A DISCOURSE Concerning The BEAUTY OF HOLINESS By the Author of The Duty of Man Laid down in Express words of Scripture 1 CHRON. 16.29 Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness Imprimatur July 18th 1678. GUIL SILL LONDON Printed by J. C. for Robert Soliers at the King's Arms in Ludgate-street 1679. THE CONTENTS CHAP. I. OF the Nature of Holiness page 7. CHAP. II. Of the Rule of Holiness 11 CHAP. III. Motives and inducements to the practice of Holiness 48 Sect. 1. The noble pattern of Holiness 49 above all things most advantageous 124 Chap. IV. Frivolous Cavils and Objections removed 142 THE INTRODUCTION MAn in his original condition when he first came out of the hands of his Maker was a very noble and venerable Creature adorned with many peculiar excellencies and as the Psalmist observes Onely made a little lower than glorious Angels But of all his perfections Holiness as it was the principal and most oriental so did it also give a beauty and lustre to the rest It made his Authority and Power lovely and desirable his Wisdom and Knowledge venerable and every other attribute which without this is terrible and dreadful to be comely and praise-worthy This was that single perfection that raised Man above the beasts 'T is indeed matter of great sadness to consider the lofty and intolerable affronts that are now cast upon Holiness how men are arrived at that pitch of impietie to scorn and deride Religion which former ages were at some pains to advance as if Holiness were inconsistent with the principles of Generosity and onely becoming mean and morose spirits How transcendent a folly and madness this is will easily appear by what I shall afterwards lay down Me thinks the naked representation of Holiness should be motive enough if not to court it yet to engage men to correct their unreasonable prejudices they entertain against it and even force its greatest Antagonists to become its Advocates But alas vice hath cast such a dark shadow upon mens Judgements that they are become as unfit Judges of its beauty as blinde men are of colours otherwise we might yet expect to see contemned Vertue much more in vogue than ever Vice was To excite our desires Scripture has represented it under the most comely dress has discovered its beauty and excellencie and recommended it by the most endearing motives which are apt to work both upon our hope and fear Vpon our hope by proposing an infinitely-valuable reward to the righteous besides the present advantages that attend it Vpon our fear by opening to our view the powers of the world to come and discovering the insupportable misery that the damned suffer day and night so that if men would but so far actuate their Reason as soberly to consult their own interest and happiness I doubt not but this alone should be motive enough to excite them to the practise of Holiness and scare them from those ways of sin that lead down to the chambers of death It would make one would think the greatest Sensualist to relinquish the momentary pleasures he enjoys here to be possest of those eternal joys that the pure in spirit shall reap in the Kingdom of their Father and the most hardened and impregnable sinner tremble to think of dwelling with devouring flames Now the onely infallible way to attain those coelestial felicities and to evite the miserable consequences of vice and those pains and tortures that it exposeth its votaries to is to abandon every lust be it never so impetuous and to cleanse our selves as the Apostle adviseth us from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit and to perfect holiness in the fear of God For the better directing our present inquisition I shall first briefly represent the nature of true Holiness and shew the beauty and excellencie of it Secondly I shall discourse of its rule and more particularly discover the several branches of Holiness Thirdly I shall propound several motives and inducements to engage men to the practise of Holiness and indeed this is what I chiefly intend to insist upon Fourthly I shall remove all those Cavils and Objections that are urged against Holiness And Lastly conclude with some short Reflections and Inferences CHAP. I. Of the nature of Holiness I Intend not here to descend to the consideration of every particular branch of holiness but to discourse of it in the general as it is the combination of all Christian vertues and as it is thus considered I need not I think in the description of it accurately study all those Logical rules Philosophers require in a good definition For my part it fully enough satisfies me to know that holiness is a conformity to the Divine Law and a hearty and sincere compliance with those original dictates of humane nature and the Commands revealed in sacred Writ So long as man remained obedient to the Laws of his Maker his holiness was untainted and his Beauty and primitive congenite comeliness continued but by his woful apostacy he lost that noble embellishment of his nature which did indeed give a grace to all his other accomplishments and is now become ugly and deformed Holiness and purity of Spirit are different words but of the same signification and are promiscuously used in Scripture to express the same present state expects not more from us than we are able to perform He is not so rigorous a Lord to require Brick where there is no Straw the terms of the Gospel are accommodated to our capacities and onely require a holiness which is possible for the Creature to attain at least it exacts and expects no more but that we endeavour sincerely and unfeignedly to obey all those precepts he has enjoyned that we habituate our selves to perform good actions that the general propension and inclination of our wills and appetites be towards the doing of what is imposed upon us and abstaining from all kinde of evil By what hath been said it may appear that holiness consists not in Speculation but in Practice 'T is not the knowledge of duty but the actual performance of it that intitles men to be holy and that too not superficially or in a good mode and rarely performed but sincerely and throughout the whole course of our lives For men to know their duty and not perform it is to inhance their own misery and to secure to themselves double stripes and to perform some good actions and abstain from the grosser pollutions of the world and yet to be vicious in the general course of their lives this is such a holiness that will never profit any man The rule of holiness to which we must heartily study an actual conformity does not dispense no not with the commission of the least sin nor omission of the smallest duty But because general descriptions of things are frequently overlooked I shall not think it unnecessary to descend to a more particular survey and consider Holiness in its several branches as they are
