Influences are so beneficial to the lower World If they are Clouded with Ignorance or Eclips'd by the Interposition of Earthly things they are useless There are divers degrees of substantial Learning and Spiritual Skill but a sufficiency of Knowledge for the great work of saving Souls is requisite in all Zeal united with Knowledge is an indispensable Qualification When the Apostles were fill'd with the Holy Ghost descending in the significant Emblem of Fiery Tongues of what admirable Efficacy was their Preaching The first Sermon Converted Three Thousand that were Murderers of our Saviour and had the stains of his Blood fresh upon them Tongues of Flesh are without Vigour and make no lasting Impression on the Hearers but Tongues of Fire have a Divine Force and Operation to dispel the Errors of Mens Minds and quicken their Affections to Refine and Purifie their Conversations They must be diligent and watchful for the Souls of their people as those who must give an Account to the Supreme Pastor and Redeemer of Souls And as they must Teach what they Learn from the Gospel so they must live as they Teach If they are Sensual and Worldly how can their Prayers ascend with Acceptance to God and descend with a Blessing to the People There should be a singularity of Holiness distinguishing those who are Consecrated to Instruct and Govern the Church Their Sins are aggravated from the quality of their Persons this is signified in the Levitical Law that appointed the Expiatory Sacrifice for the Sin of the Priest should be as Costly as for the Sin of the whole Congregation So if the tenor of their Lives be not Correspondent to their Sermons it will destroy the force of the most inflaming Eloquence and render the Doctrines of the greatest Purity without Efficacy O that all who are engaged in this Holy and without their Personal Holiness dreadful Office would duely Consider the Account they must give of their managing of it to the great Shepherd at his Appearance The Duty of the People is to Obey to Imitate to Honour their Faithful Pastors otherwise every Sermon they Hear will be an Accusation and Argument against them in the Day of Judgment 3. The Civil Relation between the Magistrates and People bind them to the respective Duties of their different States Magistrates Supreme and Subordinate in the Scale of Government are the Ministers of God for the good of the People They derive their Authority from him and are stiled Gods by an Analogy and Deputation which necessarily infers they must Rule for his Glory The end of the Magistracy should be the end of the Magistrates in the exercise of Government that their Subjects may lead a peaceable and quiet life in all godliness and honesty The Prince as the Natural Head has the Supremacy in Place and Dignity over all the parts of the Body and is vigilant for their Preservation so being the Political Head highly exalted above all degrees in the Kingdom must be provident and solicitous for the Temporal Interest and the Eternal Benefit of his Subjects He must make Laws Holy Just and Good as becomes his Lieutenancy to Christ and to Command the Execution of them He is to consider that the Actions of Kings are Examples and their Examples Rules more influential unto the Lives of their Subjects than their Laws Those who are in the Seat of Judicature must dispense Judgment with a clear Serenity with calm Tranquility of Mind without Partiality and Passions they must not Honour the Rich nor Favour the Poor but be true to their Light and Integrity All that are Concern'd in their several Stations should dispense a vigorous Influence for the suppressing Vice and encouragement of Vertue and according to the Apostles Rule should be a terror to evil doers and a praise to those who do well Especially they should be cloth'd with Zeal in punishing Offenders that do not hide their horrid Abominations but commit them without fear of the Light of the Sun or of Nature and out-dare Satan when Impudence and Incontinence and Intemperance triumph in the Ruins of Modesty Chastity and Sobriety Seneca tells of some in old Rome that were not asham'd of the â—oulest Sins but when describ'd and represented on the Theatre gloried in their shame This heighth of Villany was not limited to the Age of Nero but to this Extremity Vice is arriv'd in our Times If by just Severity such Publick and Crying Wickedness be not supprest what reason is there to fear that the Righteous Judge of the World will make the Nation a spectacle of visible Vengeance and vindicate the Honour of his despis'd Deity How will Magistrates that are careless in the Execution of the Laws appear before the impartial Tribunal above when besides the guilt of their Sins by Personal Commission they shall be charg'd with the Sins Committed by their Connivance such heap'd Damnation will sink them into the lowest Hell The Duty of Subjects is the highest Reverence of the Sacred Authority wherewith Princes are Invested They must pay Tribute for the support of the Government They must Obey for God as Princes must Rule for God But