Despair has comfort and refreshment answerable to it in infinite Hope 'T is the present food and Support of our Lives 't is the Anchor of our Souls in the midst of all the Storms and Tempests in the World 't is the foretaste of Bliss and Coelestial Glory a Glympse and Appearence of the Beatifick Vision without which to Live is to Dye and to Dye is to perish for evermore THE Great Reason for which a right Hope is accounted so Great a Vertue is because its Objects do really surpass all Imagination The fulness of the GODHEAD in the Soul of Man the Perfection of the Divine Image a Transformation for Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord Communion with the Father Son and Holy Ghost infinite Love and Bounty the Estate of a Bride in Communion with GOD the Possession of his Throne with another Kind of sweetness then the Bridegroom himself enjoys the Resurrection of the Body and Life Eternal in a Kingdome where all Occasions of Tears and Fears shall ever be removed Where all Regions and Ages and Spaces and Times and Eterternities shall be before our Eys and all Objects in all Worlds at once Visible and infinitely Rich and Beautiful and Ours Our very Appetites also being ravished with Sensible Pleasures in all our Members not inconsistent with but springing from these high and Supeperior Delights not distracting or confounding our Spiritual Joys but purely Superadded and increasing the same while our Bodies are made like to his most Glorious Body by that Almighty Power whereby he is able to subdue All Things to himself all these infuse their Value and the Hope that is exercised about these Things is a Vertue so great that all inferior Hopes which this doth Sanctifie are made Vertues by it but without this all other Hopes are Debasements and Abuses of the Soul meer Distractions and delusions and therefore Vices I Know very well that Presumption and Despair are generally accounted the Extreams of Hope and the only vices that are Opposite thereunto But I Know as well that there may be many Kinds and Degrees of Hope of which so me may be vicious and some Vertuous and that some sorts of Hope themselves are Vices When ever we make an inferior Desire the Sovereign Object of our Hope our Hope is abominable Idolatrous and Atheistical We forget GOD and magnifie an inferior Object above all that is Divine To Sacrifice all our Hopes to Things unworthy of them or to be Remiss and sluggish in Hoping for Things of infinite Importance is apparently Vicious But to be just to all our Encouragements and to lift up our Eys to the Eternal GOD with an humble Expectation to wait upon him and to hope for all that from his Bounty which his Goodness has promised to desire the most high and perfect Proofs of his Love is the Property of a most Great and Noble Soul by which it is carried above all the World and fitted for the Life of the most high and perfect Vertue CHAP. XVII Of Repentance It s Original its Nature it is a Purgative Vertue It s necessity its Excellencies The measure of that sorrow which is due to Sin is intollerable to Sense confessed by Reason and dispensed with by mercy REPENTANCE is a Sowre and austere Kind of Vertue that was not created nor intended by GOD but introduced by Sin made fair by Mercy in remitting the offence and pardoning the Sin It is a Strange Kind of off-spring which flows from Parents so infinitely different and has a mixture in its Nature answerable to either an Evil which it derives from Sin and a Goodness which flows from Mercy It s Evil is that of Sorrow Indignation and Shame Its Goodness is the usefulness and necessity of the thing considering the Condition we are now in It is highly ingrateful to Sence but transcendently convenient and amiable to Reason for it is impossible for him that has once been defiled with sin ever to be cleansed or to live after in a Vertuous manner unless he be so ingenious as to lament his Crime as to loath acknowledge and detest his Error THE Union of the Soul and Body is mysterious but that Sin and Mercy should be united as Causes so infinitely different for the production of a Child so Black and so Beautiful is the Greattest Wonder which the Soul can contemplate on this side Heaven and will continue to be remembred for ever and appear more Wonderful than before when the perfect Disparity and Opposition between them is clearly seen in the Light of Glory THE Efficient Cause of Repentance is either Remote or Immediate It s immediate Efficient Cause is the Gracious Inclination or the Will of the Penitent its remote Efficient is GOD the Father of Lights from which every Good and Perfect Gift descended It s Material Cause is Sorrow It s Formal Cause which makes it a Vertue is the Reason and Manner of that Sorrow the Equity and Piety wherewith it is attended containing many ingredients in its Nature too long a particular to be described here It s Final Cause is either immediate or ultimate the first is Amendment