which flows from different Gifts of God which depend not on our selves This being premised in order to prevent my being mistaken I proceed and determine 1. That Illumination depends not upon a Man's outward Fortune There are indeed several sorts of Knowledge which we can never arrive at without much leisure and much expence And in order to support the one and enjoy the other it is requisite that we be Masters of a good Fortune Hence is that Observation of the Author of Ecclesiasticus Chap. 38.24 The Wisdom of a Learned Man cometh by opportunity of leisure and he that has little business shall become wise And therefore in the following Verses he excludes the Husbandman the Statuary the Engraver the Smith the Potter and all consequently whose Time and Mind is taken up in the Labours of their Profession and in making the necessary Provision for Life these I say he excludes from all Pretentions to Wisdom How can he get Wisdom that holdeth the Plough and that glorieth in the Goad whose talk is of Bullocks c. But this is not the Wisdom that I am enquiring after and which constitutes Illumination That consists not in the Laws of our Earthly but Heavenly Country Not in Arts and Sciences which relate to the Body and minister to a temporal Life but in those Divine Truths which purifie the Soul and minister to an Eternal one no not in Notional Improvements of the Mind but in Spiritual and Vital ones And therefore the Husbandman and the Artist the Mechanick and the Trader are as capable of this sort of Wisdom as the Man of Office Mony or Quality There needs no Wealth to render one the Child of Light and of the Day There is the Book of Nature the Book of Revelation both the Books of God both writ throughout with glorious Illuminating Truths These lie wide open to every honest Christian The Being and Nature of God the Mediation of Jesus and a Judgment to come the Nature and Necessity of Holiness are fully revealed and unanswerably proved And though every honest Man be not able to discover all the Arguments on which they stand yet may he discover enough and what is more he may have an inward vital sensible proof of them he may feel the Power the Charms of Holiness experiment its Congruity and Loveliness to the Human Soul and observe a thousand Demonstrations of its serviceableness to the Honour of God and the good of Mankind He may have a a full convictive sense of the Manifestation of the Divine Perfections in the great work of our Redemption and the excellent Tendency of it may be so palpable and conspicuous to him as to leave no room for Doubts or Scruples But besides all this there is a Voice within there is a Divine Teacher and Instructor which will ever abide with him and lead him into all necessary Truths All which is implied in those words of our Lord If any Man will do his will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self Joh. 7.17 2. Extraordinary Natural parts such as Sagacity or Acuteness of Judgment strength of Memory the liveliness of Imagination are not necessary to Illumination The Gospel as I remember takes no notice of these Such is the beauty of Holiness that it requires rather purity of Heart then quickness of Apprehension to render us enamoured of it And the very same thing may be said of the Power and Energy of all Gospel Motives and of the Proofs and Evidences too of Divine Truths To convince and affect us there is no need of Sagacity and Penetration but Probity and Sincerity However I have two or three Reflections to make here which may not be unuseful For tho' Acuteness and Retention by which I mean quickness in discerning and firmness in preserving Truth be commonly accounted Natural Parts and generally are so yet I think where the one or the other are most defective they may be much helped and wonderfully improved To which end I remark First That those defects of Vnderstanding or Memory which some are wont to accuse themselves of in Spiritual things are with more Justice to be imputed to want of concern and affection for such things than to any incapacity of Nature 'T is plain we easily understand and easily remember what we desire and love And where-ever we follow the Impulse or Conduct of strong Inclinations we seldom fail of excelling Let us therefore take care that our Hearts be set upon the things of God and we shall soon see that our Judgment and Memory will no more fail us here then in those worldly Interests and Pleasures which we are most intent upon Secondly as to Memory it depends very much upon the Perspicuity Regularity and Order of our Notions Many complain of want of Memory when the defect is in their Judgment And others while they grasp at all retain nothing In order then to relieve this infirmity of Memory it were an excellent way to confine our search and Meditation to a few Objects and to have these clearly and methodically handled A Catechetical way of expounding and asserting the Rudiments of our Faith if done as it ought to be is of great service to Persons of all Capacities but especially to those of meaner For thus they may not only be enriched with the Knowledge of the most useful things and of the grounds on which our Obligation either to Belief or Practice is bottom'd but also may be furnished with general Principles of Reason by which they may steer their Judgment in all cases and with certain Heads of Faith and Morals to which they may be able to reduce most of what they read or hear Thirdly 't is with the Understanding as with the Eye of the Body One sees further off and in a fainter Light but another sees as well with regard to all the uses of Life who yet requires that the Object should be nearer and the Light better Men of slow Capacities must not be Daring or Precipitate in passing their Sentence and forming their Notions They must examine whether the Matters they enquire after be not too remote and obscure whether the Object may be brought nearer and placed in a better Light or whether they may be furnished with Telescopes or Microscopes fit for them If not they must quit the search of such Truths as improper and unnecessary for them By which means they will at least avoid being deceived or perplexed which is no small advantage To be enriched with a kind of Vniversal Knowledge is a great thing but I doubt too great for Man Next to this is to be endowed with a Knowledge of necessary and important Truths and to be freed from Errors and Perplexity in Matters of any moment And methinks it were no great excess of Modesty or Humility for Man to be content with this 3. There is no great need of acquired Learning in order to true Illumination Our Saviour
Mind but never benefit it but there are others which are in the Language of Solomon like Health to the Navel and Marrow to the Bones Wisdom and Vertue Life and Honour the Favour of God and Man attend them where e're they dwell And these are the Truths which Illuminate Truths that are Active and Fruitful that make us wise and good perfect and happy such as we have a mighty Interest in such as have a strong Influence upon us such as give a new Day to the understanding and new Strength and Liberty to the Will such as raise and exalt our Affections and render the whole Man more rational more steady more constant more uniform These are the Truths which make Men great and modest in Prosperity erect and couragious in Adversity always content with this World yet alway full of the Hopes of a better Serene Calm and well assured in the present state of their Souls and yet thirsting after Perfection Maturity and the absolute Consummation of Righteousness in the World to come Now the Truths that effect all this are all reducible to those which I have mentioned under the former Head For in those we find all that is necessary to Life and Godliness to Vertue and Glory in those we find all that is necessary to raise and support true Magnanimity to enlarge and free the Mind and to add Strength and Courage to it For what can more certainly promote all this than Immortality and Glory What can be a surer Foundation for the Hope of both to rest on than the Favour of God himself And what can more effectually reconcile and ingratiate us with God than sincere universal Righteousness and the Mediation of his dearly Beloved Son 3. The Third Character of Illuminating Truth