A CONTRITE AND HUMBLE HEART WITH Motives & Considerations to prepare it.  
PARIS. M.DC.XCII.  
Permiss●… Superiorum.   
PSALM. L. 
A Contrite & Humble Heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.  I. SAM. VII. 
Prepare your Hearts to God, & Serve Him only.  
TO THE READER.  
THe Subject which I treat of, is the Best of Hearts; a Contrite & an Humble One. A Heart which is the Price of Heaven. An inestimable Jewel, which deserves our selling all we have to purchase it. What disadvantages it may have suffered in my hand, who have prepared & fashioned it according to my Fancy, I pretend not to excuse. As rough, & as unpolisht as it is, the Jewel is entire: the interior Value of it is the same within itself: And that's abundantly sufficient to atone for all. Besides, Contrition and Humility affect not the advantage of a Modish Outside: Plain Sincerity becomes them infinitely more. An humble Penitent who has an angry God to please, & trembles under his Almighty Hand, has something else to think of. When a Magdalen once comes with penitential Tears to bathe her Saviour's feet, she quite forgets her Looking-glass; & comes, without consulting it. She brings her precious Ointments with her: But these are only for her Lord: They are not, either to adorn herself, or please the Company.  
The Method I have followed, may perhaps seem arbitrary, & require a line or two, to justify it. I begin with the Love of God. 1. Because it is the First, the Greatest, & indeed the Whole Duty of Man. 2. Because although the Practice of Repentance commonly gins with Fear, goes on with Hope, & ends in Love; yet where our Practice ends, our Theory gins; and what is last performed, is generally first designed, and principally aimed at. 3. Because there is no ground for either Hope or Fear, before we Know our Duty. When we know it, and consider well how little we observe it; Then it is that we begin to tremble at the thought of our Appearance at the Bar: The Terror of a Living God awakens us, and makes us sensible, how fearful a thing it is, 
Hebr. 10.31.  to fall in to his hands. For this reason, in the second place I show the general Motives of our Fear: Which, to prevent Despair, I counterbalance with the Motives of our Hope: And, after all, because Presumption is the greater danger of the two, (our Pride inclining us to think Repentance easy, & our Self-Love daily tempting to Differr it,) therefore I have taken care to show the Danger of Delay. These Preparations I thought proper for a Contrite & an Humble Heart.  
When I describe Contrition, I enlarge much more upon the Resolutions of Amendment, than the Sorrow due to Sin: because these Resolutions are commonly the more neglected of the two. A little Melancholy, or a little Tenderness of nature, with no more than merely Self-Love in the Case, may oftentimes produce a sensible concern, and even Tears, when we reflect upon the danger we are in: Though all this while, our Darling Humours, our beloved Sins, are every jot as dear to us as ever. Some slight Thoughts we have, in general, of doing so no more: But these are only superficial: They produce not a sincere & hearty Detestation of our Crimes: They are to God, what our Compliments are to our Neighbours; These are Words of course, & Those are Thoughts of course; Both signify just nothing.  
These two Sections of Contrition 
* 91.  have been printed apart, by One who signed the Paper as his Act & Deed; inviting others to take pen in hand, 
Intro. Par. 1. ch. 21.  & do the same. I sign it not with my Hand; but only wish, my Reader & myself may sign it with our Hearts.  
In the first four Sections of Humility I offer little or nothing of my own. It would not have become me to pretend to much acquaintance with so rare a Virtue. And besides, in such a Matter, so extremely disagreeable to our Corrupted nature, there was need of more Authority than mine.  
I conclude with the Character of a Good Christian. Having described his Heart, I thought it would not be amiss to finish the remainder of his Character. In this also, I advance not a word of my own. Should I presume to draw a Christian to the life, 'twould be in me as great a Vanity as if my Reader should pretend to sit for the Picture. I produce the Scripture chief, & the Fathers; now and then a Modern Author: Any helping Hand was welcome in so difficult a Piece.  
No matter Who I am. I am a Son of the Church; & Submit myself entirely to Her. 
* S. Pacian B. of Barcelone.  My Name is CHRISTIAN, & my Surname CATHOLIC; the rest I have leave to conceal. God's Honour & my Neighbour's Good is All I aim at; And, as to either of these Designs, I have no other Name, but what is altogether useless.   

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I Have yet something more to say, which I had almost quite forgotten. It relates not, either to the general Design of this little Tract, or to any considerable Part of it; but only to some few pages in the last Section of Humility Having there proposed one general Motive of that Virtue, by setting forth the great Enormity of Sin, I proceed to several aggravating Circumstances of it, and amongst many others I undertake to prove, that there never was, nor ever can be, upon Earth, any Impiety, Disloyalty, or Treachery, equal to that of a Sinner. This could not be performed, without answering the Objections of some people who seem to be of another Mind: And my present Business is only to put my Reader in a way of observing, who it is that speaks; that he may not confound my Adversaries words with mine. I have heard of a Man who opening the first Volume of S. Thomas of Aquine, & lighting by chance upon the third article, Utrum Deus sit? He no sooner cast his eye upon the following words, Videtur quod non, but immediately he shut it again, & laid it by, as a book pernicious & not fit to be read. 'tis a gross mistake, to imagine that every thing, which is said in an Author, is said by him. In Scripture itself, there is many a thing said, which the Scripture does not say. For example: 'tis said in Scripture, that There is no God; 
Ps. 14. v. 1.  and yet the Scripture does not say so: 'tis the Fool that says so, in his Heart: And this is my Case, in the three Articles above mentioned. There are several things said in them, which I do not say. There are Things, alluding to some Transactions, which I had no inclination to speak of; but, being Objected by Others, I could not avoid Answering. As to the Matter of the Objections, I say nothing myself; but only Argue against Those who are inclined to say too much.  
'tis commonly said, that Losers have leave to talk; Nor is it altogether without reason: Why should they not have it? They pay for what they have. But nevertheless, how hard soever it may be to gouvern a man's Passion in some occasions, 'tis certainly a very poor excuse, when there is nothing but the Temptation to atone for the Sin. Let a Man lose what he will, a judicious Slander by never likes Him the worse for being Wise enough to hold his Tongue: And when we have made the best we can of the matter, 'tis but an unbecoming thing, to be so much transported as some are. A Man's Reputation, in this point, is as much at stake as his Money; and, of the two, 'tis better to save one, than lose both.  
Upon such Thoughts as these, I have ever been reserved & moderate in speaking of the Times. I hold my Tongue, as an Honest man may, & a Wise man ought: I submit to Providence, as many a better Man does: And, whatever my Thoughts may be, I keep them to myself.  
For this Reason also (although it be no affront to the Creation, to speak ill of the Chaos which preceded it) I have, even in those Affairs which were forerunners of the 
* 92.  present Settlement, taken care to say nothing of my own. The Allusion is totally Theirs whom I dispute with: The Application only, is Mine. I pretend to silence them by their own Principles; & therefore am obliged to give them fair Play. I pretend not, to argue from my own Ideas of things, but from theirs; & should be very disingenuous, if I did not represent them their own way, according to their own liking. All this while, I know well enough what to think of these matters; but is it not my business, at present, to tell any man my Thoughts. Whatsoever any man may deserve, I accuse no man. I endeavour to entertain myself with such Considerations as become a Contrite & an Humble Heart: I accuse myself in the Sight of God: And, as for Those who so violently accuse their Neighbours in the Sight of Men, I have so much Zeal as to wish They would please to call home their Thoughts, & find them better Employment. Mean time, there's nothing but the Grace of God can calm the Spirits of Men: And One might as well pretend to chide the Winds and the Waves in a Storm, as advise people in some occasions to be Silent. The only way of Dealing with such Persons, is to let them run on quietly, till the Humour gins to be out of breath. They take it kindly, that they are not contradicted; & are afterwards more willing to hear Reason. Let them alone: Let them say what they please of the Mote in their Brother's eye: Never interrupt them: When they have done, Then is the Time, & even then 'tis hard enough, without Offence, to mind them of a Beam in their own. According to this Method, I have in the Allusion given the Losers leave to talk: And afterwards, in the Application, I make a Parallel, which plainly shows, Their Crimes are greater, in the Sight of God, than ever any Man's were, in the Sight of Men.  
When our Saviour heard the Clamours of the People against the Woman whom they loudly accused of Adultery, He knew well enough what to think of the matter, but however He kept his Thoughts to himself. He saw how violent they were; their stones ready in their hands; & themselves in great haste to execute the sentence of her Death. All the while, the Scripture says, He seemed as if he heard them not. 
Jo. 8. v. 6.  He contradicted nothing; questioned nothing; whatsoever they objected, He gave all for granted. In the end, when they continued ask him, 
v. 7.  & would not be quiet without an Answer, He said; He that is without Sin amongst you, Let him first cast a stone at her.  
And now, pray give me leave to ask: Had the Woman any reason, to take it ill of our Saviour, because he said nothing in her defence? Or had the People any just cause to be offended at him, because he minded them of their Duty? Without doubt She was pery well pleased to hear him say nothing against her: And, as for the People, they were confounded by their own principles, & went away quietly, one by one, as soon as our Saviour had put them in mind of being greater Sinners themselves. In a word, Both Parties were pleased: The Design of his Argument was a Charity to the One: And his Way of Arguing was not Injury to the Other.  
If I have not the same good Fortune, in pleasing both Parties, 'tis none of my fault. My Way of Arguing and the Design of my Argument are Both exactly the Same. Whatsoever my Success may be, My Comfort is, I have done what I can to draw Good out of Evil; and He who sees my Heart, I hope, will reward my Endeavours. My Matter led me to it, whether I would or no, And 'twould have been an uncharitable thing, to step out of the way, when I thought myself in such a fair one, of Doing Good.  
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MOTIVES OF LOVE.  

SECT. I. How much it imports us to Love God above All Things.  
WHen the Pharisee asked our Saviour, What is the Great Commandment in the Law? 
Math. 22.36.  Our dear Redeemer, who came to perfect the Old Law, who came to change the Law of Fear into a Law of Love, who brought down fire from Heaven to inflame our Hearts, replied: Thou shalt Love thy Lord thy God with all thy Heart, 
v. 37.  with all thy Soul, 
v. 38.  with all thy Mind. This is the Great Commandment.  
I fear that many of us little think how Great it is. We little reflect on the one side how great our Obligations are to Love our God; & on the other side how great are the Advantages which cannot fail to attend this Love. We little consider how great our Ingratitude is, if we omit our Greatest Duty; How great our Folly is, if we neglect our Greatest Good.   

SECT. II. That the Love of God is our Greatest Duty.  
TO make it plainly appear that the Love of God above all things is the Greatest Duty of a Christian, One would think it were enough to show, that 'tis a Duty which comprises all our other Duties; that it is the Total Sum of Christianity; & that, without the least hyperbole, it is the Whole Duty of Man; because all other Precepts whatsoever only are so many Branches of this Great Commandment, which is the Root of all the rest. 
Serm. de Orat. Domin.  S. Cyprian calls it the Grand Epitome of all our Obligations. And were it necessary, it were easy to demonstrate that as God is therefore infinitely Perfecter than all his Creatures, because He really contains in his own Essence all Perfections whatsoever; so our Obligation to Love him is incomparably greater than all other obligations, because it eminently comprehends them all together.  
This is enough to give us a confused Idea of our Duty at a distance. If we draw the prospect nigher, we shall find an infinite variety of pressing motives which enforce our Obligation. Every single Excellency of the Object we adore is all Divine▪ No shadow there of any Blemish to obscure those Charms which challenge our Affection: Nothing in our God but what is infinitely amiable, & deserving infinitely more than All the Love that we are able to return. Since therefore All and every one of his innumerable Excellencies are unlimited & boundless; since they All & every one deserve a suitable Esteem; since they command our Love as much as they deserve it: hence it follows clearly, that our Duty is as boundless as their Merit; & that, as S. Bernard says, There is no other Measure of our Love, than Loving without Measure.  
Amongst the numberless variety of those divine Perfections, which the Eye has not seen, 
1. Cor. 2.9.  nor the Ear heard, nor have entered into the Heart of any man; there is One which we are more acquainted with; there's One which in a manner makes the rest our own; & which, of all, is the most apt to make a sensible impression in a Generous Heart; I mean that of a True Friend. We read in Ecclesiasticus, 
6.15.  that There is nothing comparable to a True & Faithful Friend: and that, in the balance of the Wise, He weighs much more than all the Gold & Silver in the world. As there is nothing Better upon Earth than a True Friend, so there is nothing more pretended to. And as the world deceives us most, where we expect it least; so there is hardly any thing in which it more deceives us, than in this. Of all, that read these lines, perhaps there is not one who has not been already very much mistaken in a Friend: and 'tis no wonder, if we always 〈◊〉 so, till we raise our hearts above this World, & fix them there, where we are sure to find a True & Faithful One; who Loves us gratis; Always Loved us; Loved us even when we were his Enemies; and will for all Eternity continue the same Love, unless we prove Ungrateful, & refuse to Love Him above all things, as He very well deserves.  
He Loves us gratis: Not for any Good He gains by it; or any little Service we can do him. He cannot stand in need of any of those Goods, which every moment He bestows upon us. 
16.2.  Thou art my God, says the Psalmist; My Goodness extends not to Thee. When we have done all we can, 
Luke 17.10.  we are unprofitable Servants: We have done ourselves the greatest good we can imagine, but our God is not a jot the better for't. 
Lib. 10. de Civ.  The Fountain, says S. Austin, is not better for our drinking at the Stream, nor the Sun the better for our walking by his Light. If I may use S. Paul's expression, 
2. Cor. 12.14.  He seeks not what is Ours, but Us. He seeks for nothing but our Love, & even this Command he lays upon us merely for our Good: 
Deut. 10.12.13.  And Now, says He, what does thy Lord thy God require of thee, but to Love Him with all thy Heart; which I command thee, this Day, for thy Good. Behold dear Christians, a True & Faithful Friend! and see how you can answer it to your Good Nature, if you do not Love Him.  
He always Loved us; always thought of us; not only all of us in general, but every one of us; & Loved us with a Love Eternal as Himself. He says, in the Prophet Jeremy; 
13.3.  I have Loved Thee, with an Eternal Love; therefore with loving Kindness have I drawn Thee. And what more powerful Attractive can there be to draw us to Him; than that Loving Kindness which from all Eternity took care of our Concerns, contrived our future Happiness, & drew a Scheme of all the necessary means to bring us to it. Except himself, He hardly thought of any thing but Us; Our first Creation, our Redemption, our Salvation, were always in his Eye; they were the Eternal Entertainment of his mind; they were the Great Design which gave occasion to the first Production of this World, which we ungratefully prefer before Him, though He made it for us. Never forsake your Old Friend, 
Eccli. 9.14.  your New one will never be like Him. Alas! who can help it, if we will be so ungrateful, & forsake so ancient a Friend? we may be sure it is impossible to find a New one comparable to him.  
He Loved us, even when we were his Enemies. 'tis true; The first Production of the Universe was Proof enough; & no man can deny but that so Great a Gift bestowed upon us, for our Use, abundantly sets forth the Greatness of his Love. But yet the whole Creation of the World is nothing to the constant Conservation of it for our sakes, who have so long so much abused it. If the first bestowing of a more than ordinary favour, without any previous merit on our side, be such an argument of more than ordinary Love; What is the constant repetition & continuation of the Same so long a time, although the longer we enjoy it, we demerit more & more, & are as obstinate in our Ingratitude as He is constant in his Kindness? Was there ever any true & hearty Love, like this! S. Paul expresses some ressemblance of it in a second Letter which he writes to the Corinthians, & declares his readiness to serve them, though (says he) the more abundantly I love you, 
1. Cor. 12.15.  the less I am loved. We read it in the 12. chapter, which relates his Rapture into the third Heaven: and without all doubt this Love of his was copied there from the divine Original. If one small Spark of this celestial Love had such a wonderful effect in the Apostle's breast; What can we say or think of that immense & boundless Fire of Everlasting Love, which no Ingratitude of Man was ever able to extinguish! Though our God foresaw how much it was in vain to court our Love, although He was not ignorant that his Affection for so base & so unworthy Creatures would be more despised the more he laboured to endear us to him; though He knew before hand the unparallelld Ingratitude of Man; Nevertheless He sent his only Son to save us, He could not hold his Hand, He could not deny himself the Satisfaction of being infinitely Kind. Be astonished, 
Jerem. 2.12.  O ye Heavens, at this!  
S. John, discoursing of this Love, taketh notice of no other motive of it than our Gratitude; our indispensable Obligation to be Grateful to so Good a Friend. 
1. Jo. 4.19.  We Love Him, says he, because He first Loved Us. He does not say, because He's infinitely Good & Perfect in himself, but because He has been infinitely Good & Kind to us. His reason I gather from the 12. v. of the same Chapter, where He says, No man has seen God any time; & the 20. where he adds, How can a man Love God, whom he has not seen? If we had ever seen him Face to Face, 
1. Cor. 13.12.  as all the Blessed Spirits do in Heaven, we should then have loved Him here as they do there; The very Sight of Him (although He never had been Kind) would have transported us beyond all thoughts of any thing but Him; it would have been impossible to entertain the least impression of any other Love, in Competition with Him. But because this Happiness is not to be expected here, where 'tis impossible to see Him as He is: 
1. Jo. 3.2.  Therefore S. John, the Disciple whom JESUS Loved, Who by experience knew that no impression sinks deeper in a Generous heart, 
Jo. 21. v. 7.  than the endearing Obligation of returning Love for Love, pleads nothing else but Gratitude for the fullfilling of this Great Commandment; We Love Him, 
1. Jo. 4.19.  says he, because He first Loved us.  
There's nothing more obliging than the Love of a True Friend; & nothing else obliges us without it. Whatsoever the interior value of a Benefit amounts to, when we cast it up, the Obligation is not taxed by any other weight or measure than his Love to whom we stand indebted for it. In this Case, Ingratitude of all crimes is the most unpardonable, a Crime so base, which Human Nature so abhors, that even the Worst of men who are ashamed of nothing else, can never endure that any man should either say or think They are Ungrateful. Other sins they publish to the World, but This They always labour to conceal. And though I scarce can think of any Wickedness so infamous but Some have been so Wicked as to Glory in it; yet Ingratitude is so Unworthy, carries so much Baseness in the very Front of it, that I could never hear of any that were ever Proud of being thought Ungrateful. Rather than a Man should think They are so, they invent a thousand frivolous pretences to disown the Obligation; they quarrel with the Benefit; revile the Benefactor; & that they may deny a less Ingratitude they hid it with a greater. So ashamed they are to own this fault, that they had rather be a thousand times ungrateful than be once esteemed so.  
This is the Crime which many of us are so Guilty of, although we as are as much unwilling to believe it, as we are ashamed to own it. And One of the most notorious aggravations of our great Ingratitude is this; that we not only are so, but are in a manner quite insensible of being so. Because our God is infinitely more our Friend than any Other can be, Therefore we regard Him infinitely less. We cannot without indignation observe one man ungrateful to another: The very Story of an ungrateful Action, says Seneca, puts us out of all Patience, and gives us a loathing for the Author of it. That inhuman Villain, we cry, to do so horrid a Thing! And yet when we observe how horribly ungrateful a poor miserable Creature is to our Creator, we take little notice of it; we regard it with a cold indifference, as if we were content it should be so.  
We cannot plead in our defence that we are ignorant how much we stand indebted to him for his Love: Alas! we all know well enough that there was never any Love like His: so True, so Ancient, & so Constant. If we plead Forgetfulness or Inadvertency; 'twill only make the matter worse by offering to mend it. He is the most Ungrateful of all, says the Moral Philosopher, who Forgets either the Benefactor, or the Benefit. And yet when we have made the best we can of an ill Cause, 'tis certain that the true, if not the only, Reason why we are insensible of our Ingratitude, is because we seldom call to mind, & almost quite Forget, 
1. Jo. 4.19.  how Great our Obligation is to Love our God, because He first Loved us.  
All the Ends of the World, 
Psalm. 22.28.  says the Psalmist, shall Remember, and be Converted to God. Let us Remember only What a Friend God is; how infinitely Better than the Best we have besides: Let us Remember only This, and We shall be Converted: We shall be ashamed of our Ingratitude, and Love Him above all Things.   

SECT. III. That the Love of God is our Greatest Good.  
WHatever our Duty is▪ the very word Commandment is always odious to those who love their Liberty, & makes it so much harder to go down with them. But yet, if after second thoughts upon the matter, we discover that One reason, why it is our Greatest Obligation, is because it is our Greatest Good; 
Math. 11.30.  the Yoke will then seem easy & the Burden light.  
Three things there are, which gain our Hearts, command our Inclinations, & in a manner gouvern all our Actions; and these three things are, Honour, Profit, Pleasure. Whatsoever we call Good falls under one of these three Heads; 'tis either Honourable, Profitable, or Delightful. All these three accompany the Love of God; & none of them are ever be found without it.  
1. To begin with Honour: I take for granted, No man ought to judge that This or That is Honourable, because the Generality of Mankind, by mistake, is apt to value & admire it; but before he gives his verdict, every man should first consider well the merits of the cause. A Wife Man though he lived amongst a Multitude of Infidels, & saw how much they honour & adore false Gods, he would not therefore presently conclude such Idols Honourable; but would rather laugh at those who are so blind as not to see how little They deserve it. The Question is not, what we (by a vulgar error) are inclined to honour most, but What it is that is most worthy of it? And This upon a strict enquiry will appear to be the Love of God. Honour, at all hands, is agreed to be, a Testimony of some Excellence; and Nothing can be truly honourable, if it be not truly Excellent. A man has no just Title to his Honour (any more than what the common Duties of Civility amount to) if he have not something in him more than ordinary, some Perfection to distinguish Him, & raise him to a Height more elevated than the lowest Rank of men.  
The Qualities which justly challenge men's Esteem, are Wisdom, Justice, Power, & Whatsoever raises us to the Perfection of our Nature. 
2.2. q. 47. a. 13.  As for Wisdom; S. Thomas of Aquine has demonstrated that No man can be truly Wise, who does not Love God above all things. He may be, says he, a Wise Merchant, or a Wise Pilot, a Wise Statesman, or a Wise. General; because he may be Prudent in the choice of Proper Means well fitted to the Purpose & Design of such Employments: But 'tis impossible to be a Wise Man without being Wise in order to the Proper End of MAN, the great Design of his Creation, which is nothing but the Knowledge & the Love of God. A Magistrate, who is created merely for the Public Peace, whatever he may be in other things, if he be not Wise in order to that End, He is not a Wise Magistrate: And since All Mankind was created to be happy in an Everlasting Union with God, Whatever a Person may be in other Affairs, if he be not Wise in order to this End, He may be a Wise What you please, but he is not a Wise MAN.  
As for Justice, I would gladly know how any Man is thoroughly & truly Just, who is perpetually Guilty of the most notorious injustice, we can think of. Such is the Man, whoêre he be, that does not Love his Maker as he ought. 'tis true; He only is injust to God; He only wrongs Himself; he never wronged his Neighbour, may be, all his Life. But what would you say of a Steward who only cheats his Master? Would you think him a Just Man, because he never cheats his Fellow-Servants?  
As for Power: I Confess it may be Great, in some particular respects, but never can be Absolute, without the Love of God. I may say the same of Power, that S. Thomas says of Wisdom. A Man without this Love may be a Powerful Prince, a Powerful Warrior, or the like: because, without it, He may have all Power necessary for the main Design of Gouvernment, or War, etc. But since, without this Love, he neither can Command his Passions, nor Himself; 'tis evident He has not all the Power necessary to attain the proper End of Man's Creation: in a word, He is no Powerful MAN, who is not Master of Himself.  
Thus you may plainly see how these three Characters of Wise, Just, Powerful, which are the most esteemed & Honoured in the World, are only Shadows, & imperfect Semblances, if separated from the Love of God. You plainly see; that it not only is the Greatest Excellence of Man, most Honourable, most Deserving our, Esteem; but that, without it, there is hardly any Thing which truly is so.  
2. As it is our Greatest Honour, so it is our Greatest Profit. S. Paul was so sensible of this, that though the Fervour of his Zeal appears in all his Writings, yet he never speaks with greater Emphasis than when he has a fair occasion to discourse upon this subject. Though I speak, 
1. Cor. 13.  says he, with the Tongues of Men & Angels, & have not CHARITY, I am become like sounding Brass, or a tinkling Cymbal. And though I have the Gift of Prophecy, & understand all Mysteries, & all Knowledge: and though I have all Faith so that I could remove Mountains, & have no Charity; I am Nothing. And though I bestow all my Goods to feed the Poor, & though I give my Body to be burned, & have not Charity; it PROFITS me nothing. He has reckoned up the greatest Gifts, & best Advantages, that he could call to mind; & yet he says, They All are Nothing to our Purpose, without Love. On the other side, the same Apostle teaches us, that All things else are Profitable with it, though they never can be so without it. Weknow, 
Rom. 8.28.  says he, that All things work together for GOOD, to those who LOVE God. The Secret of changing all things in to Gold has, in vain, long time been sought for: but the mystery of changing all the meanest of our Actions in to more than Gold, is much more easy to be found. 
1. Cor. 10.31.  Whatever ye do says S. Paul, Do all to the Glory of God; & every thing you do, will have more value in his sight, than all the Gold & Silver in the World. The least Degree of Love, the coldest Act of Charity, 
Math. 10.42.  even the Giving a Cup of cold water, for the Love of God, our Saviour tells us, shall in no wise lose its Reward. So true is that, of S. Austin; All things else are Profitable, with it; Nothing else is truly so, without it.  
3. As it is our Greatest Profit, so it is our Greatest Pleasure: There is Nothing so Delightful, even in this World, as to Love God with all our Heart, with all our Soul, with all our Mind. 'tis hard enough, I know, to make the World believe it: Because although the Truth be, in itself, as clear & bright as the Meridian Sun; Our Passions raise a cloudy Mist before our Eyes, which intercepts the Sight of it. All Persons, whose Affections are fixed upon the Pleasures of this World, can hardly ever be persuaded but that the Love of God is the Dullest, & the most Insipid Thing imaginable. They easily conceive, that Nothing is so Honourable, as to be a Saint; And that it is but very little Profit for a Man to gain the World, 
Math. 16.26.  & lose his Soul: The Honour & the Profit are agreed upon; But where's the Pleasure? All that can be said upon this subject, They are unacquainted with, They understand it not. He preaches in an unknown Tongue, who preaches the Love of God to those who never Loved Him. The Language of Love, says S. Bernard, is Barbarous, to those who Love not.  
As soon as ever they begin to turn their back upon these rotten Pleasures, & look towards Heaven; presently these Darlings of their Heart begin, as it were, 
Conf. lib. 8.  to pull them by the sleeve, as Saint Austin words it, & whisper in their Ear; Do you Forsake Us? And from this moment shall we have your Company no more, FOR EVER? Shall we NEVER see you more? Thus they solicit, Thus they importune, & tempt them, to differr the time of their Conversion. Do you think it possible to Live without the Pleasures of this World? Ah Christians! 'tis not only possible; it is the Greatest Pleasure in the World to Live without them. 'tis true: The very Thoughts of Separation are like Thoughts of Death: But then we ought to reflect, that as we feel no pain when we are Dead, but all our pain is only whilst we are in Dying: So we feel the pain of leaving worldly Pleasures, whilst we are Deliberating what to Do; But we are Dead, We feel no pain at all, when once we are Resolved upon't. You are Dead, 
3.3.  says S. Paul to the Colossians, and your Life is hidden with Christ in God. I am Dead, 
2.19.20.  says the same Apostle to the Galatians, & the Life which I now live in the Flesh, I live by the Faith of the Son of God who Loved me. See the powerful Effects of Love! It makes us as insensible to all the Pleasures of this World, as if our Inclinations were already Dead, & quite Extinguished in Us. Love is as Strong as Death. 
Cant. 8.6.   
'tis this Victorious Love which frees us from the Tyranny of all those Passions, which divide the Kingdom of our Heart: 
Math. 12.25.26.  a Kingdom brought to Desolation; where Satan casts out Satan; & How can this Kingdom stand? How is there any true Content and Satisfaction to be found in it? A Man who places all his Happiness in Humouring his Passions, can never please himself, till he has pleased them All: And since it is impossible to please two Masters, how is't possible for any Man to please so many? I might here appeal to each Man's private Conscience for a farther Testimony of this Truth; But, if a Sullen Conscience (even when it is upon the Wrack) refuses to Confess, We have the Word of God, the best & clearest Evidence, we can desire: The Wicked, 
Isai. 57.20, 21.  says He, are like the troubled Sea, when it cannot Rest; whose Waters cast up Mire & Dirt: There is no PEACE, says my God, to the Wicked.  
On the other side, when once the Love of God has full possession of our Heart; when Christ Gouverns it by Faith, & the Holy Ghost by Charity; 
Gen. 1.2. Math. 8.26.  when the Spirit of God gins to move upon the face of the Waters; it presently Commands the Winds & the Sea, & there succeeds a Great Calm. In a word, As much as Liberty is more agreeable than Slavery, As much as Unity is better than Division, As much as Peace, Content, & Ease, are more Delightful than perpetual Disturbance, Discontent & Pain; so much the Pleasure, which attends the Love of God, is Greater than the Pleasures of this World.  
Had it been possible for our Creator to oblige us All to Love Him gratis, we might then have had more Colour for our Crime. And yet, it would have been no more than what He very well deserves. He Loved us gratis, without any possibility of Recompense: He humbled himself to repair our Honour; He quitted Heaven to promote our Interest; He suffered torments to procure our Ease; And it would only be a Suitable Return, if we preferred his Honour, Interest, & Pleasure, far before our own. But, as our Kind & Gracious God has ordered it to our advantage, we are All obliged to seek our Own True Honour, Interest, & Pleasure; & despise the False Appearances of Honourable, Profitable, & Delightful, which the World endeavours to delude us with.  
When we have made the most we can of such an Obligation, 'twill amount to neither more nor less than What we daily see before our Eyes. Consider how the Ambitious, the Covetous, & the Voluptuous, love their Honours, Riches, Pleasures: Is it not plain, They Love them above all things? And why should not we Love God as well as Worldlings Love the World? They Love it with all their Heart, They desire nothing else but to enjoy it; with all their Soul, They have no passion for any thing else; with all their Mind, They think of nothing else, but how to make a Figure in it. Has God less charms than the World? Or is a Flattering Friend (well known to be our Greatest Enemy) more amiable than the Best of Friends, most True, most Ancient, & most Constant, who has always Loved us better than we Love ourselves? Is it a Greater Honour, for a Man to be the Devil's Slave, than be a Favourite of God? Is it a Greater Profit, to be cheated in the End, than be Eternally Rewarded? Or are those Pleasures which are always mixed with intervals of discontent, anxiety, & pain, greater than those Delights which are unchangeable, immortal, & divine, which even in this Vale of Misery begin our Heaven upon Earth? Ah Christians! We have little reason to dispute the terms of such an Obligation, where the whole Advantage is entirely on our Side: So great Advantage, that we cannot truly Love ourselves, 
Math. 22.38.  unless we Love our Lord our GOD, with all our Heart, with all our Soul, with all our Mind: This is, not only our Greatest Duty, but our Greatest Good.   

