most sanctified Nature and some Venial Defects and Imperfections or other may still leave room for the greatest of Saints to extend his Conquest Besides 't is hard to determine or fix the Bounds of Knowledge and every new Degree of Light seems to make way for more So that after all nothing hinders but that the Path of the Perfect Man may as well with respect to his Righteousness as his Fortunes be like the shining Light which shineth more and more unto the Perfect day I mean the Day of a blessed Eternity The Motives to Perfection the Fruit of it the Means and Methods of attaining it laid down in the First Section will all serve here therefore I have nothing to offer of this sort only if I forgot to pay that Deference to the Institutions of our Church which they justly deserve I do it now and do earnestly perswade my Reader to a strict Observance of them I do not only think this necessary to maintain a Face of Religion amongst us but also highly conducive to true Perfection I am fully satisfied That there is a peculiar Presence of God in his publick Ordinances That the Devotion of good Men does mutually inflame and enkindle one another That there is a holy Awe and Reverence seizes the Minds of good Men when they draw near to God in publick Worship And finally That if the Offices of our Liturgy do not affect our Hearts 't is because they are very much indisposed and very poorly qualified for the true and spiritual Worship of God CHAP. X. Of Zeal as it consists in Good Works AND now let not any one think that I have taken Pains to advance the Illumination of a Sinner to knock off his Chains and Fetters to raise him as far as might be above the Corruption of Nature and the Defects and Infirmities of Life to scatter those lazy Fogs and Mists which hung upon his Spirits and to enrich him with Heroick Vertues let no Man I say fancy that I have laboured to do all this that after all my Perfect Man might sit down like an Epicurean God and enjoy himself might talk finely of Solitary Shades and Gardens and spend a precious Life fitted for the noblest Designs in a sluggish Retirement No no as Vertue is the Perfection of Human Life so is Action the Perfection of Vertue and Zeal is that Principle of Action which I require in a Saint of God Accordingly the Scriptures describe this great this happy Man as full of the Holy Ghost fervent in Spirit zealous of good Works Such a one was Moses mighty in Word and Deed as well as learned in all the Knowledge of the Egyptians Such a one was St. Stephen as full of a Divine Ardour and irresistible Fervency of Spirit as of an irresistible Wisdom And such a one was the excellent Cornelius a devout Man one that had transfus'd and deriv'd the fear of God from his own Bosom throughout his Family and Relations and Friends too one that gave much Alms and prayed to God always What need I multiply Instances this is that which distinguishes the Perfect Man from all others the Victories of Faith the Labours of Charity the Constancy and Patience of Hope and the Ardors of Devotion Need I here distinguish a Zeal of God from the Fierceness of Faction the Cruelty of Superstition from the wakeful and indefatigable Activity of Avarice and Ambition from the unruly Heats of Pride and Passion and from the implacable Fury of Revenge it needs not No foolish no false fantastick earthly or devilish Principle can counterfeit a Divine Zeal 'T is a Perfection that shines with such a peculiar Lustre with such an Heavenly Majesty and Sweetness that nothing else can imitate it 't is always pursuing Good the Honour of God and the Happiness of Man it contends earnestly for the Faith once delivered to the Saints but it contends as earnestly too to root out Wickedness and implant the Righteousness of the Gospel in the World It is not eager for the Articles of a Sect or Party and unconcern'd for Catholick ones When it presses for Reformation it begins at home and sets a bright Example of what it would recommend to others 'T is meek and gentle under its own Affronts but warm and bold against those which are offer'd to God In a word though Love fill its Sails Divine Wisdom and Prudence give it Ballast and it has no Heat but what is temper'd and refracted by Charity and Humility Need I in the next place fix or state the various Degrees of Zeal Alas it is not requisite Zeal being nothing else but an ardent Thirst of promoting the Divine Glory by the best Works 'T is plain the more excellent the Work and the more it cost the more Perfect the more exalted the Zeal that performs it When like Mary we quit the Cumber and Destraction of this World and chuse Religion for our Portion then do we love it in good earnest When with the Disciples we can say Lord we have forsaken all and followed thee or are ready to do so when we are continually blessing and praising God when if the Necessities of Christ's Church require it we are ready to call nothing our own when we are prepared if the Will of God be so to resist even unto Blood when nothing is dear nothing delightful to us but God and Holiness then have we reached the Height of Zeal In a word Zeal is nothing else but the Love of God made Perfect in us And if we would see it drawn to the Life we must contemplate it in the blessed Jesus who is the Perfect Pattern of Heroick Love How boundless was his Love when the whole World and how transcendent when a World of Enemies was the Object of it how indefatigable was his Zeal how wakeful how meek how humble how firm and resolv'd His Labours and Travels his Self-denial Prayers and Tears his Silence and Patience his Agony and Blood and charitable Prayers poured out with it for his Persecutors instruct us fully what Divine Love what Divine Zeal is And now even at this time Love reigns in him as he reigns in Heaven Love is still the Predominant the darling Passion of his Soul Worthy art thou O Jesus to receive Honour and Glory and Dominion worthy art thou to sit down with thy Father on his Throne worthy art thou to judge the World because thou hast loved because thou hast been zealous unto Death because thou hast overcome Some there are indeed who have followed thy bright Example though at a great Distance First Martyrs and Confessors Next those belov'd and admir'd Princes who have govern'd their Kingdoms in Righteousness to whom the Honour of God and the Good of the World has been far dearer than Pleasure than Empire than absolute Power or that ominous Blaze that is now called Glory And next follow hold this is the Work of Angels they must Marshal the Field of Glory in the End
Anchorite or Hermite was at first little better then a Pious Extravagant I will not say how much worse he is now Meditation and Prayer are excellent Duties but Meekness and Charity Mercy and Zeal are not one jot inferiour to them The World is an excellent School to a good Christian the Follies and the Miseries the Tryals and Temptations of it do not only exercise and employ our Vertue but cultivate and improve it They afford us both Instruction and Discipline and naturally Advance us on towards a solid Wisdom and a well-setled Power over our selves 'T is our own fault if every Accident that befalls us and every one whom we converse with do not teach us somewhat occasion some wise Reflection or enkindle some Pious Affection in us We do not reflect on our Words and Actions we do not observe the motions of our own Hearts as diligently as we ought we make little or no Application of what we see or hear nor learn any thing from the Wisdom and the Vertue the Folly and the Madness of Man and the consequences of both And so we neither improve our Knowledge nor our Vertue but are the same to day we were yesterday and Life wastes away in common Accidents and customary Actions with as little alteration in us as in our Affairs Whereas were we mindful as we ought of our true Interest and desirous to reap some spiritual Benefit from every thing the Vertues of Good Men would enkindle our Emulation and the Folly and Madness of Sinners would confirm our abhorrence for Sin from one we should learn Content from another Industry here we should see a Charm in Meekness and Charity there in Humility in this Man we should see Reason to admire Discretion and Command of himself in that Courage and Constancy Assiduity and Perseverance Nor would it be less useful to us to observe how Vanity exposes one and Peevishness torments another how Pride and Ambition embroil a third and how hateful and contemptible Avarice renders a fourth and to trace all that variety of ruin which Lust and Prodigality Disorder and Sloth leave behind them And as this kind of Observations will fill us with solid and useful Knowledge so will a diligent attention to the Rules of Righteousness and discretion in all the common and daily actions of Life enrich us with true Vertue Religion is not to be confin'd to the Church and to the Closet nor to be exercised only in Prayers and Sacraments Meditation and Alms but every where we are in the Presence of God and every Word every Action is capable of Morality Our Defects and Infirmities betray themselves in the daily Accidents and the common Conversation of Life and here they draw after them very important Consequences and therefore here they are to be watched over regulated and govern'd as well as in our more solemn Actions 'T is to the Vertues or the Errors of our common Conversation and ordinary Deportment that we owe both our Friends and Enemies our good or bad Character abroad our Domestick Peace or Troubles and in a high degree the improvement or depravation of our Minds Let no Man then that will be Perfect or Happy abandon himself to his Humours or Inclinations in his Carriage towards his Acquaintance his Children his Servants Let no Man that will be Perfect or Happy follow Prejudice or Fashion in the common and customary Actions of Life But let him assure himself that by a daily endeavour to conform these more and more to the excellent Rules of the Gospel he is to train up himself by degrees to the most absolute Wisdom and the most Perfect Vertue he is capable of And to this end he must first know himself and those he has to do with he must discern the proper Season and the just Occasion of every Vertue and then he must apply himself to the acquiring the Perfection of it by the daily Exercise of it even in those things which for want of due Reflection do not commonly seem of any great Importance To one that is thus dispos'd the dulness or the carelesness of a Servant the stubbornness of a Child the soureness of a Parent the Inconstancy of Friends the Coldness of Relations the Neglect or Ingratitude of the World will all prove extreamly useful and beneficial every thing will instruct him every thing will afford an opportunity of exercising some Vertue or another so that such a one shall be daily learning daily growing better and wiser § 2. The two great Instruments not of Regeneration only but also of Perseverance and Perfection are the Word and the Spirit of God This no Man doubts that is a Christian And therefore I will not go about to prove it Nor will I at present discourse of the Energy and Operation of the one and the other or examine what each is in its self or wherein the one differs from the other 'T is abundantly enough if we be assured that the Gospel and the Spirit are proper and sufficient Means to attain the great Ends I have mentioned namely our Converversion and Perfection And that they are so is very plain from those Texts which do expresly assert That the Gospel contains all those Truths that are necessary to the clear Exposition of our Duty or to the moving and obliging us to the Practice of it And that the Spirit implies a supply of all that supernatural strength be it what it will that is necessary to enable us not only to will but to do that which the Gospel convinces us to be our Duty Such are Rom. 8.2 For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death 2 Tim. 3.16 17. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for Doctrine for Reproof for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness That the Man of God may be Perfect thoroughly furnished unto all good works 2 Cor. 12.9 And he said unto me my Grace is sufficient for thee for my Strength is made perfect in weakness Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my Infirmities that the Power of Christ may rest upon me 1 Pet. 1.5 Who are kept by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation ready to be revealed in the last time 'T is needless to multiply Texts on this occasion otherwise 't were very easie to shew That all things necessary to Life and Godliness are contain'd in the Word and Spirit that what ever is necessarily to be wrought in us to prepare us for or entitle us to Eternal Salvation is ascribed to the Gospel and the Spirit This truth then being unquestionable that the Gospel and the Spirit are the two great Instruments of Perfection we may from hence infer two Rules which are of the most Universal use and of the most powerful efficacy in the pursuit of Perfection 1. We cannot have too great a Value too great a Passion for the Book of God nor fix