he did not upbraid them for their negligence but gently asks them What could not ye watch with me one hour and when he was treacherously accoasted by his own Disciple who became leader to a great multitude who came out with Swords and Staves to apprehend him with what astonishing mildness did he entertain this Traytor who had the impudence to betray him with a kiss Friend wherefore art thou come Mat. 26.50 or as another of the Evangelists expresseth it Judas betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss This was all the hard language he treated him with And after he was apprehended with what horrid contumelies and affronts did his barbarous Enemies entertain him they did spit in his face and buffet him the highest affronts imaginable they stripped him of his ordinary cloaths and put upon him a fools robe and a Crown of Thorns and being thus disguised they expose him to the mockery and contempt of the Spectators Notwithstanding of all which he opened not his mouth but with a most sedate and serene temper he received all these abuses as the Apostle Peter expresseth it 1 Pet. 2.23 When he was reviled he reviled not again when he suffered he threatned not but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously Meekness I confess is so noble a vertue accompanied with so many admirable and charming advantages that it needs as one would think but few words to recommend it to men but no argument is like to prevail more with generous mindes then the example of so excellent and perfect a Pattern Sure I am it is the most unaccountable thing imaginable for the Disciples of so meek a Master to be of a disposition and temper quite opposite to his But as his meekness so is his humility also recommended to our imitation As he was of a meek so also of a lowly spirit His first appearance upon earth was but mean and despicable he was born as the Scripture informs us in a low estate more fit for the meanest of his Disciples than for so great a Prince He was not brought forth in some stately Palace nor born in a Chamber curiously deckt but in a vile Stable where the bruit beasts had their residence Nay after he had discovered himself by his Illustrious works to be a great Prophet the true Messiah who enlighteneth every one that cometh into the world yet how humbly did he walk his Companions he did chuse were but mean Fishermen his Occupation and Employment was no ways honourable and his Revenues were but small as he himself did testifie The foxes have holes and the birds of the air nests but the Son of man hath not where he may lay his head Although his descent and extraction was incomparably great yet he rather endeavoured to conceal than to brag of it and so humble was he that he chose rather to attribute the praise of his admired works to his Father than take the honour of them to himself Joh. 8.28 I do nothing of my self but as my Father hath taught me I speak these things He was not ambitious of Rule and Government but modestly refused to be a Ruler and Judge Nay when the multitude thought to make him a King he shunned their society by an invisible removal it being quite contrary to his designe in coming into the world as he tells us Matth. 20.28 he came not to be ministred unto but to minister And to correct the insolent pride and ambition of his followers how did he stoop to wash his Disciples feet a most admirable evidence of his lowliness of spirit And now since our great Lord and Master did so wonderfully debase himself to the form of a Servant since in all his actions he did manifest that he was meek and lowly how prodigiously incongruous is it for those who profess themselves to be his Disciples to be proud and lofty I confess Humility is a grace well becoming our state as creatures we are but dependent beings having life and motion and all those endowments we are proud of from the Father of spirits from whom every good gifts cometh The fresh communications of his love we constantly participate of are freely bestowed which he may therefore when he thinks fit with an equal freedom and ease remove without being guilty of injuring us Humility is that peculiar grace that qualifies and fits us to receive the divine aid and assistance as the Apostle St. James tells us he gives grace to the humble Upon which account we may with the Wise man well conclude Better is it to be of an humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud Prov. 16.19 I doubt not but every considering man will finde his own Reason suggest a sufficient store of arguments to confute the imperious assaults of Pride and Ambition but methinks none can more powerfully prevail with ingenuous spirits than the consideration of Christ's humility with this how effectually may he repel every temptation to pride by saying Was my Master lowly of spirit and does it become me to be proud Thirdly Christ is also set forth as our Pattern in his sufferings If when ye do well saith the Apostle and suffer for it ye take it patiently this is acceptable with God for even hitherto were ye called for Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that we should follow his ther than allays the distemper though it augments the degrees of our trouble and disenables us to bear the stroke of Adversity yet we will not be perswaded to a calm and quiet submission to the divine Will Though impatience exasperates the pain yet we think we do well to be angry If we meet with injuries our appetite of revenge is stirred up flesh and bloud we say cannot endure such affronts we imagine it stains our Reputation and Honour in the world and is degenerous and servile Thus do we sew Fig-leaves to cover our nakedness but the all-seeing God knows that all these repinings are arrows directed against his providence otherwise we should with the Royal Psalmist say I will not open my mouth for thou didst it To this impregnable Fortress he had his recourse when causlesly cursed and reviled by Shimei it was this that silenced old Eli It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good he durst not quarrel at the message but quietly he submits There is a secret providence which doth over-rule the most terrible accidents and is not accountable to humane Reason All those calamities and sufferings we undergo are ordered by infinite Counsel and in repining at such dispensations we indirectly blame Almighty Goodness and Wisdome Is it fit and congruous that God should take measures from men in his Oeconomy of the World is it reasonable that the whole course of things should be put out of order to satisfie every private mans humor can there be any greater madness than to prescribe rules of Government to infinite Wisdome Why then are we dissatisfied with
