proceed to the Fruits or Advantages of it and in the last place prescribe the Method by which it may be attained SECT I. Of Perfection in general The Fruit of it And the way to obtain it CHAP. I. The Nature of Perfection explained and Asserted from Reason and Scripture MOst Disputes and Controversies arise from false and Mistaken Notions of the Matter under Debate And so I could shew it has happened here Therefore to prevent Mistakes and cut off all occasions of Contention which serves only to defeat the Influence and Success of Practical Discourses I think it necessary to begin here with a plain account what it is I mean by Religious Perfection Religion is nothing else but the purifying and refining Nature by Grace the raising and exalting our Faculties and Capacities by Wisdom and Virtue Religious Perfection therefore is nothing else but the Moral Accomplishment of Human Nature such a Maturity of Virtue as Man in this Life is capable of Conversion begins Perfection consumates the Habit of Righteousness In the one Religion is as it were in its Infancy in the other in its Strength and Manhood so that Perfection in short is nothing else but a ripe and setled Habit of true Holiness According to this Notion of Religious Perfection He is a Perfect Man whose Mind is pure and Vigorous and his Body tame and obsequious whose Faith is firm and steady his Love ardent and exalted and his Hope full of Assurance whose Religion has in it That Ardour and Constancy and his Soul That Tranquility and Pleasure which bespeaks Him a Child of the Light and of the Day a Partaker of the Divine Nature and raised above the Corruption which is in the World through Lust This account of Religious Perfection is so natural and easie that I fancy no Man will demand a Proof of it nor should I go about one were it not to serve some further Ends then the meer Confirmation of it It has manifestly the Countenance both of Reason and Scripture And how Contradictory soever some Antient and Latter Schemes of Perfection seem to be or really are to one another yet do they all agree in effect in what I have laid down If we appeal to Reason no Man can doubt but that an Habit of Virtue has much more of Excellence and Merit in it then single accidental Acts or uncertain Fits and Passions since an Habit is not only the source and spring of the noblest Actions and the most elevated Passions but it renders us more regular and steady more uniform and constant in every thing that is good As to good natural Dispositions they have little of Strength little of Perfection in them till they be raised and improved into Habits And for our Natural Faculties they are nothing else but the Capacities of Good or Evil they are undetermined to the one or other till they are fix'd and influenced by Moral Principles It remains then that Religious Perfection must consist in an Habit of Righteousness And to prevent all impertinent Scruples and Cavils I add a Confirmed and well established One. That this is the Scripture Notion of Perfection is manifest First from the use of this Word in Scripture Secondly from the Characters and Descriptions of the best and highest State which any ever actually attained or to which we are invited and exhorted 1. From the use of the Word Where-ever we find any Mention of Perfection in Scripture if we examine the Place well we shall find nothing more intended than Vprightness and Integrity an unblameable and unreproveable Life a State well advanced in Knowledge and Virtue Thus Vpright and Perfect are used as terms equivalent Job 1. and that Man was Perfect and Vpright fearing God and eschewing Evil and Psalm 37.37 Mark the perfect Man and behold the upright Man for the end of that Man is Peace Thus again when God exhorts Abraham to Perfection Gen. 17.1 I am the Almighty God walk before me and be thou perfect all that He exhorts him to is a steady Obedience to all his Commandments proceeding from a lively Fear of and Faith in Him and this is the general use of this word Perfect throughout the Old Testament namely to signifie a sincere and just Man that feareth God and escheweth Evil and is well fix'd and established in his Duty In the New Testament Perfection signifies the same thing which it does in the Old that is Universal Righteousness and Strength and Growth in it Thus the Perfect Man 2 Tim. 3.17 is one who is throughly furnished to every good work Thus St. Paul tells us Coll. 4.12 that Epaphras laboured fervently in Prayers for the Collossians that they might stand perfect and compleat in all the will of God In Jam. 1.4 the Perfect Man is one Who is entire lacking nothing i. e. one who has advanced to a Maturity of Virtue through Patience and Experience and is fortified and established in Faith Love and Hope In this Sense of the word Perfect St. Peter prays for those to whom he writes his Epistle 1 Pet. 5.10 but the God of all Grace who called us into his Eternal Glory by Christ Jesus after that ye have suffered awhile