Sins through his Name amongst all Nations And this is one Blessed advantage which Revealed Religion has above Natural that it contains an express Declaration of the Divine Will concerning the Pardon of all Sins whatsoever upon these Terms Natural Religion indeed teaches us that God is Merciful but it teaches us that he is Just too and it can never assure us what Bounds God will set to the Exercise of the one or the other and when Justice and when Mercy shall take Place What Sins are and what are not capable of the benefit of Sacrifice and Repentance And this uncertainty considering the Sins of the best Life was ever naturally apt to beget Despondencies Melancholy and sometimes a Superstitious dread of God The Second Ground of assurance as it relates to our present State is an Application of the Condition of Life laid down in the Gospel to a Man 's own Particular Case thus They that Believe and Repent shall be Saved I Believe and Repent therefore I shall be Saved Now that a Man upon an Examination of himself may be throughly assured that he does Believe and Repent is evident from Scripture which does not only exhort us to enter upon this Examination but also assert that Assurance Joy and Peace are the natural Fruits of it But let a Man examine himself and so let him eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup 1 Cor. 11.28 Examine your selves whether ye be in the Faith prove your own selves Know ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates 2 Cor. 13.5 But Sanctifie the Lord God in your Hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every Man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear 1 Pet. 3.15 And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his Commandments 1 Joh. 2.3 Beloved if our Hearts condemn us not then have we confidence towards God 1 Joh. 3.2 'T is true Men do often deceive themselves and entertain a more favourable Opinion of their state then they ought But whence proceeds this Even from too Partial or Superficial Reflections on themselves or none at all And therefore the Apostle teaches us plainly that the only way to correct this Error is a Sincere and diligent search into our selves For if a Man think himself to be something when he is nothing he deceiveth himself But let every Man prove his own Work and then shall he have rejoycing in himself alone and not in another Gal. 6.3 4. But it is Objected against all this that the Heart of Man is so deceitful that it is a very difficult Matter to make a thorough discovery of it We often think our selves Sincere when the success of the next Temptation gives us just reason to call this Sincerity into question such is the contradictions Composition of our Nature that we often act contrary to our inward Convictions and frequently fail in the execution of those designs in the performance of those resolutions which we have thought very well grounded and this being not to be charged upon the Insufficiency of God's Grace but the Levity or Insincerity of our own Hearts how can we safely frame any right Opinion of our Selves from those affections and purposes which are so little to be rely'd upon To this I Answer First We are not to conclude any thing concerning our Progress or Perfection too hastily we are not to determine of the final Issue of a War by the success of one or two Engagements but our Hopes and Assurances are to advance slowly and gradually in proportion to the abatement of the Enemy's Force and the increase of our own so that we may have time enough to examine and prove our own Hearts Secondly A Sincere Christian but especially one of a Mature Vertue may easily discern his spiritual state by the inward movings and actings of the Soul if he attend to them For is it possible that such a one should be ignorant what Impressions Divine Truths make upon him Is it possible he should be ignorant whether his Faith stand firm against the shock of all Carnal objections whether he earnestly desire to please God as loving him above all things whether he thirst after the Consolation and Joy of the Spirit more then after that of sensible things Is it possible the Soul should bewail its Heaviness and Driness which the best are liable to at some season or other Is it possible that the Soul should be carried upwards frequently on the Wings of Faith and Love that it should maintain a familiar and constant Conversation with Heaven that it should long to be delivered from this World of trouble and this Body of Death and to enter into the Regions of Peace of Life and Righteousness Is it possible I say that these should be the Affections the Longings and Earnings of the Soul and yet that the Good Man the Perfect Man who often enters into his Closet and Communes with his own Heart should be ignorant of them It cannot be In a word can the Reluctances of the Body and the Allurements of the World be disarm'd weaken'd and reduc'd Can the Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness be very eager