and of different degrees of Goodness the Vine the Fig-tree the Apple-tree if an Apple-tree produce the best Fruits in its kind though not equal to the Fruit of the Vine 't is perfectly good Thus in the World there are several Conditions of Life among Men some are in places of Dignity and Superiority others of subjection and service A Servant that is faithful and diligent adorns the Gospel and excels in that Relation and is equally accepted of God as others in a higher order He that gain'd two Talents was esteem'd as faithful as he that gain'd five because the profit resulting from the improvement was in proportion to the stock entrusted with him There is a Perfection Relative to the various Spiritual States of Christians here St. John addresses his Counsel to Christians under several Titles to Children to Young Men and Fathers with respect to their different Ages in Christianity A Child is perfect in the quality of a Child when he has the stature the strength the understanding that is becoming his Age though he is distant from that compleat state to which he will arrive in his mature Age. A young Man has the Perfection proper to his Age. A new Convert that has such degrees of Knowledge and Holiness as are suitable to the Means and his Time of advancement by them is esteem'd Compleat in that state of Grace Some are enter'd into the School of Heaven and are in the first Lessons of Christianity others have made a higher progress in it to the fulness of the Stature Beyond the Perfection attainable here there is an absolute Perfection of Holiness in the extent of its parts and intention of degrees 'T is our present Duty to aspire and endeavour after this but attain'd only in Heaven where every Saint is renewed into the perfect Image of God and made glorious in holiness the great end of our Saviour's Love in dying for us By gradations Christians ascend to that Consummate state the period of Perfection CHAP. VI. Particular Graces Consider'd the internal Principles of Perfection Divine Faith Doctrinal Justifying and in the disposal of Providence Doctrinal Faith is not Imagination nor Reason The Objects of it The Motives consider'd The Essential Perfections of God Faith a divine Revelation is the most reasonable Act of the Humane Mind God's Truth a Principle immediately evident His Jurisdiction reaches to mens Understandings God never requires our Assent to supernatural Truths but he affords sufficient Conviction that they are reveal'd by him God reveals himself in Scripture by humane expressions according to our Capacity We are obliged to believe supernatural Doctrines no farther than they are reveal'd To attempt the Comprehensive knowledge of them is perfectly vain 't is impossible impertinent and dangerous Curiosity often fatal to Faith An Answer to Objections that supernatural Doctrines are not reconcileable to Reason That when men use all means sincerely to know the truth of them and are not Convinc'd of it they shall not be Condemn'd for involuntary speculative Errors I Will now particularly Consider those Graces that are of a more Excellent Nature and have a more powerful Causality and Influence in the lives of Christians Faith and Love Hope and Fear are the internal Principles of Christian Perfection I will first discourse of Divine Faith the first principle and foundation of Religion as the Apostle declares He that comes to God must believe that he is and the rewarder of them that diligently seek him The belief of his Being and Bounty is the Motive of Holy Worship This Grace is most Honourable to God and beneficial to us The understanding is our Supreme Faculty and by submitting it to divine Revelation we pay the most humble Homage to him By Faith we Conceive of God becoming his divine Perfections in believing the Revelation he has made of his Nature which is as Incomprehensible as 't is Invisible and the declaration of his Will though the things promis'd are encompass'd with opposition and seeming impossibilities we glorifie his perfect Veracity and Omnipotence in the highest manner He that believes the divine Testimony sets his Seal that God is true ratifies his word in the most solemn manner Faith is most beneficial to us 'T is the root of the Spiritual Life from whence all other Graces derive their flourishing and fruitfulness 'T is not only productive of its own acts but excites and animates every Grace in its distinct exercise Like the animal Spirits that give motion and vigour to all the Senses Faith in Christ conveys to a weak Christain a kind of Omnipotence The Apostle declares I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me The most eminent effects of other Graces either active or suffering Fortitude Zeal Self-denyal Patience are attributed to Faith as the Honour of a Victory is ascribed to the General by whose Conduct and Courage the Battle is managed though 't is obtained by the Valour of the Soldiers By Faith we are justified from the guilt of our many and mighty Sins We are purified from their deep Pollutions We are adopted into the line of Heaven and are saved from misery extreme and eternal I will consider Divine Faith under three Heads 1. Doctrinal Faith 2. Justifying Faith 3. Faith in the disposal of all things by the ruling Providence of God Doctrinal Faith I will consider 1. In its nature 2. The objects of it 3. The motives 4. The efficacy 1. The nature of it All the notions of Faith agree in this 't is a dependance upon the truth of another Thus Trust is called Faith because it relies upon the truth of a Promise And one is said to keep his Faith inviolate when he performs the Promise that another relyed on Faith in the propriety of expression is an assent for the veracity of the speaker Accordingly Divine Faith is a firm assent of the Mind to things upon the authority of Divine Revelation 'T is distinguish'd from Imagination and from comprehensive Reason Fancy draws a Copy of those Objects that are perceived by the external Senses or compounds many Copies together but creates no images of things not perceptible by the Senses We can imagine Mountains of Gold because we have seen Gold and Mountains We conceive monstrous mixtures in Dreams but no actors can appear on the theatre of Fancy but in borrowed habits from sensible things But the Objects of Faith are such things as Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard and transcend the capacity of the Imagination to conceive and of the external Senses to represent Yet Infidels blaspheme the Eternal Truths of Divine Things as the fictions of Fancy 2. Faith is distinguish'd from Science acquired by Study and from Reason Reason implies a progress from one degree of Knowledge to another by consequences drawn from the first to the second But Faith asserts to things upon the account of superiour Authority that reveals them and commands us to believe them The same things may be
is no past and to come He sees all things with one view not only Events that proceed from the constraint of natural and necessary Causes but that depend upon Causes variously free and arbitrary This Knowledge is too wonderful for us To believe no more than we can understand proceeds from the ignorance of God's Nature and our own For the Divine Nature is truly infinite and our Minds are narrow and finite 3. The Humane Understanding in our laps'd state is dark and defiled weakened and vitiated Of this we have innumerable Instances Although the Deity be so illustriously visible in the Creation yet even the wise Heathen represented him in such a degree of Deformity as is highly blasphemous They could not conceive his Infiniteness but made every Attribute a God They transformed the Glory of the immortal God into the likeness of an earthly dying Man And the Papists transform a mortal Man into the likeness of the great God They attribute to the Pope a Power of contradicting the Divine Laws For though God in the Second Commandment so strictly forbids the worship of Images and has annex'd to the prohibition the most terrible Threatening of visiting the Iniquity of the Fathers upon their Children to the third and fourth Generation yet in defiance of the Majesty of the Law-giver the Pope commands all his adorers to worship the Images of the dead Saints He arrogates a Power to dispense with Oaths the most sacred bands of Humane Society and thereby authorises Perjury 4. Though Reason is not able to conceive and comprehend supernatural Mysteries