a gracious Master and thus the Child does with respectful Love meet the tenderness of his Parent and the Wisdom and Vertue which sometimes raises some one happy Mortal above the common size and height of Mankind does not surely diminish but increase the Affection and the Pleasure of his Friends that enjoy him Again the Nature of Enjoyment varies according to the various Faculties of the Soul and the senses of the Body One way we enjoy Truth and another Goodness One way Beauty and another Harmony and so on These things considered I saw there was no necessity in order to make God the Object of our Fruition either to bring Him down to any thing unworthy of his Glory or to exalt our selves to a Height we are utterly uncapable of I easily saw that we who love and adore God here should when we enter into his Presence admire and love him infinitely more For God being infinitely amiable the more we contemplate the more clearly we discern his Divine Perfections and Beauties the more must our Souls be inflamed with a Passion for Him And I have no Reason to doubt but that God will make us the most gracious Returns of our Love and express His Affections for us in such Condescensions in such Communications of Himself as will transport us to the utmost Degree that created Beings are capable of Will not God that sheds abroad his Love in our Hearts by his Spirit here fully satisfie it hereafter will not God who fills us here with the Joy of his Spirit by I know not what inconceivable ways communicate Himself in a more ravishing and Ecstatick manner to us when we shall behold him as he is and live for ever encircled in the Arms of his Love and Glory Upon the whole then I cannot but believe that the Beatifick Vision will be the Supream Pleasure of Heaven yet I do not think that this is to exclude those of an inferiour Nature God will be there not only all but in all We shall see him as he is and we shall see him reflected in Angels and all the Inhabitants of Heaven nay in all the various Treasures of that Happy Place but in far more bright and lovely Charcters than in his Works here below This is a state now that answers all Ends and satisfies all Appetites let 'em be never so various never so boundless Temporal Good nay a state accumulated with all temporal Goods has still something defective something empty in it That which is crooked cannot be made straight and that which is wanting cannot be numbred And therefore the Eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the Ear with hearing but all things are full of Labour Man cannot utter it And if this were not the state of temporal Things yet that one Thought of Solomon that he must leave them makes good the Charge of Vanity and Vexation And the contrary is that which compleats Heaven namely that it is Eternal Were Heaven to have an End that End would make it None That Death would be as much more intolerable than this here as the Joys of Heaven are above those of Earth For the Terrour and the Evil of it would be to be estimated by the Perfection of that Nature and Happiness which it would put an End to To Dye in Paradise amidst a Crowd of Satisfactions how much more intollerable were this than to Dye in those accursed Regions that bred continually Briars and Brambles Cares and Sorrows And now I doubt not but every one will readily acKnowledge that an Heaven were it believed were such a Fruit of Christian Liberty such a Motive to it as none could resist Did I believe this have I heard one say I would quit my Trade and all Cares and Thoughts of this World and wholly apply my self to get that other you talk of There was no need of going thus far But this shews what the natural Influence of this Doctrine of a Life to come is and that it is generally owing to Infidelity where 't is frustrated and defeated What is in this Case to be done what Proof what Evidences are sufficient to beget Faith in him who rejects Christianity and all Divine Revelation He that hears not Moses and the Prophets Christ and his Apostles neither will he believe though one rose from the dead This Doctrine of a Life to come was generally believed by the Gentile World It was indeed very much obscur'd but never extinguished by the Addition of many fabulous and superstitious Fancies so strong was the Tradition or Reason or rather both on which 't was built The Jews universally embraced it The general Promises of God to Abraham and his Seed and the several Shadows and Types of it in the Mosaick Institution did confirm them in the Belief of a Doctrine which I do not doubt had been transmitted to them even from Enoch Noah and all their pious Ancestors Nor must we look upon the Sadduces amongst the Jews or the Epicureans amongst the Gentiles to be any Objection against this Argument of a Life to come founded in Tradition and the universal Sense of Mankind because they were not only inconsiderable compared to the Body of the Jewish or Pagan World but also Desertors and Apostates from the Philosophy and Religion received To what End should I proceed from the Gentile and Jew to the Christian were Christianity entertained as it ought the very supposal of any Doubt concerning a Life to come would be impertinent Here we have numerous Demonstratitions of it Not only the Fortune of Vertue in this Life which is often very calamitous but even the Origine and Nature of it do plainly evince a Life to come For to what End can the Mortification of the Body by Abstractions and Meditations be enjoyned if there be no Life to come What need is there of Renovation or Regeneration by the Word and Spirit of God were there no Life to come One would think ' the common End of this natural Life might be well enough secured upon the common Foundation of Reason and Human Laws What should I here add the Love of God and the Merits of Jesus from both which we may derive many unanswerable Arguments of a Life to come For though when we reflect upon it it appears as much above our Merit as it is above our Comprehension yet when we consider that Eternal Life is the Gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord what less than an Heaven can we expect from an infinite Merit and Almighty Love The Love of God must be Perfect as Himself and the Merits of Jesus must be estimated by the Greatness of his Person and his Sufferings He that cannot be wrought upon by these and the like Gospel-Arguments will be found I doubt impenetrable to all others 'T is in vain to argue with such a one from natural Topicks and therefore I will stop here I should now pass on to the Third Thing the Attainment of Christian Liberty But
with the other One would think now that there should be nothing further needful to establish the Consolation of a Christian and yet God out of regard no doubt to the vast Importance and happy Influence of Assurance has furnished us with another ground of it which is The Third and Last namely the Testimony of the Spirit This Spirit as it assists us in our Examination so it ratifies and confirms our Sentence by its suffrage fortifying our assurance and increasing our Joy All this the Scripture expresly teaches us for the Spirit is called The earnest of our Inheritance the Seal of our Redemption Eph. 1.13 14. Eph. 4.30 31. 2 Cor. 2.10 2 Cor. 5. And though it be not improbable but that these and such like Places may relate more immediately to that Spirit of Promise which was conspicuous in Miracles and seems to have accompanied all that believed in the Infancy of the Church according to those Words of our Saviour And these signs shall follow them that believe in my Name shall they cast out Devils c. Mark 16 17. Yet are there Texts enough which assure us that the Spirit of God should be imparted to believers through all succeeding Ages and that this should be one effect of it to comfort us and be a pledge to us of the Divine Favour thus Rom. 15.13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost and Rom. 8.15 16. For ye have not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear but ye have received the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father the Spirit it self beareth witness with our Spirit that we are the Children of God and if Children then heirs heirs of God and joynt heirs with Christ If it be here demanded what this Testimony of the Spirit is I answer 't is a Powerful Energy of the blessed Spirit shedding abroad and encreasing the Love of God in our Hearts Rom. 5. Tribulation worketh Patience Patience Experience and Experience Hope and Hope makes not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our Hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us This is the Spirit of Adoption the Spirit of Obsignation the Spirit of Glory and the Spirit of Love happy is he who is partaker of it he has attained the Maturity of Perfection and Pleasure I can scarce forbear going in with some of the Fathers who thought that such as these could never finally fall I can scarce forbear applying to such those words Rev. 20.6 Blessed and Holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection on such the second Death hath no power Thus far have I considered Assurance as it relates to the present time But 2. Assurance may regard the Time to come and it conduces very little less to the Peace and Pleasure of a Christian to be assured that he shall persevere in a good State then that he is now in one Let us therefore in the next place examine what grounds the Perfect Man may have for such a perswasion Now these are likewise three First The Propension and Favour of God for the Perfect Man Secondly The Sufficiency of Divine Assistance And Thirdly The Conscience of his own Integrity 1. The Favour of God I need not go about to prove that God will be ever ready to assist the Perfect Man I need not prove that his Eyes are always upon the Righteous and that his Ears are always open to their Prayers that they are the dear Objects of his Delight and Love Reason and Scripture both do abundantly attest this and the repeated Promises of God to good Men incourage them to hope from God whatever beloved Children may from a tender and kind Father Is not this enough then to inspire the Perfect Man with great and confident Hopes He knows not only that God is an immutable God free from all Levity and Inconstancy and therefore that nothing less then Presumptino and Obstinacy Habitual Neglect or Wickedness can Tempt him to recal his Gifts or repent him of his Favours He knows not only that God is faithful and will not suffer him to be Tempted above what he is able but he knows also that he has a powerful Intercessor at the Right-hand of God an Advocate with the Father who cannot but prevail Nor is this all yet he has a great many things that plead for him with God There are his Tears which are Botled up there are his Prayers and Alms which are gone up for a Memorial before God there is a Book of Remembrance written wherein all his pious Discourses are Registred and God is Faithful and cannot forget his Works and Labour of Love The Spirit of God will not soon quit the Bosom that it so long resided in it will not suffer it self to be divided from that Person with whom it had entered into so close an Vnion that it seemed as it were inanimated or incorporated with him and become essential to his Being Whence it is that the Spirit is said to be grieved when he is forced and compelled to retire 2. The Second Ground of Aslurance for the time to come is the sufficiency of Divine Assistance The good Man is well assured that God will never refuse the Protection of his Providence or the Aid of his Spirit And what can be too difficult for these Providence can prevent a Temptation or remove it the Spirit can support him under it and enable him to vanquish it nay it can enable him to extract new strength and vigour from it my Grace is sufficient for thee 2 Cor. 12.9 the Truth of which Assertion has been Illustriously proved by the victories of Martyrs and Confessors who have triumphed over United Force of Men and Devils Though then the Conscience of Human Frailty may awaken in the best of Men Fear and Caution the Assurance of Divine Assistance cannot but beget in them an Holy Confidence the Snares and Temptations of the World the subtilty and vigilance of the Devil may justly create a Sollicitude in the best of Men but when they consider themselves encompassed with the Divine Favour they can have no reason to despond 3. The Conscience of his own Integrity is a Third Ground of a good Man's Confidence he knows that nothing but crying Provocations can quench the Spirit and oblige God to desert him and he has reason to hope that this is that he cannot be guilty of He is sure that presumptuous Wickedness is not only repugnant to his Principles but to the very bent of his Nature to all the Inclinations and Passions of his Soul I speak here of the Perfect Man can he ever wilfully dishonour and disobey God who loves him above all things and has done so long Can he forsake and betray his Saviour who has long rejoyced and gloried in him who has been long accustomed to look upon all the Glories and Satisfactions of this Life as
his Vices which he did not reflect on sufficiently before he is vex'd and troubled at the plagues and mischiefs his Sin and Folly have already procured him and thinks he has reason to fear if he persist others far more intolerable Then he calls to mind the Goodness the long-suffering of God the love of Jesus the Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power and how distant soever he be from Vertue he discerns there is a Beauty and Pleasure in it and cannot but judge the Righteous happy These thoughts these Travels of the mind if they be not strangled in the Birth by a Man 's own wilfulness or Pusillanimity or unhappily diverted upon some Temptations do kindle in the Bosom of the Sinner the desires of Righteousness and Liberty they fill him with Regret and Shame cast him down and humble him before God and make him finally resolve on shaking off the Yoke This may be called a state of Illumination and is a state of Preparation for or Disposition to Repentance Or if it be Repentance it self 't is yet but an Embrio To perfect it 't is necessary Secondly That the Sinner make good his Resolutions and actually break with his Lusts he must reject their Sollicitations and boldly oppose their Commands he must take part with Reason and Religion keep a Watch and Guard over his Soul and must earnestly labour by Mortification and Discipline by Meditation and Prayer to root out Vice and Plant Vertue in his Soul This in the Language of the Prophet is ceasing to do Evil and learning to do well Isa 1.16 17. He that has proceeded thus far though he feel a great Conflict within though the Opposition of Lust be very strong and consequently the discharge of his Duty very difficult he is nevertheless in a state of Grace but in a state of Childhood too he is sincere but far from being Perfect And yet this is the state which many continue in to the end of their Lives being partly abus'd by false Notions and taught to believe from Rom. 7. that there is no higher or perfecter state partly intangled and incumbred by some unhappy circumstances of Life Or it may be the Force or Impetus of the Soul towards Perfection is much abated by the Satisfaction of Prosperity and the many Diversions and Engagements of a Fortunate Life But he that will be Perfect must look upon this state as the beginning of Vertue For it must be remembred that a stubborn and powerful Enemy will not be subdued and totally brought under in a Moment The Christian therefore must prosecute this War till he has finished it I will not say by Extirpating but disabling the Enemy But here I would have it well observ'd that the Reducing the Enemy to a low condition is not always effected by an uninterrupted Series of Victories for seldom is any so Fortunate or so Brave so Wise or so watchful as to meet with no Check in the long Course of a difficult War 't is enough if he be not discourag'd but instructed and awaken'd by it And to prevent any fatal disaster too Errors must carefully be avoided First a hasty and fond confidence in our selves with an over-weaning contempt and neglect of the Enemy And next all false and cowardly Projects of Truces and Accommodations Nor is the sitting down content with poor and low Attainments very far removed from this Latter This is the second Stage of the Christian's Advance towards Perfection and may be call'd the state of Liberty The third and last which now follows is the state of Zeal or Love or as Mystick Wrighters delight to call it the state of Vnion The Yoke of sin being once shaken off the Love of Righteousness and a delight in it is more and more increased And now the Man proceeds to the last round in the Scale of Perfection The Wisdom Courage and Vigour of a Convert is generally at first employed in subduing his corruptions in Conquering his ill Habits and Defeating his Enemies in watching over his own Heart and guarding himself against Temptations But this being once done he is in full Liberty to pursue the works of Peace and Love Now he may advance from necessary to voluntary Acts of Self-denial which before would have been putting old Wine into new Bottles contrary to the Advice of our Master Mat. 9.17 Now he may enlarge his Knowledge and exchange the Milk of the Word for strong Meat for the Wisdom and the Mysteries of it Now he may extend his watchfulness his care and whereas they were before wisely for the most part confined to his own safety he may now like our Saviour go about doing good Act. 10.38 protecting strengthning and rescuing his weak Brethren propagating the Faith and enflaming the bosoms of Men with the love of Jesus and his Truths Now in a word he may give himself up to a Life of more exalted Contemplation Purity and Charity which will be natural and easie now though it were not so in the beginning And this Life is accompanied with Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost with Confidence and Pleasure Now the Yoke of Christ is easie and his burden light now he rejoyces with Joy unspeakable and Hopes full of Glory Now 't is not so much he that lives as Christ that lives in him For the life which he now leads is entirely the product of Faith and Love and his greatest business is to maintain the Ground which he has got and to hold fast the steadfastness of his Hope unto the end To render this short account of the growth of Vertue from its very Seed to Maturity the more useful and to free it from some scruples which it may otherwise give occasion to I will here add two or three Remarks 1. That the State and Habit of Perfection is a different thing from some suddain Flights or Efforts of an Extraordinary Passion and so is the fixt and establish'd Tranquility of the Mind from some suddain Gusts and short lived fits of spiritual Joy No man attains to the Habits of Vertue and Pleasure but by degrees and the natural method and order by which he advances to either is that which I have set down But as to some Sallies of the most pure and exalted Passions as to short liv'd fits of Perfection as to transcient Tasts short and suddain transports of spiritual Pleasure it is very often otherwise God sometimes either to allure the frailty of a new Convert or to Fortifie his Resolution against some hazardous Tryal does raise him to an extraordinary height by more then usual Communications of his blessed Spirit and ravishes him by some Glances as it were of the Beatifick Vision Raptures of Love the melting tenderness of a pious Sorrow the Strength of Resolution and Faith the Confidence and Exultancy of Assurance do sometimes accompany some sort of Christians in the beginnings of Righteousness or in the state of Illumination Where the Conviction is full the Imagination lively