make you Perfect Stablish Strengthen Settle you When St. Paul exhorts the Hebrews to go on to Perfection Heb. 6. he means nothing by it but that state of Manhood which consist in a well setled Habit of Wisdom and Goodness This is plain first from ver 11 12. of this Chapter where he himself more fully explains his own meaning and we desire that every one of you do shew the same Diligence to the full Assurance of hope unto the End that ye be not slothful but followers of them who through Faith and Patience inherit the Promise Next from the latter end of the 5 Chapter where we discern what gave occasion to his Exhortation there distinguishing Christians into two Classes Babes and Strong Men i. e. Perfect and Imperfect he describes Both at large thus For when for the time ye ought to be Teachers ye have need that one Teach you again which be the first Principles of the Oracles of God and are become such as have need of Milk and not of strong Meat For every one that useth Milk is unskilful in the word of Righteousness for he is a Babe but strong Meat belongeth to them that are of full Age even those who by reason of use have their Senses exercised to discern both good and evil And though here the Apostle seems more immediately to regard the Perfection of Knowledge yet the Perfection of Righteousness must never in the Language of the Scripture be separated from it Much the same Remark must I add concerning the Integrity of Righteousness and the Christian's Progress or Advance in it Though the Scripture when it speaks of Perfection do sometimes more directly referr to the one and sometimes to the other yet we must ever suppose that they do mutually imply and include one
several Particular deductions to lay every Man's State as plainly open to his View as I can 1st Then from the Notion I have given of Perfection it appears That if a Man's Life be very Vneven Unconstant and Contradictory to it self if he be to day a Saint and to morrow a Sinner if he yield to day to the Motives of the Gospel and Impulses of the Spirit and to morrow to the Sollicitations of the Flesh and Temptations of the World he is far from being Perfect so far that there is not ground enough to conclude Him Sincere or Real though Imperfect Convert The only certain Proof of Regeneration is Victory he that is born of God over-cometh the World 1 Joh. 5.4 Faith though it be True is not presently Saving and Justifying till it have subdued the Will and captivated the Heart i. e. till we begin to Live by Faith which is evident from That Corn in the Parable which though it shot up yet had it not Depth of Earth nor Root enough and therefore was withered up and brought forth no fruit Regret and Sorrow for Sin is an Excellent Passion but till it has subdued our Corruptions chang'd our Affections and purified our Hearts 't is not that Saving Repentance in the Apostle 2 Cor. 7.10 Godly sorrow worketh Repentance not to be repented of We may have some sudden Heats and Passions for Vertue but if they be too short liv'd to implant it in us this is not that Charity or Love which animates and impregnates the New Creature mentioned Gal. 5.6 Faith working by Love Lastly we may have good Purposes Intentions nay Resolutions but if these prove too weak to obtain a Conquest over our Corruptions if they prove too weak to resist the Temptations we were wont to fall by 't is plain that they are not such as can demonstrate us Righteous or entitle us to a Crown which is promised to him that overcometh And here I cannot but remark to how little purpose Controversies have been multiplied about the Justification of Man 'T is one thing for God to justifie us i. e. to Pardon our Sins and account us Righteous and his Children and another for us to know or be assured that he does so If we enquire after the former 't is plain to me that no Man can be accounted Righteous by God till he really is so And when the Man is Sanctified throughout in Spirit Soul and Body then is he certainly Justified and not till then And this I think is confessed by all except Antinomians and whatever Difference there is amongst Christians in this Matter it lies in the Forms and Variety of Expression They that contend earnestly for the Necessity of Good works do not I suppose imagine that the Works are Holy before the Heart is so for as is the Fountain such will be its Streams as is the Tree such will be its Fruits What Absurdity then is there in admitting that Men are justified before they bring forth Good Works if they cannot bring forth Good Works till they be Sanctified and Chang'd On the other hand they who contend so earnestly for Justification by Faith without Works do not only suppose that the Man is throughly changed by the Infusion of Habitual Grace but also that this Grace as soon as it has opportunity will exert and express it self in good Works And they do readily acknowledge that the Faith which does not work by Love is an Historical Unanimated Faith And if so how natural