have neither strength nor even desire to cultivate it LII But if God should act in the order of Grace by particular wills if he should efficaciously cause in all men their good motions and all their good works with a particular design I do not see how it could be maintained that he acts by the most simple Laws When I consider all the turnings by which men come whither God leads them for I doubt not at all but that God often gives to a man more than an Hundred good thoughts in one day Neither can I any more comprehend how his Wisdom and Goodness can be made to agree with all those inefficacious graces which the Malice of men resists For God being good and wise is it not evident that he must proportion his assistance to our needs if he granted them with a particular design of encouraging us Additions It appears by these Articles that my principle does still perfectly well agree with the Counsels of Jesus Christ and that as the Husbandmen ought on their part to Cultivate Plow and Sow their Lands so men on theirs should endeavour to remove the impediments of the efficacy of Grace But that as the labours of men are not the cause of rain so Grace likewise is not given to natural merits since its distribution depends upon certain general Laws like as the ordinary rain is the natural consequence of the general Laws of the communication of motions LIII God causes the weeds to grow with the Corn till the day of Harvest he makes it to rain on the just and on the unjust because grace falling on men by general Laws is often given to such as make no use thereof whereas if others had received it they wou'd have been converted by it If Jesus Christ had preached to the Tyrians and Sydonians as well as to the Inhabitants of Bethsaida Corazin they wou'd have Repented in Sackcloath and Ashes If the rain which falls upon the Sands was shed upon well-managed Land it would have rendred it fruitful But whatsoever is regulated by general Laws does not agree with particular designs That these Laws be wisely established it is sufficient that being extreamly simple they bring to perfection the great work for which God appointed them LIV. But tho I do not think that God has infinite particular designs in reference to each of the Elect so that he every day gives a great number of good thoughts and good motions by particular wills Yet nevertheless I deny not but they are all predestinated by the good will of God towards them for which they ought to be eternally thankful See how I explain these things LV. God discovers in the infinite treasures of his wisdom an infinite number of possible works and at the same time the most perfect way of producing each of them Amongst others he considers his Church J. C. who is the Head thereof and all persons who in consequence of certain general laws must compose it In short having in mind Jesus Christ and all his members he established his laws for his own glory This being so is it not evident that J. C. who is the principle of all that glory that comes to God from his work is the first of the predestinated That all the Elect also are truly and freely beloved and predestinated in J. C. because they may honour God in him that lastly they are all infinitely obliged to God who without considering their merit hath established the general Laws of Grace which must sanctify the Elect and bring them to that glory which they shall eternally possess Additions Man is a strange creature he is as full of pride as he is worthy of contempt He is not satisfied with God if God does not go out of his way to please him He looks upon himself as the Centre of the Vniverse he refers all things to his own particular even God himself and his Eternal Attributes God is not good but as he is good to him and even the incarnation of J. C. is a work useless and ill managed if it do not deliver him from his miseries But on Gods side what excess of bounty It seems as if God to render himself Amiable to those who are most in love with themselves favours this prejudice by his way of speaking unto men God so loved the World says J. C. himself that he gave his only begotten Son to the end that all that believe in him shou'd have eternal life What! is J. C. in the eternal designs of God made Man only for mens salvation No doubtless On the contrary men were made for Jesus Christ They are the materials wherewith he is to build the Eternal Temple and this Temple is only for God This is the design of the uncreated Wisdom J. C. is the Head of the Church now the Members are for the Head and not the Head for the Members J. C. is the first in all things In omnibus primatum tenens But he himself is for God Omnia vestra sunt vos autem Christi Christus autem Dei Let us be satisfied that God who has no need of us was pleased to create us in Jesus Christ for his own glory He might have left us in our nothing yet he has loved us in J. C. before the creation of the world But let us not flatter our selves it is because we have J. C. as our Head that we can render unto him divine Honours For God cannot act but for his own glory Omnia propter semetipsum operatus est Dominus But he cannot find it except in himself Because a prophane World a Temple a Worship a Priesthood which is not consecrated by the eternal Spirit has no proportion with the Holiness of God God after sin might have reduced us to nothing and yet on the contrary he hath made us his adopted Sons in J. C. He will give us a part in the inheritance of his well beloved Son How thankful should we be for such an extream kindness It is true that they who shall be thus happy are not chosen by an absolute and rash will it is because the simplicity of the general Laws of the order of Grace is favourable unto them and that herein God acts after such a manner as may be most worthy of him But what shall not God be amiable to men if he does not forsake his wisdom to love them with a blind love Should Nothing exalt its self and not be content with its Creator if he does not without reason prefer it before the rest of his creatures shall he not rather put himself in the condition of so many sinners nations abandon'd to error whom God leaves therein without help he who has sworn by his Prophets that hedesires their Conversion and Sanctification God desires the Salvation of a sinner and yet he suffers him to dye in his sin God searches the hearts and turns them as he pleases and without injuring their liberty and yet all the
