Reasons why Godliness hath a Form:

The nature of Graces is to be active in the Discovery of it self; The Spirit of God is no where more Rhetorical then in the Variety of Metaphors on this Subject, He calls it a Light that must shine before men, that may as easily be suppressed in its Heat, as conceal'd in its Bright­ness; He compares it to the vital moysture of a Tree planted by the Rivers of water, that send­eth forth its Blossoms and Fruits in due season; to Leaven, whose Fermentation continues till it hath Leavened the whole Lump: to perfumed Garments; the smel of Lebanon; and the Powders of the Merchants; such an Impulse there is in Grace to display its own Glory; So it was with St. Paul who was to beare the name of Christ before Kings, saith he, I beleived, there­fore have I spoken and in St. Peter who bare the name of Christ before the Sanedrim; we can­not but speake the things we have seen, and heard. when David mused, the Fire burned, but it flamed forth when he spake, out of the Abun­dance of his heart; with the heart a man be­leiveth [Page 15] unto Righteousness, and with the tongue Confession is made unto Salvation.

The sense of those great Priviledges, and divine Relations we have by Godliness excites us to it, if we are a chosen Generation, a Royal Preist-hood, a Holy Nation, and Peculiar Peo­ple; it is to shew forth the Praises of him that called us; so David that was a chosen Prince, a Royal Prophet, a Peculiar Person did; Come and heare all ye that fear God, and I will tell you what he hath done for my Soul; it is not proper for that Soul that is Loud in begging mercyes, to be Silent, when it receives them: God hath de­livered my Darling from the Paw of the Lyon, redeemed me from sin, rescued me from Satan, ransomed me from the Bottomless Pit, and with a greater depth of Love, hath invited me with glorious Liberties, made me a member of his Son, equal to the Angels, an Heir of his King­dom, and if I am still silent, I must implead his goodness, because it is unutterable, and my own joy that is unspeakable, and full of glo­ry.

It is Gods end in giving Graces, that their in­trinsick Worth and Lustre may shine forth, to his own Glory, and the Good of others, we are [Page 16] filled with the fruits of Righteousness, to the praise, and glory of God; and hereby is the Fa­ther glorifyed, if we bring forth much fruit: Grace loseth that advantage of its Influence, and Exemplarity, when it is a candle put under a bushel, which it hath, when all the Graces shine as a Branch of lights to the whole house: when faith leads a Monastick Life, is an Hermit in Solitudes, and agitates devout meditations in a private Bosome; it is an inclosed Garden in a Wilderness, it gives pleasure to a contemplative Life; but it seems not to work by Love in the feeling of Communion, by casting Beams on the Members of that Body, whose Head is Christ: a Form then is acceptable to God, being ser­viceable to the Communion of Saints, and in­strumental to the Honour of his own Name.

God requires the service and subjection of the whole man, the Life and the Language, the Mind, and the Mouth, the Faculties of the Soul, and the Organs of the Body to glorifie God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Gratitude to God, and Charity to our Bro­ther, engage us to a Form of Godliness; the first makes us speak Honourable things of God, the second thing Necessary for Man; Instruction [Page 25] to the ignorant, Reproofe to the vicions, Com­fort to the disconsolate, when the Channels of the divine spirit are as open, as the Fountaine is free and Festival; As the Beneficence of God to the body and soul requireth the integrity of the whole man, who hath created and blessed both; So he hath created and blessed the Body in that Dependance on, and Communion with the Soul, that while there is Humility in the Heart, it will bend the knee in adoration; where there is desire in the Reines, it will lift up the Hands in uncessant Supplications; where there is Joy in the Mind, it will open the Mouth to shew forth its praise.

Our Baptismal Vow doth oblige us to con­fess the Faith of Christ crucified, which in the dayes of Persecution was an eminent act of Fortitude and resolution, Christ crucified was to the Jewes a Stumbling Block, and to the Greeks foolishness; yet Lactantius tells us that the Primitive Christians had the signe of the Cross drawn on their Fore-heads in most orient Blood, to perswade Infidels to beleive that they were built upon the Jewish Stumbling stone, and dignified with the Grecian obloquy. The beauty of a Form is commended to us by these [Page 26] Perswasions; as the Glorious Attire of Godli­ness; yet this Attire is to be fitted and adapted to the power; I shall therefore superadde.

Rules to direct the Form by the Power.

