Laws of Generation he hath ordered all Men to come into the World weak and helpless and unable to provide for themselves he was bound in Goodness to oblige their Parents by a natural 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Affection to nourish and take Care of them till they grow able to take Care for themselves that so they might not be utterly abandoned so since he hath thought good to expose us here to so many Miseries and Calamities he stood obliged by the eternal Benignity of his Nature to oblige us by all the Bowels of Mercy to succour and relieve one another till we are grown up to that Perfection of Happiness wherein we shall have no more need of Succour that so at present we may not be left destitute and forlorn but may find all that Relief in one another's Mercy which is wanting to us in his immediate Providence For 't is for wise and merciful Ends that he permits us to be miserable here to correct our Follies and polish and cultivate our Nature and train us up under a severe Discipline into a State of Everlasting Happiness and therefore for the Redress of these Miseries which for our Good he is fain to inflict upon us it was necessary he should Consign us to the Protection of one anothers Mercy that so this for the present might be a Cordial to our Griefs a Supply to our Wants an Ease to our Oppressions and a Sanctuary to our Calamities till Misery hath effected the gracious End she designed it for and then he will release our Mercy from its Work and permit it to enjoy an Everlasting Sabbath But so long as he thinks fit to continue us in this state of Misery his own Benignity will oblige him to oblige us to assist and comfort one another by the mutual Exercise of our Mercy that so being instead of Gods to one another we may not be utterly abandoned to Wretchedness but by mutually succouring each other might all of us be tolerably happy which we should all of us most certainly be were we but so benign and merciful to one another as he expects and requires CHAP. I. Of the Nature of Mortification GOD having made us free Agents and planted in our Natures an uncontroulable Liberty of Choice in Wisdom he hath so ordered and disposed things that as we cannot be Miserable unless we will so neither shall we be happy whether we will or no. For as his Goodness would not suffer him to make us necessarily miserable so neither would his Wisdom permit him to entail our Happiness on our Natures and make it inseparable to our Beings for should he have done so he must have altered the Laws of his own wise Creation and made those Beings to act necessarily which he made to act freely For Happiness is the End of all our Actions and therefore should God have made that necessary to us he must have made us to act towards it with the same Necessity as inanimate Bodies do towards their proper Center and consequently there would have been no such thing as a free Agent in the lower World That we may always act therefore according to the Condition and Frame of a free Nature the Foundations of all our Happiness and Misery are laid in the right Use or Abuse of our Liberty and do immediately spring out of the Wisdom or Folly of our own Choices so that if we chuse wisely according to the Laws of Virtue and right Reason we do thereby advance towards that happy and heavenly State we were created for as on the contrary if we chuse foolishly according to the rash Counsels of our own vicious Appetites and sensual Inclinations we thereby sink our selves deeper and deeper towards the Abyss of endless and inconceivable Misery For such is the Frame and Constitution of our Natures that we cannot be good and miserable nor vicious and happy and accordingly the Apostle sets before us the inevitable Fate of our own Actions Rom. viii 13. If ye live after the flesh ye shall die but if ye through the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live What these Deeds of the Flesh or Body are the Apostle telleth us Gal. v. 19 20 21. The works of the flesh are manifest which are these adultery fornication uncleanness lasciviousness idolatry witchcraft hatred variance emulations wrath strife seditions heresies envyings murders drunkenness revellings and such like and they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God This is the Muster-roll of that formidable Army of Wickednesses with which we are to engage and which we must vanquish or perish for ever If ye mortify the deeds of the body ye shall live i. e. if ye kill and destroy them if ye wholly cease from them both as to the outward Act of them and the inward Appetite and Inclination towards them For Mortification doth not only consist in a formal Abstinence from the outward Acts of Sin or a superficial Skinning over the Orifice of its Wounds but searches to the very bottom of that putrid Core within and eats out the inward Corruption from whence those outward Blisters arise It purges the Heart as well as the Hands and drains those impure Inclinations which are the Springs of all Impiety and Wickedness BUT to handle this Subject more particularly I shall do these three things First SHEW wherein Mortification consists Secondly WHAT are the Proper Instruments of it Thirdly WHAT are the most prevailing Motives to it I. WHEREIN doth Mortification consist I answer in these three Things 1. In Abstinence from the outward Acts of Sin 2. In not consenting unto any Sin 3. In a constant Endeavour to extinguish our involuntary Sins I. MORTIFICATION requires Abstinence from the outward Acts of Sin For it is impossible that any Man should mortify his Lusts while he indulges himself in the free Practice of them because Practice is the Fuel that foments and feeds the inward vicious Inclinations and both pampers and enrages the lustful Appetites of the Soul For that Delight which we reap from acting our own Concupiscences doth but increase and provoke them it being natural to Men when they have been pleased with any Action to be more vehemently inclined to repeat it the Delight which they found in the former Enjoyment provoking their Desires to enjoy it again So that we may as well hope to put out a Fire by a continual feeding it with Fuel and blowing it into Flame as to mortify a Lust whilst by our continued practising it we nurse and cherish it and do at once both feed and irritate its Flames If therefore we would ever mortify the Lusts of the Flesh we must strictly restrain our selves from all outward Acts of them For whilst we indulge our selves in these we feed our Disease and pamper our bad Inclinations into vicious Habits and our vicious Habits into sinful Necessities II. MORTIFICATION consists in the Dissent of our Wills from all sinful Proposals