is that they are Pleasant and Agreeable to the Soul Hence it is that the Royal Psalmist pronounces the Word of God sweeter than the Honey and the Honey Comb that he ascribes to it Delight and Joy For he tell us that it rejoyces the Heart that it enlightens the Eyes And accordingly we find the true Servants of God not only continually blessing and praising God in the Temple but magnifying him by Psalms and Hymns in their Prisons and rejoycing in the midst of Tribulation But when I reckon Pleasure and Delight amongst the Fruits of Illumition I must add that there is a vast difference between the Fits and Flashes of Mirth and the serenity of a Fixt and Habitual Delight between the Titillations of Sense and the solid Joys of the Mind and lastly between the Pleasures of Fancy and of Reason And when I say Illumination consists in the Knowledge of pleasant and agreeable Truths I mean it of rational Pleasure an habitual Tranquility of the Mind And then the Matter is beyond Question Whatever Truths do contribute to promote this the Study and Contemplation of them must be our true Wisdom Joy when 't is solid and rational does enlarge and exalt the Mind of Man 'T is as it were Health to the Navel and Marrow to the Bones it renders us more thankful to God more kind and courteous to Man 'T is an excellent Preparation to invite more Plentifully Influxes of the Spirit of God Hence did Elijah call for a Musical Instrument when he desired to Prophesie And we find the Company of Prophets rejoycing with Hymns Musick and Dances all outward Testimonies of the inward Transports and Ravishment of their Minds And as I am perswaded that that which distinguishes a Godly sorrow from a Worldly or Impious one Repentance and Contrition from the Agonies and Perplexities of Dispair is the peace and tranquility which attends it so am I perswaded that God does press and invite us to Mourning and Sorrow for Sin for this Reason not excluding others because it naturally leads on to Peace and Joy A soft and tender Sorrow dissipating the Fears and Distresses of Guilt like mild and fruitful Showers that do lay Storms In a word there is no such powerful Antidote against Sin nor spur to Holy Industry as Holy Pleasure Pious Joy or Spiritual Peace and Tranquility This is a Partaking or Anticipating the powers of the World to come and the mightiest Corroboration of every thing that is good in us The Study then of such Truths is true Wisdom And Illumination thus far will consist in quitting those Errors which beget Melancholy Superstition Desperation and in such Truths as enlarge our view of the Divine Perfections and exhibit to us a nearer Presence of his Goodness and Glory Such again as unfold the Dignity of Human Nature and the wise and gracious Ends of our Creation Such Lastly as extend our Prospect and enlarge our Hopes support our Frailties and excite our Vigour 4. The last property of those Truths in the Knowledge of which Illumination consists is that they are such as procure us a Reward If we reflect upon those three Heads under which I ranged those Truths which Illuminated the Gentile and Jewish World we shall easily discern how well they fit this Character They fill the Mind with Joy and Peace and make it abound in Hope they Purge the Man from his natural Corruption and fortifie the Mind against such Impressions from outward Good or Evil in this World as disquiet and torment the Sinner they procure him the Protection of God's Providence and the Assistance of his Spirit in this Life and they invite him to hope for Glories and Pleasures in another far above any thing that the Heart of Man can conceive God is the God of Hope He has all Fulness and Sufficiency in himself And therefore Blessed must all they be who have the Lord for their God Jesus is the Fountain of all Consolation He is made unto us of God Wisdom and Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption Happy is he that does rejoyce always and glory in Him Righteousness is a state of Health and Strength of Perfection and Beauty of Peace and Tranquility of Rest and Hope Blessed are they who are possessed of it who are made free from Sin and become Servants of God who have their Fruit unto Holiness and the end everlasting Life Such are already past from Death to Life for the Spirit of Life and Holiness of God and Glory rests upon them This is the Character that distinguishes Gospel Knowledge from all other sorts of Knowledge No knowledge of Arts or Sciences and much less the most exquisite knowledge of all the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Darkness can pretend to an Eternal Reward A short and impure Pleasure and a transcient Interest is all that this sort of Knowledge can bestow and very often instead of Pleasure and Profit it requites its Disciples with Pain and Trouble The Gospel only contains those Truths which confer Life and Immortality on those that Believe and Obey them 'T is the Gospel alone that teaches us how we are to gain the Love and Favour of God and 't is God alone who Rules and Governs
dung and dross in comparison of him Can he in one word ever be seduced to renounce and hate Religion who has had so long an Experience of the Beauty and of the Pleasure of it Good Habits when they are grown up to Perfection and Maturity seem to me as natural as 't is possible Evil ones should be And if so 't is no less difficult to extirpate the One then the Other And I think I have the Scripture on my side in this Opinion Does the Prophet Jeremy demand Can the Ethiopian change his Skin or the Leopard his Spots then may you that are accustomed to do Evil learn to do Well Jer. 13.23 St. John on the other hand does affirm Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin for his Seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God 1 Ep. 3.9 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not v. 6. These are the Grounds of Assurance with respect of the time to come As to Personal and Peremptory Predestination to Life and Glory 't is at least a controverted Point and therefore unfit to be laid as the Foundation of Assurance But suppose it were granted I see not which way it can effect our present enquiry since the wisest amongst those who stickle for it advise all to Govern themselves by the general Promises and Threats of the Gospel to look upon the Fruits of Righteousness as the only solid proof of a state of Grace and if they be under the Dominion of any Sin not to presume upon Personal Election but to look upon themselves as in a state of Damnation till they be recovered out of it by Repentance Thus far all sides agree and this I think is abundantly enough for here we have room enough for Joy and Peace and for Caution too room enough for Confidence and for Watchfulness too The Romanists indeed will not allow us to be certain of Salvation Certitudine fidei cui non potest subesse falsum with such a Certainty as that with which we entertain an Article of Faith in which there is no room for Error i. e. we are not so sure that we are in the Favour of God as we are or may be that there is a God We are not so sure that we have a title to the Merits of Christ as we are or may be that Jesus is the Christ Now if this assertion be confined to that Assurance which regards the time to come as I think it generally is and do not deny Assurance in General but only certain Degrees or Measures of it then there is nothing very absurd or intolerable in it For a less Assurance then that which this Doctrine excludes will be sufficient to secure the Pleasure and Tranquility of the Perfect Man But if this assertion be design'd against that Assurance which regards our present State then I think it is not sound nor agreeable either to Reason Scripture or Experience For first the Question being about a matter of Fact 't is in vain to argue that cannot be which does appear manifestly to have been And certainly they who rejoyced in Christ with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory were as fully perswaded that they were in a State of Grace and Salvation as they were that Jesus was Risen from the Dead Secondly 't is one thing to ballance the Strength and Degrees of Assurance another to ballance the Reasons of it For it is very possible that Assurance may be stronger where the Reason of it may