it comes to pass that the external Act conceived to be prohibited by the Divine Law is no real Breach thereof save only when and as it impedes or diminisheth the Souls due Affection or Love which of right it ought to have to God in order to its own Felicity as shall hereafter in the explication of the seventh and Eighth Commandments Sect. 19. be made appear 7. In the greatest Alienation therefore of the Heart from God is the greatest sin which Alienation because it befalls the Damned in that their Aversion from God is perpetual the Damned are the greatest Sinners Object 1. Sin is the Transgression of the Law of God. 1 John 3. 4. and the Transgression of the Law is therefore sinful because it is repugnant to the Divine Will and an Offence to God. Solut. The Definition of Sin given by the Blessed Apostle must needs be infallibly true but the reason offered why the Transgression of the Law is sinful is none of the Apostles and its truth may very well be questioned For in case Gods Will had been absolutely set against Sin rather than it should have been ever in the World neither the Author nor Actors of it had received a Being since he was the Maker and Creator of them both And therefore it is not in respect of any Injury Harm or Inconvenience whatsoever that can befall the Almighty who is infinitely above the reach of any Displeasure or Annoyance possible to be done unto him by the committing of Sin that he forbids it but because it is mischievous and hurtful to the Creature in many respects as hath been set forth in the three preceding Sections last past So that the Reason why the Creator gave Man a Law to observe was not simply this that he required Obedience should be given to whatsoever he commanded but that Man through Obedience to the Law which is a Rule that if rightly observed will make him happy might reap the Benefit of the due Observance of it as from this subsequent Argument will I think be evinced Tho Obedience is due to be performed but in respect of some Command given to be obeyed no Command is to be given to be obeyed but in respect of some good End whereunto it tends for to command a thing either to no End at all or to a bad End would be irrational since to do the former would be an impertinent Vanity and to do the latter would be plain Perversness both which since they are infinitely remote and estranged from the Nature of God 't is impossible he should command any thing but for a good End. And forasmuch as he is utterly incapable of receiving any manner or measure of Good by reason of his infinite Self-perfection he cannot possibly require Obedience from his Creature for any Good either of Profit or Pleasure expected to redound thereby to himself And therefore whenever he gives a Law or Command to his Creature he does it for this sole End that the Creature may be benefited thereby in case a sincere and cordial Obedience be performed unto it Object 2. If God cannot possibly give a Command but such only as tends to the Good of the Creature it will not be in his Power to command a thing of that nature that simple Disobedience to his Will without respect had to some or other definite Good to be obtained by fulfilling the Command should be a sin Solut. That God cannot possibly give a Command but for some good End and Purpose and that he himself is incapable of receiving any good hath been proved before But it doth not thence follow that he cannot command a thing to be done without respect had to some or other express definite Good because he may command a thing purely indifferent in it self to the intent that men by yielding Obedience to his Command for the Commands sake may be inured to submit with readiness and chearfulness to his Will in all things which whosoever doth cannot fail of being at length eternally happy because the most of his Precepts at least as in Sect. 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20. will be seen are proper means in themselves for procuring mans Felicity which the performing of things wholly indifferent in their Nature when enjoyned by God if any such there be by facilitating of Obedience will be apt to further in that a pliableness to observe Commands in things necessary will be promoted thereby But if it were so that Obedience were good for the meer Commands sake without respect had to the benefit intended to accrue to the sincere Observers of it Disobedience would be equally sinful in every sinful Act whatsoever whence a small stroke given in wrath would be as great a Crime as Parricide or Treason to rob a poor Man of all he has would be a Fault as small as to steal a Penny from the richest Person and to commit Adultery or Incest would be no greater a sin than a lascivious Thought or Word since all sin without exception is absolutely forbidden by God and not one single Crime whatsoeever allowed to be committed But if Disobedience to Gods Commands be therefore sinful in that it causes a Want or Privation of some good or degree thereof which is a Means conducible to Felicity then is every sin greater or less than other by how much the good whereof it deprives the Soul is more or less available then other for bringing it to Bliss And therefore although every Sin be a Transgression of the Law yet inasmuch as every Branch and Title of the Law is not of equal Virtue to further Mans Felicity 't is clear that all Acts whereby the Law is transgressed are not equally bad or sinful Object 3. God by the sole Act of Creation or making Man out of nothing to have an Existence or Being obtained a Sovereignty over him by virtue of which he has a Right of Dominion or a just Power to lay what Commands he pleases upon him Whence it must needs be that every Act of Disobedience to Gods Commands is a Wrong and Injury done unto him although the Performance of the Command would neither do him good nor the omitting to do it procure him any harm Solut. That God has a Right of Dominion over Man or a just Power to command him whatever he pleases is an undeniable Truth but the Ground thereof is not solely as the Objection would make it because Man was created by God and received his Being from him but by reason also that such is the unerrable Rectitude of his Understanding and the absolute Goodness of his Will that he cannot possibly command him any thing but what if duly observed will infallibly procure his Good. For if God by the sole Act of Creation abstracting from this that he created Man from an end agreeable to his Nature certainly to be obtain'd if he obeyed the Law of his Maker had a Right to dispose of him after any manner whatsoever without
hearty Affection unto God Par. 6 7 8. Object 2. The sincere habitual Love to God above all things cannot of it self alone justifie any one because the Divine Law requires that a Man love his Neighbour also as himself Solut. True it doth so but since it is impossible but that he who cordially desires and accordingly stedfastly endeavours to enjoy God eternally should also unfeignedly wish the like to his Neighbour which comprehends all Mankind and assists him when occasion serves in what is necessarily conducible thereunto so far as he well can in doing of which the Duty of loving a Mans Neighbour as himself is fulfilled as will be at large set forth in the Explanation of the Decalogue Sect. 18. and 19. 'T is plain that he who loves God above all things doth in consequence thereto of necessity love his Neighbour like as himself If a Man love me he will keep my Words John 14. 23. And this Commandment have we from him that he who loveth God loves his Brother also 1 John 4. 21. But of this more hereafter in the three last Sections Object 3. If Men be formally justified by their own habitual Righteousness then are they not formally justified by the Righteousness of Christ imputed to them But Men are formally justified by the Righteousness of Christ imputed to them Christ is made unto us Righteousness 1 Cor. 1. 