let us not even under these sad circumstances charge God foolishly or be impatient under the severity of his correction for this is no argument of the hatred of a Father Let us rather in this case view the unspeakable reward and the divine promises which are sufficient arguments to revive our fainting and most languishing hopes and able to form our souls to true patience Philosophers if ever they attained to a perfection in any vertue it was in their patience under the instability of worldly things and yet their grounds and motives to patience were sandy and ineffectual and no ways comparable to the arguments habit and custome while this is the very thing that enhances their guilt neither will it I think a whit lessen the crime that Great persons have given it such a vogue in the world The Name of God is a sacred thing which must not be appealed to but in the most weighty and serious cases Thou shalt swear says the Prophet that the Lord liveth in truth justice and judgement If we either affirm or promise any thing by oath it must be after mature deliberation after we have ascertained our selves of the truth and lawfulness of it this the very Poet could dictate Nec Deus intersit nisi dignus vindice nodus Inciderit It were to be wished that the Hectors of this age would learn of the very Heathens more reverence and that those men that pretend to good breeding would be so civil even sometimes for the companies sake as to forbear those Oaths that tender ears cannot hear without offence In the last place the divine Love if scattered in our Hearts will excite us to worship God after the method himself hath prescribed It will direct us to the rule of Piety where we shall finde every thing that relates to our immediate intercourse with God in divine Ordinances and Worship exactly ordered I confess the Heathen-world as they were confused in their notions of a Deity and almost quite ignorant of the eternal reward so were they superstitious in their Worship and sometimes ignorantly erected Altars to an unknown God Their Worship was attended with a great deal of external pomp was very grateful to their external senses but it reached not the Heart But the Christian rule instructs us to worship God in Spirit and prescribes the best method of devotion It requires that We worship and bow before the Lord our maker with all possible humility and reverence that we possess our Hearts with the greatness and glory of that Majesty we adore that we be intent in our devotion and not suffer secular concerns to intrude and interrupt us that we act faith upon him and believe that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him and that we approach the throne of grace in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. If Devotion were not a duty yet methinks the advantages thereof should invite and that which finally excludes from the Kingdom of Heaven where nothing that pollutes can enter 2 Cor. 6.9 Rev. 21.27 'T is indeed not wonder though the Religion of the Gentiles which contained a prodigious mixture of vanity and impiety gratified the inclinations of uncleanness for if we consult their writings we shall observe that the most abominable vice wanted not a Deity to patronize it amongst them which upon the matter was an establishing iniquity by Law and an argument more sufficient to encourage than to correct vice And although the Writings of some Philosophers have been more refined yet the Lives even of such were full of the foulest actions Nay the rules which the best Masters of Morality amongst them prescribed never reached to the purifying of the Heart I confess that man that shall take notice and who having eyes in his head can evite this when men proclaim their sin like Sodom of the prodigious uncleanness this prophane age has arrived at shall be strongly tempted to suspect the purity of the Christian Rule if he make no farther enquiry than to the practices of most that are called Christians We may indeed very aptly write to the professors of this age as the great Apostle did to the Church of Corinth It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you and such fornication as is not so much as named amongst the Gentiles 1 Cor. 5.1 And I am a little afraid if the Church should strictly observe that charge that the Apostle gives there and excommunicate all such wicked persons that our Church should not need to brag much of the number of Christians 'T is indeed matter of great sadness to consider how much the Christian Religion has suffered upon the account of the scandalous practices of Titular Christians and I make no doubt but this age has been at more pains than any that precedes it to increase the scandal but sure 't is but a silly artifice to challenge the exactness of the Rule and with Celsus impudently alleage that the Christian Religion encourageth men to the practice of immorality and vice since of all Religions the Christian onely can produce the strictest Laws against all filthiness of flesh and spirit 'T is a Doctrine as blessed Apostle tells us according to godliness and lays undispensible obligations upon its followers both to think upon and to do dearing a quality and so noble an embelishment of our nature that where this is wanting all other advantages are little regarded and not onely men but the great God also resists the proud it being a vice which besides Christianity Morality also-condemns as universally unbecoming to Humane nature and that which not onely disturbs ones self but also disquiets whole societies But God gives grace to the humble he takes such persons into favour as being more pliable to receive the impress of his love And as a humble so also a meek and quiet spirit is in the sight of God of great price And can there be a more convincing motive than this to recommend meekness to Christians And indeed we cannot pretend to be the Disciples of holy Jesus if we refuse to learn that lesson he hath copied out to us Matth. 11.29 Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart Although a calm and quiet spirit is a reward to it self as every vertue is yet it wants not a claim to a temporal felicity also Matth. 5.5 Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth These be the persons to whom by right of promise this stately Fabrick of earth belongs And if we now view that unpleasant vice of Anger opposite to it this will yet adde more to its lustre and help to recommend it the more effectually Anger being such an unpleasant humour that it makes those men it possesses unfit for humane society it being not unfitly defined by the Poet to be a short madness which indeed agrees very well with the Wise mans verdict of it Eccl. Anger rests in the bosom of fools If then men would but compare the calm