Have no collateral Respect, or Sinister Design at thine own honour, advantage, or reputation in thy Professions, and Forms of Godliness; It is an Argument of a low, and a loose, a mer­cinary and a disingenuous spirit, for a man to pretend Gods Glory when he intends his own; God will have it all to himself, that no flesh should glory in his presence; we are to lay down our Carnal Excellencies, when we take up a Spiritual Profession. St. Paul gloried not in his own Labours, but in the Love of God, I laboured more then they all, yet not I but the grace of God that is in me; I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: much like that Expression when he tells us, that when he doth what he hates, it is not I, but sin that dwelleth in me; So that as to his personal condition, when the sum total is cast up as to Grace, and Concupiscence, it amounts but to two Ciphers set one against another, as he doth justly excuse his Infirmities, so he doth modestly refuse the honour due unto his Graces.

Avoid all conceited Tones, affected Ac­cents, and Antick Gestures in thy Profession, and Form of Godliness; these Ridiculous things are sufficiently confuted by a mimical Derision; for there is a Behaviour becoming Holiness; when we Profess as Saints, we should Act as Men; some move in an higher Sphere, and place Religion in the frequent Repetitions of Jesus Christ, and the holy Spirit of God, when they have lusciously ingeminated these names, which are onely to be mentioned with Reve­rence, and Trembling, they think they have witnessed a good Confession; but some are para­mount, and vilifie all things that are not a pre­tence to Revelation, and a Lofty Language, as the Valentinians, in Irenaeus, despised the usual Dialects of other men, using Exotick Idioms, the bold, and boasting phrases of Barbarians; such we meet with in the discourses of Jacob Behman, and Van Helmont; in the inscriptions, and pages of the books of Quakers, which they call the bosom of God, the outward openings of inward shuttings, Godded with God, Chri­sted with Christ, beams of approaching glory. These swelling words of vanity are unknown to [Page 28] the Scripture, and contrary to the simplicity that is in Christ.

Let not the Form exceed the Power, or be as the Shadows of the Evening, Longer then the substances on which they do depend. Virgil gives several signs of an approaching night, That then the Toads begin to croak, and crawl about; The Shepherds return home, and the Shadows of the Mountains grow Long. Have we not had these ill Symptoms, that our day is far spent? doe not Sectaries meet together in Numbers? Are not some Pastors suspended from executing their Charge? is not the King­dom of Darkness highly advanced? we may guess it to be Midnight by the Dreams and Illu­sions, and pretended Visions of some Enthusi­asts. Our Saviour condemned the Generation of the Pharisees, that curtail'd the Law, and made broad their Phylacteries; who when they Fasted, disfigured their faces by distorted Mouths, and pensive Countenances, as if defor­mity were the Form of Godliness. Suffer not the form to be of equal Extension with the power, because it is apt to Degenerate, and become Excessive. There are some eminent Devotions, that are as the Sun in the Meridian, the Shadows [Page 29] are small; and they enter into a Closet, as a Re­cess from humane Observations, and there are Humiliations, wherein we are to anoint our Fa­ces, to make them Shine, and when they shine, as Moses did, we are to veyl them, though it be by an Irradiation from God. We are instructed to this by the Windows of Solomons Temple, that were narrow outwards, but broad within, and Receptive of light, by the Temple it self, that was conspicuous indeed without, but the Guildings and Magnificences were internal, by the Sanctuary that was Veiled, but within were the Altar, and Oracle, the Propitiatory and Mercy-Seat, the Cherubims, and God that dwelt between them; by the Heavens, whose Appearance to the Earth is an azure Canopy, emboss't with Clouds, and glittering stars, but within there is God, and Jesus the Mediator of a new Covenant, an innumerable Company of Angels, and the Spirits of just men made perfect, that reign with him in immortal, and everlasting Glory.

Let thy form keep a constant Tenour in heavy, as well as Halcion dayes; when Jerusalem flourished in the dayes of Alexander, the Sa­maritans worshipped at her Temple, and came [Page 30] to warm themselves at the High Preists fire; but when Antiochus had Ransackt the City, and Sa­cred Treasuries, then they blessed themselves at mount Gerizim in the Denyal of the God of Israel: when Christ multiplyed the Loaves he multiplyed his followers, who would have taken him by force and made him King; They thought his Territoryes would be Opulent, his Feilds and Vineyards fertile, that his Jewish Subjects needed not to travel to Egypt in the dayes of Famine, but that his Monarchy would infinitely exceed that of Solomons in Peace and Plenty; They thought that the Ro­man Eagles would be gathered as Chickens un­der his Wings, and that his Gleanings would be better then the Vintage of all the Kingdomes upon Earth; But when he told them, his King­dome was not of this World; that his Crown must be of Thorns, how few did bear his reproach to follow him without the Camp? to honour him in the indignities of his passion? What is this but the Artifice of filthy Lucre, to make a Gain of Godliness to assemble for Corn, Wine, and Oyl, to bake Cakes to the Queen of heaven, not to be consumed with famine; to court the Kings Daughter because she is an Inheritrix of [Page 31] temporal Blessings, and not for the Beauties of her Holiness; but they that are affraid, or ashamed of the Profession of Godliness before Tyrants, Tribunals, Flames, and Faggots, of them will the Son of Man be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of the Father, with all his holy Angels.