is it to comprise in that Holiness which justifies not only the change of the Heart but of the Actions But here I think it is well worth the considering whether that thorough Change in the nature of a Sinner which is called Holiness be now effected at once and in a moment and not rather gradually and in time For this may give some light to the Doctrine of Justification and draws off from Speculations and Theories to more Useful and Practical Thoughts and Discourses about it 'T is true in the Primitive times when the Conviction of a Sinner was wrought by a dazling light by Surprising Miracles by Exuberant Influxes of the Spirit and the Concurrence of many extraordinary things Sanctification as in the Goaler and his Family Act. 16. might be begun and finished in the same hour But I doubt it is rarely so with us at this day our Vices are not so suddenly subdued nor our Vertues so suddenly implanted Our Convictions in the Beginning of Conversion are seldom so full and clear as Theirs And if we may judge by the Effects 't is but seldom that the Principle of a New Life is infus'd in the same Plenty and Power it appears to have been in Them And if so then these things will follow 1. Though in the first Plantation of the Gospel Men being converted as it were in a Moment ingrafted by Baptism into Christ and receiving the Holy Ghost the Earnest of their Justification or Acceptance with God and their future Glory We may very well say of them that they were not only Justified but also knew themselves to be so before they had brought forth any other Fruit of Righteousness than what was implied in the Dedication of themselves to Christ by that solemn Rite of Baptism but at this day when Conversion is not effected in the same manner when Faith and Good Works do mutually cherish one another when Righteousness is not brought forth into victory but by long labour and travel I see not why Faith and Good Works may not be pronounced jointly and antecedently necessary to our Justification 2. The Doctrine of Infused Habits has been much ridiculed and exposed as absurd by some Men and I must confess if it be Essential to a Habit to be acquired by length of time and repetition of the same Acts then an Infus'd Habit is a very Odd Expression But why God cannot produce in us those strong Dispositions to Vertue in a Moment which are naturally produced by Time or why we may not ascribe as much efficacy to Infus'd Grace as Philosophers are wont to do to repeated Acts I cannot see Nor can I see why such Dispositions when Infus'd may not be called Habits if they have all the Properties and Effects of an Habit. And that such excellent Dispositions were on a sudden wrought in the Minds of Christians in the beginning of Christianity is too plain from the History of those times to need a proof But whether such Changes are ordinarily effected so suddenly at this day we have much reason to doubt nay I think it appears from what I have said there is sufficient reason to deny it And if so the Infusion of Habits cannot be so properly insisted on now as then and we may be more subject to make unwarrantable Inferences from the Doctrine of Infus'd Habits then they were in those bright and Miraculous days 3. As our Progress to Sanctification must be slower then formerly as it must be longer before
Desire and Passion that it works in us we must shun every Appearance of Evil we must press on towards Perfection we must watch unto Prayer we must spend the Time of our sojourning here in fear we must rejoyce and glory in the Lord and we must wait for the blessed Hope and the glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Christ Jesus And now I have finished what I had to say on this Subject of the Perfect Man's Liberty as it relates to Mortal or Wilful Sin I have shewed what this Sin is how far Man may be freed from it and referring the Reader to Chap. 4. for the Fruit of this Freedom I have here Lastly given that Advice which I thought most serviceable to the Attainment of it And thorough this whole Chapter I have had regard not only to Perfection but Sincerity it being indeed improper to do otherwise since we cannot arrive at the one but thorough the other For Sincerity is Perfection in its Infancy or Non-age and Perfection is nothing else but Sincerity cultivated by Meditation and Discipline and cherish'd by the Influence of Heaven And now let no Man's Heart fail him while he contemplates the Difficulties which block up the Way to his Liberty The Way indeed is steep and the Top is high but Serenity and Happiness Security and Glory dwell there Many indeed are the Temptations which would forbid our assent and thrust us down But we are Armed all over they cannot hurt us the Spirit supports and encourages us and nothing but our Cowardise and Inconstancy can prevent our Success Watch ye stand fast quit ye like Men be strong and then you shall be sure to Conquer and enter into Rest CHAP. VII Of Unfruitfulness as it consists in