it not to ascribe vitious Passion to God to say that he reprobated Man because of the foresight of the Sins which he would commit after his Creation and that he predestinated him to Salvation foreseeing his future Merits Had God need of Man's Merits to save him Can all Men together with all their Merits bring one Ray of Glory to God Is not this to go over to their side who say that Men shall be elected and saved by their good Works and not by Grace only in which they make God a Liar who has promised as they grant that he will save us by Grace To say that God did not create Man for Damnation but reprobated Man after Adam's Sin which had undone them all is most absurd For as all Men were created in Adam so they were also all alike fallen in Adam and all in general reprobated by the same Sin of Adam for he could not have a divided Will one part of it sound and another damn'd there being but one Man only and he had but one Will in which was included the Will of all Men that should ever arise from him And if God had left Adam in the reprobated State wherein he fell all Men had equally remained so And when Adam received the Pardon of his Sin and was admitted to Penitence all Men were still in him and consequently all were restored to Favour upon Condition of performing the Penitence that God enjoyn'd in Adam So that God could not leave one part of Men in the Curse without dividing Adam and appointing one part of his Body for Salvation and another for Reprobation since there was but one Man If there had been two it might have been said of Men what is said of Angels that one part of the Angels was damn'd and another confirm'd in Grace but that of one Soul and one Body there should proceed reprobated and saved by the Predestination of God this is odious They who say that God did not predestinate to Damnation but only left one part of Men who were in Adam in Damnation and did elect another part to Salvation do directly contradict the Scriptures for the Scripture says expresly that with God there is no respect of Persons How could he then predestinate one part of Men to Salvation and leave the other part into the Damnation into which they were all equally plung'd since all had equally sinn'd in Adam and one no more than another How then can it be that God who is no Respecter of Persons can damn one part and save another of the same Mass of Persons which have equally contracted the same Sin without Injustice which cannot be in God And tho' he be almighty to save one and damn another as those Casuists say yet he will never do it for he will never do any Injustice For my part says she I would not commit the least Injustice against my Enemies not against the Devil himself How much less would God who is incomprehensibly more Just than I do such an Injustice as to damn one and save another of the Persons who have committed the same Fault even tho it were in his Power They say may not a Man do with his own Goods what he will how much more may God dispose of Man as he pleases who absolutely belongs to him and none can ask him why he saves one and lets another perish This says she seems a weak Argument even in the Comparison for it is not true that a Man can do with his Goods what he pleases he ought to use them according to Justice and Reason and if he do otherwise he will bear his Punishment before God who will not suffer Injustice nor us to abuse our Goods without calling us to an Account at the Day of Judgment How much more will God dispose of Men justly even tho' they belong to him How much less can he commit this Injustice of damning one and saving another of those who have fallen into the same Fault and are equally Guilty It is true God is Almighty and can do what he will but he can never will to do any thing unjustly as this would be which could not be without respect of Persons and this cannot be in God To say that he expresly predestinated one part of them to Damnation is to say that he had not so much Righteousness in himself as that which he requires of Men for he says to them Love your Enemies do good to them that hate you This Counsel would have had no Authority if he himself had reprobated those who are become his Enemies This absolute Reprobation would not be Good but the greatest Evil that could be imagin'd How could he command Men to do Good to their Enemies when he himself would do so great and eternal an Evil for the Fault they had committed against him and that while they were yet in a State of Penitence as they are during this Life where Reprobation shall never have place since till the very last Instant they may find Mercy and Pardon This Reprobation can only have place after Death and not during this Life Because this is the Time of Penitence in which if Men were certainly reprobated they could have no part and it would be a very rigorous and unjust thing to oblige those to Penitence whom he absolutely resolves to damn Men it seems confound the Times when they speak of Predestination and take the present for the time to come For at the Judgment God will separate two masses the one of Elect the other of Reprobates who shall then assuredly be damned because the Time of Penitence will then be past but during this Life there can be no predestinated Reprobates If God has reprobated the Wicked to Damnation he would not give them so many secret and inward Warnings to turn them unto him as all Sinners may know by experience that even when by Sin they have turn'd away from God they feel how oft he recals them by many Occasions and by Checks of Conscience All the Souls who are damned have been often admonished by God both inwardly and outwardly as may be seen in the Holy Scriptures How often did he admonish Pharoah and other wicked Men If it were true that God had reprobated them he would not have been sincere in giving them so many Admonitions to turn them from their Wickedness or at least they were all vain Admonitions since being predestinated to Evil it was impossible for them to do Good Must God tempt Men or render them more guilty than otherwise they would have been of themselves God has declared that as he Lives he has no pleasure in the Death of the Wicked but that the wicked Man turn from his way and live and that he is not willing that any should Perish God then should not be sincere in his words if he had predestinated some Souls to Damnation which cannot be said of God who is Truth it self always faithful in his Promises