the relish of spiritual Pleasure brisk and delightful and the contempt of worldly things be real and thoroughly setled and yet the Man be insensible of all this It cannot be But if we fell these Affections in us we may safely conclude that we are Partakers of the Divine Nature that we have escaped the corruption that is in the World through Lust and that the New Creature is at least growing up into a Perfect Man to the Measure of the Stature of the fulness of Christ Thirdly The surest Test of a State of Grace is our abounding in Good Works You shall know the Tree by its Fruit is our Masters own Rule and it can never deceive us He that doth Righteousness is born of God If then we be frequent and fervent in our Devotion towards God if we be modest and grateful in the Successes Patient and Resigned Calm and Serene under the Crosses and Troubles of Life If we be not only Punctual but Honourable in our dealings if we be Vigorous and Generous in the Exercises of Charity if we be not only just and true but meek gentle and obliging in our Words if we retrench not only the sinful but something from the innocent Liberties and Gratifications of Sense to give our selves more entirely up to the Duties and Pleasures of Faith If finally we never be ashamed of Vertue nor flatter complement nor wink at Vice if we be ready to meet with Death with comfort and retain Life with some degree of Indifference If these things I say be in us we have little reason to doubt of the goodness of our State For Good Works being the natural Fruit of Grace it is impossible we should abound in the one without being possessed
in the Exercise of Truth Justice and Charity And no where is the ill Influence of Selfishness Sensuality and the Love of the World more notorious than here For these rendring us impatient and insatiable in our Desires violent in the Prosecution of them extravagant and excessive in our Enjoyments and the things of this World being few and finite and unable to satisfie such inordinate Appetites we stand in one anothers Light in one anothers way to Profit and Pleasures or too often at least seem to do so and this must unavoidably produce a thousand miserable Consequences Accordingly we daily see that these Passions Selfishness Sensuality and the Love of the World are the Parents of Envy and Emulation Avarice Ambition Strife and Contention Hypocrisie and Corruption Lewdness Luxury and Prodigality but are utter Enemies to Honour Truth and Integrity to Generosity and Charity To obviate therefore the mischievous Effects of these vicious Principles Religion aims at implanting in the World others of a benign and beneficent Nature opposing against the Love of the World Hope against Selfishness Charity and against Sensuality Faith And to the end the different Tendency of these Different Principles may be the more conspicuous I will briefly compare the Effects they have in reference to our Neighbour Selfishness makes Men look upon the World as made for him alone and upon all as his Enemies who do any way interfere with or obstruct his Designs it Seals up all our Treasures confines all our Care and Thoughts to our private Interest Honour or Pleasure employs all our Parts Power and Wealth and all our Time too in Pursuit of our particular Advantage Sensuality tempts a Man to abandon the Care and Concern for his Country his Friends and Relations and neglect the Duties of his Station that he may give himself up to some sottish and dishonourable Vice it prevails with him to refuse Alms to the poor Assistance to any publick or Neighbourly good Work and even a decent nay sometimes a necessary Allowance to his Family that he may waste and lavish out his Fortune upon some vile and expensive Lust In a word it makes him incapable of the Fatigues of Civil Business and much more of the Hardships and Hazards of War So that instead of imitating the glorious Example of Vriah who would not suffer himself to be courted into the Enjoyment even of allowed Pleasures nor indulge himself in the Tendernesses and Caresses of a Wife and Children while Joab and the Armies of Israel were in the Field he on the contrary dissolves and melts down his Life and Fortunes in Vncleanness and Luxury the shame and burden of his Country and his Family at a time when not only the Honour but the Safety of his Country lies at stake and Prince and People defend it by their Toil and Blood What should I mention the Love of the World are not the Effects of it as visible amongst us as deplorable does not this where-ever it reigns fill all Places with Bribery and Corruption Falshood Treachery and Cowardise Worse cannot be said on 't and more needs not for what Societies can thrive or which way can Credit and Reputation be Supported what Treasures what Counsels what Armies what Conduct can save a People where these Vices prevail Let us now on the other side suppose Selfishness Sensuality and the Love of the World cashiered and Faith Hope and Charity entertained in their