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
good Soldier of Christ Jesus who firmly believes that He is now a Spectator and will very suddenly come to be a Judge and Rewarder of his sufferings How natural is it to run with Patience the Race that is set before us to him who has an Eternal Joy an Eternal Crown alway in his Eye And if a Life to come can make a Man rejoyce even in suffering Evil how much more in doing Good If it enable him to Conquer in the day of the Churches Tryal and Affliction how much more will it enable him to abound in all Vertues in the day of its Peace and Prosperity How freely will a Man give to the distressed Members of Christ who believes that he sees Christ himself standing by and receiving it as it were by their Hands and placing it to his own account to be repaid a thousand-fold in the great day of the Lord How easily will a Man allay the storms of Passion and cast away the weapon of Revenge and Anger with Indignation against himself if his Faith do but present him often with a view of that Canaan which the Meek in Heart shall inherit for ever How Importunately will a Man pray for the Pardon of Sin whose Sense whose Soul whose Imagination is struck with a dread of being for ever divided from God and excluded from the Joys and Vertues of the Blessed How fervently will a Man pray for the Spirit of God for the Increase of Grace whose Thoughts are daily swallowed up with the Contemplation of an Eternity and whose Mind is as fully possess'd of the certainty and the Glory of another World as of the emptiness and vanity of this How natural finally will it be to be poor in Spirit and to delight in all the Offices of an unfeigned Humility to that Man who has the Image of Jesus washing the feet of his Disciples and a little after Ascending up into Heaven alway before him But I know it will be here Objected we discern not this Efficacy you attribute to this Motive The Doctrine of another Life is the great Article of the Christian Faith and it is every where Preached throughout Christendom and yet Men generally seem to have as much fondness for this World as they could were there no other They practise no Vertues but such as are Profitable and Fashionable or none any further than they are so To this I answer though most act thus there are many I hope very many who do otherwise and that all in general do not proceeds from want either of due Consideration or firm Belief of this Doctrine of another Life First from not Considerating it as we should 'T is the greatest disadvantage of the Objects of Faith compared with those of Sense that they are distant and invisible He therefore that will be Perfect that will derive any Strength and Vertue from this Motive must supply this distance by devout and daily Contemplation he must fetch the remore objects of Faith home to him he must render them as it were present he must see and feel them by the strength of Faith and the force of Meditation which if he do then will his Faith certainly prove a vital and victorious Principle then will no Pleasure in this World be able to combate the assured Hopes of an Heaven nor any worldly Evil or difficulty sustained for Vertue be able to confront the Terrors of an Hell A Second Reason why this Motive doth not Operate as it should is want of Faith We doubt we waver we stagger or take things upon trust assenting very slightly and superficially to the Doctrine of another Life and looking upon good Works rather as not injurious to this World then serviceable to a better And then 't is no more wonder that the unbelieving Christian does not enter into Perfection and Rest than that the unbelieving Jew did not 'T is no more wonder if the word of Life do not profit the Christian when not believed by him then if it do not profit a Pagan who has never heard of it And what is here said of Infidelity is in its measure and proportion true when applyed to a weak and imperfect Faith He therefore that will be Perfect must daily pray Lord I Believe help thou mine unbelief He must daily Consider the Grounds on which the Faith and Hope of a Christian stand the express declarations of the Divine Will concerning the future Immortality and Glory of the Children of God the demonstrastration of this contained in the Resurrection of Jesus from the Dead and his Ascension and Session at the Right Hand of God And to this he may add the Love of God the Merits of Jesus and the State and Fortune of Vertue in this World From all which one may be able to infer the undoubted certainty of another World The Sum of all amounts to this whoever will be Perfect must daily I should I think have said almost hourly ponder the blessedness that attends Perfection in another Life he must ponder it seriously that he may be throughly perswaded of it he must ponder it often that the Notions of it may be fresh and lively in his Soul SECT II. Of the several Parts of Perfection WHat