faculty and by submitting it to divine Revelation we pay the most humble Homage to him By Faith we Conceive of God becoming his divine Perfections in believing the Revelation he has made of his Nature which is as Incomprehensible as 't is Invisible and the declaration of his Will though the things promis'd are encompass'd with opposition and seeming impossibilities we glorifie his perfect Veracity and Omnipotence in the highest manner He that believes the divine Testimony sets his Seal that God is true ratifies his word in the most solemn manner Faith is most beneficial to us 'T is the root of the Spiritual Life from whence all other Graces derive their flourishing and fruitfulness 'T is not only productive of its own acts but excites and animates every Grace in its distinct exercise Like the animal Spirits that give motion and vigour to all the Senses Faith in Christ conveys to a weak Christain a kind of Omnipotence The Apostle declares I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me The most eminent effects of other Graces either active or suffering Fortitude Zeal Self-denyal Patience are attributed to Faith as the Honour of a Victory is ascribed to the General by whose Conduct and Courage the Battle is managed though 't is obtained by the Valour of the Soldiers By Faith we are justified from the guilt of our many and mighty Sins We are purified from their deep Pollutions We are adopted into the line of Heaven and are saved from misery extreme and eternal I will consider Divine Faith under three Heads 1. Doctrinal Faith 2. Justifying Faith 3. Faith in the disposal of all things by the ruling Providence of God Doctrinal Faith I will consider 1. In its nature 2. The objects of it 3. The motives 4. The efficacy 1. The nature of it All the notions of Faith agree in this 't is a dependance upon the truth of another Thus Trust is called Faith because it relies upon the truth of a Promise And one is said to keep his Faith inviolate when he performs the Promise that another relyed on Faith in the propriety of expression is an assent for the veracity of the speaker Accordingly Divine Faith is a firm assent of the Mind to things upon the authority of Divine Revelation 'T is distinguish'd from Imagination and from comprehensive Reason Fancy draws a Copy of those Objects that are perceived by the external Senses or compounds many Copies together but creates no images of things not perceptible by the Senses We can imagine Mountains of Gold because we have seen Gold and Mountains We conceive monstrous mixtures in Dreams but no actors can appear on the theatre of Fancy but in borrowed habits from sensible things But the Objects of Faith are such things as Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard and transcend the capacity of the Imagination to conceive and of the external Senses to represent Yet Infidels blaspheme the Eternal Truths of Divine Things as the fictions of Fancy 2. Faith is distinguish'd from Science acquired by Study and from Reason Reason implies a progress from one degree of Knowledge to another by consequences drawn from the first to the second But Faith asserts to things upon the account of superiour Authority that reveals them and commands us to believe them The same things may be
consistent with the certainty of the Assent to it and 't is contrary to the end of Revelation which is to humble us in the modest Ignorance of Divine Mysteries which we cannot Comprehend and to enlighten us in those things which are requisite to be known 'T is the Glory of God to conceal a matter He saveth us by the submission of Faith and not by the penetration of Reason The meanest Understanding as well as the most raised are equally capable of Salvation The light of Faith is as much below the light of Glory as 't is above the light of Nature 3. 'T is of dangerous Consequence There is an Hydropic Curiosity that swells the Mind with Pride and is thirsty after the Knowledge of things unsearchable This Curiosity has often been fatal to Faith 'T is like a man's endeavour to climb up to the inaccessible point of a Rock that is very hazardous to see the Sun in its brightness which may safely be seen from the plain Ground The searching into the unsearchable things of God's Nature and Decrees has been the occasion of many pernicious Errors 'T is like the silly Moths fluttering about the burning Light till its Wings are sing'd Beside the affecting to be Wise above what is written and the attempt to make supernatural Doctrines more receivable to Reason by insufficient Arguments weakens the Authority and Credit of Revelation the endeavour to make them more easily known makes them more hard to be believed To venture to explicate them beyond the Revelation of them in Scripture is like a man's going out of a Fortress wherein he is safe into an open Field and expose himself to the assaults of his Enemies 2. I will now consider the Objections against supernatural Doctrines 1. 'T is alledged they are irreconcilable with Reason and 't is not possible for the Understanding to believe against its own Light and Judgment In answer to this specious Objection the following particulars are to be consider'd 1. Sense Reason and Faith are the Instruments of our obtaining Knowledge Sense is previous to Reason and Reason prepares the way to Faith By our Senses we come to understand natural things by our Understandings we come to believe divine things Reason corrects the Errors of Sense Faith reforms the Judgment of Reason The Stars seem but glittering Points but Reason convinces us they are vast Bodies by measuring the distance that lessens their greatness to our sight We cannot imagine that there are Men whose Feet are directly opposite to ours and are in no danger of falling but Reason demonstrates there are Antipodes 'T is as absurd for Reason to reject divine testimony and violate the sacred respect of Faith as