abundantly more clear and apparent herein for in all those Creatures that perfect themselves by the Service which they do the Service it self is a sufficient Recompence while those upon which we feed being more Corruptible are exalted in their Beings by being turned into ours And the Trade of Bees in the Hony they make for us and the Warmth of sheep in the fleeces they bear for us the Comfort of Birds in the feathers they wear and the Nests they build for us and the pleasures of Beasts in the off-spring they beget and bring up for us these things shew that GOD is Good to all and that his mercy is over all his Works And if any perish in our Service the Bloody Characters of his Love and Goodness are the more Stupendious All Nature is sacrificed to our Welfare and all that we have By pure Nature to do till Sin marres all is to admire and enjoy that Goodness to the Delight of which we sacrifice our selves in our own Complacency And in real truth if it be a great Wonder that any Goodness should be thus infinite the Goodness of all other Things without that Goodness is a far Greater If it be Wonderful admire and adore it CHAP. XII Of Holiness Its Nature Violence and Pleasure It s Beauty consisteth in the infinite Love of Righteousness and Perfection THE infinite Love of his own Goodness is the Holiness of GOD. There are infinite Pleasures and perfections in its Nature that Merit an infinite Esteem and Desire His Goodness is all Beauty and his Holiness all Fire and flame in pursuing it His Holiness is all Beauty and his Goodness all Fire and flame to enkindle it The infinite Excess of his Eternal Goodness is its own Holiness and the Beauty of Holiness is Excess of Goodness For if Righteousness and Holiness be well distinguished Righteousness is that Vertue by which GOD doth apprehend affect and Esteem all Excellent Things according to their value and chuse and do always the Best and most Excellent Holiness is the Love which he beareth to his own Righteousness Which being infinite makes him infinitely enflamed with the Love of the most perfect Actions and carries him with an infinite Ardor to the performance of them For tho it be a Righteous Thing to esteem the Righteousness of GOD in an infinite manner yet there is as much difference between Righteousness and the Love of Righteousness as between an Object and the Affection embracing it Tho here also the Affection the Object are the same Thing For this Holy Esteem and Love of Righteousness is Righteousness it self for it does but render Righteousness its due tho the Affection be infinite which it bears unto it HOLINESS if it be strictly defined is that Vertue in GOD by which he Loveth the most Perfect Things and infinitely delighteth in them For by Vertue of this Affection he shunneth and hateth all that is profane pursuing and delighting in all that is Holy For the Object of Holiness may be Holy as well as the Affection Whereupon it followeth that Holiness is of two kinds either the Holiness of the Affection or the Holiness of the Object They bear a Relation to each other yet are absolute Perfections in themselves For the Hatred of all Defects Imperfections Blemishes and Errors is a Glorious thing in itself yet relates to the Perfection of those Objects from which it would remove those odious Imperfections The Perfection of all Objects when they are free from all Blemishes is a Glorious Thing in it self too yet is Acceptable to that Affection that desires to see a Compleatness and Perfection in every Object And all is resolved into the same Goodness of which we have been speaking FOR infinite Goodness must needs desire with an infinite violence that all Goodness should be compleat and Perfect and that Desire which makes to the Perfection of all Goodness must infinitely avoid every slur and Miscarriage as unclean and infinitely aim at every Grace and Beauty that tends to make the Object infinitely perfect which it would enjoy It cannot desire less then infinite Perfection nor less then hate all Imperfection in an infinite Manner All Objects are made and Sanctified by the Holiness of GOD. It is the measure and strength and Perfection of Goodness THE Holiness of GOD is sometimes called in his Oracle The Beauty of Holiness As if all the Beauty of GOD were in this It extends to all Objects in Heaven and Earth from the Highest to the Lowest from the Greatest to the Meanest from the most Pure to the most profane with a Goodness and Wisdome so infinitely perfect disposing all that some way or other every Thing might answer its infinite Affection It infinitely hates all that is Bad and as infinitely desires to Correct the same The Influence of that Affection by which GOD abhorreth the least Spot in his Kingdome reaches to the Perfection of every Object and the is real proper fountain of all the Perfection of Life Glory And for this Cause in all Probability do the Angels so continually cry Holy Holy Holy Lord GOD of Hosts because the Brightness of his Infinite Glory and Perfection appeareth in his Holiness the violence of his Eternal Love and the Excess of Goodness It may be also because all the Heights of Created Perfection owe themselves to this Holiness all the Raptures and Extasies of Heaven depending on the Zeal wherewith GOD is carried to perfect Blessedness All which are occasioned by those pure and Quintessential Joys those most sublime and Perfect Beauties which they see and feel every where effected by the irresistible Strength of that Eternal Ardor SINS of Omission have an unknown Guilt and Demerit in them They unsensibly bereave us of infinite Beauty To let alone that Perfection which might have been infinite to pass by or neglect it to exert Almighty Power in a remiss and lazy manner is infinitely Base and Dishonourable and therefore unclean because so Odious and Distastful Lukewarmness is Profane as well as Malice And it hath pleased GOD to brand it with a worse and more fatal Censure No folly or iniquity can dwell with him Omission is both To be hated is to be rejected but to be beloved Lukewarmly is to be embraced with polluted and filthy Armes And for this Cause the fire of his Jealousie burns most devouringly about the Altar He will be sanctified in all them that draw nigh unto him and but to touch his Ark irregularly is to be consumed Nor is this any other then a concomitant of his Holiness and an evident Testimony of his Love to perfection For it First shews that on his own Part he maketh our Powers Perfect that we may be able to see and adore him worthily and next that he delights in no Adoration but the most Worthy It moreover shews that he infinitely delights in the Perfection of his own Actions for otherwise he would not be so severe against the
Vertue of a man they think seated in this They forget that Policy and Learning and Prudence and Gratitude and Fidelity and Temperance and Industry and compassion and Bounty and Affability and Courtesie and Modesty and Justice and Honesty are Vertues and that in every one of these there is something fitting a Man for the Benefit of the World Nay they have lost the Notion of Vertue and know not what it is Those things by which a man is made serviceable to himself and the World they think not to be Vertues but imagineâ— Chimeraes which they cannot see then deny they have any Existence A Man is capable of far more Glorious Qualities then one of them And his Courage it self may be raised to far higher Ends and purposes then Buffoons and Thrasonical Heroes can dream of IT is to be noted here that any one of those Things that are called Vertue being alone is not a Vertue It is so far from aiding and setting us forward in the Way to Happiness that oftentimes it proveth a Great and intollerable Mischief and is never safe but when it is corrected and guided by the rest of its Companions To stir no further then Courage alone What is Courage in a Thief or a Tyrant or a Traytor but like Zeal and Learning in a pernicious Heretick YOU may note further that Goodness is a principal Ingredient in the excellency of this Vertue tho it be distinct in its Nature from the Being of Courage A brave man will expose his Life in an Honest cause for the Benefit and preservation of others tho not for the Dammage or Destruction of any He will slight his own safety and despise his Repose to make himself a Saviour and a Benefactor A true Courage holdeth Vertuous Actions at such a Price that Death Imprisonment Famine Dishonour Poverty Shame Indignation all Allurements and Temptations are nothing compared to the Performance of Heroick Deeds He exceedeth all constraint and walketh in the Glorious Liberty of the Sons of GOD. THE last note which I shall offer to your Observation on this Occasion is this for the Illustration of the Reason and excellency of GODS Dispensations The Great End for which GOD was pleased not to seat us immediately in the Throne but to place us first in an estate of Trial was the Multiplication of our Vertues For had we been seated in the Glory of Heaven at the first there had no such Vertues as Patience and Courage and Fidelity been seen no Faith or Hope or Meekness no Temparance or Prudence or self Denial in the World Which Vertues are the very clothes and Habits of the Soul in Glory The Graces and Beauties of the Soul are founded in the exercise of them Actions pass not away but are fixed by the permanent Continuance of all Eternity and tho done never so long ago shall appear before the Eye of the Soul for ever in their places be the Glory of their Author the Lineaments and Colours of his Beauty seen by GOD and his holy Angels and Delightful to all that love and delight in worthy things Our Life upon Earth being so diversified like a Sphere of Beauty so variously adorned with all sorts of Excellent Actions shall wholly and at once be seen as an intire Object rarely and curiously wrought a Lively Mirror of the Nature of the Soul and all the Elements of which it is compounded all the Parts that conspire in its Symetry all the Qualities Operations and Perfections that contribute to its Glory shall afford wonder and pleasure to all Spectators While every Soul shall be concerned more in its Actions then in its Essence indeed its Essence how ever considerable is of little or no Value in Comparison of its Operations Every Vertue being the Natural Off-spring and production of the Soul in which its Vigor principally appeareth an effect discovering the Nature of the cause and the sole occasion of its shame or Glory For if the Essence of the Soul be all Power and its power exerted in its operation the Soul must needs enter into its Actions and consequently be affected with all that befalls its Operation All Acts are Immortal in their places being enbalmed as it were by Eternity till the Soul revive and be united to them Then