GULIELMUS D Gratiae Angliae Scotiae Franciae et Hiberniae REX Fidei Defensor etc. F. H. V. Hove Sculp Christian Blessedness OR DISCOURSES UPON THE BEATITUDES Of our Lord and Saviour JESUS CHRIST Written by JOHN NORRIS M. A. Rector of Newton St. Loe in Somersetshire and Late Fellow of All-Souls-College in Oxford To which are added Reflections upon a late Essay concerning Human Vnderstanding By the same Author Licensed May 19. 1690. Rob. Midgley LONDON Printed for S. Manship at the Black Bull over against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1690. To my much Honoured Friend and Patron JOSEPH LANGTON Esq SIR 'T IS a Maxim of Prudence given by some of the Nicer Describers of the Bounds of Gratitude That it ought to be temper'd between a total Neglect and a full and just Requital To strike off all Scores is they say as uncivil as to discharge none and every whit as disingenuous not to suffer as not to acknowledge an Obligation Now Sir 't is one of the proper Happinesses of my little Fortune to be necessarily cast upon this measure I am got too far in your Accounts to be able to requite to the full some part of them I must ever leave uncrossed as a standing Hold upon me and tho my Gratitude it self be never so strong and pregnant yet the most forward Instance of it can rise no higher than an Acknowledgment And as this is the utmost I can do so of doing this too I have so few Capacities and Opportunities that I am the less willing to let go any that offer themselves which indeed has given a speedier Issue to my Deliberation whether I ought to address these Discourses to your Patronage or no which perhaps without the Formality of a Dedication would of right belong to you as falling within your District and as being the Fruits of that Retirement which by your Free Bounty I enjoy As an Acknowledgment therefore of this and your other constant Favours I presume to put these Discourses into your Hands which I hope will be able to do both You and Me that Justice as to convince the World that as you proceeded by generous and uncorrupt Measures in disposing of this Publick Trust so you was not very much mistaken in your Choice when you thought fit to Oblige Your Humble Servant John Norrris Newton St. Loe April 21. 1690. TO THE READER I Here commend to thy serious Perusal a Set of Select Discourses upon the Beatitudes which were at first undertaken and are now publish'd for the Public Benefit of all well-disposed Christians The Subjects themselves are as Great and Noble as any perhaps that occur in all Practical Divinity being the Prime and Capital Aphorisms of our Saviour's Excellent Sermon upon the Mount and containing the Fundamental Principles of all Christ's Practical Instructions and of a True Christian Temper and Life Here we may see what the Philosopher so much desired the true Living Idea of Vertue and Goodness nay more what 't is to be a Christian an Interiour Christian a Christian indeed And I heartily wish that those whose Orthodoxy is chiefly employed in giving out Marks and Signs of Conversion and Saintship wherein their end seems rather to be the distinction of a Party than any real Promotion of Godliness would choose rather to dress their Interiour by this Glass and afterwards try it by this Measure For here they will find that Real Christianity consists in Poverty of Spirit Humility Self-denyal Mortification Meekness Mercifulness Purity of Heart Peaceableness and such like inward Dispositions of Soul and not in a few outward Formalities Sighs and Groans Looks and Postures Words and Phrases and such other affected Badges of a fond Distinction And as the Subjects themselves are Great and Noble so I hope these Discourses will be found in some measure to rise up to their Dignity I am sure there has been no care wanting on my part to make them worthy of their Subjects to which I have endeavour'd to do the utmost Justice But however I may fail of that yet I hope the Reader will not be altogether disappointed of his Expectations or repent of his Labour but will find here sufficient Entertainment both for his Speculation and for his Devotion It may perhaps be a Surprize to some to see me appear again so soon in public To this if there needs any Apology that which I shall offer is That if these Discourses be not worthy of publick View then 't is not fit they should ever be sent abroad but if they be I cannot understand how they can be published too soon The Truth is considering the shortness and uncertainty of Life I have been lately very much of Opinion That a Man can never live too fast the Heathen will tell you Never fast enough nor make too much haste to do good especially when a Man's Sphere is such that he has but Few ways and opportunities of doing it which by Experience I am well convinc'd to be my Case I am afraid where-ever the fault lies that it will not be my Happiness to be able to do good where I am which I might have done in some other Station Which makes me the more frequent in Public that I may supply this Defect by the Service of my Pen having some reason to hope that my Discourses will meet with better Liking Abroad than they usually do at Home and that there are some in the World to whom I shall not be a Barbarian What has been here the performance of my Pen was as I learn from Dr. Rust intended and in part performed by the Excellent Bishop Taylour who while he was meditating upon the Beatitudes was receiv'd up into the Enjoyment of them And I have lately spoken with a Gentleman who told me That he himself saw a Manuscript of it in the Bishop's own Hand I am very sensible how much the Subject has lost by the Change of its Author All that I can say is That I have done my Best and I hope God will accept of my good Intention and that the World will be something the better for my Performance John Norris Christian Blessedness OR DISCOURSES UPON THE BEATITUDES Discourse the First Matth. V. ver iii. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven THUS the Divine Angel of the Covenant Christ Jesus begins that Great and Noble Institution of Christian Philosophy his Sublime Sermon on the Mount This was he that was pointed at by that eminent Prophecy I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee and will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him And now it was that this Prophecy had its full Accomplishment Christ was now entring upon his Prophetick Office and was to shew himself a Prophet like unto Moses This great Trust he discharged with as great Care and Fidelity and as the Author to the Hebrews observes was
faithful to him that appointed him as also Moses was faithful in all his house As therefore Moses gave a Digest of Laws to the People with whom he was entrusted so it became this Divine Prophet also to give Laws and Precepts for the Instruction and Order of his Disciples He was to be a Law-giver as well as Moses And to carry on the proportion yet further he thought fit to imitate him in the very manner and circumstance of delivering his Law and accordingly ascended up into a Mountain from whence he showr'd down his Heavenly Manna upon his Hearers So also making good another instance of resemblance relating to Moses who speaks thus of himself My Doctrin shall drop as the rain my speech shall distil as the dew as the small rain upon the tender herb and as the showers upon the grass But the Parallel will not run throughout For the Divine Oracles were not now accompanied with Thundrings and Lightnings with Blackness and Darkness and Tempest but were deliver'd in the small still Voice of Blessing and Consolation 'T was with a Beatitude that David began his Collection of Divine Hymns and in like manner does the Son of David usher in his sublime Instructions And this was very suitable and agreeable both to the Character of his Person and to the Genius of his Doctrin As to his Person Blessing became the Mouth of him who was the Reconciler of God and Man the great Embassadour of Peace the Author of Salvation and Happiness and at whose Nativity the Angels sang Peace on Earth and good will towards Men. And as to his Doctrin the Precepts he was to deliver were of so refined and high-raised a Nature so little agreeable either