for Sense to contradict the clearest Principles of Reason To deny supernatural Truths because they are above our Conception and Capacity is not only against Faith but against Reason that acknowledges its own imperfection 'T is true Reason and Faith are emanations from the Father of Lights and consequently there cannot be a real repugnance between them for God cannot deny himself Errors are often contrary but Truth is always harmonious with Truth If there seem to be an opposition it proceeds not from the Light of the reasonable Mind but from the Darkness that encompasses it 'T is certain that a Proposition that contradicts right Reason the general Light of Nations that have nothing common between them but the Humane Nature cannot be true As the Doctrine of Epicurus That God was not to be worship'd because he had no need of our Service and the Popish Doctrine of Transubstantiation that imputes Contradictions to God We must distinguish between things that cannot be discovered by Reason nor comprehensively known when they are revealed and those that are contrary to Reason In Paradise Reason was an inferiour and imperfect Light Adam could not perfectly know God He dwells in Light inaccessible not only to mortal Eyes but to the immortal Angels They cannot penetrate to the centre of his Perfections The Propositions that involve a Contradiction have the plain characters of falsity but the Doctrines of the Gospel that are incomprehensible have the characters of sublimity Reason cannot measure the extent nor reach the heighth of the love of Christ that passes knowledge That supernatural Doctrines are incomprehensible now they are reveal'd is one Argument to prove they could never be invented and discovered by Men For that which naturally cannot enter into the Mind of Man cannot naturally proceed out of it 2. Since the Fall Reason is weaken'd and its Light is clouded In the narrow and low sphere of natural things how often is Reason mistaken and lost in a Labyrinth There is not a Flower a Fly a Stone but is a Mystery We cannot fully understand the vegetation of the one nor the sensation of the other nor the motion of the other Let us make a tryal of the Light of Reason upon our selves and we shall discover its defects Who can discern the vital bands wherewith the Soul and Body are combin'd By what power does the Soul represent absent Objects Sounds without Noise Colours without Tinctures Light without Clearness Darkness without Obscurity What account can be given of the admirable operations of the Soul in Dreams when the Senses are suspended from working and the Body seems to be a warm Carcass 'T is one of those Secrets that Humane Wits labours in vain to explain how it composes Discourses so just and regular as to the invention and stile which by their impression in the Memory we know were not the effects of wild Fancy but of sober Judgment and that awake and intent we could not so speedily and orderly frame 'T is as strange as that an Artificer should work more exactly with his Eyes cover'd than seeing that a Painter should draw a Face better in the dark than in open day-light That Man were totally deserted of Reason who not being able to see things that are but a just distance from his Eyes would not acknowledge that things distant from him the extent of the Horizon are beyond his sight We are finite Beings there is some proportion between our Minds and our Natures If we cannot understand our selves what folly is it to presume that we know God Canst thou by searching find out God Canst thou find out the Almighty unto Perfection It is high as Heaven what canst thou do Deeper than Hell what canst thou know The measure is longer than the Earth and broader than the Sea Who can unfold the Divine Attributes They are not confused in their unity nor divided in number they are not separable qualities but his Essence He is not only wise but Wisdom not only lives but is Life We cannot speak of some Attributes without distinction Wisdom and Power nor of others without a seeming opposition Justice and Mercy yet they are the same Divine Nature and cannot be separate but in our thoughts He is Eternal without succession with him there
to what a Man has and not according to what he has not A covetous Man though rich will pretend the smallness of his Estate to excuse and palliate his illiberal giving and makes himself doubly guilty of feigned Poverty and real Avarice in God's sight But a liberal Man deviseth liberal things He duely considers the Circumstances of Persons in want and esteems a just Occasion of Charity to be a golden Opportunity and will be noble and magnificent 2. I will consider the difficulty of the Cure This will be evident from the causes of the Disease and the frequent unsuccessfulness of the means in order to it There is no kind of Sinners more inconvincible and incureable than the Worldly-minded 'T is a Rule without exception those Sins which have the greatest appearance of Reason and the least of Sensuality are the most plausible and prevailing So long as there are remains of Reason in Mankind there will be Modesty and brutish Lusts will expose to Shame The high birth and honourable rank of the unclean cannot varnish and disguise their Impurities but renders them more infamous and odious Besides unless Men are not prodigiously bad if they are not free from Fault they will not defend their Intemperance and Incontinency If there be any spark of Conscience alive it discovers and condemns those Sins and assists a faithful counsellor in their Cure But the Covetous by many fair pretences justifie themselves The Apostle expresses them by the cloke of Covetousness to hide its filthiness They pretend to be frugal but not covetous They alledge the example of those who are reputed wise who prosecute the gains of the World as the main scope of their actions They will tell you 't is necessary Prudence to