Idleness UNfruitfulness is a fit Subject to conclude a Discourse of Liberty with or begin one of Zeal for lying like a Tract of Ground between two bordering Kingdoms it may indifferently be laid to either As it implies a direct Opposition to Spiritual Life and Sincerity it naturally falls in under the Consideration of Zeal As it implies a Servile Subjection to some vile Lust or or other it naturally falls in under the Consideration of Liberty So that by allotting it this Place I shall at once compleat my Reflections on the Argument of Liberty and make a good progress into that of Zeal Barrenness or Unfruitfulness may in general best be understood by comparing it with a State of Wickedness From which as it is usually distinguished in the Notion of the Vulgar so does it really differ on many Accounts The one has in it an Air of Defiance the other of Vnconcernment for Religion the one forgets God the other contemns Him the one has no Relish nor Savour of that which is good the other finds too much Gust and Pleasure in that which is evil the one makes us by Degrees Enemies the other Strangers to God In short there is little Doubt to be made but that the Omission of a Duty and the Commission of a Crime Lukewarmness in that which is good and Eagerness and Confidence in that which is evil may and generally do differ very widely in the Degrees of Guilt From hence it is the Sinner being always a partial and indulgent Judge of himself that it is not unusual for many who seem to have some Abhorrence of Wickedness to be far enough from apprehending much Evil or much Danger in Unfruitfulness This is a fatal Error it frustrates the great Design of Religion and robs it of its truest Honour good Works For what can Religion effect by that Man who retains nothing of it but the bare Form and Profession and dares promise himself not only Impunity but a Heaven in an useless and unprofitable Life Unfruitfulness if more particularly inquir'd into consists in two Things a Neglect of Duty or a lifeless and unprofitable Performance of it The Former I will call Idleness the Latter Lukewarmness Coldness Formality and treat of each in order Of the Former in this and of the Latter in the following Chapter And because each of them are encumbered with Mistakes and Errors which arise not only from Self-Love and Partiality but also from Shallowness of Judgment joyn'd with Tenderness of Conscience I shall endeavour so to mannage this Subject as neither to discourage the weak nor embolden the careless § 1. Of Idleness The Omission of a Duty may be either Habitual or Occasional and Accidental And accordingly the Case of Omission may be very different 1. An Habitual Omission of Duty cannot consist with Sincerity A general Neglect of Duty defeats the main End of Religion which is to Honour God adorn our Holy Profession and promote the Good of Human Society all which can never be attained but by following after Righteousness and abounding in the Fruits of it By this Rule an idle though innocent Life must necessarily be accounted irreligious and vicious being a flat Contradiction to our excellent Profession He who does not pray nor meditate nor pursue any End of Charity though he be otherwise civil and regular in his Life yet because be does not work Righteousness because he is so far from imitating the Zeal or Charity of the Blessed Jesus that he acts directly repugnant to both therefore must he not be looked upon as a Disciple of Jesus but as an Alien and a Stranger He whose Life is spent in Vanity or Drudgery in Pleasure or Business though his Pleasure be not impure nor his Business unjust yet is he before God a Criminal because unprofitable he has received the Grace of God in vain the Light of the Gospel has risen upon him in vain and he has serv'd no Interest of Vertue or Religion in his Generation and therefore he will be excluded Heaven with the slothful Servant who hid his Masters Talent in a Napkin Luke 19.20 2. The Case of an accidental or occasional Omission of Duty is very different from that of habitual Neglect of it an occasional Omission may be not only lawful but necessary but the Neglect of Duty never can be either The Circumstances of positive Duty and the Measures or Degrees of Moral Good are not strictly fix'd and setled and therefore a single Omission either in the one or the other where-ever there is a sufficient Reason for it can neither grieve the Spirit nor frustrate the Design of Religion nor consequently imply any Corruption in the Heart But then we must take Care 1. That our Omission be not too frequent We must always have regard in this matter of Duty to the great End and Designs of its Injunction we must take care that our Omissions in moral Duties be not so often that either the Honour of our Religion or the Welfare of our Neighbour suffer by it Nor must we so often omit Instrumental Duties Prayers Reading the Sacrament and the like as thereby to abate or much less extinguish our Spiritual Gust and Fervour Omission of Duty too