30. Therefore Men are not formally justified by their own habitual Righteousness Solut. In answer to the proof of the Minor Proposition viz. That Christ is made unto us Righteousness I return that in the same Text he is likewise said to be made unto us Wisdom and Sanctification and Redemption and therefore if Christ's Righteousness can be proved from thence to be the formal Cause of man's Justification or that man is formally just thereby by the same Text it may be equally and as well proved that man is formally wise and formally holy by the Wisdom and Holiness of Christ which if he truly were then would a justified Person be as just wise and Holy as Christ himself and consequently he ought to have no remorse for any thing he ever did nor to crave pardon for his Sins and by consequence since Sin is a Transgression of the Law unless he no more transgress God's Law than our Blessed Saviour himself did he 'l be a Transgressor of the Law and not a Transgressor of the Law a Sinner and no Sinner at the same time which is impossible Christ's Righteousness therefore in the quoted Text is Metonymically to be understood for the efficient Cause of man's Righteousness even as his Wisdom and Holiness likewise are in respect of our being wise and holy In this sense all the meritorious Doings and Sufferings of Christ may be rightly said to be ours whilst by virtue of them Grace is wrought in our Hearts by which we overcome the Temptations of the World the Flesh and the Devil so that the Benefit of them really redounds to us and whatever Righteousness we have here or shall have hereafter it is the very effect of the righteousness of Christ For since rational Arguments Motives are the proper inducements whereby a Rational Creature is inclined to Good whilst through them the Understanding is illuminated with Truth and the Will excited to the love of it 't is evident that nothing possibly besides except the immediate irresistible Will of God could so effectually work on mens rational Souls to cause them to forsake the love of the World for the love of God as Arguments and Motives fetcht from the consideration of Christ's love to man his Incarnation Doctrine Conversation Passion Resurrection Ascension Session at the right hand of his Father and his coming to Judgment Whence in very truth those men who in attributing man's formal Righteousness to the Righteousness of Christ made his by imputation through Faith think they attribute more to Christ and give him greater honour than they do that hold the sincere habitual love of God to be the formal cause of Justification are under a manifest Mistake For since Christ is personally God and not personally Man and that the infinite value of his precious merits is from the hypostatical Union of his Manhood with the Deity 't is plain that it is far more excellent and glorious that Christ's righteousness which comprehends the whole merit of all his active and passive Obedience should be the efficient Cause of man's Justification by producing a real habitual Righteousness in his Soul than the formal cause thereof by a meer imputed Righteousness because such imputed Righteousness in case it were possible would be the Righteousness of Christ as man for otherwise a righteous person would be infinitely righteous and consequently be God since nothing is infinitely perfect in any respect whatever but he alone whereas if his Righteousness be the efficient Cause of man's Righteousness it is proper to him as he is both God and Man. But indeed it is impossible that Christ's Righteousness should become formally man's for seeing it is personal and thence a thing extrinsecal to every one but himself 't is not possible to become a formal Cause to others in that a formal Cause whether it be substantial or accidental is an internal Cause and essentially constitutive of the thing whereof it is a Cause For instance Man's Soul is the formal Cause and a substantial essential part of man as man or a rational Animal Prudence is the formal Cause and an accidental essential part of man as he is prudent and so is Temperance of a temperate man and every Abstract else of the Concrete to which it is appropriated For what is a prudent man but one habitually indued with Prudence or a temperate man but one whom the habit of Temperance formally makes such And must not a righteous person by parallel Reason be one habitually possessed of Righteousness If it were not thus but that on the contrary a prudent man could be prudent by the Prudence of another without the Habit of Prudence within himself then were it possible that a man might be prudent though really imprudent in all his doings and so be prudent and utterly imprudent at once And if a man could be temperate without the Virtue of Temperance inherent in him he might possibly be temperate when he wallowed in the Sink of all filthy Pleasures and thence be temperate and not at all temperate at the same time And so in like manner if a man could be righteous by the Righteousness of another without any inherent Righteousness of his own he might possibly at the same instant be righteous and a notorious Transgressor of God's Law and consequently be a just and unjust person a Sinner and no Sinner both together If it were replied that God always in the very moment wherein Christ's Righteousness through Faith is imputed to any man infuses entire holiness into his Soul so that he exactly keeps every Divine Precept I would make this
and slight those Benefits which God by them tenders to him and in so doing not only sets slight of the Author of them but also rejects the End at which they ultimately aim Felicity No man therefore possibly can deliberately dishonour his Parents or other his Superiors but his Heart will be thereby estranged from God. But much more in wilfully disobeying their just Commands is there an Aversion from their Sovereign Good for therein is a direct Refusal of God's Goodness offered by them whilst every thing they lawfully command is some way more or less directly or by consequence advantageous to the acquisition of Bliss if right use be made thereof The 6th Commandment which is Non occides Thou shalt not kill or Thou shalt do no Murther is not kept by a meer abstaining from desiring contriving or attempting the Death or bodily Harm of our Neighbour but in wishing and doing likewise our Endeavour to preserve his Life and Health in order to the eternal Welfare of his Soul which we cannot do save only as we are excited thereto by the Love we bear to our own Life and good Estate of our Bodies as serviceable to the End for which Life and all the Helps and Attendants of it were given For neither Health nor Life ought to be desired if such Circumstances occur as that the Preservation of them is inconsistent with the everlasting Welfare of the Soul which because it is placed in the Fruition of God the Love we have thereto is the principal reason and motive why we ought to desire to continue in Life and Health our selves or wish the like to our Neighbour for making preparation towards the full Enjoyment of him after this Life is ended And on the contrary the bare doing of bodily Harm to our Neighbour or even the taking away of his Life is no sin simply in it self considered but in this respect only that he who does it has not that due regard for want of the Love of God to the preservation of it which the importance thereof in order to the end whereunto it was given requires For who is ignorant that the Execution of the Penalties in Laws for capital Crimes is no Sin either in the Judge who gives Sentence of Death or in him that executes the same provided they have no personal Malice to the Offender but solely have an Eye to the satisfying of the Law which intends not any Mischief to the Malefactor but Good to the Weal-public by removing an incorrigible Member from among the People But if the Judg or Executioner desire his Death out of hatred to him albeit he deserve to die and be justly condemned and executed there is Murther committed notwithstanding that the Party suffering has no more Torment inflicted on him than if no Malice had been towards him whence it is apparent that the Breach of this Commandment lies in that depraved Disposition of Mind which is opposite to the sound desire of wishing a Man's Neighbour's bodily Welfare in order to the Health of his Soul which because none ever heartily doth but in virtue of his own Love of Bliss the Want of that Love is the formal Reason why the bereaving any one of Life or working his bodily harm is a sin or hinderance to Felicity The 7th Commandment is Thou shalt not commit Adultery the Breach of which doth not consist in the material Act of carnal copulation with anothers