Vnum necessarium. Or, The doctrine and practice of repentance. Describing the necessities and measures of a strict, a holy, and a Christian life. And rescued from popular errors. / By Jer. Taylor D.D.

CHAP. I. The foundation , and necessity of Repentance .

§. 1. Of the indispensable necessity of Repentance in remedy to the unavoidable transgressing the Covenant of Works .

IN the first entercourse with Man , God made such a Covenant as he might justly make out of his absolute dominion , and such as was agreeable with those powers which he gave us , and the instances in which obedience was demanded . For 1. Man was made perfect in his kinde , and God demanded of him perfect obedience . 2. The first Covenant was the Covenant of Works , that is , there was nothing in it , but Man was to obey or die : but God laid but one command upon him that we finde ; the Covenant was instanced but in one precept . In that he fail'd , and therefore he was lost . There was here no remedy , no second thoughts , no amends to be made . But because much was not required of him , and the Commandement was very easie , and he had strengths more then enough to keep it , therefore he had no cause to complain : God might , and did exact at first the Covenant of Works , because it was at first infinitely tolerable . But ,

From this time forward this Covenant began to be hard , and by degrees became impossible ; not onely because mans fortune was broken , and his spirit troubled , and his passions disordered and vext by his calamity and his sin , but because man upon the birth of children and the increase of the world contracted new relations , and consequently had new duties and obligations , and men hindred one another , and their faculties by many means became disorder'd and lessen'd in their abilities ; and their will becoming perverse they first were unwilling , and then unable by superinducing dispositions and habits contrary to their duty . However , because there was a necessity that man should be tied to more duty , God did in the several periods of the world multiply Commandements , first to Noah , then to Abraham , and then to his posterity ; and by this time they were very many : And still God held over mans head the Covenant of Works .

Upon the pressure of this Covenant all the world did complain : Tanta mandata sunt , ut impossbile sit servari ea , In cap. 3. Gal. said S. Ambrose : the Commandements were so many and great , that it was impossible they should be kept . For at first there were no promises at all of any good , nothing but a threatning of evil to the transgressors ; and after a long time they were entertain'd but with the promise of temporal good things , which to some men were perform'd by the pleasures and rewards of sin ; and then there being a great imperfection in the nature of man , it could not be that man should remain innocent ; and for repentance , in this Covenant there was no regard , or provisions made . But I said ,

The Covenant of Works was still kept on foot ; How justly , will appear in the sequel ; but the reasonableness of it was in this , that men living in a state of awfulness might be under a pedagogy or severe institution restraining their loosenesses , recollecting their inadvertencies , uniting their distractions . For the world was not then prepar'd by spirituall usages and dispositions to be governed by love and an easie yoke , but by threatnings and severities . And this is the account S. Paul gives of it , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , The Law was a Schoolmaster , Gal. 3.24 . that is , had a temporary authority serving to other ends , with no finall concluding power . It could chastise and threaten , but it could not condemn : it had not power of eternall life and death , that was given by other measures . But because the world was wilde and barbarous , good men were few , the bad potent and innumerable , and sin was conducted and help'd forward by pleasure and impunity , it was necessary that God should superinduce a law , and shew them the rod , and affright and check their confidences , lest the world it self should perish by dissolution . The law of Moses was still a part of the Covenant of Works . Some little it had of repentance ; Sacrifice and expiations were appointed for small sins ; but nothing at all for greater . Every great sin brought death infallibly . And as it had a little image of Repentance , so it had something of Promises , to be as a grace and auxiliary to set forward obedience . But this would not do it . The promises were temporall , and that could not secure obedience in great instances ; and there being for them no remedy appointed by repentance , the law could not justifie , it did not promise life Eternall , nor give sufficient security against the Temporall , onely it was brought in as a pedagogy for the present necessity .

But this pedagogy or institution was also a manuduction to the Gospel . For they were used to severe laws , that they might the more readily entertain the holy precepts of the Gospel , to which eternally they would have shut their ears , unless they had had some preparatory institution of severity and fear : And therefore S. Paul also calls it , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a pedagogy , or institution leading unto Christ .

For it was this which made the world of the Godly long for Christ , as having commission to open the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the hidden mystery of Justification by Faith and Repentance . For the law called for exact obedience , but ministred no grace but that of fear , which was not enough to the performance or the engagement of exact obedience . All therefore were here convinced of sin , but by this Covenant they had no hopes , and therefore were to expect relief from another and a better : Gal. 3.22 . according to that saying of S. Paul , The Scripture concludes all under sin ( that is , declares all the world to be sinners ) that the promise by the faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that beleeve . This S. Bernard expresses in these words , Deus nobis hoc fecit , ut nostram imperfectionem ostenderet , & Christi avidiores nos faceret . Our imperfection was sufficiently manifest by the severity of the first Covenant , that the world might long for salvation by Jesus Christ .

For since mankinde could not be saved by the Covenant of works , that is , of exact obedience , they must perish for ever , or else hope to be sav'd by a Covenant of ease and remission , that is , such a Covenant as may secure Mans duty to God , and Gods mercy to Man , and this is the Covenant which God made with mankinde in Christ Jesus , the Covenant of Repentance .

This Covenant began immediately after Adams fall . For as soon as the first Covenant , the Covenant of works was broken , God promised to make it up by an instrument of mercy which himself would finde out . The Seed of the woman should make up the breaches of the man . But this should be acted and published in its own time , not presently . In the mean time man was by virtue of that new Covenant or promise admitted to Repentance .

Adam confessed his sin and repented . Three hundred years together did he mourn upon the mountains of India , and God promised him a Saviour by whose obedience his repentance should be accepted . And when God did threaten the old world with a floud of waters , he called upon them to repent , but because they did not , God brought upon them the floud of waters . For 120. years together he called upon them to return before he would strike his final blow . Ten times God tried Pharaoh before he destroyed him . And in all ages , in all periods , and with all men God did deal by this measure ; and ( excepting that God in some great cases , or in the beginning of a Sanction to establish it with the terror of a great example ) he scarce ever destroyed a single man with temporal death for any nicety of the law , but for long and great prevarications of it : and when he did otherwise , he did it after the man had been highly warned of the particular , and could have obeyed easily , which was the case of the man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath ; and was like the case of Adam , who was upon the same account judged by the Covenant of works .

This then was an emanation both of Gods justice and his mercy . Until man had sinned he was not the subject of mercy : and if he had not then receiv'd mercy , the infliction had been too severe and unjust , since the Covenant was beyond the measures of man , after it began to multiply into particular laws , and man by accident was lessen'd in his strengths .

From hence the corollaries are plain , 1. God was not unjust for beginning his entercourse with mankind by the Covenant of works , for these reasons .

1. Because Man had strengths enough to doe it , until he lessen'd his own abilities .

2. The Covenant of works was at first instanc'd but in a small Commandement : in abstaining from the fruit of one tree , when he had by him very many others for his use and pleasure .

3. It was necessary that the Covenant of works should begin : for the Covenant of faith and repentance could not be at first ; there was no need of it , no opportunity for it , it must suppose a defailance , or an infirmity , as physick supposes sickness and mortality .

4. God never exacted the obedience of Man by strict measures , by the severity of the first Covenant after Adams fall ; but men were sav'd then as now , they were admitted to repentance , and justified by faith and the works of faith . And therefore the Jews say that three things were before the world , The Law , the name of the Messias , and Repentance ; 1 Cor. 2.7 . that is , as S. Paul better expresses it , This Repentance through faith in the Messias is the hidden wisdome of God , ordained before the world unto our glory . So that at first it was not impossible ; and when it was , it was not exacted in the impossible measure ; but it was kept in pretence and overture for ends of piety , wisdome and mercy , of which I have given account ; it was 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a wise dispensation , but it was hidden .

For since it is essentiall to a law that it be in a matter that is possible , Plato lib 5. de leg . Demosth . contra Timocratem . Plutar. in Solon . Curius Fortunatianus Rhet. Nemo obligatur ad impossibile . it cannot be suppos'd that God would judge man by an impossible Commandement . A good man would not doe it , much lesse the righteous and mercifull Judge of Men and Angels . But God by holding over the world the Covenant of works , non fecit praevaricatores sed humiles , did not make us sinners by not observing the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 the minutes and tittles of the law , but made us humble , needing mercy , begging grace , longing for a Saviour , relying upon a better Covenant , waiting for better promises , praying for the Spirit of grace , repenting of our sins , deploring our infirmities , and justified by faith in the promises of God .

2. This then is the great introduction and necessity of repentance . We neither could have liv'd without it , nor have understood the way of the Divine Justice , nor have felt any thing of his most glorious attribute . But the admission of us to repentance , is the great verification of his justice , and the most excellent expression of his mercy : This is the mercy of God in Jesus Christ , springing from the fountains of grace , purchas'd by the bloud of the Holy Lamb , the Eternal sacrifice , promised from the beginning , always ministred to mans need in the secret Oeconomy of God , but proclaim'd to all the world at the revelation of God incarnate , the first day of our Lord Jesus .

But what are we eased now under the Gospel , which is a Law of greater holiness and more Commandements , and a sublimer purity , in which we are tied to more severity then ever man was bound to under any institution and Covenant ? If the Law was an impossible Commandement , who can say he hath strictly and punctually perform'd the injunctions of the Gospel ? Is not the little finger of the Son heavier then the Fathers loyns ? Here therefore it is to be inquired , Whether the Commandements of Jesus Christ be as impossible to be kept as the Law of Moses ? If we by Christ be tied to more holiness , then the sons of Israel were by Moses Law , then because that could not be kept , then neither can this . But if we be not tied to more then they , how is the law of Christ a more perfect institution , and how can we now be justified by a law no better then that by which we could not be justified ? But then , if this should be as impossible as ever , why is it anew imposed ? why is it held over us , when the ends for which it was held over us , now are served ? And at last , how can it be agreeable to Gods wisdome and justice , to exact of us a law which we cannot perform , or to impose a law which cannot justly be exacted ? The answering and explicating this difficulty will serve many propositions in the doctrine of Repentance .

§. 2. Of the possibility or impossibility of keeping the Precepts of the Gospel .

IT were strange that it should be possible for all men to keep the Commandements , and requir'd and exacted of all men with the intermination or threatning of horrid pains , and yet that no man should ever do it . Lib. 1. Dial. adve . Pelag. S. Hierome brings in Atticus thus arguing : Da exemplum , aut confitere imbecillitatem tuam : and the same also was the argument of Orosius ; and the reasonableness of it is a great prejudice against the contrary affirmation of S. Austin , Alipius & Evodius , Aurelius & Possidius , who because it is no good consequence to argue à non esse ad non posse , and though it is not done , yet possibly it might ; conclude , that it is possible to keep the Commandements , though as yet no man ever did , but he that did it for us all . But as Marcellinus said well , It is hard to say that by a Man a thing can be done , of which although there was a great necessity and a severe Commandement , yet there never was any example . Because in men there is such infinite variety of tempers , dispositions , apprehensions , designes , fears and hopes , purposes and interests , that it were next to a miracle that not one of all mankinde should do what he can , and what so highly concerns him . But because this , although it be a high probability , yet is no certain demonstration ; that which S. Paul taught is certainly to be relied upon , That the Law could not do it for us , that is , Rom. 8. could not bring us justification , in that it was weak through the flesh ; meaning that because we were so weak we could not fulfill the righteousness of the Law , therefore we could not be justified by that Covenant . Mosi manus graves , facies cornuta , impedita lingua , lapideae tabulae . Moses's hand were heavy , his face bright , his tongue stammering , and the tables were of stone ; by which is meant , that the imposition and the burthen was great , but the shoulder is weak and crushed , and therefore was not able to bear it ; and therefore much less can it stand under a bigger load , if the holy Precepts of the Gospel should prove so , and we be assisted by no firmer supporters .

For the nature and constitution of man is such , that he cannot perpetually attend to any state of things : Voluntas per momenta variatur , S. Hier. lib. 2. in Gal. c. c. 3. quia solus Deus immutabilis ; variety and change , inconstancy and repentance are in his very nature . * If he be negligent , he is soon tempted . * If he be watchful , he is soon wearied . * If he be not instructed , he is exposed to every abuse . * If he be , yet he is ignorant of more then he knows , and may be cousened by very many things ; and in what he knows or seems to know , he is sometimes confident , sometimes capricious , curious and impertinent , proud and contemptuous , * The Commandments are instanc'd in things against our naturall inclinations , and are restraints upon our appetite ; and although a man may do it in single instances , yet to act a part of perpetual violence and preternatural contentions is too hard and severe an expectation , and the often unavoidable failings of men will shew how impossible it is . It is ( as S. Hieromes expression is ) as if a man should hale a boat against the stream ; if ever he slacken his hand , the vessel falls back : and if ever we give way to our appetite in any of the forbidden instances , we descend naturally and easily . * Some vices are proportionable to a mans temper , and there he falls pleasantly and with desire ; Rhet. lib. 1. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , said Aristotle , That which is natural is sweet , but that which is violent is troublesome : to others he is indifferent , but to them he is turn'd by every byas . * If a man be morose , he is apt to offend with sullenness and angry pretensions : but if he be compliant and gentle , he is easily cousened with fair entreaties . * If he be alone , he is sad and phantastick , and woe to him that is alone : If he be in company , it will be very hard for him to go with them to the utmost limits of permission , and not to step beyond it . * No mans leisure is great enough to attend the inquiry after all the actions and particulars for which he is to be judged ; and he does many things which he considers not whether they be sins or no ; and when he does consider , he often judges wrong . * For some things there are no certain measures ; and there are very many constituent or intervening things and circumstances of things , by which it is made impossible to give a certain judgement of the whole . * Oftentimes a man is surpris'd and cannot deliberate for want of time ; sometimes he is amaz'd , and wants order and distinction to his thoughts , and cannot deliberate for want of powers . * Sometimes the case is such , that if a man determines it against his temporal interest he determines falsly , and yet he thinks he does it safest : and if he judges in compliance with his temporal regards , he cannot be confident but that he was mov'd not by the prevailing reason , but by prevailing passion . * If the dispute be concerning degrees , there is no certain measures to weigh them by : and yet sometimes a degree does diversifie the kinde , and vertue and vice are but differing degrees of the same instance : and the wayes of sinning upon the stock of ignorance are as many as there are ignorances and degrees , and parts and vicious causes , and instances of it .

Concerning our infirmities , they are so many that we can no more account concerning the wayes of errour coming upon that stock , then it can be reckoned in how many places a lame man may stumble that goes a long journey in difficult and uneven wayes . We have beginning infant strengths , which are therefore imperfect because they can grow : Crescere posse imperfectae rei signum est ; Seneca ep. 67. and when they are most confirm'd and full grown , they are imperfect still . When we can reckon all the things of chance , then we have summ'd up the dangers and aptnesses of man to sin upon that one principle ; but so as they can they are summ'd up in the words of Epiphanius ; Haeres. 59. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . The condition of our nature , the inconstancy of our spirits , the infirmity of our flesh , the distraction of our senses , are an argument to make us with confidence expect pardon and mercy from the loving kindness of the Lord , according to the preaching of Truth , the Gospel of Christ .

But besides all this , the numbers of sin are not easily to be told : the lines of account are various and changeable , our opinions uncertain , and we are affrighted from one into another , and all changes from sin are not into vertue , but more commonly into sin . Obsessa mens hominis & undique † † Zabuli . S. Cypr. de oper. & cleemos . diaboli infestatione vallata vix occurrit singulis , vix resistit ; si avaritia prostrata est , exurgit libido . And if we do not commit things forbidden , yet the sins of omission are innumerable and undiscernible , * Businesses intervene and visits are made , and civilities to be rendred , and friendly compliances to be entertain'd , and necessities to be served , and some things thought so which are not so , and so the time goes away , and the duty is left undone ; prayers are hindred , and prayers are omitted ; and concerning every part of time which was once in our power , no man living can give a fair account .

This moral demonstration of the impossibility of perfect and exact obedience and innocence , would grow too high , if I should tell how easily our duties are sowr'd even when we think we walk wisely . Severity is quickly turn'd into ungentleness , love of children to indulgence , joy to gayety , melancholy to peevishness , love of our wives to fondness , liberties of marriage to licentiousness , devotion to superstition , austerity to pride , feasting to intemperance , Vrbanity to foolish jesting , a free speech into impertinence and idle talking .

There were no bottom of this consideration if we consider how all mankinde sins with the tongue . He that offends not in his tongne , he is a perfect man indeed . But experience and the following considerations do manifest that no man is so perfect . For ,

Every passion of the Soul is a spring and a shower , a parent and a nurse to sin . Our passions either mistake their objects , or grow intemperate ; either they put too much upon a trifle , or too little upon the biggest interest . They are material and sensual , best pleas'd and best acquainted with their own objects : and we are to do some things , which it is hard to be told how they can be in our own power . We are commanded to be angry , to love , to hope , to desire certain things , towards which we cannot be so affected ever when we please . A man cannot love or hate upon the stock and interest of a Commandement , and yet these are parts of our duty . To mourn and to be sorrowful are natural effects of their proper apprehensions , and therefore are not properly capable of a law . Though it be possible for a man who is of a sanguine complexion , in perfect health and constitution , not to act his lust ; yet it will be found next to impossible not to love it , not to desire it : and who will finde it possible that every man and in all cases of his temptation should overcome his fear ? But if this fear be instanced in a matter of religion , it will be apt to multiply eternal scruples , and they are equivocal effects of a good meaning , but are proper and univocal enemies to piety and a wise religion .

I need not take notice of the infinite variety of thoughts and sentences that divide all mankinde concerning their manner of pleasing and obeying God ; and the appendent zeal by which they are furiously driven on to promote their errors or opinions as they think for God : and he that shall tell these men they do amiss would be wondred at ; for they think themselves secure of a good reward even when they do horrible things . But the danger here is very great , when the instrument of serving God is nothing but opinion and passion abus'd by interest ; especially since this passion of it self is very much to be suspected ; it being temerity or rashness , ( for some zeal is no better ) and its very formality is inadvertency and inconsideration .

But the case is very often so , that even the greatest consideration is apt to be mistaken : and how shall men be innocent , when besides the signal precepts of the Gospel , there are propounded to us some generall measures , and as I may call them , extraregular lines , by which our actions are to be directed ; such as are , the analogie of faith , fame , reputation , publick honesty , not giving offence , being exemplary ; all which , and divers others being indefinite measures of good and evil , are pursued as men please , and as they will understand them . And because concerning these , God alone can judge righteously , he alone can tell when we have observed them ; we cannot , and therefore it is certain we very often doe mistake .

Hence it is that they who mean holiness and purity are forc'd to make to themselves rules and measures by way of Idea or instrument , endevouring to choose that side that is the surest ; which indeed is but a guessing at the way we should walk in ; and yet by this way also , men do often run into a snare , and lay trouble and intricacy upon their consciences , unnecessary burthens which presently they grow weary of , and in striving to shake them off , they gall the neck , and introduce tediousness of spirit or despair .

For we see when Religion grows high the dangers do increase , not onely by the proper dangers of that state , and the more violent assaults made against Saints then against meaner persons of no religious interest ; but because it will be impossible for any man to know certainly what intension of spirit is the minimum religionis , the necessary condition , under or less then which God will not accept the action : and yet sometimes two duties justle one another , and while we are zealous in one , we less attend the other , and therefore cannot easily be certain of our measures ; and because sometimes two duties of a very different matter are to be reconcil'd and waited upon , who can tell what will be the event of it , since mans nature is so limited and little that it cannot at once attend upon two objects ?

Is it possible that a man should so attend his prayers , that his minde should be alwayes present and never wander ? does not every man complain of this , and yet no man can help it ? And if of this alone we had cause to complain , yet even for this we were not innocent in others ; and he that is an offender in one is guilty of all ; and yet it is true that in many things we all offend . And all this is true when a man is well and when he is wise ; but he may be foolish and he will be sick , and there is a new scene of dangers , new duties , and new infirmities , and new questions , and the old uncertainty of things , and the same certainty of doing our duty weakly , and imperfectly , and pitiably .

— Quid tam dextro pede concipis , ut te Conatus non poeniteat , votíque peracti ?

Since therefore every sin is forbidden , and yet it can enter from so many angles , I may conclude in the words of Sedulius , Lex spiritualis est , In cap. 7. Rom. quia spiritualia mandat , ardua praecipit opera spiritus , prohibens peccata , & ideò non potest impleri . Gods law is spiritual , and we are carnal and disproportionate to it while we are in the state of conjunction , and therefore it cannot be kept . Deus jugum legis homini imponit , homo ferre non valet , said the Fathers of the Synod of Frankeford . God hath imposed a yoke , but man cannot bear it . For that I may sum up all ,

In affirmative Precepts the measure is , To love God with all our faculties and degrees . In negative Precepts the measure is , Not to lust or desire . Now if any man can say that he can so love God in the proper and full measures , as never to step aside towards the creatures with whom he daily converses , and is of the same kindred with them , and that he can so abstain from the creature , as never to cover what he is forbidden ; then indeed he justifies God in imposing a possible law , and condemns himself that he does not what he ought . But in all he infers the absolute necessity of Repentance .

But because we are sure God is just and cannot be otherwise , all the Doctors of the Church have endevoured to tie these things together , and reconcile our state of infirmity with the justification of God . Many lay the whole fault upon Man , not on the impossible imposition . But that being the Question cannot be concluded on either hand with a bare Affirmative or Negative : and besides , it was condemn'd by the African Councels to say , that a man might , if he pleas'd , live without sin . Posse hominem sine peccato decurrere vitam , Carm. de ingratis c. 9. Si velit , ut potuit , nullo delinquere primus Libertate suâ : Nempe haec damnata fuêre Conciliis , mundíque manu — said Prosper . For if it were onely the fault of men , then a man might if he pleased keep the whole law , and then might be justified by the law , Epist. ad Innocent . and should not need a Saviour . S. Augustine indeed thought it no great error , and some African Bishops did expresly affirm that some from their conversion did to the day of their death live without sin . This was worse then that of Pelagius , save onely that these took in the Grace of God , which ( in that sense which the Church teaches ) the Pelagians did not . But this also was affirmed by S. * * Lib. 2. de merit . & remiss . c. 6. lib. de Spirit . & lit . c. 1. Austin , upon which account it must follow that the Commandements are therefore possible , because it is onely our fault that they are not kept . But how to reconcile this opinion and saying of S. Austin and some other Africans , with the African Councels , with S. Hierome , Orosius , Lactantius , and with S. † † Serm. 49. de tempore . Austin himself , and generally the whole ancient Church against the Pelagians , I cannot understand : but it is sufficiently confuted by all the foregoing considerations .

S. Hierome sayes , that the observation of the Commandements is possible to the whole Church , but not to every single person , but then the difficulty remains . For the whole Church being a collection of single persons is not the subject of a law . Nothing is universal but Names and Words ; a thing cannot be universal , it is a contradiction to say it is . To say the Church can keep it , is to say that every man can keep it ; To say that every man of the Church cannot keep it , is to say that the whole Church cannot keep it : As he that sayes Mankinde is reasonable , sayes that every man is ; but he that sayes every man is not just , sayes that all mankinde is not just . But if it contains in it another sense , it is a dangerous affirmative , which I shall represent in his own words : Lib. 1. dial . adv. Pelag. Ita fit ut quod in alio aut primum aut totum est , in alio ex parte versetur , & tamen non sit in crimine qui non habet omnia , nec condemnetur ex eo quod non habet , sed justificetur ex eo quod possidet . I will not be so severe as S. Austin , who in his 19 Sermon de tempore , calls it blasphemy . It is indeed a hard saying , if he means that a man can be justified by some vertues , though he retains some vices : For he that sins in one is guilty of all . But yet some persons shall be crowned who never converted souls , and some that never redeem'd captives , and millions that never sold all and gave to the poor : and there are many graces , of which some lives have no opportunities . The state of Marriage hath some graces proper to it self ; and the Calling of a Merchant , and the Office of a Judge , and the imployment of an Advocate hath some things of vertue which others do not exercise , and they also have their proper graces : and in this sense it is true what S. Hierome sayes , that he that hath not all , may be justified by what he hath , and not sentenced for what he hath not , it not being imputed to him that he hath not that of which he hath no use . Now although this be true , yet it is not sufficient to explicate the Question : For the Commandements are not onely impossible in this sense , but even in that where the scene of his duty does lie , and where his graces ought to have been exercised , every man is a sinner , every man hath fail'd in his proper duty and calling . So that now to say the Commandements are possible to the whole Church , and not to every single person , is to divide the duty of a Christian , & to give to every one a portion of duty , which must leave in every one a portion of impiety ; and to say that this is keeping the Commandments , or a sufficient means of justification , is that which S. Austin cal'd blasphemy .

But S. Hierome hath another answer : Hoc & nos dicimus , posse hominem non peccare si velit , pro tempore , Dial. extr. adv. Pelag. l. 3. pro loco , pro imbecillitate corporeâ , quamdiu intentus est animus , quamdiu chorda nullo vitio laxatur in Citharâ . God hath not impos'd an impossible law . For there is no Commandement , but a man that considers that endevours , that understands , that watches , that labours , may do in time and place , and so long as he adverts , and is dispassionate , so long as his instrument is in tune . Which answer is like that saying of the Schools , That there is no difficulty in things , but every thing is easie to be understood ; but that we find difficulty , is because of the weaknes of the understanding ; that is , things are easie to be understood , if we were wise enough to understand them : But because our understanding is weak , therefore things are hard ; for to be intelligible is a relative term ; and it is not sense to say , that a thing is in it self easie to be understood , but hard to the understanding ; for it is as if it were said , It is easie , but that it is hard : and that 's the thing which in this question is complain'd of on all hands . For an Oak is easie to be pull'd up by the roots , if a man had strength enough to do it ; but if this be impos'd upon a weak man or a childe , they have reason to complain : and a Bushel or two of Wheat is no great thing to carry , but it is too great for me , I cannot do it . So by this account of S. Hierome , the Commandements are not impossible , for there is not any one of them , but any man can do at some time , while he considers and is in perfect disposition . But then we are to remember , that the Commandements are alwayes imposed , and we are not alwayes in that condition of good things to be wise and watchful , well dispos'd , and well resolv'd , standing upon our guard , and doing what we can at other times ; and therefore it is that the Commandements are impossible . So that still the difficulty remains and the inquiry must go on , How we are to understand the Divine Justice in exacting an impossible law ? or if he does not exact it , how we understand the way of the Divine Wisdome in imposing that law which he cannot justly exact ?

To the first I answer , that God doth not exact of us what is not possible to be done . The highest severity of the Gospel is to love God with all our soul , that is , to love him as much as we can love him ; and that is certain we can do . Every man can do as much as he can , and God requires no more : and even those things which we can do , though he calls upon us to do the most , yet he punishes us not if we do it heartily and sincerely , though with less passion and exactness . Now as Gods justice was secur'd in the imposition of the law of Moses , because whatever severity was held over them to restrain their loosenesses , yet God exacted it onely by the measures of a man , and healed all their breaches by the medicine of Repentance : So now in the Gospel he hath done it much more 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , God hath taken the vail off , and profess'd it openly , he hath included this mercy in the very constitution of the Covenant . For the Gospel is the Covenant of Repentance ; we shall not have leave to sin , but we shall have leave to repent if we have sinned : so that God hath imposed a law of perfection , but he exacts it according to the possibilities of imperfect persons , S. August . lib. 1. Retract . c. 19. Omnia mandata Dei facta deputantur , quando quicquid non fit , ignoscitur , and then we have kept the Commandements , when we have received our pardon for what we have not kept .

2. As the law of Moses was not of it self impossible absolutely and naturally : so neither are the Commandements of the Gospel . For if we consider the particular of Moses law , they were such a burthen which the Jews themselves were loth to part withall , because it was in the Morall part of it but a law of abstinence from evil ; to which fear and temporal promises was , as they understood it , a sufficient endearment : But that burthen which neither they nor their fathers were able to bear , was the sting of the law , that it allowed no repentance for great crimes , Heb. 10.28 . but the transgressor should die without mercy under two or three witnesses . Now then since in the Gospel there is no such thing , but there is an allowance of repentance , this must needs be an easie yoke . This onely is to be added , That the righteousness of the law was in abstinence from evil ; the righteousness of the Gospel is in that , and in the doing all the affirmative Commandements of Christ . Now this being a new obligation , brought also with it new abilities , I mean the glorious promises of the Gospel , which whosoever believes heartily , will finde himself able to do or suffer any thing for the enjoying of them ; and this is that which is taught us by S. Paul : For what the law could not do , Rom. 8.3 . in that it was weak through the flesh , God sending his own Son , made it possible by the Spirit of Grace , and by our spirituall conversation .

3. There is a Natural possibility , and a Moral : there are abilities in every man to do any thing that is there commanded , and he that can do well to day may do so to morrow ; in the nature of things this is true : and since every sin is a breach of a law which a man might and ought to have kept , it is naturally certain , that when ever any man did break the Commandement he might have done otherwise . In man therefore speaking naturally and of the Physical possibilities of things , there is by those assistances which are given in the Gospel , ability to keep the Commandements Evangelical . But in the Moral sense , that is , when we consider what Man is , and what are his strengths , and how many his enemies , and how soon he falls , and that he forgets when he should remember , and his faculties are asleep when they should be awake , and he is hindred by intervening accidents , and weakned and determin'd by superinduc'd qualities , habits and necessities , the keeping of the Commandements is morally impossible . Now that this may also be taken off , there is an abatement and an allowance made for this also . Our infirmities are pitied , our ignorances excused , our unavoidable errours not imputed . These in the law were imputable , and it was lawful for the avenger of blood to kill a Manslayer who sinn'd against his will , if he could overtake him before he got to Sanctuary . These I say in the Law were imputable , but they were not imputed ; Gods mercy took them off privately upon the accounts of his Mercy and a general Repentance : But in the Gospel they are neither imputed , nor imputable : They were paid for beforehand , and put upon the accounts of the Cross : God winked at the times of your ignorance ; and , The Lord had pity on me , because I did it in ignorance , said S. Paul , and so Christ prayed , Father forgive them , for they know not what they do . But ye did it ignorantly , as did also your Rulers ; so S , Peter , and upon that account he called them to accept of mercy . And it is certain in reason , that if God forgives those sins of malice of which we repent , infinitely rather will he not impute what we cannot probably or possibly avoid . Apud Diodor. Sicul. For to do otherwise , were 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : It is a severity above the measures of humane sufferance and capacity , to be punished for infirmities when they do not sin wilfully ; and therefore God who remembers and pities our infirmities , will never put these into his account , especially the holy Jesus having already paid our symbol Upon the account of these particulars it is certain , God does not exact of us an impossible Commandement ; that is , not in the impossible measure : for that is the meaning of those words of S. Hom. 3● inter . 19. Basil , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . It is impious to say the Commandements of the Spirit , i.e. of the Gospel , are impossible , viz. in that sense in which they are exacted .

But now to the second inquiry : Since in justice God exacts not an impossible law , how does it consist with his wisdome to impose what in justice he does not exact ? I answer , 1. That it was necessary the Law in its latitude and natural extension should be given ; for if in the sanction any limits and lessenings had been described , it had been a permission given to us to despise him in a certain degree , and could in no sense have been proportionable to his infinity . God commands us to love him with all our hearts , and all our strengths ; that is , alwayes and with all that we can ; if less then this had been imposed , and we commanded to love God but to a less , and a certain proportion , besides that it would not have been possible for us to understand when we did what was commanded , it would have been either a direct lessening our opinion of God , by tempting us to suppose no more love was due to him then such a limited measure , or else a teaching us not to give him what was his due , either of which must necessarily tend to Gods dishonour .

2. The commanding us to do all that we can , and that alwayes , though less be exacted , does invite our greatest endevours , it entertains the faculties and labours of the best , and yet despises not the meanest , for they can endevour too , and they can do their best : and it serves the end of many graces besides , and the honour of some of the Divine Attributes .

3. By this means still we are contending and pressing forwards ; and no man can say he does now comprehend , or that his work is done , till he die ; and therefore for ever he must grow in grace , which could not be without the proposing of a Commandement , the performance of which would for ever sufficiently imploy him : for by this means the Commandements do every day grow more possible then at first . In epistolâ ad Innocentium dictum est , multos Catholicos viros dixisse posse hominem esse sine peccato per gratiam Dei , non à nativitate sed à conversione . A lustful person thinks it impossible to mortifie his lust : but when he hath long contended and got the mastery , it grows easie , and at last in the progressions of a long piety , sin is more impossible then duty is . He that is born of God sinneth not , neither indeed can he ; so S. John : and , Through Christ that strengthens me I can do all things , saith S. Paul . It is long before a man comes to it , but the impossibility by degrees turns into a possibility , and that into an easiness , and at last into a necessity . It is a trouble for some to commit a sin . By this also we exercise a holy fear , and work out our salvation with fear and trembling . It enlarges our care , and endears our watchfulness and caution . It cures or prevents our pride and bold challenges of God for rewards which we never can deserve . It convinces us of the necessity of the Divine aid , and makes us to relie upon Gods goodness in helping us , and his mercy in pardoning us ; and truly without this we could neither be so sensible of our infirmities , nor of the excellent gifts and mercies of God : for although God does not make necessities on purpose that he may serve them , or introduce sin that he might pardon it , yet he loves we should depend upon him , and by these rare arts of the Divine Oeconomy make us to strive to be like him , and in the midst of our finite abilities have infinite desires , that even so we may be disposed towards the holiness and glories of eternity .

4. Although God exacts not an impossible law under eternal and insufferable pains , yet he imposes great holiness in unlimited and indefinite measures , with a design to give excellent proportions of reward answerable to the greatness of our endeaovur . Hell is not the end of them that fail in the greatest measures of perfection ; but great degrees of Heaven shall be their portion who do all that they can alwayes , and offend in the fewest instances . For as our duty is not limited , so neither are the degrees of glory : and if there were not this latitude of duty , neither could there be any difference in glory ; neither could it be possible for all men to hope for heaven , but now all may : The meanest of Gods servants shall go thither , and yet there are greater measures for the best and most excellent services .

Thus we may understand that the imposing of the Divine Laws in all the periods of the world , was highly consistent with the Divine Justice , and an excellent , infinite wisdome , and yet in the exacting them , Mercy prevail'd ; because the Covenant of Works or of exact obedience was never the rule of life and death , since the Saviour of the world was promised , that is , since the fall of Adam , but all Mankinde was admitted to repentance , and wash'd clean in the blood of the Lamb of God , who taketh away the sins of the world , and was slain from the beginning of it . Repentance was the measure of our duty , and the remedy for our evils ; and the Commandements were not impossible to him that might amend what was done amiss .

§. 3. How Repentance and the Precept of Perfection Evangelicall can stand together .

THat the Gospel is a Covenant of Repentance , is evident in the whole design and nature of the thing , in the preparatory Sermons made by the Baptist , by the Apostles of our Lord , by the seventy two Disciples , and the Exhortations made by S. Peter at the first opening the Commission , and the secret of the Religion . Which Doctrine of Repentance , lest it should be thought to be a permission to sin , a leave to need the remedy , is charged with an addition of a strict and severe holiness , the Precept of Perfection . It therefore must be such a repentance as includes in it perfection , and yet the perfection is such as needs repentance . How these two are to stand together , is the subject of the present inquiry . Mat. 5.48 . Be ye therefore perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect ; that 's the charge . To be perfect as God , and yet to repent as a Man , seem contrary to each other . They seem so onely . For ,

1. It does not signifie perfection of degrees in the natural sense of the word . For as Philo said well , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Perfections and the heights of excellencies are onely proper to one : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , said Clemens of Alexandria , God alone is wise , he alone is perfect . All that we do is but little , and that little is imperfect , and that imperfection is such as could be condemned , if God did not use gentleness and mercy towards us . But ,

2. Although perfection of degrees cannot be understood to be our duty in the periods and spaces of this life , because we are here in the state of labour and contention , of pilgrimage and progression , yet even in this life we are to labour towards it : and Be ye perfect , viz. with the highest degrees of holiness , is to be understood in a current and transient sense . For this Precept thus understood , hath its obligation upon our endevour onely , and not upon the event . When a General commands his Army to destroy the Enemy , he bindes them onely to a prudent , a possible and vigorous endevour to do it , and cannot intend the effect , but by several parts answerable to the steps of the progression . So is that in the Psalms , Psal. 2. Be learned ye that are Princes of the world , that is , learn , and so by industry and attention arrive at knowledge . For although every man be a sinner , yet he that does not endevour to avoid all sin , is not onely guilty of the sin he commits , but the negligence also , which is the parent of the sin , is another sin , and directly criminal . So it is in the degrees of perfection , what we cannot attain to , we must at least desire . In this world we cannot arrive thither , but in this life we must alwayes be going thither . It is status viae , grace is the way to glory . And as he that commands us to enter into a City from which we are hugely distant , means we should pass thorough all the wayes that lead thither : so it is here . The Precept must be given here , and begun , and set forward , and it will be finished hereafter . But as a man may be an adulterer , or a thief , with his heart and his eye , as well as with his hand ; so it is also in good things : A mans heart and eye may be in heaven , that is , in the state of perfection , long before he sets his feet upon the golden threshold . His desires are first crown'd and sainted , and then the work shall be made perfect .

3. There is another sort of perfection which may not be improperly meant in this charge of duty , and that is , a perfection of state . Be ye perfect , that is , Be ye holy ; for 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is sanctifico , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is festum , or a holy day , a day that hath the perfection added to it of which a day is capable , a day sanctified to the Lord . For 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is the same with 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Heb. 7.19 . to sanctifie is to make perfect . Nihil enim sanctificavit lex , so the Latine reades the words of S. Paul ; but in the Greek it is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , The law made that perfect which it did sanctifie . So that , Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect , is Be ye holy like him , or in imitation of him . And thus the word is expounded in Plato , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . That 's the perfection of good to be like God ; but to be like him is to be just , and holy , and prudent . That s 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as much as we can , that is , with a hearty , righteous , sincere endevour : for so 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or holy is used . It signifies sincere , true , without errour . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . So Damascius in Suidas . It is not likely or true , that he that is not wise in little things should be wise in great things . But to live holily in the Christian sense , is to live in faith and good works , that 's Christian perfection . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . He is good and holy , who by faith and good works is like unto God . For this perfection or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 holiness is nothing else but a pursuance of that which is just and good ; for so said Moses concerning the man that forsook God , and denied that he had made a Covenant with him , [ Do not say in thine heart , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , let it be lawful or holy , or permitted to me to depart from the Lord . To this sense was that of Justin Martyr , who expounds this phrase of [ Be ye perfect ] by Christianum fieri , Be perfect , that is , Be Christians , be Christs Disciples ; for he who came 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 to fulfil , to consummate obedience , to perfect the law , to obey him , and be Disciples of his institution , is our perfection and consummation .

4. This perfection of state , although it does not suppose a perfection of degrees , yet it can be no less then 1. A perfection of parts . It must be a Religion that is not mingled with interest , piety to God that is not spoiled with cruelty to our neighbours , a zeal that hath in it no uncharitableness or spite , that is , our Religion must be intire , and not defective in any constituent part . So S. Jam. 1.4 . James uses the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , perfect and intire wanting nothing . 2. To which adde this also , That to this perfection of state , perseverance is of necessity to be added . For so we are taught by the same Apostle , Let patience have her perfect work , that is , let it bear you through all your trials , lasting till all your sufferings are over ; For he that endures to the end shall be crowned , because he onely is perfect . Our holiness must persevere to the end . But 3. it must also be growing all the way . For this word perfect is sometimes in Scripture used for degrees , and as a distinction between Christians in the measures of duty . S. Paul uses it to signifie well grown Christians , or men in Christianity . Col. 4.12 . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; stand perfectly and full , or confidently fulfilling all the will of God : for therefore we preach Christ , and exhort every man , and teach every man in all wisdome , that we may present every man 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 perfect in Christ Jesus ; that is , 1.28 . that they should not alwayes be as babes , for whom milk and weak nutriment is to be provided ; nor like those silly women alwayes learning , and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth ; but it is commanded us to be wise and perfect , to be men in Christ ; so S. Paul makes the antithesis , 1 Cor. 14.20 . Be ye babes in malice , but in your mindes 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 be perfect , that is , be men , wise and confident , and strong , and well grown . Perfectly instructed ; that is , readily prepared to every good work ; not alwayes imployed in the elements and infant propositions and practises of Religion , but doing noble actions , well skill'd in the deepest mysteries of faith and holiness . This is agreeable to that expression of S. Paul , who having laid the foundation of Christianity by describing the fundamentals , intending to speak of the more mysterious points of the Religion , Heb. 6.1 . calls it a going on to perfection : So that by this Precept of perfection it is intended we should do more then the lowest measure of our duties , and there is no limit , but even the utmost of our power ; all that we can is the measure of our duty : I do not say , all that we can naturally or possibly , but all that we can morally and probably , according to the measures of a man , and the rate of our hindrances and infirmities .

5. But the last sort and sense of perfection , is that which our blessed Saviour intended particularly in the instance and subject matter of this Precept , and that is , a perfection in the kinde of action , that is , a choice and prosecution of the most noble and excellent things in the whole Religion . Three are especially instanc'd in the holy Gospel .

1. The first is , a being ready , or a making our selves ready to suffer persecution , prescrib'd by our blessed Saviour to the rich young man , If thou wilt be perfect , Mat. 19.21 . sell all and give to the poor , that is , if thou wilt be my disciple , make thy self ready , and come and follow me . For it was at that time necessary to all that would follow Christs person and fortune , to quit all they had above their needs . For they that followed him , were sure of a Cross ; and therefore to invite them to be disciples , was to engage them to the suffering persecution ; and this was that which our blessed Saviour calls perfection . Dulce periculum est , O Lenaee , sequi Deum Cingentem viridi tempora pampino . It is an easie thing to follow God in festivals and dayes of Eucharist ; but to serve him in hard battels , to die for him , is the perfection of love , of faith and obedience . Obedient unto death , was the Character of his own perfection ; for Greater love then this hath no man , then to lay down his life . Scis quem dicam bonum , perfectum , absolutum ? Seneca . Quem malum fucere nulla vis , nulla necessitas potest . He is good , absolute and perfect , whom no force , no necessity can make evil .

2. The second instance is , being merciful ; for S. Luke recording this Precept expounds it by 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Be ye perfect , that is , Luk. 6.36 . Be ye merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful ; for by mercy onely we can be like him . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Scriptor act Diognetum . He that bears his neighbours burthen , and is willing to do benefit to his inferiors , and to minister to the needy of the good things which God hath given him , he is as God to them that receive , he is an imitator of God himself . And Justin Martyr reciting this Precept of our blessed Saviour , in stead of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 uses the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Be ye good and bountiful as your heavenly Father is . And to this purpose the story of Jesus and the young man before mentioned , is interpolated in the Gospel according to the Hebrews or the Nazarens , The Lord said unto him , How sayest thou , I have kept the Law and the Prophets , when it is written in the Law , Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self ? and behold many of thy brethren the sons of Abraham are covered in filth , and die with hunger , and thy house is full of good things , and nothing goes forth to them from thence . If therefore thou wilt be perfect , sell all and give to the poor . Charity , which is the fulfilling the Commandement , is also the perfection of a Christian : and that a giving of alms should be perfection , is not disagreeing with the design of the word it self ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , say the Grammarians ; it signifies to spend , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is a great spender or a bountiful person .

3. The third is the very particular to which our blessed Master did especially relate to in the words of the sanction or institution : and we are taught it by the particle 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or therefore . For when the holy Jesus had describ'd that glory of Christianity that we should love our enemies , bless them that curse us , do good to them that hate us , and pray for them which despitefully use us and persecute us ; he propounds the example of our heavenly Father ; for he maketh his Sun to rise on the evil and on the good . But the Publicans love their friends , and salute their brethren : but more is expected of us ; Be ye therefore perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect ; that is , do more then the Publicans , do as your Father does , be perfect as he is , that is , love your enemies .

6. Now concerning this sense of the Precept of perfection , which is the choice and pursuance of the noblest actions of Religion , we must observe that they are therefore perfection , because they suppose a man to have pass'd through the first and beginning graces , to have arrived at these excellencies of piety and duty . For as no man can on a sudden become the worst man in the world , his soul must by degrees be unstript of holiness , and then of modesty , and then of all care of reputation , and then of disuse , and by these measures he will proceed to the consummation of the method of Hell and darkness : So can no man on a sudden come to the right use of these graces . Not every man that dies in a good Cause shall have the reward of Martyrdome ; but he that having liv'd well , seals that doctrine with dying , which before he adorn'd with living . And therefore it does infinitely concern all them that suffer in a good Cause , to take care that they be not prodigal of their sufferings , and throw them away upon vice . Peevishness or pride , lust or intemperance , can never be consecrated by dying or by alms . But he that after a patient continuance in well doing , addes Charity or Martyrdome to the collective body of his other graces , he hath made them perfect with this kinde of perfection . Martyrdome can supply the place of actual baptisms , but not of repentance : Because without our fault it may so happen that the first cannot be had ; but without our fault the second is never left undone .

Thus perfection and repentance may stand together . Perfection does not suppose the highest intention of degrees in every one , but in all according to their measures of grace and time . Evangelicall perfection is such as supposes a beginning , an infant grace , progression and variety , watchfulness and fear , trembling fear . And there are many graces required of us , whose materiall and formal part is Repentance : Such as are Mortification , Penitential sorrow , Spiritual mourning , Patience , some parts of Humility , all the parts and actions of Humiliation ; and since in these also perfection is as great a duty as in any thing else , it is certain that the perfection of a Christian is not the supreme degree of action or intention .

But yet perfection cannot be less then an intire piety , a holiness perfect in its parts , wanting nothing material , allowing no vicious habit , permitting no vile action , but contending towards the greatest excellency , a charitable heart , a ready hand , a confident Religion , willing to die when we are called to die , patient , constant and persevering , endevouring 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 according to the measures of a man , to be pure and pleasing to God in Jesus Christ . This is the summe of all those several senses of perfection which are prescrib'd in the several uses of the word in holy Scripture . For though God through Jesus Christ is pleased to abate for our unavoidable infirmities , that is , for our Nature , yet he will not abate or give allowance to our superinduc'd evil customes ; and the reason is plain for both , because the one can be helped and the other cannot ; and therefore as to allow that is to be a patron of impiety , so not to allow for this , is to demand what cannot be done : that is against the holiness , this against the goodness of God .

There is not a man upon earth that sinneth not , said Solomon ; 1 Kings 8.46 . Psal. 37.29 . vet. edit . and , the righteous shall be punished , said David ; and he found it so by a sad experience : for he , though affirmed to be blameless save in the matter of Vriah , and a man after Gods own heart , yet complains that his sins are innumerable , more then the hairs upon his head . But though no man can live without errour or mistake , the effects of weakness and ignorance , inadvertency and surprise , yet being helped by Gods grace , we can and must live without great sins , such which no man admits but with deliberation .

For it is one thing to keep the Commandements in a sense of favour and equity , and another thing to be without sin . To keep the Commandements 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or exactly , is to be without sin ; because the Commandement forbids every sin , and sin is a transgression of the Commandement : But as in this sense no man can keep the Commandements ; so in no sense can he say , that he hath not sinned . But we can by the help of Gods grace keep the Commandements acceptably through Jesus Christ , but we cannot keep them so as to be without sin . Which S. Gregory thus expresses , Multi sine crimine , nullus verò esse sine peccatis valet . Many live without crimes , none without offence . And it is now as it was under the law , many were then righteous and blameless ; David , Josiah , Joshua , Caleb , Zachary and Elisabeth , Saul before his conversion according to the accounts of the Law ; and so are many now , according to the holy and merciful measures of the Gospel , not by the force of Nature , but by the helps of Grace , not alwayes , but at some time , not absolutely , but in a limited measure ; that is , not innocent , but penitent , not perfect absolutely , but excellently contending , and perfect in their desires , not at their journeys end , but on their way thither ; free from great sins , but speckled with lesser spots , ever striving against sin , though sometimes failing . This is the Precept of perfection , as it can consist with the measures and infirmities of a man .

We must turn from all our evil wayes , leaving no sin unmortified , that 's one measure of perfection , it is a perfect conversion . * We must have Charity ; that 's another perfection , it is a perfect grace . * We must be ready to part with all for a good conscience , and to die for Christ ; that 's perfect obedience , and the most perfect love . * We must conform to the Divine Will in doing and suffering , that 's perfect patience : we must live in all holy conversation and godliness ; that 's a perfect state . * We must ever be going forward and growing in godliness , that so we may be perfect men in Christ . * And we must persevere unto the end ; that 's perfection , and the crown of all the rest . If any thing less then this were intended , it cannot be told how the Gospel should be a holy institution , or that God should require of us to live a holy life ; but if any thing more then this were intended , it is impossible but all mankinde should perish .

To the same sense are we to understand those other severe Precepts of Scripture of [ being pure , unblameable , without spot or wrinkle , without fault ] that is , that we be honest and sincere , free from hypocrisie , just in our purposes and actions , without partiality and unhandsome mixtures . S. Paul makes them to expound each other , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , sincere , Phil. 1.10 . that is , without fault , pure and clear in conscience .

Like to this is that of [ Toto corde ] loving and serving God with all our heart , and with all our strength . That this is possible , is folly to deny . For he that saith he cannot do a thing with all his strength , that is , that he cannot do what he can do , knows not what he sayes : and yet to do this , is the highest measure and sublimity of Christian perfection , and of keeping the Commandements . But it signifies two things : 1. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , without hypocrisie , sincerely and heartily , opposite to that of Corde & corde in the Psalmist . Corde & corde loquuti sunt ; 1 Chron. 12.33 . they spake with a double heart : but the men of Zebulon went out to battel absque corde & corde , they were not of a double heart , so S. Hierome renders it , but heartily or with a whole heart they did their business . 2. It signifies diligence and labour , earnestness and caution : Totus in hoc sum ; so the Latines use to speak , I am earnest and hearty in this affair . I am wholly taken up with it .

Thus is the whole design of the Gospel rarely abbreviated in these two words of Perfection and Repentance . God hath sent Jesus to bless you 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , whilest , or so that , Act. 3.36 . every one of you turn from your iniquities . He blesses us , and we must do our duty ; He pardons us , and we obey him ; He turns us , and we are turned . And when S. 2 Pet. 3.11 . Peter had represented the terrors of the day of Judgement , he infers , What manner of persons ought we to be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Ver. 14. in holy living and holy worshippings ? This he calls a giving diligence to be found 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , without spot , and unblameable ; that 's Christian perfection : and yet this very thing is no other then what he calls a little before 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a coming to repentance . Ver. 9. Living in holy conversation and piety , in the faith of Christ , is the extent and burthen of repentance , and it is the limit and declaration of the [ spotless and unblameable ] This is no more , and that is no less .

Upon this account the Commandements are not onely possible but easie , necessary to be observed , and will be exacted at our hands as they are imposed . That is , 1. That we abstain from all deliberate acts of sin . 2. That we never contract any vicious habit . 3. That if we have we quite rescind and cut them off , and make amends for what is past . 4. That our love to God be intire , hearty , obedient , and undivided . 5. That we do our best to understand Gods will and obey it , allowing to our selves deliberately or by observation not the smallest action that we believe to be a sin . Now that God requires no more , and that we can do thus much , and that good men from their conversion do thus much , though in differing degrees , is evident upon plain experience and the foregoing considerations . I conclude with the words of the Arausican Councel . Omnes baptizati Christo auxiliante & cooperante possunt & debent quae ad salutem pertineut , si fidelitèr laborare voluerint , adimplere . All baptized Christians may by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ , if they will faithfully labour , perform and fulfill all things that belong to their salvation .

The summe of all is this : The state of regeneration is perfection all the way , even when it is imperfect in its degrees . The whole state of a Christians life is a state of perfection . Sincerity is the formality or the Soul of it : A hearty constant endevour is the Body or materiall part of it : And the Mercies of God accepting it in Christ , and assisting and promoting it by his Spirit of Grace , is the third part of its constitution , it is the Spirit . This perfection is the perfection of Men , not of Angels ; and it is as in the perfection of Glory , where all are perfect , yet all are not equal . Every regenerate man hath that perfection , without which he cannot be accepted , but some have this perfection more , some less . It is the perfection of state , but the perfection of degrees is not yet . Here men are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , made perfect according to the measure of their Fathers ( as Porphyrie express'd it ) that is , by the measures of mortality , or as it pleases God to enable and accept them .

§. 4. The former Doctrine reduc'd to Practise .

1. THe Law is either taken for the Law of Moses , or the Law of Works : The Law of Works is that Empire and Dominion which God exercised over man , using his utmost right , and obliging man to the rigorous observation of all that Law he should impose upon him . And in this sense , it was a Law of death , not of life , for no man could keep it , and they that did not , might not live . This was impos'd on Adam onely .

But when God brought Israel out of Egypt , he began to make a Covenant with them , with some compliance to their infirmities : For because little things could not be avoided , Sacrifices were appointed for their expiation ; which was a mercy as the other was a misery , a repentance as the sin : But for great sins there was no Sacrifice appointed , no repentance ministred . And therefore still we were in the ministration of death ; for this mercy was not sufficient , as yet it was not possible for a man to be justified by the Law . It threatned sinners with death , it inflicted death , it did not promise eternal life , it ministred no grace , but fear and temporal hope : It was written in Tables of stone , not in their hearts ; that is , the material parts of the Law of Moses was not consonant to natural and essential reason , but arbitrary impositions ; they were not perfective of a man , but very often destructive . This was a little alteration or ease of the Covenant of Works , but not enough .

From this state of evil things we were freed by Christ ; The Law was called the letter , the ministration of death , the ministration of condemnation , the old Testament ; apt to amaze and confound a sinner , but did not give him any hopes of remission , no glimpse of heaven , no ministery of pardon : But the Gospel is called , the Spirit , or the ministration of the Spirit , the law of faith , the law of liberty ; it ministers repentance , it enjoyns holiness , it gives life , and we all have hopes of being saved .

This which is the state of things in which the whole world is represented in their several periods , is by some made to be the state of every returning sinner ; and men are taught that they must pass through the terrors of the Law , before they can receive the mercies of the Gospel . The Law was a Schoolmaster to bring the Synagogue to Christ ; it was so to them who were under the Law , but it cannot be so to us , who are not under the law but under grace . For if they mean the law of Works , or that imposition which was the first entercourse with man , they lose their title to the mercies of the Gospel ; If they mean the law of Moses , then they do not stand fast in the liberty by which Christ hath made them free . But whatsoever the meaning be , neither of them can concern Christians . For God hath sent his Son to establish a better Covenant in his blood , to preach repentance , to offer pardon , to condemn sin in the flesh , to publish the righteousness of God , to convince the world of sin by his holy Spirit , to threaten damnation not to sinners absolutely , but absolutely to the impenitent , and to promise and give salvation to his Sons and Servants .

1. The use that we Christians are to make of the Law , is onely to magnifie the mercies of God in Jesus Christ , who hath freed us from so severe a Covenant , who does not judge us by the measures of an Angel , but by the span of a mans hand . But we are not to subject our selves so much as by fiction of law or fancy to the curse and threatnings of the Covenant of Works , or of Moses Law , though it was of more instances and less severity , by reason of the allowance of Sacrifices for expiation .

2. Every Christian man sinning , is to consider the horrible threatnings of the Gospel , the severe intermination of eternal pains , the goodness of God leading to repentance , the severity of his Justice in exacting great punishments of criminals , the reasonableness of this Justice punishing such persons intolerably , who would not use so great a grace in so pleasing a service , for the purchase of so glorious a reward . The terrors of the Law did end in temporal death , they could affright no further ; but in the Gospel Heaven and Hell were opened , and laid before all mankinde : and therefore by these measures a sinner is to enter into the sorrows of contrition and the care of his amendment . And it is so vain a thing to think every sinner must in his repentance pass under the terrors of the Law , that this is a very destruction of that reason for which they are fallen upon the opinion . The Law is not enough to affright sinners , and the terrors of the Gospel are farre more to persevering and impenitent sinners , then the terrors of the Law were to the breakers of it . The cause of the mistake is this : The Law was more terrible then the Gospel is , because it allowed no mercy to the sinner in great instances : But the Gospel does . But then if we compare the state of those men who fell under the evils of the Law , with these who fall under the evils threatned in the Gospel , we shall finde these to be in a worse condition then those by farre , as much as hell is worse then being stoned to death , or thrust through with a sword . This we are taught by that excellent Author of the Divine Epistle to the Hebrews , Heb. 10.28 , 29. He that despised Moses law , died without mercy under two or three witnesses : Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy , who hath troden under foot the Son of God , and hath counted the blood of the Covenant wherewith he was saenctified , an unholy thing , and hath done despite to the Spirit of Grace ? So that , under the Gospel , he that sins and repents is in a farre better condition , then he that sinn'd under the Law , and repented . For repentance was not then allowed of , the man was to die without mercy . But he that sins and repents not , is under the Gospel in a farre worse condition then under the Law ; for under the Gospel , he shall have a farre sorer punishment , then under the Law was threatned . Therefore let no man mistake the mercies of the New Covenant , or turn the grace of God into wantonness . The mercies of the Gospel neither allow us to sin , nor inflict an easier punishment ; but they oblige us to more holiness , under a greater penalty . In pursuance of which , I adde ,

3. The Covenant by which mankinde must now be judged , is a Covenant of more Mercy , but also of more holiness : and therefore let no man think that now he is disobliged from doing good works , by being admitted to the Covenant of Faith : For though the Covenants are oppos'd , as Old and New , as a worse and a better , yet Faith and Works are not oppos'd . We are in the Gospel tied to more , and to more excellent works then ever the subjects of any Law were ; but if after a hearty endevour we fall into infirmity , and still strive against it , we are pitied here , but there we were not . Under the first Covenant , the Covenant of Works , no endevour was sufficient , because there was no allowance made for infirmities , no abatements for ignorance , no deductions of exact measures , no consideration of surprises , passions , folly , and inadvertency : but under the New Covenant our hearty endevour is accepted ; but we are tied to endevour higher and more excellent things then they . But he that thinks this mercy gives him liberty to do what he please , loses the mercy , and mistakes the whole design and Oeconomy of Gods loving kindness .

4. To every Christian it is enjoyned that they be perfect ; that is , according to the measure of every one . Which perfection consists in doing our endevour . He that does not do that , must never hope to be accepted , because he refuses to serve God by something that is in his power . But he that does that , is sure that God will not refuse it , because we cannot be dealt withall upon any other account , but by the measures of what is in our power ; and for what is not , we cannot take care .

5. To do our endevour , or our best , is not to be understood equally in all the periods of our life , according to the work or effect it self , nor according to our natural powers , but it is accounted for by the general measures and great periods of our life . A man cannot pray alwayes with equal intention , nor give the same alms , nor equally mourn with sharpness for his sins . But God having appointed for every duty proper seasons and solennities , hath declared , that He does his best , who heartily endevours to do the duty in its proper season : But it were well we would remember that he that did a good act to day , can do the same to morrow in the same circumstances ; and he that yesterday fought a noble battel and resisted valiantly , can upon the same terms contend as manfully every day , if he will consider and watch . And though it will never be that men will alwayes do as well as at some times , yet when at any time they commit a sin , it is not because they could not , but because they would not help it .

6. He that would be approved in doing his best , must omit no opportunity of doing a good action ; because when it is plac'd in its proper circumstances , God layes his hand upon it , and calls to have it done , and there can be no excuse for the omission . He does not do his best , that does not do that , Because such a person does voluntarily omit the doing of a good , without just cause ; and that cannot proceed from an innocent principle .

7. He that leaves any thing undone which he is commanded to do , or does what he is commanded to forbear , and considers or chooses so to do , does not do his best , cannot plead his privilege in the Gospel , but is fallen under the portion of sinners , and will die , if he does not repent and make it up some way or other , by sorrow , and a future diligence .

8. To sin against our Conscience can at no hand consist with the duty of Christian perfection ; Because he loves not God with all his heart , nor serves him with all his strength , who gives some of his strength , and some of his affection to that which God forbids .

9. No man must account that he does his duty , that is , his best , or according to the perfection requir'd of Christians , but he that does better and better , and grows toward the measures of the fulness of Christ . For perfection is an infinite word ; and it could not be communicated to several persons of different capacities and degrees , but that there is something common to them all which hath analogy and equivalent proportions . Now nothing can be perfect , but that to which nothing is wanting ; and therefore a man is not any way perfect but by doing all , all that he can ; for then nothing is wanting to him , when he hath put forth all his strength . For perfection is not to be accounted by comparing the subjects which are perfect , for in that sense nothing is perfect but God ; but perfection is to be reckoned by every mans own proportions : For a body may be a perfect body , though it have not the perfection of a soul ; and a man is perfect when he is heartily and intirely Gods servant , though he have not the perfection of S. Paul ; as a man is a meek man , though he be not so meek as Moses or Christ . But he is not meek , if he keeps any fierceness or violence within . * But then because to be more perfect is incident with humane nature , he that does not endevour to get as much as he can , and more then he hath , he hath not the perfection of holy desires . Therefore

10. Every person that is in the state of grace , and designs to do his duty , must think of what is before him , not what is past ; of the stages that are not yet run , not of those little portions of his course he hath already finish'd .

Vt cum carceribus missos rapit ungula currus , Horat. Serm. l. 1 , Satyr . 1. Inflat equis auriga suos vincentibus , illum Praeteritum temnens , extremos inter euntem .

For so did the Contenders in the Olympick Races , never look behinde but contend forwards : And from hence S. Paul gives the rule I have now described . Brethren , Phil. 3.13 , 14. I count not my self to have apprehended ; but this one thing I do , forgetting those things which are behinde , and reaching forth unto those things which are before , I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling : Let therefore as many as be perfect be thus minded . That is , no man can do the duty of a Christian , no man can in any sense be perfect , but he that addes vertue to vertue , and one degree of grace unto another .

Nílque putans actum , dum quid superesset agendum .

Nothing is finish'd , as long as any thing is undone . For our perfection is alwayes growing ; it stands not , till it arrive at the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 the crowning of him that runs . For the enforcing of which the more , I onely use S. Chrysostoms argument , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; If S. Paul who had done so much , and suffered so much , was not very confident , but that if he did look back , he might also fall back ; what shall we say , whose perfection is so little , so infant and imperfect , that we are come forwards but a little , and have great spaces still to measure ?

11. Let every man that is or desires to be perfect , endevour to make up the imperfection or meanness of his services , by a great , a prompt , an obedient , a loving and a friendly minde . For in the Parable our blessed Lord hath taught us , Luk. 17.7 . that the servant who was bidden to plow the field , or feed the cattel , is still called an unprofitable servant , because he hath done onely what was commanded him ; that is , they had done the work , utcunque , some way or other the thing was finish'd , though with a servile spirit ; for 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 properly signifies to do the outward work ; and the works of the Law are those which consisted in outward obedience , and by which a man could not be justified . But our blessed Saviour teaching us the righteousness of the Kingdome , hath also brought the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 to signifie the internal also ; a mixture of faith and operation . John 6.28 , 29. For to the Jews enquiring , What shall we do to work the works of God ? Jesus answers , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. This is the work of God , that ye believe in him whom he hath sent : and since this [ to do ] in the Christian sense is to do bona benè , good Works with a good minde . For since the works are not onely in themselves inconsiderable , but we also do them most imperfectly and with often failings , a good minde and the spirit of a friend or a son will not onely heighten the excellency of the work , but make amends for the defect too . The doing what we are commanded , that is in the usual sense of doing , still leaves us unprofitable ; for we are servants of God , he hath a perfect and supreme right over us , and when this is done , still can demand more , when we have plowed , he will call upon us to wait at supper ; and for all this , we are to expect onely impunity and our daily provisions . And upon this account , if we should have performed the Covenant of Works , we could not have been justified . But then , there is a sort of working , and there are some such servants which our Lord uses magis ex aequo & bono , quàm ex Imperio ; Luke 12.37 . with the usages of sons , not of slaves or servants . He will gird himself and serve them , Luke 12. he will call them friends and not servants ; these are such as serve animo liberali , such which Seneca calls humiles amicos , humble friends , serving as S. Paul expresses it , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in the simplicity of their heart ; not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , with eye-service , but honestly , heartily , zealously , and affectionately , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; so S. Peter , freely , readily , not grudingly , or of necessity .

12. The proper effect of this is , that all the perfect do their services so , that their work should fail rather then their mindes , that they do more then is commanded . Exiguum est ad legem bonum esse , To be good according to the rigour of the law , to do what we are forc'd to , to do all that is lawful to do , and to go toward evil or danger as farre as we can , these are no good signs of a filial spirit , this is not Christian perfection ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , That , slaves consider ; This is commanded and must be done under horrible pains : and such are the negative precepts of the Law , and the proper duties of every mans calling . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , This is an act of piety of mine own choosing , a righteousness that I delight in ; that is the voice of sons and good servants , and that 's rewardable with a mighty grace . And of this nature are the affirmative precepts of the Gospel , which being propounded in general terms , and with indefinite proportions , for the measures are left under our liberty and choice , to signifie our great love to God . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , said S. Chrysostome ; Whatsoever is over and above the Commandements , that shall have a great reward . God forbids unmercifulness , he that is not unmerciful keeps the Commandement ; but he that besides his abstinence from unmercifulness according to the Commandement , shall open his hand and his heart , and give plentifully to the poor , this man shall have a reward ; he is amongst those servants whom his Lord will make to sit down , and himself will serve him . When God in the Commandement forbids uncleanness and fornication ; he that is not unchaste , and does not pollute himself , keeps the Commandement . But if to preserve his chastity he uses fasting and prayer , if he mortifies his body , if he denies himself the pleasures of the world , if he uses the easiest , or the harder remedies , according to the proportion of his love and industry , especially if it be prudent , so shall his greater reward be . If a man out of fear of falling into uncleanness shall use austerities , and finde that they will not secure him , and therefore to ascertain his duty the rather shal enter into a state of marriage , according as the prudence and the passion of his desires were for God and for purity ; so also shall his reward be . To follow Christ is all our duty ; but if that we may follow Christ with greater advanges we quit all the possessions of the world , this is more acceptable ; because it is a doing the Commandement with greater love . We must so order things that the Commandement be not broken , but the difference is in finding out the better wayes , and doing the duty with the more affections .

Now in this case they are highly mistaken that think any thing of this nature is a work of supererogation : For all this is nothing but a pursuance of the Commandement . For 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or Commandement ] is taken in a general sense , for the prescription of whatsoever is pleasing and acceptable to God , whatsoever he will reward with mighty glories . So loving God with all our heart , with all our soul , Mat. 22.37 . and all our minde , and all our strength , is called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the first and the great Commandement ; that is , nothing is more pleasing , nothing is more acceptable to God , because it proceeds out of an excellent love . But some Commandements are propounded as to friends some as to servants ; some under the threatning of horrible pains , others not so , but with the proposition and under the invitation by glorious rewards . It was commanded to S. Paul to preach the Gospel ; if he had not obeyed , he should have perished : Woe is me ( saith he ) if I preach not the Gospel : he was bound to do it . But he had another Commandment also , to love God as much as was possible , and to love his neighbour : which precepts were infinite , and of an unlimited signification , and therefore were left to every servants choice to do them with his several measures of affection and zeal . He that did most , did the Commandement best ; and therefore cannot be said to do more then was commanded ; but he that does less ; if he preaches the Gospel , though with a less diligence , and fewer advantages , he obeys the Commandement , but not so nobly as the other . For example : God commands us to pray . He obeys this , that constantly and devoutly keeps his morning and evening Sacrifice , offering devoutly twice a day . He that prayes thrice a day , does better , and he that prayes seven times a day , hath done no work of supererogation , but does what he does in pursuance of the Commandement . All the difference is in the manner of doing what is commanded ; for no man can do more then he is commanded . But some do it better , some less perfectly ; but all is comprehended under this Commandement of loving God with all our hearts . When a father commands his children to come to him , he that comes slowly , obeyes the commandement , but he that runs does obey more willingly and readily : now though to come running was left to the choice of the childes affection , yet it was but a brisk pursuance of the commandement . Thus when he that is bound to pay Tithes , gives the best portion , or does it cheerfully , without contention , in all questions taking the worse of the thing , and the better of the duty , does what he is commanded , and he does it with the affection of a son and of a friend , he loves his duty . Be angry , but sin not : so it is in the Commandement ; but he that to avoid the sin , will endevour not to be angry at all , is the greater friend of God , by how much the further he stands off from sin . Thus in all doubts to take the surest side , to determine alwayes for Religion , when without sin we might have determin'd for interest ; to deny our selves in lawful things , to do all our duty by the measures of Love and of the Spirit , are instances of this filial obedience , and are rewarded by a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a perswasion and confidence of Gods love to us , enabling us to call him Father , as well as Lord . Thus this Parable , or one like it is told in the book of Hermas . The Lord commanded his servant to put pales about his vineyard : He did so , and digg'd a ditch besides , and rooted out all the weeds ; which when his Lord observ'd , he made him coheir with his son . When S. Paul exhorted the Corinthians to give a free contribution to the poor Saints at Jerusalem , he invites to do it nobly & cheerfully , not as of constraint ; for Gods Commandement nam'd not the summe , neither can the degree of affection be nam'd ; but yet God demands all our affection . Now in all the affirmative Precepts , the duty in the lowest degree is that which is now made necessary under the loss of all our hopes of Eternity ; but all the further degrees of the same duty are imposed upon the condition of greater rewards , and other collaterall advantages of duty .

When Hystaspes ask'd Cyrus the Persian why he preferr'd Chrysantas before him , since he did obey all his Commands : The Prince answered , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Chrysantas does not stay till he is called ; and he does not onely what is commanded , but what is best , what he knows is most pleasing to me . So does every perfect man , according to the degrees of his love and his perfection ; Clem. Alex. Strom. 5. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . The righteousness of a perfect man consists not in legal innocence , but in love and voluntary obedience . This is that charity which is the glory of Christianity , the crown of all other graces , that which makes all the external works of obedience to be acceptable , and every act of the most excellent piety and devotion is a particular of that grace , and therefore though it is highly acceptable , yet it is also commanded in the general , and in the sense before explicated ; and he that does no more then he is particularly commanded , obeys God as a Lion obeys his keeper ; meat and stripes are all the endearments of his peace and services .

Qui manet ut moneatur semper serves homo officium suum , Plautus Sticho . Non voluntate id facere meminit , servos is habitu haud probus est .

The servant that must be called upon at every step , is but an unprofitable and unworthy person : To do onely what we are commanded , will never bring us to the portion and inheritance of Sons . We must do this chearfully , and we must do more ; even contend to please God with doing that which is the righteousness of God , striving for perfection , till perfection it self becomes perfect ; still obeying that law of Sons , Love the Lord with all thy heart , till our charity it self is crown'd . Therefore .

13. Let no man propound to himself a limit of duty , saying , he will go so far , and go no further . For the Commandement is infinite , and though every good man obeys it all the way of his holy conversation , yet it shall not be finish'd till his life is done . But he that stints himself to a certain measure of love , hath no love at all ; for this grace grows for ever : and when the object is infinite , true love is not at rest till it hath possess'd what is infinite ; and therefore towards that there must be an infinite progression , never stopp'd , never ceasing , till we can work no more .

14. Let every man be humbled in the sense of his failings and infirmities . De spir . & lit . c. 36. Multum in hâc vitâ ille profecit , qui quàm longè sit à perfectione justitiae proficiendo cognovit , said S. Austin . It is a good degree of perfection to have proceeded so farre , as well to know and observe our own imperfections . The Scripture concludes all under sin ; not onely because all have fail'd of the Covenant of Works , of the exactness of obedience , but by reason of their prevarication of that law which they can obey . And indeed no man could be a sinner , but he that breaks that law which he could have kept . We were all sinners by the Covenant of Works , but that was in those instances where it might have been otherwise . For the Covenant of Works was not impossible , because it consisted of impossible Commandements ; for every Commandement was kept by some or other , and all at some times : but therefore it was impossible to be kept , because at some time or other men would be impotent , or ignorant , or surpris'd , and for this , no abatement was made in that Covenant . But then since in what every man could help he is found to be a sinner , he ought to account it a mighty grace that his other services are accepted . In pursuance of this ,

15. Let no man boast himself in the most glorious services and performances of Religion . Qui in Ecclesiâ semper gloriosè & granditer operati sunt , Epist. ad lapsos . & opus suum Domino nunquam imputaverunt , as S. Cyprian's expression is ; They who have greatly served God in the Church , and have not been forward to exact and challenge their reward of God , they are such whom God will most certainly reward . For humility without other external works is more pleasing to God , then pride though standing upon heaps of excellent actions . It is the saying of S. Chrysostome . * For if it be as natural to us to live according to the measures of reason , as for beasts to live by their nature and instinct , what thanks is due to us for that , more then to them for this ? And therefore one said well , Ne te jactes si benè servisti : Obsequitur Sol , obtemperat Lunae . Boast not if thou hast well obeyed : The Sun and the Moon do so , and shall never be rewarded . * But when our selves and all our faculties are from God , he hath power to demand all our services without reward , & therefore if he will reward us , it must wholly be a gift to us , Concil: A●ausic . 2. c. 18. D●betur merocs bonis operibus : sed gratia quae non debetur praecedit ut fiant . that he will so crown our services . * But he does not onely give us all our being and all our faculties , but makes them also irriguous with the dew of his Divine Grace ; sending his holy Son to call us to repentance , and to die to obtain for us pardon , and resurrection , and eternal life ; sending his holy Spirit by rare arguments , and aids external and internal to help us in our spiritual contentions and difficulties . So that we have nothing of our own , and therefore can challenge nothing to our selves . * But besides these considerations , many sins are forgiven to us , and the service of a whole life cannot make recompence for the infinite favour of receiving pardon : * Especially since after our amendment and repentance , there are remaining such weaknesses and footsteps of our old impieties , that we who have daily need of the Divine Mercy and Pity , cannot challenge a reward for that which in many degrees needs a pardon ; for if every act we do should not need some degrees of pardon , yet our persons do in the periods of our imperfect workings . * But after all this , all that we can do is no advantage to God , he is not profited or obliged by our services , no moments do thence accrew to his felicities ; and to challenge a reward of God , or to think out best services can merit heaven , is as if Galileo when he had found out a Star which he had never observed before , Job 35.7 . and pleased himself in his own fancy , should demand of the Grand Signior to make him King of Tunis : for what is he the better , that the studious man hath pleased himself in his own Art , and the Turkish Empire gets no advantages by his new Argument . * And this is so much the more material , if we consider that the littleness of our services ( if other things were away ) could not countervail the least moment of Eternity : Rom. 8.18 . and the poor Countryman might as well have demanded of Cyrus to give him a Province for his handful of river water , as we can expect of God to give us Heaven as a reward of our good works .

16. But although this rule relying upon such great and convincing grounds , can abolish all proud expectations of reward from God as a debtor for our good works , yet they ought not to destroy our modest confidence and our rejoycings in God , who by his gracious promises hath not onely obliged himself to help us if we pray to him , but to reward us if we work . For our God is merciful , Psa. 62.12 . he rewardeth every man according to his work : so said David ; according to the nature and graciousness of the work , not according to their value and proper worthiness ; Mat. 5.12 . 1 Cor. 3.8 . Matt. 16. 27. 2 Cor. 4.17 . 2 Thess. 1.5 . Apoc. 3.4 , & 16.6 . Rom. 8.18 . not that they deserve it , but because God for the communication of his goodness was pleased to promise it . Promissum quidem ex misericordiâ sed ex justitiâ persolvendum , said S. Bernard . Mercy first made the promise , but Justice payes the debt . Which words were true , if we did exactly do all that duty to which the reward was so graciously promised ; but where much is to be abated even of that little which was bound upon us by so glorious promises of reward , there we can in no sense challenge Gods justice , but so as it signifies equity , In Matth. lib. 3. cap. 20. v. 8. and is mingled with the mercies of the chancery . Gratis promisit , gratis reddit . So Ferus . God promised freely , and payes freely . If therefore thou wilt obtain grace and favour , make no mention of thy deservings . And yet let not this slacken thy work , but reinforce it , and enlarge thy industry , since thou hast so gracious a Lord , who of his own meer goodness will so plentifully reward it .

17. If we fail in the outward work , let it be so ordered that it be as little imputable to us as we can ; that is , let our default not be at all voluntary , but wholly upon the accounts of a pityable infirmity : For the Law was a Covenant of Works , such as they were ; but the minde could not make amends within for the defect without . But in the Gospel it is otherwise : for here the will is accepted for the fact , in all things where the fact is not in our power . But where it is , there to pretend a will , is hypocrisie . Nequam illud verbum est , benè vult , nisi qui benè facit , said the Comedian . This rule is our measure in the great lines of duty , in all negative Precepts , and in the periods of the law of Christ , which cannot pass by us without being observed . But in the material and external instances of duty , we may without our fault be disabled , and therefore can only be supplied with our endevours and desires . But that is our advantage : we thus can perform all Gods will acceptably . For if we endevour all that we can , and desire more , and pursue more , it is accepted as if we had done all : 2 Cor. 8.12 . for we are accepted according to what a man hath , and not according to what he hath not . Unless we can neither endevour , nor desire , we ought not to complain of the burthen of the Divine Commandements . For to endevour truly , and passionately to desire and contend for more , is obedience and charity , and that is the fulfilling of the Commandments .

Matter for Meditation out of Scripture , according to the former Doctrine .

The Old Covenant , or the Covenant of Works .

IN that day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die . Gen. 2.17 .

Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the law to do them . Gal. 3 10. Deut. 27.26 . Deut. 27.8 .

And thou shalt write upon stones all the words of this law very plainly .

Thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day , to the right hand or to the left .

But it shall come to pass , Deut. 28. if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God , to observe to do all his commandements and his statutes , then shall all these curses come upon thee , and overtake thee .

And if you will not be reformed by these things , Lev. 26.23 , 24 , &c. but will walk contrary unto me , then will I also walk contrary unto you , and will punish you yet seven times for your sins .

He that despised Moses law , Heb. 10.28 . died without mercy under two or three witnesses .

The New Covenant , or the Covenant of Grace .

WEE are justified freely by his grace , Rom. 3. ver. 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28. through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ : * Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood , to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past , through the forbearance of God . * To declare I say at this time his righteousness , that he might be just , and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus . * Where is boasting then ? it is excluded : by what law ? of works ? Nay , but by the law of faith . * Therefore we conclude , that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law .

There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus , Rom. 8.1 , 14 , 26 , 27 , 28. who walk not after the flesh , but after the Spirit . * For as many as are led by the Spirit they are the sons of God . * Likewise the Spirit , also helpeth our infirmities — because he maketh intercession for the Saints according to the will of God . * And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God .

He that spared not his own Son , Ver. 33 , &c. but delivered him up for us all , how shall not he with him also freely give us all things ? * Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect ? It is God that justifieth .

This is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those dayes , Heb. 8.10 , 11 , 12. saith the Lord , I will put my laws in their minde , and write them in their hearts : and I will be to them a God , and they shall be to me a people — all shall know me from the least to the greatest . * For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness , and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more .

If any man be in Christ , 2 Cor. 5.17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21. he is a new creature : old things are past away , all things are become new . * And all things are of God , who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ , and hath given to us the ministery of reconciliation . * Now then we are ambassadors for Christ , as though God did beseech you by us , we pray you in Christs stead be ye reconciled to God . * For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin , that we might be made the righteousness of God in him .

Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins , Acts 2.37 , 38. and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost : for the promise is unto you and to your children , and to all that are afar off , and to as many as the Lord our God shall call .

And it shall come to pass , Rom. 10.13 . Acts 2.21 . Rom. 10.5 , 6 , 8 , 9. that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved .

Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law , that the man which doth those things shall live by them . But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise — The word is nigh thee , even in thy mouth and in thy heart , that is , the word of faith which we preach , that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus , and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead , thou shalt be saved .

Death is swallowed up in victory . 1 Cor. 15.55 , 56. O death where is thy sting ? O grave where is thy victory ? The sting of death is sin , and the strength of sin is the law . But thanks be to God , which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ .

My yoke is easie , and my burthen is light .

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh , Rom. 8.3 , 4. God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh , hath for sin condemned sin in the flesh ; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us , who walk not after the flesh , but after the Spirit .

His Commandements are not grievous . 1 Joh. 5.3 . Rom. 5.10 .

If while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son , much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life . * And not onely so , but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ , by whom we have now received the atonement .

I can do all things through Christ which strengthneth me . Phil. 4.13 .

My grace is sufficient for thee : 2 Cor. 12.9 . for my strength is made perfect in weakness .

Ask and you shall have , Mat. 7.7 . seek and ye shall finde , knock and it shall be opened unto you .

To him that hath shall be given , and he shall have more abundantly .

Having therefore these promises , 2 Cor. 7.1 . let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit , Vid. etiam Isa. 49.6 . & 53.12 . Psal. 22.23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28. Jer. 32.34 . perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord .

The PRAYER .

I. OEternal God , Lord of Heaven and Earth , Father of Men and Angels , we do adore thy infinite Goodness , we revere thy Justice , and delight in thy Mercies , by which thou hast dealt with us , not with the utmost right and dominion of a Lord , but with the gentleness of a Father ; treating us like friends , who were indeed thy enemies . Thou , O God , didst see our follies , and observe our weaknesses , thou knowest the aversness of our nature to good , and our proneness to commit vanity ; and because our imperfect obedience could not bring us to perfect felicity whither thou didst design us , the great God of all the world was pleased to make a new Covenant with Man , and to become a debtor to his servants . Blessed be God , and blessed be that Mercy , which hath done so great things for us . O be pleased to work that in us which thou expectest from us . Let us not lose our title in the Covenant of Faith and Repentance , by deferring the one , or dishonouring the other ; but let us walk worthy of our vocation , according to the law of Faith , and the Mercies of God , and the Covenant of our Lord Jesus .

II. O Blessed Jesus , never suffer us to abuse thy Mercies , or to turn thy Grace into wantonness . Let the remembrance and sense of thy glorious favours endear our services , and let thy goodness lead us to Repentance , and our Repentance bring forth the fruits of godliness in our whole life . Imprint deeply upon our hearts the fear and terror of thy Majesty , and perpetually entertain our spirits with the highest apprehensions of thy loving kindeness , that we may fear more , and love more , every day more and more hating sin , crucifying all its affections and desires , passionately loving holy things , zealously following after them , prudently conducting them , and indefatigably persevering in them to the end of our lives .

III. O Blessed and Eternal God , with thy Spirit inlighten our understandings in the rare mysterious Secrets of thy Law . Make me to understand all the most advantageous wayes of duty , and kindle a flame in my Soul , that no difficulty or contradiction , no temptation within , or persecution without , may ever extinguish . Give me a mighty grace , that I may design to please thee with my best and all my services , to follow the best examples , to do the noblest Charities , to pursue all Perfection , ever pressing forward to the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus . Let us rather choose to die , then to sin against our Consciences . Let us also watch , that we may omit nothing of our duty , nor pretermit any opportunity by which thou canst be glorified , or any Christian instructed , comforted or assisted , not resting in the strictest measures of Command , but passing forward to great and prudent significations of love , doing heroick actions ; some things by which thou mayest be greatly pleased , that thou mayest take delight to pardon , to sanctifie , and to preserve thy servants for ever . Amen .

CHAP. II. Of the nature and definition of Repentance ; And what parts of duty are signified by it in holy Scriptures .

§. I.

THe Greeks use two words to express this duty , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . is from 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Post factum angi & cruciari , to be afflicted in minde , to be troubled for our former folly ; it is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Phavorinus ; a being displeased for what we have done : and it is generally used for all sorts of Repentance , but more properly to signifie either the beginnings of a good , or the whole state of an ineffective Repentance . In the first sense we finde it in S. Matthew * * 21.32 . , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; and ye seeing , did not repent that ye might believe him . Of the second sense we have example in Judas , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , he repented too , but the end of it was , Mat. 27.3 he died with anguish and despair ; and of Esau it is said , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , He found no place for an [ effective ] repentance ; but yet he repented too , for he was 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Heb. 12 , 17. he fain would have had it otherwise , and he sought it with tears ; which two do fully express all the meaning of this 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , when it is distinguished from the better and effective Repentance . There is in this Repentance , a sorrow for what is done , a disliking of the thing with its consequents and effect ; and so farre also it is a change of minde . But it goes no further then so farre to change the minde , that it brings trouble and sorrow , and such things which are the natural events of it . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Suidas . It is an affection incident to man , not to God , who cannot repent : where although by 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 he means an Accident or property of Man , that is , a quality in the general sense ; yet that it is properly a passion in the special sense , was the sense of all men , Lib. de poenit . as Tertullian observes ; saying , that the Heathens know Repentance to be passionem animi quandam , ( the same with 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in Suidas ) a passion quae veniat de offensâ sententiae prioris , coming from our being offended , or troubled at our former course . But Tertullian uses the Latine word , of which I shall give account in the following periods .

But when there was a difference made , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 was the better word ; which does not properly signifie the sorrow for having done amiss but something that is nobler then it , but brought in at the gate of sorrow . For 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a godly sorrow , that is fo , or the first beginning of Rapentance , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , worketh this better Repentance , 2 Cor. 7.11 . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a repentance not to be repented of , not to be sorrowed for , a repentance that is unto salvation . Sorrow may go before this , but dwells not with it , according to that of S. Chrysostome , Homil. 9. de Poenit. Medicinae hic locus , non judicii , non poenas sed peccatorum remissionem poenitentia tribuit . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is the word . Repentance brings not pains , but pardon with it ; for this is the place of medicine and remedy , not of judgement or condemnation : meaning that this Repentance is wholly salutary , as tending to reformation and amendment . Lib. ●adv . Marcion . cap. 20. But Tertullian made the observation more express . In Graeco sono Poenitentiae nomen non ex delicti confessione , sed ex animi demutatione compositum est . To repent among the Greeks signifies not a confession of our fault , but the change of minde . He speaks of the Grammatical sense of the word ; for in the whole use of it , it is otherwise .

For however the Grammarians may distinguish them , yet the words are used promiscuously ; for 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is sometimes used in the bad sense , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 signifies the better repentance ; not often , but sometimes it does . The son that told his Father he would not work in his Vineyard , afterwards was sorry for refusing , and he went to work , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; and in the same Chapter , Matth. 21.29 . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; ye seeing were not troubled , and sorrowful , that ye might believe , that is , amend your fault . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is in both places used for a salutary repentance . And on the other side , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is used to signifie in the evil sense , a state of misery , without remedy . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , so the Septuagint read that of Solomon , Prov. 14. The wicked man cometh to repentance , that is , to misery , and sorrow . So that there is nothing of usefulness which can be drawn from the Grammatical sense of these words ; They both signify a change of minde ; and they both signify a sorrow ; and they both are used for the same thing : and indeed that will be the best use of them : No man can be truly said to repent , but he who being sorrowful for doing evil betakes himself to wiser courses . So Phavorinus , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Repentance is a sense and compunction of the soul for those things which were done foolishly .

Sum Deaquae facti , Auson . Epigr. non factíque exigo poenas , Nempe ut poeniteat , sic Metanoea * * Malè Metanoea usus est : verbum purum Graecum est , nec tamen eo sensu & definitione à Graecis usurpatum . Rectè igitur & facetè fassus est idem Ausonius in epigrammate de abusu hujus verbi parum Latini , vocor .

Repentance does exact punishment for evils done , and good undone ; but besides this , it is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a conversion to that which is better . Sum Dea , cui nomen nec Cicero ipse dedit . So Aretas defines it . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , The same with the former ; an eschewing evil , and doing good .

And thus the Holy Scriptures understand this word and this duty . It is a whole change of state , and life ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 a a Heb. 6.1 . 1 Kings 8.35 . Isai. 59.20 . 2 Chron. 7.14 . Jer. 18.7 , 8 , 9. & 31.19 . 2 Tim. 2.19 . , a turning from sin ; and it is emphatically called by the Apostle 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a repentance from dead works , that is , a forsaking them with sorrow that ever we committed them : And it is also 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a conversion to God b b 2 Sam. 12.5 , 13. Deut. 30.2 . Jer. 3.7 . Act. 26.18 . Eph. 5.14 . Ezek. 33.12 . Luke 19.8 , 9 , 10. ; from darkness to light , from the power of Satan unto God : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a returning to sobriety , the same with 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in Justin Martin , all signifying a departing from our follies and a changing to a better life . And though sometimes to Repent is in Scripture taken for sorrow onely , or a being troubled that the fact is done ; yet it is called Repentance , no otherwise then as alms is called Charity ; that is , it is an effect of it , a part , or action , or adjunct of the duty and state of Repentance : which ought to be observed lest ( as it is too commonly ) one act be mistaken for the whole state , and we account our selves perfect penitents , if we have onely wept a penitential shower ; which is also to be observed in the definitions which the Doctors give of it .

Tertullian a a De poenit . in princip. cals it [ a passion of the minde , or grief for the offence of our former acts ] S. Austin b b Lib. de ver. & fals. poenit . c. 8. cals it [ a revenge always punishing in it self that which it grieves to have committed ] These doe onely describe that part of repentance which is sometimes signified by 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and is nothing else but a godly sorrow , the porch , or beginnings of Repentance . On the other side Lactantius c c Lib. 6. Divin . instit . c. 13. describing Repentance , gives onely the Grammatical sense of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Agere autem poenitentiam nihil aliud est quàm profiteri & affirmare se ulteriùs non peccaturum : To repent ( saith he ) is nothing else but a profession and affirmation , that he will sin no more ; which descriptions of Repentance are just as if we should say , A man is a creature that speaks , or laughs , or that can learn to reade . These are effects of his nature , but not the ingredients of a proper definition . Sorrow , and Revenge , and holy purposes and protestations are but single acts of a returning and penitent man : whereas Repentance is a whole state of a new life , an intire change of the sinner , with all its appendages and instruments of ministery .

As the Greeks have , so have the Latins also two words to signify this duty , Poenitentia and Resipiscentia , and these have almost the same fate and the same usages with the other . Poenitentia is used by the old Latin translation ; and is most tenaciously retained by all them who make the very life of Repentance to run into corporal austerities ( like the juice of luxuriant trees into irregular suckers and excrescencies ) which therefore by way of eminency they call Penances ; for they suppose the word in its very nature and institution to signify something that is punitive , and afflictive . So Hugo , Lib. 3. de myste● . Eccles. Poenitentia quasi punientia , quòd per eam homo in se puniat , quod malè admisit . Much like that of Scotus ; poenitentia quasi poenae tenentia ? which they both learned from S. Austin ; poenitere est idem quod rei commissae aliquem pudere ac pigere , Solil . cap. 19. ita ut , poenitet , sit idem quod poena tenet . This sense of the word prevailed long and therefore some that would speake exactly , observing that the duty of Repentance did principally consist in the amendment of our lives , were forc'd to use the word Resipiscentia , which better renders the Greek 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Lib. 6. c. 24. So Lactantius expresly , Graeci meliùs & significantiùs 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 dicunt : quam Latinè possumus resipiscentiam dicere . Resipiscit enim ac mentem suam quasi ab insaniâ recipit quem errare piget , castigátque seipsum dementiae , & confirmat animum suum ad rectiùs vivendum . He truly repents who recovers his minde from folly , and chastising his error , and grieving for his madness , strengthens his purposes to better living .

Either of the words will serve the turn . Poenitentia , or Penance , is the old Latine word ; Resipiscentia is the new one , but very expressive and significant : and it is indifferent which be used , if men had not a design upon one , which cannot prudently be effected by it . But such is the force of words , especially when men choose and affect one particularly and studiously reject another which is apt to signify the same thing , that in the Greek Church because their words for Repentance did imply onely or principally a change of life , they usually describe Repentance in that formality ; but the later Latins practise and discourse to other purposes ; and the College of Rhemes render 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , word for word after their vulgar Latin , agite poenitentiam , doe penance , which is so absurd a reddition that their interest and design is more apparent then their skill in Grammar , or their ingenuity . It is much very much better which we learn from a wise Heathen , who gives such an account both of the words and thing as might not misbecome the best instructed Christian , so far as concerns the nature and morality of the duty : His words are excellent words , and therefore I shall transcribe them . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . We ought principally to take care that we doe not sin ; but if we be overtaken , then to make diligent haste to return to justice or righteousness as the cure of our wickedness : that we may amend our evil counsels or wils , by the help of a better . For when we are fallen from goodness , we receive or recover it again 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by a wise or well principled penitential sorrow , admitting a Divine correction . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but repentance it self is the beginning of wisdome , a flying from foolish words and deeds , and the first institution of a life not to be repented of . Where besides the definition of repentance and a most perfect description of its nature and intention , he with some curiosity differences the two Greek words ; making 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 to be but the beginning of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : sorrow the beginning of repentance ; and both together the reformation of the old , and the institution of a new life .

But to quit the words from being the subject matter of a Quarrel , it is observable that the Latine word poenitentia does really signify ( by use I mean and custome ) as much as the Greek 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and is expressive of the whole duty of Repentance ; and although it implies that sorrow and grief which is the natural inlet of reformation of our lives , and the consequent of our shame and sin , yet it also does signify correction and amendment , which is the formality and essence of Repentance ; and therefore Erasmus more warily and in imitation of the old Latines , sayes that poenitere is from pone tenere , quod est posterius consilium capere ; to be wiser the next time ; to choose again and choose better ; Noct. Att. lib. 17. c. 1. and so A. Gellius defines it , Poenitere , tum dicere solemus , cum quae ipsi fecimus , aut quae de nostrâ voluntate nostróque consilio facta sunt , ea nobis pòst incipiunt displicere , sententiámque in iis nostram demutamus . To repent is when those things which we have done displease us , and we change our minds . So that here is both a Displeasure and a Change ; a displeasure and sorrow for the evil , and a change to better . And there ought to be no scruple in this ; for by the first sorrow of a penitent man , is meant nothing else but the first act of eschewing evil : which whether it be by grief alone , or by fear , or by hope , or by all these , it is not without some trouble of minde , and displeasure ; for if it were still in all senses a pleasure to go on , they would never return back . And therefore to suppose repentance without displeasure , is to suppose a change of minde without alteration , or a taking a new course without disliking the old . But then to suppose any other sorrow naturally necessary , then this which naturally is included in the change , is to affirm that to be true which experience tels us is not true , and it is to place self-affliction and punition at the head , which is to be look'd for in the retinue of repentance ; to make the daughter to be before the Mother , and the fruit to be kept in the root , not to grow upon the branches . But the Latine words can no way determine any thing of Question in this article ; and the Greek words are used promiscuously ; and when they are distinguished , they differ but as the more and less perfect , as the beginning of Repentance and the progress of perfection ; according to that saying , Poenitentia erroris magnus gradus est ad resipiscentiam , To acknowledge and be sorry for our sin is a great step to repentance ; and both together signify all that piety , that change , and holiness which is the duty of the new man , of the Returning sinner : and we can best learn it by the words of him that revealed and gave this grace to all his servants ; even of the Holy Jesus speaking to S. Paul at his Conversion , from whose blessed words , together with those of S. Paul in his narrative of that story , we may draw this more perfect description . To repent is to turn from darkness to light , Acts 26.18 , 20. from the power of Satan unto God , doing works worthy of amendment of life , for the forgiveness of sins , that we may receive inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in Christ Jesus .

Upon this account , the parts of Repentance are two ; 1. leaving our sins : which is properly repentance from dead works . And 2. doing holy actions in the remaining portion of our dayes ; actions meet for repentance ; so the Baptist called them . This is in Scripture by way of propriety called Repentance ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Mat. 3.8 . so the Baptist used it ; distinguishing Repentance from its fruits ; that is , from such significations , exercises and prosecutions of this change , as are apt to represent , and to effect it more and more ; such as are confession , weeping , self-afflictions , alms , and the like . Acts 26 . 2● . So S. Paul , using the same words before King Agrippa . But by way of Synedoche , not onely the fruits and consequent expressions , but the beginning sorrow also is signified by the same word : and all are under the same Commandement , though with different degrees of necessity , and expression ; of which I shall afterwards give account . Here I onely account concerning the essentiall and constituent parts and definition of Repentance .

All the whole duty of Repentance , and every of its parts , is sometimes called Conversion . Thus godly sorrow is a conversion or change : and upon that account S. James cals upon sinners , Be afflicted , James 4. and mourn , and weep , let your laughter be turned into mourning , and your joy into weeping . This is the first change of our affections , which is attended with a change of our judgement : when we doe no longer admire the false beauties of sin ; but judge righteously concerning it . And of this the Prophet Jeremy gives testimony , Jer. 31.19 . Surely , after that I was turned , I repented . And by this word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 the Hebrews express the duty ; which the LXX . indifferently render by 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and is best rendred , Conversion . And then followes the conversion of the whole man , body and soul , minde and spirit , all are set in opposition against sin , and apply themselves to the service of God , and conformity to Jesus .

§. 2. Of Repentance in generall ; or Conversion .

REpentance and Faith in Scriptures signifie sometimes more generally ; and in the foederal sense are used for all that state of grace and favour which the holy Jesus revealed , and brought into the world . They both signifie the Gospel : For the whole Gospel is nothing else but that glad tidings which Christ brought to all mankinde , that the Govenant of Works , or exact measures should not now be exacted , but men should be saved by second thoughts , that is , by Repentance and amendment of life , through faith in the Lord Jesus . That is , if we become his Disciples , ( for that is the condition of the Covenant ) we shall finde mercy , our sins shall be blotted out , and we shall be saved if we obey heartily and diligently , though not exactly . This becoming his Disciples is called Faith , that is , coming to him , believing him , hoping in him , obeying him ; and consequent to this is , that we are admitted to Repentance , that is , to the pardon of our sins . For him hath God exalted on his right hand , to be a Prince and a Saviour 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Act. 5.31 . to give repentance and remission of sins . This is the summe Total of the Gospel . That we have leave to repent , supposes that God will pardon what is past . But then that we have leave to repent , supposes us also highly bound to it . It is in meer pity to our infirmities , our needs and our miseries , that we have leave to do it : and this is given to mankinde by faith in Jesus Christ , that is , by becoming his Disciples ; for he hath power to pardon sins , and to take them away , and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness , viz. which we have committed . This is that which all the world did need , and long'd for ; it was the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the hidden mystery from all ages , but revealed in Christ ; whose blood ( as S. Clement expresses it ) 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , brought to all the world the grace of Repentance .

This is the Gospel . For the Gospel is nothing else but Faith and Repentance . The Gospel is called Faith by S. Paul , Gal. 3.23 . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , before that faith came , we were under the law , shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed ; that is , to the Gospel , or the glad tidings of Repentance ; which is called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Ver. 2. the hearing of faith . For Faith being here opposed to the Law , that is , the Covenant of Mercy to the Covenant of Works , must mean , the Covenant of Repentance . And therefore although , if we consider them as proper and particular graces and habits , they have differing natures and definitions ; yet in the general and foederal sense of which I now speak , Faith and Repentance are onely distinguished by relations and respects , not by substance and reality . Acts 20.21 . Repentance towards God , and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ ; that is , Repentance for having sinned against God ; a Repentance , I say , through faith in Jesus Christ ; that is , a Repentance procured , and preach'd and enjoyn'd by Christ , being the summe of his Discipline . And that it may appear Faith and Repentance to be the same thing , and differing onely in name and manner of expression , S. Paul confounds the distinction which he formerly made , and that which he called , Repentance towards God , and faith towards our Lord Jesus , in his Sermons in Asia ; in his Epistles to the Hebrews he calls , Repentance from dead works and faith in God . And the words are used for each other promiscuously in S. Luke ; for that which the rich man in hell called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Abraham called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , If one comes from the dead they will repent : No , said Abraham , If they will not hear Moses and the Prophets , then if one come from the dead , they will not believe , or be perswaded . And S. 2 Pet. 3.9 , 15. Peter giving an account of the delaying of the coming of the Lord for the punishment of the obdurate Jews and enemies of Christ , sayes , it is because God of his infinite goodness expects even them also to be converted to the faith , or becoming Christians , as the whole design of the place infers ; & this he calls 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a coming to Repentance , that is , to the faith of Christ . And therefore the Gospel is nothing else but an universal publication of Repentance and pardon of sins in the Name of Christ , that is , procured for all them who are his Disciples : and to this we are baptized , that is , adopted into the Religion , into that Discipleship under which God requires holiness , but not perfect measures ; sincerity without hypocrisie , but not impeccability or perfect innocence .

And as the Gospel is called Faith , and Faith is Repentance , that is , it is the same Covenant of Grace and Mercy , with this onely difference , that it is called Faith , as it relates to Christ who procured this mercy for us , Repentance , as it signifies the mercy it self so procured : So Baptism by the same analogy is called the Baptism unto Repentance , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Baptism of Repentance , so it is called in the Jerusalem Creed ; that is , the admission to the grace of the Gospel ; which the Fathers of CP. in their appendage to the Nicene Creed , thus express : I believe one Baptism for the remission of sins , that is , to remission of sins we are admitted by Baptism alone ; no other way shall we have this grace , this title , but by being once initiated into the Gospel to be Disciples of Jesus . Not that it is to be supposed that our sins are onely pardon'd when we are baptized ; but that by Baptism we are admitted to the state and grace of Repentance and pardon of sins . And this is demonstratively certain , not onely upon those many instances of baptized penitents , admitted to pardon , and baptized Criminals called upon in Scripture to repent , but upon the very nature of the Evangelical Covenant , and the whole design of Christs coming . For if we were not admitted to Repentance after Baptism , then we were still to be judged by the Covenant of Works , not by the Covenant of Faith ; and we should inherit by the Law , or not at all , and not be heirs according to promise ; and then Christ were dead in vain , we are yet in our sins ; and all the world must perish , because all men have sinned , and so none should go to heaven but newly baptized Infants , or newly baptized Catechumens : and how then could the Gospel be a New Covenant , it being exactly the same with the Law ; for so it must be , if it promise no mercy or Repentance to them that sin after our admittance to it . * But Baptism is a new birth , and by it we are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , renewed unto Repentance , unto that state of life which supposes holiness and imperfection , and consequently needs mercy all the way ; according to that saying , Justus ex fide vivet , The just shall live by faith ; that is , all our righteousness , all our hopes , all our spiritual life is conserved by , and is relying upon this Covenant of Mercy , the Covenant of Faith , or Repentance : all his life time the just shall still need pardon , and finde it , if he perseveres in it , that is , endevours to obey according to the righteousness of Faith , that is , sincerely , diligently , and by the measures of a man . Of this we shall in the sequel make use .

For the present I consider , that Repentance or Conversion admits of degrees according to the necessities of men . For that Repentance which Christ and his Apostles preach'd at the opening of the Kingdome , was an universal change of life , which men did lead in the darkness of Heathen ignorance , and idolatrous impieties among the Gentiles , and the more then Heathen crimes among the Jews ; the whole Nation being generally false , superstitious , bloody , persecutors , proud , rebellious , and at last rejecters and crucifiers of their Messias , whom they had long'd for ever since they were a people : But in the perswasion and effecting of this Repentance , there was some difference of Dispensation and Ministery .

John the Baptist began , and he preach'd Repentance to the Jews , that they might believe in the Messias , and so flee from the wrath to come , that is , from the destruction of their Nation , which he prophetically foretold should come to pass for their rejecting him whom the Baptist did fore-signifie . Christ and his Apostles pursued the same Doctrine , still thrusting forward the design , that is , preaching such a Repentance as was proportionable to his purpose ; that is , obedience to the Gospel , the admission of such doctrines which did destroy the gayeties and cursed usages of the world . So that the Repentance which was first preached was in order to Faith ; that is , the Baptist , and Christ , and Christs Apostles preaching Repentance , did mean such a conversion or change as would take them off from those crimes which so prepossess'd their hearts , that by them they were indispos'd to receive Christs person and doctrine , both which were so contrary to their prejudices of Pride and Covetousness , Malice and Ambition .

And therefore among the Jews , Repentance was to go before Faith : for they were already sufficiently disposed to believe the Revelations of God , they had been used to Prophets , and expected the Messias , and pray'd for his day , and long'd passionately for it ; so that they were by nothing hindred in their faith , but by their lusts and secular thoughts ; and the way to make them believe , was to cure their pride . Joh. 5.44 . How can ye believe , who receive honour one of another ? Their hunting after praise among the people , did indispose them to the believing and receiving Christs person and doctrine . Therefore untill they did repent of that , they could not believe ; and accordingly our blessed Saviour complain'd , that when they saw the light which shin'd in the Ministery of John the Baptist , yet they would not repent , that they might believe . * But afterwards the Jews when they were invited to the Religion , that is , to believe in Jesus , were first to be called to Repentance , because they had crucified the Lord of life : and if they should not repent for crucifying an innocent person , they would be infinitely farre from believing him to be the Lord of life , and their long desired Messias .

But the Repentance that was preached to the Gentiles , though it had the same design ( as to the event of things ) yet it went in another method . Their Religion taught them impiety , lust and folly was plac'd upon their Altars , and their gods bore in their hands smoking firebrands kindled with the coals of Sodom : they had false confidences , and evil examples , and foolish principles ; they had evil laws , and an abominable Priesthood , and their Daemons , whom they call'd Gods , would be worshipped with lusts and cruelty , with drunkenness and revellings ; so that their false belief and evil Religion betrayed them to evil lives , therefore they were to be recovered by being taught a better belief , and a more holy Religion , therefore in these , faith was to go before Repentance . Poenitentiae stimulus ex fide acciderat , as Tertullians expression is . Faith was the motive of their Repentance . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . So S. Clemens Alexandrinus . Strom. 2. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Repentance is the perfection and consummation of Faith . For unless the sinner believes his action to be a sin , and that evil is his portion if he sins , and that he shall be happy if he live by the rule of the Commandements , he can never be converted : Therefore in the conversion of the Gentiles , Faith was to be ordinarily the first .

In proportion to these several methods , the doctrine or state of Christianity was sometimes called Faith † † Mark 1.15 . , sometimes Repentance * * Acts 26.20.2.38.3.19 . : He that believed Jesus Christ , would repent of his sins ; and he that did repent , would believe . But sometimes Infidelity stood at the gate , and sometimes Malice and vile Affections . That which stood next , was first to be removed .

Now the access of both these to Christ is in Scripture called Conversion , or Repentance . Where Faith onely was wanting , and the man was of Moses and a good man , the becoming a Christian was a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a perfection or consummation , a progression rather then a returning , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . But when Christ had been preached , all the obfirmation and obstinacy of minde by which they shut their eyes against that light , all that was choice , Acts 14.15 . & 26.18 . 2 Cor. 3.16 . Rom. 13.12 , 13. Eph. 5.8 . and interest , or passion , and was to be rescinded by Repentance . But Conversion was the word indifferently used concerning the change both of Jews and Gentiles , because they both abounded in iniquity , and did need this change , called by S. Paul , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 a redemption from all iniquity ; by S. Peter 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Tit. 2.14 . Acts 3.26 . a conversion from wickedness .

In analogy and proportion to these Repentances and Conversions of Jews and Gentiles , the Repentances of Christians may be called Conversion . Luke 22.32 . Jam. 3.20 . Mat. 13.15 . Joh. 12.40 . We have an instance of the word so used in the case of S. Peter , When thou art converted , strengthen thy brethren ; that is , when thou art returned from thy folly and sin of denying the Lord , do thou confirm thy brethren , that they may not fall as thou hast done . This is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a conversion from vanity , and impiety , or injustice ; when a person of any evil life returns to his duty , and his undertaking in Baptism : from the unregenerate to the regenerate estate , that is , from habitual sin to habitual grace . But the Repentances of good men for their sins of infirmity , or the seldome interruptions of a good life by single falls , is not properly Conversion . But as the distance from God is , from whence we are to retire , so is the degree of our Conversion . The term from whence , is various , but the term whither we go , is the same . All must come to God through Jesus Christ in the measures and strictnesses of the Evangelical holiness , which is , that state of Repentance I have been now describing , which is , A perfect abrenuntiation of all iniquity , and a sincere obedience in the faith of Jesus Christ : which is the result of all the foregoing considerations and usages of words ; and is further manifested in the following appellatives and descriptions , by which Repentance is signified and recommended to us in ●cripture .

1. It is called Reconciliation . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . We pray you in Christs stead to be reconciled to God ; that is , to be friends with him , no longer to stand in terms of distance ; for every habitual sinner , every one that provokes him to anger by his iniquity , is his enemy : not that every sinner hates God by a direct hate ; but as obedience is love , so disobedience is enmity or hatred by interpretation , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , enemies in their minde by wicked works . Col. 1.21 . So S. Paul expresses it : and therefore the reconciling of these , is to represent them holy and unblameable , and unreprovable in his sight . 23 , Pardon of sins is the least part of this reconciliation ; Our sins and our sinfulness too must be taken away ; that is , our old guilt , and the remanent affections must be taken off , before we are friends of God . And therefore we finde this reconciliation press'd on our parts ; we are reconciled to God , not God to us . For although the term be relative , and so signifies both parts ; as conjunction , and friendship , and society , and union do : yet it pleased the Spirit of God by this expression to signifie our duty expresly , and to leave the other to be supposed ; because if our parts be done , whatsoever is on Gods part , can never fail . And 2. Although this reconciliation begins on Gods part , and he first invites us to peace , and gave his Son a Sacrifice ; yet Gods love is very revocable till we are reconciled by obedience and conformity .

2. It is called Renewing , and that either with the connotation of the subject renewed , or the cause renewing . The renewing of the Holy Ghost , Tit. 3.5 . Rom. 18.2 Eph , 4.23 . and the renewing of the minde , or the spirit of the minde . The word is exactly the same with 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which is a change of minde from worse to better , as it is distinguished from the fruits and effects of it . So , be renewed in your minde , that is , throw away all your foolish principles , and non-sense propositions by which you use to be tempted and perswaded to sin , and inform your minde with wise notices and sentences of God : That ye put off concerning the old conversation the old man , which is corrupt according to the deceitfull lusts ; and that ye put on the new man , which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness ; which is an excellent description of Repentance : In which it is observable , that S. Paul uses two words more to express the greatness and nature of this change and conversion . It is

3. A new Creature ; The new Man ; Created in Righteousness : Eph. 2.10.3.9 . John 3.6 . for the state of Repentance is so great an alteration , that in some sense it is greater then the Creation ; because the things created had in them no opposition to the power of God , but a pure capacity obediential : Jam. 1.18 . but a sinner hath dispositions opposite to the Spirit of Grace , and he must unlearn much before he can learn any thing ; He must die before he can be born .

Nam quodcunque suis mutatum finibus exit , Continuò hoc mors est illius quod fuit anté . Lucret.

Our sins , the body of sin , the spirit of uncleanness , the old man must be abolished , mortified , crucified , buried ; Jude Rev. 7.14 , Heb. 10.22 , 23. Psal. 50.9 . 2 Cor. 7.1 . 1 Joh. 3.3 . our sins must be laid away , we must hate the garments spotted with the flesh , and our garments must be whitened in the blood of the Lamb ; our hearts must be purged from an evil conscience , purified as God is pure , that is , as S. Paul expresses it , from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit , denying or renouncing all ungodliness and worldly lusts .

And then as the antithesis or consequent of this is , when we have laid away our sin , and renounced ungodliness ; We must live godly , righteously , and soberly in this present world ; Gal. 2.20 . we must not live either to the world , or to our selves , but to Christ : Hic dies aliam vitam adfert , alios mores postulat ; Our manner of life must be wholly differing from our former vanities , so that the life which we now live in the flesh , we must live by the faith of the Son of God , that is , according to his Laws and most holy Discipline .

This is pressed earnestly upon us by those many Precepts of obedience , to God , to Christ , Rom. 6.17 . Acts 6.7 . 1 Pet. 4.3 . Eph. 2 3. Jam. 1.22.23 . 1 Joh. 3.22 . Joh. 3.4 . 1 Joh. 1.6 . 2 Cor. 8.21 . Col. 1.10 . 1 Cor. 15.58 . to the holy Gospel , to the Truth , to the Doctrine of Faith ; * of doing good , doing righteousness , doing the truth ; * serving in the newness of the Spirit ; * giving our members up as servants of righteousness unto holiness ; * being holy in all conversations ; * following after peace with all men and holiness ; being followers of good works ; providing things honest in the sight of God and men ; abhorring evil , and cleaving to that which is good ; * perfecting holiness in the fear of God ; to be perfect in every good work ; * being filled with the fruits of righteousness ; walking worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing ; being fruitfull in every good work , and increasing in the knowledge of God ; * abounding in the work of the Lord . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 are the words often used , fill'd full , and perfect .

To the same purpose is it , that we are commanded to live in Christ , and unto God , that is , 2 Tim. 3.12 . to live according to their will , and by their rule , and to their glory , and in their fear and love , called by S. Paul to live in the faith of the Son of God : Gal. 2.20 . 1 Cor. 2.1 . 1 Thess. 16. Joh. 2.6 . Eph. 2.10 . to be followers of Christ , and of God , to dwell in Christ , and to abide in him ; to walk according to the Commandements of God , in good works , in truth , according to the Spirit , to walk in light , to walk with God ; which was said of Enoch : of whom the Greek LXX . reade 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , He pleased God . * There are very many more to the same purpose . For with great caution and earnestness the holy Scriptures place the duties of mankinde in practice and holiness of living , and removes it farre from a confidence of notion and speculation . Qui fecerit , & docuerit , He that doth them and teaches them , Mat. 5 19. Luke 5.46 . shall be great in the Kingdome ; and , Why do you call me Lord , Lord , and do not the things I say to you ; Joh. 15.14 . and , Ye are my friends if ye do what I command you . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Ignat. ad Magnes . We must not onely be called Christians , but be so ; for not to be called but to be so , brings us to felicity ; that is , since the life of a Christian is the life of Repentance , whose work it is , for ever to contend against sin , for ever to strive to please God , a dying to sin , a living to Christ , he that thinks his Repentance can have another definition , or is compleated in any other , or in fewer parts , must be of another Religion then is taught by Christ and his holy Apostles . This is the Faith of the Son of God , this is that state of excellent things which he purchased with his blood : and as there is no other Name under heaven , so there is no other Faith , no other Repentance whereby we can be saved .

Upon this Article it is usual to discourse of Sorrow and Contrition , of Confession of sins , of making amends , of self-affliction , and some other particulars : but because they are not parts , but actions , fruits , and significations of Repentance , I have reserved them for their proper place . Now I am to apply this general Doctrine to particular states of sin and sinners , in the following Chapters .

§. 3. Descriptions of Repentance taken from the holy Scriptures .

¶ WHen heaven is shut up , 1 Kings 8.35 , 36. and there is no rain , because they have sinned against thee : if they pray towards this place , and confess thy name , and turn from their sin when thou afflictest them : * Then hear thou in heaven , and forgive the sin of thy servants , and of thy people Israel , that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk , and give rain upon thy land which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance .

¶ And the Redeemer shall come to Zion , Isa. 59.20 , 21. and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob ( saith the Lord. ) * As for me , this is my Covenant with them , saith the Lord , My Spirit that is upon thee , and my words which I have put in thy mouth , shall not depart out of thy mouth , nor out of the mouth of thy seed , nor out of the mouth of thy seeds seed , saith the Lord , from henceforth and for ever .

Again , when I say unto the wicked , Ezek. 33.14 , 15 16. Thou shalt surely die : if he turn from his sin , and do that which is lawfull and right : * If the wicked restore the pledge , give again that he had rebbed , walk in the statutes of life without committing iniquity ; he shall even live , he shall not die . * None of his sins that he hath committed , shall be mentioned unto him ; he hath done that which is lawful and right , he shall surely live .

Knowing this , Rom. 6.6 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 18 , 19. that our old man is crucified with him , that the body of sin might be destroyed , that henceforth we should not serve sin . * Likewise reckon ye also your selves to be dead indeed unto sin , but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord . * Let not sin therefore reign in your mortall body , that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof . * Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin ; but yield your selves unto God , as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God . * Being then made free from sin , ye became the servants of righteousness . * I speak after the manner of men , because of the infirmity of your flesh : for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness , and to iniquity unto iniquity , even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness .

Wherefore my brethren , Rom. 7.4 , 5 , 6. ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ , that ye should be married to another , even to him who is raised from the dead , that we should bring forth fruit unto God . * For when we were in the flesh , the motions of sins which were by the law , did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death . * But now we are delivered from the law , that being dead wherein we were held , that we should serve in the newness of spirit , and not in the oldness of the letter .

And that , Rom. 13.11 , 12 , 13. knowing the time , that now it is high time to awake out of sleep : for now is our salvation nearer then when we believed . * The night is farre spent , the day is at hand : let us therefore cast off the works of darkness , and let us put on the armour of light . * Let us walk honestly as in the day , not in rioting and drunkenness , not in chambering and wantonness , not in strife and envying . * But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ , and make not provision for the flesh , to fulfil the lusts thereof .

Having therefore these promises ( dearly beloved ) let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh 2 Cor. 7.1 , 10 , 11. and spirit , perfecting holiness in the fear of God . * For godly sorrow worketh Repentance to salvation not to be repented of : but the sorrow of the world worketh death . * For behold , this self same thing that ye sorrowed after a godly sort , what carefulness it wrought in you , yea , what clearing of your selves , yea , what indignation , yea , what fear , yea , what vehement desire , yea , what zeal , yea , what revenge ? in all things ye have approved your selves to be clear in this matter .

For the love of Christ constraineth us , 2 Cor. 5.15 , 17. because we thus judge , that if one died for all , then were all dead . * Therefore if any man be in Christ , he is a new creature : old things are past away , behold all things are become new .

That ye put off , Ephes. 4.22 , 23 , 24. concerning the former conversation , the old man , which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts : * And be renewed in the spirit of your minde . * And that ye put on that new man , which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness .

Let no man deceive you with vain words : Eph. 5.6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 15 , 16 , 17. for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience . * Be not ye therefore partakers with them . * For ye were sometimes darkness , but now are ye light in the Lord , walk as children of light . * For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness , and righteousness , and truth . * Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord : * And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness , but rather reprove them . * See then that ye walk circumspectly , not as fools , but as wise : * Redeeming the time , because the dayes are evil . * Wherefore be ye not unwise , but understanding what the will of the Lord is .