necessary that in the order of Grace there be some occasional cause which establishes these Laws and determines the efficacy of them and this is that cause which we must endeavour to find out IV. Tho we never so little consult the Idea of Intelligible order or consider the sensible order which appears in the works of God we clearly discover that the occasional causes which determine the efficacy of the general Laws and establish them must necessarily have relation to the design for which God appoints these Laws For example we see by experience that God has not and Reason convinces us that he ought not to have made the motions of the Planets the occasional causes of the union of soul and body He could not have willed that our Arm shou'd be moved after such and such a manner nor the soul suffer the pain of the Tooth-ach at the time of the Moons conjunction with the Sun if this conjunction does not act upon the body The design of God being to unite the Soul to the Body he cou'd not give to the Soul the sentiments of grief but when some changes happen in the body which are contrary to it Thus we ought not to seek any where else but in the Soul and in the Body the occasional causes of their union V. Hence it follows that God having a design to form his Church by J. C. could not according to this design seek any where else but in J. C. and the Creatures united by reason to J. C. the occasional causes which serve to establish the general Laws of Grace by which the spirit of J. C. is shed upon his Members and communicates unto them his Life and Holiness Thus Grace is not showered down upon our hearts according to the divers scituation of the Stars nor according to the meeting of several bodies nor even according to the different motion of the animal spirits which give unto us motion and life No bodies can excite in us any motions and sentiments but what are purely natural for all that comes to the soul by the body is only for the body The Angels themselves are not made occasional causes of inward grace They are as well as we Members of that body of which J. C. alone is the Head they are Ministers of J. C. for the salvation of the Saints I grant that they may produce some change in the bodies which surround us and even in that which we animate and that thus they may remove some impediments of the efficacy of Grace But certainly they cannot distribute to men such a precious gift they have not immediate power over the minds of men which by their nature are equal to them To conclude St Paul teaches us Heb. 11.5 to believe that God has not subjected to them the future World or the Church of J. C. Thus the occasional cause of Grace cannot be found but in J. C. or in man VI. But seeing it is certain that grace is not granted to all those that desire it nor as soon as they desire it and it is often given to those who do not ask it it follows that even our desires are not the occasional cause of Grace For this kind of causes always have readily their effect and without them the effect is never produced For example the striking of bodies upon one another being the occasional cause of the change which happens in their motion if two bodies do not meet one another their motions are not changed and if they be changed we may be assured that they did The general Laws by which Grace is poured into our hearts do find nothing in our wills which may determine their efficacy like as the general Laws which govern the rains are not founded upon the dispositions of the places where it rains For whither Lands lye Fallow or whither they be cultivated it rains indifferently in all places even upon Sands and in the Sea VII We are then brought to maintain that since none but J. C. cou'd merit grace there is likewise none but he who cou'd give the occasions of the general Laws according to which it is given to men For the principle of the foundation of general Laws or that which determines their efficacy being necessarily either in us or in J. C. since it is certain it is not in us for the reasons above mentioned it must needs be found in J. C. Thus it was necessary that God after sin should have no regard to our wills Being all in disorder we cou'd no more be the occasion of Gods giving us Grace A Mediator therefore was necessary not only to give us access to God but also to be the natural or occasional cause of those favours we hope to receive from him VIII Since God designed to make his Son the Head of his Church it was convenient he should make him the natural or occasional cause of Grace which sanctifies it for it is from the Head that Life and motion ought to be given to the members And it was even with this foresight that God permitted sin for if man had continued in his Innocence without being assisted by the Grace of J. C. seeing his wills wou'd have merited Grace and even Glory God should have established in man the occasional cause of his perfection and happiness The inviolable Law of order requires this so that J. C. wou'd not have been the Head of his Church or such an Head whose influences the Members wou'd have had no need of IX If our soul had been in our body before it was form'd and all the parts which compose it disposed of according to our different wills with how many divers sentiments and motions wou'd she have been affected by all the effects which she would have known ought to have followed from her wills especially if she had had an extream desire to have made a more Vigorous and better form'd body Eph. I. 22 23. IV. 16. Col. 11.19 Act. IX 5. Col I. 24. 