well prepared for it How should these Men form any Notion of a perfect and exalted Vertue of devout and Heavenly Passion What Conceptions can they have of the Power and Joy of the Holy Ghost of Poverty of Spirit or Purity of Heart or the Diffusion of the Love of God in our Souls What Idea's can they entertain of an Heaven or of Angelical Pleasure and Beatitude In a word the Religion of Men intent upon this World when they pretend to any which too often they do not consist especially in two things in Abstaining from Wickedness and doing the Works of their civil Caling and how far they may be sensible of higher Obligations I determine not Good God! What a Mercy it is to these poor Creatures that 't is the Fashion of their Country as well as a Precept of our Religion to Dedicate one Day in seven to the Service of God and their Souls But have I not often taught that Purity of Intention Converts the Works of a secular Calling into the Works of God I have so 't is Universally taught 't is the Doctrine of the Gospel and therefore I shall never retract it but ah How hard a thing is it for a Worldly Man to maintain this Purity of Intention How hard a thing is it for a Mind eaten up by the Love and Cares of this World to do all to the Honour of God! Though therefore I cannot retract this Doctrine yet the longer I live the more reason do I see for qualifying and guarding it with this Caution Let no Man that desires to be Saved much less that desires to be Perfect take Sanctuary in Purity of Intention while he suffers the Works of his secular Calling to ingross his Soul and entirely Usurp his Time If secular Works exclude and thrust out of doors such as are properly Religious it will not be easie to conceive how the Power of Godliness should be maintained how any wise Thoughts or Heavenly Desires should be preserved in such Men or how finally those who have utterly given up themselves to the wisdom of this World should retain any true value for those Maxims of the Gospel wherein consists the true Wisdom that is from above All that I have said against a Life of Business may with equal or greater force be urged against a Life of Pleasure I mean that which they call Innocent Pleasure The one and the other entangle and ensnare the Mind the one and the other leave in it a peculiar relish which continues long after the hurry both of Pleasure and Business is over But all this while I would not have what I have said be extended further then I design it to raise scruples in Vertuous and Good Men instead of reforming the too eager Applications of the Earthy to the things of this World CHAP. VII Of Motives to Perfection INnumerable are the Motives to Perfection which offer themselves to any one that reflects seriously on this Argument An hearty endeavour after Perfection is the best proof of sincerity the nearest approach to Perfection is the nearest approach to the utmost security this Life is capable of Great is the beauty and loveliness of an exalted Vertue great the Honour and Authority of it and a very happy Influence it has even upon our Temporal Affairs And to this may be added the Peace and Tranquility of a wise Mind sanctified Affections and a Regular Life Besides the Love of God is boundless and the Love of Jesus is so too and therefore I demand not a lazy feeble or unsteady Vertue but a strong and vigorous one a warm and active such as a true Faith great Hopes and a passionate Love do naturally excite us to To all this I might add that the Spirit of God is always pressing on and advancing desirous to communicate himself to us more and more plentifully if we be not backward or negligent our selves But these and many other Enforcements to the duty of Perfection should I enlarge on them would swell this Treatise to an intolerable bulk Nor indeed is it necessary for the 4th Chapter where I treat of the Fruits of Perfection does contain such Motives to it as are sufficient to excite in any one that reads them a most vehement desire and thirst after it Here therefore all that I think fit to do is to put my Reader in mind of another Life In the Glories and Pleasures of which I need not prove that the Perfect Man will have the greatest share This is a Motive that must never be out of the thoughts of the Man that will be Perfect and that for three Reasons which I will but just mention 1. Without another Life we can never form any true Notion of a Perfect Vertue Sociable and Civil Vertues may be supported by Temporal Motives and fram'd and model'd by Worldly Conveniencies but a Divine Vertue must be built upon a Divine Life upon a Heavenly Kingdom The Reason of this Assertion is plain the Means must always bear Proportion to the End where therefore the end is an Imperfect Temporal Good there needs no more then imperfect unfinished Vertue to attain it but where the the end is Heavenly and Immortal the Vertue ought to be so too Were there no other Life the Standard and Measure of the Good or Evil to be found in Actions would be their subserviency to the temporal Good or Evil of this World and by a necessary consequence it would be impossible to prove any higher degrees of Poverty of Spirit Purity of Heart Charity and the like to be truly Vertue then what we could prove truly necessary to procure the Good or guard us against the Evil of this Life And if so 't is easie to conclude what mean and beggarly kind of Vertues would be produc'd from this ground 2. Without another Life all other Motives to Perfection will be insufficient For though generally speaking such is the Contrivance of Human Nature that neither the common Good of civil Society nor the more particular Good of private Men can be provided for or secured without the practice of sociable and political Vertues yet 't is certain that not only in many extraordinary Cases there would be no Reward at all for Vertue if there were not one reserved for it in another World but also in most Cases if there were not a future Pleasure that did infinitely out-weigh the enjoyments of this Life Men would see no Obligation to Perfection For what should raise them above the love of this World if there were no other Or above the love of the Body if when they died they should be no more for ever And certainly our Minds would never be able to soar very high nor should we ever arrive at any Excellence or Perfection in any Action if we were always under the influence of the love of the World and the Body 3. A Life to come is alone a sufficient Motive to Perfection Who will refuse to endure hardship as a
slight and insignificant that they seem to be attended by no mischievous Con̄sequence nor to offer any Dishonour to God nor Injustice to Man But I doubt this Notion of Venial Sin has no Solidity in it For either Men perform such Actions Deliberately or Indeliberately knowing them to be sinful or believing them to be innocent Now if we perform any Action Deliberately and knowing it to be sinful we never ought to look upon this as a little Sin much less a Venial one The Reason of this is plain The First Notion that every Man has of Sin is that it is forbidden by and displeasing to God and then to do that deliberately which we know will provoke God is an Argument of a fearless and irreligious Heart a Heart destitute of the Love of God the Love of Righteousness and Heaven But if a Man transgress in a trifling Instance indeliberately this alters the Case for the Matter not being of Importance enough to excite the Intention and Application of the Mind and there being consequently no Malignity of the Will in an Action where there was no Concurrence of the Judgment I cannot but think this may very well pass for an Human Infirmity for all the fault that can be here laid to the Charge of Man is Incogitancy or Inadvertency and that too as excusable a one as can be Lastly where the Matter of an Action is very trifling and inconsiderable and draws after it no ill Consequence either with respect to God or Man in this Case if a Man judge it no Sin I cannot think it i◠any to him though by a Nice and Scrupulous Construction it may fall within the Compass of some Divine Prohibition The Distinction of the Schoolmen is good enough here it is besides the Law but not against it or it is against the Letter but not the Design and Intention of the Law of God I cannot think that it is consistent with the Infinite Goodness of God to punish such things as these with Eternal Misery or that it can become a Man of sense seriously to afflict his Soul for them I cannot for my Life perswade my self that I should provoke God if passing thorough a Field of my Neighbour's Corn or Pease I should pull off an Ear or Cod or passing through his Orchard should eat an Apple The Notion I have of God and the great End and Design of his Laws will not suffer me to entertain such trifling weak and superstitious Fancies And here I cannot but take notice of two Things which very much perplex the Minds of some good People that is an Idle Word and Jesting concerning both which 't is very plain That such are miserably mistaken and that they are no sins at all unless unreasonable and superstitious scruples make them so This I say on supposition that by Idle word they mean only such talk as does not tend to Edification and by Jesting only that which is Innocent and Divertive By an Idle Word Matt. 12. our Saviour plainly means a blasphemous Word if that saying of our Saviour of every idle Word c. be to be limited and confined by the sense of the Context For the occasion of that Assertion of our Lord was the Blasphemy which the Jews belch'd out against his Miracles Or if our Lord here on this occasion advances a general Doctrine then by an Idle Word we must understand a wicked one proceeding from a corrupt and naughty Heart and tending as directly to promote Impiety as gracious and wholsome Discourse does to promote Edification This is evident from ver 25. a good Man out of the good treasure of the Heart bringeth forth good things and an evil Man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things And ver 37. for by thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned By Jesting Eph. 5.4 The Apostle understands the modish Raillery of the Greeks which was generally made up of Prophaneness and Wantonness or brisk and sharp Ironies This is plain both from the Company we find it in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Filthiness and Foolish Speaking and from the Character given it in common with the other two 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being the very same that is given the most infamous and vilest Lusts and Passions Rom. 1.28 Things not convenient is a diminutive Expression implying such things as contain much Turpitude and Wickedness in them Beza as appears by his Notes read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this place foolish speaking or not and Jesting which as he observes makes Jesting the same thing with foolish Speaking or Buffoonry And justifies that Jesting which consists in a pleasant and divertive Facetiousness from 1 King 18.27 2 King 3.23 Isa 14.11 2. Some think that the meer Reluctancy and Opposition of Conscience against Sin is sufficient to constitute a Sin of Infirmity And this has received no small Countenance from such an Interpretation of Rom. 7. as makes Holiness to be nothing else but a Vicissitude of Desires and Actions repugnant to one another But at this rate no Man's Sins would be Damning but his whose Conscience were sear'd and when ones Heart did condemn one God would be sure to acquit one which agrees very ill with St. John If our heart condemn us God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things 1 Joh. 3.21 No man unless arrived at a Reprobate Sense can do that which is evil without Reluctancy for his Conscience will forbid him as long as it has the least Degree of Tenderness in it and restrain him as far as it has power And as to Rom. 7. it has been abundantly consider'd and I think sufficiently proved to belong to those who are the Servants of Sin as Rom. 8. does to those who are set free St. Austin indeed tells us that he understood that Chapter at first as the Pelageans did for a Person under the Law and under the Power of Sin But that he found himself constrained afterwards to understand it of St. Paul himself I will not examin the Solidity of his Reasons 'T is enough to me that his Change of Opinion does Religion no harm For he is so far from making a state of Holiness to consist with Acts of Deliberate Sin against Conscience that he will not excuse so much as rebellious Motions and Appetites if consented to All that he contends for in a good Man from this Chapter is That Lapsed Nature will sometimes exert it self even in the best Men in disorderly and distemper'd Appetites 3. Others Lastly will have those Sins into which we fall either over-power'd by the strength or wearied out by the Assiduity or Length of a Temptation pass for Infirmities But this Opinion has as little ground as the two former I can find no Scripture that countenances this Notion There are indeed some of great Reputation who have promoted it But I think the words of St. Paul make against it 1 Cor.
disturb and indispose the Body many are the things which distract and clog the Mind from both which because we shall never be utterly free in this World therefore our Devotion will never be so constant and uniform but that it will have its Interruptions and Allays and Dulness and Lifelessness will sometimes seize upon the best of Christians But then if this spiritual Deadness in Religious Exercises be fixt constant and habitual it must needs be a Proof of a corrupt Mind For 't is impossible that there should be a true Principle of Grace within which should never or very rarely shew it self in the Sincerity and Fervency of our Devotion How is it possible that that Man who is generally slight and superficial in his Confession should have a true Compunction and sincere Contrition for Sins How is it possible that he who is generally indifferent formal and cold in his Petitions should have a just Sense either of his Wants or Dangers or a true Value for the Grace and Favour of God The Sum is Deadness in Duty is either General or Rare Common or Accidental If it befalls us Commonly 't is an Argument of an unregenerate Heart if Rarely 't is not But if the Returns of Life and Deadness in Duty be so frequent and unconstant that 't is impossible to determin whether the one or the other prevail most then 't is plain that the State also of such a Man is very dubious 2. Duty must never be Destitute of Sincerity though it may of Pleasure and Transport it must never be without Seriousness and Concernment though it may be very defective in the Degrees of Love and Ardency Thus in Prayer the Tenderness and Contrition of the Soul dissolv'd in Love and Sorrow is a Frame of Spirit much above what the Penitent commonly arrives at But an Aversion for Sin a firm Resolution to forsake it and a hearty Desire to be enabled by the Grace of God so to do is what he must not want So again Joy and Transport the Ardor and Exultancy of Mind is the Effect of a clear Understanding an assur'd Conscience a Heart enflam'd with Love and a strict Life Whoever therefore falls short in the one will generally fall short in the other too But every Christian that is truly such must have a true Sense of his Wants a hearty desire to please God a true Notion of his Goodness and a steady Dependance upon it thorough Christ And these things are sufficient to unite our Hearts and our Lips in the same Petitions to make us in earnest in all the Duties we perform and careful to intend the main end of them 3. The Prayer of the Perfect Man is generally offer'd up with the tenderest and most exalted Passion and a holy Pleasure mingles it self in every part of his Office his Petitions and Praises his Confessions Deprecations and Confidences are all of them Expressions of warm and Delightful Passions And how can we well conceive it otherwise must not those Praises and Magnificates be full of Joy and Transport which flow from a full Assurance of the Divine Favour from a long Experience of his Love and from the glorious Prospect of a blessed Eternity can those Deprecations and Confidences want a heavenly Calm and Tranquility of Spirit which rest upon the Mediation of Jesus the Promises of an immutable God and the Pledge of his Spirit can those Confessions want Contrition that have all the Tenderness that holy Zeal and the humblest Reflections can inspire them with which are powered forth by a Soul enlightn'd purify'd strong in the Faith rooted and grounded in Love by a Soul consequently that has the liveliest Sense of the Deformity and Danger of Sin of the Beauty and Pleasure of Holiness of the infinite Goodness of God and of that Love of Christ that passeth Knowledge Can finally those Petitions want Desire and Flame which are offer'd up by a Soul that hungers and thirsts after Righteousness that counts all things but dung and dross in comparison of Jesus that pants after God that long◠to be dissolv'd and to be with Christ And as we may thus from the Nature of things collect what kind of Prayers those of the Perfect Man generally are so may we from the Example of the Royal Psalmist and others demonstrate all this to be no vain Speculation but real Matter of Fact 'T is true Weight and Dignity of Matter Gravity and Significancy of Expression are the Characters most conspicuous in Publick Offices in the best and most ancient Prayers and particularly in the Lord's Prayer We find in them few or no Figures of Speech no Vehemence of Expression But it is true too That the Devotion of a Soul disengag'd as it were from the Body retir'd from the World collected within it self raised by daily Contemplation and accustom'd to Converse with Heaven flows naturally and easily Those great Ideas which such a Prayer as that of our Lord's Composure present to the Mind inflame the Desire awaken all the Passions of the Holy Man without any Labour of Imagination or Artifice of Words Thus have I considered the Nature of Lukewarmness and shew'd how far the Perfect Man is remov'd from it My next business is to perswade and exhort Men to quit it and become sincere and zealous Only I must First take notice by the way That besides Idleness and Lukewarmness there is sometimes a Third Cause or occasion of Unfruitfulness which deserves never to be slighted that is Fickleness Vnsteadiness or Inconstancy Many there are who often purpose project and resolve great Matters but never bring forth any Fruit to Perfection What they Build one day they throw down another They put on as many various moral Forms as Proteus in the Poets does natural ones sometimes they are in a fit of Zeal at other times nothing but Coldness and bare Form sometimes they are in the Camp of Vertue sometimes in that of Vice In a word they halt like the Israelites between God and Baal and are divided and distracted between a Sense of Duty and the Love of the World and the Body between the Checks and Incitements of Conscience on the one hand and some foolish Inclinations on the other This State I have had an Eye too very often nor shall I forget it here but shall propose such a Method for the Cure of Lukewarmness and Formality as may be also of very good use to all such as fall short of the main End of Religion being not truly and thoroughly changed but are only almost perswaded to be Christians and only not altogether so far from the Kingdom of Heaven as others This being premised I proceed and 1. I will Enquire into the Causes from whence Lukewarmness and all abortive Attempts after Vertue flow 2. I will shew the Folly Guilt and Danger of a Laodicean State § 1. Of the Causes c. These are generally Four 1. Men finding themselves under great Difficulties in coming up to
another since otherwise the Notion of Perfection would be extreamly maimed and incompleat I 'll insist therefore no longer on the use of the Words Perfect and Perfection in Scripture But as a further Proof that my Notion of Perfection is truly Scriptural I will shew 2. That the utmost Height to which the Scripture exhorts us is nothing more then a Steady Habit of Holiness that the brightest Characters it gives of the Perfect Man the loveliest Descriptions it makes us of the Perfectest State are all made up of the Natural and confessed Properties of a Ripe Habit. There is no Controversie that I know of about the Nature of a Habit every Man's Experience instructs him in the whole Philosophy of it We are all agreed that it is a kind of Second Nature that it makes us exert our selves with Desire and Earnestness with Satisfaction and Pleasure that it renders us fix'd in our Choice and constant in our Actions and almost as averse to those things which are repugnant to it as we are to those which are distasteful and disagreeable to our Nature And that in a word it so entirely and absolutely possesses the Man that the Power of it is not to be resisted nor the Empire of it to be shaken off nor can it be removed and extirpated without the greatest Labour and Difficulty imaginable All this is a confess'd and almost palpable Truth in Habits of Sin And there is no Reason why we should not ascribe the same Force and Efficacy to Habits of Virtue Especially if we consider that the Strength Easiness and Pleasure which belong naturally to these Habits receive no small Accession from the Supernatural Energy and Vigour of the Holy Spirit I will therefore in few words shew how that State of Righteousness which the Scripture invites us to as our Perfection directly answers this account I have given of an Habit. Is Habit in General a second Nature This State of Righteousness is in Scripture called the New Man Eph. 4.24 the New Creature 2 Cor. 5.17 the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1.4 Does it consequently Rule and Govern Man Hear how St. Paul expresses this Power of the Habit of Holiness in himself Gal. 2.20 I am Crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the Life which I now live in the Flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me This is a constant Effect of Habits and is equally discernable in Those of Vice and Virtue that they sway and govern the Man they possess Rom. 6.16 know ye not that to whom ye yield your selves Servants to obey his Servants ye are to whom ye obey whether of Sin unto Death or of Obedience unto Righteousness Shall I go on to a more distinct and particular Consideration of the Properties of an Habit The first is a great Aversion for those things which are contrary to it or obstruct us in the Exercise of it And this is directly the Disposition of the Perfect Man towards Temptations and Sins he is now ashamed of those things which before he gloried in he is filled with an Holy Indignation against those things which before he took Pleasure in and what before he courted with Fondness and Passion he now shuns with Fear and Vigilance In brief the Scripture describes such an one as possessed with an utter Hatred and Abhorrence of every Evil way and as an irreconcileable Enemy to every thing that is an Enemy to his Virtue and his God Thus Psal 119.163 I hate and abhor lying but thy law do I love and verse 128. Therefore I esteem all thy Precepts concerning all things to be right and I hate every false way And this is a genuine and Natural Effect of Integrity or uprightness of Heart whence 't is the Observation of our Saviour Math. 6.24 No man can serve two Masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other And indeed every where a Hatred a Perfect Hatred of Evil is accounted as a necessary Consequence of the Love of God Psal 37.10 ye that love the Lord hate Evil and therefore the Psalmist resolves to Practise himself what he prescribes to others Psal 101.2.3 I will behave my self wisely in a perfect way O when wilt thou come unto me I will walk within my House with a perfect Heart I will set no wicked thing before mine Eyes I hate the work of them that turn aside it shall not cleave to me And how can this be otherwise The Love of God must necessarily imply an Abhorrence of Evil and that Habit which confirms and increases the one must confirm and increase the other too 2. The Next Property of an Habit is that the Actions which flow from it are if we meet not with violent opposition performed with Ease and Pleasure what is Natural is pleasant and easie and Habit is a Second Nature When the love of Virtue and the hatred of Vice have once rooted themselves in the Soul what can be more natural then to follow after the one and shun the other Since this is no more then embracing and enjoying what we love and turning our backs on what we detest This therefore is one constant Character of Perfection in Scripture Delight and Pleasure are every where said to accompany the Practice of Virtue when it is once grown up to Strength and Maturity The ways of Wisdom are ways of Pleasantness and all her Paths are Peace Prov. 3.17 Perfect Love casteth out Fear 1 Joh. 4.18 and to him that Loves the Commandments of God are not grievous 1 Joh. 5.3 Hence it is that the good Man's delight is in the Law of the Lord and that he meditates therein day and night Psal 1.2 Nor does he delight less in Action then Meditation but grows in Grace as much as Knowledge and abounds daily more and more in good works as he increases in the Comfort of the Holy Ghost Consonant to this Property of Perfection it is that in Psalm 19 and 119. and elsewhere frequently we hear the Psalmist expressing a kind of inconceiveable Joy and Transport in the Meditation and Practise of the Commands of God So the first Christians who spent their Lives in Devotion Faith and Charity are said Act. 2.46 to have eaten their Meat with Gladness and Singleness of Heart And 't is a delightful Description we have of the Apostles 2 Cor. 6.10 as sorrowful yet alway rejoycing as poor yet making many rich as having nothing yet possessing all things 3. Vigour and Activity or much Earnestness and Application of Mind is a third Property of an Habit. 'T is impossible not to be intent upon those things for which we have even an Habitual Passion if this Expression may be allowed me an inclination which has gathered Strength and Authority from Custom will exert it self with some warmth and briskness Now certainly there is nothing