not be so clear and evident as where the Assurance is less Thus for Example the evidence of Sense seems to most learned Men to be stronger then that of Faith And yet through the assistance of the Spirit a Man may embrace a Truth that depends upon Revelation with as much confidence and certainty as one depending upon Sense And so it may be in the case of Assurance The Spirit of God may by its Concurrence raise our Assurance as high as he pleases although the Reason on which it be built should not be Divine and Infallible but meerly Moral and subject at least to a possibility of Error But Thirdly Why should not the certainty I have concerning my Present State be as Divine and Infallible as that I have concerning an Article of Faith If the Premises be Infallible why should not the Conclusion He that Believes and Repents is in a State of Grace is a Divine an Infallible Proposition and why may not this other I Believe and Repent be equally Infallible though not equally Divine What Faith and Repentance is is revealed and therefore there is no room for my being here mistaken Besides I am assisted and guided in the Tryal of my Self by the Spirit of God So that the truth of this Proposition I Believe and Repent depends partly upon the evidence of Sense and I may be as sure of it as of what I do or leave undone partly upon the evidence of inward Sensation or my Consciousness of my own Thoughts and I may be as sure of it as I can be of what I love or hate rejoyce or grieve for And lastly it depends upon the evidence of the Spirit of God which assists me in the Examination of my Self according to those Characters of Faith and Repentance which he hath himself revealed And when I conclude from the two former Propositions that I am in a State of Grace he confirms and ratifies my Inference And now let any one tell me what kind of certainty that is that can be greater than this I have taken this pains to set the Doctrine of Assurance in a clear Light because it is the great Spring of the Perfect Man's Comfort and Pleasure the source of his Strength and Joy And this puts me in mind of that other fruit of Perfection which in the beginning of this Chapter I promised to insist on which is Its Subserviency to our Happiness in this Life That Happiness increases in proportion with Perfection cannot be denied unless we will at the same time deny the Happiness of a Man to exceed that of an Infant or the Happiness of an Angel that of Man Now this truth being of a very great Importance and serving singly instead of a thousand Motives to Perfection I will consider it impartially and as closely as I can Happiness and Pleasure are generally thought to be only two words for the same thing Nor is this very remote from truth for let but Pleasure be solid and lasting and I cannot see what more is wanting to make Man Happy The best way therefore to determin how much Perfection contributes to our Happiness is to examin how much it contributes to our Pleasure If with the Epicurean we think Indolence our supream Happiness and define Pleasure by the absence of Pain then I am sure the Perfect Man will have the best claim to it He surely is freest from the Mistakes and Errors from the Passions and Follies that embroil Human Life he creates
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
all our sinful or vain desires devote our selves to the Service of Jesus and learn to expect Happiness from nothing else but the Merits and the Imitation of his Cross So profound is the Wisdom of this Institution that it evidently speaks God the Author of it and proclaims the too common neglect of it in most parts of this Nation an in-excusable Sin and Folly 3. A Third end of Instrumental Duties of Religion is the raising and keeping up Holy and Devout Affections I know not why Passion is so commonly undervalued and disparaged in Religion unless they who thus treat it mean nothing by it but a short-liv'd and superficial commotion of the Mind which leaves no print or relish behind it and is presently succeeded by Sin and Folly Holy Passion is the vigour and strength of the Soul 't is the state and frame of the Mind when it is throughly moved and affected And therefore to form to ones self Religion destitute of Passion is little better than to content ones self with one that is lazy lukewarm and lifeless And though there be some Tempers very unapt to be moved yet 't is hard to imagine how even these can be wrought up to a Resolution or that Resolution be supported and continued without their being affected so throughly as to feel either a real Passion or something very nearly approaching one 'T is an excellent Frame of Spirit when the Soul is easily elevated and transported into Holy Passion And I find that all those Vertues or rather Acts of Vertue which are described to the Life and which are by all judg'd most Perfect and Lovely have most of Passion in them How warm and Passionate was the Love of David for his God! What Flame what vehemence of Desire was he moved by when he cries out Psal 42.1 2. As the Heart panteth after the water-brooks so panteth my Soul after thee O God My Soul thirsteth for God for the living God What awful Concussions and Agitations of Spirit did he feel when he thus describes his Fear My Flesh trembleth for fear of thee and I am afraid of thy Judgments Psal 119.120 What afflictions of Soul what tenderness of Heart do we meet with in the Repentance of St. Peter when He went forth and wept bitterly Of Mary Magdalen or whoever that Woman in Luk. 7. was when she washed the Feet of our Saviour with her Tears and wiped them with the Hairs of her Head And of the Royal Psalmist when he watered his Couch with his Tears Psal 6.6 Nor were the Pleasures of Assurance less sensible and vehement then the sorrows of Repentance when the first Christians rejoyced with Joy unspeakable and Hopes full of Glory Shall I here add that Holy Indignation against Sin that vehement desire of making some Reparation for it which is the effect of Godly Sorrow that Zeal and Fervency of Spirit in the Service of God which is the highest Character of Perfection it self Shall I call these Passions I must not for though they have the heat and agitation of Passion they have in them the firmness and steadiness of an Habit. And I wish with all my Heart that all those other excellent Affections of Soul which I before named could be rendered Natural and Habitual The nearer we come to this undoubtedly the Perfecter I doubt Mortality is incapable of any such height But the more frequent as well as the more vehement and fervent the better certainly For great is the Force and Vertue of Holy Passion the flame of Love refines our Nature and Purifies it from all its Dross the Tears of a Godly Sorrow extinguish all our carnal and worldly Lusts and the Agitations of Fear preserve the chastity and purity of the Soul 'T is plain then that our Religion ought to be animated by Holy Passions that the more frequent and natural these grow the more Perfect we are that being the most excellent frame of Spirit when we are most apt to be sensibly and throughly affected by Divine Truths By what Means we may attain to this is now briefly to be considered 'T is certain that great and Important wonderful and glorious Truths will not fail to affect us and that throughly unless Lust or Infidelity have render'd us stupid and impenetrable And that Gospel Truths are such is no doubt at all let the Conviction be full the Representation lively and the Truth will do its work 'T is for want of such circumstances and such sensible Notions of an Object as may strike the Imagination for want of close and particular Applications when Divine Truths do not move us This now does not only call us to the frequent Meditation of the most Affecting Subjects the Majesty and Omnipresence of God the Sufferings of Christ Death and Judgment Heaven and Hell but it shews also how to model and form our Meditations that they prove not cold and sluggish Let the Object of our Thoughts be described by the most sensible Images or Resemblances let it be clad with the most natural circumstances let it be made as particular as it can by fixing its Eye upon us and pointing its Motion towards us but above all and in the first place let the Proof of it be clear and strong Prayer