Wife but in forsaking the Love of God for an unlawful Pleasure For suppose a Wife should leave her Husband and be married to another Man inculpably ignorant of her former Marriage the Woman alone would offend against this Precept albeit the Man also transgressed the Letter of the Law in carnally knowing anothers Wife Or in case a Man should have his Neighbours Consort put into his Bed thinking her to be his own he offended not although he should commit the external Act of Adultery with her And on the contrary if an Husband lay with his own Wife thinking her to be his Neighbours he would in so doing sin against this Precept and yet no Transgression of it would thereby be made as to the external Act prohibited Hence it is plain that the Violation of the Seventh Comandment is in the depraved Affection of the Will in turning the Heart away from the Love of God to unchast Pleasures and that it is kept by having a Mind undefiled with fleshly Lusts which every one so long hath as Charity or the Love of God above all things is predominant in the Soul. If it be objected that simple Fornication also alienates the Heart from God through the desire of unlawful Venereal Pleasures whence it should be a sin no less grievous then Adultery I answer that he who attempts to pollute his Neighbours Bed knows that he ought upon a double account not to do it First because his Neighbours Wife is not tied in a Matrimonial Bond to him Secondly because she is bound to another and therefore he will have his Heart more hardned in sin or farther estranged from God than if he only desired to satisfie his Lust with one from whom upon the former account alone he holds himself to be restrained and so the sin of Adultery all Circumstances being equal is a more heinous Transgression of the Law of God than the Sin of simple Fornication is The 8th Commandment is Thou shalt not steal by which we are obliged not only to abstain from taking by Force or Fraud whatsoever temporal Good our Neighbour has a Right to but also to employ our Endeavours if just occasion require to help to secure him in the lawful Possession of the same yet with this intent that he use it as a Means to further him in the pursuit of his Eternal Good the fruition of which is the Vltimate End of all Laws whether Divine Moral Canonical or Civil in the sincere Desire whereof they are only truly kept and for want of which they are solely broken as to their principal and Grand Design albeit not as to their particular respective ends which they more immediately but less beneficially look at And therefore even this Precept which more obviously regards and enjoyns the doing Justice may be violated as to the letter of it without a formal Breach thereof as will appear by shewing that in some Case one Man may without violating this Precept take from another without his Consent what the Municipal Laws of the Land where they both live entitle him to which I thus undertake to do No Man by the primary Law of Nature or Reason can or ever could except Adam who was Lord of the whole Earth claim Propriety in any thing without himself Propriety came by a latter Law namely either by Distribution of Lands and Goods made by Adam or else by Division or Occupancy after Adams Decease of what he had not disposed of immediately or mediately in his Life time to which purpose Grotius in his Second Book
efficacious Cause of Mans Eternal Felicity the truth of which shall hereafter God assisting be shown in particular as it hath already been in general SECT XI Faith Hope and Charity are necessary Means for procuring everlasting Bliss Sincere habitual Charity formally expels Mortal Sin and is therefore formal but in compleat Righteousness Perfect Charity formally expells all Sin and is therefore perfect formal Righteousness or the absolute fulfilling of the Divine Law. 1. SInce it is clear by Sect. 8. Solut. of Object 1. that God created Man and gave him a Law not in expectation of any Profit or Pleasure to be acquired to himself but altogether for the Benefit and Delight of Man and that it is likewise proved in Sect. 4. that the End for which Man was created and had a Law given him is the full Fruition of God by perfect Love it necessarily follows in regard the End cannot be obtain'd but by Means available for procuring of it that the Knowledge of the Means available thereto no less than of the End it self is requisite to be had in order to the Acquisition of the perfect Love of God or that full Enjoyment of him which is Mans Ultimate End and eternal Felicity 2. And because Men arrive not at the certain Knowledg of things but either by Demonstration which begets Science or by an inerrable Testimony which creates an infallible Belief 't is clear seeing a Demonstration wherein Felicity consists tho it be a thing in it self demonstrable as appears by Sect. 4. cannot by the generality of Mankind be attained unto much less wherein all the Means available to the obtaining of Felicity some of them being positive and supernatural are placed that a Revelation from God who alone is inerrable was necessary for the Discovery both of the Means of Bliss and of Bliss it self to the World in order to Man's acquiring of Beatitude 3. And forasmuch as that Knowledg which proceeds from and is caused by Divine Revelation is Divine Belief or Faith 't is plain that Divine Faith is required on Man's part towards the obtaining of Felicity 4. And in regard it is ineffectual to the obtaining of Felicity to have firm Belief only wherein it truly consists and what the Means available to procure it are without some farther Progress made towards the getting possession of it which will never be unless a man have Hope by reason of the Divine Promise that in the due use of the means of Bliss he shall acquire the same 't is plain that Divine Hope is likewise requisite as well as Faith for every one that shall eternally be saved 5. And forasmuch as he that has a right Belief both of Bliss and the Means available to it and withal an Assurance that in the due use of the Means Felicity will be attainable by him shall reap no Benefit thereby if he never enter upon a resolved serious Course of making a constant diligent use of those Means which he most certainly will not do unless he first have an unfeigned ardent desire to enjoy the End whereto they tend the eternal Fruition of God 't is evident that the sincere and hearty love of God or Charity proceeding from Faith and Hope for no good Man stedfastly desires what he believes not to be true or has no Hope to obtain is moreover necessary for the acquirment of Felicity 6. And seeing the habitual Love of God above all things is utterly inconsistent with the habitual Love of the World above God 't is manifest that by the accession of the habitual Love of God above all things into the Soul the habitual Love of the World above God is necessarily expelled and consequently that Sin whether taken privatively as an Aversion from God or positively for a Conversion to the Creature which brings everlasting Death and Damnation Sect. 7. whence it is called mortal and damnable Sin. 7. Hence in regard as well Paena sensus as Paena damni are the natural and necessary Result of the perpetual Continuance in sin in the manner before shown Sect. 7. it is manifest that Charity possessing the Soul and thereby freeing it from mortal Sin by formally expelling it out of the same Par. 6. secures it from the Danger both of the loss of Heaven and of incurring the Pains of Hell. 8. And forasmuch as he that is secured from the Danger of Damnation and the Pains of Hell is freed from the Guilt of mortal Sin which is a liableness to be eternally damned and tormented for Sin and that he who is freed from the Guilt of mortal Sin is blameless and innocent in respect of the mortal Breach of the Law which alone creates a mortal Guilt and that he who is blameless and innocent in respect of the mortal Breach of the Law is a righteous Person or acquit by the Law from the Punishment due in respect of such Breach it necessarily follows that Charity in regard it formally expells mortal Sin the mortal Breach of the Law is formal Righteousness or the formal Cause of Justification being that which formally justifies and makes Righteous 9. And as every degree of sincere habitual Charity formally expells