more frequently required of or attributed to the Perfect Man in Scripture then Zeal and Fervency of Spirit in the ways of God and no wonder For when Actions flow at once from Principles and Custom when they spring from Love and are attended by Pleasure and are incited and quicken'd by Faith and Hope too How can it be but that we should repeat 'em with some Eagerness and feel an Holy Impatience as often as we are hindered or disappointed And as the Nature of the Thing shews that thus it ought to be so are there innumerable Instances in the Old Testament and the New which make it evident that thus it was Shall I mention the example of our Lord who went about doing good Act. 10.38 Shall I propose the Labours and Travils of St. Paul These Patterns it may be will be judged by some too bright and dazling a Light for us to look on or at least too Perfect for us to copy after and yet St. John tells us that he who says he abides in Him ought himself also so to walk even as he walked 1 Joh. 2.6 and we are exhorted to be followers of the Apostles as they were of Christ But if the Fervency of Christ and St. Paul seemed to have soar'd out of the reach of our imitation we have Inferiour Instances enough to prove the Zeal and Fruitfulness of Habitual Goodness Thus David says of himself Psal 119.10 with my whole Heart have I sought thee and Josiah 2 King 23.25 is said to have turned to the Lord with all his Soul and with all his Might How fervent was Anna wo departed not from the Temple but served God with Fastings and Prayers night and day Luk. 2.37 how Charitable Tabitha who was full of good Works and Alms-deeds which she did Act. 9.36 Where shall I place Cornelius With what words shall I set out his Virtues with what but those of the Holy Ghost Act. 10.2 He was a devout Man and one that feared God with all his House which gave much Alms to the people and prayed to God alway But peradventure some may imagine that there is something singular and extraordinary in these Eminent Persons which we must never hope to equal but must be content to follow them at a vast Distance Well let this be so What have we to say to whole Churches animated by the same Spirit of Zeal What are we to think of the Churches of Macedonia whose Charity St. Paul thus magnifies 2 Cor. 8.2 3. in a great trial of Affliction the abundance of their Joy and their deep Poverty abounded to the Riches of their Liberality For to their power I bear record yea and beyond their power they were willing of themselves And St. Paul declares himself perswaded of the Romans that they were full of goodness filled with all knowledge Rom. 15.14 And of the Corinthians he testifies that they were enriched in every thing and came behind in no gift 1 Cor. 1.5 6. that they did abound in all things in Faith in diligence c. 2 Cor. 8.7 I will stop here 't is in vain to heap up more Instances I have said enough to shew that Vigour and Fervency in the Service of God is no miraculous Gift no extraordinary Prerogative of some peculiar Favorite of Heaven but the natural and inseparable Property of a well confirmed Habit of Holiness Lastly is Constancy and Steadiness the Property of an Habit It is an undoubted Property of Perfection too In Scripture Good Men are every where represented as standing fast in the Faith steadfast and unmovable in the works of God holding fast their Integrity In one word as constantly following after Righteousness and maintaining a good Conscience towards God and Man And so Natural is This to one Habitually good that St. John affirms of such a one that he cannot sin 1 Joh. 3.9 whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin for his Seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God Accordingly Job is said to have feared God and eschewed Evil which must be understood of the constant course of his Life Zachary and Elizabeth are said to be Righteous walking in all the Commandments of God blameless Luk. 1.6 Enoch Noah David and other excellent Persons who are pronounc'd by God Righteous and Just and Perfect are said in Scripture to walk with God to serve Him with a Perfect Heart with a full purpose of Heart to cleave to him and the like And this is that Constancy which Christians are often exhorted to watch ye stand fast in the Faith quit ye like Men be strong 1 Cor. 16.13 And of which the first followers of our Lord left us such remarkable Examples The Disciples are said to have been continually in the Temple blessing and praising God Luk. 24. And the first Christians are said to have continued stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of Bread and in Prayers Acts 2.42 Thus I think I have sufficiently cleared my Notion of Perfection from Scripture Nor need I multiply more Texts to prove what I think no Man can doubt of unless he mistake the main Design and End of the Gospel which is to raise and exalt us to a steady Habit of Holiness The end of the Commandment saith St. Paul 1 Tim. 1.5 is Charity out of a pure heart and of a good Conscience and of Faith unfeigned This is the utmost Perfection Man is capable of to have his Mind enlightned and his Heart purified and to be inform'd acted and influenc'd by Faith and Love as by a vital principle And all this is Essential to Habitual Goodness If any one desire further Light or Satisfaction in this Matter let him read the eighth Chapter to the Romans and he will soon acknowledge that he there finds the substance of what I have hiterto advanced There though the Word it self be not found the thing called Perfection is described in all the Strength and Beauty in all the Pleasure and Advantages of it There the Disciple of Jesus is represented as one who walks not after the Flesh but after the Spirit as one whom the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has set free from the Law of Sin and Death one who 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 does not mind or relish the things of the Flesh but the things of the Spirit one in whom the Spirit of Christ dwells He does not stand at the Door and knock he does not make a transient visit but here he reigns and rules and inhabits One finally in whom the Body is dead because of Sin but the Spirit is life because of Righteousness And the Result of all this is the Joy and Confidence the Security and Transport that becomes the Child of God Ye have not received the Spirit of Bondage again to Fear but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father The Spirit it self beareth witness with our Spirit that we are
the Children of God and if Children then Heirs heirs of God and joynt-heirs with Christ And now 't is no wonder if the Perfect Man long for the Revelation of the Glory of the Sons of God if he cry out in Rapture if God be for me who can be against me who shall lay any thing to the Charge of God's Elect who shall seperate me from the Love of Christ and so on If any one would see the Perfect Man described in Fewer words he needs but cast his Eye on Rom. 6.22 But now being made free from Sin and become Servants to God ye have your Fruit unto Holiness and the end everlasting Life CHAP. II. This Notion of Perfection countenanced by all sides AFter I have shewed that this Notion of Perfection is warranted by Reason and Scripture I see not why I should be very Solicitous whether it do or do not clash with the Opinions of Men. But the Truth is if we examine not so much the Expressions and Words as the Sense and Meaning of all Parties about this Matter we shall find them well enough agreed in it at the bottom And 't is no wonder if notwithstanding several incidental Disputes they should yet agree in the Main Since the Experience of Mankind does easily teach us what sort of Perfection Human Nature is capable of and what can or can not actually be attained by Man The Pelagians did not contend for an Angelical Perfection nor St. Austin deny such a one as was truly suitable to Man the one could not be so far a Stranger to Human Nature as to exempt it in Reality from those Errors and Defects which the best of Men complain of and labour against Nor was St. Austin so little acquainted with the Power of the Gospel and of the Spirit as not to be well enough assured that Man might be Habitually Good and that such were influenced and acted by a firm Faith and a fervent Love and well grounded Hope The Dispute between Them then concerning Perfection did not consist in This whether Men might be Habitually good This was in Reality acknowledg'd on Both sides Nor whether the best Men were subject to Defects for This too Both sides could not but be sensible of but in these two things especially First what was to be attributed to Grace what to Nature And this relates not to the Definition or Essence of Perfection but to the Source and Origine of it Secondly whether those Irregular Motions Defects and Errors to which the best Men were subject were to be accounted Sins or not Neither the one side nor the other then as far as I can discern did in truth mistake the Nature of Human Perfection Each placed it in Habitual Righteousness The one contended for no more nor did the other contend for less in the Perfect Man And when the one asserted him free from Sin he did not assert him free from Defects And while the other would not allow the best Man to be without Sin they did not by Sin understand any thing else but such Disorders Oppositions to or Deviations from the Law of God as the Pelagian himself must needs own to be in the Perfect Man The Dispute then was not what Man might or might not attain to for Both sides agreed him capable of the same Habitual Righteousness Both sides allowed Him subject to the same Frailties But one side would have these Frailties accounted Sins and the other would not Numerous indeed have been the Controversies between the Popish and Reformed Churches about Precept and Counsel Mortal and Venial Sin the Possibility of fulfilling the Law of God the Merit of Good Works and such-like But after all if we enquire what that Height of Virtue is to which the best of Men may arrive what those Frailties and Infirmities are to which they are subject 't were I think easie to shew that the Wise and Good are on all hands agreed about this Nor does it much concern my present purpose in what sense or on what account Papists think some sins Venial and Protestants deny them to be so since neither the one nor the other exempt the Perfect Man from Infirmities nor assert any other Height or Perfection then what consists in a consummate and well establish'd Habit of Virtue Some Men may and do talk very extravagantly But it is very hard to imagine that Sober and Pious Men should run in with them Such when they talk of Fulfilling the Law of God and keeping his Commandments must surely understand this of the Law of God in a Gracious and Equitable sense And this is no more then what the Scripture asserts of every sincere Christian When they talk of I know not what transcendant Perfection in Monkery they must surely mean nothing more then that Poverty Chastity and Obedience are Heroick Instances of Faith and Love of Poverty of Spirit and Purity of Heart and that an Ascetick Discipline is the most compendious and effectual way to a Consummate Habit of Righteousness Finally by the Distinction of Precept and Counsel such can never intend surely more then This that we are obliged to some things under pain of Damnation to others by the Hopes of greater Degrees of Glory For 't is not easie for me to comprehend that any Man whose Judgment is not enslav'd to the Dictates of his Party should deny either of these two Truths 1. That whatever is neither forbidden nor commanded by any Law of God is Indifferent 2. That no Man can do more then love the Lord his God with all his Heart with all his Soul and with all his Might and his Neighbour as himself I say there is no Degree or Instance of Obedience that is not comprised within the Latitude and Perfection of these Words But whatever some of the Church of Rome or it may be the greater part of it may think This 't is plain was the Sense of the Ancients St. Austin (a) Quaecunque non jubentur sed speciali consilio monentur tum recté fiunt cum referuntur ad deligendum Deum proximum propter Deum Aug. Euch. cap. 121. could never understand any Merit or Excellence in those things that were Matter of Counsel not Precept unless they flowed from and had regard to the Love of God and our Neighbour And Cassian's (b) Ac proinde ea quibus qualitates Statutas videmus tempora quae sic observata sanctificant ut omissa non polluant Media esse manifestum est ut puta Naptias agriculturam divitias solitudinis Remotionem c. Cassian Colla. Patr. Talem igitur Definitionem supra Jejunii c. Nec in ipso spei nostrae terminum defigamus sed ut per ipsum ad puritatem Cordis Apostolicam Charitatem pervenire possimus ibid. Excellent Monks resolved all the value of such things to consist in their tendency to promote Apostolical Purity and Charity And Gregory Nazianzen (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Greg.
Nazian thought it very extravagant to pretend to be Perfecter then the Rule and Exacter then the Law The Quakers have made much noise and stir about the Doctrine of Perfection and have reflected very severely on others as subverting the great Design of our Redemption which is Deliverance from Sin and upholding the Kingdom of Darkness But with what Justice will easily appear when I have represented their Sense which I will do very Impartially and in as few and plain words as I can Mr. W. P. (d) A Key opening c. tells us that They are so far Infallible and Perfect as they are led by the Spirit This is indeed true but 't is meer trifling For This is an Infallibility and Perfection which no man denies who believes in the Holy Ghost since whoever follows His Guidance must be in the right unless the Holy Ghost himself be in the wrong He urges 't is true a great number of Scriptures to shew they are his own words that a State of Perfection from Sin though not in fulness of Wisdom and Glory is attainable in this Life But this is too dark and short a hint to infer the Sense of his Party from it Mr. Ed. Burroughs (e) Principles of Truth c. is more full We believe saith he that the Saints upon Earth may receive forgiveness of Sins and may be perfectly freed from the Body of Sin and Death and in Christ may be perfect and without Sin and may have victory over all Temptations by Faith in Jesus Christ And we believe every Saint that is called of God ought to press after Perfection and to over-come the Devil and all his Temptations upon Earth And we Believe they that faithfully wait for it shall obtain it and shall be presented without Sin in the Image of the Father And such walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit and are in Covenant with God and their sins are blotted out and remembred no more for they cease to commit sin being Born of the Seed of God If by Sin here he means as he seems to do Deliberate or Presumptuous Sin I do not think any Establish'd Church whether Protestant or Popish Teaches otherwise Mr. Barclay (f) Apol. Thes 8. goes very Methodically to work and first sets down the state of the Question then confutes those that differ from Him answers their Objections out of Scripture and lastly establishes his own Doctrine As to the Perfection which he asserts he lets us know That it is to be derived from the Spirit of Christ that it consists not in an Impossibility of Sinning but a Possibility of not Sinning And that his Perfect Man is capable of Daily Growth and Improvement When to This I have added that he speaks all along of That which we call Wilful Sin as appears from his Description of it for he calls it Iniquity Wickedness Impurity the Service of Satan and attributes such Effects to it as belong not at all to what we call Sins of Infirmity when I say This is added to render his Sense clear I can readily subscribe to him For I know no such Doctrines in our Church as Those which he there opposes namely that the Regenerate are to live in Sin and that their Good Works are Impure and Sinful But then he either mistakes the Main Point in Debate or prudently declines it For the Question is not whether good Men may live in Mortal or Wilful Sin but whether good Men are not subject to Frailties and Infirmities which are indeed Sins though not imputable under the Covenant of Grace Whether the Quakers are not in this Point Pelagians I do not now inquire because if they be they are already considered Two things there are in Mr. Barclay's state of the Question which I cannot so well approve of the One is that he expresses himself so injudiciously about the growth and improvement of his Perfect Man that he seems to forget the Difference the Scriptures make between Babes and full Grown Men in Christ and to place Perfection so low in reference to Positive Righteousness or Virtue as if it consisted in Negative only or ceasing from Sin The Other is That though he does not peremptorily affirm a State of Impeccability attainable in this Life yet he seems inclined to Believe it and imagines it countenanced by 1 Joh. 3.9 But he ought to have consider'd That whatever Impeccability may be inferr'd from that Text it is attributed not to some extraordinary Persons but to all whosoever they be that are Born of God but this is out of my way All that I am to observe upon the whole is that These Men place Perfection especially in refraining from Sin I advance higher and place it in a well-setled Habit of Righteousness And I believe they will be as little dissatisfied with me for this as I am with them for asserting the Perfect Man freed from Sin For as Mr. Barclay expresses himself I think he has in reality no Adversaries but Antinomians and Ranters As to That Perfection which is magnified by Mistical Writers some of Them have only darken'd and obscured the plain Sense of the Gospel by figurative and unintelligible Terms Those of Them which write with more Life and Heat than other Men ordinarily do recommend nothing but that Holiness which begins in the Fear and is consummate in the Love of God which enlightens the Mind purifies the Heart and fixes and unites Man to his Soveraign Good that is God And I am sure I shall not differ with These There are I confess almost innumerable sayings of the Fathers which sufficiently testifie how little Friends they were to Perfection in such a Notion of it as is too generally embraced in the Church of Rome The Primitive Spirit breathed Nothing but Humility It was a professed Enemy to All self-Confidence and Arrogance to Supererogation and Merit and it invited Men earnestly to reflect upon the Sins and Slips of Life and on that Opposition which the Law of the Body maintains against the Law of the Mind in some Degree or other in the Best Men. This Consideration forced the Bishop of Condome to that plain and honest Confession Itaque Justitia Nostra licet per Charitatis Infusionem sit vera c. though our Righteousness because of that Love which the Spirit sheds abroad in our Hearts be Sincere and Real yet is it not absolute and consummate because of the Opposition of Concupiscence So that it is an indispensable Duty of Christianity to be perpetually bewailing the Errors of Life Wherefore we are oblig'd humbly to confess with St. Austin That our Righteousness in this Life consists rather in the pardon of our Sins then in the perfection of our Virtues All this is undoubtedly true but concerns not me I never Dream of any man's passing the Course of Life without Sin Nor do I contend for such a Perfection as St. Austin calls Absolute which will admit of no Increase and