Sins through his Name amongst all Nations And this is one Blessed advantage which Revealed Religion has above Natural that it contains an express Declaration of the Divine Will concerning the Pardon of all Sins whatsoever upon these Terms Natural Religion indeed teaches us that God is Merciful but it teaches us that he is Just too and it can never assure us what Bounds God will set to the Exercise of the one or the other and when Justice and when Mercy shall take Place What Sins are and what are not capable of the benefit of Sacrifice and Repentance And this uncertainty considering the Sins of the best Life was ever naturally apt to beget Despondencies Melancholy and sometimes a Superstitious dread of God The Second Ground of assurance as it relates to our present State is an Application of the Condition of Life laid down in the Gospel to a Man 's own Particular Case thus They that Believe and Repent shall be Saved I Believe and Repent therefore I shall be Saved Now that a Man upon an Examination of himself may be throughly assured that he does Believe and Repent is evident from Scripture which does not only exhort us to enter upon this Examination but also assert that Assurance Joy and Peace are the natural Fruits of it But let a Man examine himself and so let him eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup 1 Cor. 11.28 Examine your selves whether ye be in the Faith prove your own selves Know ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates 2 Cor. 13.5 But Sanctifie the Lord God in your Hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every Man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear 1 Pet. 3.15 And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his Commandments 1 Joh. 2.3 Beloved if our Hearts condemn us not then have we confidence towards God 1 Joh. 3.2 'T is true Men do often deceive themselves and entertain a more favourable Opinion of their state then they ought But whence proceeds this Even from too Partial or Superficial Reflections on themselves or none at all And therefore the Apostle teaches us plainly that the only way to correct this Error is a Sincere and diligent search into our selves For if a Man think himself to be something when he is nothing he deceiveth himself But let every Man prove his own Work and then shall he have rejoycing in himself alone and not in another Gal. 6.3 4. But it is Objected against all this that the Heart of Man is so deceitful that it is a very difficult Matter to make a thorough discovery of it We often think our selves Sincere when the success of the next Temptation gives us just reason to call this Sincerity into question such is the contradictions Composition of our Nature that we often act contrary to our inward Convictions and frequently fail in the execution of those designs in the performance of those resolutions which we have thought very well grounded and this being not to be charged upon the Insufficiency of God's Grace but the Levity or Insincerity of our own Hearts how can we safely frame any right Opinion of our Selves from those affections and purposes which are so little to be rely'd upon To this I Answer First We are not to conclude any thing concerning our Progress or Perfection too hastily we are not to determine of the final Issue of a War by the success of one or two Engagements but our Hopes and Assurances are to advance slowly and gradually in proportion to the abatement of the Enemy's Force and the increase of our own so that we may have time enough to examine and prove our own Hearts Secondly A Sincere Christian but especially one of a Mature Vertue may easily discern his spiritual state by the inward movings and actings of the Soul if he attend to them For is it possible that such a one should be ignorant what Impressions Divine Truths make upon him Is it possible he should be ignorant whether his Faith stand firm against the shock of all Carnal objections whether he earnestly desire to please God as loving him above all things whether he thirst after the Consolation and Joy of the Spirit more then after that of sensible things Is it possible the Soul should bewail its Heaviness and Driness which the best are liable to at some season or other Is it possible that the Soul should be carried upwards frequently on the Wings of Faith and Love that it should maintain a familiar and constant Conversation with Heaven that it should long to be delivered from this World of trouble and this Body of Death and to enter into the Regions of Peace of Life and Righteousness Is it possible I say that these should be the Affections the Longings and Earnings of the Soul and yet that the Good Man the Perfect Man who often enters into his Closet and Communes with his own Heart should be ignorant of them It cannot be In a word can the Reluctances of the Body and the Allurements of the World be disarm'd weaken'd and reduc'd Can the Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness be very eager the relish of spiritual Pleasure brisk and delightful and the contempt of worldly things be real and thoroughly setled and yet the Man be insensible of all this It cannot be But if we fell these Affections in us we may safely conclude that we are Partakers of the Divine Nature that we have escaped the corruption that is in the World through Lust and that the New Creature is at least growing up into a Perfect Man to the Measure of the Stature of the fulness of Christ Thirdly The surest Test of a State of Grace is our abounding in Good Works You shall know the Tree by its Fruit is our Masters own Rule and it can never deceive us He that doth Righteousness is born of God If then we be frequent and fervent in our Devotion towards God if we be modest and grateful in the Successes Patient and Resigned Calm and Serene under the Crosses and Troubles of Life If we be not only Punctual but Honourable in our dealings if we be Vigorous and Generous in the Exercises of Charity if we be not only just and true but meek gentle and obliging in our Words if we retrench not only the sinful but something from the innocent Liberties and Gratifications of Sense to give our selves more entirely up to the Duties and Pleasures of Faith If finally we never be ashamed of Vertue nor flatter complement nor wink at Vice if we be ready to meet with Death with comfort and retain Life with some degree of Indifference If these things I say be in us we have little reason to doubt of the goodness of our State For Good Works being the natural Fruit of Grace it is impossible we should abound in the one without being possessed
on the Soul in its Creation but also scatters and diffuses I know not what Venome and Infection thorough it that makes it eagerly pursue its own Misery 'T is a Disease that produces more intollerable Effects in the Soul than any whatever can in the Body The Predominancy of any noxious Humour can breed no Pain no Disturbance equal to that of a Predominant Passionâ— no Scars or Ruins which the worst Disease leaves behind it are half so deformed and loathsom as those of Vice Nay that last Change which Death it self produces when it converts a beautiful Body into Dust and Rottenness is not half so contemptible or hateful as that of Sin when it transforms Man into a Beast or Devil If we do not yet sufficiently comprehend the Nature of Sin by viewing it as it exists in our Minds and Hearts we may Contemplate it in our Actions And here 't is Blindness and Folly Rashness and Madness Incogitance Levity Falshood and Cowardise 't is every thing that is mean and base and all this aggravated by the most accursed Ingratitude that Human Nature is capable of These and the like Reflections on the Nature of Sin cannot chuse but render it hateful And if Secondly we make any serious ones on the Effects of it they cannot fail of rendering it frightful and dreadful to us These Effects may be especially reduced to Three 1. The ill Influence Sin has upon our Temporal Concerns 2. Guilt And 3. Fear As to the First of these I shall only say that we suffer very few Evils but what are owing to our own Sins that it is very rarely any Calamity befalls us but we may put our Finger on the Fountain the Sin I mean from whence the Mischief flows Whence come Wars and Fighting amongst you saith St. James come they not from your Lusts which war in your Members This is every jot as applicable to Private as Publick Contentions and where Envy Strife and Contention is no evil Work no Disaster will be long absent I might run through all the different kinds of Evils that infest the Body or embroil the Fortune that blast our Hopes or stain our Desires and easily shew that they all generally spring from our Vices Nay what is worse yet I could shew that Sin converts our good things into evil and our Enjoyments into Punishments that it renders the slightest Evils intollerable turns Scratches into Wounds and Wounds into Gangrenes But this is too copious a subject and would insensibly render me Voluminous when I would be as short as possibly I can A Second Effect of Sin is Guilt which is nothing else but a Consciousness of having done ill and an Obligation to Punishment resulting from it And though Men often Sin with Hopes of Impunity yet it is hard to imagine even on this supposal that they should sin without suffering the Reproaches of their own Minds which surely must be very uneasie to them To be perpetually vex't at ones own Folly to commit those things which we inwardly condemn and be in continual Pain lest they should come to Light to be always displeased at ones self and afraid not only of the Reflections of others but our own This is methinks a great Evil did no other attend our sin But Thirdly Fear is almost inseparably joyned with Guilt for Guilt does not only damp the Chearfulness and enfeeble the Vigour of the Mind it does not only destroy that Confidence Man would otherwise naturally have in God and