yet it can never demonstrate that they cannot be Who can prove by irresistible evidence that God who is an infinite Good cannot by an infinite communication of himself be in distinct Subsistences 'T is true our Reason may find unaccountable difficulties that One should be Three in the Subsistence of Persons and Three One in Nature But there can be no proof that 't is impossible without the perfect understanding the Nature of God The Incarnation of the Son of God is matter of astonishment that two Natures so different and immensely distant as Finite and Infinite Mortal and Immortal should be so intimately and inseparably united in one Person without confusion of their Properties But we have the strongest Reason to believe that God knows his own Nature and is to be believed upon his own testimony If the matter of his testimony be inconceivably great we must exalt Faith and depress Reason If we will believe the Word of God no farther than 't is comprehensible by our Reason we infinitely disparage him For this is no more than the credit we give to a suspected witness 5. The Doctrine of the Trinity and Incarnation have a clear connexion with other Truths that right Reason comprehends and receives without reluctancy That Men transgress the Laws of God natural Conscience is their accuser an essential Faculty of the Humane Nature that can neither dye with them nor without them That every Sin needs Pardon is most evident That God is just is known by the general light of Reason in all Men That 't is becoming God to pardon Sin in a way honourable to his Justice is as certain Now the satisfaction of Divine Justice requires the enduring the Punishment ordain'd by the Law and equal to the guilt of Sin The guilt of Sin rises from the Majesty of the Law-giver who is dishonoured by it and the satisfaction must be by a Person of equal dignity and consequently only God can make satisfaction Now Reason dictates that he that satisfies and he that receives satisfaction must be distinguish'd For 't is not reasonable that the same Person be the Judge and the Criminal therefore there must be two distinct Persons in the Deity From hence the Reason of the Incarnation is evident for the Deity is incapable of Suffering and it was necessary that the dignity of the Divine Nature should give value to the Sufferings It was therefore requisito that the Deity should assume our Nature capable of Suffering and the Salvation of the World should result from their conjunction This Doctrine is very honourable to God and beneficial and comfortable to Man which are the conspicuous Characters and strongest evidence of a Doctrine truly Divine This maintains the Royalty of God and the Rights of Justice this secures our Pardon and Peace and removes all the difficulties and doubts that are apt to rise in the Minds of Men Whether God infinitely provok'd by our rebellious Sins will be reconcil'd to us 'T is our duty to admire the mysterious Doctrines of the Gospel which we do understand and to adore those we do not We may observe the same connexion in Errors as in Divine Truths for they who rob our Saviour of his Natural Glory his Eternal Deity vilifie and disbelieve the value and vertue of his Priestly Office by which our Pardon is obtained In short the Fabrick of our Salvation is built on the contrivance and consent of the Divine Persons and the concurrence and concord of the Divine Attributes 6. The belief of supernatural things may be confirm'd by comparisons and examples of things in Nature for they prove and perswade that a thing may be Our Saviour to cure the Infidelity of the Pharisees tells them Ye err not knowing the Scripture and the Power of God In the Book of Scripture we read the declaration of God's Will in the Book of Nature we see the effects of his Power The Apostle says The weakness of God is stronger than Men. The expression is strange to a wonder for it seems to attribute a defect to God But he speaks in that manner to declare with emphasis that God is always equal to himself and has no need to strain his Power to overcome the strongest opposition The same Apostle argues against Infidels that say How are the dead raised up And with what Bodies do they come Thou fool that which thou sowest is not quickned except it dye and that which thou sowest thou sowest not that body that shall be but bare grain it may chance of Wheat or some other grain but God giveth it a Body as pleaseth him If our Eyes are witnesses of such an admirable Resurrection in Nature which our Understandings cannot comprehend shall it not confirm our Belief of the Resurrection of the Body the Wonder of Grace when 't is promised by God the Author of both All difficulties vanish before infinite Power St. Paul declares I know in whom I have believed that he is able to keep that I have committed to him till that day We are assur'd the Lord will change our vile bodies into the likeness of his glorious Body by the power whereby he can subdue all things to himself The belief of the Resurrection is drawn from the clearest springs of Nature and Scripture 7. 'T is a prudent foundation of judging things attended with difficulties to compare the difficulties and to determine
our judgment for that which has least Now 't is certainly much more suitable to the reasonable Mind to acknowledge that things may be true which we are not able to conceive and comprehend than to deny the natural and proper sense of many clear and express texts of Scripture that declare those things And by this we may judge of the Glosses of Socinus and his followers who without reverence of the Majesty of God and the sincerity of his Word rack the Scriptures to make them speak what they do not and use all Arts to silence them in what they do reveal Unhappy men 〈◊〉 that affect to be esteem'd Ingenious and Subtil to the extreme hazard of their own Salvation How much safer and more easie is it to believe the plain sense of the Scriptures than the turns and shifts that are invented to elude it and extricate Heretical Persons out of the difficulties that attend their Opinions I shall add the Doctrine of the Trinity is so expressly set down in the Gospel of Christ that 't is impossible the Son of God who is Infinite and Eternal Love who gave himself for our Redemption should have declar'd it and engag'd his Disciples in all Ages and Places in an Error of such dreadful Consequence as the Worshipping those who are not God 2. 'T is alledged that if a Person sincerely searches into the Scripture and cannot be convinc'd that the supernatural Doctrines of the Trinity and others depending upon it are contain'd in them he shall not be Condemn'd by the Righteous Judge of the World for involuntary and speculative Errors To this I answer 1. This pretence has deceiv'd many who were guilty of damnable Heresies and there is great reason to fear deceives men still The heart is deceitful above all things and most deceitful to it self Who can say that neither Interest nor Passion neither Hope nor Fear neither Anger nor Ambition have interven'd in his Inquiry after Truth but he has preferr'd the knowledge of Divine Truths before all Temporal Respects and yet he cannot believe what the Scripture reveals of the Nature of God and the oeconomy of our Salvation let this Imaginary Man produce his Plea for I believe there was never any such There are many that make reason the Soveraign Rule of Faith and determine such things cannot be true because they cannot understand how they can be true Prodigious Inference the most absurd of all Errors that makes the narrow Mind of Man the measure of all things This is the proper Principle of that horrible Compofition of Heresies and execrable Impieties which so many that are Christians in Profession but Antichristians in Belief boldly Publish They will choose to Err in matters of Infinite Importance rather than Confess their Ignorance And which is astonishing they will readily acknowledge the defectiveness of Reason with respect to the understanding of themselves but insolently arrogate a right to determine things in the Nature of God 'T is true Ignorance the more invincible is the more excusable but when the Error of the Mind is from a vicious Will both the Error and the Cause of it are sinful and inexcusable When the corrupt Will has an Influence upon the Understanding and the Mind is stain'd with some Carnal Lust when a Temptation diverts it from a serious and sincere considering the Reasons that should induce us to believe Divine Doctrines their Unbelief will be justly punish'd The Scripture declares That an evil heart is the cause of unbelief Pride and obstinacy of Mind and Carnal Lusts are the Cause that so many renounce those Eternal Truths by which they should be saved 2. 