Christian Life PART I. Of the Christian Life and of its end and offices CHAP. I. Of the distribution of all Christians into three ranks good middle-sort and bad 1. WHen in my meditation as from a watch-tower I consider the whole multitude of Christians in the universal Church with their manners and principles they appear to me as divided into three distinct bands or orders The first contains them who following the doctrin of Christ and his blessed example with a sincere and hearty affection and daily reaching forward towards the highest pitch of Evangelical perfection thereby approve themselves to be Christians indeed constantly serving God and meditating in his Law they crucifie the flesh with the affections and lusts and are not cast down by adversity nor puft up by a prosperous fortune Now among these some are more eminent in virtue than the rest and seem to be even more than men abstaining from all delicious fare and being temperate even to a perpetual fast keeping themselves pure and unspotted even to the refusing of lawful pleasures exercising themselves in patience so as to go manfully through fire and the worst of pains mortifying and denying themselves as being their own enemies despising wealth and riches so as freely to bestow in charity all that they possess being filled with the love of God as much as is possible in this life and possessing all virtues in the highest degree so as to be the admiration rather than the example of others who with shame acknowledge their own weakness when they consider how far short they fall of these Heroick Christians But the number of these is not great and they are commonly unknown being dead and crucified to themselves and the world their conversation being in Heaven and their life hid with Christ in God 2. In the next rank are they who rest in the profession of the true faith and think that all Christian duties consist in outward acts they fear God and yet retain and worship their secret Idols they often come to the Sacrament but with so much unpreparedness and indevotion that their frequent receiving profits them not they abstain from great and crying sins and neglect lesser outward Acts of Religion they omit not but their affections are immerst in the World they are acted by Self-love and Self-interest and they are unacquainted with the inward peace and beauty of a Spiritual life they know not what it is to indeavour after Christian perfection they are and will be strangers to that Heavenly mindedness and renouncing of all things without which Christ declares none can be his Disciple and so sadly deluded they are so unhappily besotted with inconsideration that if you exhort them to a stricter and more holy life they will bid you go and preach to Monks and Hermits and remain unconcern'd and the same as before 3. In the last order come all such as are called Christians onely because born of Christian Parents and Baptized their Lives and Actions being scandalous and they themselves wicked and abominable worse than infidels of these the number is great and innumerable CHAP. II. A further Description of the Wicked and their Wickedness 1. THese are they that confess God with their mouth and constantly deny him with their deeds who so study to gratifie their appetites and so resolvedly live after the flesh and the sinful customs of the World that the revelations and laws of the Gospel can make no impression on them they being rather asham'd and almost sorry that they are Christians They daily indulge to their Lusts and their vilanies growing customary deprive them of all sense of human modesty They relish nothing but the Earth they take their account of good and evil by carnal pleasures and they so order the course of their lives that like brutes they follow nothing but their bodily senses Riches they value at a mighty rate and right or wrong seek to obtain them they esteem nothing base and unworthy that advanceth their profit or their preferment and as one said of some Greeks they build as though they were never to die and live as if they were weary of their life 2. This they do because they believe not what our blessed Lord hath reveal'd and because being unmindful of the uncertainty of our condition they promise themselves many years to live They rest satisfied with the injoyment of transitory things which soon shall be possest by others and things that abide for ever they slight and neglect because they think not of Eternity They are tormented by ambition and weakned by lust swel'd with pride and rack'd by Envy Passions and unsatiable desires toss them to and fro and they are so averse to all righteousness that they not only neglect but even hate the just laws of God Christ pronounceth them Blessed that are poor and mourn and suffer persecution they contrarywise esteem them blessed that are rich great and prosperous and generally honoured by men Christ declares that none can be his Disciple who is not ready chearfully to forsake all that he hath for him but these men place their affections on their wealth keep it nigardly part with it sorrowfully and are ever greedy of more ever ready to invade others right and to get what they can from them 3. Even some Professors that have chosen Christ for their portion and pretend to be devoted to him even some of these there be who unmindful of their Sacred Promises indeavour nothing more than to increase their wealth and oftentimes enjoy greater riches under Christ the great Exemplar of Poverty than they could have done in a civil Calling under the greatest Monarch of this World Neither are some of these more careful to obey than to imitate for instead of loving their Enemies and rendring good for evil to them that hate them as our Blessed Lord hath commanded us they return hatred for ill will and are ever ready and desire to revenge the least injuries Who is there that obeys Christ's counsel or injunction of turning the cheek to him that smites us and suffering him that strives for our Coat to take our Cloak also or rather who is there that doth not slight and deride it Let who will take an exact account of the Evangelical precepts and of the observers of them he shall find that they are very few that live by the Rules of the Gospel few that regard and esteem it as they should Nay few there be that care to read or hear it Fables Romances and Idle Discourses are generally prefer'd to the Word of God whereby the vain World make it appear that they belong not to him whose voice they care not to hear that they hear not God's Words because they are not of God 4. 'T is the Duty of every Christian faithfully to believe what God hath revealed to follow his Counsels and sincerely obey his Commands whence it clearly follows that he is no Christian who neglects or scorns this Duty for Faith