our Thoughts and Hearts too earnestly upon the truths of it We must imitate the Thessalonians in behalf of whom St. Paul thanks God because when they received the Word of God which they heard of him they received it not as the Word of Men but as it is in Truth the Word of God 1 Thes 2.13 that is we must entertain the Gospel as that which has Infallible Truth in all its Doctrines uncontroulable Authority in all its Precepts a Divine Certainty in all its Promises and Threats and a Divine Wisdom in all its Counsels and Directions And he that thus believes will certainly find the Gospel to work effectually in him as it did in the Thessalonians What Light and Beauty will he discern in all its Descriptions of our Duty What force in all its perswasions what Majesty what Dignity what Life what Power what Consolation what Support In one word what Heavenly Vertue will he discern in each part of it and what vast and unfathomable Wisdom in the whole Composure and Contrivance of it How will he then admire it how will he love it how will he study it how will he delight in it How will he be transported by the Promises and awed by the Threats of it How will he be pierced and struck through by those Exaggerations of Sin and Captiv'd and Enamour'd by those lively and Divine Descriptions of Vertue he meets in it How will he adore the Goodness of God conspicuous in our Redemption How will he be inflam'd with the love of Jesus and be amaz'd at his Condescension and Humility This and much more is the natural effect of our receiving the Gospel as we ought and pondering the truths of it with devout and incessant Meditation This the Royal Psalmist was abundantly sensible of Thy word have I hid in my Heart that I might not sin against thee Psal 119.11 Thou through thy Commandments has made me wiser then mine Enemies for they are ever with me I have more understanding then all my teachers for thy Testimonies are my Meditation ver 98. To which I might add many other verses out of that Psalm containing the various and mighty Effects of the Word of God Nor will any one think that I attribute too much to the study of this Word of Life who shall consider that it is one of the great Works of the Holy Spirit to incline our Hearts to the Testimonies of God to write his Laws in our Hearts to dispose us to attend to revealed Truths and in one word to fix our Minds and Thoughts upon them 2. Since the Spirit together with the Gospel is a joynt Principle of Regeneration and Perfection 't is manifest That we ought to live in a continual dependance upon God He must be our Hope and Confidence in the Day of Tryal He must be our Praise and Boast in the Day of Victory and in the Day of Peace when we lie down and when we rise up we must say with the Psalmist 't is thou Lord that makest me dwell in safety Psal 1.4 We must look upon our selves as surrounded by Enemies and besieged by Spiritual Dangers as David was by Temporal And as he in the one so must we in the other expect Strength and Salvation from Him Through God we shall do valiantly for he it is that shall tread down our Enemies Psal 60.12 Many Nations compass me round about but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them And when we have conquer'd Temptations and routed the Powers of Darkness we must ascribe all not to our own strength nor to our own watchfulness but to the Grace and the Power of God If the Lord himself had not been on our side Now may Israel say if the Lord himself had not been on our side when the Legions of Hell combined with the World and Flesh against us they had swallowed us up alive Psal 124.1 2 3. Now many will be the happy effects of this dependance upon God we shall be passionately desirous of his Presence of his Grace and Favour we shall dress and prepare our Souls we shall awaken and dispose all our Faculties to receive him we shall ever do the things that may invite and prevail with him to abide with us we shall be apprehensive of his forsaking us as the greatest Evil that can befall us Lift up your Heads O ye Gates and be ye lift up ye everlasting Doors and the King of Glory shall come in awake O my Soul raise thy self above this World and Flesh that thou mayest be fit for the King of Glory to dwell in thee who is the King of Glory The Lord strong and mighty the Lord mighty in Battel that Holy Spirit that subdues our Enemies that strengthens us with might and fills us with Courage and Holy Alacrity Psal 24.7 8. Nor does the Psalmist prepare his Soul for God by Meditation only and Spiritual Recollection and Soliloquies but by a careful and circumspect Regulation of all his Actions Psal 101.2 3. I will behave my self wisely in a perfect way O when wilt thou come unto me I will walk within my House with a perfect Heart I will set no wicked thing before mine Eyes I hate the work of them that turn aside it shall not cleave to me And how earnestly does he pray against God's forsaking him Psal 51.11 Cast me not away from thy Presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me The Result of all this must needs be Steadfastness and Growth in Holiness and Goodness For first This is the natural influence of such a dependance upon God it places us as always before Him and makes us walk humbly and circumspectly as becomes those that are awed by the Presence of so Holy a Majesty I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right-hand I shall not be moved Psal 16.1 Secondly we cannot doubt but that God will plentifully bestow his Grace on those who thus rely upon him For where can He bestow it with more Advantage to his Glory or to the Propagation of Holiness both which are so dear to him Who is a Subject more capable of it or who can be better entitled to it then he who thus depends upon God As he begs it Humbly and receives it Thankfully so he will Husband it Carefully and employ it Zealously § 3. In Prayer Meditation and other Instrumental duties of Religion we are to aim at one or all of these three things 1. The Quickning and Enlivening the Conscience 2. The Confirming and Strengthning our Resolutions of obedience 3. The Raising and Keeping up Holy and Devout Affections Great is the benefit of each of these Tenderness of Conscience will keep us not only from Evil but every appearance of it increase of Spiritual Strength will render us steadfast and unmoveable in all the Works of God and Holy Passion will make us abound in them To spiritual Passion we owe the Zeal and Pleasure to spiritual Strength or
well prepared for it How should these Men form any Notion of a perfect and exalted Vertue of devout and Heavenly Passion What Conceptions can they have of the Power and Joy of the Holy Ghost of Poverty of Spirit or Purity of Heart or the Diffusion of the Love of God in our Souls What Idea's can they entertain of an Heaven or of Angelical Pleasure and Beatitude In a word the Religion of Men intent upon this World when they pretend to any which too often they do not consist especially in two things in Abstaining from Wickedness and doing the Works of their civil Caling and how far they may be sensible of higher Obligations I determine not Good God! What a Mercy it is to these poor Creatures that 't is the Fashion of their Country as well as a Precept of our Religion to Dedicate one Day in seven to the Service of God and their Souls But have I not often taught that Purity of Intention Converts the Works of a secular Calling into the Works of God I have so 't is Universally taught 't is the Doctrine of the Gospel and therefore I shall never retract it but ah How hard a thing is it for a Worldly Man to maintain this Purity of Intention How hard a thing is it for a Mind eaten up by the Love and Cares of this World to do all to the Honour of God! Though therefore I cannot retract this Doctrine yet the longer I live the more reason do I see for qualifying and guarding it with this Caution Let no Man that desires to be Saved much less that desires to be Perfect take Sanctuary in Purity of Intention while he suffers the Works of his secular Calling to ingross his Soul and entirely Usurp his Time If secular Works exclude and thrust out of doors such as are properly Religious it will not be easie to conceive how the Power of Godliness should be maintained how any wise Thoughts or Heavenly Desires should be preserved in such Men or how finally those who have utterly given up themselves to the wisdom of this World should retain any true value for those Maxims of the Gospel wherein consists the true Wisdom that is from above All that I have said against a Life of Business may with equal or greater force be urged against a Life of Pleasure I mean that which they call Innocent Pleasure The one and the other entangle and ensnare the Mind the one and the other leave in it a peculiar relish which continues long after the hurry both of Pleasure and Business is over But all this while I would not have what I have said be extended further then I design it to raise scruples in Vertuous and Good Men instead of reforming the too eager Applications of the Earthy to the things of this World CHAP. VII Of Motives to Perfection INnumerable are the Motives to Perfection which offer themselves to any one that reflects seriously on this Argument An hearty endeavour after Perfection is the best proof of sincerity the nearest approach to Perfection is the nearest approach to the utmost security this Life is capable of Great is the beauty and loveliness of an exalted Vertue great the Honour and Authority of it and a very happy Influence it has even upon our Temporal Affairs And to this may be added the Peace and Tranquility of a wise Mind sanctified Affections and a Regular Life Besides the Love of God is boundless and the Love of Jesus is so too and therefore I demand not a lazy feeble or unsteady Vertue but a strong and vigorous one a warm and active such as a true Faith great Hopes and a passionate Love do naturally excite us to To all this I might add that the Spirit of God is always pressing on and advancing desirous to communicate himself to us more and more plentifully if we be not backward or negligent our selves But these and many other Enforcements to the duty of Perfection should I enlarge on them would swell this Treatise to an intolerable bulk Nor indeed is it necessary for the 4th Chapter where I treat of the Fruits of Perfection does contain such Motives to it as are sufficient to excite in any one that reads them a most vehement desire and thirst after it Here therefore all that I think fit to do is to put my Reader in mind of another Life In the Glories and Pleasures of which I need not prove that the Perfect Man will have the greatest share This is a Motive that must never be out of the thoughts of the Man that will be Perfect and that for three Reasons which I will but just mention 1. Without another Life we can never form any true Notion of a Perfect Vertue Sociable and Civil Vertues may be supported by Temporal Motives and fram'd and model'd by Worldly Conveniencies but a Divine Vertue must be built upon a Divine Life upon a Heavenly Kingdom The Reason of this Assertion is plain the Means must always bear Proportion to the End where therefore the end is an Imperfect Temporal Good there needs no more then imperfect unfinished Vertue to attain it but where the the end is Heavenly and Immortal the Vertue ought to be so too Were there no other Life the Standard and Measure of the Good or Evil to be found in Actions would be their subserviency to the temporal Good or Evil of this World and by a necessary consequence it would be impossible to prove any higher degrees of Poverty of Spirit Purity of Heart Charity and the like to be truly Vertue then what we could prove truly necessary to procure the Good or guard us against the Evil of this Life And if so 't is easie to conclude what mean and beggarly kind of Vertues would be produc'd from this ground 2. Without another Life all other Motives to Perfection will be insufficient For though generally speaking such is the Contrivance of Human Nature that neither the common Good of civil Society nor the more particular Good of private Men can be provided for or secured without the practice of sociable and political Vertues yet 't is certain that not only in many extraordinary Cases there would be no Reward at all for Vertue if there were not one reserved for it in another World but also in most Cases if there were not a future Pleasure that did infinitely out-weigh the enjoyments of this Life Men would see no Obligation to Perfection For what should raise them above the love of this World if there were no other Or above the love of the Body if when they died they should be no more for ever And certainly our Minds would never be able to soar very high nor should we ever arrive at any Excellence or Perfection in any Action if we were always under the influence of the love of the World and the Body 3. A Life to come is alone a sufficient Motive to Perfection Who will refuse to endure hardship as a
Perfect Man's past Life or the slips and defects of his best State or whether we consider Man's continual dependance upon God in all respects but especially in reference to the Beginning Progress and Consummation of his Perfection or whether Lastly we consider the scantiness and deficiency not only of this or that Man's Perfection in particular but of Human Perfection in general we cannot but conclude that nothing can become Mortal Man even though all the Excellence Human Nature is capable of were United in one better then Humility Humility therefore must begin and compleat Religious Perfection it must accompany the Christian in every Stage of his spiritual Progress it must Crown all his Actions and add that Beauty and Excellence that Grace and Lustre to all his other Vertues that is wholly necessary to render them acceptable to God The general Notion of Perfection being thus resolved into its Parts 't is plain I am now to Discourse of each of these And what I have to say on each ought according to the strict Rules of Method to be comprised within the same Chapter But to consult the ease and benefit of my Reader I shall slight this Nicety and distribute my Thoughts into as many Chapters as I shall judge most convenient for the case and support of the Memory CHAP. I. Of Illumination what it consists in THE Method I have set my self obliges me here to three things 1. To state the Notion of Illumination and resolve what it is 2. To consider the Fruits of it And 3. To shew how it may be obtained § 1. What it is It happens in the point of Illumination as it does in that of Happiness All Men at first hearing form in general an agreeable and pleasing Notion of it all Men admire and love it but few have any distinct and true Understanding of those things which 't is made up of All Men conceive Illumination to be a state of Light and Knowledge as they do Happiness to be a State of Pleasure But are as little agreed in particular wherein consists the Light or Knowledge which makes the one as wherein consists the Pleasure that makes the other The Lust and Passion of some the Superstition and Prejudice of others Curiosity and Confidence Weakness and Design Enthusiasm and Fancy embroil and perplex all things However every honest Man hath a Clue by which he may escape out of this Labyrinth The Scripture shines with bright and gracious Beams throughout all this Darkness And if we will attend to it we cannot wander into any dangerous mistake This describes the state of Illumination very plainly to us calling it sometimes Wisdom sometimes Knowledge and understanding sometimes Faith sometimes the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation Next it acquaints us with the Design and End of it namely to convert us from the power of Satan to the service of the Living God to Purifie and Sanctifie us to enable us to approve the Holy acceptable and perfect Will of God and in one word to make us wise unto Salvation Nay it procedes further and points out to us particularly the Truths in the Knowledge of which Illumination consists Thus the Old Testament reckons Wisdom to be sometimes the Knowledge of God sometimes the Knowledge of his Law sometimes the Vnderstanding of Proverbs and Parables these containing as it were the Soul of Moral Instruction and wrapping up in few and lively Words whatever the Experience of the Aged or the observation of Men of the most piercing Judgment thought best deserved to be transmitted to Posterity But all this amounts to the same thing and all the