Hermite as St. Jerome in his Life reports arrived to the Age of 115 Years an hundred whereof he spent in the Wilderness sustaining himself daily the first forty with a few Dates and a draught of Water and when Dates failed with half a Loaf of Bread which a Raven brought him St. Anthony as Athanasius witnesseth lived 105 Years of which he spent 90 in the Desert supporting his Body with Bread and Water only to which in his extreme old Age he added a few Sallet Herbs Arsenius The Emperor Arcadius his Tutor lived 120 Years fifty five whereof he spent in the Wilderness in wonderful abstinence Not long before our Times Ludovicus Câ—rnarus a Venetian Nobleman when he had lived unhealthfully to the 35th Year of his Age being frequently afflicted with divers Diseases at last by the advice of a certain Physician he used a restrained Diet whereby alone he gradually cured them all by little and little diminishing the quantity of his Meat and Drink till he descended to fourteen Ounces of Meat reckoning Bread Flesh Eggs and other Edibles and sixteen Ounces of Drink daily persevering in which Regimen he produced his Life healthful vigorous and free from Diseases above 100 Years as himself witnesseth in a Book he put forth entitled The benefits and advantages of a sober Life Whence we may collect saith Riverius out of whose Institutions I borrowed these Instances That a spare Diet doth very much conduce not only to the continuance of Health but also to the curing of contumacious Diseases and of long continuance For though Natural Heat having suddenly concocted that small quantity of Food taken in is afterwards employed about the superfluous Humours digesting dissipating and by little and little expelling them through the several Emunctories of the Body till at last the Body becomes pure and free from the Causes and Seeds of all Diseases Moreover It is very remarkable which the same Riverius adds That if an exact Diet cannot quite take away some chronical and incurable Diseases yet doth it much alleviate them and render them more tolerable so that the Sick persons may live a long time under them So we see not a fewdaily who produce their Lives many Years under an Ulcer of the Lungs a Scirrhus of the Liver or Spleen a Stone in the Reins or Bladder Aristotle in his Problems witnesseth That there was a certain Philosopher in his time named Herodicus who â—â—ough he laboured under a Consumption yet by a strict observation of Diet attained to 100 Years The Benefits of Temperance will best appear from the Mischiefs and Inconveniencies the contrary Vices of Intemperance and Excess bring upon us especially as to the impairing and ruining of our Health which is a natural consequent thereof For the Stomach by immoderate repletion being overcharged or clog'd with more than it can digest must needs slubber over its work as a Mill that is fed too fast and instead of a well concocted and benign Chyle transmit to the other Vessels a Crude and impure Juice full of many heterogeneous and noxious Particles or Qualities that breed an universal Distemper and Discrasie in the Body and lay the foundation of many future diseases an error in the first concoction as the old Physicians well observe being seldom or never corrected in the subsequent That most diseases owe their original to excess in eating and drinking appears in that they are cured by blood-letting purging vomiting sweating and other Evacuations whereby the abundance of superfluous Humours is exhausted It is a Proverbial Saying Plures occidit gula quà m gladius The Throat hath slain more than the Sword Rioting and drunkenness offer such violence to Nature do so inflame the Blood the vehicle of Life waste and dissipate the Spirits that Men guilty of them seldom live out half their days Insomuch that as Bishop Wilkins well observes no Man of ordinary prudence who is to take a Lease for Lives will be content if he can well avoid it to choose one whom he knows to be vicious and intemperate It may be objected that some who daily exceed all bounds in eating and drinking feeding themselves as the Apostle saith without fear do yet live to an extreme old Age. I answer That there are but very few of these and those of exceeding firm strength of Parts and temperament of Body who yet if they lived temperately might hold out much longer and would be more fit for all the Actions of the Mind and Understanding For saith Riverius Those who live intemperately must needs be fill'd with many noxious Humours and often troubled with Sickness neither can they without prejudice to their Health be long intent on the difficult Functions of the Mind both because in them the whole force of Nature and of the Spirits is spent in the concoction of Meats from which if by any contention of mind they be violently withdrawn concoction will be depraved and many crudities ensue and also because they have need of frequent Bodily Exercise to dissipate or Medicaments to purge out their ill Humours they daily accumulate So that though such men seem to live long in the Body yet in effect they live but little to their mind and to those ends for which Life was given being but a little while fit for the Functions of the Soul the greatest part of their time being necessarily bestowed on the Service of the Body And yet even in these the Body is not made of Steel or Adamant the strength of their Natural Temper cannot always resist and hold out against the rude shocks and batteries of so many excesses and debauches but must needs by degrees be weakened and impaired and at last utterly marred and subverted I might add further in commendation of this Grace of Temperance that it conduces much to the preservation of the External form and comliness of the Body an Endowment highly valued by all men Whereas on the contrary Vicious Courses but especially Intemperance defacing the inward pulchritude of the Soul do change even the outward Countenance into an abhorred hue as I have elsewhere noted out of Dr. Moor. I should now dismiss this Particular did not the great prevalency of this Vice of Intemperance especially in drinking invite me to superadd something further of the pernicious effects and consequents of it 1. First Then this Vice hath a very ill influence upon the Spirit and Soul of Man degrading it and subjecting it to the Body The generality of Heathen Philosophers as Bishop Wilkins observes agree in this That Sin is the Natural Cause of debasing the Soul immersing it into a state of sensuality and darkness deriving such an impotency and deformity upon the mind as the most loathsome Diseases do upon the Body I shall add but especially Intemperance which clouds the Understanding disabling it to any Studies of sublime and subtile Speculation the gross fumes of strong and inebriating Liquors having a like effect upon the Understanding as thick Foggs and Mists upon