1 Cor. XII 27. c. Now the Holy Scripture does not only say that J. C. is the Head of the Church but it also teaches us that he begot it that he form'd it that he nourishes it that he suffered in it that he merits in it that he acts and influences it without ceasing The zeal which J. C. has for the glory of his Father and the love he bears to his Church inspires him continually with a desire of making it the most ample the most magnisicent and the most perfect he can possibly Thus seeing the soul of J. C. has not an infinite capacity and yet desires to give infinite beauties and ornaments to his Church we have all the reason to believe that there is a continual succession of thoughts and desires in his Soul in respect of his Mystical body which he continually forms X. Now these continual desires of the Soul of Jesus which sanctifie the Church and render it worthy of the Majesty of his Father
themselves to his mind very clearly without putting him to any trouble Now the soul of J. C. is personally united to the Word and the Word as the Word contains all possible being with their relations he contains all immutable necessary eternal truths J. C. as man can no sooner think of any truths but they are instantly discovered to his mind J. C. therefore knows all Sciences he knows all possible things since he may without any effort of mind see all that the Word contains as the Word For the same reason J. C. knows all the divine Perfections since the Word is a substantial representation of the divine Nature and the Father communicates to his Son all his Substance He knows even the Existence the Modifications the relations of the Creatures but by a kind of revelation which the Father gives to him whensoever he desires him according to those words of J. C. himself I know O Father that thou always hearest me For since the creatures are not the necessary emanations of the Divinity the Word as the Word does truly represent their Nature or Essence but not their Existence for their Existence depends upon the free will of the Creator which the Word meerly as the Word does not contain seeing the Divine Decrees are common to all the three Persons Thus the Existence of the Creatures cannot be known but by a kind of Revelation J. C. therefore as man knows all things In him are hidden all the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God but he does not actually think upon all things and this is evident For the soul of J. C. has not the capacity of an infinite mind And those who maintain that there are no succession of thoughts in J. C. and that he always knows whatsoever he does know thinking to attribute to the soul of J. C. a sort of immutability which is due only to God they necessarily make him liable to very great ignorance See the proof of this It is certain that natural effects are combined amongst themselves and with those of Grace after an infinitely infinite manner and that these combinations are every moment changed after infinite ways by reason of the mutability of Mens wills and the irregular course of the animal Spirits which change all our traces and all our Ideas in consequence of the Laws of Union of Soul and Body Now the capacity of thinking which the Soul of J. C. has as Man is finite Therefore if he knew or always actually thought upon that which he knows he must necessarily be ignorant of an infinite number of things Furthermore it is certain that the properties of numbers are not only infinite but infinitely infinite That in respect of Figures there may be for example an infinite number of Triangles of different kinds each of their sides being capable of being lengthned or shortned to infinity Now to say that J. C. knows not the properties of such Triangles or the relation of one of their sides or its Square or its Cube or its Quadrata-quadrate c. with other Sides or their Squares or their Cubes or their Quadrata-quadrates c. this is to suppose that J. C. is ignorant of that which the Geometricians know But if it be maintained that J. C. as Man always actually knows every thing that he knows it is necessary that he be ignorant of an infinite number of the properties of these Triangles Nevertheless let us suppose that Natural effects are not combined with the effects of Grace and that likewise all the thoughts of men their circumstances their combinations were something finite which the mind of man might discern all at once certainly to suppose that the Soul of J. C. does always think of them is to give unto him a very useless and troublesome knowledge It is troublesome for that which renders the soul of J. C. happy is the contemplation of the perfection of the Sovereign good Now the knowledge of all the Chimaeraes which do have and shall pass in our minds according to this supposition continually distracting the capacity of the soul of J. C. otherwise entertain'd in beholding the Beauties and tasting the sweetness of the chief Good would not be very agreeable to him For it must be observed that it is one thing to see God and another thing to see the Creatures and their modifications in God I think I have demonstrated that we see all in God in this life but this is