special notice of them which as St. Austin tells us made them to attribute its Success to the Power of Magick thinking it impossible that it should do such Wonders without the Assistance of some powerful Spirit And indeed it is not to be supposed how it should work such strange and suddain Alterations in Men by its external Arguments and Motives without a divine Power concurring with them and animating and enforcing them and though now that Christianity hath gotten such footing in the World and is become the Religion of Nations the divine Spirit does not ordinarily work upon Men in such a strange and miraculous way but proceeds in more humane Methods by joyning in with our Understandings and leading us forward by the Rules of Reason and Sobriety so that whatsoever Aids it affords us they work in the same Way and after the same Manner as if all were performed by the Strength of our own Reason yet we have a standing Promise which extends to all Ages of Christianity that to him who improves the Grace which he hath already more Grace shall be given that if we work out our salvation with fear and trembling God will work in us to will and to do and that he will give his holy Spirit to every one that sincerely asks and seeks it For of the Performance of this Promise there are none of us all but have had many sensible Experiences for how often do we find good Thoughts injected into our Minds we know not how nor whence How frequently are we seiz'd with strong and vehement Convictions of the Folly and Danger of our own Wicked courses even in the midst of our loose Mirth and Iollity when we are rock'd into a deep Security when we have endeavour'd to chase good Thoughts from our Minds or to drown them in Sensuality and Voluptuousness How often have we been haunted with their Importunities till we have been scar'd by them into sober Resolutions And when we have complied with them what Ioys and Refreshments have we sometimes found in the Discharge of our Duty to encourage us to Perseverance in Well-doing All which are plain and sensible Instances of the internal Operations of the Holy Spirit upon our Souls So that when we comply with these inward Motions of the Holy Ghost so as to forsake those sins which they dissuade us from we do then mortify the deeds of the body by the spirit FROM the Consideration of these Benefits by the Spirit of God many useful Inferences may be deduc'd And First From hence we may discern the Necessity of the Spirit to enable us to mortify the Deeds of the Body And indeed considering the Infirmity of our Natures and the many Temptations we have to encounter how we are habituated to a Sensual Life before we are capable of exercising our Reason and how much our Wills are biass'd by our Carnal Inclinations it is hardly to be imagined how we should ever be able to retrieve our selves from the Power and Dominion of our own Lusts without some supernatural Aid and Assistance For tho' we have an Understanding capable of distinguishing between Good and Evil and of discerning all those Advantages and Mischiefs that are inseparable unto vertuous and vicious Actions though we have a Will that can comply with the Dictates of right Reason and is no ways determined and necessitated to Evil and though we can do whatsoever we will Yet if besides those Motives which arise out of the Nature of Virtue and Vice we had not supernatural Arguments to assist us our Inclinations would certainly prove too strong for our Reason If the lascivious Wanton had no other Arguments to oppose against the Temptations of Lust but that it vexes him with Impatience fills him with mad and ungovernable Desires torments him with Fear and Iealousie betrays him into Sickness and Poverty and the like How can it be expected that such slender Arguments should prevail against the Importunities of his depraved Appetite If the covetous Oppressour had no other Motive to confront his Lust with but that his Injustice exposes him to the Hatred of those whom he injures and violates the Laws of Society and consequently is destructive of the Publick Good in which his own is involved alas What thin Arguments would these be to him in comparison with the Temptations of a Bag of Gold And though to these natural Arguments God hath added sundry supernatural ones in the Revelation of the Gospel such as are in themselves sufficient to check our most outragious Appetites and to baffle the strongest Temptations Yet alas our Thoughts are so squander'd among this great Multiplicity of carnal Objects that surround us that did not the Divine Spirit frequently suggest those supernatural Arguments to us and by the powerful Influence of his Grace keep our Minds intent upon them we should never recollect our selves to such a thorough Consideration of them as is necessary to persuade our selves by them into a lasting Resolution of Amendment So that we have very great need both of the outward and inward Grace of God for though we can deliberate what is best to choose and choose