is either I have prayed for that grace or I have seen that I have that desire not by a direct observation but by some other signification But it is certain no man can be sorrowful for not being sorrowful if he means the same kinde and manner of sorrow as there cannot be two where there is not one and there cannot be a reflex ray where there was not a direct But if there be such difficulty in the questions of our own sorrow it were very well that even this part of repentance should be conducted as all the other ought by the ministery of a spiritual man that it may be better instructed and prudently managed and better discerned and led on to its proper effects But when it is so help'd forward it is more then Contrition it is Confession also of which I am yet to give in special accounts §. 3. Of the natures and difference of Attrition and Contrition ALL the passions of the irascible faculty are that sorrow in some sense or other which will produce repentance Repentance cannot kill sin but by withdrawing the will from it and the will is not to be withdrawn but by complying with the contrary affection to that which before did accompany it in evil Now whatever that affection was pleasure was the product it was that which nurs'd or begot the sin Now as this pleasure might proceed from hope from possession from sense from fancy from desire and all the passions of the concupiscible appetite so when there is a displeasure conceived it will help to destroy sin from what passion soever of what faculty soever that displeasure can be produced If the displeasure at sin proceeds from any passion of the irascible faculty it is that which those Divines who understand the meaning of their own words of art commonly call Attrition that is A resolving against sin the resolution proceeding from any principle that is troublesome and dolorous and in what degree of good that is appears in the stating of this Question it is acceptable to God not an acceptable repentance for it is not so much but it is a good beginning of it an acceptable introduction to it and must in its very nature suppose a sorrow or displeasure in which although according to the quality of the motives of attrition or the disposition of the penitent there is more or less sensitive trouble respectively yet in all there must be so much sorrow or displeasure as to cause a dereliction of the sin or a resolution at least to leave it But there are some natures so ingenuous and there are some periods of repentance so perfect and some penitents have so farre proceeded in the methods of holiness and pardon that they are fallen out with sin upon the stock of some principles proceeding from the concupiscible appetite such are Love and Hope and if these have for their object God or the Divine promises it is that noblest principle of repentance or holy life which Divines call Contrition For hope cannot be without love of that which is hoped for if therefore this hope have for its object temporal purchases it is or may be a sufficient cause of leaving sin according as the power and efficacy of the hope shall be but it will not be sufficient towards pardon unless in its progression it joyn with some better principle of a spiritual grace Temporal Hope and temporal Fear may begin Gods work upon our spirits but till it be gone farther we are not in the first step of an actual state of grace But as attrition proceeds from the motives of those displeasing objects which are threatned by God to be the evil consequents of sin relating to eternity so Contrition proceeds from objects and motives of desire which are promises and benefits received already or to be received hereafter But these must also be more then temporal good things for hopes and fear relating to things though promised or threatned in holy Scripture are not sufficient incentives of a holy and acceptable repentance which because it is not a transient act but a state of holiness cannot be supported by a transitory and deficient cause but must wholly rely upon expectation and love of things that are eternal and cannot pass away Attrition begins with fear Contrition hath hope and love in it The first is a good beginning but it is no more before a man can say he is pardoned he must be gone beyond the first and arrived at this The reason is plain because although in the beginnings of Repentance there is a great fear yet the causes of this fear wear away and lessen according as the repentance goes on and are quite extinguished when the penitent hath mortified his sin and hath received the spirit of adoption the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the confidence of the sons of God but because repentance must be perfect and must be perpetual during this life it must also be maintained and supported by something that is lasting and will not wear off and that is hope and love Serm. 7. de tempor according to that of S. Austin Poenitentiam certam non facit nisi odium peccati amor Dei. Hatred of sin and the love of God make repentance firm and sure nothing else can do it but this is a work of time but such a work that without it be done our pardon is not perfect Now of this Contrition relying upon motives of pleasure and objects of amability being the noblest principle of action and made up of the love of God and holy things and holy expectations the product is quite differing from that of attrition or the imperfect repentance for that commencing upon fear or displeasure is onely apt to produce a dereliction or quitting of our sin and all the servile affections of frighted or displeased persons But this would not effect an universal obedience which onely can be effected by love and the affection of sons which is also the product of those objects which are the incentives of the divine love and is called Contrition that is a hatred against sin as being an enemy to God and all our hopes of enjoying God whom because this repenting man loves and delights in he also hates whatsoever God hates and is really griev'd for ever having offended so good a God and for having endangered his hopes of dwelling with him whom he so loves and therefore now does the quite contrary Now this is not usually the beginning of repentance but is a great progression in it and it contains in it obedience He that is attrite leaves his sin but he that is contrite obeys God and pursues the interests and acquists of vertue so that Contrition is not onely a sorrow for having offended God whom the penitent loves that is but one act or effect of Contrition but Contrition loves God and hates sin it leaves this and adheres to him abstains from evil and does good dies to sin and lives to righteousness
the prescription of whatsoever is pleasing and acceptable to God whatsoever he will reward with mighty glories So loving God with all our heart with all our soul Mat. 22.37 and all our minde and all our strength is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first and the great Commandement that is nothing is more pleasing nothing is more acceptable to God because it proceeds out of an excellent love But some Commandements are propounded as to friends some as to servants some under the threatning of horrible pains others not so but with the proposition and under the invitation by glorious rewards It was commanded to S. Paul to preach the Gospel if he had not obeyed he should have perished Woe is me saith he if I preach not the Gospel he was bound to do it But he had another Commandment also to love God as much as was possible and to love his neighbour which precepts were infinite and of an unlimited signification and therefore were left to every servants choice to do them with his several measures of affection and zeal He that did most did the Commandement best and therefore cannot be said to do more then was commanded but he that does less if he preaches the Gospel though with a less diligence and fewer advantages he obeys the Commandement but not so nobly as the other For example God commands us to pray He obeys this that constantly and devoutly keeps his morning and evening Sacrifice offering devoutly twice a day He that prayes thrice a day does better and he that prayes seven times a day hath done no work of supererogation but does what he does in pursuance of the Commandement All the difference is in the manner of doing what is commanded for no man can do more then he is commanded But some do it better some less perfectly but all is comprehended under this Commandement of loving God with all our hearts When a father commands his children to come to him he that comes slowly obeyes the commandement but he that runs does obey more willingly and readily now though to come running was left to the choice of the childes affection yet it was but a brisk pursuance of the commandement Thus when he that is bound to pay Tithes gives the best portion or does it cheerfully without contention in all questions taking the worse of the thing and the better of the duty does what he is commanded and he does it with the affection of a son and of a friend he loves his duty Be angry but sin not so it is in the Commandement but he that to avoid the sin will endevour not to be angry at all is the greater friend of God by how much the further he stands off from sin Thus in all doubts to take the surest side to determine alwayes for Religion when without sin we might have determin'd for interest to deny our selves in lawful things to do all our duty by the measures of Love and of the Spirit are instances of this filial obedience and are rewarded by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a perswasion and confidence of Gods love to us enabling us to call him Father as well as Lord. Thus this Parable or one like it is told in the book of Hermas The Lord commanded his servant to put pales about his vineyard He did so and digg'd a ditch besides and rooted out all the weeds which when his Lord observ'd he made him coheir with his son When S. Paul exhorted the Corinthians to give a free contribution to the poor Saints at Jerusalem he invites to do it nobly cheerfully not as of constraint for Gods Commandement nam'd not the summe neither can the degree of affection be nam'd but yet God demands all our affection Now in all the affirmative Precepts the duty in the lowest degree is that which is now made necessary under the loss of all our hopes of Eternity but all the further degrees of the same duty are imposed upon the condition of greater rewards and other collaterall advantages of duty When Hystaspes ask'd Cyrus the Persian why he preferr'd Chrysantas before him since he did obey all his Commands The Prince answered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysantas does not stay till he is called and he does not onely what is commanded but what is best what he knows is most pleasing to me So does every perfect man according to the degrees of his love and his perfection Clem. Alex. Strom. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The righteousness of a perfect man consists not in legal innocence but in love and voluntary obedience This is that charity which is the glory of Christianity the crown of all other graces that which makes all the external works of obedience to be acceptable and every act of the most excellent piety and devotion is a particular of that grace and therefore though it is highly acceptable yet it is also commanded in the general and in the sense before explicated and he that does no more then he is particularly commanded obeys God as a Lion obeys his keeper meat and stripes are all the endearments of his peace and services Qui manet ut moneatur semper serves homo officium suum Plautus Sticho Non voluntate id facere meminit servos is habitu haud probus est The servant that must be called upon at every step is but an unprofitable and unworthy person To do onely what we are commanded will never bring us to the portion and inheritance of Sons We must do this chearfully and we must do more even contend to please God with doing that which is the righteousness of God striving for perfection till perfection it self becomes perfect still obeying that law of Sons Love the Lord with all thy heart till our charity it self is crown'd Therefore 13. Let no man propound to himself a limit of duty saying he will go so far and go no further For the Commandement is infinite and though every good man obeys it all the way of his holy conversation yet it shall not be finish'd till his life is done But he that stints himself to a certain measure of love hath no love at all for this grace grows for ever and when the object is infinite true love is not at rest till it hath possess'd what is infinite and therefore towards that there must be an infinite progression never stopp'd never ceasing till we can work no more 14. Let every man be humbled in the sense of his failings and infirmities De spir lit c. 36. Multum in hâc vitâ ille profecit qui quà m longè sit à perfectione justitiae proficiendo cognovit said S. Austin It is a good degree of perfection to have proceeded so farre as well to know and observe our own imperfections The Scripture concludes all under sin not onely because all have fail'd of the Covenant of Works of the exactness of obedience but by reason of their prevarication of that law
we thus can perform all Gods will acceptably For if we endevour all that we can and desire more and pursue more it is accepted as if we had done all 2 Cor. 8.12 for we are accepted according to what a man hath and not according to what he hath not Unless we can neither endevour nor desire we ought not to complain of the burthen of the Divine Commandements For to endevour truly and passionately to desire and contend for more is obedience and charity and that is the fulfilling of the Commandments Matter for Meditation out of Scripture according to the former Doctrine The Old Covenant or the Covenant of Works IN that day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die Gen. 2.17 Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the law to do them Gal. 3 10. Deut. 27.26 Deut. 27.8 And thou shalt write upon stones all the words of this law very plainly Thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day to the right hand or to the left But it shall come to pass Deut. 28. if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe to do all his commandements and his statutes then shall all these curses come upon thee and overtake thee And if you will not be reformed by these things Lev. 26.23 24 c. but will walk contrary unto me then will I also walk contrary unto you and will punish you yet seven times for your sins He that despised Moses law Heb. 10.28 died without mercy under two or three witnesses The New Covenant or the Covenant of Grace WEE are justified freely by his grace Rom. 3. ver 24 25 26 27 28. through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ * Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God * To declare I say at this time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus * Where is boasting then it is excluded by what law of works Nay but by the law of faith * Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus Rom. 8.1 14 26 27 28. who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit * For as many as are led by the Spirit they are the sons of God * Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities because he maketh intercession for the Saints according to the will of God * And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God He that spared not his own Son Ver. 33 c. but delivered him up for us all how shall not he with him also freely give us all things * Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect It is God that justifieth This is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those dayes Heb. 8.10 11 12. saith the Lord I will put my laws in their minde and write them in their hearts and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people all shall know me from the least to the greatest * For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more If any man be in Christ 2 Cor. 5.17 18 19 20 21. he is a new creature old things are past away all things are become new * And all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and hath given to us the ministery of reconciliation * Now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christs stead be ye reconciled to God * For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins Acts 2.37 38. and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost for the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off and to as many as the Lord our God shall call And it shall come to pass Rom. 10.13 Acts 2.21 Rom. 10.5 6 8 9. that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law that the man which doth those things shall live by them But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise The word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart that is the word of faith which we preach that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved Death is swallowed up in victory 1 Cor. 15.55 56. O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ My yoke is easie and my burthen is light For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh Rom. 8.3 4. God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh hath for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit His Commandements are not grievous 1 Joh. 5.3 Rom. 5.10 If while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life * And not onely so but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the atonement I can do all things through Christ which strengthneth me Phil. 4.13 My grace is sufficient for thee 2 Cor. 12.9 for my strength is made perfect in weakness Ask and you shall have Mat. 7.7 seek and ye shall finde knock and it shall be opened unto you To him that hath shall be given and he shall have more abundantly Having therefore these promises 2 Cor. 7.1 let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit Vid. etiam Isa 49.6 53.12 Psal 22.23 24 25 26 27 28. Jer. 32.34 perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. The PRAYER I. OEternal God Lord of Heaven and Earth Father of Men and Angels we do adore thy infinite Goodness we revere thy Justice and delight in thy Mercies by which thou hast dealt with us not with the utmost right and dominion of a Lord but with the gentleness of a Father treating us like friends who were indeed thy enemies