in Sinful things as Princes have no Power to Command so the Subjects are under no obligation to obey To Conclude this Argument there is no Counsel more directive and profitable for our arriving to an excellent Degree of Holiness than this let our progress in the way to Heaven be with the same Zeal as we felt in our first entrance into it and with the same seriousness as when we shall come to the end of it The first and last Actions of the Saints are usually the most Excellent David's first and last Wayes were most Excellent see his Divine Frame near his End Although my house be not so with God yet he hath made with me an everlasting Covenant order'd in all things and sure this is all my desire although he make it not to grow New Converts when call'd out of Darkness into the marvellous Light of the Gospel are more zealous in their opposition to Sin and more Active and Chearful in the Service of God The bitterness of Repentance before Reconciliation Causes an Abhorrence of Sin They remember the Prayers and Tears the Anxieties of Conscience th Restless Hours that Sin cost them As one that is saved from Fire that was ready to devour him retains so strong an Impression of the danger that makes him fearful ever after They are fill'd with the Affections of Love and Thankfulness to God and Glorifie Mercy that spar'd them when Justice might have destroy'd them When no Eye had Compassion and no Relief was afforded in their extreme Misery when they lothed themselves frighted with the Image of Satan printed on their Soul then God did regard them with tender Affection when they fled from him then he did overtake them by preventing and prevailing Grace They have the quickest Sense of their Obligations to the Redeemer and the
from his habitation Thus the Carnal part incens'd by the Tempter is often clamorous to obtain as a Benefit that which would be hurtful to the Soul and God is merciful in the denyal We know not what to ask but our Heavenly Father knows what to give Sometimes God bestows equivalent or better Blessings than what his Children pray for If God gives Contentment with Poverty 't is equivalent to Riches if Patience with Sickness 't is better than Health if eternal Life in Heaven 't is infinitely better than a long Life on Earth He did not preserve the Martyrs from the Flames nor forsake them in the Flames but in those fiery Chariots convey'd them to Heaven Briefly God never denies or delays to grant the Petitions of his Children but for a greater Good to them He always hears their main Desires that is bestows such Blessings as are most conducive for his Glory and their Good This is the principal Petition of the Saints in conformity to Christ in his exigency he prayed to be saved from the approaching hour of his terrible sufferings but subordinately to a higher request Father glorify thy name Lastly The Relation of Children to God is not an Empty Title but includes an Interest in the Eternal Inheritance The Apostle infers If sons then heirs heirs of God co-heirs with Christ. The Sons of Earthly Parents cannot all inherit the Eldest is the Heir to maintain the Splendour and State of the Family and the Younger have often but thin Provision If a Kingdom be the Inheritance 't is appropriated to one the Throne is incommunicable When Pharaoh made Joseph Viceroy of Egypt he reserv'd the Throne to himself In the throne I will be greater than thou But all the Saints are Kings Our Saviour comforts his Disciples fear not little flock 't is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the Kingdom and his Power is equal to his Pleasure They are the Children of the King and Kingdom of Heaven The Kingdom with a Note of Excellency in Comparison of it all the Kingdoms of this World in their blazing Glory are but a faint Figure and a Foil Transcendent Priviledge Infinite Bounty All the Conceptions we can form of Happiness are eminently in God He is the Glory the Joy the Perfection the Satisfaction of Intelligent Creatures He alone can fill the Capacity of Comprehensive Immortal Spirits He is their Eternal and Entire Inheritance possess'd equally by all without diminution to any As the Light of the World is enjoyed by all without prejudice to any according to the Apostles Expression The Inheritance of the Saints in Light The Eternal Enjoyment of God excludes all Fears of losing it there is a perpetual security from all change and separation and excludes all possible desires of a better State Without Divine Revelation we could never have had any discovery of this Super-natural Blessedness The Apostle prays for the Ephesians that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of Glory would give unto them the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of him the eyes of their understanding being inlightned that they may know what is the hope of his calling and what is the riches of the glory of his Inheritance in the Saints God is infinitely Rich in his Perfections in Mercy in Wisdom and Power and as the Father said to his Son in the Gospel Son all that I have is thine so all his