is an Exercise very apt to move the Passion The Mind having disengaged it self from all Earthly and Bodily Affections is prepared for the impression of Truth and the Spirit of God it draws nearer into the Presence of God and the sense of this sheds an awful Reverence upon it it has a clearer calmer and more serious View of Divine Things then when it is obscured and disturbed by worldly Objects In a word Meditation is in this Exercise render'd more solemn and more particular and when the Holy Fire is kindled in the Soul it dilates and diffuses it self more and more till the strength of Desire the vehemence of Holy Love transcending the weakness of this Mortal Nature we faint under the Passions that we cannot bear The Lord's Supper is an Holy Rite wonderfully adapted to raise excellent Passions Here Christ is as it were set forth Crucified amongst us we see His Body broken and His Blood poured forth here with a devout Joy we receive and embrace Him by Faith and Love in those Symbols of His Body and Blood and Pledges of His Love The Soul must be very ill prepared it must have very imperfect Notions of Sin and Damnation the Cross of Christ Grace and Salvation which is not sensible of a Crow'd of Holy Passions springing up in it at this Sacrament Hymns and Psalms have by I know not what Natural Magick a peculiar Force and Operation upon a pious Mind Divine Poetry has a noble elevation of Thoughts it does not devise and counterfeit Passions but only vents those which it feels and these are pure and lovely kindled from above Therefore are all its Characters natural its Descriptions lively its Language moving and powerful and all is
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
inferiour Nature All which are I think compriz'd by Solomon in very few words Prov. 24.13 14. My Son saith he eat thou Honey because it is good and the Honey Comb which is sweet to thy taste so shall the knowledge of Wisdom be unto thy Soul when thou hast found it then there shall be a reward and thy expectation shall not be cut off Solomon here as is very usual with inspired Writers does compare Spiritual with Corporeal Things or Illustrates the one by the other He tells us that what Honey is to the Body that Wisdom is to the Soul And recommending the Former from two incomparable Properties its Ministring to Health and Pleasure he recommends the Latter from Advantages which bear indeed some Resemblance but are as much Superiour to these as the Soul is to the Body My Son eat thou Honey because it is good i. e. because it both cleanses and purges all noxious Humours and nourishes and strengthens the Body And the Honey Comb because it is sweet to the taste which is the second Excellence of this sort of Food namely its Pleasantness and properly urged to invite the Eater Then proceeding to compleat the Comparison he adds so shall the Knowledge of Wisdom be to thy Soul when thou hast found it i. e. it shall Minister to the Purification Strength and Delight of thy Soul But this is not all Though the Parallel can be extended no further between Honey and Wisdom yet he does not think fit for that Reason to omit one of the greatest Excellencies of Wisdom And therefore he adds then there shall be a reward and thy expectation shall not be cut off Wisdom does not only perfect and entertain our Minds but also it gives us a title to those Rewards for the enjoyment of which it prepares and fits us Here then we have from Solomon the true Properties of true Wisdom By these we may pronounce safely of all the different kinds of Knowledge distinguishing the precious from the vile and fixing the true Estimate of Each If there be any sort of Truths whose Knowledge does not promote but obstruct these great Ends these we are to despise and slight to shun and hate But if there be any Knowledge that does neither oppose or hinder nor yet contribute to these Ends unless accidentally and very remotely for this we may have some but no very great regard or esteem But whatever Knowledge that be which is attended by these Fruits this is that which we are to search for as for hidden Treasure This is that which when we have found it we are to value above the Gold of Ophir the Topaz and the Carbuncle and all precious Stones The distinguishing Characters then of Illuminating Truths are four 1. They Purifie us 2. They Nourish and Strengthen us 3. They Entertain and Delight us 4. They procure us a glorious Reward 1. They Purifie us This is a Property which the Royal Psalmist frequently attributes to the Word of God that it is pure and clean Psal 119. and elsewhere And the New Testament frequently ascribes to Faith and Hope that they purifie the Heart 1 Joh. 3.3 Acts 15. And this sure is the first thing necessary to the Perfecting the Soul of Man 'T is with the Soul as with the Body it must be first cleansed from hurtful Humours before it can be fed and nourished purged of its Errors and Vices e're it can be enriched with Divine Vertues and attain that Liberty and Strength wherein consists the true Greatness and Excellence of the Mind of Man The first Step towards the Perfection of Vertue is the relinquishing our Vice for we must cease to do Evil e're we can learn to do Good And the first Step towards the Perfection of Wisdom is the dispelling those Errors which deceive and mislead the Mind and pervert Life What these were in the Jew and Gentile and what they are at this day in us it is easie enough to discern The Mind of Man as far as I can observe is naturally prone to Religious Worship Not only the consideration of the wonderful Mechanism and contrivance of the World and of Events strange suddain and unaccountable but also the Conscience of his own Impotence and Obnoxiousness inclining him to the Belief and prompting him to seek the Patronage of an Invisible All-sufficient Power In the next place the Mind of Man is ever prone to propose to him some great some soveraign Good in which he may acquiesce and by which he may secure himself as well as he can against the Indigence and Poverty of his Nature and the Changes and Revolutions the Disasters and the Miseries to which this Mortal State is exposed These are two things of that Importance that no man can err in them but the Error must prove fatal to his Repose He that sets up to himself for his ultimate End an empty and uncertain Good instead of a Solid and Eternal one must needs be as miserably deluded and disappointed as he must who sets up to himself a false God instead of the true or goes about to endear and recommend himself to the true by a false and superstitious Worship Now in these points the Jew and Gentile were miserably though not equally mistaken The Gentile worshipped Devils instead of God Their Mysteries were either sensual or cruel their Religion did oftner incourage Sin than Vertue And as to their soveraign Good their Hearts were set upon this World upon the Pomp and Pleasure upon the Ease and Honour of it and they had either none or very dark and uncertain Prospects beyond the Grave All beyond it was an unknown Region full of Fables and idle Phantoms The Jews though they enjoy'd the Oracles of God and generally preserved the Worship of one true and living God yet were they not free from very deplorable Errors relating to these points They seemed to have turned the true God into an Idol and to have entertained some Notions of Him very repugnant to his Nature they looked upon him as the God of the Jews not of the Gentiles as a Respecter of Persons as fond and partial to their Nation and as delighted with a Religion made up of numerous Rites and Ceremonies and external Observances And this could not but have a very sad influence upon their Religion as it really had The Holiness which is truly acceptable to God being neglected and abolished and Sadducism or Pharisaism i. e. Sensuality or Hypocrisie introduced in the room of it And as to their ultimate End or supream Good the Sadducees denied the Resurrection Angels and Spirits and therefore 't is not to be expected they should entertain any design above the Pleasure of the Body And though the Pharisees acknowledged Angels and a Resurrection yet can we not discern that they had a real value for any thing besides the Honour Power and Wealth of this World And no wonder since they could upon their Principles satisfie themselves in a Religion which