mortal Sin and thereby frees the Soul from mortal Guilt and the Consequent of it eternal Pain as well that of the Torments of Hell as of the loss of Heaven so doth perfect Charity formally expel all Sin and consequently remove all Guilt and thence exempt from all Pain and Misery whatsoever For he that loves God with all the Might and Power of his Soul hath thereby of necessity totally rooted out of it all the love of the World and so hath no Sin but is perfectly Righteous and hath fulfilled the Great Commandment or Royal Law Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind which to do is compleat Righteousness the highest Act of glorifying God and eternal Felicity Object 1. When the Act whereby the Law of God is transgressed be it Adultery Theft or any other Enormity is over the Sin is past and yet the Guilt remains which is contrary to what hath been said Solut. The Sin is not past when the Act of Adultery Theft or any other Enormity is over For since Sin formally taken is a Want or Privation of that sincere hearty Affection which the Soul ought to have unto God as its Sovereign Good Sect. 8. Par. 3 4 't is evident that the Sin still remains tho the materially sinful Act be over so long as there is a Want of the due Love of God in the Soul which there always is till it be habitually endued with Charity And while the Sin remains the Guilt must needs do so but no longer for 't is only while a Man is in the State of mortal Sin that he is obnoxious to eternal Misery and not when he is in the State of Grace or ready Way to Bliss as he evermore is when he has an habitual
sect 13 14. which perfected is Felicity it evidently follows that there is not any Vice mortally vicious or finally prejudicial to Man's Felicity save only by reason of Charity 's inconsistency with it But it is impossible that those who either through Infidelity never believe or through Apostasie fall from the belief that there is an eternal Being which ought to be belov'd above all things should place their Affections on God and equally impossible that they who either through Presumption or Despair will not make use of the necessary Means should attain to the End to be acquired by them Whence it is manifest that every one of these Vices are Mortal Sins and necessarily if not forsaken destructive of Salvation If it be replied that every Sin is a Transgression of the Law and every Transgression of the Law a Mortal Sin no less than Infidelity Apostasie Presumption and Despair and therefore destructive of Salvation as well as they I grant it to be true in every one abiding in the State of sinful Nature for since such a Man's Will is habitually vitiated with the Love of the World above the Love of God every Act proceeding from that Source or Principle will partake of its Nature and Disposition and all such Love is Mortal Sin Sect. 8. par 5. But to him that is in the State of Grace or endued with the Habit of Charity which is Formal Righteousness sect 11. pa. 6 7 8. I deny that any single sinful Act or Transgression of the Law is Mortal unless it be such as either by the grossness of it or else by the perverse wilfulness of committing it destroys the Habit of Charity in the Soul for it is impossible that that Man should suffer the Pains of Hell who habitually loves God above the World and prefers the enjoyment of him before all Terrestrial Pleasures sect 11. pa. 6 7. albeit thro' infirmity and the frailty of human Nature he sometimes transgress in smaller Matters some part of the Law of God. Object 2. Faith and Hope seem very excellent Virtues in themselves Faith in that it owns the Truth of God in readily assenting and firmly adhering to those mysterious Truths revealed in the Scripture which wholly transcend all our Reason and Apprehension And Hope in that it owns the infinite Power and Goodness of God such Faith and Hope being required as Conditions of our Salvation and that God may be righteous in absolving and saving Sinners Rom. 3. v. 24 25 26 27. Whence it appears that they are on these accounts abstracting from this that they are Ministerial to Charity necessary to Salvation Solut. That the owning the Truth of God by readily assenting and firmly adhering to the Mysterious Truths revealed in the Scripture and the owning the infinite Power and Goodness of God are any Virtues when they are not accompanied with Charity besides for the reason shewn sect 13. par 1. therefore deny because the Devil not only gives a most firm assent to every Divine Truth revealed in the Scripture as knowing it to be the Word of God and therefore infallibly true but also owns upon the same account the infinite Power and Goodness of God as they are there in every respect declared and set forth and yet he is not at all virtuous in doing of either yea the stronger his Assent is to their Truth the more wicked he is because he has not Charity answerable to his Knowledg in that he loves not God as the only Sovereign Good of all rational and intelligent Creatures when he most certainly knows that he ought to be so beloved by them If it be alledged that Faith in the Objection is to be understood of a Divine Faith I return that if an Assent given to a Divine Truth upon the Credit of a Divine Testimony be Divine Faith the Devil's Belief of the Truths revealed in the Scripture is a Divine Faith But if by Faith be meant a Saving Faith then I grant the Devil is void thereof because his Faith is not accompanied with Charity for all Faith without Charity is nothing worth in reference to Salvation 1 Cor. 13. 2. 7. As the principal Aim and Drift of the Precepts of the former Table of the Decalogue is the Love of God as Mans chiefest Good Par. 6. so hath the Loving of our Neighbour likewise its Consummation therein For since Rational Nature is the same in all men and consequently the same End appointed for all Mankind 't is clear that every Man in that he is a Man is obliged to wish and further the same final Good and the Necessary Means conducible to it to every one and this is that which is truly loving a Mans Neighbour as himself whilst every other good one man ought to do to another is a thing extrinsecal to man as man and depends as to the Obligation thereto on prudential Motives or mutual Consent explicit or implicit or formal Contracts for the Preservation or Comfort of the animal Life and is not so much as to be absolutely prayed for even for our selves Sect. 15. Par. 3. and then certainly not of necessity to be absolutely wished or done to others as their final good Estate and what necessarily conduceth to the obtaining of it evermore are 8. Seeing then to love a mans Neighbour as himself is heartily to wish and desire that he may enjoy the same necessary good with himself and to contribute his Assistance when occasion requires to the furthering thereof and that eternal Felicity is that necessary good consisting in the perfect Love of God Sect. 4. Par. 13. it is plain that in heartily wishing and endeavouring also when occasion serves that our Neighbour may attain to the sincere Love of God here and the perfect Love of God hereafter We love our Neighbour as our selves and thereby keep all the six last Commandments 9. And forasmuch as no man can possibly heartily wish to another either Grace or Glory but because of his own real desire thereto for himself first had it is manifest that he who loves his Neighbour as himself doth evermore first at least in order of nature love God as his chiefest Good. 10. And because the sincere Love of God or Charity is formal Righteousness and that formal Righteousness doth formally justifie Sect. 11. Par. 8. it directly follows that a man is formally Righteous or justified before in order of Nature at least he love his Neighbour as himself and consequently that the Love of our Neighbour is not any part of formal Righteousness but a necessary Effect and Consequent thereof which will farther appear to be a Truth from hence that as on the one side he who desires and endeavours by his Council and Prayers his Neighbours Felicity though he never attain thereto performs his Duty to him and thereby fulfils the Precepts of the latter Table if so be he did them for the Love he bears to God because such Love doth justifie so on the other side