render him Cowardly and Pusillanimous but it terrifies his Soul with Melancholy Apprehensions and makes him live continually in fear of Death and Punishment And thus the Scripture represents the state of a sinner The wicked flee when none pursue but the righteous are bold as a lion Prov. 28.1 If our heart condemn us God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things 1 John 3.2 There is no peace to the wicked saith the Lord Isa 48.22 To deliver them who through fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage Heb. 2.15 The sinners in Zion are afraid fearfulness has surpised the Hypocrites who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire who amongst us shall dwell with everlasting burnings Isa 23.14 Nor let any one wonder that notwithstanding the outward Gaiety of the sinner the Spirit thus describes the inward Condition of his Soul As long as Men retain the Belief of a God it is impossible they should wholly free themselves from the Fear of him They may indeed forget him in the Fits of Lust or Passion but in their Intermissions his Terrours will return upon them with more Violence Again as long as Men retain the common Principles of Truth and Justice if they acknowledge but the Obligation of that universal Law Thou shalt do to others as thou wouldest they should do unto thee 't is impossible they should reflect on their sins without Regret and uneasiness for there is no sin but has more or less Repugnancy in it to Truth Justice and Goodness Finally as long as Men are perswaded that there is such a Faculty as Conscience that God has prescribed them a Law and that they are accountable to Him the natural Conscience cannot chuse but by Fits and upon Occasions scourge and torture lance and gash them And 't is a hard matter to wear out these Notions they are so natural and obvious the Proofs of them are so clear their Reputation and Authority in the World is so well established and the Providence of God so frequently inculcates them Men may easily wear out all sense of the Beauty and of their Obligations to the Heights and Perfections of Vertue but they cannot so easily do this in reference to Virtue in general because 't is temper'd and accommodated to Human Nature and Society and necessary to the tollerable well-being of the World Men may soon I confess extinguish their Christianity but not Humanity and while this remains Sin will leave a Stain and Guilt behind it and Guilt will be attended by uneasiness and Fear The very Pagans who had advanced so far in Wickedness as to be given up to all dishonourable Passions and to commit all Vncleanness with Greediness had not yet so mortified and stupified their Consciences but that it gave them much Disturbance Rom. 1. ver 32. 't is said of them that they knew the Judgment of God that they which committed such things were worthy of Death And Rom. 2.15 their Consciences are said to accuse and condemn them And 't is of very wicked Men that the Author to the Hebrews affirms that through fear of Death they were all their life time subject to bondage But are there not will some say many Ingenious and Brave Spirits who have dispersed these vain Spectres and burst those superstitious Fetters by which you labour to scare and enslave the World I do not doubt indeed but that there are too many who have vigorously endeavour'd to cashier all Principles of Natural
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
is capable of it He that laies the Foundation of Morals here does build upon a Rock and he that here pushes his Success to the utmost point has reached the highest Round in the Scale of Perfection and given the finishing strokes to Holiness and Vertue This I say then he that will be free must lay down as a general Rule to himself from which he must resolve never to swerve That he is by all rational and possible Methods to diminish the Strength and Authority of the Body and increase that of the Mind By this we ought to judge of the Conveniences or Inconveniences of our worldly Fortunes by this we are to determine of the Innocence or Malignity of Actions by this we are to form and estimate our Acquaintance and Conversation and by this we are to judge of the Bent and Tendency of our Lives by this we are to regulate our Diversions by this we may resolve of the Nature and Degree of our Pleasures whether lawful whether expedient or not And in one word by this we may pass a true Sentence upon the Degrees and Measures of our Natural Affections There are many things that are in their own Nature indifferent enough that prove not so to me and there is such a Latitude in the Degrees and Measures of Duty and Deviations from it that it is a very hard matter in several Cases to define nicely and strictly what is lawful or unlawful But I am sure in all Cases this is a wise and safe Rule that we are to aim at the strengthning the Authority of our Minds and the weakning the Force and Power of our carnal Appetites By Consequence every Man