a Government loseth all command when not obeyed there are a thousand Reasons which no less respect our own Interest then the Glory of our Soveraign which oblige us to this undisputed resignation If we consider the Word Incarnate we shall finde that his deportment towards his Father exacts this humble duty from us He doth nothing upon the earth but by his orders he consults his will before he undertake any thing and if the time he hath set him to work his miracles in be not yet come he rejects the intreaties of his mother who can receive no other answer from his mouth but these words Nondum venit hora mea But if we look upon the holy Humanity united to the Eternal Word we shall see that as it is despoiled of its proper subsistence it hath no other motions then what it receives from the Divine Assistant that sustains it Humanitas Christi non est sui juris sed verbi actiones enim sunt suppofitorum It is more a his devotion then at its own is guided by that that preserves it and having no dominion over its actions is in a submission equal to its love whatever it acts upon earth all is referred to the Divine Person and as there is no union more strict then theirs neither is any dependance more obedient then that of the Humanity to the Divinity The Word acts absolutely in this holy Humanity Aliud est inviolabile aliud est passibile tamen ejusdem est contumelia cujus est gloria ipse est in infirmitate qui in virtute Leo. he reserves the whole conduct thereof to himself appropriates all the Inclinations and whether the Humane nature suffer or be abased he will have us know and believe that a God suffers and is humbled with it Therefore are all Christians after the imitation of so rare an example obliged to despoil themselves of their Wills to renounce their Desires to submit to Jesus Christ and to manifest in their person an image of the Incarnation 'T was certainly this powerful reason that made the great Apostle to utter these notable words Vivo autem jam non ego vivit vero in me Christus and to teach us by his advice to derive our guidance as well as our glory from the Son of God Indeed the whole Abnegation of a Christian is founded upon the mystery of the Incarnation and when they consider how the holy Humanity is obscured in the desarts humbled in the Villages sacrificed upon Mount Calavary to be obedient to the person of the Word they need not think it strange if to doe Homage to Jesus Christ they are obliged to renounce their glory and consent to lay down their lives at his command But if this example be not powerful enough to perswade us we must be convinced by reason and confess that Christians have no quality that that doth not exact this blind submission from them For if we consider them as Temples of the Holy Ghost or Members of the Son of God we are forced to acknowledge that these two glorious qualities are as well the Fountains of their dependance as of their greatness Temples are only for the Divinity that honours them with his presence they breath forth nothing but his glory and were they inanimated they would act meerly by his motions Therefore inasmuch as Christians are the living Temples of the Holy Ghost they ought not to act but as guided by him they are unable to perform any thing but by his order and all their actions that have not his Grace for their principle are Criminal or profane We are no more the children of God but as far as we are quickned by this ever to be adored Spirit all our merit is from our acting by his Vertue and when he ceaseth to incite and stir us up we leave off to form good thoughts or perform good actions The quality of Members ties us not lesse closely to our Head then that of Temples to the Holy Ghost for according to the Laws of Nature the Members more belong to their Head then slaves doe to their Master they receive life and motion from his Influences they owe all their vigour to the communication they have with him aand whenever there happens any obstruction that hinders him from sending his Spirits into his Members they lose all sense and strength Besides he hath such command over them that he applies them according to his designs takes no notice of their wils employs the eyes to weep as well as see the hand to serve as well as command the tongue to manage meat as well as compose words and as if it were their greatest glory to perish for him there is not any Member but willingly exposeth it self to death for his defence or honour This submission is an Image of the dependance Christians ought to have towards Jesus Christ they are no longer their own when once ingraffed upon his person they receive an obligation to obey from the same quality that gives them a power to operate Quam in in Christo manes per amorem ipse in te per sanctitatis justitiae operationem in ejus corpore membris computaris Ber. they become Servants assoon as they become Members their liberty depends upon their servitude and by a happy occurrence they lose their own will by submitting to that of the Son of God As it is love that unites them to him so that their liberty is not interessed in their obedience they are never more their own then when they are their Heads they recover themselves in being lost possess themselves by forsaking themselves and by a strange adventure find a resurrection in dying Thence it comes to pass that they are never troubled to sacrifice themselves to Jesus Christ they account themselves sufficiently happy if they can be serviceable to his Glory it matters not though they lose their lives provided they obey him and knowing very well that in the State and in Nature subjects expose themselves for their Prince Members for their Head they are of this mind assoon as ever they enter into the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ â—â—t when they consider how he hath joyned the quality of Redeemer to that of Head and that to associate them to his person he hath delivered them by the losse of his own life they believe they can no ways acknowledge this extream obligation but in dying for his glory who was willing to die for their salvation Indeed we are the servants of Jesus Christ he hath bought us by his death we are the price of his bloud and we owe our happiness and our hope to his merits This is it that the Apostle represents to us in such emphatical terms when he saith Empti estis pretio magno and by a necessary consequence teacheth us that we ought to glorifie him in our body and in our soul Thence it is that he infers that those that live upon
Nature For if Jesus be the Natural Son of the Father the Christian is his Adopted one if Jesus be the Heir of the Father the Christian is the Co-heir of the Son according to the expression of the great Apostle if Jesus be Innocent the Christian is Justified if Jesus be born of the Spirit the Christian is regenerated thereby and receives in his Baptism what the Son of God received in his Birth Inasmuch as this last wonderfully exalteth the glory of the Faithful I conceive I ought to bestow this whole Discourse upon this matter and to make it appear that the Holy Ghost by an excess of bounty will be to every Christian what he is to Jesus Christ Faith teacheth us that though Jesus Christ be the Son of the Everlasting Father yet is he withal the Workmanship of the Holy Spirit he that was barren in Eternity became fruitful in Time he that produced nothing in the Heart of the Father produced the Word Incarnate in the Womb of the Virgin and he that before the world began was the Spirit of the Son in the fulness of time became his Principle The Scripture insinuates this Truth when it brings in the Angel speaking these words to the Virgin The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee And the Church teacheth it all her children in the Symbole of her Creed in these terms He was conceived of the Holy Ghost Et licet aliud quidem ex te aliud ex Patre sit jam non tamen cujusque suus sed unus utriusque erit Filius Sanctus Bern. super missus est homil Thence it comes to pass that his conception is so pure that sin hath no part therein and that he is free from shame as the mother that bare him was from sorrow He was so born saith Tertullian that he need not blush at the name of Son This great priviledge is granted the Christian in his Baptism and his second birth is as holy and as noble as his first was shameful and criminal In the one he is a sinner before he is reasonable and the slave of the devil as soon as he is the subject of Jesus Christ but in the other he is happily born again by the vertue of the Holy Spirit he receives grace as an earnest of glory he is adopted by the Father for his son acknowledged by Jesus Christ for his brother treated by the Angels as their equal and exalted to so high a condition that the holy Spirit disdains not to be stiled the Author and Principle thereof This is it that holy Scripture holds out to us by these words Vnless a man be born again of water and of the holy Ghost I would enlarge my self upon this meditation had I not explained it already in another passage of this Work Neither would it be any hard matter to make it appear that the Regeneration of a Christian is little inferiour in this particular to the Birth of Jesus Christ The second advantage that is common to them is that the same spirit which is their Principle is also their Director and that he that gives them life gives them conduct and motion These two Things are inseparable in Nature and in Grace the same causes that make us live make us act these Starres whose influences contribute so much to our birth are not lesse conducing to our fortune and as they are the Principles of our Being they are in some sort the Guides of our life if they have no dominion over our spirit they have over our humour and if they force not our liberty they many times sollicite our inclinations But not to rest in second Causes it is plaine the creature depends as well upon God in his motion as in his Being he governs men whom he hath created he guides Princes whom he hath raised to the Throne and he as absolutely hath their wills in his hands as their Scepter By the same reason the Holy Spirit which is the Principle of Jesus Christ is his Director he undertakes nothing but by his conduct and as he received his being from his goodnesse he submits all his actions to his power The Scriptures furnish us with a thousand proofes of so important a Truth all the Evangelists are the faithfull Witnesses thereof neither doe they ever take notice of the designs of the Son of God Ductus est Jesus à Spiritu quia Humanitas Christi erat organum Divinitatis ideo ad omnia movebatur instinctu Spiritûs sancti hoc igitur motu ivit in desertum