Room what a blessed Change will this effect in the World how soon will Honour and Integrity Truth and Justice and a publick Spirit revive how serviceable and eminent will these render every Man in his Charge These are the true Principles of great and brave Actions these these alone can render our Duty dearer to us than any temporal Consideration these will enable us to do good Works without an Eye to the Return they will make us These will make it appear to us very reasonable to Sacrifice Fortune Life every thing when the Honour of God and publick good demand it of us The Belief and Hope of Heaven is a sufficient Incouragement to Vertue when all others fail the Love of God as our Supream Good will make us easily surmount the Consideration of Expence Difficulty or hazard in such Attempts as we are sure will please Him and the Love of our Neighbour as our selves will make us compassionate to his Evils and Wants tender to his Infirmities and Zealous of his good as of our own How happy then would these Principles make the World and how much is it the Interest of every one to encourage and propagate these and to discountenance and suppress the contrary ones I have done with the second Effect of Christian Liberty and will pass on to the Third as soon as I have made two Remarks on this last Paragraph First 't is very evident from what has been said in it that solid Vertue can be Graffed on no Stock but that of Religion that universal Righteousness can be rais'd on none but Gospel Principles who is he that overcometh the World but he that believeth that Jesus is the Christ 1 Joh. 5. I do not oppose this Proposition against Jew or Gentile God vouchsafed in sundry times and in divers manners such Revelations of his Truth and such Communications of his Grace as he saw fit and to these is the Righteousness hereof whatever it was to be attributed not to the Law of Nature or Moses But suppose it against the bold Pretensions of Libertin's and Atheists at this day Honour and Justice in their Mouths is a vain Beast and the Natural Power they pretend to over their own Actions to square and govern them according to the Rules of right Reason is only a malitious Design to supplant the Honour of Divine Grace and is as false and groundless as arrogant Alas they talk of a Liberty which they do not understand for did they but once admit Purity of Heart into their Notion of it they would soon discern what Strangers they are to it How is it possible but that they should be the Servants of the Body who reject and disbelieve the Dignity and Pre-eminence of the Soul How is it possible they should not be Lovers of Pleasure more than Lovers of God who either believe no God or none that concerns himself much about us and how can they chuse but be selfish and sensual and doat upon this World who expect no better who believe no other Take away Providence and a Life to come and what can oblige a Man to any Action that shall cross his temporal Interest or his Pleasure what shall reward his espousing Vertue when it has no Doury but Losses Reproaches and Persecutions what shall curb him in the Career of a Lust when he may commit it not only with Impunity but as the World sometimes goes with Honour and Preferment too Though therefore such Men as these may possibly restrain their outward Actions yet are they all the
proceed to the Fruits or Advantages of it and in the last place prescribe the Method by which it may be attained SECT I. Of Perfection in general The Fruit of it And the way to obtain it CHAP. I. The Nature of Perfection explained and Asserted from Reason and Scripture MOst Disputes and Controversies arise from false and Mistaken Notions of the Matter under Debate And so I could shew it has happened here Therefore to prevent Mistakes and cut off all occasions of Contention which serves only to defeat the Influence and Success of Practical Discourses I think it necessary to begin here with a plain account what it is I mean by Religious Perfection Religion is nothing else but the purifying and refining Nature by Grace the raising and exalting our Faculties and Capacities by Wisdom and Virtue Religious Perfection therefore is nothing else but the Moral Accomplishment of Human Nature such a Maturity of Virtue as Man in this Life is capable of Conversion begins Perfection consumates the Habit of Righteousness In the one Religion is as it were in its Infancy in the other in its Strength and Manhood so that Perfection in short is nothing else but a ripe and setled Habit of true Holiness According to this Notion of Religious Perfection He is a Perfect Man whose Mind is pure and Vigorous and his Body tame and obsequious whose Faith is firm and steady his Love ardent and exalted and his Hope full of Assurance whose Religion has in it That Ardour and Constancy and his Soul That Tranquility and Pleasure which bespeaks Him a Child of the Light and of the Day a Partaker of the Divine Nature and raised above the Corruption which is in the