presence The soul knows the aspect of the Spirit better then we do the face of a friend The light of a presumptuous wretch is like a blazing Comet and do's but portend his ruine it carries a venomous and malignant influence in it and the light of an hypocrite is but a flash and coruscation very brief and transient A man may sooner take a glow-worme for the Sun then an experienc'd Christian can take a false delusion for the light of the Spirit 3. There is a twin light springing from the word and the Spirit Try the spirits To the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to this rule it is because there is no morning in them The Scripture was all endited by the Spirit and the Spirit cannot contradict himself You do but grieve the Spirit whoer'e you are that pretend to any Revelation that agrees not with the Word Nay the Spirit has reveal'd his whole minde in the Word and will give no other Revelation any otherwise then we have spoken of And whoever he is that rebells against the light of the Word he fhall never have the light of the Spirit Whil'st thou dost not follow the directing light of the Spirit thou shalt never have the quickening and cherishing beames of it And thus you have heard the double Testimony the Spirit witnessing with our spirit and now you must know that 1. The Testimony of Gods Spirit is alwayes accompanied with the Testimony of our own spirit and so that word Rom 8 is significant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is properly of one that do's only confirme what the other sayes But then 2. A man may have the testimony of his own spirit that has not the witnesse of Gods Spirit The Spirit as it breaths when it pleases so it shines when it pleases too Well then the question is whether the Christian who has but the single testimony of his own spirit may be assur'd of his salvation Mr. Perkin's propounds the case and resolves it thus If the testimony of the Spirit be wanting then the other testimony the sanctification of heart will suffice to assure us We know it sufficiently to be true and not painted fire if there be heat though there be no flame thus he And his meaning is as indeed the thing is that it is a true Assurance though not so bright an Assurance I may see a thing certainly by the light of a candle and yet I may see it more clearly by the light of the Sun And for my part I think that certainty do's not consist in puncto but may admit of a latitude and receive magìs and minús And the contrary principle do's delude many There 's an absolute and infallible certainty in faith and by this I know the creation of the World well but besides this I know it by reason and by unquestionable demonstration and I think this addes to my certainty So here though one testimony be enough for Assurance yet a double testimony makes it more glorious Certainty admits of degrees and a man may be more certain of a thing that he is already certain of Take two Christians both may be assur'd of their salvation and yet one may have a clearer assurance then the other has One may have a double testimony and another but a single Nay the same soul may have at one time a double testimony and at another but a single The light of the Spirit may and do's often withdraw it self and leave only the witnesse of our own spirit and yet then the soul has Assurance But yet the soul should aime at the highest Plerophory at the top of Assurance Then quench not the Spirit lest you put out your own joy grieve not so sweet an inhabitant that comes to comfort you give him no cause to withdraw his light Quest But what if the soul have not the witnesse of Gods Spirit nor of its own spirit neither What if it have no present light no certain evidence Answ There 's one way left yet have recourse to former Assurance Do'st thou certainly know and remember that once thou had'st a sweet serenity of soul that an inlight'ned consciscience upon good grounds did speak peace unto thee Did'st thou never see the light of the Spirit crowning thy soul with satisfying beames Art thou sure that once he did bear witnesse with thy spirit that thou wert the childe of God Why then be sure still that thou art in the same condition for there 's no totall falling from grace Thy light it may be is put out for the present Conscience do's not speak so friendly to thee as 't was wont And thou hast griev'd the Spirit and he has took it unkindely and has held off his-light for a while But now canst thou remember the dayes of old when the Rock pour'd out Oile unto thee when thy branch was green and flourishing Canst thou certainly recall thy former Assurance Canst tell the time when the Spirit did set his Seale unto thee and confirm'd all thine Evidences Well then lay down but perseverance for a ground and thou art still assur'd of thy salvation The Spirits testimony is of an eternall truth And heaven and earth shall sooner passe away then one beam of this light shall vanish though now it be not apparent to thy eye When the soul for the present is cloudy darke it may cherish it self with former Assurance Now that a soul may have no sensible Assurance for the present and yet may remember former Assurance is clear in that holy man David Psal 51. 12. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free Spirit Davids joy was extinguisht and he would fain have it lighted againe Three things imply'd in the word Restore 1. That for the present it was taken away 2. That once he had it 3. He remembers that he had it and therefore prayes Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free Spirit that was the spring of Davids joy the testimony of the Spirit witnessing with his Spirit was that which did uphold and staffe up the soul Davids own spirit was now very unquiet and Gods Spirit did withdraw himself and now the best refreshment that David has is from former Assurance 'T is true there is some sadnesle and bitternesse in this consideration when a Christian shall think what he has lost O my soul was once a beautiful Temple full of fair windowes and goodly prospects and glorious light I could take a prospect of Canaan when I pleased but now I dwell in the tents of Kedar nothing but blacknesse and darknesse There is trouble and a sting in these thoughts but yet there is some honey and sweetnesse too Was I not once a friend of God and do's he use to forsake his friends Did he not once speak peace to thee and do's he use to recall his words Did not he shed his love in thy heart and is not his
Creature above its desert CHAP. VII The Extent of the Law of Nature THere are stampt and printed upon the being of man some cleare and undelible Principles some first and Alphabetical Notions by putting together of which it can spell out the Law of Nature There 's scatter'd in the Soul of Man some seeds of light which fill it with a vigorous pregnancy with a multiplying fruitfulnesse so that it brings forth a numerous and sparkling posterity of secondary Notions which make for the crowning and encompassing of the Soul with happinesse All the fresh springs of Common and Fountain-Notions are in the Soul of Man for the watering of his Essence for the refreshing of this heavenly Plant this Arbor inversa this enclosed being this Garden of God And though the wickednesse of man may stop the pleasant motion the clearand Crystalline progresse of the Fountain yet they cannot hinder the first risings the bubling endeavours of it They may pull off Natures leaves and pluck off her fruit and chop off her branches but yet the root of it is eternal the foundation of it is inviolable Now these first and Radical Principles are wound up in some such short bottomes as these Bonum est appetendum malum est fugiendum Beatitudo est quaerenda Quod tibi fieri non vis alteri nè feceris And Reason thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 incubando super haec ova by warming and brooding upon these first and oval Principles of her own laying it being it self quicken'd with an heavenly vigour does thus hatch the Law of Nature For you must not nor cannot think that Natures Law is confin'd and contracted within the compasse of two or three common Notions but Reason as with one foot it fixes a Centre so with the other it measures and spreads out a circumference it drawes several conclusions which do all meet and croud into these first and Central Principles As in those Noble Mathematical Sciences there are not only some first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which are granted as soone as they are askt if not before but there are also whole heaps of firme and immovable Demonstrations that are built upon them In the very same manner Nature has some Postulata some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Seneca renders praesumptiones which others call Anticipationes Animi which she knows a Rational being will presently and willingly yeeld unto and therefore by vertue of these it does engage and oblige it to all such commands as shall by just result by genuine production by kindly and evident derivation flow from these For men must not only look upon the capital letters of this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but they must reade the whole context and coherence of it they must look to every jot and Apex of it for heaven and earth shall sooner passe away then one jot or title of this Law shall vanish They must not only gaze upon two or three Principles of the first Magnitude but they must take notice of the lesser Celestial Sporades for these also have their light and influence They must not only skim off the Creame of first Principles but whatsoever sweetnesse comes streaming from the Dugge of Nature they must feed upon it they may be nourisht with it Reason does not only crop off the tops of first Notions but does so gather all the flowers in Natures Garden as that it can binde them together in a pleasant posie for the refreshment of it self and others Thus as a noble Author of our own does well observe Tota ferè Ethica est Notitia communis All Morality is nothing but a collection and bundling up of natural Precepts The Moralists did but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 enlarge the fringes of Natures garment they are so many Commentators and Expositors upon Natures Law This was his meaning that stil'd Moral Philosophy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Philosophy which is for the maintaining and edifying of humane nature Thus Natures Law is frequently call'd the Moral Law But the School-men in their rougher language make these several ranks and distributions of natural Precepts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 First there come in the front Principia Generalia as some call them per se Nota ut Honestum est faciendum Pravum vitandum Then follow next Principia Particularia magis determinata ut justitia est servanda Deus est colendus vivendum est Temperate At length come up in the reare conclusiones evidenter illatae quae tamen cognosci nequeunt nisi per discursum ut Mendacium furtum similia prava esse These though they may seeme somewhat more remote yet being fetcht from clear and unquestionable premisses they have Natures Seal upon them and are thus farre sacred so as to have the usual priviledge of a Conclusion to be untoucht and undeniable For though that learned Author whom I mention'd not long before do justly take notice of this that discourse is the usual in-let to Errour and too often gives an open admission and courteous entertainment to such falsities as come disguis'd in a Syllogistical forme which by their Sequacious windings and Gradual insinuations twine about some weak understandings yet in the nature of the thing it self 't is as impossible to collect an Errour out of a Truth as 't is to gather the blackest night out of the fairest Sun-shine or the foulest wickednesse out of the purest goodnesse A Conclusion therefore that 's built upon the Sand you may very well expect its fall but that which is built upon the Rock is impregnable and immovable for if the Law of Nature should not extend it self so farre as to oblige men to an accurate observation of that which is a remoov or two distant from first Principles 't would then prove extremely defective in some such Precepts as do most intimately and intensely conduce to the welfare and advantage of an Intellectual being And these first Notions would be most barren inefficacious speculations unlesse they did thus encrease and multiply and bring forth fruit with the blessing of heaven upon them So that there is a necessary connexion and concatenation between first Principles and such Conclusions For as Suarez has it Veritas Principii continetur in conclusione so that he that questions the Conclusion must needs also strike at the Principle Nay if we look to the notion of a Law there is more of that to be seen in these more particular determinations then in those more Universal notions for Lex est proxima Regula operationum But now particulars are neerer to existence and operation then universals and in this respect do more immediately steere and direct the motions of such a being The one is the bending of the bowe but the other is the shooting of the Arrow Suarez does fully determine this in such words as these Haec omnia Praecepta he means both Principles and Conclusions prodeunt à Deo Auctore Naturae tendunt ad eundem finem nimirum ad