Attributes are exercis'd for the happiness of his Children The difference is observable between an Earthly Inheritance and the Heavenly For Estates and Honours conveyed by Descent are not possess'd till the death of the Fathers but we partake of the heavenly Inheritance because our Father lives and we must dye that we may enjoy it for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of Heaven What manner of love is it that we should be the Sons of God When Pharaoh's Daughter compassionately preserved Moses an expos'd Infant and adopted him to be her Son 't was rare and wonderful Goodness The Priviledge was so high that the Self-denial of Moses is Recorded with this Illustrious proof of it that he refus'd to be call'd the son of Pharaohs daughter But she had no Son of her own Adoption is a Legal Supply for the want of Natural Progeny But God had an Eternal Son the Heir of his Love and Glory the adequate Object of his Complacency yet he raised us to so near an Alliance Men adopt Sons for their Support and Comfort and usually those in whom some praise-worthy qualities appear God did not want a Son but we wanted a Father in thee the fatherless find mercy There was nothing in us but Sin and Misery an occasion of his Mercy 'T is added by the Apostle we are coheirs with Christ. This may seem to be a Usurpation upon his Prerogative who is invested with the Supremacy of Heaven But this is easily clear'd by considering that Christ has a double Title to the Inheritance 1. A Natural Title as the Son of God in a transcendent and peculiar manner From Eternity there was a mutual Possession of the Father and the Son wherein their Blessedness consists This Title is singular and incommunicable 2. An acquir'd Title by his Meritorious Obedience and Sufferings Therefore God has exalted him above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is nam'd not only in this world but in that to come And such is his astonishing Love he associates us with him in this Title he communicates a right to us in his Kingdom by the Merits of his Death and introduces us into Possession by his Mediation His Glory is consistent with ours and inseparable from ours for when the Head is Crown'd the Members Reign The Saints sit down with him in his throne as he is set down on his Fathers Throne 2. Let us now consider how influential this Priviledge is to make us intirely Holy 1. 'T is most worthy of observation that God who might by meer Empire and Authority command us to do our Duty is pleased by gracious inducements to endear our Duty to us He might by Dominion and Power Constrain us but he is pleased by the sweetest Affections to allure us A wise Prince according to the Rules of true Policy will rather govern by Love than Fear for his Safety and Tranquility is more preserv'd by it Fear may secure him from open Rebellions and Assaults but Love from secret Underminings from Treachery and Poison 'T is true there is no such Motive inclines God to allure our Love but his design is to gain our hearts to Obey him that he may Crown our Obedience Fear restrains us from provoking him but Love makes us Active and Chearful to please him Now what can be a more powerful Obligation to Love him than the receiving us into the high and dear Relation of his Children If we look up to God and down upon our selves we shall be struck with
is inseparable from the Being of it This includes first a Conformity in the Heart and Life to God As a good Complexion fluorishes in the Countenance from the Root of a good Constitution within so real Holiness shining in the Conversation proceeds from an Internal Principle of Life seated in the Mind and Heart The Understanding esteems the Precepts of God's Law as best in themselves and best for us the Will Consents to the Sanctity and Royalty of the Law David declares I esteem all thy Commandments to be right and I hate every false way If the Divine Will be the reason of our Obedience it will be impartial Many elude Duty and deceive Conscience by partial respects to the Law They will make amends for Delinquencies in some things by Supererogating in others that are suitable to their Carnal Ease and Interest Thus the Pharisees were mighty Sons of the Church very accurate in Sanctimonious Forms great pretenders to Piety but stain'd Religion with Injustice and Uncharitableness They pretended to love God but hated their Neighbour they Fasted twice a Week but Devour'd Widows Houses they were very nice in observing the numerous Rites of Religion but neglected the Duties of substantial Goodness There is not a more exact resemblance between the immediate sight of the Face and the sight of it by reflection in a clear and true Glass than the spirit of the Old Pharisees is like the Formalist in every Age. Thus among the Papists how many under the Vail of Virginity conceal the grossest Impurities and under the appearance of Poverty are Covetous and Rapacious But our Saviour tells us unless our righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees we cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven If our Obedience be not of equal Extent to the Rule if there be an Indulgence to Contravene any Precept the Words of St. James are decisive and convincing Whoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in own instance he is guilty of all In one allowed sin of Omission or Commission there is a Universal Disobedience to the Authority of the Lawgiver Although the best Saint on Earth is not without Sin yet the least is without Guile 2. Sincerity produces Constancy There is a strict Connexion between the leading Faculties and their inward Operations with the outward Actions According to the renewed Temper of the Mind and Will such is the tenor of the Life Pure Religion and undefiled before God that is exercis'd from Divine Principles and Eternal Motives will fortifie a Christian against all Temptations he will neither be allur'd nor terrifled from his Duty Some when Religion is in publick Esteem are forward Professors but if the Testimony of Truth exposes them to Reproach as Seditious and Disloyal and the Consequences of that Reproach they will Comply with the temper of the Times to secure their secular Interest And as there are Change of Garments Summer and Winter Garments according to the seasons of the Year so they have Change of Religions as the times vary Persecution discovers them to have been formal Professors without the spirit and depth of Religion in their Hearts But sincere Christians are conspicuously such in the Fiery Tryal 'T is observ'd in digging Wells in the hot Months of July and August if a Vein of Water flows 't is a sign of a lasting Spring thus if in the Burning Heat of Persecution the Profession of the pure Religion is declar'd 't is an Argument it proceeds from sincere Grace that will be springing up to Everlasting Life There are numerous Examples of the Holy Martyrs who despised the enraged World as a swarm of angry Flies and turn'd Persecution into a Pleasure and with undeclining Fervor and Courage persever'd in the Confession of Christ till they obtain'd the Crown of Eternal Life Unfeined Faith and Sincere Love are the strongest security against Apostacy he that is sound at the Centre is unshaken by Storms The double-minded whose Hearts are divided between the inlightned Conscience and their Carnal Affections are unstable in all their ways Some have short expiring fits of Devotion while they are in afflicting Circumstances either by Terrors of Conscience or Diseases in their Bodies or disasters in their Estates they resolve to be regular and reform'd in their Lives to walk circumspectly and exactly but when they are releas'd from their Troubles they degenerate from their designs and falsify their resolutions and like a Lion slipt from his Chain that returns to his fierceness with his Liberty so they relapse into their old Rebellious Sins The reason is they were not inwardly cleansed from the Love of Sin nor chang'd into the likeness of God In all their Miseries they were in the state of unrenewed Nature though restrain'd from the visible Eruptions of it But real Saints have their Conversation all of a Colour in Prosperity and Adversity they are Holy and Heavenly In short Sincere Christians study the Divine Law to know the extent of their Duty and delight in the discovery of it they do not decline the strictest Scrutiny 'T is David's Prayer Lord search me and try me and see whether there be any way of wickedness in me and discover it to me that I may forsake it Conscience will be quick and tender like the Eye which if any dirt be in it weeps it out There may be Rebels in a Loyal City but they are not conceal'd and cherisht the Loyal Subjects search to discover them and cast them out But the Hypocrites hate the light because their deeds are evil they cherish a wilful Ignorance that they may freely enjoy their Lusts. The sincere Christian aims at Perfection he Prays Resolves Watches Mourns and Strives against every Sin This is as necessary to uprightness as 't is impossible we should be without spot or blemish here but the Hypocrite though he Externally complies with some Precepts of easie Obedience yet he will not forsake his sweet Sins Now if any sin be entertain'd or unrenounc'd by a Person he is unregenerate and a Captive of Satan as if a Bird be insnar'd by one Leg 't is as surely the prey of the the Fowler as if it were seiz'd by both Wings I shall onely add Sincerity commends us to God it gives value to the meanest Service and the want of it Corrupts the most eminent Service Jehu's Zeal was a bloody Murther though the destruction of Ahab's Family was Commanded by God The Consciousness of Sincerity rejoices the living Saint with present Comfort and the dying with the hopes of future Happiness The Apostle when surrounded with Calamities declares this is our rejoycing the testimony of Conscience that with simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our Conversation in this World Hezekiah having receiv'd a Mortal Message by the Prophet addrest himself to God Remember O Lord I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in truth with a perfect heart Truth and Perfection are equivalent this was a reviving Cordial