shall it appear in its own Age and in eternity too in its last life enjoying the Benefit of its first And in that sence is that voice from Heaven to be understood which commanded the Divine to write Blessed are they that die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their Labours and their Works do follow them For the Glory of the place is nothing to us if we are not endued with those Glorious Habits which will make our Souls all Glorious within We must be Glorious and Illustrious our selves and appear in Actions that will Beautifie the Throne to which we are exalted THAT these Actions may be Great and Amiable manifold and Excellent is the desire of every soul the natural Wish and Expectation both of Reason it self and of self Love HOW Glorious the Counsel and Design of GOD is for the Archieving of this Great End for the making of all Vertues more compleat and Excellent and for the Heightening of their Beauty and Perfection we will exemplifie here in the Perfection of Courage For the Hieght and depth and Splendor of every Vertue is of great Concernment to the Perfection of the Soul since the Glory of its Life is seated in the Accomplishment of its essence in the Fruit it yeildeth in its Operations Take it in Verse made long ago upon this occasion For Man to Act as if his Soul did see The very Brightness of Eternity For Man to Act as if his Love did burn Above the Spheres even while its in its Urne For Man to Act even in the Wilderness As if he did those Sovereign Joys possess Which do at once confirm stir up enflame And perfect Angels having not the same It doth increase the Value of his Deeds In this a Man a Seraphim exceeds To Act on Obligations yet unknown To Act upon Rewards as yet unshewn To keep Commands whose Beauty 's yet unseen To cherish and retain a Zeal between Sleeping and Waking shews a constant care And that a deeper Love a Love so Rare That no Eye Service may with it compare The Angels who are faithful while they view His Glory know not what themselves would do Were they in our Estate A Dimmer Light Perhaps would make them erre as well as We And in the Coldness of a darker Night Forgetful and Lukewarm Themselves might be Our very Rust shall cover us with Gold Our Dust shall sprinkle while their Eyes behold The Glory Springing from a feeble State Where meer Belief doth if not conquer Fate Surmount and pass what it doth Antedate THE Beatifick Vision is so sweet and Strong a Light that it is impossible for any thing that Loves it self
it at their Hands The wonderful Love wherewith he loved us is the Root the Soul and Glory of his Passion It is wonderful as it made him willing to become Death and Sin and a Curse for us But the height of our Extasie is in the Reality of his Passion and in the full accomplishment of all its Purposes IT is the Vertue of Love which is infused into Patience and the chief Elixir of its Nature is founded in the Excellency of a Spirit that Suffers for anothers sake This therefore we ought ever to remember That Patience when it is a Vertue springs from Love and that this Love is chiefly towards GOD and next that to our Neighbour When we suffer any thing for GOD's sake or for our Neighbours good we suffer in a Wise and Vertuous manner And the Honour which follows such a Suffering is the Crown of Glory which it shall for eyer wear It is a vain and insipid thing to Suffer without loving GOD or Man Love is a transcendent Excellence in every Duty and must of necessity enter into the Nature of every Grace and Vertue That which maketh the solid Benefit of Patience unknown its Taste so bitter and comfortless to Men is its Death in the separation and absence of its Soul We Suffer but Love not Otherwise Love to the Person for whose sake we Suffer is its own support and comfort It makes the Action to be valuable and insuses a sweetness into all the Affliction it can make us endure A Sweetness answerable to the Welfare and Pleasure which is either caused or secured to our Object thereby Our own growth in the approbation and esteem of the Person we love is the desirable Greatness which we covet to attain which can no way be confirmed and increased so perfectly as by Suffering for him For our Fidelity Sincerity Reality Vigour Life and Industry can never be made so fair and apparent as when we pursue our love and are carried by it to the utmost extremities of Death and Misery and labour through all disasters Persecutions and Calamities to obey and honour and please and glorifie the Object which in times of quiet we pretend to love In an easie and prosperous Estate there is little difference between Friendship and Flattery but he that sticks firm in Calamity is a Friend indeed The Trial of Love consists in the difficulties it endures for its Beloved AND for this Cause it is that GOD will expose us to so severe a Trial himself ordaining some Trials in the beginning but permitting more when we brought them upon our selves Many also he suffereth to come which we daily bring upon our own heads by our own folly Some he inflicteth perhaps himself for the Chastisement of our Sins or the Medicine of our Souls to abate our Confidence and to excite our Care to awaken us out of our Lethargy and to quicken our sence both of our Miserable Condition and our need of his Favour to humble our Rebellion to heal and purge our Corruptions to moderate our Passions to heighten our Penitence to abate our Pride to increase our Ardour in Devotion and Prayer to make our subjection to and dependance on him Clear to stir us up to a more strict Examination of our selves in our Thoughts Words and Deeds least some Jonas or other should lie in the Ship that continues the Tempest upon us to enkindle our Compassion towards our afflicted Brethren and to enflame us with more perfect Zeal and Love towards GOD It is like Wormwood that imbitters the Nipple to wean us from the World and augment our desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ to make us groan after our Eternal Rest and long for the glorious Liberty of the Sons of GOD. Sometimes he suffereth Tribulations and Trials to come upon us by the Perverseness of Men who being left at Liberty in their dominion over the World are the principal Authors of all the Troubles and disorders in it To know the several springs and sources of Affliction is very expedient for our Patience and Contentment much dependeth upon it A confused Apprehension makes us blind but a clear Sight distinguisheth between the Will of GOD and the Corruption of Nature which in our selves and others is the principal Cause of all our disturbances BE it by which of all these Occasions it will or for which of all these Ends it can befal us it is evermore to increase our Conquest and to make us like the King of Sufferings pure and perfect And the Consideration of Gods over-ruling Power and Providence therein which makes all these Things work to together for our good begetteth a grateful Admiration in us as well as a sence of our dependance on his Goodness which increaseth the Fear of GOD in our Souls and animates us with great Wonder that he should put his hand to touch the vile and evil Off-spring of our Sin and turn all into Good and make it to rest in our Exaltation and Glory by his Wisdom and Mercy Concerning GOD's End in bringing and permitting all these Evils the Scripture is very frequent It was one of Job's Contemplations What is Man that thou shouldest magnifie him and that thou shouldst set thine Heart upon him and that thou shouldst visit him every Morning and try him every Moment Man is magnified by his Trials It was David's Observation The LORD is in his holy Temple the Lords Throne is in Heaven his Eyes behold his Eye-lids try the Children of Men. The Lord trieth the Righteous but the Wicked and him that loveth Violence his Soul hateth It was Daniel's Prophesie And some of them of Understanding shall fall to try them and to purge and to make them White even to the time of the End GOD himself expresseth his own Resolution I will bring part of them through the fire and will refine them as Silver is refined and try them as Gold is tried They shall call on my Name and I will hear them I will say It is my People and they shall say The LORD is my GOD. THE meaning of all which places is not as if GOD did stand in need of all these Trials to know what is in us for he knoweth what is in Man from all Eternity before these Trials come he searcheth the Heart and trieth the Reins and discerneth the thoughts and purposes of the Soul He seeth every Inclination in the seed every Grace in the secret habit of the Mind and every Vertue in the Root They lie in the Seed but yet he seeth a mighty difference between quiet Habits and effectual Operations for they differ as much as the Root and the Blossom or the Blossom and the Fruit. For Vertues to lie asleep in the Soul and for Vertues to be actually and fully perfected is as great a difference as for a Vine to be of a generous kind and prone to bear but to remain without Fruit or for a Vine to bring forth
in the Communication than we did in the Reception This is the foundation of real Gratitude and the bottom of all that Goodness which is seated in the bent and inclination of Nature It is a Principle so strong that Fire does not burn with more certain violence than Nature study to use all when it hath gotten it and to improve its Treasures to the acquisition of its Glory THE Holiness of all the work consists in the Fervour wherewith it is done and if our Love shall in Heaven answer all its Causes it will be equal to all its Obligations and Rewards and as infinite in a manner as the excellencies of its objects the very love of GOD towards all things will be in it our Love shall be in all his and his in ours And if we love GOD Angels and Men all Vertue Grace and Felicity as they deserve we shall so delight in excellent actions and in appearing amiable and glorious before them that we would not for all Worlds miscarry in a tittle And therefore every defect even after pardon will be an infinite disaster as well as blemish This is one effect of Gratitude in Nature And if it were not for the Satisfaction of Jesus Christ and the efficacy of Faith and Repentance in his Blood the least Sinner in all Nature would be eternally miserable notwithstanding the advantages of Christs blood It is the desire of the Soul to be spotless in it self And if it be so prophane as to build upon these advantages without taking care to be as excellent as it is able it is the most ungrateful Creature in the World and is too base and dirty to appear in Glory TO talk of overflowing in the disbursments and effusions of Love and Goodness till our emptiness and capacity be full within is as impertinent and unseasonable as to advise a Beggar to give away a Kingdom or a dead