SECT. iv That the Love of God is the chief Grace of the Holy Ghost.  
I Am come, 
Luke. 12.22.  says our Saviour, to Send Fire on the Earth; & what do I desire but that it may be Kindled? This He desires; for This He came; and This we pray for, in the Service of the Church; Come Holy Spirit; Fill the Hearts of thy Faithful, & Kindle in them the Fire of thy Love.  
The Holy Ghost came visibly at first; & proved his Presence by the Miracles He did. But yet a Spirit is not naturally sensible; & when He comes invisibly, He comes more like Himself; nor have we any reason (when He dwells within us) to suspect that He is less at home, because He less Appears abroad. Although we do not see the Fire descend, & rest upon our Heads; yet if the Love of God inflame us, if it burn within our Hearts, if it appear in our Devotion, in our Conversation, in our Actions; 'tis enough; we then may hope we have received the Holy Ghost, & that our Saviour verifies in us his Promise, which He made us, when He said, He shall be IN YOU. 
Jo. 14. v. 17.  He did not come in to the World, to visit the Apostles only, and abandon their Posterity: Our Saviour did not send him to us, that he might immediately forsake us, but that He might remain with us for ever, to the End of the World: 
Jo. 14. v. 16.  I will pray my Father, says He, that He may abide with you for ever.  
The Spirit of God shall be in Us. 'tis a solemn Promise of our Saviour himself: we cannot doubt of it, although we cannot but admire it with profound astonishment, 
Kings. 3.8.27.  like that of Solomon: Will God dwell with us on the Earth! will the Spirit of God not only dwell here with us, but within us! If Heaven says he, and the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain Thee, How much less this House which I have builded! If we find that Solomon was thus transported when he looked upon his Temple, & compared it with the Majesty of God, to whom he built it; may not we admire much more the living Temple of the Holy Ghost? If the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain the Spirit of God, How much less this little House of clay? Can we imagine that this little Heart of ours is more capacious than Heaven? Or can our Heart contain our God, if Heaven cannot? Oh no: our God is infinite; He cannot be contained in either; & yet He dwells in both. Hear the Psalmist; 
122.1.  To Thee I lift up my Eyes, O Thou that Dwellest in the Heavens. Hear S. Paul; 
1. Cor. 3.16.  You are the Temple of God, & the Spirit of God Dwells in You. Compare both Testaments, the Old and New; & if you seriously believe them both, conclude we have the same assurance that God dwells in Virtuous Souls, as that He dwells in Heaven.  
The Kingdom of God is within you. 
Luke. 17.21.  Wheresoever Majesty resides, the Court is there; & wheresoever the King gouverns, there his Kingdom is. If the Almighty gouvern all the Passions, Motions & Affections of our Souls; if once He be the Souvereign Monarch of our Hearts, if the Love of God give Law to all our Inclinations; the H. Ghost is then as truly in us, as a King is in his Kingdom, & He is no otherwise in Heaven. This is that Heaven upon Earth which none can understand but those devout & pious Souls, who by experience Taste & See how sweet God's Kingdom is, 
Ps. 33.9.  where Christ gouverns by Faith, & the Holy Ghost by Charity; or (as S. Austin says) whose King is Truth, whose Law is Love.  
A Spirit, having no proportion with Place (if we believe Philosophers) is neither here, nor there, nor any where, of its self; but only by its Operation in a Body, which is in some Place. When Angels formerly appeared with airy bodies, they were truly & substantially present in those human Forms, which they inhabited, by operating there. Whatever the Airy Body seemed to do, the Angel truly did; the Angel moved, the Angel walked, the Angel spoke, discoursed, conversed with men. The Holy Ghost is likewise truly & substantially present in the Soul of a devout & pious Christian. He dwells in his Heart by operating there: His Heart becomes a Paradise on Earth: The Love of God, now planted in the middle of it, is the Tree of Life: 
Gen. 2.9.  The Holy Ghost himself becomes the Angel Guardian, of the Place, & like the Cherubin defends it with a Flaming Sword: 
Gen. 3.24. Gal. 5. v. 25.  He gives him Life, we Live by the Spirit; He gives him Motion, we Walk by the Spirit; He gives him Speech, 'tis not You that Speak, 
Math. 10.20.  says our Saviour to his Apostles, but the Spirit of God that Speaks in You.  
So far you see the Parallel betwixt the Presence of an Angel dwelling in an airy Body, & the Presence of the Holy Ghost inhabiting in us. Only this difference there is. Philosophers are puzzled to explain the Virtue & the Operation by which an Angel moves the Body it assumes; But Christians, by the light of Faith, have this Advantage over them: They plainly read & understand in Scripture, that the Virtue of the Holy Ghost, by which He moves & gouverns us, is Charity; & that the Operation, which with us He produces in us, is the Love of God above all things. God the Holy Ghost is Charity: 
1. Jo. 4.8.  He is the Consubstantial Love of God the Father & the Son. If Charity inspire us; if the Love of God direct us, gouvern us, & influence the principal Designs & Actions of our Life; we then may reasonably hope, 
1. Cor. 2.12.  we have not received the Spirit of this World, but the Spirit which is of God.  
That Inclination which is predominant, & gouverns all the rest, is usually called the Spirit of a man. If this be Love of Honours, Riches, Pleasures of this World; 'tis an Ambitious, a Covetous, a Carnal, or (to speak them all at once) a Worldly Spirit. But if it be the Love of God above all things, without any competition of Creatures; 'tis a Virtuous, a Divine, a Holy Spirit: Then it is that the Love of God is diffused in our Hearts, 
Rom. 5.5.  by the Holy Ghost, the HOLY SPIRIT which is given to us.  
S. Paul, 
Acts. 19.1.2.  when he came to Ephesus, and found certain Disciples, demanded of them; Have ye received the Holy Ghost, since ye believed? And I am apt to think, it would not be amiss to put the Question, to the Christians of our Age. You in whose Minds Christ dwells by Faith, does the Holy Ghost dwell in your Hearts by Charity? Is your Love suitable to your Creed? Do you Love God, as you Believe He deserves? Do you Love Him above all things? Your greatest Care, is it to please your God? Your greatest Grief, is it to have displeased Him? In all things, which deserve Deliberation, do you first consult his Law, & make it the Rule of all your Measures? Examine well the whole Course of your Life; your Actions, Humours, & Designs. What is it that employs your Mind the most? What Thoughts are those which close your Eyes at Night, & open them next Morning? Are they fixed upon the Only Necessary? Do they tend to Heaven? All things else, what are they? Are they Nothing in comparison of That? If so; you have received the Holy Ghost; the Spirit of God, 
Io. 14. v. 17.  whom the World cannot receive. But if the Souvereign Inclination of your Hearts be Love of Honours, Riches, Pleasures; if your greatest Grief & Trouble be your disappointment of Success in these; if upon all occasions you consult your Inclinations & the Maxims of the World: You than may answer, as the Ephesians did; Alas we are but little acquainted with this Holy Spirit; we have scarce heard of him; we know not what He is: A Worldly Spirit we have more acquaintance with; But, as for the Spirit of God, He is a Stranger to us. We say our Prayers, we frequent the Sacrements, we are in the common road of customary Duties: But our Ambitious Spirit, our impatient Love of Honour is such, that we are more concerned for an Affront, than for a Mortal Sin: Our Avaricious Spirit, our insatiable Love of Riches is so violent, that we had rather hazard the loss of all the Heaven we pretend to, than expose the Treasure we possess: Our Carnal Spirit, our incontinent Love of Pleasure is so passionate, that we had rather quit our Right to all the Eternal Joys above, than any way deny ourselves the rotten satisfaction we seek for here below: In short, we love this World so much, that if we might but always have it at Command, 'tis All we ask; We wish no more; We have received the Spirit of this World. 
1. . Cor. 2.12.   
I hope I may be pardoned if I am a little importune in pressing home this Question; 
Acts. 19.2.  Have you received the Holy Ghost? Eternity depends upon't: Your Choice of Heaven, or Hell; Your being Children of God, or of the Devil; Your being Saved, or Damned for ever: All This, (& what is All if This be not?) All This depends upon the Answer to this necessary Question. 
Rom. 8.16.  As Many as are led by the Spirit of God, says Saint Paul, They are the Children of God. Compute your Actions, Words, & Thoughts; from Morning to Night; from Day to Day: Does the Spirit of God direct & lead you? Or the Spirit of this World? If the Spirit of God, You are the Children of God: If not, Hear what the Apostle says, If any Man have not the Spirit of Christ, He is none of his: 
Rom. 8.9.  He is not a Brother of Christ; He is not an adoptive Son of his Eternal Father; He has a Father in Hell, but none in Heaven. Our Saviour plainly says, 
Jo. 8. v. 42.  If God were your Father, You Would LOVE Me above all things; but because You do not, 
v. 44.  You are of your Father, the Devil.  
Let those who, above all things, Love the World, Consider this, and Tremble. Let them not gaze in vain upon our Saviour ascending to his Father: Let them be assured his Father is not theirs; & that, as certainly as He ascended to his Father in Heaven, they shall in time (unless they seriously repent) descend to theirs in Hell.  
This was the Reason why our Saviour told the Jews: Wither I go, 
Jo. 8. v. 21.  You cannot come: As if He should say; I go to my Father; If He were your Father also, than you might bear me Company: But, 
1. Cor. 2.12.  since you have received the Spirit of this World; as long as you are gouverned by the Spirit of another Father; You may in due time follow him to Hell, But 'tis impossible (without sincere Repentance)▪ You should ever follow me to Heaven: Wither I go, you cannot come. The Jews amazed to hear it, knew not what He meant. He told them the reason: I am from above, 
Jo. 8. v. 23.  says He, I am not of this World; The Spirit which gouverns all my Actions is from above; 'tis not the Spirit of this World; 'tis the Spirit of my Father; therefore I go to him. But on the other side, You are of this World, 
Ibid.  You are led by the Spirit of this World; and therefore Wither I go, You eannot come.  
Let us not flatter & deceive ourselves with vain appearances of superficial Piety which float upon the Surface of our Souls; but sound the very bottom of our Hearts, & be assured that if we find them chief fixed upon this World, or any Creature in it; We may stand gazing with the Men of Galilee, We may contemplate & admire the Ascension of our Saviour; but all in vain; All this will be no Comfort to us; Wither He goes, we cannot follow Him. We cannot Ascend, unless we first receive the Holy Ghost: nor can we receive Him, unless we first prepare for His reception.   

SECT. V That we ought to prepare our Heart for this great Grace.  
WHen our Saviour was upon the point of leaving his Apostles, after He had been forty days discoursing with them concerning the Kingdom of God, The last & most important thing He recommended to their Care, was that They should prepare themselves for the receiving of the Holy Ghost: 
Acts. 1.4.  He commanded them that they should not departed from Jerusalem, but wait for the Promise of the Father.  
Prepare your Hearts, 
1. Sam. 7.3.  says the Prophet; Prepare your Hearts to God, & serve Him only, and He will deliver you: Prepare your Hearts to entertain the Holy Ghost, or else you never will receive Him. Prepare Materials for the Temple of the Holy Ghost: 
1. Cor. 6.19.  His Temple is not to be built & finished in a day: We must have Time to carry on the Work, & more than ordinary Preparations must be made: 
Chron. 1.29.2.  With ALL MY MIGHT, says the Royal Prophet▪ I have PREPARED for the House of my God; because, says he, 
v. 1.  the Work is GREAT; & the Palace is not for Man, but GOD.  
Our Heart has been profaned with Idols: Our Ambition, A varice, & Lust have had their several Altars in it; & from time to time, according as occasion served, have offered Sacrifice to Honours, Riches, Pleasures. Such a Temple, so Profaned, must be demolished; & a New one built upon the Ruins of it. 
18.31.  Make yourselves a New Heart, & a New Spirit; says the Prophet Ezechiel. Although it be God's Work, it is not only His but also Ours. As much as lies in us, we must cooperate and labour with Him: And the more difficult it is, the more industriously we must endeavour to effect it. 
Chron. 1.29, 2.  With all our Might, with all our industry & diligence, we must prepare our Heart, that it may be a Temple of the Holy Ghost.  
O that we had but Wings like a Dove (the wings of that Dove which once descended visibly upon our Saviour) Then would We fly away, 
Psal. 55.6.  & be at Rest: Our Hearts would fly away from all things in this World, & be at Rest in Heaven. If once the Love of God inflame our Hearts, with ardent & continual desires of being happy with Him, We shall find that these Desires are Wings by which our Hearts aspire & mount to Heaven. But if the Love of any thing in this World bind us to the Earth, We then shall find that our celestial Desires are clogged with earthly Passions; & although we now & then, with a faint sigh, look up to Heaven, yet our stronger Inclinations will always bear us down. He who is wholly disengaged from all the Charms of a deluding World, He only is at liberty; S. Austin says, The Wings of his soul are Free; But if his Heart be any way ensnared with any other Love, He than has Bird-lime in his Wings; He cannot fly away, & be at Rest.  
The Apostles themselves were not prepared for the receiving of the H. Ghost, as long as they were satisfied with being Happy in our Saviour's Company on Earth. If any Satisfaction here below could innocently challenge so much place in their Affections, surely Innocence itself descending down from Heaven had the best & clearest Title to their Love. And yet as long as they were of S. Peter's mind, and thought with themselves, 
Math. 17.4.  'tis Good for us to be Here; 'tis Good to make our Tabernacles Here; so long we find they were not fit for the Reception of the Holy Ghost. 
Jo. 16. v. 7.  I tell you the truth, says our Saviour; 'tis expedient for you that I go away. Because you Love me with so little Resignation, & are so unwilling that I leave you; therefore 'tis expedient for you that I now ascend, to raise your Hearts above the World, & carry them to Heaven with me. If I go not away, your Love will creep upon the Earth, the Spirit of the World will still possess your Hearts, the Spirit of God will find no habitation there, 
v. 7.  the Comforter will not come: But if I depart, if I (whom you so dearly love) ascend, your Minds & Hearts will follow me to Heaven, they will be raised above the reach of all things in this World, the Spirit of the World will have no dwelling there, You then will be prepared for the receiving of the H. Ghost, & when you are so, 
v. 7.  I will send Him to you.  
When the Holy Ghost came, 
Acts. 2.2.  He filled All the House where they were sitting. Wherever He comes He fills the House; He takes it All to Himself; And 'tis no wonder, being Infinite, He takes up so much room. As God would cease to be Immense, If there were any Corner of the World in which He is not Present: So the Holy Ghost would cease to be our Infinite and Souvereign Good, if any Corner of our Heart have any thing lodged in it, that excludes Him. When once we have received the Holy Ghost, our Heart is the Kingdom of God. He is the Absolute and Only Monarch that commands it: He cannot Alienate the least part of his Title to the Gouvernment: He cannot any way admit of a Companion in his Throne. Our Heart is the Throne of the Most High: And, if we remember what became of Lucifer, I hope it will suffice to make us sensible, how dangerous a thing it is, to place a Creature in the Throne of God, 
Isai. 14.14.  & make it like the Highest.  
S. Austin, wondering at the overflowing measure of God's Holy Spirit in the Apostles Hearts, observes that the reason why they were so full of God, was because they were so empty of his Creatures: They were very Full, says he, because they were very Empty: because they were so Empty of the Spirit of this World, therefore they were so full of the Spirit of God.  
O that our Hearts were Empty; O that they were purged & cleansed like theirs from all inordinate affection to this World; We then should be prepared like Them, & ready to receive the Fullness of the Holy Ghost. 'tis a great Work; & will require some time. Why are we then so flow in undertaking it? 
Acts. 1.11.  Why do we stand Gazing? We gaze, we lift our eyes to Heaven: But yet we stand; our feet are fixed upon the Earth. We prefer Heaven before Hell: of the two we had rather be there: But, of the three, (if it were possible) we had rather be always here.  
How long will you love Vanity? 
Psal. 4.2.  says the Psalmist. This World is nothing else but Vanity: How long will you Love it? 
Eccles. 4. v. 16.  'tis Vanity & Vexation of Spirit: How long will you delight in it? It flies before you like a Shadow: 
6. v. 12.  How long will you run afterit? Alas! 'tis but a Shadow if you overtake it. The World passes away: 
1. J● 4.17.  'tis an unkind, illnatured World which passes by us with a flattering smile, & will not stay a moment with us. If it had ever been a true & faithful Friend to any man, We should have some pretence to justify our expectation of its being Kind: But, since we know it never was so to its greatest Favourites, We way be sure it never will be so to us. The Time will come, when we shall plainly see (although perhaps, too late) that All is Vanity; & we shall love no more what we are now so fond of. The Love of all those Trifles, which our Infancy was once much pleased withal, is now forgot: and we so much contemn those childish entertainments, that unless we saw the same in other Children, we should scarce believe we ever loved them. As when we advance in years, we see the folly of our Childhood; so upon our Deathbed we as plainly see the folly of our Life: we then discover, that the Honours, Riches, Pleasures of this World, are only so many serious Trifles, which are therefore more ridiculous because more serious. When once the Period of our Time approaches: When we are upon the Borders of Eternity: When we are, as it were, betwixt two Worlds, the End of this, & the Beginning of the next which never will have end: Then it is that all our Joys begin to vanish out of sight; they are the same to us as if they never had been present: Than it is that all our Miseries are every one in View, such Miseries as never can be passed, but will for all Eternity be always present: When once that Hour comes, we shall be Wise enough to undervalue & contemn what we so dearly love: But then, I fear, We shall be Wise too late: Our useless Wisdom will not rise in Judgement for us, but against us. O let us now endeavour to be Wise, & disengage our Hearts from all inordinate affection to this world; that we may be prepared for the receiving of this Grace, which is the best & surest Pledge of the Eternal Glory, which we hope for in the world to come.    

MOTIVES OF FEAR.  

SECT. I. How much it imports us to remember the Day of Judgement.  
WHen the Disciples asked our Saviour what would be the Sign of his Coming and of the End of the World? 
Math. 24.3. v. 36.  Our Saviour answered, that the Day & Hour were not to be known before hand: that his Coming would be like a Flash of Lightning, 
v. 27.  when they least expected Him: Therefore, 
v. 44.  says He, be ready; for in such an Hour as you think not, the Son of Man will come: 
v. 35.  Heaven & Earth shall pass away, but my Words shall not pass away. The World shall have an End. The Son of man shall Come to Judge the World. The Hour of his Coming shall surprise us, when we think not of it. If we knew before hand, we should certainly prepare: And we have much more reason, since we do not know it.  
But, alas! our Saviour Jesus Christ himself has prophesied, 
v. 38.  that As in the days that were before the Flood, they were eating & drinking, marrying & giving in marriage, till the Day that No entered the Ark; 
v. 39  And Knew not, till the Flood came, and took them all away: So also, shall be the Coming of the Son of man. He told us how it would be: & every day we see how true it is. We mind nothing, but eating & drinking, marrying & giving in marriage; We seek for nothing but Diversion, Sport, & Pastime; We now Rejoice; But then, when the World ends, our Joys will end with it; Then we shall Grieve; & not only then, 
Math. 24.30.  but for ever. THAN all the Tribes of the Earth shall mourn.  
They shall All mourn. Not All the Just; Not All God's Friends, Not All devout & pious Christians; who not only in their Baptism, but also during Life, renounced the Vanities & Pleasures of this World: All these will have just reason to abound with Joy, at the Approach of their so long desir'd, & everlasting, Happiness: 
Psal. 126.5.  They sowed with Tears, but now shall reap with Joy.  
All the Tribes of the Earth; All Those whose Hearts were always fixed upon the Earth; upon the Honours, Riches, Pleasures of the Earth; THEY shall All mourn. And not without sufficient Reason. For, 1. They shall see the fatal End of all their transitory Happiness; 2. They shall see the sad Beginning of their everlasting Misery.   