the several Parts of Religious Perfection are will be easily discerned by a very slight Reflection either on the Nature of Man or the general Notion of Perfection already laid down If we consider Man whose Perfection I am treating of as it is plain that he is made up of Soul and Body so 't is as plain that Moral Perfection relates to the Soul as the chief subject of it and to the Body no otherwise then as the Instrument of that Righteousness which is planted in the Soul Now in the Soul of Man we find these three things Vnderstanding Will and Affections In the Improvement and Accomplishment of which Human Perfection must consequently consist And if we enquire wherein this Improvement or Accomplishment lies 't is a Truth so obvious that it will not need any proof that Illumination is the Perfection of the Vnderstanding Liberty of the Will and Zeal of the Affections If in the next place we reflect upon the Description I have before given of Perfection nothing is more evident than that to constitute a firm Habit of Righteousness three things are necessary 1. The Knowledge of our Duty and our Obligations to it 2. The Subduing our Lusts and Passions that we may be enabled to perform it Lastly not only a free but warm and vigorous Prosecution of it In the first of these consists Illumination in the second Liberty and in the third Zeal Upon the whole then 't is evident both from the Nature of Perfection and of Man that I am now to treat in order of these three things Illumination Liberty and Zeal as so many Essential Parts of Religious Perfection Nor must I stop here but must to those three unavoidably add Humility For whether we consider the Sins of the
not be understood to proceed in it with a regard to all the Regenerate in General but only to the Perfect for the strength of Original Sin cannot but be very different in new Converts or Babes in Grace and in such as are advanced to an Habit of Righteousness This being premised I think I may on good Ground resolve That Original Sin in the Perfect Man may be so far reduced and master'd as to give him but very rare and slight Disturbance This seems to me evident from the great Change that must be wrought in him who is converted from a Sinner into a Saint If any Man be in Christ he is a new Creature old things are past away behold all things are become new 2 Cor. 5.17 and it is hard to conceive this new Nature without new Propensions and Inclinations not only different from but repugnant to our former Original and Corrupt ones or at least we must suppose this new Creation so far to have reformed and corrected the Man that Original Corruption has lost the Strength and Force which before it had This will be more clear yet if we observe never so slightly the several Parts of this great Change First the Soul of an excellent Person is filled with an unfeigned and habitual Sorrow for and Detestation of all Sin I hate saith the Psalmist every false way And how inconsistent is the strength and Heat of corrupt Propensions with the Tears and Aversions of a true Penitent how tame is the Body how pure the Mind when the Man is possess'd with a firm and holy Indignation against Sin when he dissolves in the pious Tenderness of a contrite Spirit Next the Soul of a good Man is possessed with an ardent Love of God and of Jesus with a firm Belief and a steady Hope of a blessed Eternity with enlightened Eyes he beholds the Vanity of all earthly Things and admires the Solidity the Weight and Duration of Heavenly Glory he is risen with Christ and therefore seeks those things that are above where Christ sits on the right hand of God He has set his Affection on things above and not on things on the Earth for he is dead and his Life is hid with Christ in God And must we not now suppose such a one cleansed and purified from all corrupt Affections when the very Bent of his Soul is quite another way must we not suppose the Force and Strength of depraved Nature overpowred and subdued by these heavenly Affections How mortified must such a Man be to the World and to the Body how feeble is the Opposition that inferiour Nature can raise against a Mind invested with so absolute and soveraign Authority and endowed with Light and Strength from above Lastly the Perfect Man has not only crucified the Inordinate and sinful Lusts and Affections of the Body but has also obtained a great Mastery even over the natural Appetites of it how else can it be that his Desires and Hopes are in Heaven that he waits for the Lord from thence that he desires to be dissolved and to be with Christ and groans to be rid of the corruptible Tabernacle of the Body He that is thus above the Body may certainly be concluded to be in some degree above even the most natural Appetites He that has set himself free in a great Measure even from his Aversion to Death and in his Affection at least very much loosen'd the bond the knot that unties Soul and Body may