not to see God or to enjoy him Thus it cannot be said that J. C. sees all our thoughts without dividing his capacity of thinking because he sees them all in God This actual knowledge therefore which some wou'd give to J. C. is troublesome for it is very irksome to think actually upon those things upon which we do not desire to think of A Geometrician who should have found out the Squaring of a Circle or any other more surprising Truth wou'd be very miserable should it be always present to his mind J. C. has an Object more worthy of his application than the modification of the Creatures therefore always to have an actual knowledge of our thoughts and needs pass'd and future would be very troublesome Moreover it would be altogether useless to him and to us Certainly it is sufficient that J. C. thinks of assisting me when I shall have need without thinking thereof for two or three Thousand years or rather from all Eternity For J. C. must actually think thereof from all Eternity if there be no succession of thoughts in his soul As in the Treatise of Nature and Grace which I composed for those Persons who are not over credulous I resolved not to propose any Principles which might be contested and since if I had supposed that the soul of J. C. had actually known all things my supposition might have been opposed by the reasons which I have produced and perhaps by others better I have therefore only supposed that J. C. has a clear Idea of the soul and the modifications of which it is capable to produce a noble effect in the Temple which he builds to the glory of his Father that which Reason and Faith do demonstrate Thus I suppose J. C. to act in consequence of this only supposition in the XIII XIV XV XVI Articles where I compare him to an Architect and to a Soul which should have power to form all the parts of its Body For as an Architect may form a Design and build an Edifice without concerning himself from whence the materials come he employs therein so J.C. by his union with the Word may form his designs and desires without thinking on the actual dispositions of all men He hath admonished them by his Counsels in his Gospel to put themselves in such a condition that Grace may not be useless to them It becomes him not to order his desires the distributive causes of his Graces according to the negligence or wickedness of men but according to the condition
Ideas would doubtless have imagined that the first man had no sentiment of Objects and that to eat and nourish himself he studied to know the consiguration of the parts of the fruits of Paradise the relation they might have with those of his Body thereby to judge whether they would have been proper for his nourishment In all probality they would have believed that to walk Adam had thought on the Nerves which answered to his Legs and that he had continually conveyed to them such a quantity of Animal spirits to remove them and thus they would have judged of other Functions by which Mans life is preserved We very near do the same thing as to the manner in which J. C. forms his Church We will needs judge thereof according to our Ideas and yet perhaps we understand nothing thereof God united the Soul to the Body of the first Man after a much more wise and real manner than the Angels themselves could imagine For God advertised him by sentiments after a short and undoubted manner of what he ought to do and this without dividing as little as might be the capacity which he had of thinking upon his Sovereign good For then his Senses kept silence whensoever he desired it Man may still walk and meditate both together but the first man upon all occasions might and also ought without withdrawing himself from the presence of God to give unto his Body all that which was necessary for it Why may not God at present therefore give unto J. C. certain kinds of compendious knowledge whereof we have no Idea that he may thereby better facilitate the construction of his Church so that the relation which he has to us may not divide the capacity which he has of seeing God and enjoying his happiness God appointed certain general Laws of the union of Soul and Body that the first Man might preserve his Life without applying himself over-much to particular Objects Why may not God by making his Son the Head of the Church have established such like general Laws It may be this ought to have been so that God might act in such a manner as agrees best with the divine attributes and perhaps that apparent irregularity with which Grace is given unto men is in part a consequence of this marvelous invention of eternal wisdom Assuredly it may be the first Adam was even in this a figure of the second and that J.C. besides his knowledge and desires which we cannot deny to him without impiety hath still compendious ways worthy of an infinite wisdom by which as we by our sentiments and passions he acts in his mystical body without being diverted from his Sovereign good which he loves too much to lose the sight of or remove himself from its presence There are several passages in Scripture may countenance this opinion but I might well be accounted rash should I pretend to establish it as a point which ought to be believed That which I say may be true but I ought not to assert it as true before I am well convinced of it my self If this be not it may be or some such like thing as for my part I have not justified the Wisdom and Goodness of God but by leaving to J. C. as Architect of the Eternal Temple that we cannot take from him without offering violence to Reason and good Sense But I am glad to know that there are several ways of answering those who oppose the Quality which I give to J. C. of an occasional cause which