same day for it is a day of Atonement to make an Atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whatsoever Soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day he shall be cut off from among his People And whatsoever Soul it be that doth any Work in that same day the same Soul will I destroy from among his People Ye shall do no manner of Work it shall be a Statute for ever throughout your Generations in all your Dwellings It shall be unto you a Sabbath of Rest and ye shall afflict your Souls on the ninth day of the Month at Even from Even unto Even shall ye celebrate your Sabbath Lo how strictly it was commanded by God that every one should afflict himself to wit with Fasting and other pious Signs of Sorrow as Interpreters agree and to what end but that their afflicting themselves should work Contrition in them for their sins that the Lord might be propitious to them for without Contrition the inward Sacrifice of the Heart and a real turning from Sin unto God to which the very External Rite of Sacrificing did contribute something I say something for the Law made nothing perfect Hebr. 7. 19. whensoever it was seriously perform'd with calling to mind and detesting their Sin which the Institution necessarily required the offering of the Victim was not at all grateful to God but rather an Abomination to him though in the sight of the People who are not privy to the thoughts of the Heart the Law was fulfilled thereby and Offenders freed from Judicial Punishment as diverse Places of Holy Writ plainly shew To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices unto me saith the LORD I am full of the Burnt-offerings of Rams and the Fat of fed Beasts and I delight not in the Blood of Bullocks or of Lambs or of He-goats When ye come to appear before me who hath required this at your hand to tread my Courts Bring no more vain Oblations Incense is an Abomination to me new Moons and Sabbaths the calling of Assemblies I cannot away with it is iniquity even the solemn Meeting Your new Moons and your appointed Feasts my Soul hateth they are a Trouble unto me I am weary to bear them And when you spread forth your Hands I will hide my Eyes from you yea and when ye make many Prayers I will not hear your Hands are full of Blood. Wash ye make ye clean put away the Evil of your Doings from before mine Eyes cease to do Evil Isa 1. ver 11 12 13 14 15 16. To what purpose cometh there to me Incense from Sheba and the sweet Cane from a far Country Your Burnt-offerings are not acceptable nor your Sacrifices sweet unto me Jerem. 6. 20. I hate I despise your Feast-days and I will not smell in your solemn Assemblies Though ye offer me Burnt-offerings and your Meat-Offerings I will not accept them neither will I regard the Peace-offerings of your fat Beasts Amos 5. 21 22. But of the inward Sacrifice of the Heart Contrition thus saith the Royal Prophet The Sacrifice of God is a troubled Spirit a broken and contrite Heart O God shalt thou not despise Psal 51. 17. And in all sincere Contrition a renouncing of Sin is always necessarily implied for whoever in good earnest bewails his sin cannot while so doing continue in a voluntary course of sinning There was then no Remission of Sin before God even under the Law of Moses but that Transgressors notwithstanding their observance of its external Ordinances were liable to Punishment yea and that Temporal also as well as Eternal as is evident from the Almighties afflicting the Jewish Nation with Plagues Famines and Captivity for their sins to prevent the sinning still anew and consequently the Aggravation of the Pain of such as he knew would never be reclaim'd and to be a Motive to the rest to leave their wicked ways in this World and transmitting those that continued obstinate and impenitent to everlasting Misery in the World to come for no Repentance no Pardon He that covereth his Sin shall not prosper but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have Mercy Prov. 28. 13. Let the Wicked forsake his Way and the Vnrighteous Man his Thoughts and let him return unto the LORD and he will have Mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Isa 55. 7. It may be that the House of Judah will hear all the Evil which I purpose to do unto them that they may return every Man from his evil Way that I may forgive their Iniquity and their Sin Jerem. 36. 8. If the Wicked will turn from all his Sins that he hath committed and keep all my Statutes and do that which is lawful and right he shall surely live he shall not die All his Transgressions that he hath committed they shall not be mentioned unto him in his Righteousness that he hath done he shall live Ezek. 18. 21 22. Neither are Sins remitted in the time of the Gospel any more than they were in the time of the Law unless forsaken as might be proved from many Texts of the New Testament of which for brevities sake I will produce some few plain ones Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish Luke 13. 3. 5. Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out Acts 3. 19. But shewed first unto them of Damascus and at Jerusalem and throughout all the Coasts of Judea and then to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn unto God and do works meet for repentance Acts 26. 20. Let every one that nameth the Name of Christ depart from Iniquity 2 Tim. 2. 19. as if the Apostle had said Let no Man presume that Christ will save any one who is a Christian unless by virtue of his Christianity he depart from iniquity Since then it is apparent that there is no Pardon of sin without Repentance and Conversion unto God and that the design of the Sacrifice of Expiation in Moses's Law was to be a Motive and Cause to incline Men to call their sins to remembrance to be sorry for them and to forsake them without doing of which that Sacrifice had not the Effect intended by its Institution as is clear from the Scriptures above recited it remains only to make it manifest that Christ's Crucifixion was a proper Expiatory Sacrifice for Sin to shew these two things First That he purposely came to suffer Death upon the Cross to the end that he might convert men thereby from their sins to God. And Secondly That there is no Condemnation to those that are so converted First That Christ came on purpose into this World to die the Death of the Cross for this very end that he might turn Mens Hearts from Sin unto God these following Texts of Sacred Writ will irrefragably I doubt not evince When our Blessed Saviour told his Disciples of his Death near at hand he said Now is my Soul
it hinders the same and not as it meerly crosses the Will of the Legislator Every Breach of them is more or less Evil as it is more or less prejudicial to the General Good and has in that respect a greater or less Penalty assigned thereunto Penal Laws are made for preventing of Evils that might happen for want of them and not to take Revenge on the Transgressor of the Law for neglecting to observe or for opposing the Law-givers Mind p. 111 SECT XI Faith Hope and Charity are necessary Means for procuring everlasting Bliss Sincere habitual Charity formally expels Mortal Sin and is therefore formal but incompleat Righteousness Perfect Charity formally expels all Sin and is therefore compleat formal Righteousness or the absolute falfilling of the Divine Law. p. 128 SECT XII Neither by the Light of Nature nor by the Law of Moses without Christ could ever any either Jew or Gentile be eternally saved and come to Glory but through him both of them might The Christiam Religion is in many respects preferable to the Law of Nature and the Law of Moses The Injunction of the Judaical Ordinances Rites and Ceremonies had a farther Tendency than than the exacting of bare Obedience p. 163 SECT XIII Nothing is available to Felicity but as it contributes to Charity The Nature of the two Theological Virtues Faith and Hope and how they become useful to the obtaining and augmenting the Habit of Charity p. 176 SECT XIV The Moral Habits Prudence Justice Fortitude and Temperance are truly Virtues in that respect only as they promote Charity What the Office of each of them in particular is in the way of subserviency unto Charity p. 184 SECT XV. Prayer offered to God for all things absolutely necessary to Salvation whether the Theological or Moral Virtues or Remission of Sins is evermore effectual if it be made aright and