the visible and invisible World He therefore alone is to be fear'd and He alone is to be loved Fear not them saith our Saviour Matth. 10.28 which kill the Body but are not able to kill the Soul but rather fear him who is able to destroy both Soul and Body in Hell And St. John gives the same Precept concerning the World Love not the World neither the things of the World And backs it by the same reason for the World passeth away and the Lust thereof But he that doth the Will of God abideth for ever That is the World can at best but gratifie for a moment the Appetites of the Body or the Desires of a sensual Fancy therefore love it not but love the Father who after the dissolution of the vital Union betwixt Soul and Body is able to confer Life and Happiness on both to all Eternity Thus have I considered the Characters of Illuminating Truths And the whole of what I have said amounts to these two things 1. There are Truths of very different kinds Truths that are of no use such are those which are either trifling or meerly notional and can have no Influence on Human Life Truths that are of ill use such are those of which consists the Arts of Sensuality Avarice Vanity and Ambition These are to be detested the former to be contemned by all that seek after true Wisdom Again there are Truths of an inferior use such as concern our Fortunes our Relations our Bodies and these may be allowed their proper place and a reasonable Value But the Truths which concern the Peace and Pleasure and Strength and Liberty of our Souls which procure us the Favour of God and the Grace of his Spirit the Truths in a word which secure our Temporal and Eternal Happiness these are Illuminating Truths these have a transcendent worth and inestimable Excellence or Usefulness and consequently can never be too dear to us 2. Since the great Characters of Illuminating Truths do exactly fit the Gospel of Jesus 't is plain that this is that Systeme of Knowledge which we are to Study day and night this is that Divine Philosophy whose Principles and Laws we must incessantly revolve and ponder 'T is not without reason that the Psalmist bestows such glorious Elogies upon the word of God Psal 19. and elsewhere That he magnifies one while the intrinsick Excellence and Beauty another while the Force and Efficacy of it and ever and anon enlarges himself upon the advantages the unspeakable advantages which reward the Meditation and Practice of it Of all Perfections I have seen an end But thy Commandments are exceeding broad They are pure they endure for ever they enlighten the Eyes and rejoyce the Heart Moreover by them thy Servant is warned and in keeping of them there is great Reward That is by them we are preserved from all real Evil and put in possession of or entitled to all real Good How well did St. Peter answer when our Lord asked his Disciples will ye also go from me Lord whither shall we go Thou hast the words of Eternal Life And how wisely did St. Paul resolve to know nothing but Christ Jesus and him Crucified For He is the Way the Truth and the Life and in Him are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge But after all as there is a Form of Godliness so there is a Form of Knowledge without the power of it The Knowledge of the same Truths as I observed in the beginning in different Persons may be very different as meeting with a very different Reception Our Conceptions may be more clear or confused more lively or faint more perfect or maimed And our Assent may be stronger or weaker In some they may only float superficially in others they may penetrate deeper And the Degrees of their Influence and Operation will be certainly proportioned to the different manner of their Reception For this reason it will be necessary to the right understanding of a state of Illumination to discourse 2. Of the Nature of that Knowledge we must have of the Former Truths to shew what sort of Conception we must form of them what kind of Assent we must pay them and what kind of Consideration we must employ about them As I have therefore laid down the Properties of those Truths so will I now lay down the Properties of that Knowledge of them which is Essential to Illumination 1. Illuminating Knowledge must be deeply rooted This our Saviour has taught us in that Parble wherein he has observed to us that the Seed which had not depth of Earth as it soon sprung up so it soon withered and dryed away We often know or pretend to do so the Rudiments of our Religion without the Grounds and Foundation of it We embrace Conclusions without examining the Principles from whence they flow and contrary to the advice of the Apostle we are unable to give a reason to any one that asketh us of the Faith and the Hope that is in us And then ours is not properly Knowledge but Opinion 't is not Faith but Credulity 'T is not a firm Perswasion but an easie customary Assent And this is overthrown by every Temptation defaced or much blur'd by every Atheistical suggestion or Prophane Objection Does the World or our Lust tempt us as the Devil did our first Parents ye shall not surely Die how easily is that Faith shaken which is no better founded How easily is a Man induced to Hope that Sin is not very fatal and pernicious that God will easily be prevailed with to pardon it that the Flames of Hell are Metaphorical and its Eternity a mistaken Notion and groundless Fancy if he be ignorant of the true Reasons of God's Wrath and Indignation which are founded in the very Nature of God and Sin Whereas on the other hand he that well understands both these the Deformity and Tendency of Sin and the Holiness and the Purity of the Divine Nature cannot but discern an irreconcilable Opposition between them and be convinced that were there no Tribunal erected for the Sinner yet would Sin be its own Punishment and that an intolerable Hell consisting in the disorder of Nature an exclusion from God c. would be the natural and necessary Issue of it The sum of this Argument is that Knowledge which has no deep root is subject to be overthrown by ever blast That Faith which is little more than Credulity does very seldom stand against any very rude shock Now the Grounds of our Faith and Duty are fully and clearly expounded in the Gospel And here especially we must seek them When I say this I reject no Collateral Arguguments I refuse no Foreign Aids which contribute any thing to confirm and fortifie our Belief of Gospel Truths The Faith of St. Thomas did in part at least depend upon the Evidence of sense Thomas because thou hast seen thou hast believed Joh. 20.29 And so did that of the rest of them
did not exact of his Disciples as a necessary Preparation for his Doctrine the Knowledge of Tongues the History of Times or Nature Logick Metaphysicks Mathematicks or the like These indeed may be serviceable to many excellent Ends They may be great accomplishments of the Mind great Ornaments and very engaging Entertainments of Life They may be finally very excellent and necessary Instruments of or Introductions to several Professions or Employments But as to Perfection and Happiness to these they can never be indispensably necessary A Man may be excellently habitually Good without more Languages then one He may be fully perswaded of those great Truths that will render him Master of his Passions and independent of the Word that will render him easie and useful in this Life and glorious in another though he be no Logician nor Metaphysician Yet would I not all this while be supposed to exclude the use of true Reason and solid Judgment Though the meanest capacity may attain to its proper Perfection that is such a measure of Knowledge as may make the Man truly wise and happy yet the more capacious any Man's Soul is and the more enlarged his Knowledge the more Perfect and Happy He. 4. The Qualifications previously necessary to Illumination are two or three Moral ones implied in that Infant Temper our Saviour required in those who would be his Disciples These are Humility Impartiality and a Thirst or love of Truth First Humility He that will be taught of God must not be Proud or Confident in himself He must not over-rate his own Parts and Capacity nor lean too stifly to his own understanding He must firmly believe that