Pastor ask'd who she was she told the Truth and that she fled out of the Dangers of the World to follow Jesus Christ the good Man wept and his Soul was confounded to see a Child like her quit all the Wealth and Pleasures of the World to embrace Poverty and Hardships while he after so many Years of Penitence was not come to such a Disengagement Ye he was a very Holy Man who liv'd in continual Prayer and Penitence the Story of whose Life is most remarkable the summ of it is thus XVI This Pastor of Blatton George de Lisle was design'd for the Pastoral Office from his Youth and train'd up after the ordinary ways of Study and Learning He had for some Years exercis'd the Functions of the Pastoral Charge after the manner that is usually done living after the way of the World in God's Judgment though Honestly and without Scandal in the World's Sense being often in Company as others of his rank and there diverting himself Eating Drinking and making Merry till it pleas'd God to touch his Heart and draw him from the brink of Perdition after this manner He and the Mayor having been invited on Shrove-Tuesday to make good Chear with the Lord of the Mannor after having past a part of the Night in Feasting as they came home about Midnight an enraged Soldier met them who had sworn to kill the first he met with he shot the Mayor who fell down dead at the Pastor's Feet who immediately was inwardly struck by God with these Thoughts How is it that thou art not in the place of this Man And if thou wet there in what State could thy Soul be but that of eternal Damnation dying in so wretched a Disposition as the fulness of Meat Wine and good Cheer which thou hast made O my God said he turning suddenly to God What Mercy hast thou shewn to make me now escape the eternal and certain Damnation of my Soul I 'll now watch and take care to be in a better Disposition Which he resolv'd and executed from that very Moment beginning to lead a Penitent and Christian Life without ever drawing back from it to his Death First he resolv'd to live Solitary for some time to strengthen him in Good and having substituted one to wait on his Cure for Six Months he sought out a Holy Person by whom he might be directed who accordingly for Six Months treated him with great Austerity And when he return'd to his Cure he encreas'd and continu'd what he had begun He resolved to mortifie his Body because it was so ready to tempt his Soul and to punish it for having taken too much its Ease and Pleasures Because he had pleas'd himself with fine Linen and fine Cloaths he never wore Linens any more and girded himself with a great Chain of Iron which went twice about and sunk into his Flesh Because he had lov'd to Sleep at Ease in a good Bed he caus'd them to bring his Coffin and a Stone in it for his Pillow where he lay with his Chain about his Loins all the rest of his Life Because he had taken too much Rest and past sometimes a part of the Night in Mirth and Laughter he spent Three Hours every Night from Eleven to Two after Midnight in Prayers and Tears on his Knees before the high Altar of his Church to bewail his Sins and Mens Blindness and Hardness Because he had plesa'd himself with commodious Lodging he staid in an Apartment which was almost always full of Smoke To punish the Excess he thought he had committed in Eating and Drinking he not only abstain'd from Flesh and Wine all his Days but also Seven whole Years from drinking Wine Water or any Liquor He would have been in the heats of Summer as in a Furnace all dry Mouth Tongue Palate Lips peel'd on Fire and like one in a burning Fever He renounc'd all Studies and all curious Learning referving only Two Books the Holy Bible and the Lives of the Saints in the one of which he read every Day a Chapter and in the other a Life saying of these Two Books Here 's the Doctrine the Bible and here 's the Practice the Lives of the Saints He had led this Life many Years when A. B. met with him first being then Sixty Years of Age and continued in it Twelve Years more This Holy Man had received Power from God over unclean Spirits and cur'd many possest with Devils a Lorain Soldier was brought to him afflicted with a Devil he staid with him for some Months and finding himself better went away the Pastor exhorting him to live in the fear of God least if he should fall again into Sin the Devil get more hold of him than formerly But he giving up himself to all sort of Licentiousness the Devil made him more wicked than before and among other things inspir'd him with such a hellish Rage against the Pastor that he resolv'd to kill him because he had remonstrated to him that his Life was Evil. He told it openly and threatned it for Three Years and when he came there to his Winter-Quarters they advertis'd the Pastor but he judg'd it was nothing but Menaces and thought himself unworthy to die the Death of a Martyr On Good-Friday having heard the Confessions of his Parishioners who prepar'd to communicate at Easter and all being gone out as he was rising from the Confessional Chair and prostrate before the High Altar to bewail their Sins and his own and beg God's Pardon this Soldier lurking among the Seats with his Carbine shot at him who fell suddenly down calling upon God The Villain perceiving that he yet breathed ran and gave him many strokes with his drawn Sword in the Head till he cleav'd it so as the Brains fell on the Pavement Some Children who had staid in the Church ran and publish'd the Murther He was carried into his House and lived till the next Morning tho' without Senses The Soldier died by the hand of Justice without shewing any Repentance A. B. sometimes ask'd him about his great Austerities how he came to continue them being so old since to be well pleasing to God there is nothing needful but to love him He replied You do not know me In the Age in which you see me I assure you my Flesh is yet so rebellious that if I did not tame it and make it suffer it would yet rise up against my Spirit it would rule over me and carry my Affections to things below to seek Pleasure and Satisfaction in them which would certainly turn me away from the Love of God I must therefore keep it in Subjection and Slavery least it become Mistress XVII But to return to A. B. the Pastor shut her up in a little Apartment of the Church where she was full of Consolation seeing her self disengag'd from all earthly things and retaining no Affection for any thing but a perfect Union with God Next Day he came
