it are clear and pure directing us in our universal Duty the Promises are precious encouraging us by the prospect of the Reward the Threatenings terrible to preserve us from Sin There is an instrumental fitness in the Word preached to perfect the Image of God in us for the manner of conveying the Revelation to us has a congruity to work upon the subject to whom 't is revealed The first insinuation of Sin was by the Ear the first inspiration of Grace is by it Through the Ear was the entrance of Death 't is now the gate of Life In Heaven we shall know God by sight now by hearing When a Minister of the Gospel is inlightened from Heaven and zealous for the Salvation of Souls he is fitter for this Work than if an Angel were a ministring Spirit in this sense and imployed in this holy Office For he that Preaches has the same interest in the Doctrine declar'd by him his everlasting Happiness is nearly concern'd and therefore is most likely to affect others When a holy fire is kindled in the Breast it will inflame the Lips the Mind convinces the Mind and the Heart perswades the Heart But we must consider that as the Instrument cannot effect that for which 't is made without 't is directed and applyed for that end so without a superiour influence of the Holy Spirit that gives vital Power to the preaching of the Word 't is without efficacy What our Saviour speaks of the Natural Life is applicable to the Spiritual Man lives not by Bread alone but by every Word that proceeds from God's mouth A Minister with all his Reason and Rhetorick cannot turn a Soul from Sin to Holiness without the Omnipotent Operation of the Spirit The Apostle tells the Thessalonians that the Gospel came not to them in Word only but also in Power and in the Holy Ghost The Gospel then comes only in Word when it pierces no further than the Ear that is the sense to try Words and distinguish different Sounds and Voices But the Truth of God directed and animated by the Spirit doth not stop at the Ear the door of the Soul but passes into the Understanding and the Heart that make a change so real and great in the qualities of Men as is express'd by substantial productions 'T is therefore said We are begotten and born again by the incorruptible seed of the Word The Word becomes effectual for the increase of Holiness when 't is mix'd with Faith which binds the Conscience to entire Obedience 'T is the Word of God our King Law-giver and Judge the Rule of our present Duty and of future Judgment in the great day of decision The Divine Law is universal and unchangable and the Duties of it are not necessary for some and needless for others but must be obeyed without partiality notwithstanding the repugnance of the Carnal Passions When 't is seriously believed and considered the hearers are induced to receive it with preparation and resolution of yielding to it There is no Truth more evident nor injur'd than this that perfect Obedience is due to the Will of God declar'd in his Word This all profess in the general but contradict in particulars when a Temptation crosses the Precept Now the first act of Obedience to the Truth is the believing it with so stedfast an assent wrought by the Spirit that it purifies the Heart and reforms the whole Man 2. With Faith there must be joyn'd an earnest desire to grow in Holiness This is declar'd by St. Peter As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby In the Natural Life there is an inseparable Appetite of Food to maintain it the inward sense of its necessities causes a hunger and thirst after suitable supplies to preserve and improve it This is experimented in every one that is born of the Spirit they attend and apply the Word of God to them not merely to prevent the sharp reflections of Conscience for the impious neglect of their Duty for that proceeds from Fear not from Desire but to grow in Knowledge and Holiness not in an aiery flashy Knowledge that is only fruitful to increase Guilt and Punishment but substantial and saving Knowledge that is influential upon practice Hearing is in order to doing and doing is the way to Happiness 'T is not the forgetful hearer but the doer of the Word shall be blessed in his deed The bare knowledge of Evil does no hurt nor the bare knowledge of our Duty without practice does no Good Feeding without digesting the Food and turning it into Blood and Spirits affords no Nourishment nor Strength The most diligent hearing and comprehensive knowledge of our Duty without practice is not profitable The enemy of our Souls is content that Divine Truths should be in our Understandings if he can intercept their passage into our Hearts and Conversations He practices over continually the first Temptation to induce us by Guile to choose the Tree of Knowledge before the Tree of Life We are therefore commanded to be doers of the Word not hearers only deceiving our own Souls 3. That the Spiritual Life may be increased by the Word it must be laid up in the Mind and Memory and hid in the Heart David says I have hid thy Word in my Heart that I may not sin against thee His Affection to the Word caused his continual Meditation of it that it might be a living Root of the Fruits of Holiness in their season If there were the same care and diligence in remembring and observing the Rules of Life prescrib'd by the Wisdom of God in the Scriptures as Men use in remembring and practising Rules for the recovery of the Health of their Bodies and 't is justly requisite there should be more since the Life of the Soul infinitely excels the Life of the Body how holy and blessed would they be The Advice of the Roman Physician that is conducive for the Health of the Body is applicable to the Soul After a full Meal abstain from laborious Actions that the heat of the Spirits may be concentered in the Stomach for Digestion otherwise if diverted and imployed in Labour the Stomach will be filled with Crudities Thus after hearing the Word our thoughts should not be scattered in the World but we should recollect and revolve it in our Minds that it may be digested into practice 'T is said of the Virgin Mary She kept thâ—se sayings and pondered them in her heart There are powerful Motives to ingage us to a conscientious attendance upon this Duty Our Saviour tells us He that hears me that is with subjection of Soul hath Eternal Life And in one Instance he has declar'd how much approv'd and acceptable it was to him For when Martha was imployed about entertaining him and Mary was attentive to receive his Instructions he said Mary has chose the better part that shall not be taken from her His feeding Mary was more
pleasing to him than to be fed by Martha But how many neglect and despise this Duty Some pretend they know enough such if they do not want Instructers want Remembrancers of their Duty Others are infected with Pride and a worse Leprosie than Naaman's of whom we read that when the Prophet sent him a Message that he should go and wash in Jordan seven times and he should be clean he was wroth and said Are not Abana and Pharpar Rivers of Damascus better than the Rivers of Israel May I not wash in them and be clean So there are some who being directed to wash themselves often in the waters of Life the Scriptures of Divine Inspiration are apt to think Are not the Rivers of Greece and Rome the eloquent Discourses of Philosophers better more perfective of their Minds and Actions than the plain Rules of the Word But this proceeds from affected Ignorance and wilful perverseness for not only supernatural Doctrines necessary to be believed are only revealed in the Scripture but the Rules of Moral Duties necessary for practice are clearly and compleatly only laid down in it Besides as every thing in Nature has its Vertue by the appointment of God and works for that end for which it was ordain'd so the preaching of the Gospel was appointed to begin and maintain the Life of the Soul and powerfully works to that end The attendance 〈…〉 has a Blessing annex'd and the neglect exposes to Divine Displeasure He that withdraws his Ear from hearing the Law his Prayer shall be an abomination And let it be seriously ponder'd there is a time coming when only Prayer can relieve them I shall add that the serious reading the Scripture that there may be an impression of the Characters of its Purity on the Soul is a Duty of daily revolution We are commanded that the Word of God should dwell richly in us in all wisdom As the Soul quickens the Body by its residence and directs it in all its motions so the Word should be in the Soul an inward principle of Life to direct and excite and enable it for the performance of every Duty This Advice of the Apostle is comprehensive of all other Precepts and the effectual means of obtaining Perfection Our Reading must be with observation and applying the Word for our Good There is a great difference between sailing on the water for Pleasure and divinâ— in it for Pearls Some read the Scriptures to please their Minds in the History of the Creation and the Wonders of God's powerful Providence and the various Events in the Kingdoms of the World recorded in them But there must be diligent Enquiry for Spiritual Treasures to enrich the Soul How Careless are the most of this Duty There are above Eight Thousand Hours in a Year and how few are employed in Reading the Scriptures that direct us in the Everlasting Way The common pretence is necessary Business but all Excuses are vain against the Command of God Is the working oâ— our Salvation an indifferent idle matter Must the principal Affair of our Life be subordinate to lower Concerns The infinite business of Governing a Kingdom is no exemption to Princes from Reading the Word of God for the Command is to him that sits on the Throne to read the Law of God all the days of 〈…〉 Life that he may fear the Lord and do 〈…〉 Statutes 3. The Word must be sincerely received as 't is sincerely deliver'd The Rule is to lay aside all superfluity of naughtiness and receivâ— the engrafted word that is able to save our Souls There is no food more easily turn'd into Blood thaâ— Milk but if the Stomach be foul 〈◊〉 sowers and corrupts and is hurtful to the Body The Word of Grace if received into a sincere Heart is very nutritive it Confirms and Comforts the Soul but if there be false Principles Carnal Habits Sensual Affections it proves dangerous A Carnal Man will set the Grace of the Gospel against the Precepts and apply the Promises without regarding the Conditions of them and from holy Premisses draw sinful Conclusions Briefly Hearing the Word is not an Arbitrary but an indispensable Duty The Psalmist puts the question He that planted the ear shall not he hear and it may be said with the same Conviction He that gives us the faculty of hearing shall not he be heard But we must not rest in the bare hearing for 't is an introductive preparing Duty in order to practise There may be an increase in Knowledge some Convictions like a flash of Lightening