what we find best upon Deliberation yet we are like Men standing in bivio between two contrary Roads and are naturally indeed free to turn either to the Right hand or to the Left but on the Left-hand way there are so many Temptations perpetually beckoning to us and inviting us unto that which is Evil and our brutish Passions and Appetites are so ready upon all occasions to yield and comply with them that we should certainty go that way did not the Holy Spirit importune us with strong Arguments to turn to the Right-hand way of Vertue and Goodness II. WE may learn from hence the Necessity of our Concurrence with the Spirit For the Spirit of God works upon us in such a way as is most congruous to our Free and Rational Natures that is it doth not act upon us by mere Force or irresistible Power but addresses to our Reason with Arguments and Persuasions and so moves upon our Wills by the Mediation of our Understandings But when He hath done all He leaves it to our own Choice whether we will reject or embrace his Proposals For although I firmly believe as no Man would be wicked were he not invited by the Temptations of sin so no Man would be good were he not solicited by the Grace of God yet I see no Reason to imagine that either the one or the other invades the Liberty of our Wills The Temptations of Sin indeed incline us one way and the Grace of God another but when all is done they leave us free to choose or refuse and neither the one nor the other forces or necessitates us And hence the Successes of the Divine Grace are in Scripture attributed to the Disposition or Indisposition of the Subject it acts upon So Matth. xi 20 21. Then began he to upbraid the Cities wherein his mighty
Spirit to enable us to mortify our Sins p. 349 350 351. Secondly The Necessity of our Concurrence with the Spirit p. 352 353 354 355. Thirdly The Certainty of Success p. 356 357. Fourthly The great Reason there is for our continual Prayers to God p. 358 359. Fifthly The indispensable Necessity of our faithful and sincere Endeavours in order to the mortifying our Lusts p. 360 361. Sixthly The Possibility of keeping the Commands of God in that God by his Spirit doth so powerfully Aid and Assist us p. 362 363. Seventhly The Inexcusableness of Sinners if they go on in their Wickedness p. 364 365 366. CHAP. V. OF the Eternal Reward of Mortification That there is a State of everlasting Life and Happiness prepared for good Men proved by plain and easie Arguments First Because the Law of our Natures hath not a sufficient Sanction without it 367 368 369 370 371 372. Secondly From those Desires and Expectations of it which do so generally and naturally arise in pure and vertuous Minds p. 373 374 375 376. Thirdly From the Justice and Equity of the Divine Providence p. 377 378 379. Fourthly From the Revelation of his Will which God hath made to us by Jesus Christ p. 380 381 382 383. From the Consideration of which the following Inferences are raised First What an unreasonable thing it is for us Christians immoderately to doat upon the World p. 384 385 386. Secondly How vigorous and industrious we ought to be in discharging the Duties of our Religion p. 387 388 389. Thirdly How upright and sincere we ought to be in all our Professions and Actions p. 390 391. Fourthly What great reason we have to be chearful under the Afflictions and Miseries of this World p. 392 393 394 395. CHAP. VI. OF the Necessity of Mortification to the obtaining Eternal Life proved First From God's Ordination and Appointment p. 396 397 398. Secondly From the Nature of the thing which implies a Disagreement in wicked Souls to the future Happiness p. 399. To evidence this Disagreement three things are proposed First Wherein the Felicities of the future State do consist p. 401 402 403. Secondly What the Temper and Disposition of wicked Souls will be in the future Sate p. 404 405 406 407. Thirdly How contrary such a Temper and Disposition must be unto such Felicities p. 408 409. For First There is in it an Antipathy and Contrariety to the Vision of God p. 410 411. Secondly To the Love of God p. 412 413. Thirdly To the Resemblance of God p. 414 415 416. Fourthly To the Society of the Spirits of just men made perfect p. 417 418. From all which these following Inferences are deduced First How unreasonable it is for any Man to presume upon going to Heaven upon any account whatsoever without mortifying his Lusts p. 419 420 421 422 423 424 425. 426. Secondly The indispensable Necessity of Mortification since it is plain we can't be happy without it p. 426 427 428 429 430 431. Thirdly What is the only true and solid Foundation of our Assurance of Heaven p. 431 432 433 434 435 436 437. Fourthly What is the great design of the Christian Religion p. 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445. OF THE Christian Life PART III. CHAP. I. Of Justice as it preserves the Natural Rights of Men and particularly in reference to their Bodies HAVING in a former Discourse asserted and explain'd the Nature of Moral Good and Evil in Humane Actions I shall now distinctly consider the Sum of all that Moral Duty which we owe to God and to our Neighbour as the Prophet hath compris'd it in these words He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly to love mercy and walk humbly with thy God Mic. vi 8. I begin with that Duty which God requires of us towards our Neighbour and 't is all imply'd in the two distinct Vertues of Iustice and Mercy IN discoursing of Iustice I shall endeavour these two things 1. To shew what that Justice is which is requir'd of us towards our Neighbour 2. To prove that it is grounded upon such immutable Reasons as do render it a Moral Good I. I shall endeavour to shew what that Justice is which is owing to our Neighbour In general therefore Iustice consisteth in giving to every one his due in which latitude