Antich Decouv Part 2. p. 66 67. she says That Jesus Christ True Man is also True God that his Humanity is most strictly and inseparably united with his Divinity which is the True God and the Eternal Word that created all things and and saves in Christ In the Third Part p. 26 27. she tells how Antichrist has led some to deny the Divinity of Jesus Christ and not to pray to him and shews that he as God and Man can save us immediately if we will follow him that he is the True Eternal God who alone can save as being God and he is our Mediator our Master our Physician as Man who is become our Pledge and Surety to obtain our Deliverance so that they are wretched Creatures who say they will not pray to Jesus Christ since the Salvation of all Men depends on him and without him no Body can be sav'd VII They affirmed that she denied the Merits of Jesus Christ or any Satisfaction made by him for the Sins of Men and this Calumny they have of late renew'd affirming that she falls in with the vile Socinian Heresies and even outdoes them What Socinian has ever taught That Man by his Sin would have perishâ—d eternally and never have obtain'd Pardon had it not been for Jesus Christ true eternal God and true Man and for his Merits the Force and Dignity of which proceed from his Vnion with the Divinity and that he has also obtain'd for Men Time Grace and Means to enjoy this Pardon and the Effect of those Merits and that he cloath'd himself with our Mortality and satisfied for our Sins on his part that we in imitating him might enjoy the Pardon and Recovery which his Merits have purchas'd for us And yet this is the Substance of the Doctrine of A. B. upon this Head as appears through all her Writings as in Temoign de Verite Part 1. p. 201 202 she says Your Preachers say that I reject the Merits of Jesus Christ tho' in truth I esteem them more than any Body in the World I believe I cannot be sav'd but by the Merits of Jesus Christ yea that none was ever sav'd from the Beginning of the World but by the Merits of Jesus Christ for if Jesus Christ had not merited Pardon for all Men with God his Father after Adam had sinn'd all Men had remain'd in a Lost Estate as the Devils have done because they had no Intercessor with God to obtain Pardon for their Sins as Men have had who having Jesus Christ for their Brother obtain'd by his Means the Remission of their Sins I mean not that Jesus Christ has not also satisfied for the Sins of Men since Adam seeing for them expresly he cloath'd himself with our Mortality and came into the World to Redeem us from Eternal Death into which all Men had wilfully precipitated themselves and sunk themselves into a Forgetfulness of God living according to the Motions of corrupt Nature as the Beasts which Jesus Christ perceiving he came from the Bosom of his Father unto the Earth to recal them He comes to shew them the State in which they were and how they had abandon'd their God to delight in other things than in him and by what means they might recover the Grace of God to attain to Salvation And he himself does before them the Works that they ought to do after his Example And because they had turn'd away from the Love of God to love the Goods and Riches of this World Jesus Christ came in Poverty that Men might embrace it after his Example And because Men had forgotten God through the Esteem they had of themselves Jesus Christ came in all Humility and Sufferings to give them an Example And because Men had left off their Obedience to God to follow their own Wills Jesus Christ came to shew that he is Obedidient even to the Death of the Cross that he might teach Men how they ought to be subject and obedient even to Death And Jesus Christ has done all this with many other things for the Love he bear to Men and that by such Means he might draw them to his Father that he might live with them to all Eternity giving himself thus in Sacrifice for the Redemption of his Brethren But this Sacrifice was not offered for Men who do not believe in him and do not the Works that he did nor for those who will needs wilfully continue in their Sins after having known the Law of the Gospel c. And in Antichr decouv Part 2. p. 76. They have says she sometimes argued against me that I deny the Satisfaction of Jesus Christ But I believe this is because I do not hold that Jesus Christ has satisfi'd for Men after the Manner that they hold it to wit that Jesus Christ has satisfied for all Men and that they shall be saved by his Sufferings without being obliged to suffer themselves which is a great Error because the Sufferings of Jesus Christ will never be applied to any but those who shall follow his Life and Doctrine But because on the one hand Men are apt to pervert the Doctrine of the Merits and Satisfaction of Jesus Christ to encourage the Indulging of their corrupt Nature and others to despise it and think they can save themselves I think it will not be unacceptable to shew how she discovers the Evil of both as in many of her Writings so particularly in Antechr decouvert Part 3. p. 45 46 c. Those Persons says she she speaks of those who despise Jesus Christ and think they can save themselves without him perish thro' Pride as well as they who say that Jesus Christ has satisfied all for them All of them fall into the same Sin of Pride and Ingratitude tho' by different Ways The one is proud to believe that he shall be saved by his own Works and he is also very unthankful that he will not acknowledge what Jesus Christ has done for him requiting his Benefits with Contempt and Irreverence And the others commit the same Sin of Pride in presuming that they are God's Elect and his Children to whom Salvation appertains tho they do not labour to obtain it and they â—â—ll also into the Sin of Ingratitude in that they will nor render unto Jesus Christ what he has paid for them They now that he was their Pledge and Surety yea that he effectively paid the Penalties due to their Sins yet they will not use any Endeavours to make Restitution to him Would it not be a great Ingratitude for a Person to say to him who had paid his Debt as his Pledge and Surety That knowing his Debt is paid he resolves to live in Idleness without taking Care to return the same Payment to him who had paid it for him Such a Person would be look'd upon by us as wicked and unthankful while we think our selves the Children of God in doing the same things to the Person of Jesus Christ We