Let thy Form have such an inviting Modesty, as to allure others to a Love and Participation of the Power of Godliness. Musitians observe in the Sympathy of sounds, that if two Viols be tuned to a Consonancy, and the String of one be struck, the same string of the other will sound, though laid at a Distance; such an Har­mony there is of Souls, that if a well-tuned Heart be struck with the Finger of God, it will send forth such a Melody that will work in others, an Unison, and Concord with it self; Dauid went up with the Tribes to worship, An­drew brought Simon, Philip Nathaniel, the wo­man of Samaria the City of Sychar to the pre­sence of the Messiah.

The Apostles did triumph in the Myriads of the Jews, the Kingdoms of the Gentiles, the Numberless Accessions of the World to the lit­tle Flock of Christ. A Form well ordered in all [Page 32] things by a sweet and gracious Conversation, doth powerfully and placidly insinuate it self to produce this Effect; which I shall demonstrate thus. The Word is the great Instrument of Faith; it hath a Moral, and Suasive Power to propound Arguments to the Understanding, and Objects to the Will, Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But this Cause is not irresistible, for we find the Apostle taking up the Complaint of the Prophet, Who hath be­lieved our report? But where the Word is defi­cient, the Form of a good Conversation may be Efficient of Faith in Christ. St. Peter exhorts Wives to be in subjection to their own Hus­bands, that if any obey not the Word, they may without the Word be won, with the conversation of their Wives, while they behold their chastity cou­pled with fear. It seems the Eye is a better Or­gan then the Ear, sometimes to conveigh Light and Happiness to the Spirit, and good Works are better Orators then good Words; For so we read in Story, that Theodolinda, Queen of the Longobards, converted both her Husbands, the First from Gentilism, the other from Aria­nism, an auspicious Lady, to espouse them both to the great Bridegroom of Souls; but the Sto­ry [Page 33] is still Big with greater Wonder, for her Vir­tues were so Exemplary and Eminent, that they executed an Apostolick Office, and converted the Nation of her Subjects to be baptized into the Catholick Faith.

If thou seest a beauty in the Form of Godli­ness, and wouldst preserve it from decay, avoid the sins mentioned in the Catalogue. The Ene­mies of a form, are those of her own house, no Sins make her more Odious, then those that are Shrowded and Sheltred under her Protection.

All sin hath such an abhorrence to the pow­ers of holiness, that they hate the Form, and Fringes of her Garment (as is commonly obser­ved of the Panther, that he so abhors the person of a man, that he tears in pieces his picture) For a Form extorts, from Seducers, and Sectaries, those Actions that are against the Bent and In­clination of their hearts; They are Covetous, and yet the false Apostles at Corinth, preached freely to get Occasion of Glory, and disgrace St. Paul; who was there forced to live by his Me­chanick Labours, that he might not be Burden­som, or Chargeable to that Opulent and Cen­sorious City.