inflame and discover other Vices removing that Modesty which prevents and gives a check to evil Endeavours and which God hath engraftâ—d in â—ur natures to be a powerful curb to restrain us from sin For more abstain from Vice for fear of shame than out of a good will and love to Vertue When the strength of Wine hath got possession of the Soul those Evils which before lay hid show themselves and come abroad for Drunkenness doth not make Vices but manifest them and bring them to light Then the Adulterer doth not wait for the Twilight or Bed Chamber but without delay gives full sâ—inge to his Sensual Appetites The unchasâ—e person confesses and publisheâ— his Disease The Petulant and Quarrelsome cannot contain Tongue or â—â—and The Insolent becomes more Proud the Cruel more fierce and inhumane the Spightful more malignant and mischievous Much more he hath worth the reading for which I refer to the Book ERRATA PAge 7. For cuâ—ulâ—te read cumulatum P. 36. l. 15. after calls insert it P. 66. l. 28. for as read â—s P. 23. l. 25. for that read the. P. 69. l. 9. For the read they Several BOOKS written by Mr. John Ray Fellow of the Royal Society and sold by Sam. Smith and Benj. Walford at the Prince's Arms in St. Paul's Church-Yard CAtalogus Plantarum circa Cantabrigiam nascentium Oct. 1660. Catalogus Plantarum Angliae Insularum adjacentium Oct. 1670. 1677. Catalogus Stirpium in Exteris Regionibus a nobis Observatarum Oct. 1670. Methodus Plantarum Nova cum Tabulis Oct. 1682. Synopsis Methodica Stirpium Britannicarum Oct. 1690. 1694. Dissertatio de Variis Plantarum Methodis coâ—tra D. Tournefort Oct. 1696. Epistola ad D. Rivinum de Methodo Plantarum in qua Elementa Botanica D. Jos Tournefort M. D. Tanguntur Oct. 1696. Sylloge Stirpium Europaearum Extra Britannias nascentium Oct. 1694. Historia Generalis Plantarum 2 Vol. Fol. 1686 1688. Dictionarium Trilingue secundum locos communes Oct. 1672. 1689. 1696. Ornithologia Franc. Willoughbei cum siguris Recognovit digessit supplevit Joannes Raius Fol. 1676. The same Ornithology much enlarged in English 1678. Franc. Willoughbeii Historia Piscium cum figuris Recognovit digessit supplevit J. Raius Oxon Fol. 1686. Synopsis Methodica Animalium Quadrupedum Serpentini Generis 1693. A Collection of English and other Proverbs Oct. 1672. 1678. Observations made in a Journey through most parts of Europe 1673. A Collection of unusual English Words with an account of preparing our English Minerals in 120 1674 1691. The Wisdom of God manifested in the Works of the Creation in two parts viz. The Heavenly Bodies Elements Meteors Fossiles Vegetables Animals Beasts Birds Fishes and Insects more particularly in the Body of the Earth its Figures Motion and Consistency and in the admirable Structure of the Bodies of Man and other Animals as also in their Generation c. 3d Edition much enlarged Three Physico-Theological Discourses concerning 1. The Primitive Chaos and Creation of the World 2. The General Deluge its Causes and Effects 3. The Dissolution of the World and future Conflagration 2d Edition enlarged 1693. A Collection of Curious Voyages and Travels by D. Rauwolfe with Catalogues of such Trees Shrubs and Herbs as grow in the Levant Oct. 1693. Several other Books Printed for S. Smith and B. Walford DR Richard Lucas's Practical Christianity or an account of the Holiness which the Gospel enjoyns with Motives to it and the Remedies propos'd against Temptation with a Prayer concluding each distinct Duty In 8 o price 3 s. 6 d. His Enquiry after Happiness in three parts in 8 vo Vol. I. Of the possibility of obtaining Happiness Vol. II. Of the true Notion of Human Life Vol. III. Of Religious Perfection These three Parts bound in two Vol. Price 10 s. Christian Thoughts for every day of the Month with a Prayer wherein is represented the Nature of unfeigned Repentance and of Love towards God 12 o Price 1 s. The plain Man's Guide to Heaven containing his Duty first towards God secondly towards his Neighbour with proper Prayers Meditations and Ejaculations design'd chiefly for the Country-man Trades-man and such-like In 12 o. Price One Shilling The Duty oF Servants containing first their Preparation for and Choice of a Service secondly their Duty in Service together with Prayers suited to each Duty all which may be accommodated likewise for the most part to Apprentices To this is added a Discourse of the Sacrament suited peculiarly to Servants The Second Edition In 12 o Twelve Sermons preached on several occaâ—â—ons before Their Majesties the Lord Mayor c. some of which were never before printed In Octavo A Persuasive to a Holy Life CHAP. I. Some Mistakes about the Object of Happiness HAppiness is that which all Men desire and yet but few obtain One reason is because they mistake their Object placing it in something wherein it is not to be found Some in Bodily Pleasures whom Aristotle calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 others in Riches whom the same Author calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Others in Honour and Power whom he denominates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which things cannot make us happy Because 1. They are not in our Power but may forcibly be taken away from us and should they continue with us during Life at Death we must necessarily part with them 2. They make us not better