If ye then be risen with Christ , Col 31 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 8 , 9 , 10. seek those things which are above , where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God . * Set your affection on things above , not on things on the earth . * For ye are dead , and your life is hidden with Christ in God . * Mortifie therefore your members , which are upon the earth ; fornication , uncleanness , inordinate affection , evil concupiscence , and covetousness , which is idolatry . * But now , you also put off all these , anger , wrath , malice , blasphemy , filthy communication out of your mouth . * Lie not one to another , seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds ; * And have put on the new man , which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him .

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation , Tit. 2.11 , 12 , 13 , 14. hath appeared to all men , * Teaching us , that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts , we should live soberly , righteously and godly in this present world : * Looking for that blessed hope , and the glorious appearing of the great God , and our Saviour Jesus Christ : * Who gave himself for us , that he might redeem us from all iniquity , and purifie unto himself a peculiar people , zealous of good works .

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses , Heb. 12.1 , 2 , 14 , 15. let us lay aside every weight , and the sin which doth so easily beset us , and let us run with patience the race that is set before us : * Looking unto Jesus , the Author and Finisher of our faith , who for the joy that was set before him , endured the Cross , despising the shame , and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God . * Follow peace with all men , and holiness , without which no man shall see the Lord : * Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God , lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you , and thereby many be defiled .

Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth , Jam. 1.18 , 21 , 22. that we should be a kinde of first fruits of his creatures . * Wherefore lay apart all filthiness , and superfluity of naughtiness , and receive with meekness the ingraffed word , which is able to save your souls . * But be ye doers of the word , and not hearers onely , deceiving your own selves .

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises , 2 Pet. 1.4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9. that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature , having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust . * And besides this , giving all diligence , adde to your faith , vertue ; and to vertue , knowledge ; * And to knowledge , temperance ; and to temperance , patience ; and to patience , godliness ; * And to godliness , brotherly kindness ; and to brotherly kindness , charity : * For if these things be in you and abound , they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ . * But he that lacketh these things is blinde , and cannot see farre off , and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins .

Wherefore gird up the loins of your minde , 1 Pet. 1.13 , 14 , 15 , 16. be sober , and hope to the end , for the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ . * As obedient children , not fashioning your selves according to the former lusts in your ignorance . * But as he which hath called you is holy , so be ye holy in all manner of conversation ; * Because it is written , Be ye holy , for I am holy .

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree , that we being dead to sins , 1 Pet. 2.24 . should live unto righteousness , by whose stripes ye were healed .

The indispensable necessity of a good life , represented in the following Scriptures .

WHosoever breaketh one of these least Commandements , Mat. 5.19 . and shall teach men so , he shall be called the least in the Kingdome of heaven : but whosoever shall do and teach them , the same shall be called great in the Kingdome of heaven .

And why call ye me Lord , Luk. 6.46 . Lord , and do not the things which I say ?

Ye are my friends , Joh. 15.14 . if ye do whatsoever I command you .

I beseech you therefore , Rom. 12.1 , 2. brethren , by the mercies of God , that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice , holy , acceptable unto God , which is your reasonable service . * And be not conformed to this world : but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minde , that ye may prove what is that good , that acceptable and perfect will of God .

Who will render to every man according to his deeds : Rom. 2.6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10. * To them , who by patient continuance in well doing , seck for glory , and honour , and immortality , eternal life . * But unto them that are contentious , and do not obey the truth , but obey unrighteousness ; indignation and wrath , * Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil , of the Jew first , and also of the Gentile . * But glory , honour and peace to every man that worketh good , to the Jew first , and also to the Gentile .

Circumcision is nothing , 1 Cor. 7.19 . and uncircumcision is nothing , but the keeping of the Commandements of God .

Therefore my beloved brethren , 1 Cor. 18.58 . be ye stedfast , unmoveable , alwayes abounding in the work of the Lord , forasmuch as you know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord .

For in Christ Jesus , Gal. 6.15 . neither circumcision availeth any thing , nor uncircumcision , but a new creature .

For in Jesus Christ , Gal. 5.6 . neither circumcision availeth any thing , nor uncircumcision , but faith which worketh by love .

For we are his workmanship , Eph. 2.10 . created in Christ Jesus unto good works , which God hath before ordained , that we should walk in them .

And this I pray , Phil. 1.9 , 10 , 11. that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgement : * That ye may approve things that are excellent , that ye may be sincere , and without offence till the day of Christ : * Being filled with the fruits of righteousness , which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God .

Furthermore then we beseech you , brethren , 1 Thess. 4.1 , 2 , 3. and exhort you by the Lord Jesus , that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk , and to please God , so ye would abound more and more . * For ye know what Commandements we gave by the Lord Jesus . * For this is the will of God , even your sanctification .

As you know how we exhorted , and comforted , 1 Thess. 2.11 , 12 , 13. and charged every one of you ( as a Father doth his children ; ) * That ye should walk worthy of God , who hath called you unto his Kingdome and glory . * For this cause also thank we God without ceasing , because when ye received the word of God , which ye heard of us , ye received it not as the word of men , but ( as it is in truth ) the word of God , which effectually worketh also in you that believe .

How much more shall the blood of Christ , Heb. 9.4 , 5 , 9. who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God , purge your conscience from dead works , to serve the living God ?

And having an High Priest over the house of God ; Heb. 10.21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29. * Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith , having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience , and our bodies washed with pure water : * Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering , ( for he is faithful that promised . ) * And let us consider one another , to provoke unto love and to good works . * Not forsaking the assembling of our selves together , as the manner of some is ; but exhorting one another , and so much the more , as ye see the day approaching . For if we sin wilfully , after that we have received the knowledge of the truth , there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins ; * but a certain fearful looking for of judgement , and fiery indignation , which shall devour the adversaries . * He that despised Moses law , died without mercy under two or three witnesses : * Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy , who hath troden under foot the Son of God , and hath counted the blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified , an unholy thing , and hath done despite unto the Spirit of Grace ?

For the time is come , 1 Pet. 4.17 . that judgement must begin at the house of God : and if it first begin at us , what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God ?

And every man that hath this hope in him , 1 Joh. 3.3 , 22. purifieth himself , even as he is pure . * And whatsoever we ask , we receive of him , because we keep his Commandements , and do those things which are pleasing in his sight .

And he that overcometh , Apoc. 2.26 . and keepeth my works unto the end , to him will I give power over the Nations .

A Penitentiall Psalm , collected out of the Psalms and Prophets .

HAve mercy upon me , O God , according to thy loving kindeness : according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions .

For our transgressions are multiplied before thee , and our sins testifie against us : our trangressions are with us , and as for our iniquities , we know them ;

In transgressing and lying against the Lord , and departing away from our God , speaking oppression and revolt , conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falshood .

Our feet have run to evil , our thoughts are thoughts of iniquity . The way of peace we have not known : we have made us crooked paths , whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace .

Therefore do we wait for light , but behold obscurity : for brightness , but we walk in darkness .

Look down from heaven , and behold from the habitation of thy Holiness and of thy Glory : where is thy zeal and thy strength , the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies towards me ? are they restrained ?

We are indeed as an unclean thing , and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags : and we all do fade as a leaf , and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away .

But now , O Lord , thou art our Father : we are the clay , and thou our potter , and we all are the work of thy hand . Be not wroth very sore , O Lord ; neither remember iniquity for ever : behold , see we beseech thee , we are thy people . Thou , O Lord , art our Redemer : thy Name is from everlasting .

O Lord , Father and Governour of my whole life , leave me not to the sinful counsels of my own heart , and let me not any more fall by them . Set scourges over my thoughts , and the discipline of wisdome over my heart , lest my ignorances encrease , and my sins abound to my destruction .

O Lord , Father and God of my life , give me not a proud look , but turn away from thy servant alwayes a haughty minde .

Turn away from me vain hopes and concupiscence , and thou shalt hold him up that is alwayes desirous to serve thee .

Let not the greediness of the belly , nor the lust of the flesh take hold of me : and give not thy servant over to an impudent minde .

There is a word that is clothed about with death : God grant it be not found in the portion of thy servant . For all such things shall be farre from the godly , and they shall not wallow in their sins .

Though my fins be as scarlet , yet make them white as snow : though they be red like crimson , let them be as wooll .

For I am ashamed of the sins I have desired , and am confounded for the pleasures that I have chosen .

Lord make me to know mine end , and the measure of my dayes , what it is : that I may know how frail I am , and that I may apply my heart unto wisdome .

Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me , O Lord : let thy loving kindness and thy truth continually preserve me .

For innumerable evils have compassed me about , mine iniquities have taken hold upon me , so that I am not able to look up : for they are more then the hairs of my head , therefore my heart faileth me .

But thou , O Lord , though mine iniquities testifie against me , save me for thy Name sake : for our backslidings are many , we have sinned grievously against thee .

But the Lord God will help me , therefore shall I not be confounded : therefore have I set my face like a flint , and I know that I shall not be ashamed .

He is near that justifieth me , who will contend with me ? The Lord God will help me , who is he that shall condemn me ? I will trust in the Lord , and stay upon my God .

O let me have this of thine hand , that I may not lie down in sorrow .

S. Paul 's Prayers for a holy life .

I. I Bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ , Eph. 3.14 , &c. of whom the whole family in Heaven and Earth is named , that he would grant unto me according to the riches of his glory , to be strengthned with might by his Spirit in the inner man ; that Christ may dwell in my heart by faith ; that being rooted and grounded in love , I may be able to comprehend with all Saints , what is the breadth and length , and depth and height : and to know the love of Christ , which passeth knowledge , and may be filled with all the fulness of God , through the same our most blessed Saviour Jesus . Amen .

The Doxology .

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think , according to the power that worketh in us : Vnto him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus , throughout all ages , world without end . Amen .

II. O Most gracious God , Col. 1.9 , &c. grant to thy servant to be filled with the knowledge of thy Will in all wisdome and spirituall understanding ; to walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing , to be fruitfull in every good work , increasing in the knowledge of God . Strengthen me , O God , with all might according to thy glorious power , unto all patience , and long-suffering , and joyfulness : So shall I give thanks unto the Father , who hath made me meet to be partaker of the inheritance of the Saints in light , through Jesus Christ our Lord . Amen .

III. NOw God himself and our Father , 1 Thess. 3.11 , 12. and our Lord Jesus Christ perfect what is lacking in my faith , direct my way unto him , make me to increase and abound in love towards all men , and establish my heart unblameable in holiness before God even our Father , at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his Saints .

IV. THe God of peace , Heb. 13.20 , 21. that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus , the great Shepherd of the sheep , through the blood of the Everlasting Covenant , make me perfect in every good work to do his will , working in me what is well pleasing in his sight , through Jesus Christ , to whom be glory for ever and ever . Amen .

A Penitentiall Prayer .

I. OEternal God , most merciful Father , who hast revealed thy self to Mankinde in Christ Jesus , full of pity and compassion , merciful and gracious , long-suffering , and abundant in goodness and truth , keeping mercy for thousands , forgiving iniquity , and transgression , and sin ; be pleased to effect these thy admirable mercies upon thy servant , whom thou hast made to put thy trust in thee . I know , O God , that I am vile and polluted in thy sight ; but I must come into thy presence or I die . Thou canst not behold any unclean thing , and yet unless thou lookest upon me , who am nothing but uncleanness , I shall perish miserably and eternally . O look upon me with a gracious eye ; cleanse my Soul with the blood of the holy Lamb ; that being purified in that holy stream , my sins may lose their own foulness , and become white as snow : Then shall the leprous man be admitted to thy Sanctuary , and stand before the Throne of Grace , humble , and full of sorrow for my fault , and full of hope of thy mercy and pardon , through Jesus Christ .

II. O My God , thou wert reconciled to Mankinde by thy own graciousness and glorious goodness , even when thou didst finde out so mysterious wayes of Redemption for us by sending Jesus Christ ; then thou didst love us , and that holy Lamb did from the beginning of the world lie before thee as sacrific'd and bleeding ; and in the fulness of time he came to actuate and exhibite what thy goodness had design'd and wrought in the Counsels of Eternity . But now , O gracious Father , let me also be reconciled to thee ; for we continued enemies to thee , though thou lovedst us ; let me no longer stand at distance from thee , but run unto thee , bowing my will , and submitting my understanding , and mortifying my affections , and resigning all my powers and faculties to thy holy Laws , that thou mayest take delight to pardon and to sanctifie , to assist thy servant with thy grace , till by so excellent conduct , and so unspeakable mercy , I shall arrive to the state of glory .

III. O Blessed Saviour Jesus , thou hast made thy self a blessed Peace-offering for sins , thou hast procured and revealed to us this Covenant of Repentance and remission of sins ; and by the infinite mercies of the Father , and the death and intercession of the Son , we stand fair and hopeful in the eye of the Divine Compassion , and we have hopes of being saved . O be pleased to work thy own work in us . The grace and admission to Repentance is thy own glorious production , thou hast obtained it for us with a mighty puchase : but then be pleas'd also to take me in , to partake actually of this glorious mercy . Give to thy servant a perfect hatred of sin , a great displeasure at my own folly for ever having provoked thee to anger ; a perpetual watchfulness against it , an effective resolution against all its tempting instances , a prevailing strife , and a glorious victory ; that the body of sin being destroyed , I may never any more serve any of its baser interests ; but that by a diligent labour , and a constant care , I may approve my self to thee my God , mindful of thy Covenant , a servant of thy Will , a lover of thy Glory ; that being thy Minister in a holy service , I may be thy Son by adoption and participation of the glories of the Lord Jesus . O let me never lie down in sin , nor rise in shame ; but be partaker both of the Death and the Resurrection of our Lord ; that my imperfect and unworthy services may , by passing into the holiness of thy Kingdome , be such as thy servant desires they should , and fit to be presented unto thee in the perfect holiness of Eternity , through Jesus Christ our Lord . Amen .

CHAP. III. Of the distinction of sins Mortal and Venial , in what sense to be admitted ; and how the smallest sins are to be repented of , and expiated .

§. 1.

MEn have not been satisfied with devising infinite retirements and disguises of their follies to hide them from the world , but finding themselves open and discerned by God , have endeavoured to discover means of escaping from that Eye from which nothing can escape but innocence , and from which nothing can be hid , but under the cover of mercy . For besides that we expound the Divine Laws to our own purposes of ease and ambition , we give to our sins gentle censures , and adorn them with good words , and refuse to load them with their proper characters and punishments , and at last are come to that state of things , that since we cannot allow to our selves a liberty of doing every sin , we have distinguished the Question of sins into several orders , and have taken one half to our selves . For we have found rest to our fancies in the permissions of one whole kinde , having distinguished sins into Mortal and Venial in their own nature ; that is , sins which may , and sins which may not be done , without danger ; so that all the difference is , that some sins must be taken heed of , but others there are , and they the most in number , and the most frequent in their instances and returns , which we have leave to commit , without being affrighted with the fearful noises of damnation ; by which doctrine , iniquity and confidence have much increased and grown upon the ruines and declension of the Spirit .

And this one Article hath almost an infinite influence to the disparagement of Religion in the determination of Cases of Conscience . For supposing the distinction to be believed , experience and certain reason will evince , that it is impossible to prescribe proper limits and measures to the several kindes ; and between the least Mortal , and the greatest Venial sin , no man is able with certainty to distinguish : and therefore ( as we see it daily happen , and in every page written by the Casuists ) men call what they please Venial , take what measures of them they like , appoint what expiation of them they fancy , and consequently give what allowance they list to those whom they please to mislead . For in innumerable Cases of Conscience it is oftner inquired , whether a thing be Venial or Mortal , then whether it be lawful or not lawful ; and as Purgatory is to Hell , so Venial is to Sin , a thing which men fear not , because the main stake they think to be secured : for if they may have Heaven at last , they care not what comes between . And as many men of the Roman perswasion will rather choose Purgatory , then suffer here an inconsiderable penance , or do those little services which themselves think will prevent it : so they choose venial sins , and hug the pleasures of trifles , warming themselves at phantastick fires , and dancing in the light of the glo-worms ; and they love them so well , that rather then quit those little things , they will suffer the intolerable pains of a temporary Hell ; for so they believe : which is the testimony of a great evil and a mighty danger ; for it gives testimony , that little sins can be beloved passionately , and therefore can minister such a delight as is thought a price great enough to pay for the sufferance of temporal evils , and Purgatory it self .

But the evil is worse yet when it is reduc'd to practise . For in the decision of very many questions , the answer is , It is a venial sin ; that is , though it be a sin , yet there is in it no danger of losing the favour of God by that , but you may do it , and you may do it again a thousand thousand times ; and all the venial sins of the world put together , can never do what one mortal sin can , that is , make God to be your enemy : Lib. 1. de amiss . gratiae cap. 13. §. alterum est . So Bellarmine expresly affirms . But because there are many Doctors who write Cases of Conscience , and there is no measure to limit the parts of this distinction , ( for that which is not at all cannot be measured ) the Doctors differ infinitely in their sentences ; some calling that Mortal which others call Venial , ( as you may see in the little Summaries of Navar and Emanuel Sà ) the poor souls of the Laity , and the vulgar Clergy who believe what is told them by the Authors or Confessors they choose to follow , must needs be in infinite danger , and the whole body of Practical Divinity , in which the life of Religion and of all our hopes depends , shall be rendred dangerous and uncertain , and their confidence shall betray them unto death .

To bring relief to this state of evil , and to establish aright the proper grounds and measures of Repentance ; I shall first account concerning the difference of sins , and by what measures they are so differenc'd . 2. That all sins are of their own nature punishable as God please , even with the highest expressions of his anger . 3. By what Repentance they are cur'd , and pardon'd respectively .

§. 2. Of the difference of sins , and their measures .

1. SIns are not equal , but greater or less in their principle as well as in their event . It was one of the errours of Jovinian , which he learned from the Schools of the Stoicks , that all sins are alike grievous ; — Nam dicunt esse pares res , Horat. Serm. l. 1. Sat. 3. Furta latrociniis , & magnis parva minantur : Falce recisuros simili se , si sibi regnum Permittant homines — For they supposed an absolute irresistible Fate to be the cause of all things ; and therefore what was equally necessary , was equally culpable , that is , not at all : and where men have no power of choice , or ( which is all one ) that it be necessary that they choose what they do , there can be no such thing as Laws , or sins against them . To which they adding that all evils are indifferent , and the event of things , be it good or bad , had no influence upon the felicity or infelicity of man , they could neither be differenc'd by their cause , nor by their effect ; the first being necessary , and the latter , indifferent . * Against this I shall not need to oppose many Arguments ; for though this follows most certainly from their doctrine , who teach an irresistible Decree of God to be the cause of all things & actions ; yet they that own the doctrine disavow the consequent , and in that are good Christians , but ill Logicians . But the Article is sufficiently cleared by the words of our B. Lord in the case of Judas , whose sin ( as Christ told to Pilate ) was the greater , because he had not power over him but by special concession ; Mat. 23.24 . Luk. 6.41 . in the case of the servant that knows his Masters will , and does it not ; in the several condemnations of the degrees and expressions of anger in the instances of Racha , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 * * Ira festuca est : odium verò trabs . Aug. , Thou vain man , or Thou fool : by this comparing some sins to gnats , and some to Camels : and in proportion to these , there are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in S. Luke , many stripes ; a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in S. James , a greater condemnation . * * Ira festuca est : odium verò trabs . Aug. Thus to rob a Church is a greater sin then to rob a Thief ; To strike a Father is a higher impiety then to resist a Tutor ; To oppress a Widow is clamorous , and calls aloud for vengeance , when a less repentance wil vote down the whispering murmurs of a trifling injury , done to a fortune that is not sensible of smaller diminutions . Nec vincit ratio tantundem ut peccet , idémque Qui teneros caules alieni fregerit horti , Vt qui nocturnus Divûm sacra legerit — He is a greater criminal that steals the Chalice from a Church , then he that takes a few Coleworts , or robs a garden of Cucumers . But this distinction and difference is by something that is extrinsecal to the action , the greatness of the mischief , or the dignity of the person ; according to that , Omne animi vitium tanto conspectius in se Crimen habet , quanto major qui peccat habetur .

2. But this when it is reduc'd to its proper cause , is , because such greater sins are complicated ; they are commonly two or three sins wrapt together , as the unchastity of a Priest , is uncleanness and scandal too : Adultery is worse then Fornication , because it is unchastity and injustice , and by the fearful consequents of it , is mischievous and uncharitable . Et quas Euphrates , & quas mihi misit Orontes , Me capiant ; Nolo furta pudica thori . So Sacrilege is theft and impiety . And Apicius killing himself , when he suppos'd his estate would not maintain his luxury , was not onely a self-murtherer , but a gluttonous person in his death : Nil est Apici tibi gulosius factum . Lib. 3.22 . Epign . Mart. So that the greatness of sins is in most instances by extension and accumulation ; that as he is a greater sinner who sins often in the same instance , then he that sins seldome ; so is he who sins such sins as are complicated and intangled , like the twinings of combining Serpents . And this appears to be so , because if we take single sins , as uncleanness and theft , no man can tell which is the greater sin ; neither can they be differenc'd but by something that is besides the nature of the action it self . A thought of theft , and an unclean thought , have nothing by which they can excel each other ; but when you clothe them with the dress of active circumstances , they grow greater or less respectively ; because then two or three sins are put together , and get a new name .

3. There is but one way more by which sins can get or lose degrees , and that is the different proportions of our affections . This indeed relates to God more immediately , and by him alone is judg'd ; but the former being invested with material circumstances , can be judg'd by men : But all that God reserves for his own portion of the Sacrifice , is the Heart ; that is , our love and choice ; and therefore the degrees of love or hatred , is that measure by which God makes differing judgements of them . For by this it is , that little sins become great , and great sins become little . If a Jew had maliciously touch'd a dead body in the dayes of Easter , it had been a greater crime , then if in the violence of his temptation he had unwillingly will'd to commit an act of fornication . He that delights in little thefts , because they are breaches of Gods Law , or burns a Prayer book , because he hates Religion , is a greater criminal then he that falls into a material heresie by an invincible or less discerned deception : Secure but to God your affections , and he will secure your innocence or pardon ; for men live or die by their own measures . If a man spits in the face of a Priest to defie Religion , or shaves the beard of an Embassador to disgrace the Prince ( as it hapned to Davids Messengers ) his sin is greater then if he kill'd the Priest in his own just defence , or shot the Embassador through the heart , when he intended to strike a Lion . For every negligence , every disobedience being against Charity or the love of God , by interpretation ; this superaddition of direct malice is open enmity against him , and therefore is more severely condemned by him who sees every thought and degrees of passion and affection . For the increase of malice does aggravate the sin , just as the complication of material instances . Every degree of malice being as distinct and commensurate a sin , as any one external instance that hath a name ; and therefore many degrees of malice combine and grow greater as many sins conjoyn'd in one action , they differ onely in Nature , not in Morality ; just as a great number and a great weight : So that in effect , all sins are differenc'd by complication onely , that is , either of the external or the internal instances .

4. Though the negligence or the malice be naturally equal , yet sometimes by accident the sins may be unequal , not onely in the account of men , but also before God too ; but it is upon the account of both the former . It is when the material effect being different upon men , God hath with greater caution secur'd such interests . So that by interpretation the negligence is greater , because the care was with greater earnestness commanded ; or else because in such cases the sin is complicated : for such sins which do most mischief , have besides their proper malignity , the evil of uncharitableness , or hating our brother . In some cases God requires one hand , and in others both . Now he that puts but one of his fingers to each of them , his negligence is in nature the same , but not in value , because where more is required , the defect was greater . If a man be equally careless of the life of his Neighbours Son and his Neighbours Cock , although the will or attendance to the action be naturally equal , that is , none at all , yet morally , and in the divine account they differ , because the proportions of duty and obligation were different , and therefore more ought to have been put upon the one then upon the other : just as he is equally clothed that wears a single garment in Summer and Winter , but he is not equally warm , unless he that wears a silk Mantle when the Dog-star rages , claps on Furres when the cold North-star changes the waters into rocks .

5. Single sins done with equal affection or disaffection , do not differ in degrees as they relate to God , but in themselves are equally prevarications of the Divine Commandement . Nihil invenies rectius recto , non magis quàm verius vero , quàm temperato temperatius , omnis in modo est virtus : modus certa mensura est . Constantia non habet quò proredat , non magis quàm fiducia , aut veritas , aut fides . Sen. Ep. 67. As he tells a lie that says the Moon is foursquare , as great as he that says there were but three Apostles , or that Christ was not the Son of Man : and as every lie is an equal sin against truth ; so every sin is an equal disobedience and recession from the Rule . But some lies are more against Charity , or Justice , or Religion , then others are , and so are greater by complication ; but against truth they are all equally oppos'd : and so are all sins contrary to the Commandement . And in this sense is that saying of S. Basil : In regul , brevior . Primò enim scire illud convenit , differentiam minorum & majorum nusquam in Novo Testamento reperiri . Siquidem una est & eadem sententia adversus quaelibet peccata , cum Dominus dixerit , Qui facit peccatum servus est peccati : & item , Sermo quem loquutus sum vobis , ille judicabit eum in Novissimo die : & Johannes vociferans dicat , Qui contumax est in filium , non videbit vitam aeternam ; sed ira Dei manet super eum : cum contumacia non in discrimine peccatorum , sed in violatione praecepti positam habeat futuri supplicii denunciationem . The difference of great and little sins is no where to be found in the New Testament . One and the same sentence is against all sins ; our Lord saying , He that doth sin is the servant of sin ; and the word that I have spoken , that shall judge you in the last day ; and John crieth out , saying , He that is disobedient to the Son , shall not see eternal life , but the wrath of God abideth on him : for this contumacy or disobedience does not consist in the difference of sins , but in the violation of the Divine Law ; and for that it is threatned with eternal pain . But besides these Arguments from Scripture , he addes an excellent Reason : Prorsus autem si id nobis permittitur , ut in peccatis hoc magnum , illud exiguum appellemus , invicto argumento concluditur magnum unicuique esse illud à quo quisque superatur : contráque exiguum quod unusquisque ipse superat . Vt in athletis qui vicit fortis est ; qui autem victus est , imbecillior eo unde victus est , quisque ille sit . If it be permitted that men shall call this sin great , and that sin little ; they will conclude that to be great which was too strong for them ; and that to be little which they can master . As among Champions , he is the strongest that gets the victory . And then upon this account , no sin is Venial that a man commits , because that is it which hath prevail'd upon and master'd all his strengths .

The instance is great whatsoever it be that God hath chosen for our obedience . To abstain from the fruit of a tree , not to gather sticks or dew after a certain hour , not to touch the Curtains of the Ark , not to uncover our fathers shame , all is one as to God ; for there is nothing in all our duty that can adde any moments to his felicity , but by what he please he is to try our obedience . Let no man therefore despise a sin , or be bold to plead for it , as Lot for Zoar , Is it not a little one ? For no man can say it is little , if God hath chosen the Commandement which the sin trangresses , as an instrument of his glorification and our felicity . Disobedience is the formality of sin ; and since the instance or the matter of sin is all one to God , so also is the disobedience . The result of this consideration is this : 1. That no man should indulge to himself the smallest sin , because it is equally against God as the greatest : and though accidentally it may come not to be so exacted , yet of it self it may , and God is just if he does . 2. There is no sin , but if God enters into judgement with us , he may justly sentence us for it to the portion of accursed Spirits . For if for any , then for all , there being ( as to him ) no difference . But these things are to be proved in the following Section .

§. 3. That all sins are punishable as God please , even with the pains of Hell .

1. IN the aggravation of sins , the injured person is as considerable as any other circumstance . He that smites a Prince , he that fires a Temple , he that rails upon the Bible , he that pollutes the Sacraments , makes every sin to be a load : and therefore since every sin is against God , it ought not to be called little , unless God himself should be little esteemed . And since men usually give this account , that God punishes a transient sin with an immortal pain , because though the action is finite , yet it was against an infinite God , we may upon the same ground esteem it just , that even for the smallest sin , God in the rigour of his justice can exact the biggest calamity . For an act of Murther , or a whole year of Adultery , hath no nearer proportion to an eternity of pains , then one sinful thought hath : for greater or less are no approaches towards infinite ; for between them both , and what is infinite , the distance is equally infinite .

2. In the distinction of sins Mortal and Venial , the Doctors of the Roman Church define Venial sins to be such which can consist with the love of God , which never destroy or lessen it * * Venialia peccata ex consensu omnium Theologorum , neque tollunt neque minuunt habitum charitatis , sed solum actum & fervorem ejus impediunt . Bellarm. de amiss . grat . c. 13. § , alterum est . ; in the very definition supposing that thing which is most of all in question ; and the ground of the definition is nothing but the analogy and proportion of the entercourses and usages of men , who for a small offence do not neglect or cast away the endearments of an old friend * * Idem ib. cap. 11. §. Quartum argum . : of which when I have given account , I suppose the greatest difficulty of the question is removed . Against this therefore I oppose this proposition , The smallest sins are destructive of our friendship with God . For although Gods mercies are infinite and glorious , and he forgives millions to us that grudge to remit the trifles of our brother ; and therefore whatsoever we can suppose a man will forgive to his friend , that and much more , infinitely more may we expect from the treasures of his goodness and mercy ; yet our present consideration is , not what we can expect from Gods mercy , but what is the just demerit of our sins ; not what he will forgive , but what he may justly exact ; not what are the measures of pardon , but what are the accounts of his justice : for though we have hopes upon other reckonings , yet upon the account even of our smallest sins , we have nothing but fear and sadder expectations . For we are not to account the measures and rules of our friendship with God , by the easiness and ignorance , by the necessities and usual compliances of men . For

1. Certain it is , that in the usual accounts of men some things are permitted , which are not so in the accounts of God . All sorts of ignorance use to lessen a fault amongst men , but before God some sorts of ignorance do aggravate ; such as is , the voluntary and malicious , which is the worst sort of vincible . Not that men do not esteem him vicious and unworthy who enquires not for fear he should know , but because men oftentimes are not competent judges whether they do or no.

2. Because men know not by what purpose their neighbours action is directed , and therefore reckon onely by the next and most apparent cause , not by the secret and most operative and effective .

3. Because by the laws of Charity we are bound to think the best , to expound things fairly , to take up things by the easier handle ; there being left for us no other security of not being confounded by mutual censures , judgements and inflictions , but by being restrained on the surer side of Charity , on which the errors of men are not judged criminal and mischievous , as on the other side they are . But God knows the hearts of men , their little obliquities and intricate turnings , every propensity and secret purpose , what malice is ingredient , and what error is invincible , and how much is fit to be pitied , and therefore what may justly be exacted . For there are three several wayes of judgement according to the several capacities of the Judges . * First , the laws of men judge onely by the event , or material action , and meddle not at all with the purpose , but where it is open'd by an active sign . He that gives me a thousand pounds to upbraid my poverty , or with a purpose to feed my crimes , is not punishable by law : but he is that takes from me a thousand shillings , though secretly he means to give it to my needy brother . Because as in the estimation of men nothing is valuable but what does them good or hurt : so neither can their Laws and Tribunals receive testimony of any thing but what is seen or felt . And thus it is also in the measures of sins . To break order in a day of battel , is but a disorder , and so it is to break order at S. Georges show , at a training , or in a Procession ; and yet that is punished with death , this with a Cudgel ; the aptness to mischief , and the evil consequent , being in humane Judicatories the onely measures of judgement : Men feel the effects , and the Laws do judge accordingly . 2. In the private judgements of men , mercy must interpose ; and it can oftner then in the publick : because in the private entercourses of men , there is a sense , and can be a consideration of particulars , and little accidents and significations of things , and some purposes may be privately discerned , which cannot publickly be proved . He that went to help his friend out of a river , and pull'd his arm out of joynt , was excused by the wronged preserved person : the evil accident was taken off by the pious purpose : But he that to dishonour his friend throws a glass of wine in his face , and sayes he did it in sport , may be judged by his purpose , not by his pretence , because the pretence can be confuted by the observation of little circumstances and adherencies of the action , which yet peradventure cannot legally be proved . Alitèr leges , alitèr philosophi tollunt asturias : leges , quatenus tenere manu res possunt ; philosophi , quatenus ratione & intelligentiâ . Laws regard the great materialities of obedience , the real , sensible effect . But wise men . Philosophers and private Judges take in the accounts of accidental moments and incidencies to the action , Offic. lib. 3. said Cicero . But 3. Gods judgement is otherwise yet ; for he alone can tell the affection , and all that which had secret influence into the event : and therefore he can judge by what is secret , by the purpose and heart , which is indeed the onely way of doing exact justice . From hence it follows , that what ought not to dissolve the friendship of man , may yet justly dissolve our friendship with God , for he takes other measures then men may or can .

4. Because offences against God may be avoided , but it is not so in our entercourses with men ; for God hath told us plainly what is our duty , what he expects , what will please , and what will displease him : but men are often governed by Chance ; and that which pleases them to day , shall provoke them to morrow ; and the next day you shall be their enemy , for that for which three dayes ago they paid you thanks .

5. If men exact little things , it becomes their own case ; for we sin against our brother and need his pardon : and therefore Hanc veniam petimúsque damúsque vicissim ; We give and ask pardon ; Det ille veniam facilè , cui veniâ est opus ; But we never found iniquity in God , or injustice in the most High , and therefore he that is innocent may throw a stone at the criminal .

6. God hath in the smallest instance left us without excuse ; for he hath often warned us of small offences . * He hath told us their danger . He that despiseth little things , shall perish by little and little . * He hath told us , they asperse us with a mighty guilt ; for he that offends in one Commandement , is guilty of all . * He hath told us that we are not certainly excused , though our conscience do not manifestly accuse us ; for so S. Paul , I am not hereby justified , for God is greater then my conscience . * He hath threatned loss of heaven to him that is guilty of the breach of one , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , though of the least of these Commandements ( 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , these which Christ had reckoned in his Sermon , where fetters are laid upon thoughts and words ) shall be called the least in the Kingdome , that is he shall be quite shut out : for minimus here is as much as nullus ; miaimus vocabitur , that is , minimi aestimabitur , In resp . ad orthod. apud Justin . he shall not be esteem'd at all in the accounts of doomsday mercy , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in the accounts of the Doomsday book , where there shall be a discerning of them who shall be glorified , from them that are to be punished . And this which is one of the severest periods of holy Scripture , can by no arts be turned aside from concluding fully in this question . De amiss . grat . cap. 12. § Restat ultim . Bellarmine sayes it means onely to condemn those who by false doctrines corrupt these severe precepts , and teach men as the Pharisees did of old ; not all those who break them themselves , if they teach others to keep them . He that breaks one of these , and shall teach men so to do ; so are the words of Christ . But it is a known thing that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is oftentimes used for 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; He that breaks one of these , or shall teach others . The words were spoken to the persons of the Apostles , who were to teach these doctrines 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 exactly as Christ preach'd them ; but without peradventure they were also intended to all the Church : and the following words , and the whole analogy of the adjoyned discourse make it clear to every observing Reader ; and the words plainly say this , He that shall break one of these least Commandements , and He that shall teach men so , each of them shall be called the least in the Kingdome . But 2. why did our blessed Lord so severely threaten those that should teach others to break any of these severe Commandements by false interpretation ? but onely because it was so necessary for all to keep them in the true sense , and so fearful a thing to any to break them . 3. Those who preach severe doctrines to others , and touch them not with one of their fingers , are guilty of that which Christ reproved in the Pharisees ; and themselves shall be cast-awayes , while they preach to others : so that the breaking it by disobedience is damnable , as well as the breaking it by false interpretation : Odi homines ignavâ operâ , philosophâ sententiâ , Pacuvivs , Qui cum sibi semitam non sapiant , alteri monstrant viam . Indeed it is intolerable to teach men to be vicious ; but it is a hateful baseness to shew others that way which our selves refuse to walk in . Whatever therefore may not be allowed to be taught , may not also be done ; for the people are not to be taught evil , because they must not do evil ; but may the teachers do what they may not teach , and what the people may not do , or is not the same punishment to them both ? 4. Now upon these grounds this very gloss which Bellarmine gives being a false interpretation of these words of Christ ( which are a summary of his whole Sermon , and as it were the sanction and establishment of the former and following periods into laws ) must needs be of infinite danger to the inventer and followers of it : for this gloss gives leave to men to break the least of these Commandements , some way or other ( if they do not teach others so to do ) without being affrighted with fears of Hell ; but in the mean while , this gloss teaches , or gives leave to others to break them , but allows no false interpretation of them but its own . 5. But then it is worse with them who teach others so to do , and command all men to teach so ; and if the Roman Doctors who teach that some breach of these Commandements is not of its own nature , and by the divine threatnings , exclusive of the transgressors from the Kingdome of God , be not in some sense a teaching men so to do , then nothing is : For when God said to Adam , That day thou eatest of the forbidden fruit , thou shalt die ; the Tempter said , Nay , but ye shall not die ; and so was author to Adam of committing his sin . So when our blessed Saviour hath told us , that to break one of these least Commandements is exclusive of us from heaven , they that say , that not every solution or breaking of them is exclusive from heaven ( which are the words of Bellarmine and the doctrine of the Roman Church ) must even by the consequence of this very gloss of his fall under the danger of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 of the false teachers , or the breakers of them by false interpretation . However , fearful is the malediction even to the breakers of the least : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that is , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ( that I may use the words of Theophylach ) he shall be last in the resurrection and shall be thrown into hell : for that is the meaning of [ least in the Kingdom of heaven ] & fortasse ideò non erit in regno coelorum , ubi nisi magni esse non possunt , said S. Austin ; least is none at all ; for into heaven none can enter but they which are great in Gods account .

7. Lastly , God hath given us the perpetual assistances of his Spirit , the presence of his grace , the ministery of his word , the fear of judgements , the endearment of his mercies , the admonition of friends , the severity of Preachers , the aid of Books , the apprehension of death , the sense of our daily dangers , our continual necessities , and the recollection of our prayers , and above all , he hath promised heaven to the obedient , which is a state of blessings so great and infinite , as upon the account of them , it is infinitely reasonable and just if he shall exact of us every sin , that is , every thing which we can avoid .

Upon this account it is , that although wise and prudent men doe not despise the continual endearments of an old friend , yet in many cases God may and doth ; and from the rules and proper measures of humane friendship , to argue up to a presumption of Gods easiness in not exacting our duty , is a fallacious proceeding , but it will deceive no body but our selves .

2. Every sin is directly against Gods law ; and therefore is damnable and deadly in the accounts of the Divine justice , one as well , though not so grievously , as another . For though sins be differenc'd by greater and less , yet their proportion to punishment is not differenc'd by Temporal and Eternal , but by greater and less in that kinde which God hath threatned . So Origen . Homil. 35. in Lucam . Vnusquisque pro qualitate & quantitate peccati diversam mulctae sententiam expendit . Si parum est quod peccas , ferieris damno minuti , ut Lucas scripsit , ut verò Matthaeus , quadrantis . Veruntamen necesse est hoc ipsum quod exstitisti debitor , solvere . Non eniminde exibis , nisi & minima quaeque persolveris . Every one according to the quantity and quality of his sin must pay his fine ; but till he hath paid he shall not be loosed from those fearful prisons ; that is , he shall never be loosed , if he agree not before he comes thither . The smallest offence is a sin , and therefore it is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a transgression of the Law , a violation of that band by which our obedience unites us unto God . And this the holy Scripture signifies unto us in various expressions . For though the several words are variously used in sacred and profane writers , yet all of them signifie that even the smallest sin is a prevarication of the Holy laws ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Lib. 4. de orthod. fide cap. 23. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , so Damascen cals sin ; which we render well by Transgression : and even those words which in distinction signify a small offence , yet they also signify the same with the greater words , to shew that they all have the same formality , and doe the same displeasure , or at least that by the difference of the words , no difference of their natures can be regularly observed . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . * Sins against God onely are by Phavorinus called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; and the same word is also used for sin against our neighbours ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , If thy brother sin against thee , that is , doe thee injury ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . and this is properly 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , injustice ; But Demosthenes distinguishes injustice from sin , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by voluntary and involuntary ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Orat. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . He that does wrong willingly is unjust , he that does it unwillingly is a sinner .

The same indistinction is observable in the other words of Scripture ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is by S. Hierome used for the beginnings of sin , Cum cogitatio tacita subrepit , & ex aliquâ parte conniventibus nobis , nec dum tamen nos impulit ad ruinam ; when a sudden thought invades us without our advertency and observation , and hath not brought forth death as yet : and yet that death is appendent to whatsoever it be that can be signified by 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 we may observe , because the sin of Adam that called death upon all the world is called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; Rom. 5.18 . Eph. 2.1 . and of the Ephesian Gentiles S. Paul said they had been dead 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in trespasses and sins ; and therefore it cannot hence be inferred that such little obliquities , or beginnings of greater sins are onely 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 besides the law , not against it , for it is ( at least the word hinders not but it may be ) of the same kinde of malignity as was the sin of Adam : Lib. 3. quaest. super Levit. q. 20. And therefore S. Austin renders the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 delictum or offence , and so do our Bibles . And the same also is the case of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which is attributed even to concupiscence or the beginnings of mischief , Rom. 7.5 . In cap. 2. Ephes. Jam. 1.15 . by S. Paul and by S. Hierome : but the same is used for the consummation of concupiscence in the matter of uncleanness by S. James ; Lust when it hath conceived 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; Vid. Com. DD. in Titum verb. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . peccatum is the Latine word , which when it is used in a distinct and pressed sense , it is taken for the lesser sins , and is distinguished from crimen . Paulus Orosius * * Apol. de liber . arbit . uses it to signify onely the concupiscence or sinful thoughts of the heart , and when it breaks forth to action , he cals it a crime ; peccatum cogitatio concipit , crimen verò non nisi actus ostendit : and it was so used by the ancient Latins . Peccatus it was called by them ; quasi pellicatus , that inticing which is proper to uncleanness . So Cicero in A. Gellius , Lib. 13. c. 19. Nemo ita manifesto peccatu tenebatur , ut cum impudens fuisset in facto , tum impudentior videretur si negaret . Thus the indistinction of words mingles all their significations in the same common notion and formality . They were not sins at all , if they were not against a Law , and if they be , they cannot be of their own nature venial , but must be liable to that punishment which was threatned in the Law whereof that action is a transgression .

2. The Law of God never threatens , the justice of God never inflicts punishment , but upon transgressors of his Laws ; the smallest offences are not only threatned , but may be punished with death ; therefore they are transgressions of the Divine Law . So S. Basil argues ; Nullum peccatum contemnendum ut parvum , quando D. Paulus de omni peccato generatim pronunciaverat stimulum mortis esse peccatum ; The sting of death is sin ; that is , death is the evil consequent of sin , and comes in the tail of it ; of every sin , and therefore no sin must be despised as if it were little . Now if every little sin hath this sting also ( as it is on all hands agreed that it hath ) it follows that every little transgression is perfectly and intirely against a Commandement . And indeed it is not sense to say any thing can in any sense be a sin , and that it should not in the same sense be against a Commandement . For although the particular instance be not named in the Law , yet every instance of that matter must be meant . It was an extreme folly in Bellarmine to affirm , De amiss . grat . cap. 11. §. Assumptio probatur . Peceatum veniale ex parvitate materiae est quidem perfectè voluntarium , sed non perfectè contra legem . Lex enim non prohibet furtum unius oboli in specie , sed prohibet furtum in genere . That a sin that is venial by the smalness of the matter is not perfectly against the Law , because the Law forbids theft indeed in the general , but does not in particular forbid the stealing of a half-peny : for upon the same reason it is not perfectly against the Law to steal three pound nineteen shillings three pence , because the Law in general onely forbids theft , but does not in particular forbid the stealing of that sum . * But what is besides the Law , and not against it , cannot be a sin ; and therefore to fancy any sin to be onely besides the Law is a contradiction ; so , to walk , to ride , to eat flesh or herbs , to wear a long or a short garment , are said to be besides the Law ; but therefore they are permitted and indifferent . Indifferent I say in respect of that Law which relates to that particular matter , and indifferent in all senses ; unless there be some collateral Law which may prohibit it indirectly . So for a Judge to be a Coachman , for a Priest to be a Fidler or Inne-keeper , are not directly unlawful , but indirectly they are , as being against decency and publick honesty or reputation , or being inconvenient in order to that end whither their calling is design'd . To this sense are those words of S. Paul , All things are lawful for me , but all things are not expedient ; That is , some things which directly are lawful , by an indirect obligation may become unfit to be done ; but otherwise , Licitum est quod nullâ lege prohibetur , saith the Law . If no Law forbids it , then it is lawful ; and to abstain from what is lawful though it may have a worthiness in it more then ordinary , yet to use our liberty is at no hand a sin . The issue then is this ; either we are forbidden to doe a venial sin , or we are not . If we are not forbidden , then it is as lawful to doe a venial sin as to marry , or eat flesh : If we are forbidden , then every such action is directly against Gods Law , and consequently finable at the will of the supreme Judge , and if he please , punishable with a supreme anger . A●d to this purpose there is an excellent observation in S. Austin , Lib. 3. Quaest. super Levit. q. 20. Peccatum & delictum si nihil differrent inter se , & si unius rei duo nomina essent , non curaret Scriptura tam diligentèr unum esse utriusque sacrificium ; There are several names in Scripture to signify our wandrings , and to represent the several degrees of sin ; but carefully it is provided for , that they should be expiated with the same sacrifice ; which proves that certainly they are prevarications of the same Law , offences of the same God , provocations of the same anger , and hei●s of the same death : and even for small offences a Sacrifice was appointed , lest men should neglect what they think God regarded not .

3. Every sin , even the smallest , is against Charity , which is the end of the Commandement . For every sin or evil of transgression is far worse then all the evils of punishment with which mankinde is afflicted in this world ; and it is a less evil that all mankinde should be destroyed , then that God should be displeased in the least instance that is imaginable . Now if we esteem the loss of our life or our estate , the wounding our head , or the extinction of an eye to be great evils to us , and him that does any thing of this to us , to be our enemy , or to be injurious , we are to remember that God hates every sin worse , then we can hate pain or beggery . And if a nice and a tender conscience , the spirit of every excellent person does extremely hate all that can provoke God to anger or to jealousy ; it must be certain that God hates every such thing with an hatred infinitely greater , so great that no understanding can perceive the vastness of it and immensity . For by how much every one is better , by so much the more he hates every sin ; and the soul of a righteous man is vexed and afflicted with the inrodes of his unavoidable calamities , the armies of Egypt , the lice and flies , his insinuating , creeping infirmities : Now if it be holiness in him to hate these little sins , it is an imitation of God ; for what is in us by derivation , is in God essentially ; therefore that which angers a good man , and ought so to do , displeases God , and consequently is against charity or the love of God . For it is but a vain dream to imagine , that because just men , such who are in the state of grace , and of the love of God , do commit smaller offences therefore they are not against the love of God ; for every degree of cold does abate something of the heat in any hot body ; but yet because it cannot destroy it all , cold and heat may be consistent in the same subject ; but no man can therefore say , they are not contraries , and would not destroy each other if they were not hindred by something else ; and so would the smallest offences also destroy the life of grace , if they were not destroyed themselves . But of this afterwards . For the present , let it be considered , how it can possibly consist with our love to God , with that duty that commands us to love him with all our heart , with all our strength , with all our might , and with all our soul , how ( I say ) it can be consistent with a love so extended , so intended , to entertain any thing that he hates so essentially . To these particulars I adde this one consideration ; That since there is in the world a fierce opinion , that some sins are so slight and little , that they doe not destroy our relation to God , and cannot break the sacred tie of friendship , he who upon the inference and presumption of that opinion shall choose to commit such small sins , which he thinks to be the All that is permitted him , is not excused by that supposition : For if it be said that he is therefore supposed to love God , because he onely does those little sins which he thinks are not against the love of God , and if he did not think so , he would not do them ; This excuses him not , but aggravates the sin , for it is turning the grace of God into wantonness . For since that such little things are the easier pardon'd , is wholly owing to Gods grace and his singular goodness , he that abuses this goodness to licentiousness , makes his sin to abound , because Gods grace abounds ; because God is good , he takes leave to do evil , that is , to be most contrary to God . For it is certain that every man in this case , hath affections for sin as formerly ; indeed he entertains it not in the ruder instances because he dares not , but he does all that he dares doe ; for when he is taught that some certain sins are not damnable , there he will not abstain : which is a demonstration that though he does something for fear , yet he does nothing for love .

4. From this it follows , that every sin , though in the smallest instance , is a turning from God and a conversion to the creature . Suidas defines 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 sin to be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a declension from good ; and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that is , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to shoot besides the mark , to conduct our actions by an indirect line to a wrong object , from God to the Creature . Peccare est tanquam lineas transilire ; so * * Parad. 3. Cicero : a sinner goes out of those limits and marks which are appointed him by God . Then this , no greater evil can be spoken of any thing , and of this , all sin partakes more or less . Some few sins are direct aversions from God ; so Atheism , Blasphemy , Apostasie , Resolution never to repent , and some few more : but many other very great sins are turnings from God not directly , but by interpretation , He that commits fornication may yet by a direct act of understanding and a full consent , believe God to be the chiefest Good : and some very vicious persons have given their lives for a good cause , and to preserve their innocence in some great instance , where the scene of their proper and natural temptation does not lie . Some others there are who out of a sincere but an abused Conscience persecute a good cause ; these men are zealous for God , and yet fight against him : But because these are real enemies , and but supposed friends , therefore by interpretation and in effect they turn from God and turn to the Creature . Lib. 3. Quaest. in Lev. c. 20. Delictum quasi derelictum , said S. Austin ; because in every sin God is forsaken . They have left me the living Fountain , and digged to themselves cisterns that hold no water . So God complains by the Prophet . He that prefers pleasure or profit before his duty , rejects God , but loves money , and payes his devotion to interest or ease , or sensuality . And just so does the smallest sin . For since every action hath something propounded to it as its last end , it is certain he that sins , does not do it for God , or in order to him . He that tells a lie to promote Religion , or to save the life of a man , or to convert his soul , does not tell that lie for God , but tells the lie to make way for something else which is in order to God ; he breaks his legs , that he may the better walk in the path of the Divine Commandements . A sin cannot be for God , or in order to him , no not so much as habitually . For whatsoever can never be referred to God actually , c●nnot at any time be referred habitually . Since therefore the smallest sins cannot be for God that which is not with him is against him ; if it be no way for God , it is either directly or by interpretation for pleasure or ease , or profit or pride , for something that is against him .

And it is not to be neglected , that the smaller the sin is , the less it is excusable if it be done when it is observed . For if it be small , is it not the sooner obeyed , and the more reasonably exacted , and the more bountifully repaid , when Heaven is given as the price of so small a service ? He that pursues his crime for a mighty purchase , to get a Kingdome , or a vast estate , or an exquisite beauty , or something that is bigger then the ordinary vertues of easie and common men , hath something ( not to warrant and legitimate , but ) to extenuate the offence by greatning the temptation . But to lose the friendship of God for a Nut-shell , to save six pence , to lose heaven with peevishness , to despise the Divine Laws for a non-sense insignificant vapour , and a testy pride hath no excuse , but it loads the sinner with the disreputation of a mighty folly . What excuse can be made for him that will not so much as hold his peace to please God ? What can he do less for him ? How should it be expected he should mortifie his lusts , deny his ambition , part with his goods , lose an eye cut off a hand , give his life for God , when he will not for God lose the no pleasure of talking vainly , and proudly , and ridiculously ? If he will not chastise his wanton thoughts to please God how shall he throw out his whole body of lust ? If he will not resist the trifling temptations of a drinking friend to preserve his temperance , how shall he choose to be banished or murther'd by the rage of a drunken Prince , rather then keep the circle in their giddy and vertiginous method ? The less the instance be , the direct aversation from God is also most commonly the less ; but in many cases the aversation is by interpretation greater , more unreasonable , and therefore less excusable ; as when the small instance is chosen by a perfect & distinct act of election ; as it is in those who out of fear of Hell quit the acting of their clamorous sins , and yet keep the affections to them , and consequently entertain them in thoughts and little reflexions , in remembrances and phantastick images .

5. But if we reduce this Question a little nearer to practise and clothe it with circumstances , we shall finde this account to be sadder then is usually suppos'd . But before I instance in the particulars , I shall premise this distinction of venial sins , which is necessary not onely for the conducting of this Question , but our Consciences also in this whole Article . The Roman Schools say , that sins are Venial either by the imperfection of the agent , as when a thing is done ignorantly , or by surprise , or inadvertency : or 2. A sin is Venial by the smalness of the matter ; as if a man steals a farthing , or eats a little too greedily at his meal , or lies in bed half an hour longer then would become him : or 3. A sin ( say they ) is Venial in its whole kinde , that is , such which God cannot by the nature of the thing punish with the highest punishment ; such as are idle words and the like . Now first , I suppose that the two latter will be found to be both one : For either God hath not forbidden idleness or falsness , or he hath made no restraint at all upon words , but left us at liberty to talk as we please ; for if he hath in this case made a law , then idle words either cannot pretend to an excuse , or it must be for the smalness of the matter ; or else it must fall in with the first , and be excused , because they cannot alwayes be attended to .

Now concerning the first sort of venial sins , it is not a kinde of sins , but a manner of making all sins venial , ( that is ) apt for pardon : for by the imperfection of the agent or the act , all great sins in their matter , may become little in their malice and guilt . Now these are those which Divines call sins of infirmity ; and of them I shall give an account in a distinct Chapter , under that title .

Concerning the second , i. e. sins venial for the smalness of the matter ; I know none such . For if the matter be a particular that God hath expresly commanded or forbidden respectively , it is not little , but all one to him as that which we call the greatest . But if the particular be wholly relating to our neighbour , the smalness of the matter does not absolutely make the sin venial : for amongst us nothing is absolutely great , or absolutely little , but in comparison with something else ; and if a vile person had robb'd the poor woman that offered two mites to the treasury of the Temple , he had undone her ; a farthing there was all her substance : so that the smalness of the matter is not directly an excuse . If a man had robb'd a rich man of a farthing , he had not indeed done him so great a mischief : but how if the rich man was not willing to part with his farthing , but would be angry at the injury , is it not a sin , because the theft was small ? No man questions but it is . It follows therefore that the smalness of the matter cannot make a sin venial , but where there is a leave expresly given , or justly presumed : and if it be so in a great matter , it is as little a sin as if the matter were small , that is , none at all .

But now concerning the third , which the Roman Schools dream of , sins venial in their own nature , and in their whole kinde ; that is it which I have been disputing against all this while , and shall now further conclude against by arguments more practical and moral . For if we consider what are those particulars which these men call venial sins in their whole kinde and nature , we shall finde that Christ and they give measures differing from each other . The Catalogues of them I will take from the Fathers , not that they ever thought these things to be in their nature venial , ( for they that think so of them are strangers to their writings : and to this purpose Bellarmine hath not brought one testimony pertinent and home to the question : ) but because they reckon such Catalogues of venial sins , which demonstrate that they do mean sins made venial by accident , by mens infirmity , by Gods grace , by pardon , by repentance , and not such which are so in their own nature . But the thing it self will be its own proof .

S. Austin reckons , Vanas cachinnationes ; in escis aviditatem , Lib 50. homil. hom. 50.7 . Serm. 244. de temp. Enchir. c 78. & immoderatiorem appetitum ; in vendendis & emendis rebus , charitatis & vilitatis vota perversa ; usum matrimonii ad libidinem ; judicia apud infideles agitare ; Dicere fratri Fatue . Vain laughter , greediness in meat , an immoderate or ungovern'd appetite ; perverse desires of dearness and cheapness in buying and selling commodities ; the use of marriage to lustfulness and inordination ; Dial. 2. adv. Pelag. the use of marriage to lustfulness and inordination ; to go to law before the unbelievers ; to call our brother Fool. S. Hierome reckons , jestings , anger , and injurious words . Caesarius Arelatensis the Bishop reckons , Homil. 8. & 13. excess in eating and drinking , idle words , importune silence , to exasperate an importunate begger , to omit the fasts of the Church , sleepiness or immoderate sleeping , the use of a wife to lustfulness , to omit the visitation of the sick and of prisoners , and to neglect to reconcile them that are at variance , too much severity or harshnes to our family , or too great indulgence , flattery , talkings in the Church , poor men to eat too much when they are brought rarely to a good table , forswearings [ unwary perjury ] slander or reproaches , rash judgment , hatred , sudden anger , envy , evil concupiscence , filthy thoughts , the lust of the eyes , the voluptuousness of the ears , or the itch of hearing , the speaking filthy words : and indeed he reckons almost all the common sins of mankinde . De Prae. cept . & dispens. c. 14. S. Bernard reckons , stultiloquium , vaniloquium , otiose dicta , facta , cogitata ; talking vainly , talking like a fool , idle or vain thoughts , words and deeds . These are the usual Catalogues , and if any be reckoned , they must be these ; for many times some of these are least consented to , most involuntary , most ready , less avoidable , of the highest effect , of an eternal return , incurable in the whole , and therefore plead the most probably , and are the soonest likely to prevail for pardon ; but yet they cannot pretend to need no pardon , or to fear no damnation . For our blessed Saviour sayes it of him that speaks an angry word , that he shall be guilty of hell fire . Now since we finde such as these reckon'd in the Catalogue of venial sins ; and S. Austin in particular calls that venial to which our blessed Saviour threatned hell fire ; it is certain he must not mean that it is in its own nature venial , but damnable as any other : but it is venial , that is , prepared for pardon upon other contingencies and causes , of which I shall afterwards give account . In the mean time , I consider ,

6. When God appointed in the Law expiatory Sacrifices for sins , although there was enough to signifie that there is difference in the degrees of sin , yet because they were eodem sanguine eluenda , and without shedding of blood there was no remission , they were reckon'd in the same accounts of death and the Divine anger . And it is manifest that by the severities and curse of the Law no sin could escape . For cursed is he that continues not in every thing written in the law , to do them . The Law was a Covenant of Works and exact measures . There were no venial sins by vertue of that Covenant ; for there was no remission : and without the death of Christ we could not be eased of this state of danger . Since therefore that any sin is venial or pardonable , is onely owing to the grace of God , to the death of Christ ; and this death pardons all upon the condition of Faith and Repentance , and pardons none without it : it follows that though sins differ in degree , yet they differ not in their natural and essential order to death . The man that commits any sin , dies if he repents not , and he that does repent timely and effectually , dies for none . The wages of sin is death ; of sin indefinitely , and therefore of all sin , and all death : for there is no more distinction of sin then death ; onely when death is threatned indefinitely , that death is to be understood , which is properly and specifically threatned in that Covenant where the death is named ; as death temporal in the Law , death eternal under the Gospel .

And thus it appears in a very material instance relating to this question : for when our blessed Saviour had threatned the degrees of anger , he did it by apportioning several pains hereafter of one sort , to the several degrees of the same sin here , which he expresses by the several inflictions passed upon Criminals by the Houses of Judgement among the Jews . Mat. 5.22 . Now it is observable , that to the least of these sins Christ assigns a punishment just proportionable to that which the gloss of the Pharisees and the Law it self did to them that committed Murther , which was capital ; He shall be guilty of judgement ; so we reade it , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : so it is in the Greek : He shall be guilty in the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that is , in the Court of Judgement , the Assembly of the twenty three Elders ; and there his punishment was death , but the gentlest manner of it , the decapitation or smiting him through with the sword , and therefore the least punishment hereafter answering to death here , can mean no less then death hereafter † † Ita interpretantur hunc locum Barradius , Maldonatus , & Estius ad hunc locum : & apud vetustiores eadem sententia praevaluit . Haec enim erat mens Strabi Fuldensis qui glossam ordinariam compilavit , & Hugonis Cardinalis . . * And so also was the second ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , he that cals Racha shall be guilty , that is , shall be used as one that stands guilty in the Sanhedrim , or Councel , meaning that he is to die too , but with a severer execution by stoning to death : this was the greatest punishment by the houses of judgement ; for Crucifixion was the Roman manner . These two already signify hell , in a less degree , but as certainly and evidently as the third . For though we read Hell-fire , in the third sentence onely , yet 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 no otherwise signifies Hell , then the other two , by analogy and proportionable representment . The cause of the mistake is this : When Christ was pleased to adde yet a further degree of punishment in hell to a further degree of anger and reproach , the Jews having no greater then that of stoning by the judgement of the Sanhedrim or Councel , he would borrow his expression from that which they and their Fathers too well understood , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 a barbarous custome of the Phoenicians of burning children alive in the valley of Hinnom , which in succession of time the Hellenists called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 not much unlike the Hebrew word : and because by our blessed Lord it was used to signify or represent the greatest pains of hell that were spoken of in that gradation , the Christians took the word and made it to be its appellative , and to signify the state or place of the damned : just as 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 the garden of Eden is called Paradise . But it was no more intended that this should signify Hell , then that any of the other two should . The word it self never did so before ; but that and the other two were taken as being the most fearful things amongst them here , to represent the degrees of the most intolerable state hereafter : just as damnation is called death ; the second death ; that because we fear the first as the worst of present evils , we may be affrighted with the apprehensions of the latter . From this authority it follows ; that as in the Law no sins were venial , but by repentance and sacrifice ; so neither in the Gospel are they : nor in their own nature , not by the more holy Covenant of the Gospel , but by repentance and mortification . For the Gospel hath with greater severity laid restraint upon these minutes and little particles of action and passion : and therefore if in the law every transgression was exacted , we cannot reasonably think that the least parts of duty , which the Gospel superadded with a new and severer caution , as great and greater then that by which the law exacted the greatest Commandements , can be broken with indemnity , or without the highest danger . The law exacted all its smallest minutes ; and therefore so does the Gospel , as being a Covenant of greater holiness . But as in the law for the smaller transgressions there was an assignment of expiatory rites ; so is there in the Gospel of a ready repentance , and a prepared mercy .

7. Lastly , those sins which men in health are bound to avoid , those sins for which Christ did shed his most precious bloud , those sins which a dying man is bound to ask pardon for , though he hopes not , or desires not to escape temporal death , certain it is , that those sins are in their nature , and in the Oeconomy or dispensation of the Divine threatnings , damnable . For what can the dying man fear but death eternal ? and if he be bound to repent and ask pardon even for the smallest sins which he can remember , in order to what pardon can that repentance be , but of the eternal pain , to which every sin by its own demerit naturally descends ? If he must repent and ask pardon when he hopes not , or desires not the temporal , it is certain he must repent , onely that he may obtain the eternal . And they that will think otherwise , will also finde themselves . deceiv'd in this . * For if the damned souls in hell are punish'd for all their sins , then the unpardon'd venial sins are there also smarted for . But so it is , and so we are taught in the doctrine of our great Master . If we agree not while we are in the way , we shall be cast into the eternal prison , and shall not depart thence till we have paid the uttermost farthing : that is , even for our smallest sins , if they be unremitted , men shall pay in hell their horrible Symbol of damnation . And this is confessed on all hands a a Aquinas 1 . 2.● quaest. 87. art. 5. : that they who fall into hell , pay their sorrows there , even for all . But it is pretended , that this is onely by accident b b Bellar. de amiss . gra . lib. 1. c. 14. §. Extusad . , not by the first intention of the Divine justice ; because it happens that they are subjected in such persons , who for other sins ( not for these ) goe to hell . Well! yet let it be considered , whether or no do not the smallest unremitted sins , in crease the torments of hell in their proportion ? If they doe not , then they are not at all punished in hell ; for if without them the perishing soul is equally punished , then for them there is no punishment at all . But if they doe increase the pains , as it is certain they doe , then to them properly , and for their own malignity and demerit , a portion of eternal pains is assigned . Now if God punishes them in hell , then they deserv'd hell ; if they be damnable in their event , then they were so in their merit ; for God never punishes any sin more then it deserves , though he often does less . But to say that this is by accident , that is , for their conjunction with mortal sins , is confuted infinitely , because God punishes them with degrees of evil proper to them , and for their own demerit ; There is no other accident by which these come to be smarted for in hell , but because they were not repented of ; for by that accident they become Mortal ; as by the contrary accident , to wit , if the sinner repents worthily , not onely the smallest , but the greatest also become Venial : The impenitent payes for all ; all together . But if the man be a worthy penitent , if he continues and abides in Gods love , he will finde a mercy according to his circumstances , by the measures of Gods graciousness , and his own repentance : so that by accident they may be pardoned , but if that accident does not happen , if the man be not penitent , the sins shall be punished directly , and for their own natural demerit . The summe is this .

If a man repents truly of the greater sins , he also repents of the smallest ; for it cannot be a true repentance which refuses to repent of any ; so that if it happens that for the smallest he doe smart in hell , it is because he did not repent truly of any , greatest , nor smallest . But if it happens that the man did not commit any of the greater sins , and yet did indulge to himself a licence to doe the smallest , even for those which he cals the smallest , he may perish ; and what he is pleased to call little , Serm. 1. de coenâ Dom. & Serm. 1. de convers . Pauli . God may call great . Cum his peccatis neminem salvandum , said S. Bernard : with these ( even the smallest sins ) actually remaining upon him unrepented of in general or particular , no man can be saved .

§. 4. The former doctrine reduc'd to practice .

I Have been the more earnest in this article , not onely because the Doctrine which I have all this while opposed makes all the whole doctrine of moral Theology to be inartificial , and in many degrees useless , false and imprudent ; but because of the immediate influence it hath to encourage evil lives of men . For ,

1. To distinguish a whole kinde of sins is a certain way to mak repentance and amendment of life imperfect and false . For when men by fears and terrible considerations are scar'd from their sins , as most repentances begin with fear , they still retain some portions of affection to their sin , some lookings back and phantastick entertainments , which if they be not par'd off by repentance , we love not God with all our hearts ; and yet by this doctrine of distinguishing sins into Mortal and Venial in their whole kinde and nature , men are taught to arrest their repentances , and have leave not to proceed further : for they who say sins are Venial in their own nature , if they understand the consequences of their own doctrine , do not require repentance to make them so , or to obtain a pardon which they need not .

2. As by this means our repentances are made imperfect , so is a relapse extremely ready ; for while such a leaven is left , it is ten to one but it may sowre the whole mass . S. Gregory said well , Lib. 10. Moral . c. 14. Si curare parva negligimus , insensibiliter seducti audentèr etiam majora perpetramus : we are too apt to return to our old crimes , whose reliques we are permitted to keep and kiss .

3. But it is worse yet . For the distinction of sins Mortal and Venial in their nature is such a separation of sin from sin , as is rather a dispensation or leave to commit one sort of them ; the expiation of which is so easy , the pardon so certain , the remedy so ready , the observation and exaction of them so inconsiderable . For there being so many ways of making great sins little , and little sins none at all , found out by the folly of men and the craft of the Devil , a great portion of Gods right , and the duty we owe to him , is by way of compromise and agreement left as a portion to carelesness and folly : and why may not a man rejoyce in those trifling sins , for which he hath security he shall never be damned ? As for the device of Purgatory , indeed if there were any such thing , it were enough to scare any one from committing any sins , much more little ones . But I have conversed with many of that perswasion , and yet never observed any to whom it was a terror to speak of Purgatory , but would talk of it as an antidote or security against hell , but not as a formidable story to affright them from their sins , but to warrant their venial sins , and their imperfect repentance for their mortal sins . And indeed let it be considered : If venial sins be such as the Romane DD. describe them ; that they neither destroy nor lessen charity or the grace of God , that they onely hinder the fervency of an act , which sleep or business , or any thing that is most innocent may doe ; that they are not against the law , but besides it ; as walking and riding , standing and sitting are ; that they are not properly sins , that all the venial sins in the world cannot amount to one mortal sin , but as time differs from eternity , as finite from infinite , so doe all the Venial sins in the world put together , from one Mortal act ; that for all them a man is never the less beloved , and loves God nothing the less ; I say if venial sins be such ( as the Roman Writers affirm they are ) how can it be imagined to be agreeable to Gods goodness to inflict upon such sinners who onely have venial sins unsatisfied for , such horrible pains ( which they dream of in Purgatory ) as are , during their abode , equal to the intolerable pains of hell , for that which breaks none of his laws , which angers him not , which is not against him or his love , which is incident to his dearest servants ? Pro peccato magno paulum supplicii sat is est patri ; But if fathers take such severe amends of their children for that which is not properly sin , there is nothing left by which we can boast of a fathers kindness . In this case , there is no remission ; for if it be not just in God to punish such sins in hel , because they are consistent with the state of the love of God , and yet they are punished in Purgatory , that is , as much as they can be punished ; then God does remit to his children nothing for their loves sake , but deals with them as severely as for his justice he can , in the matter of venial sins ; indeed if he uses mercy to them at all , it is in remitting their mortal sins , but in their venial sins he uses none at all . Now if things were thus on both sides , it is strange , men are not more afraid of their venial sins , and that they are not more terrible in their description , which are so sad in their event ; and that their punishment should be so great , when their malice is so none at all ; and it is strangest of all , that if men did believe such horrible effects to be the consequent of venial sins , they should esteem them little , and inconsiderable , and warn men of them with so little caution . But to take this wonder off , though they affright men with Purgatory at the end , yet they make the bugbear nothing by their easy remedies and preventions in the way . Venial sins may be taken off ( according to their doctrine ) at as cheap a rate as they may be committed ; but of this I shall give a fuller account in the 6. § . of this Chapter . In the mean time , to believe Purgatory , serves the ends of the Roman Clergy , and to have so much easiness and leave in venial sins , serves the ends of their Laity ; but as truth is disserv'd in the former , so is piety and the severities of a holy life very much slackned by the latter .

But as care is taken that their doctrine doe not destroy charity or good life by loosness and indulgence , so care must be taken that ours doe not destroy hope , and discountenance the endevours of pious people ; for if the smallest sins be so highly punishable , who can hope ever to escape the intolerable state of damnation ? And if God can be eternally angry for those things which we account small sins , then no man is a servant or a friend of God ; no man is in the state of the Divine favour ; for no man is without these sins ; for they are such , Quae non possit homo quisquam evitare cavendo , a man by all his industry cannot wholly avoid . Now because the Scripture pronounces some persons just and righteous , as David and Josiah , Zechary and Elizabeth , who yet could not be innocent and pure from small offences : either these little things are in their own nature venial , or the godly have leave to doe that , which is punished in the ungodly , or some other way must be found out , how that which is in its own nature damnable , can stand with the state of grace ; and upon what causes , sins which of themselves are not so , may come to be venial , that is , more apt and ready to be pardoned , and in the next dispositions to receive a mercy .

§. 5.

1. NO just person does or can indulge to himself the keeping of any sin whatsoever ; for all sins are accounted of by God according to our affections , and if a man loves any , it becomes his poison . Every sin is damnable when it is chosen deliberately , either by express act or by interpretation ; that is , when it is chosen regularly or frequently . He that loves to cast over in his minde the pleasures of his past sin , he that entertains all those instances of sin , which he thinks not to be damnable , this man hath given himself up to be a servant to a trifle , a lover of little and phantastick pleasures . Nothing of this can stand with the state of grace . No man can love sin and love God at the same time ; and to think it to be an excuse to say the sin is little , is as if an adulteress should hope for pardon of her offended Lord , because the man whom she dotes upon is an inconsiderable person .

2. In sins we must distinguish the formality from the material part . The formality of sin is disobedience to God , and turning from him to the Creature by love and adhesion . The material part is the action it self . The first can never happen without our will ; but the latter may by surprise and indeliberation , and imperfection of condition . For in this life our understanding is weak , our attention trifling , our advertency interrupted , our diversions many , our divisions of spirit irresistible , our knowledge little , our dulness frequent , our mistakes many , our fears potent , and betrayers of our reason ; and at any one of these doors sin may enter , in its material part , while the will is unactive , or the understanding dull , or the affections busie , or the spirit otherwise imployed , or the faculties wearied , or reason abused : Therefore if you enquire for venial sins , they must be in this throng of imperfections , but they never go higher . Let no man therefore say , I have a desire to please my self in some little things ; for if he desires it , he may not do it , that very desire makes that it cannot be venial , but as damnable as any , in its proportion .

3. If any man about to do an action of sin , enquires whether it be a venial sin or no , to that man , at that time that sin cannot be venial : for whatsoever a man considers , and acts , he also chooses and loves in some proportion , and therefore turns from God to the sin , and that is , against the love of God , & in its degree destructive or diminutive of the state of grace . Besides this , such a person in this enquiry asks leave to sin against God , and gives a testimony that he would sin more if he durst . But in the same degree in which the choice is lessened , in the same degree the material part of the sin receives also diminution .

4. It is remarkable , that amongst the Ancients this distinction of sins into Mortal and Venial , or to use their own words , Graviora & Leviora , or Peccata 〈◊〉 Crimina , does not mean a distinction of kinde , but of degrees . They call them mortal sins which shall never , or very hardly be pardon'd , not at all but upon very hard terms . So Pacianus . De modo criminum edisserens nequis existimet omnibus omnino peccatis summum discrimen impositum , In Paraen . sedulóque requirens , quae sint peccata , quae crimina , nequis existimet propter innumera delicta , quorum fraudibus nullus immunis est , me omne hominum genus indiscretâ poenitendi lege constringere . The highest danger is not in every sin ; offences and crimes must be distinguished carefully : for the same severe impositions are not indifferently to be laid upon Criminals , and those whose guilt is in such instances from which no man is free . Wherefore covetousness may be redeem'd with liberality , slander with satisfaction , morosity with cheerfulness , sharpness with gentle usages , lightness with gravity , perversness or peevishness with honesty and fair carriage . But what shall the despiser of God do ? what shall the Murtherer do ? what remedy shall the Adulterer * * Fornicator , promiscuè . Saepius usurpantur fornicatio & adulterium . have ? Ista sunt capitalia Fratres , ista mortalia . These are the deadly sins , these are capital crimes : meaning that these were to be taken off by the severities of Ecclesiastical or publick Repentance ( of which I am afterwards to give account ) and would cost more to be cleansed . To a good man , and meliorum operum compensatione ( as Pacianus affirms ) by the compensation of good works , that is , of the actions of the contrary graces , they are venial , they are cured . For by venial they mean such which with less difficulty and hazard may be pardon'd : such as was S. Pauls blasphemy and persecuting the Church ; for that was venial , that is , apt for pardon , because he did it ignorantly in unbelief : and such are those sins ( saith Caesarius ) which are usual in the world , though of their own nature very horrible , as forswearing our selves , slander , reproach , and the like ; yet because they are extremely common , they are such to which if a continual pardon were not offered , Gods numbers would be infinitely lessen'd . In this sense every sin is venial , excepting the three Capitals reckoned in Tertullian , Idolatry , Murther , and Adultery ; every thing but the sin against the Holy Ghost , and its branches reckoned in Pacianus ; every thing but the seven deadly sins , in others . Now according to the degree and malignity of the sin , or its abatement by any lessening circumstance , or intervening consideration , so it puts on its degrees of veniality , or being pardonoble . Every sin hath some degree of being venial , till it arriv'd at the unpardonable state , and then none was . But every sin that had many degrees of Venial , had also some degrees of Damnable . So that to enquire what venial sins can stand with the state of grace ; is to ask , how long a man may sin before he shall be damn'd ; how long will God still forbear him , how long he will continue to give him leave to repent ? For a sin is venial upon no other account but of Repentance . If Venial be taken for pardonable , it is true that many circumstances make it so , more or less ; that is , whatever makes the sin greater or less , makes it more or less venial : and of these I shall give account in the chapter of sins of Infirmity . But if by Venial . we mean actually pardon'd , or not exacted : Nothing makes a sin venial , but Repentance , and that makes every sin to be so . Therefore ,

5. Some sins are admitted by holy persons , and yet they still continue holy ; not that any of these sins is permitted to them ; nor that God cannot as justly exact them of his servants as of his enemies ; nor that in the Covenant of the Gospel they are not imputable ; nor that their being in Gods favour hides them , for God is most impatient of any remaining evil in his children : But the onely reasonable account of it is , because the state of grace is a state of Repentance ; these sins are those which as Pacianus expresses it , contrariis emendata proficiunt , they can be helped by contrary actions : and the good man does perpetually watch against them , he opposes a good against every every evil ; that is , in effect he uses them just as he uses the greatest that ever he committed . Thus the good man when he reproves a sinning person over-acts his anger , and is transported to undecency , though it be for God : Some are over zealous , some are phantastick and too apt to opinion , which in little degrees of inordination are not so soon discernible . A good man may be over-joyed , or too much pleas'd with his recreation , or be too passionate at the death of a childe , or in a sudden anger go beyond the evenness of a wise Christian , and yet be a good man still , and a friend of God , his son and his servant : but then these things happen in despite of all his care and observation ; and when he does espy any of these obliquities , he is troubled at it , and seeks to amend it : and therefore these things are venial , that is , pitied and excused , because they are unavoidable , but avoided as much as they well can ( all things considered ) and God does not exact them of him , because the good man exacts them of himself . * These being the Rules of Doctrine , we are to practise accordingly .

To which adde the following measures .

6. This difference in sins , of Mortal and Venial , that is , greater and less , is not to be considered by us , but by God alone , and cannot have influence upon us to any good purposes . For 1. We do not alwayes know by what particular measures they are lessened : In general we know some proportions of them , but when we come to particulars , we may easily be deceived , but can very hardly be exact . S. Austin said the same thing . Quae sint levia , Enchirid , cap. 78. & quae gravia peccata , non humano sed Divino sunt pensanda judicio . God onely , not man , can tell which sins are great , and which little . For since we see them equally forbidden , we must with equal care avoid them all . Indeed if the case should be so put , that we must either commit Sacrilege , or tell a spiteful lie , kill a man , or speak unclean words , then it might be of use to us to consider which is the greater , which is less , that , of evils we might choose the less : but this ease can never be , for no man is ever brought to that necessity that he must choose one sin ; for he can choose to die before he shall do either , and that 's the worst that he can be put to . And therefore though right reason and experience , and some general lines of Religion mark out some actions as criminal , and leave others under a general and indefinite condemnation , yet it is in order to repentance and amends when such things are done , not to greater caution directly of avoiding them in the dayes of temptation ; for of two infinites in the same kinde , one cannot be bigger then the other . We are tied with the biggest care to avoid every sin , and bigger then the biggest we finde not This onely : For the avoiding of the greatest sins , there are more arguments from without , and sometimes more instruments and ministeries of caution and prevention are to be used , then in lesser sins ; but it is because fewer will serve in one then in another ; but all that is needful must be used in all , but there is no difference in our choice that can be considerable , for we must never choose either , and therefore beforehand to compare them together , whereof neither is to be preferred before the other is to lay a snare for our selves , and make us apt to one by undervaluing it , and calling it less then others , that affright us more . Indeed when the sin is done , to measure it may be of use ( as I shall shew ) but to do it beforehand hath danger in it of being tempted , and more then a danger of being deceived . For our hearts deceive us , our purposes are complicated , and we know not which end is principally intended , nor by what argument amongst many , we were finally determin'd , or which is the prevailing ingredient ; nor are we competent Judges of our own strengths , and we can do more then we think we can ; and we remember not , that the temptation which prevails was sought for by our selves ; nor can we separate necessity from choice , our consent from our being betrayed ; nor tell whether our fort is given up , because we would do so , or because we could not help it . Who can tell whether he could not stand one assault more , and if he had , whether or no the temptation would not have left him ? The wayes of consent are not alwayes direct , and if they be crooked , we see them not . And after all this , if we were able , yet we are not willing to judge right , with truth , and with severity : something for our selves , something for excuse , something for pride ; a little for vanity , and a little in hypocrisie , but a great deal for peace and quiet , that the rest of the minde may not be disturbed , that we may live and die in peace , and in a good opinion of our selves . These indeed are evil measures , but such by which we usually make judgement of our actions , and are therefore likely to call great sins little , and little sins none at all . **

2. That any sins are venial being onely because of the state of grace and Repentance , under which they are admitted ; what condition a man is in , even for the smallest sins , he can no more know then he can tell that all his other sins are pardon'd , that his Repentance is accepted , that nothing of Gods anger is reserved , that he is pleased for all , that there is no Judgement behinde hanging over his head , to strike him for that wherein he was most negligent . Now although some men have great and just confidences that they are actually in Gods favour , yet all good men have not so . For there are coverings sometimes put over the spirits of the best men ; and there are intermedial and doubtful states of men , ( as I shall represent in the Chapter of Actuall sins ) there are also ebbings and flowings of sin and pardon : and therefore none but God onely knows how long this state of veniality and pardon will last ; and therefore as no man can pronounce concerning any kinde of sins , that they are in themselves venial , so neither can he know concerning his own , or any mans particular state , that any such sins are pardon'd , or Venial to him . He that lives a good life will finde it so in its own case , and in the event of things ; and that 's all which can be said as to his particular : and it is well it is so , ne studium proficiendi ad omnia peccata cavenda pigrescat ( as S. Austin well observed . ) If it were otherwise , and that sins in their own nature by venial and not venial are distinguished and separate in their natures from each other , and that some of them are of so easie remedy , and inconsiderable a guilt , they would never become earnest to avoid all .

3. There are some sins which indeed seem venial , and were they not sentenc'd in Scripture with severe words would pass for trifles ; but in Scripturis demonstrantur opinione graviora ( as S. Enchirid. 79. Austin notes ) they are by the word of God declared to be greater then they are thought to be ; and we have reason to judge so , concerning many instances in which men are too easy , and cruelly kinde unto themselves . S. Paul said , I had not known concupiscence to be a sin , if the law had not said , Thou shalt not lust : and we use to call them scrupulous and phantastick persons who make much adoe about a careless word , and call themselves to severe account for every thought , and are troubled for every morsel they eat , when it can be disputed whether it might not better have been spared . Who could have guessed that calling my enemy Fool should be so great a matter ; but because we are told that it is so ; told by him that shall be our Judge , who shall call us to account for every idle word ; we may well think that the measures which men usually make by their customes and false principles , and their own necessities , lest they by themselves should be condemned , are weak and fallacious : and therefore whatsoever can be of truth in the difference of sins , may become a danger to them who desire to distinguish them , but can bring no advantages to the interests of piety and a holy life .

4. We onely account those sins great which are unusual , which rush violently against the conscience , because men have not been acquainted with them : Peccata sola inusitata exhorrescimus , August . ubi suprà . usitata verò diligimus . But those which they act every day , they suppose them to be small , quotidianae incursiones , the unavoidable acts of every day ; and by degrees our spirit is reconciled to them , conversing with them as with a tame wolf , who by custom hath forgotten the circumstances of his barbarous nature , but is a wolf still . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ( as Synesius cals them ) the little customes of sinning , men think , ought to be dissembled . This was so of old ; Hom. 16. Caesarius Bishop of Arles complain'd of it in his time . Verè dico Fratres &c. I say truly to you Brethren , this thing according to the Law and Commandement of our Lord , never was lawful , neither is it , nor shall it ever be ; but as if it were worse , it a peccata ista in consuetudinem missa sunt , & tanti sunt qui illa faciunt , ut jam quasi ex licito fieri credantur ; these sins are so usual and common that men now begin to think them lawful . And indeed who can doe a sin every day , and think it great and highly damnable ? If he thinks so , it will be very uneasy for him to keep it : but if he will keep it , he will also endevour to get some protection or excuse for it ; something to warrant , or something to undervalue it ; and at last it shall be accounted venial , and by some means or other reconcileable with the hopes of heaven . He that is used to oppress the poor every day , thinks he is a charitable man if he lets them goe away with any thing he could have taken from them : But he is not troubled in conscience for detaining the wages of the hireling , with deferring to doe justice , with little arts of exaction and lessening their provisions . For since nothing is great or little but in comparison with something else , he accounts his sin small , because he commits greater ; and he that can suffer the greatest burden , shrinks not under a lighter weight ; and upon this account it is impossible but such men must be deceiv'd and die .

7. Let no man think that his venial or smaller sins shall be pardoned for the smalness of their matter , and in a distinct account ; for a man is not quit of the smallest but by being also quit of the greatest : for God does not pardon any sin to him that remains his enemy ; and therefore unless the man be a good man and in the state of grace , he cannot hope that his venial sins can be in any sense indulg'd ; they increase the burden of the other , and are like little stones laid upon a shoulder already crushed with an unequal load . Either God pardons the greatest , or the least stand uncancell'd .

8. Although God never pardons the smallest without the greatest , yet he somtimes retains the smallest , of them whose greatest he hath pardon'd . The reason is , because although a man be in the state of grace and of the Divine favour and God will not destroy his servants for every calamity of theirs , yet he will not suffer any thing that is amiss in them . A Father never pardons the small offences of his son who is in rebellion against him ; those little offences can not pretend to pardon till he be reconciled to his Father ; but if he be , yet his Father may chastise his little misdemeanors , or reserve some of his displeasure so far as may minister to discipline , not to destruction : and therefore if a son have escaped his Fathers anger and final displeasure , let him remember , that though his Father is not willing to dis-inherit him , yet he will be ready to chastise him . And we see it by the whole dispensation of God , that the righteous are punished , and afflictions begin at the House of God ; and God is so impatient even of little evils in them , that to make them pure he will draw them through the fire ; and there are some who are sav'd , yet so as by fire . And certainly , those sins ought not to be neglected , or esteemed little , which provoke God to anger even against his servants . We finde this instanc'd in the case of the Corinthians , who used undecent circumstances and unhandsome usages of the blessed Sacrament ; even for this , God severely reprov'd them ; 1 Cor. 11.30 . for this cause many are weak , and sick , and some are fallen asleep , which is an expression used in Scripture to signify them that die in the Lord , and is not used to signify the death of them that perish from the presence of the Lord . These persons died in the state of grace and repentance , but yet died in their sin ; chastised for their lesser sins , but so that their souls were sav'd . This is that which Clemens Alexandrinus affirms of sins committed after our illumination , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Stromat . 4. These sins must be purged with a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , with the chastisement of sons . The result of this consideration is that which S. Peter advises , that we pass the time of our sojourning here in fear : for no man ought to walk confidently , who knows that even the most laudable life hath in it evil enough to be smarted for with a severe calamity .

9. The most trifling actions the daily incursions of sins , though of the least malignity , yet if they be neglected combine and knit together , till by their multitude they grow insupportable ; This caution I learn from Caesarius Arelatensis . Hom. 13. Et hoc considerate Fratres , quia etiamsi capitalia crimina non subreperent , ipsa minuta peccata quae ( quod pejus est ) aut non attendimus , aut certè pro nihilo computamus , si simul omnia congregentur , nescio quae bonorum operum abundantia illis praeponderare sufficiat . Although capital sins invade you not , yet if your minutes , your small sins which either we doe not consider at all , or value not at all , be combin'd , or gathered into one heap , I know not what multitude of good works will suffice to weigh them down . For little sins are like the sand , and when they become a heap are heavy as lead ; S. August . epist. 108. ad Seleu. lib. 50. homil. 42. and a leaking ship may as certainly perish with the little inlets of water as with a mighty wave ; for of many drops a river is made ; and therefore , ipsa minuta vel levia non contemnantur . Illa enim quae humanae fragilitati quamvis parva tamen crebra subrepunt , quasi collecta contra nos fuerint , ita nos gravabunt sicut unum aliquod grande peccatum * * Idem tract. 1. in ep. Johan . Levia multa saciunt unum grande . . Let not little sins be despised , for even those smallest things which creep upon us by our natural weakness , yet when they are gathered together against us , stand on an heap , and like an army of flies can destroy us , as well as any one deadly enemy . Quae quamvis singula non lethali vulnere ferire sentiantur , Lib 50. hom. hom. 50. c. 8. sicut homicidium , & adulterium , vel caetera hujusmodi , tamen omnia simul congregata velut scabies , quo plura sunt , necant , & nostrum decus ita exterminant ut à filio sponsi speciosi formâ prae filiis hominum castissimis amplexibus separent , nisi medicamento quotidianae poenitentiae dissecentur . Indeed we doe not feel every one of them strike so home and deadly , as murder and adultery does , yet when they are united , they are like a scab , they kill with their multitude , and so destroy our internall beauty , that they separate us from the purest embraces of the Bridegroom , unless they be scattered with the medicine of a daily repentance . For he that does these little sins often , and repents not of them , nor strives against them , either loves them directly , or by interpretation .

10. Let no man when he is tempted to a sin , goe then to take measures of it ; because it being his own case he is an unequal and incompetent Judge ; His temptation is his prejudice and his bribe , and it is ten to one but he will suck in the poyson , by his making himself believe that the potion is not deadly . Examine not the particular measures unless the sin be indeed by its disreputation great , then examine as much as you please , provided you goe not about to lessen it . It is enough it is a sin , condemned by the laws of God , and that death and damnation are its wages .

11. When the mischief is done , then you may in the first dayes of your shame and sorrow for it , with more safety take its measures . For immediately after acting , sin does to most men appear in all its ugliness and deformity : and if in the dayes of your temptation you did lessen the measure of your sin , yet in the days of your sorrow , doe not shorten the measures of repentance . Every sin is deadly enough ; and no repentance or godly sorrow can be too great for that which hath deserved the eternal wrath of God .

12. I end these advices with the meditation of S. Hierom. Si ira & sermonis injuria , atque interdum jocus judicio , concilióque , atque Gehenne ignibus delegatur , quid merebitur turpium rerum appetitio , & avaritia quae est radix omnium malorum ? If anger , and injurious words , and sometimes a foolish jest is sentenc'd to capital and supreme punishments , what punishment shall the lustful and the covetous have ? And what will be the event of all our souls , who reckon these injurious or angry words of calling Fool , or Sot amongst the smallest , and those which are indeed less we doe not observe at all ? For who is there amongst us almost , who cals himself to an account for trifling words , loose laughter , the smallest beginnings of intemperance , careless spending too great portions of our time in trifling visits and courtships , balls , revellings , phantastick dressings , sleepiness , idleness and useless conversation , neglecting our times of prayer frequently , or causlesly , slighting religion and religious persons , siding with factions indifferently , forgetting our former obligations upon trifling regards , vain thoughts , wandrings and weariness at our devotion , love of praise , laying little plots and snares to be commended ; high opinion of our selves , resolutions to excuse all , and never to confess an error ; going to Church for vain purposes , itching ears , love of flattery , and thousands more ? The very kinds of them put together are a heap ; and therefore the so frequent and almost infinite repetition of the acts of all those are , as Davids expression is , without hyperbole , more then the hairs upon our head ; they are like the number of the sands upon the Sea shore for multitude .

§. 6. What repentance is necessary for the smaller or more Venial sins .

1. UPon supposition of the premises ; since these smaller sins are of the same nature , and the same guilt , and the same enmity against God , and consign'd to the same evil portion that other sins are , they are to be wash'd off with the same repentance also as others Christs bloud is the lavatory , and Faith and Repentance are the two hands that wash our souls white from the greatest and the least stains : and since they are by the impenitent to be paid for in the same fearful prisons of darkness , by the same remedies and instruments the intolerable sentence can only be prevented . The same ingredients , but a less quantity possibly may make the medicine . Caesarius Bishop of Arles , who spake many excellent things in this article , says that for these smaller sins a private repentance is proportionable . Hom. 1. Si levia fortasse sunt delicta , v.g. si homo vel in sermone , vel in aliquâ reprehensibili voluntate ; si in oculo peccavit , aut corde ; verborum & cogitationum maculae quotidianâ oratione curandae , & privatâ compunctione terendae sunt . The sins of the eye , and the sins of the heart , and the offences of the tongue are to be cured by secret contrition and compunction and a daily prayer . But S. Cyprian commends many whose conscience being of a tender complexion , they would even for the thoughts of their heart , doe publick penance : His words are these ; — multos timoratae conscientiae , De lapsis . quamvis nullo sacrificii aut libelli facinore constricti ●ssent , quoniam tamen de hoc vel cogitaverunt , hoc ipsum apud Sacerdotes Dei dolentèr & simplicitèr confitentes exomologesin conscientiae fecisse , animi sui pondus exposuisse , salutarem medelam parvis licet & modicis vulneribus exquirentes . Because they had but thought of complying with idolaters , they sadly and ingenuously came to the Ministers of holy things , Gods Priests , confessing the secret turpitude of their conscience , laying aside the weight that pressed their spirit , and seeking remedy even for their smallest wounds . Vide S. Aug. lib. 83. q. 26. & Caesar . Arelat. hom. 1. And indeed we finde that among the Ancients there was no other difference in assignation of repentance to the several degrees of sin , but onely by publike , and private : Capital sins they would have submitted to publick judgement ; but the lesser evils to be mourn'd for in private : of this I shall give account in the Chapter of Ecclesiastical repentance . In the mean time , their general rule was , That because the lesser sins came in by a daily incursion , therefore they were to be cut off by a daily repentance ; which because it was daily , could not be so intense and signally punitive as the sharper repentances for the seldome returning sins , yet as the sins were daily , but of less malice , so their repentance must be daily , but of less affliction . Lib. 50. hom. h. 50. c. 8. Medicamento quotidianae p●●●itertiae dissecentur ; That was S. Austins rule . Those evils that happen every day , must be cried out against every day .

2. Every action of repentance , every good work done for the love of God and in the state of grace , and design'd , and particularly applied to the intercision of the smailest unavoidable sins , is through the efficacy of Christs death , and in the vertue of repentance operative towards the expiation or pardon of them . For a man cannot doe all the particulars of repentance for every sin ; but out of the general hatred of sin picks out some special instances , and apportions them to his special sins ; as to acts of uncleanness he opposes acts of severity , to intemperance he opposes fasting . But then as he rests not here , but goes on to the consummation of Repentance in his whole life : so it must be in the more venial sins . A less instance of express anger is graciously accepted , if it be done in the state of grace and in the vertue of Repentance ; but then the pardon is to be compleated in the pursuance and integrity of that grace , in the Summes total . For no man can say that so much sorrow , or such a degree of Repentance is enough to any sin he hath done : and yet a man cannot apportion to every sin large portions of special sorrow , it must therefore be done all his life time ; and the little portions must be made up by the whole grace and state of Repentance . One instance is enough particularly to express the anger , or to apply the grace of Repentance to any single sin which is not among the Capitals ; but no one instance is enough to extinguish it . For sin is not pardon'd in an instant ( as I shall afterwards discourse ) neither is the remedy of a natural and a just proportion to the sin . * * Ecclesia Romana alia excogitavit facilè , quorum non nulla declinant aperte nimis ad superstitionem : Confiteor , tundo , conspergor , conteror , oro , Signor , edo , dono , per haec venialia pondo . Therefore when many of the ancient Doctors apply to venial sins special remedies by way of expiation , or deprecation , such as are , beating the breast , saying the Lords Prayer , Alms , communicating , confessing , and some others ; the doctrine of such remedies is not true , if it be understood that those particulars are just physically , or meritoriously proportion'd to the sin . No one of these alone is a cure or expiation of the past sin ; but every one of these in the vertue of Repentance is effective to its part of the work , that is , he that repents and forsakes them as he can , shall be accepted , though the expression of his Repentance be applied to his fault but in one or more of these single instances ; because all good works done in the Faith of Christ , have an efficacy towards the extinction of those sins which cannot be avoided by any moral diligence ; there is no other thing on our parts which can be done , and if that which is unavoidable were also irremediable , our condition would be intolerable and desperate . To the sense of this advice we have the words of S. Gregory : Si quis ergo peccata sua tecta esse desiderat , Deo ea per vocem confessionis ostendat , &c. If any man desires to have his sins covered , let him first open them to God in confession : but there are some sins , which so long as we live in this world , can hurdly , or indeed not at all be wholly avoided by perfect men . For holy men have something in this life , which they ought to cover ; for it is altogether impossible that they should never sin in word or thought . Therefore the men of God do study to cover the faults of their eyes or tongue with good deeds , they study to over-power the number of their idle words with the weight of good works . But how can it be that the faults of good men should be covered , when all things are naked to the eyes of God ? but onely because that which is covered is put under , something is brought over it : Our sins are covered when we bring over them the cover of good works . But Caesarius the Bishop is more punctual , and descends to particulars . For having given this general rule , Illa parva vel quotidiana peccata bonis operibus redimere non desistant . Let them not cease to redeem or expiate their daily and small faults with good works ; he addes , But I desire more fully to insinuate to you , with what works small sins are taken off . So often as we visit the sick , go ( in Charity ) to them that are in prison , reconcile variances , keep the fasts of the Church , wash the feet of strangers , repair to the vigils and watches of the Church , give alms to passing beggers , forgive our enemies when they ask pardon : istis enim operibus & his similibus minuta peccata quotidiè redimuntur ; with these and the like works the minute or smaller sins are daily redeemed or taken off .

3. There is in Prayer a particular efficacy , and it is of proper use and application in the case of the more venial and unavoidable sins , rather this then any other alone , especially being helped by Charity , that is , alms and forgiveness . Because the greatest number of venial sins comes in ( as I shall * * Chap of sins of infirmity . afterwards demonstrate ) upon the stock of ignorance , or which is all one , imperfect notices and acts of understanding ; and therefore have not any thing in the natural parts and instances of Repentance , so fit to expiate or to cure them . But because they are beyond humane cure , they are to be cured by the Divine Grace , and this is to be obtained by Prayer , And this S. Clement advis'd in his Epistle . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Lift up your eyes to God Almighty , praying him to be merciful to you , if you have unwillingly fallen into errour . And to the same purpose are the words of S. Austin : De Symb. ad Catech. lib 1. c. 6. & lib. 50. Homil. 28. Propter levia sine quibus esse non possumus , oratio inventae : for those lighter sins without which we cannot be , Prayer is invented as a remedy .

4. Perpetually watch , and perpetually resolve against them , as against any , never indulging to thy self leave to proceed in one . Let this care be constant and indefatigable , and leave the success to God . For in this there is a great difference between Capitall or Deadly , and the more venial sins . For , he that repents of great sins , does so resolve against them , that he ought really to believe that he shall never return to them again . No drunkard is truly to be esteem'd a penitent , but he that in consideration of himself , his purpose , his reasons , and all his circumstances , is by the grace of God confident that he shall never be drunk again . The reason is plain : For if he thinks that for all his resolution and repentance the case may happen , or will return in which he shall be tempted above his strength , that is , above the efficacy of his resolution , then he hath not resolved against the sin in all its forms or instances : but he hath left some roots of bitterness which may spring up and defile him ; he hath left some weak places , some parts unfortified , and does secretly purpose to give up his fort , if he be assaulted by some sort of enemies . He is not resolved to resist the importunity of a friend , or a prevailing person , a Prince , his Landlord , or his Master ; that for the present he thinks impossible , and therefore owes his spiritual life to chance , or to the mercies of his enemy , who may have it for asking : But if he thinks it possible to resist any temptation , and resolves to do it if it be possible , the natural consequent of that is , that he thinks he shall never fall again into it . But if beforehand he thinks he shall relapse , he is then but an imperfect resolver , but a half-fac'd penitent . * But this is not so in the case of smaller sins coming by ignorance or surprise , by inadvertency and imperfect notices , by the unavoidable weakness and imperfect condition of mankinde . For he who in these resolves the strongest , knows that he shall not be innocent , but that he shall feel his weakness in the same or in other instances ; and that this shall be his condition as long as he lives , that he shall alwayes need to pray , Forgive me my trespasses : and even his not knowing concerning all actions , and all words , and all thoughts , whether they be sins or no , is a certain betraying him into a necessity of doing something for the pardon of which Christ died , for the preventing of which a mighty care is necessary , in the suffering of which he ought to be humbled , and for the pardon of which he ought for ever to pray . And therefore S. Chrysostome upon those words of S. Paul ; I am conscious in nothing , that is , I do not know of any failing in my Ministery ; saith , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; what then ? he is not hereby justified , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , because some sins might adhere to him he not knowing that they were sins . Ab occult is meis munda me Domine , was an excellent Prayer of David . Cleanse me , O Lord , from my secret faults . Hoc dicit , nequid fortè per ignorantiam deliquisset , saith S , Hierome ; he prayed so , lest peradventure he should have sinned ignorantly . But of this I shall give a further account in describing the measures of sins of infirmity . For the present , although this resolution against all , is ineffective as to a perfect immunity from small offences , yet it is accepted as really done , because it is done as it can possibly .

5. Let no man relie upon the Catalogues which are sometimes given , and think that such things which the Doctors have call'd Venial sins , may with more facility be admitted , and with smaller portions of care be regarded , or with a slighter repentance washed off . For besides that some have called perjuries , anger , envy injurious words , by lighter names and titles of a little reproof , and having lived in wicked times , were betray'd into easier sentences of those sins which they saw all mankind almost to practise , which was the case of some of the Doctors who lived in the time of those Wars which broke the Roman Empire ; besides this , I say , venial sins can rather be * * See chap. 7. of sins of infirmity . described , then enumerated . For none are so in their nature , but all that are so , are so by accident ; and according as sins tend to excuse , so they put on their degrees of veniality . No sin is absolutely venial , but in comparison with others : Neither is any sin at all times , and to all persons alike venial . And therefore let no man venture upon it upon any mistaken confidence : They that think sins are venial in their own nature , cannot agree which are venial , and which are not ; and therefore nothing is in this case so certain , as that all that doctrine which does in any sense represent sins as harmless or tame Serpents , is infinitely dangerous , and there is no safety , but by striving against all beforehand , and repenting of all as there is need .

I summe up this question and these advices with the saying of Josephus , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . It is as damnable to indulge leave to our selves to sin little sins as great ones : A man may be choaked with a raisin , as well as with great morsels of flesh ; and a small leak in a ship , if it be neglected , will as certainly sink her as if she sprung a plank . Death is the wages of all ; and damnation is the portion of the impenitent , whatever was the instance of their sin . Though there are degrees of punishment , yet there is no difference of state , as to this particular : and therefore we are tied to repent of all , and to dash the little Babylonians against the stones , against the Rock that was smitten for us . For by the blood of Jesus , and the tears of Repentance , and the watchfulness of a diligent , careful person , many of them shall be prevented , and all shall be pardoned .

A Psalm to be frequently used in our Repentance for our daily sins .

BOw down thine ear , O Lord , hear me , for I am poor and needy : Rejoyce the soul of thy servant ; for unto thee , O Lord , do I lift up my soul .

For thou , Lord , art good , and ready to forgive , and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee : Teach me thy way , O Lord , I will walk in thy truth ; unite my heart to fear thy Name .

Shall mortal man be more just then God ? shall a man be more pure then his Maker ? Behold , he put no trust in his Servants ; and his Angels he charged with folly .

How much less on them that dwell in houses of clay , whose foundation is in the dust , which are crushed before the moth ? Doth not their excellency which is in them go away ? They die even without wisdome .

The law of the Lord is perfect , converting the soul : the testimony of the Lord is sure , making wise the simple . Moreover , by them is thy servant warned , and in keeping of them there is great reward .

Who can understand his errours ? Cleanse thou me from my secret faults : keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins ; let them not have dominion over me , then shall I be upright , and I shall be innocent from the great transgression .

O ye sons of men , how long will ye turn my glory into shame ? how long will ye love vanity and seek after leasing ? But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly , for himself : The Lord will hear when I call unto him .

Out of the deep have I called unto thee , O Lord ; Lord hear my voice : O let thine ears consider well the voice of my complaint .

If thou , Lord , wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss , O Lord who may abide it ? But there is mercy with thee , therefore shalt thou be feared .

Set a watch , O Lord , before my mouth , and keep the door of my lips : Take from me the way of lying ; and cause thou me to make much of thy law .

The Lord is full of compassion and mercy , long-suffering , and of great goodness : He will not alway be chiding , neither keepeth he his anger for ever .

Yea , like as a Father pitieth his own children : even so is the Lord mercifull unto them that fear him . For he knoweth whereof we are made : he remembreth that we are but dust .

Praise the Lord , O my soul , and forget not all his benefits : which forgiveth all thy sin , and healeth all thine infirmities .

Glory be to the Father , &c.

The PRAYER .

O Eternal God , whose perfections are infinite , whose mercies are glorious , whose justice is severe , whose eyes are pure , whose judgements are wise ; be pleased to look upon the infirmities of thy servant , and consider my weakness . My spirit is willing , but my flesh is weak ; I desire to please thee , but in my endevours I fail so often , so foolishly , so unreasonably , that I extremely displease my self , and I have too great reason to fear that thou also art displeased with thy servant . O my God , I know my duty , I resolve to doe it , I know my dangers , I stand upon my guard against them , but when they come near I begin to be pleased , and delighted in the little images of death , and am seised upon by folly , even when with greatest severity I decree against it . Blessed Jesus pity me , and have mercy upon my infirmities .

II. O Dear God , I humbly beg to be relieved by a mighty grace , for I bear a body of sin and death about me ; sin creeps upon me in every thing that I doe or suffer . When I doe well , I am apt to be proud , when I doe amiss , I am sometimes too confident , sometimes affrighted : If I see others doe amiss , I either neglect them , or grow too angry ; and in the very mortification of my anger , I grow angry and peevish . My duties are imperfect , my repentances little , my passions great , my fancy trifting : The sins of my tongue are infinite , and my omissions are infinite , and my evil thoughts cannot be numbred , and I cannot give an account concerning innumerable portions of my time which were once in my power , but were let slip and were partly spent in sin , partly thrown away upon trifles and vanity : and even of the basest sins of which in accounts of men I am most innocent , I am guilty before thee , entertaining those sins in little instances , thoughts , desires and imaginations , which I durst not produce into action and open significations . Blessed Jesus pity me , and have mercy upon my infirmities .

III. TEach me , O Lord , to walk before thee in righteousness , perfecting holiness in the fear of God . Give me an obedient will , a loving spirit , a humble understanding , watchfulness over my thoughts , deliberation in all my words and actions , well tempered passions , and a great prudence , and a great zeal , and a great charity , that I may doe my duty wisely , diligently , holily ; O let me be humbled in my infirmities , but let me be also safe from my enemies ; let me never fall by their violence , nor by my own weakness ; let me never be overcome by them , nor yet give my self up to folly and weak principles , to idleness , and secure , careless walking ; but give me the strengths of thy Spirit , that I may grow strong upon the ruines of the flesh , growing from grace to grace till I become a perfect man in Christ Jesus . O let thy strength be seen in my weakness ; and let thy mercy triumph over my infirmities ; pitying the condition of my nature , the infancy of grace , the imperfection of my knowledge , the transportations of my passion . Let me never consent to sin , but for ever strive against it , and every day prevail , till it be quite dead in me , that thy servant living the life of grace , may at last be admitted to that state of glory where all my infirmities shall be done away , and all teares be dried up , and sin and death shall be no more . Grant this , O most gracious God and Father , for Jesus Christ his sake . Amen .

OUr Father which art in heaven , Hallowed be thy Name . Thy Kingdome come . Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven . Give us this day our daily bread . And forgive us our trespasses , as we forgive them that trespass against us . And lead us not into temptation : but deliver us from evil . Amen .

CHAP. IV. Of Actual , single sins , and what Repentance is proper to them .

§. 1.

THE first part of Conversion or Repentance is a quitting of all sinful habits , and abstaining from all criminal actions whatsoever . Virtus est vitium fugere , & sapientia prima Stultitia caruisse — For unless the Spirit of God rule in our hearts , we are none of Christs ; but he rules not where the works of the flesh are frequently , or maliciously , or voluntarily entertained . All the works of the flesh , and whatsoever leads to them , all that is contrary to the Spirit , and does either grieve or extinguish him , must be rescinded , and utterly taken away . Concerning which , it is necessary that I set down the * * Mat. 15.19 . Mar. 7.21 . Galat. 5.16 , 19 , 20 , 21. Eph 4.31 . &c. 5.3 , 4 , 5. 2 Tim. 3.2 , 3 , 4 , 5. Rom. 1.29 , 30 , 31 , 32. 1 Cor. 6.9 . Revel. 21.8 . 1 Pet. 4.3 , 15. Catalogues which by Christ and his Apostles are left us as lights and watch-towers to point out the rocks and quick-sands where our danger is : and this I shall the rather doe , not onely because they comprehend many evils which are not observed or feared ; some which are commended , and many that are excused ; but also because although they are all mark'd with the same black character of death , yet there is some difference in the execution of the sentence , and in the degrees of their condemnation , and of the consequent Repentance .

2. Evil thoughts : or discoursings . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Evil reasonings . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , says Hesychius , that is , prating ; importune pratling and loosness of tongue , such as is usual with bold boyes and young men ; prating much and to no purpose . But our Bibles reade it , Evil thoughts , or surmisings ; for in Scripture it is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; so Suidas observes concerning 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that is , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to think long and carefully , to dwell in meditation upon a thing : to which when our blessed Saviour addes 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , evil , he notes and reproves such kinde of morose thinkings and fancying of evil things : and it is not unlikely that he means thoughts of uncleanness , or lustful fancies . For 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Suidas : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , says Hesychius ; it signifies such words as are prologues to wantonness : so 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in Aristophanes . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Lysistratâ . So that here are forbidden all wanton words , and all morose delighting in venereous thoughts , all rollings and tossing such things in our minds . For even these defile the soul . Verborum obscoenitas si turpitudini rerum adhibeatur , ludus ne libero quidem homine dignus est , said Cicero . Obscene words are a mockery not worthy of an ingenuous person . This is that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or * * 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Eph. 5.4 . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that foolish talking and jesting which S. Paul joyns to 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that filthiness of communication which men make a jest of , but is indeed the basest in the world ; the sign of a vile dishonest minde : and it particularly noted the talk of Mimicks and Parasites , Buffoons and Players , whose trade was to make sport , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and they did use to doe it with nastiness and filthy talkings ; as is to be seen in Aristophanes , and is rarely described and severely reproved in S. Chrysostome in his 6. Homily upon S. Matthew . For per verba dediscitur rerum pudor , which S. Paul also affirms in the words of Menander , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Evil words corrupt good manners ; and evil thoughts being the fountain of evil words , lie under the same prohibition . Under this head is the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a talkative rash person , ready to speak , slow to hear ; against S. James his rule .

3. Inventers of evil things . Contrivers of all such artifices as minister to vice . Curious inventions for cruelty , for gluttony , for lust ; witty methods of drinking , wanton pictures , and the like ; which for the likeness of the matter I have subjoyn'd next to the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 the evil thinkings or surmisings reproved by our blessed Saviour , as these are expresly by S. Paul .

4. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Covetousness : or , Inordinate , unreasonable desires . For the word does not onely signify the designing and contrivances of unjust ways of purchasing , which is not often separated from covetous desires : but the very studium habendi , the thirst , or greediness , secret and impatient desires of having abundance : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the hurt of immoderate lusting or desire ; and is sometimes applied to the matter of uncleanness ; but in this Catalogue I wholly separate it from this , because this is comprised under other words . Neither will it be hard to discern and to reprove this sin of desires in them that are guilty of it , though they will not think or confess what is , and what is not abundance . For there is not easily to be found a greater testimony of covetousness then the error concerning the measure of our possessions . He that is not easy to call that abundance which by good and severe men is thought so , desires more then he should . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , when any thing is over and above the needs of our life , that is too much ; and to desire that , is covetousness , saith S. Luke . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Take heed and keep your selves from covetousness ; for our life consisteth not in abundance ; intimating that to desire more then our life needs , is to desire abundance , and that is covetousness ; and that is the root of all evil : that is , all sins and all mischiefs can come from hence . Divitis hoc vitium est auri : nec bella fuere , Faginus adstabat cum scyphus ante dapes . There were no warres in those dayes when men did drink in a treen cup.

5. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Wickedness . This is the same that the Latines call Malitia ; a scurvy , base disposition ; aptness to doe shrewd turns , to delight in mischiess and tragedies ; a loving to trouble our neighbour , and to doe him ill offices ; crosseness , perversness and peevishness of action in our entercourse . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Suidas . Facessere negotium alicui ; to do a man an evil office , or to put him to trouble . And to this is reducible that which S. Paul calls 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Malignity ; a baseness of nature by which we take things by the wrong handle , and expounding things alwayes in the worst sense . Vitiositas is the Latine word for it , and it seems to be worse then the former , by being a more general principle of mischief . Tuscul. 4. Malitia certi cujusdam vitii est : vitiositas omnium , said Cicero . This is in a mans nature an universal depravation of his spirit ; that is in manners , and is sooner cured then this .

6. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Craftiness . That is , a wiliness and aptness to deceive ; a studying by some underhand trick to over-reach our brother : like that of Corax his Scholar , he cousen'd his Master with a trick of his own art ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , A crafty Crow laid a crafty egge . By which is not signified that natural or acquired sagacity by which men can contrive wittily , or be too hard for their brother if they should endevour it : but a studying how to circumvent him , and an habitual design of getting advantage upon his weakness ; a watching him where he is most easie and apt for impression , and then striking him upon the unarm'd part . But this is brought to effect ,

7. Deceit Cùm aliud simulatur , aliud agitur alterius decipiendi causâ , said Vlpian and Aquilius ; that is , all dissembling to the prejudice of thy Neighbour , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; any thing designed to thy Neighbours disadvantage by simulation or dissimulation .

8. Uncleanness . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Stinking : So the Syriack Interpreter renders it ; and it means obscene actions . But it signifies all manner of excess or immoderation ; and so may signifie 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 prodigal or lavish expences , and immoderate use of permitted pleasures , even the excess of liberty in the use of the Marriage-bed . For the Ancients use the word not onely for unchaste , but for great and excessive . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , They are exceeding fat : and a Goat with great horns is called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . It is luxuria or the excess of desire in the matter of pleasures . Every excess is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , it is intemperance : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 signifies a special kinde of crime under this . It means all voluntary pollutions of the body , or

9. Wantonness : That is , all tempting foolish gestures ; such which Juvenal reproves , Cheironomon Ledam molli saltante Bathyllo , which being presented in the Theatre would make the Vestal wanton . Every thing by which a man or woman is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 abominable in their lusts ; to which the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the lusts not to be named are reducible : amongst which S. Paul reckons the effeminate , and abusers of themselves with mankinde ; that is , they that do , and they that suffer such things . Philoctetes and Paris ; Caesar and the King of Pontus . Mollities or softness is the name by which this vice is known , and the persons guilty of it , Joh. 21.8 . are also called the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , The abominable .

10. Hatred . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; Great , but transient angers . The cause , and the degree , and the abode makes the anger Criminal . By these two words are forbidden all violent passion , fury , revengefulness . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , The enemy and the avenger , sayes David . But not this onely , but the misliking and hating of a man , though without actual designs of hurting him , is here noted ; that is , when men retain the displeasure , and refuse to converse , or have any thing to do with the man , though there be from him no danger of damage , the former experiment being warning enough . The forbearing to salute him , to be kinde or civil to him , and every degree of anger that is kept , is an 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a part of Enmity or Hatred . To this are reduc'd the Vnmerciful ; that is , such as use their right in extreme severity towards Servants and Malefactors , Criminal or obnoxious persons : and the Implacable , that is a degree beyond ; such who being once offended will take no satisfaction , but the utmost and extremest forfeiture .

11. Debate , Contentions . That is , all striving in words or actions , scolding and quarrels , in which as commonly both parties are faulty when they enter , so it is certain they cannot go forth from them without having contracted the guilt of more then one sin : whither is reduced clamour , or loud expressions of anger : Clamour is the horse of anger , said S. Chrysostome , Eph. 4.31 . anger rides upon it ; throw the horse down , and the rider will fall to the ground . Blasphemy ; backbiting we reade it , but the Greek signifies all words that are injurious to God or Man .

12. Whisperers . That is , such who are apt to do shrewd turns in private ; a speaking evil of our Neighbour in a mans ear ; Hic nigrae succus loliginis , haec est Aerugo mera : this is an arrow that flieth in the dark , it wounds secretly , and no man can be warned of it . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , backbiters ; it is the same mischief , but it speaks out a little more then the other ; and it denotes such who pretend friendship and society , but yet traduce their friend , or accuse him secretly ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Polybius calls it , a new way of accusation , to undermine a man by praising him , that you seeming his friend , a lover of his vertue and his person , by praising him may be the more easily believed in reporting his faults : like him in Horace , who was glad to hear any good of his old friend Capitolinus , whom he knew so well , who had so kindely obliged him , Sed tamen admiror quo pacto Judicium illud Fugerit — but yet I wonder that he escaped the Judges Sentence in his Criminal cause . There is a louder kinde of this evil , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Railers ; that 's when the smoke is turned into a flame , and breaks out ; it is the same iniquity with another circumstance ; it is the vice of women and boyes , and rich imperious fools , and hard rude Masters to their Servants , and it does too often infect the spirit and language of a Governour . Our Bibles reade this word , by Despitefull ; that notes an aptness to speak spiteful words , cross and untoward , such which we know will do mischief or displease .

13. Foolishness . Which we understand by the words of S. Paul , Eph. 5.17 . Be not foolish , but understanding what the will of the Lord is : It means a neglect of enquiring into holy things ; a wilful or careless ignorance of the best things , a not studying our Religion , Prov. 2● . 9 . which indeed is the greatest folly and sottishness , it being a neglecting of our greatest interests , and of the most excellent notices , and it is the fountain of many impure emanations . A Christian must not be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , he must not call fool , nor be a fool . Heady , is reduc'd to this , and signifies , rash and indiscreet in assenting and dissenting ; people that speak and do foolishly , because they speak and do without deliberation .

14. Pride . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; a despising of others , if compared with our selves : so Theophrastus calls it . Concerning which we are to judge our selves by the voices of others , and by the consequent actions observable in our selves : any thing whereby we overvalue our selves , or despise others ; preferring our selves , or depressing them in unequal places or usages , is the signification of this vice ; which no man does heartily think himself guilty of , but he that is not ; that is , the humble man . A particular of this sin is that which is in particular noted by the Apostle , under the name of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , arrogance , or bragging ; which includes pride and hypocrisie together : for so Plato defines it to be , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a pretending to excellencies which we have not ; a desiring to seem good , but a carelesness of being so ; reputation and fame , not goodness being the design . To this may be referred Emulations , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , so the Apostle calls them , zeals , it signifies immoderate love to a lawful object : like that of the wife of Ajax in Sophocles . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . She did him most strange , zealous services , as if her affection had no measure . It signifies also violent desires of equalling or excelling another for honours sake , ambition and envy mixt together : it is a violent pursuit after a thing that deserves it not . A consequent of these is ,

15. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Seditions , or Schisms and Heresies . That is , Divisions in the Church upon diversity of Opinions , or upon Pride , Faction and Interest , as in choosing Bishops , in Praelations and Governments Ecclesiastical , from factious Rulers , or factious Subjects ; which are properly Schisms , but use commonly to belch forth into Heresie : according to that saying , Plerunque schisma in haeresin eructat .