SECT. II. That our Last Day is the fatal End of all our transitory Happiness.  
AS, on the one side, Nothing can be truly Little, which is Infinite; So, on the other, Nothing can be truly Great, which has an End. 
Baruch. 3. v. 25.  Our God is Great, says the Prophet, & has not End. As if he had a mind to let us understand, that God himself, with all his other Attributes, would be but little, if He had one: that All this World is therefore inconsiderable: and that the Next is therefore to be valued above all things, because it is a World without End. This is the common Misery, attending all our Happiness. All that is past, is Nothing: All that we enjoy at present, is but one poor moment: All that is to come, is every moment less & less, approaching nigher to the final period of its future Being; which is Nothing.  
The very Thought of this is so afflicting, that it puts a stop to all our joys, & makes us miserable in the full Career of our Felicity: We need no more, to damp our Spirits in the midst of our enjoyments, than the importunity of this unwellcome Thought; All This will shortly have an End. The Paradise of our first Parents would have been to them no Paradise at all, had they foreseen the End of it. And when God pleased to interdict the eating of the fatal fruit, He seemed to judge that nothing could be more effectual to contain them in their Duty, than to let them know, that Death should put an End to All, if ever they presumed to eat of it. As it was then their chief & only comfort, to survey the vast extent & great variety of their Delights, and at the same time confidently say, All this is ours for ever, if we please: So it had been impossible for any artifice of the malicious Serpent, to surprise them, or prevail upon them, if He had not flattered them with some assurance, that they should not Die; but still be truly Happy, that is, happy without End.  
The Devil does not now pretend to face us down, We shall not Die: He knows that so notorious a Cheat would never pass upon us. But yet, for fear lest we should undervalue all the vain allurements of a miserable World, he whispers in our ear, We shall not Die so soon: he has not the impudence to tell us that the World will never end, but that it will not end so soon as we imagine: 
Luke. 12.19.  Thou hast many Goods, says the Rich Man in the Gospel, laid up for many years.  
This is, in short, the Sum of our Felicity on Earth. The Happiest Man, that ever lived, could say no more than this. He could not say, that he had All which he desired: he could not but observe, by sad experience, that he was still unsatisfied, & that his small possessions were nothing to his Great Desires. Nor could he say, that what he had would always be his own: He could not but be well acquainted with the truth of What Man is; He daily Dies; He every moment is upon his journey to the Grave; He wastes away, 
Job. 14.10.  gives up the Ghost, & Where is he? However, he might say, to comfort his insatiable Soul; Although thou hast not All that that thou canst wish for, Thou hast MANY Goods; And, though thou canst not possibly enjoy them always, yet they are laid up for MANY years: thy Palace is magnificent, thy Entertainment splendid, thy Attendance numerous, thy Gardens are a Paradise of pleasure & delight, thy Honour equal to thy Fortune, & thy Power equal to both; the World admires thee, courts thee, & almost adores thee; is not this enough? Thou hast many Goods. And why should any melancholy apprehensions seize thy Spirits, & disturb thy Mind with fearful thoughts of losing what thou hast? there is no danger, whilst thou liv'st; & thou art in the flower of thy age, just ripe for pleasure, healthy, vigorous, & like to live these many years: And what hast thou to do, but take thy Ease, Eat, Drink, 
Luke. 12.19.  & be as Merry, as if thou wert to live for ever?  
Behold, the Best that we can make of the most happy State we hope for here. We dare not look before us, lest we see the End of All our joys: We blindly dote upon these Darlings of our Passion, & endeavour to forget the misery of their Mortality & ours. We are not able to support a serious thought of our perpetual decay; & though we love ourselves above all things, yet we hate the very sight of our condition; we cannot endure to look into ourselves; and as an idle Solitude is ever troublesome, because we love no company so little as our own; so the great reason, why the company of any other person is so pleasing, is because it hinders us from thinking of of ourselves.  
The Greatest & most Happy Man whose Heart is fixed upon this World, would soon be Melancholy if he had but leisure to reflect that every Moment lenads him to the Period of his Happiness. The doleful Prospect of a future Separation is so terrible, that he endeavours all he can to think of nothing farther than the present. All the busy Agitation of his mind, the Exercises of his body, & the Pastimes of his Conversation, are delightful to him chief upon this account; because they are Diversions; that is, because they fix his mind upon the present moment, & divert him from the melancholy Thought, that All his Happiness must have an End.  
If the bare thought of our approaching Period be so doleful, even at a distance, where Uncertainty gives room to make the most we can of our Felicity; if I say, the very Thought of it be so afflicting; What will the Presence of it be, when with our own eyes we shall see that fatal End which now we are so much afraid to think of? We now are merry & rejoice; because we banish from us the uneasy Apprehension: But then All those who will be sad Spectators of this doleful Scene, will be no longer able to divert themselves from thinking of the Misery, they see before them. Then All the Tribes of the Earth shall mourn. 
Math. 24.30.   
To close the Eyes of any dying Friend we dearly love, is apt to move our tears; although our other Friends who yet survive, are still a comfort to us. But when their Dearest Friend, the World itself, gins to die; When All their Comfort, all at once, forsakes them; When the Sun & Moon grow dark, & the expiring World gins to close its Eyes: THAN they shall All mourn.  
When once that dismal Day is come, which the Prophet Zephaniah calls, the Great Day of the Lord, 
Ch. 1. v. 13.  a Day of Calamity and Misery, a Day of Darkness, a Day of Tribulation & Distress: When Cataracts of Fire shall shower down upon their heads, as if the Stars themselves fell from the Firmament: When in the last Convulsions of its mortal Agony, the Earth trembles, and Hell itself lies gaping under their feet: Then they shall plainly see the meaning of that Vision in the Revelations, 
10.5.6.  which represents an Angel standing with one foot upon the raging Sea, another on the trembling Land, lifting his hand to Heaven, & swearing by Him that lives for ever; Time shall be no more.  
Poor miserable Wretches! There was once a Time, when Honours Dignities & Titles recommended them to the admiring World, whose eyes were dazzled with the glory of their Greatness: They were followed, waited on, & celebrated in their Generation: But now, alas! They shall be so, No more. There was a Time, when they abounded in the overflowing measure of their Wealth; their Palaces were sumptuous; and All things suitable to the aspiring Height of their Ambition: But now, No more: Their great Magnificence is buried in the ruins of the World; their Gold & Silver melted down into the Earth, from whence it came; and All their Pride lies levelled with the common Dust, to which All Things return. There was a Time, when all the sinful Pleasures of the World attended them; when they denied their Passions nothing that they asked; when they had full Command of All that they desired, & rather cloyed than satisfied their brutal appetites: But now, No more. Their Honours, Riches, Pleasures, All are at an End: Their Time is at an End: Their Time shall be NO MORE.  
When, as it happens frequently amongst the various accidents of Human Life, We are deprived of some particular Enjoyment which we passionately love; though we lament & grieve, yet we have still some Comfort left: 'tis not a total deprivation of All that we enjoy: The Damage is supported by some other Pleasures & Conveniences. If one Friend die; our other Friends survive. If one forsake us; we may find another faithful to us. Or, if they all abandon us; yet our misfortune is not universal; We have always something left, which we can think upon without affliction, & repose our wearied Thoughts. He that is dangerously Sick of one or two diseases, is not at the same time sick of all the rest. Whatever his condition is, he always has some hopes of being better: And although these hopes are very little, They are still some little Comfort to a Man in Misery. But when this Dreadful Day is come, which puts an end to Time, it puts an end to All their Hopes; All that they ever loved, or now desire, abandons them; their Inclinations are more lively than they ever were, & All are disappointed. Then All the Tribes of the Earth shall mourn; to see the fatal End of All their transitory Happiness. But, alas! this is not All: They shall have much more reason to lament & grieve, when at the same time they behold the Sad Beginning of their Everlasting Misery.   

SECT. III. That our Last Day is the Sad Beginning of our Everlasting Misery.  
WE have seen the dreadful symptoms of an agonizing World; the terrible Convulsions of expiring Nature; & the final End of All that Sinners love with so much Passion: an End of all Ambition, Avarice, & Pleasure; an End of all their Honours, Riches, & Amours; an End of politic Designs, of ancient Families, of nuptial Joys; an End of idle Conversations, Balls, & Plays; an End of Beauty, Wit, & Courage; an End of all their Feasting, Drinking, & Diverting; an End of all their Mirth, Delight, & Pastime; And, which of all things is most terrible to a despairing Soul, an End of Sin, but not an End of the Sinner; an End of Pleasure, but not an End of Pain; an End of Time, but not an End of their Eternity, which will eternally Begin, and never have an End. After Hundreds, Thousands, Millions, not of Years but Ages; if we may suppose that Heaven & Earth, with all that they contain, were changed into numeral figures; at the foot of the Account, whatever it amounts to, you may find it witten, Here Eternity Gins. Moreover, if you multiply this number by itself, & by the same rule multiply the Product of it, All is Nothing to Eternity; Wherever this innumerable number ends, Eternity Gins.  
If All be Nothing to Eternity, What will the inconsiderable number of those years which Sinners prodigally spend in Sin, What will it then appear to be? Will it not seem incomparably less than Nothing? And will not Sinners than have too much reason to lament, that for so short a Moment, so much less than Nothing, they have forfeited the eternal Joys of Heaven, & incurred the everlasting Pains of Hell? What is a man advantaged, 
Luke. 9.25.  says our Saviour, if he gain the whole world, & lose himself? Alas! poor Souls, what Comfort is it to have gained the World, & lost yourselves? to have lost all Happiness, & gained (If I may call it Gain) all Misery, and All for Nothing.  
What Pains, & by what Means, they are to suffer, is a question fit for our Curiosity than our Edification. 'tis enough, to know as much of Hell, as the Apostle tells us of Heaven: Neither the Eye has seen, 
1. Cor. 2.9.  not the Ear heard, not has it entered into the Heart of any man, what unspeakable Pains & Torments the Almighty has prepared in the next life, for those who have in this offended Him. 'tis enough that God is certainly as Just as He is God, & therefore infinitely Just. 'tis enough that the Enormity of Sin, which He so patiently endures, is aggravated by the Greatness of his Majesty, & therefore infinitely Infinite. It follows evidently hence, that All 
* All the most effectual & most proper Means  which God's great Wisdom can invent, All that his Justice 
a By the Eternal Rule of his Decree  can exact, & All that his Omnipotence 
b According to the rigour of the Sentence.  can put in execution will be All employed to punish those who have offended him. It follows also that it is as much impossible for any man to comprehend the great excess of those eternal Pains, as 'tis to understand God's Wisdom, Justice & Omnipotence, All which are infinitely raised above the reach of human Reason. However we may easily conjecture something, by considering God's Justice in this World, & judging thence, what it may be hereafter.  
If the Just themselves are so severely punished in this World, if it be true, as the Psalmist says, 
34.19.  Many are the Asslictions of the Righteous; if even God's Friends, who are so faithful to him, undergo such punishments for little failings in their Duty; what will become of his Enemies, who forfeit all their Title to his Friendship, by their grievous Sins?  
If in the days of overflowing Mercy, which appeared so eminently above all his Works, he gave such signal instances of his avenging Anger; if even when his Pity (in a manner) held his hands, the Fury of His Wrath broke lose, & with an universal Deluge laid the world so deep in water, that amongst so many millions not a single Sinner could escape: what will become of miserable Sinners at the Day of Judgement, when the End of Time shall put an end to all his Goodness, all his Kindness, all his Mercy, & begin the Triumph of Eternal Justice? When our God will be to us no longer Good, no longer Kind, no longer Merciful, but only Just; eternally, & infinitely Just?  
Our Saviour Jesus will not then appear as the Physician 
* 'tis too late to be Cured or Redeemed.  & Redeemer of our Souls, but only as the Judge of all our Actions: And even to his Friends 
a As Judge he appoints them that place.  at his Right Hand, He will not show himself in any other Quality: The very Sentence of their Happiness will be an Act of Justice only 
b Not an Act of Pardon.  not of Mercy: Our Lord, says the Apostle, at that Day will be a Righteous Judge. 'tis true, 'twas nothing but the merciful Assistance of his Grace which heretofore enabled them to sight, and finish well their Course; But now, in the Rewarding of his Friends according to his Promise 
c No longer inclined to Pardon.  He's no longer Merciful, if we believe S. Paul, but only RIGHTEOUS and JUST.  
If at that Day He would b● Merciful to any, He woul● surely be so to his Friends And since the Best & Faith fullest of all his Servant find no Mercy 
* 'tis too late to ask for Mercy.  at the Trial, Can his Enemy expect it? 'tis called th● Day of Judgement, to distinguish it from all these other Days of Mercy: And if in these He showered dow● Fire from Heaven, 'tis no wonder if in those the Star● themselves will seem to fall▪ If Sodom and Gomorrh were consumed, 'tis easy to believe that then the Earth will All of it be laid in Ashes But, alas! this universals Deluge of devouring Fire together with the Darkness of the Sun & Moon, the roar of the Sea, and howl of the Wind & Air, All this is but a Prelude to the Misery of Sinners; This is only the Beginning of their sorrows; 
Math. 24.8.  This is nothing but their Summons to appear before the Bar; And 'tis the dreadful apprehension of their Judgement & Damnation which torments them with an agonizing Fear.  
There was a Time, when Life was sweet; but now they hate it. There was once a Time, when the despair of Living was their greatest Pain; but now, the Scene is changed, & the despair of Dying is incomparably more tormenting. In those days, says the beloved Disciple, Men shall seek Death, 
Revel. 9.6.  & shall not find it, They shall desire to Die, & Death shall fly from them. There was a Time, when Sinners laughed at all the Fears and Apprehensions of this Day; 
Eccles. 3.4.  but now the Time of laughing will be past; nor will it be, as Solomon calls it, a Time to mourn: it will not be a Time, but an Eternity to mourn.  
Then All the Tribes of the Earth shall mourn. Not only Those who whilst they lived were thought to carry visibly the mark of Reprobation in their foreheads; but also such as lived great Saints in the esteem of men, & died great Sinners in the Sight of God; shall then desire to die again, & seek for an Eternal Death, & shall not find it. Then shall their concealed Abominations, all their shameful Actions, all their secret Works of Darkness, come to light. Then nothing shall be covered, nothing so industriously hid, 
Math. 10.26  but. what shall be revealed to all the World. Nor only Those who took such care to hid their Sins from others, but even those who formerly were used to hid them from themselves, shall clearly see the Malice of their palliated Crimes: 
Math. 24.30.  Then they shall SEE; and Then they shall MOURN.  
We now are willing to live peaceably & quietly within ourselves; We do not much delight in the remorses of a guilty mind; and therefore we contrive some kind of Conscience for every thing we do. We are uneasy at the thought of everlasting pains; & therefore, if we ever take ourselves to task, we rake together all we can to make a favourable judgement of our State. As the Examen rather is designed to please ourselves, than God, 'tis generally very superficial. We look upon our Actions all in gross, without enquiring much into the drift & chief design of them: We look upon the outward show; the approbation, & esteem of men; The example of some, who pass for good & virtuous, and yet have often done the same as we do; Our being free (as we suppose) from many faults which we observe not in ourselves; Our great abhorrence of some certain Sins, which we observe in others; Our being punctually & religiously precise in some small matters, some exterior mortifications, some particular devotions, which we take a fancy to: And thus we frame a false Idea of the miserable State we shall be found in, when we come before the Bar. We now are proud, & willing to excuse ourselves: but then the Testimony of our clearer sighted Conscience will confound & humble us. Our Passions blind us now; we see not what we truly are: But then the Sun of Justice will arise, & scatter all the darkness which conceals us from ourselves. The piercing rays, the All-discovering beams of Truth will break like lightning through the Clouds of our affected ignorance, when once the Son of Man appears, to judge the World.  
If there were any possibility of cheating his Allseeing Wisdom; of calling back the time of his indulgent Mercy; or escaping from the hands of his Almighty Power: Were there any possibility of this; or were there any Friend from whom the Guilty might expect the least assistance; it would be some little Comfort.  
They had once a true & faithful Friend, who dearly loved them; came from Heaven to instruct them, & conduct them thither; lived a painful & laborious life amongst them; & although neglected, scorned, & persecuted by them, yet continued constant in his Love, & to redeem them, paid their Ransom with the price of his own Blood. But now their best and only Friend becomes their greatest Enemy. He loved them once: But Love so long neglected & so much abused, is now quite changed into a mortal & eternal Hatred. He invited all of them to come to Him whenever they had need of his Assistance; 
Math. 11.28.  Come to me All you that labour: But now, alas! it is too late to come: His Patience now is spent; & in the Fury of his everlasting indignation He for ever banishes them from Him: 
Math. 25.41.  Go from Me ye accursed. Go Ambitious Souls, & leave your honourable Titles all behind you; go & seek the best preferment you can find amongst the Devil & his Angels: 
Ibid. v. 41.  Go Infatiable Misers; go, & take possession of that Misery which you have purchased with the loss of your beloved Treasure: Go Voluptuous Wretches; you who formerly have wished your Flames might ever burn; Go now, & Burn for ever, in the everlasting Flames of Hell.  
Behold, the dreadful Sentence, we must All expect, 
Luke. 21.36.  unless we follow his Advice who then will be our Judge: Watch therefore, says He, & Pray always; that you may then be accounted worthy to escape, & stand before the Son of Man. Alas! Our dear Redeemer takes no pleasure in Condemning us. No Man, says S. Austin, who designs to strike us, bids us have a Care. Our Saviour often warns us, often calls upon us, often bids us Have a care. S. Paul exhorts us in his Name: 
Rom. 13.11.  'tis Now the Hour for us to Rise from sleep: 'tis now the Hour to go with tears of true Repentance to the Throne of Grace; that then we may appear with Confidence & Joy before the great Tribunal his Justice: 'tis now the Hour to hearken to Him, 
Math. 11.28.  Come to me All you that labour; that then we may be sure to hear him call us to Him, Come ye Blessed; 
Math. 25.34.  Come & reap the Fruit of all your labours; Come & Take possession of those Everlasting Joys, which were prepared for you, from the Foundation of the World. Amen.    

MOTIVES OF HOPE.  

SECT. I. How unreasonable a thing it is for any Sinner to Despair.  
THe greatest Mystery of Christian Morality consists in the equal balancing of Hope & Fear, betwixt God's Mercy & his Justice; that we may neither be secure in Sin, because he is so Merciful; nor yet despond, because he is so Just. Presumption & Despair are the two Rocks 'twixt which all Christians ought to steer an even course; & so avoid the One as not to dash upon the Other. 'tis perhaps the greatest Secret of the Devil's Art. He first inclines us to Presume; And we no sooner see the danger of it; but he tempts us to Despair. Thus he commences; Thus he finishes his work.  
I must confess The greatest part of Mankind being so insensible, so stupid, so immersed in worldly cares & pleasures, is enough to justify the pious zeal of those who frequently proclaim the menaces of an offended Majesty, & with the formidable noise of Hell, Damnation, & everlasting Torments labour to awake & rouse them from the Lethargy of sin. But, when they are awake, & looking round about them, take a prospect of their miserable State; when every horrid Crime appears in its own dreadful shape; when Multitudes of past offences crowd into their minds, and overwhelm their heavy thoughts with a despairing expectation of no less than everlasting Misery: Alas! poor Souls, it is not now a seasonable time to magnify the motives of their Fear. If ever Comfort & Encouragement were necessary to allay the pains & anguishs of a despairing Soul; Now is the time. What shall we say? Tell them, they need not fear? Oh no: The malice of their grievous sins is infinite; The danger of their lamentable State is greater than they can imagine: Let but their Hope be equal to their Fear, they cannot fear too much. How then shall we encourage their expiring Hope? I'll tell you how.  
If God were only Just, & were not also Powerful and Merciful, a Sinner than might lawfully despair: But when God's Power and Mercy both concur to comfort the desponding Heart of an afflicted Penitent, What can he wish for more? There are but two conditions requisite to qualify the Person, upon whose assistance we depend, that we may safely hope, & with a loving confidence assure ourselves of his Protection. The first is; that he can relieve us, if he will: the second; that he will relieve us, if we please. Will, without Power, signifies but little: Power, without Will, signifies much less: But when they both meet in the person of a Friend, to whom we always have a free access; who certainly can help us, if he will; & no less certainly will help us, if we please: Then, let our present misery be never so great, let the approaching danger of our future ruin every day seem greater; we may with trembling hearts expect the helping Hand which can and will deliver us; but all our Fear can never exclude our Hope; it cannot rob us of that comfort, satisfaction, & joy, which so much Confidence insuch a Friend inspires.  
If when a Sinner struggles with his Chains; endeavours to break lose; and more he struggles, more he finds himself engaged; (which the Allseeing Wisdom frequently permitts, to humble a proud Soul:) If then these two great Truths were settled in his Mind, to wit, that God can free him, if He will; & that He will not fail to free him, if he please; O! with what pleasure would he relish the assurance of this loving Confidence! with how much transport of a joyful mind; would he recite those words of S. Paul, 
1. Tim. 1.12.  I know in whom I have believed; I know in whom I put my trust; I know, & am persuaded, He is able to deliver me. I am assured, He is not only Powerful but Merciful; and therefore I am certain He both can and will assist me.   

SECT. II. That God can help us if he will.  
DIvinity and boundless Power are so much the same, that no man can deny the one, & own the other. There is no Truth so evident, in which the World so universally agrees, as God's Omnipotence. Every body knows that Nothing is impossible to God. 'tis one of the first Truths which a Philosopher demonstrates, or a Christian believes. Almighty is his Name; the Name we know him by; the Name He answers to, when ever we call upon Him.  
What need I then discourse upon a Truth, which every body knows? The reason is, Because although we know it well enough, We very seldom, hardly ever, think of it.  
We all know Nothing is impossible to God: and that the lamentable State of a poor Sinner cannot be so desperate, but that He can retrieve him. And yet how little do we think of this, when we are tempted to despair? Do we not then behave ourselves as if we doubted of it? I am afraid that, at the best, we pray like him, of whom S. Mark makes mention; Lord, 
Ch. 9 v. 22.  If Thou CANST do any thing, have compassion on us, & help us. I fear we often are incredulous, and have just reason to repeat with tears his humble prayer; Lord, I believe, 
v. 23.  help Thou my unbelief.  
If David, that great Saint according to God's heart, 
1. Sam 13.14.  who looking back to take a view of all his past iniquities, saw at a distance only some few Sins, which he had long since washed away with penitential tears; if He could scarce support the terror of that melancholy prospect, 
Ps. 38. v. 3.4.6.10.  as he says himself, & all day long went mourning for his Sins; if his heart panted, & his strength failed him; if had no rest, because he was over head in his iniquities, which like a heavy burden were too heavy for him; If He, I say, were thus perplexed with Fear, & almost ready to Despair of his Salvation; Have not I Just cause to apprehend much more the Danger of such Doubts in greater Sinners, who are almost surfeited with Sin, before they seriously begin to look behind them & compute the terrible arrears of all their past Offences?  
I must confess, the difficulties which occur in the conversion of a Sinner, are insuperable, if compared to the weak strength of our corrupted Nature; and if the possibility of working our Salvation be considered only with regard to human Frailty, there appears no hope of compassing so great a Work. Such is the Ignorance & Blindness of our Understanding; Such is the Malice & Perverseness of our Will; Our Inclinations are so prone to liberty; & the Restraint of our unreasonable Humours is so sensibly uneasy to us; that a thorough Reformation of our Lives is far above our single strength. Without the Grace of God, we neither have the Wisdom to contrive it, nor the Courage to begin it, nor the Power to perform it.  
But yet this Darkness of our Reason, though we cannot of ourselves dispel it, may be dissipated by a lively Faith in Him who enlightens every man that comes in to the World: 
Jo. 1.9.  This Depravation & Corruption of our Will, (although it be to us alone impossible) may by the sweet & forcible impulses of a powerful Grace be changed & rectified: This obstinate Rebellion of our Appetite against the Rule of Reason, & the Precepts of a Christian life, (though we have often found ourselves unable to reduce it to the terms of just Obedience) may easily be conquered by Omnipotence.  
If Sin have so much blinded us, that we can hardly see our Danger: If the Noise of Worldly vanities have made us almost deaf to all good counsel: If the Habit of our Sins have lamed us, so that we can scarcely move a foot towards Heaven: If we are blind, deaf, lame, nay even dead to God & all that's good, (no Person can be in a worse condition than this) All this is nothing to the powerful hand of God: Such miracles as these were his familiar Exercise on Earth: The blind see, the deaf hear, 
Math. 11.5.  the lame walk, the dead are raised to lise. All this our God can easily perform, in favour of us, whensoêre He pleases.  
Lord, if thou wilt, says the Leprous man, 
Math. 8.2.  thou CANST make me clean. Let the diseases of a sinful Soul be ever so inveterate, so deeply rooted in the heart, He clearly and distinctly comprehends the nature of them all: He knows exactly the proportion & virtue of his Remedies: And all of them obey the word of his Command; I will, 
Math. 8.3.  says He, Be thou cleansed; (when once God says the word, the work is done) immediately his Leprosy was cleansed.  
Create in me, 
Ps. 50.  O my God, Create in me a clean Heart. I ask not any thing but what is easy to Thee. Alas! it is to me impossible: but Thou, my God, canst do it with more ease than I can ask it. Behold my misery with pity & compassion. Behold me indigent & naked, clothed with nothing but the horrid scurf of my Uncleanness. Behold me blind, deaf, lame; & almost dead with a contagious leprosy of Sin, which covers me from head to foot, & has not left a sound part in me. Conscious of my unworthiness, after so long neglecting my condition, after so long confiding in my own weak strength, after so long despairing of my health, because I thought I could do any thing, & found I could not cure myself; Conscious, I say, of my Unworthiness, I scarce pretend to ask for Mercy: I only cast myself upon my knees & face prostrate before thy Feet, exposing & laying open all my grievous distempers, which, every one of them (though I am humbly silent) every one speaks loudly my necessities, & begs with all the moving eloquence of Misery thy pity & assistance. I know my Sins provoke thy Justice, whilst my Misery appeals to thy Almighty Power: But thy faithful servant David tells me, that the Israelites provoked Thee also; & nevertheless, not for their sake, but for thy Name's sake Thou wast pleased to save them; 
Psal. 106.8.  that Thou mightst make thy mighty Power known. This is the first Foundation of my Hope: I know the Credit of thy Power is engaged in their behalf, who trust entirely in it, firmly expect it, & depend upon it: And therefore, in this posture, I present myself with loving Confidence before thy Feet, resolving there to expect with all Humility & Patience when thou shalt please to cast an eye upon me, and either find the Benefit of being cured, or (which appears to me impossible) die in the hands of an omnipotent Physician. Ah my dear Jesus! This is all that I can do: And even This I cannot do without thy Grace: But, when I have done This, my Comfort is, that Thou canst do the rest: Lord if Thou wilt, 
Math. 8.2.  Thou canst make me clean.  
Dear Christians, let us pause a while, & with a serious attention behold this Leper at our Saviour's feet: Behold the lively Image of a Sinner, & the perfect Model of a Penitent: Behold both what we are, & what we ought to be: In his Disease, we see our Misery; in his Behaviour, we see our Duty: in his Disease, we see the sad effects of Sin; we see the strong temptations & assaults of a most terrible Despair: In his Behaviour, we see the fruits of true Repentance, we see the victory of a triumphant▪ Hope, & the great comfort which attends a loving Confidence in God's Omnipotence.  
O what a Comfort is it to an humble Penitent, to be assured that as God gives him All he has, so He can give him All he wants! If we are almost quite oppressed with those aridities & desolations of Mind, which none can know but by experience; S. Paul tells us, 
2. Cor. 9.8.  God is able to make all Grace abound in us: If we labour under the perpetual violence of importune temptations; the same S. Paul assures us, 
Hebr. 2.18.  God is able to secure those that are tempted: If our temptations are so strong, & we so negligent that after some resistance we relapse into our Sins; if we rise again, & yet fall; if we renew our Resolutions, & when we think ourselves securest, are surprised & fall again; S. Paul assures us, 
Rom. 14.4.  God is able to make us stand: If having tried all ways we can imagine, we are at a loss, & know not either what to think or what to ask; 
Ephes. 3.20.  the same Saint tells us, God is able to do exceeding abundantly, above all that we can ask or think.  
Is any thing too hard for God? 
Genes. 18.14.  Can any thing be hard to him whose Power is infinite, & whose Will is his Power? 
1. Sam. 2.6.  Our Lord kills, & makes alive; brings to the grave, & raises up: His Power accompanies our Souls as far as the Gates of Hell itself, & brings them back again. Although your Soul quite overgrown with sin, may be (perhaps) in the Allseeing Eye of God, a much more horrid object than the foulest Devil in Hell; Nevertheless go confidently with the Leper to our Saviour; crowd in amongst the multitudes that follow Him; cast yourself down upon your knees & face; Say, with a truly contrite truly humble heart, 
Math. 8.2.  Lord if thou wilt, thou CANST make me clean: Then shall you hear him graciously return that comfortable answer; I will; Be thou clean: Then shall you be transported with excess of joy, to find & feel the truth of what I now advance; to wit, that God not only can relieve us if he will, but also will relieve us if we please.   