determines the efficacy of the good will of God in respect to men and that all the Objections which can be made against me in this can upon no other account be hard to be resolved but because we are ignorant of a great many things which it would be necessary to know for the clearing them up XVII The divers desires of the Soul of J. C. giving Grace hence we clearly apprehend whence it is that it is not equally given to all men and that it falls upon certain persons at one time more than at another Since the Soul of J. C. does not think at the same time of sanctifying all men it has not at the same time all the desires of which it is capable Thus J. C. does not act upon his Members after a particular manner but by successive influences like as our Soul does not at the same time remove all the Muscles of our Bodies For the Animal Spirits go equally and successively into our Members according to the different impressions of Objects the divers motions of our passions and different Desires which we freely form in our selves XVIII It is true that all the just continually receive the influence of the Head that gives them life and that when they act by the Spirit of J. C. they merit and receive new graces tho it be not necessary that the Soul of J. C. has any particular desires which may be the occasional causes of them for the order which requires that all Merit be rewarded is not in God an Arbitrary Law it is a Necessary Law which depends not upon any occasional cause But tho he that has done a Meritorious Action may be rewarded for it and yet the soul of J. C. have actually no desires in respect of him nevertheless it is certain that he has not merited Grace but by the dignity and holiness which the Spirit of J. C. communicated to him For men are not acceptable to God and do nothing that is good John 15.4 but so far as they are united to his Son by Charity Additions Altho I say order requires that the Just Merit Grace it must not be understood of all Graces but only of those which are absolutely necessary for the vanquishing unavoidable temptations But God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able says St. Paul Now Order requires that God should be faithful Quis autem dicat eum qui jam coepit credere ab illo in quem credit non mereri says St. Augustine de Praedest Sanct. Ch. 2. The just therefore may merit Grace by the assistance of Grace but he cannot in strictness merit those Graces which are not absolutely necessary for him This depends upon the good will of J. C. as he is the occasional cause of the order of Grace And in strictness good works perhaps merit only the reward of happiness But it is not necessary that I should stand to explain the different ways of understanding merit XIX Moreover it must be confest that they who observe the councels of J. C. by the esteem which they have for them and by the fear they have of future Punishments do solicite as I may say by their obedience the love of J. C. to think of them tho as yet they should act only by self-love But all their actions are not occasional causes neither of Grace since they are not infallibly attended therewith nor even of the
the first had caused and there is such a relation between the Sinful and Earthly Adam and the Innocent and Heavenly Adam that St. Rom. V. 14 17 18 19. 1 Cor. 15 48. Paul looks upon the first communicating sin to his Ofspring by his disobedience as the figure of the second giving to Christians by his obedience righteousness and holiness XXVI Order requires that the soul should govern the body and that she should not be distracted whither she will or no with all those sentiments and all those motions which turn her to sensible Objects Thus the first man before sin was so much Master of his sences and his passions that they were silent whensoever he desired it nothing was able to turn him from his duty against his will and all the pleasures which then prevented his reason did only respectfully after a gentle easie manner advertise him of what he was to do for the preservation of his life But after sin he lost all at once the power he had over his body so that not being able to stop the motions nor effuse those traces which sensible Objects made in the principal part of his brain his soul by the Order of Nature and as a punishment of his disobedience became miserably subject to the Law of Concupiscence to that Carnal Law which continually fights against the mind and every moment inspires it with the Love of sensible goods and rules over it by passions so strong and lively and yet at the same time so sweet and agreeable that it cannot nay will not make all necessary endeavours to break the bonds which captivates it For the infection of sin is communicated to all the Children of Adam by an infallible consequence of the Order of Nature as I have else where Explained XXVII The Heart of Man is always a slave to pleasure and when Reason teaches us it is not convenient to enjoy it yet we do not avoid it but that we may find another more sweet or solid We willingly sacrifice lesser pleasures to greater but the invincible impression which we have for our own happiness permits us not all our lives long to deprive our selves of that sweetness which we taste when we suffer our selves to follow our passions Additions In the third discourse you will see how this ought to be understood XXVIII It is certain that pleasure makes him happy who enjoys it at least while he does enjoy it Thus men being made to be happy pleasure always gives a touch to the will and moves it towards that object which causes it or seems to cause it The contrary must be said of grief Now Concupiscence consists only in a continual succession of sentiments motion