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
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
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
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.
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
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
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
all our sinful or vain desires devote our selves to the Service of Jesus and learn to expect Happiness from nothing else but the Merits and the Imitation of his Cross So profound is the Wisdom of this Institution that it evidently speaks God the Author of it and proclaims the too common neglect of it in most parts of this Nation an in-excusable Sin and Folly 3. A Third end of Instrumental Duties of Religion is the raising and keeping up Holy and Devout Affections I know not why Passion is so commonly undervalued and disparaged in Religion unless they who thus treat it mean nothing by it but a short-liv'd and superficial commotion of the Mind which leaves no print or relish behind it and is presently succeeded by Sin and Folly Holy Passion is the vigour and strength of the Soul 't is the state and frame of the Mind when it is throughly moved and affected And therefore to form to ones self Religion destitute of Passion is little better than to content ones self with one that is lazy lukewarm and lifeless And though there be some Tempers very unapt to be moved yet 't is hard to imagine how even these can be wrought up to a Resolution or that Resolution be supported and continued without their being affected so throughly as to feel either a real Passion or something very nearly approaching one 'T is an excellent Frame of Spirit when the Soul is easily elevated and transported into Holy Passion And I find that all those Vertues or rather Acts of Vertue which are described to the Life and which are by all judg'd most Perfect and Lovely have most of Passion in them How warm and Passionate was the Love of David for his God! What Flame what vehemence of Desire was he moved by when he cries out Psal 42.1 2. As the Heart panteth after the water-brooks so panteth my Soul after thee O God My Soul thirsteth for God for the living God What awful Concussions and Agitations of Spirit did he feel when he thus describes his Fear My Flesh trembleth for fear of thee and I am afraid of thy Judgments Psal 119.120 What afflictions of Soul what tenderness of Heart do we meet with in the Repentance of St. Peter when He went forth and wept bitterly Of Mary Magdalen or whoever that Woman in Luk. 7. was when she washed the Feet of our Saviour with her Tears and wiped them with the Hairs of her Head And of the Royal Psalmist when he watered his Couch with his Tears Psal 6.6 Nor were the Pleasures of Assurance less sensible and vehement then the sorrows of Repentance when the first Christians rejoyced with Joy unspeakable and Hopes full of Glory Shall I here add that Holy Indignation against Sin that vehement desire of making some Reparation for it which is the effect of Godly Sorrow that Zeal and Fervency of Spirit in the Service of God which is the highest Character of Perfection it self Shall I call these Passions I must not for though they have the heat and agitation of Passion they have in them the firmness and steadiness of an Habit. And I wish with all my Heart that all those other excellent Affections of Soul which I before named could be rendered Natural and Habitual The nearer we come to this undoubtedly the Perfecter I doubt Mortality is incapable of any such height But the more frequent as well as the more vehement and fervent the better certainly For great is the Force and Vertue of Holy Passion the flame of Love refines our Nature and Purifies it from all its Dross the Tears of a Godly Sorrow extinguish all our carnal and worldly Lusts and the Agitations of Fear preserve the chastity and purity of the Soul 'T is plain then that our Religion ought to be animated by Holy Passions that the more frequent and natural these grow the more Perfect we are that being the most excellent frame of Spirit when we are most apt to be sensibly and throughly affected by Divine Truths By what Means we may attain to this is now briefly to be considered 'T is certain that great and Important wonderful and glorious Truths will not fail to affect us and that throughly unless Lust or Infidelity have render'd us stupid and impenetrable And that Gospel Truths are such is no doubt at all let the Conviction be full the Representation lively and the Truth will do its work 'T is for want of such circumstances and such sensible Notions of an Object as may strike the Imagination for want of close and particular Applications when Divine Truths do not move us This now does not only call us to the frequent Meditation of the most Affecting Subjects the Majesty and Omnipresence of God the Sufferings of Christ Death and Judgment Heaven and Hell but it shews also how to model and form our Meditations that they prove not cold and sluggish Let the Object of our Thoughts be described by the most sensible Images or Resemblances let it be clad with the most natural circumstances let it be made as particular as it can by fixing its Eye upon us and pointing its Motion towards us but above all and in the first place let the Proof of it be clear and strong Prayer is an Exercise very apt to move the Passion The Mind having disengaged it self from all Earthly and Bodily Affections is prepared for the impression of Truth and the Spirit of God it draws nearer into the Presence of God and the sense of this sheds an awful Reverence upon it it has a clearer calmer and more serious View of Divine Things then when it is obscured and disturbed by worldly Objects In a word Meditation is in this Exercise render'd more solemn and more particular and when the Holy Fire is kindled in the Soul it dilates and diffuses it self more and more till the strength of Desire the vehemence of Holy Love transcending the weakness of this Mortal Nature we faint under the Passions that we cannot bear The Lord's Supper is an Holy Rite wonderfully adapted to raise excellent Passions Here Christ is as it were set forth Crucified amongst us we see His Body broken and His Blood poured forth here with a devout Joy we receive and embrace Him by Faith and Love in those Symbols of His Body and Blood and Pledges of His Love The Soul must be very ill prepared it must have very imperfect Notions of Sin and Damnation the Cross of Christ Grace and Salvation which is not sensible of a Crow'd of Holy Passions springing up in it at this Sacrament Hymns and Psalms have by I know not what Natural Magick a peculiar Force and Operation upon a pious Mind Divine Poetry has a noble elevation of Thoughts it does not devise and counterfeit Passions but only vents those which it feels and these are pure and lovely kindled from above Therefore are all its Characters natural its Descriptions lively its Language moving and powerful and all is
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
which flows from different Gifts of God which depend not on our selves This being premised in order to prevent my being mistaken I proceed and determine 1. That Illumination depends not upon a Man's outward Fortune There are indeed several sorts of Knowledge which we can never arrive at without much leisure and much expence And in order to support the one and enjoy the other it is requisite that we be Masters of a good Fortune Hence is that Observation of the Author of Ecclesiasticus Chap. 38.24 The Wisdom of a Learned Man cometh by opportunity of leisure and he that has little business shall become wise And therefore in the following Verses he excludes the Husbandman the Statuary the Engraver the Smith the Potter and all consequently whose Time and Mind is taken up in the Labours of their Profession and in making the necessary Provision for Life these I say he excludes from all Pretentions to Wisdom How can he get Wisdom that holdeth the Plough and that glorieth in the Goad whose talk is of Bullocks c. But this is not the Wisdom that I am enquiring after and which constitutes Illumination That consists not in the Laws of our Earthly but Heavenly Country Not in Arts and Sciences which relate to the Body and minister to a temporal Life but in those Divine Truths which purifie the Soul and minister to an Eternal one no not in Notional Improvements of the Mind but in Spiritual and Vital ones And therefore the Husbandman and the Artist the Mechanick and the Trader are as capable of this sort of Wisdom as the Man of Office Mony or Quality There needs no Wealth to render one the Child of Light and of the Day There is the Book of Nature the Book of Revelation both the Books of God both writ throughout with glorious Illuminating Truths These lie wide open to every honest Christian The Being and Nature of God the Mediation of Jesus and a Judgment to come the Nature and Necessity of Holiness are fully revealed and unanswerably proved And though every honest Man be not able to discover all the Arguments on which they stand yet may he discover enough and what is more he may have an inward vital sensible proof of them he may feel the Power the Charms of Holiness experiment its Congruity and Loveliness to the Human Soul and observe a thousand Demonstrations of its serviceableness to the Honour of God and the good of Mankind He may have a a full convictive sense of the Manifestation of the Divine Perfections in the great work of our Redemption and the excellent Tendency of it may be so palpable and conspicuous to him as to leave no room for Doubts or Scruples But besides all this there is a Voice within there is a Divine Teacher and Instructor which will ever abide with him and lead him into all necessary Truths All which is implied in those words of our Lord If any Man will do his will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self Joh. 7.17 2. Extraordinary Natural parts such as Sagacity or Acuteness of Judgment strength of Memory the liveliness of Imagination are not necessary to Illumination The Gospel as I remember takes no notice of these Such is the beauty of Holiness that it requires rather purity of Heart then quickness of Apprehension