SECT. III. That God will help us if we please.  
ALthough God's Power be the first Foundation of our Hope; his Mercy, always ready to assist us, is the principal, if not the only, Motive of it. This was the comfortable Meditation with which the Royal Prophet counterballanced all his Fears; 
Psal. 26.3.  Thy Mercy, says he, Thy loving Kindness is always before my eyes. Without this comfort he would never have supported the remorses of his Conscience; 
Psal. 50.4.  his Sin was ever before him: His continual Apprehensions and frightful Thoughts would certainly have driven him into a deep Despair, 
Psal. 26.3.  had not God's Mercy also always been before him. The very thought of God revived his drooping Spirits: he could not so much as think of Him, without thinking of his Mercy: to be God, & to be Merciful, were to him one & the self same thing: 
59.17.  my God is my defence, says he, & the God of my Mercy. If he lifted up his eyes to Heaven, with inflamed desires of being happy there; he adored that Mercy which preserved the Angels, & rewarded them with Glory: Thy Mercy, O Lord, 
36.5.  is in the Heavens. If he looked down, & took a prospect of this vale of miseries; he admired, to see God's Mercy stoop so low, to see it most appear where there is most occasion for it, to see it superabound where Sin abounds: 
33.5.  The Earth is full of his Mercy. If he looked before him he beheld God's Mercy starting first, preventing, & forerunning all his good designs & entreprises: 
59.10.  His Mercy will prevent me. If he looked behind him, he beheld the self same Mercy following him, promoting, carrying on, & perfecting his good Endeavours: 
23.6.  His Mercy shall follow me, all the days of my life. Which way soever he cast his eye, he saw himself defended & surrounded with God's Mercy; himself the Centre, Mercy the Circumference: 
32.10.  Him that trusts in God, Mercy shall compass him about: Thus did this Saint, who once had been a Sinner, Thus did he comfort & encourage his afflicted Soul, when ever the remembrance of his Sins oppressed his Mind: And thus may we, in imitation of him, Thus may we also answer all the troublesome suggestions of our panik Fears; confronting Sin with Grace, Justice with Mercy, Fear with Hope & loving Confidence in him, whose Mercy still is infinite, 
100.5.  & always will be so; His Mercy is Everlasting.  
All this, you'll say, is little comfort to a Sinner, who is day & night obsesst with all the terrifying Spectres of a guilty Conscience. Every body knows, that God is infinitely Merciful. But yet the Word of God assures us, & it is a fundamental Truth which every Christian is acquainted with; 
Math. 22.14. Math. 7.14.  That few are chosen amongst many which are called; that the Gate which leads to Life is straight & narrow; & that there are but few who find it: so that all the splendid Appearance of God's Mercy, when 'tis well examined seems to vanish out of sight, or shrink into a little compass, if compared with the innumerable numbers of those Reprobates, 
Rom. 9.22.  who are prepared and fitted for Destruction. Is not this enough to make a Sinner tremble? A Sinner who is conscious to himself of being much more guilty in the sight of God, than many millions of those Souls who are already gone before him, & already suffer the eternal flames of Hell?  
These Thoughts, I must confess, are Terrible. To him whose eyes are open by God's grace to see the malice of his Sins, & see Death, Judgement, & Damnation attend; Such thoughts as these, to such a man, are terrible beyond expression. But however, if a man be more afraid than hurt, where is the harm of all his Fear? Are we not All obliged to humble our proud hearts under the powerful hand of God, 
1. Pet. 5.6. Phil. 2.12.  and work out our Salvation with Fear & Trembling? Is not our obligation to fear, consistent with our greater motives, greater obligations to hope? 'tis one of the most dangerous mistakes that we are subject to. We seem to fancy that our Fear destroys our Hope; & that we cannot hope unless we cease to fear. We take these two Affections of the Mind for mortal Enemies, because their humours are so opposite. But, as that Friendship is the greatest, which no difference of Humour can divide: So, if we examine well the matter, we shall find that Fear & Hope are such inseparable Friends, they cannot possibly subsist without each other's company; The Separation of the one, is certainly the Death & Ruin of the Other. Fear, without Hope, degenerates into Despair. Hope, without Fear, is now no longer Hope, but dangerous Presumption. If now & then our Minds are troubled & perplexed with Fear; We must not therefore presently conclude, that we have lost our Hope: No, no; We should have lost it, if we did not fear.  
If the Consideration of God's Justice make a Sinner tremble; he may lawfully desire to be delivered from the uneasiness, the pain, & the anxiety, which are the troublesome Companions of his Fear: But, as for Fear itself, 'tis an essential Duty of a Christian, which cannot upon any terms admit a Dispensation. If the unsearchable Designs and Secrets of God's Providence are apt to fill our Souls with apprehensions & fears; this only helps us to perform the one half of our Duty, without prejudicing the performance of the other: for the more we fear his Justice, so much more we hasten to the shelter of his Mercy.  
This was the only Refuge which the Royal Prophet had recourse to, in his days of trouble, 
Psal. 77.2. v. 9  when his Soul refused to be Comforted. Has God, says he, forgotten to be gracious? 
v. 8.  Has He shut up, in Anger, all his tender Mercies? Is his Mercy clean gone for ever? Doth his Promise fail for evermore? Oh no; His promise cannot fail: He can no more deceive, than be deceived. He has signed his promise more than once in Scripture: And with a solemn Oath He has delivered it. A Promise & an Oath which, by Commission from Himself, his Ministers are ordered to make use of.  
When Sinners are dejected with Temptations of Despair: 
Ezek. 33.10.  When their Transgressions & their Sins lie heavy upon them: When they begin to pine away with Fear, & melancholy Thoughts of never being able to recover: What shall we say, to comfort them?  
Say to them, 
Ezek. 33.11.14.  says the Prophet: If the wicked turn from his sin; if he repent; if he amend, 
v. 15.  & walk in the Statutes of Life; He shall surely live, (& what can be more sure, since God himself is pleased to say it?) 
v. 15.  He shall surely live; He shall not die. 
v. 16.  None of the sins he has committed, shall be ever mentioned to him; he shall hear of them no more; they shall not rise in judgement against him: God himself has promised, 
v. 16.  He shall surely live; He shall not die?  
Say to them again; and say it boldly, in his Name whose Justice makes them tremble: 
Ezek. 33.11.  As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the Death of the wicked; but that the Wicked turn from his way, & Live. Return, says He, Return from your evil ways: Why will you die?  
Why will you Die? As who should say; you may live if you will; I always am at hand, prepared to help you, if you hearty repent; you know, you may recover, if you have a mind to it; you know, that if you die, it is because you will: As I Live have no pleasure in your Death, and therefore I have reason to complain, Why WILL you Die?  
Dear Christians, What can we wish for more? We know that God can help us if He will. Whether He will or no, we need no farther proof, than his own Word. We have his Word: We have his Oath: He cannot take his own Great Name in vain; And He has sworn by his own Life, He has no pleasure in our Death; He does not, of himself, desire it; but that we return & live. O! we are happy; 
O beatos, quo rum causâ Deus jurat! O miseros, si nec juranti Domino credimus!  for whose sake God swears! But O! how miserable are we; if, when God himself is pleased to swear, we can't believe Him!  
If Deeds are better proof than Words, Let us pass from what He has said, to what He has done. What has. He done for Sinners? Or rather, What has He not done? For them He came from Heaven; for them He lived a pain full life on Earth; for them He died upon the Cross. 
Math. 9.13.  I came not, says He, to call the Just, but Sinners; He came, because 'twas necessary he should come: And therefore for their sakes, for whom it was most necessary, for them he principally came. He never was so kind to any, as to Sinners. All his Conversation was in their Company, He made it his chief business to oblige them, He followed them from place to place, He thought of nothing else but how to gain their love, He came with a design to inflame their hearts, He brought down fire from Heaven with him, & wished for nothing more than that this fire might burn. His more than ordinary Kindness was in all occasions so visibly remarkable, that He was taken notice of, & pointed at. The Pharisees were scandalised to to see't. And in those days, it was his great Reproach; He was too much a Friend to Publicans & Sinners. 
Math. 11.19.  All this while, alas! they little understood his Business upon Earth. His great Compassion of their Misery, was the occasion of his coming: And since their Indigence first brought him from above, it was no wonder the Relieving of it was his chief Employment here below. He came as a Physician to his dying Friends, whom He most dearly loved; & therefore took most care, & was the most concerned, for those who were most dangerously sick. Thus did our God behave himself to Sinners. Thus did he love his Enemies; and treat them as his dearest Friends. Thus did He live to serve them, till at length He died to save them.  
S. Paul concludes from hence, 
Rom. 5.10.  We now have much more Hope than ever. For if when we were Enemies, we then were reconciled to God; undoubtedly we now have much more reason, being reconciled, to hope we shall be saved. If then, before he sent his only Son, God loved his Enemies so dearly as to send him: We may well conclude, that since He came amongst us, since He interposed betwixt us & his Father's Anger, since He died to reconcile us to Him, since He risen again, 
Rom. 8.34.  & at the right hand of his Father is our Advocate in Heaven, making intercession for us; surely now our humble Supplications, joined with his, & offered in his Name, 
Jo. 14. v. 15.  will for his sake be much more easily received. If then a Contrite & an Humble Heart was always so agreeable, He never would despise it; Will He now refuse it? If the Totall Sum of all the horrid Crimes of Mankind during several Ages, if the Malice of them All together, could not any way divert the course of overflowing Mercy; if it could not hinder Him from sending Jesus to redeem the World; How can we think, the Greatness of our Sins can hinder Him from having Mercy on us, when we hearty repent?  
Let us therefore, once for all, humbly confess, & own our Fault. The Truth is; We are proud, & willing to excuse ourselves. We are willing to lay the blame of our Impenitence at our Creator's door, & say; He will not pardon us; He will not give us Grace; He will not save us: When, if we well examine, we shall find the blame is always ours; We will not repent; We will not comply with his Grace; in a word, We will not be saved.  
All we can say, in our defence, is that our sins are great, God will not look upon such grievous Sinners as we are. I cannot, say they are not great, or that we are not grievous Sinners: But, that therefore God will never look upon us, is as false as the Word of God is true. He hates the Sin, but loves the Sinner: He hates the Leprosy, but loves the Leper: 
S. Aug. Conf. lib. 8. cap. 3.  And, as a Merciful Father, He rejoices more, at the Repentance of one Sinner, than the Innocence of ninety nine who do not stand in need of it.  
Let us therefore, once again, humbly acknowledge, & confess our Fault. We only pretend our Leprosy is so inveterate, God will not suffer us to come into his sight, He will not cure us, He will not make us clean. The Truth is; we are so negligent, so stupid, so insensible of our condition, that though we now & then are terrified to see the Danger of it, nevertheless we will not make our Supplications to Him as we ought, We will not be cured, We will not be cleansed.    

DANGER OF DELAY.  

SECT. I. Hue apt we are to differr Repentance.  
THat we are, All of us, some time or other, betwixt this & Death, obliged under pain of Eternal Damnation to rouse our sleepy souls from the bewitching Lethargy of Sin; is an important Truth, which no man can dispute. We All are fully satisfied, that if we live in the state of Sin, if our Affections are criminal, if our Hearts are divided betwixt Heaven & Earth; we must, before we Die Repent and Mend, or we are lost for ever. 
Luke. 12.3.  Unless we repent, we shall All perish.  
This we agree upon: Our difficulty lies not in the knowing, but in the performing of our Duty. When we discourse with ourselves in general terms, what it is we ought to do; the Debate soon comes to an Issue: But, as we descend to the particulars of when and how; We come not so easily to a Resolution, about the Time. We suppose that we are able, at our pleasure, to change our Hearts, subdue our Passions & reform our Lives: But our Hearts, at present, are otherwise engaged; our Passions are youthful, and very importune; our way of Life, though none of the best, is suitable to the common Maxims of the World; And what hast, I pray, to do just now, what may be done as easily another time, when ever we please? Besides, the present Circumstances are very particular: An abrupt Disengagement would now go very much against the hair: We had better, for a time, content our Passions, & bring them to a composition: When this or that Business is over, that we may more freely attend to the work of our Salvation; when our Company changes; when we meet with a Conjuncture of more favourable circumstances; O! then we'll begin the New Man; bid Adieu to the follies of this World; & from that instant date the beginning of our journey towards Heaven.  
Thus the Colour of Piety gives a reputation to the Delusion: We cover the popular Cheat with an agreeable disguise: And betwixt gratifying our Inclinations, on the one side, with a criminal condescendance, & pacifying the remorses of our Conscience, on the other side, with a plausible pretence of future amendment at a more convenient time; We make Virtue, in appearance, subscribe to our Vices, & counterfeit God's Hand to one of the worst Temptations of the Devil.   

SECT. II. How dangerous it is to differ Repentance.  
'tIs clear, we are not Masters & Disposers of our Time: only He, who was the first Author of Time, who now conserveses it, & who will one day put a final period to all Time; He I say, & only He, disposes of it as he pleases.  
Besides, the Changing of our Hearts is far above our single strength; we are not able, by ourselves, so much as to begin so great a Work, how then shall we be able to perform it, at our leisure, whensoever we please? S. Gregory assures us (& we know it well enough) that God who promises to PARDON us, 
Ho. 12. in Eu.  if we Repent; has never promised us the TIME of our Repentance.  
'tis true: we cannot but confess, (to the great shame of our Ingratitude,) that our Creator loves us far above our merit. If we look back from hence as far as the first Creation, & carry our serious thoughts through all the steps of Providence, we meet with nothing but remarkable instances of his good wishes towards us. Nay, if we yet look farther back from the first moment of this World into Eternity, We find Him, before the beginning of all Time, entertaining his Thoughts with the premeditation of our welfare; And in the first page of his Eternal Accounts, we find the great Design of Man's Redemption, that stupendious Mystery of Mercy & Justice, the Incarnation of our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ; who held nothing so dear, no obligation so important, as our Sanctification; even to the degree of laying down his Life for the advantage of that sacred Interest. See here, the Motives which we have to think He loves us! Yet give me leave to tell you, He is not so fond of us, but that He can be angry at us, when He finds his Love neglected. Witness all those miserable Christian Souls, who once were happy in the same Testimonies of his Affection: Who thought, as we do, to reform their lives at a more convenient season: Who supposed, as we do, that God's extraordinary Grace would never fail to be at hand, when ever they pleased to have occasion for it. Alas, poor Souls, they now are lodged in the flames of Hell for all Eternity; and know, too late, that though God never fails to bestow his extraordinary Graces, where He finds a faithful correspondency of our Endeavours with his merciful Assistance; yet He often shuts his Hand, if we withdraw ours. He does not first desert us: Yet, if deserted by us, 'tis no wonder if He treat us upon equal terms, & so desert us.  
Wonder not, that God who is so infinitely good, can find in his heart to Abandon thus a Sinner, who stifles the remorses of his Conscience, who resists the frequent inspirations which invite him to Repentance, who has always something else to do when he thinks of his Duty, always is so rude, so scornfully uncivil, in receiving all the Embassys of Peace which Heaven sends him; that every trifling Object which salutes his Fancy, every miserable creature which a silly Passion recommends to him, is sure to have the preference, & be the first admitted.  
How often does God court us, when we are alone, as it were carefully managing that favourable occasion, when it may be presumed we are at leisure for his entertainment? But, alas! we are perhaps never less alone, than when we are alone: The Common Enemy of Mankind is then most busy to prevent the advantage of such a happy circumstance. How often does He apply himself to us, when any sudden Accident has crossed our inclinations, when we have been dissappointed in our intrigues, when we begin to find our labour lost in the pursuit of what we hunted after, when we sit down angry & affronted at the confusion of our mistake, almost ready to fall out with the World for having cheated us: than it is that He takes hold of this conjuncture; gins in a loving manner to expostulate with us; to exprobrate to us how treacherous a Friend we find the World to be; on the contrary, how constant & faithful a Friend He has been to us, from all Eternity to this moment; how ready He is, notwithstanding all that's past, to receive us with open arms into favour again, if we return sincerely to Him. And how do we hearken to all this? Why, truly, it passes away like a little Fit of melancholy; we were then in an ill humour; we are now glad 'tis over; & so we think no more on't. What ever God speaks to our Hearts, is all out of doors: Our Hearts are shut against him, 
Apoc. 3.20.  all the time; He stands at the door, and knocks; and we neglect Him, letting Him stand & wait our leisure; We approve the Friendship of the World before his; And though we may have some slight thoughts of hearing Him some other time, yet for the present we flatly deny Him Entrance, & refuse Him Audience.  
Let us now Consider a little; What pitiful Worms we are, who thus contemn the Almighty; Who He is, whom we affront; What trifles we prefer before him: And we shall not wonder if at length He leave us, & desert us with a Resolution never more to offer us these extraordinary Favours: I go away, says He, 
Jo. 8. v. 21.  & you shall Seek me, and you shall Die in your Sins.   

SECT. III. Reasons why Delay is so Dangerous.  
THat I may discover, yet more clearly, the Extravagance of Sinners who differr the entire Conversion of their Hearts from time to time, upon a vain Presumption of choosing their own time, when they please; I suppose, as a fundamental Principle, 
1. Pet. 5. v. 5.  that God gives Grace to the humble, and resists the Proud.  
He who values himself upon being Wise enough in the management of his salvation; Who neglects the time which God's great Mercy offers him; Who presumes He can, whenêre he pleases, choose the time of his Conversion; Such a Person, if ever he approach the Throne of Grace, comes in a disposition directly opposite to Reconciliation; he carries Pride barefaced in the very Front of him; and the Address, he presents, is endorsed with the very same fault which he begs pardon for.  
A true Convert comes trembling, with a Heart truly humbled under the Omnipotent Hand of an offended Majesty; And such a Penitent will always find Favour; A Contrite & Humble Heart God never will despise; All his former Offences will pass for nothing; 
Ezek. 33.16.  None of his sins He committed shall be mentioned to him; In the Day of his Conversion his Impiety shall never hurt him; What time soever God shall please to mark out to him, if he manage that, he is secure.  
But if a Sinner carelessly reject God's inspirations, & from time to time neglect the opportunities He mercifully offers him; if he behave himself as if he thought his Time of Reconciliation were entirely at his own disposing; and, upon this account, when he thinks fit, presents himself before the Throne of Grace; His very Coming in this manner is an Act of Pride, a Pride by which he dangerously presumes upon a more than ordinary Favour, such as he knows has been denied to many thousands, who are damned for ever, for less Sins than his, & less neglect of the Almighty; a Pride, which is the greatest provocation that can be imagined, in as much as it abuses all his infinite Goodness, Longanimity, & Patience, not only to the utmost degree of contempt, but even to an impudent assurance of obtaining Mercy when we please, although we have so much, so often, & so long, contemned it. This is a sufficient Reason, why God may abandon such proud Penitents as often as He pleases: and this Reason is attended with a sort of Obligation (if a man may term it so) incumbent upon Providence, if not always, at least generally & for the most part, to treat them according to their merit.  
This Obligation arises from two Titles. God is the the Creator of Man, & the Redeemer of Sinful man. The first gives Him the Prerogative of being the supreme and universal, Lord and Master of the Universe; under which Character it belongs to him to give Law to all the parts of it, & take such methods as may with a smooth & easy, yet strong & steady influence promote & carry on the great Design of the Creation. Hence comes the Obligation of supporting the Credit, & maintaining the Authority of his Gouvernment, which sinks immediately & falls to nothing, if his too great Indulgence always tolerate the open violation of his precepts, joined with all the indignities, affronts, and insolences, of a haughty Subject, that will not be reclaimed but when he pleases, will not take the advantage of those favourable Opportunities which are so often offered him, but differrs the only necessary Business of his life from time to time, upon a proud Presumption of being received at any hour whensoêre he pleases. Nothing under Heaven can in this occasion keep up the Spirit & vigour of Discipline amongst us, and place the Fear of God before our eyes, but a just & severe Punishment, such as becomes the Indignation of an angry God abused, affronted, & contemned; which is, to treat us as we treat Him, leave us as He finds us, & flatly refuse us Audience when we make our supplications to Him.  
This Motive which arises from the Title of Creator is abundantly sufficient; but yet the Title of Redeemer is a far more powerful inducement to the same rigour of Justice. The Creation of the World was but a small Expense: A Word said, & the whole Work done. But the Redemption of sinful Man, the Extraction of him out of the profound Abyss of Sin and Malice, was a more laborious Masterpiece of Mercy & Justice; it cost him his descent from Heaven, a painful life for many years upon Earth, & the last drop of his most precious blood upon the Cross. Having redeemed us from the Devil, at so dear a rate, & having paid the utmost price of our Salvation, He has a strict Right to the Honour and Reputation of his Mercy; 
Isai. 42.8.  He is Lord of All, and his Glory He will not give to Another. He is our Lord & Master; by Redemption All of us are His; He has paid the full Discharge of our Account; but He will not apply the Value of this Payment to those persons whose Pride will either Challenge the Credit, or Share it with Him; He bestows it only where it may be evident, if not to all the World, at least to every Sinner's Conscience who receives the benefit, that nothing but the Power of Grace could work so wonderful a Resurrection, & free him from the Servitude of Sin.  
He who made our Hearts, cannot but know the temper of our Inclinations. He cannot but see how partial & unequal we are in our Judgements. If any thing be amiss with us, we presently begin to murmur & repine within ourselves, as if God only were the Author of our failings. But if we succeed in any thing, that seems praiseworthy, either in the Sight of God or Man, we presently assume the reputation of it to ourselves. Our Faith teaches us the contrary: And we seem to believe it. But yet, I know not how it is, our Pride which comes into the World with us, 
S. Ber. de ord. vit. & mor instit.  That Vice which is the first we fight with, & the last we conquer, is so apt to work upon our Judgement, that if we examine well, we cannot but observe, we always are a great deal more inclined to magnify our own Endeavours, than to admire the Power of Grace. If God should never treat us as we merit; if He never should abandon those who from his Goodness take occasion to abuse it; We should grow insensible of our necessities; We should forget our Obligations to the Grace of our Redeemer; We should behave ourselves as if we thought that All is done by our High Hand, 
Deut. 32.27.  & not by the Assistance of our Lord. This is one Reason, & a just one, why He is obliged (as I may say) in honour, if not always, at least generally, & for the most part, to refuse them Audience in a Time of their own choosing, Who during the time which He thought proper for their purpose, never would vouchsafe to hearken to Him. 
Jo. 8. v. 21.  I go away, says he, & you shall Seek me, & you shall Die in your Sins.   

SECT. iv That we ought to begin immediately, without Delay.  
HE who has promised PARDON to those who Repent, 
S. Greg. Hom 12 in Evan.  has never promised TRUE REPENTANCE to those who differed it. A man must be a Stranger to the ordinary Course of Providence, who does not know that there are certain Times in which our God is kinder & more favourable to us; when Clouds of Anger disappear; when Heaven seems to smile upon us; & the Almighty seems to meet half way the Prayers & Addresses of his people. 'tis not that God is liable to any shadow of Inconstancy: He always is inclined to Mercy, and nothing but our Sins can force him to the Rigour of his Justice. Sometimes He showers down his Graces in a plentiful abundance; visits & inspires us with good Thoughts, good Inclinations to amend our lives; strongly & sweetly moves us; frequently & importunely presses & solicits us to true Repentance. But, if we slight his favours, He withdraws them from us: Mercy neglected & abused gives place to Justice: And all those great and extraordinary Graces, which before abounded, are denied us; that we may, by this means, grow sensible of their Necessity & our Dependency, their Power & our Weakness.  
What Wise man is there in the World, 
Christ. Directory. p. 2. c. 7. § 3. & n. 35.  who reading This, will not fear the differing of his Conversion, though it were but for one day? Who knows, whether this shall be the last day, or no, that ever God will call him? God says, I called, 
Prov. Ch. 1.  & you refused to come; I held out my hand, & you would not look towards me; and therefore I will FORSAKE you in your Extremity. He does not say, how many times He called; or how long He held out his hand. God says, I stand at the door, & knock: but He says not, how often. 
Ibid. n. 37. A. D. 1673.  Almighty God is ready & bountiful to knock and call; but yet he binds himself to no time or space, but comes & goes at his pleasure. And they who take not their times when they are offered, are excuseless before his Justice, & do not know whether ever it shall be offered them again, or no: for that this thing is only in the Will & Knowledge of God alone; who takes Mercy where it pleases him best, and is bound to none. And when the prefixed time of calling is once past, Woe be to that party; for a thousand Worlds [perhaps] will not purchase it again.  
This Reason is abundantly sufficient to make us manage carefully the work of our Salvation with fear & trembling; 
Phil. 2.12.1. Pet. 5.6.  and humble ourselves under the powerful hand of God; without pretending to any absolute Security of our admittance whensoêre we please. We are certainly damned, if we never ask pardon; probably it may be yet time enough, if we ask it now; And in concurrence of a certain ruin on the one side, with a probability of safety on the other, No Wise man will lose time to deliberate upon the choice.  
Some will say, perhaps, 'tis a severe Case, to Renounce all worldly Affections, & Deny them what's most dear to them; to declare war against the most violent of Passions; & to undergo the hardship of perpetual service in the engagement; if we have no absolute security of making peace when ever we desire it. Had we an assurance of our Pardon, whensoêre we ask it; it were some encouragement to undertake a thorough Reformation of our lives. But, to renounce All, upon a a hazard of gaining Nothing, is too cold an invitation to encounter so painful & laborious a Task.  
O Man! 
9.20.  says S. Paul to the Romans, who art Thou, that thus repliest against God? Who are you, that dare presume to article with Him, in this manner? Is it not enough, to have so frequently transgressed his Laws, so much contemned his Menaces, so long abused his Patience? Is it not enough to have idolised the objects of your Passion? to have set up your Single self in opposition to all the dictates of Duty & Obedience? to have affronted the Omnipotent Hand, which (had not his Mercy held it) had long since sunk your miserable Soul to the Abyss of Hell? Is not this enough, unless the same Pride, which began your Misery, accompany also the Petition of your Pardon? Remember that God resists the proud, 
1. Pet. 5.5.  & gives Grace only to the humble. Remember that he is a very proud Beggar, who will not ask an alms except he be assured before hand of receiving it; And that God is so far from receiving the insolent Request of such a proud Petitioner, that (on the contrary) He openly declares he hates him: 
Eccli. 25.4.  My Soul, says He, Hates a proud Beggar.  
Ah Christians! We must (if we hope for Salvation) we must come in another disposition. We must not lose time upon the debate, whether or no we have a certain prospect of success. We must work our Salvation with fear & trembling; 
Phil. 2.12.1. Pet. 5.6.  and humble ourselves under the powerful hand of God. In this Conjuncture we have nothing else to do, but fly in all haste to the Throne of Grace: 
Hebr. 4.16.  Every Moment is precious: Every Moment of Delay increases the Danger.  
The prodigal Son, whose imitation our Saviour recommends to us, proposing him as a great example of an humble Penitent, did not lose time in studying whether his Father would receive him or not; he did not before hand inquire into his Father's humour; how he stood affected to him? whether he were ready to admit him? or determined never more to look upon him? But, immediately, 
Luke. 15.17. v. 18.  at his first coming to himself, he said; I will rise, and go to my Father, & say to him, Father, I have Sinned. So far was he from any absolute assurance of his pardon, & so sensible of his unworthiness; he did not so much as offer to demand a perfect reconciliation, but left himself entirely to his Father, to dispose of him, & do with him what he pleased: Father, 
v. 19  I am not worthy to be called your Son.  
Alas! What can we do in this condition? We must redouble our prayers which we have heretofore so often huddled over, with as much indifference & coldness, as if we were afraid lest God should hear us, & assist us with his Grace to take up our Cross, 
Math. 16.24.  deny ourselves, & follow Him.  
If after a month, a year, or more, we find no great effect of Mercy; we must still persever firm in our Endeavours: The more we fear God's Anger, the faster we must fly to the Protection of his Goodness. We must not sink under the apprehensions of our Reprobation, but without disputing our Destiny, we must resolve, either to obtain pardon, or die in the demanding of it.  
If the Almighty seem to take no notice of us; if He seem as it were to command us out of his sight; we have nothing else to say, but, Lord, whither shall we go? 
Jo. 6. v. 68  What way is there to fly from thy Anger, but by the speediest recourse we possibly can make to the shelter of thy infinite Goodness? We know, we deserve an Eternal banishment from thy Presence: We know, we often have refused Thee Audience: We know, it was our common Answer, Go, 
Prov. 3.28.  and Come again another time: & therefore we know, we have no reason to complain, if now we are forsaken & abandoned by Thee. But this is only what we deserve; 'tis only what we justly Fear: Thou nevertheless commandest us to Hope otherwise; And 'tis in compliance with this Command, 
Rom. 4.18.  that we Hope even against Hope. We come not to dispute about our Heaven or our Hell; We come not to capitulate upon the Articles of our Salvation; We only fear as we have reason, and hope as we ought; so that, setting aside the whole solicitude of that Affair, we leave it entirely to thy Mercy. We come with a Contrite & Humble Heart; full of nothing but a sincere Sorrow for all our past Offences, joined with a hearty Resolution never to offend Thee any more: Except it may be an Offence for Sinners, such as we are, to continue in thy Presence; Which cannot be: No, no; though we should see thy Sword of Justice drawn against us, & thy Omnipotent Hand stretched out to strike us dead at thy Feet, We will not quit the place, 
Job. 13.15.  Although Thou killest us, we will still Trust in Thee.  
This is the Humble Heart, which charms our God; the Heart which He cannot refuse; 
Ps. 50.  Such a Contrite such an Humble Heart He never will despise. This is the only disposition that can make amends for the abuse of so much Goodness; & for the differing our Conversion so long, upon a proud Presumption of Amendment when we pleased. Such an Humble Heart, as this, giveth God no reason to be jealous of his Honour: His Hand appears manifestly in the management and preparation of it: 
Ex odd 8.19.  The Finger of God is here. Such a Convert, as this, will never challenge any share in the Honour of his Conversion; but, admiring the Benefit, will resign the Honour, & humble himself so much the more in his presence Who made him what he is. But God will always have the Honour of the work; He will be Merciful when He thinks fit, & not allow proud Man to dispose of his Mercy; He will take his own time, and confound the presumptuous Pride of those, who (as if they were God's Masters, rather than his servants,) make no doubt but they can choose a Time convenient, when they please.  
Sinners, Deceive not yourselves. Think not that God is always equally disposed to hear us, whensoever we appoint our time of Audience. He will not suffer us to pretend to the honour of beginning our Conversion, & challenging his. Greatest Graces, at our leisure. 'tis true; He died to save us: But, though He died for our Benefit, He died for God's Honour; and will not part with any share of this Honour, to humour a proud Penitent. 
Isai. 42.8. 1. Pet. 5.5.  He is Lord of All, and his Glory He will not give to Another. He Resists the Proud, and only to the Humble He gives Grace in this World, Glory in the next.    