which prevent reason which are not subject thereunto of pleasures which coming from the objects about us inspire us with the love of them of griefs which making the exercise of vertue harsh and painful give us an abhorrence of them It therefore became the second Adam that he might cure the disorders of the first to produce in us pleasures and aversions contrary to those of concupiscence pleasures with respect the true goods and horrors or aversions in respect of sensible goods Thus the grace whereof J. C. is the occasional cause and which as Head of the Church he continually bestows upon us is not the Grace of knowledge tho he has merited this Grace and tho he may sometimes communicate it as I shall shew by and by but it is the Grace of sentiments It is this previous delectation which produces and entertains the love of God in our hearts for pleasure naturally produces and entertains the love of those objects which cause or seem to cause it It is likewise the horror which sometimes accompanies sensible objects which gives us an aversion to them and makes us capable of governing the motions of our love by our knowledge XXIX The Grace of sentiment should be opposed to concupiscence pleasure to pleasure horror to horror that the influences of J. C. might be directly opposed to the influence of the first man The remedy that it may cure the disease must be contrary thereto For the Grace of knowledge cannot heal an Heart wounded with pleasure to this end this pleasure must either cease or another succeed in its room Pleasure is the weight of the soul which naturally enclines it towards it self sensible pleasures weigh it down towards the Earth That the soul may determine it self either these pleasures must be dissipated or the delectation of Grace raise her towards Heaven and put her almost in Equilibrio 'T is thus that the new Man opposes the old that the influences of our Head resists the influences of our Father Adam that J. C. overcomes all our domestick Enemies Since Man had no concupiscence before his sin it was not necessary he should be carried to the love of good by a previous delectation He clearly knew that God was his good it was not necessary that he should feel it There was no need that he should be drawn by pleasure to love him whom to love nothing hindred and who he knew was perfectly worthy of his love but after sin the Grace of delectation was necessary to him to counter-ballance the continual effort of concupiscence Thus knowledge is the Grace of the Creator delectation the Grace of the Redeemer Knowledge is communicated by J. C. as Eternal Wisdom Delectation is given by him as Wisdom Incarnate Knowledge in its original was no more than Nature Delectation was always pure Grace Knowledge after Sin was not granted to us but through the Merits of J. C. Delectation is given to us through the Merits and by the Efficacy of the power of J. C. In short Knowledge is sent down upon our minds according to our different desires and applications as I shall Explain But the Delectation of Grace is not shed upon our Hearts but according to the various desires of the Soul of J. C. Additions That the Healing Grace of J. C. consists in a preventing Delectation is a thing so much out of doubt with St. Augustine that F. Deschamps who has so Learnedly confuted Jansenius and is so opposite unto him agrees with him in this Point tho they differ from one another as to the manner in which Grace acts in us See Jansenius de Grat. Chr. Lib. IV. c. 1. and Deschamps Lib III. Disp III. c. 16. 19. I cannot perswade my self to continue the Explication of those things which to me seem clear of themselves Insomuch that what follows either needs it not or is not particular to me My Principles are sufficiently confirm'd by what has been said and if they be clearly understood I dont think there will be any difficulty in what follows XXX It is true that pleasure produces Knowledge because the soul gives more attention to the Objects from which she receives more pleasure Since the generallity of men dispise or neglect the truths of Religion because these
love the true good by Reason because Order requires that the true good should be loved after this manner and because Knowledge alone does not transport or invincibly carry us towards the good which it discovers We do no wise Merit when we love the true good by Instinct or so far as Pleasure invincibly transports or determines the Mind because Order requires that the true good or the good of the Mind should be loved by Reason by a Free love by a love of Choice and Discretion and because the love which Pleasure alone produces is a Blind Natural and Necessary love I confess that when a Man goes further than he is carried by Pleasure he Merits but this is because he acts by Reason and as Order requires he shou'd act for that love which he has above the Pleasure is a Pure and a Reasonable love XXX In like manner it must be Concluded that a Man always demerits when he loves false goods by the instinct of Pleasure provided that he loves them more than he is invincibly engaged to love them For when we have naturally so little Liberty and Capacity of Mind that Pleasure invincibly transports us tho we be irregular and our love be bad and against Order we do not demerit For to demerit I mean to deserve to be punish'd a Man must run after false goods with more earnestness or go farther than Pleasure invincibly carrys him For it must be observed that there is a great deal of difference betwixt a Good action and a Meritorious Action betwixt an irregular action and an action which deserves to be punished the love of a Just Person is often irregular in sleep and yet deserves not to be punished Whatsoever is