it comprehendeth all matter of duty for every Duty is a due to God or our Neighbour or our selves and accordingly every performance of every duty is a payment of some due and as such is an act of Righteousness And therefore in Scripture Good Men are frequently stiled Righteous and the Whole of Vertue and Goodness is called Righteousness because it is a payment of some due either to God our selves or our Neighbours But Iustice being here consider'd as a distinct and particular Vertue must be understood in a more limited sense viz. for Honesty in all our dealings with men or giving to every man his due with whom we have any Intercourse And wherein this consisteth will best appear by considering what those things are which are due from one Man to another or what those Dues and Rights are which men may claim by the eternal Laws of Righteousness And these are twofold 1. Natural and 2. Acquired I begin with the First viz. the Natural Rights of Men which are such as appertain to Men as they are Reasonable Creatures and dwelling in Mortal Bodies and joyned to one another by their natural Relations and by Society For in all these capacities there accrue to men certain Natural Rights which we are obliged in Justice not to violate but so far as we can to secure and make good to one another First Therefore we will consider men as dwelling in mortal Bodies Secondly As Rational Creatures Thirdly As joyned to one another by natural Relations Fourthly As naturally united in Society and I will shew what Rights there are redounding to them from all these Respects and Considerations I. WE will consider Men as dwelling in mortal Bodies in which there is a twofold Right accruing to them 1. a Right to their Bodies 2. a Right to their bodily Subsistence I. As dwelling in mortal Bodies they have a natural Right to their Bodies and to all the Parts of them for their Bodies being the Tenements which the great Landlord of the world hath allotted to their Souls during their abode in this terrestrial State are upon that account their undoubted Right which unless they forfeit they cannot be deprived of without manifest Injury and Injustice For if God gave this Body to my Soul it is certain that immediately under him my Soul hath a Right to it and holding in Capite as it doth from the Supreme Proprietor is Tenant at will to none but him for this its earthly Habitation so that antecedently to all Humane Laws and Constitutions every Soul is vested with a natural Right to its own Body
our Toil we shall need as much at least as we did before only before we did not possess what we needed whereas now we shall need what we do possess But did we take the pains to learn that great Lesson of Christian Contentment we should then pursue the World with far less Vehemence and enjoy it with far more freedom We should be industrious without that eager Solicitude and if it pleased God to bless our Industry we should neither waste what we have nor want it and many a happy year we should enjoy that which now we consume in vexatious Care to keep and restless Desire to increase it How unpleasant is the Life of the intemperate Epicure who lives in a continual Lethargy and dozes away his time in Sottishness and Stupidity and by perpetually sucking in Rheums and Defluxions doth so weaken and dilute the Vigour of the Organs of Sense that he perceives not the briskness of his own Relishes but after his delicious Gobbets are past his Throat they load and oppress him and his Stomach is fain to do Penance for the Folly and Extravagance of his Palate and those deep Draughts wherein he seeks to drown his Conscience and his Melancholy leave behind them such an Uneasiness both in his Body and Mind as nothing can reprieve For as soon as he hath slept away the Fumes of his Intemperance he finds himself sick as well of Company as of Solitude and is fain to endure all the four Regrets both of his Conscience and his Stomach Whereas would but this Man govern his Appetite by the Laws of Temperance would he eat to satisfy and not to invite his Hunger and drink to refresh and not to force and oppress himself his Relish would be quick and vigorous his Gust sincere and his Digestion easy and his Appetite being not overloaded with the foregoing Meal would quickly return again and give a pleasing Relish to his next Morsel When he rose from his Table his Nature would not be burdened but refreshed and recreated his Eyes would not swim in Floods of Rheum nor his Brains in Seas of Liquor his Face would not be fired with the unwholesome Inflammations of his Liver nor his Reason overcast with the Clouds and Vapours of his gorged Stomach but after his frugal Meals he would still find his Organs fresh and vigorous and when he went to bed his Sleep would not be broken with so many unquiet Starts nor sickly Qualms nor in the Morning would he awake in a Feaver but all his Life would be serene and calm and he would enjoy all that is pleasant in Luxury and be only barred from the apparent Sting of it Many other Instances I might add but these I think are sufficient to demonstrate that Vice is the great Disturber even of those sensual Pleasures and Delights that it promises to us So that it plainly contradicts its own Pretensions and though it invites to Pleasure yet entertains us with nothing but Distraction and Uneasiness The Cup of Fornication which it holds out to us tho' 't is spiced at the top is Gall and Wormwood at the bottom and all those Delights that it courts us with are only so many painted Miseries which though they may look amiable and inviting at a distance yet upon a more considerate View will be found to be most wretched Cheats and Impostures So that methinks were we but ingenious Epicures that understood the Pleasures of the Body and the true Methods of enjoying them we should for their sakes discard those Lusts