A CONTRITE HEART.  

SECT. I. Sorrow for our Sins.  
O My God 
Anton. das Chagas.  God of my Soul, my Life, my Heart, & All that is within me! I have sinned, o my God; I have offended Thee; I have done ill before the Face of Heaven & Earth. Neither the Stars of Heaven, nor the grains of Sand upon the Earth, are equal to the boundless number of my grievous sins.  
Ah my dear God my Maker, my Preserver, my Redeemer, & my Only Benefactor, how it grieves me to have So offended Thee! 
Ibid.  I am much more troubled at my great Ingratitude, than at the greatness of the Torments I deserve.  
O that I could bewail, with Tears of blood, the base Unworthiness of my behaviour to my only most Obliging, most Endearing, most Deserving Friend! A Friend who always loved me, even when I loved my silly Humours & his miserable Creatures more than Him; who always Loved me, even when I was his most Ungrateful Enemy; And notwithstanding All, still Made me whatsoêre I Was, still Gave me whatsoêre I Had, and still Invited me, nay even Courted me, with daily inspirations of his Grace, to Love Him above All Things. O that my Eyes were living Fountains of continual Repentance, to bewail my base Unworthiness!  
And yet although my bleeding Heart should burst out at my Eyes, my Grief would ne'er be equal to my Grievous Sins; the Gild of which is infinite, and infinitely greater than I'm able to conceive. Though I should weep with Tears of blood in every corner of the Earth where I have sinned; All that would never wash away the Gild or Scandal of my Crimes. There's nothing but the bleeding Sacrifice of the Unspotted Lamb of God; There's nothing but the Blood of JESUS dying for my sake upon the Cross; There's nothing else can reconcile me to the Souvereign Majesty which I have so provoked; There's nothing else can wash out the deep Stains of my unspeakable ingratitude.  
This is that Mercy of my God, which the admiring World has Reason to call Great: That Mercy which is truly Great, not only in its self, but Great to all that are Partakers of it. Have Mercy on me, O God, 
Ps. 50.  according to Thy Great Mercy. Wash my poor soul from its Iniquity, & Cleanse it from its Sins. Sprinkle me only, with the blood of JESUS, & I shall be Cleansed; Wash me with it, & I shall be whiter than Snow. Cast me not away from Thy Face; but look upon a Contrite & an Humble Heart, which (for the sake of Thy Beloved Son, 
Math. 17.5.  with whom Thou art well Pleased) I hope Thou wilt not despise; but that Thou wilt have Mercy on me, O God, according to Thy Great Mercy.   

SECT. II. Resolutions of Amendment.  
I Have said: Now I Begin. Alas! 
Ps. 76.  How often have I said So, & as often broke my word! And what Hope have I Now to keep it, more than any other Time? When I renew the doleful memory of my Relapses, how I tremble at the very Thought! To think how often, in a lukewarm Fit of Piety, I have imagined I was Now beginning to amend my Life; And yet how Soon, how Easily, how Shamefully hath every sudden Passion, every sinful Inclination, every silly Humour overcome my best &▪ firmest Resolutions! Proud as I was, I wondered always at my weakness, & could scarce believe it, though I Saw it. Proud as I was, still went on in the same road; Still fancyd it was easy to Reform when I Resolved upon't; And still excused myself, by laying all the fault upon my Neighbours, my Employments, or some other Circumstances of my Life. And yet, what Place soever I have lived in, whatsoever Business I have been employed in, whatsoever Circumstances have attended me through all the several changes of my Fortune; I have always been the same Frail Creature, always equally unfaithful to my word. What Hope then have I Now to keep it, more than any other Time?  
Must I Despair? Yes, yes: 'Tis absolutely Necessary for me to Despair of my own Strength, that I may seriously begin to Hope in nothing else but Him who gives Grace to the Humble, 
1. Pet. 5.5.  & resists the Proud. And may I by his Grace Persever all my Life, improving each day more & more, in This Despair, which is the Reason why I Hope more now than any other Time.  
O that I had long since Despaired entirely of my own sufficiency, & placed my Confidence in nothing but the powerful assistance of his Grace; I should not then have been so Negligent so openly Exposed on every side, to the continual surprises of my Passions. I should then have carefully employed the precious moments of my Time, either in Studying how to Meet my several Dangers, or Forecasting how to Avoid Them. I should then have Prayed as hearty, as men do in a Storm; who every moment fear to sink, & every moment lift their trembling Hands & weeping Eyes to Heaven; the same angry Heaven whence They justly apprehend their fatal Ruin. Ah my God how seldom have I Prayed so! And how often have I Asked Thy Grace as Carelessly as if I had no need of it!  
My Resolutions, like my Prayers, hitherto have only been in General terms: That now I would Reform my Life; I would no longer be a Slave to Passion & Humour; I would now Begin to be a Saint; And, O! how I have been ashamed to Think of all my Follies! Alas! This very Pride which made me thus Ashamed, was That which made me Fancy, 'twas an Easy matter to Amend; & therefore made me Careless in observing the Particular Occasions of my Greatest Sins, the Remedies which ought to be applied, & the Impediments which ought to be removed. But since the sad experience of my weakness makes me wiser, I am now resolved it shall be the chief Business of my Life, to watch and study all the Motions of my Heart: What Passions are predominant; what Inclinations Second them; by what Approaches They gain ground; & by what Means, in This or That particular Occurrence, They may be resisted, weakened, & subdued.  
A Master Workman needs but now & then apply his Rule, because his Habit guides his skilful Hand. But I, Unskillful as I am, who only now Begin the necessary Art of Living well, & have so many years contracted an ill habit of neglecting all those Holy Precepts; I must now, not only in my Morning-Recollection carefully Foresee each Danger I am like to meet with in the Day; But frequently Renew those pious Resolutions; In All occasions Consult the Eternal Truth Which came from Heaven to instruct me; And Examine seriously, if the Employment of my Thoughts, Words, Actions, & Desires, be suitable to so Divine a Rule.  
All This I am Resolved upon, in Presence of my God, & the whole Court of Heaven. Help me, All ye Blessed Spirits, 
Luke. 15.7.  who are Joyful witnesses of these my Holy Resolutions; Assist me now to make an humble Offering of them All before the Throne of Grace; 
Hebr. 4.16.  And join your Better prayers with mine, to beg a Blessing for Them; without which, although I daily water Them with penitential Tears, They never will Increase, & bring forth Fruit. I have said: Now I Begin. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy Great Mercy; For Such a Change comes only from the Right Hand of the Highest. 
Psal. 76.11.     

AN HUMBLE HEART.  

SECT. I. The Necessity and Advantages of Humility.  
ALl our Saviour's Life & Conversation upon Earth, 
S. Aug. lib. de ver. rel▪  was a continual instruction for the modelling of ours. But above all things He particularly recommended to us the example of his great Humility: 
Math. 11.29.  Learn of me, says he, because I am humble of Heart; and you will find rest for your souls.  
The necessity of this incomparable Virtue is so great, 
Rodriguez. Par. 2. Tr. 3. ch. 1.  that 'tis impossible without it to make any progress in a Spiritual life. Our Pride corrupts and ruins all our virtuous Actions, unless Humility begin, continue, & conclude them.  
S. Gregory says, 
Rodriguez. ch. 2.  True virtue never grows in any Soul, but when 'tis nourished by its proper Root, which is Humility. This plain comparison expresses very well its nature, and its properties. 1. A flower fades & withers when 'tis parted from its root. 2. The root is never better, than when hidden in the earth, and trampled under foot. 3. A Tree is longer-lived, and yields more fruit, according as the root of it is deeper, and lies lower under ground.  
How much our Faith dedepends upon Humility, 
Rodr. ch. 3.  the Apostle tells us, when he speaks of casting down imaginations; 
2. Cor. 10.5.  every high ' thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God; and captivating every thought to the Obedience of Christ. Man's Reason is but weak, and subject to mistake; & therefore a submissive Spirit is required: the want of which has been the first beginning of all heresies, and verified S. Paul's prediction, 
2. Tim. 3.1.2.3.7.  that in the last days dangerous times will come: because Men will be Proud; despisers of good people; & ever learning, but never coming to the knowledge of Truth.  
The same Humility which guides our Faith, encourages our Hope: 
Rodr. c. 10.11.  because the more we fear our weakness & diffide in our own strength, the more we have recourse to God, in whom we place our confidence: and thus when we are weak, 
2. Cor. 12.10.  says the Apostle, we are strong. That is to say, when once we rightly understand ourselves, & being thoroughly convinced of our infirmity, we seriously begin to hope in nothing but the assistance of God's Grace: then 'tis that He himself gins to take in hand the management of our affairs; provides for us in all our spiritual wants; supports, & guides us, by a special providence, in all our pious undertake. 'tis with us, as 'tis with Beggars who expose their ulcers and their miseries: the more they lay them open in the public view, the more they move our pity, & obtain more alms of Charitable persons: So the more sincerely we confess, & with profound humility acknowledge, our extreme necessities, exposing them in presence of our God, the more we move him to compassionate our miserable State, & to bestow upon us more abundantly the riches of his Grace.  
Humility, as it encourages our Hope so it improves our Charity. An humble Man perpetually considering his innumerable faults & imperfections, the more he sees his great unworthiness, the more he wonders at God's patience, & is more inclined to love his Goodness above all things. 
P. Crasset. T. 2. Con. 14.  Nothing makes me better understand how good God is, than when I see with how much patience he endures a man, who is not able to endure himself. 'tis He who is offended: I am the offender. I, all Wickedness: & He, all Holiness. As wicked as I am, I can't endure myself: As holy as He is, He suffers me with patience. I only see a small part of my faults, and hate myself: He sees them all, and yet He does not cease to love me. I have such a horror of myself, when I consider how inconstant & how frail I am: & yet I can't perceive that God has any horror of me. On the contrary, the more I humbly own my wickedness, the more obliging & endearing proofs He gives me of insuperable Goodness.  
Our Humility preserves & guards our Chastity. 
Rodr. ch. 3.  Saint Bernard does not fear to say, that even the Purity of the Blessed Virgin herself, had never been agreeable to God, without it. 
Corn. a Lap. in c. 1, ad Rom.  Besides it is not only necessary to preserve our Chastity; but is the the best and most effectual remedy, that can be, to procure it. Luxury is the punishment of pride: and Chastity the triumph of humility. S. Hierome says, 'tis hard to find a Heretic that loves Chastity; although in his discourses he may seem to praise it, & pretend to practise it. The reason is, 
1. Pet. 5.5.  because God gives grace only to the humble, & resists the proud: and where there is no Grace, there is no Chastity, but all Concupiscence. Hence comes the common saying of our novelists, that Chastity is impossible: & 'tis no wonder that they think so; for it is so, to the Proud, and Graceless; who can ne'er be truly chaste, till they are truly humble. They are given up by God to all uncleaness, 
Rom. 1.24.  through the lust of their own hearts: and 'tis but just, that if the Soul refuses due submission to God, the Body should be found, by his permission, as untractable & disobedient to such a Soul. Because, says S. Gregory, by Pride they prefer themselves before Men: by Luxury they soon become like Beasts.  
A man might easily go through all other virtues, 
Rodr. ch. 3.  and observe Humility as necessary for the acquiring and preserving of them All. But what has been already said, suffices to convince us, that the most compendious method of aspiring to Perfection, is to make it our chief business, to be truly humble.  
'tis enough to add, 
P. Crasset. T. 1. Lund. 3 de l' Avent.  that All our virtues & good actions, without Humility, will never save us: & that all our sins & imperfections, with true Humility, will never damn us: For as soon as ever we are truly humble, all our vices leave us, & immediately all virtues take possession of our heart. My soul! why are we then discouraged? Why do we despair? Why are we, now & then, so melancholy when we think of all our imperfections & faults? If therefore we have reason to despair: have we not therefore reason to be humble? Let us be so then: & we shall have no longer any reason to despair. Let us but humble ourselves in presence of our God: we shall soon obtain all that we have not; we shall be able to do all that we cannot; & we shall receive all that we deserve not. You cannot fast? At least you can humble yourself. You cannot weep for your sins? Humble yourself, because you cannot. You have not Time enough, nor Health enough, to say much prayers? However, you may be as humble every jot, as if you had. Do what you can, you always pray with much distraction? Be content, & humble. You are now & then surprised, and fall into some sin? Have patience: take more care another time: & be more humble ever after.  
An Humble Heart God never will despise. 
Ps. 50.  And is not This enough to show us the Necessity & great Advantage of Humility? How comfortable is the Thought of it, to them whose Want of health, or other Circumstances, will not suffer to make use of corporal Austerities, in Satisfaction for their Sins! What Comfort is it to them, to reflect that still they have a Refuge left them in the Sanctuary of this Virtue. 'tis the only One they have, if we believe an ancient Father of the Church. 
S. John. Clïma. Recapitul. Ar. 35.  Whoever has committed grievous Sins; & has a Body weak & Sickly; Let him tread the footsteps of Humility: In all things Let him fellow, where the Spirit & the Impulse of that Virtue lead him: 'tis the only way He has to save his Soul.   

SECT. II. First Degree of Humility.  
THe first Degree, 
Rodr. ch. 5.  is to have a mean opinion of ourselves; to think ourselves contemptible; & judge that we deserve to be despised by all the World. The Knowledge of ourselves, our Weakness & our Misery, is no Humility; but only is the necessary Means to come to this Degree of it.  
A person truly humble, 
Rodr. ch. 3.  always has before his eyes his own defects & imperfections: in others he considers chief the perfections & virtues which he finds: & thus he always is persuaded that his neighbours are much better & more perfect than himself. He loves them with respect & tenderness. He is not angry at his being valued less than they; but glad to see them All preferred before him.  
His Sins, 
Ibid. Ps. 50.  which ever are before him, make him sensible that he deserves the worst of punishments: & therefore whatsoever happens to him, he esteems it infinitely less than his iniquity deserves. He never thinks himself affronted. Whatsoever wrong is done him; he receives it as a favour, in comparison of what he has just reason to expect. He suffers all, in silence, upon this account: And far from breaking out into complaints, he only calls to mind that humble saying, of the Prophet Micah, 
7.9.  I will bear the indignation of my God, because I have sinned against him.  
The hardest measure we can suffer in this life; 
Rodr. Ch. 7.  the greatest & the most severe humiliations we can think of, are incomparably less than what is due to any single crime, which we commit against the Majesty of God. Can we imagine, all the World is able to dishonour him too much, who has dishonour God himself? And is't not just that having slighted & neglected his Creator, he himself should be despised by All, and live for ever after in disgrace? 
Ephes. 2.3.  Remember that a Sinner is a Child of wrath, an Enemy of God, a Monster of deformity, condemned to everlasting flames: Remember this; and you will shrink below the feet of all the World; because you will be then convinced, that howsoever you are humbled & oppress't, a Man who has but once offended God, deserves to suffer more.  
Although my Conscience accuse me not, 
Rodr. ibid. 1. Cor. 4.4.  Though I know nothing of myself, says the Apostle, yet I am not hereby justified; but he that judges me, is God. When we consider well, how doubtful our condition is, & how we always are uncertain of our being justified: This, this alone, without all other motives, which are numberless, is of itself abundantly sufficient to humble us. What Christian is there, that would dare to show his face? or Man that would not rather wish to sink into the bowels of the Earth, to hid himself? if this reflection once had made a deep impression in his mind, My Crimes are certain, but my Pardon is uncertain. Nothing can be more uneasy to a Soul, that would be saved, than this Uncertainty. But yet there's nothing in the World of greater use for the acquiring and preserving of Humility. There's nothing can refrain us more from Censuring our Neighbours, or Despising even those who seem the greatest Sinners; than to think, that We ourselves are far from having any certainty of being in the State of Grace; & that, this very moment we may be, for aught we know, in equal danger of the everlasting flames of Hell.   

SECT. III. Second Degree of Humility.  
THe Second Degree, 
Rodr. ch. 13.  is when we love to be neglected, and desire to be despised. As hard as it appears, if we were once well grounded in the first Degree, the way would then be short & easy to the second. If we had but once a mean opinion of ourselves; if once we truly thought ourselves contemptible; if once our judgement were convinced that we deserve to be despised by All the World; it would not then be difficult to suffer their contempt: We than should even wish for such occasions of improving our humility: they would be always very welcome to us, & afford us, every day, new joy & consolation. 'tis certain, says S. Bonaventure, that we naturally love to see our sentiments approved, & our opinions followed. Which if it be true, as our experience too often teaches us, why are we so uneasy when we see our neighbours undervalue us? 'tis questionless, because we are not, in our judgement, thoroughly convinced that we deserve to be despised; for if we were, we should be glad to see our neighbours follow our opinion. 
Rodr. ch. 14.   
The Dispositions which make way to this Degree, are, 1. to shun as much as may be, all occasions of praise. 2. To suffer patiently the humours and insults of others. 3. To take no pleasure in our being celebrated and admired.  
1. The Avoiding all occasions of praise, 
Ibid.  is recommended to us by the great example of our Saviour, & the universal practice of the Saints. Our Saviour fled from those who thought to choose him King. He showed his Glory on mount Thabor to no more than three of his Disciples; and immediately charged them not to say a word on't. Whensoever his great Charity appeared in doing miracles, his great humility appeared no less in his commanding secrecy. 
S. Fr. Sales. p. 3. c. 5.   
Humility affects not to appear in her own likeness. She forbears expressions which discover her. She desires, not only to conceal all other Virtues, but particularly, to conceal herself. 
P. Crasset. T. 1. Mar. 3. the l'Arent.   
'tis a dangerous thing to speak of one's self; either well, or ill: if well, 'tis to appear deserving; if ill, 'tis to appear humble.  
An humble man had rather hear another say, 
S. Fr. Sales. p. 3. c. 5.  that he is miserable, inconsiderable, good for nothing; than be heard to say it of himself. At least, he never contradicts it. Whosoever says it, he believes it firmly and is therefore glad that others are of his opinion.  
2. If we seriously considered, 
Rodr. ch. 14.  that the esteem of men, is generally, if not always, an Occasion of Presumption & Pride; & that the Saints themselves, who by God's Grace were more secure from danger, always fled from such temptation, even with aversion & horror: we should certainly conclude, that whatsoever may contribute to the humbling of us, & inducing us to have a mean opinion of ourselves, should be received with patience, & embraced as useful means of purchasing, preserving, & increasing our Humility. The opportunities of practising this Virtue are so frequent every day, that if we did but carefully forecast to profit by them, we might almost make it our continual Exercise. 
B. III ch. 49.  It happens, says the Devout Kempis, that what is pleasing to others, shall go well forward; that which thou wishest, shall not speed: That which others say, shall be heard; what thou sayest, shall be nothing regarded: Others shall ask, & shall receive; thou shalt ask, & not obtain: others shall be great in the praise of men; but of thee there shall be no speech: to others this or that shall be committed; but thou shalt be accounted fit for nothing. At this, Nature is apt sometimes to be troubled; and 'tis much, if thou art humble enough, to bear it patiently with silence.  
3. 
Ibid.  To be charmed so little with Esteem & Honour, as to take no pleasure in them, is a third step to the height of this Degree; much harder than the other two. For as Saint Austin very well observes, although it may be easy for a man to live without praise, when it is denied: 'tis hard enough for any man, to take no pleasure in it, when 'tis freely offered him. A proud man, says S. Gregory, rejoices even when he knows that his admirers are mistaken in him. For he cares not what his Life is in the sight of God, but only values the appearance of it in the sight of Men. And therefore he his puffed up with the least applause: He fancies he has reaped the fruit of his endeavours: He desires no more: He aims at nothing else. But, on the contrary, an humble man is so averse from the applause of Men: that he's uneasy with it. He's afraid there is no real ground for it: or else he fears the loss of his Reward in Heaven, by receiving of it here; & trembles at the apprehension of exchanging, for a little popular Esteem, the Crown of everlasting Glory, which he hopes for. Solomon says, 
Prov. 27.21.  As gold is tried by the furnace, so is a man by his praise. S. Gregory adds; if he grows vain by hearing it, he's like false gold, which suffers by the fire: but if the hearing of it makes him tremble, lest it may be prejudicial to his soul before the Souvereign Judge; 'tis like a fire which only serves to purify, & give him a new lustre. We should be so grounded in the knowledge of ourselves, that when we are commended, we may always have before our eyes our base Unworthiness; and be so much the more ashamed, to think, we are so far from being what we seem to be; that we fall short of being, even what we should be.  
By these three Steps we come at last to the Degree of loving & desiring to be undervalved & despised: 
Rodr. ch. 15.  We become, not only humble in our Judgement, but our Heart. The first degree, which is Humility of Judgement, was not to be found in J. C. as S. Bernard well observes: because He knew himself too well, to have a mean opinion of himself, or think himself contemptible, or judge that He deserved to be despised by all the World. But the second Degree, the true humility of Heart, was the Humility of our Redeemer. He took pleasure in descending, & becoming Man: He loved to be neglected, scorned, & ridiculed: He hearty desired to undergo all injuries, insults & outrages. Behold the Example of our Master. See the Lesson which he came to teach us. 
Math. 11.29.  Learn of me, says He, because I am humble of HEART.  
A true Disciple of Christ, 
Ibid.  is dead to all things in this world; he hates it, & detests it; he desires not to be valued & esteemed in't; but embraces all Humiliations with the self same passion, which worldly persons have for Honour & Esteem; and is as glad to meet with all occasions of appearing inconsiderable & contemptible, as they are overjoyed to meet with opportunities of seeming Great.  
To know if we are true Disciples of our Master, 
Rodr. ch. 16.  & have perfectly acquired this Virtue; we must, by this Rule, examine well the disposition of our Heart, & see if we rejoice as much at being undervalved valued & despised, as others do at being honoured & applauded.  
This Examen is the Touchstone of Humility. 
Ibid.  For 'tis agreed upon by all, that Virtue is imperfect in us, till we practise it with satisfaction & pleasure. If we find the least repugnance in the practice, when occasion serves; & use much preparation to surmount the difficulty of it; 'tis indeed the way to acquire such Virtue, but it also is a certain mark, we have not yet acquired it in perfection. A Master of an Art, as Aristotle says, has such a habit of it, that he uses no deliberation, but performs the operations of it with such ease, he scarce knows what he's doing when he does his work. And Philosophers tell us, that in surprising Accidents, we act not by Reflection, but by Habit. For which reason, 'tis in vain to examine, what our Inclinations are (& whether we are truly Humble, or no) by what we do with preparation & leisure: We must carefully examine, what we suddenly are apt to do, without deliberation.  
However, 
Rodr. Chr. 17.  if by this Examen we observe, that notwithstanding our Endeavours to improve, we frequently are importuned, & sometimes overcome, by Pride & Vanity: if we are yet so far from taking pleasure in the practice of Humility, that we are hardly able to support in silence the Uneasiness we suffer in it: Let not this discourage us: But on the contrary, the more we see our weakness, let it humble us the more; & let us learn from thence  
to use our utmost diligence in laying a more firm Foundation of Chrisstian Humility, which is Humility of Heart. 'tis not a thing impossible. For, by the grace of God, we may be able, says S. Austin, not only to imitate the example of the Saints, but also of the Souvereign Master of the Saints. He invites us all to imitate his Virtue; & can we fancy He invites us to a thing impossible? Learn of me, says He, because I am Humble of HEART. And S. Hierom very well observes, that those words of our Saviour, If thou wilt be Perfect, 
Math. 19.21.  come & follow me, are a manifest conviction, that by his Grace, (which always is at hand,) we have it in our power, to be Perfect, if we will.   