that no man without a special Revelation can have a special assurance of his Salvation but we have that which is as good to secure us against despair and to ground an holy and comfortable hope upon That we are redeemed by the Bloud of Christ and devoted to him in Holy Baptism and that God is our confidence and refuge always ready to help them that call upon him and to forgive them that beg for pardon with tears and contrition and a serious purpose of amendment And many more great and precious assurances we have that God hath given us eternal life and that this life is in his Son so that all his Providences are to fit us for it if we do not wilfully frustrate all his saving methods and purposes Only he would have our Election to be hid and secret that security may not breed in us pride and negligence and that he that thinketh he standeth should take heed lest he fall 2. Now therefore because the chosen are few let every true Christian live a Holy Life with the few that he may make his Calling and Election sure and be counted worthy at last to receive the Crown of Life with the few Streight is the way and narrow is the gate that leadeth unto life and few there be that find it saith our Blessed Saviour Mat. 7.13 Therefore we must walk in that narrow way and that always with care and fear even when we seem to run with most speed because no man in respect of himself is absolutely sure of perseverance Yet our fear must not proceed so far as to make us faint but only to make us wary and make us put our trust and confidence in God and with a chearful submission cast our selves upon him both for time and eternity If any one objects that he knows not how Gods will is affected towards him I answer that Gods promises are sincere and must be received as they are generally set forth in Holy Scripture to all that will obey Gods revealed will and moreover that his own will is much more uncertain so that it is much more safe to trust Gods for God we are certain is infinitely good He is extremely proud and unhappy withal that relies on himself more than upon God but happy is he that confides in that gracious Lord whose mercies and promises are sure for ever and in whom whosoever trusted was never confounded CHAP. XXXIII That Love is the Spirit of Christian Religion 1. THough it be by vertue of our Baptism and profession of the Christian Faith that we are and are called Christians yet the Life or Soul of our Religion is Charity or the Love of God whereby we are enabled to live godly as becomes Christians For as God by his great love wherewith he loved us sent his dear Son into the world to die for us that we might live through him so are we to love God most affectionately with all our heart and strength and our Neighbour as our selves for his sake In this is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins Love therefore is the first and great Commandment on which depends the Law and the Prophets Love is the foundation and excellency of our Faith to know the love of God which passeth knowledge that when we were enemies we were reconciled to him by the death of his Son Love is that fire which our Blessed Redeemer came to send in the Earth Luke 12.49 which cost him much to kindle and which burns up mens dross and impurities and cannot be put out but where iniquity doth abound And Love is the spirit of Primitive Christians who had one heart and one mind and is even the Soul of the whole Church whereby it is united and lives 2. Christ left and appointed Love as the mark whereby his followers should be known Joh. 13.35 By this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye love one another And so in the love of God consists our union with him and it is the highest perfection of the Christian life Now perfection is the work of Grace therefore we must not relie upon our own strength but we must beg of God daily and devoutly that by his good Spirit he would kindle in our hearts the fire of an holy Charity that by it we may be guided quickned and at last perfected Neither yet must we lose heart if we sometimes fall as if all our hope were in our own strength but we must acknowledge our own infirmity and rise quickly and pray more fervently and afterwards fight more couragiously Still pursuing after perfection not only in words or ineffective wishes but in hearty desires and serious indeavours manifesting our love by daily mortifying our sins and attaining to new and higher degrees of vertue And then shall a Christian be most perfect and happy when his heart shall be empty of himself and free from the love of the world but purified and burning with the love of God CHAP. XXXIV Of the right Placing and Ordering of Love 1. HE is a just and holy man who rightly values things according to their worth and also loves them proportionably for sin is duly by wise men defin'd to be a disorderly Love and vertue to be a regular and well placed Love And though there be other natural affections yet they all proceed from and depend upon love and if this be well placed and governed as it should the rest cannot be unruly It is vertue to love what deserves to be lov'd and wisdome to make choise of it and constancy to pursue it through all dangers and sufferings and to be drawn from it by no inticements is temperance and to prefer nothing to it is justice and the order of Love must follow the order of things and so God is to be lov'd infinitely more than any creature because he is infinitely better more perfect and lovely We become good and pure by loving him who is the fountain of all goodness and purity for our manners follow our affections we become either vertuous or vicious according to the nature of what we most love 2. The true object of Love is God our Neighbour and our selves God in the first place to whom all love is due and from whom it must pass to other creatures according as they are more or less like him By this we must love our Neighbour because he is or that he may be just and we must love our selves in that we are or else that we may be holy taking from God the measure of our Love to all other things that our Love may be regular and we may be happy Let no man therefore love sin for thereby he hates and destroys his Soul and let no man love himself for his own sake but upon Gods account who is the chiefest Good in whom alone we can be intirely happy For God who alone is the Author of our being
account They make their Glory their Felicity their Wisdom to consist in such things as the World accounts Shame Misery and Folly They detest the false Principles on which proceeds carnal prudence as that we must be Rich and Great honour'd by the World and above others and they love and heartily imbrace the Christian verity which teacheth us to despise riches to deny our selves and to glory in nothing save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ In a word their conversation is in Heaven and they so live that all their actions seem to speak aloud That their Kingdom is not of this World These things indeed are high and difficult but the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and is only to be taken by force and withall it well deserves all our labours and noblest contentions CHAP. XXII Several useful cautions how a Christian should undertake and perfect his works 1. ALL the actions of a Christian should be done in peace and meekness and he ought to consider the circumstances of time and place and persons and especially of the end of that he is about but withall let him take care of being rash and hasty of following sudden motions of nature rather than reason Grace and Religion Let not his mind be light and inconstant easily wandring after vain projects but let him attend and be ready to entertain and to obey the illuminations and motions of the good Spirit When he is about to begin any work let not his mind be too busie and distracted with other thoughts for then he must expect to want his wits and fail in many things which afterwards will grieve him when it will be too late When he first enters upon any design let