locum aptum or ationi Glossa ordin but they make it appeare at the same time that the Holy Spirit is the first mover of them For if he retire into the desarts to converse with beasts if he enter the list wherein he seemes to injure his glory to assure our salvation if he spend dayes and nights there in prayers and fasting if he suffer his slave to tempt him and if he refuse not to combate him upon Earth that he had driven out of Heaven 't is because the Holy Spirit engageth him in the conflict and layes an obligation upon him to beare the punishment of our sins to deliver us therefrom if he passe from one Province to another if he leave a rebellious City to instruct another more obedient to his divine sermons 't is by the direction of his guide Jesus returned into Galile in the power of the Spirit If he work Miracles in Judea 't is not so much to magnifie his power In Spiritu Dei ejicio Daemonia as to comply with the motions of the Holy Spirit and though these signall wonders cost him but a few words or desires he never wrought them but his divine Principle obliged him thereto by some secret inspiration if he unfolds the Mysteries of our Religion if he declare to his Disciples the will of his Father and discover to them those grand designes contrived from all Eternity In ipsa hora exultavit Spiritu Sancto dixit confiteor tibi Pater Domine caeli terrae quod abscondisti haec à sapientibus prudentibus revelasti ca parvucis Luk. 10. and which were not to be executed but in time 't is the Holy Spirit that animates him to this discourse and obliges him to manifest that to men which till then he would not impart to the Angels If finally the Son of God offer himselfe up upon the Crosse for our salvation if he drown our sins in his blood if he reconcile us to his Father by his death and satisfie him with the losse of life and honour 't is the holy Spirit that engageth him in this Agony and who inspires him with love enough to vanquish the ignomy and paine thereof He offered himselse without spot to God by the Holy Ghost so that the life of the Son of God was spent in a continued obedience to the Holy Spirit he undertook nothing but by his orders executed nothing but by his
with Grace and discover the excellency of the Remedy by the greatness of the Disease For 't is very true that a man cannot comprehend the dominion of Grace if he conceive not rightly of the tyranny of Concupiscence over the Will These two Soveraigns have so much resemblance in their contrariety that they make use of the same arms and employ the same means to execute their designes they subject men by ways altogether alike and deal with policy and power fair means and foul to make themselves mistresses For if we believe S. Augustine a man no less skilled in the state of Sin then of Grace he will acquaint us that Concupiscence is the law of the sinner acting impetuously over his Will Concupiscentia lex peccati est sequentes duxit nos postca renitentes traxi◠nos Aug. in Psal 64. applying it in all his actions so that he undertakes nothing but by the orders of this proud and domineering usurper she hath gained such a power over his Liberty that he acts onely by her impulses if he speak she moves his tongue if he looks about she ope nt his eyes if he act she manageth his hands and so absolutely commands all that belongs unto him that Concupiscence seems to inform and quicken him Though she exercise so absolute a power over his person she so well tempers sweetness with force that he never complains of his bondage he loves the Tyrant that devours him he loseth his liberty with pleasure he findes content in his vassalage and what is more unconceiveable he makes haste to a precipice and embraceth death with satisfaction whenever this cruel Soveraign commands him 'T is in effect Concupiscence that obligeth the Covetous to pass the Seas to descend into the depths and to surmount all dangers that accompany the search of riches 'T is she that engageth the Ambitious in such desperate designs where death is always mixt with glory and where a man must resolve to kill or be kill'd to purchase reputation 'T is she that imbarks the lascivious in their infamous pursuits where shame is the inseparable attendant of pleasure where a man must lose his own liberty to attain that of another and become a slave that he may be a master In the mean time if we ask all these Martyrs of Concupiscence we shall see by their answers there 's not one of them that groans under his irons that 's troubled for the loss of his honour or liberty nor makes the least attempt to break those chains that fetter him Had Tyrants but found this artifice they would raign more absolutely then Kings and making Love succeed Hatred they would be the delight of their Subjects But nothing but Concupiscence hath discovered this Secret which according Sweetness with Violence knows how to make her self belov'd and obey'd by sinners Nevertheless we must confess that Grace is as absolute over Christians and taking pattern from the proceeding of Concupiscence reigns over them with as much power as love For to express in a few words the Soveraign power of Grace we must say with S. Augustine that 't is she that makes us act that masters our Undestanding possesseth our Will Facit utvelimus bonum gratia facit ut faciamus operatu◠velle perficere praebet vires efficacissimas voluntati Aug. de Gra. Lib. arb c. 16. and is the principle of all our good works She acts with the Just as Concupiscence doth with Sinners she is the mistress of their Actions and if we believe the great Apostle 't is Grace that worketh in us to will and to do For as the Sinner loseth not his Liberty for being the slave of Concupiscence ceaseth not to act by himself though guided by another nor doth this external principle because the first mover that sets him awork exempt him from sin so the Believer is not constrained for being subject to Grace he ceaseth not to operate though moved by the holy Spirit and for having another principle of his actions then his Will fails not to merit eternal life But as Concupiscence is imperious carrying the heart by her assaults prescribing Laws which he inviolably keeps Grace produceth the same effects in the Faithful her orders are religiously observed she makes those act she enlivens and seizing upon their Wills causeth them exactly to put in execution whatever she commands S. Augustine will explain these Truths to us better then another Let us make up this Discourse with his Reasons Deus est qui operatur in nobis velle oprari non sicut isti sentiunt tantummodo Scientiam revelando ut novetimus quod faciamus sed etiam inspirando charitatem ut ea quae discenso novimus etiam diligendo faciamus Aug. and respectfully hear the learnedst Doctor of the Church Grace is not onely a Light that clears the Understanding as Faith or Doctrine doth her Charity is accompanied with Force she produceth two effects at the same time For having taught us the good she gives us power to perform it and he that knows it and does it not cannot boast that he hath received it of Grace but from the Law Therefore is it that our Lord Jesus Christ saith in S. John that he that is taught of his Father fails not to come unto him Omnis qui audivit à Patre didicit venit ad me Whence S. Augustine concludes that he that is instructed in this School always goes to Jesus Christ and he that goes not never had the Father for his Master For Grace warms the Will at the same time it enlightens the Understanding it conveys light and heat both together and working two miracles at one moment fortifies our Weakness and warms our Coldness Her manner of acting is much more excellent then that of Precept or of the Law For these two Mistresses strike onely the ears or the eyes they inform not our judgement but by the mediation of our Senses and though they enlighten the Understanding they change not the Will But Grace works by an occult power in the hearts of men producing there not onely true illuminations but good and constant resolutions And because the Pelagians always confound Doctrine with Grace to weaken her vertue S. Augustine answers them that would they christen her with that name they must represent a wonderful Doctrine that God sheds abroad internally in the soul with an ineffable sweetness which taught not onely Truth but infused Charity into its disciples He more strongly establisheth this Maxime in explaining that passage where S. Paul tells us God worketh in us to will and to do we will saith this great Doctor for we are not liveless trunks or sensless rocks but God produceth in us this will we act for we ought not to be unprofitable but God produceth in us this action according to his good pleasure we are bound to say it and to believe it 't is piety to promote it that we may with all humility
what I intend to those that shall take so much pains as to peruse it I will lay down a plain and easie Scheme which shall present you with a short prospect of the whole Christian Man I begin the first Treatise with his Birth which as it is the fruitful source of all the Allyances he contracts with God I cannot speak of it soundly and to the purpose without discovering some of his Qualities and letting you see that assoon as he is regenerated he is the adopted child of the eternal Father because he is the Temple of the holy Ghost and the Brother of the Word Incarnate To this I add some other Priviledges concomitants of his Baptism all which declare the misery he hath avoided and the happiness he hath obtain'd From thence I passe to the second Treatise which represents the Spirit of the Christian and which comprehends all the obligations we have to follow his motions to act according to his orders and to obey his inspirations because none are truly the children of God but those that are quickned by his Spirit Quicunque enim Spiritu Dei aguntur ii sunt Filii Dei Rom. 8. And because the Christian is but a part of a mystical Body whereof there is a Head to guide it as wel as a Spirit to enliven it in the third Treatise I describe the neer relations and close connexions this glorious quality communicates to him with Iesus Christ the advantages he receives from thence and the just duties he is obliged to return to this adored Head The fourth Treatise discovers all the secrets of Grace which seem to be nothing else but a sacred chain uniting the Christian with the son of God and with the Holy Ghost and putting him at their disposal to be conducted safely in the way of Salvation The vertues that flow from Grace as streams do from their fountain are the subject of the fifth Treatise demonstrating a new Morality which the Philosophers were