iniquity and a sincere obedience in the faith of Jesus Christ which is the result of all the foregoing considerations and usages of words and is further manifested in the following appellatives and descriptions by which Repentance is signified and recommended to us in â—cripture 1. It is called Reconciliation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We pray you in Christs stead to be reconciled to God that is to be friends with him no longer to stand in terms of distance for every habitual sinner every one that provokes him to anger by his iniquity is his enemy not that every sinner hates God by a direct hate but as obedience is love so disobedience is enmity or hatred by interpretation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 enemies in their minde by wicked works Col. 1.21 So S. Paul expresses it and therefore the reconciling of these is to represent them holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight 23 Pardon of sins is the least part of this reconciliation Our sins and our sinfulness too must be taken away that is our old guilt and the remanent affections must be taken off before we are friends of God And therefore we finde this reconciliation press'd on our parts we are reconciled to God not God to us For although the term be relative and so signifies both parts as conjunction and friendship and society and union do yet it pleased the Spirit of God by this expression to signifie our duty expresly and to leave the other to be supposed because if our parts be done whatsoever is on Gods part can never fail And 2. Although this reconciliation begins on Gods part and he first invites us to peace and gave his Son a Sacrifice yet Gods love is very revocable till we are reconciled by obedience and conformity 2. It is called Renewing and that either with the connotation of the subject renewed or the cause renewing The renewing of the Holy Ghost Tit. 3.5 Rom. 18.2 Eph 4.23 and the renewing of the minde or the spirit of the minde The word is exactly the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is a change of minde from worse to better as it is distinguished from the fruits and effects of it So be renewed in your minde that is throw away all your foolish principles and non-sense propositions by which you use to be tempted and perswaded to sin and inform your minde with wise notices and sentences of God That ye put off concerning the old conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitfull lusts and that ye put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness which is an excellent description of Repentance In which it is observable that S. Paul uses two words more to express the greatness and nature of this change and conversion It is 3. A new Creature The new Man Created in Righteousness Eph. 2.10.3.9 John 3.6 for the state of Repentance is so great an alteration that in some sense it is greater then the Creation because the things created had in them no opposition to the power of God but a pure capacity obediential Jam. 1.18 but a sinner hath dispositions opposite to the Spirit of Grace and he must unlearn much before he can learn any thing He must die before he can be born Nam quodcunque suis mutatum finibus exit Continuò hoc mors est illius quod fuit anté Lucret. Our sins the body of sin the spirit of uncleanness the old man must be abolished mortified crucified buried Jude Rev. 7.14 Heb. 10.22 23. Psal 50.9 2 Cor. 7.1 1 Joh. 3.3 our sins must be laid away we must hate the garments spotted with the flesh and our garments must be whitened in the blood of the Lamb our hearts must be purged from an evil conscience purified as God is pure that is as S. Paul expresses it from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit denying or renouncing all ungodliness and worldly lusts And then as the antithesis or consequent of this is when we have laid away our sin and renounced ungodliness We must live godly righteously and soberly in this present world Gal. 2.20 we must not live either to the world or to our selves but to Christ Hic dies aliam vitam adfert alios mores postulat Our manner of life must be wholly differing from our former vanities so that the life which we now live in the flesh we must live by the faith of the Son of God that is according to his Laws and most holy Discipline This is pressed earnestly upon us by those many Precepts of obedience to God to Christ Rom. 6.17 Acts 6.7 1 Pet. 4.3 Eph. 2 3. Jam. 1.22.23 1 Joh. 3.22 Joh. 3.4 1 Joh. 1.6 2 Cor. 8.21 Col. 1.10 1 Cor. 15.58 to the holy Gospel to the Truth to the Doctrine of Faith * of doing good doing righteousness doing the truth * serving in the newness of the Spirit * giving our members up as servants of righteousness unto holiness * being holy in all conversations * following after peace with all men and holiness being followers of good works providing things honest in the sight of God and men abhorring evil and cleaving to that which is good * perfecting holiness in the fear of God to be perfect in every good work * being filled with the fruits of righteousness walking worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing being fruitfull in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God * abounding in the work of the Lord. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are the words often used fill'd full and perfect To the same purpose is it that we are commanded to live in Christ and unto God that is 2 Tim. 3.12 to live according to their will and by their rule and to their glory and in their fear and love called by S. Paul to live in the faith of the Son of God Gal. 2.20 1 Cor. 2.1 1 Thess 16. Joh. 2.6 Eph. 2.10 to be followers of Christ and of God to dwell in Christ and to abide in him to walk according to the Commandements of God in good works in truth according to the Spirit to walk in light to walk with God which was said of Enoch of whom the Greek LXX reade 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He pleased God * There are very many more to the same purpose For with great caution and earnestness the holy Scriptures place the duties of mankinde in practice and holiness of living and removes it farre from a confidence of notion and speculation Qui fecerit docuerit He that doth them and teaches them Mat. 5 19. Luke 5.46 shall be great in the Kingdome and Why do you call me Lord Lord and do not the things I say to you Joh. 15.14 and Ye are my friends if ye do what I command you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat. ad Magnes We must not onely be
their friend or accuse him secretly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Polybius calls it a new way of accusation to undermine a man by praising him that you seeming his friend a lover of his vertue and his person by praising him may be the more easily believed in reporting his faults like him in Horace who was glad to hear any good of his old friend Capitolinus whom he knew so well who had so kindely obliged him Sed tamen admiror quo pacto Judicium illud Fugerit but yet I wonder that he escaped the Judges Sentence in his Criminal cause There is a louder kinde of this evil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Railers that 's when the smoke is turned into a flame and breaks out it is the same iniquity with another circumstance it is the vice of women and boyes and rich imperious fools and hard rude Masters to their Servants and it does too often infect the spirit and language of a Governour Our Bibles reade this word by Despitefull that notes an aptness to speak spiteful words cross and untoward such which we know will do mischief or displease 13. Foolishness Which we understand by the words of S. Paul Eph. 5.17 Be not foolish but understanding what the will of the Lord is It means a neglect of enquiring into holy things a wilful or careless ignorance of the best things a not studying our Religion Prov. 2◠9 which indeed is the greatest folly and sottishness it being a neglecting of our greatest interests and of the most excellent notices and it is the fountain of many impure emanations A Christian must not be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he must not call fool nor be a fool Heady is reduc'd to this and signifies rash and indiscreet in assenting and dissenting people that speak and do foolishly because they speak and do without deliberation 14. Pride 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a despising of others if compared with our selves so Theophrastus calls it Concerning which we are to judge our selves by the voices of others and by the consequent actions observable in our selves any thing whereby we overvalue our selves or despise others preferring our selves or depressing them in unequal places or usages is the signification of this vice which no man does heartily think himself guilty of but he that is not that is the humble man A particular of this sin is that which is in particular noted by the Apostle under the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 arrogance or bragging which includes pride and hypocrisie together for so Plato defines it to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a pretending to excellencies which we have not a desiring to seem good but a carelesness of being so reputation and fame not goodness being the design To this may be referred Emulations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so the Apostle calls them zeals it signifies immoderate love to a lawful object like that of the wife of Ajax in Sophocles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 She did him most strange zealous services as if her affection had no measure It signifies also violent desires of equalling or excelling another for honours sake ambition and envy mixt together it is a violent pursuit after a thing that deserves it not A consequent of these is 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Seditions or Schisms and Heresies That is Divisions in the Church upon diversity of Opinions or upon Pride Faction and Interest as in choosing Bishops in Praelations and Governments Ecclesiastical from factious Rulers or factious Subjects which are properly Schisms but use commonly to belch forth into Heresie according to that saying Plerunque schisma in haeresin eructat 16. An evil Eye That is a repining at the good of others Envy a not rejoycing in the prosperity of our Neighbours a grieving because he grieves not Aut illi nescio quid incommodi accidit aut nescio cui aliquid boni when good happens to another