conformed to Order is good and all that is contrary thereunto is bad but nothing Merits or Demerits but the good or ill use of Liberty or that wherein we have some share Now a Man makes a good use of his Liberty when he follows his Knowledge when he goes on as I may say freely and of himself towards the true good whether he be at first determined by the preventing delectation or by the light of Reason When he sacrifices sensible Pleasures to his duty and conquers grief by the love of Order On the contrary he makes an ill use of his Liberty when his Pleasure is his Reason when he sacrifices his duty to his passions his perfection to his present happiness his love of Order to Self-love and does all this at the time when he is not really forced thereunto I shall still explain this more clearly XXXI When two Objects present themselves to the mind of Man and he will chuse one of them I confess that he will never fail to determine himself on that side where he shall find most Reason and Pleasure on that side where he 'll see most good Since the soul cannot will or love but by the love of good the will being nothing but the love of good or the natural motion of the soul towards good she infallibly loves that which has most conformity with that which she loves invincibly But it is certain that when sensible Pleasures or some such like thing does not disturb the Mind a Man may always suspend the judgment of his love and not determine himself especially in respect of false goods for the soul can have no evidence that false goods are true goods nor that the love of these false goods does perfectly agree with the motion which carrys us towards the true good Thus when a Man loves false goods at the time when his senses and passions do not altogether disturb his Reason he demerits because then he may and ought to suspend the judgment of his love For if he had staid a while to have examined what he ought to have done this false good would soon have appeared much the same as it is Remorse of Conscience and perhaps even the delectation of Grace would have changed all the dispositions of his mind and heart For the condition of a Traveller has nothing fixed a thousand different objects present themselves continually to his mind and the life of Man upon Earth is only a continual succession of thoughts and desires XXXII It seems at first that in respect of the true good Man cannot suspend the judgement of his love for we cannot suspend our judgment but when the evidence is not full Now we cannot but see that it is most evident that God is the true good and that also none but he can be good to us we know that he is infinitely more Amiable than we can comprehend But it must be observed that tho we cannot suspend the judgment of our Reason in respect of speculative truths when the evidence is full yet we may suspend the judgment of our love in respect of good what evidence soever there is in our Ideas For when Sentiments fight against Reason when Taste opposes Knowledge when we sensibly find that to be bitter and ungrateful which Reason clearly represents as sweet and agreeable we may chuse whether we will follow our Reason or our Senses We may act and indeed often do act against our Knowledge because when we attend to Sentiment Knowledge is lost if we do not use violence to retain it and because we ordinarily attend more to Sentiment than to Knowledge because Sentiment is more lively and agreeable than the most evident Knowledge XXXIII It is pleasure which makes minds actually happy Upon this account we ought to enjoy Pleasure when we love the true good the mind thinks upon God if it draws near to him by its love and tastes no other sweetness On the contrary God sometimes fills it with bitterness and desolation He forsakes He rejects it as I may say not that it should cease to love him but rather that its love may be more Humble more Pure and more Meritorious In short He commands it to do some things which makes it actually Miserable But if it draws near to Bodies it finds it self happy proportionably happy as it is united to them certainly that is a temptation what Knowledge soever one may have for we invincibly desire to be happy So that a Man Merits very much if fixing upon his Knowledge he denies himself notwithstanding all uncomfortable desertions if he sacrifices his actual happiness to the love of the true good if living by Faith and trusting in the Promises of God he continues inviolably true to his duty It therefore plainly appears that J. C. might Merit his Glory tho he most evidently knew the true good because having a great love for his Father he intirely submitted himself to his orders without being carried thereto by preventing Pleasures Because altogether complying with his Knowledge he suffered very great Asslictions and sacrificed all the most lively and sensible Pleasures to the love of God For he took a Body as we have that he might have a * Heb. 8.3 victim to offer unto God and