certainly very reasonably be presumed to be much more above all covetous ambitious or wanton Inclinations These are the Grounds on which I attribute to the Perfect Man so high a Degree of Freedom from Original Sin as I do in the Proposition laid down 2ly But yet I do not in the least think that the most Perfect Man upon Earth can so extinguish the sparks of Original Corruption but that if he do not keep a Watch and Guard upon himself they will gather Strength and revive again And the Reason of this is plain because it has a Foundation in our very Nature The Dispute concerning the Existence of Original Corruption in us after Baptism or Regeneration is methinks a very needless one For if it be about the Notion we ought to entertain of it that is whether it be properly Sin or not this is a Contention about Words for what signifies it by what Name we call this Remainder of Original Pravity when all grant that the Stain and Guilt of it is washed off and pardoned But if it be about the Force and Efficacy of it this indeed is a Controversie of some Moment but a very foolish one on one side for to what purpose can it be to say a great many subtil and puzling Things against a Truth that every Man feels and experiments at one time or other Upon the whole then I may thus describe the Liberty of the Perfect Man with respect to Original Sin He has mortified it though not utterly extirpated it he has subdued it though not exterminated it and therefore he is not only free from sinful and inordinate Lusts and Affections but also in a far greater measure than other Men from those Infirmities and Irregularities which are as it were the struglings and Ebullitions of Original Sin not yet sufficiently tam'd He has advanced his Victory very far even over his natural Appetites he has no stronger Inclination for the Body or for the World and the Things of it than such as becomes a Man that is possessed with a deep sense of the Vanity of this World and the Blessedness of another The World is in a high Degree crucified to him and he counts all things but dung and dross in comparison with the Excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord. His Sorrows and his Joys his Desires and his Fears be the occasion never so just or lawful pass not the modest Bounds of a wise Moderation He desires without Impatience cares and contrives hopes and pursues without Anxiety or Sollicitude he is cautious without Fear and Pusillanimity he is sad without Dejection or Despondency and Pleasant without Vanity All this indeed shews him not only to have conquered Sin and Folly but in a great Measure also his natural Propension to them But after all this happy Creature must remember that he is still in the Body in the Body whose Appetites will soon pass beyond their due Bounds if he be indulgent or careless he must remember that he is not immutably holy his Understanding is not so clear and bright but that it may be deceived nor the Bent of his Affections so strongly set upon good but that they may be perverted and therefore he must be sober and vigilant and fear always Thus have I stated the Cureableness of our Original Corruption And as I think I have plainly the Countenance of Scripture so I do not see that I in the least clash with that Clause in the Ninth Article of our Church
will quote but one or two Passages of St. Basil (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 454. his Description of the Perfect Man with regard to his Self-denial runs thus He is one that consults the Necessities not the Pleasure of his Nature and seems to grudge the Time which he bestows on the Support and Nourishment of a corruptible Body He is so far from looking upon eating and drinking c. as an Enjoyment that he rather accounts it a Task or troublesome Service which the Frailty of his Nature demands at his hands Nor was this great Man more severe against the Lusts of the Flesh than against those other Branches of the Love of the World the Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 456. All Vanity and Affection of Praise and Respect all the Ostentation saith he and shew of Life is utterly unlawful for a Christian And all this is directly consonant to his Gloss (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 457. on those words of S. Paul they that use the World as not abusing it whatever is beyond use is abuse directly consonant to his Definition of Temperance (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p 454. That it is the Extirpation of Sin the Extermination of unruly Passions and the Mortification of the Body extending even to the natural Appetites and Affections of it I know not what Scruples or Mistakes the Doctrine I here advance concerning this Part of my Perfect Man's Liberty may be encounter'd with But I am Confident I have given no just Occasion for any I do not say of the Perfect with Jovinian that they cannot fall but I say they may and ought