being common to good and bad Now if bad Men may possess them they cannot render us happy because as the Poet truly saith Nemo malus felix No wicked Man can be happy 3. They cannot satisfie the vast desires or fill the Capacity of the Soul The Soul of Man is spiritual and immortal and therefore Bodily Pleasures or Temporal Enjoyments are no way suitable to it nor of answerable duration My business in the following Discourse shall be to prove that a Holy Life is the only Happy Life even in this World advancing us to as high a degree of Happiness as we are capable of in this Imperfect State and the only preparatory to a State of Eternal Felicity in the World to come Before I proceed to prove this it will be requisite to explain the Terms 1. What is meant by Holiness 2. What by Happiness CHAP. II. What Holiness is HOliness as I have shewn in a former Treatise is a Word of various significations in Scripture When it is attributed to God it signifies as Dr. Owtram well * Lib. 1. de Sacrific Chap. 1. observes either 1. His transcendent Purity or constant and immutable volition of that which is right and good which the Apostle Peter proposes to our imitation 1 Pet. 1.15 As he that hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation Because it is written Be ye holy for I am holy 1 John 3.3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself as he is pure Psal 145. 17. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and holy
the Scriptures Thus far Dr. Hammond Love is by some Divines distinguished into Appreciative and Sensible or rather Passionate Appreciative Love is such an affection whereby we prize or value any one Object above another Sensible or Passionate Love is that which hath a greater influence upon the Body and doth more strongly move and affect it Our Love to God in this state is of the first kind such an affection or disposition of Soul whereby we prize him above all things so that neither Father nor Mother nor Wife nor Child though they may more sensibly and passionately affect us are so much esteemed by us we can be content to part with them when God pleases and quietly to submit to his Will No Worldly advantage much less the gratifying any Lust can prevail with us to break any one of his Commandments CHAP. IV. Of the Division of Happiness THough the supreme and chief Happiness of Man consists in the knowledge and love of God yet there are other things which contribute to the completion of it especially in this World viz. Those which tend to the making our present condition easy and comfortable to us such as Health Wealth Friends Reputation the contrary whereto as Sickness Bodily-pain Hunger and Thirst Disgrace c. would render it grievous and unpleasant The former of these are eagerly pursu'd by a great part of Mankind as their chief good and happiness Could we therefore demonstrate and I think it not difficult to do that Holiness or obedience to God's Commands is the most effectual means to procure and secure these outward Enjoyments to us so far as there is any good in them I think we should need no other consideration to recommend a Holy Life and Conversation to all sorts and conditions of Men. Which that we may do the more clearly and satisfactorily it will be convenient to make a division of Happiness according to the several states of Man and his several parts and the particular ingredients which make up the happiness of each part in each state And because I cannot think of a better I shall make use of that of Dr. Wilkins late Lord Bishop of Chester in his Treatise of Natural Religion The Happiness then of Man is either that of this present Estate which determines at Death or that of a future Estate which commences at Death and continues to all Eternity The Happiness of this present Estate may be divided into 1. External Or that of the Outward Man Or 2. Internal Or that of the Inner Man External Happiness consists principally in 1. Health 2. Safety Liberty and Quiet 3. Riches 4. Pleasures 5. Honour and Reputation 6. Friends Under which Name I comprehend also Natural Relations As Wife and Children and Parents who are usually called so in common Speech as when we say Such a Man hath good Friends or his Friends are well to live Internal Happiness consists in the knowledge and love of God manifested by our obedience to his Commands the improvement of all our Faculties inward peace of Conscience Joy and Tranquility of Mind The Happiness of the future Estate is the clear Vision of God likeness to him and union with him by perfect love 1 John 3.2 We shall be like him for we shall see him as he is This differs chiefly in degree from the precedent Before I run over these Heads in particular I shall premise two things in general First That keeping of God's Commandments is every way for the good benefit and advantage of the whole world and Mankind in general Sin which is the breach of God's Law is the only procuring and productive cause of all the Evils and Miseries Troubles and Distresses that are in the world Did Men generally obey God's Laws the whole Earth which is now for the most part an Akeldama or Field of Blood would be turn'd into a very Paradise into a Heaven Men would then beat their Swords into Plowshares and their Spears into Pruning-hooks Men who now are Wolves and Tygers one to another who bite and devouâ— one another would then be a protection and defence and mutual help one to another Whence come wars and fightings among you saith the Apostle James come they not hence even of your lusts which war in your members Running over all the Commandments of God I might easily deduce and demonstrate in particular that each of them conduces to the publick good and benefit Secondly The Commandments of God are not grievous or uneasy his Law is holy and just and good his Precepts equal and reasonable nay so sutable and agreeable to the Nature and Reason of Man that I will be bold to say They ought upon their own account to be observed and obeyed by us were there no Heaven to reward our Obedience no Hell to punish our Disobedience This is the foundation of that Stoical