several Particular deductions to lay every Man's State as plainly open to his View as I can 1st Then from the Notion I have given of Perfection it appears That if a Man's Life be very Vneven Unconstant and Contradictory to it self if he be to day a Saint and to morrow a Sinner if he yield to day to the Motives of the Gospel and Impulses of the Spirit and to morrow to the Sollicitations of the Flesh and Temptations of the World he is far from being Perfect so far that there is not ground enough to conclude Him Sincere or Real though Imperfect Convert The only certain Proof of Regeneration is Victory he that is born of God over-cometh the World 1 Joh. 5.4 Faith though it be True is not presently Saving and Justifying till it have subdued the Will and captivated the Heart i. e. till we begin to Live by Faith which is evident from That Corn in the Parable which though it shot up yet had it not Depth of Earth nor Root enough and therefore was withered up and brought forth no fruit Regret and Sorrow for Sin is an Excellent Passion but till it has subdued our Corruptions chang'd our Affections and purified our Hearts 't is not that Saving Repentance in the Apostle 2 Cor. 7.10 Godly sorrow worketh Repentance not to be repented of We may have some sudden Heats and Passions for Vertue but if they be too short liv'd to implant it in us this is not that Charity or Love which animates and impregnates the New Creature mentioned Gal. 5.6 Faith working by Love Lastly we may have good Purposes Intentions nay Resolutions but if these prove too weak to obtain a Conquest over our Corruptions if they prove too weak to resist the Temptations we were wont to fall by 't is plain that they are not such as can demonstrate us Righteous or entitle us to a Crown which is promised to him that overcometh And here I cannot but remark to how little purpose Controversies have been multiplied about the Justification of Man 'T is one thing for God to justifie us i. e. to Pardon our Sins and account us Righteous and his Children and another for us to know or be assured that he does so If we enquire after the former 't is plain to me that no Man can be accounted Righteous by God till he really is so And when the Man is Sanctified throughout in Spirit Soul and Body then is he certainly Justified and not till then And this I think is confessed by all except Antinomians and whatever Difference there is amongst Christians in this Matter it lies in the Forms and Variety of Expression They that contend earnestly for the Necessity of Good works do not I suppose imagine that the Works are Holy before the Heart is so for as is the Fountain such will be its Streams as is the Tree such will be its Fruits What Absurdity then is there in admitting that Men are justified before they bring forth Good Works if they cannot bring forth Good Works till they be Sanctified and Chang'd On the other hand they who contend so earnestly for Justification by Faith without Works do not only suppose that the Man is throughly changed by the Infusion of Habitual Grace but also that this Grace as soon as it has opportunity will exert and express it self in good Works And they do readily acknowledge that the Faith which does not work by Love is an Historical Unanimated Faith And if so how natural is it to comprise in that Holiness which justifies not only the change of the Heart but of the Actions But here I think it is well worth the considering whether that thorough Change in the nature of a Sinner which is called Holiness be now effected at once and in a moment and not rather gradually and in time For this may give some light to the Doctrine of Justification and draws off from Speculations and Theories to more Useful and Practical Thoughts and Discourses about it 'T is true in the Primitive times when the Conviction of a Sinner was wrought by a dazling light by Surprising Miracles by Exuberant Influxes of the Spirit and the Concurrence of many extraordinary things Sanctification as in the Goaler and his Family Act. 16. might be begun and finished in the same hour But I doubt it is rarely so with us at this day our Vices are not so suddenly subdued nor our Vertues so suddenly implanted Our Convictions in the Beginning of Conversion are seldom so full and clear as Theirs And if we may judge by the Effects 't is but seldom that the Principle of a New Life is infus'd in the same Plenty and Power it appears to have been in Them And if so then these things will follow 1. Though in the first Plantation of the Gospel Men being converted as it were in a Moment ingrafted by Baptism into Christ and receiving the Holy Ghost the Earnest of their Justification or Acceptance with God and their future Glory We may very well say of them that they were not only Justified but also knew themselves to be so before they had brought forth any other Fruit of Righteousness than what was implied in the Dedication of themselves to Christ by that solemn Rite of Baptism but at this day when Conversion is not effected in the same manner when Faith and Good Works do mutually cherish one another when Righteousness is not brought forth into victory but by long labour and travel I see not why Faith and Good Works may not be pronounced jointly and antecedently necessary to our Justification 2. The Doctrine of Infused Habits has been much ridiculed and exposed as absurd by some Men and I must confess if it be Essential to a Habit to be acquired by length of time and repetition of the same Acts then an Infus'd Habit is a very Odd Expression But why God cannot produce in us those strong Dispositions to Vertue in a Moment which are naturally produced by Time or why we may not ascribe as much efficacy to Infus'd Grace as Philosophers are wont to do to repeated Acts I cannot see Nor can I see why such Dispositions when Infus'd may not be called Habits if they have all the Properties and Effects of an Habit. And that such excellent Dispositions were on a sudden wrought in the Minds of Christians in the beginning of Christianity is too plain from the History of those times to need a proof But whether such Changes are ordinarily effected so suddenly at this day we have much reason to doubt nay I think it appears from what I have said there is sufficient reason to deny it And if so the Infusion of Habits cannot be so properly insisted on now as then and we may be more subject to make unwarrantable Inferences from the Doctrine of Infus'd Habits then they were in those bright and Miraculous days 3. As our Progress to Sanctification must be slower then formerly as it must be longer before
no evil to himself nor provokes any unnecessary danger His Vertue effectually does that which Atheism attempts in vain dispels the terror of an invisible Power he needs not drown the Voice of Conscience by Wine or Noise or the toil of Life it speaks nothing to him but what is kind and obliging it is his Comforter not his Persecutor And as to this World he reaps that satisfaction and tranquility from the Moderation of his Affections which Ambition and Avarice do in vain promise themselves from Preferments or the increase of Wealth If therefore there were any state on this side Heaven exempt from Evil it must be that of the Perfect Man But he knows the World too well to flatter himself with the expectation of Indolence or an undisturb'd tranquility here below and is as far from being deluded by vain Hopes as from being scar'd by vain fears or tortur'd and distended by vain desires He knows the World has its Evils and that they cannot wholly be avoided he knows it and dares behold them with open Eyes survey their Force and feel and try their Edge And then when he has collected his own strength and called in the Aid of Heaven he shrinks not nor desponds but meets Evil with that Courage and bears it with that evenness of Mind that he seems even in his Afflictions nearer to Indolence then the Fool and Sinner in his Prosperity So that I cannot forbear professing there appears so much Beauty so much loveliness in the deportment of the Perfect Man with respect to the Evils of Life that for that reason alone were there no other I should admire and prefer his Vertue above any Possession or Enjoyment of Life Give me leave to compare the Saint and Sinner on this occasion and but very briefly The wise Man's eyes saith Solomon Eccles 2.14 are in his head but the fool walks in darkness The wise Man sees that he has Enemies I mean Evils and therefore he informs himself well of their Strength observes their Motion and prepares for the Encounter but Ignorance and Stupidity is the greatest blessing of the Sinners Life and his most admir'd Quality is not to be apprehensive of Evil till it crush him with its Weight But if the Sinner be not fool enough to arrive at this degree of brutality then as soon as the report of the most distant Evil or the most inconsiderable reaches his Ear how it fills his Imagination how it shakes his Heart and how it embitters his Pleasures And to what poor and despicable Arts to what base and dishonourable shifts does his Fear force him When on the same occasion we discover nothing in the Perfect Man but a beautiful mixture of Humility and Faith Devotion and Confidence or Assurance in God He is not afraid of evil tidings his Heart is fixed trusting in the Lord Psal 112. a frame of Spirit which to those who have opportunity and sense to observe it renders him both more belov'd and rever'd Lastly if we consider the wicked and the good Man actually under the weight and pressure of Evil how much unlike is the state of the one in reality to that of the other even while the outward circumstances are the same What Chearfulness what Courage what Resignation what Hopes adorn the One What Instruction to all what Satisfaction to his Friends and Relations does his Deportment afford And how does it inspire and warm the Breasts of those that converse with him with an esteem for and love of Goodness and himself What Charm what Delight is there in those gracious Speeches that proceed at this time out of a Good Man's Mouth I know that my Redeemer liveth The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away and blessed be the Name of the Lord Thou of very faithfulness has caused me to be afflicted God is the strength of my Heart and my Portion for ever And such-like And how often does he pour out his Heart in secret before God How often does he reflect on the gracious and wise ends of Divine Chastisement And how often does he with desire and thirst Meditate on that fulness of Joy which expects him in the Presence of God! But let us cast our Eye now on the Voluptuary on the Ambitious on the Covetous or any other sort of Sinner under Disgrace Poverty Sickness or any such Calamity what a mean and despicable Figure does such a one make What Impatience what Despondency what Guilt what Pusillanimity does every Word every Action betray Or it may be his Insolence is turned into Crouching and Fawning his Rudeness and Violence into Artifice and Cunning and his Irreligion into Superstition Various indeed are the Humours and very different the Carriage of these unhappy Men in the Day of Tryal but all is but Misery in a different dress Guilt and Baseness under a different appearance Here I might further remark that that Faith which produces Patience in Adversity produces likewise Security and Confidence in Prosperity I will lay me down may every good May say in the words of the Psalmist and sleep and rise again for thou Lord shalt make me dwell in safety And surely the one is as serviceable to the ease of Human Life as the other But I think I have said enough to shew that if Pleasure be suppos'd to imply no more then Indolence the Perfect Man has without Controversie a far greater share of it than any other can pretend to But let us take Pleasure to be not a meer Calm but a gentle Breeze not to consist in meer Rest and Quiet but a delightful Motion not in the meer Tranquility of the Mind but in the Transport of it or some thing nearly approaching it Perfection I 'm confident will suffer nothing by this change of the Notion of Pleasure How many Pleasures has the wise Man which depend not on Fortune but Himself I mean his Diligence and Integrity and to which the Sinner is an utter Stranger What Pleasure what Triumph is equal to that of the Perfect Man when he Glories in God and makes his boast of him all day long When he rejoyces in the Lord with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory When being fill'd with all the fulness of God transported by a Vital Sense of Divine Love and strengthen'd and exalted by the mighty Energie of the Spirit of Adoption he maintains a Fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus All Communion with God consists in this Joy of Love and Assurance and has a taste of Heaven in it Let the most Fortunate and the wisest Epicurean too Ransack all the Store-houses and Treasures of Nature let him Muster together all his Legions of Pleasures and let him if he can consolidate and incorporate them all and after all being put into the Scale against This alone they will prove lighter then Vanity it self To be the Care the Delight the Love of an Almighty God to be dear to him who is the Origine and Fountain of
and the Passions tender it is more easie to gain Perfection then to preserve it When a Profligate Sinner in the day of God's Power is snatch'd like a Fire-brand out of the Fire rescued by some amazing and surprizing Call like Israel by Miracles out of Egypt I wonder not if such a one loves much because much has been forgiven him I wonder not if he be swallowed up by the deepest and the liveliest sense of Guilt and Mercy I wonder not if such a one endeavour to repair his past Crimes by Heroick Acts if he make hast to redeem his lost time by a zeal and vigilance hard to be imitated never to be parllel'd by others Hence we read of Judah's Love in the day of her Espousal Jer. 2.2 And of the first love of the Church of Ephesus Rev. 2.4 as the most Perfect And in the first times of the Gospel when Men were Converted by astonishing Miracles when the Presence and Example of Jesus and his Followers when the Perspicuity and Authority the Spirit and Power the Lustre and Surprize of the Word of Life and Salvation dazled over-power'd and transported the Minds of Men and made a thorough change in a moment and when again no man professed Christianity but he expected by his Sufferings and Martyrdom to seal the truth of his Profession I wonder not if Vertue ripened fast under such miraculous Influences of Heaven or if Assurance sprung up in a moment from these bright proofs of an unshaken Integrity But we who live in colder Climates who behold nothing in so clear and bright a Light as those happy Souls did must be content to make shorter and slower Steps towards Perfection and satisfie our selves with a natural not miraculous Progress And we whose Vertues are so generally under-grown and our Tryals no other then common ones have no reason to expect the Joys of a Perfect Assurance till we go on to Perfection 2ly As Perfection is a work of time so is it of great Expence and Cost too I mean 't is the effect of much Labour and Travel Self-denial and Watchfulness Resolution and Constancy Many are the Dangers which we are to encounter through our whole Progress towards it Why else are we exhorted to learn to do good To perfect Holiness in the fear of God 2 Cor. 7.1 2. To be renewed in the Spirit of our Minds from day to day Eph. 4.23 To watch stand fast to quit us like Men to be strong 1 Cor. 16.13 To take to us the whole Armour of God that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil and when we have done all to stand Eph. 6.11.13 To use all diligence to make our calling and election sure 2 Pet. 1.10 and such like Nay which is very remarkable these and the like Exhortations were address'd to Christians in those times which had manifold advantages above these of ours If I should say That the Spirit of God the Sanctifying Grace of God was then power'd forth in more plentiful measures then ever after not only Scripture as I think but Reason too would be on my side The Interest of the Church of Christ required it Sanctity being as necessary as Miracles to Convert the Jew and the Gentile But besides this the then wonderful and surprizing Light of the Gospel the Presence of Jesus in the Flesh or of those who had been Eye-witnesses of his Glory a crowd of wondrous Works and Miracles the expectation of terrible things Temporal and Eternal Judgments at the door and an equal expectation of Glorious ones too All these things breaking in beyond expectation upon a Jewish and Pagan World over-whelm'd before by thick darkness and whose abominations were too notorious to be conceal'd and too detestable to be excused or defended could not but produce a very great and sudden change Now therefore if in these times many did start forth in a moment fit for Baptism and Martyrdom if many amongst these were suddenly changed justified and crowned I wonder not this was a day of Power a day of Glory wherein God asserted Himself exalted his Son and rescued the World by a stretched out Hand I should not therefore from hence be induced to expect any thing like at this day But yet if notwitstanding all this Christians in those happy times amidst so many Advantages stood in need of such Exhortations what do not we in these Times If so much Watchfulness Prayer Patience Fear Abstinence and earnest Contention became them when God as it were bowed the Heavens and came down and dwelt amongst Men what becomes us in those days in the dregs of time when God stands as it were aloof off to see what will be our latter end retired behind a Cloud which our Heresies and Infidelities Schisms and Divisions Sins and Provocations have raised To conclude he that will be Perfect must not sit like the Lame Man by Bethesdah's Pool expecting till some Angel come to cure him but like our Lord he must climb the Mount and Pray and then he may be transformed he may be raised as much above the Moral Corruption of his Nature by Perfection as our Saviour was above the Meanness and Humility of his Body by his Glorious Transfiguration These two Observations are of manifold use For many expect Pleasure when they have no right to it they would reap before Vertue be grown up and ripen'd and being more intent upon the Fruit of Duty then the discharge of it they are frequently disappointed and discouraged Others there are who mistaking some fits and flashes of Spiritual Joy for the Habitual Peace and Pleasure of Perfection do entertain too early Confidences and instead of perfecting Holiness in the fear of God they decline or it may be fall away through Negligence and Security or which is as bad the Duties of Religion grow tasteless and insipid to them for want of that Pleasure which they ignorantly or presumptuously expect should constantly attend 'em And so they are disheartened or disgusted and give back which they would never do if they did rightly understand that Perfection is a work of time that a setled Tranquility an Habitual Joy of Spirit is the Fruit only of Perfection and that those short Gleams of Joy which break in upon new Converts and sometimes on other imperfect Christians do depend upon extraordinary Circumstances or are peculiar Favours of Heaven Lastly there are many who have entertain'd very odd Fancies about the Attainment of Perfection they talk and act as if Perfection were the Product not of Time and Experience but an Instant as if it were to be infused in a moment not acquir'd as if it were a meer Arbitrary Favour not the Fruit of Meditation and Discipline 'T is true it cannot be doubted by a Christian but that Perfection derives it self from Heaven and that the Seed of it is the Grace of God Yet it is true too and can as little be doubted by any one who consults the Gospel