our adverse state why do we repine and complain If we did indeed compare our Mercies with our Sufferings our Receipts with our Merits or our Condition with that of some others we could not but be convinced of our folly but we still pore upon the sore all our thoughts are taken up and in exercise about our affliction if we would deal rationally let us view the sufferings of our blessed Redeemer and see if we dare make a contrary conclusion to that of the Apostle 1 Pet. 4.1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in flesh let us arm our selves likewise with the same minde He suffered patiently and calmly for us and it is but reasonable that Servants imitate their Master and suffer the disasters they meet our rule yet how ready are we to despise it if in the least it cross our humours or carnal interest Alas little do we consider that obedience is essentially necessary in order to our supream happiness and that torments as severe and intolerable as they are lasting are the lot of the disobedient It were to be wished that the rebellious posterity of Adam would but seriously ponder what they will be able to say in the great day of Audit Sure I am the whole Contexture and Harmony of the divine Precepts and Doctrines are equitable and just and therefore call for our hearty compliance with them The wise God never issued out any Command which could not be obeyed he is not like the Aegyptian Task-masters to require Brick while there is no Straw Nay indeed our duty and interest are coupled together so closely that if we disobey and rebel we may thank our selves for the misery we have chosen And as his Obedience is set before us for imitation so is his Love Charity and Compassion also His whole life was spent in doing good to men how transcendent is his love in pitying us in our degenerate and forlorn estate when we were at odds with Heaven and incapable to help our selves then even then did he commiserate our case and by his own Blood reconciled us to the Father It is the greatest demonstration of love imaginable for a man to lay down his life for his friend Joh. 15.13 and yet more wonderful was the love of our Redeemer in passing through so many cruel sufferings for us who were but Rebels and Enenemies O how should the remembrance of his boundless compassions transport and ravish us with love how strange is it that the highest endearments of Love have not inflamed our spirits and made Love mutual and reciprocal Love is a most excellent affection of a noble original by which we resemble the best of beings the great God being by the beloved Disciple described to be Love and indeed well does this description sute with his dealings with men But alas how unlike are we to God in this there is scarce any duty more frequently inculcated by our Saviour than Love John 15.12 This is my commandment that ye love one another as I have loved you and yet how little efficacy has either his precept or example with us Blessed Redeemer how unworthy do since it hath produced so little love in us to himself But however I need not take much pains to prove that hereby we demonstrate our selves to be of all men the most ungrate and justly liable to the severest punishment ever inflicted upon the greatest criminal It would be too prolix to enumerate the several instances wherein Christ is set forth as our Pattern sure I am he hath by his example taught us the exercise of all vertues and I may say as himself said in another case If we know these things happy are we if we do them To sum up this Section it will not be amiss to obviate an Objection which is indeed but very trivial although it be too commonly urged the Objection is How is it possible for men to conform to Christ and be holy as he is holy Ans. I have already told that it is not expected that we should imitate our blessed Redeemer in all and every of those actions he performed but in all those moral duties which he hath enjoyned by his righteous precepts and encouraged us by his example to perform these we must by no means neglect and to manifest the possibility of doing these we may satisfie our selves by viewing the pious and devout lives of primitive Christians It is a great mistake to think we are commanded to a rigorous and strict conversation which cannot be attained the faithful in former ages have run the same race that is set before us they have fully enough cleared the possibility of our duty Wherefore seeing we also as the Apostle argues are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us Heb. 12.1 For shame let us rather imitate the excellent holiness of primitive Christians than the impure practices of those who are strangers from the sacred Covenant O the perfect love and imitable kindeness of the first professors of the Gospel what purity what integrity and innocence appeared in their lives how ravishing and splendant were their vertues and graces their Patience in suffering their Courage and Magnanimity in death their Temperance and Moderation their Charity and Compassion their Equality and Justice and their Contempt of this World and all earthly concerns for the sake and honour of their Master These were the vertues they were adorned with which There is nothing more certain than that onely holy souls are in a capacity of participating of that future felicity and these may without the least charge of presumption claim an interest in it But for those vitious wretches who are wholly polluted who have devoted themselves to commit sin with greediness and take pleasure in doing evil how utterly incapable are they if they continue such to dwell in his presence who is not a God that taketh pleasure in wickedness And now seeing there is such an inseparable connexion between Happiness and Holiness it cannot be amiss if we take a short view of the excellency of this coelestial felicity that it may more plainly appear what a notable encouragement and motive it is to holiness There be two things that forcibly recommend the excellency of that future state of bliss First A perfect freedom and immunity from all evils And Secondly a perpetual enjoyment of the chief good First it is a blessedness wholly exempt from evils whether of sense or loss 't is a happiness attended with no inconveniencies nor dismal circumstances as the happiest state here is we now walk in the midst of perplexing doubts and fears temptations increase our inquietudes and dangers our continual fears our complaints are by far more numerous than our joys nay what is our whole life but a scene where sorrow and fears act their parts Man that is