SECT. iv An Objection Answered.  
IF Charity incline us to desire our neighbour's Good, 
Rodr. cb. 29.  & to contribute what we can to their Salvation; why should our Humility desire that all the World may undervalue us? Without their thinking well of us (in some capacity, or other) we shall never do them any good; they never will confide in us; they will not hearken to us; we shall have no credit with them. Is't not therefore reasonable, even by the Rule of common Charity, that we should rather seek their Kindness & Esteem, than their Aversion & Contempt?  
S. 
Ibid.  Gregory answers. 'tis one thing, to desire our neighbour's Esteem; another, to rejoice at his Profit. 'tis a Crime to covet Reputation for its own sake, & rejoice at being Great in the opinion of men. But yet, to wish as much of it, as may be necessary for so good an End, as that of serving Souls & gaining them to Christ; is an effect of Charity. And thus 'tis lawful to desire our neighbour's good opinion & esteem, so far as may enable us to do them good: because we thus desire it, only for their service, & the greater glory of our our God, with a sincere and total disengagement from the charms of Pride & Vanity. If any man, who naturally hates a Potion, or a Pill, upon occasion procures it, & desires to take it; we may be assured, that such a man takes physic, not Physic sake, but purely for his Health. So when a man, who by an extraordinary grace of the Almighty, hates the applause & honour of this World; when such a man procures, desires, & manages with care, the good Opinion of men; because it may be useful to him in their service; we may be assured he only seeks God's Honour, not his own.  
However, 
Ibid.  this great Truth is generally much abused; & under the pretence of it, we only cover our Ambition, & disguise our Vanity. We covet Honours, seek Preferments, & intrude ourselves into Employments, letting slip no opportunity of being or appearing. Great; & all this while, we plead; 'tis only Charity, to qualify us for the better service of our Neighbours. We have therefore need of no small circumspection to discern the cheat. The way to know it, says S. Gregory, is to examine all occasions, where our Reputation is a thing indifferent, & useless to our neighbour. If in these, we care not for the good Opinion of men; we may suppose, that when we are concerned for't, it is only for our neighbour's sake, & not our own.  
S. 
Ibid.  Gregory thus unties the knot; but S. Francis cuts it with more ease, & much more clearly takes away the difficulty.  
Whatsoever the Occasions are, 
Ibid.  He roundly answers: that our Charity gins at home: that if it inclines us to desire our Neighbour's spiritual good; with much more reason it inclines us to desire our Own: that if our Reputation may be useful to our neighbour; our Disgraces & Humiliations (incurred without our fault) may prove more beneficial to ourselves. If when I preach, says he, or when I practise any virtue which is edifying, I am pleased with praises, which endanger my Salvation; because their good Opinion of me, helps them to improve by my instruction, & example: How much reason have I, for my own sake, to rejoice a great deal more, when (having done my best) I still am undervalved & despised; because, by this means, I myself am more acceptable to God, and more secure of my Eternal Happiness?  
Our Saviour himself, 
See R. ch. 29.  whose Charity inclined him to descend from heaven, & to sacrifice his life for Sinners; knew that many unbelieving Souls were lost by undervaluing & despising him; He knew that many millions of them would have been converted, if they had admired & honoured him as he deserved; & yet He never sought for worldly Honour as a means to save them; but although though their Souls were dear to Him, his honour was not. 
Jo. 6.38.  As He came from heaven, not to do his own will, but the will of him that sent him: So He came to seek the Honour of his Father, not his own. I honour my Father, 
Jo. 8.49.50.  says He; I seek not my own glory. 'tis enough that whilst I only seek his Honour, He takes care of mine; & that although I never seek my own, 
v. 50.  yet there is One that always seeks & judges it; & always will be sure to do me justice. Let us follow the Example of our Saviour. Let us make it the chief Business of our life to do the will of him that sent us, not our own. Let us honour our Father in Heaven. Let his Honour only be the Object of our care, & never let us mind our own, but rest content that He himself takes care of it. Let no appearance of our Neighbour's Profit cheat us into an Ambition of being popular; but let us faithfully, in all things, do our Duty for the Love & Honour of our God; & as for men's opinion of us, let us leave it to his Providence. His Honour, here below, is left (as I may say) to our discretion: He commits it to our care: He forces not our Liberty, but only offers the assistance of his Grace, & lets us Honour him, & serve him as we please. Shall God thus trust his honour in so bad a hand as ours? & shall not we be satisfied, to trust our honour in so good a hand as His?   

SECT. V Third Degree of Humility.  
THe Third, 
Rodr. ch. 30.  & Last Degree is the Humility of Saints, who are most humble in the sight of God, when they are most esteemed & celebrated by the World.  
When a Person, full of faults & imperfections, has a mean opinion of himself; esteems himself no better than he is; & is content to be reputed such as he esteems himself; We may commend him, says S. Bernard; but have little reason to admire him. Who admires to see a poor man have a mean opinion of his riches? think himself no richer than he is? & rest content that others think so too? but if a Rich man rank himself amongst the poor, & treat them with respect, as if he were the least considerable of them all; This very well deserves our admiration.  
By this description of the third Degree, we plainly see, that the Humility of Saints & the Humility of Sinners is the same in Substance, though they differ in Perfection. 'tis true: we wonder not, to see a man stand steady upon even ground. But when we see the same man stand as firm upon a lofty pinnacle; we gaze, & wonder at him. All this while, the Man's the same; though we admire him more, because the place is higher & the difficulty greater. So 'tis in our present case. Humility is either of the Judgement, or the Heart. The third Degree is comprehended in the First, & Second. But however we admire much more an humble Saint; because his eminent degree of Sanctity is higher, & the difficulty of his being humble, therefore seems much greater.  
I say seems greater: because I am not apt to think it is so; upon second thoughts. My reason, in short, is This. Humility of judgement & of heart, are chief grounded in the Knowledge of ourselves, & Love of God. The First induces us to have a mean opinion of ourselves: the more we know ourselves, the more we think ourselves contemptible, the more we judge that we deserve to be despised by all the World. The Second makes us glad to be neglected, & desire to be contemned: And as the Love of God increases in our hearts; the more we have & scorn the transitory honour of this world; the more we love to follow the Example of an humble God; the more we hearty desire to be agreeable to none but him; as being every day more sensible of this great Truth; He only is approved; 
2. Cor. 10.18.  whom God commends.  
Let us only lay these notions right together. 1. The Knowledge of ourselves & Love of God, is that which makes men Saints. No Person ever was a Saint without them: No man ever was a Sinner with them. And the more this Knowledge and this Love increase, the Greater is the Sanctity. 2. This Knowledge & this Love, is that which makes men Humble. Knowledge helps them to be humble in their Judgements: Love assists them to be humble in their Hearts. The more they Know & Love, the greater is the assistance of God's Grace, which is the only means of making all things easy to us. Why then may we not conclude? Whoever is a Saint, the greater Saint he is, the easier 'tis for him to be humble.  
Sinners indeed have much more matter for Humility to work upon. Their Weakness, their Corruption, & the Misery of their deplorable condition, are incomparably worse. But, which is worst of all, they are so miserably blind, as not to know their misery. A Beggar, in his drink, imagines he's a Prince: & is as proud as if he were. 'tis true; he's miserably poor: but since he knows it not; what signifies it? He's as proud, as if he were the richest man alive. 'tis so with Sinners. They are drunk with Self-love, Pride, & Vanity. They little know, & much less think, how Poor, how Miserable, how Contemptible they are. And we may very well apply to them those words of the Apocalypse: Because Thou sayest, 
Ch. 3.17.18.  I am rich, & have need of nothing; & know'st not that thou art wretched, & miserable, & poor, & blind, & naked: Therefore I counsel thee, to anoint thy eyes, that thou mayst See. This is the general Reason why Humility is harder to be found in Sinners, than in Saints. The First have more to humble them: but the more they have, the blinder they are, & the less they know it. The Second have less to humble them; but the less they have, the more their eyes are open by God's Grace, & the more clearly they discover what's enough to make them fear & tremble all their life.   

SECT. VI First Reason why the greatest Saints are the most humble.  
I Shall only add two Reasons more: because all Saints (I speak of such as are now living) are comprised in these two Classes: They are either such as have been Sinners heretofore; or such as may be so hereafter.  
The first Reason is so universal, that it comprehends them both: but more particularly Those who have preserved the Innocence of their Baptismal Grace. 
D. Sp. ch. 26.  'tis gathered from that Oracle of Scripture; work out your Salvation with Fear & Trembling: 
Philip. 2.12.13.  For it is God who works in you to will & to do; according to his pleasure. See the unsearchable Abyss of the Almighty's Judgements! where 'tis dangerous to dwell too long, & search too curiously, lest it cast us into an excess of Fear. 'tis enough, that none are saved, but who persever to the End; & that the greatest Saints can never be assured of their Perseverance. 'tis a special Gift which the Apostle chief points at, when he says; 
Rom. 9.18.16.  God has mercy on whom he will have mercy. It is not of him that wills, or him that runs; but of God that shows Mercy. And again: 
Ephes. 2.8.9.  By Grace you are saved: & that not of yourselves: it is the Gift of God: Not of works; lest any Man should boast. Alas! how is it possible for any Saint to be assured of his condition for the future, since he is not certain even of his present State? Who can sound the bottom of our Heart? Or rather, Who can sound the Heart of God, & tell us what He thinks of our condition? Who is He, that can assure us, We are good enough to be Rewarded by Him? woe be to that Life, how innocent soever, says S. Austin, 
Psal. 19.12.  which He Judges without Mercy. Who is He, says David, that can understand his failings? Cleanse me from my secret faults, 
Psal. 143.2.  O Lord: and enter not into judgement with thy servant; for in thy sight shall no man living be justified; if once Thou judgest him according to the utmost rigour of thy Justice. Who is there that does not tremble, when he hears the Just & Holy man, whom God himself was pleased to praise, confess that, all his life time, God was such a Terror to him, 
Job. 31.23.  he was hardly able to endure it? Who can, without trembling, hear the Prophet Isaiah tell us; 
64.6.  we are all unclean; & all our righteous works, like filthy Rags? Or hear S. Hierom, in the life of S. Hilarion, tell us how that blessed Saint was terrified at the approach of Death; & to encourage his departing soul, said to himself; Go forth, my Soul; what are thou Now afraid of? Thou hast served thy God these threescore & ten years; & dost thou tremble Now to appear before him?  
Let us therefore fear & tremble in the way to Heaven. Never let us fancy, we are so advanced in Virtue; that we need not fear. The greatest Saints were never so Presumptuous, as to banish from their thoughts the Fear of God. 
Philip. 2.12.  They worked out their Salvation with Fear & Trembling. They were always full of Fear: & this Fear always Humbled them. They were not Blinded, as we are, with Passion & Humour; but, as they improved in Grace, they every day discovered more & more their secret Imperfections.  
The Property of Grace is to enlighten the Understanding, as well as to inflame the Heart. It makes us Know our Misery, & Love our God, who only can deliver us. These two Effects of Grace were lively represented on the Day of Pentecost, by that mysterious Fire which rested on the heads of the Apostles. Fire gives Light & Heat: & as the Fire increases, it affords more Heat & greater Light. So, Grace Enlightens and Inflames the Minds & Hearts of Saints, with Knowledge of themselves, & Love of God: & as their Grace improves, this Heat and Light increase: They discern more clearly the innumerable dangers that surround them; & become more Humble under the Almighty Hand of God. 
1. Pet. 5.6.   
S. Paul compares the different States of Sin & Grace, to Light and Darkness, Night and Day. 
Rom 13 12.13.  The Night. says he, is spent; the Day is at hand. Let us cast of the works of Darkness, & put on the armour of Light. Let us walk honestly, as in the Day. A Traveller benighted, walks he knows not where. He hardly sees his Hand; much less his Feet. He sees perhaps, some Stars shine through the clouds, whose sparkling light serves only to amuse him, & misled him to a Precipice. But when the rising Sun appears, the Stars immediately vanish out of sight; our Traveller no longer gazes there; but has a much more useful prospect, of the Earth below him; where he plainly sees the Ground he goes upon, the Rise, the Descents, the Inequalities, & Precipices of it. Sinners, like benighted Travellers, march blindly on; mind little what they Do; & much less where they Go. However, now & then, they practise some good actions, either out of custom, or good nature; & amuse themselves with some few semblances of virtue, whose dim lustre seems perhaps more sparkling in the Darkness of that Night, which hides them, even from themselves. But 'tis not so with Saints. Their Night is spent; their Day appears. The Sun of Justice Rises in their Hearts. 
2. Pet. 1.19.  Their Virtues, like the Stars, (which only shine in Darkness) disappear immediately. The Clay which they are made of; the Corruption of their Nature; the Enormity of Sin; the Power of their Passions; & the Weakness of their Reason: These are Motives of Humility, which Now they clearly see, & daily have before their eyes. Besides all This; they plainly see an infinite variety of Artifices & Disguises of Self-love, which easily assumes all shapes, & counterfeits all Virtues, even Charity itself. And therefore they suspect the best of all their Actions; trembling at the very thought of them, for fear they may be secretly corrupted by Self-love. But, above all, the importunity of Pride, which never ceases to attack them; but continually endeavours to surprise them (notwithstanding all these motives of humility) is that which seems the most extravagant of all their faults; & humbles them the most.  
Behold the Misery of Man! And, what can be more miserable, if the Sight of so much misery suffices not to humble him! the greatest Saint, who is not conscious to himself of any forfeiture of his first Innocence, has no Assurance of his being justified. 
D. Sp. ch. 27.  He may be in the State of Grace; but whether so, or not. He cannot tell. And, which is worse, although he knew it, He has no assurance of Persevering one single moment. He who Stands, may Fall: & He who is a Saint, may prove a Sinner. Nothing but God's Grace is able to support him, to the End: and the Continuance of this Grace requires so faithful & so punctual a Cooperation with it; that a very small Omission oftentimes suffices to deprive him of it. His Perseverance is, as it were, a Chain of Graces, linked together, & continued to the utmost period of his life: 
S. Tho. 1.2. q. 114.9.  & this is more than He can Merit. All that he can do, is to be always vigilant & faithful in the Use of every single Grace God offers him. One Grace, well used, draws on another; This, a third; & That, a fourth: but if he trip the least in his Fidelity, the Chain immediately breaks. And this is that great Diligence which the Apostle recommends so earnestly to all good Christians: 
2. Pet. 1.10.  Use Diligence, says he, to make your Calling & Election sure. For IF YOU DO, you shall never fall. I must confess, this Saying is extremely comfortable; if we do: But, if we do not, what becomes of us? If all our life, we Use such Diligence; the Apostle tells us, we shall never fall: But, if we do not; what remains, but that the greatest Saint amongst us will be sure to fall? Consider this; & Tremble, Whosoêre you are. Assure yourself, the more you are a Saint, the more you'll tremble, & the more you'll see, how terrible a truth This is; which is one Reason why the greatest Saints (who are the most convinced of it) are always the most Humble.   

SECT. VII. Second Reason why the greatest Saints are the most humble.  
I Have said enough of Saints, who have preserved their Innocence. The Second Reason only has regard to Saints, who by their Crimes have lost it heretofore; & now are truly Penitent. If They who Know Themselves the best, are therefore the most Humble, because they Doubt the most of their Perseverance. Surely These who Know most clearly the Enormity of Sin, which they are guilty of, have much more Reason to be Humble; because they Doubt much more, of their obtaining Pardon.  
There is a great deal of difference says S. Jerome, 
Epist. ad Salu.  betwixt a Man whose Vessel is entire, & richly laden, when he sails into the Port of Bliss: & Him who, after Shipwreck, after Swimming for his life, rides naked on a Plank; & after being dashed, a hundred times against the rocks, at length is cast upon the Sands, halfdead, & almost bruised to pieces. If a man, who sails in a sound Vessel, never is secure from Storms which may arise, but always doubts of his arrival at the Port: we may be sure his Case is much more doubtful & more terrible, who has already suffered Shipwreck; & has nothing left him, but a Single Plank, to bear him up.  
'tis true: it happens now & then (& 'tis a comfortable Observation of a Holy Man, 
Abbé Jean. Entretien. 7.  whose Name is famous in our present Age) it happens now & then, that He, 
Math. 8.27.  to whom the winds & & sea obey, is pleased to make them for a time so calm & quiet, that a Man who swims upon his plank with industry & courage, meets at length, by Providence, another Vessel, better than his own; & sails with much more Comfort, much more Joy, into the Haven, than he would have done if he had never suffered Shipwreck in a Storm. S. John Climacus, in his 15. Degree, inquires which of the two is Greater in the sight of God; he who died by sin, & risen again to life by Grace? Or he who never died the spiritual death of Sin? And answers, that whoever Thinks the Innocent more happy of the two, is much mistaken. The Reason is: because All Sanctity is founded in Humility & Charity. Whoever Loves God best, & is most Humble, is the Greatest Saint. It happens oftentimes that He to whom a little is forgiven, 
Luc. 7.47.  Loves but little: & it happens now & then, that He Loves best, who is most mercifully pardoned, 
v. 43.  & forgiven most. We read in Scripture several examples of this nature. Zachary as soon as he had done sufficient Penance for his incredulity, immediately had his Speech restored him; & not only that, but he was also honoured with the Gift of Prophesying; which we do not read he had before. The Prodigal received much greater favours and caresses from his Father, than he ever had experienced before he left him. Lazarus himself, (who was the Figure of great Sinners) never had the honour to be entertained, at Table, with the Son of God; before he was, by miracle, raised from the Grave. S. Peter had not confidence, before he sinned, to ask our Saviour, Who he was that would betray him? But, when he had washed away his sins with Tears, he was permitted to be more familiar with his Master, and was made the Souvereign Pastor of his Church. From whence 'tis easy to conclude, that Sinners may sometimes, by Penance, grow more Perfect than those Saints who having kept their Innocence, Love God less fervently, & serve him, with more coldness & indifference. Behold, says Saint Ambrose, the great Goodness of our God How liberal & generous He is, to whom He pleases to be merciful! He's not contented to restore what they have lost. He grants them over & above, such Graces, & such Favours, as they never dirst have hoped for. Thus, as the Apostle says, 
Rom. 5.20.  where Sin abounded, Grace abounds much more: because, the more Sin Humbles them, the more they are Exalted. When a Penitent, whom Sin had blinded, once gins to See, & to discover clearly the Enormity of his offences, he has much more reason to be humble all his life, than if he had been always innocent. He looks upon himself no better than a Criminal reprieved, who is upon his good behaviour for his pardon; & persuades himself that he can never give sufficient proof of his Fidelity, & the Sincerity of his Repentance. All his Exercises of continual Penance never make him Vain; but only serve to humble him the more: because he looks upon them, only as the Remedies of his Diseases; & such Remedies as he must use till Death; which is the only End, he hopes to see, of his Distempers. The Employment of his Thoughts is the Consideration of his grievous Sins, which he perpetually laments; Where êre he goes, he never leaves the doleful Memory behind him; 
Micah. 6.14.  His humiliation is always in the midst of him. Since therefore He, who hates the Proud, 
1. Pet. 5.5,  gives Graces to the Humble; is't not lawful to infer, that Sinners may sometimes arrive to a more eminent Degree of Sanctity, than many of those Saints, who never fell quite down, but yet walk slowly in the way to Heaven?  
This happens, now & then 'tis true: but such Examples are as rare, as they are great. They are effects of more than ordinary Grace, which God grants only when and where he pleases. S. Peter never would have wept so bitterly, if Jesus had not mercifully turned & looked upon him. 
Luk. 22.61.62.  Lazarus had never risen from the grave, if Jesus had not come himself, & called him forth with a loud voice. 
Jo. 11.43.  The Prodigal had never come back to his Father, if he had not first come to himself. 
Luke. 15.17.  Alas, poor Wretch! he followed Swine before; & if he might have filled his belly with their husks, 
v. 16.  he would have been contented. See the blindness of a Sinner! But as soon as ever he came to himself, 
v. 17.  his eyes were open; & the opening of his eyes was that which brought him to himself. He Saw the great Enormity of his offences; I have sinned, says he; 
v. 18.  I have sinned against Heaven; & before my Father's face; 
v. 19  I am not worthy to be called his Son. The Idea of his Sins was now so terrible, & made so deep impression in him; that it humbled him, not only in his Judgement, but his Heart. It humbled him so much, that he not only thought himself unworthy, but desired to be received accordingly; & begged his Father not to entertain him as a Son, but as one of his hired servants. 
v. 19   
When once the Grace of God enlightens us, & by a miracle of Mercy breaks through the impenetrable Darkness which our Passions cloud our Reason with; this Light discovers clearly to us the Enormity of Sin; & as this Light increases, we discover daily more & more. This Light is followed with a Sacred Heat that softens the obdurate coldness of our Temper; by which means, the terrible Idea of our Gild makes, every day, a deeper & more sensible Impression in our Hearts. And This is the Second Reason, why the Greatest Saints are the most humble: because, the greater Saints they are, the more They see the great Enormity of Sin; the more They feel the Terror of their Gild; the more They doubt of their obtaining Pardon; & the more They fear and tremble all their life.  

I. The Enormity of Sin.  
THe humble Penitent; whose words I lately cited, thus describes his coming to himself. 
Entretien. 7.  Whilst I pursued, says he, the wand'ring Errors of my Heart, I drunk iniquity like water, & not only that, 
Job. 15.16.  but was so hardened, & so blind, that whatsoêre I read, or heard, of Sin, made no impression; & instead of working my Conversion, only served to render me more Guilty, & more inexcusable. At length, the happy Time arrived, 
2. Cor. 1.3.  in which it pleased the Father of all Mercies, & the God of all our Comfort, to bestow a favourable look upon me: and the first Glance presently dispersed the Darkness of my Soul. The very Dawning of that Light discovered to me the Infernal Monster, in whose company, I had so long lived unconcerned. I saw, and was immediately seized with so prodigious Fear and Trembling at the Sight, that I am confident, as long as I have breath to live, I never shall recover it.  
S. Ifidore of Damiette describes this Monster in surprising terms: 
Ibid.  Some think, says he, that the Devil was the Father of Sin: & others on the contrary maintain, that Sin was the Father of the Devil. Be it how you please, says he, I leave you to imagine, either what a Father it must be of such a Son; or what a Son we may expect of such a Father. This, I must confess, is Black enough: But all its Blackness only serves to leave us in the Dark. We are not yet, one jot the nigher Knowing, what Sin is. And all that we can gather from it, is that we are never like to have it painted to the Life, unless an Angel undertake to draw it, & the Devil sit for the Picture.  
The Philosopher was in the right of it, when being asked the question, what God is? he took a Day; then two; then three; & after all, ingenuously confessed, the more he thought of it, the more he found himself unable to express it. If a man should ask me the like question; what a Sinner is? I should not be ashamed to own, I am not able to describe the one, no more than he was to express the other.  
If God be the Supreme & Souvereign Good, if with Him all things else are good, if nothing else be good without Him; We may, in proportion, say the same of Sin. 'tis the Supreme & Souvereign Evil, All things else are evil with it, Nothing else is so to us without it.  
If it be true, that All good comes from God, as from the First & Univerfall Cause of All; The same is true of Sin, which is the First & Universal Root of all our Evils. God made Heaven: Sin made Hell. He made the Earth: Sin made it miserable. He created Angels in his Paradise above: Sin threw them down. He created Man & Woman in our Paradise below: & Sin immediately cast them out.  
Consider all the Torments of the Damned, the cruel Pains of those Eternal Flames, the never-ceasing Anguishes of their despairing Rage, etc. All This, & More than All that you are able to conceive, is only Part of the Effects of Sin. 'twas Sin prepared All this, & More than this, for Them & Us.  
If what you only know by Faith make no impression: if you are more sensible of what we suffer here, than what they suffer there: Consider the Revolt of all the Elements against us. Fire which once was only made to serve us, now becomes the fatal instrument our angry God makes use of to destroy & punish us: the very Air we breath, infect's us with Diseases: & the Earth, we walk on, trembles, opens, buries us alive. All This had never been, if Man had never Sinned.  
Consider all the Miseries, which Famine, Plague, & War involve us in: the Poverty of half the World; with all the Hunger, Thirst, Cold, Sickness, & Despair, which Fellow it: And after all, the Civil War of Passion against Reason; which, if well examined, will be found the Greatest & most Painful of our Miseries; from whence proceed our Ignorance & Malice; and from thence all Immoralities, Corruptions, & Scandals, which we meet with in the World: All This had never been; if Man had never Sinned.  
Consider all the sad Disasters, You or Yours have met with; all the Losses you have suffered, in your Family, Estate, or Friends; & all the Crosses you have born with so much Pain: Whatever you have undergone, you never had been subject to; your Heart had never ached; if Man had never Sinned. Accursed Sin! the only first Beginning, & first Cause of all our Mischiefs, both in this World & the next!  
My God 
1. Jo. 3.2.  if once we Saw Thee as Thou art, we could not possibly be Tepid & Indifferent; the very Sight of so much Goodness would, in spite of all our Passions, force us to Admire, Adore, & Love Thee above all the World. Accursed Sin! if we once we could but See Thee as Thou art; the very Sight of so much Malice would not suffer us to Love Thee any longer; it would be impossible for either World, or Flesh, or Devil to prevail against us; we should Hate Thee above all things; we should then abhor, detest, abominate Thee evermore. Accursed Sinner! such Goodness: & & Thou not Love it! such Malice: & Thou not Hate it!  
If the Eternal Source of all our Good be infinite in Goodness: what's the First & Everlasting Root of all our Evils? Is't not infinite in Malice? Questionless it is. Besides; God is not only infinite in Goodness; He is infinite in Wisdom, infinite in Justice, infinite in all Perfections whatsoever. So is Sin. It is not only infinite in Malice; it is also infinite in Folly, infinite in all the Notions we can frame of it. The Treachery, Disloyalty, Impiety, Ingratitude, Presumption, Pride, & Insolence; All This, & More than all that we can think of, All is infinite.  
According to the Principle which I have here laid down, if any man should ask me, what a Sinner is? I should not know what other Name to Give him: SINNER is his only Name: & I can think of nothing like Him, but the Man related in S. Mark. 
Ch. 5.2.  He is possessed with an  Spirit: possessed with the Devil; & which is worse; possessed with Sin, the Father of the Devil. He is so unruly in his Passions, Inclinations, & Humours; 
v. 3.  that No Man can bind Him: No, not with Chains. The Laws of God are his Fetters; but these He breaks in pieces; 
v. 4.  neither is it possible for any man to tame Him. If you ask his Name; the Gospel says 'tis Legion, 
v. 9  because He is Many. Sin, and Sinner, are two Names, like that of Legion: Every Mortal Sin, is Many Sins: and every Sinner, is as Many Sinners. 'tis impossible to number all the Aggravations of a Mortal Sin: They are as numberless as the Perfections of our offended God: & therefore I shall only mention those which are the most Notorious, the most Obvious to common Sense, & such as are most Odious betwixt Man & Man.  
A Sinner, Every sinner, is in every mortal Sin, not only guilty of one Crime, but of a Legion of Crimes. He is a Treacherous Soldier, who Deserts his General: a Disloyal Subject, who Rebels against his King: an Impious Son, who Dethrones his Father: an Ungrateful Villain, who Betrays his Benefactor: a Presumptuous Slave, who Abuses his Deliverer: a Proud Servant, who Despises his Master: an Insolent Criminal, who Offends before his Judge's face. All▪ these are Crimes we have a Horror of, when we observe them only betwixt Fellow-creatures, betwixt Man & Man. All these are infinitely Greater, betwixt Man & God. And every Mortal Sin includes the utmost Aggravations of them All.   