him humbly beg that God would guide and assist him and let him seriously consider what share God hath in the business and how much of it is on his own account In the carrying on of his work let not self-complacency turn him from the good end he proposed and in the finishing thereof let him be cautious that all he hath done be not marr'd and spoil'd by self-applause and vain-glory above all let him be seriously intent upon this that he seeks not the praise of men but the glory of God keeping down proud thoughts in the consideration of his being nothing 2. He should not meddle with any business except God by his Providence calls him to it and then he ought to go through with it chearfully and diligently and with noble designs of charity to men specially to their souls considering that the bliss or perfection of this present life consisteth not in the full enjoyment of God but in the conformity of our will to his in the doing and suffering his pleasure Except necessity compell him let him not undertake any thing that 's above his strength that if it be possible he may lose nothing of his peace nor of the freedom of his mind for to be too intent and too much taken up with things without us commonly quencheth the Spirit of God and deprives our Souls of tranquillity Rather as the Angel which is said to have accompanied Tobit though it was always ready to serve him yet nevertheless attended to the will of God and was always present to him so should a good Christian mind the necessary concerns of this life and be outwardly troubled and imployed about them when yet his heart should be with God and his soul in Heaven there to be free from the distractions and all the affections of the World CHAP. XXIII That to discharge the duties of our station is the best thing we can do 1. TO do that which our place and calling requires of us here and that which will make us happy hereafter may be said to be one and the same thing for no man more certainly works out his Salvation than he that honestly and diligently works in his proper sphere Therefore the Devil commonly lays this snare in our way to Christian perfection to make us aspire after the doing of great matters which are no parts of our office thereby to busie and distract our mind that we may not attend to our proper duty which lies before us and the doing whereof is our greatest virtue 2. He therefore greatly deceives himself that would fain change his condition imagining he could better serve God if he were here or there or so or so after Providence or a prudent choise have otherwise determin'd it It doth but make him lazy and negligent in doing what he should whilest he thinks of what belongs not to him it makes him to sit idle and do nothing in the place where he is whilest he projects to do great feats where he is not Whereas the unblameable integrity or perfection at which a Christian should aim depends upon particular actions they that are negligent and incurious to do them well set themselves backward and make no progress for their heart being absent and their thoughts employ'd somewhere else they do but little where they are and yet that little is done after a dreaming careless way Such men are always beginning or about to begin to live well they contrive many things but bring nothing to perfection they are all leaves and no fruit Like Trees that are often remov'd they no where take firm root and so remain every where useless CHAP. XXIV How Christians are to live and to be sincere 1. CHristians should not indulge to the Lusts of the lower belly or to the pleasures of a nice or gluttonous palat they should abstain from all vanity and undecency in their Apparel and from all idle sports that are too expensive of time and their life should be free from sloth and negligence from ambition and pride and from covetousness and desire of riches Anger ought not to lodge in their breast and they should never do that to others which they would not have done to themselves They should do nothing carelesly nor yet rashly least of all deceitfully and hypocritically Christian duties and acts of virtue that are not done in Spirit and Truth with attention and a good intention are meer dissembling and pageantry In some places where Religion is made a Theatrical representation you shall often find men of wicked lives act the highest virtues of the greatest Saints one the constancy of Martyrs another the modesty of the Blessed Virgin or perhaps the heroick actions of Christ and his Apostles but the end of the play puts an end to their fine dissembling they no longer appear those holy men they were but presently return to their nature to their prophaneness and impurity Just so are they that have a fair specious out-side appearing precise and godly to be seen and praised or drive an interest they are meer jugglers and stage-players they put a fair vizard over an ugly face holiness outwardly inwardly unmortified lusts and perverse passions Their lives are nothing but a Comedy that will have a Tragical end 2. For indeed this is
Redemption the infinite Love and Charity of the Blessed Jesus and the glorious rewards and promises offered to all that will be true Christians While men shall be so stupid as to neglect these 't will be no hard matter to impose upon them and it must not seem strange that the means are despised where the end it self is disregarded Vntil Christians make it their first and chiefest business to secure a blessed Eternity by living holy lives it cannot be expected they should make wise and serious enquiries into those truths which are more disputable and less necessary For the mixing secular interests with things of Religion first made and still maintains the errors and breaches of the Christian world and the way to bring to an end many controversies is not so much to decide as to bury them at least to make them give place to those things which are much more plain and much more requisite and beneficial And here again I might have a just occasion to commend this Church we live in for the best guide of Souls for either she meddles not with many disputes or else she always stands on the much surer side of the question holding that which even her Adversaries cannot but acknowledge for truth and never amusing her Children with unnecessary speculations or unprofitable contests But as it is her great design to make us obedient to the Gospel of Christ and bring us to a sincere practice of all holy vertues so I shall conclude this Preface with an Exhortation to the same purpose That thou wouldest seriously and often consider that thy life is short and uncertain and that the world passeth away and all things here below and that thou resolve thereupon not to lose not to venture thy portion of good things above for any earthly enjoyment That thou wouldest bear Eternity in mind and weigh the importance of these two words which conclude our Creed Life Everlasting and that afterwards thou resolve carefully to follow the way that leads to it the Doctrine and Example of our Blessed Saviour who hath purchast and promist it to all that love and follow him Live therefore as one that follows the King of Eternity to a blessed Eternity and despise the world Vse diligently such means as will make thee know thy duty and incourage and assist thee in the discharge of it and amongst them good Books which read with attention and a design to make their goodness our own are very