some melting of the Affections like a dash of Rain soon over some Resolution of Obedience but without sincere practise the Man is a Hearer only and deceives himself Every Sermon that he hears will notwithstanding his vain Hopes be an argument against him at the Day of Judgment The Residence of the practical Truths is rather in the Heart than in the Head if they are only in the Head they are kept in unrighteousness yet there is no deceit more Common Men think they are enrich'd with the Ideas and Notions of Divine Truths in their Minds without the habits of Graces in their Hearts Briefly The End and Work of the Evangelical Ministry is the Perfection of the Saints as the Apostle declares We warn every man and teach every man that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus This testimony is given of Epâ—phras a Servant of Christ That he always labour'd fervently in Prayer that the Colossians might be perfect and compleat in all the will of God 3. The Religious Use of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is an excellent Means for the Increase of Grace The state of Grace is represented under the Similitude of a New Man born from Heaven and partaker of a Spiritual Life that Consists in Holiness and Joy This Spiritual Life supposes a Spiritual Nourishment to preserâ—â—e it and a Spiritual Appetite and that a Spiritual Eating and Drinking Our Saviour denominates himself by the Character of Life I am the way the truth and the life he being the Principle and Preserver of the Spiritual Life In the Sacrament he is the Bread of Life there are the Sacred Memorials of his Crucifixion of his Body and Blood which are meat indeed and are drink indeed that afford a more substantial and excellent Nourishment for the Life of the Soul than the perishing Food that supports the Body Our Saviour tells the Jews Your fathers eat Mannâ— in the wilderness and are dead the Bread of Angels could not preserve them from Death but the Bread of God is the Principle of Eternal Life He is pleased to deal familiarly with us suitably to our Composition and Capacity and humbles himself in a Sacramental Union with the Elements that sight may assist Faith This is a positive Institution that derives its Authority and Goodness from the Precept of our Soveraign and Saviour It was his dying Charge to his Disciples to which a special and
Man sowed Tares He did not by Force enter into the Field 'T is not so much from Impotence as Carelesness that Temptations are let into the Heart and Corruptions break out 'T is not so much the stock of Habitual Grace that secures us but Grace in its vigorous Exercise Surely David in his Youth had seen as exquisite Beauties as Bathsheba and was preserv'd by Watchfulness but the neglect of his Duty was fatal to his Purity and Peace Therefore the Duty is so often inculcated upon us We must be watchful to fly from Temptations He that prays Lead me not into Temptation and leads himself into it mocks God despises the danger plays upon the hole of the Asp and walks upon the brink of a Precipice He provokes God justly to desert him If a General commands a Soldier to fight a single Combat with an Enemy he will furnish him with Armour of proof and secure him from Treachery but if one be Fool-hardy and engages himself he may dearly pay for his rashness If by the order of Providence one be brought into tempting Circumstances he may Pray in Faith for Divine Assistance that the Lord will be at his right hand and he shall not be moved but if one ventures into Temptation he will hardly escape We are directed to be sober and vigilant against our spiritual Enemies Vigilance discovers the Temptations and Temperance substracts the Materials of them Adam by Intemperance stain'd his Innocence and forfeited his Felicity We must be clad with the armour of Light to oppose the powers of darkness Strange Armour that is transparent and may be seen through The Graces of the Spirit are Armour and Ornament the Strength and Beauty of the Soul They are call'd The Armour of God for he furnishes us with them and teaches us to use them and makes us Victorious We must not only Watch but Pray against Temptations We are preserved by the Intercession of Christ in Heaven and the Spirits Illumination and Protection in our Spiritual Warfare There are some things that directly strengthen our Enemies all tempting Objects that excite and influence Fleshly Lusts that war against the Soul Some things indirectly strengthen them whatever diverts us from Prayer and other Holy Ordinances disarms us whatever distracts the Mind and dissolves the firmness of the Will exposes us more easily to be overcome To be careless and secure as if we were in a safe Sea when there are so many visible Shipwrecks is unaccountable Folly 'T is our Duty and Wisdom to keep a Jealous Watch over our Hearts to suppress the fix'd Inclinations to Sin Thoughts and Desires are the Seeds of Action and to guard our Senses that we may not be suddenly corrupted Lot's Wife by a lingering Look after Sodom was turn'd into a Pillar of Salt to make us fearful by her Example of the occasions of Sin Especially we must direct our Care to prevent our being surpriz'd against the Sins that so easily encompass us and whereby we have been often foil'd If a besieged City has one part of the Walls weaker and more liable to be taken Care will be taken to strengthen it and to double the Guards there Let us be watchful against small Sins if we desire to be preserv'd from greater for we are train'd on by sins of weaker evidence to sins of greater Guilt Some are so Confirm'd in Holiness that the Devil does not tempt them to transgress the Law in a notorious manner but lays Snares for them in things of lesser moment Besides there are Sinners of different degrees yet they all finally perish Some with a full Career throw themselves head-long into Hell Others go slowly step by step but certainly drop into it To Conclude if we desire to be preserv'd from Sin let us avoid engaging Company many Persons would resist the force of Natural Inclination but when that is excited by the Examples of others they are easily vanquish'd A pure Stream passing through a Sink will run thick and muddy On the contrary Society with the Saints is a happy Advantage to make us like them As Waters that pass through Medicinal Minerals derive a Healing Tincture from them In short the present World is a continual Temptation and we should always be employed in those things either in our General or Particular Callings that either directly or virtually may preserve us from its Contagion We are in a state of Warfare though not always in Fight yet always in the Field expos'd to our Spiritual Enemies that War against our Souls and our Vigilance and Care should be accordingly 2. The Duty of Watchfulness respects the doing good in its season and with the Circumstances proper to it To him that orders his Conversation aright I will shew the Salvation of God Order in an Army contributes to Victory more than Numbers The acceptable Performance of a Duty must depend upon its season The Beauty of it is impair'd when done out of its proper time I will instance in one Duty very influential unto a Holy Life We are commanded to Watch unto Prayer that is to preserve a Holy Frame of Spirit suitable to this Duty and to redeem time from the Vanity and Business of the World for Prayer This Duty is as necessary for the Spiritual Life as breathing for the Natural and 't is a part of Wisdom so to order our Affairs that we may have chosen Hours for Communion with God And we are to watch in Prayer against distraction and indevotion We are commanded to draw near to God with reverence and godly fear for our God is a Consuming Fire to those who disparage his Majesty by Coldness and Carelesness in his Service There must be a strict Guard to prevent the excursion of our Thoughts in Divine Worship The Soul should ascend to God on wings of Fire with all possible Ardency of Affections The effectual fervent Prayer of a righteous Man avails much Watchfulness respects both the time and degrees of our Duties We are commanded as we have opportunity to do good unto all Men especially to the houshold of Faith and to shew Mercy with chearfulness We should not lose the golden opportunity of relieving the Objects of Charity and be diligent in our Business and to cut off superfluous Expences that we may be liberal We should be careful to keep every Grace in its vigorous exercise In short the Soul is a principle of Life to the Body from its first Being to its last Breath guides its motions prevents the dangers to which 't is liable provides for its welfare How much more reasonable is it that it should be a Soul to it self vigilant and active to improve every Advantage for its Happiness and Perfection 6. A due regard to the Duties of our several Relations is very necessary in order to our perfecting of Holiness Relations may be consider'd under three general Heads Domestical Sacred Civil Domestical between Husband and Wife Parents and Children Masters and Servants There is
carentur r. irascarentur p. 29. l. 24. for content r. concent p. 34. l. 19. for last 1. worst p. 84. in the Margent dele audeo dicere Aug. p. 103. l. 〈◊〉 dele as p. 135. l. 7. for a 〈◊〉 in p. 164 in the Margent for aequanimitur imperitas r. aequanimiter imperitus for insolentur r. insolenter p. 181. l. 21. for never r. ever 2 COR. VII 1. Having therefore these Promises dearly beloved let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit perfecting Holiness in the fear of God CHAP. 1. The Coherence opened The inconsistency and danger of the Communion of Christians with Infidels The dignity of Believers prohibits it The Promise of Divine Communion obliges them to separate from contagious Converse with Unbelievers The Inference from those Motives The cleansing from all Pollutions and perfecting Holiness Purifying themselves is the Duty of Christians A Principle of Holiness actuated by the supplies of the Spirit is requite to enable Christians to purifie the 〈◊〉 The Pollutions of the Flesh 〈◊〉 the desiring and the angry Appetiâ—â—â—ey defile and debase Humane 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 difficulâ—… makes an easie entrance into the Soul He seems to devest himself of his Apostolical Commission and in the mildest and most tender manner mixes intreaties with his Authority as in a parallel place I beseech you brethren by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ c. 1 Cor. 1. 10. 