Doctrine That Vertue is its own Reward and that Happiness consists in the very doing of Vertuous Actions And therefore a wise Man is satisfied with the Conscience of well-doing and will not do any dishonest or wicked thing to avoid any Suffering or Torment whatsoever The reason is because God hath imprinted in our Nature an aversation from Vice and dislike of it so that we cannot but condemn our selves for doing any thing that is dishonest or unjust Se judice nemo nocens absolvitur No â—â—nocent person is absolved himself being Judge Nor can any terrour or torment acquit us from blame if to avoid it we do any vile or dishonest action But on the contrary if we resolutely stick to that which is good whatever we suffer for it we satisfie our own Consciences and rejoice in having done so and gain the approbation and applause of all Men. The Evil of Sin is greater and more to be avoided than the Evil of Pain or Suffering tho that be a great Evil too and that man be far from being happy who labours under extreme Bodily Pain especially if without hope of deliverance Such a Man's very Being would be a Burthen to him it being a true saying Praestat non esse quà m miserum esse Better not to be than to be miserable But our gracious God hath not put us off with such a Reward as this which notwithstanding the Apostle saith of the Christians of his time That if in this life only they had hope they would be of all men the most miserable but hath promised to recompence our Obedience with Eternal Life and Happiness and particularly our Sufferings for his Cause and for Righteousness sake with a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory And for our encouragement hath permitted us to have a respect to this recompence of reward as Moses that Man of God and others of his Servants mentioned Heb. 11. had CHAP. V. Of Health HEalth is a Blessing so necessary to our Well-being in this World that without it we cannot enjoy any thing else no not our own selves And therefore the common salutation
among us at every meeting of Neighbour or Friends is this How do you that is are you in Health or no And the Answer Well or Ill that is in health or not As if Health were the chief or only good thing worth the enquiring after in the presence or enjoyment whereof we could not be miserable whatever else we wanted Nor in the absence happy or well whatever besides we possessed Indeed there is no taste or relish no comfort or delight in any worldly good where health is wanting and therefore it is by all Men highly valued and purchased at the dearest rate as Bishop Wilkins well observes Health is such a just temper and constitution of all the parts of the Body both solid and fluid as may inable the several Members and Faculties duly to perform their natural Functions from whence proceeds not only an indolency or freedom from Pain and Sickness but also vigor and activity alacrity and light-heartedness a pleasant and delicious sympathy in the Soul To this head I refer freedom from Bodily Pain the extremity whereof is altogether inconsistent with Happiness St. Augustine confesses That he was compelled to consent to Cornelius Celsus who affirmed Bodily Pain to be the greatest Evil. Neither saith he did his Reason seem to me absurd viz. That Man being compounded of two parts Soul and Body of which the first is the better the latter the worser the greatest good must be the best thing belonging to the better part that is Wisdom And the greatest Evil the worst thing belonging to the worser part that is Pain Whether this Reason be solid and conclusive let others judge but I fully agree with him in the Assertion That of all Evils we are sensible of in this World Bodily Pain is the sorest It drowning as I may so say and taking away the sense of all other Evils and wholly possessing the Soul It is such an afflictive and tormenting Passion such a Vultur or Tyger tearing and gnawing upon the Soul so abhorrent to Humane Nature that an excessive degree of it must needs make a Man miserable and unhappy unless we can reconcile and unite extremes the greatest Evil that Man is capable of suffering with the greatest good he can enjoy Hence the Torments of Hell are every where in Scripture set forth by consuming Fire unquenchable Fire everlasting Burnings and Hell it self called a Lake of Fire a Lake which burns with Fire and Brimstone because Fire produceth the greatest Bodily Pain than which nothing is more terrible to Humane Nature and more likely to affright Men from Sin On the contrary St John in his Revelation considering the absolute inconsistency of Pain and Happiness tells us That in the New Jerusalem there shall be no sorrow nor any more Pain There is indeed a degree of Bodily Pain which may be said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not exceeding the measure of Man's Patience and there is a degree which we are not able to bear which takes up the whole Mind not suffering it to divert its thoughts one Minute to any other Object Away then with the foolish vaunts of the proud Stoicks who boast that their Wise Man is happy in Phalaris his Bull whom * Epist 52. St. Augustine thus smartly and ingeniously checks and confutes If Life may be happy in extreme bodily torment why do they advise a man afflicted with the most grievous Pains to depart out of it Why does not their Wiseman rather continue in it that he may enjoy the happiness of it Is a happy life to be forsaken and fled from But if such a Life be really miserable what else but pride hinders them from confessing it to be so You will say Did not the holy Martyrs endure the greatest Bodily Torments with invincible patience yea some of them with joy and exultation I answer 'T is true indeed they did so but then I suppose that as their Temptations and Sufferings were extraordinary so they were extraordinarily supported under them and that God as the Apostle saith did not suffer them to be tempted above what he enabled them to bear It seems to me most likely that he did quite take away or very much mitigate the sense of pain possibly by obstructing those Nerves which convey that