man to breath or one that is starving to give Wine and Banquets to the Poor and Needy But when a man is full of blessedness and glory nothing is so easie as to overflow unto others to forbid or hinder him is to stifle and destroy him Breath with the same necessity must be let out as it is taken in A man dies as certainly by the confinement as the want of it To shut it up and deny it are in effect the same When a man hath the glory of all Worlds he is willing to impart the delights wherewith he is surrounded to give away himself to some amiable Object to beautifie his Life and dedicate it to the use and enjoyment of Spectators and to put life into all his Treasures by their Communication To love and admire and adore and praise in such a case are not only pleasant but natural and free and inevitable operations It is then his supream and only joy to be amiable and delightful For the actions of Love and Honour belong in a peculiar manner to a plentiful estate Wants and Necessities when they pinch and grind us in a low condition disturb all those easie and delicate Resentments which find their element in the midst of Pleasures and Superfluities Hence it is that high-born Souls in Courts and Palaces are addicted more to sweet and honourable excesses than Clowns and Peasants The one spend their life in Toil and Labour the other in Caresses and soft Embraces Amities and Bounties Obligations and Respects Complements and Visits are the life of Nobles Industry and Care is that of the meaner People Honours and Adorations are fit for the Temple not for the Market Soft and tender Affections are more in the Court than in the Shop or Barn There is some difference in this respect even between the City and Country But Heaven is the Metropolis of all Perfection GOD is a mighty King and all his Subjects are his Peers and Nobles Their life is more sublime and pleasant and free because more blessed and glorious Their very Palaces and Treasures are infinite Incentives to the works of honour and delight and they cannot rest either day or night but continually cry Holy Holy Holy Lord GOD of Hosts Heaven and Earth are full of the Majesty of thy Glory Their Beauties and Perfections enflame one another Their very Joyes inspire them with eternal Love and as all Care and Labour are removed so are all delights and extasies established Ravishments and Caresses Adorations and Complacencies all the force and violence of Love Charms Allurements high Satisfactions all the delicacies and riches of sweet Affection Honours and Beauties are their Conversation Towards GOD towards themselves towards each other they are all Harmony and Joy and Peace and Love they flie upon Angels wings and trample upon Spices Aromatick Odeurs and Flowers are under feet the very ground upon which they stand is beset with Jewels Such you know were the foundations of the Walls of the New Jerusalem and the pavement of the Street was beaten Gold GOD and the Lamb were the Light and the Temple of it THAT we are to Enjoy all Angels and Men by communicating our selves unto them is a little mysterious but may more easily be understood than a thing so obscure as The Enjoyment of GOD by way of Gratitude That we are to love GOD more than our selves is apparently sure at least we ought to do it but whether it be possible is a question of importance That we gain infinitely by his Love is certain but that we gain more by our own is prodigiouslâ— It is our duty to love him more than our selves but whether it be our Nature or no is doubtful It is impossible to ascend at the first step to the top of the Ladder Even Jacobs Ladder will not bring us to Heaven unless we begin at the bottom Self-love is the first round and they that remove it had as good take away all For he that has no love for himself can never be obliged He that cannot be obliged cannot delight in GOD He that cannot delight in him cannot enjoy him He that cannot enjoy him cannot love him He that cannot love him cannot take pleasure in him nor be Grateful to him Self-love is so far from being the impediment that it is the cause of our Gratitude and the only principle that gives us power to do what we ought For the more we love our selves the more we love those that are our Benefactors It is a great mistake in that arrogant Leviathan so far to imprison our love to our selves as to make it inconsistent with Charity towards others It is easie to manifest that it is impossible to love our selves without loving other things Nature is crippled or if it has her feet has her head cut off if Self-preservation be made her only concern We desire to live that we may do something else without doing which life would be a burden There are other principles of Ambition Appetite and Avarice in the Soul And there are Honours and Pleasures and Riches
in which no Defect or Blemish can be discerned perfect in the variety and Number of its Powers in the fitness and Measure of every power in the use and value of every Endowment A perfect Soul is that whereunto nothing can be added to please our Deâ—â—re As all its Objects are perfect so 〈◊〉 it self It is able to see all that is to be seen to love all that is Lovely to hate all that is Hateful to desire all that is Desirable to honour all that is Honorable to esteem all that can be valued to delight in all that is Delightful and to enjoy all that is Good and fit to be enjoyed If its Power did fall short of any one Object or of any one Perfection in any Object or of any Degree in any Perfection it would be imperfect it would not be the Master piece of Eternal Power PERFECT life is the full exertion of perfect power It implies two things Perfection of Vigour and perfection of intelligence an activity of life reaching through all Immensity to all Objects whatsoever and a freedome from all Dulness in apprehending An exquisite Tenderness of perception in feeling the least Object and a Sphere of activity that runs parallel with the Omnipresence of the Godhead For if any Soul lives so imperfectly as to see and know but some Objects or to love them remisly and less then they deserve its Life is imperfect because either it is remisse or if never so fervent confined PERFECT Fruition as it implieâ— the Perfection of all objects more nearly imports the intrinsick Perfection oâ— it s own Operations For if its Object be never so many and perfect in themselves a Blemish lies upon the Enjoyment if it does not reach unto all their Excellence If the Enjoyment of one Object be lost or one Degree of the enjoyment abated it is imperfect PERFECT Vertue may best be understood by a consideration of its Particulars Perfect Knowledg is a thorow compleat understanding of all that may be Known Perfect Righteousness is a full and adequate Esteem of all the value that is in Things It is a Kind of Spiritual Justice whereby we do Right to our selves and to all other Beings If we render to any Object less than it deserves we are not Just thereunto Perfect Wisdome is that whereby we chuse a most perfect end actualy pursue it by most perfect Means acquire and enjoy it in most perfect manner If we pitch upon an inferiour end our Wisdom is imperfect and so it is if we pursue it by feeble and inferior Means or neglect any one of those Advantages whereby we may attain it And the same may be said of all the Vertues NOW if all Objects be infinitely Glorious and all Worlds fit to be enjoyed if GOD has filled Heaven and earth and all the Spaces above the Heavens with innumerable pleasures if his infinite Wisdome Goodness and Power be fully Glorified in every Being and the Soul be created to enjoy all these in most perfect Manner we may well conclude with the Holy Apostle that we are the children of GOD and if Children then Heirs Heirs of GOD and joynt heirs with Christ if so be that we suffer with him that we may also be glorified together That our light Affliction that is but for a Moment worketh out for us a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory That beholding as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord we shall at last be transformed into the same Image from Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. For all his Works of which the Psalmist saith They are worthy to be had in remembrance and are sought out of all them that have pleasure therein are like a Mirror wherein his Glory appeareth as the face of the Sun doth in a clear fountain We may conclude further that Vertue by force of which we attain so great a Kingdome is infinitely better then Rubies all the Things thou canst desire are not to be compared to her So that with unspeakable comfort we may take Courage to go on not only in the study but the Practice of all kind of Vertues concerning which we are to treat in the ensuing Pages For as the Apostle Peter telleth us He hath given to us all things that pertain to Life and Godliness through the Knowledge of him that hath called us to Glory and virtue whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises that by these you might be Partakers of the Divine Nature having escaped the Corruption that is in the World through List. And besides this saith he giving all diligence adde to your Faith vertue and to vertue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness Charity For so an Entrance shall be Ministred to you abundantly into 〈◊〉 everlasting Kingdome of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Which Kingdom being so Divine and Glorious as it is we have need to bow our Knees to the GOD and father of our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole Family in Heaven and Earth is named that he would grant us according to the Riches of his Glory to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inward Man that Christ may dwell in our Hearts by Faith that we being rooted and grounded in Love may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the Breadth and Length and Depth and Height and to know the love of Christ which passeth Knowledg that we may be filled with all the fulness of GOD. TO be Partaker of the Divine nature to be filled with all the Fulness of GOD to enter into his Kingdom and Glory to be transformed into his Image and made an Heir of GOD and a joynt Heir with Christ to live in Union and Communion with GOD and to be made a Temple of the Holy Ghost these are Divine and transcendent things that accompany our Souls in the Perfection of their Bliss and Happiness the Hope and Belief of all which is justified and made apparent by the explanation of the very nature of the Soul its Inclinations and Capacities the reality and greatness of those Vertues of which we are capable and all those objects which the Univers affordeth to our Contemplation CHAP. III. Of Vertue in General The Distribution of it into its several Kinds its Definition BEfore we come to treat of particular Vertues it is very fit that we speak something of VERTUE in General VERTUE is a comprehensive Word by explaining which we shall make the way more easy to the right Understanding of all those particular Vertues into which it is divided Forasmuch as the Nature of Vertue enters into knowledge Faith Hope Charity Prudence Courage Meekness Humility Temperance Justice Liberality c. Every one of these hath its essence opened in part by the explication of that which entreth its Nature which is VERTUE in General THE Predicament of