World through Lust This account of Religious Perfection is so natural and easie that I fancy no Man will demand a Proof of it nor should I go about one were it not to serve some further Ends then the meer Confirmation of it It has manifestly the Countenance both of Reason and Scripture And how Contradictory soever some Antient and Latter Schemes of Perfection seem to be or really are to one another yet do they all agree in effect in what I have laid down If we appeal to Reason no Man can doubt but that an Habit of Virtue has much more of Excellence and Merit in it then single accidental Acts or uncertain Fits and Passions since an Habit is not only the source and spring of the noblest Actions and the most elevated Passions but it renders us more regular and steady more uniform and constant in every thing that is good As to good natural Dispositions they have little of Strength little of Perfection in them till they be raised and improved into Habits And for our Natural Faculties they are nothing else but the Capacities of Good or Evil they are undetermined to the one or other till they are fix'd and influenced by Moral Principles It remains then that Religious Perfection must consist in an Habit of Righteousness And to prevent all impertinent Scruples and Cavils I add a Confirmed and well established One. That this is the Scripture Notion of Perfection is manifest First from the use of this Word in Scripture Secondly from the Characters and Descriptions of the best and highest State which any ever actually attained or to which we are invited and exhorted 1. From the use of the Word Where-ever we find any Mention of Perfection in Scripture if we examine the Place well we shall find nothing more intended than Vprightness and Integrity an unblameable and unreproveable Life a State well advanced in Knowledge and Virtue Thus Vpright and Perfect are used as terms equivalent Job 1. and that Man was Perfect and Vpright fearing God and eschewing Evil and Psalm 37.37 Mark the perfect Man and behold the upright Man for the end of that Man is Peace Thus again when God exhorts Abraham to Perfection Gen. 17.1 I am the Almighty God walk before me and be thou perfect all that He exhorts him to is a steady Obedience to all his Commandments proceeding from a lively Fear of and Faith in Him and this is the general use of this word Perfect throughout the Old Testament namely to signifie a sincere and just Man that feareth God and escheweth Evil and is well fix'd and established in his Duty In the New Testament Perfection signifies the same thing which it does in the Old that is Universal Righteousness and Strength and Growth in it Thus the Perfect Man 2 Tim. 3.17 is one who is throughly furnished to every good work Thus St. Paul tells us Coll. 4.12 that Epaphras laboured fervently in Prayers for the Collossians that they might stand perfect and compleat in all the will of God In Jam. 1.4 the Perfect Man is one Who is entire lacking nothing i. e. one who has advanced to a Maturity of Virtue through Patience and Experience and is fortified and established in Faith Love and Hope In this Sense of the word Perfect St. Peter prays for those to whom he writes his Epistle 1 Pet. 5.10 but the God of all Grace who called us into his Eternal Glory by Christ Jesus after that ye have suffered awhile make you Perfect Stablish Strengthen Settle you When St. Paul exhorts the Hebrews to go on to Perfection Heb. 6. he means nothing by it but that state of Manhood which consist in a well setled Habit of Wisdom and Goodness This is plain first from ver 11 12. of this Chapter where he himself more fully explains his own meaning and we desire that every one of you do shew the same Diligence to the full Assurance of hope unto the End that ye be not slothful but followers of them who through Faith and Patience inherit the Promise Next from the latter end of the 5 Chapter where we discern what gave occasion to his Exhortation there distinguishing Christians into two Classes Babes and Strong Men i. e. Perfect and Imperfect he describes Both at large thus For when for the time ye ought to be Teachers ye have need that one Teach you again which be the first Principles of the Oracles of God and are become such as have need of Milk and not of strong Meat For every one that useth Milk is unskilful in the word of Righteousness for he is a Babe but strong Meat belongeth to them that are of full Age even those who by reason of use have their Senses exercised to discern both good and evil And though here the Apostle seems more immediately to regard the Perfection of Knowledge yet the Perfection of Righteousness must never in the Language of the Scripture be separated from it Much the same Remark must I add concerning the Integrity of Righteousness and the Christian's Progress or Advance in it Though the Scripture when it speaks of Perfection do sometimes more directly referr to the one and sometimes to the other yet we must ever suppose that they do mutually imply and include one