2. The matter of the Address The cleansing us from all pollution of Flesh and Spirit and the changing us into the unspotted Image of God's Holiness These are the comprehensive sum of renewing Grace and are inseparable The Holy Spirit works both together in the Saints as the Sun by the same emanation of Light dispels the darkness of the Air and irradiates it But they are not merely different notions but different parts of Sanctification For the corruption of Nature is not a mere privation of Holiness as Darkness is of Light but a contrary inherent quality the Principle of all sinful Evils We are commanded to put off the old man and to put on the new To cease to do evil and to learn to do well We must purifie our selves from the pollutions of Flesh and Spirit The Soul and Body in the state of depraved Nature are like two Malefactors fastened with one Chain and by their strict union infect one another The pollution is intimate and radical diffusive through all the Powers of the Soul and Members of the Body The Spirit of the Mind the supreme Faculty with the Will and Affections want renewing We are commanded to perfect Holiness to aspire and endeavour after our original Holiness and to be always advancing till we arrive at the final consummate state of Holiness in Heaven In the fear of God That Grace has an eminent causality and influence in this Sanctification of Christians It is a powerful restraint from Sins in thoughts and acts in solitude and society to consider God's pure and flaming Eye that sees Sin wherever it is in order to Judgment Holy Fear excites us to exercise every Grace and perform every Duty in that manner that we may be approv'd and accepted of God 3. The Motive arises from the excellency of the Promises and the qualifications requisite for the obtaining them 'T is promised that God will dwell in us and walk in us whose gracious presence is Heaven upon Earth Strange Condescension that the God of Glory should dwell in Tabernacles of Clay far greater than if a King should dwell in a Cottage with one of his poor Subjects He will adopt us into the Line of Heaven I will be your Father and ye shall be my Sons and Daughters The qualifications are the purifying our selves from all defilements and striving to be entirely holy By the order of God every Leper was to be excluded from the Camp of Israel and will he have Communion with the Souls of Men over-spread with the Leprosie and covered with the Ulcers of Sin There is a special emphasis in the words saith the Lord Almighty Without the cleansing and renewing of Sinners Omnipotence cannot receive them into his Favour and Family There are fatal bars fix'd which the unholy cannot break through The Proposition that arises from the words is this The Promises of the Gospel lay the most powerful obligations on Christians to strive for the attainment of pure and perfect Holiness In the management of this Subject I will first consider the Duty as acted upon our selves 2. The parts of it The cleansing from Sin and perfecting Holiness 3. The force of the Motives the precious and unvaluable Promises of the Gospel And make Application of them 1. We are commanded to cleanse our selves which is our Duty and implies an ability deriv'd from Christ to perform it It may seem strange that Men in their depraved state should be excited to renew themselves Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean not one yet this Duty is frequently inculcated upon us Wash ye make ye clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes O Jerusalem wash thy heart from wickedness how long shall vain thoughts lodge within thee Cleanse your hearts ye sinners purifie your hearts ye double-minded A clear answer may be given to this 1. There is no productive Principle of Holiness in Man's corrupt Nature but strong aversions from it and inclinations to what is contrary to it There is a miserable impotency to all spiritual Good better express'd with tears than words 'T is natural and hereditary more difficultly cur'd than what is accidental God is the sole efficient in the regeneration of the Soul and the first infusion of Grace and the principal in the growth and improvement of it The Holy Spirit does not work Grace in us as the Sun forms Gold in the Earth without any sense in our selves of his operations but we feel them in all our Faculties congruously to their Nature inlightning the Mind exciting the Conscience turning the Will and purifying the Affections 2. After a Principle of Life and Holiness is planted in us we are by a continual supply of strength from Christ assisted to exercise it in all the acts that are proper to the Divine Life There is a resemblance between the Fruits of the Earth and the Graces of a Christian Seed must be first sowed in the Earth before it springs out of it and when 't is sowed the natural qualities of the Earth Coldness and Driness are so contrary to fructifying that without the Influences of the Heavens the heat of the Sun and showers of Rain the Seed would be lost in it Grace is drawn forth into flourishing and fruitfulness by the irradiating and warm influx of the Spirit But we are subordinate agents in carrying on the work of Grace to Perfection The Apostle exhorts us to work out our own Salvation with fear and trembling for 't is God works in us to will and to do
is transplanted from the Body to the Soul The intemperate Person remembers with delight the wild Society wherein he has been ingaged the rich Wines wherein he quench'd his Cares the ungracious Wit and Mirth that made the hours slide away without observation Now 't is a Rule concerning Remedies applyed for the recovery of the Sick that Physick is ineffectual without the assistance of Nature but the case of the Sick is desperate when the only Medicine proper for his Cure increases the Disease and brings Death more certainly and speedily Those who are defil'd by Carnal Lusts have a special Curse they provoke God to withdraw his Grace according to that fearful Threatning my Spirit shall not always strive with Man for he is Flesh and after so desperate a forfeiture they are seldom redeemed and released from the Chains of Darkness wherein they are bound Accordingly Solomon frequently repeats this Observation The strange Woman flatters with her words Her house inclines to the dead and her paths to the dead None that go unto her return again neither take they hold of the path of Life The mouth of a strange Woman is a deep pit he that is abhorred of the Lord shall irrecoverably fall therein If it be said that this representation of the deplorable state of the unclean seems to cut off all hopes of their reclaiming and Salvation and may induce Despair I answer with our Saviour in another instance With Men it is impossible and not with God for with God all things are possible He can open and cleanse adorn and beautifie the most obstinate and impure Heart He can by omnipotent Grace change a Brutish Soul into an Angelick and plant a Divine Nature that abhors and escapes the Corruption in the World through Lust. Notwithstanding the Severity of the Threatning yet the Divine Mercy and Grace has been exercised and magnified in the renewing such polluted Creatures The Apostle tells the Corinthians they were Fornicators and Adulterers but they were washed sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1. Let them address their Requests to God that he would cleanse them from the guilt of their Sins in the Blood of Christ the only Fountain of Life and baptize them with the Holy Ghost as with Fire to purge away their Dross and Pollutions An unholy Life is the off-spring of an unclean Heart The loose vibrations of the impure Eye the inticing words of the impure Tongue the external caresses and incentives of Lust are from the Heart The Heart must be purified or the Hands cannot be cleansed 2. Suppress the first risings of Sin in the Thoughts and Desires Sins at first are easily resisted but indulged for a time are difficultly retracted 3. Abstain from all Temptations to these Sins As Wax near the Fire is easily melted so the Carnal Affections are suddenly kindled by tempting Objects The neglect of this Duty fills the World with so many incorrigible Sinners and Hell with so many lost Souls Men venture to walk among snares and serpents without fear and perish for the neglect of circumspection 4. Do not presume that you will forsake those Sins hereafter which you are unwilling to forsake at present There is in many a Conflict between Conviction and Corruption They love Sin and hate it they delight in it and are sorry for it they cannot live without it nor with it in several respects Now to quiet Conscience and indulge their Lusts they please themselves with resolutions of a future Reformation The Tempter often excites Men to consent for once and obtains his aim But 't is a voluntary distraction to think Men may without apparent danger yield to a present Temptation resolving to resist future Temptations For if when the Strength is intire a Temptation captivates a Person how much more easily will he be kept in bondage when the Enemy is more tyrannous and usurping more bold and powerful and treads upon his neck and he is more disabled to rescue himself The inlightned natural Conscience is arm'd against Sin and if Men regarded its dictates if they believed and valued Eternity they might preserve themselves from many Defilements But God has never promised to recover Sinners by special Grace who have neglected to make use of common Grace In short consider what is more tormenting than all the Pleasures of Sin that are but for a season can be delightful the reflection of the guilty accusing Conscience and the terrible impression of an angry God for ever CHAP. II. Anger is a Lust of the Flesh. No Passion less capable of Counsel Directions to prevent its rise and reign Motives to extinguish it The Lust of the Eyes and Pride of Life are joined with the Lusts of the Flesh. Covetousness consider'd 'T is radically in the Understanding principally in the Will vertually in the Actions The love of it produces many vicious Affections 'T is discovered in getting saving and using an Estate The difficulty of curing Covetousness made evident from the Causes of it and the unsuccessfulnss of Means in order to it 'T is the root of all Evil. Excludes from Heaven 'T is the most unreasonable Passion The present World cannot afford Perfection or Satisfaction to the Immortal Soul The proper Means to mortifie Covetousness 2. ANger is another Lust of the Flesh. Of all the Passions none is less capable of Counsel nor more rebellious against the Empire of Reason It darkens the Mind and causes such a fierce agitation of the Spirits as when a Storm fills the Air with black Clouds and terrible flashes of Lightning It often breaks forth so suddenly that as some acute Diseases if check'd at first become more violent there is no time for remedy nor place for cure so there is such an irrevocable precipitancy of the Passions that the indeavour to repress their Fury inrages them 'T is astonishing what enormous Excesses and Mischiefs are caused by it How many Houses are turned into Dens of Dragons how many Kingdoms into Fields of Blood by this fierce Passion To prevent its rise and reign the most necessary Counsel is if possible to quench the first Sparks that appear which are seeds pregnant with Fire But if it be kindled do not feed the Fire by exasperating Words A prudent silence will be more effectual to end a Quarrel than the most sharp and piercing reply that confounds the Adversary Julius Caesar would never assault those Enemies with Arms whom he could subdue by Hunger He that injuriously reviles us if we revile not again and he has not a word from us to feed his Rage will cease of himself and like those who dye with pure Hunger will tear himself Hezekiah commanded his Counsellors not to say a word to Rabshekah 2. Try by gentle and meek addresses to compose the ruffled Minds of those who are provoked 'T is the observation of the wisest of Men that a soft Answer breaks the Bones 'T is usually successful to
