A Saint or a Brute, Part 2 · Chapter 10 · Section 3
III. LAſtly, I ſhould alſo have ſhewed you the Pleaſure of Holineſs by the Effects: But here alſo to avoid prolixity, I will but name a few.
1. Holineſs is Pleaſing to God himſelf; and therefore it muſt needs be pleaſant to the Saints that have it: For it is their end and chiefeſt Pleaſure to pleaſe God. They know that this is the end for which they were Created, Redeemed, and renewed: and therefore that is the moſt Pleaſant life to them, in which they find that God is beſt Pleaſed. And therefore they labour, that whether preſent or abſent, they may be accepted of him, 2 Cor. 5. 9. They are an holy Prieſt-hood, to offer up spiritual ſacrifice, acceptable to God by Jeſus Chriſt, 1 Pet. 2. 5.
2. Holineſs muſt needs be Pleaſant to the ſoul, becauſe it is the ſpiritual health of the ſoul, and the means and certain evidence of its ſafety. And Health is a conſtant ſenſible delight: And to know that our ſouls have ſcapt the danger of the wrath of God, and everlaſting miſery, muſt needs be a greater Pleaſure then any the matters of this world can afford. One ſerious thought of the ſalvation, which Holineſs is the earneſt of, may give that true contentment to the ſoul, that all the wealth and glory of the world can never give.
3. Holineſs removeth fears and troubles, and therefore muſt needs be a Pleaſant ſtate. It removeth the fears of the wrath of God, and of damnation: and the fears of all deſtructive evils: It tends to heal the wounded ſoul, and pacific the clamorous conſcience, and abate all worldly and groundleſs ſorrows; for which the wicked have no true cure.
4. Holineſs is the deſtruction of ſin: and ſin is the cauſe of all calamities: and therefore Holineſs muſt needs be Pleaſant.
5. Holineſs doth conſiſt in rejoycing Graces, that are exceeding pleaſant in the exerciſe; as Faith, Hope, Love, Patience, &c. yea it conſiſteth in Joy it ſelf, Rom. 14. 17.
6. It fits the ſoul for Communion with God, who is the fountain of Delights; and it brings us near him, and acquaints us with him as a God of Love: and therefore muſt needs be a Pleaſant ſtate.
7. You ſee by experience, that when once men have tryed a Holy life, they think they can never have enough of it: The more Holy they are, the more Holy they would be. He that hath moſt, would fain have more: And the weakeſt deſireth no leſs then to be perfect. And do you think men that have tryed it, would ſo long after more and more, if it were not pleaſant?
Judge alſo by the labour and diligence of the godly, who ſeek firſt the Kingdom of God and his righteouſneſs, and make it the principal buſineſs of their lives: Would they make all this ado for nothing? Or for that which is a matter of no delight?
Judge alſo by the delights which they voluntarily forſake, when they let go all their ſinful pleaſures, and renounce all the glory of the world; would they make this exchange, if they had not found a more pleaſant courſe, and that which tends to everlaſting pleaſure?
8. You ſee alſo that the truly Godly, when once they have tryed a holy life, will never go back again to their former pleaſures, but loath the very remembrance of them: It is not all the honours, and riches, and pleaſures in the world, that can hire them to forſake a holy life. Sure therefore they find it the moſt pleaſant courſe; if not in ſenſible delights, yet at leaſt in eaſing their conſciences, and ſecuring their minds from the terrours that ſinful pleaſures would produce. If they found that Godlineſs anſwered not their expectation, they have leiſure enough, and temptations too many, to turn back into the ſtate from whence they came. But how would they abhorr ſuch a motion as this?
9. If Holineſs were not a Pleaſant thing, it could not help us to bear up under all afflictions, nor make us rejoyce in tribulation, as it doth. That which can ſweeten gall and wormwood, muſt needs be very ſweet it ſelf. That which can make reproach, and ſcorn, and poverty, and impriſonment, either ſweet or tolerable, is ſure it ſelf a pleaſant thing.
10. Laſtly, if Holineſs were not pleaſant, it could not make Death it ſelf ſo eaſie, nor take off its terrours, nor cauſe the Martyrs to ſuffer ſo joyfully for Chriſt: Death is the King of terrours, and ſo bitter a cup, that it muſt needs be a pleaſant thing indeed, that can ſweeten it.