our Thoughts and Hearts too earnestly upon the truths of it We must imitate the Thessalonians in behalf of whom St. Paul thanks God because when they received the Word of God which they heard of him they received it not as the Word of Men but as it is in Truth the Word of God 1 Thes 2.13 that is we must entertain the Gospel as that which has Infallible Truth in all its Doctrines uncontroulable Authority in all its Precepts a Divine Certainty in all its Promises and Threats and a Divine Wisdom in all its Counsels and Directions And he that thus believes will certainly find the Gospel to work effectually in him as it did in the Thessalonians What Light and Beauty will he discern in all its Descriptions of our Duty What force in all its perswasions what Majesty what Dignity what Life what Power what Consolation what Support In one word what Heavenly Vertue will he discern in each part of it and what vast and unfathomable Wisdom in the whole Composure and Contrivance of it How will he then admire it how will he love it how will he study it how will he delight in it How will he be transported by the Promises and awed by the Threats of it How will he be pierced and struck through by those Exaggerations of Sin and Captiv'd and Enamour'd by those lively and Divine Descriptions of Vertue he meets in it How will he adore the Goodness of God conspicuous in our Redemption How will he be inflam'd with the love of Jesus and be amaz'd at his Condescension and Humility This and much more is the natural effect of our receiving the Gospel as we ought and pondering the truths of it with devout and incessant Meditation This the Royal Psalmist was abundantly sensible of Thy word have I hid in my Heart that I might not sin against thee Psal 119.11 Thou through thy Commandments has made me wiser then mine Enemies for they are ever with me I have more understanding then all my teachers for thy Testimonies are my Meditation ver 98. To which I might add many other verses out of that Psalm containing the various and mighty Effects of the Word of God Nor will any one think that I attribute too much to the study of this Word of Life who shall consider that it is one of the great Works of the Holy Spirit to incline our Hearts to the Testimonies of God to write his Laws in our Hearts to dispose us to attend to revealed Truths and in one word to fix our Minds and Thoughts upon them 2. Since the Spirit together with the Gospel is a joynt Principle of Regeneration and Perfection 't is manifest That we ought to live in a continual dependance upon God He must be our Hope and Confidence in the Day of Tryal He must be our Praise and Boast in the Day of Victory and in the Day of Peace when we lie down and when we rise up we must say with the Psalmist 't is thou Lord that makest me dwell in safety Psal 1.4 We must look upon our selves as surrounded by Enemies and besieged by Spiritual Dangers as David was by Temporal And as he in the one so must we in the other expect Strength and Salvation from Him Through God we shall do valiantly for he it is that shall tread down our Enemies Psal 60.12 Many Nations compass me round about but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them And when we have conquer'd Temptations and routed the Powers of Darkness we must ascribe all not to our own strength nor to our own watchfulness but to the Grace and the Power of God If the Lord himself had not been on our side Now may Israel say if the Lord himself had not been on our side when the Legions of Hell combined with the World and Flesh against us they had swallowed us up alive Psal 124.1 2 3. Now many will be the happy effects of this dependance upon God we shall be passionately desirous of his Presence of his Grace and Favour we shall dress and prepare our Souls we shall awaken and dispose all our Faculties to receive him we shall ever do the things that may invite and prevail with him to abide with us we shall be apprehensive of his forsaking us as the greatest Evil that can befall us Lift up your Heads O ye Gates and be ye lift up ye everlasting Doors and the King of Glory shall come in awake O my Soul raise thy self above this World and Flesh that thou mayest be fit for the King of Glory to dwell in thee who is the King of Glory The Lord strong and mighty the Lord mighty in Battel that Holy Spirit that subdues our Enemies that strengthens us with might and fills us with Courage and Holy Alacrity Psal 24.7 8. Nor does the Psalmist prepare his Soul for God by Meditation only and Spiritual Recollection and Soliloquies but by a careful and circumspect Regulation of all his Actions Psal 101.2 3. I will behave my self wisely in a perfect way O when wilt thou come unto me I will walk within my House with a perfect Heart I will set no wicked thing before mine Eyes I hate the work of them that turn aside it shall not cleave to me And how earnestly does he pray against God's forsaking him Psal 51.11 Cast me not away from thy Presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me The Result of all this must needs be Steadfastness and Growth in Holiness and Goodness For first This is the natural influence of such a dependance upon God it places us as always before Him and makes us walk humbly and circumspectly as becomes those that are awed by the Presence of so Holy a Majesty I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right-hand I shall not be moved Psal 16.1 Secondly we cannot doubt but that God will plentifully bestow his Grace