motion to the Brain which excites such a sense or how else it seemed best to his Divine Wisdom I proceed now to prove that this Blessing is the portion of those who lead a godly Life who keep God's Commandments and abide in his Love And that 1. From the Promises of God 2. From the natural consequence of several Vertues commanded by him Such are 1. Temperance and Sobriety 2. Labor and Industry 3. A due government and moderation of our Passions 1. Health and Long Life I put them together the one for the most part being the consequent of the other are in Scripture promised as rewards to the obedience of the Commandments of God Exod. 23.25 Thou shalt serve the Lord thy God And I will take away Sickness from the midst of thee Deut. 7.15 And the Lord will take away from thee all Sickness and will put none of the evil Diseases of Egypt which thou knowest upon thee Prov. 3.7 8. Fear the Lord and depart from evil It shall be health to thy Navel and Marrow to thy Bones Prov. 3.16 It is said of Wisdom That length of days are in her right hand Psal 34.12 What man is he that desireth life and loveth many days that he may see good Keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips that thou speak no guile Depart from evil and do good c. repeated 1 Pet. 3.10 On the other side Sickness and grievous Diseases and premature Death are often threatned as Punishments of Sin and Disobedience Deut. 28.60 61. If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this Law c. He will bring upon thee all the evil Diseases of Egypt c. also every Sickness and every Plague which is nâ—t written in this Law Prov. 2.22 The wicked shall be cut off from the earth and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it Prov. 11.19 As righteousness tendeth to life so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own Death 2. Health and Long Life are the natural consequents of some Vertues commanded by God As 1. Temperance and Sobriety in the use of Meats and Drinks That this is a most effectual means to preserve Health I appeal to the general consent of Physicians who are the most competent Judges in this Case all unanimously prescribing a moderate Diet not only as a principal means to continue Health but also to cure many Diseases Hence Hipocrates saith 6 Epid. Sect. 4. Aph. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The exercise of preserving health is not to eat to satiety not to be slothful in labour That a very spare and ascetick Diet conduces much to Health and long Life may be confirmed by many eminent Examples St. Paul the first
Friendship affords us we reap many and great Benefits from it As 1. Faithful Counsel and Advice which is of great moment in any doubtful Matter it being true Plus vident oculi quà m oculus Many Eyes see more than one Or any Matter of weighty concernment wherein it is not safe to trust to our own Judgments Prov. 27.9 Ointment and perfume rejâ—ice the heart so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel How great comfort must it needs be to have one whom we may securely unbosom our selves to and trust with a Secret to whom we may open our Griefs disburthen our Minds and so find ease and relief 2. Seasonable Reproof This saith the Author of the Whole Duty of Man is of all others the most peculiar Duty of a Friend I might add the greatest benefit he can bestow upon his Friend it being indeed that which none else is qualified for Such an unwilingness there is in most men to hear of their faults that those that undertake that Work had need have a great prepossession of their Hearts to make them patient of it Of the absurdity and unreasonableness of this unwillingness to be reproved Cicero saâ—th very well Atque illud absurdum est quod ii qui monentur eam molestâ—am quam debent capere non capiunt eam capiunt quâ debent carere Peccâ—sse enim se non anguntur objurgari mâ—lestè ferunt quâ—d câ—ntra oportebat delicto dolere objurgatioâ—e gaudere It is absurd that they which are admonished receive not thence the trouble which they ought to have but that which they ought to want For they are not sorry that they have sinned but they take it ill that they are reproved Whereas on the contrary they ought to grieve for their Offence but rejoice for their Reproof 3. Condoleance and Coâ—solation in any Adversity Affliction or Suffering as Sickness the Death of any near Relation or Friend loss of Worldly Goods by Fire Shipwrack Innundation Invasion of Enemies or the like He that condoles with his Friend in such Accidents doth as it were bear pâ—rt of his Burthen and by consolatory Considerations strengthens his Spirit and enables him to support it And there is great need of this to some Natures which otherwise are in danger to be oppressed and overwhelmed with Grief and even distracted by such Calamities 4. Relief and Supply of Want in case of Poverty and Necessity a true Friend as well as a Brother is born for adversity and will rather rejoice in contributing liberally to the support of his Friend than desert him or deny his assistance In this case Friends may be a snare to us tempting us to put our confidence in Man rather than God and to think our Security greater in the multitude of friends than the providence and protection of God 5. Prayers to God for us recommending us to him for all Blessings both Spiritual and Temporal Now all true Friendship is grounded upon Vertue Virtus amicitiam gignit contiâ—et nec sine virtute Amicitia ullâ— pacto esse potest Cic. de Amicitia Virtue doth both beget and maintain friendship nor can there possibly be any frienship without Vertue True friends are such as sincerely desire and endeavour each others real good both spiritual and temporal but such friendship cannot be contracted and continued but only between persons truly religious that love and fear God We cannot expect fidelity and the benefits before recited from any but those who are so qualified And those that are so their friendship is courted by all Men and who so happy as they that can get an interest in it CHAP. XI Of the Happiness of the Inward Man I Proceed now to treat of the Happiness