it is as bad as if evil happened to himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is one of the worst of Crimes for a man to hate him that is prosperous hate him whom God loves or blesses It bears part of its punishment along with it the sin hath in it no pleasure but very much torment Nam sese excruciat qui beatis invidet A part of this is Vnthankefulness 2 Tim. ◠2 those who do not return kindnesses to others from whom they have received any neither are apt to acknowledge them which is properly an envying to our friend the noblest of all graces that of Charity or it is Pride or Covetousness for from any of these roots this equivocal issue can proceed 17. Lovers of Pleasures Such who study and spend their time and money to please their senses rarum memorabile magni Gutturis exemplum conducendúsque Magister Rare Epicures and Gluttons such which were famous in the Roman Luxury and fit to be Presidents of a Greek Symposiack not for their skill in Philosophy but their witty Arts of drinking Ingeniosa gula est Petron. Siculo scarus aequore mersus Ad mensam vivus perducitur Sensual men Such who are dull and unaffected with the things of God and transported with the lusts of the lower belly Alex. Aphrod in lib. de anim persons that are greedy of baser pleasures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 said the Scholiast upon Aristotle The wicked man allows to himself too large a portion of sweet things Licorishness is the common word to express this vice in the matter of eating and drinking 18. Busie-bodies That is such who invade the offices or impertinently obtrude their advice and help when there is no need and when it is not lik'd not out of charity but of curiosity or of a trifling spirit and this produces talking of others and makes their conversation a scene of Censure and Satyre against others never speaking of their own duty but often to the reproach of their Neighbours something that may lessen or disparage him 19. The Fearful and the Unbelievers That is they that fear man more then God that will do any thing but suffer nothing that fall away in persecution such who dare not trust the Promises but fear want and fear death and trust not God with cheerfulness and joy and confidence 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They that take pleasure in those that do these things That is they who in any sense incourage or promote or love the sin of another are guilty themselves not of the others sin but of their own He that commands a man to swear is not guilty of that swearing but of that commanding him It is a sin to do so but that sin to which the man is encouraged or tempted or assisted is his own sin and for it he is to repent every man for his own For it is inartificially said by the Masters of Moral Theology that by many wayes we are guilty of the sins of
it then this For every one that breaks a Commandement let the instance be what it will is a transgressor of the same bond by which he was bound to all Non quòd omnia legis praecepta violârit sed quòd legis Authorem contempserit eóque proemio meritò careat quod legis cultoribus propositum est saith venerable Bede He did not violate all the Commandements but he offended him who is the giver of all the Commandements It is like letting one Bead fall from a Rosary or Coronet of Bugles This or that or a third makes no difference the string is as much broken if he lets one to slide as if he dropp'd twenty It was not an ill conceit of Menedemus the Eretrian that there was but one vertue which had divers names Aristo Chius express'd the same conceit with a little difference affirming all vertues to be the same in reality and nature but to have a certain diversification or rational difference by relation to their objects As if one should call the sight when it looks upon a Crow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if upon a Swan 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so is vertue When it moderates the affections it is Temperance when it ballances contracts it is Justice when it considers what is and what is not to be done it is Prudence That which they call Vertue if we call it the Grace of God or Obedience it is very true which they say For the same spirit the same grace of obedience is Chastity or Temperance or Justice according as is the subject matter The love of God if it be in us is productive of all worthiness and this is it which S. John said This is love that we keep his Commandements The love of God constraineth us It worketh all the works of God in us It is the fulfilling of the Commandements For this is a Catholicon an Universal Grace Charity gives being to all vertues it is the life and spirit of all holy actions Abstinence from feasts and inordination mingled with Charity is Temperance And Justice is Charity and Chastity is Charity and Humility is still but an instance of Charity This is that Transcendent that gives life and vertue to Alms to Preaching to Faith to Miracles it does all obedience to God all good offices to our Neighbours which in effect is nothing but the sentence of Menedemus and Aristo that there is an Universal Vertue that is there is one soul and essence of all vertue They call it Vertue S. Paul calls it Charity and this is that one thing which is necessary that one thing which every man that sins does violate He that is guilty of all is but guilty of that one and therefore he that is guilty of that one of the breach of Charity is guilty of all And upon this account it is that no one sin can stand with the state of grace because he that sins in one instance sins against all goodness not against all instances of duty but against that which is the life of all against Charity and Obedience A Prayer to be said in the dayes of Repentance for the commission of any great Crime O Most glorious God I tremble to come into thy presence so polluted and dishonoured as I am by my foul stain of sin which I have contracted but I must come or I perish O my God I cannot help it now Miserable man that I am to reduce my self to so sad a state of things that I neither am worthy to come unto thee nor dare I stay from thee Miserable man that I am who lost that portion of innocence which if I should pay my life in price I cannot now recover O dear God I have offended thee my gracious Father my Lord my Patron my Judge my Advocate and my Redeemer Shame and sorrow is upon me for so offending thee my gracious Saviour But glory be to thee O Lord who art such to me who have offended thee It aggravates my sin that I have sinned against thee who art so excellent in thy self who art so good to me But if thou wert not so good to me though my sin would be less yet my misery would be greater The greatness of my Crime brings me to my Remedy and now I humbly pray thee to be merciful to my sin for it is very great II. O My God pity me and relieve my sad condition which is so extremely evil that I have no comfort but from that which is indeed my misery My baseness is increased by my hopes for it is thy grace and thy goodness which I have so provoked Thou O God didst give me thy grace and assist me by thy holy Spirit and call by thy Word and instruct me by thy Wisdome and didst work in me to will and to do according to thy good pleasure I knew my sin and I saw my danger and I was not ignorant and I was not surpris'd but wilfully knowingly basely and sensually I gave thee away for the pleasure of a minute for the purchase of vanity nay I exchanged thee for shame and sorrow and having justly forfeited thy love am plac'd I know not where nor in what degree of thy anger nor in what neighbourhood of damnation III. O God my God what have I done whither am I fallen I was well and blessed circled with thy Graces conducted by thy Spirit sealed up to the day of Redemption in a hopefull way towards thee and now I have listned to the whispers of a tempting Spirit and for that which hath in it no good no reason no satisfaction for that which is not I have forfeited those excellencies for the recovery of which my life is too cheap a price I am ashamed O God I am ashamed I put my mouth in the dust and my face in darkness and hate my self for my sin which I am sure thou hatest But give thy servant leave to hope that I shall feel the gracious effluxes of thy love I know thou art angry with me I have deserved it But if thou hadst not lov'd me and pitied me thou mightest have stricken me in the act of my shame I know the design of thy mercy and loving kindness is to bring me to repentance and pardon to life and grace I obey thee O God I humbly obey thy gracious purposes Receive O Lord a returning sinner a poor wounded person smitten by my enemies broken by my sin weary and heavy laden ease me of my burthen and strengthen me by a mighty grace that hereafter I may watch more carefully resist more pertinaciously walk more circumspectly and serve thee without the interruptions of duty by the intervening of a sin O let me rather die then choose to sin against thee any more Onely try me this once and bear me in thy arms and fortifie my holy purposes and conduct me with thy grace that thou mayest delight to pardon me and to save me through Jesus Christ my Lord and dearest Saviour Amen I
