SECT. I. How much it imports us to Love God above All Things.

WHen the Pharisee askt our Saviour, VVhat is the Great Com­mandement in the Law? Math. 22.36. Our dear Redeemer, who came to perfect the Old Law, who came to change the Law of Fear into a [Page 2]Law of Love, who brought down fire from Heaven to enflame our Hearts, replyd: Thou shalt Love thy Lord thy God with all thy Heart, v. 37.with all thy Soul, v. 38.with all thy Mind. This is the Great Commandement.

I fear that many of us litle think how Great it is. We litle reflect on the one side how great our Obliga­tions are to Love our God; & on the other side how great are the Advantages which cannot fail to attend this Love. We litle consider how great our Ingratitude is, if we omit our Greatest Duty; How great our Folly is, if we neglect our Greatest Good.

SECT. II. That the Love of God is our Greatest Duty.

TO make it plainly appear that the Love of God above all things is the Greatest Duty of a Christian, One would think it were enough to shew, that 'tis a Duty which comprises all our other Duties; that it is the Total Sum of Christiani­ty; & that, without the least hyperbole, it is the VVhole Duty of Man; because all other Precepts whatsoever only are so many Branches of this Great Commandement, which is the Root of all the rest. Serm. de Orat. Domin. S. Cyprian calls it the Grand Epitome of all our Obliga­tions. [Page 4]And were it necessa­ry, it were easy to demon­strate that as God is there­fore infinitely Perfecter than all his Creatures, because He really contains in his own Essence all Perfections whatsoever; so our Obliga­tion to Love him is incom­parably greater than all o­ther obligations, because it eminently comprehends them all together.

This is enough to give us a confus'd Idea of our Duty at a distance. If we draw the prospect nigher, we shall find an infinite va­riety of pressing motives which enforce our Obliga­tion. Every single Excellen­cy of the Object we adore is all Divine▪ No shadow there of any Blemish to ob­scure [Page 5]those Charms which challenge our Affection: Nothing in our God but what is infinitely amiable, & deserving infinitely more than All the Love that we are able to return. Since therefore All and every one of his innumerable Excel­lencies are unlimited & boundless; since they All & every one deserve a sui­table Esteem; since they command our Love as much as they deserve it: hence it follows clearly, that our Duty is as boundless as their Merit; & that, as S. Ber­nard says, There is no other Measure of our Love, than Loving without Measure.

Amongst the numberless variety of those divine Per­fections, which the Eye has [Page 6]not seen,1. Cor. 2.9.nor the Ear heard, nor have enter'd into the Heart of any man; there is One which we are more acquainted with; there's One which in a manner makes the rest our own; & which, of all, is the most apt to make a sensible impression in a Generous Heart; I mean that of a True Friend. We read in Ecclesiasticus, 6.15. that There is nothing comparable to a True & Faithfull Friend: and that, in the ballance of the Wise, He weighs much more than all the Gold & Silver in the world. As there is nothing Better upon Earth than a True Friend, so there is nothing more pre­tended to. And as the world deceives us most, where we expect it least; so there is hardly any thing in which [Page 7]it more deceives us, than in this. Of all, that read these lines, perhaps there is not one who has not been already very much mista­ken in a Friend: and 'tis no wonder, if we always [...] so, till we raise our hearts above this World, & fix them there, where we are sure to find a True & Faith­full One; who Loves us gra­tis; Always Lov'd us; Lov'd us even when we were his Ene­mies; and will for all Eter­nity continue the same Love, unless we prove Ʋn­gratefull, & refuse to Love Him above all things, as He very well deserves.

He Loves us gratis: Not for any Good He gains by it; or any litle Service we can do him. He cannot [Page 8]stand in need of any of those Goods, which every moment He bestows upon us. 16.2. Thou art my God, says the Psalmist; My Goodness extends not to Thee. When we have done all we can, Luke 17.10. we are un­profitable Servants: We have done our selves the great­est good we can imagine, but our God is not a jot the better for't. Lib. 10. de Civ. The Fountain, says S. Austin, is not better for our drinking at the Stream, nor the Sun the better for our walking by his Light. If I may use S. Paul's expression, 2. Cor. 12.14. He seeks not what is Ours, but Ʋs. He seeks for nothing but our Love, & even this Com­mand he lays upon us meer­ly for our Good: Deut. 10.12.13. And Now, says He, what dos thy Lord thy God require of thee, but to Love [Page 9]Him with all thy Heart; vvhich I command thee, this Day, for thy Good. Behold dear Christians, a True & Faithfull Friend! and see how you can answer it to your Good Nature, if you do not Love Him.

He always Lov'd us; al­ways thought of us; not only all of us in generall, but every one of us; & Lov'd us with a Love E­ternall as Himself. He says, in the Prophet Jeremy; 13.3. I have Lov'd Thee, with an Eternall Love; therefore with loving Kind­ness have I drawn Thee. And what more powerfull At­tractive can there be to draw us to Him; than that Lo­ving Kindness which from all Eternity took care of our Concerns, contriv'd our future Happyness, & drew [Page 10]a Scheme of all the necessa­ry means to bring us to it. Except himself, He hardly thought of any thing but Us; Our first Creation, our Redemption, our Salvation, were always in his Eye; they were the Eternall En­tertainment of his mind; they were the Great De­sign which gave occasion to the first Production of this World, which we ungrate­fully preferr before Him, though He made it for us. Never forsake your Old Friend, Eccli. 9.14.your New one will never be like Him. Alas! who can help it, if we will be so ungratefull, & forsake so ancient a Friend? we may be sure it is impos­sible to find a New one comparable to him.

He Lov'd us, even when [Page 11]we were his Enemies. Tis true; The first Production of the Universe was Proof enough; & no man can deny but that so Great a Gift be­stowd upon us, for our Use, aboundantly sets forth the Greatness of his Love. But yet the whole Crea­tion of the World is no­thing to the constant Con­servation of it for our sakes, who have so long so much abus'd it. If the first bestowing of a more than ordinary favour, without any previous merit on our side, be such an argument of more than ordinary Love; What is the constant repetition & continuation of the Same so long a time, although the longer we en­joy it, we demerit more & [Page 12]more, & are as obstinate in our Ingratitude as He is con­stant in his Kindness? Was there ever any true & hear­ty Love, like this! S. Paul expresses some ressemblance of it in a second Letter which he writes to the Co­rinthians, & declares his readyness to serve them, though (says he) the more aboun­dantly I love you,1. Cor. 12.15.the lesse I am lov'd. We read it in the 12. chapter, which relates his Rapture into the third Hea­ven: and without all doubt this Love of his was copyed there from the divine Ori­ginall. If one small Spark of this celestial Love had such a wonderfull effect in the Apostle's breast; What can we say or think of that immense & boundless Fire [Page 13]of Everlasting Love, which no Ingratitude of Man was ever able to extinguish! Though our God foresaw how much it was in vain to court our Love, although He was not ignorant that his Affection for so base & so unworthy Creatures would be more despis'd the more he labour'd to endear us to him; though He knew before hand the unparal­lelld Ingratitude of Man; Nevertheless He sent his only Son to save us, He could not hold his Hand, He could not deny himself the Satisfaction of being in­finitely Kind. Be astonisht, Jerem. 2.12.O ye Heavens, at this!

S. John, discoursing of this Love, takes notice of no other motive of it than [Page 12] [...] [Page 13] [...] [Page 14]our Gratitude; our indispen­sable Obligation to be Gratefull to so Good a Friend. 1. Jo. 4.19. We Love Him, says he, because He first Lov'd Ʋs. He dos not say, because He's infinitely Good & Perfect in himself, but because He has been infi­nitely Good & Kind to us. His reason I gather from the 12. v. of the same Chap­ter, where He says, No man has seen God any time; & the 20. where he adds, How can a man Love God, whom he has not seen? If we had ever seen him Face to Face, 1. Cor. 13.12. as all the Blessed Spirits do in Hea­ven, we should then have lov'd Him here as they do there; The very Sight of Him (although He never had been Kind) would have transported us beyond all [Page 15]thoughts of any thing but Him; it would have been impossible to entertain the least impression of any other Love, in Competition with Him. But because this Hap­pyness is not to be expected here, where 'tis impossible to see Him as He is: 1. Jo. 3.2. There­fore S. John, the Disciple whom JESUS Lov'd, Who by expe­rience knew that no im­pression sinks deeper in a Generous heart, Jo. 21. v. 7. than the endearing Obligation of re­turning Love for Love, pleads nothing else but Gra­titude for the fullfilling of this Great Commande­ment; VVe Love Him, 1. Jo. 4.19. says he, because He first Lov'd us.

There's nothing more ob­liging than the Love of a True Friend; & nothing else obli­ges [Page 16]us without it. What­soever the interiour value of a Benefit amounts to, when we cast it up, the Obligation is not taxt by any other weight or measure than his Love to whom we stand indebted for it. In this Case, Ingratitude of all crimes is the most unpar­donable, a Crime so base, which Human Nature so abhorrs, that even the Worst of men who are asham'd of nothing else, can never en­dure that any man should either say or think They are Ʋngratefull. Other sins they publish to the World, but This They always labour to conceal. And though I scarce can think of any Wicked­ness so infamous but Some have been so Wicked as to [Page 17]Glory in it; yet Ingratitude is so Ʋnworthy, carries so much Baseness in the very Front of it, that I could never hear of any that were ever Proud of being thought Ʋngratefull. Rather than a Man should think They are so, they in­vent a thousand frivolous pretences to disown the Obligation; they quarrell with the Benefit; revile the Benefactor; & that they may deny a less Ingratitude they hide it with a greater. So asham'd they are to own this fault, that they had rather be a thousand times ungratefull than be once esteemd so.

This is the Crime which many of us are so Guilty of, although we as are as much unwilling to beleeve it, as we [Page 18]are asham'd to own it. And One of the most notorious aggravations of our great Ingratitude is this; that we not only are so, but are in a manner quite insensible of being so. Because our God is infinitely more our Friend than any Other can be, Therefore we regard Him infinitely less. We can­not without indignation observe one man ungrate­full to another: The very Sto­ry of an ungratefull Action, says Seneca, puts us out of all Pa­tience, and gives us a loathing for the Author of it. That inhuman Villain, we cry, to do so horrid a Thing! And yet when we observe how horribly un­gratefull a poor miserable Creature is to our Creator, we take litle notice of it; [Page 19]we regard it with a cold indifference, as if we were content it should be so.

We cannot plead in our defence that we are igno­rant how much we stand indebted to him for his Love: Alas! we all know well enough that there was never any Love like His: so True, so Ancient, & so Con­stant. If we plead Forgetfull­ness or Inadvertency; 'twill only make the matter worse by offering to mend it. He is the most Ʋngratefull of all, says the Morall Philosopher, who Forgets either the Benefactor, or the Benefit. And yet when we have made the best we can of an ill Cause, 'tis cer­tain that the true, if not the only, Reason why we are insensible of our Ingra­titude, [Page 20]is because we seldom call to mind, & almost quite Forget, 1. Jo. 4.19. how Great our Obli­gation is to Love our God, be­cause He first Lov'd us.

All the Ends of the VVorld, Psalm. 22.28. says the Psalmist, shall Remember, and be Converted to God. Let us Remember only What a Friend God is; how infinitely Bet­ter than the Best we have besides: Let us Remember on­ly This, and We shall be Con­verted: We shall be asham'd of our Ingratitude, and Love Him above all Things.

SECT. III. That the Love of God is our Greatest Good.

WHatever our Duty is▪ the very word Com­mandement [Page 21]is always odious to those who love their Li­berty, & makes it so much harder to go down with them. But yet, if after se­cond thoughts upon the matter, we discover that One reason, why it is our Greatest Obligation, is be­cause it is our Greatest Good; Math. 11.30. the Yoke will then seem easy & the Burthen light.

Three things there are, which gain our Hearts, command our Inclinations, & in a manner gouvern all our Actions; and these three things are, Honour, Pro­fit, Pleasure. Whatsoever we call Good falls under one of these three Heads; tis ei­ther Honourable, Profitable, or Delightfull. All these three ac­company the Love of God; [Page 22]& none of them are ever be found without it.

1. To begin with Honour: I take for granted, No man ought to judge that This or That is Honourable, because the Generality of Mankind, by mistake, is apt to value & admire it; but before he gives his verdict, every man should first consider well the merits of the cause. A Wife Man though he liv'd amongst a Multitude of In­fidells, & saw how much they honour & adore false Gods, he would not there­fore presently conclude such Idols Honourable; but would rather laugh at those who are so blind as not to see how litle They deserve it. The Question is not, what we (by a vulgar er­rour) [Page 23]are inclin'd to honour most, but What it is that is most worthy of it? And This upon a strict enquiry will appear to be the Love of God. Honour, at all hands, is agreed to be, a Testimo­ny of some Excellence; and Nothing can be truly ho­nourable, if it be not tru­ly Excellent. A man has no just Title to his Honour (any more than what the common Duties of Civili­ty amount to) if he have not something in him more than ordinary, some Perfection to distinguish Him, & raise him to a Height more elevated than the lowest Rank of men.

The Qualities which just­ly challenge men's Esteem, are VVisdom, Justice, Power, [Page 24]& Whatsoever raises us to the Perfection of our Na­ture. 2.2. q. 47. a. 13. As for VVisdom; S. Tho­mas of Aquine has demon­strated that No man can be truly VVise, who dos not Love God above all things. He may be, says he, a VVise Merchant, or a VVise Pilot, a Wise Statesman, or a Wise. Generall; because he may be Prudent in the choice of Proper Means well fitted to the Purpose & Design of such Employ­ments: But 'tis impossible to be a VVise Man without being VVise in order to the Pro­per End of MAN, the great Design of his Creation, which is nothing but the Knowledg & the Love of God. A Magistrate, who is crea­ted meerly for the Publick Peace, whatever he may be [Page 25]in other things, if he be not VVise in order to that End, He is not a VVise Magistrate: And since All Mankind was created to be happy in an Everlasting Union with God, Whatever a Person may be in other Affairs, if he be not Wise in order to this End, He may be a Wise VVhat you please, but he is not a VVise MAN.

As for Justice, I would gladly know how any Man is thoroughly & truly Just, who is perpetually Guilty of the most notorious in­justice, we can think of. Such is the Man, whoêre he be, that dos not Love his Maker as he ought. Tis true; He only is injust to God; He only wrongs Him­self; he never wrong'd his [Page 26]Neighbour, may be, all his Life. But what would you say of a Steward who only cheats his Master? Would you think him a Just Man, because he never cheats his Fellow-Servants?

As for Power: I Confess it may be Great, in some par­ticular respects, but never can be Absolute, without the Love of God. I may say the same of Power, that S. Tho­mas says of Wisdom. A Man without this Love may be a Powerfull Prince, a Power­full VVarriour, or the like: be­cause, without it, He may have all Power necessary for the main Design of Gouvern­ment, or VVar, &c. But since, without this Love, he nei­ther can Command his Passions, nor Himself; 'tis evident He [Page 27]has not all the Power neces­sary to attain the proper End of Man's Creation: in a word, He is no Powerfull MAN, who is not Master of Himself.

Thus you may plainly see how these three Characters of VVise, Just, Powerfull, which are the most esteem'd & Honour'd in the World, are only Shadows, & imperfect Semblances, if separated from the Love of God. You plainly see; that it not on­ly is the Greatest Excellence of Man, most Honourable, most Deserving our, Esteem; but that, without it, there is hard­ly any Thing which truly is so.

2. As it is our Greatest Honour, so it is our Great­est Profit. S. Paul was so sen­sible [Page 28]of this, that though the Fervour of his Zeal ap­pears in all his Writings, yet he never speaks with greater Emphasis than when he has a fair occasion to discourse upon this subject. Though I speak, 1. Cor. 13. says he, with the Tongues of Men & Angels, & have not CHARITY, I am become like sounding Brass, or a tinkling Cymbal. And though I have the Gift of Prophecy, & under­stand all Mysteries, & all Know­ledg: and though I have all Faith so that I could remove Mountains, & have no Charity; I am Nothing. And though I bestow all my Goods to feed the Poor, & though I give my Body to be burn'd, & have not Charity; it PROFITS me no­thing. He has reckon'd up the greatest Gifts, & best Ad­vantages, that he could call [Page 29]to mind; & yet he says, They All are Nothing to our Purpose, without Love. On the other side, the same A­postle teaches us, that All things else are Profitable with it, though they never can be so without it. VVeknow, Rom. 8.28. says he, that All things work together for GOOD, to those who LOVE God. The Secret of changing all things in to Gold has, in vain, long time been sought for: but the mystery of changing all the meanest of our Ac­tions in to more than Gold, is much more easy to be found. 1. Cor. 10.31. VVhatever ye do says S. Paul, Do all to the Glory of God; & every thing you do, will have more value in his sight, than all the Gold & Silver in the [Page 30]World. The least Degree of Love, the coldest Act of Charity, Math. 10.42. even the Giving a Cup of cold water, for the Love of God, our Saviour tells us, shall in no wise loose its Reward. So true is that, of S. Austin; All things else are Profitable, with it; Nothing else is truly so, without it.