ignorant of and which severing man from himself fastens him happily to his Principle Forasmuch as he lives by Grace and vertues in the sixth Treatise I set before him a heavenly Nourishment that preserves his life and withall affords him some pledges of Immortality But because this food is also a Victime speaking of his Nourishment I speak of his Sacrifice and I lay down the just Reasons the Christian hath to offer up himself to God with Iesus Christ In the seventh Treatise I discourse of his glorious Qualities which I had not touched in the former wherein I make it appear that being the Image of the Son of God he is also a Priest and a Sacrifice a Souldier and a Conqueror a Slave and a Soveraign a Penitent and an Innocent Lastly to compleat the Christian who is but rudely drawn in Baptism who as long as he is upon earth is always imperfect I lead him to Glory where finding his Happiness in the knowledge and love of the supreme Good he is happily transformed into God There he patiently waits for the resurrection of his Body that the two parts whereof he is composed being reunited there may be nothing wanting to the perfection of his happiness and that both Soul and Body being freed from the bondage of sin he may reign for ever with the Angels in Heaven Thus you see in a few words the drift and scope of the whole Work where if I have repeated something that I formerly delivered in the Guilty Man it is because the Cure depends upon the Disease Subjects are illustrated by their contraries and it is impossible to conceive the Advantages of Grace without comprehending all the Miseries of Sin A TABLE OF THE TREATISES DISCOURSES The First TREATISE Of the Christian's Birth Disc 1. That the Christian hath a double Birth page 1 Disc 2. That Man must be renewed to make a Christian of him page 6 Disc 3. That the principal Mysteries of Iesus Christ are applyed to the Christian in his Birth page 10 Disc 4. That Grace is communicated to the Christian in his Birth as Sin is communicated to Man in his Generation page 15 Disc 5 Of the Resemblances that are found between the Generation of Iesus Christ and that of a Christian page 19 Disc 6 Of the Adoption of Christians and the advantage it hath above the Adoption of Men. page 24 Disc 7 Of the Allyances the Christian contracts in his Birth with the Divine Persons page 29 Disc 8 Of the Principal Effects Baptism produceth in the Christian page 34 Disc 9 Of the obligation of a Christian as the consequence of his Birth page 39 Disc 10 That the Regeneration of a Christian takes not from him all that he drew from his first Generation page 43 The Second TREATISE Of the Spirit of a Christian Disc 1. That every Body hath its Head and what that of the Church is 48 Disc 2 That the Holy Ghost is the Heart of the Church 53 Disc 3 That the Holy Ghost is in a sort the same to Christians that he is to the Father and to the Son in Eternity 57 Disc 4 That the Holy Ghost seems to be the same to Christians that he is to the Son of God 62 Disc 5 That the Presence of the Holy Ghost giveth life to the Christian and his Absence causeth Death 67 Disc 6 That the Holy Ghost teacheth Christians to pray 72 Disc 7 That the Holy Ghost remits the sins of the Christian 77 Disc 8 That the Christian in his infirmities is assisted by the strength of the Holy Ghost 83 Disc 9 That the Holy Ghost is the Christians Comforter 89 Disc 10 Of the Christians ingratitude toward the Holy Ghost 94 The third TREATISE Of the Christian 's Head Disc 1 That the Christian hath two Heads Adam and Iesus Christ 100 Disc 2 Of the Excellencies of the Christian's Head and the advantages they draw from thence 105 Disc 3 Of the strict Union of the Head with his Members and of that of Iesus Christ with Christians 110 Disc 4 That the Union of Christians with their Head is an Imitation of the Hypostatical Union 115 Disc 5 That Iesus Christ treateth his Mystical Body with as much charity as he doth his Natural Body 120 Disc 6 That the Church is the Spouse of Iesus Christ because she is the Body and of the community of their Marriage 125 Disc 7 That the Quality of the Members of Iesus Christ is more advantageous then that of the Bretbren of Iesus Christ 130 Disc 8 That Iesus Christ hath taken all his Infirmities from his Members and that his Members derive all their strength from him 134 Disc 9 Of the duties of Christians as Members towards Iesus Christ as their Head 139 Disc 10 That all things are common among Christians as between members of the same Body 144 The fourth TREATISE Of the Grace of a Christian Disc 1 That Predestination which is the source of Grace is a hidden Mystery 150 Disc 2 Of the
the One engageth them in Original sin the Other by a more happy and powerful influence frees them from all Iniquity These two Births produce two Lives which are preserv'd in every Christian till he dyes their strength is more or less according to the Progress * Sient ignorantia minuitur veritate magis magisque lucente ita concupiscentia minuitur charitate magis magisque fervente Aug l. 6. contra Julia. Per cupiditatem regnat in homine Diabolus cor ejus tenet per charitatem regnat in illo Christus Aug. lib. de Agone Christ cap. 1. Quanto magis regnum cupiditatis destruitur tanto magis regnum charitatis augetur August lib. 3. de Doctrina Christ c. 10. Grace or Sin makes in the Soul They act by contrary principles and divide the Christian in his operations as well as in his person For as he is mystically compounded of Jesus Christ and Adam so is he spiritually framed of Concupisence and Charity whatever he undertakes is under the conduct of one of these Mistresses who have no other design but to have an absolute Command over his will He is a slave to both he complains that being wholly delivered up to Grace he is not wholly delivered from Sin that he suffers the Evil he hath no minde to act that he feels disorders he no ways approves of and that unhappily divided between his desires he cannot so fully obey Charity but he must still serve Concupiscence Indeed every Christian is obliged to combate himself he feels somthing within him that cannot but displease him he wonders to behold such different motions in the same person and not being able to comprehend how such contrary desires grow in the same heart he is amaz'd to finde inclinations which transport him to sin as much as to vertue When he reflects upon himself he observes that he is just and guilty that he partly obeys Jesus Christ and partly resists him that being a subject and a rebell at the same time he bears about him the seeds of Life and of Death For he is righteous as * Eris in parte emendata justus quamvis sis adhuc in emendanda pecoator ex qua parte tibi displices justus es ex qua parte tibi displicet quod justum est in ustus es August in Psal 1. Praeponite delectationem mentis delectationi carnis carnem quippe nostram delectant delectationes illicitae mentem nostram delectat invisibilis casta sancta dulcis justitia ut non ad eam timore cogamini si enim ad eam timore cogimini nondū delectat peccare non debes timore paenae sed amore justitiae Aug. serm 17. de verb. Apost St. Augustin saith with that part that is sanctified by Grace but guilty with that which is corrupted by Sin He pleaseth God because he endevours to keep his Commandments He displeaseth him because he cherisheth somthing in his Soul that opposeth his will These two Mistresses that govern the Christian have some correspondency in their oppositions both of them make use of the same subjects nor undertake any thing of importance but by the assistance of the Passions and faculties of the Soul But Concupiscence findes more submission then Charity because she asks nothing but what suits with their humour and flatters their hope Nevertheless Charity gains Obedience because she acts in the power of the Almighty and is assisted by Grace to reduce all these rebels to their duty Her Empire though strong is nevertheless pleasing and herein she imitates Concupiscence her opposite For this agreeable Enemy of a Christian reigns with so much sweetness that she is loved of those that persecute her all her perswasions are so many charms and knowing very wel that she commands over free Creatures she never propounds any thing that is not acceptable and delightfull Charity takes the same course all her inspirations are pleasant if she press us 't is with Charms if she be victorious 't is without doing us any violence if she gain our Consent 't is without compelling our liberty and if she encourage us against our selves 't is not till she hath perswaded us that we are faulty Finally these two Soveraigns wholly possess the Christian by their diverse motions and according as he is acted by them he is Innocent or Guilty When he follows the provocations of Concupiscence he can do nothing but offend * Libido non solum sibi totū corpus nec solum extrinsecus vendicat sed totum hominem commovet animi simul affectu cū carnis appetitu conjuncto atque permixto Aug. lib. 14. de Civ c. 15. whatever lustre his actions put on they are always bad when they proceed from this principle Though he give his goods to the poor his assistance to the miserable expose his life for the safety of his Country shed his blood for the interest of Religion or Justice if he act by the Counsel of Concupiscence he is criminall amidst the throng of so many splendid Actions and the principle he moves by being unable to propound any other end then vain-glory can secure him neither from sin nor punishment When on the contrary the Christian being led by Charity acted by the Spirit of God that quickens him and following the motions of Grace endevours to satisfie his Duty all his actions are Innocent and acceptable to God Did he always act according to this Principle his condition would be no longer peccant and did he obey its holy inspirations he should be sure not to offend It is in this sense that the Beloved disciple of our Saviour assures us * Omnis qui natus est ex Deo peccatum non facit quoniam semen ipsius in eo manet quoniam ex Deo natus est 1 Joan. cap. 3. That whatever is born of God sinneth not that is the Christian that always follows the motion of the Divine Spirit is never subdued by Concupiscence neither can he be overcome as long as he is actually guided by Charity This heavenly seed that preserves him can produce nothing but what is excellent and this Tree that is planted in his heart can bring forth none but good fruit But in as much as this actuall assistance is not due unto him and that heaven leaves him to himself to make him sensible of his weakness he fals many times into light transgressions and is forc'd to confess with the same Apostle That he that says he hath no sin deceives himself and the truth is not in him Thus the Christians life is a continual warfare he resents his double Extraction feels the effects of both his Parents and divided by his desires he learns by woful experience that when he acts not by Charity he is in danger to act by Concupiscence The second DISCOURSE To make Man a Christian he must be Renew'd Regenerate and rais'd from the Dead NOthing doth so fully manifest the greatness of a Disease Si