express precepts of perseverance doe imply that the office and duty of a Christian is of a long time and business and a race * That repentance being the renewing of a holy life it should seem that on our death-bed the day for repentance is past since no man can renew his life when his life is done no man can live well when he cannot live at all * and therefore to place our hopes upon a death-bed repentance onely is such a religion as satisfies all our appetites and contradicts none and yet promises heaven at last * These things I say are all either notorious and evident or expresly affirmed in Scripture and therefore that in the ordinary way of things in the common expectation of events such persons are in a very sad condition So that it remains that in this sad condition there must be some extraordinary way found out or else this whole enquiry is at an end Concerning which all that I can say is this 1. God hath an Almighty power and his mercy is as great as his power He can doe miracles of mercy as well as miracles of mightiness And this S. Austin brings in open pretence against desperation O homo quicunque illam multitudinem peccatorum attendis cur omnipotentiam coelestis medici non attendis Thy sins are great but Gods mercies are greater But this does represent the mans condition at the best to be such that God may if he will have mercy upon him but whether he will or no there is as yet no other certainty or probability but that he can if he please which proposition to an amazed timorous person that fears a hell the next hour is so dry a story so hopeless a proposition that all that can be said of this is that it is very fit that no man should ever put it to the venture For upon this argument we may as well comfort our selves upon him that died without repenting at all But the inquiry must be further 2. All mankinde all the Doctors of the Church for very many ages at least some few of the most Ancient and of the Modern excepted have been apt to give hopes to such persons and no man bids them absolutely despair Let such persons make use of this easiness of men thereby to retain so much hope as to make them call upon God and not to neglect what can then be done Spem retine spes una hominem nec morte relinquit As long as there is life there is hope and when a man dies let him not despair for there is a life after this and a hope proper to that and amidst all the evils that the Ancients did fabulously report to be in Pandora's box they wittily plac'd Hope on the utmost lip of it and extremity Vivere spe vidi qui moriturus erat And S. Cyprian exhorts old Demetrianus to turn Christian in his old age and promises him salvation in the name of Christ and though his case and that of a Christian who entred into promises and Covenants of obedience be very different yet ad immortalitatem sub ipsâ morte transitur a passing from such a repentance to immortality although it cannot be hop'd for upon the just accounts of express promise yet it is not too great to hope from Gods mercy and until that which is infinite hath a limit a repenting mans hopes in this world cannot be wholly at an end 3. We finde that in the battels which were fought by the Maccabees some persons who fought on the Lords side and were slain in the sight were found having on their breasts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or pendants consecrate to the idols of the Samnenses and yet the good people of their party made oblation for them hoping that they might be partakers of a blessed resurrection They that repent heartily but one hour are in a better condition then the other that died in their sin though with the advantage of fighting in a good cause and if good people will not leave hoping for such persons it is not fit that themselves should 4. He that considers Gods great love to Mankinde * the infinite love that God hath to his holy Son Jesus and yet that he sent him to die for every man * and that the holy Jesus does now and hath for very many ages prayed for the pardon of our sins that he knows how horrible those pains are which are provided for perishing souls and therefore that he is exceedingly pitiful and desirous that we should escape them * and that God did give one extraordinary example of saving a dying penitent the Thief upon the Cross and though that had something in it extraordinary and miraculous yet that is it which is now expected a favour extraordinary a miraculous mercy * And that Christ was pleased to speak a Parable of comfort and the Master of the Vineyard did pay salary to him that began to work at the eleventh hour and though that was some portion of his life the twelfth part of it and the man was not call'd sooner yet there may be something in it of comfort to the dying penitent since it looks something like it it certainly relates to old men and can doe them comfort and possibly the merciful intention of it is yet larger * and that since God is so well pleased with repentance it may be he will abate the circumstance of time Nec ad rem pertinet ubi inciperet quod placuerat ut fieret and he will not consider when that begins which he loves should be done * And that he is our Father and paulum supplicii satis est Patri a Father will chastise but will not kill his son * And that it is therefore seasonable to hope because it is a duty and the very hope it self God delights to reward for so said the Apostle Cast not away your confidence Heb. 10.35 which hath great recompence of reward * And the Church of God imitating the mercies of our gracious God and Father Concil Nicen. can 13. hath denied to give the Sacrament of peace and mercy to none that seek it Viaticum omnibus in morte positis non est negandum Concil Agath c. 11. And in the saddest consideration of things that can be suppose it be with him as with Simon Magus suppose that he is in the gall of bitterness in the state of damnation in the guilt of a sin which we know not whether God will pardon or not yet still it is wise and pious counsel that he should pray if peradventure he may be forgiven He I say that considers these things will have cause to be very earnest and very busy to lose no time to remit no labour to quit no hope but humbly passionately diligently set upon that duty of repentance which should have long agoe come to some perfection Now because I have as I suppose said enough to make men afraid to put off their repentance to
with weeping and on my eie-lids is the shadow of death Not for any injustice in my hand also my prayer is pure Wretched man that I am Rom. 7.24 who shall deliver me from the body of this death I thank God I am delivered through Jesus Christ our Lord. But now being made free from sin 6.22 and become servants of God ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life For the wages of sin is death But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin reign in your mortal bodies V. 12,14 that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof For sin shall not have dominion over you for ye are not under the law but under grace The PRAYER O Almighty God great Father of Men and Angels thou art the preserver of men and the great lover of souls thou didst make every thing perfect in its kinde and all that thou didst make was very good onely we miserable creatures sons of Adam have suffered the falling Angels to infect us with their leprosie of pride and so we entred into their evil portion having corrupted our way before thee and are covered with thy rod and dwell in a cloud of thy displeasure behold me the meanest of thy servants humbled before thee sensible of my sad condition weak and miserable sinful and ignorant full of need wanting thee in all things and neither able to escape death without a Saviour nor to live a life of holiness without thy Spirit O be pleas'd to give me a portion in the new birth break off the bands and fetters of my sin cure my evil inclinations correct my indispositions and natural averseness from the severities of Religion let me live by the measures of thy law not by the evil example and disguises of the world Renew a right spirit within me and cast me not away from thy presence lest I should retire to the works of darkness and enter into those horrible regions where the light of thy countenance never shineth II. I Am ashamed O Lord I am ashamed that I have dishonoured so excellent a Creation Thou didst make us upright and create us in innocence And when thou didst see us unable to stand in thy sight and that we could never endure to be judged by the Covenant of works thou didst renew thy mercies to us in the new Covenant of Jesus Christ and now we have no excuse nothing to plead for our selves much less against thee but thou art holy and pure and just and merciful Make me to be like thee holy as thou art holy merciful as our heavenly Father is merciful obedient as our holy Saviour Jesus meek and charitable temperate and chaste humble and patient according to that holy example that my sins may be pardoned by his death and my spirit renewed by his Spirit that passing from sin to grace from ignorance to the knowledge and love of God and of his Son Jesus Christ I may pass from death to life from sorrow to joy from earth to heaven from the present state of misery and imperfection to the glorious inheritance prepar'd for the Saints and Sons of light the children of the new birth the brethren of our Lord and Brother our Judge and our Advocate our Blessed Saviour and Redeemer JESVS Amen A Prayer to be said by a Matron in behalf of her husband and family that a blessing may descend upon their posterity I. O Eternal God our most merciful Lord and gracious Father thou art my guide the light of mine eyes the joy of my heart the author of my hope and the object of my love and worshippings thou relievest all my needs and determin'st all my doubts and art an eternal fountain of blessing open and running over to all thirsty and weary souls that come and cry to thee for mercy and refreshment Have mercy upon thy servant and relieve my fears and sorrows and the great necessities of my family for thou alone O Lord canst doe it II. FIt