improve all Opportunities to increase their Estates to secure them from Evils that may happen and to neglect providing for our Families is worse than Infidelity Thus Reason is ingaged to joyn with the Affection From hence the Covetous are not only inamour'd with the unworthy Object but averse from the Cure of the vicious Affection The love of Money smothers the Mind with Ignorance and darkens its serenity that the filthiness of the Sin is indiscernible The Covetous are like Persons sick beyond the sense of their Disease and near Death without feeling the presages of it Besides those corrupt Affections which in their rise and degrees depend upon the humours of the Body that are mutable are sometimes with force and violence carried to their Objects but when the disposition of the Body is altered they flag and distasts succeed But the root and principle of Covetousness is in the Will and when that is depraved 't is diabolical in obstinacy The most fierce and greedy Beasts when they have glutted their ravenous Appetites do not presently seek after new prey but Covetousness like a Dropsie-thirst is inflam'd by drinking and inrag'd by increasing Riches And whereas other vicious desires are weakened and broke by tract of time Covetousness derives new life and vigour from age The thoughts and affections of the Covetous are never more deeply tainted with the Earth than when they draw near to their fatal period and their Bodies must be resolved into their original Elements 2. The difficulty of the Cure is evident from the inefficacy of the means used to effect it The Divine Authority of the Scripture the clearest Reason the plainest Experience are often used in vain to reform the Covetous Of a thousand Persons in whom Covetousness is the regent Lust scarce ten are cleansed and changed from covetous to be liberal 1. The Word of God has no commanding perswasive power upon them The Word declares that Covetousness is Idolatry for it deposes God and places the World the Idol of Mens Heads and Hearts in his Throne It deprives him of his Regalia his Royal Prerogatives which he has reserved to himself in the Empire of the World He is infinitely jealous of our transferring them to the Creature Our highest Adoration and Esteem our Confidence and Trust our Love and Complacency our Dependance and Observance are entirely and essentially due to him Who in the Heaven can be compared to the Lord Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to him Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth I desire in comparison of thee The Lord is my portion saith my Soul The name of the Lord is a strong Tower the righteous fly to it and are safe Behold as the eyes of Servants look to the hands of their Masters so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God until he have Mercy upon us These Scriptures are declarative of those eternal respects that are due to God from reasonable Creatures and he is highly dishonoured and displeased when they are alienated from him Now the Covetous deifie the World The rich Man's Riches are his strong City and as an high Wall in his imagination He will trust God no farther than according to visible supplies and means He takes not God for his strength but trusts in the abundance of his Riches His Heart is possessed and polluted with the love of the World and God is excluded Therefore we are commanded not to love the VVorld nor the things of it If any Man love the VVorld the love of the Father is not in him He is provok'd to Jealousie the most severe and sensible Attribute by the coldness of Mens Love From hence it appears how this comprehensive Sin is injurious to God The Psalmist tells us that the Covetous are not only the objects of God's Anger but abhorrence Thus he brands them The covetous whom the Lord abhors The words are of the most heavy signification If his Loving-kindness be better than Life his Hatred is worse than Death 'T is the root of all Evil in Persons of all conditions civil and sacred This bribes those that are in the Seat of Judgment to clear the guilty and which is a bolder Crime to condemn the innocent Of this there is recorded a cruel and bloody Instance in the death of Naboth occasioned by Ahab's Covetousness This corrupts the Preachers of the Word to speak to the Lusts not the Consciences of Men upon whom they have a servile dependance And as the Spirit of Delusion is never more the Spirit of Delusion than under the appearance of an Angel of Light so his Ministers are never more his Ministers than when they pervert the Word of God to support sinful Practices by corrupt Principles Covetousness makes Men faint and false in the time of tryal They will save the World with the loss of their Souls In short it was the impulsive cause of a Sin of the greatest Guilt that ever was committed in betraying the Son of God and his suffering the most cruel and ignominious Death A Sin never to be expiated but by the Flames that shall consume this World the place wherein he suffered Covetousness excludes all in whom