on those who thus rely upon him For where can He bestow it with more Advantage to his Glory or to the Propagation of Holiness both which are so dear to him Who is a Subject more capable of it or who can be better entitled to it then he who thus depends upon God As he begs it Humbly and receives it Thankfully so he will Husband it Carefully and employ it Zealously § 3. In Prayer Meditation and other Instrumental duties of Religion we are to aim at one or all of these three things 1. The Quickning and Enlivening the Conscience 2. The Confirming and Strengthning our Resolutions of obedience 3. The Raising and Keeping up Holy and Devout Affections Great is the benefit of each of these Tenderness of Conscience will keep us not only from Evil but every appearance of it increase of Spiritual Strength will render us steadfast and unmoveable in all the Works of God and Holy Passion will make us abound in them To spiritual Passion we owe the Zeal and Pleasure to spiritual Strength or
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
had nothing of internal Purity or solid Righteousness in it So that upon the whole the Jew and Gentile were alike wicked Only the Wickedness of the Jews had this Aggravation in it above that of the Gentiles that they enjoy'd the Oracles of God and the Favour of a peculiar Covenant This being the state of Darkness which lay upon the Face of the Jewish and Gentile World our Lord who was to be a Light to lighten the Gentiles and the Glory of his People Israel advanced and established in the World that Doctrine which directly tends to dispel these Errors and rescue Mankind from the Misery that attends them For all that the Gospel contains may be reduced to these three Heads First the Assertion of one only true God with a bright and full Revelation of his Divine Attributes and Perfection Secondly an Account of the Will of God or the Worship he delights in which is a Spiritual one together with suitable Means and Motives in which last is contained a full Declaration of Man's supream Happiness Thirdly the Revelation of one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus through whom we have access with boldness to the Throne of Grace through whom we have obtained from the Father Grace and Pardon and Adoption and through whom Lastly all our Oblations and Performances are acceptable to Him The Design of this glorious Manifestation was to open Mens Eyes to turn them from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan to the Living God That they might obtain Remission of Sins and an Inheritance of Glory These then are the truths which Illuminated the Gentile and Jewish World And these are the truths which must Illuminate us at this day These dispel all destructive Errors that lead us to Vice or Misery These point out our supream Felicity and the direct way to it These open and enlarge the Eye of the Soul enable it to distinguish and judge with an unerring Exactness between Good and Evil between Substantial and Superficial Temporal and Eternal Good And I wish from my Soul whatever Light we pretend to at this Day we were well grounded and established in these Truths I doubt notwithstanding our Belief of one God and one Mediator and notwithstanding we are well enough assured that God who is a Spirit must be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth and notwithstanding our pretending to believe a Life to come I say I am afraid that notwithstanding these things we do generally err in two main points namely in the Notion we ought to have of Religion and the value we are to set upon the World and the Body For who that reflects upon the Pomp and Pride of Life upon the ease the softness and the luxury of it upon the frothiness and the freedom the vanity and Impertinence to say no worse of Conversation will not conclude that either we have renounced our Religion or form to our selves too complaisant and indulgent a Notion of it For is this the imitation of Jesus Is this to walk as he walked in the World Can this be the Deportment of Men to whom the World and the Body is Crucified Can such a Life as this is flow from those Divine Fountains Faith Love and Hope Who again can reflect upon the Passion we discover for Superiority and Precedence our thirst of Power our ravenous desire of VVealth and not conclude that we have mistaken our main End that we set a wrong value upon things and that whatever we talk of an Eternity we look upon this present World as our portion and most valuable Good For can such a tender concern for such an eager pursuit after temporal things flow from nay consist with purity of Heart and poverty of Spirit the Love of God and a Desire of Heaven Whoever then will be Perfect or Happy must carefully avoid both these Errors He must never think that Religion can subsist without the strength and vigour of our Affections Or that the Bent and Vigour of our Souls can be pointed towards God and yet the Air of our Deportment and Conversation be earthy sensual and vain conformed even to a Pagan Pride and shew of Life Next he must never cherish in himself the love of this World He must never look upon himself other than a Stranger and Pilgrim in it He must never be fond of the Pleasure of it He must never form vain Designs and Projects about it nor look upon the best things in it as ingredients of our Happiness but only as Instruments of Vertue or short Repasts and Refreshments in our Journey And because all our mistakes about the Nature and Perfection of