the last Salvation BEING thus bounded by its Causes its Definition is Easie Repentance is a Grace or Christian Vertue wherein a man confesses hates and forsakes his Sin with Grief that he hath been Guilty of it and purposes of Amendment of Life in Order to His Peace and Reconciliation with GOD that he may answer the Obligations that lye upon him discharge his Duty lay hold on the Advantages of GODS Mercy escape everlasting Damnation and be made a Partaker of Eternal Glory AMONG the Vertues some are Purgative and some are Perfective The Purgative Vertues are all Preparatory to Bliss and are occasioned only by the Disorder of the Soul the perfective are Essential to our formal Happiness and Eternally necessary by the Law of Nature Repentance is not in its own Nature If Simply and absolutely considered necessary to Bliss But in Relation to Sinners it is as necessary as Physick to the Recovery of Health or as the Change it self is by which we pass from the Distemper we are Sick of to the right and Sound Estate which we had lost by the Disease As the malady is accidental so is the Cure For the Nature of Man may be well and perfect without either this or the other He that is originally pure has no need of a Purgative Vertue but he that is faln defiled musts needs rise and wash away the filth before he can be clean FOR this Cause even among the Heathens themselves the more Knowing and Learned have a Conscience of Sin their Priests and Philosophers devised several Rites and Manners of Purgation which they taught and imposed on their Disciples with much Circumstance and Ceremony in order to their Reception Nor was there any Temple or Religion in the World that pretended not something to Diviner Mysteries Which were graced beautified
its own Light the felicity of the Enjoyment becomes its own fortress and security For he that is throughly Happy has so much work to do in Contemplation and Thanksgiving that he cannot have while to be concerned with other mens disorders he loves his Employment too well to be disturbed and will not allow himself the thoughts of Revenge or Anger IN two things Meekness is greatly profitable to a Mans self Possession and Triumph He that permits the Tumult of the World to enter into his Soul and suffers the Temple of the Holy Ghost to be defiled with Rage and Anger makes it an unfit habitation for the Blessed Spirit Doves will not dwell in Pigeon-Houses disturbed or haunted with Vermin nor can Felicity be enjoyed but by serene and quiet Thoughts that are full of tranquillity For where Envying and Strife is there is Confusion and every evil Work But the Wisdom that is from above is first pure then peaceable gentle and easie to be intreated full of Mercy and good Fruits And the fruit of Righteousness is sown in Peace of them that make Peace Which must of necessity precede fruition as Triumph followeth WERE I for my life to interpret that Text of our Saviour The Meek shall inherit the Earth I should in the first place say that every Knowing man may enjoy the beauty and glory of the whole World and by sweet Contemplations delight in all the abundance of Treasures and pleasant Varieties that are here upon Earth especially since by the Ordinance of Nature all men are to be his peculiar Treasures This he might do I say did all men love him and fill the World with Glory and Vertue But since all is confounded by their perverseness and disorder his Fruition is utterly lost unless he will forgive all Injuries and by the vertue of Meekness maintain the quiet of his own Soul in the midst of their distempers The Meek man is not fretted nor disturbed but may enjoy all Still and the unspeakable Joy which all the Glories of Gods Kingdom do afford him shall make him more meek and able also to pacifie and rule and heal the minds of his Enemies and even by the love of Sinners to recover his Right and ancient Fruitions TO be able to live at quiet and enjoy the felicity of Heaven and Earth notwithstanding all the attempts of our Enemies makes them mad when they see they cannot fret us and so by Consequence a greater Revenge is seated in Meekness than in Revenge it self For our Repose is their punishment and torment that hate us Their vexation falleth on their own head when they see they miss of their aim and cannot molest us but it is a joy to see our selves seated in a throne of Repose clean out of their reach it breeds a kind of triumph and ovation in the Soul The secret Conscience of its own Power is a glory and satisfaction unimaginable HE that masters his own Passion is master of anothers mans and seldom falls into those Broils and Inconveniencies that are the destruction of ungoverned and hasty Spirits Which made Solomon to say He that is slow to Anger is better than the Mighty and he that ruleth his Spirit than he that taketh a City HE that troubleth his own house shall inherit the Wind he that is nice and exquisite in exacting all Faults shall never