is kept awake and in its Vigour How Convictive how moving is the Discourse of a Devout and Pious Friend When he complains or when he rejoyces when he relates the History of his own Experience when he lets us see the Designs he has Form'd and the excellent Ends his Soul thirsts after how does our Heart burn within us What variety of Affections does it raise in us when he makes his remarks on Human Nature and the World when he bewails the dishonour of God and the decay of Religion amongst us when he relates the misery and misfortune of Sinners and observes the particular Sins and Follies that occasioned it How often does he hereby provoke us to wise Reflections on our selves How many new Beauties does he discover to us in Vertue how many Deformities in Sin which had escaped our Observations But 't is not the Conversation only of my Friend but his Life also from which I derive or may do so Instruction and Admonition The Perfections of my Friend are the gentlest and the mildest and yet the most awakening Reproofs too of my own Defects and by the Freshness and Lustre of his Vertue I discern best the Weakness and the Dimness of my own How often have I been moved to turn my Thoughts with some Indignation on my own Heats and Commotions while I have admired and blest the sweetness and the gentleness the softness and the calm very conspicuous in an excellent Friend And when I have heard another mention his Nightly Praises and those Divine Thoughts which filled the Intervals of his Sleep and made those Hours that are so burthensome to some the most entertaining and delightful parts of his Rest how have I been inwardly filled with Confusion and Shame How have I upbraided and reproached my self condemned the sluggishness of my Daies the dulness and the wandrings of my Soul by Night And I believe every sincere Man must find himself thus affected on the like occasions For in this kind of Reproof which I talk of there is something more of Force and Authority than is to be found in any other for the Example of Friends does not only teach us what we are to do but demonstrates also that it may be done Nor does Vertue any where appear with so lovely and charming an Air as in a Friend But after all amongst all the benefits we gain by excellent Friendships we ought not to reckon this as the least that it is one and that an indispensable Office of Friendship to admonish and reprove For the reproofs of Instruction are the Paths of Life Prov. 6.23 But then that we may be capable of this Blessing we must dispose our Minds to expect and bear reproof We must strive after an humble and teachable temper and we must invite and incourage our Friends to this kindest Office not only by unaffected requests but also by obeying their advice pardoning whatever Infirmity may be interspers'd with it and loving them the better as indeed they deserve For there is scarce any better proof of their Affection Prudence and Courage which they are capable of giving us 2ly A Second End of Instrumental Duties is the Increase of Spiritual Strength Now Spiritual Strength consists in the Power and Dominion we have over our Affections and Actions and it stands upon two Bases the Reduction of Sin and the Growth of Vertue whatever does weaken and reduce our propensions to Sin whatever promotes the subjection of the Body adds Power and Authority to the Mind and renders Vertue more easie and pleasant And because Vertues have a mutual Connexion and Dependance upon one another therefore whatever promotes any one promotes all But especially whatever strengthens our Hope or quickens our Fear or enlarges our Knowledge and increases our Faith this does confirm and establish our Resolution more then any thing else Faith is the Root Fear the Guard and Hope the Spur of all our Vertues Faith convinces us what is our Duty Fear makes us Impartial Diligent and Watchful Hope resolved and active in the Prosecution of it It being thus clear what our Spiritual Strength consists in it will be easie to discern by what means we are to gain it But I can here only suggest those Hints and Intimations which the Reader must upon occasion as he needs inlarge and improve 1. Meditation is the first thing necessary We must often survey the Grounds and Foundations of our Faith we must consider frequently and seriously the Scripture Topicks of Hope and Fear such are the Death of Jesus a Judgment to come the Holiness and Justice and the Omnipresence of God We must diligently observe the Wiles and Stratagems of Satan the Arts and Insinuations of the World and Flesh and mark the Progress of Sin from its very beginning to Maturity and all this with a particular regard to the Corruption of our own Nature and the deceitfulness of our own Hearts We must often ponder upon the Beauty and Peace of Holiness the love of God and of Jesus the Vertues sufferings and Crowns of Martyrs And finally if we will increase in strength we must practise this duty of Meditation often and we must not suffer our selves to be withdrawn from it or be prevail'd with to intermit it on any slight and trivial pretences And because we are not always Masters of our own Affairs nor consequently of our Time therefore ought we to have ever ready at hand a good Collection of Texts which contain in few words the Power and Spirit of Gospel Motives the Perfection and Beauty of Duties and the substance of Advice and Counsel And to fix these so in our Memory that they may serve as a Shield for us to oppose as our Saviour did against the Darts of the Devil and as a supply of excellent and useful Thoughts upon a suddain so that in all the little Interruptions of business and the many little vacancies of the Day the Mind which is an active and busie Spirit may never want a proper subject to work upon much less loose it self in wild and lasie amusements or defile it self by vain or Vicious Thoughts But we must not only take care that Meditation be frequent but also that it be not loose and roving To which end it will be necessary to Study our selves as well as the Scriptures and to be intimately acquainted with the advantages and disadvantages of our Constitution and our State that so in our Meditations on the Scriptures we may more particularly have an Eye on those Vices we are most obnoxious to and those Vertues which are either more necessary or more feeble and under-grown Next after Meditation must follow Prayer Great is the Power of Prayer in promoting Christian Strength and Fortitude whether we consider its Prevalence upon God or its natural Influence upon our selves If we consider the latter what Divine Force and Energy is there in the Confidences of Faith the Joys of Hope the earnest Longings and Desires of Love
had nothing of internal Purity or solid Righteousness in it So that upon the whole the Jew and Gentile were alike wicked Only the Wickedness of the Jews had this Aggravation in it above that of the Gentiles that they enjoy'd the Oracles of God and the Favour of a peculiar Covenant This being the state of Darkness which lay upon the Face of the Jewish and Gentile World our Lord who was to be a Light to lighten the Gentiles and the Glory of his People Israel advanced and established in the World that Doctrine which directly tends to dispel these Errors and rescue Mankind from the Misery that attends them For all that the Gospel contains may be reduced to these three Heads First the Assertion of one only true God with a bright and full Revelation of his Divine Attributes and Perfection Secondly an Account of the Will of God or the Worship he delights in which is a Spiritual one together with suitable Means and Motives in which last is contained a full Declaration of Man's supream Happiness Thirdly the Revelation of one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus through whom we have access with boldness to the Throne of Grace through whom we have obtained from the Father Grace and Pardon and Adoption and through whom Lastly all our Oblations and Performances are acceptable to Him The Design of this glorious Manifestation was to open Mens Eyes to turn them from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan to the Living God That they might obtain Remission of Sins and an Inheritance of Glory These then are the truths which Illuminated the Gentile and Jewish World And these are the truths which must Illuminate us at this day These dispel all destructive Errors that lead us to Vice or Misery These point out our supream Felicity and the direct way to it These open and enlarge the Eye of the Soul enable it to distinguish and judge with an unerring Exactness between Good and Evil between Substantial and Superficial Temporal and Eternal Good And I wish from my Soul whatever Light we pretend to at this Day we were well grounded and established in these Truths I doubt notwithstanding our Belief of one God and one Mediator and notwithstanding we are well enough assured that God who is a Spirit must be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth and notwithstanding our pretending to believe a Life to come I say I am afraid that notwithstanding these things we do generally err in two main points namely in the Notion we ought to have of Religion and the value we are to set upon the World and the Body For who that reflects upon the Pomp and Pride of Life upon the ease the softness and the luxury of it upon the frothiness and the freedom the vanity and Impertinence to say no worse of Conversation will not conclude that either we have renounced our Religion or form to our selves too complaisant and indulgent a Notion of it For is this the imitation of Jesus Is this to walk as he walked in the World Can this be the Deportment of Men to whom the World and the Body is Crucified Can such a Life as this is flow from those Divine Fountains Faith Love and Hope Who again can reflect upon the Passion we discover for Superiority and Precedence our thirst of Power our ravenous desire of VVealth and not conclude that we have mistaken our main End that we set a wrong value upon things and that whatever we talk of an Eternity we look upon this present World as our portion and most valuable Good For can such a tender concern for such an eager pursuit after temporal things flow from nay consist with purity of Heart and poverty of Spirit the Love of God and a Desire of Heaven Whoever then will be Perfect or Happy must carefully avoid both these Errors He must never think that Religion can subsist without the strength and vigour of our Affections Or that the Bent and Vigour of our Souls can be pointed towards God and yet the Air of our Deportment and Conversation be earthy sensual and vain conformed even to a Pagan Pride and shew of Life Next he must never cherish in himself the love of this World He must never look upon himself other than a Stranger and Pilgrim in it He must never be fond of the Pleasure of it He must never form vain Designs and Projects about it nor look upon the best things in it as ingredients of our Happiness but only as Instruments of Vertue or short Repasts and Refreshments in our Journey And because all our mistakes about the Nature and Perfection of Religion and the Value of Temporal things do generally arise from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that peculiar Sin to which our Constitution betrays us therefore the Knowledge of our selves an intimate Acquaintance with all our natural Propensions and Infirmities is no inconsiderable Part of Illumination For we shall never address our selves heartily to the Cure of a Disease which we know nothing of or to the rectifying any inclination till we are throughly convinced that 't is irregular and dangerous 2. The Second Character of Illuminating Truths is that they are such as feed and nourish corroborate and improve the Mind of Man Now the Properties of Bodily strength are such as these It enables us to Baffle and repel Injuries to bear Toil and Travel to perform difficult Works with speed and ease and finally it prolongs Life to a much further date than weak and crazy Constitutions can arrive at And of all these we find some Resemblances in Spiritual Strength But as much more Perfect and Excellent as the Spirit is above the Body Those Truths then are indeed Illuminating which enable us to vanquish Temptations to endure with Constancy and Patience the Toils and Hardships of our Christian warfare to discharge the Duties of our Station with Zeal and Vigour and which Lastly render us firm steady and immortal And these are the glorious effects which are attributed to the Truths of God Hence is the Gospel called the Power of God unto Salvation Rom. 1.16 and hence it is that we read of the Armour of God Ephesians 6.11 The Sword of the Spirit the Shield of Faith the Breast-plate of Righteousness c. to intimate to us the Strength and Vertue of the Word of God and that it brings with it safety and success And hence it is that the Word of God is said to quicken and strengthen that Man is said to live not by Bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of God that Righteousness is called Everlasting and that he that doth the Will of God is affirmed to abide for ever To teach us plainly that there is nothing steady and unalterable nothing durable nothing eternal but God Divine Truths and those that are formed and modeled by them There are Truths indeed which are meerly Barren and Vnactive which amuse and suspend the
did not exact of his Disciples as a necessary Preparation for his Doctrine the Knowledge of Tongues the History of Times or Nature Logick Metaphysicks Mathematicks or the like These indeed may be serviceable to many excellent Ends They may be great accomplishments of the Mind great Ornaments and very engaging Entertainments of Life They may be finally very excellent and necessary Instruments of or Introductions to several Professions or Employments But as to Perfection and Happiness to these they can never be indispensably necessary A Man may be excellently habitually Good without more Languages then one He may be fully perswaded of those great Truths that will render him Master of his Passions and independent of the Word that will render him easie and useful in this Life and glorious in another though he be no Logician nor Metaphysician Yet would I not all this while be supposed to exclude the use of true Reason and solid Judgment Though the meanest capacity may attain to its proper Perfection that is such a measure of Knowledge as may make the Man truly wise and happy yet the more capacious any Man's Soul is and the more enlarged his Knowledge the more Perfect and Happy He. 4. The Qualifications previously necessary to Illumination are two or three Moral ones implied in that Infant Temper our Saviour required in those who would be his Disciples These are Humility Impartiality and a Thirst or love of Truth First Humility He that will be taught of God must not be Proud or Confident in himself He must not over-rate his own Parts and Capacity nor lean too stifly to his own understanding He must firmly believe that Illumination is the Work of God and on Him he must depend He must confess the weakness of his own Faculties the natural Poverty and Indigence of his understanding and so look up to God who is the Fountain of Wisdom and giveth Grace to the Humble but resisteth the Proud Secondly Impartiality Sincerity or a certain Purity and innocence of Judgment if I may be allowed to speak so That the Vnderstanding may be capable of Divine Light it must not be blur'd and Stain'd by false Principles It must not be biassed nor influenced by any corrupt inclinations Some to prove their Impartiality or Freedom of Judgment abandon themselves to the scrupulousness of Scepticism and a wanton itch of endless Disputation and Contradiction But I cannot think it necessary to our Freedom and Impartiality to deny the Evidence of our Senses to oppose the Vniversal Reason of Mankind and to shake off all Reverence for the Integrity of Man and the Veracity of God No this savours too much either of Ostentation or of a raw and unexperienced Affectation of new Theories and Speculations He secures his Freedom sufficiently who guards his Reason against the force of groundless Prepossessions and senseless Modes and Customs against the Lusts of the Body and the prejudices of Parties Who keeps a strict Eye upon the Motions and Tendencies of his inferiour Nature who admits not the Dictates of a Single Person or Party for Catholick Reason who considers that there are Revolutions of Phylosophy and Opinions as well as States and Kingdoms and judges well of Times and Men e're he pay much deference to Authority But Thirdly this is not all that is necessary to any compleat Degree of Illumination Impartiality is necessary to the first Dawnings of it but if we would have it increased and diffuse its self into a perfect Day of Spiritual Wisdom and Vnderstanding we must hunger and thirst after Truth An unprejudiced Mind is necessary to qualifie us for the first Rudiments of Truth but we must be inflamed with Desire and Love of it e're we shall enter into the Sanctuary or Recesses of it Therefore our Saviour invites to him every one that thirsts Joh. 7.37 And St. Peter exhorts us as new born Babes to desire the sincere Milk of the Word that we may grow thereby 1 Epist 2.2 And St. Paul imputes the Damnation of those that perish to want of Love of the Truth 2 Thess 2.10 'T is too trifling to Object here how come we to thirst after what we do not know For it concerns every Man to enquire what will become of him for ever and if he be already assured that there is another World and a glorious Salvation to be attained it is natural to thirst after the Resolution of such Questions as these What shall I do to be saved What shall I do to inherit an Eternal Life And such is the Beauty of Illuminating Truth that every Glance of it kindles in our Hearts the Love of it And such its boundless Perfection that the more we know the more still shall we desire to know Having thus considered what qualifies Man for Illumination my next business is to enquire § 2. What one thus qualified is to do for the actual Attainment of it All the Advice that I can think fit here to be given may be reduced to four Heads 1. That we do not suffer our Minds to be engaged in quest of Knowledge forreign to our purpose 2. That we apply our selves with a very tender and sensible Concern to the Study of Illuminating Truths 3. That we act conformable to those Measures of Light which we have attain'd 4. That we frequently and constantly address our selves to God by Prayer for the Illumination of his Grace 1. That we do not suffer c. This is a natural and necessary Consequence of what has been already said concerning Illumination For if Illumination consist in the Knowledge not of all sort of Truths but the most necessary and important such as purifie and perfect our Nature such as procure us sacred and stable Pleasure and all the Rewards that flow from our Adoption to God it is then plain he who would be Perfect ought not to amuse and distract his Mind in Pursuit of trifling or divertive Knowledge that he ought to shun and not to admit whatever is apt to entangle perplex or defile him and to fix his Thoughts and confine his Meditations to the great Truths of the Gospel He that knows the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent knows enough to oblige him to Vertue and to open the way to Glory and everlasting Life He that knows nothing but Jesus Christ and him Crucified knows enough in order to Peace Grace and Joy enough to promote Holiness and Hope Hope that abounds in Joy unspeakable and full of Glory 2. We must apply our selves with a very tender and sensible Concern to the Study of Illuminating Truths This Rule must be understood to enjoyn three things 1. Great Care and Caution in examining Doctrins proposed and in distinguishing between Truth and Falsehood 2. Great Diligence and Industry to increase and enlarge our Knowledge 3. Frequent and serious Reflection upon the Truths we know 1. There is need of great Caution in the Trial and Examination of Doctrins This the
the contrary consist in being able not only to will but to do good in obeying those Commandments which we cannot but acknowledge to be holy and just and good And this is the very Notion which our Lord and Master gives us of it Joh. 8. For when the Jews bragg'd of their Freedom he lets them know that Freedom could not consist with Subjection to Sin he that committeth Sin is the Servant of Sin ver 34. That honourable Parentage and the Freedom of the Body was but a false and ludicrous Appearance of Liberty that if they would be free indeed the Son must make them so ver 36. i. e. they must by his Spirit and Doctrine be rescued from the Servitude of Lust and Errour and be set at Liberty to work Righteousness If ye continue in my word then are ye my Disciples indeed and ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free ver 31 32. Finally not to multiply Proofs of a truth that is scarce liable to be controverted as the Apostle describes the Bondage of a Sinner in Rom. 7. so does he the Liberty of a Saint in Rom. 8. For there ver 2. he tells us That the Law of the Spirit of Life has set the true Christian free from the Law of Sin and Death And then he lets us know wherein this Liberty consists in walking not after the Flesh but after the Spirit in the Mortification of the Body of Sin and Restitution of the Mind to its just Empire and Authority If Christ be in you the Body is dead because of Sin but the Spirit is Life because of Righteousness ver 10. And all this is the same thing with his Description of Liberty Chapter 6. where 't is nothing else but for a Man to be made free from Sin and become the Servant of God Thus then we have a plain account of Bondage and Liberty Yet for the clearer understanding of both it will not be amiss to observe that they are each capable of different Degrees and both the one and the other may be more or less entire compleat and absolute according to the different Progress of Men in Vice and Vertue Thus in some Men not their Will only but their very Reason is enslaved Their Vnderstanding is so far infatuated their Affections so entirely captived that there is no Conflict at all between the Mind and the Body they commit Sin without any Reluctancy before-hand or any Remorse afterwards their sâ—ared Conscience making no Remonstrance inflicting no wounds nor denouncing any Threats This is the last Degree of Vassalage Such are said in Scripture to be dead in Trespasses and Sins Others there are in whom their Lust and Appetite prevails indeed but not without Opposition They Reason rightly and which is the natural Result of this have some Desires and wishes of Righteousness but through the Prevalency of the Body they are unable to act and live conformable to their Reason Their Vnderstanding has indeed Light but not Authority It consents to the Law of God but it has no Power no Force to make it be obeyed it produces indeed some good Inclinations Purposes and Efforts but they prove weak and ineffectual ones and unable to grapple with the stronger Passion raised by the Body And as Bondage so Liberty is of different Degrees and different Strength For though Liberty may be able to subsist where there is much Opposition from the Body yet 't is plain that Liberty is most absolute and compleat where the Opposition is least where the Body is reduced to an entire Submission and Obsequiousness and the Spirit reigns with an uncontroul'd and unlimited Authority And this latter is that Liberty which I would have my Perfect man possessed of I know very well 't is commonly taught by some that there is no such State But I think this Doctrine if it be throughly considered has neither Scripture Reason nor Experience to support it For as to those Places Rom. 7. and Gal. 5. urged in favour of an almost Incessant strong and too-frequently prevalent lusting of the Flesh against the Spirit it has been often answered and proved too that they are so far from belonging to the Perfect that they belong not to the Regenerate But on the contrary those Texts that represent the Yoke of Christ easie and his burden light which affirm the Commandments of Christ not to be grievous to such as are made Perfect in Love do all bear witness to that Liberty which I contend for Nor does Reason favour my Opinion less than Scripture For if the Perfect man be a New Creature if he be transformed into a New Nature if his Body be dead to sin and his Spirit live to Righteousness in one word if the World be as much crucified to him as he to it I cannot see why it should not be easie for him to act consonant to his Nature why he should not with Pleasure and Readiness follow that Spirit and obey those Affections which reign and rule in him Nor can I see why a Habit of Righteousness should not have the same Properties with other Habits that is be attended with ease and pleasure in its Operations and Actions 'T is true I can easily see why the Habits of Righteousness are acquired with more Difficulty than those of any other kind but I say I cannot see when they are acquired why they should not be as natural and delightful to us as any other Lastly how degenerate soever Ages past have been or the present is I dare not so far distrust the Goodness of my Cause or the Vertue of Mankind as not to refer my self willingly in this point to the Decision of Experience I am very well assured that Truth and Justice Devotion and Charity Honour and Integrity are to a great many so dear and delightful so natural so easie that it is hard to determine whether they are more strongly moved by a sense of Duty or the Instigations of Love and Inclination and that they cannot do a base thing without the utmost Mortification and Violence to their Nature Nor is all this to be wondred at if we again reflect on what I just now intimated that the Perfect Man is a new Creature transformed daily from Glory to Glory that he is moved by new Affections raised and fortified by new Principles that he is animated by a Divine Energy and sees all things by a truer and brighter Light through which the things of God appear lovely and beautiful the things of the World Deformed and worthless just as to him who views them through a Microscope the Works of God appear exact and elegant but those of Man coarse and bungling and ugly My Opinion then which asserts the absolute Liberty of the Perfect Man is sufficiently proved here and in Chap. the first And if I thought it were not I could easily reinforce it with fresh Recruits For the glorious Characters that are given us in Scripture of the Liberty of