16. An evil Eye . That is , a repining at the good of others ; Envy , a not rejoycing in the prosperity of our Neighbours ; a grieving because he grieves not . Aut illi nescio quid incommodi accidit , aut nescio cui aliquid boni : when good happens to another , it is as bad as if evil happened to himself . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . This is one of the worst of Crimes , for a man to hate him that is prosperous ; hate him whom God loves or blesses . It bears part of its punishment along with it : the sin hath in it no pleasure , but very much torment . Nam sese excruciat qui beatis invidet . A part of this is Vnthankefulness ; 2 Tim. ● . 2 . those who do not return kindnesses to others , from whom they have received any , neither are apt to acknowledge them : which is properly an envying to our friend the noblest of all graces , that of Charity ; or it is Pride or Covetousness , for from any of these roots this equivocal issue can proceed .

17. Lovers of Pleasures . Such who study and spend their time and money to please their senses ; — rarum & memorabile magni Gutturis exemplum , conducendúsque Magister : Rare Epicures and Gluttons , such which were famous in the Roman Luxury , and fit to be Presidents of a Greek Symposiack , not for their skill in Philosophy , but their witty Arts of drinking . Ingeniosa gula est , Petron. Siculo scarus aequore mersus Ad mensam vivus perducitur — Sensual men : Such who are dull , and unaffected with the things of God , and transported with the lusts of the lower belly ; Alex. Aphrod . in lib. de anim . persons that are greedy of baser pleasures . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , said the Scholiast upon Aristotle . The wicked man allows to himself too large a portion of sweet things . Licorishness , is the common word to express this vice in the matter of eating and drinking .

18. Busie-bodies . That is , such who invade the offices , or impertinently obtrude their advice and help when there is no need , and when it is not lik'd , not out of charity , but of curiosity , or of a trifling spirit : and this produces talking of others , and makes their conversation a scene of Censure and Satyre against others ; never speaking of their own duty , but often to the reproach of their Neighbours , something that may lessen or disparage him .

19. The Fearful , and the Unbelievers . That is , they that fear man more then God , that will do any thing , but suffer nothing , that fall away in persecution ; such who dare not trust the Promises , but fear want , and fear death , and trust not God with cheerfulness , and joy , and confidence .

20. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . They that take pleasure in those that do these things . That is , they who in any sense incourage , or promote , or love the sin of another , are guilty themselves ; not of the others sin , but of their own . He that commands a man to swear , is not guilty of that swearing , but of that commanding him . It is a sin to do so ; but that sin to which the man is encouraged or tempted , or assisted , is his own sin , and for it he is to repent ; every man for his own . For it is inartificially said by the Masters of Moral Theology , that by many wayes we are guilty of the sins of others : by many ways indeed we can procure them to sin ; and every such action of ours is a sin , against charity and the matter of that Commandement in which the temptation was instanc'd : But their sin is not ours ; their sin does not properly load us , neither does our being author of it , excuse them . It was the case of Adam and Eve , and the Serpent , who yet did every one bear their own burden . Aristotle , Zeno , and Chrysippus were notorious in this kinde . Non est enim immunis à scelere qui ut fieret imperavit , nec est alienus à crimine , Epist. 21. cujus consensu licèt à se non admissum crimen , tamen publicè legitur , said S. Cyprian . He that commands , and he that consents , and he that delights , and he that commends , and he that maintains , and he that counsels , and he that tempts , or conceals , or is silent in anothers danger , when his speaking will prevent it , is guilty before God . Corrumpere , & corrumpi saeculum vocatur . This evil is of a great extent , but receives its degrees according to the influence or causality it hath in the sins of others .

21. These I have noted and explicated , because they are not so notorious as others , which have a publick name , and filthy character , and easy definition : Such as , adulteries , fornication , drunkenness , idolatry , hating of God and good men , perjury , malicious lies , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as S. Paul addes , and such like ; these and those and all that are like these , Gal. 5.21 . exclude us from the kingdome of heaven . They are the works of the flesh ; but these which are last reckoned are such which all the world condemnes , and they are easily discerned , as smoke , or a cloud upon the face of the Sun : but the other are sometimes esteemed innocent , often excused , commonly neglected , alwayes undervalued . But concerning all these , the sentence is sad and decretory . 1 Cor. 6.10 . They that are such shall not inherit the Kingdome of heaven : Rev. 21.8 . But , they shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone . Now if we list to observe it , many of these are such which occurre so frequently in our daily conversation , are so little noted and so confidently practised , that to try men concerning their hopes of heaven by such measures would seem strange , and hard : but it is our faults that it is so● ; these are the measures of the Sanctuary , and not to be prejudg'd by later and looser customs .

§. 2. Whether every single act of these sins puts a man out of Gods favour ?

IN this Question , by a single act , I mean , a deliberate act , a wilful , observ'd , known act ; for concerning acts by surprise , by incogitancy , by imperfection , I shall give a special account in a Chapter on purpose . To this therefore I answer by several propositions .

1. There are some acts of sin so vile , and mischievous that they cannot be acted but by a great malice or depravation of the will ; and doe suppose a man to be gone a great way from God before he can presumptuously or wilfully commit any of them ; such as are idolatry , wilful murder , adultery , witchcraft , perjury , sacrilege , and the like : such which by reason of their evil effect are called peccata clamantia ad Dominum , crying sins ; as , oppressing widows , entring into the fields of the fatherless , killing a man by false accusation , grinding the face of the poor , some sort of unnatural lusts : or such which by reason of their scandal , and severe prohibitions of them , and their proper baseness and unholiness , are peccata vastantia conscientiam , they lay a mans conscience waste ; such are all these that I have now reckoned . Now concerning every one of these there is amongst wise and good men no question , but every act of them is exclusive of a man from all his hopes of heaven , unless he repent timely and effectually . For every act of these is such as a man cannot be surprised in the commission of it ; he can have no ignorance , no necessity , no infirmity to lessen or excuse his fault ; which because it is very mischievous in the event , expresly and severely , and by name forbidden , is also against holiness , and against charity , against God , and against the Commandement so apparently , that there is nothing to lessen them into the neighbourhood of an excuse , if he that commits them have a clear use of reason . Some acts of other sins are such which as they are innocent of doing mischief to our neighbour , so they are forbidden onely in general ; but concerning the particular there is not any express certainty , as in drunkenness ; which though every Christian knows to be forbidden , yet concerning every particular act it is not always so certain that it is drunkenness , because the acts partake of more and less ; which is not true in murder , in adultery , apostasie , witchcraft , and the like : Besides which , in some of the forbidden instances there are some degrees of surprise , even when there are some degrees of presumption & deliberation , which in others there cannot be . Upon which considerations it is apparent that the single acts of these greater sins are equal to a habit in others , and are for the present , destructive of the state of Gods favour , a man that does them is in the state of damnation , till he hath repented ; that is , no good man can doe one of these acts , and be a good man still ; he is a wicked person , and an enemy of God if he does .

2. This is apparent in those acts which can be done but once ; as in parricide , or murdering our Father or Mother , and in the wilful murder of our self . There can be no habit of these sins ; all their malignity is spent in one act ; and the event is best declared by one of them ; the man dies in his sin , in that sin which excludes him from heaven . Every act of these sins is like the stinging of bees ; — animámque in vulnere ponunt ; He cannot strike again , he can sin that sin over no more ; and therefore it is a single act that damnes in that case . Now though it is by accident that these sins can be but once acted , yet it is not by accident that these single acts destroy the soul , but by their malice and evil effect , their mischief or uncharitableness : it follows therefore that it is so in all the single acts of these great crimes ; for since they that cannot be habitual , yet are highly damnable ; the evil sentence is upon every act of these greater crimes .

3. Concerning the single acts of other sins which are not so highly criminal , yet have a name in the Catalogues of condemn'd sins , the sentence in Scripture is the same ; the penalty extreme , the fine is the whole interest : S. Paul in his Epistle to the Corinthians seems onely to condemne the habit , Theeves , 1 Cor. 6.10 . drunkards , covetous , railers , &c. shall not inherit the kindome of heaven . Now one act does not make them properly such ; a habit , not an act , denominates . But lest this be expounded to be a permission to commit single acts , Gal. 5.21 . S. Paul in his Epistle to the Galatians , affixes the same penalty to the actions , as to the habits ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Gal. 5.21 . they that doe such things ; that is , the actions of those sins are damnable and exclusive from heaven as verily as the habits . And however in moral accounts , or in Aristotles Ethicks , a man is not called by the name of a single action , yet in all laws both of God and man he is . He that steals once is a thief , in the Courts of God and the King ; and one act of adultery makes a man an adulterer ; so that by this measure , [ they that are such ] and [ they that doe such things ] means the same ; and the effect of both , is exclusion from the Kingdome of heaven .

4. Single actions in Scripture are called , works of darkness , deeds of the body , works of the flesh ; Ephes. 8. Rom. 8.13 . and though they do not reign , yet if they enter , they disturb the rest and possession of the spirit of grace ; and therefore are in their several measures against the holiness of the Gospel of Christ . All sins are single in their acting ; and a sinful habit differs from a sinful act , but as many differ from one , or as a year from an hour : a vicious habit is but one sin continued or repeated ; for as a sin grows from little to great , so it passes from act to habit : a sin is greater because it is complicated externally or internally , no other way in the world ; it is made up of more kinds , or more degrees of choice ; and when two or three crimes are mixt in one action , then the sin is loud and clamorous ; and if these still grow more numerous , and not interrupted and disjoyned by a speedy repentance , then it becomes a habit . As the continuation of an instant or its perpetual fluxe makes time and proper succession , so does the reacting or the continuing in any one or more sins make a habitual sinner . So that in this Question , the answer for one will serve for the other : where ever the habit is forbidden , there also the act is criminal and against God , damnable by the laws of God , and actually damning without repentance . Between sins great and little , actual and habitual , there is no difference of nature or formality , but onely of degrees .

5. And therefore the words that represent the state of sin are used indifferently both for acts and habits . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 signifies to doe single acts , and by aggravation onely can signify an habitual sinner : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , he that commits sin is of the Devil ; so S. 1 Joh. 3.8 . John : by which although he means especially him that commits sin frequently or habitually ; for where there is greater reason , there is the stronger affirmative : yet that he must also mean it of single sins is evident , not onely by the nature of the thing , some single acts in some instances being as mischievous and malicious as a habit in others ; but by the words of our blessed Saviour , that the Devil is the Father of lies ; and therefore every one that tels a lie is of the Devil ; eátenus . To which adde also the words of S. John explicating his whole design in these and all his other words ; These things I write unto you that ye might not sin , that is , that ye might not doe sinful actions ; for it cannot be supposed , that he did not as verily intend to prevent every sin , as any sin , or that he would onely have men to beware of habitual sins , and not of actual , single sins , without which caution he could never have prevented the habitual . To doe sin is to do one , or to do many ; and are both forbidden under the same danger .

The same manner of expression in a differing matter hath a different signification . To doe sin is to doe any one act of it : but to doe righteousness is to doe it habitually . He that doeth sin , that is , one act of sin , is of the Devil ; But he that doth righteousness , viz. habitually , he [ onely ] is righteous . The reason of the difference is this , because one sin can destroy a man , but one act of vertue cannot make him alive . As a phial is broken , though but a piece of its lip be cut away ; but it is not whole unless it be intire and unbroken in every part . Dionys de Divin . Nomin. Bonum ex integrâ causâ , malum ex qualibet particulari . And therefore since he that does righteousness ( in S. Johns phrase ) is righteous ; and yet no man is righteous for doing one act of righteousness ; it follows , that by doing righteousness , he must mean doing it habitually . But because one blow can kill a man or wound him desperately ; therefore when S. John speaks of doing sin , he means doing any sin , any way , or in any degree of act or habit . For this is that we are commanded by the Spirit of Christ ; we must 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , walk exactly , not having spot or wrinkle , Eph. 5.15.27 . or any thing of that nature , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , holy and unblameable ; so must the Church be ; that is , so must be all the faithful , or the men and women of the Christian Church ; for the Church is nothing but a congregation or collective body of believing persons ; Christ therefore intending to represent the Church to God without spot , or wrinkle , or fault ; Caesar . Arelat. hom. 16. intends that all his servants should be so . For , let no man deceive himself . Omnis homo qui post baptismum mortalia crimina commiserit ; hoc est , homicidium , adulterium , furtum , falsum testimonium , vel reliqua crimina perpetravit , unde per legem mundanam mori poterat , si poenitentiam non egerit , eleemosynam justam non fecerit , nunquam habebit vitam aeternam , sed cum Diabolo descendet ad inferna . Every man who after his baptism hath committed mortal , or killing sins , that is to say , murder , adultery , theft , false witness , or any other crimes which are capital by humane laws , if he does not repent , if he does not give just measures of alms , he shall not have eternal life , but with the Devil he shall descend into hell . This is the sad sentence against all single acts of sin in the capital or greater instances .

But upon this account who can be justified ? who can hope for heaven , since even the most righteous man that is , sinneth ; and by single acts of unworthiness interrupts his course of piety , and pollutes his spirit ? If a single act of these great or mortal sins can stand with the state of grace , then not acts of these but habits are forbidden , and these onely shut a man from heaven . But if one single act destroys the state of grace , and puts a man out of Gods favour , then no man abides in it long , and what shall be at the end of these things ?

To this I answer , that single acts are continually forbidden , and in every period of their commission displease God , and provoke him to anger . To abide in any one sin , or to doe it often , or to love it , is against the Covenant of the Gospel , and the essence and nature of repentance , which is a conversion from sin to righteousness : but every single act is against the cautions and watchfulness of repentance . It is an act of death , but not a state ; it is the way of death , but is not in the possession of it . It is true that every single act of fornication merits an eternal hell , yet when we name it to be a single act , we suppose it to be no more , that is , to be rescinded and immediately cut off by a vigorous and proportionable repentance : if it be not , it is more then a single act , for it is a habit , as I shall remonstrate in the Chapter of Habits . But then upon this account a single act of any sin may be incident to the state of a good man , and yet not destroy his interests or his hopes ; but it is upon no other ground but this , It is a single act , and it does not abide there , but passes immediately into repentance : and then though it did interrupt or discompose the state of grace or the Divine favour , yet it did not destroy it quite . The man may pray Davids prayer : I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost : Psal. 119. ult. O seek thy servant , for I doe not forget thy Commandements .

So that if a man asks whether a good man falling into one act of these great sins , still remains a good man ; the answer is to be made upon this consideration , He is a good man that is so sorry for his sin , and so hates it , that he will not abide in it : and this is the best indication , that in the act there was something very pityable , because the mans affections abide not there ; the good man was smitten in a weak part , or in an ill hour , and then repents : for such is our goodness ; to need repentance daily for smaller things , and too often for greater things . But be they great or little , they must be speedily repented of ; and he that does so , is a good man still . Not but that the single act is highly damnable , and exclusive of Heaven , if it self were not excluded from his affections : but it does not the mischief , because he does not suffer it to proceed in finishing that death which it would have effected , if the poison had not been speedily expelled , before it had seis'd upon a vital part .

But 2ly , I answer , that being in the state of grace is a phrase of the Schools , and is of a large and almost infinite comprehension . Every Christian is in some degree in the state of grace , so long as he is invited to Repentance , and so long as he is capable of the Prayers of the Church . This we learn from those words of S. John , All unrighteousness is sin , 1 Joh: 5.17 . and there is a sin not unto death ; that is , some sorts of sins are so incident to the condition of men , and their state of imperfection , that the man who hath committed them is still within the methods of pardon , and hath not forfeited his title to the Promises and Covenant of Repentance : But there is a sin unto death ; that is , some men proceed beyond the measures and Oeconomy of the Gospel , and the usuall methods and probabilities of Repentance , by obstinacy , and persevering in sin , by a wilful , spiteful resisting , or despising the offers of grace and the means of pardon ; for such a man S. John does not encourage us to pray : If he be such a person as S. John described , our prayers will do him no good ; but because no man can tell the last minute or period of pardon , nor just when a man is gone beyond the limit ; and because the limit it self can be enlarged , and Gods mercies stay for some longer then for others , therefore S. John left us under this indefinite restraint and caution ; which was decretory enough to represent that sad state of things in which the refractary and impenitent have immerged themselves , and yet so indefinite and cautious , that we may not be too forward in applying it to particulars , nor in prescribing measures to the Divine Mercy , nor passing final sentences upon our brother , before we have heard our Judge himself speak . Sinning a sin not unto death , is an expression fully signifying that there are some sins which though they be committed and displease God , and must be repented of , and need many and mighty prayers for their pardon , yet the man is in the state of grace and pardon , that is , he is within the Covenant of mercy , he may be admitted to repentance , if he will return to his duty : So that being in the state of grace , is having a title to Gods loving kindness , a not being rejected of God , but a being beloved by him to certain purposes of mercy , and that hath these measures and degrees .

1. A wicked Christian that lives vilely , and yet is called to Repentance by the vigorous and fervent Sermons of the Gospel , is in a state of grace , of this grace . God would fain save him , willing he is and desirous he should live ; but his mercy to him goes but thus farre , that he still continues the means of his salvation ; he is angry with him , but not finally . The Jews were in some portions of this state until the final day came in which God would not be merciful any more : Even in this thy day , O Jerusalem , said our blessed Saviour ; so long as their day lasted , their state of grace lasted , God had mercy for them , if they had had gracious hearts to receive it .

2. But he that begins to leave his sins , and is in a continual contestation against them , and yet falls often , even most commonly , at the return of the temptation , and sin does in some measure prevail ; he is in the state of a further grace , neerer to pardon , as he is nearer to holiness ; his hopes are greater and nearer to performance , He is not farre from the Kingdome of Heaven , so our blessed Lord expressed the like condition ; he is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ordered , dispos'd towards life eternal : and this is a further approach towards the state of life .

3. He that loves no sin , but hath overcome his affections to all , and hates all , but yet with so imperfect a choice or aversation , that his faith is weak , and his repentance like an infant ; this man is in a better state then both the former : God will not quench the smoaking flax , nor break the bruised reed ; God hath in some measure prevail'd upon him : and as God is ready to receive the first unto the means , and the second unto the grace of Repentance ; so this third he is ready to receive unto pardon , if he shall grow and persevere in grace . And these are the several stages and periods of being in the state of grace .

1. With the first of these not onely an act , but a habit of sin is consistent ; but how long and how farre , God onely knows .

2. With the second period a frequency of falling into single sins is consistent : But if he comes not out of this state , and proceed to the third period , he will relapse to the first , he must not stay here long .

3. But they that are in the third period , do sometimes fall into single sins , but it is but seldome , and it is without any remanent portion of affection , but not without much displeasure and a speedy repentance ; and to this person , the proper remedy is to grow in grace , for if he does not , he cannot either be secure of the present , or confident of the future .

4. But then if by being in the state of grace is meant a being actually pardon'd and beloved of God unto salvation , so that if the man dies so , he shall be saved , it is certain that every deliberate sin , every act of sin that is considered and chosen , puts a man out of the state of grace ; that is , the act of sin is still upon his account , he is not actually pardon'd in that for any other worthiness of state , or relation of person ; he must come to new accounts for that ; and if he dies without a moral retractation of it , he is in a sad condition , if God should deal with him summo jure , that is , be extreme to mark that which was done amiss . The single act is highly damnable ; the wages of it are death , it defiles a man , it excludes from heaven , it grieves the holy Spirit of grace , it is against his undertaking , and in its own proportion against all his hopes : if it be not pardon'd , it will bear the man to Hell ; but then how it comes to be pardon'd in good men , and by what measures of favour and proper dispensation , is next to be considered . Therefore ,

5. Though by the nature of the thing and the laws of the Covenant , every single deliberate act of sin provokes God to anger , who therefore may punish it by the severest laws which he decreed against it ; yet by the Oeconomy of God and the Divine Dispensation it is sometimes otherwise . For besides the eternal wrath of God , there are some that suffer his temporal ; some suffer both , some but one . God uses to smite them whom he would make to be , or them who are his sons , if they do amiss . If a wicked man be smitten with a temporal judgement , and thence begins to fear God and to return , the anger will go no further ; and therefore much rather shall such temporal judgements upon the good man that was overtaken in a fault be the whole exaction . God smites them that sin these single sins , and though he could take all , yet will demand but a fine .

6. But even this also God does not do , but in the case of scandal or danger to others : as it was in the particular of David , Because thou hast made the enemies of God to blaspheme , the childe that is born unto thee shall die : or else 2. When the good man is negligent of his danger , or dilatory in his repentance , and careless in his watch , then God awakens him with a judgement , sent with much mercy .

7. But sometimes a temporal death happens to good men so overtaken ; It happened so to Moses and Aaron for their fault at the waters of Massah and Meribah ; to the Prophet of Judah that came to cry out against the Altar in Bethel ; to Vzzah for touching the Ark with unhallowed fingers , though he did it in zeal ; to the Corinthians who had not observed decent measures in receiving the holy Sacrament ; and thus it happened ( say some of the ancient Doctors ) to Ananias and Sapphira ; God took a fine of them also salvo contenemento , their main stake being secured , — Culpam hanc miserorum morte piabant . There is in these instances this difference : Moses and Aaron were not smitten in their sin , but for it , and ( as is not doubted ) after they had repented : but Vzzah , and the Prophet , and Ananias and Sapphira , and the Corinthians died not onely for their sin , but in it too : and yet it is hoped Gods anger went no further then that death , because in every such person who lives well , and yet is overtaken in a fault , there is much of infirmity and imperfection of choice , even when there are some degrees of wilfulness and a wicked heart . And though it be easie to suppose that such persons in the beginning of that judgement , and the approach of that death , did morally retract the sinful action by an act of repentance , and that upon that account they found the effect of the Divine mercies by the blood of the Lamb who was slain from the beginning of the world , yet if it should happen that any of them die so suddenly , as not to have power to exercise one act of repentance , though the case be harder , yet it is to be hoped that even the habitual repentance and hatred of sin by which they pleased God in the greater portions of their life , will have some influence upon this also . But this case is but seldome , and Gods mercies are very great and glorious ; but because there is in this case no warrant , and this case may happen oftner then it does , even to any one that sins one wilful sin , it is enough to all considering persons to make them fear : but the fool sinneth and is confident .

8. But if such overtaken persons do live , then Gods Dispensation is all mercy , even though he strikes the sinner , for he does it for good . For God is merciful and knows our weaknesses , our natural and circumstant follies : he therefore recals the sinning man , he strikes him sharply , or he corrects him gently , or he calls upon him hastily , as God please , or as the man needs . The man is fallen from the favour or grace of God , but ( I say ) fallen onely from one step of grace ; and God is more ready to receive him , then the man is to return ; and provided that he repent speedily , and neither adde a new crime , nor neglect this , his state of grace was but allayed and disordered , not broken in pieces or destroyed .

9. I finde this thing rarely well discoursed of by some of the ancient Doctors of the Church . Tertullians words are excellent words to this purpose : Licet perisse dicatur , Lib. de Pudicit . c. 7. erit & de perditionis genere retractare , quia & ovis non moriendo , sed errando ; & drachma non intereundo , sed latitando perierunt . Ita licet dici perisse quod salvum est . That may be said to be lost which is missing , and the sheep that went astray was also lost ; and so was the groat , which yet was but laid aside , it was so lost that it was found again . And thus that may be said to have perish'd , which yet is safe . Perit igitur & fidelis elapsus in spectaculum quadrigarii furoris & gladiatorii cruoris , & scenicae foeditatis , Xisticae vanitatis , in lusus , in convivia saecularis solennitatis , in officium , in Ministerium alienae idololatriae aliquas artes adhibuit curiositatis , in verbum ancipitis negotiationis impegit , ob tale quid extra gregem datus est : vel & ipse fortè irâ , tumore , aemulatione , quod denique saepe fit , dedignatione castigationis abrupit , debet requiri atque revocari . The Christian is ( in some sort ) perished , who sins by beholding bloody or unchaste spectacles , who ministers to the sins of others ; who offends by anger , emulation , rage , and swelling , too severe animadversions ; this man must be sought for and called back , but this man is not quite lost . Quod potest recuperari non perit , nisi foris perseveravit . Benè interpretaberis parabolam , viventem adhuc revocans peccatorem . That which may be recovered , is but as it were lost , unless it remains abroad , and returns not to the place from whence it wandred .

To the same purpose S. Cyprian and S. Ambrose discourse of the Parable of him that fell among the thieves and was wounded and half dead . Such are they who in times of persecution fell away into dissimulation . De lapsis ad Anton. 52. Nec putemus mortuos esse , sed magis semianimes jacere eos quos persecutione funestâ sauciatos videmus , qui si in totum mortui essent , nunquam de eisdem postmodùm & Confessores & Martyres fierent . For if these were quite dead , you should not finde of them to return to life , and to become Martyrs and Confessors for that faith which through weakness they did seemingly abjure . These men therefore were but wounded and half dead : for they still keep the faith , they preserve their title to the Covenant , and the Promises of the Gospel , and the grace of Repentance . Quam fidem qui habet , Lib. 1. de Poenit. c. 10. vitam habet ( saith S. Ambrose ) He that hath this faith hath life , that is , he is not excluded from pardon ; whom therefore peradventure the good Samaritan does not pass by , because he findes there is life in him , some principle by which he may live again . Now as it was in the matter of Faith , so it is of Charity and the other graces . Every act of sin takes away something from the contrary grace ; but if the root abides in the ground , the plant is still alive , and may bring forth fruit again . But he onely is dead who hath thrown God off for ever , or intirely , with his very heart . Eph. 4.1 . So S. Ambrose . To be dead in trespasses and sins , which is the phrase of S. Paul , is the same with that expression of S. John , of sinning a sin unto death , that is , habitual , refractary , pertinacious and incorrigible sinners , in whom there is scarce any hopes or sign of life . These are they upon whom ( as S. 1 Thess. 2.16 . Pauls expression is ) the wrath of God is come upon them to the uttermost ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , unto death ; so was their sin , it was a sin unto death , so is their punishment .

The result of these considerations is this . He that commits one act of a wilful sin , hath provoked God to anger ; which whether it will be final or no , we cannot know but by the event , by his forbearing us , and calling us , and accepting us to repentance . One act does not destroy the life of grace utterly , but wounds it more or less , according to the vileness and quantity , or abode in the sin .

§. 3. What repentance is necessary for single acts of sin .

1. UPon consideration of the premisses it appears to be dangerous practically to inquire how far single acts of sin can stand with the state of grace , or the being of a good man . For they ought not to be at all , and if they be once , we must repent , and the sin must be pardoned , or we die : And when it can be ask'd how far any sin can be consistent with the state of Gods favour , it cannot be meant that God indulges it to a good man with impunity , or that his grace and favour consists in this that he may safely sin once or twice in what instance or in any instance he shall choose : but in this it does ; a single act of sin does not so destroy the hopes of a good man , but that if he returns speedily he shall be pardoned speedily ; for this , God will doe for him , not by permitting him to sin again , but by taking his sin away , and healing his soul ; but how soon , or how much , or how long God will pardon or forbear , he hath no way told us . * For in the several states and periods of the soul in order to vertue or vice respectively , there is no specifical difference but of degrees onely , not of state . As the sins are more or longer , God is more angry , and the man further off ; but the man is not wholly altered from his state of grace till he be arriv'd at the unpardonable condition . He is a good , or an evil man , more or less , according as he sins or repents . For neither of the appellatives are absolute and irrespective ; and though in philosophy we use to account them such by the prevailing ingredient , yet the measures of the spirit are otherwise . The whole affair is arbitrary , and gradual , various by its own measures and the good pleasure of God , so that we cannot in these things which are in perpetual flux , come to any certain measures . But although in judging of events we are uncertain , yet in the measures of repentance we can be better guided . Therefore first in general :

2. S. Cyprians rule is a prudent measure , Quàm magna deliquimus , tam granditèr defleamus ; ut poenitentia crimine minor non sit . According to the greatness of the sin , so must be the greatness of the sorrow : and therefore we are in our beginnings and progressions of repentance to consider all the ¹ circumstances of aggravation , ² the complication of the crime , ³ the scandal and ⁴ evil effect ; and in proportion to every one of these , the sorrow is to be enlarged and continued . For if it be necessary to be afflicted because we have done evil ; it is also necessary that our affliction and grief be answerable to all the parts of evil : because a sin grows greater by being more in matter or choice , in the instances , or in the adhesion ; and as two sins must be deplored more then one , so must two degrees , that is , the greater portions of malice and wilfulness be mourned for with a bigger sorrow then the less .

3. Every single act of sin must be cut off by a moral revocation , or à contrary act ; by which I mean , an express hatred and detestation of it . For an act of sin being in its proportion an aversion or turning from God , and repentance being in its whole nature a conversion to him , that act must be destroyed as it can be . Now because that which is done , cannot naturally be made undone , it must morally ; that is , it must be revok'd by an act of nolition , and hatred of it , and a wishing it had never been done , for that is properly a conversion from that act of sin .

4. But because in some cases a moral revocation may be like an ineffective resolution , therefore besides the inward nolition or hating of the sin , in all signal and remarked instances of sin , it is highly requisite that the sinning man doe oppose an act of vertue to the act of sin in the same instance where it is capable ; as to an act of gluttony , let him oppose an act of abstinence ; to an act of uncleanness , an act of purity and chastity ; to anger and fierce contentions , let him oppose charity and silence : for to hate sin and not to love vertue is a contradiction , and to pretend it is hypocrisie . But besides this , as the nolition or hatred of it does ( if it be real ) destroy the moral being of that act , so does the contrary act destroy its naturall being ( as far as it is capable . ) And however it be , yet it is upon this account necessary . For since one act of sin deliberately chosen was an ill beginning and inlet of a habit , it is necessary that there be as much done to obtain the habit of the contrary vertue , as was done towards the habit of vice ; that to God as intire a restitution as can , may be made of his own right , and purchased inheritance .

5. Every act of sin is a displeasure to God and a provocation of an infinite Majesty , and therefore the repentance for it must also have other measures then by the natural and moral proportions . One act of sorrow is a moral revocation of one act of sin , and as much a natural deletion of it as the thing is capable . * But there is something more in it then thus , for a single act of sin deserves an eternal hell ; and upon what account soever that be , it is fit that we doe something of repentance in relation to the offence of an infinite God : and therefore let our repentance proceed towards infinite as much as it may : my meaning is , that we doe not finally rest in a moral revocation of an act by an act , but that we beg for pardon all our days even for that one sin . * For besides that every sin is against an infinite God , and so ought to be wash'd off with a sorrow as near to infinite as we can ; we are not certain in what periods of sorrow God will speak to us in the accents of mercy and voice of pardon : He always takes of them that repent , less then he could in justice exact if he so pleased , but how much less he will take , he hath no where told us , and therefore let us make our way as secure as we can ; let us still goe on in repentance , and in the progression we are sure to meet with God . * But there is in it yet more . For however the act of sin be usually called and supposed to be a single act , yet if we consider how many fancies and temptations were preparatory to it , how many consentings to the sin , how many desires and acts of prosecution , what contrivances , and resistances of the holy motions of Gods Spirit and the checks of conscience how many refusings of God and his laws , what unfitting means and sinful progressions were made to arrive thither , what criminal and undecent circumstances , what degrees of consent , and approaches to a perfect choice , what vitious hopes , and vile fears , what expence of time and mis-imployed passions were in one act of fornication or murder , oppression of the poore , or subornation of witnesses , we shall finde that the proportions will be too little to oppose but one act of vertue against all these evils ; especially since an act of vertue ( as we order our affairs ) is much more single then in act of vice is .

6. Every single act of vice may and must be repented of particularly , if it be a wilful , deliberate , and observed action . A general repentance will not serve the turn in these cases . When a man hath forgotten the particulars , he must make it up as well as he can . This is the evil of a delayed repentance , it is a thousand to one but it is imperfect and lame , general and unactive ; it will need arts of supply and collateral remedies , and reflexe actions of sorrow , and what the effect will be is in many degrees uncertain : But if it be speedy , and particular , the remedy is the more easy , the more ready , and the more certain . But when a man is overtaken in a fault , he must be restored again as to that particular ; for by that he transgressed , there he is smitten and wounded , in that instance the habit begins , and at that door the Divine judgement may enter , for his anger is there already . For although God pardons all sins or none in respect of the final sentence and eternal pain , yet God strikes particular sins with proper and specifick punishments in this life , which if they be not diverted by proper applications may break us all in pieces . And therefore Davids repentance was particularly applied to his special case , of murder and adultery : and because some sins are harder to be pardoned , and harder to be cured then others , it is certain they must be taken off by a special regard . A general repentance is never sufficient , but when there cannot be a particular .

7. Whoever hath committed any one act of a great crime , let him take the advantage of his first shame and regret , and in the activity of that passion let him design some fasting days , as the solemnities of his repentance , which he must imploy in the bitterness of his soul , in detestation of his sin , in judging , condemning , and executing sentence upon himself ; and in all the actions of repentance , which are the parts and fruits of this duty , according as he shall finde them described in their proper places .

These are the measures of repentance for single acts of deliberate sin , when they have no other appendage , or proper Consideration . But there are some acts of sin , which by several ways and measures pass into habits , directly , or by equivalency and moral value . For 1. The repetition of acts and proceeding in the same crime is a perfect habit , which as it rises higher to obstinacy , to perseverance , to resolutions never to repent , to hardness of heart , to final impenitence , so it is still more killing and damnable . 2. If a man sins often in several instances it is a habit , properly so called ; for although the instances be single , yet the disobedience and disaffection are united and habitual . 3. When a single act of sin is done , and the guilt remains , not rescinded by repentance , that act which naturally is but single , yet morally is habitual . Of these I shall give account in the next Chapter where they are of proper consideration . But there are yet three ways more by which single acts doe become habits by equivalency and moral value , and are here to be considered accordingly .

8. First , if a single act of sin have a permanent matter , so long as that matter remains , the sin is uncancell'd . Of this nature is theft , which cannot be cut off by a moral revocation , or an internal act : there must be something done without . For it is a contradiction to say that a man is sorry for his act of stealing , who yet rejoyces in the purchace and retains it : Every man that repents , is bound to make his sinful act as much as he can to be undone : and the moral revocation or nolition of it , is our entercourse with God onely , who takes and accepts that , which is the All which can be done to him . But God takes care of our brother also , and therefore will not accept his own share unless all interested persons be satisfied as much as they ought . There is a great matter in it , that our neighbour also do forgive us , that his interest be served , that he do not desire our punishment : of this I shall afterwards give accounts ; in the mean time , if the matter of our sin be not taken away , so long as it remains , so long there is a remanency and a tarrying in it , and that is a degree of habit .

9. Secondly , if the single act have a continual fluxe or emanation from it self , it is as a habit by moral account , and is a principle of action , and is potentially many . Of this nature is every action whose proper and immediate principle is a passion . Such as hatred of our neighbour , a fearfulness of persecution , a love of pleasures . For a man cannot properly be said to have an act of hatred , an actual expression of it he may ; but if he hates him in one act , and repents not of it , it is a vicious affection , and in the sense of moral Theology it is a habit ; the law of God having given measures to our affections as well as to actions . In this case when we have committed one act of uncharitableness , or hatred , it is not enough to oppose against it one act of love ; but the principle must be altered , and the love of our neighbour must be introduced into our spirit .

10. There is yet another sort of sinful action which does in some sense equal a habit , and that is an act of the greatest and most crying sins , a complicated sin . Thus for a Prince or a Priest to commit adultery ; for a childe to accuse his Father falsly ; to oppress a widow in judgement , are sins of a monstrous proportion ; they are three or four sins apeece , and therefore are to be repented of by untwining the knot , and cutting asunder every thred : He that repents of adultery , must repent of his uncleanness , and of his injustice or wrong to his neighbour , and of his own breach of faith , and of his tempting a poor soul to sin and death ; and he must make amends for the scandal besides , in case there was any in it . In these , and all the like cases let no man flatter himself when he hath wept and prayed against his sin ; one solemnity is not sufficient ; one act of contrition is but the beginning of a repentance ; and where the crime is capital by the laws of wise Nations , the greatest , the longest , the sharpest repentance is little enough in the Court of conscience . Paraenes . ad poenitentiam . So Pacianus ; Haec est novi Testamenti tota conclusio ; despectus in multis Spiritus sanctus haec nobis capitalis periculi conditione legavit . Reliqua peccata meliorum operum compensatione curantur : Haec verò tria crimina , ut basilisci alicujus afflatus , ut veneni calix , ut lethalis arundo metuenda sunt : non enim vitiare animam , sed intercipere noverunt . Some sins doe pollute , and some doe kill the soul , that is , are very near approaches to death , next to the unpardonable state : * * See Chapt. 5. and they are to be repented of , just as habits are , even by a long and a laborious repentance , and by the piety and holiness of our whole ensuing life . De peccato remisso noli esse securus , said the son of Sirach . Be not secure though your sin be pardoned ; when therefore you are working out and suing your pardon , be not too confident .

11. Those acts of sin which can once be done and no more , as Parricide , and such which destroy the subject or person against whom the sin is committed , are to be cured by Prayer and Sorrow , and entercourses with God immediately : the effect of which because it can never be told , and because the mischief can never be rescinded so much as by fiction of Law , nor any supply be made to the injur'd person , the guilty man must never think himself safe , but in the daily and nightly actions of a holy Repentance .

12. He that will repent well and truly of his single actual sins , must be infinitely careful that he do not sin after his Repentance , and think he may venture upon another single sin , supposing that an act of contrition will take it off ; and so interchange his dayes by sin and sorrow , doing to morrow what he was ashamed of yesterday . For he that sins upon the confidence of Repentance , does not repent at all , because he repents that he may sin : and these single acts so periodically returning , do unite and become a habit . He that resolves against a sin , and yet falls when he is tempted , is under the power of sin in some proportion , and his estate is very suspicious ; though he alwayes resolved against that sin which he alwayes commits . It is upon no other account that a single sin does not destroy a man , but because it self is speedily destroyed ; if therefore it goes on upon its own strength , and returns in its proper period , it is not destroyed , but lives and indangers the man .

13. Be careful that you do not commit a single act of sin toward the latter end of your life ; for it being uncertain what degrees of anger God will put on , and in what periods of time he will return to mercy , the nearer to our death such sins intervene , the more degrees of danger they have . For although the former discourse is agreeable to the analogy of the Gospel , and the Oeconomy of the Divine Mercy ; yet there are sad words spoken against every single sin . Jam. 2.10 . Whosoever shall keep the whole law , and yet offends in one instance , he shall be guilty of all , saith S. James ; plainly affirming , that the admitting one sin , much more , the abiding in any one sin , destroys all our present possession of Gods favour . Concerning which , although it may seem strange that one prevarication in one instance should make an universal guilt , yet it will be certain and intelligible if we consider that it relates not to the formality , but to the event of things . He that commits an act of Murther is not therefore an Adulterer , but yet for being a Murtherer he shall die . He is as if he were guilty of all ; that is , his innocence in the other shall not procure him impunity in this . One crime is inconsistent with Gods love and favour .

But there is something more in it then this . For every one that breaks a Commandement , let the instance be what it will , is a transgressor of the same bond by which he was bound to all . Non quòd omnia legis praecepta violârit , sed quòd legis Authorem contempserit , eóque proemio meritò careat quod legis cultoribus propositum est , saith venerable Bede . He did not violate all the Commandements , but he offended him who is the giver of all the Commandements . It is like letting one Bead fall from a Rosary or Coronet of Bugles . This , or that , or a third makes no difference , the string is as much broken if he lets one to slide , as if he dropp'd twenty . It was not an ill conceit of Menedemus the Eretrian , that there was but one vertue which had divers names . Aristo Chius express'd the same conceit with a little difference ; affirming all vertues to be the same in reality and nature , but to have a certain diversification or rational difference by relation to their objects . As if one should call the sight when it looks upon a Crow 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , if upon a Swan 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; so is vertue . When it moderates the affections , it is Temperance ; when it ballances contracts , it is Justice ; when it considers what is , and what is not to be done , it is Prudence . That which they call Vertue , if we call it the Grace of God , or Obedience , it is very true which they say . For the same spirit , the same grace of obedience , is Chastity , or Temperance , or Justice , according as is the subject matter . The love of God , if it be in us , is productive of all worthiness : and this is it which S. John said , This is love , that we keep his Commandements ; The love of God constraineth us ; It worketh all the works of God in us ; It is the fulfilling of the Commandements . For this is a Catholicon , an Universal Grace . Charity gives being to all vertues , it is the life and spirit of all holy actions . Abstinence from feasts and inordination , mingled with Charity , is Temperance . And Justice is Charity , and Chastity is Charity , and Humility is still but an instance of Charity . This is that Transcendent that gives life and vertue to Alms , to Preaching , to Faith , to Miracles ; it does all obedience to God , all good offices to our Neighbours : which in effect is nothing but the sentence of Menedemus and Aristo , that there is an Universal Vertue ; that is , there is one soul and essence of all vertue : They call it Vertue , S. Paul calls it Charity ; and this is that one thing which is necessary , that one thing which every man that sins , does violate : He that is guilty of all , is but guilty of that one , and therefore he that is guilty of that one , of the breach of Charity , is guilty of all . And upon this account it is , that no one sin can stand with the state of grace ; because he that sins in one instance , sins against all goodness : not against all instances of duty , but against that which is the life of all , against Charity and Obedience .

A Prayer to be said in the dayes of Repentance for the commission of any great Crime .

O Most glorious God , I tremble to come into thy presence , so polluted and dishonoured as I am by my foul stain of sin which I have contracted , but I must come , or I perish . O my God I cannot help it now ; Miserable man that I am , to reduce my self to so sad a state of things , that I neither am worthy to come unto thee , nor dare I stay from thee : Miserable man that I am , who lost that portion of innocence which if I should pay my life in price I cannot now recover . O dear God , I have offended thee my gracious Father , my Lord , my Patron , my Judge , my Advocate , and my Redeemer . Shame and sorrow is upon me , for so offending thee my gracious Saviour . But glory be to thee , O Lord , who art such to me who have offended thee . It aggravates my sin , that I have sinned against thee who art so excellent in thy self , who art so good to me : But if thou wert not so good to me , though my sin would be less , yet my misery would be greater . The greatness of my Crime brings me to my Remedy ; and now I humbly pray thee to be merciful to my sin , for it is very great .

II. O My God pity me , and relieve my sad condition , which is so extremely evil , that I have no comfort but from that which is indeed my misery : My baseness is increased by my hopes ; for it is thy grace and thy goodness which I have so provoked , Thou , O God , didst give me thy grace , and assist me by thy holy Spirit , and call by thy Word , and instruct me by thy Wisdome , and didst work in me to will and to do according to thy good pleasure . I knew my sin , and I saw my danger , and I was not ignorant , and I was not surpris'd : but wilfully , knowingly , basely , and sensually I gave thee away for the pleasure of a minute , for the purchase of vanity ; nay I exchanged thee for shame and sorrow , and having justly forfeited thy love , am plac'd I know not where , nor in what degree of thy anger , nor in what neighbourhood of damnation .

III. O God my God , what have I done ? whither am I fallen ? I was well and blessed , circled with thy Graces , conducted by thy Spirit , sealed up to the day of Redemption , in a hopefull way towards thee ; and now I have listned to the whispers of a tempting Spirit , and for that which hath in it no good , no reason , no satisfaction , for that which is not , I have forfeited those excellencies , for the recovery of which my life is too cheap a price . I am ashamed , O God , I am ashamed . I put my mouth in the dust , and my face in darkness ; and hate my self for my sin , which I am sure thou hatest . But give thy servant leave to hope , that I shall feel the gracious effluxes of thy love : I know thou art angry with me , I have deserved it . But if thou hadst not lov'd me and pitied me , thou mightest have stricken me in the act of my shame : I know the design of thy mercy and loving kindness is to bring me to repentance and pardon , to life and grace . I obey thee , O God , I humbly obey thy gracious purposes . Receive , O Lord , a returning sinner , a poor wounded person , smitten by my enemies , broken by my sin , weary and heavy laden ; ease me of my burthen , and strengthen me by a mighty grace , that hereafter I may watch more carefully , resist more pertinaciously , walk more circumspectly , and serve thee without the interruptions of duty by the intervening of a sin . O let me rather die , then choose to sin against thee any more . Onely try me this once , and bear me in thy arms , and fortifie my holy purposes , and conduct me with thy grace , that thou mayest delight to pardon me , and to save me through Jesus Christ my Lord and dearest Saviour . Amen .

I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost : O seek thy servant , for I do not forget thy Commandements .

CHAP. V. Of Habituall sins , and their manner of Eradication or Cure , and their proper instruments of pardon .

§. 1. The state of the Question .

Boethus the Epicurean being ask'd , upon occasion of the fame of Strato's Comedy . Why , it being troublesome to us to see a man furious , angry , timorous or sad , we do yet with so great pleasure behold all these passions acted with the highest , nearest , and most natural significations ? In answer to the question discours'd wittily concerning the powers of Art and Reason , and how much our selves can adde to our own Natures by Art and Study . Children choose bread efform'd in the image of a bird or man , rather then a loaf pluck'd rudely from the Bakers lump ; and a golden fish rather then an artless ingot : because Reason and Art being mingled with it , it entertains more faculties , and pleases on more sides .

Thus we are delighted when upon a Table we see Cleopatra dying with her Aspicks , or Lucretia piercing her chaste breast . We give great prices for a Picture of S. Sebastian shot through with a shower of arrows , or S. Laurence rosting upon his Gridiron , when the things themselves would have pierc'd our eyes with horror , and rent our very hearts with pity and compassion : and the Countrey fellows were so taken with Parmeno's imitating the noise of Swine , that they preferr'd it before that of the Arcadian Boar , being so deceiv'd with fancy and prejudice , that they thought it more natural then that which indeed was so .

For first we are naturally pleas'd with imitation , and have secret desires to transcribe the copy of the Creation , and then having weakly imitated the work of God in making some kinde of production from our own perfections , such as it is , and such as they are , we are delighted in the imagery , as God is in the contemplation of the world . For we see a nature brought in upon us by art and imitation . But what in natural things we can but weakly imitate , in moral things we can really effect . We can efform our nature over a new , and create our selves again , and make our selves bad when God had made us good : and what was innocent in nature , we make to be vicious by custome and evil habit ; or on the contrary , what was crooked in nature , we can make straight by Philosophy , and wise notices , and severe customes ; and there is nothing in nature so imperfect or vicious but it can be made useful and regular by reason and custome , and the grace of God ; and even our brute parts are obedient to these . Homer observes it of the wise Vlysses , that though he was troubled to see his wife weep for him , yet 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . He held the corners of his eyes as firmly as the horn of his Bow , or the iron of his Spear , and by his wit he kept his eyes from running over . Reason can make every member of the body obey ; but Vse can make it obey willingly : That can command nature , but this can change it : That can make it doe what it pleases , but this can make it be so .

For there being in man so much brutishness and inclination to forbidden actions and things , to sensual and weak fruitions , nature in many instances cals upon us to die . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . let me perish , for it is for my advantage : I desire to die because it is pleasant .

〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 .

Nature does seem to doe violence to us , and constrain us by violent inclinations to things against reason : But then when Passion supervenes and like strong winds blow vehemently and raise a storm , we should certainly perish , if God did not give us other principles which might be as effective of his purposes , as Nature and Passion are of death and folly . Passion can be commanded by reason , but nothing hath sufficient and final effort and strength against Nature , but Custome .

〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 .

For our ship is kept fast and firm in its station by Cables , and when the windes blow , we have anchors and fastnesses to secure it . Which verses Plutarch expounding , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith , that the Cables which are to secure our ship in tempests are the firm and permanent judgements against that which is filthy . They secure us when the winds of passion are violent and dangerous . But then because the storm is renewed every day , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Nature will revert , and for ever be longing after its own proportions , we must introduce a nature against a nature : and as passion sets nature on work , and is it self overcome by reason , so if this reason become constant , firm , and habitual , it makes nature an artless , joyntless enemy .

But then on the other side , if we let our evil appetites prevail , and use them to satisfaction and empire , bringing in evil customes upon our vicious and ill disposed nature , we are fallen into an evil state of things : for custome and vicious habits are like the locks and bars to hell gates , a man cannot but doe evil , and then his case is intolerable .

Now because this is a great state of danger , and consequently a great caution against continuing in sin , I shall put some strength to it , and rescue the whole doctrine concerning this article from the false glosses and imperfect notices of men , which hang upon the duty of repentance like shackles and fetters hindring it to begin betimes , and so to proceed to its measures by the many and just limits and steps of its progression . For the case is this :

If you ask when every man is bound to repent ? I answer , as soon as ever he hath sinn'd . But how if he does not ? then he addes more sin both against God & against his own soul by delaying this duty , to that he did before in the single action of which he is tied to repent . For every man is bound to repent instantly of every known sin ; he sins anew if he does not , though he adde no more of the same actions to his heap . But it is much worse if he sins on ; not onely because he sins oftner , but because if he contracts a custome or habit of sin , he superaddes a state of evil to himself , distinct from the guilt of all those single actions which made the habit . This I shall endevour to prove against the doctrine of the Romane Schools , who teach ;

1. That no man is ordinarily bound to repent instantly of his sin ; for the precept of repentance being affirmative , it does not oblige to its present or speedy performance : Navarr . Compend . Manual . ca. 1. n. 31. For it is as in the case of baptism , or prayers ; to the time of the performance of which duties , the Commandement of God does not specifically binde us , now , or an hour hence , or when it is convenient , or when it becomes accidentally necessary , and determined by something else that intervenes : So it is in repentance ; so it be done at all , it matters not when , as to the duty of it ; when you come to die , or when you justly fear it ; as in the days of the plague , or before a battel , or when the holy man comes to take his leave of his dying Parishioner , then let him look to it * * Vide Infidelity unmask'd , pag 604 " It is true , the best Divines teach that a sinner is not bound to repent himself instantly of his sin , &c. . But else he is not obliged . For the sin that was committed ten years since , grows no worse for abiding ; and of that we committed yesterday we are as deeply guilty , as of the early sins of our youth ; but no single sin can increase its guilt by the putting off our repentance and amendment .

2. The guilt of sin which we have committed , De poenit . disp. 7. sect. 5. n. 48. they call habitual sin ; that is , a remaining obligation to punishment for an action that is past , a guiltiness : or as Johannes de Lugo expresses it , peccatum actuale moraliter perseverans ; Sic etiam Suarez . tom. 4. in 3. part . disp. 9. sect. 4. n. 23. the actual sin morally remaining , by which a man is justly hated by God . But this habitual sin is not any real quality , or habit , but a kinde of Moral denomination or ground thereof , Granatens . in materiâ de peccatis tract. 8. disp. 1. sect. 1. which remains till it be retracted by Repentance . Insidelity unmask'd , pag 605. The person is still esteemed injurious and obliged to satisfaction . That is all .

3. The frequent repetition of sinful acts will in time naturally produce a habit , a proper physical , inherent , permanent quality ; but this is so natural , that it is no way voluntary but in its cause , that is , Ibid. pag. 607. in the actions which produc'd it , and therefore it can have in it no blame , no sinfulness , no obliquity distinct from those actions that caused it , and requires no particular or distinct repentance ; for when the single acts of sin are repented of , the remaining habit is innocent , and the facility to sin which remains , is no sin at all .

4. These habits of sin may be pardon'd without the contrary habit of vertue , even by a single act of contrition , or attrition with the Sacrament . * And the event of all is this , It is not necessary that your repentance should be so early , or so holy as to obtain by the grace of God the habits of vertue , or to root out the habit of sin ; and 2. It is not necessary that it should be at all before the hour of death , unless by accident it be inferr'd and commanded .

I doe suppose these propositions not onely to be false , but extremely dangerous and destructive of the duty of repentance , and all its consequent hopes , and therefore I shall oppose against them these Conclusions .

1. Every man is bound to repent of his sin as soon as ever he hath committed it . 2. That a sinful habit hath in it proper evils , and a proper guiltiness of its own , besides all that which came directly by the single actions . 3. That sinful habits doe require a distinct manner of repentance , and are not pardon'd but by the introduction of the contrary .

* The consequent of these propositions will be this . Our repentance must not be deferred at all , much less to our deathbed . 2. Our repentance must be so early , and so effective of a change , that it must root out the habits of sin , and introduce the habits of vertue ; and in that degree in which this is done , in the same degree the repentance is perfect , more or less . For there is a latitude in this duty , as there are degrees of perfection .

§. 2. 1. Every man is bound to repent of his sin as soon as he hath committed it .

THat this doctrine is of great usefulness and advantage to the necessity and perswasions of holy life , is a good probable inducement to beleeve it true ; especially since God is so essential an enemy to sin , since he hath used such rare arts of the Spirit for the extermination of it , since he sent his holy Son to destroy it ; and he is perpetually destroying it , and will at last make that it shall be no more at all , but in the house of cursing , the horrible regions of damnation . But I will use this onely as an argument to all pious and prudent persons , to take off all prejudices against the severity of this doctrine . For it is nothing so much against it if we say it is severe , as it makes for it , that we understand it to be necessary . For this doctrine which I am now reproving , although it be the doctrine properly of the Romane Schools , yet it is their and our practice too . We sin with greediness , and repent at leisure .

Pars magna Italiae est , si verum admittimus , in quâ Nemo togam sumit nisi mortuus —

No man puts on his mourning garment till he be dead . This day we seldome think it fit to repent , but the day appointed for repentance is always To morrow . Against which dangerous folly I offer these considerations .

1. If the duty of repentance be indispensably requir'd in the danger of death , and he that does not repent when he is arrested with the probability of so sad a change is felo de se , uncharitable to himself and a murderer of his own soul , then so is he in his proportion who puts it off one day : because every day of delay is a day of danger ; and the same law of charity obliges him to repent to day if he sinn'd yesterday , lest he be dead before to morrow . The necessity indeed is not so great , and the duty is not so urgent , and the refusal is not so great a sin in health , as in sickness , and dangers imminent and visible : But there are degrees of necessity as there are degrees of danger : And he that considers how many persons die suddenly , and how many more may , and no man knows that he shall not , cannot but confess that because there is danger , there is also an obligation of duty and charity to repent speedily , and that positively , or carelesly to put it off , is a new fault and increases Gods enmity against him . He that is well , may die to morrow . He that is very sick , may recover and live many years . If therefore a periculum ne fiat , a danger lest repentance be never done , is a sufficient determination of the Divine Commandement to doe it then , it is certain that it is in every instant determinately necessary ; because in every instant there is danger . In all great sicknesses there is not an equal danger ; yet in all great sicknesses it is a particular sin not to repent , even by the confession of all sides ; it is so therefore in all the periods of an uncertain life ; a sin , but in differing degrees . And therefore this is not an argument of caution onely , but of duty . For therefore it is of duty , because it is of caution . It could not be a caution , unless there were a danger ; and if there be a danger , then it is a duty . For he that is very sick must do it . But how if he escapes , was he obliged for all that ? He was , because he knew not that he should escape . By the same reason is every one obliged , because whether he shall or shall not escape the next minute , he knows not . And certainly , it was none of the least reasons of Gods concealing the day of our death , that we might ever stand ready . And this is plainly enough taught us by our blessed Saviour , laboriously perswading and commanding us not to defer our repentance , by his parable of the rich man who promised to himself the pleasures of many years : he reprov'd that folly with a Stulte hac nocte ; and it may be any mans case ; for Nemo tam felix — Crastinum ut possit sibi polliceri . But he addes a Precept ; Luke 12.35 , &c. Let your loyns be girded about , and your lights shining , and ye your selves like men that wait for their Lord . And blessed are those servants whom their lord when he cometh shall finde watching . And much more to the same purpose . Nay , that it was the reason why God concealed the time of his coming to us , that we might always expect him , he intimated in the following Parable ; " This know , that if the good man of the house had known what hour the thief would come , he would have watched . Be ye therefore ready also , for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not . Nothing could better have improved this argument , then these words of our blessed Saviour ; we must stand in procinctu , ready girded , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ready for the service , alwayes watching , as uncertain of the time , but in perpetual expectation of the day of our Lord . I think nothing can be said fuller to this purpose . In Psal. 114. But I adde the words of S. Austin ; Verum quidem dicis quòd Deus poenitentiae tuae indulgentiam promisit , sed huic dilationi tuae crastinum non promisit . To him that repents , God hath promised pardon , but to him that defers repentance he hath not promised the respite of one day . It is certain therefore , he intended thou shouldest speedily repent ; and since he hath by words and deeds declar'd this to be his purpose , he that obeys not , is in this very delay , properly and specisically , a Transgressor .

2. I consider , that although the precept of repentance be affirmative , yet it is also limited , and the time sufficiently declared , even the present and none else . As soon as ever you need it , so soon you are obliged . To day if ye will hear his voyce , harden not your hearts . That is , deferre not to hear him , this day ; for every putting it off is a hardning your hearts . For he that speaks to day , is not pleased if you promise to hear him to morrow . It was Felix his case to S. Paul , Go away , I will hear thee some other time . He that cals every day , means every day that we should repent . For although to most men God gives time and leisure , and expects and perseveres to call , yet this is not because he gives them leave to defer it ; but because he still forbears to strike , though their sin grows greater . Now I demand , when God cals us to repentance , is it indifferent to him whether we repent to day or no ? Why does he call so earnestly , if he desires it so coldly ? Or if he be not indifferent , is he displeas'd if we repent speedily ? This no man thinks . But is he not displeas'd if we do not ? Does not every call , and every expectation , and every message , when it is rejected , provoke Gods anger and exasperate him ? Does not he in the day of vengeance smite more sorely , by how much with the more patience he hath waited ? This cannot be denied . But then it follows , that every delay did grieve him and displease him , and therefore it is of it self a provocation distinct from the first sin .

3. But further let it be considered : If we repent to day , it is either a duty so to do , or onely a counsel of perfection , a work of supererogation . If it be a duty , then to omit it is a sin . If it be a work of supererogation , then he that repents to day , does not do it in obedience to a Commandement : for this is such a work ( by the confession of the Roman Schools ) which if a man omits he is nevertheless in the state of grace and the Divine favour ; as he that does not vow perpetual Chastity , or Poverty , is nevertheless the servant of God ; but he that does not repent to day of his yesterdayes sin , is not Gods servant , and therefore this cannot be of the nature of Counsels , but of Precept and duty respectively . But to put it past all question : It is expresly commanded us by our blessed Saviour , Agree with thine adversary 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 quickly . For as it is amongst men of merciful dispositions , he that yields quickly obtains mercy ; but he that stands out as long as he can , must expect the rigour of the law : So it is between God and us ; a hasty Repentance reconciles graciously , whilest the delay and putting it off , provokes his severe anger . And this the Spirit of God was pleas'd to signifie to the Angel or Bishop of the Church of Ephesus , Rev. 2.5 . Remember whence thou art fallen , and repent , and do thy first works : If thou doest not , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , I come unto thee quickly , and will remove the Candlestick out of its place , unless thou do repent . Christ did not mean to wait long and be satisfied with their Repentance , be it when it would be ; for he comes quickly , and yet our Repentance must prevent his coming . His coming here is not by death , or final judgement , but for scrutiny and inquiry : for the event of the delaying their Repentance , would have been the removing of their Candlestick . So that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is , I come speedily to exact of thee a speedy repentance , or to punish thee for delaying ; for so the antithesis is plain , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , I come quickly , unless thou doest repent , viz. quickly ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ( that I may use the words of Libanius ) God will condemn our actions , unless we appear before him with a speedy Repentance .

4. Adde to this , that though God gives time and respite to some , yet to all he does not . God takes away some in their early sins , and gives them no respite , not a moneth , not a week , not a day ; and let any man say , whether this be not a sufficient indication not onely that no man can be secure , but he alone that repents instantly , but that God does intend that every man should presently repent ; for he that hath made it damnation to some for not repenting instantly , hath made it damnable to all , and therefore to repent speedily is certainly a duty . The earth does not open and swallow up all Rebels in the day of their Mutiny ; but it did so once , and by that God did sufficiently consign to all ages his displeasure against Rebelsion . So it is in the deferring Repentance . That some have smarted for it eternally , is for ever enough to tell us , that God is displeased with every one that does defer it ; and therefore commands us not to defer it . But this consideration is sufficiently heightned upon this account : For there is no sinner dies , but he is taken away without one dayes respite . For though God did many times forbear him , yet now he does not , and to his last sin , or his last refusal to hear God , either he afforded no time , or no grace of Repentance .

S. Pauls discourse and treaty of the Corinthians , is sufficient to guide us here : he fear'd that at his coming again God would humble him , that is , 1 Cor. 12.21 . afflict him with grief and sorrow to see it , that himself should be forc'd to bewail many , that is , to excommunicate , or deliver to Satan them that have sinn'd already , and have not repented . If they had repented before S. Pauls coming , they should escape that rod ; but for deferring it , they were like to smart bitterly . Neither ought it to be supposed that the not repenting of sins is no otherwise then as the being discovered of theft . The thief dies for his robbery , not for his being discovered ; though if he were not discovered , he should have escaped for his theft . So for their uncleanness S. Paul would have delivered them over to Satan , not for their not repenting speedily . For the case is wholly differing here . A thief is not bound at all to discover himself to the Criminal Judge ; but every man is bound to repent . If therefore his repenting speedily would prevent so great a calamity as his being delivered over to Satan , besides the procuring his eternal pardon , it is clear that to repent speedily was great charity , and great necessity ; which is that which was to be prov'd . Satan should have power over him to afflict him for his sin , if he did not speedily repent : but if he did repent speedily , he should wholly escape ; therefore to repent speedily is a duty which God expects of us , and will punish if it be omitted .

— Hodiè , mihi credes , vivere serum est . Ille sapit quisquis , Posthume , vixit Heri .

Think it not a hasty Commandement that we are called upon to repent to day . It was too much that yesterday past by you , it is late enough if you do it to day .

5. Not to repent instantly , is a great loss of our time , and it may for ought we know become the loss of all our hopes .

Nunc vivit sibi neuter , Martial ep. 20. lib. 5. heu ! bonosque Soles effugere atque abire sentit , Qui nobis pereunt , & imputantur :

And this , not onely by the danger of sudden death , but for want of the just measures of Repentance : Because it is a secret which God hath kept to himself onely , and he onely knows what degrees of Repentance himself will admit of ; how much the sin provok'd him , and by what measures of sorrow and carefulness himself will be appeased . For there is in this a very great difference . To Simon Magus it was almost a desperate case , If peradventure the thoughts of thy heart may be forgiven : It was worse to Esau , There was no place left for his repentance . It was so with Judas , he was not admitted to pardon , neither can any one tell , whether it was not resolved he should never be pardon'd . However it be for the particulars , yet it is certain there is a great difference in the admitting penitents . On some have compassion , Jude 22 , 23. others save with fear , pulling them out of the fire . Now since for all our sins we are bound to ask pardon every day , if we do so , who dares say it is too much , that it is more then needs ? But if to repent every day be not too much , who can be sure that if he puts it off one day it shall be sufficient ? To some men , and at some times God is implacably angry ; some men , and at some times God hath in his fury and sudden anger seis'd upon , with the apprehensions of death and saddest judgements , and broken them all in pieces : and as there is a reign and kingdome of Mercy , so there are sudden irruptions of a fierce Justice , of which God hath therefore given us examples , that we may not defer Repentance one day . But this mischief goes further . For ,

6. So long as we lie in the guilt of one sin unrepented of , though we do not adde heaps upon heaps , and multiply instances of the same or equal crimes yet we are in so unthriving a condition and so evil a state , that all that while we lose all the benefit of any good thing that we can do upon the interest of any principle whatsoever . For so long as we are out of Gods favour , under the seisure and arrest of eternal guilt , so long we are in a state of enmity with God , and all our actions are like the performances of Heathens , nothing to eternal life , but mis-spendings of our powers , and prodigalities of reason and wise discourses ; they are not perfective of our being , neither do they set us forward to heaven , until our state be changing Either then we are not by a certain Law and Commandement bound every day to serve God and please him , or else we are positively and strictly bound instantly to repent of all our sins : because so long as a known sin is unrepented of , we cannot serve God , we cannot do any thing that shall be acceptable to him in Jesus Christ .

7. Every delaying of Repentance is one step of progression towards final Impenitence ; which is not onely then esteem'd a sin against the holy Ghost when a man resolves never to repent , but if by carelesness he neglects , or out of tediousness and an irreligious spirit quite puts off , or for ever pass by , it is unpardonable ; it shall never be forgiven in this world , nor in the world to come . Now since final impenitence is the consummation and perfection of all sin , we are to remember , that it is nothing but a perseverance of neglecting , or refusing to repent . A man is alwayes dying , and that which we call death is but the finishing of death , the last act of it : So is final impenitence , nothing but the same sin told over so many dayes ; it is a persevering carelesness , or resolution , and therefore it cannot be the sin of one day , unless it be by accident ; it is a state of sin , begun as soon as ever the sin is acted , and grows in every day of thy negligence or forgetfulness . But if it should happen that a sinner that sinn'd yesterday should die to day , his deferring his Repentance that one day would be esteem'd so , and indeed really be a final impenitence . It follows therefore , that to put off our Repentance one day , differs onely accidentally and by chance from the worst of evils , from final impenitence ; it is the beginning of it , it differs from it , as an infant from a man ; it is materially the same sin , and may also have the same formality .

8. The putting off our Repentance from day to day , must needs be a sin distinct from the guilt of the action whereof we are to repent , because the principle of it cannot be innocent , it must needs be distinctly Criminal . It is a rebellion against God , or hardness of heart , or the spirit of Apostasie , Presumption or Despair , or at least such a carelesness as being in the question of our souls , and in relation to God , is infinitely farre from being excusable or innocent .

These Considerations seem to me of very great moment , and to conclude the main proposition ; and at least they ought to effect this perswasion upon us , that whoever hath committed a sin cannot honestly , nor prudently , nor safely defer his Repentance one hour . He that repents instantly , breaks his habit when it is in ovo in the shell , and prevents Gods anger , and his own debauchment and disimprovement : — Qui parvis obvius ibit , Nazian. Is nunquam praeceps scelera in graviora feretur . And let us consider , that if we defer our Repentance one hour , we do to our souls worse then to our bodies , Quae laedunt oculos , festinas demere ; Horat. lib. 1. ep. si quid Est animum , differs curandi tempus in annum ? If dirt fall into our eyes , we do not say to the Chirurgion , Stay Sir , and let the grit or little stone abide there till next week , but get it out presently . This similitude if it proves nothing , yet will serve to upbraid our folly , to instruct and exhort us in the duty of this Question . Remember this , that as in Gods account 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 to remit and to retain a sin are opposite , so it ought to be in ours . Our retaining and keeping of a sin though but for a day , is contrary to the designs of mercy and holiness , it is against God , and against the interest of our souls .

§ 3. A sinful habit hath in it proper evils , and a proper guiltiness of its own , besides all that which came directly by the single actions .

BY a sinful habit , I mean the facility and easiness , the delight and custome of sinning contracted by the repetition of the acts of the same sin ; as a habit of drunkenness , a habit of swearing , and the like ; that is , a quality inherent in the soul , whereby we work with pleasure : E●hic . Nicom . l. 2. c. 2. for that Aristotle calls the infallible and proper indication of habits , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : And so long as any man sins willingly , readily , frequently , and upon every temptation , or most commonly ; so long he is an habitual sinner : when he does his actions of Religion with pain , and of his sin with pleasure , he is in the state of death , and enmity against God . And as by frequent playing upon an instrument a man gets a habit of playing ; so he does in renewing the actions of the same sin , there is an evil quality produced , which affects and corrupts his soul . * But concerning the nature of a vicious habit , this also is to be added .

That a vicious habit is not onely contracted by the repetition of acts in the same kinde , but by frequency of sinning in any variety of instances whatsoever . For there are many vicious persons who have an ambulatory impiety , and sin in all , or most of their opportunities ; but their occasions are not uniform , and therefore their irregularities are irregular and by chance for the instance , but regular and certain in the prevarication . Vetuleius Pavo would be sure to be drunk at the feasts of Saturn , and take a surfet in the Calends of January ; he would be wanton at the Floralia , and bloudy in the Theatres : he would be prodigal upon his birth day , and on the day of his marriage sacrifice Hecatombs to his Pertunda Dea , and he would be sure to observe all the solemnities and festivals of vice in their own particulars and instances , and thought himself a good man enough , because he could not be called a drunkard or a glutton for one act , and by sinning singly escap'd the appellatives of scorn , which are usually fix'd upon vain persons that are married to one sin . * Naturally to contract the habit of any one sin is like the entertaining of a Concubine , and dwelling upon the folly of one miserable woman . But a wandring habit is like a Libido vaga , the vile adulteries of looser persons that drink at every cistern that runs over , and stands open for them . For such persons have a supreme habit , a habit of disobedience , and may for want of opportunity or abilities , for want of pleasure , or by the influence of an impertinent humour be kept from acting always in one scene . But so long as they choose all that pleases them , and exterminate no vice , but entertain the instances of many , their malice is habitual , their state is a perfect aversation from God . For this is that which the Apostle cals , The body of sin , Rom. 7. a compagination of many parts and members ; just as among the Lawyers , a flock , a people , a legion , are called bodies : and corpus civitatis , we finde in Livy , corpus collegiorum in Caius , corpus regni in Virgil ; and so here , this union of several sins is the body of sin , and that is , the body of death . And not onely he that feeds perpetually upon raw fruit puts himself into an ill habit of body ; but he also does the same thing , who to day drinks too much , and to morrow fils himself with cold fruits , and the next day with condited mushromes , and by evil orders and carelesness of diet , and accidental miscarriages heaps up a multitude of causes , and unites them in the production and causality of his death . This general disorder is indeed longer doing , but it kils as fatally and infallibly as a violent surfeit . And if a man dwels in the kingdome of sin , it is all one whether he be sick in one , or in twenty places ; they are all but several rooms of the same Infirmatory , and ingredients of the same deadly poison . He that repeats his sin , whether it be in one , or in several instances , strikes himself often to the heart , with the same , or with several daggers .

Having thus premised what was necessary for the explication of the nature of vicious habits , we must consider that of vicious habits there is a threefold capacity . 1. A natural . 2. A moral . 3. A relative , as it denominates a man in relation to God .

1. Of the Natural capacity of sinful habits .

The natural capacity of sinful habits is a facility or readiness of the faculty to doe the like actions ; and this is naturally consequent to the frequent repetition of sinful acts , not voluntary but in its cause , and therefore not criminal by a distinct obliquity . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Ethic. lib. 3. c. 8. said Aristotle . Actions are otherwise voluntary then habits . We are masters of our actions all the way , but of habits onely in the beginning But because it was in our choyce to doe so or otherwise , therefore the habit which is consequent is called voluntary : not then chosen , because it cannot then be hindred ; and therefore it is of it self indifferent ; an evil indeed , as sickness , or crookedness , thirst or famine , and as death it self to them that have repented them of that sin for which they die ; but no sin , if we consider it in its meer natural capacity . * Nay so , it may become the exercise of vertue , the scene of trouble indeed or danger , of temptation and sorrow , but a field of victory . For there are here two things very considerable .

1. That God for the glorification of his mercy can and does turn all evil into some good , so to defeat the Devils power , and to produce honour and magnification to his own goodness . — 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Aristoph . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . For so God uses to doe , if we sin we shall smart for it , but he turns it into good : And S. Austin applies that promise , that all things shall work together for good to them that fear God , even to this particular ; etiam ipsa peccata , nimirum non ex naturâ suâ , sed ex Dei virtute & sapientiâ : if all things , then sins also , not by their proper efficacy , but by the overruling power and wisdome of God ; like that of Phocylides , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . He that will be a good man , must be often deceived , that is , buy his wit at a dear rate . And thus some have been cured of pride by the shames of lust , and of lukewarmness by a fall into sin , being awakened by their own noddings , and mending their pace by their fall . And so also the sense of our sad infirmities introduc'd by our vicious living and daily prevarications may become an accidental fortification to our spirits , a new spur by the sense of an infinite necessity and an infinite danger .

〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . A●isteph .

For whoever repents after such sad intervals of sorrow and sin , either must doe more then other men , or they doe nothing to purpose . For besides , that an ordinary care cannot secure them , who have brought tempters home to themselves ; a common industry cannot root out vicious customes ; a trifling mortification cannot crucify and kill what hath so long been growing with us : besides this ( for this will not directly goe into the account ; for this difficulty the sinner must thank himself ) he must do more actions of piety to obtain his pardon and to secure it . But because they need much pardon , and an infinite care , and an assiduous watchfulness , o● they perish infallibly , therefore all holy penitents are to arise to greater excellencies then if they had never sinned .

Major deceptae faema est , & gloria dextrae ; Si non errasset , fecerat illa minùs .

Scaevola's hand grew famous for being deceived , and it had been less reputation to have struck his enemy to the heart , Vide S. Chrysost. epist. ad The●dor . then to doe such honourable infliction upon it for missing . And thus there is in heaven more joy over one repenting sinner , then over ninety nine just persons that need it not ; there is a greater deliverance , and a mightier miracle , a bigger grace , and a prodigy of chance ; it being , as S. Austin affirms , a greater thing that a sinner should be converted , then that being converted he should afterwards be saved ; and this he learn'd from those words of S. Paul ; Rom. 5.8 , 9. But God commended his love to us , in that while we were yet sinners , Christ died for us . Much more then being now justified by his bloud , we shall be saved from wrath through him . * But now the sinner is more busie in his recovery , more fearful of relapse then before his fall ; Sicut ferae decipulam erumpentes cautiores facti , saith Lactantius ; like wilde beasts breaking from their toils , they walk more cautiously for ever after . Thus it is impossible that sin should be exalted above grace , or that the Devils malice can be superiour to the rare arts of the Divine mercy ; for by his conduct , poison it self shall become medicinal , and sin like the Persian apple , — Pomis quae Barbara Persis Miserat , ut fama est , patriis armata venenis , At nunc expositi parvo discrimine lethi Ambrosios praebent succos oblita nocendi , transplanted from its native soil to the Athenian gardens , loses its natural venome , and becomes pleasant as the rinds of Citrons , and aromatick as the Eastern spices .

2. Although sins in the state of penitence can by Gods grace procure an accidental advantage , yet that difficulty of overcoming and fierceness of contention , which is necessary to them who had contracted evil habits , is not by that difficulty an augmentation of the reward . As he that willingly breaks his legs is not more commended for creeping with pain , then if he went with pleasure and ease ; and the taking away our own possibility , being a destroying the grace of God , a contradiction to the arts of the Divine mercy ; whatsoever proper effect that infers , as it is impious in its cause and miserable in the event , so it does nothing of advantage to the vertue , but causes great diminution of it . * For it is a high mistake crudely to affirm , that every repugnancy to an act of vertue , and every temptation to a sin , if it be overcome , increases the reward . Indeed if the temptation be wholly from without , unsought for , prayed against , inferr'd infallibly , superinduc'd by God , then the reward is greater , by how much it was the more difficult to obey . Thus for Jephthah to pay his daughter which he had vowed , and for Abraham to slay his son , were greater acts of obedience , because they were in despite of great temptations to the contrary , and there was nothing evil from within that did lessen the choice , or retard the vertue . * But when our nature is spoil'd , and our strengths diminished , when the grace of God by which we stood is despised and cancelled , when we have made it natural for us to sin , then this remaining inclination to sin , and unwillingness to obey , is so far from increasing the reward , that it is not onely a state of danger , but it is an unwillingness to doe good , an abatement of the choice , a state which is still to be mortified , and the strengths to be restored , and the affections made obedient , and the will determin'd by other objects .

But if the unwillingness to obey , even after the beginnings of repentance , were , as it is pretended by the Romane Doctors , an increase of the merit or reward , then 1. It were not fit that we should goe about to lessen these inclinations to sin , or to exterminate the remains of the old man , because if they goe off , the difficulty being removed , the reward must be no more then ordinary .

2. It would also follow from hence , that the less men did delight in Gods service , the more pleasing they should be to him : For if the reluctancy increases , then the perfect choice would lessen the reward . And then ,

3. A habit of vertue were not so good as single actions with the remains of a habit of vice , upon the same account : and a state of imperfection were better then a state of perfection , and to grow in grace , were great imprudence .

4. It were not good to pray against entring into temptation ; nay it were good we did tempt our selves , so we did not yield ; to provoke our enemy , so he did not conquer us ; to enter into danger , so we did not sink under it ; because these increase the difficulty , and this increases the reward . All which being such strange and horrid consequences , it follows undeniably , that the remanent portion of a vicious habit after the mans conversion is not the occasion of a greater reward , is not good formally , is not good materially , but is a fomes , a nest of concupiscence , a bed of vipers , and the spawn of toads .

Now although this is not a sin , if it be considered in its natural capacity , as it is the physical , unavoidable consequent of actions ( for an inherent quality may be considered without its appendant evil ) that is , though a Philosopher may think and discourse of it as of a natural production , and so without sin , yet it does not follow from hence , that such a habit , or inherent quality is without its proper sin , or that its nature is innocent . But this is nothing else but to say , that a natural Philosopher does not consider things in their moral capacity . But just thus every sin is innocent , and an act of adultery , or the begetting a child in fornication is good ; a naturall Philosopher looks on it as a natural action , applying proper actives to their proportion'd passives , and operating regularly , and by the way of nature . Thus we say God concurs to every sin , that is , to the action in its natural capacity , but that is therefore innocent so far ; that is , if you consider it without any relation to manners and laws , it is not unlawful . But then if you consider the whole action in its intire constitution , it is a sin . And so is a sinful habit , it is vicious and criminal in its whole nature ; and when the Question is whether any thing be in its own capacity distinctly , good or bad ; the answer must not be made by separating the thing from all considerations of good and bad . However it will suffice , that a habit of vice in its natural capacity is no otherwise innocent then an act of adultery or drunkenness .

2. Of the Moral capacity of sinful Habits .

But then if we consider sinful Habits in their moral capacity , we shall finde them to be a Lerna malorum , and we shall open Pandora's boxe a swarm of evils will issue thence . In the enumerating of which , I shall make a great progress to the demonstration of the main Question .

1. A vicious habit addes many degrees of aversation from God , by inclining us to that which God hates . It makes us to love and to delight in sin , and easily to choose it ; now by how much the more we approach to sin , by so much we are the further remov'd from God . Jer. 13.22 , 25. And therefore this habitual iniquity the Prophet describing , cals it , magnitudinem iniquitatis , and the punishment design'd for it , is called , thy lot , the portion of thy measures , that is , Plenitudo poenae ad plenitudinem peccatorum , a great judgement to an habitual sin , a final judgement , an exterminating Angel , when the sin is confirm'd , and of a perfect habit .

For till habits supervene , we are of a middle constitution , like the City that Sophocles speaks of ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , It is full of joy and sorrow , it sings and weeps together , it triumphs in mourning , and with tears wets the festival Chariot . We are divided between good and evil ; and all our good or bad is but a disposition towards either : but then the sin is arriv'd to its state and manhood , when the joynts are grown stiff and firm by the consolidation of a habit . So Plutarch defines a habit , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . A habit is a strength and confirmation to the brute and unreasonable part of man gotten by custome . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . The brutish passions in a man are not quickly master'd and reduc'd to reason . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : Custome and studies efform the soul like wax , and by assuefaction introduce a nature : To this purpose Aristotle quotes the verses of Evenus , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Stobaeus de Rep. Serm. 41. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 For as experience is to notice , and Tutors to children , so is Custome to the manners of men ; a fixing good or evil upon the spirit : that as it was said of Alexander , when he was a man he could not easily want the vices of his Tutor Leonidas , which he suck'd into his manners and was accustomed to in his youth ; so we cannot without trouble do against our habit and common usages ; Vsus Magister , use is the greatest Teacher : and the words in Jer my 13 , 23. Ye which are accustomed to do evil , are commonly read , Ye which are taught to do evil ; and what we are so taught to do , we believe infinitely , and finde it very hard to entertain principles of perswasion against those of our breeding and education . For what the minde of man is accustomed to , and throughly acquainted with , it is highly reconcil'd to it ; the strangeness is remov'd , the objections are consider'd or neglected , and the compliance and entertainment is set very forward towards pleasures and union .

〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Theoctist . apud Stobaeum .

Quantum consuetudo poterit intelliges , si videris seras quoque convictu nostro mansuescere : nullique immani bestiae vim suam permanere , si hominis contubernium diu passa est . Senec. de irâ lib. 3. c. 8.

This habit therefore when it is instanc'd in a vice , is the perfecting and improving of our enmity against God , for it strengthens the lust , as a good habit confirms reason and the grace of God .

2. This mischief ought to be further expressed , for it is bigger then is yet signified . Not onely an aptness , but a necessity is introduc'd by Custome ; because by a habit sin seises upon the will and all the affections ; and the very principles of motion towards vertue are almost broken in pieces . It is therefore called by the Apostle , The law of sin . Lex enim peccati est violentia consuetudinis , quâ trahitur & tenetur animus etiam invitus . The violence of custome is the law of sin , by which such a man is over-rul'd against his will . Nam si discedas , laqueo tenet ambitiosi Consuetudo mali — & in aegro corde senescit . You cannot leave it if you would . S. Austin represents himself as a sad instance of this particular . I was afraid lest God should hear me when I prayed against my lust : As I fear'd death , Lib. 8. Confess . c. 7. &c. 5. so dreadful it was to me to change my custome . Velle meum tenebat inimicus , inde mihi catenam fecerat , & constrinxerat me . Quippe ex voluntate perversâ facta est libido , & dum servitur libidini facta est consuetudo , & dum consuetudini non resistitur facta est necessitas . The Devil had made a chain for him , and bound his will in fetters of darkness . His perverse will made his lust grow high , and while he serv'd his lust , he superinduc'd a custome upon himself , and that in time brought upon him a necessity . For as an old disease hath not onely afflicted the part of its proper residence , and by its abode made continual diminution of his strength , but made a path also and a channel for the humours to run thither , which by continual defluxion have digg'd an open passage , and prevail'd beyond all the natural powers of resistance : So is an habitual vice ; it hath debauch'd the understanding , and made it to believe foolish things , it hath abus'd the will and made it like a diseased appetite in love with filthy things ; it is like an evil stomach that makes a man eat unwholsome meat against his Reason : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . That 's a sad calamity , when a man sees what is good and yet cannot follow it , nay that he should desire it , and yet cannot lay hold upon it ; for his faculties are bound in fetters ; the habit hath taken away all those strengths of Reason and Religion by which it was hindred , and all the objections by which it was disturbed , and all that tenderness by which it was uneasie , and now the sin is chosen , and believ'd and lov'd ; it is pleasant and easie , usual and necessary , and by these steps of progression enters within the iron gates of death , seal'd up by fate and a sad decree .

And therefore Simplicius upon Epictetus speaking of Medea seeing and approving good things by her understanding , but yet without power to do them , sayes , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . It is to no purpose for us to think and to desire well , unless we adde also deeds consonant to those right opinions and fair inclinations . But that 's the misery of an evil habit ; in such as have them , all may be well till you come to action . Their principles good , their discoursings right , their resolutions holy , their purposes strong , their great interest understood , their danger weighed , and the sin hated and declaimed against : for they are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , they have begun well and are instructed , but because of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , their intemperance and softness of spirit produc'd by vile customes , there is ( as Plutarch observes ) 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 a fatal bestiality in the men , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Plutarch . they sin and can neither will nor choose . They are driven to death , and they see themselves crown'd with garlands for the Sacrifice , and yet go to their ruine merry as the Minstrels , and the temptations that entertain and attend those horrid rites . Trinummus . Scibam ut esse me deceret , facere non quibam miser , said he in the Comedy . I knew it well enough how I should comport my self , but I was so wretched that I could not do it .

Now all this being the effect of a vicious habit , and not of sinful actions , it being the product and sad consequent of a quality introduc'd first by actions , so much evil cannot be caused and produc'd immediately by that which is innocent . As the fruit is , such is the tree . But let us try further .

3. A vicious habit makes our recovery infinitely difficult , our vertues troublesome , our restitution uncertain . In the beginnings of his return it is most visible . For even after we are entring into pardon and the favour of God , we are forc'd to fight for life , we cannot delight in Gods service , or feel Christs yoke so easie as of it self it is . For a vicious habit is a new Concupiscence , and superinduces such contradictions to the supernatural contentions and designs of grace , it calls back nature from its remedy and purifications of Baptism , and makes such new aptnesses , that the punishment remains even after the beginning of the sins pardon : and that which is a natural punishment of the sinful actions , is or may be morally a sin , as the lust which is produc'd by gluttony . And when a man hath entertain'd a holy sorrow for his sins , and made holy vows of obedience and a new life , he must be forc'd to contend for every act of duty , and he is daily tempted , and the temptation is strong , and his progression is slow ; he marches upon sharp-pointed stones , where he was not us'd to go , and where he hath no pleasure . He is forc'd to do his duty , as he takes Physick , where reason and the grace of God make him consent against his inclination , and to be willing against his will . He is brought to that state of sorrow , that either he shall perish for ever , or he must do more for heaven then is needful to be done by a good man , whose body is chaste , and his spirit serene , whose will is obedient , and his understanding well inform'd , whose temptations are ineffective , and his strengths great , who loves God and is reconcil'd to duty , who delights in Religion , and is at rest when he is doing God service . But an habitual sinner even when he begins to return , and in some measure loves God , hath yet too great fondnesses for his enemy , his repentances are imperfect , his hatred and his love mixt , nothing is pure , nothing is whole , nothing is easie : So that the bands of holiness are like a yoke shaken upon the neck , they fret the labouring Ox , and make his work turn to a disease ; and ( as Isaac ) he marches up the hill with the wood upon his shoulders , and yet for ought he knows , himself may become the Sacrifice . S. Austin complains that it was his own case . He was so accustomed to the apertures and free emissions of his lust , so pleas'd with the entertainments , so frequent in the imployment , so satisfied in his minde , so hardned in his spirit , so ready in his choice , so peremptory in his foul determinations , that when he began to consider that death stood at the end of that life , he was amaz'd to see himself as he thought without remedy ; and was not to be recover'd but by a long time , and a mighty grace , the perpetual , the daily , the nightly prayers and violent importunities of his Mother , the admirable Precepts and wise deportments of S. Ambrose , the efficacy of truth , the horrible fears of damnation hourly beating upon his spirit with the wings of horrour and affrightment ; and after all , with a mighty uneasiness and a discomposed spirit he was by the good hand of God dragg'd from his fatal ruine . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Sophocles in Oedip. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Thus one folly added to another hath great labour and vexation , unquietness and difficulty for its reward . But as when our blessed Saviour dispossess'd the little Daemoniack in the Gospel , when the Devil went forth he roar'd and foam'd , he rent him with horrid Spasmes and Convulsions , and left him half dead : So is every man that recovers from a vicious habit , he suffers violence like a bird shut up in a cage , or a sick person not to be restor'd but by Causticks and Scarifications , and all the torments of Art , from the dangers of his Nature .

4. A vicious habit makes a great sin to be swallowed up as easily as a little one . An dubitat solitus totum conflare Tonantem , Radet inaurati femur Herculis , & faciem ipsam Neptuni , qui bracteolam de Castore ducet ? He that is us'd to it , makes nothing of Sacrilege , who before started at the defrauding his Neighbour of an uncertain right : but when he hath digested the first 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by step and step he ventures so farre till he dares to steal the Thunderbolts from Jupiter ; when sin is grown up to its height and station by all its firmest measures , a great sin is not felt ; and let the sin be what it will , many of the instances pass so easily , that they are not observed : as the hands and feet sometimes obey the fancy without the notice of the superior faculties ; and as we say some parts of our prayers which we are us'd to , though we attend not , and as Musicians strike many single strokes upon which they do not at all consider ; which indeed is the perfection of a habit . So we see many men swear when they know not that they do so , they lie and know they lie , and yet believe themselves : They are drunk often , and at last believe it innocent , and themselves the wiser , and the action necessary , and the excess not intemperance . Enchirid , c. 8. Peccata quamvis magna & horrenda cùm in consuetudinem venerint , aut parva aut nulla esse creduntur , usque adeò ut non solùm non occultanda , verùm etiam jam praedicanda , ac diffamanda videantur , said S. Austin . At first we are asham'd of sin ; but custome makes us bold and confident , apt to proclaim not to conceal our shame . For though at first it seem'd great , yet every day of use makes it less , and at last , all is well , it is a very nothing .

This is a sad state of sin , but directly the case of a vicious habit , and of use in the illustration of this Question . For if we look upon the actions , and little or great instances of folly , and consider that they consider not , every such Oath will pass for an indeliberate folly , and an issue of infirmity . But then if we remember that it is voluntary in its principle , that this easiness of sinning comes from an intolerable cause , from a custome of profaneness and impiety , that it was nourish'd by a base and a careless spirit , it grew up with a cursed inadvertency , and a caitiff disposition , that it could not be at all , but that the man is infinitely distant from God , it is to be reckoned like the pangs of death , which although they are not alwayes felt , yet they are violent , and extreme , they are fatal in themselves , and full of horror to the standers by .

But from hence , besides that it serves perfectly to reprove the folly of habitual swearing , it also proves the main Question , viz. that in a vicious habit there is a venome and a malice beyond the guilt , and besides the sinfulness of the single actions that produce and nourish it , the quality it self is criminal . For unless it can be supposed that to swear frequently can at last bring its excuse with it , and that such a custome is onely to be estimated according to the present notice and deliberation by which it is attended to ; and that to swear often can be but a little thing , but to swear seldome shall be horrid and inexcusable , it must be certain , that the very habit it self is a state of sin , and enmity against God , besides the guilt of the many single actions : because this customary swearing cannot be accounted so bad as it is by the value and baseness of the single actions , which are scarce considered , very often not known , not noted at all , not attended to ; but therefore they have their load by being effects of a cursed habit and custome . Here the habit is worse then the action , and hath an evil of its own .

5. A vicious habit hath in it this evil appendage , that in every instant of its abode it keeps us out of Gods favour ; we are in perpetual danger , and under the eternal arrest of death , even without the actions of sin , without pleasure , or possessing any of its baser interests . It was a horrible foolery which Appianus tels of Lentulus , Spinther , and Dolabella , that when Caesar was killed in the Senate they drew their swords and ran about the streets , as if they had done the fact , supposing it to be great and glorious : quibus gloriâ quidem frui non contigit , sed poenas dederunt easdem cum sontibus ; they lost their hopes of fame , but yet they were punished for the fact . So useless , and yet so pernicious a thing is a vicious habit ; a man may pay the price of his lust when he thinks not of it , and perish for all that he was willing to enjoy , though he did not what he would . This is that by which Divines use to reconcile the justice of God with the infliction of eternal pains upon temporal and transitory actions . There is in unrepenting or habitual sinners an eternal spring or principle of evil , and they were ready for ever to have sinned ; and for this preparation of minde to have sinn'd for ever , it is by them affirm'd to be just to punish them for ever . Now this is not true in the single actions and interruptions of grace by sin , but in the habitual sinner it is more reasonable . Such are they of whom the Apostle speaks , They were past feeling , and yet were given up unto uncleanness ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which properly signifies the beginnings or little images of lust ; which as they are first in the introduction of lust , so in such persons , they are the onely remains of the old man . He cannot sin as he used to doe , not by his action , but he sins by his habit .

The summe is this . If to love God , to delight in him , to frequent holy offices , to love his service , to dwell in God , to have our conversation in heaven , to lay up our treasure , and our hopes , and our heart there , to have no thoughts , no designs , no imployment but for God and for religion , be more acceptable to God then to doe single actions of a prosperous piety upon so many sudden resolutions , and the stock of an alternate and returning duty : Then by the same reason is it infinitely more displeasing to God to be a servant under Gods Enemy and our own , to be in slavery to sin , subordinate to passion , rul'd by chance and company , to be weary of well doing , to delight in sin according to the inner man ; this I say , must be an infinite aberration and aversion from God , a contradiction to all our hopes , and that in Theology signifies the same effect , as a vicious habit does in nature . For they are the same thing , and have onely different conceptions and formal notices ; as the patience of Job differs from the patience of S. Laurence , as natural vertue , from the same grace in a Christian : so does a natural habit of vice in its moral capacity differ from our aversion from God ; I mean in the active sense , which if it be not a distinct state of sinfulness , distinct from the guilt of sinful actions , yet it is at least a further degree of the same guiltiness and being criminal ; and either of them both doe sufficiently evince the main question . As the charity and devotion of Cornelius was increased by passing into a habit of these graces ; and as the piety of him a Jewish Proselyte , the habitual piety was mended by his being a Christian : So the single actions of vice pass a great guilt ; but there is more contracted by the habitual vileness , and that habit is made worse by being an opposition to , and an alienation from God . But of this I am now to give more special accounts .

3. Of the Relative capacity of sinful Habits , in reference to God .

1. This is it that contains the strictness of the main Question : For a sinful habit is a state of ungraciousness with God , and sin is possessed of our love and choice . Therefore in vain it is to think a habit innocent , because it is a natural product of many single actions . Every proper action of the will is a natural production of the will ; but it is nevertheless voluntary . When the understanding hath practically determined the will , it is natural for the will to choose ; but yet such a choyce is imputable to the will , and if it be not good , is reckoned as a sin . So it is in vicious habits ; they are natural effects of many single actions ; but then it is also to be remembred that their seat is the will , and whatsoever is naturally there , is voluntary still . A habit of sinning cannot remain at all , but by consent and by delight , by love and adhesion . The habit is radicated no where but in the will , except it be by subordination , and in the way of ministeries . It follows therefore that every vicious habit is the prolongation of a sin , a continuing to love that , which to love but once is death . For every one that hath a vicious habit , chooses his sin chearfully , acts it frequently , is ready to doe it in every opportunity , and at the call of every temptation ; and according as these things are in every one , so is the degree of his habit . Now since every one of these which are the constituent parts of a habit , implies a readiness and apt choyce of the will to sin , it follows evidently that the capacity of a vicious habit by which it relates to God , consisting of so much evil , and all of it voluntary upon the stock of its own nature and constitution , is highly and chiefly , and distinctly sinful . Although the natural facility , is naturally and unavoidably consequent to frequent sinful actions , yet it is also voluntary ; for the habit is not contracted , nor can it remain but by our being willing to sin , and delighting in the ways of error .

2. Now if we look into the fountains of Scripture , which is admirable in the description of vertue and vice , we shall finde that habitual sin is all that evil which is to be avoided by all men that have in them the hopes of life . It is the prevailing of sin , it is that by which sins come to their height , it is the debauching of the will and understanding ; it is all that which can be signified by those great expressions , by which holy Scripture describes those great evils which God hates . Hebr. 10. It is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a root of bitterness , Ephes. ● . 2 . such as was in Esau when he undid himself an repented too late : an evil heart in turning from the living Lord : a sear'd conscience : a walking according to the Prince of this world : enemies of the cross of Christ : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , such as cannot cease from sin : enemies that will not have Christ , but the Devil to reign over them ; for this is the true state and constitution of vicious habits . This is more then an 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or hindrance of doing our duty ; it is a direct 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a disorder and corruption inherent in all our faculties .

This is signally describ'd by S. Paul , who cals it a concupiscence wrought by sin : Rom. 7.8.11 14. For sin ( saith he ) wrought in me all manner of concupiscence : it is called by him , a law in the members fighting against the law in my minde ; and the man he cals carnal , sold under sin , dead , killed ; and the sin it self , inhabitans peccatum , sin dwelling in me , and flesh in which dwelleth no good : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the carnal minde . These things ( as is evident ) cannot be spoken of the single actions of sin , but of the law , the power , the dominion , the reign , the habit of sin . It is that which was wrought by sin , viz. by the single actions of sin ; and therefore he does not mean single actions , neither can he mean the remanent guilt of the past action ; but he speaks of a direct state of sinfulness , which is prolifical and productive of sin . For sin wrought this concupiscence and carnal-mindedness ; and this carnal-mindedness is such a propensity and desire to sin , and hath in it such easiness to act , that it brings forth many sins , and they bring forth death ; and therefore the Apostle says expresly , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , this carnal mindedness is death and enmity against God ; this is that state , in which whosoever abides cannot please God . * To the same purpose are those other expressions of Scripture calling this state , Vias Balaam , Num. 15.30 . Jude 11.2 Pe. 2.14 . the ways of Bal●am the son of Bosor , a walking perversly with God , a being sold under sin , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , hearts exercised or imployed and used to covetousness ; and it follows , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , sons of cursing ; The fault , or charge is more then that of single actions , and the curse is greater then ordinary ; as the sin is , so is the curse ; the one is apportion'd to the other , and appropriate .

3. But I consider further . A single act of sin does not in all cases denominate a man vicious . A man is not called a drunkard for having been once drunk , but for being often , for repeating the act , or continuing the affection . Every single act provokes God to anger , but that anger can be as soon rescinded as the act is past if it remains not by something that is habitual . Indeed he is called a thief or an adulterer that does one action of those crimes ; because his consent in such things is great enough to equal a habit in lesser things . The effect is notorious , the prohibition severe , the dangers infinite , the reasons of them evident ; they are peccata vastantia conscientiam , & quae uno actu perimunt , as S. Austin says , they kill with one blow , and therefore God exacts them highly , and men call the criminal by the name of the vice : But the action gives denomination but in some cases , but the habit in all . No man lives without sin ; and in the state of regeneration , our infirmities still press upon us , and make our hands shake , and our foot to stumble ; and sometimes the enemy makes an inroad , and is presently beaten out again , and though the good man resolves against all , and contends against all , Pauca tamon suberunt priscae vestigia fraudis , there will be something for him to be humbled at , somthing to contest against , to keep him watchful and upon his guard . But if he be ebriosus or petulans , if he be a drunkard , or wanton , an extortioner , or covetous ; that is , if he have a habit of any sin whatsoever , then he is not the son of God , but an heir of death and hell . That therefore which in all cases denominates a man such , both before God and before men , when the actions do not , that must needs have in it a proper malignity of its own , and that 's the habit .

4. This we may also see evidently in the matter of smaller sins , & the trifles of our life ; which though they be often repeated , yet if they be kept asunder by the intercision of the actions of repentance , doe not discompose our state of grace , but if they be habitual they doe , though it may be the single instances by some accident being hindred do not so often return : and this is confess'd on all hands . But then the consequent of this is , that the very being habitual , is a special irregularity .

5. This also appears by the nature and malignity of the greater sins . A vicious habit is a principle of evil naturally and directly . And therefore as the capital sins are worse then others , because they are an impure root , and apt to produce accursed fruits ; as covetousness is the root of all evil ; and pride , and envy , and idolatry : so is every habit the mother of evil , not accidentally , and by chance , but by its proper efficacy and natural germination , and therefore is worse then single actions .

6. If natural concupiscence hath in it the nature of sin , and needs a laver of regeneration , and the blood of Christ to wash it off , much more shall our habitual and acquir'd concupiscence . For this is much worse , procur'd by our own act , introduc'd by our consent , brought upon us by the wrath of God which we have deserv'd ; springing from the baseness of our own manners , the consequent of our voluntary disobedience . So that if it were unreasonable that our natural concupiscence should be charged upon us as criminal as being involuntary ; yet for the same reason , it is most reasonable that our habitual sins , our superinduc'd concupiscence should be imputed to us as criminal , because it is voluntary in its cause which is in us , and is voluntary in the effect , that is , it is delighted in , & seated in the will . But however , this argument ought to prevail upon all that admit the article of original sin , as it is usually taught in Schools & Churches . For upon the denial of it , Pelagius also introduc'd this opinion , against which I am now disputing . And lest concupiscence might be reckon'd a sin , he affirm'd that no habitude , no disposition , nothing but an act could be a sin . But on the other side , lest concupiscence should be accounted no sin , Lib. de peccat . Grig . cap. 6. & 13. S. Austin disputes earnestly , largely affirming and proving , that a sinful habit is a special sinfulness distinct from that of evil actions : malus thesaurus cordis , the evil treasure of the heart out of which proceeds all mischief , and a continual defluxion of impurities .

7. And therefore as God severely forbids every single action of sin , so with greater caution he provides that we be not guilty of a sinful habit . Rom. 6.13 , 20. Let not sin reign in your mortal bodies ; we must not be servants of sin , not sold under sin , that sin have no dominion over us . That is , not onely that we doe not repeat the actions of sin , but that we be not enslaved to it , under the power of it , of such a lost liberty that we cannot resist the temptation . For he that is so , is guilty before God , although no temptation comes . Such are they whom S. Peter notes , that cannot cease from sin . And indeed we cannot but confess the reasonableness of this . For all men hate such persons whose minds are habitually averse from them ; who watch for opportunities to do them evil offices , who lose none that are offered , who seek for more , who delight in our displeasure , who oftentimes effect what they maliciously will . Saul was Davids enemy even when he was asleep . For the evil will , and the contradicting minde , and the spiteful heart are worse then the crooked or injurious hand . And as grace is a principle of good , so is this of evil ; and therefore as the one denominates the subject gracious , so the other , sinful ; both of them inherent , that given by God , this introduc'd by our own unworthiness . * He that sins in a single act , does an injury to God , but he that does it habitually , he that cannot do otherwise is his essential enemy . The first is like an offending servant who deserves to be thrown away ; but in a vicious habit there is an antipathy : The Man is Gods enemy , as a Wolf to the Lamb , as the Hyaena to the Dog . He that commits a single sin , hath stain'd his skin , and thrown dirt upon it ; but an habitual sinner is an Ethiop , Jer. 13.23 . and must be flayed alive before his blackness will disappear .

8. A man is called just or unjust by reason of his disposition to , and preparation for an act : and therefore much more for the habit . Paratum est cor meum Deus . O God my heart is ready , my heart is ready : and S. John had the reward of Martyrdome , because he was ready to die for his Lord , though he was not permitted ; and S. Austin affirms , De bono conjugat . c. 21. that the continency of Abraham was as certainly crown'd as the continence of John , it being as acceptable to God to have a chaste spirit as a virgin body , that is , habitual continence being as pleasing as actual . Thus a man may be a Persecutor , or a Murtherer , if he have a heart ready to do it : and if a lustful soul be an Adulteress , because the desire is a sin , it follows that the habit is a particular state of sin distinct from the act , because it is a state of vicious desires . And as a body may be said to be lustful though it be asleep , or eatting , without the sense of actual urtications and violence , by reason of its constitution : so may the soul by the reason of its habit , that is , its vicious principle and base effect of sin be hated by God , and condemn'd upon that account .

So that a habit is not onely distinct from its acts in the manner of being , as Rhetorick from Logick in Zeno , as a fist from a palm , as a bird from the egge , and the flower from the gemme : but a habit differs from its acts , as an effect from the cause , as a distinct principle from another , as a pregnant Daughter from a teeming Mother , as a Conclusion from its Premises , as a state of aversation from God , from a single act of provocation .

9. If the habit had not an irregularity in it distinct from the sin , then it were not necessary to persevere in holiness by a constant regular course , but we were to be judg'd by the number of single actions ; and he onely who did more bad then good actions should perish , which was affirmed by the Pharisees of old : and then we were to live or die by chance and opportunity , by actions and not by the will , by the outward and not by the inward man ; then there could be no such thing necessary as the Kingdome of Grace , Christs Empire and Dominion in the soul ; then we can belong to God without belonging to his Kingdome ; and we might be in God , though the Kingdome of God were not in us . For without this we might do many single actions of vertue , and it might happen that these might be more then the single actions of sin , even though the habit and affection and state of sin remain . Now if the case may be so ( as in the particular instance ) that the mans final condition shal not be determin'd by single actions , it must be by habits , and states and principles of actions : and therefore these must have in them a proper good and bad respectively by which the man shall be judg'd , distinct from the actions by which he shall not ( in the present case ) be judg'd . All which considerations being put together , do unanswerably put us upon this conclusion : That a habit of sin is that state of evil by which we are enemies to God and slaves of Satan , by which we are strangers from the Covenant of Grace , and consign'd to the portion of Devils : and therefore as a Corollary of all , we are bound under pain of a new sin to rise up instantly after every fall , to repent speedily for every sin , not to let the Sun go down upon our wrath , nor rise upon our lust , nor run his course upon our covetousness or ambition . For not onely every period of impenitence is a period of danger , and eternal death may enter ; but it is an aggravation of our folly , a continuing to provoke God , a further aberration from the rule , a departure from life , it is a growing in sin , a progression towards final impenitence , to obduration and Apostasie , it is a tempting God , and a despising of his grace , it is all the way presumption , and a dwelling in sin by delight and obedience ; that is , it is a conjugation of new evils , and new degrees of evil . As pertinacy makes error to be heresie , and impenitence makes little sins unite and become deadly , and perseverance causes good to be crowned , and evil to be unpardonable : So is the habit of viciousness , the confirmation of our danger , and solennities of death , the investiture and security of our horrible inheritance .

The summe is this . Every single sin is a high calamity , it is a shame and it is a danger , in one instant it makes us liable to Gods severe anger . But a vicious habit is a conjugation of many actions , every one of which is highly damnable , and besides that union which is formally an aggravation of the evils , there is superinduc'd upon the will and all its ministring faculties , a viciousness and pravity which makes evil to be belov'd and chosen , and God to be hated and despis'd . A vicious habit hath in it all the Physical , Metaphysical and Moral degrees of which it can be capable . For there is not onely a not repenting , a not rescinding of the past act by a contrary nolition ; but there is a continuance in it , and a repetition of the same cause of death , as if a man should marry death , the same death so many times over : it is an approving of our shame , a taking it upon us , an owning and a securing our destruction , and before a man can arrive thither , he must have broken all the instruments of his restitution in pieces , and for his recovery nothing is left , unless a Palladium fall from heaven ; the man cannot live again , unless God shall do more for him then he did for Lazarus when he raised him from the dead .

§. 4. Sinful habits do require a distinct manner of Repentance , and have no promise to be pardon'd but by the introduction of the contrary .

THis is the most material and practical difficulty of the Question : for upon this depends the most mysterious article of Repentance , and the interest of dying penitents . For if a habit is not to be pardoned without the extirpation of that which is vicious , and the superinducing its contrary ; this being a work of time , requires a particular grace of God , and much industry , caution , watchfulness , frequent prayers , many advices and consultations , constancy , severe application : and is of so great difficulty and such slow progression , that all men who have had experience of this imployment , and have heartily gone about to cure a vicious habit , know it is not a thing to be done upon our death-bed . That therefore which I intend to prove , I express in this Proposition .

A vicious habit is not to be pardon'd without the introduction of the contrary , either in kinde , or in perfect affection , and in all those instances in which the man hath opportunities to work .

The Church of Rome , whose Chairs and Pulpits are dangerous guides in the article of Repentance , affirms , that any sin , or any habit of sin may be pardon'd by any single act of contrition ; the continued sin of fourty years may be wash'd off in less then fourty minutes , nay by an act of attrition with the Priestly absolution : which proposition , if it be false , does destroy the interest of souls ; and it cannot be true , because it destroys the interest of piety , and the necessities of a good life . The reproof of this depends upon many propositions , of which I shall give as plain accounts as the thing will bear .

1. Every habit of vice may be expelled by a habit of vertue naturally , as injustice by justice , gluttony by temperance , lust by chastity : but by these it is not meritoriously remitted and forgiven ; because nothing in nature can remit sins , or be the immediate natural disposition to pardon . All this is the gift of God , a grace obtain'd by our holy Redeemer , the price of his bloud ; but in this , the case is all one as it is in the greatest innocence of the best of men , which if it be not allowed by incorporation into Christ , and sanctified by faith , wants its proper title to heaven : and so it is with Repentance . For nature cannot teach us this lesson , much less make it acceptable . For it depending wholly upon Gods graciousness and free forgiveness , can be taught onely by him , by whom it is effectual , and this is conveyed to us by our blessed Lord , according to that saying , Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ .

2. Although a habit cannot be the meritorious cause of pardoning the contrary habit , yet to him that hath contracted a vicious habit , it is necessary in order to his pardon that he root out that habit and obtain the contrary in some degrees of prevalency , so that the scales be turned on that side where is the interest of vertue : and this depends upon the evidence of the former proposition . If to be an habitual sinner be more then to be guilty of those actual sins by which the habit was contracted : then as it is necessary to rescind the act of sin by an act of contrition and repentance : so also it is as necessary that the habit be retracted by a habit , that every wound may have its balsam , and every broken bone be bound up and redintegrate .

3. But in the case of habitual sins the argument is more pressing . For if the act which is past and remains not , yet must be reversed by its contrary , much rather must that be taken off which does remain , which actually tempts us , by which we are in a state exactly contrary to the state of grace . For some seldome acts of sin and in trifling instances may stand with the state of holiness , and be incident to a good man : but no vicious habit can , neither in a small matter , nor in a great ; this is an 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a destroyer , and therefore as it hath a particular obliquity , so it must have a special repentance , a repentance proper to it , that is , as an act rescinds an act , so must a habit be oppos'd to a habit , a single act of contrition to a single sin , and therefore it must be more , no less then a lasting and an habitual contrition to obtain pardon for the habit . And although a habit can meritoriously remit a habit , no more then an act can do an act , they being both equal as to that particular , yet they are also dispositions equally ( at least on this hand ) necessary for the obtaining pardon of their respective contraries .

4. It is confessed on all sides , that every single sin which we remember , must be repented of by an act of repentance that must particularly touch that sin ; if we distinctly remember it , it must distinctly be revok'd by a nolition , a sorrow , and moral revocation of it . Since therefore every habit is contracted by many single actions , every one of which if they were sinful must some way or other be rescinded by its contrary , the rescission of those will also introduce a contrary habit , and so the question will be evinc'd upon that account . For if we shall think one act of sorrow can abolish many foul acts of sin , we but deceive our selves ; we must have many for one ( as I have already made to appear ) a multitude of sighs and prayers against every foul action that we remember : and then the consequent is plain , that upon this reckoning when a habit is contracted , the actions which were its principle cannot be rescinded but by such Repentances which will extinguish not onely the formality , but the material and natural effect of that cursed production , at least in very many degrees .

5. A habit oppos'd to a habit hath greater effect then an act oppos'd to an act , and therefore is not onely equally requisite , but the more proper remedy and instance of repentance . For an act of it self cannot naturally extinguish the guilt , nor meritoriously obtain its pardon : but neither can it destroy its natural being , which was not permanent , and therefore not to be wrought upon by an after act . But to oppose a habit to a habit , can equally in the merits of Christ be the disposition to a pardon , as an act can for an act ; and is certainly much better then any one act can be , because it includes many single acts of the same nature , and it is all of them , and their permanent effect and change wrought by them besides . So that it is certainly the better and the surer way . But now the Question is not , whether it be the better way , but whether it be necessary , and will not the lesser way suffice ? To this therefore I answer , that since no man can be acceptable to God as long as sin reigns in his mortal body , and since either sin must reign , or the Spirit of Christ must reign ; for a man cannot be a Neuter in this war ; it is necessary that sins kingdome be destroyed and broken , and that Christ rule in our hearts ; that is , it is necessary that the first and the old habits be taken off and new ones introduc'd . For although the moral revocation of a single act may be a sufficient disposition to its pardon , because the act was transient , and unless there be a habit or something of it , nothing remains : yet the moral revocation of a sinful habit cannot be sufficient , because there is impressed upon the soul a viciousness and contrariety to God , which must be taken off , or there can be no reconciliation . For let it be but considered , that a vicious habit is a remanent aversation from God , an evil heart , the evil treasure of the heart , a carnall mindedness , an union and principle of sins ; and then let it be answered , whether a man who is in this state can be a friend of God , or reconcil'd to him in his Son , who lives in a state so contrary to his holy Spirit of Grace . The guilt cannot be taken off without destroying its nature , since the nature it self is a viciousness and corruption .

6. Either it is necessary to extirpate and break the habit , or else a man may be pardon'd while he is in love with sin . For every vicious habit being radicated in the will , and being a strong love , inclination and adhesion to sin , unless the natural being of this habit be taken off , the enmity against God remains . For it being a quality permanent and inherent , and its nature being an aptness and easiness , a desire to sin and longing after it , to retract this by a moral retractation , and not by a natural also , is but hypocrisie : for no man can say truly , I hate the sin I have committed , so long as the love to sin is inherent in his will ; and then if God should pardon such a person , it would be to justifie a sinner remaining such , which God equally hates as to condemne the innocent : He will by no means acquit the guilty . It was part of his Name which he caused to be proclaimed in the Camp of Israel . And if this could be otherwise , a man might be in the state of sin , and the state of grace at the same time ; which hitherto all Theology hath believ'd to be impossible .

7. This whole Question is clear'd by a large discourse of S. Paul . For having under the person of an unregenerate man complain'd of the habitual state of prevailing sin , of one who is a slave to sin , Rom. 7.14 , sold under sin , captive under a law of sin , that is , under vile inclinations , and high pronenesses and necessities of sinning , so that when he is convinc'd that he ought not to doe it , yet he cannot help it ; though he fain would have it help'd , 19 , &c. yet he cannot obey his own will , but his accursed superinduc'd necessities ; and his sin within him was the ruler , that , and not his own better choyce was the principle of his actions , which is the perfect character of an habitual sinner ; he inquires after a remedy for all this , which remedy he cals a being delivered 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , from the body of this death . The remedy is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the grace of God through Jesus Christ , for by Christ alone we can be delivered . But what is to be done ? the extermination of this dominion and Empire of concupiscence , the breaking of the kingdome of sin . That being the evil he complains of , and of which he seeks remedy , that is to be remov'd . But that we may well understand to what sense , and in what degree this is to be done ; in the next periods he describes the contrary state of deliverance , by the parts and characters of an habit or state of holiness ; which he cals , a walking after the Spirit , Rom. 8.1 . &c. opposed to a walking after the flesh . It was a law in his members , a law of sin and death . Now he is to be made free by a contrary law , the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus : That is , as sin before gave him law , so now must the Spirit of God ; whereas before he minded the things of the flesh , now he minds the things of the spirit ; that is , the carnal-mindedness is gone , and a spiritual-mindedness is the principle and ruler of his actions . This is the deliverance from habitual sins , even no other then by habitual graces wrought in us by the spirit of life , by the grace of our Lord Jesus . And this whole affair is rarely well summ'd up by the same Apostle ; Rom. 6.19 . As ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity , unto iniquity : even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness . If ye were servants before , so ye must be now ; it is but justice and reason , that at least as much be done for God as for the Devil ; It is not enough morally to revoke what is past , by a wishing it had not been done , but you must oppose a state to a state , a habit to a habit . And the Author of the Book of Baruch presses it further yet ; Baruch 4.28 . As it was your minde to go astray from God , so being returned seek him ten times more . It ought not to be less ; it must be as S. Chrysostome expresses it , In Act. 4. hom. 10 , A custome against a custome , a habit opposed to a habit , that the evil may be driven out by the good , as one nail is by another . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Vandalic . ●1 . said Procopius . In those things where you have sinned , to profit , and to increase , and improve to their contraries , that is the more comely way to pardon .

8. Either a habit of vertue is a necessary disposition to the pardon of a habit of vice , or else the doctrine of mortification of the lusts of the flesh , of all the lusts , of all the members of the old man , is nothing but a counsel , and a caution of prudence , but it contains no essential and indispensable duty . For mortification is a long contention , and a course of difficulty ; it is to be done by many arts , and much caution , and a long patience , and a diligent observation , by watchfulness and labour , the work of every day , & the employment of all the prudence , and all the advices of good men , and the whole grace of God . It is like the curing of a Hectick feaver , which one potion will not doe . Origen does excellently describe it , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . When a word is strengthened and nourished by care and assiduity , and confirmed by opinions and wise sentences , or near to confirmation , it masters all oppositions , and breaks in pieces the concupiscence . This is the manner of mortification , there must be resolutions and discourses , assiduity and diligence , auxiliaries from reason , and wise sentences , and advices of the prudent ; and all these must operate 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , unto a confirmation , or near it , and by these the concupiscence can be master'd . But this must be a work of time . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , said Menander . To dissolve a long custome in a short time is a work indeed , but very hard , if not impossible , to be done by any man . A man did not suddenly come to the state of evil , from whence he is to arise . Nemo repentè fuit turpissimus . S. Basil , homil 9. But as a man coming into a pestilential air , does not suck in death at every motion of his lungs , but by little and little the spirits are poysoned , and at last enter into their portion of death ; so it is in a vicious custome . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Stob. The evil is not felt instantly , it begins from little things , and is the production of time and frequent actions . And therefore much less can it be supposed , that we can overcome our filthy habits , and master our fortified corruptions by a sudden dash of piety and the ex tempore gleams of repentance . Concerning this , S. In regul. fusiùs disput. q. 6. & 55. Basil discourses excellently . Sicut enim morbi corporis inveterati , &c. For as the old diseases of the body are not healed without a long and painful attendance ; so must old sins be cured by a long patience , a daily prayer , and the sharpest contention of the spirit . That which is died with many dippings , is in grain , and can very hardly be washed out : Sic anima sanie peccatorum suppurata & in habitu constituta malitiae , vix ac multo negotio ●●ui potest . So is the soul when it is corrupted with the poyson of sin , and hath contracted a malicious habit , it can scarce , but not without much labour be made clean .

Now since we say our nature is inclined to sin , and we feel it to be so in many instances , and yet that it needs time and progression to get a habit of that whither we too naturally tend ; we have reason to apprehend that we need time and fierce contentions , and the long suffering of violences to take the kingdome of heaven by force , by a state of contradiction and hostility against the tempting enemy . It is much harder to get a habit against our nature , and a prepossessing habit , then to confirm nature , and to actuate our inclinations .