and adorn every one of us with a holy and a religious spirit and give a double portion to thy servant my dear husband Give him a wise heart a prudent severe and indulgent care over the children which thou hast given us His heart is in thy hand and the events of all things are in thy disposition Make it a great part of his care to promote the spiritual and eternal interest of his children not to neglect their temporal relations and necessities but to provide states of life for them in which with fair advantages they may live chearfully serve thee diligently promote the interest of the Christian family in all their capacities that they may be alwayes blessed and alwayes innocent devout and pious and may be graciously accepted by thee to pardon and grace and glory through Jesus Christ Amen III. BLess O God my sons with excellent understandings love of holy and noble things sweet dispositions innocent deportment diligent souls chaste healthful and temperate bodies holy and religious spirits that they may live to thy glory and be useful in their capacities to the servants of God and all their neighbours and the Relatives of their conversation Bless my daughters with a humble and a modest carriage and excellent meekness a great love of holy things a severe chastity a constant holy and passionate Religion O my God never suffer them to fall into folly and the sad effects of a wanton loose and indiscreet spirit possess their fancies with holy affections be thou the covering of their eyes and the great object of their hopes and all their desires Blessed Lord thou disposest all things sweetly by thy providence thou guidest them excellently by thy wisdome thou unitest all circumstances and changes wonderfully by thy power and by thy power makest all things work for the good of thy servants Be pleased so to dispose my daughters that if thou shouldst call them to the state of a married life they may not dishonour their family nor grieve their parents nor displease thee but that thou wilt so dispose of their persons and the accidents and circumstances of that state that it may be a state of holiness to the Lord and blessing to thy servants And until thy wisdome shall know it fit to bring things so to pass let them live with all purity spending their time religiously and usefully O most blessed Lord enable their dear father with proportionable abilities and opportunities of doing his duty and charities toward them and them with great obedience and duty toward him and all of us with a love toward thee above all things in the world that our portion may be in love and in thy blessings through Jesus Christ our dearest Lord and most gracious Redeemer IV. O My God pardon thy servant pity my infirmities hear the passionate desires of thy humble servant in thee alone is my trust my heart and all my wishes are towards thee Thou hast
or love of God is not of it self strong enough to weigh down the scales but there must be thrown in something from without some generosity of spirit or revenge or gloriousness and bravery or natural pity or interest and so far as these or any of them go along with the better principle this will prevail but when it must goe alone it is not strong enough But this is a great way off from the state of sanctification or a new birth 6. An unregenerate man besides the abstinence from much evil may also do many good things for heaven and yet never come thither He may be sensible of his danger and sad condition and pray to be delivered from it and his prayers shall not be heard because he does not reduce his prayers to action and endevour to be what he desires to be Almost every man desires to be sav'd but this desire is not with every one of that perswasion and effect as to make them willing to want the pleasures of the world for it or to perform the labours of charity repentance A man may strive and contend in or towards the ways of godliness and yet fall short Many men pray often fast much and pay tithes do justice and keep the Commandements of the second Table with great integrity and so are good moral men as the word is used in opposition to or rather in destrution of religion Some are religious and not just some want sincerity in both and of this the Pharisees were a great example But the words of our blessed Saviour are the greatest testimony in this article Many shall strive to enter and shall not be able Luke 13.14 Either they shall contend too late like the five foolish Virgins and as they whom S. Paul by way of caution likens to Esau or else they contend with incompetent and insufficient strengths they strive but put not force enough to the work An unregenerate man hath not strengths enough that is he wants the spirit and activity and perfectness of resolution Not that he wants such aids as are necessary and sufficient but that himself hath not purposes pertinacious and resolutions strong enough All that is necessary to his assistance from without all that he hath or may have but that which is necessary on his own part he hath not but that 's his own fault that he might also have and it is in his duty and therefore certainly in his power to have it For a man is not capable of a law which he hath not powers sufficient to obey he must be free and quit from all its contraries from the power and dominion of them or at least must be so free that he may be quit of them if he please For there can be no liberty but where all the impediments are remov'd or may be if the man will 7. An unregenerate man may have received the Spirit of God and yet be in a state of distance from God For to have received the holy Ghost is not an inseparable propriety of the regenerate The Spirit of God is an internal agent that is the effects and graces of the Spirit by which we are assisted are within us before they operate For although all assistances from without are graces of God the effects of Christs passion purchased for us by his bloud and by his intercesson and all good company wise counsels apt notices prevailing arguments moving objects and opportunities and endearments of vertue are from above from the Father of lights yet the Spirit of God does also work more inwardly and creates in us aptnesses and inclinations consentings and the acts of conviction and adherence working in us to will and to doe according to our desire or according to Gods good pleasure yet this holy Spirit is oftentimes grieved sometimes provoked and at last extinguish'd which because it is done onely by them who are enemies of the Spirit and not the servants of God it follows that the Spirit of God by his aids and assistances is in them that are not so with a design to make them so and if the holy Spirit were not in any degree or sense in the unregenerate how could a man be born again by the Spirit for since no man can be regenerate by his own strengths his new birth must be wrought by the Spirit of God and especially in the beginnings of our conversion is his assistance necessary which assistance because it works within as well and rather then without must needs be in a man before he operates within And therefore to have received the holy Spirit is not the propriety of the regenerate but to be led by him to be conducted by the Spirit in all our wayes and counsels to obey his motions to entertain his doctrine to do his pleasure This is that which gives the distinction and the denomination Rom. 8.9 And this is called by S. Paul the inhabitation of the Spirit of God in us in opposition to the inhabitans peccatum the sin that dwelleth in the unregenerate The Spirit may be in us calling and urging us to holiness but unless the Spirit of God dwell in us and abide in us and love to doe so and rule and give us laws and be not griev'd and cast out but entertain'd and cherish'd and obey'd unless I say the Spirit of God be thus in us Christ is not in us and if Christ be not in us we are none of his § 6. The Character of the Regenerate estate or person FRom hence it is not hard to describe what are the proper indications of the Regenerate 1. A regenerate person is convinc'd of the goodness of the law and meditates in it day and night Psal 1.2 Psal 119.77 103. His delight is in Gods law not onely with his minde approving but with his will choosing the duties and significations of the law 2. The Regenerate not onely wishes that the good were done which God commands but heartily sets about the doing of it 3. He sometimes feels the rebellions of the flesh but he fights against them alwayes and if he receive a fall he rises instantly and fights the more fiercely and watches the more cautelously and prays the more passionately and arms himself more strongly and prevails more prosperously In a regenerate person there is flesh and Spirit but the Spirit onely rules There is an outward and an inward man but both of them are subject to the Spirit There was a law of the members but it is abrogated and cancell'd the law is repeal'd and does not any more inslave him to the law of sin Aug. l. de Contin c. 2. Nunc quamdiu concupiscit caro adversus spiritum spiritus adversus carnem sat est nobis non consentire malis quae sentimus in nobis Every good man shall alwayes feel the flesh lusting against the Spirit that contention he shall never be quit of but it is enough for us if we never consent