'T is alleged That speculative Errors cannot be Damnable To this I answer 1. The Understanding of Man in his Original State was Light in the Lord and regular in its directions now 't is dark and disorder'd and in the points of Religion that are reveal'd any Error induces guilt and if obstinately defended exposes to Judgment Some Truths are written because necessary to be believed others are to be believed because written 2. According to the quality of the Truths reveal'd in Scripture such is the hurtfulness of the Errors that are opposite to them Some Truths are necessary others profitable some Errors are directly opposite to the Saving Truths of the Gospel others by Consequence undermine them Those who deny the Lord that bought them are guilty of damnable Heresies capital Errors not holding the head 3. The Doctrine of the Trinity is not a mere speculative Truth nor the denial of it a speculative Error the Trinity is not only an Object of Faith but of Worship In Baptism we are dedicated to the Sacred Trinity in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost which clearly proves they are of the same Authority and Power and consequently of the same Nature for 't is impossible to Conceive of three Infinite Beings for by necessity one would limit another The Apostle declares without Controversie great is the mystery of Godliness God manifest in the flesh The Nature and End of this Divine Mystery is to form the spirits of Man to believe and love and obey God For in it there is the clearest Revelation of God's admirable Love to Men of his unspotted Holiness his incorruptible Justice the great Motives of Religion In that Divine Doctrine we have the most ravishing Image of Piety and Vertue the most becoming the Nature of God to give and of Man to receive Briefly God Commands us to believe in his Son without Faith in him we are uncapable of Redemption by him When Christ perform'd Miraculous Cures he requir'd of the Persons whether they did believe in his Divine Power and what he declar'd himself to be Electing Mercy ordains the Means and the End The Apostle gives thanks to God because he has chosen the Thessalonians to Salvation through Sanctification of the Spirit and the belief of the Truth Holiness and Faith in the Doctrine of the Gospel are indispensable qualifications in the Learn'd and Ignorant that would be saved by the Son of God 'T is a high Contempt of the Truth and Goodness of God not to yield a firm Assent to what he has reveal'd concerning our Salvation by his Incarnate Son He that believes not the Record that God hath given of his Son makes God a Liar This infinitely provokes him and inflames his Indignation To dis-believe the Testimony that Jesus Christ has given of the Divinity of his Person and Doctrine is to despise him it robs him of his Essential and his acquir'd Glory by the work of our Redemption There can be no true Love of God without the true knowledge of him as he is reveal'd not onely in his Works but in his Word Our Saviour who is the Way the Truth and the Life has declar'd when he gave Commission to his Apostles to preach the Gospel to the World whoever believes and is baptised shall be saved whoever believes not shall
the Objects of Faith and of Reason buâ— in different respects Reason may discover them by ascending from effects to their causes or descending from causes to their effects Faith receives them as revealed in Scripture By Faith we know the Worlds were made which may be proved by clear Reason 2. The Objects of Faith The general Object of Faith is the Word of God the special are those Doctrines and Promises and Things that Reason cannot discover by its own Light nor perfectly understand when revealed The Word of God contains a Narrative of things past and Predictions of things to come The destruction of the old World by a deluge of Waters and the consumption of the present World by a deluge of Fire are Objects of Faith But the Unity of the Divine Nature and the Trinity of Divine Persons the Incarnation of the Son of God his Eternal Counsels respecting Man's Redemption never enter'd into the Heart of Man to conceive but are as far above our thoughts as the Heavens are above the Earth and cannot be comprehended God may be considered absolutely in himself or as revealing himself and his Will to us We have some knowledge of his Being and Divine Attributes Wisdom Power Goodness in his Works of Creation and Providence but we believe in him as declaring his Mind and Will to us in his Word We may know a Person and his excellent Vertues Intellectual and Moral but we cannot believe in him without some discovery of his Thoughts and Affections to us 3. The motives of Belief are to be considered Divine Faith must have a Divine Foundation Faith may be absolutely true and relatively false Many believe the Doctrine of the Gospel upon no other grounds than the Turks believe the Alcoran because 't is the reigning Religion of their Country and by the impression of Example From hence their Faith is like the House built on the Sand and when a Storm arises is in danger of falling The firm foundation of Faith is the essential supreme Perfections of God unerring Knowledge immutable Truth infinite Goodness almighty Power 'T is equally impossible that he should be deceived or deceive His infinite Understanding is the foundation of his perfect Veracity And whatsoever is the Object of his Will is the Object of his Power for to will and to do are the same thing in him 'T is true the knowledge of things by experimental Sense is a clearer perception than the perswasion of them by Faith The first is to see the original the other is to see the copy that usually falls short of it 'T is therefore said We now see in a glass darkly But the Divine Testimony in it self has the most convincing evidence above the assurance we can have by the report of our Senses which often deceive us through the indisposition of the Faculty or the unfitness of the medium or distance of the Objects or the knowledge of things by discursive Ratiocination The objective certainty of Faith is infallible We know with the highest assurance that God can no more lye than he can dye 'T is said All things are possible with God but to lye or dye are not possibilities but passibilities not the effects of Power but proceed from Weakness We know the sacred Scriptures are the Word of God by the signatures of his Perfections Wisdom Holiness Goodness Justice and by the Miracles perform'd by the Pen-men of them that proved they were divinely inspir'd and consequently infallible in what they wrote From hence Faith is often express'd by Knowledge Nicodemus gives this testimony of our Saviour We know thou art a teacher come from God We believe and are sure thou art that Christ the Son of the living God We know that if the house of this earthly tabernable be dissolved we have a building made without hands eternal in the Heavens We know that he was manifested that he might take away Sin We know that when Christ shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is I will not insist upon the particular supernatural Doctrines revealed in the Gospel for there is little new to be said upon those Points If Men with renewed Minds and Hearts considered the testimony of Scripture there would need no more arguing But I will lay down some Considerations that prove Divine Faith to be the reasonable act of the Humane Understanding 2. Answer the Objections alledged to justifie the disbelief of Divine Doctrines that we are not able to conceive nor comprehend 1. That God is true is a Principle immediately evident not dependently upon an antecedent motive This by its native irresistible evidence is beyond all dispute and exempted from all critical Inquiries There is no Principle written in the Minds of Men with clearer Characters 'T was the saying of a wise Heathen If God would converse visibly with Men he would assume Light for a Body and have Truth for his Soul God is most jealous of the Honour of his Truth Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name Truth is the supreme Character of the Deity The Apostle builds the