Descriptions of Wisdom in the Old Testament may be sum'd up into that one Job 28.28 Behold the fear of the Lord that is Wisdom and to depart from evil is understanding The New Testament tells us this is Life Eternal to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent That Christ is the Way the Truth and the Life That in Him are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge That true Understanding consists in knowing the Will of God which Will is our Sanctification And when St. Paul understands by Wisdom as sometimes he does the penetrating into the Spirit and Mystery the Depths and Recesses of the Old Testament and discovering the great Design of Man's Redemption carried on through all the Ages of the World and through a wise variety of Dispensations this alters not the Notion of Illumination For this does not point out to us any new or different Truths but only regards one peculiar way of explaining or establishing and confirming the great Christian Doctrines To conclude we may easily learn what sort of Knowledge the Spirit of God recommends to us above all other from those Petitions which St. Paul puts up for the Ephesians and Collosians For the Former he Prays thus That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of Glory may give unto you the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of him the Eyes of your Vnderstanding being enlightned that ye may know what is the Hope of his Calling and what the Riches of the Glory of his Inheritance in the Saints and what is the exceeding greatness of his Power to us-ward who Believe according to the working of his Mighty Power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the Dead and set him at his own Right Hand in the Heavenly places c. Eph. 1.17 18 19 20. For the Latter thus That ye might be filled with the Knowledge of his Will in all Wisdom and Spiritual Vnderstanding That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the Knowledge of God c. Col. 1.9 10. If from these and the like Texts we form a general Idea of Illumination it will be this Illumination is a State of Knowledge consisting in the abolishing or relinquishing those Errors which deprave and pervert our Affections and undermine and supplant the Empire and Authority of Reason and in entertaining and embracing those Truths which purifie the one and restore and establish the other All this in order to entitle us to the Favour of God and a blessed Eternity I might content my self with this general Delineation of Illumination But because this is a subject from which we cannot but reap so much Pleasure and Advantage as will abundantly requite whatever Labour can be bestowed upon it I will proceed to a fuller discovery of it if I can Illumination then being a State of Knowledge the Object of this Knowledge being Truth 't is plain that in order to form a just and distinct Notion of Illumination it will be necessary to enquire into two things First what kind of Truth and Next what kind of Knowledge of these Truths constitutes Illumination 1. Of the Truths which Illuminate We have many noble Characters in the Old Testament and the New which distinguish these from Truths of an
and Revealed Religion and utterly to extinguish all Conscience of Good and Evil. But this is such an Attempt in which I confess I could never have believed that the most daring sinner could have proved succesful had not the Scriptures told me that there are some who are past feeling Eph. 4.19 of a fear'd Conscience 2 Tim. 4.2 who are not ashamed when they have committed Iniquity neither can they blush Jer. 6.15 who call good evil and evil good that put darkness for Light and light for darkness that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter Isa 5.20 Such sinners there are then but what does this amount to What can their Sense or Example weigh I am sure these poor Wretches are as far distant from any true Happiness as from true Sense and deserve our Pity not Imitation As will easily appear from these following Considerations 1. 'T is true Conscience depends upon Opinion but what if this Opinion depend upon Sense and Truth What if it be built upon the Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power In what a deplorable Condition are these Men of Wit The Fear of an angry God a Judgment to come and an Hell is no common or ordinary Fear 'T is not the Fear of a scratch or wound in the Body of a baâ—â—e in the Pursuit of Preferment or a Disappointment in that of Pleasure 't is not the loss or the forfeiture of Estate in part or whole 't is not a Blot upon our Reputation 't is not the Death of a Child a Brother or what is more unless he be such a Friend 't is not any thing of this kind that is the Object of this Fear but Misery pure and unallay'd complicated accumulated Misery Misery unalterable incurable and lasting as long as Eternity Methinks before one should venture on a Sin which is threatned with such a state as this and much more before one should resolve to continue in it were reasonable to be very sure that the Notion of a Hell were false and the Doctrine of Eternal Punishment a meer Bug-bear Nay I protest in a matter of this Importance I think one should scarce trust to a Demonstration unless it had passed the Test of the most solid and Impartial part of Mankind and stood the Shock and Trial of many Ages But alass after the utmost Efforts of Wit and Lust what has ever yet been produced that has been able to undergo the Examination even of an honest Man What Arguments have yet been started against a Judgment to come that have been able to work upon any who were truly serious in the Point And if a Judgment to come why not an Hell Revelation is plain and Reason can find no Inconsistency in the Doctrine Human Laws punish a single Offence sometimes with Death or Banishment with loss of Estate and by this and divers other Ways extend the Punishment of the Criminal to his Posterity that is make it as Eternal as they can And shall it be thought unjust in God to punish the repeated Provocations of an impenitent Life the Neglect of that great Salvation wrought by the Blood and published by the Mouth of his dearly Beloved Son and all this wilfully in Defiance of the Light of the Gospel and Sollicitations of the Spirit in Defiance of Mercies and Chastisements shall it I say be thought unjust in God to punish this by a miserable Eternity when Infinite Goodness has in vain tried all imaginable means to reclaim a Sinner what has he to complain of if God leave him to the Effects of his own Choice Sin as it alienates our Affections from God here so must it certainly exclude us from his Presence and his Favour hereafter And what can be the Case of that wretched Creature who is banished for ever to those black and dismal Regions which no Ray no Influence of Divine Goodness can ever reach Where shall those unhappy Creatures dwell which shall be chased by the Presence and Glory of God out of the new Heavens and the new Earth or which rather can never approach either but in that outward Darkness which is parted from the World of the Blessed by an unpassable Gulph Ah! then if this be so what do wretched Men gain by growing impudent in Wickedness alas the more insensible Men are of the Deformity and Danger of Sin the more desperate their state the more incurable their Disease and the nearer they to Death and Destruction My Spirit shall not always strive with Man This is indeed a blessed Advantage to stand upon the brink of Damnation 'T is a glorious Victory to have defeated all the Means of Grace and Happiness 'T is an Heroick Atchievement to be able to extinguish all true Sense and Reason as well as Religion and become impregnable impenetrable to all Arguments to all Motives which either the tenderest Love or the profoundest Wisdom of God and Man can attack us by 2. I cannot but think that those very Men who for the most part are obdurate and insensible do suffer some though rare returns of Anxiety and Fear Why else are they such avowed Enemies to Solitude and Retirement to all serious and calm Reflections that they are ready to take up with a most trifling and contemptible Business or Diversion nay tired with a dull and tasteless Repetition of a Folly they chuse to repeat it to their Lives End rather than be alone and thoughtful What is this but to confess that there is something within which they are afraid to awaken that there is such a Brightness in Divine Truth that they dare not open their Eyes upon it lest it should fill their Souls with the Terrours of God This Height of Wickedness then at best is a state fit only for Fortunate Sinners who can roul and tumble from Folly to Folly from one Impertinence or Extravagance to another endlesly and yet what becomes of these poor Things when a Disaster when a Disease nay but a wakeful hour by Night forces them to retire into themselves 3. A Sinner does not soon arrive at this state of Insensibility It costs him very dear to grow impudent in his Lust Many a Pang many a Torment has he suffer'd first often has he felt the Wounds of Conscience often has he trembled and shrunk at the Menaces of God The Soul can no more be reconciled to Sin than the Body to Excess but by passing thorough many painful and sickly Fits many uneasie Pangs and Qualms And is it not worth the while to endure so much in order to be damned Is it not an infallible Mark of more than vulgar Wisdom to purchase Misery at so dear a rate To endure hardship as good Soldiers of Christ Jesus for a Crown a never-fading Crown this with them is an undertaking that deserves to be exposed and lashed with the utmost severity of Spight and Confidence but to suffer as it were repeated Martyrdoms to gain an Hell this is what they think becomes Men of their
an Heavenly Influence they naturally shoot up into good works Vertue has a Coelestial Original and a Coelestial Tendency from God it comes and towards God it moves and can it be otherwise than amiable and pleasant Vertue is all Beauty all Harmony and Order and therefore we may view and review consider and reflect upon it with Delight It procures us the Favour of God and Man it makes our Affairs naturally run smoothly and calmly on and fills our Minds with Courage Chearfulness and good Hopes In one word Diversion and Amusements give us a Fanciful Pleasure an Animal sensitive Life a short and mean one Sin a deceitful false and fatal one Only Vertue a pure a rational a glorious and lasting one And this is enough to be said here the Loveliness of Holiness being a subject which ever and anon I have occasion to engage in 2. I am next to shew that Deliverance from Sin removes the Impediments of Vertue This will easily be made out by examining what Influence selfishness sensuality and the Love of this World which are the three great Principles or Sources of Wickedness have upon the several Parts of Evangelical Righteousness 1. The first Part is that which contains those Duties that more immediately relate to our selves These are especially two Sobriety and Temperance By Sobriety I mean a serious and impartial Examination of things or such a state of Mind as qualifies us for it By Temperance I mean the moderation of our Affections and Enjoyments even in lawful and allowed Instances From these proceed Vigilance Industry Prudence Fortitude or Patience and Steadiness of mind in the Prosecution of what is best Without these 't is in vain to expect either Devotion towards God or Justice and Charity towards Man Nay nothing good or great can be accomplished without them since without them we have no ground to hope for either the Assistance of Divine Grace or the Protection and Concurrence of Divine Providence Only the pure and chast Soul is a fit Temple for the Residence of the Spirit and the Providence of God watches over none or at least none have Reason to expect it should but such as are themselves vigilant and industrious But now how repugnant to how inconsistent with those Vertues is that Infatuation of Mind and that Debauchery of Affections wherein Sin consists How incapable either of Sobriety or Temperance do selfishness Sensuality and the Love of this World render us What a false Estimate of things do they cause us to form How insatiable do they render us in our Desire of such things as have but false and empty Appearances of Good and how imperiously do they precipitate us into those Sins which are the Pollution and Dishonour of our Nature On the contrary let man be but once enlightned by Faith let him but once come to believe that his Soul is himself that he is a Stranger and Pilgrim upon Earth that Heaven is his Country and that to do good Works is to lay up his Treasure in it let him I say but once believe this and then how Sober how Temperate how Wise how Vigilant and Industrious will he grow And this he will soon be induced to believe if he be not actually under the Influence of vicious Principles and vicious Customs When the Mind is undeceived and disabused and the Affections disengaged 't is natural to Man to think calmly and to Desire and Enjoy with a Moderation suited to just and sober Notions of worldly things for this is to think and act as a Man A Second Part of Holiness regards God as its immediate Object and consists in the Fear and Love of Him in Dependance and Self-Resignation in Contemplation and Devotion As to this 't is plain that whoever is under the Dominion of any Sin must be an Enemy or at least a Stranger to it The Infidel knows no God and the Wicked will not or dares not approach one Their Guilt or their Aversion keeps them from it Selfishness Sensuality and the Love of the World are inconsistent with the Love of the Father and all the several Duties we owe him They alienate the Minds of Men from Him and set up other Gods in his room Hence the Covetous are pronounced guilty of Idolatry Col. 3.5 and the Luxurious and Vnclean are said to make their Belly their God and to glory in their shame Phil. 3.19 But as soon as a poor Man discerns that he has set his Heart upon false Goods as soon as he finds himself cheated and deceived in all his Expectations by the World and is convinced that God is his proper and his Sovereign Good how natural is it to turn his Desires and Hopes from the Creature upon the Creator How natural is it to contemplate his Greatness and Goodness to thirst impatiently for his Favour and dread his Displeasure And such a Man will certainly make the Worship of God a great part at least of the Business and Employment of Life With this he will begin and with this he will end the Day nor will he rest here his Soul will be ever and anon mounting towards Heaven in Ejaculations and there will be scarce any Action any Event that will not excite him to praise and adore God or engage him in some wise Reflections on his Attributes But all this will the Loose and Atheistical say may be well spar'd 't is only a vain and idle Amusement War and Peace Business and Trade have no Dependance upon it Kingdoms and Common-wealths may stand and flourish and sensible Men may be rich and happy without it But to this I answer Religion towards God is the Foundation of all true Vertue towards our Neighbour Laws would want the better part of their Authority if they were not enforced by an Awe of God the wisest Counsels would have no Effect did not Vertue and Religion help to execute them Kingdoms and Common-wealths would be dissolved and burst to pieces if they were not united and held in by these bonds and Wickedness would reduce the World to one great Solitude and Ruin were it not tempered and restrained not only by the Vertues and Examples but by the Supplications and Intercessions too of devout Men. Finally this is an Objection fit for none to make but the Sottish and the Ignorant Men of desperate Confidence and little Knowledge For who ever is able to consider by what Motives Mankind has ever been wont to be most strongly affected by what Principles the World has ever been led and governed how great an Interest even Superstition has had either in the Civilizing and Reforming Barbarous Nations or the Martial Successes of the first Founders of Monarchies and the like whoever I say is able to reflect though but slightly on these things can never be so silly as to demand what the use of Religion is or to imagin it possible to root up its Authority in the World The Third Part of Holiness regards our Neighbour and consists