in his Spirit that he dwelling in our Hearts by Faith may communicate himself to us with all his Graces and Merits It is in the former Sence only that A. B. declares against the common Doctrine Of the Satisfaction of Jesus Christ as if it were a Substitution of total Discharge dispensing with the Obligation that lies on us to live a Life of Penitence and not at all in the Second They who read the Writings of A. B. will see that this is the Summ and Substance of her Sentiments on this Head and that any simple Expressions which seem harsh by themselves are to be interpreted by this Measure And they who consider by what Principles the Generality of the Christian World do I do not say speculate and talk but live and act and what Encouragement the Doctrine and Glosses of Men has given thereunto and how tho' they live in a perfect Contradiction to the Life and Spirit of Jesus Christ yet they hope and believe they shall be saved by his Merits will see how necessary and how seasonable it is to inculcate those Truths upon the Hearts of Men. VIII But because it gives great Offence to some that she says Tho' Christ has satisfied all for us on his part yet that the Merits of his Satisfaction will not be applied to us unless we our selves do satisfie the Justice of God for our Sins and in order to our Purification I shall set down her Sentiment more particularly in this Matter We sometimes stumble at Words and Terms when we grant the thing it self upon the matter and it is like this is the case with many here 1. Then she says That no Man could merit Eternal Life tho' Adam had never sinn'd for all our good Works are but Temporal and bear no proportion to eternal Happiness Heaven and eternal Life is the free Gift of God which he prepared for Man before he created him and so he could not merit it He does not therefore bestow it for our Merits but for his great Mercy and for the Love he bears us He is no Merchant and will not sell his Paradise at any price but will give it freely and he has no need of our good Works or Penitence but because of our Corruption and Infirmity we have great need of them without which we must perish 2. That we having forfeited God's Favour and eternal Life Jesus Christ has merited for us Pardon Grace and Life Eternal upon Condition that we receive and correspond with the Pardon and Grace offered and turn again to God with all our Hearts and embrace the Means that are necessary for this End without which in Justice Pardon and Grace could not be demanded for Man and for our Performance of this Jesus Christ becomes our Pledge and Surety 3. As such he cloaths himself with our Mortality and undergoes all the Parts of this Penitence himself that he might merit Grace and Pardon for Man and might strengthen and direct him how to embrace this Penitence and to follow his Example 4. Upon his Intercession and obtaining of Grace and Pardon for Man the Love of God is not immediatly conferr'd upon Man but the Grace of doing Penitence by which he might recover it And this was a greate Mercy to Man than if God had simply pardon'd him and restor'd him to his Love without suffering the Earth to be accursed or all to be corrupted by Sin since it is to be fear'd Man would have quickly fallen back again into new Sins finding himself as before in all sorts of Delights such as Adam had For we see how Men now turn away their Hearts from God to love the Creatures and themselves even when they see they are so wretched weak and imperfect subject to all sorts of Maladies and to Death and that all the Creatures now do them mischief whereas formerly they honour'd and obey'd them as their Lord and tho' they see themselves and all the Creatures so filthy corrupt and miserable yet they cannot abstain from loving them to the Prejudice of the Love they owe to God How much more would Man have done so in case he had remained as beautiful and perfect after his Sin and all the other Creatures had continued as lovely as before It is to be fear'd he would not have remained in the Love of God if he had recovered it after his Sin by the pure Mercy of God without out the Condition of doing Penitence or without all the other Creatures their being accursed in him since we see Men do yet love this Life that is so miserable and the Creatures that are so wretched and Man feels in himself Contradictions Griefs Displeasures and all sorts of vicious Passions which he cannot govern by his Reason and yet his Spirit is become so brutish that it loves those Miseries and Imperfections tho' he find nothing in himself or the other Creatures but what is worthy of Contempt and Hatred Yet he loves and esteems them to the Contempt of the Love of his God who knowing the Baseness of Man's Heart has given him Penitence as a necessary Mean to withdraw his Affections from this wretched Life that he may turn them to his God who will have Man to love him only And for the same Reason he has permitted all the Creatures which were subject to Man to contract with him the Malediction of Sin that by this Mean occasion might be given to Man to return to the Love of his God the only lovely Object 5. Since this Penitence contains the necessary Means to recover the Love of God and we cannot do this so long as we love Self and the Creatures and this corrupt Love cannot be mortified so long as we gratifie our Senses and our Appetites and enjoy a Paradise here and our Lusts cannot be subdued without feeling the Bitterness Anguish Griefs and Pains of them to extinguish the Sence of the unlawful Pleasure and Delight we took in them Penitence therefore is 1. The turning away our Hearts and Affections from every thing that hinders the Love of God Love not the World c. 2. And in order to this the avoiding all the Occasions that may foster the Love of other things and continually striving against and doing Violence to Self-love Self-will and Corrupt Nature He that will come after me saith our Lord let him deny himself And 3. The embracing willingly the Anguish Bitterness and Pains the Afflictions both inward and outward that must be endured for the purifying of our Hearts and bringing us to the Love of God and let him take up his Cross 6. Jesus Christ has taught us how to undergo this Penitence by his Doctrine and by his Example and follow me 7. It is most unreasonable to think that we are discharg'd from this Penitence because Jesus Christ did thus live and suffer for us for we must have the Spirit of Christ our Old Man must be crucified with him we must be conformed