Candle of the Lord when it was first lighted up before there was any thief in it even then it had but a limited and restrained light God said unto it Thus farre shall thy Light go Hither shalt thou shine and no farther Adam in innocency was not to crown himself with his own sparks God never intended that a creature should rest satisfied with its own candle-light but that it should run to the fountain of light and sunne it self in the presence of its God What a poor happinesse had it been for a man only to have enjoyed his own Lamp Could this ever have been a beatifical vision Could this light ever have made a heaven fit for a soul to dwell in The sparkling Seraphims and glittering Cherubims if it were possible that the face of God should be eclipsed from them that they should have no light but that which shines from their own essences Blacknesse and darknesse and gloominesse a totall and fatal Eclipse a present and perpetual night would rush in upon them if the heaven were fuller of Stars then it is and if this lower part of the world were adorned and illuminated with as many Lamps as 't is capable of yet would they never be able to supply the absence of one Sun Their united light would not amount to so much as to make up one day or one moment of a day Let Angels and men contribute as much light as they can let them knit and concentricate their beams yet neither Angelical Star-light nor the sons of men with their Lamps and Torches could ever make up the least shadow of glory the least appearance of heaven the least fringe of happinesse Lucifer that needs would be an Independent light that would shine with his own beams you know that he presently sunk and fell into perpetual darknesse And Adams Candle aspiring to be a Sun has burnt the dimmer ever since God taking notice of it and spying him in the dust Lo saies he here lies the spark that would needs become a God There lies the glow-worm that would needs become a Sun Man is become like one of us yet notwithstanding Adams light at first was a pure light till he had soild it 't was a Virgin-light till he had deflower'd it The breath that God breath'd into him was very precious and fragrant till he had corrupted it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the spirit of Adam if we should render the words so 't was in a special manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lucerna Domini when God raised this goodly structure of man out of nothing he built it most compleatly and proportionably he left it in statu integro perfecto for you cannot imagine that any obliquity or irregularity should come from so accurate an hand as his was when God printed the whole creation there were no errata to be found no blots at all Every letter was faire and lovely though some first and capital letters were flourisht more artificially then others Other inferiour creatures would serve like so many consonants but men were the vowels or rather the diphthongs to praise him both in soul and body When God first tun'd the whole creation every string every creature praised him but man was the sweetest and loudest of the rest so that when that string apostatized and fell from its first tuning it set the whole creation a jarring When God first planted the soul of man it was the garden of God himself his spiritual Eden he lov'd to walk in it 't was full of the fairest and choicest flowers of the most precious and delicious fruits 't was water'd with all the fresh springs of heavenly influence No weeds nor briers nor thornes to be found there The understanding that tree of knowledge was very tall and stately and reaching up to heaven There was in man a cognitio plena lucida as the Schoolmen speak clara fixa contemplatio intelligibilium The eye of the soul 't was quick and clear 't was strong and fixt God tried it by himself by a Sun-beam and found it genuine How presently did Adam by this spy out the stamps and signatures that were upon the several creatures when by an extemporary facility he gave them such names as should interpret and comment upon their essences nay according to the Schoolmens determinations man in this his primitive condition habuit scientiam omnium natur aliter scibilium As God framed him an elegant body at its full height and stature though not with his head reaching up to heaven as some did ridiculously phancy so he gave him also a comely and amiable soul at its just 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 endowed with all natural accomplishments and perfections his Dove-like spirit dwelt in a spotlesse and beautiful temple This makes the Protestant Divines very well determine that pronitas ad malum non fluit ex principiis naturae integrae for it would be a thought too injurious to the God of Nature to imagine he should frame evill Yet some of the Papists and some others do constantly affirm that such a rational being as man is considered in pur is natur alibus will have an unavoydable propensity unto evil ex necessaria materiae conditione and they bring forth such bold words as these Deum non posse creare hominem ex anima rationali materiali sensibili compositum quin praeter divinam intentionem homo it à constitutus habeat praecipitem inclinationem ad sensibilia their meaning is this by reason of that intimate and essential conjunction of the sensitive powers with the intellectual there must needs arise some ataxy and confusion in the being of man and too great a favouring of sensitive objects unlesse that inferiour part of the soul be restrained supernaturali quodam fraeno as they speak and say they it was thus chain'd up in a state of innocency but now being let loose 't is extreamly wilde and unruly How derogatory is this from the goodnesse and power of Gods creation and from that accurate harmony and immaculate beauty that were to be found in such a noble being as man was in his native and original condition nec fraenum nec calcar desiderabatur for there was a just and regular tendency without the least swerving or deviation There was no such tardity in the sensitive part as should need a spurre nor yet any such impetuousnesse and violence as should require a bridle This indeed must be granted that upon the knitting and uniting of such a soul to such a body of sensitives to intellectuals there will naturally follow respectus inclinatio ad sensibilia and this is not praeter sed secundùm intentionem divinam but that this should be praeceps rebellis inordinata inclinatio is so farre from being necessary as that 't is plainly contra-natural For this sensitive appetite of man is born sub regno rationis and so is to be govern'd sceptro rationis By this golden Scepter it was
both are imply'd in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there then comes a messenger of Satan to buffet him he must be put in minde of himself by a thorne in the flesh and that lest he should be exalted above measure with abundance of Revelations A creature can't 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a little thing will puffe up a bubble a small happinesse will swell up the sons of men Pride as it twines about the choicest graces so it devoures the sweetest comforts But yet there is nothing tends more to soule-abasement and self-examination then the beholding of Gods face then the seeing of his glory this will make the soul abhorre it self in dust and ashes The more God reveals himself unto the soul the more will the soul see that huge disproportion that is between it self and a Deity There 's none here below that ever saw more of Gods face then Moses and Paul had done and there were none that ever had lower apprehensions of themselves They knew well enough what the Sun-shine of his presence was what a glorious sight it was to behold his face and yet they had rather part with this then he should part with his glory They are like men amaz'd with the vastnesse and spaciousnesse of the Ocean and make nothing of a little inconsiderable drop of Being They that know not these treasures of love and sweetnesse those heaps of excellencies that are stor'd up in God these are the grand admirers of themselves But when the soul comes to have a prospect of heaven and fixes its eye upon an object of the first magnitude the creature disappears self vanishes and loses it self in the fulnesse of God And if God do assure thee of this his love thou canst not but wonder at the greatnesse of his goodnesse especially when thou shalt recollect thy self and think upon thine own unworthinesse Thou that didst not deserve a beam of his face what does he give thee a full Sun-shine Thou that could'st not look for the least taste of his love what does he give thee a whole cluster of Canaan Thou that didst not deserve the least crumb of the hidden Mannah does he fill thee an Omer full of it Nay yet higher Thou that didst deserve a brand from his Justice does he give thee a seal of his love he might have given thee gall and vineger to drink and does he flow in upon thee with milk and honey he might have given thee the first flashes of hell and does he give thee the first-fruits of heaven what could'st thou have look't for but an eternal frown and dost thou meet with so gracious a smile O then fall down and adore his goodnesse and let all that is within thee blesse his holy name Tell me now is there any ground for pride in such a soul Does not Assurance bespeak humility and speak a meet dependance 2. Times of Assurance they should be times of trampling upon the creature and scorning of things below Dost thou now take care for corne and wine and oile when God lifts up the light of his countenance upon thee is this same Angels food this same hidden Mannah is it too light meat for thee Now thou art within the land of Promise feeding upon the grapes and pomegranates of the land dost thou now long for the garlick and onions of Egypt Now thou art within thy fathers house and the fatted Calfe is slaine wilt thou now still feed upon husks Art thou cloth'd with the Sun and canst not thou trample the Moon under thy feet O let them scramble for the world that have nothing else to live on Pray give room to the green Bay-trees to spread themselves abroad but don't thou lose thy fatnesse and sweetnesse to rule over these Art thou sure of heaven and would'st thou fix thy Tabernacle upon earth Is it good for thee to be here or would'st have any more then the light of Gods countenance is it not enough that thou art sure of happinesse is not a fountain enough for thee why wilt thou drink in muddy streames and thou that art fill'd with the love of a Saviour canst thou tell how to spend a thought upon the world is not there more beauty in a Christ then in the Creature is not he the fairest of ten thousand Away then with adulterous glances for why should'st thou embrace the bosome of a stranger 3. Times of Assurance they should be times of watchfulnesse and more accurate walking with God To sin against revealed love is a deep and killing aggravation To sin against light is too too much but to sin against love is a great deal more this height'ned Solomons idolatry 1 Kings 11. 9. that he turn'd from the God of Israel which had appeared to him twice What wilt thou with Jeshurun wax fat and kick and kick against bowels too To provoke God in a wildernesse is not so much as to provoke him in a Paradise What could he have done more for thee then he has done and what couldst thou have done more against him then thou hast done and wilt thou still requite him thus wilt thou provoke him with Mannah in thy mouth Does he give thee the sweet clusters of the land and dost thou return him wilde grapes that which is the strongest engagement to obedience dost thou make it an encouragement to sin art thou so willing to dash thy joy to lose thy peace And O how will it please the powers of darknesse to see thee abuse a beam The devil has several designes against the welfare of a soul First if it were possible he would keep thee from having any grace at all But secondly if he can't do that he would keep thee from strength of grace from growth in grace he would break the bruised reed and he would quench the smoaking flax But then if he can't prevaile here neither then in the third place he would keep thee from sense of grace in a sad and cloudy condition he envies thee one beam one smile one glance of his eye But then if the riches of Gods goodnesse do so run over as that he will give thee a sense of his love then fourthly in the last place he would have thee abuse his grace and turn it into wantonnesse But when God has planted thee in so happy a Paradise don't thou listen to the whisperings of the Serpent Thou that art seal'd by the Holy Spirit don't attend to a lying spirit The devil that great plunderer of soules would faine rob thee of thy Jewels of thy joy and peace and happinesse but do thou hide them in a Christ in the wounds of a Saviour and take heed of blotting thine Evidences thou that art a Childe of light be not rul'd by a Prince of darknesse If God give thee a sense of his love walk more stedfastly walk more accurately with thy God 4. Times of Assurance they should be times of inviting and encouraging others in the wayes of grace Thus the Psalmist when his