in the Exercise of Truth Justice and Charity And no where is the ill Influence of Selfishness Sensuality and the Love of the World more notorious than here For these rendring us impatient and insatiable in our Desires violent in the Prosecution of them extravagant and excessive in our Enjoyments and the things of this World being few and finite and unable to satisfie such inordinate Appetites we stand in one anothers Light in one anothers way to Profit and Pleasures or too often at least seem to do so and this must unavoidably produce a thousand miserable Consequences Accordingly we daily see that these Passions Selfishness Sensuality and the Love of the World are the Parents of Envy and Emulation Avarice Ambition Strife and Contention Hypocrisie and Corruption Lewdness Luxury and Prodigality but are utter Enemies to Honour Truth and Integrity to Generosity and Charity To obviate therefore the mischievous Effects of these vicious Principles Religion aims at implanting in the World others of a benign and beneficent Nature opposing against the Love of the World Hope against Selfishness Charity and against Sensuality Faith And to the end the different Tendency of these Different Principles may be the more conspicuous I will briefly compare the Effects they have in reference to our Neighbour Selfishness makes Men look upon the World as made for him alone and upon all as his Enemies who do any way interfere with or obstruct his Designs it Seals up all our Treasures confines all our Care and Thoughts to our private Interest Honour or Pleasure employs all our Parts Power and Wealth and all our Time too in Pursuit of our particular Advantage Sensuality tempts a Man to abandon the Care and Concern for his Country his Friends and Relations and neglect the Duties of his Station that he may give himself up to some sottish and dishonourable Vice it prevails with him to refuse Alms to the poor Assistance to any publick or Neighbourly good Work and even a decent nay sometimes a necessary Allowance to his Family that he may waste and lavish out his Fortune upon some vile and expensive Lust In a word it makes him incapable of the Fatigues of Civil Business and much more of the Hardships and Hazards of War So that instead of imitating the glorious Example of Vriah who would not suffer himself to be courted into the Enjoyment even of allowed Pleasures nor indulge himself in the Tendernesses and Caresses of a Wife and Children while Joab and the Armies of Israel were in the Field he on the contrary dissolves and melts down his Life and Fortunes in Vncleanness and Luxury the shame and burden of his Country and his Family at a time when not only the Honour but the Safety of his Country lies at stake and Prince and People defend it by their Toil and Blood What should I mention the Love of the World are not the Effects of it as visible amongst us as deplorable does not this where-ever it reigns fill all Places with Bribery and Corruption Falshood Treachery and Cowardise Worse cannot be said on 't and more needs not for what Societies can thrive or which way can Credit and Reputation be Supported what Treasures what Counsels what Armies what Conduct can save a People where these Vices prevail Let us now on the other side suppose Selfishness Sensuality and the Love of the World cashiered and Faith Hope and Charity entertained in their Room what a blessed Change will this effect in the World how soon will Honour and Integrity Truth and Justice and a publick Spirit revive how serviceable and eminent will these render every Man in his Charge These are the true Principles of great and brave Actions these these alone can render our Duty dearer to us than any temporal Consideration these will enable us to do good Works without an Eye to the Return they will make us These will make it appear to us very reasonable to Sacrifice Fortune Life every thing when the Honour of God and publick good demand it of us The Belief and Hope of Heaven is a sufficient Incouragement to Vertue when all others fail the Love of God as our Supream Good will make us easily surmount the Consideration of Expence Difficulty or hazard in such Attempts as we are sure will please Him and the Love of our Neighbour as our selves will make us compassionate to his Evils and Wants tender to his Infirmities and Zealous of his good as of our own How happy then would these Principles make the World and how much is it the Interest of every one to encourage and propagate these and to discountenance and suppress the contrary ones I have done with the second Effect of Christian Liberty and will pass on to the Third as soon as I have made two Remarks on this last Paragraph First 't is very evident from what has been said in it that solid Vertue can be Graffed on no Stock but that of Religion that universal Righteousness can be rais'd on none but Gospel Principles who is he that overcometh the World but he that believeth that Jesus is the Christ 1 Joh. 5. I do not oppose this Proposition against Jew or Gentile God vouchsafed in sundry times and in divers manners such Revelations of his Truth and such Communications of his Grace as he saw fit and to these is the Righteousness hereof whatever it was to be attributed not to the Law of Nature or Moses But suppose it against the bold Pretensions of Libertin's and Atheists at this day Honour and Justice in their Mouths is a vain Beast and the Natural Power they pretend to over their own Actions to square and govern them according to the Rules of right Reason is only a malitious Design to supplant the Honour of Divine Grace and is as false and groundless as arrogant Alas they talk of a Liberty which they do not understand for did they but once admit Purity of Heart into their Notion of it they would soon discern what Strangers they are to it How is it possible but that they should be the Servants of the Body who reject and disbelieve the Dignity and Pre-eminence of the Soul How is it possible they should not be Lovers of Pleasure more than Lovers of God who either believe no God or none that concerns himself much about us and how can they chuse but be selfish and sensual and doat upon this World who expect no better who believe no other Take away Providence and a Life to come and what can oblige a Man to any Action that shall cross his temporal Interest or his Pleasure what shall reward his espousing Vertue when it has no Doury but Losses Reproaches and Persecutions what shall curb him in the Career of a Lust when he may commit it not only with Impunity but as the World sometimes goes with Honour and Preferment too Though therefore such Men as these may possibly restrain their outward Actions yet are they all the
Things appear to us and the more the Mind rejoyces in the Lord the oftner 'tis rapt up into Heaven and as it were transfigured into a more glorious Being by the Joy of the Spirit and the Ardours of Divine Love the more flat and insipid are all earthly and carnal Satisfactions to it Another Effect that attends our shaking off the Dominion of Sin and our devoting our selves to the Service of God is our being purified from Guilt The Stains of the past Life are washed off by Repentance and the Blood of Jesus and the Servant of God contracts no new ones by wilful and presumptuous Sin Now therefore he can enter into himself and commune with his own Heart without any Vneasiness he can reflect upon his Actions and review each day when it is past without inward Regret or Shame To break off a vicious Course to vanquish both Terrours and Allurements when they perswade to that which is mean and base to be Master of ones self and entertain no Affections but what are wise and regular and such as one has Reason to wish should daily increase and grow stronger these are things so far from meriting Reproach and Reproof from ones own Mind that they are sufficient to support it against all Reproaches from without Such is the Beauty such the Pleasure of a well established Habit of Righteousness that it does more than compensate the Difficulties to which either the Attainment or the Practice of it can expose a Man Lastly He that is free from Guilt is free from Fear too And indeed this is the only way to get rid of all our Fears not by denying or renouncing God with Atheists but by doing the things that please Him He that is truly Religious is the only Man who upon rational Ground is raised above Melancholy and Fear For what should he fear God is his Glory his Boast his Joy his Strength and if God be for him who can be against him neither things present nor to come neither Life nor Death can separate him from the Love of God in Christ Jesus There is nothing within the Bounds of Time or Eternity that he needs fear Man cannot hurt him he is incompassed with the favour and loving kindness of God as with a Shield But if God permit him to suffer for Righteousness sake happy is he This does but increase his present Joy and future Glory But what is most considerable Death it self cannot hurt him Devils cannot hurt him the sting of Death is Sin and the strength of Sin is the Law but thanks be to God who giveth us the Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. For there is no Condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit These Considerations prove the present Condition of a Servant of God happy Happy in Comparison of the Loose and Wicked but in Comparison with what he shall be hereafter he is infinitely short of the Joy and Glory of his End In this respect indeed he is yet in a state of Tryal and Trouble of Discipline and Probation in this respect his Perfection and Happiness do but just peep up above the Ground the Fulness and Maturity of both he cannot enjoy till he come to Heaven And this is § 4. The Last Fruit of Christian Liberty That Heaven will consist of all the Blessings of all the Enjoyments that Human Nature when raised to an Equality with Angels is capable of that Beauties and Glories Joys and Pleasures will as it were like a fruitful and ripe Harvest here grow up there in all the utmost Plenty and Perfection that Omnipotence it self will e're produce is not at all to be controverted Heaven is the Master-piece of God the Accomplishment and Consummation of all his wonderful Designs the last and most endearing Expression of boundless Love And hence it is that the Holy Spirit in Scripture describes it by the most taking and the most admired things upon Earth and yet we cannot but think that this Image though drawn by a Divine Pencil must fall infinitely short of it For what temporal things can yield Colours or Metaphors strong and rich enough to paint Heaven to the Life One thing there is indeed which seems to point us to a just and adequate Notion of an Heaven it seems to excite us to strive and attempt for Conceptions of what we cannot grasp we cannot comprehend and the labouring Mind the more it discovers concludes still the more behind and that is the Beatifick Vision This is that which as Divines generally teach does constitute Heaven and Scripture seems to teach so too I confess I have often doubted whether our seeing God in the Life to come did necessarily imply that God should be the immediate Object of our Fruition or only that we should there as it were drink at the Fountain Head and being near and dear to Him in the highest Degree should ever flourish in his Favour and enjoy all Good heap'd up press'd down and running over I thought the Scriptures might be easily reconciled to this sense and the Incomprehensible Glory of the Divine Majesty inclin'd me to believe it the most reasonable and most easily accountable Injoyment and especially where an Intelligent Being is the Object of it seem'd to imply something of Proportion something of Equality something of Familiarity But ah what Proportion thought I can there ever be between Finite and Infinite what Equality between a poor Creature and his incomprehensible Creatour what Eye shall gave on the splendours of his essential Beauty when the very Light He dwells in is inaccessible and even the Brightness he vailes himself in is too dazling even for Cherub and Seraphs for ought I know to behold Ah! what Familiarity can there be between this Eternal and inconceiveable Majesty and Beings which He has formed out of nothing And when on this occasion I reflected on the Effects which the Presence of Angels had upon the Prophets and saw Human Nature in Man Sinking and dying away because unable to sustain the Glory of one of their Fellow-Creatures I thought my self in a manner obliged to yield and stand out no longer against a Notion which though differing from what was generally received seemed to have more Reason on its side and to be more intelligible But when I called to mind that God does not disdain even while we are in a state of Probation and Humility of Infirmity and Mortality to account us not only his Servants and his People but his Friends and his Children I began to question the former Opinion and when I had survey'd the Nature of Fruition and the various Ways of it a little more attentively I wholly quitted it For I observed that the Enjoyment is most transporting where Admiration mingles with our Passion where the beloved Object stands not upon the same Level with us but condescends to meet a Vertuous and aspiring and ambitious Affection Thus the happy Favourite enjoys
Appearance of it and 't is hard to imagine that a sincere Man who does indeed strain at a Gnat should swallow a Camel He that preserves the Tenderness of Conscience as he will have an Aversion for small Sins so will he have an Horror for great ones Thirdly The Mind of a Christian ought to be possessed and awed by the Fear of God and that not a slight and transient but a deep and lasting one The Psalmist was not content to say I am afraid of thy Judments but to express how thoroughly this Fear had seized him he adds my flesh trembleth for Fear of thee Psal 119. And certainly this Fear is a sort of impenetrable Armour which extinguishes all the fiery Darts of the Devil In vain is the Suddenness or the Briskness of a Temptation unless we first lay aside this Shield Fourthly We are bound to be always on our Watch and Guard and therefore if we relax our Discipline if we live secure and careless if we rashly cast our selves upon Dangers our Sin then will be but the Consequence of our Folly and therefore one Error cannot be an Excuse or an Apology for another I think therefore the Apology of Surprise should be confin'd and limited to slight Offences it cannot properly have room in great ones or if it have it may be urged in Mitigation of our Punishment but never I doubt for total Impunity 3. Lastly Venial Sin has its Rise from the Defects and Imperfections of our Nature and the disadvantageous Circumstances of our State Here come in the Failures and Defects in the Measures and Degrees of Duty if these can be properly reckon'd for Sins I say if they can For I do not see that this is a good Argument we are bound to the highest Degree of Love by that Law thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart therefore whatsoever falls short of the highest and most absolute Degree of Love is a Sin For at this Rate whatever were short of Perfection would be Sin We must love nothing better than God nothing equal to Him This will constitute us in a State of Sincerity What is further required is that we are bound to aim at and pursue after the highest and most perfect Degrees of Love but we are not bound under Pain of Damnation to attain them But on the other hand I readily grant that our falling short in the Degrees of Faith Love Hope and the like may be properly reckoned amongst Sins when they spring from Defects of Vigilance and Industry And if these Defects be such as can consist with Sincerity then are the Imperfections or the Abatements of our Virtues pardonable and then only Here again fall in Omissions wandring Thoughts Dulness and Heaviness in Duty the short Titillations of some irregular Fancies Forgetfulness slight and short Fits of Envy Discontent Anger Ambition Gaiety of Mind Thus we find the Disciples falling asleep when they should have pray'd Mat. 26. and David praying quicken thou me Psal 119. Thus his Soul too was often cast down and disquieted within him Psal 42. 2 Chron. 30.18 19. Job cursed the Day of his Birth In short our Natures are Human not Angelical and our State is full of Variety of Accidents that they are too apt to discompose the Mind and divert it from its great End The Ebbs and Flows of Blood and Spirits and an unlucky constitution or a Distemper the Multitude or Confusion of Affairs the Violence or the Length of Tryals the Ease and Flattery of Prosperity the Weariness of the Body or of the Mind the Incommodiousness of Fortune Roughness of Conversation these and a thousand other things are apt to produce Defects and Failures in our Obedience short Disorders in our Affections and such Emotions and Eruptions as abundantly prove the best to be but Men and the highest Perfection if it be but Human to be wanting and defective I think I have now omitted nothing necessary to form a true Notion of Sin of Infirmity My next business therefore is to consider S. 3. How far the Liberty of the Perfect Man in respect of Venial Sin ought to be extended There is great Affinity between Venial and Original Sin and therefore the Perfect Man's Liberty as it relates to the one and the other consists in much the same Degrees and is to be attain'd by the same Method so that I might well enough dismiss this Subject and pass on to Mortal Sin But reflecting on the Nature of Man how prone we are to Sin and yet how apt we are to think well of our selves I judge it necessary to guard the Doctrine of Venial Sin by some few Rules which may at once serve to secure our sincerity and point out the Perfection we are to aspire to 1st then If we would prevent any fatal event of Sins flowing from Ignorance we must take care that our Ignorance it self be not Criminal and that it will not be if our Hearts be sincerely disposed to do our Duty and if we use moral Diligence to know it if we be impartial humble and honest and have that Concern for the Knowledge and Practise of our Duty that is in some sort proportionable to the Importance of it The Ignorance that arises from natural Incapacity or want of sufficient Revelation is invincible and therefore innocent Joh. 9.41 Jesus said unto them if ye were blind ye should have no Sin but now ye say we see therefore your Sin remaineth and 15.22 if I had not come and spoken unto them they had not had Sin but now they have no cloke for their Sins This Rule must be understood of necessary Knowledge in General and more legible and conspicuous Lines of Duty Both which notwithstanding there may be room for Sins of Infirmity to enter where Mortal ones cannot there may be imperfect Dispositions of Mind and latent Prejudices there may be Instances of Duty of a slighter moment there may be several Circumstances and small Emergencies that may either be without the Aim or escape the Discovery of a moral Search that is of a Human one which though it be without Hypocrisie is yet not without more or less Frailty As to Perfection it differs in this as it does in other Cases from sincerity only in the Degrees by which it is advanced above it He that will be Perfect must search for Wisdom as for hid Treasures his Delight must be in the Law of the Lord and in his Law must be meditate day and night his Thirst of Truth must be more eager and impatient his Diligence more wakeful more circumspect more particular more steady and constant than that of the Beginner or of one who is no farther advanced than such Measures of Faith and Love as are indispensably necessary to Sincerity will carry him 2ly Sins that are occasion'd by Surprise and Inadvertency will not prove destructive if the Inadvertency it self be in a manner innocent That is First there is no room for