And this does not onely relate to habits in their Natural capacity , but in their Moral , and consequently their Relative capacity , as appertaining to God , in the matter of his valuation of them . Because in habits as it is in acts , although metaphysically we can distinguish the action from the irregularity , yet because they are subjected in the same person , and the irregularity is inherent in the action , in the whole composition the action is sinful ; so it is in habits . For the sin adheres to the natural facility , and follows it in all its capacities . And as the natural facility of doing viciously , is cured by time , and a successive continued diligence ; so is the sinfulness , because that facility is vicious and sinful . And as heat is distinguished from fire , but you cannot lessen the heat , but by decreasing the natural being of fire : so does the sin of a vicious habit pass away as the habit naturally lessens ; that is , the Moral capacity changes as does the Natural , this being the subject of that , and it could not have been this habit , if it had not in it this sinfulness . *

Now if the parts of this argument be put together , their intention is this . A habit of sin is not gotten but by time and progression ; and yet it cannot be lost so soon as it was gotten ; but it is a long time before its natural being is overcome by its contrary . But the sinfulness of it does pass away with the natural being ; and no otherwise ; therefore the sinfulness of it cannot be removed suddenly . And therefore if mortification be a duty , and we be commanded to doe it , we are commanded to doe a long work and a difficult , a thing that is more then the moral retractation of it by a single act of sorrow or contrition , a duty that contains in it so much work as is proportion'd to the necessity , even to the breaking the habit of sin , and setting up the habit of vertue over it . Now then , all the question will be , whether Mortification be a Precept , or a Counsel . Concerning which , I onely appeal to the words of S. Paul , Colos. 3.5 . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Mortifie therefore your earthly members ; and , Rom. 8.13 . If ye through the Spirit doe mortifie the deeds of the body , ye shall live . Mortification is the condition of life , it is expresly commanded by the Apostle , that we make the deeds of the body to be dead ; that is , the evil habits and concupiscence of the body ; for that which S. Paul here cals 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or deeds , in the same precept written to the Galatians , Gal. 5.2.4 . he cals 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , lusts and concupiscences . And of what great necessity & effect this mortification & crucifying of our sinful customes is , we may understand best by those other words of the same Apostle ; Rom. 6.7 . He that is dead is justified from sins , not till then , not till his habit was dead ; not as soon as he morally retracts it by an act of displeasure and contrition , but when the sin is dead , when the habit is crucified , when the concupiscence does not reign , but is overcome in all its former prevalencies , then he is pardon'd , and not before .

9. Unless it be necessary to oppose a habit against a habit , a state of vertue against a state of vice ; that is , if a vicious habit may be pardon'd upon one act of contrition , then it may so happen that a man shall not be obliged to doe good , but onely to abstain from evil , to cease from sin , but not to proceed and grow in grace : which is against the perpetual design , and analogy of the Gospel , and the nature of Evangelical righteousness , which differs from the righteousness of the law , as doing good from not doing evil . The law forbad murder , but the Gospel superaddes charity . The law forbad uncleanness , but the Gospel superaddes purity and mortification . The law forbad us to doe wrong , but the Gospel commands us to doe offices of kindness . Injustice was prohibited by the law , but revenge also of real injuries is forbidden by the Gospel , and we are commanded to doe good to them that injure us ; and therefore the Writers of the New Testament do frequently joyn * * Rom 6.18 . Ephes. 4.22 . Col. 1.13 . & 3.5.10.12 . Titus 2.12 , 13 , 14. Heb. 10.22 24. 1 Pet. 2.1 , 2. & 3.11 . 2 Pet. 1.4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8. these , to be dead unto sin , and to live unto righteousness . This is that which was opposed to the righteousness of the law a a Rom. 3.21 . & 9.30 , 31. Gal. 2.16 . & 3.8 . Phil. 3.6 , 7. , and is called the righteousness of God : And a mistake in this affair was the ruine of the Jews . For being ignorant of the righteousness of God , they thought to be justified by their own righteousness which is of the law . That is , they thought it enough to leave off to sin , without doing the contrary good , and so hop'd for the promises . This was the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees , to be no adulterers , no defrauders of the rights of the Temple , no Publicans or exacters of Tribute . But our blessed Saviour assur'd us that there is no hopes of heaven for us , unless our righteousness exceed this of theirs .

Now then , to apply this to the present argument . Suppose a vicious person who hath liv'd an impious life , plac'd upon his death-bed , exhorted to repentance , made sensible of his danger , invited by the Sermons of his Priest to dress his soul with duty and sorrow ; if he obeys , and is sorry for his sin ; supposing that this sorrow does really begin that part of his duty which consists in not sinning , nay , suppose he will never sin again ( which is the righteousness of the law ) yet how can he in that case doe that good which is required by the Gospel ? Seek the kingdome of heaven , and the righteousness thereof . The Gospel hath a peculiar righteousness of its own , proper to it self , without which there is no entrance into heaven . But the righteousness of the law is called our own righteousness , that is , such a righteousness which men by nature know ; for we all by the innate law of nature , know that we ought to abstain from doing injury to Man , from impiety to God : But we onely know by revelation the righteousness of the kingdome which consists in holiness and purity , chastity , and patience , humility , and self-denial . He that rests in the first , and thinks he may be sav'd by it ( as S. Pauls expression is ) he establisheth his own righteousness , that is , the righteousness of the law , and this he does , whosoever thinks that his evil habits are pardon'd without doing that good , and acquiring those graces which constitute the righteousness of the Gospel , that is , faith and holiness , which are the significations , and the vital parts of the new creature .

10. But because this doctrine is highly necessary , and the very soul of Christianity , I consider further , that without the superinducing a contrary state of good to the former state of evil , we cannot return , or go off from that evil condition that God hates , I mean the middle state , or the state of lukewarmness . For though all the old philosophy consented that vertue and vice had no medium between them , but whatsoever was not evil , was good , and he that did not doe evil was a good man , said the old Jews , yet this they therefore did unreprovably teach , because they knew not this secret of the righteousness of God . For in the Evangelical justice , between the natural , or legal good or evil there is a medium or a third , which of it self , and by the accounts of the Law was not evil , but in the accounts of the Evangelical righteousness is a very great one ; that is , lukewarmness , or a cold , tame , indifferent , unactive religion . Not that lukewarmness is by name forbidden by any of the laws of the Gospel , but that it is against the analogy and design of it . A lukewarm person does not do evil , but he is hated by God , because he does not vigorously proceed in godliness . No law condemnes him , but the Gospel approves him not , because he does not from the heart obey this form of doctrine , which commands a course , a habit , a state and life of holiness . It is not enough that we abstain from evil , we shall not be crowned unless we be partakers of a Divine nature . 2 Pet. 1.4 . For to this S. Peter enjoyns us carefully . Now then we partake of a Divine nature , when the Spirit dwels in us , and rules all our faculties , when we are united unto God , when we imitate the Lord Jesus , when we are perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect . Now whether this can be done by an act of contrition , needs no further inquiry , but to observe the nature of Evangelical Righteousness , the hatred God bears to lukewarmness , the perfection he requires of a Christian , the design and great example of our blessed Lord , the glories of that inheritance whither we are design'd , and of the obtaining of which , obedience to God in the faith of Jesus Christ is made the onely indispensable , necessary condition .

For let it be considered . Suppose a man that is righteous according to the letter of the Law , of the Ten Commandements , all of which ( two excepted ) were Negative ; this man hath liv'd innocently and harmlesly all his days , but yet uselesly , unprofitably , in rest and unactive circumstances ; is not this person an unprofitable servant ? The servant in the Parable was just such : he spent not his Masters talent with riotous living , like the Prodigal , but laid it up in a Napkin , he did neither good nor harm ; but because he did no good , he receiv'd none , but was thrown into outer darkness . Nec furtum feci , nec fugi , si mihi dicat Servus , habes pretium , loris non ureris , ajo . Horat. Non hominem occidi , non pasces in ●ruce corvos . An innocent servant amongst the Romans might scape the Furca , or the Mill , or the Wheel ; but unless he was useful , he was not much made of . So it is in Christianity . For that which according to Moses was called righteousness , according to Christ is poverty and nakedness , misery and blindness , as appears in the reproof which the Spirit of God sent to the Bishop and Church of Laodicea . Rev. 3.15 . He thought himself rich when he was nothing ; that is , he was harmless , but not profitable , innocent according to the measures of the law , but not rich in good works . So the Pharisees also thought themselves just by the justice of the law , that is , by their abstinence from condemned evils , and therefore they refus'd to buy of Christ the Lord , gold purified in the fire , whereby they might become rich ; that is , they would not accept of the righteousness of God , the justice Evangelical , and therefore they were rejected . And thus to this very day do we . Even many that have the fairest reputation for good persons and honest men , reckon their hopes upon their innocence and legal freedoms , and outward compliances : that they are no liars nor swearers , no drunkards nor gluttons , no extortioners or injurious , no thieves nor murtherers ; but in the mean time they are unprofitable servants , not instructed , not throughly prepared to every good work ; not abounding in the work of the Lord , but blinde , and poor , and naked ; just , but as the Pharisees ; innocent , but as Heathens : In the mean time they are only in that state to which Christ never made the promises of eternal life and joys hereafter .

Now if this be true in one period , it is true in all the periods of our life . If he that hath always liv'd thus innocently and no more , that is , a Heathen and a Pharisee , could not by their innocence and proper righteousness obtain Heaven , much less shall he who liv'd viciously and contracted filthy habits , be accepted by all that amends he can make by such single acts of contrition , by which nothing can be effected but that he hates sin and leaves it . For if the most innocent by the legal righteousness is still but unprofitable , much more is he such who hath prevaricated that and liv'd vilely , and now in his amendment begins to enter that state , which if it goes no further is still unprofitable . They were severe words which our blessed Saviour said , Luke 17.10 . When ye have done all things which are commanded you , say , We are unprofitable servants ; that is , when ye have done all things which are commanded [ in the law ] he sayes not [ all things which I shall command you ] for then we are not unprofitable servants in the Evangelical sense . For he that obeys this form of doctrine is a good servant . He is the friend of God . If ye do whatsoever I command you , ye are my friends ; Joh. 15.14 , 15. and that is more then profitable servants : For I will not call you servants , but friends , saith our blessed Lord ; and for you , a crown of righteousness is laid up against the day of recompences . These therefore cannot be called unprofitable servants , but friends , sons and heirs ; for he that is an unprofitable servant shall be cast into outer darkness . * To live therefore in innocence onely , and according to the righteousness of the law , is to be a servant , but yet unprofitable , and that in effect is to be no heir of the Promises ; for to these , Piety , or Evangelicall Righteousness is the onely title . Godliness is profitable to all things , having the promise of this life , and of that which is to come . For upon this account , the works of the law cannot justifie us : for the works of the law at the best were but innocence and ceremonial performances : but we are justified by the works of the Gospel , that is , faith and obedience . For these are the righteousness of God , they are his works , revealed by his Spirit , effected by his Grace , promoted by his Gifts , encouraged by special Promises , sanctified by the Holy Ghost , and accepted through Jesus Christ to all the great purposes of Glory and Immortality .

Since therefore a constant innocence could not justifie us , unless we have the righteousness of God , that is , unless we superadde holiness and purity in the faith of Jesus Christ : much less can it be imagined that he who hath transgressed the righteousness of the law , and broken the Negative Precepts , and the natural humane rectitude , and hath superinduc'd vices contrary to be righteousness of God , can ever hope to be justified by those little arrests of his sin , and his beginnings to leave it upon his death-bed , and his sorrow for it , then when he cannot obtain the righteousness of God , or the holiness of the Gospel . It was good counsel that was given by a wise Heathen , Dimidium facti qui coepit habet , Horat. ep. 2. l. 1. sapere aude : Incipe : qui rectè vivendi prorogat horam Rusticus , expectat dum defluat amnis : at ille Labitur , & labetur in omne volubilis aevum . It is good for a man to begin . The Clown that stands by a river side expecting till all the water be run away , may stay long enough before he gets to the other side . He that will not begin to live well till he hath answered all objections , and hath no lusts to serve , no more appetites to please , shall never arrive at happiness in the other world . Be wise , and begin betimes .

§. 5. Consideration of the objections against the former Doctrine .

1. BUt why may not all this be done in an instant by the grace of God ? Cannot he infuse into us the habits of all the graces Evangelical ? Faith cannot be obtained by natural means , and if it be procur'd by supernatural , the Spirit of God is not retarded by the measures of an enemy , and the dull methods of natural opposition . Nescit tarda molimina Spiritus sancti gratia . Without the Divine Grace we cannot work any thing of the righteousness of God ; but if he gives us his grace , does not he make us chaste and patient , humble and devout , and all in an instant ? For thus the main Question seems to be confessed and granted , that a habit is not remitted but by the introduction of the contrary : but when you consider what you handle , it is a cloud and nothing else ; for this admission of the necessity of a habit , enjoyns no more labour nor care , it requires no more time , it introduces no active fears , and infers no particular caution , and implies the doing of no more then to the remission of a single act of one sin .

To this I answer , that the grace of God is a supernatural principle , and gives new aptnesses and inclinations , powers and possibilities , it invites and teaches , it supplies us with arguments , and answers objections , it brings us into artificial necessities , and inclines us sweetly : and this is the semen Dei spoken of by S. John , the seed of God thrown into the furrows of our hearts , springing up ( unless we choke it ) to life eternal . By these assistances we being helped can do our duty , and we can expel the habits of vice , and get the habits of vertue : But as we cannot doe Gods work without Gods grace ; so Gods grace does not do our work without us . For grace being but the beginnings of a new nature in us , gives nothing but powers and inclinations . The Spirit helpeth our infirmities ; so S. Paul explicates this mystery . Rom. 8.26 . And therefore when he had said , By the grace of God I am what I am ; that is , all is owing to his grace : he also addes , I have baboured more then they all , yet not I ; that is , not I alone ; sed gratia Dei mecum ; the grace of God that is with me . For the grace of God stands at the door and knocks ; but we must attend to his voice , and open the door , and then he will enter and sup with us , and we shall be with him . The grace of God is like a graff put into a stock of another nature ; it makes use of the faculties and juice of the stock and natural root , but converts all into its own nature . But ,

2. We may as well say there can be a habit born with us , as infus'd into us . For as a natural habit supposes a frequency of action by him who hath naturall abilities ; so an infus'd habit ( if there were any such ) is a result and consequent of a frequent doing the works of the Spirit . So that to say that God in an instant infuses into us a habit [ of Chastity , &c. ] is to say that he hath in an instant infus'd into us to have done the acts of that grace frequently . For it is certain by experience , that the frequent doing the actions of any grace , increases the grace , and yet the grace or aids of Gods Spirit are as necessary for the growth , as for the beginnings of grace . We cannot either will or do without his help ; he worketh both in us , that is , we by his help alone are enabled to do things above our nature . But then we are the persons enabled ; and therefore we do these works as we do others , not by the same powers , but in the same manner .

When God raises a Cripple from his couch , and gives him strength to move , though the aid be supernatural , yet the motion is after the manner of nature . And it is evident in the matter of faith , which though it be the gift of God , yet it is seated in the Understanding , which operates by way of discourse , & not by intuition : The believer understands as a Man , not as an Angel : And when Christ by miracle restor'd a blinde eye , still that eye did see by reception , or else by emission of species , just so as eyes that did see naturally . So it is in habits . For it is a contradiction to say that a perfect habit is infus'd in an instant : For if a habit were infus'd , it must be infus'd as a habit is acquir'd ; for else it is not a habit . Habitus infusi insunduntur per modum acquisitorum . Regul. Scholast. As if a motion should be infus'd , it must still be successive as well as if it were natural .

But this device of infus'd habits , is a fancy without ground , and without sense , without authority , or any just grounds of confidence , and it hath in it very bad effects . For it destroys all necessity of our care and labour in the wayes of godliness , all cautions of a holy life ; it is apt to minister pretences and excuses for a perpetually wicked life till the last of our dayes , making men to trust to a late Repentance ; it puts men upon vain confidences , and makes them relie for salvation upon dreams and empty notions ; it destroys all the duty of man , and cuts off all entercourse of obedience and reward . But it is sufficient , that there is no ground for it in Scripture , nor in Antiquity , nor in right Reason : but it is infinitely destructive of all that wise conduct of Souls , by which God would glorifie himself by the means of a free obedience ; and it is infinitely confuted by all those Scriptures which require our cooperation with the assistance of Gods holy Spirit . For all the helps that the Spirit of Grace ministers to us , is farre from doing our work for us , that it onely enables us to do it for our selves , and makes it reasonable that God should therefore exact it of us , because we have no excuse , and cannot plead disability . To which purpose that discourse of S. Paul is highly convincing and demonstrative : Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling ; Phil. 2.12 , 13. for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , according to our desire : so it is better read ; that is , fear not at all , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , throughly do your duty † † Magis operamini . Syrus . Augescite in opere . Arabs . ; for according as you desire and pray , God will be present to you with his grace , to bear you through all your labours and temptations . And therefore our conversion , and the working our salvation , is sometimes ascribed to God , sometimes to men * * 1 Cor. 5. 7 , 8. 2 Tim. 2.21 . Jam. 4.8 . Ep●● 4.22 , 23 , 24. Col. 3 9 , 10. ; to God as the prime and indeficient cause , to man 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as to the fellow-worker with God ; it is the expression of S. Paul . The Scripture mentions no other effect of Gods grace , but such as I have now described . But that Grace should do all our work alone , and in an instant , that which costs the Saints so much labour , and fierce contentions , so much sorrow and trouble , so many prayers and tears , so much watchfulness and caution , so much fear and trembling , so much patience and long-suffering , so much toleration and contradiction , and all this under the conduct of the Spirit , in the midst of all the greatest helps of grace , and the inhabitation of the holy Spirit of God ; that all this labour and danger should be spar'd to a vile person , who hath griev'd and extinguish'd Gods holy Spirit , and a way contriv'd for him that he should enjoy the pleasures of this world , and the glories of the next , is such a device , as if it had any ground or colourable pretence for it , would , without the miracles of another grace , destroy all piety from the face of the earth . And in earnest , it seems to me a strange thing , that the Doctors of the Church of Rome should be so loose and remiss in this Article , when they are so sierce in another that takes from such persons all manner of excuse . It is ( I say ) very strange that it should be so possible , and yet withall so unncessary to keep the Commandements .

Obj. 2. But if a single act of contrition cannot procure pardon of sins that are habitual , then a wicked man that returns not till it be too late to root out vicious habits , must despair of salvation . I answer , That such a man should doe well to ask his Physician whether it be possible for him to escape that sickness ? If his Physician say it is , then the man need not despair ; for if he return to life and health , it will not be too late for him by the grace of God to recover in his soul . But if his Physician say he cannot recover ; first let the Physician be reproved for making his patient to despair . I am sure he hath less reason to say he cannot live , then there is to say , such a person hath no promise that he shall be saved without performing the condition . But the Physician if he be a wise man will say , So farre as he understands by the rules of his art , this man cannot recover ; but some secret causes of things there are , or may be , by which the event may be better then the most reasonable predictions of his art . The same answer I desire may be taken in the Question of his soul . Concerning which the Curate is to preach the rules and measures of God , but not to give a resolution concerning the secret and final sentence . 2. The case of the five foolish Virgins , if we may construe it as it is expressed , gives a sad account to such persons : and unless that part of the Parable be insignificant , which expresses their sorrow , their diligence , their desire , their begging of oyle , their going out to buy oyle before the Bridegroom came , but after it was noised that he was coming , and the insufficiency of all this , we may too certainly conclude , that much more then a single act of contrition , and a moral revocation , that is , a sorrow and a nolition of the past sins , may be done upon our death-bed without effect , without a being accepted to pardon and salvation . 3. When things are come to that sad state , let the man hope as much as he can ; God forbid that I should be Author to him to despair . The purpose of this discourse is , that men in health should not put things to that desperate condition , or make their hopes so little and afflicted , that it may be disputed whether they be alive or no. 4. But this objection is nothing but a temptation and a snare ; a device to make me confess that the former arguments ( for fear men should despair ) ought to be answered , and are not perfectly convincing . I intended them onely for institution and instruction , not to confute any person or any thing , but to condemne sin , and to resoue men from danger . But truly , I doe think they are rightly concluding ( as moral propositions are capable ; ) and if the consequent of them be , that dying persons after a vicious life cannot hope ( ordinarily ) for pardon , I am truly sorrowful that any man should fall into that sad state of things ; as I am really afflicted and sorrowful that any man should live vilely , or perish miserably ; but then it ought not to be imputed to this doctrine that it makes men despair , for the purpose and proper consequent of it , is , that men are warned to live so , that they may be secur'd in their hopes , that is , that men give diligence to make their calling and election sure , that they may take no desperate courses , and fall into no desperate condition . And certainly , if any man preach the necessity of a good life , and of actual obedience , he may as well be charged to drive men to despair ; for the summe of the foregoing doctrine is nothing else , but that it is necessary we should walk before God in all holy conversation and godliness . But of this I shall give a large account in the fifth § .

Obj. 3. But if things be thus , it is not good or safe to be a criminal Judge , and all the Discipline of Warre will be unlawful and highly displeasing to God . For if any one be taken in an act of a great sin , and as it happens in War , be put to death suddenly , without leisure and space of repentance , by the measures of this doctrine , the man shall perish , and consequently the power by which he fals is uncharitable .

I answer ; That in an act of sin the case is otherwise then in an habit , as I have already demonstrated in its proper place : It must be a habit that must extirpate a habit ; but an act is rescinded by a less violence and abode of duty : and it is possible for an act of duty to be so heroical , or the repentance of an hour to be so pungent and dolorous , and the fruits of that repentance putting forth by the sudden warmths and fervour of the spirit , be so goodly and fair , as through the mercies of God in Jesus Christ , to obtain pardon of that single sin , if that be all .

2. But it is to be considered , whether the man be otherwise a vicious person , or was he a good man , but by misfortune and carelesness overtaken in a fault ? If he was a good man , his spirit is so accustomed to good , that he is soon brought to an excellent sorrow , and to his former state , especially being awakened by the sad arrest of a hasty death : and if he accepts that death willingly , making that which is necessarily inforc'd upon him , to become voluntary by his acceptation of it , changing the judgement into penance , I make no question but he shall finde mercy . But if the man thus taken in a fault was otherwise a vicious person , it is another consideration . It is not safe for him to goe to war ; but the Officers may as charitably and justly put such a person to death for a fault , as send him upon a hard service . The doing of his duty may as well ruine him , as the doing of a fault ; and if he be repriev'd a week , he will finde difficulty in the doing what he should , and danger enough besides .

3. The discipline of war , if it be onely administred where it is necessary , not onely in the general rule , but also in the particular instance , cannot be reprov'd upon this account . Because by the laws of warre sufficiently published , every man is sufficiently warned of his danger ; which if he either accept , or be bound to accept , he perishes by his own fault , if he perishes at all . For as by the hazard of his imployment he is sufficiently called upon to repent worthily of all his evil life past , so is he by the same hazardous imployment , and the known laws of war , caution'd to beware of committing any great sin : and if his own danger will not become his security , then his confidence may be his ruine , and then nothing is to be blam'd but himself .

4. But yet it were highly to be wish'd , that when such cases do happen , and that it can be permitted in the particular without the dissolution of discipline , such persons should be pitied in order to their eternal interest . But when it cannot , the Minister of justice , is the Minister of God , and dispenses his power by the rules of his justice , at which we cannot quarrel , though he cuts off sinners in their acts of sin , of which he hath given them sufficient warning , and hath a long time expected their amendment : to whom that of Seneca may be applied , Vnum bonum tibi superest , repraesentabimus mortem . Nothing but death will make some men cease to sin ; and therefore , quo uno modo possunt , desinant mali esse . God puts a period to the increase of their ruine and calamity , by making that wickedness shorter , which if it could would have been eternal . When men are incorrigible , they may be cut off in charity as well as justice ; and therefore as it is always just , so it is sometimes pity , though a sad one , to take a sinner away with his sins upon his head . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . When it is impossible to have it otherwise , this is the onely good that he is capable of * * Ingeniis tal●bus vitae exitus remedium est : optimúmque est abire ei qui ad se nunquam rediturus est . Senec. de Benef. 7.10 . , to be sent speedily to a lesser punishment then he should inherit , if he should live longer . But when it can be otherwise , it were very well it were so very often . And therefore the customes of Spain are in this highly to be commended , who to condemned criminals give so much respite till the Confessor gives them a benè discessit , and supposes them competently prepared . But if the Law-givers were truly convinced of this doctrine here taught , it is to be hoped , they would more readily practise this charity .

Obj. 4. But hath not God promised pardon to him that is contrite ? A contrite and broken heart , O God , thou wilt not despise . And , I said , Psa. 51.17 . I will confess my sins unto the Lord : Psal. 32.6 . and so thou forgavest the wickedness of my sin . And the prodigal was pardon'd immediately upon his confession , and return . Coeperat dicere , & mox illum pater complectitur , Homil. de poenit . said S. Basil ; His Father embraces him when he began to speak . And S. Chrysostome , In that moment ( says he ) he wipes away all the sins of his life . And S. Austin upon that of David before quoted ; My confession came not so far as my mouth , and God heard the voyce of my heart .

To this I answer , first concerning the words of David . Then concerning the examples . 1. Concerning contrition , that it is a good beginning of repentance , is certain , and in its measure acceptable to God , and effective of all its proper purposes . But contrition can have but the reward of contrition , but not of other graces which are not parts but effects of it . God will not despise the broken and contrite heart ; no , for he will receive it graciously , and binde up the wounds of it , and lead it on in the paths of righteousness , and by the waters of comfort .

2. But a man is not of a contrite heart as soon as he hath exercised one act of contrition . He that goes to break a rock , does something towards it by every blow , but every blow does not break it . A mans heart is not so easily broken ; I mean broken from the love of sin , and its adherence to it . Every act of temperance does not make a man temperate ; and so I fear will it be judg'd concerning contrition .

3. But suppose the heart be broken , and that the man is contrite , there is more to be done then so . God indeed does not despise this , but he requires more . God did not despise Ahabs repentance , but it did not doe all his work for him . He does not despise patience , nor meekness , nor resignation , nor hope , nor confession , nor any thing that himself commands . But he that commands all , will not be content with one alone ; every grace shall have its reward , but it shall not be crown'd alone . Faith alone shall not justify , and repentance alone , taken in its specifical , distinctive sense , shall not suffice ; but faith , and repentance , and charity , and patience , and the whole circle and rosary of graces and duties must adorn our heads .

4. Those graces and duties which are commanded us , and to which God hath promised glorious rewards , must not be single or transient acts , but continual and permanent graces . Joh. 4.14 . He that drinks of the water which I shall give him , shall never thirst again . 6.58 . He that eats of this bread shall live for ever . He that believes in me , rivers of living waters shall flow from his belly . 7.38 . He that confesseth his sins and forsaketh them shall have mercy . Repent and beleeve , and wash away your sins . Now these words of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , are of extended and produced signification ( as Divines observe ) and signify a state of duty , such as includes patience and perseverance . Such also are these . 1 Joh. 2.17 . 1 Joh. 1.9 . He that doth the will of my Father abideth for ever . If we confess our sins , he is just and faithful to forgive us our sins , and to cleanse us from all iniquity ; Gal. 5.21 . and they that doe such things shall possess the kingdome of Heaven . And , I will deliver him because he hath put his trust in me . And , If we love him he also will love us . And , Forgive and ye shall be forgiven . These and many more , doe not intend that any one grace alone is sufficient , much less any one act of one grace , proceeding from the Spirit of God , can be sufficient to wipe off our leprosies . But these signify states of duty , and integrity ; not transient actions , or separate graces . And besides the infinite reasonableness of the thing , this truth is consign'd to us plainly in Scripture : Rom. 2.6 , 7. [ God ] will render to every man according to his deeds : To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality , eternal life . And if men had pleased , they might as well have fallen upon this proposition , that an act of humility would have procur'd our pardon , as well as that an act of contrition will doe it : because of the words of David , Psa. 34.17 . The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a contrite heart ; and will save such as be of an humble spirit . Salvation is as much promised to humility alone , as to contrition alone ; that is , to neither separately , but in the conjunction with other parts of duty .

5. Contrition is either taken in its proper specifick signification , and so it is but a part of repentance ; and then who can say that it shall be sufficient to a full and final pardon ? Repentance alone is not sufficient ; There must be faith , and hope , and charity ; therefore much less shall a part be sufficicient , when the whole is not . But if contrition be taken in a sense comprehending more then it self , then I demand how much shall it involve ? That it does include in it an act of the Divine love , and a purpose to confess , and a resolution to amend is affirmed . So far is well . But why thus far and no farther ? Why shall not contrition when it is taken for a sufficient disposition to pardon and salvation , signify as much as repentance does ; and repentance signify the whole duty of a converted sinner ? Unless it does , repentance it self , that is , as it is one single grace , cannot suffice , as I proved but now : And therefore how shall contrition alone , much less , an act of contrition alone doe it ? For my part , I should be very glad it were so , if God so pleased ; for I have as much need of mercy as any man , and have as little reason to be consident of the perfection of my repentance , as any returning sinner in the world . But I would not willingly deceive my self , nor others , and therefore I must take the surest course , and follow his measures who hath describ'd the lines and limits of his own mercy . * But it is remarkable that the manner of the Scripture is to include the consequents in the antecedents . Joh. 8.47 . He that is of God , heareth Gods word . That is , not onely hears but keeps it . For , not the hearer , Apoc. 19.9 . but the doer is blessed . So S. John in the Revelation ; Blessed are they that are called to the marriage of the Lamb. They which are called are blessed ; that is , They which being called , come , and come worthily , having on the wedding garment . For without this the meaning of the Spirit is not full . For many are called , but few are chosen . And thus also it is in the present instance : God will not despise the contrite heart ; that is , the heart which being bruised with sorrow returns to duty , and lives in holiness ; for in order to holiness , contrition was accepted .

But one thing I shall remark before I leave this . In the definition of Contrition , all the Schools of Theology in the world that I know of , put the love of God . Contrition is not onely sorrow , but a love of God too . Now this doctrine , if they themselves would give men leave rightly to understand it , is not onely an excellent doctrine , but will also do the whole business of this great Question . Without Contrition our sins cannot be pardon'd . It is not Contrition , unless the love of God be in it . Adde then but these ; Our love to God does not consist in an act of intuition or contemplation , nor yet directly and meerly of passion ; but it consists in obedience . If ye love me , keep my Commandements : That 's our love of God . So that Contrition is a detestation of our past sin , and a consequent obedience to the Divine Commandements : Onely as the aversion hath been , so must be the conversion ; It was not one act of disobedience onely which the habitual sinner is to be contrite for , but many ; and therefore so must his contrition be , a lasting hatred against sin , and an habitual love , that is , an habitual obedience to the Divine Commandement .

6. But now to the instances of David and the Prodigal , and the sudden pronunciation of their pardon , there is something particular to be said . The Parable of the Prodigal can prove nothing but Gods readiness to receive every returning sinner : but neither the measures nor the times of pardon are there described . As for David , his pardon was pronounced suddenly , but it was but a piece of pardon ; the sentence of death which by Moses law he incurred , that onely was remitted : but after this pardon , David repented bitterly in sackcloth and ashes , he fasted and prayed , he liv'd holily and wisely , he made amends as he could ; and yet the childe died that was born to him , his Son and Subjects rebelled , his Concubines were dishonoured in the face of the Sun , and the Sword never departed from his house . 2. But to both these and all other instances that are or can be of the like nature , I answer , That there is no doubt but Gods pardon is as early and speedy as the beginnings of our repentance ; but then it is such a pardon as is proportionable to the Repentance , a beginning Pardon , to a beginning Repentance . It is one degree of pardon to be admitted to Repentance ; To have more grace given , to have hopes of final absolution , to be continued in the work of the Lord , to be help'd in the mortification of our sins , to be invited forwards , and comforted , and defended , and blessed , still are further progressions of it , and answer to the several parts and perseverance of Repentance . And in this sense those sayings of the old Doctors are true , but in no other that I know of . To this purpose they are excellent words which were spoken by S. Austin , Serm. 181. de tempore , c. 16. Nunquam Deus spernit poenitentiam , si ei sinceré & simplicitèr offeratur ; suscipit , libentèr accipit , amplectitur omnia quatenus eum ad priorem statum revocet . God never does despise repentance that is sincerely offered to him ; he takes all , he embraces all , that he may bring the man to his former state .

Obj. 5. But against this doctrine are pretended some sentences of the Fathers , expresly affirming that a sinner returning to God in any instant may be pardoned ; even in the last moment of his life , when it is certain nothing can be done , but single acts of contrition or something like it . Thus the Author of the book De coena Domini , attributed to S. Cyprian , Sed & in eodem articulo temporis cum jam anima festinat ad exitum , & egrediens ad labia expirantis emerserit , poenitentiam clementissimi Dei benignitas non aspernatur : nec serum est quod verum , nec irremissibile quod voluntarium , & quaecunque necessitas cogat ad poenitudinem , nec quantitas criminis , nec brevitas temporis , nec horae extremitas , nec vitae enormitas , si vera contritio , si pura fuerit voluptatum mutatio , excludit à veniâ , sed in amplitudine sinus sui mater charitas prodigos suscipit revertentes , & velit nolit Novatus haereticus omni tempore Dei gratia recipit poenitentes . Truly this is expresly against the severity of the former doctrine ; and if S. Cyprian had been the Author of this book , I should have confess'd him to be an adversary in this question . For this Author affirms , that then when the soul is expiring , God rejects not the contrition of him who but then returns : Though the man be compelled to repentance , though the time be short , and the iniquity was long and great , yet in the last hour , if he be truly contrite , God will not refuse him . To this I say , that he that said these words was * * Arnoldus Abbas . one that liv'd not very long since ; then , when Discipline was broken , and Piety was lost , and Charity was waxen cold ; and since the mans authority is nothing , I need say no more , but that I have been reproving this opinion all this while . But there are words in S. Cyprians book to Demetrianus , which are confessedly his , and yet seem to promise pardon to dying penitents . Nec quisquam aut peccatis retardetur aut annis , quo minus veniat ad consequendam salutem . In isto adhuc mundo manenti poenitentia nulla seraest . Patet ad indulgentiam Dei aditus , & quaerentibus atque intelligentibus veritatem facilis accessus est . Tu sub ipso licet exitu & vitae temporalis occasu pro delictis roges : & Deum qui unus & verus est , confessione & fide agnitionis ejus implores . Venia confitenti datur , & credenti indulgentia salutaris de Divinâ pietate conceditur , & ad immortalitatem sub ipsâ morte transitur . These words are indeed very expresly affirmative of the efficacy of a very late , even of a death-bed repentance , if it should so happen . But the consideration of the person wholly alters the case , and makes it unapplicable to the case of dying Christians . For Demetrianus was then a Pagan , and a cruel persecutor of Christians . Nec saltem contentus es dolorum nostrorum compendio , & simplici ac veloci brevitate poenarum : admoves laniandis corporibus longa tormenta . Innoxios , justos , Deo charos domo privas , patrimonio spolias , catenis premis , carcere includis , bestiis , gladio , ignibus punis . This man S. Cyprian , according to the Christian Charity which teaches to pray for our persecutors , and to love our enemies , exhorts passionately to believe in Christ , to become a Christian , and though he was very old , yet to repent even then would not be too late . Hujus Sacramento & signo censeamur ; Hunc ( si fieri potest ) sequamur omnes . Let us all follow Christ ; let us all be consign'd with his sign and his Sacrament . Now there is no peradventure but new converted persons , Heathens newly giving up their Names to Christ and being baptized , if they die in an hour , and were baptized half an hour after they believe in Christ , are heirs of salvation . And it was impossible to be otherwise ; for when the Heathen world was to be converted , and the Gospel preached to all persons , old men , and dying men , it must either be effective to them also of all the promises , or by nothing could they be called to the Religion . They who were not Christians , were not to be judged by the Laws of Christ . But yet Christians are ; and that 's a full account of this particular , since the Laws of our Religion require of us a holy life ; but the Religion could demand of strangers nothing but to believe , and at first to promise to obey , and then to do it accordingly if they shall live . Now to do this , was never too late ; and this is all which is affirmed by S. Cyprian .

S. Hierome a a Epist. ad Letam . & ad Paulum & Sabinianum . affirm'd , Nunquam sera est conversio , latro de cruce transiit ad Paradisum . And S. b b Serm. 11. de verb. Dom , & Serm. 58. de tempore . Austin , De nullo desperandum est , quamdiu patientia Dei ad poenitentiam adducit : and again , De quocunque pessimo in hâc vitâ constituto utique non est desper andum . Nec pro illo imprudentèr oratur , de quo non desperatur . Concerning the words of S. Hierome , the same answer will serve which I gave to the words of S. Cyprian ; because his instance is of the Thief upon the Cross , who then came first to Christ : and his case was as if a Heathen were new converted to Christianity . Baptizatus ad horam securus hinc exit , was the Rule of the Church . Vide Hist. of the life of the holy Jesus . Pa●s 2. Disc. 9. But God requires more holiness of Christians then he did of strangers ; and therefore he also expects a longer and more laborious Repentance . But of this I have given account in the case of Demetrianus . S. Austins words press not at all : All that he sayes is this , We must despair of no man , so long as the mercy of God leadeth him to repentance . It is true , we must not absolutely despair ; but neither must we presume without a warrant ; nay , hope as long as God calls effectually . But when the severity of God cuts him off from repentance , by allowing him no time , or not time enough to finish what is required , the case is wholly differing .

But S. Chrysostome speaks words which are not easie to be reconciled to the former doctrine . The words of S. Chrysostome are these : Take heed of saying , Ad Theodorum lupsum . that there is a place of pardon onely for them that have sinn'd but little . For if you please suppose any one abounding with all maliciousness , and that hath done all things which shut men from the Kingdome ; let this man be ( not a Heathen , but ) a Christian and accepted of God , but afterwards an Whoremonger , an Adulterer , an effeminate person , unnaturally lustfull , a thief , a drunkard , a slanderer , and one that hath diligently committed such crimes , truly I will not be to him an author of despairing , although , he had persevered in these wickednesses to an extreme old age . Truly neither would I. But neither could he nor any man else be forward to warrant his particular . But if the remaining portion of his old age be well imployed , according as the time is , and the spending of that time , and the earnestness of the repentance , and the greatness of the grief , and the heartiness of the return , and the fulness of the restitution , and the zeal of amends , and the abundance of charity , and the largeness of the devotion , so we approach to very many degrees of hope . But there is difference between the case of an extreme old age , and a death-bed . That may have more time , and better faculties , and fitted opportunities , and a clearer choice , and a more perfect resistance between temptation and grace . But for the state of death-bed , although there is in that also some variety , yet the best is very bad , and the worst is stark naught ; but concerning the event of both , God onely is the Judge . Onely it is of great use that Chrysostome says in the same Letters to Theodorus , Quódque est majoris facilitatis argumentum , etiamsi non omnem prae se fert poenitentiam , brevem illam & exiguo tempore factam non abnuit , sed magnâ mercede compensat . Even a dying person ought not to despair , and leave off to do those little things of which onely there is then left to him a possibility ; because even that imperfect Repentance , done in that little time , God rejects not , but will give to it a great reward . So he did to Ahab . And whatsoever is good , shall have a good , some way or other it shall finde a recompence : but every recompence is not eternal glory , and every good thing shall not be recompensed with heaven . To the same purpose is that of Coelestinus , Epist. 1. reproving them that denied repentance to persons , qui obitus sui tempore hoc animae suae cupiunt remedio subveniri , who at the time of their death desired to be admitted to it . Horremus fateor tantae impietatis aliquem reperiri , ut de Dei pietate desperet ; quasi non posset ad se quovis tempore concurrenti succurrere , & periclitantem sub onere peccatorum hominem , pondere quo se expedire desiderat , liberare . I confess ( saith he ) we abhor that any one should be found to be of so great impiety as to despair of Gods mercy ; as if he could not at any time relieve him that comes to him , and ease him that runs to be eased of the burthen of his sins . Quid hoc rogo aliud est , &c. What else is this but to adde death to the dying man , and to kill his soul with cruelty , by denying that he can be absolved , since God is most ready to help , and inviting to repentance , thus promises , saying , In what day soever the sinner shall be converted , his sins shall not be imputed to him ; and again , I would not the death of a sinner ; but that he should be converted and live ? He therefore takes salvation from a man , who denies him his hoped for repentance in the time of his death ; and he despairs of the clemency of God , who does not believe it sufficient to help the dying man in a moment of time . The thief on the Cross hanging on Christs right hand had lost his reward , if the repentance of one hour had not helped him . When he was in pain he repented and obtain'd Paradise by one discourse . Therefore the true conversion to God of dying persons , is to be accounted of by the minde rather then by time . Thus far S. Coelestine , The summe of which is this ; That dying persons must not be thrust into despair : Because Gods mercy is infinite , and his power is infinite . He can do what he please , and he may do more then we know of , even more then he hath promised ; and therefore they that are spiritual must not refuse to do all that they can to such miserable persons . And in all this there is nothing to be reproved , but that the good man by incompetent arguments goes about to prove what he had a minde to . If the hindring such persons to despair be all that he intends , it is well ; if more be intended , his arguments will not do it .

Afterwards in the descending ages of the Church things grew worse , and it began to be good doctrine even in the dayes of S. Lib. 2. c. 14. de summo bono . Isidore ; Nullus desperare debet veniam , etiamsi circa finem vitae ad poenitentiam convertatur . Vnumquemque enim Deus de suo fine , non de vitâ praeteritâ judicat . God judges a man by his end , not by his past life ; and therefore no man must despair of pardon , though he be not converted till about the end of his life . but in these words there is a lenitive , Circa finem vitae ] if he be converted about the end of his life ; that is , in his last o● declining years : which may contain a fair portion of time , like those who were called in the eleventh hour , that is circa finem vitae , but not in fine ; about , not in the end of their life . c. 80. But S. Austin , or Gennadius , or whoever is Author of the book De Ecclesiasticis dogmatibus , speaks home to the Question , but against the former doctrine . Poenitentiâ aboleri peccata indubitantèr credimus , etiamsi in ultimo vitae spiritu admissorum poeniteat , & publicâ lamentatione peccata prodantur , quia propositum Dei quo decrevit salvare quod perierat , stat immobile : & ideo quia voluntas ejus non mutatur , sive emendatione vitae si tempus conceditur , sive supplici confessione , si continuò vitâ exceditur , venia peccatorum fidelitèr praesumatur ab illo qui non vult mortem peccatoris , sed ut convertatur à perditione poenitendo , & salvatus miseratione Domini vivat . Si quis alitèr de justissimâ Dei pietate sentit , non Christianus sed Novatianus est . That sins are taken off by repentance , though it be but in the last breath of our life , we believe without doubting . He that thinks otherwise is not a Christian but a Novatian . If we have time , our sins are taken away by amendment of life ; but if we die presently , they are taken off by humble confession . This is his Doctrine . And if he were infallible , there were nothing to be said against it . But to ballance this , we have a more sober discourse of S. Austin in these words . Lib. 50. Hom. 41. [ If any man plac'd in the last extremity of sickness , would be admitted to repentance , and is presently reconciled , and so departs , I confess to you , we doe not deny to him what he asks , but we doe not presume that he goes hence well . I doe not presume , I deceive you not , I doe not presume . A faithful man living well , goes hence securely . He that is baptized but an hour before goes hence securely . He that repents and afterwards lives well , goes hence securely . He that repents at last and is reconciled , whether he goes hence securely I am not secure . Where I am secure , I tell you , and give security ; where I am not secure , I can admit to repentance , but I cannot give security ... And a little after . Attend to what I say . I ought to explain clearly what I say , lest any one should misunderstand me . Do I say he shall be damned ? I doe not say it . Doe I say he shall be pardon'd ? I doe not say it . And what say you to me ? I know not . I presume not , I promise not , I know not . Will you free your self from doubt ? Will you avoid that which is uncertain ? Repent while thou art in health . For if you doe penance while you are well , and sickness finde you so doing , run to be reconciled ; and if you do so , you are secure . Why are you secure ? Because you repented at that time when you could have sinned . But if you repent then when you cannot sin , thy sins have left thee , thou hast not left them . But how know you that God will not forgive him ? You say true . How ? I know not . I know that , I know not this . For therefore I give repentance to you , because I know not . For if I knew it would profit you nothing , I would not give it you . And if I did know that it would profit you , I would not affright you . There are but these two things . Either thou shalt be pardon'd , or thou shalt not . Which of these shall be in thy portion I know not . Therefore keep that which is certain , and let goe that which is uncertain . Some suppose these to have been the words of S. Ambrose , not S. Austin . But S. Austin hath in his Sermons de tempore something more decretory then the former discourse . Ser. 57. He that is polluted with the filth of sins , let him be cleansed exomologesis satisfactione , with the satisfactions of repentance . Neither let him put it off , that he doe not require it till his death-bed , where he cannot perform it . For that persuasion is unprofitable . It is nothing for a sinner to repent , unless he finish his repentance . For the voyce of the penitent alone is not sufficient for the amendment of his faults : for in the satisfaction for great crimes , not words , but works are look'd after . Truly repentance is given in the last , because it cannot be denied ; but we cannot affirm , that they who so ask , ought to be absolved . For how can the lapsed man doe penance ? How shall the dying man doe it ? How can he repent , who cannot doe works of satisfaction or amendment of life ? And therefore that repentance which is required by sick men , is it self weak ; that which is required by dying men , I fear lest that also die . And therefore whosoever will finde mercy of God , let him doe his repentance in this world , that he may be saved in the world to come . Higher yet are the words of Paulinus Bishop of Nola , to Faustus of Rhegium , Epist. 1. Bibl. SS. Pp. tom. 3. inquiring what is to be done to death-bed penitents ? Inimicâ persuasione mentitur , qui maculas longâ aetate contractas subitis & inutilibus abolendas gemitibus arbioratur : quo tempore confessio esse potest , satisfactio esse non potest . He lies with the persuasion of an enemy , who thinks that those stains which have been long contracting , can be suddenly wash'd off with a few unprofitable sighings , at that time when he can confess , but never make amends . And a little after ; Circa exequendam interioris hominis sanitatem , non solùm accipiendi voluntas , sed agendi expectatur utilitas : And again , Hujusmodi medicina sicut ore poscenda , ita opere consummanda est . Then a man repents truly , when what he affirms with his mouth , he can finish with his hand ; that is , not onely declaim against sin , but also mortify it . To which I adde the words of Asterius Bishop of Amasea . Homil. de Divit . & Lazaro . At cum debitum tempus adveniet , & indeprecabile decretum corporis & animae nexum dissolvet , reputatio fubibit eorum quae in vitâ patrata sunt , & poenitentia sera & nihil profitura . Tunc enim demum poenitentia prodest , cum poenitens emendandi facultatem habet ; sublatâ verò copiâ rectè faciendi , inutilis est dolor , & irrita poenitentia . When the set time shall come , when the irrevocable decree shall dissolve the union of soul and body , then shall the memory of those things return which were done in our life time , and a late repentance that shall profit nothing . For then repentance is profitable , when the penitent can amend his fault : But when the power of doing well is taken away , grief is unprofitable , and the repentance vain . Now to the words of Gennadius before quoted , I answer , That they are a fierce reproof of the Novatian doctrine , and too great an earnestness of going so far from them , that he left also the severity which wise and good men did at that time teach , and ought always to press . He went to cure one error by another , never thinking any contradictory sufficient , unless it were against every thing that the Novatians did say , though also it was said and believed by the Orthodox . But I shall resume this discourse in the following Chapters , where upon another occasion I shall give account of the severity of the Primitive Church in this article ; which at first was at least as strict as the severest part of this discourse , till by degrees it lessen'd and shrunk into the licenciousness and dissolution of the present age .

Obj. 6. But if it be necessary to extirpate the habits of sin , and to acquire ( being help'd by Gods grace ) the contrary habits of vertue ; how can it fare with old and decayed men , or with men that have a lingring , tedious , protracted sickness ( for I suppose their case is very near the same ) who were intemperate , or unchast all their life time , and until they could be so no longer ; but how can they obtain the habit of chastity , who cannot doe any acts of chastity ; or of temperance , who have lost their stomack , and have not any inclination or temptation to the contrary ? and every vertue must be cum potentiâ ad oppositum ; if it be not chosen it is not vertue , nor rewardable . And the case is almost the same to all persons young or old , who have not opportunity of acting those graces , in the matter of which they have formerly prevaricated .

To this I answer many things , and they are of use in the explication of this material question . 1. Old men may exercise many acts of chastity both internal and external . For if they may be unchast , they may also be chast : But S. Paul speaks of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , men that being past feeling , yet were given to lasciviousness ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , half men , half boyes , pruri●ntes in sepulchro . For it is not the body but the soul that is wanton ; And an evil man may sin with ineffective lusts ; as he that lusts after a woman whom he cannot have , sins with his soul . Now where ever these unlawful desires can be , there also they can be mortified ; and an old man can love to talk of his past vanities , or not rescind them by repentance , or desire that he were young and active in wickedness ; and therefore if he chooses not to doe so , and therefore avoids these and the like , out of hatred of his old impurities , he does the proper works of that grace , which he also may doe the easier , because then his temptations to the contrary are not so strong : but this advantage is not worth staying for so long . They that doe so , venture damnation a long time together , and may also have an evil proper to that state , greater then this little advantage I instance .

2. If there were no other act of chastity to be exercised by old persons , by reason of their disability ; yet the very accepting from the hands of God that disability , and the delighting in that circumstance of things , in which it is impossible to sin as formerly , must needs be pleasing to God , because it is a nolition of the former sins , and a desire of pleasing him .

3. Every act of sorrow for unchastity is an act of chastity ; and if this sorrow be great , and lasting , permanent and habitual , it will be productive of much good . And if to these the penitent addes penal actions and detestations of his crimes , revenge and apt expressions of his holy anger against his sin , these doe produce a quality in the soul contrary to that which made him formerly consent to lust .

4. When a vicious habit is to be extirpated , and the contrary introduc'd , it is not necessary that the contrary be acted by the body , but be radicated in the soul ; It is necessary that the body doe not sin in that instance ; but it is not always required , that contrary acts be done by the body . Suppose Origen had been a lustful person before his castration , yet he might have been habitually chast afterwards , by doing spiritual acts of a corporal chastity . And there are many sins whose scene lies in the body , to which the body afterwards cannot oppose a bodily act in the same instance ; as he that by intemperate drinking once or oftner , fals into a loathing of wine ; he that dismembers himself and many others ; for which a repentance is possible and necessary , but yet a contrary specifick act cannot be opposed . In these cases it is sufficient that the habit be plac'd in the soul , and a perfect contrary quality superinduc'd , which is to be done by a frequent repetition of the acts of repentance proper to the sin .

5. There are some sins for which amends is to be made in the way of commutation , when it cannot be in the proper instance . Redime peccata tua eleemosynis , Dan. 4.27 . said Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar , Redeem thy sins with alms , and thy iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor . Our English Bibles read this , Break off thy sins by alms ; as if alms were directly contrary to pride , or lust , or gluttony , or tyranny ; and the shewing mercy to the poor a direct intercision and interruption of the sin . He that gives alms that he may keep his lust , loses his soul and his money too . But he that leaves his lust , or is driven from it , and gives alms to obtain Gods favour for his pardon , by doing something that is gracious in his eyes , this man is a good penitent ; if his alms be great and proportionable , given freely and without constraint , when he can keep them , and receive and retain the temporal advantage and be assisted by all those other acts and habits of which his present state is capable . It cannot be said , that to give alms can in all such cases be sufficient ; as it will be hard to say that so many acts of the contrary grace will suffice to get a habit , or obtain a pardon ; but it is true , that to give alms is a proper action of repentance in such cases , and is in order to pardon . For ,

6. As there is a supreme habit of vice , a transcendent vileness , that is , a custome and readiness to doe every sin as it is presented in its proper temptation , and this is worse then the habit of any one sin : so there is a transcendent habit of grace , by which a man is so holy and just and good , that he is ready to obey God in every instance . That is malice , and this is charity . When a man hath this grace habitually , although it may be so that he cannot produce the proper specifick habit opposite to his sin for which he specially repents , yet his supreme habit does contain in it the specifick habit virtually and transcendently . An act of this charity will not doe this , but the habit will . For he that does a single act of charity , may also doe a single act of malice ; and he that denies this , knows not what he says , nor ever had experience of himself or any man else . For if he that does an act of charity , that is , he who by a good motion from Gods Spirit does any thing because God hath commanded , to say that this man will doe every thing which is so commanded , is to say that a good man can never fall into a great sin , which is evidently untrue . But if he that does one act in obedience to God , or in love to him , ( for obedience is love ) will also doe more , then every man that does one act to please his senses , may as well be supposed that he will doe more ; and then no mans life should have in it any variety , but be all of a piece , intirely good , or intirely evil . I see no difference in the instances , neither can there be , so long as a man in both states hath a power to choose . But then it will follow , that a single act of contrition , or of charity cannot put a man into the state of the Divine favour , it must be the grace , or habit of charity ; and that is a magazine of habits by equivalency , and is formally the state of grace . And upon these accounts , if old men will repent , and doe what they can do , and are enabled in that state , they have no cause to be afflicted with too great fears concerning the instances of their habits , or the sins of their youth . Concerning persons that are seis'd upon by a lingring sickness , I have nothing peculiar to say , save this onely . That their case is in something better then that of old men , in some things worse . It is better , because they have in many periods of their sickness more hopes of returning to health and long life , then old men have of returning to strength and youth , and a protracted age : and therefore their repentance if it be hearty , hath in it also more degrees of being voluntary , and relative to a good life . But in this their case is worse . An old man that is healthful is better seated in the station of penitents , and because he can choose contraries , is the more acceptable if he chooses well . But the sick man though living long in that disadvantage , cannot be indifferent in so many instances as the other may : and in this case , it is remarkable what S. Austin said , Si autem vis agere poenitentiam quando jam peccare non potes , peccata te dimiserunt , non tu illa . To abstain from sin when a man cannot sin , is to be forsaken by sin , not to forsake it . At the best it is bad enough : But I doubt not but if they doe what they can doe , there is mercy for them , which they shall finde in the day of recompences .

Obj. 7. But how shall any man know whether he have perform'd his repentance as he ought ? For if it be necessary that he get the habits of vertue , and extirpate the habits of vice ; that is , if by habits God do , and we are to make judgements of our repentance , who can be certain that his sins are pardon'd , and himself reconcil'd to God , and that he shall be sav'd ? The reasons of his doubts and fears are these . 1. Because it is a long time before a habit can be lost , and the contrary obtain'd . 2. Because while one habit lessens , another may undiscernibly increase , and it may be a degree of covetousness may expel a degree of prodigality . 3. Because a habit may be lurking secretly , and for want of opportunity of acting in that instance , not betray it self , or be discover'd , or attempted to be cur'd . For he that was not tempted in that kinde where he sinn'd formerly , may for ought he knows , say that he hath not sinn'd onely because he was not tempted ; but if that be all , the habit may be resident , and kill him secretly . These things must be accounted for .

1. But to him that inquires whether it be light or darkness , in what regions his inheritance is design'd , and whether his Repentance is sufficient , I must give rather a reproof then an answer ; or at least such an answer as will tell there is no need of an answer . For indeed it is not good inquiring into measures and little portions of grace . * Love God with all thy heart , and all thy strength , do it heartily , and do it alwayes . If the thing be brought to pass clearly and discernibly , the pardon is certain , and not orious : But if it be in a middle state , between ebbe and floud , so is our pardon too , and if in that undiscerned state it be in the thing certain that thou art on the winning and prevailing side , if really thou doest belong unto God , he will take care both of thy intermediall comfort , and final interest . * But when people are too inquisitive after comfort , it is a signe their duty is imperfect . In the same proportion also it is not well when we enquire after a sign for our state of grace and holiness . If the habit be compleat and intire , it is as discernible as light , and we may as well enquire for a sign to know when we are hungry and thirsty , when you can walk , or play on the lute . The thing it self is its best indication .

2. But if men will quarrel at any truth , because it supposes some men to be in such a case , that they do not know certainly what will become of them in the event of things , I know not how it can be help'd ; I am sure they that complain here , that is , the Roman Doctors , are very fierce Preachers of the certainty of salvation , or of our knowledge of it . But be they who they will , since all this uncertainty proceeds not from the doctrine , but from the evil state of things into which habitual sinners have put themselves , there will be the less care taken for an answer . But certainly it seems strange that men who have liv'd basely and viciously all their dayes , who are respited from an eternal Hell by the miracles of mercy , concerning whom it is a wonderful thing that they had not really perished long before , that these men returning at the last , should complain of hard usage , because it cannot be told to them as confidently as to new baptized Innocents , that they are certain of their salvation as S. Peter and S. Paul . * But however , both they , and better men then they , must be content with those glorious measures of the Divine mercy which are described , and upon any terms be glad to be pardon'd , and to hope and fear , to mourn and to be afflicted , to be humbled and to tremble , and then to work out their salvation with fear and trembling .

3. But then ( to advance one step further ) there may be a certainty where is no evidence ; that is , the thing may be certain in it self , though not known to the man ; and there are degrees of hope concerning the final event of our souls : For suppose it cannot be told to the habitual sinner , that his habits of sin are overcome , and that the Spirit rules in all the regions of his soul ; yet is he sure that his vicious habits do prevail ? is he sure that sin does reign in his mortal body ? If he be , then let him not be angry with this doctrine ; for it is as bad with him , as any doctrine can affirm . But if he be not sure that sin reigns , then can he not hope that the Spirit does rule ? and if so , then also he may hope that his sins are pardon'd , and that he shall be sav'd . And if he look for greater certainty then that of a holy and a humble hope , he must stay till he have a revelation , it cannot be had from the certainty of any proposition in Scripture applicable to his case and person .

4. If a habit be long before it be master'd , if a part of it may consist with its contrary , if a habit may lurk secretly and undiscernibly , all these things are aggravations of the danger of an habitual sinner , and are very true , and great engagements of his watchfulness and fear , his caution and observance . But then nor these nor any thing else can evacuate the former truths ; nor yet ought to make the returning sinner to despair : Onely this ; If he fears that there may be a secret habit unmortified , let him go about his remedy . 2. If he still fears , let him put himself to the trial . 3. If either that does not satisfie him , or he wants opportunity , let him endevour to encrease his supreme habit , the habit of Charity , or that universal grace of the love of God , which will secure his spirit against all secret undiscernible vicious affections .

5. This onely is certain : No man needs to despair that is alive , and hath begun to leave his sins , and to whom God hath given time , and power , and holy desires . If all these be spent , and nothing remain besides the desires , that is another consideration , and must receive its sentence by the measures of the former doctrine . But for the present , a man ought not to conclude against his hopes , because he findes propensities and inclinations to the former courses remaining in him , even after his conversion . For so it will be always , more or less , and this is not onely the remains of a vicious habit , but even of natural inclination in some instances .

6. Then the habit hath lost its killing quality , and the man is freed from his state of ungraciousness , when the habit of vertue prevails , when he obeys frequently , willingly , chearfully . But if he sins frequently , and obeys his temptations readily ; if he delights in sin , and chooses that ; that is , if his sins be more then sins of infirmity ( as they are described under their proper title ) then the habit remains , and the man is in the state of death . But when sentence is given for God , when vertue is the greater ingredient , when all sin is hated , and labour'd , and pray'd against , the remaining evils and struglings of the Serpent are signs of the Spirits victory , but also engagements of a persevering care and watchfulness , lest they return , and prevail anew . He that is converted , and is in his contentions for heaven , is in a good state of being ; let him go forward . He that is justified , let him be justified still ; but whether just now if he dies he shall be sav'd or not , we cannot answer , or give accounts of every period of his new life . In what minute or degree of Repentance his sins are perfectly pardon'd , no man can tell ; and it is unreasonable to reprove a doctrine that infers a man to be uncertain , where God hath given no certain notices or measures . If a man will be certain , he must die as soon as he is worthily baptiz'd , or live according to his promises then made . If he breaks them , he is certain of nothing but that he may be sav'd if he returns speedily , and effectively does his duty . But concerning the particulars , there can no rules be given sufficient to answer every mans case beforehand . If he be uncertain how Gods judgement will be of him , let him be the more afraid , and the more humble , and the more cautious , and the more penitent . For in this case , all our security is not to be deriv'd from signs , but from duty . Duty is the best signification , and Gods infinite boundless mercy is the best ground of our Confidence .

§. 6. The former Doctrine reduc'd to Practise .

IT now remains that we account concerning the effect of this Doctrine ; and first , concerning them that are well and vigorous . 2. Them that are old . 3. Them that are dying . All which are to have several usages and receptions , proper entertainments and exercises of Repentance .

The manner of Repentance and usage of Habitual sinners , who convert in their timely and vigorous years .

1. Let every man that thinks of his return , be infinitely careful to avoid every new sin ; for it is like a blow to a broken leg , or a burthen to a crushed arm . Every little thing disorders the new health , and unfinish'd recovery . So that every new sin to such a person is a double damage , it pulls him back from all his hopes , and makes his labours vain , and he is as far to seek , and as much to begin again as ever , and more . For so may you see one climbing of a Rock , with a great contention and labour and danger , if when he hath got from the foot to the shoulder , he then lets his hold go , he falls lower then where he first set his foot , and sinks deeper by the weight of his own fall . So is the new converted man who is labouring to overcome the rocks and mountains of his habitual sins ; every sin throws him down further , and bruises his very bones in the fall . To this purpose therefore is the wise advice of the son of Sirach , Hast thou sinn'd ? do so no more , but aske pardon for thy former fault : Adde not sin to sin , for in one a man shall not be unpunished .

Ergo ne pietas sit victa cupidine ventris , Metamorp . 15. Parcite , vaticinor , cognat as caede nefandâ Exturbare animas , ne sanguine sanguis alatur .

Let not bloud touch bloud , nor sin touch sin ; for we destroy our souls with impious hands , when a crime follows a habit , like funeral processions in the pomps and solennities of death .

2. At the beginning of his recovery , let the penitent be arm'd by special cautions against the labours and difficulties of the restitution : and consider , that if sin be so pleasant , it is the habit that hath made it so ; it is become easie and natural by the custome . And therefore so may vertue . And complain not that Nature helps and corroborates the habits of sin : For besides that Nature doth this mischief but in some instances , not in all ; the Grace of God will as much assist the customes and labours of vertue , as Nature doth the habits of vice . And choose whether you will . Take any institution or course of life , let it at first be never so violent , use will make it pleasant . And therefore we may make vertue as certain as vice is , as pleasing to the spirit , as hard to be removed , as perfective of our nature as the other is destructive ; and make it by assuefaction as impossible to be vicious , as we now think it difficult and impossible to overcome flesh and bloud . * But let him remember this also , that it will be a strange shame , that he can be in a state of sin and death from which it will be very hard to remove , and to confess our natures so caitiff and base , that we cannot as easily be united unto vertue ; that he can become a Devil , and cannot be like an Angel ; that he can decline to the brutishness of beasts , and yet never arise up to a participation of the excellent beauties of the intellectual world .

3. He that undertakes the repentance of his vicious habits , when he hath strength and time enough for the work , must do it in kinde ; that is , he must oppose a habit to a habit , every contrary to its contrary : as Chastity to his Wanronness , Temperance to his Gluttony or Drunkenness : The reason is , because if he had contracted the habit of a sin , especially of youthful sins , unless the habit of vertue be oppos'd to the instance of his sin , he cannot be safe , nor penitent . For while the temptation and fierce inclinations remain , it cannot be a cure to this to doe acts of Charity ; he must doe acts of Chastity , or else he will fall or continue in his uncleanness ; which in old persons will not be . Here the sin still tempts by natural inclination , and commands by the habit ; and therefore as there can be no Repentance while the affections remain , so neither can there be safety as long as the habit hath a natural being . The first begins with a moral revocation of the sin ; and the same hath also its progression , perfection , and security , by the extinction of the inherent quality .

4. Let the penitent seek to obstruct or divert the proper principles of evil habits ; for by the same by which they begin , commonly by the same they are nursed up to their ugly bulke . There are many of them that attend upon the Prince of Darkness , and minister to the filthy production . Evil examples , Natural inclinations , false propositions , evil prejudices , indulgence to our own infirmities , and many more : but especially , a cohabitation with the temptation , by which we fell and did enter into death , and by which we use to fall . * There are some men more in love with the temptation then with the sin ; and because this rushes against the Conscience rudely , and they see death stand at the end of the progression , therefore they onely love to stand upon Mount Ebal and view it . They resolve they will not commit the sin , they will not be overcome , but they would fain be tempted . If these men will but observe the contingencies of their own own state , they shall finde that when they have set the house on fire , they cannot prescribe its measures of burning . * But there is a secret iniquity in it . For he that loves to stand and stare upon the fire that burnt him formerly , is pleas'd with the warmth and splendour , and the temptation it self hath some little correspondencies to the appetite . The man dares not fornicate , but loves to look upon the beauties of a woman , or sit with her at the wine , till his heart is ready to drop asleep . He will not enter into the house , because it is infected with the plague , but he loves to stand at the door , and fain would enter if he durst ; It is impossible that any man should love to abide by a temptation for a good end . There is some little sensuality in being tempted : And the very consideration concerning it , sometimes strikes the fancy too unluckily , and pleases some faculty or other , as much as the man dares admit . * I doe not say , that to be tempted is always criminal , or in the neighbourhood of it ; but it is the best indication of our love to God , for his sake to deny its importunity , and to overcome it : but that is onely , when it is unavoidable and from without , against our wils , or at least besides our purposes . * For in the declination of sin , and overcoming temptation , there can be but these two things by which we can signify our love to God . 1. To stand in a temptation when we could not avoid it . 2. And to run from it , when we can . This hath in it more of prudence , and the other of force and spiritual strength : and we can best signify the sense of our weakness , and our carefulness by avoiding the occasions ; but then we declare the excellency of our purposes , and pertinacious love to God , when we serve him in hard battels , when we are tempted as before , but fall not now as we did then . Indeed this is the greatest trial ; and when God suffers us so to be tried , we are accepted if we stand in that day , and in such circumstances . But he that will choose that state , and dwell near his danger , loves not to be safe ; and either he is a vain person in the confidences of his own strength , or else he loves that which is like a sin , and comes as near it as he dare ; and very often , the event of it is , that at last he dies like a flie about a candle . But he that hath fallen by such a neighbourhood , and still continues the cause , may as well hope to cure his feaver by full draughts of the new vintage , as return to life upon that account . * A vicious habit is maintain'd at an easie rate , but not cur'd without a mighty labour and expence : any thing can feed it , but nothing can destroy it , if there be any thing near it , whereby it can be kept alive . If therefore you will cure a vicious habit dwell far from danger , and tempt not death with which you have been so long in love .

5. A vicious habit never could have come to that state and period but by impunity . If God had smitten the sinner graciously in the beginning of his evil journey , it is likely that as Balaam did , he also would have offered to goe back . Now when God does not punish a sinner early , though it hath in it more of danger and less of safety , yet we may in some measure supply the want of Divine mercy smiting and hindring a sinner , by considering that impunity is no mark of innocence , but very often it is an indication of Gods extremest and final anger . Therefore be sure , ever to suspect a prosperous sin . For of it self prosperity is a temptation , and it is granted but to few persons to be prosperous and pious . The poor and the despised , the humble and necessitous ; he that daily needs God with a sharpness of apprehension , that feeds upon necessity , and lives in hardships , that is never flatter'd , and is never cheated out of vertue for bread , those persons are likely to be wise and wary ; and if they be not , nothing can make them so ; for he that is impatient in want is impotent in plenty ; for impatience is pride , and he that is proud when he is poor , if he were rich he would be intolerable ; and therefore it is easier to bear poverty temperately then riches . Securo nihil est te Naevole pejus , Epigr. l. 4. ep. 84. eodem Sollicito nihil est Naevole te melius . and Passienus said of Caligula , Nemo fuit servus melior , nemo Dominus deterior . He was the best Servant , and the worst Master that ever was . Poverty is like a girdle about our loyns , it binds hard , but it is modest and useful . But a heap of riches is a heap of temptations , and few men will escape , if it be alwayes in their hand what can be offered to their heart . And therefore to be prosperous hath in it self enough of danger . But when a sin is prosperous and unpunished , there are left but few possibilities and arguments of resistance , and therefore it will become or remain habitual respectively . S. Paul taught us this secret , that sins are properly made habitual upon the stock of impunity . Rom. 7.7 . Sin taking occasion by the law wrought in me all concupiscence , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , apprehending impunity 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by occasion of the Commandement , viz. so expressed and established as it was . Because in the Commandement forbidding to lust or covet , there was no penalty annexed , or threatned in the sanction or in the explication . Murder was death , and so was adultery , and rebellion . Theft was punished severely too ; and so other things in their proportion ; but the desires God left under a bare restraint , and affixed no penalty in the law . Now sin , that is , men that had a minde to sin , taking occasion hence , that is , taking this impunity for a sufficient warrant , prevail'd by frequent actions up to an evil custome and a habit , and so rul'd them who were not renewed and overruled by the holy Spirit of grace . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 signifies a caution in law , or a security ; so Suidas and Phavorinus . It is used also for impunity in Demosthenes , though the Grammarians note it not . But as to the thing . When ever you see a sin thrive , start back suddenly and with a trembling fear : for it does nurse the sin from a single action to a filthy habit , and that always dwels in the suburbs of the horrible regions . No man is so much to be pitied , as he that thrives and is let alone in his sin : there is evil towards that man . But then God is kinde to a sinner when he makes his sin to be uneasy and troublesome .

6. But in prosecution of the former observation , it is of very great use that the vigorous and healthful penitent doe use corporal mortifications and austerities , by way of penance and affliction for every single act of that sin he commits , whose habit he intends to mortify . If he makes himself smart , and never spare his sin but still punish it , besides that it is a good act of indignation and revenge which S. Paul commends in all holy penitents , it is also a way to take off the pleasure of the sin by which it would fain make abode and seisure upon the will . A man will not so soon delight , or love to abide with that which brings him affliction in present , and makes his life miserable . This advice I learn from Maimonides . Morch Nevocin 341. Ab inolitâ peccandi consuetudine non posse hominem avelli nisi gravibus poenis . Nothing so good to cure an evil custome of sinning , as the inflicting great smart upon the offender . He that is going to cure his habitual drunkenness ; if ever he be overtaken again , let him for the first offence fast two days with bread and water ; and the next time double his smart ; and let the man load himself till he groans under it , and he will be glad to take heed .

7. He that hath sinn'd often , and is now returning , let him watch if ever his sin be offer'd to him by a temptation , and that temptation dressed at formerly ; that he be sure not to neglect that opportunity of beginning to break his evil habit ; He that hath committed fornication , and repents , if ever he be tempted again ( not to seek for it , but ) to act it , and may enter upon the sin with ease and readiness , then let him refuse his sin so dressed , so ready , so fitted for action , and the event will be this , that besides it is a great indication and sign of an excellent repentance , it discountenances the habit , and breaks the combination of its parts , and disturbs its dwelling ; but besides it is so signal an action of repentance , and so pleasing to the Spirit of God , and of a good man , that it is apt to make him doe so again , and proceed to crucify that habit , upon which he hath had so lucky a day , and so great a victory and success . It is like giving to a person , and obliging him by some very great favour . He that does so , is for ever after ready and apt to doe that obliged person still more kindness , lest the first should perish . When a man hath gotten an estate together , he is apt ( saith Plutarch ) to save little things , and be provident even of the smallest summe , because that now if it be sav'd will come to something , it will be seen and preserv'd in his heap . But he that is poor cannot become rich with those little arts of providence ; and therefore he ●ets them goe for his pleasure , since he cannot keep them with hopes to improve his bank : so is such an earnest and entry into piety ; it is such a stock of holiness that it is worth preserving ; and to have resisted once so bravely , does adde confidence to the spirit that it can overcome , and makes it probable that he may get a crown . However it fals out , it is an excellent act and signification of a hearty repentance and conversion .

〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Philemon . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 .

He is a just man , not whosoever does no wrong , but he that can and will not . Maimonides saith excellently to the same purpose ▪ For to the Question , Quaenam tandem est poenitentia perfecta ? He answers , This is true and perfect repentance , Can●n . poenit . cap. 2.1 . Cum quis ad manum habet , quo priùs peccavit , & jam penes ipsum est , idem perpetrare , recedens tamen illuà non committit poenitentiae causâ , neque timore cohibitus neque defectu virium . When the power and opportunity is present , and the temptation ( it may be ) ready and urging , when it is in a mans hand to doe the same thing , yet retiring he commits it not , onely for piety or repentance sake , not being restrain'd by fear or want of powers .

8. If such opportunities of his sin be not presented , it is never the worse : The penitent need not be fond of them , for they are dangers , which prove death if they be not triumphed over ; and if they be , yet the man hath escap'd a danger , and may both prove and act his repentance without it . But therefore he that is not so tried and put to it , must doe all that which he is put to , and execute his fierce anger against the sin and by proper instances of mortification endevour the destruction of it ; and although every man hath not so glorious a trial and indication of his Repentance as in the former instance , yet he that denies himself in any instance of his sin , and so in all that he can or is tempted in , does the same thing ; all the same duty , and with less danger , and with less gloriousness . * But if it happen that his sin urge him not at all as formerly , or the occasion is gone , and the matter is subtracted , he is to follow the measures of old men , described in the next § .

9. Let the penitent be infinitely careful that he does not mortify one vicious habit by a contrary vice , but by a contrary vertue . For to what purpose is it that you are cur'd of prodigality , and then die by covetousness ?

Quid te exempta juvat spinis de millibus una ?

It is not this or that alone that is contrary to God . Every vicious habit is equally his enemy ; and he that exterminates one vice and entertains another , hath destroyed the vice , but not the viciousness ; he hath quitted the instance , but not the irregularity ; he hath serv'd the interest of his fortune or his pleasure , his fame or his quiet , his passion or his humour , but not his vertue and relations to God . By changing his vice for another he is convinced of his first danger , but enters not into safety ; He is onely weary of his feaver , and changes it into the ease of a dead palsy ; and it is in them as in all sharp sicknesses , that is always worst that is actually upon him ; and the man dies by his imaginary cure , but real sickness .

10. When the mortification of a vicious habit is attempted ; and is found difficult and pertinacious , not flexible or malleable by the strokes of contrition and its proper remedies , it is a safe way if the penitent will take some course to disable the sin and make it impossible to return in the former instance , provided it be done by a lawful instrument . Origen took an ill course to doe it , but resolved he would mortify his lust , and made himself an Eunuch . But a solemne vow were an excellent instrument to restrain the violences of a frequent temptation , if the person were to be trusted with it ; that is , if he were a constant person , not giddy nor easy to revolt , but of a pertinacious nature , or of so tender conscience , that he durst not for the world break his vow . But this remedy is dangerous where the temptations return strongly . But there are some others which are safer . Cut off the occasion wholly . Defie the Concubine publickly , and disgrace her , make it impossible for her to consent to thee if thou shouldest ask her . If thy Lord or Master tempts thee to drunkenness , quit his service , or openly deny him . Make thy face unpleasant , and tear off the charms from thy beauty , that thou mayest not be courted any more . This is a fierceness and zeal of repentance , but very fit to be used when milder courses will not cure thee .

— Scelerum si benè poenitet , Horat. Eradenda cupidinis pravi sunt elementa , Et tenerae nimis mentes asperioribus Formandae studiis —

If thou repentest truly , pluck up sin by the roots , take away its principle , strangle its nurse , and destroy every thing that can foment it .

11. It was not well with thee when thou didst first enter into the suburbs of hell by single actions of sin ; but they were transient and passed off sooner then the habit : But when this did supervene , a mans acts of malice were enlarged and made continual to each other ; that is , joyn'd by a common term of affection and delight in sin , and perfect subjection to its accursed empire . But now in thy return consider proportionably concerning thy actions of repentance and piety , whether they be transient or permanent . Good men often say their prayers , and choose good forms , and offices , the best they can , and they use them with an earnest and an actual devotion ; but he that hath prayed long , and well , yet when he rises it may be he cannot tell all the particulars which he begg'd of God . I doubt not but those prayers which contain matter in them agreeable to his usual and constant desires , and are actually attended to in the time of their use , are recorded in heaven , and there will abide to procure the blessing , and towards the accounts of Eternity . But then it is to be observ'd , that those transient acts of devotion , or other volatile and fugitive instances of Repentance , are not the proper and proportion'd remedy to the evil of vicious habits . There must be something more permanent . Therefore let the penitent make no sudden resolutions , but first consider them well , and imprint them upon his spirit , and renew them often , and call them to minde constantly and at certain periods ; let him use much meditation upon the matter of his repentance and remedy ; and let his prayers be the same , passionate , material , alike expressed , and made the business of much of our time . For our spirit by use must be made holy , and by assiduity of reading , of praying , of meditating , and acts of self-deniall , be accustomed to the yoke of Jesus : for let the habit be firm as a rock , united and hard as a stone , it will be broken and made soft by a continual dropping .

The proper Repentance and usage of sinners , who return not till their old age .

1. Let all such penitents be reminded , that their sins will not so easily be pardoned as the sins of younger persons , whose passions are greater , and their reason less , and their observations loose , and their experience trifling . But now God hath long expected the effects of wise and sober counsels . The old man in the Comedy did so to his son .

Dum tempus ad eam rem tulit , Andria . Act 1. Scen. 2. sivi animum ut expleret suum . Nunc hic dies aliam vitam adfert , alios mores postulat . Dehinc postulo , sive aequum est , te oro Dave , ut redeat jam in viam .

And God does so to us . And therefore follies of old age are upbraidings of a man , and confusions to his spirit .

— Lateranus ad illos Thermarum calices , inscriptáque lintea vadit , Maturus bello Armeniae —

To have a grave wise man wrangle for nutshels , and a Judge scramble for apples , is an undecency bigger then the sin , and dishonours him by the disproportion .

Quaedam cum primâ res●centur crimina barbâ .

Lateranus should have gone to the Armenian wars , or been charging a Parthian horsman , when he went to the baths , and hir'd an unfortunate woman standing under the titles : And every old man should have been gray with sorrow and carefulness , and have passed many stages of his Repentance long before he now begins ; and therefore he is not onely straightned for want of time , but hath a greater work to do , by how much the longer he hath staid , and yet is the more unable to do it . The greatness of his need hath diminished his power ; and the more need he hath of grace , the less he shall have . But however with such helps as they have , they must instantly set upon their work .

— Breve sit quod turpitèr audes .

But they have abode in their sin too long ; let them now therefore use such abbreviatures and hastnings of return as can be in their power .

2. Let every old man that repents of the sins of his evil life , be very diligent in the search of the particulars ; that by drawing them into a heap , and spreading them before his eyes , he may be mightily ashamed at their number and burthen . For even a good man will have cause to be asham'd of himself , if the single sins respersed over his whole life were drawn into a body of articles , and united in the accusation ; but then for a man who is grown old in iniquity , to see in one intire view the scheme of his impiety , the horrible heaps of damnation amassed together ; will probably have this event , it will make him extremely asham'd , it will make himself most ready to judge and condemn himself , it will humble him to the earth , and make him cry mightily for pardon , and these are good dispositions towards it .

3. Let the penitent make some vigorous opposition to every kinde of sin of which he hath been particularly guilty by frequent actions ; as to adultery , or any kinde of uncleanness , let him oppose all the actions of purity which he can in that state , which may best be done , by detestation of his former follies , by praying for pardon , by punishing himself , by sorrow and all its instruments and apt expressions . But in those instances where the material part remains , and the powers of sinning in the same kinde , let him be sure to repent in kinde . As if he were habitually intemperate , let him now correct and rule his appetite ; for God will not take any thing in exchange for that duty which may be paid in kinde .

4. Although this is to be done to the kindes of sin , yet it cannot be so particularly done to the numbers of the actions ; not onely because it will be impossible for such persons to know their numbers , but because there is not time left to make little minute proportions : If he had fewer , all his time and all his powers would be little enough for the Repentance ; and therefore having many , it is well if upon any terms , if upon the expence of all his faculties and labour he can obtain pardon . Onely this : The greater the numbers are , the more firm the habit is suppos'd ; and therefore there ought in general to be made the more vigorous opposition ; and let the acts of Repentance be more frequently exercis'd in the proper matter of that vertue which is repugnant to that proper state of evil . And let the very number be an argument to thee of a particular humiliation ; let it be inserted into thy confessions , and become an aggravation of thy own misery , and of Gods loving kindness if he shall please to pardon thee .

5. Every old man that but then begins to repent , is tied to do more in the remaining proportions of time , then the more early penitents in so much time , because they have a greater account to make , more evil to mourn for , more pertinacious habits to rescind , fewer temptations upon the accounts of nature , but more upon their own superinduc'd account ; that is , they have less excuse and a greater necessity to make haste .

Cogimur à suetis animum suspendere rebus , Cornel. Gal. Atque ut vivamus vivere desinimus .

He must unlearn what he had learn'd before , and break all his evil customes , doing violence to his own and to his superinduced nature . But therefore this man must not go moderately in his return , but earnestly , vigorously , zealously ; and can have no other measures but to do all that he can do . For in his case every slow progression is a sign of the apprehension of his danger and necessity , but it is also a sign that he hath no affection to the business , that he leaves his sins as a Merchant does his goods in a storm , or a wounded man endures his arm to be cut off ; when there is no help for it , the thing must be done , but he is not pleas'd with the imployment .

6. Let every old man entring into the state of Repentance , use all the earnestness he can to heighten his affections , to fix his will and desires upon the things of God ; to have no gust , no relish for the things of the world , but that all his earnestness , his whole inner man be intirely taken up with his new imployment . For since it is certain there will be a great poverty of external acts of many vertues which are necessary in his case , unless they be supplied with internal actions and the earnestness of the Spirit , the man will go poor and blinde and naked to his grave . It is the heart which in all things makes the outward act to be acceptable ; and if the heart be right , it makes amends for the unavoidable omission of the outward expression . But therefore by how much the more old men are disabled from doing the outward and material actions to extirpate the natural quality and inherent mischief of vicious habits ; by so much the more must they be supplied , and the grace acted and signified by the actions of the Spirit .

7. Let old men in their state of Repentance be much in alms and prayers , according to their ability , that by doing good to others , and glory to God , they may obtain the favour of God , who delights in the communications of goodness and in such sacrifices . This the Apostle expresses thus : Heb. 13.16 . To do good and to communicate forget not , for with such sacrifices 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 God is well pleased ; it is like a propitiatory sacrifice , and therefore proper for this mans necessities . The proper arguments to endear this , are reckon'd in their own place ; but the reason why this is most apposite to the state of an old mans repentance , is because they are excellent suppletories to their other defects , and by way of impetration obtain of God to pardon those habits of vice which in the natural way they have now no external instrument to extinguish .

8. But because every state hath some temptations proper to it self , let old men be infinitely careful to suppress their own lusts , and present inclinations to evil . If an old man out of hatred of sin does mortifie his covetous desires , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , he hath purchas'd a good degree in the station of penitents , and hath given an excellent indication of a true Repentance , and conversion from sin to God . Let old men ( if there be need ) be apt to learn , and so mortifie that pride and morosity that usually do attend their age ; who think their gray hairs title enough to wisdome , and sufficient notices of things . Let them be gentle to others , patient of the evil accidents of their state , bountiful and liberal , as full of good example as they can ; and it is more then probable , that if they yield not to that by which they can then be tempted , they have quit all their affections to sin , and it is enough that they are found faithfull in that in which they are now tried .

9. Let old men be very careful that they never tell the story of their sins with any pleasure or delight ; but as they must recolligere annos in amaritudine , call to minde their past years in the bitrerness of their soul , so when they speak of any thing of it , they must not tell it as a merry story , lest they be found to laugh at their own damnation .

— Mutatus Horat. lib. 4. Od. 10. Dices , Hou ! ( quoties te in speculo videris alterum ) Quae mens est hodie , our eadem non puero fuit ? Vel cur his animis incolumes non redeunt genae ?

Trouble and sorrow will better become the spirit of an old sinner , because he was a fool when he was young , and weak when he is wise ; that his strengths must be spent in sin , and that for God and wise courses nothing remains but weak hands , and dim eyes , and trembling knees .

10. Let not an old sinner and young penitent ever think that there can be a period to his Repentance , or that it can ever be said by himself that he hath done enough . No sorrow , no alms , no affliction , no patience , no Sacraments can be said to have finish'd his work , so that he may say with S. Paul , I have fought a good fight , I have finish'd my course ; nothing can bring consummation to his work till the day of his death , because it is all the way an imperfect state , having in it nothing that is excellent or laudable , but onely upon the account of a great necessity and misery on one side , and a great mercy on the other . It is like a man condemn'd to perpetual banishment ; he is alwayes in his passive obedience , but is a debtor to the law until he be dead . So is this penitent ; he hath not finish'd his work , or done a Repentance in any measure proportionable to his sins , but onely because he can do no more ; and yet he did something , even before it was too late .

11. Let an old man in the mortification of his vicious habits , be curious to distinguish nature from grace , his own disability from the strengths of the Spirit ; and not think that he hath extirpated the vice of uncleanness , when himself is disabled to act it any longer ; or that he is grown a sober person , because he is sick in his stomack , and cannot drink intemperately , or dares not for fear of being sick . His measures must be taken by the account of his actions and oppositions to his former sins , and so reckon his comfort .

12. But upon whatever account it come , he is not so much to account concerning his hopes , or the performance of his duty , by abstaining from sin , as by doing of good . For besides that such a not committing of evil may be owing to weak or insufficient principles , this not committing evil in so little a time , cannot make amends for the doing it so long together , according to the usual accounts of Repentance , unless that abstaining be upon the stock of vertue and labour , of mortification and resistance ; and then every abstinence is also a doing good , for it is a crucifying of the old man with the affections and lusts . But all the good that by the grace of God he superadds , is matter of choice , and the proper actions of a new life .

13. After all this done , vigorously , holily , with fear and caution , with zeal and prudence , with diligence and an uninterrupted observation , the old man that liv'd a vile life , but repents in time , though he staid as long as he could , and much longer then he should , yet may live in hope , and die in peace and charity . To this purpose they are excellent words which S. Serm. 28. de temp. Austin said : Peradventure some will think that he hath committed such grievous faults , that he cannot now obtain the favour of God . Let this be farre from the conceits of all sinners . O man , whosoever thou art , that attendest that multitude of thy sins , wherefore doest thou not attend to the Omnipotency of the Heavenly Physician ? For since God will have mercy because he is good , and can because he is Almighty , he shuts the gate of the Divine Goodness against himself , who thinks that God cannot or will not have mercy upon him , and therefore distrusts either his Goodness or his Almightiness .

The proper Repentance and usage of sinners who repent not until their death-bed .

The inquiry after this article consists in these particulars .

1. What hopes are left to a vicious ill liv'd man that repents on his death-bed and not before . 2. What advices are best , or can bring him most advantage ?

That a good life is necessary ; * that it is requir'd by God ; * that it was design'd in the whole purpose of the Gospel ; * that it is a most reasonable demand , and infinitely recompensed by the very smallest portions of Eternity . * That it was called for all our life , and was exacted by the continual voyce of Scripture , of Mercies , of Judgement , of Prophets . * That to this very purpose God offered the assistance of his holy Spirit ; and to this ministery we were supplied with preventing , with accompanying , and persevering grace , that is , powers and assistances to begin , and to continue in well doing . * That there is no distinct Covenant made with dying men , differing from what God hath admitted between himself and living healthful persons . * That it is not reasonable to think God will deal more gently with persons who live viciously all their lives , and that at an easier rate they may expect salvation at the hands of God whom they have so provoked , then they who have serv'd him faithfully according to the measures of a man ; * or that a long impiety should be sooner expiated then a short one . * That the easiness of such as promise heaven to dying penitents after a vicious life is dangerous to the very being and constitution of piety , * and scandalous to the honour and reputation , and sanctity of the Christian Religion . * That the grace of God does leave those that use it not . * That therefore the necessity of dying men increases , and their aids are lessen'd and almost extinguished . * That they have more to doe then they have either time or strength to finish . * That all their vows and holy purposes are useless and ineffective as to their natural production , and that in their case they cannot be the beginnings of a succeeding duty and piety , because for want of time it never can succeed . * That there are some conditions and states of life , which God hath determin'd never to pardon . * That there is a sin unto death , for which because we have no incouragement to pray , it is certain there is no hope ; for it is impossible but it must be very fit to pray for all them to whom the hope of pardon is not precluded . * That there is in Scripture mention made of an ineffective repentance , and of a repentance to be repented of , and that the repentance of no state is so likely to be it as this . * That what is begun and produc'd wholly by affrightment is not esteem'd matter of choyce , nor a pleasing sacifice to God . * That they who sow to the flesh , shall reap in the flesh , and the final judgement shall be made of every man according to his works . * That the full and perfect descriptions of repentance in Scripture are heaps and conjugations of duties which have in them difficulty , and require time , and ask labour . * That those insinuations of duty in Scripture , of the need of patience , and diligence , and watchfulness , and the express precepts of perseverance , doe imply , that the office and duty of a Christian is of a long time , and business , and a race . * That repentance being the renewing of a holy life , it should seem that on our death-bed the day for repentance is past , since no man can renew his life when his life is done , no man can live well , when he cannot live at all ; * and therefore to place our hopes upon a death-bed repentance onely , is such a religion as satisfies all our appetites , and contradicts none , and yet promises heaven at last . * These things , I say , are all either notorious and evident , or expresly affirmed in Scripture ; and therefore that in the ordinary way of things , in the common expectation of events , such persons are in a very sad condition .

So that it remains , that in this sad condition there must be some extraordinary way found out , or else this whole enquiry is at an end . Concerning which , all that I can say is this . 1. God hath an Almighty power , and his mercy is as great as his power . He can doe miracles of mercy , as well as miracles of mightiness . And this S. Austin brings in open pretence against desperation . O homo quicunque illam multitudinem peccatorum attendis , cur & omnipotentiam coelestis medici non attendis ? Thy sins are great , but Gods mercies are greater . But this does represent the mans condition at the best to be such , that God may if he will have mercy upon him ; but whether he will or no , there is as yet no other certainty or probability , but that he can if he please : which proposition to an amazed timorous person that fears a hell the next hour , is so dry a story , so hopeless a proposition , that all that can be said of this , is , that it is very fit that no man should ever put it to the venture . For upon this argument , we may as well comfort our selves upon him that died without repenting at all . But the inquiry must be further .

2. All mankinde , all the Doctors of the Church for very many ages at least , some few of the most Ancient , and of the Modern excepted , have been apt to give hopes to such persons , and no man bids them absolutely despair . Let such persons make use of this easiness of men , thereby to retain so much hope as to make them call upon God , and not to neglect what can then be done . Spem retine , spes una hominem nec morte relinquit . As long as there is life there is hope , and when a man dies , let him not despair ; for there is a life after this , and a hope proper to that ; and amidst all the evils that the Ancients did fabulously report to be in Pandora's box , they wittily plac'd Hope on the utmost lip of it , and extremity . Vivere spe vidi qui moriturus erat . And S. Cyprian exhorts old Demetrianus to turn Christian in his old age , and promises him salvation in the name of Christ : and though his case , and that of a Christian who entred into promises and Covenants of obedience , be very different ; yet ad immortalitatem sub ipsâ morte transitur , a passing from such a repentance to immortality , although it cannot be hop'd for upon the just accounts of express promise , yet it is not too great to hope from Gods mercy : and until that which is infinite hath a limit , a repenting mans hopes in this world cannot be wholly at an end .

3. We finde that in the battels which were fought by the Maccabees , some persons who fought on the Lords side , and were slain in the sight , were found having on their breasts 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or pendants consecrate to the idols of the Samnenses , and yet the good people of their party made oblation for them , hoping that they might be partakers of a blessed resurrection . They that repent heartily but one hour , are in a better condition then the other that died in their sin , though with the advantage of fighting in a good cause : and if good people will not leave hoping for such persons , it is not fit that themselves should .

4. He that considers Gods great love to Mankinde , * the infinite love that God hath to his holy Son Jesus , and yet that he sent him to die for every man ; * and that the holy Jesus does now , and hath for very many ages prayed for the pardon of our sins , that he knows how horrible those pains are which are provided for perishing souls , and therefore that he is exceedingly pitiful and desirous that we should escape them ; * and that God did give one extraordinary example of saving a dying penitent , the Thief upon the Cross , and though that had something in it extraordinary and miraculous , yet that is it which is now expected , a favour extraordinary , a miraculous mercy . * And that Christ was pleased to speak a Parable of comfort , and the Master of the Vineyard did pay salary to him that began to work at the eleventh hour ; and though that was some portion of his life , the twelfth part of it , and the man was not call'd sooner , yet there may be something in it of comfort to the dying penitent , since it looks something like it , it certainly relates to old men , and can doe them comfort , and possibly the merciful intention of it is yet larger ; * and that since God is so well pleased with repentance , it may be he will abate the circumstance of time , Nec ad rem pertinet ubi inciperet , quod placuerat ut fieret , and he will not consider when that begins , which he loves should be done . * And that he is our Father , and paulum supplicii satis est Patri , a Father will chastise , but will not kill his son . * And that it is therefore seasonable to hope , because it is a duty , and the very hope it self God delights to reward ; for so said the Apostle , Cast not away your confidence , Heb. 10.35 . which hath great recompence of reward , * And the Church of God imitating the mercies of our gracious God and Father , Concil. Nicen. can. 13. hath denied to give the Sacrament of peace and mercy to none that seek it : Viaticum omnibus in morte positis non est negandum . Concil. Agath . c. 11. And in the saddest consideration of things that can be , suppose it be with him as with Simon Magus , suppose that he is in the gall of bitterness , in the state of damnation , in the guilt of a sin which we know not whether God will pardon or not , yet still it is wise and pious counsel , that he should pray , if peradventure he may be forgiven . He ( I say ) that considers these things , will have cause to be very earnest and very busy to lose no time , to remit no labour , to quit no hope , but humbly , passionately , diligently set upon that duty of repentance , which should have long agoe come to some perfection . Now because I have ( as I suppose ) said enough to make men afraid to put off their repentance to their death-bed , yet in behalf of those who have been unfortunately lost in their lives , or less instructed , or violently tempted , or unhappily betrayed , and are upon their death-beds , because though nothing can be ascertain'd to them , yet it is not to be suffer'd that they should utterly despair , I have thought fit to transcribe out of the writings of the ancient Doctors , such exhortations as may both instruct and comfort , promote duty , and give some little door of hope , but not adde boldness in defiance of all the laws of holiness .

In an epistle of Celestine Bishop of Rome in S. Austins time , we finde these words . Vera ad Deum conversio in ultimis positorum , mente potiùs aestimanda est quàm tempore .... Quum ergo Dominus sit cordis inspector , quovis tempore non est deneganda poenitentia postulanti , quum ille se obliget Judici , cui occulta omnia noverit revelari . True conversion is to be accounted of by the minde , rather then by time . Therefore repentance is not to be denied to him , who at any time asks it . And he despairs of the clemency of God who thinks it not sufficient , or that it cannot relieve the sinner in an instant . Donec sumus in hâc vitâ quantacunque nobis acciderint peccata , possibile est omnia ablui per poenitentiam , said S. Austin . Serm. 181. de temp. c. 16. As long as we are alive , so long it is possible that the vilest sins that are may be wash'd off by repentance . Si vulneratus es , adhibe tibi curam dum vivis , dum spiras , etiam in ipso lecto positus , etiam si dici potest animam efflans ut jam de hoc mundo exeas . In Psa. 50. hom. 2. Non impeditur temporis angustiâ misericordia Dei. Quid enim est peccatum ad Dei misericordiam ? tela araneae quae vento flante nusquam comparet . So S. Chrysostome . If thou art wounded in thy soul , take care of it while thou livest , even so long as thou canst breath , though thou beest now breathing thy last , yet take care still . The mercy of God cannot be hindred by time . For what is thy sin to Gods mercy ? even as a spiders web , when the winde blows it is gone in an instant . Many more there are to the same purpose , who all speaking of the mightiness of the Divine mercy , doe insinuate their meaning to be concerning a miraculous or extraordinary mercy . And therefore I shall oppose nothing against this ; onely say , that it is very sad when men put their hopes of being sav'd upon a miracle , and that without a miracle they must perish . But yet then to despair is entring into hell before their time , and even a course of the greatest imprudence in the world , next to that they are already guilty of , that is , a putting things to that extremity . Dandum interstitium poenitentiae , said Tacitus . And , Inter vitae negotia & diem mortis oportere aliquid spatium intercedere , said Charls the Emperour . For , Nemo mortem venientem hilaris excepit , nisi qui se ad eam diu composuerat , said Seneca , Repentance must have a space of time ; and from the affairs of the world to rush into the arms of death , is too quick a change for him that would fain be saved . If he can , in the midst of all these disadvantages , it is well ; but he cannot with chearfulness and joy receive his death , unless he bestowed much time and care in preparations against that sad solemnity .

Now concerning these instruments of hope , I am yet to give another account , lest this either seem to be an easiness and flattery of souls , and not warrantable from any revelation from God ; or if it be , that it is also a perfect destruction of all the former doctrine . For if it be inquired thus ; Hath God declared that death-bed penitents shall not be saved , or that they may be saved , or hath he said nothing at all of it ? If he hath said they cannot be saved , why then doe I bid them hope , and so abuse them with a false perswasion ? If he hath said that they may be saved , why doe I dispute against it , and make them fear , where God by a just promise hath given them reason to be confident , and hath obliged them them to believe they shall be saved ? If he hath said nothing of it , why are not they to be comprehended within the general rules of all returning penitents ? especially , since there was one case specially made for their interest , the example of the Thief upon the Cross ? To this I shall give a clear and plain answer .

That God hath required such conditions of pardon , and that the duty of repentance is of such extent and burden , that it cannot be finish'd and perform'd by dying persons after a vicious life , is evident from all the former arguments : and therefore if we make dying mens accounts upon the stock of Gods usual dealing , and open revelation , their case is desperate for the preceding reasons . But why then doe I bid them hope , if their case be desperate ? Either God threatning death to all impenitent persons , means not to exact death of all , but of some onely ; or else when his holy Spirit describes Repentance in severe characters , he secretly means to take less then he sayes . For if it be such a work that cannot possibly be done on a death-bed , how then can dying persons be called upon to repent ? for it is vain to repent , if it be impossible to hope ; but if it be possible to do the work of Repentance on our death-bed , but onely that it is very difficult , there is in this affirmative no great matter : Every one confesses that , and all evil men put it to the venture .

For the first part of the dilemma , I affirm nothing of it ; God threatning death to all the impenitent , excepts none ; Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish . Neither does God exacting or describing Repentance in severe lines , use any respect of persons , but with the same measures he will deal with all . For when there is a difference in the Divine mercy , it is in giving time and grace to repent , not in sparing one and condemning another , who die equally criminal and impenitent . Those little lines of hopes are not upon either of these foundations . For whatsoever is known or revealed , is against these persons , and does certainly condemn them . Why then are they bidden to hope and repent ? I answer , once for all ; It is upon something that we know not . And if they be not saved we know not how , they cannot expect to be saved by any thing that is revealed in their particular . When S. Peter had declared to Simon Magus that he was in the gall of bitterness ; and yet made him pray , if peradventure the thought of his heart might be forgiven him : he did not by any thing that was revealed know that he should be pardoned ; but by something that he did not know , there might be hope . It is at no hand to be dissembled out of tenderness and pity to such persons , but to be affirmed openly ; there is not revealed any thing to them that may bid them be in any degree confident . But he that hath a deadly wound , whom the Chirurgeons affirm to be hopeless , yet is willing to receive Cordials , and to be dress'd .

2. If in the measures of life and death which are described in large characters , there be any lines so indefinite and comprehensive , that they who preach and declare the doctrines , do not fully take in all that God intends , upon the account of our weakness and ignorance , there may be some little rushes and twigs to support their sinking hopes . For although the matters of duty , and the conditions of life and death are so plain and legible , that we can all understand our obligation , yet things are seldome so described , that we can give the final sentence concerning others . There is a secret in these things , which nothing shall open but the day of Judgement . No man may judge his brother ; that is , no man can or ought to say , This man is damn'd ; and yet we know that he that dies an impenitent Traytor , or Rebel , or Adulterer , is damn'd . But yet that adulterous Natta , or the Rebel Cinna , or the Traytor Catiline is actually damn'd , that we know not . The reason is , because our duty is described for us to guide and walk our selves by , not to judge and sentence others . And even the judgement of the Church , who hath authority to judge and sentence , yet it is onely for amendment , it is universal , it is declarative , it is conditional ; not personal , final , decretory , and eternal . For otherwise does man judge , otherwise does God .

3. There is some variety in the case , and in the person , and in the degrees of Repentance . There is a period , beyond which God will not admit a man to pardon ; but when it is we know not . There is a minimum Religionis , the least measure of Religion , the lowest degree of acceptability ; but what it is , we cannot tell . There is also a proper measure for every one , but no man can fathom it . And the duties and parts of Repentance consist in the terms of a great distance and latitude ; and we cannot tell when a man first begins to be safe , and when he is newly escaped from the regions of sin , and when he begins his state of grace . Now as God abates great measures of his wrath , and forgives all that is past if we return betimes , and live twenty years in piety and repentance ; so he does if the man do so nineteen year , and eighteen , and still shortning till you come to a year , or any the least time that can do the work of Repentance , and exterminate his vicious habit . Now because Abraham begg'd for the pardon of Sodom , if there should be found fifty righteous there , and then abated five , and then five more , and then ten more , till he came to ten alone , and it is supposed that Abraham first gave out , and that God would have pardon'd the City for one righteous mans sake , if Abraham had still persevered to ask : if any man will suppose that it may be done so in the abatements of time to be made to a returning sinner ; though I say it is a strange diminution to come from years to one day , yet I will say nothing against it ; but that length or shortness of time makes nothing to the mercies of God , but it makes very much to the duty of man , because every action requires some time , and every habit much more : Now we have reason to say that the condition of a dying penitent after a whole wicked life , is desperate , because so far as we understand things , habits are not to be extinguish'd , and the contraries acquir'd but with long time and study . But if there be any secret way by which the Spirit of God does work faster , and produce undiscerned miracles , we ought to adore that goodness by which it is so ; and they that can believe this , may hope the other : In the mean time , neither the one nor the other is revealed ; and so it stands as it did in the whole Question .

4. We finde in the instance of Abrahams faith , that against hope he believed in hope ; that is , that he had great arguments on both sides , and therefore that in defiance of one , he would hope in the other , because this could not fail him , but the other could . If it can be brought to pass that a dying man can hope after a wicked life , it is a hope against hope ; and of this all that I can say is , that it is no contradiction in the thing , to affirm that a dying penitent who hath contracted vicious habits , hath not time left him to perform that repentance which God requires of habitual sinners under the pains of eternal death ; and yet to bid such a person do what he can do , and pray , if peradventure God will be intreated . Because that little hopes which he is bid to have are not warranted , or relying upon pretence of any particular revelation , contrary to the so many expressions of severe duty and stricter conditions ; but are plac'd upon the foundation of the Divine Power , and such little proportions and similitudes of things , and guesses and conjectures of kinde persons , as can onely be sufficient to make the dying man try what can be done .

5. The first ages of the Church did exactly use this method of Doctrine and Discipline . In some cases ( whereof I shall afterwards give account ) they refus'd to declare them pardon'd , to minister Gods pardon to dying penitents ; but yet would not bid them despair , but refer them to the Divine judgement : which if it be reduc'd to the causes of things , if we believe they proceeded reasonably , must mean this , that they knew of no revesation concerning the pardon of such persons ; but whether God would or no pardon them , they knew not , but bid them hope well . And when they did admit dying penitents to the peace of the Church , they did it de benè esse , that it might do as much good as it could . But they knew not what that was . Poenitentiam dare possumus , securitatem dare non possumus . They are S. Austins words . Now if I were to ask of him an account , it would be in the same way of objection as I am now untying . For did God promise pardon to dying penitents after a wicked life ; or are there fearful threatnings in Scripture against such sinners as certainly all in their case are ? or hath God said nothing at all concerning them ? If God did promise pardon to such , then why did not the Church give security , as well as penance ? If God did threaten fearfully all such persons , why do they admit such to repentance whom God will not admit to pardon , but hath threatned with eternal death ? If he hath said nothing of them , they are to be judged by the measures of others ; and truly that will too sadly ring their passing-bell . For men in health who have contracted vicious habits , cannot be pardoned so long as their vicious habit remains ; and they know that to overcome and mortifie a vicious habit , is a work of time and great labour ; and if this be the measure of dying penitents , as well as of living and healthful , they will sink in judgement that have not time to do their duty . But then why the Church of those ages , and particularly S. Austin , should hope and despair at the same time for them , that is , knew no ground of revelations upon which to fix any hope of pardon for them , and yet should exhort them to Repentance , which without hopes of pardon is to no purpose , there is no sensible account to be given but this , that for ought they knew God might do more then they knew , and more then he had promised ; but whether he would or not , they knew not , but by that means they thought they fairly quit their hands of such persons .

6. But after all this strict survey of answers , if we be call'd to account for being so kinde , it must be confess'd that things are spoken out of charity and pity , more then of knowledge . The case of these men is sad and deplorable , and it is piety when things are come to that state and saddest event , to shew mercy by searching all the corners of revelation for comfort , that God may be as much glorified , and the dying men assisted as much as may be . I remember the Jews are reproved by some for repealing the last verse but one in the book of Isaiah , and setting it after the last of all . That being a verse of mercy , this of sorrow and threatning ; as if they would be more merciful then God himself , and thought it unfit to end so excellent a book with so sad a cursing . Indeed Gods wayes are best , and his measures the surest ; and therefore it is not good to promise where God hath not promised , and to be kinde where he is angry , and to be free of his pardon , where he hath shut up and seal'd his treasures . But if they that say God hath threatned all such sinners as dying penitents after wicked life are , and yet that they must not despair , are to be reproved as too kinde ; then they much more , who confidently promise heaven at last . It is indeed a compliance with humane misery , that makes it fit to speak what hopeful things we can ; but if these hopes can easily be reproved , I am sure the former severity cannot so easily be confuted . That may , this cannot .

1. But now things being put into this constitution ; the inquiry into what manner of Repentance the dying penitent is oblig'd to , will be of no great difficulty . Qui dicit omnia nihil excipit . He that is tied to all can be excus'd from none . All that he can do is too little , if God shall deal with him according to the conditions of the Gospel which are describ'd , and therefore he must not inquire into measures , but do all , absolutely all that he can in that sad period . Particularly

2. Let him examine his Conscience most curiously , according as his time will permit , and his other abilities ; because he ought to be sure that his intentions are so reall to God and to Religion , that he hath already within him a resolution so strong , a repentance so holy , a sorrow so deep , a hope so pure , a charity so sublime , that no temptation , no time , no health , no interest could in any circumstance of things ever tempt him from God and prevail .

3. Let him make a general confession of the sins of his whole life , with all the circumstances of aggravation ; let him be mightily humbled , and hugely ashamed , and much in the accusation of himself , and bitterly lament his folly and misery ; let him glorifie God and justifie him , confessing that if he perishes it is but just ; if he does not , it is a glorious , an infinite mercy ; a mercy not yet revealed , a mercy to be look'd for in the day of wonders , the day of Judgement . Let him accept his sickness and his death humbly at the hands of God , and meekly pray that God would accept that for punishment , and so consign his pardon for the rest through the bloud of Jesus . Let him cry mightily unto God , incessantly begging for pardon , and then hope as much as he can , even so much as may exalt the excellency of the Divine mercy ; but not too confidently , lest he presume above what is written .

4. Let the dying penitent make what amends he can possibly in the matter of real injuries and injustices that he is guilty of , though it be to the ruine of his estate ; and that will go a great way in deprecation . Let him ask forgiveness , and offer forgiveness , make peace , transmit charity and provisions and piety to his relatives .

5. Next to these it were very fitting that the dying penitent did use all the means he can to raise up his spirit , and do internal actions of Religion with great fervour and excellency . To love God highly , to be ready to suffer whatsoever can come , to pour out his complaints with great passion and great humility ; adding to these and the like , great effusions of charity , holy and prudent undertakings of severity and Religion in case he shall recover : and if he can , let him do some great thing , something that does in one little body of action signifie great affections ; any heroical act , any transportation of a holy zeal in his case does help to abbreviate the work of many years . If these things be thus done , it is all that can be done at that time , and as well as it can be then done ; what the event of it will be , God onely knows , and we all shall know at the day of Judgement . S. Aug. & habetur de poen dist. 7 In this case the Church can give the Sacrament , but cannot give security .

Meditations and Prayers to be used in all the foregoing cases .

CAn the Ethiopian change his skin , Jer. 13.23 . or the Leopard his spots ? then may ye learn to do good that are accustomed to do evil .

This is thy lot , the portion of thy measures , Ver. 25. from me ( saith the Lord ) because thou hast forgotten me .

Give glory to the Lord your God before he cause darkness , Ver. 16. and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains , lest while you look for light , he turn it into the shadow of death , and make it gross darkness .

What wilt thou say when he shall punish ? Ver. 21. shall not sorrow take thee as a woman in travel ?

And if thou say in thine heart , Ver. 22. Wherefore came these things upon me ? for the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered , and thy heels made bare .

I have seen thine adulteries , and thy neighings , Ver. 27. the lewdness of thy whoredoms , and thine abominations , Wo unto thee , wilt thou not be made clean ? when shall it once be ? saith the Lord God .

Thus saith the Lord unto this people , Jer. 14.10 . Thus have they loved to wander , they have not refrained their feet , therefore the Lord doth not accept them , he will now remember their iniquity and visit their sins .

Then saith the Lord , Ver. 11 , 12. Pray not for this people for their good . When they fast , I will not hear their cry , and when they offer an oblation , I will not accept them , but I will consume them by the sword , and by famine , and by the pestilence .

Therefore thus saith the Lord , Jer. 15.19 . if thou return , then will I bring thee again , and thou shalt stand before me : and if thou take forth the precious from the vile , thou shalt be as my mouth . I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee , saith the Lord .

And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked , Ver. 21. and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible .

Learn before thou speak , Ecclus. 18.19 . and use Physick or ever thou be sick .

Before judgement examine thy self , Ver. 20. and in the day of visitation thou shalt finde mercy .

Humble thy self before thou be sick , Ver. 21. and in the time of sins shew repentance .

Let nothing hinder thee to pay thy vows in due time , Ver. 22. and deferre not until death to be justified .

I made haste , Psal. 119. and prolonged not the time to keep thy Commandements .

Thus saith the Lord of hosts , the God of Israel , Amend your ways and your doings , and I will cause you to dwell in this place .

Trust not in lying words , saying , The Temple of the Lord , the Temple of the Lord .

For if you throughly amend your ways , and your doings , if you throughly execute judgement ;

If ye oppress not the stranger and the widow , Jer. 7. then shall ye dwell in the land .

Thus saith the Lord God , Ezek. 11.18 . I will give you the land , and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof , and all the abominations thereof from thence .

And I will give them one heart , Ver. 19. and I will put a new spirit within you , and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh , and will give them an heart of flesh .

That they may walk in my statutes , Ver. 20. and keep mine ordinances , and do them , and they shall be my people and I will be their God .

But as for them whose heart walketh after their detestable things , and their abominations ; Ver. 21. I will recompense their way upon their own heads , saith the Lord God .

They have seduced my people , saying , Peace , Ezek. 13.10 . and there was no peace , and one built up a wall , and others dawb'd it with untemper'd morter .

Will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley , and pieces of bread , Ver. 19. to slay the souls that should not die , and to save the souls alive that should not live by your lying unto my people that hear your lies ?

Therefore I will judge you , ô house of Israel , Ezek. 18.30 . every one according to your ways , saith the Lord God , repent and turn your selves from all your transgressions ; so iniquity shall not be your ruine .

Cast away from you all your transgressions whereby you have transgressed , Ver. 31. and make you a new heart and a new spirit ; for why will ye die , ô house of Israel ?

For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth , saith the Lord God : Ver. 32. wherefore turn your selves and live ye .

Ye shall remember your ways , Ezek. 20.43 . and all your doings wherein ye have been defiled , and ye shall loath your selves in your own sight for all your evils , that ye have committed .

Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity , and sin as it were with a cart-rope . Isa. 5.18 .

Woe unto them that justify the wicked for a reward , Ver. ●3 . and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him .

And when ye spread forth your hands , Isa. 1.15 . I will hide mine eyes from you ; yea , when you make many prayers , I will not hear : your hands are full of bloud .

Wash ye , Isa. 1.16 . make ye clean , put away the evil of your doing from before mine eyes , cease to doe evil ,

Learn to do well , Ver. 17. seek judgement , relieve the oppressed , judge the fatherless , plead for the widow .

Come now and let us reason together , Ver. 18. saith the Lord ; Though your sins be as scarlet , they shall be as white as snow , though they be red as crimson , they shall be as wooll .

If ye be willing and obedient , Ver. 19. ye shall eat the fruit of the land .

But if ye refuse and rebel , Ver. 20. ye shall be devoured with the sword ; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it .

She hath wearied her self with lies , Ezek. 24. therefore have I caused my fury to light upon her .

Sow to your selves in righteousness , Hos 10.12 . and reap in mercy ; break up your fallow ground , for it is time to seek the Lord , till he come and rain righteousness upon you .

Turn thou unto thy God ; Mos. 12.6 . keep mercy and judgement , and wait on thy God continually .

O Israel , Hos. 13.9 . thou hast destroyed thy self , but in me is thy help .

Return to the Lord thy God , Hos. 24. for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity . Take with you words , and turn to the Lord , say unto him , Take away all iniquity , and receive us graciously : so will we render the calves of our lips . For in thee the fatherless findeth mercy . I will heal their backsliding , I will love them freely , for mine anger is turned away .

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found , Isa. 55.6 . call ye upon him while he is near .

Let the wicked forsake his way , Ver. 7. and the unrighteous man his thoughts , and let him return unto the Lord , and he will have mercy upon him ; and to our God , for he will abundantly pardon .

For thus saith the high and lofty One , Isa. 57.15 . that inhabits eternity , whose name is Holy , I dwell in the high and holy place ; with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit , to revive the spirit of the humble , and to revive the heart of the contrite ones .

For I will not contend for ever , Ver. 16. neither will I be alwayes wroth : for the spirit should fail before mee , and the soules which I have made .

For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth and smote him : I hid me and was wroth , Ver. 17. and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart .

I have seen his ways and will heal him : Ver. 18. I will lead him also , and restore comfort to him and to his mourners .

I create the fruit of the lips ; peace , Ver. 19. peace to him that is afar off , and to him that is near , saith the Lord , and I will heal him .

But the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest , Ver. 20. whose waters cast up mire and dirt .

There is no peace , saith my God , Ver. 21. to the wicked .

It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth . Lam. 3.26 , 27. It is good that a man should both hope , and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord .

Who is a God like unto thee , Micah 7.18 . that pardoneth iniquity , and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage ? he retaineth not his anger for ever , because he delighteth in mercy .

He will turn again , Mic. 7.19 . he will have compassion upon us : he will subdue our iniquities , and thou wilt cast all our sins into the depth of the sea .

Remember now thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth , Eccles. 12.1 . while the evil dayes come not , nor the years draw nigh , when thou shalt say , I have no pleasure in them .

A PSALM .

O Lord , though our iniquities testifie against us , have mercy upon us for thy Names sake : for our backslidings are many , we have sinned against thee .

O the hope of Israel , the Saviour thereof in time of trouble , why shouldst thou be a stranger to us , and as a wayfaring-man that turneth aside to tarry for a night ?

Why shouldst thou be as a man astonied , as a mighty man that cannot save ? yet thou , O Lord , art in the midst of us , and we are called by thy name , leave us not .

We acknowledge , O Lord , our wickedness , and the iniquity of our fathers , for we have sinned against thee .

Do not abhor us for thy Names sake , Jer. 14.7 , 8 , 9. do not disgrace the Throne of thy Glory ; remember , break not the Covenant with us .

I will no more sit in the assembly of mockers , Jer. 15.17 . nor rejoyce ; I will sit alone because of thy hand , for thou hast filled me with indignation .

Why is my pain perpetual , Ver. 18. and my wound incurable which refuseth to be healed ? wilt thou be altogether unto me as waters that fail ?

O Lord , I know that the way of man is not in himself , it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps .

O Lord , correct me , but with judgement , not in thine anger , lest thou bring me to nothing .

O Lord , the hope of Israel , all that forsake thee shall be ashamed , because they have forsaken the Lord the fountain of living waters .

Heal me , O Lord , and I shall be healed ; save me , Jer. 17.13 . and I shall be saved : for thou art my praise .

Be not a terror unto me , Ver. 17. thou art my hope in the day of evil .

Behold , O Lord , for I am in distress : Lam. 1.20 . my bowels are troubled , mine heart is turned within me , for I have grievously rebelled .

For these things I weep ; mine eye , Ver. 15. mine eye runneth down with water , because the Comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me .

Hear me , O Lord , and that soon , Psal. 14 3. for my spirit waxeth faint : hide not thy face from me , lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit .

O let me hear thy loving kindness betimes , for in thee in is my trust ; shew thou me the way that I should walk in , for I lift up my soul unto thee .

Teach me the thing that pleaseth thee , for thou art my God : let thy loving Spirit lead me forth into the land of righteousness .

Quicken me , O Lord , for thy Names sake , and for thy righteousness sake bring my soul out of trouble .

The Lord upholdeth all such as fall , Psal. 142.9 . and lifteth up those that be down .

I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost : O seek thy servant , for I do not forget thy Commandements .

O do well unto thy servant , that I may live and keep thy word .

O spare me a little , that I may recover my strength , before I go hence , and be no more seen .

Glory be to the Father , &c. As it was in the beginning , &c.

A Prayer for a sinner returning after a long impiety .

I. OEternal Judge of Men and Angels , Father of Mercy , and the great lover of Souls , I humbly acknowledge that the state of my soul is sad and deplorable , and by my fault , by my own grievous fault , I am in an evil condition ; and if thou shouldst now enter into judgement with me , I have nothing to put in barre against the horrible sentence , nothing of my own , nothing that can ease thy anger , or abate the fury of one stroke of thy severe infliction . I do ( O God ) judge and condemn my self , and justifie thee , for thou art righteous , and whatsoever thou doest is good and true . But O my God , when the guilty condemns himself , nothing is left for the offended party but to return to graciousness and pardon . I ( O Lord ) have done thy severe and angry work , I have sentenc'd a vile man to a sad suffering ; and if I so perish as I have deserved , thou art just and righteous , and thou oughtest for ever to be glorified .