Religion and the Value of Temporal things do generally arise from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that peculiar Sin to which our Constitution betrays us therefore the Knowledge of our selves an intimate Acquaintance with all our natural Propensions and Infirmities is no inconsiderable Part of Illumination For we shall never address our selves heartily to the Cure of a Disease which we know nothing of or to the rectifying any inclination till we are throughly convinced that 't is irregular and dangerous 2. The Second Character of Illuminating Truths is that they are such as feed and nourish corroborate and improve the Mind of Man Now the Properties of Bodily strength are such as these It enables us to Baffle and repel Injuries to bear Toil and Travel to perform difficult Works with speed and ease and finally it prolongs Life to a much further date than weak and crazy Constitutions can arrive at And of all these we find some Resemblances in Spiritual Strength But as much more Perfect and Excellent as the Spirit is above the Body Those Truths then are indeed Illuminating which enable us to vanquish Temptations to endure with Constancy and Patience the Toils and Hardships of our Christian warfare to discharge the Duties of our Station with Zeal and Vigour and which Lastly render us firm steady and immortal And these are the glorious effects which are attributed to the Truths of God Hence is the Gospel called the Power of God unto Salvation Rom. 1.16 and hence it is that we read of the Armour of God Ephesians 6.11 The Sword of the Spirit the Shield of Faith the Breast-plate of Righteousness c. to intimate to us the Strength and Vertue of the Word of God and that it brings with it safety and success And hence it is that the Word of God is said to quicken and strengthen that Man is said to live not by Bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of God that Righteousness is called Everlasting and that he that doth the Will of God is affirmed to abide for ever To teach us plainly that there is nothing steady and unalterable nothing durable nothing eternal but God Divine Truths and those that are formed and modeled by them There are Truths indeed which are meerly Barren and Vnactive which amuse and suspend the
slighting the blood of the Covenant and grieving the Holy Spirit all which we do by willful Sin is a Guilt that will sink down the obstinate Sinner into the lowest Hell and render his Condition more intolerable that that of Tyre and Sidon Sodom and Gomorrah 2. The Second Effect of the firm Belief of these Gospel Truths is that it begets in us a Contempt of this World and all the things of it To him that Beelieves How short is Time compar'd to Eternity How false how empty are the Pleasures of Sin compared with those of Heaven how insignificant the Esteem or Love of Man to that of God How worthless are all our worldly Hopes and Pretensions in respect of an Interest in Jesus Now the Soul that is once possess'd thoroughly with these Notions what will it not do what will it not suffer rather than fall short of or forfeit its Crown In what state will it not be contented nay in what state will it not abound in Joy whilst it holds fast the steadfastness of its Hope and is secure of the Love of Jesus Here begins that Purity of Heart which is the Fountain of true Epicureism that Greatness of Mind which alone is true Honour and Fortitude But that Faith may have these Effects upon us it must not be only a true but a lively Faith therefore my 2. Second Rule or if you please another Branch of the former Rule shall be this They that will be free indeed must not only believe the great Truths of the Gospel but must frequently and seriously ponder them till they have imprinted in themselves as clear distinct and perfect Ideas of them as we are capable of This will soon mortifie the Appetites of the Body corrrect our false Opinions of worldly Things and baffle all the Sophistry and Confidence of Lust A lively Faith is a Faith that imports the most clear and natural the most full and enlarg'd Notions of its Objects a Faith that not only looks upon the Articles of our Creed as true but beholds them in a manner as present and so represented and drawn to the Life that they fill the Soul with great and moving Considerations This Faith does not only Believe that there is a God but it beholds Him and walks before Him as present it sees Him array'd in all his Glory and in all his Majesty in all the Power and all the Terrors in all the Beauties and all the Graces of the Divine Nature it does not only believe that there are Rewards and Punishments but is extreamly sensible of the Terrors of the one and Attractions of the other and looks upon both as at the door It does not only acknowledge a Mediator but takes a full view of the Misery of that state wherein we lay through Sin and of the Blessedness of that into which we are translated by the Redemption which is in Jesus It Contemplates this Mediatour in all the several steps of Condescension and Humiliation in all the Tenderness and Transports of his Passion in all the melancholy Scenes of his Sufferings and the bright and chearful ones of his Glory This is the Faith that sets us free 3. We must not stop in Faith till it be made perfect in Love We must meditate Divine Truths till they have fired our Souls till they have enkindled our Affections till we be possess'd by an ardent Love of God of Jesus of Righteousness and of Heaven till all our other