so prepares and fortifies them against such a tryal and then this only shews that some mens Reason is not so well advanc'd and improv'd either as it might be or as others is a sharper edge would quickly cut such difficulties asunder Some have more refined and clarifi'd intellectuals more vigorous and sparkling eyes then others and one soul differs from another in glory and that reason which can make some shift to maintain Errour might with a great deal lesse sweat and pains maintain a truth There 's no question but that Bellarmin and the rest of the learned Papists could have if they had pleased far more easily defended the Protestant Religion then that of their own Besides the vigour and triumph of Reason is principally to be seen in those first-born beames those pure and unspotted irradiations that shine from it I mean those first bublings up of common principles that are own'd and acknowledg'd by all and those evident and kindly derivations that flow from them Reason shews her face more amiably and pleasantly in a pure and cleare streame then in those mudded and troubled waters in which the Schoolmen that have leasure enough are alwayes fishing Nay some of their works are like so many raging seas full of perpetual tossings and disquietings and foamings and sometimes casting up mire and dirt and yet these vast and voluminous Leviathans love to sport therein and that which is most intolerable these grand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that seem'd so zealous for Reason at length in expresse termes disclaime it and in a most blindfold and confused manner cry up their great Diana their Idol of Transubstantiation and the Lutherans are very fierce against Reason too much upon the same account because it would never allow of that other monstrous and misshapen lump of Consubstantiation But why have I all this while beaten the air and spilt words upon the ground why do I speak to such as are incurable and incapable for if we speak Reason to them that 's that which they so much disclaim if we do not speak Reason to them that were to disclaime it too But I speak to men to Christians to the friends of learning to the professors of Reason to such as put this Candle of the Lord into a golden Candlestick and poure continual Oile into it Yet lest any among you Athenians should erect an Altar to an unknown God lest you should ignorantly worship him we will declare him to you And that which we have now said may serve as a Porch and preamble to what we shall speak hereafter out of these words Where we shall see 1 How The understanding of a man is the Candle of the Lord. 2 What this Candle of the Lord discovers where we shall finde 1 That all the Moral Law is founded in natural and common light in the light of Reason 2 That there 's nothing in the mysteries of the Gospel contrary to the light of Reason nothing repugnant to this light that shines from the Candle of the Lord. CHAP. II. The Explication of the words NOw as for the words themselves we cannot better judge of the fitnesse of this expression then by considering who it was that spoke it Now these words were spoke by him that had a large portion of intellectuals one that was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they were spoken by Solomon in whom the Candle of the Lord did shine very clearly one that had ask'd this as the choisest favour that he could expect from the bounty of heaven to have a glorious lamp of knowledge shine in his soul for the enlightning of it And though the envious Jews would fain perswade the world that he lighted his candle at hell it self for they esteemed him no better then a Magician as they esteemed him also that was greater then Solomon yet we know very well that Solomons was a purer Candle then to be lighted at a Lake of fire and brimstone 't was not of Lucifers setting up but it came from the Father of lights 't was lighted with Sun-beams from heaven And 't is a modest and humble expression in him to call his understanding the Candle of the Lord when as the world look'd upon him as a star of the first magnitude nay as a Sun shining in the firmament gilding the world with knowledge scattering beams of light sparkling out in wise and proverbial sayings so that the bordering Princes and Nations are ready to adore such an orient light and the Queen of the South thinks it no small happinesse to sit under the shadow of it But yet to be sensible of his own narrow sphere of his own finite compasse and influence did not at all take from his lustre but did rather set it off and adde to his glory Thus that wise man among the Heathen Socrates did so farre complain of the weaknesse of his candle-light as that he tels us his lamp would shew him nothing but his own darknesse And though a wiser then Socrates be here yet he is much in the same measure sensible of the dimnesse of his own intellectuals And yet he was one that had made many discoveries with this Candle of the Lord he had searcht into the mines and several veins of knowledge he had searcht into the hid treasures of wisdome he had searcht to the depth of State-affairs he had searched into the bowels of natural causes into the Magnalia Mysteria of Nature as if among many other wives he had espoused Nature also to himself he had searcht into the several tempers and intellectual complexions of men he had searcht long enough with this Candle of the Lord to see if he could finde any good under the Sun he went with his Candle to finde out a summum bonum he searcht into all the corners of being and at length being sufficiently wearied you may see him sitting down you may hear him complaining that he had but spent and wasted the Candle of the Lord in vaine for so much is implyed in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this was but depastio spiritûs as he himself calls it Yet he was one that shewed others how they might make better improvement of their intellectual lamp and this was his wisest advice that he gave upon his most mature and concocted thoughts this was tanquam mox emoriturae lucernae supremus fulgor that men would only follow this Candle of the Lord as it directs them in the wayes of God which are wayes of sweetnesse and pleasantnesse for this was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very end why God set up such a light in the soul that it might search out his Creatour with it And as for the minde of the words though one would think they were very clear and shining with their own light yet interpreters are pleased to cloud them to turn light it self into a Chaos and to cast darknesse upon the face of the Text like some unskilful ones while they go about to snuff the Candle
so neere the fountain of light and continually drink in the beams of glory that are exactly conformable to their Creatour in all his motions for the same end he furnished and beautified this lower part of the world with intellectual lamps that should shine forth to the praise and honour of his name which totally have their dependance upon him both for their being and for their perpetual continuation of them in their being 'T was he that lighted up these lamps at first 't is he that drops 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the golden oile into them Look then a while but upon the parentage and original of the soul of Reason you 'll presently perceive that it was the Candle of the Lord. And if you have a minde to believe Plato he 'll tell you such a feigned story as this That there were a goodly company of Lamps a multitude of Candles a set number of souls lighted up altogether and afterwards sent into bodies as into so many dark Lanthorns This stock and treasure of souls was reserved and cabinetted in I know not what Starres perhaps that they might the better calculate their own incarnation the time when they were to descend into bodies and when they came there they presently sunk into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they slipt into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which he tearms 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the putting off of knowledge for a while the clouding and burying of many sparkling and twinkling notions till by a waking reminiscence as by a joyful resurrection they rise out of their graves again Plato it seems lookt upon the body as the blot of nature invented for the defacing of this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or at the best as an impertinent tedious parenthesis that checkt and interrupted the soul in her former notions that eclipsed and obscured her ancient glory which sprung from his ignorance of the resurrection for had he but known what a glory the body was capable of he would have entertained more honourable thoughts of it Yet Origen was much taken with this Platonical notion it being indeed a pretty piece of Philosophy for him to pick allegories out of And though he do a little vary from Plato in a circumstance or two yet in recompence of that he gives you this addition and enlargment that according to the carriage behavior of these naked spirits before they were embodied there were prepared answerable mansions for them That such a soul as had walkt with God acceptably was put into a fairer prison was clothed with an amiable and elegant body But that soul which had displeased and provoked its Creator was put into a darker dungeon into a more obscure and uncomely body That Candle which had shined clearly was honoured with a golden Candlestick that which had soiled its light was condemned to a dark Lanthorne one would think by this that Origen had scarce read Genesis he doth in this so contradict the Sacred History of the Creation Nor is this the just product of Plato's opinion but 't is pregnant with much more folly he returns him his own with usury gives him this as the just 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and improvement of it Aquinas doth clash in pieces all these Platonical fictions in his two books Contra Gentiles yet upon this sinking and putrid foundation was built the tottering superstructure of connate Species For when Plato had laid down this Error for a maxime 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the souls of men were long extant before they were born then that other phansie did presently step in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the soul was very speculative and contemplative before it was immerst in the body which made way for the next conceit that the soul brought many of its old notions along with it into the body many faithful attendants that would bear the soul company in her most withering condition when other more volatile and fugitive notions took wing to themselves and flew away many a precious pearl sunk to the bottome of Lethe but some reliques of notions floated upon the top of the waters and in the general Deluge of notions there was an Ark prepared for some select principles some precâ—pta Nouchidarum which were to increase and multiply and supply the wants of an intellectual world This makes the Platonists look upon the spirit of man as the Candle of the Lord for illuminating and irradiating of objects and darting more light upon them then it receives from them But Plato as he failed in corporeal vision whilest he thought that it was per extramissâ—onem radiorum So he did not ab errore suo recedere in his intellectual optioâ—â—but in the very same manner tells us that spiritual vision also is per emissionem radiorum And truly he might as well phansie such implanted Ideas such seeds of light in his external eye as such seminal principles in the eye of the minde Therefore Aristotle who did better clarifie both these kindes of visions pluckt these motes out of the sensitive eye and those beames out of the intellectual He did not antedate his own knowledge nor remember the several postures of his soul and the famous exploits of his minde before he was born but plainly profest that his understanding came naked into the world He shews you an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an abrasa tabula a virgin-soul espousing it self to the body in a most entire affectionate and conjugal union and by the blessing of heaven upon this loving paire he did not doubt of a Notional off-spring posterity this makes him set open the windows of sense to welcome and entertain the first dawnings the early glimmerings of morning-morning-light Clarum mane fenestras intrat Angustas extendit lumine rimas Many sparks and appearances fly from variety of objects to the understanding The minde that catches them all and cherishes them and blows them and thus the Candle of knowledge is lighted As he could perceive no connate colours no pictures or portraictures in his external eye so neither could he finde any signatures in his minde till some outward objects had made some impression upon his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his soft and plyable understanding impartially prepared for every seal That this is the true method of knowledge he doth appeal to their own eyes to their own understandings do but analyse your own thoughts do but consult with your own breasts tell us whence it was that the light first sprang in upon you Had you such notions as these when you first peept into being at the first opening of the souls eye in the first exordium of infancy had you these connate Species in the cradle and were they rockt asleep with you or did you then meditate upon these principles Totum est majus parte Nihil potest esse non esse simul Ne're tell us that you wanted origanical dispositioÌ„s for you plainly have recourse to the sensitive powers and must needs subscribe to