of the Inner Man the Soul or Spirit and that consists in the love of God and of our Neighbour whatever makes the Soul happy must be suitable and agreeable to the Nature of it Now the Soul is a spiritual substance and therefore its Objective Happiness must be so too The Soul is immortal and therefore the Object which makes it happy must be of eternal duration The Desires of the Soul are very vast and extensive nay infinite and therefore not to be satisfied but by an Infinite Good From the Love of God flows an universal Obedience to all his holy Commandments John 14.23 If a man love me he will keep my words It is the nature of love to desire and endeavour to please and gratifie the Party beloved And therefore he that loves God will labour to please him by doing those things that are acceptable to him and right in his sight The Love of God will add Wings to his Soul and constrain him to run the ways of his Commandments which will no longer seem grievous or burthensome to him but pleasant and delightful yea eligible were they proposed to his chioce in competition with the short and unsatisfactory Pleasures of Sin Now Holiness of Life and Obedience to the Commandments of God hath the proâ—ises of all good things both for the Soul and Body for this Life and a better Psal 84.11 He will give gâ—ace and glory and nâ— good thing will â—e withhold from them that liâ—e uprightly Psal 34.10 They that fear the Lord shall nâ—t want any good thing Rom. 8.28 We know that all things work together for goâ—d to them that love God 1 Tim. 4.8 Godliness is profitable to all things having the promises of the Life that now is and of that which is to come Moreover those that love God cannot but be happy because they that love him shall be beloved of him both of the Father and of the Son John 14.21 He that loveth me shall be beloved of my Father and I will love him and manifest my self to him And again v. 25. If a man love me my Father will love him aâ—d we will come to him and make our abode with him God is the fountain of Happiness whatever good is in the Creature it came from him and is but a Beam of his Light Whatever is in the Creature in a limited restrained imperfect manner is in him without limitation without restriction without imperfection He both can and will make them whom he loves as happy as they are capable of being God is the only Object that deserves the highest degree of our Love and he requires it And therefore it is as well against our Duty as our Interest to deny it As for the Love of our Neighbour that is commanded us by God Levit. 19.18 Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self repeated Matt. 22.9 1 John 4.21 And this Commandment have we from him that he who loveth God love his Brother also From this immediately flows the performance of the Duties of the Second Table That great Rule of doing to others as we would they should do to us in like case and the contrary of not doing to others that we would not should be done to us are necessary
laying its Mouth as St. Augustin teaches me to speak to the Spring of all Happiness do more than taste the sweetness of it We may expect to have it fill'd with those delicious Pleasures which we know attend on Love and which in that State will be proportionable to the greatness of the good that is embraced and to the strength and ardency of the embracement And whereas here in this World Men are apt to love beyond all reason whereby their Love becomes adulterate and is mix'd with so many discontents thâ—t it proves but a bitter sweet there our Understanding will be in its full growth and highest pitch so that as nothing which is reasonable shall be omitted to be done nothing likewise shall be done that is unreasonable This Love will be grounded upon the clearest Judgment this Flame kindled by the purest Light so that there shall be no trouble or disquiet in it but perfect rest and peace And whereas in this World Mens Affections flow to things that are not near so big as themselves i. e. as their own Desires and so they languish and faint and fall sick even in the enjoyment of the best good it affords because they find it is not a supply proportionable to their want or to their expectation There will be no such emptiness or want of satisfaction in those Coelestial Enjoyments because we shall embrace not only our proper good but that which is commensurate to our desires and beyond our hopes Our Affections will not fall then upon that which cannot sustain the whole weight of them but feeling themselves born up to the greatest height of Love by a good so full that it will leave no room for complaint or uneasiness they will enjoy the most solid rest and satisfaction Do but conceive them in your Minds what a pleasure it is here in this Life to love and to be beloved and you will have some notion whereby to take a measure of the Life we are speaking of which will consist in such mutual Love and delightful correspondencies And they who have neither Father nor Mother Wife nor Children near Kindred nor Relations whereon to place their Affection let them consider if they have but a singular Friend what the pleasure is that two persons who sincerely and purely love take in the sweet Company and Conversation of each other Or if I must suppose any Man to be so unkind and so unhappy as to have no love for any body but his own self let him think what contentment he hath and how he is pleased if he can arrive any thing near to a quiet enjoyment of his dear self And such a delightful state may be a small Image of Heaven where holy Souls will love God with a far greater flame than ever they did or shall then love themselves because he will appear infinitely more lovely and to bear also a far greater love to them than it is possible for them to do to themselves Now none can tell how transporting it will be to a good Soul when it fâ—els it self the beloved of God as well as full of love to him because we cannot think how great the Love of the Almighty is unlesâ— we could know how great he is himself This is a thing that cannot fail to have a strange power over our affections