Appearance of it and 't is hard to imagine that a sincere Man who does indeed strain at a Gnat should swallow a Camel He that preserves the Tenderness of Conscience as he will have an Aversion for small Sins so will he have an Horror for great ones Thirdly The Mind of a Christian ought to be possessed and awed by the Fear of God and that not a slight and transient but a deep and lasting one The Psalmist was not content to say I am afraid of thy Judments but to express how thoroughly this Fear had seized him he adds my flesh trembleth for Fear of thee Psal 119. And certainly this Fear is a sort of impenetrable Armour which extinguishes all the fiery Darts of the Devil In vain is the Suddenness or the Briskness of a Temptation unless we first lay aside this Shield Fourthly We are bound to be always on our Watch and Guard and therefore if we relax our Discipline if we live secure and careless if we rashly cast our selves upon Dangers our Sin then will be but the Consequence of our Folly and therefore one Error cannot be an Excuse or an Apology for another I think therefore the Apology of Surprise should be confin'd and limited to slight Offences it cannot properly have room in great ones or if it have it may be urged in Mitigation of our Punishment but never I doubt for total Impunity 3. Lastly Venial Sin has its Rise from the Defects and Imperfections of our Nature and the disadvantageous Circumstances of our State Here come in the Failures and Defects in the Measures and Degrees of Duty if these can be properly reckon'd for Sins I say if they can For I do not see that this is a good Argument we are bound to the highest Degree of Love by that Law thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart therefore whatsoever falls short of the highest and most absolute Degree of Love is a Sin For at this Rate whatever were short of Perfection would be Sin We must love nothing better than God nothing equal to Him This will constitute us in a State of Sincerity What is further required is that we are bound to aim at and pursue after the highest and most perfect Degrees of Love but we are not bound under Pain of Damnation to attain them But on the other hand I readily grant that our falling short in the Degrees of Faith Love Hope and the like may be properly reckoned amongst Sins when they spring from Defects of Vigilance and Industry And if these Defects be such as can consist with Sincerity then are the Imperfections or the Abatements of our Virtues pardonable and then only Here again fall in Omissions wandring Thoughts Dulness and Heaviness in Duty the short Titillations of some irregular Fancies Forgetfulness slight and short Fits of Envy Discontent Anger Ambition Gaiety of Mind Thus we find the Disciples falling asleep when they should have pray'd Mat. 26. and David praying quicken thou me Psal 119. Thus his Soul too was often cast down and disquieted within him Psal 42. 2 Chron. 30.18 19. Job cursed the Day of his Birth In short our Natures are Human not Angelical and our State is full of Variety of Accidents that they are too apt to discompose the Mind and divert it from its great End The Ebbs and Flows of Blood and Spirits and an unlucky constitution or a Distemper the Multitude or Confusion of Affairs the Violence or the Length of Tryals the Ease and Flattery of Prosperity the Weariness of the Body or of the Mind the Incommodiousness of Fortune Roughness of Conversation these and a thousand other things are apt to produce Defects and Failures in our Obedience short Disorders in our Affections and such Emotions and Eruptions as abundantly prove the best to be but Men and the highest Perfection if it be but Human to be wanting and defective I think I have now omitted nothing necessary to form a true Notion of Sin of Infirmity My next business therefore is to consider S. 3. How far the Liberty of the Perfect Man in respect of Venial Sin ought to be extended There is great Affinity between Venial and Original Sin and therefore the Perfect Man's Liberty as it relates to the one and the other consists in much the same Degrees and is to be attain'd by the same Method so that I might well enough dismiss this Subject and pass on to Mortal Sin But reflecting on the Nature of Man how prone we are to Sin and yet how apt we are to think well of our selves I judge it necessary to guard the Doctrine of Venial Sin by some few Rules which may at once serve to secure our sincerity and point out the Perfection we are to aspire to 1st then If we would prevent any fatal event of Sins flowing from Ignorance we must take care that our Ignorance it self be not Criminal and that it will not be if our Hearts be sincerely disposed to do our Duty and if we use moral Diligence to know it if we be impartial humble and honest and have that Concern for the Knowledge and Practise of our Duty that is in some sort proportionable to the Importance of it The Ignorance that arises from natural Incapacity or want of sufficient Revelation is invincible and therefore innocent Joh. 9.41 Jesus said unto them if ye were blind ye should have no Sin but now ye say we see therefore your Sin remaineth and 15.22 if I had not come and spoken unto them they had not had Sin but now they have no cloke for their Sins This Rule must be understood of necessary Knowledge in General and more legible and conspicuous Lines of Duty Both which notwithstanding there may be room for Sins of Infirmity to enter where Mortal ones cannot there may be imperfect Dispositions of Mind and latent Prejudices there may be Instances of Duty of a slighter moment there may be several Circumstances and small Emergencies that may either be without the Aim or escape the Discovery of a moral Search that is of a Human one which though it be without Hypocrisie is yet not without more or less Frailty As to Perfection it differs in this as it does in other Cases from sincerity only in the Degrees by which it is advanced above it He that will be Perfect must search for Wisdom as for hid Treasures his Delight must be in the Law of the Lord and in his Law must be meditate day and night his Thirst of Truth must be more eager and impatient his Diligence more wakeful more circumspect more particular more steady and constant than that of the Beginner or of one who is no farther advanced than such Measures of Faith and Love as are indispensably necessary to Sincerity will carry him 2ly Sins that are occasion'd by Surprise and Inadvertency will not prove destructive if the Inadvertency it self be in a manner innocent That is First there is no room for
often repeated breeds a kind of Indifference or Lukewarmness and soon passes into Coldness and Insensibleness and this often ends in a reprobate Mind and an utter Aversion for Religion 2ly We must endeavour some way or other to compensate the Omission of a Duty to make up by Charity what we have defalc'd from Devotion or to supply by short Ejaculations what we have been forc'd to retrench from fix'd and regular Offices of Prayer And he that watches for Opportunities either of Improvement or doing Good will I believe never have Reason to complain of the want of them God will put into his hands either the one or the other and for the Choice he cannot do better than follow God's 3ly A single Omission must never proceed from a sinful Motive from a Love of the World or Indulgence to the Body Necessity or Charity is the only just and proper Apology for it Instrumental or Positive Duties may give way to moral ones the Religion of the Means to the Religion of the End and in Moral Duties the less may give way to the greater But Duty must never give way to Sin nor Religion to Interest or Pleasure Having thus briefly given an account what Omission of Duty is and what is not sinful and consequently so setled the notion of Idleness that neither the careless nor the scrupulous can easily mistake their Case I will now propose such Considetations as I judge most likely to deter Men from it and such Advice as may be the best Guard and Preservative against it 1. The First Thing I would have every one lay to heart is That a State of Idleness is a State of damnable Sin Idleness is directly repugnant to the great Ends of God both in our Creation and Redemption As to our Creation can we imagine that God who created not any thing but for some excellent End should Create Man for none or for a silly one The Spirit within us is an active and vivacious Principle our rational Faculties capacitate and qualifie us for doing Good this is the proper Work of Reason the truest and most natural Pleasure of a rational Soul Who can think now that our wise Creatour lighted this Candle within us that we might oppress and stifle it by Negligence and Idleness That he contriv'd and destin'd such a Mind to squander and fool away its Talents in Vanity and Impertinence As to our Redemption 't is evident both what the Design of it is and how opposite Idleness is to it Christ gave himself for us to Redeem us from all Iniquity and to purifie to himself a peculiar People zealous of good Works Tit. 2.14 and this is what our Regeneration or Sanctification aims at We are God's Workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good Works which God has before ordained that we should walk in them Eph. 2.10 How little then can a useless and barred Life answer the Expectations of God What a miserable Return must it be to the Blood of his Son and how utterly must it disappoint all the purposes of his Word and Spirit But What need I argue further the Truth I contend for is the express and constant Doctrine of the Scriptures is not Idleness and fulness of Bread reckoned amongst the Sins of Sodom what means the Sentence against the barren Fig-tree Luke 13.7 but the Destruction and Damnation of the Idle and the Sluggish the Indignation of God is not enkindled against the Barrenness of Trees but Men. What can be plainer than the Condemnation of the unprofitable Servant who perished because he had not improved his Talent Matt. 25.38 and how frequently does the Apostle declare himself against the idle and disorderly and all this proceeds upon plain and necessary Grounds Our Lord was an Example of Vertue as well as Innocence and he did not only refrain from doing Evil but he went about doing good We can never satisfie the Intention of Divine Precepts by Negative Righteousness when God prohibits the Filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit he enjoyns the perfecting Holiness in his Fear when he forbids us to do evil he at the same time prescribes the learning to do well What need I multiply more Words Idleness is a flat Contradiction to Faith Hope Charity to Fear Vigilance Mortification and therefore certainly must be a damning Sin These are all active and vigorous Principles but Idleness enfeebles and dis-spirits manacles and fetters us These are pure strict and self-denying Principles but Idleness is soft and indulgent These Conquer the World and the Body raise and exalt the Mind but Idleness is far from enterprising any thing from attempting any thing that is good it pompers the Body and effeminates and dissolves the Mind and finally whatever Innocence or Inoffensiveness it may pretend to it does not only terminate in Sin but has its Beginning from it from Stupidity and Ignorance from Vanity and Levity from Softness and Sensuality from some prevailing Lust or other 2. Next after the Nature the Consequences of Idleness are to be considered and if it be taken in the utmost Latitude there is scarce any Sin which is more justly liable to so many tragical Accusations for it is the Parent of Dishonour and Poverty and of most of the Sins and Calamities of this mortal Life But at present I view it only as it is drawn with a half Face and that the much less deformed of the two I consider it here as pretending to Innocence and flattering it self with the Hopes of Happiness And yet even thus supposing it as harmless and inoffensive as it can be yet still these will be the miserable Effects of it It will rob Religion and the World of the Service due to both it will bereave us of the Pleasure of Life and the Comfort of Death and send us down at last to a cursed Eternity For where are the Vertues that should maintain the Order and Beauty of Human Society that should relieve and redress the Miseries of the World where are the Vertues that should vindicate the Honour of Religion and demonstrate its Divinity as effectually as Predictions or Miracles can do where are the bright Examples that should convert the unbelieving part of Mankind and inflame the believing part with a generous Emulation Certainly the lazy Christian the slothful Servant can pretend to nothing of this kind As to the Pleasure of Life if true and lasting if pure and spiritual 't is easie to discern from what Fountains it must be drawn Nothing but Poverty of Spirit can procure our Peace nothing but Purity of Heart our Pleasure But ah how far are the Idle and Unactive from these Vertues Faith Love and Hope are the Seeds of them Victories and Triumphs Devotion Alms and good Works the Fruits of them But what a stranger to these is the Drone and Sluggard Then for the Comfort of Death it must proceed from a well spent Life he that sees nothing but a vast Solitude and Wilderness behind him