soul who can make sufficient provision fot a soul but only that pure and invisible Spirit that shoots them and darts them into bodies by his own Almighty power And as the forementioned Author goes on 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is God the Father of being the Father of life and nature did frame and fashion man much like himself and love him as his proper off-spring for those words of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 must be taken in an allayed and tempered sense for they must by no means be understood of an equality but only of a similitude In the very same sense he calls God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Painter and trimmer of the soul thus representing himself to the life As for the minde of the Platonists and the Stoicks we have before acquainted you with it one looks so high as if a Creation would scarce content them unlesse they may have it ab aeterno and the other seem to plead for a traduction and generation of the soul not from the parents but from God himself which makes Epictetus so often mention the affinity and consanguinity of the soul with the Deity And to use such words as these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If the Philosophers saies he speak truth when they tell us how neer a kin the soul is to God why then doth such a soul streighten and confine it self why doth it contract and imprison so vast an essence why does it look upon some spot of ground with such a partial and peculiar affection why doth it love the smoke of its earthly counâ—rey 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 why does it not rather warm it self in the flame of its heavenly original why does such an one stile himself an Athenian a Corinthian a Lacedemonian why does he not rather think that he hath a whole world within him why does he not summe up all his happinesse in this great and honourable title that he is the Son of God and thus you see 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will be the same with Socrates his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the words you see will passe currantly in this sense But yet if we may take the liberty of a conjecture I am ready to think that the first negative particle doth intrude it self too unseasonably against the drift and meaning of the place and therefore is to be refused and rejected so that whereas the words were printed thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and then they will run thus Quid se mundanum vocat cur non potius filium Dei why doth he think himself a worldling why doth he measure himself by earth if he were born of heaven where yet you may perceive that the Philosopher ascribes that to the first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is due only to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be called a Son of God Nay which indeed is due only to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the only begotten Son of God Thus Philo the Jew too Stoical in this calls souls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the very same title that the Apostle applies to God himself and Plotinus gives as much to the soul as the Arrians did to Christ for he calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Plato stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but Epictetus he goes on to keep 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 much in the Language of the Oracle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it can mean nothing else but God himself the Father of spirits and these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are such love-tokens as he has left with the sonnes of men to engage their affections to him These Symbols are the very same which Moses calls the image of God those representations of himself which he has scattered and sown in the being of man as this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 does imply which made the wise Grecian Thales conclude 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that all men were brethren born of the same supreme being that did educate and instruct them this teaching is the same which the Persian Magi call'd a divine inebriation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was replete 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you see then that the joynt consent of the Chaldeans Egyptians Persians Grecians was for the creation of the soul and if you desire more testimonies from them you may consult with Eugubin in his learned work de perenni Philosophia where you shall meet with whole heaps of them But as for Aristotles opinion you know that his custome was when he could not beat out a notion into a rational account fairly to passe it by and not to piece it out with such fabulous inventions as Plato did abound withall and though it is like he did often dispute this question in his thoughts yet he makes no solemne entrance upon it in his works but only toucheth it occasionally and scatters a passage or two that seeme very clearly to acknowledge the creation of it for not to speak of the place in his morals where he calls the soul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I shal only commend unto you those ful and pregnant words in his two books de generatione animalium the words are these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he had but a little before evinced that the sensitive and vegetative souls were conveighed in a seminal way like a couple of sparks they were struck ex potentia materiae but sayes he the rational that came 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ex altiori sede as Seneca speaks the window of heaven was open'd and present light sprung in for the compleating of those former rudiments and preparations the misunderstanding of this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 did it may be occasion but it did at least corroborate the phancy of an Angels being an Intellectus Agens yet Simplicius that known Interpreter of Aristotle does expound it of the souls creation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as he speaks and this which Aristotle here calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psellus the Philosopher stiles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato termed it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Sybils call'd it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 still conspiring with this of Solomons the Candle of the Lord and Seneca setting aside his Stoicisme has very gallant and brave apprehensions of the souls nobility and tels us that it was haustus ex divina origine which Tully thus varies ex mente divina decerptus souls like so many flowers were cropt and gathered out of the garden of God and were bound up in fasciculo viventium in the bundle of the living and if you will but attend to the noble Oratour and Philosopher you shall hear him thus pleading for the souls divinity Animorum nulla in terris origo inveniri poâ—est nihil enim est in animo mixtum atque concretum aut quod è terra natum atque fixum esse videatur nihilque aut humidum quidem aut flabile aut igneum
sparkles and makes them subject and obedient to the Lord and rule of light Created intellectuals depend upon the brightnesse of Gods beams and are subordinate to them Angelical Star-light is but Lumen Aristocraticum it borrows and derives its glory from a more vast and majestical light As they differ from one another in glory so al of them infinitly differ from the Sun in glory Yet 't is far above the Lumen Democraticum that light which appears unto the sons of men 't is above their lamps Torches poor and contemptible lights if left to themselves for do but imagine such a thing as this that this external and corporeal world should be adjudg'd never to see the Sun more never to see one Star more If God should shut all the windows of heaven and spread out nothing but clouds and curtains and allow it nothing but the light of a Candle how would the world look like a Cyclops with its eye put out 'T is now but an obscure prison with a few grates to look out at but what would it be then but a capacious grave but a nethermost dungeon yet this were a more grateful shade a pleasanter and more comely darknesse then for a soul to be condemned to the solitary light of its own Lamp so as not to have any supernatural irradiations from its God Reason does not refuse any auxiliary beams it joyes in the company of its fellow-Lamp it delights in the presence of an intellectual Sun which will so far favour it as that 't will advance it and nourish it and educate it 't will encrease it and inflame it and will by no means put it out A Candle neither can nor will put out the Sun an intellectual Sun can but will not put out the Lamp The light of Reason doth no more prejudice the light of faith then the light of a Candle doth extinguish the light of a Star The same eye of a soul may look sometimes upon a Lamp and sometimes upon a Star one while upon a first principle another while upon a revealed truth as hereafter it shall alwayes look upon the Sun and see God face to face Grace doth not come to pluck up nature as a weed to root out the essences of men but it comes to graft spirituals upon morals that so by their mutual supplies and intercourse they may produce most noble and generous fruit Can you tell me why the shell and the kernel may not dwell together why the bodies of nature may not be quickened by the soul of grace Did you never observe an eye using a prospective-glasse for the discovering and amplifying and approximating of some remote and yet desirable object and did you perceive any opposition between the eye and the glasse was there not rather a loving correspondency and communion between them why should there be any greater strife between Faith and Reason seeing they are brethren do they not both spring from the same Father of Lights and can the Fountain of love and unity send forth any irreconcileable streams do you think that God did ever intend to divide a rational being to tear and rend a soul in pieces to scatter principles of discord and confusion in it If God be pleased to open some other passage in the soul and to give it another eye does that prejudice the former Man you know is ordained to a choicer end to a nobler happinesse then for the present he can attain unto and therefore he cannot expect that God should now communicate himself in such bright and open discoveries in such glorious manifestations of himself as he meanes to give hereafter But he must be content for the present to behold those infinite treasures of reserved love in a darker and more shadowy way of faith and not of vision Nature and Reason are not sufficiently proportion'd to such blessed objects for there are such weights of glory in them as do opprimere ingenium humanum there are such depths such pleonasmes such oceans of all perfections in a Deity as do infinitely exceed all intellectual capacity but its own The most that mans Reason can do is to fill the understanding to the brim but faith that throws the soul into the Ocean and lets it roll and bathe it self in the vastnesse and fulnesse of a Deity Could the sons of men have extracted all the spirits of Reason and made them meet and jump in one head nay could Angels and men have united and concentricated all their Reason yet they would never have been able to spy out such profound and mysterious excellencies as faith beholds in one twinckling of her eye Evangelical beauties shine through a veile that 's upon their face you may see the precious objects of faith like so many pearls and diamonds sparkling and glittering in the dark Reveal'd truths shine with their own beams they do not borrow their Primitive and original lustre from this Candle of the Lord but from the purer light wherewith God hath cloathed and attir'd them as with a garment God crowns his own Revelations with his own beams The Candle of the Lord it doth not discover it doth not oppose them it cannot eclipse them They are no sparks of Reasons striking but they are flaming darts of heavens shooting that both open and enamour the soul They are Stars of Heavens lighting men behold them at a great distance twinckling in the dark Whatsoever comes in Gods name does aut invenire viam aut facere Whatever God reveals in his Word 't is supra providentiam rerum communem constitutum 'T is not in the road of nature and therefore for the welcoming and entertaining of it as a noble Author of our own doth very well observe explicatur sensus quidam supernaturalis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there 's an opening of a new window in the soul an intellectual eye looks out at the window and is much pleased and affected with the oriency of that light that comes springing and rushing in upon it as there 's a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so there 's an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 too the one 't is written by the pen of nature the other by the finger of the Spirit for ubi desinit natura ibi incipit gratia and this second Edition set out by Grace 't is auctior emendatior yet so as it doth not at all contradict the first Edition that was set out by Nature for this is the voice of Nature it self that whatsoever God reveals must needs be true and this common Principle is the bottome and foundation of all Faith to build upon The soul desires no greater satisfaction then an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for if God himself say it who can question it who dare contradict i◠Reason will not Reason cannot for it does most immovably acknowledge a Deity and the unquestionable truth of a Deity in all believing there is an assent a yielding to him that speaks by vertue of his own Authority