Esay accuses them that they had said Let us eat and drink for to morrow we must die we have made a Covenant with Death and with Hell we are at Agreement for we have made Lies our Refuge and under Falshood have we hid our selves Malachy It is in vain for us to serve the Lord we will call the Proud Happy c. This was not true in the Sight of Men but it was true in the Sight of God who saw that there were no living Impressions in their Hearts of the Divine Providence of a happy or miserable Eternity of the great Happiness of Vertue c. There are generally two sorts of Principles and Sentiments in Men which do widely differ from one another one by which they reason and discourse and preach and write Books and teach Doctrines and this is their speculative Principle The other is that by which a Man acts and governs both his inward Affections and his Life This last only is a Man's true Sentiments and Principle tho' for the most part this is unknown to the Man himself S. Paul before his Conversion and e'er he was enlightned by the Holy Ghost would have been highly offended with any that should have call'd him a Blasphemer a Persecuter of God and good Men and the Chief of Sinners as imputing to him Crimes and Sentiments of which he not only thought himself innocent but that those very things were Vertues in the Sight of God tho' when God opened his Eyes he found he had been truly such So strange is the Blindness of corrupt Man Therefore when God would deliver Men from Death he stops not at the outward Appearance and what Men say and at their dead Reasonings and Sentiments who may tell him We teach Vertue we preach good Works we recommend Mortification of the Old Man we detest Security and Presumption c. while in effect their Lives are regulated by quite contrary Principles and their Hearts live in another Element and therefore he warns them of that which is hid within them and which they do not yet perceive and tells them that tho' they profess to know him yet by their Works they deny him being abominable disobedient and to every good Work reprobate Now it is according to this Measure that A. B. speaks of Men and Parties and of their Sentiments When a whole Society lives according to Principles the contrary of which they affirm with their Mouths it is certain this may be imputed to that Society When the greatest part of particular Persons in that Society have certain Sentiments as to flatter themselves that they are in the State of Grace or predestinated to Salvation it is certain that the Society in the gross may be said to have these Sentiments If while they live in a worldly and carnal Manner yet they commonly believe they shall be saved by the Use of the Ceremonies and Sacraments this is to be reckoned the real Sentiment of the Society in gross tho' the Speculations of some particular Persons and Doctors do not say so It is the People that makes the Church and not a small Number of learned Heads It is the living and inward Principles Inclinations and Dispositions of the Spirits and Hearts of the People that makes the Sentiments of the Church and not some vain Theories of the Learned which are oft-times dead and barren in their own Hearts When in a Society some particular Persons teach expresly evil Doctrines as the Justifying of horrid Murthers or that we may be saved without the Love of God and direct Souls according to these Doctrines if the whole Body of such a Church knowing this do not openly and loudly extirpate such a Doctrine by their Councils or other proper Means undoubtedly such a Society and particularly they who preside in it are reckoned by God as if they themselves authoritatively taught and maintained these detestable Maxims Now if what A. B. says as to the Principles Sentiments and Evils of Parties or Persons be examined by these Rules it will appear that she imputes nothing to them falsly XXV Another Accusation brought against A. B. is that she gives wrong Explications of several Passages in the Holy Scripture as her applying that of S. Paul We know in part c. to a greater Degree of Knowledge and Illumination than God will give in this last Age of the World Her understanding the Words of our Saviour Joh. 12. 23. of his glorious Appearing in the End of the World when the Context shews it is meant of his Death and Sufferings her singular Exposition of the Lord's Prayer as containing things that we are to obtain only in Perfection when Christ comes to reign in Glory We see what Expositions the Apostles give of the Scriptures of the Old Testament and the Fathers of both the Old and New which oft-times seem very different from the Sence that naturally offers S. Augustin's Rule already mentioned has Place here That whosoever gives such a Sence of the Scripture as serves to promote the Love of God and our Neighbours which is the great End tho' it cannot be made appear that the Pen-man of the Scripture did so understand it in that particular Place he does not err damnably nor does he make a Lye But that other remarkable Rule he gives serves fully to remove this Accusation That as to all the Sences that are given of the Holy Scripture which are not repugnant to the Truth it is to be believed they were intended by the Holy Spirit That when many Sences are given of the same Words if it appear from other Places of the Scripture that they are agreeable to the Truth and to Faith there is no Danger For perhaps the Author of those Writings did perceive the same Sence of them and certainly the Spirit of God who wrought by him foresaw without doubt that this would occur to the Reader and the Hearer yea took care that it should occur For what more liberal and bountiful Provision could be made by God in the Divine Oracles than that the same Words should be understood in many Sences all which the other no less Divine Writings might confirm Agreeable to this we have a Divine Maxim of a pious Writer of the last Age That according to the State that Man is in so he understands the Holy Scripture if he be as yet in the State of Nature he explains it of Natural Things if he have ascended higher he understands it of more sublime Things and the higher State he is advanced to he still finds so much the more sublime Testimonies of things in the Scripture Inferiour things are the Image and Similitude of the superiour If a Man therefore be in the lowest Degree the Scripture proposes low things to him but if he be placed in superiour Degrees it points out to him higher things When Paul says Not in Rioting and Drunkenness not in Chambering and Wantonness c. Rom. 13. 19. this concerns