and the Passions tender it is more easie to gain Perfection then to preserve it When a Profligate Sinner in the day of God's Power is snatch'd like a Fire-brand out of the Fire rescued by some amazing and surprizing Call like Israel by Miracles out of Egypt I wonder not if such a one loves much because much has been forgiven him I wonder not if he be swallowed up by the deepest and the liveliest sense of Guilt and Mercy I wonder not if such a one endeavour to repair his past Crimes by Heroick Acts if he make hast to redeem his lost time by a zeal and vigilance hard to be imitated never to be parllel'd by others Hence we read of Judah's Love in the day of her Espousal Jer. 2.2 And of the first love of the Church of Ephesus Rev. 2.4 as the most Perfect And in the first times of the Gospel when Men were Converted by astonishing Miracles when the Presence and Example of Jesus and his Followers when the Perspicuity and Authority the Spirit and Power the Lustre and Surprize of the Word of Life and Salvation dazled over-power'd and transported the Minds of Men and made a thorough change in a moment and when again no man professed Christianity but he expected by his Sufferings and Martyrdom to seal the truth of his Profession I wonder not if Vertue ripened fast under such miraculous Influences of Heaven or if Assurance sprung up in a moment from these bright proofs of an unshaken Integrity But we who live in colder Climates who behold nothing in so clear and bright a Light as those happy Souls did must be content to make shorter and slower Steps towards Perfection and satisfie our selves with a natural not miraculous Progress And we whose Vertues are so generally under-grown and our Tryals no other then common ones have no reason to expect the Joys of a Perfect Assurance till we go on to Perfection 2ly As Perfection is a work of time so is it of great Expence and Cost too I mean 't is the effect of much Labour and Travel Self-denial and Watchfulness Resolution and Constancy Many are the Dangers which we are to encounter through our whole Progress towards it Why else are we exhorted to learn to do good To perfect Holiness in the fear of God 2 Cor. 7.1 2. To be renewed in the Spirit of our Minds from day to day Eph. 4.23 To watch stand fast to quit us like Men to be strong 1 Cor. 16.13 To take to us the whole Armour of God that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil and when we have done all to stand Eph. 6.11.13 To use all diligence to make our calling and election sure 2 Pet. 1.10 and such like Nay which is very remarkable these and the like Exhortations were address'd to Christians in those times which had manifold advantages above these of ours If I should say That the Spirit of God the Sanctifying Grace of God was then power'd forth in more plentiful measures then ever after not only Scripture as I think but Reason too would be on my side The Interest of the Church of Christ required it Sanctity being as necessary as Miracles to Convert the Jew and the Gentile But besides this the then wonderful and surprizing Light of the Gospel the Presence of Jesus in the Flesh or of those who had been Eye-witnesses of his Glory a crowd of wondrous Works and Miracles the expectation of terrible things Temporal and Eternal Judgments at the door and an equal expectation of Glorious ones too All these things breaking in beyond expectation upon a Jewish and Pagan World over-whelm'd before by thick darkness and whose abominations were too notorious to be conceal'd and too detestable to be excused or defended could not but produce a very great and sudden change Now therefore if in these times many did start forth in a moment fit for Baptism and Martyrdom if many amongst these were suddenly changed justified and crowned I wonder not this was a day of Power a day of Glory wherein God asserted Himself exalted his Son and rescued the World by a stretched out Hand I should not therefore from hence be induced to expect any thing like at this day But yet if notwitstanding all this Christians in those happy times amidst so many Advantages stood in need of such Exhortations what do not we in these Times If so much Watchfulness Prayer Patience Fear Abstinence and earnest Contention became them when God as it were bowed the Heavens and came down and dwelt amongst Men what becomes us in those days in the dregs of time when God stands as it were aloof off to see what will be our latter end retired behind a Cloud which our Heresies and Infidelities Schisms and Divisions Sins and Provocations have raised To conclude he that will be Perfect must not sit like the Lame Man by Bethesdah's Pool expecting till some Angel come to cure him but like our Lord he must climb the Mount and Pray and then he may be transformed he may be raised as much above the Moral Corruption of his Nature by Perfection as our Saviour was above the Meanness and Humility of his Body by his Glorious Transfiguration