图书图片
PDF
ePub

Chap. 12.

ture, though it be in it felf an excellent thing, and more worth than the Soul it self, is defectible, and cannot stand alone, or subsist without a Divine concourse: it was breathed out from God; and, without his continual spirations to support it, it will vanish into nothing; should God tell him, That he should stand alone, and upon his own bottom; he would, though richly furnished with divine Graces, fall into an Agony, and be ready to fink into despair; his Heart would immediately suggest to him, that he might, with David, roll in Adultery and Blood; or, with Peter, deny the Lord Chrift; or, with Julian, turn total, final Apostate, were he left in the hand of his own counsel; he knows he might do any thing which hath been done by others. St. Austin brings in one speaking thus; Non multa peccavi, I have finned little, yet love much: And then answers thus; Tu dicis te non multa commississe: Quare? Hom. 23. quo regente? Hoc tibi dicit Deus tuus, Regebam te mihi, fervabam te mihi, agnosce gratiam ejus, cui debes & quod non admififti? Thou say'st, That thou haft not finned much: Why? who ruled thee? Thy God faith to thee, I ruled thee, I preserved thee; acknowledg then hisGrace, to which thou owest even this, That thou hast not finned as others. The holy Man is very sensible, that unless God bear him up with his Grace, he shall foon fink into all manner of fin. Hence that of Luther, Vita hominis nihil aliud eft nifi oratio, gemitus, defiderium, Suspirium ad mifericordiam Dei: Our Life should be a perpetual breathing after that Grace of God, upon which we depend: Were we full of divine Light, yet if we should shut the windows, and go about to possess it in a Self-subsistence, we should foon be in the dark, and

Tom. 10.

and find by experience that every Beam hangs upon Chap. 12. that Grace which is above: were we never so rich in inherent Graces, unless there were influences from Heaven also, we should foon fpend our stock, and become bankrupts. The holy Man is a Part or Member of Chrift, and lives in dependance upon him as the Head. There is, as St. Chryfoftom faith, τὸ πνεδμα ἄνωθεν ὀλιῤῥεόμθυον, a Spirit descending from Chrift above, which touches all his Members, and makes a kind of Spiritual continuity between him and them: Hence they are said in Scripture to live in the Spirit, pray in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, do all in the Influence of that Spirit, which comes down from the Head to actuate their Graces: Hence St. Paul faith, I live; yet wot I, but Christ liveth in me, Gal.. His Graces as they had their Being from Chrift the true Immanuel, so were they continued and actuated by the Influences of his Spirit; which in a sober sence are a kind of Immanuel, God with us, to uphold and quicken us to all holy Obedience. As the humane Nature of Christ acted not in a separate way, but in union with the Divine; so the Believers Graces do nothing apart, but all in union with Christ. Still there must be, as the Milevitan Coun-cel tells us, an Adjutorium Gratiæ, a supernatural Aid to work in us to will and to do. When we do good, then, as the Araufican Councel hath it, Deus in nobis atq; nobiscum, ut operemur, operatur; God works in and with us, to make us work: The Holy Man's Powers and Graces cannot go alone. He is therefore depending upon that Spirit which acts the Sons of God in pure ways towards Heaven: To deny this dependance, is, like the worshippers of Angels, Not to hold the Head, from which all the Body by

2.20.

