while enslaved and defiled in their Affections and the very Liberty they boast of in their Conduct and Management of themselves openly springs from their secret Servitude to some vile Passion or other Nor yet can I be so soft and easie as to grant that such Men as these either do or can arrive at the Liberty they pretend to I mean that of Regulating and Governing all their outward Actions by the Rules of Vertue They too often throw off the Disguise which either Hypocrisie or Enmity to Religion makes them put on and prove too plainly to the World that when they lay Restraints on themselves in this or that Sin 't is only to indulge themselves the more freely and securely in others Secondly My next Remark is That it is gross Stupidity or Impudence to deny a Providence and another World when the Belief of both is so indispensably necessary to the well-being of this The Frame and Nature of Man and the necessities of this World require both Without these selfishness must undoubtedly be the predominant Principle This would breed unreasonable Desires and these would fill us with Fears and Jealousies so that a State of Nature would indeed be a State of War and our Enmity against one another would not be extinguished by Civil Society but only concealed and restrained till a fit Occasion for its breaking out should present it self Laws would want that Force Common-wealths that Bond or Cement Conversation that Confidence and our Possessions that security which is necessary to render them Blessings to us § 3. A Third Fruit of Christian Liberty is that Relation which it creates between God and us We are no longer of the World but are separated and sanctified devoted and dedicated to God Thus St. Peter 1 Epist 2.9 Ye are a Chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar People And thus St. Paul Rom. 8.15 16. ye have not received the Spirit of Bondage again to fear but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father The Spirit it self beareth witness with our Spirit that we are the Children of God and if Children then Heirs Heirs of God and Joint-Heirs with Christ God is our God we are his People He is our Father and we are his Children we are ingraffed into his Family The Consequence of this is his Dearly Beloved and Only Begotten Son is our Advocate at his right Hand the Propitiation for our Sins and Intercessour for us His Spirit resides with us to comfort and assist us his Angels guard us and minister to us for we are no longer the Object of his Wrath but of his Love and Care How does the Apostle triumph on this Argument Heb. 12.18 19 c. For ye are not come unto the Mount that might be touched and that burned with Fire nor unto blackness and darkness and tempest and the sound of a Trumpet and the Voice of Words which voice they who heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more For they could not endure that which was commanded and if so much as a Beast touch the Mountain it shall be stoned or thrust thorow with a Dart And so terrible was the sight that Moses said I exceedingly fear and quake But ye are come unto Mount Sion and unto the City of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable Company of Angels To the general Assembly and Church of the First Born which are written in Heaven and to God the Judge of all and to the Spirits of just Men made perfect and to Jesus the Mediatour of the new Covenant and to the Blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things then that of Abel And thus again 1 Cor. 3.2 Therefore let no Man glory in Men for all things are yours whether Paul or Apollo or Cephus or the World or Life or Death or things present or things to come all are yours and ye are Christs and Christ is Gods These are great and glorious things What Dignity and Eminence does this Adoption raise us to what Blessedness flow from Communion and Fellowship with God what can we want or what can we fear when we have so mighty an Interest in the Soveraign of Heaven and Earth when all his Divine Perfections are employed to promote and secure our Happiness Now sure we may rejoyce now we may glory and triumph for certainly all things must work together for our good But as fallen Angels envied the Happiness of New Created Man so do Apostate and Debauched Men envy that of the Godly And one of these will be apt to say hold Sir you run too fast these glorious Priviledges are yet but in the Embrio and all your Happiness is yet but in the Reversion Notwithstanding all these big words you must grant me that you are yet but in a State of Probation that you are to undergo Hardships and Difficulties and to live upon the thin Diet of Hope and Expectation and so I think I might take you down from Heirs of God to Servants at the best Well I will grant that we yet live by Faith and wait for the Hope of Glory Nor will I at present contend about those Pleasures that are but in the bud I will for once quit all that Preference both as to Nobility and Pleasure which Adoption and