3. As it is our Greatest Profit, so it is our Greatest Pleasure: There is Nothing so Delightfull, even in this World, as to Love God with all our Heart, with all our Soul, with all our Mind. Tis hard enough, I know, to make the World beleeve it: Be­cause although the Truth be, in it self, as clear & bright as the Meridian Sun; Our Passions raise a clou­dy Mist before our Eyes, [Page 31]which intercepts the Sight of it. All Persons, whose Affections are fixt upon the Pleasures of this World, can hardly ever be persua­ded but that the Love of God is the Dullest, & the most Insipid Thing imaginable. They easily conceive, that Nothing is so Honourable, as to be a Saint; And that it is but very litle Profit for a Man to gain the VVorld, Math. 16.26.& loose his Soul: The Honour & the Profit are agreed upon; But where's the Pleasure? All that can be said upon this subject, They are unac­quainted with, They un­derstand it not. He prea­ches in an unknown Tongue, who preaches the Love of God to those who ne­ver Lov'd Him. The Language [Page 32]of Love, says S. Bernard, is Barbarous, to those who Love not.

As soon as ever they be­gin to turn their back upon these rotten Pleasures, & look towards Heaven; pre­sently these Darlings of their Heart begin, as it were, Conf. lib. 8. to pull them by the sleeve, as Saint Austin words it, & whisper in their Ear; Do you Forsake Ʋs? And from this mo­ment shall we have your Company no more, FOR EVER? Shall we NEVER see you more? Thus they sollicite, Thus they importune, & tempt them, to differr the time of their Conversion. Do you think it possible to Live without the Pleasures of this World? Ah Christians! Tis not on­ly possible; it is the Great­est Pleasure in the World to [Page 33]Live without them. Tis true: The very Thoughts of Separation are like Thoughts of Death: But then we ought to reflect, that as we feel no pain when we are Dead, but all our pain is only whilst we are in Dying: So we feel the pain of lea­ving worldly Pleasures, whilst we are Deliberating what to Do; But we are Dead, We feel no pain at all, when once we are Re­solv'd upon't. You are Dead, 3.3. says S. Paul to the Colos­sians, and your Life is hidden with Christ in God. I am Dead, 2.19.20. says the same Apostle to the Galatians, & the Life which I now live in the Flesh, I live by the Faith of the Son of God who Lov'd me. See the power­full Effects of Love! It [Page 34]makes us as insensible to all the Pleasures of this World, as if our Inclina­tions were already Dead, & quite Extinguisht in Us. Love is as Strong as Death. Cant. 8.6.

Tis this Victorious Love which frees us from the Tyranny of all those Pas­sions, which divide the King­dom of our Heart: Math. 12.25.26. a King­dom brought to Desolation; where Satan casts out Satan; & How can this Kingdom stand? How is there any true Content and Satisfaction to be found in it? A Man who places all his Happyness in Humouring his Passions, can never please himself, till he has pleas'd them All: And since it is impossible to please two Mas­ters, how is't possible for any Man to please so many? [Page 35]I might here appeal to each Man's private Conscience for a farther Testimony of this Truth; But, if a Sul­len Conscience (even when it is upon the Wrack) re­fuses to Confess, We have the Word of God, the best & clearest Evidence, we can desire: The VVicked, Isai. 57.20, 21. says He, are like the troubled Sea, when it cannot Rest; whose VVa­ters cast up Mire & Dirt: There is no PEACE, says my God, to the VVicked.

On the other side, when once the Love of God has full possession of our Heart; when Christ Gouverns it by Faith, & the Holy Ghost by Charity; Gen. 1.2. Math. 8.26. when the Spirit of God begins to moue upon the face of the VVaters; it presently Com­mands the VVinds & the Sea, & [Page 36]there succeeds a Great Calm. In a word, As much as Li­berty is more agreable than Slavery, As much as Uni­ty is better than Division, As much as Peace, Content, & Ease, are more Delightfull than perpetuall Disturbance, Discontent & Pain; so much the Pleasure, which at­tends the Love of God, is Great­er than the Pleasures of this VVorld.

Had it been possible for our Creator to oblige us All to Love Him gratis, we might then have had more Colour for our Crime. And yet, it would have been no more than what He very well deserves. He Lov'd us gra­tis, without any possibility of Recompence: He hum­bled himself to repair our [Page 37] Honour; He quitted Heaven to promote our Interest; He sufferd torments to procure our Ease; And it would only be a Suitable Return, if we preferr'd his Honour, Interest, & Pleasure, far before our own. But, as our Kind & Gracious God has or­der'd it to our advantage, we are All oblig'd to seek our Own True Honour, In­terest, & Pleasure; & des­pise the False Appearances of Honourable, Profitable, & De­lightfull, which the World en­deavours to delude us with.

When we have made the most we can of such an Ob­ligation, 'twill amount to neither more nor lesse than What we dayly see before our Eyes. Consider how the Ambitious, the Cove­tous, [Page 38]& the Voluptuous, love their Honours, Riches, Plea­sures: Is it not plain, They Love them above all things? And why should not we Love God as well as World­lings Love the VVorld? They Love it with all their Heart, They desire nothing else but to enjoy it; with all their Soul, They have no passion for any thing else; with all their Mind, They think of nothing else, but how to make a Figure in it. Has God less charms than the VVorld? Or is a Flattering Friend (well known to be our Greatest Enemy) more amiable than the Best of Friends, most True, most Ancient, & most Constant, who has always Lov'd us better than we Love our selves? Is it a [Page 39]Greater Honour, for a Man to be the Divel's Slave, than be a Favourite of God? Is it a Greater Profit, to be cheated in the End, than be Eternally Rewarded? Or are those Pleasures which are always mixt with intervalls of discontent, anxiety, & pain, greater than those De­lights which are unchange­able, immortall, & divine, which even in this Vale of Misery begin our Heaven upon Earth? Ah Christians! We have litle reason to dispute the terms of such an Obligation, where the whole Advantage is entire­ly on our Side: So great Advantage, that we cannot truly Love our selves, Math. 22.38. unless we Love our Lord our GOD, with all our Heart, with all our [Page 40]Soul, with all our Mind: This is, not only our Greatest Duty, but our Greatest Good.

SECT. IV. That the Love of God is the chief Grace of the Holy Ghost.

I Am come, Luke. 12.22. says our Saviour, to Send Fire on the Earth; & what do I desire but that it may be Kindled? This He desires; for This He came; and This we pray for, in the Service of the Church; Come Holy Spirit; Fill the Hearts of thy Faithfull, & Kindle in them the Fire of thy Love.

The Holy Ghost came visibly at first; & prov'd his Presence by the Miracles He did. But yet a Spirit is [Page 41]not naturally sensible; & when He comes invisibly, He comes more like Him­self; nor have we any reason (when He dwells within us) to suspect that He is lesse at home, because He lesse Appears abroad. Al­though we do not see the Fire descend, & rest upon our Heads; yet if the Love of God enflame us, if it burn within our Hearts, if it appear in our Devotion, in our Conversation, in our Actions; 'tis enough; we then may hope we have receiv'd the Holy Ghost, & that our Saviour verifies in us his Promise, which He made us, when He said, He shall be IN YOU. Jo. 14. v. 17. He did not come in to the World, to visit the Apostles only, [Page 42]and abandon their Posterity: Our Saviour did not send him to us, that he might immediately forsake us, but that He might remain with us for ever, to the End of the World: Jo. 14. v. 16. I will pray my Father, says He, that He may abide with you for ever.

The Spirit of God shall be in Ʋs. Tis a solemn Promise of our Saviour himself: we cannot doubt of it, although we cannot but admire it with profound astonish­ment, Kings. 3.8.27. like that of Solomon: VVill God dwell with us on the Earth! will the Spirit of God not only dwell here with us, but within us! If Heaven says he, and the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain Thee, How much lesse this House which I have builded! If we find that Salomon [Page 43]was thus transported when he lookt upon his Temple, & compar'd it with the Majesty of God, to whom he built it; may not we admire much more the living Temple of the Holy Ghost? If the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain the Spirit of God, How much lesse this litle House of clay? Can we ima­gine that this litle Heart of ours is more capacious than Heaven? Or can our Heart contain our God, if Heaven cannot? Oh no: our God is infinite; He cannot be contain'd in either; & yet He dwells in both. Hear the Psalmist; 122.1. To Thee I lift up my Eyes, O Thou that Dwellest in the Heavens. Hear S. Paul; 1. Cor. 3.16. You are the Temple of God, & the Spirit of God Dwells in You. Com­pare [Page 44]both Testaments, the Old and New; & if you seriously beleeve them both, conclude we have the same assurance that God dwells in Virtuous Souls, as that He dwells in Heaven.

The Kingdom of God is within you. Luke. 17.21. Wheresoever Majesty re­sides, the Court is there; & wheresoeuer the King gou­verns, there his Kingdom is. If the Almighty gouvern all the Passions, Motions & Affections of our Souls; if once He be the Souvereign Monarch of our Hearts, if the Love of God give Law to all our Inclinations; the H. Ghost is then as truly in us, as a King is in his King­dom, & He is no otherwise in Heaven. This is that Heaven upon Earth which none can [Page 45]understand but those devout & pious Souls, who by experience Tast & See how sweet God's Kingdom is, Ps. 33.9. where Christ gouverns by Faith, & the Holy Ghost by Charity; or (as S. Austin says) whose King is Truth, whose Law is Love.

A Spirit, having no pro­portion with Place (if we beleeve Philosophers) is neither here, nor there, nor any where, of its self; but only by its Operation in a Body, which is in some Place. When Angels formerly appear'd with airy bodies, they were truly & substan­tially present in those hu­man Forms, which they in­habited, by operating there. Whatever the Airy Body seemd to do, the Angel truly [Page 46]did; the Angel mov'd, the Angel walkt, the Angel spoke, discourst, converst with men. The Holy Ghost is likewise truly & substan­tially present in the Soul of a devout & pious Christian. He dwells in his Heart by operating there: His Heart becomes a Paradise on Earth: The Love of God, now planted in the middle of it, is the Tree of Life: Gen. 2.9. The Holy Ghost himself becomes the Angel Guardian, of the Place, & like the Cherubin defends it with a Flaming Sword: Gen. 3.24. Gal. 5. v. 25. He gives him Life, we Live by the Spirit; He gives him Motion, we VValk by the Spirit; He gives him Speech, Tis not You that Speak, Math. 10.20. says our Saviour to his Apostles, but the Spirit of God that Speaks in You.

So far you see the Parallell betwixt the Presence of an Angel dwelling in an airy Body, & the Presence of the Holy Ghost inhabiting in us. Only this difference there is. Philosophers are puzzled to explain the Virtue & the Operation by which an Angel moves the Body it assumes; But Christians, by the light of Faith, have this Advantage over them: They plainly read & understand in Scripture, that the Virtue of the Holy Ghost, by which He moves & gouverns us, is Charity; & that the Opera­tion, which with us He pro­duces in us, is the Love of God above all things. God the Holy Ghost is Charity: 1. Jo. 4.8. He is the Consubstantiall Love of God the Father & the [Page 48]Son. If Charity inspire us; if the Love of God direct us, gou­vern us, & influence the principall Designs & Actions of our Life; we then may reasonably hope, 1. Cor. 2.12. we have not receiv'd the Spirit of this VVorld, but the Spirit which is of God.

That Inclination which is predominant, & gouverns all the rest, is usually call'd the Spirit of a man. If this be Love of Honours, Ri­ches, Pleasures of this World; Tis an Ambitious, a Cove­tous, a Carnall, or (to speak them all at once) a VVorldly Spirit. But if it be the Love of God above all things, without any competition of Crea­tures; 'tis a Virtuous, a Di­vine, a Holy Spirit: Then it is that the Love of God is diffus'd in our Hearts, Rom. 5.5.by the Holy Ghost, [Page 49]the HOLY SPIRIT which is given to us.

S. Paul, Acts. 19.1.2. when he came to Ephesus, and found certain Disci­ples, demanded of them; Have ye receiv'd the Holy Ghost, since ye beleev'd? And I am apt to think, it would not be amiss to put the Question, to the Christians of our Age. You in whose Minds Christ dwells by Faith, dos the Holy Ghost dwell in your Hearts by Charity? Is your Love suitable to your Creed? Do you Love God, as you Beleeve He deserves? Do you Love Him above all things? Your greatest Care, is it to please your God? Your greatest Grief, is it to have displeas'd Him? In all things, which deserve De­liberation, do you first [Page 50]consult his Law, & make it the Rule of all your Measures? Examine well the whole Course of your Life; your Actions, Hu­mours, & Designs. What is it that employs your Mind the most? What Thoughts are those which close your Eyes at Night, & open them next Morning? Are they fixt upon the Only Necessary? Do they tend to Heaven? All things else, what are they? Are they Nothing in comparison of That? If so; you have receiv'd the Holy Ghost; the Spirit of God, Io. 14. v. 17. whom the VVorld cannot receive. But if the Souvereign Inclination of your Hearts be Love of Honours, Riches, Pleasures; if your greatest Grief & Trouble be your [Page 51]disappointment of Success in these; if upon all occasions you consult your Inclina­tions & the Maximes of the World: You then may answer, as the Ephesians did; Alas we are but litle acquainted with this Holy Spirit; we have scarce heard of him; we know not what He is: A VVorldly Spirit we have more acquaintance with; But, as for the Spirit of God, He is a Stranger to us. We say our Prayers, we frequent the Sacrements, we are in the common road of customary Duties: But our Ambitious Spirit, our impa­tient Love of Honour is such, that we are more concern'd for an Affront, than for a Mortall Sin: Our Avaritious Spirit, our insati­able [Page 52]Love of Riches is so violent, that we had rather hazard the loss of all the Heaven we pretend to, than expose the Treasure we possess: Our Carnall Spirit, our incontinent Love of Pleasure is so passionate, that we had rather quitt our Right to all the Eternall Joys above, than any way deny our selves the rotten satisfaction we seek for here below: In short, we love this World so much, that if we might but always have it at Command, 'tis All we ask; We wish no more; VVe have receiv'd the Spirit of this VVorld. 1. .Cor. 2.12.

I hope I may be pardon'd if I am a litle importune in pressing home this Question; Acts. 19.2. Have you receiv'd the Holy Ghost? [Page 53]Eternity depends upon't: Your Choice of Heaven, or Hell; Your being Children of God, or of the Divel; Your being Sav'd, or Damn'd for ever: All This, (& what is All if This be not?) All This depends upon the Answer to this necessary Question. Rom. 8.16. As Many as are led by the Spirit of God, says Saint Paul, They are the Children of God. Compute your Actions, Words, & Thoughts; from Morning to Night; from Day to Day: Dos the Spi­rit of God direct & lead you? Or the Spirit of this World? If the Spirit of God, You are the Children of God: If not, Hear what the Apostle says, If any Man have not the Spirit of Christ, He is none of his: Rom. 8.9. He is not a Brother of Christ; [Page 54]He is not an adoptive Son of his Eternall Father; He has a Father in Hell, but none in Heaven. Our Saviour plainly says, Jo. 8. v. 42. If God were your Father, You VVould LOVE Me above all things; but because You do not, v. 44. You are of your Father, the Divel.

Let those who, above all things, Love the World, Consider this, and Tremble. Let them not gaze in vain upon our Saviour ascending to his Father: Let them be assur'd his Father is not theirs; & that, as certainly as He ascended to his Father in Heaven, they shall in time (unless they seriously re­pent) descend to their's in Hell.

This was the Reason why our Saviour told the [Page 55]Jews: VVhither I go, Jo. 8. v. 21.You cannot come: As if He should say; I go to my Father; If He were your Father also, then you might bear me Compa­ny: But, 1. Cor. 2.12. since you have receiv'd the Spirit of this VVorld; as long as you are gouvern'd by the Spirit of another Father; You may in due time follow him to Hell, But 'tis impossible (without sincere Repentance)▪ You should ever follow me to Heaven: VVhither I go, you cannot come. The Jews amaz'd to hear it, knew not what He meant. He told them the reason: I am from above, Jo. 8. v. 23. says He, I am not of this VVorld; The Spirit which gouverns all my Actions is from above; 'tis not the Spirit of this World; 'tis the Spirit of [Page 56]my Father; therefore I go to him. But on the other side, You are of this VVorld, Ibid. You are led by the Spirit of this World; and therefore VVhi­ther I go, You eannot come.

Let us not flatter & de­ceive our selves with vain appearances of superficiall Piety which flote upon the Surface of our Souls; but sound the very bottom of our Hearts, & be assur'd that if we find them chiefly fixt upon this World, or any Creature in it; We may stand gazing with the Men of Galilee, We may contemplate & admire the Ascension of our Saviour; but all in vain; All this will be no Comfort to us; Whither He goes, we cannot follow Him. We cannot Ascend, [Page 57]unless we first receive the Holy Ghost: nor can we receive Him, unless we first prepare for His recep­tion.

SECT. V. That we ought to prepare our Heart for this great Grace.

WHen our Saviour was upon the point of leaving his Apostles, after He had been fourty days dis­coursing with them con­cerning the Kingdom of God, The last & most important thing He recommended to their Care, was that They should prepare themselves for the receiving of the Holy Ghost: Acts. 1.4. He commanded them that they should not depart [Page 56] [...] [Page 57] [...] [Page 58]from Jerusalem, but wait for the Promise of the Father.

Prepare your Hearts, 1. Sam. 7.3. says the Prophet; Prepare your Hearts to God, & serve Him only, and He will deliver you: Prepare your Hearts to entertain the Holy Ghost, or else you never will receive Him. Prepare Materialls for the Temple of the Holy Ghost: 1. Cor. 6.19. His Temple is not to be built & finisht in a day: We must have Time to carry on the Work, & more than ordinary Preparations must be made: Chron. 1.29.2. VVith ALL MY MIGHT, says the Royall Prophet▪ I have PREPAR'D for the House of my God; because, says he, v. 1. the VVork is GREAT; & the Palace is not for Man, but GOD.