of the other This is pernicious Hypocrisie The subtilty and strength of Satan are imployed to deceive Men by an airy Religion by an opinionative Goodness to prevent their being awakened from their drowsie and deadly state 'T is worthy of notice The Tempter has a double operation in the Minds of Men He deceives the hypocritical with false hopes by concealing or extenuating their Sins to induce them to presume of the Favour of God and to secure his quiet possession of them He troubles the sincere with vain Terrors by concealing their Graces to discourage their progress in the way to Heaven He is an envious Explorator and searches to find out their defects to accuse them to God and he defames God to them as if he would not spare his Sons that serve him He is triumphant in the unsanctified and militant in the Saints 3. Some hide their crying Sins under the colourable appearance of Vertues and pretend to Holiness that they may sin with less suspicion and more security He will speak of those Sins in others with severity which he freely indulges in himself The Characters of Religion are drawn in his Countenance but his Lusts are deeply ingraven in his Heart These our Saviour compares to painted Sepulchres that within contain sordid dust and rottenness This is perfect Hypocrisie a deadly pollution that wounds the Vitals sears the Conscience quenches all Goodness in the Will for this Hypocrite is voluntarily so Hypocrisie in the Heart is like Poyson in a Spring that spreads it self through all the veins of the Conversation This Sin our Saviour never speaks of but with detestation For this he denounc'd such a heavy Woe against the Pharisees that used Religion as a masking habit to appear glorious in the Eyes of Men and disguised their Worldly Aims in Devotions and made long Prayers to be esteem'd of Men. This is so odious to God that he forbids all the emblems and resemblances of it to the Jews Linsy-wolsey Garments and miscelain Corn. Our Defects acknowledged with ingenuity excite his Compassion but counterfeit Vertues excite his Indignation For what can be more provoking than to appear to be like God in Holiness the Glory of the Deity for this end to be secretly wicked and to affront his Omniscience as if he could not discern them through all their close and dark concealments A Hypocrite is fearful of Men but faces God Pride mix'd with Hypocrisie was the Devil's original Sin he abode not in the Truth and Religious Hypocrites are his Natural Children The hottest climate in Hell will be their habitation For our Saviour threatens some Sinners their portion with Hypocrites that is aggravated Damnation This Sin is difficultly cured in that 't is not easily discovered by Men and does not expose to shame but is subservient to many carnal ends Men cannot dive into the Hearts of others and cannot discern between the Paint of Hypocrisie and the Life of Holiness The mixture of beautiful Colours in the Countenance may be so artificial that at distance it may be thought to be natural Besides Hypocrisie turns the Remedy into Poyson For the frequent exercise of Religious Duty which is the means to sanctifie us confirms and hardens Hypocrites The effectual means to cure it is a stedfast belief of the pure and flaming Eye of God who sees Sin where-ever it is and will bring it into Judgment A Hypocrite may hide his Sin from the Eyes of others and sometimes from his own Conscience but can never impose upon God And as nothing so confounds Men with shame as to be found false and perfidious in their dealings how much more will the Hypocrites be cover'd with confusion at the great day when they shall appear naked with their loathsome Ulcers before innumerable Angels and Saints They will desire the Rocks to hide them from that glorious Assembly The stedfast belief of this great Truth will cause frequent and solemn thoughts of God as our Inspector and Judge I have set the Lord always before me he is at my right-hand I shall not be moved This was the effect of David's Faith This will produce Sincerity in Religion unrespective to the Eyes of Men and preserve us from secret Sins 'T is the prescription of our Saviour Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees which is Hypocrisie For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed neither hid that shall not be known Whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light and that which ye have spoken in the Ear in closets shall be proclaimed on the house tops 3. Envy at the Good of others and Malice wishing them Evil is a deep pollution of the Spirit This absolutely alienates Men from the Nature and Life of God For the clearest conception we have of the Deity is that he is Good and does Good This is contrary not only to supernatural Grace but to natural Conscience and turns a Man into a Fiend This Vice is immediately attended with itâ— Punishment The envious Man is his own tormentor and has the Vipers â—ate in the Fable that in biting the File wounded it self Besides this stops the descent of Divine Blessings and turns the Petitions of the Envious into Imprecations against themselves To finish this Head 't is observable nothing more discovers the necessity of Renovation than the defilements of the Spirit As Birds by incubation hatch their brood so from sinful Thoughts and Desires actual Sins proceed Our Saviour tells us Out of the Heart proceed Murders Adulteries Fornications Thefts False-witness Blasphemies which defile a Man 'T is above all things necessary to keep the Heart for the issues of Death â—low from it The design contrivance and consent to sin are in the Heart the Body is only the Instrument of Sin To enforce this Counsel there are many Motives 1. God is infinitely dishonour'd and displeas'd by the Sins of our Spirits For the Soul is of near alliance with God and of incomparable more value than the vile Body Therefore the defiling it is highly provoking The Soul is the place of his special residence and the entertaining Sin in it is as a fouler Indignity than the bringing Dung into the Chamber of Presence of a King We should be more careful to approve our Thoughts and Desires to God than our Words and Actions to Men. 2. They are more easily contracted than those which are acted by the sensitive Faculties They secretly insinuate into the Soul External Sins require â—it time and place and means for their commission and are often hinder'd by the moral restraints of Fear and Shame But speculative Sins may be committed without convenient circumstances In whatever place or company Men are they may retire into their Hearts and please themselves with vicious thoughts and desires of future Sins and devices how to make provision for the Flesh with carnal representations and complacency of the Sins they have committed They may personate the Pleasures of Sin
in the scene of Fancy and the imagination of old Sins becomes a new Temptation and deeply stains their Minds And as 't is usual what pleases is favour'd and defended they by carnal Discourse pervert Scripture to countenance their Lusts which is the highest Wickedness 3. Spiritual Sins are most frequently committed being of quick dispatch without the toil of the Body From hence their number is as the Sand upon the Sea-shore They infinitely increase Mens accounts with the high and eternal Judge whose Understanding is as searching as 't is unsearchable The Judgment of the last Day is distinguished from the process of inferiour Humane Courts which are confin'd to take cognisance only of Mens intentions by overt acts for then there shall be a revelation of the thoughts and secrets of the Heart 4. Spiritual Sins are more incurable than those that are done by the Body For when the sensitive Faculties by Diseases and Age are disabled then the vicious habits of the Soul may be strongâ— and like the Poyson of a Serpent be more deadly by Age. Notwithstanding inward Pollutions induce such a Guilt yet Carnal Men are apt to think that till Sin be perfected in the gross act 't is not deadly And for this they pervert Scripture wherein 't is said That when Lust hath conceived it bringeth forth Sin and Sin when 't is finish'd brings forth Death But in God's sight the contemplative commission of â—in renders one as truly guilty as the actual and Consent to the doing it renders as obnoxious to his inlightened and impartial Tribunal as the Performance His pure and perfect Law the Rule of our Duty forbids all defilements fleshly and spiritual and that shall be the Rule of our Judgment And as the Soul is the first and principal agent in Sin it shall first receive the recompence of it In the interval between Death and the Resurrection while the Body is without sense in the Grave the Soul is tormented in Hell Before I proceed to the next Head it will be useful to add That many sincere Saints are in perplexity from the injections of Satan â—earing they arise from their own Hearts 1. They may be distinguish'd by their quality Unnatural Thoughts against our selves and blasphemous of God are usually from the Tempter 2. When they make terrible impressions upon our Spirits they are his fiery Darts For the native off-spring of our Hearts are conceived with freedom and complacency 3. They are our infelicities but induce no Guilt when resisted by us A Rape may be committed on the Mind and as the ravish'd Virgin that cryed out for rescue from Violence was declared by God himself innocent so when the tempted Soul with strong cryes prays for Divine Relief God will not say those terrible injections to our charge Our Saviour was tempted by the unclean Spirit yet was holy harmless and undefiled and has a compassionate tenderness for those who are tempted and will make them partake of the Fruits of his glorious Victory 'T is true if the injections of Satan are cherish'd by the Carnal Mind they are ours by adoption though of his begetting The Devil put in the Heart of Judas the design of betraying Christ but it was entertain'd by his Covetous Mind and involv'd him under the heaviest Guilt The inclinations of Carnal Men are to various Sins to which they are more inclinable by the Temptations of Satan but that does not excuse them from Guilt CHAP. V. The Perfection of Holiness Consider'd The Perfection of Innocence The Perfection of Grace The Perfection