to the Maxims of the World or to the grosser Relishes of the Animal Life that they would have found but cold Entertainment had they not come recommended with a Reward and been guarded on each side with a Beatitude 'T was requisite therefore that the Duty and the Blessing should go hand in hand and accordingly our Lord who well understood the Temper of the Sons of Men how passionately we pursue any thing that looks like Happiness and how apt we are to ask that Question Who will shew us any good thought it expedient to joyn them both together in his Discourse as they will be in the Event and to pronounce them Blessed here whom he intends to pronounce so hereafter when he shall say Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World And the better to win us over to the practice of his Divine Sermon our Lord like a wise Master-Builder lays the Foundation of his Discourse where we must lay that of our Obedience and assigns the first place among his Beatitudes to Humility and Poverty of Spirit For Humility is the Foundation of Obedience we must be first poor in Spirit before we can be rich in Good Works first Humble before we can Obey and first Obey before we can Reign And therefore with good reason does our Lord lay down this as the first Principle and Ground-work of his Institution Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven In my Discourse upon these words I shall I. Resolve what we are to understand by Poor in Spirit II. Shew that this Poverty of Spirit is a Christian Duty and the reasonableness of it III. Shew the Happiness of those who are so disposed As to the Resolution of the first I consider that this Poverty of Spirit here recommended by our Saviour is not a state of Life but a state of Mind and we may take it either in Opposition to Covetousness or in Opposition to Pride and High-mindedness If in opposition to Covetousness then to be poor in Spirit is to have our Souls so disposed as first Not to be eagerly carried out in our Desires after any created good particularly the good things of this lower World whether Honors Pleasures or Profit especially not to be greedy and craving in our desire of Riches But Secondly To be so moderately and indifferently affected towards all these as to be well contented without them and also ready to resign and part with them when either God shall think fit to deprive us of them or when we can no longer retain them with a good Conscience This is to be poor in Spirit consider'd in opposition to Covetousness But it may also be considered as opposed to Pride or High-mindedness and then to be poor in Spirit will denote First A Just that is a low and mean Sense and Apprehension of our own selves of our Souls and of our Bodies of our Intellectuals and of our Morals of our Acquirements and of our Performances And Secondly as a Consequent of this a Contentedness whenever any or all of these are disesteem'd or disparag'd either tacitly and interpretatively by Affronts and dishonourable Treatments or else directly by express undervaluations a readiness to prefer others before our selves and a willingness that the same Preference should be given them by others an utter Captivation of our Understandings to the Obedience of Faith and a modest Submission of them in all doubtful Cases to the Dictates of our Superiours a declining of Fame and Popularity and a studious concealment of our own Praises and Excellencies but when either the Glory of God or the good of our Brother is concern'd in their Publication In short to use the Description of the Psalmist he is truly poor in Spirit who from his Heart can say to the Searcher of Hearts Lord I am not high-minded I have no proud looks I do not exercise my self in great matters which are too high for me but I refrain my Soul and keep it low like as a Child that is wean'd from his Mother yea my Soul is even as a weaned Child Having thus briefly shewn what it is to be Poor in Spirit both with respect to Covetousness and with respect to Pride and High-mindedness I come now in the second place to shew that this Poverty of Spirit is a Christian Duty and withal the great reasonableness of it And First That Poverty of Spirit according to the first acceptation of it is a Christian Duty 't would be Conviction enough to consider how often we are call'd upon in Scripture to withdraw our Affections from the Creature to seek those things which are above to set our affection on things above not on things of the earth to mortifie our members which are upon earth among which is reckon'd Inordinate Affection Evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry Again we are bid to beware of Covetousness and to have both our Treasure and our Hearts in Heaven to be as indifferent in the very enjoyment of any worldly Good as if we enjoy'd it not and if in the enjoyment then certainly much more in the desire Lastly to add no more we are caution'd by St.
John not to love the World neither the things that are in the World And lest we should take this only as a matter of Advice and Counsel not express Command he further adds If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him But that 't is a Christian Duty to be thus poor in Spirit will be further evident from the very Nature and Design of the Christian Institution The Grand thing intended in the Christian Religion was to reduce straying Man to his true Good and Happiness to sublimate refine and spiritualize his Nature to loose him from the Cords of Vanity and from his fast adhesions to created Good to purge him from all earthly Concretions and Alloys to disingage and separate him not only from the World about him but even from one part of himself in one word to raise him from Earth to Heaven not only by a Local but by a moral and mental Elevation Indeed 't was much otherwise under the Jewish Dispensation There was then great Indulgence afforded to the Animal Inclinations and worldly Affections of Men and their very Religion was indeared to them by Temporal Promises and Blessings Not that God intended hereby to express any liking or approbation of Covetousness and Earthly-mindedness but only to comply with the infirmity of that gross stupid People which rendred them uncapable of being won upon by more noble Proposals And besides it being a received Notion among the Idolatrous Inhabitants of the Land as is observ'd by a late Learned Author that the Worship of their Idols and False Gods did procure them fruitful Seasons and increase of all manner of store 't was in proportion requisite that God also should promise his Votaries the like worldly Affluence to keep them from running over to the Gentile Superstitions Upon these and the like Accounts much was indulg'd to the Jewish State and People They were never expresly required to abstract their desires from the things of the World Nor unless they proceeded to covet unjustly that is what belonged to another were they ever taxable for a too earthly and downward disposition of Soul Not but that earthly-mindedness was as much an Imperfection in it self as 't is now and was really forbidden according to the more retired and involute sense of the Law but the Letter did not reach it because then was the time and state of Imperfection and 't was the only Handle which that People could be took hold of by whose Hardness of Heart was the occasion of this as well as of some other Indulgencies But now they that shall think themselves obliged to no higher measures of Perfection under the Christian State know not what manner of Spirit they are of Christ as he has introduced a Better Hope so has he annexed to it more excellent and more exalted Precepts and as his Kingdom was not so neither is his Religion of this World The Christian Law is Lex Ignea a Law of Fire a Law that purifies and refines that warms actuates and enlightens that separates also and dissolves those strong Ties whereby the Soul sticks glued to the Earth And therefore the Apostle calls the Christian Institution the Law of the Spirit of Life and in another place the ministration of the Spirit And what our Saviour said of some words of his may truly be applied to all The words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life This therefore