Our Heart has been profan'd [Page 59]with Idols: Our Ambition, A varice, & Lust have had their severall Altars in it; & from time to time, accor­ding as occasion serv'd, have offerd Sacrifice to Ho­nours, Riches, Pleasures. Such a Temple, so Profan'd, must be demolisht; & a New one built upon the Ruines of it. 18.31. Make your selves a New Heart, & a New Spirit; says the Prophet Ezechiel. Although it be God's VVork, it is not only His but also Ours. As much as lies in us, we must cooperate and labour with Him: And the more difficult it is, the more industriously we must en­deavour to effect it. Chron. 1.29, 2. VVith all our Might, with all our industry & diligence, we must prepare our Heart, that [Page 60]it may be a Temple of the Holy Ghost.

O that we had but VVings like a Dove (the wings of that Dove which once descended visibly upon our Saviour) Then would VVe fly away, Psal. 55.6.& be at Rest: Our Hearts would fly away from all things in this World, & be at Rest in Heaven. If once the Love of God enflame our Hearts, with ardent & continuall desires of being happy with Him, We shall find that these Desires are VVings by which our Hearts aspire & mount to Heaven. But if the Love of any thing in this World bind us to the Earth, We then shall find that our celestiall Desires are clogg'd with earthly Passions; & although we now & then, [Page 61]with a faint sigh, look up to Heaven, yet our stron­ger Inclinations will always bear us down. He who is wholly disengag'd from all the Charms of a deluding World, He only is at liber­ty; S. Austin says, The VVings of his soul are Free; But if his Heart be any way ensnar'd with any other Love, He then has Birdlime in his VVings; He cannot fly away, & be at Rest.

The Apostles themselves were not prepar'd for the receiving of the H. Ghost, as long as they were sa­tisfied with being Happy in our Saviour's Company on Earth. If any Satisfaction here below could inno­cently challenge so much place in their Affections, [Page 62]surely Innocence it self descending down from Hea­ven had the best & clearest Title to their Love. And yet as long as they were of S. Peter's mind, and though [...] with themselves, Math. 17.4. Tis Good for us to be Here; Tis Good to make our Tabernacles Here; so long we find they were not fit for the Reception of the Holy Ghost. Jo. 16. v. 7. I tell you the truth, says our Saviour; Tis expedient for you that I go away. Because you Love me with so litle Resignation, & are so unwilling that I leave you; therefore 'tis expedient for you that I now ascend, to raise your Hearts above the World, & carry them to Heaven with me. If I go not away, your Love will creep upon the Earth, the [Page 63]Spirit of the World will still possess your Hearts, the Spirit of God will find no habitation there, v. 7. the Comfor­ter will not come: But if I depart, if I (whom you so dearly love) ascend, your Minds & Hearts will follow me to Heaven, they will be rais'd above the reach of all things in this World, the Spirit of the World will have no dwelling there, You then will be prepar'd for the receiving of the H. Ghost, & when you are so, v. 7. I will send Him to you.

When the Holy Ghost came, Acts. 2.2. He fill'd All the House where they were sitting. Wher­ever He comes He fills the House; He takes it All to Himself; And 'tis no won­der, [Page 64]being Infinite, He takes up so much room. As God would cease to be Immense, If there were any Corner of the World in which He is not Present: So the Holy Ghost would cease to be our Infinite and Souvereign Good, if any Cor­ner of our Heart have any thing lodg'd in it, that excludes Him. When once we have receiv'd the Holy Ghost, our Heart is the King­dom of God. He is the Abso­lute and Only Monarch that commands it: He cannot Alienate the least part of his Title to the Gouvern­ment: He cannot any way admitt of a Companion in his Throne. Our Heart is the Throne of the Most High: [Page 65]And, if we remember what became of Lucifer, I hope it will suffice to make us sen­sible, how dangerous a thing it is, to place a Creature in the Throne of God, Isai. 14.14. & make it like the Highest.

S. Austin, wondring at the overflowing measure of Gods Holy Spirit in the Apostles Hearts, observes that the reason why they were so full of God, was because they were so empty of his Creatures: They were very Full, says he, because they were very Empty: because they were so Empty of the Spirit of this World, therefore they were so full of the Spi­rit of God.

O that our Hearts were Empty; O that they were [Page 66]purg'd & cleans'd like theirs from all inordinate affection to this World; We then should be prepar'd like Them, & ready to receive the Full­ness of the Holy Ghost. Tis a great Work; & will require some time. Why are we then so flow in un­dertaking it? Acts. 1.11. VVhy do we stand Gazing? We gaze, we lift our eyes to Heaven: But yet we stand; our feet are fixt upon the Earth. We preferr Heaven before Hell: of the two we had rather be there: But, of the three, (if it were possible) we had rather be always here.

How long will you love Vanity? Psal. 4.2. says the Psalmist. This World is nothing else but Vanity: How long will you Love it? Eccles. 4. v. 16. Tis Vanity & Vexation of Spirit: How [Page 67] long will you delight in it? It flies before you like a Shadow: 6. v. 12. How long will you run afterit? Alas! tis but a Shadow if you overtake it. The VVorld passes away: 1. J [...] 4.17. Tis an unkind, illnatur'd VVorld which passes by us with a flattering smile, & will not stay a moment with us. If it had ever been a true & faithfull Friend to any man, We should have some pretence to justifie our ex­pectation of its being Kind: But, since we know it never was so to its greatest Fa­vourites, We way be sure it never will be so to us. The Time will come, when we shall plainly see (although perhaps, too late) that All is Vanity; & we shall love no more what we are now [Page 68]so fond of. The Love of all those Trifles, which our Infancy was once much pleas'd withall, is now forgot: and we so much contemn those childish en­tertainments, that unless we saw the same in other Chil­dren, we should scarce be­leeve we ever lov'd them. As when we advance in years, we see the folly of our Childhood; so upon our Deathbed we as plainly see the folly of our Life: we then discover, that the Ho­nours, Riches, Pleasures of this World, are only so many serious Trifles, which are therefore more ridiculous because more serious. When once the Period of our Time approaches: When we are upon the Borders of [Page 69]Eternity: When we are, as it were, betwixt two Worlds, the End of this, & the Beginning of the next which never will have end: Then it is that all our Joys begin to vanish out of sight; they are the same to us as if they never had been present: Than it is that all our Miseries are every one in View, such Miseries as never can be past, but will for all Eterni­ty be always present: When once that Hour comes, we shall be Wise enough to undervalue & contemn what we so dearly love: But then, I fear, We shall be VVise too late: Our useless VVis­dom will not rise in Judg­ment for us, but against us. O let us now endeavour to [Page 70]be VVise, & disengage our Hearts from all inordinate af­fection to this world; that we may be prepar'd for the receiving of this Grace, which is the best & surest Pledge of the Eternall Glory, which we hope for in the world to come.

SECT. I. How much it imports us to remember the Day of Judgment.

WHen the Disciples askt our Saviour what would be the Sign of his Coming and of the End of the VVorld? Math. 24.3. v. 36. Our Saviour answerd, that the Day & Hour were not to be known before hand: that [Page 72]his Coming would be like a Flash of Lightning, v. 27. when they least expected Him: Therefore, v. 44. says He, be ready; for in such an Hour as you think not, the Son of Man will come: v. 35.Heaven & Earth shall pass away, but my VVords shall not passe away. The World shall have an End. The Son of man shall Come to Judge the World. The Hour of his Coming shall surprise us, when we think not of it. If we knew before hand, we should certainly prepare: And we have much more reason, since we do not know it.

But, alas! our Saviour Jesus Christ himself has prophecied, v. 38. that As in the days that were before the Floud, they were eating & drinking, marrying & giving in marriage, till the Day [Page 73]that Noe entred the Ark;v. 39.And Knew not, till the Floud came, and took them all away: So also, shall be the Coming of the Son of man. He told us how it would be: & every day we see how true it is. We mind nothing, but eating & drink­ing, marrying & giving in mar­riage; We seek for nothing but Diversion, Sport, & Pastime; We now Rejoyce; But then, when the World ends, our Joys will end with it; Then we shall Grieve; & not only then, Math. 24.30. but for ever. THEN all the Tribes of the Earth shall mourn.

They shall All mourn. Not All the Just; Not All God's Friends, Not All devout & pious Christians; who not only in their Bap­tism, but also during Life, [Page 74]renounc'd the Vanities & Pleasures of this World: All these will have just reason to abound with Joy, at the Approach of their so long defir'd, & everlasting, Happyness: Psal. 126.5. They sow'd with Tears, but now shall reap with Joy.

All the Tribes of the Earth; All Those whose Hearts were always fixt upon the Earth; upon the Honours, Riches, Pleasures of the Earth; THEY shall All mourn. And not without sufficient Reason. For, 1. They shall see the fatall End of all their transitory Happyness; 2. They shall see the sad Beginning of their everlasting Misery.

SECT. II. That our Last Day is the fatall End of all our transitory Happyness.

AS, on the one side, Nothing can be truly Little, which is Infinite; So, on the other, Nothing can be truly Great, which has an End. Baruch. 3. v. 25. Our God is Great, says the Prophet, & has no End. As if he had a mind to let us understand, that God himself, with all his other Attributes, would be but little, if He had one: that All this World is there­fore inconsiderable: and that the Next is there­fore to be valued above all things, because it is a World without End. This is [Page 76]the common Misery, at­tending all our Happyness. All that is past, is Nothing: All that we enjoy at present, is but one poor moment: All that is to come, is every mo­ment less & less, approach­ing nigher to the finall period of its future Being; which is Nothing.

The very Thought of this is so afflicting, that it puts a stop to all our joys, & makes us miserable in the full Carreer of our Felicity: We need no more, to damp our Spirits in the midst of our enjoyments, than the importunity of this unwell­come Thought; All This will shortly have an End. The Para­dise of our first Parents would have been to them no Paradise at all, had they [Page 77]foreseen the End of it. And when God pleas'd to inter­dict the eating of the fatall fruit, He seem'd to judge that nothing could be more effectuall to contain them in their Duty, than to let them know, that Death should put an End to All, if ever they presum'd to eat of it. As it was then their chief & only comfort, to survey the vast extent & great variety of their Delights, and at the same time confi­dently say, All this is ours for ever, if we please: So it had been impossible for any ar­tifice of the malicious Ser­pent, to surprise them, or prevail upon them, if He had not flatter'd them with some assurance, that they should not Die; but still [Page 78]be truly Happy, that is, happy without End.

The Divel dos not now pretend to face us down, VVe shall not Die: He knows that so notorious a Cheat would never pass upon us. But yet, for fear least we should undervalue all the vain allurements of a mise­rable World, he whispers in our ear, We shall not Die so soon: he has not the impudence to tell us that the World will never end, but that it will not end so soon as we imagine: Luke. 12.19. Thou hast many Goods, says the Rich Man in the Ghospel, laid up for many years.

This is, in short, the Sum of our Felicity on Earth. The Happyest Man, that ever liv'd, could say [Page 79]no more than this. He could not say, that he had All which he desir'd: he could not but observe, by sad experience, that he was still unsatisfied, & that his small possessions were no­thing to his Great Desires. Nor could he say, that what he had would always be his own: He could not but be well acquainted with the truth of What Man is; He dayly Dies; He every moment is upon his journey to the Grave; He wasts away, Job. 14.10.gives up the Ghost, & VVhere is he? However, he might say, to comfort his insa­tiable Soul; Although thou hast not All that that thou canst wish for, Thou hast MANY Goods; And, though thou canst not possibly [Page 80]enjoy them always, yet they are laid up for MANY years: thy Palace is magnificent, thy Entertainment splendid, thy Attendance numerous, thy Gardens are a Paradise of pleasure & delight, thy Honour equall to thy For­tune, & thy Power equall to both; the World admires thee, courts thee, & almost adores thee; is not this enough? Thou hast many Goods. And why should any melancholy apprehensions seize thy Spirits, & disturb thy Mind with fearfull thoughts of loosing what thou hast? there is no dan­ger, whilst thou liv'st; & thou art in the flower of thy age, just ripe for plea­sure, healthy, vigorous, & like to live these many [Page 81]years: And what hast thou to do, but take thy Ease, Eat, Drink, Luke. 12.19.& be as Merry, as if thou wert to live for ever?

Behold, the Best that we can make of the most happy State we hope for here. We dare not look before us, least we see the End of All our joys: We blindly dote upon these Darlings of our Passion, & endeavour to forget the misery of their Mortality & ours. We are not able to support a serious thought of our perpetuall decay; & though we love our selves above all things, yet we hate the very sight of our condition; we can­not endure to look into our selves; and as an idle Soli­tude is ever troublesome, because we love no company [Page 82]so little as our own; so the great reason, why the com­pany of any other person is so pleasing, is because it hinders us from thinking of of our selves.

The Greatest & most Happy Man whose Heart is fixt upon this World, would soon be Melancholy if he had but leisure to reflect that every Moment lēads him to the Period of his Happyness. The dolefull Prospect of a future Separa­tion is so terrible, that he endeavours all he can to think of nothing farther than the present. All the busy Agitation of his mind, the Exercises of his body, & the Pastimes of his Conversa­tion, are delightfull to him chiefly upon this account; [Page 83]because they are Diversions; that is, because they fix his mind upon the present mo­ment, & divert him from the melancholy Thought, that All his Happyness must have an End.

If the bare thought of our approaching Period be so dolefull, even at a distance, where Uncertain­ty gives room to make the most we can of our Feli­city; if I say, the very Thought of it be so afflicting; What will the Presence of it be, when with our own eyes we shall see that fatall End which now we are so much afraid to think of? We now are merry & rejoyce; because we banish from us the uneasy Apprehension: But then All those who will [Page 84]be sad Spectators of this dolefull Scene, will be no longer able to divert them­selves from thinking of the Misery, they see before them. Then All the Tribes of the Earth shall mourn. Math. 24.30.

To close the Eyes of any dying Friend we dearly love, is apt to move our tears; although our other Friends who yet survive, are still a comfort to us. But when their Dearest Friend, the VVorld it self, begins to die; When All their Comfort, all at once, forsakes them; When the Sun & Moon grow dark, & the expiring World be­gins to close its Eyes: THEN they shall All mourn.

When once that dismall Day is come, which the Prophet Zephaniah calls, [Page 85]the Great Day of the Lord, Ch. 1. v. 13.a Day of Calamity and Misery, a Day of Darkness, a Day of Tribu­lation & Distress: When Ca­taracts of Fire shall shower down upon their heads, as if the Stars themselves fell from the Firmament: When in the last Convulsions of its mortall Agony, the Earth trembles, and Hell it self lies gaping under their feet: Then they shall plainly see the meaning of that Vision in the Revelations, 10.5.6. which re­presents an Angel standing with one foot upon the raging Sea, another on the trembling Land, lifting his hand to Heaven, & swearing by Him that lives for ever; Time shall be no more.

Poor miserable Wretches! There was once a Time, when Honours Dignities & Titles [Page 86]recommended them to the admiring World, whose eyes were dazled with the glory of their Greatness: They were follow'd, waited on, & celebrated in their Generation: But now, alas! They shall be so, No more. There was a Time, when they abounded in the over­flowing measure of their VVealth; their Palaces were sumptuous; and All things suitable to the aspiring Height of their Ambition: But now, No more: Their great Magnificence is buried in the ruines of the World; their Gold & Silver melted down into the Earth, from whence it came; and All their Pride lies levell'd with the common Dust, to which All Things return. There [Page 87]was a Time, when all the sinfull Pleasures of the World attended them; when they deny'd their Passions no­thing that they askt; when they had full Command of All that they desir'd, & rather cloy'd than satisfy'd their brutall appetites: But now, No more. Their Ho­nours, Riches, Pleasures, All are at an End: Their Time is at an End: Their Time shall be NO MORE.

When, as it happens frequently amongst the va­rious accidents of Human Life, We are depriv'd of some particular Enjoyment which we passionately love; though we lament & grieve, yet we have still some Com­fort left: Tis not a totall deprivation of All that we [Page 88]enjoy: The Damage is supported by some other Pleasures & Conveniences. If one Friend die; our other Friends survive. If one forsake us; we may find another faithfull to us. Or, if they all abandon us; yet our misfortune is not uni­versall; We have always something left, which we can think upon without affliction, & repose our wearied Thoughts. He that is dangerously Sick of one or two diseases, is not at the same time sick of all the rest. Whatever his con­dition is, he always has some hopes of being better: And although these hopes are very little, They are still some little Comfort to a Man in Misery. But when this [Page 89]Dreadfull Day is come, which putts an end to Time, it putts an end to All their Hopes; All that they ever lov'd, or now desire, abandons them; their Inclinations are more lively than they ever were, & All are disappointed. Then All the Tribes of the Earth shall mourn; to see the fatall End of All their transitory Happyness. But, alas! this is not All: They shall have much more reason to la­ment & grieve, when at the same time they behold the Sad Beginning of their Everlasting Misery.

SECT. III. That our Last Day is the Sad Be­ginning of our Everlasting Misery.