slighting the blood of the Covenant and grieving the Holy Spirit all which we do by willful Sin is a Guilt that will sink down the obstinate Sinner into the lowest Hell and render his Condition more intolerable that that of Tyre and Sidon Sodom and Gomorrah 2. The Second Effect of the firm Belief of these Gospel Truths is that it begets in us a Contempt of this World and all the things of it To him that Beelieves How short is Time compar'd to Eternity How false how empty are the Pleasures of Sin compared with those of Heaven how insignificant the Esteem or Love of Man to that of God How worthless are all our worldly Hopes and Pretensions in respect of an Interest in Jesus Now the Soul that is once possess'd thoroughly with these Notions what will it not do what will it not suffer rather than fall short of or forfeit its Crown In what state will it not be contented nay in what state will it not abound in Joy whilst it holds fast the steadfastness of its Hope and is secure of the Love of Jesus Here begins that Purity of Heart which is the Fountain of true Epicureism that Greatness of Mind which alone is true Honour and Fortitude But that Faith may have these Effects upon us it must not be only a true but a lively Faith therefore my 2. Second Rule or if you please another Branch of the former Rule shall be this They that will be free indeed must not only believe the great Truths of the Gospel but must frequently and seriously ponder them till they have imprinted in themselves as clear distinct and perfect Ideas of them as we are capable of This will soon mortifie the Appetites of the Body corrrect our false Opinions of worldly Things and baffle all the Sophistry and Confidence of Lust A lively Faith is a Faith that imports the most clear and natural the most full and enlarg'd Notions of its Objects a Faith that not only looks upon the Articles of our Creed as true but beholds them in a manner as present and so represented and drawn to the Life that they fill the Soul with great and moving Considerations This Faith does not only Believe that there is a God but it beholds Him and walks before Him as present it sees Him array'd in all his Glory and in all his Majesty in all the Power and all the Terrors in all the Beauties and all the Graces of the Divine Nature it does not only believe that there are Rewards and Punishments but is extreamly sensible of the Terrors of the one and Attractions of the other and looks upon both as at the door It does not only acknowledge a Mediator but takes a full view of the Misery of that state wherein we lay through Sin and of the Blessedness of that into which we are translated by the Redemption which is in Jesus It Contemplates this Mediatour in all the several steps of Condescension and Humiliation in all the Tenderness and Transports of his Passion in all the melancholy Scenes of his Sufferings and the bright and chearful ones of his Glory This is the Faith that sets us free 3. We must not stop in Faith till it be made perfect in Love We must meditate Divine Truths till they have fired our Souls till they have enkindled our Affections till we be possess'd by an ardent Love of God of Jesus of Righteousness and of Heaven till all our other Desires and Passions be converted into and swallowed up of Love till God becomes the Center of our Souls and in Him we rest in Him we glory and in Him we rejoyce O Love how great and glorious are the things that are said of thee 'T is thou who dost impregnate and animate Faith it self 't is thou who dost surmount the Difficulties of Duty and make the Yoke of Christ easie and his Burthen light 't is thou who dost cast out Fear and make Religion full of Pleasure 't is thou that dost make us watchful against Temptations and impatient under the Interruptions of Duty 't is thou that makest us dis-relish the Pleasures of this World and long to be dissolved and to be with Christ Here is the Liberty of the Sons of God Blessed are they even in this World who attain it But one Caution I must here add That our Love must not be a Flesh a Bit but a steady and well setled Affection an Affection that has the Warmth of Passion and the Firmness of Habit. We must therefore by repeated Meditations and Prayers daily nourish this Flame of the Altar and not suffer it to go out 4. We must never be at rest till we have possess'd our Minds with a perfect Hatred of the sin which we are most subject to The Love of God his Long-suffering and forbearance the Sufferings of Jesus the struglings of the Spirit the Peace and Pleasure of Holiness the Guilt and Vexation the Shame and Punishment of Sin its ill Influence on our present Perfection and Happiness on our Peace and Hopes are proper Topicks to effect this A thorough Hatred of Sin once setled and rooted in us will produce that Sorrow that Indignation that Watchfulness that Zeal which will remove us far enough not only from the Sin but also from the ordinary Temptations to it and place us almost without the Danger of a Relapse To this former Rule I should add this other that when once a Man has resolved upon a new Course of Life whatever Difficulties he finds in his Ways whatever Baffles he meets with he must never quit the Desgn of Vertue and Life he must never give over Fighting till he Conquer The reason is plain for he must either Conquer or Dye But this belonging rather to Perseverance in Vertue than the Beginning of it therefore I but just mention it 5. It will not be imprudent in this Moral as in Physical Cures to observe diligently and follow the Motions and Tendencies of Nature Where there are Seeds of Generosity and Honour the Turpitude and Shame of Sin the Baseness and Ingratitude of it the Love of God and of Jesus and such like are fit Topicks to dwell upon Where Fear is more apt to prevail there the Terrors of the Lord are the most powerful Motive And so whatever the Frame and Constitution of Nature be it will not be difficult to find Arguments in the Gospel adapted to it which will be so much the more prevalent as they are the more natural 6. Lastly We must use all Means to obtain the Spirit of God and to increase and cherish his Influence We must ask and seek and knock i. e. we must pray and Meditate and Travel with Patience and with Importunity that our Heavenly Father may give us his Holy Spirit And when we have it we must not grieve it by any Deliberate Sin nor quench it by Security or Negligence by sensual Freedoms and Presumption but we must cherish every Motion improve every
often repeated breeds a kind of Indifference or Lukewarmness and soon passes into Coldness and Insensibleness and this often ends in a reprobate Mind and an utter Aversion for Religion 2ly We must endeavour some way or other to compensate the Omission of a Duty to make up by Charity what we have defalc'd from Devotion or to supply by short Ejaculations what we have been forc'd to retrench from fix'd and regular Offices of Prayer And he that watches for Opportunities either of Improvement or doing Good will I believe never have Reason to complain of the want of them God will put into his hands either the one or the other and for the Choice he cannot do better than follow God's 3ly A single Omission must never proceed from a sinful Motive from a Love of the World or Indulgence to the Body Necessity or Charity is the only just and proper Apology for it Instrumental or Positive Duties may give way to moral ones the Religion of the Means to the Religion of the End and in Moral Duties the less may give way to the greater But Duty must never give way to Sin nor Religion to Interest or Pleasure Having thus briefly given an account what Omission of Duty is and what is not sinful and consequently so setled the notion of Idleness that neither the careless nor the scrupulous can easily mistake their Case I will now propose such Considetations as I judge most likely to deter Men from it and such Advice as may be the best Guard and Preservative against it 1. The First Thing I would have every one lay to heart is That a State of Idleness is a State of damnable Sin Idleness is directly repugnant to the great Ends of God both in our Creation and Redemption As to our Creation can we imagine that God who created not any thing but for some excellent End should Create Man for none or for a silly one The Spirit within us is an active and vivacious Principle our rational Faculties capacitate and qualifie us for doing Good this is the proper Work of Reason the truest and most natural Pleasure of a rational Soul Who can think now that our wise Creatour lighted this Candle within us that we might oppress and stifle it by Negligence and Idleness That he contriv'd and destin'd such a Mind to squander and fool away its Talents in Vanity and Impertinence As to our Redemption 't is evident both what the Design of it is and how opposite Idleness is to it Christ gave himself for us to Redeem us from all Iniquity and to purifie to himself a peculiar People zealous of good Works Tit. 2.14 and this is what our Regeneration or Sanctification aims at We are God's Workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good Works which God has before ordained that we should walk in them Eph. 2.10 How little then can a useless and barred Life answer the Expectations of God What a miserable Return must it be to the Blood of his Son and how utterly must it disappoint all the purposes of his Word and Spirit But What need I argue further the Truth I contend for is the express and constant Doctrine of the Scriptures is not Idleness and fulness of Bread reckoned amongst the Sins of Sodom what means the Sentence against the barren Fig-tree Luke 13.7 but the Destruction and Damnation of the Idle and the Sluggish the Indignation of God is not enkindled against the Barrenness of Trees but Men. What can be plainer than the Condemnation of the unprofitable Servant who perished because he had not improved his Talent Matt. 25.38 and how frequently does the Apostle declare himself against the idle and disorderly and all this proceeds upon plain and necessary Grounds Our Lord was an Example of Vertue as well as Innocence and he did not only refrain from doing Evil but he went about doing good We can never satisfie the Intention of Divine Precepts by Negative Righteousness when God prohibits the Filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit he enjoyns the perfecting Holiness in his Fear when he forbids us to do evil he at the same time prescribes the learning to do well What need I multiply more Words Idleness is a flat Contradiction to Faith Hope Charity to Fear Vigilance Mortification and therefore certainly must be a damning Sin These are all active and vigorous Principles but Idleness enfeebles and dis-spirits manacles and fetters us These are pure strict and self-denying Principles but Idleness is soft and indulgent These Conquer the World and the Body raise and exalt the Mind but Idleness is far from enterprising any thing from attempting any thing that is good it pompers the Body and effeminates and dissolves the Mind and finally whatever Innocence or Inoffensiveness it may pretend to it does not only terminate in Sin but has its Beginning from it from Stupidity and Ignorance from Vanity and Levity from Softness and Sensuality from some prevailing Lust or other 2. Next after the Nature the Consequences of Idleness are to be considered and if it be taken in the utmost Latitude there is scarce any Sin which is more justly liable to so many tragical Accusations for it is the Parent of Dishonour and Poverty and of most of the Sins and Calamities of this mortal Life But at present I view it only as it is drawn with a half Face and that the much less deformed of the two I consider it here as pretending to Innocence and flattering it self with the Hopes of Happiness And yet even thus supposing it as harmless and inoffensive as it can be yet still these will be the miserable Effects of it It will rob Religion and the World of the Service due to both it will bereave us of the Pleasure of Life and the Comfort of Death and send us down at last to a cursed Eternity For where are the Vertues that should maintain the Order and Beauty of Human Society that should relieve and redress the Miseries of the World where are the Vertues that should vindicate the Honour of Religion and demonstrate its Divinity as effectually as Predictions or Miracles can do where are the bright Examples that should convert the unbelieving part of Mankind and inflame the believing part with a generous Emulation Certainly the lazy Christian the slothful Servant can pretend to nothing of this kind As to the Pleasure of Life if true and lasting if pure and spiritual 't is easie to discern from what Fountains it must be drawn Nothing but Poverty of Spirit can procure our Peace nothing but Purity of Heart our Pleasure But ah how far are the Idle and Unactive from these Vertues Faith Love and Hope are the Seeds of them Victories and Triumphs Devotion Alms and good Works the Fruits of them But what a stranger to these is the Drone and Sluggard Then for the Comfort of Death it must proceed from a well spent Life he that sees nothing but a vast Solitude and Wilderness behind him
of Men who at the last Day will fall under the same Character and Condemnation not because they perform no Duties but because their Performance of them is depretiated by Coldness and Formality Men who make a fair Appearance of Religion and yet have no inward spiritual Life Men who do generally observe the external Duties of Religion but with so little Gust with such Indifference and Lukewarmness that they are neither acceptable to God nor useful to themselves This State of Deadness may be consider'd either more generally as it runs thorough the whole course of our Lives and Actions or more particularly in this or that Instance of Religion 1. When 't is so general that the Bent and Course of our Lives is for want of relish of the Things of God perverted and depraved when we have no Designs drive on no Ends that are suitable to the Excellency and Dignity of our Nature to the Holiness of our Profession and to the great and manifest Obligations of God when we have no Joys or Pleasures no Thirsts or Appetites that do truly become a Christian when we make no Progress no Advance towards our great End when our Discourses and Employments have no Tincture of the Spirit and no Tendency to Edification I think we may then boldly conclude that this is a state of Carnality and Death And that this want of Relish in the general Course of our Lives proceeds from a real want of a Sincere Faith and true Illumination For were the Mind once truly Enlighten'd were it once clearly convinc'd firmly and habitually perswaded of the Beauty and Excellence of the Things of God as we should have Notions different from those of worldly carnal Men so would there consequently be a Difference in the Nature of our Hopes and Fears of our Desires and Designs of our Joys and Sorrows and as necessarily in the main Scope and Tendency of of our Conversation Whoever therefore finds this general Stupidity in the Course of his Life let him not flatter himself in the Performance of any of the Duties of Religion he has a corrupt carnal and blind Heart his Performances proceed not from true Principles and have not that Life and Vigour in them that they ought they are as different from the Performances of a Man truly regenerate and sanctified as the Civilities and Complements of a well-bred Acquaintance from the substantial Offices of a Sincere and affectionate Friend Nor can any Man who will take the least pains to examin himself be ignorant of or mistaken in the Condition of his Soul if this be it For whoever will act honestly and impartially ought not to pass a Sentence of Absolution on himself upon the bare Performance of some relative or instrumental Duties of Religion but he ought to Inquire First What Vertues he Practises which put him upon Expence Hazard or Travel what Works of Piety or Charity he performs and what Proportion they bear to his Ability Next he ought to consider the Design and End he proposes to himself in all his Religious Performances whether he seek the Honour of God the Welfare of Man and his own Improvement and Growth in Goodness or whether he does this meerly to acquit himself of a task and discharge himself of what he takes for granted as a Duty though he finds no pleasure no advantage in it Thirdly he must reflect upon the Frame and Temper of his Mind in reference to these Duties what hunger and thirst he has for Righteousness what Warmth Ardor Elevation or Earnestness of Mind accompanies his Performances what Peace and Pleasure his Reflection on them or whether Religion be not a burthen to him or something to which Custom only reconciles him Lastly he ought to examine what Operation what Influence his Religious Performances have upon him Prayer Hearing Reading and such-like Duties do naturally tend to enlighten the Mind purifie the Heart increase our Love strengthen our Faith and confirm our Hope and therefore where this is not the Effect of them we may conclude that they are not discharg'd in that manner and with that Sincerity they ought He therefore that will examin himself aright must not ask himself how often he reads how often he hears c. and then rest there but must ask himself what Effect these Performances have had upon his Mind which he will soon discern if he demand of himself what the bent and scope of his Life is how much he advances and improves in the Conquest of any Vice and the Attainment of any Vertue what he loves or what he hates what Esteem he has for the Things of God and what for the things of Men. And in a word how he follows after Universal Righteousness and how he encreases in Purity of Heart and Poverty of Spirit 2. Lukewarmness or Coldness may be consider'd more particularly as it discovers it self in the Performance of this or that Duty in Hearing Reading Prayer and Participation of the Lord's Supper Now 't is certain that there is a Deadness in these Duties which proceeds from a carnal and unsanctified Heart and is a plain Symptom of a State of Sin And yet it is too common that they who are subject to it make little Reflection upon it and are little concerned for it On the other hand many complain of Lifelessness in Duty where there is no just ground for this Complaint And this is no small Evil to such for it disturbs the Peace of their Minds damps the Chearfulness and Alacrity of their Service and clogs and encumbers their Religion with needless doubts and Scruples Some have gone about to set this matter right very unskilfully and whilst they have as they thought shun'd Enthusiastick Raptures and irregular Heate have really betray'd the Cause of true and solid Fervency of Spirit and talked of Prayer and such other Duties in such a manner as cannot but reflect disadvantagiously on themselves amongst such as are moderately vers'd in the Scriptures and have any Experience of the Power of God's Word and Spirit upon their Souls But what surprises me most is that some of very deserved Repute have taught That the seeking spiritual Pleasure in Prayer is an Enemy to Perfection That Heat and Ardor of Spirit in Prayer does often happen to the weakest Christians and very seldom to the Perfect But my business not being to combat the Opinions of Men but to advance Truths in the most charitable and in the most effectual manner that I can Therefore without taking Notice of the Motives or Reasons which have byass'd any on this Subject I will lay down two or three Propositions which will I hope clear this Matter and promote the Design I am now carrying on 1. Then Lifelessness or Lukewarmness in these Duties must never be constant There is a vast Difference between habitual and accidental Coldness in Duty the Former is the Symptom of worldly carnal and unregenerate Minds but not the Latter Many are the Accidents which