will never like the Israelites see a Canaan before him Life must be fill'd with good Works or else Death will look but dark and gloomy when the Conscience enquires every where after the Effects of the Word and the Spirit and the Blood of Jesus and can discover in all the parts in all the paths of Life no Tracks of any thing but Fancy and Fortune Humour and Indulgence How will it shrink and faint and tremble what pensive melancholy Doubts will damp and choke its Hope And how can it be otherwise Alas the Mind of a Christian is sufficiently informed that every Man shall receive according to what he has done in the Body God will judge every Man according to his Works what then must become of him who has none to shew If Immortality and Glory if Life and Peace be the Reward of well-doing nay of patient continuance in well-doing what will become of the drousie and supine and careless the Sot and the Sluggish who have slept and fool'd and trifl'd away Life 3. I might aggravate the Guilt of Idleness by taking an Estimate of the Talents it wastes the Obligations it slights and the Hopes it forfeits I might render Man more jealous and apprehensive of falling into it by observing how generally it prevails which is a plain Proof either of the strength of the Temptation or our Propension a plain Proof either that there is I know not what secret Magick in the Sin or else that the Cheat it imposes upon the World is a very clever a very dexterous one But I have said enough and where the former Considerations fail these will hardly succeed Therefore I will now pass on from Arguments to Advice which was the next thing proposed to be done And here my Advice must have regard to two different sorts of Persons 1. To such as are born to plentiful or competent Fortunes 2. To such as are to raise their own or to provide for the Support and Maintenance of themselves and their Families by their Labour or Industry in some Calling or profession To the Former the best Directions I can give are these 1. He that is Master of his Time ought to devote the more to Religion to whom God has given much of him much will be required Nor has such a one any Excuse left either for Omission or a hasty and cursory Performance of Duty but one one that will increase his Guilt i. e. Laziness Pleasure or some Sin or other Such a one therefore ought to be constant and diligent in frequenting the publick Assemblies of the Church his Attendance upon Prayers Sacraments Sermons must be such as becomes a Man who as it has pleased God seems born not to provide for Life but only to live only to improve and enjoy Life and carry on the nobler Designs of it and as becomes a Man whose good or ill Example is of such vast Importance to the Service or Dis-service of Religion Nor must such a ones Attendance on the Publick excuse him from the religious Offices of the Closet or his Family he ought to abound in each He may be more frequent in Meditation and Prayer in Reading and Instruction and perform each with more Justness and Solemnity than others can 2. Persons of Fortune ought to be careful in the Choice of Intimates and Friends Conversation is not always a Loss but sometimes a Gain of Time We often need to have our Forgetfulness reliev'd our Drowsiness awaken'd by the Discourses and Reflections of our Friends If Discourse were generally season'd with Grace Conversation would be the greatest Blessing if with Sense and Reason Innocence and Prudence it would be the most agreeable Entertainment of Human Life But how mischievous is the Acquaintance which infects us with Vanity and Lightness of Spirit which shews us nothing but a Gaudy out-side and a Frothy Soul whose Example binds Men in Civility to be foolish and makes Confidence and Vice and Mis-spence of Time a Fashion 3. It were to be wished That Persons of the best Rank were ever bred up to something to something that might improve to something that might amuse and innocently engage their Minds to something that might employ Life without encumbring it And yet alas what need I wish this how many excellent Qualities are necessary to render a Gentleman worthy of the Station where God has placed him Let him pursue these how many are the Vertues how many the Duties to which a Christian is oblig'd for him attend these There is a great deal requisite to make a good Master a good Husband a good Father a good Son a good Neighbour a good Parishioner an excellent Subject and an excellent Friend and yet there are many other Relations besides these In a word there is no Man who when he shall appear before God will not be found to have omitted many Duties and to have perform'd many other with less Care and Diligence than he ought and surely such a one cannot justly complain for want of Business I doubt rather on the contrary That whoever takes a just and full view of things will have reason to complain That Life is short and our Work great That let us use all the Diligence we can and be as frugal of our Time as we will we arrive much sooner at a Maturity of Years than of Knowledge and Vertue 4. The Diversions of Persons of this Quality ought to be well regulated such as become the Character of a Gentleman and the Dignity of a Christian that is that must be neither mean nor vicious But I have treated this and the foregoing Heads more copiously in Human Life to which I refer my Reader As to such in the next place who are engag'd in a Profession I have particularly considered their State in several Places and find little to add here but only to mind them That they may be guilty of Idleness too That their Idleness is the more criminal the less Temptation they have to it They may neglect the Duties of their Calling I mean their Secular Calling and if they be unfaithful and negligent in their Temporal Concern it is not to be expected that they should be more Sollicitous and Industrious about their Spiritual one They may again suffer the Cares of this Life to thrust out those of another and then they are truly idle and slothful Servants to God how industrious and faithful soever they are to the World for Life is but wasted and mis-spent if it make not Provision for Eternity and it matters little whether it be wasted in Pleasure or in Drudgery CHAP. VIII Of Unfruitfulness as it consists in Lukewarmness Coldness or Formality IN the former Chapter I consider'd that part of Unfruitfulness which consists in the Omission of Duty I am now to consider another part of it which consists in too perfunctory a Performance of it Besides those who are truly unprofitable because they slight or neglect the Duties of Religion there is another Sort
of Men who at the last Day will fall under the same Character and Condemnation not because they perform no Duties but because their Performance of them is depretiated by Coldness and Formality Men who make a fair Appearance of Religion and yet have no inward spiritual Life Men who do generally observe the external Duties of Religion but with so little Gust with such Indifference and Lukewarmness that they are neither acceptable to God nor useful to themselves This State of Deadness may be consider'd either more generally as it runs thorough the whole course of our Lives and Actions or more particularly in this or that Instance of Religion 1. When 't is so general that the Bent and Course of our Lives is for want of relish of the Things of God perverted and depraved when we have no Designs drive on no Ends that are suitable to the Excellency and Dignity of our Nature to the Holiness of our Profession and to the great and manifest Obligations of God when we have no Joys or Pleasures no Thirsts or Appetites that do truly become a Christian when we make no Progress no Advance towards our great End when our Discourses and Employments have no Tincture of the Spirit and no Tendency to Edification I think we may then boldly conclude that this is a state of Carnality and Death And that this want of Relish in the general Course of our Lives proceeds from a real want of a Sincere Faith and true Illumination For were the Mind once truly Enlighten'd were it once clearly convinc'd firmly and habitually perswaded of the Beauty and Excellence of the Things of God as we should have Notions different from those of worldly carnal Men so would there consequently be a Difference in the Nature of our Hopes and Fears of our Desires and Designs of our Joys and Sorrows and as necessarily in the main Scope and Tendency of of our Conversation Whoever therefore finds this general Stupidity in the Course of his Life let him not flatter himself in the Performance of any of the Duties of Religion he has a corrupt carnal and blind Heart his Performances proceed not from true Principles and have not that Life and Vigour in them that they ought they are as different from the Performances of a Man truly regenerate and sanctified as the Civilities and Complements of a well-bred Acquaintance from the substantial Offices of a Sincere and affectionate Friend Nor can any Man who will take the least pains to examin himself be ignorant of or mistaken in the Condition of his Soul if this be it For whoever will act honestly and impartially ought not to pass a Sentence of Absolution on himself upon the bare Performance of some relative or instrumental Duties of Religion but he ought to Inquire First What Vertues he Practises which put him upon Expence Hazard or Travel what Works of Piety or Charity he performs and what Proportion they bear to his Ability Next he ought to consider the Design and End he proposes to himself in all his Religious Performances whether he seek the Honour of God the Welfare of Man and his own Improvement and Growth in Goodness or whether he does this meerly to acquit himself of a task and discharge himself of what he takes for granted as a Duty though he finds no pleasure no advantage in it Thirdly he must reflect upon the Frame and Temper of his Mind in reference to these Duties what hunger and thirst he has for Righteousness what Warmth Ardor Elevation or Earnestness of Mind accompanies his Performances what Peace and Pleasure his Reflection on them or whether Religion be not a burthen to him or something to which Custom only reconciles him Lastly he ought to examine what Operation what Influence his Religious Performances have upon him Prayer Hearing Reading and such-like Duties do naturally tend to enlighten the Mind purifie the Heart increase our Love strengthen our Faith and confirm our Hope and therefore where this is not the Effect of them we may conclude that they are not discharg'd in that manner and with that Sincerity they ought He therefore that will examin himself aright must not ask himself how often he reads how often he hears c. and then rest there but must ask himself what Effect these Performances have had upon his Mind which he will soon discern if he demand of himself what the bent and scope of his Life is how much he advances and improves in the Conquest of any Vice and the Attainment of any Vertue what he loves or what he hates what Esteem he has for the Things of God and what for the things of Men. And in a word how he follows after Universal Righteousness and how he encreases in Purity of Heart and Poverty of Spirit 2. Lukewarmness or Coldness may be consider'd more particularly as it discovers it self in the Performance of this or that Duty in Hearing Reading Prayer and Participation of the Lord's Supper Now 't is certain that there is a Deadness in these Duties which proceeds from a carnal and unsanctified Heart and is a plain Symptom of a State of Sin And yet it is too common that they who are subject to it make little Reflection upon it and are little concerned for it On the other hand many complain of Lifelessness in Duty where there is no just ground for this Complaint And this is no small Evil to such for it disturbs the Peace of their Minds damps the Chearfulness and Alacrity of their Service and clogs and encumbers their Religion with needless doubts and Scruples Some have gone about to set this matter right very unskilfully and whilst they have as they thought shun'd Enthusiastick Raptures and irregular Heate have really betray'd the Cause of true and solid Fervency of Spirit and talked of Prayer and such other Duties in such a manner as cannot but reflect disadvantagiously on themselves amongst such as are moderately vers'd in the Scriptures and have any Experience of the Power of God's Word and Spirit upon their Souls But what surprises me most is that some of very deserved Repute have taught That the seeking spiritual Pleasure in Prayer is an Enemy to Perfection That Heat and Ardor of Spirit in Prayer does often happen to the weakest Christians and very seldom to the Perfect But my business not being to combat the Opinions of Men but to advance Truths in the most charitable and in the most effectual manner that I can Therefore without taking Notice of the Motives or Reasons which have byass'd any on this Subject I will lay down two or three Propositions which will I hope clear this Matter and promote the Design I am now carrying on 1. Then Lifelessness or Lukewarmness in these Duties must never be constant There is a vast Difference between habitual and accidental Coldness in Duty the Former is the Symptom of worldly carnal and unregenerate Minds but not the Latter Many are the Accidents which