of Glory The Essential Perfection of Grace consists in Sincerity Constancy proceeds from it Integral Perfection Comparative Perfection Intellectual and Moral The threefold comparison of Moral Perfection Relative Perfection according to the Conditions of the Saints in this Life Absolute Perfection only attain'd in Heaven I Now come to Discourse of the Perfection of Holiness the sublime Object and Aim of the Desires and Endeavours of sincere Christians I shall premise there is a Threefold Perfection of Holiness spoken of in Scripture The perfection of Innocence the perfection of Grace and the perfection of Glory 1. The perfection of Innocence God made Man upright in the bright Image of his Holiness The Excellency of the Efficient Cause infers the Excellency of the Effect and the final Cause was for his own Glory and Man's Happiness in order to which he was endowed with those Moral Perfections as qualified him to obtain that end There was an exact Regularity in all his Faculties The inlightned Mind directed the Will the Will commanded the Affections the Affections rul'd the Senses He had power to stand but was free to Fall with his original perfection there was a possibility of sinning and dying The Eyes of his Mind were clear discovering his Duty and Felicity and the assisting Grace of God was like the Sun shining in the Air to actuate his visive Faculty but he wilfully shut his Eye and fell from that heighth of Happiness into a pit without a bottom 2. The perfection of Grace This in the Language of Scripture signifies uprightness and sincerity and is attributed to the Saints in several respects which I will particularly consider 3. The perfection of Glory This implies a Union of all Excellencies in a Soveraign Degree The Church in the present State is compared to the Moon that receives Light from the Sun in half its Globe but in the next State will be fill'd with Light as a Ball of Christal penetrated by the Sun Beams The Church shall be Glorious in Holiness without spot or wrinkle or any such thing Natural Righteousness was of short continuance as Nature left to it self always is but the Supernatural State is not only undefil'd but fades not away The perfection of Paradise was frail for Man in his best state was changing from this Root his Ruin sprang but the perfection of Heaven is immutable for there God is all in all His Influxive Presence is the Productive and Conservative Cause of their Holiness and Blessedness I will now Consider the perfection of Grace that is attributed to the Saints in the present state 1. There is an Essential perfection that Consists in the unchangable nature of things and is absolutely requisite to the kind A gradual perfection belongs to individuals and is various All Gold is not refin'd to the same degree and heighth of Purity but true Gold though in the lowest degree of fineness will endure the Furnace and the Touchstone and by that tryal is discern'd from Counterfeit Metal There are different degrees of active heat in Fire sometimes it Flames but always Burns if fed with Combustible matter Now the Essence of true Holiness consists in a Conformity to the Nature and Will of God whereby a Saint is distinguisht from the unrenewed World and is not acted by their Principles and Precepts not govern'd by their Maxims and Customs There are different degrees of Holiness in the Saints but Sincerity
the Objects of Faith and of Reason buâ— in different respects Reason may discover them by ascending from effects to their causes or descending from causes to their effects Faith receives them as revealed in Scripture By Faith we know the Worlds were made which may be proved by clear Reason 2. The Objects of Faith The general Object of Faith is the Word of God the special are those Doctrines and Promises and Things that Reason cannot discover by its own Light nor perfectly understand when revealed The Word of God contains a Narrative of things past and Predictions of things to come The destruction of the old World by a deluge of Waters and the consumption of the present World by a deluge of Fire are Objects of Faith But the Unity of the Divine Nature and the Trinity of Divine Persons the Incarnation of the Son of God his Eternal Counsels respecting Man's Redemption never enter'd into the Heart of Man to conceive but are as far above our thoughts as the Heavens are above the Earth and cannot be comprehended God may be considered absolutely in himself or as revealing himself and his Will to us We have some knowledge of his Being and Divine Attributes Wisdom Power Goodness in his Works of Creation and Providence but we believe in him as declaring his Mind and Will to us in his Word We may know a Person and his excellent Vertues Intellectual and Moral but we cannot believe in him without some discovery of his Thoughts and Affections to us 3. The motives of Belief are to be considered Divine Faith must have a Divine Foundation Faith may be absolutely true and relatively false Many believe the Doctrine of the Gospel upon no other grounds than the Turks believe the Alcoran because 't is the reigning Religion of their Country and by the impression of Example From hence their Faith is like the House built on the Sand and when a Storm arises is in danger of falling The firm foundation of Faith is the essential supreme Perfections of God unerring Knowledge immutable Truth infinite Goodness almighty Power 'T is equally impossible that he should be deceived or deceive His infinite Understanding is the foundation of his perfect Veracity And whatsoever is the Object of his Will is the Object of his Power for to will and to do are the same thing in him 'T is true the knowledge of things by experimental Sense is a clearer perception than the perswasion of them by Faith The first is to see the original the other is to see the copy that usually falls short of it 'T is therefore said We now see in a glass darkly But the Divine Testimony in it self has the most convincing evidence above the assurance we can have by the report of our Senses which often deceive us through the indisposition of the Faculty or the unfitness of the medium or distance of the Objects or the knowledge of things by discursive Ratiocination The objective certainty of Faith is infallible We know with the highest assurance that God can no more lye than he can dye 'T is said All things are possible with God but to lye or dye are not possibilities but passibilities not the effects of Power but proceed from Weakness We know the sacred Scriptures are the Word of God by the signatures of his Perfections Wisdom Holiness Goodness Justice and by the Miracles perform'd by the Pen-men of them that proved they were divinely inspir'd and consequently infallible in what they wrote From hence Faith is often express'd by Knowledge Nicodemus gives this testimony of our Saviour We know thou art a teacher come from God We believe and are sure thou art that Christ the Son of the living God We know that if the house of this earthly tabernable be dissolved we have a building made without hands eternal in the Heavens We know that he was manifested that he might take away Sin We know that when Christ shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is I will not insist upon the particular supernatural Doctrines revealed in the Gospel for there is little new to be said upon those Points If Men with renewed Minds and Hearts considered the testimony of Scripture there would need no more arguing But I will lay down some Considerations that prove Divine Faith to be the reasonable act of the Humane Understanding 2. Answer the Objections alledged to justifie the disbelief of Divine Doctrines that we are not able to conceive nor comprehend 1. That God is true is a Principle immediately evident not dependently upon an antecedent motive This by its native irresistible evidence is beyond all dispute and exempted from all critical Inquiries There is no Principle written in the Minds of Men with clearer Characters 'T was the saying of a wise Heathen If God would converse visibly with Men he would assume Light for a Body and have Truth for his Soul God is most jealous of the Honour of his Truth Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name Truth is the supreme Character of the Deity The Apostle builds the assurance of Christians upon the Promises and their strong Consolation upon this infallible Rock God that cannot lye From hence it follows that in supernatural Doctrines we must first consider the authority of the revealer and then the nature of Doctrines 2. God's Jurisdiction extends to our Understandings as well as to our Wills He rules our Understandings by light our Wills by empire If God did command us to believe only Truths in themselves evident our receiving them would not be an undoubted respect to his Authority but to believe his testimony without the evidence of things is an Obedience worthy of him And we are equally obliged to believe his testimony concerning the truth of things notwithstanding the reluctancy of the carnal Mind and their seeming repugnance to the natural notions of Reason as to obey his Precepts notwithstanding the reluctancy of the corrupt Will and the inclinations to forbidden things 3. God never requires our assent to supernatural things revealed in his Word but affords sufficient conviction that they are Divine Revelations When God deputed any by Commission for an extraordinary Work he always afforded a Light to discover the Commission was uncounterfeit Moses was sent from God with a Command to Pharaoh to release the Israelites from their cruel Servitude and he had the Wonder-working Rod to authorise his Commission and confirm the truth of his Message by Miracles The Divinity of the Scripture the Rule of Faith shines with that clear and strong evidence that only those whose Minds are prevented with a conceit of the impossibility of the Doctrines contained in it and perverted by their Passions can resist it Colour'd Objects are not discern'd more clearly by their Colours nor Light by its Lustre than that the Scriptures are of Divine Revelation Reason is an Essential Faculty of Man and by it we are directed