II. BVt O my God , though I know that I have deserv'd evils that I know not , and hope I shall never feel , yet thou art gracious and holy , and lovest more to behold thy glory reflected from the flouds and springs of mercy , then to see it refracted from the troubled waters of thy angry and severe displeasure : And because thou lov'st it so highly to shew mercy , and because my eternal interest is served in it , I also ought to desire what thou lovest , and to beg of thee humbly and passionately that I may not perish ; and to hope with a modest confidence that thou hast mercy in store for him , to whom thou hast given grace to ask for it : for it is one degree of pardon to be admitted to the station of penitent beggers ; it is another degree of pardon that thou hast given me grace to hope , and I know that in the fountains of thy own graciousness thou hast infinite arguments and inducements to move thee to pity me and to pardon .

III. O My God , pity me for thy Names sake , even for thy own goodness sake , and because I am miserable and need it . And because I have nothing of my own to be a ground of confidence , give thy servant leave to place my hopes on thee through Jesus Christ ; thou hast commanded me to come to the Throne of Grace with boldness , that I may finde mercy in time of need ; and thou hast promised to give thy holy Spirit to them that ask him . O dear God , give me pardon , and give me thy Spirit , and I am full and safe , and clothed and healed , and all that I desire to be , and all that I ought to be .

IV. I Have spent much time in vanity , and in undoing my self ; grant me thy grace , that I may recover my loss , and imploy all the remaining portion of my time in holy offices and duties of Repentance . My understanding hath been abused by false perswasions and vain confidences . But now , O God , I offer up that imperious faculty wholly to the obedience of Christ ; to be govern'd by his Laws , to be instructed by his Doctrine , to be bended by all his arguments . My will hath been used to crookedness and peevish morosity in all vertuous imployments , but greedy and fierce in the election and prosecution of evil actions and designs : But now O God , I have no will but what is thine , and I will rather die then consent and choose any thing that I know displeases thee . My heart , O God , was a fountain of evil thoughts , ungracious words , and irregular actions , because my passions were not obedient nor orderly , neither temperate , nor govern'd , neither of a fitting measure , nor carried to a right object : But now , O God , I present them unto thee , not as a fit oblation , but as the Lepers and the blinde , the lame and the crooked were brought unto the holy Jesus , to be made straight and clean , useful and illuminate ; and when thou hast taken into thy possession what is thine , and what I stole from thee , or detained violently , and which the Devil did usurp , then thou wilt sanctifie and save it , use it as thine own , and make it to be so for ever .

V. BLessed God , refuse not thy returning son : I have prodigally wasted my talents , and spent my time in riotous and vain living ; but I have not lost my title and relation to thee my Father . O my God , I have the sorrow of an humble penitent , the purposes of a converted sinner , the love of a pardon'd person , the zeal of an obliged and redeem'd prisoner , the hope of him that feels thy present goodness , and longs for more . Reject me not , O my God , but do thou work all my works within me . My heart is in thy hands , and I know that the way of man is not in himself , it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps : But do thou guide me into the way of righteousness ; work in me an excellent Repentance , a great caution and observance , an humble fear , a prudent and a religious hope , and a daily growing charity ; work in me to will and to do of thy good pleasure : Then shall I praise thy name , and love thy excellencies , and obey thy Commandements , and suffer thy impositions , and be what thou wouldst have me to be , that I being rescu'd from the possession of the Devil , and the torments of perishing souls , may be admitted to serve thee , and be a Minister of thy honour in the Kingdomes of Grace and Glory , through Jesus Christ our Lord . Amen .

A Prayer for an old person returning after a wicked life .

I. O Eternal God , give me leave to speak for my self before I die : I would fain live and be heal'd , I have been too long thine enemy , and would not be so for ever . My heart is broken within me , and all my fortunes are broken without ; I know not how to speak , and I must not , I dare not hold my tongue .

II. O My God , can yesterday be recall'd , and the flying hours be stopped ? In my youth I had not the prudence and caution of old age ; but is it possible that in my old age I may be restored to the hopes and opportunities of youth ? Thou didst make the Sun to stand still at the prayer of Joshua , and return back at the importunity of Hezekiah . O do thou make a new account for me , and reckon not the dayes of my youth ; but from this day reckon the beginnings of my life , and measure it by the steps of duty , and the light of the Sun of Righteousness now rising upon my heart .

III. I Am ashamed , O God , I am ashamed that I should betray my reason , shame my nature , dishonour all my strengths , debauch my understanding , and baffle all my faculties for so base , so vile affections , so unrewarding interests . O my God , where is all that vanity which I suck'd so greedily as the wilde Asses do the wind ? whither is that pleasure and madness gone which so ravish'd all my senses , and made me deaf to the holy charms of thy divinest Spirit ? Behold , O God , I die for that which is not ; and unless thy mercy be my rescue , for ever I shall suffer torments insufferable , still to come , still to succeed , for having drunk of unsatisfying perishing waters , which had no current , no abode .

IV. O Dear God , smite me not yet ; respite me one portion of time , I dare not say how much , but even as much as thou pleasest . O stay a while , and try me but this once : It is true , O God , I have lost my strength , and given my vigorous years to that which I am asham'd to think on . But yet , O Lord , if thou pleasest , my soul can be as active , and dutiful , and affectionate , and humble , and sorrowful , and watchful as ever . Thou doest not save any for his own worthiness , but eternal life is a gift ; and thou canst if thou pleasest give it unto me . But why does my soul run thither , with all its loads of sin and shame upon it ? That is too great , yet to be thought of . O give me pardon , and give me sorrow , and give me a great , a mighty grace , to do the duty of a whole life in the remaining portion of my dayes .

V. O My gracious Lord , whatever thy sentence be , yet let me have the honour to serve thee . Let me contribute something to thy glory , let me converse with thy Saints and Servants in the entercourses of piety ; let me be admitted to be a servant to the meanest of thy servants , to do something that thou lovest . O God my God , do what thou pleasest , so I may not for ever die in the sad and dishonourable impieties of the damned . Let me but be admitted to thy service in all the degrees of my soul , and all the dayes of my short life , and my soul shall have some comfort , because I signifie my love and duty to thee for whom I will not refuse to die . O my God , I will not beg of thee to give me comfort , but to give me duty and imployment . Smite me if thou pleasest , but smite me here ; kill me if thou pleasest , I have deserved it , but I would fain live to serve thee , and for no other reason , but that thou mayest love to pardon and to sanctifie me .

VI. O Blessed Jesus , do thou intercede for me ; thy Father hears thee in all things , and thou knowest our infirmities , and hast felt our miseries , and didst die to snatch us from the intolerable flames of Hell ; and although thou givest thy gifts in differing proportions to thy servants , yet thou dost equally offer pardon to all thy enemies that will come unto thee and beg it . O give me all faith , and all charity , and a spirit highly compunctive , highly industrious , passionate , prudent and indefatigable in holy services . Open thy fountains , gracious Lord , and bath my stained soul in thy blood . Wash the Ethiop , cleanse the Leper , dress the strangers wounds , and forgive thy enemy .

VII . I Will not , O my God , I dare not distrust those infinite glories of thy mercy and graciousness , by which thou art ready to save all the world . The sins of all mankinde together are infinitely less then thy mercy , and thou who didst redeem the Heathen world , wilt also I hope rescue me who am a Christian . This is my glory and my shame , my sins had not been so great if I had not disgrac'd so excellent a title , and abused so mighty a grace ; but yet if the grace which I have abused had not been so great , my hopes had been less . One deep , O God , calls upon another . O let the abyss of thy mercy swallow up the puddles of my impurity ; let my soul no longer sink in the dead sea of Sodom , but in the laver of thy bloud and my tears and sorrow ; wash me who come to thee to be cleansed and purified . It is not impossible to have it done , for thy power hath no limit : It is not unusual for thee to manifest such glories of an infinite mercy ; thou doest it daily . O give me a fast , a tenacious hope on thee , and a bitter sorrow for my sins , and an excellent zeal of thy glory ; and let my repentance be more exemplary then my sins , that the infiniteness of that mercy which shall save me may be conspicuous to all Saints and Angels , and may endear the return of all sinners to thee the fountain of Holiness and Mercy . Mercy , dear God , pity thy servant , and do thy work of grace speedily , and mightily upon me , through Jesus Christ our Lord . Amen .

Ejaculations and short Prayers to be used by dying or sick Penitents after a wicked life .

I. O Almighty Father of men and Angels , I have often been taught that thy mercies are infinite , and I know they are so ; and if I be a person capable of comfort , this is the fountain of it : for my sins are not infinite , onely because they could not be so , my desires were onely limited by my Nature , for I would not obey the Spirit .

II. THou , O God , gavest mercy to the Thief upon the Cross , and from pain thou didst bring him to Paradise , from sin to repentance , from shame to glory . Thou wert the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world , and art still slain in all the periods of it . O be thou pleased to adorn thy passion still with such miracles of mercy ; and now in this sad conjunction of affairs , let me be made the instance .

III. THou art angry if I despair ; and therefore thou commandest me to hope : My hope cannot rest upon my self , for I am a broken reed , and an undermined wall . But because it rests upon thee , it ought not to be weak , because thou art infinite in mercy and power .

IV. HE that hath lived best , needs mercy , and he that hath lived worst , even I , O Lord , am not wounded beyond the efficacy of thy bloud , O dearest sweetest Saviour Jesus .

V. I Hope it is not too late to say this . But if I might be suffered to live longer , I would by thy grace live better , spending all my time in duty , laying out all my passion in love and sorrow , imploying all my faculties in Religion and Holiness .

VI. O My God , I am ready to promise any thing now , and I am ready to doe or to suffer any thing that may be the condition of mercy and pardon to me . But I hope I am not deceived by my fears , but that I should , if I might be tried , do all that I could , and love thee with a charity , great like that mercy by which I humbly pray that I may be pardon'd .

VII . MY comfort O God is , that thou canst if thou wilt : and I am sure thy mercy is as great as thy power , and why then may not I hope that thou wilt have mercy according to thy power ? Man , only Man is the proper subject of thy mercy , and therefore onely he is capable of thy mercy , because he hath sinned against thee . Angels and the inferiour creatures rejoyce in thy goodnesse , but only we that are miserable and sinful can rejoyce in thy mercy and forgivenesse .

VIII . I confess I have destroyed my self ; but in thee is my help ; for thou gettest glory to thy name by saving a sinner , by redeeming a captive slave , by inlightning a dark eye , by sanctifying a wicked heart , by pardoning innumerable and intolerable transgressions .

IX . O My Father , chastise me if thou pleasest , but do not destroy me : I am a son , though an Absalom and a Cain , an unthankful , a malicious , a revengeful , uncharitable person ; Thou judgest not by time , but by the measures of the Spirit . The affections of the heart are not to be weighed in the ballance of the Sanctuary , nor repentance to be measured by time , but by the Spirit and by the measures of thy mercy .

X. O My God , Hope is a word of an uncertain sound when it is placed in something that can fail , but thou art my hope and my confidence , and thy mercies are sure mercies which thou hast revealed to man in Christ Jesus , and they cannot fail them who are capable of them .

XI . O Gracious Father , I am as capable of mercy as I was of being created ; and the first grace is alwayes so free a grace , so undeserved on our part , that he that needs and calls , is never forsaken by thee .

XII . BLessEd Jesus , give me leave to trust in thy promises , in the letter of thy promises ; this letter killeth not , for it is the letter of thy Spirit , and saveth and maketh alive . Ask and you shall have ; so thou hast said , O my God , they are thy own words ; and whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved .

XIII . THere are , O blessed Jesus , many more ; and one tittle of thy word shall not pass away unaccomplished : and nothing could be in vain by which thou didst intend to support our hopes . If we confess our sins , thou art just and righteous to forgive us our sins , and to cleanse us from all iniquities .

XIV . WHen David said he would confess , then thou forgavest him . When the Prodigal was yet afar off , thou didst run out to meet him , and didst receive him . When he was naked , thou didst reinvest him with a precious robe ; and what O God can demonstrate the greatness of thy mercy , but such a misery as mine , so great a shame , so great a sinfulness ?

XV. BVt what am I , O God , sinful dust and ashes , a miserable and undone man , that I should plead with the great Judge of all the World ? Look not upon mè as I am in my self , but through Jesus Christ behold thy servant ; clothe me with the robes of his righteousness , wash me in his bloud , conform me to his image , fill me with his Spirit , and give me time , or give me pardon and an excellent heroick spirit , that I may do all that can be done , something that is excellent , and that may be acceptable in Jesus Christ . If I perish , I perish ; I have deserved it : but I will hope for mercy , till thy mercy hath a limit , till thy goodness can be numbred . O my God , let me not perish ; thou hast no pleasure in my death , and it is impossible for man to suffer thy extremest wrath . Who can dwell with the everlasting burning ? O my God , let me dwell safely in the embraces of thy sweetest mercy . Amen . Amen . Amen .

CHAP. VI. Of Concupiscence , and Original sin , and whether or no , or how far we are bound to repent of it .

§. 1.

ORiginal sin is so called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or figuratively , meaning the sin of Adam , which was committed in the Original of mankinde by our first Parent , and which hath influence upon all his posterity . Nascuntur non propriè , De civit . lib. 16. c. 18. sed originalitèr peccatores . So S. Austin ; and therefore S. Ignatius cals it 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the old impiety , Epist. ad Trallian . that which was in the original or first Parent of mankinde .

This sin brought upon Adam all that God threatned , but no more . A certainty of dying , together with the proper effects and affections of mortality , was inflicted on him , and he was reduced to the condition of his own nature , and then begat sons and daughters in his own likeness , that is , in the proper temper and constitution of mortal men . For as God was not bound to give what he never promised , viz. an immortal duration and abode in this life ; so neither does it appear in that angry entercourse that God had with Adam , that he took from him or us any of our natural perfections , but his graces onely .

Man being left in this state of pure Naturals , could not by his own strength arrive to a supernatural end ( which was typified in his being cast out of Paradise , and the guarding it with the flaming sword of a Cherub . ) For eternal life being an end above our natural proportion , cannot be acquir'd by any natural means . Neither Adam nor any of his posterity could by any actions or holiness obtain heaven by desert , or by any natural efficiency ; for it is a gift still , and it is neque currentis , neque operantis , neither of him that runneth , nor of him that worketh , but of God who freely gives it to such persons , whom he also by other gifts and graces hath dispos'd toward the reception of it .

What gifts and graces , or supernatural endowments God gave to Adam in his state of Innocence , we know not , God hath no where told us ; and of things unrevealed we commonly make wild conjectures . But after his fall we finde no sign of any thing but of a common man . And therefore as it was with him , so it is with us ; our nature cannot goe to heaven , without the helps of the Divine grace ; so neither could his : and whether he had them or no , it is certain we have ; receiving more by the second Adam then we did lose by the first : and the sons of God are now spiritual , which he never was that we can finde .

But concerning the sin of Adam , tragical things are spoken ; it destroyed his original righteousness , and lost it to us for ever ; it corrupted his nature , and corrupted ours , and brought upon him , and not him onely , but on us also who thought of no such thing , an inevitable necessity of sinning , making it as natural to us to sin as to be hungry , or to be sick and die ; and the consequent of these things is saddest of all , we are born enemies of God , sons of wrath , and heirs of eternal damnation .

In the meditation of these sad stories I shall separate the certain from the uncertain , that which is reveal'd from that which is presum'd , that which is reasonable from that which makes too bold reflexions upon Gods honour , and the reputation of his justice and his goodness . I shall doe it in the words of the Apostle from whence men commonly dispute in this Question right or wrong , according as it happens .

By one man sin came into the world ] That sin entred into the world by Adam , Rom. 5.12 . is therefore certain , because he was the first man , and unless he had never sinn'd , it must needs enter by him , for it comes in first by the first ; and Death by sin , that is , Death which at first was the condition of nature , became a punishment upon that account : just as it was to the Serpent to creep upon his belly , and to the Woman to be subject to her Husband : These things were so before , and would have been so , for the Apostle pressing the duty of subjection , gives two reasons why the woman was to obey . One of them onely was derived from this sin , the other was the prerogative of creation ; for Adam was first formed , 1 Tim. 2.13 . then Eve ; so that before her fall , she was to have been subject to her husband , because she was later in being ; she was a minor , and therefore under subjection ; she was also the weaker vessel . But it had not been a curse , and if any of them had been hindred by grace and favour , by Gods anger they were now left to fall back to the condition of their nature .

Death passed upon all men ; That is , upon all the old world , who were drowned in the floud of the Divine vengeance ; and who did sin after the similitude of Adam . And therefore S. Paul addes that for the reason . In as much as all men have sinned ] If all men have sinned upon their own account ( as it is certain they have ) then these words can very well mean , that Adam first sinned , and all his sons and daughters sinned after him , and so died in their own sin , by a death which at first and in the whole constitution of affairs is natural , and a death which their own sins deserved , but yet , which was hastned or ascertained upon them the rather for the sin of their progenitor . Sin propagated upon that root and vicious example ; or rather from that beginning , not from that cause , but dum ita peccant , & similiter moriuntur , If they sin so , then so shall they die ; so S. Hierome .

But this is not thought sufficient , and men doe usually affirm that we are formally and properly made sinners by Adam , and in him we all by interpretation sinned , and therefore think these words 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , forasmuch as all men have sinned , ought to be expounded thus , [ Death passed upon all men ; In whom all men have sinned ] meaning that in Adam we really sinn'd , and God does truly and justly impute his sin to us , to make us as guilty as he that did it , and as much punish'd , and liable to eternal damnation . And all the great force of this fancy relies upon this exposition of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to signify [ in him . ]

Concerning which there will be the less need of a laborious inquiry ; if it be observed , that the words being read , [ Forasmuch as all men have sinned ] bear a fair and clear discourse and very intelligible ; if it be rendred [ In him ] it is violent and hard , a distinct period by it self , without dependence or proper purpose , against the faith of all copies , who do not make this a distinct period , and against the usual manner of speaking . 2. This phrase of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is used in 2 Cor. 5.4 . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Not [ for that ] we would be unclothed ; and so it is used in Polybius , Suidas , and Var●nu● . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that is , eâ condition , for that cause or condition ; and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ad quid ades , are the words of the Gospel , as Suidas quotes them . 3. Although 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 may signifie the same with 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in whom , or in him ; yet it is so very seldome or infrequent , that it were intolerable to do violence to this place to force it to an unnatural signification . 4. If it did alwayes signifie the same with 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or in him , which it does not ; yet we might very well follow the same reading we now do , and which the Apostles discourse does infer ; for even 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 does divers times signifie , forasmuch , or for that , as is to be seen in Rom. 8.3 . and Heb. 2.18 . But 5. supposing all that can be , and that it did signifie [ in whom ] yet the sense were fair enough , as to the whole article ; for by him , or in him , we are made sinners , that is , brought to an evil state of things usually consequent to sinners : we are us'd like sinners by him , or in him ; just as when a sinner is justified , he is treated like a righteous person as if he had never sinned , though he really did sin oftentimes ; and this for his sake who is made righteousness to us : so in Adam we are made sinners , that is , treated ill and afflicted , though our selves be innocent of that sin , which was the occasion of our being us'd so severely for other sins of which we were not innocent . But how this came to pass is told in the following words .

For untill the law , sin was in the world , V. 13 , 14. but sin is not imputed when there is no law . Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses ] even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adams transgression ] who is the figure of him that was to come . ] By which discourse it appears , that S. Paul does not speak of all mankinde , as if the evil occasion'd by Adams sin did descend for ever upon that account ; but it had a limited effect , and reach'd onely to those who were in the interval between Adam and Moses . This death was brought upon them by Adam ; that is , death which was threatned to Adam onely , went forth upon them also who indeed were sinners , but not after the similitude of Adams transgression ; that is , who sinn'd not so capitally as he did . For to sin like Adam , is used as a Tragical and a high expression . Hos. 6.7 . So it is in the Prophet [ They like men have transgressed ] so we reade it ; but in the Hebrew it is [ They like Adam have transgressed ] and yet death pass'd upon them that did not sin after the similitude of Adam ; for Abel , and Seth , and Abraham , and all the Patriarchs died ( Enoch onely excepted ; ) and therefore it was no wonder that upon the sin of Adam death entred upon the world , who generally sinn'd like Adam , since it passed on and reigned upon less sinners . * It reigned upon them whose sins therefore would not be so imputed as Adams was , because there was no law with an express threatning given to them as was to Adam ; but although it was not wholly imputed upon their own account , yet it was imputed upon theirs and Adams . For God was so exasperated with Mankinde , that being angry he would still continue that punishment even to the lesser sins and sinners , which he onely had first threatned to Adam : and so Adam brought it upon them . They indeed in rigour did themselves deserve it , but if it had not been for that provocation by Adam , they who sinn'd not so bad , and had not been so severely and expresly threatned , had not suffer'd so severely . * The case is this . Jonathan and Michal were Sauls children ; it came to pass that seven of Sauls issue were to be hanged , all equally innocent , equally culpable . David took the five sons of Michal , for she had left him unhandsomely . Jonathan was his friend , and therefore he spar'd his son Mephibosheth . Here it was indifferent as to the guilt of the persons , whether David should take the sons of Michal , or of Jonathan ; but it is likely that as upon the kindeness which David had to Jonathan he spar'd his son , so upon the just provocation of Michal he made that evil to fall upon them , of which they were otherwise capable , which it may be they should not have suffered , if their Mother had been kinde . Adam was to God , as Michal to David .

But there was in it a further design : for by this dispensation of death , Adam was made a figure of Christ : So the Apostle expresly affirms ; [ who is the figure of him that was to come ] that as death pass'd upon the posterity of Adam , though they sinn'd less then Adam ; so life should be given to the followers of Christ , though they were imperfectly righteous , that is , not after the similitude of Christs perfection .

But for the further clearing the Article depending upon the right understanding of these words , these two things are observable . 1. That the evil of death descending upon Adams posterity , for his sake went no further then till Moses . For after the giving of Moses law , death passed no further upon the account of Adams transgression , but by the sanction of Moses law , where death was anew , distinctly , and expresly threatned as it was to Adam , and so went forward upon a new score , but introduc'd first by Adam ; that is , he was the cause at first , and till Moses also , he was in some sense the author , and for ever after , the precedent ; and therefore the Apostle said well , In Adam we all die : his sin brought in the sentence , in him it began , and from him it passed upon all the world , though by several dispensations . 2. In the discourse of the Apostle , those that were nam'd were not consider'd simply as born from Adam , and therefore it did not come upon the account of Natural or Original corruption , but they were consider'd as Sinners ; just as they who have life by Christ are not consider'd as meerly children by title , or spiritual birth , and adoption , but as just and faithful . But then this is the proportion and purpose of the Apostle ; as God gives to these life by Christ , which is a greater thing then their imperfect righteousness without Christ could have expected : so here also ; this part of Adams posterity was punish'd with death for their own sin : but this death was brought upon them by Adam ; that is , the rather for his provocation of God by his great transgression .

There is now remaining no difficulty but in the words of the 19 verse [ By one mans disobedience many were made sinners . ] Concerning which I need not make use of the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or many ; whom sometimes S. Paul calls 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , sometimes 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , all , and many , that is , all from Adam to Moses , but they are but many , and not all in respect of mankinde ; exactly answering to the All , that have life by Christ , which are onely the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , those many that believe , and are adopted into the Covenant of believers : by this indeed it is perceiveable that this was not a natural title or derivation of an inherent corruption from Adam , for that must have included All , absolutely and universally . But that which I here dwell and relie upon is this :

Sin is often in Scripture us'd for the punishment of sin ; and they that suffer , are called sinners , though they be innocent . So it is in this case . By Adams disobedience many were made sinners ; that is , the sin of Adam pass'd upon them , and sate upon their heads with evil effect , like that of Bathsheba ; I and my son shall be accounted sinners ; 1 Kings 1.21 . that is , evil will befall us , we shall be used like sinners , like Traytors and Usurpers . So , This shall be the sin of Egypt , Zech. 14.19 . said the Prophet : This shall be the punishment ; so we reade it . And Cain , complaining of the greatness of his punishment , said , Mine iniquity is greater then I can bear . * And to put it past all doubt , not onely punishment is called sin in Scripture , but even he that bears it . Him that knew no sin , 2 Cor. 5.21 . God hath made sin , that we might be the righteousness of God in him : and the Prophet Isaiah speaking of Christ , saith , Posuit peccatum animam suam ; Isa. 53.10 . He hath made his soul a sin , that is , Heb. 9.28 . obnoxious to the punishment of sin . Thus it is said , that Christ shall appear the second time without sin , that is , without the punishment of sin unto salvation : for of sin formally or materially , he was at first as innocent as at the second time ; that is , pure in both . And if Christ who bare our burthen , became sin for us in the midst of his purest innocence , that we also are by Adam made sinners , that is , suffer evil by occasion of his demerit , infers not that we have any formal guilt , or enmity against God upon that account . Facti peccatores in S. Paul , by Adam we are made sinners , answers both in the story and in the expression to Christus factus peccatum pro nobis ; Christ was made sin for us , that is , was expos'd to the evil that is consequent to sin , viz. to its punishment .

For the further explication of which , it is observable that the word [ sinner ] and [ sin ] in Scripture is us'd for any person that hath a fault or a legal impurity , a debt , a vitiosity , defect , or imperfection . For the Hebrews use the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for any obligation which is contracted by the Law without our fault . Thus a Nazarite who had touch'd a dead body , was tied to offer a sacrifice 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for sin ; and the reason is added , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that is , he had sinn'd concerning the dead body , and yet it was nothing but a legal impurity , nothing moral . And the offering that was made by the leprous , or the menstruous , or the diseased inprofluvio seminis , is called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an offering for sin , and yet it might be innocent all the way .

Thus in the Epistle to the Hebrews it is said , that our blessed Lord ( who is compared to the High-Priest among the Jews ) did offer first for his own sins ; Heb. 7.27 . by which word it is certain that no sin properly could be meant , for Christ was 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , he knew no sin ; but it means , the state of his infirmity , the condition of his mortal body , which he took for us and our sins , and is a state of misery and of distance from heaven ; for flesh and bloud cannot inherit the Kingdome of Heaven ; whither Christ was not to go , till by offering himself he had unclothed himself of that imperfect vesture , as they that were legally impure might not go to the Temple before their offering : Rom. 6.10 . and therefore when by death he quit himself of this condition , it is said [ he died unto sin . ] Parallel to this is that of S. Paul in the fifth Chapter to the Hebrews , where the state of infirmity is expresly called sin . Ver. 2.3 . The High-Priest ] is himself also compassed with infirmity ; and by reason hereof he ought , as for the people , so also for himself to offer for sins . This is also more expresly by S. Rom. 8.3 . Paul called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the likeness of the sin of the flesh ; and thus Concupiscence or the first motions and inclinations to sin , is called sin , and said to have the nature of sin , that is , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the likeness , it may be , the material part of sin , or something by which sin is commonly known . And thus Origen observes , that an oblation was to be offered , even for new born children , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as if they were not clean from sin . But this being an unusual expression among the Hebrews , bears its sense upon the palm of the hand , and signifies onely the legal impurity in which the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the new born babes and their Mothers were involv'd . Even Christ himself who had no Original sin was subject to this purification . So we reade in S. Luke ; Luke 2.22 . and when the days of [ her ] purification were accomplish'd : but in most books , and particular in the Kings MS. it is read , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the dayes of [ their ] purification . But the things of this nature being called offerings for sins , and the expression usual among the Jews , I doubt not but hath given occasion to the Christian Writers to fancy other things then were intended .

Having now explicated those words of S. Paul , which by being misunderstood have caused strange devices in this Article , we may now without prejudice examine what really was the effect of Adams sin , and what evil descended upon his posterity .

Adams sin was punish'd by an expulsion out of Paradise , in which was a Tree appointed to be the cure of diseases and a conservatory of life . There was no more told as done but this , and its proper consequents . He came into a land less blessed , a land which bore thistles and briars easily , and fruits with difficulty , so that he was forc'd to sweat hard for his bread ; and this also ( I cannot say did descend , but ) must needs be the condition of his children who were left to live so , and in the same place ; just as when young Anthony had seis'd upon Marcus Cicero's land , the Son also lost what he never had . And thus death came in , not by any new sentence or change of nature : for man was created mortal ; and if Adam had not sinned , he should have been immortal by grace , that is , by the use of the Tree of life ; and now being driven from the place where the Tree grew , was left in his own natural constitution , that is , to be sick and die without that remedy . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Cyril . adv. Anthrop . He was mortal of himself , and we are mortal from him . Dial. adv. Tryph. Peccando Adam posteros morti subjecit , & universos huic delicto obnoxios reddit , said Justin Martyr . Adam by his sin made all his posterity liable to the sin , and subjected them to death . One explicates the other ; Lib. 3. Ep. 8. and therefore S. Cyprian calls Original sin , Malum domesticum , contagium mortis antiquae primâ nativitate contractum . His sin infected us with death , and this infection we derive in our birth , that is , we are born mortal . Adams sin was imputed to us unto a natural death ; in him we are sinners , as in him we die . But this sin is not real and inherent , but imputed onely to such a degree . So S. Cypriam affirms most expresly .... infans recens natus nihil peccavit nisi quòd secundum Adam carnalitèr natus contagium mortis antiquae primâ nativitate contraxit . An infant hath not sinn'd , save onely that being carnally born of Adam , in his first birth he hath contracted the contagion of the old death .

This evil which is the condition of all our natures , viz. to die , was to some a punishment , but to others not so . It was a punishment to all that sinn'd both before Moses and since ; upon the first it fell as a consequent of Gods anger upon Adam ( as I before discours'd ) upon the latter it fell as a consequent of that anger which was threatned in Moses law . But to those who sinned not at all , as Infants and Innocents , it was meerly a condition of their nature , and no more a punishment , then to be a childe is . It was a punishment of Adams sin ; because by his sin humane Nature became disrob'd of their preternatural immortality , and therefore upon that account they die ; but as it related to the persons , it was not a punishment , not an evil afflicted for their sin , or any guiltiness of their own , properly so called .

We finde nothing else in Scripture express'd to be the effect of Adams sin ; and beyond this without authority we must not go . Other things are said , but I finde no warrant for them in that sense they are usually suppos'd , and some of them in no sense at all . The particulars commonly reckoned , are , that from Adam we derive an Original ignorance , a proneness to sin , a natural malice , a fomes , or nest of sin imprinted and plac'd in our souls , a loss of our wills liberty , and nothing is left but a liberty to sin , which liberty upon the summe of affairs is expounded to be a necessity to sin : and the effect of all is , we are born heirs of damnation .

Concerning Original or Natural ignorance , it is true , we derive it from our Parents , I mean we are born with it ; but I do not know that any man thinks that if Adam had not sinn'd that sin , Cain should have been wise as soon as his Navel had been cut . Neither can we guess at what degree of knowledge Adam had before his fall . Certainly , if he had had so great a knowledge , it is not likely he would so cheaply have sold himself and all his hopes , out of a greedy appetite to get some knowledge . But concerning his posterity ; indeed it is true a childe cannot speak at first , nor understand ; and if ( as Plato said ) all our knowledge is nothing but memory , it is no wonder a child is born without knowledge . But so it is in the wisest men in the world ; they also when they see or hear a thing first , think it strange , and could not know it till they saw or heard it . Now this state of ignorance we derive from Adam , as we do our Nature , which is a state of ignorance and all manner of imperfection ; but whether it was not imperfect , and apt to fall into forbidden instances even before his fall , we may best guess at by the event ; for if he had not had a rebellious appetite , and an inclination to forbidden things , by what could he have been tempted , and how could it have come to pass that he should sin ? Indeed this Nature was made worse by sin , and became devested of whatsoever it had extraordinary , and was left naked , and meer , and therefore it is not onely an Original imperfection which we inherit , but in the sense now explicated , it is also an Original corruption . And this is all : As natural death by his sin became a curse , so our natural imperfection became natural corruption , and that is Original sin . Death and imperfection we derive from Adam , but both were natural to us ; but by him they became actual , and penal , and by him they became worse , as by every evil act , every principle of evil is improv'd . And in this sense , this Article is affirmed by all the Doctors of the ancient Church . We are miserable really , sinners in account or effect , that properly , this improperly ; and are faln into so sad a state of things which we also every day make worse , that we did need a Saviour to redeem us from it . For in Original sin we are to consider the principle , and the effects . The principle is the actual sin of Adam . This being to certain purposes by Gods absolute dominion imputed to us , hath brought upon us a necessity of dying and all the affections of mortality ; which although they were natural , yet would by grace have been hindred . Another evil there is upon us , and that is Concupiscence ; this also is natural , but it was actual before the fall , it was in Adam , and tempted him . This also from him is derived to us , and is by many causes made worse , by him and by our selves . And this is the whole state of Original sin , so far as is fairly warrantable . But for the other particulars the case is wholly differing .

The sin of Adam neither made us 1. Heirs of damnation : Nor 2. Naturally and necessarily vicious .

1. It could not make us Heirs of damnation . This I shall the less need to insist upon , because of it self it seems so horrid to impute to the goodness and justice of God to be author of so great a calamity to Innocents , that S. Austins followers have generally left him in that point , and have descended to this lesser proportion , that Original sin damns onely to the eternal loss of the sight of Gods glorious face . But to this , I say these things .

1. That there are many Divine which beleeve this alone to be the worm that never dies , and the fire that never goeth out ; that is , in effect , this , and the anguish for this is all the hell of the damned . And unless infants remain infants in the resurrection too ( which no man that I know affirms ) or unless they be sensless and inapprehensive , it is not to be imagined , but that all that know they are by way of punishment depriv'd of the glorious face of God , must needs have a horrible anguish of soul to eternal ages . And this argument , besides the reasonableness of the thing , Lib. 6. in Julian . c. 4. hath warrant from the words of S. Austin . Si hoc eis non erit malum , non ergo amabunt regnum Dei tot innocentes imagines Dei ? Si autem amabunt , & tantum amabunt , quantum innocentes amare debent , regnum ejus à quo ad ipsius imaginem creantur , nihílne mali de hâc ipsâ separatione patientur ? Here the good man and eloquent , supposes the little babies to be innocent , to be images of God , to love the Kingdome of God , and yet to be sentenc'd to hell : which ( it may be ) he did , but I do not understand ; save onely that in the Parable we finde Dives in hell to be very charitable to his living brethren . But that which I make use of for the present , is , that infants besides the loss of Gods presence , and the beholding his face , are apprehensive and afflicted with that evil state of things , whither their infelicity , not their fault , hath carried him .

2. But suppose this to be but a meer privative state , yet it cannot be inflicted upon infants as a punishment of Adams sin , and upon the same account it cannot be inflicted upon any one else . Not upon infants , because they are not capable of a law for themselves , therefore much less of a law which was given to another , here being a double incapacity of obedience . They cannot receive any law , and if they could , yet of this they never were offer'd any notice till it was too late . Now if infants be not capable of this , nor chargeable with it , then no man is ; for all are infants first , and if it comes not by birth , and at first , it cannot come at all . So that although this privative hell be less then to say they are tormented in flames besides , yet it is as unequal and unjust . There is not indeed the same cruelty , but there is the same injustice . I deny not but all persons naturally are so that they cannot arrive at heaven , but unless some other principle be put into them , or some great grace done for them , must for ever stand separate from seeing the face of God . But this is but accidentally occasion'd by the sin of Adam . That left us in our natural state , and that state can never come to heaven in its own strength . But this condition of all men by nature is not the punishment of our sin ; for this would suppose , that were it not for this sin superinduc'd , otherwise we should goe to heaven . Now this is not true ; for if Adam had not sinned , yet without something supernatural , some grace and gift , we could never go to heaven . Now although the sin of Adam left him in his nakedness , and a meer natural man ; yet presently this was supplied , and we were never in it , but were improv'd and better'd by the promise , and Christ hath died for mankinde , and in so doing is become our Redeemer and Representative ; and therefore this sin of Adam cannot call us back from that state of good things , into which we are put by the mercies of God in our Lord Jesus ; and therefore now no infant or idiot , or man or woman shall for this alone be condemn'd to an eternal banishment from the sweetest presence of God . But this will be evinced more certainly in the following periods . For if they stand for ever banished from the presence of God , then they shall be for ever shut up in hell , with the devil and his angels ; for the Scripture hath mentioned no portions but of the right and left hand . Greg. Naz. and his Scholiast Nicetas did suppose that there should be a middle state between heaven and hell for infants & heathens ; and concerning infants P. Innocen . 3. and some schoolmen a a Ambros . Catharinꝰ Albert. Pighius . have taken it up : but S. b b De verb. Apost. Serm. 14. Aust. hath sufficiently confuted it ; & it is sufficient that there is no ground for it but their own dreams .

3. But then against those that say , the flames of hell is the portion of Adams heirs , and that infants dying in Original sin are eternally tormented as Judas , or Dives , or Julian , I call to witness all the Oeconomy of the divine goodness , and justice and truth . The soul that sins it shall die ; As I live , saith the Lord , Ezek. 18. the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father ; that is , he shall not be guilty of his crime , nor liable to his punishment .

4. Is hell so easie a pain , or are the souls of children of so cheap , so contemptible a price , that God should so easily throw them into hell ? Gods goodness which pardons many sins which we could avoid , will not so easily throw them into hell for what they could not avoid . Gods goodness is against this .

5. It is suppos'd that Adam did not finally perish for that sin which himself committed ; all Antiquity thought so , Tatianus only excepted , who was a heretick accounted , and the father of the Encratites . But then what equity is it that any innocents or little children should ? for either God pardon'd Adam or condemn'd him . If he pardon'd him that sinn'd , it is not so agreeable to his goodness to exact it of others that did not * * Ex tarditate si Dii sontes praetereant , & insontes plectant , justitiam suam non sic rectè resarciunt . . For if he pardon'd him , then either God took off all that to which he was liable , or onely remov'd it from him to place it some where else . If he remov'd it from him to his posterity , that is it which we complain of as contrary to his justice and his goodness . But if God took off all that was due , how could God exact it of others , it being wholly pardon'd ? But if God did not pardon him the eternal guilt , but took the forfeiture and made him pay the full price of his sin , that is , all which he did threaten and intend , then it is not to be supposed that God should in justice demand more then eternal pains as the price to be paid by one man for one sin . So that in all senses this seems unjust .

6. To be born , was a thing wholly involuntary and unchosen , and therefore it could in no sense be chosen , that we were born so , that is , born guilty of Adams sin , which we knew not of , which was done so many thousand years before we were born ; which we had never heard of , if God had not been pleas'd by a supernatural way to reveal to us , which the greatest part of mankinde to this day have never heard of ; at which we were displeas'd as soon as we knew of it ; which hath caused much trouble to us , but never tempted us with any pleasure .

7. No man can perish for that of which he was not guilty ; but we could not be involv'd in the guilt , unless some way or other our consent had been involv'd . For it is no matter who sins , or who is innocent , if he that is innocent may perish for what another does without his knowledge or leave , either ask'd , or given , or presum'd . * But if our consent was in it , then either it was included naturally , or by an express will of God that made it so . It can no way be imagined how our will can be naturally included , for we had no natural being . We had no life , and therefore no action , and therefore no consent . For it is impossible there should be an act of will in any sense , when there is an act of understanding in no sense . * But if by a Divine act or decree it became so , and not by our act , then we onely are said to consent , because God would have it so ; which , if we speak intelligibly , is to charge God with making us guilty when we were not , to say , we consented when we did not .

8. In pursuance of which argument , I consider , that whatsoever can be said to consent , must have a being either in or out of its causes . But our will was not in being or actual existence when Adam sinned ; it was then in its causes . But the soul , and so the will of man hath no cause but God , it being with the soul immediately created . If therefore we sinned , we could not sin in our selves , for we were not born ; nor could we sin in Adam , for he was not the cause of our will ; it must therefore be that we sinn'd in God : for as was our being , so must our action be ; but our being was then onely in God , our will and our soul was in him onely , tanquam in suâ causâ , therefore in him was our action , or consent , or what we please to call it . Which affirmative , what sense , or what piety , or what probability it can have in it , I suppose , needs not much inquiry .

9. To condemn Infants to hell for the fault of another , is to deal worse with them , then God did to the very Devils , who did not perish but for an act of their own most perfect choice .

10. This , besides the formality of injustice and cruelty , does adde and suppose a circumstance of a strange ungentle contrivance . For because it cannot be supposed that God should damn Infants or Innocents without cause , it findes out this way , that God to bring his purposes to pass , should create a guilt for them , or bring them into an inevitable condition of being guilty by a way of his inventing . For if he did make any such agreement with Adam , he beforehand knew that Adam would forfeit all , and therefore that unavoidably all his posterity should be surpris'd . This is to make pretences , and to invent justifications and reasons of his proceedings , which indeed are all one as if they were not . For he that can make a reason for an action otherwise unjust , Qui vult aliquid in causâ vult effectum ex istá causâ profluentem . can do it without any reason ; especially when the reason it self makes the misery as fatal as a decree without a reason : And if God cannot be supposed to damn infants without just cause , and therefore he so order'd it that a cause should not be wanting , but he infallibly and irresistibly made them guilty of Adms sin ; is not this to resolve to make them miserable , and then with scorn to triumph in their sad condition ? For if they could not deserve to perish without a fault of their own , how could they deserve to have such a fault put upon them ? If it be unjust to damn them without cause , is it not also unjust to make a cause for them whether they will or no ?

11. It is suppos'd and generally taught , that before the fall Adam had Original righteousness , that is , not onely that he was innocent as children new born are of actual sin ( which seems to be that which Divines call Original righteousness , there being no other either taught , or reasonable ) but a rare rectitude of the inner man , a just subordination of the inferior faculties to the superior , an excellent knowledge and clear light : and therefore that he would sin had so little excuse , that well it might deserve such a punishment , so great as himself suffered . Indeed if he had no such rare perfections and rectitude , I can say nothing to the particular : but to the Question , this ; that if Adam had it not , then he could not lose it , nor his posterity after him ; as it is fiercely and mightily pretended that they did . But if he had this rectitude and rare endowments , what equity is it that his posterity who had no such helps to resist the sin , and were so farre from having any helps at all to resist it , that they had no notice of it , neither of the law , nor the danger , nor the temptation , nor the action , till it was past ; I say , what equity is it that his posterity should in the midst of all these imperfections be equally punished with him , who sinned against so great a light , and so mighty helps ?

12. Infants cannot justly perish for Adams sin , unless it be just that their wills should be included in his will , and his will justly become theirs by interpretation . Now if so , I ask , Whether before that sin of Adam were our wills free , or not free ? For if we had any will at all , it must be free , or not free . If we had none at all , how could it be involv'd in his ? Now if our wills were free , why are they without our act , and whether we will or no , involv'd in the will of another ? If they were not free , how could we be guilty ? * If they were free , then they could also dissent . If they were not free , then they could not consent ; and so either they never had , or else before Adams fall they lost their liberty .

13. But if it be inquired seriously , I cannot imagine what can be answered . Could we prevent the sin of Adam ? could we hinder it ? were we ever ask'd ? Could we , if we had been ask'd after we were born a moneth , have given our negative ? Or could we do more before we were born then after ? were we , or could we be tied to prevent that sin ? Did not God know that we could not in that case dissent ? And why then shall our consent be taken in by interpretation , when our dissent could not be really acted ; But if at that time we could not dissent really , could we have dissented from Adams sin by interpretation ? If not , then we could dissent no way , and then it was inevitably decreed that we should be ruin'd : for neither really , nor by interpretation could we have dissented . But if we could by interpretation have dissented , it were certainly more agreeable to Gods goodnesse , to have interpreted for us in the better sense , rather then in the worse ; being we did neither , really and actually ; and if God had so pleased , he rather might with his goodnesse have interpreted us to have dissented ; then he could with justice have interpreted us to have consented : and therefore certainly he did so , or would have done , if there had been need .

14. Lastly ; the Consequent of these is this . That because God is true and just and wise , and good , and mercifull , it is not to be supposed that he will snatch Infants from their Mothers breasts , and throw them into the everlasting flames of Hell for the sin of Adam , that is , as to them , for their meer natural state of which himself was Author and Creator : that is , he will not damne them for being good . For God saw every thing that he had made , and behold it was very good : and therefore so is that state of descent from Adam . God is the Author of it , and therefore it cannot be ill . It cannot be contraray to God because it is his work .

Upon the account of these reasons I suppose it safe to affirme , that God does not damne any one to Hell meerly for the sin of our first Father , which I summe up in the words of S. Ambrose , or whoever is the Author of the Commentaries upon the Epistles of S. Paul attributed to him ; In cap. 5. Rom. Mors autem dissolutio corporis est , cum anima à corpore separatur . Est & alia mors , quae secunda dicitur , in Gehennâ , quam non peccato Adae patimur , sed ejus occasione propriis peccatis acquiritur . Death is the dividing Soul and Body . There is also another death which is in Hell , and is called the second Death , which we do not suffer for the sin of Adam ; but by occasion of it , we fall into it by our own sins .

Next we are to inquire , whether or no it does not make us infallibly , naturally , and necessarily vitious , by taking from us Original righteousness , by discomposing the order of our faculties , and inslaving the will to sin and folly , concerning which the inquiry must be made by parts .

For if the sin of Adam did debauch our Nature , and corrupt our will and manners , it is either by a Physicall or Natural efficiency of the sin it self : or 2. Because we were all in the loyns of Adam , or 3. By the sentence and decree of God .

1. Not by any Natural efficiency of the sin it self : Because then it must be that every sin of Adam must spoile such a portion of his Nature , that before he died , he must be a very beast . 2. We also by degeneration and multiplication of new sins must have been at so vast a distance from him at the very worst , that by this time we should not have been so wise as a flie , nor so free and unconstrain'd as fire . 3. If one sin would naturally and by physical causality destroy Original righteousness , then every one sin in the regenerate can as well destroy Habitual righteousness , because that and this differ not but in their principle , not in their nature and constitution . And why should not a righteous man as easily and as quickly fall from grace , and lose his habits , as Adam did ? Naturally it is all one . 4. If that one sin of Adam did destroy all his righteousness and ours too , then our Original sin does more hurt , and is more punish'd , and is of greater malice then our actual sin . For one act of sin does but lessen and weaken the habit , but does not quite destroy it . If therefore this act of Adam ( in which certainly , at least we did not offend maliciously ) destroys all Original righteousness , and a malicious act now does not destroy a righteous habit , it is better for us in our own malice , then in our ignorance , and we suffer less for doing evil that we know of , then for doing that which we knew nothing of .

2. If it be said , that this evil came upon us because we all were in the loins of Adam : I consider , 1. That then by the same reason we are guilty of all the sins which he ever committed while we were in his loins ; there being no imaginable reason why the first sin should be propagated , and not the rest ; and he might have sinned the second time , and have sinn'd worse . Adde to this , that the later sins are commonly the worse , as being committed not onely against the same law , but a greater reason , and a longer experience , and heightned by the mark of ingratitude , and deeply noted with folly , for venturing damnation so much longer : And then he that was born last should have most Original sin ; and Seth should in his birth and nature be worse then Abel , and Abel be worse then Cain . 2. Upon this account all the sins of all our progenitors will be imputed to us , because we were in their loins when they sinn'd them ; and every lustful father must have a lustful son , and so every man , or no man will be lustful . For if ever any man were lustful or intemperate when , or before he begot his childe , upon this reckoning his childe will be so too , and then his grandchilde , and so on for ever . 3. Sin is seated in the will , it is an action , and transient ; and when it dwells or abides , it abides no where but in the will by approbation and love , to which is naturally consequent a readiness in the inferior faculties to obey and act accordingly ; and therefore sin does not infect our meer natural faculties , but the will onely , and not that in the natural capacity , but in its moral onely . 4. And indeed to him that considers it , it will seem strange and monstrous , that a moral obliquity , in a single instance , should make an universal change in a natural suscipient , and in a natural capacity . When it is in nature impossible that any impression should be made but between those things that communicate in matter or capacity ; and therefore if this were done at all , it must be by a higher principle , by Gods own act or sanction , and then should be referred to another principle , not this against which I am now disputing . 5. No man can transmit a good habit , a grace , or a vertue by natural generation ; as a great Scholars son cannot be born with learning , and the childe of a Judge cannot upon his birth day give wise sentences ; and Marcus the son of Cicero was not so good an Orator as his father : and how can it be then that a naughty quality should be more apt to be disseminated then a good one ; when it is not the goodness or the badness of a quality that hinders its dissemination , but its being an acquir'd & superinduc'd quality that makes it cannot descend naturally ? Adde to this , how can a bad quality , morally bad , be directly and regularly transmitted by an action morally good ? and since neither God that is the Maker of all does amiss , and the father that begets sins not , and the childe that is begotten cannot sin , by what conveyance can any positive evil be derived to the posterity ? 6. It is generally , now adayes especially , believed , that the soul is immediately created , not generated , according to the doctrine of Aristotle , affirming , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; that the soul is from without , and is a Divine substance ; and therefore sin cannot descend by natural generation , or by our being in Adams loins . And how can it be , that the father who contributes nothing to her production , should contribute to her pollution ? that he who did not transmit life , should transmit his sin ? and yet if the soul were traduc'd from the parents , and begotten , yet sin could not descend , because it is not a natural , but a superinduc'd quality ; and if it could , then it would follow , that we should from every vicious father derive a proper Original sin , besides the general . 7. If in him we sinned , then it were but just , that in him we should be punished : for as the sin is , so ought the punishment to be . But it were unjust , or at least it seems so , that he should sin for us , and we be punished for him , or that he should sin for us and for himself , and yet be punish'd for himself alone .

3. But if it be said , that this happened because of the will and decree of God ; then there is no more to be done , but to look into the record , and see what God threatned , and what he inflicted . He threatned death and inflicted it , with all its preparations and solemnities in men and women : hard labour in them both ; which S. Chrysostome thus expresses , In 5. Rom. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Adam falling , even they that did not eat of the Tree , were of him all born mortal . He and all his posterity were left in the meer natural state ; that is , in a state of imperfection , in a state that was not sufficiently instructed and furnished with abilities in order to a supernatural end , whither God had secretly design'd mankinde . In this state he could never arrive at heaven , but that was to be supplied by other means ; for this made it necessary that all should come to Christ , and is the great 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and necessity for the baptism of Infants , that they being admitted to supernatural promises and assistances , may be lifted up to a state above their nature ; Not onely to improve their present good , as the Pelagians affirm'd , Tam Dives verò hoc donum baptismatis esse , Vt parvis etiam vitióque carentibus omni Congruat , ut qui sunt geniti bene , sint meliores Naturaeque bonum adjecto illustretur honore ; but to take off that evil state of things whither by occasion of the fall of Adam they were devolv'd , and to give them new birth , adoption into Christ , and the seeds of a new nature , so to become children of God and heirs of the promises , who in their meer naturals did inherit from Adam nothing but misery , and imperfection , and death . Coelorum regnum sperate hoc fonte renati , Non recipit felix vita semel genitos . Insons esse volens isto mundare lavacro , Seu patrio premeris crimine , seu proprio . So Xistus in the Verses written upon the Fount of Constantine . But 2. It is not to be supposed that God did inflict any necessity of sinning upon Adam or his posterity , because from that time ever unto this , he by new laws hath required innocence of life , or repentance and holiness . For besides that it is a great testimony of the Divine favour that God will still imploy us , and exact more services of us , and that there is no greater argument of joy to us in the world , then that we are Gods servants , and there can be no greater testimony , that God is our God ; and that of this employing us in his service , there can be no greater evidence , then the giving to us new laws : Besides this , I say , if man could not obey , it is not consistent with the wisdome of God , to require of man , what he knows man cannot do ; nor with his justice , to punish that in man , which he knows man cannot avoid .

But if it be objected , that man had strengths enough in his first Creation , but when in Adam he sinned , in him also he forfeited all his strengths ; and therefore his consequent disability being his own fault , cannot be his excuse ; and to whatsoever laws God shall be pleased afterwards to impose , he cannot plead his infirmity , because himself having brought it on himself , must suffer for it : In being just in God to exact the law of him , even where he is unable to keep it , because God once made him able , and he disabled himself . I answer many things .

1. That Adam had any more strengths then we have , and greater powers of Nature , and by his fall lost them to himself and us , being part of the question , ought not to be pretended , till it be proved . Adam was a man , as his sons are , and no more ; and God gave him strength enough to do his duty ; and God is as just and loving to us as to him , and hath promis'd he will lay no more upon us , then he will make us able to bear . But 2. He that disables himself from doing his Lord service , if he does it on purpose that he may not serve him , may be punished for not doing all that which was imposed upon him , because that servant did choose his disability , that he might with some pretence refuse the service . He did disobey in all the following particulars ; because out of a resolution not to obey in those particulars , he made himself unable in the general . It is all one with the case of voluntary and affected ignorance . He that refuses knowledge lest he should understand his duty , and he that disables himself that he may not do it , may be punished not onely for not doing it , but for making it impossible to be done . But that was not Adams case , so farre as we know ; and it is certain it was not ours in the matter of his sin . 3. But if he commits a fault which accidentally disables him ; as if he eats too much , and be sick the next day , and fall into a feaver , he may indeed , and is justly punished for his gluttony , but he is not punishable for omitting that which in his present weakness he can no ways perform . The reason is , because this disability was involuntary , and an evil accident ; of it self a punishment of his sin , and therefore of it self not punishable ; and this involuntariness is still the more notorious and certain , as the consequents are the more remote . 4. No man can be answerable to God for the consequent of his sin , unless it be natural , foretold , or foreseen ; but for the sin it self he is ; and as for the consequents superinduc'd by God , he must suffer them , but not answer for them . For these being in the hands of God , are not the works of mens hands ; God hath effected it upon the sinner , he is the Author of it , and by it he is directly glorified ; and therefore though by it the sinner is punished , yet for it he cannot be punished again . 5. But that I may come to the case of the present argument . This measure and line of justice is most evident in laws to be imposed after the disability is contracted , and not foreseen before ; concerning which , there can be no pretence of justice that the breach of them should be punished . If a law be already imposed , and a man by his fault loses those assistances , without which he could not keep the law , he may nevertheless in the rigor of justice be punished for not keeping it , Because the law was given him when he had strength , and he ought to have preserv'd it . For though he cannot be obliged to a new law to which he is not enabled , yet for his sin he shall not be disoblig'd from an old law to which he was enabled . Although God will not exceed his measures , or doe wrong to a sinner , yet by his sin he shall receive no favour , or immunity . But in laws to be imposed afterwards , the case ( I say ) is otherwise . Because the persons are not capable of any such law ; and God knowing they cannot perform them , cannot intend they should , and therefore cannot justly punish them , for not doing that , which himself did never heartily intend they should doe , because he knew they could not . The instances will make the matter to be confessed . * Suppose a man falling into drunkenness , should by the Divine judgement fall lame ; can God afterwards exact it of him that he should leap and dance in publick festivities , when he can neither goe nor stand ? If so , suppose yet further , that by the Divine judgement he should fall mad ; Is the mad man capable of a new law ? I suppose it will not be said he is : or if it be , suppose yet further , that he be taken speechless , and senseless , or die : Can God still exact of him obedience to any new Commandement ? If he be dead , his day is done , he can work no more , nor be oblig'd any more ; and so it is , if he be mad , or any ways disabled ; the case is all one . For whatsoever the disability be , the incapacity , and impossibility , and the excuse is the same . 6. When God ( as it is said ) punish'd the first sin with a consequent disability of doing any future services , if he also punishes the not doing what he afterwards imposes , I ask , whether this later punishment be precisely due to the later , or to the former sin ? If to the later , then in vain is it laid upon the former account ; and yet , if it be laid upon its own , it is high injustice ; because of this law the man was not a subject capable when it was imposed , the man was dead before the law was alive : and a tree is as much capable of a law , as a man is of an impossible Commandement . But if the punishment of this later , be inflicted upon the sinner for the first transgression by which he disabled himself , then in vain was the later Commandement imposed . For since the later sin was unavoidable , and the first sin deserv'd the whole damnation , what end could there be of imposing this new law , by which God could not serve any new purpose , no not for the manifestation of his justice in condemning him ? For if the first sin deserv'd condemnation , there was no need to introduce a new pretence , and to seek an occasion to slay him . But if it did not , it is certain the new sin could not make it just to doe what was not just before , because by this new omission there can be no new guilt contracted . But of this I shall give yet a further account when I shall discourse in what sense God can be said to punish one sin with another .

The consequent of the parts of this discourse is this , that since the sin of Adam did not debauch our nature by any naturall efficiency of the sin it self , Idem sensit Jacobus Faber in 5. Rom. Nihil nos ex Adamo trahere nisi obligationem ad mortem . Albertus Pighius controv. 1. de peccato Orig. & Ambr. Catharinus de lapsu hominis & peccato Orig. statuunt , Peccatum Originis non habere veram peccati rationem , sed esse tantùm reatum quo posteri primorum parentum propter transgressionem illorum primaevam sine aliquo vitio proprio & inhaerente naturae pravitate devincti teneantur . nor by our being in the loyns of Adam , nor yet by any sentence or decree of God , we are not by Adams sin made necessarily and naturally vicious , and inclin'd to evil , but are left in our meer nature such as it was , and such as it is .

— Nec si miseram [ Natura ] Sinonem Finxit , vanum etiam mendacémque improba finget .

Nature makes us miserable and imperfect , Epist. ad Magnes . but not criminal . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . They are the words of S. Ignatius the Martyr . If any man be a pious and a good man , he is of God ; if he be impious , he is of the Devil . Not by Nature , but made so by his own proceedings . To all which I adde this ;

That in Scripture there is no signification of any corruption or depravation of our souls by Adams sin ; which I shall manifest by examination of all those places which are the pretence of the contrary doctrine . For if God hath not declared in Scripture any such thing , we have the common notions of his justice , and wisdome , and goodness , and truth in prejudice of the contrary .

§. 2. Consideration of the objections against the former doctrine .

THE first is [ Every imagination of the thoughts of mans heart are onely evil continually . ] Gen 6.5 . I answer , it is true , they were so , but it was their own fault , not Adams ; for so it is said expresly * * V. 12. , [ All flesh had corrupted his way upon earth , and the earth was filled with violence . ] 2. If this corruption had been natural and unavoidable , why did God punish all the world for it , except eight persons ? why did he punish those that could not help it ? and why did others escape that were equally guilty ? Is not this ● respect of persons , and partiality to some , and iniquity towards all ? which farre be it from the Judge of all the world . 3. God might as well have punish'd all the world , for sleeping once in a day , or for being hungry , as for sinning , if so to doe be natural and unavoidable . 4. If God in these words complain'd of their Natural and Original corruption , why did he but then , as if it were a new thing , complain of it , and repent that he had made man , since he prov'd so bad ? 5. This malice and corruption was such , that God did send Noah the Preacher of righteousness to draw the world from it . But no man supposes that it was fit to send a Preacher to dehort them from being guilty of Original sin . Therefore it was good counsel , — Denique teipsum Concute , Horat. númque tibi vitiorum inseverit olim Natura , aut etiam consuetudo mala : namque Neglectis urenda filix innascitur agris . Blame not nature , but thy own evil customes ; for thy neglect of thy fields , will make fern , and thistles to grow . It is not onely because the ground is accursed , but because it is neglected , that it bears thorns . Errasti , si existimas nobiscum vitia nasci : supervenerunt , ingesta sunt , said Seneca . Thou art deceived , Epist. 94. if thou thinkest that vices are born with us . No , they are superinduc'd and come in upon us afterwards .

And by this we may the better understand the following words [ I will not again curse the ground any more for mans sake ; Gen. 8.21 . for the imagination of mans heart is evil from his youth . Concerning which , note , that these words are not two sentences . For this is not the reason why God gave over smiting , because man was corrupt from his youth . For if this had been the reason , it would have come to pass , that the same cause which moved God to smite , would also move him to forbear , which were a strange Oeconomy . The words therefore are not a reason of his forbearing , but an aggravation of his kindness ; as if he had said , Though man be continually evil , yet I will not for all that , any more drown the world for mans being so evil : and so the Hebrews note that the particle 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 somtimes signifies [ although . ]

But the great outcry in this Question is upon confidence of the words of David [ Behold , Psal. 51.5 . I was shapen in wickedness , and in sin hath my mother conceived me . ] To which I answer , that the words are an Hebraism , and signify nothing but an aggrandation of his sinfulness , and are intended for an high expression , meaning , that I am wholly and intirely wicked . For the verification of which exposition , there are divers parallel places in the holy Scriptures . [ Thou wert my hope when I hanged yet upon my mothers breasts ] and [ The ungodly are froward even from their mothers womb ; as soon as they be born , they goe astray , and speak lies ] which because it cannot be true in the letter , must be an idiotism , or propriety of phrase , apt to explicate the other , and signifying onely a ready , a prompt , a great , and universal wickedness . The like to this , is that saying of the Pharises , Joh. 5.34 . [ Thou wert altogether born in sin , and doest thou teach us ? ] which phrase , and manner of speaking being plainly a reproach of the poor blinde man , and a disparagement of him , did mean onely to call him a very wicked person , but not that he had derived his sin originally , and from his birth ; for that had been their own case as much as his ; and therefore S. Chrysostome explaining this phrase , says , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , it is as if they should say , Thou hast been a sinner all thy life time . * To the same sense are those words of Job , Job 31.18 . [ I have guided her [ the widow ] from my mothers womb . ] And in this expression and severity of hyperbole it is , Isa. 48.8 . that God aggravated the sins of his people , [ Thou wast called a transgressor from the womb . ] And this way of expressing a great state of misery we finde us'd among the Heathen Writers : for so Seneca brings in Oedipus complaining ; Infanti quoque decreta mors est : Thebaid . Fata quis tam tristia sortitus unquam ! Videram nondum diem , & jam tenebar , Mors me antecessit , aliquis intra viscera Materna , lethum praecocis fati tulit . Sed numquid & peccavit ? — Something like S. Bernards , Damnatus antequam natus , I was condemn'd before I was born ; dead before I was alive ; and death seised upon me in my mothers womb . Some body brought in a hasty and a too forward death , but did he sin also ? An expression not unlike to this we have in Lucian , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Pardon me that I was not born wicked , or born to be wicked . 2. If David had meant it literally , it had not signified that himself was born in original sin , but that his father and mother sinn'd when they begat him : which the eldest son that he begat of Bathsheba ( for ought I know ) might have said truer then he in this sense . Lib. 3. Strom. extrem . And this is the exposition of Clemens Alexandrinus , save onely that by [ my mother ] he understands Eva : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Though he was conceived in sin , yet he was not in the sin ; peccatrix concepit , sed non peccatorem ; she sinn'd in the conception , not David . And in the following words he speaks home to the main article . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Let them tell us where an infant did fornicate , or how he who had done nothing , could fall under the curse of Adam ? meaning so as to deserve the same evil that he did . 3. If it did relate to his own person , he might mean that he was begotten with that sanguine disposition , and libidinous temper that was the original of his vile adultery : and then , though David said this truly of himself , yet it is not true of all , not of those whose temper is phlegmatick and unactive . 4. If David had meant this of himself , and that in regard of original sin , this had been so far from being a penitential expression , or a confessing of his sin , that it had been a plain accusation of God , and an excusing of himself . As if he had said , O Lord , I confess I have sinn'd in this horrible murder and adultery , but thou , O God , knowest how it comes to pass , even by that fatal punishment which thou didst for the sin of Adam inflict on me and all mankinde above 3000. years before I was born , thereby making me to fall into so horrible corruption of nature , that unless thou didst irresistibly force me from it , I cannot abstain from any sin , being most naturally inclin'd to all . In this sinfulness hath my mother conceived me , and that hath produc'd in me this sad effect . Who would suppose David to make such a confession , or in his sorrow to hope for pardon for upbraiding not his own folly , but the decrees of God ? 5. But that David thought nothing of this , or any thing like it , we may understand by the preceding words , which are as a preface to these in the objection . [ Against thee onely have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight , that thou mightest be justified in thy saying , and clear when thou art judged . ] He that thus acquits God , cannot easily be supposed in the very next breath so fiercely to accuse him . 6. To which also adde the following words ; which are a sufficient reproof of all strange senses in the other [ In sin hath my mother conceived me . But loe , thou requirest truth in the inward parts ] as if he had said , Though I am so wicked , yet thy laws are good , and I therefore so much the worse , because I am contrary to thy laws : They require truth and sincerity in the soul , but I am false and perfidious . But if this had been natural for him so to be , and unavoidable , God who knew it perfectly well , would have expected nothing else of him . For he will not require of a stone to speak , nor of fire to be cold , unless himself be pleased to work a miracle to have them so .

But S. Paul affirms , Ephes. 2.2 , 3. that by nature we were the children of wrath . True , we were so , when we were dead in sins , and before we were quickned by the Spirit of life and grace . We were so ; now we are not . We were so by our own unworthiness and filthy conversation ; now we being regenerated by the Spirit of holiness , we are alive unto God , and no longer heirs of wrath . This therefore as appears by the discourse of S. Paul , relates not to our Original sin , but to the Actual ; and of this sense of the word Nature , in the matter of sinning we have Justin Martyr , or whoever is the Anthor of the Questions and answers ad Orthodoxos to be witness : Quaest. 88. For answering those words of Scripture , There is not any one clean who is born of a woman , and there is none begotten who hath not committed sin ; He sayes their meaning cannot extend to Christ , for he was not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , born to sin ; but he is natura ad peccandum natus , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by nature born to sin , who by the choice of his own will is author to himself to do what he list , whether it be good or evil . The following words are eaten out by time ; but upon this ground whatever he said of Infants , must needs have been to better purposes then is usually spoken of in this Article . 2. Heirs of wrath , signifies persons liable to punishment , heirs of death . It is an usual expression among the Hebrews . So sons of death in the holy Scriptures are those that deserve death , or are condemned to die . Thus Judas Iscariot is called , John 17.12 . 2 Sam. 12.25 . The son of perdition : and so is that saying of David to Nathan , [ The man that hath done this shall surely die . ] In the Hebrew it is [ He is the son of death ] And so were those Ephesians , children , or sons of wrath before their conversion ; that is , they had deserv'd death . 3. By nature is here most likely to be meant that which Galen calls 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an acquisite nature , that is , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , customes and evil habits . And so Suidas expounds the word in this very place ; not onely upon the account of Grammar , and the use of the word in the best Authors , but also upon an excellent reason . His words are these : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . When the Apostle sayes , we were by nature children of wrath , he means not that which is the usual signification of nature , for then it were not their fault , but the fault of him that made them such ; but it means an abiding and vile habit , a wicked and a lasting custome . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith Aristotle . Arist. R. het . l. 1. c. 11. Lib. 4. de esu anim . Custome is like Nature . For often and alwayes are not far asunder . Nature is alwayes , Custome is almost alwayes . To the same sense are those words of Porphiry , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 — The ancients who lived likest to God , and were by nature the best , living the best life , were a golden generation . 4. By nature ] means not by birth and natural extraction , or any original derivation from Adam , in this place : for of this these Ephesians were no more guilty then every one else , and no more before their conversion then after ; but [ by nature ] signifies 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , so the Greek Scholiast renders it ; [ really , beyond opinion ] plenè & omnino , intirely , or wholly , so the Syriack ; and so S. Hierome affirms that the Ancients did expound it : and it is agreeable to the usage of the same phrase Gal. 4.8 . Ye did service to them which by nature are no Gods , that is , which really are none . And as these Ephesians were before their conversion , so were the Israelites in the dayes of their rebellion , a wicked stubborn people , insomuch that they are by the Prophet called [ children of transgression , a seed of falshood . ] Isa. 27.4 . But these and the like places have no force at all but what they borrow from the ignorance of that sense and acceptation of the word in those languages which ought to be the measure of them .

But it is hard upon such mean accounts to reckon all children to be born enemies of God , that is , bastards and not sons , heirs of hell and damnation , full of sin and vile corruption , when the holy Scriptures propound children as imitable for their pretty innocence and sweetness , and declare them rather heirs of Heaven then Hell . In malice be children ; 1 Cor. 14.20 . Mat. 18.3.19.14 . and , unless we become like to children , we shall not enter into the Kingdome of Heaven ; and , their Angels behold the face of their Father which is in Heaven . Heaven is theirs , God is their Father , Angels are appropriated to them ; they are free from malice , and imitable by men . These are better words then are usually given them ; and signifie , that they are beloved of God , not hated , design'd for Heaven , and born to it , though brought thither by Christ , and by the Spirit of Christ , not born for Hell ; that was prepared for the Devil and his Angels , not for innocent babes . This does not call them naturally wicked , but rather naturally innocent , and is a better account then is commonly given them by imputation of Adams sin .

But not concerning children , but of himself S. Paul complains , that his nature and his principles of action and choice are corrupted . There is a law in my members , Rom. 7.23 . bringing me into captivity to the law of sin ; and many other words to the same purpose ; all which indeed have been strangely mistaken to very ill purposes , so that the whole Chapter so as is commonly expounded , is nothing but a temptation to evil life , and a patron of impiety . Concerning which I have already given account , and freed it from the common abuse . But if this were to be understood in the sense which I then reproved , yet it is to be observed in order to the present Question , that S. Paul does not say [ This law in our members comes by nature , or is derived from Adam . ] A man may bring a law upon himself by vicious custome , and that may be as prevalent as Nature , and more ; because more men have by Philosophy and illuminated Reason cured the disposition of their nature , then have cured their vicious habits . * Adde to this , that S. Paul puts this uneasiness , and this carnal law in his members wholly upon the account of being under the law , and of his not being under Christ , not upon the account of Adams prevarication , as is plain in the analogy of the whole Chapter .

As easie also it is to understand these words of S. Paul without prejudice to this Question [ The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God , 1 Cor. 2.14 . neither indeed can he know them ] meaning ( as is supposed ) that there is in our natures an ignorance und aversness from spiritual things , that is , a contrariety to God . But it is observable , that the word which the Apostle uses is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which is not properly rendred [ Natural ] but [ Animal ] and it certainly means a man that is guided onely by natural Reason , without the revelations of the Gospel . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . So Suidas . An animal man , that is , a Philosopher , or a rational man , such as were the Greek and Roman Philosophers , upon the stock and account of the learning of all their Schools , could never discern the excellencies of the Gospel mysteries ; as of God incarnate , Christ dying . Resurrection of the body , and the like . For this word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or Animal , and another word used often by the Apostle , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Carnal , are opposed to 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Spiritual ; and are states of evil , or of imperfection , in which while a man remains he cannot do the work of God . For animality , which is a relying upon natural principles without revelation , is a state privatively oppos'd to the Spirit ; and a man in that state cannot be sav'd , because he wants a vital part , he wants the spirit , which is a part of the constitution of a Christian in that capacity , who consists of Body , and Soul , and Spirit , and therefore Anima without Spiritus , the Soul without the Spirit is not sufficient . * For as the Soul is a sufficient principle of all the actions of life , in order to our natural end and persection , but it can bear us no further : so there must be another principle in order to a supernatural end , and that is the Spirit ; called by S. Paul , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the new creation , by S. Peter , a divine nature ; and by this , we become renewed in the inner man : the infusion of this new nature into us is called , Regeneration ; and it is the great principle of godliness , called , Grace or the Spirit , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , The seed of God , and by it we are begotten by God , and brought forth by the Church to the hopes and beginnings of a new life , and a supernatural end . And although I cannot say , that this is a third substance distinct from Soul and Body , yet it is a distinct principle put into us by God , without which we cannot work , and by which we can ; and therefore if it be not a substance , yet it is more then a Metaphor , it is a real being , permanent and inherent ; but yet such as can be lessen'd and extinguish'd .

But Carnality , or the state of being in the flesh , is not onely privatively oppos'd , but contrarily also to the spiritual state , or the state of Grace . But as the first is not a sin deriv'd from Adam : so neither is the second . The first is onely an imperfection , or want of supernatural aids ; The other is indeed a direct state of sin , and hated by God , but superinduc'd by choice , and not descending naturally . * Now to the spiritual state , nothing is in Scripture oppos'd but these two , and neither of these when it is sinful can be pretended upon the stock or argument of any Scriptures to descend from Adam ; therefore all the state of opposition to Grace , is owing to our selves , and not to him . Adam indeed did leave us all in an Animal estate , but this state is not a state of enmity , or direct opposition to God , but a state insufficient and imperfect . No man can perish for being an Animal man , that is , for not having any supernatural revelations , but for not consenting to them when he hath , that is , for being Carnal as well as Animal ; and that he is Carnal is wholly his own choice . In the state of animality he cannot go to Heaven ; but neither will that alone bear him to Hell : and therefore God does not let a man alone in that state ; for either God suggests to him what is spiritual , or if he does not , it is because himself hath superinduc'd something that is Carnal .

Having now explicated those Scriptures which have made some difficulty in this Question , to what Topick soever we shall return , all things are plain and clear in this Article . Noxa caput sequitur , The soul that sinneth it shall die . Neque virtutes , neque Epist. 3. de morte Nepotian . vitia parentum liberis imputantur , saith S. Hierome . Neither the vices nor the vertues of the parents are imputed to the children . And therefore when Dion Chrysostomus had reprov'd Solon's laws , which in some cases condemn the innocent posterity ; he adds this in honour of Gods law , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; That it does not like the law of the Athenians punish the children and kindred of the Criminal ; but every man is the cause of his own misfortune . But concerning this , it will not be amiss in order to many good purposes , to observe the whole Oeconomy and dispensation of the Divine Justice in this affair .

§. 3. How God punishes the Fathers sin upon the Children .

1. GOd may and does very often bless children to reward their fathers piety ; as is notorious in the famous descent of Abrahams family . But the same is not the reason of favours and punishments . For such is the nature of benefits , that he in whose power they are , may without injustice give them why , and when , and to whom he please .

2. God never imputes the fathers sin to the son or relative , formally making him guilty , or being angry with the innocent eternally . It were blasphemy to affirm so fierce and violent a cruelty of the most merciful Saviour and Father of mankinde ; and it was yet never imagined or affirm'd by any that I know of , that God did yet ever damn an innocent son , though the father were the vilest person , and committed the greatest evils of the world , actually , personally , choosingly , and maliciously : and why it should by so many , and so confidently be affirm'd in a lesser instance , in so unequal a case , and at so long a distance , I cannot suspect any reason . Plutarch in his book against Herodotus affirms , that it is not likely they would , meaning that it was unjust , to revenge an injury which the Samians did to the Corinthians three hundred years before . But to revenge it for ever , upon all generations , and with an eternal anger upon some persons , even the most innocent , cannot without trembling be spoken or imagined of God , who is the great lover of Souls . Whatsoever the matter be in temporal inflictions , of which in the next propositions I shall give account , yet if the Question be concerning eternal damnation , it was never said , never threatned by God to pass from father to the son . When God punishes one relative for the sin of another , he does it as fines are taken in our law , salvo contenemento ; the principal stake being safe , it may be justice to seise upon all the smaller portions ; at least it is not against justice for God in such cases to use the power and dominion of a Lord . But this cannot be reasonable to be used in the matter of eternal interest ; because if God should as a Lord use his power over Innocents and condemn them to Hell , he should be Author to them of more evil then ever he conveyed good to them ; which but to imagine , would be a horrible impiety . And therefore when our blessed Saviour took upon him the wrath of God due to all mankinde yet Gods anger even in that case , extended no further then a temporal death . Because for the eternal , nothing can make recompence , and it can never turn to good .

3. When God inflicts a temporal evil upon the son for his fathers sin , he does it as a Judge to the father , but as a Lord onely of the son . He hath absolute power over the lives of all his creatures , and can take it away from any man without injustice , when he please , though neither he nor his Parents have sinned ; and he may use the same right and power when either of them alone hath sinn'd . But in striking the son , he does not doe to him as a Judge ; that is , he is not angry with him , but with the Parent : But to the son he is a supreme Lord , and may doe what seemeth good in his own eyes .

4. When God using the power and dominion of a Lord , and the severity of a Judge , did punish posterity , it was but so long as the fathers might live and see it , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , said S. Chrysostom , Homil. 29. in 9. Gen. to the third and fourth generation , no longer . It was threatned to endure no longer , in the second Commandement ; and so it hapned in the case of Zimri and Jehu ; after the fourth generation they prevailed not upon their Masters houses . And if it happen that the Parents die before , yet it is a plague to them that they know , or ought to fear the evil shall happen upon their posterity ; quò tristiores perirent , as Alexander said of the Traitors whose sons were to die after them , They die with sorrow and fear .

5. This power and dominion which God used , was not exercised in ordinary cases , but in the biggest crimes onely . It was threatned in the case of idolatry ; and was often inflicted in the case of perjury , of which the oracle recited by Herodotus said , — Impete magno Advenit , atque omnem vastat stirpémque domúmque . And in sacrilege the anger of God uses also to be severe , of which it was observ'd even by the Heathens taught by the Delphick Priests .

Sed capiti ipsorum quíque enascuntur ab ipsis Imminot ; ínque domo cladem subit altera clades .

Those sins which the Greeks called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and which the Christians called crying sins , are such , in the punishment of which God did not onely use his severe justice as to the offending person , but for the enlargement and extension of his justice , and the terror of the world , he used the rights of his power and dominion over their Relatives .

6. Although God threatned this , and hath a right and power to doe this , yet he did not often use his right , but onely in such notable examples as were sufficient to all ages to consign and testify his great indignation against those crimes , for the punishment of which he was pleased to use his right , the rights of his dominion . For although he often does miracles of mercy , yet seldome it is that he does any extraordinaries of judgement : He did it to Corah and Dathan , to Achan and Saul , to Jeroboam and Ahab ; and by these and some more expressed his severity against the like crimes sufficiently to all ages .

7. But his goodness and graciousness grew quickly weary of this way of proceeding . They were the terrors of the law , and God did not delight in them . Therefore in the time of Ezekiel the Prophet , he declar'd against them , and promised to use it no more , that is , not so frequently , not so notoriously , not without great necessity and charity , Ne ad parentum exempla succresceret improbitas filiorum . As I live , saith the Lord , Ezek. 18.3 . ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel , The Fathers have eaten sowre grapes , and the childrens teeth are set on edge . The soul that sinneth it shall die .

8. The iniquity of the people , and the hardness of their heart did force God to use this harsh course , especially since that then there was no declaration , or intermination , and threatning the pains of hell to great sinners . Duritia populi ad talia remedia compulerat , ut vel posteritatibus suis prospicientes legi Divinae obedirent , said Tertullian . Something extraordinary was then needful to be done to so vile a people to restrain their sinfulness . But when the Gospel was published , and hell-fire threatned to persevering , and greater sinners , the former way of punishment was quite left off . And in all the Gospel there is not any one word of threatning passing beyond the person offending . De Monog . Desivit uva acerba ( saith Tertullian ) à patribus manducata dentes filiorum obstupefacere : unusquisque enim in suo delicto morietur . Now ( that is , in the time of the Gospel ) the sowre grape of the Fathers shall no more set on edge the childrens teeth , but every one shall die in his own sin .

Upon this account alone , it must needs be impossible to be consented to , that God should still , under the Gospel , after so many generations of vengeance , and taking punishment for the sin , after the publication of so many mercies , and so infinite a graciousness as is revealed to mankinde in Jesus Christ , after the so great provisions against sin , even the horrible threatnings of damnation , still persevere to punish Adam in his posterity , and the posterity for what they never did .

For either the evil that fals upon us for Adams sin , is inflicted upon us by way of proper punishment , or by right of dominion . If by a proper punishment to us , then we understand not the justice of it , because we were not personally guilty ; and all the world says it is unjust directly to punish a childe for his fathers fault . Nihil est iniquius quàm aliquem haeredem paterni odii fieri , said Seneca ; and Pausanias the General of the Grecian army would not punish the children of Attagines , who perswaded the Thebans to revolt to the Medes , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saying , the children were not guilty of that revolt : and when Avidius Cassius had conspired against Mark Anthony , he wrote to the Senate to pardon his wife and son in law ; Et quid dico veniam , cùm illi nihil fecerint ? but why ( says he ) should I say , pardon , when they had done nothing ? But if God inflicts the evil upon Adams posterity , which we suffer for his sake , not as a punishment , that is , not making us formally guilty , but using his own right and power of dominion which he hath over the lives and fortunes of his creatures ; then it is a strange anger which God hath against Adam , that he still retains so fierce an indignation , as not to take off his hand from striking after five thousand six hundred years , and striking him for that of which he repented him , and which in all reason we believe he then pardon'd , or resolv'd to pardon , when he promised the Messias to him . * To this I adde this consideration ; That it is not easily to be imagined how Christ reconciled the world unto his Father , if after the death of Christ , God is still so angry with mankinde , so unappeased , that even the most innocent part of mankinde may perish for Adams sin ; and the other are perpetually punished by a corrupted nature , a proneness to sin , a servile will , a filthy concupiscence , and an impossibility of being innocent ; that no faith , no Sacrament , no industry , no prayers can obtain freedom from this punishment .

Certain it is , the Jews knew of no such thing , they understood nothing of this Oeconomy , that the Fathers sin should be punish'd in the children by a formal imputation of the guilt ; and therefore Rabbi Simeon Barsema said well , that when God visits the sins of the fathers upon the children , jure dominii , non poenae utitur . He uses the right of Empire , not of justice , of dominion , not of punishment , of a Lord , not of a Judge . Libr. de pietate . And Philo blames it for the worst of institutions , when the good sons of bad Parents shall be dishonoured by their Fathers stain , and the bad sons of good Parents shall have their Fathers honour ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; for the law praises every one for their own , not for the vertue of their Auncestors , and punishes not the Fathers , but his own wickedness upon every mans head . And therefore Josephus cals the contrary way of proceeding , which he had observ'd in Alexander , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a punishment above the measures of a man ; and the Greeks and Romans did always call it injustice . Illic immeritam maternae pendere linguae Andromedam poenas injustus jusserat Ammon . Ovid. And hence it is , that all Laws forbear to kill a woman with childe , lest the Innocent should suffer for the Mothers fault : and therefore this just mercy is infinitely more to be expected from the great Father of spirits , the God of mercy and comfort . And upon this account Abraham was confident with God ; Wilt thou slay the righteous with the wicked ? shall not the Judge of all the world doe right ? And if it be unrighteous to slay the righteous with the wicked , it is also unjust to slay the righteous for the wicked . Cicero lib. 4. de Nat. Deor. Ferrétne ulla civitas laborem istiusmodi legis , ut condemnetur Filius aut Nepos , si Pater aut Avus deliquissent . It were an intolerable Law , and no community would be govern'd by it , that the Father or Grandfather should sin , and the Son or Nephew should be punish'd . I shall adde no more testimonies , but onely make use of the words of the Christian Emperours in their Laws ; L. Sancimus . C. de poenis . Peccata igitur suos teneant auctores : nec ulteriùs progrediatur metus , quàm reperiatur delictum . Let no man trouble himself with unnecessary and melancholy dreams of strange inevitable undeserved punishments , descending upon us for the faults of others . The sin that a man does shall be upon his own head onely . Sufficient to every man is his own evil , the evil that he does , and the evil that he suffers .

§. 4. Of the causes of the Universal wickedness of Mankinde .

BUt if there were not some common natural principle of evil introduced by the sin of our Parent upon all his posterity , how should all men be so naturally inclined to be vicious , so hard and unapt , so uneasy and so listless to the practices of vertue ? How is it that all men in the world are sinners , and that in many things we offend all ? For if men could choose and had freedome , it is not imaginable that all should choose the same thing . As all men will not be Physicians , nor all desire to be Merchants . But we see that all men are sinners , and yet it is impossible that in a liberty of indifferency there should be no variety . Therefore we must be content to say , that we have onely a liberty of adhesion or delight ; that is , we so love sin that we all choose it , but cannot choose good .

To this I answer many things . 1. If we will suppose that there must now be a cause in our nature determining us to sin by an irresistible necessity , I desire to know why such principle should be more necessary to us then it was to Adam ? what made him to sin when he fell ? He had a perfect liberty , and no ignorance , no original sin , no inordination of his affections , no such rebellion of the inferiour faculties against the superiour as we complain of ; or at least we say he had not , and yet he sinned . And if his passions did rebel against his reason before the fall , then so they may in us , and yet not be long of that fall . It was before the fall in him , and so may be in us , and not the effect of it . But the truth of the thing is this , He had liberty of choice and chose ill , and so doe we : and all men say , that this liberty of choosing ill , is still left to us . But because it is left here , it appears that it was there before , and therefore is not the consequent of Originall sin . But it is said , that as Adam chose ill , so doe we ; but he was free to good as well as to evil , but so are not we ; we are free to evil , not to good ; and that we are so , is the consequent of original sin . I reply , That we can choose good , and as naturally love good as evil , and in some instances more . A man cannot naturally hate God , if he knows any thing of him . A man naturally loves his Parents . He naturally hates some sort of uncleanness . He naturally loves and preserves himself : and all those sins which are unnatural , are such which nature hates : and the law of nature commands all the great instances of vertue , and marks out all the great lines of justice . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . It is a law imprinted in the very substance of our natures , and incorporated in all generations of reasonable creatures , not to break or transgress the laws which are appointed by God . Here onely , our nature is defective ; we doe not naturally know , nor yet naturally love those supernaturall excellencies which are appointed and commanded by God as the means of bringing us to a supernatural condition . That is , without Gods grace , and the renovation of the Spirit of God , we cannot be saved . Neither was Adams case better then ours in this particular . For that his nature could not carry him to heaven , or indeed to please God in order to it , seems to be confessed by them who have therefore affirmed him to have had a supernaturall righteousness : which is affirmed by all the Roman party . But although in supernatural instances it must needs be that our Nature is defective ; so it must needs have been in Adam : and therefore the Lutherans ( who in this particular dream not so probably as the other ) affirming that justice was natural in Adam , do yet but differ in the manner of speaking , and have not at all spoken against this ; neither can they , unless they also affirm that to arrive at Heaven was the natural end of man . For if it be not , then neither we nor Adam could by Nature doe things above Nature ; and if God did concreate Grace with Adam , that Grace was nevertheless Grace , for being given him as soon as he was made : For even the holy Spirit may be given to a Chrysome childe ; and Christ , and S. John Baptist , and the Prophet Jeremy , are in their several measures and proportions , instances of it . The result of which is this ; That the necessity of Grace does not suppose that our Nature is originally corrupted ; for beyond Adams meer Nature , something else was necessary , and so it is to us .

2. But to the main objection ; I answer , That it is certain there is not onely one , but many common principles from which sin derives it self into the manners of all men . 1. The first great cause of an universal impiety is , that at first , God had made no promises of Heaven , he had not propounded any glorious rewards , to be as an argument to support the superior faculty against the inferior , that is , to make the will choose the best and leave the worst , and to be as a reward for suffering contradiction . For if the inferior faculty be pleas'd with its object , and that chance to be forbidden , as it was in most instances , there had need be something to make recompence for the suffering the displeasure of crossing that appetite . I use the common manner of speaking , and the distinction of superior and inferior faculties : though indeed in nature there is no such thing ; and it is but the same faculty , divided between differing objects ; of which I shall give an account in the Ninth Chapter § . 3. But here I take notice of it , that it may not with prejudice be taken to the disadvantage of this whole Article For if there be no such difference of faculties founded in Nature , then the rebellion of the inferior against the superior , is no effect of Adams sin . But the inclination to sensual objects being chastis'd by laws and prohibitions , hath made that which we call the rebellion of the inferior , that is , the adherence to sensual objects ; which was the more certain to remain , because they were not at first enabled by great promises of good things to contest against sensual temptations . And because there was no such thing in that period of the world , therefore almost all flesh corrupted themselves : excepting Abel , Seth , Enos , and Enoch , we finde not one good man from Adam to Noah ; and therefore the Apostle calls that world , 2 Pet. 2.5 . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the world of the ungodly . It was not so much wonder that when Adam had no promises made to enable him to contest his natural concupiscence , he should strive to make his condition better by the Devils promises . If God had been pleased to have promis'd to him the glories he hath promised to us , it is not to be suppos'd he had fallen so easily . But he did not , and so he fell , and all the world followed his example , and most upon this account , till it pleas'd God after he had tried the world with temporal promises , and found them also insufficient , to finish the work of his graciousness , and to cause us to be born anew , by the revelations and promises of Jesus Christ .

2. A second cause of the universal iniquity of the world , is because our Nature is so hard put to it in many instances ; not because Nature is originally corrupted , but because Gods laws command such things which are a restraint to the indifferent , and otherwise lawful inclinations of Nature . I instance in the matters of Temperance , Abstinence , Patience , Humility , Self-denial , and Mortification . But more particularly thus : A man is naturally inclined to desire the company of a woman whom he fancies . This is naturally no sin : for the natural desire was put into us by God , and therefore could not be evil . But then God as an instance and trial of our obedience , put fetters upon the indefinite desire , and determin'd us to one woman ; which provision was enough to satisfie our need , but not all our possibility . This therefore he left as a reserve , that by obeying God in the so reasonable restraint of our natural desire , we might give him something of our own . * But then it is to be considered , that our unwillingness to obey in this instance , or in any of the other , cannot be attributed to Original sin , or natural disability deriv'd as a punishment from Adam , because the particular instances were postnate a long time to the fall of man ; and it was for a long time lawful to do some things which now are unlawful . But our unwillingness and aversness came by occasion of the law coming cross upon our nature ; not because our nature is contrary to God , but because God was pleas'd to superinduce some Commandements contrary to our nature . For if God had commanded us to eat the best meats , and drink the richest wines as long as they could please us , and were to be had , I suppose it will not be thought that Original sin would hinder us from obedience . But because we are forbidden to do some things which naturally we desire to do and love , therefore our nature is hard put to it ; and this is the true state of the difficulty . Sen. lib. 3. Quaest. Natur. c. 3. Citò nequitia subrepit : virtus difficilis inventa est . Wickedness came in speedily ; but vertue was hard and difficult .

3. But then besides these , there are many concurrent causes of evil which have influence upon communities of men , such as are , Evil examples , the similitude of Adams transgression , vices of Princes , wars , impunity , ignorance , error , false principles , flattery , interest , fear , partiality , authority , evil laws , heresie , schisme , spite and ambition , natural inclination , and other principiant causes , which proceeding from the natural weakness of humane constitution , are the fountain and proper causes of many consequent evils . Quis dabit mundum ab immundo , Job 14.14 . saith Job , How can a clean thing come from an unclean ? We all naturally have great weaknesses , and an imperfect constitution , apt to be weary , loving variety , ignorantly making false measures of good and evil , made up with two appetites , that is , with inclination to several objects serving to contrary interests , a thing between Angel and Beast , and the later in this life is the bigger ingredient . Hominem à Naturâ noverca in lucem edi corpore nudo , fragili atque infirmo animo , anxio ad molestias , humili ad timores , debili ad labores , proclivi ad libidines , in quo Divinus ignis sit obrutus , & ingenium , & mores . Lib. 4. contra Julianum . So Cicero as S. Austin quotes him . Nature hath like a stepmother sent man into the world with a naked body , a frail and infirm minde , vex'd with troubles , dejected with fears , weak for labours , prone to lusts , in whom the Divine fire , and his wit , and his manners are covered and overturn'd . In Sophisticâ . Homines not urâ sunt mali : & non possunt induci ut justitiam colant . lib. 2 , de Rep. And when Plato had fiercely reprov'd the baseness of mens manners , by saying , that they are even naturally evil ; he reckons two causes of it , which are the diseases of the Soul ( but contracted he knew not how ) Ignorance and Improbity ; which he supposes to have been the remains of that baseness they had before they entred into bodies , whither they were sent as to a prison . This is our natural uncleanness and imperfection , and from such a principle we are to expect proper and proportion'd effects ; and therefore we may well say with Job , What is man that he should be clean , Job . 15.14 . and he which is born of a woman that he should be righteous ? That is , our imperfections are many , and we are with unequal strengths call'd to labor for a supernatural purchase ; and when our spirit is very willing , even then our flesh is very weak : And yet it is worse if we compare our selves , as Job does , to the purities and perfections of God ; in respect of which , as he sayes of us men in our imperfect state , so he sayes also of the Angels , or the holy Ones of God , and of the Heaven it self , that it is also unclean and impure : for the cause and verification of which , we must look out something besides Original sin . * Adde to this , that vice is pregnant and teeming , and brings forth new instances , numerous as the spawn of fishes ; such as are inadvertency , carelesness , tediousness of spirit , and these also are causes of very much evil .

§. 5. Of liberty of Election remaining after Adams fall .

UPon this account , besides that the causes of an universal impiety are apparent without any need of laying Adam in blame for all our follies and miseries , or rather without charging them upon God , who so order'd all things as we see and feel ; the universal wickedness of man is no argument to prove our will servile , and the powers of election to be quite lost in us ( excepting onely that we can choose evil . ) For admitting this proposition , that there can be no liberty where there is no variety ; yet that all men choose sin , is not any testimony that there is no variety in our choice . If there were but one sin in the world , and all men did choose that , it were a shrewd suspicion that they were naturally determin'd or strongly precipitated . But every man does not choose the same sin , nor for the same cause ; neither does he choose it alwayes , but frequently declines it , hates it , and repents of it : many men even among the Heathens did so . So that the objection hinders not , but that choice and election still remains to a man , and that he is not naturally sinful , as he is naturally heavy , or upright , apt to laugh , or weep . For these he is alwayes , and unavoidably .

And indeed the contrary doctrine is a destruction of all laws , it takes away reward and punishment , and we have nothing whereby we can serve God . And precepts of holiness might as well be preached to a Wolf as to a Man , if man were naturally and inevitably wicked . Improbitas nullo flectitur obsequio . There would be no use of reason or of discourse , no deliberation or counsel : and it were impossible for the wit of man to make sense of thousands of places of Scripture , which speak to us as if we could hear and obey , or could refuse . Why are promises made , and threatnings recorded ? Why are Gods judgements registred ? to what purpose is our reason above , and our affections below , if they were not to minister to , and attend upon the will ? But upon this account , it is so farre from being true that man after his fall did forfeit his natural power of election , that it seems rather to be encreased . For as a mans knowledge grows , so his will becomes better attended and ministred unto . But after his fall his knowledge was more then before ; he knew what nakedness was , and had experience of the difference of things , he perceiv'd the evil and mischief of disobedience and the Divine anger ; he knew fear and flight , new apprehensions , and the trouble of a guilty conscience : by all which and many other things , he grew better able , and instructed with arguments to obey God , and to refuse sin for the time to come . And it is every mans case ; a repenting man is wiser , and hath oftentimes more perfect hatred of sin then the innocent , and is made more wary by his fall . But of this thing God himself is witness . Ecce homo tanquam singularis , ex se ipso habet scire bonum & malum : So the Chaldee Paraphrase reades Gen. 3.22 . Our Bibles reade thus : And the Lord God said , Behold , the man is become as one of us , to know good and evil . Now as a consequent of this knowledge , God was pleased by ejecting him out of Paradise , to prevent his eating of the Tree of Life : Ne fortè mittat manum suam in arborem vitae . Meaning , that now he was grown wise and apt to provide himself , and use all such remedies as were before him . He knew more after his fall then before ; therefore ignorance was not the punishment of that sin : and he that knows more , is better enabled to choose , and lest he should choose that which might prevent the sentence of death put upon him , God cast him from thence where the remedy did grow . Upon the authority of this place Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon hath these words : Potest as libera unicuique data est . Si vult inclinare se ad bonum & esse justus , penes ipfum est : Sin vult se ad malum inclinare & esse impius , & hoc ipsum penes est . Hoc illud est quod in lege scribitur , Ecce homo tanquam singularis , ex seipso habet scire bonum & malum . To every man is given a power that he may choose and be inclined to good if he please ; or else if he please to do evil . For this is written in the Law , Behold , the man is as a single one , of himself now he knows good and evil : as if he had said , Behold , mankinde is in the world without its like , and can of his own counsel and thought know good and evil , in either of these doing what himself shall choose . Si lapsus es , poteris surgere . In utramvis partem habes liberum arbitrium , In 50. Psa. Hom 2. saith S. Chrysostome . If thou hast fallen , thou mayest rise again . That which thou art commanded to doe , thou hast power to doe . Thou mayest choose either .

I might be infinite in this ; but I shall onely adde this one thing , That to deny to the will of man powers of choice and election , or the use of it in the actions of our life , destroys the immortality of the Soul . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , said Hierocles . Humane Nature is in danger to be lost , if it diverts to that which is against Nature . For if it be immortal , it can never die in its noblest faculty . But if the will be destroyed , that is , disabled from choosing ( which is all the work the will hath to do ) then it is dead . For to live , and to be able to operate , in Philosophy is all one . If the will therefore cannot operate , how is it immortal ? And we may as well suppose an understanding that can never understand , and passions that can never desire or refuse , and a memory that can never remember , as a will that cannot choose . Indeed all the faculties of the soul that operate by way of nature can be hindred in individuals ; but in the whole species never . But the will is not impedible , it cannot be restrain'd at all ; if there be any acts of life ; and when all the other faculties are weakest , the will is strongest , and does not at all depend upon the body . Indeed it often follows the inclination and affections of the body , but it can choose against them , and it can work without them . And indeed since sin is the action of a free faculty , it can no more take away the freedome of that faculty , then vertue can ; for that also is the action of the same free faculty . If sin be considered in its formality , as it is an inordination or irregularity , so it is contrary to vertue ; but if you consider it as an effect or action of the will , it is not at all contrary to the will , and therefore it is impossible it should be destructive of that faculty from whence it comes .

Now to say that the will is not dead , because it can choose sin , but not vertue , is an escape too slight . For besides that it is against an infinite experience , it is also contrary to the very being and manner of a man , and his whole Oeconomy in this world . For men indeed sometimes by evil habits , and by choosing vile things for a long time together , make it morally impossible to choose and to love that good in particular which is contrary to their evil customes . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Stob. Custome is the Devil that brings in new natures upon us ; Senec. ep. 94. for nature is innocent in this particular . Nulli nos vitio natura conciliat : nos illa integros ac liberos genuit . Nature does not ingage us upon a vice . She made us intire , she left us free , but we make our selves prisoners and slaves by vicious habits ; or as S. Cyril expresses it , Catech. 9. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . We came into the world without sin ( meaning , without sin properly so called ) but now we sin by choyce , and by election bring a kinde of necessity upon us . But this is not so in all men , and scarcely in any man in all instances ; and as it is , it is but an approach to that state in which men shall work by will without choice , or by choice without contrariety of objects . In heaven and hell men will doe so . The Saints love God so fully , that they cannot hate him , nor desire to displease him . And in hell the accursed spirits so perfectly hate him that they can never love him . But in this life which is status viae , a middle condition between both , and a passage to one of the other , it cannot be suppos'd to be so , unless here also a man be already sav'd or damn'd .

But then I consider this also , that since it is almost by all men acknowledg'd to be unjust that infants should be eternally tormented in the flames of Hell for Original sin ; yet we do not say that it is unjust that men of age and reason should so perish , if they be vicious and disobedient . Which difference can have no ground but this , That infants could not choose at all , much less , that which not they , but their Father did long before they were born : But men can choose , and doe what they are commanded , and abstain from what is forbidden . For if they could not , they ought no more to perish for this , then infants for that .

And this is so necessary a truth , that it is one of the great grounds and necessities of obedience and holy living ; and if after the fall of Adam it be not by God permitted to us to choose or refuse , there is nothing left whereby man can serve God , or offer him a sacrifice . It is no service , it is not rewardable , if it could not be avoided , nor the omission punishable if it could not be done . All things else are determin'd , and fix'd by the Divine providence , even all the actions of men . But the inward act of the will is left under the command of laws onely , and under the arrest of threatnings , and the invitation of promises . And that this is left for man can no ways impede any of the Divine decrees , because the outward act being overruled by the Divine providence , it is strange if the Schools will leave nothing to man , whereby he can glorify God .

I have now said something to all that I know objected , and more then is necessary to the Question , if the impertinencies of some Schools , and their trifling arrests had not so needlesly disturb'd this article . There is nothing which from so slight grounds hath got so great , and till of late , so unquestion'd footing in the perswasions of men . Contra Celsum lib. 4. Origen said enough to be mistaken in the Question . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Adams curse is common to all . And there is not a woman on earth to whom may not be said those things which were spoken to this woman [ Eve . ] Him S. Ambrose did mistake , and followed the error about explicating the nature of Original sin , and set it something forward . But S. Austin gave it complement and authority by his fierce disputing against the Pelagians , whom he would overthrow by all means . Indeed their capital error was a great one , and such against which all men while there was need ought to have contended earnestly , but this might and ought to have been done by truth . For error is no good confuter of error , as it is no good conversion that reforms one vice with another . But his zeal against a certain error , made him take in auxiliaries from an uncertain or less discerned one , and caused him to say many things which all antiquity before him disavowed , and which the following ages took up upon his acount . * And if such a weak principle as his saying , could make an error spread over so many Churches , for so many ages , we may easily imagine that so many greater causes as I before reckon'd might infect whole Nations , and consequently mankinde , without crucifying our Patriarch or first Parent , and declaiming against him ( poor man ) as the Author of all our evil . Truth is , we intend by laying load upon him to excuse our selves , and which is worse , to entertain our sins infallibly , and never to part with them , upon pretence that they are natural , and irresistible .

§. 6. The practical Question .

ANd now if it be inquired , whether we be tied to any particular repentance relative to this sin , the answer will not be difficult . I remember a pretty device of Hierome of Florence a famous Preacher not long since , who used this argument to prove the blessed Virgin Mary to be free from Original sin . Because it is more likely , if the blessed Virgin had been put to her choice , she would rather have desired of God to have kept her free from venial actual sin then from Original . Since therefore God hath granted her the greater , and that she never sinn'd actually , it is to be presum'd God did not deny to her the smaller favour , and therefore she was free from Original . Upon this many a pretty story hath been made , and rare arguments fram'd , and sierce contestations , whether it be more agreeable to the piety and prudence of the Virgin Mother to desire immunity from Original sin that is deadly , or from a venial actual sin that is not deadly . This indeed is voluntary , and the other is not ; but the other deprives us of grace , and this does not . God was more offended by that , but we offend him more by this . The dispute can never be ended upon their accounts ; but this Gordian knot I have now untied as Alexander did , by destroying it , and cutting it all in pieces . But to return to the Question .

S. Austin was indeed a fierce Patron of this device , and one of the chief inventers and finishers of it ; and his sense of it is declared in his Book De peccatorum medicinâ , Cap. 3. homil. 50. where he endevours largely to prove that all our life time we are bound to mourn for the inconveniences , and evil consequents deriv'd from Original sin . I dare say , every man is sufficiently displeased that he is liable to sickness , weariness , displeasure , melancholy , sorrow , folly , imperfection , and death , dying with groans , and horrid spasms and convulsions . In what sense these are the effects of Adams sin , and though of themselves natural , yet also upon his account made penal ; I have already declar'd , and need no more to dispute ; my purpose being onely to establish such truths as are in order to practice and a holy life , to the duties of repentance and amendment . But our share of Adams sin , either being in us no sin at all , or else not to be avoided or amended , it cannot be the matter of repentance . Neminem autem rectè ita loqui poenitere sese quòd natus sit , aut poenitere quòd mortalis sit , aut quòd ex offenso fortè , vulnerató que corpore dolorem sentiat , Li. 17. c. 1. said A. Gellius . A man is not properly said to repent that he was born , or that he shall die , or that he feels pain when his leg is hurt ; he gives this reason , Quando istiusmodi rerum nec consilium sit nostrum , nec arbitrium . As these are besides our choyce , so they cannot fall into our deliberation ; and therefore as they cannot be chosen , so neither refused , and therefore not repented of ; for that supposes both ; that they were chosen once , and now refused . * As Adam was not bound to repent of the sins of all his posterity , so neither are we tied to repent of his sins . Neither did I ever see in any ancient Office or forms of prayer , publick or private , any prayer of humiliation prescrib'd for original sin . They might deprecate the evil consequents , but never confess themselves guilty of the formal sin .

Adde to this . Original sin is remitted in Baptism by the consent of those Schools of learning , who teach this article ; and therefore is not reserv'd for any other repentance : and that which came without our own consent , is also to be taken off without it . That which came by the imputation of a sin , may also be taken off by the imputation of righteousness , that is , as it came without sin , so it must also goe away without trouble .

But yet because the Question may not render the practice insecure , I adde these Rules by way of advice and caution .

§. 7. Advices relating to the matter of Original sin .

1. IT is very requisite that we should understand the state of our own infirmity , the weakness of the flesh , the temptations and diversions of the spirit , that by understanding our present state we may prevent the evils of carelesness and security . * Our evils are the imperfections and sorrows inherent in , or appendant to our bodies , our souls , our spirits .

* In our bodies we finde weakness , and imperfection , sometimes crookedness , sometimes monstrosity ; filthiness , and weariness , infinite numbers of diseases , and an uncertain cure , great pain , and restless night , hunger and thirst , daily necessities , ridiculous gestures , madness from passions , distempers and disorders , great labour to provide meat and drink , and oftentimes a loathing when we have them ; if we use them they breed sicknesses , if we use them not , we die ; and there is such a certain healthlesness in many things to all , and in all things to some men and at some times , that to supply a need , is to bring a danger : and if we eat like beasts onely of one thing , our souls are quickly weary ; if we eat variety , we are sick , and intemperate ; and our bodies are inlets to sin , and a stage of temptation . If we cherish them , they undoe us ; if we doe not cherish them , they die : we suffer illusion in our dreams , and absurd fancies when we are waking ; our life is soon done , and yet very tedious ; it is too long , and too short ; darkness and light are both troublesome ; and those things which are pleasant , are often unwholsome . wholesome . Sweet smels make the head ake , and those smels which are medicinal in some diseases , are intolerable to the sense . The pleasures of our body are bigger in expectation , then in the possession ; and yet while they are expected , they torment us with the delay , and when they are enjoyed , they are as if they were not , they abuse us with their vanity , and vex us with their volatile and fugitive nature . Our pains are very frequent alone , and very often mingled with pleasures to spoil them ; and he that feels one sharp pain , feels not all the pleasures of the world , if they were in his power to have them . We live a precarious life , begging help of every thing , and needing the repairs of every day , and being beholding to beasts and birds , to plants and trees , to dirt and stones , to the very excrements of beasts , and that which dogs and horses throw forth . Our motion is slow and dull , heavy and uneasy ; we cannot move but we are quickly tired , and for every days labour , we need a whole night to recruit our lost strengths ; we live like a lamp , unless new materials be perpetually poured in , we live no longer then a fly ; and our motion is not otherwise then a clock ; we must be pull'd up once or twice in twenty four hours ; and unless we be in the shadow of death for six or eight hours every night , we shall be scarce in the shadows of life the other sixteen . Heat and cold are both our enemies ; and yet the one always dwels within , and the other dwels round about us . The chances and contingencies that trouble us , are no more to be numbred then the minutes of eternity . The Devil often hurts us , and men hurt each other oftner , and we are perpetually doing mischief to our selves . The stars doe in their courses fight against some men , and all the elements against every man ; the heavens send evil influences , the very beasts are dangerous , and the air we suck in does corrupt our lungs : many are deformed , and blinde , and ill coloured ; and yet upon the most beauteous face is plac'd one of the worst sinks of the body ; and we are forc'd to pass that through our mouthes oftentimes , which our eye and our stomack hates . Pliny did wittily and elegantly represent this state of evil things . Lib. 6. Prooem. Itaque foelicitèr homo natus jacet manibus pedibúsque devinctis , flens , animal caeteris imperaturum , & à suppliciis vitam auspicatur , unam tantum ob culpam quia natum est . A man is born happily , but at first he lies bound hand and foot by impotency and cannot stir ; the creature weeps that is born to rule over all other creatures , and begins his life with punishments , for no fault , but that he was born . In short . The body is a region of diseases , of sorrow and nastiness , and weakness and temptation . Here is cause enough of being humbled .

Neither is it better in the soul of man , where ignorance dwells and passion rules . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . After death came in , there entred also a swarm of passions . And the will obeys every thing but God . Fertur equis Auriga , neque audit currus habenas . Our judgement is often abused in matters of sense , and one faculty guesses at truth by confuting another ; and the error of the eye is corrected by something of reason or a former experience . Our fancy is often abus'd , and yet creates things of it self , by tying disparate things together , that can cohere no more then Musick and a Cable , then Meat and Syllogisms : and yet this alone does many times make credibilities in the understandings . Our Memories are so frail , that they need instruments of recollection , and laborious artifices to help them ; and in the use of these artifices sometimes we forget the meaning of those instruments : and of those millions of sins which we have committed , we scarce remember so many as to make us sorrowful , or asham'd . Our judgements are baffled with every Sophism , and we change our opinion with a wind , and are confident against truth , but in love with error . We use to reprove one error by another , and lose truth while we contend too earnestly for it . Infinite opinions there are in matters of Religion , and most men are confident , and most are deceived in many things , and all in some ; and those few that are not confident , have onely reason enough to suspect their own reason . We do not know our own bodies , not what is within us , nor what ails us when we are sick , nor whereof we are made ; nay we oftentimes cannot tell what we think , or believe , or love . We desire and hate the same thing , speak against and run after it . We resolve , and then consider ; we binde our selves , and then finde causes why we ought noo to be bound , and want not some pretences to make our selves believe we were not bound . Prejudice and Interest are our two great motives of believing ; we weigh deeper what is extrinsical to a question , then what is in its nature ; and oftener regard who speaks , then what is said . The diseases of our soul are infinite ; Eccles. Hier. c. 3. Part. 3. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , said Dionysius of Athens . Mankinde of old fell from those good things which God gave him , and now is fallen into a life of passion , and a state of death . In sum , it follows the temper or distemper of the body , and sailing by such a Compass , and being carried in so rotten a vessell , especially being empty , or fill'd with lightness , and ignorance , and mistakes , it must needs be exposed to the danger and miseries of every storm ; which I choose to represent in the words of Cicero . In Hortens . Ex humanae vitae erroribus & aerumnis fit , ut verum sit illum quod est apud Aristotelem , sic nostros animos cum corporibus copulatos , ut vivos cum mortuis esse conjunctos . The soul joyned with the body , is like the conjunction of the living and the dead ; the dead are not quickened by it , but the living are afflicted and die .

But then if we consider what our spirit is , we have reason to lie down flat upon our faces , and confess Gods glory and our own shame . When it is at the best , it is but willing , but can do nothing without the miracle of Grace . Our spirit is hindred by the body , and cannot rise up whither it properly tends , with those great weights upon it . It is foolish and improvident ; large in desires , and narrow in abilities ; naturally curious in trifles , and inquisitive after vanities ; but neither understands deeply , nor affectionately relishes the things of God ; pleas'd with forms , cousen'd with pretences , satisfi'd with shadows , incurious of substances and realities . It is quick enough to finde doubts , and when the doubts are satisfied , it raises scruples , that is , it is restless after it is put to sleep , and will be troubled in despight of all arguments of peace . It is incredibly negligent of matters of Religion , and most solicitous and troubled in the things of the world . We love our selves , and despise others ; judging most unjust sentences , and by peevish and cross measures ; Covetousness and Ambition , Gain and Empire are the proportions by which we take account of things . We hate to be govern'd by others , even when we cannot dress our selves ; and to be forbidden to do or have a thing is the best art in the world to make us greedy of it . The flesh and the spirit perpetually are at * * 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Macar . hom 21. strife ; the spirit pretending that his ought to be the dominion , and the flesh alleaging that this is her state , and her day . We hate our present condition , and know not how to better our selves , our changes being but like the tumblings and tossings in a Feaver , from trouble to trouble , that 's all the variety . We are extremely inconstant , and alwayes hate our own choice : we despair sometimes of Gods mercies , and are confident in our own follies ; as we order things , we cannot avoid little sins , and doe not avoid great ones . We love the present world , though it be good for nothing , and undervalue infinite treasures , if they be not to be had till the day of recompences . We are peevish , if a servant does but break a glass , and patient when we have thrown an ill cast for eternity ; throwing away the hopes of a glorious Crown for wine , and dirty silver . We know that our prayers , if well done , are great advantages to our state , and yet we are hardly brought to them , and love not to stay at them , and wander while we are saying them , and say them without minding , and are glad when they are done , or when we have a reasonable excuse to omit them . A passion does quite overturn all our purposes , and all our principles , and there are certain times of weakness in which any temptation may prevail , if it comes in that unlucky minute .

This is a little representment of the state of man ; whereof a great part is a natural impotency , and the other is brought in by our own folly . Concerning the first when we discourse , it is as if one describes the condition of a Mole , or a Bat , an Oyster , or a Mushrome , concerning whose imperfections , no other cause is to be inquired of , but the will of God , who gives his gifts as he please , and is unjust to no man , by giving or not giving any certain proportion of good things : And supposing this loss was brought first upon Adam , and so descended upon us , yet we have no cause to complain , for we lost nothing that was ours . Praeposterum est ( said Paulus the Lawyer ) antè nos locupletes dici quàm acquisierimus . We cannot be said to lose what we never had ; and our fathers goods were not to descend upon us , unless they were his at his death . If therefore they be confiscated before his death , ours indeed is the inconvenience too , but his alone is the punishment , and to neither of us is the wrong .

But concerning the second , I mean that which is superinduc'd , it is not his fault alone , nor ours alone , and neither of us is innocent ; we all put in our accursed Symbol for the debauching of our spirits , for the besotting our souls , for the spoiling our bodies . Ille initium induxit debiti , S. Chrys. in cap. 6. Ephes. nos foenus auximus posterioribus peccatis , &c. He began the principal , and we have increas'd the interest . This we also finde well expressed by Justin Martyr ; for the Fathers of the first ages spake prudently and temperately in this Article , as in other things . Christ was not born or crucified because himself had need of these things , but for the sake of mankinde . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : Dial. cum Tryph. which from Adam fell into death and the deception of the Serpent , besides the evil which every one addes upon his own account . And it appears in the greatest instance of all , even in that of natural death ; which though it was natural , yet from Adam it began to be a curse , just as the motion of a Serpent upon his belly , which was concreated with him , yet upon this story was changed into a malediction and an evil adjunct . But though Adam was the gate , and brought in the head of death , yet our sins brought him in further , we brought in the body of death . Our life was left by Adam a thousand years long almost ; but the iniquity of man brought it quickly to 500 years , from thence to 250 , from thence to 120 , and at last to seventy ; and then God would no more strike all mankinde in the same manner , but individuals and single sinners smart for it , and are cut off in their youth , and do not live out half their dayes . And so it is in the matters of the soul and the spirit . Every sin leaves an evil upon the soul ; and every age grows worse , and addes some iniquity of its own to the former examples . And therefore Tertullian calls Adam mali traducem ; he transmitted the original and exemplar , and we write after his copy . Infirmitatis ingenitae vitium ; so Arnobius calls our natural baseness , we are naturally weak , and this weakness is a vice or defect of Nature , and our evil usages make our natures worse ; like Butchers being us'd to kill beasts , their natures grow more savage and unmerciful ; so it is with us all . If our parents be good , yet we often prove bad , as the wilde olive comes from the branch of a natural olive , or as corn with the chaff come from clean grain , and the uncircumcised from the circumcised . But if our parents be bad , it is the less wonder if their children are so ; a Blackamore begets a Blackamore , as an Epileptick son does often come from an Epileptick father , and hereditary diseases are transmitted by generation ; so it is in that viciousness that is radicated in the body , for a lustful father oftentimes begets a lustful son ; and so it is in all those instances where the soul follows the temperature of the body . And thus not onely Adam , but every father may transmit an Original sin , or rather an Original viciousness of his own . For a vicious nature , or a natural improbity when it is not consented to , is not a sin , but an ill disposition : Philosophy and the Grace of God must cure it ; but it often causes us to sin , before our reason & our higher principles are well attended to . But when we consent to , and actuate our evil inclinations , we spoil our natures and make them worse , making evil still more natural . For it is as much in our nature to be pleased with our artificial delights as with our natural . And this is the doctrine of S. Austin , speaking of Concupiscence . Lib. 1. de nupt. & con●●p . c. 23. Modo quodam loquendi vocatur peccatum quòd peccato facta est , & peccati si vicerit facit reum . Concupiscence or the viciousness of our Nature is after a certain manner of speaking called sin ; because it is made worse by sin , and makes us guilty of sin when it is consented to . It hath the nature of sin ; so the Article of the Church of England expresses it ; that is , it is in eâdem materiâ , it comes from a weak principle , à naturae vitio , from the imperfect and defective nature of man , and inclines to sin . But ( that I may again use S. Austins words ) Quantum ad nos attinet , Lib 2. ad Julian . sine peccato semper essemus donec sanaretur hoc malum , si ei nunquam consentiremus ad malum . Although we all have concupiscence , yet none of us all should have any sin , if we did not consent to this concupiscence unto evil . Concupiscence is Naturae vitium , but not peccatum , a defect or fault of nature , but not formally a sin : which distinction we learn from S. Austin ; Ibid. Non enim talia sunt vitia quae jam peccata dicenda sunt . Concupiscence is an evil as a weak eye is , but not a sin , if we speak properly , till it be consented to ; and then indeed it is the parent of sin . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : so S. James , it brings forth sin .

This is the vile state of our natural viciousness and improbity , and misery , in which Adam had some , but truly not the biggest share ; and let this consideration sink as deep as it will in us to make us humble and careful , but let us not use it as an excuse to lessen our diligence , by greatning our evil necessity . For death and sin were both born from Adam , but we have nurs'd them up to an ugly bulk and deformity . But I must now proceed to other practical rules .

2. It is necessary that we understand that our natural state is not a state in which we can hope for heaven . Natural agents can effect but natural ends , by natural instruments : and now supposing the former doctrine , that we lost not the Divine favour by our guilt of what we never did consent to , yet we were born in pure naturals , and they some of them worsted by our forefathers , yet we were , at the best , born but in pure naturals , and we must be born again ; that as by our first birth we are heirs of death , so by our new birth we may be adopted into the inheritance of life and salvation .

3. It is our duty to be humbled in the consideration of our selves , and of our natural condition . That by distrusting our own strengths we may take sanctuary in God through Jesus Christ , praying for his grace , entertaining and caressing of his holy Spirit , with purities and devotions , with charity and humility , infinitely fearing to grieve him , lest he leaving us , we be left as Adam left us , in pure naturals , but in some degrees worsted by the nature of sin in some instances , and the anger of God in all , that is , in the state of flesh and blood , which shall never inherit the Kingdome of heaven .