to stand and if it be not their own fault will do so I do not affirm of them as the Hereticks in Vincentius Lyrinensis did of their Part that they are priviledg'd from sin by a peculiar Grace and transcendent Favour but I affirm that they shall not want Grace to preserve them from it unless they be wanting to themselves I do not go about to maintain that God sees no sin in his Children but I maintain That Mortal Sin is not the Spot of his Children But do not I in this fall in with the Papists who assert the Possibility of keeping the Commands of God I answer That taking them in the sense in which they themselves in the Conference at Ratisbone defend this Doctrine I do They there tell us that when they talk thus they take the Law or Commands of God not in a strict and rigid but in a favourable and equitable i. e. a Gospel Construction And this is so far from being Heterodox that Davenant accounts it a plain giving up the Question in Controversie But am I not run into the Error of the Pelagians and Quakers I answer if the one or the other assert That the Perfect Man passes thorough the whole Course of Life without falling into any Sin or That in the best part of Life he is impeccable and not subject to sin as in the Heat of Disputation their Adversaries seem sometimes to fasten on them I am at a wide Distance from them But if they teach That the Perfect Man has Grace and Strength enough to forbear Wilful Sin and that many actually do so I am I must confess exactly of their Mind But then I am at the same time of the same Mind with St. Austin and St. Jerome too For they teach the very same Doctrine For they never contended about the Possibility of Freedom or Deliverance from Mental Sin but only from Venial St. Jerome * Dial. Secund adv Pelag. p. 189. shall explain his own Sense Etenim absque vitio quod grecé dicitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hominem posse esse aio 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id est sine Peccato esse nego Which is the same thing that St. Austin commonly admits That Man may be sine Crimine but not sine Peccato without Mortal but not without Venial Sin And in this they are certainly of the Mind of the Scripture which every where represents the Perfect Man as holy blameless undefiled without Spot walking with God and in one word as free from Sin If any Man can reconcile these Texts which are very numerous with Mortal Sin I will not say in the best state of the best Men but a state of Sincerity and Regeneration I will acknowledge my Mistake But till then I cannot but think the Doctrine I advance necessary to establish the true Notion of Holiness and convince us of our Obligation to it This Doctrine is again necessary to wipe off those Aspersions and Calumnies the Quakers cast upon our Church as if it held That the Regenerate themselves may continue in their Sins nay cannot be freed from them Our Church teaches indeed Artic. 14. That the most Perfect Men are never utterly exempt from Defects Failings and Human Infirmities and I believe they themselves are not confident enough to teach otherwise only they will not call these Infirmities Sins And then the whole Controversie is reduced to this we agree in the thing but differ in the Name And in this Difference we are not only on the humbler but the safer side too for acknowledging them Sins we shall be the better disposed sure to be sorry for them to beg pardon of them and watch against them The Fruit of this Liberty has been sufficiently accounted for Chap. 3. And therefore I proceed S. 3. To propose some Rules for the Attainment of it 1. The Mind must be grounded and rooted in the Faith it must be thoroughly convinced and perswaded of these great Articles of the Christian Religion That there is a God and such a God Holy Just Omniscient and Omnipotent one the Incarnation Suffering and Glory of the Blessed Jesus a Judgment to come and the Eternal Rewards and Punishments of another Life The firm Belief of these things does naturally promote these two Effects 1. It will awaken a Sinner out of his Lethargy and Security it will disturb him in his sinful Enjoyments and fill his Mind with guilty Fears and uneasie Reflections And when the Man finds no Rest no security in his Sins this will naturally oblige him to endeavour the Conquest of them But then we must not stifle and suppress these Thoughts we must give Conscience full Liberty we must hear the Dictates of our own Minds patiently and consider seriously those terrible Truths which they lay before us till we go from this Exercise deeply impress'd with such Notions as these That our Sins sooner or later will certainly bring upon us temporal and eternal Misery That nothing but sincere Righteousness can produce true and lasting Happiness That it is a dreadful Danger to dally too long with Indgination or presume too far on the Mercy of a just and holy and Almighty God That the neglecting the great Salvation tender'd by the Gospel and procured by the Blessed Jesus the