other mens Souls shining in the Acts of their Understanding throughout all Eternity and extending themselves in the Beams of Love through all Immensity and thereby transformed every one of them into a Sphear of Light comprehending the Heavens every Angel and every Spirit being a Temple of GODS Omnipresence and Perfection this alone will be a ravishing Spectacle to that Goodness which delights to see innumerable Possessors of the Same Kingdome Much more will the Perfection of the Kingdome it self which by infinite Wisdome is so constituted that every one is the Sovereign Object the First born and Sole heir and End of the Kingdome Every one the Bride of GOD every one there a King yet without Confusion or Diminution every one distinctly enjoying all and adding to each others fruition TO understand all this and not to delight in it is more miserable then not to understand it To see it without being able to enjoy it is to pine away in a prison from whence we see the Glory of a Palace and repine in our misery at the Pleasures of those that are about it To delight in these Things without being affected with them is impossible Nor is there any Affection but that of Love whereby we can enjoy them THE Angels see the Glory of GODS Kingdom and delight in it the Damned see the Joys of the Blessed and are tortured by them the Wicked upon Earth neither see nor are affected with them the Saints on Earth apprehend them in part and believe them desire and endeavour after them they wait with Expectation for the whole and by certain degrees as it were in a Glass enjoy the Image and Reflection of them As many as they comprehend they actually delight in for their love is awakened and extended to the goodness of all they understand which it feeds upon by meditation and turnes into Nourishment for the Beneffit of their Souls which are made more Great and Strong and Vigorous by their Fruitions But without Love it is easie to see that no Goodness can be at all enjoyed GOD does desire Love from us because his Wisdom very well knows that without Love the World would be in vain and the End of the Creation frustrated his Goodness is diffusive and infinitly desires to communicate it self which it cannot do unless it be Beloved To receive it is the highest service we can do unto it nothing being more agreeable to the Nature of his Goodness then that it should be enjoyed His Blessedness consisteth in the pleasure he taketh in the Felicity of others and brancheth it self out into two Parts the Pleasure of Communicating all to others and the pleasure of receiving all from others in the satisfaction which he taketh to see others Blessed in the Returns of those joys and Praises which are offered up to his Goodness and Glory His Glory desires to be seen and delighted in To be esteemed and beloved to be honored and admired is natural to Glory the Brightness of whose splendor is more Sensibly Pleasant in the Reflection of its face and in the Joy that it makes in anothers Soul His Holiness takes Pleasure in pure and upright Actions of all which Love is the fountain There is an Objective fitness and Excellency in Love for which it is infinitely valued by him It is one of the first and immediate Properties of Love to desire to be beloved to make its object most Amiable and Beautiful as well as Blessed to be united to it to have its own Goodness acknowledged its Essence approved its excellency desired admired and delighted in to see all its Actions Appearances Gifts and Tokens esteemed and to feel its own Efficacy in the Grateful Acceptance it finds in the Raptures it occasions in the flames it enkindles in anothers Soul Now Love is the fountain of all Honour Gratitude Praise and Esteem By Love the Soul is transformed into the Similitude of GOD by love made Bright and Beautiful all its Blessedness and Glory are founded in its Love it is by Love it self made Communicative and Diffusive and Great and Rich and as the Scripture speaketh fit for Delights All Obedience and service are founded in Love And if a Creature that is Beloved must freely give up it self to anothers Pleasure before it can shew its Love or intirely be enjoyed Love is of all other things in the World most fit to answer Love because the very heart and Soul is given thereby to the Person that desires it LOVE is the Fountain of all Benefits and Pleasures House Estate and Lands Authority Wealth and Power Life it self is consecrated and Devoted by a Lover to his Object So that on our side all is given to GOD by Love as well as by Love it is received from him The Heavens and the Earth and all the Creatures are Gifts and Tokens of his Love Men and Angels are a Present of his Love which he hath infinitely adorned and made endlessly serviceable to every Soul that is Beloved All these his Love would have us to receive with a due Esteem and therefore is it than of his Love he will have us to exercise our reason aright and Love them as much as their Goodness deserveth When we see and understand their Excellence and Esteem them according to the transcendent value that appeareth in them we adorn our selves with their fair Ideas we enlarge and beautifie our Souls with Bright and clear Apprehensions and which is much more with regular and well ordered Affections we enrich our selves and increase our Greatness in the fruition of his Gifts we are lively and pleasant and vigorous Creatures full of Knowledge and Wisdome and Goodness and fit to offer up all these things unto him again while we empty them as Helps and Advantages in that Service which we pay unto him For our Love to himself is enkindled by these Incentives and while we sacrifice our selves and them unto him we delight in nothing more then to see him that is so Great in Love and Bounty the Author and Possessor of all his Glories CHAP. VIII Of the Excellency of Truth as it is the Object and Cause of Vertue The Matter and form of Vertuous Actions That their form is infinitely more Excellent then their Matter and the Heathen Morality infinitely defective and short of the Christian. I do not see that Aristotle made the End of Vertue any other then a finite and temporal Felicity which is infinitely short of that felicity which is here begun and enjoyed for ever He did not make GOD the Object and End of the Soul and if all Acts are distinguished into their Kinds by their Objects and their Ends those Vertues must be infinitely base that have no other Objects or Ends but Creatures and those only Divine and Noble that flow from an infinite and Eternal Original respect an infinite and Eternal Object rest in an Infinite and Eternal End His Difinition of Felicity importeth all this but his Behavior makes me to
is magnified and Ages enlightned the Ministry of Angels and the Dispensations of Providence by which the Care and Tenderness of GOD is shewn the infinite measures and Violences of his Love the infinite Variety and Number of Obligations the present Advantages and Benefits the Eternal Rewards the Relation of GOD to Man as a Father and a friend a Bridegroom and a King a Light and Example the sweetuess of our Union and Communion with him and the Gift of the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven all these Things which the Angels desire to look into were by the Christian Religion with the rest before mentioned plainly revealed with our victory over Death the Resurrection of our Bodies and Life Eternal IN the Light of these Circumstances the Interior form of Vertuous Acts more evidently appears For to exercise Vertue in the Quality and Capacity of a Son of GOD is another sort of Business than to exercise Vertue as an ordinary Mechanick and to do all things being clothed with a Sence of our Coelestial Grandeur as we are Heirs of the World infinitely Beloved of GOD ordained for his Throne Delightful in the Eyes of all Angels and Men Beloved and honored by all the Creatures made Partakers of the Divine Nature intending and designing to Please all Spectators in Heaven and Earth by the excellency of our Actions This makes every little Deed as it were infinite within while the Matter of the Action seemeth nothing it renders the Form Divine and Blessed THE best Actions of the prophaner Heathen fell under the notion of Dead Works By which name the Apostle calleth all wicked Deeds to intimate the Privation of all that excellency that ought to be in Humane Actions Every Deed and Thought of ours ought to be Inspired with Life from Heaven The Light of the Understanding and the vigor of the Will is the Soul that informes it When it is void of Knowledge and springs not from that series of GODS infinite Love that ought to animate it nor regardeth those Eternal Joys that are set before us nor at all considers those Obligations that are laid upon us it is bereaved of its Vital and Essential form it is like a fair Carcase without a Soul unsensible of those Interests and Concerns that ought chiefly to be valued and promoted And by this you may see clearly that the Matter of a Good act falles infinitely short of that Perfection wherewith it ought to be inspired if this Soul or Form be wanting which tho less visible to the Eye of flesh is of as much greater Excellence and Importance as the Soul in nature is above Body THUS when a Heathen giveth to the Poor the matter of the Act is the very self same which a Christian man does So is an Act of Courage or Patience in encountring Death the subduing of the Appetite and the Denial of a Lust a piece of Justice against Interest and friendship an Act of Prudence Temperance or Fidelity In all these if we respect the Matter of them Heathens have acted in a manner as high as any Christian and consequently appear to vulgar Apprenhensions as Heroick and Stupendious But consider the inside the Heathen did it that he might satisfie his Conscience and and please the GODS that he might acquire honor and immortal fame or please the generous Inclination of his own Soul which delighted in Honor and Worth or assert his own Principles or five his friends or preserve his Country And doubtless these are Great and brave considerations but they are limited and finite and Sick of two Defects for the most part that are incurable They were Sacrifices of Obedience to false Gods plain