assurance of Christians upon the Promises and their strong Consolation upon this infallible Rock God that cannot lye From hence it follows that in supernatural Doctrines we must first consider the authority of the revealer and then the nature of Doctrines 2. God's Jurisdiction extends to our Understandings as well as to our Wills He rules our Understandings by light our Wills by empire If God did command us to believe only Truths in themselves evident our receiving them would not be an undoubted respect to his Authority but to believe his testimony without the evidence of things is an Obedience worthy of him And we are equally obliged to believe his testimony concerning the truth of things notwithstanding the reluctancy of the carnal Mind and their seeming repugnance to the natural notions of Reason as to obey his Precepts notwithstanding the reluctancy of the corrupt Will and the inclinations to forbidden things 3. God never requires our assent to supernatural things revealed in his Word but affords sufficient conviction that they are Divine Revelations When God deputed any by Commission for an extraordinary Work he always afforded a Light to discover the Commission was uncounterfeit Moses was sent from God with a Command to Pharaoh to release the Israelites from their cruel Servitude and he had the Wonder-working Rod to authorise his Commission and confirm the truth of his Message by Miracles The Divinity of the Scripture the Rule of Faith shines with that clear and strong evidence that only those whose Minds are prevented with a conceit of the impossibility of the Doctrines contained in it and perverted by their Passions can resist it Colour'd Objects are not discern'd more clearly by their Colours nor Light by its Lustre than that the Scriptures are of Divine Revelation Reason is an Essential Faculty of Man and by it we are directed
why to Believe and what things are reveal'd as objects of Faith To believe and not to understand the reason of our belief is to turn Faith into Folly and Extravagance The Men of Samaria were first induced to believe in Christ for the testimony of the woman that told them Come and see the man that has told me all that ever I did but when they heard Christ speak they said Now we believe not for thy words for we have heard and know that he is the true Saviour of the World The Understanding is convinc'd by reason of the Divinity of the Scriptures and as a pole supports a Vine but does not give Life and Vertue to its Root so Reason assists Faith in directing it to the Scriptures the Rule of it but Faith in the Mysteries of the Gospel derives its Life from God the Author of them By Reason we discover the relation order distinction and dependence of Reveal'd Truths and reject the vain opinions of Men when propos'd as Divine Oracles and the fruits of Fancy that are propos'd as Mysteries of Faith 4. God reveals himself to us in Scripture by Humane Expressions according to our Capacity of receiving the Knowledge of Divine things and we are to understand them in their apparent sense unless the precise litteral sense contains an evident Contradiction to what is certainly known by Reason and disparaging the Divine Perfections The sure Rule of interpreting them is to separate whatever is defective in them and apply them to God in the highest degree of Perfection We read of the Hands and Eyes of God in Scripture which signifie the perfection of God's Knowledge and Power they are the Organs by which Men do and know things but 't is Infinitely unworthy of God to think that the Divine Operation has need of such Instruments Thus the Communicating of the divine Nature from the Father to the Son is express'd by Generation which is the most Noble Production of one Living Creature from another especially of an Intelligent Creature with all its properties but who can declare his generation We must not conceive it with the Imperfection of Humane Generation wherein the Effect is separate from the Cause and successive to it For 't is a contradiction that God should beget a Son in his most perfect Image but he must be Eternal as the Father otherwise he would be defective in the resemblance of the first perfection of the Deity All resemblances of God in Scripture have their disparity and defects which must be separated from him But excepting such Cases the Word of God is to be understood in its proper sense For we must suppose that God speaks to us with an intention that we should understand him otherwise it were not Just to require us to believe it Our Minds could not firmly Assent to his Word but would be floating between Faith and Doubts And if God intends we should understand his Meaning how can we reconcile his Wisdom with his Will if he does not speak to us in the same sense as Men do to one another 5. We are obliged to believe supernatural Doctrines no farther than they are reveal'd God does not require our Assent to an Object beyond the Merit of it that is the degrees of its Revelation We cannot see an Object more fully than 't is visible The truth of Evangelical Mysteries is clearly reveal'd the manner of them is not discover'd To attempt the Comprehensive knowledge of them is perfectly vain for 't is Impossible Impertinent and of Dangerous Consequence 1. 'T is Impossible Supernatural Truths cannot be primarily and immediately discover'd by Reason but are only known to the Divine Mind and communicated to Created Understandings according to the pleasure of God No man hath seen God at any time the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father has declar'd him The Gospel is called the Mystery of Christ the mystery of God the Father and of Christ. Because God and Christ is the Author and Revealer of it God Contrived in the secret of his Eternal Wisdom the design of our Redemption and reveal'd it in his own time 'T is therefore call'd the Mystery of his will 'T is call'd the Mystery of Faith that is 't is received by Faith 'T is call'd the Mystery of the Kingdom of God conceal'd from the World and only known in the Church The sublime Doctrines of the Gospel it is impossible for the clearest spirits of Men to discover without special Revelation were they as pure as they are corrupt and as sincere as they are perverse This Word Mystery is never applied to the Revelation that God has made of his Wisdom in the Framing the World and in the Effects of his Providence because since the Creation it has been expos'd to the sight of all Reasonable Creatures Men were not commanded to believe in order to Salvation till by Experience they were Convinced of the Insufficiency of Reason to direct them how to be restored to the Favour of God The Apostle declares for after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe The Doctrine of the Trinity is purely supernatual for the internal distinction of the Persons in the Divine Nature by their incommunicable Characters is only proper to God The Counsels of the Divine Will are above any Created Understanding Who knows the things of a man but the spirit of a man so none knows the things of God but the Spirit of God The Angels are superior Spirits to us and excel us in sublimity and perspicacity of Understanding but they could never know the Decrees of God though in his immediate Presence but as gradually reveal'd 't is said of the Mysteries of his Counsels they desire to look into them We cannot form a Conception in our Minds but what takes its rise from sensible things 2. The attempt is Impertinent for God has reveal'd those great Mysteries sufficiently for saving Faith though not to satisfie rash Curiosity There is a knowledge of curiosity and discourse and a knowledge of doing and performance The art of Navigation requires a knowledge how to govern a Ship and what Seas are safe what are dangerous by Rocks and Sands and terrible Tempests that often surprise those who Sail in them but the knowledge of the Causes of the Ebbing and Flowing of the Sea is not necessary To believe savingly in Christ we must know that he is the Living and True God and True Man that dyed for our Redemption but 't is not necessary that we should know the manner of the Union of his two Natures 'T is prudent to Confine our inquiries to things which are possible and profitable to be known The discovery of the manner of Divine Mysteries is not suitable to the nature of Faith for 't is the evidence of things not seen the obscurity of the Object is