4. Whatsoever good work we do , let us not impute it to our selves , or our own choice . For God is the best estimator of that : he knows best what portion of the work we did , and what influence our will had into the action , and leave it to him to judge and recompense . But let us attribute all the glory to God , and to Gods grace , for without him we can do nothing . But by him that strengthens us , that works in us to will and to do of his good pleasure , by him alone we are saved . Giving all glory to God , will take nothing of the reward from us .

5. Let no man so undervalue his sin , or over-value himself , as to lessen that , and to put the fault any where , but where it ought to be . If a man accuses himself with too great a rigour , it is no more then if he holds his horse too hard when he is running down a hill . It may be , a less force would stop his running ; but the greater does so too , and manifests his fear : which in this case of his sin and danger is of it self rewardable .

6. Let no man when he is tempted , say that he is tempted of God . Not onely because ( as S. James affirms most wisely ) every man is tempted , Jam. 1●● 14. when he is led away by his own concupiscence ; but because he is a very evil speaker that speaks evil things of God . Think it not therefore in thy thought , that God hath made many necessities of sinning . He that hath forbidden sin so earnestly , threatned it so deeply , hates it so essentially , prevents it so cautiously , disswades us from it so passionately , punishes it so severely , arms us against it so strongly , and sent his Son so piously and charitably to root out sin ( so far as may be ) from the face of the earth ; certainly it cannot be thought that he hath made necessities of sinning . For whatsoever he hath made necessary , is as innocent as what he hath commanded ; it is his own work , and he hateth nothing that he hath made , and therefore he hath not made sin . And no man shall dare to say at Doomsday unto God , that he made him to sin , or made it unavoidable . There are no two cases of Conscience , no two duties in any case so seemingly contradictory , that which soever a man chooses he must sin : and therefore much less is any one state a state of necessary unavoidable enmity against God .

7. Use thy self to holy company , and pious imployment in thy early dayes : follow no evil example , live by rule , and despise the world ; relieve the usual necessities of thy life , but be not sensual in thy appetite ; accustome thy self to Religion and spiritual things , and then much of that evil nature thou complainest of , will pass into vertuous habits . It was the saying of Xenocrates in Aristotle , Arist. 2. Topic. c. 3. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Happy is he that hath a diligent studious soul : for that is every mans good Angel , and the principle of his felicity .

8. Educate thy children and charges strictly and severely . Let them not be suffered to swear before they can pray , nor taught little revenges in the Cradle , nor pride at School , nor fightings in company , nor drinkings in all their entertainments , nor lusts in private . Let them be drawn from evil company , and do thou give them holy example , and provide for them severe and wise Tutors ; and what Alexander of Ales said of Bonaventure , Adam non peccavit in Bonaventurâ , will be as truly said of yong men and maidens . Impiety will not peep out so soon . Lib. 1. c. 2. It was wisely observed by Quintilian , who was an excellent Tutor for yong Gentlemen , that our selves with ill breeding our children are the Authors of their evil nature . Antè palatum eorum quàm os instituimus . Gaudemus si quid licentiùs dixerint . Verba ne Alexandrinis quidem permittenda deliciis , risu & osculo excipimus . We teach their palate before we instruct the tongue . And when the tongue begins first to prattle , they can efform wantonness before words ; and we kiss them for speaking filthy things . Fit ex his consuetudo , deinde natura . Discunt haec miseri antequam sciunt vitia esse . The poor wretches sin before they know what it is ; and by these actions a custome is made up , and this custome becomes a nature .

§. 8. Rules and measures of deportment when a curse doth descend upon Children for their Parents fault , or when it is feared .

1. IF we fear a curse upon our selves or family for our fathers sin , let us do all actions of piety or religion , justice or charity , which are contrary to that crime which is suspected to be the enemy ; in all things being careful that we do not inherit the sin . Si quis paterni vitii nascitur haeres ; nascitur & poenae . The heir of the Crime , must possess the revenue of punishment .

2. Let the children be careful not to commend , not to justifie , not to glory in their fathers sin , but be diligent to represent themselves the more pious , by how much their fathers were impious ; for by such a contrariety and visible distance , they will avoid their fathers shame . Isocrat . ep. ad Tim. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . For most men love not to honour and praise the sons of good men so much as the sons of wicked men , when they study to represent themselves better , and unlike their wicked parents . Therefore ,

3. Let no childe of a wicked father be dejected and confounded in his spirit , because his fathers were impious . For although it is piety to be troubled for their fathers regard , and because he died an enemy to God ; yet in reference to themselves they must know , that God puts upon every head his own punishment . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , said Plato . For every one is submitted to his own fortune by his own act . The fathers crime and the fathers punishment make no real permanent blot upon the son . No man is forc'd to succeed in his fathers crime ; said Callistratus the Lawyer .

4. Every evil that happens to a son for his fathers fault , hath an errand of its own to him . For as God is a just Judge to his father ; so he is an essential enemy to sin , and a gracious Lord to the suffering person . When God sent blindeness upon the man in the Gospel , neither for his parents sins , nor his own , yet he did it for his own glory . Let the afflicted person study by all wayes to advance Gods glory in the sufferance , and the sharpness of the evil will be taken off .

5. Let not a son retain the price of his fathers sin , the purchase of his iniquity . If his father entred into the fields of the fatherless , let not the son dwell there . If his ancestors were sacrilegious , let not the son declaim against the crime and keep the lands , but cast off that which brings the burthen along with it . And this is to be observed in all those sins , the evil consequent and effect of which remains upon the posterity or successors of the injur'd person ; for in those sins very often the curse descends with the wrong . So long as the effect remains , and the injury is complained of , and the title is stil kept on foot , so long the son is tied to restitution . But even after the possession is setled , yet the curse and evil may descend longer then the sin ; as the smart and the aking remains after the blow is past . And therefore even after the successors come to be lawful possessors , it may yet be very fit for them to quit the purchase of their fathers sin , or else they must resolve to pay the sad and severe rent-charge of a curse .

6. In such cases in which there cannot be a real , let there be a verbal and publick disavowing their fathers sin which was publick , scandalous , and notorious . Gregoras lib. 5. c. 81. We finde this thing done by Andronicus Palaeologus , the Greek Emperour , who was the son of a bad Father ; and it is to be done , when the effect was transient , or irremediable .

7. Sometimes no piety of the children shall quite take off the anger of God from a family or nation : as it hapned to Josiah , who above all the Princes that were before or after him turned to the Lord. 2 Kings 23.26 . Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah , because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withall . In such a case as this we are to submit to Gods will , and let him exercise his power , his dominion , and his kingdome as he pleases , and expect the returns of our piety in the day of recompences : and it may be , our posterity shall reap a blessing for our sakes , who feel a sorrow and an evil for our fathers sake .

8. Let all that have children endevour to be the beginners , and the stock of a new blessing to their family ; by blessing their children , by praying much for them , by holy education and a severe piety , by rare example , and an excellent religion . And if there be in the family a great curse , and an extraordinary anger gone out against it , there must be something extraordinary done in the matter of religion , or of charity , that the remedy be no less then the evil .

9. Let not the consideration of the universal sinfulness and corruption of mankinde , adde confidence to thy person , and hardness to thy conscience , and authority to thy sin ; but let it awaken thy spirit , and stir up thy diligence , and endear all the watchfulness in the world for the service of God ; for there is in it some difficulty , and an infinite necessity . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Eurip. Orest . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , said Electra in the Tragedy . Our nature is very bad in it self ; but very good to them that use it well .

Prayers and Meditations .

THE first Adam bearing a wicked heart transgressed and was overcome : Esdras 2.3.21.22 . and so be all they that are born of him . Thus infirmity was made permanent : And the law also in the heart of the people with the malignity and root , so that the good departed away , and the evil abode still .

Lo , Eccl. 7.29 . this onely have I found , that God hath made man upright : but they have sought many inventions .

For there is not a just man upon earth that doth good and sinneth not . V. 20.

Behold , Psal. 51.5 , 7 , 10. I was shapen in iniquity , and in sin did my mother conceive me . Purge me with hysop , and I shall be clean ; wash me , and I shall be whiter then snow : create in me a clean heart , O God , and renew a right spirit within me .

The fool hath said in his heart , Psal. 14.1 , 2 , 3. There is no God , they are corrupt , they have done abominable works , there is none that doth good : The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men , to see if there were any that did understand and seek after God . They are all gone aside , they are all become filthy : There is not one that doeth good , no not one . V. 7. * O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Sion ! when the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people , Jacob shall rejoyce , and Israel shall be glad .

Man dieth and wasteth away , Job 14.10 , &c. yea man giveth up the ghost , and where is he ? For now thou numbrest my steps : Dost thou not watch over my sin ? my transgression is seal'd up in a bag , and thou sewest up iniquity . Thou destroyest the hope of man : Thou prevailest against him for ever , and he passeth : thou changest his countenance , and sendest him away . But his flesh upon him shall have pain , and his soul within him shall mourn .

What is man that he should be clean , Job 15.14 . and he that is born of a woman that he should be righteous ? Behold , he putteth no trust in his Saints yea the heavens are not clean in his sight . How much more abominable and filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water ?

Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid . V. 24. they shall prevail against him as a King ready to battel . For he stretcheth out his hand against God , and strengthneth himself against the Almighty .

Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity , V. 31. for vanity shall be his recompence . Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean thing ? no not one .

I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin , Job 16.15 . and defiled my horn in the dust . My face is foul with weeping , and on my eie-lids is the shadow of death . Not for any injustice in my hand : also my prayer is pure .

Wretched man that I am , Rom. 7.24 . who shall deliver me from the body of this death ! I thank God [ I am delivered ] through Jesus Christ our Lord .

But now being made free from sin , 6.22 . and become servants of God , ye have your fruit unto holiness , and the end everlasting life : For the wages of sin is death : But the gift of God is eternal life , through Jesus Christ our Lord .

Let not sin reign in your mortal bodies , V. 12,14 . that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof . For sin shall not have dominion over you : for ye are not under the law , but under grace .

The PRAYER .

O Almighty God , great Father of Men and Angels , thou art the preserver of men , and the great lover of souls ; thou didst make every thing perfect in its kinde , and all that thou didst make was very good : onely we miserable creatures sons of Adam have suffered the falling Angels to infect us with their leprosie of pride , and so we entred into their evil portion , having corrupted our way before thee , and are covered with thy rod , and dwell in a cloud of thy displeasure ; behold me the meanest of thy servants , humbled before thee , sensible of my sad condition , weak and miserable , sinful and ignorant , full of need , wanting thee in all things , and neither able to escape death without a Saviour , nor to live a life of holiness without thy Spirit . O be pleas'd to give me a portion in the new birth : break off the bands and fetters of my sin , cure my evil inclinations , correct my indispositions , and natural averseness from the severities of Religion ; let me live by the measures of thy law , not by the evil example and disguises of the world ; Renew a right spirit within me , and cast me not away from thy presence , lest I should retire to the works of darkness , and enter into those horrible regions , where the light of thy countenance never shineth .

II. I Am ashamed , O Lord , I am ashamed that I have dishonoured so excellent a Creation . Thou didst make us upright , and create us in innocence . And when thou didst see us unable to stand in thy sight , and that we could never endure to be judged by the Covenant of works , thou didst renew thy mercies to us in the new Covenant of Jesus Christ ; and now we have no excuse , nothing to plead for our selves , much less against thee ; but thou art holy and pure , and just and merciful . Make me to be like thee , holy as thou art holy , merciful as our heavenly Father is merciful , obedient as our holy Saviour Jesus , meek and charitable , temperate and chaste , humble and patient according to that holy example , that my sins may be pardoned by his death , and my spirit renewed by his Spirit , that passing from sin to grace , from ignorance to the knowledge and love of God , and of his Son Jesus Christ , I may pass from death to life , from sorrow to joy , from earth to heaven , from the present state of misery and imperfection , to the glorious inheritance prepar'd for the Saints and Sons of light , the children of the new birth , the brethren of our Lord and Brother , our Judge and our Advocate , our Blessed Saviour and Redeemer JESVS . Amen .

A Prayer to be said by a Matron in behalf of her husband and family , that a blessing may descend upon their posterity .

I. O Eternal God , our most merciful Lord , and gracious Father , thou art my guide , the light of mine eyes , the joy of my heart , the author of my hope , and the object of my love and worshippings , thou relievest all my needs , and determin'st all my doubts , and art an eternal fountain of blessing , open and running over to all thirsty and weary souls that come and cry to thee for mercy and refreshment . Have mercy upon thy servant , and relieve my fears and sorrows , and the great necessities of my family , for thou alone , O Lord , canst doe it .

II. FIt and adorn every one of us with a holy and a religious spirit , and give a double portion to thy servant my dear husband : Give him a wise heart , a prudent , severe , and indulgent care over the children which thou hast given us . His heart is in thy hand , and the events of all things are in thy disposition . Make it a great part of his care to promote the spiritual and eternal interest of his children , & not to neglect their temporal relations and necessities ; but to provide states of life for them in which with fair advantages they may live chearfully , serve thee diligently , promote the interest of the Christian family in all their capacities , that they may be alwayes blessed , and alwayes innocent , devout and pious , and may be graciously accepted by thee to pardon , and grace , and glory , through Jesus Christ . Amen .

III. BLess ( O God ) my sons with excellent understandings , love of holy and noble things , sweet dispositions , innocent deportment , diligent souls , chaste , healthful and temperate bodies , holy and religious spirits , that they may live to thy glory , and be useful in their capacities to the servants of God , and all their neighbours , and the Relatives of their conversation . Bless my daughters with a humble and a modest carriage , and excellent meekness , a great love of holy things , a severe chastity , a constant , holy and passionate Religion . O my God , never suffer them to fall into folly , and the sad effects of a wanton , loose and indiscreet spirit : possess their fancies with holy affections , be thou the covering of their eyes , and the great object of their hopes , and all their desires . Blessed Lord , thou disposest all things sweetly by thy providence , thou guidest them excellently by thy wisdome , thou unitest all circumstances and changes wonderfully by thy power , and by thy power makest all things work for the good of thy servants ; Be pleased so to dispose my daughters , that if thou shouldst call them to the state of a married life , they may not dishonour their family , nor grieve their parents , nor displease thee , but that thou wilt so dispose of their persons , and the accidents and circumstances of that state , that it may be a state of holiness to the Lord , and blessing to thy servants . And until thy wisdome shall know it fit to bring things so to pass , let them live with all purity , spending their time religiously and usefully . O most blessed Lord , enable their dear father with proportionable abilities and opportunities of doing his duty and charities toward them , and them with great obedience and duty toward him , and all of us with a love toward thee above all things in the world , that our portion may be in love and in thy blessings , through Jesus Christ our dearest Lord , and most gracious Redeemer .

IV. O My God , pardon thy servant , pity my infirmities , hear the passionate desires of thy humble servant ; in thee alone is my trust , my heart and all my wishes are towards thee . Thou hast commanded me to pray to thee in all needs , thou hast made gracious promises to hear and accept me ; and I will never leave importuning thy glorious Majesty , humbly , passionately , confidently , till thou hast heard and accepted the prayer of thy servant . Amen , dearest Lord , for thy mercy sake hear thy servant . Amen .

CHAP. VII . Of sins of Infirmity .

§. 1.

1. ALL Mankinde hath for ever complain'd of their irremediable calamity , their propensity to sin . For though by the dictates of Nature all people were instructed in the general notices of vertue and vice , right reason being our rule : insomuch that the old Philosophers ( as Plutarch reports ) said that vertue was nothing else but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 a disposition and force of reason . And this reason having guided the wisest , was form'd into laws for others ; yet this reason serv'd to little other purposes , but to upbraid our follies and infelicities , and to make our actions punishable , by representing them to be unreasonable : for they did certainly sin , and they could no more help it , then they could prevent their being sick , or hungry , or angry , or thirsty . Nature had made organs for some , and senses for others , and conversation and example brought in all . So that if you reprov'd a Criminal , he heard and understood you , but could not help it : as Laius in the Tragedy ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Reason taught him well , but Nature constrain'd him to the contrary ; his affections were stronger then his reason .

And it is no wonder that while flesh and bloud is the prevailing ingredient , while men are in the state of conjunction , and the soul serves the body , and the necessities of this are more felt then the discourses of that , that men should be angry and lustful , proud and revengeful , and that they should follow what they lust after , not what they are bidden to do . For passions and affections are our first governours , and they being clearly possessed of all mankinde in their first years , have almost secured to themselves the soul of man , before reason is heard to speak : And when she does speak , she speaks at first so little and so low , that the common noises of fancy and company drown her voice . This I say is the state of Nature . And therefore Lactantius brings in a Pagan complaining , Lib. 4. Insti . c. 24. Volo equidem non peccare , sed vincor . Indutus enim sum carne fragili , et imbecillâ . Haec est quae concupiscit , quae irascitur , quae dolet , quae mori timet . Itáque ducor incertus , & pecco non quia volo , sed quia cogor . Sentio me & ipse peccare ; sed necessitas fragilitatis impellit , cui repugnare non possum . I would fain avoid sin , but I am compelled . I am invested with a frail and weak flesh : This is it which lusteth , which is angry , which grieves , which fears to die . Therefore I am led uncertainly , and I sin , not because I will , but because I am constrained . I perceive that I doe ill , but the necessity of my weakness drives me on , and I cannot resist it . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Medea apud Eurip. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . I know well and perceive the evils that I go upon , and they are horridones , but my anger is greater then my reason . So Medea in the Tragedy . This is the state of a natural man in his meer naturals , especially as they are made worse by evil customs , and vile usages of the world .

Now this is a state of infirmity ; and all sins against which there is any reluctancy and contrary desires of actual reason , are sins of infirmity . But this infirmity excuses no man : for this state of infirmity is also a state of death ; for by this S. Paul expressed that state from which Christ came to redeem us : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , when we were yet in infirmity , or without strength , in due time Christ died for us ; Rom. 5.6 . that is , when we were 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , impious , or sinners , such as the world was before it was redeemed , before Christ came . These are the sick and weak whom Christ the great Physician of our souls came to save . This infirmity is the shadow of death ; and it signifies that state of mankinde which is the state of nature , not of original and birth , but in its whole constitution , as it signifies not onely the natural imperfection , but the superinduc'd evil from any principle ; all that which is oppos'd to Grace .

To this state of Nature being so pitiable , God began to finde a remedy , and renewed the measures of vertue , and by a law made them more distinct and legible , and impos'd punishments on the transgressors . For by little and little the notices of natural reason were made obscure , some were lost , some not attended to , all neglected some way or other ; till God by a law made express prohibition of what was unreasonable , forbidding us to desire what before was unfit and unnatural , and threatning them that did things unlawful . But this way , by reason of the peevishness of men , succeeded not well , but men became worse by it . For what the law did forbid without the threatning of any penalty , they took for an advice onely , and no severe injunction : And those Commandements which were established with a threatning to the transgressors , they expounded onely by the letter , and in the particular instance , and in the outward act .

Before the Law , men allowed to themselves many impieties , which reason indeed mark'd out to be such , but no law had forbidden them in express letter . They thought it lawful to seduce and tempt another mans wife , and invite her to his house and conjugation , so he did not steal , or force her away : but if they found a coldness between her and her husband , they would blow the coals , and enkindle an evil flame . It is supposed that Herod did so to Herodias his brother Philips wife , even after the law . They would not by violence snatch the estate from a young prodigal heir , but if he were apt , they would lend him money , and nurse his vice , and intangle his estate , and at last devour it . They would not directly deny to pay the price of a purchase ; but they would detain it or divert it , or pay it in trifling sums , or in undesir'd commodities . This was Concupiscere rem alienam . They did not steal , but coveted it , and so entred indirectly : and this God seeing , forbad it by a law : Rom. 7.7 . For I had not known lust or desires to be a sin ( saith S. Paul ) but that the law said , Thou shalt not covet .

But because the law onely forbad lustings , but imposed no penalty , they despis'd it ; and those things which were forbidden with an appendent penalty , they would act them privately . For if they avoided the notice of the Criminal Judge , they fear'd not the face of an angry God : and this Lactantius observ'd of them . Metus legum non scelera comprimebat , sed licentiam submovebat . Poterant enim leges delicta punire , conscientiam munire non poterant . Itaque quae antè palàm fiebant , clam fieri coeperunt : circumscribi etiam jura . For all the threatnings of the Law they were wicked still , though not scandalous ; vile in private , and wary in publick ; they did circumscribe their laws , and thought themselves bound onely to the letter , and obliged by nothing but the penalty , which if they escaped they reckoned themselves innocent . Thus far the law instructed them , and made them afraid . But for the first , they grew the more greedy to doe what now they were forbidden to desire . The prohibition of the law being like a damme to the waters , the desire swels the higher for being check'd ; and the wisdome of Romulus in not casting up a bank against parricide had this effect , that until the end of the second Punick war which was almost DC . years , there was no example of one that kill'd his Father . Lucius Ostius was the first . And it is certain that the Easterlings neither were nor had they reason to be fond of Circumcision ; it was part of that load which was complain'd of by the Apostles in behalf of the Jewish Nation , which neither they nor their Fathers could bear ; and yet as soon as Christ took off the yoke , and that it was forbidden to his Disciples , the Jews were as fond of it , as of their pleasures ; and fifteen Bishops of Jerusalem in immediate succession , were all circumcised , and no arguments , no authority could hinder them . And for their fear , it onely produc'd caution , and sneaking from the face of men , and both together set them on work to corrupt the spirit of the law by expositions too much according to the letter : so that by this means , their natural desires , their lustings and concupiscence were not cured .

For as Lactantius brought in the Heathen complaining , so does S. Paul bring in the Jew : That which I doe I allow not , Rom. 7.25 , 19. for what I would , that I doe not , but what I hate that I doe . I say , this is the state of a man under the law ; a man who is not regenerate and made free by the Spirit of Christ ; that is , a man who abides in the infirmities of nature : of which the law of nature warn'd him first , and the superinduc'd law of God warn'd him more ; but there was not in these Covenants or Laws sufficient either to endure or to secure obedience ; they did not minister strength enough to conquer sin , to overthrow its power , to destroy the kingdome and reign of sin : this was reserv'd for the great day of triumph ; it was the glory of the Gospel the power of Christ , the strength of the Spirit which alone was able to doe it ; and by this with its appendages , that is the pardon of sin and a victory over it , a conquest by the prevailing and rule of the Spirit , by this alone the Gospel is the most excellent above all the covenants , and states , and institutions of the world .

But then the Christian must not complain thus ; if he be advanced into the secrets of the kingdome , if he be a Christian in any thing beyond the name ; he cannot say that sin gives him laws , that it reigns in his mortal body , that he is led captive by Satan at his will , that he sins against his will frequently , and habitually , and cannot help it . But so it is , men doe thus complain ; and which is worse , they make this to be their excuse , and their incouragement . If they have sinn'd foully , they say , It is true ; V. 15. but it is not I , but sin that dwelleth in me . For that which I doe , I allow not ; for what I would , that doe I not , and what I hate , that doe I. And if they be tempted to a sin , they cannot be disswaded from it , or incouraged to a noble and pertinacious resistance , because they have this in excuse ready ; V. 18. To will is present with me , but how to perform that which is good I finde not . For the good which I would , I doe not , but the evil which I would not , that I doe . That is , it is my infirmity , give me leave to doe it , I am the childe of God for all my sin ; for I doe it with an unwilling willingness . I shall doe this always , and shall never be quit of this tyranny of sin : It was thus with S. Paul himself , and I ought not to hope to be otherwise then he , and a person more free from sin . We finde in the life of Andronicus , written by Nicetas Choniates , the same pretence made in excuse for sin ; they could not help it ; and we finde it so in our daily experience ; and the thing it self warranted by many Interpreters of Scripture , who suppose that S. Paul in the seventh Chapter to the Romanes , from the fourteenth verse to the end , describes his own state of infirmity and disability , or which is all one , the state of a regenerate man , that it is no other but an ineffective striving and strugling against sin , a contention in which he is most commonly worsted , and that this striving is all that he can shew of holiness to be a testimony of his regeneration .

§. 2.

HOw necessary it is to free the words of S. Paul from so dangerous a sense , we may easily believe , if we consider that to suppose a man who is regenerate by the Spirit of Christ to be still a slave under sin , and within its power , and that he fain would but cannot help it , is very injurious to the power of Christ and the mightiness of the spirit of grace : when all its effect is onely said to be , that it strives , but can doe nothing ; that is , sin abounds more then grace , and the man that is redeemed by Christ , is still unredeem'd , and a captive under sin and Satan ; this is not onely an incouragement of evil life , 1 Joh. 4.4 . but a reproach and scorn cast upon the holy Spirit ; It is verbum dictum contra Spiritum sanctum , a word spoken against the holy Ghost . Serm. 43. & 45. de tempore . And as S. Austin cals it , it is tuba hostis , non nostra , unde ille incitetur , non unde vincatur , the Devils trumpet to encourage him in his war against poor mankinde ; but by this means he shall never be overcome . And therefore he gives us caution of it ; for speaking of these words , The good which I would , that do I not , but the evil that I would not , that I doe , advises thus , Lectio Divina quae de Apostoli Pauli epistolâ recitata est , quotiescunque legitur , timendum est ne malè intellecta det hominibus quaerentibus occasionem . When ever these words of S. Paul are read , we must fear lest the misunderstanding of them should minister an occasion of sin to them that seek it . For men are prone to sin , and scarce restrain themselves . When therefore they hear the Apostle saying , I doe not the good which I would , but I doe the evil which I hate , they do evil , and as it were displeasing themselves because they doe it , think themselves like the Apostle . In pursuance of this caution , I shall examine the expositions which are pretended .

1. These words [ I do not the good which I would , but I doe the evil which I hate ] are not the words or character of a regenerate person in respect of actual good or bad . Rom. 7.15 . A regenerate man cannot say that he does frequently or habitually commit the sin that he hates , and is against his conscience . 1. Because no man can serve two Masters ; if he be a servant of sin , he is not a servant of the Spirit . No man can serve Christ and Belial . If therefore he be brought into captivity to the law of sin , he is the servant of sin ; and such was he whom S. Paul describes in this Chapter . Ver. 23. Therefore this person is not a servant of Christ ; He that is a servant of righteousness is freed from sin ; and he who is a servant of sin is not a servant of , Rom. 6.20 . but freed from righteousness . A regenerate person therefore is a servant of the Spirit , and so cannot at the same time be a servant , or a slave and a captive under sin .

2. When the complaint is made , I doe the evil which I hate , the meaning is , I doe it seldome , or I doe it commonly and frequently ; If it means , I doe it seldome , then a man cannot use these words so well as the contrary ; he can say , The good which I would I doe regularly and ordinarily , and , the evil which I hate , I doe avoid ; sometimes indeed I am surpris'd , and when I doe neglect to use the aids and strengths of the spirit of grace , I fall ; but this is because I will not , and not because I cannot help it ; and in this case the man is not a servant or captive of sin , but a servant of Christ , though weak and imperfect . But if it means , I doe it commonly , or constantly or frequently , which is certainly the complaint here made , then to be a regenerate person is to be a vile person , sold under sin , and not Gods servant . For if any man shall suppose these words to mean onely thus ; I doe not doe so much good as I would , and doe sometimes fall into evil , though I would fain be intirely innocent , indeed this man teaches no false doctrine as to the state or duty of the regenerate , which in this life will for ever be imperfect ; but he speaks not according to the sense and design of the Apostle here . For his purpose is to describe that state of evil in which we are by nature , and from which we could not be recovered by the law , and from which we can onely be redeemed by the grace of Jesus Christ ; and this is a state of death , of being killed by sin , of being captivated and sold under sin , after the manner of slaves ; as will further appear in the sequel .

3. Every regenerate man , and servant of Christ hath the Spirit of Christ . Rom 8.9 . 2 Cor. 3.17 . But where the Spirit of God is , there is liberty ; therefore no slavery ; therefore sin reigns no● there . Both the propositions are the words of the Apostle ; The conclusion therefore infers that the man whom S. Paul describes in this Chapter , is not the regenerate man , for he hath not liberty , Ro. 7.23 . but is in captivity to the law of sin , from which every one that is Christs , every one that hath the Spirit of Christ , is freed .

4. And this is that which S. Paul cals being under the law , that is , a being carnal , and in the state of the flesh ; not but that the law it self is spiritual ; but that we being carnal of our selves , are not cured by the law , but by reason of the infirmity of the flesh made much worse ; Rom. 7.13 , 14. & 8.3 . curbed , but not sweetly won ; admonished , but assisted by no spirit but the spirit of bondage and fear . This state is opposed to the spiritual state . The giving of the law is called the ministery of death ; 2 Cor. 3.6 , 7 , 8. the Gospel is called the ministery of the Spirit , and that is the ministration of life ; and therefore if we be led by the Spirit , Gal. 5.18 . Rom. 7.9 . we are not under the law : but if we be under the law , we are dead , and sin is revived ; and sin by the law brings forth fruit unto death . From hence the argument of the Apostle is clear . The man whom he here describes , is such a one who is under the law ; but such a man is dead by reason of sin , and therefore hath not in him the Spirit of God , for that is the ministration of life . A regenerate person is alive unto God ; he lives the life of righteousness : but he that is under the law is killed by sin ; and such is the man that is here described , as appears verse 9. and I shall in the sequel further prove ; therefore this man is not the regenerate .

5. To which for the likeness of the argument I adde this ; That the man who can say , I doe that which I hate , is a man in whom sin is not mortified , and therefore he lives after the flesh : but then he is not regenerate ; for if ye live after the flesh ye shall die ( saith S. Rom. 8.13 . Paul ) but if ye through the Spirit doe mortifie the deeds of the body , ye shall live .

These arguments are taken from consideration of the rule and dominion of sin in the man whom S. Paul describes , who therefore cannot be a regenerate person . To the same effect and conclusion are other expressions in the same Chapter .

6. The man whom S. Paul here describes , who complains , [ That he does not the good which he would , but the evil that he would not ] is such a one in whom sin does inhabit : It is no more I , Vers. 20. but sin that dwelleth in me . But in the regenerate sin does not inhabit : My Father and I will come unto him , and make our abode with him . So Christ promised to his servants ; John 14.23 . Ro. 8.11 . 2 Cor. 6.16 . Eph. 3.17 . & 2.22 . 2 Tim. 1.14 . to them who should be regenerate ; and the Spirit of God dwelleth in them ; the Spirit of him that raised Jesus from the dead ; and therefore the Regenerate are called the habitation of God through the Spirit . Now if God the Father , if Christ , if the Spirit of Christ dwels in a man , there sin does not dwell . The strong man that is armed keeps possession ; but if a stronger then he comes , he dispossesses him . If the Spirit of God does not drive the Devil forth , himself will leave the place . They cannot both dwell together . Sin may be in the regenerate , and grieve Gods Spirit , but it shall not abide or dwell there , for that extinguishes him . One or the other must depart . And this also is noted by Saint Paul in this very place ; sin dwelleth in me , Ver. 17 , 18. and , no good thing dwelleth in me : If one does , the other does not ; but yet as in the unregenerate there might be some good , such as are , good desires , knowledge of good and evil , single actions of vertue , beginnings and dispositions to grace , acknowledging of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ , some lightnings and flashes of the holy Ghost , a knowing of the way of righteousness ; but sanctifying , saving good does not dwell , that is , doth not abide with them , and rule ; so in the regenerate there is sin , but because it does not dwell there , they are under the Empire of the Spirit and in Christs Kingdome ; Gal. 2.20 . or , as Saint Paul expresses it , Christ liveth in them : and that cannot be unless sin be crucified and dead in them . The summe of which is thus in S. Pauls words : Rom. 6.11 , 12 , 14. Reckon your selves indeed to be dead unto sin , but alive unto God through Jesus Christ . Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body , that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof . For sin shall not have dominion over you , because we are not under the law , but under grace .

7. Lastly , the man whom S. Paul describes is carnal , but the regenerate is never called carnal in the Scripture , Ro 7.14 . but is spiritual oppos'd to carnal . A man not onely in pure naturals , but ever plac'd under the law is called Carnal ; that is , until he be redeemed by the Spirit of Christ , he cannot be called spiritual , but is yet in the flesh . Now that the regenerate cannot be the carnal man , is plain in the words of S. Paul : Rom. 8.7 . The carnal minde is enmity against God ; and , they that are in the flesh cannot please God . To which he addes , But ye are not in the flesh , V. 8. but in the Spirit , if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you . But the Spirit of God does dwell in all the servants of God , in all the regenerate . V. 9. For if any man have not the Spirit of Christ , he is none of his . Now as these are in Scripture distinguished in their appellatives and in their character , so also in their operations . They that are carnal , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , V. 5. according to the flesh , do minde , or relish the things of the flesh : They that are after the Spirit , do minde the things of the Spirit . And , they that are Christs , Gal. 5.24 . have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts . Now they that have crucified the flesh , cannot in any sense of Scripture or Religion be called Carnal . That there is something of carnality in the regenerate is too true , because our regeneration and spirituality in this life is imperfect . But when carnal and spiritual are oppos'd in Scripture ; and the Question is , Whether of these two is to be attributed to the servants and sons of God , to the Regenerate ? it is certain by the analogy of the thing , and the perpetual manner of speaking in Scripture , that by this word Carnal , the Spirit of God never means the sons of God , or the spiritual ; that is , the Regenerate : Rom. 8. The sons of God are led by the Spirit of God ; therefore not by the flesh , which they have crucified . Whatsoever is essential to regeneration , to new birth , to the being the sons of God , all that is in the regenerate ; for they cannot be that thing , of which they want an essential part : as a thing cannot be a body unless it be divisible , nor a living creature if it have not life . Therefore regeneration is perfect in respect of its essentials or necessary parts of constitution . But in the degrees there is imperfection , and therefore the abatement is made by the intermixture of carnality . For it is in our new and spiritual birth , as in our natural . The childe is a man in all essential parts , but he is as a beast in some of his operations ; he hath all the faculties of a man , but not the strengths of a man , but grows to it by the progression and encrease of every day . So is the spiritual man regenerate in his minde , his will , his affections ; and therefore when carnal and spiritual are oppos'd in their whole nature and definitions , the spiritual man is not the carnal , though he still retain some of the weaknesses of the flesh , against which he contends every day . To this purpose are those words of S. Leo. De resu● . Dom. Quamvis spe salvi facti sumus , & corruptionem adhuc carnémque mortalem gestamus ; rectè tamen dicimur in carne non esse , si carnales nobis non dominentur affectus ; & meritò ejus deponimus nuncupationem , cujus non sequimur voluntatem . We are not to be called Carnal , though we bear about us flesh and its infirmities ; yet if carnal affections doe not rule over us , well are we to quit the name , when we doe not obey the thing . Now if any man shall contend that a man may be called Carnal , if the flesh strives against the Spirit , though sin does not rule ; I shall not draw the Saw of Contention with him , but onely say that it is not usually so in Scripture ; and in this place of which we now dispute the sense and use , it is not so : for by Carnal S. Paul means such a person , upon whom sin reigns . I am carnal , V. 14. sold under sin ; therefore this person is not the spiritual , not the regenerate , or the son of God . 1 Cor. 3.1 , 2●3 . S. Paul uses the word Carnal in a comparative locution ; for babes and infants , or unskilful persons in the Religion ; but then this carnality he proves to be in them , wholly by their inordinate walking , by their strifes and contentions , by their being Schismaticks ; and therefore he reproves them , which he had no reason to doe , if himself also had been carnal in that sense which he reproves .

The Conclusion from all these premises is , I suppose , sufficiently demonstrated ; that S. Paul does not in the seventh Chapter to the Romans describe the state of himself really , or of a regenerate person , neither is this state [ of doing sin frequently , though against our will ] a state of unavoidable infirmity , but a state of death and unregeneration .

§. 3.

St. Austin did for ever reject that interpretation , and indeed so did the whole Primitive Church ; but yet he having once expounded this Chapter of the unregenerate , or a man under the law , not redeemed by the Spirit of Christ from his vain conversation , he retracted this Exposition , Ver. 15. & 19. and constru'd those words in question thus ; Non ergo quod vult agit Apostolus , quia vult non concupiscere , Serm. 43. & 45. de temp. & tamen concupiscit , ideo non quod vult agit . The Apostle does not doe what he would , because he would fain not desire ; but yet because he desires , he does what he would not . Did that desire lead him captive to fornication ? God forbid : He did strive , but was not mastered ; but because he would not have had that concupiscence left , against which he should contend , therefore he said , What I would not , that I doe ; meaning , I would not lust , but I doe lust . The same also I finde in Epiphanius ; Nam quod dictum est , Haeres. 64. contra Origen . Quod operor non cognosco , & facio quod odio habeo , non de eo quod operati sumus ac perfecimus malum accipiendum est , sed de eo quod solum cogitavimus . Now this interpretation hath in it no impiety as the other hath ; for these Doctors allow nothing to be unavoidable , or a sin of infirmity , and consistent with the state of grace and regeneration , but the meer ineffective , unprocured , desitings or lustings after evil things , to which no consent is given and in which no delight is taken ; extraneae cogitationes quas cogitavimus aliquando , & non volentes & non scientes ex quâ causâ , Ibid. as Epiphanius expresses this article . But S. Aust. may be thought to have had some design in choosing this sense , as supposing it would serve for an argument against the Pelagians and their sense of Free will . For by representing the inevitability of sin , he destroyed their doctrine of the sufficiency of our natural powers in order to heaven , and therefore by granting that S. Paul complains thus of his own infirmity , he believed himself to have concluded firmly for the absolute necessity of Gods grace to help us . But by limiting this inevitability of sinning to the matter of desires or concupiscence ; he gave no allowance or pretence to any man to speak any evil words , or to delight or consent to any evil thoughts , or to commit any sinful actions , upon the pretence of their being sins of an unavoidable infirmity . So that though he was desirous to serve the ends of his present question , yet he was careful that he did not disserve the interests of Religion and a holy life . But besides that the holy Scriptures abound in nothing more then in affirming our needs , and the excellency of the Divine grace , and S. Austin needed not to have been put to his shifts in this Question it is considerable that his first Exposition had done his business better . For if these words of S. Paul be ( as indeed they are ) to be expounded of an unregenerate man , one under the law , but not under grace ; nothing could more have magnified Gods grace , then that an unregenerate person could not by all the force of nature , nor the aids of the law , nor the spirit of fear , nor temporal hopes , be redeem'd from the flavery and tyranny of sin ; and that from this state there is no redemption but by the Spirit of God , and the grace of the Lord Jesus ; which is expresly affirmed and proved by S. Paul , if you admit this sense of the words . And therefore Irenaeus who did so , cites these words to the same effect , viz. for the magnifying the grace of God : Lib. 3. c. 22. Ipse Dominus erat qui salvabat eos , quia per semetipses non habebant salvari . Et propter hoc Paulus infirmitatem hominis annuntians , ait , Scio enim quoniam non habitat in carne m●â bonum : significans quoniam non à nobis , s●d à Dec est bonum salutis . Et iterum : Miser ego homo , quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus ? Deinde infert liberatorem : Gratia Jesu Christi D●mini nestri . S. Pauls complaint shews our own infirmity , and that of our selves we cannot be saved ; but that our salvation is of God , and the grace of our Redeemer Jesus Christ . But whatever S. Austins design might be in making the worse choice , it matters not much : onely to the interpretation it self I have these considerations to oppose .

1. Because the phrase is insolent , and the exposition violent to render 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 by concupis●ere ; Rom. 7.15 . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 to doe is more then to desire : factum , dictum , concupitum , are the several kindes and degrees of sinning assigned by S. Austin himself , and therefore they cannot be confounded , and one made to expound the other . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is also used here by the Apostle , which in Scripture signifies sometimes to sin habitually , never less then actually ; and the other word is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which signifies perficere , patrare , to finish the act at least , or to doe a sin throughly , and can in no sense be reasonably expounded by natural , ineffective , and unavoidable desires . And it is observable that when S. Austin in prosecution of this device , Ver. 18. is to expound those words , to will is present with me , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but to perform what is good , I finde not , he makes the word to signifie to doe it perfectly ; which is as much beyond , as the other sense of the same word is short , What I doe 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , I approve not : Therefore the man does not doe his sin perfectly ; he does the thing imperfectly , for he does it against his conscience , and with an imperfect choice ; but he does the thing however . So 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , must signifie to doe the good imperfectly , the action it self onely ; for such was this mans impotency , that he could not obtain power to doe even imperfectly the good he desir'd . The evil he did , though against his minde ; but the good he could not , because it was against the law of sin which reigned in him . But then the same word must not , to serve ends , be brought to signifie a perfect work , and yet not to signifie so much as a perfect desire .

2. The sin which S. Paul under another person complains of , is such a sin as did first deceive him , Ver. 11. and then slew him ; but concupiscence does not kill till it proceeds further , as S. James expresly affirms , Jam. 1.15 . that concupiscence when it hath conceived brings forth sin , and sin when it is finished brings forth death : which is the just parallel to what S. Ver. 5. Paul says in this very Chapter : The * * 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 passions of sins which were by the law , did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death : peccatum perpetratum , when the desires are acted , then sin is deadly ; the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the passions or first motions of sin which come upon us , nobis non volentibus nec scientibus , whether we will or no , these are not imputed to us unto death , but are the matter of vertue when they are resisted and contradicted ; but when they are consented to and delighted in , then it is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , sin in conception with death , and will proceed to action , unless it be hindred from without ; and therefore it is then the same sin by interpretation : Adulterium cordis ; so our blessed Saviour called it in that instance , the adultery of the heart : but till it be an actual sin some way or other , it does not bring forth death .

3. It is an improper and ungrammatical manner of speaking , to say , Nolo concupiscere , or Volo non concupiscere , I will lust , or I will not lust , i. e. I will , or I will not desire or will . For this lust or first motions of desire are before an act of will ; the first act of which is , when these 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , these motions and passions are consented to or rejected . These motions are natural and involuntary , and are no way in our power , but when they are occasion'd by an act of the will collaterally and indirectly , or by applying the proper incentives to the faculty . Vellem non concupiscere ; every good man must say , I would fain be free from concupiscence ; but because he cannot , it is not subject to his will , and he cannot say , vol● , I will be free : and therefore S. Pauls Volo and Nolo are not intended of Concupiscence or desires .

4. The good which S. Austin sayes the Apostle fain would , but could not perfect , or doe it perfectly , is , Non concupiscere , not to have concupiscence . Volo , non perficio ; but Concupiscere is but velle : Ver. 18. it is not so much , and therefore cannot be more . So that when he sayes , to will is present with me , he must mean , to desire well is present with me , but to doe this I finde not ; that is , if S. Austins interpretation be true , though I doe desire well , yet I doe lust , and doe not desire well , for still concupisco ; I lust , and I lust not , I have concupiscence , and I have it not : which is a contradiction .

Many more things might be observed from the words of the Apostle to overthrow this exposition ; but the truth when it is proved will sufficiently reprove what is not true : and therefore I shall apply my self to consider the proper intention and design of the Apostle in those so much mistaken periods .

§. 4.

COncerning which , these things are to be cleared , upon which the whole issue will depend . 1. That S. Paul speaks not in his own person , as an Apostle , or a Christian , a man who is regenerate ; but in the person of a Jew , one under the law , one that is not regenerate . 2. That this state which he describes , is the state of a carnal man , under the corruption of his nature , upon whom the law had done some change but had not cured him . 3. That from this state of evil we are redeemed by the Spirit of Christ , by the Grace of the Gospel ; and now , a Childe of God cannot complaine this complaint .

1. That he puts on the person of another , by a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or translation ( as was usual with S. Paul in * * 1 Cor. 10.29 , 30. & 4.6 . & 6.12 . & 13.2 . Gal. 2.18 . very many places of his Epistles ) is evident by his affirming that of the man whom he here describes , which of himself were not true . † † Ver 9. I was alive without the law once . Of S. Pauls own person this was not true ; for he was bred and born under the law , circumcised the eighth day , an Hebrew of the Hebrews , as touching the law a Pharisee : he never was alive without the law . But the Israelites were , whom he therefore represents indefinitely under a single person ; the whole Nation , before and under the law : I was alive once without the law ; but when the Commandement came , that is , when the law was given , sin revived , and I died ; that is , by occasion of the law , sin grew stronger and prevailed . 2. But concerning the Christian and his present condition , he expresly makes it separate from that of being under the law , and consequently under sin . But now we are delivered from the law , that being dead wherein we were held , that we should serve in newness of the spirit , and not in the oldness of the letter . We are delivered : it is plain that some sort of men are freed from that sad condition of things of which he there complains ; and if any be , it must be the regenerate . And so it is . For the scope of the Apostle in this Chapter is to represent , and prove that salvation is not to be had by the law , but by Jesus Christ ; and that by that discipline men cannot be contain'd in their duty , and therefore that it was necessary to forsake the law , and to come to Christ . To this purpose he brings in a person complaining that under the discipline of the law , he was still under the power of sin . Now if this had been also true of a regenerate person , of a Christian renewed by the spirit of grace , then it had been no advantage to have gone from the Law to Christ , as to this argument ; for still the Christian would be under the same slavery , which to be the condition of one under the law , S. Paul was to urge as an argument to call them from Moses to Christ .

2. That this state which he now describes , is the state of a carnal man , Ver. 8. under the corruption of his nature , appears , by his saying that sin had wrought in him all manner of concupiscence ; that sin revived , and he died ; Ver. 5. that the motions of sin which were by the law , did work in the members to bring forth fruit unto death ; and that this was when we were in the flesh ; that he is carnal , sold under sin ; that he is carried into captivity to the law of sin ; that sin dwels in him ; and is like another person , doing or constraining him to doe things against his minde ; that it is a State , and a Government , a Law , and a Tyranny ; For that which I doe I allow not : plainly saying , that this doing what we would not , that is , doing against our conscience upon the strength of passion , and in obedience to the law of sin , was the state of them who indeed were under the law , but the effect of carnality , and the viciousness of their natural and ungracious condition . Here then is the description of a natural and carnal man . He sins frequently , he sins against his conscience , he is carnal and sold under sin , sin dwels in him , and gives him laws , he is a slave to sin , and led into captivity . Now if this could be the complaint of a regenerate man , from what did Christ come to redeem us ? how did he take away our sins ? did he onely take off the punishment , and still leave us to wallow in the impurities , and baser pleasures , perpetually to rail upon our sins , and yet perpetually to doe them ? How did he come to bless us in turning every one of us from our iniquity ? Acts 3 26 , How and in what sense could it be true which the Apostle affirms ; 1 Pet. 2.24 . He did bear our sins in his own body on the tree , that we being dead unto sin should live unto righteousness ? But this proposition I suppose my self to have sufficiently proved in the reproof of the first exposition of these words in question : onely I shall in present adde the concurrent testimony of some Doctors of the Primitive Church .

Tertullian hath these words : Lib. de pu●icit . c. 17. Nam etsi habitare bonum in carne suâ negavit , sed secundum legem literae in quâ fuit , secundum autem legem Spiritus cui nos annectit , liberat ab infirmitate carnis . Lex enim ( inquit ) Spiritus vitae manumisit te à lege delinquentiae & mortis . Licet enim ex parte , ex Judaismo disputare videatur , sed in nos dirigit integritatem & plenitudinem disciplinarum , propter quos laborantes in lege per carnem miserit Deus filium suum in similitudinem carnis delinquentiae , & propter delinquentiam damnaverit delinquentiam in carne . Plainly he expounds this Chapter to be meant of a man under the law , according to the law of the letter , under which himself had been , he denied any good to dwel in his flesh ; but according to the law of the Spirit under which we are plac'd , he frees us from the infirmity of the flesh : for he saith , the law of the Spirit of life , hath freed us from the law of sin and death .

Origen affirms , that when S. Paul says , In Cap. 7. ad Rom. I am carnal , sold under sin , tanquam Doctor Ecclesiae personam in semetipsum suscipit infirmorum ; he takes upon him the person of the infirm , that is , of the carnal , and says those words which themselves by way of excuse or apology use to speak . But yet ( says he ) this person which S. Paul puts on , although Christ does not dwell in him , neither is his body the Temple of the holy Ghost , yet he is not wholly a stranger from good , but by his will , and by his purpose he begins to look after good things . But he cannot yet obtain to doe them . For there is such an infirmity in those who begin to be converted ( that is , whose minde is convinc'd , but their affections are not master'd ) that when they would presently doe all good , yet an effect did not follow their desires .

S. Chrysostome hath a large Commentary upon this Chapter , and his sense is perfectly the same : Propterea & subnexuit dicens , Ego verò carnalis sum , hominem describens sub lege , & ante legem degentem . S. Paul describes not himself , but a man living under and before the law , and of such a one he says , but I am carnal . Who please to see more authorities to the same purpose may finde them in S. Basil a a Lib. 1. de Baptism . & in moral . sum. 23. c. 2. & quaest. 16. quaest. expl . compend , Theodoret . b b In hunc locum , & in cap. 8 ad Rom. , S. Cyril c c Contra Julian . lib. 3. & de rectâ fide ad Regin. lib. 1. & in epist. prior . ad Successum , Macarius . d d Homil. 1. , S. Ambrose e e In hunc locum . , S. Hierom f f In cap 9. Dan. , and Theophylact g g In hunc locum . ; The words of the Apostle , the very purpose and design , the whole Oeconomy and analogy of the 6. 7. and 8th Chapters doe so plainly manifest it , that the heaping up more testimonies , cannot be useful in so clear a case . The results are these .

1. The state of men under the law , was but a state of carnality and of nature better instructed , and foundly threatned and set forward in some instances by the spirit of fear only , but not cured , but in many men made much worse accidentally .

2. That to be pleased in the inner man , that is , in the Conscience to be convinc'd , and to consent to the excellency of vertue , and yet by the flesh , that is , by the passions of the lower man , or the members of the body to serve sin , is the state of Unregeration .

3. To doe the evil that I would not , and to omit the good that I fain would do , when it is in my hand to doe , what is in my heart to think , is the property of a carnal , unregenerate man . And this is the state of men in nature , and was the state of men under the law . For to be under the law , and not to be led by the Spirit , Gal. 5.18 . are all one in S. Pauls account ; for if ye be led by the Spirit ye are not under the law , saith he : And therefore to be under the law , being a state of not being under the Spirit , must be under the government of the flesh ; that is , they were not then sanctified by the Spirit of grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ , they were not yet redeemed from their vain conversation . Not that this was the state of all the sons of Israel , of them that liv'd before the law , or after ; but that the law could doe no more for them , or upon them ; Gods Spirit did in many of them work his own works , but this was by the grace of Jesus Christ , who was the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world : this was not by the works of the law , but by the same instruments and grace , by which Abraham , and all they who are his children by promise were justified . But this is the consequent of the third proposition which I was to consider .

3. From this state of evil we are redeemed by Christ , and by the Spirit of his grace . Wretched man that I am , quis liberabit ? who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? He answers , I thank God through Jesus Christ ; so S Chrysostome , Theodoret , Theophylact , S. Hierom , the Greek Scholiast , and the ordinary Greek copies doe commonly reade the words ; in which words there is an 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and they are thus to be supplied , I thank God through Jesus Christ we are delivered , or there is a remedy found out for us . But Irenaeus , Origen , S. Ambrose , S. Austin , and S. Hierom himself at another time , and the vulgar Latin Bibles , in stead of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , reade 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Gratia Domini Jesu Christi , the grace of God through Jesus Christ . That is our remedy , he is our deliverer , from him comes our redemption . For he not onely gave us a better law , but also the Spirit of grace , he hath pardon'd all our old sins , and by his Spirit enables us for the future that we may obey him in all sincerity , in heartiness of endevour , and real events . From hence I draw this argument . That state from which we are redeemed by Jesus Christ , and freed by the Spirit of his grace , is a state of carnality , of unregeneration , that is , of sin and death : But by Jesus Christ we are redeemed from that state in which we were in subjection to sin , commanded by the law of sin , and obeyed it against our reason , and against our conscience ; therefore this state , which is indeed the state S. Paul here describes , is the state of carnality and unregeneration , and therefore not competent to the servants of Christ , to the elect people of God , to them who are redeemed and sanctified by the Spirit of Christ . The parts of this argument are the words of S. Paul , and proved in the foregoing periods . From hence I shall descend to something that is more immediately practical , and cloth'd with circumstances .

§. 5. How far an Unregenerate man may goe in the ways of piety and Religion .

TO this inquiry it is necessary that this be premised . That between the regenerate and a wicked person there is a middle state : so that it is not presently true , that if the man be not wicked , he is presently Regenerate . Between the two states of so vast a distance , it is impossible but there should be many intermedial degrees ; between the Carnal and Spiritual man there is a Moral man ; not that this man shall have a different event of things if he does abide there , but that he must pass from extreme to extreme by this middle state of participation . The first is a slave of sin ; the second is a servant of righteousness ; the third is such a one as liveth according to Natural reason , so much of it as is left him , and is not abused ; that is , lives a probable life , but is not renewed by the Spirit of grace : one that does something , but not all ; not enough for the obtaining salvation . For a man may have gone many steps from his former baseness and degenerous practices , and yet not arrive at godliness , or the state of pardon ; like the children of Israel , who were not presently in Canaan , as soon as they were out of Egypt , but abode long in the wilderness : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , they begin to be instructed , that is their state . Thou art not far from the kingdome of heaven , said our blessed Saviour to a well disposed person ; but he was not arrived thither : he was not a subject of the Kingdome . These are such whom our blessed Lord cals , The weary and the heavy laden , that is such , who groan under the heavy pressure of their sins , whom therefore he invites to come to him to be eased . Such are those whom Saint Paul here describes to be under the law ; convinced of sin , pressed , vexed , troubled with it , complaining of it , desirous to be eased . Acts 1. These the holy Scripture cals 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ordained , disposed to life eternal , but these were not yet the fideles or believers , but from that fair disposition became believers upon the preaching of the Apostles .

In this third state of men , I account those that sin and repent , and yet repent and sin again ; for ever troubled when they have sinn'd , and yet for ever or most frequently sinning , when the temptation does return : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , They sin , and accuse , and hate themselves for sinning . Now because these men mean well , and fain would be quit of their sin at their own rate , and are not scandalous , and impious , they flatter themselves , and think all is well with them , that they are regenerate , and in the state of the Divine favour , and if they die so , their accounts are ballanc'd , and they doubt not but they shall reign as kings for ever . To reprove this state of folly and danger , we are to observe , that there are a great many steps of this progression , which are to be passed through , and the end is not yet ; the man is not yet arrived at the state of regeneration .

1. An unregenerate man may be convinc'd and clearly instructed in his duty , and approve the law , and confess the obligation , and consent that it ought to be done : which S. Paul cals a consenting to the law that it is good , and a being delighted in it according to the inward man ; even the Gentiles which have not the law , yet shew the work of the law written in their hearts : Rom. 2.14 . their thoughts in the mean time accusing or excusing one another . The Jews did more , they did rest in the law , and glory in God , knowing his will , and approving the things that are more excellent . And there are too many who being called Christians know their Masters will , and doe it not : and this consenting to the law and approving it , is so farre from being a sign of regeneration , that the vilest and the basest of men are those who sin most against their knowledge , and against their consciences . In this world a man may have faith great enough to remove mountains , and yet be without charity : and in the world to come some shall be rejected from the presence of God , though they shall ailege for themselves , that they have prophecied in the name of Christ . * This delight in the law which is in the unregenerate , is onely in the understanding . The man considers what an excellent thing it is to be vertuous , the just proportions of duty , the fitness of being subordinate to God , the rectitude of the soul , the acquiescence and appendent peace : and this delight is just like that which is in finding out proportions in Arithmetick and Geometry , or the rest in discovering the secrets of a mysterious proposition : a man hath great pleasure in satisfactory notices , and the end of his disquisition . So also it is in moral things : a good man is belov'd by every one ; and there is a secret excellency and measure , a musick and proportion between a mans minde and wise counsels , which impious and profane persons cannot perceive , because they are so full of false measures and weak discourses , and vile appetites , and a rude inconsideration of the reasonableness and wisdome of sobriety and severe courses . But — virtus laudatur & alget , this is all that some men doe , and there is in them nothing but a preparation of the understanding to the things of God , a faith seated in the rational part , a conviction of the minde ; which as it was intended to lead on the will to action , and the other faculties to obedience , so now that the effect is not acquired , it serves onely to upbraid the man for a knowing and discerning Criminal , he hath not now the excuse of ignorance . He that complies with an Usurper out of fear and interest , in actions prejudicial to the lawful Prince , and tells the honest party , that he is right in his heart , though he be forc'd to comply , helps the other with an argument to convince him that he is a false man . He that does it heartily , and according to a present conscience , hath some excuse ; but he that confesses that he is right in his perswasion , and wrong in his practise , is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , condemn'd by himself , and professes himself a guilty person , a man whom interest and not conscience governs . Better it is not to know at all , then not to pursue the good we know . They that know not God , are infinitely far from him ; but they who know him , and yet doe not obey him , are sometimes the nearer for their knowledge , sometimes the further off , but as yet they are not arrived whither it is intended they should go .

2. An unregenerate man may with his will delight in goodness , and desire it earnestly . For in an unregenerate man there is a double appetite , and there may be the apprehension of two amabilities . The things of the Spirit please his minde , and his will may consequently desire that this good were done because it seems beauteous to the rational part , to his Minde : but because he hath also relishes and gusts in the flesh , and they also seem sapid and delightful , he desires them also . So that this man fain would and he would not ; and he does sin willingly and unwillingly at the same time . We see by a sad experience , some men all their life time stand at gaze , and dare not enter upon that course of life which themselves by a constant sentence judge to be the best , and of the most considerable advantage . But as the boy in the Apologue listned to the disputes of Labour and Idleness , the one perswading him to rise , the other to lie in bed ; but while he considered what to doe , he still lay in bed and considered : so these men dispute and argue for vertue and the service of God , and stand beholding and admiring it , but they stand on the other side while they behold it . There is a strife between the law of the minde , and the law of the members . But this prevails over that . For the case is thus : There are in men three laws ; 1. The law of the members . 2. The law of the minde . 3. The law of the spirit . 1. The law of the members , that is the habit and proneness to sin , the dominion of sin , giving a law to the lower man , & reigning there as in its proper seat . Col. 2.18 . Rom. 8.7 . This law is also called by S. Paul , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the minde of the flesh * * Ab Hebr. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 anima sensitiva . , the wisdome , the relish , the gust and savour of the flesh , that is , that deliciousness and comport , that inticing and correspondencies to the appetite by which it tempts and prevails ; all its own principles and propositions which minister to sin and folly . This subjects the man to the law of sin , or is that principle of evil by which sin does give us laws . 2. To this law of the flesh , the law of the minde * * 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Graec. Hebraeis 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is oppos'd , and is in the regenerate and unregenerate indifferently : and it is nothing else but the conscience of good and evil , subject to the law of God , which the other cannot be . This accuses and convinces the unregenerate , it calls upon him to doe his duty , it makes him unquiet when he does not ; but this alone is so invalidated by the infirmity of the flesh , by the Oeconomy of the law , by the disadvantages of the world , that it cannot prevail , or free him from the captivity of sin . But 3. The law of the Spirit , is the grace of Jesus Christ , and this frees the man from the law of the members , Rom. 8.2 . from the captivity of sin , from the tenure of death . Here then are three Combatants ; the Flesh , the Conscience , the Spirit . The flesh endevours to subject the man to the law of sin ; the other two endevour to subject him to the law of God . The flesh and the conscience or minde contend ; but this contention is no signe of being regenerate , because the Flesh prevails most commonly against the Minde , where there is nothing else to help it : the man is still a captive to the law of sin . But the Minde being worsted , God sends in the auxiliaries of the Spirit ; and when that enters and possesses , that overcomes the flesh , it rules and gives laws . But as in the unregenerate the Minde did strive though it was overpower'd , yet still it contended , but ineffectively for the most part : so now when the Spirit rules , the flesh strives , but it prevails but seldome , it is overpowered by the Spirit . Now this contention is a signe of regeneration , when the flesh lusteth against the Spirit ; not when the flesh lusteth against the minde or conscience . For the difference is very great , and highly to be remark'd . And it is represented in two places of S. Rom. 7.22 , 23. Pauls Epistles : The one is that which I have already explicated in this Chapter ; I consent to the law of God according to the inner man : But I see another law in my members , fighting against the law of my minde , and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin that is in my members : where there is a redundancy in the words ; but the Apostle plainly signifies that the law of sin which is in his members prevails ; that is , sin rules the man in despite of all the contention and reluctancy of his conscience or the law of his minde . So that this strife of flesh and conscience is no signe of the regenerate , because the minde of a man is in subordination to the flesh of the man , sometimes willingly and perfectly , sometimes unwillingly and imperfectly .

I deny not but the minde is sometimes called Spirit , and by consequence , improperly it may be said , that even in these men their spirit lusteth against the flesh : That is , the more rational faculties contend against the brute parts , reason against passion , law against sin . Thus the word Spirit is taken for the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the inner man , the whole minde together with its affections , Mat. 26.4 . and Acts 19.21 . But in this Question , the word * * Rom. 7.22 , 23 & 8.5 , 7 , 9. Spirit is distinguished from Minde ; and is taken for the minde renewed by the Spirit of God : and as these words are distinguished , so must their several contentions be remark'd . For when the minde or conscience , and the flesh fight , the flesh prevails ; but when the Spirit and the flesh fight , the Spirit prevails . And by that we shall best know who are the litigants that like the two sons of Rebecca strive within us . If the flesh prevails , then there was in us nothing but the law of the minde ; nothing but the conscience of an unregenerate person : I mean , if the flesh prevails frequently or habitually . But if the Spirit of God did rule us , if that principle had possession of us , then the flesh is crucified , it is mortified , it is killed , and prevails not at all but when we will not use the force and arms of the Spirit , but it does not prevail habitually , not frequently or regularly , or by observation . This is clearly taught by those excellent words of S. Paul , which , as many other periods of his Epistles , have had the ill luck to be very much misunderstood . This I say then , Gal. 5.16 , 17 , 18. walk in the Spirit , and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh : For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit , and the Spirit against the flesh , so that ye cannot [ that ye doe not , or may not doe , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ] the things that ye would . But if ye be led by the Spirit , ye are not under the law . The word in the Greek may either signifie duty or event . Walk in the Spirit , and fulfil not , or , ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh . If we understand it in the Imperative sense , then it is exegetical of the former words : He that walks in the Spirit , hoc ipso , does not fulfil the lusts of the flesh . To doe one , is not to doe the other ; whoever fulfils the lusts of the flesh , and is rul'd by that law , he is not ruled by the grace of Christ , he is not regenerate by the Spirit . But the other sense is the best reddition of the word ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as if he had said , Walk in the Spirit , and then the event will be , that the flesh shall not prevail over you , or give you laws ; you shall not then fulfil the lusts thereof . And this is best agreeable to the purpose of the Apostle . For having exhorted the Galatians that they should not make their Christian liberty a pretence to the flesh : Ver. 23. as the best remedy against their enemy the flesh , he prescribes this walking in the Spirit , which is a certain deletery and prevalency over the flesh . And the reason follows : for the flesh lusteth against the Spirit , and the Spirit against the flesh ; so that ye cannot doe the things that ye would ; that is , though ye be inclined to , and desirous of satisfying your carnal desires , yet being under the empire and conduct of the Spirit , ye cannot doe those desires ; the Spirit over-rules you , and you must , you will contradict your carnal appetites . For else this could not be ( as the Apostle designs it ) a reason of his exhortation . For if he had meant that in this contention of flesh and Spirit , we could not doe the good things that we would , then the reason had contradicted the proposition . For suppose it thus ; Walk in the Spirit , and fulfil not the lusts of the flesh . For the flesh and the Spirit lust against each other , so that ye cannot doe the good ye would . This , I say , is not sense , for the latter part contradicts the former . For , this thing [ that the flesh hinders us from doing the things of the Spirit ] is so far from being a reason why we should walk in the Spirit , that it perfectly discourages that design ; and it is to little purpose to walk in the Spirit , if this will not secure us against the domineering and tyranny of the flesh . But the contrary is most clear and consequent : If ye walk in the Spirit , ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh ; for though the flesh lusteth against the Spirit , and would fain prevail , yet it cannot ; for the Spirit also lusteth against the flesh , and is stronger , so that ye may not , or that ye doe not , or that ye cannot ( for any of these readings as it may properly render the words of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , so are not against the design of the Apostle ) do what ye otherwise would fain do ; and therefore if ye will walk in the Spirit , ye are secured against the flesh .

The result is this . 1. An impious , profane person sins without any contention ; that is , with a clear , ready , and a prepared will , he dies and disputes not . 2. An animal man , or a meer moral man , that is , one under the law , one instructed and convinced by the letter , but not sanctified by the Spirit , he sins willingly , because he considers and chooses it ; but he also sins unwillingly , that is , his inclinations to vice , and his first choices are abated , and the pleasures allayed , and his peace disturbed , and his sleeps broken ; but for all that , he sins on when the next violent temptation comes . The contention in him is between Reason and Passion , the law of the minde and the law of the members , between conscience and sin , that weak , this prevailing . 3. But the Regenerate hath the same contention within him , and the temptation is sometimes strong within him , yet he overcomes it , and seldome fails in any material and considerable instances . Because the Spirit is the prevailing ingredient in the new Creature , in the constitution of the regenerate , and will prevail . For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world , 1 Joh. 9.4 , 5. and this is the victory that overcometh the world , even your faith ; that is , by the faith of Jesus Christ , by him you shall have victory and redemption ; and again , Resist the devil , and he will flee from you ; Jam. 4.7 . 1 Joh. 4. for he that is within you is stronger then he that is in the world ; and , Put on the whole armour of God , Eph. 6.11 , 13. that ye may stand against the snares of the devil , that ye may resist in the evil day , and having done all , to stand ; for , Mark 9.23 . All things are possible to him that believes ; and , Through Christ that strengthens me I can doe all things ; Phil. 4.13 . and therefore in all these things we are more then conquerours : for , Eph. 3.20 . Rom. 8.13 . 〈◊〉 37. God is able to doe above all that we can ask or think ; he can keep us from all sin , and present us unblameable in the sight of his glory . So that to deny the power of the Spirit , in breaking the tyranny , and subduing the lusts of the flesh , besides that it contradicts all these and divers other Scriptures , it denies the Omnipotency of God , Jude 24. and of the Spirit of his grace , making sin to be stronger then it , and if grace abound , to make sin superabound : but to deny the willingness of the Spirit to redeem us from the captivity of sin , is to lessen the reputation of his goodness , and to destroy the possibility , and consequently the necessity of living holily .

But how happens it then that even the regenerate sins often , and the flesh prevails upon the ruine , or the declensions of the Spirit ? I answer , It is not because that holy principle which is in the regenerate cannot or will not secure him , but because the man is either prepossess'd with the temptation , and overcome before he begins to oppose the arms of the Spirit , that is , because he is surpris'd , or incogitant , or it may be , careless ; the good man is asleep , and then the enemy takes his advantage and sows tares ; for if he were awake , and considering , and would make use of the strengths of the Spirit , he would not be overcome by sin . For there are powers enough , that is , arguments and endearments , helps and sufficient motives to enable us to resist the strongest temptation in the world ; and this one alone , of resurrection to eternal life , which is revealed to us by Jesus Christ , and ministred in the Gospel , is an argument greater then all the promises and inticements of sin , if we will attend to its efficacy and consequence . But if we throw away our arms , and begin a fight in the Spirit , and end it in the flesh , the ill success of the day is to be imputed to us , not to the Spirit of God , to whom if we had attended we should certainly have prevailed . * The reliques and remains of sin are in the regenerate ; but that is a sign that sin is overcome , and the kingdome of it broken ; and that is a demonstration , that when ever sin does prevail in any single instances , it is not for want of power , but of using that power ; for since the Spirit hath prevailed upon the flesh in its strengths , and hath crucified it , there is no question but it can also prevail upon all its weaknesses .

For we must be curious to avoid a mistake here : The dominion of the Spirit , and the remains of the flesh may consist together in the regenerate ; as some remains of cold with the prevailing heat ; but the dominion of one and the other , are in every degree inconsistent ; as both cold and heat cannot in any sense be both said to be the prevailing ingredient . A man cannot be said to be both free from sin , and a slave to sin ; If he hath prevailed in any degree upon sin , then he is not at all a servant of that portion from whence he is set free ; but if he be a captive of any one sin , or regular degree of it , he is not Gods freed man ; for the Spirit prevails upon all as well as upon one ; and that is not an infinite power that cannot redeem us from all our slavery : But to be a slave of sin , and at the same time to be a servant of righteousness , is not onely against the analogy of Scripture , and the express signification of so many excellent periods , but against common sense ; it is as if one should say , that a man hath more heat then cold in his hand , and yet that the cold should prevail upon , and be stronger then the heat ; that is , that the weaker should overcome the stronger , and the less should be greater , then that which is bigger then it .

But as the choice of vertue is abated , and ( as the temptation grows more violent , and urges more vehemently ) is made less pleasant in the regenerate person ; so is the choice of vice in the Moral , or Animal man . The contention abates the pleasure in both their choices ; but in the one it ends in sin , in the other it ends in victory . So that there is an unwillingness to sin in all but in the impious and profane person , in the far distant stranger . But the unwillingness to sin , that is in the Animal , or Moral man , is nothing else but a serving sin like a grumbling servant , or like the younger son of the Farmer in the Gospel ; he said he would not , but did it for all his angry words . And therefore that the unregerate man acts the sin against his minde , and after a long contention against it , does not in all cases lessen it , Caus. 24. q. 1. C. Schisma . but sometimes increases it . Nec leviat crimen corum , magis verò auget , quòd eos diùrestitisse dixistis , said Pope Pelagius . To resist long , and then to consent , hath in it some aggravations of the crime , as being a conviction of the mans baseness , a violence to reason , a breach of former resolutions , a recession from fair beginnings , and wholly without excuse . * But if ever it comes to pass , that in the contention of flesh and spirit , the regenerate man does sin , he does it unwillingly , that is , by ignorance or inadvertency : The unregenerate sins unwillingly too , but it is by reason of the dominion and rule that sin bears over him : but still this difference distinguishes them in the event of things , that when it comes to the question whether sin shall be done or no , the one wills , and the other wills not , though it may happen that the consent or dissent respectively may be with the same unwillingness by reason of the contention and strife from the adverse , though weaker party . The unregenerate man may be unwilling to obey sin , but he obeys it for all that ; and the unwillingness is a sign of the greater slavery ; but there can be no sign of his regeneration , but by not obeying the sin in the day of its own power and temptation . A servant is still a servant whether he obeys with , or against his will . His servants we are to whom we obey , saith S. Paul ; all therefore that is to be considered in the Question of regeneration , is , whether the man obeys , or not obeys ? for whether he be willing or unwilling , is not here considerable . Let no man therefore flatter himself that he is a regenerate person , because though he is a servant to sin , and acts at the command of his lust , and cannot resist in the evil day , or stand the shock of a temptation , yet he finds an unwillingness within him , and a strife against sin . Hugo de S. Victore , or else S. Austin in the Book de continentiâ , gave beginning or countenance to this error . Hanc pugnam non experiuntur in semetipsis nisi bellatores virtutum , debellatorésque vitiorum . This fight none finde in themselves , but they that fight on vertues side , and destroy vice . Which words , though something crudely set down , and so not true , yet are explicable by the following period ; Non expugnat concupiscentiae malum , nisi continentiae bonum : onely holy and continent persons doe overcome their concupiscence ; and in that sense it is true : Onely the regenerate feel this fight which ends in victory . But he whose contention ends in sin , and after a brave onset , yeelds basely , frequently I mean , or habitually , every such person is a servant of sin , and therefore not a servant of the spirit , but free from , that is , not rul'd by the law of righteousness . And this is so certain , that this unwillingness to sin , which ends in obeying it , is so far from being a note of a regenerate person , that it is evidently true , that no man can come from the servitude or slavery of sin , but the first step of his going from it , is the sense and hatred of his fetters , and then his desire of being freed : but therefore he is not free , because he complains of his bands , and finds them heavy and intolerable , and therefore seeks for remedy . For if an unregenerate person did always sin willingly , that is , without this reluctancy and strife within ; and the regenerate did sin as infallibly , but yet sore against his will ; then the regenerate person were the verier slave of the two : for he that obeys willingly , is less a slave , then he that obeys in spight of his heart . — Libertatis servaveris umbram , Si quicquid jubeare velis — He that delights in his fetters , hath at least the shadow , and some of the pleasure of liberty ; but he hath nothing of it who is kept fast , and groans because his feet are hurt in the stocks , and the iron entreth into his soul . It was the sad state and complaint of the Romans , when by the iniquity of war , and the evil success of their armies , they were forc'd to entertain their bondage . — tot rebus iniquis Paruimus victi , venia est haec sola pudoris Degenerísque metus , nil jam potuisse negari . It was a conquest that gave them laws , and their ineffective strugling , and daily murmurs , were but ill arguments of their liberty , which were so great demonstrations of their servitude .

3. An unregenerate man may not onely will and desire to doe Natural or Moral good things , but even Spiritual and Evangelical ; that is , not only that good which he is taught by natural reason , or by civil sanctions , or by use and experience of things , but even that also which is onely taught us by the Spirit of grace . For if he can desire the first , much more may he desire the latter when he once comes to know it : because there is in spiritual good things much more amability ; they are more perfective of our minde , and a greater advancer of our hopes , and a security to our greatest interest . Neither can this be prejudic'd by those words of S. Paul : 1 Cor. 2.24 . The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit , for they are foolishness unto him , neither can he know them , because they are spiritually discerned . For the naturall man S. Paul speaks of , is one unconverted to Christianity , the Gentile Philosophers , who relied upon such principles of nature as they understood ; but studied not the Prophets , knew not of the Miracles of Christ and his Apostles , nor of those excellent verifications of the things of the Spirit ; and therefore these men could not arrive at spiritual notices , because they did not go that way which was the onely competent and proper instrument of finding them . Scio incapacem te Sacramenti , impie , Prudent . Non posse caecis mentibus mysterium Haurire nostrum — They that are impious , and they that go upon distinct principles , neither obeying the proposition , nor loving the Commandement , they indeed , viz. remaining in that indisposition , cannot receive , that is , entertain him . And this is also the sense of the words of our blessed Saviour , Joh. 14 , 17. The world cannot receive him ; that is , the unbeleevers , such who will not be perswaded by arguments Evangelical . But a man may be a spiritual man in his notices , and yet be carnal in his affections ; and still under the bondage of sin . 2 Pet. 2 , 21. Such are they of whom S. Peter affirms , it is better they had never known the way of righteousness , then having known it to fall away : Such are they of whom S. Paul says , Rom. 1.18 . They detain the truth in unrighteousness . Now concerning this man , it is that I affirm , that upon the same account as any vicious man can commend vertue , this man also may commend holiness , and desire to be a holy man , and wishes it with all his heart , there being the same proportion between his minde , and the things of the Spirit , as between a Jew and the Moral Law , or a Gentile and Moral vertue ; that is , he may desire it with passion and great wishings . But here is the difference : A regenerate man does , what the unregenerate man does but desire .

4. An unregenerate man may leave many sins which he is commanded to forsake . For it is not ordinarily possible , that so perfect a conviction as such men may have of the excellency of religion should be in all instances and periods totally ineffective . Something they will give to reputation , something to fancy , something to fame , something to peace , something to their own deception , that by quitting one or two lusts , they may have some kinde of peace in all the rest , and think all is well . These men sometimes would fain obey the law , but they will not crucify the flesh ; any thing that does not smart . Their temper and constitution will allow them easily to quit such superinduc'd follies which out of a gay or an impertinent spirit they have contracted , or which came to them by company or by chance , or confidence , or violence ; but if they must mortify the flesh to quit a lust , that 's too hard and beyond their powers , which are in captivity to the law of sin . * Some men will commute a duty ; and if you will allow them covetousness , they will quit their lust , or their intemperance , according as it happens . Herod did many things at the preaching of John the Baptist , and heard him gladly . Balaum did some things handsomely ; though he was covetous and ambitious , yet he had a limit ; he would obey the voyce of the Angel , and could not be tempted to speak a curse , when God spake a blessing . Ahab was an imperfect penitent ; he did some things , but not enough . And if there be any root of bitterness , there is no regeneration ; Colloquintida , and Death is in the pot .

5. An unregenerate man may leave some sins not onely for temporal interest , but out of reverence of the Divine law , out of fear and reverence . Under the law there were many such : and there is no peradventure but that many men who like Felix have trembled at a Sermon , have with such a shaking fit left off something that was fit to be laid aside . To leave a sin out of fear of the Divine judgement is not sinful , or totally unacceptable . All that lest sin in obedience and reverence to the law , did it in fear of punishment , because fear was the sanction of the law : and even under the Gospel , to obey out of fear of punishment , though it be less perfect , yet it is not criminal , nay , rather on the other side ; The worse that men are , so much the less they are afraid of the Divine anger & judgements . To abstain out of fear , is to abstain out of a very proper motive : and God when he sends a judgement with a design of emendation , or threatens a criminal , or denounces woes and cursings , intends that fear should be the beginning of wisdome . Knowing therefore the terrors of the Lord , 2 Cor. 5.11 . we perswade men , saith S. Paul . And the whole design of delivering criminals over to Satan , was but a pursuance of this argument of fear ; that by feeling something , they might fear a worse , and for the present be affrighted from their sin . And this was no other then the argument which our blessed Saviour used to the poor Paralytick : Goe and sin no more , lest a worse thing happen to thee . But besides that this good fear may work much in an unregenerate person , or a man under the law , such a person may doe some things in obedience to God , or thankfulness , and perfect , meer choice . So Jehu obeyed God a great way : but there was a turning , and a high stile , beyond which he would not goe , and his principles could not carry him through . Few women can accuse themselves of adultery ; in the great lines of chastity they choose to obey God , and the voyce of honour ; but can they say that their eye is not wanton , that they do not spend great portions of their time in vanity , that they are not idle , and useless , or busy-bodies , that they doe not make it much of their imployment to talk of fashions and trifles , or that they do make it their business to practise religion , to hear and attend to severe and sober counsels ? If they be under the conduct of the Spirit , he hath certainly carried them into all the regions of duty . But to goe a great way , and not to nnish the journey is the imperfection of the unregenerate For in some persons , fear or love of God is not of it self strong enough to weigh down the scales ; but there must be thrown in something from without some generosity of spirit , or revenge , or gloriousness and bravery , or natural pity , or interest ; and so far as these , or any of them go along with the better principle , this will prevail ; but when it must goe alone it is not strong enough . But this is a great way off from the state of sanctification or a new birth .

6. An unregenerate man , besides the abstinence from much evil , may also do many good things for heaven , and yet never come thither . He may be sensible of his danger and sad condition , and pray to be delivered from it ; and his prayers shall not be heard , because he does not reduce his prayers to action and endevour to be what he desires to be . Almost every man desires to be sav'd : but this desire is not with every one of that perswasion and effect as to make them willing to want the pleasures of the world for it , or to perform the labours of charity & repentance . A man may strive and contend in or towards the ways of godliness , and yet fall short . Many men pray often , & fast much , and pay tithes , & do justice , and keep the Commandements of the second Table with great integrity ; and so are good moral men , as the word is used in opposition to , or rather in destrution of religion . Some are religious and not just : some want sincerity in both : and of this , the Pharisees were a great example . But the words of our blessed Saviour are the greatest testimony in this article ; Many shall strive to enter , and shall not be able . Luke 13.14 . Either they shall contend too late like the five foolish Virgins , and as they whom S. Paul by way of caution likens to Esau ; or else they contend with incompetent and insufficient strengths : they strive , but put not force enough to the work . An unregenerate man hath not strengths enough ; that is , he wants the spirit and activity , and perfectness of resolution . Not that he wants such aids as are necessary and sufficient , but that himself hath not purposes pertinacious , and resolutions strong enough . All that is necessary to his assistance from without , all that he hath or may have ; but that which is necessary on his own part he hath not ; but that 's his own fault ; that he might also have ; and it is in his duty , and therefore certainly in his power to have it . For a man is not capable of a law which he hath not powers sufficient to obey : he must be free and quit from all its contraries , from the power and dominion of them ; or at least must be so free , that he may be quit of them if he please . For there can be no liberty , but where all the impediments are remov'd , or may be if the man will .

7. An unregenerate man may have received the Spirit of God , and yet be in a state of distance from God . For to have received the holy Ghost , is not an inseparable propriety of the regenerate . The Spirit of God is an internal agent ; that is , the effects and graces of the Spirit by which we are assisted , are within us before they operate . For although all assistances from without are graces of God , the effects of Christs passion , purchased for us by his bloud and by his intercesson ; and all good company , wise counsels , apt notices , prevailing arguments , moving objects , and opportunities and endearments of vertue are from above , from the Father of lights : yet the Spirit of God does also work more inwardly , and creates in us aptnesses and inclinations , consentings , and the acts of conviction and adherence , working in us to will and to doe according to our desire , or according to Gods good pleasure : yet this holy Spirit is oftentimes grieved , sometimes provoked , and at last extinguish'd , which because it is done onely by them who are enemies of the Spirit , and not the servants of God , it follows that the Spirit of God by his aids and assistances , is in them that are not so , with a design to make them so : and if the holy Spirit were not in any degree or sense in the unregenerate , how could a man be born again by the Spirit ? for since no man can be regenerate by his own strengths , his new birth must be wrought by the Spirit of God ; and especially in the beginnings of our conversion is his assistance necessary : which assistance , because it works within as well , and rather then without , must needs be in a man before he operates within . And therefore to have received the holy Spirit , is not the propriety of the regenerate ; but to be led by him , to be conducted by the Spirit in all our wayes and counsels , to obey his motions , to entertain his doctrine , to do his pleasure : This is that which gives the distinction and the denomination . Rom. 8.9 . And this is called by S. Paul , the inhabitation of the Spirit of God in us ; in opposition to the inhabitans peccatum , the sin that dwelleth in the unregenerate . The Spirit may be in us , calling and urging us to holiness ; but unless the Spirit of God dwell in us , and abide in us , and love to doe so , and rule , and give us laws , and be not griev'd and cast out , but entertain'd , and cherish'd , and obey'd , unless ( I say ) the Spirit of God be thus in us , Christ is not in us ; and if Christ be not in us , we are none of his .

§ 6. The Character of the Regenerate estate , or person .

FRom hence it is not hard to describe what are the proper indications of the Regenerate . 1. A regenerate person is convinc'd of the goodness of the law , and meditates in it day and night . Psal. 1.2 . Psal. 119.77 , 103. His delight is in Gods law , not onely with his minde approving , but with his will choosing the duties and significations of the law .

2. The Regenerate not onely wishes that the good were done which God commands , but heartily sets about the doing of it .

3. He sometimes feels the rebellions of the flesh , but he fights against them alwayes ; and if he receive a fall , he rises instantly , and fights the more fiercely , and watches the more cautelously , and prays the more passionately , and arms himself more strongly , and prevails more prosperously . In a regenerate person there is flesh and Spirit , but the Spirit onely rules . There is an outward and an inward man , but both of them are subject to the Spirit . There was a law of the members , but it is abrogated and cancell'd ; the law is repeal'd , and does not any more inslave him to the law of sin . Aug. l. de Contin . c. 2. Nunc quamdiu concupiscit caro adversus spiritum , & spiritus adversus carnem , sat est nobis non consentire malis quae sentimus in nobis . Every good man shall alwayes feel the flesh lusting against the Spirit ; that contention he shall never be quit of , but it is enough for us if we never consent to the suggested evils .

4. A regenerate person does not onely approve that which is best , and desire to doe it , but he does it actually , and delights to doe it ; he continues and abides in it , which the Scripture calls a walking in the Spirit , and a living after it : for he does his duty by the strengths of the Spirit ; that is , upon considerations Evangelical , in the love of God , in obedience to Christ , and by the aids he hath receiv'd from above beyond the powers of nature and education , and therefore he does his duty upon such considerations as are apt to make it integral and persevering . For ,

5. A regenerate man does not onely leave some sins but all , and willingly entertains none . He does not onely quit a lust that is against his disposition , but that which he is most inclined to , he is most severe against , and most watchful to destroy it ; he plucks out his right eye and cuts off his right hand , and parts with his biggest interest , rather then keep a lust : and therefore consequently chooses vertue by the same method , S. Aug. ibid. by which he abstains from vice . Nam ipsa continentia cum fraenat , cohibétque libidines simul & appetit bonum , ad cujus immortalitatem tendimus : & respuit malum cum quo in hâc mortalitate contendimus ; that is . He pursues all vertue , as he refuses all vice ; for he tends to the immortality of good , as he strives against evil in all the dayes of his mortality . And therefore he does not choose to exercise that vertue onely that will doe him reputation , or consist with his interest , or please his humour , but entertains all vertue , whether it be with him or against him , pleasing or displeasing ; he chooses all that God hath commanded him , because he does it for that reason .

6. A regenerate person doth not onely contradict his appetite in single instances , but endevours to destroy the whole body of sin ; he does not onely displease his fond appetite , but he mortifies it , and never entertains conditions of peace with it ; for it is a dangerous mistake , if we shall presume all is well , because we doe some acts of spite to our dearest lust , and sometimes cross the most pleasing temptation , and oppose our selves in single instances against every sin . This is not it ; the regenerate man endevours to destroy the whole body of sin , and having had an opportunity to contest his sin , and to contradict it this day , is glad he hath done something of his duty , and does so again to morrow and ever , till he hath quite killed it ; and never entertains conditions of peace with it , nor ever is at rest till the flesh be quiet and obedient . * For sometimes it comes to pass that the old man being used to obey , at last obeys willingly , and takes the conditions of the Gibeonites ; it is content to doe drudgery and the inferior ministeries , if it may be suffered to abide in the land .

So that here is a new account upon which the former proposition is verifiable ; viz. It is not the propriety of the regenerate to feel a contention within him concerning doing good or bad . For it is not onely true , that the unregenerate oftentimes feel the fight , and never see the triumph ; but it is also true , that sometimes the regenerate doe not feel this contention . They did once with great violence and trouble ; but when they have gotten a clear victory , they have also great measures of peace . But this is but seldome , to few persons , and in them but in rare instances , in carnal sins and temptations : for in spiritual , they will never have an intire rest till they come into their Country . It is Angelical perfection to have no flesh at all , but it is the perfection of a Christian to have the flesh obedient to the spirit always , and in all things . But if this contention be not a sign of regeneration , but is common to good and bad , that which can onely distinguish them , is victory , and perseverance ; and those sins which are committed at the end of such contentions , are not sins of a pitiable and excusable infirmity ; but the issues of death and direct emanations from an unregenerate estate . Therefore

7. Lastly ; The regenerate not onely hath received the Spirit of God , but is wholly led by him , he attends his motions , he obeys his counsels , he delights in his Commandements , and accepts his testimony , and consents to his truth , and rejoyces in his comforts , and is nourish'd by his hopes up to a perfect man in Christ Jesus . This is the onely condition of being the sons of God , Ro. 8.14 . and being sav'd . For as many as are led by the Spirit of God , they are the sons of God . None else . And therefore if ye live after the flesh ye shall die , but if through the Spirit ye do mortify the deeds of the body , ye shall live . This is your characteristick note . Our obedience to the Spirit , our walking by his light , and by his conduct . This is the Spirit that witnesseth to our spirit , Ro. 8.16 . that we are the sons of God . That is , if the Spirit be obeyed , if it reigns in us , if we live in it , if we walk after it , if it dwels in us , then we are sure that we are the sons of God . There is no other testimony to be expected , but the doing of our duty . All things else ( unless an extraregular light spring from heaven and tell us of it ) are but fancies and deceptions , or uncertainties at the best .

§. 7. What are properly and truly sins of Infirmity , and how far they can consist with the regenerate estate .

WE usually reckon our selves too soon to be in Gods favour . While the war lasts , it is hard telling who shall be the Prince . When one part hath fought prosperously , there is hopes of his side : and yet if the adversary hath reserves of a vigorous force , or can raise new , and not onely pretends his title , but makes great inrodes into the Countrey , and forrages , and does mischief , and fights often , and prevails sometimes , the inheritance is still doubtful as the success . But if the Usurper be beaten , and driven out , and his forces quite broken , and the lawful Prince is proclaim'd , and rules , and gives laws , though the other rails in prison , or should by a sudden fury kill a single person , or plot an ineffective treason , no man then doubts concerning the present possession .

But men usually think their case is good , so long as they are fighting , so long as they are not quite conquered , and every step towards grace , they call it pardon and salvation presently . As soon as ever a man begins heartily to mortify his sin , his hopes begin , and if he proceeds they are certain . But if in this fight he be overcome , he is not to ask , Whether that ill day , and that deadly blow , can consist with the state of life ? He that fights , and conquers not , but sins frequently , and to yeeld or be killed is the end of the long contentions , this man is not yet alive . But when he prevails regularly and daily over his sin , then he is in a state of regeneration ; but let him take heed , for every voluntary , or chosen sin is a mortal wound .

But because no man in this world hath so conquer'd , but he may be smitten , and is sometimes struck at ; and most good men have cause to complain of their calamity , that in their understandings there are doubtings , and strange mistakes , which because after a great confidence they are sometimes discovered , there is cause to suspect there are some there still which are not discovered ; that there are in the will evil inclinations to forbidden instances ; that in the appetite there are carnal desires ; that in their natural actions there are sometimes too sensual applications ; that in their good actions there are mighty imperfections ; it will be of use that we separate the certain from the uncertain , security from danger , the apology from the accusation , and the excuse from the crime , by describing what are , and what are not sins of Infirmity .

For most men are pleased to call their debaucheries sins of infirmity , if they be done against their reason , and the actual murmur of their consciences , and against their trifling resolutions , and ineffective purposes to the contrary . Now although all sins are the effects of infirmity Natural or Moral , yet because I am to cure a popular mistake , I am also to understand the word as men doe commonly , and by sins of Infirmity to mean ,

Such sins which in the whole , and upon the matter , are unavoidable , and therefore excusable : Such which can consist with the state of grace , that is , such which have so much irregularity in them as to be sins , and yet so much excuse and pity , as that by the Covenant and Mercies of the Gospel , they shall not be exacted in the worst of punishments , or punished with eternal pains , because they cannot with the greatest moral diligence wholly be avoided . Concerning these so described , we are to take accounts by the following measures .

1. Natural imperfections , and evil inclinations , when they are not consented to or delighted in , either are no sins at all , or if they be , they are but sins of infirmity . That in some things our nature is cross to the divine Commandement , is not always imputable to us , because our natures were before the Commandement ; and God hath therefore commanded us to doe violence to our nature , that by such preternatural contentions we should offer to God a service that costs us something . But that in some things we are inclin'd otherwise then we are suffered to act , is so far from offending God , that it is that opportunity of serving him , by which we can most endear him . To be inclined to that whither nature bends , is of it self indifferent , but to love , to entertain , to act our inclinations , when the Commandement is put between , that is the sin ; and therefore if we resist them , and master them , that is our obedience . For it is equally certain ; no man can be esteemed spiritual for his good wishes and desires of holiness , but for his actual and habitual obedience : so no man is to be esteemed carnal or criminal for his natural inclinations to what is forbidden . But that good men complain of their strange propensities to sin , it is a declaration of their fears , of their natural weakness , of the needs of grace , and the aids of Gods Spirit . But because these desires , even when they are much restrained , doe yet sometimes insensibly go too far ; therefore it is , that such are sins of infirmity , because they are almost unavoidable . This remain is like the image of the ape which Theophilus Bishop of Alexandria left after the breaking of the other idols ; a testimony of their folly ; but as that was left for no other purpose but to reprove them , so is this to humble us , that we may not rely upon flesh and blood , but make God to be our confidence .

2. Sins of infirmity are rather observed in the imperfection of our duty , then in the commission of any criminal action . For in this it was that our blessed Saviour instanc'd these words , Mat. 26.21 . The spirit truly is willing , but the flesh is weak ; The body is weary , the eies heavy , the fancy restless , diversions many , businesses perpetually intervene , and all the powers of discourse and observation cannot hinder our minde from wandring in our prayers , — Odi artus , fragilémque hunc corporis usum Desertorem animi — But this being in the whole unavoidable , is therefore in many of its parts and instances very excusable , if we doe not indulge to it ; if we pray and strive against it ; that is , so long as it is a natural infirmity . For although we cannot avoid wandring thoughts , yet we can avoid delighting in them , or a careless and negligent increasing them . For if they once seise upon the will , they are sins of choice and malice , and not of infirmity . So that the great scene of sins of infirmity , is in omission of degrees and portions of that excellency of duty which is required of us . We are imperfect , and we do imperfectly , and if we strive towards perfection , God will pity our imperfection . There is no other help for us ; but blessed be God , that is sufficient for our need , and proportionable to our present state .

3. But in actions and matters of commission , the case is different . For though a man may forget himself against his will , or sleep , or fall , yet without his will he cannot throw himself down , or rise again . Every action is more or less voluntary , but every omission is not . A thing may be let alone upon a dead stock , or a negative principle , or an unavoidable defect , but an action cannot be done without some command or action of the will ; therefore although sins of defect are in many cases pitied and not exacted , yet sinful actions have not so easy a sentence ; but they also have some abatements . Therefore ,

4. Imperfect actions , such which are incomplete in their whole capacity , are sins of infirmity , and ready and prepar'd for pity : of this sort are rash , or ignorant actions , done by surprise , by inconsideration and inadvertency ; by a sudden and great fear , in which the reason is in very many degrees made useless , and the action cannot be considered duly . In these there is some little mixture of choice , so much as to make the action imputable , if God should deal severely with us ; but yet so little that it shall not be imputed under the mercies of the Gospel ; although the man that does them cannot pretend he is innocent , yet he can pretend that he does stand fair in the eye of mercy . A good man may sometimes be unwary , or he may speak , or be put to it to resolve or doe before he can well consider . If he does a thing rashly when he can consider and deliberate , he is not excused : but if he does it indiscreetly , when he must doe it suddenly , it is his infirmity , and he shall be relieved at the Chancery of the throne of Grace . For it is remarkable that Gods justice is in some cases 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , exact , full and severe : in other cases it is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 full of equity , gentleness , and wisdome , making abatement for infirmities , performing promises , interpreting things to the most equal and favourable purposes . So Justice is taken in S. John [ If we confess our sins , he is righteous or just to forgive our sins ] that is . Gods justice is such as to be content with what we can doe , and not to exact all that is possible to be imposed . He is as just in forgiving the penitent , as in punishing the refractary ; as just in abating reasonably , as in weighing scrupulously : such a justice it is , which in the same case , David cals Mercy . For thou Lord art merciful , for thou rewardest every man according to his works . And if this were not so , no man could be saved . Lib. 6.13 . Mortalis enim conditio non patitur esse hominem ab omni maculâ purum , said Lactantius . For in many things we offend all : and our present state of imperfection will not suffer it to be otherwise : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , De agriculturâ . said Philo. For as a runner of races at his first setting forth rids his way briskly , and in a breath measures out many spaces ; but by and by his spirit is faint , and his body is breathless , and he stumbles at every thing that lies in his way : so is the course of a Christian ; fierce in the beginnings of repentance , and active in his purposes ; but in his progress remiss and hindred , and starts at every accident , and stumbles at every scandal and stone of offence , and is sometimes listless , and without observation at other times , and a bird out of a bush that was not look'd for , makes him to start aside , and decline from the path and method of his journey . But then if he that stumbles mends his pace , and runs more warily , and goes on vigorously , his error , or misfortune shall not be imputed ; for here Gods justice is equity , it is the justice of the Chancery ; we are not judged by the Covenant of works , that is , of exact measures , but by the Covenant of faith and remission , or repentance . But if he that fals , lies down despairingly or wilfully , or if he rises , goes back , or goes aside , not onely his declination from his way , but every error or fall , every stumbling and startling in that way shall be accounted for . For here Gods justice is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , exact and severe ; it is the justice of the Law , because he refused the method and conditions of the Gospel .

5. Every sinful action that canpretend to pardon by being a sin of infirmity must be in a small matter . The imperfect way of operating alone , is not sufficient for excuse and pardon , unless the matter also be little and contemptible ; because if the matter be great , it cannot ordinarily be , but it must be considered and chosen . He that in a sudden anger strikes his friend to the heart , whom he had lov'd as passionately as now he smote him , is guilty of murder , and cannot pretend infirmity for his excuse ; because in an action of so great consequence and effect , it is supposed , he had time to deliberate all the foregoing parts of his life , whether such an action ought to be done or not ; or the very horror of the action was enough to arrest his spirit , as a great danger , or falling into a river , will make a drunken man sober ; and by all the laws of God and Man , he was immur'd from the probability of all transports into such violences ; and the man must needs be a slave of passion , who could by it be brought to goe so far from reason , and to doe so great evil . * If a man in the careless time of the day , when his spirit is loose , with a less severe imployment , or his heart made more open with an innocent refreshment , spies a sudden beauty that unluckily strikes his fancy ; it is possible that he may be too ready to entertain a wanton thought , and to suffer it to stand at the doors of his first consent ; but if the sin passes no further , the man enters not into the regions of death ; because the Devil entred on a sudden , and is as suddenly cast forth . But if from the first arrest of concupiscence , he pass on to an imperfect consent , from an imperfect consent , to a perfect and deliberate , and from thence to an act , and so to a habit , he ends in death ; because long before it is come thus far , The salt water is taken in . The first concupiscence is but like rain water it discolours the pure springs , but makes them not deadly . But when in the progression the will mingles with it , it is like the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or waters of brimstone , and the current for ever after is unwholesome , and carries you forth into the dead Sea , the lake of Sodom , which is to suffer the vengance of Eternal fire : But then the matter may be supposed little till the will comes . For though a man may be surprised with a wanton eye , yet he cannot fight a duel against his knowledge , or commit adultery against his will . A man cannot against his will contrive the death of a man ; but he may speak a rash word , or be suddenly angry , or triflingly peevish , and yet all this notwithstanding , be a good man still . These may be sins of Infirmity , because they are imperfect actions in the whole ; and such , in which as the man is for the present surpris'd , so they are such against which no watchfulness was a sufficient guard , as it ought to have been in any great matter , and might have been in sudden murders . A wise and a good man may easily be mistaken in a nice question , but can never suspect an article of his Creed to be false : a good man may have many fears and doubtings in matters of smaller moment , but he never doubts of Gods goodness , of his truth , of his mercy , or of any of his communicated perfections : he may fall into melancholy , and may suffer indefinite fears , of he knows not what himself , yet he can never explicitely doubt of any thing which God hath clearly revealed , and in which he is sufficiently instructed . A weak eye may at a distance mistake a man for a tree ; but he who sailing in a storm , takes the Sea for dry land , or a mushrome for an oak , is stark blinde . And so is he who can think adultery to be excusable , or that Treason can be duty , or that by persecuting Gods Prophets , he does God good service , or that he propagates religion by making the Ministers of the Altar poor , and robbing the Churches . A good man so remaining cannot suffer infirmity in the plain and legible lines of duty , where he can see , and reason , and consider .

I have now told which are sins of infirmity ; and I have told all their measures . For as for those other false opinions by which men flatter themselves into hell , by a pretence of sins of infirmity , they are as unreasonable as they are dangerous ; and they are easily reproved upon the stock of the former truths . Therefore ,

6. Although our meer natural inclination to things forbidden , be of it self a natural and unavoidable infirmity , and such which cannot be cured by all the precepts and endevours of perfection ; yet this very inclination , if it be heightned by carelesness or evil customes , is not a sin of infirmity . Tiberius the Emperour being troubled with a fellow that wittily and boldly pretended himself to be a Prince , at last when he could not by questions , he discovered him to be a mean person by the rusticity and hardness of his body : not by a callousness of his feet , or a wart upon a finger , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , his whole body was hard and servile , and so he was discovered . The natural superfluities , and accrescencies that inevitably adhere to our natures , are not sufficient indications of a servile person , or a slave to sin ; but when our natures are abused by choice and custome , when the callousness is spread by evil and hard usages , when the arms are brawny by the services of Egypt , then it is no longer infirmity , but a superinduc'd viciousness , and a direct hostility . When nature rules , grace does not . When the flesh is in power , the spirit is not . Therefore it matters not from what corner the blasting winde does come , from whence soever it is , it is deadly . Most of our sins are from natural inclinations ; and the negative precept of God , are for the most part , restraints upon them . Therefore to pretend nature , when our selves have spoil'd it , is no excuse , but that state of evil from whence the Spirit of God is to rescue and redeem us .

7. Yea , but although it be thus in nature , yet it is hop'd by too many , that it shall be allowed to be infirmity , when the violence of our passions or desires overcomes our resolutions . Against this , I oppose this proposition : When violence of desire or passion engages us in a sin , whither we see and observe our selves entring , that violence or transportation is not our excuse , but our disease : and that resolution is not accepted for innocence or repentance : but the not performing what we did resolve is our sin , and the violence of passion was the accursed principle .

For to resolve is a relative and imperfect duty , in order to something else . It had not been necessary to resolve , if it had not been necessary to doe it : and if it be necessary to doe it , it is not sufficient to resolve it . And for the understanding of this the better , we must observe , that to resolve , and to endevour , are several things . To resolve , is to purpose to doe what we may if we will ; some way or other the thing is in our power ; either we are able of our selves , or we are help'd . No man resolves to carry an Elephant , or to be as wise as Solomon , or to destroy a vast Army with his own hands . He may endevour this ; for , To endevour sometimes supposes a state of excellency , beyond our power , but not beyond our aymes . Thus we must endevour to avoid all sin , and to master all our infirmities ; because to doe so is the nobleness of a Christian courage , and that designe which is the proper effect of Charity , which is the best of Christian graces . But we cannot resolve to doe it , because it is beyond all our powers ; but may endevour it , and resolve to endevour it , but that 's all we can doe . But if to resolve , be a duty , then to perform it , is a greater ; and if a man cannot be the childe of God without resolving against all the habits of sin , then neither can he be his childe , unless he actually quit them all .

But then if from acting our resolution we be hindred by passion and violent desires , we are plainly in the state of immortification . Passion is the Ruler : and as the first step of victory is to keep those passions and appetites from doing any Criminal action abroad : so the worst they can doe , is to engage and force the man to sin , and that against his will , even whether he list or no. But concerning this Article , we are intirely determin'd by the words of S. Paul , Gal. 5.24 . He that is in Christ hath crucified the flesh , with the affections and lusts ; that is , the passions and desires of the flesh are mortified in all the regenerate : and therefore a state of passion is a state of death . But whatever the principle be , yet we must be infinitely careful we doe not mistake a broken resolution for an intire piety . He that perpetually resolves , and yet perpetually breaks his resolution , does all the way sin against his conscience , and against his reason , against his experience , and against his observation ; and it will be a strange offer at an excuse , for a man to hope for , or to pretend to pardon , because he sinned against his Conscience .

There is in this Article some little difference in the case of young persons , the violence of whose passions as it transports them infallibly to evil , so it helps to excuse some of it ; but this is upon a double account : 1. Because part of it is natural , naturale vitium aetatis , the defect and inherent inclinations of their age . 2. And because their passions being ever strongest when their reason is weakest , the actions of young men are imperfect and incompleat . For deliberation being nothing else but an alternate succession of appetites , it is an unequal entercourse that a possessing , natural , promoted passion should contest against a weak , overborn , beginning , unexperienc'd , uninstructed reason : this alternation of appetites is like the dust of a ballance weighing against a rock ; the deliberation it self must needs be imperfect , because there is no equality . And therefore the Roman Lawyers did not easily upon a man under twenty five years of age inflict punishment , at least not extreme . They are the words of Tryphonius : L. Auxil . §. in delictis . ff. de minoribus . In delictis autem minor annis xxv . non meretur in integrum restitutionem , utique atrocioribus ; nisi quatenus interdum miseratio aetatis ad mediocrem poenam judicem produxerit . This I say is onely a lessening of their fault , not imputing it . God is ready to pity every thing that is pityable , and therefore is apt to instruct them more , and to forbear them longer , and to expect and to assist their return , and strikes them not so soon , nor so severely , but what other degrees of pardon God will allow to their insirmities , L. Unicâ . Cod. si adversus delictum . he hath no where told us . For as to the whole , it is true in all laws Divine and Humane : In criminibus quidem aetatis suffragio minores non juvantur : etenim malorum mores infirmitas animi non excusat . Infirmity of mind does not excuse evil manners : and therefore in criminal actions , yong persons are not excus'd by their age . In delictis aetate neminem excusari constat , said Diocletian and Maximianus . The age excuses not ; well may it lessen , but it does not quite extinguish the guilt .

8. The greatness or violence of a temptation does not excuse our sin , or reconcile it to the state of grace and an actual consistence with Gods favour . The man that is highly tempted and so falls , cannot say it was by an unavoidable infirmity . For God never suffers any man to be tempted above his strength ; and therefore when he suffers him to fall into a great trial , he hath before-hand prepared him with great aides : and a temptation is not such a formidable thing to a considering Christian . All that it can say is nothing , but that sin is pleasant : and suppose that true ; yet so is drink to an hydropic person , and salt meats to a phantastic stomach , and yet they that are concerned do easily abstain from these temptations , and remember that it is a greater pleasure to be in health then with a little cold water , or a broyl'd fish to please their palate : and therefore a temptation which can be overcome by an argument from so small an interest , cannot stand the shock of a Noble and a Christian resolution and discourse . But every temptation puts on its strength as the man is . Sometimes a full meal will not prejudice our health ; and at another time half so much would be a surfeit : and some men take cold with leaving off a half shirt , who at another time might leave off half their clothes . The indisposition is within : and if men did not love to be tempted , it would not prevaile at all . Wine is no temptation to an abstemious man , nor all the beauties of Potiphars wife to Joseph , the Devil could not prevail with such trifles ; but half such an offer would overthrow all the trifling purposes of the effeminate . To say that such a temptation is great , is to say , that you love the sin too well to which you are tempted . For temptations prevail onely by our passions and our appetites : leave to love the sin , and the temptation is answered ; but if you love it , then complain of nothing but thy self , for thou makest the temptation great , by being in love with life and sin , by preferring vanity before eternul pleasures . In the Apophthegms of the Egyptian Anachorets , Bibl. PP . tom. 9. p. 286. I read of one who had an apparition in the likeness of Christ . A vain and a proud person would have hugg'd himself , and entertain'd the illusion . But he shutting his eyes , said , I shall see Christ in heaven , it is enough for me to hope and to believe while I am on earth . This or the like did and did not prevail by our weaknesses , not by their own strength : and to pretend the strength of a temptation , is to say , we are to be excused , because we love sin too well , and are too much delighted with baser objects , and we cannot help it , because we love to die .

9. The smallest instance , if it be observed , ceases to be a sin of infirmity ; because by being observ'd , it loses its pretence and excuse , for then it is done upon the account of the will . For here the Rule is general , and it summes up this whole Question .

10. A mans will hath no infirmity , but when it wants the grace of God ; that is , whatsoever the will chooses is imputed to it for good or bad . For the will can suffer no violence ; it is subject to no thing , and to no person , but to God and his laws , and therefore when ever it does amiss , it sins directly against him . The will hath no necessity , but what God and her self imposes ; for it can choose in despight of all arguments and notices from the understanding . For if it can despise an argument from reason , it can also despise an argument from sense ; if it can refuse a good argument , it can also refuse a foolish one : if it can choose and not yeeld to religion , it can also choose and not yeeld to interest . If it can reject profit , it can reject pleasure ; if it can refuse every argument , it can refuse all , and will because it will ; it can as well be malicious as doe unreasonably : and there could be no sin at all , if the will never did amiss but when it were deceived : and even when the will chooses pleasure before heaven , it is not because that seems better , but because it will choose against all reason , onely upon its own account . For it is certain , he that chooses any thing upon that which he knows is but a seeming and a fallacious reason , may if he please doe it without all reason : and so the will can doe , against reason , in despight of powers , and hopes , and interest , and threatning . * And therefore whatsoever is voluntarily chosen , let it be taken care of , that it be good ; for if it be not , there can no excuse come from thence .

The will is the only fountain , and proper principle of sin , insomuch as the fact is no sin , if it be involuntary ; but the willing is a sin , though no act follows . Latro est etiam antequam inquinet manus , said Seneca : Fecit enim quisquam quantum voluit . If he hath will'd it , he hath done it before God . To this purpose is that saying of Tertullian . Voluntas facti origo est , qua ne tunc quidem liberatur cùm aliqua difficultas perpetrationem ejus intercepit . Ipsa enim sibi imputatur , nec excusari poterit per illam perficiendi infelicitatem , oper ata quod suum fuerat . Want of power excuses every thing but the will , because this always hath power to doe its own work , and what cannot be done besides , as it is nothing to the will , so it is nothing to its excuse . To will is the formality of sin , and theretore what ever action had its commission from thence , is not a sin of infirmity . For nothing is a sin of infirmity , but what is in some sense involuntary .

The summe is this . Sin puts on its excuse , and becomes a sin of infirmity upon no account , but upon the account of ignorance , or something analogical to it , such as are inadvertency , or surprise , which are to ignorance as acts are to habits . Rom. 14.1 , 10. The weak brother , in S. Pauls dialect , is he that hath no knowledge . For since nothing leads the will , but the understanding , unless it goes alone , and moves by its own act or principle ; if the understanding be inculpably misled , the will may be in error , but not in sin , it is abused , but shall not be condemned . For no man can be tied to doe more or better then he understands , for that would be to doe more then he can . If the understanding abuse the will , there is evil in it , but no sin : but if the will abuse the understanding then it is criminal . That is , where the man understands not , or cannot consider , or deliberate , all his actions by being less humane are less imputable . Comoed. ver. Gr. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . But where there is no knowledge , there is no power , and no choice , and no sin . They increase and decrease by each others me●sures . Jam. 4.17 S. James his rule is the full measure of this discourse : To him that knoweth to d ee good , and doth i● not , to him it is sin . The same with that of Philo , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 To him that sins ignorantly pardon is given ; that is easily : but he who sins knowingly , hath no excuse . And therefore the Hebrews use to oppose 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 sin , to 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ignorance ; that is , the issues of a wicked from the issues of a weak minde : according to that saying of our blessed Saviour , John 10.41 . If ye were blinde , ye should have no sin ; that is , no great or very unpardonable sin . Ignorance where of it self it is no sin , keeps the action innocent ; but as the principle is polluted , so also is the emanation .

§. 8. Practical advices to be added to the foregoing considerations .

1. SInce our weak nature is the original of our imperfections and sinful infirmities , it is of great concernment that we treat our natures so , as to make them aptly to minister to religion , but not to vice . Nature must be preserved as a servant , but not indulged to as a Mistress ; for she is apt to be petulant , and after the manner of women . — quae faciunt graviera coactae Imperio sexus — she will insult impotently , and rule tyrannically . Natures provisions of meat and drink are to be retrench'd and moderate , that she may not be luxuriant and irregular : but yet she ought to be refreshed so as to be useful , and healthful , and chearful , even in the days of expiation and sorrow . For he that fasts to kill his lust , and by fasting grows peevish , which to very many men is a natural effect of fasting , and was sadly experimented in S. Hierome , hath onely altered the signification of his evil : and it is not easily known , whether the beast that is wanton , or the beast that is curst be aptest to goar ; and if in such cases the first evil should be cured , yet the man is not .

But there are in nature some things which are the instruments of vertue and vice too : some things which of themselves indeed are culpable , but yet such which doe minister to glorious events , and such which as they are not easily corrigible , so they are not safe to be done away . A Gellius 19.12 . & 17.15 . Dabo maximae famae viros , & inter admiranda propositos , quos si quis corrigit delet . Sic enim vitia virtutibus immixta sunt , ut illas secum tractura sint . If the natural anger of some men be taken off , you will also extinguish their courage , or make them unfit for government . Vice and vertue sometimes goe together : in these cases that which we call vicious is in many degrees of it a natural infirmity , and must be tempered as well as it can : but it neither can , nor indeed ought to be extinguished : and therefore as we must take care that nature run not into extravagancies ; so for the unalterable portions of infirmity , they ought to be the matter of humility , and watchfulness , but not of scruple and vexation . However , we must be careful that nature be not Gods enemy ; for if a vice be incorporated into our nature , that is , if our natural imperfections be chang'd into evil customes ; it is a threefold cord that is not easily broken : it is a legion of Devils , and not to be cast out without a mighty labour , and all the arts and contentions of the Spirit of God .

2. In prosecution of this , propound to thy self as the great business of thy life to fight against the passions . We see that sin is almost unavoidable to young men , because passion seises upon their first years . The days of our youth is the reign of passion ; and sin rides in triumph upon the wheels of desire , which run infinitely , when the boy drives the chariot . But the religion of a Christian is an open war against passion ; and by the grace of meekness , if we list to study and to acquire that , hath plac'd us in the regions of safety .

3. Be not uncertain in thy resolutions , or in choosing thy state of life : because all uncertainties of minde , and vagabond resolutions leave a man in the tyranny of all his follies and infirmities : every thing can transport him , and he can be forc'd by every temptation , and every fancy , or new accident can ruine him . He that is not resolv'd and constant , is yet in a state of deliberation , and that supposes contrary appetites to be yet in the ballance , and sin to be as strong as grace . But besides this , there are in every state of life many little things to be overcome , and objections to be master'd , and proper infirmities adherent , which are to be cured in the progression and growth of a man , and after experiment had of that state of life in which we are ingaged ; but therefore it is necessary that we begin speedily , lest we have no time to begin that work which ought in some measure to be finish'd before we die . Dum quid sis dubitas , jam potes esse nihil . He that is uncertain what to doe , shall never doe any thing well ; and there is no infirmity greater , then that a man shall not be able to determine himself what he ought to doe .

4. In contentions against sin and infirmities , let your force and your care be applied to that part of the wall that is weakest , and where it is most likely the enemy will assault thee , and if he does , that he will prevail . If a lustful person should bend all his prayers and his observations against envy , he hath cur'd nothing of his nature and infirmity . Some lusts our temper or our interest will part withall ; but our infirmities are in those desires which are hardest to be master'd : that is , when after a long dispute , and perpetual contention , still there will abide some pertinacious string of an evil root ; when the lust will be apt upon all occasions to revert , when every thing can give fire to it , and every heat can make it stir ; that is the scene of our danger , and ought to be of greatest warfare and observation .

5. He that fights against that lust which is the evil spring of his proper infirmities , must not do it by single instances , but by a constant and universal , mortal fight . He that does single spights to a lust ; as he that opposes now and then a fasting day against carnality , or some few alms against oppression or covetousness , will finde that these single acts ( if nothing else be done ) can doe nothing but cousen him : they are apt to perswade easy people that they have done what is in them to cure their infirmity , and that their condition is good ; but it will not doe any thing of that work whither they are design'd . We must remember that infirmities are but the reliques and remains of an old lust , and are not cured but at the end of a lasting war . They abide even after the conquest , after their main body is broken , and therefore cannot at all be cured by those light velitations and picqueerings of single actions of hostility .

6. When a violent temptation assaults thee , remember that this violence is not without , but within . Thou art weak , and that makes the burden great . Therefore whatever advices thou art pleased to follow in opposition to the temptation without , be sure that thou place the strongest guards within , and take care of thy self . And if thou dost die , or fall foully , seek not an excuse from the greatness of the temptation ; for that accuses thee most of all : the bigger the temptation is , it is true that oftentimes thou art the more too blame ; but at the best , it is a reproof of thy imperfect piety . He whose religion is greater then the temptation of a 100. l. and yet fals in the temptation of a 1000. l. sets a price upon God and upon heaven ; and though he will not sell heaven for a 100. l. yet 1000. l. he thinks is a worthy purchace .

7. Never think that a temptation is too strong for thee , if thou givest over fighting against it : for as long as thou didst continue thy contention , so long it prevail'd not : but when thou yeeldest basely , or threwest away thy arms , then it forraged , and did mischief , and slew thee , or wounded thee dangerously . No man knows , but if he had stood one assault more , the temptation would have left him . Be not therefore pusillanimous in a great trial : It is certain thou canst doe all that which God requires of thee , if thou wilt but doe all that thou canst doe .

8. Contend every day against that which troubles thee every day . For there is no peace in this war ; and there are not many infirmities , or principles of failing , greater then weariness of well doing ; for besides that it proclaims the weakness of thy resolution , and the infancy of thy piety , and thy undervaluing religion , and thy want of love , it is also a direct yeelding to the Enemy : for since the greatest scene of infirmities lies in the manner of our piety , he that is religious onely by uncertain periods , and is weary of his duty , is not arriv'd so far as to plead the infirmities of willing people ; for he is in the state of death and enmity .

9. He that would master his infirmities , must doe it at Gods rate , and not at his own : he must not start back when the burden pinches him ; nor refuse his repentances because they smart , nor omit his alms because they are expensive : for it is vain to propound to our selves any end , and yet to decline the use of those means , and instruments , without which it is not to be obtained . He that will buy must take it at the sellers price ; and if God will not give thee safety or immunity , but upon the exchange of labour , and contradictions , fierce contentions , and mortification of our appetites , we must goe to the cost , or quit the purchace .

10. He that will be strong in grace , and triumph in good measures over his infirmities , must attempt his remedy by an active prayer . For prayer without labour is like faith without charity , dead and ineffective . A working faith , and a working prayer are the great instruments , and the great exercise , and the great demonstration of holiness and Christian perfection . Children can sit down in a storm , or in a danger , and weep and die : but men can labour against it , and struggle with the danger , and labour for that blessing which they beg . Thou dost not desire it , unless thou wilt labour for it . He that sits still and wishes , had rather have that thing then be without it ; but if he will not use the means , he had rather lose his desire then lose his ease , That is scarce worth having , that is not worth labouring .