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 Govern and Order innumerable Worlds Moral Perfections Holiness Goodness Justice and Truth Now the Union of these Perfections in God deserves we should glorify him with all the degrees of our Understandings and Wills with the highest Veneration and Esteem and the most ardent Affections If the weak and transient resemblance of some of the Divine Excellencies in the Creatures from whom we neither receive nor expect any benefit raise our Esteem and draw our Love how much more should the Essential Perfections of God fill us with Admiration and the dearest Affections to him His absolute Perfections are not the Objects of our Desires for he is intirely possest of them and can never be devested of them but of our Love and Joy 2. Consider God in his Relative Attributes to us as our Maker Preserver and Benefactor as our Redeemer that saves us from an everlasting Hell and has purchased and prepar'd Eternal Glory for us and prepares us for it The Eternity Omni-presence and Omnipotence of God are awful Attributes and deserve our most humble Adoration for he that lives for Ever can punish for ever yet in conjunction with his propitious beneficent Attributes Goodness Clemency and Benignity are aimable Perfections and deserve our singular and superlative Love for Eternal Power consers and maintains our Happiness At thy right hand are pleasures for evermore The first rise of our Love is from the sense of his Benefits but we must Love him above his Benefits and value his Benefits for his sake as they are the Testimonies of his Love This inspired a holy Heat in the Psalmists Breast What shall I render to the Lord for all his Benefits That the impressions of his benefits may sink and settle into our Hearts I will Consider The principle from whence they proceed the greatness of them and Gods End in bestowing them 1. The principle of all his benefits is his most free and pure Goodness The Psalmist declares Thou art good and dost good 'T is true his high Perfections are very resplendent in his Works yet this induced no necessity upon God for declarative Glory resulting from the exercise and effects of his Attributes was not necessary He was from all Eternity Infinitely Glorious and Blessed in Himself Neither was any motive or merit in us to determine his Will either to Create or Redeem us For antecedently to the first act of his Goodness we had no being and consequently no possibility or shadow of desert and after our Sin we were deservedly Miserable 2. Let us ponder his benefits that if it were possible we may not miss a grain of their weight 1. In the order of Nature He made us and not we our selves The Humane Body compos'd of as many Miracles as Members was the design of his Mind the various Art and Work of his Hands He immediately form'd the body of Adam of the Virgin Earth and though in the course of Nature our Parents contribute to the matter of our Bodies yet he Organises them in that perfection he disposes all the parts in that order and proportion as is requisite for Comliness and Use. The Psalmist speaks of this with those lively Expressions I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made marvellous are thy works and that my soul knows right well I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the Earth Thine eyes did see my substance yet being imperfect and in thy book all my members were written If one Member had been defective the Eye the Hand the Tongue if one sense had been wanting what inconvenience what deformity had insued To a Body of Flesh the Divine Maker united an immortal Soul capable to know and love to obey and enjoy him who is the Fountain of Felicity A Soul incomparably more precious in the account of our Creator and Redeemer than all the World It heightens the Goodness of God that he first prepared the World reviewed it and approved all as Good and then introduced Man as his Vice-Roy to possess and rule it The great Universe he did not make for the meer show of his Power but for the demonstration of his Goodness unto Man The reflection upon these first Benefits our being Reasonable Creatures which is the foundation of all other Benefits how should it ingage us to love and serve our Maker with all our Powers in their best Capacities Our obligation is founded in Natural and Divine Right The Law of consecrating the first Fruits was figurative of this Love is the first Affection of the Heart the first Fruit of the Soul If God did so strictly exact the payment of the first Fruits can we think he is less jealous of our Love and less severe in requiring it should be consecrated to him The Fruits of a young Plant are not more pleasing to him than of an old Tree but he would instruct us to give the first Affections of our Souls to him 2. If we raise our Thoughts and distinctly consider Creating Goodness our Affections will be more inflam'd in the sense of it We were born in distant spaces of time according to his eternal benevolent Decree Notwithstanding the different temporal circumstances of our coming into the World we are all equally obliged to his eternal Goodness Let us consider that in the pure possibility of being we were not distinguish'd from an infinite number that shall never be for as his Power is without any limits but his Will the possible production of Men is without number yet he was pleased to raise us into actual Being This was a most free Favour and by reflecting on it unless we are dead as the Grave we shall find a warm lively sense of it in our Hearts If a Prince exalt and enrich a Favourite his own Interest is mix'd with the Honour and Profit of the Favourite for he expects Service from him But God whose Happiness is infinite and indeficient cannot receive any benefit from the service of the Creature His Favours are above all desert and beyond all requital 2. If we consider God as our preserver and benefactor our obligations to Love and Thankfulness are infinite The first being and uninterrupted duration of the World is from the same powerful Cause For nothing can make it self when 't is not nor preserve it self when ' t is Some have revived that erroneous Opinion That as a Clock form'd by an Artificer and the Weights drawn up regularly strikes the Hours and continues its Motion and Sound in the absence of the Artificer So the perpetual concourse of the Divine Providence is not necessary for the support and operations of every Creature but Nature may work of it self and turn the Wheels of all Things within its compass But the Instance is defective there being an extream disparity between the Work of an Artificer in forming a Clock whose matter is independent upon him and God's giving the first Being to the Creatures with Powers to act by
his actual concurrence For every Creature is maintain'd by a successive continual production To affect us consider the preserver of Men brought us safely into the World through the dark Valley of Death where thousands are strangled in the birth We are born by him from the belly and carried from the womb How compassionate was his Goodness to us in our Infancy the state of wants and weakness when we were absolutely incapable of procuring supplies or securing our selves from many dangers surrounding us The preparing the Milk for our Nourishment is the work of the God of Nature The Blood of the Mother by the secret channels of the Veins is transfused into the Breasts and is a living Spring there They are but two because 't is the ordinary Law of Nature to have but two Children at a Birth They are planted near the Heart which is the Forge of Natural Heat and transforms the Blood collected in the Breasts into Milk And there is a mystery of Love in it for the Mother in the same time nourishes her Child with delight regards and embraces it From Infancy his Mercy grows up with us and never forsakes us He is the God of our Lives He draws a Curtain of Protection and Rest about us in the Night and repairs our faint Faculties otherwise our Bodies would soon decay into a dissolution He spreads our Table and fills our Cup. He is the length of our days There is such a composition of Contrarieties in the Humours of the Body so many Veins and Arteries and Nerves that derive the vital and animal Spirits from the Heart and Head to all the parts we are exposed to so many destructive accidents that were not the tender Providence of our true Father always watchful over us we should presently fail and dye The Lord is a Sun and a Shield As the Sun is a universal Principle of Life and Motion and pours forth his treasures of Light and Heat without any loss and impoverishing Thus God communicates his Blessings to all the progeny of Men. He is a Shield protecting us from innumerable Evils unforeseen and inevitable without his preventing Goodness Were we only kept alive and sighed out our days in Grief and Pain were our passage to the next State through a barren Wilderness without any refreshing Springs and Showers this were infinite Mercy For if we duely consider his Greatness and our Meanness his Holiness and Justice and our Sinfulness it would cause us to look up to God with admiration and down to our selves with confusion that our Lives so frail and so often forfeited are preserved The Church in a desolate state acknowledges 'T is the Lord's Mercy that we are not consumed because his Mercies are renewed every morning 'T is Mercy upon Mercy all is Mercy Our Saviour with respect to his humble state says I am a Worm and no Man but we are Serpents and no Worms And as 't is usual to destroy venomous Creatures in the egg before they have done actual mischief we that are Children of Wrath by Nature whose Constitution is Poyson might have been justly destroyed in the Conception This ravish'd the Psalmist into an extasie of Wonder whilst he contemplated the glorious Lights of Heaven What is Man that thou art mindful of him or the Son of Man that thou shouldst regard and relieve him He bestows innumerable and inestimable Benefits upon a race of Rebels that boldly break his Laws and abuse his Favours He not only suspends his Judgments but dispenses his Blessings to those that infinitely provoke him Now can we be unaffected with his indulgent Clemency his immense Bounty his condescending and compassionate Goodness Why does he load us with his Benefits every day but for his Goodness sake and to endear himself to us For he is always ready to open his bountiful Hand if we do not shut our Breasts and harden our Hearts not to receive his Gifts His Mercy is like the Widows miraculous Oyl that never ceas'd in pouring out while there was any Vessel to receive it Then the flowing Vein was stop'd How is it possible such rich and continued Goodness should not insinuate it self into our Souls and engage our Love to our blessed Benefactor Can we degenerate so far from Humane Nature nay below the Sensitive for the dull Ox and stupid Ass serve those that feed them as to be Enemies to God How prodigious and astonishing is this degeneracy 3. The Love of God appears in its full Force and Glory in our Redemption The Eloquence of an Angel would be very dis-proportion'd to the dignity and greatness of this Argument much more the weak Expressions of Men. That we may the more distinctly conceive it I will briefly consider the greatness of the benefit and the means of obtaining it Man in his state of unstain'd Innocence was furnisht with power to persevere but left in the hand of his own Counsel He was drawn by a soft Seducer to eat of the forbidden Tree and in that single Instance was guilty of universal Dis-obedience He was ingaged in a deep Revolture with the Apostate Spirits and incurr'd the Sentence of a double Death both of the Body and of the Soul Now where was the