consistent with the certainty of the Assent to it and 't is contrary to the end of Revelation which is to humble us in the modest Ignorance of Divine Mysteries which we cannot Comprehend and to enlighten us in those things which are requisite to be known 'T is the Glory of God to conceal a matter He saveth us by the submission of Faith and not by the penetration of Reason The meanest Understanding as well as the most raised are equally capable of Salvation The light of Faith is as much below the light of Glory as 't is above the light of Nature 3. 'T is of dangerous Consequence There is an Hydropic Curiosity that swells the Mind with Pride and is thirsty after the Knowledge of things unsearchable This Curiosity has often been fatal to Faith 'T is like a man's endeavour to climb up to the inaccessible point of a Rock that is very hazardous to see the Sun in its brightness which may safely be seen from the plain Ground The searching into the unsearchable things of God's Nature and Decrees has been the occasion of many pernicious Errors 'T is like the silly Moths fluttering about the burning Light till its Wings are sing'd Beside the affecting to be Wise above what is written and the attempt to make supernatural Doctrines more receivable to Reason by insufficient Arguments weakens the Authority and Credit of Revelation the endeavour to make them more easily known makes them more hard to be believed To venture to explicate them beyond the Revelation of them in Scripture is like a man's going out of a Fortress wherein he is safe into an open Field and expose himself to the assaults of his Enemies 2. I will now consider the Objections against supernatural Doctrines 1. 'T is alledged they are irreconcilable with Reason and 't is not possible for the Understanding to believe against its own Light and Judgment In answer to this specious Objection the following particulars are to be consider'd 1. Sense Reason and Faith are the Instruments of our obtaining Knowledge Sense is previous to Reason and Reason prepares the way to Faith By our Senses we come to understand natural things by our Understandings we come to believe divine things Reason corrects the Errors of Sense Faith reforms the Judgment of Reason The Stars seem but glittering Points but Reason convinces us they are vast Bodies by measuring the distance that lessens their greatness to our sight We cannot imagine that there are Men whose Feet are directly opposite to ours and are in no danger of falling but Reason demonstrates there are Antipodes 'T is as absurd for Reason to reject divine testimony and violate the sacred respect of Faith as for Sense to contradict the clearest Principles of Reason To deny supernatural Truths because they are above our Conception and Capacity is not only against Faith but against Reason that acknowledges its own imperfection 'T is true Reason and Faith are emanations from the Father of Lights and consequently there cannot be a real repugnance between them for God cannot deny himself Errors are often contrary but Truth is always harmonious with Truth If there seem to be an opposition it proceeds not from the Light of the reasonable Mind but from the Darkness that encompasses it 'T is certain that a Proposition that contradicts right Reason the general Light of Nations that have nothing common between them but the Humane Nature cannot be true As the Doctrine of Epicurus That God was not to be worship'd because he had no need of our Service and the Popish Doctrine of Transubstantiation that imputes Contradictions to God We must distinguish between things that cannot be discovered by Reason nor comprehensively known when they are revealed and those that are contrary to Reason In Paradise Reason was an inferiour and imperfect Light Adam could not perfectly know God He dwells in Light inaccessible not only to mortal Eyes but to the immortal Angels They cannot penetrate to the centre of his Perfections The Propositions that involve a Contradiction have the plain characters of falsity but the Doctrines of the Gospel that are incomprehensible have the characters of sublimity Reason cannot measure the extent nor reach the heighth of the love of Christ that passes knowledge That supernatural Doctrines are incomprehensible now they are reveal'd is one Argument to prove they could never be invented and discovered by Men For that which naturally cannot enter into the Mind of Man cannot naturally proceed out of it 2. Since the Fall Reason is weaken'd and its Light is clouded In the narrow and low sphere of natural things how often is Reason mistaken and lost in a Labyrinth There is not a Flower a Fly a Stone but is a Mystery We cannot fully understand the vegetation of the one nor the sensation of the other nor the motion of the other Let us make a tryal of the Light of Reason upon our selves and we shall discover its defects Who can discern the vital bands wherewith the Soul and Body are combin'd By what power does the Soul represent absent Objects Sounds without Noise Colours without Tinctures Light without Clearness Darkness without Obscurity What account can be given of the admirable operations of the Soul in Dreams when the Senses are suspended from working and the Body seems to be a warm Carcass 'T is one of those Secrets that Humane Wits labours in vain to explain how it composes Discourses so just and regular as to the invention and stile which by their impression in the Memory we know were not the effects of wild Fancy but of sober Judgment and that awake and intent we could not so speedily and orderly frame 'T is as strange as that an Artificer should work more exactly with his Eyes cover'd than seeing that a Painter should draw a Face better in the dark than in open day-light That Man were totally deserted of Reason who not being able to see things that are but a just distance from his Eyes would not acknowledge that things distant from him the extent of the Horizon are beyond his sight We are finite Beings there is some proportion between our Minds and our Natures If we cannot understand our selves what folly is it to presume that we know God Canst thou by searching find out God Canst thou find out the Almighty unto Perfection It is high as Heaven what canst thou do Deeper than Hell what canst thou know The measure is longer than the Earth and broader than the Sea Who can unfold the Divine Attributes They are not confused in their unity nor divided in number they are not separable qualities but his Essence He is not only wise but Wisdom not only lives but is Life We cannot speak of some Attributes without distinction Wisdom and Power nor of others without a seeming opposition Justice and Mercy yet they are the same Divine Nature and cannot be separate but in our thoughts He is Eternal without succession with him there
be damned We cannot make Laws to be the Rule of God's Judgment but must receive them However some may flatter Erring Persons in their Security it will be found in the great Day that Infidelity in the Light of the glorious Gospel will have no Excuse before God The Doctrine of the Gospel is like the Pillar of Cloud and of Fire that was darkness to the Egyptians but inlightned the Israelites in their Passage out of Egypt 't is conceal'd from the Proud and reveal'd to the Humble The Humane Mind is imperious and turbulent and averse from submitting to God's Authority who Commands the Wise and most Understanding to yield full Assent to his Word as the meanest Capacities The Natural Man receives not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discern'd There is no proportion between the Faculty and the Object You may as well see an Angel by the Light of a Candle as see the great Mysteries of the Gospel by the Natural Mind their reality beauty and excellency so as savingly to believe them Faith is the Fruit of the Spirit who is stil'd the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation who discovers the Object and inlightens the Mind to see it and by free preventing Grace inclines the Will to embrace it The Holy Spirit alone can pull down strong holds and cast down Imaginations and every high thing that exalts it self against the knowledge of God and bring into Captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. The Spirit overcomes the Pride of the Natural Understanding by the Authority of the Revealer and inlightens the Ignorance of it by the Infallible Revelation Violence and Temporal Respects