being the Design of the Christian Dispensation to perfect Holiness to advance the Interest of the Divine Life to elevate us to the utmost degree of moral Perfection our Nature is here capable of and as far as is possible to make us Partakers of the Divine 't is utterly inconsistent with the End of such a Law as this to suffer us to lie groveling with our Faces on the Earth to seek Rest and Happiness in things more ignoble than our selves and to grow one as it were with the dirty Planet upon which we live We ought rather as the Philosopher speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aspire to the measures of Immortality shake off the Clogs of Earth that weigh us down and make hast to be Angels as fast as we can We are obliged by the Design as well as by the Rule of our Religion to be as loose from the Creature as may be not to love the World nor the things of the World whether the Lust of the Flesh or the Lust of the Eye or the Pride of Life but to be poor in Spirit and empty of the Creature that we may be rich towards God and filled with the fulness of him that fills all in all And now that to be thus poor in Spirit is a reasonable Duty as well as a Necessary one will sufficiently appear upon these two grounds I. Because these Worldly Enjoyments are not our True Good II. Because they hinder and divert us from that which really is so That they are not our True Good is certain for if they were we should then find Rest and Satisfaction in them But this we are so far from doing that we are as dissatisfied under our Enjoyments as without them For though by Fruition our Appetite be abated as to that particular Object which we prosecuted yet still we desire on further and our general Thirst after Happiness is as unsatisfied as ever Which plainly argues that our true good is not to be found in these things but that they are altogether Vanity and Vexation To place therefore our Happiness in such Objects is utterly absurd and against Reason and argues us to be grosly ignorant of one of the two things either of our selves or of the things of the World We are either ignorant of the Dignity and Excellence of our Natures of the Designs and Ends of our Creation and of the Strengths and Capacities of our Appetites which can be satisfied with nothing less than infinite Or if we do know and consider all this then we are so much the more grosly ignorant of the World about us to think there is any thing to be had in this Circle of Vanity that may satisfie the importunity of such craving and capacious Appetites Poverty of Spirit therefore is reasonable because the things of the World are not our True Good But this is the least part of their Charge They are not only insufficient to be our true good themselves but they also Secondly hinder and divert us from that which really is so For not to mention the many Snares and Temptations of a great Fortune and what a dangerous thing it is to be always furnished with all the Possibilities and Opportunities of Sin and Folly I only observe that the very Desire of these Earthly things diverts us and takes us off from the Love of God When our Love is divided even among Created Objects the force of it will be much abated in respect of each But much more will the Love
the buying of a Farm or the Trying of a Yoke of Oxen or the Marrying of a Wife If the Heavens do but frown or if they themselves are never so little out of humour if a Visit be intended a day after or if a Domestick Jar happen'd a day before then presently keep off from the Sacrament Nay some are so very absurd that tho they themselves are in perfect Charity with all the World and have not the least Tincture of the old Leven remaining in them yet if another Person happen to be out with them they shall think this a sufficient Warrant to stay away from the Sacrament which amounts to as much as if a Man should say Because another Person has sinn'd against God and my self and so be sure to out-do him But there is a degree of Folly beyond this There are some that cover over this gross Neglect which comes the nearest of any thing to what the Apostle calls Trampling upon the blood of the covenant and doing despite to the spirit of grace with the specious Pretence of Reverence They have forsooth so profound a Reverence for the Holy Sacrament that they can't find in their Hearts to come to it A very odd way of expressing Reverence to any Divine Institution by turning ones Back upon it This is such a Reverence as the Jews pretend towards the Tetragrammaton or Name Jehovah which consists in their never using it Such a Reverence if so much as the Papists shew to the Host when they carry it in Procession to be gazed upon and stared at But do these Men indeed Reverence the Sacrament Then one would expect at least that when-ever they do come they should behave themselves there with more Devotion and Reverence than others that are more constant But there is nothing like this to be observ'd Nor do I at all wonder at it since the way to Communicate well is to Communicate often And I further remark That those who behave themselves most irreverently at all other parts of Divine Worship are the very Men that stay most away from the Holy Altar upon the pretence of Reverence But how comes it to pass that this is the only part of Religion that must be neglected upon the account of Reverence Do they do so by any other part of Religion 'T is true indeed that all the other parts of Divine Worship are too much neglected as well as this but I do not find that ever any were so absurd as to pretend Reverence for the neglecting of them and why then should they do it here But do these Men indeed Reverence the Holy Sacrament Why then do they not pay some regard to the Command it self as well as to the Matter of it Do this says our Saviour in remembrance of me Why should all the Reverence be fixed upon This and none upon Do Or if they do Reverence the Command how are they not affraid of breaking it Or how can a Command be reverenc'd by not observing it Do this in remembrance of me If the doing this be in Remembrance of our Saviour then the not doing it is to forget him And how can he pretend Reverence to the Institution that forgets the Author of it And here I cannot but take notice of another gross Notion that I find passes very current among common People They think all the danger lies in coming unprepared If they eat and drink unworthily then nothing but Death and Damnation But if they stay away all is safe and well As if a Man might not destroy himself with Fasting as well as by taking Poison These Men ought to consider that there is such a thing as an Unworthy Non-Communicant as well as an Unworthy Communicant And I wish they would read a certain Book that bears that Title The Unworthy Non-Communicant They would then perhaps be sensible of some other Danger besides that of coming without sufficient Preparation In themean time all that I shall further say to those Men is That what-ever Pretences they make to Christianity 't is certain they have not that Hunger and Thirst which is so necessary to the Life of a Christian and which if they had it would bring them oftner to this Spiritual Banquet and procure them the Blessing of being fill'd and Replenish'd To the consideration of which I now return Now there are two ways of being fill'd Either Absolutely and Simply so as not to be any more in Desires Or with respect to some certain Object so as not to desire any more of the same tho simply speaking you do desire still The first of these is Satisfaction the second is Satiety And those that duely hunger and thirst after Righteousness shall be filled both ways That is they shall be fill'd with Righteousness and they shall be fill'd with Happiness First They shall be filled with Righteousness For since the Spirit of God which sheds his Love abroad in our Hearts is a good and loving Spirit and knows no other Bounds in his Communications than what are set him by the Capacity of the Subject it follows that he will not fail to replenish all those with his Graces who are duly qualify'd to receive them But now nothing can be supposed to be a greater Qualification than such Hungring and Thirsting as I have described