sin All other reasonable Creatures in this sense are mortal and if the blessed in heaven be impeccable it is not by their nature but by the power of glory communicated in which they were invested by God after they had given proof of their vertues whilest they were Viatours and under their Tryal Now as to Man the experience of his frailty helps him on to discern more clearly as the obscurity of the Night renders a fair Day the more resplendent and reverence this excellency in God Next he ought not to repine that he is not here glorious for this life is his place of Combat and the Crown is not given till the Victory be gained wherefore as long as he lives he enjoyes a liberty by which he may sin and be overcome and by which he may vanquish Lastly God decreed this liberty to Man and gave him a faculty by which he might with a full swinge of his Will be take himself to good or evil to the end he might be capable of merit or demerit for if he acted by the impulse of necessity he could merit no recompence for his vertue nor punishment for his sin no more than a tree which bears good or bad fruit and by this means the divine Justice could not be discerned either in the condemnation of the wicked or in the reward of the just Our great Penitent in the issue of this meditation hath reason to set his Tongue a work and spend it self in exalting this powerful and remunerating Iustice of God which happily converts to our advantage what at the first glance appears the Subject of our ruine and resign himself to those dangers wherein the perfection of his free will may involve him since by his grace which he implores he may embrace and practise what is pleasing to him And if to the end he carry on this noble resolution he hath an assurance to bless his Iustice for all Eternity And my Tongue shall exalt thy Iustice. St. Austin upon this place is of Opinion that our Penitent means the Messias whose Justice he will extoll in that by his merit both Men and Angels are rescued from the slavery of sin To which I agree nor do the premises any waies derogate from this interpretation for the merits of Jesus Christ are the source and cause of Sanctifying grace which grace dignifyes the works of the just and raises them to the degree of merit Now that which is cause of the cause is likewise cause of the effect and consequently the merits of Jesus Christ are cause of the merits of Saints as St. Paul to the Galatians Chap. 1. He hath blessed us with all spiritual benediction in Jesus Christ Next the merits of Jesus Christ contribute to the merits of Saints in that he hath obtained by his actions and sufferings a promise from God to accept the merits of Men in order to Heaven for it was in consideration of him and upon the score of his torments that this promise was made unto us It is this St. Peter in his Second Epistle Chap. 3. hints at when speaking of Christ he sayes by him he hath made us great and precious promises to the end we might by them be made partakers of the Divine Nature Now as Grace is the Fountain of the merits of Saints and God's promise the accomplishment both the one and the other proceeding from the merits of Jesus Christ it followes that the merits of Saints subsist not but by those of Christ Nor have they a dependency only by way of simple condition or necessary circumstance but they flow from them as from the root fountain and principal cause without which they would have no Being Our Holy Doctor therefore will praise and set forth the divine Justice under several Notions First as he is the Principium or Off-spring whence all remission of sin and collation of grace is derived and without which all Mankind had been eternally wrapt up in the darkness of sin so that the just and superabundant ransom he hath paid for us merits the Adorations and praises of all hearts and tongues Next he will extoll him under the title of a remunerating Iustice in that after he hath taught us how to fight put arms into our hands and hath stood by us to confirm our courage exacting only a firm will to overcome doth yet dispense his Crowns with applause as if we had done all our selves O who can then asperse and lay a charge upon this Opinion as if it injured Christs merits doth the fulness of a stream dishonour the source from whence it flowes or the excellency of any fruit injure the Root that gives birth to it so the merits of the just being only the rivulets and fruit of Christ's superabundant satisfaction cannot certainly in the least derogate from his they only serve in an inferiour degree to extol and do homage to the infinity of Christ's merit Wherefore Our Penitent will incessantly tune forth And my Tongue shall exalt thy Justice The Justice of God beholds Creatures in three several relations First it is distributive by which he allots unto every Creature faculties proportionable to carry them on to the End for which they were created To the Soul which he hath designed to