and to master them so that we shall be quite taken out of our selves for we all extremely love to be beloved If any Neighbour shews us an unexpected and undeserved Kindness we are apt to think he is the best person in the World And the poorest Wretch in the World if we see in him the undoubted signs of an hearty love to us we cannot chuse but requite it with some expressions of kindness back again nay if a Dog or such a dumb Creature do but fawn upon us or delight in our Company and with a great deal of observance follow us wheresoever we go we cannot but be so far pleased with this inclination towards us as to make much of it and to be troubled to see any harm befall it and to love to see it play and be well pleased Judge then what a pleasure it will be to pious Souls to find themselves beloved of him who hath put these kind Resentments into our Natures To what an height will the sweet breathings of his Love blow up the Flames of theirs Into what Extasies will they fall when they feel by the happy fruits what an exceeding great affection their heavenly Father bears to them It is above our present thoughts to apprehend the Joy that will then overflow them But we may conceive a little of it if we remember that God is love and that by our Love he will be in us and by his Love we shall be in him He proceeds to speak of the love of Saints and Angels The pleasure joy and delectation that naturally and necessarily flows from this knowledge and love of God the Happiness which the Body shall be exalted to and the eternal duration of all these This Eternal Life our Blessed Saviour hath brought to light through the Gospel and hath promised it to all those who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality Rom. 2.7 1 John 2.25 And this is the promise that he hath promised even eternal life Some perchance may say The great disproportion that is between the Services and Rewards makes this Promise of Eternal Life difficult to be believed For who can think that God should recompence our poor and imperfect Duties and Services performed for a very short time with such an immense and eternal weight of Glory and Happiness To this I answer That though indeed it cannot consist with God's Justice to punish any Creature without or beyond its demerit yet nothing hinders but that he may be as bountiful as he pleases and in his Rewards exceed all the deserts and even expectations of his Creatures an hundred or a thousand fold Let us then admire the transcendent and unmerited goodness and love of God in doing such great things for us as sending his Son into the World to take our nature upon him to suffer Death for our Sins and to give us the great Promise of Eternal Life and let us endeavour in some measure to answer this Love by sutable Affections of the most ardent Love and Gratitude Let us also love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity which we have all the reason in the World to do considering the greatness of his Love to us manifested by the great things he hath done and suffered for us John 15.9 As the Father hath loved me saith our Saviour to his Disciples so have I loved you And v. 13. he proceeds to say Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for hiâ— fâ—iends Ye are my Friends c. By which Words he intimates that he was about to make the greatest demonstration of his Love to his
Apostles and to all true Believers by laying down his Life foâ— them The Apostle Paul carries this yet higher Rom 5.7 8. For scarce for a righteous man will oâ—e die yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to diâ— But God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us This exceeds the highest degree of love Man ever attained to Ephes 5.2 As Christ also hath loved us and given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour Philip. 2 6 7 8. Who being in the fâ—rm of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a Servant and was made in the likeness of man And being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross That the Eternal Son of God equal with his Father should so highly advance our Nature as to unite it to the Divine in one Person that so he might be qualified by the Sacrifice of himself to expiate our Sins to make an atonement for us and to reconcile us unto God The greatness of this Love together with the freeness and unmeritedness of it there being not any the least Motive on our part to inviâ—e him to it is so matchless and stupendious that it challenges the highest degree of â—eâ—iprocal affection and gratitude Magnes amoris amor Love is the Loadstone of love We cannot chuse but love them again in whom we discern any Expressions of unfeigned love to us as I have before noted And our love for the degree of it must be in some measure answerable to the Dignity and to the merit of the Person who loveth us For Favours done us and Benefits bestowed upon us Gratitude is the most natural I might say necessary ebullition of the Mind of Man To this purpose Seneca Epist 81. In hoc fidei populi credamus Nihil esse grato animo honestius Omnes hoc urbes omnes etiam ex Barbaris regionibus gentes conclamabunt In hoc bonis malisque conveniet Erunt qui voluptates laudent erunt qui labores malint erunt qui dolorem maximum malum dicant erunt qui nè malum quidem appellent Divitias aliquis ad summum bonum admittet alius illas dicet humanae malo vitae repertas nihil esse eo locupletius cui quod donet Fortuna non invenit In tantâ— judiciâ—rum diversitate referendam bene marentibus gratiam omnes uno tibi quod aiunt ore affirmabunt in hoc tam discors turba câ—nsentiet In this let us believe what People generally agree in That there is nothing more honest and commendable than a grateful Mind All Cities all Nations even of Barbarous Countries all Men both good and bad consent in this There are some who commend Pleasures others prefer Labours Some there be who say that pain is the greatest Evil others who will not grant it to be any Evil at all One will admit Riches to be the chiefest good another affirms them to be the Mischief of human Life and that none can be