Miraculous Physician to be found that could save us from Eternal Death Who could Appease God and Abolish Sin God was affected with tender pity at the sight of our Misery and though the morning Stars that fell from heaven are now wandring Stars for whom the blackness of darkness is reserv'd for ever yet he was pleased to recover Man from that desperate state in a way becoming his Perfections This was the Product of his most free Love God's Will and Christ's Willingness were the Springs of our Redemption for he might have pari jure with the same just Severity have dealt with us as with the Rebellious Angels There was no legal constraint upon our Saviour to dye for us for he was holy harmless undefiled and separate from Sinners There was no violent Constraint for he could with one Word have destroy'd his Enemies The depth of his Wisdom the strength of his Power the Glory of his Holiness and Justice were illustriously reveal'd in this great work but Love was the Regent Attribute that call'd forth the other into their distinct Exercise and acts Most Wise Omnipotent and Holy Love saved us What the Psalmist speaks of the Divine Perfections in making us I am fearfully and wonderfully made is in a nobler Sense verified in our Salvation we are fearfully and wonderfully Redeem'd by the Concord of those seeming irreconcileable Attributes Vindictive Justice and Saving Mercy Our Rebellion was to be expiated by the highest perfection of Obedience and thereby the honour of God's Moral Government to be repair'd For this end the Son of God dis-rob'd himself of his Glory and put on the Livery of our frail Flesh and in the form of a Servant became obedient to the Death of the Cross to rescue us
nearness of an Evil and the apprehensions of it the stronger is the Fear In the turning of Sinners the impressions of it are different Stronger degrees are requisite to rouse the obdurate and to make them fly from the Wrath to come The Jaylor surprised with Terrors cryes out Sirs what shall I do to be saved 'T is said The Lord open'd the heart of Lydia as with an oyl'd Key but an Earthquake was necessary to open the Jaylors Till there is felt something more tormenting than carnal sweets are pleasing Men will not mortifie their Lusts. One will not suffer a part of his Body to be cut off unless an incureable Gangrene threatens speedy Death The World is present and sensible and continually diverts men from the consideration of their Souls unless Eternal things are by a strong application impress'd on their Minds Till urged by the Terrors of Everlasting Death they will reject the offers of Everlasting Life While Carnal Men are in Prosperity they hate Instruction to prevent Sin and despise Reproof to correct Sin they slight the fearful report of Thunder and do no more tremble at the Torments of Hell threaten'd in the Word of God than at Squibs and Crackers the sport of Boys But in sharp Afflictions and the approaches of Death when Conscience draws near to God's Tribunal it becomes bold and resumes the Government and calls them to an account for all their Rebellions and forces them to Confess what they would fain Conceal their fears of Eternal Judgment 2. Holy Fear preserves and increases Religion This may be consider'd as it includes Reverence of God with Circumspection and Caution The Fear of Reverence is an inseparable Affection and Character of a Saint Hear the prayers of thy servants who desire to fear thy name The desires include the sincerity of this Grace in opposition to Hypocrisie and pretences for they are the unfeigned Issues of the Soul and the freeness of the Affection in opposition to Violence and Constraint The Name of God implies his Excellent Attributes the proper Motives of Holy Fear His Majesty is ador'd by the Angels in their humble posture before his high Throne His Purity wherein God does so excel and we are so defective excites the most awful respects of him Who would not fear thee for thou art holy Holy and reverend is his name His Goodness to a Holy ingenuous Soul is a motive of fear they shall fear the Lord and his goodness If Fear declines and slumbers there is present danger of losing the purest sweetness of Love and Joy that proceed from intercourse and Communion with God His Omniscience and the recompences of his Justice and Power keeps the Soul Cautious lest we should offend him What Stupidity what fury to provoke so dreadful an Adversary who can dispatch a Sinner to the Grave and Hell in a Moment Some object that 't is unsuitable to the gracious dispensation of the Gospel for the Children of God to reflect upon his Terrible Attributes But are they wiser than God who uses this Discipline as Medicinal either to prevent Sin or to correct them into their Duty Are they more Evangelical than our Saviour who counsell'd his Disciples I say unto you my friends be not afraid of them that can kill the body and after that have no more that they can do But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear fear him which after he hath kill'd hath power to cast into hell I say unto you fear him Are they more Spiritual than St. Paul who from the Consideration of our being accountable for all things done in the Body before the inlightned Tribunal of Christ infers Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we perswade men This Influenc'd him to a zealous discharge of his Duty It may seem very difficult to reconcile the exercise of holy Fear with Faith and the Sanctified Affections of Love Hope and Joy But it will appear they are very consistent 1. Fear is the product of Faith and assurance of God's Favour is preserved by the Fear of his Displeasure Fear is not contrary to Faith but to Presumption Be not high-minded but fear A jealousie of our selves lest we should provoke God is joyn'd with a more entire and pure Trust in his Grace and Mercy 2. The Love and Fear of God have a mutual Causality on each other The Love of God excites Thoughts of his continual Presence and Perfections that cause an awful esteem of him by which Love is maintain'd Desires proceed from Love and 't is express'd in the forecited place thy Servants who desire to fear thy Name The fear of the Lord is their Treasure not their Torment for their fear to Offend him is from their pure Love to Please him Indeed servile Fear that is meerly from the consideration of his Anger and Power is consistent with the Love of Sin and inconsistent with the Love of God 't is a judicial and violent impression on Conscience that Carnal Men would sain deface that they might freely enjoy their desir'd Objects and 't is by Fits for God sometimes thunders in the Conscience as well as in the Air. But filial Fear is the Habitual Constitution of a Saint he is voluntary and active to preserve it in continual Exercise 3. The Fear of God and Hope are joyn'd in Scripture and in the Hearts of Believers The Lord delights in those that fear him and hope in his mercy Fear and Hope contemper each other Fear without Hope is slavish and Hope without Fear is secure As the growth of things in Nature Flowers and Fruits is from the heat of the Days and the cold moisture of the Nights so growth in Grace is by the warm encouragements of Hope and the chilling influence of Fear A regular Hope in the Promises is joyn'd with an humble Fear and Subjection to his Commands 4. Holy Fear is mixed with Joy Serve the Lord with fear and rejoyce with trembling Carnal Joy and Carnal Fear and Sorrow are contrary Extremes that proceed from contrary Causes A prosperous State in this World and the Satisfaction of the Sensual Desires is the root from whence carnal Joy springs and is nourisht and the being deprived of Temporal good things disabled by Sickness to enjoy them or the prospect of some imminent Disaster are the cause of Fear and Guilt But the exercise of Spiritual Joy and Holy Fear are consistent at the same time for the serious reflection on the Divine Attributes excite both those Affections We read that when Mary Magdalen with the other Mary came to the Sepulchre of Christ at the bright appearance of an Angel that declar'd his Resurrection they went away with fear and great joy Sinful Affections are opposite to Grace but Gracious Affections are inseparable The fear of offending God is a preservative of our Joy in him as a Hedge of Thorns is a Fence to a Garden of Roses In the Kingdom of Love and Joy the Reverent Fear of God is in
Humours proceeds from a sound and firm Constitution To receive no hurtful impressions by great changes of Condition discovers a habit of Excellent Grace and Vertue in the Soul Thus when a Person retains an humble Mind with rising Honour when Affability Modesty and Condescension are joyn'd with Courtly Dignity 't is the effect of great Vertue and Victory over the Natural Passions 'T is said by the Psalmist The Sun knows its going down when arrived at the Meridian Circle and shining in his richest Beams the revolution is certain and he sets in the Evening So when those who are in their highest elevation of Honour understand themselves and with sober and sad thoughts consider they must shortly decline and set in the dark Grave 't is the effect of excellent Vertue When those who from a mean Condition come to abound in Riches do not set their hearts on them remembering they often take Wings and fly to the Heavens and the Possessors must shortly fall to the Earth when they do not furnish provisions for their Lusts and Licentiousness but use them with discretion when they employ them for Sacred and Merciful Uses considering they are not Proprietors but Stewards when they consider their Receipts and Expences and the strict Account they must give of all this adorns the Gospel And in the sudden Fall from a Prosperous into a Calamitous Condition when a Man looks upward to the Soveraign Disposer of all Events with meek Submission and resign themselves to the Will and Wisdom of God whose end is to refine not consume them by a Fiery Trial When they are more sollicitous to have their Affliction sanctified than removed and bless God for taking as well as giving his Benefits this is the effect of Excellent Grace and has a Rich Reward attending it CHAP. XI Strictness in judging our selves and Candour in judging others a sign of excellent Holiness Preferring the Testimony of an unreproaching Conscience before the Praise of Men an Argument of excellent Grace The serious performance of Religious Duties in secret a sign of a Heavenly Spirit The forgiving Injuries and overcoming Evil with Good the effect of eminent Grace The more receptive Persons are of Spiritual Admonition to prevent or recover them from Sin the more holy The deliberate desire of Death that we may be perfectly holy argues an excellent degree of Holiness Directions to follow Holiness in our early Age with Zeal with Alacrity and unfainting Perseverance The Answer to Objections against striving after perfect Holiness That 't is impossible to obtain it That thè Duty is extreamly