contemplate and love him he hath given an understanding and will the Body doomed to labour he hath framed with Arms and Hands The Sun whose Office is to enlighten the World he hath vested with a lasting brightness which never fails to perform its task in fine every animal Tree Plant or what ever is existent in the World hath a vertue proper to the designment of its Creation Whence St. Dennis sayes that God is communicable in his Justice distributing to every one according to the dignity of its nature and bounding within limits most equitable the manner beauty order Ornament the inequalities and proportions of all Creatures accommodating every thing with that which is proper to it Our Penitent will not be silent in order to this his distributive Iustice he will admire the works of God give his approbation without the least Censure and confess that this wise Architect hath ballanced all things with equity and justice and if he may be so happy as to manage his individual Being conformably to those proprieties and qualities he hath received from his Creatour he will with confidence proclaim that his tongue shall exalt his justice In the second consideration his punitive justice hath place by which he inflicts a punishment on sinners the reason of this is that a sinner living contrary to the wil of God and disobedient to his order setling his contentment on things forbidden by his Sovereign doth by these his wayes throw a contempt upon him Wherefore it is most just reparation should be made and since he hath rebelled in breaking the Commands of his Creatour it is fit he should be afflicted with torments and enslaved by that will he hath so much scorned and set at naught
they are to wade through in making good their fidelity to God they throw themselves upon the points of Halberts and other instruments of severity without the least whining or flinching at their sharpness they take in as it were with the same relish the Gall of misfortunes and desolations and the Hony of prosperities and comforts No stormy season hinders their Journey and that which disturbs soft and effeminate Spirits is to them matter of joy and repose because they possess what they desire to wit affliction so that all things which pass under the name of Adversity are not so but to the wicked who make ill use of them in prizing the Creature more than the Creatour Hence it is that the general spirit of Saints have carried them on to be ambitious of suffering and to reckon it amongst one of the choice favours of Heaven for they had learnt by experience that if God with one Hand reaches unto them the Cup of his passion it is but by snatches and as it were a sup whilst with the other he gives them large draughts of consolation It is noted in the sacred Text that God laid open the person of Job to all the assaults of Satan but with this reserve that he touch not upon his life and this not in regard that death would have ecclipsed the glory of that great Champion but because he would not be deprived of such a Combatant to whose conflict he and his blessed Angels were intent with much satisfaction and so would not lose the pleasure of seeing this stout skirmish fought out to the last 'twixt him and his Enemy And as the Heathen Emperours took great delight to see a Christian enter into the list with a wild Beast so the King of Heaven is solaced with the sight of one of his Saints when he maintains a Fight against those fierce Beasts of Hell Seneca out of the principles of humane wisdom drew this excellent saying that no object was more worthy in the Eyes of the gods than to behold a stout Man with a settled countenance unmoved to struggle with adverse Fortune and truly the delay our blessed Saviour made in sending succour to his Disciples endangered by a storm at Sea sufficiently hints unto us the pleasure God takes to see the Just row against the stream tugg and wrestle with all the might they can against the stream and afflictions of this World Thus you see how happy our Holy Penitent hath ajusted his Sacrifice to the lines of God's will and that he never spake more emphatically than when he said A Sacrifice to God is a troubled spirit St. Bonaventure sayes that honor is due to God in four several respects and in like manner we ought in as many wayes render it unto him First in consideration of many blessings and this is to be returned by our gratitude and acts of thanksgiving Next we owe him honor in that he hath laid his commands upon us and this we perform by our obedience and submission to his Laws Thirdly his greatness and sovereignity exact it at our hands and this is paid by the vertue of Latria and adoration Lastly honor is due unto him in that he hath been offended and injuriously treated by sin Now the honor due to him in this point is restored by Penitential acts and by a troubled spirit Because in regard of his displeasure and to make reparation for the contempts thrown upon his Majesty he