They are Self-lovers, in their Benificence and [Page 34] Good Will towards men. I need not mention anymore, seeing Self-love is so Prolifical a Pa­rent of all the other Sins, that they must have a Commixture and Co-incidence with it, as Bran­ches in the Stem from whence they grow: So that the Form is a Restriction to, and Contradi­ction of their Villanies, though they use it as an Artifice to palliate their sweet and secret Sins, and to make way for an open Dissolution; The sixth verse calls them Creepers, while they creep into houses unawares, and privily sow their Tares, and are Despicable; they insinuate themselves with Pretences of Strictness, and a Tender Con­science, of Modesty, and Meekness, of Conde­scentions, and Philanthropy; but when the Creeping Party becomes prevailing, they soon forget their formal Complements, and break the Bonds of their former Restrictions asunder, and cast away their Cords from them; they are Blas­phemers, and fill heaven with Reproaches; Traytors, and fill Kingdoms with Seditions, the Tender Conscience soon betrayes it self in Sear­edness, and unnatural Affection, is incontinent in all Excesses, and fierce in all Errors, with a Rage reaching up to heaven: how contrary is this to the Light of the Gospel, that is altoge­ther [Page 35] Serene, and Pacifical; to the Tongues of Fire that descended on the Apostles, that by all-powerfull words did create those Miracles that were all like his that sent the Comforter, the instances of mercy: new light soon turns into Wild-fire, and the Tender Conscience Ravens as a Wolfe, to make havock of the Church; The Arians, and Donatists of old, and Anabap­tists in Munster, and Sectaries of England of late have been sufficient Arguments to make this manifest to all men, and Alarms to Princes whose security consists in the Pre­servation of Religion; In this vigilancy Babilon exceeded Zion, for Nebuchadnezar made a Decree, that what ever Nation spake against the God of Shadrach, should be made a Dunghill, but of Judah where God was known the Pro­phet complains, according to the Number of thy Cities, so are thy Gods O Judah: to return, An Hypocrite Loves not freely, and heartily his Reigning Sin, because it exerciseth a Tyranny and Co-active Power over him; it restraines him from swallowing the sweet Morcels he tacitely hungers after, therefore he Dethrones it, and takes away the Scepter of Authority from it, when he can have his other Lords to [Page 36] Reign over him; and exposes his Form when he hath cast of its Yoak to the greatest Odium and Contempt; what cheap thoughts must men have of a Form of Godliness when it's infected with Dishonesty, the feigned Saint is manifestly a real Knave, and all his Humiliations and Pray­ers, wherein he deprecates the Evils of Cove­tousness, are apparently but feigned words to make merchandise of the Inheritance of Or­phans, the Houses of Widdowes, the Patrimo­ny of the Church, and the Rights of his Bro­ther? how infamous must the way of Balaam be in the opinions of men? who said he would not curse Israel for an house-full of Silver and Gold; crying out, how good are thy Tents O Ja­cob, and thy Tabernacles O Israel; Praying that there might be no Divination against Jacob, or Inchantment against Israel; yet all this holy Discourse and heavenly Resolution was but a Varnish to a deceitfull heart that was Brib'd with filthy Lucre, and the Wages of unrighte­ousness: can a Dogs neck more desecrate an Altar? or the image of an Adonis a Temple? then for a man to fling out his Invectives against sin, and yet to indulge those that are contribu­tary to his Lust, and Avarice? what are the [Page 37] Prayers of these men but so many Practical Lyes told to heaven, who while they pray, with a tacite Blasphemy defie God, and when they sin, by open Atheism deny him, and the Vota­ries are as certainly the Captives of the Devil, as they are the creatures of God.

Avoid those sins that are inconsistent with a Form of Godliness, which may be reduced to a tripartite Division; Some hinder the Assu­ming of a Form, others Blast it, whilst it is Pro­fessed; and others do Renounce it, and Cast it off. The sins that hinder the Assuming of a Form, are Prejudice, and Fear.

Prejudice against the Precepts, that command us to cut off the Right hand, which is interpre­ted the Mutilation of the Body; as Fervency of Spirit is the Calenture of the Soul, the Commu­nicating and Doing good, the Wasting the Estate, and being Evil spoken of for the Name of Christ, the Wounding the Reputation, these are the Grievous Commandments of an Hard Master, to which, in stead of Binding them to mens Fingers, they give them a Manumission; and with the Young man in the Gospel, Go away; and with Orpah, salute, and forsake to­gether.

Fear, if with Scylla, they could see a Crown on the Liver of the Sacrifice, the Wages of God­liness, the Divinations of Riches and Honour; they would become Disciples; but when they Observe all that will live Godly in Christ, must suffer Persecution, and through many Tribula­tions we must enter into the Kingdom of hea­ven, they are offended at the Cross of Christ, they think there is a Lyon in the way, that af­frightens them from any Essay of walking in them.

These sins hinder men from being Catechu­mens, but which is worse, some that are Baptized blast their Profession by a Flagitious Life, live without God in the world, that it had been bet­ter for them they had never known the Way of Truth. Such are they that think it below a Brave Spirit, to tremble at a Threatning, but stifle the Warnings of their own Bosom, and live in Chambering, and Wantonness, Rage, and Riot, Swearing, and Uncleanness, that a man without the Breach of Charity may say, they have no Faith.