WE have seen the dread­full symptoms of an agonizing World; the terri­ble Convulsions of expiring Nature; & the finall End of All that Sinners love with so much Passion: an End of all Ambition, Avarice, & Pleasure; an End of all their Honours, Riches, & Amours; an End of politick Designs, of ancient Fami­lies, of nuptiall Joys; an End of idle Conversations, Balls, & Plays; an End of Beauty, Wit, & Courage; an End of all their Feasting, [Page 91]Drinking, & Diverting; an End of all their Mirth, Delight, & Pastime; And, which of all things is most terrible to a despairing Soul, an End of Sin, but not an End of the Sinner; an End of Pleasure, but not an End of Pain; an End of Time, but not an End of their Eternity, which will eter­nally Begin, and never have an End. After Hundreds, Thousands, Millions, not of Years but Ages; if we may suppose that Heaven & Earth, with all that they contain, were chang'd into numerall figures; at the foot of the Account, what­ever it amounts to, you may find it witten, Here Eternity Begins. Moreover, if you multiply this number [Page 92]by it self, & by the same rule multiply the Product of it, All is Nothing to Eternity; Wherever this innumerable number ends, Eternity Begins.

If All be Nothing to Eter­nity, What will the incon­siderable number of those years which Sinners prodi­gally spend in Sin, What will it then appear to be? Will it not seem incompa­rably lesse than Nothing? And will not Sinners then have too much reason to lament, that for so short a Moment, so much lesse than Nothing, they have for­feited the eternall Joys of Heaven, & incurr'd the everlasting Pains of Hell? VVhat is a man advantag'd, Luke. 9.25. says our Saviour, if he gain the [Page 93]whole world, & lose himself? Alas! poor Souls, what Comfort is it to have gain'd the World, & lost your Selves? to have lost all Hap­pyness, & gain'd (If I may call it Gain) all Misery, and All for Nothing.

What Pains, & by what Means, they are to suffer, is a question fitter for our Curiosity than our Edifi­cation. Tis enough, to know as much of Hell, as the Apostle tells us of Hea­ven: Neither the Eye has seen, 1. Cor. 2.9.not the Ear heard, not has it en­tred into the Heart of any man, what unspeakable Pains & Torments the Almighty has prepar'd in the next life, for those who have in this offended Him. Tis enough that God is certainly as [Page 94] Just as He is God, & there­fore infinitely Just. Tis enough that the Enormity of Sin, which He so patiently endures, is aggravated by the Greatness of his Majesty, & therefore infinitely Infi­nite. It follows evidently hence, that All All the most effec­tuall & most proper Means which God's great Wisdom can invent, All that his Justice By the Eter­nall Rule of his Decree can exact, & All that his Omni­potence Ac­cording to the rigour of the Sen­tence. can put in execu­tion will be All employd to punish those who have offended him. It follows also that it is as much im­possible for any man to comprehend the great excess of those eternall Pains, as 'tis to understand God's Wisdom, Justice & Omni­potence, All which are in­finitely rais'd above the [Page 95]reach of human Reason. However we may easily conjecture something, by considering God's Justice in this World, & judging thence, what it may be hereafter.

If the Just themselves are so severely punisht in this World, if it be true, as the Psalmist says, 34.19. Many are the Asslictions of the Righteous; if even God's Friends, who are so faithfull to him, undergo such punishments for little failings in their Duty; what will become of his Enemies, who for­feit all their Title to his Friendship, by their grie­vous Sins?

If in the days of over­flowing Mercy, which ap­pear'd so eminently above [Page 96]all his Works, he gave such signall instances of his avenging Anger; if even when his Pity (in a manner) held his hands, the Fury of His Wrath broke loose, & with an universall Deluge laid the world so deep in water, that amongst so many millions not a single Sinner could escape: what will be­come of miserable Sinners at the Day of Judgment, when the End of Time shall put an end to all his Good­ness, all his Kindness, all his Mercy, & begin the Triumph of Eternall Just­ice? When our God will be to us no longer Good, no longer Kind, no longer Mercifull, but only Just; eternally, & infinitely Just?

Our Saviour Jesus will [Page 97]not then appear as the Phy­sician Tis too late to be Cur'd or Re­deem'd. & Redeemer of our Souls, but only as the Judge of all our Actions: And even to his Friends As Judge he ap­points them that place. at his Right Hand, He will not shew himself in any other Quality: The very Sentence of their Happyness will be an Act of Justice only Not an Act of Par­don. not of Mercy: Our Lord, says the Apostle, at that Day will be a Righteous Judge. Tis true, 'twas no­thing but the mercifull As­sistance of his Grace which heretofore enabled them to sight, and finish well their Course; But now, in the Rewarding of his Friends according to his Promise No longer inclind to Par­don. He's no longer Mercifull, if we beleeve S. Paul, but only RIGHT­EOUS and JUST.

If at that Day He would b [...] Mercifull to any, He woul [...] surely be so to his Friends And since the Best & Faith fullest of all his Servant find no Mercy Tis too late to ask for Mercy. at the Tryall, Can his Enemi [...] expect it? Tis call'd th [...] Day of Judgment, to distinguish it from all these othe [...] Days of Mercy: And if in these He shower'd dow [...] Fire from Heaven, 'tis no wonder if in those the Star [...] themselves will seem to fall▪ If Sodom and Gomorrh were consum'd, tis easy to beleeve that then the Earth will All of it be laid in Ashes But, alas! this universal [...] Deluge of devouring Fire together with the Darknes [...] of the Sun & Moon, the roarings of the Sea, and [Page 99]howlings of the Wind & Air, All this is but a Prelude to the Misery of Sinners; This is only the Beginning of their sorrows; Math. 24.8. This is nothing but their Sum­mons to appear before the Bar; And 'tis the dreadfull Appprehension of their Judgment & Damnation which torments them with an agonizing Fear.

There was a Time, when Life was sweet; but now they hate it. There was once a Time, when the despair of Living was their greatest Pain; but now, the Scene is chang'd, & the despair of Dying is incom­parably more tormenting. In those days, says the beloved Disciple, Men shall seek Death, Revel. 9.6.& shall not find it, They shall [Page 100]desire to Die, & Death shall fly from them. There was a Time, when Sinners laught at all the Fears and Apprehen­sions of this Day; Eccles. 3.4. but now the Time of laughing will be past; nor will it be, as Salomon calls it, a Time to mourn: it will not be a Time, but an Eternity to mourn.

Then All the Tribes of the Earth shall mourn. Not only Those who whilst they liv'd were thought to carry visibly the mark of Reprobation in their foreheads; but also such as liv'd great Saints in the esteem of men, & died great Sinners in the Sight of God; shall then desire to die again, & seek for an Eternall Death, & shall not find it. Then shall their con­ceal'd Abominations, all [Page 101]their shamefull Actions, all their secret Works of Darkness, come to light. Then nothing shall be coverd, nothing so industriously hid, Math. 10.26.but what shall be reveal'd to all the World. Nor only Those who took such care to hide their Sins from others, but even those who formerly were us'd to hide them from themselves, shall clearly see the Malice of their palliated Crimes: Math. 24.30. Then they shall SEE; and Then they shall MOURN.

We now are willing to live peaceably & quietly within our selves; We do not much delight in the remor­ses of a guilty mind; and therefore we contrive some kind of Conscience for every thing we do. We are [Page 102]uneasy at the thought of everlasting pains; & there­fore, if we ever take our selves to task, we rake to­gether all we can to make a favourable judgment of our State. As the Examen rather is design'd to please our selves, than God, tis gene­rally very superficial. We look upon our Actions all in grosse, without enquiring much into the drift & cheif design of them: We look upon the outward shew; the approbation, & esteem of men; The example of some, who passe for good & virtuous, and yet have often done the same as we do; Our being free (as we suppose) from many faults which we observe not in our Selves; Our great [Page 103]abhorrence of some certain Sins, which we observe in others; Our being punctually & religiously precise in some small matters, some exte­riour mortifications, some particular devotions, which we take a fancy to: And thus we frame a false Idea of the miserable State we shall be found in, when we come before the Bar. We now are proud, & wil­ling to excuse our selves: but then the Testimony of our clearer sighted Con­science will confound & humble us. Our Passions blind us now; we see not what we truly are: But then the Sun of Justice will arise, & scatter all the darkness which conceals us from our selves. The pier­cing [Page 104]rays, the All-disco­vering beams of Truth will break like lightning through the Clouds of our affected ignorance, when once the Son of Man appears, to judge the World.

If there were any possi­bility of cheating his All-seeing Wisdom; of calling back the time of his indul­gent Mercy; or escaping from the hands of his All­mighty Power: Were there any possibility of this; or were there any Friend from whom the Guilty might expect the least assistance; it would be some litle Comfort.

They had once a true & faithfull Friend, who dearly lov'd them; came from Heaven to instruct them, [Page 105]& conduct them thither; liv'd a painfull & laborious life amongst them; & al­though neglected, scorn'd, & persecuted by them, yet continued constant in his Love, & to redeem them, paid their Ransom with the price of his own Bloud. But now their best and only Friend becomes their greatest Enemy. He lov'd them once: But Love so long neglected & so much abus'd, is now quite chang'd into a mor­tall & eternall Hatred. He invited all of them to come to Him whenever they had need of his Assistance; Math. 11.28. Come to me All you that labour: But now, alas! it is too late to come: His Patience now is spent; & in the Fury of his everlasting indignation He [Page 106]for ever banishes them from Him: Math. 25.41. Go from Me ye accursed. Go Ambitious Souls, & leave your honourable Titles all behind you; go & seek the best preferment you can find amongst the Divel & his Angells: Ibid. v. 41. Go Infatiable Misers; go, & take possession of that Mise­ry which you have pur­chas'd with the loss of your beloved Treasure: Go Voluptuous Wretches; you who formerly have wisht your Flames might ever burn; Go now, & Burn for ever, in the everlasting Flames of Hell.

Behold, the dreadfull Sentence, we must All expect, Luke. 21.36. unless we follow his Advice who then will be our Judge: VVatch there­fore, says He, & Pray always; [Page 107]that you may then be accounted worthy to escape, & stand before the Son of Man. Alas! Our dear Redeemer takes no pleasure in Condemning us. No Man, says S. Austin, who designs to strike us, bids us have a Care. Our Saviour often warns us, often calls upon us, often bids us Have a care. S. Paul exhorts us in his Name: Rom. 13.11. Tis Now the Hour for us to Rise from sleep: Tis now the Hour to go with tears of true Repentance to the Throne of Grace; that then we may appear with Confidence & Joy before the great Tribunal his Just­ice: Tis now the Hour to hearken to Him, Math. 11.28. Come to me All you that labour; that then we may be sure to hear him call us to Him, Come ye [Page 108]Blessed; Math. 25.34. Come & reap the Fruit of all your labours; Come & Take possession of those Everlasting Joys, which were prepar'd for you, from the Foundation of the VVorld. Amen.

SECT. I. How unreasonable a thing it is for any Sinner to Despair.

THe greatest Mistery of Christian Mora­lity consists in the equall ballancing of Hope & Fear, betwixt God's Mercy & his Justice; that we may neither be secure in Sin, because he [Page 108] [...] [Page 109] [...] [Page 110]is so Mercifull; nor yet despond, because he is so Just. Presumption & Despair are the two Rocks 'twixt which all Christians ought to steer an even course; & so avoid the One as not to dash upon the Other. Tis perhaps the greatest Secret of the Divel's Art. He first inclines us to Presume; And we no sooner see the danger of it; but he tempts us to Despair. Thus he commen­ces; Thus he finishes his work.

I must confess The greatest part of Mankind being so insensible, so stupid, so immerst in wordly cares & pleasures, is enough to justifie the pious zeal of those who frequently pro­claim the menaces of an [Page 111]offended Majesty, & with the formidable noise of Hell, Damnation, & everlasting Torments labour to awake & rouse them from the Lethargy of sin. But, when they are awake, & looking round about them, take a prospect of their miserable State; when every horrid Crime appears in its own dreadfull shape; when Mul­titudes of past offenses croud into their minds, and overwhelm their heavy thoughts with a despairing expectation of no lesse than everlasting Misery: Alas! poor Souls, it is not now a seasonable time to mag­nifie the motives of their Fear. If ever Comfort & Encouragement were neces­sary to allay the pains & [Page 112]anguishes of a despairing Soul; Now is the time. What shall we say? Tell them, they need not fear? Oh no: The malice of their grievous sins is infinite; The danger of their lamen­table State is greater than they can imagine: Let but their Hope be equall to their Fear, they cannot fear too much. How then shall we encourage their expiring Hope? I'l tell you how.

If God were only Just, & were not also Powerfull and Mercifull, a Sinner then might lawfully despair: But when God's Power and Mercy both concurr to comfort the desponding Heart of an afflicted Penitent, What can he wish for more? There are but two condi­tions [Page 113]requisite to qualify the Person, upon whose as­sistance we depend, that we may safely hope, & with a loving confidence assure ourselves of his Pro­tection. The first is; that he can relieve us, if he will: the second; that he will relieve us, if we please. VVill, without Power, sig­nifies but little: Power, without Will, signifies much less: But when they both meet in the person of a Friend, to whom we always have a free access; who certainly can help us, if he will; & no less certainly will help us, if we please: Then, let our present misery be never so great, let the ap­proaching danger of our future ruine every day seem [Page 114]greater; we may with trembling hearts expect the helping Hand which can and will deliver us; but all our Fear can never exclude our Hope; it cannot rob us of that comfort, satisfaction, & joy, which so much Confi­dence insuch a Friend inspires.

If when a Sinner strugles with his Chains; endeavours to break loose; and more he strugles, more he finds himself engag'd; (which the All-seeing Wisdom fre­quently permitts, to hum­ble a proud Soul:) If then these two great Truths were settled in his Mind, to wit, that God can free him, if He will; & that He will not fail to free him, if he please; O! with what pleasure would he relish [Page 115]the assurance of this loving Confidence! with how much transport of a joyfull mind; would he recite those words of S. Paul, 1. Tim. 1.12. I know in whom I have beleev'd; I know in whom I put my trust; I know, & am persuaded, He is able to deliver me. I am assur'd, He is not only Powerfull but Mercifull; and therefore I am certain He both can and will assist me.

SECT. II. That God can help us if he will.

DIvinity and boundless Power are so much the same, that no man can deny the one, & own the other. There is no Truth so evi­dent, in which the World [Page 116]so universally agrees, as God's Omnipotence. Eve­ry body knows that Nothing is impossible to God. Tis one of the first Truths which a Philosopher de­monstrates, or a Christian beleeves. Almighty is his Na­me; the Name we know him by; the Name He ans­wers to, when ever we call upon Him.

What need I then dis­course upon a Truth, which every body knows? The reason is, Because although we know it well enough, We very seldom, hardly ever, think of it.

We all know Nothing is impossible to God: and that the lamentable State of a poor Sinner cannot be so desperate, but that He can [Page 117]retrieve him. And yet how little do we think of this, when we are tempted to despair? Do we not then behave our selves as if we doubted of it? I am afraid that, at the best, we pray like him, of whom S. Mark makes mention; Lord, Ch. 9. v. 22. If Thou CANST do any thing, have compassion on us, & help us. I fear we often are incredu­lous, and have just reason to repeat with tears his hum­ble prayer; Lord, I beleeve, v. 23.help Thou my unbelief.

If David, that great Saint according to God's heart, 1. Sam 13.14. who looking back to take a view of all his past iniquities, saw at a distance only some few Sins, which he had long since washt away with penitentiall tears; if [Page 118]He could scarce support the terrour of that melancholy prospect, Ps. 38. v. 3.4.6.10. as he says himself, & all day long went mourning for his Sins; if his heart panted, & his strength fail'd him; if had no rest, because he was over head in his iniquities, which like a heavy burden were too hea­vy for him; If He, I say, were thus perplext with Fear, & almost ready to Despair of his Salvation; Have not I Just cause to apprehend much more the Danger of such Doubts in greater Sinners, who are almost surfeited with Sin, before they se­riously begin to look be­hind them & compute the terrible arrears of all their past Offences?

I must confess, the diffi­culties which occurr in the [Page 119]conversion of a Sinner, are insuperable, if compar'd to the weak strength of our corrupted Nature; and if the possibility of working our Salvation be consider'd only with regard to human Frailty, there appears no hope of compassing so great a Work. Such is the Igno­rance & Blindness of our Ʋnderstanding; Such is the Malice & Perversness of our VVill; Our Inclinations are so prone to liberty; & the Restraint of our unreaso­nable Humours is so sensibly uneasy to us; that a tho­rough Reformation of our Lives is far above our sin­gle strength. Without the Grace of God, we neither have the Wisdom to con­trive it, nor the Courage [Page 120]to begin it, nor the Power to perform it.

But yet this Darkness of our Reason, though we can­not of our selves dispell it, may be dissipated by a lively Faith in Him who enlightens every man that comes in to the World: Jo. 1.9. This Depravation & Corruption of our VVill, (although it be to us alone impossible) may by the sweet & forcible impulses of a powerfull Grace be chang'd & rectified: This obstinate Rebellion of our Appetite against the Rule of Reason, & the Precepts of a Christian life, (though we have often found our Selves unable to reduce it to the terms of just Obe­dience) may easily be con­querd by Omnipotence.

If Sin have so much blinded us, that we can hardly see our Danger: If the Noise of Wordly vanities have made us almost deaf to all good counsell: If the Habit of our Sins have lam'd us, so that we can scarcely move a foot towards Heaven: If we are blind, deaf, lame, nay even dead to God & all that's good, (no Person can be in a worse condition than this) All this is nothing to the powerfull hand of God: Such miracles as these were his familiar Exercise on Earth: The blind see, the deaf hear, Math. 11.5.the lame walk, the dead are rais'd to lise. All this our God can easily perform, in favour of us, whensoêre He plea­ses.