This is the utmost Man can do to dispose himself for the reception of the Divinest Impressions This therefore is that Sacred Lure that powerful Charm which draws down the Holy Spirit into the Hearts of Men as the Platonists say of aptly disposed matter that it sucks a Soul into it by a kind of Natural Magick from the World of Life This Hunger and Thrist after Righteousness is the very same to the Life of the Soul as that Organical Aptness is to the Life of the Body 'T is the Congruity of the Soul in order to Spiritual Life That Soul therefore that is so qualify'd for Righteousness cannot miss according to the Order of Grace of being fill'd with it The short is God desires the Righteousness of Man more than Man himself does or can do he delights to see his own Image reflect from him and stands ready to sow the Seeds of the Divine Life in every capable Soil and therefore we need not doubt but that the truly Hungry and Thirsty Soul shall be fill'd with the Bread of Life and with the Waters of Comfort Not that he shall be so fill'd with Righteousness in this Life as not to desire any more of it for we are now in a state of Proficiency not of Perfection but in the next he shall He shall then be so replenish'd with it as not to desire any one further degree of it and shall be perfectly possessed of that Divine Life and Nature whereof he is now only Partaker Secondly These hungry and thirsty Souls shall be fill'd with Happiness This is a certain Consequent of the other there being both a Natural and an Establish'd Connexion between
Desire then tho the Man be not a compleat Adulterer yet he may be truly said in the Style of the Psalmist to be a Partaker with the Adulterer to have enter'd within some degrees of Unchastity and to have transgressed against that Christian Purity which forbids all Consent not only to the compleat Acts but also to the first Motions of Sin Secondly The necessity of this Purity of Heart in order to true Holiness will appear by considering the Nature of God who is both a Spirit and a Discerner of Spirits and ought therefore for a double Reason to be worship'd in Spirit and in Truth Our Saviour thought the former sufficient but the latter adds a further degree of strength to it God as a Spirit cannot be worthily served by any thing less than the Sacrifice of the Spirit which perhaps was one of the Reasons why our Saviour when he was to become a Sacrifice to his Father took upon him not only Human Flesh as some of the Ancient Hereticks would have believ'd but also an Human Soul And as a Discerner of Spirits he cannot be put off with a Bodily inst ead of a Spiritual Service or accept of a polluted and unsanctified Spirit The Psalmist had a due sense of this when he said Thou requirest truth in the inward parts and shalt make me to understand wisdom secretly And when he pray'd Make me a clean Heart O God and renew a right Spirit within me Thirdly This Purity of Heart may be further concluded necessary to true Holiness from the Nature of Man himself in whom as the Soul is in all respects the Principal so in all Moral respects is it the only part concern'd This Inner Man is that Man who is the Immediate and proper Subject of all Good and Evil Vertue and Vice and accordingly this is the part to which our Sanctification and Regeneration is always ascribed and from which the Man receives his whole Moral Distinction And therefore says the Apostle To be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace Where you see 't is the inward Disposition of the Mind that makes all the difference If this be Pure and Holy the whole Man is so but if this stand not right to God and Goodness 't is not all the external Conformity in the World that can supply the Defect 'T was the Conceit of the Antient Jews as we are told by Mr. Selden that every Proselyte of Justice at the very instant when he became so had a new Soul infused into him to which Opinion our Saviour is supposed to allude in his Discourse with Nicodemus Now tho Christianity does not acknowledge a New that is another Soul in its Converts yet it requires that the same Soul become new it requires a new Frame and Temper of Spirit The Christian Man is to be Born again and to become a New Creature a Creature of another Rank and Order And 't is the Mind and Spirit upon which this great Transaction is to pass and which is to be the immediate Subject of this extraordinary Change And accordingly our Regeneration is expressed in Scripture by our being renew'd in the Spirit of our minds We must be renew'd and where Not in our Body or outward Man but in our Minds And in what part of the Mind Not in the Inferior part whether Sensitive or Plastic that which is exercis'd about Objects of Sense or that which moves and forms the Body but in the highest and noblest part in the Spirit of our Minds which answers to the Platonical 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very Flower and Essence of the Soul Here 't is we are to be renew'd as indeed we must if we be renew'd at all this being in all regards the Principal and the only moral part of Man To this purpose it may be further consider'd that this Intellectual Heart the Spirit and Soul of Man is the Fountain and Source of all Action This is that which sees in the eyes and hears in the ears This is that which understands and wills loves and hates Here are all the Springs and Powers of Life and Motion here is the last resort of all outward Impressions and from this Central Point are derived all the Lines of Action and Motion even as all the Arteries and Veins are from the Natural Heart which it diffuses and disperses throughout the Body and has its Pulses in every part If therefore this general Head-Spring be not kept pure and clean how can the Streams run clear And upon this was grounded that signal Advice of the Wise Man Keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of Life Parallel to which I find a passage in the Meditations of the Royal Philosopher Marcus Antoninus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Look within for within is the fountain of good Further yet this Intellectual Heart is not only the Fountain of Action and Motion but the most active and most rapidly moving thing in the World This Heart is always Beating the Pulses of it never rest Thought rises upon Thought and Desire succeeds Desire The Motion is perpetual constant and vehement so vehement that the swiftest Bodily Motion no not that of the Starry Orb is comparable to it so vehement that it cannot be discern'd or number'd and comes nearer to a Rest than a Motion as the swiftest turnings round of a Globe look like standing still Now what a dangerous thing is such a Motion as this if not rightly determin'd Of what vast heights in goodness is it capablel And to what vast heights of wickedness may it rise if not well-govern'd There is therefore great necessity that this Heart of Man should be kept with all Diligence and that it should be kept pure and undefiled Fourthly and Lastly The Necessity of Purity of Heart in order to Holiness will appear as from the Christian Law the Nature of God and the Nature of Man so also from the intimate Vnion that is between the Divine and Human Nature All things are full of God who is therefore call'd in the Sacred Tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Place But there is nothing so intimately united to him as the Spiritual part of the Creation God is the Immediate Place of Spirits and Souls who all live move and have their being in him and are joyn'd to him by a Central Touch as the great Plotinus speaks The Apostle says that even our Bodies are the Temples of the Holy Ghost our Souls then must be at least his Sanctuary and most Sacred Recess But what was not God just now supposed the Place of Spirits and are Spirits now made the Place of God Yes and without any Absurdity For so St. John describes our Union with God by our dwelling in God and by God's dwelling in us The Union is Double on God's part and on Ours God dwells in us by his special Presence by the Spirit of