and God who had so much comforted her in Prayer all the time that she was despised now withdrew from her and her Prayers were without any fervour Her Conscience often check'd her when she did or said any thing to please the World but she had not the courage to withdraw from it But God had pity on her who had abandon'd him to turn to the Creatures She oft-times felt inward Motions from God and even in the midst of her Divertisements and Dancings she had sometimes secret Reproofs from him piercing her Heart with those inward Words Will you forsake me then for another Will you find a Lover more compleat and more faithful than I am But a little after Company and Divertisements got the Ascendant and even when she was excited by those inward Motions to abandon all she would reply Then I should never have Pleasure It is fit for one to take some Pleasure in their Youth VII Then God seeing that his gentle Motions avail'd nothing took more severe means to recover her and fill'd her Spirit with fearful Apprehensions of Death Judgment and Hell the hearing of the Deaths of others and Sermons about Death and Judgment did before that touch her but very little like the Stories of Foreign Countries and she would not let her self think that she was concern'd in them But when God was pleas'd to open her Eyes and let her see she must Die and appear at the great Judgment then unexpressible Apprehensions seiz'd her and all the Day long when she was alone she would say to her self Poor Creature What will become of thee Thou must die all the things of the World cannot save thee from this fearful Death thou caâ—st not escape it And what wilâ— thou say when that Hour shall come This she often repeated both in her Mind and by Word They with whom she convers'd observing her Sadness endeavour'd to chear and divert her but all in vain For then she had a disgust of all Recreations and earthly Pleasures And when she forc'd her self to take Contentment in any thing she thought it was said to her Heart To what purpose takest thou Pleasure since thou must die For what will this serve thee before God But the sensitive part of her Soul was very displeas'd to see it self thus afflicted and said in its mute Language Thou shalt never be well if thou put not these Fancies out of thy Head but will die very shortly if thou continue in such Apprehensions This made her leave oft for some time But as soon as she came to her self the superiour part said Forget Death as much as you will it shall not forget thee It is a folly to think to free thy self of it by shutting it out of thy Memory It will find thee every where and does not wait till thou be ready but comes at its time unlook'd for and when thou shalt think least of it And if the Idea of it only does so affright yea put thy Life in hazard how will the reality of it make thee afraid when thy Soul shall be in Danger Give place to those Truths without flattering thy self with any Reasons VIII These were the Debates which toss'd her Spirit without ceasing She resolv'd then to quit all the World and prepare for Death and prevent it since it followed her so hard But she found great Difficulty to do it being Young and in the midst of all worldly Advantages so that she might promise to her self as much of worldly Pleasures Honour and Wealth as any of her rank Nevertheless the thoughts of Death had yet greater force when she thought on the future State She said to her self It is very true Mirth is agreeable Pleasures are sweet and Wealth delightful but this lasts but for a little time Death will come and change all and all must be parted with with a lamentable regret and it may be an eternal Punishment for a good of so short continuance So that perceiving clearly this Truth she prayed earnestly to God to give her Grace to think always upon Death and never to let it be out of her Mind for any thing that might befall her which she obtain'd after a long perseverance in this Prayer And to fix it the more upon her Spirit she went oft to the Church-yard where looking on the Bones of the dead she said See my Body what will become of thee Thy own Head and thy own Hands will be very shortly thrown into this Company and she was afraid to look upon them and forc'd her self to approach them being naturally timorous and to handle them saving O miserable Creature Wilt thou have a Horror for thy self Draw near boldly Thou shalt be a Thousand times more vile when the Worms shall eat thee and this will be the greatest Honour that can befal thee to be ranked with these Bones here IX This gave her a great disgust for the Body which she formerly cherish'd and a hatred and severity against her self and after her Sister was married she retir'd from all sort of Company staid alone in her Chamber entered upon a very austere Life Lying hard Sleeping little Fasting much mingling what she did eat with Ashes to mortifie her Taste wearing hair cloath next to her Skin and afflicting her Body and praying and weeping the most part of her time for Grief that she had left the sweet Conversation she had with God to please her self in the Divertisements of the World She visited the Poor and Sick frequented the Churches and Sacraments not knowing by what means she could recover the Favour of God which she had lost through her own Fault She durst scarce sleep in the Night fearing to fall into Hell while asleep and that the Earth would not bear her So terrible were her Apprehensions of the Judgments of God that she durst not shut her Eyes because of her Sins which seem'd to her so great that none had ever committed the like not that she was guilty of any Crime or wicked Deed but because she had forsaken the sweet Conversation that her Soul had with God to please her self with the Divertisements of the World after having received so many Favours from God which deserved the Thanksgiving of her whole Life This appear'd to her so great a Sin that Hell was not sufficient to punish it She continued in those Austerities and Mortification for Seven Years and would have done so still if God had not commanded her when she was Twenty Five Years of Age to leave this and lead an ordinary Life Her Mortifications were not the Effect of a melancholy Humour nor accompanied with it for she was of the most serene and chearful Temper even to her Death But she chastis'd her self with an inward Contentment and Tranquillity out of a Principle of Justice And her Floods of Tears flowing from the Love of God whose Friendship she had lost through her own Fault were attended with a secret and most solid Pleasure