to make them fructifie by good works whoever neglects this care cannot preserve his grace any long time and he that resists not Temptation which remains after sin is in great danger to be speedily deprived of the Innocence of Baptism To all these internal evils which seize us may be added those external ones which surround us for if Regeneration reform not the disorders of our soul nor of our body it never asswageth the persecution of the Elements Though we be justified by Baptism we are not instated in our primitive advantages The Curse issued out against the Creatures is not taken away by Grace and as we experience revolts in our person we resent them also in our state The Earth hath not recovered her former fruitfulness it brings forth thorns to this day to punish us it nourisheth monsters that make war against us it rends asunder in gaping chasms to swallow us up and levels mountains to overwhelm us Every Element mindes us of our misery they make no difference between an Infidel and a Christian Though the Angels respect their character Creatures despise it or know it not The Sea drowns Our Vessels as well as those of the Turks To be reconciled with God makes us not friends with the Windes a man must be a Saint that commands the Waves And if together with our Charity we have not also the gift of Miracles we know not how to calm the Sea nor to appease Tempests The Fire spares not all Innocents it hath burnt Martyrs who had no less faith then the Three Children that walk'd untouch'd in the midst of the fiery furnace it sometimes blends it self with Thunder and being blinde strikes the Just as often as the Guilty The Church canonizeth some Saints which that element hath reduced to Powder and because she knows that the sentence of our death speaks of dust and ashes she wonders not if Thunder have the same operation upon some Saints which Time is designed to have upon All men Finally all the Elements teach us that we are Miserable though we be not Criminal Baptism that delivers us from Sin frees us not from Punishment God will have the World persecute us that we may hate it he hath ordained the place of our banishment to be troublesome lest it should make us forget our Country This is the Advantage we draw from our Evil the Comfort we retain in our Miseries and 't is enough to make us stoop with all humility to the Justice of God inasmuch as we know that our Punishment may as well be serviceable to our own Salvation as to his Glory The Second TREATISE Of the Spirit of a Christian The first DISCOURSE That every Body hath its Spirit and what that of the Churches is IN Nature every thing hath its own Spirit and if we believe Chymists there is no element though never so simple out of which the Essent though never so simple out of which the Essence may not be extracted They make daily Experiments hereof with the Fire and dividing what Nature had united they separate the Form from the Matter The World according to the relation of some Philosophers hath a Soul that inanimates it which is shed abroad thorow all its parts and which according to their divers dispositions produceth divers effects 'T is this Divine Spirit that gives it motion that waters it with fruitfulness whereby it hatcheth all those wonders whose causes men are ignorant of As Artificial things are the images of Natural neither do men make any thing whereof they take not the Copie from Nature as from a perfect Original there is not any Sect that hath not its particular humour and difference The Peripateticks take all their light from Argumentation and Experience Alii alia de anima disceptant prout aut Platonis honor aut Zenonis vigor aut Aristotolis tenor aut Empedoclis furor aut Epicuri stupor aut Heracliti maeror persuascrunt Tert. de Ani. Authority hath no credit in their School they desert their Master when he agrees not with Truth and laughing at the blinde obedience of the Pythagoreans they believe nothing but what they discover by Sense or by Discourse The Platonicks march upon the higher ground but less certain less solid Animus cernit animus audit reliquae surda caeca sunt impedimentum est corpus non socium ad cognoscendam veritatem Tert. de Plato for they withdraw from the Senses as from the enemies of truth they look upon them as upon faithless ministers or pleasing impostors which beholding nought but the shadows of things present us with nothing but Errors and falshoods Their Spirit savours more of Intelligence then of Science as if individuals were unworthy of their observation they consider nothing but generals and leaving men and beasts Iste Academicue quiae omnia esse contendit incerta indignus est qui habeat ulld in his rebus authoritatem August de Cice. they contemplate only Angels and Ideas The Academicks are parted between these two they allow something to Reason and Intelligence they are more noble then the Peripateticks but not so credulous as the Platonicks they make the senses servants to Reason but having a minde to see a part of what they believe they make a Sect whose principall difference is doubt and uncertainty The Stoicks are as capacious as they are proud Magna promittitis quae optari quidem nedum credi possint deinde sublato alte supercilio in eadem quae caeteri desceuditis mutatis rerum nominibus Seneca ordinary proceedings please them not nothing seems generous that is not extravagant all common Opinions stumble them they judge so ill of the people that they take all their votes for Errours Their Pride which is the very soul of their Sect formes Ideas of vertue which not one of them can reach unto and they propound a Sage so exactly perfect to their Disciples that they put them past all hope of imitating him at the very same time they stirre up a desire in them to become their Proselytes The Epicures search after nothing but pleasure because they conceive it inseparable from vertue Their Sect which is soft onely in expressions is austere really and in deed Mea quidem sententia est Epicurum sancta recta praecipere si propius accesseris tristia voluptas enim illa ad parvum exile revocatur quam nos virtuti legem dicimus eam ille dicit voluptati Jubet illam parere naturae parum est autem luxuriae quod naturae satis est Senec de vita beat cap. 13. they reduce the desires of men to things meerly necessary they part with superfluities joyfully and placing their felicity in their Conscience they count themselves happy in the midst of Torments These Philosophers speak not of pleasure but to make their Disciples in love with vertue and if there have been found some who have deserted vertues side to embrace that of pleasure it
Heart that inanimates the Body and that part that gives life to all the rest Thence it comes to pass that to express the operations of the holy Spirit in the Church we call him the Heart thereof and not wronging his greatness we make use of this Example to express his Charity by For 't is an undoubted truth That he inanimates the whole Church That he is conveyed into all her Members Quod est in corpore nostro anima id est Spiritus sanctus in corpore Christi quod est Ecclesia Aug. Serm. 186. de Temp. That he never forsakes her but in whatsoever condition she is she is always fully in his possession He is the Principle of her Operations as the Author of her Life She acts not but by His motions and whatever She undertakes 't is by his Counsels or his Inspirations He prosides in all Her Assemblies She determines nothing but by His advice and in Her General Councels She pronounceth no Oracles which She hath not received from Him As He speaks by Her Mouth She conceives by His Thoughts and she delivers nothing upon trust to her children which she hath not learn'd in the School of this Divine Master If he instruct her in her doubts he keeps her at unity maugre those rents and divisions that threaten to distract her entertaining that admirable harmony amongst the different parts whereof she is compacted One of the wonders in Mans body is that the same Heart which is the fountain of Life is also the bond of Peace it is the Ligature of all the Members and the Spirits it imparts unto them are so many invisible Chains which entertain their mutual Society As soon as it leaves off to inanimate them it ceaseth to unite them neither can it suspend its influences but all the parts of the State fall apieces Credentium erat Cor unum Anima una Act. 4. The Holy Ghost works the same thing in the Church He is the Soul and the Cement of this Great Body he concentres all the Faithful by his Love and doing that in Time which he does during Eternity he unites Christians as he unites the Divine Persons Si charitas de tot animabus fecit animam unam de tot cordibus fecit cor unum quanta est charit is inter Patrem Filium charitas autem Patris Filii Spiriâ—us sanctus est Aug. Tract 14. in Joan. For the Church raigns in the Unity of the Spirit she findes her rest and strength in that admirable incohabitation nor is she afraid that Heresies should dissect her as long as the holy Spirit preserves her unity 'T is this good intelligence that makes her terrible to her enemies This is it that maintains her for so many Ages against the violence of Tyrants the fury of Devils and the subtil stratagems of Hereticks Neither do I wonder at it since the force and power of States consists in their Union and Polititians study no one designe so much as to banish Division thereby to keep their people quiet and at rest For Experience teacheth them that growing Kingdoms have no surer Bulwarks against the Approaches of an Enemy then the Concord of their Subjects When they conspire together they are invincible and when they are divided Qâ— bus erat una sides erat una substantia quibus crat communis spiritus communis erat sumptus they are at the eve of their ruine and destruction But notwithstanding all the care Polititians take to keep Peace in their Common-wealth there are a thousand subjects of Division which they cannot hinder Mens Interests are more different then their Conditions the People are industrious to preserve their Liberty the Prince to enlarge his Prerogative and Private men cannot endure the ruine of their Families for the preservation of