II. The Treachery of a Sinner.  
WHen the Prophet Nathan had a mind to open David's eyes, & make him sensible of the Enormity of his Offence; He first began, by way of parable, to tell him of a certain Man, who was exceeding Rich in herds & flocks, 
2. Sam. 12.2.  & yet was so injust, so cruel, as to rob a poor man of his little Lamb, the only Lamb he had. He told the Story in pathetic terms, which though they were but few, sufficed to make him have a horror of so cruel an Injustice. David little thought, he was the Person aimed at in the parable. The indignation he conceived, was suitable to the Good nature & the Zeal which always had appeared in him. He presently pronounced the Sentence of no less than Death, upon the Man that had been guilty of so barbarous a Crime: As the Lord lives, 
v. 5.  said he, the Man that has done this, shall surely die. Upon this; the Prophet presently let fall the mask, 
v. 7.  & said; Thou art the Man.  
If Parables be lawful, upon such occasions; I beg the leave, to tell you one. There was a General, the most Endearing, most Deserving, & most Just that ever lived. He had a Standing Army under his Command for several years: an Army which He generously raised, & paid, Himself: an Army which He cherished, as a Master would his Family. He raised it merely for his Country's service; more for their advantage, than his own; and with no worse Design, than to secure the Public Peace from either foreign or domestic Enemies. He raised Them out of Nothing; They subsisted by his Service; Their Estates were the Preferments He bestowed upon them. They were punctually paid; well armed; well clothed; and No convenience wanting, which a reasonable Soldier could require. The Camp was his Delight: His Fellow-soldiers were his Company: Their Exercises were the chief Diversion He took pleasure in. His Courage He had showed abundantly in former Wars, where He exposed his Life in their Defence: He never Commanded any thing but what He did Himself: They never suffered any hardship, which He did not first endure: and in the greatest Dangers, where Death looked most Terrible, He always was the First to meet it, at the head of them, & look it boldly in the Face. If any thing were able to endear a Soldiers heart, He wanted no accomplishment: He always showed himself as Brave, as He was Good and Just. There never was a Man that loved his Soldiers more than He: Nor ever was a General, in all appearance, more beloved. No men could show more signs of being glad to serve him with their lives & fortunes. Their Fidelity was written in their foreheads: You might read it in their looks: Their Acclamations showed it, in his Presence; Their Addresses, in his Absence. The Professions, Protestations, & solemn Oaths, which they so frequently repeated, were such evidence, as any man (though not so Good as He) might venture to rely upon. When first the unexpected noise of an approaching Enemy began to fill the Land, They seemed as firm as ever. They were All in readiness to march at first Command. They never showed more cheerfulness, than when they went to meet the Foreign Power which disturbed their Peace. Nor is it any wonder that they were so cheerful. They were well informed of the condition of their Enemies: They knew their weakness: in a word, They knew that they were sure to Conquer, if they would but Fight. Their General, who had some secret reasons to mistrust them, could not so dissemble his concern, but they observed it. They assured Him of the contrary. They made Him fresh Professions, Protestations, & Oaths, that they would faithfully stand by Him, to the utmost moment of their Lives. He heard: And, even to the last, was willing to believe. But yet the doleful prospect, which He had, of so inhuman Treachery, where He had placed such Confidence; was an Affliction so surprising & so sensible; it made Him bleed with grief, to think of it. His Fears immediately proved true. The day of Battle was no sooner coming, but they almost All deserted Him, & served his Enemy.  
Sinner, whoêre Thou art, that readst this Parable, if Thou hast any spark of Honour left, or any thing of common Justice, or Good nature in Thee; I am confident, Thou canst not but conceive some horror of so base a Treachery. However, have a care of being so severe, as David was, in giving sentence. Have a care, I say, of calling God to witness, that the men who have done this, 
2. Sam. 12.5.  deserve to die. Remember, what the Prophet said; Thou art the Man. Remember the Apostle's words; 
Rom. 2.1.  O Man, whoêre Thou art that judgest, Thou condemnst thyself; Thou dost the same. And I dare boldly add; Thou dost incomparably more. In every mortal sin, which Thou art guilty of, thy Treachery is infinitely worse.  
If once We Sinners were sufficiently sensible, of what we are ourselves, We then should be more moderate in censuring, & railing at, the crimes of Others. If we find ourselves transported with an unbecoming Zeal, which we too often show too much of; Let us call our Anger home, & find Employment for it there. The Case is ours. 'tis we who are the Men: 'tis we, who are the Traitors: We ourselves, who are the Treacherous Soldiers, that desert in time of Battle. If we offer to compare our General with theirs; we cannot but confess, that Ours is infinitely more Endearing, more Deserving, & more Just. When we, in former wars, had been defeated by the common Enemy, & taken prisoners by the Devil; God himself descended to assist us, & to rally up our scattered Forces. He immediately clothed us; armed us; punctually paid us; taught us all our Exercises; trained us up to all the hardship of a Soldier's life. Whatever He commanded us to do or suffer, He endured and did Himself: in every danger He was always at the head of us: and every drop of his most Sacred blood, He freely Sacrificed to serve us. See the Standing Army which our God has mercifully raised, to fight for Heaven against the Powers of Hell. The Devil with a foreign Army of such Spirits as himself, endeavours to surprise us. He would never venture to attack us, if he had not some intelligence amongst us. All our Passions, Inclinations, and Humours are his Friends. With these He always keeps a private correspondance: and by their Assistance, which they under hand assure him of, He ventures to invade us, even when our God himself is at the head of us. Before the Day of Battle comes, we never shrink the least: We march on cheerfully: We know that we are sure to conquer, if we will but fight. 'tis true: Our General, who sees the bottom of our Hearts, has reason to suspect our Constancy. Yet, we assure him of the contrary with new Professions of Fidelity: We solemnly declare, that we will rather Die than Yield: We take the Sacrament upon it: And yet, after all, the Hour of Trial, the first Moment of Temptation, is no sooner come, but we immediately Desert our God, & Serve the Devil. Was there ever any Treachery, so base, so horrid, so extravagant as This!   

III. The Disloyalty of a Sinner.  
THis is not All. The God we thus Desert, not only is our General; but He is also King of all the World. We are not only Soldiers to our General; but we are also Subjects to our King: And every Sinner is, in every Sin, as much Disloyal to the One, as he is Treacherous to the Other.  
'tis a shame to see, how easily, how clearly, we discover all the Malice & Injustice of Rebellion in our Neighbours: & how little we observe it in ourselves. If any of our Neighbours, one day, preach up Loyalty, Obedience, Nonresistance; &, the next day, take up arms against their Souvereign: If, to day, they humbly offer their Addresses to their lawful Prince, with all expressions of their Duty, Constancy, & Resolution to serve Him; & perhaps, the next day, call a foreign Power in, to head their Faction against him: If, to day, they swear Allegiance; & the next day, break their Oath: How scandalised we are! what Liberty we take, of saying what we please! how Violent we are in our Invectives against Rebels!  
All this while, we are the Men: we do the Same: And, which is worse, we do a great deal more in every Mortal Sin. Our Passions, Inclinations & Humours, like so many factious Common-Wealth-Men, always are endeavouring to subvert the Gouvernment of Reason; which is, in effect, the Gouvernment of God himself, who made us Rational. He made us out of Nothing: Therefore, we are All Entirely His. He, every moment of our Life, preserves us from returning back to Nothing: Therefore we are Always His. We cannot possibly be any Body's else but His: He cannot give us over to another Maker or Preserver. 'tis impossible for God to Abdicate his Right of Gouverning the World. His Title to the Monarchy of all the Universe, is as Unalterable & Unquestionable as the Deity itself. There's no Appearance of Appeal from Him who is Essentially Supreme, in Heaven as well as Earth. No Deist ever had the Face to say, His Right descends originally from the Mobile, who gave it Him upon such Terms as they thought Fit, & such as He agreed to: Upon which account, unless He Gouvern as they please to understand the Contract betwixt Him & Them, They still reserve the Power to Depose his Majesty, & set another in his Place. No, no: As weak as human Reason is, it never was so blind, as to subscribe to so much Blasphemy as This.  
And yet, the Common Outcry of our Passions is for Liberty & Privileges of the Subject: They perpetually complain of Slavery & Arbitrary Power: They are Mortal Enemies to any Gouvernment, in which they have no Voice. The Passion which we call Predominant, is that which heads the Faction: And, although there be no Colour for the Crime, they openly Rebel: 
Luke. 19.14.  we will not have this Man, say they, Reign over us. Our Saviour Jesus Christ Commands us All to follow his Example; not to set our Hearts upon the Riches, Pleasures, Honours, of this World; but to be always ready, for his sake, to suffer Poverty Affliction & Disgrace: we will not have this Man reign over us. He bids always be upon our Guard, & make it our chief Business to observe the Motions of our Enemy: He bids us Mortify our Passions, Disengage our criminal Affections, and Avoid all dangerous Occasions of Sin: in short, He bids us Love Him above all things, & our Neighbour as ourselves: we will not have this Man reign over us.  
This Man! And Who is He? 'tis He who is true God as well as Man. 'tis He who measures out the waters, 
Isay. 40.12.17.  in the Hollow of his Hand: who measures out the Heavens with a Span: Before whom all the Nations of the Earth are Nothing; even less than Nothing. 'tis He whom all his Creatures wait upon, 
Psal. 104.  that He may feed them in due Season: who gives them, & they Gather; who opens his Hand, & they are filled; who takes away their Breath, & they return to Dust. 'tis He, who sits in the Heavens, & laughs at the Kings & Rulers of the Earth: 
Psal. 2.  who makes their Devices of no effect: 
Ps. 33.  who breaks them with a Rod of iron; 
Ps. 2.9.  & dashes them in pieces like a Potter's Vessel: He who is the Lord of All; 
Ps. 47.  most High; most Terrible; and GREAT KING over all the Earth. This King we openly Rebel against, in every Mortal Sin.   

iv The Impiety of a Sinner.  
THe Duty which we owe to Parents, is a Virtue which we commonly call Piety: And every Breach of such a Duty may be properly called Impious. 'tis a Virtue by itself; whose Character, compared with other moral Virtues, is as different from them, as 'tis eminent above them. Her Authority extends to all of them: And when they are obedient to her orders, when they serve her, when they wear her Livery; we call them by her Name. 'tis thus we call all Virtues Pious, & all Vices Impious.  
The Reason is, because our God not only is a General to his Soldiers, & a Monarch to his Subjects; But He also is a Father to his Children. We are All of us his Children. He's a Father to us All. Each virtuous Action of our life is more or less a Duty which we owe to such a Father; and is therefore Pious. On the contrary, in every Offence, we Sin against our Father, & are therefore Impious.  
Whensoever we offend our God, we sin against our General. We basely break the Promises of our Fidelity, which once we made so solemnly in Baptism, & since so frequently renewed: We treacherously Desert him, even in the very moment when we should begin the Battle. Whensoever we offend our God, we sin against our King. We break the sacred Oaths of our Allegiance, which we sealed so often with the Sacrament: We trample under foot all Ties of Loyalty, & openly Rebel against Him. Whensoever we offend our God, we sin against our Father. We are Impious, even beyond expression; we Dethrone his Majesty; we Banish him from our Heart; we Usurp the Gouvernment of it ourselves, & manage it against Him.  
When the Scribes murmured at our Saviour, 
Luke. 15.2.  for receiving Sinners, & eating with'em: He told them of the Prodigal Son, who was not only Received, but Feasted by his Father; after he had so unkindly left Him, after he had wasted all his Substance in a foreign Country; after he began to be in want, feed Swine, & long for busks to fill his belly with. His chief Design in telling of the Parable, (as we may judge by the occasion) was not to accuse the Son, but to excuse the Father, & by consequence Himself. His principal intention was to justify the Father's Mercy Tenderness & Kindness to his Son: & therefore 'twas not proper to exaggerate his fault. 'twas fit for the present purpose, to set forth his great Contrition and Humility; who notwithstanding all his former Folly Brutishness & Blindness, yet at length came to himself; repent; 
v. 17.  & returned with such a contrite, such an humble heart, to cast himself before his Father's feet.  
A wilful Fool; A swinish Brute; & Both so Blind as not to see their Misery; is the Idea of a Sinner, & the whole Idea, which the Scripture gives us, in this Parable. There's no Ingratitude, Presumption, Pride, or Insolence appears, from the beginning to the end of it. The Treachery & the Disloyalty, which I have lately spoken of, have no room there: Much less the great Impiety which now I am about to speak of. He was no Deserter, Rebel, or Usurper. True it is; He left his Father, when he went to seek his Fortune: but we do not read, that he Deserted Him in time of Battle. He returned again without his Father's leave: but yet we do not read, that he appeared in Arms against Him, & by Force obliged Him to Submit. He envied not his Father's Power & Authority. His great Ambition only was to be as happy as his hired servants. He desired no more than to be one of'em. He came & humbly said; 
Luke. 15.21.  Father, I am not worthy to be called your Son. He did not impiously tell him; Father, You are not worthy to be Master of your House. We do not read; He sent a Messenger, with peremptory Orders to his Father's Palace, to Command him to be gone by such an Hour. What would you have said; Suppose our Prodigal had been so Impious as This?  
Ah Sinner! Let not too much Zeal transport Thee. Call thy Anger home: The Case is thine: Thou art the Man. In every Mortal Sin, which we consent to, We are All as Impious, & infinitely more.  
Our Heavenly Father, is He not our King? Our Heart, is it not his Throne? Was it not He who Made it for Himself? And is it not his Right to Gouvern it, & Guide it to the Happiness for which He made it?  
As often as we Value any Honour Interest or Pleasure, any Passion Inclination or Humour, more than his Commandments; So often we Usurp the Empire of our Heart; we sway the Sceptre; Gouvern as we please; & Banish Him from thence. And is not This as much as if we said; Father, You are not worthy to be Master of your House?  
As often as the Devil tempts us, or our Wickedness inclines us, to preserr our Self, or any other Thing before Him, If we freely give Consent; & suffer any Creature to possess the Chief Place in our Heart; So often we are every jot as Impious, as if we sent Him peremptory Orders to be Gone, that very Hour.  
I tremble whilst I writ. Each Line increases my Despair of ever being able to express the Malice of a Mortal Sin. The more I amplify, the more I see how much I am to blame, for undertaking so impossible a Thing.   

V The great Ingratitude, Presumption, Pride, & Insolence, of every Sinner.  
I Have said enough to show that every Sinner is a treacherous Soldier, a disloyal Subject, & an impious Son. I now design to show, This is not All: but that He also is a most ungrateful Villain who betrays his Benefactor; a presumptuous Slave who abuses his Deliverer; a proud Servant who despises his Master; & a Criminal so insolent as to offend before his Judge's face.  
A most ungrateful Villain. A mere Upstart, raised from less than Dust. An empty Thing, extracted out of Nothing. That such a Thing as this, & so exalted as it is, should be so stupid, so insensible of all his Obligations, so unmindful of the Favours he receives, & so illnatured to his greatest Benefactor; who continually makes him all he is; who daily gives him all he has; to whom he owes, the bread he eats, the air he breathes, the ground he goes upon, the hand he moves, the very life he spends in Sin, & all the Time allowed him to repent! Can such a Creature; so obliged; by such a Benefactor; be so basely & so horribly ungrateful, to betray Him; & prefer before Him the unreasonable satisfaction, of a silly Humour? of a shameful Passion? of a sinful Inclination? Open (once for all) thy Eyes, Blind Sinner; & confess, that no Ingratitude, but that of Judas, can compare to thine.  
A Slave; (I wish he were so, to his Master) A Slave to Passion & Humour; A Slave to Sin & Misery; A Slave condemned to worse than Galleys, during Life, & afterwards to the Eternal Flames of Hell, 
1. Cor. 2.9.  where neither Eye has seen, Nor Ear has heard, nor has it ever entered into the heart of any Man, what Torments God's great Justice has prepared for those who dare abuse his Mercy. A vile Slave, delivered from the mischief of all This; by God himself; descending from his Glory; living here a poor & painful life; & laying down the same, with every drop of his most precious blood, to pay the the ransom of this Wretch: That such a Slave; delivered so; by such a Hand; should offer to abuse the Mercy which once saved him, & still holds him by a slender thread, from falling into everlasting Misery!  
A Servant; I should have said, A miserable Insect, full of sinful putrefaction; A vile Spawn of Man's original Corruption; A Worm, whose very Crawling on its fellow-dust is more Preferment than it can deserve. That such a Thing as This, should be so proud as to despise the Master of the World! So Great, so Wise, so Infinitely Perfect, & so every way Deserving, as He is! This Vermin has indeed a Soul; an Angel once, by Grace; but now, by Sin, a Devil black as Hell itself; 
Gen. 3.5. Isai. 14.14.  a Lucifer that will be knowing Good & Evil, will be like the Highest, will pretend to Gouvern in his Master's House, despise his Orders, slight his Menaces, neglect his Admonitions. Be astonished, 
Jer. 2.12.  O ye Heavens, at this.  
A most insolent Criminal; A Criminal so insolent, as to offend before God's Face; in presence of his General, his King, his Father, his Deliverer, his Benefactor, & his Master; and besides all this, in presence of his Judge; before the very Bar, where he continually is upon his Trial for his everlasting Life or Death. Our Saviour says, that Whosoêre believes not, 
Jo. 3.18.  is condemned already. We may say the same of every Sinner: In the very moment he offends, He is condemned already. His Allseeing Judge is always Witness of his Thoughts Words Actions & Desires: and He no sooner is a Criminal, but He is Tried & Judged.  
This Insolence of his, in some respect, exceeds all other Aggravations of his Crime. 'tis an Extravagance of which we hardly find the least Example betwixt Man & Man. We often hear of Soldiers that Desert: But whensoêre they go, they steal away: We never hear that they acquaint their General with such Designs. We often hear of Subjects that conspire against the Gouvernment: but never hear them talk such matters loudly, in the hearing of their Prince. We often hear of Murders, Robberies, & many other Outrages, committed in the World: But when the Prisoner once was brought to Trial, did you ever hear, He either Robbed, or Murdered, at the Bar? No, no, such Insolence was never heard of, betwixt Man & Man. And yet this very Insolence is infinitely less than Ours, which we are always guilty of, in every Mortal Sin.  
I say no more. I tremble at the very thought of having said so much; when I reflect, how All that we can either say or think, will nêre convert us without Grace. There's nothing but the Grace of God can make a deep Impression of it in our Hearts.   

VI Our Saviour's Idea of Sin: & the Impression it made upon Him.  
OUr Saviour Jesus Christ best knew the great Enormity of Sin: & we may judge how great it is, by the Impression which it made upon Him; when the approaching Hour of his Passion laid before his Eyes the terrible Idea of it.  
'twas the first bloody Scene of all his Sufferings. He began to be Sorrowful & very heavy. 
Math. 26.37.  A Deluge of Grief broke in upon his Soul; quite overwhelmed his Heart; & lay so heavy upon his fearful Thoughts, He was not able to conceal it any longer, & support the pressing weight of his Affliction, all alone, in silence. His three most Dear & most Familiar Disciples, were surprised so much, to see this sudden alteration in their dearest Lord; They were not able to inquire the Cause, but like Job's three Friends they stood astonished, & spoke not one word to Him, 
Job. 2.13.  because they saw his Grief was very Great.  
Our Saviour could hold no longer; but broke out into this doleful expression; 
Math. 26.38.  My Soul is exceeding Sorrowful, even unto Death. Ah my dear Disciples! if you knew, as well as I do, all the Motives of my Grief; you would not wonder that the very Thought of them makes me look pale, & shows you the face of Death in my countenance. The violent pangs of my afflicted Soul are so sharp & piercing, that, did not my Divinity support me & preserve my life, I should immediately, this very moment, die upon the place. Stay a while, and watch with me. 
Math. 26.38.  You, who love me best, who have been always most familiar with me, Be not now so unkind as to leave me in this sad condition all alone: Stay a while, & watch with me, till my Storm of Grief blow over.  
Dear Christians, Let us stay a while; & with these three Disciples, not only admire but search into the cause of this great alteration in the Soul of our Redeemer. How was it possible that now He should begin to fear so much that Death, which all his life He had so much desired? His Love for Man, & his Desire of dying for us, were conceived by the operation of the Holy Ghost; they came into the World with him; & ever after so employed his Thoughts, He scarce could talk of any thing else. Amongst his Disciples, his common Discourse was of his Sufferings, the Cup he was to drink, his Obligation, his Readiness, his Impatience, to fulfil the Prophecies. I have, says he, 
Luke. 12.50.  a Baptism to be baptised with; & how am I straitened, till it be accomplished? When the time drew nearer, He redoubled his desires of dying for us: 
Luke. 22.25.  with Desire I have desired to eat this Passeover with you. And why? (says S. Chrysostom) Because it is a preparation to my Passion, which I have so long, so earnestly desired. He knew, from the beginning, every Torment; every degree of it: Often reflected on each Circumstance apart; & as often took delight in viewing all of them together. Upon mount Thabor, when the Glory of his Blessed Soul shined through his body, like the Sun through a transparent cloud, upon the dazzled eyes of his Disciples; giving them a glimpse of the Eternal Glory we expect hereafter: Our Saviour seemed to be as much delighted with the prospect of his Passion, as with all the joys of Heaven: and as, upon another occasion, 
Jo. 4.31.34.  when his Disciples prayed him to eat; He told them, My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, & finish his work; So when they desired Him to stay and make Tabernacles, 
Luke. 9.30.33.  it was his joy & delight to talk with Moses & Elias of his Decease, his Passion which he should accomplish, 
v. 31.  at Jerusalem.  
Ah Christians! you have reason to admire, & wonder that the God of all your comfort is now heavy & disconsolate: 
2. Cor. 1.3.  But you will fear and tremble, more than wonder, if you seriously reflect that all his Grief proceeded chief from the terrible Idea which He had of Sin; not his but ours. S. Hierome says, 
Apud D. Tho. In Cat.  His greatest Grief proceeded not from fear of suffering, because He came to Suffer; But He chiefly grieved for Judas, for the Scandal of the Apostles, and the Reprobation of the People, etc. ...  
This agrees exactly with our Saviour's words, 
Luke. 23.27.28.  to those who followed Him to Calvary; when turning to the women who lamented Him, He said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me only, weep also for yourselves, & for your children. Weep not for me; My torments will be short: weep for yourselves; your torments (if you do not weep, repent, & mend) will be Eternal. Alas! the Torments which I willingly & freely suffer for your sake, are Nothing to the Pains of Hell, which you for ever will endure, unless by penitential tears, mixed with my blood, You wash away your Sins. 
v. 31.  If they do thus, in the green wood; what will they do, in the Dry? If I, though Innocent, suffer thus for your Sins: You, who are Guilty, what are you like to suffer for your own? If I, who am true God, the only beloved Son of my Eternal Father, who never once offended Him; if, because I interpose betwixt you & his Justice, I am thus severely treated; what will become of miserable Creatures, grievous Sinners, who so often have offended Him, if they do not join their tears with mine; if they are not afflicted with me for their Sins, for which I die upon the Cross? 
Levit. 23.29.  Every Soul who upon this day is not afflicted, shall perish. Every Soul who thinks upon this Day, and is not afflicted with his dying Saviour; is not hearty afflicted for those Sins, for which He dies; shall certainly perish.  
Neither does it contradict, what commonly is said; that One great Difference betwixt our Saviour & his Martyrs was, that by a miracle of Grace He gave them that undaunted Courage, which by a greater miracle He now refused to himself. 'tis true: He freely suffered in himself the Natural Fear of Death; to show himself True Man as well as God; to let us see at once the Weakness of our Nature, & the Power of Grace; and comfort us, by making it appear that such Infirmities of Nature are not Sins, as long as Reason gouverns them, & Resignation submitts to the will of God. But yet there is another greater Difference betwixt his Case & theirs. Martyrs, who die for God's sake, are Secure of their Success; they are sure not to suffer in vain; they are certain to possess All that they desire, & to enjoy eternally their God to whom they Sacrifice their Lives. This is the reason why our Martyrs look Death boldly in the face; with open arms receive it; & go to meet it with the same assurance, as if they went to Heaven. Let the Body suffer all the worst of Pains; the Soul is unconcerned, 
Anima de Deo suo semper secura. S. Cypr.  the Soul is secure of God, the Soul is in Heaven before hand. When Man dies to enjoy God, he is sure he shall enjoy him. But (alas!) it is not so when Jesus dies for Man. He dies to gain his Love; & at the same time knows that he will prove ungrateful. He dies to enjoy him in Heaven; & foresees he will be damned for all Eternity. The lively apprehension of his torments all together was enough to make him Sorrowful, even to Death; but however, if he have promised himself the Eternal Salvation of all those dearbought Souls for which He died, the joyful assurance of so happy a Success, would have eased the burden of his Grief; His torments, all of them, would have been well come upon that condition. But to sweat blood in vain; to be scourged to no purpose; to spend the last drop of his sacred veins to no effect; was an Affliction not to be supported, without praying his Eternal Father to have pity & compassion on Him: 
Math. 26.30.  Father, if it be possible, dispense at least with this part of my Sentence; Let me die; But do not let me die in vain.  
'tis said of Joseph in the Book of Genesis; 
45.15.  He kissed all his Brethren, & wept over every one of them. I may say the same of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane: He grieved for All is brethren, & wept over every one of them, in particular. He saw before his eyes the Sins of every person in the World; the Graces which he would from time to time bestow upon us; the neglect of all his Offers; & abuse of all his Favours. He foresaw every Temptation which we yield to; & grieved to see it. He foresaw each profanation of the Sacrament, which we frequent unworthily, and fainted with grief, when He thought how often his most precious Blood would by our fault become the Poison of our Souls. He foresaw in the whole course of our Lives, where, when, & how, we would resist, & render ineffectual, all the Directions, Admonitions & Exhortations of his Ministers; and fell into a bloody Sweat at the very thought of our Ingratitude, by which the chief means of attaining Everlasting Happiness serve only, in the end, to justify our Sentence of Eternal Misery. 
Isaiah. 35.4.6.  He bore our Griefs; He carried our Sorrows; He took upon him the Iniquities of us All; and every one of our most grievous Sins appeared to him in a more hideous shape, than ever it appeared to any Creature.  
Mortal Sin is as Bad as God is Good. It separates us from our God, & leaves our Souls as Empty as our God is Great. So that as God is infinitely Good, the Malice of a Mortal Sin is infinitely Evil. As none of us can understand the infinite Goodness of the one; so none of us are able to conceive the infinite Malice of the other. Christ himself, as God, could comprehend them Both: as Man, He comprehended neither. But yet the clear & full Idea He had of it was proportioned to his Beatific Vision of God's Essence, & by consequence the perfectest that ever was. His clearest Sight, & ardent Love of God, were in a manner infinite: So were his Knowledge & his Hatred of all Mortal Sin. And the Impression this Idea made upon him, was the chief, if not the only, Reason why our Saviour could not hold from telling his Disciples; My Soul is exceeding Sorrowful, 
Math. 26.38.  even unto Death. His Soul was overwhelmed with such a Deluge of Affliction, that his Grief, not being able to contain itself within the Bounds of Nature, violently forced itself through all his Pores, in Tears of Blood.  
Ah my dear Jesus! when shall I be able to make such a perfect Act of true Contrition for my Sins, as Thou hast made for mine! When shall I be able to say, My Soul is exceeding Sorrowful even unto Death! When shall I lament my grievous Sins in Tears of Blood! Give me, at least, 
Jerem. 9.1.  water to my Head, & Fountains to my Eyes. No Contrite Heart, but Thine, bleeds otherwise than at the Fies: and 'tis (I hope) enough for me, if I can be so sorry for my Sins, as to lament them all the days I have to live, & rather Die than ever Sin again.   