Grace and Benediction But we dwell in God Essentially and Totally God dwells only in some certain Spirits such as are of a Dispositiont fit to receive and entertain him those who as the Jews love to speak are worthy to have the Shecinah rest upon them But all Spirits good and bad however qualified dwell in him For where else should they dwell since he is all and fills all Now both these Unions infer the Necessity of Purity of Heart in Order to Holiness For First if we consider the Soul of Man as dwelling in God what infinite reason is there that that part of him especially should be kept pure which is essentially joyn'd to touches and inhabits so pure and so awful an Excellence Put off thy shoes from off thy seet said God to Moses for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground And if so much Reverence be due to the Dwelling-place of God what Reverence is there then due when God-himself is the Dwelling-place How dares any Man lodge an impure Soul in the Bosom of so pure a Majesty Or how can he in any measure be esteemed Holy tho in all other respects never so unablamable who is polluted in that part which is so inwardly united to the Beauty of Holiness Then Secondly if we consider God dwelling in the Soul and Body of Man there is great necessity of Purity of Heart And that upon a double Account I. Because the Spirit of God which is the Principle of all Grace and Holiness will not enter but into a pure and clean Heart II. Because no other is worthy of so Divine a Presence And First the Holy Spirit will not enter but into a pure and clean Heart For this special and gracious Presence of God is not like his General and Essential Presence universal and unlimited but fixt and confined to certain Laws and depending upon certain Conditions and Qualifications And tho the first Addresses influential Visits and distant Overtures of the Holy Spirit prevent all previous dispositions of Man who as our Church expresses it in her 10th Article cannot turn and prepare himself by his own natural strength yet to his fix'd Dwelling and residential Abode in us 't is necessary that there be an antecedent Preparation of Heart Which I conceive to be the reason that tho all Men are at some time or other Partakers of the common and ordinary Motions of the Spirit who is said to have striven even with the old World yet none but very good Men have the Priviledge to be the Temples of his Residence And this whole matter I take to be distinctly represented in these Words of St. John Behold I stand at the door and knock If any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and sup with him Where by standing at the Door and knocking is meant common and preventing Grace And this indeed is used to all without any previous Qualifications But he does not come in and sup that is take up his Residence and be a familiar Ghest till his Voice be hear'd and the Door open'd that is till the Man has well attended to and complied with those his antecedent Motions and Suggestions till he has swept and made clean the inner Room of his Heart So that Purity of Heart is absolutely necessary tho not for the first preventing Influences yet for the residence and in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit who tho he visit those that sit in Darkness and in the Shadow of Death yet he will not Lodge but in a pure and bright Soul Nor Secondly Is any other than such worthy of so Divine a Presence Indeed the purest Soul has reason to say with the Centurion Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof if we consider the disproportion that is between the Purity of God and that of the purest Temple we can prepare for him For he putteth no trust in his Saints nor are the Heavens clean in his sight How much more unworthy then is the impure and polluted Soul of so pure a Presence Suppose the Spirit of God would enter into a Polluted Spirit yet what Soul that has any sense of Decency would dare to continue any longer so when once possess'd by so Divine an Inhabitant Holiness becomes thine house for ever says the Psalmist that is it is very meet and right decent and proportionable that the place of the Divine Residence should be kept holy and undefiled The Divine Presence is the greatest and most solemn Consecration of any place that can be and where-ever he fixes his Mansion there the Inscription ought to be Holiness to the Lord. And the reason of all this is by the Psalmist render'd elsewhere For thou art a God that hast no pleasure in wickedness neither shall any evil dwell with thee Having thus far shewn the Necessity of Purity of Heart in Order to Holiness to complete this part it remains that we further represent its necessity in order to Happiness Now this Necessity may respect either our Admission into Happiness or our Enjoyment of it when admitted That Purity of Heart is necessary to our Admission into Happiness is already sufficiently deducible from what has been premised concerning its necessity to Holiness without which we are expresly told No man shall see God We are therefore further concern'd only to shew that 't is necessary to the enjoyment of Happiness And here not to feign a long Hypothesis of a Sinners being admitted into Heaven with a particular Description of his Condition and Behaviour there we need only consider that the Supreme Good is of a Relative Nature as well as any other Good and consequently the enjoyment of it must necessarily require some Qualification in the Faculty as well as the enjoyment of any other Good does something that may render that Good a Good to that particular Faculty Otherwise tho it may be possess'd yet it can never be enjoy'd This again must be something that must produce some Likeness or Agreeableness between the Faculty and the Good to be enjoy'd Which because the Purest of all Beings leaves no room to doubt but that Purity of Heart must be that Agreeableness without which as a Man cannot resemble so neither can he enjoy God We see that even in this Life 't is very tedious to be in the Company of a Person whose Humour is disagreeable to ours tho perhaps in other respects of sufficient Worth and Excellency And how then can we imagin that an ill-disposed Soul should take any Pleasure in God who is to her infinitely more unlike and therefore disagreeable than one Man can be supposed to be to another For my part I rather think that should an impure Soul be afforded a Mansion in Heaven she would be so far from being happy in it that she would do Pennance there to all Eternity For besides that a sensualized Soul would carry such Appetites with her
already done to him whether we have not been guilty of the same or greater er Injuries towards him than those which we so warmly resent from him Then lastly with reference to our selves consider First how much by our unjust Anger we expose our selves to the just Displeasure of God who by his Son has told us that Whosoever is angry with his Brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment Consider again that we may easily and do often mis-interpret Men's Minds and Intentions by their outward Demeanour and think our selves affronted by them when there is no such thing intended and that therefore even upon this account 't is very reasonable we should be slow to wrath Consider again how much causless and intemperate Anger unfits us for all the parts of Divine Worship which can neither be well perform'd by nor will be accepted from a Heart flaming with this strange Fire And therefore says the Apostle speaking of Prayer Lifting up holy hands without wrath implying that a vacancy from Wrath is a necessary Qualification for Prayer To which purpose 't is very considerable that when King David would have erected a Temple for the Public Worship of God tho a Man otherwise of a sweet and gentle Disposition and only accidentally and innocently too ingaged in Circumstances of Anger and Contention yet he was refused and the Work imposed upon one not of a more meek Spirit but only of a calmer and more serene Life And if God would not accept an House of Prayer from a Man of a Military way and Character much less will he accept those Prayers which proceed from a Soul disturb'd with Anger Consider again how it unfits us for the business of our Calling how it hinders the free exercise of our Thoughts how it prejudices our Health disturbs the Tranquility of our Minds renders us odious and uneasie to all about us in one word how utterly it unfits us both for enjoying our selves and from being delighted in by others Consider lastly to what mean and sordid Principles within us this Passion owes its rise such as Pride Self-love vain Curiosity and Suspicion rash Credulity Negligence and Inadvertency Ambition Lust Envy and the like So that besides its own proper illness 't is further to be detested upon the Scandal of its Parentage Having thus far discours'd of the Duty of Meekness First By shewing what it is Secondly By shewing that 't is a Christian Duty Thirdly By stating the general Measures of its Obligation And lastly By proposing such Considerations as may recommend its Practice I come now briefly to discourse of its Blessedness which may also serve as another distinct Consideration to inforce the Practice of it Blessed are the meek says our Saviour for they shall inherit the earth The only Beatitude which has a Temporal Promise annex'd to it wherein our Lord seems to imitate Moses who in his Law had also one Commandment with a Temporal Promise And there seems to be great resemblance between them One is that thy Days may be long in the Earth and the other They shall inherit the Earth Here therefore We are to do two things First We must enquire into the Sense and Meaning of the Beatitude Secondly Into the Truth of it That is We must first enquire What is meant by the Meek's inheriting the Earth and secondly shew that they do so inherit it And first by their inheriting the Earth I suppose cannot be meant that they shall have large Portions of it that they shall raise great Estates that they shall take root and spread and as the Prophet expresses it joyn House to House and lay Field to Field This I suppose cannot be meant I. Because this is not true the Meek do not inherit the Earth according to this Sense II. Because if they did this would not be a proper Ground for their being pronounc'd Blessed And first this Sense is not true the Meek do not thus inherit the Earth We rather find that the World is made for the Bold and the Violent for the rough-spirited and turbulent for the furious and boisterous and that they have commonly the greatest share of it who deserve the least And therefore we commonly urge this as one Argument against the goodness of Riches that they frequently fall to the Lot of the worst Men. And therefore says the Psalmist Lo these are the ungodly these prosper in the world and these have riches in possession While in the mean time the Meek are oppressed and devoured by these Beasts of Prey and are so far from inheriting the Earth that 't is as much as many of them can do to Live upon it and more than some of them can do to find room under it But Secondly Suppose they did thus inherit the Earth by having great Portions of it yet this would not be a proper Ground for their being pronounc'd Blessed For are Clods of Earth a suitable Good for Man Or is Happiness to be measur'd by the Acre Do we find that Rich Men are so very much Happier than others Or do we think that the Earth has Mines of Happiness as it has of Gold But whatever we think is it at all probable that our Blessed Lord who himself made choice of Poverty who but in a Line or two before pronounc'd the Poor Blessed who tells us that his own Kingdom was not of this World who bids us beware of Covetousness and warns us of the great danger of Riches by telling us how hard it is for one that has them to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven who dehorts us from laying up Treasures on Earth and who lastly recommends to his Disciples nothing more than the contempt of the World by assuring them that the Life of Man does not consist in the abundance of things which he possesses I say is it imaginable that our Lord after all this should therefore pronounce the meek Man blessed for having great Possessions This therefore cannot be the thing meant by the Meek's inheriting the Earth which I take rather to signifie the manner of possessing than the greatness of their Possessions and to import thus much That the Meek shall enjoy what they have be it little or great with comfort and satisfaction and tranquility of Mind whereas those of a contrary disposition tho they may possess a great deal can yet be truly said to enjoy little or nothing And this seems to be the Sense of the Psalmist when in Words directly parallel to these of our Lord he says The meek-spirited shall possess the earth and shall be refreshed in the multitude of Peace That is they shall have Comfort and Pleasure Peace and Content with whatever they have which how little soever shall yet carry a true Rellih and yield more real satisfaction to them than the otherwise affected can reap from their ample Revenues According to what the Psalmist in the same place immediately subjoyns A small thing
Which things the Angels desire to look into An Allusion no doubt to the Propitiatory or Mercy-lid upon the Ark whereupon two Angels Cherubins who are the Angels of Knowledge did abide with their Faces one toward another and their Eyes bent down to the Ark. Which by the way is also a sufficient Argument of the Unfathomableness of this great Dispensation of Mercy which can still find further Employment for the Study and Curiosity even of Angels But perhaps 't will be said that Mercy in God is of another kind than what is call'd by that Name in Man that it comes nearer the Stoical Notion of Mercy importing only a bare Will to help the Miserable without any compassionate Resentment for his Misery It may be so I wont dispute that now tho I can hardly believe but that such strong and flaming Expressions of the Divine Mercy in Scripture must needs signifie something more than what such cold Interpreters affix to them But however to be more convincing I further instance in the Human Soul of our Saviour Jesus Christ. 'T is most certain that of all Human Spirits his was the most excellent Adam in his Innocence was not comparable to him He was excellent only by way of Nature but our Saviour's Human Spirit to the same or greater Excellence of Nature had also superadded the Excellency of Grace not common Grace but that great and transcendent Grace of the Hypostatick Union And 't is as certain that as he had the Best so he had the Best-natured and most tenderly compassionate Soul in the World I need not produce Instances his whole Life is but one Argument of it Only one Passage when he saw the multitude scattered abroad like Sheep that have no Shepherd 't is said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He was moved with compassion on them so we render it but indeed the Expression is too high and pregnant to be verbally translated 'T would require a long copious Paraphrase to drain the Sense of that one Word which signifies all that inward Feeling and Yerning of the Heart and Soul at a pitiful Object that melts and turns the very Bowels of the Good-natured Spectator And the same Tenderness of Spirit which he had on Earth he retains still in Heaven tho in all other respects Impassible and incircled with Divine Glories Whereupon he is call'd in Scripture our merciful High-Priest and to convince any Opposer that this is not meant of Mercy improperly so called a bare Will to help without any Compassionate resentment says the Author to the Hebrews We have not an High-Priest which cannot be touch'd with feeling of our Infirmities And these two Considerations by the way give a clear defeat to the Pretences of both the foremention'd Adversaries For whereas the Stoic traduces this noble Vertue for a piece of Weakness and Infirmity fit only for soft and effeminate Persons to him I oppose the instance of our Saviour's Human Soul while on Earth And whereas the Aristotelian makes the only ground of Pity to be a fear of falling into the like Calamity to him I oppose the same Instance of our Saviour but in another Capacity when he was altogether Impassible in his glorify'd State and above the possibility of partaking with us in our Miserie 's any other way than by Sympathy and Compassion To this I may add that among meer Men the most generous and braveSpirits those whom Paganism has Deifi'd and Christianity has