ought to examine himself by what Arts by what Practises the Light of his Understanding comes to be obscured the Authority of his Reason weaken'd and the Tenderness of his Conscience to be so much blunted and worn off And when he has discovered this he must avoid these things as temptations and snares he must shun these Paths as those that lead to Danger and Death and whatever he finds to have a contrary Tendency these are the things that he must do these are the things that he must Study contrive and follow how happy would a Man be how perfect would he soon grow if he did conduct himself by this Rule how little need would he have of outward Comforts how little value would he have for Power and Honour for the State and Pride of Life how little would he hunt after the Pleasures of Sense what Peace should he maintain within when he should do nothing that were repugnant to the Reason of his Mind what Joy and Hope would he abound with when he should have so many daily Proofs of his Integrity as the living above the Body would give him and how would all this strengthen and exalt the Mind what Flights would it take towards Heaven and how invincible would it prove to all Temptations Happy and Perfect that Man who has the Kingdom of God thus within him whose Life is hid with Christ in God when Christ who is his Life shall appear he also shall appear with him in Glory This is a comprehensive Rule and if well pursued sufficient of its self to do the Work I am here aiming at But that it may be more easily reduced to Practice I think it not amiss to take a more particular View of it And then it may be resolved into these two 1. We must lay due Restraints upon the Body 2. We must invigorate and fortifie the Mind partly by the Light of the Gospel and the Grace of the holy Spirit and partly by accustoming it to retire and with draw it self from the Body § 1. As to the Restraints we are to lay upon the Body what they are we easily learn from the Scriptures for First these expresly forbid us to gratifie the Lusts and Affections of the Flesh and that not only because they are injurious to our Neighbour and a Dishonour to our holy Profession but also because they have an ill Influence upon the strength and Liberty the Power and Authority of the Mind Dearly beloved I beseech you as Strangers and Pilgrims abstain from fleshly Lusts which war against the Soul 1 Pet. 2.11 And whoever enters into the account of things will easily discern this to be true there is a Deceitfulness in Sin a sensuality in Lust Who sees not that there is more Attraction in the Pride and Ostentation of Life than in the Simplicity and Plainness of it That there is more Temptation and Allurement in Riot and Luxury than in frugality and a Competency that the Imagination of a Solomon himself cannot but be wretchedly abused if he give it leave to wander and wanton in variety In a word if the Mind follow a carnal or worldly Appetite and Fancy in all its Excesses and Debauches it will soon find it self miserably enslaved and intoxicated it will be wholly in the Interest of the Body and wholly given up to to the Pleasures of it Secondly Though the Scripture do not prohibit some States or Conditions of this Life which seem as it were more nearly allied to or at least-wise at less Distance from the Lusts of the Flesh than others are yet it forbids us to covet and pursue them Thus St. Paul Rom. 12.16 Mind not high things The Apostle does not here oblige any Man to degrade himself beneath his Birth or to fly from those Advantages which God's Providence and his own Merits give him a just Title to but certainly he does oblige the Christian not to aspire ambitiously to great Things nor fondly to pride himself in successes of this kind so when a little after he commands us in Honour to prefer one another certainly he does not teach how to talk but how to act not how to court and compliment but how to deport our selves consonant to those Notions with which Charity towards our Neighbour and Humility towards our selves ought to inspire us Thus again we are not forbidden to be rich no Man is bound to strip himself of those Possessions which he is born to or to shut out that Increase which God's Blessing and his own Diligence naturally bring in But we are forbid to thirst after Riches or to value our selves upon them and commanded to be content with those things that we have and if God bless us with Wealth to enjoy it with Modesty and Thankfulness and dispense it with Liberality 1 Tim. 6.6 7 8 9 10. Godliness with Contentment is great gain for we brought nothing into this World and it is certain we can carry nothing out and having Food and Raiment let us be therewith content But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a Snare and into many foolish and hurtful Lusts which drown Men in Destruction and Perdition For the Love of Money is the root of all Evil which while some coveted after they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves