Dying Thoughts Upon Philippians 1:23, Introduction (1 of 3)

Dying Thoughts Upon Philippians 1:23 · Introduction (1 of 3)

THE INTRODUCTION.

PHIL. 1. 23.

For I am in a ſtreight between two, &c.

I Write for my ſelf, and therefore ſuppoſing the ſenſe of the Text, ſhall only obſerve what is uſeful to my Heart and Practice.

It was a happy ſtate into which Grace had brought this Apoſtle, who ſaw ſo much not only tolerable but greatly deſirable, both in living and dying. To live to him was Chriſt, that is, Chriſt's intereſt, or work: To die would be gain, that is, His own intereſt and reward: His ſtreight was not whether it would be good to live or good to depart: Both were good: But which was more deſirable was the doubt.

I. Queſt. But was there any doubt to be made between Chriſt's intereſt and his own? Anſ. No, if it had been a full and fixed competition: But by Chriſt or Chriſt's intereſt, he meaneth his work for his Churches intereſt in this World: But he knew that Chriſt alſo had an intereſt in his Saints above; and that he could raiſe up more to ſerve him here: Yet becauſe he was to judge by what appeared, and he ſaw a defect of ſuch on Earth, this did turn the Scales in his Choice; and for the work of of Chriſt and his Churches good, he more inclined to the delay of his reward, by ſelf-denial: Yet knowing that the delay would tend to its increaſe. It's uſeful to me here to note:

That even in this World, ſhort of Death, there is ſome good ſo much to be regarded, as may juſtly prevail with Believers to prefer it before the preſent haſtning of their reward.

I the rather note this, that no temptation carry me into that extream, of taking nothing but Heaven to be worthy of our minding or regard; and ſo to caſt off the World in a ſinful ſort, on pretence of mortification, and a heavenly mind and life.

I. As to the ſenſe, the meaning is not that any thing on Earth is better than Heaven, or ſimply, and in itſelf to be preferred before it: The end is better than the means as ſuch: And perfection better than imperfection.

But the preſent uſe of the means may be preferred ſomtimes before the preſent poſſeſſion of the end: And the uſe of means for a higher end, may be preferred before the preſent poſſeſſion of a lower end: And every thing hath its ſeaſon: Planting, and Sowing, and Building are not ſo good as Reaping; and Fruit gathering, and Dwelling: But in their ſeaſon they muſt be firſt done.

II. Queſt. But what is there ſo deſirable in this Life?

Anſ. 1. While it continueth it is the fulfilling of the will of God who will have us here: And that's beſt which God willeth.

II. The life to come dependeth upon this: As the life of Man in the World, upon his Generation in the Womb; Or as the reward upon the work; or the Runners or Souldiers Prize upon his Race or Fighting: Or as the Merchants gain upon his Voyage. Heaven is won or loſt on Earth: The poſſeſſion is there, but the preparation is here: Chriſt will judge all men according to their works on Earth: [Well done good and faithful Servant, muſt go before [Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord: I have fought a good Fight, I have finiſhed my Courſe] goeth before the Crown of Righteouſneſs which God the righteous Judge will give: All that ever muſt be done for Salvation by us, muſt here be donc: It waron Earth that Chriſt himſelf, wrought the work of … Redemption, fulfilled all Righteouſneſs, became our Ranſom: And paid the Price of our Salvation: And it's here that our part is to be done.

And the beſtowing of the reward of God's work, who we are ſure will never fail: There is no place for the leaſt ſuſpicion or fear of his miſdoing or failing in any of his undertaken work, But the danger and fear is of our own miſcarrying; leſt we be not found capable of receiving what God will certainly give to all that are diſpoſed Receivers. To diſtruſt God is heinous ſin and folly: But to diſtruſt our ſelves we have great cauſe. So that if we will make ſure of Heaven, it muſt be by giving all diligence to make firm our Title, our Calling, and our Election here on Earth. If we fear Hell, we muſt fear being prepared for it.

And it is great and difficult work that muſt be here done: It's here that we muſt be cured of all damning ſin: That we muſt be Regenerate and new Born; that we muſt be pardoned and juſtified by Faith; It's here that we muſt be united to Chriſt, made wiſe to Salvation, renewed by his Spirit, and conformed to his likeneſs: It's here that we muſt overcome all the temptations of the Devil, the World, and the Fleſh, and perform all the duties toward God and Man, that muſt be rewarded: It's here that Chriſt muſt be believed in with the Heart to Righteouſneſs, and with the Mouth confeſſed to Salvation: It's here that we muſt ſuffer with him, that we may reign with him, and be faithful to the Death, that we may receive the Crown of Life. Here we muſt ſo run that we may obtain.

III. Yea, we have greater work here to do than meer ſecuring our own Salvation. We are … of the World and Church, and we muſt labour to do good to many: We are truſted with our Maſters Talents for his Service; in our places to do our beſt to propaga…e his Truth, and Grace and Church; and to bring home Souls, and Honour his cauſe, and edifie his Flock, and further the Salvation of as many as we can. All this is to be done on Earth, if we will ſecure the end of all in Heaven.

Uſe. I. It is then an errour (though it is but few I think that are guilty of it) to think that all Religion lieth in minding only the Life to come, and diſregarding all things in this preſent life: All true Chriſtians muſt ſeriouſly mind, both the End, and the Means, or way: If they mind not believingly the End, they will never be faithful in the uſe of means: If they mind not and uſe not diligently the Means, they will never obtain the End. None can uſe Earth well that prefer not Heaven: And none come to Heaven (at Age) that are not prepared by well uſing Earth. Heaven muſt have the deepeſt eſteem and habituated love, and deſire, and joy: But Earth muſt have more of our daily thoughts for preſent practice. A Man that travelleth to the moſt deſirable home, hath a habit of deſire to it all the way: But his preſent buſineſs is his travel: And Horſe and Company, and Inns, and Waies, and Wearineſs, &c. may take up more of his ſenſible Thoughts, and of his Talk, and Action, than his Home.

Uſe. II. I have oft marvelled to find David in the Pſalms, and other Saints before Chriſt's coming, to have expreſſed ſo great a ſenſe of the things of this preſent life, and to have ſaid ſo little of another. To have made ſo great a matter of Proſperity, Dominions, and Victories on one Hand, and of Enemies, Succeſs, and Perſecution on the other, But I conſider that it was not for meer Perſonal, Carnal intereſt, but for the Church of God, and for his Honour, Word, and Worſhip: And they knew that if things go well with us on Earth, they will be ſure to go well in Heaven: If the militant Church proſper in Holineſs, there is no doubt but it will triumph in Glory: God will be ſure to do his part in receiving Souls, if they be here prepared for his receipt. And Satan doth much of his damning work by men: If we eſcape their temptations we eſcape much of our danger. If Idolaters proſpered, Iſrael was tempted to Idolatry: The Greek Church is almoſt ſwallowed up by Turkiſh Proſperity and Dominion. Moſt follow the powerful and Proſperous ſide. And therefore for God's cauſe, and for heavenly everlaſting intereſt, our own ſtate, but much more the Churches muſt be greatly regarded here on Earth.

Indeed if earth be deſired only for Earth; and Proſpirity loved but for the preſent welfare of the Fleſh; it is the certain Mark of damning carnality, and an earthly mind. But to deſire Peace and Proſperity, and Power to be in the hands of wiſe and faithful men, for the ſake of Souls, and the increaſe of the Church, and the Honour of God, that his Name may be hallowed, his Kingdom come, and his Will done on Earth, as it is in Heaven, this is to be the chief of our Prayers to God.

Uſe. III. Be not unthankful then, O my Soul, for the Mercies of this preſent life, for thoſe to thy Body to thy Friends, to the Land of thy Nativity, and ſpecially to the Church of God.

I. This Body is ſo nearly united to thee, that it, muſt needs be a great help or hinderance: Had it been more afflicted, it might have been a diſcouraging clog; like a tired Horſe in a Journey, or an ill Tool to a Workman, or an untuned Inſtrument in Muſick: A ſick or bad Servant in an Houſe is a great trouble: And a bad Wife much more. But thy Body is nearer thee than either, and will be more of thy concern.

And yet if it had been more Strong and Healthful, Senſe, and Appetite would have been ſtrong; and Luſt would have been ſtrong; and therefore danger would have been greater, and Victory and Salvation much more difficult. Even weak Senſes and Temptations have too oft prevailed: How knoweſt thou then what ſtronger might have done: When I ſee a thirſty Man in a Feaver or Dropſie, and ſpecially when I ſee ſtrong and healthful youths, bred up in fulneſs, and among temptations, how mad they are in ſin, and how violently they are carried to it, bearing down God's rebukes, and Conſcience, and Parents, and Friends, and all regard to their Salvation, it tells me how great a Mercy I had, even in a Body not liable to their caſe.

And many a bodily deliverance, hath been of great uſe to my Soul, renewing my time and opportunity and ſtrength for Service, and bringing frequent and freſh reports of the Love of God.

If bodily Mercies were not of great uſe to the Soul, Chriſt would not ſo much have ſhewed his ſaving love, by healing all manner of diſeaſes as he did. Nor would God promiſe us a Reſurrection of the Body, if a congruous Body did not further the welfare of the Soul.

2. And I am obliged to great thankfulneſs to God for the Mercies of this life which he hath ſhewed to my Friends; that which furthers their joy, ſhould increaſe mine: I ought to rejoice with them that rejoice: Nature and Grace teach us to be glad when our Friends are well and proſper: Though all in order to better things than bodily welfare.

3. And ſuch Mercies of this life to the Land of our Habitation muſt not be undervalued. The want of them are parts of God's threatned Curſe; and godlineſs hath the Promiſe of this life, and of that which is to come; and ſo is profitable to all things. And when God ſends on a Land the Plagues of Famine, Peſtilence, War, Perſecution, eſpecially a Famine of the Word of God, it is a great ſin to be inſenſible of it: If any ſhall ſay, while Heaven is ſure we have no cauſe to accuſe God, or to caſt away comfort, hope or duty, they ſay well: But if they ſay, Becauſe Heaven is all we muſt make light of all that befalleth us on Earth, They ſay amiſs.

Good Princes, Magiſtrates and publick Spirited men that promote the ſafety, Peace and true Proſperity of the Common-wealth, do thereby very much befriend Religion, and mens Salvation; and are greatly to be loved and honoured by all. If the Civil State called the Common-wealth, do miſcarry or fall into ruine and calamity, the Church will fare the worſe for it, as the Soul doth by the ruines of the Body. The Turkiſh, Muſcovite, and ſuch other Empires tell us, how the Church conſumeth and dwindles away into contempt or withered Ceremony and Formality, where Tyranny brings Slavery, Beggary, or long Perſecution on the Subjects. Doubtleſs divers paſſages in the Revelations contain the Churches glorifying of God, for their Power and Proſperity on Earth, when Emperors became Chriſtians: What elſe can be meant well by Rev. 9. 10. [Hath made us Kings and Prieſts to God, and we ſhall Reign on the Earth;] but that Chriſtians ſhall be brought from under Heathen Perſecution, and have Rule and Sacred Honour in the World, ſome of them being Princes, ſome honoured Church Guides, and all a peculiar honoured People. And had not Satan found out that curſed way of getting wicked men that hate true godlineſs and peace, into the Sacred places of Princes and Paſtors, to do his work againſt Chriſt as in Chriſt's Name, ſurely no good Chriſtians would have grudged at the Power of Rulers of State or Church: Sure I am that many called Fifth Monarchy men, ſeem to make this their great Hope that Rule ſhall be in the Hands of Righteous men: And I think moſt Religious Parties would rejoice if thoſe had very great Power, whom they take to be the beſt and truſtieſt men: Which ſhews that it is not the greatneſs of Power in moſt Princes, or ſound Biſhops that they diſlike, but the badneſs (real or ſuppoſed) of thoſe whoſe Power they miſlike: Who will blame Power to do good.

Sure the three firſt and great Petitions of the Lord's Prayer include ſome temporal welfare of the World and Church, without which the Spiritual rarely proſpereth extenſively (though intenſively in a few it may) ſince Miracles ceaſed.

4. Be thankful therefore for all the Churches Mercies here on Earth: For all the protection of Magiſtracy, the Plenty of Preachers, the perſervation from Enemies, the reſtraint of Perſecution, the Concord of Chriſtians, and increaſe of Godlineſs, which in this Land it hath had in our Ages, notwithſtanding all Satan's malignant rage, and all the bloody Wars that have interrupted our tranquillity. How many Pſalms of joyful thankſgiving be there for Iſrael's deliverances, and the perſervation of Zion, and God's Worſhip in his Sanctuary: Pray for the Peace of Jeruſalem: They ſhall proſper that love it: ſpecially that the Goſpel is continued, while ſo many rage againſt it, is a Mercy not to be made light of.

Uſe IV. Be ſpecially thankful, O my Soul, that God hath made any uſe of thee for the Service of his Church on Earth. My God, my Soul for this doth magnifie thee, and my Spirit rejoiceth in the review of thy great undeſerved Mercy! O what am I whom thou took'ſt up from the Dunghil, or low obſcurity, that I ſhould live my ſelf in the conſtant reliſh of thy Sweet and Sacred Truth, and with ſuch encoucouraging ſucceſs communicate it to others? That I muſt ſay now my publick work ſeems ended, that theſe Forty three or Forty four years I have no reaſon to think that ever I laboured in vain! O with what gratitude muſt I look upon all places where I lived and laboured, but above all that place that had my ſtrength. I bleſs thee for the great numbers gone to Heaven, and for the continuance of Piety, Humiliation, Concord and Peace among them.

And for all that by my Writings have received any ſaving Light and Grace. O my God, let not my own Heart be barren while I labour in thy Husbandry, to bring others unto Holy fruit. Let me not be a ſtranger to the Life and Power of that ſaving Truth which I have done ſo much to communicate to others: O let not my own Words and Writings condemn me as void of that Divine and Heavenly Nature, and Life, which I have ſaid ſo much for to the World.

Uſe V. Stir up then, O my Soul, thy ſincere deſires and all thy Faculties, to do the remnant of the work of Chriſt appointed thee on Earth, and then joyfully wait for the heavenly Perfection in God's own time.

Thou canſt truly ſay, To live to me is Chriſt: It is his work for which thou liveſt: Thou haſt no other buſineſs in the World: But thou doſt his work with the mixture of many overſights and imperfections, and too much troubleſt thy Thoughts diſtruſtfully about God's part, who never faileth: If thy work be done, be thankful for what is paſt, and that thou art come ſo near the Port of reſt: If God will add any more to thy daies, ſerve him with double alacrity, now thou art ſo near the end: The Prize is almoſt within ſight: Time is ſwift and ſhort: Thou haſt told others that there is no working in the Grave, and that it muſt be now or never: Though the conceit of meriting of commutative Juſtice, be no better than madneſs, dream not that God will ſave the wicked, no nor equally reward the ſlothful and the diligent, becauſe Chriſt's Righteouſneſs was perfect. Paternal Juſtice maketh difference according to that worthineſs which is ſo denominated by the Law of Grace: And as ſin is its own puniſhment; Holineſs and Obedience is much of its own reward: Whatever God appointeth thee to do, ſee that thou do it ſincerely, and with all thy might: If ſin diſpoſe men to be angry becauſe it is detected, diſgraced and reſiſted, if God be pleaſed, their wrath ſhould be patiently born, who will ſhortly be far more angry with themſelves. If ſlander and obloquy ſurvive, ſo will the better effects on thoſe that are converted: And there is no compariſon between theſe. I ſhall not be hurt when I am with Chriſt, by the Calumnies of men on Earth: But the ſaving benefit will by converted Sinners be enjoyed everlaſtingly. Words and actions are tranſient things, and being once paſt are nothing: But the effect of them on an immortal Soul, may be endleſs. All the Sermons that I have preached are nothing now: But the Grace of God on Sanctified Souls is the beginning of Eternal life. It is unſpeakable Mercy to be ſincerely thus employed with ſucceſs; therefore I had reaſon all this while to be in Pauls ſtreight, and make no haſt in my deſires to depart. The Crown will come in its due time: And Eternity is long enough to enjoy it, how long ſoever it be delayed: But if I will do that which muſt obtain it for my ſelf and others, it muſt be quickly done before my declining ſun be ſet.

O that I had no worſe cauſes of my unwillingneſs yet to die, than my deſire to do the work of life for my own and other mens Salvation? And to finiſh my courſe with joy, and the Miniſtry committed to me by the Lord.

Uſe VI. And as it is on Earth that I muſt do good to others, ſo it muſt be in a manner ſuited to their ſtate on Earth. Souls are here cloſely united to Bodies, by which they muſt receive much good or hurt: Do good to mens Bodies if thou wouldſt do good to their Souls: Say not, Things corporeal are worthleſs Trifles, for which the receivers will be never the better: They are things that nature is eaſily ſenſible of: And ſenſe is the paſſage to the mind and will. Doſt not thou find what a help it is to thy ſelf, to have at any time, any eaſe and al… crity of Body: And what a burden and hinderance, pains, and cares are? Labour then to free others from ſuch burdens and temptations, and be not regardleſs of them. If thou muſt rejoice, with them that rejoice, and mourn with them that mourn, further thy own joy in furthering theirs; and avoid thy own ſorrows in avoiding or curing theirs.

But, alas, what power hath ſelfiſhneſs in moſt? How eaſily do we bear our Brethrens pains, reproaches, wants and afflictions, in compariſon of our own: How few thoughts, and how little coſt or labour do we uſe for their ſupply, in compariſon of what we do for our ſelves. Nature indeed teacheth us to be moſt ſenſible of our own caſe: But Grace tells us that we ſhould not make ſo great a difference as we do, but ſhould love our Neighbours as our ſelves.

Uſe VII. And now, O my Soul, conſider how mercifully God hath dealt with thee, that thy ſtreight ſhould be between two conditions ſo deſirable? I ſhall either die ſpeedily, or ſtay yet longer upon Earth: Which ever it be, it will be a Merciful and Comfortable ſtate. That it is deſirable to depart and be with Chriſt, I muſt not doubt, and ſhall anon more copiouſly conſider. And if my abode on Earth yet longer be ſo great a Mercy as to be put in the Ballance againſt my preſent poſſeſſion of Heaven, ſurely it muſt be a ſtate which obligeth me to great thankfulneſs to God, and comfortable acknowledgment: And ſurely it is not my pain, or ſickneſs, my ſuffering… from malicious men, that ſhould make this Life on Earth unacceptable, while God will continue it: Paul had his Prick or Thorn in the Fleſh, the Meſſenger of Satan to Buffet him, and ſuffered more from men (though leſs in his Health) than I have done: And yet he gloried in ſuch Infirmities, and rejoiced in his Tribulation…, and was in a ſtreight between living and dying▪ yea, rather choſe to live yet longer.

Alas, it is another kind of ſtreight that moſt of the World are in: The ſtreight of moſt is between the deſire of Life for fleſhly intereſt, and the fear of Death as ending their felicity: The ſtreight of many is, between a tiring World and Body which maketh them aweary of living, and the dreadful proſpect of future danger which makes them afraid of dying: If they live, it is in miſery; if they muſt die they are afraid of greater miſery: which way ever they Look, behind or before them, to this World, or the next, fear and trouble is their Lot; yea, many an upright Chriſtian, through the weakneſs of their Truſt in God; doth live in this perplexed ſtreight; aweary of living and afraid of dying; between grief and fear, they are preſt continually: But Paul's ſtreight was between two Joys; which of them he ſhould deſire moſt: And if that be my caſe, what ſhould much interrupt my Peace or Pleaſure. If I live, it is for Chriſt; for his Work, and for his Church, for Preparation, for my own and others everaſting felicity: And ſhould any ſuffering which maketh me not unſerviceable, make me impatient with ſuch a work, and ſuch a life? If I die preſently it is my gain: God who appointeth me my work, doth limit my time, and ſure his glorious reward can never be unſeaſonable or come too ſoon, if it be the time that he appointeth. When I firſt engaged my ſelf to preach the Goſpel, I reckoned (as probable) but upon one or two years: And God hath continued me it above Forty four: (with ſuch interruptions as others in theſe times have had.) And what reaſon have I now to be unwilling either to live or die? God's Service hath been ſo ſweet to me, that it hath overcome the trouble of conſtant pains or weakneſs of the Fleſh, and all that men have ſaid or done againſt me.

But the following Crown exceeds this pleaſure, more than I am here capable to conceive. There is ſome trouble in all this pleaſant work, from which the Soul and Fleſh would reſt: And bleſſed are the dead that die in the Lord: Even ſo ſaith the Spirit; for they reſt from their Labours, and their Works follow them.

But, O my Soul, what need'ſt thou be troubled in this kind of ſtreight? It is not left to thee to chooſe whether or when thou wilt live or die. It is God that will determine it, who is infinitely fitter to chooſe than thou: Leave therefore his own work to himſelf, and mind that which is thine; whilſt thou liveſt, live to Chriſt, and when thou dieſt, thou ſhalt die to Chriſt; even into his bleſſed Hands; So live, that thou maiſt ſay, It is Chriſt liveth in me, and the life that I live in the Fleſh, I live by the Faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himſelf for me: And then as thou haſt lived in the comfort of hope, thou ſhalt die unto the comfort of Viſion and Fruition: And when thou canſt ſay, he is the God whoſe I am, and whom I ſerve, thou maiſt boldly add, and whom I truſt; and to whom I commend my departing Soul▪ And I know whom I have truſted.

p. 1Richard Baxter's Dying Thoughts.

Philippians 1. 23.

For I am in a ſtrait betwixt two, having a deſire to depart, and to be with Chriſt, which is far better (or, for this is much rather to be preferred, or better.)

§ 1. MAN that is born of a Woman, is of few daies, and full of trouble; He cometh forth like a Flower, and is cut down: He fleeth alſo as a ſhadow, and continueth not: And doſt thou open thine Eyes upon ſuch a one, and bringeſt me into Judgment with thee? ſaith Job, ch. 14. v. 1, 2, 3. As a Watch when it is wound up, or as a Candle newly lighted; ſo Man newly conceived or born, beginneth a motion, which inceſſantly haſteth to its appointed period. And an Action, and its Time, that is paſt, is Nothing: So vain a thing would Man be, and ſo vain his Life, were it not for the hopes of a more durable Life, which this referreth to. But thoſe Hopes, and the Means, do not only difference a Believer from an Infidel, but a Man from a Beaſt. When Solomon deſcribeth the difference in reſpect to the Time and Things of this Life only, he truly tells us, that one end here befalling both, doth p. 2ſhew that both are here but Vanity, but Man's Vexation is greater than the Beaſts. And Paul truly ſaith of Chriſtians that if our hope were only in this life (that is, in the Time and Things of this life and world) we were of all men moſt miſerable. Though even in this life, as related to a better, and as we are exerciſed about things of a higher nature, than the concerns of temporal life, we are far happier than any worldlings.

§ 2. Being to ſpeak to my ſelf, I ſhall paſs by all the reſt of the matter of this Text, and ſuppoſe its due Explication, and ſpread before my Soul only the Doctrine and Uſes of theſe two Propoſitions contained in it. I. That the Souls of Believers when departed hence, ſhall be with Chriſt. II. That ſo to be with Chriſt is far better for them, than to be here in the body.

§ 3. I. Concerning the firſt, my Thoughts ſhall keep this order. I. I ſhall conſider the Neceſſity of Believing it. II. Whether it be beſt believing it, without conſideration of the Proofs or Difficulties. III. The certainty of it manifeſted for the exerciſe of Faith.

§ 4. I. Whether the words ſignifie that we ſhall be in the ſame place with Chriſt (which Grotius groundleſly denieth) or only in his Hand, and Care, and Love, I will not ſtay to diſpute: Many other Texts concurring do aſſure us, that we ſhall be with him where he is, Joh. 12. 26. Joh. 17. 24, &c. At leaſt [with him] can mean no leſs than a ſtate of communion, and a participation of felicity. And to believe ſuch a ſtate of happineſs for departed Souls, is of manifold neceſſity or uſe.

§ 5. I. If this be not ſoundly believed, a man muſt live beſides, or below the End of Life: He muſt have a falſe End, or be uncertain what ſhould be his End.

I know, it may be objected, that if I make it my End to pleaſe God, by obeying him, and doing all the p. 3good I can, and truſt him with my Soul and future Eſtate, as one that is utterly uncertain what he will do with me, I have an End intended, which will make me godly, charitable, and juſt, and happy, ſo far as I am made for happineſs: For the pleaſing of God is the right End of all.

But, 1. Muſt I deſire to pleaſe him no better than I do in this imperfect ſtate, in which I have, and do ſo much which is diſpleaſing to him? He that muſt deſire to pleaſe him, muſt deſire to pleaſe him perfectly: And our deſires of our ultimate End muſt have no bounds, or check. Am I capable of pleaſing God no better, than by ſuch a ſinful life as this?

2. God hath made the deſire of our own felicity ſo neceſſary to the Soul of Man, that it cannot be expected that our deſire to pleaſe him, ſhould be ſeparated from this. 3. Therefore both in reſpect of God as the End, and of our felicity as our ſecond End, we muſt believe that he is the beatifying rewarder of them that diligently ſeek him.

For, 1. If we make ſuch an ill deſcription of God, as that he will turn our pleaſing him to our loſs, or will not turn it to our gain, and welfare, or that we know not whether he will do ſo or not, it will hinder our Love, and Truſt, and Joy in him, by which we muſt pleaſe him, and conſequently hinder the alacrity, and ſoundneſs, and conſtancy of our obedience.

2. And it will much diſmiſs that ſelf-love which muſt excite us, and it will take off part of our neceſſary End: And I think the Objecters will confeſs, that if they have no certainty what God will do with them, they muſt have ſome Probability and Hope, before they can be ſincerely devoted here to pleaſe him.

§ 6. And 1. If a man be but uncertain what he p. 4ſhould make the End of his Life, or what he ſhould live for, how can he pitch upon an uncertain End? And if he waver ſo as to have no End, he can uſe no Means: And if End and Means be all laid by, the Man liveth not as a Man, but as a Brute. And what a torment muſt it be to a conſidering mind, to be uncertain what to Intend and Do in all the tenour and actions of his life? Like a man going out at his door, not knowing whither, or what to do, or which way to go: Either he will ſtand ſtill, or move as Brutes do by preſent ſenſe, or a Windmill or Weathercok, as he is moved.

§ 7. 2. But if he pitch upon a wrong End, it may yet be worſe than none; for he will but do hurt, or make work for Repentance: And all the actions of his life muſt be formally wrong, (how good ſoever materially) if the End of them be wrong.

§ 8. 2. And if I fetch them not from this End, and believe not in God as a Rewarder of his Servants, in a better Life, what Motives ſhall I have which in our preſent difficulties, will be ſufficient to cauſe me to live a holy, yea or a truly honeſt life? All piety and honeſty indeed is good, and Goodneſs is deſirable for it ſelf: But the goodneſs of a Means is its aptitude for the End; and we have here abundance of impediments, competitors, diverſions and temptations, and difficulties of many ſorts; and all theſe muſt be overcome by him that will live in piety or honeſty. And our Natures (we find) are diſeaſed, and greatly indiſpoſed to unqueſtionable duties; and will they ever diſcharge them, and conquer all theſe difficulties and temptations, if the neceſſary Motive be not believed? Duty to God and Man is accidentally hard and coſtly to the fleſh, though amiable in it ſelf: It may coſt us our Eſtates, our Liberties, our Lives. The world is not ſo happy p. 5as commonly to know good men from bad, nor to encourage Piety and Virtue, or to forbear oppoſing them. And who will let go his preſent welfare, without ſome hope of better as a reward? Men uſe not to ſerve God for nought; nor that think it will be their loſs to ſerve him.

§ 9. A life of ſin will not be avoided upon lower Ends and Motives: Nay, thoſe lower Ends when alone, will be a conſtant ſin themſelves: A preferring Vanity to Glory, the Creature to God, and a ſetting our heart on that which will never make us happy: And when luſt and appetite incline men ſtrongly and conſtantly to their ſeveral objects, what ſhall ſufficiently reſtrain them, except the greater and more durable delights or motives fetcht from preponderating things? Luſt and Appetite diſtinguiſh not between lawful and unlawful. We may ſee in the brutiſh Politicks of Benedictus Spinoſa, in his Tractat. Theolog. Polit. whither the Principles of Infidelity tend. If ſin ſo overſpread the Earth, that the whole world is as drowned in wickedneſs, notwithſtanding all the hopes and fears of a life to come, what would it do were there no ſuch hopes and fears?

§ 10. 3. And no Mercy can be truly known and eſtimated, nor rightly uſed and improved by him that ſeeth not its tendency to the End, and perceiveth not that it leadeth to a better Life, and uſeth it not thereunto. God dealeth more bountifully with us than worldlings underſtand: He giveth us all the mercies of this life, as helps to an immortal ſtate of Glory, and as earneſts of it. Senſualiſts know not what a Soul is, nor what Soul-mercies are, and therefore not what the Soul of all bodily mercies are; but take up only with the carkaſs, ſhell, or ſhadow. If the King would give p. 6me a Lordſhip, and ſend me a Horſe or Coach to carry me to it, and I ſhould only ride about the fields for my pleaſure, and make no other uſe of it, ſhould I not undervalue and loſe the principal benefit of my Horſe or Coach? No wonder if unbelievers be unthankful, when they know not at all that part of God's mercies, which is the life, and real excellency of them.

§ 11. 4. And alas! how ſhould I bear with comfort the ſufferings of this wretched life, without the hopes of a life with Chriſt? What ſhould ſupport and comfort me under my bodily languiſhings and pains? my weary hours, and my daily experience of the Vanity and Vexation of all things under the Sun, had I not a proſpect of a comfortable end of all? I that have lived in the midſt of great and precious mercies, have all my life had ſomething to do, to overcome the temptation of wiſhing that I had never been born, and had never overcome it, but by the belief of a bleſſed Life hereafter. Solomon's ſenſe of Vanity and Vexation, hath long made all the buſineſs, and wealth, and honour, and pleaſure of this world (as ſuch) appear ſuch a dream and ſhadow to me, that were it not for the End, I could not have much differenced men's ſleeping and their waking thoughts, nor have much more valued the waking than the ſleeping part of life, but ſhould have thought it a kind of happineſs to have ſlept from the birth unto the death. Children cry when they come into the world; and I am often ſorry when I am wakened out of a quiet ſleep, eſpecially to the buſineſs of an unquiet day. We ſhould be ſtrongly tempted in our conſidering ſtate, to murmure at our Creator, as dealing much hardlier by us than by the Brutes; if we muſt have had all thoſe cares, and griefs, and fears, by the knowledge of what we want, and the proſpect of p. 7death, and future evils, which they are exempted from, and had not withal had the hopes of a future felicity to ſupport us. Seneca and his Stoicks had no better Argument to ſilence ſuch murmurers who believed not a better life, than to tell them, that if this life had more evil than good, and they thought God did them wrong, they might remedy themſelves by ending it when they would: But that would not cure the repinings of a Nature, who found it ſelf neceſſarily aweary of the miſeries of life, and yet afraid of dying. And it is no great wonder that many thought that preexiſtent Souls were put into theſe bodies as a puniſhment of ſomething done in a former life, while they foreſaw not the hoped End of all our fears and ſorrows. O how contemptible a thing is man! ſaith the ſame Seneca, unleſs he lift up himſelf above humane things? Therefore, ſaith Solomon, Eccleſ. 2. 17. (when he had glutted himſelf with all temporal pleaſures) I hated life, becauſe the work that is wrought under the Sun, is grievous to me: For all is vanity and vexation of ſpirit.

§ 12. II. I have often thought whether an Implicit belief of a future happineſs, without any ſearch into its nature, and thinking of any thing that can be ſaid againſt it, or the ſearching, trying way be better. On the one ſide, I have known many godly women that never diſputed the matter, but ſerved God comfortably to a very old Age, (between 80 and 100) to have lived many years in a chearful readineſs and deſire of death, and ſuch as few Learned, ſtudious men do never attain to in that degree; who, no doubt, had this as a Divine Reward of their long and faithful ſervice of God, and truſting in him. On the other ſide, a ſtudious man can hardly keep off all Objections, or ſecure his mind againſt the ſuggeſtions of difficulties and doubts; and p. 8if they come in, they muſt be anſwered; ſeeing we give them half a victory, if we caſt them off before we can anſwer them. And a Faith that is not upheld by ſuch evidence of Truth, as Reaſon can diſcern and juſtifie, is oft joyned with much ſecret doubting, which men dare not open, but do not therefore overcome: And its weakneſs may have a weakening deficiency, as to all the graces and duties which ſhould be ſtrengthened by it. And who knoweth how ſoon a temptation from Satan, or Infidels, or our own dark hearts, may aſſault us, which will not, without ſuch evidence and reſolving Light be overcome? And yet many that try, and reaſon, and diſpute moſt, have not the ſtrongeſt, or moſt powerful Faith.

§ 13. And my thoughts of this have had this iſſue. 1. There is a great difference between that Light which ſheweth us the Thing it ſelf, and that artificial skill by which we have right Notions, Names, Definitions, and formed Arguments, and Anſwers to Objections. This Artificial, Logical, Organical kind of Knowledge is good and uſeful in its kind, if right; like Speech it ſelf: But he that hath much of this, may have little of the former: This is the true mean between George Keith the Quakers Doctrine of Continued Inſpiration & Intuition, and that on the other extream.And unlearned perſons that have little of this, may have more of the former, and may have thoſe inward perceptions of the verity of the Promiſes & Rewards of God, which they cannot bring forth into artificial reaſonings to themſelves or others; who are taught of God by the effective ſort of Teaching, which reacheth the Heart o… Will, as well as the Underſtanding, and is a Giving of what is taught, and a Making us ſuch as we are told we muſt be. And who findeth not need to pray hard for this p. 9effective Teaching of God, when he hath got all Organical Knowledge, and Words and Arguments in themſelves moſt apt, at his fingers ends (as we ſay?) When I can prove the Truth of the Word of God, and the Life to come, with the moſt convincing undeniable Reaſons, I feel need to cry and pray daily to God, to increaſe my Faith, and to give me that Light which may ſatisfie the Soul, and reach the end.

§ 14. 2. Yet man being a Rational wight, is not taught by meer Inſtinct and Inſpiration: And therefore this Effective Teaching of God doth ordinarily ſuppoſe a Rational, Objective, Organical Teaching and Knowledge. And the foreſaid unlearned Chriſtians are convinced by good evidence, that God's Word is true, and his Rewards are ſure, though they have but a confuſed conception of this evidence, and cannot word it, nor reduce it to fit notions. And to drive theſe that have fundamental evidence, unſeaſonably and haſtily to diſpute their Faith, and ſo to puzzle them by words and artificial Objections, is but to hurt them, by ſetting the Artificial Organical lower part (which is the body of Knowledge) againſt the real Light and Perception of the Thing (which is as the Soul) even as carnal men ſet the Creatures againſt God, that ſhould lead us to God; ſo do they by Logical Artificial Knowledge.

§ 15. But they that are prepared for ſuch Diſputes, and furniſhed with all artificial helps, may make good uſe of them for defending and clearing up the Truth to themſelves and others; ſo be it they uſe them as a means to the due end, and in a right manner, and ſet them not up againſt, or inſtead of the real and effective Light.

§ 16. But the Revealed and Neceſſary part muſt here be diſtinguiſhed from the unrevealed and unneceſſary. p. 10To ſtudy till we as clearly as may be underſtand the certainty of a future happineſs, and wherein it conſiſteth; (in the ſight of God's Glory, and in perfect, holy, mutual Love, in Union with Chriſt, and all the bleſſed) this is of great uſe to our Holineſs and Peace. But when we will know more than God would have us, it doth but tend (as gazing on the Sun) to make us blind, and to doubt of certainties, becauſe we cannot be reſolved of uncertainties. To trouble our heads too much in thinking, how Souls out of the body do ſubſ…ſ… and act, ſenſitively or not, by Organs, or without; how far they are one, and how far ſtill individuate, in what place they ſhall remain, and where is their Paradiſe or Heaven; how they ſhall be again united to the body; whether by their own emiſſion, as the Sun beams touch their Objects here, and whether the body ſhall be reſtored, as the conſumed fleſh of reſtored ſick men, aliunde, or only from the old materials: A hundred of theſe Queſtions are better left to the knowledge of Chriſt, leſt we do but fooliſhly make ſnares for our ſelves. Had all theſe been needful to us, they had been revealed. In reſpect to all ſuch curioſities and needleſs knowledge, it is a Believer's wiſdom implicitly to Truſt his Soul to Chriſt, and to be ſatisfied that he knoweth what we know not, and to fear that vain, vexatious knowledge, or inquiſitiveneſs into good and evil, which is ſelfiſh, and ſavoureth of a diſtruſt of God, and is that ſin, and fruit of ſin, which the Learned world too little feareth.

§ 17. III. That God is the Rewarder of them that diligently ſeek him, and that holy Souls ſhall be in bleſſedneſs with Chriſt, theſe following Evidences conjoyned do evince; on which my Soul doth raiſe its Hopes.

p. 11§ 18. I. The Soul which is an Immortal Spirit, muſt be immortally in a Good or Bad condition: But Man's Soul is an Immortal Spirit, and the good are not in a bad condition: Its Immortality is proved thus: A ſpiritual, or moſt pure inviſible ſubſtance naturally endowed with the Power, Virtue, or Faculty of Vital-Action, Intellection and Volition, which is not annihilated, nor deſtroyed by ſeparation of Parts, nor ceaſeth or loſeth either its Power, Species, Individuation or Action, is an Immortal Spirit. But ſuch is the Soul of Man, as ſhall be manifeſt by parts.

§ 19. I. The Soul is a ſubſtance: For that which is Nothing, can do Nothing; but it doth move, underſtand and will. No man will deny that this is done by ſomething in us, and by ſome ſubſtance; and that ſubſtance is it which we call the Soul: It is not Nothing, and it is within us.

§ 20. As to them that ſay, It is the Temperament of ſeveral parts conjunct, I have elſewhere fully confuted them, and proved, 1. That it is ſome one part that is the Agent on the reſt, which all they confeſs that think it to be the material ſpirits, or fiery part: It is not bones and fleſh that underſtand, but a purer ſubſtance, as all acknowledge. 2. What part ſoever it be, it can do no more than it is Able to do: And a conjunction of many parts, of which no one hath the power of Vitality, Intellection, or Volition, formally or eminently (ſomewhat as excellent) can never by contemperation do thoſe acts: For there can be no more in the effect than is in the cauſe; otherwiſe it were no effect.

The vanity of their Objections, that tell us, a Lute, a Watch, a Book, perform that by cooperation, which no one part can do, I have elſewhere manifeſted. 1. Many ſtrings indeed have many motions, and ſo p. 12have many effects on the Ear and Phantaſie, which in us are ſound, and harmony: But all is but a percuſſion of the Air by the ſtrings, and were not that motion received by a ſenſitive Soul, it would be no Muſick or Melody; ſo that there is nothing done but what each part had power to do. But Intellection and Volition are not the conjunct motions of all parts of the body, receiving their form in a nobler Intellective nature, as the ſound of the ſtrings maketh melody in man: If it were ſo, that Receptive Nature ſtill would be as excellent as the Effect importeth. 2. And the Watch or Clock doth but move according to the action of the ſpring or poiſe; but that it moveth in ſuch an order as becometh to man a ſign and meaſure of Time, this is from Man who ordereth it to that uſe. But there is nothing in the motion, but what the parts have their power to cauſe: And that it ſignifieth the hour of the daies to us, is no Action, but an object uſed by a rational Soul as it can uſe the ſhadow of a Tree or Houſe, that yet doth nothing. 3. And ſo a Book doth nothing at all, but is a meer objective ordination of paſſive ſigns, by which Man's active Intellect can underſtand what the Writer or Orderer did intend; ſo that here is nothing done beyond the power of the Agent, nor any thing in the effect which was not in the cauſe, either formally or eminently. But for a company of Atoms, of which no one hath ſenſe or reaſon, to become ſenſitive and rational by meer conjunct motion, is an …ffect beyond the power of the ſuppoſed cauſe.

§ 21. But as ſome think ſo baſely of our nobleſt Acts, as to think that contempered agitated Atoms can perform them, that have no natural intellective or ſenſitive virtue or power in themſelves, ſo others think ſo highly of them, as to take them to be the Acts only of p. 13God (or ſome univerſal Soul) in the body of Man; and ſo that there is no Life, Senſe or Reaſon in the World, but God himſelf (or ſuch an univerſal Soul;) And ſo that either every man is God, (as to his Soul) or that it is the Body only that is to be called Man as diſtinct from God. But this is the Self-enſnaring and ſelf-perplexing temerity of buſie, bold and arrogant heads, that know not their own capacity and meaſure. And on the like reaſons they muſt at laſt come (with others) to ſay, that all paſſive matter alſo is God, and that God is the Univerſe, conſiſting of an Active Soul, and Paſſive Body. As if God were no cauſe, and could make nothing, or nothing with Life, or Senſe, or Reaſon.

§ 22. But why depart we from things certain, by ſuch preſumptions as theſe? Is it not certain, that there are baſer creatures in the World, than Men or Angels? Is it not certain that one Man is not another? Is it not certain, that ſome men are in torment of body and mind? And will it be a comfort to a man in ſuch torment to tell him, that he is God? or that he is part of an univerſal Soul? Would not a man on the Rack, or in the Stone, or other miſery ſay, [Call me by what name you pleaſe, that caſeth not my pain: If I be part of God, or an univerſal Soul, I am ſure I am a tormented miſerable part! And if you could not make me believe that God hath ſome parts which are Serpents, Toads, Devils, or wicked or tormented men, you muſt give me other ſenſes, and perceptive powers, before it will comfort me, to hear that I am ſuch a part. And if God had wicked and tormented parts on Earth, why may he not have ſuch, and I be one of them hereafter? And if I be a holy and happy part of God, or of an univerſal Soul on Earth, why may not I hope to be ſuch hereafter?

§ 23. We deny not but that God is the continued p. 14firſt cauſe of all Being whatſoever; and that the branches and fruit depend not as effects ſo much on the cauſality of the Stock and Roots, as the creature doth on God; and that it is an impious conceit to think that the World, or any part of it, is a Being independent, and ſeparated totally from God, or ſubſiſting without his continued cauſation. But cannot God cauſe as a Creator, by making that which is not himſelf? This yieldeth the ſelf-deceiver no other honour, nor happineſs, but what equally belongeth to a Devil, to a Fly or Worm, to a Dunghill, or to the worſt & miſerableſt man!

§ 24. II. As Man's Soul is a SUBSTANCE, ſo is it a Subſtance differenced formally from all inferiour Subſtances, by an Innate (indeed Eſſential) Power, Virtue, or Faculty of Vital-Action, Intellection, and Free-will: For we find all theſe Acts performed by it, as Motion, Light and Heat are by the Fire or Sun. And if any ſhould think that theſe Actions are like thoſe of a Muſician, compounded of the Agents (principal and organical ſeveral) parts, could he prove it, no more would follow, but that the lower powers (the Senſitive or Spirits) are to the higher as a Paſſive Organ, receiving its operations; and that the Intellectual Soul hath the power of cauſing Intellection and Volition by its Action on the inferiour parts, as a man can cauſe ſuch motions of his Lute, as ſhall be melody (not to it, but) to himſelf: And conſequently, that as Muſick is but a lower operation of man (whoſe proper acts of Intellection and Volition are above it) ſo Intellection and Volition in the Body are not the nobleſt Acts of the Soul, but it performeth them by an Eminent Power, which can do greater things. And if this could be proved, what would it tend to the unbelievers ends, or to the diſadvantage of our hopes and comforts?

p. 15§ 25. III. That man's Soul at death is not annibilated; even the Atomiſts and Epicurians will grant, who think that no Atom in the Univerſe is annihilated: And we that ſee not only the Sun and Heavens continued, but every grain of matter, and that compounds are changed by diſſolution of parts, and rarefaction, or migration, &c. and not by Annihilation, have no reaſon to dream that God will annihilate one Soul (though he can do it if he pleaſe, yea and annihilate all the World:) It is a thing beyond a rational expectation.

§ 26. IV. And a deſtruction by the diſſolution of the parts of the Soul, we need not fear. For, 1. Either an Intellectual Spirit is diviſible and partible, or not; if not, we need not fear it; if it be, either it is a thing that Nature tendeth to, or not: But that Nature doth not tend to it, is evident. For, 1. There is naturally ſo ſtrange and ſtrong an inclination to unity, and averſeneſs to ſeparation in all things, that even Earth and Stones, that have no other (known) natural motion, have yet an aggregative motion in their gravitation: But if you will ſeparate the parts from the reſt, it muſt be by force. And Water is yet more averſe from partition without force, and more inclined to union than Earth, and Air than Water, and Fire than Air; ſo that he that will cut a Sun-beam into pieces, and make many of one, muſt be an extraordinary Agent. And ſurely Spirits, even Intellectual Spirits, will be no leſs averſe from partition, and inclined to keep their Unity, than Fire, or a Sun-beam is; ſo that naturally it is not a thing to be feared, that it ſhould fall into pieces.

2. And he that will ſay, that the God of Nature will change, and overcome the Nature that he hath made, muſt give us good proofs of it, or it is not to be feared. And if he ſhould do it as a puniſhment, we p. 16muſt find ſuch a puniſhment ſomewhere threatened, either in his Natural, or Supernatural Law, which we do not; and therefore need not fear it.

§ 27. 3. But if it were to be feared, that Souls were partible, and would be broken into parts, this would be no deſtruction of them, either as to their ſubſtance, powers, form or action, but only a breaking of one Soul into many: For being not compounded of Heterogeneal parts, but as ſimple Elements of Homogeneal only, as every Atom of Earth is Earth, and every drop of Water in the Sea is Water, and every particle of Air and Fire, is Air and Fire, and have all the properties of Earth, Water, Air and Fire; ſo would it be with every particle of an Intellectual Spirit. But who can ſee cauſe to dream of ſuch a partition, never threatened by God?

§ 28. V. And that Souls loſe not their formal Powers or Virtues, we have great reaſon to conceive; becauſe they are their Natural Eſſence, not as mixt, but ſimple ſubſtances: And though ſome imagine that the Paſſive Elements may be attenuation, or incraſſation, be tranſmuted one into another, yet we ſee that Earth is ſtill Earth, and Water is Water, and Air is Air; and their conceit hath no proof: And, were it proved, it would but prove that none of theſe are a firſt or proper Element: But what ſhould an Intellectual Spirit be changed into? How ſhould it loſe its formal Power? not by Nature; for its Nature hath nothing that tendeth to deterioration, or decay, or ſelf-deſtruction? The Sun doth not decay by its wonderful Motion, Light and Heat: And why ſhould Spirits? Not by God's deſtroying them, or changing their Nature: For, though all things are in conſtant motion or revolution, he continueth the Natures of the ſimple Beings, and p. 17ſheweth us, that he delighteth in a conſtancy of operations, inſomuch that hence Ariſtotle thought the world Eternal. And God hath made no Law that threateneth to do it as a penalty. Therefore to dream that Intellectual Spirits ſhall be turned into other things and loſe their Eſſential formal Powers, which ſpecify them, is without and againſt all ſober reaſon. Let them firſt but prove that the Sun loſeth Motion, Light and Heat, and is turned into Air, or Water or Earth. Such changes are beyond a rational fear.

§ 29. VI. But ſome men dream that Souls ſhall ſleep, and ceaſe their Acts, though they doe not their powers. But this is more unreaſonable than the former. For it muſt be remembred that it is not a meer obediential Paſſive power that we ſpeak of; but an Active Power conſiſting in a great an Inclination to Act, as Paſſive natures have to forbear action. So that if ſuch a nature Act not, it muſt be becauſe its natural Inclination is hindred by a ſtronger; And who ſhall hinder it?

1. God would not continue an Active Power, Force and Inclination in nature, and forcibly hinder the operation of that nature which he himſelf continueth; unleſs penally for ſome ſpecial cauſe; Which he never gave us any notice of by any threatning, but the contrary.

2. Objects will not be wanting, for all the world will be ſtill at hand, and God above all. It is therefore an unreaſonable conceit to think that God will continue an Active Vital Intellective Volitive Nature, Form, Power, Force, Inclination, in a noble ſubſtance, which ſhall uſe none of theſe for many hundred or thouſand years, and ſo continue them in vain.

Nay, 3. It is rather to be thought that ſome p. 18Action is their conſtant ſtate without which the ceſſation of their very form, would be inferred.

§ 30. But all that can be ſaid with reaſon is that ſeparated Souls, and Souls hereafter in Spiritual Bodies, will have Actions of another mode, and very different from theſe that we now perceive in fleſh. And be it ſo. They will yet be radically, of the ſame Kind, and they will be formally or eminently ſuch as we now call, Vitality, Intellection and Volition; And they will be no lower nor leſs excellent if not far more; And then what the difference will be, Chriſt knoweth whom I truſt, and in ſeaſon I ſhall know. But to talk of a Dead Life, an unactive activity, or a Sleeping Soul, is fitter for a ſleeping than a waking man.

§ 31. It's true that Diſeaſes or Hurts do now hinder the Souls Intellectual perceptions in the body, and in Infancy and Sleep they are imperfect. Which proveth indeed that the Acts commonly called Intellection and Volition, have now ſomthing in them alſo of ſenſation, and that ſenſitive operations are diverſifyed by the Organs of the ſeveral ſenſes. And that bare Intellection and Volition without any ſenſation is now ſcarce to be obſerved in us, though the Soul may have ſuch acts intrinſecally and in its profundity. For it is now ſo united to this body, that it acteth on it as our form; And indeed the Act, obſerved by us cannot be denied to be ſuch as are ſpecified or modified at leaſt, by the Agents, and the Recipients, and Sub-Agents parts conjunct. But, 1. As the Sun would do the ſame thing ex parte ſui if in vacuo only it ſent forth its beams, though this were no Illumination or Calefaction, becauſe there were no Recipient, to be Illuminated and Heated by it. And it would loſe nothing by the want of objects; ſo the Soul, had it no Body p. 19to act on, would have its profound Immanent Acts of ſelfliving, ſelf-perceiving, and ſelf loving, (and all its external acts on other objects, which need not Organs of ſenſe for their approximation.) And 2. Its ſenſitive faculty is it ſelf, or ſuch as it is not ſeparated from, though the Particular ſorts of ſenſation may be altered with their uſes: And therefore it may ſtill act on or with the ſenſe: And if one way of ſenſation be hindered, it hath another. 3. And how far this Lanthorn of fleſh doth help or hinder its operations, we know not yet, but ſhall know hereafter. Sondi…s de Orig. Animae (though an heretical Writer) hath ſaid much to prove that the Body is a hinderance, and not a help to the Soul's Intuition. And if Ratiocination be a compound act yet Intuition may be done for ever by the Soul alone. 4. But as we are not to judge what Powers the Soul hath when the Acts are hindered, but when they are done; nor what Souls were made by God for, by their ſtate in the Womb or Infancy, or Diſeaſes, but by our ordinary mature ſtate of life; ſo we have little reaſon to think that the ſame God who made them for Life, Intellection and Volitions here, will not continue the ſame Powers o… the ſame, or as noble uſes hereafter, whether with Organs, or without, as pleaſeth him. If in this fleſh our Spirits were not unactive and uſeleſs, we have no reaſon to think that they will be ſo hereafter, (and that for ever.)

§ 32. This greateſt and hardeſt of all Objections, doth make us confeſs (with Contarenus, contra Pomponatium de Anim. Immortalit.) that though by the Light of Nature we may know the Immortality of Souls, (and that they loſe not their Powers, or Activity) yet without ſupernatural Light, we know not what manner of Action they will have in their ſeparated ſtate, or in p. 20another world, becauſe here they act according to objective Termination, and the Receptivity of the Senſe and Phantaſie, & Recipitur ad modum recipientis; and in the Womb we perceive not that it acteth intellectually at all.

But we know, That, 1. If even then it differed not in its formal …ower from the Souls of Brutes, it would not ſo much afterward differ in Act: And it would never be raiſed to that which was not virtually in its Nature at the firſt. 2. And we find, that even very little Children have quick and ſtrong knowledge of ſuch Objects as …e brought within their reach: And that their Ignorance is not for want of an Intellectual Power, but for want of Objects, or Images of things which time, and uſe, and converſation among Objects, muſt furniſh their Phantaſies and Memories with. And ſo a Soul in the Womb, or in an Apoplexy, hath not Objects of Intellection within its reach to act upon; but is as the Sun to a Room that hath no windows to let in its light. 3. And what if its profound Vitality, Self perception, and Self-love be by a kind of Senſation and Intuition, rather than by Diſcurſive Reaſon? I doubt not but ſome late Philoſophers make ſnares to themſelves and others, by too much vilifying ſenſe and ſenſitive Souls, as if ſenſe were but ſome loſeable Accident of contempered Atoms: But Senſation (though diverſified by Organs and Uſes, and ſo far mutable) is the Act of a noble Spiritual Form and Virtue. And as Chambre and ſome others make Brutes a lower rank of Rationals, and Man another higher ſpecies, as having his nobler Reaſon for higher Ends; ſo for Man to be the nobleſt Order (here) of Senſitives, and to have an Intellect to Order and Govern Senſations, and connex them and improve them, were a noble work, p. 21if we had no higher. And if Intellection and Volition were but a higher ſpecies of Internal Senſation, than Imagination, and the Phantaſie and Memory are, it might yet be a height that ſhould ſet Man ſpecifically above the Brutes. And I am daily more and more perſuaded, that Intellectual Souls are eſſentially ſenſitive and more, and that their Senſation never ceaſeth. 4. And ſtill I ſay, that it is to Nature it ſelf a thing unlikely that the God of Nature will long continue a Soul that hath formally or naturally an Intellective Power, in a ſtate in which it ſhall have no uſe of it. Let others that will enquire whether it ſhall have a Vehicle or none to act in, and whether aereal, or igneous, and ethereal, and whether it be really an Intellectual ſort of Fire, as material as the ſolar Fire, whoſe (not compounding, but) inadequate-conceptus objectivi are, an Igneous ſubſtance, and a Formal Virtue of Life, Senſe, and Intellection, with other ſuch puzzling doubts; it ſatisfieth me, that God will not continue its nobleſt Powers in vain; and how they ſhall be exerciſed, is known to him: And that God's Word tells us more than Nature. And withal, LIFE, INTUITION and LOVE (or Volition) are Acts ſo natural to the Soul (as Motion, Light and Heat, quoad actum to Fire) that I cannot conceive how its Separation ſhould hinder them, but rather that its Incorporation hindereth the two latter by hiding Objects, whatever be ſaid of abſtractive knowledge and memory.

§ 33. VII. But the greateſt difficulty to Natural Knowledge is, Whether Souls ſhall continue their individuation, or rather fall into one common Soul, or return ſo to God that gave them, as to be no more divers (or many) individuals as now; as extinguiſhed Candles are united to the illuminated Air, or to the Sun beams. But of p. 22this I have elſewhere ſaid much for others; and for my ſelf I find I need but this: 1. That as I ſaid before, either Souls are partible ſubſtances, or not: If not partible. how are they unible? If Many may be made One by conjunction of ſubſtances, then that One may (by God) be made Many again by partition. Either All (or Many) Souls are now but One (individuate only by Matter, as many gulfs in the Sea, or many Candles lighted by the Sun) or not: If they are not One now in ſeveral bodies, what reaſon have we to think that they will be One hereafter, any more than now? Auguſtine (de Anim.) was put on the queſtion, 1. Whether Souls are One, and not Many: (and that he utterly denieth.) 2. Whether they are Many, and not One; (and that it ſeemeth he could not digeſt.) 3. Whether they were at once both One and Many (which he thought would ſeem to ſome ridiculous, but he ſeemeth moſt to incline to:) And as God is the God of Nature, ſo Nature (even of the Devils themſelves) dependeth on him, as I ſaid, more than the Leaves or Fruit do on the Tree: And we are all his Off-ſpring, and Live, and Move, and Are in Him, Acts 17. But we are certain for all this, 1. That we are not God; 2. That we are yet many Individuals, and not all One Soul or Man. I… our Union ſhould be as near as the Leaves and Fruit on the ſame Tree, yet thoſe Leaves and Fruit are numerous and individual Leaves and Fruits, though parts of the Tree. And were this proved of our preſent, or our future ſtate, it would not alter our Hopes or Fears: For as Now, though we all Live, Move, and Be in God, (and, as ſome dream, are parts of a common Soul) yet it is certain that ſome are Better and Happier than others; ſome wiſe and good, and ſome fooliſh and evil; ſome in pain and miſery, and ſome at eaſe and in pleaſure; p. 23and (as I ſaid) it is now no eaſe to the miſerable to be told that radically all Souls are One; no more will it be hereafter, nor can men reaſonably hope for, or fear ſuch an Union, as ſhall make their ſtate the ſame. We ſee in Nature (as I have elſewhere ſaid) that if you graff many ſorts of Sciens (ſome ſweet, ſome bitter, ſome Crabs) on the ſame Stock, they will be One Tree, and yet have diverſity of fruit. If Souls be not Unible, nor Partible ſubſtances, there is no place for this doubt: If they be, they will be ſtill what they are, notwithſtanding any ſuch Union with a common Soul. As a drop of Water in the Sea is a ſeparable part, and ſtill it ſelf; and as a Crab upon the foreſaid Stock or Tree. And the good or bad quality ceaſeth not by any Union with others.

Sure we are, that all Creatures are in God, by cloſe dependance, and yet that the good are good, and the bad are bad, and that God is Good, and hath no Evil; and that when Man is tormented or miſerable, God ſuffereth nothing by it (as the whole Man doth when but a Tooth doth ake.) (For he would not hurt himſelf were he paſſive.) Therefore to dream of any ſuch ceſſation of our Individuation by any Union with a Creature, as ſhall make the Good leſs Good, or happy, or the Bad leſs Bad or miſerable, is a groundleſs folly.

§ 34. Yet it is very probable that there will be a Nearer Union of holy Souls with God and Chriſt, and one another, than we can here conceive of: But this … ſo far from being to be feared, that it is the higheſt of our hopes. 1. God himſelf (though equally every where in his Eſſence) doth operate very variouſly on his Creatures. On the wicked he operateth as the firſt Cauſe of Nature (as his Sun ſhineth on them:) On ſome he operateth by common Grace: To ſome he p. 24giveth Faith to prepare them for the Indwelling of his Spirit: In Believers he dwelleth by Love, and they in him: And if we may uſe ſuch a compariſon as Satan acteth on ſome only by ſuggeſtions, but on others ſo deſpotically as that it's called His Poſſeſſing them; ſo God's Spirit worketh on holy Souls ſo powerfully and conſtantly, as is called his Poſſeſſing them. And yet on the Humane Nature of Chriſt, the Divine Nature of the Second Perſon hath ſuch a further extraordinary Operation, as is juſtly called a Perſonal Union; which is not by a more Eſſential Preſence (for that is every where) but by a peculiar operation and relation: And ſo holy Souls being under a more felicitating operation of God, may well be ſaid to have a Nearer Union with him than now they have.

§ 35. …. And I obſerve, that (as is aforeſaid) all things have naturally a ſtrong inclination to Union and Communion with their like: Every clod and ſtone inclineth to the Earth: Water would go to Water; Air to Air, Fire to Fire; Birds and Beaſts aſſociate with their like. And the nobleſt natures are moſt ſtrongly thus inclined; And therefore I have natural reaſon to think that it will be ſo with holy Souls.

§ 36. 3. And I find that the inordinate Contraction of Man to himſelf, and to the intereſt of this Individual-Perſon, with the defect of Love to all about us, according to every creatures goodneſs, and ſpecially to God the Infinite good, whom we ſhould love above our ſelves, is the very ſum of all the pravity of man. And all the injuſtice and injury to others, and all the neglect of good works in the world, and all our daily terrours, and ſelf-diſtracting ſelf-tormenting cares, and griefs, and fears, proceed from this inordinate Love and Adheſion to our ſelves: Therefore I have reaſon to think p. 25that in our better ſtate, we ſhall perfectly Love others as our ſelves, and the ſelfiſh Love will turn into a common and a Divine Love, which muſt be by our preferring the common and the Divine Good, and Intereſt.

§ 37. And I am ſo ſenſible of the power and Plague of ſelfiſhneſs, and how it now corrupteth, tempteth and diſquieteth me, that when I feel any fears leſt individuation ceaſe, and my Soul fall into one common Soul (as the Stoicks thought all Souls did at death) I find great cauſe to ſuſpect that this ariſeth from the power of this corrupting ſelfiſhneſs: For Reaſon ſeeth no cauſe at all to fear it were it ſo.

§ 38. 4. For I find alſo that the nature of Love is to deſire as near a Union as is poſſible; And the ſtrongeſt Love doth ſtronglieſt deſire it. Fervent Lovers think they can ſcarce be too much One. And Love is our Perfection, and therefore ſo is Union.

§ 39. 5. And I find that when Chriſtians had the firſt and full pourings out of the Spirit they had the ferventeſt Love, and the neareſt Union, and the leaſt deſire of propriety and diſtance.

§ 40. 6. And I find that Chriſts prayer for the felicity of his diſciples is a prayer for their Unity, Joh. 17. 22, 23. And in this he placeth much of their Perſection.

§ 41. 7. And I find alſo that man is a ſociable nature and that all men find by experience that conjunction in ſocieties, is needful to their Safety, ſtrength and Pleaſure.

§ 42. 8. And I find that my Soul would fain be nearer God, and that darkneſs and diſtance is my miſery and near communion is it that would anſwer all the tendencies of my Soul: Why then ſhould I fear too near a Union.

§ 43. I think it utterly improbable, that my Soul p. 26ſhould become more nearly united to any creature, than to God: (though it be of the ſame kind with other Souls, and infinitely below God): For God is as near me as I am to my ſelf: I ſtill depend on him as the effect upon its total conſtant cauſe; And that not as the fruit upon the Tree, which borroweth all from the Earth, Water, Air, and Fire which it communicateth to its fruit; but as a creature on its Creator, who hath no Being but what it receiveth totally from God, by conſtant communication. Hence Autonine, Seneca, and the reſt of the Stoicks thought that all the World was God, or one Great Animal conſiſting of Divine Spirit and Matter, as Man of Soul and body; Sometime calling the ſuppoſed Soul of the World, GOD, and ſometime calling the whole World, God; But ſtill meaning that the Univerſe was but one Spirit and Body united and that we all are parts of God, or of the Body of God, or Accidents at leaſt.

§ 44. And even the Popiſh Myſtical Divines in their pretenſions to the higheſt Perfection ſay the ſame in ſenſe; ſuch as Benedict. Anglus in his Regula Perfectionis, (approved by many Doctors,) who placeth much of his Supereminent Life, in our Believing verily that there is nothing but God, and Living accordingly; Maintaining that all creatures are nothing diſtinct from God, but are to God, as the Beams are to the Sun, and as the Heat is to the Fire, (which really is it ſelf;) And ſo teaching us to reſt in all things as Good, as being nothing but Gods eſſential will, which is himſelf (reſolving even our ſins and Imperfections, accordingly into God, ſo that they are Gods or None.)

§ 45. And all theſe men have as fair a pretence for their conceits of ſuch a Union with God now, as for ſuch an Union after death: For their Reaſon is, 1. That God p. 27being Infinite, there can be no more Beings than his own But God and the ſmalleſt Being diſtinct, would be more Entity than God alone: But Infinity can have no addition. 2. Becauſe Ens & Bonum Convertuntur; But God only is good.

And if we are notwithſtanding all this, diſtinct Beings from God now, we ſhall be ſo then. For we ſhall not be Annihilated, and we ſhall not be ſo advanced as to be deified, and of creatures or diſtinct Beings, turned into a Being infinitely above us. If we be not Parts of God now, we ſhall not be ſo then.

But if they could prove that we are ſo now, we ſhould quickly prove to them, 1. That then God hath material diviſible parts (as the Stoicks thought.) 2. And that we are no ſuch parts, as are not diſtinct from one another; but ſome are tormented, and ſome happy. And 3. That (as is ſaid) it will be no abatement of the miſery of the tormented, nor of the felicity of the bleſſed, to tell them that they are all parts of God: For, though the manner of our Union with him, and dependance on him, be paſt our comprehenſion, yet that we are diſtinct and diſtant from each other, and have each one a joy or miſery of his own, is paſt all doubt. Therefore there is no Union with God to be feared by holy Souls, but the utmoſt poſſible to be highlieſt deſired.

§ 46. And if our Union with God ſhall not ceaſe our Individuation, or reſolve us into a Principle to be feared, we may ſay ſo alſo of our Union with any common Soul, or many: If we be Unible, we are Partible, and ſo have a diſtinct, though not a divided ſubſtance, which will have its proper Accidents. All Plants are parts of the Earth, really united to it, and radicated in it, and live, and are nouriſhed by it: And yet a Vine is a Vine, and an Apple is an Apple, and a Roſe is a Roſe, p. 28and a Nettle is a Nettle. And few men would be toiled Horſes or Toads, if it were proved that they are animated by a common Soul.

§ 47. But God letteth us ſee, that though the World be One, yet he delighteth in a wonderful diverſity and multiplicity of Individuals. How various and numerous are they in the Sea, and on the Land, and in the Air? And are there none in the other World? How come the Stars therein to be ſo numerous, which are of the ſame Element? And though perhaps Saturn, or ſome other Planets, or many Stars, may ſend forth their radiant Effluvia, or parts, into the ſame Air, which the Sun Beams ſeem totally to fill and illuminate, yet the Rays of the Sun, and of other Stars, are not the ſame, how near ſoever in the ſame Air.

§ 48. Were there now no more Contraction by Egoity or Propriety among men, nor Mine and Thine did ſignify no more, nor the diſtance were greater than that of the ſeveral drops of Water in the Sea, or particles of of Light in the illuminated Air, but I had all my part in ſuch a perfect unity and Communion with all others, and knew that all were as happy as I, ſo that there were no diviſions by croſs intereſts or minds, but all were One, certainly it would make my own comforts greater by far than they are now? Are not an hundred Candles ſet together and united as ſplendid a flame as if they w…re all ſet aſunder. To one Soul, one Love, one Joy would be.

§ 49. Object. But it is only the fomes that individuateth Lights; As when the ſame Sun by a burning Glaſs lighteth a thouſand Candles, they are individuate only by the matter contracting, being ſtill all united parts of the ſame Sun Beams. And when they are extinct, they are nothing, or all one again.

p. 29Anſ. They were before they were extinct, both One and many, none but fools think that extinction annihilateth them, or any part of them: They are after, as much Subſtance and as much ſolar Fire though diffuſed, and as much and no more one than before, but not indeed Many as before, but Parts of one. Nature hath made the equal diffuſed Sun Beams to be to the Air and ſurface of the Earth, as the blood equally moving in the Body: And our Candles and Fires ſeem to be like the ſame blood contracted in a bile or Inflammation, which indeed is more felt than the equally diffuſed blood, but it is as the pain of a diſeaſe. And ſo when our Fires go out they are but like a healed Scattered Inflammation, & the ſame ſubſtance is more naturally and equally diffuſed. And if the Individuation of Souls were only by Corporeal matter and the Union thus as great at their departure, it would not diminiſh, if it did not too much increaſe their perfection and felicity: For there would be no diminution of any Subſtance, or Power, or Activity, or Perfection whatſoever.

§ 50. And this would confute their fond Opinion, who think that ſeparated Souls ſleep in nudâ potentiâ, for want of an organized body to operate in: For, no doubt but if all holy Souls were One, this World, either in Heaven or Earth, hath a common Body, enough for ſuch a Soul to operate in. Even thoſe Stoicks that think departed Souls are One, do think that that One Soul hath a nobler operation than ours, in our narrow Bodies, and that when our Souls ceaſe animating this Body, they have the nobler and ſweeter work in part, of animating the whole World: And thoſe that thought ſeveral Orbs had their ſeveral Souls, of which the particular wights participated, ſaid the like of ſeparated Souls, as animating the bodies of their Globes or Orbs. And though p. 30all theſe men trouble their heads with their own vain imaginations, yet this much the Nature of the Matter tells us, which is conſiderable, that whereas the utmoſt fear of the Infidel, is, that Souls departed loſe their Individuation or Activity, and are reſolved into one common Soul, or continue in a ſleepy Potentiality, for want of a Body to operate in, they do but contradict themſelves, ſeeing it is a notorious Truth, 1. That if all holy Souls were One, no one would be a Loſer by the Union, but it would be a greater Gain than we muſt hope for: For a part of One is as much and as noble, and as active a Subſtance, as if it were a ſeparated Perſon: (And Annihilation, or loſs of ſpecifique Powers, is not to be rationally feared.) 2. And that one Soul is now either ſelf-ſubſiſting without a Body, or animateth a ſuitable Body (as ſome Ancients thought the Angels Stars.) If that One Soul can act without a Body, ſo may Ours, whether as parts of it, or not: If that One Soul animate a ſuitable Body, ours were they united parts of it, would have part of that Employment; ſo that hereby they confute themſelves.

§ 51. Obj. But this would equalize the Good and Bad, or at leaſt thoſe that were good in ſeveral degrees; And where then were the Reward and Puniſhment?

Anſ. It would not equal them at all, any more than diſtinct Perſonality would do: For, 1. The Souls of all holy Perſons may be ſo united, as that the Souls of the wicked ſhall have no part in that Union. Whether the Souls of the wicked ſhall be united in one ſinful miſerable Soul, or rather but in one ſinful Society, or be greatlier ſeparate diſunited, contrary to each other, and militant, as part of their ſin and miſery, is nothing to this caſe. 2. Yet Natural and Moral Union muſt be differenced. God is the Root of Nature to the worſt, p. 31and however in one ſenſe it is ſaid, that There is nothing in God but God, yet it is true, that, In Him all Live, and Move, and have their Being. But yet the wickeds Inbeing in God, doth afford them no Sanctifying and Beatifying communion with him, as experience ſheweth us in this life; which yet holy Souls have, as being made capable Recipients of it. As I ſaid, different Plants, Bryars and Cedars, the ſtinking and the ſweet are implanted parts (or Accidents) of the ſame World or Earth. 3. And the godly themſelves may have as different a ſhare of happineſs in one common Soul, as they have now of Holineſs, and ſo as different Rewards (even as Roſes, and Roſemary, and other Herbs differ in the ſame Garden, and ſeveral Fruits in the ſame Orchard, or on the ſame Tree.) For, if Souls are Unible, and ſo Partible Subſtances, they have neither more nor leſs of Subſtance or Holineſs for their Union; and ſo will each have his proper meaſure. As a Tun of Water caſt into the Sea, will there ſtill be the ſame, and more than a ſpoonful caſt into it.

§ 52. Obj. But Spirits are not as Bodies extenſive and quantitative, and ſo not partible or diviſible, and therefore your ſuppoſition is vain.

Anſ. 1. My ſuppoſition is but the objectors: For if they confeſs that Spirits are Subſtances (as cannot with reaſon be denyed; For they that Specify their operations by Motion only yet ſuppoſe a pure proper ſubſtance to be the ſubject or thing Moved) then when they talk of Many Souls becoming One, it muſt be by conjunction and increaſe of the Subſtance of that one. Or when they ſay that they were alwaies One, they will confeſs withal that they now differ in number, as individuate in the body: And who will ſay that Millions p. 32of Millios are no more than one of all thoſe Millions▪ Number is a ſort of Quantity: And all Souls in the world are more than Cain's or Abel's only. One feeleth not what another feeleth. One knoweth not what another knoweth. And indeed, though Souls have not ſuch corporeal extenſion, as paſſive groſs bodily Matter hath, yet as they are more noble, they have a more noble ſort of Extenſion, Quantity or Degrees; according to which all Mankind conceive of all the Spiritual Subſtance of the Univerſe, yea all the Angels, or all the Souls on Earth, as being more, and having more Subſtance than one man's Soul alone. 2. And the Fathers for the moſt part, eſpecially the Greeks (yea and the Second Council of Nice) thought that Spirits created, had a purer ſort of Material Being, which Tertullian called a Body; and doubtleſs all created Spirits have ſomewhat of Paſſiveneſs; for they do Recipere vel pati from the Divine Influx: Only God is wholly impaſſive. We are moved when we move; and acted when we act: And it is hard to conceive that (when Matter is commonly called Paſſive) that which is Paſſive ſhould have no ſort of Matter in a large ſenſe taken: And if it have any parts diſtinguiſhable, they are by God diviſible. 3. But if the contrary be ſuppoſed, that all Souls are no more than One, and ſo that there is no place for uniting or partition, there is no place then for the Objection of all Souls becoming One; and of loſing Individuation, unleſs they mean by Annihilation.