to render us enamoured of it And the very same thing may be said of the Power and Energy of all Gospel Motives and of the Proofs and Evidences too of Divine Truths To convince and affect us there is no need of Sagacity and Penetration but Probity and Sincerity However I have two or three Reflections to make here which may not be unuseful For tho' Acuteness and Retention by which I mean quickness in discerning and firmness in preserving Truth be commonly accounted Natural Parts and generally are so yet I think where the one or the other are most defective they may be much helped and wonderfully improved To which end I remark First That those defects of Vnderstanding or Memory which some are wont to accuse themselves of in Spiritual things are with more Justice to be imputed to want of concern and affection for such things than to any incapacity of Nature 'T is plain we easily understand and easily remember what we desire and love And where-ever we follow the Impulse or Conduct of strong Inclinations we seldom fail of excelling Let us therefore take care that our Hearts be set upon the things of God and we shall soon see that our Judgment and Memory will no more fail us here then in those worldly Interests and Pleasures which we are most intent upon Secondly as to Memory it depends very much upon the Perspicuity Regularity and Order of our Notions Many complain of want of Memory when the defect is in their Judgment And others while they grasp at all retain nothing In order then to relieve this infirmity of Memory it were an excellent way to confine our search and Meditation to a few Objects and to have these clearly and methodically handled A Catechetical way of expounding and asserting the Rudiments of our Faith if done as it ought to be is of great service to Persons of all Capacities but especially to those of meaner For thus they may not only be enriched with the Knowledge of the most useful things and of the grounds on which our Obligation either to Belief or Practice is bottom'd but also may be furnished with general Principles of Reason by which they may steer their Judgment in all cases and with certain Heads of Faith and Morals to which they may be able to reduce most of what they read or hear Thirdly 't is with the Understanding as with the Eye of the Body One sees further off and in a fainter Light but another sees as well with regard to all the uses of Life who yet requires that the Object should be nearer and the Light better Men of slow Capacities must not be Daring or Precipitate in passing their Sentence and forming their Notions They must examine whether the Matters they enquire after be not too remote and obscure whether the Object may be brought nearer and placed in a better Light or whether they may be furnished with Telescopes or Microscopes fit for them If not they must quit the search of such Truths as improper and unnecessary for them By which means they will at least avoid being deceived or perplexed which is no small advantage To be enriched with a kind of Vniversal Knowledge is a great thing but I doubt too great for Man Next to this is to be endowed with a Knowledge of necessary and important Truths and to be freed from Errors and Perplexity in Matters of any moment And methinks it were no great excess of Modesty or Humility for Man to be content with this 3. There is no great need of acquired Learning in order to true Illumination Our Saviour
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
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
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.
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
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
most sanctified Nature and some Venial Defects and Imperfections or other may still leave room for the greatest of Saints to extend his Conquest Besides 't is hard to determine or fix the Bounds of Knowledge and every new Degree of Light seems to make way for more So that after all nothing hinders but that the Path of the Perfect Man may as well with respect to his Righteousness as his Fortunes be like the shining Light which shineth more and more unto the Perfect day I mean the Day of a blessed Eternity The Motives to Perfection the Fruit of it the Means and Methods of attaining it laid down in the First Section will all serve here therefore I have nothing to offer of this sort only if I forgot to pay that Deference to the Institutions of our Church which they justly deserve I do it now and do earnestly perswade my Reader to a strict Observance of them I do not only think this necessary to maintain a Face of Religion amongst us but also highly conducive to true Perfection I am fully satisfied That there is a peculiar Presence of God in his publick Ordinances That the Devotion of good Men does mutually inflame and enkindle one another That there is a holy Awe and Reverence seizes the Minds of good Men when they draw near to God in publick Worship And finally That if the Offices of our Liturgy do not affect our Hearts 't is because they are very much indisposed and very poorly qualified for the true and