Case of Herod he had yielded no doubt to the Power and Force of the Baptists Reasons if he had not been drawn back by the Charms of his Herodias And this is the Case of every Man who is but almost a Christian he is under the Ascendant of some silly or vile Lust or other this is that which spoils the Taste of the hidden Manna and diminisheth the Price of Canaan Without doubt Men would apply themselves more vigorously to spiritual Things were they not too fond of the Body and the Pleasures of it they would certainly seek the Kingdom of Heaven more earnestly and make a better provision than they do for the other World were they not too much taken with this and therefore too apt to set up their Rest on this side Jordan Now if this be so what can we expect they only who conquer are crowned they that sow to the flesh and to the world can reap nothing from these but Corruption These kind of Christians though peradventure they are not Slaves to any infamous and scandalous Lusts are yet entangled by some other not muchless injurious though not to Reputation yet to Purity of Heart they are captived to the World and Flesh though their Chains seem better polished and of a finer Metal they cannot mount upwards they cannot conquer being retarded and kept under if not by the Strength of Temptation yet by their own Softness and Weakness and yet why should I doubt but these are conquer'd by Temptation The more innocent the Object of any ones Passion is generally the more fatal because we are the more apt to indulge our selves in it The Causes of Lukewarmness being thus pointed out 't is evident what the Cure of it consists in namely in forming just and correct Notions of Vertue and Vice in strengthening and confirming our Faith and in perfecting and compleating our Reformation I will now endeavour to possess the Minds of Men with an Aversion and Dread of this State of Lukewarmness by shewing 1. The Folly 2. The Guilt and 3. The Danger of it 1. The Folly How reasonably may I here address my self to the Luke-warm in the words of Elijah to the Israelites How long halt ye between two Opinions if the Lord be God follow him but if Baal then follow him 1 King 18.21 If you do indeed believe that your Safety and Happiness depends upon God then serve him in good earnest but if you think this depends upon the World the Flesh and the Devil then serve these if you really think that Vertue and Religion are the most solid and stable Treasure then strive sincerely and vigorously to possess your selves of them but if you really think that the Ease and Pleasure of the Body Respect and Pomp and State is the proper Portion and soveraign Good of Man then devote and offer up your selves to these For what a folly is that Life which will neither procure us the Happiness of this World nor of another To what purpose is it to listen only so much to Conscience as to damp and chil our Pleasure and so much to Pleasure as to disturb the Peace and Repose of Conscience But indeed as the Words of Elijah were rather an Irony than any real Doubt whether Baal or the Lord were God rather a scornful Derision of their Folly and Stupidity than a Serious Exhortation to deliberate whether Idolatry or the Worship of the true God were to be chosen I doubt not but mine will seem to you to carry no other Sound in them The Disparity is so vast between God and the World between Religion and Sensuality Covetousness or Ambition between those Hopes and Enjoyments we may reap from the one and those we can fancy in the other that there is no place for doubting what Choice we are to make or to which Side we are to adhere Nay in this we are more criminal than the Israelite being self-condemn'd The Israelites indeed seem to be at a Loss whether the Lord or Baal were God they doubted under whose Protection they might thrive best But at this day whoever believes a God knows very well there is none besides him Whatever passion we have for the World and the Things of it whatever spiritual Idolatry we are guilty of our Opinions are not yet so far corrupted as to attribute to them in Reality any thing like Divinity Whilst we dote on Wealth we at the same time know that it makes its self Wings and flies away whilst on Greatness and Power we know that 't is but a piece of empty and toilsom Pageantry and often the Subject of Misery and dismal Tragedies not incident to a lower State whilst we dote on Pleasure we are well assur'd that 't is dishonourable and short and intermixt with Fears and Shame and Torment We know that nothing here below is able to free our State and Fortune from Calamity our Mind from Guilt the Body from Death much less the whole Man from a miserable Eternity In one word we know that what we admire is Vanity and what we worship is indeed an Idol This being so I will insist no longer on this Topick for since the World bears no Competition with God in our Opinion though it often rival him in our Affections we are not to impute the halting of a Laodicean Christian to any Perswasion of Omnipotence or Alsufficiency or any thing like Divinity in the things he dotes on serves and worships but we must find out some other Reason of it And that is generally this we are willing to believe that our Fondness for the World and our Indulgence to the Body is consistent enough with Religion That it is no Violation of our Faith nor Provocation to God nor conserquently Prejudice to our Eternal Interest And then 't is no wonder if we blend and compound Religion and Sensuality and stand divided in our Affections and consequently halt in our Service between God and the World To prevent this I will shew 2. That this is a great Sin which is sufficiently evident from this Single Consideration That it frustrates the Efficacy of the Gospel and the Spirit and entirely defeats the great Design of the Christian Religion For 1. Religion has no effectual Influence upon the Lukewarm himself the Gospel works no thorough Change in him The Sinner is not converted into a Saint nor Human Nature perfected by Participation of a Divine one 2. The Laodiceans can never offer up to God any Gift any Sacrifice worthy of him nor render him any Service acceptable to him the Kingdom of God is Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost Rom. 14. He that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God and approved of Men. But alas these Men are almost utter Strangers to these things a few faint and irresolute Wishes formal and customary Prayers nigardly and grumbling Alms and an Attendance upon God's Word rather out of spiritual Wantonness than Devotion these are the Offerings
will ferment and work us up to the noblest Heights of Zeal I might here if it were necessary easily shew that Zeal has as happy an Influence on the publick as the private that this must animate that Justice and Mercy that supports the Throne that it is the Soul of that Honour Integrity Generosity and Religion which support the States and Kingdoms of the World and without which all Politick Systems must needs tend to a Dissolution But I have said enough And from what I have said the Truth of my Third Consideration naturally appears 3. Viz. That Zeal ministers most effectually to the Glory of God For if Zeal be in it self thus lovely thus necessary if the Fruits and Effects of it be thus serviceable to the Temporal and Eternal Interest of Man what a Lovely what an agreeable Notion of God shall we form from this one Consideration of him That he is the great Author of it That he is the Origine and Fountain of that Light and Heat of that Strength and Power of which 't is compounded and constituted He commands and exacts it he excites and encourages to it by the Promise of an Eternal Crown and the ravishing Fruition of himself he has planted the Seeds of it in our Nature and he cherishes them by the blessed and vigorous Influences of his Word and Spirit How gracious is the Divine Nature how gracious is the Divine Government when the Substance of his Laws is that we should love as Brethren that we should cloath the naked feed the hungry deliver the captive instruct the foolish comfort the afflicted forgive one another if need be seven times a day and such like If to do all this be an Argument of being Regenerate and born of God if this be a Proof of his Spirit ruling in us his Nature communicated to us and his Image stampt upon us how amiable must God be when we discern so much Benefit and so much Pleasure and so much Beauty and so much Loveliness in those Qualities which are but faint and imperfect Resemblances of Him In a word the Holiness of his Children and Servants is a Demonstration of the Holiness of God himself and in this consists the very Lustre of Divine Glory Holiness is the Flower of all his Attributes the most Perfect because the most Comprehensive of all his Divine Perfections For Holiness includes Wisdom Power and Goodness As to Goodness the Case is so plain that Holiness and Goodness are commonly used as Terms equivalent As to Wisdom 't is evident That no Action is commendable and lovely whatever the Matter of it be unless the Principle the Motive of it be Wise and rational therefore Wisdom cannot be separated from the Notion of Holiness Lastly as to Power this must needs be comprised in it too for Beneficence which is at least one great branch of Holiness must unavoidably imply Power in the Benefactor and Impotence and Want in the Beneficiary And this is the Notion wherein Holiness when ascribed to God in Scripture is generally taken Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hosts Heaven and Earth are full of thy Glory does express the Greatness and Majesty as well as the Rectitude and Purity of the Divine Nature and to sanctifie the Lord God in our Hearts is in the Language of the Scripture not only to love him for his Goodness but revere and fear him for his Majesty and Greatness Need I here add that the Excellencies of the Creature their Fitness and Subserviency to the great Ends of their Creation is the Glory of the Creator just as the Beauty Strength and Convenience of the Work is the Honour of the Architect if the Sun Moon and Stars the irrational and inanimate Parts of the Creation shew forth the Glory of God how much more do spiritual and rational Beings and Vertue is the Perfection of Reason and Zeal of Vertue for this is that which does directly and immediately advance those great Ends that are dearest to God as I have I think abundantly made out CHAP. XI Of Humility OUR Saviour has so often pronounced the humblest the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven He has so often promised the first place and the greatest Exaltation to the lowest Condescensions He was Himself so illustrious an Example of Lowliness of Heart of Poverty of Spirit and the Apostle has so expresly asserted his Joy and Crown to be the Reward of his Humility Phil. 2. That I can never think that Man can ever rise to a more eminent Height than that to which the Imitation of this Vertue of Christ will advance him The more Perfect therefore Man is the more humble must he be too The clearer View and the more assured Hope he has of Heaven the more unconcerned must he be for all those things which the World pays a Respect and Honour to the more he must be above them The more fervent his Love of God and his Neighbour grows the more confidently must he place all his Glory in this one thing the Conformity of his Affections and Life to that of the blessed Jesus Then is he Perfect and the same Mind is in him that was in Christ Jesus Finally the more he knows God the nearer he is admitted into Communion with him the more plainly will he discern at how infinite Distance he stands from the Divine Majesty and Purity and will prostrate himself even into Dust and Ashes before him The Perfect Man admires adores obeys loves relies trusts and resigns up himself and all that is dear to him to God He is nothing in his own Eyes he pretends to nothing he lays Claim to nothing on any other Title than that of the Goodness and Bounty of God Whatever Vertues he has he ascribes them to the Grace of God and the Glory and Immortality he expects he expects only as the Gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And whatever he be in himself he compares no himself with others but he proves his own Work that he may have Rejoycing in himself alone and not in another Nothing but Zeal for God or Charity for Man can put him upon the asserting his own Merit or Service but when glories it is like St. Paul in his Infirmities that the Power of Christ may rest upon him Need I here insist on the Fruit of Humility Surely 't is conspicuous to every one that thinks at all Great is the Peace and Rest of the humble Soul here and great will be his Glory hereafter He who loves not the World nor the things of it the Lust of the Fesh the Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life enjoys a perpetual Calm and Serenity of Mind There is no Object that can raise any Storm in him there is nothing that can breed in him uneasie Desires and Fears He that loves the Father is fixt on an immutable and perfect Good and he that now quits all for God shall one day participate of the Fulness of God and that
never to be enjoyed by any but some few rare and happy Creatures the Favourites of God and Nature Pleasures that have Matter and Substance in them for such as I can no more grasp and relish than I can Dreams and Visions But to this I answer this pretty talk is all but stupid Ignorance and gross Mistakes For 1. As to innocent and vertuous Pleasure no Man needs part with it I endeavour not to deprive Man of this but to refine and purifie it And he that prefers either silly or vicious Pleasure before Religion is wretchedly mistaken For 2. Perfect Religion is full of Pleasure Had we but once arrived at true Purity of Heart what could be so full of Pleasure as the Business of Religion what can be more delightful than blessing and praising God to a grateful Soul Allelujahs to a Soul snatched from the brink of Destruction into the Bosom of its Master what can be more Transporting than the melting Tendernesses of a holy Contrition made up like Mary Magdalen's of Tears and Kisses Sorrow and Love Humility and Glory Confusion and Confidence Shame and Joy what can be more transporting than Love the Love of a Christian when he is all Love as God is Love when he desires nothing in Heaven nor on Earth but God when all things are dung and dross to him in Comparison of Jesus 4. If the Pleasures of the World be more transporting than those of Religion 't is because our Faith is weak our Love imperfect and our Life unsteady A constant and exalted Pleasure is I grant it the Fruit of Perfection alone The Peace and Joy of the Holy Ghost reigns no where but where that Zeal and Love which is an Effect of the Fulness of the Spirit reigns too I had once proposed to have insisted on the Reasons of this here but this Labour is prevented for they are very obvious to any one who hath read the Chapter of Zeal with Seriousness and Attention Lastly what is insinuated in the Objection that the Pleasures of the World are more numerous or obvious than those of Religion is altogether a false and groundless Fancy In every Place and in every State do the Pleasures of Vertue wait upon the Perfect Man They depend not like those of the Body on a thousand things that are not in our power but only on God and our own Integrity But this part of the Objection I have I think for ever baffled Sect. 1. Chap. 4. These Obstacles of Perfection being thus removed and the Mind of Man being fully convinced of the Happiness that results from a State of Perfection and of his Obligation to surmount the Difficulties which obstruct his way to it there seems to be nothing now left to disappoint the Success of this Discourse but somewhat too much Fondness for the World or somewhat too much Indulgence to the Body which I am next though but very briefly to consider § 4. There is a Love of the World which though it be not either for the Matter or Degree of it Criminal enough to destroy our Sincerity and our Hopes of Salvation yet is it strong enough to abate our Vigour hinder our Perfection and bereave us of many Degrees of Pleasure at present and Glory hereafter The Indications of this kind of Love of the World are too much concern for