is ready to humble himself and apply all his endeavour to works of piety so far as even to afflict himself that he might honor the Divine Justice which requires that sin should never go unpunished Wherefore God is delighted in these painful satisfactory acquittances which we often give him written in our sweat and blood And Jesus Christ makes of them a present to his Father with his own from whence the value of ours is derived and there they find acceptance not upon the score of any contentment it is to God that we are tormented either in Soul or Body but meerly in that by them his Justice is honored and exalted and the Palms of our victory more resplendent This anxiety of spirit supported with a patient resignation and strengthened with a fervent prayer purchased to the distressed Anna and to the Jewish Nation that great Prophet Samuel This same disturbance of Spirit carried on by a generous submissive resolution against all the Machinations of Saul put into the Hands of our Penitent the Scepter of Juda in a word it seems to be a principle setled in Heaven that without this Sacrifice of a troubled spirit he will not part with his blessings It may be objected that God knowes the Hearts of Men and what they will do and therefore he need not this external Testimony Next that Christ's merits being of an infinite value ours appear altogether superfluous to which I answer First that his external glory consisting in the visible homages payd to him by his Creatures this would be wanting should he give them no occasion to make it manifest and shew unto the World he hath dependants who value no suffering in proportion to the duty they owe him Besides the satisfaction we shall take in Heaven to have done something to merit our Beatitude will certainly be a great addition to our Contentment As to the other though I confess the merits of Christ all sufficient yet this will not excuse us from offering what we can in satisfaction for the Honor and glory of all our actions belong to God now it being an Act of injustice to defraud any one of his revenue no less is it against equity to deprive God of the glory due unto him Wherefore a life that contributes not to his glory is perverse and wicked Again he that owns a Tree hath likewise right to the fruit it bears if the Land be mine the Crop also is at my disposal the labour and service of a Horse is due to his Master In like manner all that we are all the good we do or shall do is the work of God and a present with which he enriches us that we might be able to give something to him Wherefore as all is his our duty binds us to consecrate all our interiour and exteriour actions to promote his honor and glory And since it is reasonable sin should be punished our Holy Penitent submits to the decree exposes himself to be wracked and tortured by what punishment the Divine Majesty shall think good either in Mind or Body nor can he ever repine whilst he reflects That a Sacrifice to God is a troubled spirit The Application Here we are taught there is no Sacrifice conveyes an odour so pleasing unto Heaven as that of a Soul angustiated upon the score of God's cause The oblation of a Holocaust imports the reduction of it to Ashes that of a troubled spirit is a transmutation into the Holy Ghost who promises to be the intellect to be the Tongue nay
that it is required to the end the light of Faith may have its effect a cooperation in our wills otherwise this ray how glorious so e're it be is rendered useless and as it vvere under a Cloud Therefore St. Paul ad Rom. 10. sayes Faith which justifies must come from the heart and in Luke 22. Christ reprehends the Disciples going to Emaus that notwithstanding he had filled them vvith the beams of his light yet their hearts were slow in admitting a belief Job likewise confirms this Chap. 24. saying they were obdurate and rejected the light presented to them Our Learned Graduate and Petitioner more happy rejected not the internal call of God by his secret inspirations but corresponded vvith them by a pious affection in his will and having a merciful invitation to a feast of grace he would not like those guests mentioned in the 22. of St. Matthew Let the consideration of a poor Farm or a little musty vvare gain more upon him than the hope of this treasure more pretious than the whole VVorld He vvould not preferr darkness before light nor choose to vvallow in dirt and mire rather than beautify his Soul with a gift which will one day render him immortal in glory He had already obtained a desire to do vvell and this desire he would improve by action and since God had daigned to give him the velle or will to serve him he begs he would open his Lips that he might redeem his miscarriage in setting forth the Enormity of sin the Characters of the divine goodness and the greatness of his Justice Lord thou wilt open my Lips St. Austin reflecting upon the goodness of God in that he not only bids us ask but