that are so contrary and destructive to them and it would be as impossible for us not to hate our Sins as not to love our Pleasures AND thus you see how many Mischiefs and Inconveniencies our Lusts bring upon us in respect of our Bodies and outward Circumstances so that if we had no immortal Spirit to take care of no Interest beyond the Grave to look after yet methinks had we but Reason enough to understand and Self-Love enough to pursue our present Welfare that were sufficient to oblige us to mortify our Lusts. For so long as they live they will be Plagues to us and we must never expect a quiet Possession of our own Happiness till we have utterly destroy'd these mutinous Disturbers of it that are as so many Thorns in our Eyes and Goads in our Sides But alas 't is not our bodily Happiness only that they interrupt and invade but which is more intolerable they poison our Souls with their contagious Breath and scatter Plagues and Infection over our noblest Faculties Which brings me to the Second sort of motives to persuade you to mortify your Sin viz. those that are drawn from the present Mischiefs and Inconveniencies that it brings upon our Souls which are chiefly these three First IT spoils our Understandings Secondly IT subverts the natural Subordination of our Faculties Thirdly IT disturbs the Tranquillity of our Minds I. CONSIDER how much your Sins do spoil and waste your Understandings For Sin is an Affront to our Understandings and a plain Contradiction to the Reason of our Minds there being no Vice whatsoever but what is founded in Folly and Unreasonableness Whilst therefore we live in Sin we do so far lay aside our Reason which ought to be the Moderator of our Actions and abandon our selves to the Conduct of our own blind Appetites and head-strong Passions which will naturally weaken our Rational Faculties and bring a lingering Consumption on our Understandings For as our Powers are improved and perfected by Exercise so they are impaired and wasted by Disuse and Inactivity and therefore our Reason being such a Power as is not naturally to be perfected but by Action it necessarily follows that the less active it is the more imperfect it must be Whilst therefore we live in Sin or which is all one in the Neglect of our Reason we consume and waste our Rational Faculties which being unemploy'd will naturally contract Rust and grow every day more weak and restive For a Life of Sin is all transacted by Sense and Passion Reason sits looking on and having no part in the brutish Scene melts away in Sloth and Idleness It s Vital Powers freeze for want of Motion and like standing Waters stagnate and gather Mire till they corrupt and putrify And besides this Decay that Sin brings upon our Understanding by taking us off from the exercise of it it is also injurious to those bodily Organs by which our Understanding while we are in the Flesh doth reason and operate For our Body is as it were the Musical Instrument upon which our Mind sets all its Harmony and by which it runs all the curious Divisions of Discourse And the Blood and Spirits and Brain and other Parts of it are the Strings of this Instrument upon the well-tuning of which depends all the Musick of Reason But now there is scarce any Sin that doth not some way or other indispose our Bodies for the use of
World he hath in the name of God proposed to us a Heaven of endless Joys and Felicities and brought life and immortality to light So that if he were commissioned from God to make this great Proposal to Mankind we have as much Security of a future Happiness as we can have of the Truth of God which is the Foundation of all the Certainty we have whether in Philosophy or Divinity Now that he was commissioned from God to promise what he did to us is apparent because God himself by sundry Voices from Heaven declared him to be his Embassador to the World and proclaimed him his beloved Son in whom he was well pleased and whom he had substituted the Supream Minister of his Grace and Goodness to Mankind and what he declared in Words he also demonstrated in Deeds For when Christ was baptized God sent down his holy Spirit upon him in a bright shining Flame which spreading it self round his Head encircled his Brows like a Crown of Sun-beams and remained upon him which glorious Appearance answering to that visible Glory by which God appeared from between the Cherubim declared him to be the Temple of God in whom the Fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily and in which he meant to take his Residence for ever And accordingly after this visible Shechinah or Glory disappeared we find most palpable and apparent Signs of the Presence of God in him for by this it was that he cured the Sick and calmed the Seas and raised the dead and wrought all those wondrous Works by which he proved his Mission from above For so we are told that the went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the Devil for God was with him Acts. x. 38. and after all the Miracles that he did in his Life by this Power and Presence of God that was in him being barbarously murdered he rose from the dead by the same Power and ascended triumphantly to Heaven Of the Truth of all which we have as clear and credible Testimony as ever was given to any Matters of Fact the Report of them being handed down to us from those who were Eye and Ear-Witnesses who in the defence of what they testified exposed themselves to infinite Hazards and at last confirmed their Testimony with their dearest Blood which is the greatest Security that any Witness can possibly give of his Honesty For what should move them to testifie these things had they not known them to be true It was apparently their temporal Interest to have concealed them and their Religion in which their eternal Interest was involved prohibited them all wilful Lying under the Penalty