with some attainments and presume we are perfect We must be contending till our Conquest over Sin be clear and compleat The reflection upon our progress will give new Spirits to proceed to new work To him that continues in well-doing Glory and Immortality is the reward Perseverance is the Crown of Christianity 2. I now come to answer the Allegations that are brought to discourage Men from endeavours after perfect Holiness I have in the Preface Answered some of the principal Objections I will consider some others to remove the most plausible Pretences The first Objection against the Divine Command of being perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect is the impossibility of obeying it How can sinful Dust and Ashes be perfect as the holy God is To this a clear Answer may be given 1. 'T is true if a Law be absolutely impossible it cancels it self For there can be no authority in a superiour to command nor obligation on a Subject to obey in a matter that is not capable of his choice Absolute impossibility quenches desire and causes despair and that enervates the strength of the Soul and cuts the sinews of Industry Now we cannot suppose that God whose Wisdom Rectitude and Goodness are essential and unchangable should command reasonable Creatures any thing utterly impossible for then the cause of their Sin and Misery would not rise from themselves but they would be fatally lost and undone for ever 2. The Command signifies not a resemblance of equality for in that sense there is none holy as the Lord but of analogy and conformity to his holy Nature of which intellectual Creatures are capable 3. In the present state our Conformity is not entire our Graces are not pure our Vertues not refin'd without allay But this is from our culpable impotence And it cannot be imagined that God should reverse this Law and dissolve the obligation of it because we have contracted a sinful disability to perform it Besides God is pleased to offer divine assistance to enable us to be like God in the kind of Holiness though not in the perfection of degrees And though we cannot attain to Perfection here we may be ascending to it The Apostle exhorts Christians to strive for the comprehension of the heigth and depth and length and bredth of the love of Christ that passes knowledge That is we must be adding new degrees of Light in our Minds We cannot know as we are known till we come to the full inlightned state above and we cannot be holy as God is holy till we come to his transforming presence in Heaven but we must be aspiring to it We have the most excellent incouragement to this Duty For if we are zealous in our desires and endeavours God will pardon our imperfections and accept us as if they were perfect But those who are settled in their defects and lye still in their laziness will be justly condemned 2. 'T is objected That this Duty is at least extreamly difficult To this I answer 1. Difficulty is an unreasonable pretence in matters of indispensable Duty and infinite consequence Our Saviour commands us to strive to enter in at the strait gate for strait is the gate and narrow is the way 't is hard to find and hard to keep but that only leads to Eternal Life The Kingdom of Heaven is to be taken by violence and the Wrath to come escap'd by flight 'T is better to take pains than to suffer Pains The Cords of Duty are more easie than the Chains of Darkness 2. There is nothing in Religion insuperable to the Love of God and of our Souls Love is not cold and idle but ardent and active in pursuit of its Object There are many Instances that resolved Diligence will overcome great obstacles to the designs of Men. Demosthenes the Athenian was the most unqualified for an Orator of a thousand His Breath was so short that he could not speak out a full Sentence his Voice and Pronunciation was so harsh and his Action so ungrateful and offensive to the most delicate Senses the Eye and Ear that the first time he spake in the publick Assembly he was entertained with Derision and the second with Disdain by the People yet by unwearied Industry and Exercise he corrected his defects and became the most Eloquent and Perfect Orator that ever flourish'd in Greece Now can there be any so difficult heigth in Religion but a strong resolution join'd with consequent endeavours and the supernatural assistance of the Holy Spirit will gradually attain to To naked Nature the Commands of plucking out the right Eye and cutting off the right Hand are extreamly hard Carnal Men pretend they can as easily stop the circulation of the Blood as mortifie their sensual Inclinations But by the Grace of God 't is not only possible but pleasant to abstain from fleshly Lusts that war against the Soul I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me saith the Apostle the word implies I can easily St. John declares his Commands are not grievous The yoke of Christ is a gracious yoke The impotence of Men to obey Christ consists in their obstinacy