the full Assurance of Hope gives a Godly Man above a Sinner and I will take the State of a Child of God to be as the Objector would have it I will suppose him to be under Age till he come to another Life and to differ nothing from a Servant whilst he is so though he be Heir of all Yet after all if I can prove that 't is our Duty to serve God it will be no contemptible Fruit no small Commendation of Liberty that it enables us to do our Duty And that it is our Duty to serve God is plain For is it not fit that He who made and still upholds the World should govern it ought we not to pay Obedience to His Laws whose Infinite Perfections and Immence Beneficence invest Him with an absolute and uncontroulable Sovereignty over us whom should we honour with our Soul and Body but Him who is the Author of both to whom should we devote and Sacrifice what we have but to Him from whom we received all whose Praise should we shew forth but His who has called us out of Darkness into his marvelous Light whom should we obey and adore but Him who has translated us out of Bondage into Liberty out of the servitude of Satan into the Kingdom of his dear Son having redeemed us by the Blood of his Son from that Wrath to which our Sins had deservedly subjected us But this is not all I shall prove it not only to be our Duty but our Honour and our Happiness to serve God even on the supposition on which the Objection proceeds and which I at present grant 1. 'T is our Honour to
no evil to himself nor provokes any unnecessary danger His Vertue effectually does that which Atheism attempts in vain dispels the terror of an invisible Power he needs not drown the Voice of Conscience by Wine or Noise or the toil of Life it speaks nothing to him but what is kind and obliging it is his Comforter not his Persecutor And as to this World he reaps that satisfaction and tranquility from the Moderation of his Affections which Ambition and Avarice do in vain promise themselves from Preferments or the increase of Wealth If therefore there were any state on this side Heaven exempt from Evil it must be that of the Perfect Man But he knows the World too well to flatter himself with the expectation of Indolence or an undisturb'd tranquility here below and is as far from being deluded by vain Hopes as from being scar'd by vain fears or tortur'd and distended by vain desires He knows the World has its Evils and that they cannot wholly be avoided he knows it and dares behold them with open Eyes survey their Force and feel and try their Edge And then when he has collected his own strength and called in the Aid of Heaven he shrinks not nor desponds but meets Evil with that Courage and bears it with that evenness of Mind that he seems even in his Afflictions nearer to Indolence then the Fool and Sinner in his Prosperity So that I cannot forbear professing there appears so much Beauty so much loveliness in the deportment of the Perfect Man with respect to the Evils of Life that for that reason alone were there no other I should admire and prefer his Vertue above any Possession or Enjoyment of Life Give me leave to compare the Saint and Sinner on this occasion and but very briefly The wise Man's eyes saith Solomon Eccles 2.14 are in his head but the fool walks in darkness The wise Man sees that he has Enemies I mean Evils and therefore he informs himself well of their Strength observes their Motion and prepares for the Encounter but Ignorance and Stupidity is the greatest blessing of the Sinners Life and his most admir'd Quality is not to be apprehensive of Evil till it crush him with its Weight But if the Sinner be not fool enough to arrive at this degree of brutality then as soon as the report of the most distant Evil or the most inconsiderable reaches his Ear how it fills his Imagination how it shakes his Heart and how it embitters his Pleasures And to what poor and despicable Arts to what base and dishonourable shifts does his Fear force him When on the same occasion we discover nothing in the Perfect Man but a beautiful mixture of Humility and Faith Devotion and Confidence or Assurance in God He is not afraid of evil tidings his Heart is fixed trusting in the Lord Psal 112. a frame of Spirit which to those who have opportunity and sense to observe it renders him both more belov'd and rever'd Lastly if we consider the wicked and the good Man actually under the weight and pressure of Evil how much unlike is the state of the one in reality to that of the other even while the outward circumstances are the same What Chearfulness what Courage what Resignation what Hopes adorn the One What Instruction to all what Satisfaction to his Friends and Relations does his Deportment afford And how does it inspire and warm the Breasts of those that converse with him with an esteem for and love of Goodness and himself What Charm what Delight is there in those gracious Speeches that proceed at this time out of a Good Man's Mouth I know that my Redeemer liveth