Case of Herod he had yielded no doubt to the Power and Force of the Baptists Reasons if he had not been drawn back by the Charms of his Herodias And this is the Case of every Man who is but almost a Christian he is under the Ascendant of some silly or vile Lust or other this is that which spoils the Taste of the hidden Manna and diminisheth the Price of Canaan Without doubt Men would apply themselves more vigorously to spiritual Things were they not too fond of the Body and the Pleasures of it they would certainly seek the Kingdom of Heaven more earnestly and make a better provision than they do for the other World were they not too much taken with this and therefore too apt to set up their Rest on this side Jordan Now if this be so what can we expect they only who conquer are crowned they that sow to the flesh and to the world can reap nothing from these but Corruption These kind of Christians though peradventure they are not Slaves to any infamous and scandalous Lusts are yet entangled by some other not muchless injurious though not to Reputation yet to Purity of Heart they are captived to the World and Flesh though their Chains seem better polished and of a finer Metal they cannot mount upwards they cannot conquer being retarded and kept under if not by the Strength of Temptation yet by their own Softness and Weakness and yet why should I doubt but these are conquer'd by Temptation The more innocent the Object of any ones Passion is generally the more fatal because we are the more apt to indulge our selves in it The Causes of Lukewarmness being thus pointed out 't is evident what the Cure of it consists in namely in forming just and correct Notions of Vertue and Vice in strengthening and confirming our Faith and in perfecting and compleating our Reformation I will now endeavour to possess the Minds of Men with an Aversion and Dread of this State of Lukewarmness by shewing 1. The Folly 2. The Guilt and 3. The Danger of it 1. The Folly How reasonably may I here address my self to the Luke-warm in the words of Elijah to the Israelites How long halt ye between two Opinions if the Lord be God follow him but if Baal then follow him 1 King 18.21 If you do indeed believe that your Safety and Happiness depends upon God then serve him in good earnest but if you think this depends upon the World the Flesh and the Devil then serve these if you really think that Vertue and Religion are the most solid and stable Treasure then strive sincerely and vigorously to possess your selves of them but if you really think that the Ease and Pleasure of the Body Respect and Pomp and State is the proper Portion and soveraign Good of Man then devote and offer up your selves to these For what a folly is that Life which will neither procure us the Happiness of this World nor of another To what purpose is it to listen only so much to Conscience as to damp and chil our Pleasure and so much to Pleasure as to disturb the Peace and Repose of Conscience But indeed as the Words of Elijah were rather an Irony than any real Doubt whether Baal or the Lord were God rather a scornful Derision of their Folly and Stupidity than a Serious Exhortation to deliberate whether Idolatry or the Worship of the true God were to be chosen I doubt not but mine will seem to you to carry no other Sound in them The Disparity is so vast between God and the World between Religion and Sensuality Covetousness or Ambition between those Hopes and Enjoyments we may reap from the one and those we can fancy in the other that there is no place for doubting what Choice we are to make or to which Side we are to adhere Nay in this we are more criminal than the Israelite being self-condemn'd The Israelites indeed seem to be at a Loss whether the Lord or Baal were God they doubted under whose Protection they might thrive best But at this day whoever believes a God knows very well there is none besides him Whatever passion we have for the World and the Things of it whatever spiritual Idolatry we are guilty of our Opinions are not yet so far corrupted as to attribute to them in Reality any thing like Divinity Whilst we dote on Wealth we at the same time know that it makes its self Wings and flies away whilst on Greatness and Power we know that 't is but a piece of empty and toilsom Pageantry and often the Subject of Misery and dismal Tragedies not incident to a lower State whilst we dote on Pleasure we are well assur'd that 't is dishonourable and short and intermixt with Fears and Shame and Torment We know that nothing here below is able to free our State and Fortune from Calamity our Mind from Guilt the Body from Death much less the whole Man from a miserable Eternity In one word we know that what we admire is Vanity and what we worship is indeed an Idol This being so I will insist no longer on this Topick for since the