what punishment is so terrible as that of Fire and how unspeakably does it inhance the misery in that it is eternal and that too as inflicted by an offended God who is executing his vengeance upon sinners Would God sinners would seriously consider whether they are able to endure the eternal pains of a gnawing Conscience or can patiently dwell with devouring Flames Whether the momentary pleasures of sin are to be balanced with those furious reflections those horrid stings and intolerable tortures the damned suffer day and night where nothing of life remains but the sense of pain Alas will no argument prevail with men how amazing is it to think that the everlasting God has used all the methods of love to excite men to Holiness and to reclaim them from sin and all to no purpose May I not well say to such men as St. Paul said to the Galatians Vnwise sinners who hath bewitched you they endure we may also adde that celestial felicity they are for ever excluded from How tormenting will it be to think of an everlasting separation from the divine Presence and instead of a holy Society to keep a continual correspondency with impure Spirits Would God that this brief discovery of the powers of the world to come might prevail with men to be holy in all manner of conversation But methinks I hear the over-zealous Professor too ignorantly objecting that it is servile mercenary and legal to be holy for love of Heaven or fear of Hell Truely if it were so as these men teach I know not what can be the intent and designe of all the promises and threatnings of the Gospel And although I question not but it is a generous and Christian principle to serve God out of pure love yet I can never be induced to think that to be holy for love of Heaven and fear of Hell can be separate from that principle of love to God God knows how much in need men stand both of arguments to work upon their hope and fear to excite them to duty And since he who knows our natures has used promises to allure us and threatnings to awaken us we must not pretend to be wiser than God and reject those motives he has thought fit to prescribe and indeed if it were not for the fear of evil and the hope of good 't is to be feared the pressing of other motives should be but a mere beating of the Air. But that this is not servile and mercenary needs no other argument to prove it but our Saviour's enduring the Cross and despising the Shame for the joy that was set before him a Scripture sufficient enough to stop the mouths of all opponents SECT 4. Holiness the main designe of the Gospel and the end of all Christs sufferings Subjects who know the intent and designe of those Laws issued forth by their Prince will be loath to contemn his Authority especially when the whole intent of these is to make them by their obedience the more happy and sure 't is the most unaccountable thing that can be if they notwithstanding despise his Laws and quite counter-act his designe Now the main designe of the Christian help himself our blessed Lord redeemed us from our captivity by offering up himself a ransom to satisfie divine Justice and all this that we might walk in newness of life And now what ingratitude is it to despise so much love Sure If he that despised Moses law died without mercy of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the Bloud of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing Heb. 10.28 29. He must certainly be of a very base and disingenuous spirit who takes pleasure in sin when he considers how dearly Christ paid for it Hath he been at so much pains undergone such dismal sufferings to purchase our peace and will we notwithstanding frustrate his designe how strange to astonishment is this that men should prefer captivity to freedom Alas is it not enough that our blessed Master was so barbarously and despitefully used by the Jews and Roman Souldiers but must we be also Actors in the Tragedy and by our sins crucifie him again Did he not die that we might live and shall we spend our life in offering despite unto him Strange that so much madness should lodge in the breasts of any into whom God hath breathed the breath of life I might here also adde that it is a contemning and offering of the greatest despite to the Holy Spirit to despise Holiness for upon this account is the third person of the blessed Trinity called the Holy Ghost because his peculiar office is to enable us to perform holy actions now if we continue in our rebellion if we reject the offers of grace and the internal motions of the Spirit to Holiness we do hereby become guilty of quenching the Spirit of God and offering despite unto him which is so horrid a piece of villany that Heaven threatens it with the severest torments SECT 5. Holiness the most proper and effectual means for attaining length of days Of all outward and temporal blessings length of days hath justly the precedency since without this all others can afford little or no comfort The possession and enjoyment of other mercies can bestow no satisfaction to men lying on their beds Prov. 23.29 30. Who hath woe who hath sorrow who hath wounds without cause they that tarry long at the wine c. Holiness is repugnant and inconsistent with excess which naturally puts a period to the lives of men It forbids all manner of vice which leads down to the chambers of death and keeps men within due bounds in their eating and drinking Before mankinde had corrupted themselves by their notorious and impudent vitiousness we read of their great length of days but the increase of sin multiplied diseases which hurry men to untimely deaths I deny not but the great Lord and Master of the Universe may for holy and wise ends known unto himself cut short the lives of the righteous yet surely if we consult either Experience or Reason we shall finde it certain beyond doubt that vertuous men enjoy for ordinary far the longest lives Some good men may be naturally of a brittle constitution yet how strangely has their life been protracted by their moderation and sobriety and how many strong men have had their days shortened by their intemperance and excess Indeed he that considers this well shall finde that Holiness is the most effectual means to promote long life both upon a moral and natural account Upon a moral account long life is the reward which the divine promises do secure to such men and on the contrary wickedness is threatned with shortness of days Upon a natural account the fire doth not more naturally produce heat than Holiness does procure health and length of days and there is nothing more evident than that the most