they can make God and will God be better pleas'd with these than he was with those of Israel that were deform'd with Maims and Blemishes Mal. 1.8 offer now these to thy Governour will he he pleased with thee or accept of thy Person saith the Lord of Host The Magi indeed left their Country and offer'd Gold Frankincense and Myrrh to our Saviour Mat. 2. David would not Sacrifice to God of that which cost him nothing 2 Sam. 24. 24. The Primitive Christians offered up to God Prayers and Tears Labours and Travels Nay their Honours their Fortunes their Lives their Blood But alas what have these Men to offer they have not Love enough to put them upon any Expence nor Faith enough to put them upon any Hardships for the sake of God and Vertue For though they think themselves rich and incresed in goods and to have need of nothing yet are they poor wretched and miserable and blind and naked Rev. 3.17 And shall these receive a Crown of Righteousness shall these share in the Kingdom of Jesus shall these partake in the Triumph of the Last Day it can never be they do nothing worthy of the Gospel nothing that can entitle them to the Benefit of the Cross of Christ 3. The Life of the Laodicean Christian will never do any do any Credit to Religion or reflect any Honour on the Gospel No Man will be ever able to discern the Beauty of Holiness or the Power and Efficacy of Divine Truths from the Practise and Conversation of such an one Ah! had the Carriage of the Primitive Times been such as his I know not what Miracles might have done I am sure Examples would never have made many Proselites But the Christians then acted those Vertues which the Pagan only pretended to and Faith in Jesus atchiev'd those Victories over the World which the Jews so debauch'd and stupid were they grown did in the Declension of that State neither understand nor pretend to This was that which made the World admire and love Christianity After thus much said of the Effects of this sort of Carriage I need scarcely put any one in Mind what will be the last and saddest Effect of it for if our Christianity be such that it neither truly sets us free from our Bondage to the World and Flesh nor enrich our Soul with true and solid Vertues if it neither promote the Honour of God nor the Good of Man it must unavoidably follow that having no true Title to God's Favour nor any rational Ground on which to build an Assurance of it we can reap no true Comfort or Pleasure from Religion here nor any Reward from it hereafter Alas what talk I of Comfort and Reward Distress and Anguish must take hold of the Sinners in Sion and Fearfulness must suprize the Hypocrite And from the Troubles and Miseries of thu Life they must go down into the Everlasting Torments of another The Scripture is plain God will spue them out of his Mouth as he did the Laodicean He will shut the Gate of Heaven against them as against the foolish Virgins that had no Oyl in their Lamps And their Hell will have one Torment in it which is incident to no others that they had once the Hopes of Heaven and it is no small Aggravation of Misery to fall into it even from the Expectation of Happiness This is not as I observed above to be apply'd to accidental Dulness or Deadness in Duty nor are the Decays or Abatements of Love which good Men somtimes suffer immediately to be pronounced damnable But yet these are to be put in Mind of the Danger they are in and recall'd to their former Zeal in the Words of the Spirit to the Church of Ephesus Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first Love Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first Works or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remote thy Candlestick out of his place except thou repent Rev. 2.4 5. CHAP. IX Of Zeal Or the First thing to be consider'd in a State of Zeal namely what Holiness or Righteousness he may be supposed to have arrived at I Am arriv'd at the last Stage of Perfection which I chuse to call a State of Zeal not only because the Scripture seems to direct me to this Expression but also because it seems to me more full and proper than others that may be or are made use of for the same End A State of Vnion is an Expression that better suits another Life that this For the Lesson the Perfect Man is ever and anon to revolve in his Mind is That the present Life is a Life of Labour and Travel and Sufferings the future one of Rewards and Crowns and Enjoyments Then as to that other Expression the State of Love it suits my purpose well enough but does not come up so justly and exactly to it as the State of Zeal for I take Zeal to be Love in the utmost Elevation and Vivacity that it is capable of And now what a noble what a fruitful Argument am I entering upon Methinks I feel my Soul grow warm and enkindle upon my approaching it and my first Views or contemplations of it inspire me with Desires of the same Nature with it self I am concern'd to see my self confin'd and limited by the Laws of Method and find my self inclin'd to wish That I were now to write rather a just Volume than a few Pages Here the Heroick Acts or what is more the Heroick Lives of Saints Martyrs and Confessors present themselves to my Thoughts Here Human Nature enriched adorned and elevated to the utmost Degree by a Participation of the Divine one Here the Power of God's Word the Energy of the Holy Ghost the Triumphs of Faith and the Exstasies of Love would be described Here the different Excellencies of different Vertues and the different Value of good Works should be stated and setled and the various Paths in which Men pursue the Heights of Vertue and the noblest Designs be examin'd and solid Piety and true Wisdom be refin'd from the Alloys and Mixtures of Enthusiasm Superstition Fancy or whatever else they are disfigur'd and debas'd by But this cannot now be done and it may be it could not at all be done by me No Measure of the Spirit peradventure below that with which the Apostles were inspir'd is sufficient to treat this Argument as it requires Besides according to my Capacity I have been all along making this point When in the First Section I stated the Notion of Perfection shew'd by what Steps we advanced to it what Means we are to make use of and what would be the Fruit of it I did in Effect describe to my Reader the State of Zeal and mark'd out the Path that leads to it When in the Second I labour to establish the true Liberty of Man upon the Overthrow and Extirpation not only of Mortal Sin and
Mary Magdalen the Zeal of St. Peter and the Labours and Travels of St. Paul which Firmness and Constancy is too mean a Name for These Vertues seem therefore to have been the peculiar Excellencies of these Persons and to have shone in them with more transcendant Lustre than any other These seem to have been the Vertues for which Grace and Nature eminently qualified them and to which the Providence of God more immediately and directly called them All this consider'd seems it not enough to come up to the Perfection of these great Men may it not suffice to excel in these Vertues which Nature Grace and Providence prescrib'd may not the Perfect be allow'd to want what he does not need would one not think that in many Respects it were enough for him to be free from this or that Vice rather than to expect that he should be adorn'd with this or that Vertue which he has no use for Especially if by Vertue we understand strictly such a Habit as enables us to act easily and delightfully To adjust this Matter 1. The Perfect Man must as I have proved before not only be set free from the Dominion of Sin but also abstain even from a single Act of presumptuous Wickedness he must neither Criminally omit a Duty nor Deliberately commit any thing repugnant to it 2ly He must be endowed with Spiritual Wisdom and Understanding with Faith Hope Charity with the Graces which I will call Vniversal because necessary and indispensable to all as Christians abstracting from their particular Capacities and Relations and that too in an eminent Degree so as to be strong in the Grace which is in Christ Jesus 2 Tim. 2.1 This will render him holy in all manner of Conversation and thoroughly furnish'd to all good Works These two things constitute Vniversal Righteousness compleat the Perfect Man and fully satisfie the Texts alledg'd Or if not what follows will 3ly He must excel in those Vertues which are most Natural I call those Vertues Natural to which Grace and Nature most powerfully dispose and incline him for these he seems to be design'd by God these will soon grow up to Maturity and much will be their Fruit and great their Beauty I do not all this while suppose that the Perfect Man ought not so far to subdue and rectifie his Temper as not only to overcome the Sin of this Constitution but in some Degrees possess the Vertue that is most repugnant to it But to expect him to be eminent here is I doubt too hard and unreasonable For here when he has bestowed much Pains and Travel much Care and Cost his Progress may not be so much as where he bestowed least But here I must add two Cautions the one is That no Man mistake contracted Habits for Nature and then conclude that it will be impossible for him to attain the Perfection of this or that Vertue through a natural Incapacity In the next place let no Man satisfie and content himself in a weak and imperfect State of that Vertue which is directly opposed to the Sin of his Constitution but let him think that here if any where his Vertue must be always growing and let him not doubt but that our Saviour's Promise as far as it can be accomplish'd on Earth belongs to his sincere Endeavours here Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after Righteousness for they shall be filled Matth. 5.6 4. The Perfect Man must be eminent in those Vertues which are most Necessary Such are those which his particular Station and Calling or any other Dispensation of Providence he is under requires of him Whatever Vertues may be more delightful these are more important others may be more natural these have more or Vse and more of Merit A Man may fall short of Perfection in others without either Disparagement or Guilt but Deficiency in these can hardly escape both Besides every thing is lovely it its place and in its time There is a peculiar Grace and Lustre that attends the Vertues of a Man's Station that is scarcely to be found in any other I would therefore have my Perfect Man truely great in his own Business and shine with a dazling Lustre in his own Sphere To this purpose surely speaks the Advice of St. Paul Rom. 12.6 7 8. Having then Gifts differing according to the Grace that is given to us whether Prophecy let us Prophecy according to the proportion of Faith or ministery let us wait on our ministring or he that teacheth on teaching or he that exhorteth on Exhortation he that giveth let him do it with Simplicity he that ruleth with Diligence he that sheweth Mercy with Chearfulness 5. Lastly as there is a different Guilt in Sins so there is different Merit in Vertues as amongst Miraculous so amongst sanctifying Gifts some are more excellent than others and he is the most Perfect Man who is enrich'd with the most Perfect Gifts The three Heroick Vertues of the Gospel are Faith Love Humility Nor do I presumptuously contrary to the Apostle exclude Hope but comprehend it under Faith Of Faith I have often had occasion to speak Humility will make the last Chapter of this Section and therefore I will only exhort to Love Love is the noblest Fruit of Illumination and Faith the true Source and Parent of Joy and Peace Love is the most pregnant Seed of a Divine Life 't is the Principle that animates moves and forms the whole Body of Righteousness Love is the bond of Union and Communion with the Father and his Son Jesus through the Spirit And 't is but fit that what renders as most like God should render us most dear to him too and this Love does for God is Love In short Love is the fulfilling of the Law 't is the Beauty and Perfection of a Disciple of Jesus and the great Subject of Praise and Glory in the Day of Judgment Love is the last Round in the Scale of Perfection and therefore my Perfect Man must abound in this What Degrees of Love of Desire or Complacency for the things of this present Life may consist with Sincerity what with Perfection may be easily learn't from several parts of this Work There is no doubt but the Perfect Man must love God to that Degree that he must always cleave to him walk as always before him ever meditate and contemplate on Him and his Works contrive and study labour and contend to please Him It must be an Affliction to him to be divided from Him but for a little while and he must ever and anon by Day and Night break out into his Praises and rejoyce and Glory in him 2. He must love God to that Degree as that all things in Comparison of Him must appear blasted and wither'd empty and contemptible without Pleasure without Beauty And consequently he must so thirst after the Beatifick Vision after the Presence and Fruition of God that he must earnestly desire to be dissolv'd and pant and long to be
never to be enjoyed by any but some few rare and happy Creatures the Favourites of God and Nature Pleasures that have Matter and Substance in them for such as I can no more grasp and relish than I can Dreams and Visions But to this I answer this pretty talk is all but stupid Ignorance and gross Mistakes For 1. As to innocent and vertuous Pleasure no Man needs part with it I endeavour not to deprive Man of this but to refine and purifie it And he that prefers either silly or vicious Pleasure before Religion is wretchedly mistaken For 2. Perfect Religion is full of Pleasure Had we but once arrived at true Purity of Heart what could be so full of Pleasure as the Business of Religion what can be more delightful than blessing and praising God to a grateful Soul Allelujahs to a Soul snatched from the brink of Destruction into the Bosom of its Master what can be more Transporting than the melting Tendernesses of a holy Contrition made up like Mary Magdalen's of Tears and Kisses Sorrow and Love Humility and Glory Confusion and Confidence Shame and Joy what can be more transporting than Love the Love of a Christian when he is all Love as God is Love when he desires nothing in Heaven nor on Earth but God when all things are dung and dross to him in Comparison of Jesus 4. If the Pleasures of the World be more transporting than those of Religion 't is because our Faith is weak our Love imperfect and our Life unsteady A constant and exalted Pleasure is I grant it the Fruit of Perfection alone The Peace and Joy of the Holy Ghost reigns no where but where that Zeal and Love which is an Effect of the Fulness of the Spirit reigns too I had once proposed to have insisted on the Reasons of this here but this Labour is prevented for they are very obvious to any one who hath read the Chapter of Zeal with Seriousness and Attention Lastly what is insinuated in the Objection that the Pleasures of the World are more numerous or obvious than those of Religion is altogether a false and groundless Fancy In every Place and in every State do the Pleasures of Vertue wait upon the Perfect Man They depend not like those of the Body on a thousand things that are not in our power but only on God and our own Integrity But this part of the Objection I have I think for ever baffled Sect. 1. Chap. 4. These Obstacles of Perfection being thus removed and the Mind of Man being fully convinced of the Happiness that results from a State of Perfection and of his Obligation to surmount the Difficulties which obstruct his way to it there seems to be nothing now left to disappoint the Success of this Discourse but somewhat too much Fondness for the World or somewhat too much Indulgence to the Body which I am next though but very briefly to consider § 4. There is a Love of the World which though it be not either for the Matter or Degree of it Criminal enough to destroy our Sincerity and our Hopes of Salvation yet is it strong enough to abate our Vigour hinder our Perfection and bereave us of many Degrees of Pleasure at present and Glory hereafter The Indications of this kind of Love of the World are too much concern for the Pomp and Shew of Life too much Exactness in the Modes and Customs of it too quick a Sense of Honour and Reputation Pre-eminence and Praise too much Hast and too much Industry to grow rich to add House to House Land to Land and to cloath our Selves with thick and heavy Clay too brisk a Relish of the Pleasures of the World too great a Gaiety of Mind upon the Successes too much Dejection upon the Disasters and Disappointments of it too much Care and too much Diligence an encumbring and embroiling ones self too far in worldly Affairs too much Diversion too much Ease These I say are the Symptoms of a Mind tainted with a Love of the World though not so far as to Sickness and Death However it will be enough to check the Vigour and dilute the Relish of the Mind Now the only way to overcome this Defect and to captivate the Mind entirely to the Love and Service of Religion and Vertue is to consider frequently and seriously the Rewards of Perfection the Pleasure that will attend it in another Life Had the young Man in the Gospel done this had he had as lively a Notion and as true an Estimate of the Riches of Eternity as he had of Temporal ones he would never have gone away sorrowful when he was advised to have exchanged the Treasures of Earth for those of Heaven Had the Soul of Martha been as much taken up with the Thoughts of Eternity as that of Mary she would have made the same Choice as she did They who often think how soon the Fashion the Pomp and Grandeur of this World passes away and how much better their Heavenly Country is than their Earthly how much more lasting and how much more glorious the New Jerusalem that City that has Foundations whose builder and maker is God than this City of ours which may be over-thrown in a moment will neither weep nor rejoyce with too much Passion neither buy nor possess with too much Application of Mind In one word he that so often and devoutly thinks of that day wherein Christ who is our Life shall appear and we also appear with him in Glory that he comes to love and long for it such a one will have no great Taste of the Honours or the Pleasures or the Interests of Life nor will he be slothfull or remiss but fervent in Spirit serving the Lord Whatever Degrees of Affection he had for any thing of that Nature they will all vanish he will have no Emulation but for good Works no Ambition but for Glory I mean that which is Eternal In the pursuit of this will he lay out the Strength and Vigour of his Mind for this he will retrench his Profit for this he will deny his Pleasure for this he will be content to be obscure mean and laborious for if the World be once crucified to him he will the more easily bear the being crucified to it § 5. After all there is an Infirmity in the Flesh against which if we do not guard our selves if we do not struggle heartily we shall miscarry The Spirit is willing said our Saviour but the Flesh is weak Without much Care and much Watchfulness the Vigour of our Minds will be relax'd the Exultation of our Spirits will flag and droop and we shall soon loose the Relish there is in Religion The most effectual Remedies against this Frailty and Fickleness of our Nature are two First Godly Fear and this the Purity and Presence of God the Strictness and the Impartiality of a Judgment to come the Loss of an Eternal Crown the Terrors of Eternal Punishment the
Number and Strength of Temptations the deplorable Falls of the greatest Saints and the Conscience of our own Weakness will not fail to work in us Let us then not only begin but also perfect Holiness in the Fear of God Blessed is he that feareth always Secondly The Steadfastness of Hope of Hope that waits and longs for the Coming of our Lord. This will invite us often to take a View of Canaan this will fill the Mind often with the Beauties and the Glories of Eternity this will often call to our Thoughts and Security the Rest the Transports of another World the Love of God and of Jesus incorruptible Crowns the Hallelujah's of Angels the Shouts of Victory the Fruit of the Tree of Life the Streams that water the Paradise of God And every such Object will chide us out of our Weakness and Cowardise every such Thought will upbraid us out of our Laziness and Negligence We shall hear always Sounding in our Ears the Words of Jesus to his Disciples What can ye not watch with me one hour and yet do you expect to reign with me for ever Or those to the Church of Laodicea to him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me upon my Throne as I have overcome and am sate down with my Father on his Throne And now Reader if you find I have done you any Service if you think your self under any Obligation to me the Return I beg from you is that you will first offer Praise and Thanks unto God and next whenever you are in the Vigour of the Spirit in the Ardors of Faith and Love before God in Prayer put up these or the like Petitions for me which I now offer up for my self O My God and my Father increase the Knowledge of thy Word and the Grace of thy Spirit in me Enable me to Perfect Holiness in thy Fear and to hold fast the steadfastness of my Hope unto the End Pardon all the Sins and Errors of my Life and accept of my imperfect Services though Jesus Christ And because though after all we can do we are unprofitable Servants thy Infinite Bounty will yet certainly recompense our sincere Endevour to promote thy Glory let me find my Reward from thee or rather do thou thy self vouchsafe to be my Reward I should have ever thought my self unworthy to have put up this Petition to thee O thou glorious and incomprehensible Majesty had not thine own Goodness thine own Spirit kindled this Ambition in me Behold what manner of Love is this that we should be called the Sons of GOD these are the Words of thy Servant St. John And now therefore my Soul can never be at rest till I awake at the last Day after thy Likeness I can never be satisfied till I behold thy Glory which vouchsafe me I beseech thee by thy Mercy and thy Faithfulness by the Sufferings and Intercession of thy Dearly Beloved Son FINIS Several Books Published by Dr. Lucas Vicar of St. Steven's Coleman-street and Sold by Sam. Smith and Benj. Walford at the Princes Arms in St. Paul's Church-Yard PRactical Christianity Or an Account of the Holiness which the Gospel Enjoyns with the Motives to it c. Fourth Edition 1693. An Enquiry after Happiness in several Parts Vol. I. The Second Edition Corrected and Enlarged 1692. Human Life or a Second Part of the Enquiry after Happiness Second Edition 1696. Religious Perfection or a Third Part of the Enquiry after Happiness 1696. The Duty of Apprentices and Servants with some Prayers and Directions for the worthy Receiving the Holy Sacrament 1685. Price One Shilling Six Pence The Plain Man's Guide to Heaven Containing 1st His Duty towards God 2ly Towards his Neighbour with proper Prayers Meditations and Ejaculations designed chiefly for the Country-man Tradesman Labourers c. 1691. Price One Shilling Christian Thoughts for every day of the Month 12. Price One Shilling Several Sermons Preached before the Queen Lord Mayor Assizes c.