of an endless Damnation and would any Men in their wits have maintained a known Imposture when they were assured before-hand that all they should gain by it was to die for it here and to be damned for it hereafter And if their Testimony be true as we have all manner of Reason to believe it is then what they testifie doth plainly denote the Blessed Iesus to be the Holy One of God from whom as from his most holy Habitation God would hereafter communicate all his Blessings to Mankind And if so then we are sure of eternal Life upon condition of our patient continuance in well-doing for whatsoever he hath promised us he must have promised us from God who dwelt in the sacred Temple of his Body and from thence pronounced the Oracles of his Grace and Goodness and manifested himself perpetually by sundry miraculous Effects FROM the Consideration of our Future Happiness many useful Inferences may be raised and First from hence we may perceive what an unreasonable thing it is for us Christians immoderatly to doat upon the World I confess if our chief or only Interest were involved in this World and we had no Hopes beyond the Grave there were then some Excuse to be made for immoderate Sollicitude about the trifling Concerns of this present Life but when it is so apparent that we are born to higher Hopes and are here but Candidates and Probationers for an everlasting Preferment in the highest Heavens methinks the Sense of it should make us blush at our own Follies to think how busie we are in pursuing the fading Vanities of this World whilst the great Interest of our Eternity is wholly neglected and forgotten Blessed God! Who would imagin that in a World peopled with immortal Spirits that must live for ever in unconceivable Happiness or Misery the greatest Number of us should be such utter Strangers to the Thoughts and Concerns of another World That we who are so industrious in our temporal Affairs as not to slip any Opportunity of Gain but are so ready to court every occasion that tends to advance these our momentary Pleasures Profits and Honours should be regardless of those Celestial Joys which if we fall short of we are undone for ever and which if we arrive to we shall be as happy as all the Beatitudes of an immortal Heaven can make us O inconsiderate Beings that we are Where is the Reason that constitutes us Men that we should chuse thus crosly to the Nature of Things when there is so vast a Disproportion between the Objects of our Choice between Heaven and Earth between Moments and Eternity between the hungry and withering Joys of this World and the eternally ravishing Pleasures of the World to come Methinks if we had any Dram of Reason left in us the Consideration that we are born to an immortal Crown which nothing but our own Folly can disseise us of were enough to inspire us with a noble Disdain of all these bewitching Vanities about us and to make us look upon them as Things beneath us Toys and Trifles not worthy our scrambling for When we consider that there is an Heaven of endless Ioys prepared for us which if we will we may make as sure of as we can of our own Beings methinks so vast an Hope should raise our groveling Thoughts so high above this World that when we look down upon it it should disappear or look like a thin blew Landskip next to nothing and all the Hurries and Scramblings of silly Mortals for little Parcels of Earth should seem as trifling and inconsiderable to us as the Toils and Labours of a little World of Ants about a Molehil For how is it possible almost that such little Impertinencies should take up our Thoughts who have an Eternity of Weal and Woe before us And when we have all that an everlasting Heaven means to busie our Thoughts and employ our Cares about how can we engage with so much Zeal and Vigour in the petty Affairs of this World Foolish and unwise that we are Thus to neglect our most important Interests for every impertinent Trifle to sell our Souls for a little money and give immortal Hallelujahs for a Song And when we are born to such infinite Hopes to chuse Nebuchadnezzar's Fate and leave Crowns and Scepters to live among the
of its benign Influences and altogether indisposed to be wrought upon by it For as the Sun enlightens not the inward parts of an impervious Dunghil and hath no other effect upon it but only to draw out its filthy Reeks and Steams though as soon as he lifts his head above the Hemisphere he immediately transforms into his own Likeness all that vast Space whether he can diffuse his Beams and turns it into a Region of Light even so the divine Glory and Beauty which is the Object of the beatifical Vision will never illustrate lewd and filthy Souls their Temper being impervious unto his heavenly Irradiations and wholly indisposed to be enlightned by it but instead of that it will irritate their devilish Rage against it and provoke them to bark at that Light which they cannot endure whereas it no sooner arises upon well-disposed Minds but it will immediately chase away all those Reliques of Darkness remaining in them and transform them into its own Likeness But doubtless the Sight of the divine Purity and Goodness will be so far from exciting sensual and devilish Spirits to transcribe and imitate it that it will rather inspire them with Indignation against it and provoke them to curse and blaspheme the Author of it Fourthly and Lastly IN every sensual and devilish Soul there is an utter Incongruity and Disagreement to the Society of the Spirits of just Men made perfect For even in this Life we see how ungrateful the Society of good Men is unto those that are wicked it spoils them of their fulsome Mirth and checks them in those Riots and Scurrilities which are the Life and Piquancy of their Conversation So that when the good Man takes his leave they reckon themselves deliver'd his Presence being a