difficult That 't is unnecessary Other Arguments propounded to excite us to this Duty The Gospel the perfect Rule of Holiness Examples of Perfection to raise us to the best heigth The Example of our Heavenly Father of our Redeemer of the Angels of excellent Saints propounded Our present Peace and future Glory are increased by our excelling in Holiness 4. TO be strict and severe in judging our selves to be can did and favourable to others argues a Man to be a proficient in practical Religion The Divine Nature planted in the Saints is as contrary to Sin as Life is to Death and according as Grace is more lively in them there is a quicker perception a more feeling sense of Sin and a stronger detestation of it For the clearer apprehensions we have of the Majesty and Purity of the Law-giver the more extensive understanding of the perfection of the Law the Rule of our Duty and Judgment the more intimate and exact inspection of our Hearts and Actions the more deeply we are affected with our Defects and Defilements How does Agur whose Wisdom and Holiness appears in his choice of a Mediocrity before Riches vilifie himself Surely I am more brutish than any Man and have not the understanding of a Man I neither learned Wisdom nor have the Understanding of the holy With what an emphasis does he express it Surely I have not It was not a superficial acknowledgment but proceeded from the depth of his Soul How does the Psalmist aggravate his being surpriz'd by a strong Temptation So foolish was I and so like a beast before thee The Prophet Isaiah after his vision of God upon a high Throne and all the Sanctities of Heaven about him in a posture of Reverence how does he break forth in perplexity Wo is me for I am a Man of unclean Lips and dwell with a people of unclean Lips for mine Eyes have seen the King the Lord of Hosts St. Paul tho' the most exact observer and example of the Duty of Christians who never shed a Tear for his Sufferings how passionately does he complain of the reliques of Sin O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death A scratch in a piece of Canvas is hardly discovered but if a Picture be drawn upon it 't is very visible When the Image of God is drawn in the Soul the least Sins are observ'd But with what allays does the Apostle speak of the fierce Zeal of the Jews against the Doctrine of the Gospel and the professors of it I bear them record they have a Zeal for God but not according to knowledge He distinguishes between the sincerity of their Zeal and the error of it in the mistaken Object But he detests his own persecuting the Church though capable of the same allays as Fury and Madness If there be any mitigating Circumstance as involuntary Ignorance sudden Surprize or a strong Temptation as in Peter's case his Mind was so intent upon avoiding the present danger that he did not consider his Duty to his Master and this qualified his Sin to be an Infirmity and not treacherous Infidelity if there be no design'd depravedness and pestilent perverseness of Mind Charity will make an indulgent allowance for it It is the inseparable property and excellency of that Grace It bears all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things so far as is consistent with Wisdom and Discretion He that hates nothing in a Sinner but his Sin has made a good progress to perfection There are many that dilate and disperse their sight to discover the faults of others but do not contract it to look inward and see their own They are sharp in observing and aggravating other Mens Sins to be esteem'd zealous and sometimes Hypocrisie is spun so fine as to seem to be uncounterfeit Holiness But they cannot conceal themselves from God and Conscience The sincere Christian sees his own spots and the sense of them inclines him to be favourable to those who are overtaken with a fault To overcome our own Passions and meekly to bear the Passions of others is the effect of victorious Grace The deep shadow of Humility sets a lustre upon all other Graces and makes them amiable in God's sight 5. To prefer the testimony of an unreproaching Conscience in the sight of God before the esteem and praise of Men is
Instance is this Folly more visible than in neglecting the working out their own Salvation till Time and Grace are past when no person can assure himself of the next Minute They presume upon such a remote possibility that after the best of their days are spent in the Vanities and Business of the World there will be time to do the one thing necessary How many are dispatch'd to the Grave and Hell in the midst of their hopes of long Life and their resolutions of future Repentance Death often steals upon Men unobserv'd and sometimes unfelt Now since Time is so short and slippery and Life is dying every day it is astonishing that so many are careless of securing future Blessedness But suppose their Time is lengthened out how is the difficulty increas'd of their being renewed and reformed in their Hearts and Conversations The natural vicious Inclinations by custom in Sin are confirm'd Habits their Passions are more violent the power and liberty of the Mind is broken and cannot reduce them under the empire of Reason Men think there will be an ebbing and retiring of their Carnal Affections in Age when the sensitive Faculties are disabled from the gross acts of Sin but vicious desires are not cur'd by Impotence The love to Sin increases by the repeated pleasure of it Can the Aethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots then may ye that are accustomed to do evil do well By Custom Mens Lusts are more rebellious to Reason more untractable to Discipline more a verse from holy Counsel The good or the evil Habits of one Age are with their Vertues and Vices transfus'd to the next 'T is extraordinary when an evil Child becomes a sober modest Youth or a dissolute Youth becomes a religious Man Childhood is as the Seed in whose Vertue the Tree of Life is contain'd The Characters that are cut in the Bark when the Tree grows deeply and visibly remain 'T is as painful as Death to change a sinful Life of many Years and begin a contrary course of Actions There are two branches of Folly visible in the World Men will not do when they can and afterwards cannot do when they would Besides the Holy Spirit is griev'd and quench'd by their resisting his pure motions and if he be withdrawn 't is impossible they should be renewed by a serious Repentance 'T is as reasonable to expect that the Sun should cross the order of Nature and rise in the West as that the Sun of Righteousness should arise with healing in his wings upon an habitual obstinate Sinner in the hour of Death They are usually left to hardness and stupidity to presumption or to despair Some are as insensible some presume to obtain an easie entrance into the Kingdom of Life and their disappointment exceedingly exasperates their sad exclusion others who were fearless of the last Enemy when afar of in his approaches they remember what they have been and apprehend what they must be without a miraculous change and Conscience like a Pulse beats quick and faint the prognostick of Eternal Death The Consideration they are come to the end of their days and shall lose the end of their desires and hopes Eternal Happiness cuts them more terribly than the pangs of Death The reflection on their wasting the treasure of Time without any improvement for their Souls is a pricking thorn in their Eyes and forces out just but unprofitable tears How doleful is the separation of Soul and Body here and how woful will their union be at the last day O that Men were wise to consider their latter end that they would call Death to counsel with what evidence and efficacy would it convince them of the necessity of a timely preparation for Eternity 'T is too late to go to buy Oyl when the Bridegroom is coming 2. Let us follow Holiness zealously Desires without consequent Endeavours are pretences ineffectual Resolutions contradict themselves What fire vigour and activity does the Apostle express If by any means I may attain to the resurrection of the dead I follow after it that I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended of Christ. Brethren I count not my self to have apprehended but this one thing I do forgetting those things that are behind and reaching forth unto those things that are before I press forward to the mark for the prize of the high calling in Christ. I follow as the Huntsman pursues the Game with full speed It should excite Compassion and Indignation to see the Love of this vain perishing World to be more active and zealous than the Love of the blessed eternal World That the Tempter with such wretched wages the trifles of Time should induce Men to be his Slaves and God with the glorious Reward of an everlasting Kingdom should not perswade them to be his Sons to be like him in Holiness That Men should so violently run down the Hill to the Earth and be so remiss and slow in their motion upward to Heaven The vain-glorious excited by the edge of Ambition will venture on present Death with fond hopes of future Fame Strange purchase The covetous with the most eager application of means strive to heap up uncertain Riches The voluptuous with vehement Affections follow Pleasures But to obtain the highest Honour Coelestial Treasure to enjoy the purest Delights Men think lazy formality and slack endeavours sufficient Whereas the most serious Thoughts flagrant Desires steddy Resolutions and all possible Industry are requisite in our holy Calling that we may have an abundant entrance into the Kingdom of God 3. Let us follow Holiness with alacrity and chearfulness Our Saviour tells us 'T is his meat and drink to do his Father's will The practise of Holiness is vital and nourishing and pleasant to the taste There is a high relish in Victory of any kind but especially over our most dangerous Enemies it replenishes with cordial Contentment what Joy arises from subduing unruly Passions Suppose Anger has often foil'd me and like an unmanaged and unbridled Horse has hurried me into dangers if by Divine Grace by Circumspection and Care by Resolution and Striving I finally overcome it and all its former Victories what a spring of Joy rushes into the Soul If the Graces of the Spirit are more radiant and vigorous in their exercise the Reward is such a clear serenity of Mind as is the reflection of Paradise a Heaven upon Earth Prosperity in a Calling makes Men diligent and delightful in it But when the practise of Religion is constrain'd and tedious God receives no Honour and Man receives no Praise nor Joy as the Reward of it 4. Let us with unfainting perseverance strive after perfect Holiness There are tinctures of Original Sin cleaving to the best Saints defects in their Graces and best Duties There are many degrees of ascent before we come to the highest point of Perfection Let us strive with our utmost possibility to anticipate Heaven We must not be satisfied