But I confess I am not able to express half the joy of this future felicity Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither hath it entred into the hearts of men to conceive what a store of happiness God hath laid up in Heaven for those who are holy in all manner of conversation SECT 8. Holiness accompanied with Peace There is nothing more suitable to and agreeable with Humane nature that Peace as those who endure trouble and vexation can fully attest Amongst earthly blessings it deserves not the last place it being a mercy which crowns all others and without which the fullest fruition could not prove satisfactory Those languishing and much to be pitied Kingdoms which now lie bathed in blood can attest the evils and mischiefs of War much more pathetically than words can express How sweet and acceptable would Peace a word always sounding sweetly be to them Now the Apostle St. James hath given us a brief but unquestionably true account of the real causes of Wars and Fightings Jam. 4.1 From whence come wars and fightings among you come they not hence even of your lusts that war in your members From these sinful causes have all the disorders and jars in Kingdomes and private Societies had their real I speak not of their pretended original How impetuous are the lusts of turbulent spirits like the raging waves of the Sea they are still in motion casting forth filth and dirt Ambition is so unquiet and restless a passion that no man is ignorant what desolations it hath wrought in the earth How many famous Kingdoms hath it ruined and destroyed what inquietudes and disorders are occasioned by discontentment All these are things so evident that I need not enlarge upon them but how repugnant are these vices to Holiness and can it be rationally imagined that their genuine and proper effects can be more reconcilable with it I confess Religion hath too frequently been pretended as a Cloak to cover the greatest Villanies Confusions and Rebellions but sure I am nothing imaginable contains a greater contradiction than to say these impieties have a warrant from the sacred Laws of the Gospel the combination of which is the rule of Holiness as I have formerly explained Is not Christ called the Prince of Peace and the Gospel the Gospel of Peace and it is certain if men would be ruled by the Laws of so peaceable a Prince they should be of a calm and quiet spirit then should we indeed see Righteousness and Peace kissing each other When ever therefore we read in ancient prophesies of the great peace that shall be in the Messiahs reign we must thereby understand that the nature of the Gospel and its precepts are such that if men would conform their lives to them there should be an universal Peace How strictly are all the causes of Envy Contention Ambition and Rebellion prohibited and sure if these causes were removed their effect should have no place Then should the Bow be broken and the Spear cut in sunder Swords should be turned into Plough shares and the Instruments of War into more necessary uses War should cease unto the ends of the earth and Peace should be within each wall By this it is apparent how much holiness conduceth to the establishment of publick peace But that which I would more especially take notice of is the internal serenity and calmness of Conscience which is the onely effect of holiness and truely upon this account there is no peace to the wicked I might here appeal to every mans breast whether Holiness does not calm and quiet the Consciences of men whileas a natural horrour results from the commission of vice more heavy than the severest lashes ever inflicted by Ceditius or Rhadamanthus What unspeakable peace and ease does attend holiness of life there is no jar nor contention no check of Conscience nor wound of spirit to disturb the inward repose of the Righteous but that remorse that results from the commission of sin even after men have acquired what they sinfully lusted after is like that hand-writing Dan. 5.5 which made the stout heart of Belshazzer to tremble and his knees to smite one against another It troubles the thoughts of the most daring sinner and makes him a terrour to himself There is no imaginable torment that can equal the terrours of an awakened guilty Conscience it hath put men to chuse strangling and death rather than life all which is fully verified by the Word of truth The spirit of a man can sustain his infirmity but a wounded spirit who can bear O the secret pangs and fears that possess the spirits of wicked men the severe checks and lashes of Conscience that seize upon transgressors which all imaginable divertisements cannot quite stifle and suppress All the attendance of the most dear Relations cannot give ease and comfort to them How dismal and inconsolable was Spira's condition how amazing are the very thoughts of those gnawings and horrours of Conscience he suffered The fears and apprehensions of a future misery mar all the joy and mirth of carnal men In their most flourishing state it continually haunts them and so fills them with horror and inquietude that they cannot quietly enjoy themselves Whilst the Soul acts within the Body it cannot but present those horrid and disquieting reflections Hi sunt qui trepidant ad omnia fulgora pallent These are the men who in the midst of outward felicity are amazed with tormenting fears which cannot be eradicated but by a sincere repentance But the holy Soul in the extremity of outward troubles enjoys an internal calmness and quiet of minde the very Pagan who could not be beyond doubt assured of the certainty of a future reward could yet say Hic murus ahenaeus esto Nil conscire sibi nulla palescere culpa But the Word of truth hath made this more unquestionably sure Psal. 119.165 Great peace have they that love thy Law and nothing shall offend them SECT 9. Holiness the best evidence of true Wisdom and real Worth and Courage Wisdom and Courage having their rise and source from nobler Principles than external helps have therefore in all Ages been esteemed excellent and venerable vertues and much preferable to those others which depend upon external advantages Wisdom is as the Wise man speaks the principal thing Prov. 4.7 It is that vertue which in a peculiar manner raiseth the Humane nature above that of Bruits who act without consideration and counsel And Courage is that which subdueth that ignoble passion of fear which hindreth men from attempting aâ—tions praise-worthy Hence it is that to be called a Fool or Coward are such reproachful denominations that nothing imaginable is more shameful That Holiness is an infallible evidence of true Wisdom is more plain than it can be doubted In sacred Writ Wisdom and Religion are used as convertible terms as words expressing the same thing And unto man he said Behold the fear of the Lord that is wisdom