Confinement to their Folly and Wickedness And as it is in this so doubtless it will be in the other World for how is it possible there should be any Agreement between such distant and contrary Tempers between such sensual and malicious and such pure and benigne Spirits What a Torment would it be to a spightful and devilish Spirit to be confined to a Society that is governed by the Laws of Love and Friendship What an Infelicity to a carnalized Soul that nauseates all Pleasures but what are fleshly and sensual to be shut up among those pure and abstracted Spirits that live wholly upon the Pleasures of Wisdom and Holiness and Love Doubtless it would be as agreeable to a Wolf to be governed by the Ten Commandments and fed with Lectures of Philosophy as for such a Soul to live under the Laws and be entertained with the Delights of the heavenly Society So that could these wicked Spirits be admitted into the Company of the Blessed they would soon be weary of it and perhaps it would be so tedious and irksom to them that they would rather chuse to associate themselves with Devils and damned Ghosts than to undergoe the Torment of a Conversation so infinitely repugnant to their Natures accounting it more eligible to live in the dismal Clamour of hellish Threnes and Blasphemies than to have a tedious Din of heavenly Praises and Hallelujahs perpetually ringing in their Ears And indeed considering the hellish Nature of a wicked Soul how contrary it is to the Goodness and Purity of Heaven I have sometimes been apt to think that it will be less miserable in those dismal Shades where the wretched Furies like so many Snakes and Adders do nothing but hiss at and sting one another for ever than it would be were it admitted into the glorious Society of heavenly Lovers whose whole Conversation consists in loving and reloving and is nothing else but a perpetual Intercourse of mutual Indearments For this would be an Employment so infinitely repugnant to its black and devilish Disposition that rather than endure so much Outrage and Violence it would of its own accord forsake the blessed Abodes to flee to Hell for Sanctuary from the Torment of being in Heaven But this however we may rationally conclude that so long as the prevailing Temper of our Souls is sensual and devilish we are incapable of the Society of blessed Spirits and that if it were possible for us to be admitted into it our Condition would be very unhappy till our Temper was chang'd so that it is a plain Case both from God's Ordination and from the Nature of the Thing that our eternal Happiness and Welfare depends upon our mortifying the deeds of the Body To offer some Practical Inferences from hence I. WE may perceive how unreasonable it is for any Man to presume upon going to Heaven upon any account whatsoever without mortifying his Lusts. For he that thinks to go to Heaven without Mortification and Amendment presumes both against the Decrees of God and the Nature of Things he believes all the Threatnings of the Gospel to be nothing else but so many Bugs and Scare-crows and though God hath told him again and again that unless he forsake his sins he shall never enter into the Kingdom of Heaven yet he fondly imagines that when it comes to the Trial God will never be so severe as he pretends but will rather revoke the Decree that is gone out of his mouth than exclude out of the Paradise of endless Delights a Soul that is infinitely offensive to him As if God were so invincibly fond and indulgent as that rather than excommunicate an obstinate Rebel from Happiness he would chuse to prostitute the Honour of his Laws and Government and commit an Outrage upon the Rectitude and Purity of his own Nature For so long as he is a pure God he cannot but be displeased with impure Souls and so long as he is a wise Governour he cannot but be offended with those that trample upon his Laws so that before he can admit a wicked Soul into Heaven he must have extinguish'd all his natural Antipathy to Sin and stifled his just Resentment of our wilful Affronts to his Authority When therefore we can find any reason to imagine that God is no Enemy to sin and that he hath no regard of his own Authority then and not till then we may have some Pretence to presume upon going to Heaven without Mortification and Amendment But supposing this Hinderance were removed and that God were so easie as to be induced to prefer the Happiness of a wicked Soul before the Honour of his Government and the Purity of his Nature yet still there is an invincible Obstacle behind that renders her future Felicity impossible and that is that it cannot be without a plain Contradiction to the Nature of Things For as I have shewed you already the Genius and Temper of a wicked Soul is wholly repugnant to all the Felicities of the other World so that if they were set before her She would not be able to enjoy them but must be forced to pine and famish amidst all that Plenty of Delights there being not one Viand in all