11. In all contentions against sin and infirmity , remember that what was done yesterday may be done to day ; and by the same instruments by which then you were conquerour , you may also be so in every day of temptation . The Italian General that quitted his vanity , and his imployment upon the sight of one that died suddenly , might upon the same consideration actually applied and fitted to the fancy , at any time resist his lust . And therefore Epictetus gives it in rule . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Enchir. c. 28. Let death be always before thy eies , and then thou shalt never desire any base or low thing , nor desire any thing too much . That is , the perpetual application of so great a consideration as is death , is certainly the greatest endearment of holiness and severity . And certain it is , that at some time or other the greatest part of Christians have had some horrible apprehensions of hell , of death , and consequent damnation ; and it hath put into them holy thoughts , and resolutions of piety : and if ever they were in a severe sickness , and did really fear death , they may remember with how great a regret they did then look upon their sins ; and then they thought heaven a considerable interest , and hell a formidable state , and would not then have committed a sin for the purchace of the world . Now every man hath always the same arguments and endearments of piety and religion : Heaven and hell are always the same considerable things ; and the truth is the same still : but then they are considered most , and therefore they prevail most ; and this is a demonstration that the arguments themselves are sufficient , and would always doe the work of grace for us , if we were not wanting to our selves . It is impossible that any man can be mov'd by any argument in the world , or any interest , any hope or any fear , who cannot be moved by the consideration of heaven and hell . But that which I observe is this ; that the argument that wisely and reasonably prevail'd yesterday , can prevail to day , unless thou thy self beest foolish and unreasonable .

12. If a wicked man sins , it is never by a pitiable or pardonable infirmity , but from a state of death that it proceeds , or will be so imputed , and it is all one as if it did . But if a good man sins , he hath the least reason to pretend infirmity for his excuse , because he hath the strengths of the Spirit , and did master sin in its strengths , and in despight of all its vigorousness and habit ; and therefore certainly can doe so much rather when sin is weak and grace is strong . The result of which consideration is this , that no man should please himself in his sin , because it is a sin of infirmity . He that is pleased with it , because he thinks it is indulg'd to him , sins with pleasure , and therefore not of infirmity ; for that is ever against our will , and besides our observation . No sin is a sin of infirmity unless we have it , and strive against it . He that hath gotten some strength may pretend some infirmity . But he that hath none is dead .

13. Let no man think that the proper evil of his age or state , or of his Nation is in the latitude and nature of it , a sin of a pardonable infirmity . The lusts of youth , and the covetousness or pride of old age , and the peevishness of the afflicted , are states of evil , not sins of infirmity . For it is highly considerable , that sins of infirmity are but single ones . There is no such thing as a state of a pardonable infirmity . If by distemper of the body , or the vanity of years , or the evil customes of a Nation , a vice does creep upon , and seise on the man , it is that against which the man ought to watch and pray , and labour ; it is a state of danger and temptation . But that must not be called infirmity which corrupts Nations and states of life , but that onely , which in single instances surprises even a watchful person , when his guards are most remiss .

14. Whatsoever sin comes regularly , or by observation , is not to be excused upon the pretence of infirmity ; but is the indication of an evil habit . Therefore never admit a sin upon hopes of excuse ; for it is certain , no evil that a man chooses is excusable . cusable . No man sins with a pardon about his neck . But if the sin comes at a certain time , it comes from a certain cause ; and then it cannot be infirmity : for all sins of infirmity , are sins of chance , irregular , and accidental .

15. Be curious to avoid all proverbs and propositions , or odde sayings , by which evil life is incouraged , and the hands of the spirit weakned . It is strange to consider what a prejudice to a mans understanding of things is a contrary proverb . Can any good thing come out of Galilee ? And when Christ cometh , no man knoweth whence he is . Two or three proverbs , did in despight of all the miracles , and holy doctrines , and rare example of Christ hinder many of the Jews from beleeving in him . The words of S. Paul misunderstood , and worse applied , have been so often abused to evil purposes , that they have almost passed into a proverbial excuse , The evil that I would not that I doe . Such sayings as these , are to be tried by the severest measures , and all such senses of them which are enemies to holiness of life are to be rejected , because they are against the whole Oeconomy and design of the Gospel , of the life and death of Christ . But a proverb being used by every man , is supposed to contain the opinion and belief , or experience of mankinde : and then that evil sense that we are pleased to put to them , will be thought to be of the same authority . I have heard of divers persons who have been strangely intic'd on to finish their revellings , and drunken conventicles by a catch , or a piece of a song , by a humor , and a word , by a bold saying , or a common proverb : and whoever take any measures of good evil , but the severest discourses of reason and religion , will be like a ship turned every way by a little piece of wood ; by chance , and by half a sentence , because they dwell upon the water , and a wave of the Sea is their foundation .

16. Let every man take heed of a servile will , and a commanding lust : for he that is so miserable is in a state of infirmity and death ; and will have a perpetual need of something to hide his folly , or to excuse it , but shall finde nothing . He shall be forc'd to break his resolution , to sin against his conscience , to doe after the manner of fools , who promise and pay not , who resolve and doe not , who speak and remember not , who are fierce in their pretences and designs , but act them as dead men do their own wils . They make their will , but die and doe nothing themselves .

17. Endevour to doe what can never be done : that is , to cure all thy infirmities . For this is thy victory for ever to contend : and although God will leave a remnant of Canaanites in the land to be thy daily exercise , and endearment of care and of devotion ; yet you must not let them alone , or entertain a treaty of peace with them . But when you have done something , goe on to finish it : It is infinite pity that any good thing should be spent or thrown away upon a lust : But if we sincerely endevour to be masters of every action , we shall be of most of them ; and for the rest , they shall trouble thee , but do thee no other mischief . We must keep the banks , that the Sea break not in upon us ; but no man can be secure against the drops of rain that fall upon the heads of all mankinde : but yet every man must get as good shelter as he can .

The PRAYER .

I. O Almighty God , the Father of Mercy and Holiness , thou art the fountain of grace and strength , and thou blessest the sons of men by turning them from their iniquities ; shew the mightiness of thy power and the glories of thy grace , by giving me strength against all my enemies , and victory in all temptations , and watchfulness against all dangers , and caution in all difficulties , and hope in all my fears , and recollection of minde in all distractions of spirit and fancy , that I may not be a servant of chance or violence , of interest or passion , of fear or desire , but that my will may rule the lower man , and my understanding may guide my will , and thy holy Spirit may conduct my understanding , that in all contentions thy Spirit may prevail , and in all doubts I may choose the better part , and in the midst of all contradictions and temptations and infelicities , I may be thy servant infallibly and unalterably . Amen .

II. BLessed Jesu , thou art our High-priest , and incompassed with infirmities , but always without sin , relieve and pity me , O my gracious Lord , who am encompassed with infirmities , but seldome or never without sin . O my God , my ignorances are many , my passions violent , my temptations ensnaring and deceitful , my observation little , my inadvertencies innumerable , my resolutions weak , my dangers round about me , my duty and obligations full of variety , and the instances very numerous ; O be thou unto me wisdome and righteousness , sanctification and redemption . Thou hast promised thy holy Spirit to them that ask him , let thy Spirit help my infirmities , give to me his strengths , instruct me with his notices , encourage me with his promises , affright me with his terrors , confirm me with his courage , that I being readily prepared and furnished for every good work , may grow with the increase of God to the full measure of the stature and fulness of thee my Saviour ; that though my outward man decay and decrease , yet my inner man may be renewed day by day ; that my infirmities may be weaker , and thy grace stronger , and at last may triumph over the decayes of the old man . O be thou pleased to pity my infirmities , and pardon all those actions which proceed from weak principles ; that when I doe what I can , I may be accepted , and when I fail of that , I may be pitied and pardoned , and in all my fights and necessities may be defended and secured , prospered and conducted to the regions of victory and triumph , of strength and glory , through the mercies of God , and the grace of our Lord Jesus , and the blessed communication of the Spirit of God and our Lord Jesus . Amen .

CHAP. VIII . Of the effect of Repentance , viz. Remission of sins .

§. 1.

THE law written in the Heart of man is a law of obedience , which because we prevaricated , we are taught another , which ( S. Austin says ) is written in the Heart of Angels : Lib. 6. cont. Julian . c. 9. Vt nulla sit iniquitas impunita , nisi quam sanguis Mediatoris expiaverit . For God the Father spares no sinner , but while he looks upon the face of his Son : but that in him our sins should be pardon'd and our persons spared , is as necessary a consideration as any . S. Ambr. de poenit . l. 1. c. 2. Nemo enim potest benè agere poenitentiam , nisi qui speraverit indulgentiam . To what purpose does God call us to Repentance , if at the same time he does not invite us to pardon ? It is the state and misery of the damned , to repent without hope ; and if this also could be the state of the penitent in this life , the Sermons of Repentance were useless and comfortless , Gods mercies were none at all to sinners , the institution and office of preaching and reconciling penitents were impertinent and man should die by the laws of Angels , who never was enabled to live by their strength and measures ; and consequently , all mankinde were infinitely and eternally miserable , lost irrecoverably , perishing without a Saviour , tied to a law too hard for him , and condemned by unequal and intolerable sentences .

Tertullian considering that God threatens all impenitent sinners , Lib. 2. de poenit . argues demonstratively : Neque enim comminaretur non poenitenti , si non ignosceret delinquenti . If men repent not , God will be severely angry ; it will be infinitely the worse for us if we doe not , and shall it be so too if we doe repent ? God forbid . Frustra mortuus est Christus , si aliquos vivificare non potest . S. Hierom. Epist. ad Ocean . Mentitur Johannes Baptista , & digito Christum & voce demonstrans : Ecce agnus Dei , ecce qui tollit peccata mundi , si sunt adhuc in saeculo quorum Christus peccata non tulerit . In vain did Christ die , if he cannot give life to all . And the Baptist deceiv'd us when he pointed out Christ unto us , saying , Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world , if there were any in the world whose sins Christ hath not born .

But God by the old Prophets called upon them who were under the Covenant of Works in open appearance , Exod. 34.6 Psa. 103. per totum . & 128. Isa. 55.7 , 8. Jer. 18.7 , 8. Ezek. 18.21 , 22. & 33.11 . Dan. 4.27 . Mal. 3.7 . Joel 2.13 . Jonah 4.2 . & 3.9 . that they also should repent , and by antedating the mercies of the Gospel , promised pardon to the penitent ; He promised mercy by Moses and the Prophets ; He proclaimed his Name to be Mercy and Forgiveness ; He did solemnly swear he did not desire the death of a sinner , but that he should repent and live ; and the holy Spirit of God ha●● respersed every book of holy Scripture with great and legible lines of mercy , and sermons of Repentance . In short , it was the summe of all the Sermons which were made by those whom God sent with his word in their mouthes , that they should live innocently , or when they had sinned they should repent and be sav'd from their calamity .

But when Christ came into the world , he open'd the fountains of mercy , and broke down all the banks of restraint , he preach'd Repentance , offer'd health , gave life , call'd all wearied and burthen'd persons to come to him for ease and remedy , he glorified his Fathers mercies , and himself became the great instrument and channel of its emanation . He preach'd and commanded mercy by the example of God ; he made his Religion that he taught to be wholly made up of doing and receiving good , this by Faith , that by Charity . He commanded an indefinite and unlimited forgiveness of our brother , repenting after injuries done to us seventy times seven times : and though there could be little quostion of that , yet he was pleased to signifie to us , that as we needed more , so we should have and finde more mercy at the hands of God . And therefore he hath appointed a whole order of men , whom he maintains at his own charges , and furnishes with especial commissions , Mat. 1● . 15 , 16. Joh. 20.23 . 2 Cor. 7.10 . Gal. 6.1 . Jam. 1.15 , 16 , 19 , 20. 1 Joh. 2.11 . & 1.9 . Rev. 2.5 . & 3.1 , 2 , 3 , 19 , 20. and endues with a lasting power , and imployes on his own errand , and instructs with his own Spirit , whose business is to remit and retain , to exhort and to restore sinners by the means of Repentance , and the word of their proper Ministery . Whose soever sins ye remit , they are remitted ; that 's their Authority : and their Office is , to pray all men in Christs stead to be reconciled to God . And after all this , Christ himself labours to bring it to effect ; not onely assisting his Ministers with the gifts of an excellent Spirit , and exacting of them the account of Souls , but that it may be prosperous and effectual , himself intercedes in Heaven before the Throne of Grace , doing for sinners the office of an Advocate and a Reconciler . If any man sins , 1 Joh. 2.2 , 3. we have an Advocate with the Father , and he is the propitiation for all our sins , and for the sins of the whole world : and therefore it is not onely the matter of our hopes , but an Article of our Creed , that we may have forgiveness of our sins by the blood of Jesus . Qui nullum excepit , in Christo donavit omnia . God hath excepted none , and therefore in Christ pardons all .

For there is not in Scripture any Catalogue of sins set down for which Christ died , and others excluded from that state of mercy . All that believe and repent shall be pardon'd , if they go and sin no more . Deus distinctionem non facit , qui misericordiam suam promisit omnibus , & relaxandi licentiam sacerdotibus suis sine ullâ exceptione concessit , Lib. 1. de poenit . c. 2. said S. Ambrose . God excepts none , but hath given power to his Ministers to release all , absolutely all . And S. Bernard argues this Article upon the account of those excellent examples which the Spirit of God hath consign'd to us in holy Scripture . If Peter after so great a fall did arrive to such an eminence of sanctity , In solenni Petri & Pauli Ser. 3. hereafter who shall despair , provided that he will depart from his sins ? For that God is ready to forgive the greatest Criminals if they repent , appears in the instances of Ahab and Manasses , of Mary Magdalen and S. Paul , of the Thief on the Cross and the deprehended Adulteress , and of the Jews themselves , who after they had crucified the Lord of life , were by messengers of his own invited , passionately invited to repent , and be purified with that blood which they had sacrilegiously and impiously spilt . But concerning this , who please may reade S. Austin discoursing upon those words , Mittet Crystallum suum sicut buccellas ; which , saith he , mystically represent the readiness of God to break and make contrite even the hearts of them that have been hardened in impiety . Gemara de Synedrio c. 11. Quo loco consisi●●t poenitentia●●●gentes , ibi justi non poterunt stare , said the Doctors of the Jews . The just and innocent persons shall not be able to stand in the same place where the penitent shall be . Pacem , pacem remoto & propinquo , ait Dominus , ut sanem eum . Peace to him that is afar off , and to him that is near , saith the Lord , that I may heal him . Praeponit remotum : That 's their observation ; He that is afar off is set before the other ; that is , he that is at great distance from God , as if God did use the greater earnestness to reduce him , Upon which place their gloss addes ; Magna est virtus eorum qui poenitentiam agunt , ita ut nulla Creatura in septo illorum consistere queat . So great is the vertue of them that are true penitents , that no creature can stand within their inclosure . And all this is farre better expressed by those excellent words of our blessed Saviour , Luk. 15.7 . There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth , more then over ninety nine just persone that need no repentance .

I have been the longer in establishing and declaring the proper foundation of this Article , upon which every one can declaim , but every one cannot believe it in the day of temptation ; because I guess what an intolerable evil it is to despair of pardon , by having felt the trouble of some very great fears . And this were the less necessary , but that it is too commonly true , that they who repent least , are most confident of their pardon , or rather least consider any reasons against their security : but when a man truly apprehends the vileness of his sin , he ought also to consider the state of his danger , which is wholly upon the stock of what is past ; that is , his danger is this , that he knows not when , or whether , or upon what terms God will pardon him in particular . But of this I shall have a more apt occasion to speak in the following periods . For the present , the Article in general is established upon the testimonies of the greatest certainty .

§. 2. Of pardon of sins committed after Baptism .

BUt it may be our easiness of life , and want of discipline , and our desires to reconcile our pleasures and temporal satisfactions with the hopes of heaven , hath made us apt to swallow all that seems to favour our hopes . But it is certain that some Christian Doctors have taught the Doctrine of Repentance with greater severity then is intimated in the premises . For all the examples of pardon consign'd to us in the Old Testament , are nothing to us who live under the New , and are to be judged by other measures . And as for those instances which are recorded in the New Testament , and all the promises and affirmations of pardon , they are sufficiently verified in that pardon of sins which is first given to us in Baptism , and at our first Conversion to Christianity . Thus when S. Stephen prayed for his persecutors , and our blessed Lord himself on his uneasie death-bed of the Cross , prayed for them that Crucified him , it can onely prove , that these great sins are pardonable in our first access to Christ , because they for whom Christ and his Martyr S. Stephen prayed , were not yet converted , and so were to be saved by Baptismal Repentance . Then the Power of the Keyes is exercised , and the gates of the Kingdome are opened , then we enter into the Covenant of mercy and pardon , and promise faith and perpetual obedience to the laws of Jesus ; and upon that condition , forgiveness is promised and exhibited , offer'd and consign'd , but never after : for it is in Christianity for all great sins , as in the Civil law for theft . L. 65. D. de furtis . & l. 1. D. de Aedili●io edicto . Qui eâ mente alienum quid contrectavit ut lucrifaceret , tametsi mutato consilio id Domino postea reddidit , fur est : nemo enim tali peccato poenitentiâ suâ nocens esse desinit , said Vlpian , and Gaius . Repentance does not here take off the punishment , nor the stain . And so it seems to be in Christianity , in which every baptized person having stipulated for obedience , is upon those terms admitted to pardon , and consequently if he fails of his duty , he shall fail of the grace .

But that this objection may proceed no further , it is certain that it is an infinite lessening of the mercy of God in Jesus Christ to confine pardon of sins onely to the Font. For that even lapsed Christians may be restored by repentance , and be pardoned , appears in the story of the incestuous Corinthian , and the precept of S. Paul to the spiritual man , or the Curate of souls . If any man be overtaken in a fault , Gal. 6.1 . ye which are spiritual restore such a man in the spirit of meekness , considering thy self lest thou also be tempted . The Christian might fall , and the Corinthian did so , and the Minister himself , he who had the ministery of restitution and reconciliation , was also in danger : and yet they all might be restored . To the same sense is that of S. James , Jam. 5.15 . Is any man sick among you ? let him send for the Presbyters of the Church , and let them pray over him . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , although he was a doer of sins , they shall be forgiven him . For there is an 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a sin that is not unto death . And therefore when S. Austin in his first Book de Sermone Dei , had said that there is some sin so great that it cannot be remitted , he retracts his words with this clause , addendum fuit , &c. I should have added , If in so great perverseness of minde he ends his life . For we must not despair of the worst sinner , we may not despair of any , since we ought to pray for all .

For it is beyond exception or doubt , that it was the great work of the Apostles , and of the whole new Testament , to engage men in a perpetual repentance . For since all men doe sin , all men must repent , or all men must perish . And very many periods of Scripture are directed to lapsed Christians , baptized persons fallen into grievous crimes , calling them to repentance . Acts 8.22 . So Simon Peter to Simon Magus , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Repent of thy wickedness ; and to the Corinthian Christians S. Paul urges the purpose of his legation , we pray you in Christs stead be ye reconciled to God . The Spirit of God reprov'd some of the Asian Churches for foul misdemeanours , Ap●●al . 2.26 . and even some of the Angels , the Asian Bishops , calling upon them to return to their first love , V. 5. and to repent and to doe their first works ; and to the very Gnosticks , and filthiest hereticks he gave space to repent , V. 21. and threatned extermination to them if they did not doe it speedily . For ,

Baptism is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the admission of us to the Covenant of Faith and Repentance , or as Marc the Anchoret call'd it , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the introduction to repentance , or that state of life that is full of labour and care , and amendment of our faults ; for that is the best life that any man can live : and therefore repentance hath its progress after baptism , as it hath its beginning before : for first repentance is unto baptism , and then baptism unto repentance . And if it were otherwise , the Church had but ill provided for the state of her sons and daughters by commanding the baptism of infants . For if repentance were not allowed after , then their early baptism would take from them all hopes of repentance , and destroy the mercies of the Gospel , and make it now to all Christendome a law of works in the greater instances ; Vide Great Exemplar part 1. Dise. of Baptism pag. 175. &c. because since in our infancy we neither need , nor can perform repentance , if to them that sin after baptism , repentance be denied , it is in the whole denied to them for ever to repent . But God hath provided better things for us , and such which accompany salvation .

For besides those many things which have been already consider'd , our admission to the holy Sacrament of the Lords Supper , is a perpetual entertainment of our hopes : because then and there is really exhibited to us the body that was broken , and the blood that was shed for remission of sins : still it is applied , and that application could not be necessary to be done anew , if there were not new necessities ; and still we are invited to doe actions of repentance , to examine our selves and so to eat : all which ( as things are order'd ) would be infinitely useless to mankinde , if it did not mean pardon to Christians falling into foul sins even after baptism .

I shall adde no more but the words of S. 2 Cor. 12 , 21. Paul to the Corinthians ; Left when I come again , my God will humble me among you , and that I shall bewail many who have sinn'd already , and have not repented of the uncleanness , and fornication , and lasciviousness which they have committed . Here is a fierce accusation of some of them , for the foulest and the basest crimes ; and a reproof of their not repenting , and a threatning them with censures Ecclesiastical . I suppose this article to be sufficiently concluded from the premises . The necessity of which proof they onely will best beleeve , who are severely penitent , and full of apprehension and fear of the Divine anger , because they have highly deserved it . However , I have serv'd my own needs in it , and the need of those whose consciences have been , or shall be so timorous as mine hath deserved to be . But against the universality of this doctrine there are two grand objections ; The one is the severer practice and doctrine of the primitive Church , denying repentance to some kinde of sinners after baptism . The other , the usual discourses and opinions concerning the sin against the holy Ghost . Of these I shall give account in the two following sections .

§. 3. Of the difficulty of obtaining pardon : The doctrine and practice of the Primitive Church in this article .

NOvatianus and Novatus said , that the Church had not power to minister pardon of sins except onely in baptism : which proposition when they had well digested and considered , they did thus explicate . That there are some capital sins , crying and clamorous , into which if a Christian did fall after baptism , the Church had nothing to doe with him , she could not absolve him .

This opinion of theirs , was a branch of the elder heresy of Montanus , De pudic . c. 5. & c. 9. which had abus'd Tertullian , who fiercely declaims against the decree of Pope Zephyrinus , because against the custome of his Decessors he admitted adulterers to repentance , while at the same time he refus'd idolaters and murderers . And this their severity did not seem to be put upon the account of a present necessity , or their own zeal , or for the avoiding scandal , or their love of holiness ; but upon the nature of the thing it self , and the sentences of Scripture . An old man of whom Irenaeus makes mention , said ; Lib. 4. c. 45. Non debemus superbi esse , neque reprehendere veteres , ne fortè post agnitionem Dei agentes aliquid quod non placet Deo , remissionem non habeamus ultrà delictorum , & excludamur à regno ejus . We must not be proud and reprove our Fathers , lest after the knowledge of God , we doing something that does not please God , we may no more have remission of our sins , but be excluded from his Kingdome . To the same purpose is that Canon made by the Gallic Bishops against the false accusers of their brethren ; ut ad exitum ne communicent : that they should not be admitted to the Communion or peace of the Church , no not at their death . And Pacianus Bishop of Barcinona gives a severe account of the doctrine of the Spanish Churches even in his time , and of their refusing to admit idolaters , murderers , and adulterers to repentance . Paraen . ad poenit . Other sins may be cured by the exercise of good works . But these three kill like the breath of a Basilisk , and are to be feared like a deadly arrow . They that were guilty of such crimes did despair . What have I done to you ? was it not in your power to have let it alone ? Did no man admonish you ? Did none foretel the event ? Was the Church silent ? Did the Gospels say nothing ? Did the Apostles threaten nothing ? Did the Priest intreat nothing of you ? why doe you seek for late comforts ? Then you might have sought for them , when they were to be had . But they that pronounce such men happy doe but abuse you .

This opinion and the consequent practice , had its fate in several places to live longer or die sooner . And in Africa the decree of Zephyrinus for the admission of penitent adulterers , was not admitted even by the Orthodox and Catholikes ; S. Cyprian . ep. 52. but they dissented placidly and modestly , and governed their own Churches by the old severity . For there was then no thought of any necessity that other Churches should obey the sanctions of the Pope , or the decrees of Rome , but they retain'd the old Discipline . But yet the piety and the reasonableness of the decree of Zephyrinus prevail'd by little and little , and adulterers were admitted ; but the severity stuck longer upon diolaters or apostates : for they were not to be admitted to the peace of the Church , although they should afterwards suffer martyrdome for the name of Christ : and for this they pretended the words of S. Hebr. 6.4 , 5 , 6. Ubi suprà . Paul , Non possunt admitti secundum Apostolum , as S. Cyprian expresly affirms ; and the same is the sentence of the first Canon of the Councel of Eliberis .

When they began to remit of this rigor ( which they did in or about S. Cyprians time ) they did admit these great criminals to repentance . Once , but no more ; as appears in Tertullian a a De poenit . , the Councel of Eliberis b b Can. 7. , the Synod at Syde in Pamphylia against the Messalians , S. Ambrose c c Lib. 2. de poenit . c. 10. , S. Austin d d Ep. 54. , and Macedonius e e Ep. 53. ; which makes it suspicious that the words of Origen are interpolated , saying , In gravioribus criminibus semel tantùm vel rarò poenitentiae conceditur locus . Hom. 15. in 25. cap. Levit. But once or but seldome ; so the words are now ; but the practice of that age was not so remiss , for they gave once and no more : as appears in the foregoing Authors , and in the eleventh Canon of the third Councel of Toledo . For as S. Stromat . lib. 2. Cl●mens of Alexandria affirms , Apparet , sed non est poeniten●ia saepe petere de iis quae saepe peccantur . It is but a seeming repentance , that fals often after a frequent return .

But this gentleness ( for it was the greatest they then had ) they ministred to such onely as desir'd it in their health , and in the days in which they could live the lives of penitents , and make amends for their folly . For if men had liv'd wickedly , and on their death-bed desir'd to be admitted to repentance and pardon , they refus'd them utterly ; as appears in that excellent Epistle of S. Cyprian to Antonianus : Epist. 52. Prohibendos omnino censuimus à spe communionis & pacis , si in infirmitate atque periculo coeperint deprecari ; at no hand are those to be admitted to Church communion , who repent onely in their danger and weakness , because not repentance of their fault , but the hasty warning of instant or approaching death compell'd them : neither is he worthy in death to receive the comfort , who did not think he was to die . And consequently to this severity , in his Sermon de lapsis , he advises that every man should confess his sin , while his confession can be admitted , while his satisfaction may be acceptable , and his pardon ratified by God . The same was decreed by the Fathers in the Synod of Arles . Arelat. 1. c. 23.

This was severe , if we judge of it by the manners and propositions of the present age . But iniquity did so abound , and was so far from being cured by this severe discipline , that it made this discipline to be intolerable and useless . And therefore even from this also they did quickly retire . For in the time of Innocentius and S. Innocent . epist. ad Exuper . Austin they began not onely to impose penances on dying penitents , but even after a wicked life to reconcile them . They then first began to doe it ; but as it usually happens in first attempts , and insolent actions , they were fearful , and knew not the event , and would warrant nothing . To hinder them that are in peril of death from the use of the last remedy , is hard and impious ; but to promise any thing in so late a cure is temerarious . So Salvian : and S. Chrysostome to Theodorus would not have such persons despaired , so neither nourish'd up by hope : onely it is better , nihil inexpertum relinquere quàm morientem nolle curare , Salvian . to try every way , rather then that the dying penitent should fail for want of help . But I sidore said plainly , He who living wickedly , repents in the time of his death , as his damnation is uncertain , so his pardon is doubtful .

This was the most dangerous indulgence , and easiness of doctrine , that had as yet entred into the Church ; but now it was tumbling , and therefore could not stop here , but presently , down went all severity . All sinners , and at all times , and as often as they would , might be admitted to repentance and pardon ; whether they could or could not perform the stations and injunctions of the penitents ; and this took off the edge of publick and Ecclesiastical repentance ; and to this succeeded private repentance , where none but God and the Priest were witnesses ; and because this was a recession from the old discipline , and of it self an abuse , or but the relicks of discipline at the best , and therefore not necessary because it was but an imperfect supply of something that was better , this also is in some places laid aside , in others too much abus'd . But of that in its place .

But now that I may give an account concerning the first severity : Concerning their not admitting those three sorts of Criminals to repentance , but denying it to none else , I consider , 1. That there is no place of Scripture that was pretended to exclude those three Capital sins from hopes of pardon . For one of them there was , of which I shall give account in the following periods * * §. 4. : but for murder and adultery there were very many authorities of Scripture to prove them pardonable , but none to prove them unpardonable . 2. What can be pretended why idolatry , murder , and adultery , should be less pardonable ( if repented of ) then Incest , Treason , Heresie , Sodomy , or Sacrilege ? These were not denied ; and yet some of them are greater Criminals then some that were : but the value is set upon crimes as men please . 3. That even in these three cases the Church did allow Repentance in the very beginning , appears beyond exception in Irenaeus , Lib. 1. c. 9. who writes concerning the women seduced by the Heretick Marck , Hae saepissime conversae ad Ecclesiam Dei confessae sunt , & socundum corpus exterminat a● se ab eo , velut cupidine , &c. and so guilty of both Adulteries , carnal and spiritual , that they were admitted to repentance . 4. S. Clemens of Alexandria affirms indefinitely , concerning all persons lapsed after Baptism , that they may be restored and pardon'd . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Strom. 4. They that fall into sins after Baptism , must be chastened . For those things which were committed before Baptism are pardoned , but they which are committed afterwards , are to be purged . For it is certain , that God did not shut up the fountain which he opened in Baptism . Then he smote the Rock , and the stream flowed out , and it became a river , and ran in dry places . 5. It is more then probable that in Egypt it was very ordinary to admit lapsed persons , and even Idolaters to repentance , because of the strange levity of the Nation , and that even the Bishops did at the coming of Hadrianus the Emperor devote themselves to Serapis . Illi qui Serapim colunt Christiani sunt : & devoti sunt Serapi qui se Christi Episcopos dicunt . Apud Spartian . So the Emperor testifies in his letters to Servianus . For it is not to be suppos'd that it was part of their perswasion that they might lawfully doe it , or that it was solemn and usual so to doe ; but that to avoid persecution they did choose rather to seem unconstant and changeable then to be kill'd , especially in that Nation , which was tota levis & pendula , & ad omnia famae momenta volans ( as these letters say ) light and inconstant , tossed about with every noise of fame and variety . These Bishops after the departure of Caesar , without peradventure did many of them return to their charges , and they and their Priests pardon'd each other ; just as the Libellatici and the Thurificati did in Carthage and all Africa , as S. Cyprian relates . 6. In Ephrem Syrus there is a form of Confession and of Prayer for the pardon of foul sins : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Have mercy on my sins , my injustices , my covetousness , ( which some render ) unnaturall lusts , my adulteries and fornications , my idle and filthy speakings . If these after Baptism are pardonable , Quid non speremus ? the former severity must be understood not to be their Doctrine but their Discipline .

And the same is to be said concerning their giving Repentance but to to those whom they did admit after Baptism , we finde it expresly affirm'd by the next ages , that the purpose of their Fathers was onely for Discipline and caution . Epist. 54. So S. Austin ; The Church did cautiously and healthfully provide , that penitents should but once be admitted , lest a frequent remedy should become contemptible ; yet who dares say , Why doe ye again spare this man , who after his first repentance is again intangled in the snares of sin ?

So that whereas some of them use to say of certain sins that after Baptism , or after the first relapse they are unpardonable , we must know , that in the style of the Church , Vnpardonable signified such to which by the Discipline and Customs of the Church pardon was not ministred . They were called Vnpardonable , not because God would not pardon them , but because he alone could : this we learn from those words of Tertullian , Salvâ illâ poenitentiae specie post fidem quae aut levioribus delictis veniam ab Episcopo consequi poterit , aut majoribus & irremissibilibus à Deo solo . The lighter or lesser sins might obtain pardon from the Ministery of the Bishop , Hoc satis est , ipsi caetera mando Deo , The greatest and the Vnpardonable could obtain it of God alone : So that when they did deny to absolve some certain Criminals after Baptism , or after a relapse , they did not affirm the sins to be unpardonable , as we understand the word . Novatus himself did not , Lib. 4. cap. 14. for ( as Socrates reports ) he wrote to all the Churches every where , that they should not admit them , that had sacrificed , to the Mysteries , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but to exhort them to repentance , and yet to leave their pardon and absolution to him who is able , and hath authority to forgive sins . And the same also was the doctrine of Acesius his great Disciple , for which Constantine in Eusebius reprov'd him . Some single men have despair'd , but there was never any Sect of men that seal'd up the Divine Mercy by the locks and barres of Despair , much less did any good Christians ever doe it .

And this we finde expresly verified by the French Bishops in a Synod there held about the time of Pope Zephyrinus . Poenitentia ab his qui daemonibus * * sacrificant , potiùs legend . sanctificant agenda ad diem mortis , non sine spe tamen remissionis , quam ab eo planè sperare debebunt qui ejus largitatem & solus obtinet , & tam dives misericordie est ut nemo desperet . Although the Criminal must doe penance to his dying day , that is , the Church will not absolve , or admit him to her communion , yet he must not be without hope of pardon , which yet is not to be hop'd for from the Church , but from him , who is so rich in mercy , that no man may despair : Epist. 31. Quos separatos à nobis derelinquimus , &c. and not long after this , S. Cyprian said , Though we leave them in their separation from us , yet we have and do exhort them to repent , if by any means they can receive indulgence from him who can perform it .

Now if it be enquired , what real effect this had upon the persons or souls of the offending , relapsing persons ; the consideration is weighty and material . For to say the Church could not absolve such persons , in plain speaking seems to mean , that since the Church ministers nothing of her own , but is the Minister of the Divine mercy , she had no commission to promise pardon to such persons . If God had promised pardon to such Criminals , it is certain the Church was bound to preach it ; but if she could not declare , preach , or exhibite any such promise , then there was no such promise ; and therefore their sending them to God was but a put off , or a civil answer , saying , that God might doe it if he please , but he had not signified his pleasure concerning them , and whether they who sinn'd so foully after Baptism , were pardonable , was no where revealed ; and therefore all the Ministers of Religion were bound to say , they were unpardonable , that is , God never said he would pardon them , which is the full sense of the word Vnpardonable . For he that sayes , any sin is unpardonable , does not mean that God cannot pardon it , but that he will not , or that he hath not said , he will .

And upon the same account it seem'd unreasonable to S. Ambrose , that the Church should impose penances , and not release the penitents . He complain'd of the Novatians for so doing ; Lib. 1. de poenit . c. 2. Cùm utique veniam negando incentivum auferant poenitentiae , the penitents could have little encouragement to perform the injunctions of their Confessors , when after they had done them they should not be admitted to the Churches communion . And indeed the case was hard , when it should be remembred that whatsoever the Church did binde on earth was bound in heaven , and if they retain'd them below , God would doe so above ; and therefore we finde in Scripture that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to give repentance , being the purpose of Christs coming and the grace of the Gospel , does mean , to give the effect of Repentance , that is , pardon . And since Gods method is such , by giving the grace , and admitting us to doe the duty , he consequently brings to that mercy which is the end of that duty , it is fit , that should also be the method of the Church .

For the ballancing of this Consideration , we are further to consider , that though the Church had power to pardon in all things where God had declar'd he would , yet because in some sins the malice was so great , the scandal so intolerable , the effect so mischievous , the nature of them so contradictory to the excellent laws of Christianity , the Church many times could not give a competent judgement , whether any man that had committed great sins , had made his amends , and done a sufficient penance : and the Church not knowing whether their Repentance was worthy and acceptable to God , she could not pronounce their pardon , that is , she could not tell them whether upon those terms God had , or would pardon them in the present disposition .

For after great crimes , the state of a sinner is very deplorable by reason of his uncertain pardon ; not that it is uncertain whether God will pardon the truly penitent , but that it is uncertain who is so ; and all the ingredients into the judgement that is to be made , are such things which men cannot well discern , they cannot tell in what measures God will exact the Repentance , what sorrow is sufficient , what fruits acceptable , what is expiatory , and what rejected ; Pro. 20.9 . according to the saying of Solomon , Who can say , I have made my heart clean , I am pure from my sin ? they cannot tell how long God will forbear , at what time his anger is final , and when he will refuse to hear , or what aggravations of the crime God looks on ; nor can they make an estimate which is greater , the example of the sin , or the example of the punishment . And therefore in such great cases the Church had reason to refuse to give pardon , which she could minister neither certainly , nor prudently , nor ( as the case then stood ) safely or piously .

But yet she enjoyn'd Penances , that is , all the solemnities of Repentance , and to them the sinners stood bound in earth , and consequently in heaven ( according to the words of our blessed Saviour ) but she bound them no further . She intended charity and relief to them , not ruine and death eternal . On this she had no direct power , and if the penitents were obedient to her Discipline , then neither could they be prejudic'd by her indirect power , she sent them to God for pardon , and made them to prepare themselves accordingly . Her injunction of penances was medicinal , and her refusing to admit them to the Communion , was an act of caution fitted to the present necessities of the Church . S Ambros . lib. 2. de poenit c 9. Nonnullae ideò poscunt poenitentiam , ut statim sibi reddi communionem velint . Hae non tam se solvere cupiunt , quàm sacerdotem ligare . Some demand penances , that they may have speedy communion . These doe not so much desire themselves to be loosed , as to have the Priest bound ; that is , such hasty proceedings doe not any good to the penitent , but much hurt to him that ministers . This the Primitive Church avoided ; and this was the whole effect which that Discipline had upon the souls of the penitents . But for their Doctrine S. Austin is a sufficient witness : Enchir. 6. Sed neque de ipsis criminibus quamlibe● magnis remitttendis , in Sanctâ Ecclesiâ Dei desperanda est misericordia agentibus poenitentiam secundum modum sui cujusque peccati . They ought not to despair of Gods mercy , even to the greatest sinners , if they be the greatest penitents , that is , if they repent according to the measure of their sins . Onely in the making their judgements concerning the measures of Repentance they differ'd from our practises . Ecclesiastical Repentance , and Absolution was not onely an exercise of the duty , and an assisting of the penitent in his return , but it was also a warranting or ensuring the pardon ; which because in many cases the Church could not so well doe , she did better in not undertaking it ; that is , in not pronouncing Absolution .

For the pardon of sins committed after Baptism , not being described in full measures ; and though it be sufficiently signifi'd that any sin may be pardon'd , yet it not being told upon what conditions this or that great one shall , the Church did well and warily not to be too forward : for as S. Paul said , I am conscious to my self in nothing , yet I am not hereby justified : so we may say in Repentance , I have repented , and doe so , but I am not hereby justified ; because that is a secret which until the day of Judgement we shall not understand : for every repenting is not sufficient . He that repents worthily ( let his sin be what it will ) shall certainly be pardon'd ; but after great crimes who does repent worthily , is a matter of harder judgement then the manners of the present age will allow us to make ; and so secret , that they thought it not amiss very often to be backward in pronouncing the Criminal absolved .

But then all this whole affair must needs be a mighty arrest to the gayeties of this sinful age . For although Christs blood can expiate all sins , and his Spirit can sanctifie all sinners , and his Church can restore all that are capable ; yet if we consider that the particulars of every naughty mans case are infinitely uncertain ; that there are no minute-measures of repentance set down after Baptism , that there are some states of sinners which God does reject ; that the arrival to this state is by parts , and undetermin'd steps of progression ; that no man can tell when any sin begins to be unpardonable to such a person ; and that if we be careless of our selves , and easie in our judgements , and comply with the false measures of any age , we may be in before we are aware , and cannot come out so soon as we expect ; and lastly , if we consider that the Primitive and Apostolical Churches , who best knew how to estimate the mercies of the Gospel , and the requisites of repentance , and the malignity and dangers of sin , did not promise pardon so easily , so readily , so quickly as we doe , we may think it fit to be more afraid and more contrite , more watchful and more severe .

I end this with the words of S. Hierome , Cùm beatus Daniel prascius futurorum de sententiâ Dei dubitot , Ad Dan. rem temerariam faciunt qui audacter peccatoribus indulgentiam pollicentur . Though Daniel could foretel future things , yet he durst not pronounce concerning the King , whether God would pardon him or no ; it is therefore a great rashness boldly to promise pardon to them that have sinned . That is , it is not to be done suddenly , according to the caution which S. Paul gave to the Bishop of Ephesus , 1 Tim. 5.22 . Lay hands suddenly on no man , that is , absolve him not without great trial , and just dispositions .

For though this be not at all to be wrested to a suspicion that the sins in their kinde are not pardonable , yet thus far I shall make use of it ; That God who onely hath the power , he onely can make the judgement , whether the sinner be a worthy penitent or not . For there being no express stipulation made concerning the degrees of repentance , no taxa poenitentiaria , penitential Tables and Canons consign'd by God , it cannot be told by man when after great sins , and a long iniquity , the unhappy man shall be restor'd , because it wholly depends upon the Divine acceptance .

In smaller offences , and the seldome returns of sin intervening in a good or a probable life , the Curates of souls may make safe and prudent judgements . But when the case is high , and the sin is clamorous , or scandalous , or habitual , they ought not to be too easy in speaking peace to such persons to whom God hath so fiercely threatned death eternal . But to hold their hands , may possibly increase the sorrow , and contrition , and fear of the penitent and returning man , and by that means make him the surer of it . But it is too great a confidence and presumption to dispense Gods pardon , or the Kings , upon easy terms , and without their Commission .

For since all the rule and measures of dispensing it , is by analogies and proportions , by some reason , and much conjecture ; it were better by being restrain'd in the Ministeries of favour to produce fears and watchfulness , carefulness and godly sorrow , then by an open hand to make sinners bold and many , confident and easy . Those holy and wise men who were our Fathers in Christ , did well weigh the dangers into which a sinning man had entred , and did dreadfully fear the issues of the Divine anger ; and therefore although they openly taught that God hath set open the gates of mercy to all worthy penitents , yet concerning repentance they had other thoughts then we have ; and that in the pardon of sinners there are many more things to be considered , besides the possibility of having the sin pardoned .

§. 4. Of the sin against the Holy Ghost ; and in what sense it is or may be Unpardonable .

UPon what account the Primitive Church did refuse to admit certain Criminals to repentance , I have already discoursed ; but because there are some places of Scripture , which seem to have incouraged such severity by denying repentance also to some sinners , it is necessary that they be considered also , lest by being misunderstood , some persons in the days of their sorrow be tempted to despair .

The Novatians denying repentance to lapsed Christians pretended for their warrant those words of S. Paul ; Heb. 6.4 , 5 , 6. It is impossible for those who were once inlightened , and have tasted of the heavenly gift , and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost , and have tasted the good word of God , and the powers of the world to come , if they shall fall away , to renew them again unto repentance , seeing they crucify to themselves the son of God afresh , and put him to an open shame ; and parallel to this are those other words , Hebr. 10.26 , 27. For if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth , there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins , but a certain fearful looking for of judgement , and fiery indignation which shal consume the adversaries . The sense of which words will be clear upon the explicating what is meant by 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , what by 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and what by 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 .

If they shall fall away , viz. from that state of excellent things in which they had received all the present endearments of the Gospel , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . a full conviction , pardon of sins , the earnest of the Spirit , the comfort of the promises , an antepast of heaven it self ; if these men shall fall away from all this , it cannot be by infirmity , by ignorance , by surprise ; this is that which S. Paul cals 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to sin wilfully after they have received the knowledge of the truth : Malicious sinners these are , who sin against the Holy Spirit , whose influences they throw away , whose counsels they despise , whose comforts they refuse , whose doctrine they scorn , and from thence fall , not onely into one single wasting sin , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , they fall away , into a contrary state ; into Heathenism , or the heresy of the Gnosticks , or to any state of despising and hating Christ ; expressed here by Crucifying the Son of God afresh , and putting him to an open shame ; these are they here meant ; such who after they had worshipped Jesus , and given up their names to him , and had been blessed by him , and felt it , and acknowledged it , and rejoyc'd in it , these men afterwards without cause , or excuse , without error or infirmity , choosingly , willingly , knowingly , call'd Christ an Impostor , and would have crucified him again if he had been alive , that is , they consented to his death , by believing that he suffer'd justly . This is the case here described , and cannot be drawn to any thing else but its parallel , that is , a malicious renouncing charity , or holy life , as these men did the faith , to both which they had made their solemne vows in Baptism ; but this can no way be drawn to the condemnation , and final excision of such persons , who after baptism fall into any great sin , of which they are willing to repent .

There is also something peculiar in 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . renewing such men to repentance : that is , these men are not to be redintegrate , and put into the former condition ; they cannot be restored to any other gracious Covenant of repentance , since they have despis'd this . Other persons who hold fast their profession , and forget not that they were cleansed in baptism , they , in case they doe fall into sin , may proceed in the same method , in their first renovation to repentance , that is , in their being solemnly admitted to the method and state of repentance for all sins known and unknown . But when this renovation is renounc'd , when they despise the whole Oeconomy ; when they reject this grace , and throw away the Covenant , there is nothing left for such but a fearful looking for of judgement : for these persons are incapable of the mercies of the Gospel , they are out of the way . For there being but one way of salvation , viz. by Jesus Christ whom they renounce , neither Moses , nor Nature , nor any other name can restore them . And 2. Their case is so bad , and they so impious and malicious , that no man hath power to perswade such men to accept of pardon by those means which they so disown . For there is no means of salvation but this one , and this one they hate , and will not have ; they will not return to the old , and there is none left by which they can be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 renewed , and therefore their condition is desperate .

But the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or impossible , is also of special importance and consideration : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . It is impossible to renew such . For [ impossible ] is not to be understood in the natural sense , but in the legal and moral . There are degrees of impossibility , and therefore they are not all absolute and supreme . So when the law hath condemned a criminal , we usually say it is impossible for him to escape , meaning that the law is clearly against him . Magnus ab infernis revocetur Tullius umbris , Mart. Ep. l. 4. Ep. 16. Et te defendat Regulus ipse licèt : Non potes absolvi : — That is , your cause is lost , you are inexcusable , there is no apology , no pleading for you : and that the same is here meant , we understand by those parallel words , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , there is left no sacrifice for him ; alluding to Moses law in which for them that sin'd 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 with a high hand , Heb. 10.26 . for them that despised Moses law there was no sacrifice appointed ; which Ben Maimon . expounds , saying , that for Apostates there was no sacrifice in the law . So that it is impossible to renew such , means that it is ordinarily impossible , we have in the discipline of the Church no door of reconciliation ; If he repents of this , he is not the same man , but if he remains so , the Church hath no promise to be heard , if she prays for him ; which is the last thing that the Church can doe . To absolve him , is to warrant him ; that in this case is absolutely impossible : but to pray for him is to put him into some hopes , and for that she hath in this case no commission . For this is the sin unto death , of which S. John speaks and gives no incouragement to pray . So that impossible does signify in sensu forensi a state of sin , which is sentenc'd by the law to be capital and damning ; but here it signifies the highest degree of that deadliness and impossibility , as there are degrees of malignity and desperation in mortal diseases : for of all evils this state here described is the worst . And therefore here is an impossibility .

But besides all other senses of this word , it is certain by the whole frame of the place , and the very analogy of the Gospel , that this impossibility here mentioned , is not an impossibility of the thing , but onely relative to the person . It is impossible to restore him , whose state of evil is contrary to pardon and restitution , as being a renouncing the Gospel , that is the whole Covenant of pardon and repentance . Such is that parallel expression used by S. John . 1 Joh. 3.9 . He that is born of God sinneth not , neither indeed can he ; that is , it is impossible , he cannot sin , for the seed of God remaineth in him . Now this does not signify , that a good man cannot possibly sin if he would ; that is , it does not signify a natural , or an absolute impossibility , but such as relates to the present state and condition of the person , being contrary to sin : the same with that of S. Paul . Be ye led by the spirit ; Gal. 5.17 . for the spirit lusteth against the flesh , so that ye cannot doe the things which ye would , viz. which the flesh would fain tempt you to . A good man cannot sin , that is , very hardly can he be brought to choose or to delight in it , he cannot sin without a horrible trouble and uneasiness to himself : so on the other side , such Apostates as the Apostle speaks of , cannot be renewed ; that is , without extreme difficulty , and a perfect contradiction to that state in which they are for the present lost . But if this man will repent with a repentance proportion'd to that evil which he hath committed , that he ought not to despair of pardon in the Court of Heaven , we have the affirmation of Justin Martyr . Dial. cont . Tryph. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . They that confess and acknowledge him to be Christ , and for whatsoever cause goe from him to the secular conversation ( viz. to Heathenism or Judaism &c. ) denying that he is Christ , and not confessing him again before their death , they can never be saved . So that this impossibility concerns not those that return and doe confess him , but those that wilfully and maliciously reject this onely way of salvation as false and deceitful , and never return to the confession of it again ; which is the greatest sin against the Holy Ghost , of which I am in the next place to give a more particular account .

§. 5.

HE that speaketh against the Holy Ghost , Matth. 12.32 . it shall never be forgiven him in this world , nor in the world to come ; so said our blessed Saviour . Origen and the Novatians after him , when the Scholars of Novatus , to justify their Masters Schism from the Church , had chang'd the good old discipline into a new and evil doctrine , said that all the sins of Christians committed after Baptism , are sins against the Holy Ghost , by whom in Baptism they have been illuminated , and by him they were taught in the Gospel , and by him they were consign'd in confirmation , and promoted in all the assistances and Conduct of grace : and they gave this reason for it . Because the Father is in all Creatures ; the Son only in the Reasonable , and the Holy Spirit in Christians ; against which if they prevaricate , they shall not be pardon'd , while the sins of Heathens as being onely against the Son are easily pardon'd in baptism . I shall not need to refute this fond opinion , as being already done by S. Athanasius in a Book purposely written on this subject ; and it fals alone ; for that to sin against the Holy Ghost is not proper to Christians , appears in this , that Christ charg'd it upon the Pharisees : and that every sin of Christians is not this sin against the Holy Ghost , appears , because Christians are perpetually called upon to repent : for to what purpose should any man be called from his sin , if by returning he shall not escape damnation ? or if he shall , then that sin is not against the Holy Ghost , or if it be , that sin is not unpardonable ; either of which destroys their fond affirmative .

S. Austin makes final impenitence to be it : against which opinion , though many things may be oppos'd , yet it is openly confuted in being charged upon the Pharisees , who were not then guilty of final impenitence . But the instance clears the article . The Pharisees saw the light of Gods Spirit manifestly shining in the miracles which Christ did , and they did not onely despise his Person and persecute it , which is speaking against the Son of Man , that is , sinning against him ( for speaking against , is sinning or doing against it , in the Jews manner of expression ) but they also spightfully and maliciously blasphemed that Spirit , and that power of God , by which they were convinc'd , and by which such Miracles were done . Vers. 36. And this was that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that idle and unprofitable word spoken of in the following verses , by which Christ said they should be judged at the last day ; such which whosoever should speak , he should give account thereof in that day .

Now this was ever esteemed a high and an intolerable Crime ; for it was not new , but an old Crime ; onely it was manifested by an appellative relating to a power and a name now more used then formerly . This was the sin for which Corah and his Company died , who did despise and reproach the works of God , his power and the mightiness of his hand manifested in his servant Moses . It is called sinning with a high hand , that is , with an hand lift up on high against God . Corah and his Company committed the sin against the Holy Spirit , for they spake against that Spirit and power , which God had put into Moses , and prov'd by the demonstration of mighty effects : It is a denying that great argument of Credibility , by which God goes about to verifie any mission of his , to prove by mighty effects of Gods Spirit , that God hath sent such a man . When God manifests his holy Spirit by signs and wonders extraordinary , not to revere this good Spirit , not to confess him , but to revile him , or to reproach the power , is that which God ever did highly punish .

Thus it happened to Pharoah ; he also sinn'd against the Holy Ghost , the good Spirit of God : for when his Magicians told him that the finger of God was there , yet he hardned his heart against it , and then God went on to harden it more till he overthrew him ; for then his sin became unpardonable in the sense I shall hereafter explicate . And this pass'd into a law to the children of Israel , and they were warned of it with the highest threatning , that is , of a capital punishment [ The soul that doeth ought presumptuously ( or with an high hand ) the same reproacheth the Lord , Num. 15.30 . that soul shall be cut off from among his people : and this is translated into the New Testament , They that doe despite to the Spirit of Grace , shall fall into the hands of the living God . That 's the sin against the Holy Ghost .

Now this sin must in all reason be very much greater under the Gospel then under the Law . For when Christ came he did such miracles which never any man did , and preach'd a better law , and with mighty demonstrations of the Spirit , that is , of the power and Spirit of God , prov'd himself to have come from God , and therefore men were more convinc'd ; and he that was so , and yet would oppose the Spirit , that is , defie all his proofs , and hear none of his words , and obey none of his laws , and at last revile him too , he had done the great sin ; for this is to doe the worst thing we can , we dishonour God in that in which he intended most to glorifie himself .

Two instances of this we finde in the New Testament , though not of the highest degree , yet because done directly against the Spirit of God , that is , in despite or in disparagement of that Spirit by which so great things were wrought , it grew intolerable . Ananias did not revere the Spirit of God , so mightily appearing in S. Peter and the other Apostles , and he was smitten and died . Simon Magus took the Spirit of God for a vendible commodity , for a thing less then money , and fit to serve secular ends ; and he instantly fell into the gall of bitterness , that is , a sad bitter calamity : and S. Peter knew not whether God would forgive him or no.

But it is remarkable , that the holy Scriptures note various degrees of this malignity ; grieving the holy Spirit , resisting him , quenching him , doing despite to him : all sin against the Holy Ghost , but yet they that had done so , were all called to repentance . S. Stephens Sermon was an instance of it , and so was S. Peters , and so was the prayer of Christ upon the Cross , for the malicious Jews , the Pharisees , his betrayers and murtherers . But the sin it self is of an indefinite progression , and hath not physical limits and a certain constitution , as is observable in carnal crimes , Theft , Murther , or Adultery : for though even these are increased by circumstances , and an inward consent and degrees of love and adhesion ; yet of the crime it self we can say , this is Murther , and this is Adultery , and therefore the punishment is proper and certain . But since there are so many degrees of the sin against the Holy Ghost , and it consists not in an indivisible point , but according to the nature of internal and spiritual sins , it is like time or numbers , of a moveable being , of a flux , unstable , immense constitution , and may be alwayes growing , not onely by the repetition of acts , but by its proper essential increment ; and since in the particular case the measures are uncertain , the nature secret , the definition disputable , and so many sins are like it , or reducible to it , apt to produce despair in timorous consciences , and to discourage Repentance in lapsed persons , it will be an intolerable proposition that affirms the sin against the Holy Ghost to be absolutely unpardonable .

That the sin against the Holy Ghost is pardonable , appears in the instance of the Pharisees ; to whom , even after they had committed the sin , God was pleased to afford preaching , signs and miracles , and Christ upon the Cross prayed for them ; but in what sense also it was unpardonable , appears in their case ; for they were so far gone , that they would not return , and God did not , and at last would not pardon them . For this appellative is not properly subjected , nor attributed to the sin it self , but it is according as the man is . The sin may be , and is at some time unpardonable , yet not in all its measures and parts of progression ; as appears in the case of Pharaoh , who all the way from the first miracle to the tenth , sinn'd against the Holy Ghost , but at last he was so bad , that God would not pardon him . Some men are come to the greatness of the sin , or to that state and grandeur of impiety , that their estate is desperate , that is , though the nature of their sins is such as God is extremely angry with them , and would destroy them utterly , were he not restrain'd by an infinite mercy , yet it shall not be thus for ever ; for in some state of circumstances and degrees , God is finally angry with the man , and will never return to him .

Untill things be come to this height , whatsoever the sin be it is pardonable . For if there were any one sin distinguishable in its whole nature and instance from others , which in every of its periods were unpardonable , it is most certain it would have been described in Scripture with clear characters and cautions , that a man might know when he is in and when he is out . Speaking a word against the Holy Spirit is by our blessed Saviour called this great sin ; but it is certain , that every word spoken against him is not unpardonable . Simon Magus spoke a foul word against him , but S. Peter did not say it was unpardonable , but when he bid him pray , he consequently bid him hope ; but because he would not warrant him , that is , durst not absolve him , he sufficiently declared that this sin is of an indefinite nature , and by growth would arrive at the unpardonable state ; the state and fulness of it is unpardonable , that is , God will to some men , and in some times and stages of their evil life , be so angry , that he will give them over , and leave them , in their reprobate minde . But no man knowes when that time is , God only knowes , and the event must declare it .

But for the thing it self , that it is pardonable , is very certain , because it may be pardoned in baptisme : The Novatians denied not to baptisme a power of pardoning any sin ; & in this sense it is without doubt true what Zosimus by way of reproach objected to Christian religion , it is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 a deletery and purgative , for every sin whatsoever . And since the unconverted Pharisees were guilty of this sin , and it was a sin forbidden , and punished capitally in the law of Moses , either to these Christ could not have been preached , and for them Christ did not die , or else it is certain that the sin against the holy Spirit of God is pardonable .

Now whereas our B. Lord affirmed of this sin it shall not be pardoned in this world nor in the world to come ; we may best understand the meaning of it by the parallel words of old Heli to his sons : If a man sin against another , 1 Sam. 2 , 25. the Judge shall judge him , placari ei potest Deus , so the vulgar latine reads it , God may be appeased , that is , it shall be forgiven him ; that is a word spoken against the Son of man , which relates to Christ only upon the account of his humane nature , that may be forgiven him , it shall , that is , upon easier terms , as upon a temporal judgment , called in this place , a being judged by the Judge . But if a man sin against the Lord who shall intreat for him ? that is , if he sin with a high hand , presumptuously , against the Lord , against his power , and his Spirit , who shall intreat for him ? it shall never be pardoned ; never so as the other , never upon a temporal judgement : that cannot expiate this great sin , as it could take off a sin against a man , or the Son of man : for though it be punished here , it shall be punished hereafter . But

2. It shall not be pardoned in this world , nor in the world to come ] that is , neither to the Jewes , nor to the Gentiles . For Saeculum hoc , this World , in Scripture is the period of the Jewes Synagogue , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 the world to come is taken for the Gospel , or the age of the Messias frequently among the Jews : and it is not unlikely Christ might mean it in that sense which was used amongst them by whom he would be understood : But because the word was also as commonly used in that sense in which it is understood at this day , viz. for the world after this life ; I shall therefore propound another exposition which seems to me more probable . Though remission of sins is more plentiful in the Gospel then under the Law , yet because the sin is bigger under the Gospel , there is not here any ordinary way of pardoning it , no Ministery established to warrant or absolve such sinners , but it must be referred to God himself ; and yet that 's not all . For if a man perseveres in this sin , he shall neither be forgiven here , nor hereafter ; that is , neither can he be absolved in this world by the ministery of the Church , nor in the world to come by the sentence of Christ : and this I take to be the full meaning of this so difficult place .

For in this world properly so speaking , there is no forgivenesse of sins but what is by the ministery of the Church . For then a sin is forgiven when it is pardon'd in the day of sentence , or execution ; that is , when those evils are removed which are usually inflicted , or which are proper to that day . Now then for the final punishment , that is not till the day of judgement , and if God then gives us a mercy in that day , then is the day of our pardon from him ; In the mean time if he be gracious to us here , he either forbears to smite us , or smites us to bring us to repentance , and all the way continues to us the use of the Word and Sacraments ; that is , if he does in any sense pardon us here , if he does not give us over to a reprobate minde , he continues us under the means of salvation , which is the ministery of the Church , for that 's the way of pardon in this * * vide infrà numb. 66. World , . as the blessed sentence of the right hand is the way of pardon in the World to come . So that when our great Lord and Master threatens to this sin , it shall not be pardon'd in this World , nor in the World to come , he means that neither shall the Ministers of the Church pronounce his pardon , or comfort his sorrowes , or restore him after his fall , or warrant his condition , or pray for him publickly , or give him the peace and communion of the Church : neither will God pardon him in the day of Judgement .

But all this fearful denunciation of the Divine judgement is only upon supposition the man does not repent . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , said S. Athanasius . Quaest. 71. to . 2. God did not say to him that blasphemes and repents , it shall not be forgiven , but to him that blasphemes and remains in his blasphemy : for there is no sin which God will not pardon to them that holily and worthily repent , S. Chrys. in 1 Cor , hom. 8. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . To be wounded is not so grievous ; but it is intolerable when the wounded man refuses to be cured . For it is considerable ,

Whoever can repent may hope for pardon , else he could not be invited to repentance . I do not say , whoever can be sorrowfull may hope for pardon : for there is a sorrow too late , then commencing when there is no time left to begin , much lesse to finish 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Athanasius calls it , a holy and a worthy repentance , and of such Philo affirmed 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in allegor● Some unhappy soules would fain he admitted to repentance , but God permits them not , that is , their time is past , and either they die before they can performe it , or if they live they return to their old impieties like water from a rock . But whoever can repent worthily , and leave their sin , and mortify it , and make such amends as is required , these men ought not to despair of pardon : they may hope for mercy : and if they may hope they must hope , for not to do it , were the greatest crime of despair . For despair is no sin , but where to hope is a duty .

But if this be all , then the sin against the holy Ghost hath no more said against it then any other sin ; for if we repent not of theft , or adultery , it shall neither be forgiven us in this world , nor in the world to come , and if we do repent of the sin against the holy Ghost , it shall not be exacted of us , but shall be pardoned : So that to say it is unpardonable without repentance , is to say nothing peculiar of this .

To this I answer , that pardonable and unpardonable have no definite signification , but have a latitude and increment , and a various sense ; but seldome signifie in the absolute supreme sense sins of infirmity ; such , I mean , which in any sense can properly be called sins , must in some sense or other be repented of ; and they are unpardonable without repentance , that is , without such a repentance as does disallow them and contend against them . But these are also pardonable without repentance , by some degrees of pardon , that is , God pities our sins of ignorance and winks at them , and upon the only account of his own pity does bring such persons to better notices of things . And they are pardonable without repentance , if by repentance we mean an absolute dereliction of them , for we shall never be able to leave them quite ; and therefore either they shall never be pardoned , or else they are pardoned without such a repentance as signifies dereliction or intire mastery over them .

2. But sins which are wilfully and knowingly committed , as theft , adultery , murder , are unpardonable without repentance , that is , without such a repentance as forsakes them actually and intirely , and produces such acts of grace as are proper for their expiation : but yet even these sins require not such a repentance as sins against the holy Ghost do : These must have a greater sorrow , and a greater shame , and a more severe amends , and a more passionate lasting prayer and a bigger fear , and a more publick amends , and a sharper infliction , & greater excellency of grace then is necessary in lesser sins . But in this difference of sins it is usual to promise pardon to the less and not to the greater , when the meaning is , that the smaller sins are onely pardon'd upon easier terms : an example of this we have in Clemens Alexandrinus , Vid. etiam Caesar . Arelat. hom. 42. quaedam ad hanc rem spectantia . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : Sins committed before Baptism are pardon'd , but sins after it must be purged , that is , by a severe repentance ; which the others needed not , and yet without repentance baptism would nothing avail vicious persons . So we say concerning those sins which we have forgotten , they may be pardon'd without repentance , meaning without a special repentance , but yet not without a general . Thus we finde it in the Imperial Law , that they that had fallen into heresie or strange superstitions , they were to be pardon'd if they did repent : but if they did relapse , they should not be pardon'd ; but they mean , L. 4. Cod. Theod. ne sacrum baptisma iteretur . venia eâdem modo praestari non potest : so Gratian , Valens and Valentinian expressed it . So that by denying pardon , they onely mean that it shall be harder with such persons , their pardon shall not be so easily obtained , but as they repeat their sins , so their punishment shall increase , and at last if no warning will serve , it shall destroy them .

For it is remarkable , that in Scripture Pardonable and Vnpardonable signifies no more then Mortal and Venial in the writings of the Church ; of which I have given accounts in its proper place . But when a sin is declared deadly , or killing , and damnation threatned to such persons , we are not therefore if we have committed any such , to lie down under the load , and die ; but with the more earnestness depart from it , lest that which is of a killing , damning nature , prove so to us in the event . For the sin of Adultery is a damning sin , and Murther is a killing sin , and the sin against the Holy Ghost is worse ; and they are all Vnpardonable , that is , condemning ; they are such in their cause , or in themselves , but if they prove so to us in the event , or effect , it is because we will not repent . 1 Cor. 11.27 . He that eateth & drinketh unworthily , eateth and drinketh damnation to himself ; that 's as high an expression as any ; and yet there are several degrees and kindes of eating and drinking unworthily , and some are more unpardonable then others ; but yet the Corinthians who did eat unworthily , some of them coming to the holy Supper drunk , and others schismatically , were by S. Paul admitted to repentance . Some sins are like deadly potions , they kill the man , unless he speedily take an Antidote , or unless by strength of nature he work out the poison and overcome it ; and others are like a desperate disease , or a deadly wound , the Iliacal passions , the Physicians give him over , it is a Miserere mei Deus ; of which though men despair , yet some have been cured . Thus also in the capital and great sins , many of them are such which the Church will not absolve , or dare not promise cure . Non est in medico semper relevetur ut aeger ; Interdum doctâ plus valet arte malum . But then these persons are sent to God , and are bid to hope for favour from thence , and may finde it . But others there are whom the Church will not meddle withall , and sends them to God , and God will not absolve them , that is , they shall be pardon'd neither by God nor the Church , neither in this world nor in the world to come . But the reason is not , because their sin is in all its periods of an unpardonable nature , but because they have persisted in it too long , and God in the secret Oeconomy of his mercies hath shut the everlasting doors ; the olive doors of mercy shall not be open'd to them . And this is the case of too many miserable persons . They who repent timely , and holily , are not in this number , whatsoever sins they be which they have committed . But this is the case of them whom God hath given over to a reprobate minde , and of them who sin against Gods holy Spirit , when their sin is grown to its full measure : So we finde it express'd in the Proverbs , Turn ye at my reproof , Pro. 1.23 , 26 , 28. I will pour out my Spirit unto you ; and then it follows , Because I have called and ye refused , I also will laugh at your calamity , I will mock when your fear cometh . But this is not in all the periods of our refusing to hear God calling by his Spirit ; but when the sin of the Amalekites is full , then it is unpardonable , not in the thing , but to that man , at that time . And besides all the promises , this is highly verified in the words of our blessed Saviour taken out of the Prophet Isaiah ; where it is affirmed , that when people are so obstinate and wilfully blinde , Mat. 12.15 . that God then leaves to give them clearer testimony and a mighty grace , lest they should hear and see and understand ; it follows , and should be converted , and I should heal them ; plainly telling us , that if even then they should repent , God could not but forgive them ; and therefore because he hath now no love left to them by reason of their former obstinacy , yet where ever you can suppose Repentance , there you may more then suppose a pardon . But if a man cannot , or will not repent , then it is another consideration : In the mean time , nothing hinders but that every sin is pardonable to him that repents .

But thus we finde that the style of Scripture and the expressions of holy persons is otherwise in the threatning and the edict , otherwise in the accidents of persons and practise . It is necessary that it be severe when duty is demanded ; but of lapsed persons it uses not to be exacted in the same dialect . It is as all laws are . In the general they are decretory , in the use and application they are easier . In the Sanction they are absolute and infinite , but yet capable of interpretations , of dispensations and relaxation in particular cases . And so it is in the present Article ; Impossible , and Vnpardonable , and Damnation , and shall be cut off , and nothing remains but fearful expectation of judgement , are exterminating words and phrases in the law , but they doe not effect all that they there signifie , to any but the impenitent ; according to the saying of Mark the Hermite , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . No man is ever justified but he that carefully repents , and no man is condemned but he that despises repentance . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , said S. Basil . The eye of God , who is so great a lover of souls , cannot deny the intercessions and letanies of Repentance .

§. 6. The former Doctrines reduc'd to Practise .

1. Although the doors of Repentance open to them that sin after Baptism , and to them that sin after Repentance , yet every relapse does increase the danger , and make the sin to be less pardonable then before . For ,

1. A good man falling into sin does it without all necessity ; he hath assistances great enough to make him conqueror , he hath reason enough to disswade him , he hath sharp senses of the filthiness of sin , his spirit is tender , and is crush'd with the uneasie load , he sighs and wakes , and is troubled and distracted ; and if he sins , he sins with pain and shame and smart ; and the less of mistake there is in his case , the more of malice is ingredient , and a greater anger is like to be his portion .

2. It is a particular unthankfulness when a man that was once pardon'd shall relapse . And when obliged persons prove enemies , they are ever the most malicious ; as having nothing to protect or cover their shame , but impudence .

〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉

So did the Greeks treat Agamemnon ill , because he used them but too well . Such persons are like Travellers who in a storm running to a fig-tree , when the storm is over they beat the branches and pluck the fruit , and having run to an altar for sanctuary , they steal the Chalice from the holy place , and rob the Temple that secur'd them . And God does more resent it , that the Lambs which he feeds at his own table , which are as so many sons and daughters to him , that daily suck plenty from his two breasts of Mercy and Providence , that they should in his own house make a mutiny , and put on the fierceness of wolves , and rise up against their Lord and Shepherd .

3. Every relapse after repentance , is directly and in its proper principle a greater sin . Our first faults are pitiable , and we doe pati humanum , we do after the manner of men ; but when we are recovered , and then die again , we doe facere Diabolicum , we do after the manner of Devils . For from ignorance to sin , from passion and youthful appetites to sin , from violent temptations and little strengths , to fall into sin , is no very great change ; it is from a corrupted nature to corrupted manners : But from grace to return to sin , from knowledge and experience , and delight in goodnesse and wise notices , from God and his Christ to return to sin , to foolish actions , and non-sense principles , is a change great as was the fall of the morning stars when they descended cheaply and foolishly into darkness ; Well therefore may it be pitied in a childe to choose a bright dagger before a warm coat , but when he hath been refreshed by this and smarted by that , if he chooses again , he will choose better . But men that have tried both states , that have rejoyced for their deliverance from temptation , men that have given thanks to God for their safety and innocence , men that have been wearied and ashamed of the follies of sin , that have weighed both sides and have given wise sentence for God and for religion , if they shall choose again , and choose amiss , it must be by something by which Lucifer did in the face of God choose to defie him , and desire to turn Devil , and be miserable and wicked for ever and ever .

4. If a man repents of his repentances and returns to his sins , all his intermedial repentance shall stand for nothing : the sins which were marked for pardon shall break out in guilt , and be exacted of him in fearful punishments , as if he never had repented . For if good works crucified by sins are made alive by repentance , by the same reason , those sins also will live again , if the repentance dies ; it being equally just that if the man repents of his repentance , God also should repent of his pardon .

For we must observe carefully that there is a pardon of sins proper to this life , and another proper to the world to come . Whose soever sins ye remit , they are remitted , and what ye binde on earth , shall be bound in heaven . Vid. suprà . Num. 53. That is , there are two remissions , One here , the other hereafter ; That here is wrought by the Ministery of the Word and Sacraments , by faith and obedience , by moral instruments and the divine grace ; all which are divisible and gradual , and grow , or diminish , ebbe or flow , change or persist , and consequently grow on to effect , or else fail of the grace of God , that final grace which alone is effective of that benefit which we here contend for . Here in proper speaking our pardon is but a disposition towards the great and final pardon ; a possibility and ability to pursue that interest , to contend for that absolution : and accordingly it is wrought by parts , and is signified and promoted by every act of grace that puts us in order to heaven , or the state of final pardon : God gives us one degree of pardon when he forbears to kill us in the act of sin , when he admits , when he calls , when he smites us into repentance , when he invites us by mercies and promises , when he abates or defers his anger , when he sweetly engages us in the wayes of holiness , these are several parts and steps of pardon : For if God were extremely angry with us as we deserve , nothing of all this would be done unto us : and still Gods favours increase , and the degrees of pardon multiply , as our endevours are prosperous , as we apply our selves to religion and holiness , and make use of the benefits of the Church , the ministery of the Word and Sacraments , and as our resolutions passe into acts and habits of vertue . But then in this world we are to expect no other pardon , but a fluctuating , alterable , uncertain pardon , as our duty is uncertain . Hereafter it shall be finished , if here we persevere in the parts and progressions of our repentance : But as yet it is an Embryo , in a state of conduct and imperfection ; here we alwayes pray for it , alwayes hope it , alwayes labour for it ; but we are not fully and finally absolved till the day of sentence and judgement ; untill that day we hope and labour . * The purpose of this discourse is to represent in what state of things our pardon stands here ; and that it is not only conditional , but of it self and a mutable effect , a disposition towards the great pardon , and therefore if it be not nurs'd and maintain'd by the proper instruments of its progression , it dies like an abortive conception , and shall not have that immortality whether it was designed .

〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 .

For it was not ill said of old ; he that remits of his severity and interrupts his course , does also break it , and then he breaks his hopes , and dissolves the golden chain which reached up to the foot of the throne of grace .

2. Here therefore the advice is reasonable and necessary : he that would ensure his pardon must persevere in duty ; and to that purpose must make a full and perfect work in his mortifications and fights against sin ; he must not suffer any thing to remain behinde which may ever spring up and bear the apples of Sodom . It is the advice of Dion Prusaensis : He that goes to cleanse his soul from lusts like a wilde desert from beasts of prey , unlesse he doe it thoroughly , in a short time will be destroyed by the remaining portions of his concupiscence : For as a Feaver whose violence is abated and the malignity lessened , and the man returns to temper and reason , to quiet nights , and cheerful days , if yet there remains any of the unconquered humour , it is apt to be set on work again by every cold , or little violence of chance , and the same disease returns with a bigger violence and danger : So it is in the eradication of our sins ; that which remains behinde , is of too great power to effect all the purposes of our death , and to make us to have fought in vain , and lose all our labours and all our hopes , and the intermedial piety being lost , will exasperate us the more , and kill us more certainly then our former vices ; as cold water taken to cool the body inflames it more , and makes cold to be the kindler of a greater fire .

3. Let no man be too forward in saying his sin is pardoned , for our present perswasions are too gay and confident ; and that which is not repentance sufficient for a lustful thought , or one single act of uncleanness , or intemperance , we usually reckon to be the very porch of heaven , and expiatory of the vilest and most habitual crimes : It were well if the Spiritual and the Curates of Souls were not the authors or incouragers of this loosenesse of confidence and credulity . To confesse and to absolve is all the method of our modern repentance , even when it is the most severe . Indeed in the Church of England I cannot so easily blame that proceeding ; because there are so few that use the proper and secret ministery of a spiritual guide , that it is to be supposed he that does so , hath long repented and done some violence to himself and more to his sins , before he can master himself so much as to bring himself to submit to that ministery . But there where the practise is common , and the shame is taken off , and the duty returnes at certain festivals , and is frequently performed , to absolve as soon as the sinner confesses , and leave him to amend afterwards if he please is to give him confidence and carelesness , but not absolution . * * Vide Cyprian . lib. 3. ep. 14. & l. 3. ep. 15. & 16. & de lapsis .

4. Do not judge of the pardon of thy sins by light and trifling significations , but by long , lasting and material events . If God continues to call thee to repentance there is hopes that he is ready to pardon thee ; and if thou doest obey the heavenly calling , and doest not defer to begin , nor stop in thy course , nor retire to thy vain conversation , thou art in the sure way of pardon , & mayst also finish it . But if thou doest believe that thy sins are pardon'd , remember the words of our Lord concerning Mary Magdalen ; much is forgiven her , and she loved much . If thou fearest thy sins are not pardon'd , pray the more earnestly , and mortifie thy sin with the more severity ; and be no more troubled concerning the event of it , but let thy whole care and applications be concerning thy duty . I have read of one that was much afflicted with fear concerning his final state ; and not knowing whether he should persevere in grace , and obtain a glorious pardon at last , cried out , O si scirem , &c. Would to God I might but know whether I should persevere or no! He was answered , What wouldest thou doe if thou wert sure ? Wouldst thou be careless , or more curious of thy duty ? If that knowledge would make thee careless , desire it not ; but if it would improve thy diligence , then what thou wouldest doe in case thou didst know , doe that now thou doest not know ; and whatever thy notice or perswasion be , the thing in it self will be more secure and thou shalt finde it in the end . But if any man is curious of the event , and would fain know of the event of his soul , let him reveal the state of his soul to a godly and a prudent Spiritual Guide ; and he , when he hath search'd diligently , and observ'd him curiously , can tell him all that is to be told , and give him all the assurance that is to be given , and warrant him , as much as himself hath receiv'd a warrant to doe it . Unless God be pleased to draw the Curtains of his Sanctuary , and open the secrets of his eternal Counsel , there is no other certainty of an actual pardon , but what the Church does minister , and what can be prudently derived from our selves . For to every such curious person , this onely is to be said , Doe you believe the promises ? That if we confess our sins and forsake them , if we believe and obey , we shall be pardoned and saved . If so , then enquire whether or no thou doest perform the conditions of thy pardon . How shall I know ? Examine thy self , try thy own spirit , and use the help of a holy and a wise guide . He will teach thee to know thy self . If after all this , thou answerest , that thou canst not tell whether thy heart be right , and thy duty acceptable ; then sit down and hope the best , and work in as much light and hope as thou hast ; but never enquire after the secret of God , when thou doest not so much as know thy self ; and how canst thou hope to espy the most private Counsels of Heaven , when thou canst not certainly perceive what is in thy own hand and heart . But if thou canst know thy self , you need not enquire any further . If thy duty be performed , you may be secure of all that is on Gods part .

5. When ever repentance begins , know that from thence-forward the sinner begins to live ; but then never let that repentance die . Doe not at any time say , I have repented of such a sin , and am at peace for that ; for a man ought never to be at peace with sin , nor think that any thing we can doe is too much : Our repentance for sin is never to be at an end , till faith it self shall be no more ; for Faith and Repentance are but the same Covenant ; and so long as the just does live by faith in the Son of God , so long he lives by repentance ; for by that faith in him our sins are pardoned , that is , by becoming his Disciples we enter into the Covenant of Repentance . And he undervalues his sin , and overvalues his sorrow , who at any time fears he shall doe too much , or make his pardon too secure , and therefore sets him down and sayes , Now I have repented .

6. Let no man ever say he hath committed the sin against the Holy Ghost , or the unpardonable sin ; for there are but few that doe that , and he can best confute himself , if he can but tell that he is sorrowful for it , and begs for pardon and hopes for it , and desires to make amends ; this man hath already obtained some degrees of pardon : and S. Pauls argument in this case also is a demonstration ; If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son , Rom. 5.10 . much more being reconciled , we shall be saved by his life . That is , if God to enemies gives the first grace , much more will he give the second , if they make use of the first . For from none to a little is an infinite distance ; but from a little to a great deal is not so much . And therefore since God hath given us means of pardon and the grace of Repentance , we may certainly expect the fruit of pardon : for it is a greater thing to give repentance to a sinner , then to give pardon to the penitent . Whoever repents hath not committed the great sin , the Unpardonable . For it is long of the man , not of the sin , that any sin is unpardonable .

7. Let every man be careful of entring into any great states of sin , lest he be unawares guilty of the great offence : Every resisting of a holy motion calling us from sin , every act against a clear reason or revelation , every confident progression in sin , every resolution to commit a sin in despite of conscience , is an access towards the great sin or state of evil . Therefore concerning such a man , let others fear since he will not , and save him with fear , plucking him out of the fire ; but when he begins to return , that great fear is over in many degrees ; for even in Moses law there were expiations appointed not onely for errour , but for presumptuous sins .

The PRAYER .

I. OEternal God , gracious and merciful , I adore the immensity and deepest abysse of thy Mercy and Wisdome , that thou doest pity our infirmities , instruct our ignorances , pass by thousands of our follies , invitest us to repentance , and doest offer pardon , because we are miserable , and because we need it , and because thou art good , and delightest in shewing mercy . Blessed be thy holy Name , and blessed be that infinite Mercy which issues forth from the fountains of our Saviour , to refresh our weariness , and to water our stony hearts , and to cleanse our polluted souls . O cause that these thy mercies may not run in vain , but may redeem my lost soul , and recover thy own inheritance , and sanctifie thy portion , the heart of thy servant and all my faculties .

II. BLessed Jesus , thou becamest a little lower then the Angels , but thou didst make us greater , doing that for us which thou didst not doe for them . Thou didst not pay for them one drop of bloud , nor endure one stripe to recover the fallen stars , nor give one groan to snatch the accursed spirits from their fearful prisons ; but thou didst empty all thy veins for me , and gavest thy heart to redeem me from innumerable sins and an intolerable calamity . O my God , let all this heap of excellencies and glorious mercies be effective upon thy servant , and work in me a sorrow for my sins , and a perfect hatred of them , a watchfulness against temptations , severe and holy resolutions , active and effective of my duty . O let me never fall from sin to sin , nor persevere in any , nor love any thing which thou hatest ; but give me thy holy Spirit to conduct and rule me for ever , and make me obedient to thy good Spirit , never to grieve him , never to resist him , never to quench him . Keep me , O Lord , with thy mighty power from falling into presumptuous sins , lest they get the dominion over me : so shall I be innocent from the great offence . Let me never despair of thy mercies by reason of my sins , nor neglect my repentance by reason of thy insinite loving kindness ; but let thy goodness bring me and all sinners to repentance , and thy mercies give us pardon , and thy holy Spirit give us perseverance , and thy infinite favour bring us to glory , through Jesus Christ our Lord . Amen .

CHAP. IX . Of Ecclesiasticall Penance , or , The fruits of Repentance .

§. 1.

THe fruits of Repentance , are the actions of spiritual life ; and signifie properly , all that piety and obedience which we pay to God in the dayes of our return , after we have begun to follow sober counsels For since all the duty of a Christian is a state of Repentance , that is , of contention against sin , and the parts and proper periods of victory ; and Repentance which includes the faith of a Christian , is but another word to express the same grace , or mercies of the Evangelical Covenant ; it follows , that whatsoever is the duty of a Christian and a means to possess that grace , is in some sense or other a Repentance , or the fruits of Gods mercy and our endevours . And in this sense S. John the Baptist means it , saying , Bring forth therefore fruits meet for Repentance ; that is , since now the great expectation of the world is to be satisfied , and the Lords Christ will open the gates of mercy , and give Repentance to the world , see that ye live accordingly , in the faith and obedience of God through Jesus Christ , That did in the event of things prove to be the effect of that Sermon .

But although all the parts of holy life are fruits of Repentance , when it is taken for the state of favor published by the Gospel ; yet when Repentance is a particular duty or vertue , the integral parts of holy life , are also constituent parts of Repentance ; and then by the fruits of Repentance must be meant , the less necessary , but very useful effects and ministeries of Repentance , which are significations and exercises of the main duty . And these are sorrow for sins , commonly called , Contrition , Confession of them , and Satisfactions ; by which ought to be meant , an opposing a contrary act of vertue to the precedent act of sin , and a punishing of our selves out of sorrow and indignation for our folly . And this is best done by all those acts of Religion by which God is properly appeased , and sin is destroyed , that is , by those acts which signifie our love to God , and our hatred to sin , such as are Prayer , and Alms , and forgiving injuries , and punishing our selves , that is , a forgiving every one but our selves .

Many of these ( I say ) are not essential parts of Repentance , without the actual exercise of which no man in any case can be said to be truly penitent ; for the constituent parts of Repentance are nothing but the essential parts of obedience to the Commandements of God , that is , direct abstinence from evil , and doing what is in the Precept . But they are fruits and significations , exercises and blessed productions of Repentance , useful to excellent purposes of it , and such from which a man cannot be excused , but by great accidents and rare contingencies . To visit prisoners , and to redeem captives , and to instruct the ignorant , are acts of charity ; but he that does not act these speciall instances , is not alwayes to be condemn'd for want of charity , because by other acts of grace he may signifie and exercise his duty : He onely that refuses any instances , because the grace is not operative , he onely is the Vncharitable , but to the particulars he can be determin'd onely by something from without , but it is sufficient to the grace it self that it works where it can , or where it is prudently chosen . So it is in these fruits of Repentance . He that out of hatred to sin abstains from it , and out of love to God endevours to keep his Commandements , he is a true penitent , though he never lie upon the ground , or spend whole nights in prayer , or make himself sick with fasting ; but he that in all circumstances refuses any or all of these , and hath not hatred enough against his sin to punish it in himself , when to doe so may accidentally be necessary or enjoyned , he hath cause to suspect himself not to be a true penitent .

No one of these is necessary in the special instance , except those which are distinctly and upon their own accounts under another precept , as Prayer , and forgiving injuries , and self-affliction in general , and Confession . But those which are onely apt ministeries to the grace , which can be ministred unto equally by other instances , those are left to the choice of every one , or to be determin'd or bound upon us by accidents and by the Church . But every one of the particulars hath in it something of special consideration .

§. 2. Of Contrition or godly Sorrow .

IN all repentances it is necessary that we understand some sorrow ingredient , or appendant , or beginning . To repent is to leave a sin ; which because it must have a cause to effect it , can begin no where but where the sin is for some reason or other disliked , that is , because it does a mischief . It is enough to leave it , that we know it will ruine us if we abide in it , but that is not enough to make us grieve for it when it is past and quitted . For if we believe that as soon as ever we repent of it , we shall be accepted to pardon , and that infallibly , and that being once forsaken it does not and shall not prejudice us , he that considers this , and remembers it was pleasant to him , will scarce find cause enough to be sorrowful for it . Neither is it enough to say , he must grieve for it , or else it will do him mischief . For this is not true for how can sorrow prevent the mischief , when the sorrow of it self is not an essential duty ; or if it were so in it self , yet by accident it becomes not to be so , for by being unreasonable and impossible , it becomes also not necessary , not a duty . To be sorrowful is not always in our power , any more then to be merry ; and both of them are the natural products of their own objects and of nothing else ; and then if sin does us pleasure at first and at last no mischief to the penitent , to bid them be sorrowful lest it should do mischief , is as improper a remedy as if we were commanded to be hungry to prevent being beaten . He that felt nothing but the pleasure of sin , and is now told he shall feel none of its evils , and that it can no more hurt him when it is forsaken , then a Bee when the sting is out , if he be commanded to grieve , may justly return in answer , that as yet he perceives no cause .

If it be told him , it is cause enough to grieve that he hath offended God who can punish him with sad , unsufferable , and eternal torments . This is very true . But if God be not angry with him , and he be told that God will not punish him for the sin he repents of then to grieve for having offended God is so Metaphysical and abstracted a speculation , that there must be something else in it , before a sinner can be tied to it . For to have displeased God is a great evil , but what is it to me , if it will bring no evil to me ; It is a Metaphysical and a Moral evil ; but unlesse it be also naturally and sensibly so , it is not the object of a natural and proper grief . It followes therefore that the state of a repenting person must have in it some more causes of sorrow then are usually taught , or else in vain can they be called upon to weep and mourn for their sins . Well may they wring their faces and their hands and put on black , those disguises of passion and curtains of joy , those ceremonies and shadowes of rich widows , and richer heirs , by which they decently hide their secret smiles : well may they rend their garments , but upon this account they can never rend their hearts .

For the stating of this article it is considerable , that there are several parts or periods of sorrow , which are effected by several principles . In the beginning of our repentance sometimes we feel cause enough to grieve . For God smites many into repentance ; either a sharp sickness does awaken us , or a calamity upon our house , or the death of our dearest relative ; and they that finde sin so heavily incumbent , and to press their persons or fortunes with feet of lead , will feel cause enough , and need not to be disputed into a penitential sorrow . They feel Gods anger , and the evil effects of sin , and that it brings sorrow , and then the sorrow is justly great because we have done that evil which brings so sad a judgement .

And in the same proportion , there is always a natural cause of sorrow , where there is a real cause of fear ; and so it is ever in the beginning of repentance , and for ought we know it is for ever so , and albeit the causes of fear lessen as the repentance does proceed , yet it will never go quite off , till hope it self be gone and passed into charity , or at least into a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , into that fulnesse of confidence which is given to few as the reward of a lasting and conspicuous holinesse . And the reason is plain . For though it be certain in religion , that whoever repents shall be pardoned , yet it is a long time before any man hath repented worthily ; and it is as uncertain in what maner and in what measures , and in what time God will give us pardon . It is as easie to tell the very day in which a man first comes to the use of reason as to tell the very time in which we are accepted to final pardon ; The progressions of one being as divisible as the other , and less discernible . For reason gives many fair indications of it self , whereas God keeps the secrets of this mercy in his sanctuary , and drawes not the curtain till the day of death or judgement .

Adde to this that our very repentances have many allays and imperfections , and so hath our pardon .

And every one that sins hath so displeased God , that he is become the subject of the Divine anger . Death is the wages ; what death God please , and therefore what evil soever God will inflict , or his mortality can suffer : and he that knowes this , hath cause to fear , and he that fears hath cause to be grieved that he is fallen from that state of divine favour in which he stood secured with the guards of angels , and covered with heaven it selfe as with a shield , in which he was beloved of God and heir of all his glories .

But they that describe repentance in short and obscure characters , and make repentance and pardon to be the children of a minute , and born and grown up quickly as a fly , or a mushrome , with the dew of a night , or the tears of a morning , making the labours of the one , and the want of the other to expire sooner then the pleasures of a transient sin , are so insensible of the sting of sin that indeed upon their grounds it will be impossible to have a real godly sorrow . For though they have done evil , yet by this doctrine they feel none and there is nothing remains as a cause of grief , unlesse they will be sorrowful for that they have been pleased formerly , and are now secured , nothing remains before them or behinde , but the pleasure that they had and the present confidence and impunity : and that 's no good instrument of sorrow . Securitas delicti etiam libido est ejus . Sin takes occasion by the law it self , if there be no penalty annexed .

But the first inlet of a godly sorrow which is the beginning of repentance is upon the stock of their present danger and state of evil into which by their sin they are fallen , viz. when their guilt is manifest , they see that they are become sons of death , expos'd to the wrath of a provoked Deity whose anger will expresse it self when and how it please , and for ought the man knowes it may be the greatest , and it may be intolerable : and though his danger is imminent and certain , yet his pardon is a great way off , it may be Yea , it may be No , it must be hop'd for , but it may be missed , for it is upon conditions , and they are , or will seem very hard . Sed ut valeas multa à olenda feres : so that in the summe of affairs , however that the greatest sinner and the smallest penitent , are very apt , and are taught by strange doctrines to flatter themselves into confidence and presumption , yet he will have reason to mourn and weep , when he shall consider that he is in so sad a condition , that because his life is uncertain , it is also uncertain whether or no he shall not be condemned to an eternal prison of slames : so that every sinner hath the same reason to be sorrowful , as he hath who from a great state of blessings and confidence , is fallen into great fears and great dangers , and a certain guilt and liableness of losing all he hath , and suffering all that is insufferable . They who state repentance otherwise , cannot make it reasonable that a penitent should shed a tear . And therefore it is no wonder , that we so easily observe a great dulness and indifferency , so many dry eies and merry hearts , in persons that pretend repentance , it cannot more reasonably be attributed to any cause , then to those trifling and easy propositions of men , that destroy the causes of sorrow , by lessening and taking off the opinion of danger . But now that they are observed and reproved , I hope the evil will be lessened . But to proceed .

2. Having now stated the reasonableness and causes of penitential sorrow ; the next inquiry is into the nature and constitution of that sorrow . For it is to be observed , that penitential sorrow is not seated in the affections directly , but in the understanding , and is rather Odium then Dolor , it is hatred of sin , and detestation of it , a nolition , a renouncing and disclaiming it , whose expression is a resolution never to sin , and a pursuance of that resolution , by abstaining from the occasions , by praying for the Divine aid , by using the proper remedies for its mortification . This is essential to repentance , and must be in every man in the highest kinde . For he that does not hate sin so as rather to choose to suffer any evil , then to doe any , loves himself more then he loves God , because he fears to displease himself rather then to displease him , and therefore is not a true penitent .

But although this be not grief , or sorrow properly , but hatred , yet in hatred there is ever a sorrow , if we have done or suffered what we hate ; and whether it be sorrow or no , is but a speculation of Philosophy , but no ingredient of duty . It is that which will destroy sin , and bring us to God , and that is the purpose of repentance .

For it is remarkable that sorrow is indeed an excellent instrument of repentance , apt to set forward many of its ministeries , and without which men ordinarily will not leave their sins ; but if the thing be done , though wholly upon the discourses of reason , upon intuition of the danger , upon contemplation of the unworthiness of sin , or onely upon the principle of hope , or fear , it matters not which is the beginning of repentance . For we finde fear reckoned to be the beginning of wisdome , that is , of repentance , of wise and sober counsels , by Solomon . We finde sorrow to be reckoned as the beginning of repentance by S. Paul ; Godly sorrow worketh repentance not to be repented of . So many ways as there are , by which God works repentance in those whom he will bring unto salvation , to all the kinds of these there are proper apportion'd passions : and as in all good things there is pleasure , so in all evil there is pain , some way or other : and therefore to love and hatred , or which is all one , to pleasure and displeasure , all passions are reducible , as all colours are to black and white . So that though in all repentances there is not in every person felt that sharpness of sensitive compunction and sorrow that is usuall in sad accidents of the world , yet if the sorrow be upon the intellectual account , though it be not much perceived by inward sharpnesses , but chiefly by dereliction and leaving of the sin , it is that sorrow which is possible , and in our power , and that which is necessary to repentance .

For in all inquiries concerning penitential sorrow , if we will avoid scruple and vexatious fancies , we must be careful not to account of our sorrow by the measures of sense , but of religion . David grieved more for the sickness of his child , and the rebellion of his son , so far as appears in the story : and the Prophet Jeremy in behalf of the Jews , for the death of their glorious Prince Josiah , and S. Paula Romana at the death of her children , were more passionate and sensibly afflicted then for their sins against God ; that is , they felt more sensitive trouble in that then this , and yet their repentances were not to be reproved ; because our penitential sorrow is from another cause , and seated in other faculties , and fixed upon differing objects , and works in other manners , and hath a divers signification , and is fitted to other purposes , and therefore is wholly of another nature . It is a displeasure against sin which must be expressed by praying against it , and fighting against it ; but all other expressions are extrinsecal to it , and accidental , and are no parts of it , because they cannot be under a command , as all the parts and necessary actions of repentance are most certainly .

Indeed some persons can command their tears , so Gellia in the Epigram , Si quis adest , jussae prosiliunt lachrymae ; she could cry when company was there to observe her weeping for her Father : and so can some Orators , and many Hypocrites : and there are some that can suppress their tears by art , and resolution ; so Vlysses did when he saw his wife weep ; he pitied her , but Intra palpebras ceu cornu immota tenebat Lumina , vel ferrum , lachrymas astúque premebat , he kept his tears within his eye-lids , as if they had been in a phial , which he could pour forth or keep shut at his pleasure . But although some can doe this at pleasure , yet all cannot . And therefore S. John Climacus speaks of certain penitents , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , who because they could not weep , expressed their Repentance by beating their breasts : and yet if all men could weep when they list , yet they may weep and not be sorrowful ; and though they can command tears , yet sorrow is no more to be commanded then hunger , and therefore is not a part or necessary duty of Repentance , when sorrow is taken for a sensitive trouble .

But yet there is something of this also to be added to our duty . If our constitution be such as to be apt to weep , and sensitively troubled upon other intellectuall apprehensions of differing objects , unlesse also they finde the same effect in their Repentances , there will be some cause to suspect , that their hatred of sin , and value of obedience , and its rewards , are not so great as they ought to be . The Masters of spiritual life give this rule : Sciat se culpabiliter durum , qui deflet damna temporis vel mortem amici , dolorem verò pro peccatis lachrymis non ostendit . He that weeps for temporall losses , and does not in the same manner express his sorrow for his sins , is culpably obdurate : which proposition though piously intended is not true . For tears are emanations of a sensitive trouble or motion of the heart , and not properly subject to the understanding ; and therefore a man may innocently weep for the death of his friend , and yet shed no tears when he hath told a lie , and still be in that state of sorrow and displeasure , that he had rather die himself then choose to tell another lie . Therefore the rule onely hath some proportions of probability , in the effect of several intellectual apprehensions . As he that is apt to weep when he hath done an unhandsome action to his friend , who yet will never punish him ; and is not apt to express his sorrow in the same manner , when he hath offended God : I say , he may suspect his sorrow not to be so great or so real , but yet abstractedly from this circumstance , to weep or not to weep is nothing to the duty of Repentance , save onely that it is that ordinary signe by which some men express some sort of sorrow . And therefore I understand not the meaning of that prayer of S. Austin , Domine da gratiam lachrymarum ; Lord give me the grace of tears ; for tears are no duty , and the greatest sorrow oftentimes is the driest ; and excepting that there is some sweetness and ease in shedding tears , and that they accompany a soft and a contemplative person , an easie and a good nature , and such as is apt for religious impressions , I know no use of them , but to signifie in an apt and a disposed nature what kinde of apprehensions and trouble there is within . For weeping upon the presence of secular troubles , is more ready and easie , because it is an effect symbolical , and of the same nature with its proper cause . But when there is a spiritual cause , although its proper effect may be greater and more effective of better purposes ; yet unless by the intermixture of some material and natural cause , it be more apportion'd to a material and natural product , it is not to be charged with it , or expected from it . Sin is a spiritual evil , and tears is the signe of a natural or physical sorrow . Smart , and sickness , and labour , are natural or physical evils ; and hatred and nolition is a spiritual or intellectual effect . Now as every labour and every smart is not to be hated or rejected , but sometimes chosen by the understanding , when it is mingled with a good that pleases the understanding , and is eligible upon the accounts of reason : So neither can every sin which is the intellectual evil , be productive of tears or sensitive sorrow , unless it be mingled with something which the sense and affections , that is , which the lower man hates , and which will properly afflict him ; such as are , fear , or pain , or danger , or disgrace , or loss . The sensitive sorrow therefore which is usually seen in new penitents , is upon the account of those horrible apprehensions which are declared in holy Scriptures to be the consequent of sins ; but if we shall so preach Repentance , as to warrant a freedome and a perfect escape instantly from all significations of the wrath of God , and all dangers for the future upon the past and present account , I know not upon what reckoning he that truly leaves his sin can be commanded to be sorrowful , and if he were commanded , how he can possibly obey .

But when Repentance hath had its growth and progression , and is increased into a habit of piety , sorrow and sensitive trouble may come in upon another account ; for great and permanent changes of the minde , make great impressions upon the lower man . When we love an object intensely , our very body receives comfort in the presence of it : and there are friendly Spirits which have a natural kindness and cognation to each other , and refresh one another , passing from eye to eye , from friend to friend : and the Prophet David felt it in the matter of Religion ; My flesh and my heart rejoyce in the living Lord . For if a grief of minde is a consumption of the flesh , and a cheerful spirit is a conservatory of health , it is certain that every great impression that is made upon the minde and dwells there , hath its effect upon the body and the lower affections . And therefore all those excellent penitents who consider the baseness of sin , * their own danger though now past in some degrees , * the offence of God , * the secret counsels of his Mercy , * his various manners of dispensing them , * the fearful judgements which God unexpectedly sends upon some men , * the dangers of our own confidence , * the weakness of our Repentance , * the remains of our sin , * the aptnesses and combustible nature of our Concupiscence , * the presence of temptation , and the perils of relapsing , * the evil state of things which our former sins leave us in , * our difficulty in obeying , and our longings to return to Egypt , * and the fearful anger of God which will with greater fierceness descend if we chance to fall back : Those penitents ( I say ) who consider these things frequently and prudently , will finde their whole man so wrought upon , that every faculty shall have an enmity against sin ; and therefore even the affections of the lower man must in their way contribute to its mortification , and that is by a real and effective sorrow .

But in this whole affair the whole matter of question will be in the manner of operation , or signification of the dislike . For the duty is done if the sin be accounted an enemy ; that is , whether the dislike be onely in the intellectual and rational appetite , or also in the sensitive . For although men use so to speak and distinguish superior from inferior appetites ; yet it will be hard in nature to finde any real distinct faculties , in which those passions are subjected , and from which they have emanation . The intellectual desire , and the sensual desire are both founded in the same faculty ; they are not distinguished by their subjects , but by their objects only : they are but several motions of the will to or from several objects . When a man desires that which is most reasonable , and perfective , or consonant to the understanding , that we call an intellectual , or rational appetite ; but if he desires a thing that will doe him hurt in his soul , or to his best interest , and yet he desires it because it pleases him , this is fit to be called a sensitive appetite , because the object is sensitive , and it is chosen for a sensual reason . But it is rather appetitio then appeti●us , that is , an act rather then a principle of action . The case is plainer , if we take two objects of several interests , both of which are proportion'd to the understanding . S. Anthony in the desert , and S. Bernard in the Pulpit were tempted by the spirit of pride : they resisted and overcame it , because pride was unreasonable and foolish as to themselves , and displeasing to God . If they had listned to the whispers of that spirit , it had been upon the accounts of pleasure , because pride is that deliciousness of spirit which entertains a vain man , making him to delight in his own images and reflexions ; and therefore is a work of the flesh , but yet plainly founded in the understanding . And therefore here it is plain , that when the flesh and the spirit fight , it is not a fight between two faculties of the soul , but a contest in the soul concerning the election of two objects . It is no otherwise in this then in every deliberation , when arguments from several interests contest each other . Every passion of the man is nothing else but a proper manner of being affected with an object , and consequently a tendency to or an aversion from it , that is , a willing or a nilling of it ; which willing and nilling when they produce several permament impressions upon the minde and body receive the names of divers passions : The object it self first striking the fancy or lower apprehensions by its proper energy , makes the first passion or tendency to the will , that is , the inclination or first concupiscence ; but when the will upon that impression is set on work , and chooses the sensual object , that makes the abiding passion , the quality . As if the object be displeasing and yet not present , it effects fear or hatred ; if good and not present , it is called desire ; but all these diversifications are meerly natural effects ; as to be warm is before the fire , and cannot be in our choice directly and immediately . That which is the prime and proper action of the will , that onely is subject to a command ; that is , to choose or refuse the sin . The passion , that is , the proper effect or impress upon the fancy or body , that is , natural , and is determin'd to the particular by the mixture of something natural with the act of the will ; as if an apprehension of future evils be mingled with the refusing sin , that is , if it be the cause of it : then fear is the passion that is effected by it . If the feeling some evil be the cause of the nolition , then sorrow is the effect ; and fear also may produce sorrow . So that the passion , that is , the natural impress upon the man cannot be the effect of a Commandement , but the principle of that passion is , we are commanded to refuse sin , to eschew evil , that 's the word of the Scripture : but because we usually doe feel the evils of sin , and we have reason to fear worse , and sorrow is the natural effect of such a feeling , and such a fear , therefore the Scripture calling us to repentance , that is , a new life , a dying unto sin , and a living unto righteousness , expresses it by sorrow , and mourning , and weeping ; but these are not the duty , but the expressions , or the instruments of that which is a duty . So that if any man who hates sin and leaves it , cannot yet finde the sharpness of such a sorrow as he feels in other sad accidents , there can nothing be said to it , but that the duty it self is not clothed with those circumstances which are apt to produce that passion ; it is not an eschewing of sin upon considerations of a present or a feared trouble , but upon some other principle ; or that the consideration is not deep and pressing , or that the person is of an unapt disposition to those sensible effects . The Italian and his wife who by chance espied a Serpent under the shade of their Vines , were both equal haters of the little beast ; but the wife only cried out , and the man kill'd it , but with as great a regret and horror at the sight of it as his wife , though he did not so express it . But when a little after they espied a Lizard , and she cried again , he told her , That he perceiv'd her trouble was not alwayes deriv'd from reasonable apprehensions , and that what could spring onely from images of things and fancies of persons , was not considerable by a just value . This is the case of our sorrowing . Some express it by tears , some by penances and corporal inflictions , some by more effective and material mortifications of it : but he that kills it is the greatest enemy . But those persons who can be sorrowful and violently mov'd for a trifling interest , and upon the arrests of fancy , if they finde these easie meltings and sensitive afflictions upon the accounts of their sins , are not to please themselves at all , unless when they have cried out , they also kill the Serpent .

I cannot therefore at all suspect that mans repentance who hates sin , and chooses righteousness and walks in it , though he doe not weep , or feel the troubles of a mother mourning over the hearse of her onely son ; but yet such a sensitive grief is of great use to these purposes .

1. If it do not proceed from the present sense of the Divine judgement , yet it supplies that , and feels an evil from its own apprehension , which is not yet felt from the Divine infliction .

2. It prevents Gods anger , by being a punishment of our selves , a condemnation of the sinner , and a taking vengeance of our selves , for our having offended God . And therefore it is , consequently to this , agreed on all hands , that the greater the sorrow is , the less necessity there is of any outward affliction ; Vt possit lachrymis aequare labores . Virg. According to the old rule of the Penitentiaries . Sitque modus culpae justae moderatio poenae , Quae tanto levior quanto contritio major . Which general measure of repentances as it is of use in the particular of which I am now discoursing , so it effects this perswasion , that external mortifications and austerities are not any part of original and essential duty , but significations of the inward repentance , unto men ; and suppletories of it before God ; that when we cannot feel the trouble of minde , we may at least hate sin upon another account , even upon the superinduc'd evils upon our bodies ; for all affliction is nothing but sorrow ; Gravis animi poena est , quem post factum poenitet , said Publius . To repent is a grievous punishment ; and the old man in the Comedy cals it so . Cur meam senectam hujus sollicito amentiâ Pro hujus egout peccatis supplicium sufferam ? Andriâ . Why doe I grieve my old age for his madness , that I should suffer punishment for his sins ? grieving was his punishment .

3. This sensitive sorrow is very apt to extinguish sin , it being of a symbolical nature to the design of God , when he strikes a sinner for his amendment : it makes sin to be uneasy to him ; and not onely to be displeasing to his spirit , but to his sense , and consequently that it hath no port to enter any more .

4. It is a great satisfaction to an inquisitive conscience , to whom it is not sufficient that he does repent , unless he be able to prove it by signs and proper indications .

The sum is this . No man can in any sense be said to be a true penitent , unless he wishes he had never done the sin . 2. But he that is told that his sin is presently pardon'd upon repentance , that is , upon leaving it , and asking forgiveness ; and that the former pleasure shall not now hurt him , he hath no reason to wish that he had never done it . 3. But to make it reasonable to wish that the sin had never been done , there must be the feeling or fear of some evil . Conscia mens ut cuique sua est , ita concipit intra Pectora pro meritiis , spémque metúmque suis . 4. According as is the nature of that evil fear'd or felt , so is the passion effected , of hatred , or sorrow . 5. Whatever the passion be it must be totally exclusive of all affection to sin , and produce enmity and fighting against it until it be mortified . 6. In the whole progression of this mortification , it is more then probable that some degrees of sensitive trouble will come in at some angle or other . 7. Though the duty of penitential sorrow it self be completed in nolitione peccati , in the hating of sin , and our selves for doing it , yet the more penal that hate is , the more it ministers to many excellent purposes of repentance .

But because some persons doe not feel this sensitive sorrow , they begin to suspect their repentance , and therefore they are taught to supply this want by a reflex act , that is , to be sorrowful because they are not sorrowful . This I must needs say is a fine device , where it can be made to signify something that is material . But I fear it will not often . For how can a man be sorrowful for not being sorrowful ? For either he hath reason at first to be sorrowful , or he hath not . If he hath not , why should he be sorrowful for not doing an unreasonable act ? If he hath reason , and knows it , it is certain he will be as sorrowful as that cause so apprehended can effect : but he can be no more , and so much he cannot choose but be . But if there be cause to be sorrowful and the man knows it not , then he cannot yet grieve for that ; for he knows no cause , and that is all one as if he had none . But if there be indeed a cause which he hath not considered , then let him be called upon to consider that , and then he will be directly , and truly sorrowful when he hath considered it ; and hath reason to be sorrowful because he had not considered it before , that is , because he had not repented sooner ; but to be sorrowful because he is not sorrowful , can have no other good meaning but this . We are to endevour to be displeased at sin , and to use all the means we can to hate it , that is , when we finde not any sensitive sorrow or pungency of spirit , let us contend to make our intellectual sorrow as great as we can . And if we perceive or suspect we have not true repentance , let us beg of God to give it ; and let us use the proper means of obtaining the grace ; and if we are uncertain concerning the actions of our own heart , let us supply them by prayer , and holy desires ; that if we cannot perceive the grace in the proper shape , and by its own symptoms and indications , we may be made in some measure , humbly confident by other images and reflexions ; by seeing the grace in another shape , so David , Conoupivi desiderare justificationes tuas , I have desired to desire thy justifications ; that is , either I have prayed for that grace , or I have seen that I have that desire , not by a direct observation , but by some other signification . But it is certain , no man can be sorrowful for not being sorrowful , if he means the same kinde and manner of sorrow ; as there cannot be two where there is not one , and there cannot be a reflex ray where there was not a direct .

But if there be such difficulty in the questions of our own sorrow , it were very well that even this part of repentance should be conducted as all the other ought , by the ministery of a spiritual man , that it may be better instructed , and prudently managed , and better discerned , and led on to its proper effects . But when it is so help'd forward , it is more then Contrition , it is Confession also ; of which I am yet to give in special accounts .

§. 3. Of the natures and difference of Attrition and Contrition .

ALL the passions of the irascible faculty are that sorrow in some sense or other which will produce repentance . Repentance cannot kill sin , but by withdrawing the will from it : and the will is not to be withdrawn , but by complying with the contrary affection to that which before did accompany it in evil . Now whatever that affection was , pleasure was the product , it was that which nurs'd or begot the sin : Now as this pleasure might proceed from hope , from possession , from sense , from fancy , from desire , and all the passions of the concupiscible appetite ; so when there is a displeasure conceived , it will help to destroy sin , from what passion soever , of what faculty soever , that displeasure can be produced .

If the displeasure at sin proceeds from any passion of the irascible faculty , it is that which those Divines who understand the meaning of their own words of art commonly call Attrition , that is , A resolving against sin , the resolution proceeding from any principle that is troublesome and dolorous : and in what degree of good that is , appears in the stating of this Question , it is acceptable to God ; not an acceptable repentance , for it is not so much ; but it is a good beginning of it , an acceptable introduction to it , and must in its very nature suppose a sorrow , or displeasure , in which although according to the quality of the motives of attrition , or the disposition of the penitent , there is more or less sensitive trouble respectively , yet in all there must be so much sorrow or displeasure , as to cause a dereliction of the sin , or a resolution , at least , to leave it .

But there are some natures so ingenuous , and there are some periods of repentance so perfect , and some penitents have so farre proceeded in the methods of holiness , and pardon , that they are fallen out with sin upon the stock of some principles proceeding from the concupiscible appetite ; such are Love and Hope ; and if these have for their object God , or the Divine promises , it is that noblest principle of repentance or holy life , which Divines call Contrition . For hope cannot be without love of that which is hoped for ; if therefore this hope have for its object , temporal purchases , it is or may be a sufficient cause of leaving sin , according as the power and efficacy of the hope shall be ; but it will not be sufficient towards pardon , unless in its progression , it joyn with some better principle of a spiritual grace . Temporal Hope and temporal Fear may begin Gods work upon our spirits ; but till it be gone farther , we are not in the first step of an actual state of grace . But as attrition proceeds from the motives of those displeasing objects , which are threatned by God to be the evil consequents of sin , relating to eternity ; so Contrition proceeds from objects and motives of desire , which are promises and benefits , received already , or to be received hereafter . But these must also be more then temporal good things : for hopes and fear relating to things ( though promised or threatned in holy Scripture ) are not sufficient incentives of a holy and acceptable repentance , which because it is not a transient act , but a state of holiness , cannot be supported by a transitory and deficient cause , but must wholly rely upon expectation and love of things that are eternal and cannot pass away . Attrition begins with fear , Contrition hath hope and love in it . The first is a good beginning , but it is no more ; before a man can say he is pardoned , he must be gone beyond the first , and arrived at this . The reason is plain ; because although in the beginnings of Repentance there is a great fear , yet the causes of this fear wear away and lessen , according as the repentance goes on , and are quite extinguished , when the penitent hath mortified his sin , and hath received the spirit of adoption , the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the confidence of the sons of God ; but because repentance must be perfect , and must be perpetual during this life , it must also be maintained , and supported by something that is lasting , and will not wear off , and that is hope and love ; Serm. 7. de tempor . according to that of S. Austin , Poenitentiam certam non facit nisi odium peccati & amor Dei. Hatred of sin , and the love of God make repentance firm and sure ; nothing else can do it : but this is a work of time , but such a work that without it be done , our pardon is not perfect .

Now of this Contrition relying upon motives of pleasure and objects of amability , being the noblest principle of action , and made up of the love of God , and holy things , and holy expectations , the product is quite differing from that of attrition , or the imperfect repentance ; for that commencing upon fear or displeasure , is onely apt to produce a dereliction or quitting of our sin , and all the servile affections of frighted or displeased persons . But this would not effect an universal obedience ; which onely can be effected by love and the affection of sons ; which is also the product of those objects , which are the incentives of the divine love , and is called Contrition ; that is , a hatred against sin as being an enemy to God , and all our hopes of enjoying God , whom because this repenting man loves and delights in , he also hates whatsoever God hates , and is really griev'd , for ever having offended so good a God , and for having endangered his hopes of dwelling with him whom he so loves , and therefore now does the quite contrary .

Now this is not usually the beginning of repentance , but is a great progression in it ; and it contains in it obedience . He that is attrite leaves his sin ; but he that is contrite obeys God , and pursues the interests and acquists of vertue : so that Contrition is not onely a sorrow for having offended God , whom the penitent loves ; that is but one act or effect of Contrition ; but Contrition loves God and hates sin , it leaves this , and adheres to him , abstains from evil and does good ; dies to sin , and lives to righteousness , and is a state of pardon and acceptable services .

But then there is a sorrow also proper to it ; For as this grace comes from the noblest passions and apprehensions , so it does operate in the best manner , and to the noblest purposes . It hates sin upon higher contemplations , then he that hates it upon the stock of fear : he hates sin as being against God and Religion , and right reason , that is , he is gone farther from sin : He hates it for it self . Poenitet , ô si quid miserorum creditur ulli , Poenitet , & facto torqueor ipse meo . Cúmque sit exilium , magis est mihi culpa dolori ; Estque pati poenam quàm meruisse minus . That is , not onely the evil effect to himself , but the irregularity and the displeasure to Almighty God are the incentives of his displeasure against sin ; and because in all these passions and affective motions of the minde , there is a sorrow under some shape or other , this sorrow or displeasure is that which is a very acceptable signification , and act of repentance , and yet it is not to be judged of by sense , but by reason , by the caution and enmity against sin : to which this also is to be added :

That if any man enquires , whether or no his hatred against sin proceed from the love of God or no ; that is , whether it be Attrition or Contrition ? he is onely to observe whether he does endevour heartily and constantly to please God by obedience ; for this is love that we keep his commandements : and although sometimes we may tell concerning our love as well as concerning our fear ; yet when the direct principle is not so evident , our onely way left to try , is by the event : That is Contrition which makes us to exterminate and mortify sin , and endevour to keep the Commandements of God . For that is sorrow proceeding from love .

And now it is no wonder if to Contrition , pardon be so constantly annexed , in all the Discourses of Divines ; but unless Contrition be thus understood , and if a single act of something like it , be mistaken for the whole state of this grace , we shall be deceived by applying false promises to a real need , or true promises to an incompetent and uncapable state of things . But when it is thus meant , all the sorrows that can come from this principle are signs of life . His lacrymis vitam damus , & miserescimus ultrè . No man can deny pardon to such penitents , nor cease to joy in such tears .

The sum of the present enquiry is this : Contrition is somtimes used for a part of repentance , somtimes taken for the whole duty . As it is a part , so it is that displeasure at sin , and hatred of it , which is commonly expressed in sorrow , but for ever in the leaving of it . It is somtimes begun with fear , somtimes with shame , and somtimes with kindness , with thankfulness and love ; but Love and Obedience are ever at the latter end of it , though it were not at the beginning : and till then it is called Attrition . But when it is taken for the whole duty it self , as it is always when it is effective of pardon , then the elements of it , or parts of the constitution are fides futuri saeculi & Judicii , fides in promissis & passionibus Christi , timor Divinae majestatis , amor misericordiae , dolor pro peccatis , spes veniae petitio pro gratiâ . Faith in the promises , and sufferings of Christ , an assent to the Article of the day of judgement , and the world to come ; with all the consequent perswasions and practices effected on the spirit , fear of the Divine Majesty , love of his mercy , grief for our sins , begging for grace , hope of pardon , and in this sense it is true , Cor contritum Deus non despiciet , God will never refuse to accept of a heart so contrite .

§. 4. Of Confession .

THe modern Schoolmen make Contrition to include in it , a resolution to submit to the Keyes of the Church ; that is , that Confession to a Priest is a part of Contrition , as Contrition is taken for a part of Repentance : for it is incomplete till the Church hath taken notice of it , but by submission to the Church Tribunal , it is made complete , and not onely so , but that which was but Attrition , is now turned into Contrition , or perfect Repentance . In the examining of this , I shall , because it is reasonable so to doe , change their manner of speaking , that the inquiry may be more material and intelligible . That Contrition does include in it a resolution to submit to the Church Tribunal , must either mean , that godly sorrow does in its nature include a desire of Confession to a Priest , and then the very word confutes the thing ; or else by Contrition they meaning so much of Repentance as is sufficient to pardon , mean also that to submit to the Keyes , or to confess to a Priest is a necessary or integral part of that Repentance , and therefore of Contrition . Concerning the other part of their affirmative , that Attrition is by the Keyes chang'd into Contrition ; this being turned into words fit for men to speak , such men ( I mean ) that would be understood , signifies plainly this : That the most imperfect Repentance towards God , is sufficient if it be brought before the Church ; that is , a little on the penitent mans part , and a little on the Priests part , is disposition enough to the receiving of a pardon : So that , provided you doe all that the Church commands you , you may make the bolder to leave out something of Gods command , which otherwise you might not doe . The Priest may doe half the work for you . These thus represented , I shall consider apart .