Desires and Passions be converted into and swallowed up of Love till God becomes the Center of our Souls and in Him we rest in Him we glory and in Him we rejoyce O Love how great and glorious are the things that are said of thee 'T is thou who dost impregnate and animate Faith it self 't is thou who dost surmount the Difficulties of Duty and make the Yoke of Christ easie and his Burthen light 't is thou who dost cast out Fear and make Religion full of Pleasure 't is thou that dost make us watchful against Temptations and impatient under the Interruptions of Duty 't is thou that makest us dis-relish the Pleasures of this World and long to be dissolved and to be with Christ Here is the Liberty of the Sons of God Blessed are they even in this World who attain it But one Caution I must here add That our Love must not be a Flesh a Bit but a steady and well setled Affection an Affection that has the Warmth of Passion and the Firmness of Habit. We must therefore by repeated Meditations and Prayers daily nourish this Flame of the Altar and not suffer it to go out 4. We must never be at rest till we have possess'd our Minds with a perfect Hatred of the sin which we are most subject to The Love of God his Long-suffering and forbearance the Sufferings of Jesus the struglings of the Spirit the Peace and Pleasure of Holiness the Guilt and Vexation the Shame and Punishment of Sin its ill Influence on our present Perfection and Happiness on our Peace and Hopes are proper Topicks to effect this A thorough Hatred of Sin once setled and rooted in us will produce that Sorrow that Indignation that Watchfulness that Zeal which will remove us far enough not only from the Sin but also from the ordinary Temptations to it and place us almost without the Danger of a Relapse To this former Rule I should add this other that when once a Man has resolved upon a new Course of Life whatever Difficulties he finds in his Ways whatever Baffles he meets with he must never quit the Desgn of Vertue and Life he must never give over Fighting till he Conquer The reason is plain for he must either Conquer or Dye But this belonging rather to Perseverance in Vertue than the Beginning of it therefore I but just mention it 5. It will not be imprudent in this Moral as in Physical Cures to observe diligently and follow the Motions and Tendencies of Nature Where there are Seeds of Generosity and Honour the Turpitude and Shame of Sin the Baseness and Ingratitude of it the Love of God and of Jesus and such like are fit Topicks to dwell upon Where Fear is more apt to prevail there the Terrors of the Lord are the most powerful Motive And so whatever the Frame and Constitution of Nature be it will not be difficult to find Arguments in the Gospel adapted to it which will be so much the more prevalent as they are the more natural 6. Lastly We must use all Means to obtain the Spirit of God and to increase and cherish his Influence We must ask and seek and knock i. e. we must pray and Meditate and Travel with Patience and with Importunity that our Heavenly Father may give us his Holy Spirit And when we have it we must not grieve it by any Deliberate Sin nor quench it by Security or Negligence by sensual Freedoms and Presumption but we must cherish every Motion improve every
Liberty the Constancy and Uniformity of an Holy Life and both Strength and Passion are generally owing to a Tender and Enlighten'd Conscience For while the Conscience preserves a quick and nice sense of Good and Evil all the great Truths of the Gospel will have their proper Force and natural Efficacy upon us These then are the Genuine Fruits of Meditation the Eucharist Psalmody and such-like If they do not add Life and Light to the Conscience if they do not augment our Strength nor exalt our Passions if they do not increase our detestation of Sin and our Love to God and Goodness if they do not quicken and excite Devout Purposes if they do not engage and refresh the Soul by Holy Joy and Heavenly Pleasure if I say they do not in some degree or other promote these things we reap no benefit at all from them or we can never be certain that we do But though the Ends I have mentioned be of this great use to all and consequently all are obliged to aim at them yet may the different Defects and Imperfections of different Christians render one of these Ends more necessary then another And by consequence it will be Wisdom more immediately and directly to intend and pursue that For Example if a Man's Temper be such that his Passions do soon kindle and soon die again that he is apt to Form wise and great Projects and as unapt to accomplish any thing in this Case it will be his Duty to aim especially at the increase of Strength But if on the other hand a Man's Temper be Cold and Phlegmatick Slow and Heavy it is but fit that he should particularly apply himself to the awakening and exciting Devout Affections in his Soul For as excellent purposes do often miscarry for want of Constancy and Firmness of Mind so Steadiness and Firmness of Mind doth seldom effect any great matter when it wants Life and Passion to put it into Motion Again if one's past Life has been very Sinful or the present be not very Fruitful it will behove such a one to increase the Tenderness of Conscience to add more Light and Life to its Convictions that by a daily Repetition of Contrition and Compunction he may wash off the Stain or by the Fruitfulness of his following Life repair the Barrenness of that Past Having thus in