The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away and blessed be the Name of the Lord Thou of very faithfulness has caused me to be afflicted God is the strength of my Heart and my Portion for ever And such-like And how often does he pour out his Heart in secret before God How often does he reflect on the gracious and wise ends of Divine Chastisement And how often does he with desire and thirst Meditate on that fulness of Joy which expects him in the Presence of God! But let us cast our Eye now on the Voluptuary on the Ambitious on the Covetous or any other sort of Sinner under Disgrace Poverty Sickness or any such Calamity what a mean and despicable Figure does such a one make What Impatience what Despondency what Guilt what Pusillanimity does every Word every Action betray Or it may be his Insolence is turned into Crouching and Fawning his Rudeness and Violence into Artifice and Cunning and his Irreligion into Superstition Various indeed are the Humours and very different the Carriage of these unhappy Men in the Day of Tryal but all is but Misery in a different dress Guilt and Baseness under a different appearance Here I might further remark that that Faith which produces Patience in Adversity produces likewise Security and Confidence in Prosperity I will lay me down may every good May say in the words of the Psalmist and sleep and rise again for thou Lord shalt make me dwell in safety And surely the one is as serviceable to the ease of Human Life as the other But I think I have said enough to shew that if Pleasure be suppos'd to imply no more then Indolence the Perfect Man has without Controversie a far greater share of it than any other can pretend to But let us take Pleasure to be not a meer Calm but a gentle Breeze not to consist in meer Rest and Quiet but a delightful Motion not in the meer Tranquility of the Mind but in the Transport of it or some thing nearly approaching it Perfection I 'm confident will suffer nothing by this change of the Notion of Pleasure How many Pleasures has the wise Man which depend not on Fortune but Himself I mean his Diligence and Integrity and to which the Sinner is an utter Stranger What Pleasure what Triumph is equal to that of the Perfect Man when he Glories in God and makes his boast of him all day long When he rejoyces in the Lord with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory When being fill'd with all the fulness of God transported by a Vital Sense of Divine Love and strengthen'd and exalted by the mighty Energie of the Spirit of Adoption he maintains a Fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus All Communion with God consists in this Joy of Love and Assurance and has a taste of Heaven in it Let the most Fortunate and the wisest Epicurean too Ransack all the Store-houses and Treasures of Nature let him Muster together all his Legions of Pleasures and let him if he can consolidate and incorporate them all and after all being put into the Scale against This alone they will prove lighter then Vanity it self To be the Care the Delight the Love of an Almighty God to be dear to him who is the Origine and Fountain of
Number and Strength of Temptations the deplorable Falls of the greatest Saints and the Conscience of our own Weakness will not fail to work in us Let us then not only begin but also perfect Holiness in the Fear of God Blessed is he that feareth always Secondly The Steadfastness of Hope of Hope that waits and longs for the Coming of our Lord. This will invite us often to take a View of Canaan this will fill the Mind often with the Beauties and the Glories of Eternity this will often call to our Thoughts and Security the Rest the Transports of another World the Love of God and of Jesus incorruptible Crowns the Hallelujah's of Angels the Shouts of Victory the Fruit of the Tree of Life the Streams that water the Paradise of God And every such Object will chide us out of our Weakness and Cowardise every such Thought will upbraid us out of our Laziness and Negligence We shall hear always Sounding in our Ears the Words of Jesus to his Disciples What can ye not watch with me one hour and yet do you expect to reign with me for ever Or those to the Church of Laodicea to him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me upon my Throne as I have overcome and am sate down with my Father on his Throne And now Reader if you find I have done you any Service if you think your self under any Obligation to me the Return I beg from you is that you will first offer Praise and Thanks unto God and next whenever you are in the Vigour of the Spirit in the Ardors of Faith and Love before God in Prayer put up these or the like Petitions for me which I now offer up for my self O My God and my Father increase the Knowledge of thy Word and the Grace of thy Spirit in me Enable me to Perfect Holiness in thy Fear and to hold fast the steadfastness of my Hope unto the End Pardon all the Sins and Errors of my Life and accept of my imperfect