Idolatry and attended with an ignorant Loftiness and Height of Mind that confided in them and besides this they aspired to little more then a Glorious name in following Ages WHEREAS the Christian makes all Kind of Graces to meet and concentre in every Action Wisdom Goodness Justice Courage Temperance Prudence Humility Penitence Patience Meekness Liberality Cheerfulness Gratitude Joy in the Holy Ghost Devotion Piety Faith Hope Charity all Kind of Holiness And his Action extends to all the Objects of these Graces and includes their Causes He remembers the infinite Obligations that are laid upon him by that Deity which infinitely Loves him the Benefit of the Creation and the Glory of the Divine Image the Guilt of fall and that blot and misery that lyes upon him the Wonder of his Redemption and the Love of Christ his Death and Passion the Miraculous Pains and Endeavors of GOD in all Ages to reclaim him the Giving of the Holy Ghost and his holy Baptism the New Covenant which he is in with GOD the Height and Glory of his Place and station the Beauty of the World and his Dominion over all the Living Creatures the Joy and Amity of all the Angels the Benefit and Welfare of all his Neighbours the Joy and Prosperity of future Ages the Glory of GOD the Honour of his Church and the Propagation of Religion the Salvation of others Souls and the Eternal State and condition of his own the Acquisition of a Coelestial and Eternal Kingdom and the Delight he taketh in an infinite Sphere of Eternal Joys the fervent Desire he has to be Grateful to the Almighty all these by the Light of his Divine and Coelestial Knowledge enter into the Act for want of which the other work that is wrought by an Ignorant Heathen is in a Manner rightly called a Work of Darkness I do not speak this as if I would discourage a Heathen from doing the Best that he is able or condemn those reasons upon which he proceedeth in his Vertuous Deeds No nor as if all this were necessary to the Acceptance of an Action But to shew how highly Christianity does ennoble the Soul of Man how far more sublime its Principles are and how far more perfect it makes his Actions When they are what they may be And withal to provoke Christians to a more Intelligent and lofty Practice of Christian Vertues lest they differ not in their Morals from the better sort of Heathens All these things are necessary to the perfection of an Action tho not to its Acceptance And GODS Omnipresence and Power and Wisdom and Love ought to be considered in all places among all Persons upon all occasions And the Blood of Christ and the infinite Glory of Eternal Bliss But that which above all I chiefly intend is to shew what influence the great Perfection of Felicity hath upon all our Vertues not only to stir us up to do them but by entering their Constitution to inspire them with their Beauty and form for their fuller Lustre Glory and Perfection That we may see also how Great and Transcendent that Life must be wherein every Act is capable of so much Majesty and Magnificence if I may so speak by reason of the variety of its Ends and Causes And how abominable and absurd they are all that
impossible that he by determining their Wills should make them the Authors of Righteous Actions which of all things in the World he most desired There is as much Difference between a Willing Act of the Soul it self and an Action forced on the Will determined by another as there is between a man that is dragged to the Altar whether he will or no and the man that comes with all his Heart with musick and Dancing to offer sacrifice There is Joy and Honour and Love in the one fear and constraint and shame in the other That GOD should not be able to deserve our Love unless he himself made us to Love him by violence is the Greatest Dishonour to him in the World Nor is it any Glory or Reputation for us who are such sorry Stewards that we cannot be entrusted with a little Liberty but we must needs abuse it GOD adventured the possibility of sinning into our hands which he infinitely hated that he might have the Possibility of Righteous Actions which he infinitely Loved Being a voluntary and free Agent he did without any Constraint Love and desire all that was most high and Supreamly Excellent of all Objects that are possible to be thought on his own Essence which is a Righteous Act is the Best and the Righteous Acts of Saints and Angels are the Highest and Best next that which Creatures could perform The very utmost Excellence of the most noble Created Beings consisted in Actions of piety freely wrought which GOD so Loved that for their sake alone he made Angels and Souls and all Worlds These Righteous Actions he so Loved that for their sake he prepared infinite Rewards and Punishments All the Business of his Laws and Obligations are these Righteous Actions That we might do these in a Righteous Manner he placed us in a mean Estate of Liberty and Tryal not like that of Liberty in Heaven where the Object will determine our Wills by its Amiableness but in the Liberty of Eden where we had absolute Power to do as we pleased and might determine our Wills our selves infinitely desiring and Delighting in the Righteous use of it hating and avoiding by infinite Cautions and Provisions all the unjust Actions that could spring from it If we Love Righteous Actions as he does and are holy as he is holy in all manner of Wisdome and Righteousness then shall we delight in all Righteous Actions as he doth shall Love Vertue and Wisdome as he doth and prefer the Works of Piety and Holiness above all the Miracles Crowns and Scepters in the World every Righteous and Holy Deed will be as pleasing to us as it is to him all Angels and Men will be as so many Trees of Righteousness bearing the fruit of Good Works on which we shall feast in Communion with GOD Or if our Righteous Souls be vexed as Lots Soul in Sodom was in seeing and hearing the unlawful Deeds of the wicked they shall be recreated and revived with the sight of GODS most Righteous Judgments and with the Beauty of his holy Ways by which he rectifies the Malignity of the Wicked overcomes the evil of their Deeds and turnes all the vices of men into his own Glory and ours in the Kingdome of Heaven The Delights of Wisdome and Righteousness and Holiness are suitable to their Nature as those of Goodness are to the nature of Goodness Which no man can enjoy but he that is qualified for them by the Principles of Goodness and Holiness implanted in his Nature For as he that has no Eys wanteth all the Pleasures of sight so he that has no Knowledge wanteth all the pleasures of Knowledge he that is void of Holiness is void of the Sence which Holiness inspires and he that is without Goodness must needs be without the Pleasures of Goodness for he cannot delight in the Goodness of GOD towards other Creatures To be Good to be Holy to be Righteous is freely to delight in Excellent Actions which unless we do of our own Accord no External Power whatsoever can make us Good or Holy or Righteous because no force of External Power can make us free whatever it is that invades our Liberty destroys it GOD therefore may be infinitely Holy and infinitely desire our Righteous Actions tho he doth not intermeddle with our Liberty but leaves us to our selves having no Reserve but his Justice to punish our ofences CHAP. XIII Of Justice in General and Particulars The Great Good it doth its Empires and Kingdoms a Token of the more retired Good it doth in the Soul It s several Kinds That GODS Punitive Justice Springs from his Goodness THO following the common Course of Moralists in our Distribution of Vertues we have seated Justice among the Cardinal Moral yet upon second Thoughts we find reason to reduce it to the number of Divine Vertues because upon a more neer and particular Inspection we find it to be one of the Perfections of GOD and under that notion shall discover its Excellence far more compleatly then if we did contemplate its Nature as it is limited and bounded among the Actions of Men. THE Universal Justice of Angels and Men regards all Moral Actions and Vertues whatever It is that Vertue by which we yield Obedience to all righteous and Holy Laws upon the Account of the Obligations that lye upon us for the Publick Welfare of the whole World Because we Love to do that which is Right and desire the fruition of Eternal Rewards There is much Wisdome and Goodness as well as Courage and Prudence necessary to the Exercise of this Vertue and as much need of Temperance in it as any For he that will be thus just must of necessity be Heroical in despising all Pleasure and Allurements that may soften his Spirit all fears and dangers that may discourage and divert him all inferior Obligations and Concernes that may intangle and ensnare him he must trample under foot all his Relations and friends and particular Affections so far as they incline him to partiality and sloth he must be endued with Great Wisdome to discern his End great Constancy to pursue it great Prudence to see into Temptations and Impediments and to lay hold on all Advantages and Means that may be improved he must have a Great Activity and Vigor in using them a Lively sence of his Obligations a transcendent Love to GOD and felicity a mighty Patience and Long-suffering because his Enemies are many his Condition low his Mark afar off his Business manifold his Life tho short in it self yet long to him his undertaking Weighty and his nature corrupted THEY otherwise define Justice to be that Vertue by which we render unto all their Due Which is of large Extent if the Apostles Commentary comes in for Explication For this Cause pay you Tribute also for they are GODS Ministers attending continually on this very thing Render therefore to all their Dues Tribute to whom Tribute is Due Custom to whom Custom Fear to