may by Terrors and Allurements make Men Hypocrites but cannot make them sincere Believers there will be a Form of Religion without and Atheism within 'T is special Grace inspires the Elect of God with Light to see Spiritual things and requires special Thankfulness Let us Humbly pray to the Father of Mercies and of Lights that he would reveal the Mysteries of his Kingdom to the Minds of Men. If the Gospel be hid 't is hid to those that are lost in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them who believe not lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine into them CHAP. VII The Power of Faith to overcome all that is opposite to our Salvation A Speculative Assent to Supernatural Truths is not Saving The Efficacy of Faith against the Temptations of the World proceeds from the Nature of its Objects and the degrees of Assent and the frequent application of them to our Hearts There is an incomparable difference between the good and evil things that are present and those that are future The Evidence and Importance of future good things and our interest in them fixes our Assent and makes it effectual Justifying Faith consider'd in its Nature and Purifying Virtue Faith in the disposals of Divine Providence is a Fundamental Principle from whence many Practical Consequences are derived The Heathens had very disparaging Conceits of God's Providence The Scripture declares that nothing happens without the knowledge the Will either permissive or approving and the Ordering Providence of God This is very influential to the Lives of Men. 4. I Will now Consider the Power and Efficacy of Faith to overcome all that is opposite to our Salvation I shall premise there is a common delusion that has a pernicious Influence into the Minds and Lives of many that those are true Believers who yield a dry and barren Assent to the Mysteries of the Gospel without the practical Belief of them They do not foment and authorise doubts by the pretence of Reason nor excite revolts in their Minds and entertain Objections against supernatural Truths but they never felt the spirit and power of Faith in raising them above the low descents of Carnal Minds and setting their Affections on things above The Love of the present World like a stupifying Wine causes in them a forgetfulness of Heaven and that which is the most dangerous Idolatry in the sight of God is seated in their Hearts The Understanding submits to divine Revelation but the Will is Rebellious against the divine Commands They believe what is necessary to believe but not what is necessary to do They are satisfied with a speculative Faith that costs nothing and will go with them to Hell for the Devils believe supernatural Truths They are rich in the Notions of Faith but poor in the Precepts of Obedience Now in the Language of Scripture saving Faith and knowledge of divine things are productive of such Affections and Actions as are correspondent to the Nature of the things believed If the Head be inlightned and the Heart in Darkness if one professes never so fully his Assent and Adherence to all the Articles of Faith and the Beams of Faith are not visible in his Conversation he is an Infidel He that sayes I know Christ or which is Equivalent believe in him and keeps not his Commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him Every habitual Sinner is an Unbeliever Unfeigned Faith receives the Word of God in all its parts Doctrines Commands Promises not only as Infallibly true but Superlatively good and precious and intirely embraces them with a despising of all things that may come in Competition with them and expresses the esteem and love of them in the practise The two inseparable properties of Saving Faith are 't is Humble and Submissive to divine Revelation 't is Dutiful and Obedient to divine Precepts This being premis'd I will consider the power of Faith proceeding 1. From the Nature of the Objects upon which 't is exercis'd 2. From the degrees of its Assent and Adherence to them 3. From the serious and frequent Application of the Objects to our Heart 1. From the Nature of the Objects upon which 't is exercis'd now between them and the most enticeing good things and the most fearful evil in this present state there is an incomparable difference The Apostle tells us This is the victory that overcomes the World even our Faith Victory supposes a Fight and a Fight supposes an Enemy The Enemy is declar'd the VVorld including the Men of the VVorld and the things of it This Enemy is in Combination with the Devil and the Flesh. He is stil'd the Prince of this World that manages the Temptations of it for the ruine of Souls He tryes his poisons according to the dispositions of Men in hopes of working in them He presents to some a charming Cup to intoxicate them with the pleasures of Sin he tempts others with things of Lustre with Titles of Honour and Dignity that dazle their Minds that they cannot give a true and safe judgment of things he allures others with Riches And as heat is doubled by reflexion so he enforces his
them from the power of Sin The wise observer tells us I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets and her hands are as bands whoso pleases God shall escape from her but the sinner shall be taken by her Behold this have I found saith the preacher counting one by one to find out the account but I find not one man of a thousand have I found but a woman among all these have I not found 'T is astonishing that for a short dream of pleasure men should despise Heaven and Hell what is most desireable and most fearful How just is the reproach mixt with Compassion and Indignation How long ye simple ones will you love simplicity and fools hate knowledge 'T is worth the inquiry how men are sottishly seduced to live unchastly and intemperately against the reason and rest of their Minds 1. The great Temptation to Sin is the love of Pleasure accordingly the degrees of sensual Pleasure being more intense in those carnal Faculties that are for the preserving and propagating Life especially when heightned by the carnal Fancy the love of the Members prevails against the love of the Mind 'T is said of unclean persons whose Eyes are full of the Adulteress they cannot cease from Sin they cannot dis-entangle themselves from the embraces of the circling Serpent 2. Carnal pretences are made use of to defend or at least excuse the sin of Intemperance which makes it more easily indulg'd and pernicious in effect Men if it were possible would sin without sin without discovering the guilt and turpitude of it that they may enjoy their pleasures without accusing recoiling thoughts which will turn the sweetest Wine into Vinegar Now since Meats and Drinks are necessary for our vital support and the measure is uncertain and various according to the dispositions and capacities of mens bodies Intemperate persons feed high and drink deep without reflection or remorse and pretend 't is for the Refreshment of Nature 3. Fleshly Lusts steal into the Throne by degrees An Excess of Wickedness strikes at first sight with Horror No Prodigal design'd to waste a great Estate in a day yet many from immense Riches have fall'n into extream Poverty This Expence is for his Pleasure this for his Honour this will not be ruinous thus proceeding by degrees till all be squander'd away he becomes voluntarily poor An Intemperate Person begins with lesser measures and is not frequently overtaken Conscience for a time resists and suspends the entireness of his consent to the Temptation He drinks too much for his Time for his Health and Estate but he will not totally quench his Reason Yet by degrees he becomes hardned and freely indulges his Appetite till he is drown'd in Perdition A Lascivious person begins with impure Glances tempting Words and Actions and proceeds to unclean mixtures 4. Sensual Lusts stupify Conscience they kill the Soul in the Eye and extinguish the directive and reflexing Powers Wine and Women take away the Heart that 't is neither vigilant nor tender Chastity and Temperance joined with Prayer to the Father of Lights clarifie and brighten the Mind and make it receptive of sanctifying Truths but carnal predominant Passions sully and stain the Understanding by a natural Efficiency and by a moral and meritorious Efficiency When the Spirits that are requisite for intellectual operations are wasted for the use of the Body the Mind is indisposed for the severe