the Pomp and Shew of Life too much Exactness in the Modes and Customs of it too quick a Sense of Honour and Reputation Pre-eminence and Praise too much Hast and too much Industry to grow rich to add House to House Land to Land and to cloath our Selves with thick and heavy Clay too brisk a Relish of the Pleasures of the World too great a Gaiety of Mind upon the Successes too much Dejection upon the Disasters and Disappointments of it too much Care and too much Diligence an encumbring and embroiling ones self too far in worldly Affairs too much Diversion too much Ease These I say are the Symptoms of a Mind tainted with a Love of the World though not so far as to Sickness and Death However it will be enough to check the Vigour and dilute the Relish of the Mind Now the only way to overcome this Defect and to captivate the Mind entirely to the Love and Service of Religion and Vertue is to consider frequently and seriously the Rewards of Perfection the Pleasure that will attend it in another Life Had the young Man in the Gospel done this had he had as lively a Notion and as true an Estimate of the Riches of Eternity as he had of Temporal ones he would never have gone away sorrowful when he was advised to have exchanged the Treasures of Earth for those of Heaven Had the Soul of Martha been as much taken up with the Thoughts of Eternity as that of Mary she would have made the same Choice as she did They who often think how soon the Fashion the Pomp and Grandeur of this World passes away and how much better their Heavenly Country is than their Earthly how much more lasting and how much more glorious the New Jerusalem that City that has Foundations whose builder and maker is God than this City of ours which may be over-thrown in a moment will neither weep nor rejoyce with too much Passion neither buy nor possess with too much Application of Mind In one word he that so often and devoutly thinks of that day wherein Christ who is our Life shall appear and we also appear with him in Glory that he comes to love and long for it such a one will have no great Taste of the Honours or the Pleasures or the Interests of Life nor will he be slothfull or remiss but fervent in Spirit serving the Lord Whatever Degrees of Affection he had for any thing of that Nature they will all vanish he will have no Emulation but for good Works no Ambition but for Glory I mean that which is Eternal In the pursuit of this will he lay out the Strength and Vigour of his Mind for this he will retrench his Profit for this he will deny his Pleasure for this he will be content to be obscure mean and laborious for if the World be once crucified to him he will the more easily bear the being crucified to it § 5. After all there is an Infirmity in the Flesh against which if we do not guard our selves if we do not struggle heartily we shall miscarry The Spirit is willing said our Saviour but the Flesh is weak Without much Care and much Watchfulness the Vigour of our Minds will be relax'd the Exultation of our Spirits will flag and droop and we shall soon loose the Relish there is in Religion The most effectual Remedies against this Frailty and Fickleness of our Nature are two First Godly Fear and this the Purity and Presence of God the Strictness and the Impartiality of a Judgment to come the Loss of an Eternal Crown the Terrors of Eternal Punishment the
thorow with many Sorrows ver 17 18 19. Charge them that are rich in this World that they be not high minded nor trust in uncertain Riches but in the living God who giveth us all things richly to enjoy That they do good that they be rich in good works ready to distribute willing to communicate Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on Eternal Life And to multiply no more Instances of Restraints of this or the like nature thus we ought to stand affected towards Praise and Reputation Interest and Power Beauty Strength c. We must neither be too Intent upon them nor enjoy them with too much Gust and Satisfaction for this is that Disposition which appears to me to suit best with the Spirit and Design of the Gospel and with the Nature of such things as being of a middle sort are equally capable of being either Temptations or Blessings Instruments of Good or Evil. 3ly The Scripture regulates and bounds our natural and necessary Appetites not so much by nicely defining the exact Degrees and Measures within which Nature must be strictly contained as by exalted Examples of and Exhortations to a Spiritual pure and heavenly Disposition Thus our Lord and Master seems to me to give some check to the stream of natural Affection and to call off his Disciples from it to the Consideration of a Spiritual Relation Mark 3.34 35. And he looked round about on them which sate about him and said behold my Mother and my Brethren For whosoever shall do the will of God the same is my Brother and my Sister and Mother To which words of our Lord I may joyn those of St. Paul henceforth know we no Man after the flesh yet now henceforth know we him no more 2 Cor. 5.16 The Answer of our Lord to a Disciple who would have deferr'd his following him till he had Buried his Father Matt. 8. â—1 and to him who begged leave to go and bid farewell first to his Relations and Domesticks Luke 9.61 does plainly countenance the Doctrine I here advance and so does St. Paul 1 Cor. 7.29 so often cited by me Not that our Saviour or his Apostles did ever account our natural Affections vicious and impure for 't is a Vice to be without them Rom. 1.31 not that they went about to diminish or abate much less to cancel the Duties flowing from them no They only prune the Luxuriancy of untaught Nature and correct the Fondnesses and Infirmities of Animal Inclinations Our natural Affections may entangle and enslave us as well as unlawful and irregular ones if we lay no Restraint upon them Religion indeed makes them the Seeds of Vertue but without it they easily betray us into Sin and Folly For this Reason I doubt not lest under pretence of satisfying our most natural and importunate Appetites we should be ensnared into the Love of this World and intangled in the Cares of it our Saviour forbids us to take thought for to morrow even for the necessaries of to morrow what we shall eat and what we shall drink and where-withal we shall be clothed Matt. 6. These are the Restraints laid upon the Body in Scripture which if any Man observe he will soon discern himself as far purified and freed from Original Corruption as Human Nature in this Life is capable of And that he may § 2ly He must fortifie and invigorate the Mind And this must be done two ways First by possessing it with the Knowledge of the Gospel and the Grace of the Spirit Secondly by withdrawing it often from the Body As to the former Branch of this Rule the Necessity of it is apparent since the state of Nature is such as has before been described we stand in need not only of Revelation to enlighten us but also of Grace to strengthen us Of the former to excite us to exert all the Force and Power we have of the Latter to enable us to do that which our natural Force never can effect It cannot be here expected that I should treat of the Operation of the Spirit and the Ways of obtaining it grieving and quenching it this would demand a peculiar Treatise I will here only observe That 't is the Work of the Spirit to repair in some Degree at least the Ruins of the Fall to rectifie Nature to improve our Faculties and to imprint in us the Divine Image That Meditation and Prayer and a careful Conformity to the Divine Will obtain and increase the Grace of the Spirit That Negligence and presumptuous Wickedness grieve and extinguish it As to the Knowledge of the Gospel I shall not need to say much here I have considered this matter in the Chapter of Illumination and will only observe that the Doctrines of the Gospel are such as if they be thoroughly imbibed do effectually raise us above a state of Nature and set us free from the Power and Prevalence of our Original Corruption Were we but once perswaded that we are Strangers and Pilgrims upon Earth That all Carnal Gratifications do war against the Soul That our Souls are properly our selves and That our first Cares are to be for them That God is himself our Sovereign Good and the Fountain of all inferiour Good that our Perfection and Happiness consist in the Love and Service of Him That we have a mighty Mediatour who once Died for us and ever Lives to make Intercession for us That a Kingdom incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away is reserved in Heaven for all meek faithful and holy Souls Were we I say but once thoroughly perswaded of these Truths with what Vigour would they impregnate our Minds how clear would be the Convictions of Conscience how uncontroulable the Authority of Reason how strong the Instincts and Propensions of the Mind towards Righteousness and Vertue These would alienate the Mind from the World and the Body and turn the Bent of it another way these would inspire it with other Desires and Hopes and make it form different Projects from what it had before old things are done away and all things are become new The Second Branch of this second particular Rule is that we must accustom our selves to retire frequently from the Commerce and Conversation of the Body Whether the Eating the forbidden Fruit did open to the Mind new Scenes of Sensuality which it thought not of and so called it down from the Serenity and Heights of a more pure and contemplative Life to participate the turbulent Pleasures of Sense immersing it as it were by this means deeper into the Body I pretend not to judge But 't is certain a too too intimate Conjunction of the Mind with the Body and the satisfactions of it does very much debase it 'T is our great Unhappiness that the Soul is always in the Senses and the Senses are always upon the World we converse with the World we talk of the World we think of the
World we project for the World and what can this produce but a carnal and worldly Frame of Spirit We must meditate Heavenly Things we must have our Conversation in Heaven we must accustom our selves to inward and Heavenly Pleasures if we will have Heavenly Minds We must let no day pass wherein we must not withdraw our selves from the Body and sequester our selves from the World that we may converse with God and our own Souls This will soon enable us to disdain the low and beggerly satisfactions of the outward Man and make us long to be set free from the Weight of this corruptible Body to breath in purer Air and take our fill of refined and spiritual Pleasure I have insisted thus long on the Cure of Original Sin not only because it is the Root of all our Misery but also because there is such an Affinity between this and the Sin of Infirmity which I am next to speak to that the same Remedies may be prescribed to both so that I am already eased of a part of the Labour which I must otherwise have under-gone in the following Chapter I am now by the Laws of my own Method obliged to consider the Effects of this Branch of Christian Liberty in the Perfect Man and to shew what Influence it has upon his Happiness But having Sect. 1. Chap. 4. discoursed at large of the Subserviency of Perfection to our Happiness and in Sect. 2. Chap. 3. of the happy Effects of the Christian Liberty in general I have the less need to say much here on this Head Yet I cannot wholly forbear saying something of it The Conquest over Original Corruption such as I have described it raises Man to the highest pitch of Perfection that our Nature is capable of makes him approach the nearest that Mortality can to the Life of Angels and plants him on the Mount of God where Grace and Joy and Glory shines always on him with more direct and strong Raies Now is Virtue truly Lovely and truly Happy now the Assurance of the Mind is never interrupted its Joy never over cast It enjoys a perpetual Calm within and sparkles with a peculiar Lustre that cannot be counterfeited cannot be equall'd Some faint and partial Resemblances I confess of this Vertue or rather of this State or Consummation of it have I though very rarely seen in some masterly strokes of Nature I have observed in some that sweetness of Temper in others that Coldness and absolute Command over themselves with respect to the Pleasures and in several that innate Modesty and Humility that natural Indifference for the Power Honour and Grandure of Life that I could scarce forbear pronouncing that they had so far each of them escaped the Contagion of Original Corruption and could not but bless and love them But after all there is a vast Difference between these Creatures of Nature and those of Grace the Perfection of the one is confined to this or that particular Disposition but that of the other is in its Degree Universal The Perfection of the one has indeed as much Charm in it as pure Nature can have but the other has a Mixture of something Divine in it it has an Heavenly Tincture which add something of Sacredness and Majesty to it that Nature wants The Perfection of the one is indeed easie to its self and amiable to others but the Perfection of the other is Joy and Glory within and commands a Veneration as well as Love from all it converses with Blessed State when shall I attain thy lovely Innocence when shall I enter into thy Divine Rest when shall I arrive at thy Security thy Pleasure CHAP. V. Of Liberty with respect to Sins of Infirmity THis is a Subject wherein the very Being of Holiness or Vertue the Salvation of Man and the Honour of God are deeply interessed For if we allow of such Sins for Venial as really are not so we destroy the Notion or evacuate the Necessity of Holiness endanger the Salvation of Man and bring a Reflection upon God as a Favourer of Impiety On the other hand if we assert those Sins damnable which are not really so we miserably perplex and disturb the Minds of Men and are highly injurious to the Goodness of God representing Him as a severe and intolerable Master But how important soever this Subject be there is no other I think in the compass of Divinity wherein so many Writers have been so unfortunately engaged so that it is over-grown with Dispute and Controversie with Confusion and Obscurity and numberless Absurdities and Contradictions This I have thought necessary to observe in the Entrance of my Discourse not to insult the Performances of others or to raise in the Reader any great Expectation for my own but indeed for a quite contrary Reason namely to dispose him to a favourable Reception of what I here offer towards the rendring the Doctrine of Sins of Infirmity intelligible and preventing the Disservice which Mistakes about it do to Religion By Sins of Infirmity both Ancients and Moderns Papists and Protestants do I think understand such Sins as are consistent with a State of Grace and Favour from which the best Men are never entirely freed in this Life though they be not imputed to them This then being taken for granted I shall Enquire into these three Things 1. Whether there be any such Sins Sins in which the most Perfect live and dye 2. If there are what these be What it is that distinguishes them from Damnable or Mortal ones 3. How far we are to extend the Liberty of the Perfect Man in Relation to these 1. Whether there be any such That the best Men are not without Errors without Defects and Failings and that not only in their past Life or unregenerate State but their best and most Perfect one is a Truth which cannot one would think be controverted For what Vnderstanding is there which is not liable to Error what Will that does not feel something of Impotence something of Irregularity What Affections that are meerly Human are ever constant ever raised Where is the Faith that has no Scruple no Diffidence the Love that has no Defect no Remission the Hope that has no Fear in it what is the State which is not liable to Ignorance Inadvertency Surprise Infirmity where is the Obedience that has no Reluctancy no Remisness no Deviation This is a Truth which whether Men will or no they cannot chuse but feel the Confessions of the Holiest of Men bear Witness to it And the Pretension of the Quakers to a Sinless and Perfect State is abundantly confuted by that Answer one of the most eminent of them makes to an Objection which charges them with arrogating and assuming to themselves Infallibility and Perfection viz. That they were so far Infallible and Perfect as they were led by the Spirit of God For what is this but to desert and betray not defend their Cause 'T is plain then as to