Illumination is the Work of God and on Him he must depend He must confess the weakness of his own Faculties the natural Poverty and Indigence of his understanding and so look up to God who is the Fountain of Wisdom and giveth Grace to the Humble but resisteth the Proud Secondly Impartiality Sincerity or a certain Purity and innocence of Judgment if I may be allowed to speak so That the Vnderstanding may be capable of Divine Light it must not be blur'd and Stain'd by false Principles It must not be biassed nor influenced by any corrupt inclinations Some to prove their Impartiality or Freedom of Judgment abandon themselves to the scrupulousness of Scepticism and a wanton itch of endless Disputation and Contradiction But I cannot think it necessary to our Freedom and Impartiality to deny the Evidence of our Senses to oppose the Vniversal Reason of Mankind and to shake off all Reverence for the Integrity of Man and the Veracity of God No this savours too much either of Ostentation or of a raw and unexperienced Affectation of new Theories and Speculations He secures his Freedom sufficiently who guards his Reason against the force of groundless Prepossessions and senseless Modes and Customs against the Lusts of the Body and the prejudices of Parties Who keeps a strict Eye upon the Motions and Tendencies of his inferiour Nature who admits not the Dictates of a Single Person or Party for Catholick Reason who considers that there are Revolutions of Phylosophy and Opinions as well as States and Kingdoms and judges well of Times and Men e're he pay much deference to Authority But Thirdly this is not all that is necessary to any compleat Degree of Illumination Impartiality is necessary to the first Dawnings of it but if we would have it increased and diffuse its self into a perfect Day of Spiritual Wisdom and Vnderstanding we must hunger and thirst after Truth An unprejudiced Mind is necessary to qualifie us for the first Rudiments of Truth but we must be inflamed with Desire and Love of it e're we shall enter into the Sanctuary or Recesses of it Therefore our Saviour invites to him every one that thirsts Joh. 7.37 And St. Peter exhorts us as new born Babes to desire the sincere Milk of the Word that we may grow thereby 1 Epist 2.2 And St. Paul imputes the Damnation of those that perish to want of Love of the Truth 2 Thess 2.10 'T is too trifling to Object here how come we to thirst after what we do not know For it concerns every Man to enquire what will become of him for ever and if he be already assured that there is another World and a glorious Salvation to be attained it is natural to thirst after the Resolution of such Questions as these What shall I do to be saved What shall I do to inherit an Eternal Life And such is the Beauty of Illuminating Truth that every Glance of it kindles in our Hearts the Love of it And such its boundless Perfection that the more we know the more still shall we desire to know Having thus considered what qualifies Man for Illumination my next business is to enquire § 2. What one thus qualified is to do for the actual Attainment of it All the Advice that I can think fit here to be given may be reduced to four Heads 1. That we do not suffer our Minds to be engaged in quest of Knowledge forreign to our purpose 2. That we apply our selves with a very tender and sensible Concern to the Study of Illuminating Truths 3. That we act conformable to those Measures of Light which we have attain'd 4. That we frequently and constantly address our selves to God by Prayer for the Illumination of his Grace 1. That we do not suffer c. This is a natural and necessary Consequence of what has been already said concerning Illumination For if Illumination consist in the Knowledge not of all sort of Truths but the most necessary and important such as purifie and perfect our Nature such as procure us sacred and stable Pleasure and all the Rewards that flow from our Adoption to God it is then plain he who would be Perfect ought not to amuse and distract his Mind in Pursuit of trifling or divertive Knowledge that he ought to shun and not to admit whatever is apt to entangle perplex or defile him and to fix his Thoughts and confine his Meditations to the great Truths of the Gospel He that knows the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent knows enough to oblige him to Vertue and to open the way to Glory and everlasting Life He that knows nothing but Jesus Christ and him Crucified knows enough in order to Peace Grace and Joy enough to promote Holiness and Hope Hope that abounds in Joy unspeakable and full of Glory 2. We must apply our selves with a very tender and sensible Concern to the Study of Illuminating Truths This Rule must be understood to enjoyn three things 1. Great Care and Caution in examining Doctrins proposed and in distinguishing between Truth and Falsehood 2. Great Diligence and Industry to increase and enlarge our Knowledge 3. Frequent and serious Reflection upon the Truths we know 1. There is need of great Caution in the Trial and Examination of Doctrins This the
the contrary consist in being able not only to will but to do good in obeying those Commandments which we cannot but acknowledge to be holy and just and good And this is the very Notion which our Lord and Master gives us of it Joh. 8. For when the Jews bragg'd of their Freedom he lets them know that Freedom could not consist with Subjection to Sin he that committeth Sin is the Servant of Sin ver 34. That honourable Parentage and the Freedom of the Body was but a false and ludicrous Appearance of Liberty that if they would be free indeed the Son must make them so ver 36. i. e. they must by his Spirit and Doctrine be rescued from the Servitude of Lust and Errour and be set at Liberty to work Righteousness If ye continue in my word then are ye my Disciples indeed and ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free ver 31 32. Finally not to multiply Proofs of a truth that is scarce liable to be controverted as the Apostle describes the Bondage of a Sinner in Rom. 7. so does he the Liberty of a Saint in Rom. 8. For there ver 2. he tells us That the Law of the Spirit of Life has set the true Christian free from the Law of Sin and Death And then he lets us know wherein this Liberty consists in walking not after the Flesh but after the Spirit in the Mortification of the Body of Sin and Restitution of the Mind to its just Empire and Authority If Christ be in you the Body is dead because of Sin but the Spirit is Life because of Righteousness ver 10. And all this is the same thing with his Description of Liberty Chapter 6. where 't is nothing else but for a Man to be made free from Sin and become the Servant of God Thus then we have a plain account of Bondage and Liberty Yet for the clearer understanding of both it will not be amiss to observe that they are each capable of different Degrees and both the one and the other may be more or less entire compleat and absolute according to the different Progress of Men in Vice and Vertue Thus in some Men not their Will only but their very Reason is enslaved Their Vnderstanding is so far infatuated their Affections so entirely captived that there is no Conflict at all between the Mind and the Body they commit Sin without any Reluctancy before-hand or any Remorse afterwards their sâ—ared Conscience making no Remonstrance inflicting no wounds nor denouncing any Threats This is the last Degree of Vassalage Such are said in Scripture to be dead in Trespasses and Sins Others there are in whom their Lust and Appetite prevails indeed but not without Opposition They Reason rightly and which is the natural Result of this have some Desires and wishes of Righteousness but through the Prevalency of the Body they are unable to act and live conformable to their Reason Their Vnderstanding has indeed Light but not Authority It consents to the Law of God but it has no Power no Force to make it be obeyed it produces indeed some good Inclinations Purposes and Efforts but they prove weak and ineffectual ones and unable to grapple with the stronger Passion raised by the Body And as Bondage so Liberty is of different Degrees and different Strength For though Liberty may be able to subsist where there is much Opposition from the Body yet 't is