They are not infected by Fate nor determin'd by Destiny and constrain'd by strict Necessity to follow their sinful Courses but are chain'd to their alluring vicious Objects by the consent of their own Wills I will to convince those who are Christians only in title and profession and pretend invincible impediments against performing their Duty propound the Moral Excellencies that shin'd in some Heathens in regulating the angry and desiring Appetites Socrates who had a fiery Nature that inclin'd him to sudden Anger yet attain'd to such a constant equal Temper that when provok'd by Injuries his Countenance was more placid and serene his Voice more temperate his Words more kind and obliging Plato surprized with Passion for a great Fault of his Servant took a Staff to beat him and having lift up his Hand for a stroke stop'd suddenly and a Friend coming in and wondring to see him in that posture said I chastise an angry Man reflecting with shame upon himself Thus he disarm'd his Passion When Alexander had conquer'd Darius and taken his Queen a Woman of exquisite Beauty he would not have her brought into his presence that his Vertue might not be violated by the sight of her Scipio having taken a Town in Spain and among them a Noble Virgin very beautiful resign'd her untouch'd with her Ransom of great value to the Prince to whom she was contracted If it be said that Vanity assisted Vertue in these Persons and one Carnal Passion vanquish'd another the Desire of Praise the Pride of Life the Lust of the Flesh But shall not Divine Grace be more powerful than Humane Motives The impotence of Carnal Christians is not from the defect of assisting Grace but their culpable neglect of using it But for the intire Conviction of Carnalists that are under the tyranny of the voluptuous
Appetites and pretend they cannot resist the attractiveness and unbind the charms that fasten them to the Objects of their impure Desires let it be considered that a little contempt or coldness of the Person by whom they are charmed a favourable aspect upon a competitor will turn their Love into Disdain and break all society between them And shall one Carnal Passion vanquish another and the Terrors of the Lord the Torments of an Everlasting Hell be ineffectual to restrain them The remembrance of this will cover them with Eternal Confusion in the next World The Traveller complain'd of the roughness of the way when a Thorn in his Foot made it uneasie Carnal Men complain 't is a sad task to obey the Gospel but their Lusts make it so 3. 'T is alledged that the striving after perfect Holiness is unnecessary by the Covenant of Grace a Man may be saved without it Before I discover the falseness of this pretence I shall observe that Carnal Men that they may live easily endeavour to make their Principles correspondent with their Practices they bend the Rule to their depraved Appetites and will not order their Life by the holy Rule The cursed and crafty Serpent will assist them in drawing false Conclusions from true Premisses and in opposing the Grace of the Gospel to its Precepts When the Carnal Affections corrupt the Judgment the Mind will give license to the Affections the case of such is dangerous if not desperate Thus the loose Opinion That Men may be saved without absolute Perfection therefore striving after it is unnecessary makes Men remiss in Religion and produces vain delusive hopes that end in fearful disappointments To undeceive Men the following Considerations may be effectual 1. 'T is true we must distinguish between the Preceptive Moral part of the Covenant of Works and of Grace and the Foederal They agree in the former and differ in the latter The Gospel injoyns perfect Obedience as well as the Law but the first makes it the Condition of the Covenant whereas the second makes provision for our Imperfections According to the tenor of the first the transgressing of one Command was a violation of the Covenant and Death was the unavoidable consequence of Sin for entire Obedience was the Condition of it Adam sin'd once and must dye for ever But to sin against the command of the Gospel and the Covenant is not the same The Mediator interposes between the Righteous Judge and the Sinner and Faith in him notwithstanding the killing Law and the accusing Conscience secures us from revenging Justice Only final Impenitence and Unbelief cut off from the benefit of the Gospel 2. Tho' the Gospel allays the severity and rigor of the Law and pardons our defects yet it as strictly requires our sincere earnest endeavours after Perfection as the Law requir'd exact Obedience We are commanded to grow in Grace 't is direct matter of Duty we are obliged to be holy as God is holy in all manner of Conversation the Rule is inflexible and none can by dispensation or priviledge be exempted from serious and constant endeavours to be intirely like God Those who are pleas'd with the pretence that perfect Holiness is unattainable here and indulge their imperfections are in the state of unrenewed Nature They are sure they shall be bad always and