even gives us more than we demand sayes That our slothfulness ought to blush in that God is more ready to give than we are to receive Abraham petitioned for a Son and received a promise that his Seed should be multiplyed like Stars of Heaven or Sands of the Sea and that Christ should issue forth from his Loyns Jacob's request was extended only to Bread and a Garment and he was honoured with Angels to be his Companions was partaker of many heavenly visions and abundance of riches powred as it were into his Lap. The Thief on the Cross sued but for a remembrance and Christ gave him a promise of Paradise So our Penitent seems to be very modest in his petition knowing well the wont of God's bounty that doth not succour us in one kind and leave us miserable in another but relieves compleatly Wherefore he sues only to have his Lips unsealed for the rest he referrs it to his incomparable munificence being fixt in this Principle that according to the measure of his donation he will exhort allure threaten nay put himself into any shape that may most effectually purchase Souls unto God Nor is it a bad presage of his future success that he is so confident to have his Lips laid open Lord sayes he thou wilt open my Lips as if he had the Key of grace at his command For I observe when God would dispose a Soul for the reception of his favour the first Seed he casts into her is that of hope this lesson he read to the Paralytick Matt. 9. Son be confident and hope well Cassianus sayes it is a sign we shall obtain what we demand when we find a strong faith and confidence in our selves whilst we offer our petition For Almighty God uses to inspire this vertue into us as an earnest or pledge of his future grant this made the Apostle St. Paul prescribe it as a means to compass our desires Heb. 2.16 Let us approach with confidence the Throne of grace As if we needed only a firm hope to be able to scale the throne of grace and bear thence what ever we desire Hope is defined a vertue residing in the will which raises it to the expectation of a sovereign good and consequently to all necessary means in order to that as grace remission of sin and the like For the understanding enlightned by Faith knowes that the beatitude of Man is in God that this beatitude is promised him as his final end whence the will sets itself a work after this sovereign good and being unable of it self to reach so high this vertue of hope is infused to strengthen the imbecility of our nature Now the motives of hope are First God's mercy which is no less prompt to free his Creatures from misery than the fire is to burn or the Sun to give light The next motive is his Providence which allots unto every Being what is necessary to lead them to their final end The third motive is his divine power against which no machination or force can be of any effect to ruine a Soul he means to save For all the power of Hell before him is but like anâ— atome before the Sun nay he can with more facility draw a Soul from an Abyss of sin and adorn her with an Angelick purity I say with more ease than we can utter a Syllable or make the twinkling of an Eye Besides he is generous and seeing his Enemy at his Feet imploring his mercy he loves to raise them by his pardon and cannot endure that any in vain should hope in him In sequel of this meditation our Petitioner assures himself that God will not reject him nay that he will give him more than even he dares to hope for That since he hath designed him to a supernatural end his providential care will enrich him with an interiour illustration of his Mind and a holy impulse in his will that he may comprehend those Truths which he hath hid from the wise and discovered to his little ones He knew the Messias would not shed his pretious blood to make us great Oratours Physitians Astrologers or the like because Man by the strength of his own capacity may reach and acquire them in some perfection but to enable us to supernatural principles And though by the contemplation of created things Man may make many deductions and inferences and so come to the knowledge of several perfections in God Yet knowledge thus acquired is very imperfect and therefore St. Thomas observes that the wisest Men have fallen into many sottish errours untill a supernatural Divinity came to rectify what Man's Wit could not penetrate and discern Our Penitent now feeling himself to swell like a Fountain to the brim with these irradiations and sacred transports longs to discharge himself and besprinkle the Arid Souls of languishing sinners Wherefore he begs his Lips may be laid open that like a torrent he may bear all down before him destroy all the Barricado's of impiety and teach the World in his Example that notwithstanding we forfeit by sin all supernatural aids yet repentance is of power to redeem them and restore us to a capacity of regaining our eternal Beatitude Wherefore he exhorts all Men to joyn issue with him and