Sin since which time it can produce nothing but all sort of Evil it being impossible for it to do any Good or to have one good Thought For this Cause Job had good Reason to curse the Day of his Birth for none of the Beasts would be so miserable in their Nature as is Man if he had not in him a Divine Nature 4. All must grant this and say with your Friends that it is impossible to imitate Jesus Christ seeing he lived supernaturally having subjected his Humane Part to his Divine and made his Flesh die that he might live to his Spirit and despised Temporal things that he might embrace Eternal But I would gladly ask all those Natural Persons if they desire to do the same things And if they have put to Death the old Adam in them that is the Inclinations of corrupt Flesh And if they have labour'd with all their Power to revive in them the Spirit of the new Adam which contradicts the Sensualities of the Flesh Which appears by the Person of Jesus Christ who overcame all Natural Sensualities 5. It may be they will say that it would be impossible for them to attain to such a Perfection as Jesus Christ had while they will not part with so much as one of the Affections which they have for their Pleasures or Sensualities that they might follow him at a distance For they do not so much as desire to imitate him far les to tend to his Perfection They believe indeed by an imaginary Speculation that Jesus Christ has satisfied all for them and they will not believe by a Divine Truth that he has merited for them by his Sufferings the Grace and the Power to imitate him because they do not desire to do it for they love rather to remain in the Corruption of the old Adam than to be quickened into the new which is Jesus Christ 6. Thus it is that those poor Souls flatter themselves to their Ruine while they say that they cannot imitate Jesus Christ nor live without Sin because of their great Frailty This is as much as to say that they resolve not to be saved and they resolve to die in their Sins for there are only two ways the one of Salvation the other of Damnation and Jesus Christ is that which leads to Salvation He who will not walk in the same Way in which he walked cannot find Life but without all doubt shall die for ever Therefore my dear Child do not give way to the Discourses of those poor blinded ones who have fill'd their Understanding with Errors but walk according to the Light that God has given you and labour to be born again in the Spirit of Jesus Christ our Saviour Withdraw from the World since he says that he prays not for the World but for those whom his Father has given him out of the World Those who are of the World are they who love the transitory things of the World and will not part with them to imitate Jesus Christ They are rich in Will and proud in Heart loving their fleshly Sensualities while they flatter themselves by saying that it would be impossible for them to imitate Jesus Christ and to live without Sin because of their great Frailty which if they understood aright they would use means to overcome it and he who felt his Heart cleave to Riches would not possess them but would put them far away from him as some of the Heathens did who threw all their Money into the Sea fearing least it should deprive them of the Liberty of their Mind And if a Man found himself so frail as to fall into the Sin of Pride he would shun Offices Greatness and Honours that he might follow the Poverty and Lowliness of Jesus Christ and if hâ— found himself so frail as that he could not eat and drink delicate things without falling into the Sin of Gluttony he would take the coarsest Meats and Drink proportionably to support the Weakness and Frailty of Nature weaning it from all Sensuality or fleshly Apperite But Men do not feel themselves too frail to iudulge their Body in all its Appetites and Pleasures and they will needs make themselves believe that they are too frail to abstain from Sin or to imitate Jesus Christ 7. This Sentiment is so Erroneous that I would be ashun'd to refute it were it not that I see so many Souls possess'd with it especially among those of Calvin's Reformatiâ—on who live and die in this Belief that Jesus Christ has satisfied all for them that it is impossible for them to do good or to imitate Jesus Christ This it seems is inculcated unto them from the Cradle since in effect we see that all their practice is founded upon it while they live according to the Motions of corrupt Nature and with this believe that they shall be saved by the Merits of Jesus Christ without striving to imitate him since they are taught that it is impossible to do this And tho' this is a false Theology yet every one follows after it leaning upon a broken Reed 8. For that Man of whom I spoke to you formerly said that it was impossible for him to do any good Work yea to say the Lord's Prayer with Attention no more than they with whom he convers'd whom he had often ask'd if they could say it with Attention and they all answered they could not It is to be remarked that they were Merchants of great Trade and Spirit who found out all sort of Inventions for gaining of Money with great Dexterity and Care and their Spirit was not disingag'd for saying the Lord's Prayer with Attention For where their Treasure was there was their Heart and the Attention cannot be perfect in two so contrary things at the same time but if they had purg'd their Souls from coveting earthly Goods and as carefully applied their Understanding to speak unto God and to hear him without doubt they might not only have said the Lord's Prayer with Attention but might also have attention seriously upon continual Prayer which Jesus Christ has so much recommended to us saying that we ought always to pray and never to cease 9. But those poor Ignorants think to please God with fair Words as they please Men by saying that they are too frail to do any Good far less can they imitate Jesus Christ for these Excuses will condemn them For if they were truly sensible of their Frailty they would avoid the Occasions of Sin and use the Means of Poverty Humility and Patience that they might imitate Jesus Christ for he did nothing when he was upon Earth but that which another would do that were animated with the same Spirit that he was For the same God has through all the same Power and can do by the Body and Spirit of other Men that which he did by that of Jesus Christ 10. For in as much as he is God his Power is not limited provided that Man give no â—indrance