which accompany certain effects that there is an occasional cause established to produce them it is sufficient to know that they are very common and relate to the principal design of the general cause to judge that they are not produced by a particular will For example the Rivers which water the Earth relate to the principle of Gods designs which is that men should not want necessaries for life This I suppose Moreover Rivers are very common therefore we ought to think that they are formed by some general Laws For as there is more wisdom required in executing designs by simple and general ways than by ways compounded and particular as I think I have sufficiently proved elsewhere we ought to give this Honour to God as to believe that his manner of acting is general uniform constant agreeable to the Idea which we have of his infinite wisdom These are the marks by which it may be judged whether an effect be or be not produced by a general will I shall now prove that God dispences Grace to Men by general Laws and that J. C. was the occasional cause of determining their efficacy I begin with the Proofs drawn from H. Scripture XI St. Paul teaches us Col. 2.19 that J. C. is the Head of the Church that he continually dispences to her the Spirit which quickens her that he forms the Members thereof and animates them as the Soul does the Body or to speak yet more clearly the H. Scriptures teaches us two things First That J. C. Prays continually for his Members Heb. 7.25 9.24 John 11.42 Second That his Prayers and Desires are always heard Whence I conclude that he is appointed by God the occasional cause of Grace and also that Grace is never given unto Sinners but by his means Occasional causes do always and very readily produce their Effect The Prayers or divers Desires of J. C. relating to the formation of his Body do always readily obtain their Effect God refuses nothing to his Son as J. C. himself has taught us The occasional causes don't produce their effect by their own efficacy but by the efficacy of the general cause It is also by the efficacy of the power of God that the soul of J. C. operates in us it is not by the efficacy of the humane will For this reason 't is that St. Paul represents J. C. as Praying continually to his Father for he is obliged to Pray that he may obtain The occasional causes are established by God to determine the efficacy of his general wills and J. C. according to the Scripture was appointed by God after his Resurrection to Govern the Church which he had purchased with his own blood For J. C. was the Meritorious cause of all Graces by his sacrifice but after his Resurrection he enter'd into the H. of Holies a Sovereign Priest of good things to come that he might appear in the presence of God and shed upon us the Graces which he had merited for us Thus he himself applyes and distributes his gifts as the occasional cause He disposes of all things in God's House as a well beloved Son in the House of his Father I think I have demonstrated in the Search after Truth that God only is the true cause or acts by his own proper efficacy and that he doth not communicate his Power unto Creatures but by making them the occasional causes of producing certain effects I have proved for example that Men have no power to produce any motion in their bodies but because God hath made their wills the occasional causes of these motions and that fire has no power to cause pain in me but because God hath made the striking of one body upon another the occasional cause of the communication of motions and the violent shaking of the nerves of my Flesh the occasional cause of my Pain I may here suppose a Truth which I have largely proved in Chap. III. Part 2. of Book IV. of the Search c. And in the Explication of the same Chapter and which they for whom I chiefly write do not deny Now 't is certain by Faith that Power is given to J. C. for forming his Church Mat. 28.18 Data est mihi omnis potestas in Coelo in terra This cannot be understood of J. C. according to his Divinity for in this respect he never received any thing 'T is certain therefore that J. C. according to his humanity is the occasional cause of Grace supposing it proved that God only can act upon Minds and that second causes have no efficacy of their own which they who would understand my Sentiments and judge of them ought first to examine XII I say moreover that no Person is sanctified but by the efficacy of the Power which God has communicated to J. C. by establishing him the occasional cause of Grace For if any sinner was Converted by Grace of which J. C. was not the occasional cause but only the meritorious the sinner having not received his new Life by the influence of J. C. he would not be a Member of the Body of which J. C. is the Head after that manner in which St. Paul expresses it Chap. 4.16 See Col. 11.19 in these words of the Epistle to the Ephesians That we may grow up into him in all things who is the Head Christ from whom the whole Body fitly joyned together and compacted by that which which every joynt supplieth according to the effectual working in the measure of every part maketh encrease of the body unto the edifying it self in love Which words do not meerly say that J. C. is the Meritorious cause of all Graces but do more distinctly express that Christians are the Members of the Body of which J. C. is the Head and that it is in him we encrease and live a life altogether new and that it is by his inward operation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that his Church is form'd that he was appointed by God the only occasional cause who by his divers desires and applications distributes those Graces which God as the true cause sends down upon men 'T is for this reason St. Coloss 2.7 Paul says that Christians are united to J. C. as to their root Radicati super aedificati in ipso 'T is for this reason likewise that J. C. compares himself to a Vine and his Disciples to the Branches who receive their life in him Ego sum vitis vos palmites 'T is for this reason that St. Paul assures that J. C. lives in us and we in him that we are risen in our Head that our Life is hid with God in J. C. In a word that we already have eternal life in J. C. These and several other Expressions clearly shew that J. C. is not only the meritorious but also the occasional physical or natural cause of Grace and that as the Soul informs animates and perfects the Body so J. C. as the occasional Cause