These two Observations are of manifold use For many expect Pleasure when they have no right to it they would reap before Vertue be grown up and ripen'd and being more intent upon the Fruit of Duty then the discharge of it they are frequently disappointed and discouraged Others there are who mistaking some fits and flashes of Spiritual Joy for the Habitual Peace and Pleasure of Perfection do entertain too early Confidences and instead of perfecting Holiness in the fear of God they decline or it may be fall away through Negligence and Security or which is as bad the Duties of Religion grow tasteless and insipid to them for want of that Pleasure which they ignorantly or presumptuously expect should constantly attend 'em And so they are disheartened or disgusted and give back which they would never do if they did rightly understand that Perfection is a work of time that a setled Tranquility an Habitual Joy of Spirit is the Fruit only of Perfection and that those short Gleams of Joy which break in upon new Converts and sometimes on other imperfect Christians do depend upon extraordinary Circumstances or are peculiar Favours of Heaven Lastly there are many who have entertain'd very odd Fancies about the Attainment of Perfection they talk and act as if Perfection were the Product not of Time and Experience but an Instant as if it were to be infused in a moment not acquir'd as if it were a meer Arbitrary Favour not the Fruit of Meditation and Discipline 'T is true it cannot be doubted by a Christian but that Perfection derives it self from Heaven and that the Seed of it is the Grace of God Yet it is true too and can as little be doubted by any one who consults the Gospel
the contrary consist in being able not only to will but to do good in obeying those Commandments which we cannot but acknowledge to be holy and just and good And this is the very Notion which our Lord and Master gives us of it Joh. 8. For when the Jews bragg'd of their Freedom he lets them know that Freedom could not consist with Subjection to Sin he that committeth Sin is the Servant of Sin ver 34. That honourable Parentage and the Freedom of the Body was but a false and ludicrous Appearance of Liberty that if they would be free indeed the Son must make them so ver 36. i. e. they must by his Spirit and Doctrine be rescued from the Servitude of Lust and Errour and be set at Liberty to work Righteousness If ye continue in my word then are ye my Disciples indeed and ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free ver 31 32. Finally not to multiply Proofs of a truth that is scarce liable to be controverted as the Apostle describes the Bondage of a Sinner in Rom. 7. so does he the Liberty of a Saint in Rom. 8. For there ver 2. he tells us That the Law of the Spirit of Life has set the true Christian free from the Law of Sin and Death And then he lets us know wherein this Liberty consists in walking not after the Flesh but after the Spirit in the Mortification of the Body of Sin and Restitution of the Mind to its just Empire and Authority If Christ be in you the Body is dead because of Sin but the Spirit is Life because of Righteousness ver 10. And all this is the same thing with his Description of Liberty Chapter 6. where 't is nothing else but for a Man to be made free from Sin and become the Servant of God Thus then we have a plain account of Bondage and Liberty Yet for the clearer understanding of both it will not be amiss to observe that they are each capable of different Degrees and both the one and the other may be more or less entire compleat and absolute according to the different Progress of Men in Vice and Vertue Thus in some Men not their Will only but their very Reason is enslaved Their Vnderstanding is so far infatuated their Affections so entirely captived that there is no Conflict at all between the Mind and the Body they commit Sin without any Reluctancy before-hand or any Remorse afterwards their sâ—ared Conscience making no Remonstrance inflicting no wounds nor denouncing any Threats This is the last Degree of Vassalage Such are said in Scripture to be dead in Trespasses and Sins Others there are in whom their Lust and Appetite prevails indeed but not without Opposition They Reason rightly and which is the natural Result of this have some Desires and wishes of Righteousness but through the Prevalency of the Body they are unable to act and live conformable to their Reason Their Vnderstanding has indeed Light but not Authority It consents to the Law of God but it has no Power no Force to make it be obeyed it produces indeed some good Inclinations Purposes and Efforts but they prove weak and ineffectual ones and unable to grapple with the stronger Passion raised by the Body And as Bondage so Liberty is of different Degrees and different Strength For though Liberty may be able to subsist where there is much Opposition from the Body yet 't is plain that Liberty is most absolute and compleat where the Opposition is least