Lord, if thou wilt, says the Leprous man, Math. 8.2. thou CANST make me clean. Let the diseases of a sinfull Soul be ever so inveterate, so deeply rooted in the heart, He clearly and distinctly comprehends the nature of them all: He knows exactly the propor­tion & virtue of his Reme­dies: And all of them obey the word of his Command; I will, Math. 8.3. says He, Be thou cleans'd; (when once God says the word, the work is done) im­mediatly his Leprosie was cleans'd.

Create in me, Ps. 50.O my God, Create in me a clean Heart. I ask not any thing but what is easy to Thee. Alas! it is to me impossible: but Thou, my God, canst do it with more ease than I can ask it. Behold my misery with pity [Page 123]& compassion. Behold me indigent & naked, cloath'd with nothing but the horrid scurf of my Uncleanness. Behold me blind, deaf, lame; & almost dead with a con­tagious leprosie of Sin, which covers me from head to foot, & has not left a sound part in me. Conscious of my unworthyness, after so long neglecting my con­dition, after so long con­fiding in my own weak strength, after so long des­pairing of my health, be­cause I thought I could do any thing, & found I could not cure my self; Con­scious, I say, of my Un­worthyness, I scarce pre­tend to ask for Mercy: I only cast my self upon my knees & face prostrate be­fore [Page 124]thy Feet, exposing & laying open all my grie­vous distempers, which, every one of them (though I am humbly silent) every one speaks loudly my ne­cessities, & begs with all the moving eloquence of Misery thy pity & assist­ance. I know my Sins pro­voke thy Justice, whilst my Misery appeals to thy Al­mighty Power: But thy faithfull servant David tells me, that the Israelites pro­vokt Thee also; & never­theless, not for their sake, but for thy Name's sake Thou wast pleas'd to save them; Psal. 106.8.that Thou might'st make thy mighty Power known. This is the first Foundation of my Hope: I know the Credit of thy Power is engag'd in their be­half, [Page 125]who trust entirely in it, firmly expect it, & de­pend upon it: And there­fore, in this posture, I present my self with loving Confidence before thy Feet, resolving there to expect with all Humility & Pati­ence when thou shalt please to cast an eye upon me, and either find the Benefit of being cur'd, or (which appears to me impossible) die in the hands of an om­nipotent Physician. Ah my dear Jesus! This is all that I can do: And even This I cannot do without thy Grace: But, when I have done This, my Comfort is, that Thou canst do the rest: Lord if Thou wilt, Math. 8.2.Thou canst make me clean.

Dear Christians, let us [Page 116]pause a while, & with a se­rious attention behold this Leper at our Saviour's feet: Behold the lively Image of a Sinner, & the perfect Model of a Penitent: Behold both what we are, & what we ought to be: In his Disease, we see our Misery; in his Behaviour, we see our Duty: in his Disease, we see the sad ef­fects of Sin; we see the strong temptations & as­saults of a most terrible Despair: In his Behaviour, we see the fruits of true Repentance, we see the vic­tory of a triumphant▪ Hope, & the great comfort which attends a loving Confidence in God's Omnipotence.

O what a Comfort is it to an humble Penitent, to [Page 127]be assur'd that as God gives him All he has, so He can give him All he wants! If we are almost quite op­press'd with those aridities & desolations of Mind, which none can know but by experience; S. Paul tells us, 2. Cor. 9.8. God is able to make all Grace abound in us: If we labour under the perpetuall vio­lence of importune tempta­tions; the same S. Paul assures us, Hebr. 2.18. God is able to succour those that are tempted: If our temptations are so strong, & we so negligent that af­ter some resistance we re­lapse into our Sins; if we rise again, & yet fall; if we renew our Resolutions, & when we think our selves securest, are surpris'd & fall again; S. Paul assures [Page 128]us, Rom. 14.4. God is able to make us stand: If having tried all ways we can imagine, we are at a losse, & know not either what to think or what to ask; Ephes. 3.20. the same Saint tells us, God is able to do exceeding aboundantly, above all that we can ask or think.

Is any thing too hard for God? Genes. 18.14. Can any thing be hard to him whose Power is infinite, & whose VVill is his Power? 1. Sam. 2.6. Our Lord kills, & makes alive; brings to the grave, & raises up: His Power accompanys our Souls as far as the Gates of Hell it self, & brings them back again. Although your Soul quite overgrown with sin, may be (perhaps) in the All-seeing Eye of God, a much more horrid object than the foulest Divel in [Page 129]Hell; Nevertheless go con­fidently with the Leper to our Saviour; croud in amongst the multitudes that follow Him; cast your self down upon your knees & face; Say, with a truly contrite truly humble heart, Math. 8.2. Lord if thou wilt, thou CANST make me clean: Then shall you hear him graciously return that comfortable answer; I will; Be thou clean: Then shall you be trans­ported with excess of joy, to find & feel the truth of what I now advance; to wit, that God not only can relieve us if he will, but also will relieve us if we please.

SECT. III. That God will help us if we please.

ALthough God's Power be the first Foundation of our Hope; his Mercy, always ready to assist us, is the principall, if not the only, Motive of it. This was the comfortable Medi­tation with which the Royall Prophet counter­ballanc'd all his Fears; Psal. 26.3. Thy Mercy, says he, Thy loving Kindness is always before my eyes. Without this comfort he would never have suppor­ted the remorses of his Conscience; Psal. 50.4. his Sin was ever before him: His continuall Apprehensions and fright­full [Page 131]Thoughts would cer­tainly have driven him into a deep Despair, Psal. 26.3. had not God's Mercy also always been before him. The very thought of God reviv'd his drooping Spirits: he could not so much as think of Him, without thinking of his Mercy: to be God, & to be Mercifull, were to him one & the self same thing: 59.17. my God is my defence, says he, & the God of my Mercy. If he lifted up his eyes to Hea­ven, with enflam'd desires of being happy there; he ador'd that Mercy which preserv'd the Angells, & rewarded them with Glo­ry: Thy Mercy, O Lord, 36.5.is in the Heavens. If he lookt down, & took a prospect of this vale of miseries; he admir'd, [Page 132]to see God's Mercy stoop so low, to see it most ap­pear where there is most occasion for it, to see it superabound where Sin abounds: 33.5. The Earth is full of his Mercy. If he lookt before him he beheld God's Mercy start­ing first, preventing, & fore­running all his good de­signs & entreprises: 59.10. His Mer­cy will prevent me. If he lookt behind him, he beheld the self same Mercy following him, promoting, carrying on, & perfecting his good Endeavours: 23.6. His Mercy shall follow me, all the days of my life. Which way soever he cast his eye, he saw himself de­fended & surrounded with God's Mercy; himself the Center, Mercy the Cir­cumference: 32.10. Him that trusts [Page 133]in God, Mercy shall compass him about: Thus did this Saint, who once had been a Sin­ner, Thus did he comfort & encourage his afflicted Soul, when ever the remem­brance of his Sins oppress'd his Mind: And thus may we, in imitation of him, Thus may we also answer all the troublesome sugges­tions of our panik Fears; confronting Sin with Grace, Justice with Mercy, Fear with Hope & loving Confidence in him, whose Mercy still is infinite, 100.5. & always will be so; His Mercy is Everlasting.

All this, you'l say, is little comfort to a Sinner, who is day & night obsesst with all the terrifying Spectres of a guilty Con­science. Every body knows, [Page 134]that God is infinitely Mer­cifull. But yet the Word of God assures us, & it is a fundamentall Truth which every Christian is acquain­ted with; Math. 22.14. Math. 7.14. That few are chosen amongst many which are call'd; that the Gate which leads to Life is strait & narrow; & that there are but few who find it: so that all the splen­did Appearance of God's Mercy, when 'tis well examin'd seems to vanish out of sight, or shrink into a little compass, if compar'd with the innumerable num­bers of those Reprobates, Rom. 9.22. who are prepar'd and fitted for Destruction. Is not this enough to make a Sinner tremble? A Sinner who is conscious to himself of being much more guilty in the sight of [Page 135]God, than many millions of those Souls who are al­ready gone before him, & already suffer the eternall flames of Hell?

These Thoughts, I must confesse, are Terrible. To him whose eyes are open by God's grace to see the malice of his Sins, & see Death, Judgment, & Damna­tion attend; Such thoughts as these, to such a man, are terrible beyond expres­sion. But however, if a man be more afraid than hurt, where is the harm of all his Fear? Are we not All oblig'd to humble our proud hearts under the powerfull hand of God, 1. Pet. 5.6. Phil. 2.12. and work out our Salvation with Fear & Trembling? Is not our obligation to fear, consistent with our [Page 136]greater motives, greater obligations to hope? Tis one of the most dangerous mistakes that we are subject to. We seem to fancy that our Fear destroys our Hope; & that we cannot hope un­less we cease to fear. We take these two Affections of the Mind for mortall Enemies, because their hu­mours are so opposite. But, as that Friendship is the greatest, which no diffe­rence of Humour can di­vide: So, if we examine well the matter, we shall find that Fear & Hope are such in­separable Friends, they can­not possibly subsist without each other's company; The Separation of the one, is certainly the Death & Ru­ine of the Other. Fear, with­out [Page 137]Hope, degenerates into Despair. Hope, without Fear, is now no longer Hope, but dangerous Presumption. If now & then our Minds are troubled & perplext with Fear; We must not there­fore presently conclude, that we have lost our Hope: No, no; We should have lost it, if we did not fear.

If the Consideration of God's Justice make a Sin­ner tremble; he may law­fully desire to be deliver'd from the uneasyness, the pain, & the anxiety, which are the troublesome Com­panions of his Fear: But, as for Fear it self, 'tis an essentiall Duty of a Chris­tian, which cannot upon any terms admitt a Dis­pensation. [Page 138]If the unsearch­able Designs and Secrets of God's Providence are apt to fill our Souls with appre­hensions & fears; this only helps us to perform the one half of our Duty, without prejudicing the perform­ance of the other: for the more we fear his Justice, so much more we hasten to the shelter of his Mercy.

This was the only Re­fuge which the Royall Pro­phet had recourse to, in his days of trouble, Psal. 77.2. v. 9. when his Soul refus'd to be Comforted. Has God, says he, forgotten to be gracious? v. 8.Has He shut up, in Anger, all his tender Mercies? Is his Mercy clean gone for ever? Doth his Promise fail for evermore? Oh no; His promise can­not fail: He can no more [Page 139]deceive, than be deceiv'd. He has sign'd his promise more than once in Scrip­ture: And with a solemn Oath He has deliver'd it. A Promise & an Oath which, by Commission from Him­self, his Ministers are order'd to make use of.

When Sinners are dejected with Temptations of Des­pair: Ezek. 33.10. When their Transgres­sions & their Sins lie heavy upon them: When they begin to pine away with Fear, & melancholy Thoughts of never being able to recover: What shall we say, to com­fort them?

Say to them, Ezek. 33.11.14. says the Pro­phet: If the wicked turn from his sin; if he repent; if he amend, v. 15. & walk in the Statutes of Life; He shall surely live, (& [Page 140]what can be more sure, since God himself is pleas'd to say it?) v. 15. He shall surely live; He shall not die. v. 16.None of the sins he has committed, shall be ever mention'd to him; he shall hear of them no more; they shall not rise in judgment against him: God himself has promis'd, v. 16. He shall surely live; He shall not die?

Say to them again; and say it boldly, in his Name whose Justice makes them tremble: Ezek. 33.11. As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the Death of the wicked; but that the VVicked turn from his way, & Live. Return, says He, Return from your evill ways: VVhy will you die?

VVhy will you Die? As who should say; you may live if you will; I always am at [Page 141]hand, prepar'd to help you, if you heartily repent; you know, you may recover, if you have a mind to it; you know, that if you die, it is because you will: As I Live have no pleasure in your Death, and therefore I have reason to complain, VVhy WILL you Die?

Dear Christians, What can we wish for more? We know that God can help us if He will. Whether He will or no, we need no farther proof, than his own Word. We have his Word: We have his Oath: He cannot take his own Great Name in vain; And He has sworn by his own Life, He has no pleasure in our Death; He dos not, of himself, desire it; but that we return & live. O! we [Page 142]are happy;O bea­tos, quo rum causâ Deus jurat! O mi­seros, si nec juranti Domi­no cre­dimus!for whose sake God swears! But O! how miserable are we; if, when God himself is pleas'd to swear, we can't beleeve Him!

If Deeds are better proof than Words, Let us pass from what He has said, to what He has done. What has. He done for Sinners? Or rather, What has He not done? For them He came from Heaven; for them He lived a pain full life on Earth; for them He died upon the Cross. Math. 9.13. I came not, says He, to call the Just, but Sinners; He came, because 'twas neces­sary he should come: And therefore for their sakes, for whom it was most ne­cessary, for them he prin­cipally came. He never was so kind to any, as to Sin­ners. [Page 143]All his Conversation was in their Company, He made it his chief business to oblige them, He follow'd them from place to place, He thought of nothing else but how to gain their love, He came with a design to enflame their hearts, He brought down fire from Heaven with him, & wisht for nothing more than that this fire might burn. His more than ordinary Kind­ness was in all occasions so visibly remarkable, that He was taken notice of, & pointed at. The Phari­sees were scandaliz'd to to see't. And in those days, it was his great Reproach; He was too much a Friend to Publicans & Sinners. Math. 11.19. All this while, alas! they little un­derstood [Page 144]his Business upon Earth. His great Compassion of their Misery, was the occasion of his coming: And since their Indigence first brought him from abo­ve, it was no wonder the Relieving of it was his chief Employment here be­low. He came as a Physi­cian to his dying Friends, whom He most dearly lov'd; & therefore took most care, & was the most concern'd, for those who were most dangerously sick. Thus did our God behave himself to Sinners. Thus did he love his Enemies; and treat them as his dearest Friends. Thus did He live to serve them, till at length He died to save them.

S. Paul concludes from [Page 145]hence, Rom. 5.10. We now have much more Hope than ever. For if when we were Enemies, we then were reconcil'd to God; undoubtedly we now have much more reason, being re­concil'd, to hope we shall be sav'd. If then, before he sent his only Son, God lov'd his Enemies so dearly as to send him: We may well conclude, that since He came amongst us, since He interpos'd betwixt us & his Father's Anger, since He died to reconcile us to Him, since He rose again, Rom. 8.34. & at the right hand of his Father is our Advocate in Heaven, making intercession for us; surely now our humble Supplica­tions, joyn'd with his, & offer'd in his Name, Jo. 14. v. 15. will for his sake be much more easily [Page 146]receiv'd. If then a Contrite & an Humble Heart was al­ways so agreable, He never would despise it; Will He now refuse it? If the To­tall Sum of all the horrid Crimes of Mankind during severall Ages, if the Malice of them All together, could not any way divert the course of overflowing Mer­cy; if it could not hinder Him from sending Jesus to redeem the World; How can we think, the Greatness of our Sins can hinder Him from having Mercy on us, when we heartily repent?

Let us therefore, once for all, humbly confess, & own our Fault. The Truth is; We are proud, & willing to excuse our selves. We are willing to lay the [Page 147]blame of our Impenitence at our Creator's door, & say; He will not pardon us; He will not give us Grace; He will not save us: When, if we well examine, we shall find the blame is always ours; We will not repent; We will not comply with his Grace; in a word, We will not be sav'd.

All we can say, in our defence, is that our sins are great, God will not look upon such grievous Sinners as we are. I cannot, say they are not great, or that we are not grievous Sinners: But, that therefore God will never look upon us, is as false as the Word of God is true. He hates the Sin, but loves the Sinner: He hates [Page 148]the Leprosie, but loves the Leper: S. Aug. Conf. lib. 8. cap. 3. And, as a Mercifull Father, He rejoyces more, at the Repentance of one Sinner, than the Innocence of ninety nine who do not stand in need of it.

Let us therefore, once again, humbly acknowledg, & confess our Fault. We only pretend our Leprosie is so inveterate, God will not suffer us to come into his sight, He will not cure us, He will not make us clean. The Truth is; we are so negligent, so stupid, so in­sensible of our condition, that though we now & then are terrified to see the Dan­ger of it, nevertheless we will not make our Supplica­tions to Him as we ought, We will not be cur'd, We will not be cleans'd.

SECT. I. Hew apt we are to differr Repen­tance.

THat we are, All of us, some time or other, betwixt this & Death, oblig'd under pain of Eternall Dam­nation to rouse our sleepy souls from the bewitching Lethargy of Sin; is an im­portant [Page 150]Truth, which no man can dispute. We All are fully satisfied, that if we live in the state of Sin, if our Affections are crimi­nall, if our Hearts are di­vided betwixt Heaven & Earth; we must, before we Die Repent and Mend, or we are lost for ever. Luke. 12.3. Ʋnless we repent, we shall All perish.

This we agree upon: Our difficulty lies not in the knowing, but in the per­forming of our Duty. When we discourse with our Selves in generall terms, what it is we ought to do; the De­bate soon comes to an Issue: But, as we descend to the particulars of when and how; We come not so easily to a Resolution, about the Time. We suppose that we [Page 151]are able, at our pleasure, to change our Hearts, sub­due our Passions & reform our Lives: But our Hearts, at present, are otherwise engag'd; our Passions are youthfull, and very impor­tune; our way of Life, though none of the best, is suitable to the common Maxims of the World; And what hast, I pray, to do just now, what may be done as easily another time, when ever we please? Besides, the present Circumstan­ces are very particular: An abrupt Disengagement would now go very much against the hair: We had better, for a time, con­tent our Passions, & bring them to a composition: When this or that Business [Page 152]is over, that we may more freely attend to the work of our Salvation; when our Company changes; when we meet with a Con­juncture of more favour­able circumstances; O! then we'l begin the New Man; bid Adieu to the follies of this World; & from that instant date the beginning of our journey towards Heaven.