it is then made aright when it is unfeigned fervent and frequently performed p. 194 SECT XVI Praise and Thanksgiving to God are proper and efficatious Means whereby to get and increase Charity Vocal Prayer Music and Gestures of Body betokening Humility and Reverence towards the Divine Majesty are beneficial for the obtaining of everlasting Felicity p. 219 SECT XVII The two great Sacraments instituted by Christ for the Benefit of his Church Baptism and the Lords Supper were ordained to be serviceable to Charity the one in procuring it the other in preserving it Yea and all other Divine Institutions and Ordinances whatsoever are only so many designed ministerial Helps and Furtherances thereunto p. 225 SECT XVIII In the Exercise of the hearty Love of God or Charity consists the sincere Observance of every Precept of the Decalogue But the absolute entire fulfilling of the Moral Law is not accomplished till Charity have attained its ultimate Perfection in Heaven p. 235 SECT XIX There is not any one Precept of the latter Table of the Decalogue truly kept but when it is observed out of Love to God nor is there a real Breach of any of them but when the Soul is either deprived of the Love of God or has the same abated and weakned in it by the Omission of something which is required or by the Commission of something which is forbidden in the Precept p. 247 SECT XX. Charity or the unfeigned fervent Love of God above all things proved by Scripture to be Righteousness or the sincere keeping of the whole Law of God. p. 265 RELIGION AND REASON Adjusted and Accorded OR A Discourse wherein Divine Revelation is made appear to be a congruous and con-natural Way of affording proper Means for making Man eternally Happy through the perfecting of his Rational Nature SECTION I. There is an absolute perfect Being which is self-existent Eternal only One Infinite Immutable a pure Act entirely Simple one Formality and a Spirit 1. WHatsoever has Perception the same has a Being for what is not can have no Perception And that there is Perception the very Denyer of it if there be any one so vain as to contradict the rest of Mankind may be convinced from his own denyal For the denyal of it if the denyer be serious must proceed from this that he thinks there is no such thing as Perception which Thought of his he cannot otherwise chuse but grant to be either true or false if he grant it to be false he owns in effect there is Perception But in case he will have his Thought to be true he must yield that his very Thought it self is a right Perception and so either way he 'll be necessitated to acknowledg that there is for certain Perception 2. Perception then most certainly there is and consequently something that perceives or that has an actual Being which is the Subject of Perception And whatsoever has an actual Being or doth Exist the same must have it's existence either intrinsecal of it self or from some other thing that is extrinsecal to it Whatsoever receives its existence from any thing that is extrinsecal to it that same it not the perfectest Being that is because it depends upon another for its existence provided there be any Being at all which has nothing of Existence from another 3. And that there is some Being which has nothing of existence from another is clear from hence that since the reason of a things existing by virtue of another is because there is some other thing which causes it to exist and that an endless Series or infinite number of things causing others to exist is impossible to have been because a by-past Series of things may be encreased by a new addition made unto it and a Series of things which may be encreased is not infinite for otherwise there might be something that would be more or greater than infinite which questionless cannot be there must of necessity be some first cause which receives nothing from another but exists wholly of it self and is thereupon the most perfect Being 4. That which is the most perfect Being or first Cause must of necessity have always existed or been from Eternity because if there had been a time when it was not it must of nothing have become something seeing it self was first And in case it should of nothing have become something it would have been or existed before it had a Being or Existence and consequently have been and not have been or existed and not existed at once which is impossible For being supposed to be the first Being if ever it had a Beginning it must have been as well the Producer as the thing to be produced and so as it was the Producer must be supposed to have had a Being and as it was the thing to be produced to have had no Being and both at the same Instant which is a manifest Contradiction 5. The prime or first Being then is necessarily eternal à parte antè and what is necessarily Eternal à parte antè is likewise so à parte pòst because having nothing of
willing and ready to suffer for that his Refusal in case it be required that he should either actively obey or undergo the Penalty enjoyned for not so obeying I answer that there is no Law can oblige a Man to be willing to suffer for not actively obeying what is unlawful to be done for by what Law is it possible he should be obliged Not by the Law of God for that commanding him not to yield an Active Obedience cannot also enjoyn him to be willing to suffer for no other Cause but that he observes what is commands Nor by the Law of Reason for how should this oblige him to be willing to be punished for Nor-observance of that which it tells him he ought not to observe Some of the Roman Emperors set forth Edicts that the Christians should either Sacrifice to their Idol-gods or be put to Death the Active fulfilling of which unjust Commands was to do Sacrifice the Passive to be put to Death and yet divers good and godly Christians fled on purpose to avoid both and doubtless did no wrong therein being warranted by Christ himself saying When they persecute you in this City flee ye into another Matth. 10. 23. albeit they neither answered the Letter of the Edicts nor the Intention of the Emperors which was that one of the two either sacrificing or suffering Death for not sacrificing should be done And by the way this is a remarkable Instance that Disobedience to a Command is not an Offence as it meerly contradicts the Will of the Legislator But there is not however the least Encouragement to be gathered from hence for Resisting or forcibly opposing the Higher Powers for tho there be no manner of Obedience due to an unjust Command for that Command which is unjust has no obligatory Virtue in it but is unlawful that is truly speaking no Law. Yet in that a Sovereign looses not by commanding something which is unjust his Legislative Power or a Right to command whatsoever he deliberately thinks to be for the general Good which is not against the Divine Law Moral or Positive he ought not to be forcibly withstood For whosoever has by Law the Supreme Judgment and Will which together constitute the Supreme Power the same Law presumes that the common Safety depends on his Government and therefore without violating of the Law and through that the Common Safety the Sovereign is not even in the Abuse of Government to be opposed by Arms because it is more convement in respect of the Whole that some Part suffer unjustly than that the Government it self should be rendred useless or so obstructed that it could not protect and secure the Laws which it is always presumed by the Law will fall out when Subjects with Violence oppose the Supreme Governour Object 3. Albeit the Lex Talioni be no part of the Law of Nature yet seeing it is not disagreeable thereunto as 't is evident by the Instance of Adonibezek Judges 1. 