be beloved They are disobliging angry testy men that are hated and the Revengful that do frequently fall into mischief But to be kind to the Unthankful and the Evil and to deal with all men better than they deserve is the way to be beloved by the worst of men and admired by the best MEEKNESS is the retreat of Goodness and the only force in the rear of Liberality He that does one Injury after forty Kindnesses blots out the memory of all his Courtesies and he that revenges an Injury seems to do one For he that did the Wrong seems innocent to himself because he felt it not and seeming innocent takes the Revenge as an undeserved Injury and is lost for ever Now some Injuries we must expect from our best Friends which are alwaies lost for want of Meekness So are all the Benefits we do unless we will forgive as well as give But an Injury forgiven is forgotten by him that did it and the Friendship continues at the expence and to the honour and comfort of the Pardoner as if no Offence had ever been committed Nay if afterwards he comes to see the Candor of his abused Friend he that did the Injury loves him better than before because he pardoned the Wrong MEEKNESS as it preserves Friendship between two makes Goodness invincible and unalterable in one He shall not be good long whose Goodness dependeth on others Merits He is a miserable weak man that is of an Exceptious humor he is a trouble to his own flesh and subject to the power of every Wasp whether he shall be good or no. He is quickly stopt in his Careir of Vertue and easily turned out of the way that is apt to be infected with anothers Malice He carries no Antidotes about him and for want of a Preservative is in danger of the Contagion Meekness is a means of the health of the Soul a Passionate man being all over sore is covered with hot and angry Boils which cannot be touched IT preventeth much mischief in Families An occasion of Anger is like a spark of Fire it is of great Consequence where it falleth If it falls into barrels of Gunpowder it blows up the World if into green Wood or watery places it does no harm Penitent Tears and the verdure of Humility prevent such flames and extinguish the quarrel If Wild-fire be thrown I will put it out with my foot and not by throwing it back give my Enemy the advantage of retorting it upon me A soft Answer pacifieth much Wrath but virulent Speeches are a fire-ball tossed to and fro of them that love Death BY Revenge a man at best can but preserve himself by killing his Enemy but Meekness well managed destroys the Enmity preserves the Person and turns the Enemy into an excellent Friend MEEKNESS is not the way to Peace and Repose and Victory only but to Honour and Glory As it is the strength it is the Glory of a man to pass over a Transgression He that is lightly angered is quickly lost and a fickle Friend is not worth a farthing A straw and a feather shall forfeit all the Obligations in the World in some Tempers Nay he that is Revengful is a dangerous Person and with an Angry man thou shalt not go He has the Plague upon him and is prohibited Company All this is dishonourable But a man that is a resolved and stable Friend that cannot be alter'd that will not change though he be wronged but forgive and pity and continue to serve and love his Friend though he shews him some dirty Tricks he that will surmount all by invincible
implies Greatness and Bounty united THE Creation of the Universe was a great and Magnificent work because the lustre and beauty of the WORLD is a sublime and wonderful Gift imparted to millions The bounty of GOD in adorning all ages with Cities and Empires for the benefit and enjoyment of all the World is another piece of his Royal Magnificence The infusion of a Soul so divine and everlasting into the Body of a Man is an act of love transcendently greater than all the Aquaeducts and Trophies in the World For such a Celestial presence such a sublime and illimited power such a vast and noble Workmanship as that is which can see and comprehend all Eternity and Time together extend to all Objects in all Worlds and fill Immensity with life and joy and love and knowledge with light and beauty and glory with adorations and praises though its essence be invisible and all its splendour within is next under GOD the highest Object of all the admiration of Men and Angels It is a being as publick as the Sun the great occasion of all the extasies of the Seraphims the wonder and the rapture of all the Cherubims the glory of GOD communicated to the World in so divine a Creature a miraculous effect of his eternal Power and the resemblance of his Godhead among all the Creatures THE Incarnation of his Eternal Son and the giving of the Holy Ghost was another Magnificent effect of his almighty Power so was the preparation of his Word with the Gifts he gave unto Men in the Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles adorned with all the varieties of their Labours