But Apostacy, from Faith, and Obedience, does Obliterate all the Characters of a Form, and makes Shipwrack of Profession, and re­nounceth [Page 39] Communion with the Visible Church. There were three sorts of these Apostates in the times of St. Cyprian; the Traditores, that gave their Bibles, in stead of their Bodies, to be burnt; the Thurificati, that offered Incense to Idols; and the Libellatici, whose Denials of Christ were more Private and Auricular, but bought Tickets from the Magistrates, to preserve them from that Bloody Inquisition. Now an Apo­state cannot be an Hypocrite, for he is gone out of the Precincts of the Church; They went out from us, because they were not of us, saith St. John, they have broken themselves off from that Body into which they were implanted by Baptism, and are Strangers to the Covenant of Promise: Thus we see the Dignity, and Defection of a Form, how it is to be exercised, suspended, and moderated, and how to direct its course be­tween a Rude, and Rigid Zeal, and a loose and Sceptical Profession; we see the Grounds and Gradations of its Dishonours, and Decays, how that it departs from some men as the Glory of the Lord did from the Temple, and Altar, and Threshold of the house, in the Vision of Ezekiel: and when the Leafe thus falls and withereth, the Tree is Barren, and Corrupt, [Page 40] for that is the Climacterical time to shew its Disease is Mortal, and therefore it must not cumber the Vineyard, but be cut down, or plucked up by the Rootes.

But it is high time for us to come to the Power of Godliness, which hath so much Goodness in it, that it should not be accounted an Offence; and so much Wisdom, that it should not be ac­counted Foolishness; the Necessity of it is so great, that it should not be Delayed, and the Excellency so Glorious, that it should not be Denied: therefore, as all men should acquire it for Salvation, so our Present Duty is to in­quire, wherein it Consists, and Discovereth it self.

I have already explained the Phrase, that the Reducing of the Habits, and Vital Principles of Grace into Act, is the Power of Godliness; the Philosophy of which Leads us to the Considera­tion, That Habits of Grace are those Divine Qualities, infused into the Soul by the Spirit of God, which incline the Heart, and sway the Conscience to an actual Obedience, to the Will of God, with Facility, and great Delight. They are therefore called by the Fathers, and School­men, the Springs, and Fountains of Grace, not [Page 41] like the Fountain in the midst of Paradise that flowes with continual waters, but like the wa­ters of Siloam, that spring from the foot of mount Sion, qui non jugibus aequis sed certis horis diebus (que) ebullit, whose Streams are not alwayes Current, but in the due seasons of time: The musical knowledge of a Lutanist in his Quavers, Rests, and Motions, whereby he is able on all occasions to play those delightfull Airs that commend his skill, is the Habit of the Artist, but suppose the Hand of the Lutanist be wounded, he hath still the knowledge, and Habit of his Faculty, although the Exercise be prevented by the Indisposition of that necessary Instrument of his musick; so the Godly man that hath these principles of a Celestial Original, hath upon all occasions his sences exercised by rea­son of use, sutable to those commands the law of God requires, and those Emergencies the Providences of God expose him to: and al­though the Acts of Grace may be suspended sometimes by Natural, or Civil actions, some­times by inevitable Infirmities, yet still he hath a New Nature, the Unction of the Holy one, and the seed of God abiding in him: for [Page 42] our clearer understanding of which, we are to consider.

1. The Plenty of Godliness consists in the Habits of Graces; The Righteous are said to be Trees Planted by the Rivers of water, and the Trees of the Lord are full of Sappe. The Radical moysture of these noble Vines may Retire to the Root in Winter, yet at the return of the Sun they send forth their Grapes in Clusters, and their Perfume as the smell of Le­banon, as a homage of gratitude to the Influen­ences of Heaven, and the Blessings of God. These are the Gifts of a Liberal God, like those of a Prince in his Inauguration and Festivity, for he sheds abroad the washing of Regenerati­on, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost abun­dantly upon us; that we may abound in the work of the Lord. And as there is more light in the body of the Sun, then in all the beams that shine on the World; for, suppose they were all Eclipsed, the Sun in a moment, or impercep­tible time, could supply them all, by one Irra­diation; so if the Acts of Grace were all vanish­ed, they would be Renewed by the treasures of their Causes. The Acts of Grace are Transi­ent, but the Habits are Permanent, and Reple­nish [Page 43] the soul with innumerable Activities, to the Comfort of the Believer, and the Glory of the Giver. This is called, a Living by Faith, therefore acts flow from the Habits of grace, as beams from the Sun, and streams from a foun­tain, are many, mighty, pleasing, vigorous, and delectable, they are free, frequent, natural, and numberless.