where the Body is reduced to an entire Submission and Obsequiousness and the Spirit reigns with an uncontroul'd and unlimited Authority And this latter is that Liberty which I would have my Perfect man possessed of I know very well 't is commonly taught by some that there is no such State But I think this Doctrine if it be throughly considered has neither Scripture Reason nor Experience to support it For as to those Places Rom. 7. and Gal. 5. urged in favour of an almost Incessant strong and too-frequently prevalent lusting of the Flesh against the Spirit it has been often answered and proved too that they are so far from belonging to the Perfect that they belong not to the Regenerate But on the contrary those Texts that represent the Yoke of Christ easie and his burden light which affirm the Commandments of Christ not to be grievous to such as are made Perfect in Love do all bear witness to that Liberty which I contend for Nor does Reason favour my Opinion less than Scripture For if the Perfect man be a New Creature if he be transformed into a New Nature if his Body be dead to sin and his Spirit live to Righteousness in one word if the World be as much crucified to him as he to it I cannot see why it should not be easie for him to act consonant to his Nature why he should not with Pleasure and Readiness follow that Spirit and obey those Affections which reign and rule in him Nor can I see why a Habit of Righteousness should not have the same Properties with other Habits that is be attended with ease and pleasure in its Operations and Actions 'T is true I can easily see why the Habits of Righteousness are acquired with more Difficulty than those of any other kind but I say I cannot see when they are acquired why they should not be as natural and delightful to us as any other Lastly how degenerate soever Ages past have been or the present is I dare not so far distrust the Goodness of my Cause or the Vertue of Mankind as not to refer my self willingly in this point to the Decision of Experience I am very well assured that Truth and Justice Devotion and Charity Honour and Integrity are to a great many so dear and delightful so natural so easie that it is hard to determine whether they are more strongly moved by a sense of Duty or the Instigations of Love and Inclination and that they cannot do a base thing without the utmost Mortification and Violence to their Nature Nor is all this to be wondred at if we again reflect on what I just now intimated that the Perfect Man is a new Creature transformed daily from Glory to Glory that he is moved by new Affections raised and fortified by new Principles that he is animated by a Divine Energy and sees all things by a truer and brighter Light through which the things of God appear lovely and beautiful the things of the World Deformed and worthless just as to him who views them through a Microscope the Works of God appear exact and elegant but those of Man coarse and bungling and ugly My Opinion then which asserts the absolute Liberty of the Perfect Man is sufficiently proved here and in Chap. the first And if I thought it were not I could easily reinforce it with fresh Recruits For the glorious Characters that are given us in Scripture of the Liberty of
often repeated breeds a kind of Indifference or Lukewarmness and soon passes into Coldness and Insensibleness and this often ends in a reprobate Mind and an utter Aversion for Religion 2ly We must endeavour some way or other to compensate the Omission of a Duty to make up by Charity what we have defalc'd from Devotion or to supply by short Ejaculations what we have been forc'd to retrench from fix'd and regular Offices of Prayer And he that watches for Opportunities either of Improvement or doing Good will I believe never have Reason to complain of the want of them God will put into his hands either the one or the other and for the Choice he cannot do better than follow God's 3ly A single Omission must never proceed from a sinful Motive from a Love of the World or Indulgence to the Body Necessity or Charity is the only just and proper Apology for it Instrumental or Positive Duties may give way to moral ones the Religion of the Means to the Religion of the End and in Moral Duties the less may give way to the greater But Duty must never give way to Sin nor Religion to Interest or Pleasure Having thus briefly given an account what Omission of Duty is and what is not sinful and consequently so setled the notion of Idleness that neither the careless nor the scrupulous can easily mistake their Case I will now propose such Considetations as I judge most likely to deter Men from it and such Advice as may be the best Guard and Preservative against it 1. The First Thing I would have every one lay to heart is That a State of Idleness is a State of damnable Sin Idleness is directly repugnant to the great Ends of God both in our Creation and Redemption As to our Creation can we imagine that God who created not any thing