the Publike Though all these Disorders were not able to sowe Division in a State the diversity of Opinions would effect it For though every one mean well yet all ministers aim not at the same thing the worst Counsellors are many times most listned to and those that more respect the Fortune of the Prince then his Person are most dangerous But the Church is secured from all these dangers though she have many Ministers she hath but one Counsellor Gods Spirit is her Spirit she is never divided in her determinations her embracing of an Opinion makes it a Truth and having consulted him that governs her all her Decisions are Articles of Faith She never erres in Councels whatever she pronounceth there is infallible and her children are no less observant of her words then of those of the Evangelists She cannot be contradicted without much rashness those that desert her Judgement are involv'd in a Lye and if those who acquiesce in her bosome may haply be in the cloud of Ignorance they cannot be in the snare of Heresie The same Spirit that gives Authority to the Church stamps Obedience upon her children so that there can be no falling out in a Body where Charity stisles Schisms Light dispels Darkness and Power suppresseth Revolts and Insurrections But nothing so much magnifieth the Unity of the Church as to behold her not divided by the disparity of Conditions and that the same Spirit which unites all the Faithful employs them about divers Offices according to his designes and their own inclinations In this it is that the Church more resembles a Natural body and the Spirit the Heart that inanimates it For though the Heart be one yet is it different in its operations it acts diversly according to the diversity of the Members It expresseth it self by the Mouth guides it self with the Eyes defends it self with the Hands and making every part serviceable according to its power it preserves the Publike good without interessing the Private Thus one and the same Spirit causeth a thousand different effects in the Church it speaks by the mouth of Prophets enlightens their understandings informs them of secrets to come and violating the method of Time recals things past and makes futurities present He it was that wrote the History of the Son of God before he was born of his mother he it was that expressed his Truths in Figures his Light in Shadows and the most important actions of his life by those of the Patriarchs The same Spirit that spake by the mouth of the Prophets spake by that of the Apostles he was their Master after the Ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven he instructed them in those Mysteries they were yet ignorant of and making them capable in a moment taught them without the tedious expence of labour and delay what they were suddenly to preach to Infidels To facilate this design he gave them the gift of Tongues and working a Miracle incredible to reason he inspired them with words which the whole World understood that all Nations might obey them 'T was a prodigy that surpriz'd men Per linguas diversas dividi meruit
advice and hee that at first was his Principle proceeds still to be his counsellour and director The Christian enjoyes this advantage with Jesus Christ whatsoever designe he conceives whatsoever resolution he takes whatsoever enterprize he brings to passe he is alwayes bound to call upon the holy Ghost He that hath given him his Being ought to give him motion he that hath begotten him in Baptisme ought to govern him in the Church and if he will not be wanting to his obligations nor renounce his priviledges the same Spirit that inanimates him while he lives must move and lead him in all his operations This is it that S. Paul so highly magnifies when he sayes Those onely deserve to be called the children of God who are acted by the Spirit of God Qui Spiritu Dei aguntur hi sunt filii Dei Whereupon * Ergo agimur non agimus respondeo imo agis ageris tunc bene agis si à bono agaris Spiritus enim Dei qui te agit adjutor est tibi agenti ipsum nomen adjutoris praescribit tibi quia tu ipse aliquod agis sed ne te extolleret humanus spiritus ad hoc opus se idoneum jactaret ideo subjecit quotquot Spiritu Dei aguntur hi snut filii Dei Aug. Ser. 13. de verb. Apost S. Augustine preventing two contrary objections which might be made against this truth saith That Christians are not onely lead by the Spirit but driven to the end they may know that He is rather the Principle of their actions then themselves and that in the way of salvation they are rather sufferers then doers But because this answer might sooth men up in idlenesse and give them an occasion to neglect good works expecting the enthusiasmes of the Spirit he adds They are moved that they might move they receive the impression of grace that they may act and that the Apostle expresly made use of this manner of speech at once to make them shake off idlenesse and presumption From this Priviledge is derived a third not so peculiar to Christ as not to be common to Christians For the holy Spirit is their Master he instructs them both in his school and they have the glory to be his disciples as well as his workmanship The Son of God hath two schools as he hath two births the first is Eternity where his Father is his Master and where he teacheth him his learning in communicating to him his Essence There by a strange Prodigie the Master is not more knowing then the Scholar nor the Scholar junior to his Master the science is learnt in a moment but that moment endures for ever and though it have no parts it includes neverthelesse all the differences of time this science though but one comprehends in it all sorts of truth the Master hides nothing from his Scholar he instructs him at the same instant he begets him the birth of this Son to speak properly is his instruction as he is born for ever so he learns for ever and he that conceived him in his bosome is eternally his Father and his Master This Son hath in time another school and a new Master he that produceth him teacheth him and the same Principle that forms his body fashions his understanding from the very first moment of his Conception He imitates the Father that teacheth him from all eternity he instils all things into him without succession or labour and conveying light into his soul Vir erat Jesus necdum etiam natus sed sapientia non aetate animi virtute non viribus corporis Bern. he hath no need of the mediation of the senses to render him learned This Pupill discourseth before he speaks he conceives truth before he beholds the light and his understanding is inform'd of all the secrets of his Father before he could pronounce the name of his Mother His knowledge grows not up with time because it had its just proportion and measure at the very moment of his Generation Experience hath not made it more evident nor age more assured and if he pronounced no Oracles in his Infancy 't is because he had a minde to conceal his Wisdom as he had concealed his Divinity Finally this Divine Master taught him a science which Politicians seek for and cannot finde for he discovers to him the secrets of the heart the motions of the will and all those thoughts and imaginations which though they never brake forth in words nor actions cease not to render men guilty So that should Jesus Christ neither be united to the Person of the Word nor illuminated with the light of Glory he would neverthelesse have an infused knowledge whereby he would be acquainted with whatever is most secret in Nature and in Grace in Time and in Eternity The holy Scripture also teacheth us that the holy Spirit that abides not alwayes in others rests upon Jesus Christ Requievit super eum Spiritus Domini Isa and he that distributes his Graces to others by measure communicates them to his Masterpeece without weight or limitation But this is no hinderance from his being the Master also of all other Christians from teaching them the science of salvation discovering to them the mysteries of Theologie the secrets of Nature and the maximes of the Politikes In effect 't is the holy Spirit that made the Apostles learned that spake with their mouthes that confounded Emperours and Philosophers with their answers and made them understand those Oracles which were nothing but Riddles to them whilest Jesus Christ conversed with them upon the earth 'T is lastly the selfe same Spirit which to this day teacheth the faithfull what they are to beleeve in Religion what they are to do or leave undone in the practice of their life and what they ought to hope or fear after death He cannot deceive them because he is the Spirit of Truth he cannot engage them in evill because he is the Spirit of Holinesse neither can he suffer them to wander in Errour or languish in infirmities because he is the Spirit of Counsell and of Strength Therefore is he the Master whom the faithfull consult with in their occasions 't is in his Schoole that they commence in vertue 't is under his Conduct that they grow up to perfection and by his advice that they defend themselves against errour and falshood Vbi Deus Magister quam cito discitur quod docetur Leo Serm. 1. de Pente Though this Science be so deep yet is it learnt in a moment his Disciples become Masters without paines Truth distils into their understandings without passing through their eyes or eares sleeping and waking they are equally capable of attention and this Doctor is so dextrously exact that bestowing the Spirit upon his scholars he repaires by Grace the defects of Nature But to conclude all these resemblances we affirm that the holy Spirit is the witnesse of Jesus Christ and of