exercise of Reason Although the dispositions of the Body are not directly operative upon the Spirit yet in their present state of union there is a strange simpathy between the Constitution of the one and the Conceptions and Inclinations of the other Luxury and Lust fasten a rust and foulness on the Mind that it cannot see Sin in its odious Deformity nor Vertue in its unattaintable Beauty They raise a thick mist that darkens Reason that it cannot discern approaching dangers The Judicative Faculty is by the righteous Judgment of God impaired and corrupted that it does not seriously consider the descent and worth of the Soul its duty and accounts for all things done in the Body but as if the Spirit in Man were for no other use but to animate the organs of Intemperance and Lust they follow their Pleasures with greediness 'T is said of the young Man enticed by the flatteries of the Harlot that he goes after her like an Ox crown'd with Garlands that insensibly goes to be sacrific'd He looks to the present Pleasure without considering the Infamy the Poverty the Diseases the Death and Damnation that are the just consequents of his Sin The sensual are secure The effects of Carnal Lusts were visible in the darkness of Heathenism Lusts alienates the thoughts and desires of the Soul from Converse with God His Justice makes him terrible to the Conscience and Holiness distastful to the Affections of the unclean We read of the Israelites they were so greedy of the Onions and Garlick and Flesh-pots of Egypt that they despised the Food of Angels the Manna that drop'd from Heaven Till the Soul be defecate from the dregs of Sense and refin'd to an Angelick Temper it can never taste how good the Lord is and will not forsake sensual Enjoyments The conversion of the Soul proceeds from the inlightened Mind and the renewed Will ravish'd with Divine Delights that overcome all the Pleasures of Sin There are for our caution recorded in Scripture two fearful Examples of the inchanting Power of Lust. Sampson inticed by his Lust became a voluntary slave to a wretched Harlot that first quench'd the Light of his Mind and then the Light of his Body and expos'd him to the cruel scorn of his Enemies Solomon by indulging his sensual Appetite lost his Wisdom and was induced by his Idolatrous Concubines to adore Stocks and Stones and became as very an Idol as those he worship'd that have Eyes and see not Ears and hear not He rebell'd against God who had made him the richest and wisest King in the World and miraculously revealed his Goodness to him Dreadful Consequence of Sensuality 5. There is a special Reason that makes the recovery of the sensual to Sobriety and Purity to be almost impossible The internal Principle of Repentance is the inlightened Conscience reflecting upon past Sins with heart-breaking sorrow and detestation This is declared by God concerning Israel Then shall ye remember your evil ways and your doings not good and shall loath your selves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations The bitter remembrance of Sin is the first step to reformation Now there are no Sinners more averse and uncapable of such reflections than those who have been immerst in the Delights of Sense The unclean wretch remembers the charming Objects and exercise of his Lusts with Pleasure and when his instrumental Faculties are disabled by Sickness or Age for the gross acts he repeats them in his Fancy renews his Guilt and the Sin
Lawgiver and Judge to Call them to an Account for their Actions can doubt of his Eternal Existence Now that there is a God being proved the necessary Consequence from that Principle is that he must be honour'd and serv'd according to his own Will and that it becomes his Wisdom and Goodness to reveal his Will to Men the Rule of their Duty and that this be done in the most instructive and permanent way in Writing that is less liable to Corruption than Oral Tradition and that the Holy Scripture has in it such Conspicuous Characters of its descent from Heaven besides the most undoubted Testimony that it was written by Men Divinely Inspired and Infallible that without violating the Rules of sound Discourse we must yield our Assent to its Divine Authority and supernatural Doctrines reveal'd in it I shall not here amplifie and illustrate these particulars having in some Discourses formerly publish'd of the Existency of God and the Immortality of the Soul and the Divinity of the Christian Religion manifested how desperate the Cause of the Atheists and Deists is to unprejudic'd Minds Now though the deduction specified be according to the true rule of Ratiocination yet there are some that account it a slavery to fix their belief upon any Authority but will be free in believing as they are in their actions I will therefore briefly produce some proofs of the Truth of Christian Religion that carry an uncontroulable Evidence in them The abolishing Idolatry in the Pagan World in the time foretold by the Prophets is a palpable proof that Christian Religion was from the true God The Instruments of this great Work were a few Fishermen that had neither Learning nor Arms nor Treasures Patience was their Strength Poverty their Choice Disgrace their Honour that without any Force but of Illumination and Perswasion of Humility and Charity and enduring the most terrible Sufferings they should vanquish the Pride of Philosophers the Tyrannous power of Princes the Rebellious Opposition of Mens Carnal Lusts is not Conceivable without the assistance of Divine Strength that convinc'd the most obstinate Enemies that the Doctrine was Divine by the Miracles done in Confirmation of it Besides that which the wise Men in all Ages were searching for that is the perfection of the Law of Nature at first engraven in the Hearts of Men by the Author of it but in vain for although Philosophy affords some notices of Good and Evil sufficient to check many notorious Vices yet 't is not sufficient to direct Men in their universal Duty towards God others and themselves but the Gospel is an instructive Light of our full Duty it speaks to the Heart and changes its Thoughts and Affections and reforms the Life according to the pure and perfect Rule reveal'd in it Now could an Imposture produce such a perfection of Vertue in the wicked World The true interpretation of the Moral Law in the Gospel is from God alone Vâ—x hominem non sonat Could such a change be made without visible Miracles If the Christian Religion was planted and propagated without the Confirmation of Miracles it were a transcendent Miracle And though we saw not the Miracles done by the Apostles yet we see the permanent effects of them in the belief and Lives of True Christians Infidels are apt to reply if they saw Miracles performed to assure them of the Divinity of the Christian Religion they would believe it 'T is a vain pretence that Men would submit to the power of God declar'd by Miracles who deny his Authority made known in that eminent degree of Evidence in his Word Abraham answer'd the Rich Man who desir'd a Messenger from the Dead might be sent to Convert his Brethren They have Moses and the Prophets and if they hear not them they would not be perswaded though one rose from the dead In short those who resist so strong a Light as shines in the Scripture the delusion of their Mind is from their depraved Hearts Speculative Truths obtain the present and easie Assent of the Mind but Truths directive of Practice if opposite to Mens Lusts though their Evidence be unexceptionable yet the carnal Mind is very averse from receiving them This account is given of the Pharisees Infidelity they repented not that they might believe in him When the Will is ingag'd in the love of Sin and Rebels against the Sanctity and Severity of the Gospel Commands 't is congruous to reject it The corrupt Affections hinder the due application of the Mind to consider the motives of Credibility and stain the Mind that it does not sincerely judge of them Though Infidels pretend to be the only discoursing Wits of the Age to have the Oracles of Reason in their Breasts and despise others as Captives of a blind Belief yet their Folly is palpable and penal for having provoked God by their Infidelity they are left to the power of their Lusts and of the Tempter and sink deeper into darkness and become more hardned and presumptuous Those who Embark with these distracted Pilots in such dangerous Seas have a mind