World bears no Competition with God in our Opinion though it often rival him in our Affections we are not to impute the halting of a Laodicean Christian to any Perswasion of Omnipotence or Alsufficiency or any thing like Divinity in the things he dotes on serves and worships but we must find out some other Reason of it And that is generally this we are willing to believe that our Fondness for the World and our Indulgence to the Body is consistent enough with Religion That it is no Violation of our Faith nor Provocation to God nor conserquently Prejudice to our Eternal Interest And then 't is no wonder if we blend and compound Religion and Sensuality and stand divided in our Affections and consequently halt in our Service between God and the World To prevent this I will shew 2. That this is a great Sin which is sufficiently evident from this Single Consideration That it frustrates the Efficacy of the Gospel and the Spirit and entirely defeats the great Design of the Christian Religion For 1. Religion has no effectual Influence upon the Lukewarm himself the Gospel works no thorough Change in him The Sinner is not converted into a Saint nor Human Nature perfected by Participation of a Divine one 2. The Laodiceans can never offer up to God any Gift any Sacrifice worthy of him nor render him any Service acceptable to him the Kingdom of God is Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost Rom. 14. He that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God and approved of Men. But alas these Men are almost utter Strangers to these things a few faint and irresolute Wishes formal and customary Prayers nigardly and grumbling Alms and an Attendance upon God's Word rather out of spiritual Wantonness than Devotion these are the Offerings
aside the natural Right which He has over him as his Creature and to transact with him as free and Master of himself But this is all infinite condescension Secondly it seems unsuitable to the infinite Goodness of God to bereave Man of the Life and Happiness he has once conferr'd upon him unless he forfeits it by some Demerit The Gifts and calling of God are without Repentance nor can I think how Death which has so much Evil in it could have enter'd the World if Sin had not enter'd it first In this Sense unsinning Obedience gives a kind of right to the Continuance of those good things which are at first the meer Effects of Divine Grace and Bounty Lastly a Covenant of Works being once establish'd 't is plain that as Sin forfeits Life so Obedience must give a right to it and as the Penitent could not be restored but by an Act of Grace so he that commits no Sin would need no Pardon But then Life it self and an Ability to work Righteousness must be owing to Grace antecedent to the Covenant and so such a one would have whereof to boast comparatively with respect to others who fell but not before God The Sum of all is Man has nothing to render to God but what he has received from him and therefore can offer him nothing but his own Which is no very good Foundation for Merit But suppose him absolute Master of himself Suppose him holding all things independent of God Can the Service of a few Days merit Immortality and Glory Angelical Perfection and a Crown He must be made up of Vanity and Presumption that dares affirm this 3. God stands in no need of our Service and 't is our own not his Interest we promote by it The Foundation of Merit amongst Men is Impotence and Want the Prince wants the Service and Tribute of the Subject the Subject the Protection of the Prince the Rich needs the Ministry and the Labour of the Poor the Poor Support and Maintenance from the Rich. And it is thus in Imaginary as well as Real Wants The Luxury and Pleasure of one must be provided for and supported by the Care and Vigilance of others and the Pomp and the Pride of one part of the World cannot subsist but on the Servitude of the other In these Cases therefore mutual Wants create mutual Rights and mutual Merit But this is not the Case between God and Man God is not subject to any Wants or Necessities Nor is his Glory or Happiness capable of Diminution or Increase He is a Monarch that needs no Tribute to Support his Grandeur nor any Strength or Power besides his own to guard his Throne If we revolt or rebel we cannot injure Him if we be loyal and obedient we cannot profit Him He has all Fulness all Perfection in himself He is an Almighty and All-sufficient God But on the quite contrary though God have no Wants we have many and though his Majesty and Felicity be subject to no Vicissitude we are subject to many Our Service to God therefore is our own Interest and our Obedience is design'd to procure our own Advantage we need we daily need his Support and Protection we depend entirely on His Favour and Patronage in him we live and move and have our Being and from Him as from an inexhaustible Fountain we derive all the Streams of