the faithfull and having deposed for the Divinity of him deposeth daily for the Innocence of these For we know by Scripture that the same Spirit that spake heretofore by the Prophets hath since spoken by the Apostles and having foretold the Ages past the wonders that Jesus ought to doe revealed them to the generations to come that all men might bee fully informed of the Mysteries concerning him to whom they were beholding for their salvation This Spirit is the testimony of Jesus and of the faithfull because he hath formed them and knows all their thoughts whereof hee is the first Principle and Author This also was he that descended upon the head of the Son of God in the forme of a Dove during the ceremonies of his Baptisme 't was he that discovered to S. John Baptist his Innocence and taught him without speaking that he was that Lamb of God that was to take away the sins of the world And hee it is that daily performs the same office to Christians For having been their Master he vouchsafes to be their witnesse he speaks to the eternall Father in their behalfe having pleaded their cause he gives them assurance of their salvation The Rest that calmes the waves of their conscience is an effect of his testimony those sighes and groans he draws from the bottome of their heart those desires he inspires them with for everlasting good things those scorns he furnisheth them with for perishable ones are so many Earnests which the Elect have of his love and their salvation if there be some remainders now and then of Fear amidst their Hope 't is to preserve them from Negligence or from Pride and to make them profess that they finde in him a Divine Principle a wise Director a knowing Master and a faithful Witness The Fifth DISCOURSE That the presence of the Holy Spirit gives life to the Christian and his absence causeth his death ONe of the chiefest advantages we shall partake of in Glory is that God will be to us in stead of all things and that finding in him the accomplishment of all our desires we shall there meet with our perfect felicity He will be the Temple of the Blessed because they shall lodge in his Divine Essence He will be for a garment to them because they shall be cloathed with his light He will be their nourishment because he gives them eternal life and according to the language of S. Paul he will be All in all to these blessed inhabitants The Holy Spirit seems to have a minde to make us taste upon Earth the Happiness of Heaven inasmuch as he is all things to us in the Church that he informs us in our doubts comforts us in our afflictions assists us in our conflicts teacheth us in our prayers For Christians owe all that they are and all that they do to the holy Spirit They live by his presence act by his power understand by his light and love by his charity All their advantages flow from him If they are Saints 't is he that sanctifies them if they are free 't is he that sets them at liberty if they are generous 't is he that encourageth them and if they be wise 't is he that enlightens them In the mean time the most part of the Faithful are ungrateful to the holy Spirit Liberalitem Dei servitutem faciunt Tert. They attribute that to their own power which they derive from his and turning his grace into a slavery they would pass for the Authors of a work whereof they are at most but the Ministers Therefore will I spend this Discourse to let them see that the holy Spirit inanimates them and that as by his presence he makes them live so by his withdrawing himself he makes them die A Man and a Christian have some resemblance in their difference they live both of them by the Spirit and their life is rather spiritual then animal For though Man have a body composed of the Elements which hath need of the Air to breathe of the Earth to bear it of Food to nourish it and of Light to make it see yet is his soul the principle of his life This Form inanimates the heart giving it motion whereby all the other parts live The absence of the soul is the death of the body its presence the life and when grief or weakness separates them Man ceaseth to be a living creature Inasmuch as a Christian is more excellent then a Man by so much is his life more sublime and he hath a nobler principle of his Being For the holy Spirit is his Soul and paring off whatever defects that name may include he is the Form that inanimates the Believer Though he have an Understanding that reasoneth a Memory that preserves his conceptions and a Will free and absolute yet does he live by the holy Spirit and receive from him a supernatural life which makes him capable of God As long as he is united to this Spirit he is alive assoon as he is parted from him he is dead And 't is a miracle saith S. Augustine that the soul dead by sin does nevertheless enliven the body and that notwithstanding that imperfection Aliud est in anima unde corpus vivificatur aliud unde ipsa anima vivificatur Melius quippe anima quam corpus sed melius quam ipsa est Deus est ergo ipsa etiamsi sit insipiens injusta impia vita corporis Aug. Tract 19. in Joan. it have wherewithal still to reason in the finding out of Sciences and to manage it self in its affairs and negotiations It is true therefore that the absence of the holy Spirit greatly impaireth the vigour and clearness of Man for the life of Man as a Reasonable creature and as a Christian are so intimately united together that the one cannot be separated from the other without an extreme detriment and enfeebling of the creature The Christian merits not till he begin to reason Grace is idle in his soul when Reason is not yet formed in it and all Divines are of opinion that children baptized have no other merits but those of Jesus Christ Heaven is their Inheritance but not their Recompence they are in the condition of Heirs but not of Souldiers and the Crown they receive is rather the Consequence of their good Fortune then the Reward of their Labour Man is yet more deplorable when he loseth Grace then when the Christian loseth Reason for besides that none of his actions are any longer meritorious that he does nothing pleasing to God and having lost the Principle of his supernatural life he is destitute of all recompence and desert he hath moreover contracted this misfortune Vita infidelium peccatum est nihil est bonum sine summo bono ubi enim deest agnitio aeternae veritatis falsa virtus est etiam in optimis moribus Prosp sen 106 that he is become the slave of Concupiscence which throws Darkness over his
from him who lived in poverty nor would receive any Disciples into his School that had not sold their goods and distributed them to the poor they demand Earth of him that reigns in Heaven the establishment of their welfare in this world from him who is the Father of that which is to come and taking no notice of their Creed they begge time of him who promiseth eternity But the holy Spirit disabuseth Christians when he either enlightens or instructs them For being the Spirit of the Son and knowing his intentions he never puts them upon those requests that are offensive to him When their hearts are encouraged with his Grace they preferre Conscience before Honour Vertue before Interest Grief before Pleasure and the will of God before their own inclinations If sometimes they petition for perishable goods 't is as farre as necessity obliges them and knowing that all such demands are dangerous 't is with feare that they always commence such suits with reservation that they continue them and with submission that they conclude them All their prayers are terminated with those words of our blessed Saviour to his Father in the Garden Not as I will but as thou wilt Finally the same Spirit teacheth them innocent Stratagems which they ought to make use of to pacifie the indignation of their Heavenly Father and to obtain those Graces they become Petitioners for Men are so little acquainted with God Quid oremus sicut oportet nescimus Rom. 8. that they know neither his minde nor his will his greatnesse exalts him so farre above us that we cannot approach unto him his designes are concealed from us and the Eternall Decrees he hath conceived in his breast are not to be penetrated by us 'T is with feare that we addresse our selves before him and being ignorant of his designes and resolutions wee have an apprehension that our desires may bid him defiance Wee have certain secrets to gain men we know by what arts we may insinuate into their fair opinion we have dexterity enough to take them with their interests and Rhetorick supplies us with inventions to triumph over their liberty without doing them the least violence But we know not how we are to treat with God his Majesty astonisheth us his Splendour dazles us and if his Mercy assure us his Justice confounds us because if we are miserable wee are besides more guilty The Holy Spirit assists us in this disorder whereto our sin hath reduced us Qui autem scrutatur corda scit quid desideret spiritus quia secundum Deum postulat pro Sanctis Rom. 8. For residing in the heart of the Father and of the Son he knows their most intimate cogitations he sounds those abysses which the Angels cannot descend into he sees their secretest intentions and teacheth us innocent artifices to appease them when provoked against us He spake no doubt by the mouth of Moses when that Prophet disarmed the Almighty and reduced to a loving impotency him whose power hath no other bounds but his will It was the Holy Spirit who fettered him by the hands of Moses and obliged him to demand leave to be avenged of his enemies Let me alone that my fury may waxe hot 'T is the same Spirit that daily disarms our God that pulleth the Thunder out of his hands and which gently forcing him willingly to be overcome by the prayers hee dictates to us triumphs over his fury by our perseverance 'T is he finally that teacheth us to desire that life that is knowne onely by Faith Est in nobis quaedam ut ita dicam docta ignorantia sed docta Spiritu Dei qui adjuvat infirmitatem nostram Aug. and possessed onely by Charity 'T is hee saith Saint Augustine that inspires us with that learned Ignorance whereby wee confesse that the happinesse that is promised us surpasseth our imagination wee know onely that his greatnesse exceedeth all those Ideas we can fashion of him so that wee reject all that are offered to our understanding knowing very well that faculty cannot conceive the good it is bound to hope for 'T is the Holy Spirit that mingles his light with our darknesse and leaving us in the ignorance of our felicity gives as much knowledge of it as is requisite to desire it For as Saint Augustine wisely observes if it were absolutely unknown of us it could never stir up any desire in us but besides were it fully revealed it could not provoke our hopes since according to the Maxime of the Apostle what a man sees he hopes not for nor wishes that which hee possesseth But the last and most admirable Stratagem of this Divine Spirit In quo clamamus Abba pater postulat pro nobis gemitibus inenarrabilibus Rom. 8. is that he accompanies our prayers with his groanes that without disturbing his own happiness he partakes of our distresses rendring himself in a sort miserable with us to make us happy with him for 't is by his motion that we send forth sighs by his grace that we groan and he so fully works these things in us that the Apostle attributing them to him is not afraid to say that he intercedes for us with sighs and groans that cannot be expressed In a word 't is this Spirit that teacheth us to mourn in the world that informs us that the Earth is our Banishment Heaven our Country that the one is to be endured the other to be hoped for Whoever knows how to profit by this instruction spends all his life in the doleful tone of the Turtle he sighs always when he considers that he is separated from JESUS and that living here belowe Nec parva res est quod docet nos Spiritus sanctus gemere insinuat enim nobis quia peregrinamur docet nos in Patriam suspirare ipso desiderio gemimus Aug. he hath onely the Earnest of that happiness which is promised him he weeps in these just desires and sheds tears much different from those of sinners They groan indeed burthened with Misfortunes the inseparable companions of Life they complain when they have lost their Liberty they sigh when they are oppressed with any Sorrow they murmure when they are betrayed by their friends or persecuted by their enemies But these Lamentations savour nothing of those mournful Accents of the Dove 'T is not Charity but Interest that fans this Passion 't is the spirit of the World and not that of God that makes them thus breathe out their souls in Sadness For as this last is Eternal so he sighs onely for Eternity as he proceeds from the Father and the Son he returns thither again and leads us with him and being the Spirit of Truth he occasions us to wish none but solid Goods nor to grieve for any but true Evils The Seventh DISCOURSE That the Holy Spirit remits the Sins of the Christian REpentance is one of the greatest advantages Christian Grace can possibly have above Original
that depended upon his Liberty made him in some sort the Author of his good or bad fortune but as hee dealeth now with infirme men whose Forces are weakned by Division he will have their Salvation depend upon his Will and gives them a Grace which seizing their heart makes them victorious in the midst of their Infirmities Thence it comes to pass saith Saint Augustine that the Liberty of Man though never so languishing perseveres in Good by the vertue of JESUS CHRIST when the Will of Adam with all its vigorous activity stood not out against the Temptation 'T is the glory of the Son of God and the assurance of a Christian who comforts himself when he sees that his Salvation is no longer founded upon the Inconstancie of his Liberty but upon the Stability of Grace and certitude of Predestination This Belief makes him not more insolent because he knows this Mystery is hid and that there is not any one upon earth that knows whether his name be written in the Book of Life It makes him not more lazie because he is not ignorant that Grace obligeth him to a combat that Glory is a Triumph that succeeds a Victory and that no body is received into heaven that hath not suffered with JESUS CHRIST upon earth But this Belief ministers them Tranquillity in the midst of all the miseries of life it sweetly mingles Hope with Fear in his soul at the sight of his Infirmity he trembles looking upon the vigour of his Grace he takes courage and having had so much experience of his frailty he comforts himself that his Salvation stands fixed upon the Rock of Grace he blesseth the mercy of the Almighty that hath found a secret whereby to vanquish us without forcing us which leaving us our Liberty fortifies our Weakness and gives us an assurance in our Banishment which our first Father never had in Paradise For to conclude this Discourse and this Treatise with the words of Saint Augustine Ille Adam nempe Job in stercore est cautior quam Adam in Paradiso nam Adam-in Paradiso consensitmulieri ut de Paradiso emitteretur ille in stercore respu â—t mulierem ut ad Paradisum admitteretur Aug. in Psal 29. Job was more happie in his misery then Adam in his innocence He was victorious on the Dung-hill this Other was defeated in his Throne He gave no ear to the evil counsel of his wife this Other was cajol'd by his He despised all the assaults of Satan this Other suffered himself to be worsted at the first Temptation He preserved his Righteousness in the midst of his Sorrows this Other lost his Innocence in the midst of his Pleasures Let us comfort our selves then in the Grace of JESUS CHRIST whereby the Infirmity of Man triumphs over the Malice of Satan Let us rejoyce because he enjoyns it his Disciples in the hope we have that his hand hath written our names in the Book of Life in Characters that cannot be blotted out Let us give Thanks to him who knowing our Weakness is willing to save us by his Power and protesting that his Grace is the Fountain of our Salvation beg it in our Prayers expect it from his Mercy and hope not for it onely by our Merits The Fifth TREATISE Of the Vertues of a Christian The first DISCOURSE In what Christian Vertue consists IF it be true that the Christian is an inward man we need not wonder if he be hid Condelector legi Dei secundum interiorem hominem Rom. cap. 7. nor that his vertues carry lesse splendour with them then those of Philosophers Inasmuch as all their beauty resides in the soul it can be perceived by none but by Angels Those that have not their lights cannot observe them and the same blindness that occasions their ignorance occasions also the neglect they conceive of them The Chastity of Lucrece hath received more Elogies then that of the Catharines and Cecilies because it sparkles with more pomp and the murder which should arraign her as guilty hath made her more notable and glorious The Constancy of Cato hath far more admirers then the undaunted Courage of the Martyrs Pride and Despair that forc'd him to sheath his sword in his own bowels to avoid something he called Servitude have heightned his Glory and his Crime in the soul of the children of Adam who can admire nothing but what is arrogant and pompous Thence it comes to passe that Christian Vertue which is humble and seeks no other witnesse but he that reads the the heart receives not always the approbation of men and wanders uon the Earth without any Elogy or Commendation Her Essence is conceal'd we have much adoe to discover her Proprieties and if Grace do not second Nature we shall be at a losse to define or describe her As every one hath form'd an Idea of her every one makes descriptions of her according to his own humour or his knowledge and we may say of Vertue what the Orator said of the Supream Good that men consulted rather their Inclination then Truth when they were minded to speak of it I wonder not that Philosophers who had no other light then that of Nature have injured Vertue in thinking to bestow commendations upon her But I wonder that Christians have followed them in their errours and that leaving the Fathers of the Church they have taken the Blinde for their Guides For there are some at this day that confound honesty with vertue Virtus houestas nomina diversa sunt res autem subjecta prorsus eadem Cicero de Offic. who would perswade us that whatever is honest is vertuous Wherein I find them little differing from those that place Vertue in Glory and imagine a crime lawful when it ceaseth to be shameful and begins to appear honourabble Seneca as proud as he was hath well taken notice that this error was prejudicial to vertue and that the ambitious would no longer court her when once she should oblige her Partisans to quit their honour to continue in their duty Some others not so much in love with glory but more in love with nature are perswaded that Vertue is nothing else but a naturall inclination guided by reason and perfected by Science so that to live according to the Laws of Nature was to live according to the Laws of Vertue This opinion is approved of by the Stoicks among Philosophers and by the Pelagians among Heretiques It infuseth blindness and arrogance into the spirit of those that side with it and the esteem it puffs them up with of Nature makes them neglect the assistance of Grace It seems they would retrive the state of Innocence that they have a design to perswade us that sin hath done no hurt to the will of man that he is as free under the captivity of Concupiscence as under the dominion of Original righteousness and that Nature having lost nothing of her primitive purity may serve for a guide to guilty
in her Empire Fortitude combats those things that rise against us defends us from our enemies scatters all those evils whosâ— pomps hath no other design but to weaken our courage Justice looks after that which is beside or above us makes us render to God our Soveraign and to our neighbour our equal what of due belongs unto them and parting our obligations according to their conditions bindes us to love the former above our selves and the later as our selves If as it is very likely these Vertues respect our rest and quietness they deliver us from four inconveniences which may exceedingly trouble us For many times we prefer an imaginary apparent Good before a real one and from this errour Prudence secures us we desert a Good because difficult and from this cowardise Fortitude rouzeth us we seek after some pleasing but unprofitable or pernicious Good and this pitfal Temperance teacheth us to avoid or lastly we desire something advantageous to our selves but prejudicial to our neighbour and this iniquity Justice forbids obliging us to preserve the interest of another as our own But whatever succour the Christian can draw from these vertues he must confess they reproach him with his miseries and exprobate him with his crimes For Prudence informs him that he is in banishment where Good and Evil are mixt together and where he is in danger to mistake as often as he hath occasion to chuse Temperance teacheth him that he hath inordinate Passions that must be supprest that he nourisheth monsters in his person which must be strangled but that the disease over-tops the remedy because Prudence dissipates not the darkness of his Ignorance nor doth Temperance regulate all the disorders of his Appetite Justice tells him he must submit his spirit to God his body to his spirit but the resistance he findes makes him sadly feel that earth is not the mansion of Peace nor this life the time of Triumph Finally Fortitude which obligeth him to combat Grief is an argument that he is still criminal because he still remains miserable The Eighth DISCOURSE Of the Humility of a Christian IT is a strange thing but withal exceeding true that of all the Vertues there is none more natural nor yet a greater stranger to Man then Humility For she is born with him he carries the principles thereof in his soul and in his body in that the one is drawn out of Nothing the other is formed out of the Slime of the earth He must forget his extraction to give the least admittance to Vain-glory and he need onely study and minde himself to be sensibly affected with Humility Therefore said an Ancient that Pride was a stranger-vice and Humility a natural vertue In the mean time Man was never more arrogant then since he became so wretchedly miserable That which ought to take down his spirit hath raised it and the misery that should have taught him Humility hath made him quite forget so commendable a vertue She was unknown to the Heathen her name which we account so glorious was infamous among them nor was it ever ascribed to any actions but those that deserved blame It was necessary that Christian grace should revive her and that her light should discover the beauties of this unknown vertue Indeed she had no credit with men till the mystery of the Incarnation God must be abased that we may learn this lesson and his examples must perswade humane wilfulness that true greatness consists in lowe deportment Though this Vertue takes her merit from her Master and her glory is very remarkable in having God for her Author yet must we confess that in her own nature she is of very high esteem and that her proper intrinsecal excellency gives worth and value to her For she seems to include all the Cardinal vertues and to comprehend all their advantages in her essence She partakes of Prudence because she is illuminated and knows the greatness of God and the meanness of the Creature She hath something of Temperance because she bridles the pleasure that vanity promiseth and defends her self from that agreeable enemy who makes use of praises onely to deceive us She shares with Fortitude because she combats shame and grief which frequently accompany base and unworthy actions Finally she is an image of Justice because she treats the Creator and the Creature with so much equity and rendering Glory to the one reserves nothing but Contempt for the other But lest we should think her riches are meerly the spoils of another that she hath none but borrowed excellencies nor is at all considerable but for the alms she receives from other vertues we shall do well to consider her nature and to be acquainted with her by weighing her definition Humility according to S. Augustine is a voluntary debasement of the soul before God in the sight of her own condition which representing her Nothingness reads her this lesson that none can preserve her but he that created her This great man expresly joyns the Creature with the Creator in this definition for Man looking onely upon himself might easily grow proud at the sight of his own priviledges when he looks up to God compares the Creature with the Creator confronting two things opposite by such an infinite distance he is obliged to fall lowe upon his face if his Pride exceed not that of the devil Therefore did that afflicted Prince who would perswade his friends that his being miserable was no argument he was criminal change his language when he had compared his own defects with the perfections of God and confess there was no creature so holy that was not guilty before him Now mine eye seeth thee and therefore I abhor my self As if he would have said Whilst I compared my actions with those of men I cherished a high opinion of my vertue but when thy light had cleared my spirit and I beheld that holiness whereby thou art so gloriously separated from thy works I prevent thy arrest and forgetting my innocence pass sentence of condemnation upon my self This is the apprehension of Humility and whenever Man is tempted to Pride this lowliness of minde presents him before God in his nature in his person in his actions in his Nature that he is miserable in his Person that he is criminal in his Actions that he is unconstant and wavering Others define Humility a disesteem that Man conceives of his own excellency inasmuch as he hath not any thing which was not given him by Grace and may not be taken away by Justice For this wretch lives but upon loan In the height of his Innocence he was but many creatures in gross and it seems that God to oblige him to Humility made him up of borrowed pieces He takes his Being from the Elements his Life from Plants his Sense from Animals and his Understanding from Angels So that should he return every Creature what he hath received all that would remain to him would be his Nothingness and
in that of Isaac it was obliged to separate the Priest from the Victime and to arm the hands of the Father to immolate his only Son In the mean time Jesus Christ unites them in his person and in this adorable Sacrifice which he offers to his Father whether on the Cross or on the Altar he is both the Priest that consecrateth and the Victime that is immolated Inasmuch as Jesus Christ saith Saint Augustine is our God and our Temple he is also our Sacrifice and our Priest He is the Priest that reconciles us he is the Sacrifice whereby we are reconciled and the same Doctor admiring the novelties of the sacrifice of the Cross expresseth his wonder by these words The Altar of the Sacrifice is new because the Immolation is new and admirable For he that is the Sacrifice is the Priest the Sacrifice according to the Flesh the Priest according to the Spirit and both according to his Humanity He that offereth and he that is offered is one and the same person and these qualities which have so little analogy are found united in the sacrifice of the Cross Inasmuch as the Christian is the Image of Jesus Christ and this glorious title obligeth him to transcribe his original he ought to sacrifice himself as he did and to be both the Priest and the Oblation together Indeed if we descend into the Mysteries of our Religion and consider with the eye of Faith what we are not able to discover with the light of reason we shall find that we are immolated upon the Altar with the Son of God and that after his example we are both the sacrificers and the sacrifice For Jesus Christ is not offered all alone in our Temples he is immolated by the hands of the Priests and at the same time that he offers his natural body to his Father he offers also his mystical body so that offering himself to his Father by his Church and offering his Church together with himself he teacheth all the Faithful to joyn the quality of Priests with that of Victimes This is it that Saint Augustine informs us of in his Book De Civitate Dei Per hoc sacerdos est ipse offerens ipse oblatio cujus rei Sacramentum quotidianū esse voluit Ecclesiae sacrificiū quae cum ipsius capitis corpus sit seipsam per ipsū discit offerre Aug. lib. 10. de Civit. ca. 6. where searching into our mysteries he finds that the Church offers her self with her Beloved upon our Altars and that in the same sacrifice she is both Priestess and Oblation His words are too elegant to be omitted neither must it be a less Doctor then he that must appear that Protector of so important a Verity 'T is particularly saith he in unity that the sacrifice of Christians consists where being many in number we make up but one body with Jesus Christ this is it that the Church daily does in this Sacrament which is so well known to the Faithfull wherein is demonstrated that in the Oblation she offers she her self is offered that after the example of her Beloved she may be in the same sacrifice Priestess and Victime From this passage may easily be inferred that the Faithful are offered with Christ upon the Altar that the Host that contains him is large enough to contain all his members and that his mysticall body being immolated with his natural body he obligeth all Christians to associate as he doth the quality of Victime with that of a Priest But if leaving the Altar we consider the Faithful in the course of their life we shall see there is none but ought to sacrifice himself and who either in his body or in his soul may not find Victimes to offer to God There is no more need of providing Buls or Goats with the Jews to lay upon our Altars The time of the Mosaical Law is past truths have succeeded figures and if we rightly understand the secret of our mysteries Noli extrinsecus thura comparare sed dic In me sunt Deus vota tua noli extrinsecus pecus quod mactes inquirere habes in te quod occidas Aug. in Psal 51. it becomes us to offer those things these Animals represent We have whereof to sacrifice within our selves there is not any passion in our soul nor part in our body whereof we may not make an innocent Victime Indeed Christian Religion converting the sinner into a sacrifice obligeth him to immolate to God all that he is He is deficient in the lawfullest of his duties if his whole life be not a sacrifice and being compounded of soul and body he ought to sacrifice both that he may have the honour to be a perfect Holocaust The vertues are auxiliaries which facilitate these means and it seems these glorious habits are given us for no other end then to teach us to sacrifice to God all the faculties of our soul Inasmuch as the will is the noblest and this Soveraign being once perfectly gained over to God gives him an absolute dominion over all the rest there are some vertues which have no other employment but to be made victimes Sorrow which discovers to man the excess of his crime labours to convert him it bruiseth his heart by the violence of a holy contrition and if it cannot draw bloud from this sacrifice it draws tears which are more acceptable to God then the bloud of beasts This made David say that the spirit broken and afflicted was a true sacrifice and that he who sometimes refuseth Goats and Lambs never despiseth a heart that Repentance and Humility offers up unto him Sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus Obedience comes in to the succour of grief this beats down the pride of the will masters that imperious faculty and changing her triumph into a sacrifice obligeth her to die to her own inclinations that she may live to those of the Grace of Jesus Christ But love happily finisheth this design he burns the victime with his flames to render it an Holocaust and finding the means to put to death an immortall power teacheth us that a pure spirit may offer sacrifices to God For there is no lover but knows that love imitates death that he commits innocent murders and by stratagems which himself is only privy to makes sin die in us that Grace may live If the will become a Victim by means of Charity the understanding is offered up to God by the intervening of faith This vertue subjects it to her Empire perswades truths she explicates not she obligeth a man to suspend his judgement to renounce his reason and to give his senses the lye she engageth him to offer as many sacrifices as she propounds mysteries and by a power which would seem tyrannical were it not legitimate forbids him the use of reasoning in matters of religion The memory after the example of the understanding is immolated to God by remembrance and forgetfulness These two