but for some excellent End should Create Man for none or for a silly one The Spirit within us is an active and vivacious Principle our rational Faculties capacitate and qualifie us for doing Good this is the proper Work of Reason the truest and most natural Pleasure of a rational Soul Who can think now that our wise Creatour lighted this Candle within us that we might oppress and stifle it by Negligence and Idleness That he contriv'd and destin'd such a Mind to squander and fool away its Talents in Vanity and Impertinence As to our Redemption 't is evident both what the Design of it is and how opposite Idleness is to it Christ gave himself for us to Redeem us from all Iniquity and to purifie to himself a peculiar People zealous of good Works Tit. 2.14 and this is what our Regeneration or Sanctification aims at We are God's Workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good Works which God has before ordained that we should walk in them Eph. 2.10 How little then can a useless and barred Life answer the Expectations of God What a miserable Return must it be to the Blood of his Son and how utterly must it disappoint all the purposes of his Word and Spirit But What need I argue further the Truth I contend for is the express and constant Doctrine of the Scriptures is not Idleness and fulness of Bread reckoned amongst the Sins of Sodom what means the Sentence against the barren Fig-tree Luke 13.7 but the Destruction and Damnation of the Idle and the Sluggish the Indignation of God is not enkindled against the Barrenness of Trees but Men. What can be plainer than the Condemnation of the unprofitable Servant who perished because he had not improved his Talent Matt. 25.38 and how frequently does the Apostle declare himself against the idle and disorderly and all this proceeds upon plain and necessary Grounds Our Lord was an Example of Vertue as well as Innocence and he did not only refrain from doing Evil but he went about doing good We can never satisfie the Intention of Divine Precepts by Negative Righteousness when God prohibits the Filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit he enjoyns the perfecting Holiness in his Fear when he forbids us to do evil he at the same time prescribes the learning to do well What need I multiply more Words Idleness is a flat Contradiction to Faith Hope Charity to Fear Vigilance Mortification and therefore certainly must be a damning Sin These are all active and vigorous Principles but Idleness enfeebles and dis-spirits manacles and fetters us These are pure strict and self-denying Principles but Idleness is soft and indulgent These Conquer the World and the Body raise and exalt the Mind but Idleness is far from enterprising any thing from attempting any thing that is good it pompers the Body and effeminates and dissolves the Mind and finally whatever Innocence or Inoffensiveness it may pretend to it does not only terminate in Sin but has its Beginning from it from Stupidity and Ignorance from Vanity and Levity from Softness and Sensuality from some prevailing Lust or other 2. Next after the Nature the Consequences of Idleness are to be considered and if it be taken in the utmost Latitude there is scarce any Sin which is more justly liable to so many tragical Accusations for it is the Parent of Dishonour and Poverty and of most of the Sins and Calamities of this mortal Life But at present I view it only as it is drawn with a half Face and that the much less deformed of the two I consider it here as pretending to Innocence and flattering it self with the Hopes of Happiness And yet even thus supposing it as harmless and inoffensive as it can be yet still these will be the miserable Effects of it It will rob Religion and the World of the Service due to both it will bereave us of the Pleasure of Life and the Comfort of Death and send us down at last to a cursed Eternity For where are the Vertues that should maintain the Order and Beauty of Human Society that should relieve and redress the Miseries of the World where are the Vertues that should vindicate the Honour of Religion and demonstrate its Divinity as effectually as Predictions or Miracles can do where are the bright Examples that should convert the unbelieving part of Mankind and inflame the believing part with a generous Emulation Certainly the lazy Christian the slothful Servant can pretend to nothing of this kind As to the Pleasure of Life if true and lasting if pure and spiritual 't is easie to discern from what Fountains it must be drawn Nothing but Poverty of Spirit can procure our Peace nothing but Purity of Heart our Pleasure But ah how far are the Idle and Unactive from these Vertues Faith Love and Hope are the Seeds of them Victories and Triumphs Devotion Alms and good Works the Fruits of them But what a stranger to these is the Drone and Sluggard Then for the Comfort of Death it must proceed from a well spent Life he that sees nothing but a vast Solitude and Wilderness behind him