Services though Jesus Christ And because though after all we can do we are unprofitable Servants thy Infinite Bounty will yet certainly recompense our sincere Endevour to promote thy Glory let me find my Reward from thee or rather do thou thy self vouchsafe to be my Reward I should have ever thought my self unworthy to have put up this Petition to thee O thou glorious and incomprehensible Majesty had not thine own Goodness thine own Spirit kindled this Ambition in me Behold what manner of Love is this that we should be called the Sons of GOD these are the Words of thy Servant St. John And now therefore my Soul can never be at rest till I awake at the last Day after thy Likeness I can never be satisfied till I behold thy Glory which vouchsafe me I beseech thee by thy Mercy and thy Faithfulness by the Sufferings and Intercession of thy Dearly Beloved Son FINIS Several Books Published by Dr. Lucas Vicar of St. Steven's Coleman-street and Sold by Sam. Smith and Benj. Walford at the Princes Arms in St. Paul's Church-Yard PRactical Christianity Or an Account of the Holiness which the Gospel Enjoyns with the Motives to it c. Fourth Edition 1693. An Enquiry after Happiness in several Parts Vol. I. The Second Edition Corrected and Enlarged 1692. Human Life or a Second Part of the Enquiry after Happiness Second Edition 1696. Religious Perfection or a Third Part of the Enquiry after Happiness 1696. The Duty of Apprentices and Servants with some Prayers and Directions for the worthy Receiving the Holy Sacrament 1685. Price One Shilling Six Pence The Plain Man's Guide to Heaven Containing 1st His Duty towards God 2ly Towards his Neighbour with proper Prayers Meditations and Ejaculations designed chiefly for the Country-man Tradesman Labourers c. 1691. Price One Shilling Christian Thoughts for every day of the Month 12. Price One Shilling Several Sermons Preached before the Queen Lord Mayor Assizes c.
more frequently required of or attributed to the Perfect Man in Scripture then Zeal and Fervency of Spirit in the ways of God and no wonder For when Actions flow at once from Principles and Custom when they spring from Love and are attended by Pleasure and are incited and quicken'd by Faith and Hope too How can it be but that we should repeat 'em with some Eagerness and feel an Holy Impatience as often as we are hindered or disappointed And as the Nature of the Thing shews that thus it ought to be so are there innumerable Instances in the Old Testament and the New which make it evident that thus it was Shall I mention the example of our Lord who went about doing good Act. 10.38 Shall I propose the Labours and Travils of St. Paul These Patterns it may be will be judged by some too bright and dazling a Light for us to look on or at least too Perfect for us to copy after and yet St. John tells us that he who says he abides in Him ought himself also so to walk even as he walked 1 Joh. 2.6 and we are exhorted to be followers of the Apostles as they were of Christ But if the Fervency of Christ and St. Paul seemed to have soar'd out of the reach of our imitation we have Inferiour Instances enough to prove the Zeal and Fruitfulness of Habitual Goodness Thus David says of himself Psal 119.10 with my whole Heart have I sought thee and Josiah 2 King 23.25 is said to have turned to the Lord with all his Soul and with all his Might How fervent was Anna wo departed not from the Temple but served God with Fastings and Prayers night and day Luk. 2.37 how Charitable Tabitha who was full of good Works and Alms-deeds which she did Act. 9.36 Where shall I place Cornelius With what words shall I set out his Virtues with what but those of the Holy Ghost Act. 10.2 He was a devout Man and one that feared God with all his House which gave much Alms to the people and prayed to God alway But peradventure some may imagine that there is something singular and extraordinary in these Eminent Persons which we must never hope to equal but must be content to follow them at a vast Distance Well let this be so What have we to say to whole Churches animated by the same Spirit of Zeal What are we to think of the Churches of Macedonia whose Charity St. Paul thus magnifies 2 Cor. 8.2 3. in a great trial of Affliction the abundance of their Joy and their deep Poverty abounded to the Riches of their Liberality For to their power I bear record yea and beyond their power they were willing of themselves And St. Paul declares himself perswaded of the Romans that they were full of goodness filled with all knowledge Rom. 15.14 And of the Corinthians he testifies that they were enriched in every thing and came behind in no gift 1 Cor. 1.5 6. that they did abound in all things in Faith in diligence c. 2 Cor. 8.7 I will stop here 't is in vain to heap up more Instances I have said enough to shew that Vigour and Fervency in the Service of God is no miraculous Gift no extraordinary Prerogative of some peculiar Favorite of Heaven but the natural and inseparable