Good by which we are refreshed and improved To know and love Him is our Wisdom to depend upon Him our Happiness and Security to serve and worship Him our Perfection and Liberty to enjoy Him will be our Heaven and those Glimpses of his Presence which we are vouchsafed thorough the Spirit in this Life are the Pledges and Foretaste of it This is the constant Voice of Scripture Every good Gift and every perfect Gift is from above and cometh from the Father of Lights Jam. 1.17 If I were hungry I would not tell thee for the World is mine and the Fulness thereof Will I eat the Flesh of Bulls or drink the Blood of Goats Offer unto God Thanksgiving and pay thy Vows unto the most high and call upon me in the day of trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me Psal 50.12 13. c. If thou be Righteous what givest thou unto him thy Wickedness may hurt a Man c. Job 35.7 8. SECT III. Of the Impediments of Perfection THough I have been all along carrying on the Design of this Section that is the Removing the Obstacles of Perfection yet I easily foresaw there might be some which would not be reduc'd within the Compass of the foregoing Heads For these therefore I reserv'd this Place These are Five 1. Too easie and loose a Notion of Religion 2. An Opinion that Perfection is not attainable 3. That Religion is an Enemy to Pleasure 4. The Love of the World in a higher Degree at least than will consist with Perfection 5. The Infirmity of the Flesh § 1. Some seem to have entertain'd such a Notion of Religion as if Moderation here were as necessary as any where else They look upon Zeal as as an Excess of Righteousness and can be well enough content to want Degrees of Glory if they can but save their Souls To which End they can see no Necessity of Perfection Now I would beseech such seriously to lay to Heart that Salvation and Damnation are Things of no common Importance and therefore it highly concerns them not to be mistaken in the Notion they form to themselves of Religion For the Nature of Things will not be altered by their Fancies nor will God be mocked or imposed on If we will deal sincerely with our selves as in this Case it certainly behoves us to do we must frame our Idea of Religion not from the Opinions the Manners or the Fashions of the World but from the Scriptures And we must not interpret these by our own Inclinations but we must judge of the Duties they prescribe by those Descriptions of them by those Properties and Effects which we find there We must weigh the Design and End of Religion which is to promote the Glory of God and the Good of Man and to raise us above the World and the Body and see how our Platform or Model of Religion suits with it And if after we have done this we are not fully satisfied in the true Bounds and Limits which part Vice and Vertue it cannot but be safest for us to err on the right hand We ought always to remember too That the repeated Exhortations in Scripture to Diligence and that the most earnest and indefatigable to Vigilance to Fear and Trembling to Patience to Steadfastness and such-like are utterly inconsistent with an easier lazy gentile Religion That the Life of Jesus is the fairest and fullest Comment on his Doctrine and That we never are to follow the Examples of a corrupt World but of the best Men and the best Ages This this one thing alone will convince
never to be enjoyed by any but some few rare and happy Creatures the Favourites of God and Nature Pleasures that have Matter and Substance in them for such as I can no more grasp and relish than I can Dreams and Visions But to this I answer this pretty talk is all but stupid Ignorance and gross Mistakes For 1. As to innocent and vertuous Pleasure no Man needs part with it I endeavour not to deprive Man of this but to refine and purifie it And he that prefers either silly or vicious Pleasure before Religion is wretchedly mistaken For 2. Perfect Religion is full of Pleasure Had we but once arrived at true Purity of Heart what could be so full of Pleasure as the Business of Religion what can be more delightful than blessing and praising God to a grateful Soul Allelujahs to a Soul snatched from the brink of Destruction into the Bosom of its Master what can be more Transporting than the melting Tendernesses of a holy Contrition made up like Mary Magdalen's of Tears and Kisses Sorrow and Love Humility and Glory Confusion and Confidence Shame and Joy what can be more transporting than Love the Love of a Christian when he is all Love as God is Love when he desires nothing in Heaven nor on Earth but God when all things are dung and dross to him in Comparison of Jesus 4. If the Pleasures of the World be more transporting than those of Religion 't is because our Faith is weak our Love imperfect and our Life unsteady A constant and exalted Pleasure is I grant it the Fruit of Perfection alone The Peace and Joy of the Holy Ghost reigns no where but where