therefore will not labour to be better But the Consideration that we cannot attain to the highest pitch of Holiness is a spur and incitation to the Saints to greater diligence as appears by the example of St. Paul before cited 'T is true there are different ages of the Children of God some are as new born Babes in a state of Infancy and Infirmity others in their Minority others are arrived to more maturity and as the crying of an Infant discovers life as well as active mirth so mourning for our Imperfections discovers the truth of Grace And Saints of different Degrees are receiv'd into Glory but none are who did not aim and endeavour to â—leanse themselves from all pollutions of flesh and spirit and to perfect holiness For without sincerity we are not capable of the present favour of God nor future blessedness and sincerity is inconsistent with the wilful neglect of our Duty Grace is a plant of Heaven productive of Fruits suitable to its quality and 't is proper to its nature to be tending to Perfection A Tree that ceases to grow before 't is come to its perfection and brings not forth Fruit in its season withers and dyes A Christian that is unfruitful has no Life but is expos'd to the just threatning of Excision and the Fire He that limits himself in Religion is in a state of Death I have insâ—sted the longer upon this matter that by clearness and Conviction Men may be dis-enchanted from that pernicious perswasion that without using sincerâ— endeavors to be perfectly Holy they may safely go to Heaven 3. I shall add to what has been discours'd of before some other Arguments and Motives to excite us to be intentive to this great work I shall first consider the perfection of the Rule laid down in the Gospel 1. The Moral Law in its purity and perfection that forbids Sin in every kind and degree Thou shalt not Covet and Commands Holiness in the most Spiritual Sublimeness Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy mind heart soul and strength is the Rule of our Duty prescrib'd in the Gospel 'T is true that Personal perfect Obedience as the Condition of Life is abolish'd as was before observed if that lives we must dye for ever But the command binds without relaxation There is no permission of the least Sin by the Gospel The looking to the Brazen Serpent did not alter the deadly quality of the poison of the Fiery Serpent but stopt its deadly operation Faith in Christ does not change the nature of Sin to make it Lawful but hinders its deadly malignity in Working Our Saviour tells us He came not to destroy the Law but to fulfil it And that heaven and earth should pass away before one tittle of it shall fail that is lose its binding Authority 'T is as unalterable as the Law-giver whose purity it represents Not only the Mysterious and Supernatural Doctrines the Objects of Faith but Moral Duties the matters of Practice are fully reveal'd only in the Gospel The Humane Understanding was Darkness to Supernatural Truths and dim with respect to the Rules of Life Our Saviour has clear'd the Law from the false Glosses of the Pharisees who by favourable Explications and Correctives of its strictness instead of curbing their Lusts did cherish and foment them But the Oracle speaks without ambiguity the Interpretation of our Saviour is clear and decisive that the purifying the Heart as well as the cleansing the Hand is an Indispensable Duty Holiness must be so pure that we must not only abstain from polluting acts but quench all polluting thoughts and desires we must not only
most reverent observance is due 'T is revocable in its Nature but not to cease without the Will of the Legislator either expresly declar'd or vertually by the ceasing of the end of it As the Ceremonial Law is abolish'd by the same Authority that ordain'd it the end of the Institution being obtain'd But this Ordinance is by our Saviour commanded to continue till his Second Coming in Glory the end of it being the revival of the memory of his Death I will not insist upon the several Conformities between the Natural Food and the Spiritual for the principal Comparison and resemblance is in the End for which food is necessary and appointed without which there can be no subsisting Life but consider how the Life of the Soul is strengthened in this Ordinance which is not a naked sign of his Sufferings for us but the seal of the Covenant of Grace and wherein our Saviour though his bodily Presence be confin'd to Heaven yet does really and spiritually exhibit himself with all his saving Benefits to sincere Believers Consider how Repentance Faith and Love are increas'd by this Ordinance 1. Repentance is a Vital Operative Grace not only in mortifying Sin but in bringing forth many excellent Fruits suitable to it All the Terrors at Mount Sinai in giving the Law cannot make such an impression on the Conscience of the righteous and fearful Anger of God for Sin as the infliction of Wrath upon our dying Saviour He receiv'd into his Breast the Arrows of the Almighty that drank up his Blood and Spirits though in himself he was perfectly