will quote but one or two Passages of St. Basil (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 454. his Description of the Perfect Man with regard to his Self-denial runs thus He is one that consults the Necessities not the Pleasure of his Nature and seems to grudge the Time which he bestows on the Support and Nourishment of a corruptible Body He is so far from looking upon eating and drinking c. as an Enjoyment that he rather accounts it a Task or troublesome Service which the Frailty of his Nature demands at his hands Nor was this great Man more severe against the Lusts of the Flesh than against those other Branches of the Love of the World the Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 456. All Vanity and Affection of Praise and Respect all the Ostentation saith he and shew of Life is utterly unlawful for a Christian And all this is directly consonant to his Gloss (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 457. on those words of S. Paul they that use the World as not abusing it whatever is beyond use is abuse directly consonant to his Definition of Temperance (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p 454. That it is the Extirpation of Sin the Extermination of unruly Passions and the Mortification of the Body extending even to the natural Appetites and Affections of it I know not what Scruples or Mistakes the Doctrine I here advance concerning this Part of my Perfect Man's Liberty may be encounter'd with But I am Confident I have given no just Occasion for any I do not say of the Perfect with Jovinian that they cannot fall but I say they may and ought to stand and if it be not their own fault will do so I do not affirm of them as the Hereticks in Vincentius Lyrinensis did of their Part that they are priviledg'd from sin by a peculiar Grace and transcendent Favour but I affirm that they shall not want Grace to preserve them from it unless they be wanting to themselves I do not go about to maintain that God sees no sin in his Children but I maintain That Mortal Sin is not the Spot of his Children But do not I in this fall in with the Papists who assert the Possibility of keeping the Commands of God I answer That taking them in the sense in which they themselves in the Conference at Ratisbone defend this Doctrine I do They there tell us that when they talk thus they take the Law or Commands of God not in a strict and rigid but in a favourable and equitable i. e. a Gospel Construction And this is so far from being Heterodox that Davenant accounts it a plain giving up the Question in Controversie But am I not run into the Error of the Pelagians and Quakers I answer if the one or the other assert That the Perfect Man passes thorough the whole Course of Life without falling into any Sin or That in the best part of Life he is impeccable and not subject to sin as in the Heat of Disputation their Adversaries seem sometimes to fasten on them I am at a wide Distance from them But if they teach That the Perfect Man has Grace and Strength enough to forbear Wilful Sin and that many actually do so I am I must confess exactly of their Mind But then I am at the same time of the same Mind with St. Austin and St. Jerome too For they teach the very same Doctrine For they never contended about the Possibility of Freedom or Deliverance from Mental Sin but only from Venial St. Jerome * Dial. Secund adv Pelag. p. 189. shall explain his own Sense Etenim absque vitio quod grecé dicitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hominem posse esse aio 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id est sine Peccato esse nego Which is the same thing that St. Austin commonly admits That Man may be sine Crimine but not sine Peccato without Mortal but not without Venial Sin And in this they are certainly of the Mind of the Scripture which every where represents the Perfect Man as holy blameless undefiled without Spot walking with God and in one word as free from Sin If any Man can reconcile these Texts which are very numerous with Mortal Sin I will not say in the best state of the best Men but a state of Sincerity and Regeneration I will acknowledge my Mistake But till then I cannot but think the Doctrine I advance necessary to establish the true Notion of Holiness and convince us of our Obligation to it This Doctrine is again necessary to wipe off those Aspersions and Calumnies the Quakers cast upon our Church as if it held That the Regenerate themselves may continue in their Sins nay cannot be freed from them Our Church teaches indeed Artic. 14. That the most Perfect Men are never utterly exempt from Defects Failings and Human Infirmities and I believe they themselves are not confident enough to teach otherwise only they will not call these Infirmities Sins And then the whole Controversie is reduced to this we agree in the thing but differ in the Name And in this Difference we are not only on the humbler but the safer side too for acknowledging them Sins we shall be the better disposed sure to be sorry for them to beg pardon of them and watch against them The Fruit of this Liberty has been sufficiently accounted for Chap. 3. And therefore I proceed S. 3. To propose some Rules for the Attainment of it 1. The Mind must be grounded and rooted in the Faith it must be thoroughly convinced and perswaded of these great Articles of the Christian Religion That there is a God and such a God Holy Just Omniscient and Omnipotent one the Incarnation Suffering and Glory of the Blessed Jesus a Judgment to come and the Eternal Rewards and Punishments of another Life The firm Belief of these things does naturally promote these two Effects 1. It will awaken a Sinner out of his Lethargy and Security it will disturb him in his sinful Enjoyments and fill his Mind with guilty Fears and uneasie Reflections And when the Man finds no Rest no security in his Sins this will naturally oblige him to endeavour the Conquest of them But then we must not stifle and suppress these Thoughts we must give Conscience full Liberty we must hear the Dictates of our own Minds patiently and consider seriously those terrible Truths which they lay before us till we go from this Exercise deeply impress'd with such Notions as these That our Sins sooner or later will certainly bring upon us temporal and eternal Misery That nothing but sincere Righteousness can produce true and lasting Happiness That it is a dreadful Danger to dally too long with Indgination or presume too far on the Mercy of a just and holy and Almighty God That the neglecting the great Salvation tender'd by the Gospel and procured by the Blessed Jesus the
slighting the blood of the Covenant and grieving the Holy Spirit all which we do by willful Sin is a Guilt that will sink down the obstinate Sinner into the lowest Hell and render his Condition more intolerable that that of Tyre and Sidon Sodom and Gomorrah 2. The Second Effect of the firm Belief of these Gospel Truths is that it begets in us a Contempt of this World and all the things of it To him that Beelieves How short is Time compar'd to Eternity How false how empty are the Pleasures of Sin compared with those of Heaven how insignificant the Esteem or Love of Man to that of God How worthless are all our worldly Hopes and Pretensions in respect of an Interest in Jesus Now the Soul that is once possess'd thoroughly with these Notions what will it not do what will it not suffer rather than fall short of or forfeit its Crown In what state will it not be contented nay in what state will it not abound in Joy whilst it holds fast the steadfastness of its Hope and is secure of the Love of Jesus Here begins that Purity of Heart which is the Fountain of true Epicureism that Greatness of Mind which alone is true Honour and Fortitude But that Faith may have these Effects upon us it must not be only a true but a lively Faith therefore my 2. Second Rule or if you please another Branch of the former Rule shall be this They that will be free indeed must not only believe the great Truths of the Gospel but must frequently and seriously ponder them till they have imprinted in themselves as clear distinct and perfect Ideas of them as we are capable of This will soon mortifie the Appetites of the Body corrrect our false Opinions of worldly Things and baffle all the Sophistry and Confidence of Lust A lively Faith is a Faith that imports the most clear and natural the most full and enlarg'd Notions of its Objects a Faith that not only looks upon the Articles of our Creed as true but beholds them in a manner as present and so represented and drawn to the Life that they fill the Soul with great and moving Considerations This Faith does not only Believe that there is a God but it beholds Him and walks before Him as present it sees Him array'd in all his Glory and in all his Majesty in all the Power and all the Terrors in all the Beauties and all the Graces of the Divine Nature it does not only believe that there are Rewards and Punishments but is extreamly sensible of the Terrors of the one and Attractions of the other and looks upon both as at the door It does not only acknowledge a Mediator but takes a full view of the Misery of that state wherein we lay through Sin and of the Blessedness of that into which we are translated by the Redemption which is in Jesus It Contemplates this Mediatour in all the several steps of Condescension and Humiliation in all the Tenderness and Transports of his Passion in all the melancholy Scenes of his Sufferings and the bright and chearful ones of his Glory This is the Faith that sets us free 3. We must not stop in Faith till it be made perfect in Love We must meditate Divine Truths till they have fired our Souls till they have enkindled our Affections till we be possess'd by an ardent Love of God of Jesus of Righteousness and of Heaven till all our other Desires and Passions be converted into and swallowed up of Love till God becomes the Center of our Souls and in Him we rest in Him we glory and in Him we rejoyce O Love how great and glorious are the things that are said of thee 'T is thou who dost impregnate and animate Faith it self 't is thou who dost surmount the Difficulties of Duty and make the Yoke of Christ easie and his Burthen light 't is thou who dost cast out Fear and make Religion full of Pleasure 't is thou that dost make us watchful against Temptations and impatient under the Interruptions of Duty 't is thou that makest us dis-relish the Pleasures of this World and long to be dissolved and to be with Christ Here is the Liberty of the Sons of God Blessed are they even in this World who attain it But one Caution I must here add That our Love must not be a Flesh a Bit but a steady and well setled Affection an Affection that has the Warmth of Passion and the Firmness of Habit. We must therefore by repeated Meditations and Prayers daily nourish this Flame of the Altar and not suffer it to go out 4. We must never be at rest till we have possess'd our Minds with a perfect Hatred of the sin which we are most subject to The Love of God his Long-suffering and forbearance the Sufferings of Jesus the struglings of the Spirit the Peace and Pleasure of Holiness the Guilt and Vexation the Shame and Punishment of Sin its ill Influence on our present Perfection and Happiness on our Peace and Hopes are proper Topicks to effect this A thorough Hatred of Sin once setled and rooted in us will produce that Sorrow that Indignation that Watchfulness that Zeal which will remove us far enough not only from the Sin but also from the ordinary Temptations to it and place us almost without the Danger of a Relapse To this former Rule I should add this other that when once a Man has resolved upon a new Course of Life whatever Difficulties he finds in his Ways whatever Baffles he meets with he must never quit the Desgn of Vertue and Life he must never give over Fighting till he Conquer The reason is plain for he must either Conquer or Dye But this belonging rather to Perseverance in Vertue than the Beginning of it therefore I but just mention it 5. It will not be imprudent in this Moral as in Physical Cures to observe diligently and follow the Motions and Tendencies of Nature Where there are Seeds of Generosity and Honour the Turpitude and Shame of Sin the Baseness and Ingratitude of it the Love of God and of Jesus and such like are fit Topicks to dwell upon Where Fear is more apt to prevail there the Terrors of the Lord are the most powerful Motive And so whatever the Frame and Constitution of Nature be it will not be difficult to find Arguments in the Gospel adapted to it which will be so much the more prevalent as they are the more natural 6. Lastly We must use all Means to obtain the Spirit of God and to increase and cherish his Influence We must ask and seek and knock i. e. we must pray and Meditate and Travel with Patience and with Importunity that our Heavenly Father may give us his Holy Spirit And when we have it we must not grieve it by any Deliberate Sin nor quench it by Security or Negligence by sensual Freedoms and Presumption but we must cherish every Motion improve every