6 7. that it is not does it not rightly follow that Punishments may be justly Vindicative though they are not necessarily so Answ No it does not for notwithstanding that it may be reasonable at sometimes to take an Eye for an Eye a Hand for a Hand c. yet will not Vindicative Punishment be found thereupon to be lawful for if the taking Eye for Eye Hand for Hand c. be at any time prudently thought by a Law-giver to be the best Expedient either for reclaiming Offenders or for terrifying others or for both as it may peradventure on occasion fall out to be the exercise of that Strictness will be just yet not Vindicative For that which Men will have to be Vindicative Justice looks not at all forward but wholly backward being purely design'd and intended for Recompense or Satisfaction for a presumed Injury or Contempt done to the Law-giver in disobeying his Will and violating his Law whence Vengeance executed upon a Transgressor of the Law is the very End and Scope which Vindicative Punishment aims at and therefore the Punishment of Adonibezek was not vindicative unless it was inflicted on him for no other end save only to repay like for like without any intention that it should be a Motive to him of Repentance or that others might be warned to abstain from such Cruelty as he had used by the remarkable manner of his being plagued himself as he had plagued others which cannot in reason be thought to be true because Adonibezek saith As I have done so God hath requited me which shews that the manner of his Punishment proved a Motive of bringing his Sin to remembrance and was either so intended to be or elso to deter others from the like Wickedness or rather for both and not barely for strict Retaliation or executing of Vengeance upon him for his Crime 10. In fine then it appears from what has been said of Human Laws and Law-givers First That Sovereign Powers make not Laws out of meer design to have their Wills obeyed but to procure their own and their Subjects Good. Secondly That Laws therefore are more or less good as they contribute more or less to the general Good. Thirdly That hence again the Breach of any Law is a greater or less Offence as it is more or less prejudicial to the Common-weal Fourthly That from this it moreover follows that Penalties inserted in Laws are not intended as pure Revenge for the Breach of them but to be a means to enforce the observing the directive Part of the Law. Fifthly That Laws duly executed are proper Ways or real Causes of advancing the Public Good. 11. From the Consideration of all which concerning Human Laws compared with what was writ before Sect. 8. of the Divine Laws the Analogy between them is obvious and the Certainty of these following Truths apparent First That God gave Man a Law to observe not that he sought to be obeyed for the meer Obedience sake but that Man by obeying it might benefit himself in obtaining the Possession of his chiefest Good. Secondly That because of this the several Branches of that Law are of more or less virtue and value as they are more or less serviceable for procuring the Fruition of the same Sovereign Good. Thirdly That from hence again it must be that the Breach of any part of the Divine Law is a greater or less Evil or in the Language of Divines a greater or less Sin as the keeping of it is more or less available towards the Enjoyment of God. Fourthly That it will hereupon follow that the Punishment of Sin is not vindicative but always either corrective for the Amendment of the Offender or exemplary for a Terror to others or for both as in this World it perpetually is or else a necessary and natural Product and Consequent of Sin as it is ever in the World to come Fifthly That the keeping of Gods Law or the pious Practice of Virtue and Holiness is a proper effective Means or an
and Motives for inducing men to despise the Vanities of the World and to fix their Affections on God and to pursue with diligence the Means available to the full enjoyment of him Lastly It affords far more endearing Considerations of Encouragement to bear with patience Reproches Injuries and all manner of Afflictions which befalmen in the whole course of this miserable Life Object 2. If the Design of Religion be to cause men to forsake the Love of the World and the vain and false Allurements of it what Rational Account can be given of the Temporal Ordinances Rites and Cercmonies of the Jewish Law which in appearance have small or no Tendency thereto Solut. That the Moral Law which directly requires the Love of God and of a man's Neighbour was the principal part of the Mosaical Dispensation is clear by our Saviour's Answer to the Scribe who said that to love God with all the Heart and with all the Vnderstanding and with all the Soul and with all the Strength and to love a man's Neighbour as himself was more than all whole burnt Offerings and Sacrifices which is this Thou art not far from the Kingdom of Heaven Mark 12. 33 34. And therefore although there be peradventure some Precepts in Mose's Law which are so purely arbitrary as to be fulfilled in the meer willing observance of them yet God's Design in inuring the Jews to Acts of simple Obedience was questionless this that they might be the more willing and ready to obey him in those things which directly made for their eternal Good. For to give a Command without an intention of Good in some respect or other to man by the performance of it is repugnant to Reason and contradictory to the wisdom and goodness of God Sect. 8. Sol. of Object 1 2 3. But besides it is not a thing easily to be granted that the Temporal Ordinances Rites and Ceremonies of the Judaical Law were so purely arbitrary as they seem upon a slight view to be For since all good Laws respect man's Good that his chief Good is the perfect Love of God and that every thing besides is only for good to him as it contributes in some respect or other thereunto Sect. 5. Par. 1. it necessarily follows that all Laws given by God to Man were intended to be a means of bringing him by the observance of them to the love of himself as his sole sovereign good and by consequence that the Mosaical Law was given to the Jews to win that People by ways convenient and agreeable to their Tempers to set their Affections on God. For though the Motives which it proposed were Promises and Threats of temporal Rewards and Punishments and the Ordinances of it mostly certain Rites and Ceremonies yet were they truly suitable to that Nation whose Hearts were generally gross and childish as the Apostle Paul not obscurely hints saying Till the fulness of time was come the Jews were as Children in Bondage under the Rudiments of the World Gal. 4. 3. that is I conceive as Children are first taught their Rudiments because not capable of better Learning till of riper years so were the Jews instructed by weak and poor means till the World was grown to an Age fit for higher Documents And why mens minds were more gross and terrene towards the Infancy of the World Thomas Albius in his Appendix to Institut Peripâ—tet gives a very probable account However that de facto it was so at least as to the Jews doth appear by their frequent murmuring and revolting even after they had often tasted of the extraordinary goodness of God whenever they disgusted their present Temporal State and Condition For we may infer from thence that if God had told them by his Servant Moses of Spiritual Joys they should have after this life instead of the good Land of Canaan flowing with Milk and Honey if they would obey and keep his Commandments and Statutes such Doctrin would have found small Acceptance the Truth of which if perchance questioned because of the Constancy of the Babylonish Captives in their Religion this I think may well suffice for Answer that part of the Prophecy which told of their carrying to Babylon being fulfilled gave them assurance that as the violation of the Law had occasioned their bringing into Captivity so their close adherence to it for the future would procure their own or their Posterities Restorement to their Native Countrey and Freedom Seeing then the Hearts of the Jewish People were such as that the most connatural way to bring them to love God was by delivering them from Servitude and bodily Dangers and by Promises of temporal Good and Threats of temporal Evil 't is plain the love of worldly good things was so setled in their Minds that the Almighty sought not to be beloved by excluding the love of them out of their Hearts but by gaining their Affections through them whilst he endeavoured to manifest that the whole Earth was his and the fulness thereof to the end they might depend on his Bounty and love him for the same which whosoever of them really did God acquired thereby a Pre-eminence in their Affections forasmuch as the due Consideration thereof would beget a greater love of the Giver than of the Gift For whose seriously reflects that