Holy Surely he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are heal'd We read that Nathan was sent from God to David when insensible of his Guilt of Murder and Adultery to awaken him to review his Sin he for that end us'd a very moving Parable of a Rich Man that had many Flocks yet to entertain a Stranger rob'd a Poor Man of his only Lamb and drest it for him This David so resented that he threatned the severest Revenge for such an unrighteous and unmerciful action And when Nathan turned the point of the Parable against his Breast charging him Thou art the man in what Agonies and Confusion was he surpriz'd as his mournful Complaint declares When we read in the Narrative of our Saviour's Sufferings of the Treachery of Judas the Malice of the Priests the Fury of the People the Cowardise of Pilate and the Cruelty of the Soldiers how apt are we to conceive Indignation against his Murderers but when Conscience like the true Prophet shall with a piercing Reproach charge us that our Sins Condemn'd and Crucified him how will this open the Springs of Godly Sorrow and looking on him whom we have pierced cause us to Mourn as those that mourn for a first-born How will the Contemplation of him in his Sufferings excite Indignation with Zeal and Revenge against our selves for our choosing and committing those Sins that were the meritorious Cause of his Sufferings Since he bore our Sins 't is just we should simpathize in his Sorrows How instructive and exemplary was insensible Nature as if capable of Knowledge and Affection in the time of his Sufferings It was disorder'd in the Heavens and simpathiz'd in the Elements The Sun was obscur'd against all possibility of Nature for the Moon was opposite and in the Full and in the twinkling of an Eye past half the Circle of the Heavens and being empty of Light towards the Earth by its interposition hid the body of the Sun behind it The Air was as dark at mid-day as at mid-night The Earth trembled the Rocks rent Have the Rocks softer Bowels than obdurate Sinners 'T is a greater prodigy that those whose Sins made his Death necessary are unaffected with it than that Nature seemed to have changed its Principles and Properties to signifie its resentment of it God's Anger darkens the Sun and shakes the Earth and shall sinful Men be unrelenting If by Faith and Consideration we transport our selves to Mount Calvary and with the blessed Virgin stand at the foot of the Cross when our Saviour was dying we shall feel the working of her Affections when a Sword pâ—erc'd through her Soul Now in the Sacrament there is a representation of Christ Crucified before our Eyes which is the most powerful motive of Godly Sorrow and the inseparable consequent of it the destructive hatred of Sin and of holy Resolutions that as he dyed for Sin we will dye to it 2. Faith that is the Root from whence other Graces spring and flourish is increas'd and confirm'd by the use of this Ordinance As by the looking on the mysterious Brazen Serpent there was an Antidote conveyed to heal the Israelites stung by the Fiery Serpents so by the looking on Jesus in his Sufferings our wounded Spirits are healed The dignity of his Person the depth of his Sufferings and his voluntary yielding of himself to them are the supports of Faith The Sin-Offerings under the Law were entirely consumed in their Consecration to Divine Justice and no part was reserved to be eaten by the Offerers To signifie their Imperfection and Inefficacy to reconcile God to Sinners and to pacifie their accusing Consciences The Beasts by substitution suffer'd Death for those who offer'd them but could not purchase Life for them Our Saviour is as truly given to us to communicate Life as he was given for us in his Death When he offer'd himself the most solemn Sacrifice on the Cross he was not consum'd His Body and Blood are the Feast of Love upon his Sacrifice the clearest assuring sign of God's being reconcil'd to us The Blood of the Lamb the true Winâ— has rejoic'd the Heare of God and Man Our High Priest continually presents his Father in the Coelestial Sanctuary his bloody Sacrifice of which there is a Commemoration on the Holy Table If God remember our Sins we remember his anointed Priest to expiate them If the timerous Conscience be in anxiety for the number and heinousness of Sins and the number of Sinnerâ— who must perish for ever without this Miracle of Mercy as if one Sacrifice were not sufficient to abolish their Guiâ—â— let it be consider'd that his Death is of infinite value and what is infinite cannot be divided he was intirely offer'd for every penitent unfeigned Believer The weakest has as full an Interest and Benefit in it as if it had been offer'd solely for him and may apply and appropriate it to himself with as true solid Comfort as if he had been present at our Saviour's Crucifixion and heard him speaking the words of Life I give my self for thee His Blood cleanses from all Sin and is a propitiation for the Sins of the world These are no fictions of Fancy but the real operations of the Holy Spirit who