to the suggested evils 4. A regenerate person does not onely approve that which is best and desire to doe it but he does it actually and delights to doe it he continues and abides in it which the Scripture calls a walking in the Spirit and a living after it for he does his duty by the strengths of the Spirit that is upon considerations Evangelical in the love of God in obedience to Christ and by the aids he hath receiv'd from above beyond the powers of nature and education and therefore he does his duty upon such considerations as are apt to make it integral and persevering For 5. A regenerate man does not onely leave some sins but all and willingly entertains none He does not onely quit a lust that is against his disposition but that which he is most inclined to he is most severe against and most watchful to destroy it he plucks out his right eye and cuts off his right hand and parts with his biggest interest rather then keep a lust and therefore consequently chooses vertue by the same method S. Aug. ibid. by which he abstains from vice Nam ipsa continentia cum fraenat cohibétque libidines simul appetit bonum ad cujus immortalitatem tendimus respuit malum cum quo in hâc mortalitate contendimus that is He pursues all vertue as he refuses all vice for he tends to the immortality of good as he strives against evil in all the dayes of his mortality And therefore he does not choose to exercise that vertue onely that will doe him reputation or consist with his interest or please his humour but entertains all vertue whether it be with him or against him pleasing or displeasing he chooses all that God hath commanded him because he does it for that reason 6. A regenerate person doth not onely contradict his appetite in single instances but endevours to destroy the whole body of sin he does not onely displease his fond appetite but he mortifies it and never entertains conditions of peace with it for it is a dangerous mistake if we shall presume all is well because we doe some acts of spite to our dearest lust and sometimes cross the most pleasing temptation and oppose our selves in single instances against every sin This is not it the regenerate man endevours to destroy the whole body of sin and having had an opportunity to contest his sin and to contradict it this day is glad he hath done something of his duty and does so again to morrow and ever till he hath quite killed it and never entertains conditions of peace with it nor ever is at rest till the flesh be quiet and obedient * For sometimes it comes to pass that the old man being used to obey at last obeys willingly and takes the conditions of the Gibeonites it is content to doe drudgery and the inferior ministeries if it may be suffered to abide in the land So that here is a new account upon which the former proposition is verifiable viz. It is not the propriety of the regenerate to feel a contention within him concerning doing good or bad For it is not onely true that the unregenerate oftentimes feel the fight and never see the triumph but it is also true that sometimes the regenerate doe not feel this contention They did once with great violence and trouble but when they have gotten a clear victory they have also great measures of peace But this is but seldome to few persons and in them but in rare instances in carnal sins and temptations for in spiritual they will never have an intire rest till they come into their Country It is Angelical perfection to have no flesh at all but it is the perfection of a Christian to have the flesh obedient to the spirit always and in all things But if this contention be not a sign of regeneration but is common to good and bad that which can onely distinguish them is victory and perseverance and those sins which are committed at the end of such contentions are not sins of a pitiable and excusable infirmity but the issues of death and direct emanations from an unregenerate estate Therefore 7. Lastly The regenerate not onely hath received the Spirit of God but is wholly led by him he attends his motions he obeys his counsels he delights in his Commandements and accepts his testimony and consents to his truth and rejoyces in his comforts and is nourish'd by his hopes up to a perfect man in Christ Jesus This is the onely condition of being the sons of God Ro. 8.14 and being sav'd For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God None else And therefore if ye live after the flesh ye shall die but if through the Spirit ye do mortify the deeds of the body ye shall live This is your characteristick note Our obedience to the Spirit our walking by his light and by his conduct This is the Spirit that witnesseth to our spirit Ro. 8.16 that we are the sons of God That is if the Spirit be obeyed if it reigns in us if we live in it if we walk after it if it dwels in us then we are sure that we are the sons of God There is no other testimony to be expected but the doing of our duty All things else unless an extraregular light spring from heaven and tell us of it are but fancies and deceptions or uncertainties at the best §. 7. What are properly and truly sins of Infirmity and how far they can consist with the regenerate estate WE usually reckon our selves too soon to be in Gods favour While the war lasts it is hard telling who shall be the Prince When one part hath fought prosperously there is hopes of his side and yet if the adversary hath reserves of a vigorous force or can raise new and not onely pretends his title but makes great inrodes into the Countrey and forrages and does mischief and fights often and prevails sometimes the inheritance is still doubtful as the success But if the Usurper be beaten and driven out and his forces quite broken and the lawful Prince is proclaim'd and rules and gives laws though the other rails in prison or should by a sudden fury kill a single person or plot an ineffective treason no man then doubts concerning the present possession But men usually think their case is good so long as they are fighting so long as they are not quite conquered and every step towards grace they call it pardon and salvation presently As soon as ever a man begins heartily to mortify his sin his hopes begin and if he proceeds they are certain But if in this fight he be overcome he is not to ask Whether that ill day and that deadly blow can consist with the state of life He that fights and conquers not but sins frequently and to yeeld or be killed is the end of the long contentions this man
we pray you in Christs stead be ye reconciled to God The Spirit of God reprov'd some of the Asian Churches for foul misdemeanours Apâ—â—al 2.26 and even some of the Angels the Asian Bishops calling upon them to return to their first love V. 5. and to repent and to doe their first works and to the very Gnosticks and filthiest hereticks he gave space to repent V. 21. and threatned extermination to them if they did not doe it speedily For Baptism is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the admission of us to the Covenant of Faith and Repentance or as Marc the Anchoret call'd it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the introduction to repentance or that state of life that is full of labour and care and amendment of our faults for that is the best life that any man can live and therefore repentance hath its progress after baptism as it hath its beginning before for first repentance is unto baptism and then baptism unto repentance And if it were otherwise the Church had but ill provided for the state of her sons and daughters by commanding the baptism of infants For if repentance were not allowed after then their early baptism would take from them all hopes of repentance and destroy the mercies of the Gospel and make it now to all Christendome a law of works in the greater instances Vide Great Exemplar part 1. Dise of Baptism pag. 175. c. because since in our infancy we neither need nor can perform repentance if to them that sin after baptism repentance be denied it is in the whole denied to them for ever to repent But God hath provided better things for us and such which accompany salvation For besides those many things which have been already consider'd our admission to the holy Sacrament of the Lords Supper is a perpetual entertainment of our hopes because then and there is really exhibited to us the body that was broken and the blood that was shed for remission of sins still it is applied and that application could not be necessary to be done anew if there were not new necessities and still we are invited to doe actions of repentance to examine our selves and so to eat all which as things are order'd would be infinitely useless to mankinde if it did not mean pardon to Christians falling into foul sins even after baptism I shall adde no more but the words of S. 2 Cor. 12 21. Paul to the Corinthians Left when I come again my God will humble me among you and that I shall bewail many who have sinn'd already and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed Here is a fierce accusation of some of them for the foulest and the basest crimes and a reproof of their not repenting and a threatning them with censures Ecclesiastical I suppose this article to be sufficiently concluded from the premises The necessity of which proof they onely will best beleeve who are severely penitent and full of apprehension and fear of the Divine anger because they have highly deserved it However I have serv'd my own needs in it and the need of those whose consciences have been or shall be so timorous as mine hath deserved to be But against the universality of this doctrine there are two grand objections The one is the severer practice and doctrine of the primitive Church denying repentance to some kinde of sinners after baptism The other the usual discourses and opinions concerning the sin against the holy Ghost Of these I shall give account in the two following sections §. 