Property of a well confirmed Habit of Holiness Lastly is Constancy and Steadiness the Property of an Habit It is an undoubted Property of Perfection too In Scripture Good Men are every where represented as standing fast in the Faith steadfast and unmovable in the works of God holding fast their Integrity In one word as constantly following after Righteousness and maintaining a good Conscience towards God and Man And so Natural is This to one Habitually good that St. John affirms of such a one that he cannot sin 1 Joh. 3.9 whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin for his Seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God Accordingly Job is said to have feared God and eschewed Evil which must be understood of the constant course of his Life Zachary and Elizabeth are said to be Righteous walking in all the Commandments of God blameless Luk. 1.6 Enoch Noah David and other excellent Persons who are pronounc'd by God Righteous and Just and Perfect are said in Scripture to walk with God to serve Him with a Perfect Heart with a full purpose of Heart to cleave to him and the like And this is that Constancy which Christians are often exhorted to watch ye stand fast in the Faith quit ye like Men be strong 1 Cor. 16.13 And of which the first followers of our Lord left us such remarkable Examples The Disciples are said to have been continually in the Temple blessing and praising God Luk. 24. And the first Christians are said to have continued stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of Bread and in Prayers Acts 2.42 Thus I think I have sufficiently cleared my Notion of Perfection from Scripture Nor need I multiply more Texts to prove what I think no Man can doubt of unless he mistake the main Design and End of the Gospel which is to raise and exalt us to a steady Habit of Holiness The end of the Commandment saith St. Paul 1 Tim. 1.5 is Charity out of a pure heart and of a good Conscience and of Faith unfeigned This is the utmost Perfection Man is capable of to have his Mind enlightned and his Heart purified and to be inform'd acted and influenc'd by Faith and Love as by a vital principle And all this is Essential to Habitual Goodness If any one desire further Light or Satisfaction in this Matter let him read the eighth Chapter to the Romans and he will soon acknowledge that he there finds the substance of what I have hiterto advanced There though the Word it self be not found the thing called Perfection is described in all the Strength and Beauty in all the Pleasure and Advantages of it There the Disciple of Jesus is represented as one who walks not after the Flesh but after the Spirit as one whom the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has set free from the Law of Sin and Death one who 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 does not mind or relish the things of the Flesh but the things of the Spirit one in whom the Spirit of Christ dwells He does not stand at the Door and knock he does not make a transient visit but here he reigns and rules and inhabits One finally in whom the Body is dead because of Sin but the Spirit is life because of Righteousness And the Result of all this is the Joy and Confidence the Security and Transport that becomes the Child of God Ye have not received the Spirit of Bondage again to Fear but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father The Spirit it self beareth witness with our Spirit that we are
the Children of God and if Children then Heirs heirs of God and joynt-heirs with Christ And now 't is no wonder if the Perfect Man long for the Revelation of the Glory of the Sons of God if he cry out in Rapture if God be for me who can be against me who shall lay any thing to the Charge of God's Elect who shall seperate me from the Love of Christ and so on If any one would see the Perfect Man described in Fewer words he needs but cast his Eye on Rom. 6.22 But now being made free from Sin and become Servants to God ye have your Fruit unto Holiness and the end everlasting Life CHAP. II. This Notion of Perfection countenanced by all sides AFter I have shewed that this Notion of Perfection is warranted by Reason and Scripture I see not why I should be very Solicitous whether it do or do not clash with the Opinions of Men. But the Truth is if we examine not so much the Expressions and Words as the Sense and Meaning of all Parties about this Matter we shall find them well enough agreed in it at the bottom And 't is no wonder if notwithstanding several incidental Disputes they should yet agree in the Main Since the Experience of Mankind does easily teach us what sort of Perfection Human Nature is capable of and what can or can not actually be attained by Man The Pelagians did not contend for an Angelical Perfection nor St. Austin deny such a one as was truly suitable to Man the one could not be so far a Stranger to Human Nature as to exempt it in Reality from those Errors and Defects which the best of Men complain