Carnal Satisfaction What sweeter reflection can there be of Conscience the only true and internal Comforter than upon Innocence and Victory 2. The discovery of our progress in Holiness is made by the habitual frame of the Heart and the fixed regularity of the Life There cannot be a true Judgment of a Christian either when he is best disposed or when he is worst disposed One that has less Grace may sometimes in the use of the Ordinances feel high and holy Affections in an unusual manner An excellent Saint in time of temptation may feel the power of Corruption strangely great A strong Man in a fainting Fit is weaker than another a weak Man in a Fever is stronger than two But we may judge of the degrees of Grace by the spiritual frame of the Heart and the actions flowing from it The character and denomination of Men in Scripture is from two Principles the Flesh and Spirit The Apostle tells us That they that are after the Flesh do mind the things of the Flesh and they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit Those who are not distinguish'd from the Carnal in the Resurrection of Grace shall not be separated from them in the Resurrection of Glory The Carnal are under the prevalent influences of the outward Senses their Minds and Wills their Imaginations and Affections their Discourses and Actions are all pointed on the Earth their weak Eyes are dazzled with the false lustre of worldly things their Hearts are ravish'd with them With what an accent and emphasis do they express their desires Who will shew us any good The World is the principal Object of their Esteem and Love they labour continually they sweat and freeze and move in a circle of toilsome Employments their desires are uncessant and unsatisfied without obtaining it and their acquiring one thing kindles desires after another But how slow and slack are their endeavours after eternal things They use God to enjoy the World But the Saints are spiritual in their Principles Objects and Ends. God is a pure Spirit and the more we are spiritualiz'd the more we partake of the Divine Nature and are pleasing in his sight This discovers it self by our Esteem Affections and Conversations When the Mind is purified from Carnal Prejudices and Passions then the beauty and goodness of God all his amiable excellencies appear and powerfully attract the Thoughts and Affections The Christian that can say with the Spirit of the Psalmist Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth I desire beside thee and in the Expression of the Church The Lord is my portion saith my Soul he is spiritually-minded He places his Happiness in the Favour and Fruition of God His temporal affairs are subordinate to his main design He prosecutes with the greatest resolution diligence and delight his blessed End He uses the World to enjoy God Riches is principally valued by him as he sees God's Love in them and shews his Glory by them Now 't is an infallible Rule as we are affected towards God and those things that have the nearest resemblance to him accordingly we may judge of the degrees of our Spirituality More particularly 1. The Divine Law is a clear Glass wherein the Wisdom the Rectitude the Goodness and Holiness of God are evident and consequently according to our Valuations and Love to it there is a sure sign of a Divine Temper and its prevalency in the Soul David the Man after God's own Heart declares it to be his incomparable Treasure his dearest Enjoyment 'T was the pleasing Object of his Mind and Will 'T was his meditation all the day He expresses his Love to it in the highest degree by intimating 't is inexpressible Oh how I love thy Law He loved it because 't was pure The Holiness of God so conspicuously shin'd in its Precepts that it was as strong an ingagement to his Affections as the Majesty of God by its Sanction oblig'd his Conscience to obey it 2. When the Worship of God in its purity and simplicity is the Object of our Esteem and Love 't is the effect of a spiritual frame of Soul During the Levitical Dispensation the Service of God was perform'd with Pomp and Lustre suitable to the Church in its minority when Faith did need the assistance of the Senses But now the Church is come to mature Age and brought to nearer Communion with God the gaudy allurements of Sense are taken away Men are naturally under the dominion of Sense of this there is the most clear and palpable Proof in the Heathen World that would rather worship visible Idols than the true invisible God 'T is a certain indication of Mens Carnal Minds that they are pleased with Carnal Service that lavishly runs out in Formalities which by sympathy works upon them This affects the Eye and is far more easie than Spiritual inward Worship that issues from the strength of the Soul and is performed with attention and ardency This is very disparaging to the Nature of God for it proceeds from the conceiving of him to be like themselves who are not Heavenly and Spiritual to be pleased with an Earthly Bodily Service The introducing Theatrical Ceremonies into the Service of God is directly opposite to the simplicity of the Gospel Whatever pretences are made that they set a gloss upon the plainness of Christian Worship and make it more amiable and venerable they are like the artificial Painting of natural Beauty that corrupts and does not commend it The productions of Humane Minds are imperfect at first and are polish'd and arrive to perfection by degrees But Divine Institutions are compleat in their kind at first and the more they recede from their original they lose of their purity and perfection How acceptable those parts of Worship are not chosen and commanded by God we may clearly understand by considering that the enjoyning such new Rites is a tacit presumption that the Reason of Man knows better how God should be honour'd than himself does and how unprofitable they are to us is evident for being used without his Warrant and Promise we cannot expect the conveyance of his Grace and obtaining his Favour by them Only Spiritual Religion the inward reality is of value in his esteem When the Understanding is spiritually inlightened it esteems the simplicity of Gospel-worship to be its true Beauty 'T is like the nakedness of Paradise the indication of the unstained Purity of our first Parents in that state 'T is true in the Worship of God we are to glorifie him with our Bodies to behave our selves in such a manner as may express Reverence and excite Affection but the joining Humane Devices upon that pretence is the snare of Conscience and has been fatal to the Peace of the Church 3. The Mind when spiritually illuminated sees the true worth of the Saints though in an obscure condition and accordingly honours and loves them 'T is the character of one that