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Musaeus sings in the praise of Hero's Candle Yet I mean no more by this then what that known saying of Saint Austin imports Fecisti nos Domine ad te irrequietum erit cor nostrum donec redit ad te The Candle of the Lord it came from him and 't would faine returne to him For an intellectual lamp to aspire to be a Sun 't is a lofty straine of that intolerable pride which was in Lucifer and Adam but for the Candle of the Lord to desire the favour and presence and enjoyment of a beatifical Sun this is but a just and noble desire of that end which God himself created it for It must needs be a proud and swelling drop that desires to become an Ocean but if it seeks only to be united to an Ocean such a desire tends to its own safety and honour The face of the soul naturally looks up to God coelúmque tueri Jussit erectos ad sidera tollere vultus t is as true of the soul as of the body All light loves to dwell at home with the Father of lights Heaven 't is Patria luminum God has there fixt a tabernacle for the Sun for 't is good to be there 't is a condescension in a Sunne-beam that 't will stoop so low as earth and that 't will gild this inferiour part of the world 't is the humility of light that 't will incarnate and incorporate it self into sublunary bodies yet even there 't is not forgetful of its noble birth and original but 't will still look upwards to the Father of lights Though the Sun cover the earth with its healing and spreading wings yet even those wings love to flie aloft and not to rest upon the ground in a sluggish posture Nay light when it courteously salutes some earthy bodies it usually meets with such churlish entertainment as that by an angry reverberation 't is sent back again yet in respect of it self 't is many times an happy reflection and rebound for 't is thus necessitated to come neerer heaven If you look but upon a Candle what an aspiring and ambitious light is it though the proper figure of flame be Globular and not Pyramidal as the noble Verulam tells us in his History of Nature which appears by those celestial bodies those fine and rarified flames if we may so call them with the Peripateticks leave that roll and move themselves in a globular and determinate manner yet that flame which we usually see puts on the form of a Pyramide occasionally and accidentally by reason that the aire is injurious to it and by quenching the sides of the flame crushes it and extenuates it into that form for otherwise 't would ascend upwards in one greatnesse in a rounder and compleater manner 'T is just thus in the Candle of the Lord Reason would move more fully according to the sphere of its activity 't would flame up towards heaven in a more vigorous and uniforme way but that it is much quencht by that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the unrulinesse of the sensitive powers will not allow it its full scope and liberty therefore 't is fain to spire up and climbe up as well as it can in a Pyramidal forme the bottome and basis of it borders upon the body and is therefore more impure and feculent but the apex and cusp is of it catches at heaven and longs to touch happinesse thus to unite it self to the fountain of light and perfection Every spark of Reason flies upwards this divine flame fell down from heaven and halted with its fall as the Poets in their Mythology tell us of the limping of Vulcane but it would faine ascend thither againe by some steps and gradations of its own framing Reason 't is soon weary with its fluttering up and down among the creatures the Candle of the Lord does but waste it self in vain in searching for happines here below Some of the choicest Heathens did thus spend their Lamps exhaust their Oile and then at length were faine to lie down in darknesse sorrow their Lamps did shew them some glimmering appearances of a Summum bonum at a great distance but it did not sufficiently direct them in the way to it no more then a Candle can guide a traveller that is ignorant of his way You may see some of the more sordid Heathen toyling and searching with their Candle in the mines and treasuries of riches to see if they could spy any veine of happinesse there but the earth saith 'T is not in me You may see others among them feeding and maintaining their Candle with the aire of popular applause sucking in the breath and esteem of men till at the length they perceived that it came with such uncertain blasts as that they chose rather to cloyster themselves up in a Lanthorn to put themselves into some more reserved and retired condition rather then to be exposed to those transient and arbitrary blasts which some are pleased to entitle and stile by the name of honours You might see some of them pouring the Oile of gladnesse into their Lamps till they soon perceived that voluptuous excesse did but melt and dissolve the Candle and that pleasures like so many thieves did set it a blazing and did not keep it in an equal shining You might behold others and those the most eminent amongst them snuffing their Candles very exactly and accurately by improving their intellectuals and refining their morals till they sadly perceived that when they were at the brightest their Candles burnt but dimly and blewly and that for all their snuffing they would relapse into their former dulnesse The snuffings of Nature and Reason will never make up a day nor a Sun-shine of happinesse all the light that did shine upon these Ethiopians did only discover their own blacknesse yet they were so enamour'd with this natural complexion as that they look't upon 't as a piece of the purest beauty Nature Narcissus-like loves to look upon its own face and is much taken with the reflexions of it self What should I tell you of the excessive and hyperbolical vapourings of the Stoicks in their adoring and idolizing of Nature whilest they fix their happinesse in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in their own compasse and sphere these were as I may so terme them a kinde of Pharisees among the Heathen that scorn'd precarious happinesse like so many arbitrary and independent beings they resolv'd to be happy how they pleas'd and when they list Thus do sond creatures boast of their decayed Lamps as if they were so many Sunnes or at least Stars of the first magnitude The Stoicks spoke this more loudly yet the rest of the Heathen whispered out the same for they were all of the Poets minde Natura beatis Omnibus esse dedit si quis cognoverit uti And they would all willingly subscribe to those words of Salust Falâ—ò de natura queritur humanum genus which indeed
an extraordinary manner Though indeed the Scripture does not afford our charity any sufficient ground to believe that he did nor dorh it warrant us peremtorily to conclude the contrary Secreta Deo it does not much concerne us to know what became of them let us then forbear our censure and leave them to their competent Judge But when we mention Socrates Plato and Aristotle and the more eminent and refined ones among the Heathens you must be sure not to entertain such a thought as this that the excellency of their intellectuals and morals did move and prevail with the goodnesse of God to save them more then others of the Heathen as if these were dispositiones de congruo merentes salutem aeternam this indeed were nothing but Pelagianisme a little disguised whereas you must resolve it only into the free grace of God that did thus distinguish them here in time and might more distinguish them eternally if it pleased him to bestow a Saviour upon them Which grace of God is so free as that it might save the worst of the Heathens and let go the rest it might save an Aristophanes as well as a Socrates nay before a Socrates as well as a Publican before a Pharisee not only all Heathen but all men are of themselves in equal circumstances in order to eternal happinesse 't is God only that makes the difference according to his own determinations that were eternal and unconditional Yet I am farre from the minde of those Patrons of Universal Grace that make all men in an equal propinquity to salvation whether Jewes or Pagans or Christians which is nothing but dight and guilded Pelagianisme whilest it makes grace as extensive and Catholick a principle of as full latitude as nature is and resolves all the difference into created powers and faculties This makes the barren places of the world in as good a condition as the Garden of God as the inclosure of the Church It puts a Philosopher in as good an estate as an Apostle For if the remedium salutiferum be equally applied to all by God himself and happinesse depends only upon mens regulating and composing of their faculties how then comes a Christian to be neerer to the Kingdome of Heaven then an Indian is there no advantage by the light of the Gospel shining among men with healing under its wings Surely though the free grace of God may possibly pick and choose an Heathen sometimes yet certainly he does there more frequently pour his goodnesse into the soul where he lets it streame out more clearely and conspicuously in external manifestations 'T is an evident signe that God intends more salvation there where he affords more means of salvation if then God do choose and call an Heathen 't is not by universal but by distinguishing grace They make Grace Nature that make it as common as Nature Whereas Nature when 't was most triumphant shining in its Primitive beauty and glory yet even then it could not be happy without Grace Adam himself besides his integritas naturae had also adjutorium gratiae for as the Schoolmen explain it though he had viros idoneas ad praestanda omnia naturalia reipsa tamen nihil praestitit sine auxilio gratiae As if you expect any goodly and delicious clusters from a Vine besides its own internal forme which we 'll stile Nature there must be also auxilium gratiae the Sun must favour it and shine upon it the raine must nourish it and drop upon it or else Nature will never be pregnant and fruitful Adams Candle did not shine so clearly but that Grace was fain to snuffe it Nature though 't were compleate and entire yet 't was faine to strengthen and support it self by its twinings about Grace and for want of the powerful support and maintenency of Grace Nature fell down presently it startled from it self and apostatiz'd like a broken bowe What meane the Pelagians to tell us of a Naturalis Beatitudo when as Nature now is surrounded with so many frailties and miseries so many disorders and imperfections Yet were it as green and flourishing as ever it was when 't was first planted in Paradise yet even then 't would be too remote from happinesse for perfect happinesse excludes and banishes all futurity and possibility of misery which Nature never yet did nor could do And happinesse never flows out till the Sunne look upon it till it see the face of God himself whom Natures eye will ne're be able to behold Yet Oh! how desirous is Nature of this how inquisitive is humane Nature into the causes of things and esteems it no smal piece of its beatitude if it can finde them out Foelix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas What a goodly sight is it then to behold the first cause of all being and its own being how faine would an intellectual eye behold him that made it Nature longs to see who 't was that first contrived it and fram'd it and fashion'd it the soul would fain see its Father of Spirits The Candle would faine shine in the presence of him that lighted it up Yet Nature cannot see the face of God and live Ante obitum nemo supremáque funera foelix The Moralists happiness is dormant in the night-time for there 's no operatio secundùm virtutem then nor can the soul while 't is clogg'd with a fraile body climbe to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of goodnesse or happiness the soul here has not a perfect enjoyment of inferiour objects much lesse of God himself it has but a shadowy sight of Angels propter connaturalitatem intellectûs nostri ad phantasmata and if natures eye cannot look upon the face of a twinkling Starre how will it behold the brightnesse of a dazling Sunne that general knowledge which it hath of God here is mixt with much error and deceit Nor can Faith look upon the divine essence 't is a lovely grace indeed yet it must die in the Mount like Moses it cannot enter into the Land of promise 't is auditui magis similis quà m visioni it hears the voice of its God it does not see his face it enflames the desire of the soul it does not quench it for men would faine see what they beleeve the object of Faith is obscure and at a distance but the face of God is all presence and brightnesse Happinesse it consists in the noblest operation of an intellectual being whereas in beleeving there is imperfectissima operatio ex parte intellectûs licèt sit perfectio ex parte objecti Nor yet is the divine essence seen in a way of demonstration for then only a Philosopher should see his face such only as had skil in Metaphysicks who yet may be in misery for all that for demonstrations are no beatifical visions The damned spirits can demonstrate a Deity and yet they are perpetually banisht from his face there can be no demonstration of him à priore for he is