again divided into two For some of them are Laws that teach us our Duty some of them Propositions only or bare and Simple Affirmations which we call Articles guiding our Apprehensions in the Truth of those Things which are meet to be Known Speculation is intended in the one and Practice in the other NATURAL Doctrines are Objects of Divine Faith only as they are revealed by the Word of GOD. For the Authority of the Witness is that which maketh our Faith Divine They are called Natural because how ever Blind any man is in his present condition upon a diligent Search those Things may be clearly discerned by the Light of Nature Those Doctrines which are Objects of Divine Faith and yet may be found out by the Investigation of Reason are such as these That there is a GOD that the World was made that man was created in GODS Image that he hath Dominion over the works of his Hands that he is or ought to be tenderly Beloved of all mankind that he is to be good and full of Love to others that he is to render all Objects their Due Esteem and to be Grateful for the Benefits he hath received of his great Creator that the first Estate of the Worlds Creation was pure and perfect that Sin came in by the Accidental abuse of the Creatures Liberty that Nature is Corrupted that Death was introduced as the Punishment of Sin that the Soul is Immortal that GOD is infinitely Just and Wise and Holy that he will distribute Rewards and Punishments according to Right that there is such a Thing as Eternity and Immensity that the Body is frail and subject to Diseases that we receive all Things from GOD and depend in the fruition of all upon his Power and Providence that it is Wife to please him and foolish to displease him that Punishment is due to Sin and that GOD hateth it that Reward is due to Vertue and GOD delighteth in it that there is a Conscience in the Soul by which it feels and discovers the Difference between Guilt and Innocence That man is a Sinner that he is prone to Evil and Obnoxious to GODS Wrath that nevertheless he is spared by the Long-suffering of GOD and that GOD Loveth him and desireth his Salvation That there is a felicity and a Supream Felicity appointed for man that he is a free Agent and may lose it if he pleases that misery is the Consequent of the Loss of Felicity that GOD delighteth in all those that Love and practice Vertue that he hateth all those that drown their Excellencies in any Vice that Sorrow and Repentance are necessary for all those that have offended GOD that there is Hope to escape the Punishment of Sin if we endeavour to live as piously as we ought All these things are evident in themselves by the Light of Nature because they may either be clearly deduced from the principles of Reason or certainly discerned by plain Experience And are therefore taught by the Word of GOD either because they had need to be revived and raised up to light from under the Rubbish of our Fall or because GOD would sanctifie Nature by his express Consent or make its Dictates more remarkable and Valid by his Approbation and confirm all by the Seal of his Authority or because a fair Way is laid open by these to more retired and Coelestial Mysteries FOR when we know these Things we are prone to enquire what GOD hath done what Way there is to recover our ancient Happiness what Remedies are prepared for the corruption of Nature how the Guilt of Sin may be removed how we may be aided and assisted in the works of Virtue by what Means our Reconciliation with GOD is wrought and in what manner we ought to demean our selves that we may be accepted of him for the knowledge of our former health is necessary for the clear apprehension of our present Sickness and the sense of our Infirmitie fits us for the Physician When we know all that Nature can teach and see something needful that Nature cannot unfold when we are condemned by our Conscience yet feel our selves beloved find that we have forfeited all yet see the Glory of the creation continued for our use and service stand in need of an Atonement yet Know not where to get it our Exigency meeting with the grace of GOD the sence of our Misery and Hope united our own Guilt and GODS Mercy of both which we have the feeling and experience adopts us for the Reception of the Holy Gospel wherein those thing are revealed that come in most fitly to answer our Expectations Satisfaction for Sin by the Death of Christ and the Incarnation of his GODHEAD above the course of Nature for that End His active and passive Obedience in our Stead our Justification thereby the application of his Merits to our souls by faith the Glory which we owe him for so great an undertaking the coming down of the Holy Ghost to Sanctifie our Nature and the dignity of Both these Persons by reason of their Unity in the eternal Essence for the manifestation of which the Mysterie of the Trinitie is largly revealed these supernatural Points come in so suitably and are so agreeable to Nature so perfectly fit in their places so marvellously conducive to the perfection of the Residue that the very Harmony and sweetneess of altogether is enough to perswade us of their Credibility and then the Matter of fact comes in with the Testimony and Authority of GODS Word assuring us that these Things are so by History and Prophesie The Miracles at our Saviours Birth alone one would think enough to clear the business much more if we take in all the Miracles of his life wherein his Glory appeared as of the only begotten of the Father more fully yet if we take in the Miracles of his Death and abundantly more if the Glory of his Resurrection and Ascension be added But especially the Coming down of the Holy Ghost and the Power the Apostles received from heaven all the Prophesies that went before and all the successes that followed after all the Faith and Learning of the Fathers all the Canons and Decrees of Councils all the Transactions of the World drawn down to our own Age in a continued series illustrate and confirm all that is revealed BUT you will say How shall we know such Histories to be true and that such Prophesies and Prophets were in their several Ages Since we never saw the same with our eyes and there are many sleights and Fables in the World How dost thou know there are any Antipodies Thou didst never see them Or that there is any Sea which thou didst never behold Or that the next River has a Fountain Head Is not the Universal Tradition of all the world wherein the Church of Rome nay the Catholick Church is but a little Part a clear Light for a matter of Antiquitie attended with a Stream of Effects and
the Outward Court they enjoyed the society of the visible Church the sight of the Bloody Altar which answers out Saviors Cross erected in the World and the Benefit of their Outward Profession which consisted in their Admission to the Visible Ordinances and exterior Rites of Religion But that Court was open over head obnoxions to showers in Token that a bare Profession is not Enough to shelter us from the Dangers and Incommodities that may be rained down in Judgments upon us from the wrath of GOD whence the face of Heaven is overcast with Clouds and Covered with black and Heavy Displeasure till we wash and be clean and enter by penitence into the Invisible Church of which the Second Court is a Figure wherein we are illuminated by the Holy Ghost and offer up the sweet Perfumes of our Thanksgivings and Praises being admitted to feed upon the Heavenly Feast represented by the Shew-bread Table we are never received into the Society of the Saints and Angels bainted out in the Cheruhims and Palm Trees round about on the inside of its Walls nor Covered over head with a vail to protect us A vail of Blew to represent the inferior Heaven wherein Cherubims were interwoven to represent the Angels looking down upon us a vail of Goats-hair concealed and unseen above that of Blew to signifie the fruits of our Saviour Life and another of Rams-skins died Red to signifie the Blood of Christ by which we are secured from all the Displeasure which otherwise for Sin was due to us The Goats hair fitly resembles the Active Obedience or the Righteousness of Christ for as much as Hair may be clipped off and a Covering made of it while the Beast is alive For so might Christ have been perfectly Righteous tho his Life had never been Taken away But red is the Color of blood the Skin importeth Death for as much as it cannot be fleyed off without the destruction of the Creature These vails therefore as they were above the other were of higher and more mysterious importance And spread over the inclosed and invisible Court into which none but Priests and Levites entered that washed at the Laver to intimate the security only of those that are washed in the Laver of Regeneration and make Kings and Priests unto God being purged from their old sins and sanctified and illuminated in a secret Spiritual manner For as they only that tarried in their Houses were under the protection of the Paschal Lamb whose Blood was sprinkled on the Lintils of their Gates and Doors when the destroying Angel past through the Land of Egypt to kill the First-born of Man and Beast So onely they that keep within the Pale of the Invisible Church are under the Shaddow of the Almighty because they only dwell in the secret place of the most High and they alone are under the Coverture of that Powerful Blood which speaketh better things than the Blood of Abel but pleads for the preservation of them onely that repent and believe and is therefore effectually spread over the Invisible Church alone Which in another Type is exhibited by the mixture of the Blood and Oyl which was sprinkled upon the Priests and Lepers that were cleansed Sanctification and Justification moving alwayes together hand in hand the Unction of the Holy One or the Oyl of Love and Gladness annointing all those that are washed and only those are washed in clean and pure water they alone being effectually sprinkled with the Blood of Christ who of GOD is made unto us Wisdome and Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption FOR if God should take Pleasure in us before we were pure his Complacency would be false and his Delight unrighteous Till we are Delightful to him we can never be Honorable nor Glorious before him Nor ever be pleasing to that Goodness which is indelible tho latent in our own Souls till we feel our selves clean and Beautiful IF any thing in the World can commend the value of Repentance or discover the infinite use and necessity of it this will certainly be a consideration Effectual That tho GOD love us with an infinite and eternal Love tho he magnifies his Mercy infinitely over all our Deservings tho Jesus Christ loved us so as to sacrifice himself in our places tho he made infinite satisfaction to the Justice of God for our Sins tho the Holy Ghost came down from Heaven for our sakes may tho we ourselves were taken up into Heaven all this would he of little avail and we should quickly be tumbled down again if only Sin were Delightful to us and our Wills so obstinate that there was no place for Repentance in our Hearts no sorrow nor Contrition for the Offences we had committed It is not the Love of GOD to us so much as our love to him that maketh Heaven It may surprize you perhaps but shall certainly instruct you for the Love of GOD may be infinite yet if it be unseen breed no delight in the Soul if it be sleighted and despised it shall increase our Cuilt Shame and Deformity and make us the more Odious which it must needs do when we are impenitent For so long it is manifest that we are neither Sensible of his Love nor Just unto it The taste of its sweetness and the Pleasure we take in his infinite Love is the Life of Blessedness and the Soul of Heaven It is the Concurrence of our Love and His when they meet together that maketh Heaven HERE upon Earth we ought actually to grieve and repent for our Sins But should GOD require a measure in our Grief answerable to its Causes our Repentance it self would be an Hell unto us For the Grief would be Endless and insupportable Right Reason requires that we should be infinitely afflicted for the infinite folly and madness of Sin But the Mercy of GOD dispenseth with our Grief so far that it takes off the Pain which its infinitâ— Measure would inflict upon our sense and accepts of an Acknowledgement made by our Reason that it ought to be infinite if strict Justice were exacted at our Hands Our intention is in the Course of Reason to be infinitely and Eternally grieved for the Baseness of the Act and the Vileness we have contracted and so we should be dâ—d its Effects continue and abide forever for then we should be hated of GOD and become his Enemies World without End But the Removal of that Hatred and the infinite Mercy whereby we are forgiven hath a kindly Operation on the Soul of every Penitent and the Joy it infuseth restrains and limits the Excess of our Sorrow it leaves the Intension of Grief and its inclination in the Mind yet stops the persecution and relieves our Reason by diverting the stream of its Operations and Exercises it engageth its actual Resentments upon other Objects which turn it all into Love and Adoration Praise and Thanksgiving Joy and Complacency For the Love of God continued after our fall and