useful instruments of Vertue and Religion This I hope will somewhat conduce to their advancement Nay I am sure thou shalt be much better'd by it if thou wilt transcribe it with thy Life as I have with my Pen and make it thy hearty Endeavour as I do my Prayer L. B. THE Authors Dedication TO ALL TRUE CHRISTIANS WIth due Reverence I offer this small volume to you blessed Souls vessels of honour and mercy elect and holy Children of God predestinated to glory before the foundation of the World who being redeemed from death by the bloud of Christ and from sin by the gift of grace are not asham'd to own the despised Cross of your Redeemer For to you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven to you that are not born of bloud nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God You are call'd by the Father to a portion of the inheritance of the Saints in light that ye might be holy and unreprovable in his sight in love and in Christ you are chosen according to the purpose and good pleasure of God not for your own works and merits For you the Blessed Jesus prayed when being ready to leave the world and go to the Father he said I have manifested thy name unto the men whom thou gavest me out of the world thine they were and thou gavest them me I pray for them I pray not for the world but for them which thou hast given me for they are thine He prayed not for the world because all that is in it the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life are not of the Father And therefore they that are of the world hear not or at least will not regard and understand the words of eternal life for the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God And though Christ be the true light which lightens every man that comes into the world yet the world sees him not nor knows him neither can it receive the spirit of truth On this will be grounded the iust judgment of the wicked This will be their condemnation that light came into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil and every one that doth evil hateth the light Now if Christ was a light in his life and doctrine he was so much more in his sufferings he did shine on the Cross most gloriously to all the world The tree of death to which he was tyed became his pulpit whence he preached his divinest Sermons teaching us that great lesson dying which he set while he was alive He that doth not take up my Cross and follow me cannot be my disciple Therefore to take up our Cross and follow Jesus is our greatest safety as well as duty our surest title to glory the Cross is the highest pitch of Christian learning to know Jesus Christ and him Crucified I heartily wish that they that shall read the ensuing Precepts and Practical Rules may have sanctified affections and a clear understanding that by the divine grace they may be brought to know and to follow the truth And my prayer for them is that God would strengthen them by his good Spirit in the inner man that love may abound in them more and more and that they may be sincere and unblameable replenisht with the fruits of righteousness pleasing to God in all things without contention and without offence I also beg for my self of the divine goodness that the glorious light of Christ may enlighten and guide my mind and that his strength may be perfected in my weakness lest after having preached to others I my self should become a cast-away by acting contrary to my own instructions And therefore I also beseech you good friends of God Blessed Christians who are the sheep of his Pasture remember me in your Prayers that what I teach I may fulfil that the precepts contained in this Book may be my practice by his divine grace and assistance without whom we can do nothing who with the Father and the Holy-Ghost liveth and reigneth one ever glorious and adored God Amen Imprimatur Geo. Hooper R. P. D. GIL Ep. Cant. Ã Sacris Dom. May 29. 1677. THE CONTENTS OF THE FIRST PART PART I. Of the Christian Life and of its end and offices Pag. 1 CHAP. I. OF the distribution of all Christians into three ranks good middle-sort and bad ibid. CHAP. II. A further Description of
the Wicked and their Wickedness 4 CHAP. III. That Original Sin is the spring whence all Evil proceeds 8 CHAP. IV. Of the Occasion and Drift of this Book 10 CHAP. V. The Cause why so many learn the Rules of Christianity and follow them not 12 CHAP. VI. That the Rules of Evangelical Perfection are intended for all Christians 14 CHAP. VII Of the Vsefulness of this Book with an Exhortation to follow after Perfection 17 CHAP. VIII Of the Folly of them that neglect their last End and how necessary it is to consider it seriously 19 CHAP. IX The Reasons why all men are not happy being they all desire it 22 CHAP. X. That with an upright intention we must use all things and refer all our Actions to God 24 CHAP. XI That men trifling about things Eternal and being so earnest about the World is the cause why so many attain not their main end 26 CHAP. XII How men suffer themselves to be deceiv'd by a fair out-side and false appearance of good 29 CHAP. XIII How men spend themselves and their time and abuse all things to their own Ruin 31 CHAP. XIV That the right way to Heaven is every one to remain in the station Providence hath appointed him and therein bear the Crosses which he meets withal 33 CHAP. XV. How man 's last end or supreme happiness is qualified and how so many mistake and miss it 35 CHAP. XVI Another Reason why so many miss of their End their living too much by Sense 38 CHAP. XVII That we being the Children of God ought to be guided by his Spirit and by the example of Christ 41 CHAP. XVIII The Just liveth by faith not by the laws of flesh and bloud 43 CHAP. XIX That Faith works in a Christian self-denyal and contempt of the World 46 CHAP. XX. Of the desperate folly of men who willingly run to ruin by their inconsideration 48 CHAP. XXI The Character of a true Christian 50 CHAP. XXII Several useful cautions how a Christian should undertake and perfect his works 53 CHAP. XXIII That to discharge the Duties of our station is the best thing we can do 56 CHAP. XXIV How Christians are to live and to be sincere 57 CHAP. XXV That a hearty affection is the life of good actions 60 CHAP. XXVI Whence the goodness of our works proceeds 62 CHAP. XXVII How useful and comfortable is the consideration of God being always present 63 CHAP. XXVIII Why the Imitation of Gods Saints appears difficult 66 CHAP. XXIX How we should in all things aim at Gods Glory 68 CHAP. XXX Self-Love is the Root of all Evil. 70 CHAP. XXXI That Self-Love is that Babylon out of which God hath called us 72 CHAP. XXXII How men naturally seek themselves even in their best works 74 CHAP. XXXIII Things which every Christian is bound to know in order to Obedience 77 CHAP. XXXIV The difference betwixt the outward and the inward man 79 CHAP. XXXV How dangerous it is to be governed by Opinion and false apprehension of things 81 CHAP. XXXVI Three things very profitable and necessary to every Christian 84 CHAP. XXXVII That Repentance is necessary to all Christians 86 CHAP. XXXVIII Of the signs and effects of true Repentance 88 CHAP. XXXIX Remedies against ordinary failings and greater sins 90 CHAP. XL. Clergy-men have some special obligations though all are bound to endeavour after perfection 93 CHAP. XLI That Prayer is necessary to all and what dispositions are requisite to make it acceptable 