were done already in respect of Eternity all things being equally present to that 3. This takes away all method and order of prosecution for the end is alwayes in intention before the means God first resolves to save Jacob and then provides means accordingly 4. It quite demolisheth the goodly and faire structure of grace no discriminating grace 't is no longer for his own sake but for your sakes now A man now makes himself to differ free will must be set on the throne 't is a Roman and must not be bound and free grace must lye at the footstool and be trampled on as they please But all they that know what grace is and have had any gracious impressions upon their own spirits will easily tell you who 't was that made them differ even he who chose them not because they were any better then others but he chose them and so would be sure to make them better and if they be lovely it is with the comlinesse which he hath put upon them Grace is free if you look to the fountaine of it the primitive goodnesse of God in election bubling out from all Eternity Secondly If you look to the severall streamings out of the fountaine you must admire the riches of free grace For 1. Gods giving of his only Sonne and founding and eternal Covenant of love and peace in him the richest and preciousest stream that ever flow'd to the sons of men Now if there were an assembly of those bright and intelligent creatures gathered together the most glorious Cherubims and glittering Seraphims and if this mystery which they now pry into were fully unseal'd and explain'd unto them O how would they stand gazing upon the riches of free grace how would they think eternity it self too short for the admiring of it and what could they resolve it into but meere love God so lov'd the world so freely so fully so unconceiveably that he gave his only Sonne c. What was there in thee to draw a Saviour down from heaven was there such an attractive and magnetical vertue in an undone and bankrupted creature How didst thou perswade him to disrobe himself of light as of a garment to cloud and eclipse the lustre of his Divinity by the interposition of a pale mortall body What was it that mov'd him to take upon him the seed of Abraham and not the nature of Angels to let passe those faire and eminent beings and to advance a poor crauling worme Out of what Topicks didst thou fetch an argument that prevail'd with him to espouse thee to himself in mercy and truth and so to love thee as to dye for thee I know they thoughts are swallowed up with the consideration of so boundlesse and bottomlesse a love and desire some time for astonishment 2. What should I tell you of those free expressions and manifestations of this his love those fresh eruptions and ebullitions of it in the Gospel I mean those precious promises that are so many several sproutings and branchings out of the Covenant The Gospel's like a sweet and precious honey-combe these are the severall droppings of it that flow freely from it Indeed the whole Gospel like the midst of Solomons bed in the Canticles is pav'd with love 3. Think upon those free offers of grace and tenders of reconciliation how he woes you to receive mercy how he beseeches you to be happy how he intreats you to be sav'd to accept of him and of heaven of grace and of glory So that if you looke to the streamings out of the fountaine you see they all carry with them the riches of grace Thirdly Consider the severall conveighances of it how God diffuses this his goodnesse to thy soul and thou shalt see how thou hast liv'd upon the expences of free grace all thy dayes And for this observe how he tun'd all circumstances in a sweet and harmonious way so as they did all sweetly agree and consort in thy happinesse and how all providentiall passages did joyn for thee and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 work together for thy good As 1. 'T was out of the riches of free grace that he planted thee in a place of light when he shut up and imprison'd the rest of the world in palpable darknesse The Gospel shines out but upon a little spot of ground which God hath enclos'd for himself and stiles it his Garden Paul plants it and Apollos waters it and he himself gives it an increase The rest of the world lyes like a barren and desolate wildernesse the word of the Gospel never dropt upon it nothing but briers and thornes fit for the fire Now how fell thy lot in so faire a ground and who is it that gives thee so goodly an heritage Who is it that shines thus upon thy Tabernacle and fixes it in a land that flowes with milke and honey Give a reason if thou canst why thou wert not plac't in some obscure corner of America and left only to the weak and glimmering light of nature Prethee tell me who that was that open'd for thee so many wells of salvation and feasted thee with all those spirituall dainties and delicacies that are disht out in variety of Ordinances I would fain know who that was that crush't the honey-combe on purpose that it might drop upon thy soul Prethee tell me if thou can'st who that was that bespoke a place for thee in the Church among the assembly of the Saints Hath God dealt so with every Nation or have the Heathen knowledge of this Law Ascribe this then to free grace 2. That salvation should wait upon thee so long and when thou hadst repuls't so many rich offers of grace and mercie that still it should be importunate with thee If mercy had knock't once or twice nay according to the rule Si ter pulsanti c. if it had then bid thy soul farewell thou hadst dropt into hell irrecoverably How many years hath free grace stood at the door and begg'd for some admission and thou hast not so much as bid it welcome Free grace followes thee and pursues thee and will not let thee go till thou hast a blessing Would any friend have given thee so many invitations after thou hast rejected them Are there not many of the damned that must lye roaring there to all eternity that never tasted of so much goodnesse and long-sufferance as thou hast done O why wert not thou sent thither amongst the rest that that Spirit which thou hast so much griev'd and so often vext should still breath upon thee and follow thee with secret whisperings and gentle solicitations to entice and allure thee to goodnesse what canst thou call this but free grace 3. Consider in what state thou wert all the while and Enemy a Rebell studying how to be damn'd galloping to hell and destruction with full careere a scholars pace who was 't now that stopt thee in thy course who bridl'd in the proud waves and said Hither
not be wrought upon not be much mov'd with it Men are more affected with their own private good then with the publick and more mov'd with private miseries then publick If they themselves be in the least danger or some of their neer friends then you shall have mourning and sighing and lamentation But if the Church lye a bleeding the Saints those precious ones be kill'd all the day long and accounted as sheep for the slaughter they can be merry enough for all this How many are there that have not shed a teare for Ireland That have not spent a sigh for them nor put up a prayer for them God he has a Bottle for your teares and he knows how many you have put into it I am sure it will hold a great many more then you have shed I speak not so much for outward weeping there 's many perhaps can't shed a tear upon any occasion But I call for a spirit of mourning a sympathizing spirit a spirit took up with the publick good as its best employment O how many are there that this bitter curse of Meroz will fall heavy upon And upon your dayes of humiliation be sure to humble your selves for this your want of a publick spirit your not praying for the peace of Ierusalem How do you know but that if you had sent up more prayers to heaven God might have free'd the distressed Christians by this time As they are guilty of the Christians blood in an high degree that shed it in a most inhumane manner so I know not how they can excuse themselves from some guilt of it that do not help them by prayers and endeavours as much as in them lyes 2. It is against all such as are in a kinde of indifferency and neutrality they neither are for one nor other What is this but the very same case with Meroz Meroz did not fight against Israel it did not fight for the Canaanites no but it did not come out to the help of Israel and therefore it has this bitter curse Vain men that think to content themselves with this that they do not hurt but every man that do's not good do's hurt he most do either one or other the soul is not idle it is either doing good or evil Suppose that a man did no hurt yet this is not enough unlesse he do s good too for there are sins of Omission as well as of Commission Not doing of publick good is a publick hurt 3. By way of Gradation à majori ad majus If there be such a bitter curse upon Meroz for their negligence and remissenesse in duty for not coming out against the Mighty what severe judgments and dregs of wrath shall be pour'd out upon all them that come out against the Lord that are against the publick good that wish ill to Sion that would fain see her in the dust that hate and persecute Christians that oppose the power of Religion and the life of the Gospel that are in the very gall of bitternesse All the curses that are written and not written shall flame against them and the vials of Gods fiercest wrath shall be emptyed upon them Meroz's curse is bitter but in respect of theirs sweet and easie Blesse God for men of publick spirits for Zerubbabels and Jehoshuah's such as are building God a Temple Pray God to encrease the number of publick spirits such as may come out to the help of the Lord. As there 's a great and bitter curse lay'd upon Meroz for being negligent in the cause of God so there are choice and eminent blessings for such as are forward and active in it God will abundantly recompence all the labour of love which any shall shew for his name Their labour shall not be in vaine in the Lord. THE White Stone OR A Learned and Choice TREATISE OF Assurance Very useful for all but especially weak BELIEVERS 2 PET. 1. 10. Wherefore the rather Brethren give diligence to make your Calling and Election sure ASsurance of salvation is a truth of great and precious consequence of sweet and comfortable influence into the whole life of a Christian A truth which has scarce had liberty to unmask and shew it self in former times and so has seldome or never been fully treated of A truth which could never be more welcome and seasonable then in times of danger and uncertainty when all other things are in a doubtful and wavering condition then to make our calling and election sure to set up a spiritual Militia and to put the soul in a posture of defence in such an heavenly preparation as it may be fit to meet with all conditions He shall not be afraid of evil tidings his heart is fixed trusting in God He is just like the Philosophers good man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 four-square that cast him where you will like a Dy he falls alwayes sure and square He 's built upon the same foundation that the whole Church of God is He 's built upon a Rock and though the Waves dash and the windes rise though the storme encrease and the floods beat in yet the house stands the foundation 's sure 't is built upon a Rock and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it I 'le make him a pillar in the Temple of my God as Christ promises to the Church of Philadelphia even like one of those Pillars in Solomons Temple The name of the one was Jachin and of the other Booz nothing but stability and strength as the words imply Christian Assurance fortifies the soul and prepares it against all conditions Now as for the drift of our Apostle in this chapter 't was to perswade the Christian Churches of â—onous Gaâ—atia Cappadocia Asia Bithynia to whom he wrote that they would be fruitful and abundant in the graces of God that they would grow in grace and adde grace to grace and so to increase in them all till they came to a full and perfecâ— stature in Christ For â—e that lacks these saith the Apostle is blinde and cannot see afarrâ— off he is poreblinde and cannot see so farre as heaven and heavenly things And theu he is forgetful too of the very first principles and rudiments of Grace he forgets that he was purg'd from his former sins in the Lavour of Regeneration in Baptisme when he first enter'd into Covenant with God Wherefore do â—e rather give diligence to make your calling c. You that have a spiritual eye and an enlight'ned soul and can disceâ—ne the things of God and you that are mindful of the Covenant made with him do you brethren give c. for this if any thing will make you fruitful in the works of Grace for by these you must maintain your Assurance these are the fruits and evidences of your solvation the fruits of the Spirit and the first fruits of eternal life Christians that make their Calling and Election sure will and must be fruitful in good works The Papists