few words both made out the Usefulness of those three Ends I proposed to a Christian in the performance of Instrumental duties of Religion and shewed in what Cases he may be obliged to aim more immediately at one then another I will now enquire and that as briefly as I can how these three Ends may be scured and promoted 1st Of Tenderness of Conscience or the full and lively Convictions of it To promote this the first thing necessary is Meditation No Man who diligently searches and studies the Book of God can be a Stranger to himself or to his Duty Not to his Duty for this Book reveals the whole Will of God in clear and full Terms it gives us such Infallible Characters of Good and Evil Right and Wrong as render our Ignorance or Error inexcusable It points out the great Ends of Life so plainly and conducts us to them by such general and unerring Rules that there is no variety of Circumstances can so perplex and ravel our Duty but that an honest Man by the help of this may easily discover it For this Reason 't is that the Word of God is called Light because it does distinguish between Good and Evil Right and Wrong and like a Lamp does manifest the Path which we are to choose and disperses that Mist and Darkness with which the Lust of Man and the Subtilty of Hell has covered it And for this Reason 't is that the Good have such a Value and the Wicked such an Aversion for the Book of God For every one that doth Evil hateth the Light neither cometh to the Light lest his Deeds should be reproved But he that doth Truth cometh to the Light that his Deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God Joh. 3.20 21. Nor can he that Studies the Word of God be a Stranger to Himself any more then to his Duty For this Light ransacks all the Recesses of the Soul it traces all its Affections back to their first Springs and Sources it lays open all its Desires and Projects and strips its most secret Purposes of all their Disguise For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper then any two Edged Sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit and of the Joynts and Marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the Heart Heb. 4.12 In a word if we would preserve the Conscience quick and sensible we must be daily conversant in the Book of God For this commands with that Authority instructs with that clearness perswades with that Force reproves with that Purity Prudence and Charity that we shall not easily be able to resist it it describes Righteousness and Sin in such true and lively Colours proclaims Rewards and Punishments in such powerful and moving Language that it rouses even the Dead in Sin penetrates and wounds the stupid and obdurate To Meditation we must add Prayer For this is a very proper and essential Means to refresh and renew in the Soul the Hatred of Sin and Love of Goodness and to improve those Impressions which Meditation has made upon it We cannot easily put up Petitions to God with Confidence unless we do the things that please him for our Hearts will misgive us and our very Petitions will reproach us And the meer Thought of entring more immediately into the Presence of God does oblige us to a more careful Tryal and Examination of our Actions For God being not only Omniscient but Just and Holy too we can no more flatter our selves with the Hope of Pardon for any Sin into which we are betrayed by fondness or negligence then we can imagine him Ignorant of it But this is not all we are to pray that God would enable us to search out and discover our own Hearts Psal 139.23 24. Search me O God and know my Heart Try me and know my Thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way Everlasting And if we do this sincerely God will undoubtedly grant our Requests and will lay open to us all our present Defects and Infirmities and shew us how far short we come of the Glory of God that Perfection of Holiness and Happiness which many Eminent Saints actually arrived at upon Earth And we way be sure that Light which breaks in upon our Mind with this Brightness will not suffer any latent Corruptions to continue undiscovered nor permit us to forget the Stains and Ruins which the Sins of our past Life have left behind them Conversation is another way by which we learn to know our selves and by which Conscience
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
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
thorow with many Sorrows ver 17 18 19. Charge them that are rich in this World that they be not high minded nor trust in uncertain Riches but in the living God who giveth us all things richly to enjoy That they do good that they be rich in good works ready to distribute willing to communicate Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on Eternal Life And to multiply no more Instances of Restraints of this or the like nature thus we ought to stand affected towards Praise and Reputation Interest and Power Beauty Strength c. We must neither be too Intent upon them nor enjoy them with too much Gust and Satisfaction for this is that Disposition which appears to me to suit best with the Spirit and Design of the Gospel and with the Nature of such things as being of a middle sort are equally capable of being either Temptations or Blessings Instruments of Good or Evil. 3ly The Scripture regulates and bounds our natural and necessary Appetites not so much by nicely defining the exact Degrees and Measures within which Nature must be strictly contained as by exalted