Thus the Colour of Pie­ty gives a reputation to the Delusion: We cover the po­pular Cheat with an agre­able disguise: And betwixt gratifying our Inclinations, on the one side, with a criminall condescendance, & pacifying the remorses of our Conscience, on the other side, with a plausible [Page 153]pretence of future amend­ment at a more convenient time; We make Virtue, in appearance, subscribe to our Vices, & counterfeit God's Hand to one of the worst Temptations of the Divel.

SECT. II. How dangerous it is to differ Repentance.

TIs clear, we are not Masters & Disposers of our Time: only He, who was the first Author of Time, who now con­serves it, & who will one day put a finall period to all Time; He I say, & only He, disposes of it as he pleases.

Besides, the Changing [Page 154]of our Hearts is far above our single strength; we are not able, by our selves, so much as to begin so great a Work, how then shall we be able to perform it, at our leisure, whensoever we please? S. Gregory assures us (& we know it well enough) that God who promises to PARDON us, Ho. 12. in Ev.if we Repent; has never promis'd us the TIME of our Repentance.

Tis true: we cannot but confess, (to the great shame of our Ingratitude,) that our Creator loves us far above our merit. If we look back from hence as far as the first Creation, & car­ry our serious thoughts through all the steps of Providence, we meet with nothing but remarkable in­stances [Page 155]of his good wishes towards us. Nay, if we yet look farther back from the first moment of this World into Eternity, We find Him, before the beginning of all Time, entertaining his Thoughts with the pre­meditation of our wellfare; And in the first page of his Eternall Accounts, we find the great Design of Man's Redemption, that stupen­dious Mystery of Mercy & Justice, the Incarnation of our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ; who held nothing so dear, no obligation so important, as our Sancti­fication; even to the degree of laying down his Life for the advantage of that sacred Interest. See here, the Mo­tives which we have to [Page 156]think He loves us! Yet give me leave to tell you, He is not so fond of us, but that He can be angry at us, when He finds his Love neglected. Witness all those miserable Christian Souls, who once were happy in the same Testimonies of his Affection: Who thought, as we do, to reform their lives at a more convenient season: Who suppos'd, as we do, that God's extraordi­nary Grace would never fail to be at hand, when ever they pleas'd to have occa­sion for it. Alas, poor Souls, they now are lodg'd in the flames of Hell for all Eternity; and know, too late, that though God never fails to bestow his extraordi­nary Graces, where He finds [Page 157]a faithfull correspondency of our Endeavours with his mercifull Assistance; yet He often shuts his Hand, if we withdraw ours. He dos not first desert us: Yet, if deserted by us, 'tis no wonder if He treat us upon equall terms, & so desert us.

Wonder not, that God who is so infinitely good, can find in his heart to Ab­andon thus a Sinner, who stifles the remorses of his Conscience, who resists the frequent inspirations which invite him to Repentance, who has always something else to do when he thinks of his Duty, always is so rude, so scornfully uncivill, in receiving all the Embassys of Peace which Heaven sends [Page 158]him; that every trifling Object which salutes his Fancy, every miserable creature which a silly Pas­sion recommends to him, is sure to have the prefe­rence, & be the first ad­mitted.

How often dos God court us, when we are alone, as it were carefully managing that favourable occasion, when it may be presum'd we are at leisure for his entertainment? But, alas! we are perhaps never less alone, than when we are alone: The Common Ene­my of Mankind is then most busy to prevent the advantage of such a happy circumstance. How often dos He apply himself to us, when any suddain Acci­dent [Page 159]has cross'd our incli­nations, when we have been dissappointed in our intri­gues, when we begin to find our labour lost in the pur­suit of what we hunted af­ter, when we sit down an­gry & affronted at the con­fusion of our mistake, almost ready to fall out with the World for having cheated us: then it is that He takes hold of this conjuncture; begins in a loving manner to expostulate with us; to exprobrate to us how trea­cherous a Friend we find the World to be; on the contrary, how constant & faithfull a Friend He has been to us, from all Eter­nity to this moment; how ready He is, notwithstan­ding all that's past, to re­ceive [Page 160]us with open arms in­to favour again, if we re­turn sincerely to Him. And how do we hearken to all this? Why, truly, it pas­ses away like a little Fit of melancholy; we were then in an ill humour; we are now glad 'tis over; & so we think no more on't. What ever God speaks to our Hearts, is all out of doors: Our Hearts are shut against him, Apoc. 3.20. all the time; He stands at the door, and knocks; and we neglect Him, letting Him stand & wait our leisure; We approve the Friend­ship of the World before his; And though we may have some slight thoughts of hearing Him some other time, yet for the present we flatly deny Him En­trance, [Page 161]& refuse Him Audi­ence.

Let us now Consider a little; What pittifull Worms we are, who thus contemn the Almighty; Who He is, whom we affront; What trifles we preferr before him: And we shall not won­der if at length He leave us, & desert us with a Re­solution never more to of­fer us these extraordinary Fa­vours: I go away, says He, Jo. 8. v. 21. & you shall Seek me, and you shall Die in your Sins.

SECT. III. Reasons why Delay is so Dangerous.

THat I may discover, yet more clearly, the Extravagance of Sinners [Page 162]who differr the entire Con­version of their Hearts from time to time, upon a vain Presumption of choosing their own time, when they please; I suppose, as a funda­mentall Principle, 1. Pet. 5. v. 5. that God gives Grace to the humble, and resists the Proud.

He who values himself upon being Wise enough in the management of his salvation; Who neglects the time which God's great Mercy offers him; Who presumes He can, whenêre he pleases, choose the time of his Conversion; Such a Person, if ever he approach the Throne of Grace, comes in a disposition directly opposite to Reconciliation; he carries Pride barefac't in the very Front of him; and [Page 163]the Address, he presents, is endorst with the very same fault which he begs pardon for.

A true Convert comes trembling, with a Heart truly humbled under the Om­nipotent Hand of an of­fended Majesty; And such a Penitent will always find Favour; A Contrite & Humble Heart God never will despise; All his former Of­fences will passe for no­thing; Ezek. 33.16. None of his sins He com­mitted shall be mention'd to him; In the Day of his Conver­sion his Impiety shall never hurt him; What time soever God shall please to mark out to him, if he manage that, he is secure.

But if a Sinner carelessly reject God's inspirations, & [Page 164]from time to time neglect the opportunities He mer­cifully offers him; if he behave himself as if he thought his Time of Re­conciliation were entirely at his own disposing; and, upon this account, when he thinks fit, presents him­self before the Throne of Grace; His very Coming in this manner is an Act of Pride, a Pride by which he dangerously presumes upon a more than ordinary Fa­vour, such as he knows has been denied to many thou­sands, who are damn'd for ever, for less Sins than his, & less neglect of the Al­mighty; a Pride, which is the greatest provocation that can be imagin'd, in as much as it abuses all his in­finite [Page 165]Goodness, Longani­mity, & Patience, not only to the utmost degree of contempt, but even to an impudent assurance of obtaining Mercy when we please, although we have so much, so often, & so long, contemn'd it. This is a sufficient Reason, why God may abandon such proud Pe­nitents as often as He plea­ses: and this Reason is at­tended with a sort of Ob­ligation (if a man may term it so) incumbent upon Providence, if not always, at least generally & for the most part, to treat them according to their merit.

This Obligation arises from two Titles. God is the the Creator of Man, & the Redeemer of Sinfull man. The [Page 166]first gives Him the Prero­gative of being the supreme and universall, Lord and Master of the Universe; under which Character it belongs to him to give Law to all the parts of it, & take such methods as may with a smooth & easy, yet strong & steddy influence promote & carry on the great Design of the Cre­ation. Hence comes the Obligation of supporting the Credit, & maintaining the Authority of his Gou­vernment, which sinks im­mediatly & falls to nothing, if his too great Indulgence always tolerate the open violation of his precepts, joyn'd with all the indig­nities, affronts, and inso­lences, of a haughty Sub­ject, [Page 167]that will not be re­claim'd but when he pleases, will not take the advantage of those favourable Op­portunities which are so often offer'd him, but dif­ferrs the only necessary Busi­ness of his life from time to time, upon a proud Pre­sumption of being receiv'd at any hour whensoêre he pleases. Nothing under Hea­ven can in this occasion keep up the Spirit & vi­gour of Discipline amongst us, and place the Fear of God before our eyes, but a just & severe Punishment, such as becomes the Indig­nation of an angry God abus'd, affronted, & con­temn'd; which is, to treat us as we treat Him, leave us as He finds us, & flatly [Page 168]refuse us Audience when we make our supplications to Him.

This Motive which arises from the Title of Creator is aboundantly sufficient; but yet the Title of Redeemer is a far more powerfull induce­ment to the same rigour of Justice. The Creation of the World was but a small Expence: A Word said, & the whole Work done. But the Redemption of sinfull Man, the Extraction of him out of the profound Abyss of Sin and Malice, was a more laborious Masterpiece of Mercy & Justice; it cost him his descent from Hea­ven, a painfull life for ma­ny years upon Earth, & the last drop of his most pre­cious bloud upon the Cross. [Page 169]Having redeem'd us from the Divel, at so dear a rate, & having paid the utmost price of our Salvation, He has a strict Right to the Honour and Reputation of his Mercy; Isai. 42.8. He is Lord of All, and his Glory He will not give to Another. He is our Lord & Master; by Redemp­tion All of us are His; He has paid the full Discharge of our Account; but He will not apply the Value of this Payment to those persons whose Pride will either Chal­lenge the Credit, or Share it with Him; He bestows it only where it may be evident, if not to all the World, at least to every Sinner's Conscience who receives the benefit, that nothing but the Power of Grace could work so [Page 170]wonderfull a Resurrection, & free him from the Ser­vitude of Sin.

He who made our Hearts, cannot but know the tem­per of our Inclinations. He cannot but see how partiall & unequall we are in our Judgments. If any thing be amiss with us, we pre­sently begin to murmure & repine within our selves, as if God only were the Author of our failings. But if we succeed in any thing, that seems praiseworthy, either in the Sight of God or Man, we presently as­sume the reputation of it to our selves. Our Faith teaches us the contrary: And we seem to beleeve it. But yet, I know not how it is, our Pride which co­mes [Page 171]into the World with us, S. Ber. de ord. vit. & mor instit. That Vice which is the first we fight with, & the last we conquer, is so apt to work upon our Judgment, that if we examine well, we cannot but observe, we always are a great deal more inclin'd to magnifie our own Endeavours, than to admire the Power of Grace. If God should never treat us as we merit; if He never should abandon those who from his Goodness take occasion to abuse it; We should grow insensible of our ne­cessities; We should forget our Obligations to the Grace of our Redeemer; We should behave our selves as if we thought that All is done by our High Hand, Deut. 32.27.& not by the Assistance of our Lord. This [Page 172]is one Reason, & a just one, why He is oblig'd (as I may say) in honour, if not always, at least ge­nerally, & for the most part, to refuse them Au­dience in a Time of their own choosing, Who du­ring the time which He thought proper for their purpose, never would vouch­safe to hearken to Him. Jo. 8. v. 21. I go away, says he, & you shall Seek me, & you shall Die in your Sins.

SECT. IV. That we ought to begin immediatly, without Delay.

HE who has promis'd PAR­DON to those who Repent, S. Greg. Hom 12 in Evan.has never promis'd TRUE RE­PENTANCE [Page 173] to those who differ [...] it. A man must be a Stran­ger to the ordinary Course of Providence, who dos not know that there are cer­tain Times in which our God is kinder & more fa­vourable to us; when Clouds of Anger disappear; when Heaven seems to smile upon us; & the Al­mighty seems to meet half way the Prayers & Addres­ses of his people. Tis not that God is liable to any shadow of Inconstancy: He always is inclin'd to Mercy, and nothing but our Sins can force him to the Rigour of his Justice. Sometimes He showers down his Gra­ces in a plentifull aboun­dance; visits & inspires us with good Thoughts, good [Page 174] Inclinations to amend our lives; strongly & sweetly moves us; frequently & importunely presses & solli­cites us to true Repen­tance. But, if we slight his favours, He withdraws them from us: Mercy neg­lected & abus'd gives place to Justice: And all those great and extraordinary Graces, which before abounded, are denied us; that we may, by this means, grow sen­sible of their Necessity & our Dependency, their Power & our Weakness.

‘What Wise man is there in the World, Christ. Direc­tory. p. 2. c. 7. § 3. & n. 35. who rea­ding This, will not fear the differring of his Con­version, though it were but for one day? Who knows, whether this shall [Page 175]be the last day, or no, that ever God will call him? God says, I call'd, Prov. Ch. 1.& you refus'd to come; I held out my hand, & you would not look towards me; and therefore I will FORSAKE you in your Ex­tremity. He dos not say, how many times He call'd; or how long He held out his hand. God says, I stand at the door, & knock: but He says not, how often. Ibid. n. 37. A. D. 1673. Al­mighty God is ready & bountifull to knock and call; but yet he binds himself to no time or space, but comes & goes at his pleasure. And they who take not their times when they are offer'd, are ex­cuseless before his Justice, & do not know whether ever it shall be offer'd [Page 176]them again, or no: for that this thing is only in the Will & Knowledg of God alone; who takes Mercy where it pleases him best, and is bound to none. And when the pre­fixt time of calling is once past, Wo be to that par­ty; for a thousand Worlds [perhaps] will not purchase it again.’

This Reason is aboun­dantly sufficient to make us manage carefully the work of our Salvation with fear & trembling; Phil. 2.12.1. Pet. 5.6. and humble our selves under the powerfull hand of God; without pretending to any absolute Security of our admittance whensoêre we please. We are certainly damn'd, if we never ask pardon; probably it may [Page 177]be yet time enough, if we ask it now; And in con­currence of a certain ruine on the one side, with a probability of safety on the other, No Wise man will loose time to deliberate upon the choice.

Some will say, perhaps, Tis a severe Case, to Re­nounce all worldly Affec­tions, & Deny them what's most dear to them; to de­clare war against the most violent of Passions; & to undergo the hardship of perpetuall service in the engagement; if we have no absolute security of ma­king peace when ever we desire it. Had we an assu­rance of our Pardon, when­soêre we ask it; it were some encouragement to [Page 178]undertake a thorough Re­formation of our lives. But, to renounce All, upon a a hazard of gaining No­thing, is too cold an invi­tation to encounter so painfull & laborious a Task.

O Man! 9.20. says S. Paul to the Romans, who art Thou, that thus replyest against God? Who are you, that dare presume to article with Him, in this manner? Is it not enough, to have so frequently transgrest his Laws, so much contemn'd his Menaces, so long abus'd his Patience? Is it not enough to have idoliz'd the objects of your Pas­sion? to have set up your Single self in opposition to all the dictates of Duty & Obedience? to have af­fronted [Page 179]the Omnipotent Hand, which (had not his Mercy held it) had long since sunk your miserable Soul to the Abyss of Hell? Is not this enough, unless the same Pride, which be­gan your Misery, accom­pany also the Petition of your Pardon? Remember that God resists the proud, 1. Pet. 5.5.& gives Grace only to the humble. Re­member that he is a very proud Beggar, who will not ask an alms except he be assur'd before hand of re­ceiving it; And that God is so far from receiving the insolent Request of such a proud Petitioner, that (on the contrary) He openly declares he hates him: Eccli. 25.4. My Soul, says He, Hates a proud Beggar.

Ah Christians! We must (if we hope for Salvation) we must come in another disposition. We must not loose time upon the debate, whether or no we have a certain prospect of success. We must work our Salvation with fear & trembling; Phil. 2.12.1. Pet. 5.6. and humble our selves under the power­full hand of God. In this Con­juncture we have nothing else to do, but fly in all hast to the Throne of Grace: Hebr. 4.16. Every Moment is pre­cious: Every Moment of Delay encreases the Dan­ger.

The prodigall Son, whose imitation our Saviour re­commends to us, proposing him as a great example of an humble Penitent, did not loose time in studying [Page 181]whether his Father would receive him or not; he did not before hand enquire into his Father's humour; how he stood affected to him? whether he were ready to admitt him? or deter­min'd never more to look upon him? But, imme­diately, Luke. 15.17. v. 18. at his first coming to himself, he said; I will rise, and go to my Father, & say to him, Father, I have Sinn'd. So far was he from any absolute assurance of his pardon, & so sensible of his unworthy­ness; he did not so much as offer to demand a per­fect reconciliation, but left himself entirely to his Father, to dispose of him, & do with him what he pleas'd: Father, v. 19.I am not worthy to be call'd your Son.

Alas! What can we do in this condition? We must redouble our prayers which we have heretofore so of­ten huddled over, with as much indifference & cold­ness, as if we were afraid lest God should hear us, & assist us with his Grace to take up our Crosse, Math. 16.24.deny our selves, & follow Him.

If after a month, a year, or more, we find no great effect of Mercy; we must still persever firm in our Endeavours: The more we fear God's Anger, the faster we must fly to the Protec­tion of his Goodness. We must not sink under the ap­prehensions of our Repro­bation, but without dis­puting our Destiny, we must resolve, either to ob­tain [Page 183]pardon, or die in the demanding of it.