fraile men that dwell in houses of clay and carry the body of death about with them 1. We must bid them entertain honourable thoughts of the Excellent ones of the Earth for though it be true that they are not yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet God has made them little lower then the Angels and he has crown'd them with glory and honour They walk with little coronets upon their heads Though the most massy and brightest crown be reserv'd for a day of Inauguration They now feed upon Angels food God steeps them in his own nature and in his own love he gradually prepares them for heaven They are Inceptours in happinesse they are Probationers for glory 2. What though there be some unworthy dealings with their God yet these flow only from those reliques of slavish principles that remain in them some fragments of the old Leaven that was not throughly purged out And not by vertue of a Gospel-Plerophory What do's the knowing that they are Sons of light do's this dispose them to works of darknesse Do's the knowing that they are the Spouse of Christ do's this bespeak adulterous glances 'T is true the Sons of God may provoke him but must they therefore needs do it under this very notion because they know they are his Sons nay must they do it the more for this This were the extreamest malice that were imaginable more malice then the devils themselves are capable of What bold blasphemy then is this against the Sons of God and against the sealing Spirit I and it envolves a flat contradiction too it puts an esse and a non esse simul because they know they are friends therefore they 'l deal like enemies and because they know they 'r Sons therefore they 'l deal like slaves O what fine repugnancies are these Thus would they not only veile and cloud but also spot and deface so beautiful a Truth but that it shines out with such victorious and triumphant beams But if any can yet doubt whether Assurance do advance obedience let them but a while compare men assur'd of their salvation 1. With others in the state of grace that want Assurance or with themselves when once without it And then let them tell us whether they don't differ as much as a bruised Reed and a stately Cedar in Lebanon The doubting Christian do's but smoake when the assured Christian flames What faintings and shiverings and paleness in the one what vigour and liveliness what a ruddy complexion of soul in the other How is the one left to the pleasure of a wave when as the other lies safe at Anchor The one can scarce lift up his weak and trembling hands in prayer when the other is wrestling with Omnipotency The one comes behinde and touches the hem of his Saviours garments when as the other is in his very armes and embraces The one dares scarce touch a Promise scarce cast an eye upon a Promise when as the other claimes it and grasps it and appropriates it The performances of the one are green and crude and unconcocted the others are ripen'd and mellow'd with a stronger Sun-beam of Love The one like a Lute with his strings loose and languishing the other is tun'd up to its just height of affection The one like a Bowe bent sends forth his arrows very vigorously the other do's but drop them and let them fall How do's Satan wound the one with many a fiery dart that the other quenches How do's the one fear the roaring of the Lion which the other tramples under his feet 2. If you should compare them with men in an unregenerate condition O what a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what a vaste gulfe is there between them Sure you don't question whether God has more service from Israelites that feed upon hidden Manna or from Egyptians that feed upon Garlick and Onions Men that are under the damning and domineering power of lusts and are only kept a little in awe by some thundrings from Mount Sinai Though they spend a few sighs sometimes and drop a few teares sometimes yet when they are thus washt how soon do they returne to their wallowing in the mire The chaining of a Wolfe do's that meeken and soften him or the putting a hook into Leviathan do's that transforme him Though wicked men by feares and terrours have their bounds set them like the Sea which they cannot passe Yet they are still like the raging Sea they swell and foame and cast out their mire and dirt And who more wicked then they that are desperate Those black and damned Potentates of hell because they are out of all possibility of mercy how do they act ad extremum virium in all expressions of malice and wickednesse And therefore God out of his infinite goodness though he do's usually seal men up to life and happinesse and lets them make their Calling and Election sure yet he do's scarce ever or very rarely so seal men up to ruine so as to let them know certainly that they are Reprobates for this would make them desperate there would be no living with them in the world Or if he do's shew them this he do's withall let them run into some act of violence that presently frees the world from them That hope which wicked men have of being sav'd though it be groundlesse yet it keeps them within their bounds and compasse Though it be but like the Spiders web yet the very spinning of that web keeps them in the mean while from a full expression of their venome And that same shadow of obedience which God has from Hypocrites 't is founded in some shadow of hope that they please themselves in and when this hope of their own framing vanishes and deceives them then they back-slide and apostatize 4. Are there not other judgements enough to waken them out of a sinful security are there not Rods are there not Scorpions is there nothing but present disinheriting Sure you cannot but remember that famous place where God speaks to David and points at Solomon Psal 89. 32 33. If his children break my statutes c. God will make his own people know that 't is a bitter thing to depart from him and to forsake their first love Nay this is most certain that wicked men themselves are not capable of such severe temporal judgements as the Sons of God are That which is here done to the green tree cannot be done to the dry For 1. They may fall from Assurance Though they can't lose the seed and the root of grace yet they may lose the flourishing and fragrancy of it Though the foundation of God remaine sure yet they may fall from their top and eminency Though they be built upon a Rock yet they may be dasht with waves Though the Seale of God be of an eternal efficacy yet they may deface the Print and sculpture of it so as that it may not be visible to their eye Now what a sad alteration will this
be Thou must not look for any more stroakings for any more smiles for love-glances any more Thou must bid thy fountaines of joy farewell Thou must not look to see thy Spouse flourishing through the Lattices any more Thou must expect clouds and shadows and veils and curtaines and walls of separation The fig-tree of Canaan shall not blossome and there shall be no fruit in the Vines and the labour of the Olive shall faile Thou must passe many a day without one Sun-beam God will seal up his sweetest influences he will shut up the windows of heaven and stop the bottles of heaven he will rain down no more Manna upon thee Go to thy husks and see if they I feed thee Nay 2 They may not only fall from Assurance but even in a total desertion look upon God as an enemy and instead of a filial Plerophory may come to afearful expectation of the fiercest wrath of God Now this I say is more judgement then wicked men are capable of here in this respect that they never had his love once revealed to them Whereas these are thrown down from the very pinacle of the Temple And God do's not only eclipse the lustre of their former joy but dips his Pen in gall and writes bitter things against them He was wont to shoot nothing but the fiery darts of Love I but now his envenom'd arrowes stick fast in them They did once furfet of the Grapes and Clusters of Canaan but now he hedges them in with briers and thornes They were wont to taste of a cup of sweetnesse a cup of love but he has now prepar'd for them a cup of trembling and astonishment They had once a Spring-time a budding a blossoming-time the dew of heaven dropt on them the beams of heaven visited them But now comes a sad and disconsolate Autumne a fading and withering time Their glosse and greennesse is gone Heaven reveales it self in thunderings and lightning flashes against them so as they shall even envy green Bay-trees then men of the world that are free from all this Now is not this enough to keep a soul in awe The Psalmist was very neer this which we speak of He often tells you that his joy was put out that his peace was gone that he was even ground to powder that he was banisht from the face of his God that he was excommunicated from that happy and heavenly intercourse with God which once he had These are frequent complaints And yet he was one 1. Of a pleasant and cheerful Temper The Scripture paints him out as one of a Sanguine complexion the men of the world would have said he had been melancholy else He was one that was like a green Olive-tree in the house of his God a most flourishing and fruitful Christian As if he had been one of the Church triumphant he was alwayes singing fresh Hallelujahs He had a soft and delicate touch upon the Harpe he could still Sauls evil spirit with his musick I but he could not thus tune and compose his own troubled and distemper'd spirit He was faine now to hang his Harpe upon the willows and the voice of his Lute was turn'd into sighing And if he do's sing sometimes with a thorne at his breast 't is some penitential Psalme or other 2. And yet all this while he was a King upon the Throne he wanted not the pomp and bravery of the world I but a Scepter won't conquer fears and a Crown of gold will not cure an aking head much lesse an aking heart The smiles of the world they brought him to all this and therefore he can't take much complacency in them And then for when he do's so often envy the men of the world and is ready to stumble at the prosperity of the wicked it was not so much for the outward things of the world which they enjoy'd for those he had himself too in a plentiful measure but it was for the quietnesse of their spirits they were calme and serene if compared with him not in such fears and doubts as he now was they had not such conflicts and Paroxysmes and tumultuations of soul as he now had And yet he was one that once had the face of God shining out upon him And therefore he desires him to restore the joy of his salvation Lucem redde abes jam nimiùm diu Instar veris enim vultus uâ—i tuus affulsito populo gratior it dies soles meliâ—s nitent as he once spake to Augustus So that you see here are wayes enough to keep men from a carnall security And thus we have took off that bold calumny so as we hope that Nihil adhaerebit Having laid open at large the nature of Assurance we now come to handle briefly the second observation And that is Christian Assurance requires and calls for diligence Sure I need not tell you that the most precious things are Cabinetted and lockt up under difficulties If you look to Nature you see how she reserves her Jewels in secret repositories she sets them in her own bosome and enhances their price by rarity There is indeed a veine for silver as Job speaks but Nature is not so profuse to open it to let it run waste and exhaust her self she hides her treasures and puts them out of the reach of an ordinary Plunderer Or if you look to Arts There are indeed some things which float at the top 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those that are but initiated into them are presently acquainted with them Hence some beginners when they have but tasted these think they have a present kinde of Omniscience O but stay a while there are most mysterious things which lurke at the bottome and require a profounder search they must dive deep before they fetch up these Pearls Thus 't is in Languages the choicest elegancies many times are coucht in Idioms those arcana linguarum you may see them like so many Pearls glittering amongst the rubbish of the Tower of Babel Thus 't is in civil affairs some things are visible and obvious to a vulgar eye the rude heap and masse of people can take notice of them some wheels move so plainly as that they can see them I but there are more secret springs of motion more intimate contrivances politick riddles which they onely can read that are à secretioribus Every designe must not have a window in it 't is comely sometimes to see Moses with a Veile upon his face And thus 't is in the wise Oeconomy and dispensation of the Gospel 'T is true the whole Gospel is pregnant with heavenly mysteries 'T is like that heavenly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the milky way which the wise ones of the world take for a Meteor only a brief 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I but those that are enlightened from above know that 't is made up ex flore lucis 't is compounded of Stars lesse discernable and even here one Star differs from another in glory