of and labour against Nor was St. Austin so little acquainted with the Power of the Gospel and of the Spirit as not to be well enough assured that Man might be Habitually Good and that such were influenced and acted by a firm Faith and a fervent Love and well grounded Hope The Dispute between Them then concerning Perfection did not consist in This whether Men might be Habitually good This was in Reality acknowledg'd on Both sides Nor whether the best Men were subject to Defects for This too Both sides could not but be sensible of but in these two things especially First what was to be attributed to Grace what to Nature And this relates not to the Definition or Essence of Perfection but to the Source and Origine of it Secondly whether those Irregular Motions Defects and Errors to which the best Men were subject were to be accounted Sins or not Neither the one side nor the other then as far as I can discern did in truth mistake the Nature of Human Perfection Each placed it in Habitual Righteousness The one contended for no more nor did the other contend for less in the Perfect Man And when the one asserted him free from Sin he did not assert him free from Defects And while the other would not allow the best Man to be without Sin they did not by Sin understand any thing else but such Disorders Oppositions to or Deviations from the Law of God as the Pelagian himself must needs own to be in the Perfect Man The Dispute then was not what Man might or might not attain to for Both sides agreed him capable of the same Habitual Righteousness Both sides allowed Him subject to the same Frailties But one side would have these Frailties accounted Sins and the other would not Numerous indeed have been the Controversies between the Popish and Reformed Churches about Precept and Counsel Mortal and Venial Sin the Possibility of fulfilling the Law of God the Merit of Good Works and such-like But after all if we enquire what that Height of Virtue is to which the best of Men may arrive what those Frailties and Infirmities are to which they are subject 't were I think easie to shew that the Wise and Good are on all hands agreed about this Nor does it much concern my present purpose in what sense or on what account Papists think some sins Venial and Protestants deny them to be so since neither the one nor the other exempt the Perfect Man from Infirmities nor assert any other Height or Perfection then what consists in a consummate and well establish'd Habit of Virtue Some Men may and do talk very extravagantly But it is very hard to imagine that Sober and Pious Men should run in with them Such when they talk of Fulfilling the Law of God and keeping his Commandments must surely understand this of the Law of God in a Gracious and Equitable sense And this is no more then what the Scripture asserts of every sincere Christian When they talk of I know not what transcendant Perfection in Monkery they must surely mean nothing more then that Poverty Chastity and Obedience are Heroick Instances of Faith and Love of Poverty of Spirit and Purity of Heart and that an Ascetick Discipline is the most compendious and effectual way to a Consummate Habit of Righteousness Finally by the Distinction of Precept and Counsel such can never intend surely more then This that we are obliged to some things under pain of Damnation to others by the Hopes of greater Degrees of Glory For 't is not easie for me to comprehend that any Man whose Judgment is not enslav'd to the Dictates of his Party should deny either of these two Truths 1. That whatever is neither forbidden nor commanded by any Law of God is Indifferent 2. That no Man can do more then love the Lord his God with all his Heart with all his Soul and with all his Might and his Neighbour as himself I say there is no Degree or Instance of Obedience that is not comprised within the Latitude and Perfection of these Words But whatever some of the Church of Rome or it may be the greater part of it may think This 't is plain was the Sense of the Ancients St. Austin (a) Quaecunque non jubentur sed speciali consilio monentur tum recté fiunt cum referuntur ad deligendum Deum proximum propter Deum Aug. Euch. cap. 121. could never understand any Merit or Excellence in those things that were Matter of Counsel not Precept unless they flowed from and had regard to the Love of God and our Neighbour And Cassian's (b) Ac proinde ea quibus qualitates Statutas videmus tempora quae sic observata sanctificant ut omissa non polluant Media esse manifestum est ut puta Naptias agriculturam divitias solitudinis Remotionem c. Cassian Colla. Patr. Talem igitur Definitionem supra Jejunii c. Nec in ipso spei nostrae terminum defigamus sed ut per ipsum ad puritatem Cordis Apostolicam Charitatem pervenire possimus ibid. Excellent Monks resolved all the value of such things to consist in their tendency to promote Apostolical Purity and Charity And Gregory Nazianzen (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Greg.