is engaged for his relief the circumstances he is stated in are apt motives to stir up bowels of compassion towards such a person Vnless the Magistrate who is invested with Supream Power and Authority imitate God in goodness as well as in greatness his Authority will produce fear rather than love The very Moralist could say Sine bonitate nulla majestas Those who will be at the pains to consult Experience shall finde that good Princes have always been in the greatest esteem and sure it is the most unpardonable villany to attempt any evil against religious Kings Holiness is also profitable for Subjects to teach them obedience and to submit not merely upon the account of wrath but for Conscience sake which is certainly the onely safe expedient to secure the obedience of Subjects And I confess I know not how that man can be a true Subject to his earthly Prince who stands not to offend the God of Heaven I know some who have pretended to much Holiness have been the greatest villains but this proves not that the rule of Holiness gives a Supersedeas or allowance to any to disobey Authority Art thou a Parent the rule of Holiness to which holy men conform will instruct thee to be gentle and tender to thy Children and not to provoke them to wrath which is the onely thing that lessens their affection Art thou a Childe it will teach thee to reverence and honour thy parents in doing of which thou entitlest thy self to the promise annexed to the fifth Commandment In a word it is profitable to make all manner of Relations live in quietness and peace and to bestow mutual offices of love upon each other It instructs men to be faithful in every calling and employment and certainly the good man is to be trusted far rather than the wicked for Religion lays an awe and restraint upon the one but the other pretends no such motive to engage him to fidelity especially if he may deceive and not be noticed To this purpose Plutarch hath a notable saying Pietate saith he Nat. Deor. lib. 1. sublata sides etiam Societas humanae generis una excellentissima virtus justitia tollitur There are several things useful for some men but altogether unprofitable for others but Holiness is equally profitable for all there are none exempt from tasting its utility but those who exclude themselves by a vitious conversation Secondly Holiness is attended with all outward blessings and wants not a claim to a temporal felicity Matth. 6.33 Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all other things shall be added unto you The promise of inheriting the Earth by which all temporal felicity is meant is made to the meek Matth. 5.8 Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth And indeed we finde this blessing even promised to the posterity of those that fear the Lord Psal. 25.13 And to put this beyond all doubt we finde the Psalmist repeating this five times in one Psalm Psal. 37.9 11 22 29 34. And the great Apostle tells us that it is Godliness that hath the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come 1 Tim. 4.8 The God of Heaven hath also assured us that he will withhold no good thing from them that walk uprightly Upon this account well might Wisdom say Prov. 8.18 Riches and honour are with me a plain instance of which we have in Solomon who because of his asking Wisdom to govern his Subjects when he might as freely have ask'd Riches and Honour he receives this answer from God I have also given thee both riches and honour 1 King 3.13 But however this discriminating providence doth not so discernedly appear here yet there is no man but can attest Vice hath impoverished thousands there being several sins that have a natural tendency to poverty By means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread Prov. 6.26 The like we may truely enough say of several other sins I have seen saith the Psalmist the wicked great in power and spreading himself like a green bay-tree yet he passed away and lo he was not yea I sought him but he could not be found Psal. 37.35 36. I confess good men may be reduced to great wants may be destitute of necessary provisions nay how frequently is this the lot of the most excellent and gallant Souls yet this may be safely said That a little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked But then those things that best deserve the name of riches because of their enriching the Soul which being more excellent than the Body must upon that account be of greater value than these things that onely respect the Body these are onely peculiar to holy men and such are the graces of the Holy Spirit the combination of Christian vertues the price of which is above that of Rubies These are riches which are of a more lasting nature than those which the ignoble of the world call riches they are not subject to the casualties which Gold and Silver and precious Stones are which upon that account cannot be called a mans own as Pagan Moralists have largely and excellently confirmed And if we will not dispute with God and contest his determination we shall finde one single vertue receiving a more ample commendation than ever riches did 1 Pet. 3.4 The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit is in the sight of God of great price Although the holy and devout Soul may be reduced to our Saviours straits not to have where to lay his head yet how can he be said to be poor since he possesses him who is All The most adverse chances that befal such a Soul cannot denominate it poor there is a Crown and Princely Inheritance which belongs to it Nay besides that glorious reversion we have express promises that such Souls shall not be altogether destitute of necessaries to sustain and support them in this their pilgrimage I have already shewed that Honour and Pleasures are the attendants of Holiness What in the world is more glorious than for a man to conquer those lusts and inordinate appetites that seek the mastery over him what pleasure is able to contest with those ravishing joys which result from a holy conversation There is nothing imaginable that so exhilarates and revives men as a calm and quiet Conscience But I pass this In the next place I come to shew that the enjoyment of all other blessings can never profit that man that wants Holiness This is plainly attested by our Saviour saying What hath a man profited if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul To have an affluence of temporal mercies cannot so much as contribute to a present felicity where the forementioned qualification is lacking Outward favours not attended and chained with real Holiness contribute onely to enhance the misery of their possessor they being proper fewel