96 CHAP. XLII Why many are not profited by Prayer and that we should study to Pray well and frequently 100 CHAP. XLIII How to Pray and avoid distractions and fix the intention 103 CHAP. XLIV The great advantages of Prayer 106 THE CONTENTS OF THE SECOND PART PART II. Of the moderation of our affections and the study and endeavour after true Virtue CHAP. I. That Voluptiousness and Vanity are to be avoided and Truth sought for in things Eternal after Christ's Example Pag. 1 CHAP. II. That to attain Perfection nothing must be neglected 4 CHAP. III. That Self-denyal and the Cross is absolutely necessary to all Christians 7 CHAP. IV. That Self-denyal is the Character and the principal duty of a Christian 10 CHAP. V. How we must fight our corrupt nature and depraved affections 13 CHAP. VI. Of the right use and moderation of our outward senses 16 CHAP. VII Of denying our Sensual appetites especially Intemperance 19 CHAP. VIII Of Talkativeness and Silence 22 CHAP. IX Of true and false delights and of self-complacency in virtue 25 CHAP. X. That we are led too much by Opinion 27 CHAP. XI That the Doctrine of Salvation is much slighted even by some who pretend to it 30 CHAP. XII That Self-will is a great Evil and must be renounc'd 32 CHAP. XIII Of the advantages of Solitariness and Retirement 34 CHAP. XIV Of the Danger of Riches and that the desire of them is to be mortified 36 CHAP. XV. Of the use of Riches and how to know we love them not 39 CHAP. XVI Of Poverty in Spirit and the contempt of the World 41 CHAP. XVII Of the Necessity and the Measures of Alms-giving 44 CHAP XVIII Of Patience in Bearing and Forbearing 48 CHAP. XIX Adversities are occasions of Virtue and must be Patiently indur'd 51 CHAP. XX. That we must bear patiently the little Vexations that happen daily 53 CHAP. XXI That we should Rejoyce in Triublations 56 CHAP. XXII That Detractions and Derisions must be indur'd and derided 59 CHAP. XXIII Remedies against Discontent and Anger for what abuses we receive 61 CHAP. XXIV Remedies against Impatience 64 CHAP. XXV Of Humility the proper Vertue of Christians 66 CHAP. XXVI From God we turn'd away by Pride to him we must return by humility 69 CHAP. XXVII The Character of a proud man 72 CHAP. XXVIII Motives and Reasons for Humility 75 CHAP. XXIX That the Humble man judgeth himself and not others with a Character of him 79 CHAP. XXX Of the Conformity of our Will to Gods 83 CHAP. XXXI Of the Resignation of our selves to God in all things 87 CHAP. XXXII That the Hope of our Salvation must rest upon God 91 CHAP. XXXIII That Love is the Spirit of Christian Religion 93 CHAP. XXXIV Of the right Placing and Ordering of Love 96 CHAP. XXXV Of the Necessity and Measures of Loving our Neighbour 98 CHAP. XXXVI True Friendship and the true Offices of it 101 CHAP. XXXVII Of the several Acts of Charity to our Neighbours 105 CHAP. XXXVIII Charity is also due to our Enemies 107 CHAP. XXXIX That the love of the Supreme Good comprehends all goodness 109 CHAP. XL. Wherein consists the Love of God 112 CHAP. XLI That there is more of Love in Practical Knowledge than in Speculation 115 CHAP. XLII That by Love Holiness is to be perfected 117 CHAP. XLIII That the Consideration of the fewness of the Chosen ought to make us very wary and diligent 120 PRECEPTS AND Practical Rules FOR A truly
up to God thus at least he intended it but by our depravation and folly they became obstacles in our way to him they turn us from the path to life and happiness and as the Wiseman saith Wisd 14.11 The creatures of God become stumbling blocks to the souls of men and a snare to the feet of the unwise Of the unwise he saith such as will not take God for their guide such as turn their eyes from his glorious light to enjoy the shade and obscurity of creatures thereby falling in love with darkness and so becoming uncapable of ever abiding the divine saving light 2. Now if all creatures are created for this to be as helps and means whereby we may obtain our end then are we to take off our affections from them to place them upon the Creator who is the end we should aim at For the end should be lov'd and desir'd without end and without competitor in goodness being independent supreme and alone satisfactory whereas means have no farther goodness than as they help to obtain the end A Christian should therefore refer to God all his thoughts and words and actions and that not lazily or verbally only but with a strong affection and with a pure heart avoiding thereby the cheat men often put upon themselves in being deceiv'd with their own formalities and specious pretences when even in Religion and spiritual exercises they often seek and please themselves rather than God Upon this account the Scripture calls the way to life straight and narrow because depraved man refers all to himself and can hardly follow the pure and direct ways which God prescribes being naturally averse to an upright intention But when this aversion is once overcome by an assiduous diligence and delight in the law of God then divine commandments are not grievous the way to life is wide and the yoke of Christ is light and pleasant CHAP. XI That men trifling about things Eternal and being earnest about the World is the cause why so many attain not their main end 1. THat the number of fools is past number was rightly affirmed by the Wise man For indeed infinite multitudes of men trifle away their days so simply act so childishly or rather so much like mad men that their intolerable follies cannot be sufficiently deplor'd They set the flesh above the spirit they prefer time to Eternity and Earth to Heaven till the unhappy Comedy of their sinful lifâ— ends in a sadder Tragedy of death and they go down to Hell in a moment If a suit at law is to be determin'd or an estate gain'd or a place of honour obtain'd then they spare no cost nor labour no search no diligence no study but if Heaven is to be purchast and eternal life and glory made sure then no man stirs they are all asleep and unactive no regard no care is had of it 2. In things that touch and afflict the body as hunger and thirst heat and cold pains and infirmities our senses are quick and can never be deceiv'd and therefore with all our might and industry we presently occur to those evils and endeavour to remove them But if our soul suffers under the same or the like spiritual evils we are not sensible and we care no more than if that nobler part of us whereby we live and are rational and like to Angels had no being at all And this because the flesh hath got the upper hand and we value this sport uncertain life more than life eternal and we make it our first and sole employment to rescue that carcass from death for a few moments which certainly must soon become its prey 3. One cause of these preposterous doings is the gross and brutish ignorance or rather inconsideration of too too many who will neither know nor consider to what end man was created what it is he should seek and design in the whole course of his life and what way he should take that he may not miss of his great aim Jer. 12.11 The whole land is made desolate because no man lays it to heart i. e. because no man considers wisely Another cause of this mischief is the great number and power of those Enemies that perpetually assault us whose snares no man can possibly avoid without God breaks them and delivers him for we are continually besieg'd by a frail flesh