If the Almighty seem to take no notice of us; if He seem as it were to com­mand us out of his sight; we have nothing else to say, but, Lord, whither shall we go? Jo. 6. v. 68. What way is there to fly from thy Anger, but by the speediest recourse we possibly can make to the shelter of thy infinite Good­ness? We know, we de­serve an Eternall Bannish­ment from thy Presence: We know, we often have refus'd Thee Audience: We know, it was our common Answer, Go, Prov. 3.28.and Come again another time: & therefore we know, we have no rea­son to complain, if now we are forsaken & abandon'd [Page 184]by Thee. But this is only what we deserve; 'tis only what we justly Fear: Thou nevertheless commandest us to Hope otherwise; And 'tis in complyance with this Command, Rom. 4.18. that we Hope even against Hope. We come not to dispute about our Hea­ven or our Hell; We come not to capitulate upon the Articles of our Salvation; We only fear as we have reason, and hope as we ought; so that, setting a­side the whole sollicitude of that Affair, we leave it en­tirely to thy Mercy. We come with a Contrite & Humble Heart; full of no­thing but a sincere Sorrow for all our past Offences, joyn'd with a hearty Reso­lution never to offend Thee [Page 185]any more: Except it may be an Offence for Sinners, such as we are, to con­tinue in thy Presence; Which cannot be: No, no; though we should see thy Sword of Justice drawn against us, & thy Omni­potent Hand stretcht out to strike us dead at thy Feet, We will not quitt the place, Job. 13.15. Although Thou kill'st us, we will still Trust in Thee.

This is the Humble Heart, which charms our God; the Heart which He cannot refuse; Ps. 50. Such a Contrite such an Humble Heart He never will despise. This is the only dis­position that can make amends for the abuse of so much Goodness; & for the differring our Con­version so long, upon a [Page 186]proud Presumption of Amend­ment when we pleas'd. Such an Humble Heart, as this, gives God no reason to be jealous of his Honour: His Hand appears manifestly in the management and prepa­ration of it: Ex od. 8.19. The Finger of God is here. Such a Convert, as this, will never chal­lenge any share in the Ho­nour of his Conversion; but, admiring the Benefit, will resign the Honour, & humble himself so much the more in his presence Who made him what he is. But God will always have the Honour of the work; He will be Mercifull when He thinks fit, & not allow proud Man to dispose of his Mercy; He will take his own time, and con­found [Page 187]the presumptuous Pride of those, who (as if they were God's Masters, rather than his servants,) make no doubt but they can choose a Time conveni­ent, when they please.

Sinners, Deceive not your selves. Think not that God is always equally dispos'd to hear us, when­soever we appoint our time of Audience. He will not suffer us to pretend to the honour of beginning our Conversion, & challenging his. Greatest Graces, at our leisure. Tis true; He died to save us: But, though He died for our Benefit, He died for God's Honour; and will not part with any share of this Ho­nour, to humour a proud Pe­nitent. [Page 186] [...] [Page 187] [...] [Page 188] Isai. 42.8. 1. Pet. 5.5. He is Lord of All, and his Glory He will not give to Another. He Resists the Proud, and only to the Humble He gives Grace in this World, Glory in the next.

SECT. I. Sorrow for our Sins.

‘O My God! Anton. das Chagas. God of my Soul, my Life, my Heart, & All that is within me! I have sinn'd, ô my God; I have offen­ded Thee; I have done ill before the Face of Hea­ven & Earth. Neither the [Page 190]Stars of Heaven, nor the grains of Sand upon the Earth, are equall to the boundless number of my grievous sins.’

Ah my dear God! my Maker, my Preserver, my Re­deemer, & my Only Benefactor, how it grieves me to have So offended Thee! Ibid. ‘I am much more troubled at my great Ingratitude, than at the greatness of the Torments I deserve.’

O that I could bewail, with Tears of bloud, the base Unworthyness of my behaviour to my only most Obliging, most Endearing, most Deserving Friend! A Friend who always lov'd me, even when I lov'd my silly Humours & his miserable Crea­tures more than Him; who [Page 191]always Lov'd me, even when I was his most Ʋngratefull Enemy; And notwithstand­ing All, still Made me whatsoêre I VVas, still Gave me whatsoêre I Had, and still Invited me, nay even Courted me, with dayly in­spirations of his Grace, to Love Him above All Things. O that my Eyes were living Fountains of continuall Re­pentance, to bewail my base Unworthyness!

And yet although my bleeding Heart should burst out at my Eyes, my Grief would nere be equall to my Grievous Sins; the Guilt of which is infinite, and infi­nitely greater than I'm able to conceive. Though I should weep with Tears of bloud in every corner of [Page 192]the Earth where I have sinn'd; All that would ne­ver wash away the Guilt or Scandall of my Crimes. There's nothing but the bleeding Sacrifice of the Ʋnspotted Lamb of God; There's nothing but the Bloud of JESUS dying for my sake upon the Cross; There's nothing else can reconcile me to the Souvereign Ma­jesty which I have so pro­vok't; There's nothing else can wash out the deep Stains of my unspeakable ingratitude.

This is that Mercy of my God, which the admiring World has Reason to call Great: That Mercy which is truly Great, not only in it's self, but Great to all that are Partakers of it. Have Mer­cy [Page 193]on me, O God,Ps. 50.according to Thy Great Mercy. VVash my poor soul from it's Iniquity, & Cleanse it from it's Sins. Sprinkle me only, with the bloud of JESUS, & I shall be Cleans'd; VVash me with it, & I shall be whiter than Snow. Cast me not away from Thy Face; but look upon a Contrite & an Humble Heart, which (for the sake of Thy Beloved Son, Math. 17.5.with whom Thou art well Pleas'd) I hope Thou wilt not despise; but that Thou wilt have Mercy on me, O God, according to Thy Great Mercy.

SECT. II. Resolutions of Amendment.

I Have said: Now I Begin. Alas! Ps. 76. How often have I said So, & as often broke my word! [Page 194]And what Hope have I Now to keep it, more than any other Time? When I renew the dolefull memory of my Relapses, how I tremble at the very Thought! To think how often, in a luke­warm Fit of Piety, I have imagin'd I was Now be­ginning to amend my Life; And yet how Soon, how Easily, how Shamefully hath every suddain Passion, every sinfull Inclination, every silly Humour overcome my best &▪ firmest Resolutions! Proud as I was, I wonderd always at my weakness, & could scarce beleeve it, though I Saw it. Proud as I was, still went on in the same road; Still fancyd it was easy to Reform when I Resolv'd upon't; And still excus'd [Page 195]my self, by laying all the fault upon my Neighbours, my Employments, or some other Circumstances of my Life. And yet, what Place soever I have liv'd in, whatsoever Busi­ness I have been employd in, whatsoever Circumstances have attended me through all the severall changes of my Fortune; I have always been the same Frail Creature, always equally unfaithfull to my word. What Hope then have I Now to keep it, more than any other Time?

Must I Despair? Yes, yes: 'Tis absolutely Necessary for me to Despair of my own Strength, that I may se­riously begin to Hope in no­thing else but Him who gives Grace to the Humble, 1. Pet. 5.5.& resists the Proud. And may I [Page 196]by his Grace Persever all my Life, improving each day more & more, in This Despair, which is the Reason why I Hope more now than any other Time.

O that I had long since Despair'd entirely of my own sufficiency, & plac't my Confidence in nothing but the powerfull assistance of his Grace; I should not then have been so Negligent so openly Expos'd on every side, to the continuall surprises of my Passions. I should then have carefully employd the pre­cious moments of my Time, either in Studying how to Meet my severall Dangers, or Forecasting how to Avoid Them. I should then have Prayd as heartily, as men do in a Storm; who every moment [Page 197]fear to sink, & every mo­ment lift their trembling Hands & weeping Eyes to Heaven; the same angry Heaven whence They justly apprehend their fatall Ruine. Ah my God! how seldome have I Prayd so! And how often have I Askt Thy Grace as Carelesly as if I had no need of it!

My Resolutions, like my Prayers, hitherto have only been in Generall terms: That now I would Reform my Life; I would no longer be a Slave to Pas­sion & Humour; I would now Begin to be a Saint; And, O! how I have been asham'd to Think of all my Follies! Alas! This very Pride which made me thus Asham'd, was That which made me Fancy, 'twas an Easy matter to Amend; & [Page 198]therefore made me Careless in observing the Particular Occa­sions of my Greatest Sins, the Remedies which ought to be applyd, & the Impediments which ought to be remov'd. But since the sad experience of my weakness makes me wiser, I am now resolv'd it shall be the chief Business of my Life, to watch and study all the Motions of my Heart: What Passions are predomi­nant; what Inclinations Se­cond them; by what Ap­proaches They gain ground; & by what Means, in This or That particular Occur­rence, They may be re­sisted, weakned, & sub­dued.

A Master Workman needs but now & then apply his Rule, because his Habit [Page 199]guides his skillfull Hand. But I, Unskillfull as I am, who only now Begin the ne­cessary Art of Living well, & have so many years con­tracted an ill habit of neg­lecting all those Holy Precepts; I must now, not only in my Morning-Recollec­tion carefully Foresee each Dan­ger I am like to meet with in the Day; But frequently Renew those pious Resolu­tions; In All occasions Con­sult the Eternall Truth Which came from Heaven to in­struct me; And Examine se­riously, if the Employment of my Thoughts, Words, Actions, & Desires, be suitable to so Divine a Rule.

All This I am Resolv'd upon, in Presence of my God, & the whole Court of Hea­ven. [Page 200]Help me, All ye Bles­sed Spirits, Luke. 15.7. who are Joyfull witnesses of these my Holy Resolutions; Assist me now to make an humble Offering of them All before the Throne of Grace; Hebr. 4.16. And joyn your Better prayers with mine, to beg a Blessing for Them; without which, although I dayly water Them with pe­nitentiall Tears, They ne­ver will Encrease, & bring forth Fruit. I have said: Now I Begin. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy Great Mercy; For Such a Change comes only from the Right Hand of the Highest. Psal. 76.11.

SECT. I. The Necessity and Advantages of Humility.

An Humble Heart God never will despise. Ps. 50. And is not This enough to shew us the Ne­cessity & great Advantage of Humility? How comfort­able is the Thought of it, to them whose Want of health, or other Circumstances, will not suffer to make use of corporall Austerities, in Satisfaction for their Sins! What Comfort is it to them, to reflect that still [Page 213]they have a Refuge left them in the Sanctuary of this Virtue. Tis the only One they have, if we beleeve an ancient Father of the Church. S. John. Clïma. Reca­pitul. Ar. 35. VVhoever has committed grievous Sins; & has a Body weak & Sickly; Let him tread the footsteps of Humility: In all things Let him fellow, where the Spirit & the Impulse of that Vir­tue lead him: Tis the only way He has to save his Soul.

SECT. II. First Degree of Humility.

SECT. III. Second Degree of Humility.

However, Rodr. Chr. 17. if by this Examen we observe, that notwithstanding our En­deavours to improve, we frequently are importun'd, & sometimes overcome, by Pride & Vanity: if we are yet so far from taking pleasure in [Page 232]the practise of Humility, that we are hardly able to support in silence the Un­easiness we suffer in it: Let not this discourage us: But on the contrary, the more we see our weakness, let it humble us the more; & let us learn from thence

‘to use our utmost dili­gence in laying a more firm Foundation of Chris­stian Humility, which is Humility of Heart. Tis not a thing impossible. For, by the grace of God, we may be able, says S. Austin, not only to imitate the example of the Saints, but also of the Souvereign Master of the Saints. He invites us all to imitate his Virtue; & can we fancy He invites us to a thing [Page 233]impossible? Learn of me, says He, because I am Humble of HEART. And S. Hierom very well observes, that those words of our Sa­viour, If thou wilt be Perfect, Math. 19.21.come & follow me, are a manifest conviction, that by his Grace, (which al­ways is at hand,) we have it in our power, to be Perfect, if we will.’

SECT. IV. An Objection Answerd.

IF Charity incline us to desire our neighbour's Good, Rodr. cb. 29. & to contribute what we can to their Sal­vation; why should our Humility desire that all the World may undervalue us? [Page 234]Without their thinking well of us (in some capacity, or other) we shall never do them any good; they never will confide in us; they will not hearken to us; we shall have no credit with them. Is't not there­fore reasonable, even by the Rule of common Cha­rity, that we should rather seek their Kindness & Esteem, than their Aver­sion & Contempt?

‘S. Ibid. Gregory answers. Tis one thing, to desire our neighbour's Esteem; another, to rejoyce at his Profit. Tis a Crime to covet Reputation for it's own sake, & rejoyce at being Great in the opinion of men. But yet, to wish as much of it, as may be [Page 235]necessary for so good an End, as that of serving Souls & gaining them to Christ; is an effect of Charity. And thus 'tis lawfull to desire our neighbour's good opinion & esteem, so far as may enable us to do them good: because we thus desire it, only for their service, & the greater glory of our our God, with a sincere and totall disengagement from the charmes of Pride & Vanity. If any man, who naturally hates a Po­tion, or a Pill, upon oc­casion procures it, & desires to take it; we may be assur'd, that such a man takes physick, not Physick sake, but purely for his Health. So when a [Page 236]man, who by an extraor­dinary grace of the Al­mighty, hates the applause & honour of this World; when such a man procures, desires, & manages with care, the good Opinion of men; because it may be usefull to him in their service; we may be as­sur'd he only seeks God's Honour, not his own.’

However, Ibid. this great Truth is generally much abus'd; & under the pre­tence of it, we only cover our Ambition, & disguise our Vanity. Wee covet Honours, seek Preferments, & intrude our selves into Employments, letting slip no opportunity of being or appearing. Great; & all this while, we plead; tis only [Page 237] Charity, to qualifie us for the better service of our Neighbours. ‘We have therefore need of no small circumspection to discern the cheat. The way to know it, says S. Gregory, is to examine all occasions, where our Reputation is a thing indifferent, & useless to our neighbour. If in these, we care not for the good Opinion of men; we may suppose, that when we are concern'd for't, it is only for our neighbour's sake, & not our own.’

S. Ibid. Gregory thus untys the knot; but S. Francis cutts it with more ease, & much more clearly takes away the difficulty.

Whatsoever the Occasions [Page 238]are, Ibid. He roundly answers: that our ‘Charity begins at home: that if it inclines us to desire our Neighbour's spirituall good; with much more reason it inclines us to desire our Own: that if our Reputation may be usefull to our neighbour; our Disgraces & Humi­liations (incurr'd without our fault) may prove more beneficiall to our selves. If when I preach, says he, or when I prac­tise any virtue which is edifying, I am pleas'd with praises, which en­danger my Salvation; be­cause their good Opinion of me, helps them to im­prove by my instruction, & example: How much reason have I, for my [Page 239]own sake, to rejoyce a great deal more, when (having done my best) I still am undervalued & despis'd; because, by this means, I my self am more acceptable to God, and more secure of my Eter­nall Happyness?’

Our Saviour himself, See R. ch. 29. whose Charity inclin'd him to descend from heaven, & to sacrifice his life for Sinners; knew that many unbelieving Souls were lost by undervaluing & despi­sing him; He knew that many millions of them would have been conver­ted, if they had admir'd & honour'd him as he de­serv'd; & yet He never sought for wordly Honour as a means to save them; but al­though [Page 240]though their Souls were dear to Him, his honour was not. Jo. 6.38. As He came from heaven, not to do his own will, but the will of him that sent him: So He came to seek the Honour of his Father, not his own. I honour my Father, Jo. 8.49.50. says He; ‘I seek not my own glory. Tis enough that whilst I only seek his Honour, He takes care of mine; & that al­though I never seek my own, v. 50. yet there is One that always seeks & judges it; & always will be sure to do me justice. Let us follow the Example of our Sa­viour.’ Let us make it the cheif Business of our life to do the will of him that sent us, not our own. Let us honour our Father in Heaven. Let ‘his Honour only be the [Page 241]Object of our care, & never let us mind our own, but rest content that He himself takes care of it.’ Let no appearance of our Neighbour's Profit cheat us into an Ambition of being popular; but let us faith­fully, in all things, do our Duty for the Love & Ho­nour of our God; & as for mens opinion of us, let us leave it to his Pro­vidence. His Honour, here below, is left (as I may say) to our discretion: He committs it to our care: He forces not our Liberty, but only offers the assis­tance of his Grace, & lets us Honour him, & serve him as we please. Shall God thus trust his honour in so bad a hand as ours? & shall [Page 242]not we be satisfied, to trust our honour in so good a hand as His?

SECT. V. Third Degree of Humility.

By this description of the third Degree, we plainly see, that the Humility of Saints & the Humility of Sinners is the same in Sub­stance, though they differ in Perfection. Tis true: we wonder not, to see a man stand steddy upon even ground. But when we see the same man stand as firm [Page 244]upon a lofty pinnacle; we gaze, & wonder at him. All this while, the Man's the same; though we admire him more, because the place is higher & the difficulty grea­ter. So 'tis in our present case. Humility is either of the Judgment, or the Heart. The third Degree is com­prehended in the First, & Second. But however we admire much more an hum­ble Saint; because his emi­nent degree of Sanctity is higher, & the difficulty of his being humble, there­fore seems much greater.

I say seems greater: be­cause I am not apt to think it is so; upon second thoughts. My reason, in short, is This. Humility of judgment & of heart, are [Page 245]chiefly grounded in the Knowledg of our selves, & Love of God. The First in­duces us to have a mean opinion of our selves: the more we know our selves, the more we think our selves contemptible, the more we judge that we de­serve to be despis'd by all the World. The Second makes us glad to be neglected, & desire to be contemn'd: And as the Love of God encreases in our hearts; the more we have & scorn the transi­tory honour of this world; the more we love to follow the Example of an humble God; the more we hear­tily desire to be agreable to none but him; as being every day more sensible of this great Truth; He [Page 246]only is approv'd; 2. Cor. 10.18.whom God commends.