followed had it been as it might have been perfectly observed ALL Adams Children had been himself divided and multiplied into millions and every one a Greater Treasure to him than the whole world The Stars had not been by a thousand Degrees so great an Ornament to the skies as they to the Earth an ofspring of Incarnate Angels an assembly of corporeal Seraphims a Race of Celestial Kings every one loving and Honouring Adam as the Fountain of their Being and the Author of their Well being of the one in begetting them of the other by standing and abiding in his Integrity They had all been so many Pledges of his Wives Affection Monuments of love New and Powerful Endearments Enlargements of their Parents Being Mirrors and Memorials of both their perfections For all had been made for every one and every one had been the Joy nay and the Beauty of all All had been every ones Objects and every one the Spectator of all every one would have delighted in the Beauty of all and all had conspired and strived together in the love of every one their concurrence infulfilling the Law would have banished all sin and Oppression Discontentment and sorrow Wrong and Injury Theft and Murder and Adultery and Lying out of the World there had been no noise of War or Contention or anger or Envy or Malice or Revenge this accursed the Black Guard had never appeared but all would have been Delightful to one another Affections Honours Benefits and Services Pleasures Praises and Prosperities these alone had filled the World with Beauty Security Peace and Glory Wisdome Goodness Love and Felicity Joy and Gratitude had been all that had been Known had Love been intirely and inviolably observed BUT where GODS Laws are broken there is confusion and every Evil Work Which nevertheless does more highly commend the excellency of his Nature and reflect a Praise upon that Authority which must first be despised before any Misery can come into the World If the Duty which the Law requires be all sweetness and Felicity and Glory Compleatly good and on every side Advantageous and Profitable we that fail in the Discharge of our Duty may be condemned but GOD is to be admired and still to be confessed most Glorious and Holy because he delights in the welfare of his Creatures and makes Religion so desireable a Mystery and enjoynes such admirable Things as would make all transcendently Blessed and Good and Perfect were they perfectly observed He designes that all should be amiable whom we are commanded to Love and that we should be not only prone to Love but actually full of it and the reason why he consistutes Love as the Sovereign Law is because as our Saviour saith There is none other greater Commandement none more Blessed or Divine or Glorious none more conducive to our Bliss his pleasure the perfection of his Kingdome Removing the Law of Love it is impossible to put another Law in its Place which can answer the Designs of his Wisdome and Goodness of comply with the Exigencies of our Estate and condition It is as easie to change the Nature of GOD and devise another deity as Good and convenient as to invent a better Law then this which is plainly of all other the most Divine and Holy If we ascend up into Heaven and take a perfect account of all the Opperations and Effects of Love as they appear in Glory we may first give our selves the Liberty of Wishing and consult what of all Things possible is most fit to be desired Had we a Power to chuse what Kind of Creatures would our selves be made could we desire to be any thing more great and Perfect then the Image of GOD In the full extent and utmost height of its Nature it is the Resemblance of all his Blessedness and Glory To have Beings without Power or power without Operations will never make us like GOD because by an infinite and Eternal Act of Power he is what he is Actions are so necessary that all Felicity and Pleasure is continually founded in some act or other and no Essence is of any value but as it employs it self in a delightful manner What Law then would we have to regulate our actions by Since Actions are of different Kinds some good some Evil some convenient some Hurtful some Honourable and some Delightful some Base and Odious some are Miserable and some are Glorious we would chuse such a Law to guide our Actions by as might make them honourable and delightful and good and Glorious All these are with Wisdome and Blessedness shut up in Love And by Love it is that we make our selves infinitly Beautiful and Amiable and Wise and Blessed while we extend that Delightful and Blessed Affection to all objects that are Good and Excellent so that on this side we have all we can desire Essences Laws and Actions that most tend to our full and compleat perfection If on the other side we look after objects for this Affection and desire to have some Creatures most Excellent and fit for their Goodness to be Beloved what Creatures can we wish above all other that can be made to satisfie and please us Can any thing be more high and perfect then the similitude of GOD GOD is LOVE and his Love the Life and Perfection of Goodness There is no Living Goodness so sweet and amiable as that alone none so Wise none so Divine none so Blessed VVhat Laws can we desire those Creatures to be guided by but the Laws of Love By Love they are made Amiable and delightful to us by Love they are made Great and Blessed in themselves All Honour and Praise Benevolence and Good-will Kindness and Bounty Tenderness and Compassion all Sweetness and Courtesie and Care and Affabilitie all Service and Complacency are shut up in Love It is the Fountain of all Benefits and Pleasures whatsoever All Admiration Esteem and Gratitude all Industry Respect and Courage are shut up in Love and by Love alone doth any object of ours Sacrifice it self to our Desire and Satisfaction So that on that side our Wishes are Compleated too while the most High and Blessed and Glorious Creatures love us as themselves For thereby they are as much our Felicity as their own and as much take pleasure and Delight therein As for GOD his Way is perfect like curious needle work on either side compleat and exquisite ALL that we can fear or except against is his Omission in forbearing to compell his Creatures to love whether they will or no. But in that Liberty which he gave them his Love is manifested most of all In giving us a Liberty it is most apparent for without Liberty there can be no Delight no Honour no Ingenuity or Goodness at all No action can be Delightful that is not our Pleasure in the Doing All Delight is free and voluntary by its Essence Force and Aversion are inconsistent with its nature Willingness in its operation is the Beauty
the World are regulated they are as our Savour calleth them Good or Evil Treasures out of which proceeds Murders Adulteries Thefts Slanders c. Or Praises Honours Preferments Riches Pleasures all kind of Gifts and Benefits And the prudent mans main Business is to make himself intirely beloved by all the World which can never be without great Fidelity Courage Goodness Prudence and Dexterity Flattery and Base compliances makes a man Odious THE Last End of prudence is Eternal Happiness and Glory to which it moveth by crooked Meanders and windings out as occasion requireth It is a strange Vertue for its Conversant amongst Terrene and inferior Objects and yet a far more Difficult Vertue then Wisdom it self Wisdome is a more High and Heavenly Vertue but its Rules are always fixed and its objects Stable where as Prudence hath no set and Stated Rules but in all occasions is to mould and shape it selfe it knows not which way till it comes to Action Its Paths are in the Deep and mighty Waters among Storms and tempests CHAP. XXI Encouragements to Courage It s Nature cause and End Its Greatness and Renown Its Ornaments and Companions Its objects Circumstances Effects and Disadvantages how Difficulties increase its vertue It s Verand Triumphs How subservient it is to Blessedness and Glory LOVE and Prudence are the parents of Courage A Feeble Hen a Timerous Mother will Sacrifice their Lives for their young ones And he that forgetteth all his own Interests divests himself together with them of his Fears and despising Death first easily slighteth all other Things Even a Coward by Nature is made more Bold and confident by Skill at his weapon And he that is always assured of the Victory can never be afraid of the Encounter or the Enemy He that is Dexterâ—ous at the use of all Vertues and knows how to apply them so as ever to come off more honourably will laugh at the Trial of his own Innocence and make a Game of Difficulties and Terrors VALOUR is a right and strong Resolution of the Soul whereby it dare encounter with any Difficulty and Trouble for Vertues sake It is the Armour of the Soul against all Impressions of Fear its Effect is an Equal and uniform stayedness of Mind against all Dangerous and Terrible Accidents It containeth Magnanimitie Patience Constancy Invincible Resolution Boldness and Industry in its Nature It s cause is the Love of Vertue and the sence of Honour Indignation against any thing that is Base and vile a High Ambition and desire of Glory It s End is the preservation of a Mans person and Honesty the Conquest of all Opposition in the Way