plain that Liberty is most absolute and compleat where the Opposition is least where the Body is reduced to an entire Submission and Obsequiousness and the Spirit reigns with an uncontroul'd and unlimited Authority And this latter is that Liberty which I would have my Perfect man possessed of I know very well 't is commonly taught by some that there is no such State But I think this Doctrine if it be throughly considered has neither Scripture Reason nor Experience to support it For as to those Places Rom. 7. and Gal. 5. urged in favour of an almost Incessant strong and too-frequently prevalent lusting of the Flesh against the Spirit it has been often answered and proved too that they are so far from belonging to the Perfect that they belong not to the Regenerate But on the contrary those Texts that represent the Yoke of Christ easie and his burden light which affirm the Commandments of Christ not to be grievous to such as are made Perfect in Love do all bear witness to that Liberty which I contend for Nor does Reason favour my Opinion less than Scripture For if the Perfect man be a New Creature if he be transformed into a New Nature if his Body be dead to sin and his Spirit live to Righteousness in one word if the World be as much crucified to him as he to it I cannot see why it should not be easie for him to act consonant to his Nature why he should not with Pleasure and Readiness follow that Spirit and obey those Affections which reign and rule in him Nor can I see why a Habit of Righteousness should not have the same Properties with other Habits that is be attended with ease and pleasure in its Operations and Actions 'T is true I can easily see why the Habits of Righteousness are acquired with more Difficulty than those of any other kind but I say I cannot see when they are acquired why they should not be as natural and delightful to us as any other Lastly how degenerate soever Ages past have been or the present is I dare not so far distrust the Goodness of my Cause or the Vertue of Mankind as not to refer my self willingly in this point to the Decision of Experience I am very well assured that Truth and Justice Devotion and Charity Honour and Integrity are to a great many so dear and delightful so natural so easie that it is hard to determine whether they are more strongly moved by a sense of Duty or the Instigations of Love and Inclination and that they cannot do a base thing without the utmost Mortification and Violence to their Nature Nor is all this to be wondred at if we again reflect on what I just now intimated that the Perfect Man is a new Creature transformed daily from Glory to Glory that he is moved by new Affections raised and fortified by new Principles that he is animated by a Divine Energy and sees all things by a truer and brighter Light through which the things of God appear lovely and beautiful the things of the World Deformed and worthless just as to him who views them through a Microscope the Works of God appear exact and elegant but those of Man coarse and bungling and ugly My Opinion then which asserts the absolute Liberty of the Perfect Man is sufficiently proved here and in Chap. the first And if I thought it were not I could easily reinforce it with fresh Recruits For the glorious Characters that are given us in Scripture of the Liberty of
the Children of God and the blessed Fruit of it Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost would easily furnish me with invincible Arguments Nor would the contrary Opinion ever have been able to have kept the Field so long as it has done had it not been favoured by a weak and decayed Piety by the Fondnesses of Men for themselves in spight of their Sins and Frailties and by many mistaken Texts But that this Matter may if possible be freed from all Objections 1. I here distinguish between Inordinate and Natural Affections By Inordinate Affections I mean the Tendencies of the Soul towards that which is Vnlawful by Natural its Propension to the Body with which it is invested the Desire of its Health and Ease and the Conveniencies and Necessaries of Life for this end Now when Religion enjoyns Repugnances to the former Appetites the Obedience of the Perfect Man has no Reluctancy in it but when it enjoyns things as sometimes occasionally it does which thwart and cross the latter here the Obedience even of Christ himself could not be exempt from Conflict for our Natural Appetites in this sense of them will never be put off till our Bodies be I think this is so clear it needs not be illustrated by Instances or else 't were easie to shew that though good men have practised Temperance Chastity Charity and other Vertues of this kind with ease and pleasure too yet has Nature shrunk and startled at Persecution and Martyrdom though even here too the Courage and Resolution of some hath appear'd to be much above what Human Nature ever seem'd capable of 2. I do not in the least suppose that Nature is so changed but that the Inclinations to sinful Pleasure or Profit or any other forbidden Object will soon revive again even in the Perfect Man unless he keep a watch and guard upon himself and pass the time of his sojourning here in fear Not to be subject to disorderly Desires not to be liable to irregular Motions is the Priviledge of Souls when stript of a Mortal Body or cloath'd with an Immortal one Till then the Conjunction of Flesh and Blood will ever render the poor Soul obnoxious to carnal and worldly Appetites And the natural Appetites of the Body do so easily pass those Bounds that divide them from sinful ones that the best of men can never be secure but when the Mind is taken up in Contemplation Devotion good Works or engaged in the Prosecution of some just and honest Design or amused by some innocent Recreation for in these Cases the Body is either made the Instrument of Righteousness or at least wise 't is innocently busied and diverted from those Objects to which it has too too impetuous a Tendency I have now I think sufficiently stated the Notion of true Liberty and I hope sufficiently guarded it And have nothing to do but to proceed to the Fruits of it Which will serve for so many Motives or Inducements to its Attainment § 2. Of the Fruits of Liberty These may be reduced under four Heads 1. Sin being a great Evil Deliverance from it is great Happiness 2. A second Fruit of this Liberty is Good Works 3. It gives us a near Relation to God 4. The great and last Fruit of it is Eternal Life These are all comprised by the Apostle in Rom. 6.2.1 22 23. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed For the end of those things is death But now being made free from Sin and become Servants to God ye have your fruit unto Holiness and the end everlasting Life For the wages of sin is Death but the Gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And these are the great Ends which the Gospel that perfect Law of Liberty aims at and for which it was Preached to the World as appears from those Words of our Lord to St. Paul Acts 26.17 18. unto whom now I send thee to open their Eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgiveness of Sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by Faith that is in me I will here insist on these Blessed Effects of Christian Liberty not only because the Design of the Chapter demands it but also to prevent the being obliged to any tedious Repetition of them hereafter under every distinct Branch of Christian Liberty § 1. Sin is a great Evil and therefore Deliverance from the Dominion of it is a great Good To make this evident we need but reflect a little on the Nature and Effects of Sin If we enquire into the Nature of Sin we shall find that it is founded in the Subversion of the Dignity and defacing the Beauty of Human Nature and that it consists in the Darkness of our Understanding the Depravity of our Affections and the Feebleness and Impotence of the Will The Vnderstanding of a Sinner is incapable of discerning the Certainty and Force of Divine Truths the Loveliness of Vertue the unspeakable Pleasure which now flows from the great and precious Promises of the Gospel and the incomparably greater which will one day flow from the Accomplishment and Fruition of them His Affections which if fix't and bent on Vertue had been Incentives as they