Sainted those Heroes whom History has mark'd with Honour and whom Envy it self is asham'd to calumniate have all along been signal for their Mercy and Good Nature As on the contrary the most base timorous and low-spirited Breasts are always observ'd to be the Seats of Cruelty and Hard-heartedness But 't is no wonder that this Disposition is found in the Best of Natures since in the Second Place it proceeds from the Best of Principles For it proceeds from Charity with which the least thing a Man can think or do is excellent and without which the greatest even Martyrdom it self is nothing worth It has that for its Parent which is the Mother of all Vertues and which is of it self the fulfilling of the most perfect that is of the Christian Law And that it proceeds from Charity is plain For the more we desire the Happiness and well-being of Mankind the more we shall be troubled to see any of them in Misery and be the more willing to procure them Ease and Deliverance And this tho we do not apprehend our selves in danger of the like Calamity there being no necessity of making that the ground of Pity as appears from the instance of our Saviour's Human Soul in its Glorified State I deny not but that the generality of Men are moved to Pity upon the consideration of common Danger and that it may be their own turn next to suffer and stand in need of help but it is not necessary that they should and 't is their imperfection that they are I say their Imperfection not that of the Affection it self whose Idea involves no such selfish Principle and which may really be separated from it as by the fore-alledged Example is certain and evident And now if to be found in the Best of Natures and to proceed from the Best of Principles be any Argument of Excellence we may hence conclude what a Noble and Excellent Disposition of Mind this is and that when the Roman Orator told Caesar That of all his many Vertues none was either more acceptable or more wonderful than his Mercy and Clemency he might perhaps Complement the Emperour but said nothing extraordinary of the Vertue As will further appear by considering Secondly the great Reasonableness and Usefulness of it As to the Former besides that all that which may be said in the behalf of Charity and Universal Love may be alledged as well for this there are these two more proper and peculiar Grounds to prove and inforce it I. To consider what Man has Receiv'd II. To consider what he Expects And First If we consider what Man has already receiv'd this Vertue of Mercy will appear to be highly reasonable Man has receiv'd innumerable Mercies of God some of which are so great so surprizing and incredible that 't is made one of the greatest Trials and Commendations of his Faith to believe them Such as the Honour of the Hypostatick Union the Redemption from Sin and Misery by the Death of the Son of God the Grace of Repentance and the like All which are yet improv'd and heightned by this further Consideration that they are proper and peculiar to him no other Creatures not so much as the Angels themselves being Partakers with him The Angels indeed as all other Creatures partake of the Goodness of God but Man alone among all the Creatures has the Priviledge to be the Object of his Mercy Since therefore Man and Man only has receiv'd so much Mercy of God it appears very reasonable
't is certain that it was a great Defect in the Law not to bind so perfect a Precept with a Penal Sanction Tho indeed the true reason was because 't was too perfect to be severely exacted in that Infant Age and state of the Church The Law therefore did not rigidly exact it tho it did plainly command it Which tho no defect with relation to that Time and State the Law being as perfect as the Gospel as to all the ends and purposes intended by it and every way accommodated to the Condition of those on whom it was imposed yet absolutely speaking it was a great Defect and Imperfection of the Law Then as to the Mahumetan Religion which indeed is only Heathenism pretending to Revelation this tho the last and assuming to it self the improvement of all that went before is yet really short even of Heathenism it self This is so far from requiring internal Purity that it does not require so much as external but allows and recommends too the grossest Impurities which has often made me wonder why the Turk should write upon the outside of his Alcoran Let no Man touch this Book but he that is pure I 'm sure the Book it self requires no such thing nor can I justifie the Reason of the Motto in any other sense but this That none but he that is pure is fit to be trusted with such a corrupt Institution But the Christian Law is pure indeed and none but such as are so are worthy to unloose the Seals of this Book This requires the utmost Purity that is consistent with the Measures of Mortality Purity without and Purity within pure Hands and pure Hearts It requires it more expresly and in a greater degree than either the Heathen or Jewish Religion and what was wanting in the other under the Sanction of Rewards and Punishments and those the greatest imaginable It does not only command inward Purity but incourage it too by the strongest Proposals that can affect either the Sense or the Reason of Man One of the greatest of which Encouragements is that our Saviour inserts it into the order of his Beatitudes and gives it a special Title to the Beatifick Vision in these Words Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God The Subject to be here discours'd of is Christian Purity or Purity of Heart Whereof I shall represent I. The Nature by a Character or Description II. The Necessity III. The Blessedness By Purity of Heart in general is to be understood an inward Conformity of all the Thoughts and Desires of the Soul to the Will and Law of God When not only the external Actions are according to the Rule but the whole inward Frame and Position of the Mind stands right and well order'd and as the Apostle describes it not only the Body but the whole Spirit and Soul is blameless And to make it so these two things are particularly requisite First That we do not consent to any unlawful Desires no not so much as to the first Motions of Sin whether proceeding from the corruptness of our own Nature or from Diabolical Suggestion Secondly That we do not entertain with any delight the remembrances of our past Sins But more particularly yet Purity of Heart may be doubly consider'd either in opposition to Pollution or in opposition to Mixture In the first Sense it removes Sensuality in the Second Hypocrisie This distinction of the Word Pure is acknowledg'd and withal applied to this place by our Learned Dr. Hammond illustrated by the Instances of Water and Wine the former of which is said to be pure when not mudded or defiled the latter when not mixt But tho the Word be equally capable of this Latter Sense yet I do not think it to be at all intended by our Saviour in this place there being no such particular Congruity between this sort of Purity and the nature of the Reward here assign'd Confining therefore our Discourse to the former Sense of the Word as more suitable to the Circumstance of this place from what has been premised we may collect this Idea or Character of the Pure in Heart That they are such as regulate not only the external Conduct of their Lives but also the inward Frame and Habitude of their Minds and conform not only their Actions but their Wills and Desires Thoughts and Designs to the Rule of the Law and to the Dictates of the Internal Light of God in the Soul Such as sanctifie the Lord God in their Hearts compose the inmost recesses of their minds into an Holy Awe and Reverence of the Divine Presence set a Law to all their Intellectual Powers and suffer not the least Thought or Passion to violate the Order either of Reason or Grace Such lastly as yield no consent either to the Being or Stay of irregular Motions nor give any entertainment to the Allurements of the World the Flesh or the Devil nor delight themselves with any pleasing recollections any imaginary Scenes of their past Immoralities but set themselves at the greatest distance from sin resist the very first Beginnings and as near as they