VII. The Saint's Idea of Sin. How much it humbles Them.  
THere's Nothing but the Grace of Jesus Christ can make us Saints. There's Nothing else can make us clearly See and hearty Detest the Malice of our Sins. The greater share we have of this great Grace, the more we see it & detest it; so much more we fear and tremble at the very thought of it; & as our Grace increases, we grow every day more humble by remembering it.  
To make this out, I need not write the lives of all the Saints. A Pattern is enough to judge of all the Piece: especially such a one as S. 
Deg. 5.  John Climacus, an ancient Father of the Church, has left behind him. He assures us, 
Ar. 20.  his Relation is no Fable: He affirms that, what he says, 
Art. 2.  He saw with his own eyes: & that He was a whole month in their Company. 
Ar. 27.   
Draw near, says he, all You who have provoked the wrath of God by your Offences: Come, & Hear the Wonders He was pleased to let me See, for my Edification: Be attentive to my words, all You who have a mind to reconcile yourselves to God, by a sincere Conversion.  
When I was, says he, in the Monastery of Penitents; I saw Men so extremely humbled with the grievous weight of their Offences, that their cries & prayers to God, would even move the stones themselves. With heads bowed down, & eyes upon the ground, I heard them say: we confess, O Lord, we confess that we deserve to suffer all chastisements & afflictions; because our Sins are such, that should we Summon all the Universe to weep for us, the Tears of all the world would never make sufficient Satisfaction. There remains one only thing we ask, one only thing we pray for; that Thou never mayst correct us in thy Anger, 
Ps. 6.1.  nor chastise us in thy great displeasure; but a little spare us, through thy infinite Mercy. 'tis enough, O Lord, that Thou deliver us from those inexplicable Torments hidden in the Centre of the Earth. We dare not ask a full & perfect Pardon: we, who have not kept the holy Laws of our Profession; but have broken them again, when Thou hadst given us the most endearing Marks of Love & Mercy, in forgiving of our Sins.  
Who ever saw them Laugh? Who ever heard amongst them any idle Talk? Who ever could observe that any Passion transported them? Or any Anger moved them? Alas! they hardly knew what Anger was: their great Affliction and continual Grief had now extinguished in them all Emotions of Resentment. There was never known the least appearance of Dispute: the least lashing out in Discourse: the least Sign of Vainglory. There was no Jollity of Feasting: no Concern for the body: no Love of ease & pleasure: no Thought of Wine: no Use of fruits: no Care for delicacies pleasing to the palate. The Desire of all such things was quite extinct. And after all, there was not to be found the least Censoriousness, or least appearance of an Inclination to Judge their neighbours.  
Some of them, now & then, would knock their breasts; and, as if they were already at the Gate of Heaven, Open us, said they, O Judge of Mankind, Open us the Gate of Happiness, which we have shalt by Sin. Others would say, 
Luke. 1.79.  Give light to us, O Lord, who sit in Darkness, in the Shades of Death; & guide our steps into the way of Peace. Others again; will the Almighty look upon as any more? Is't possible to pay our Debts, & satisfy for our Offences? will our God, once more, afford us any Comfort? we are laid in chains of Sin; And shall we one day, hear him say, Come forth?  
They always had their Hour of Death before their eyes; & sometimes they would say to one another; what will then become of us? what Sentence will our God pronounce upon us? what will be our End? shall we be then called home from Banishment, to which we have been hitherto condemned for our Offences? Shall such criminals, as we, find any favour then? Such Sinners as we are? Such miserable wretches, covered with Confusion & Darkness? Have our Prayers mounted to the Throne of God? Or have they been rejected, as they well deserve? If well received, how far have they prevailed? Have they obtained a full Discharge, or only Part? Alas! they could not have much force, proceeding from such mouths, so sinful, so impure, as Ours.  
At other times, They thus discoursed their fears & doubts: what think you Brethren? Do you think that we advance? Do you think that we obtain the effect of our Demands? Do you think that God will once again receive us? Do you think He'll open us the Gates of Heaven? Who can tell, (said the Ninivites;) who knows, but God may change the Sentence which He has pronounced against us? Though perhaps He will not free us from the rigorous Chastisements which we have deserved: However, Let us labour all we can, & Do whatever we are able. If He open us the Gate of Heaven, we are Happy: if He does not, He is Just: & therefore never let us cease to bless Him. Doubtful, as we are, of what may be our Destiny, we must continue all our life, still knocking at the Door. Perhaps our Importunity, our Constancy, & our Perseverance may find Admittance, in the End.  
Behold the Language of the Saints! Consider how their Fear & Trembling humbles them, in Presence of their angry God. Consider the Idea which They have of Sin: how different it is from what we generally have. Consider the Impression which it makes upon them, & compare it with our Stupidness, our Hardness, our Insensibility. Conclude with shame & sorrow, that this Difference twixt them & us proceeds not from their having been much greater Sinners than we are; but from our being much less Saints than They.  
When any of these Penitents drew nigh the hour of Death; how Terrible, how Lamentable was the Spectacle! These Blessed criminals, when any one of their Companions was upon the point of leaving them; They All surrounded him, with aching hearts, & weeping eyes, to ask him; How do you find yourself, Dear Brother; Dear Companion in our Miseries & Sufferings? what say you, Now? what do you hope? what do you think? Have you obtained what you have laboured for, with so much pain? Or is your labour lost? Are you arrived at the Port? Or are you not? Have you a full Assurance of your Happiness? Or have you only an uncertain Hope? Do you find yourself in perfect Liberty of Mind? Or are you yet in Trouble & Anxiety? Have you heard already, in the Secret of your Soul, a voice, which tells you; Your sins are forgiven you? 
Math. 9.2. Psal. 9.17.  Or do you seem to hear that formidable Sentence; The wicked shall be turned into Hell? what say you, Brother? Tell us, we conjure you, Tell us Now sincerely; that by knowing what Condition you are in at present, we may guests, what State we may be in, one Day, ourselves.  
To these Demands, some of these dying Penitents made answer: 
Psal. 66.20.  Blessed be God who has not turned away my Prayer nor his Mercy from me. Others, in a doleful tone replied: 
Psal. 124.4.  Can our Soul go over the Stream of waters, which are like to overwhelm us? This they said, not being yet assured of their Salvation; but considering with fear and trembling what might happen to them in the terrible Account which now was nigh at Hand. And others answered more uncomfortably: woe be to the Soul that has not kept inviolably all the Laws of its Profession. See; the Hour is come; the only Hour in which we shall begin to know our State for all Eternity.  
These Blessed Penitents, for one Relapse, did Penance, the severest they were able to invent: And we, for numberless Relapses, many of them worse than theirs, Do none at all. These Penitents Persevered in the same Austerities till Death; their Penance had no End: We still Persever in our Sins; our Penance never gins. Their Fear & Trembling, their profound Humility, went hand in hand with all their Penance & Perseverance: Our Confidence & Vnconcern'dness, our extravagant Presumption, always keep an equal pace with our Tepidity & Slothfulness. Dear Christians, give me leave to ask, Why all this difference twixt them and us? A thousand years, betwixt their Age, & this which now we live in, have they altered the Almighty? Has He less Authority to punish us? Or we, less Obligation to Obey Him, Honour Him, & make Him Satisfaction, if we do not? Is our God less Just, because we more abuse his Mercy? Or more Merciful, because we less regard his Justice? Alas! Our Blindness is the only Reason: We are blinder than They were: And therefore we are more secure, more unconcerned, more proud, more tepid, & more slothful.  
Jesus, 
Luke. 18.38.  Son of David, have Mercy on me. Thou Blessed Saviour of the World, 
Jo. 1.9.  who enlightnest every man that comes into it; Open once, my eyes; & keep them ever open; that I may continually See and Love thy Goodness, Wisdom, Mercy, Justice; & by the assistance of so great a Grace, perpetually See and Hate the Malice of my Sins. There's nothing but thy Grace, that can enlighten every man that comes into the world: There's nothing else can Clear my Understanding, & Inflame my Heart: There's nothing else can make me truly Contrite, truly Humble. Jesus, Son of David, 
Luke. 18.38.  have Mercy on me, a Sinner, who am not in the way, nor going on, but sitting by the wayside, 
v. 35.  begging thy Assistance. Here I sit, & wait thy passing by: My Blindness hinders me from doing any more: And even when I hear Thee pass, 
v. 36.  I know not how to follow Thee. The Crowd of all my Passions, Inclinations & Humours, and the Multitude of my Engagements Cares & Troubles, make a noise about me; such a one (I fear) as will not let Thee hear me. When I offer to cry out for help, they try to stop my mouth, 
v. 39  & bid me hold my peace: and therefore I cry out so much the more; 
v. 39  Jesus, Thou Son of David, have Mercy on me. Thou needest not stand to ask me what I want, or what I will that Thou shouldst Do unto me; 
v. 41.  Thou, who know'st my Wants so infinitely better than myself. The only Favour, which I humbly beg, 
v. 41.  is that I may receive my Sight. Say only, to my Soul, as once Thou saidst to that Blind Man who was a Figure of me; Say, Receive thy Sight; 
v. 42.  Thy Faith has saved Thee: Say but this, (Thy words are powerful, & make themselves prove true) Say only This; & then immediately I shall receive my Sight, & follow Thee. 
v. 43.  I then shall follow thy Example. I shall follow thy Disciples, & thy Saints. I then shall do fit Penance for my Sins: & shall Persever in it to the End. I then shall study how to punish every Passion Inclination & Humour which induced me to Offend Thee. I shall then be truly Contrite, truly Humble; I shall Glorify Thee all my life; 
v. 45.  and all the People, when They See the Happy Change, shall give the Praise to God. Amen.     

THE CHARACTER OF A GOOD CHRISTIAN.  

SECT. I. The Perfection of his Duty,  
WHoever seriously professes the Religion of Christ, 
D. Sp. P. 1. c. 3  and takes the Gospel for the Rule of that Divine Religion, making it his Business to acquire that Sanctity which Jesus Christ demands of his Disciples; is a Christian. The Gospel was not only writ for those we call Religious. We are, All of us, Religious persons; of the Best & First of all Religions, which is that of Jesus Christ. We have a Rule, a Habit, & a Founder: We have Vows & Exercises. Christ first instituted & established our Religion: He's the Founder of our Order. Innocence & Sanctity make up the Habit, we receive in Baptism. Our Promises of abrenouncing all the Pomps & Works of Satan, are our Vows. The Gospel is our Rule. Our Prayers, Pennances, & generally all Good Actions, are our Exercises.  
Do you think the Gospel was not written, 
Ibid.  says S. Basil, every jot as much for married persons, as for Monks? Undoubtedly 'tis by this Rule, that Both are to be Judged. 'tis well, if married people can obtain God's pardon for the faults committed in that State. In all things else, they are as much obliged to live like Saints, as the Religious are. The Ties of marriage, & Engagements of the world, will never justify an idle Life; or any way Dispense with the laborious Task of living like a Christian. 'tis lawful to live in the world; but not, to live according to the Maxims of it. On the contrary; the more we are exposed to the Temptations of the Devil, so much more we are obliged to use our utmost Care & Vigilance.  
Believe not, 
Ibid.  says S. Chrysostom, that God expects from worldly Men a Sanctity quite different from that of Monks. 'tis true, indeed, that Those may marry, & These may not: But in all things else, the Case is equal. They have Both received the same Laws; & Both are subject to the same Punishments. When Jesus laid his Curse upon the Rich, & those who lead a jolly life in Sensuality & Pleasure; when He spoke of the Evangelicall Beatitudes; He spoke, not only to Religious, but to all the Faithful; and without the least exception. He was never heard to say; that the Religious Man shall suffer for his Sins, but not the Secular. The difference we fancy in this point, is only an Invention of Men; it is not grounded in the word of God, who equally obliges All, that will be saved, to keep his Laws. S. Paul, addressing his discourse to married persons, does not He require of them as great a share of Sanctity as we can find in the most perfect Monks? what Disengagement he prescribes to all of us! what Moderation in our , our Diet, & our Use of Riches! 
1. Tim. 6.8.  Having Food, says he, & Raiment, Let us be contented. They who are married, 
1. Cor. 7.29.30.31.  Let them be as if they were not: & They who use the world, as if they used it not: what more can we expect from those we call Religious? Let us therefore never say, that worldly Men are either not obliged or else not able to observe the Rules of Christianity; and that Religious only can attain to such sublime Perfection. There is Nothing so pernicious as this false Opinion. It maintains the greatest part of Libertins in their disorders, & encourages imperfect Souls to lead a lose & lazy Life. Assure yourselves Our God requires, of All, one selfsame Sanctity. The Means, of our arriving to it, may be different; but yet Religious Persons have no other Aim than we have. They design to save themselves, and so do we. They are not to be saved, but by the narrow way; & we shall never be saved, by walking in the broad one.  
Hence it follows clearly, 
Ibid.  that the Gospel being preached & made for All, we All are bound to follow it; we All must labour to acquire the Sanctity demanded by it; we must All be thoroughly persuaded, that it is the only way which leads to Heaven, and that every other way is sure to end in everlasting Death. 'tis true; the methods & the Exercises, which are used & followed in Religious houses, to arrive to such Perfection, are quite different from what is usually prescribed to Worldly Persons: But their Virtues always are the same, although their Exercises are not. These two things we commonly confound; to wit, the Exercises & the Virtues of a Christian. We imagine, for example, that a modest & a homely Dress is only fit for Cloisters; where they always wear a certain Habit, poor & plain. We fancy that the Recollection which is practised in Religious Houses is a thing peculiar to their Character; because we find, that only They have certain Hours allotted them for keeping silence. We imagine also that a Penitential life belongs to none but them; because They fast, & practise several Austerities commanded by Superiors. 'tis a great mistake. These Virtues all are Evangelicall: We find them in the Gospel, which is ours as much as theirs: They are prescribed to all Men by the Common Rule of Christianity: And, though we have not (as Religious have) so great Advantages to make the practice of them Uniform & Easy; Nevertheless we All are indispensably obliged to have them, & to practise them. Our Modesty, our Moderation, 
Phil. 4.5.  must be known to All, as well as theirs. Our Recollection of Mind must be preserved amidst the Multitude of our Employments. We are equally obliged to Mortify & Circumcise our Heart, & to Extinguish in it, all our Sensual Desires. 
Thess. 5.17.  The Precept of Continual Prayer, is as much for us, as them. We are not bound to sing in Choir at certain Hours as they do: but our Heart must be, as much as theirs, continually united to our God, by Loving of Him above all things. Though we have not made a Vow of Poverty; yet we must be, as well as They, entirely disengaged from all the Riches of the Earth, & never set our Hearts upon them, whilst we use them. Though we have not Vowed Obedience, we are All obliged, as much as They, to be attentive to the Precepts of our Founder Jesus Christ, & punctually observe the least of his Commandments. 
Math. 5.19.   
Behold the Duty of a Christian! See how Generous, how Noble, how Heroical his Resolution is, of making good the full Signification of his Name! He meets with an infinity of Obstacles: but notwithstanding all, He is resolved to Sacrifice and Save himself: He is resolved to use all Violence, what ever may be requisite, to make his way to Heaven, 
Math. 11.12.  & to take it even by force.   

SECT. II. His Contempt of the World.  
HE always looks upon himself, 
S. Chrysostom. Hom. 24. in Ep. ad Hebr.  as a mere Stranger in this World; & the continual Remembrance of his being So, is the Foundation & Root of all his Virtue. He takes little pleasure in employing of his busy thoughts about this Life, & the Affairs relating to it: but is like a banished Man, who lives uneasy in a foreign Country; always looking homeward with extreme Impatience, to see the Blessed Place which gave him Birth; and always doing all he can, to lay all things in readiness for his Return. He never is dejected with Adversity, nor puffed up with Prosperity, which happen to attend his Fortune here; but passes unconcernedly by, without regarding either; & without the least stop in his way, pursues his journey, like a Traveller, who longs to be at Home, & thinks of nothing else but how to make hast thither. And this is the Reason why our God obliges him to say, in his daily Prayer, Thy Kingdom come; that he may always have before his eyes, the happy Day which is to be his Last, & generously scorn to value any transitory Honour, Profit, Pleasure, which he meets with upon Earth.  
A Christian by these noble sentiments of true & solid Wisdom mounts to such a height above the reach of all this World, 
S. Chrysostom. Hom. 15. ad Popul. Antiochen.  that He is hardly capable of feeling, much less of admiring, whatsoever passes in it. He is like a man who from the top of an aspiring Mountain takes a view of All below him, & can hardly See the Towns & Cities, which appear like Molehills; where the numerous Inhabitants like swarms of Aunts, run up & down, & follow eagerly their little Trade, of hoarding up a petty Treasure, which is nothing to his purpose. All his Treasure & his Heart are both in Heaven. There his Loving Eye is generally fixed; And if he now & then look down upon the Riches, Glory, Power, Honour, of this miserable World, they all seem trifling matters; All such Things are little, inconsiderable, & contemptible, to Him.  
And yet, He cannot justly be accused of Pride, 
S. Chrysostom. Hom. 11. in ep. 1. Cor.  because he thinks the wisest Politicians are but Fools; their Riches, Shadows; all their Pleasures, Dreams; & all their Titles, Dignities, and Honours, only children's Baubles. No; it cannot justly be accounted Pride: 'tis certainly the greatest Wisdom to submit our Judgements, & conform them, to the Eternal Truth of God himself; & judge of things, as they are truly in themselves. Or otherwise we must allow that Solomon himself was guilty of Presumption & Arrogance; when, after a full Trial, after long & sad Expeperience, He pronounced that All the World is Vanity of Vanities, & nothing else but Vanity.  
He labours all he can to make his Soul become a Heaven upon Earth; 
S. Chrysostom. Hom. 16. in Epist. ad Heb.  & fails not to succeed in such a noble enterprise. The Heaven which we see, & so admire, is but an Emblem of his Happiness. As Heaven is enlightened by the rising Sun; his Soul is more enlightened by the Grace of God, the Sun of Justice, which arises, without setting, in his Heart. As Heaven always is the same; still beautiful & bright within itself, although the midnight Darkness seem to alter & obscure it; so his Soul is still the same, 'tis always easy & content within itself, although He live obscurely, in disgrace or poverty, & seem a miserable man to those who little understand the Secret of his Happiness. As Heaven is so high above the Winds and Storms, that the most violent disturbance of the Air can never reach it; so the Soul of a good Christian, even when the World combines to make him suffer most, receives no harm at all. His Treasure is in Heaven, & his Heart is with it. He's above the reach of all that they can do. His Heart is raised to such a height, that when He takes a prospect of the Earth below, He sees no difference twixt Men & Pismires. Neither are the Poor the only Objects that seem little in his Sight; but Kings themselves, & Generals of Armies, Politicians, Usurers, & what you please, seem every jot as little & contemptible as They. The Difference of Poor & Rich makes no impression upon Him; no more than when He sees, amongst a Swarm of little Pismires, some creep loaded, others empty.  
What can Men do to such a Man as This, 
S. Chrysostom. Hom. 5. ad Popul. Antio.  suppose they have a mind to make him miserable? Will they rob him of his money? All his Riches are in Heaven. Will they Banish him from home? He has no other Home but Heaven; & it is not in their Power to Banish him from thence. Will they lay him fast in Chains? His Conscience will still be free: And, for his part, He fears no other Chains but those of Sin. Or will they kill him? When they have done this, They have no more to Do; And even then, His Soul will Live for ever, his body one day Rise again.  
A Man, 
S. Chrysostom. lib. 2. ad Theod. lapsum. c. 3.  who lives not but for Jesus Christ, is quite above the reach of all misfortunes that can threaten him. Provided that He will not freely & deliberately hurt himself, No man alive can have the least advantage over Him. He's invincible at all Arms. The Loss of his Goods is no Affliction to him, because he well considers, that we All bring Nothing with us, at our Birth; & that we All shall carry Nothing with us, at our Death. The vain desires of Reputation & Honour cannot seize his Heart; because he knows that all our Conversation ought to be in Heaven. All the injuries & outrages He meets with, are not able to provoke him: He's a Christian: And, being truly such, He fears but one great Danger of one only Loss; the Danger of offending God, & Losing of his Favour, All things else, as Banishment and Poverty, with all the greatest & most dangerous Extremities, He values not at all: & even Death itself, which others think so Terrible, is always most agreeable, most comfortable, & most welcome, whensoêre it comes.   

SECT. III. His Desire of Heaven.  
THe Scripture generally represents a Christian, as a Person disengaged & separated from the World. If you were of the world, 
S. Jo. 15.19.  says our Saviour, the world would love his own: but because you are not of the world, & I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 
1. Jo. 2.15.  He loves not the world, nor the things that are in the world: Because, if any man love the world, the Love of God is not in him. 
Rom. 12.2.  He is not conformed to the world, but transformed by the renewing of his Mind, that He may prove what is the good the acceptable & perfect will of God. He uses the world, 
1. Cor. 7.31. Gal. 6.14. Coloss. 3.3. Jam. 1.27. 1. Pet. 2.11.  as if he used it not. The world is crucified to him, & He to the world. He is Dead, & his Life is hid with Christ in God. His Religion pure & undefiled is that by which He keeps himself unspotted from the world. He abstains from all Desires which war against the Soul, because He is a Stranger & a Pilgrim in the World. But that which most inclines him to Desire the Happiness of Heaven, is his Knowing that, as long as He is here, 
2. Cor. 5.6.  He's Absent from his God.  
No wonder He so much Desires to be in Heaven: 
D. Sp. Par. 2. Ch. 21.  All his Comfort is his Hope of being there. The Gate so straight; The way so narrow; The continual Violence so necessary to be used; The Cross he daily bears; The Self-denial which he always practices; The Penance without which we All shall perish, 
Luke. 13.3.  if we do not mortify our Passions, kerb our Humours, & resist our Inclinations: All this, put together, is enough to make a Christians Life, so painful, troublesome, & disagreeable, 
1. Cor. 15.19.  that if in this life only, He had Hope, He would of all Men be most miserable.  
'tis no wonder therefore He so much Desires the Sight of God, 
Ibid.  which only can deliver him from all the miseries He labours under. 
Ch. 22.  'tis the great Affliction of the Just; to see themselves so far from Zion, separated from their God, & banished from their Heavenly Jerusalem. Although the Riches of the World were all their Own, They still would think themselves Unfortunate, because their Treasure is is not here; 'tis only to be found hereafter. They as earnestly Desire the Happiness of Heaven, as a Hart long hunted thirsts for Water. 'tis a Duty indispensably incumbent upon all true Christians to Desire it above All Things.  
Hear S. Austin: 
Ibid. Ch. 21.  He who finds himself at Ease on Earth; who is contented to live always Here; And finds his greatest Joy & Satisfaction in this world; will never enter Heaven. If you ask the Reason; He replies: because He has not in his Heart the Love of God, whoever does not Sigh, & above all things Wish, for the Enjoyment of Eternal Life. Examine well your Heart. If God should promise you a long Life upon Earth; & tell you▪ You shall here enjoy whatever you can wish for; Riches, Pleasures, Honours, Health, Prosperity, & what you please besides, shall every where attend you: Only, You shall never See me; You shall never have a Share with Me in Heaven: would you be Content? whoever is in such a Disposition, does not yet begin to Love Him above All Things.  
Hear the Royal Prophet: 
Ibid. Ch. 22.  Hear the Language of his Love. As the Hart pants after water, 
Ps. 42.1.2.3.  so my Soul pants after Thee, My God. My Soul is thirsty for Thee, O Thou Living God, the only Life & Comfort of my Soul. My Tears have been my Entertainment Day & Night; & 'tis the only Ease of my impatient Grief, to have the Liberty of weeping in thy Absence. When shall I appear before my God? When once that happy Day approaches, 
Ps. 17.15.  when I once Behold thy Face, I shall be satisfied: but never shall be satisfied till then. 'tis this, 
Ps. 27.4.  & only this One Thing I always have Desired of Thee; that I may Dwell in thy House for ever, & behold thy Beauty.  
All God's Children say the same: 
Ibid.  they daily pray to their Eternal Father, that his Kingdom come: And their Desire of Everlasting Life, (though sometimes out of Mind) is always in their Heart. By this, they Pray incessantly. By this, they are attentive to God's Presence, in the midst of those Employments & Affairs, which otherwise would easily divert them from the Thought of Him. By This, they frequently Recall their wand'ring Thoughts, Renew their decaying Fervour, Inflame their cooling Love, Encourage their desponding Hearts, & March a great deal faster towards Heaven. When the Scripture commands us, says S. Austin, to Pray Always; we are not therefore obliged to be always on our knees, or always singing Psalms in Choir: we only are obliged to have continually, in the Bottom of our Heart, a true Desire to leave this Earth & enter into Heaven. This continual Desire must still persever in our Heart. We always must lament, & sigh; and say; I am a Captive & a Pilgrim; I am far from Home; I am not with my God. 'tis true, (S. Austin adds,) a Just Man may divert himself sometimes; & spend some hours, in such Employments as appear quite different from Gaining Heaven. 'tis, alas! the Servitude of his Captivity, which thus obliges him to work for the Egyptians, whilst he is a Slave to Pharaoh But however, in the midst of all his Slavery, He never can forget the Land of Promise; He laments, He sighs, He always wishes to be There: And Thus He always Prays to God that He will please to grant him the Possession of that Souvereign Good, which only can Suffice to make Him truly & for ever Happy.    

THE CONTENTS  

Motives of Love.  
§. 1. How much it imports us to Love God above All Things. pag. 1  
§. 2. That the Love of God is our Greatest Duty. 3  
§. 3. That the Love of God is our Greatest Good. 20  
§. 4. That the Love of God is the chief Grace of the Holy Ghost. 40  
§. 5. That we ought to prepare our Hearts for this great Grace, 57   

Motives of Fear.  
§. 1. How much it imports us to remember the Day of Judgement. 71  
§. 2. That our Last Day is the fatal End of all our transitory Happiness. 75  
§. 3. That our Last Day is the sad Beginning of our Everlasting Misery. 90   

Motives of Hope.  
§. 1. How unreasonable a thing it is for any Sinner to Despair. 109  
§. 2. That God can help us, if He will. 115  
§. 3. That God will help us, if we please. 130   

Danger of Delay.  
§. 1. How apt we are to Differr Repentance. 149  
§. 2. How dangerous it is to Differr Repentance. 153  
§. 3. Reasons why Delay is so Dangerous. 161  
§. 4. That we ought to begin immediately, without Delay. 172   

A Contrite Heart.  
§. 1. Sorrow for our Sins. 189  
§. 2. Resolutions of Amendment. 193   

An Humble Heart.  
§. 1. The Necessity & Advantages of Humility. 201  
§. 2. First Degree of Humility. 213  
§. 3. Second Degree of Humility. 219  
§. 4. An Objection answered. 233  
§. 5. Third Degree of Humility. 242  
§. 6. First Reason why the greatest Saints are the most humble. 249  
§. 7. Second Reason why the greatest Saints are the most Humble. 262  
I. The Enormity of Sin. 273  
II. The Treachery of a Sinner. 285  
III. The Disloyalty of a Sinner. 296  
IU. The Impiety of a Sinner. 303  
V. The great Ingratitude, Presumption, Pride, & Insolence of every Sinner. 311  
VI. Our Saviour's Idea of Sin: & the Impression it made upon Him. 319  
VII. The Saint's Idea of Sin: How much it humbles them. 335   

The Character of a Good Christian.  
§. 1. The Perfection of his Duty. 352  
§. 2. His Contempt of the World. 362  
§. 3. His Desire of Heaven. 372   
FINIS.