3. Of the difficulty of obtaining pardon The doctrine and practice of the Primitive Church in this article NOvatianus and Novatus said that the Church had not power to minister pardon of sins except onely in baptism which proposition when they had well digested and considered they did thus explicate That there are some capital sins crying and clamorous into which if a Christian did fall after baptism the Church had nothing to doe with him she could not absolve him This opinion of theirs was a branch of the elder heresy of Montanus De pudic c. 5. c. 9. which had abus'd Tertullian who fiercely declaims against the decree of Pope Zephyrinus because against the custome of his Decessors he admitted adulterers to repentance while at the same time he refus'd idolaters and murderers And this their severity did not seem to be put upon the account of a present necessity or their own zeal or for the avoiding scandal or their love of holiness but upon the nature of the thing it self and the sentences of Scripture An old man of whom Irenaeus makes mention said Lib. 4. c. 45. Non debemus superbi esse neque reprehendere veteres ne fortè post agnitionem Dei agentes aliquid quod non placet Deo remissionem non habeamus ultrà delictorum excludamur à regno ejus We must not be proud and reprove our Fathers lest after the knowledge of God we doing something that does not please God we may no more have remission of our sins but be excluded from his Kingdome To the same purpose is that Canon made by the Gallic Bishops against the false accusers of their brethren ut ad exitum ne communicent that they should not be admitted to the Communion or peace of the Church no not at their death And Pacianus Bishop of Barcinona gives a severe account of the doctrine of the Spanish Churches even in his time and of their refusing to admit idolaters murderers and adulterers to repentance Paraen ad poenit Other sins may be cured by the exercise of good works But these three kill like the breath of a Basilisk and are to be feared like a deadly arrow They that were guilty of such crimes did despair What have I done to you was it not in your power to have let it alone Did no man admonish you Did none foretel the event Was the Church silent Did the Gospels say nothing Did the Apostles threaten nothing Did the Priest intreat nothing of you why doe you seek for late comforts Then you might have sought for them when they were to be had But they that pronounce such men happy doe but abuse you This opinion and the consequent practice had its fate in several places to live longer or die sooner And in Africa the decree of Zephyrinus for the admission of penitent adulterers was not admitted even by the Orthodox and Catholikes S. Cyprian ep 52. but they dissented placidly and modestly and governed their own Churches by the old severity For there was then no thought of any necessity that other Churches should obey the sanctions of the Pope or the decrees of Rome but they retain'd the old Discipline But yet the piety and the reasonableness of the decree of Zephyrinus prevail'd by little and little and adulterers were admitted but the severity stuck longer upon diolaters or apostates
penitent and 2. of the sincerity of their repentance and therefore can with great effect minister to the comfort of sad and afflicted penitents This does declare the pardon upon observation of the just grounds and dispositions but the dispensation of Ecclesiastical Sacraments does really minister to it not only by consigning it but as instruments of the Divine appointment to convey proper mercies to worthily disposed persons 2. But the other great thing which I was to say in this article is this That the judicial absolution of the Priest does effect no material event or change in the penitent as to the giving the pardon and therefore cannot be it which Christ intended in the giving those excellent powers of remitting and retaining sins Now upon this will the whole issue depend Does the priest absolve him whom God condemnes God is the supreme Judge and though we may minister to his judgement yet we cannot contradict it or can the Priest condemn him whom God absolves That also is impossible He is neer that justifieth me who will contend with me and if God be with us who can be against us Or will not God pardon unless the Priest absolves us That may become a sad story For he may be malicious or ignorant or interested or covetous and desirous to serve his own ends upon the ruine of my soul and therefore God dispenses his mercies by more regular just and equal measures then the accidental sentences of unknowing or imprudent men If then the Priest ministers only to repentance by saying I absolve thee what is it that he effects For since Gods pardon does not go by his measures his must go by Gods measures and the effect of that will be this God works his own work in us and when his Minister observes the effects of the divine grace he can and ought to publish and declare to all the purposes of comfort and institution that the person is absolved that is he is in the state of grace and divine favour in which if he perseveres he shall be saved But all this while the work is supposed to be done before and if it be the Priest hath nothing left for him to do but to approve to warrant and to publish And the case in short is this Either the sinner hath repented worthily or he hath not If he hath then God hath pardoned him already by vertue of all the promises Evangelical If he hath not repented worthily the Priest cannot ought not to absolve him and therefore can by this absolution effect no new thing The work is done before the Priestly absolution and therefore cannot depend upon it Against this no sect of men opposes any thing that I know of excepting onely the Roman Doctors who yet confess the argument of value if the penitent be contrite But they adde this that there is an imperfect Contrition which by a distinct word they call Attrition which is a natural grief or a grief proceeding wholly from fear or smart and hath in it nothing of love and this they say does not justify the man nor pardon the sin of it self But if this man come to the Priest and confess and be absolv'd that absolution makes this attrition to become contrition or which is all one it pardons the mans sins and though this imperfect penitent cannot hope for pardon upon the confidence of that indisposition yet by the Sacrament of penance or Priestly absolution he may hope it and shall not be deceived Indeed if this were true it were a great advantage to some persons who need it mightily But they are the worst sort of penitents and such which though they have been very bad yet now resolve not to be very good if they can any other way escape it and by this means the Priests power is highly advanc'd and to submit to it would be highly necessary to most men and safest to all But if this be not true then to hope it is a false confidence and of danger to the event of souls it is a nurse of carelesness and gives boldness to imperfect penitents and makes them to slacken their own piety because they look for security upon confidence of that which will be had without trouble or mortification even the Priests absolution This therefore I am to examine as being of very great concernment in the whole article of Repentance and promised to be considered in the beginning of this Paragraph §. 5. Attrition or the imperfect repentance though with absolution is not sufficient BY Attrition they mean the most imperfect Repentance that is a sorrow proceeding from fear of hell a sorrow not mingled with the love of God This sorrow newly begun they say is sufficient for pardon if the sins be confest and the party absolved by the Priest This indeed is a short process and very easy but if it be not effectual and valid the persons that rely upon it are miserably undone Here therefore I consider 1. Attrition being a word of the Schools not of the Scripture or of antiquity means what they please to have it and although they differ in assigning its definition yet it being the least and the worst part of repentance every action of any man that can in any sense be said to repent upon consideration of any the most affrighting threatnings in the Gospel cannot be denied to have attrition Now such a person who being scar'd comes to confess his sin may still retain his affections to it for nothing but love to God can take away his love from evil and if there be love in it it is Contrition not Attrition From these premises it follows that if the Priest can absolve him that is attrite he may pardon him who hath affections to sin still remaining that is one who fears hell but does not love God If it be said that absolution changes fear into love attrition into contrition a Saul into a David a Judas into a John a Simon Magus into Simon Peter then the greatest conversions and miracles of change may be wrought in an instant by an ordinary ministery and when Simon Magus was affrighted by S. Peter about the horror of his sin and told that he was in the gall of bitterness and thereupon desired the Apostle to pray for him if S. Peter had but absolved him which he certainly might upon that affright he put the Sorcerer in he had made him a Saint presently and needed not to have spoken so uncertainly concerning him Pray if peradventure the thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee For without peradventure he might have made a quicker dispatch and a surer work by giving him absolution upon his present submission and the desire of his prayers and his visible apparent fear of being in the gall of bitterness all which must needs be as much or more then the Roman Schools define Attrition to be But 2. The Priest pardons upon no other terms then those upon which God pardons for if he does