and Vertues Wisdom Courage and Patience Lives and Examples Deaths and Sufferings Oppositions and Successes Miracles and Revelations The Jewish Nation alone is a Magnificent gift to the whole World The Apostle phraseth the Regiment of it as a matter of Bounty Now if the Fall of them be the Riches of the World and the diminishing of them the Riches of the Gentiles how much more their Fulness And again When he ascended up on high and led Captivity captive he gave Gifts unto Men some Apostles and some Prophets c. When he presented all Nations and Kingdoms as a token of his love to the Angels when he gave all those glorious Hosts in the Heavens to the vision service and pleasure of Men much more when he gave all these in their marvellous order and amity united to every Soul When he filled the Heaven of Heavens with Joyes and gave all the glory of his Kingdom to one and that one to every one he manifested the glory of his Magnificent power in that of his great and transcendent goodness And in relation to this we may cry out with the Apostle more than for the mysterious Regiment of a little Nation as he doth upon the account of GODS dealing with the Jews O the depth of the riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of GOD How unsearchable are his judgments and his waies past finding out For all things are yours Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the World or Life or Death or things present or things to come all are yours and ye are CHRISTS and CHRIST is GODS Wherefore he saith My Thoughts are not your Thoughts nor your Waies my Waies For as the Heavens are higher than the Earth so are my Waies higher than your Waies and my Thoughts than your Thoughts You give triflles and give them but to one I give Worlds and give them to every one You divide and disperse your Gifts and lessen by dispersing them I communicate and unite my Gifts and augment by giving them You think it impossible for one man to enjoy all things I think it possible for innumerable Millions You think your interest is abated and your fruition endangered by the communication of your Treasures to many I know they are increased and multiplied by the number of the Enjoyers You think Gold and Silver to be the greatest Gifts and that nothing is yours but what is shut up within such Shores and Walls and Hedges I know that Men are the greatest Treasures and that your interest is extended through all Worlds and your Possessions illimited For according to the tenour of these words and a little before he saith Thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate Cities to be inhabited Fear not for thou shalt not be ashamed neither be thou confounded for thou shalt not be put to shame for thou shalt forget the shame of thy Youth and shalt not remember the reproach of thy Widowhood any more For thy Maker is thy husband the Lord of Hosts is his Name c. And a little after he saith Thou shalt also be a Crown of Glory in the hand of the Lord and a royal DIADEM in the hand of thy GOD. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken neither shall thy land any more termed Desolate but thou shalt be called Hephzibah and thy land Beulah for the Lord deligheth in thee and thy Land shall be married For as a young Man marrieth a Virgin so shall thy Sons marry thee and as the Bridegroom rejoyceth over the Bride so shall thy GOD rejoyce over thee For a Son to marry with his Mother is Incest it is Confusion also for a Child to go in unto his Fathers Wife And yet the Church of GOD shall be the lawful Bride of every one of all her Sons Here is Magnificence GOD giveth himself and his eternal Son and his Holy Spirit and his Bride and his Apostles and Prophets and all the Universe to every Soul Which justifieth that saying of St. Chrysostome GOD loveth every one with all the Love wherewith he loveth the whole World His Magnificence exceedeth all Limits Laws Imaginations Wishes Possibilities and he maketh every one Heir of the World Coheir with Christ to inherit all things every one more than the sole end of all his Kingdom For all the Ornaments and Riches of a Bride are given with her Person her Palace and Attendants are her Lovers upon the Marriage as well as she and all things that magnifie or make her amiable are subservient to his enjoyment and really his that is her Husband So that GOD giving us his Church to be our Mother and our Bride hath intended us in all the things whereby he benefited her in all kingdoms and ages and hath loved us in all the Love which he hath exercised towards her and all the fruit of all his Love to the whole World resteth in our Exaltation This is the Magnificence of Almighty GOD to every Soul in his Kingdom And for this it is that the Church is called The Assembly of the First-born because all her Children are the perfect Heirs and Kings and Bridegrooms every one compleatly and more to his satisfaction than if he were so alone For as GOD is wholly every