all Good comes from God and that the possession and enjoyment of it proceeds from his bountiful Kindness without any precedent Merit on man's part must needs acknowledg his Gracious Goodness to be such as that he ought to relie thereon as the Sovereign Good and Fountain from which whatsoever he enjoys flows and in so doing his Affections will be carried thereto accordingly that is chiefly and above all Earthly things Thus we see the Reason of the Motives to the Love of God peculiar to the Jews The Temporal Ordinances Rites and Ceremonies of whose Law also however they may seem at first sight to have been Commands relating only to a bare Obedience required in the performance of them were in very deed proper and fit Means to keep the Jewish Nation from Idolatry and to make them observe the substantial part of the Law which was to love God above all things and their Neighbour as themselves Hence the Ordinances of the Paschal Lamb and of unleavened Bread were instituted for Helps to keep God's wonderful Mercy and Kindness to them in freeing them from the Egyptian Bondage in perpetual remembrance that they might ever be reminded to praise laud and magnifie him and consequently to love him for the same Hence their Purifications and Oblations for Sin were ordained to bring their Transgressions to mind that they should acknowledg them and turn from them by Repentance to God. Yea and the seemingly insignificant Ceremonious rites were appointed as things useful for walls of separation between the Jews and Gentiles round about them to withold them from their Idolatries wicked practices of Magical Superstitions and Whoredoms frequent among them for they stood in
it be accompanied with frequency of Prayer issuing from an affectionate Heart will in a longer continuance of time effect as much as an higher degree thereof in a shorter so that all devout Prayer constantly kept to will at length though some sooner than other procure the Habit of Virtue prayed for Object 3. Very few are so intent in Prayer but that their Minds are often distracted and turned away from their due Object to thoughts of Vanity and how then should Prayer be of that efficacy as either to beget in such an Habit of Virtue or to preserve and strengthen it if it be obtain'd Solut. He that when he goes to pray unfeignedly desires and really strives to pray without distraction and yet finds his Mind carried away to Objects not intended will certainly be troubled in Spirit thereat which shews that that distraction is against his Will and caused by the agitation of the Phantasms in the Brain which he can neither prevent the motion of there nor the vision of them in the Soul no more than a man can hinder or avoid the sight of a thing passing by him directly before his Eyes So that such distraction as is here mentioned is involuntary and nothing that is involuntary is sinful But to take away all scruple that it is involuntary let him that is distracted in Prayer repeat over such passages at least where his Thoughts wandered which in private Devotion any one may well do till he mind their Sense and then he may be assured his preceding distraction will prove no prejudice to the prevalent effectualness of his Prayer Object 4. Forgiveness of Sin is a thing necessary to Salvation but what absolute certainty is there that every one that begs the pardon of it how unfeignedly fervently and constantly soever he doth it shall obtain remission thereof when it is wholly in God's power and pleasure whether he will pardon the same or no Solut. Since Sin is an Aversion from God and a conversion to the Creature sect 8. par 3 4 5. when the Heart is truly converted to God from the Love of the world and really and sted fastly prefers the fruition of him before the enjoyment of worldly pleasures Mortal Sin is expelled out of the Soul and taken away and consequently the penalty thereof eternal Damnation is quitted and voided the forsaking of Sin and the pardon of Sin going always of necessity together sect 11. par 6 7 8. Whence it is manifest that since he who in sincerity of heart craves pardon of his Sins and strives in Prayer to God with fervency and constancy of Devotion for the same will continuing so to do abhor his former Transgressions and leaving off his sinful manner of Life turn by true Repentance unto God and take delight in him as his sole supream Good it is manifest I say that unfeigned fervent and frequent Prayer doth evermore obtain Remission of Sin. Nor doth this at all gainsay that absolute Verity that God only forgiveth Sin seeing he alone both instituted the Means which take away Sin and gives them also Virtue to do it But to think that God ever withholds his Mercy and Kindness when men are immediately disposed by due preparation to receive them is a gross Opinion vilifying the Nature of God who is essential Goodness and repugnant to plain Scripture which assureth us that when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed and doth that which is lawful and right he shall save his Soul alive Ezek. 18. 27. Yea we have Truth it self verifying and sweetly insinuating unto us from his own sacred Mouth how ready God is to embrace men returning to him by the comfortable Parable of the Prodigal Son whom repenting of his riotous wicked living the Father received with as free and kind an heart as if he had never in the least gone astray nor once done amiss Luke 15. But nevertheless it is very dangerous to defer the use of Means which lead to Repentance even omitting the Consideration of the hazard of sudden Death and that Habits the longer they continue stick the closer not only because without that there is no Repentance unless miraculously wrought which it is great impiety to presume upon but also because when men lie sick and in pain their Affliction though it may cause remorse for Sin will not especially if it be smart and pungent permit them to exercise Prayer as it ought to be and consequently the habit of Charity not got thereby they will die in their Sins Object 5. By the account that has been given of Prayer it should seem to be a vain thing to pray for others because our Prayers for them work not on their Affections as they are apt to do on our own and yet it is a Duty injoyned us to pray for a Neighbour as well as for our selves Solut. Although we do not always profit others in praying for them yet we constantly benefit our selves in the hearty doing of it for whilst we earnestly desire their spiritual or eternal Good the only things to be absolutely prayed for Par. 4. we cannot chuse but be affected thereby towards that which we wish for them And therefore the Commandment given to pray for our Neighbour is not in vain albeit our Prayers should do him no good For if every man in the World should often and cordially pray for every other man as he ought to do every one alive would have benefit in praying for his Neighbour by augmenting his own Love both to God and Man thereby But besides the Prayers of the Faithful do alway profit their Neighbour in due Circumstances for in case he be truly penitent and earnestly crave the Prayers of some holy Person or of the Church the Prayers offered to God for him will undoubtedly do him good whilst his Opinion of their Piety and consequently of their Favour with God will encourage his Trust and Confidence in God's Mercy for their Prayers sake and thence elevate his Affection to God for the hope of Mercy and Kindness from God and Affection to God go still hand in hand and mutually of necessity strengthen each other Yea though there be no Request made by the party prayed for the Prayers of the Godly when performed with very great ardency constancy of Devotion as the Prayers of the pious Mother Monica for her Son Augustine were will undoubtedly obtain their desired event because in that they are for certain the effect of the special Grace of God they cannot fail of an happy issue lest otherwise God's own Work continued in should not have the event which it designedly by the Divine Favour tended to Object 6. Miracles have been obtained by Prayer which because they interrupt the Course of natural Causes instituted by God seems to import a Change in God's Mind which has been said to be immutable or however that the influence such Prayer had was wholly upon God and not at all upon Man.