high Provocation it gives to God 144 145 146 147 148. Of MERCY CHAP. I. OF Mercy as it relieves the Miseries of the Souls of Men p. 149. Which Miseries are First Sorrow and Dejection of Mind p. 150 151 152. Secondly Errors and Mistakes in matters of less Importance p. 153 154 155. in which Case the proper Acts of Mercy are First Forbearance and Toleration p. 156 157. And Secondly To endeavour by all prudent and peaceable ways to rectify one anothers Mistakes p. 158. Thirdly Another of the Miseries of the Soul which Mercy relieves is Blindness and Ignorance in things of the greatest Moment p. 159 160 161 162 163 164. Fourthly Malice and Obstinacy of Will in mischievous and destructive Courses p. 164 165 166 167 168 169 170. Fifthly Impotency or want of Power to recover themselves out of their vicious Courses p. 171 172 173 174. For the enforcement of which Duty are subjoyn'd the following Considerations First The inestimable Worth of those Souls upon which our Mercy is to be employed p. 175 176. Secondly The great Interest we have in the Fate of the Souls of others p. 177 178. Thirdly The mighty Influence our Mercy may have upon their Welfare p. 179 180 181. CHAP. II. OF Mercy as it relieves the Miseries of the Bodies of Men which are reduced to five Heads First Natural Blemishes and Defects p. 182 183 184. Secondly Sickness and Diseases p. 185 186 187. Thirdly Outward Force and Violence from those in whose Power they are such as Bondage and Captivity p. 188 189. Imprisonment p. 190. bodily Torments and Persecutions p. 191 192 193. Fourthly Civil or Arbitrary Punishments inflicted on them for Injuries received p. 194. In which the Law of Mercy requires us in punishing Offenders First That we do it with a good Intention p. 195. Secondly Not to exact Punishment for small and trifling Offences p. 196. Thirdly Not to punish an Offender when we can do no Good by it either to our selves or to him or to others p. 197. Fourthly Not to punish an Offender so long as the End of punishing him is fairly attainable by gentler Means p. 198. Fifthly To inflict no more Punishment than what is absolutely necessary to the obtaining those good Ends we design by it 199. Sixthly Always to punish short of the Offence p. 200 201. Fifthly and Lastly Another of the Miseries which affect Mens Bodies is want of the outward Necessaries of this present Life wherein is shewn the proper Remedies which are to be applied to them p. 202 203 204 205. CHAP. III. OF Almsgiving as to the manner of performing it First That it ought to be performed with a good and merciful Intention p. 207 208. Secondly With Justice and Righteousness p. 209. Thirdly Readily and chearfully p. 210 211. Fourthly liberally and bountifully p. 212 213. Fifthly Timely and seasonably p. 214 215. Sixthly Discreetly and prudently p. 216 217. which ought more particularly to guide and direct our Alms First In the Method of Provision of them p. 218. Secondly In the Choice of the Objects of them p. 219 220. Thirdly In the Nature and Quality of them p. 221. Fourthly In stating the Proportions of them p. 222 223 224 225. Fifthly In the manner of bestowing and conveying them p. 226 227. The Practice of this Duty is pressed and enforced with some Motives and Arguments viz. First That it is imposed upon us as a necessary Part of our Religion p. 228 229 230. Secondly That it is highly recommended to us by the Examples of God and our Saviour p. 231 232 233. Thirdly That it is a most substantial Expression of our Love and Gratitude to God and our Saviour p. 234 235 236 237. Fourthly That it charges an high Obligation to us upon the Accounts of God and our Saviour p. 238 239 240 241. CHAP. IV. OF the eternal Reasons and Grounds of Mercy upon which it is founded and rendred morally Good This shewn in five particulars First The Suitableness of it to the Nature of God p. 242 243 244 245. Secondly The Convenience of it with the Frame and Constitution of human Nature p. 246 247. An Objection against Cruelty answered p. 248 249 250. Thirdly The near and intimate Relation of those Persons to us upon whom our Mercy is to be exercised p. 251 252 253. Fourthly The Equitableness of it to our own State and Circumstances p. 254 255 256 257. Fifthly The Necessity of it to the tolerable Well-being of humane Societies p. 258 259 260 261 262. Of MORTIFICATION CHAP. I. OF Mortification p. 263 264 265. Wherein it doth consist shewn in three particulars First In Abstinence from the outward Acts of Sin p. 266. Secondly In not consenting to any Sin p. 267 268. Thirdly In a constant Endeavour to subdue our involuntary Inclinations to Sin p. 269 270 271 272. CHAP. II. OF the Means and Instruments of Mortification which are reduced to these Six First Faith p. 274 275 276. Secondly Consideration p. 277 278 279 280 281 282. Thirdly Resolution p. 283 284 285 286 287. Fourthly Discipline which consists in three Things First In a frequent Repetition of it p. 288 289. Secondly In frequent Reflection upon and Examination of our selves p. 290 291. Thirdly In keeping our selves at as great a distance from Sin as prudently and conveniently we can p. 292 293 294. Fifthly Frequent Receiving of the Sacrament p. 295 296 297 298 299 300 301. Sixthly Constant Prayer 302 303 304 305 306. CHAP. III. OF Motives to Mortification drawn from the present Mischiefs and Inconveniences which our Sins bring us into which are first either outward and bodily or secondly inward and spiritual p. 307. The outward and bodily Inconveniences are Four First That Sin destroys our Health and shortens our Lives p. 308 309 310 311. Secondly That it stains our Reputation p. 312 313. Thirdly It consumes our Estates p. 314 315 316. Fourthly It disturbs our sensual Pleasures p. 317 318 319 320. The second sort of Motives to Mortification are drawn from the present Mischiefs and Inconveniences that Sin brings upon our Souls which are chiefly Three First It spoils our Understandings p. 322 323 324 325 326 327 328. Secondly It subverts the natural subordination of our Faculties p. 329 330 331 332. Thirdly it disturbs the Tranquility of our Minds p. 333 334 335 336 337. CHAP. IV. OF Helps to Mortification given us by the Spirit of God viz. First The external Argument and Motives of the Gospel p. 338 339. Secondly The external Providences of the Divine Spirit by which he excites us to our Duty p. 340 341 342. Thirdly The Aids and Assistances which the Holy Angels give us who are the Agents and Ministers of the Holy Ghost p. 343 344 345. Fourthly The internal Motions and Operations of the Holy Ghost upon our Souls p. 346 347 348. From the Consideration of these Benefits of the Spirit of God the following Inferences are deduced First The Necessity of the