spiritual Worship of God CHAP. X. Of Zeal as it consists in Good Works AND now let not any one think that I have taken Pains to advance the Illumination of a Sinner to knock off his Chains and Fetters to raise him as far as might be above the Corruption of Nature and the Defects and Infirmities of Life to scatter those lazy Fogs and Mists which hung upon his Spirits and to enrich him with Heroick Vertues let no Man I say fancy that I have laboured to do all this that after all my Perfect Man might sit down like an Epicurean God and enjoy himself might talk finely of Solitary Shades and Gardens and spend a precious Life fitted for the noblest Designs in a sluggish Retirement No no as Vertue is the Perfection of Human Life so is Action the Perfection of Vertue and Zeal is that Principle of Action which I require in a Saint of God Accordingly the Scriptures describe this great this happy Man as full of the Holy Ghost fervent in Spirit zealous of good Works Such a one was Moses mighty in Word and Deed as well as learned in all the Knowledge of the Egyptians Such a one was St. Stephen as full of a Divine Ardour and irresistible Fervency of Spirit as of an irresistible Wisdom And such a one was the excellent Cornelius a devout Man one that had transfus'd and deriv'd the fear of God from his own Bosom throughout his Family and Relations and Friends too one that gave much Alms and prayed to God always What need I multiply Instances this is that which distinguishes the Perfect Man from all others the Victories of Faith the Labours of Charity the Constancy and Patience of Hope and the Ardors of Devotion Need I here distinguish a Zeal of God from the Fierceness of Faction the Cruelty of Superstition from the wakeful and indefatigable Activity of Avarice and Ambition from the unruly Heats of Pride and Passion and from the implacable Fury of Revenge it needs not No foolish no false fantastick earthly or devilish Principle can counterfeit a Divine Zeal 'T is a Perfection that shines with such a peculiar Lustre with such an Heavenly Majesty and Sweetness that nothing else can imitate it 't is always pursuing Good the Honour of God and the Happiness of Man it contends earnestly for the Faith once delivered to the Saints but it contends as earnestly too to root out Wickedness and implant the Righteousness of the Gospel in the World It is not eager for the Articles of a Sect or Party and unconcern'd for Catholick ones When it presses for Reformation it begins at home and sets a bright Example of what it would recommend to others 'T is meek and gentle under its own Affronts but warm and bold against those which are offer'd to God In a word though Love fill its Sails Divine Wisdom and Prudence give it Ballast and it has no Heat but what is temper'd and refracted by Charity and Humility Need I in the next place fix or state the various Degrees of Zeal Alas it is not requisite Zeal being nothing else but an ardent Thirst of promoting the Divine Glory by the best Works 'T is plain the more excellent the Work and the more it cost the more Perfect the more exalted the Zeal that performs it When like Mary we quit the Cumber and Destraction of this World and chuse Religion for our Portion then do we love it in good earnest When with the Disciples we can say Lord we have forsaken all and followed thee or are ready to do so when we are continually blessing and praising God when if the Necessities of Christ's Church require it we are ready to call nothing our own when we are prepared if the Will of God be so to resist even unto Blood when nothing is dear nothing delightful to us but God and Holiness then have we reached the Height of Zeal In a word Zeal is nothing else but the Love of God made Perfect in us And if we would see it drawn to the Life we must contemplate it in the blessed Jesus who is the Perfect Pattern of Heroick Love How boundless was his Love when the whole World and how transcendent when a World of Enemies was the Object of it how indefatigable was his Zeal how wakeful how meek how humble how firm and resolv'd His Labours and Travels his Self-denial Prayers and Tears his Silence and Patience his Agony and Blood and charitable Prayers poured out with it for his Persecutors instruct us fully what Divine Love what Divine Zeal is And now even at this time Love reigns in him as he reigns in Heaven Love is still the Predominant the darling Passion of his Soul Worthy art thou O Jesus to receive Honour and Glory and Dominion worthy art thou to sit down with thy Father on his Throne worthy art thou to judge the World because thou hast loved because thou hast been zealous unto Death because thou hast overcome Some there are indeed who have followed thy bright Example though at a great Distance First Martyrs and Confessors Next those belov'd and admir'd Princes who have govern'd their Kingdoms in Righteousness to whom the Honour of God and the Good of the World has been far dearer than Pleasure than Empire than absolute Power or that ominous Blaze that is now called Glory And next follow hold this is the Work of Angels they must Marshal the Field of Glory in the End