that Zeal and Love which is an Effect of the Fulness of the Spirit reigns too I had once proposed to have insisted on the Reasons of this here but this Labour is prevented for they are very obvious to any one who hath read the Chapter of Zeal with Seriousness and Attention Lastly what is insinuated in the Objection that the Pleasures of the World are more numerous or obvious than those of Religion is altogether a false and groundless Fancy In every Place and in every State do the Pleasures of Vertue wait upon the Perfect Man They depend not like those of the Body on a thousand things that are not in our power but only on God and our own Integrity But this part of the Objection I have I think for ever baffled Sect. 1. Chap. 4. These Obstacles of Perfection being thus removed and the Mind of Man being fully convinced of the Happiness that results from a State of Perfection and of his Obligation to surmount the Difficulties which obstruct his way to it there seems to be nothing now left to disappoint the Success of this Discourse but somewhat too much Fondness for the World or somewhat too much Indulgence to the Body which I am next though but very briefly to consider § 4. There is a Love of the World which though it be not either for the Matter or Degree of it Criminal enough to destroy our Sincerity and our Hopes of Salvation yet is it strong enough to abate our Vigour hinder our Perfection and bereave us of many Degrees of Pleasure at present and Glory hereafter The Indications of this kind of Love of the World are too much concern for the Pomp and Shew of Life too much Exactness in the Modes and Customs of it too quick a Sense of Honour and Reputation Pre-eminence and Praise too much Hast and too much Industry to grow rich to add House to House Land to Land and to cloath our Selves with thick and heavy Clay too brisk a Relish of the Pleasures of the World too great a Gaiety of Mind upon the Successes too much Dejection upon the Disasters and Disappointments of it too much Care and too much Diligence an encumbring and embroiling ones self too far in worldly Affairs too much Diversion too much Ease These I say are the Symptoms of a Mind tainted with a Love of the World though not so far as to Sickness and Death However it will be enough to check the Vigour and dilute the Relish of the Mind Now the only way to overcome this Defect and to captivate the Mind entirely to the Love and Service of Religion and Vertue is to consider frequently and seriously the Rewards of Perfection the Pleasure that will attend it in another Life Had the young Man in the Gospel done this had he had as lively a Notion and as true an Estimate of the Riches of Eternity as he had of Temporal ones he would never have gone away sorrowful when he was advised to have exchanged the Treasures of Earth for those of Heaven Had the Soul of Martha been as much taken up with the Thoughts of Eternity as that of Mary she would have made the same Choice as she did They who often think how soon the Fashion the Pomp and Grandeur of this World passes away and how much better their Heavenly Country is than their Earthly how much more lasting and how much more glorious the New Jerusalem that City that has Foundations whose builder and maker is God than this City of ours which may be over-thrown in a moment will neither weep nor rejoyce with too much Passion neither buy nor possess with too much Application of Mind In one word he that so often and devoutly thinks of that day wherein Christ who is our Life shall appear and we also appear with him in Glory that he comes to love and long for it such a one will have no great Taste of the Honours or the Pleasures or the Interests of Life nor will he be slothfull or remiss but fervent in Spirit serving the Lord Whatever Degrees of Affection he had for any thing of that Nature they will all vanish he will have no Emulation but for good Works no Ambition but for Glory I mean that which is Eternal In the pursuit of this will he lay out the Strength and Vigour of his Mind for this he will retrench his Profit for this he will deny his Pleasure for this he will be content to be obscure mean and laborious for if the World be once crucified to him he will the more easily bear the being crucified to it § 5. After all there is an Infirmity in the Flesh against which if we do not guard our selves if we do not struggle heartily we shall miscarry The Spirit is willing said our Saviour but the Flesh is weak Without much Care and much Watchfulness the Vigour of our Minds will be relax'd the Exultation of our Spirits will flag and droop and we shall soon loose the Relish there is in Religion The most effectual Remedies against this Frailty and Fickleness of our Nature are two First Godly Fear and this the Purity and Presence of God the Strictness and the Impartiality of a Judgment to come the Loss of an Eternal Crown the Terrors of Eternal Punishment the