2. The Power of Godliness, is the reducing the Habits of Grace into Exercise, and Operati­on. The same word doth the Apostle use to his son Timothy, Be strong in the Grace that is in Je­sus Christ; go on from Strength to Strength, till thou appear before God in Sion; shine like the Sun, more and more, till the perfect Day, who from the Twylight of the morning, Runs his Race like a Gyant, till it comes to its meridian brightness. The Initials of Grace are weak, like an Embryo, infirm as an Infant, but by su­peradded acts, the Smoaking Flax is kindled in­to a Flame, and the Bruised Reed becomes a Cedar, the Habits grow in strength, and stature, by the addition of one grace to another, which is the supply of every part extensively, adding to faith virtue; and intensively, by the additi­on of one degree of Grace unto another, till it [Page 44] comes to the measure of its stature; when righ­teousness is revealed from faith to faith; Grace is never commensurate in the beauty of propor­tion, till it is consummate in the beauty of per­fection. They that were divorced from their sins, as Phaltiel was from Michal, who went weeping after her to Bahurim; when this Gift of God is stirred up in them, contemplate ho­liness with joy; they that did deprecate Wrath with Fear, implore Mercy with Confidence; They that sought after him whom their soul Lo­ved, when, with Andrew, they have found the Messias, Lean on his bosom, Love him dearly, Esteem him highly, Follow him fully, and Live with him eternally.

The weak in the faith, and the feeble-mind­ed, wrestle not with Principalities, and Powers, but with God himself, give all diligence to make their Calling sure, press forward to the Price of their high Calling, abound in the work of the Lord, till by uncessant Labours, they rest in the Fruition of him; as if we might suppose a spark of Fire unextinguishable, it would be in conti­nual Ascents, till it came to its own Coun­trey, and Region, under the Concave of the Moon

[Page 45]1. There is a mighty Tendency and Impulse in Habits to exert themselves into Act, they are the full Breasts of Consolation, that are uneasie till they are Drawn, and Dispenced, they are as seed cast into the Earth, that lives and growes up into an Harvest; They are Talents to be improved, and Lamps to be furnished; and be­cause Flames are soon spent unless God be in the Bush, and Streams soon vanish without an Ocean, it being God that worketh in us both to Will, and to Doe, that giveth Life and Motion to these Qualities of the Soul; we must have still Recourse to the Influences of his Power, and the supplyes of his spirit.

2. There is a Gratitude in free and frequent acts to further the Growth, Strength, and Ra­dication of their Habits; as natural Qualities are intended by natural Actions, so are super­natural, as the more a man playes on a Musical Instrument, the greater are the habiliments of his art; So Hoseah. 6.3. Then shall ye know the Lord, if ye follow on to know the Lord; infused knowledge should be increased by a studious meditation; So Coll. 1.10. Filled with the Knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, there is the Infusion of [Page 46] the Habit, That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all well pleasing, being fruitfull in every good work, there it is reduced to act, increasing in the knowledge of God, there is the Radication of it, For he that will do Gods will shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God. Joh. 17.7. they are not Lazy and Languid things, but are discovered by the facility strengthned by the frequency of their own Actions. The habit and the act are thus bound up together in the Bundles of life, combine in Vigor, and Virtue, in Influence, and Causality on one another; and hence it is that an Habit of Grace is a Quality difficultly removed, and although it may be interrupted and suspended by impetuous Temp­tations, and imperious Lusts, yet in this Hosti­lity and Conflict it is Restless till it is prevalent, and have Dominion, as the Sympathy of a Needle touched with a Load-stone makes it un­quiet in its greatest trembling, and disturbance, till it Rests, as in its Center, in a Direct Line poynting at the Polar star; And as in an uneven Ally a Bowl may run one way when the Byass inclines it another, so a Godly Man may be Di­sturbed by Surreption and Infirmity, though the Habit doth sublimate, and sway the heart to the [Page 47] service of God: The habits of Grace will not be kept in arctâ custodiâ, but will break prison, and walk at Liberty.

This Power discovereth it self.

1. In Resisting strong Temptations, to ex­press it in the Allusion of the Apostle, it quits it self like a Man in its spiritual Olympicks, when the messenger of Satan buffeted our Apostle he besought the Lord thrice, the assault of an Enemy excites the valour of a Veteran Souldier, so the urgency and vehemency of Temptation made him ingeminate his requests to God.

2. In mortifying strong corruptions, dethro­ning Satan from his strong holds, captivating every Imagination, that towreth against the commands of Christ, destroying every Reign­ing sin, as Josuah did the Kings of Canaan.

3. In Acts of eminent Obedience; A sacri­fice can be worth but little, that costs nothing; Abel offered up his Best, Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, St. Paul himself, he was rea­dy to be offered; This Power animates and en­obles the heart, to hate father, and mother, to [Page 48] cast away his chiefest Joy, as a snare, to cut off the Right hand, and pull out the Right eye, to fling away the most precious Treasure, as a Tor­ment, at the command of Christ; if a man have Wit and Learning, this divine power is as a spring of Motion to him, to be usefull and profi­table in worthy Instances, and Institutions; in meditations on Gods Word, Defence of his Truth, Instruction of his People, and inquiry into those mysteries, that is, the Emulation of Angels to pry into: if a man hath Honour, this Power makes it a Champion for the Patronage, and Lustre of Religion, it Humbles him, to fling down his Coronet at the feet of the Lamb, and Advanceth him, because he hath something the world hath an Esteem for, to Deny for his Savi­our, which is beyond the Proportions, and pos­sibilities of ordinary Christians: if he hath Ri­ches, this Power turns his Almoner, feeds the Hungry, cloaths the Naked, Erects Hospitals, builds Schools of Learning, and makes his life the definition of the Law of Charity: all his measures in religion are laudable, and transcen­dent, not onely thrust down, and shaken toge­ther, but running over.