a false print they are of what false glosses there be what variae lectiones what corruptions and degenerations from the Original whether there be any spiritual Idioms what are the genuine works of the Spirit what are spurious and supposititious 2. Give diligence because thou hast a diligent enemy that would so faine quench thy joy and keep it from flaming into Assurance He envied the graine of Mustard-seed when 't was first sown how then does it vex him to see it now spread into such goodly branches that the soul can build its nest there He envied thee the first blushes of the day the buddings of the Rosie morning that those fair and Virgin eye-lids should open and glance their light upon thee how then is he scorch't with thy fuller Sun-shine How do his eyes water at thy noon-day brightnesse He that would have broke thee when thou wert a bruised Reed how would he triumph in thy fall now thou art a stately Cedar If he could he would have dispirited and took off the vigour of that immortal seed by which thou wert born again He would fain have spit his venome into that sincere milk which fed thy infant-soul how then does he envie thee those flagons of wine with which thou art now quickened and enflam'd He would fain have hindered the foundation of the second Temple and now he would fain demolish the structure and down with it even to the ground That son of the morning fell himself not only from a compleat Assurance but from a possession of glory and that into the most extreme darknesse that was imaginable into a total impossibility of ever being happy and now he would very faine as much as he can envolve others in the same condition But certainly it does adde much of hell to him in that he perceives that the sons of God are now fixt in an immutable condition whereas he was left in so voluble a state so that now all that he can possibly do is this to damp their joy for the present to raise clouds and stormes and tempests And in this that Prince of the aire does his endeavour to the utmost And yet Christians may frustrate him here too and by a strong and clasping hand of faith may lay such fast hold of a God in Christ as that they may even make the Devill give over and to all his former may adde this new despair of ever eclipsing their glory and may send him away as weary as he would be if he should go about to interrupt the joy of a glorifi'd Saint or of one of those Angels that still dwel in glory So that the more frequent his Alarms are the more should Christians stand upon their watch the more should they fortifie themselves and look to their spiritual Panoply they should flie to the name of the Lord which is a strong Tower 3. Give diligence because 't is in a matter of so great consequence and to be deceived here will prove the most stinging aggravation of misery that can be The house that was built upon the sand great was the fall of it There is a counterfeit Plerophory a blazing kinde of Assurance a bragging kinde of confidence you know the name of it 't is called Presumption that great devourer of souls that uses to slay its ten thousands 'T is so farre from being an Anchor as that 't is but a swelling and impostumated wave which tosses up the soul a while that it may sink the deeper And can there be a greater Emphasis of misery then this Thou took'st it for granted that thou wert in the ready way to heaven and now thou art dropping into hell irrecoverably Thou expected'st no lesse then a crown of glory but canst finde nothing but chaines of darknesse and a gnawing worme How golden was thy dream of happinesse did'st thou not fancy the light and beams of heaven ripening the fruits of Canaan for thee did'st not thou think thy self upon the top of Mount Pisgah refresht with soft and delicate breathings taking a full prospect of the beatifull land of Promise Nay did'st not thou think that some of the milk and honey of the land flow'd into thy mouth That thou wert plucking off green Apples from the trees Nay that thou had'st the very tastes and relishes of the Olives and Figs and Pome-granates and Grapes in thy mouth But behold thou wak'st and art in a Wildernesse amongst Briers and thornes amongst fiery Serpents in a dry and thirsty land where no sweetnesse is Thou took'st that for the whispering of the Spirit which was but the hissing of the Serpent Thou thought'st thy self in the very Suburbs of the new Jerusalem in the Temple in the sanctum sanctorum when as thou wert all this while but in an Egypt in a Babylon in a Prison in a Dungeon Thou did'st exalt thy self like the Eagle and build thy nest in the Stars But with what indignation wert thou swept from thence How thou art fallen O Lucifer son of the morning 3. Consider what kinde of diligence is required And 1. Be diligent in self-reflexion A clean heart chews the cud and ruminates upon its own actions Give thy heart frequent visits and see whether it keeps that print which the sealing Spirit stampt upon it read over thine Evidences if there be the least blot wash it out Try thy graces by a Scripture-Sun-beam Hast thou within a continual feast Why then do'st not thou envite thy thoughts thither that they may be satisfi'd as with marrow and fatnesse Why do'st not thou compel them to come in Let them drink sweetnesse out of their own fountain let them blesse the womb that bare them and the breasts that gave them suck Let them be afraid of entring into their hearts that have no quietnesse within unlesse like the Leviathan they can sport themselves in a raging sea that foams out mire and dirt But thou canst steep and bathe thy thoughts in a calme and composed spirit Why do'st not thou listen to thine own musick Why do'st not thou glance upon thine own beauty Assurance consists in a â—eflex act and by such workings 't is maintain'd iisdem alitur quibus gignitur 2. Be diligent in Prayer Beleeve it assurance does not come with those weak wishes and velleities that are so frequent in the mouths of many O that we were sure of heaven of happinesse O that our souls were well provided for O that we knew what should become of them to eternity Truly these are but gaping and yawning desires as if hidden Manna would drop into their mouths This great blessing requires a wrestling prayer The White Stone is given to none but a Conquerour The Spirit won't set his seal to a faint and languishing velleity An Echo won't answer a whisperer a weak voice is not worth a rebound The truth is there is a great deal of Vicinity and friendship nay I think I might say Consanguinity between Assurance and Prayer Prayer should be Plerophoria quaedam
ever since had an unhappy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the soul hath been darkened and dim-sighted Perhaps it can see some goodly capital letters some fair flourisht character I but there are multitudes of beings in a smaller print that it takes no notice of 2. The soul might see more if it would imploy it self more and look oftner into this glass of the creatures Meditation would raise the creature higher and distil sweetnesse out of every object 'T is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the elegant Moralist The soul is busie with every thing it sees as busie as a Bee it goes from flower to flower and extracts most precious sweetnesse 3. Some eyes have been dazled too much with the glitterings of the creatures so as to take the servant for the Master and have been so much in admiring the glasse as they forgot the glorious beauty that it represented What worship and adoration hath the Sun had even almost as much as the great Creatour of heaven and earth himself strange that they should see so darkly as not to discern the face from the veil that covers it For the Sun is at best but umbra Dei and nubecula cito transitura a meere spot a cloud if compared with so bright an Essence and as he faith notably The Suns worshippers must needs be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Atheists in the night-time You have seen the glasse of the Creatures and how in it we see very darkly Secondly in learnings glasse in speculo scientiarum Learning brightens the intellectual eye and clarifies the soul the Hebrews wise men are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aperti men with eyes open and it sets a man on higher ground and gives him a fairer prospect of Beings and many advantages over others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they have eyes and see not I but these see and yet very darkly What need I tell you how invincible doubts blemish their brightest notions How the Naturalists head is non-plust with an occult quality and he knows not how to take it off How the choicest Moralists are pos'd with the riddle of summum bonum and cannot tell how to extricate themselves Look up higher to Mâ—taphysicks which some stile fimbria Theologiae I but you may touch the hem of its garment long enough before you find any vertue coming from it Converse but with the Schoolmens Works and there you shall meet with aenigmata infolio voluminous riddles 'T is their grand imployment to tie a knot and then see if they can undo it to frame an enemie and then triumph over him to make an objection and then answer it if they can there are speculations enough but if you see through them it will be very darkly But if you could see very clearly in all these yet how weak and insufficient are they to acquaint you with the Arcana of Religion and the great mysteries of Godlinesse 1. Some such as have been most eminent in them and as he speaks have had wits of elevation situated as upon a cliffe but how little have they seen of heaven and heavenly things Aristotle with the rest of the Heathen what uncertain and fluctuating notions had they of a Deity We are beholden to their dying speeches for most of their Divinity 2. Many under the light of the Gospel and furnisht with helps of humane learning how strangely unacquainted are they with the knowledge of Christ crucified A plain experienced Christian notwithstanding all their Auxiliary forces only by the help of a Bible will put an whole army of them to flight Surgunt indocti rapiunt coelum when they in the mean time do but as he speaks ornare Diabolum they become learned spoiles Sapienter descendunt in infernum they go cunningly to hell And yet me thinks none should be so silly and malicious as to put the fault in learning whereas there is no greater vicinity then between truth and goodnesse and heaven is full of knowledge as it is of holinesse and it is brimfull of both 3. Sciences themselves are weak and imperfect things and therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as our Apostle tells us Knowledge shall be abolisht and Tongues which are vehicula scientiarum they shall pass away So then in this Glass we see but darkly Thirdly in the Glass of the Scriptures in speculo verbi This is a pure and spotless Glass representing the will of God unto us an eternal Glass that shall never be broken more durable then heaven it self David was looking in this Glasse day and night There are many false flattering glasses in the world I but here the soul may see its face in a most exact resemblance it will shew the least spot deformity the sinfulness of an idle word of a vain thought of a first motion though without consent the least tendencies to sin the first bubblings up of corruption It deals so plainly as many are offended with it swell the more against it thus sin takes occasion by the commandment as Rom. 7. Fond Lais breaks her looking glass because it shews the wrinkles in her face and gives the reason Me cernere talem qualis sum noâ—o qualis eram nequâ—o Well the Law that 's a glass to shew us our spots but it cannot wipe them off I but the Gospel is a pure well of salvation there one may see them and wash them too In that Evangelical mirrour you may see the face of a Saviour coming in an amiable way with smiles of love with offers of grace and saving mercy Nay the Gospel is called the face of Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 4. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As suppose a glass when a man had once lookt into it should keep a permanent unvanishing species of his face though he himself afterwards were absent we might wel say There was the face of such a man the Gospel is such a Glasse Christ hath lookt into it and shed his image upon it and ever since it hath given most glorious representations of him it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that I may borrow that expression in the Hebrews so that when we shall come to see him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in heaven we shall be able to say Surely this is the very Saviour that was described to me in the Gospel fic ille manus fic or a forebat And till we come to heaven it self we cannot meet with more full manifestations of God and Christ and all the mysteries of salvation then in the word of God and yet here we see but darkly For if we consider them under the Old Testament how long was there comfort lockt up in that Aenigma that primitive promise which was Aurora Evangelii the first dawning of the Gospel The seed of the woman shall break the serpents head and when truth began to shew it self in some fuller discoveries yet still it was mixt with much obscurity They had a twofold glasse 1. Speculum