can abstain from the least Appearances of Evil. This is the most resembling Idea that I can frame to my self of the Pure in Heart And now lest this should be taken for a meer Idea a thing of Notion rather than Practice I proceed in the next place to represent the Necessity of such a Disposition of Soul The Necessity of it is Double in order to a double End Holiness and Happiness And First This Purity of Heart is necessary in order to Holiness that is There can be no true Christian Holiness without it This will appear by considering First That the Christian Law expresly requires it For this I need appeal no further than to the progress of this same Discourse of our Saviour upon the Mount Where among several other improving Expositions of the Mosaic Law we find this Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time Thou shalt not commit Adultery But I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed Adultery with her already in his heart By which Lusting here I conceive must not be understood the bare natural Appetite of Concupiscence that being as such indifferent but the Appetite irregularly determin'd nor that neither as 't is a pure Natural and Mechanick Motion for so it has nothing Moral in it and can only be materially Evil but as it has the consent of the Will going along with it Which consent may be either to the very Desire it self or to the Acting of it If to the Act then the Man is in all Moral Accounts a compleat Adulterer and will be so esteem'd by God who as he Sees so he Judges by the Heart and will not think a Man the more innocent only for wanting an Opportunity of committing what he fully intended But if the Consent be only to the
thither for which she could find no suitable Objects which would be a constant Torment those that she does find there would be so disproportionate that they would rather vex and upbraid than satisfie her Indigence So that this in short would be her case That which she desires and could relish that she has not and that which she has that she neither desires nor can relish the result of which must needs be a very high degree of Misery and Dissatisfaction So absolutely necessary is Purity of Heart both to the Acquisition and Enioyment of Happiness And yet there is something that recommends it further yet and that is the Blessedness that attends it the third and last thing to be consider'd Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God But before we come so far as this there is a Present Blessedness belonging to it in this Life which I shall briefly touch upon And here besides that inward Peace of Mind that Satisfaction of Conscience and Spiritual Joy and Complacency which are the common advantages of a good and well-order'd Life there are these three more peculiar Advantages of Purity of Heart I. That 't is more Innocent II. That 't is more Easie. III. That 't is more Safe More Innocent because 't is supposed to put a Bar against the very first Beginnings of Sin and consequently to be removed at a greater distance from it More Easie because t is easier to abstain from the first Beginnings of Sin than from a further Progress in it after you have once begun Nor is there so much pains required not to admit as to eject a Temptation Which made an ingenious Person say That the Prohibition of Concupiscenee was not so much a new or distinct Commandment as an Instrument of Security for the keeping all the rest Lastly More Safe because more Easie there being not so much danger of yielding to what a Man can easily forbear as to that which he must abstain from with pain and uneasiness But the greatest Blessedness of all is the Vision of God Which I suppose may be extended beyond that Beatific Vision of him which is the Happiness of Angels and Saints in Heaven and may signifie some peculiar advantage belonging to the Pure in Heart even in this Life namely the clearer Perception of all Necessary and Ideal Truths which may well be call'd seeing of God they being one and the same with the Divine Essence especially such Ideal Truths as are of a Moral and Spiritual Nature to the Discovery of which Purity of Heart is an excellent Preparative According to that of the Angel to Daniel Many shall be purify'd and made white and none of the wicked shall understand but the wise shall understand But having professedly discours'd of this * elsewhere I shall stay no longer upon this part but proceed to that other Vision of God which is called Beatific Here I remark that this is the only Beatitude to which the express Promise of the Vision of God is annex'd This indeed is implicitly contain'd in some others but there only openly expressed And because 't is reasonable to think that our Lord does suit his Rewards to the Natures of the Excellencies here specify'd We may well conclude that he intended some peculiar Honour and Priviledge to this holy disposition of Soul and to signifie that it has a more than ordinary Title to the Happiness of the Beatific Vision This will include two things I. That the Pure in Heart shall have a clearer and more inlarged sight of God II. That they shall take a greater delight in what they do see of him And First They shall have a clearer and more enlarged sight of God This will depend upon two Suppositions I. Upon the peculiar Aptness of this Disposition for the Vision of God II. Upon the Will of God to afford a greater and clearer manifestation of himself to a Soul so disposed That Purity of Heart has a peculiar aptness in order to the Vision of God we need not doubt if we consider that the only reason why we see not God now is the grosness of this Tabernacle wherein the Soul is incased This is that Glass through which we now see so Darkly and which makes us do so This is that black Skreen that parts the Material from the Intelligible World The more abstract therefore we are from the Body and from the Bodily Life the more fit we shall be both to behold and to indure the Rays of the Divine Light We find that even now the purer and finer our Blood and Spirits are the freer and clearer are our Thoughts The more bright and transparent this Glass is the more the Ideal Light will dart in upon our Souls And the same will hold in proportion hereafter The purer the Soul is the purer will all its Faculties and Operations be the less it will retain of corporeal Gusts and Relishes the more recollected and undivided will be its Powers for Unity of Thought follows Unity of Desire and the fewer things a Man desires the fewer will be his Thoughts and consequently the more strong and vigorous upon the Object where they fix To which we may add that the purer the Soul is the purer will also be her Resurrection Body which is of great moment to the Vision of God as well as to other Spiritual Operations For we must then see through a Glass as well as now only the Glass will be clearer according to the different Purity of the Soul which even in this Life gives a particular Brightness of Air to the Countenance and makes the Face to shine with an unimitable Lustre Purity of Heart therefore even upon this single account has a peculiar aptness in order the Vision of God But to this may be added Secondly the Will of God to afford a greater and clearer manifestation of himself to a Soul so disposed For 't is highly rational to believe that God who is so great a Lover will also be a liberal Rewarder of inward Purity and that he who delights to dwell in pure Hearts now will reveal himself in a very plentiful measure to such hereafter So that both from the aptness of the Disposition and from the Will of God we may conclude That the Pure in Heart shall have a larger share of the Beatific Vision Nor shall they only see more of God but Secondly take a greater Delight in what they do see of him And this is the principal Ingredient of their Happiness For 't is not the meer having but the delighting in a thing that makes a Man happy And this is the Condition of Pure Souls The same Purity which procures them a more inlarged sight of God will also make them to delight in the Vision of him so that they shall Tast as well as See how good God is For the purer the Soul is the liker it is to God who is Essential Purity and the more it resembles God