a flattering world and legions of devils who seek to devour us 4. Lastly our folly and misery proceeds partly from our blindness the whole World being in darkness we want light to guide us and yet will not beg it of God and pray him devoutly he would lead us aright who alone is able and willing to do it and partly from our sloth and inconstancy for we are vertuous in wish and not in effect because we are lazy to work and when it comes to the practice we find difficulties and being soon tir'd and disheartned hastily give over before we have effected any thing All Christians no doubt would be glad to come at last to Christ but they have no heart to come after him they would be glad to enjoy him but care not to imitate him fain would they come to him but not follow him Men would obtain riches without labour and Crowns without fighting they like well of rewards but they would take no pains GHAP. XII How men suffer themselves to be deceiv'd by a fair out-side and false appearance of good 1. THis World's felicity put all together with all those things that are most esteem'd by the generality of mankind the whole is but like a coarse picture which seems to have something pleasing and inviting when you look upon 't with a false light or in a place somewhat obscure or with a small blind candle such as is the dim and deceitful light of present time but if you bring forth the picture and view it before that glorious sun that shines for ever the radiant brightness of Eternity there it will appear deform and unfinish'd a dark and imperfect shadow which represents nothing a confused heap of strokes and lines drawn without order or design For though the light of the Gospel enlightens the World yet it remains in darkness men will not see the glorious discoveries which the Gospel makes The light shined in the darkness but the darkness comprehended it not 3. Yet that light it is and none else that clearly shews the great difference betwixt good and evil btwixt vile and precious betwixt truth and appearances how we may know and chuse the one from the other By this blessed light of Christianity which dwells in the heart and instructs it and abides for ever by it we are taught not to cleave to the creatures because of their attractive beauty but so to consider their perfections as to be by them led to the fountain whence they proceed to the love and admiration of the glorious maker of all things And the same divine light it is makes me see
that it is good for me to hold me fast by my God and to put in him alone my whole confidence and not in Princes or Friends or even Brothers who as they have all a distinct being have also different ends and seek from us every one his own advantage being ever ready to forsake us as soon as they shall think we are become useless to them This light therefore we ought gladly to receive and follow that appearances and pleasing illusions put not a cheat upon us and make us seek for happiness in the creatures which are as if they were not and have no value but what the ignorant vulgar attributes to them and make us forsake God who remains for ever who is the fountain of all being and the author of all good things out of whom there is no rest no peace no felicity to be had He that departs from the supreme happiness thereby becomes miserable in the highest degree CHAP. XIII How men spend themselves and their time and abuse all things to their own ruine 1. THE Life of man runs round and spends it self within this circle they eat and drink they sleep and wake that they may return to the same again they scrape together as much as they are able and there is no end of their acquists they will live as merrily as they can and die as late as possible may be betwixt their baptism and the hour of death there lies a confused heap of acts of sin and acts of Religion of penitent confessions and wilful relapses of Sacramental vows and breaches of them No day passeth over without they add to the number of their transgressions and they all go on heedlesly without considering what will be the end of their course of life and they all run when but a few care how they come to the end of their race because they consider not what reward and glory is prepared in Heaven to them that remain faithful to their Christian engagements overcoming the world and the flesh for to follow Christ 2. God created the whole universe and in it man to his image giving him an understanding to know his maker a will to love and obey him a memory to think of his laws faculties to serve him and a tongue to praise him but then as he made man for himself so he created the whole world for man that he might use all things for his own happiness and for the glory of God the giver of all But ungrateful man unmindful of his duty drawn by the deceit of voluptuousness minds only his sensual pleasure useth or rather abuseth his knowledge and reason his riches and honours his health and life and all other enjoyments to the displeasure and dishonour of God his gracious benefactor who freely granted him all those things that if he would make a good use of them they might be instruments of his present ease and well being and of his future eternal happiness So great is the folly and perversness of man that he abuseth that to his own ruine which God intended and gave him for his greater good CHAP. XIV That the right way to Heaven is every one to remain in the station Providence hath appointed him and therein bear the crosses which he meets withal 1. EVery man that aims at the right end must guide his course thither by the measures of Eternity and that in a way sutable to the circumstances of his condition This necessary Rule is not observ'd by all for many following their own fancies unadvisedly forsake that way wherein Divine providence had brought them and take some other of their own chusing Like Naaman the Syrian who though he much longed to be cur'd of his leprosie yet refused to use the easie remedy prescrib'd by the Prophet and preferring what he himself had fancied had gone away in anger diseased as he came had not his wiser servant hindred it After this manner many following their own heads undertake many things which they cannot perform but which only vex and distract them being above their abilities or inconsistent with the necessary occupations which they lie under so that they can neither act nor advance towards the desired end but spend themselves in unprofitably wishing that things were otherwise than they are 2. But the short and ready way to Bliss is that which our Blessed Saviour hath shew'd us saying Let him that will come after me take up his Cross and follow me His Cross he saith not that which was to be another man's burthen the Cross which God lays upon him and hath fitted for him and given him strength to bear not that which he foolishly shall take up and soon after poorly sink under These two things must therefore carefully be heeded first that a man understand perfectly what is the right end at which he should aim without this all deliberations concerning the means are to no purpose and secondly that knowing that good end he keeps his mind intent upon 't and take that plain path towards it which lies before him and agrees with his state and condition therein bearing his Cross chearfully as the Lord hath commanded Now this is every man's Cross to discharge well the duties of his place and of his several relations to