Let us only lay these no­tions right together. 1. The Knowledg of our selves & Love of God, is that which makes men Saints. No Per­son ever was a Saint without them: No man ever was a Sinner with them. And the more this Knowledg and this Love encrease, the Greater is the Sanctity. 2. This Knowledg & this Love, is that which makes men Humble. Knowledg helps them to be humble in their Judgments: Love assists them to be humble in their Hearts. The more they Know & Love, the greater is the assis­tance of God's Grace, which is the only means of making all things easy to us. Why [Page 247]then may we not conclude? Whoever is a Saint, the greater Saint he is, the easyer 'tis for him to be humble.

Sinners indeed have much more matter for Humility to work upon. Their Weak­ness, their Corruption, & the Misery of their deplo­rable condition, are incom­parably worse. But, which is worst of all, they are so miserably blind, as not to know their misery. A Beggar, in his drink, ima­gines he's a Prince: & is as proud as if he were. Tis true; he's miserably poor: but since he knows it not; what signifies it? He's as proud, as if he were the richest man alive. Tis so with Sinners. They are drunk with Self-love, [Page 248]Pride, & Vanity. They little know, & much less think, how Poor, how Miserable, how Contemptible they are. And we may very well apply to them those words of the Apocalypse: Because Thou sayst, Ch. 3.17.18.I am rich, & have need of nothing; & knowst not that thou art wretched, & mise­rable, & poor, & blind, & naked: Therefore I counsell thee, to annoint thy eyes, that thou mayst See. This is the generall Reason why Humility is harder to be found in Sin­ners, than in Saints. The First have more to humble them: but the more they have, the blinder they are, & the less they know it. The Second have less to hum­ble them; but the less they have, the more their eyes [Page 249]are open by God's Grace, & the more clearly they dis­cover what's enough to make them fear & tremble all their life.

SECT. VI. First Reason why the greatest Saints are the most humble.

I Shall only add two Rea­sons more: because all Saints (I speak of such as are now living) are com­pris'd in these two Classes: They are either such as have been Sinners heretofore; or such as may be so here­after.

The first Reason is so universall, that it com­prehends them both: but more particularly Those [Page 250]who have preserv'd the In­nocence of their Baptismall Grace. D. Sp. ch. 26. ‘Tis gatherd from that Oracle of Scripture; work out your Salvation with Fear & Trembling: Philip. 2.12.13.For it is God who works in you to will & to do; according to his pleasure. See the unsearchable Abyss of the Almighty's Judg­ments! where tis dange­rous to dwell too long, & search too curiously, lest it cast us into an ex­cess of Fear. Tis enough, that none are sav'd, but who persever to the End; & that the greatest Saints can never be assur'd of their Perseverance. Tis a speci­all Gift which the Apostle chiefly points at, when he says; Rom. 9.18.16. God has mercy on whom he will have mercy. It is [Page 251]not of him that wills, or him that runs; but of God that shews Mercy. And again: Ephes. 2.8.9. By Grace you are sav'd: & that not of your selves: it is the Gift of God: Not of works; lest any Man should boast. Alas! how is it possible for any Saint to be assur'd of his con­dition for the future, since he is not certain even of his present State? Who can sound the bottom of our Heart? Or rather, Who can sound the Heart of God, & tell us what He thinks of our condition? Who is He, that can as­sure us, We are good enough to be Rewarded by Him? wo be to that Life, how innocent soever, says S. Austin, Psal. 19.12. which He Judges without Mercy. VVho is He, [Page 252]says David, that can under­stand his failings? Cleanse me from my secret faults,Psal. 143.2.O Lord: and enter not into judgment with thy servant; for in thy sight shall no man living be jus­tified; if once Thou judg­est him according to the utmost rigour of thy Jus­tice. Who is there that dos not tremble, when he hears the Just & Holy man, whom God himself was pleas'd to praise, confess that, all his life time, God was such a Terrour to him, Job. 31.23. he was hardly able to endure it? Who can, without trem­bling, hear the Prophet Isaiah tell us; 64.6. we are all unclean; & all our righteous works, like filthy Rags? Or hear S. Hierom, in the [Page 253]life of S. Hilarion, tell us how that blessed Saint was terrified at the approach of Death; & to encou­rage his departing soul, said to himself; Go forth, my Soul; what are thou Now afraid of? Thou hast serv'd thy God these threescore & ten years; & dost thou tremble Now to ap­pear before him?’

Let us therefore fear & tremble in the way to Hea­ven. Never let us fancy, we are so advanc't in Vir­tue; that we need not fear. The greatest Saints were never so Presumptuous, as to banish from their thoughts the Fear of God. Philip. 2.12. They workt out their Salvation with Fear & Trembling. They were always full of Fear: & this Fear always Humbled them. They [Page 254]were not Blinded, as we are, with Passion & Humour; but, as they improv'd in Grace, they every day discover'd more & more their secret Imperfections.

The Property of Grace is to enlighten the Understan­ding, as well as to enflame the Heart. It makes us Know our Misery, & Love our God, who only can deliver us. These two Ef­fects of Grace were lively represented on the Day of Pentecost, by that myste­rious Fire which rested on the heads of the Apostles. Fire gives Light & Heat: & as the Fire encreases, it affords more Heat & greater Light. So, Grace Enlightens and Enflames the Minds & Hearts of Saints, with Know­ledg [Page 255]of themselves, & Love of God: & as their Grace improves, this Heat and Light encrease: They dis­cern more clearly the innu­merable dangers that sur­round them; & become more Humble under the Almighty Hand of God. 1. Pet. 5.6.

S. Paul compares the dif­ferent States of Sin & Grace, to Light and Darkness, Night and Day. Rom 13 12.13.The Night says he, is spent; the Day is at hand. Let us cast of the works of Darkness, & put on the armour of Light. Let us walk honestly, as in the Day. A Traveller be­nighted, walks he knows not where. He hardly sees his Hand; much less his Feet. He sees perhaps, some Stars shine through the clouds, whose sparkling light [Page 256]serves only to amuse him, & mislead him to a Preci­pice. But when the rising Sun appears, the Stars im­mediatly vanish out of sight; our Traveller no longer gazes there; but has a much more usefull prospect, of the Earth below him; where he plain­ly sees the Ground he go's upon, the Risings, the Descents, the Inequalities, & Precipices of it. Sinners, like benighted Travellers, march blindly on; mind little what they Do; & much less where they Go. However, now & then, they practise some good actions, either out of custom, or good nature; & amuse themselves with some few semblances of virtue, whose dim lustre seems perhaps [Page 257]more sparkling in the Darkness of that Night, which hides them, even from them­selves. But tis not so with Saints. Their Night is spent; their Day appears. The Sun of Justice Rises in their Hearts. 2. Pet. 1.19. Their Virtues, like the Stars, (which only shine in Dark­ness) disappear immediatly. The Clay which they are made of; the Corruption of their Nature; the Enor­mity of Sin; the Power of their Passions; & the Weak­ness of their Reason: These are Motives of Humility, which Now they clearly see, & dayly have before their eyes. Besides all This; they plainly see an infinite va­riety of Artifices & Disgui­ses of Self-love, which easily assumes all shapes, [Page 258]& counterfeits all Virtues, even Charity it self. And therefore they suspect the best of all their Actions; trembling at the very thought of them, for fear they may be secretly cor­rupted by Self-love. But, above all, the importunity of Pride, which never ceases to attack them; but con­tinually endeavours to sur­prise them (notwithstan­ding all these motives of humility) is that which seems the most extravagant of all their faults; & hum­bles them the most.

Behold the Misery of Man! And, what can be more miserable, if the Sight of so much misery suffices not to humble him! the greatest Saint, who is not [Page 259]conscious to himself of any forfeiture of his first Inno­cence, has no Assurance of his being justified. D. Sp. ch. 27. ‘He may be in the State of Grace; but whether so, or not. He cannot tell. And, which is worse, although he knew it, He has no as­surance of Persevering one single moment. He who Stands, may Fall: & He who is a Saint, may prove a Sinner. Nothing but God's Grace is able to support him, to the End: and the Continuance of this Grace requires so faithfull & so punctuall a Cooperation with it; that a very small Omis­sion oftentimes suffices to deprive him of it. His Perseverance is, as it [Page 260]were, a Chain of Graces, linkt together, & conti­nued to the utmost period of his life: S. Tho. 1.2. q. 114.9. & this is more than He can Merit. All that he can do, is to be always vigilant & faithfull in the Ʋse of every single Grace God offers him. One Grace, well us'd, draws on another; This, a third; & That, a fourth: but if he trip the least in his Fidelity, the Chain immediatly breaks. And this is that great Diligence which the Apostle recom­mends so earnestly to all good Christians: 2. Pet. 1.10. Ʋse Di­ligence, says he, to make your Calling & Election sure. For IF YOU DO, you shall never fall.’ I must confess, this Saying is extremely comfortable; [Page 261] if we do: But, if we do not, what becomes of us? If all our life, we Ʋse such Diligence; the Apostle tells us, we shall never fall: But, if we do not; what remains, but that the greatest Saint amongst us will be sure to fall? Consider this; & Tremble, Whosoêre you are. Assure your self, the more you are a Saint, the more you'l tremble, & the more you'l see, how terri­ble a truth This is; which is one Reason why the grea­test Saints (who are the most convinc't of it) are always the most Humble.

SECT. VII. Second Reason why the greatest Saints are the most humble.

I Have said enough of Saints, who have pre­serv'd their Innocence. The Second Reason only has re­gard to Saints, who by their Crimes have lost it heretofore; & now are truly Penitent. If They who Know Themselves the best, are there­fore the most Humble, because they Doubt the most of their Perseverance. Surely These who Know most clear­ly the Enormity of Sin, which they are guilty of, have much more Reason to be Humble; because they Doubt much more, of their ob­taining Pardon.

There is a great deal of difference says S. Jerome, Epist. ad Salv. betwixt a Man whose Vessel is entire, & richly laden, when he sails into the Port of Bliss: & Him who, after Shipwrack, after Swimming for his life, rides naked on a Plank; & after being dasht, a hundred times against the rocks, at length is cast upon the Sands, half-dead, & almost bruis'd to pieces. If a man, who sails in a sound Vessel, never is secure from Storms which may arise, but always doubts of his ar­rival at the Port: we may be sure his Case is much more doubtfull & more terri­ble, who has already suf­ferd Shipwrack; & has no­thing left him, but a Single Plank, to bear him up.

Tis true: it happens now & then (& 'tis a comfort­able [Page 264]Observation of a Holy Man, Abbé Jean. Entre­tien. 7. whose Name is fa­mous in our present Age) ‘it happens now & then, that He, Math. 8.27. to whom the winds & & sea obey, is pleas'd to make them for a time so calm & quiet, that a Man who swims upon his plank with industry & courage, meets at length, by Pro­vidence, another Vessel, better than his own; & sails with much more Comfort, much more Joy, into the Haven, than he would have done if he had never sufferd Ship­wrack in a Storm. S. John Climacus, in his 15. De­gree, inquires which of the two is Greater in the sight of God; he who died by sin, & rose again to life by Grace? Or [Page 265]he who never died the spirituall death of Sin? And answers, that whoever Thinks the Inno­cent more happy of the two, is much mistaken. The Reason is: because All Sanctity is founded in Humility & Charity. Whoever Loves God best, & is most Humble, is the Greatest Saint. It happens oftentimes that He to whom a little is forgiven, Luc. 7.47.Loves but little: & it happens now & then, that He Loves best, who is most mer­cifully pardon'd, v. 43. & forgiven most. We read in Scripture severall examples of this nature. Zachary as soon as he had done sufficient Pennance for his incre­dulity, immediatly had his Speech restor'd him; & not only that, but he [Page 266]was also honour'd with the Gift of Prophecying; which we do not read he had before. The Prodigall receiv'd much greater fa­vours and caresses from his Father, than he ever had experienc't before he left him. Lazarus himself, (who was the Figure of great Sinners) never had the honour to be enter­tain'd, at Table, with the Son of God; before he was, by miracle, rais'd from the Grave. S. Peter had not confidence, be­fore he sinn'd, to ask our Saviour, Who he was that would betray him? But, when he had washt away his sins with Tears, he was permitted to be more familiar with his [Page 267]Master, and was made the Souvereign Pastor of his Church. From whence tis easy to conclude, that Sinners may sometimes, by Pennance, grow more Per­fect than those Saints who having kept their Inno­cence, Love God less fer­vently, & serve him, with more coldness & in­difference. Behold, says Saint Ambrose, the great Goodness of our God! How liberall & generous He is, to whom He pleases to be mercifull! He's not contented to restore what they have lost. He grants them over & above, such Gra­ces, & such Favours, as they never dirst have hop'd for. Thus, as the Apostle says, Rom. 5.20. where Sin abounded, Grace abounds much more: because, the more [Page 268] Sin Humbles them, the more they are Exalted. When a Penitent, whom Sin had blinded, once begins to See, & to discover clearly the Enormity of his offen­ces, he has much more reason to be humble all his life, than if he had been always innocent. He looks upon himself no better than a Criminall repriev'd, who is upon his good behaviour for his pardon; & persuades him­self that he can never give sufficient proof of his Fi­delity, & the Sincerity of his Repentance. All his Exercises of continuall Pen­nance never make him Vain; but only serve to humble him the more: because he looks upon them, only [Page 269]as the Remedies of his Diseases; & such Remedies as he must use till Death; which is the only End, he hopes to see, of his Distempers. The Employ­ment of his Thoughts is the Consideration of his grievous Sins, which he perpetually laments; Where êre he goes, he never leaves the dolefull Me­mory behind him; Micah. 6.14. His hu­miliation is always in the midst of him. Since therefore He, who hates the Proud, 1. Pet. 5.5, gives Graces to the Humble; is't not lawfull to inferr, that Sinners may sometimes ar­rive to a more eminent Degree of Sanctity, than many of those Saints, who never fell quite down, but yet walk slowly in the way to Heaven?’

This happens, now & then 'tis true: but such Exam­ples are as rare, as they are great. They are effects of more than ordinary Grace, which God grants only when and where he pleases. S. Peter never would have wept so bitterly, if Jesus had not mercifully turn'd & lookt upon him. Luk. 22.61.62.Lazarus had never risen from the grave, if Jesus had not come himself, & call'd him forth with a loud voice. Jo. 11.43. The Prodigall had never come back to his Fa­ther, if he had not first come to himself. Luke. 15.17. Alas, poor Wretch! he follow'd Swine before; & if he might have fill'd his belly with their husks, v. 16. he would have been con­tented. See the blindness of a Sinner! But as soon [Page 271]as ever he came to himself, v. 17. his eyes were open; & the opening of his eyes was that which brought him to him­self. He Saw the great Enor­mity of his offences; I have sinn'd, says he; v. 18. I have sinn'd against Heaven; & before my Father's face; v. 19. I am not worthy to be call'd his Son. The Idea of his Sins was now so ter­rible, & made so deep im­pression in him; that it humbled him, not only in his Judgment, but his Heart. It humbled him so much, that he not only thought him­self unworthy, but desir'd to be receiv'd accordingly; & beg'd his Father not to entertain him as a Son, but as one of his hired servants. v. 19.

When once the Grace of God enlightens us, & by [Page 272]a miracle of Mercy breaks through the impenetrable Darkness which our Pas­sions cloud our Reason with; this Light discovers clearly to us the Enormity of Sin; & as this Light encreases, we discover dayly more & more. This Light is followd with a Sacred Heat that softens the obdu­rate coldness of our Tem­per; by which means, the terrible Idea of our Guilt makes, every day, a deeper & more sensible Impression in our Hearts. And This is the Second Reason, why the Greatest Saints are the most humble: because, the grea­ter Saints they are, the more They see the great Enormity of Sin; the more They feel the Terrour of [Page 273]their Guilt; the more They doubt of their obtaining Par­don; & the more They fear and tremble all their life.

SECT. I. The Perfection of his Duty,

Behold the Duty of a Christian! See how Gene­rous, how Noble, how He­roicall his Resolution is, of making good the full Sig­nification of his Name! He meets with an infinity of Obstacles: but notwithstan­ding all, He is resolv'd to Sacrifice and Save himself: He [Page 362]is resolv'd to use all Violence, what ever may be requisite, to make his way to Heaven, Math. 11.12. & to take it even by force.

SECT. II. His Contempt of the VVorld.

SECT. III. His Desire of Heaven.

THe Scripture generally represents a Christian, as a Person disengag'd & separated from the World. If you were of the world, S. Jo. 15.19. says our Saviour, the world would love his own: but because you are not of the world, & I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 1. Jo. 2.15. He loves not the world, nor the things that are in the world: Because, if any man love the world, the Love of God is not in him. Rom. 12.2. He is not conform'd to the world, but trans­form'd by the renewing of his Mind, [Page 373]that He may prove what is the good the acceptable & perfect will of God. He uses the world, 1. Cor. 7.31. Gal. 6.14. Coloss. 3.3. Jam. 1.27. 1. Pet. 2.11.as if he us'd it not. The world is crucifyd to him, & He to the world. He is Dead, & his Life is hid with Christ in God. His Religion pure & undefil'd is that by which He keeps himself un­spotted from the world. He ab­stains from all Desires which war against the Soul, because He is a Stranger & a Pilgrim in the World. But that which most inclines him to Desire the Happyness of Heaven, is his Knowing that, as long as He is here, 2. Cor. 5.6. He's Absent from his God.