But do not these Gloryes of the Power of [Page 49] Godliness, discourage those that are weak in grace? I answer, that it may be propounded as a Probleme, that the New-born Babe hath more strength, then the Old man, the infancy of grace is more powerfull, then the Decrepid Age of an inveterate Lust, as there is more vigour in a few Drops of Spirits, then a great quantity of water; so there is in the smallest seed, and sparkle of Godliness, then the greater measures of Corru­ption: for this seed grows in the midst of all the Tares that would choak it, and this sparkle lives in the midst of all the waters that would extin­guish it, and the smoaking Flax, and bruised Reed, break forth into Victory, against all the Winds and Tempests that oppose them: which strange vigour doth not arise from the immorta­lity of any Grace in it self, but from the supplies of that spirit, that is greater, potentior, saith Be­za, stronger in us, then he that is in the world.

I shall conclude all by an instance, how to re­duce the Habit of Love, that Powerful, and Ope­rative Grace into act; which when it is once Kindled in the Bosom of a man, he finds his Heart, like the Disciples going to Emaus, burn in the flames of a most Seraphical Affection. The Master of the Sentences denies any habit of Love in the soul, but asserts, that all its Emanations [Page 50] flow immediately from the Person of the Holy Ghost: but seeing the Apostle expressly distin­guisheth between the habit of Love, and the Spi­rit, as between the Effect, and its Cause, when he tells us, That the Love of God is shed abundant­ly in our Hearts, by the Holy Ghost; and the Acts of this Love are Defined to be, the Fulfilling of the Law, the Bond of Perfection, and the end of the Commandment, we may reduce this habit into act by Examples, and Arguments.

1. By Argument, Enter then, O my soul, into those Galleries, wherein the King of Glory Walks, and is Detained; and Observe how he hath commended his Love toward thee, All the Dimensions of his Love, its Height, Length, Depth, and Breadth are so many Topicks to per­swade and allure thee, to be Espoused to him, as thy Bridegroom.

The heighth of this Love is Extasie; that God over all, blessed for ever, equal to the Father, in whom are hid all the Treasures of wisdom, and Knowledge, whom the Angels worship, should have his heart Ravished with a Creature, pollu­ted with Blood, defiled with Sin, subjected to Damnation, that when thou wast upon the Pre­cipice of Ruine, stretched forth his hand to save thee, and draw thee into his Bosom. Canst thou, [Page 51] O my soul! forbear to say with the beloved Dis­ciple; To him that Loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us Kings, and Priests unto God; To him be glory and domini­on, for ever and ever.

The depth of this Love was humility, he hum­bled himself to assume our nature in the Form of a servant, to bear our miseries, and become obedient to death. David and Jonathan were a famous pair of Lovers; Jonathan, who was heir apparent to the Crown, Knew David was de­signed for it by the Almighty, yet was faithful to him in his secrets, sollicitous for him in his Dangers, and gave him his hand to advance him to his own Throne: But the Love of Christ is without a Parallel, That supream power should assume the Form of a Servant, infinite glory should submit to a Reproach, exquisite Purity, should suffer imputed sin, that the Son of God's Complacency should bear the Viols of his Wrath, should descend from heaven, come out of the Bosom of his Father, to enter into a Grave; what greater token of his Love could he give thee, then his Agony, his Blood, his Life? Surely, O my soul, thou art harder then Iron, if this Loadstone will not draw thee. Well might Solomon rifle all the Rarities of Nature, to be [Page 52] Symbols of this Love, to which the whole Crea­tion is not sufficient to be an Allegory. For greater Love then this hath no man, then to Lay down his Life for his friend; but herein he com­mended his Love to us, that while we were sin­ners, he died for us. Consider the High Priest of our Profession, hanging on the Altar of his Cross, with his arms stretched wide open to re­ceive thee, and canst thou forbear Leaning on his Breast, and prying into the secrets of his Love, the Knowledge of which passeth Under­standing.