bear patiently those afflictions which he daily meets in his way and constantly by doing better and better that which belongs to his province to endeavour after the highest perfection attainable therein Every man in his proper station in that calling wherein he is called may best become a good Christian perfect holiness in the fear of God and at last obtain happiness CHAP. XV. How man 's last end or supreme happiness is qualified and how so many mistake and miss it 1. THese be the inseparable properties of the last and highest end at which man should aim that it be perfectly good and perfectly satisfactory so that being once obtain'd nothing else is wanted and nothing else desir'd for whoever wants any thing desires it also and he that desires is not satisfied is not yet come to that last end beyond which his wishes can go no further that is is not possest of God who alone is infinitely good and can alone replenish all our desires and capacities I shall be satisfied when thy glory appears saith the Psalmist or I shall be satisfied with thy likeness Psal 17.15 that and nothing else can perfectly do it 2. Yet such is the perverse and incurable folly of man that he will have that to be best which he loves best though by the testimony of others and the conviction of his own conscience he knows it to be evil And therefore many either ignorantly or perversly pursue after that which is good only in appearance and forsake that which is good indeed And they thereby become disorderly wretched and criminal enemies to God lovers of the thorny pleasures of sin and lovers of that fatal darkness which hides their sorrows the snares among which
shake off the thoughts and the comforts of Gods presence because it puts a restraint upon our appetites And when at any time Spiritual joys are denyed us we presently seek for Earthly pleasures because we open not the eyes of our Faith to see God present and we embrace him not with devout affection and we care not to converse with him This is the way to Perfection which God himself shewed to Abraham to have always a sense of the Divine presence Gen. 17.1 I am the Almighty God walk before me and be thou perfect Holy David likewise made a great use of this to be always mindful that God is with us Psal 16.8 I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved He can never but be happy that dwells with the Author of all happiness CHAP. XXVIII Why the imitation of Gods Saints appears difficult 1. WE think it a matter of great difficulty to follow the example of those Christian Worthies that have gone before us because we represent them to our selves as being now of another nature freed from the body inhabitants of the mansions of bliss whence anger lust and all temptations are for ever banish'd and where they enjoy peace and joy and eternal felicities But if we really desire to follow their steps and to conform our lives to theirs then are we to consider that as we are so were they mortal men cumbred with the uneasie burthen of the flesh infected with sin tempted by sinful affections and exposed to miseries and dangers but that by Faith they overcame all these subdued Kingdoms wrought Righteousness and by fighting obtain'd the Crown 2. Elias saith St. James 5.17 was a man subject to the like passions as we are and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained not on the Earth by the space of three years and six months and again he prayed and the Heaven gave rain and the Earth brought forth her fruit The same may be said of any other Saints that have done the greatest wonders they were like us made of the same clay and subject to the same passions and temptations while they were on Earth They were only above us in this that with great and assiduous pains they conquered pride and lust and escaped the snares of the Devil by diligent care and invincible resolution Why then do we draw back and make delays to them that are truly resolved and willing 't is not difficult to become Saints by the imitation of those that have gone before us if shaking off our sloth and laziness we would seriously endeavour we might by the help of Divine Grace arrive to the same height of Sanctification and bliss as they have For he hath proceeded far towards holiness that sincerely desires to be holy CHAP. XXIX How we should in all things aim at Gods Glory 1. IT is the precept of St. Paul that God should be the end of all our works that they may be good and acceptable 1 Cor. 10.31 Whether ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do do all to the Glory of God and again Col. 3.17 Whatsoever ye do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God and the Father by him For a good work which is not done upon Gods account doth become evil it being the nature of virtue to receive its form from the end rather than from the act And if we cleave to the creatures and love them for their own sake without reference to God this is that lust or sinful love which Saint John condemns 1 Ep. 2.15 Love not the World neither the things that are in the World love them not so as to rest in them For here we are Pilgrims Travellers going home to our Fathers house to our God and so what creatures we meet in our way we may use them as conveniences to carry us forward towards him but we may not dwell with them as if we were at our journeys end God alone is to be lov'd for himself he alone being infinitely good and the last and best end we can propound to our selves in him alone our appetites shall rest satisfied our enjoyment shall be secure and our joys undisturb'd for ever Whosoever knows not and pursues not this end knows not why he lives nor how to live well but he that knows it knows whither to direct his intentions and whither to tend in all his actions 2. It is granted that some natural actions as to walk to eat to sleep and such like are of themselves neither good nor evil yet all Divines teach that they become sin if we do them not to some further and better end that is to live to serve God whose glory should be the ultimate design of all mens actions because as he is the beginning so should he be the end of all things The light of the Body is the Eye saith our Blessed Saviour Mat. 6.22 if therefore thine Eye be single thine whole Body shall be full of light but if thine Eye be evil thine whole Body shall be full of darkness This Eye is the intention of every man in his actions if it be not good they become works of darkness and good it cannot be except it be refer'd to God the supreme goodness Every good thing comes from God and whatever returns not to him is evil CHAP. XXX Self-love is the root of all evil 1. AFter our first Parent by preferring himself to God committed that grievous transgression whereby all mankind became obnoxious to death lust and ignorance darkness and evil propensities seiz'd upon our nature man forsook God and turn'd to seek himself and having lost all sense of spiritual comfort ran dissolutely after carnal pleasures Hence Self-love the greatest Enemy to virtue came to tyrannize over men who to comply with it seek nothing now but wealth honours and sensual delights And now saith the Apostle Rom. 8.7 The carnal mind is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be for all its instincts and impulses have a tendency to sin and to sin only 2. And yet self-love which seeks so much our own ease and satisfaction is indeed its chiefest hinderance for God having created us for his glory and enjoyn'd us to design it always when by self-love we seek only our selves and our own advantage we do nothing whereby to obtain Gods favour and eternal life but rather fall into a wretched state of damnation We are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh saith Saint Paul Rom. 8.13 For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die but if ye through the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live Now to this mortification we are strongly oblig'd by Christian Religion its great design is to bring us out of our selves to God that as we yielded our members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity even so now we should yield them servants