you or would wrong your Health 6. For I YIELD IN NOTHING TO NATURE knowing well that it is corrupt and begets all sort of Sins which kill the Soul and make it lose a Blessed Eternity Of necessity we must contradict it and deny all its Desires or otherwise it will lead us to all sort of eternal Miseries which few Persons do conceive For we see every one follows his own Will without thinking that he does Evil for they do not sufficiently perceive that our SELF WILL BRINGS FORTH ETERNAL DEATH as in Truth it does which I see by the Eyes of Faith And Jesus Christ has also taught us it when he says that he who does not deny himself cannot be his Disiple I cannot find more express Terms to make Man understand that he must not follow his own Will but absolutely deny it all that it asks Nevertheless we see that the best enclin'd now adays think themselves happy that they can follow their own Will which is always enclin'd towards earthly and tempoâ—al things and never towards Eternity which is unto it invisible and incomprehensible 7. For this Cause I can never Accompany one who travels towards the World and follows his own Will I must still wâ—lk alone so long as I shall not find others being like a desolate Widow who has no Companion nor Consolation in this World which is even very grievous to Nature Because it is always sociable and is pleas'd with the Society of those like to it which I have not as yet met with in this World having being always obliged to travel alone for I have found none to joyn my self unto tho' I have still sought after them and inform'd my self where are THOSE SOULS WHICH TRAVEL TOWARDS ETERNITY without having hitherto discovered any 8. I have convers'd with the Religious and Devout Persons of our side and have found them all seeking after earthly things for if they study and preach it is to recommend themselves to Men or to get their Living And secular Persons who are engag'd in the Practice of Physick or in Merchandizing do all to gain Money or to acquire Honour and Pleasure in this World So that none of those can accompany me in the way to Eternity and therefore I must walk alone or turn backward to the way of the World Which I will never do choosing rather to die alone in the way of Salvation than to follow a croud in the way of Perdition seeing the great number of the damned would never ease my Pain but rather encrease it by the encrease of the number of damned Souls Therefore I will continue in the way to Eternity tho' I should travel ALONE in it even to Death choosing rather to be alone with Jesus Christ than in a great Company with the World and Hell I know indeed my dear Child that you do not desire to follow the World or Hell but in effect you still follow them so long as you yet seek any other thing than Eternity You think you will not seek any other thing since you have resolved to quit the World But believe me so long as you yet seek to please Men and that you are afraid to displease them you are still in the way of the World And so long as you take pleasure here in the Honour or Prosit of the World you cannot relish the Delights or the Repose of Eternity And if you have yet an Esteem for Wealth it is certain you are not come to the Knowledge of eternal good things for these make one always to despse earthly Goods finding them to be vain and unworthy of our Love 9. By which you may certainly discern if you are in the way of Eternity or in that of the Earth and Time according as your Aims and Designs tend unto the one or the other This is a general Rule for ALL Men of the World by which they may measure if they are in the way to a BLESSED ETERNITY or in that which leads unto a MISERABLE ETERNITY by examining if their Cares Desires and Affections are towards earthly things or indeed towards things Eternal 10. Not that one must live in Idleness in this World for he ought continually to labour in it to accomplish the Penitence that God has enjoyn'd us But our Labour ought to respect Eternity the Glory of God the Salvation of our Soul or that of our Neighbour and all that is without this is Evil. For if one labour for this World he receives here the Recompence of his Labour and therefore he has no more to pretend to for Eternâ—ty For otherwise God would not be just seeing he who has laboured that he may gain Money having gain'd it has received the Reward of his Labour and has no Right to pretend to any other thing for he desired no other thing If you labour that you may get an Office and you obtain it your Labour is well rewarded by the obtaining of that Office If you labour in Traffick and Business that you may gain Money and if this succeed according to your Desires you must not look for any other Recompence but the Money that you have gained If you study that you may accomplish your self before Men you are rewarded by the Praises which they give you and the Esteem they have for you You see all that a Person can pretend to who labours for the Earth and for Time God cannot in Justice give him a Blessed Eternity when his Labours have no other End but the Earth towards which he travels all the Days of his Life as we see all Men do now and they think themselves Wise and Happy when they dextrously seek after their Advantages in this World For he who does it not is despised by them and look'd upon as a Fool. 11. This is the way in which all Men do travel wherein it would be impossible for me to follow or imitate them for I look upon all these things as Follies and Amusements of Satan For what can it profit a Man if he attains to some Office or Benefice or that he has heaps up Money that he may take his Delights in this World Death puts an end to all and the Praises of Men which he has acquired by improving himself are nothing but a blast of Wind which drives away the Ashes of our Corruption by forgetfulness out of their Memories And the poor Soul finds it self deprived of eternal Glory which it can never recover after this transitory Life which is the only way to a blessed or miserable Eternity It is a Folly and Deceit to hope for it He must content himself with the Earth which he lov'd and with Men whom he desired to please 12. Behold my dear Child what Recompence the Earth and Men can give them for all the Services which they shall render them nothing but the Pain and Sorrow of being forced to abandon them and Remorse of Conscience for having sought after earthly things and travelled towards a