richer than he upon whom Fortune cannot find any thing which she may bestow In such a diversity of Judgments about other things that thanks are to be returned to those who have deserv'd well of us all with one Mouth affirm In this these Dissenting Parties are all agreed We are by Nature inclined to requite kindnesses non docti sed facti non instituti sed imbuti sumus And if we cannot do that to retain at least a grateful sense and memory of them and upon all occasions to acknowledge our obligations to such Benefactors as we are not able to recompence to honour and love them and to do all we can to please and gratifie them Ingratum si dixeris omnia dixeris You cannot say worse of a man than that he is ungrateful Ingratitude being an unnatural Sin Seeing then we cannot requite this transcendent kindness of our Saviour's to us nor make him any amends for that great Salvation he hath wrought for us and those inestimable Benefits he hath bestowed on us let us not be wanting to do what in us lies to express our gratitude by acknowledging and celebrating his goodness to us and the great things he hath done for us singing with the holy Psalmist * Psâ—l 103.1 Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits And by devoting our selves to his Service and doing always those things which are pleasing and acceptable to him Lâ—t his love constrain us not to live any longer to our selves but unto him who hath died for us and rose again 1 Cor 5.16 Who hath redeemed us to God by his blood Revel 5.9 And made us Kings and Priests unto our God Let us have a care that we do not frustrate the Grace of God as to our selves and render this great undertaking of our Saviour in vain to us nay an aggravation of our Condemnation For how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation As the Apâ—stle speaks Heb. 2.3 Let not the difficulty of obeying God's Commandments and leading a holy life deter or discourage us from endeavouring it We know that neither Learning nor Riches nor any thing that is excellent is to be obtained without pains-taking Now nothing so excellent so desirable so worthy our utmost endeavours as Eternal Life this will abudantly recompence all our labour and travel nay though we were put to suffer Persecution Imprisonment or even Death it self for Conscience sake and bearing witness to the Truth we should have no need to râ—pent it Our Reward shall be answerable to nay far exceed our Work 2 Cor. 4.17 Our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory To sum up all in brief Since then 1. A Holy Life and Conversation here secures to us an interest in a Future State of Eternal Bliss and Happiness Glory and Immortality in the World to come and thereby delivers us from the fear of Death that King of Terrors as it is denominated Job 1â— 14 that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as â—ristotle calls it The most terrible of all terribles Which the wisest Philosophers by all their Argumentations could never either arm others against or secure themselves from the fear of the very best of them even Socrates himself being doubtful of the immortality of the Soul our Saviour alone having brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel Of which Death wicked men cannot but have a dreadful apprehension because of that indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish which is threatned against those who obey not the truth but obey unrighteousness Rom. 2.8.9 2. Since also it conduceth much to the well being and happiness of the outward and inward Man in this present Life as I have endeavoured to demonstrate in this Discourse Moreover 3. Since this Holiness and Obedience is even in the judgment and by the confession of vicious Persons themselves better and more eligible than the life they lead And Lastly Since it is more facile easy and pleasant than the Slavery and Drudgery of Sin and Satan Since I say all this is true and certain surely it is the greatest folly and madness imaginable for a little false and transient Pleasure and to gratify some deceitful Lust as the Apostle justly calls them Ephes 4.22 to forego not only our hopes of that Eternal Life and Happiness which our Saviour hath purchased for us and upon our Obedience promised to us those sincere and solid Pleasures which are at God's right hand for evermore Rev. 22.14 our right to the Tree of Life and of entring in through the Gates into the New Jerusalem which is their portion who keep God's Commandments but also that present comfort and satisfaction of mind that inward peace and joy which attends the Conscience of well doing here Mark what a * Seneca Epist 27. Heathen saith of these sensual Pleasures Dimitte istas voluptates turbidas magno luendas non venturae tantùm sed praeteritae nocent Quemadmodum scelera etiamsi non sint deprehensa cùm fierent solicitudo non cum ipsis abit it à voluptatum improbarum etiam post ipsas poenitentia est Non sunt solidae non sunt fideles etiamsi nâ—n nocent fugiunt Dismiss saith he these troubled or muddy and impâ—re pleasures which you must pay dearly for they are hurtful not only when they are coming but when they are past As crimes though undiscovered when they are committed leave not the committers of them without solâ—â—tude so Repentance always attends unlawful Pleasures they are not solid they are false and deceitful and though they were not hurtful yet are they transient only in motion and suddainly gone As for Riches or Honours or any other worldly good they are also unsatisfactory We find our Expectations in the pursuit of them frustrated in the acquisition and enjoyment being presently full and weary of that which we did most eagerly and impotently desire and long after And yet were there never so much worth and goodness in them they are 1. Uncertain as the Apostle calls them 1 Tim. 6.17 they may be taken away from us before we die 2. They are of short continuance if they abide with us till death we must then necessarily part with them For as the same Apostle saith ver 7th of the same Chapter We brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out FINIS