but because they will not trust God for their reward they have none at all they lose their labour and themselves Many others there be that complain that their affairs and necessary employments abroad keep them from minding what is good by depriving them of their inward peace but the things that disturb the tranquillity of the Soul are from within because we will not break with our selves because we are too sensual and too much seek our ease and advantage From hence proceeds that inward and vexatious war betwixt the Spirit and the Flesh which can never cease till Reason and Religion reign in us and the inferior appetites be brought to obedience and perfect subjection to the higher rational faculties 3. If a man had a friend so dear and intimate that he could not eat nor rest nor live one day without him and a faithful and creditable Monitor should tell him that his pretended friend is false and treacherous and designs to ruin and to murther him would not his love presently cease and be turned to hatred and thoughts of revenge Christian Reader such a friend is our flesh we gratifie and indulge it and use it with the greatest kindness and at the same time under pretence of friendship it deceives us and designs to deprive us of immortal life and to bring to Eternal death Yet this false friend sleeps in our bosome we are not to war with strangers and with far distant Enemies but with one that dwells with us at home and accompanies us wherever we go and always lies in wait to take advantage of us and do us mischief Let a man forsake himself and come out of himself and then he will find no obstacles in his way to Heaven CHAP. V. How we must fight our corrupt nature and depraved affections 1. WE must be very careful to observe what is the object of our love or fear and what of our joy or sorrow for these four affections have the absolute power of our heart and God by them is the master of it when we love and fear nothing but him and for him and when he is the cause and the measure of our joy or sorrow When these motions of our mind are disorderly and tend where they should not we become unruly like beasts but when they are ordered and directed right then they are highly serviceable and they make us holy and happy like Angels For in this consisteth the perfection and happiness of man to have his affections and desires guided by truth and reason for then his love and his joys become instruments of bliss and virtue whereas the same affections when guided by corrupt nature alone become pernicious and vexatious degenerate into wild lusts monsters which we must always fight and with our utmost strength indeavor to conquer 2. But to this purpose it will not suffice that we in general indeavour to reform and keep under our appetites and unruly passions for corrupt nature is well enough pleased with all the apparel and formalities of mortification self-denyal and victory over sinful passions and Philosophers grow in love with the fair Ideas of virtue in this pompous attire and many in this have deceiv'd themselves and boasted of conquest over their evil inclinations because they find not in themselves an aversion to vertue and good desires But when it comes to tryal indeed and they are no longer to fight with the notion of sin in general but with a present urging lust with a pressing uneasiness and necessity with some provocations to anger or to impatience then it appears how vain how weak and insignificant were their great thoughts and fine resolutions Better it is therefore carefully attend to every particular occasion of vanquishing our selves and restraining our depraved appetites and to do it seriously and to purpose for so by degrees we shall rectifie and amend every defect and bring all our passions and desires under the power of right reason or Christian Religion 3. But this is not to be done without an ever-watching diligence an unwearied patience a great application and a persevering courage and labour that by offering a perpetual violence to our evil propensities as they shew themselves we may go to the root of them and quite pull them up For now in our state of depravation every holy affection and the lifting up of our Soul to God is violent being against nature against the bent of our sensual appetites so that we must renew our indeavours and add new vigor to them every moment else we fall down and nature easily prevails and we soon return to our selves 4. As weeds in gardens may be pull'd up and yet not hindred from growing again of themselves so by care and by keeping a strict hand over our vicious affections we may so keep them under that we shall think they are quite destroy'd but do what we can the ground of our corrupt nature will always be apt to produce ill weeds and sin of it self will be growing again so that we must never give over fighting never cease to mortifie and purifie our selves whilst we live And yet if by God's assistance we can once do some one noble act of Christian vertue report one noted victory over our selves that alone may be sufficient to assert and enlarge our liberty and obtain us grace whereby we shall afterwards easily overcome all our aversions to vertue Some holy men have been so encouraged and strengthned by one great and difficult triumph that afterwards without fear and with little trouble or danger they have overcome all enemies and oppositions So great a thing it is to fight with fortitude and maintain once a noble contention till we have conquer'd CHAP. VI. Of the right use and moderation of our outward Senses 1. BEcause the eyes commonly are an inlet to sin we ought to turn them from tempting objects with the same care and quickness as a man would remove out of a house infected with the Plague Now human eyes wherewith created things are beheld may be said to be of three sorts The first altogether Sensual or natural when viewing the outward beauty of an object we are pleased with it and consider no farther The second may be call'd Rational or Philosophical when we making reflections upon the symmetry and other properties of things visible are moved thereby to search and to know the nature of them And the third we may say are Christian or Religious when by the beholding of creatures we raise up our Souls to the love and contemplation of the Creator With these eyes pious Souls viewing the beauties of the universe are led to the consideration of its glorious maker who is the fountain of all beauty and perfection as the author of all subsistence and being 2. Now as the life of the body depends upon its union with the Soul so doth in some manner the life of our senses depend on the presence of their proper objects as things visible to the eyes