to Bliss the Destruction or Subjection of Enemies Triumph and Conquest the Establishment of Peace the Attainment of Liberty and Glory Its Attendants are Prudence Justice and Temperance the principal Ornament and Grace of valour is Worth and Goodness its Aids and Encouragements are insinite it groweth Great and High by making use of all the Causes of Hope and Confidence Conflicts and Dangers are the Element in which it lives It owns its whole being to them for without Causes of Fear there could be no courage in all Nature The Knowledge of GOD is the root of Divine Valour and Fidelity to his Laws its Commendation The Assurance of his Love and all those Things that serve to beget and confirm it are subservient to it It draws in strength and Encouragements form all Obligations and Rewards from all Great and Holy examples from the Knowledge of its own Sublimity from the Greatness of Felicity from the Omnipotence and Omnipresence and Providence of the Deity from his Truth and Goodness and from all those Things wherein he has manifested his Love above the Heavens OF all the Vertues in greatest Estimation this is most renowned For its Prerogative is so great that it is simply called VERTUE Vertue being the Word to express and signifie Valour among the Latines because the Force and Efficacy that is in it is most visible and Apparent and by that all other Vertues are secured vindicated Exercised and made Useful It is stiled Manhood among the English with a peculiar Emphasis As is the Essence of a man was founded in Courage because his Vigor is emasculated and his Dignity lost that is Effeminate and Timerous for he is scarce a Man that is a Coward WHAT a Glorious and incomparable Vertue this is appeareth from the Baseness and Ineptitude of its Contrary A Coward and an Honest Man can never be the same a Coward and a constant Lover can never be the same a Coward and a Brave Man can never be the same Cowardice and Wisdome are as incompatible forever as Love and Wisdom were thought toâ— be of Old A Coward is always despicable and Wretched because he dares not expose himself to any Hazzards nor adventure upon any Great Attempt for fear of some little Pain and Damage that is between him and an Excellent Atchievment He is baffled from the Acquisition of the most Great and Beautiful Things and non plust with every Impediment He is conquered before he begins to fight The very sight of Danger makes him a Slave He is undone when he sees his Enemy a far off and wounded before the Point of the Sword can touch his shadow He is all wayes a Terror and Burden to himself a Dangerous Knave and an useless Creature STRANGE is the Vigour in aâ— Brave Mans Soul The Strength of his Spirit and his irresistible Power the Greatness of his Heart and the Height of his Condition his mighty Confiedence and Contempt of Dangers his true Security and Repose in himself his Liberty to dare and do what he pleaseth his Alacrity in the midst of Fears his invincible Temper are advantages which make him Master of Fortune His Courage fits him for all Attempts renders him serviceable to GOD and MAN and makes him the Bulwark and Defence of his King and Country LET those Debauched and unreasonable men that deny the Existence of Vertue contemplate the Reality of its Excellency here and be confounded with shame at their Prodigious Blindness Their Impiety designs the Abolishment of Religion and the utter Extirpation of all Faith and Piety while they pretend the Distinction between Vertue and Vice to be meerly feigned for the Awing of the World and that their Names have no foundation in Nature but the Craft of Politicians and the Tradition of their Nurses Are there no Base fellows nor Brave Men in the World Is there no difference between a Lion and a Hare a faint hearted Coward and a Glorious Heroe It s there Nothing Brave nor vile in the world What is become of these Rodomontadoes wits Where is the boasted Glory of their Personal Valour if there be no Defference but Courage and Cowardize be the same thing HOW empty these Self but shallow conceited Ranters are is evident by their short and narrow measures They place all Gallantry and Worth in Valour all the
that though the disproportion between them and their Assurance or Hope or Desire seem infinite and the end which they aim at by their Magnanimity is judged impossible though their attempt appear a ridiculous madness to them to whom the Verities of Religion appear incredible yet they are no whit discouraged or disheartened at the matter but stoutly march on being animated by the alarum of such a Trumpet such a Drum as Magnanimity is His Faith is more Divine by conquering the discouragements of the World than if he met with no censure or opposition IF you would have the Character of a Magnanimous Soul he is the Son of eternal Power and the Friend of infinite Goodness a Temple of divine and heavenly Wisdom that is not imposed upon by the foul and ragged disguises of Nature but acquainted with her great Capacities and Principles more than commonly sensible of her interests and depths and desires He is one that has gone in unto Felicity and enjoyed her beauties and comes out again her perfect Lover and Champion a Man whose inward stature is miraculous and his Complexion so divine that he is King of as many Kingdoms as he will look on One that scorns the smutty way of enjoying things like a Slave because he delights in the Celestial way and the Image of GOD. He knows that all the World lies in Wickedness and admires not at all that things palpable and near and natural are unseen though most powerful and glorious because men are blind and stupid He pities poor vicious Kings that are oppressed with heavy Crowns of Vanity and Gold and admires how they can content themselves with such narrow Territories yet delights in their Regiment of the World and paies them the Honour that is due unto them The glorious Exaltation of good Kings he more abundantly extols because so many thousand Magnanimous Creatures are committed to their Trust and they that govern them understand their Value But he sees well enough that the Kings glory and true repose consists in the Catholick and eternal Kingdom As for himself he is come unto Mount Sion and to the City of the living GOD the Heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable Company of Angels to the General Assembly and Church of the First-born which are written in Heaven and to GOD the Judge of all and to the Spirits of Just men made perfect and to JESUS the Mediatour of the New Covenant And therefore receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved he desires to serve GOD acceptably with reverence and godly fear And the truth is he can fear nothing else for GOD alone is a consuming fire He very well understands what the Apostle saith and dares believe him I cease not to give thanks for you making mention of you in my Prayers that the GOD of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of Glory may give unto you the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of him the eyes of your Understanding being enlightened that ye may know what is the HOPE of his Calling and what the RICHES of the GLORY of his INHERITANCE in the Saints And what is the EXCEEDING GREATNESS of his POWER to us-ward who believe according to the WORKING of his Mighty Power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own RIGHT HAND in the HEAVENLY places far above all Principality and Power and Might and Dominion and every Name that is named not only in this WORLD but in that also which is to come And hath put ALL THINGS under his feet and he gave him to be HEAD over all Things to the CHURCH which is his BODY THE FULNESS OF HIM THAT FILLETH ALL IN ALL. Now to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the Power that WORKETH in us Unto him be Glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all AGES World without end Amen A great and a clear Soul knoweth that all these intimations must needs be true for it is an amazing Miracle that they should be otherwise Infinite Love and Eternal Blessedness are near allyed and that these should cease is contrary to all Nature in GOD in the Soul of Man in Heaven in Earth in the order of the Universe and contrary to all that VISIBLE GLORY which in the World appeareth CHAP. XXIX Of Modesty It s Nature It s Original Its Effects and Consequences MODESTY is a comely Grace in the Behaviour of a Man by which he piously dissembleth his own Perfections and blusheth at his Praises It springeth from a certain fear and sence of his Imperfection 'T is the shadow of Guilt and a beautiful cover of Original Corruption It is sometimes Natural and which is contrary to all other Vertues more truly vertuous for being so For then it is Simple Genuine and Real but studied Modesty is affected and artificial yet where Nature has not been so obliging as to give the endowment 't is not altogether to be condemned since it is agreeable to the best of our conditions in this World and supplies a defect in his Nature that is born without it IT is akin to Shame yet increases the honour of him that wears it it is the shade of Vertue yet makes it brighter It is a tincture of Humility visible in a vermilion and deeper die and the more natural and easie the more sweet and delightful IT charms the Envy of those that admire us and by seeming to extinguish our worth gives it a double beauty It reconciles a man to the Enemies of his Grace and Vertue and by a softness irresistible wins a Compassion in all Spectators It is a Vertue which by refusing the honour that is due unto it acquireth more a real Counterfeit and the only honest and true dissimulation It is an effeminate yet a laudable quality a spice of Cowardice more prevalent than Courage a Vertue by which we despise all meaner Honours while we are ambitiously carried to the highest Glory It seemeth inconsistent with Magnanimity yet is her youngest Sister IT hath not many Objects nor are its Aims apparent nor its Ends conspicuous It is the Mother of fine and delicate Resentments its strength consisteth in tenderness and fear He that is Magnanimous in one respect may be modest in another Praises and Commendations are the fuel of its Nature it feedeth upon them while it grows by rejecting them It delights in what it feareth and is full of discords but more full of harmonies It is pleased in its displeasure and alwaies fighteth with its own Repugnancies It is a Vertue mixt of Sence and Reason its region is in the Body more than in the Soul and in all its Spiritual motions it is attended with Corporeal impressions The Blood and Spirits dance in the Veins as if Nature were delighted with its own Confusions By captivating the favour of Men upon Earth it affecteth the very Angels in Heaven with much of pleasure It