Examples of and Exhortations to a Spiritual pure and heavenly Disposition Thus our Lord and Master seems to me to give some check to the stream of natural Affection and to call off his Disciples from it to the Consideration of a Spiritual Relation Mark 3.34 35. And he looked round about on them which sate about him and said behold my Mother and my Brethren For whosoever shall do the will of God the same is my Brother and my Sister and Mother To which words of our Lord I may joyn those of St. Paul henceforth know we no Man after the flesh yet now henceforth know we him no more 2 Cor. 5.16 The Answer of our Lord to a Disciple who would have deferr'd his following him till he had Buried his Father Matt. 8. â—1 and to him who begged leave to go and bid farewell first to his Relations and Domesticks Luke 9.61 does plainly countenance the Doctrine I here advance and so does St. Paul 1 Cor. 7.29 so often cited by me Not that our Saviour or his Apostles did ever account our natural Affections vicious and impure for 't is a Vice to be without them Rom. 1.31 not that they went about to diminish or abate much less to cancel the Duties flowing from them no They only prune the Luxuriancy of untaught Nature and correct the Fondnesses and Infirmities of Animal Inclinations Our natural Affections may entangle and enslave us as well as unlawful and irregular ones if we lay no Restraint upon them Religion indeed makes them the Seeds of Vertue but without it they easily betray us into Sin and Folly For this Reason I doubt not lest under pretence of satisfying our most natural and importunate Appetites we should be ensnared into the Love of this World and intangled in the Cares of it our Saviour forbids us to take thought for to morrow even for the necessaries of to morrow what we shall eat and what we shall drink and where-withal we shall be clothed Matt. 6. These are the Restraints laid upon the Body in Scripture which if any Man observe he will soon discern himself as far purified and freed from Original Corruption as Human Nature in this Life is capable of And that he may § 2ly He must fortifie and invigorate the Mind And this must be done two ways First by possessing it with the Knowledge of the Gospel and the Grace of the Spirit Secondly by withdrawing it often from the Body As to the former Branch of this Rule the Necessity of it is apparent since the state of Nature is such as has before been described we stand in need not only of Revelation to enlighten us but also of Grace to strengthen us Of the former to excite us to exert all the Force and Power we have of the Latter to enable us to do that which our natural Force never can effect It cannot be here expected that I should treat of the Operation of the Spirit and the Ways of obtaining it grieving and quenching it this would demand a peculiar Treatise I will here only observe That 't is the Work of the Spirit to repair in some Degree at least the Ruins of the Fall to rectifie Nature to improve our Faculties and to imprint in us the Divine Image That Meditation and Prayer and a careful Conformity to the Divine Will obtain and increase the Grace of the Spirit That Negligence and presumptuous Wickedness grieve and extinguish it As to the Knowledge of the Gospel I shall not need to say much here I have considered this matter in the Chapter of Illumination and will only observe that the Doctrines of the Gospel are such as if they be thoroughly imbibed do effectually raise us above a state of Nature and set us free from the Power and Prevalence of our Original Corruption Were we but once perswaded that we are Strangers and Pilgrims upon Earth That all Carnal Gratifications do war against the Soul That our Souls are properly our selves and That our first Cares are to be for them That God is himself our Sovereign Good and the Fountain of all inferiour Good that our Perfection and Happiness consist in the Love and Service of Him That we have a mighty Mediatour who once Died for us and ever Lives to make Intercession for us That a Kingdom incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away is reserved in Heaven for all meek faithful and holy Souls Were we I say but once thoroughly perswaded of these Truths with what Vigour would they impregnate our Minds how clear would be the Convictions of Conscience how uncontroulable the Authority of Reason how strong the Instincts and Propensions of the Mind towards Righteousness and Vertue These would alienate the Mind from the World and the Body and turn the Bent of it another way these would inspire it with other Desires and Hopes and make it form different Projects from what it had before old things are done away and all things are become new The Second Branch of this second particular Rule is that we must accustom our selves to retire frequently from the Commerce and Conversation of the Body Whether the Eating the forbidden Fruit did open to the Mind new Scenes of Sensuality which it thought not of and so called it down from the Serenity and Heights of a more pure and contemplative Life to participate the turbulent Pleasures of Sense immersing it as it were by this means deeper into the Body I pretend not to judge But 't is certain a too too intimate Conjunction of the Mind with the Body and the satisfactions of it does very much debase it 'T is our great Unhappiness that the Soul is always in the Senses and the Senses are always upon the World we converse with the World we talk of the World we think of the