The Breadth of this Love is Universality: so immense it is, that it hath mercy for thousands, a Plenteous Redemption, salvation to the utter­most; he tasted death for every man, and Laid down his life for the world. No man ever peri­shed for want of Bounty, or Bowels, the Passion or Compassion of a Saviour, but because his sen­sual Part is offended at Christs Cross, and com­mands. Consider then, O my soul! how dele­ctable are his Laws? how glorious his Cross? Obedience is essential to Love, and where it is habitual, there is as much Pleasantness in his Pre­cept, as there is Sweetness in his Promise: if thou prefer profit with Judas, pleasure with Zimri, honour with Diotrephes, an Obliquity before a [Page 53] Right path, thou dost not only sin against the Precept, but the Grace of God that would assist thee to observe it. Faith looks at a future Retribution, but love immediately at the Me­rit of the Law-giver and the kindness of his Commands; and if the Amabilities of them, were once presented to thee, it would be as un­easie to thee to be vicious, as it would be to a vicious Person to be Devout; thou wouldst see Liberty in his Yoake, and Lightness in his Burden, it would be as a Wing to a Dove, an help in motion, as Ballast to a ship, an hindrance against fluctuation. As his Commands are Plea­santness, so is his Cross peace, our Saviour to commend his Love to us, consulted not the Dignity of his person, the Tragedy of his Passi­on, but longed for his Suffrings, thirsted after his Cup, hungred after that Passover, which he was to eate with such bitter herbs. Esteem then O my Soul! but all things as Dross to know the fellowship of his sufferings, which are Seals of thy Adoption, Pledges of Gods pater­nal Love, and and work an eternal weight of Glory.

The length of this Love is eternity, its an antient Love, from everlasting, he loved us first; its durable to everlasting, he loved us to [Page 54] the end; it is not Critical, or Captious to take offence at every lapse, or Omission. And if it be lawfull to speak of the Duration of God, by the Measures of time; this Love was as great in the first Moment as it can be to Eterni­ty: for then did the admirable and astonishing Wisdom of the blessed Trinity consult the Salvation of thy Precious Soul; by the Incar­nation, and Passion of the Son of God, when the fallen Angels were left in a State of irreco­verable Perdition: That he that is Glorious in holiness, should be a Sin and a Curse for us by the Projects set up from everlasting, is so stu­pendious a Depth that unless it had been mani­fested in the Gospel, had been the highest Blas­phemy to imagine it, and what the Wisdom of the three Persons did contrive, the Love of the second did bestow, he loved us, and gave him­self for us, Thou must then O my Soul! either account all this a Golden Dream, or a well de­vised Fable, or else not suffer the world to be a Rival in thy Estimation, and Affection with the Son of God, if these meditations be seri­ously beleived, and judiciously weighed, thou canst not Expostulate what is thy Beloved more then another Beloved, who is the cheifest among [Page 55] ten thousand, altogether Love, and altogether Lovely.

2. Converse with divine Objects and Ex­amples. As Flame Kindles Flame, so doe exam­ples excite Love, and Objects not only Attract the heart but Ravish and Transform it; if David muses, the fire will burn, if Moses be in the mount his face will shine; the Butterfly doth adorn her self, and the Bee enrich her self, by dwelling on the Flowers of the feild; if a Ray of Love may spring from a Glance, how much more from a Vision face to face, a full contemp­lation of the beauty of holiness? I shall con­sider but three freinds of the Bridegroom, and their Delicious Intimacies with him; Mary Magdalen she loved much, and kissed the feet of Christ, to acknowledge her subjection to him, she washed them with her Tears, and wiped them with the Haires of her head: if there w [...]re virtue in touching the Hemme of his Gar­ment, much more in kissing his feet that were so Beautifull that his very foot-stool was glorious, and the Throne of Grace; St. John (we may say) kissed the hands of Christ to acknowledge his Dependance on him, whose hand was the great instrument of Bounty, [Page 56] whose Bosom, in which he Lodged, the Trea­sury of Grace and Cabinet of secrets, where he had the misteries of the Kingdom of Heaven revealed to him; could a man choose a diviner mansion, or inhabite a better Tabernacle? The Spouse kissed the Lipps of Christ to show her Communion with him. Those Lipps that had Grace powred into them, and spake the Words of eternal Life; such Examples will excite the heart to Emulation and make it sick of Love; I will give him then ten thousand Kisses, and embraces, I will serve him, praise him, Trust in him till my love is consummate, by being for ever with the Lord; And then O my Soul, if he should aske thee as he did Peter, Simon Bar Jonah Lovest thou me? thou wilt answer as he did, Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee.

By this instance we are directed to exercise any other Grace of the Gospel.