1. Confession is an act of Repentance highly requisite to its perfection , and in that regard particularly called upon in holy Scripture . But concerning this , and all the other great exercises , actions or general significations of Repentance , every word singly is used indefinitely for the whole duty of Repentance . Thus Contrition is used by David ; A broken and a contrite heart , O God , thou shalt not despise ; that is , a penitent heart God will not reject . The same also is the usage of Confession by S. John ; 1 Joh. 1.9 . If we confess our sins , he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins , and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness ; that is , if we repent , God hath promised us pardon and his holy Spirit , that he will justifie us , and that he will sanctifie us . And in pursuance of this , the Church called Ecclesiastical Repentance by the name of Exomologesis , which though it was a Greek word , yet both Greeks and Latines used it . Exomolegesis est humiliandi hominis disciplina . So Tertullian . Confession is the discipline of humiliation for a man for his sins : and S. Ambrose calls Confession poenarum compendium , De Abel & Cain . l. 2. c. 9. the sum or abbreviature of penance . And this word was sometimes chang'd , and called Satisfaction : which although the Latine Church in the later ages use onely for corporal austerities , which by way of appropriation they are pleased also to call Penances , yet it was anciently used for the whole course and offices of Ecclesiastical Repentance ; as appears in the Councel of a a Lib. 1. c. ult. Paris , of b b Cap. 37. Agatho , and the c c Cap. 11. third Councel of Toledo . The result and effect of this observation is , that no more be put upon one part or action of Repentance then upon another , to serve ends . For pardon of sins is promis'd to the penitent under single words ; under Contrition , under Sorrow , under Alms , under judging our selves , under Confession ; but no one of these alone is sufficient for pardon : and when pardon is promised to any one , they must mean the whole duty ; for when the whole effect is ascribed to a part , that part stands for the whole , and meanes more then a part .

2. But concerning Confession as it is a special act of Repentance , the first thing that is to be said of it , is that it is due onely to God ; for he is the person injured , sin is the prevarication of his laws , he is our Judge , and he onely can pardon , as he onely can punish eternally . Non tibi dico ut tua peccata tanquam in pompam in publicum proferas , neque ut te accuses , sed ut pareas Prophetae dicenti , Psa. 36.5 . Revela Domino viam tuam . Apud Deum ea confitere , apud Judicem confitere peccata tua , orans si non linguâ , saltem memoriâ , & ita roga ut tui misereatur . I doe not enjoyn thee to betray thy self to the publick ear , bringing thy sins as into a Theatre , but obey the Prophet , saying , Reveal thy way unto the Lord . Confess to God , confess to thy Judge ; praying if not with thy tongue , yet at least with thy minde , and pray so that thou mayest be heard . So S. Chrysostome . In Ep. ad Heb. hom. 31. And upon those words of S. Paul , Let a man examine himself , he saith , Non revelavit ulcus , non in commune Theatrum accusationem produxit , &c. He did not reveal his ulcer , he did not bring his accusation into the common Theatre ; he made none witness of his sins , but in his conscience , none standing by , God onely excepted who sees all things . And again , upon that of the Psalm , My sin is alwayes against me ; if thou art ashamed to speak it to any one , say them daily in thy minde : I doe not say that thou confess them to thy fellow servant who may upbraid thee ; say them to God . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Let this judicatory be without assessors or witnesses , let God alone see thy confession . Quod si verecundiâ retrahente , revelare ea coram hominibus erubescis , illi quem latere non possunt confiteri ea jugi supplicatione non desinas , ac dicere , Iniquitatem me am agnosco &c. qui & absque ullius verecundiae publicatione curare , & sine improperio peccata donare consuevit . Collat. 20. c. 8. So Cassian in the imitation of S. Ambrose * * In Lucae cap. 22. & Serm. 46. . If bashfulness call thee back , and thou art asham'd to reveal them before men , cease not by a continual supplication to confess them to him from whom they cannot be conceal'd , who without any pressing upon our modesty is wont to cure , and without upbraiding to forgive us our sins . And the Fathers of the Councel of Cabaillon advanc'd this duty by divers sentences of Scripture ; Cap. 33. & habetur de poenit . dist. 1. cap. 90. — ita duntaxat ut & Deo qui remissor est peccatorum confiteamur peccata nostra , & cum David dicamus , Delictum meum cognitum tibi feci , & injustitiam meam non abscondi : Dixi , cenfitebor adversum me injustitias meas Domino , & tu remisisti impietatem peccati mei &c. God is the pardoner of sins , and therefore let us confess to him , and say with David , I have made my sin known unto thee , and mine unrighteousness have I not hid ; I said , I will confess mine iniquity unto Lord , and thou forgavest the wickedness of my sin . But this thing is press'd most earnestly by Laurentius Novarriensis , who because he was a Father of the fift age , his words are of more use , by being a testimony that the Ecclesiastical repentance which we finde to be now press'd by some as simply necessary , De poenit . homil. 1. Biblioth. pp. tom. 2. was not the doctrine of those times . " From that day in which thou goest out of the Font , thou becomest to thy self a continual Font , and a daily remission . There is no ( absolute ) necessity of the Priests right hand : from thence forward God hath appointed thee to be thy own judge , thy own arbiter , and hath given thee knowledge whereby of thy self thou mayest discern good and evil ; and because while thou remainest in the body , thou canst not be free from sin , God hath after baptism plac'd thy remedy within thy self ; he hath plac'd pardon within thy own choice , so that thou art not in the day of thy necessity ( indispensably ) tied to seek a Priest ; but thou thy self as if thou wert a most skilful Doctor and Master , mayest amend thy error within thee , and wash away thy sin by repentance . The fountain is never dry , the water is within thee , absolution is in thy choice , sanctification is in thy diligence , pardon is within the dew of thine own tears Doe not thou therefore look neither for John nor Jordan , be thou thy own baptist , viz. in the baptism of repentance . Thou art defiled after thou art washed , thy bowels are defiled , thy soul is polluted ; plunge thy self in the waters of repentance , cleanse thy self by abundance of tears , let compunction be plentifully in thy bowels , .... and the Lord himself shall baptize thee with the Holy Ghost and with fire , and shall heap the fruits of repentance , and lay them up like wheat , but the chaff of thy sins he shall burn with unquenchable fire . Many testimonies out of Antiquity to the same purpose are to be seen ready collected by Gratian under the title De poenitentiâ .

Now if any one shall inquire to what purpose it is that we should confess our sins to God who already knows them all , especially since to doe so can be no part of mortification to the mans spirit : For if I steal in the presence of my brother , afterwards to tell him who saw me , that I did that which he saw me doe , is no confusion of face . That which will be an answer to this , and make it appear necessary to confess to God , will also make it appear , not to be necessary to confess to men , in respect , I say , of any absolute necessity of the thing , or essential obligation of the person .

I answer , that Confession of sins as it is simply taken for enumeration of the actions and kindes of sin , can signifie nothing as to God , for the reasons now mention'd in the inquiry . But when we are commanded to confess our sins , it is nothing else but another expression or word for the Commandement of Repentance . For , Confess your sins , means , acknowledge that you have done amiss , that you were in the wrong way , that you were a miserable person , wandring out of the paths of God , and the methods of heaven and happiness , that you ought not to have done so , that you have sinn'd against God , and broken his holy laws , and therefore are liable and expos'd to all that wrath of God which he will inflict upon you , or which he threatned . Confession of sins is a justification of God , and a sentencing of our selves . This is not onely certain in the nature of the thing it self ; but apparent also in the words of David ; Psal. 51.4 . Against thee onely have I done this evil ; ut tu justificeris , that thou mightest be justified in thy saying , and clear when thou art judged . That is , if I be a sinner , then art thou righteous and just in all the evils thou inflictest . So that Confession of sins is like Confession of faith , nothing but a signification of our conviction ; it is a publication of our dislike of sin , and a submission to the law of God , and a deprecation of the consequent evils . Confessio error is , In Ps. 135. professio est desinendi , said S. Hilary : a confession of our sin , is a profession that we will leave it ; and again , Confessio peccati ea est , ut ià quod à te gestum est per confessionem peccati confitearis esse peccatum . That is confession of sins , not that we enumerate the particulars , and tell the matter of fact to him that remembers them better then we can , but it is a condemning of the sin it self , an acknowledging that we have done foolishly , a bringing it forth to be crucified and killed . This is apparent also in the case of Achan , who was sufficiently convict of the matter of fact by the Divine disposing of lots , which was one of the ways by which God answered the secret inquiries of the Jews ; but when he was brought forth to punishment , Joshua 7.19 . Joshua said unto him , My son , give I pray thee , glory to the Lord God of Israel , and make confession unto him ; that is , acknowledge the answer of God to be true , and his judgement upon us not to be causless . To this answers that part of Achans reply ; Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel . There God was justified , and the glory was given to him , that is , the glory of his Truth and his Justice ; but then Joshua addes , and tell me now what thou hast done ; hide it not from me . Here it was fit he should make a particular enumeration of the fact ; and so he did to Joshua saying , Thus and thus have I done . For to confess to man ; is another thing then to confess to God . Men need to be informed , God needs it not ; but God is to be justified and glorified in the sentence and condemnation of the sin or the sinner : and in order to it , we must confess our sin , that is , condemne it , confess it to be a sin , and our selves guilty , and standing at Gods mercy . S. In 1 Corhom . 28. Chrysostom upon those words of S. Paul , If we would judge our selves , we should not be judged , hath these words , He saith not , if we would chastise our selves , if we would punish our selves , but onely , if we would acknowledge our sins , if we would condemn our selves , if we would give sentence against our sins , we should be freed from that punishment which is due both here and there . For he that hath condemned himself , appeases God upon a double account ; both because he hath acknowledged the sins past , and is more careful for the future . To this confession of sins is opposed , the denying our sin , our hiding it from God as Adam did , that is , either by proceeding in it , or by not considering it , or by excusing it , or by justifying it , or by glorying in it : all these are high provocations of Gods anger ; but this anger is taken off by confession . Psal. 95.2 . Praeveniamus faciem eius in confessione , said the Psalmist : Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving ; so we reade it ; let us prevent his anger , or , let us goe before his face with confession , so the old Latin Bibles : which is a doing as the Prodigal did , I will goe unto my Father , and say unto him , Father I have sinned against heaven and against thee : and this is the first act of exterior repentance ; but it is of that repentance that is indispensably necessary to salvation ; Acts 20.21 . this is Repentance towards God , which the Apostles preach'd in the first publication of Christianity .

But then besides this , there is a Repentance towards men , and a Confession in order to it . If I have sinn'd against my brother , I must ask his pardon and confess my error , that is , I must repent or confess to him ; for he that is the injur'd person hath a right over me ; I am his debtor , and oblig'd ; and he can forgive me if he please , and he may choose : that is , I must pay him the debt I owe him , unless he will be pleased to remit it . For God in his infinite wisdome and goodness , and justice hath taken care to secure every mans interest ; and he that takes any thing from me , is bound by Gods law to restore it , and to restore me to that state of good things from whence he forc'd me . Now because for the injury which I have already suffered , he cannot make me equal amends , because what ever he does to me for the future , still it is true that I did suffer evil from him formerly ; therefore it is necessary that I doe what I can to the reparation of that ; but because what is done and past cannot be undone , I must make it up as well as I can ; that is , I must confess my sin , and be sorry for it , and submit to the judgement of the offended party , and he is bound to forgive me the sin ; and I am bound to make just and prudent amends according to my power ; for here every one is bound to doe his share . If the offending person hath done his part of duty , the offended must do his , that is , he must forgive him that wrong'd him ; if he will not , God will untie the penitent man , and with the same chain fast binde him that is uncharitable .

But my brother may be hurt by me , though I have taken nothing from him , nor intended him injury . He may be scandalized by my sin , that is , tempted to sin , incouraged in his vileness , or discontented and made sorrowful for my unworthiness and transgression . In all these cases it is necessary that we repent to them also ; that is , that we make amends not only by confession to God , but to our brethren also . For when we acknowledge our folly , we affright them from it ; and by repentance we give them caution , that they may not descend into the same state of infelicity . And upon this account all publick criminals were tied to a publick Exomologesis or Repentance in the Church , who by confession of their sins , acknowledged their error , and entred into the state of repentance ; and by their being separate from the participation and communion of the mysteries , were declared unworthy of a communion with Christ , and a participation of his promises , till by repentance , and the fruits worthy of it , they were adjudged capable of Gods pardon .

At the first this was as the nature of the thing exacted it , in case of publick and notorious crimes , such which had done injury , and wrought publick scandal : and so far was necessary , that the Church should be repaired if she have been injured : if publick satisfaction be demanded , it must be done ; if private be required onely , then that is sufficient ; though in case of notorious crimes it were very well , if the penitent would make his repentance as exemplary as Modesty , and his own and the publick circumstances can permit .

In pursuance of this in the Primitive Church , the Bishop and whom he deputed , did minister to these publick satisfactions and amends ; which custome of theirs admitted of variety and change according as new scandals or new necessities did arise . For though by the nature of the thing , they onely could be necessarily and essentially obliged who had done publick and notorious offences ; yet some observing the advantages of that way of repentance , the prayers of the Church , the tears of the Bishop , the compassion of the faithful , the joy of absolution and reconciliation , did come in voluntarily , and to doe that by choice , which the notorious criminals were to do of necessity .

Then the Priests which the penitents had chosen , did publish or enjoyn them to publish their sins in the face of the Church , but this grew into lerable , and was left off , because it grew to be a matter of accusation before the criminal Judge , and of upbraiding in private conversation , and of confidence to them that sought for occasion and hardness of heart and face , and therefore they appointed one onely Priest to hear the cases , and receive the addresses of the penitents ; and he did publish the sins of them that came , onely in general , and by the publication of their penances , and their separation from the mysteries ; and this also changed into the more private ; and by several steps of progression dwindled away into private repentance towards men , that is , confession to a Priest in private , and private satisfactions , or amends and fruits of repentance : and now , Auricular Confession is nothing else but the publick Exomologesis , or Repentance Ecclesiastical reduced to ashes ; it is the relicks of that excellent Discipline , which was in some cases necessary ( as I have declared ) and in very many cases useful , until by the dissolution of manners , and the extinction of charity it became unsufferable , and a bigger scandal then those which it did intend to remedy . The result is this . That to enumerate our sins before the Holy man that ministers in holy things , that is , Confession to a Priest is not virtually included in the duty of Contrition ; for it not being necessary by the nature of the thing , nor the Divine Commandement , is not necessary absolutely , and properly , in order to pardon ; and therefore is no part of Contrition which without this may be a sufficient disposition towards pardon , unless by accident , as in the case of scandal , the criminal come to be obliged . Onely this one advantage is to be made of their doctrine who speak otherwise in this article . The Divines in the Councel of Trent * * Sess. 14. c. 4. affirm , that they that are contrite are reconciled to God before they receive the Sacrament of penance , ( as they use to speak ) that is , before Priestly absolution . If then a man can be contrite before the Priest absolves him , as their saying supposes , and as it is certain they may , and if the desire of absolution be as they say included in Contrition , and consequently that nothing is wanting to obtain pardon to the penitent even before the Priest absolves him ; it follows that the Priests absolution following this perfect disposition , and this actual pardon , can effect nothing really ; the man is pardon'd before-hand , and therefore his absolution is onely declarative . God pardons the man , and the Priest by his office is to tell him so , when he sees cause for it , and observes the conditions completed . Indeed if absolution by the Minister of the Church were necessary , then to desire it also would be necessary , and an act of duty and obedience ; but then if the desire ( in case it were necessary to desire it ) would make Contrition to be complete and perfect , and if perfect contrition does actually procure a pardon , then the Priestly absolution is onely a solemn and legal publication of Gods pardon already actually past in the Court of heaven . For an effect cannot proceed from causes which are not yet in being ; and therefore the pardon of the sins for which the penitent is contrite , cannot come from the Priests ministration which is not in some cases to be obtain'd , but desir'd only , and afterwards when it can be obtain'd , comes when the work is done . God it may be accepts the desire , but the Priests ministery afterwards is not , cannot be the cause , why God did accept of that desire ; because the desire is accepted , before the absolution is in being .

But now although this cannot be a necessary duty for the reasons before reckon'd , because the Priest is not the injur'd person , and therefore cannot have the power of giving pardon properly , and sufficiently , and effectively ; and confession is not an amends to him , and the duty it self of Confession is not an enumeration of particulars , but a condemnation of the sin , which is an humiliation before the offended party yet confession to a Priest , the minister of pardon and reconciliation , the Curate of souls , and the Guide of Consciences is of so great use and benefit to all that are heavy laden with their sins , that they who carelesly and causlesly neglect it , are neither lovers of the peace of consciences , nor are careful for the advantages of their souls .

For the publication of our sins to the minister of holy things , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 said Basil , Regul. brev. 229. is just like the manifestation of the diseases of our body to the Physitian , for God hath appointed them as spiritual Physicians ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to heal sinners by the antidote of repentance , said the Fathers in the first Roman Councel under Simplicius . Their office is to comfort the comfortless , to instruct the ignorant , to reduce the wanderers , to restore them that are overtaken in a fault , to reconcile the penitent , to strengthen the weak , and to incourage their labours , to advise remedies against sins , and to separate the vile from the precious , to drive scandals far from the Church , and as much as may be to secure the innocent lambs from the pollutions of the infected . Now in all these regards , the penitent may have advantages from the Ecclesiastical ministrations . There are many cases of conscience , which the penitent cannot determine , many necessities which he does not perceive , many duties which he omits , many abatements of duty which he ignorantly or presumptuously does make ; much partiality in the determination of his own interests ; and to build up a soul requires so much wisdome , so much severity , so many arts , such caution and observance such variety of notices , great learning , great prudence , great piety ; that as all Ministers are not worthy of that charge , and secret imployment , and conduct of others in the more mysterious and difficult parts of Religion ; so it is certain , there are not many of the people that can worthily and sufficiently doe it themselves : and therefore although we are not to tell a lie for a good end , and that it cannot be said that God hath by an express law required it , or that it is necessary in the nature of things ; yet to some persons it hath put on so many degrees of charity and prudence , and is so apt to minister to their superinduc'd needs ; that although to doe it , is not a necessary obedience , yet it is a necessary charity ; it is not necessary in respect of a positive express Commandement , yet it is in order to certain ends which cannot be so well provided for by any other instrument : it hath not in it an absolute , but it may have a relative and a superinduc'd necessity . Coelestíque viro , Ovid. lib. 1. Trist. eleg . 3. quis te deceperit error , Dicito , pro culpâ ne scelus esse putet . Now here a particular enumeration is the confession that is proper to this ministery ; because the minister must be instructed first in the particulars ; which also points out to us the manner of his assistances , and of our obligation ; it is that we may receive helps by his office and abilities , which can be better applied , by how much more minute and particular the enumeration or confession is ; and of this circumstance there can be no other consideration : excepting that the enumeration of shames and follies before a holy man is a very great restraint to the gayeties of a confident , or of a tempted person : For though a man dares sin in the presence of God , yet he dares not let his friend or his enemy see him doe a foul act : Tam facile & pronum est superos contemnere testes , Si mortalis idem nemo sciat — and therefore that a reverend man shall see his shame , and with a severe and a broad eye look and stare upon his dishonour , must needs be a great part of Gods restraining grace , and of great use to the mortification and prevention of sin .

One thing more there is which is highly considerable in this part or ministery of repentance ; It is a great part of that preparation which is necessary for him who needs , and for him who desires absolution Ecclesiastical . Some doe need , and some doe desire it ; and it is of advantage to both . They that need it , and are bound to seek it , are such , who being publickly noted by the Church , are bound by her Censures and Discipline : that is , such who because they have given evil example to all , and encouragement in evil to some , to them that are easy and apt to take ; are tied by the publication of their repentance , their open return , and publick amends to restore the Church so far as they can to that state of good things from whence their sin did or was apt to draw her . This indeed is necessary , and can in no regard be excused , if particular persons do not submit themselves to it , unless the Church her self will not demand it , or advise it ; and then if there be an error , or a possibility to have it otherwise , the Governours of the Church are onely answerable . And in this sense are those decretory sayings , and earnest advices of the ancient Doctors to be understood . Laicus si peccet , ipse suum non potest auferre peccatum , sed indiget Sacerdote ut possit remissionem peccatorum accipere , said Origen . Hom. 10. in Num. If any of the people sin , himself cannot take away his own sin , but must shew himself to the Priest , that he may obtain pardon . For they who are spotted with sins , unless they be cured with the Priestly authority , cannot be in the bosome of the Church , said Fabianus Martyr . And as express are those words of S. Basil ; Regul. fus . explic . & Regul. brev. 228. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . And , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . It behooveth every one that is under authority , to keep no motion of their hearts secret , but to lay the secrets of their heart naked before them who are intrusted to take care of them that are weak or sick . That is , the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the publick penitents , who are placed in the station of the mourners , must not doe their business imperfectly , but make a perfect narrative of their whole case to the penitentiary Minister : and such persons who are under discipline , or under notorious sins , must make their Exomologesis , that is , doe Ecclesiastical repentance before them who are the Trustees and Stewards of the mysteries of God : Quâ sine nullus remissione potietur , said a Father to S. John de Gradibus : without which Exomologesis , or publick Ecclesiastical confession , or amends , no man shall obtain pardon : meaning , the peace of the Church . Encbirid . c. 65. For to this sense we are to understand the doctrine of the holy Fathers , and we learn it from S. Austin . Rectè constituuntur ab iis qui Ecclesiae praesunt tempora poenitentiae , ut fiat etiam satis Ecclesiae , in quâ remittuntur ipsa peccata . Extra eam quippe non remittuntur . The times of penance are with great reason appointed by Ecclesiastical Governours , that the Church in whose communion sins are forgiven , may be satisfied . For out of her , there is no forgiveness .

For in this case the Church hath a power of binding , and retaining sins and sinners ; that is , a denying to them the privileges of the faithful , till they by publick repentance and satisfaction have given testimony of their return to Gods favour and service . The Church may deny to pray publickly for some persons , and refuse to admit them into the society of those that doe pray , and refuse till she is satisfied concerning them , by such signs and indications as she will appoint and choose . For it appears in both Testaments , that those who are appointed to pray for others , to stand between God and the people , had it left in their choice sometimes , and sometimes were forbidden to pray for certain criminals . Thus God gave to the Prophet charge concerning Ephraim : Jer. 7.16 . Pray not thou for this people , neither lift up cry nor prayer for them , neither make intercession for them , for I will not hear thee . Like to this was that of S. John ; There is a sin unto death . I say not that ye pray for him that sins unto death ; that is , doe not admit such persons to the communion of prayers and holy offices ; at least the Church may choose whether she will or no.

The Church in her Government and Discipline had two ends , and her power was accordingly , apt to minister to these ends ; 1. By condemning and punishing the sin , she was to doe what she could to save the criminal ; that is , by bringing him to repentance & a holy life , to bring him to pardon : 2. And if she could , or if she could not effect this , yet she was to remove the scandal , and secure the flock from infection ; This was all that was needful , this was all that was possible to be done . In order to the first , the Apostles had some powers extraordinary , which were indeed necessary at the beginning of the Religion , not onely for this , but for other ministrations . The Apostles had power to binde sinners ; that is , to deliver them over to Satan , and to sad diseases , or death it self : and they had power to loose sinners , that is , to cure their diseases , to unloose Satans bands , to restore them to Gods favour and pardon .

This manner of speaking was used by our blessed Saviour in this very case of sickness and infirmity : Ought not this woman , a daughter of Abraham , whom Satan hath bound , lo these eighteen years , be loosed from this band on the Sabbath day ? The Apostles had this power of binding and loosing ; and that this is the power of remitting and retaining sins , appears without exception , in the words of our blessed Saviour to the Jews , who best understood the power of forgiving sins by seeing the evil which sin brought on the guilty person taken away . That ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins ; He saith to the man sick of the palsy , Arise , take up thy bed and walk . For there is a power in heaven , and a power on earth to forgive sins . The power that is in heaven , is the publick absolution of a sinner at the day of judgement . The power on earth to forgive sins , is a taking off those intermedial evils which are inflicted in the way ; sicknesses , temporal death , loss of the Divine grace , and of the privileges of the faithful ; These Christ could take off when he was upon earth , and his heavenly Father sent him to do all this , to heal all sicknesses , and to cure all infirmities , and to take away our sins , and to preach glad tidings to the poor , and comfort to the afflicted , and rest to the weary and heavy laden , The other judgement is to be perform'd by Christ at his second coming .

Now as God the Father sent his Son , so his holy Son sent his Apostles , with the same power on earth to binde and loose sinners , to pardon sins by taking away the material evil effects which sin should superinduce ; or to retain sinners by binding them in sad and hard bands to bring them to reason , or to make others afraid . Thus S. Peter sentenc'd Ananias and Saphira to a temporal death : and S. Paul stroke Elymas with blindness , and deliver'd over the incestuous Corinthian to be beaten by an evil spirit , and so also he did to Hymenaeus and Alexander .

But this was an extraordinary power , and not to descend upon the succeeding ages of the Church : but it was in this as in all other ministeries ; something miraculous and extraordinary , was for ever to consign a lasting truth and ministery in ordinary . The preaching of the Gospel , that is , faith it self , at first , was prov'd by miracles ; and the holy Ghost was given by signs and wonders , and sins were pardon'd by the gifts of healing ; and sins were retained by the hands of an angel , and the very visitation of the sick was blessed with sensible and strange recoveries ; and every thing was accompanied with a miracle , excepting the two Sacraments , in the administration of which we doe not finde any mention of any thing visibly miraculous in the records of holy Scripture ; and the reason is plain , because these two Sacraments were to be for ever the ordinary ministeries of those graces which at first were consign'd by signs and wonders extraordinary . For in all ages of the Church reckoning exclusively from the days of the Apostles , all the graces of the Gospel , all the promises of God were conveyed , or consign'd , or fully ministred by these Sacraments , and by nothing else , but what was in order to them . These were the inlets and doors by which all the faithful were admitted into the outer Courts of the Lords Temple , or into the secrets of the Kingdome ; and the solemnities themselves were the keys of these doors ; and they that had the power of ministration of them , they had the power of the keys .

These then being the whole Ecclesiastical power , and the sum of their ministrations , were to be dispensed according to the necessities and differing capacities of the sons and daughters of the Church . The Thessalonians who were not furnished with a competent number of Ecclesiastical Governours , were commanded to abstain from the company of the brethren that walk'd disorderly . S. John wrote to the Elect Lady , that she should not entertain in her house false Apostles : and when the former way did expire of it self , and by the change of things , and the second advice was not practicable and prudent , they were reduced to the onely ordinary ministery of remitting and retaining sins , by a direct admitting , or refusing and deferring to admit criminals to their ministeries of pardon , which were now onely left in the Church , as their ordinary power and ministration . For since in this world all our sins are pardon'd by those ways and instruments which God hath constituted in the Church ; and there are no other external rites appointed by Christ but the Sacraments , it follows , that as they are worthily communicated or justly denied , so the pardon is or is not ministred .

And therefore when the Church did binde any sinner by the bands of Discipline , she did remove him from the mysteries , and sometimes enjoyn'd external or internal acts of repentance , to testify and to exercise the grace , and so to dispose them to pardon ; and when the penitents had given such testimonies which the Church demanded , then they were absolved , that is , they were admitted to the mysteries . For in the primitive records of the Church , there was no form of absolution judicial , nothing but giving them the holy Communion , admitting them to the peace of the Church , to the society and privileges of the faithful For this was giving them pardon , by vertue of those words of Christ , Whose sins ye remit they are remitted ; that is , if ye who are the Stewards of my family shall admit any one to the Kingdom of Christ on earth , they shall be admitted to the participation of Christs Kingdom in Heaven ; and what ye binde here , shall be bound there ; that is , if they be unworthy to partake of Christ here , they shall be accounted unworthy to partake of Christ hereafter ; if they separate from Christs members , they also shall be separate from the head ; and this is the full sense of the power given by Christ to his Church , concerning sins and sinners , called by S. Paul , the word of reconciliation .

For as for the other later and superinduc'd Ministery of pardon in judicial forms of absolution ; that is wholly upon other accounts , of good use indeed , to all them that desire it by reason of their present perswasions and scruples , fears and jealousies concerning the event of things . For sometimes it happens what one said of old ; Mens nostra difficillimè sedatur ; Deus faciliùs . God is sooner at peace with us , then we are at peace with our own mindes ; and because our repentances are always imperfect ; and he who repents the most excellently , and hates his sin with the greatest detestation , may possibly by his sense of the foulness of his sin , undervalue his repentance , and suspect his sorrow , and because every thing is too little to deserve pardon , he may think it is too little to obtain it ; and the man may be melancholy , and melancholy is fearful , and fear is scrupulous , and scruples are not to be satisfied at home , and not very easily abroad ; in the midst of these and many other disadvantages , it will be necessary that he whose office it is to separate the vile from the precious , and to judge of leprosie , should be made able to judge of the state of this mans repentance , and upon notice of particulars , to speak comfort to him or something for institution . For then if the Minister of holy things shall think fit to pronounce absolution , that is , to declare that he believes him to be a true penitent and in the state of grace , it must needs adde much comfort to him and hope of pardon , not only upon the confidence of his wisdome and spiritual learning , but even from the prayers of the holy man , and the solemnity of his ministration ; To pronounce absolution in this case , is to warrant him so farre as his case is warrantable : That is , to speak comfort to him that is in need : to give sentence in a case which is laid before him ; in which the party interested , either hath no skill , or no confidence , or no comfort . Now in this case to dispute whether the Priests power be Judicial , or Optative , or Declarative , is so wholly to no purpose ; that this sentence is no part of any power at all ; but it is his office to do it , and is an effect of wisdom , not of power ; it is like the answering of a question , which indeed ought to be askt of him ; as every man prudently is to inquire in every matter of concernment , from him who is skill'd and experienced , and profest in the faculty . But the Priests proper power of absolving , that is , of pardoning ( which is in no case communicable to any man who is not consecrated to the Ministery ) is a giving the penitent the means of eternal pardon , the admitting him to the sacraments of the Church , and the peace and communion of the faithful ; because that is the only way really to obtain pardon of God ; there being in ordinary no way to heaven but by serving God in the way which he hath commanded us by his Son , that is , in the way of the Church , which is his body , whereof he is Prince and Head . The Priest is the Minister of holy things ; he does that by his Ministery , which God effects by real dispensation ; and as he gives the Spirit not by authority and proper efflux , but by assisting and dispensing those rites , and promoting those graces which are certain dispositions to the receiving of him : just so he gives pardon ; not as a thing does it ; nor yet as a Messenger ; that is , not by way of authority and real donation ; nor yet only by declaration : but as a Rhysician gives health ; that is , he gives the remedy which God appoints ; and if he does so , and if God blesses the medicines , the person recovers , and God gives the health .

For it is certain that the holy man who ministers in repentance hath no other proper power of giving pardon then what is now described . Because he cannot pardon them who are not truly penitent , and if the sinner be , God will pardon him , whether The Priest does or no ; and what can be the effect of these things , but this ; that the Priest does only minister to the pardon , as he ministers to repentance ? He tells us upon what conditions God does pardon , and judges best when the conditions are performed , and sets forward those conditions by his proper ministery , and ministers to us the instruments of grace , but first takes accounts of our soules , and helps us who are otherwise too partial , to judge severe , and righteous judgement concerning our eternal interest , and he judges for us , and does exhort or reprove , admonish or correct , comfort or humble , loose or binde . So the Minister of God , is the Minister of reconciliation : that is , he is the Minister of the Gospel ; for that is the Word of Reconciliation which S. Paul affirms to be intrusted to him : in every office by which the holy man ministers to the Gospel , in every of them he is the Minister of pardon .

But concerning that which we call Absolution , that is , a pronouncing the person to be absolved ; it is certain that the forms of the present use , were not used for many ages of the Church : In the Greek Church they were never used ; and for the Latine Church in Thomas Aquinas his time they were so new that he put it into one of his Quaestiones disputatae whether form were more fit , the Optative or the Judicial ; whether it were better to say ; [ God of his mercy pardon thee ] or [ by his authority committed to me , I absolve thee ] and in Peter Lombards days when it was esteemed an innocent doctrine to say that the Priests power was only declarative , it is likely the form of absolution would be according to the power believed ; which not being then universally believed to be Judicial , the Judicial form could not be of universal use ; and in the Pontifical there is no Judicial form at all ; but only Optative or by way of prayer . But in this affair , besides what is already mentioned ; I have two great things to say which are a sufficient determination of this whole article .

1. The first is , that in the Primitive Church there was no such thing as a judicial absolution of sins used in any Liturgy , or Church , so far as can appear ; but all the absolution of penitents which is recorded , was the meer admitting them to the mysteries and society of the faithful in religious offices , the sum and perfection of which was the holy Sacrament of the Lords Supper . So the fourth Councel of Carthage Can. 76. makes provision for a penitent that is neer death ; reconcilietur per manus impositionem , & infundatur ori ejus Eucharistia : let him be reconciled by the imposition of hands , and let the Eucharist be poured into his mouth : that was all the solemnity ; even when there was the greatest need of the Churches ministery ; that is , before their penances and satisfactions were completed . The Priest or Bishop laid his hands upon him , and prayed , and gave him the Communion . For that this was the whole purpose of imposition of hands , we are taught expressely by S. Austin , Lib. 3. de baptism . cap. 16. who being to prove that imposition of hands , viz. in repentance , might be repeated , though baptisme might not ; uses this for an argument , Quid enim est aliud nisi oratio super hominem ? It is nothing else but a Prayer said over the man . And indeed this is evident and notorious in matter of fact ; for in the beginning and in the progression , in the several periods of publick repentance and in the consummation of it , the Bishop or the Priest did very often impose hands , that is , pray over the penitent ; Tertio tomo con. Gall. c. 8. & 11. as appears in Is . Ling. from the authority of the Gallican Councels : Omni tempore jejuniis manus poenitentibus à Sacerdotibus imponantur : and again , Criminalia peccata multis jejuniis , & crebris manus sacerdotum impositionibus , eorúmque supplicationibus juxta Canonum statuta placuit purgari . Criminal , that is , great sins must according to the Canons be purged with much fasting and frequent impositions of the Priests hands , and their supplications . In every time or period of their fast , let the Priests hands be laid upon the penitents : that is , let the Priests frequently pray with him , and for him , or over him . The same with that which he also observes out of the Nicene Councel ; Cap. 16. & 17. Vultu & capite humiliato humilitèr & ex corde veniam postulent , & pro se or are exposcant : that 's the intent of imposition of hands ; let the penitent humbly ask pardon that is , desire that the holy man and all the Church would pray for him : This in every stage or period of repentance was a degree of reconciliation : for as God pardons a sinner when he gives him time to repent ; he pardons him in one degree , that is , he hath taken off that anger which might justly and instantly crush him all in pieces , and God pardons him yet more when he exhorts him to repentance , and yet more when he inclines him , and as he proceeds , so does God , but the pardon is not ful , and final till the repentance is so too : So does the Minister of repentance and pardon : Those only are in the unpardoned state who are cut off from all entercourse in holy things , with holy persons , in holy offices ; when they are admitted to do repentance , they are admitted to the state of pardon ; and every time the Bishop , or Minister prayes for him , he still sets him forwarder towards the final pardon ; but then the penitent is fully reconciled on earth , when having done his repentance towards men , that is , by the commands of the Church , he is admitted to the holy Communion ; and if that be sincerely done on the penitents part , and this be maturely and prudently done on the Priests part ; as the repentance towards men was a repentance also towards God : so the absolution before men is a certain indication of absolution before God : But as to the main question ; Then the Church only did reconcile penitents when she admitted them to the Communion ; and therefore in the second Councel of Carthage , Can. 4. absolution is called , reconciliari Divinis altaribus , a being reconciled to the altar of God : and in the Councel of Eliberis , Communione reconciliari , a being reconciled by receiving the Communion , Can. 72. opposite to which in the same Canon is , Communionem non accipiat ; he may not receive the Communion , that is , he shall not be absolved . The same is to be seen in the 8th Canon of the Councel of Ancyra , in the second Canon of the Councel of Laodicea , in the 85 epistle of P. Leo ; Can. 12. and the first epistle of P. Vigilius , and in the third Councel of Toledo , we finde the whole processe of binding and loosing described in these words : Because we finde that in certain Churches of Spain men doe not according to the Canons but unworthily repent them of their sins , that so often as they please to sin , so often they desire of the Priest to be reconciled : therefore for the restraining so execrable a presumption ; it is commanded by the holy Councel that repentance should be given according to the form of the ancient Canons ; that is , that he who repents him of his doings , being first suspended from the Communion , he should amongst the other penitents often runne to the imposition of hands , that is , to the Prayers of the Bishop and the Church : but when the time of his satisfaction is compleated , according as the Priests prudence shall approve , let him restore him to the Communion . That 's the absolution , as the rejecting him from it was the binding him ; It was an excommunication ; from which when he was restored to the Communion , he was loosed : And this was so known , so universal a practice , and processe of Ecclesiastical repentance , that without any alteration ( as to the main inquiry ) it continued so in the Church to very many ages succeeding , and it was for a long while together the custome of penitent people in the beginning of Lent to come voluntarily to receive injunctions of discipline and penitential offices from the Priest , and to abstain from the holy Communion till they had done their penances , and then by ceremonies and prayers to be restored to the Communion at Easter ; without any other form of Judicial absolution , De divers . Offic. c. 13. & 16. as is to be seen in Albinus and in the Romane Pontifical * To which this consideration may be added ; That the reconciling of penitents in the Primitive Church , was not done by the Bishop or Priest only ; but sometimes by Deacons , as appears in Saint Cyprian ; lib. 3. Ep. 17. 2 Cor. 2.10 . de Consecra . dist. 4 cap. Sanctum . and sometimes by the people , as it was allowed by S. Paul in the case of the incestuous Corinthian ; and was frequently permitted to the Confessors in the times of persecution ; and may be done by an unbaptized Catechumen , as S. Austin affirms . The result of which is , that this absolution of penitents in the Court Christian , was not an act of Priestly power incommunicably ; it was not a dispensation of the proper power of the keys , but to give , or not to give the Communion ; that was an effect of the power of the keys ; that was really , properly , and in effect , the Ecclesiastical absolution ; for that which the Deacons , or Confessors , the Laics or Catechumens did , was all that , and only that which was of rite or ceremony before the giving the Communion : therefore that which was besides this giving the Communion was no proper absolution ; it was not a priestly act indispensably ; it might be done by them that were no Priests : but the giving of the Communion , that was a sacerdotal act , I mean the consecration of it ; though the tradition of it , was sometimes by Deacons , sometimes by themselves at home : This therefore was the dispensation of the keys ; this was the effect of the powers of binding and loosing , of remitting , or retaining sins , according as the sense and practice of the Church expounded her own power . The prayers of the Priest going before his ministration of the Communion were called absolution ; Isaac Lin. tit. 1 c. 16. that is , the beginning , and one of the first portions of it : absolutio Sacerdotalium precum ; so it was called in ancient Councels ; the Priest imposed hands , and prayed ; and then gave the Communion . This was the ordinary way . But there was an extraordinary .

For in some cases the imposition of hands was omitted ; that is , when the Bishop or Priest was absent ; and the Deacon prayed , or the Confessor : but this was first by the leave of the Bishop or Priest , for to them it belong'd in ordinary . And 2. this was nothing else but a taking them from the station of the penitents and a placing them amongst the faithful communicants ; either by declaring that their penances were performed , or not to be exacted .

For by this we shall be clear of an objection which might arise from the case of dying penitents ; to whom the Communion was given , and they restored to the peace of the Church , that is , as they supposed , to Gods mercy and the pardon of sins ; for they would not chuse to give the Communion to such persons whom they did not believe God had pardoned : but these persons though communicated ; Can. 78. non tamen se credant absolutos sine manus impositione si supervixerint , were not to suppose themselves absolved if they recovered that sicknesse without imposition of hands ; said the Fathers of the 4th Councel of Carthage , by which it should seem , absolution was a thing distinct from giving the Communion .

To this I answer , that the dying penitent was fully absolved , in case he had receiv'd the first imposition of hands for repentance , that is , if in his health he submitted himself to penance , and publick amends , and was prevented from finishing the impositions , they supposed that desire and endevour of the penitent man was a worthy disposition to the receiving the holy Communion and both together sufficient for pardon , but because this was only to be in the case of such intervening necessity , and God will not accept of the will for the deed , but in such cases where the deed cannot be accomplished , therefore they bound such penitents to return to their first obligation in case they should recover , since God had taken off their necessity , and restored them to their first capacity . And by this we understand the meaning of the third Canon of the first Arausican Councel . They who having received penance depart from the body , it pleases that they shall be communicated sine reconciliatoriâ manus impositione , without the reconciling imposition of hands ; that is , because the penitential imposition of hands was imposed upon them , and they did what they could , though the last imposition was not , though the last hand was not put upon them , declaring that they had done their penances , and compleated their satisfactions , yet they might be communicated , that is , absolved ; quod morientis sufficit consolationi , this is enough to the comfort of the dying man according to the definition of the Fathers who conveniently enough called such a Communion their Viaticum , their Passeport or provision for their way . For there were two solemn impositions of hands in repentance ; The first and greatest was in the first admission of them and in the imposition of the Disciplne or manner of performing penances : and this was the Bishops office ; and of great consideration amongst the holy Primitives ; and was never done but by the superiour Clergy , as is evident in Ecclesiastical story . The second solemn imposition of hands was immediatly before their absolution or Communion ; and it was a holy prayer and publication that he was accepted and had finished that processe : This was the lesse solemn , and was ordinarily done by the superiour Clergy ; but sometimes by others , as I have remonstrated : other intermedial impositions there were , as appears by the Creber recursus mentioned in the 3d Councel of Toledo above cited ; the penitents were often to beg the Bishops pardon , or the Priests prayers , and the advocations and intercessions of the faithful ; but the peace of the Church , that is , that pardon which she could minister , and which she had a promise that God would confirm in heaven , was the Ministery of pardon in the dispensation of the Sacrament of that body that was broken , and that bloud that was powred forth for the remission of our sins .

The result is ; That the absolution of sins which in the later forms and usages of the Church is introduced , can be nothing but declarative ; the office of the preacher and the guide of soules ; of great use to timerous persons , and to the greatest penitents , full of comfort , full of usefulness , and institution ; and therefore although this very declaration of pardon may truly and according to the style of Scripture be called pardon ; and the power and office of pronouncing the penitents pardon is in the sense of the Scripture and the Church , a good sense and signification of power ; as the Pharisees are said to justifie God , when they declare his justice ; and as the preacher that converts a sinner is said 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 to save a soul from death ; yet if we would speak properly , and as things are in their own nature and institution , this declarative absolution is only an act of preaching , or opening and reading the Commission ; an effect of the Spirit of prudence and government entring upon the Church ; but the power of the keys is another thing ; it is the dispensing all those rites and ministeries by which heaven is opened ; and that is , the word and baptisme at the first , and ever after the holy Sacrament of the supper of the Lord , and all the parts of the Bishops and Priests advocation and intercession in holy prayers and offices .

But as for the declarative absolution , although it is rather an act of wisdom then of power , it being true as S. Hierom said , In 16 Mat. that as the Priests of the Law could only discern , and neither cause , nor remove leprosies : so the Ministers of the Gospel when they retain or remit sins , do but in the one judge how long we continue guilty , and in the other declare when we are clear and free ; yet this very declaration is of great use , and in many cases of great effect . For as God did in the case of David give to the Prophet Nathan a particular special and extraordinary commission : so to the Ministers of the Gospel he gives one that is ordinary and perpetual . He had a prophetical evidence ; but these have a certainty of faith as to one of the propositions , and as to the other , some parts of humane experience to assure them 1. of Gods gracious pardon to the penitent , and 2. of the sincerity of their repentance : and therefore can with great effect minister to the comfort of sad and afflicted penitents : This does declare the pardon upon observation of the just grounds and dispositions ; but the dispensation of Ecclesiastical Sacraments does really minister to it , not only by consigning it ; but as instruments of the Divine appointment to convey proper mercies to worthily disposed persons .

2. But the other great thing which I was to say in this article is this , That the judicial absolution of the Priest does effect no material event or change in the penitent as to the giving the pardon , and therefore cannot be it which Christ intended in the giving those excellent powers of remitting and retaining sins . Now upon this will the whole issue depend . Does the priest absolve him whom God condemnes ? God is the supreme Judge , and though we may minister to his judgement , yet we cannot contradict it ; or can the Priest condemn him whom God absolves ? That also is impossible , He is neer that justifieth me , who will contend with me ? and if God be with us , who can be against us ? Or will not God pardon , unless the Priest absolves us ? That may become a sad story For he may be malicious , or ignorant , or interested , or covetous , and desirous to serve his own ends upon the ruine of my soul , and therefore God dispenses his mercies by more regular , just and equal measures then the accidental sentences of unknowing or imprudent men : If then the Priest ministers only to repentance , by saying , I absolve thee , what is it that he effects ? For since Gods pardon does not go by his measures ; his must go by Gods measures ; and the effect of that will be this , God works his own work in us ; and when his Minister observes the effects of the divine grace , he can and ought to publish and declare to all the purposes of comfort and institution that the person is absolved ; that is he is in the state of grace and divine favour , in which if he perseveres he shall be saved . But all this while the work is supposed to be done before ; and if it be , the Priest hath nothing left for him to do , but to approve , to warrant and to publish . And the case in short is this .

Either the sinner hath repented worthily , or he hath not . If he hath , then God hath pardoned him already , by vertue of all the promises Evangelical . If he hath not repented worthily , the Priest cannot , ought not to absolve him ; and therefore can by this absolution effect no new thing . The work is done before the Priestly absolution , and therefore cannot depend upon it . Against this , no sect of men opposes any thing that I know of , excepting onely the Roman Doctors ; who yet confess the argument of value , if the penitent be contrite . But they adde this , that there is an imperfect Contrition , which by a distinct word they call Attrition , which is a natural grief , or a grief proceeding wholly from fear or smart , and hath in it nothing of love ; and this they say does not justify the man , nor pardon the sin of it self . But if this man come to the Priest , and confess and be absolv'd , that absolution makes this attrition to become contrition , or which is all one , it pardons the mans sins ; and though this imperfect penitent cannot hope for pardon upon the confidence of that indisposition , yet by the Sacrament of penance , or Priestly absolution he may hope it , and shall not be deceived .

Indeed if this were true , it were a great advantage to some persons who need it mightily . But they are the worst sort of penitents , and such which though they have been very bad , yet now resolve not to be very good , if they can any other way escape it ; and by this means the Priests power is highly advanc'd , and to submit to it , would be highly necessary to most men , and safest to all . But if this be not true , then to hope it , is a false confidence , and of danger to the event of souls ; it is a nurse of carelesness , and gives boldness to imperfect penitents , and makes them to slacken their own piety , because they look for security upon confidence of that which will be had without trouble , or mortification ; even the Priests absolution . This therefore I am to examine , as being of very great concernment in the whole article of Repentance and promised to be considered in the beginning of this Paragraph .

§. 5. Attrition , or the imperfect repentance , though with absolution , is not sufficient .

BY Attrition they mean the most imperfect Repentance ; that is , a sorrow proceeding from fear of hell , a sorrow not mingled with the love of God : This sorrow newly begun ( they say ) is sufficient for pardon , if the sins be confest , and the party absolved by the Priest . This indeed is a short process , and very easy , but if it be not effectual and valid , the persons that rely upon it are miserably undone . Here therefore I consider ,

1. Attrition being a word of the Schools , not of the Scripture , or of antiquity , means what they please to have it ; and although they differ in assigning its definition , yet it being the least and the worst part of repentance , every action of any man that can in any sense be said to repent upon consideration of any the most affrighting threatnings in the Gospel , cannot be denied to have attrition . Now such a person who being scar'd , comes to confess his sin , may still retain his affections to it ; for nothing but love to God can take away his love from evil , and if there be love in it , it is Contrition , not Attrition . From these premises it follows , that if the Priest can absolve him that is attrite , he may pardon him who hath affections to sin still remaining ; that is , one who fears hell , but does not love God . If it be said that absolution changes fear into love , attrition into contrition , a Saul into a David , a Judas into a John , a Simon Magus into Simon Peter ; then the greatest conversions and miracles of change , may be wrought in an instant by an ordinary ministery ; and when Simon Magus was affrighted by S. Peter about the horror of his sin , and told that he was in the gall of bitterness , and thereupon desired the Apostle to pray for him , if S. Peter had but absolved him , which he certainly might upon that affright he put the Sorcerer in ; he had made him a Saint presently , and needed not to have spoken so uncertainly concerning him ; Pray , if peradventure the thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee . For without peradventure he might have made a quicker dispatch , and a surer work , by giving him absolution upon his present submission , and the desire of his prayers , and his visible apparent fear of being in the gall of bitterness , all which must needs be as much or more then the Roman Schools define Attrition to be . But ,

2. The Priest pardons upon no other terms then those upon which God pardons ; for if he does then he is not the minister of God , but the supreme lord , and must doe it by his own measures , if he does it not by the measures of God . For God does never pardon him that is onely attrite ; and this is confessed , in that they require the man to goe to the Priest , that he may be made contrite : which is all one , as if he were bidden to goe to the Priest to be made chast , or liberal , temperate or humble in an instant .

3. And if it be said , that although God does not pardon him that is attrite , unless it be together with the Keys , that is , unless the Priest absolves him ; but then , it being all that God requires in that case , the Priest does no more then God warrants ; it is done by Gods measures ; the attrition or imperfect repentance of the penitent , and the Keys or the Church being all which God requires ; this indeed if it could be proved were something , but there is no tittle of it in Scripture or Antiquity ; it being no where said , that attrition and absolution alone are sufficient , and is an unreasonable dream but of yesterday .

4. For if attrition be good of it self , and a sufficient disposition to receive pardon from the Church , then it is also sufficient to obtain pardon of God without the Church , in case of necessity . For unless it be for him in case of necessity sufficient to desire absolution , then the outward act does more then the inward , and the ceremony were more then the grace , and the Priest could doe more then God would ; for the Priest would and could pardon him , whom God would not pardon without the Priest ; and the will could not be accepted for the deed , when the deed were impossible to be done ; and God would require of us more then we have , more then he hath given us ; and a man should live or die not by himself , but should be judged by the actions of others . All which contain in them impossible affirmatives , and therefore proceed from a false principle .

5. But then if Attrition in some cases without the Sacrament were good , it is as good to all intents and purposes of pardon , as Contrition ; for Contrition ( say the Roman Schools ) is not sufficient of it self without the Keys ; that is , unless it contain in it a resolution to confess and beg absolution . Now this resolution is no resolution , unless it be reduced to act when it can ; it is a mockery if it does not ; and it is to be excused in no case , but in that of necessity . And just so it is in attrition , as I have proved . In vain therefore it is for any good man to perswade his penitent to heighten his repentance , and to be contrite ; for he may at a cheaper rate be assured of his pardon , if he makes the Priest his friend : but as for Contrition , by this doctrine , it is more then needs .

6. But then it is strange , that Attrition which of it self is insufficient , shall yet do the work of pardon with the Priests absolution ; and yet that that which is sufficient ( as Contrition is affirmed to be in the Councel of Trent ) shall not doe it without absolution , in act or desire ; that is in act always , Sess. 14. c. 4. unless it be impossible : This incourages the imperfect , and discourages the perfect , tying them both to equal laws , whether they need it , or need it not .

7. But I demand ; Can the Priest hearing of a penitent mans confession , whom he justly and without error perceives onely to be attrite , can he ( I say ) refuse to absolve him , can he retain his sins , till he perceives him to be contrite ? certainly in the Primitive Church when they deferr'd to give him the peace of the Church for 3 , for 7 , for 10 , for 13 years together , their purpose then was to work in him contrition , or the most excellent Repentance . But however , if he can refuse to absolve such a man , then it is because absolution will not work for him what is defective in him ; it will not change it into contrition , for if it could , then to refuse to absolve him , were highly uncharitable and unreasonable . But if he cannot refuse to absolve such a person , it is because he is sufficiently disposed , he hath done all that God requires of him to dispose himself to it ; and if so , then the Sacrament ( as they call it ) that is , the Priests absolution does nothing to the increasing his disposition , it is sufficient already . Adde to this , if in the case of attrition the Priest may not deny to absolve the imperfect penitent , then it is certain God will absolve him , in case the Priest does not ; for if the Priest be bound and refuses to doe it , this ought not , it cannot prejudice the penitent , but himself onely . He therefore shall not perish for want of the Priests absolution ; and if it could be otherwise , then the Parishioner might be damned for the Curates fault , which to affirm were certain blasphemy and heresy . What the Priest is bound to doe , God will doe , if the Priest will not . The result is this . That if this imperfect repentance , which they call attrition , be a sufficient disposition to absolution , then the Priests ministery is not operative for the making it sufficient ; and indeed it were strange it should , that absolution should make contrition , and yet contrition be necessary in order to absolution ; that the form should make the matter , that one essential or integral part should make another ; that what is to be before , must be made by that which comes after . But if this attrition be not a sufficient disposition to absolution , then the Priest may not absolve such imperfect penitents . So that the Priest cannot make it sufficient , if of it self it be insufficient ; and if it be of it self sufficient , then his absolution does but declare it so , it effects it not .

8. And after all , it is certain that the words of absolution effect no more then they signifie . If therefore they doe pardon the sin , yet they doe not naturally change the disposition or the real habit of the sinner . And if the words can effect more , they may be changed to signify what they doe effect ; for to signify is less then to effect . Can therefore the Church use this form of absolution ? I doe by the power committed unto me , change thy attrition into contrition . The answer to this is not yet made ; for their pretence is so new , and so wholly unexamined , that they have not yet considered any thing of it . It will therefore suffice for our institution in this useful , material and practical question , that no such words were instituted by Christ , nor any thing like them ; no such were used by the Primitive Church , no such power pretended . And as this new doctrine of the Roman Church contains in it huge estrangements , and distances from the spirit of Christianity , is another kinde of thing then the doctrine and practice of the Apostolical and succeeding ages of the Church did publish or exercise : so it is a perfect destruction to the necessity of holy life , it is a device onely to advance the Priests office , and to depress the necessity of holy dispositions ; it is a trick to make the graces of Gods holy Spirit to be bought and sold ; and that a man may at a price become holy in an instant , just as if a Teacher of Musick should undertake to convey skill to his Scholar , and sell the art and transmit it in an hour ; it is a device to make dispositions by art and in effect requires little or nothing of duty to God , so they pay regard to the Priest . But I shall need to oppose no more against it , but those excellent words , and pious meditation of Salvian . Non levi agendum est contritione , ut debita illa redimantur quibus mors aeterna debetur , nec transitoriâ opus est satisfactione pro malis illis propter quae paratus est ignis aeternus . It is not a light contrition , by which those debts can be redeem'd to which eternal death is due ; neither can a transitory satisfaction serve for those evils , for which God hath prepared the vengeance of eternal fire .

§. 6. Of Penances , or Satisfactions .

IN the Primitive Church , the word Satisfaction , was the whole word for all the parts and exercises of repentance ; according to those words of Lactantius , Poenitentiam proposuit , ut si peccata nostra confessi Deo satisfecerimus , veniam consequamur . He propounded repentance , that if we confessing our sins to God , make amends or satisfaction , we may obtain pardon . Where it is evident , that Satisfaction does not signify in the modern sense of the word , a full payment to the Divine Justice ; but by the exercises of repentance a deprecation of our fault , and a begging pardon . Satisfaction and pardon are not consistent , if satisfaction signify rigorously . When the whole debt is paid , there is nothing to be forgiven . The Bishops and Priests in the Primitive Church would never give pardon till their satisfactions were performed . To confess their sins , to be sorrowful for them , to express their sorrow , to punish the guilty person , to doe actions contrary to their former sins , this was their amends or Satisfaction ; and this ought to be ours . So we finde the word used in best Classick Authors . So Plautus brings in Alomena angry with Amphitruo . — Quin ego illum aut deseram Aut satisfaciat mihi , atque adjuret insuper Nolle esse dicta , quae in me insontem protulit . i.e. I will leave him , unless he give me satisfaction , and swear that he wishes that to be unsaid , which he spake against my innocence : for that was the form of giving satisfaction , to wish it undone , or unspoken , and to adde an oath that they beleeve the person did not deserve that wrong : as we finde it in Terence Adelph : Ego vestra haec novi : nollem factum : jusjurandum dabitur , esse te indignum injuriâ hâc . Concerning which , who please to see more testimonies of the true sense and use of the word Satisfactions , may please to look upon Lambinus in Plauti Amphi●r : and Laevinus Torrentius upon Suetonius in Julio .

Exomologesis , or Confession was the word which ( as I noted formerly ) was of most frequent use in the Church . Si de exomologesi retractas , gehennam in corde considera quam tibi exomologesis extinguet . He that retracts his sins by confessing and condemning them , extinguishes the flames of hell . De poenit . c. 12. So Tertullian . The same with that of S. Cyprian , Deo patri , & misericordi precibus & operibus suis satisfacere possunt . They may satisfy God our Father and merciful , by prayers and good works : that is , they may by these deprecate their fault , and obtain mercy and pardon for their sins : Peccatum suum satisfactione humili & simplici confitentes ; De lapsis . So Cyprian confessing their sins with humble and simple satisfaction : plainly intimating , that Confession or Exomologesis was the same with that which they called Satisfaction . And both of them were nothing but the publick exercise of repentance ( according to the present usages of their Churches ) as appears evidently in those words of Gennadius ; L. de dogm . Eccles. Poenitentiae satisfactionem esse causas peccatorum exscindere , nec eorum suggestionibus aditum indulgere . To cut off the causes of sins , and no more to entertain their whispers and temptations , is the satisfaction of repentance : and like this is that of Lactantius , Potest reduci & liberari si eum poeniteat actorum , & ad meliora conversus satisfaciat Deo . The sinner may be brought back and freed , if he repents of what is done , and satisfies or makes amends to God by being turned to better courses . And the whole process of this is well described by Tertullian . De poenit . c. 9. Exomologesis est qua delictum Demino nostrum confitemur , non quidem ut ignaro , sed quatenus satisfactio confessione disponitur , confessione poenitentia nascitur , poenitentiâ Deus mitigatur : we must confess our sins to God , not as if he did not know them already , but because our satisfaction is dispos'd and order'd by confession ; by confession our repentance hath birth and production , and by repentance God is appeased .

Things being thus , we need not immerge our selves in the trifling controversies of our later Schools , about the just value of every work , and how much every penance weighs , and whether God is so satisfied with our penal works , that in justice he must take off so much as we put on , and is tied also to take our accounts . Certain it is , if God should weigh our sins with the same value as we weigh our own good works , all our actions and sufferings would be found infinitely too light in the ballance . Therefore it were better that we should doe what we can , and humbly begge of God to weigh them both with vast allowances of mercy . All that we can doe , is to be sorrowful for our sins , and to leave them , Tertul. de poenit . and to endevour to obey God in the time to follow ; and to take care , ut aliquo actu administretur poenitentia , that our repentance be exercised with certain acts proper to it . Of which these are usually reckoned as the principle .

74. Sorrow and mourning . So S. Cyprian . Serm. de lapsis . Satisfactionibus & lamentationibus justis peccata redimuntur . Our sins are redeem'd or wash'd off by the satisfactions of just sorrow or mourning . And Pacianus gives the same advice , Paraen . ad Poenit. Behold , I promise that if you return to your Father by a true satisfaction , wandring no more , adding nothing to your former sins , and saying something humble and mournful [ We have sinn'd in thy sight , O Father , we are not worthy of the name of sons ] presently the unclean beast shall depart from thee , and thou shalt no longer be fed with the filthy nourishment of husks . And S. Hom. in die Ciner . Maximus cals this mourning and weeping for our sins , moestam poenitentiae satisfactionem , the sorrowful amends or satisfaction of repentance . The meaning of this is ; That when we are grieved for our sins and deplore them , we hate them , and goe from them , and convert to God who onely can give us remedy .

75. Corporal afflictions . Such as are , Fastings , watchings , hair-cloth upon our naked bodies , lyings upon the ground , journeys on foot , doing mean offices , serving sick and wounded persons , solitariness , silence , voluntary restraints of liberty , refusing lawful pleasure choosing at certain times the less pleasing meats , laborious postures in prayer , saying many and devout prayers with our arms extended , in the fashion of Christ hanging on the Cross , which indeed is a painful and afflictive posture , but safe and without detriment to our body : adde to these the austerities used by some of the Ancients in their Ascetick devotions , who somtimes rolled themselves naked upon nettles , or thorns , shut themselves in tombs , bound themselves to pillars , endured heats and colds in great extremity , chastisements of the body , and all ways of subduing it to the empire of the soul . Of which antiquity is infinitely full ; and of which at last they grew so fond and enamoured , that the greatest part of their Religion was self-affliction ; but I choose to propound onely such prudent severities as were apt to signify a godly sorrow , to destroy sin , and to deprecate Gods anger in such ways of which they had experience or warrant express , or authentick precedents ; their Exomologesis being , De poenit . c. 9. as Tertullian describes it , a discipline of humbling and throwing a man down , conversationem in jungens misericordiae illicem , enjoyning a life that will allure to pity : de ipso quoque habitu atque victu mandat , sacco & cineri incubare , corpus sordibus obscurare . Penitential sorrow expresses it self in the very clothes and gestures of the body ; that is , a great sorrow is apt to express it self in every thing , and infects every part of a man with its contact . Vt Alexandrum Regem videmus , Vide Ciceron . Tuscul . 4. qui cum interemisset Clytum familiarem suum , vix à se abstinuit manus : tanta vis fuit poenitendi . When Alexander had kill'd his friend Clytus , he scarce abstained from killing himself : so great is the effort and violence of repentance : & this is no other thing then what the Apostle said , If one member of the body is afflicted , all the rest suffer with it : and if the heart be troubled , he that is gay in any other part goes about to lessen his trouble , and that takes off , it does not promote repentance .

76. But the use of this is material ; It is a direct judging of our selves , and a perverting the wrath of God ; not that these penances are a paiment for the reserve of the temporal guilt , remaining after the sin is pardoned . That 's but a dream , for the guilt and the punishment are not to be distinguished in any material event : so long as a man is liable to punishment , so long he is guilty : and so long he is unpardoned , as he is obnoxious to the Divine anger . God cannot , will not punish him that is innocent ; and he that is wholly pardoned , is in the place and state of a guiltlesse person . Indeed God punishes as he pleases , and pardons as he pleases , by parts , and as he is appeased , or as he inclines to mercy ; but our general measure is , As our repentance is , so is our pardon , and every action of repentance does something of help to us , and this of self-affliction , when it proceeds from a hearty detestation of sin , and indignation against our selves for having provoked God , is a very good exercise of repentance ; of it self it profits little , but as it is a fruit of repentance , in the vertue of it it is accepted towards its part of expiation , and they that have refused this , have felt worse ; Et qui non tulerat verbera , tela tulit . But when God sees us smite our selves in indignation for our sins , because we have no better way to expresse and act our repentances , God hath accepted it , and hath himself forborn to smite us , and we have reason to beleeve he will do so again . For these expressions extinguish the delicacies of the flesh , from whence our sins have too often had their spring : and when the offending party accuses himself first , and smites first , and calls for pardon , there is nothing left to the offended person to do , but to pity and pardon . For we see that sometimes God smites a sinner with a temporal curse , and brings the man to repentance , and pardons all the rest ; and therefore much rather will he do it , when we smite our selves . For this is the highest processe of confession . God is pleased that we are ashamed of our sin , that we justifie God , and give sentence against our selves , that we accuse our selves and acknowledge our selves worthy of his severest wrath : If therefore we go on and punish the sinner too , it is all , it is the greatest thing we can do : and although it be not necessary in any one instance to be done , unlesse where the authority of our superiour does intervene ; yet it is accepted in every instance , if the principle be good , that is , if it proceeds from our indignation against sin , and if it be not rested in as a thing of it self , and singly a service of God , which indeed he hath no where in particular required ; and lastly , if it be done prudently and temperately . If these cautions be observed in all things else , it is true that the most laborious repentance , if other things be answerable , is the best , for it takes off the softnesse of the flesh , and the tendernesse of the lower man , it abates the love of the world , & enkindles the love of heaven , it is ever the best token of sincerity and an humble repentance , and does promote it too , still in better degrees effecting what it doth signifie . As musick in a banquet of wine , and caresses and indications of joy and festivity are seasonable and proper expressions at a solemnity of joy : so are all the sad accents and circumstances , and effects and instruments of sorrow proper in a day of mourning . All nations weep not in the same manner , and have not the same interjections of sorrow : but as every one of us use to mourn in our greatest losses , and in the death of our dearest relatives , so it is fit we should mourn in the dangers and death of our souls ; that they may being refreshed by such salutary and medicinal showers spring up to life eternal .

77. In the several ages of the Church they had several methods of these satisfactions ; and they requiring a longer proof of their repentance then we usually do , did also by consequent injoyn and expect greater and longer penitential severities : Concerning which these two things are certain .

78. The one is , that they did not believe them simply necessary to the procuring of pardon from God ; which appears in this , that they did absolve persons in the article of death , though they had not done their satisfactions . They would absolve none that did not express his repentance some way or other ; but they did absolve them that could doe no exteriour penances , by which it is plain that they made a separation of that which was useful and profitable only from that which is necessary .

79. The other thing which I was to say is this . That though these corporal severities were not esteemed by them simply necessary , but such which might in any and in every instance be omitted in ordinary cases , and commuted for others more fit and useful ; yet they chose these austerities as the best signification of their repentance towards men , such in which there is the greatest likelyhood of sincerity and a hearty sorrow , such which have in them the least objection , such in which a man hath the clearest power and the most frequent opportunity , such which every man can do , which have in them the least inlet to temptation , and the least powers to abuse a man ; and they are such which do not only signifie , but effect and promote repentance . But yet they are acts of repentance , just as beating the breasts , or smiting the thigh , or sighing , or tears , or tearing the hair , or refusing our meat , are acts of sorrow : if God should command us to be sorrowful , this might be done ( when it could be done at all ) though none of these were in the expression and signification . The Jewes did in all great sorrows or trouble of minde rent their garments . As we may be as much troubled as they , though we do not tear our clothes , so we may be as true penitents as were the holy Primitives , though we do not use that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 that hardship which was then the manner of their penitential solemnities . But then the repentance must be exercised by some other acts proper to the grace .

80. Prayers . Preces undique & undecunque lucrum , says one . Prayers are useful upon all occasions ; but especially in repentances and afflictive duties or accidents . Is any man afflicted ? let him pray ( saith S. James ) and since nothing can deserve pardon , all the good works in the world done by Gods enemy , cannot reconcile him to God ; but pardon of sins is as much a gift , as eternal life is , there is no way more proper to obtainpardon , then a devout , humble , persevering prayer . And this also is a part of repentance , — poenaeque genus vidisse precantem , When we confesse our sins , and when we pray for pardon , we concentre many acts of vertue together . There is the hatred of sin , and the shame for having committed it ; there is the justification of God , and the humiliation of our selves ; there is confession of sins , and hope of pardon , there is fear and love , sense of our infirmity , and confidence of the Divine goodness , sorrow for the past , and holy purposes and desires and vowes of living better in time to come . Unless all this be in it , the prayers are not worthy fruits of a holy repentance . But such prayers are a part of amends , it is a satisfaction to God in the true and modest sense of the word : So S. Cyprian affirmes : speaking of the three children in the fiery furnace , Domino satisfacere nec inter ipsa gloriosa virtutum suarum martyria destiterunt . Serm: de lapsis . They did not cease to satisfie the Lord in the very midst of their glorious martyrdomes . For so saith the Scripture . Stans Azarias precatus est , Azarias standing in the flames did pray , and made his exomologesis , or penitential confession to God with his two partners . Thus also Tertullian describes the manner of the Primitive repentance : de paenit . cap. 9. animum moeroribus dejicere , illa quae peccavit , tristi tractatione mutare , caeterum pastum & potum pura nosse , non ventris scil: sed animae causâ : plerumque verò jejuniis preces alere , ingemiscere , lachrymari , & mugire dies noctésque ad Dominum Deum suum : presbyteris advolvi & caris Dei adgeniculari : omnibus fratribus legationes , deprecationis suae injungere , to have our mindes cast down with sorrow , to change our sins into severity , to take meat and drink without art , simple and pure , viz. bread and water , not for the bellies sake , but for the soul ; to nourish our prayers most commonly with fasting , to sigh and cry , and roar to God our Lord day and night ; to be prostrate before the Ministers and Priests , to kneel before all the servants of God , and to desire all the brethren to pray to God for them . Oportet orare impensiùs & rogare ; so S. Cyprian , we must pray and beg more earnestly , and as Pacianus addes according to the words of Tertullian before cited , multorum precibus adjuvare ; we must help our prayers with the assistance of others . Pray to God , said Simon Peter to Simon Magus , if peradventure the thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee , Pray for me , said Simon Magus to S. Peter , that the things which thou hast spoken may not happen to me , and in this case , the prayers of the Church , and of the holy men that minister to the Church as they are of great avail in themselves , so they were highly valued and earnestly desir'd and obtain'd by the penitents in the first ages of the Church .

81. Almes . Almes and fasting are the wings of prayer and make it pierce the clouds ; That is , humility and charity are the best advantages and sanctification of our desires to God . Dan. 4. This was the counsel of Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar ; Eleemosynis peccata tua redime ; redeem thy sins by almes , so the vulgar Latine reads it ; Not that money can be the price of a soul , for we are not redeemed with silver and gold , but that the charity of almes is that which God delights in , and accepts as done to himself , Pro. 16.6 . and procures his pardon , according to the words of Solomon ; In veritate & misericordia expiatur iniquitas ; In truth and mercy iniquity is pardoned : that is , in the confession and almes of a penitent there is pardon : for water will quench a flaming fire ; Ecclus. 3.30 . 1 Pet. 4.8 . Tob. 12.9 . and almes maketh an attonement for sin ; This is that love which , as S. Peter expresses it , hideth a multitude of sins . Almes deliver from death , and shall purge away every sin . Those that exercise almes and righteousnesse shall be filled with life , said old Tobias ; which truly explicates the method of this repentance . To give almes for what is past , and to sin no more , but to work righteousness , is an excellent state and exercise of repentance ; For he that sins and gives almes , spends his money upon sin not upon God , and like a man in a Calenture drinks deep of the Vintage even when he bleeds for cure .

82. But this command and the affirmation of this effect of almes we have best from our blessed Saviour . Give almes , Luke 11.41 . and all things are clean unto you : Repentance does 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , it cleanses that which is within ; for to that purpose did our blessed Saviour speak that parable to the Pharisees of cleansing cups and platters . The parallel to it is here in S. Luke . Vide Rule of Holy Dying , c. 2. Sect. 3. Lact. l. 6. Almes does also cleanse the inside of a man ; for it is an excellent act and exercise of repentance . Magna est misericordiae merces , cui Deus polliceturse omnia peccata remissurum . Great is the reward of mercy , to which God hath promised that he will forgive all sins . To this of almes is reduced all actions of piety , and a zealous kindness , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 the labour of love , all studious endearing of others , and obliging them by kindness , a going about seeking to do good ; such which are called in Scripture , opera justitiae the works of righteousness , that is , such works in which a righteous and good man loves to be exercised and imployed . But there is another instance of mercy besides almes , which is exceeding proper to the exercise of Repentance , and that is

83. Forgiving injuries . Vt absolvaris ignosce ; Pardon thy brother that God may pardon thee : Forgive , and thou shalt be forgiven : so says the Gospel , and this Christ did presse with many words and arguments , because there is a great mercy and a great effect consequent to it , he put a great emphasis and earnestness of commandment upon it . And there is in it a great necessity ; for we all have need of pardon , and it is impudence to ask pardon , if we refuse to give pardon to them that ask it of us : and therefore the Apostles to whom Christ gave so large powers of forgiving or retaining sinners , were also qualified for such powers by having given them a deep sense and a lasting sorrow , and a perpetual repentance for and detestation of their sins ; their repentance lasting even after their sin was dead . Therefore S. Paul calls himself the chiefest or first of sinners ; and in the Epistle of S. Barnabas , the Apostle affirmes , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 that Jesus chose for his own Apostles men more wicked then any wickednesse and by such humility and apprehensions of their own needs of mercy , they were made sensible of the needs of others , and fitted to a merciful and prudent dispensation of pardon .

84. Restitution . This is an act of repentance indispensably necessary ; integral part of it : if it be taken for a restitution of the simple , or original theft or debt : for it is an abstinence from evil , or a leaving off to commit a sin : The crime of theft being injurious by a continual efflux and emanation ; and therefore not repented of till the progression of it be stopped . But then there is a restitution also , which is to be reckoned among'st the fruits of repentance , or penances and satisfactions . Such as was that of Zacheus , If I have wronged any man by false accusation , I restore him fourfold . In the law of Moses theevs convicted by law were tied to it ; but if a thief , or an injurious person did repent before his conviction , and made restitution of the wrong ; he was tied only to the paiment of one fift part above the principal , by way of amends for the injury ; and to do this is an excellent fruit of repentance , and a part of self-judicature , a judging our selves that we be not judged of the Lord : and if the injured person be satisfied with the simple restitution , then this fruit of repentance is to be gathered for the poor .

85. These are the fruits of repentance , which grow in Paradise and will bring health to the Nations , for these are a just 〈…〉 of sinne , they oppose a good 〈…〉 every evil ; they make amend● 〈…〉 and to the Church competently , and to God acceptably , through his mercy in Jesus Christ . These are all we can doe in relation to what is past ; some of them are parts of direct obedience , and consequently of return to God , and the others are parts , and exercises , and acts of turning from the sin . Now although , so we turn from sin , it matters not by what instruments so excellent a conversion is effected ; yet there must care be taken that in our return , there be ¹ hatred of sin , and ² love of God , and ³ love of our brother . The first is served by all or any penal duty internal or external : but sin must be confessed , and it must be left . The second is served by future obedience , by prayer , and by hope of pardon ; and the last by alms and forgiveness : and we have no liberty or choyce but in the exercise of the penal or punitive part of repentance : but in that every man is left to himself , and hath no necessity upon him , unless where he hath first submitted to a spiritual guide ; or is noted publickly by the Church . But if our sorrow be so trifling , or our sins so slightly hated , or our flesh so tender , or our sensuality so unmortified , that we will endure nothing of exteriour severity to mortify our sin , or to punish it , to prevent Gods anger , or to allay it ; we may chance to feel the load of our sins in temporal judgements , and have cause to suspect the sincerity of our repentance , and consequently to fear the eternal . S. Cyptian . epist. 8. & . ep. 26. We feel the bitter smart of this rod and scourge [ of God ] because there is in us neither care to please him with our good deeds , nor to satisfy him , or make amends for our evil ; that is , we neither live innocently , nor penitently . Let the delicate , and the effeminate doe their penances in scarlet , and Tyrian purple and fine linen , and faring deliciously every day ; but he that passionately desires pardon , and with sad apprehensions fears the event of his sins and Gods displeasure , will not refuse to suffer any thing that may procure a mercy , and endear Gods favour to him ; no man is a true penitent , but he that upon any terms is willing to accept his pardon . I end this with the words of S. Homil. 50. c. 15. Austin ; It suffices not to change our life from worse to better , unless we make amends , and doe our satisfactions for what is past . That is , no man shall be pardon'd but he that turns from sin , and mortifies it , that confesses it humbly and forsakes it ; that accuses himself and justifies God ; that prays for pardon , and pardons his offending brother ; that will rather punish his flesh , then nurse his sin ; that judges himself , that he may be acquitted by God : so these things be done , let every man choose his own instruments of mortification , and the instances and indications of his penitential sorrow .

§. 7. The former doctrine reduc'd to practice .

HE that will judge of his repentance by his sorrow , must not judge of his sorrow by his tears , or by any one manner of expression . For sorrow puts on divers shapes , according to the temper of the body , or the natural , or accidental affections of the minde , or to the present consideration of things . Wise men and women doe not very often grieve in the same manner , or signify the trouble of intellectual apprehensions by the same indications . But if sin does equally smart , it may be equally complain'd of in all persons whose natures are alike querulous , and complaining ; that is , when men are forc'd into repentance , they are very apprehensive of their present evils , and consequent dangers , and past follies ; but if they repent more wisely , and upon higher considerations then the affrights of women and weak persons , they will put on such affections , as are the proper effects of those apprehensions by which they were moved . But although this be true in the nature , and secret , and proportion'd causes of things , yet there is no such simplicity and purity of apprehensions in any person , or any instance whatsoever , but there is something of sense mingled with every tittle of reason , and the consideration of our selves mingles with our apprehensions of God ; and when Philosophy does something , our interest does more ; and there are so few that leave their sins upon immaterial speculations , that even of them that pretend to doe it , there is oftentimes no other reason inducing them to believe they doe so , then because they doe not know the secrets of their own hearts , and cannot discern their intentions : and therefore when there is not a material , sensible grief in penitents , there is too often a just cause of suspecting their repentances ; it does not always proceed from an innocent or a laudable cause , unless the penitent be indisposed in all accidents to such effects and impresses of passion .

2. He that cannot finde any sensitive and pungent material grief for his sins , may suspect himself , because so doing , he may serve some good ends : but on no wise may we suspect another upon that account : for we may be judges of our selves , but not of others ; and although we know enough of our selves to suspect every thing of our selves , yet we doe not know so much of others , but that there may ( for ought we know ) be enough to excuse or acquit them in their inquiries after the worthiness of their repentance .

3. He that inquires after his own repentance , and finds no sharpnesses of grief or active sensitive sorrow , is onely so farre to suspect his repentance , that he use all means to improve it ; which is to be done by a long , serious , and lasting conversation with arguments of sorrow , which like a continual dropping , will intenerate the spirit , and make it malleable to the first motives of repentance . No man repents but he that fears some evil to stand at the end of his evil course ; and whoever feareth , unless he be abused by some collateral false perswasion , will be troubled for putting himself into so evil a condition and state of things : and not to be moved with sad apprehensions , is nothing else but not to have considered , or to have promised to himself pardon upon easier conditions then God hath promised . Therefore let the penitent often meditate of the four last things , Death and the day of Judgement ; the portion of the godly , and the sad intolerable portion of accursed souls : of the greatness and extension of the duty of repentance , and the intension of its acts , or the spirit and manner of its performance ; of the uncertainty of pardon in respect of his own secret , and sometimes undiscerned defects ; the sad evils that God hath inflicted sometimes even upon penitent persons ; the volatile nature of pleasure , and the shame of being a fool in the eies of God and good men ; the unworthy usages of our selves , and evil returns to God for his great kindnesses ; let him consider that the last nights pleasure is not now at all , and how infinite a folly it is to die for that which hath no being ; that one of the greatest torments of hell will be the very indignation at their own folly , for that foolish exchange which they have made ; and there is nothing to allay the misery , or to support the spirit of a man who shall so extremely suffer , for so very a nothing ; that it is an unspeakable horror , for a man eternally to be restless in the vexations of an everlasting fever , and that such a fever is as much short of the eternal anger of God , as a single sigh is of that fever ; that a man cannot think what eternity is , nor suffer with patience for one minute the pains which are provided for that eternity ; and to apply all this to himself , for ought every great sinner knows , this shall be in his lot ; and if he dies before his sin is pardon'd , he is too sure it shall be so : and whether his sin is pardon'd or no , few men ever know till they be dead ; but very many men presume , and they commonly , who have the least reason . He that often and long considers these things , will not have cause to complain of too merry a heart : But when men repent onely in feasts , and company , and open house , and carelesness , and inconsideration , they will have cause to repent that he hath not repented .

4. Every true penitential sorrow is rather natural then solemne ; that is , it is the product of our internal apprehensions , rather then outward order and command . He that repents onely by solemnity , at a certain period , by the expectation of to morrows sun , may indeed act a sorrow , but cannot be sure that he shall then be sorrowful . Other acts of repentance may be done in their proper period , by order , and command , upon set days , and indicted solemnities ; such as is , fasting , and prayer , and alms , and confession , and disciplines , and all the instances of humiliation : but sorrow is not to be reckoned in this account , unless it dwels there before . When there is a natural abiding sorrow for our sins , any publick day of humiliation can bring it forth , and put it into activity ; but when a sinner is gay and intemperately merry upon Shrove-tuesday , and resolves to mourn upon Ash-wednesday ; his sorrow hath in it more of the Theatre , then the Temple , and is not at all to be relied upon by him that resolves to take severe accounts of himself .

5. In taking accounts of our penitential sorrow , we must be careful that we doe not compare it with secular sorrow , and the passions effected by natural or sad accidents . For he that measures the passions of the minde by disproportionate objects , may as wel compare Musick and a Rose , and measure weights by the bushel , and think that every great man must have a great understanding , or that an Oxe hath a great courage because he hath a great heart . He that finds fault with his repentance , because his sorrow is not so great in it , as in the saddest accidents of the world , should doe well to make them equal if he can ; if he can , or if he cannot , his work is done . If he can , let it be done , and then the inquiry , and the scruple is at an end . If he cannot , let him not trouble himself ; for what cannot be done , God never requires of us to doe .

6. Let no man overvalue a single act of sorrow , & call it Repentance , or be at rest as soon as he hath wip'd his eyes . For to be sorrowful ( which is in the Commandement ) is something more then an act of sorrow ; it is a permanent effect , and must abide as long as its cause is in being ; not always actual and pungent , but habitual and ready , apt to pass into its symbolical expressions upon all just occasions , and it must always have this signification , viz.

7. No man can be said ever truly to have griev'd for his sins , if he at any time after does remember them with pleasure . Such a man might indeed have had an act of sorrow , but he was not sorrowful , except onely for that time ; but there was no permanent effect , by which he became an enemy to sin ; and when the act is past , the love to sin returns , at least in that degree , that the memory of it is pleasant . No man tels it as a merry story that he once broke his leg ; or laughs when he recounts the sad groans and intolerable sharpnesses of the stone . If there be pleasure in the telling it , there is still remaining too much kindness towards it , and then the sinner cannot justly pretend that ever he was a hearty enemy to it : for the great effect of that is to hate it ; to leave it , and to hate it . Indeed when the penitent inquires concerning himself , and looks after a sign that he may discern whether he be as he thinks he is , really a hater of sin ; the greatest and most infallible mark which we have to judge by , is , the leasing it utterly . But yet in this thing there is some difference . For ,

Some doe leave sin , but doe not hate it ; They will not doe it , but they wish it were lawful to do it ; and this , although it hath in it a great imperfection , yet it is not always directly criminal ; for it onely supposes a love to the natural part of the action , and a hatred of the irregularity . The thing they love , but they hate the sin of it . But others are not so innocent in their leaving of sin ; They leave it , because they dare not doe it , or are restrain'd by some over-ruling accident ; but like the heifers that drew the Ark , they went lowing after their Calves left in their stals ; so doe these , leave their heart behinde , and if they still love the sin , their leaving it , is but an imperfect and unacceptable service , a Sacrifice without a heart . Therefore sin must be hated too , that is , it must be left out of hatred to it ; and consequently must be used as naturally we doe what we doe really hate : that is , do evil to it , and always speak evil of it , and secretly have no kindness for it .

8. Let every penitent be careful that his sorrow be a cure to his soul , but no disease to his body : an enemy to his sin , but not to his health .

— Exigit autem Interdum ille dolor , plus quàm lex ulla dolori Concessit —

For although no sorrow is greater then our sin , yet some greatness of sorrow may destroy those powers of serving God , which ought to be preserved to all the purposes of charity and religion . This caution was not to be omitted , although very few will have use of it : because if any should be transported into a pertinacious sorrow , by great considerations of their sin , and that sorrow meet with an ill temper of body , apt to sorrow and afflictive thoughts , it would make Religion to be a burden , and all passions turn into sorrow , and the service of God to consist but of one duty , and would naturally tend to very evil consequents . For whoever upon the conditions of the Gospel can hope for pardon , he cannot maintain a too great actual sorrow long upon the stock of his sins . It will be allayed with hope , and change into new shapes , and be a sorrow in other faculties then where it first began , and to other purposes then those to which it did then minister . But if his sorrow be too great , it is because the man hath little or no hope .

9. But if it happens that any man fals into an excessive sorrow , his cure must be attempted , not directly , but collaterally ; not by lessening the consideration of his sins , nor yet by comparing them with the greater sins of others ; like the grave man in the Satyr , Si nullum in terris tam detestabile factum Sat. 13. ● . Ostendis , taceo , nec pugnis caedere pectus Te veto , nec planâ faciem contundere palmâ : Quandoquidem accepto claudenda est janua damno . For this is but an instance of the other , this lessens the sin indirectly : but let it be done by heightning the consideration of the Divine mercy and clemency ; for even yet this will far exceed , and this is highly to be taken heed of . For besides that there is no need of taking off his opinion from the greatness of the sin ; it is dangerous to teach a man to despise a sin at any hand . For if after his great sorrow , he can be brought to think his sin little , he will be the sooner brought to commit it again , and think it none at all : and when he shall think his sorrow to have been unreasonable , he will not so soon be brought to an excellent repentance another time . But the Prophets great comfort may safely be applied , Misericordia Dei praevalitura est super omnem malitiam hominis ; Gods mercy is greater then all the malice of men , and will prevail over it . But this is to be applied so as to cure onely the wounds of a conscience that ought to be healed , that is , so as to advance the reputation and glories of the Divine mercy : but at no hand to create confidences in persons incompetent . If the man be worthy , and capable , and yet tempted to a prevailing and excessive sorrow ; to him , in this case , and so far the application is to be made . In other cases there is no need , but some danger .

10. Although sorrow for sin must be constant , and habitual , yet to particular acts of sin , when a special sorrow is apportion'd , it cannot be expected to be of the same manner and continuance , as it ought to be in our general repentances for our many sins , and our evil habits . For every single folly of swearing rashly , or vainly , or falsly , there ought to be a particular sorrow , and a special deprecation ; but it may be another will intervene , and a third will steal in upon you , or you are surpriz'd in another instance ; or you are angry with your self for doing so , and that anger transports you to some undecent expression , and as a wave follows a wave , we shall finde instances of folly croud in upon us . If we observe strictly we shall prevent some , but we shall observe too many to press us ; If we observe not , they will multiply without notice and without number . But in either case it will be impossible to attend to every one of them with a special lasting sorrow : and yet one act of sorrow is too little for any one chosen sin ( as I have proved formerly . ) In this case when we have prayed for pardon of each , confess'd it , acknowledged the folly of it , deprecated the punishment , suffer'd the shame , and endur'd the sorrow , and begg'd for aids against it , and renewed our force ; it will fall into the heap of the state and generality of repentance ; that is , it will be added to the portentous number of follies , for which in general and indefinite comprehensions we must beg for pardon humbly and earnestly all the days of our life . And I have no caution to be added here , but this onely : viz. That we be not too hasty to put it into the general heap , but according to the greatness , or the danger , or its mischief , or its approach towards a habit , so it is to be kept in fetters by it self alone . For he that quickly passes it into the general heap , either cares too little for it , or is too soon surpriz'd by a new one , which would not so easily have hapned , if he had been more severe to the first .

11. It is a great matter , that in our inquiries concerning our penitential sorrow , we be able to discern what is the present motive and incentive of it : whether fear or love , whether it be attrition or contrition . For by this we can tell best in what state or period of pardon we stand . I doe not say , we are to enquire what motive began our sorrow : for fear begins most commonly ; but we are to regard what is the present inducement , what continues the hatred ; that is , whither our first fears have born us ? If fear onely be the agent , at the best it is still imperfect ; and our pardon a great way off from being finished ; and our repentance , or state of reformation nothing promoted . But of these things I have in the former doctrine given accounts . To which I onely adde this , as being an advice or caution flowing from the former discourses .

12. He that upon any pretence whatsoever puts off his repentances to the last or the worst of his days , hath just reason to suspect , that even when he doth repent , he hath not the grace of Contrition , that is , that he repents for fear , not for love : and that his affections to sin remains . The reason is , because what proceeds from an intolerable and a violent cause , as repentance in sickness and danger of death , or in the day of our calamity does ; is of it self for the present defective in a main part , and cannot arrive at pardon , till the love of God be in it : so Christ said of Mary Magdalon ; Much hath been forgiven her , because she loved much ; but from a great fear to pass into love is a work of time , the effect of a long progression in repentance , and is not easy to be done in those straitnesses of time and grace , which is part of the evil portion of dying sinners . Therefore besides those many and great considerations which I have before represented ; upon this account alone repentance must not be put off to our death-bed , because our fear must pass into love , before our sins are taken off by pardon .

— proponimus illic Ire , fatigatas ubi Daedalus exuit alas .

We have a great way to go , a huge progression to make , a mighty work to be done , to which , time is as necessary as labour and observation ; and therefore we must not put it off till what begins in fear cannot pass into love , and therefore is too likely to end in sorrow ; their fears overtake such men ; it is too much to be feared , that what they fear will happen to them .

13. And after all , it is to be remembred , that sorrow for sins is not repentance , but a sign , an instrument of it , an inlet to it ; without which indeed , repentance cannot be supposed ; as manhood must suppose childhood ; perfect supposes that it was imperfect : but repentance is after sin , of the same extent of signification , and contains more duties and labour to the perfection of its parts , then Innocence . Repentance is like the Sun , which enlightens not onely the tops of the Eastern hils , or warms the wall-fruits of Italy ; it makes the little Balsam tree to weep precious tears with staring upon its beauties ; it produces rich spices in Arabia , and warms the cold Hermit in his grot , and calls the religious man from his dorter in all the partsof the world where holy religion dwels ; at the same time it digests the American gold , and melts the snows from the Riphaean mountains , because he darts his rays in every portion of the air , and the smallest atome that dances in the air , is tied to a little thread of light , which by equal emanations fils all the capacities of every region : so is repentance ; it scatters its beams and holy influences ; it kils the lust of the eyes , and mortifies the pride of life ; it crucifies the desires of the flesh , and brings the understanding to the obedience of Jesus : the fear of it , bids war against the sin , and the sorrow breaks the heart of it : the hope that is mingled with contrition , enkindles our desires to return ; and the love that is in it procures our pardon , and the confidence of that pardon does increase our love , and that love is obedience , and that obedience is sanctification , and that sanctification supposes the man to be justified before ; and he that is justified must be justified still ; and thus repentance is a holy life . But the little drops of a beginning sorrow , and the pert resolution to live better , never passing into act and habit ; the quick and rash vows of the newly returning man , and the confusion of face espied in the convicted sinner , if they proceed no further , are but like the sudden fires of the night , which glare for a while within a little continent of air bigge enough to make a fire-ball , or the revolution of a minutes walk . These when they are alone , and do not actually , and with effect minister to the wise counsels and firm progressions of a holy life , are as far from procuring pardon , as they are from a life of piety and holiness .

§. 8.

14. IN the making Confession of our sins , let us be most careful to doe it so , as may most glorify God , and advance the reputation of his wisdome , his justice and his mercy . For if we consider it , in all Judicatories of the world , and in all the arts and violences of men which have been used to extort confessions , their purposes have been that justice should be done , that the publick wisdome and authority should not be dishonoured ; that publick criminals should not be defended or assisted by publick pity , or the voice of the people sharpned against the publick rods and axes , by supposing they have smitten the innocent . Confession of the crime prevents all these evils , and does well serve all these good ends . Gnossius haec Rhadamanthus habet durissima regna , Castigátque audítque dolos , subigítque fateri : so the Heathens did suppose was done in the lower regions . The Judge did examine and hear their crimes and crafts , and even there compell'd them to confess , that the eternal Justice may be publickly acknowledg'd ; for all the honour that we can doe to the Divine attributes , is publickly to confess them , and make others so to do ; for so God is pleased to receive honour from us . Therefore repentance being a return to God , a ceasing to dishonour him any more , and a restoring him ( so far as we can ) to the honour we depriv'd him of ; it ought to be done with as much humility and sorrow , with as clear glorifications of God , and condemnations of our selves as we can . To which purpose ,

15. He that confesseth his sins , must doe it with all sincerity and simplicity of spirit , not to serve ends , or to make Religion the minister of design ; but to destroy our sin , to shame and punish our selves , to obtain pardon , and institution ; always telling our sad story just as it was in its acting , excepting where the manner of it and its nature or circumstances require a vail ; and then the sin must not be concealed , nor yet so represented as to keep the first immodesty alive in him that acted it , or to become a new temptation in him that hears it . But this last caution is onely of use in our confessions to the Minister of holy things ; for our confession to God as it is to other purposes , so must be in other manners : but I have already given accounts of this . I onely adde , that

16. All our confessions must be accusations of our selves , and not of others . For if we confess to God , then to accuse another may spoil our own duty , but it can serve no end ; for God already knows all that we can say to lessen , or to aggravate the sin : if we confess to men , then to name another , or by any way to signify or reveal him , is a direct defamation ; and unless the naming of the sin do of it self declare the assisting party , it is at no hand to be done , or to be inquired into : But if a man hath committed incest , and there is but one person in the world with whom he could commit it ; in this case the confessing his sin , does accuse another ; but then such a Guide of souls is to be chosen to whom that person is not known ; but if by this or some other expedient the same of others be not secured , it is best to confess that thing to God onely , and so much of the sin as may aggravate it to an equal height with its own kinde in special , may be communicated to him of whom we ask comfort , and counsel and institution . If to confess to a Priest were a Divine Commandement , this caution would have in it some difficulty , and much variety ; but since the practice is recommended to us wholly upon the stock of prudence , and great charity ; the doing it , ought not in any sense to be uncharitable to others .

17. He that hath injur'd his neighbour must confess to him ; and he that hath sinn'd against the Church , must make amends and confess to the Church , when she declares her self to be offended . For when a fact is done which cannot naturally be undone , the onely duty that can remain is to rescind it morally , and make it not to be any longer or any more . For as our conversation is a continual creation , so is the perpetuating of a sin a continuation of its being and actings , and therefore to cease from it , is the death of the sin for the present and for the future ; but to confess it , to hate it , to wish it had never been done , is all the possibility that is left to annihilate the act which naturally can never be undone ; and therefore to all persons that are injur'd , to confess the sin , must needs be a duty , because it is the first part of amends , and sometimes all that is left ; but it is that which God and man requires , before they are willing to pardon the offender . For until the erring man confesses , it does not appear who is innocent , and who is guilty , or whether the offended person have any thing to forgive . And this is the meaning of these preceptive words of S. James , Jam. 5.16 . Confess your sins one to another ; that is , to the Church who are scandalized , and who can forgive and pray for the repenting sinner ; and confess to him that is injur'd , that you may do him right , that so you may cease to do wrong , that you may make your way for pardon , and offer amends . This onely , and all of this is the meaning of the precept . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , say the Greek Commentaries upon Acts 19.18 . Every faithful man must declare or confess his sins , and must stand in separation that he may be reproved , and that he may promise he will not doe the same again , according to that which is said , Do thou first declare thy sins , that thou mayest be justified ; and again , A just man in the beginning of his speech is an accuser of himself . No man is a true penitent , if he refuses or neglects to confess his sins to God in all cases , or to his brother if he have injur'd him , or to the Church if she be offended , or where she requires it ; for wheresoever a man is bound to repent , there he is bound to Confession ; which is an acknowledgement of the injury , and the first instance and publication of repentance . In other cases , Confession may be of great advantage ; in these it is a duty .

18. Let no man think it a shame to confess his sin ; or if he does , yet let not that shame deter him from it . There is indeed a shame in confession , because nakedness is discovered ; but there is also a glory in it , because there is a cure too : there is repentance and amendment . This advice is like that which is given to persons giving their lives in a good cause , requiring them not to be afraid ; that is , not to suffer such a fear , as to be hindred from dying . For if they suffer a great natural fear , and yet in despite of that fear die constantly and patiently , that fear as it increases their suffering , may also accidentally increase their glory , provided that the fear be not criminal in its cause , nor effective of any unworthy comportment . So is the shame in confession ; a great mortification of the man , and highly punitive of the sin ; and such that unless it hinders the duty , is not to be directly reproved : but it must be taken care of that it be a shame onely for the sin , which by how much greater it is , by so much the more earnestly the man ought to fly to all the means of remedy and instruments of expiation : and then the greater the shame is which the sinner suffers , the more excellent is the repentance which suffers so much for the extinction of his sin . But at no hand let the shame affright the duty ; but let it be remembred , that this confession is but the memory of the shame , which began when the sin was acted , and abode but as a handmaid of the guilt and goes away with it : Confession of sins opens them to man , but draws a vail before them , that God will the less behold them . And it is a material consideration , that if a man be impatient of the shame here , when it is revealed but to one man , who is also by all the ties of Religion & by common Honesty oblig'd to conceal them ; or if he account it intolerable that a sin publick in the scandal and the infamy , should be made publick by solemnity to punish and to extinguish it , the man will be no gainer by refusing to confess , when he shall remember that sins unconfessed are most commonly unpardon'd ; and unpardon'd sins will be made publick before all Angels , and all the wise and good men of the world , when their shame shall have nothing to make it tolerable .

19. When a penitent confesses his sin , the holy man that ministers to his Repentance , and hears his Confession , must not without great cause lessen the shame of the repenting man ; he must directly encourage the duty , but not adde confidence to the sinner . For whatsoever directly lessens the shame , lessens also the hatred of sin , and his future caution , and the reward of his repentance ; and takes off that which was an excellent defensative against the sin . But with the shame , the Minister of Religion is to doe as he is to doe with the mans sorrow : so long as it is a good instrument of repentance , so long it is to be permitted and assisted , but when it becomes irregular , or dispos'd to evil events , it is to be taken off . And so must the shame of the penitent man ; when there is danger , lest the man be swallowed up by too much sorrow and shame , or when it is perceiv'd , that the shame alone is a hinderance to the duty . In these cases , if the penitent man can be perswaded directly and by choice , for ends of piety and religion to suffer the shame , then let his spirit be supported by other means ; but if he cannot , let there be such a confidence wrought in him , which is deriv'd from the circumstances of the person , or the universal calamity and iniquity of man , or the example of great sinners like himself , that have willingly undergone the yoke of the Lord , or from consideration of the divine mercies , or from the easiness and advantages of the duty , but let nothing be offer'd to lessen the hatred , or the greatness of the sin ; lest a temptation to sin hereafter , be sowed in the furrows of the present Repentance .

20. He that confesseth his sins to the Minister of Religion , must be sure to express all the great lines of his folly and calamity ; that is , all that by which he may make a competent judgement of the state of his soul Now if the man be of a good life , and yet in his tendency to perfection , is willing to pass under the method and discipline of greater sinners , there is no advice to be given to him , but that he doe not curiously tell those lesser irregularities which vex his peace , rather then discompose his conscience : but what is most remarkable in his infirmities , or the whole state , and the greatest marks and instances , and returns of them he ought to signifie , for else he can serve no prudent end in his confession .

But secondly , if the man have committed a great sin , it is a high prudence , and an excellent instance of his repentance , that he confess it , declaring the kinde of it , if it be of that nature that the spiritual man may conceal it . But if upon any other account he be bound to reveal every notice of the fact , let him transact that affair wholly between God and his own soul . And this of declaring a single action as it is of great use in the repentance of every man , so it puts on some degrees of necessity , if the man be of a sad , amazed and an afflicted conscience . For there are some unfortunate persons who have committed some secret facts of shame and horror , at the remembrance of which they are amazed , of the pardon of which they have no signe , for the expiation of which they use no instrument , and they walk up and down like distracted persons , to whom reason is useless , and company is unpleasant , and their sorrow is not holy , but very great , and they know not what to doe , because they wil not ask . I have observed some such ; and the onely remedy that was fit to be prescribed to such persons , was to reveal their sin to a spiritual man , and by him to be put into such a state of remedy and comfort as is proper for their condition . It is certain that many persons have perished for want of counsel and comfort , which were ready for them if they would have confessed their sin ; for he that concealeth his sin , non dirigetur , saith Solomon , he shall not be counselled or directed .

And it is a very great fault amongst a very great part of Christians , that in their inquiries of Religion , even the best of them , ordinarily ask but these two questions : Is it lawful ? Is it necessary ? If they finde it lawful , they will do it without scruple or restraint ; and then they suffer imperfection , or receive the reward of folly . For it may be lawful , and yet not fit to be done . It may be it is not expedient . And he that will doe all that he can doe lawfully , would , if he durst , do something that is not lawful . And as great an error is on the other hand in the other question . He that too strictly inquires of an action whether it be necessary or no , would do well to ask also whether it be good ? whether it be of advantage to the interest of his soul ? For if a Christian man or woman ; that is , a redeemed , blessed , obliged person , a great beneficiary , endeared to God beyond all the comprehensions of a mans imagination , one that is less then the least of all Gods mercies , and yet hath received many great ones and hopes for more , if he should doe nothing but what is necessary , that is , nothing but what he is compell'd to ; then he hath the obligations of a son , and the affections of a slave , which is the greatest undecency of the world in the accounts of Christianity . If a Christian will doe no more then what is necessary , he will quickly be tempted to omit something of that also . And it is highly considerable that in the matter of souls , Necessity is a divisible word , and that which in disputation is not necessary , may be necessary in practise : it may be but charity to one and duty to another , that is , when it is not a necessary duty , it may be a necessary charity . And therefore it were much the better if every man without further inquiry would in the accounts of his soul consult a spiritual Guide , and whether it be necessary or no , yet let him doe it because it is good ; and even they who will not for Gods sake doe that which is simply the best , yet for their own sakes they will , or ought to doe that which is profitable , and of great advantage . Let men doe that which is best to themselves ; for it is all one to God , save onely that he is pleas'd to take such instances of duty and forwardness of obedience , as the best significations of the best love . And of this nature is Confession of sins to a Minister of Religion , it is one of the most charitable works in the world to our selves ; and in this sense we may use the words of David , If thou doest well unto thy self , men [ & God ] will speak good of thee , and do good to thee . He that will do every thing that is lawful , and nothing but what is necessary , will be an enemy when he dares , and a friend when he cannot help it .

But if the penitent person hath been an habitual sinner , in his confessions he is to take care that the Minister of Religion understand the degrees of his wickednesse , the time of his abode in sin , the greatnesse of his desires , the frequency of his acting them , not told by numbers , but by generall significations of the time , and particular significations of the earnestnesse of his choice . For this transaction being wholly in order to the benefit and conduct of his soule , the good man that ministers must have as perfect moral accounts as he can , but he is not to be reckon'd withal by natural numbers and measures , save only so far as they may declare the violence of defires , & the pleasures and choice of the sin . The purpose of this advice is this ; that since the transaction of this affaire is for counsel and comfort , in order to pardon , and the perfections of repentance , there should be no scruple in the particular circumstances of ; but that it be done heartily and wisely ; that is , so as may best serve the ends to which it is designed ; and that no man do it in despite of himself , or against his will for the thing it self is not a direct service of God immediatly enjoin'd , but is a service to our selves to enable us to do our duty to God , and to receive a more ready and easie and certain pardon from him . They indeed who pretend it as a necessary duty , have by affixing rules and measures to it of their own made that which they call necessary , to be intolerable and impossible . Indeed it is certain that when God hath appointed a duty , he also will describe the measures , or else leave us to the conduct of our own choice and reason in it . But where God hath not described the measures , we are to do that which is most agreeable to the analogy of the commandement , or the principal duty , in case it be under a command : but if it be not , then we are onely to choose the particulars so as may best minister to the end which is designed in the whole ministration .

21. It is a very pious preparation to the holy Sacrament , that we confess our sins to the Minister of Religion : for since it is necessary that a man be examined , and a self-examination was prescrib'd to the Corinthians in the time of their lapsed discipline , that though there were divisions amongst them , and no established Governours , yet from this duty they were not to be excus'd , and they must in destitution of a publick Minister doe it themselves ( but this is in case onely of such necessity ) the other is better ; that is , it is of better order , and more advantage that this part of Repentance and holy preparation be perform'd under the conduct of a Spiritual Guide . And the reason is pressing . For since it is life or death that is there administred , and the great dispensation of the keyes is in that Ministery , it were very well if he that ministers did know whether the person presented were fit to communicate or no ; and if he be not , it is charity to reject him , and charity to assist him that he may be fitted . There are many sad contingencies in the constitution of Ecclesiastical affairs , in which every man that needs this help , and would fain make use of it , cannot ; but when he can meet with the blessing , it were well it were more frequently used , and more readily entertain'd . I end these advices , with the words of Origen : In Psa. 36. hom. 1. Extra veniam est qui peccatum cognovit , nec cognitum confitetur . Confitendum autem semper est , non quòd peccatum supersit ut semper sit confitendum ; sed quia peccati veteris & antiqui utilis sit indefessa confessio . He shall have no pardon , who knows his sin and confesses it not : But we must confess alwayes , not that the sin alwayes remains , but that of an old sin an unwearied confession is useful and profitable . But this is to be understand of a general accusation , or of a confession to God . For in confessions to men , there is no other usefulness of repeating our confessions , excepting where such repetition does aggravate the fault of relapsing and ingratitude , in case the man returns to those sins for which he hop'd that before he did receive a pardon .

§. 9.

BUt because in all repentances there is something penal , it is not amiss that there be some inquiries after the measures and rules of acting that part of repentance which consists in corporal austerities , and are commonly called Penances .

1. He that hath a great sorrow , need neither be invited nor instructed in the matter of his austerities . For a great sorrow and its own natural expressions and significations , such as are fastings , and abstinence , and tears , and indignation , and restlesness of minde , and prayers for pardon , and mortification of the sin , are all that which will perfect this part of repentance . Onely sometimes they need caution for the degrees . Therefore

2. Let the penitent be careful that he doe not injure his health , or oppress his spirit , by the zeal of this part of repentance . Sic enim peccata compescenda sunt , ut supersint quos peccasse poeniteat . For all such fierce proceedings are either superstitious , or desperate , or indiscreet , or the effect of a false perswasion concerning them ; that they are a direct service of God , that they are simply necessary , and severely enjoyn'd . All which are to be rescinded , or else the penances will be of more hurt then usefulness . Those actions are to minister to repentance ; and therefore if they contradict any duty , they destroy what they pretend to serve . For penances as they relate to the sin that is committed , is just to be measured as penitentiall sorrow is , of which it is a signification and expression . When the sorrow is naturall , sensitive , pungent , and materiall , the penances will be so too . A great sorrow refuses to eat , to sleep , to be chearful , to be in company , according as the degree is , and as the circumstances of the persons are . But sometimes sorrow is to be chosen , and invited by arts , and ministred to by external instruments , and arguments of invitation ; and just so are the penances , they are then to be chosen , so as may make the person a sorrowful mourner , to make him take no delight in sin , but to conceive , and to feel a just displeasure : For if men feel no smart , no real sorrow or pain for their sins , they will be too much in love with it : impunity is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the occasion and opportunity of sin , as the Apostle intimates : and they use to proceed in finishing the methods of sin and death , who Non unquam reputant quantum sibi gandia constant , reckon their pleasures , but never put any smart , or danger , or fears , or sorrows into the ballance . But the injunction or susception of penances is a good instrument of repentance , because a little evil takes off the pleasure of the biggest sin in many instances , and we are too apprehensive of the present , that this also becomes a great advantage to this ministery : we refuse great and infinite pleasures hereafter , so we may enjoy little , and few , and inconsiderable ones at present ; and we fear not the horrible pains of hell , so we may avoid a little trouble in our persons , or our interest . Therefore it is to be supposed , that this way of undertaking a present punishment and smart for our sins ( unless every thing when it becomes religious is despoyl'd of all its powers which it had in nature , and what is reason here , is not reason there ) will be of great effect and power against sin , and be an excellent instrument of repentance . But it must be so much , and it must be no more ; for penances are like fire and water , good so long as they are made to serve our needs ; but when they go beyond that , they are not to be endured . For since God in the severest of his anger does not punish one sin with another , let not us do worse to our selves then the greatest wrath of God in this world will inflict upon us . A sin cannot be a punishment from God . For then it would be that God should be the Author of sin , for he is of punishment . If then any punishment be a sin , that sin was unavoidable , deriv'd from God ; and indeed it would be a contradiction to the nature of things to say , that the same thing can in the same formality be a punishment and a sin , that is , an action , and a passion , voluntary as every sin is , and involuntary as every punishment is ; that it should be done by us , and yet against us , by us and by another , and by both intirely : and since punishment is the compensation or the expiation of sin , not the aggravation of the Divine anger ; it were very strange , if God by punishing us should more provoke himself , Vide Chapt. 6. ● . 42 . and in stead of satisfying his justice , or curing the man , make his own anger infinite , and the patient much the worse . Indeed it may happen that one sin may cause or procure another , not by the efficiency of God , or any direct action of his : but 1. withdrawing those assistances which would have restrain'd a sinful progression . 2. By suffering him to fall into evil temptation , which is too hard for him consisting in his present voluntary indisposition . 3. By the nature of sin it self , which may either ¹ effect a sin by accident ; as a great anger may by the withdrawing Gods restraining grace be permitted to pass to an act of murder ; or ² it may dispose to others of like nature , as one degree of lust brings in another ; or ³ it may minister matter of fuel to another sin , as intemperance to uncleanness : or ⁴ on sin may be the end of another , as covetousness may be the servant of luxury . In all these ways , one sin may be effected by another ; but in all these , God is onely conniving , or at most , takes off some of those helps which the man hath forfeited , and God was not obliged to continue . Thus God hardned Pharaohs heart , even by way of object and occasion ; God hardned him , by shewing him a mercy , by taking off his fears when he remov'd the judgement ; and God ministred to him some hope that it be so still . But God does not inflict the sin : The mans own impious hands do that , not because he cannot help it , but because he chooses and delights in it . * Now if God in justice to us will not punish one sin directly by another : let not us in our penitential inflictions commit a sin in indignation against our sin ; for that is just as if a man out of impatience of pain in his side , should dash his head against a wall .

3. But if God pleases to inflict a punishment , let us be careful to exchange it into a penance , by kissing the rod , and entertaining the issues of the Divine justice by approbation of Gods proceeding , and confession of our demerit and justification of God . It was a pretty accident and mixture of providence and penance , that hapned to the three accusers of Narcissus Bishop of Jerusalem ; They accused him falsly of some horrid crimes , but in verification of their indictment bound themselves by a curse : The first that if his accusation were false , he might be burn'd to death : The second , Euseb. li. 6. c. 7. that he might die of the Kings evil : The third , that he might be blinde . God in his anger found out the two first , and their curse hapned to them that delighted in cursing and lies . The first was burnt alive in his own house : and the second perished by the loathsome disease . Which when the third espied , and found Gods anger so hasty and so heavy , so pressing and so certain , he ran out to meet the rod of God ; and repented of his sin so deeply , and wept so bitterly , so continually , that he became blinde with weeping : and the anger of God became an instance of repentance ; the judgement was sanctified , and so passed into mercy and a pardon : he did indeed meet with his curse , but by the arts of repentance the curse became a blessing . And so it may be to us , Praeveniamus faciem ejus in confessione ; let us prevent his anger by sentencing our selves : or if we do not , let us follow the sad accents of the angry voice of God , and imitate his justice , by condemning that which God condemnes , and suffering willingly what he imposes ; and turning his judgements into voluntary executions , by applying the suffering to our sins , and praying it may be sanctified . For since God smites us that we may repent , if we repent then , we serve the end of the Divine judgement : and when we perceive God smites our sin , if we submit to it , and are pleased that our sin is smitten , we are enemies to it , after the example of God ; and that is a good act of repentance .

4. For the quality or kinde of penances , this is the best measure ; Those are the best which serve most ends ; not those which most vex us , but such which will most please God . If they be only actions punitive and vindictive , they doe indeed punish the man , and help so far as they can to destroy the sin ; but of these alone , S. Paul said well , Bodily exercise profiteth but little ; but of the later sort , he added , but Godliness is profitable to all things , having the promise of the life that now is , and of that which is to come : and this indeed is our exactest measure . Fastings alone , lyings upon the ground , disciplines and direct chastisements of the body , which have nothing in them but toleration and revenge , are of some use ; they vex the body , and crucify the sinner , but the sin lives for all them : but if we adde prayer , or any action symbolical , as meditation , reading , solitariness , silence , there is much more done towards the extinction of the sin . But he that addes alms , or something that not onely is an act contrary to a former state of sin , but such which is apt to deprecate the fault , to obey God , and to doe good to men , he hath chosen the better part , which will not easily be taken from him . Fasting , prayer , and alms together are the best penances , or acts of exterior repentance in the world . If they be single , fasting is of the least force , and alms done in obedience and the love of God is the best .

5. For the quantity of penances , the old rule is the best that I know , but that it is too general and indefinite . It is S. Cyprians , Quàm magna deliquimus , tam granditèr defleamus . If our sins were great , so must our sorrow or penances be . As one is , so must be the other . For sorrow and penances I reckon as the same thing in this question ; save onely that in some instances of corporall inflictions , the sin is opposed in its proper matter ; as intemperance is by fasting ; effeminacy by suffering hardships ; whereas sorrow opposes it onely in general : and in some other instances of penances , there is a duty distinctly and directly serv'd , as in prayer and alms . But although this rule be indefinite and unlimited , we find it made more minuit by Hugo de S. Victore . Si in correctione minor est afflictio quàm in culpâ fuit delectatio , non est dignus poenitentiae tuae fructus . Our sorrow either in the direct passion , or in its voluntary expressions , distinctly or conjunctly , must at least equal the pleasure we took in the committing of a sin . And this rule is indeed very good , if we use it with these cautions . First , that this be understood principally in our repentances for single sins ; for in these onely the rule can be properly and without scruple applied , where the measures can be best observed . For in habitual and long courses of sin , there is no other measures but to doe very much , and very long , and until we die , and never think our selves safe , but while we are doing our repentances . Secondly , that this measure be not thought equal commutation for the sin , but be onely used as an act of deprecation and repentance , of the hatred of sin , and opposition to it ; For he that sets a value upon his punitive actions of repentance , and rests in them , will be hasty in finishing the repentance , and leaving it off even while the sin is alive : For in these cases it is to be regarded , that penances , or the punitive actions of repentance , are not for the extinction of the punishment immediately , but for the guilt . That is , there is no remains of punishment after the whole guilt is taken off : but the guilt it self goes away by parts , and these external actions of repentance have the same effect in their proportion which is wrought by the internal . Therefore as no man can say that he hath sufficiently repented of his sins by an inward sorrow and hatred : so neither can he be secure that he hath made compensation by the suffering penances ; for if one sin deserves an eternal hell , it is well if upon the account of any actions , and any sufferings , we be at last accepted and acquitted .

6. In the performing the punitive parts of external repentance , it is prudent , that we rather extend them then intend them : that is , let us rather doe many single acts of several instances , then dwell upon one with such intension of spirit as may be apt to produce any violent effects upon the body or the spirit . In all these cases , prudence and proportion to the end is our best measures . For these outward significations of repentance , are not in any kinde or instance necessary to the constitution of repentance ; but apt and excellent expressions , and significations , exercises and ministeries of repentance . Prayer and alms are of themselves distinct duties , and therefore come not in their whole nature to this reckoning : but the precise acts of corporal punishment are here intended . And that these were not necessary parts of repentance , the primitive Church believed , and declared , by absolving dying persons , though they did not survive the beginnings of their publick repentance . But that she enjoyn'd them to suffer such severities in case they did recover , she declar'd that these were useful and proper exercises and ministeries of the Grace it self . And although inward repentance did expiate all sins , even in the Mosaical Covenant , yet they had also a time and manner of its solemnity , their day of expiation , and so must we have many . But if any man will refuse this way of repentance , I shall onely say to him the words of S. Paul to them who rejected the Ecclesiastical customes and usages : We have no such Custome , neither the Churches of God . But let him be sure that he perform his internal repentance with the more exactness ; as he had need look to his own strengths , that refuses the assistance of auxiliaries . But it is not good to be too nice and inquisitive , when the whole article is matter of practice . For what doth God demand of us but inward sincerity of of a returning , penitent , obedient heart , and that this be exercised and ministred unto by fit and convenient offices to that purpose ? This is all , and from this we are to make no abatements .

The PRAYER .

O Eternal God , Gracious and Merciful , the fountain of pardon and holiness , hear the cries , and regard the supplications of thy servant . I have gone astray all my days , and I will for ever pray unto thee and cry mightily for pardon . Work in thy servant such a sorrow that may be deadly unto the whole body of sin , but the parent of an excellent repentance . O suffer me not any more to doe an act of shame ; nor to undergoe the shame and confusion of face , which is the portion of the impenitent and persevering sinners at the day of sad accounts . I humbly confess my sins to thee , doe thou hide them from all the world ; and while I mourn for them , let the Angels rejoyce ; and while I am killing them by the aids of thy Spirit , let me be written in the book of life , and my sins be blotted out of the black registers of death , that my sins being covered and cured , dead and buried in the grave of Jesus , I may live to thee my God a life of righteousness , and grow in it till I shall arrive at a state of glory .

II. I Have often begun to return to thee ; but I turn'd short again , and look'd back upon Sodom , and lov'd to dwell in the neighbourhood of the horrible regions . Now , O my God hear ; now let me finish the work of a holy repentance . Let thy grace be present with me , that this day I may repent acceptably , and to morrow , and all my days ; not weeping over my returning sins , nor deploring new instances ; but weeping bitterly for the old , loathing them infinitely , denouncing warre against them hastily , prosecuting that warre vigorously ; resisting them every hour , crucifying them every day , praying perpetually , watching assiduously , consulting spiritual guides and helps frequently , obeying humbly , and crying mightily , I may doe every thing by which I can please thee , that I may be rescued from the powers of darkness , and the sad portions of eternity which I have deserved .

III. O Give unto thy servant intentions so real , a resolution so strong , a repentance so holy , a sorrow so deep , a hope so pure , a charity so sublime , that no temptation or time , no health or sickness , no accident or interest may be able in any circumstance of things or persons to tempt me from thee and prevail . Work in me a holy and an unreprovable faith whereby I may overcome the world , and crucify the flesh , and quench the fiery darts of the De●●l ; and let this faith produce charity , and my sorrow cause amendment , and my fear produce caution , and that caution beget a holy hope : let my repentance be perfect and acceptable , and my affliction bring forth joy , and the pleasant fruit of righteousness . Let my hatred of sin pass into the love of God , and this love be obedience , and this obedience be universal , and that universality be lasting and perpetual ; that I may rejoyce in my recovery , and may live in health , and proceed in holiness , and abide in thy favour , and die with a blessing , the death of the righteous , and may rest in the arms of the Lord Jesus , and at the day of judgement may have my portion in the resurrection of the just , and may enter into the joy of my Lord , to reap from the mercies of God in the harvest of a blessed eternity , what is here sown in tears and penitential sorrow , being pardoned and accepted , and sav'd by the mercies of God in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ . Amen . Amen . Amen .

〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 .

The End .