of Holiness and I am sure they shall verily testifie that it is onely Satan's Yoak that is uneasie and burthensome But granting that there is some difficulty in the exact observation of the Laws of Christianity as sure any man who consults the corruption of his own nature and the depraved inclinations thereof against which they are levelled will never deny yet if this shall be judged a good Argument to cancel the Laws of Christianity all Laws whatsoever shall be quite dashed out and banished the world for who shall be guilty if he may have the liberty to use this for a relevant excuse This being then so unreasonable to imagine and if it should be admitted should yet never a whit excuse the sinner who to his experience findes sin to be so uneasie and troublesome yet I shall adde two Considerations that demonstrate the Laws of Christianity are more easie than any other Laws that ever were invented and that they are not as carnal men represent them hard sayings which none can bear First the Author of the Gospel-precepts hath offered to us an assistance able to conquer all the difficulties that can be supposed to attend the keeping of his Mandates 'T is true if Christ had enjoyned his followers to obey a Law which could not possibly be kept I confess in that case his Commands had been grievous and his Yoak insupportable Or if he had been satisfied with no less than perfect innocency and unsinning obedience I don't see how this prejudice and cavil could have been removed But he who prescribed those Precepts considered the frailties of our nature and the weakness of man in this lapsed estate and therefore he has provided help for us if we will but be at the pains seriously to implore it For he giveth his Spirit to them that ask it And upon this account the beloved Apostle encourageth Christians to obey the precepts of the Gospel because Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world Secondly The excellency of the Reward that is promised to the obedient is a most noble consideration to make men as the Psalmist speaks run the way of Gods Commandments The promissory part of the Gospel renders the preceptive part easie Methinks the holy Soul should with comfort thus express it self when the greatest difficulties offer Good God! shall I be discouraged to obey the hardest if any thing proceeding from infinite Wisdom and Goodness can be said to be difficult of thy Commandments when so glorious a prize is the reward thereof If a terrene and temporal felicity animates others to encounter the most Giant-difficulties how much more unconcernedly should I slight all hazards and contemn by a fearless courage all dangers for that blessed hope that is set before me Can I remember there is a Kingdom promised and yet be terrified from it by supposed difficulties or complain that the way is inaccessible Do I really know that it is indeed a good Land and am yet discouraged to attempt the taking of it because it will require some violence Shall I like the Reubenites and Gadites set up my rest on this side of Jordan notwithstanding this proposal of Canaan No sure eternal Life is too noble a prize to be lost for fear of fighting the Good sight I regard no difficulties while I eye the Crown I cannot think those Precepts grievous that are enforced by so many excellent promises So great a recompence of reward should methinks inspire the dullest Heart and sweeten the hardest Service should make any one willing and content to sacrifice his most beloved lusts to cut off the right Hand and pluck out the right eye which stand in the way and hinder him from entring into Heaven Having thus endeavoured to explain upon what account the Laws of Christianity are not grievous I hope I shall not need to insist long upon the following particulars At first sight it seems plain that since the case is so Vice must certainly be more troublesome than Vertue and that it is easier for men to live holily than wickedly and yet I know not by what strange artifice Holiness has had the bad luck to be represented as being extreamly difficult I confess I intend not to inveigh against the sacred Tribe of Levi who have represented Heaven almost as unaccessible as the Israelitish Spies did the good Land of Canaan knowing they thereby onely designe to raise mens endeavours although I could have wished that they had considered better how readily men of corrupt mindes and vitious practices lay aside all care of Gods Commandments upon this suggestion that they are grievous and are deterred from a holy and vertuous life But that Vice is more troublesome and uneasie than Vertue will besides what I have formerly said appear to be so from the following Considerations First Sacred Records represent sinners as men who weary themselves with sin and the Prophet Isaiah describes their trouble by a very apt similitude Isa. 57.20 The wicked is like the troubled sea when it cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt The ways of sin are frequently called crooked paths and wicked men are said to walk astray whileas the way of Holiness and Vertue is said to be a streight and high way All which Phrases plainly enough imply that the former is full of intricacy and perplexities and the latter plain and easie Experiences to prove this are every day so multiplied that they may abundantly serve to silence all doubts The Drunkard can experimentally tell the costliness of his sin and the tormenting diseases that are frequently the effect of an overcharged Stomach the uneasie belchings and overturnings within the grievous pains of Head and Joynts The Wanton and Lascivious can produce his painful boils and sores to witness the uneasiness of Lust at best he can onely produce an hectick Body But besides those loathsome diseases that are the effects of Lasciviousness how restless and uneasie is the condition of such persons But how impossible is it to give a just list of those miseries that Wantonness and Intemperance hurry men to To what a multitude of amazing difficulties does Pride expose men what mischiefs jarrs and contests does it raise Envy and Revenge torment mens spirits and so disquiet and perturb them that men may as well take fire into their bosom and pretend they perceive no torment as lodge those horrid lusts in their breasts without the sense of their extream misery and pain The Covetous minde is never at rest but is ever craving and desirous of more But to shew how troublesome the practice of every sin is requires a larger discourse than I can well allow But how easie is Vertue if compared with Vice At what trouble and pains are men to invent a lie and when they have contrived it they cannot but be afraid lest it be discovered But how easie is it to speak the truth With how much art and pains do men trouble themselves to