to perish for ever 2. Hyprocrisie is a Spiritual Pollution In its Theological Consideration it implyes a Counterfeiting Religion and Vertue an affectation of the Name join'd with a disaffection to the Thing The having a form of Godliness with denying the power of it Accordingly 1. Every Titular Christian who professes Subjection to Christ and lives in Habitual Disobedience to his Commands is an Hypocrite The actions are the incarnate issues of the Heart wherein they are form'd and the clearest discovery of it A Rebellious Course of Sin declares a person to be an Infidel notwithstanding his owning Christ to be our King His Life is a continual Lye He vainly presumes that God is his Father when his Actions declare him to be a Child of the Devil 2. Hypocrisie in a stricter sense is when Men presume their spiritual condition to be good upon false grounds 'T is observable no Man is a Hypocrite to himself out of choice he does not deliberately deceive himself But one may be a Hypocrite without his knowledge by Ignorance and Error He may think his inclination to some Vertues and his aversion from some Vices to be Divine Grace But sympathies and antipathies proceed often from Natural Temper and not from the renewed Mind and Will from Judgment and Choice A tame Dog is as truly a beast as a wild Wolf A Man that performs only some good things and abstains from some evil from natural Conscience is as truly in the state of polluted Nature as one that is wholly careless of his Duty and freely indulges every carnal Lust. One may be exact in light matters as the Pharisees in tithing Mint and Cummin and neglect substantial Duties he may be zealous in the outward parts of Religious Worship and neglect Righteousness and Mercy and think to compensate his defects in the Duties of one Table by strict observing the Duties
it are clear and pure directing us in our universal Duty the Promises are precious encouraging us by the prospect of the Reward the Threatenings terrible to preserve us from Sin There is an instrumental fitness in the Word preached to perfect the Image of God in us for the manner of conveying the Revelation to us has a congruity to work upon the subject to whom 't is revealed The first insinuation of Sin was by the Ear the first inspiration of Grace is by it Through the Ear was the entrance of Death 't is now the gate of Life In Heaven we shall know God by sight now by hearing When a Minister of the Gospel is inlightened from Heaven and zealous for the Salvation of Souls he is fitter for this Work than if an Angel were a ministring Spirit in this sense and imployed in this holy Office For he that Preaches has the same interest in the Doctrine declar'd by him his everlasting Happiness is nearly concern'd and therefore is most likely to affect others When a holy fire is kindled in the Breast it will inflame the Lips the Mind convinces the Mind and the Heart perswades the Heart But we must consider that as the Instrument cannot effect that for which 't is made without 't is directed and applyed for that end so without a superiour influence of the Holy Spirit that gives vital Power to the preaching of the Word 't is without efficacy What our Saviour speaks of the Natural Life is applicable to the Spiritual Man lives not by Bread alone but by every Word that proceeds from God's mouth A Minister with all his Reason and Rhetorick cannot turn a Soul from Sin to Holiness without the Omnipotent Operation of the Spirit The Apostle tells the Thessalonians that the Gospel came not to them in Word only but also in Power and in the Holy Ghost The Gospel then comes only in Word when it pierces no further than the Ear that is the sense to try Words and distinguish different Sounds and Voices But the Truth of God directed and animated by the Spirit doth not stop at the Ear the door of the Soul but passes into the Understanding and the Heart that make a change so real and great in the qualities of Men as is express'd by substantial productions 'T is therefore said We are begotten and born again by the incorruptible seed of the Word The Word becomes effectual for the increase of Holiness when 't is mix'd with Faith which binds the Conscience to entire Obedience 'T is the Word of God our King Law-giver and Judge the Rule of our present Duty and of future Judgment in the great day of decision The Divine Law is universal and unchangable and the Duties of it are not necessary for some and needless for others but must be obeyed without partiality notwithstanding the repugnance of the Carnal Passions When 't is seriously believed and considered the hearers are induced to receive it with preparation and resolution of yielding to it There is no Truth more evident nor injur'd than this that perfect Obedience is due to the Will of God declar'd in his Word This all profess in the general but contradict in particulars when a Temptation crosses the Precept Now the first act of Obedience to the Truth is the believing it with so stedfast an assent wrought by the Spirit that it purifies the Heart and reforms the whole Man 2. With Faith there must be joyn'd an earnest desire to grow in Holiness This is declar'd by St. Peter As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby In the Natural Life there is an inseparable Appetite of Food to maintain it the inward sense of its necessities causes a hunger and thirst after suitable supplies to preserve and improve it This is experimented in every one that is born of the Spirit they attend and apply the Word of God to them not merely to prevent the sharp reflections of Conscience for the impious neglect of their Duty for that proceeds from Fear not from Desire but to grow in Knowledge and Holiness not in an aiery flashy Knowledge that is only fruitful to increase Guilt and Punishment but substantial and saving Knowledge that is influential upon practice Hearing is in order to doing and doing is the way to Happiness 'T is not the forgetful hearer but the doer of the Word shall be blessed in his deed The bare knowledge of Evil does no hurt nor the bare knowledge of our Duty without practice does no Good Feeding without digesting the Food and turning it into Blood and Spirits affords no Nourishment nor Strength The most diligent hearing and comprehensive knowledge of our Duty without practice is not profitable The enemy of our Souls is content that Divine Truths should be in our Understandings if he can intercept their passage into our Hearts and Conversations He practices over continually the first Temptation to induce us by Guile to choose the Tree of Knowledge before the Tree of Life We are therefore commanded to be doers of the Word not hearers only deceiving our own Souls 3. That the Spiritual Life may be increased by the Word it must be laid up in the Mind and Memory and hid in the Heart David says I have hid thy Word in my Heart that I may not sin against thee His Affection to the Word caused his continual Meditation of it that it might be a living Root of the Fruits of Holiness in their season If there were the same care and diligence in remembring and observing the Rules of Life prescrib'd by the Wisdom of God in the Scriptures as Men use in remembring and practising Rules for the recovery of the Health of their Bodies and 't is justly requisite there should be more since the Life of the Soul infinitely excels the Life of the Body how holy and blessed would they be The Advice of the Roman Physician that is conducive for the Health of the Body is applicable to the Soul After a full Meal abstain from laborious Actions that the heat of the Spirits may be concentered in the Stomach for Digestion otherwise if diverted and imployed in Labour the Stomach will be filled with Crudities Thus after hearing the Word our thoughts should not be scattered in the World but we should recollect and revolve it in our Minds that it may be digested into practice 'T is said of the Virgin Mary She kept thâ—se sayings and pondered them in her heart There are powerful Motives to ingage us to a conscientious attendance upon this Duty Our Saviour tells us He that hears me that is with subjection of Soul hath Eternal Life And in one Instance he has declar'd how much approv'd and acceptable it was to him For when Martha was imployed about entertaining him and Mary was attentive to receive his Instructions he said Mary has chose the better part that shall not be taken from her His feeding Mary was more