were designed by God to noble and worthy Actions being biass'd and perverted do now hurry him on to lewd and wicked ones And by these the Mind if at any time it chance to be awakened and render'd sensible of its Happiness and Duty is over-power'd and oppress'd If this were not the true State of a Sinner if the strength of Sin did not thus consist in the Disorder and Impotence of all the Faculties of the Soul whence is it that the Sinner acts as he does Is it not evident that his understanding is infatuated when he lives as if he were meerly wholly Body As if he had no Soul or none but one resulting from and dissolv'd with its Temperament and Contexture One designed to no higher purpose than to contrive minister to and partake in its Sensualities Is it not evident that He has little expectation of another World who laies up his Treasures only in this and lives as if he were Born only to make Provision for the Flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof 'T is true all Sinners are not equally stupid or obdurate but even in those in whom some sparks of Vnderstanding and Conscience remain unextinguished how are the weak Desires of Vertue baffled and over-power'd by the much stronger Passions which they have for the Body and the World Do they not find themselves reduced to that wretched state of Bondage wherein the good that they would do that they do not but the evil that they would not do that is present with them 'T is plain then that Sin is a Disease in our Nature that it not only extinguishes the Grace of the Spirit and obliterates the Image of God stampt
in the Exercise of Truth Justice and Charity And no where is the ill Influence of Selfishness Sensuality and the Love of the World more notorious than here For these rendring us impatient and insatiable in our Desires violent in the Prosecution of them extravagant and excessive in our Enjoyments and the things of this World being few and finite and unable to satisfie such inordinate Appetites we stand in one anothers Light in one anothers way to Profit and Pleasures or too often at least seem to do so and this must unavoidably produce a thousand miserable Consequences Accordingly we daily see that these Passions Selfishness Sensuality and the Love of the World are the Parents of Envy and Emulation Avarice Ambition Strife and Contention Hypocrisie and Corruption Lewdness Luxury and Prodigality but are utter Enemies to Honour Truth and Integrity to Generosity and Charity To obviate therefore the mischievous Effects of these vicious Principles Religion aims at implanting in the World others of a benign and beneficent Nature opposing against the Love of the World Hope against Selfishness Charity and against Sensuality Faith And to the end the different Tendency of these Different Principles may be the more conspicuous I will briefly compare the Effects they have in reference to our Neighbour Selfishness makes Men look upon the World as made for him alone and upon all as his Enemies who do any way interfere with or obstruct his Designs it Seals up all our Treasures confines all our Care and Thoughts to our private Interest Honour or Pleasure employs all our Parts Power and Wealth and all our Time too in Pursuit of our particular Advantage Sensuality tempts a Man to abandon the Care and Concern for his Country his Friends and Relations and neglect the Duties of his Station that he may give himself up to some sottish and dishonourable Vice it prevails with him to refuse Alms to the poor Assistance to any publick or Neighbourly good Work and even a decent nay sometimes a necessary Allowance to his Family that he may waste and lavish out his Fortune upon some vile and expensive Lust In a word it makes him incapable of the Fatigues of Civil Business and much more of the Hardships and Hazards of War So that instead of imitating the glorious Example of Vriah who would not suffer himself to be courted into the Enjoyment even of allowed Pleasures nor indulge himself in the Tendernesses and Caresses of a Wife and Children while Joab and the Armies of Israel were in the Field he on the contrary dissolves and melts down his Life and Fortunes in Vncleanness and Luxury the shame and burden of his Country and his Family at a time when not only the Honour but the Safety of his Country lies at stake and Prince and People defend it by their Toil and Blood What should I mention the Love of the World are not the Effects of it as visible amongst us as deplorable does not this where-ever it reigns fill all Places with Bribery and Corruption Falshood Treachery and Cowardise Worse cannot be said on 't and more needs not for what Societies can thrive or which way can Credit and Reputation be Supported what Treasures what Counsels what Armies what Conduct can save a People where these Vices prevail Let us now on the other side suppose Selfishness Sensuality and the Love of the World cashiered and Faith Hope and Charity entertained in their Room what a blessed Change will this effect in the World how soon will Honour and Integrity Truth and Justice and a publick Spirit revive how serviceable and eminent will these render every Man in his Charge These are the true Principles of great and brave Actions these these alone can render our Duty dearer to us than any temporal Consideration these will enable us to do good Works without an Eye to the Return they will make us These will make it appear to us very reasonable to Sacrifice Fortune Life every thing when the Honour of God and publick good demand it of us The Belief and Hope of Heaven is a sufficient Incouragement to Vertue when all others fail the Love of God as our Supream Good will make us easily surmount the Consideration of Expence Difficulty or hazard in such Attempts as we are sure will please Him and the Love of our Neighbour as our selves will make us compassionate to his Evils and Wants tender to his Infirmities and Zealous of his good as of our own How happy then would these Principles make the World and how much is it the Interest of every one to encourage and propagate these and to discountenance and suppress the contrary ones I have done with the second Effect of Christian Liberty and will pass on to the Third as soon as I have made two Remarks on this last Paragraph First 't is very evident from what has been said in it that solid Vertue can be Graffed on no Stock but that of Religion that universal Righteousness can be rais'd on none but Gospel Principles who is he that overcometh the World but he that believeth that Jesus is the Christ 1 Joh. 5. I do not oppose this Proposition against Jew or Gentile God vouchsafed in sundry times and in divers manners such Revelations of his Truth and such Communications of his Grace as he saw fit and to these is the Righteousness hereof whatever it was to be attributed not to the Law of Nature or Moses But suppose it against the bold Pretensions of Libertin's and Atheists at this day Honour and Justice in their Mouths is a vain Beast and the Natural Power they pretend to over their own Actions to square and govern them according to the Rules of right Reason is only a malitious Design to supplant the Honour of Divine Grace and is as false and groundless as arrogant Alas they talk of a Liberty which they do not understand for did they but once admit Purity of Heart into their Notion of it they would soon discern what Strangers they are to it How is it possible but that they should be the Servants of the Body who reject and disbelieve the Dignity and Pre-eminence of the Soul How is it possible they should not be Lovers of Pleasure more than Lovers of God who either believe no God or none that concerns himself much about us and how can they chuse but be selfish and sensual and doat upon this World who expect no better who believe no other Take away Providence and a Life to come and what can oblige a Man to any Action that shall cross his temporal Interest or his Pleasure what shall reward his espousing Vertue when it has no Doury but Losses Reproaches and Persecutions what shall curb him in the Career of a Lust when he may commit it not only with Impunity but as the World sometimes goes with Honour and Preferment too Though therefore such Men as these may possibly restrain their outward Actions yet are they all the