joyntss

Chap. 12. joynts and bands, having nourishment ministred, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God, Col. 2.19. Were the holy Man off from the Head, what would become of him? what illapses of the Spirit or Influences of Grace could he look for in a state separate from him? how could he remain holy, or continue in the Divine Life any longer? In such a cafe he would be no longer a living Branch, but ὡς κλῆμα, a quafi Branch, dead and withered, and fit for the Fire, as the Exposition is, Joh.15.6. He could no more walk in Holiness, than the old Dionyfius, (as the Fable runs) could walk a great way with his Head off. We fee then what manner of thing a true holy Life is; it is that which stands in doing the Will of God in a way of humble dependance upon his Grace; it is not enough to do that which is good, but we must do it waiting, and looking up to the God of Grace, that he would strengthen our inner Man, order our steps, hold up our goings in his paths, encline our Hearts, and work all our works in us; that he would by the continual supplies of his Spirit enlighten us when dark, quicken us when dead, draw us when backward, hold us when falling, enlarge us when in straits, and actuate our Graces in the midst of our infirmities: How excellent is the Life, when God's Arm joyns it self to ours to set it a working; when the Spirit breaths on our Graces, and the Spices flow out; when the Influences of Auxiliary Grace are as Dew; and the Roots of Habitual Graces cast forth themselves in holy works futable thereunto; when there is Grace with our Spirit: and, in a fence, a kind of Immanuel, God with us, to incline our Hearts to do all the Will of God; and in the power of his Grace we fet our selves serioufly to the doing of it?

This is indeed an holy Life; not only good in the Chap. 12.
matter, but pious in the manner of it; a vein of
Faith and dependance runs through every Good
Work: God, the Fountain and Original of Holi-
ness, is fanctified in every step we take: there is an
holy Life in us; but the Fountain of Life is above;
we do Good Works, but God is the Great Operator,
he works all our Works in us. I shall conclude with
that of the Araufican Councel, Adjutorium Dei etiam
renatis ac fanctis semper est implorandum, ut ad finem
bonum pervenire, vel in bono opere perdurare possint,
Can. 10. Help from the Holy One must be ever im-
plored, even by the Saints themfelves, that they may
arrive at the good End, and abide in the Good
Work.

Fifthly, In an holy Life there must be a fincere mortification of fin, without any falvo or exception; no known fin may be indulged or spared: It's true, in an holy Man there are reliques of in-dwelling fin adhering to him; there are quotidian Infirmities, Effluvium's of Humane Frailty, breathing forth from him; but neither of these are indulged; both are inevitable in this Life: Original Corruption is a very great burden to him; it is the grief of his Heart, to have such an evil in his Bosom; to be a clog upon his Faculties, a damp upon his Prayers, a cooler upon his Zeal and Charity, and a stain upon all his Duties and Good Works. This makes him groan, and cry out, Oh! wretched Man that I am! who shall deliver me from this Body of Death? This is an Evil always present; the holy Man shakes himself, and yet it adheres; he flies, and yet it encompasses; he mortifies, and yet he must mortify on; it is not, it will not be extinct till Death dissolves him into dust: He prays,

Hhh

:

Chap. 12.

45

prays, weeps, sweats, fights, runs, labours, and yet he cannot make a total riddance of it. However, he indulges it not; in like manner is it with his daily Infirmities; these are not indulged, but they lie as an heavy burden upon him: he wishes for, he breaths after Perfection: Oh! that there were no remaining

Sin, no moats of Infirmity: But alas! it will not be Aust. de here; Concupifcere nolo, & concupisco, faith the FaTemp. Serm. ther; Innate corruption will be stirring and bubling up in us; all that can be done on Earth, is to war and fight against it; the Triumph, the Crown of finless Perfection can be found no where but in Heaven: But to clear this Particular, I shall fet down two things.

The one is this: A Man, who indulges or allows fin in himself, cannot, while he doth so, lead an holy Life: he hath no Principles for it; no Principle of Repentance; he cannot mourn over fin, while he joys in it; he cannot hate fin, while he loves it; he cannot forsake fin, while he follows after it. No Principle of Faith; he cannot trust in God's Mercy, when he rebels, and is in Arms against him; he cannot receive the Lord Christ, when he hath another Master to rule over him; he cannot close in with the precious Promises of the Gospel, when he embraces the lying Promises of Sin. No Principle of Holy Love; he cannot truly love God, with an Idol in his Heart; he cannot love him, and close in with fin his great Enemy; he cannot love him, and habitually, willingly violate his Commands: Such an one car have no pure Intention towards God's Will or Glory: not towards God's Will; he obeys with a falvo or exception; he picks and chuses among the Divine Commands; he complies only with those Commands

« 上一页继续 »